What an amazingly creative God we have! There's such a variety of beautiful FISH in the ocean - and we've seen just a tiny sample while snorkeling here, but WOW!

Unfortunately, we don't have our underwater pics developed yet, but here's a link to a guide that shows a sampling of the fish around Hawaii's reefs (and we've seen some that aren't even on this guide).

One fish we saw a lot is the humu humu nuku nuku apuaa, or Rectangular Triggerfish - Hawaii's state fish.  (Image copied from keith.martin.home.att.net/stats.html)

I'll leave you with one picture I took from a black sand beach looking out toward Molokini Crater, a place known for amazing snorkeling. The crater is right on the horizon, at the end of where the point of land juts out. The sand is more of a "salt and pepper" black, white and red sand - even the sand was beautiful (but hot). Aloha!

Snorkeling ... Surf ... Stars - a day of amazing experiences! And I learned that 3 1/2 weeks in a tanning booth plus SPF 15 sunscreen is still not enough to prevent sunburned shoulders. I thought that the sun at high altitude was intense - apparently it's much more intense at sea level closer to the equator!

We awoke at 4 am. My most amazing husband had no trouble going back to sleep. However, since I usually wake up at 6:00 at home, and home is 4 hours later right now, I knew there was no chance of getting more good sleep. I expected this, so I had some time to work on my laptop, upload pictures, and catch up on emails that piled up in the 2 days I wasn't able to check it.

After breakfast, we found snorkel gear to rent. Black rock has a reputation for good snorkeling and was a short walk from our hotel - a good place to start.

Sorry, no pictures from in the water (yet). We did buy a waterproof disposable camera, but those pics will wait until they can be developed (the "old-fashioned" way). The experience was like being a fish in a tropical aquarium. We floated easily along with a variety of fish: pufferfish and triggerfish almost close enough to touch, bright yellow tangs a brilliant contrast to the rock and coral, colorful parrotfish feeding off the coral. After one swim to the end of the rock and back, we were both ready to change plans for the week to do as much snorkeling as possible!

After lunch, we drove to the north side of West Maui for a very different but also awesome experience. We hiked along the sea cliffs through an area where the salt spray has been eroding the lava for years (our guidebook described it as a place that looks like a war was fought with acid - very appropriate). At the end we arrived at the Nakalele Blowhole.

As the surf pounds this side of the island relentlessly, this little hole fills with water, and then it just blows up!

I'll try later to upload the video I took of this thing. We watched it for so long that we lost track of time. We walked around and watched it from several different directions (and got really wet with the salty spray).

After showering, we headed out for dinner at an amazing restaurant and enjoyed local seafood, local (mostly organic) veggies, and an out-of-this-world carrot cake. I think I've found a new favorite restaurant in the whole world! (It's called Mala, and it's in Lahaina, in case you were wondering).

We wrapped up our day on the beach watching the stars come out. An incredible first full day on Maui - and more to come!

My most amazing husband and I landed in Maui shortly after 3 pm, following an 8-hour plane ride. The smiles had been creeping onto our faces over the previous hours, but now they settled in permanently! After all the usual airport routines, we shoved our luggage into a Mustang convertible and hit the road for ... Wal Mart! Maybe not the most exciting first destination, but we wanted to buy beach towels, I needed eye drops for my contact lenses (they'll get  a little more use than most days since I forgot my glasses at home), and sunglasses for my hubby since he left his in our car back on the mainland.

The drive was beautiful. We rounded the West Maui volcano and followed the shoreline for several miles. As we rounded the west side of the volcano, I looked up to see a rainbow in the clouds. Faint and ethereal, it added a magical feel to my first impressions of the island.

When we arrived at our hotel, we received a traditional lei greeting. And the view from our room - WOW!

We set out for something to eat - even though by this point it was about 9:00 pm at home, we knew that a dinner at dinnertime here would help us to stay up until something closer to bedtime and enjoy our first evening here. And what better than a simple meal on the hotel terrace facing the sunset and listening to a Hawaiian singer seranading us with mellow Hawaiian and other beach music?

At one point during dinner, I realized I was singing along with a song that I remembered from about 30 years ago: Pearly Shells. It's not a song that most would recognize unless they listened to Don Ho music back in the '70s. But my sister and I took Hula lessons for years when we were children, and that was a song that we danced for a recital. Since our recitals were every other year, we must have worked on that dance for close to two years.

After dinner, we walked in the twilight by the shore and watched the stars come out. The waning moon was on its way towards setting, a treasured moment for two people who have always appreciated God's creations in the sky as well as on land (and sea).

I captured a picture of these alien kids in my bathroom this morning:

In the light, they look normal, but in the dark they GLOW! These are not normal children!

OK, so it's my kids who were allowed to play with glow stick bracelets this morning. They found a leak in one (and caused a leak in the other) and got to decorating themselves. The two big green splotches are my daughter's hands, the blue to the left of her hands is her brother's hand, and the blue & green stuff in the middle is all over one of her old nightgowns. (Before she changed into that, though, I had to throw 2 of her favorite dresses in the laundry!)

And, would you believe they have some cleaning to do in my bathroom, too?!

Here was the scene this morning:

No, I didn't go outside to take it - I took the pic through the back sliding door. We ended up with about an inch of snow out there before it stopped! And it snowed a little more again this afternoon. It was pretty to see snow falling against the backdrop of purple flowering plum trees everywhere when we were out. But is this really the first day of May?!

First, I forgot to add into my last entry where I got the idea for the vinyl lettering that I did on my wall: Tori's blog. I kind of cheated, though, by using stencils instead of the way she recommends. After I remembered to trace the stencils backwards on the backing of the vinyl sheets, it worked out quite nicely!

For the last 3 days, our weather was sunny and warm (in the mid-70's to about 80 degrees). We've been outside, at the park, enjoying it so much! And right now - on May 1st, mind you - it's snowing. Huge snowflakes just swirling around and blowing in the wind out there. It's quite lovely, but seriously, it's May! Springtime in Colorado is always unpredictable!

Speaking of weird Colorado weather, several years ago, we had something that my husband & I called "snail." It was like little snowballs falling from the sky - snow hail. One of the strangest things I've ever seen!

Next week, Mama is going on a field trip! We have been studying US History and each state in order that it joined the Union. Today we wrap up with the last state, Hawaii, and next week my hubby & I will take a trip to Maui! The kids get to enjoy some time with grandma & grandpa (which they're really looking forward to). I'll try to post pics here, but I bet you all will understand if they don't get up until after I'm home.

OK, my son just put on Toby Mac's "Portable Sounds." Gotta get up and dance now!

I just finished this project this afternoon. What do you think? Cool, isn't it?

The colors blend a little better than they appear here, especially in the evening when the recessed areas are really dark. Here's a close-up of the fireplace:

And the lettering above it (my motto):

Now to get the pictures, books, stereo and DVDs put back where they belong!

Yesterday was "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day." Since my kids spend all day with me at my "job," they got to go to work with Daddy. He works for an aerospace company, and the company set up some cool interactive science/engineering displays, including a liquid nitrogen demo. We had planned for the kids to spend an hour or so with Dad and then go to lunch together before heading home and letting him get back to work.

However, after lunch he invited us to go in the office with him, and he showed us around. We peeked in a couple of clean rooms and watched people building instruments destined for space (including one that will carry a set of small instruments he designed). We walked by the machine shop and saw how they make (metal) parts for the spacecraft and instruments. We headed over to a vacuum test chamber and talked with a guy about its purpose, and then we watched him get suited up to go inside (it's a clean room area, too, so he had to put on the whilte "bunny suit"). And we were invited into the test/measurement lab and watched how some of those machines work - one (some kind of magnifier) was set up with a penny so that it magnified the image of the Lincoln Monument and we could see Lincoln in the picture.

We all loved the opportunity to see science at work! Whether or not my kids end up in the same career field as their Dad, they have seen that he has a really cool job. And we're planning to go back in the winter when we can watch them build the satellite system he's working on now!

I just talked to my sister. Her baby boy had a couple of seizures last week. After a CT scan at the ER, an appt with the pediatrician, and and EEG and "squeeze him in" visit with a neurologist at Children's Hospital (all within the last 4 or 5 days) - the doctors can find nothing wrong! She's convinced that God healed him before the doctors saw him, and I can't help but agree.

We also had an awesome day today - I'll have to post about that later.

So what good things are going on with you?

This morning, I'm praising God for three answers to prayer - actually, answers to two prayers and one surprise blessing.

1. The Smith family appears to be about to receive the letter they need from the US government in order to be able to adopt their children. As word got out over the internet this week, people were able to help them make the contacts they need. Thank God!

2. My husband was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis a little more than a year ago. By last December, he was unable to take any medications because they either made him feel sick to his stomach (mostly the pain relievers - ibuprofen, naproxen, Celebrex) or caused an allergic reaction (specifically the arthritis meds). In the last few weeks (as we have gotten into allergy season), his joint pain has been really bad - to the point where he stayed home from work on Monday because of it. We have suspected for a while that his allergies may be a factor in the arthritis, so on Tuesday evening he bought a HEPA filter air purifier for our bedroom. The last two mornings, he has woken up feeling SO MUCH BETTER! We have been praying for a solution other than a really expensive medicine that seemed to be his last resort. Praise God!

3. My unexpected surprise - I realized this morning that because of my horomone levels this week, I would normally be feeling like I have no energy and fighting off a migraine. For some reason, I'm feeling better than ever right now. Thank God for that unexpected blessing that allows me to be as productive as ever!

Although some of these things may seem to be the result of what people have done, we know that it is really God at work "behind the scenes" who deserves the credit.

A young couple chooses to build their family through adoption, travels overseas to adopt two children, remains in the country where the children were born caring for them for nine months, and is now faced with the prospect of the adoption being rejected and their children removed from their care.

Please visit their blog for details and pray for them as they seek one simple letter from the U.S. government that will meet the final requirement so they can finalize the adoption!

http://us-in-kenya.blogspot.com/2008/04/please-help-1-of-5.html

 Update: The Smiths are still waiting for the letter they need in order to satisfy the Kenyan courts. Please continue to pray for them, and if you are willing to make a call or send an email, their latest update and how you can help are on their blog at http://us-in-kenya.blogspot.com/.

In the last couple of weeks, we've had a ton going on. My son has baseball games or practices 3-4 times a week; my daughter has music/piano, dance and sewing classes (and wouldn't you know, my son has baseball games every week at the same time as she has music, so I miss all those games ). We had friends over for dinner on Saturday, my daughter & I attended a baby shower on Sunday afternoon, and then our church celebrated Passover Sunday evening. Plus I started painting a wall in my Living Room purple.

We have 12 days of school left! Next month we'll head out for vacation which will include leaving the kids with grandma & grandpa while hubby & I head to Maui for an early 20th anniversary getaway. And on top of everything else, I'm getting ready to launch my new business, 3Rs Travel Club (check it out at www.3rstravelclub.com).

The only way I seem to be able to get everything done is that I've been waking up by 6:00 every morning lately. Not by choice! But if I try to get back to sleep, I always end up more tired for the rest of the day than if I just get up. So I've been getting up early, feeding the dog, spending time reading my Bible and praying, and getting about an hour to work on business things before anyone else stirs. Even though I crash hard after we get the kids to bed, I feel good about life and how much I'm accomplishing each day!

*This entry will be a "sticky post" until 4/18. Scroll down for more recent entries.

This is the time of year when many of us are thinking about curriculum choices for next year. I have found it extremely helpful over the year to find out what my friends have used and what worked (or didn't work) for them. So I'm hosting an Online Curriculum Fair for the next 10 days. All you have to do is post an entry on your blog about the curriculum you have used this year and tell us why you loved it - or why you think you'd rather do something else next year. Then link back to your post using Mr. Linky here so we can all get ideas from each other.

This isn't a contest - just a fun opportunity to lay our curriculum out on virtual "tables" for others to peruse. But feel free to post links to places where you buy your curriculum. And everyone gets to share in the reward of possibly helping another homeschooler evaluate curriculum choices. I'm excited to read about what others have been using!

*********************

Here's what I have used this year:

Adventure in My Father's World (www.mfwbooks.com): A unit-study US History curriculum written for 2nd & 3rd grades. It covers Bible, History & Science along with learning patriotic songs and some great read-alouds. Bible lessons are about the names of Jesus (Light of the World, Lamb of God, Bread of Life, Ressurection & Life, etc.) with a memory verse for each topic. I loved this since my children know all the Bible "stories" and would be bored with any Bible curriculum that simply repeats and re-teaches what they've learned in Sunday School. Science lessons are often related to Bible - for example, we learned about stars when learning about Jesus the Light of the World and about yeast & bread when learning about Jesus the Bread of Life - as well as other general science topics. In History, it covers basic US History, the lives of important people in our country's history, and each of the 50 states in order of joining the Union. This has been a fun, simple curriculum for us. There are a lot of hands-on activities for the kids - some crafts, some things they can cook, some science activities. I loved this and would definitely recommend it for families with kids in 1st-3rd grade who aren't ready to jump into a full-scale history curriculum.

Math-U-See (Alpha & Beta): This curriculum really works well for they way my children learn. It approaches math in a great conceptual way, so that they learn from the very beginning about place value and have a basis from which to learn multiple-digit addition and subtraction. Lessons are structured to achieve mastery before moving on (with review of what has already been learned at the end of each lesson). Plenty of worksheets give them as much practice as they need, but the curriculum allows them to move on without doing all the worksheets once they have mastered each lesson. We'll be sticking with this one for a while!

Language Arts:

Handwriting Without Tears - My daughter finished the 1st Level Printing book weeks ago. My son has been working slowly through the cursive book. I love the way this teaches handwriting. It's definitely the way to go for a child with fine motor skills problems - but still good for a child who doesn't have problems with handwriting. (Can you tell I have one of each?)

Easy Grammar: Daily Guided Teaching and Review for Grade 2 - Even though my son is technically 3rd grade, I thought I'd start with this since we haven't done any grammar yet. I'm one of those who believes in waiting until later to teach grammar, but I thought it would be nice for him to have some basics down. This hasn't worked well, mainly because it takes a "spiral" approach to teaching - in other words, each concept is introduced and taught for a few lessons, but then it drops that concept, teaches something else, teaches another new concept (does that with a few different things) and then comes back to the original concept, the second concept, etc. repeatedly. This way of teaching does NOT work for my son, so we'll find something else for grammar in the future. (At the same time, it is a fairly common approach, so I'm sure it works for other kids - probably those who prefer to move on to new things and eventually master each concept - just not mine.)

Vocabulary Workshop - I guess I picked this up because I thought I should be teaching vocabulary. Using it has taught me that my brilliant son doesn't really need formal vocabulary lessons. But it's a good book (or series of books) with a variety of activities and the "mastery" approach to learning (as opposed to the "spiral" approach).

Typing Instructor for Kids 3 - If you want your kids to learn typing, this is a great program! Fun lessons and games teach keys in a logical order. Kids need to master each key set by passing a challenge (and earning gold) before moving on - but if they need more practice, they can visit "Explorer Isle" to review lessons or play games using they keys they have already learned. And it's a great value - only $15.49 at amazon.com!

My mom sent me this email the other day. I found it so encouraging, I wanted to share it!

written by Connie Witter

Jesus Made You a Godly Mother

She opens her mouth in skillful and godly wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness giving counsel and instruction. Her children rise up and call her blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied).

Proverbs 31:26, 28

     When I was a little girl I dreamed of growing up and being a mother. These verses describe the kind of mother I wanted to be. After I had children, I discovered that parenting, although the most rewarding job in the world, it was also the most difficult. My children were eternal beings and although I could not take any material thing in this world to heaven with me, I could take my children. They would live forever! The responsibility of raising them correctly, being a good example, disciplining them, and teaching them about Jesus concerned me at times because I wanted them to grow up and live for Jesus. As far as I knew this was all up to me. Would I fail or succeed at this very important job that God had given me? Because my focus was on me, I lived under the law when it came to raising my children, and it didn’t bring me peace.

     Then I found a better way in Jesus! The Holy Spirit taught me that Jesus became sin to make you and me righteous and godly mothers (Galatians 3:14,15). What peace fills your soul when you realize that He equipped you with everything you need (His wisdom, His power, His promises) to secure your success.

     When we look to Jesus, He empowers us with His grace to bear the fruit of a godly mother (Phillipians 2:13). When we fail, He reminds us of who we are and redeems all our mistakes. With Jesus, it’s a no fail policy because it’s not about our ability or wisdom, but rather His ability and wisdom working through us. All we have to do is ask and trust Him.

     When we give up depending on ourselves and truly depend on Him, He works powerfully through us and brings Proverbs 31:26 & 28 to pass in our lives. It’s a promise we have in Jesus, and He’s faithful to perform His Word!

We have just 3 weeks of school left. Oh, it's getting hard to hang in there, especially with the weather warming up so that everyone wants to be outside all the time! I do love to encourage my kids' creative play, and right now they're outside playing in one of my garden beds with the neighbor's grandson. My son just told me they're building the Rocky Mountains - how can I make them come inside for schoolwork now? But the history and math still need to get done, too!

I have also been working on setting up a new business: a family travel club oriented towards homeschoolers. Wouldn't it be great to travel the world with other families?! For a sneak peek at what I'm planning, check out my new website at www.3rstravelclub.com. And feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email with feedback on this business.

What I was doing ten years ago:

settling into the first house we bought in Colorado, working for a real estate agent creating marketing materials, planning for my 10th anniversary, telling people that adoption was somewhere in our future

On my To-Do list today:

(How about tomorrow since it's about time to head for bed today?) school, wash the sheets, straighten up and vacuum downstairs, get the kids' laundry folded so they can put it away, get my son to his friend's house for the afternoon (with baseball equipment if his game isn't snowed out), take my daughter to her music class

Snacks I enjoy:

ice cream, cheese & crackers, trail mix

Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

pay off my house, give to my church & charities that help the poor, drive a nicer car

Three bad habits:

chewing on my lips, letting my children interrupt me, overcommitting myself

Five Places I lived:

Prince George's County, MD

Howard County, MD

Dallas, TX

Haddon Heights, NJ

Colorado

Five Jobs I've had:

office assistant and occasional dispatcher for Taxi company

cost accounting clerk

seminary Physical Plant secretary

real estate agent's marketing assistant

homeschooling mom

I love to travel. One of the things I like best about homeschooling is the opportunity is that we can take vacations at off-times (and not have to go during the summer when everyone else is vacationing). I'm fortuntate to have grown up in Maryland - not far from Washington, DC - and since we still have family in the area, we can take our children to see much of our nation's historical monuments there from time to time. But I want them to be able to see Boston, Philadelphia, and many other places where history was made! I would love to take them to Greece, Rome, Egypt and some of the world's other great historical sites.

So am I one of the few travel nuts out there, or are there others who dream crazy dreams like I do? What would you consider an awesome homeschool field trip?

My son's baseball league had their big "Opening Day" today. They had team pictures taken and played a couple of short exhbition games against other teams.

We just celebrated our son's Homecoming Day. It was 9 years ago on April 1 that we brought our baby boy home to join our family.

That was then:

And this is now:

Every year for his Homecoming Day (and for his sister's Adoption Day - since she came home only 3 days after she was born) we let the children choose a fun activity for our family to enjoy together. This year he chose seeing the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets which is currently playing at our cheap (2nd run) movie theater. And then we went for dinner at Noodles & Company, our kids' favorite place to eat.

I'm so happy to have this guy for my son - can you tell? - even if he's going to be taller than me in a year!

If you like using online resources to supplement your homeschooling, you need to check out this website. SoCalVal has spent a lot of time collecting these resources and compiling them in one place:

http://weblinkeducation.com

No more guessing if a site is for teachers only,
No more wondering what a particular website offers,
No more guessing if the material you're viewing is free or not,
And no more jumping around from site to site to find something you need...

It's all done for YOU - by Homeschool Moms, like YOU. 
All Weblinks are Mom tested and Mom approved!

I just spent a few minutes browsing this website, and it has a ton of great resources. Check it out!