I am Loveable!

This was some answers from a homework sheet titled "I am Loveable" that Connor had from his kids group bible study at Court Street Christian Church this week. This is worth preserving!!!

Three positive things that describe me are:

1. Active
2. Energyiesd

3. Teeth Loser

Talents that I have are:

1. Sports

2. Running

3. Playing tag (the only runaway)

Cool names that God has given me are:

1. Boomanchew

2. Bonnor

3. Boo

When I look at myself in the mirror, I like:

1. The holes in my mouth

2. My teeth growing in (perminint teeth)

3. My clothes

I knew that losing his teeth was a pretty big deal but it looks like it was bigger than I thought! I am thrilled to see him so confident and that he did not leave one blank on this form! Sometimes it can be hard to see good things about ourselves and I love that they did this exercise with them! Now, I thought I would turn it around and show him how I would fill this out for him....

Three positive things that describe you:

1. Kind - You have a huge heart!

2. Determined - Passionate

3. Smart

Talents that you have are:

1. Athletic

2. Artistic

3. An incredible memory

Cool names that God has given you are:

1. Son

2. Brother

3. Friend

When I look at you I see:

1. Perfection

2. Endless Possibilities

3. One handsome dude!

I love you so much and I hope that you can always see the positive things within yourself, the way God made you. You are SO loveable and I am blessed to love you each and every day!

Forced to Facebook?

I have not jumped on the facebook or twitter bandwagon. I do have a facebook account and it has been fun to find people on and get back in touch with a few old friends. I think if people want to post silly small things on it and others are interested, they should do that.

However....I have found that people are posting majorly important things on there and if I don't check it at least once in a while, I am missing out! For instance, it is through a chance check in on facebook that I learned of our dear missionary friends down in Mexico and the evacuation they faced due to floodwaters in the camp that could of destroyed their home. It is through another chance check that I learned of a pregnancy and then a miscarriage that happened in a friend's life. I am grateful that I did check and was given the opportunity to pray for both of these families, but it also has left me slightly frustrated! If you don't check at the right time, you can really miss out!

Please people....I do not like feeling forced to facebook! Stick to things like....craving a coffee, slept in to late, why did Brett Favre throw that ball?, colored my hair, it is raining, going to the store, and other unimportant day to day stuff!

Don't forget how to write a letter, send an e-mail or even....pick up the phone! If you really want to keep people "posted"....start a blog!

Just a little tidbit of updates...

I have been using Sonlight home school curriculum now for 2 years and I do love it! One of the reasons I love it is because when I am worried about my kids missing something...a week later, I pull out my catalog to prepare my order for our next Core (bible, history, geography) and there it is....

A nifty little unit on..guess what? Yup, you guessed it...Map Skills!

So for all of you that have been losing sleep worried that my boys wouldn't make it through life without it...there it is.

Now, I can take a deep breath, relax and think about adding something fun to the mix like..oh I don't know....how about...critical thinking!

Also, and I told Connor the other day that he was going to try a turkey sandwich for lunch and he proceeded to tell me that he would like the opportunity to write another persuasive letter to earn the right to plan his own lunches for the week! So precious....not going to happen yet, but precious:)

A Lesson in Bones

In my effort to make myself more aware of what the hec is going on in the world, I did what any homeschooling mom does....I ordered a magazine for the kids to add to the curriculum! I figured handling the world news on a 2nd grade level is probably all I can handle anyway.

So, our very first issue of Taking Off came and we are having fun so far! There was a great article on Native Americans, the boys love the maps and the spread on the great white shark spurred some great breakfast conversation this morning. However along with that came something better today....The article on bones.

There was a story of a little boy with cancer who received a bone that would grow with his arm after removing the one that had the cancer. They said nothing like that had been tried before, it was the first one of it's kind and let me tell you it is pretty cool. I just casually mentioned to Connor how cool that was and how that is one reason we didn't do "the surgery" when he was a baby. We were worried about the bones in his fingers not being able to grow with the rest of his hand. He looked at me very confused and I said, "haven't I told you about that?" He said no and I guess since he was around when we made the decision, I just assumed he knew:)

So, I didn't make a big deal about it, but I briefly told him that we considered a surgery when he was just 8 months and that there were many reasons why we decided not to go through with it. He just had this matter of fact look on his face and he said..."that is good mommy, it would be fine." I said what would be fine, not sure what he meant and he said.."my little hand is fine just the way it is." Then we looked at the hand bones and counted how many he probably has and he thought it was really neat.

I'm sure that this won't be the only time in his life that it comes up but it felt good to have the first out of the way. As a parent, I have wondered how he would react to our decision. I have NEVER regretted our decision for a second, but wondered if he would wish we would have gone through with it. So, since he is a pretty smart and mature kid, I felt great about "our talk."

I go through days without even remembering about his little hand and have never treated him any different. As a matter of fact it has been the opposite most of the time. I tend to look at things after and think...mmmm...maybe that might be hard for him; the bike, the scooter, speed stacking and piano just to name a few. However, none of that has been. There are only two things that I can even say that boy has struggled with and those are the monkey bars and tying his shoe. I am pleased to report that he can do both and I was filled with pride as he worked so hard to accomplish those.

He has also become more confident and is able now to say..."That is just the way God made me, I was born like that," when someone asks about it. I just knew that day would come! Thank you Jesus!

Heart Change

I had a major breakthrough today. I realized something very important along my mothering journey and that is that...

I AM a great mom....

WHEN things are easy.....





I have to admit that I have had it pretty easy with my boys. I know I am not anything special as a mom, God just gave me good kids. That is SO true, but I have had to really buckle down and do some parenting these past few weeks and let me tell you it is NOT easy! I realized over the past few weeks that I wanted to be lazy, shovel out some consequences and move on. However, God has laid on my heart the more important goal....raising those adults and turning these "issues" into teaching moments to reach their hearts and change the reason for the behavior and not just the behavior. I have seen actions in my kids that break my heart but also am honored to witness their desires to please God. I have learned that at times I sail through this job without relying on the wisdom of the one who created them and lean on my own understanding which left me hopeless and frustrated.



So, we started praying together, for each other, and really talking about how they were treating each other. We talked about putting another first and the sin of selfishness. We tried to identify the root causes of being unkind to one another and the boys looked up and memorized verses to help them when they struggle.



A fool gives full vent to his anger but a wise man keeps himself under control. Proverbs 29:11 was Brody's.



Connor chose; Watch and pray so you will not fall into temptation, the spirit is willing but the body is week. Matthew 14:16



The amazing thing is and the reason I write this is because not only have they stopped arguing but they have done a complete turnaround in the way they treat each other. On their own, they have started doing random acts of kindness for each other such as making each other's bed, getting them something without asking, giving up the coveted "stool", sharing precious items, and turning down beds at night! They are almost arguing to let the other go first which is kind of cute:) (for now anyway)


"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
Ephesians 3:20, NLT

I hope that these past few weeks will serve as an example and a reminder how different I parent when I turn to God and His word and focus on the heart of my kids. I love seeing them show kindness because it is what God word tells us to do and not just because they don't want to loose a privilege or a toy.

I know that having two boys 23 months apart will make this a reoccurring theme and lesson and I will continue to pray for the friendship growing between them. I hope they always see each other as the gift from God they are to me and to each other.

Writing Assignments

I just have to share two assignments that were done by my boys today in school.

Brody was given a journal writing task. He has done many of these and usually whenever he is writing something he will ask me how to spell each word he doesn't know or think he knows. I know there are people that think you should just let them write, but I have also read that you should never let them write a word wrong thinking it is OK because that could get stuck in their minds. So, I have decided to play it safe down the middle...so much for consistency. Anyway, today I encouraged him to just write and show mommy when he was done. He wrote the sweetest entry all by himself and was SO proud! I believe it to be priceless! I hope it shows up...

Now, onto Connor's....

His writing project this week was to write a persuasive letter which he found to be very exciting. We first brainstormed a list of potential topics, all of them being in the category of something mom and dad won't let him do that he thinks he should. A few of his topics included double dessert and riding without a car seat. When I explained to him that he had to come up with valid reasons why we should let him do what he picks he chose this one...

"I think we (so cute that he includes Brody) should be allowed to stay up until 10:00 on Fridays."

This is what he came up with and I have to say....he sold Daddy on it at dinnertime:) I'm guessing we can expect many persuasive letters in the future...mmmmmm.

I just love it when they get excited about an assignment and it made my day today!

Map Skills????

One of the huge downsides to homeschooling for me is the "burden" I sometimes feel. In reality is a HUGE responsibility but there are days when I just question everything. Will I teach them everything I should? Am I covering all the subjects? When should we do that? What if I miss something?

It came up that a friend in private school, in the same grade as Connor has a lot of map skills for social studies assignments. I realize that I spent days mildy "stewing" over this. We study a lot of geography but as far as actually using a map we haven't done any of that, so some feelings of inadequacy and worry crept in.

I am happy to report that I have resisted to urge to head to Rainbow Resource and order the latest, greatest map skills curriculum to feel good about my homeschool plan! I realize that I usually only feel bad when I compare to what others are doing which can be healthy and also dangerous at the same time. For me, mostly dangerous. It has helped me though to re focus on what is really important and why I have started this journey in the first place. I have to come to the conclusion that there WILL be things we miss, but I pray it is the little things like map skills. I want to keep my focus and my worry on the big things like teaching a life centered on God's word, instilling a strong moral compass for my kids and raising kids that can care for themselves and others. I have to remember that the "academics" are only a part of why we homeschool and then I take a deep breath and just pray...

Besides, really...have the schools not heard of GPS?

I guess I did it!

It has been almost a month and I really miss blogging. I have decided to shove away once and for all (at least here) my OCD and just get back into it. This is how sick I can be....

I started to get behind and figured things just had to be a timely order. I can't possibly start a new idea without talking about the Christmas trees we made at a party or how we celebrated early because we left for 2 1/2 weeks to travel to California and even take a cruise to Mexico.

Oh and of course I couldn't possibly post on the above topics without having some picture representation which could only happen after going through over 300 pictures I took in that time period:)

I have a list of topics just waiting to be written about in a notebook which really goes against the whole point of blogging for me.

I had to really refrain from waiting until the 14th to post this message to make it an "even month" since I blogged last.

Seriously, the insanity stops now....if I can find the courage to hit that publish post button....