Art Class- Henry Matisse (And an Autumn Project For You To Do)

We skipped art class for the past few weeks. This weekend we studied Henry Matisse. I even found a cute book from the library with works from Matisse in it. He was a painter but got ill in his later life and started to "draw with scissors" in bed. The featured piece is called The Sorrows of the King. We got to do a collage piece with musical instruments. The first one is Hope's and the second is mine. I am enjoying this art class as much as the kids!

This is a banner that Hope and I made 4 years ago. It says Give Thanks and is made from construction paper, raffia and bits o' nature. The last two pics are close ups of a few letters. Some were glued on and some were sewed on. This is a great project to do on (or before) Thanksgiving. Take a little nature walk with lunch sacks for the kids. Have them gather bits o' nature to use for making the banner. I have loosely stored this for the past few years and it's done amazingly well. Hope you enjoy it if you choose to make one!

~Rose

Happy Birthday Hope!

Our oldest turned 7 today...SEVEN! Where oh where has the time gone?! We celebrated with breakfast of her choice...oatmeal (because Grandma Kate made her pancakes yesterday, Hope reasoned). We still had to do school, but not much. We skipped math today. We took off for an early dinner of Hope's choosing. Those Olive Garden commercials did the trick, so Olive Garden it was! Once home, Hope opened a few gifts and we are currently watching Meet The Robinsons. It's a great movie about the value of family (no matter what your family looks like or how God brought it together). Here are a few pics from the evening. Thanks to Nana Daphne for the savings bond and $7, Grandma Jan for the cabbage patch doll and the Garvey Grandparents for the check!

I thank God daily for Hope and the beautiful, smart and gifted girl that she is. She is a true joy in my life and helps to keep me sane in this noisy house! Hope loves art, babies, kittens and playing make believe. I am blessed to be her momma and excited to see what God has in store for her in the future.

We are getting ready for our church retreat this weekend in the Dillon area. We'll have a little party for Hope up there on Saturday with cake and family and friends. Once we get back from that on Sunday I have two days to get us packed and ready for our California trip. We'll be gone from the 7th to the 28th. Our friends Micah and Mark are moving in, so the house will not be empty, which is always nice. They are looking to rent a bigger place and hopefully will have found something by the time we get back ;)

~Rose

Cheap Thrills and Not-So-Cheap Costumes

Here are a few more pics from last weekend. God really blessed me with providing friends to come over and fellowship. I don't really like being alone for long periods of time! The kids and I picked up wooden leaves at Hobby Lobby to paint Friday night. My brother came over and we enjoyed fellowship and rented Wild Hogs. With the low expectations we had for the movie, it was rather enjoyable! Here are my darlings painting. The wooden leaves were $1.50 each, so for less than $5 we had a easy fall craft that now adorns our wall. Painting is a FAVORITE thing to do in our house. I included a few close ups of the new costumes as well. Dress up is another favorite in our house so I know we'll get good use out of the costumes.

I was blessed to have Brian and Shannon come over Sat to watch the game with me and we had church after until after midnight. I was encouraged with the fellowship. I skipped Sunday morning...had these great plans for sleeping in...but alas, Owen, Emma and Levi were up VERY early...and I did not have a good attitude about it. My folks came over for lunch and much to my surprise and delight, Mark and Micah offered to make dinner Sunday night. A few more friends came over to watch our Rockies lose...(we were swept by those Red Socks) and my neighbor Nafisa and her daughter joined us for dinner as well. I was so blessed to have people around and enjoy fellowship with them. Now if I could just get time to connect with Desi and hear how his weekend went!
~Rose

My Father's World New Customer Discount

The curriculum that I am using for Hope and Owen is on sale right now for new customers until Dec 21st. I cannot say enough about how well My Father's World is put together. I love how it's Biblically centered. The hands on activities are really quite easy and fun. The curriculum is very flexible, you can start any time of the year and your kids will love it!
Check it out here.

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

So last week Hope learned about how Jesus is the giver of living water. Boy it's interesting to talk to her about our spirit vs physical bodies and how we can thirst in both ways. We read about the woman at the well and how Jesus told her that if she drank the water He would give her she would never thirst again.

I was talking to my brother about it Friday night...the difference between our bodies and our spirits...and how we are truly spiritual beings.

He quoted C.S. Lewis: "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

Ponder that one for awhile!

We learned more about George Washington this week and how he became our first president.


We made Johnny Cakes out of cornmeal...another pioneer dish. It was commonly served with apple butter (which I found at the store). We enjoyed a tea party with the Johnny Cakes, apple butter and tea.
How fun...and messy.

For science we did experiments with water. We put some dry pinto beans into a cup, added water and covered it with plastic wrap...by the end of the day they had soaked up most of the water and had swelled up and over the top. Cool.

We listened to highlights from the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky. What beautiful music he made. We will continue to study his music this week. Math continues to go well, but is really a struggle for her. Hope got 100% on her spelling test, which elated her. We had finished Sarah Witcher's Story last week and have a few weeks with no scheduled reading. We started a Nancy Drew (written at a younger level...shorter book) mystery about a pony. Hope loves it-of course. She did a wonderful job with dictation this week and had a good attitude through it. Thank You Lord!


~Rose

The Flash, a Princess, Tigger and a Chicken...

Today the kids and I went to Carrie's Halloween Outreach/Party for her neighborhood kiddos. We had a blast! There was a great turn out and she had a wonderful team of people who put on a really fun party! We are praying (and you can too) that God will draw people to Carrie's house as she starts a church in it. She is specifically wanting to reach the families in her neighborhood and will begin meeting soon.

Hope and Owen had grown out of most of the dress up clothes we have. I discovered that Target's Halloween stuff was 25% off, so we went shopping today. I ended up buying new costumes for all 4 of them. I couldn't resist...would you just look at that pic of Levi? And Emma as a chicken...hilarious! So, to make my investment worthwhile (and justify the cost) I am going to use Levi's as a winter coat. Whenever we go out and will be in the cold I'm gonna stuff him into the Tigger suit....what wonderful winter gear! Hope's dress is a bit big, so she'll have something to dress up in for at least another 2 years...Owen's Flash suit can be handed down to Levi and the chicken suit...well, I hope to convince Levi to wear it at some point.

Check out all the photos Micah and I took here!
~Rose

Another Meme (pronounced to rhyme with theme)

My friend Toni has tagged me for this 4x9 meme. What is a meme you may ask? Here is a great link to find out more.

So, onto my 4x9 meme...

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. At 17 my dad made me get a job. I was content with allowance money and the occasional babysitting job. He picked up an application to Blockbuster Video in Costa Mesa, CA. I worked there for 3 months, joined cross country and oh, what a bummer...I had to quit because I was in a sport for school!
2. After Bible College I worked part time at Oscar's On The Pond which is now called Pat & Oscars in Temecula, CA as a waitress. I was happy to quit that job...hard work! I love their bread sticks and greek salads and whenever we visit Desi's family I have to eat there!
3. At the same time I had #2 job, I worked part time at Family Fitness or 24hour Fitness as it's now called. I was a babysitter. Yeah, I was glad to quit that job too.
4. I have worked at 2 book stores: Springs Of Life at Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Murrieta Hot Springs, CA and the bookstore at Calvary Chapel Murrieta in you guessed it, Murrieta, CA.

Four Movies I'd Watch Over and Over Again:
1. Lord of the Rings
2. White Christmas and other oldie but goodie musicals like the Sound Of Music and Singing in the Rain
3. The Count Of Monte Cristo
4. Christopher Guest Films such as Mighty Wind, Best in Show and Waiting For Guffman
To tell you the truth, I don't really like watching movies again once I've seen them. If I do, I usually read, crochet or blog at the same time.

Four Places I've Lived:
1. Los Angeles, CA (born in Englewood)
2. Huntington Beach, CA (most of my childhood...I love the beach...it's the only thing Denver does not have going for itself...oh, and Trader Joes)
3. Twin Peaks, CA (Bible College in the Mtns of So CA...my first taste of real winter...loved it)
4. Murrieta Hot Springs, CA (Where Desi and I had our first apartment in an area we called "ghetto hawk" because it was a low income area (still nice) and all the housing areas that were being built surrounding us had silly names like "red hawk and silver hawk, ect...")

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1. Survivor
2. The Office
3. Kid Nation
4. Extreme Makeover Home Edition
We do not have cable...rabbit ears provides limited channels, otherwise I would watch tv all day...cooking shows, decorating shows, real estate shows, nature shows, TLC, ect...

Four Places I've Been:
1. Bermuda (thanks to my parents)
2. Kauaii (thanks again to my parents)
3. Mt Rushmore (thanks to Tim Bergon)
4. Victoria, Canada (thanks to my parents and Desi-been there twice)
I'd like to take this moment to give a shout out to my parents for all the wonderful camping trips they took Jason and I on as kiddos. From Mexico (3 times), to Yosemite, to Yellowstone, to Sequoia and many others, THANK YOU! I have such fond memories from all those trips.

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. Yahoo Mail
2. Google Reader (to keep up on my wonderful blogging buddies)
3. My Father's World Message Board
4. My own blog to read the devotional and see if people have commented...some comments are emailed to me and others are not...weird.

Four Of My Favorite Foods:
1. Seafood
2. Good Pizza
3. Good Chinese
4. Panini Turkey Sandwiches with Avacado

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now:
1. Reading or sleeping in the sun on a quiet, clean beach.
2. Out to coffee and lunch with a good friend.
3. On a date with my man.
4. Reading or watching a movie with my man in front of a roaring fire.

Four Blogger's I've Tagged:
Well, if you are reading this, you are tagged, but to make it official, I'll tag a few...
1. Becky in Plavanland
2. Dori
3. Josh or Lori
4. One of the Phams

~Rose

A Drive By

I snapped this shot from the van window on our way home from my folks house last Saturday. It was such a picturesque autumn day. This is our state capital. The view from the dome is amazing (360 degrees). I got to go up this summer and got great shots, but alas...somehow they were deleted. Que sera sera.

I am reading 2 & 3 John and Jude for my LTG this week. The end of Jude is just beautiful.

Jude 24-25 "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

~Rose

p.s. pray for me...Desi will be out of town to Virginia from early tomorrow am to late Sunday night! He is going to a house church gathering conference thing. At least Levi is not an infant anymore...but I have a feeling it will be a long three days...moms...you know what I mean!

A Visit To The Grandparents

We went to my parents house for lunch last Saturday. Here are a few shots I snapped.
~Rose

Rainbow Cat

Hope recently borrowed a cute book from the library and we noticed that the author was also the illustrator. There was a little blurb about her in the back. I told Hope that she could write books as well and perhaps make books for a job someday. She then proceeded to create her own book. She asked me to write, but the words are hers. Enjoy her book!

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

I took so many pictures last week I needed to put them into a slideshow! We had a full week and enjoyed many hands on activities...which is only one of the many great parts of Hope's curriculum. We made hasty pudding...like in the song "Yankee Doodle"(which we listened to a few times)...there is a line that says "the men and boys were thick as hasty pudding". Hasty pudding is milk and cornmeal cooked till thick. We enjoyed it with butter and maple syrup. We learned about Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. We used berry ink and a quill pen to write our names like John Hancock did. Here is the dictation that Hope did from the book we just finished. Very cool story...if your kids like to listen to you read aloud I really recommend this book: Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates. It's about a little girl who got lost and her bravery, her father's unwavering faith in God and a stranger who had a dream (or vision) about her and walked 30 miles to help find her (which he did). Ollie (mentioned in Hope's dictation) was a bear whom Sarah mistook for her family dog.

Here is a picture Hope drew with the quill pen and berry ink. I think it's for you Abby!

I tried my name...it was a bit difficult to figure out the quill pen. Hope wrote the other names. The ink was bright purple and dried really dark purple. I am thankful for modern pens after trying out the quill.

Owen did two days of school this week. We have one day left in the first unit (Ss, sun, Jesus is the light of the world). Each unit has 6 days of work and we are taking our sweet time. Owen needs to develop better small motor skills and hand eye coordination. I brought out salt (couldn't find my cornmeal) and poured it on a cookie tray for him to practice writing in. He loved it! He also made a sun dial and practiced writing with a pencil.

~Rose

1st Snow!

We have never (in our last 4 winters) had snow this early. Usually we see the white stuff around Halloween for the first time. We were pleasantly surprised to see this beautiful sight this morning:

I took Hope and Owen out this afternoon to get some winter gear. They both needed boots and Owen needed a coat. We got a really nice coat on sale for $19.99 and found wonderful boots for Hope (also on sale), but no boots in Owen's size. We'll go to another Target later this week. The winter boots they make for kids the past few years are great...with velcro straps, they can put them on without any help! Emma was super excited about her hand-me-down Sponge Bob boots (thank You Lord!) and is using Owen's Gap coat from last year. It's the nicest coat in the house...thanks to Heather who snagged it at a Gap sale! We just LOVE winter around here and are ready for more snow!

~Rose

Fun With The Kitchen Sink

Levi has been restless with teething lately which means he's grouchy. Last week I found something to occupy him for a bit. Playing in the kitchen sink proved to be very entertaining (for Levi and myself). Don't you just love those chubby toes?! By the way, this week he went from more crawling than walking to almost all walking! He's so fun to watch walk. It's the little things I enjoy so much :)
~Rose

Stapleton Central Park Playground

We got a tip from a neighbor that Stapleton, which is a relatively new development to the east of us (about a 10 min drive) had a really great playground that the kids would love. Boy was she right! This place was amazing and simply blew me away. I love this new modern playground and how it makes kids use their imaginations a bit more and really get creative with their play. HERE is a great article from the Denver Post with this title:

New playgrounds exercise kids' fancies

The Denver area is in front of a nationwide evolution in play spaces of the future, designed to work minds and muscles.

Now for some (ok...a lot) of pictures I took from our visit almost two weeks ago. Micah and Mark joined us and we all had a blast. Give me a call and we'd be happy to meet you there!

~Rose

One Of My Favorite Things

So this silver pitcher was given to me by my mom's mom- Ninalee Wilkinson. It is one of my favorite things because it reminds me of her every day. She passed away from a stroke when Hope (now almost 7) was 11 months old. She was a HUGE spiritual influence in my life and had such a peaceful love of her Savior that you could almost see it. She was a prayer warrior, encourager and a very smart and practical woman. She was the grandma who re-used zip lock bags and hand made gifts for everyone at Christmas. She wasn't perfect, but showed amazing Proverbs 31 qualities. She totally had a meek and quiet spirit that was very precious in the eyes of God. I am thankful for the heritage I have in her. She taught me to play Mahjong, all sorts of card games, to sew, knit, crochet, bake, cook, and make gifts. She always had ice cream in the fridge and whenever I stayed over I had a big bowl after lunch AND dinner. Mint Chip was a staple and maybe it's because of her that Mint Chip is my favorite flavor.

Now it's your turn. If you have a blog then take a pic of one of your favorite things and explain why it's so special. Leave me a comment so I can check it out! If you don't have a blog (think about starting one...they are so easy) just post a comment and tell me what one of your favorite things is and why. Thanks for playing along!

~Rose

Devotions, Corn Bread and Simple Play

We are using this book for morning (some days it's noon time) devotions. We enjoy the simple conversation like passages and discussion questions. I choose a song on I tunes to play after. They love to sing and dance and even Levi joins in.

Don't you just LOVE corn bread in Autumn? I made chili last week and corn bread from a mix. It just has to be sweet in my opinion and this batch was delish!

My girl loves corn bread too!

I post about Hope's school and realized I haven't posted much about the other kiddos. They love to have free play time and usually play very well together. Last week Owen found and caught a spider in the backyard. Here Owen and Emma are looking for another spider in the leaves.

Thanks Grandma Jan for the bug boxes. We are using them! It's hard to see, but our pet spider is in here. Owen caught a fly at my mom's house and brought it home (alive) to feed to our spider. She liked the fly and we discovered an egg sac in the box yesterday. We are on the constant look out for live food for her. I hope we get to see the baby spiders!

A funny sight to me...all four playing together and stuffed into a tight spot! I get a lot of joy in listening and observing their free play. They are quite creative and play "movies" or "games" where they have certain roles. They "pause" the game or movie to use the bathroom or get a snack.

~Rose

I've Been Awarded and Tagged!

Thanks to my new friend Miss Sniz for the Totally Fabulous Award! You are too kind ;)

She also tagged me for a meme. I need to share 7 true things about me and then tag 7 of my blogging friends. Well, I really don't know who to tag, so if you are reading this than you are it!

Here are my 7 true things in totally random order:

1. My least favorite house keeping chore is cleaning the shower. Second to that is mopping although I recently bought a steam mop and to tell the truth I do enjoy mopping with it!

2. I love my Crocs but only wear them in the winter with socks...I'm in flip flops all summer.

3. I really enjoy crocheting. Is that spelled right? Knitting takes two needles and I never know where a dropped loop goes. When I crochet it is one hook and I can drop it and pick it up easily.

4. I LOVE photography and want to pursue it at a deeper than hobby level.

5. I go through favorite candy phases. For instance, I will crave only Red Vines for months and then switch to Jr. Mints. Right now I'm in a Whopper phase. That is the only candy I want...I won't eat anything else.

6. I love to sleep in. I set my alarm to get up early, but secretly hope that once the kids are older we can all sleep in together!

7. I never had a dog growing up. I have never lived with a dog. I love our friend's two Peka-Poms or whatever they are.

~Rose

Discipleship and Junk

So, I caused a bit of a stir with my post (two below) in regards to raising my children. I hope to clarify my thoughts here. First, that article is not how I feel about things...for me it sparked the fact that our kids are being influenced. For me it sparked the thought of discipleship and how we as Christian parents are responsible for discipling our kids and teaching them that they are to disciple their kids. I do feel that home education is a great way to do that, but not the only way!

My husband and sister in law are great examples of two people who went through the public school system and came out the other end walking with God. I think the biggest reason they were was 1. God was covering them and 2. Their parents were VERY involved in their daily lives. Jan was SUPER involved in what was going on in their schools from the get go.

So, in my passion, it may have come across that I feel that home education is the only way for parents to go. That was not my intent. For those of you who know me, I hope you realize that I was not out to criticize or hurt anyone. I love you my friends! I pray that we as Christian parents are constantly keeping ourselves in check no matter how we choose to educate our kids. Parents on both sides can do well or not do well...it's not the education method here...it's the parent involvement in their children's daily lives.

I hope that we are praying with and over our kids and using every experience to bring them to God. Their little lives, as well as ours are battlefields. Our enemy roams around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. May we be every ready to teach them and draw them to God, weather it's in the public classroom or in our own homes, discussing evolution or the man smoking crack in our alley.


On a lighter side:
Upon arriving home last Sunday we were greeted with this Sanford and Son delight:In our "neck of the woods" its common to put unwanted things next to dumpsters as a sign of giving things away. I did this awhile back with an old stroller. It was gone within 30 minutes. I have an inkling this stuff belonged to my next door neighbor. I just laughed when we saw it...yep, this is our neighborhood! He went a bit overboard don't ya think?!

As the saying goes, "One man's trash is another man's treasure!"

Anyone need a computer monitor or spare tire or nice retro flowered plastic chair?

How about a nice polka dotted elephant toy bin? There are 3 old basketballs, a soccer ball and old phone in there too!

~Rose

Camp Timberline

Warning...this is a bit long...but I want to share the saga that was my weekend. Read on at your own risk!

Desi was asked to teach at a youth winter camp this past weekend. There were about 70 jr and sr high kids and 20 leaders who came up from Faith Evangelical Church in Fort Collins, CO. We had done a few outreaches with Grant (the youth pastor) and the kids over this past summer. Our whole family was invited to come up and stay for the weekend. I thought, "How fun! and we can be there with Desi instead of missing him all weekend!"

So, Friday we head up I25 around 5pm. We arrive at Camp Timberline just after 7pm. We are told we will be staying in the boys dorm (what?) and our room name was "Otis". I have an uncle named Otis. Otis turns out to be one of many rooms (which included a bathroom) in the boys dorm building. We have 7 bunk beds, two showers and a toilet and sink all to ourselves. So, we walk into the room and I see...cement tile floor, plastic thinner-than-twin mattresses, plywood under the mattresses, and exposed pipes. It the dawns on me...I brought sleeping bags for the kids, but nothing for Desi and I. Negative thoughts begin to plague me. I do not bring them into captivity.

At this point I, 1.feel foolish for forgetting towels and bedding and 2.am trying real hard to have a good attitude. We've stayed at youth camps before and there have been motel-like rooms for the leaders. This was different. Some of the guys who work there round up a few sheets, blankets and towels. I go to work covering each mattress we were using with sheets. The kids are very excited to have their own bunk beds and think our room is tops. Oh to have their perspective on things.

We have a late dinner, enjoy worship with the group in the Party Barn and head to our room. At least the heat works. The kids are in their beds around 10pm. Levi has a rough go of getting to sleep, but Owen and Emma are out pretty quick. By the time the boys next door come to bed Hope is still up and we get to hear fart stories and talk of girls as we fall asleep. I think to myself...I sure don't want Owen and Levi acting like that. I share my feelings with Desi and he says, "Too bad...they will."

Levi wakes up at 5:17 (I had my phone near by). He is happy and I give him a few cheese fishies, some water and put him in bed with me. He stays awake for an hour and then falls asleep. I have half of a thinner-than-twin mattress (with no pillow) to try to get back to sleep on. More "great" thoughts are swimming in my head.

The rest of Saturday goes a bit better. I get a nice hot shower. (Oh yeah, I had started my period Thursday night...so a shower was necessary!) Back to camp. We enjoy breakfast, more worship and go back to our room to hang out while daddy teaches. Owen hated being in the party barn listening to worship and Emma loved it. She clung to Desi all weekend and cried at the drop of a hat. Hope stayed with some of the girls to listen to her dad.

After the teaching, the kids are divided into four groups for the day and have an hour at each station. We watch them do a zip line, gut check, leap of faith, ect... It gets pretty cold and sort of snows in the afternoon. Owen complains about the new coat I bought him. It looks like Emma's. He refuses to wear it. I let Owen and Emma play outside in the softly falling snow. They are wearing their sweatshirts. I get Levi to nap and then take the other three to the "game" room. They play fooseball, air hockey and table tennis.

After dinner, more worship and back to our room. I am not doing so well at this point. I have totally failed at having that great attitude that I had wanted to have all weekend. I get upset at the kids and say some horrible things. I am totally in sin at this point. I hate being in that place. I apologize and ask for forgiveness from my kids. I am so down, that I don't even feel like praying. I am able to get the kids in bed by 8. They are pretty tuckered out and CRANKY. We let Levi cry it out to sleep later (only a few minutes and he is out). Hope has a hard time falling asleep again. It could be the boys jumping up and down above us, or the boys next door telling their funny stories again. Who knows.

Finally all is quiet and as I try to get comfortable I pray. "Lord, help me get through this night...if I can just make it through and a few hours tomorrow, we'll be in the car and on our way home. I know with Your help God, I can do this. I want to glorify You! This place isn't all that bad and it's much nicer than many families have all around the world. Help me be thankful."

Then the power goes out.

Owen freaks out because it is so dark. We find a book light and turn it on.

Levi wakes up at 4:25 and since it's so cold joins me in my spacious bed. Desi puts another sheet on me and I put a sweatshirt on.

We all wake up around 7ish. It's dark. The power is still out. I go to use the bathroom and get my hands half washed. For some reason the water is off.

I hear people talking outside. I open our door to about 8 inches of SNOW!!!!! It was crazy to see...and beautiful. I overhear some guys talking. No, the power will not be coming back on any time soon. And yes, the water is somehow connected with the power so no water either. So, I do not get a shower and have to pack us up in the cold dark. Oh joy. Another bad attitude erupts.

We gather with the group in the dining hall (lots of windows) and enjoy granola bars for breakfast. The snow is falling fast and I'm wondering..."I sure hope our little Toyota can get out of here!" Desi shares and I take the kids down below to the game room and two fireplaces.

Finally, we are done and Desi treks out to the parking lot to hopefully bring our van up to load. Thankfully he makes it and with some high school boys' help we get the van turned around and are on our way out! We drive in other trucks tracks and make it down the hill safely. We then go about 9 miles into Estes Park and enjoy some coffee and donuts from Safeway.

We end our adventure with lunch at this McDonalds that has maybe the most fun play place ever.
~Rose

I was so thankful to get home. And so humbled by my bad attitude.

I Am Raising My Children

So, most of you know we home educate our kiddos. We know God has called us to it and will equip us to do it. I subscribe to a newsletter from Crosswalk.com called Home School Encouragement. I read an article this morning that really resonated with me. It is titled "I Was Raised By Wolves." Read it here.

The author has a very interesting blog. I have only read a few of her recent posts, but it's one that I have bookmarked. She has a lot of great info on what is going on in government schools as well as fun and useful links and encouraging words in regards to home education.
If your interested, click here to see it.

I know home education can be a controversial subject...and can make people uncomfortable. Sometimes it's good to feel uncomfortable ;) I apologize if I offend at all, but I feel passionately about parents taking responsibility for discipling their children. I am a Christ follower who seeks to lead my children to know God personally, to know what God has done in the past and is doing now, and to know what God is calling them to do in obedience to His word. To me that is of utmost importance. I am far from perfect when it comes to doing this, but my aim is in the right place. God's grace is evident daily in our home as He leads me, convicts me of sin and helps me to move forward in His strength.

~Rose

Free Day At The Museum of Nature and Science

As the title suggests, we got in free last Wednesday, so it became an automatic field trip! The kids had fun and especially loved the man who "wore" different dinos and walked around the museum. I didn't get a photo, but when we were leaving, he had a big T-Rex that was twice the size of the white one I took a photo of. We only saw a fraction of the museum in a few hours, but we'll be back for the next free day!

~Rose

Home School Weekly Digest

Last week Hope continued to memorize Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." We painted rocks to remind us of our verse. The kids love paint. Look at Hope's tongue in this picture...she moves it around when doing art. So cute!

Emma's rocks:

Owen's rocks:

The finished product: Hope and my rocks:

For music Hope and I have been listening to this wonderful Biography in music and words on CD about Peter Tchaikovsky. Hope recognized the waltz from Sleeping Beauty as well as a few other pieces that she had heard on Fantasia. We listen to a lot of classical, but have not really studied any composers. It was fun to learn more about him and be able to recognize his work.

I also played the song Yankee Doodle Dandy for Hope and we learned about the history of the song. It's a funny song. We'll listen to it for another week or so to learn the words. Hope has already learned God Bless America and America.

We learned about George Washington this week as well. Hope and I made this tricorne hat, but Hope did not like it. Maybe it was the color. Emma's current favorite color is blue so she was very happy when Hope gave it to her. Now if I could only teach Hope to give away things that actually have value to her!

Our little revolutionaries!

We started a new book this week called Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates. It's about w little girl (we are guessing she's 3 something) who gets lost in the woods. Hope is so cute...she always wants to read way more than what is scheduled and some days we do!
This is Hope's dictation from the book.

~Rose

Art Class-Alexander Calder

Last week we looked at Alexander Calder for art class. Check out this website for tons of photos and a great bio. He came from a family of artists and was the first to sculpt with wire (like drawing 3D pictures with wire). He is known around the world for inventing the mobile which is art in motion. He has done many large metal pieces that are displayed around the world in outdoor areas. I enjoyed looking at his many pieces and think his work is quite fun. I went overboard taking pics, so I put them in a slide show. The kids really enjoyed this art class.

~Rose

Enjoying The Journey

This is a little sign I have above my back/kitchen door. It's such a good reminder for me. I tend to not enjoy the process as much as the finished product. I doubt God really wants me to live like that, but rather to enjoy each moment He gives me breath. To that end, I am joining my husband and we are taking all 4 kiddos up to Estes Park for the weekend. Desi will be teaching 4 sessions at a winter camp for Jr & Sr Highers from Faith Evangelical Free Church in Ft. Collins. I know all you moms out there know...it would be so much easier for me to stay home. But I believe God wants us to go and I want to enjoy it instead of getting stressed. So pray for us! I'll be back in a few days.

~Rose

Dan & Paul's Visit and An APC Morning at Carrie's House

We were blessed to have Dan and Paul from Calvary Chapel Murrieta come visit us last weekend. We really enjoyed showing them around Denver and spending time in fellowship with them. They got to come to our first Saturday night house church gathering in our house and the next morning joined our Sunday morning crew at Carrie's house. Their prayers and true love were comforting and encouraging. We look forward to seeing them in November when we visit. Here are some pics from last weekend with some cheesy captions.

~Rose

Camouflage

Last week at the zoo, Owen and I noticed a snake that was camouflaged rather well in some leaves. We really enjoyed looking for more camouflaged snakes, lizards and other reptiles. A few days ago I noticed our cat Bedhead on our new kitchen floor. Talk about camouflage! I have almost stepped on him many times becuase he blends in so well. Ha ha!

~Rose

Get That Fridge Back in the Kitchen!

After three LONG months of having the fridge in our living room (originally put there for our kitchen remodel) we finally, I mean FINALLY got it put away where it belongs! I pushed it to the kitchen doorway and quickly realized that the doors needed to be taken off. With help from Mark, Desi got the doors off and we easily got the fridge back home. It took a few days of me walking into the living room to get something in the fridge to remember it wasn't there anymore. It's wonderful to cook with it so close at hand now! Thank you Desi my love (and Mark). I am so so so so so glad it's been put away!

~Rose

Homeschool Weekly Digest

Last week was pretty normal as far as school goes. I didn't take any pics (except for when we went to this new park in Denver-the most fun park we've ever been to...and somehow the wonderful pictures I took got deleted...what a bummer. I am so frusterated!) Well, maybe that will make me more careful when deleting photos in the future. I am trying to look on the positive side when I'm still missing the 50 or so photos that are gone!

Back to Hope's week. She finished her 1st math book this week and will start in on the next one soon. We started to memorize Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." One game we play to memorize it is to print out the verse in large font, cut it up into 2 word sections and mix them up. Hope puts them together like a puzzle. Another is to use a white board to write it out and then I erase one or two words at a time and Hope reads the verse.

For history we have moved onto Benjamin Franklin. Between the books we read from her curriculum and the 4 we borrowed from the library (LOVE THE PUBLIC LIBRARY...which was an invention of Ben Franklin...thank you very much!). Hope had to summarize what we learned. After I wrote everything we knew about him down, she chose a few things and came up with this:

We finished The Courage Of Sarah Nobel on Monday and used a part of it for Hope's Thursday dictation exercise. At the library this week, I found a Nancy Drew Mystery (written at a younger level) that we'll read until our next scheduled chapter book. Hope loves to have me read to her and I find it quite a joy to snuggle in the bed downstairs and take time to do that with her.

Hope did well on her spelling test missing only one word. Chair. For the words she misses, I have her write the word on one side of a 3x5 card and draw a picture or write a sentence leaving that word blank on the other. She can then quiz herself using her own cards.

~Rose

Butterfly Pavillion

A few weeks ago we went to the Butterfly Pavillion. We bought a pass almost a year ago and wanted to "get our money's worth" before it expires. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we enjoyed the surrounding gardens and nature walk as much as the indoor areas. The bug room is way cool with all sorts of bugs to get up close to and gaze at. The butterfly area is always fun to stroll through. We all hope that a butterfly will land on us! Then there is a very kid friendly area with a new "spider web" to climb on. We are blessed to be able to do such fun things!

~Rose

Meek and Quiet Spirit

For my lady readers:

About 4 weeks ago I joined a Life Transformation Group (LTG) with two other women from our church. An LTG is basically a group of 2-3 people of the same gender who meet weekly to pray for the lost, discuss an agreed upon passage, ask accountability questions and encourage each other in their walks with God. My group decided to read 1 Peter for the first few weeks. There was a passage (well, more than one) that stood out to me in particular.

1 Peter 3:1-6 “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”

The part about that “gentle and quiet spirit” that is precious (very precious) to God and the end that talks about doing good and not fearing anything that is frightening really stuck out to me. I’ve read this passage many times, but I really wanted to ponder this passage. I just “happened” upon a study guide that I have called “Homeschooling With A Meek And Quiet Spirit.” So I pulled it out and am about half way through. I am so enjoying it and the scriptures. Last week I looked up the definition of MEEK and QUIET. Interesting.

MEEK: humbly patient, gentle, courteous, kind, not likely to complain, argue or react strongly.

QUIET: making no noise, silent, restrained in speech and manner, being at rest, tranquil, peaceful, making no disturbance or trouble, moving very gently, free from disturbing thoughts and emotions, to make tranquil or peaceful, to calm mentally.

I listed how my life differs from the above definitions. I often lack humble patience, I am likely to complain, argue and react strongly. I am often not restrained in speech and I am often not free from disturbing thoughts. Bummer. I am far from where I’d like to be. The next verse I read gave me such wonderful hope:

Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

I then listed the “works” that God has begun in me that I can see progress in. I am more of a thankful person, I have lower stress in parenting, I am more extroverted, I am more open sexually with my husband, I am more open to God’s leading and my following that lead. Now, I have not attained in these areas, but over the last 8-10 years have seen vast improvement…Praise His Name!

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I then had to list my top five “Meek and Quiet Spirit Robbers” and find scriptures for each to help me think about truth in that situation. Boy was this interesting! I’ll share mine with you and I’d encourage you other gals out there to do the same. It’s a great exercise to get your focus back on what matters as you deal with the situations.

1. Screaming/crying/whining child:
Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” And Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”
2. Bickering Children:
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
3. Finding big messes in and around the house:
Phil 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
4. Bad attitudes in the children when it comes to chores or school work:
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 18:6 “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.”
5. Thinking about things Desi has not done:
Phil 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Just wanted to share with you! I’d love to hear back from you about what God is teaching you lately (if you so feel led). May God’s peace and joy fill you today.
~Rose

Zoo Trip With Grandma

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful Autumn weather so we skipped art class and went to the zoo instead. We had a great time and enjoyed a game of zoo bingo. I printed off zoo bingo cards and the kids really enjoyed finding the animals on their cards. We are so thankful to have the zoo only a mile from our house.

~Rose

Dance Party

Last Monday after dinner we had a dance party. It started with classical during dinner (which the girls and I love) then Owen complained about not wanting any more classical. He wanted something fun. I played Goofy Goober Rock (SpongeBob) which got the kids moving. We did a search on iTunes for "rock" and found plenty to dance to. We had group dances, solo dances and freeze dance. Way fun. Desi did draw the curtains though! 45 minutes later, we were pretty wiped out.


~Rose

Book Baby

I recently brought some board books down to keep in the living room for Levi. The kids have a large book basket near the TV for library books and I don't want Levi getting into those! He was playing with some books a few days ago and I grabbed the camera for some darling shots. I think one year old is one of the BEST ages ever...just sooooooooooooo darn cute! Here are a few tips Levi wanted to share with you.

Reading tip from Levi:
Cherish those books! Reading can bring joy to your heart.Reading tip from Levi:
Find a comfy place to read and for heaven's sake...take off your shoes! Pants are optional depending on your age and who is in the room with you.

Reading tip from Levi:
Reading is fun when done in the company of friends.

Reading tip from Levi:
If you have been reading in one position, say sitting, for awhile and are getting stiff, try another position!

Reading tip from Levi:
Be willing to share your books.

Reading tip from Levi:
Don't be afraid to get into a good discussion over what you are reading.

~Rose