I Just Have To

Every now and then I'm blessed with a more up close and personal glimpse of my children: their loves, desires, and their dreams. Welcome to my house, and the end of another day.

I open daughter's sketch book to find drawings, her efforts at writing in Arabic (to the best of her memory), and my favorite: her and her brother's future plans. Daniel has scrapped his plans to be an astronaut in order that he can become a carpenter and help his sister build their own farm houses.So here goes, her spelling and all.

What would we like to be:

Bethany. Meninite farmer.
Daniel. Mininite farmer and Carpender.

Where would we like to live:

Bethany. Wyoming
Daniel. Wyoming

Wish List:

Electric stove and oven.
Goats.
Cows.
Donkeys and mules.
Horses.
A Camel.
Sheep.
Pigs.
Guiny Pigs
Chickens
Rabits.
Dogs.
Cat.
Geece.
Ducks.
Water basin.
Big wooden tub.
99 acres of land.
Little wooden tub.
A barn.
Two log houses
A hunting licence.
Wooden fences.
Fishing licence.
Chicken coop.
A nice lake
Two under ground pools.
2 bikes.
A carpender shop.
Thick woods.
A garden.
2 farms.
A pine tree place.
12 adopted children (This one is my favorite.)
A T.V.-no cable.
A Telaphone.

I wouldn't change this list for anything. I wouldn't edit the spelling for anything. And I wouldn't trade my Heavenly Father's calling as Mother and Mentor for anything in the world.

Worth It

Tonight I am busying myself with what's worth it; I'm preparing this next week's Science lessons. We have switched to a different curriculum just for variety's sake, and I am enjoying trying out the crafts and notebooking activities in advance of teaching the children.

So, the glue bottle, the markers, and index cards freshly inscribed with vocabulary to broaden the way to learning lie about an already crowded desk. The paper scraps, gluey fingers and the one-hole punch should be cleaned up, cleaned off, and put away. Would my Heavenly Father take this kind of time? For me, yes. For you, yes. For them, yes! He is my role model. He's my favorite teacher. And I tell them as He would tell me, "You're worth it!"

We're Back

We had a wonderful time on our vacation. We are all tired, our bodies are time-zone confused, and there is a pile of laundry to be done after we unpack. There are pictures to post and stories to be told. But one of the things we are most excited about is that today we start back to school for the year! Our two week start of summer break has ended. I wish I had a scribe to record Bethany's joy when I told her Gramma that we would start back to school today. Yahoo was the word, if I recall correctly. Daniel, being more conservative in his feelings, watched quietly as sister cornered the market on enthusiasm.

I thought it would be fun to do a little bit of back to school shopping for the kids to help things along, so last night I made a fun dash to Target and gathered all the makings for a Back to School bag for the children. Each bag included: a new pair of shoes, a composition notebook, a new mechanical pencil with a refill, a new pair of scissors, a new pencil sharpener for the days the mechanical pencil is out of lead, True To Life Twistable Crayons, a glue stick, and a pack of Pink Bubblegum. Just had to throw that in there! Last but not least was a Welcome Back to School note from Danny who is flying today. So, here are the pictures of the kids on their first day of school for this new year.



What I have learned and observed today so far: Kids love new things. Some children will cry if the loop is too big on their first pair of tie-shoes (re-enter time-zone confused body complete with emotions!). Discipline still happens even on the first day of school. Pancakes smooth the rough spots, and learning that the favorite part of Daniel's Back To School Bag was "the love" that was in it. I'm ready to start the day now!

Oh The Fun!

The children are in soccer camp for 6 weeks (one clinic and one weekly game) through our Homeschool Sports Organization called Sportskidz AZ. This was week two, and it's so much fun to watch them. Bethany and Daniel are on a co-ed team and two of their friends are on the team with them. Their coaches are superb and are so great with kids. They're homeschooling Dad's and both pastor a church together. The fun for me was watching Danny out there helping them with their kicking drills before the game. He had to do it just for his own sanity as the young assistant had about 20 kids lined up and wow, she was really relaxed about the whole thing. Thank you for relieving the stress of many Moms and Dads, Danny. That line really started moving after that.

Then the even more fun was when Bethany and Daniel really hustled, tracked the ball, and wah-lah, the first goal of the season for their team was by none other than Daniel himself. Bethany's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She could not have been more proud of her brother. I love their love for each other. It looks good on them, and it helps me get through the times when one gets aggravated at the other just for whistling. They gave each other a hug after Daniel's scoring opportunity, and it was really sweet. They love their sports team and seeing their friends mid-week so much they even gave up swimming lessons until July. We'll all be ready for the pool by that time. Until then, the water sprinkler works really well! They're wired for sound tonight as tomorrow we then fly to Georgia for fun with the cousin. In kid world, two children plus one more equals fun for a dozen, so we'll come home with pictures and lots of stories.

Leaving the Building

Today was "Big Idea" Day at our homeschooling group. Big Idea is where you bring your cool organization tricks, homeschooling hints, supplements for curriculum, etc etc and we, in the end, have fun getting fired up about keeping on keepin' on!!! Fun time was had by all. I brought a couple of games we use for fun and to get our brain working quicker in the morning, Jonathan Park CD's, etc. etc. In the process of sharing with another homeschooling Mom, we were discussing how easily distracted we get, and how usually if things haven't progressed as they should in HS, we're usually at the root of it.....yes, she identified with me totally. Then when I mentioned that I had a blog, she said she did too and oh my goodness, we instantly diverted from discussing school to exchanging blog addresses and....now, what were we talking about Malinda??? All that to say, we start our vacation tomorrow, and I am going to miss blogging; reading and writing them. sniff sniff. I told Danny it has been a wonderful way to get connected, encouraged, and fired up, and even deeply touched by the amazing folks out there blogging. I feel blessed to have found ya'll-yes, you!!! So, while we have not left YET, we will be leaving the building (right behind Elvis I'm told). Blessings everyone!

"Miracle on the Hudson"

This is a drawing by an artist named Rex Babin. This particular drawing was forwarded to me today through a Mother in our homeschooling group. How watchful Jesus is over our lives. There's no question in my mind He had everything to do with the Miracle on the Hudson.