Genesis 1

Today is day 1 of week 2 of homeschooling. I don't feel good. I woke up not being able to breathe out of my nose and as the day has gone on I have just felt crummy. Not sick enough to be in bed all day but just yucky enough to make me tired and a little grouchy.

Once I finally got to a point this morning where I knew I could start school we all came to the table and I pulled out our new Bible books. I have one book just full of activities and games to help learn the division and books of the Bible and then another book that highlights the key points of each book, along with some other cool reference items. Today was just the introductory lesson where we talked about the Old and New testament and some of the key things that happened in each section. We also talked about finding verses (how you write the book, chapter, and then verse). While we are talking about this Wild Man found Genesis 1 and just started reading. He read the whole chapter before he was done.

The "teacher" and "organizer" in me wanted to stop him at first because that was not what we were supposed to be working on, but the mom in me kicked in and just set there and listened. I listened to my little precious Wild Man read ALL of Genesis 1! As he was reading I just was overwhelmed at how much God has blessed me. I thought about when Wild Man was a baby and how much he has grown since then. I love him more than words can describe and my love for him just reminds me how much more God loves me.

When he was done he looked up at me and said, "I just read the whole thing! I read from there to there! Can you believe it?! I have never done that before mommy!" He was so proud of himself. As we talked about what he read he began to get more excited because he realized he read a story from his Bible that others had been teaching him about for years.

It's moments like this that I will treasure forever. If he had been in a regular classroom setting that would not have happened and I would not have had that memory. This is a memory I will keep with me and pull out on those days I am discouraged and ready to quit.

Lunch Time Conversations

One of the things I am loving most about homeschooling is that I get have my kids with me all the time (sometimes I love it more than others) and I get to hear fun things they say all day long. I really love that they are able to build their relationship with each other too. I love hearing them playing together and just having fun together. It is a constant reminder of how blessed I am!

Today during lunch time I over heard the sweetest conversation....

Wild Man: Tori, if you ask Jesus in your heart then the whole family will go to heaven
Princess T: I am!
Wild Man: When?
Princess T: I don't know. It's not my time yet.
Wild Man: When will it be time?
Princess T: I don't know.
Wild Man: Okay.

I love that they talk about things like this. I love that Wild Man loves his sister so much that he wants her to follow Jesus and live forever with the family in heaven. And, I love that even though she is not ready she knows one day she will be. My heart is full!

The Countdown

I signed into my blog this afternoon knowing I needed to blog, mainly to stay in the habit of blogging every few days, but my mind is so tired I could not even begin to think of what to blog about. So, I read my past few blogs and looked at everything on the page and then it hit me (mainly because I saw the countdown on the side) WE LEAVE FOR DISNEY IN 31 DAYS!!! I know that to most that seems like a long time and it probably will go by slow for me just because I am so ready to be there, but you have to understand it is a lot closer than we were yesterday! ;)

Seriously though, I am SO excited about going this year. I am glued to ebay trying to find the best deal on trading pins and I am constantly checking to make sure they have not updated or changed the park schedules any. I am also beginning to work on our packing list so that when it comes time we will be ready to get it all together and head out! I am ready!! :)

Today for Wild Man's creative writing (he will be doing this everyday - I give him a topic and he writes for 15 minutes - whatever he wants to write about that topic) I asked him to write about Disney World and what he will do and see at Disney World. Here is what he wrote (please keep in mind I do not help him spell, because this is really more about getting him to think about writing - he will learn how to spell at some point):

At Disney World...

I will ride the rides and see showes. It will be fun. I will ride rockin roller ckowsster and tower of tira.

Is that not the cutest thing ever??!! Well, I must be going...lot of pins ending soon on ebay....

Exciting News!

Well, we have some news. We were going to sit on it a while, but the kids know now, so there is not really a reason to keep it to ourselves. In fact Princess T has already taken it upon herself to tell a few people. So, we are going public with our news.

Professor and I have been praying for a while now about adding on to our family. Yes, that means another child. God has made it clear to us that He is calling us to adopt a baby. Timing? Well, it won't happen any time soon, we don't think. In fact, we will mostly likely not even start the process for another a year, maybe more.

We are very excited about this new journey and how God is going to use it to grow us closer to Him. Please begin praying for us now as we make steps toward this new phase of our life. Pray that once we have our house on the market God will sell it quickly and find another one that is perfect for our family. Pray that He will continue to provide financially for us as we save up to begin this process. Also pray that He will make it clear to us when it is time to begin the process. Also, pray for our children that He will begin to prepare their hearts for this change. They are both real excited right now. Pray that excitement continues. And, begin praying now that when the timing is right that everything will go smoothly and the He will get the glory through out it all.

We love each of you very much and looking forward to bringing you updates as we have them.