First Day of Homeschool

Yesterday was our first day of homeschool for 2013-2014. Jackson began 2nd grade and Jordan is now in preschool. It was wonderful. Our day was full of learning, laughter, and love. :o)

  
Instead of taking the kiddos school shopping, I gave them a each a back-to-school gift bag. In it were some fun school items for this year. It went over very well and got us off to a great start!! 

 They are really excited about this year and loved today. (if only I could bottle today's enthusiasm...lol) 

 I'm extremely excited about our new curriculum and getting to teach two of my favorite people in the world ."I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth" (3 John 1:4)

Homegrown Goodness!!

 "They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;" Psalm 107:37

The past year Josh and I have spent a lot of time and energy learning how to garden. It's not been easy, but now we are reaping the benefits and I'm so thankful!! These veggies have been grown "organically" and there is no better feeling then preparing real food for my family that is not doused with chemicals and other harmful substances. And it looks nice in a basket! Not to mention it means less trips to the grocery store. I would rather spend five hours in the garden than one hour at Wal-Mart.

Just Picked!! (and washed of course)

Going from garden to table.

Quick stop with a little olive oil, onions, salt, and pepper.

Wild Blackberries! YUM!

Josh gathering knowing the cobbler is coming!

Just enough for a cobbler!

A picture is worth a thousand words, but one will sum it up.... Delicious!

This tomato plant was given to me by a sweet, sweet friend!

Add a few herbs...

And you get a little tomato basil treat! We love this things!

Just Erupted

Birds Frogs & Worms...Oh MY!

There is nothing my children love more than being outside and exploring the world around them. Here are a few pictures of our backyard adventures!

Inside this pot is some little baby birdies!

Here is one of the birdies that was in the nest.

Can you see them?

Here is Jackson's frog find.

Jordan holding the frog.

Looking for worms.

He found one!

Here, Wormy wormy wormy!

This slimy guy is head for the compost pile!

This one is too!

Favorites This Spring

I'm loving spring more and more. This year I have a few little favorites around my yard. A mamma bird and her little egglings took up residence in one of my flower pots in our shed. They have hatched now and it's been an exciting time for us to observe these five newly hatched birdies. Another one of my favorites is my little tulip bed. I think they get bigger and better everyday! And finally is a yellow birdhouse my uncle gave me. At first I wasn't sure about the color, but it is so bright and cheery. It just makes me smile!

 

The Bright Side

Well my last post was kind of a bummer, but there is always something to take away from a difficult situation. I meant to post this sooner. It wasn't long before I really got to thinking more about "what's up" and There IS a Bright Side. The Lord has blessed me greatly a with loving and wonderful husband and two way beyond precious Kiddos! And we have lots of fun together!!! AND we are supremely grateful!! I can use that....

 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all Comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received form God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

WE ALL go through things, Right? And how nice is it to have someone in a similar situation be an encouragement and point you to the Lord? I've been blessed to meet at least a couple of mom's who are dealing with similar situations that I spoke about in my last post. We have been able to be a listening ear and huge encouragement to each other. Nothing but praise and faith roll off of these lovely ladies tongues and it is delightful!  This is a great example of God placing the right people in our lives at the right time.

All that being said, I'm a fix-it kinda gal and this simply leads me to believe that the Lord is working through the trials in my life to teach me a few things and bring me closer to Him and His will for our lives. Here are a few things that have been on my mind.


1.) I want to continually be a positive example to my children and live out who I want my them to be. If I'm grumpy, my children will be grumpy. If I'm short tempered, they imitate that attitude. If I say I'm trusting God, yet my actions and demeanor don't reflect that trust, what message are they receiving? On the flip side, if I'm loving and kind and patient...they are too. It sounds simple and so often I have high exceptions for them that I don't exemplify. Just something to keep in my hip pocket....because I know that is not always the case. See two posts back....


2.) I'm feeling a little twinge of conviction to be more long suffering. Not something I wake up in the morning thinking "Hey I think I'll suffer all day long and not get irritated." Can I get an I'm with you? But we are called to be, just as Christ was. That could be an entire post in itself.

3.) I want to start using my nice voice more often and sometimes...just simply keeping my mouth shut-

Proverbs 10:19- When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.  Enough said.

4.) I am realizing that it is okay to say no or that doesn't work for us. This is a tough one for me. I'm a people pleaser and always feel the need to explain myself. Sometimes, things just don't work for my family like it does other families. I'm learning that I don't have to give an explanation in all circumstances. Some people wouldn't understand even if I gave a thorough explanation because they don't walk in my shoes. I'm learning new and positive ways to communicate that. I just have to keep in mind that my job is to make my family happy and healthy and to Glorify my Father in Heaven in the process. Wow, I just made my job sound so easy....

5.) I'm daily trying to keep an eternal perspective. Some things won't even matter tomorrow, but some will matter for eternity. Keeping that mindset helps in those crazy moments.
 
 6.) Another area that needs some special attention marriage. I can imagine some of your thoughts by hearing me say that so let me just say I certainly DO NOT have a bad marriage. But, as a Christian woman, I feel it is vital to be the wife I need to be. Sometimes M-O-M gets in the way of that.  It's something I need to consciously be aware of.

- I would like to be more respectful of Josh and work on making time for him. I'm currently doing a women's bible study. The topic is marriage and it is so eye opening. I've been gathering some specific ways that I can show more respect and love to Josh. He is wonderful and deserves it! Here's what I'm thinking...

-Don't try to manipulate a situation when I don't agree with his decision. Sometimes it's intentional and sometimes it's not. (Am I the only one who does this?)

-Say please and say thank you for specific things. Josh is so very helpful and  is an extremely good father, husband, and provider. I need to verbalize how I appreciate him and all he does for us. Sometimes I forget to do this.

-Make sure I'm saving some energy for him and scheduling date nights.

-Making sure he is getting time for breaks and time to enjoy his hobbies.

-Compliment him in front of the kiddos and others. 

-Let him hear my nice voice. My children, friends, random person in checkout, people at church... all of them get to hear it, but for some reason it's harder to use it with him. Not fair to him at all...well....most of the time. 

-Don't keep on about an issue I'm having.

-Take time for myself. Sometimes a little break is all I need to stay on track.

-Smile. :o)

Well, I think that is enough info for now. I don't think my brain can process more than that at this moment.  Blessings!

What's Up?

Lately I've been asking the question What's Up? As in What's up with life being so difficult? Last night I was up late wondering what in the world I'm doing and pouring my heart out to the Lord asking for some guidance. The last few months have been pretty chaotic and I'm wearing thin. Thankfully Tuesday I got a great break and was able to process what is going on a little better.

We recently found out that our daughter Jordan has some issues with her sensory processing skills. We have know for the last couple of years that something was going on. She is a beyond precious and adorable child, but everything has been difficult with her from birth. She can't always handle normal everyday activities and certainly doesn't do well with things that are out of her norm. I thought for ever I was just doing something wrong...

I finally broke down and went to the doctor and eventually got an Occupational Therapist to evaluate her. The results were that Jordan exhibits moderate to severe deficits in the area of sensory-processing skill with statistically significant scores below age level. These areas include: tactile sensitivity, sensation seeking,  auditory filtering, and visual/auditory sensitivity. In mom terms, that means everything is a big deal and it doesn't take much at all to send her into "wild woman" mode and getting out of that mode proves near impossible. The "aftershocks" I call them can last for a few days. It was a little hard to hear and for a couple of days I was pretty sad. Not that it was a shock to me, but just hearing that your child is struggling is a hard thing to deal with. I'm sure some of you can relate.

Thankfully, I was able to receive some helpful information. The hard part is putting it all into practice. There are still things that occur everyday that leave Josh and me exhausted physically and emotionally. Which causes problems in other areas.  

Jordan has a very difficult time with transitions during the day and I think thrives on structure. For the most part, I'm pretty easy going and don't have to be on a time schedule. I have sat down and wrote out a time schedule for our day countless times and for some reason couldn't stick to it at all because everyday seemed different and there were always disturbances I couldn't account for. A couple of examples: Resistance- a 20 min fight to get in the car to go someplace or refusing to put on socks or wouldn't allow me to give her a bath or brush her hair. Brushing teeth. Going to bed. Then there are the Messes. She would sneak off an paint her whole body in lotion or paint. Pour juice on the floor and rub her hair in it, the list could go on. I feel like I can't relax for 2 seconds without something happening.

Finally last night I realized I needed a time schedule for each day of the week. Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays all look alike around our house, but Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday are all very different from each other. I don't know why this never dawned on me before. I'm praying my new scheduling tactic works and I'm able to incorporate all the needs of my family.


I'm constantly working to find new ways to simplify life. Between homeschool and Jordan's issues, I'm becoming quite the planner/organizer.

A Simple Prayer

Prayer. Is. Powerful. Last night Jordan was having a really hard time...nothing new...and I was getting worn down. I asked Jackson to please say a prayer for Jordan out loud. Within a few seconds of hearing amen, she began to calm down. Jackson was so excited- "Mommy, God answered my prayer!" Not all prayers are answered immediately like that, but I thank God for answering in such a manner that Jackson was aware of His presence in our lives. Thank you Father for Loving us and being an ever present help in times of trouble.

Blackberry Acre

Pitiful. Just Pitiful! That is all I have to say about my blogging activity. It has been so long since I have done a blog post that I completely forgot my password and totally spent five minutes trying to find the place to go to actually do a post....blogger has changed a few things on me. :o) Since I began homeschooling in Aug. 2011 I have pretty much abandoned my blog, but now I would like to catch up a bit? and maybe? start posting on a regular basis. My sweet family and I do all sorts of fun things, and my life as a homeschool mom has so many ups and downs, I would love to be able to share and hopefully encourage others...not to mention stay connected. For my first post in ages, I would like to talk a bit on our home. Josh and I moved and built a new house closer to family. It has been a wild and crazy ride but  the Lord has blessed us and we finally finished mid-summer 2012. Here are a couple of pics.

 

 I have a whole post worth of info on this house and how the Lord worked out all the details, but I will have to save that for a later time. A tidbit for you:  Our little home sits on one acre surrounded by blackberries and woods, with a large garden, and lots of room to roam! Just the way we like it! I have always been a "country girl" and Josh and the kiddos love anything outdoors. We are as happy as can be on our Blackberry Acre!

This isn't the clearest picture, but I wanted to show at least one inside shot. Our goal in building ourselves was to save big $$$ and to have at least a couple of unique things to add character to our home. My super creative hubby came up with a few really great ideas. One of them is this ladder that leads up to a story loft. This is one of  my favorite things in our house.  I love the way it looks and it is Jackson's and Jordan's favorite places to cuddle up and read!!  That is all I have for now, but I hope to be back soon with some info on our love of homeschool and catch up a little on life Everyday Edwards.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jordan!

We recently celebrated Jordan's 3rd Birthday! 

I just had to order cookies from my friend Robin. They are both delicious and adorable. 

Here is my precious Birthday Girl! She loves the attention of a Birthday party and was all smiles for us. 

She couldn't help digging in the cake before it was time. 

Jordan wanted a Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party. I only celebrate Birthday's with homemade cakes. Usually Aunt Jessie is my cake maker, but this year it was easier to do it myself since we no longer live in the same town...(Boo) 

Birthday Girl was styling in her new pink heart sunglasses.