Homeschool Diva

I am “on fire” so to speak.  Man, moving can really put a crimp in your life routine. I am finally getting back into a “normal” swing. Just dropping by to say a quick hello.  I do now have a computer put together, and am making some cash on eBay by selling some junk I actually packed and moved because I did not have time to do it prior to moving.  I am saving for another lens, so de-cluttering on eBay will help my little lens fund!   I am running a Spring promo until the end of April.  I will post  a bit more about that a bit after vacay.

Now, I am off to pack, wake my dear sweet chickadees, drop off our taxes (I know no matter how hard we try, we never get them in before April 1st), leave my bike at the bike shop to get tuned while I am away, post some photos to flickr(finally) and last but not least stop by the hospital to visit my Mom before we head out. She had a partial knee replacement yesterday and is doing splendidly, do to all the prayer.  I bet she is up and walking in half the time the Doctors are predicting.  Oh and guess what? On Sunday a friend and I got prayer from our church family for  some physical stuff.  My pulled hamstring and his water on the knee.  Well, my hamstring is doing splendidly and his knee is totally healed.  Isn’t God cool! I love how when we ask God to come into the midst of our brokenness either mental, physical, spiritual or relational….He heals.

Grace and Peace to all those who need a little healing today~

I’ve been gone for a week, recovering from moving.  We are now settled into my parents home waiting to move (again) into our new home.  Can I be honest without you thinking I have a bad attitude?  I HATE moving, but it is good for weeding out and reorganizing. I schooled this week, and organized our room here, so blogging wasn’t even close to happening.  My computer is still in pieces, my camera has seen little use, and I pulled a hamstring that the move really “jacked” up.  Thanks to Epsom salt soaks, deep tissue massage, no running and cross training with the swim and the bike, I am almost back to normal.

So for today, show me something pretty.  These are pretty to me, but I am a bit funny.  My new bike shoes.

My tri training is going well, other than the hamstring thing.   I ran after not being able to sleep early one morning.  I was kind of stressed from the move, and hit it hard and wasn’t as warmed up as I thought.  I strained it then.  Then, I babied it during the move but obviously tweaked it more, and now I am paying for it.  Take it from me….don’t do that.

I am working out with my brother who has done iron mans in the past and is now training for one in May.  He is a foot taller than me, and an ex Navy guy so you can imagine what that is like.  I guess I kicked him around when I was little being the “big sister” and he is now kicking me around as adults.

I will be away on family vacation next week, so I don’t think I will be posting anything.  I will microblog through twitter via my phone so if you are not already, follow me on twitter.  See you back here in a week or so. I am limping along, physically, mentally, well in most ways.

Grace and peace to all those walking with a limp~

I got this idea over at shutter sisters.  Walk 100 steps in any direction and snap whatever artful thing you see.  If you are in a rut and need a little kick in the pants….this will be the thing for you and me.

I walked 100 steps in the SE direction.  When I got there I realized a silhouette shot would be fab.  When shooting a silhouette, place your point meter right on the light source and your object in the foreground will be in silhouette.  Have fun and show me what you got!

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with all of this packing and sorting and pitching and cleaning.  We have gone much slower this time, paced ourselves and tried to not get overwhelmed. All the other 10 moves in our 14 year marriage have been fast a furious, so this has been nice and leisurely and relaxed.  I feel like it is going on forever in fact.  Oh well it is one or the other.

In other news, I am seeing the value of micro blogging via twitter.  Now that I have that sucker synced to my facebook and blog via my phone my online life is much easier.  Ha that is funny isn’t it? Not only that but I get the news headlines texted right to my phone so I am in the loop as much as anyone ever needs be.

We are fasting sugar for lent. That is good.   I pray for God to change me and mold me and form me into his image about 700 times each day.  I really love the practice of fasting from things.  I am getting that back into my overall rhythm as it is soooo good for me.  Keeps me in touch with the reality of my life and my deepest need for God and His changing work in my life.  I love how the process of telling yourself no to something over and over again, opens you up to hearing God in a way that nothing else really does.

I am LOVING my tri training.  Just waiting for my bike to be put together by my dear bro.  I did an early morning swim this am instead of a run in the rain. Nothing says hardcore like training in the rain. The reality is, it was fun and relaxing and invigorating all at once.  Schooling is moving along, as we finish up the last few things in term 2 and get prepared for term 3.  We get to study Joan of Arc.  I let the kids watch a nest video on her yesterday.  It was ok.  Chloe said, “Mom that girl was a knight?”  I said, “Yes”.  She said, “Wow she is brave.”  I said “Yes” and then she giggled like she never thought of being brave like that before.  I think it gave her a new imagination for what women can do and how God can use us in very powerful ways.  Hey it isn’t all about running the children’s church people! Wow that is another post for another time.

So that is it for today.  Just a general “state of the union” for all my dear readers.  Life is good.  I am embracing change, and mess and not being in control and accepting help and all of those good things that are good for your character.  I hope you are embracing them too!

Grace and Peace to all those who see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I have little to say today that is inspiring or encouraging our even interesting.  All I have to say is that the Tortoise was right…”Slow and steady wins the race.”  This whole thing is such a great  exercise in my overall formation.  Hold things loosely, die to your own plan, keep everything in perspective, and most of all hold on to tightly the only thing that never changes….Jesus.

So, here are a few inspiring things to look at and read today. If you are wanting to get really radical then watch this.   Come back tomorrow, maybe I will have an inspiring wordless Wednesday image up.  Maybe…we can all hope right?! See you then.

Grace and Peace to all those who need a little power today~

I have missed our kids, but have gotten a ton of packing done.  Our garage is full of boxes waiting for a POD, Mike and I had a date without having to pay for a babysitter, and I had the opportunity to do this.

Such sweet friends.  It is always a wondrous moment seeing a new Mom with her first pregnant belly.  I got to shoot her downtown, which is one of my favorite environments for a photo shoot.  With all of this moving hustle, I haven’t played with my camera for a a few days, and my training has been sidetracked due to sickness.  This weekend, I finally felt back to my old self.  I am embracing the next few weeks, of homeschooling.  I can’t wait to have the kids back, and start Huckleberry Finn.  They have been asking for weeks. I just haven’t wanted to start something new until we tie up all of our other loose ends, and got this move in the can, or POD so to speak.

This week, is full of joyous adventure, wondering moments, love of learning, and embracing change in all its forms.  I will specifically learning how to pack a POD.  One of the little aha moments I had yesterday was this. I am with my kids for 90% if their day to day lives.  I see daily how fast they are growing and how big they are.  BUT, yesterday I spoke with them on the phone, after being away from them for 3 days, and they all sounded so  little, innocent and joyful.  I realized I have such a sweet gift of being able to be with them, and learn with them.

Grace and Peace to all those thankful for every season, even the ones full of change~

So in case you are just tuning in…..we are moving.  I have 6 boxes down and about 60 to go before the PODS arrive in one week.  The kids are with the Grands and we are working our fingers to the bone.  I had to at least give you a little taste of the mayhem around here. I am actually trying to figure out what homeschool stuff to pack and what to keep out as we will be bunking with my parents for a few weeks until our new place is ready to go. I have had so many ask, and just not enough time to respond to everyone….so YES we are staying local and moving about 5 minutes away to a house with a yard for our kids. When you are home all day with your ninos, you need space for them to get grubby.

What one thing in this image do you see, that you think I will miss the most about this house?  Take a guess, and I will let you know if you are right. I converted to black and white.  I think you get a better feel of what is going on because the color and clutter in the image don’t distract you from the subject matter. So show me what you are up to today.  Relaxing, cleaning, playing with your dear sweet children, folding clothes.  Anything.  Surprise me.

Grace and Peace to all who are up to their ears in work~

My girlfriend had her four year old answer some questions about her. I thought it was so cute that I had all 3 of mine do the same thing and it was a hoot listening to all of them tell me their answers.  Now, remember I did this separately, so I think it is interesting on what they came up with and how common some of their answers were. The first response is our 4.5 year old, the second response is our 5.75 year old and the last is our 7.5 year old.

1. What is something mom always says to you?

• Go to bed at the right time.
• I love you.
• “No’ and “Can you please help me unload the dishwasher” which are both horrifying to me and then you also say you love me a lot too.

2. What makes mom happy?

• snuggling
• kissing her
• When I do what she asks me to and load and empty the dishwasher.

3. What makes mom sad?

• not hugging her
• not hugging and kissing her
• not doing what she says

4. What makes your mom laugh?

• being silly
• tickling her
• silliness

5. What was your mom like as a child?

• she liked inspector gadget
• she liked to read books
• she liked to climb trees

6. How old is your mom?

• I don’t know
• 15
• 35 ( not yet bud, slow down)

7. How tall is your mom?

• 15?????
• 22″
• I don’t know I am about 4′ so 11′.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

• be with her girlfriends at night after we are asleep or be on the boat.
• hang out with me
• be a mama

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around?

• be with her girlfriends
• work
• watch TV

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

• her pictures (well thanks bud)
• collecting money???(Maybe she means saving money?)
• painting pictures (ahh they are not that good bud but thanks for the vote of confidence. )

11. What is your mom really good at?

• painting
• reading - I love when you read to me Mommy.
• taking pictures

12. What is your mom not very good at?

• driving boats
• I can’t think of anything
• you are not very good at letting us do what we want.  You have a good reason for that, you don’t want us to grow up and be rotten right Mama? (Umm, yes I think you are getting it.)

13. What does your mom do for her job?

• She goes to the art store to get pictures (I think they are getting the art thing don’t you?)
• computer work
• photography and sending emails

14. What’s your mom’s favorite food?

• salad or sushi
• sushi
• sushi and seafood and any of Daddy’s grilled food. (I think they know I like sushi)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

• taking out the trash
• that she loves me
• taking care of me and giving us a good house.  Actually God gave us the house so I guess I should say I am thankful to God.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

•   What is a cartoon character?
• a ballerina (is there a ballerina cartoon character?)
• Jerry from Tom and Jerry (yes I liked them too as a kid)

17. What do you and your mom do together?

• go on special dates
• talk and hang out  and have special dates
• we play monopoly together

18. How are you and your mom the same?

• we both take the trash out
• we both have short hair
• we both have the same chin

19. How are you and your mom different?

• we do not talk the same
• our eyes are not the same
• are ages are different

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

• because she gives me kisses and hugs
• because she gives me hugs and kisses
• because she gives me hugs

21. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go to?

• Pollo Tropical
• The Sushi Place
• I don’t think you really have a favorite place to go.

Well, so far they know I love art, sushi and them passionately.   I guess we are doing pretty well so far.

Grace and Peace to all~

Here is another fun addition of real world math.  Firstly, we use and adore Math-U-See consistently throughout the year in our homeschool.  There are days however, that I like to mix it up and do something a little playful to get them thinking about math in the real world.

This morning we played a game of monopoly.  We received the newest version of Monopoly: Here and Now the real World Edition for Christmas.  It is a fun version that incorporates geography, world facts on the chance and community chest cards, and interesting games pieces that take the kids literally around the world in every game.

Our youngest got to work on basic counting by moving the pieces and rolling the dice.  Our middle worked on basic addition by  adding everyone’s dice together and telling them how far they had to move the pieces and our oldest had to read out all of the chance and community chest cards for each player.  We had a ton of fun.  This particular edition, does not have money, but cards and a banker machine that you add and subtract money for each transaction made.  By the end of the first game, they were working through place values in the millions, Large number addition and subtraction and how to work the key pad which is similar to a calculator and a keypad on the computer.  I wont even get into the idea of money management and budgeting as more abstract ideas they begin to absorb through this game.

All in all, I think I hid a little real world math by way of a game today. Give it a try it is easy and fun to do. Tomorrow, we will do a little more real world math, when they get to spend a few real dollars at the zoo to purchase a drink and choose a few animals they would like to feed.  I will hand them each a zip lock bag of coins and they will have to count their way out of it.  That should be a barrel full of monkeys…excuse the pun.

Grace and Peace to all budding mathematicians in the real world!

Here are 2 images for this week. I love looking for unusual images that are perfectly symmetrical.  I have a few of them laying around, and I thought I would leave these here for all my dear foto Friday friends.

Life  has been crazy around here.  My flickr isn’t uploading and I can’t figure it out.  My phone isn’t working and I can’t figure that out. The cable man came to “fix the cable” and everything else that worked before he came now does not work including the phone and the stereo. Thank goodness for a cell phone. I think I may die without music this weekend, so if you don’t hear from me, send help.   I still need to fit my training in today, and my husband is away.  Not only that, but we are MOVING in 21 days and I have to pack up my entire home and put it in a POD for one month before our new residence will be ready for us.

I say all that to say, my posting will be possibly incoherent due to all of the changes around here for the next little bit.   I will keep training though.  People think I am soooo amazing to work out like that.  Trust me I am not. What they don’t realize is it is my key to stress relief.  If I don’t get outside and move everyday, I start to get a little crazy and not very nice to my family and the people I love.

NEVER a dull moment around here.  Please leave me some pretty little picture here for me today, as it will brighten my technically frustrated day….and it is only 8am.

I will sign off before I begin to babble….

Grace and Peace to all those trying to work it out today~

Excuse the poor snaps.  I had little time for composition or artful lighting, or even to wait for the kids to relax.  We were on a mission and were a bit late as it was. Last year we spent 6 weeks in Peru.  It was a beautiful family experience that we hope to do over and over again as the years go on.  I really wanted to stay connected with the Spanish speaking community after we returned home.  I have been praying about how we can be with the poor in our local area and I have had a few ideas, but none of them seemed to be very practical or easy to do.  So I kept praying, and then God showed me what to do through our dear sweet kids.  Isn’t that always the way?  Now they have lead me into all sorts of ideas.

You may remember the story I told you last week.  So this week, we just went for it.  I called a few Moms who stay home with their kids, and we all made up our minds to do it.  We actually let the little children lead us.  There is a local community center that reaches out to the migrant workers in our area.  They are poor and literally hungry and open.  In reality they need a church planted right in the midst of them.  They will not go into a “gringo church” building but that is another story for another time. We bought a few dozen bananas and passed them out to about 200 men waiting around for any odd job that may come their way.  They were grateful for the banana.  We were blessed by being able to give something small away.

When we walked out, the children were giggling saying, “That was so much fun. We want to do that again!”.   So I think we will.  Somehow I remember Jesus saying something about it being better to give than receive, so we are just going to go work that out in the real world and take him at his word.  I asked the kids what else we can do for those people.  Jackson said we should buy a couple of Bibles and bring them there and tell them about God.  I think he is on to something. I will let you know what we come up with.

Grace and Peace to those who are having fun “doing the stuff” of Jesus~

Yesterday, I started officially “training” for an all female triathlon at the end of May.  I wanted to add a triathlon to my race mix so that I would work on cross training. I think this about covers it.  Here is an example of the training schedule I will do this week. This triathlon is a cross between a sprint tri and an olympic tri.  My brother does Iron-mans so he is giving me some tips as I progress along. (Don’t forget to remind me to tell you the other crazy thing he invited me to do with him this year.  Yo, I think I am a little off my rocker.   Something about a 172 mile bike ride of 2 days to raise money for MS.)

Funny where life takes you.  If you would of asked me 5 years ago if I would be homeschooling, training for a triathlon and in love with all things photography…I would of laughed out loud.  Don’t be so presumptive that you think you know where you are headed in this life.  Make your plans and let God direct your steps.

Mon:  45 min run keep same pace /

20 min stretching exercises al home

Tue:  Day OFF

Wed: run total 40 min,

10 min war up, 10 x 35sec faster pace,

W/25sec slow pace between, 10 min cool down

20 min stretching exercises al home or yoga

Thurs: 800ters swim total, (25 meters is one lap)

         100meter warm-up freestyle concentrates on reach

8 x25 w/30 sec rest (freestyle)

10×25 w/30 sec rest (kick with fins) alternate the 25 meters of kicking one fast other slow

8 x 25 w/10 sec rest (freestyle)

50 easy cool down

Fri:   45 min bike at gym, or spinning class / 20 min run on treadmill

SAT:  40 minute swim /

30 min Gym

Sun : 45 min bike ride followed by 15 to 20 min transition run(this should be done right after bike. just change your shoes and go)

To get ready for this race, you need to put 6-9 hours of training in a week.  If you get up before the kiddos, you can get it done.  That is what I keep telling myself anyway;-)

Peace to all those who are keeping their eyes on the prize~