What a Week!

HAVE YOU EVER just had one of those weeks where there just wasn't enough time. Maybe that's every week for you. I've definitely gone through my fits and spurts of the that for sure!! This week we just had so many appointments and outings that I'm kind of looking forward to a slower Saturday.

This was the week to prepare for the Washington Homeschoolers Conference. I especially love attending because it's such a fun time and so encouraging. Going to the conference I get so inspired by new things and seeing faces I've not seen for a while. I hoped to have lots of photos to share, but my phone died. Sorry about that! I need a new battery!!

My hubby and my oldest are coordinating a booth for the FRC Robot they had for this year's competitions. Great fun for them and a wonderful way to spread the word about FRC.

There were lots of fabulous vendors and I saw some new curriculum out there I need to pick up. Starting over with my little ones will be a new adventure. I am really looking forward to it. I think I'm going to go with The Elegant Essay Writing Lessons: Building Blocks for Analytical Writing for my oldest. I have to say I LOVE Institute for Excellence in Writing! Their programs are wonderful and have worked WONDERS for my son!!! Then for my younger guys I think I'm going to try PAL Writing Package from IEW. Maybe if I get these guys on the right track from the start we can get writing in hand before high school!! I have my reading stuff for my younger ones that I purchased through Learning Technologies. I am excited to get going on that. Then I'll have to dig out some old stuff to do again with little guys. Love recycling that curriculum! I have almost everything we need for our next school year, so then we can just enjoy our summer!! Over all it was a wonderful conference. Another boost to get me through until next year!! Enjoy your weekend.

Science, Science Every Where...

A WEEK OF SCIENCE... The sun is shinning and summer is on it's way. We are all looking forward to a little break from the routine of school. Playing outside later, staying up later, and all those fun things that summer brings. But along with summer, June also brings the Seattle Science Festival! I am particularly excited about this because my son's FRC Robotics team will be there showing off their robot and participating in this years events!

This is so exciting for me especially because this is one of my success stories. So often times over the years I have wondered if we were really accomplishing anything. Since my oldest was my "guinea pig" with the whole homeschooling experiment, I had no idea what I was doing or what I was getting into for that matter. I had never planned to homeschool. It just happened to be the best fit for our child. So many people have asked me, especially lately, how we got involved with robotics and how we made it to where we are.
Well, it all started with a small boy who loved to watch a program called "Robot Wars". We used to sit and watch it together. He would talk about how cool it would be to build robots and he would tell me how he would design them, etc., etc. He could go on for hours talking about robots and all things mechanical! Like most boys he loved Legos and building things. Early on in my homeschooling I tried seeking out organizations and activities that were more "boy" related. At the time most of my close friends had girls and I was having a terrible time finding good "boy" activities that fit.


Then we found 4H. If you've never looked into 4H, you really should. Most folks think they are just about animals, but they offer curriculum and programs for EVERYTHING under the sun!! The beauty of it is, it's an extremely low cost per child membership fee and they provide all the curriculum for FREE!! It's a great deal!! We started with 4H Gardening, which was fun for the whole family. My oldest was and IS obsessed with carnivorous plants. Most folks are familiar with Venus Fly Traps, but there are HUNDREDS of species and many of them live at my house! He began with his plants in first grade and now as a Sophomore in high school he has quite a collection and can speak with authority on many varieties.

This plant in the wild eats small mice...

He has also participated in Archery through 4H and now is a member of a JOAD team and last but not least, he found robotics through 4H. It began with the Lego League using Mindstorms Robots and now he's moved on to FIRST. 4H is a wonderful resource, so if you haven't looked into it now is a great time to do your research. Their school year begins in October. Finding your child's passion could be just around the corner and who knows where they can go!

A Week of Blessings...

Today is Friday and I don't know where the week has gone. So many things going on, so many people in my life needing prayers. Some times it all goes by in a blur!

This week my oldest and my hubby came home from St. Louis and the FRC World Championship! It was quite an experience for both of them. There were teams from so many countries as well as from around the nation! I am so grateful that they were able to go and be apart of such an event! I can remember sitting and watching a program called Robot Wars on TV when my oldest was 4 and 5 years old and him saying "one day I'm going to build robots like that, wouldn't that be cool mom?" I can remember thinking how on earth am I going to help him with that! That is so far outside of my knowledge and comfort zone I can't imagine how I can make this work for him. But homeschooling mom's are "DOERS", they make things happen. I spoke with many moms that gave me hope and encouragement that we could indeed find things to feed this interest. Through lots of prayer and research we found curriculum and groups to help us accomplish our goals. And now believe or not he's doing just what he said, building robots! I think my hubby and I had hoped he would be athletic and active in things we had participated in growing up. Things we were more familiar and comfortable with. But leave it to our son to help build a robot that plays basketball instead of playing himself.

I have been so blessed to share this journey with this boy and I am so proud of the young man he's growing into.

So this week on one hand I've had this exciting experience to be a part of and on the other I have been following a fellow parishioner's journey with their "micro preemie" born at 22 weeks and 6 days. It just makes me treasure all the more, all the time I've been blessed with, with my children. There are days we have successes, days we have failures, days that we wish we could fast forward through, but each day is such a blessing. Such a chance to capture a moment to tuck away for later. We all grow through all that we do and we don't have to do it alone. We have friends, family, a community to help us and build us up. We have a faithful God, if we trust in Him. I just seem to take for granted the moments, the challenges, but when I look back at the journey I am so humbled by all the blessings we've received...

As we enter this weekend of the Paralytic, I pray

Kontakion - Tone 3 By Your divine intercession, O Lord, as You raised up the paralytic of old, so raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts; so that being saved I may sing to You: “Glory to Your power, O compassionate Christ!” Let me not be "paralyzed" by my sin, but let me present to all those around me in all the moments and challenges of daily life and I rejoice in all the blessings and successes we receive!