Yesterday DH's unit made it safely home.  All the soldiers.  Praise God they are all safe.

It was a sweet reunion.  DH gave the Invocation for the ceremony so he was able to visit us in the bleachers beforehand and that was a sweet and special surprise.  DS is thrilled beyond words.  Life already feels back to normal even with him just being home a little over 24 hours now. 

There were mixed reviews on the kitty front.  Dusty was pleased as punch to see Daddy.  Well, pretty much for him, if it is someone to pet him, he is happy.  Sadie was less enthusiastic.  Her enthusiam (not), dwindled when we went to bed last night and HE got in "her" side of the bed.  We were sitting there talking and kept hearing little huffs from her while she sat on the floor beside the bed.   She quickly got over it this morning when Daddy got up and fed them royally.  They each got their own can of food instead of the usual Mommy starvation plan of splitting a can between them.

God is good and we are enjoying being a family again.  Enjoy the few pictures I got of his homecoming.  I was so excited I forgot to take many.  *grin*

DH with another Chaplain

Unit marching in

Unit formation for ceremony

Wyatt with unit mascot

Daddy and DS

Family picture

Well, we are almost at the finish line!  DH and Daddy is soon to be home.  Yay!  We are both excited and running around like crazy people getting the house and yard ready for the homecoming.

It has been a quick deployment as far as deployments go.  No time you are apart from your best friend and spouse and Daddy is easy or "quick" but it surely could have gone much slower.

I hope to have pictures of his homecoming to share when it happens.  Until then, I would love to leave you with some of President George W. Bush's words from his commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation.

"In the end, despite challenges and setbacks, freedom ultimately prevails, because the desire for liberty is written by our Creator in every human heart."

Well as hard as it is to believe we are at the end of this deployment.  DH was due home this week but his homecoming has been delayed.  Nothing that isn't business as usual with the military.  So it appears it may be a while longer before we can celebrate.  DS is disappointed (which is expected) as am I.  So we look to the Lord for our sustenance and strength and know that DH's ministry will be wide open till their return.  Again I say we are blessed that, in Army life, our deployment is a short one.  We are blessed.

I will keep updates on the return as much as OPSEC will allow.  For all you civies out there that is Operational Security.  Life lived one acronym at a time.   Isn't it fun?

DS is totally awesome!  He has been working quite hard these past few months.  See he has been working on memorizing the Shorter Catechism as well as the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, etc.  Our church recently had a Bible Olympics for the children.  He did so well and it was so good for him in so many ways. 

We feel strongly that he learn these basic tenents of our faith and to begin learning the Shorter Catechism so that he will lay that foundation for not only what he believes but why he believes what he believes.  So since DH left we have started our mornings with Bible reading and then working on memorization.

DS did so well at the Olympics and we are so proud of what he accomplished.  Enjoy the pictures of him and sorry for the gloating here.  He won trophies for reciting the first 20 questions of the Shorter Catechism, the Lord's Prayer, the 12 Apostles, the Ten Commandments, and Psalm 23.  How cool is that for an 8 year old?

DS with our pastor

His trophies

It has taken me a week to be able to post this.  Our dear little CeeCee had to be put to sleep last week.  She was DH's kitty and with him gone this was a bit hard.  DS was also devastated since, in Daddy's absence, he had become the human of choice.

We adopted CeeCee 13 months ago from a rescue shelter.  She was already 10 years old and had been at this shelter for 2 years.  She was really traumatized.  When DS and I volunteered there last year we couldn't stand to leave her.  She pretty much stayed in one or two corners of the cat room.  She couldn't walk well or really at all.  We knew bringing her home that her time on this earth was limited but we wanted to love her and give her happy times for her time left.  We were able to do that.  She had significant arthritis but by this summer was walking with a funny little walk, but walking.  By this fall she was coming for pets and brushings.  By Christmas, she was getting on the couch beside me at night.  So we did what we said we would do.  We gave her happiness and she knew she was loved.

I know there are many others who are facing much greater trials than this but for our little animal-loving family this is quite a loss.  I would like to share some thoughts and Scripture a dear minister and friend of our family shared with me to help with DS's grief.   It was special that DS was able to be a part of the decision-making and be with her as she left this world.  A difficult lesson but one that is a part of the sinful world we live in and one I am glad I was able to be there to walk with DS through.  My prayer is that these may bring comfort to the other animal lovers out there.

"We must remember the Bible was written for the salvation of humanity, not of animals.  Humans sinned and brought the wrath of God, not the animals.  Sin came through us.  The animals are like innocent by-standers (Romans 5:12)  In Psalm 145:-9-10,13,15-21  God loves all His creation and has made plans for all His children and the lesser creatures to enjoy His eternal Kingdom."

"Romans 8:19 says that the lesser creatures await Christ's return to redeem the sons of God so they, too, will be released from physical death to eternal life."

"Romans 8:21-22 says 'Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.'"

LUKE 3:6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'" (NKJ) 

ACTS 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (KJV)  

REV. 21:5 And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (KJV)  

ECCLESIASTES 3:18 I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals”. (NKJV) 

ECCLESIASTES 3:19-20 Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath, man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust and to dust all return. (NIV)  

PSALM 36:6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD. (NRSV) 

REVELATION 5:13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
   be praise and honor and glory and power,
         for ever and ever!"

Wow time flies when I try to sit down to blog.  This is something I must share with you all though.  Last week, DS and I had the lovely opportunity to attend a ballet like no other.  Though in recent weeks we had attended a local production of Peter and the Wolf this one was quite different.  It is a ballet company out of Mississippi whose desire and ministry is to serve and glorify God through dance.  Called Ballet Magnificat!, it is something to see.  We attended their production of The Hiding Place based on Corrie Ten Boom's life and book.  It was a powerful and moving performance.  I had wondered what an 8 year old boy's perspective or even attention span would be at something like this.  He loved Peter and the Wolf but it was a production that was geared for children.  We had briefly studied about Corrie Ten Boom before going.  Well I am not sure who was touched more, him or me.  He honestly was moved.

What is even neater is that before the final dance of praise, the speaker for the group comes out and basically brings the message of the Gospel and offers people a chance to pray with the dancers after the show.  Wow.  Afterwards, DS wanted to meet the dancers.  We met one who was about the sweetest young lady in the world.  She was very eager to talk with us, even after an exhausting 2 hour performance, no less.  We had to opportunity for her to pray with us and for us and then us for her.  What started as something that I really used as a "check off this block" for exposure to the arts became a night of ministering to our souls.

So check them out here and find out if they are coming near you.  It is well worth a drive if you have to drive some.  I would go back in a minute.  I am eager to see their other performances.  I won't soon forget this one.  Neither will DS as he is still talking about it almost a week later.

Seems I have a knack for letting time slip away from me before I post again.  It isn't that there is no news or that little wonderful moments to share don't happen or even that the Lord shows or teaches me something that I want to share.  I guess life gets busy.  The typical deployment "monkey wrenches" have been thrown out there, too.  Most are mundane dealings with the house but one has been most exciting.  Seems someone (or some bodies), put a BB shot (per our kind deputy), through the back window of DH's vehicle shattering it.  Add in a few lovely shots into the body of the vehicle requiring some more body work and you have a wonderful learning experience for DS on how our sin choices always affect others. 

We have passed the two month mark of DH being gone.  Time is honestly flying this deployment.  I know the holidays helped and now we are back in the saddle again with school and a revised schedule at that.  Our new schedule has also brought some additions to our school day and the days seem to pass right before my eyes.  I love what we are doing and DS does, as well.  I have been seeking God's ideas to help our school flow through our lives as I believe living is learning (and really, vice versa).  I turned to some books of Ruth Beechick's (this site is a personal favorite of mine), I have had for a time now and have instituted some of her ideas for DS.  I honestly like her idea of a more gentle way of learning.  She just plain makes sense.  And her ideas speak to DS's heart.  A nice side effect of our new additions to school is that DS and I spend more time together interacting and I have enjoyed watching his journey of late.

I have also been reading Teri Maxwell's, Homeschooling With a Meek and Quiet Spirit.  I wish I had read her book before now.  Not just that it is written for a homeschooling Mom's heart but that, as a Christian woman, the words are needful in that area of my life.  Not that the two are really different women but that I know the Lord has been desiring to work on me in some of these areas and I have been resistant on some level.  Truly there is nothing like a deployment to bring you to your knees and lift your face to Him. 

The Lord has been talking to my heart on many issues lately.  I have been pricked by recognizing that I should love my DS (and DH), with a brotherly and selfless love and seek to"be holy as He is holy."  We are always kinder to those who aren't in our family doesn't it seem?  I should strive in my daily life to love the Lord with my whole heart and allow Him to fill me with the grace I need to move through each day's journey.  From that grace I can be more loving, tender, quiet, and wise.  I see that need for my heart to be tender to the men in my life.  The Lord has allowed me to see the downcast look in DS's eyes when he comes to share something with me and I am on the computer.  Confession.  I had been using the computer lately to escape honestly.  I used all so many noble reasons for doing so like researching lapbooking and such.  But honestly I was convicted that my son needed me right now.  I don't want anything to stand in the way of building that relationship with him.  He will be 8 years old soon.  In 10 more years, he will possibly be moving on out into the world.  I can't imagine, and really don't want to, how it would feel to look back on this season of life and wish I had grabbed more moments with him.  Is it easy?  Nope.  It is a conscious choice of my will to sign off and push away from the computer desk.

Yet in those moments when my heart awoke to my sin (yes it is all sin), the Lord reminded me that  "I will restore to you the years that  the swarming locust has eaten." (Joel 2:25)  He can and will renew my relationships.  But what I have been struck with and digging into is that really, if you look at it, all sin stems from pride and selfishness.  Really selfishness is pride.  Wow look at those "I's" in there.  "I" want/"need" some Mommy time to work on the computer.  Why don't you get finished so "I" can go do....Well, whatever.  Honey, "I" am too tired to read tonight.  "I" "I" "I."  My pride and selfishness spilled over into every area of my life.  Homeschooling by its very nature goes directly against pride and selfishness.  It is a conscious act of my will to choose to do what I know God has called me to.  He always equips when He calls but we can also expect that most times it won't be easy and it generally will push us to our perceived limits.  However, in that growth and maturity, a new creation blossoms.  That act of will is simply obedience to His call.  Even obedience to open His Word and ask Him to show you what He wants to work on.  Like I said, nothing like a deployment to put you on your knees eyes lifted heavenward. 

Let me share some of our recent moments with you.  Enjoy.

Forever a military kid.  Even his toys do the Pledge of Allegiance.  I love the elaborate setup.  The fan blowing the flag, the light on the flag, shone through blue colored glass for added effect.

This one is terribly funny.  DS as a butterfly.  I am jealous of his tongue-curling talent.  The discussion that led to the idea of acting out being a butterfly was quite interesting, too.  And, yes, we called the cup the flower, the hot chocolate the nectar, etc.

Our first nature journaling in some time.  This is a holly bush outside our house.  DS sat inside the glass door on a rainy day and drew some up close views and then "faded away."  Though difficult to pick up on in a picture is that he used a lighter color of green for the newer leaves.

Hot air balloons that flew over our house last weekend.

Sharing because he is just so darn cute!  Dusty, needless to say, lives in the lap of luxury.  He could care less about learning about meerkats like Sadie  or really anything else except when the next meal is.

This is Sadie's bed.  Bed made for a small 8 lb. cat with a l-a-a-r-r-g-e 25 lb. cat in it.  Basically the fat and extra fur are in the bed and his body is just laying along the top of the bed.  He should have stuck with the recliner.  Oh yes, you read correctly.  25 lbs.  We call him Arnold Schwarzen-kitty.

We have had some fun days with DS lately.  Last week he and I spent some time where I grew up.  We took one afternoon and drove DS around to some places I grew up.  My Mom was with us so it was a walk down memory lane for her and me. 

One thing I noticed was the house we lived in till I was about 9 or 10.  I remembered that yard being so much bigger when I was younger!   ;-)   The one thing that changed in that it seemed longer was the walk my brother and I walked to grammar school.  It was kind of sad driving by the old grammar school I attended.  Broken windows and all.  Yes, we used to walk to school though DS hasn't gotten one of those "I would walk 10 miles all uphill in the snow to school" speeches from me.   ;-)   I remember loving walking with my big brother to school so it never felt like a long walk.  The other difference was in how small the playground looked to me.  I used to play chase on that playground and also used to "swing race" other kids.  Yep, I was a tomboy.  Those were the days. 

Then we stopped and spent some time in a park that my Mom used to take us to, especially in the summers, to play in a big sprinkler.  Though the equipment wasn't there when I was young and the sprinkler is gone, the park is still there and Mom showed me the bench she used to sit on watching my brother and me play.  How neat to share that with DS.  It also really took me back down a pleasant walk on memory lane.  Enjoy some pictures of our day. 

DS and Grandmommy
The sprinkler was in the area over my Mom's left shoulder.

THE Bench

Park entrance

DS playing with Grandmommy on "her" bench

I thoroughly enjoyed my day with DS sharing some of my past and also him playing in the park I grew up playing in.  How much fun is that?

Oops.  I almost forgot to post some of pictures DH took on their fishing trip last week.  One of DH's brothers took them out to a great fishing place.  He had even gotten DS a baseball cap and his own fishing pole.  DS was psyched about going!  He had so much fun with his Daddy and uncle.  He did catch one small bass but it jumped off the line before they could get it in the boat.  Whenever Uncle M caught a fish he would let DS take it off the hook and release it back into the water.  DS got to even look down the throat of a big mouth bass.  What every little boy dreams of!   

Isn't it wonderful he could go and have this experience?  DS learned a lot that day.  But more importantly it built memories with Daddy and also built some good time with Uncle M.  I hope to get him together with all his uncles while Daddy is deployed.  Each uncle he has, from my brothers to DH's brothers, a different gift and a different interest that will be good experiences and bonding times for DS.  Well, enjoy....

Well, seems I can't get this template to let me change anything anymore.  Since HSB changed I have had trouble.  Not complaining mind you.  Just the techno-challenged at work again.

Anyway I wanted to change our curriculum for this year.  No big changes really just math for now.  We are using Math U See.  I love this curriculum!  I have had several friends introduce me to it and I had actually decided last year to use it but didn't want to switch midstream last year.  So we started with it for this year.  If any of you are sitting on the fence wondering about it, order the demo video.  It was the catalyst that helped me decide it was the right choice for DS. 

We have started out slowly for this year.  Though I am still working in the house getting it settled and cleaning out all this stuff, I felt the need to get back in our routine.  That has helped us so much.  Routine is a good thing and I see the difference not only in myself but in DS when we are off our routine for very long.  DS loves the Math U See and instead of rote memorization, which in and of itself isn't necessarily bad, he is really understanding math.  I love watching his eyes light up when he 'gets it.' 

Reading is going well.  I think I may get his eyes checked because he complains of how tired reading makes him.  We know he has mild astigmatism but since we homeschool the eye Dr. decided not to give him glasses.  Now I am thinking he may need them.  So I still read to him a good bit during the day.

We are back working on our Catechism again, memory verses, copywork for handwriting, and lots of sitting on the couch and snuggling while reading.  We are reading Teddy's Button again.  It is a Lamplighter book that we have read before but DS loves the story so much he asks to have it read again and again.

Each and every day, I am reminded of God's faithfulness to me as I seek to obey His calling to homeschool.  He reaches out to me as I read His Word and pray each day.  I can't imagine doing this without Him.  And He is faithful to gently remind me of His plan for our school and for our lives.  We have such little precious time with our child and I am so thankful that I get to share each day with him.  I am so thankful that I have the freedom and opportunity to protect him from all that he would be exposed to in the schools before he has the capability and maturity to handle it.  Though there are days when I feel a desire to hide in the bathroom or wonder if DS will make it to his next birthday (*grin*), I am so glad to have him home with me.

Thanks to you all for sticking by me when I don't blog regularly.  I am still here and loving homeschooling and loving my military hubby and son.  Until next post....."May God make His face to shine upon you and give you peace...."

I honestly can't believe it.  Here we stand on the threshold of a new year!  It will be my third of 'official' homeschooling.  I am so excited.  I can't wait to start.  I have our curriculum and as per last year, God has revealed to me His plans for our home school.  I think most of those early years jitters are moving on and I feel more confident in myself this year.

Maybe I am also excited since I mostly have the house put together and have our schoolroom together and organized.  Finally.  Whew!  It has been quite a move.  I am also excited because I have already met some wonderful fellow homeschoolers here and have a dear friend and fellow former college roomie that lives nearby who also homeschools.  It is going to be a good year.  God has blessed us so much through and in this move. 

How about all of you?  Are you as excited as I am?  What are you looking forward to?  Anyone having those jitters? 

Oh, sorry.  That's just me trying to speak through all the packing material.  Aaaagh!  I do believe the stuff keeps growing when I turn my back.  I also believe that the movers must have picked up and delivered someone else's stuff because there is no way all this can be ours!

Anyhoo, we are here and unpacking, and unpacking, and unpacking, and unpacking, and unpacking....Okay you get the idea.

We feel so blessed as this is our first house and something about owning just makes your house feel more like a home. DS comments more on how much he loves our neighborhood, his house, and yard.  I even met some local homeschoolers the other day at an ice cream party.  Lovely ladies who are going to be so much fun to be with and get to know.  We are so blessed!

Though DH will be leaving for that 'vacation' to one of those lovely (note sarcasm), places overseas, I believe this will be a good time for us.  That's it for now with our "life-schooling."  *smile*
Perhaps I can actually blog timely this move, unlike the last one.  Either way, I will be glad to be done for a while with moving.  I truly have had more fun than anyone should be allowed to have lately.

Toodles, all!

Sing it with me!  You know the tune.  "On the road again.  Can wait to be on the road again."

Yep, we are moving yet again.  DH graduated from the Advanced Course for Chaplains Friday and we are heading out next week.  We bought our first home at our next duty station and we move next week.  Whoohoo!  Actually my Mom and I will be going down some this week to get things cleaned to our liking and start moving some things.  It isn't too far from where we are now and close to home to boot.  I keep having nightmares of packing material chasing me down the road.  lol!  Any of you who have moved from overseas and had Korean movers, specifically, pack your things understand.  Best packers in the world.  Never want to see that much packing material again.

So we are feeling very blessed right now.  We have enjoyed our 6-7 months home and have our first house, too.  There is a large and very active homeschool support group in the area of our next duty station and I have already "met" some wonderful ladies through email.  God is so amazingly good.  Why does it surprise us when He does wonderful things for us? 

Well, I would love to share some of DS's isms over the past couple of weeks and some more of our family, but I am tired (already), and need to get to bed to make that first trek down to our new home.  I  hope to blog better during this move but none of you hold your breath.  Yet.

More "real life" homeschool coming DS's way!
Peace to all.

I am sure many of you know about Lamplighter books and even are part of their book club(s).  But, if you are not, it is well worth checking them out.

I have recently joined one of their book clubs and have been receiving some of their Rare Collector Series books.  They are simply incredible.  Good quality books with quality stories that challenge not only DS, but me, too.

We have been reading Teddy's Button and it has made quite an impact on DS.  With Daddy in the military, he often says he wants to be a soldier/warrior, too.  He is somewhat disappointed that Daddy, as a Chaplain, doesn't carry a weapon, so he does make the distinction that he wants to be a warrior soldier/ Chaplain.  Too cute.

Well the character, Teddy, also longs to be a soldier like his father until he learns and has to decide whether or not to join the Lord's Army.  Once he makes the decision to join the Lord's Army, he learns that battles aren't fought with guns and swords and his enemy isn't who he thinks, either.

DS is tuned into this story like no other and it has reached him on a level no other book quite has.  I encourage you to look into Lamplighter Publishing to discover timeless classic stories that will inspire your children and you, as well.

Where does the time go?  Today, DS woke up a 7 year old.  I remember 7 years ago like it was yesterday.  I was reminded today how quickly the time goes and he will leave the protective hedge of our home and family.  In this much time again, he will be a teenager and be looking towards his adulthood.  Wow!

He woke up this morning exclaiming that 7 year olds listen to their parents, get dressed when asked, brush their teeth when asked.  Mike and I were thoroughly enjoying this newfound desire to be a more obedient and flexible child.  Even in church, he stood up when we all stood up (something he hasn't been doing willingly), and even tried to read and recite the Lord's Prayer and Apostle's Creed.  He exuded confidence like we hadn't seen before.  Wonder how long it will last? 

For now, we had a great day of having a birthday celebrated with our family close to us.  Something we have not had in a few years.  DS had a confident day of being an official "big boy."  I will treasure this day.  No matter what tomorrow holds as far as obedience or anything else, today was special.  And a good reminder to treasure our son for our days are "as a vapor."
Happy Birthday, special boy!  I love you!