When I'm Not Sure What to Write...I Write Everything

As always, the most "cooperative" photo subjects around.  Ha.

I have done a dozen or more of these kind of "general update" posts in the past and I'm afraid that's what you're going to get from me this time.  I have such writer's block lately!  So for those of you who like to know basically what's going on with our family currently, this is a post for you.

Homeschooling: New Family Adventure Book Coming

Preliminary illustration from the book's illustrator, HeatherBlu.

Hello Friends,

I am excited to tell you about a new book that is currently in the making.  I can hardly wait to see it published and read it with our kids.

On Faith, Trust and Dating

Rio Grande Zoo, Albuquerque, NM

In recent months, our daughter, S, has been forging a very good friendship with a young man her age.  They are at a point where they are holding hands now and then (so cute) and when I ask them to pose for a picture, they instinctively lean together and sometimes he puts his arm around her (even though for a long time, photos of the two of them might lead people to think they were complete strangers who happened to end up in the same shot).

Lent, Day 34 and So On

I still have a lot of other things I want to blog about when I have some spare minutes ... or hours.  But I don't want to fall down completely on the whole Lenten Thankfulness thing!  It's what's kept me going over this very busy season of life.

My A to Z

I'm jumping on the bandwagon and filling out this A to Z questionnaire to warm me up into this day.  I may post more stuff later...

Available or married?

Happily married.

Teen Books That Even She'll Love to Read

I've been bragging on our teen daughter, S, lately and how amazing she is to me.  Granted, she is still completely human and has struggled and rebelled like the rest of us have.  However, at her core is just a compassionate, mature, phenomenal person that I am honored to have in my life.  I am awed by her strength and grace just about every day in big and small ways.

How did she get to be so incredible, you ask?

School DAZE

The first week back to school is always a tough one as we get back into our usual full-time school routine.  So time for blogging is minimal for sure.  But I wanted to get on here before today starts just to give a quick update how things are going so far.

Homeschool ebook Sale: 53 for $25

Hey Homeschoolers!

Be sure to go TODAY to check out Mama Jenn's site for this incredible bargain...

The sale is today (8/21/12) through Saturday (8/25/12) only.

Top Ten Questions from Walking By The Way

I recently began following the blog Walking By The Way when I noticed some really cute printables she makes that are part of the lifeblood of our homeschool.  Today, she is asking her readers ten questions.  I decided to post my answers here in my blog (and give her a link) because I thought maybe some of you wonder this stuff about our family, too.  If not, feel free to skip ahead and I'll write to you later.

So, let's get started, shall we? 

Journaling: Day 25

Today's prompt led to a journal entry that came very naturally to me.  There are so many things I wish for our children.  But the hard part is selecting just one to highlight for my journal entry.  Here is what I decided on...

End of Year Evaluations

After final exams, I finish up each school year with evaluations -- this is usually a series of questions that make the kids think about their school year and their future, so we can record their state of mind about things for posterity.  Fun, right?  This year, I did the same.  I found questions from other teachers online and made up some of my own.  It was fun to sit down with each kid to go through their thoughts and ideas this way (the older kids did theirs on their own, but it's so fun to read).

I don't want to bore you with all of the answers, so I'll just share my favorites here:

1. What is something we did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life?
J: The shark craft using two cups.  Even though mine is wrecked now, I still remember it.

Final Exam Results

Now that the tests have been administered and graded, I thought I would share some of the results.  The kids did great and I'm really proud of them.  It's funny, because their test results not only show me how much they have learned, but they also help me know how effective I've been in teaching them.  I feel good about those results this year, too, but only because the kids did so well.

I Added a Widget!

So, I'm still figuring out all the ins and outs of blogging and what works and what doesn't (thank you for your patience).  Today, I discovered a widget that I'm trying out and I successfully installed it down below.

Scroll down to see the new way I've posted my favorite books.  Let me know what you think.

I'm just impressed I was able to figure out how to do it without my husband's help!  Wild.  I feel so tech-y now.

I just wish I could figure a way to link them to my posts about those books. :-\  One thing at a time.

Saturday

I know it's technically Sunday, but I'm posting about what happened Saturday (hence the title).

Some Updates & Stuff

First of all, I have to share with you a cute homeschooling story because I've waited two days for an opportunity to blog it and finally, here I am.

For our 7-year-olds, who are just in the beginnings of learning to read, we do a "Word of the Day" most days.  These are service/sight words that come from the Dolch word lists.  The other day, our word was: at.

When we introduce the word of the day, I try to get them to sound it out (some of them are hard to sound out like "the" and are better memorized) and then we play a rhyming game with the word before having them each create a complete sentence (verbally) using the word.

So on the at-day, they listed off some obvious rhyming words: hat, mat, cat, rat... and then I gave them some clues for a few more.

Lots To See

I found a book on clearance yesterday that makes a good addition to our homeschool reference section and it's called 1001 Historic Sites You Must See Before You Die.

You know the kind.

This Week's Joy Moments

I think I've mentioned how despite a very difficult time in our lives -- just overly challenging in more ways than I can count -- the Lord has really been working in me to Seek Joy amidst every day.  Those words, "Seek Joy!" are the banner on my cell phone.  I have a piece of carved word art in my kitchen in bright red that reads: "JOY."  I try to visually remind myself in every way to seek joy no matter my immediate circumstances.

Why We Do

Recently, I was hanging out in a Dollar store while I waited for two of our kids who were taking an art class.  I was purchasing a few items for our upcoming homeschool Valentine's party that I was putting together with some other homeschooling family friends we know.  A teenager we know from church was there and he saw me loading up the checkout belt with my items and wondered why I was buying those things.  I explained what they were for and he asked this question, which I've been asked many times over the past three years or so in some form or another, and that's...

"Why don't you have your kids in real school?"

He Is

This morning on our drive to church service, I began singing a praise and worship song that seemed to be stuck in my head from the time I woke today.  Our oldest son, H, was riding with me (we'd split into two cars because after church, some of us had to be one place, while the others wanted to go their way) and he said, "Hey! I woke up to that song on my alarm clock."

The song was Matt Redman's You Never Let Go and as with most songs I hear, it's the chorus that fixes itself in my brain best.  I explained to H how that song has carried me through some of the darkest, most difficult moments I've faced in the past year.

The Mulberry Bird: An Adoption Story

Most other people are at least mildly suspicious about how our children came to be ours when they see us together.  Our family has a diversity of appearance that is unexpected by people who are meeting us for the first time.  Some curious people come right up and ask us if the kids are adopted and others stare from afar and wonder.  I'm not sure which is best.  To constantly discuss the adoption of our kids in front of them makes them feel self-conscious and to have people gawking isn't much better.

At any rate, we have grown used to questions and stares over the years and though I don't know what might be the best way to teach others to be kind and curious -- besides just loving us for how we are, even if you don't know the how and why -- it has given us many opportunities to help educate others about adoption.