Home Schooling Update

After much prayer, a home school convention, and discussion with friends Phil and I have decided to home school Austin for 1st grade next year. We are really excited and look forward to all the opportunities that this will give our family. Thank you so much to all of those who prayed for us during our decision making. We know that this is the Lord's will for us, and we are ready to get started!
It is our plan (at this time) to keep Ariel in Pre-K at Westside Christian pre-school  for 2-3 days a week. She loves being there and it will give Austin and I some one-on-one time that we may need. Eva will still be at home.
This morning I spent a hour at an Abeka materials display ordering the rest of his curriculum. We didn't have to worry too much about what curriculum to use this year because he was already using Abeka (for language arts) and Saxon (for math). Both of these are great, and we felt that it would be good to keep going with them.
Thank you all again. We are so blessed to have friends like you!

It's potty time!

For over a week now Eva has been telling me "poop" when she went in her diaper. It didn't matter which she had actually done, and I didn't think a thing of it. Then she started pulling her sister's (and once brother's) underwear on over her clothes. I started to wonder about her interest in potty training, but I still didn't give it a whole lot of thought. Then last night she said it and actually ran toward the bathroom. I decided to give it a try and helped her get on the little potty. She ended up going pee in the potty! I was shocked. Austin and Ariel were 3 before they wanted to potty train, and Eva won't be 2 until August. She got to wear a pair of her sister's princess panties until bedtime :)
Today I decided that dresses and pull-ups are a pain when you are potty training, so she went without either. I am pretty sure that Eva is the smartest child I have ever met (NO, I'm not biased :) Twice today she has run to the bathroom all by herself, sat on the potty and peed! She of course was rewarded with multitudes of praise and (the coveted item) a M n M. She has been wearing (sort of) her training panties all day, and we have had no accidents, only pee in the diaper during nap time. It still seems early to me, but I am very optimistic that I will have no children in diapers by the end of the summer!

Is home schooling for us?

If you had told me 6 months ago that I would someday be seriously considering home schooling I would have told you that you are crazy. The only teaching that I have done is with adults about their health. I have not had any training in how to prepare lesson plans or such, but God has for some reason given me this burden.
A little over a month ago Austin's school (Westside Christian) announced that they will be closing at the end of the year. Phil and I did tons of research to see what other Christian schools are in our area and what their costs were. We were not opposed to sending our kids to public school, but we absolutely LOVED the education that Austin got at Westside. He learned much academically, but his spiritual growth this year was what amazed us the most. Unfortunately none of the other Christian schools compared in price to Westside, and with us being on a one income budget we couldn't afford it. During that time I had been praying that God would reveal to us what He wanted for Austin's schooling. It was then that He gave be the burden of home schooling. I knew for a fact that it wasn't me who wanted to do this, so I prayed (and still do) daily that God would take the burden away if it was not from Him. I visited the public elementary school that Austin would go to, and sat in a first grade class. I really liked what I saw, but was disappointed about the schedule they set for their first graders (arrival at 8am with lunch at 10:20am). From what I know of my son this would not be a good schedule for him. I prayed even harder. I now ask you, my dear friends to pray with me. I am about 90% sure that I will be homeschooling Austin for 1st grade next year. This past week was Austin's Spring break. I used it as a home school "test" week. What I mean by that is, I did lessons with him. Please pray for us that Phil and I would be completely like minded about home schooling. God is good, and I know that He has a perfect plan for our life and Austin's schooling.

25 days of Lent left

There are days that are hard and there are days that are easy. I have been learning I am much more of an emotional eater than I thought I was. On stressful days I find myself walking over to the pantry and looking in to see what I can stuff in my face. I am so thankful for the commitment that I have made, and for God revealing to me what an unhealthy obsession I have with junk food. I am now 4 pounds lighter too!
My devotion time has led me to some really great verses, but my favorite one so far is Psalm 103: 1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

How great is our God!

What is Lent?

Every year I hear about what people are giving up for Lent. I have thought about doing it, but it wasn't until reading my friend Megan's blog http://jandmschmidt.blogspot.com/2011/03/fat-tuesday
just yesterday that I decided this is the year for me. I am going to give up all desserts until Easter. In addition to that I am going to read at least one Guidepost devotional everyday. I have always struggled with devotional time, and this will be a great way to dedicate myself to it for 40 days.
After a conversation with my sister today, as I was excitedly telling her what I was doing for Lent, she asked me a very important question. "What is Lent" My answer.."I don't really know. I think that it's a Catholic holiday". So I did so research, and it case you are wondering just as I was, here it is.

Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Lent is a time of sacrifice for Jesus. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer — through prayer, repentance, alms giving and self-denial — for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter, the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
According to the Canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.
This practice is common to much of Christendom, being celebrated by Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans.

So it isn't just a Catholic observance. Thanks Wikipedia :) I am so glad that my friend shared with me how she was not only giving up something, but also spending more time on God. I had always thought that it was just about self deprivation. I am excited to see how God will transform my life (both physically and spiritual) over the next 40 days.

Christmas Cards

After reading another friend's facebook status I realized that I needed to get a move on with Christmas cards or else we would end up like we did last year, doing nothing.
This year I decided to use Shutterfly again for our holiday cards (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards). I LOVE shutterfly. If you have never tried them before I highly recommend it! I have also done a calendar (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars). It was for my Grandma who was in a nursing home. She really enjoyed seeing the picutres of all her family. My mom and Jon received a mouse pad from us, for Christmas this year, with a picture of the kids on it.
I have never been disappointed with shutterfly's quality. All of the products that I order have some to me quickly as well. My favorite projects that I complete with shutterfly are their photobooks. I am not a very good scrapbooker, but I desire a way to preserve my photos so they are easier to share. The photobooks are a terrific way for me to do that. You can see all of them on my shutterfly share site at http://thebrownhouse.shutterfly.com/
Here are some more ideas that you could use shutterfly for:
Thank you cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards·
Birthday invitations to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-invitations
They offer so many ways to share your photos and are always giving discounts and freebies. For example they are right now offering 50 free holiday cards just by posting why you love shutterfly on your blog. Go here http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and sign up by Dec 1oth to blog about and get your own free cards.

Time to myself

I can't begin to express how precious time to myself is anymore. Three kids, a husband, work, and basically anything else that can take up my time does. I need my free time back- or do I? I often think about that. I have come to the realization that if I didn't have the kids, Phil, church, friends or church activities (all the things that take up my time) then I would be very sad and lonely :(
That being said though I do want to make more time for writing in this blog. I just got done reading through some of my old posts, and I couldn't believe the things that I had forgotten. So in my case, this blog will be the best journal that I keep. I have a hard time writing because I tend to hold the pen so tight that my hand cramps up 3 sentences in and makes it not enjoyable.