Guest Post: Head Over Heels

Today, my husband offered to do a guest post here at Mama Flock.  It is S's 18th birthday today and he offers a unique perspective on our lives with our daughter that I enjoyed reading.  I hope you do, too...

Head Over Heels

I knew this girl once. She was eight years old and had just come to live with us. She was a foster kid and we were foster parents. A good match at least on that count, I suppose. Her two younger brothers lived with us already so, you know, it seemed like a good idea to keep the family together. They’d already lost so much.

A New Day

So much has happened over the past week or two that I haven't been on my computer much.  Most of the "stuff" has been little and insignificant, but there has been one major change that has affected us all and until we notified our family and closest friends, I was reluctant to say anything here.

I could still say nothing here, but then I wouldn't have a good explanation about my distraction from all things blog.  Also, as Christians, I think it's important to share our joys and our burdens so that we can understand each other better as real live people and not just text on a page. 

Graduation, Anniversary, Birthday Party and the Zoo

In an effort to quickly recap our very busy weekend (and Monday), I'm combining three big events and a trip to the zoo into one post.  Sad, I know, but it's this or wait a long time because I still have makeup posts to do from months ago (it seems).

1.  Graduation

The day we've been waiting for finally arrived.  First of all, let me just say that without my husband, my extended family and my very helpful and kind friends, this day would have been a disaster in the making!  First of all, some public thank you's ...

One Week To Go

One week from today, we will be graduating our daughter, S, from high school.  I am still in shock over this.

There's a lot to do this week, too.  The house needs to be readied for the celebration, we'll be picking up my mom at the airport Thursday, making lists and schedules to be sure it all comes together as well as possible.  We definitely don't want to be late to the ceremony!

It's all very challenging.  I'm also on a last minute cram to finish up transcripts for her and my, oh my, what will we give her as a graduation gift?!

Lent, Day 4

So today, I can't narrow down my list of things I'm thankful for to just one.  Bear with me...

1. I'm thankful for my Bible study ladies who get up early and give up time on their Saturday mornings to spend time in the Word with me (and each other) learning about Daniel.

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?

Life Skills

I think most parents naturally teach their children a variety of life skills in the everyday occurrences of life.  However, lately, I have been thinking a lot about the idea of life skills and with one daughter a year away from adulthood (and possibly leaving home if her plans of joining the military come to pass), I was starting to wonder if we have taught her enough of the right kinds of life skills.

Abundant Grace

Our daughter, S, is 17 today.

I have to let that stand alone because I seriously am in denial about having a 17-year-old daughter!  I mean, we didn't meet her till she was eight, so 17 kind of snuck up on us pretty quickly.

A Busy Weekend + Another Doctor's Visit

Hello all.  While I wait for the right moment to do Day 4's journal entry, I wanted to post a little about this crazy weekend we just had.

Friday (I count Friday as part of the weekend because my brain is already in that mode):

Beach (I posted about that already), then J's dress rehearsal for her dance recital -- 3 long hours! -- where I was a rebel and snuck some photos of the girls practicing on stage (without flash).  Other moms were totally doing it, too, so I caved to peer pressure.  Plus, you know, I had my camera right there... so...

Saturday

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

High School Homeschool Help

I'm always searching for ways to better educate our kids -- new books, new materials, new techniques, new resources and most of all, new, inexpensive ways to make what we do even more exciting for them.

Thoughtful Thursday: Teenager Angst

Why do I cringe every time our teenage daughter starts talking about living on her own or being married or driving or decorating her place some day or becoming a mother herself?  I mean, she's a teenager.  She's naturally supposed to drive me crazy and make me want her to be on her own and out of our house, right?

Happy Moments

Amidst the hot of our house and the busy of our days, I've been making a point to catalog some particularly happy moments to share with you here:

Teenage Quote of the Week

We have gone round and round with our teenage daughter and trying to help her make good, safe, Godly choices with regards to her computer use and her cell phone.  Most recently, she lost her cell phone (not the first time) for two weeks for texting people we do not know -- which is against our family rules.