Finding YOUR Joy

During times of sorrow, it is so hard to find the joy in what seems to be a never ending flow of sadness. Joy is not only a gift, but it is a choice. Joy can fill your empty spaces, it can remind you of the blessings of the Lord, and it can comfort you in times of need.
I recently lost a family member, our beloved pet Pua'a. He was a 7 year old jack Russell with a heart of gold. His life was taken early, a fluke failure that not only left him suffering, but left us constantly worried about him. He passed away with all of our family present, we prayed over him and got to say goodbye to a precious soul who filled our lives with so much more than dog bones and doggy breath.
Through all of the pain and sorrow our family felt during this time, we prayed consistently for God to show us the lesson He had planned for us to learn.
The lord spoke to me loud and clear, with a loud but gentle reminder that life is short. Everyday is a blessing. Every body, every soul is a gift. The Lord gave us the most precious gift, the ability to love and be loved. What an honor, a blessing, and a reward, to love unconditionally and to be loved unconditionally.
I was reminded that my family is so precious. For anyone who has frustrating days, times where you just want to send your kids to the sidewalk with a for sale sign (as I often ponder :)), I wanted to share with you what God shared with me. All of those feelings, frustrations, thoughts and anger only occur when things don't go according to our plans. When our children throw a wrench in the schedule you had so perfectly planned out. When you expect to grow old with an old and arthritic dog whose life is taken away too soon. When your needs, desires, and wants are set aside and replaced by someone elses needs, wants and desires. Live each day without expectation. Find joy in each moment. Take time to stop and smell the roses. Because this moment, right now, will not last forever. Cherish the gifts, the glory and the grace that the Lord has given us, and don't forget to find your joy in all things.

Encouraged when you least expect....

I recently took a trip to the Family Christian Book Store looking for some glowing book calling my name that would help enlighten me and my walk with Christ. Although there was no shining light beaming down from the heavens, I know that God had his hand on me as I searched through the shelves.
I came across the clearance section..thoughts in my head were "Well, no one wanted these books for a reason!" As I shuffled through the massive pile of random books about spiritual growth for the golfer, learning to pray for the unwilling, and 100 questions kids ask about God, I came picked up a book titled "The Spiritual Power of a Mother." OK, how many of these books do we POSSIBLY need? What else can this book tell me that my 5 other books about this same topic haven't? Well, I flipped through the pages, thought to myself, this looks interesting, for $2 its worth the purchase! I closed the book and my eyes scanned the cover only to find the true title of the book "The Spiritual Power of a Mother: Encouragement for the Homeschooling Mom." Ding Ding Ding! There was my shining, glorious light! Thank you Lord! It was just what I needed. I walked in searching for something that would help me grow as a Christian, and I walked out with encouragement for my walk through homeschooling my children.
I had to share what I read in the preface of this book, I found this so interesting, and so TRUE! I am sorry if it offends anyone, especially those with kids in the public school system. I am in no way a Homeschooling Nazi nor will I judge anyone who has made the decision that is suited best for them. But I do believe the premise of what the author says here should make us all think a little bit more about who is teaching our children and where their values may end up.

"Homeschooling moms are also doing more to change the face of American politics and culture than any other single group. The biggest problem in Washington DC, is that our leaders don't have a clear understanding of the purposes of government. Most don't understand that neither God nor the Constitution expected government to be the human institution to save mankind from all of its sorrows and woes. Government was expected to protect life, liberty, and property. When government tries to be a mini-Messiah, our freedom and our fortunes are put in grave jeopardy.
The best way to change this problem is to raise up a generation of children who do not believe that government should pretend to be a mini-Messiah.
When Children get their education from the government, that is a difficult task. But when children get their education from their mothers, they have the ability to understand the world from the same perspective as our founding fathers."
Excerpt from:

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as an online homeschooling curriculum, a web based afterschool tutorial or an online summer program. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

Freebies!

Some freebies here and there never hurt anyone, right? Especially homeschoolers andpublic school teachers who ue their own fundingto support their classroom. I found this today on www.sandiegodealsandsteals.com and wanted to share!

Get 6 free books in your choice of grade levels. Its so easy, register, choose your level, wahlah! Done! Please go to San Diego Deals and Steals website and click on her post Pacific Learning. Now, lets just see how it turns out when and if my books come!
Thank you Kate at San Diego Deals and Steals

Homeschool Swap Sister!

A heartfelt surprise...



I came home from a day of co-oping with my fellow homeschoolers to find a package at my door! I have been anticipating this package's delivery and was extremely excited to find it waiting for me when I got home! I am part of www.HSBApost.com where fellow homeschooling mom's are paired together to send eachother special gifts, encouragement and praises. My swap-sister is Heather from www.faithfamilyandfun.com. She has an excellent blog with amazing product reviews...go check her out!
I felt so blessed and so special to recieve this gift, it was as though Heather has known me for years! She sent me a weekly planner with matching greeting cards, a box of Coconut chocolates, some fun metallic pens (I LOVE PENS), a beautiful book called "God Gave us Love" by Lisa Tawn Bergren, and a PERFECT wall plaque that says "To accomplish things we must dream as well as act". That is so perfect, and her words of encouragement for me were equally as perfect! Thank you so much Heather, your gift was well worth the wait ;)

Mom's corner...

Ok its time for a shout out to mom's...raie your hand if you need some mom time??? OK, me too! I like to start my day out with a cup of coffee, some prayer time, and tme to catch up on "stuff" before the kids wake. It has become increasingly more difficult to find the time to do things for me...for exampl, work out. I dont do the gym, I refuse to drop my kids off in the melting pot of germs, and there is something about breathing the aroma of other's sweat that is just gross. I have turned to working out at home. My saving grace...Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred! Seriously, Iam not a big sweater, but this workout kicks my butt hard core! I am not out of shape, very active, and I was looking for something that would challenge me. This video is 20 minutes long, she works in 6 minute intervals incorporating 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minue of abs. We do this 3 times, 3 different sets with NO BREAKS! I encourage all you moms who are in need of a good morning pick-me-up to try this video! (If you have COX on-demand the Level 1 video is on their for free to try)



Need an after workout protein boost? I LOVE LOVE LOVE Juice Plus Complete Powder. I have at least 2 shakes a day. A vanilla mixed with fruit, and a chocolate mixed with peanut butter. I sell Juice Plus becauseI believe in it so much. Let me know if you want to try it...I will give you a scoop of vanilla and chocolate to try! You will love it!

Some of our fun Adventures

We had an online cooking class today with www.mixingbowlacademy.com
What a great time had by all..and some yummy and healthy cookies! Thanks Sandie!!!


We started something called the Flat Stanley Project this week. www.flatstanley.com
Kaili was so excited to get her package from her penpal Bess in Georgia!


Our Mid-Autumn Festival was so fun! We ate fried rice and wontons, made our own lanterns and dragons, did a Chinese Dragon dance and ate mooncake (not for the faint of pallats:))




We made wontons to prepare for our Mid-utumn Festival Celebration with our friends! The girls loved getting their hands dirty!





Some more tactile art work! The grls glued confetti, etc onto their numbers, they loved this art time!




We had fun practicing our numbers with shaving cream...although I didnt catch any photos of the girls doing this, I had to throw in this shot of Camryn! She learned the hard way that this cream was not whipped!

This was one of our co-op days where we learned about sound and sound waves! Thanks Teacher Karen!!!


Every week Kaili goes to PE with our homeschooling group CFS. They have groups all around San Diego..to learn morego to cfssd.org



Today we practiced our numbers in whipped cream. Lets just say the girls really enjoyed eating their work!






The first day of school! The girls woke up to new backpacks and a full stocked work area! They had a great first day, and we ended it with a trip to te carwash (they love this) and lunch with Daddy at Islands!


So, school has been in session for 3 weeks now and we have done some fun stuff! Sorry for not posting sooner, I promise I will post as we do these things from now on :) So, here is a big jumble of our recent school days!
Here i our schoolroom. I got the desks and chairs at Ikea, such a great deal! We are working on the workbox system with the center scrapbook storage area...to learn more about this go to www.workboxsystem.com

Welcome!

Welcome to my first homeschooling blog!
Here I plan to share all the trials, tribulations, joys, accomplishements and fun times the Welch girls will experience for the 2010 school year!
I am excited to share these experiences, to reassure those who feel they cant do it, to give confidence to those who are thinking about it, and to give a little insight to those who are curious about it.
Homeschooling is a huge commitment, not one to be taken lightly. It is a selfless decision that Nathan and I made in order to give our children what we think is the best education for them.

So, for the fun stuff...I have spent the past few months collecting the final pieces of my homeschool curriculum. WOW! Reading the teachers guides alone makes me feel like I have been out of school for way too long!
We decided on the following curriculum for K, who is starting Kindergarten, and S who is starting Pre-K:
KONOS Unit studies Charactor Curriculum
www.konos.com
Math-U-See Primer
www.mathusee.com
Spell to Write and Read
www.bhibooks.com
Cursive First
My ABC Bible Verses
Pieces of Science and art here and there

Our schoolroom is almost complete as well, I will post a picture of what we have accomplished soon!

We start school September 13th....see ya then! In the mean time, we will be enjoying a final family vacation camping at the beach before classes begin!