My Mother's Legacy...

My mom passed away on Tuesday, December 21, 2010. She passed away peacefully from this world and straight into the arms of Jesus. She was surrounded by her entire family. The room was filled with singing, prayer, tears, and joy. I know our 'going away' celebration could NEVER match that of her 'homecoming' celebration, but I am so thankful to God that he allowed each person to be there by her side as she passed on to her forever life with the King of Kings.

It's really hard to think of her not being here anymore. Every picture of her seems to stare straight into my heart. When someone you really care about is gone, you start to think about all the things you should have done, the things you should have said (or not said), the extra time you should have spent with that person through the years...just everything. To be honest, I've never lost anyone who was as close to my heart as my mom was.  I mean, I've lost grandparents, other relatives, and even friends in the past, but I was either too young at the time to fully understand what was going on or I was not as close to them as I was with my mom.

I miss all those things that used to get on my nerves: the lecturing phone calls, the unwanted advice, the arguments... And, of course, I miss all the nicer things too. My mother was truly the strongest person I had ever known. Her steadfast faith in Jesus Christ still continues to amaze me. Her church, C Baptist, created a a short 6-7 minute video of her and her testimony for a special they did in their church back in May of this year. It was played at her funeral. I still can't watch it without tears coming to my eyes and that will probably always be the case. If you have not watched it yet, please take the time to do so.

In the months before she passed away, she spoke to me a lot about the Holy Spirit. She told me the Holy Spirit was her comfort, her guide, her advisor, her helper, her strength... I have so much more to say about this topic, but I will save that for a future blog once I can collect my thoughts together.

On a side note - I am so far behind in our home school blog postings. I will catch up...one day.

Show me how to die

Wait...what? (cue record scratching screech) Show me how to die? No, I don't mean a physical death, but rather a spiritual death of self. That can only happen when I move out of my way long enough to let God take the lead. He's ready and willing and waiting patiently - I'm the one with control issues.

This is something that he has been dealing with me on for a long time. I know it will continue to be a struggle throughout my life as it is for every Christian, but I would rather run this race with more of Him in the lead than me.

When I try to control things, it never ends up very good. And I know that is going to be the case every single time, but I still continue to jump in and mess things up. You'd think I would have learned by now! I know the plans he has for me are way better than anything I could imagine for myself, but I really do have a hard time letting go and letting God take the lead.

At the start of the school year, I had all these ideas in my head of what I wanted to do as far as school was concerned, of what I wanted to be involved in, what I wanted the kids involved in. I started out going strong with Him in the lead, but somewhere along the way, I moved back into 1st place and got on the wrong path all-together.

When my mom's cancer went to the next level a few months ago and she started requiring more one on one care, I think that is when more of me started to take over. I thought I could still do this and this and that, AND take care of my mom, AND take over my brother's schooling, AND do everything else in-between. I've had to let go of everything I wanted and focus on what God wanted. And believe me, I put up quite a fight (and still continue to do so).

God is showing me that sometimes it is the most basic and simplest of things He wants me to focus on. There will be a time and place for some of those other things, but that time is not now.

God is showing me that I need to stop giving Him my left-overs. If I start out giving Him the 1st part of my day and I end up having to cut something out at the end of the day...it won't be Him. Who really looks forward to left-overs anyway? 

God is showing me that deviations do not have to equal disaster. That no matter what road-block is placed in my path, he'll lead me around it, over it , or crashing straight through it, but He'll be by my side every step of the way.


God is showing me how to die...

The title of this post came from a beautiful song titled "Show Me" By Audrey Assad. Here is a piece of that song along with a link to hear it for yourself...Believe me, it is beautiful!

"Bind up these broken bones. Mercy bend and breathe me back to life. But not before you show me how to die. God, not before you show me how to die."

You might also want to check out this blog. The post on 11/30/10 titled "Decreasing" has really been an inspiration to me. And I look forward to reading more of her thoughts on this.

Hamburger Experiment

Day 2...

No big changes. The hamburger didn't have any bad smell or odor to it. No bugs or flies. The only thing we noticed was the bread and meat becoming a bit more firm. 

Days 3-4...

The outer edges of the meat and bread were starting to harden a little more. The centers of both were still a bit spongy and the meat was getting darker around the edges.

Days 5-7...

Pretty much the same as above. Day 7 is when we really started to notice the hamburger patty shrinking.

Days 8-10...

On Day 9, we noticed the bun was starting to crack in the center. By Day 10, everything was as hard as a rock and the patty was much darker. Still no smells, no bugs, no nothing.

Wednesday (the 15th) will be the final day of our hamburger experiment. By that time, the hamburger will officially be 2 weeks old. We are pretty much bored with this experiment. Perhaps we'll finish off the experiment by trying to crack the hamburger and bun to pieces with hammers. I think the kids would like that ;) I will post one last review on this experiment including some video clips of the kids thoughts on this whole thing.





I Choose to Believe

This song "Carry Me" so perfectly fits the steadfast faith and belief our mother has in Jesus Christ despite her relentless battle with cancer. I hope you enjoy this little video I put together depicting my thoughts on her battle with cancer...

We're not weird...really...I promise

So....

Someone sent me a web link a month or two back (or did I come across it on a forum?) either way, it was about McDonalds... And I saw this literally the same day I had just eaten a double cheesburger from there, so it was still in my stomach and fresh on my mind. Anyway, this guy had taken video documentation of the changes (or should I say non-changes) in an uneaten McDonalds hamburger over the course of several months and years. We searched around and found several more videos on you tube just like it all saying the same thing...McDonalds hamburgers don't mold and decay like normal patties and buns. So that got me thinking, if the buns and patties don't break down and decay like normal hamburgers, what does that say about the ingredients and preservatives that are in them and how hard do our stomachs have to work to break down and digest them? Needless to say, the kids and I were intrigued (and a bit disgusted) by this and decided we would do our own McDonalds science experiment.

Today, my dad called and wanted to meet us somewhere in L-town for lunch. Lo and behold, the kids chose...you guessed it... McDonalds. So, before leaving, we picked up a plain McDonalds hamburger. We are going to keep it wrapped it its paper in the laundry room and take a picture of it from time to time to document and see for ourselves if it will or will not mold and decay.

And.....

Before you think we are weird or that we'll go crazy on some beef buying binge- let me just say... we will not be adding more to our collection, we will not create a shrine of hamburgers, we do not plan on keeping it long term, and as soon as I start smelling anything funky or start seeing little bugs and flies everywhere, that sucker is outta here! 

If....

McDonalds hamburgers are like this, I wonder how many other fast food places are similar?

We'll be updating the progess in the days to come, so check back soon :)



Click on the 'nutrition' link on McDonalds website to see the ingredients in the buns and patties. http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/full_menu/sandwiches/hamburger.html

Here is the link to that video I mentioned earlier along with some other info. http://www.misinformedia.com/articles/149-mcdonalds-happy-meal-hamburgers-wont-rot-mold-or-decompose

Making Christmas Meaningful

Each year, we try to find new ways to make Christmas more meaningful. It is so easy to get caught up with gifts, lights, decorations and lose sight of what is most important . Last year, we retired our Little People nativity scene and our 'What Does Jesus Want For Christmas' set and passed it on to younger cousins to enjoy. When the kids can tell you what is in every box before you ever even read the Bible Scriptures - you know it's time to move on to something else ;) We needed new and fresh ideas. My sister told me about a book called Redeeming the Season by Kim Wier and Pam McCune. I bought it on sale last Christmas in preparation for this Christmas. I absolutely love this book... So many new, easy, affordable, and inspiring ideas to bring the focus on Jesus!

 

This year, we chose to do an activity called 'Attribute Ornaments'. I purchased 25-30 mini ornaments (last year on sale) to use on a mini-Christmas tree (I had stored in the closet collecting dust). Each day, from December 1st-December 25th, we choose an ornament. We read and discuss a passage of scripture that talks about an attribute (or Godly quality) of Jesus, then we use a permanent marker to write the name of that attribute on the ornament and hang it on the mini-tree. I think the kids will enjoy taking turns looking up the scriptures, reading the passages, and hanging the ornaments on the tree.



Since I gave away the Little People nativity set, my table where it used to set...feels empty. It looks like I'll be hunting around for a more grown up nativity set now :) I really wanted to buy a beautiful hand-carved olive tree nativity set from Salam Ministries in Bethlehem, http://salambethlehem.com/. My sister brought me a beautiful figurine from them when she visited Bethlehem a few years back and I loved the smell and look of it and thought  it would be wonderful to have an entire nativity set made just like that figurine, but the shipping and handling was just as expensive as the nativity set, so I'll stick to looking for one here in the the USA...unless my sister plans another trip to Bethlehem...then I'll send my wish list along with her ;)

MFW Thanksgiving Week in Review

 We decided to take the entire week off from everything this week, so last week, we completed the Thanksgiving Unit in Adventures in My Father's World. The kiddos had a lot of fun. As you saw in my previous post, we went on a virtual field trip to Plimoth Plantation and visited a Wampanoag and some Pilgrims. The kiddos thought the wigwams they made earlier in the year looked similar to the wetu's the Wampanoag's lived in, so they brought those out.

The kids liked making the woven placemats, but it was quite a job for me cutting all those lines. Aleeya made an extra placemat for me and Jase made one for dad. We have been using them all week at the dinner table.

We did not make the Indian vest or the hand and shoe turkey, but we did make the hand turkey. Instead of using crayons, we used paint. We made them at Granny's house, so I did not have my camera to take any pictures, but they were really cute and if you would like to see them they are hanging on the fridge at Granny's house :) 

We saved the games for last and that turned out to be the best part for the kids. We did the twig toss...

 

and the almond pistachio toss (you guessed it - we were out of almonds)...

The only bowl I had large enough to catch them in was a glass bowl and I was definitely not using that. I could just picture the pistachios and the bowl flying through the air. The pisrachios would have made a fine landing...the bowl...not so much.

We found just rolling the pistachios worked the best and the kids had just as much fun seeing who rolled the highest number of pistachios paint side up.

The last game the kids played was the spearing game. Don't know that they ever actually speared the cardboard, but they sure had fun trying :)

The Story of Jonah by Lil' Miss Douglas

This has nothing to do with our adventures in home school, but someone sent this to me. We watched it during our lunch break and my kids loved it! This little girl has such a talent for retelling the story of Jonah. Definitely worth watching...your kids will love it too :)


The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Pilgrims and Wampanoags

Today, the kids and I took a virtual field trip to Plimoth (yes, that is how they spelled it) Plantation. We learned there were no spelling rules back then, so the majority of the people at that time spelled it 'Plimoth', but today it is known as 'Plymouth'.

One thing that was really neat and unexpected was how the people playing the characters in the virtual field trip were the same people we were reading about in The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dagliesh as part of our Adventures in My Father's World Thanksgiving week study. And the kids were the ones to make this discovery! They said "A lot of the Pilgrims travelling on the sea must have named their babies Oceanus because the baby in our story had the name Oceanus too." Sure enough, the girl in the virtual field trip was also named Constance just like the girl in the story, so they must have been the same. Anyway, it was just interesting how it all tied together so perfectly and really made The Thanksgiving Story we were reading about really come to life.

Well, you're probably ok...

I like to stay home and get school done in the mornings and use the afternoons for cleaning, errands, and other things, but sometimes, we have things that come up which require us to get out during the day...during school hours *gasp*

Today was one of those days. We had to drop our cat off at the vet for surgery and the drop off time for surgery is between 8:30 and 9am.. So, while we were waiting, an older couple came in, looked the kids over and proceeded to ask the age old question, "Do you go to school?"  My daughter politely replied, "yes, we do homeschool." I'll save you all the breath-taking details, but I'm sure you get the gist of where the line of questioning went from there...and wait for it...wait for it...yes, the weird, unsocialized sterotypical comment did make an appearance.

You know, I really don't mind answering all their questions and debunking all of their homeshool myths, but the fact some of them are so rude and speak with such ignorance right in front of my children really gets me angry.  

As the conversation rolled on, I enlightened the lady to the fact that I was once a public school teacher. I have been on both sides and it is possible for people (yes, even those without a teaching degree) to successfully teach their children at home and produce normal, intelligent, socialized human beings. At one point after having told her I had a teaching degree and had been a teacher, she told me, "well, you're probably ok." Really? Probably? Inside my head I'm screaming, "Oh no you didn't!!!"

Up until that point, I had been very calm and polite. The ladies behind the vet counter had been listening intently and at that point, I thought their eyes were going to pop out of their heads. The conversation went on just a little more (and yes, although irritated, I refrained from saying what I really wanted to say). Then, thankfully, another lady came out and called me back to the room quickly disrupting all the thoughts swarming around in my head of the things that were about to come spewing out of my mouth). So, I just smiled (or maybe it was a smirk), headed back to the room, and pictured the both of them stepping in a massive mound of dog poop on their way out the door :) (Well, I'm not perfect you know)

While waiting in the room, I thanked God that my kids were on their best behavior EVER and acting "normal" that morning.

A Beautiful Smile

I often see an old man walking up and down Main Street in our town... mainly in the mornings, bundled up in his coat, head down, umbrella in hand ....just walking....sometimes with a small grocery bag in hand, sometimes without.  All sorts of questions flood my mind: Does he have enough food to get him through the day? Does he have any family? Why is he alone? Is he alone by his own choosing? Is he alone due to circumstance and hardships in his life? Is he outcast from society due to something horrible he had done in his past?

Then another thought pops into my head: he reminds me of my grandfather.

My grandfather was a loner of sorts...mostly by his own choosing, the rest from circumstance and hardships in life. He was also a proud man...never wanting to take anything from anyone...even family. Still...we went to visit him often and brought groceries over even though we had to force him to take them. He lived in a very bad part of town...one of the worst you could live in. I remember as a child and teenager, being very nervous (and sometimes even scared) of the area he lived in and never strayed too far from the front porch. Even though he acted as if he didn't really want us to come visit or bring over groceries, I know he enjoyed it. I always saw tears in his eyes when it was time for us to go no matter how hard he tried to hide them... His face and hands weathered from life, but beautiful eyes of blue that glistened with held back tears and a mostly toothless smile that would light up the room, and goofy non-sense jokes that would make his grandkids laugh.

Was this man like my grandfather?

We got a chance to meet that old man today. He was setting outside of the grocery store...resting from his walking I guess. The kids and I passed by, smiled, and asked him how he was doing. Perfect, he said...perfect. Then he smiled, a big, mostly toothless smile that shone from ear to ear brightening the dreary outdoors.  He was like my granfather...worn and old clothing, weathered face and hands, a mostly toothless smile, and eyes that cried out silently for someone to notice him. 

I got the impression that he had a lot of trouble hearing and past the 'how are you part', I don't think he really undertstood what I was saying. So before leaving the grocery store, the kids and I picked up a Thanksgiving card titled 'To Someone Special'. On the way out, we all signed it and I wrote him a little note about his beautiful smile and of how he reminded me of my grandfather. On the outside of the envelope, I wrote 'To Someone Special'.

 The kids walked up to him, gave him the card, and his smile grew even larger. He  read the front of the envelope then looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but refrained. We each smiled and I waved and told him to have a great day. He tucked the card into his pocket and we all went our separate ways.

I hope he reads the card and knows how much his smile has brightened my day and how much it reminded me of my grandfather.

My Grandpa R and J

 

Week 12 Video Review

My little bro, S, will be doing home school with us again until our mom's treatments are through and she feels better.  We spent the past week mainly trying to get into a good school routine and I think we have a plan of action figured out...now if we can only stick to it. With all the kiddos doing 3 different things in school, it can get a bit hectic at times :-/

S joined J and A this week in a few of their history adventures. As you can tell from the video, we have been learning about the 50 states. We focused on the first four states: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia. We also learned about the Liberty Bell. And yes, I realize the colors used in the paintings and in the paper craft were not true to the original. We were already dangerously low on paint and what little we did have left dried up. So we salvaged what we could and worked with what we had.

On Friday, we also had 4-H. The kids love it when the rabbits come to visit. They are such cute little puff balls. The kiddos keep asking for one, but that's just not gonna happen. Most of our fish have all died and we are down from 4 to just 1 hermit crab. On a good note, the cats and dogs are still alive, but, yeah, pet rabbits are just not in the picture.

Be Still and Know...

My mom had a really bad night Sunday night. It scared all of us. Needless to say, noone got much sleep. The quiet drive back to my house (at 2am in the morning), with no other cars on the road-no other noises, gave me some time alone just to be quiet and listen to the Lord. Amidst all the sadness, fear, and hurt, there was still an overwhelming sense of comfort and peace. It's hard to understand and it's hard to describe, but as believers in Christ, I know you know what I'm talking about.

Over and over, God kept reminding me to just be still and know...know that He is God, know that He is in control, know that He has a plan, know that everything will be ok.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a verse that God is constantly putting in my mind. "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "Plans to help you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

Some days are harder that others, but God knows what is going on, I just need to remember that and to 'be still and know'...

Rummage Sale, Silent Auction, bake sale, & more for my Mom

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are having a rummage sale, silent auction, bake sale, and more to help raise money for our Mom's cancer treatment. My Dad's insurance has been giving them an especially difficult time in wanting to reimburse them for her treatments, sometimes refusing payment all together (some wierd thing about her doctor being approved, but not his office he works out of?!?, crazy, I know, but I think their insurance will do anything they can to NOT have to pay).

My family up in the H area is organizing this huge benefit for my mom. It will take place in the H area on Saturday, November 13th (not sure where yet). If you have anything you'd like to donate for the rummage sale, please let me know and I'll make arrangements to pick it up. If you'd like to bake anything, donate items to the silent auction, or anything else, I can arrange to pick that up as well.

And above all else, please remember to keep my mother and our family in your prayers :)

Who Will YOU Pray For?

This is something I have wanted to do with the kids for a while now, but with my mom's poor health and being over at her house alll the time, we just never quite had enough time to get around to it. Well, this Sunday, we had the perfect opportunity to get started.

About a month ago, I found a big beautiful map from the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) website of all the areas of the world where it is illegal or extremely difficult to be a Christian. I want my children to understand how easy we have it here in America and what our brothers and sisters in Christ in other areas of the world have to go through on a daily basis to be a Christian and take a stand for Jesus. I wanted something up and visible on the wall, something that we couldn't help but notice each and every day, to remind us to stop and pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and to also pray that people around the world would come to know Jesus.

The kids had their shoebox lesson in Sunday school and this laid the perfect groundwork for what I had been wanting to do. We watched a video and Ms. Barbara read a story about a young child in the Philippines receiving his first shoe box and later how his whole family received Jesus as their Savior through this simple act. This was especially touching because the kids have a pen pal in the Philippines named Eanjill. She has been our Compassion International sponsor child since well before they were born. We keep a notebook of all the letters and pictures we receive and the kids like to look through them from time to time. I've also told them the story of how Eanjill came to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior many years ago through Compassion International.

Anyway, later that day, we took the kids to Wal-mart and let them pick out things to put in their shoeboxes. Then we came home and the kids packed them. They are hoping the boxes go to the Philippines where Eanjill lives. Here are the letters they included in each of their shoe boxes.

According to VOM, there are parts of the Philippines that are actually considered hostile areas for Christians.  Hostile areas (in red) are areas in which the goverment tries to provide protection for Christians, but they are still victims of violence because of their witness.

Restricted areas (in orange) area areas in which goverment policy or pracice does not allow Christians to have Bibles or Christian literature, prevents them from holding church services/meeting, and includes possible imprisonment, murder, or loss of liberty and/or possessions. 

We plan to do much much more with this map and VOM, but this was a good start. Please check out VOM's website http://www.persecution.com/ There is so much you can be a part of and so much you can pray for... and praying doesn't cost a dime ;)

So, who will YOU pray for?

Outside My Own Little World...

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Snipit from Matthew West's song "My Own Little World"

"What if there’s a bigger picture?

What if I’m missing out?

What if there’s a greater purpose

That I could be living right now

Outside my own little world yeah

My own little world oooh

Father break my heart for what breaks Yours

Give me open hands and open doors

and Put Your light in my eyes and let me see

That my own little world is not about me"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvSwcMp9vU4

Poison Berries?

The past few weeks, we have been learning about the birthday of our country and all the great people and things that made the United States of America what it is today: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, and the 13 Colonies...just to name a few.

The kids learned the Yankee Doodle song and what the words really meant (I learned what they really meant too ;) Of course, they thought the 'macaroni' part was hilarious, as most kids do, until they learned that they really didn't stick pasta noodles in their hats.

I wanted them to make Hasty Pudding to try, but when the kids saw me getting out all the ingredients, they wanted to know where the rest of them were. When I told them milk and cornmeal with just a touch of butter and salt were all the ingredients, they decided they did not want to make it after all. And I didn't push...I saved 2 cups of milk...add a little cereal and we've got breakfast in the morning.

They did, however, want to make quill pens and berry ink. So, we went on a hunt around the yard. Sadly, we did not come across any feathers to use for our quill pens. We did come across what we think were the remains of a stray kitten that had been hiding out in our carport the past several days though. Nothing gross, just lots and lots and lots of black fur just like that kitten had. (Pause with me for a moment while I chase a rabbit). We think whatever got the kitten must have been the same thing that tried to get our cat the other night.  Whatever it was, it was stong enough to bite through our cat's (his name is Hot Shot) leg and sever his tendons. So, on top of everything else I have going on I have to nurse our cat back to health, he will always walk with a bad limp, and will most likely not be an 'outside cat' anymore due to his injury. He'd be a sitting duck for whatever is out there. Jason is going to set up a trap this weekend and see what we can catch though. (Now back to what I was saying...)    

J said we couldn't find any feathers because it wasn't 'bird feather shedding season'. We did find some "berries" though, very pretty purpley pink ones. I told the kids not to eat them because we didn't know what they were. We brought them in and put them in cups to be crushed later and went to wash our hands.  When Big J got home, he looked up the berries and found out they were poison berries and could make you sick if you ate them. Well, we didn't eat them, so we were all ok, but decided not to continue with the crushing part. So, plan B was to head to Wal-mart for more berries. Big J brought home fresh Cranberries. Here's a hint for anyone who ever wants to do this in the future...do not use cranberries, they don't really work. So, plan C...a handful of blueberries and rasberries we had left in the freezer. (I should have gone straight to plan C to begin with, but where's the fun in that?)  Voila! Worked great and the kids drew the pictures you saw in the video using their quill feather pens and berry ink.

Yankee Doodle

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Our 2010-2011 Curriculum

I have a 1st grade daughter, a 2nd grade son, and a 3rd grade brother who often joins us in our home school adventures each week.

This year, we have chosen to continue using Abeka for Language and Math. We have added in Apologia and My Father's World. We use Apologia for science. I let the kids choose from the list of things they had to offer for their ages and they chose Astronomy. So this year, our focus will be on that. I think it is important to allow your kids some say into what they would like to learn. If they are more interested in a certain topic, I feel they would be more engaged and open to learning about that particular topic.

In My Father's World (MFW), we are using the Adventures curriculum this year. We focus more on the Biblical and Historical aspects MFW has to offer. We are loving it! It brings in the Biblical history our country was founded upon and it allows my husband, J, to be a part of our home school adventures. He usually does the Bible part of the curriculum with them in the evenings after he gets home from work. The kids love it and mom gets a little break ;)

Life...

This blog is all about life... mainly our home school life. I think the music group Revive sums 'life' up the best - "It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash, it happens in the time it took to look back, I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time, what is it I've done with my life?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvuxFdM3S58&feature=related

Life really does happen in a flash. Before I know it, my kids will be grown and out of the house...no more time for teaching, no more time for training.

I started this blog mainly to keep a record (for myself, my husband, and my family) of what is going on in my kids lives and in their home school adventures. One day, when they are grown, I'd like to go back and reread it all...bringing back all the memories of what happened, what they did, what they learned, etc..., but most importantly, memories about what God has done in their lives.

God gives each parent the same command and promise, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" Proverbs 22:6. For me personally, this 'training' involves home school. I didn't start out homeschooling for this reason, but God, in His infinite wisdom, knew what I needed to be doing for my children and guided me in that direction long before I truly knew the reason for doing it.

On a side note, if any of you reading this blog have not read the book Kingdom Education,  I highly recommend it. It is a great book and really helped me put things into perspective.

***Now, if you do not homeschool your children, please do not get offended with what I have posted above. This is about my life and what God has shown me that I needed to be doing. I am in no way trying to tell you what you should or should not be doing with your own children, only God can do that. He has a plan for each of our lives and His plans are not always the same for each person.***

So, with that being said - here is what we are doing...