We recently were finally able to get together with our precious friends, The Hall Family, -- well, a portion of the family.  We had a great time catching up and are reminded how very sweet our friendship is.  God is so good to bless us with so many wonderful friends.

Mark enjoying  some time in the pool:

The group gathered to pose for a quick picture before we had to leave. 

We've been close friends with this family since Mark was born.  It's so great to reconnect.  The children can't wait to do it again.

I recv'd this today from HSLDA e-lert service:

November 20, 2009

Senate Will Vote on Health Care Bill Creating
Home Visitation Programs--Urgent Calls Needed!

The U.S. Senate will vote at 8 p.m. Saturday, November 21, on whether
to proceed regarding H.R. 3590.  If 60 senators vote for cloture,
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will then substitute his 2,074-page
bill, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act," in
place of H.R. 3590.  This bill will become a shell for the Senate's
version of health care reform, which it will debate and may ultimately
approve.

Majority Leader Reid's bill, the "Patient Protection and Affordable
Health Care Act," is the fifth of six health care bills created by
leaders in Congress that has included federal funding for new home
visitation programs.

While HSLDA does not normally urge its members to act on legislation
relating to health reform, we see the "Patient Protection and
Affordable Health Care Act" as a serious threat to parental rights.
This $848 billion bill calls for home visitation programs which would
empower government officials to teach parents how to raise their own
children.  Although these programs will not be mandatory, parents may
feel pressured to participate, allowing the federal government
unprecedented access into private homes and involvement in early
education. To read more on how "The Patient Protection and Affordable
Health Care Act" threatens your right as a parent to raise your
children as you see fit, please see our preliminary analysis on the
bill at http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=7260 .

ACTION REQUESTED

Please call your senators today and urge them to vote against cloture
on "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" in H.R. 3590.  You
do not need to identify yourself as a homeschooler. You can use some
or all of the following message:

"I am opposed to 'The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,'
substituted in H.R. 3590 because Section 2951 creates home
visitation/early education programs through grants to the states.  
Parents, not federal or state officials, should make child-rearing
decisions for their children. Please vote no on cloture."

You can reach your two U.S. senators by calling the Capitol
Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Or find contact information for your
senators by using HSLDA's Legislative Toolbox at
http://www.hslda.org/toolbox .

Sincerely,

J. Michael Smith, Esq.
President, HSLDA

Bekah had surgery to repair her collar bone.  It's hard to believe it's been five weeks; however, for her, it has definitely felt like five weeks.  She hasn't been in pain but the restrictions have made that five weeks seem like ten weeks to her.  She had a follow-up appointment yesterday and the doctor was very pleased with her progress.  In fact, he released her and she doesn't return to see him until the spring.  He said she might even be able to play spring soccer.  She is now free to run but must be careful.  He told her he still doesn't want her taking a fall and no contact sports.  She is so happy to be able to run and play.  As soon as we returned home yesterday she was outside running and playing. 

Here are her x-rays from yesterday:

The boys were having a wonderful time in our beautiful weather yesterday so I grabbed the camera and snapped a few pictures. 

Mark is so blessed to have such an amazing older brother.  Sam is so patient and loving with Mark.  Equally, Sam is blessed to have Mark for a younger brother.  Mark looks up to Sam and wants to be just like him.  He is often doing -- or attempting to do -- a chore for Sam or something special for him.   As I watch the boys play and interact together, I am reminded of the seminar that S.M. Davis does on "Why Satan Wants Your Firstborn" and I completely see what he says and totally agree with it. 

This one is blurry but I love the smile on Mark's face:

I am certainly blessed.

Bethany is really enjoying this soccer season.  She had to move up to the U13 division this year.  She was so looking fwd to playing with Bekah.  Of course, all of that ended when Bekah got injured. 

Bekah's team had their end-of-season party on Sunday.  Here she is with Coach Jeff:

and w/ Coach Jon:

These two coaches are amazingly wonderful.  They love the Lord and we were blessed to have them as coaches. 

And here is Bekah's collar bone as it is healing.  This is just after all of the bandages are off so the yellow spot is residue from medical tape.

Her next appointment is on October 20th.  She is healing very nicely and is doing more and more each day.  She is feeling so much better that she is now tired of doing nothing (well, tired of just sitting around and reading etc...)  She's feeling so much better that she'd like to be able to run and play.  Her bone is achy when it is cooler outside.  She had that happen for the first time on Sunday when the temps were lower. 

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I normally do on vacation since I was spending much time taking care of Bekah.  We had a lovely time and were so thankful for our time away.

Bekah spent much our time away reading:

Long before her birthday, Bekah had requested that we be on the beach for her birthday so we had planned accordingly.  We were to check in the day before her birthday and she was looking forward to spending the day on the beach.  Of course, we didn't plan for the injury to happen on 8/27.  The doctors told us that we could still go on vacation as she could sit and heal on the beach as easily as she could at home.  Of course, she was greatly disappointed w/ the injury because now she couldn't really play and enjoy the ocean like she normally does. 

Our friends, Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo, live near our vacation spot so we planned to get together with them while there.  We ended up getting together with them on Bekah's birthday and they made her day so special.  When we arrived and entered the home we saw birthday decorations.  Bekah was surprised.  Gary grilled out and we enjoyed delicious food, followed by cake and ice cream.  They even got her a present.  Another great thing was two other families came over so it was like a little party.  The children (except Bekah) all enjoyed going out on the boat w/ Mr. Ezzo.  Mark LOVED riding his golf cart and Mr. Ezzo even let him drive.  Yes, Mark talked about that for days. 

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  What could have been a not so great birthday ended up being very special.

I have a few pictures from our visit but they aren't all that great -- lots of back lighting in their beautiful home and I'm not good at taking pictures or editing them to counteract that. 

Here is Mrs. Ezzo getting the cake ready:

Bekah blowing out candles:

and opening her present:

And, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Ezzo along with Missy. 

My update on her surgery is very late -- sorry about that.  I think I've been able to answer all the e-mails that came through though. 

Her surgery went very well.  It was scheduled for 2pm but didn't actually get started until 4:20.  No big deal -- if there's any time I want a doctor taking his time, it's in surgery!!!  We love our doctor.  He is wonderful.  He went over the procedure and answered all questions etc...and then prayed with us before surgery began.  The surgery lasted about 45 minutes and he came out to share with us how it went.  As he shared, he gave God all the glory.  God was so good to us to put this doctor in our path. 

I forgot my camera the day of surgery so we had to use the camera on the phone, which isn't the best. 

Here she is after she had gotten her IV and waiting for the bag of fluids to enter her body :-)

Bekah is a Daddy's girl and she held on to his hand the entire time.  I am so blessed that she has such an amazing Daddy:

Bekah has surgery scheduled for tomorrow, Wed., at 2pm.  She has been wanting to attend one of her soccer games since the accident but it just hasn't happened.  We were either out of town, she didn't feel up to it or were at the doctor's office.  We found out on Monday that she would be having surgery on Wednesday.  We had planned to take her to the soccer game Thursday night but with this new information, we changed our plans.  We went to the soccer game last night.  She so enjoyed being with her team and watching them play.  The girls on the team are all so kind and caring.  When I looked to see where the game was I told Bekah:  "Guess where your game is tonight?"  She gave me a look and said "where"  Yep, that's right.... back to the place where the injury happened.  She laughed and said "the scene of the crime."  Her team had gotten a soccer ball and all her teammates had signed it.  It was such a thoughtful and special gift. 

Things have been really busy here.  I knew coming back from vacation that our schedule would be in full swing.  While we've been doing "full school" (as opposed to our light school) for over a month, our full fall schedule didn't start until we returned from vacation.  (music lessons, Spanish class for Bekah and fall soccer for the other three)  We are still dealing with Bekah's collar bone break.  We go in Monday for a second opinion for the best way to treat it.  We also found out this week that we need new plumbing/pipes run under our home AND that our sweet dog, Happy, has cancer. 

In the mean time, I'm reminded of Psalm 34:1

"I will praise the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips." 

Hope to be able to catch up soon. 

I've had many e-mails asking how Bekah is doing.  I've tried to respond to all of them but in case I've missed some, I thought I should post here. 

Bekah returned to the ped. today for a follow-up visit.  The x-ray revealed that her bone is not healing correctly so she has an appointment with the orthopedic tomorrow afternoon. 

Here is the original x-ray the night of the injury:

And here is her x-ray from today:

Your prayers are appreciated.  I'll update after her appointment tomorrow.

I recv'd this e-mail and just had to share it here.  This is an amazing deal for a one year PRINTED subscription.  I ordered right away. 

During Bekah's soccer game last night, she took a hard hit and fell to the ground on her left shoulder.  The coaches felt we should take her to the ER.  Upon arrival and first x-rays they said surgery would be required to repair the broken collar bone.  After much prayer from our faithful prayer warriors and a consultation with the surgeon, he decided that surgery would not be required and the use of a figure of 8 brace would allow the bone to heal. 

Here she is after we were finally home (around 1am).  Even in  pain and with this uncomfortable brace, she still managed a smile.

And the view from the back:

Mark fell asleep waiting to hear the final word on Bekah's condition:

The injury happened just a little into the second half.  She played a great game and had an assist on the first goal.  When we left for the ER, the score was 4-0 and that ended up being the final score as well.

Of course our vacation on the beach won't be nearly as fun for her now and she'll be spending her 13th Birthday in this brace.  We are changing up our plans a bit but as of right now, we still plan to go. 

Grandpa & Grandma recently came to watch Bekah play soccer.  Upon their arrival the children all ran to greet them.  I love this picture of Mark and Grandma

Grandma is so good about giving her undivided attention to her grandchildren.  She loves each of them so much.  My children are blessed to have such a great Grandma. 

Today Mark kept saying:  "It's smoldering.  It's smoldering."  He was saying it over and over and over so I told him to stop.  He said, "Mom.  What does smoldering mean?"  I answered him and he said:  "I think that's a cool word.  Don't you think it sounds neat.  It's a neat sounding word..... smoldering."   

As I'm typing this, he is telling his siblings all about the word "smoldering". 

The weather has been beautiful here the past few days.  Today is no exception.  As soon as we finished school today, we all went outside.  I had come back in to work on laundry and lunch.  As I was working in the house I could hear singing from the backyard.  I went to look and Bethany and Mark were sitting on the swing together singing.  They sang through nearly every Judy Rogers' song they know and then they began singing hymns.  Once they ran out of hymns they knew from memory, Bethany came in and got one of the hymnals and went back out and they sang more.  I decided to stop working and grab the video camera and video them.  I love taking video when they don't know you're doing it.  I then grabbed my camera and snapped a picture real quick before calling them in for lunch.

Psalm 100:1-2

Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth

Serve the LORD with gladness;
    come before Him with joyful songs

Sam played indoor summer soccer for the first time this summer.  He had a great time and learned a lot.  Indoor soccer is different than outdoor and it is also a much more fast-paced game.  He greatly enjoyed it and looks forward to playing winter indoor soccer.   His team made it to championship game but lost it.   I didn't get any action shots of indoor soccer though because of the set up of the field.  It is set up similar to hockey and the pictures didn't turn out very well.  Here is the only picture I have of him from summer soccer:

Bekah's fall soccer has begun.  She is playing on the middle school home school team.  Her first game was Monday night.  They tied 2-2. 

Recreation league fall soccer is getting ready to begin as well.  Evaluations are this Saturday.  Bethany Grace has to move up a division so she and Bekah will be on the same team.  This should make managing practices and games a bit easier.  In the Spring we had all four playing in four different divisions and some times games were at the same time. 

I have a friend that has recv'd a letter from her daughter's doctor stating that once she is 12 that the mother and father will not have access to her records (unless the child signs a waiver)  This is nuts!  See the e-mail below from Parental Rights.  If you have recv'd a letter like this, please click on the appropriate link to e-mail them and let them know.  We must get something done about this.  I'm thankful to my friend for getting the ball rolling on this and not just sitting down on it. 

Action 1: PROclaim Video Contest ParentalRights.org will give away more than $1000 in prizes in our PROclaim video contest. First place is $250 in each of 4 categories, with additional 2nd and 3rd place prizes. Categories include (1) Parental Rights Amendment Commercials, and What Is the Parental Rights Amendment in (2) Youth, (3) Adults, and (4) Family divisions. So charge up your camera, get your creative juices flowing, and get started today! Click here for additional information. Action 2: Push Email Network Over 100k Our email activist list is approaching a major milestone, and we need your help to push us over it. You may recall that our petition signers crossed the 100k mark a few months ago – we now have 141,000 who have signed up. Due to unsubscribes, out-dated email addresses, and so forth, our actual Email Activist list is only 98,325 as of last week. When we need to call on you to contact Congress, that notice goes out to 98,325 of you. Today’s email is probably going to a few more than that – maybe 98,500. (Exact number here.) By next week, we would like to send it out to 100,000 or more. So, here is what we need you to do: 1. Find at least one friend who is not already a part of our email activist list, and get them to sign up for our weekly newsletter. We will alert them, as we do you, with updates and calls to action. 2. Talk to friends who already support the Parental Rights Amendment, and ask if they have been getting their emails lately. If they haven’t, urge them to get online and sign back up. Our database will merge duplicate records, so a great way to update their email address with us is just to sign up all over again. 3. The next time you change your email address, remember #2 above. Don’t worry about us counting you twice, just sign up again so we’ll have your new email address. Don’t miss a week! We’re fewer than 2000 email addresses away from this major milestone. Won’t you take a few minutes to help us reach it this week?

Join Our Email List If this email newsletter was forwarded to you, you can join up for yourself by clicking here. Visit 200 Congressmen with Us! As of today, we have 129 Senate and House visits planned throughout the country for the months of August and September, involving 114 current non-sponsors of the Parental Rights Amendment. We need your help to reach our goal of 200! Email us to connect with other volunteers making visits in your district, or to receive training or a Congressional Visit Kit. Constitution Week Is Coming! Constitution Week is September 14-18, and we have some major actions planned for that week. We will keep you informed on this next phone blitz, and a day of visits on Capitol Hill. Been Hit with HIPPA Yet? By now many of you are discovering first-hand that federal HIPPA law violates your parental rights. If you have received notice from your doctor or insurance requiring your child's permission to discuss medical records, we need to hear from you as we prepare to take action. Please email Michael. Senate and House Cosponsors We currently have 114 House cosponsors, and 3 cosponsors in the U.S. Senate. Become a Member Today The amazing progress we have made this summer has not been cheap. Become a member with a donation of $25 or more and we will do the following: Send you 2 exclusive PRO decals. Continue working to preserve parental rights for future generations.

Bethany is always so good at encouraging Mark in all that he does.  She is so patient to sit and listen to him read.  Recently I snapped these pictures of them outside together. 

It is so hard to believe that Mark is now 6 years old.  We had a wonderful day celebrating his birthday.  He cracks me up much of the time.  When opening one of his presents he said "Is this fragile"?  It was a slingshot.  The marbles shaking around in the box made him think it might be fragile.

Here is his cake:

He has the best laugh and smile but his posed smile just isn't that great. 

This is the smile I love:

Here he is sporting his new Jonathan Park hat.

He was very happy with the new game for the Wii (Up)

It's so hard to believe our little guy is already 6 years old.  It seems like just yesterday...

and with his Psalty that he loves so much:

I am so thankful that God blessed us with Mark. 

These are two books that I have recently read and they are very good. 

Upgrade: 10 Secrets to the Best Education for Your Child  -- This book is by Kevin Swanson.  It is a quick and easy read.  The focus isn't totally on homeschoolilng but on education in general.  You can check out Kevin's web site here.  He has a daily radio program as well. 

The next book I recently read is Already Gone:  Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it by Ken Ham. This is an EXCELLENT book that I encourage every parent to read.  This book is available via Amazon or at the Answers in Genesis web site.  Kevin Swanson recently had Ken Ham on his radio program talking about this book.  You can listen to it here.  You can also hear other/older broadcasts via Sermon Audio.  I love this site.  It's great and FREE.