Thanksgiving 2012!

 It's become tradition that we go to my parents for Thanksgiving each year.  It's something I find myself looking forward to with my whole heart.  It's the mark that our vacation has truly begun!  This year was our first one without my dad.  It was bittersweet.  I missed his presence, his humor....I even missed him bossing me around. (big tearful smile)  It felt incomplete without him.  Yet, at the same time the Lord allowed us to move forward knowing that my dad is no longer in any pain.  He is healed and whole and would not have wanted to be anywhere else but where he is right at this moment!

 I so ENJOYED my mama and all the fun we shared while connecting, cooking, eating, and playing.  How blessed I am that the Lord chose me to be hers! 

THANKSGIVING

Getting ready to pig out, dig in, scoop up our thanksgiving FEAST!

(Far left is my baby brother Tim, Colton in the background, my beloved brother-in-law Paul, Scotty, and our Brandon!)

 My beautiful sister Paige (who makes the best homemade Mac & Cheese EVER) and her Paul chilling out after pigging out!

 Paige's famous Mac & Cheese

 My SkinnyTaste Stuffing!  It was YUMMO!

QUIET TIME

My parents have a wrap around porch on the second story.  What a joy it was to sit in my dads rocking chair to have my daily quiet time.  As I dug into the Word I felt such a perfect peace that could only come from heaven!

 I am reading through Joshua right now and thought it so personal that THIS is the verse the Lord gave me the first day of vacation!  I could almost hear his voice telling me to rest, refresh, renew!  Boy, did I EVER!

REST AND RENEWAL

 It was a wonderful time for Scott and I too!  We were able to pull away from our responsibilities and just BE!

 One of my favorite memories was hearing the guitar and finding Scotty sitting by himself on the porch strumming away.  He was so at peace.  It filled my heart.

I snapped this shot as we were heading into town.  There is a beautiful horse farm right down the road from my moms. 

 Every.Single.Night!

 The boys talked mom into watch The Walking Dead.  This tells you how much she liked it, LOL!

 My little sharpshooters!  (Seth)

 (Jakey) 

 My moms newest little girl, Cowboy!

 S'mores

FATHER/SON BONDING TIME 

 Scott and Brandon woke up at 5am, grabbed a cup of coffee and walked over to my parents river property to watch the sun come up.  I love watching my husband mentor his boys!

CONNECTING OVER CARDS

VISITING FAMILY

 One of the stops we always try to make is to my cousin Debbie and Roker's farm!  Debbie has such a gift of hospitality!  She can organize and decorate like no one I've ever met before!  It's a JOY to spend time with her. 

 She (and her husband) made her preserves cabinet out of two very old doors.  She found them when a house was being knocked down and cut them to make this amazing cabinet.

 She has tones of goats.  This was her newest baby!

 My beautiful cousin, Lynn stopped by on Wednesday and brought us yummy preserves!  I so enjoyed sitting and talking.   My highlight was looking through her pictures from her vacation to Europe.  

STEAK & S'MORES

 On our last night mom grilled steaks, made loaded baked potatoes, and salad!

 We then gathered around the campfire to make S'mores!

 Thank you, Lord!  Thank you for this life you've given us and specifically for my sweet mama.  I pray you bless her today!

 

My New Toy!

 I had such a wonderful birthday celebration this year.  My friends and family were generous with their time and love!  One of my lovely gifts was a gift card to Amazon.  Because of this I was able to finally buy my coveted keyboard for my Ipad!  I have waited almost a full year.

I love my Ipad.  It's so much easier to take places then my laptop, but I hated typing on the screen.  I just wasn't very good at it.  I did my homework and ended up going with the The Kensington.

 The keyboard is a tad bit smaller than the one I use with my laptop, but it has in no way slowed down my typing.  The only tricky key is my shift which is much smaller.

 This case has super-duper velcro to help hold the screen in place.  It also has a stand.  It folds up easily and is a cinch to carry in your purse or bag. 

If you have an Ipad 2 or 3 and want to add a convenient keyboard check out the Kensington:  AMAZON   The pricing has gone up since I purchased.  Still a great price though!

 

Last Day Of Classical Conversations For 2012!

One of my favorite parts of our last day was that the Challenge A class was given free reign on choosing their final writing project.  I choose to do a Story Starter with my class.  This is one of my all time favorite homeschooling books for new writers!

We then invited the parents to join us at the end of the day for a presentation of their Story Starters!  I loved listening to all of the creativity the Lord has given each student.  The only sad part for this mama is that her Colton was home and VERY sick.  He missed the last day. 

Mrs. Ulrich's Essentials Class

I have truly enjoyed watching Mrs. Ulrich (Terri) have a blast with her Essentials class this past semester.  She is such a beautiful example of mentor/shepherd.  

I was recently talking with a friend about Classical Conversations.  She asked me if I ever dreamed about homeschooling on my own again.  Truthfully, I will have moments when I look at my bookshelf and see some of the fantastic curriculum sitting there not being used and find myself beginning to go down that road for all of two minutes, but then the Lord pulls my heart back to reality.  

I (this is not true for everyone) am a much better homeschooler when in community.  I thrive with the accountability and relationships.  As I look at the pictures when blogging each week I realize that on my own I might have lots of good idea's, but truthfully we often never got to them.  Community gives me the follow through.

Honoring Our Host Church

 "Blessed are they who serve the Lord.  He will not forget your work and the love you have shown HIM as you have helped his people." ~ Hebrews 6:10

We absolutely LOVE our host church!  Faith Covenant has been such a beautiful example of what true Godly hospitality is all about.  This picture is of all the directors honoring two incredible women who make our entire experience INCREDIBLE!!!

 

On my right is, Mary Lou. (Pink Shirt)  Mary Lou always has a smile on her face and a heart full of grace.  Our community has almost tripled in size this year and Mary Lou is the one that is responsible to make sure the church is always put back in order.  She is one of the hardest workers I've ever met.  She truly makes us feel like it is a pleasure to have us each week.  Even though it makes so much more work for her.  This is someone with a true heart for Jesus!  She inspires me!

On my left is, Debbie.  Beautiful Debbie, is Faith Covenant's secretary who acts as our liason with the church staff.  She always has a smile on her face, a gracious greeting, a kind response.  She also makes us feel wanted and loved.  We could not do what we do every year without these two amazing ladies and all of the FCC Staff!  

Thank YOU, Faith Covenant Church!!!

Thanksgiving Celebration

Thanksgiving Community Celebration!

My Strengths twin, Dee Dee Larreau (Woo, Communication, Positivity) and I not even realizing we were taking the exact same picture at opposite ends of the table! (Ha!)  I love this woman! 

Something new we did this year was purposefully schedule our Challenge lunches so that we could truly celebrate together!  

I love seeing my little Jacob's face peeking out as he mingled in with my Challenge A students!

My most treasured sista' fellowshipping with Debbie and Mary Lou!  

All of the food was amazing, but my absolute favorite was this Butter Cake.  It literally melted on your tongue.  I went running over to Christa to make sure she got some and her face lit up!  This was HER dessert!  I picked it before I even knew she had made it.  It was AMAZING!  

Christa, can you bring one of these with our Chicken Pot Pies the next time you make our family dinner. (Big Grin)

Challenge III!

Beautiful Lynn and Kimberly enjoying lunch together with the community!

Beautiful Brenda, our Challenge I Director!

My zany class posting with colored tin foil on our nose in celebration of the season!  Goodbye 2012.