A Lifetime of Love

Thomas completed 5th grade and his third year of homeschooling, and Tanner completed 2nd grade and his first year of homeschooling. I am being completely honest when I share that, although challenging at times, this was the best school year yet! Adding Tanner to the mix meant some scheduling changes needed to be made, but once we established a routine that worked, our days passed quickly and the weeks, and inevitably the months, passed even quicker. 1st day of school- August 2012 I personally enjoyed watching both boys learn, grow, and mature over the course of the year. My favorite subject to "teach" them was history as we focused our studies on the Old Testament. I learned so much about God, the Israelites, and how it all relates to not only the New Testament, but to present day living. I know the boys did, too! After reading our daily passage, we often talked about how it applies to our lives today, or how we are/were like a particular person we read about in the...

The kids and I, except Tristin-Grace, are in Ohio for my sister's graduation from nursing school. Her ceremony is tomorrow, and she is having a party on Saturday.  Every time we visit, I try to take the kids to see a different part of the state. For this trip,  we went to visit Ohio's Amish Country.  Here are some photos of our trip thus far...  Main Street in Millersburg, Ohio...   Lunch in Berlin, Ohio... Since I don't like to be stared at when we're out in public, I didn't take any photos of the Amish people or their buggies. I used today's outing as an opportunity to discuss with the children about being different. I used our own experiences of being in public and questioned or gawked at for being different because we aren't the "normal" size family; the children understood completely!   Annie playing in my mom's backyard... Teagan wearing her new bonnet my mom bought her in Amish Country...

This is a descriptive paragraph written by Tanner. I am copying it exactly as it is written, spelling mistakes included. I am sharing it because it brings me joy to see how such small, simple creatures can mean so much to a child. How do I know they mean a lot? He chose to write about them out of anything in the world.... I have baby chicks. They are very small and colorful. They are covered in feathers and fur. They sound quiet and cherp a lot. When they are scared they cherp loudly. Their feathers feel soft and furry. I like taking care of them and I also like holding them a lot.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. ~Psalm 121 I have read this Psalm many times and I was always a little stumped as to why it used the word "keep" when talking about what God the Father does for His children... and then tonight it made sense to me (so much so that I just had to share!). The word "keep" doesn't mean "prevent," like I originally thought, but rather it means "protect." What an incredible...

This post is to answer some common questions and address the most common myths related to homeschooling. I am going to answer the questions based on my family, so they will be specific answers, but they can generally be applied to any family thinking about homeschooling. How do I get started? No matter which state you live in, you first need to visit the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)  website to find out how to legally homeschool. Every state is different, and each state has its own laws regarding homeschooling. If you are not abiding by the law, you can face fines, serve jail time, lose custody of your children, or all of the above. =( Once you find out the specific law(s) for your state, HSLDA can also put you in contact with local organizations in your area. These organizations connect you to other homeschool families and can help answer specific questions related to homeschooling, provide support and encouragement during your homeschooling years, as well a...

I updated my blog list to include some blogs that I have been following for a while but weren't linked. I also removed some of the links to blogs that were no longer being updated. I may add some more to my list, time permitting. This clean-up/update has been long overdue! :)

My grandmother was the biggest Bon Jovi fan. She had full-length posters of him in her laundry room, bought every newspaper or magazine that wrote an article about him, and recorded every interview with him. She attended several concerts (including traveling out of town), even going back stage to see him personally. Can you guess why? Jon Bon Jovi was my grandmother's great-nephew. His grandfather was the brother to my grandmother. I don't remember when he passed away (it could have easily been before I was born, I honestly have no idea), but my grandmother and Jon's grandmother were very close. My grandmother would visit her in New Jersey, and Aunt Lizzie even came to Akron to visit my grandmother (which is when I got to meet her). My grandmother was very proud of Jon and his accomplishments. Many family members helped Jon to attain the success he enjoys today (but that is another story far too complicated to share), and my grandma was proud of all who were involved in ...