Happy Anniversary to the Man of My Dreams

11 years ago today I married the man of my dreams. I kid around alot, but you're the best husband any woman could want. Happy Anniversary Pappy B. I love you.

Shamgar's Fifteen Minutes of Fame

After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath saved Israel. Shamgar killed six hundred Philistines with a sharp stick used to guide oxen.
Judges 3:31

Wow! The boys and I are reading through the Old Testament. Today was Judges 3. After discussing Othniel and Ehud I almost missed Shamgar. Mason, who always reads ahead, said "Whoa, mom, read the next verse." He was amazed at this feat performed by Shamgar, as he knows that Philistines were usually heavily armoured and armed military men.

Should You Shelter Your Kids?

The second most annoying question home schoolers are asked (the first being 'What about socialization') is 'Aren't you afraid you are sheltering your kids from real life?'. Check out this guys answer to the question 'Should you shelter your kids'.



http://branthansen.typepad.com/letters_from_kamp_krusty/



On a side note, I was amused at his statement about not caring if you homeschool your kids or not. He obviously gets the same response I do when people find out we homeschool. If they have kids of school age, they volunteer a list of reasons they don't homeschool. I find this amusing, as I NEVER say "we homeschool, why don't you?"

Happiness

Laine wrote this in her 10th grade Literature class during a freewriting assignment. I think it is worth sharing.

"Happiness is a decision. I'm learning how true that is. Happiness is not based on circumstances, or things, or other people. It is a choice made solely on yourself. I see evidence of this everyday by coming in contact with people better off than me who are miserable but also people worse off who truely enjoy every moment of life they are granted. The question I ask is "How?" How does one go about making this lifelong, lifealtering decision of happiness. If it depends on nothing then why is it so hard to make?"

I'm Baaaaack

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to try to blog at least a couple of times a week. I'm awful at journaling so it would be nice to be able to look back at my blog and see what has happened to us over time.

So much has happened in the last 4 months. Anyway, we are now in the process of pulling the kids out of GVA/K12 (Georgia's newly approved virtual public school) and returning to traditional homeschooling. Bryan is changing jobs. My sister and her family are moving to North Carolina. This will be especially devastating to Eli, whose best friend is his nephew Tyler. Our church is moving. So much change in so little time. My head is spinning.

Am I This Bad?

Laine said that this commercial reminded her of her parents................

First Week of School

Wow! What a week! This K12 curriculum takes some getting used to. I don't know if we'll stick with it or not. I'm going to try to get super organized this weekend and see if that helps.

The great part of this week was being reminded of the joy that comes with seeing your children discover things for the first time. The joy of seeing them get excited about learning new things. Kind of like when they took their first step or said their first word but on a different level. What a privilege.

We learned about Adam & Eve and how they tried to hide their sin from God just like we do today. We learned how Satan sneakily twisted God's words instead of just lying. Just like he does today. We learned from Cain & Able that God wants our best and is very displeased with less. We learned that Adam was Noah's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.
And that Methuselah, Noah's grandfather, died the year the flood began.

We learned Oremus means let us pray and much more in Latin. The boys think Latin is really cool. Kind of like a secret language.

Math is really fun. I get to refresh and relearn with them so I'll be ready when they reach the higher levels. It's cool to see the light go on when they learn a new concept.

History right now is geography, my weakest subject, so I'm learning right along with the kids. I think I'll always be directionally challenged, though. No comments, Chill.

Eli thinks science is cool because he gets to do experiments, Mason would rather just learn the info and take the test.

I pray each day that I will be a good student of my kids and that God will lead me to be the mom he wants for his children.

I strive to be a mom like this...................