For more funny homeschooling comics and resources, visit Todd Wilson at Family Man Minsitries . He has very witty homeschooling comics, books and ministry resources for home educating families. Ron loves his books , and I especially love his book called, "Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe."
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
For more funny homeschooling comics and resources, visit Todd Wilson at Family Man Minsitries . He has very witty homeschooling comics, books and ministry resources for home educating families. Ron loves his books , and I especially love his book called, "Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe." 
Thursday, August 14, 2008
****UPDATE: Laci has been diagnosed with encephalitis and was medivacked by airplane to an American hospital this afternoon. Please continue to pray for her and for her entire family during these days. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors as they begin further treatment with Laci. We are waiting to hear if it might be Japanese encephalitis which can be found in mosquitoes on Okinawa, or it might be caused by a virus. Thank you for the comments also. I will print them and give to their family when they return to Okinawa. I know they will be blessed by them. **********
Will you please join my family in earnest prayer for our dear friends as their young daughter was just diagnosed with a serious infection in her brain. The case is serious and she will be flown from Okinawa to a stateside hospital for immediate further care. There is fluid on her brain and much pain for Laci. My heart is breaking for this family and I am on my knees asking that God will strengthen their daughter, her brother and sisters, and her parents.
This is a picture of Laci taken while tide-pooling with their family the first time we met them, about 2 years ago. She's a sweet, sweet girl who loves Jesus.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Our words are inadequate at this moment. We pray Father that you will make yourself known in Laci's life. We pray that you will be her ever present help in this time of trouble. Please give the doctors and surgeons the wisdom and guidance they will need to relieve Laci's pain. Please give clarity to Laci's mom and dad as they face this heart wrenching reality. Lord, we lift up our sweet friends and ask for your peace that transcends all understanding to comfort their family. May the Hope that they have in you allow them to put one foot infront of the next. Lord, we ask that you be with Laci's brother and her two sisters. Please comfort these young children as they try to understand what is happening. Father, please help this sweet family who is so far from their family in the States. May the out pouring of love and support from our church family help to meet their needs. Please be with Laci and her family as they prepare to medi-vac oversees to a hospital state-side and undergo further medical care on this young girl. Lord, we know you are Mighty and we know that you love this precious family. Please Father, bring healing to Laci. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Will you please join my family in earnest prayer for our dear friends as their young daughter was just diagnosed with a serious infection in her brain. The case is serious and she will be flown from Okinawa to a stateside hospital for immediate further care. There is fluid on her brain and much pain for Laci. My heart is breaking for this family and I am on my knees asking that God will strengthen their daughter, her brother and sisters, and her parents. This is a picture of Laci taken while tide-pooling with their family the first time we met them, about 2 years ago. She's a sweet, sweet girl who loves Jesus.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Our words are inadequate at this moment. We pray Father that you will make yourself known in Laci's life. We pray that you will be her ever present help in this time of trouble. Please give the doctors and surgeons the wisdom and guidance they will need to relieve Laci's pain. Please give clarity to Laci's mom and dad as they face this heart wrenching reality. Lord, we lift up our sweet friends and ask for your peace that transcends all understanding to comfort their family. May the Hope that they have in you allow them to put one foot infront of the next. Lord, we ask that you be with Laci's brother and her two sisters. Please comfort these young children as they try to understand what is happening. Father, please help this sweet family who is so far from their family in the States. May the out pouring of love and support from our church family help to meet their needs. Please be with Laci and her family as they prepare to medi-vac oversees to a hospital state-side and undergo further medical care on this young girl. Lord, we know you are Mighty and we know that you love this precious family. Please Father, bring healing to Laci. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Friday, August 8, 2008
If you haven't yet seen the interview with Steven Curtis Chapman and his family on GMA, please take a moment to watch it here. It really reminded me today, to cherish each and every single day we are given with our loved ones.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Hi everyone! I'm just popping in during a busy VBS week here in Okinawa. I am hoping someone out there in the "bloggy world" might be able to help with some information I need for the Seattle/Tacoma area? I am wondering what town is a nice, family-friendly location and possibly some suggestions for hotels/condos/or vacation rentals. It's pretty challenging to plan a trip to an area I know little about, when stationed on the other side of the world. So, I'm seeking your help! Please leave a comment if you can offer any suggestions!
Friday, August 1, 2008
I wanted to share some resources that I find myself turning to over and over again throughout the school year. Most of them are free, with the exception of two or three. I thought I would share them here with my homeschool friends. Enjoy!
- Hundreds of Worksheets created by You!
- Enchanted Learning
- DLTK printables
- Free Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
- Scholastic Lesson Plans
- Classical Reading List
- Summer Reading Lists
- Outline Maps
- State Maps
- Bible Lesson Plans
- Donna Young Homeschool Planners and Helps
- A great Lapbook how-to video (very motivating!)
- Heart of the Matter online magazine
- Spelling Time
- Brain Pop, Jr.
- The File Box System (an easy approach to daily assignments)
- Preschool Activities (mass list ~ great resource)
- Raising Godly Tomatoes
Thursday, July 31, 2008
It's that time of year and I am nearly complete with my planning for the children's homeschool curriculum. I love this time of year and I enjoy comparing various books for each child. We are also narrowing down our extra curricular activities for each child for the school year. This will be our third year of homeschooling and I am just continually amazed at God's faithfulness on this journey. It is not necessarily the easiest road, but for our family, it is the one we love the most. I am convinced that God has me learning just as much (or more!) than what my children do as a homeschooling family. It's not the right path for everyone, but I am grateful that God has my family on it. I absolutely cherish these years with them and look forward to many more. Homeschooling keeps me in constant communication with the Lord. I have to pray every day to be the kind of mother that He wants me to be for my children. And, on days when I feel weary, I remember that His strength is perfected in my weakness. I will soon be posting our new homeschool choices for this year. I am about ready to submit my order and we are all eagerly awaiting those big brown boxes to appear at the post office! The boys have been asking if we can "do school" for weeks now and I keep delaying the formal start of our school year because there are so many great choices to pick from and I've had a hard time making selections. But, with Ron's help, we have narrowed our choices and I feel very good about our final selections. Hannah will also be starting preschool this year. I am planning on teaching her letters by sight and sound, lots of crafts, lots of playtime, simple science experiments, music and of course lots of playing!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
As my husband finished packing for his trip, we realized Hannah was missing. In just a moment we found her .... sitting on her daddy's sea bag and suitcase on the sidewalk, wiping her tears away with a little white tissue. How I wish I could explain to my young, three year old daughter, that really the time will go fast. But, in her little world, another day without daddy is a day without her most loved, most cherished man in this world. She is ever a "daddy's little girl." And, when he is not home, his absence is felt in so many ways.
We will wait ever-patiently for your return my love....
Friday, July 25, 2008
I read a very encouraging post recently at, A Wise Woman Builds Her House, blog. I wanted to share it with you here as this is a quality very dear to me. I believe as Christian women, we influence our husband, children and others in our lives every day. When we posses the character traits of a gentle and quiet spirit, God can work in profound ways in our families and lives. I am amazed how the Lord has molded me from my life before I was a Christian into the person that I am today. Truly, by His grace, I am continually learning what true beauty is. May you be blessed by reading this excerpt below....I have seen the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit and very much desire to work on this attribute in my life. I liked what Nancy Wilson shares on it:
"Some people mistakenly think that a gentle and quiet spirit is displayed when a woman never speaks. This has concerned some of the outgoing personalities because they don't know how to be a silent lump. This is merely looking at externals. Certainly sometimes a quiet spirit will be exhibited by silence, but not always. And a quiet person can be all worked up on the inside. This is missing the point. A heart that is resting in the faithfulness of God is gentle and quiet; it is not stirred up with worry and anxiety. This gentle and quiet spirit is a calm, peaceful spirit. It is a tame spirit, a gentled spirit. I have often compared this kind of spirit to a glassy lake, not turbulent or troubled, but hardly showing a ripple. In contrast, the anxious spirit is like a stormy sea with whitecaps whipping along the shore. This of course brings to mind our Lord calming the troubled Sea of Galilee. Likewise, He can calm our troubled spirits when we look to Him."
Isn't that a beautiful picture? Contrast this with the woman who is:
Loud and overbearing
Obnoxious
Wild,
Untamed
Angry
Bitter
Bitter
Acting masculine, macho, tough
Flirting, teasing
Critical
Always gossiping
Trying to be the center of attention-drawing attention to self and not God
We have all seen her. Sadly, sometimes we are her. But as we turn our hearts toward God, He begins to shape our lives to become like Him. I think that our prayer everyday needs to be focused on how we can grow these traits in our lives.
"Lord, help us to be the women you want us to be. Help to grow and cultivate that gentle and quiet spirit that you desire for us to have and to show true beauty to the world-not the counterfeit beauty that the world has to offer that fades away. May it be a light to all people so they will know who you are. Help us repent of a wrong spirit and convict us when we are off course. You are mighty and we are thankful for your Mighty Hand in our lives. And we ask this in your Son's Holy name, Jesus Christ. Amen."
Friday, July 18, 2008
We celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary yesterday. I can barely believe that ten years has passed since I walked down the aisle to my beloved husband. My words are inadequate to share how immensely blessed we have been on this journey. In a span of ten years, we welcomed three beautiful children into our arms, moved seven times in four different states and one foreign country, laughed more than I can count in a lifetime, cried a bucket of tears along the way and shared the deepest love that a husband and wife can share. We have grown in our walks with the Lord and discovered the keys to God's perfect plan in marriage. God has been so very good to us and we spent the day in awe and such thankfulness to the Lord for his grace in our marriage. I was fairly emotional throughout the day as I reflected on how God took two young people (I was only 21 years old!) who married because we were deeply in love and didn't want to be separated by the distance the military would present to us (Ron was a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant). Some counseled us to wait, others encouraged us to follow the path our hearts were leading us on. We chose to follow our hearts and the rest has been filled with days upon days of deep faithful love. The path has not always been easy, but I would never trade any of the hard times because from those times, the strength of our marriage has increased in so many ways. When I met Ron at the tender age of 18, I fell for him like I never imagined. He is the love of my life and my very best friend. I am forever grateful to walk every step of our journey together hand in hand with him. I love you honey...
For our special day, we had our sitter come for the majority of the afternoon to care for the children. We didn't have any real plans other than we just wanted to be able to sit and talk with one another and enjoy our day. We had such a sweet time together! We went for coffee and then did something I have always wanted to do ~ eat dessert first! We found this cute cafe where you can order a dessert set (a drink plus three small desserts). It was very pretty and the desserts were beautiful as the Okinawans take such care and detail with their food. We then decided to drive south to a place in Naha, but traffic was so heavy that we changed our plans. We went to our favorite restaurant called "Sam's By the Sea." It is so delicious and we've gone there for each anniversary while stationed on Okinawa. This is when Ron surprised me with my most beautiful anniversary present ever! I was anticipating a ring, thanks to his hints. But, I never imagined how breath-taking it would be! I have to say, what means the most to me is that he designed it with drawings he made and then had it custom made by a famous jeweler in Thailand. I was simply stunned. My love blessed me with a keepsake that means so much because he took such time and love in creating what he knew I would love.
My meal was also delicious ~ fillet Mignon, stuffed tempura chicken breast with ham and shrimp, vegetables, salad and curry soup. After dinner, we went to the beach and walked along looking for shells, talking and watching the sunset. It was a precious time. I can only imagine what the next ten years will be like and I pray for God's continued protection, blessing and joys as we walk on together..
Beautiful and delicious desserts at Marino's
Posing with the parrot at Sams' By the Sea..
Ron signing the guestbook at Sam's...
Ten Year celebration...
Thank you sweetheart...
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Dear Hannah Grace,
Three years ago today, you entered this world with the most beautiful blue eyes, dark hair and perfectly created spirit. You are so loved, so treasured and an answer to our prayers. I remember that day as clearly as it was yesterday. God safely kept you tucked away until it was your day to shine. My heart is forever grateful to the Lord for his grace. We have loved every single day having you as our daughter. Three years have passed so quickly, fleeting, as I try to capture the blessings of every day with you. Your laughter, your love and tenderness are some of your many gifts. We named you "Hannah Grace" because it means "blessed by God's grace." Not a day goes by that I do not remember the Lord's faithfulness in protecting you and bringing forth your life. May you continue to grow in the love of our Savior, Jesus, as His wonderful plan for your life continues to unfold....
Happy 3rd Birthday sweet one...
All our love,
Mommy and Daddy
*Birthday party pictures to come tomorrow!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
I truly love long weekends. I love having my husband home, lazy mornings, late nights and that we can move at a pace all our own. We enjoyed the 4th with fireworks on the Kadena Air Force Base. It was a beautiful evening, and the kids loved seeing all of the jets, planes, and playing the carnival games. The fireworks were a hit and we all just relaxed and enjoyed our special time together. I have to say that it was one of my favorite 4th of July evenings.
Mason is finally feeling better. Something triggered what we believe is asthma, again. He had quite a difficult time breathing on Thursday night. We took him to the doctor and after a few breathing tests, they determined that his lung capacity was only functioning at 60% and immediately started him on steroids and breathing treatments. I was so worried about him and having asthma myself, I know how scary it can be as a child. You try to keep them calm as a parent, but it was alarming to see Mason panicking with every breath.
We have appointments in the next few weeks in the Pulmonary department of the hospital to get a baseline of his lung functioning. From there the doctors will set up his plan of action and hopefully prevent future asthma attacks from happening. Since he was a baby, he has always had trouble with croup, respiratory illnesses and was hospitalized as a toddler due to breathing troubles. He has not been officially diagnosed with asthma. I believe it is because we have moved so often (every three years) so he has not had an official evaluation. However, living in Okinawa (where the air is full of all sorts of allergens) has exasperated his symptoms and I do think he will be diagnosed now. Thankfully, the steroids are doing their job and his breathing treatments have him happy and healthy and almost running around again with the ability to breathe with ease. I slept last night through the whole night for the first time in three days, knowing that Mason was comfortable.
As July continues to press on, we have so much on our calendar! I have to say, we are really enjoying our activities and time spent with our church family. I am sad that our time in Okinawa is under a year. Tonight, Ron and I sat down and made a list of all that we have going on this month. Here's a glimpse of how we'll be spending our days:
Mason is finally feeling better. Something triggered what we believe is asthma, again. He had quite a difficult time breathing on Thursday night. We took him to the doctor and after a few breathing tests, they determined that his lung capacity was only functioning at 60% and immediately started him on steroids and breathing treatments. I was so worried about him and having asthma myself, I know how scary it can be as a child. You try to keep them calm as a parent, but it was alarming to see Mason panicking with every breath.
We have appointments in the next few weeks in the Pulmonary department of the hospital to get a baseline of his lung functioning. From there the doctors will set up his plan of action and hopefully prevent future asthma attacks from happening. Since he was a baby, he has always had trouble with croup, respiratory illnesses and was hospitalized as a toddler due to breathing troubles. He has not been officially diagnosed with asthma. I believe it is because we have moved so often (every three years) so he has not had an official evaluation. However, living in Okinawa (where the air is full of all sorts of allergens) has exasperated his symptoms and I do think he will be diagnosed now. Thankfully, the steroids are doing their job and his breathing treatments have him happy and healthy and almost running around again with the ability to breathe with ease. I slept last night through the whole night for the first time in three days, knowing that Mason was comfortable.
As July continues to press on, we have so much on our calendar! I have to say, we are really enjoying our activities and time spent with our church family. I am sad that our time in Okinawa is under a year. Tonight, Ron and I sat down and made a list of all that we have going on this month. Here's a glimpse of how we'll be spending our days:
- Planning for a baby shower for some friends this Saturday.
- Prepping the Preschool Ministry for each Sunday.
- Hannah's Third Birthday!!!
- Celebrating our Ten Year Anniversary!!
- A dinner out with friends.
- A Fellowship lunch with Ron's Couples Sunday school class.
- Ron's Deacon Ordination Ceremony at church this Sunday.
- A friend's birthday party with the kids.
- A field trip to a Japanese school.
- A pool day with friends from church.
- Doctors appointments for Mason.
- Ron goes TDY to Hawaii for three days.
- A planning meeting with Ron for our future homeschooling year.
- Ordering our new curriculum choices (yay!)
- Working on goals for our family and each child for this upcoming year.
- Taking time to enjoy the days with the children, to laugh, to love and to treasure these days.
- Work on the children's book club minutes.
- A date night with Ron and another couple at the end of the month.
- Working on our couples Bible Study.
- Finish reading several books that I have on my night table.
- Praying with Ron about our next potential duty stations.
- Continuing with my weight loss efforts ~ 20 lbs down and 10 to go!! Yay!
So, we have much going on here and we are very grateful for the opportunities we have been given. We have been meeting some wonderful families at church recently and God is really working in specific ways through the families at our church. We just feel so blessed to have this time here in Okinawa and I know that we will always look back on this time and God's faithful grace and love. It hasn't always been the easiest of duty stations, but I have a feeling that we will look back with the fondest of memories.
I may be absent from blogging for a few days as I work on the upcoming baby shower and take some time to enjoy my little ones. But, I'll be back as time permits and will continue to check on my bloggy friends! Blessings...
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