A Life of Gratitude

While I'm teaching my children, I'm always learning something too. This is one of the many reasons I love homeschooling! God never ceases to teach me through the lessons I'm teaching them! This week Evan are learning about the Fruits of the Spirit during his Bible time. We have a topic each week that goes along with a simple statement for the student to remember. This week his statement is "If we stay in Jesus, we will bear much fruit."  As a part of our Bible lesson today we cut all sorts of fruit pictures out of magazines. We talked about how fruit grows from trees and vines. Then we talked about the fruit that we can bear. It won't grow out from our bodies, but from our Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is in us, He enables us to bear His type of fruit! As we were talking about this Evan scooted over in his chair. I didn't think much of it because he's always wiggling around but he looked at me and said, "Do you know why I just sc...

I think every Christian (and most non-Christians) know what this fish symbol represents, right?  I've seen this symbol on our cars, fridges, and even tattooed on people's bodies! We see this symbol an immediately know that this represents the Christian faith, but do we know why? I'll be honest, I didn't until this morning when our Pastor mentioned it during his message. I'll tell you, in case you're like me! During the first centuries it wasn't easy to be a Christian. Those brave folks weren't able to walk around talking about Jesus like we do. In fact, it was dangerous to be a Christian and they often had to hide their loyalty to Jesus. So, they used the fish as a symbol to mark locations that were safe. The fish was simple enough that it wouldn't raise suspicion but since believers are "fishers of men" it was the perfect symbol.  It was also used  to distinguish friends from foes. According to one ancient story, when a Chri...

I could probably go on for hours about why I love homeschooling but this, this is at the top of my list! Today the weather was finally cooler. It was cloudy out but there was a breeze that felt amazing. I spent a while outside doing yoga before we started our school day and I just couldn't bring myself to come inside so, we did school outside today! This is the perfect example of the flexibility homeschooling allows! These guys did so good with their school work. They enjoyed being outside! Tyson wanted to do his "work" too! Such a ham! Today I am thankful for weather that is finally cooling down! Fall is my favorite time of year so I welcome it with open arms! I am also grateful for the ability to homeschool my boys! I so enjoy spending each day with them (even though it isn't always easy!) We have a great time together whether we're inside or out. I never, ever thought I would be a homeschooling momma but I am so thankful God had this in store...

Today we enjoyed celebrating our sweet two year old, Tyson! He loooooooves Paw Patrol so we had a big Paw Patrol Blow Out! We had cake and ice cream, a pinata, and lots of presents! The kids had so much fun playing together and we even got a big family photo! It was a wonderful day! Tyson's Paw Patrol Cake! Singing "Happy Birthday!" He blew out the candle the first time! How cute is this?!  Paw Patrol Pinata --Tyson loved hitting something with a bat! Levi loved it too! Breaker had a blast too! Quick! Grab the Candy! Tyson is getting the hang of opening gifts! I love how he's peering over the box to see what's inside! We got a fabulous Family Picture too!!! Today I am grateful for family and friends to help celebrate my sweet baby boy! Tyson had a great time and got lots of nice gifts. While we were singing "Happy Birthday" he looked around with such a precious look! He was so thrilled to have everyone sin...

Today was Tyson's 2nd Birthday! I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around the fact that this boy was born 2 years ago! It does not seem possible!!!! We decided to have a really fun, BIG day for our BIG boy!!! Since all of our boys love trains, we decided to ride the train from High Point to Raleigh. We walked a few blocks to Marbles Children's Museum and played for hours! It was Heaven for these three wild fellas!!! In fact, I was pretty amazed too! I wish they had such amazing play-places when I was little! Me and My Tyson on the train He loved the train! He kept saying, "Choooo!"  These fellas had so much fun together! He could have stayed in this spot all day! Can you see Evan? He's covered in balls!  My cutie pies! Evan had so much fun! Playing hockey!  We had to ride the bus back to the train station. Within moments Tyson was out! He had so much fun! On our way home...sweet brothers! Today I am thankful for ...

That looks like an normal basket right? It sits in our downstairs bathroom and hold magazines and books. When I was vacuuming recently, I noticed something behind this basket. You'll never guess what it was!? Yep, that's not just one but TWO pairs of underwear!  Hidden behind a basket in our downstairs bathroom! LIFE WITH BOYS! Hahaha! I'm telling you, these boys bring so much laughter into my life! I am constantly chuckling! These wo pair of underwear belong to my sweet Evan. This child hates wearing underwear! No matter what type of underwear I buy, he doesn't like it! As you can see, there is a pair of regular "tighty-whitey" type underwear in the picture and a pair of boxers. He hid both! Every morning I ask if he has underwear on and he says, "yes!" Which is true, he usually does have it on at that time, but later on in the day he takes it off and hides it wherever he can find a good place! I've found underwear all ov...

This week in our Kindergarten Curriculum, Evan and I were talking about living and growing in Jesus. One of the activities involved picking lots of different leaves outside. sorting and comparing them, and then doing a rubbing of each leaf. Evan loved doing this together! He had a great time! One thing he noticed right away is that all of the leaves are different. Each and every bush, tree, and plant has a different leaf. Some were big, some were small, some with straight edges, some with zigzag edges, some dark green, some yellow and green. We discussed why God didn't make them all the same and how different each plant is. Some bear fruit, some bear vegetables, some bear flowers. If they were all just the same, they wouldn't be able to do what God intended them to do. Some need more sunlight than others. Some need more water than others. What they need is determined by the plan God has for the plant's life.  We also discussed how God made people different. The way we ...

Today I celebrated my 34th birthday. My sweet family did a wonderful job making me feel special and loved. It was a lovely day. As we walked around the Bicentennial Gardens this afternoon, I spent some time reflecting over the past year and I just have to share it with all of you! This may sound silly to some but I remember hearing God's voice last year on my birthday. He told me that my 33rd year of life would be special...that something wonderful was going to happen. It made sense to me because Jesus was 33 when He died on the cross, rose from the grave, and ascended in to Heaven. So there is something special about being 33! But I could have never guessed all that God would do in my life while I was 33 years old! I turned 33 on September 6, 2015. In November of that year, Bryan and I obeyed God's calling to move our family to a new church. It was a difficult decision because we loved our old church and the folks that attend there but we knew God was leading us in ...

Since today was Labor Day, Bryan was off work and we took a break from our schoolwork. I enjoyed a labor-free day! (Well, sort of, Moms never really get a day off, do they?) We spent some time lounging around, laying in the hammock, playing in the yard, taking a nap, splashing in the pool, and snuggling on the couch.  Today I am grateful for an *almost* labor-free day. I did some laundry and dishes and changed several diapers but for the most part I just spent the day with my fellas, not worrying about schoolwork or how dirty the house is. I am also grateful for the jobs that Bryan and I have. Those jobs are gifts from God so that we can take care of our family! We enjoy days to relax but we're so thankful for God's provision!