Around the house....

On a daily basis, my kids make me laugh. It starts over breakfast and seems to last throughout the day. They are very funny (I'd like to think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but that's wishful thinking).

Just the other morning, Jett is trying to tell us something about gelatin....I have NO clue what he is saying. Then, he speaks a little more clearly, "I wasn't eating gelatin with my schoolwork." Translation: I wasn't being diligent with my school work. It gave us all a good laugh and reminds us that he's only been speaking English for 2 1/2 years...

Below are a few pics from our lives lately that make me smile....they remind me of the joy that God has given me in motherhood. There are days when I think I can't keep being Mom, and that's exactly where God desires me to be. To rest in knowing that HE alone is sufficient. He is ALL I need, and He will provide the grace, strength, and mercy to walk this path. We only have our children for 18 years (it DOES fly by), so I'm giving it 100% every day for His glory. May He be honored in what we do around here.

Jett came down one day with this on....this is hair from Madison's hairbrush that he taped to his chin in order to look like his Poppa!

Madison was surprised by Mrs. Mary with a cake for her birthday a few months ago. What a joy to know that she is loved by people who invest their lives in her.

Kaitlyn and her friend Savvy being creative with their craft supplies. I'm amazed at these two girls who have been friends for almost nine years now. They are already on the countdown to getting their driver's permits (Lord, please help us all).

Cherished Moments

Kaitlyn and Madison with their friend Ellie in Indiana.

Madison, Christy and Kaitlyn in Destin

As a mom I get to make choices every day about how I spend my time and what I do with what I have been given. I have often made bad decisions and wrong choices that didn't reflect my dependence on Jesus Christ. He is the center of my life, and everything I do should revolve around Him alone.

So, about two months ago, JT and I had a lengthy time of establishing a schedule for our family. For our family (and especially Jett), we need a schedule to keep up with school, mission trips and what everyone is doing (orthodonist appointments, swimming, guitar lessons, etc). So, we set out to make individual calendars and a master family calendar. It has worked marvelously.

One of the best parts of the schedule is the 6:30 walk I get with my girls who are now 13 1/2 and 11. I can remember days when I barely got out of my pajamas (if that) or didn't take a shower. And, then there were days when JT would ask me what I had done that day, and I wanted him to applaud when I said "one load of laundry" and that was it. There were days when I didn't think I could handle being at home anymore and days when my life didn't show my faith in God Almighty.

But, now that the girls are older, I can breathe. They can tie their shoes (yes, they've been able to do that for years), go to the bathroom alone, take their own showers, etc. I remember a time when I cut up everyone's food, longed to lock the bathroom door for hours and would relish just a 5 minute break to drink coffee. So, I'm cherishing these days.

When we meet on the front porch, it is one of the most cherished times of my day. We walk about 2 miles in our neighborhood. We talk about how they are doing with homework assignments, their concerns and joys and prayer requests. We spend time together with no distractions. It is a beautiful and joyful part of my day. I am so blessed to have this time with them, and I can see the memories we are making. Some days I may speak words of wisdom into their lives about spending time effectively or including people who feel left out. This morning Madison wanted us to be reminded of a prayer that God had answered. Wow! I am just honored to be a part of walking through life with these beautiful young ladies. I am overwhelmed with God's grace and goodness in providing these moments for us.

The Tabernacle Project

My sister and I were given a Bible project two weeks ago. We had to build a scale model of the tabernacle. We knew this was going to be difficult, but we didn't expect that it would be as difficult as it was. First the clay dried up, then the posts wouldn't stay, and then the whole outside fell off! We did find other ways to make the furniture besides the clay, and we decided we didn't need ALL the posts. We learned many things through this project. First, never leave your clay out in the open. Second, listen to your mom when she tells you to make a plan. Third, it is hard to make little furniture. And last but not least, we learned that the tabernacle was very detailed.

Kaitlyn

Rejuvenated....

Christy and Madison at The Back Porch!

Our family at the Destin Harbor!

Mommy and Daddy (Sheryl and JT) at The Red Bar in Greyton Beach.

Poppa driving the pontoon boat - the best day!

Kaitlyn enjoying the day on the boat!

This summer has been full! Many days spent in airports around the globe, talking to Delta Airlines, arranging meals for 15 people at our house and well over 50 on the field daily, games of Settlers of Catan, late night talks pouring into interns, Bible studies, worship services, orphaned children, and on and on. There were many days when I just didn't think I could take another step. Yet, God gave us sweet rest and rejuvenated our souls for another day. Praise Him for His goodness and faithfulness.

We took a week to head to Destin to regroup and rejuvenate as a family. What a joy and blessing it was! We spent our days getting up late (when you're used to 5:00 am, 8:00 is a miracle!), reading books, playing in the pool, eating great seafood, and playing in the sand at the beach. Not to mention many games of Settlers and Bananagrams.... What a blessing to have that much-needed time together.

Now, we are back home and everyone is in the groove of the new school year. Everyone has new chore assignments, schedules for school, and the blessing of a new schoolroom. We are excited about what this year has in store for us. We are all eagerly awaiting news on our adoption from Uganda. The wait is long and arduous, but we know that God is in total control!!!

We give Him all the glory for His goodness and His Sovereignty! To Him be all the honor!

Time to rest...

In Ecclesiastes, God reminds us that there is a time for everything under the sun. After the summer on trips to Uganda, Guatemala (twice) and Arizona, our family has needed the time to regroup, rest, and be refreshed. So, now is that time.

We are spending a week at the beach in Destin. This is a great time to focus on God and His creation. We are spending lots of time together at the beach, swimming in the pool, and playing games. Thank you all for your love and support while we rest.....

Christy is Home!

Christy and Jett

Kaitlyn and Christy

Madison and Christy

Christy, the semester intern we had in the fall, is home!!!!! She was supposed to leave for Australia on August 2, but it ended up that she is going to have to stay in the United States for a little while.She moved in on Saturday while we were on our way to Anniston. We are blessed by Christy so much. She is such a help around the house and she is very patient with everybody. She listens to everyone no matter how boring they may be, and she cares about us like we are her own family! Living with Christy will be a great joy to our family. Thank you God for sending us Christy! - posted by Kaitlyn

School is in session...

This is the view of the school from the reading area. There's a small table in the middle with six chairs for the little kids. The taller desk on the right belongs to Kaitlyn and Madison. They store all of their books and supplies in the armoire in the corner.

Although this photo is a little dark, it shows our reading area in the back of the room. We have a red chair with an ottoman, a corner chair, and a loveseat. The bookshelf is for our computer, printer, teacher books and reference materials.

Here's another view of the reading area from further back. Along the right wall there are 3 large bookshelves as well as a small one with 2 desks/chairs in between. Jett uses the desk closest to the reading area. The bookshelf to his left is the history/geography center. To his right is the math center.

The official start of our homeschooling year was last Monday, August 2nd. With a new schoolroom and organization galore, the kids were all very excited about starting the day....

Many people have asked about our schoolroom, and well, we've never had a lot to say about it. Many people don't like to recreate a school environment at home, but we are totally opposite of that. We love organization and a room where we can "just do school." It's our space, and we love it! So, I'm attaching some photos.

This year we changed our school room from a smaller room in the house to one of our larger rooms. It's a longer room (26 feet) which allows us more space to spread out. We are also anticipating our adoption being complete sometime this year, and we needed to make more space for the next child/children!

So, now we've specifically divided our room into areas: a reading space (this is also where I do individual teaching), a table for arts/little ones, a history/geography area, and desks for each student. With notebooks and binders in all sorts of colors these days, our girls got very excited about assigning a color to each subject. While I would like to tell you that it was overboard, my organized self found great pleasure it it!

The question asked most often of me is this: what does your typical day look like in homeschooling? Let me say first that everyone has a different schedule, and no one schedule will fit your family and mine! Plus, I have three children which is a factor as well as the ages of my children....13, 11 and 6. We'll be adding at least one more soon, so that will affect our schedule as well. However, right now, here's what it looks like for us....

7:30 Breakfast and family time
8:00 Clean up/prepare for the morning
8:30 Jett - reading and writing; Madison - math (teaching textbooks on the computer); Kaitlyn - science/literature (she will begin taking these classes on Thursday so this is her time to work on them)
9:00 Jett - math; Kaitlyn and Madison - Bible with Mom
9:30 Phonics and Bible for Jett and Reading for the girls (we are currently going through the Narnia series and discussing them daily)
10:00 History for everyone!
10:30 Seatwork for Jett; Grammar for Madison and Math for Kaitlyn (Teaching Textbooks)
11:00 Spelling for Jett; Science/Writing for Madison (same as Kaitlyn in that she will take these classes on Thursday); Spelling for Kaitlyn
11:30 Geography for girls; Jett is usually finished by now and playing Rescue Man
12:00 Grammar for Kaitlyn; Typing or Spanish for Madison and then Spelling
12:30 Typing/Spanish for Kaitlyn; Piano for Madison

In the afternoon, the girls finish piano and Spanish if they haven't already done so. Plus, they will begin taking guitar lessons in a few weeks. We try to have lunch everyday at 1:00 with everyone. In the afternoons, the girls usually have some homework and research projects for either history/geography or Bible. Jett plays a lot and has to run off some energy. This is my time to work on One Way Ministries' stuff - emails, mail, newsletter, travel arrangements, etc.