The rest of the bunch.

Oh, my word!!!

Is it me, or does she look way to old to be 11?!?!?

So much more than I bargained for.

Several people have been asking me to update them on the "The Love Dare" Bible study. Well, in a word...WOW! It seemed so very simple. Almost remedial. Yet in the past few days my thoughts and actions have been completely changing. I have been made so much more aware of my attitude toward my husband and my own life.

The most profound part of the study for me has been the very first page. The writer asks you NOT to follow your heart! I thought that totally goes against a woman's nature. He tells you instead to LEAD your heart. When we follow our heart we act impulsively and emotionally. When we lead our heart we are able to guide ourselves in the direction of God's will.

This has undeniably changed my way of thinking. Many of you may have always understood this concept. And in someways I have always known it to be true. I always new that following my heart lead me in so many different directions at once that I was often torn between my emotions. But realizing that I need to be leading my heart was a revolutionary idea for me. I believe it will change my life!!!

Not what you were expecting?

I was looking over some of my past posts. I was surprised at some of the things I had shared with the world. I hope no one clicked on my blog expecting a typical homeschool moms' day in review. You know... how we picked herbs from our own herb garden to make a traditional Italian dinner to enrich the Italian Renaissance unit study. I am just not that deep or that good of a woman. We did eat at Taco Bell last week. And in the true spirit of homeschooling we counted in Spanish on the same day. How is that for comprehensive?

I am soooo far from a traditional homeschool mom. I like to think it is a good thing. But some days I am not so sure. Either way it is what we do and hopefully it works. I do what I know to do. What more is there?

In case some of you have never heard of Magpies, let me be the first to tell you....It is amazing!!!! Quiet possibly the best cake of have ever eaten. I went to a party at Scrappin' in the City. My Friend Sherri served Orange Apricot Strawberry Cake from Magpies. Dear Lord, I was in heaven. The party was a huge success and loads of fun and the cake was to worth its weight in gold.

"The Love Dare"

I finally decided on a Bible Study. After toiling over two different studies for the past week I chose "The Love Dare." I plan to start it first thing in the morning. I am not sure why it took me so long to decide. I usually don't have that much difficulty making decisions. I am assuming that since I had so much indecision about which one I should do that wonderful things are going to happen. Why would the devil bring me so much confusion about a Bible study if God wasn't about to show me something amazing. Therefore, I am going into tomorrow with great anticipation. I will let you know what happens!!

Liberation!

Two field trips, Grace's birthday party, dinner with my family, dinner with my friends, my in laws came to visit, two co-ops, church, and lots of school work in just one week. And during the middle of all that I turned 40. Somehow the turning 40 thing got lost in the middle of all the activity.

I have thought alot about the fact that I was going to reach a major milestone in my life this year. I planned what I would do. Thought about how I would feel. And contemplated what it all meant. Yet the "day" came and went and nothing changed. No earth shattering events occurred. I have decided after thinking about the impending date for several weeks I need to change several things in my life. I want the next forty years to be lived with as little regrets as possible. I want to do the things that feel right to ME. I want to be true to what I know in my heart is right for me and my family. I no longer want to live my life trying to please everyone else. If I please God then nothing else really matters.

I have spent the first few days of being forty focusing on being true to myself. I struggle with wanting to be all things to all people. I need to learn to be comfortable with who I am. I must admit that letting go of my own expectations of what a "good" mom should look and act like as allowed be to be much more content. Much more at peace with who I am. So all things considered turning forty has been somewhat liberating!! I am looking forward to the next forty with great anticipation.

Can you say "reorder"?

We went to dinner at Red Lobster tonight. Man was it good. There was four of us. All of us had the endless shrimp dinner. Between all of us we had 26 reorders of shrimp!!!! That was a boat load of shrimp, literally. We had a great time. Good food and good friends made for a wonderful Friday night.

Yet another homeschool day!

We have been spending the past few weeks studying scientific classification. More specifically animal classification. This study seemed to lend itself to a zoo field trip. The weather was wonderful. The zoo was not crowed. The animals were out and about. And we had a great day. Last but not least....we just might have learned something!!!!!

My girl is growing up!

Grace turned 11 on the 16th of this month. I can not believe how fast she is growing. She is very quickly becoming an amazing young lady. I am so proud of her.

We had her birthday party at the Skating Rink on Monday Night. We had a great time. I want to say thank you for all of our friends and family who came out to share this special night with us. Your friendship and support mean the world to our family. Grace recieved some amazing gifts and I she and I are very grateful.

Fall, Feild trips, and Fun

The public school system is out on Fall Break. So we are going to take advantage of this week. We plan on doing several field trips and catching up on our school work. This morning we went to Praise 96.3 radio station. It was a short tour but very informative for the kids. The staff was wonderful and the kids had a great time. This afternoon we are doing our daily school work and this evening is Grace's birthday party. I will blog on that later.

I just couldn't resist!!

My Head is Spinning!!!

I awoke this morning to a mind boggling revelation......

I turn 40 this month. Okay, no revelation there. But I have a two year old. By the time he turns 18 I will be 56 YEARS OLD!!!! That means I will have been homeschooling for 22 years. Can I do that? Is that legal? Am I insane?

If there was ever a time to start a new Bible devotional it is now. I am wavering between two different studies. I don't why this decision is so hard to make. I feel that I am as such a pivotal time in my life. I feel the need to be very prayerful at the choices and decisions I am making. That being said I am off to teach my children. Hey, only 16 more years left to go. Ha ha ha.

Weekend fun!

What an amazing fall weekend. We had a nice, relaxing, and fun time together. Here are some pictures of the kids.....

Yesterday's Pic's (Via Kora)

Greystone

We went on a field trip yesterday to the WATE 6 news station. It was a really good trip. The house (Graystone) where the station is located is absolutely beautiful. The architectural detail on the house is absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed touring the house and hearing it's history. The station was nice too. But, nothing compared to the house itself. As soon as Kora sends me some pictures of the days events I will post them. Needless to say, I didn't have my camera.