homeschool adventures

Jul. 11, 2007 - Don't cry

I had a dream the other day that I was talking to Joshua. The following poem describes our conversation. Let me know what you think.

Don’t Cry

Mama, don’t cry.

I know you miss my smiling face

And you think that I am gone.

But I’m alive.

I am waiting here for you,

In the best of company.

And its just for a while,

Then you’ll be here with me.

So, Mama, don’t cry.

I’m alive.

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Jun. 14, 2007 - parties, parties and more parties

Posted in Daily Life

For the last few weeks we have been going to so many parties. We have had 5 graduation parties, 2 bridal showers, and a birthday. I am tired of going to parties. But we are not done yet. Coming up in the near future, there is another birthday, 2 more graduations, and 3 weddings. This is the year of the party, and I am partied out.

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May. 31, 2007 - Grieving

Today I have been going through the pain and grief of Joshua's funeral again. A dear friend's child, at age 15, when home to be with the Lord. I though the funeral of Daniel a few weeks ago was hard. This one is so much more so. It was sudden, unexpected, very similar to Joshua's death. Though the circumstances were much different. I have emotionaly been shifting from today's funeral to Joshua's, almost a year ago. It even sounds weird. Maybe this is what it feels like to be schizophrenic.

So many memories, that I have hidden away, are back again. The pain feels so fresh. I know the wound has not healed yet.

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May. 11, 2007 - At a loss.

Last week I went to the funeral of another child. I never gave it a thought that it would impact me so much. Memories from Joshua's funeral and the feelings surrounding his death have been with me very stongly this week. I have had difficulty sleeping again, just like the first few months. I have been very moody as well. How long will this continue happening? I still miss him everyday. I still look at his pictures and cry. I get teary eyed when talking about him.

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May. 4, 2007 - TKD test

Posted in Daily Life

The test in Tae kwon Do went quite well. All the people testing (25 people I think) did very well and all passed their test. Sam and I are now black belts. I cannot believe it. My testimony also went quite well. I was actually more nervous about the testimony than the test. This was the first time that I talked about the source of the strength in regards to Joshua's death. The following is a draft of my testimony. I pray that it blesses you in some way.

I have been in TKD for a little over 2 years. Sometimes I struggle with new techniques. You should have seen me when I first started. I may never be able to do the things that these young kids can do. But I continue to try, and to improve. Sometimes, I even surprise myself. I continue to do the things that are asked of me; at least I do them to the best of my ability. That truth doesn’t only apply to TKD. The key in life is realizing that through everything, God is in charge. If I am faithful to do what He asks me to do, He will bless me. It is a promise from scripture.

Throughout the last 2 years I have experienced many trials in my life. I have gone through the death of my youngest son in a terrible accident, the death of an uncle, an unemployed husband, a cancer diagnosis in a parent of both my own and my husband’s family, and physical pain almost everyday for the last year. Those are just the highlights, many other smaller trials happen almost everyday. I am really no different than anyone else here. We all face trials big and small. Life is sometimes hard, bad things sometimes happen. But God is good all the time; He will make the burden light.

He is the reason I can stand here today. He is the reason I can look back at the worst year of my life and still see the light. I know that God loves me, especially through all of these trials. Seven years ago I asked God to take control of my life, to become my Savior, my Lord. I asked Him to forgive me of all my sins, and to come into my heart. He gives me the strength, everyday, to continue. Even in the face of my worst nightmare. You can claim that strength too. I can’t say that all your problems will disappear. But they will become lighter, because He will carry most of the load. My Heavenly Father has not let me down; He won’t let you down either. Give Him a chance to do what He has promised.

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Apr. 10, 2007 - 2 months in brief

It has been just crazy in our house for the last few months. Samantha and I are getting ready to test for our black belt (in 14 days). That has meant extra practice and heading to class at every opportunity. Samantha has her Spring Formal coming up. I am tired of the extra shopping. Trying to find shoes to match the dress, looking for accessories, etc... in every store from here to Appleton (about an hour and a half drive). I dislike shopping to begin with, and now I just hate it. I don't want to see another high heeled black shoe again. We have also been working on our kitchen, stripping wallpaper, patching holes in the walls, and painting. For two weeks we had a refridgerator in the middle of the kitchen. Not at all a convenient location. When we have it completed I will post a picture. I have been pushing the kids extra with their school work, we are really behind right now. We also had a birthday party for Zachary, thankfully Sam planned most of it. I only need to make the cupcakes, some cute furry creatures in a variety of colors. Sam also has gotten a new babysitting job. I have to run her to their house and then head back to pick her up, using up some more of my precious time. She is, of course, excited about the extra spending money. Last, but not least, a friend of mine gave me a 10 week gift membership to weight watchers, so I have been attending meetings for that as well. Now that the weather is starting to get warmer I gotten been back to my daily walk first thing in the morning, that is when I used to do most of my blogging.

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Feb. 28, 2007 - what to do

Posted in Daily Life

I awoke early this morning, 3 am. I tried to go back to sleep, but weird dreams kept assaulting me. I don't know what to do with the silence around me. It is never quite during the day. All I can hear at the moment are the rabbits in the kitchen, moving around. Yes the rabbits are in the kitchen. Wisconsin gets to be too cold in the winter to leave them in an open hutch. So the two rabbits get to live for a while in the comforts of the kitchen. Yippee! I don't mind too much. They have a tendency to push out their bedding onto the floor. Making it necessary to sweep several times a day. But it is rather convenient at feeding time. It is easier to monitor the kids, are they actually feeding the rabbits. But, I digress.

Good morning to all, I pray that you will have a splendid day. Since I cannot sleep, and it is quite in the house, I am going to go read my bible and spend a little time with my best friend. Maybe, after that I can crawl back under the covers for a little nap before the kids get up.

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Feb. 27, 2007 -

Posted in Daily Life

Today is Joshua’s Birthday, his first with Jesus. Oh, how I miss him. Six years ago, the Lord sent me a precious child, to have for only a short time. I wanted him longer. I trust Him with my life; I need to trust Him with my children’s lives as well. Actually, I do trust Him with their lives. Its the timing of their deaths that I am struggling with. I need to continue to remind myself that His plans are better than mine. “’I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” Jer 29:11

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Feb. 12, 2007 - Not quite crazy

Posted in Daily Life

When I went to pick up Sam from her weekend of voluntering, I spoke with the camp director for a few minutes about my dilemma. Was it worth it for me to drive 500 miles for Sam to volunteer for a weekend at camp? Well Ruth sure put a different perspective on the situation. Ruth explained to me that that weekend was a couples retreat. Most of the couples were saved. Two had newly saved wives and unsaved husbands. All the volunteers help the weekend to run smoothly, even the dish crew volunteers. So for all those husbands and wives to have an opportunity to bond and grow closer to each other and to God. For those 2 men who didn't know God at all. Was it worth it? In our Earthly eyes maybe not. But when the perspective is on the eternal, yep it was worth it! Thanks Ruth for showing me the eternal perspective on this on.

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Feb. 10, 2007 - Am I crazy?

Posted in Daily Life

Yesterday I drove 250 miles (round trip) to drop my daughter off for a weekend of volunteer work. I will go back to pick her up tomorrow. I know that this is a great experience for her. I am sure that she is also have a great time. But the question remains... "Am I crazy to do this?"

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Feb. 3, 2007 - Creation Conference

Posted in School

This weekend we went to the creation conference in Green Bay. Each workshop was very informative. Todays workshop "The importance of Genesis" really said a lot to me. Did you know that if you don't take Genesis 1 as literally talking about 1 - 24 hour day for each day of creation, you are opening the door to throwing out the rest of the Bible? Did you know that the foundation of the cross is Genesis? Shake that foundation by beliving in evolution, in all of its many forms, and you shake the stability of the cross. The church that sponsored the conference will have all the breakout workshops available on their website. If you are interested in learning more go to bethelgm.org It will be worth your time.

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Jan. 24, 2007 - Psalm 150

Posted in Faith -Devotions

Everynight for the last week I have been reading Psalm 150. Everynight I have been thinking that I wanted to add it here, and then forgot, or didn't have time to do it. Our plans for tonight have changed because of car troubles, so I now have time.

Psalm 150

1 Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens.

2 Praise Him for His acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness.

3 Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre,

4 Praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute,

5 Praise Him with the clash of cymbals, praise Him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

The point, my friends, is to praise Him! Praise Him for who He is and what He has done. Praise Him for the good things in your life and the bad (Yes, the bad things too). It really doesn't matter how you praise Him, look at all the options above. What matters is that you praise Him.

Praise the Lord!

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Jan. 24, 2007 - Amish Friendship Bread

Posted in recipes

Someone gave us a starter for Amish Friendship bread last week. It has been almost 2 years since I have made this recipe. Today (one day early - cuz we couldn't wait) we measured out enough for one batch and tried to make a cappuccino bread. Very good!

We used chocolate pudding and added 1/3 C instant coffee grounds. You can also add some chocolate chips and nuts if desired.

If you don't have the starter you can make your own by following the directions found at Amish Bread Starter from Scratch. If the link doesn't work the recipe is located on cooks.com search under breads. It takes almost a month to make your own starter.

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Jan. 24, 2007 - Red belt test

Posted in Daily Life

We had our TKD test last night. Even though we were nervous, we did great. No one was seriously hurt during the test. Thank you God. A few bumps and bruises of course. Samantha and I both hurt our ankles during board breaking. If we passed we are now red belts.

forms

Samantha & me sparing

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Jan. 21, 2007 - More snow

Posted in Daily Life

A few days ago, I wished for more snow. We got it! It snowed about 3-4 inches here today. We left for church at about 8am, with no snow falling. During Sunday school (9-10am) I noticed the snow starting to fall outside. By the time church was finished around 12pm, there were several inches on the ground, with more coming down. It snowed lightly most of the day, with some heavier periods.

I really love the snow, so I am not complaining. It does, however, make driving a little more interesting. I can’t wait to head to the sledding hill. With a fresh layer of snow it should even be better. If we have time tomorrow, there shouldn’t be too many tracks and bare spots from other sledders, as they will have to wait until school lets out. We are the only homeschooling family in the area. Maybe, the possibility of another trip to the hill in Algoma will motivate the kids to get all their work done quickly tomorrow.

I hope that we have enough in the wooded areas to take out the cross country skies. I would like to go at least one time this winter. We probably won't have time to check the cross country trails until Friday or Saturday. By then there could be more snow, or maybe it will all be gone again.

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