Homeschool

I figured I would start with homeschool as my first entry of the things the Lord has taught me. I hope this will encourage you along your road wherever God may lead you.

I knew I wanted to homeschool the moment I had Hunter. I couldn't dare leave him and it was such a burden, the funny thing is I didn't even know the Lord at that time. I wasn't saved. But my heart yearned to always have him near.

Once my divorce happened unfortunately that couldn't be a reality until everything was finalized through the courts, because the court system frowns on homeschooling. So I had to send him off to kindergarten.

After everything was finalized, he was home with me. First grade on the way and teaching Lauren to read and the world was great, and Emma was a litte one just rolling around. It was awesome. I will tell you, I have never, even on my worst day ever wished for my children to be anywhere else, but with me. That isn't to say that others have been there and I know of a few, but God didn't make me like that and though our days aren't always smooth and perfect, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

Homeschooling was a burden put on my heart by the Lord long before I knew him. I was saved and it was still a burden, I followed what the Lord has called me to do and I feel completely blessed. I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

We use mainly textbooks because I want my children to be independant learners who are eager to learn. I also don't want to be the one that leads them in any direction, but that they feel responsible and then held accountable for their work. That leaves me time to cook, clean up and care for the little ones that aren't quite ready for table time. I can also be a better manager of my time with textbooks because I can easily figure out how much work needs to be done each day in order to finish school at the right time.

I also enjoy homeschooling because it lends itself to me being able to see where they may be lacking and stop any further momentum and work on what we need to till it is mastered. No where is any child ever going to get that kind of education.

I have been able to teach my children to read, to do math, to do chores, clean up and they are each other's best friends even though like all siblings have their moments. I get to help them with character development, read the Bible, pray, teach the piano and so much more.

Homeschooling has bought our family closer, it has taken me at times out of my comfort zone, it has taught me a lot of my sinful nature, and shows me each day how dependant I am on my God. Because without Him I wouldn't be able to do half of what I do.

My husband is a wonderful support who loves his family in ways I am so proud of. He truly is a man of God trying so hard, even though he works out of the home. He loves to play with the kids, wrestle, read books, and play outside with them, which gives me a little quiet time.

Homeschooling gives me the opportunity to protect my children from things I don't want them to know or see. Though I can't protect them from everything as I am learning, I will not send them into the lion's den until they are ready. I want to equip them the best that I can for the world, and fill them with so much of God's love that nothing else will matter to them

Am I perfect? Some think so. :) Am I saint? (I hear that one a lot). No I am not. I get angry, yell, lose my cool, get impatient, frustrated, and most of all I am selfish. But I choose to obey the Lord in what He has asked me to do and I see his blessing and most of all his pruning me and growing me to shape me more like him.

I hope that if you have the choice you will weigh the choices carefully. But for our family it has been such a tremendous blessing I couldn't imagine anyone else choosing anything different because I don't want anyone else to miss out. Our children grow so fast and before we know it they are gone, I feel blessed that I get to spend a lot more extra time with them.

God bless.

Any questions or comments please leave them, I would be happy to share about our curriculum as well.

Small Blessings

This may sound so crazy but I am so thankful for my husband and the way that he provides for our family. Our house hasn't been really cleaned for quite a few weeks because I just can't right now. So we hired cleaning ladies. They were here today and so awesome! I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to have a clean house, and feel the clean and to smell the clean. What a blessing! The kids and I can now keep it up since it isn't so daunting and my darling husband will have them come out every 3 weeks until Madeline arrives. What a stress relief that one is. God is good and way too good to me!

I Am Here...

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, just extremely busy as I get used to a new schedule. Both Hunter and Lauren are on swim team and that has been very interesting. They have workouts Monday - Thursday from 4pm -5pm, which means I have to leave the house by 3pm to make sure we make it on time. Because we live WAY outside of town. It has been challenging and tiring. We make it home late for dinner and so I try and have all that prepared and ready to be heated when we get home. Definitely makes for me being super organized on the dinner end. So we are working on learning how to manage that time to make sure we maximize it to our best ability.

I have been reading "Family Driven Faith" and highly, highly recommend this book. I am almost done and it has been absolutely encouraging and wonderfully family oriented. I am really enjoying it.

We have about 6 weeks left if Madeline decides to join us around the same time the other kids have. So we are excited and getting the house ready. We had our tile and grout cleaned, the carpets cleaned, purchased a few big area rugs and will have someone come in and deep clean for us. The house will be in perfect order at that point. I am very excited.

Life has just been normal and trying to work on school and finishing school to accomodate our new schedule. But God is so good and teaching me so much about myself and him. Here are a few things I have learned and am working on and I hope to post more indepth about each subject to give you a practical way to handle these situations should you come across them.

1.) Homeschooling
2.) Clothing
3.) Church
4.) Reading His Word
5.) Praying
6.) Teaching
7.) Being a godly family
8.) My Divorce
9.) My Children
10.) Meek and Quiet Spirit

I hope to post on these individually just so you can read how these have impacted my life and perhaps help others to either not fall into these deceptions or different ways to overcome them in your own life.

Have a blessed day.

Great Mornings Start With This...

This is how I spend each morning. And though I try to be diligent, sometimes little one wake a little earlier than normal, but I always find time for my Savior who loves me and deserves my first. I hope that this will challenge you to make Him your first each day. You will definitely see a difference, I guarantee it.

Have a blessed day.

Anniversary Pictures!

So here we are back home safely after 4 days of bliss. My mind is still on the ocean and the cool breeze blowing. It was the most incredible time with my husband.

Here is another view of the Hotel Del. I love how everything is so green and beautiful.

We decided to splurge and rent a convertible, which of course with almost 5 kids we couldn't do, so we took a pic to capture the moment. It was so much fun driving that car. :)

The entrance into the hotel, the lobby area, it is so beautiful and full of rich history. Truly magnificent woodwork throughout the hotel.

There is wood everywhere and the chandelier was so pretty. Very grand upon arriving.

This is the view from our room, we had a full ocean view, slept with the door open and were lulled to sleep by the waves crashing on the beach.

These are dessert nachos.... Who wants a banana split when you can have two scoops of ice cream on top of waffle cone chips with caramel, chocolate and marshamallow sauce and a huge piling of whip cream and cherries...mmm, don't worry I just ate all the chips and some of the ice cream. :)

There it is in full view, ready to be devoured.

Our all time favorite breakfast spot...Kono's. Well worth the wait in line for this pregnant lady.

One of the magnificent sunsets we saw every night.

A baby octopus we found in the sea weed on the beach, of course we rescued him.

A crab we found in the sea weed, I thought it was a rock, so of course we had to rescue him as well.

Our rental car....way too fun and fast.

Another beautiful sunset from our balcony.



We had the most incredible time together just doing nothing. It was so nice and wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank you Nana and Abbey for helping us out to get out. :) It is really nice to be home and got lots of love and hugs. Now it is back to reality and routine.

Have a blessed day!

This is where we will be staying for our 4 day excursion. Hotel Del Coronado. Now we wouldn't normally do this at all, but with it being our anniversary and some time alone before Madeline comes, we felt it was worth the splurge. Now from what I understand they have the best banana splits...I will let you know.

I will be the whale on the beach with lipstick and sunglasses. :)

I will definitely update when we get home, I would love to take the laptop, just haven't decided if we will or not. :)

I pray that you all have a wonderful week and we will be home late Saturday afternoon.

By the way, Danielle is doing a better, not 100% but she is smiling and playing which means a lot to me.

Enjoy!

Sick Day

A few days ago Danielle came down with what I thought was just allergies or even cutting teeth, but, today has been an awfully miserable day for her. She is so sick and after going to the doctor's we find it is nothing more than a really bad cold. The best part (or not), there isn't anything we can really give her to relieve her symptoms. So here we are. She has just fallen asleep on the couch after wanting to be held the entire day! I don't mind she is as sweet as can be.

So I gave her a bath in eucalyptus oil to help sooth her passages, well, she started falling asleep because she was so tired. I quickly took her out, dried her off where she feel asleep in my arms. I gently laid her on the couch with a nice fluffy pillow and she has been there since. I am so thankful for her sleeping, not to get things done, but because I can see how much she really needed it.

It is 2 days before we leave for our anniversary and my heart is a little anxious because I don't want to leave nana with a sick little one. So we are praying for a quick recovery.

Nothing else has been too exciting. The Lord is doing amazing things and showing me so much. One thing for me is just enjoying each personality he has given me in the kids. They are all so different, and they are all so funny. I always tell Bret that we are all made in the image of God, well God is pretty fun and has quite a sense of humor. It really makes me smile at my kids.

Our Easter was so wonderful, and I am thankful for our Lord and all He has done in our lives. We are so blessed.

I pray that your Monday is not a sick day, but that you rest in the arms of the Lord, casting all your cares on him.

Life at Home

This pregnancy has been great. My mom left on Wednesday and I was able to get 2 steroid shots, blood work and visit my doctor. Along with that of course the graciousness of church family and friends and the meals that they have provided so that I can have one less thing to worry about has really humbled me. I am so blessed and so undeserving.

We have hit the 7 month mark and we are so excited. The clothes have been washed, the crib is up, the bassinet right next to the bed. We are ready for our little bundle.

God has been so good to me.

I finished a wonderful book called "Following God With All Your Heart" by Elizabeth George. It was so encouraging. So if you need a new book to read I highly recommend this one. Now I have started "Family Driven Faith" by Voddie Baucham Jr. I will let you know how that one is, but considering last night I read the first chapter, it was very moving!

Life in our home has been pretty chaotic and hectic. Just getting back into a routine, which I have kind of put by the wayside because Bret and I are leaving on Wednesday to go out of town for our anniversary. So there will be more chaos. I figured we will do the best we can with our next two weeks and move on.

I have had plenty of time to catch up on computer work, which means we did some school work for the kids, organized some checklists for the kids and myself. Basically chores and things I would like to have done each day, but sometimes get lost in the days. So this way we can all stay on track each day. I even did a checklist for myself of things I desire to get done in a day, these are just my own priorities that God has placed on my heart. So now we all have a little list to keep us on task.

I desire nothing more than to be a godly mother and wife and to run my home in such a way. To show the love of Jesus each day to the kids and all those God puts in my life. We are learning so much.

Well with all that said, today is the day that Jesus died for me and my sins and for so many others. The kids and I have a little project that we are going to work on and hopefully get some pics. I hope you all enjoy your Resurection Sunday!

God Bless.

Psalm 84:11
"For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless."

This is the verse I found this morning that just touched my heart. Living in Arizona we are so blessed by the sunshine. I love it. The warmth the way it radiates, the way it warms up the colors and makes them a little more brighter, how it makes things grow and bloom.

That is God with us, he warms us, makes us brigther, grows us and blooms us. He is also our shield, our protector. The One we go to in our times of need.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel so unworthy with all my many blessings. The way I feel that God has favored me. Honor for me is a very big word bestowed on those who have earned it and I don't feel that I am there yet. Honor seems reserved for those who are higher up on the ladder...somewhere I am not.

His goodness has been poured out on me. I feel each day and know that He is present, holding me , guiding me. I hardly feel that my walk is blameless because I have so much yet to learn, but I sure feel His goodness each day.

This verse just made my heart feel warm and my mind is renewed and focused on Him.


Bed rest isn't easy for a controlling perfectionist like myself. My darling handled the kids and the weekend like a trooper. He was amazing. I love him so much.

I stayed in bed and actually accomplished so much for school and schedules and chores. Even typed out a Bible study for the kids. With laptop next to me and printer on a small table I was able to do all the things that I have been wanting to, but couldn't find the time. The kids were in the room with me wrestling and dancing. That was a hoot. The girls bought my makeup bag and we sat on the bed and did a beauty parlor. Wow, do they have amazing eyelashes. :)

Movies seem to have been a staple here for the past few days just to help with keeping little ones distracted with what is going on. And to give daddy a small rest. They just know the doctor said for mom to stay in bed.

So we were pretty quiet this weekend and so grateful for my mom coming down to help out till we know what the doctor says. We have a wonderful homeschool and church family that are planning to bring meals to help out and I am this morning searching for a house cleaner for a few months till everything settles down. I feel so blessed and humbled by everyone's desire to serve. It is amazing.

So I will post later what the plan is and what the doctor says. God is so good. Hope everyone has a wonderful blessed day.

27 Weeks and Counting

Well, there has been more interesting news with this pregnancy. It seems that the placenta has moved and the doctor is hopeful that it will continue to move. So I feel that this bridge has been crossed safely. :)

Now onto the next bridge.

We have now come to another bridge that we weren't anticipating at all. Last night at triage they did a FFN (Fetal Fiber Nectin) test, basically it is a test that can determine if you will deliver in the next 2-3 weeks. Being 27 weeks, that is still a very early one. I have had them done with all pregnancies due to my preterm labor. But they have always come back negative, except this one. This one came back positive. I am aware of false positives and that God works amazing things. However, there is still is a concern for an early baby. I have been contracting for a few days and now on strict bedrest with medication to help the control the contractions. Right now there is not a lot of cervix change, which is wonderful, but with my past pregnancies, labor came on so quick, there wasn't any change prior to the labor. So there are many concerns right now for the baby. I am fine, feeling great and doing wonderful. I have a wonderful doctor and husband and mom who are very supportive and concerned.

We would love prayer, that Madeline would stay in as long as possible, and that the contractions would subside. If this isn't God's will, that Madeline would be a fighter and there would be no long term complications with her birth.

With that being said, my mom is coming down tomorrow to help out with things, we are looking for someone to come in and clean our home for a few months till we are off bedrest, and for some little help here and there.

The great thing about all of this, is that I am doing great, I feel fine, baby is healthy and looking great, and my heart isn't anxious at all. It isn't my situation to be anxious about.

1 Peter 5:7
"Cast your anxiety on him, because he cares for you."

I know God has a plan. My husband may be a little frustrated and not sure what to do, but there is a lesson in all things, and in all things there isn't always understanding. We just need to turn to Him who can give us the strength, courage, and peace to face all our troubles. God didn't promise an easy road, just a road with Him. I can take that and be at peace with it.

Have a blessed weekend.

Who I am...

I have been thinking of typing out some sort of testimony so you know who I really am. So I thought I would start with a little background of me.

I am divorced, my oldest son is from that marriage. I met Bret while on my own with my son and he was only 15 months. Bret and I married a year later and my son has never known a life without Bret in it. I was very much into looks, material possessions, and money. As a matter of fact we both were, so we chased money wherever it took us.

I became a Christian shortly after having Lauren. Bret and I took her (6 weeks old) to a Barnes and Noble to sit and read and met some wonderful ladies and their families. There were 3 women with their husbands reading and laughing with their kids. It was funny because a little time before that I was telling Bret that something was missing. I couldn't quite figure it out. Well, after talking a bit we exchanged numbers and got a card to attend their church. It took us 4 weeks of invites and all the such to finally go. And you know what, I was hooked. I was starving for Jesus and He knew it. He knew they had what I needed and I studied the Bible and was baptized Feb. 16 of 2003. It was awesome!! I can't even tell you how beautiful my baptism was. It wasn't done in a big church or anything, it was small, intimate and private, with those who led me singing to me.

Well, though I was new I had a lot to learn. So, we chased our money and dreams to Las Vegas and Colorado and finally back here to Arizona. During that time there was a lot to learn, grow, and be. It wasn't easy but I met some really great women along the way who really encouraged and helped me. I really feel that the Lord protected me so much during that time.

So, here I am. Expecting #5. I am not perfect, hardly. I need God so much each day! I truly rely on Him and praise Him for everything that is good and bad. I wait for Him eagerly each day. We have been blessed because during our time of being selfish and chasing we had a vasectomy. 14 months later we were convicted and had it reversed. Danielle and Madeline are both born after our reversal. We feel truly that God convicted and we obeyed, He did the rest. We knew there was a chance that it wouldn't work, but God saw our hearts. So here we are.

We also have been blessed by our relationship with Hunter's dad. Hunter goes 2 x a month to visit and we have our ups and downs because he goes to an unbelieving home. But we are seeing many blessings come from that, God's sovreign protection, and just the heart to know that he isn't mine, I am just planting the seeds. (Which really doesn't make it easier.)

We have never called ourselves a step family, just a family. We try to keep ourselves firmly planted in God's Word, and do all that He has asked us to do. Some days are hard and some are easy, some seasons are full of joy and others, well, our focus has to be on Him who called us here.

I never thought in my lifetime that I would ever meet anyone like my husband. I had such bad self-esteem and came from a really bad relationship. God truly is amazing and has such a plan for each of our lives. I am so unworthy of His love, but He gives it so freely. He sees our hearts, and then he blesses. Life wasn't always good, it wasn't always joyful, and even now in my wedded bliss, there are days when life seems to get in the way, but you know what, I have been blessed in spite of all my sin.

I know I am forgiven, and for a long time people in the Christian circles told me I was going to hell and living in adultery because of divorce. Oh, that was so hard to hear. It took me 6 years to allow Jesus to forgive me! It was a hard road. Now I am free, in His love, to boast of his loving kindness. Was my divorce God's best? No! Do I advocate divorce? Not at all! Only God knows, and we are not to judge the circumstances of others, just show them our love.

So here I am, a home school mom of soon to be 5. This is after I never wanted to have kids, I cared more about myself than for anybody else, all I wanted was money, cars, and a house, a big fancy job with the paycheck to match, and all the fancy restaraunts to match.

My life is awesome! I wouldn't change a single moment of it or what it took to get me here. I want you to know who I am. I am not perfect. I am a woman who just loves God and trys ever so hard in her inperfect ways to love Him and honor Him.

One day I would love to speak on my situation to other women, to encourage them, because there is so much more that I have learned and am learning. I want other women to feel empowered because of Christ. To let go of the world's standards and live freely in Christ.

I hope you will love and live free in Christ.