A New Era

Well, this is a big week for our family.  Hope is moving to San Francisco to take an apprenticeship with a software company as an Account Manager!   The Praxis program has been wonderful and will continue to be there for her.  We are so proud of how hard she has worked to get this far.  She is a self-directed learner through the Life system and other sources and is always absorbing information on how to be better and do better. 

The thing that is standing out to me the most this week, though, is that she is taking specific time today and tomorrow to spend time with each of her siblings before she leaves.  Today, Sam and she are hanging out in Stillwater together.  They have also been watching some Netflix series that had to be finished before she left.  Tomorrow she is taking her little sister, Rose, out for the day to hang out together.  So sweet.  

We will miss this young lady!  We will also miss Sam for a couple weeks while he is at Summit leadership camp in Colorado.  I am glad he has another year to be home with us!  

It feels weird that I am also going through my home school books to see what I have from when I went through Roman history with Hope and Sam.....because Rose and I are entering Roman History this fall.  I found some new historical fiction novels that either weren't written or I did not know about when Hope and Sam were little.  I also found a 3 book series called The Green Ember Series.  Should be fun!  I always need a little break at end of a school year, but always start getting excited to plan an awesome book list for the coming school year.  Rose and I read Little Princess recently.  So beautiful!  Now we are reading The Hobbit.  She loves it!  She even added some poems to her own book she is writing.  :-)

That is all for now.  It should be an exciting year as Hope goes off on her adventure and Sam figures out where to go to school and play baseball.  I am thinking Rose and Terry need to start their own You Tube channel where they discuss "Life, the Universe, and Everything".  Should be fun!

North to Freedom, a book review

When I was in fourth grade, my teacher used to read books to us after recess....or maybe it was during recess when it was too cold to go outside......(never happens).  There was one in particular that stood out in my mind.  It was so interesting, moving, and a cliff hanger at the end of every reading.  Many years later when I was looking for a book to read to Hope and Sam, I tried to remember the title, but I couldn't.  I don't know what finally triggered my memory, but I finally decided to Google some cryptic description I pieced together....and I found it!  Victory!  North to Freedom by Anne Holm, that's it!

I got it at the library when I read it to Hope and Sam years ago, but for Rose - we bought our own copy.  This is such a precious story!  The main character, David, is a young boy who has escaped from a prison camp in the early 1900's.  (World War I, as far as I can tell.)  He is hungry to learn and shows the most amazing appreciation for the most basic things in life.....soap, a clean soft bed, a bathroom, being clean, having good food, having a house to live in, and BOOKS.  He appreciates them and loves to read them.

He remembers hearing something about God in the prison camp, so he prays to God for help.  He does not understand theology, but he knows there is a God who loves him and helps him.  He understands and appreciates freedom.  He treats others with amazing respect, but does not tolerate evil.  He has to make hard choices throughout the story.  Emotionally, it would be easier to stay in the places that offer him some comfort, but he has an end goal that must be reached in order to stay free.  So he leaves "good" to press on towards the prize.

There are so many gems in this book.  Rose and I are only half way through it, but every time I read it I remember why I loved it the first time and remembered it so many years later.

I most highly recommend it!

Until next time,
Blessings!
Heidi

Mind, Body, Spirit

I have to continually remind myself that I can't control people or circumstances.   Just when I think I've got this concept down,  I find myself struggling mentally and emotionally to "coax the ball into the corner pocket", per say. 

I want the children to have amazing lives and achieve all of their dreams.  Don't we all?  We can prepare them and guide them and love them,  but in the end the most important thing is to pray for them.   I don't mean we are supposed to be hands off and whatever will be will be.   I just mean that I have to continually remind myself to do my best without doing everything for everyone and pray for God to guide them and me.

If I pray for them to be healthy in mind,  body,  and spirit,  I have to trust that will pretty much cover it.

The verse 1Peter 5:7 has always comforted me.  "Cast your cares upon the Lord,  for He cares for you. "  I assume that includes my children.  😆

Until next time,
Blessings,
Heidi

Lesson for the Day : Pay Attention

Hello All~

Well - I am laughing at myself right now because I was looking for my last blog article and could not find it....until I noticed I posted it under Rose's blog! LOL!!  You can find it here.... Rose's Blog.  (Title - Link to a Link to a Link)  Pay attention when you are blogging, Heidi!

Rose noticed that everyone in the family has a blog except for her, so she quickly rectified it.  She also started a You Tube Vlog while we were on vacay at Meema's.  It is too funny..... I don't believe it is public, but we can share it if you ask. 

I love that she is so creative and funny.  Challenging beyond belief, but fun, nonetheless.  Some people tell me they would not be able to spend all day with their kids.  Some people can't wait for summer vacation to be over.  I don't think it is absolutely necessary to be wonderfully skipping through the daises every minute you are with your kids.  Just like marriage.  People who go into it not expecting any challenges are sorely disappointed so quickly and think they are doing something wrong.  But - the only thing we do wrong is thinking we have to make everything look perfect to the outside world so we don't appear lacking.  Well, the truth is we are all lacking in many areas.  The sooner we turn to Christ and humble ourselves, the sooner we can relax and enjoy our imperfect lives. 

The more I pay attention to Christ, the more I feel His support.

Until Next Time,
Blessings,
Heidi

When the Snow Melts .... (Day 22/90)

My blog-writing career is kind of like the seed under the winter snow cover.  I am reminded of "The Rose".   OK - a little too sappy and a sad attempt at a dramatic introduction to long-awaited blog post that is way too long in coming from someone who said they were going to blog every day for 90 days.  Yikes!  Ouch!  Thanks to my huge fan base (which includes my amazing husband and ......... I my oldest daughter..... and ....... well..... Hi guys!  I appreciate ya!)!

So - when you You Tube a song, it can lead you down a road you didn't expect when you sat down at your computer to take care of important things.  Terry always warns the kids not to get on You Tube alone because you need someone to pull you out when you get too deep.  (I am waiting for Hope to come down and rescue me. :-) )  I am on my third song from X Factor America's Got Talent and I have never heard of this particular rendition of America's got Talent.  (Actually, I started in Ireland or England or something......some dude who didn't look like he could sing "The Rose", but he did that and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".  What can I say?  I am a child of the 80's.  It was the best musical era ever.)

Here comes Hope to rescue me so we can do something more important.

NEVER go into You Tube alone!

Until Next Time,

Blessings,

Heidi

Freedom! (Day 21/90)

OK - so the 90 days have been far from consecutive.  But we press on!

I guess what is on my mind this week is appreciating the fact that I can give my child the freedom to take a short hiatus from some schoolwork (a week) to focus on some things that take priority for a short time.  Sam wants to play baseball in college and he needed some time to go to some workouts and study for the ACT.  So - it is so nice to be the one he answers to for schoolwork so I can teach him about prioritizing, especially when there is a time constraint.

Who cares if he gets all of his hours in on every class this week if he doesn't get to the next step anyway?  What is the end goal?  What is the deadline for A, B, and C?  This thinking may fly in the face of modern experts, but if B has a deadline and you could spend some concentrated time to make sure it goes well so the next couple years go well, then why not?

On another note, I have to reminisce about when I was in high school.  No one studied for the ACT or SAT back then.  I remember being told, "There is no way to study for it.  Don't worry about it."  Well - it's not like studying to be on Jeopardy.  It is a game and a system.  Master the game of how to take the test and you master the test.  What does that have to do with being a great anything except a great test-taker?

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm.

Until Next Time,
Blessings,
Heidi

Life Hack (and I didn't even know it) (Day 20/90)

SO - Yes.  You observant melancholy peeps have definitely noticed that I have not managed to string together any consecutive days lately.  Sorry.  Don't judge, though.  Really.  Don't.

Today - nothing about home schooling except that we home schoolers tend to be extremely cheap.  Probably comes from having one spouse forsake their earning potential to discover their children's potential in a very personal and hands on way (not judging the non-home schoolers in any way).

I was at Wal-Mart yesterday, which I dreaded.  The Wal-mart  in our town is not my favorite place.  The worst thing about it is that the checkout belts are really short and I run into a log jam of groceries and household products because the checkout person has no more room for my stuff while I am still emptying my cart onto the belt.  Ugh!  There must be a meme for that somewhere.  Someone find it for me, will you?  Time just stands still as I stare at the checkout person and start piling stuff up on the belt.

One of the things I needed was a new toiletry travel bag. My previous one was a mere 20+ years old and the inside zipper broke and stuff kept falling out of it.  So - time to give in and replace it.  I know - I give up too easily.  I tried duct tape.  What else do you want from me?

I was in the cosmetic aisle and the best thing I could find was a pink Caboodles thing for $12.99 with a latch that wasn't going to make it very long.  So - I put it into the cart in case I couldn't find anything better.  Next, I lingered in the totes area where I let my brain try to think if the plastic boxes there would work.  No.  Craft aisle?  No.  Cooler aisle?  No.  Then some water dripped on me from the ceiling.  I go find an an employee to tell her.  She looks like it is the first time she had heard that one.  Likely story.  Kitchen organizer aisle?  No.  Laundry room organizer aisle?  No. 

I was about to admit defeat and buy the pink thing when I walked by....... the camping aisle.  Nothing there, but I could smell victory.  There it was!  The fishing aisle!  You guessed it!  A soft-sided fishing tackle case with extra cute little pockets on the sides AND...AND..... 2 plastic organizer trays that close.  Multi-use, baby.  Terry will put nails or something in there.... unless Rose finds them first....Then they will become the new home of some Tsum Tsum's, or some other little tiny figurine that is extremely precious to her.  OR - she will come up with a much more creative idea that I cannot even contemplate because I am way past that stuff and way too practical.

Well - My husband pointed out this was my first Life Hack - or at least the first one that was pointed out to me. 

Until Next Time,
Blessings,
Heidi

PS>  The fishing tackle bag was only $10.49!!!!!  Score!