Summer schooling??? Really????

Yes, really. I get that a lot from PS families.
When are your kids out for summer?  Well, when they are finished with all the work, of course. And then they can do some supplemental things to keep sharp. I see no reason to school all summer at full speed unless absolutely necessary, but I also see no good reason to be a slug. 

It is a great time to do things that got pushed aside during the "regular" school year, or to focus more on special interest, or to find fun reinforcement activities.

So yes, we are schooling. The kids go full force until the basics are completed, then do exactly what I described above. Summer will be computer and video learning (including movie watching) and library trips with lots of reading, swimming, skating, bike rides, church camp,  filming, movie parties with friends, dance classes now and then, a bit of piano work, art time, Spanish fun stuff, and prepping for fall.

It is still summer and we are much more flexible...besides, we still have to get 90% of the downstairs flooring replaced due to water damage...after I convince the insurance company that sheet vinyl flooring really is rather expensive. They seem to be under the impression that it is quite cheap. I think they need to go shopping and update their databases.

But I digress. So, what are your summer plans?

Summer yet???

It feels like summer has arrived even though it is the final week of May. Recital is over, so I suppose that is the reason for the feeling...oh, and the warmth and humidity are rearing their heads, and swim season is here.
But it really isn't quite summer...but hey, let's just keep pretending,ok? I like it.
We joined a local country club for the use of the swimming pool, and will probably use it 3 times a week or more. We visited the library today and had frozen yogurt. We are attending Mayfest on Friday, an English Country Dance formal to end the school year. Then on Saturday I am running (and I use that term loosely) the Urban Dash Obstacle Course in Dallas. I paid for summer camps for the four oldest, and myself to go as a counselor. Dance camp starts next week for Kim. And finally, we are planning for VBS. I teach, and Jacob makes videos, and Emily helps with puppets and small kids.
Amid it all we are still schooling and planning all the June birthday parties and the filming of Sandblade. I really hope they get it filmed by late August so we can plan the premiere.
OH! And I am getting a new camera this week. A Canon power shot. Can't wait to play with that! I want to do a great shoot with all the kids!
So where, you may ask, are those recital videos??? Wellllll....I need a large chunk of time to upload them so they will wait a bit longer...but they are coming!  Upload is so slow, even with broadband.
Ahem...now that I have been on a run, played UNO with Kim, and bathed, it is time to relax and watch Holes with the other kids before bedtime.
Tomorrow I will tackle other matters.
Hope your day is blessed!!!

Recital 2013

Well, this year at Timbrel School of Dance, I only had three dancers. Kim dropped in February or she would have danced jazz and ballet. I took my camera to dress rehearsal and took the shots of each kid, but decided to wait until performance night to get shots of all their friends. That was a mistake. The camera died. the lens won't even come out or focus or anything. At least I got these shots and a video of each dance. I will post the dances next time...but not today.

 

 This is Emily ready to dance in tap 3 to I Will Wait for You by Mumford and Sons. She spent the week hanging out with David, Hope, Amelia, Katy, Lily, Annalie, Abby, Bradley.

 Lizzy ready for ballet 3 to Who Am I? by Casting Crowns. She also dancesd to Down By The Riverside by Louis Armstrong for jazz 3. She had a blast with her friends, Jhanna, Bianca, Katy, but mostly holding baby Boaz. I think she adopted him as a third brother.

And here is Jacob ready to dance teen ballet to Batman theme from Batman Begins. He also danced in The farmer aand the Cowmen for theater 3, a piece from the musical Oklahoma. he hung out with dakota (pictured above), Isaac, Bradley, David, lLly, Annalie, Abby, and tohers.

Below is a group of awesomeness in the teen years. Good kids that love Jesus and seek to do what is right. Dakota, Jacob, Bradley, Daniel, Emily, and David. Now it is over and we will miss our times at dance class.

Vacation ...part three

Heading to shop at Ruskin. That first shop on the right corner was so amazing. Had tons of Turkish scarves and scents and unique sculptures.

Waiting on the boys....that is a change!

In the town of Seeaside, doing some shopping before heading to the shops of Ruskin.

Walking the beach is a favorite pasttime.

The surf was cold the first day.

Walking by the front of the house. love it there.

first day at the beach. Gorgeous!

These posts are in the wrong  order. This is the entrance to the beach house.

These are the three youngest sleeping on the way...like fallen dominoes.

vacation ...part two

Still going in reverse order...it's me at Rosemary beach about to visit the Sugar Shack. i bought nothing. I do NOT pay almost $3 for a candy bar. Crazy! But the town was interesting.

hanging out on the front porch

at the beach access, a five minute walk from the house. About to play in the surf and sand.

Yep, that is me...half of me, actually. That white sand is pure relaxation.

castles

and seashells...I personally found those!

Vacation...part one

The final sunset. beautiful. But honestly the best sunsets were the second night. Unfortunately my camera was dying and deided to delete all the Tuesday pics. I was just sick about it.

This was still very pretty.

crabs were all over the place that day. It was very warm in the water by then.

Last day.

Me on the walk to the Watercolor cattail bridge.

In the local gardens

Destruction

Vacation at the beach was heavenly and I fully intend to blog in pictures...eventually. And I intend to post about the kids' recital that is upcoming and other life events, but that will have to wait.

Today as we await severe storms in the aftermath of the OK tornadoes, I await a plumber to hopefully fix the water leak in the pipe behind the fridge. Then i get to discuss this with the insurance company while informing them that the flooring replacement estimate is about $2500 over what they have allotted us. Gotta love those slow water leaks that present as a faulty refrigerator! At least we replaced the fridge, even though the ice maker on the new one went out within 3 weeks. Yea for warranties???

So next on the list of summer fun will be checking the A/C (a texas necessity), fixing the water heater, oven, and kids tub drain pan. And paying for church camp....Man, when it rains, it really pours.

On the other hand, it could always be much worse. Counting blessings!

The Spirit In Us

I was about to finish laundry this morning when I saw my bed was a mess...kids, you know. But on my bed I found a scrap of paper with notes I wanted blog about a while back concerning God's Holy Spirit living within His people. These are my views based on my study. They may not always be exactly like this, but right now, this is my belief.
             I guess laundry can wait....

I have heard people say God's spirit led them, God's spirit is the scripture and only speaks to us that way, God's spirit told them to do this or that. I have my belief and scripture to go along with it.
First of all, in the studies I have done, I found over and over the bible saying the spirit is in us. This was said in the days when the scriptures were not fully written or readily available. I believe the Holy Spirit does indeed dwell in Christians, and when we pray, that spirit guides us in our decision making and choices when we are truly seeking the right path. I do not however believe that His spirit is confined to the scriptures. I believe we are all spirits/souls and God's Spirit is alive and well in the unseen world (along with active angels and demons), living in our own souls, which also cannot be seen, yet live inside our human forms. Nor do I believe that it works the way it did in the first century as a supernatural spiritual gift to confirm the written word that was to come.

Here are the verses I want to share.
 I tend to use ESV or NKJV or NASB.

for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Matthew 10:20

.Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5

 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  1 Corinthians 3:16

Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given^[a] us His Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 4:8

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”? James 4:5

Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:24

By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.  1 John 4:13

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 1 John 14:16-17

That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. 2 Timothy 1:14

Creation vs Evolution

We are created in His image. We are a soul. We have a physical body, but our soul is what makes us, us. And we are all travelling this life on different paths.
My journey began when my friend Clay began asking me to attend worship with him, when I was 16 1/2. I think God sent him to me for a reason. Of course, i will not ever know for sure. Still, he was patient with a very argumentative and stubborn girl for a long time.(wonder where my kids get that attribute?) It was because he loved me. And God was patient with me because He loved me. I am not the easiest person to convince.
But after my 18th birthday I had decided that Jesus was real. God was real. I believed He had died for my sins and was the son of God. I knew I could never get to heaven without washing my sins away and trying to live by the bible, so I got baptized that summer. I was a Christian. I was a new creation. Very new. A babe in Christ. I knew very little bible.I had a long way to go.
As happens sometimes, I was fresh and new, and clueless. I was still easily led to do things my way, as had been my 18 year habit, so within the year I fell away from doing what was right. But God gives second chances to those who come back. I came back and before long, I was married to Clay and we were setting out on a path of Christianity like I had never imagined. Our church family at our new congregation had much to do with my future growth. They lived what they read in the bible. They did not shy away from serving or from talking about it. They desired to study and to teach. These things rubbed off on me. Aligning yourself with the right people makes a HUGE difference. I was growing and evolving closer to what God wanted.
Then came a life changing experience that made me really want to be strong in the Lord. I had children. Folks, if that doesn't change you, I don't know what will. It made me want to be a better Christian, a great example, a great teacher, a person of love. After all, you only get one chance to raise them. If you fail....well, failure was not going to be my option. Not that I haven't had tons of mini failures as a parent, but hopefully with God's help, I have had more successes. I changed more because of my kids than I could have imagined. I also recall going to a scientific seminar on creation vs. evolution that really convinced me how true the bible is. Apologetics are amazing!
Lately life had been evloving differently. For about 15 years I have been parenting, but it has hit me that in 11 years they will all be grown. That is not more than a blink away. And while I have devoted myself to parenting, I have not been as devoted to being a woman or a wife. I am finding out who I am. I am getting back to the parts of me that I dropped after having kids. I'm making friends, doing things for me, doing things for fun, keeping myself looking as good a s possible for my husband, and still diligently raising kids. I realized they need to see me as an affectionate wife willing to retain that girl I used to be, the one my husband fell for so long ago. They need to see me as a person with feelings and interests and taking good care of myself, and laughing, having fun, being playful, enjoying the good stuff of life.
I am evolving. God's creation in me won't be complete until I die, but it is ok. Life for Him is a journey, with struggles, many mistakes, failures, successes, sadness, happiness. The point is to keep going. Keep learning, keep trying to reach the goal. I have nearly stopped looking back. I can't change things that happpened and the memories are sweet, but often bittersweet. So I am trying to live in the day and do my best.
Life is a journey.
Carpe' diem!