a new week

I'm declaring this week a new beginning.

Of wellness in our home.
Of productive learning.
Of positive progress.

Just like this little lady who is determined to ride
her bike without training wheels.

(excuse the absence of a helmet..it didn't make it to the car and so we promised, just a little practice.)

Her determination is admirable.  She will not let anyone assist her
with a push,  or a steady hand.

She wants to do it herself.

And she will not quit.  

It's amazing how different my children's personalities are and how
much a simple thing like learning to ride a bike can tell me plenty about the way she'll be
for years to come.

She has an "I think I can" mentality.

And she truly believes she can.

No one is going to tell her she can't.

She'll stumble and fall and start and stop.  But she'll get right back up again.

She doesn't get mad.

She gets determined.

And that will serve her well.

Right now.  And all through her life.

Just like her, I'm going into this week believing we can.

We can, with Christ who strengthens us.

And I'm going to begin by counting my thanks....


454. beautiful music
455. pretty patterns
456. a bohemian scene
457. a fun vegan restaurant
458. girl time
459. inspirational talks
460. the sun
461. the silver glow on the brush
462. wheels turning
463. drawing time
464. a vision
465. possibilities
466. a prayer
467. a renewed love
468. a new week


469. A talk that inspired me the most.
        Inspired by this scripture...

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro

throughout the whole earth,

in order to strengthen those whose

hearts are fully committed to him."

2 Chronicles 16:9

ice cream soiree

What pregnant lady doesn't like ice cream?

I don't know a single one.

So it seemed fitting to have an evening ice cream soiree

to celebrate my dearest and oldest friend and her baby to be.

We met in the first grade, and if you've been around here

a little while, you know that means 34 years ago!

I hardly did this alone.

It was a team effort with many ladies bringing homemade ice cream,

waffle cones and toppings galore.

It was an evening soiree up on the deck.

And the cool treat was perfect for this hot September night.

All three are due within weeks of each other.

This night we were celebrating Kimberle, the one in the middle.

watermelon frosty...recipe found here.

Inspiration for the candles, found here.

I'll write more about the banner, garland, and candle making soon!

All in all, I was so grateful the night was peaceful and smooth.

And that my childhood friend felt special.

She and her baby are so blessed and I can't wait to meet him!

427. everything coming together in the nick of time

428. a cool breeze

429. friends

430. growing gardens

431. happy girls

432. hearing, "this is actually fun" about math

433. work

434. feeling confident sharing our choices

435. the end of the assessments for now

436. fall plans

437. a new class

438. ice cream

439. burlap

440. feathers

441. a slow day

442. finally making a miniature garden

442. the quiet 

an unexpected twist

Life has a way of taking unexpected twists and turns.

And Tuesday afternoon, my very active boy

who likes to jump and catapult off most every

surface imaginable decided to jump from a rather high tree.

He didn't land right and his right arm bent in under the weight of his body.

Leading to a clear break right through both bones.

I happened to be testing out a babysitter when it happened.

When I got home I could see it was more than a sprain.

And that landed us in the E.R. for much of the night.

And on the phone with health care providers

and in doctor's offices for much of the next day.

So this day became a science lesson

about x-rays and the chemical reaction that takes place

when the bandage coated in fiber glass meets water

it warms to the touch and starts to harden.

Pretty cool.

So the cast will be on for six weeks,

with no activity for a total of eight.

So much for basketball season that was about to start.

But if I'm going to look at the silver lining

I figure maybe God knew that it was going to be one too many

things on our schedule for the fall.

And now my son knows he's breakable.

That was one of the first things I said to him once it was a confirmed break.

"You thought you couldn't break didn't you?"

And he replied, "yes."

I truly think he thought he was invincible. 

But now he knows, we all break.

And that's why mom and dad say, "Be careful."

And I guess it's kind of a rite of passage.

This weekend was a full one for us.

One which included a boy camp out in our backyard.

That then inspired our girls to want a family camp out the next night.

And so we did.

I hardly took a picture.  Leaving everything behind.

I really wanted to just disconnect.

It was pretty cool. 

And honestly I wondered why we had never done this before.

The boys told me the day before how awesome the sunrise was.

And to think I'd never gone to our deck to see it myself.

In all the years we've lived in our home.

I was rather embarrassed

that I had never seen such a stunning display of God's beauty

literally in my own backyard. 

One rather loud bird

which my husband deemed God's alarm clock

woke us a little before the rays peeked out above the mountains.

The pictures hardly do it justice.

The white ethereal glow over the fog before

the orange rays emerged. 

It was breathtaking.

Once the sun broke through the warmth grew tenfold

and the sheer brightness was overwhelming.

My husband so lovingly went and made coffee to bring up.

And the morning was perfect.

It was like a vacation.

Only we were steps from home.

And so we begin week two for our homeschool.

Tomorrow begins our co-op.

I'm excited and hope the girls both find it fun too.

Mostly I'm praying each of them connects with at least

one friend that can be close for them through this year.

Because although we're still friends with old school friends.

This new journey is a little different and they won't be seeing

those school friends day in and day out.

So to find a close homeschool friend, well that's 

something this mama heart really wants for them.

Because I know how much friendships are important

to us girls.  Especially through our growing years.

409. that gorgeous sunrise

410. a dodger game family date

411. baby shower preparations

412. pretty bird songs

413. the stillness in the air

414. green moss

415. burlap

416. white yarn

417. neighbors with a dog for the girls to play

418. fun math games

419. not having tests to stress about

420. a great sermon

421. lessons learned

422. lime green casts

423. watercolor

424. inspiration

425. the kindness & generosity of other artists

426. plans for october

day one

Who cares that we went right back inside that door to begin school.

I still wanted to document this momentous first day.

And when I asked her to pose with a smile, she spontaneously broke out into this happy dance.

That's what you want to see.  Excitement for learning.

And Lord willing I pray we can end this year with that same feeling.

Both of them were over the moon to begin homeschooling today.

She woke early to find the table ready.

And couldn't wait to dig into the surprise set of clay I left out.

I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Honestly.

You know how very much prayer and planning went into this.

And I sort of jumped in both feet first not sure of how it would really be today.

And praise God, it was peaceful.

I felt the Lord with us.

And I felt my heart warm.

Watching them learning and working together.

Both said their favorite was this teddy bear math manipulative activity.

 And a game of hide and seek with sight words.

Each taking turns hiding and finding.

And of course reading the cards once found.

I have found through their regular classroom experiences

and even at Lindamood Bell that rewards for trying hard

and doing your best work well.

So I adopted something similar using these Dr. Seuss cards I found at Lakeshore.

Each time I'm proud of them for working hard, trying, or helping they get

to add a sticker.  It's definitely a positive way to encourage cleaning up too.

When three cards are filled we'll cash them in at the Target dollar bin or dollar store.

I know all days won't be this smooth and I know we're starting out

with things already covered for the most part.

But I'm just thankful and so blessed the beginning of this journey is off

to a great start.

We have big plans to keep this as fun as possible.

And not to lose all those great things about kindergarten,

like a party on the 100th day of school

Oh and I've so very much been wanting to share with you a post

about the kitchen nook that I've been diligently changing over

into a homeschool room.

I took this as an opportunity to support some etsy artists whose work I admire.

That post will come soon, but here's a sneak peak.

The whole thing just makes me smile.

 And I created some fun things too that I'll share

with you soon.

And this is a part of the scripture I've chosen for the year.

Something I want to hold onto and remember.

It's Romans 15:13

"I pray that God, the source of hope, 

will fill you completely 

with joy and peace because you trust in him.

Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."

What a powerful promise to claim over our lives.

To overflow with confident hope through His power.

To be filled completely with joy and peace, 

because I trust in Him.

That is what led me here.

And I want to stay in that place.

And teach my girls to live their lives this way.

And so with confident hope I'm jumping in with both feet.

Because I trust him.

392. smooth mornings

393. kid's making their own lunches

394. a gymnastics class for homeschoolers

395. new friends through this new adventure

396. that happy confident sheer joy on her face

397. books on tape

398. a drive not as bad as anticipated, most of the time

399. help lining up

400. plans for fun party favor making

401. a clean space

402. instrumental praise music

403. an absence of stress

404. being the home where friends want to visit

405. dinner plans

406. seeing my son spread his wings

407. & being a leader in creative play 

408. hearing them say, "I liked our first day."

I went into this wondering if I could meet their needs,
would I be frazzled, would I misplace things?
Would I hold their attention?
Would I be able to navigate around difficult moments to
help things make sense?

And I realized first of all, we all already do that naturally as moms.
We are their first teachers.  This is more instinctual than you think.
(I'm speaking to myself)

And there are absolute directions for everything.
I'm not making this up.
I'm following directions.
I'm tweaking it when needed.

And when my daughter says I'd like to circle that with a heart instead.
Or can I color the whole thing in, instead of just the part it says.
Well, as the teacher I get to say, "Sure go ahead."
Because here she's not going to get in trouble for not following
the directions absolutely.  Plus she asked first.

Speaking of that I came across one of the most interesting
articles about education that I've read in a long time.
It was titled, "Would You Hire Your Own Kids?"
I really believe in what Tony Wagner is talking about.
His site has plenty more to dig into too.

We've wiped out that stress of studying for the test.
Or the anxious nights and mornings about school.
With that gone, we're all more at peace.

And finally, I realized they are eager learners.
They want me to pour into them.
And they have the most forgiving, sweet spirits.
Even if I do mess up, they're not going to hold it against me,
because I'm their mom.
And they love me unconditionally.
What an honor it is to get this chance to pour into them.
All the while, I most certainly will be learning right along with them.

For the "Not" back to school blog hop I'm linking up to, I'm supposed to give a run down of our day.

Ok, so now you get to see how super crazy our schedule really is.

We have a ten year old in school, many cities away from where we live.

So I rise at 6:10, get some exercise while the coffee is brewing.

I read my devotionals & drink that coffee.

My youngest wakes on her own around 6:45

At 7:00 I wake the other two.

They eat breakfast and get dressed and I shower.

We're out the door at 7:50.

I get back home with the girls at 9:15.  

Yes. It's that long round trip because of the distance and the traffic.

Long story short is the school moved, but it's his fifth grade year.

He has six kids in his grade and really wanted to finish out his

elementary years with them.  I feel like I need to honor that.

So the girls are so excited to start by 9:30.

We do our devotional, opening prayer and discussion

about the calendar, day, week etc. and then move into math.

We break by 10:00 for a snack.

And then from 10-11 we did language arts, handwriting,

and spelling.

At 11:30 I read to them till 12:00 and had them read a little to me.

Then it was time for lunch.

I'm easing into this, not trying to do too much right away.

And this felt like the perfect place to take a break.

Today we we had the best of intentions to start a new tap class for Ava

and ballet and tap for Audrey.

So we needed new, bigger shoes.

After lunch and some free play time we headed out for the shoes

then off to pick up brother at school.

From there groceries for the week.

Which put us in pretty bad traffic getting home.

Thank goodness for books on tape.

We've been listening to "The Secret Garden".

Once home I had enough time to throw the food that would spoil in the fridge.

We then raced through bad traffic again to make it to the 5:30 class 

in the nick of time.

Oh I forgot to mention they ate while we

grocery shopped.  It's a funny habit of ours.

But thankfully, because of that the girls weren't starving.

The classes, didn't go so well.

My poor daughter who struggles with dyslexia

and an auditory processing disorder found all the combinations too fast 

and I saw her holding in tears as she struggled to keep up.

She is a great dancer, but it was too much and way too much noise

for her to handle.  

So we left with her in tears begging to not go back.

The teachers were so kind and did their best.

But not everything is a good fit.

And Audrey, well she felt a little too old for her class.

So we'll keep looking.

Anyway, that put us getting home at 7:00 to have our real dinner.

My best laid plans were also shelved 

in exchange for turkey dogs, green beans and left overs.

My son showered, but the girls we skipped bath in light of how late it was.

Then it was off to bed for all, including me.

I had one of those nighttime naps, which I woke from

to remember I wanted to write this post.

And now it's officially midnight and time to clock out for good.

Did that just bore you to death?

I hope not. :)