5K Pumpkin Run

There is no doubt that being the best wife and mother that I can be, is by far my greatest ambition.  But sometimes between the dishes and the homeschool plans, I often dream about having a goal that doesn’t revolve around the amount of chores or lesson plans we can get done in a day.  So this summer, my dear friend Jenny and I decided that we would set a new, personal goal.  We decided to start running.  For increased motivation, we decided to train specifically for a 5K.  I definitely had my doubts about this,  I haven’t run since before my first pregnancy 8 years ago.  But we tackled it one step at a time, using the “Run for God’ study I mentioned in an earlier post.  And to my pleasant surprise, it was effective! 

October 29th was the big day and it took a lot of planning to make it happen! It was the first day of hunting season for my husband, the girls had a big birthday party to attend, we had a Third Day Concert to go to that night and I had to plan all of the babysitting-transportation to make it all happen… crazy!  So thankful for Lynn who watched my girls at 5am so that we could get the day started!  Oh, did I mention that it snowed that night too? 

5K Pumpkin Run VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

October 29th, 2011 we ran in our very first 5K!  It was so cold that day, it was in the 30’s!  We went into the race with three goals.  1. Run the whole thing without walking 2. Run the 3.1 miles in less than 35 minutes 3. Don’t come in last!

Getting Ready to Run VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I am so excited to say that we met all three goals!  My finishing time was 32:57, which is a pace of 10:37.  I came in 26th out of 39 in our age group and 111th out of 165 overall.  Jenny did smashingly well also!  Training and running with a good friend, was my favorite part of the whole experience by far.

Finishing Strong VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It felt so good to set a challenge for ourselves and to then follow through and finish well.  I am not sure what the future will hold in terms of running for either one of us.  I definitely do not see myself as a competitive runner, but there is something very motivational about setting personal goals and having something to be working towards.  So who knows, maybe there will be more 5K’s in my future!  Either way, I am so glad we did it!

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“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  -Hebrews 12:1

FAAN Walk 2011

We were overwhelmed by the generous support of our friends and family, as we walked for FAAN on Saturday. 

Thank you to everyone who supported our team,

"James and His Anti-Nuts"

as we walked in the rain to support the

Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, 

working to keep children with food allergies a little safer!

Rain and all, the events went on... live bands, face painting, bouncy house and more!

We are looking forward to FAAN Walk 2012!

How many foods in your pantry are contaminated with NUTS? Helping Kids with Food Allergies

Our Family will be walking in the annual FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) Walk, to help raise funds as FAAN works to increase safety for people with food allergies. Our youngest child has food allergies to both eggs and peanuts. It has completely changed the way that we shop for and prepare the food in our home. It is our hope that through diligent research, advocacy, and education, FAAN will help create a safer environment for the 12 million Americans, including 3 million children, who currently live with life threatening food allergies.

Want to contribute to increasing safety for children with food allergies?  You can sponsor a team for the FAAN Walk HERE

Our Family Story:

Throughout our marriage, my husband and I have always had to consider food allergies when choosing groceries and restaurants due to his seafood allergy. And now with our son, we must also consider peanuts and eggs when choosing our foods as well. If you have ever read the labels to the food in your pantry and fridge, you know how many foods are contaminated with eggs and nuts! Anaphylactic reactions are no small thing and we live in a great big world of potentially contaminated foods! As labels become more accurate, as restaurants become more informed and more cautious, and as factories become more diligent in preparing our foods ... the more people with food allergies (and their parents!) can relax and safely enjoy food! Awareness truly makes all the difference!

Thank you for wanting to help.

The puppies have come and gone, Summer Reflections

Our sweet Chocolate Lab, Kinsey Montana, had her puppies on June 12th this summer.  The litter looked like a soft-serve twist, with black and yellow labs snuggled all together.  Whelping puppies, raising them for 8 weeks and then watching them go home to their families is just one of the coolest things. The children were able to watch the puppies being born and then loved on them every day until they went home!  What a blessing…

Added Bonus: We kept one. 

Our new little love is known officially by the AKC as “Kinsey’s Lady Lakeside East Pond Pria,” but is less formally known in our home as “Miss Pria.”

“Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot about puppies.” –Author Unknown

Puppies VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Special Day, Summer Reflections

What a FANTASTIC Summer it was!  We made a very intentional effort to prioritize family time in every day and way possible.  What a joy it is to just be together!

One Special Day was when one of our daughters turned 5!  It was a big day!  AN5, who has an artistic flare, used her markers and paper to design exactly what she wanted her birthday cake to look like.  We then went shopping together to get the supplies necessary to make her dream cake.  When we came home, we made the cake together, just the two of us. It was such a joy to see her excitement!

Homeschool Prayers Straight from the Scripture

Saw this list of scriptural prayers over at Mama Hall and loved it, thanks for the encouragement Mama Hall!

10 scriptures to pray specifically for your
homeschool days, lesson plans, and children:


1. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

2. Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

3. 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

4. Acts 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

5. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
 6. Isaiah 41:10 do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

7. Psalm 23:4 I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

8. Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
 9. Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

10. 2 Timothy 2:16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

And our personal favorite verse at the Family Forest Academy:
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord..." Colossians 3:23

A Princess Tea Party

Our eldest just turned 7! 

She had a fantastic Princess Tea Party hosted by her Meme.

All the girls who attended, were given true princess names. 

Our girls were Princess Elizabeth and Princess Charolette.

The sweetest bunch of birthday princesses!

My little girls.

 Each princess got a chance to serve the "tea."

It was a very big deal to be welcomed at her big sister's party!

Tea Cup Races

The birthday girl

The End of the Day Crash.

Thanking God again today for the blessing of each of our children. 

Preparing for the Mops 2011-2012 Year with a New Theme

The MOPS International’s 2011-12 Theme is MomSense: Bold • Loving • Sensible 

Equips moms to embrace their mothering instincts and develop their own parenting style while navigating through the myriad of daily mom decisions.

Most women wonder:

 

*How do I decide what to do when I really don’t know what to do?

*Should I trust my intuition?

*With so much available information, how do I discern what’s best?

*What are the most important family values?

 

Developing a mothering strategy is somewhat like playing a game — and this year’s theme is appropriately game related. Have fun being a mom! Playing games involves being bold and taking risks, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Just as in real-life, sometimes in games, unexpected, “chance” events occur, abruptly changing our paths. We must regroup and determine our next steps. Sometimes we follow the instructions of “experts.” Sometimes we follow the advice of trusted friends. Sometimes we decide our “house rules” work best for our family. Teaming together with other moms is a great strategy. Relying on a spouse or mentor can help us play more effectively. And, most of all, developing a strong God-Sense is essential for mothering. Growing as a mom through the analogy of game playing assures every mom gains confidence in her abilities as a mom.

 

Combining her mom intuition and her common sense helps a woman discover her own unique MomSense. 

(Mom Intuition + Common Sense = MomSense)

Our New Book for the 2011-2012 Year of MOPS! 
This year’s theme book, MomSense: A Common Sense Guide to Confident Mothering, delves further into the topic of finesse, one of the elements introduced in last year’s theme book. Finesse involves being the mom God intended you to be while intentionally loving your children and nurturing their growth. Topics addressed in the book include decision making, mom’s intuition and working through specific parenting dilemmas (“Mama Dramas”). MomSense reminds moms that they are the best mom for their kids and that they can develop contentment and confidence in their roles.

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power,

love and self-discipline." -II Timothy 1:7

If you have a child under the age of 6 (this includes babies!) and you could use a little extra support from other moms, look for a MOPS group near you. 

Check it out at www.mops.org

TTLL: Summer Plans

Is there anything greater than time with family?

This summer we plan to slow down on the outside activities and just "be" together more.  Thats our plan.  In fact, we've already made good use of our pool and plan to have many days full of wrinkled fingers and toes! 

The children just love when daddy plays along too! 

As we dive into summer, what is one thing you hope to do with your family this summer season?  Any fun plans that you are looking forward to?

To share the link to your TTLL blog post, please leave your link in the comments below!

AKC Labs on the way!

This is Kinsey, our first baby and

she is currently very, very pregnant! 

Kinsey was born in June of 2003, before we had any "real" children, she was the first addition in our family.  My husband took her to work with him, I let her sleep in my lap... oh yah, she had it good.  Now, she just gets a new kind of love from three small children who think Kinsey is the greatest thing God ever created!   

Kinsey is due to have her second litter of puppies next week!  We are so excited!  We breed her because she has been an amazing dog for us: gentle, protective, quickly obedient, and sweet as all can be.  Because she is now 8 years old and this is her last litter our family will be keeping one of the puppies as well!  We are all very excited for their arrival! But at this point, I think Kinsey is the MOST anxious for the puppies to arrive.  Poor-uncomfortable girl...

Can't wait to share puppy stories and pictures! 

Preparing Our Children for Puppy Birth!

We let our children watch this video in preparing them for what they might see as our dog goes into labor and the puppies are being born.  We didn't want them terrified in the middle of it all! Needles to say, we had lots of education conversation over this video!

Running for God

Just came across this study online.  What an awesome concept!  And fun idea for the summer! 

Run for God
 

This study can also be used in large groups, the whole kit can be ordered HERE

Sunday Snapshot

JD rides the "tractor" his Daddy had when he was a little boy.  He loves it!  Can you tell?  And he is definitely wearing Daddy's hat too!

AN4 with her best bud K at today's dance photo shoot.  Friends since they were baby-babies!

Sisters getting ready for dance photo day.

Truly loving every stage that our children go through.  Some seem much harder than others but then, the more difficult the stages are, the more rewarding they seem to be as they pass.

Blog Hop: The "What" in our Homeschool

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The "What"

In Our Family Forest Academy we use a variety things to make up our school days.

-Co-op (studies the sciences)
-Field Trips
-Local Museum Classes
-AWANA Bible program
-Dance Classes
-MOPPETS


Our Book-Work

For 1st Grade, JB6 used:

Alpha Omega's Horizon's Math

Alpha Omega's Horizon's Reading and Phonics


Alpha Omega's Horizons' Spelling  


Alpha Omega's Horizons Penmanship


AWANA's Sparkies Book #2 for Bible lessons, JB6 completed both books and the Frequent Flyer Cards, learning all the books of the Bible along with many verses.  We were very proud of her accomplishments!


Our Outloud Reading choices usually come from the Sonlight reading list, as we love and trust their selections.


We also purchased Alpha Omega's Heath and Physical Education but would have to say that we really didn't use them very often.

For 2nd Grade next year, we plan to use the following:

Reading & Phonics: We have been very please with Alpha Omega's Reading and Phonics program and so we plan to use that again for grade 2.

Math: We have used Horizon's in the past and have been very happy with it.  For this year, we are deciding between Horizons Grade 2 Math and Math-U-See.  So glad to see that Math-U-See has a placement test to find out where to begin! Math-U-See also offers video teaching lessons where Horizons does not. 

Spelling: We will again use Alpha and Omega: Spelling and Vocabulary, Grade 2


Penmanship: We will use Alpha Omega Penmanship which begins cursive writing. 

For our out-loud reading list, we use this Sonlight Reader List for Grade 2 list to select some of our books; we then either purchase them through Amazon or we will order them through our state's "Books by Mail" program.

History: We are still deciding between Mystery of History and The Story of the World.  Whichever we choose, we will be getting the audio cds so that we can still do school when we need to be on the road!

For Science, both girls use InquisiKids

AN4 Officially begins Pre-K! Or Kindergarten?
I used to have a difficult time understanding how parents could "not know" which grade their homeschool student was in.  Now, I totally get it.  AN4 has been doing Horizons Kindergarten Math for months now (at a very moderate pace), we've been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for reading, and we've been doing The Code Series for writing and phonics.  So technically, we have been doing school for a year already but if we were to put her in a classroom setting, we would not be putting her in officially kindergarten until the fall of 2012.  She is one of those late summer children who are right on the fence.  However we are already doing Kindergarten work with her.  So call it whatever you want!  Age wise, she would be Pre-K but academically, she is Kindergarten... I guess?  







We have also used School in a Box with both girls as well and love it for an alternative hands-on school day.

There are lots of things we love at www.classicalconversations.com as well. 

Bible Flash Cards 
 


As well as the Memory Song CDs that accompany these cards... but these are more of a wish list!

Should be another great year!

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