God is Good

Six years ago we had a financial need and God blessed me with the opportunity to keep a sweet, little baby boy in our home. Gareth quickly became part of our family and spent the next 5 school years with us. The extra income was wonderful, but the match with Gareth and his family was equally so. God had met our need better than we could have anticipated.

Last spring as Gareth was preparing to enter kindergarten, Joey and I began to talk about what should come next for our family. As much as we enjoyed having a friend in our home, we both felt it was time for it to be "just us" again. Especially with Alexander on the way, I didn't want to have my attentions divided any further than they had to be.

But it was hard to think about giving up the additional income with so many mouths to feed. I knew in my heart of hearts that we were making the right decision and that God would meet our needs, but I still went into the new school year holding my breath, not exactly sure how the budget was going to pan out.

And yet, I should have just exhaled and remembered that God promises to take care of all my need, to do exceeding abundantly above all that I could ask or think, that He wants me to prosper (not just squeak by) and be in health. I do not need to be anxious or afraid...He already has the answer. I just need to trust Him and walk boldly and with confidence on what He has promised in His Word.

I did grab my mind and confess these truths when I started feeling anxious last August. And then I did my best to do what God has called me to do:

1. Believe
2. Pray
3. Abundantly Share...give back to God from what He has blessed us with
4. Wait with excitement for the blessings and answers He has in store for me

So here's what's happened so far this year:

1. I signed up for new health insurance - Christian Healthcare Ministries - before I knew I was going to have Alexander. CHM covered 100% of my maternity, labor, and delivery costs.
2. A friend at the high school encouraged us to start a Teachers Pay Teachers store. It is a perfect fit for us...we can work on it when we have the time. We did and sales are slowly starting to pick up. Every dollar helps, right?
3. Another neighbor and friend had extra fruit and veggies leftover from her produce deliveries and asked could she drop them at our house each week. We have LOVED these weekly treats!
4. We took a good, hard look at our spending habits and made some simple changes that added up to big savings.
5. Throughout the year there have been little extra pockets of money in our bank accounts that I could not account for on my monthly budget spreadsheet.
6. At Christmas, we received an anonymous card with a very generous Walmart gift card inside.
7. In January, Joey received a hefty bonus for his IB English test scores.
8. Thanks to Alexander and the additional child tax credits, we will be getting back significantly more in our tax return this year.
9. And, just yesterday, I was notified that an anonymous good Samaritan paid for our summer pool membership! To say I was overwhelmed is an understatement! 

So you see, God provided as He always does...in ways I could never have imagined or anticipated. I am so thankful for this lesson and the opportunity to grow in my believing and walk that this year has provided. God is good...all the time. 

And to the incredibly kind and generous person who paid for one of our most favorite things - THE POOL!!! - "thank you" does not begin to be sufficient. We are so humbled by your walk of love and so thankful for this blessing. Though we do not know your name, we will continually pray for you and ask that God bless you back many times over! 

The Shooting Stars

Cassidy and her Shooting Star teammates had their first Whatever basketball game on Saturday. The team was down 2 players so the 5 remaining players had to play the whole game, but the girls rose to the occasion. Two girls had never played middle school basketball before and one of those has never played basketball at all. With missing players, some (including Cassidy) had to spend time playing outside of their usual position. They came away with a win, but what blessed me most was watching how hard they worked the entire game, how well they listened to their coaches, how they worked as a team to be successful, and their positive attitudes. It was so much fun to be a spectator and I got some cute pictures, too! 😃

 Prayer time before the game

 Preparing for tip-off

 So proud of this girl. She had to spend some time at point guard - not her usual position - and she was nervous, but we had a talk before the game about the opportunity she had to lead her team by demonstrating confidence, a positive attitude, and determination to work her hardest for the team no matter what position she was playing. And she did. I've never seem her play with such confidence and instinct as she did yesterday. 

 She shoots...she SCORES!!!

 Guarding the net with one of her best friends, Morgan (aka The 7th Walls Kid)

 Getting instructions from Coach Jon and Coach Joey (aka Dad)... we love our coaches!

 REBOUND!!!

 She made 2 baskets yesterday, doubling her total scoring from last season in her first game! 

The Shooting Stars

Pierced Ears

Lily got her ears pierced yesterday. She was supposed to have them done on her birthday, but she and Finn were serving time for damaging the BRAND NEW TV in the playroom...so today was the day and she was so excited! :)

Cool Gifts for the Book Worm, Writer, or Teacher in Your Life

My first born turns 12 next Saturday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and I am blown away by the beautiful young woman she's becoming. She is incredibly giving and never asks for anything for herself...even if she's truly in need. It's a beautiful quality...until it's time to buy her a gift. When asked what she might like to have she just shrugs her shoulders and replies, "I don't know." That's helpful. However, I'm always up for a good challenge so I started brainstorming (and googling). Like her mama, Cassidy's an avid reader and a writer at heart who dreams of one day being a published author. So in preparation for this year's birthday celebrations, I took the reader/writer theme and ran wild with it!

Here's the results of my search...fun stuff for book worms and aspiring writers! These would also make great teacher gifts...it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas! 😉

These adorable hand stamped earrings from Beads & Books (michellemach) were my first find. Simple, understated, and themed with two of her favorite pastimes, there were a must-have birthday gift. This set also comes in copper. Click on the photo to visit the seller's Etsy page and see more of her hand stamped jewelry!

Some other unique earrings I found:
(Click the picture to visit the seller's website.)

This Etsy seller (Artful Sunshine) has a book earring selection that ranges from Dr. Seuss to Pride & Prejudice to Comic Books. She had a couple of sets from The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games that I was eyeing, but they are no longer listed on the site. Hoping I can get her to make me a set for Christmas!

Next on the list...some inspiration for her bedroom!

An inspirational quote for writers printed on an actual page from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. What could be better??? TicketyBooPrints was so wonderful to work with during the ordering process. I wanted a smaller size than was offered and she took the time to cut and mat the page for me so that it fit into a 5x7 frame. She did a fabulous job...it's absolutely beautiful. And since I made sure that Cassidy was bitten by the musical theater bug at a young age, this print will have a double meaning for her as it graces her school desk.

I had the hardest time choosing a print...there are so many cool ones out there. Here were others that made the short list:
(Click on the picture to visit the seller's website.)

Finally, the BIG gift. Not necessarily in terms of cost, but in significance and meaning for Cassidy. For those of you that are Facebook friends, you may have seen my posts referencing Cassidy's novels. After spending last summer lost in the worlds of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent, Cassidy embarked on her own journey of writing her first trilogy. She has completed two of the novels and currently spends most of her free time working on the manuscript for the final book. Usually reserved and quiet, Cassidy comes to life any time someone asks about her books or comments after reading one. It is obvious that they are precious to her and that she takes great pride in her work.

I was watching the kids at swim practice one evening over the summer when I it occurred to me...perhaps the greatest birthday gift I could give her would be to have one of her books printed and bound. With a cool cover...her name emblazoned on the front. Like a real, published author. But how the heck was I going to do that? I threw up an SOS on Facebook and several friends immediately came to my aid with suggestions. Amazon and a couple other business names were tossed around as places where you could publish just one copy of a book. So I started researching the sites...and my head started to spin. Do you have this special number who's name I can't remember for your book or do you need us to provide you one for a fee? Your cover has to meet all these graphic standards that someone who makes their graphics in PowerPoint will never understand, but here's a template.

After a couple of days of being confused, I was ready to throw my hands up in defeat. But then I remembered something. I know how to use Shutterfly. And you can put text all over their little photo albums. So I logged into my account, chose a simple 8x8 photo album template, and went to work. And it WAS work. I won't bore you with the details, but there was a lot of copying, pasting, and reformatting involved. It took some time, but at least I knew what I was doing and in the end the result was amazing!

 How cool does this look??? I am so excited for her to see it!

(NOTE: I actually designed her first two novels at the same time (she'll get the second one at Christmas), waited for a 40% off photo books sale, and then ordered them both at the same time...cashing in on free shipping over $39. Each book ended up being about $25...and to my girl, it will be priceless!)

 I fell to pieces the first time I read her book and found this dedication at the end. 

 Formatting these chapters was a labor of love, but it was completely worth it!

I even included an About the Author page at the end of the book...an attempt to add one more authentic touch. 😄

You could create so many different kinds of books this way. Poetry books. A collection of short stories. Picture books. Scan the hand drawn illustrations as images, load them onto the Shutterfly pages, and then type the text for the story underneath each one. Do you know a budding artist? Scan their artwork, load one image onto each page of the book, and you've got a cool coffee table art book. These gifts could be given to the writer/artist OR would make awesome gifts for grandparents and other relatives. So many possibilities and such a cool way to show your love and appreciation!

Favorite FREE Learning Sites

As a single income family, we are always looking for ways to save a buck (or a penny), so I was thrilled when I stumbled upon these two sites before our homeschool year started. 

Teach Your Monster to Read is the perfect site for "ready to read" or beginning readers. Completely free, you can register as many children under your account as you like. There are 3 levels: First Steps, Fun with Words, and Champion Reader. You can set your students at any level and the game will automatically move them up as they complete all the skills. Emerson is working through First Steps and Eli just moved up from Fun with Words to Champion Reader. They LOVE playing because the games and the monsters are a blast...I usually have to drag them away from the computer when their time's up. And I love it because they are learning a lot. There aren't any "fluff" games that don't really teach them anything...something I often find on other free sites. It's all learning, but they're too busy having fun to notice! Click on the graphic to visit the site and check it out for yourself!

NOTE: There is a phone app available for this site that you can download for a fee.

We have used Keyboarding Without Tears (highly recommend it!) for typing practice the last few years, but when our subscription ran out right before school started I searched for a free typing program to use instead. Typing.com doesn't have all the pretty graphics or typing games that are incorporated into KWT, but as a former keyboarding teacher I can tell you that it's a solid typing practice program. The lessons are a bit long - at least for how much time I want to devote to keyboarding during our homeschool day - so sometimes we break them up over two days. Like Teach Your Monster to Read, this program is also completely free. You can register as many students as you wish under your account and have them start at whatever level you choose. The kids haven't had any trouble transitioning to the new program and I am thrilled to have saved our family a few more dollars!

What are your favorite FREE learning sites? I would love to have some more resources in my school bag! 😊

Homeschoolers are Always Learning

Since we started homeschooling, we've found that there are infinite opportunities for learning even in the most everyday situations. Even better, we've found that we really LOVE learning and that it can be fun and not a chore. One of my favorite things to do is to teach the kids life skills. It helps them prepare to live on their own one day...and it helps me now to have many hands working to run our home. No big surprise, one of their favorite things to do is help in the kitchen...they're not as fond of cleaning the bathrooms. 😄 Today's lesson was making homemade pizza dough for pizza night! It was really fun and a job that the older ones could handle on their own in the future! WIN!!!

 Eli takes kitchen duty VERY seriously. He was verbally checking off the steps as we went.

Yes, our boys are only partially dressed because...well...they're boys. Let's all just be grateful they have anything on at all! :)

 The Finished Products...they were SO yummy! And we made 2 batches of dough so we have enough to freeze for another meal!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor!

Happy 10th Birthday, Lily Anne!

This girl. She is a competitor. Fierce and focused. Usually the smallest on her team, in her division…it only drives her to work harder. She’s been known to tell a friend to stop talking to her before a race…because she already understands that at least half the battle is mental and she needs to get ready. She is poetry in motion in the water. She is at home. A musician. She practices her craft with passion…always looking for ways to improve. Through the melodies that fill out home, we see her heart. A servant. She has such a huge heart for people, a desire to help, a desire to know them, understand them, comfort and care for them. Such compassion from such a small person. It is easy to see why all that know her, love her. Because she shows them the love of God. Most importantly, a child of God. Her love for God and His Word overshadows all. Her hunger to learn and her desire to serve inspires and encourages me. Today this girl is 10 years old. Today I am praising God for a decade of living and loving with this beautiful little light. Today I am looking forward with great excitement to all that the next year will bring for our precious Buggy. Today we will publicly celebrate her, but every day we celebrate her life in our hearts. Happy Birthday, Lily Anne! I love you, my sweet girl!

God Cares About the Little Things (The Story of the Pink Guitar)

Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Ephesians 3:20

About this time last year we found out that our homeschool co-op would be offering a beginner guitar class in the coming school year. Lily was thrilled. She had been asking to learn how to play the guitar for several years, but we hadn't made time in our busy schedule or room in our family budget to allow her to try learning a musical instrument. Now she would finally have the chance.

For me, that meant that I spent the summer in search of an affordable (most likely used) starter guitar. But since it's almost impossible to find a guitar (even a used one) that doesn't sound like a toy when it's played for less than $100, the search went on and on and on. During the hunt, Lily announced that she would really like a pink guitar. I was unaware that non-toy guitars came in colors and since all I really cared about was finding a good deal on a decent instrument, I told her color was not a priority. We were going to get the guitar we could afford. But I also told her a story I had heard many years ago:

Many, many years ago there was a minister that had a weekly radio show. He would talk about God's Word and people would call in with their prayer requests. One evening a woman called and told the minister that she was in need of a new home. She wanted him to add her need to his prayer list and added that she would really like the living room of the new home to have red curtains. The minister thought that was a silly request. After all, a home is a need. It doesn't matter what kind of curtains are in the living room. But, he told the woman he would pray for her new home. Some time went by and during another broadcast, the woman called back to tell the minister that God had blessed her with a home. "And when I walked into the living room, there were red curtains in the windows," she said.

So see, God cares about the little things, I told Lily. The minister thought her request was silly, but God didn't. God loves us. Why shouldn't the woman have red curtains her living room if that's what would bless her? The color of your guitar may only be important to you, but God loves you and wants to bless you. Go to Him in prayer and we'll see what he provides. I know whatever it is, it will be the best guitar for you.

More time passed. The start of the new school year was only days away and I still hadn't found a guitar for Lily. I had decided to settle on one I'd found on Amazon. The reviews weren't great, but it was the right size and in our price range. Right before I ordered it, I felt a tugging in my heart to check craigslist one more time. It was that still, small, quiet voice and I am so glad I was listening that day because when the page opened up I found this:

This $300 guitar was being sold for $50. I had seen it in a previous search and the reviews were great. Right size, right price. But the best part of all? It was PINK. I almost cried when I told Lily about it. "Look what God provided for you!!! It's better than I ever could have imagined!!!"

But the story gets even better. Turns out the little girl it belonged to didn't really use it at all. For all intents and purposes it was brand new. And, though I didn't attempt to haggle over the price, the mom only took $40 for it. That's "exceeding abundantly above." That's God.

I've been thinking about this story a lot the last few days. My heart and mind have been distracted with the many changes coming for our family in the next few months. New babies, new activities, new work endeavors, changes in our finances. There is much about which to rejoice, but there are also many things over which I could sit and worry. How will this work? Can I do it? Will that be enough? And recently on one really rough evening with the kids...oh my gosh, what are we doing???

It would be easy to get consumed with the unknown, but instead I choose to focus on prayer, on being thankful and praising God for all He has done and continues to do for us, on bringing favorite bible verses to my mind. Ones that remind me that God loves me, He will never leave me, He will protect me, He will meet my every need, He will comfort me, and that I never have to be afraid. And I think about that pink guitar. Because if God cares about the color of a 9-year-old's guitar, then he cares about my stuff too...the little stuff and the big stuff. 

When there is so much light, the darkness has to flee. And God loves me - and you - more than anyone else ever could. And he sees that - although we mess up (for me, sometimes it's a lot) - we are trying our best to know Him, love Him, and serve Him and are endeavoring to teach our children to do the same. So we can trust Him to be faithful. And sure, we'll still work as hard as we can at all our different jobs and we'll try to be good stewards of all God has blessed us with (not eating out as much and making the kids hand-me-downs stretch as far as they can), but it's God who will give the increase. And it is He who will receive all the praise and glory every step along the way.

What My Kids Reminded Me on Spring Break 2017

The week before Spring Break Lily got the flu. Finn followed 2 days later. I rushed around nursing patients that week amongst our regular school schedule, boasting that I hadn't had the flu since I was in 2nd grade when my husband expressed concern that I was exposing my pregnant body to this serious illness. I'm tough, I insisted. I'll be fine. And then I got it...or something that looked and felt a lot like it. And I was bedridden. And suddenly our spring break plans - the ones we'd be talking about, looking forward to, studying and researching about all semester - were in jeopardy. We broke this news to the kids in the late afternoon on Saturday, just hours before we were supposed to pull out of the driveway on our adventure. Mom's just too sick to travel. We can't go tomorrow. We'll see how the next few days go and then maybe...

I won't say there weren't tears and disappointed faces in those first few moments. But there were also words of encouragement and support. "It's OK, Mom," and gentle pats on my arm. And in the days that followed I watched my children bear a great disappointment with grace. I listened as they played happily outside, making their own fun in our backyard. I heard their laughter as Joey cracked jokes at the dinner table. They nursed me, bringing me water, checking to see if I wanted a popsicle, and they entertained themselves as Joey tried to juggle all the responsibilities of mom and dad. More than once I heard him exclaim, "Is this what you do to your mom all the time???" as someone announced for the millionth time that day that they were STARVING.

By Monday I was beginning to rally so we decided to try to leave early Tuesday morning in an effort to salvage what was left of our Spring Break. From my command post on my bed, I gave orders to the kids who brought me piles of clothes to pack, baskets of laundry to fold, and handled all the chores of cleaning and preparing the house for the trip. Joey left on a mission to get our van running again...did I mention the battery had died the week before?...and thankfully it was just a simple fix.

Tuesday morning we were up at 4 and finally pulled out of the driveway at 6:30. Tuesday - National Zoo, Wednesday - Hershey, Thursday - Washington D.C., Friday - Gettsyburg and home. It was a busy 4 days. Some of it was really fun...some of it was not. Imagine that 90 million people all decide to go to your spring break destination and then get in front of you in every line. There was a low point on Thursday when we'd been walking for 2 hours without stopping and hadn't gotten to see ANYTHING. National Archives? Line down the street. Ford's Theater? All shows sold out for the day. White House? I'm sorry, we're closing off this area. You'll have to go around, say the Secret Service. By the time we trudged to the top of the hill to see the Washington Monument, we were here...

This picture actually provided some much needed levity after what had been a frustrating day. It was our own little "Weekend at Bernie's" and our two little rolling corpses brought smiles to quite a few other tourists.

This is kind of how our vacation went...the ying and the yang of exhaustion, sickness (Joey and I were both sick by now), and things not going the way we'd planned juxtaposed with moments of pure sweetness and joy born from just being together. Our pre-teen snuggling into her dad's shoulder unexpectedly, Eli's unbridled excitement over being at the zoo...begging to see "just 3 more animals PLEASE!" when everyone else has wilted, Google randomly talking in the middle of Joey's morning prayers and sending us all into hysterics, the seriousness with which they sampled chocolate and tried to learn to be palateers, Lily making friends at the hotel pool, Finn holding my hand as we made the trek from the Lincoln Memorial back to Union Station. Their attitudes. Watching them rally when they were exhausted beyond measure, encouraging me when I felt like laying down where I stood, their patience to handle having to wait and disappointment when our plans just didn't work out, Lily pushing the stroller with 2 kids in it to give her dad a break. They chose their attitude, chose to be thankful and happy, regardless of whether they were at home, being turned away at Ford's Theater, or sampling chocolate. It was a great reminder that happiness is a choice and that although this year may not go down in the books as our best spring break ever, it was still special just because we were together.

Defining Success

Our 5th swim season with the Turner Farms Marlins is in the books. It's hard to remember a time when we were not part of this special, summer swim family. It is our favorite time of year and although our end of the season banquet was just last night, I am already counting down till next year's first practice.

The kids had another great season of learning and growing. The greatest challenges they faced, however, were not in the pool, but in their own hearts and minds. Sometimes when we get used to success, to winning, it's easy to lose our focus and perspective. It's easy to forget where we started, how far we've come, how much room we still have to learn and grow, and what's truly most important. And we can start putting pressure on ourselves to ALWAYS WIN...and then beat ourselves up when we don't.

This is where we started 5 years ago (Finn's video is from just last year. I had no earlier ones.)....


They struggled to make it down the pool for freestyle. They often grabbed the lane line to take a break during a race. They sank in backstroke...and forget about butterfly. Lily cried before her first few races...I had to stand beside her, encouraging her, until she jumped in the water. Finn cried every day at practice for the entire first year. Someone often had to help him down the lane. Touching the wall...finishing the race...was an enormous accomplishment.

And here's where we are now...


Their strokes are beautiful and graceful and strong...a testament to the many hours they've put in in the pool over the last 5 years, but especially this past year. They are fast. They won a lot of races. They lost some, too. And that was hard because they've become used to winning. We had to remind them of where they started...that there was a time when finishing the race WAS THE WIN, when they would have died of happiness to come in second. When I was swimming I never won a single race. Never. I sometimes came in second, but I was never the fastest one in the pool. Not once. And while I would have loved to win just one race, it didn't take away from how much fun I had and how much I loved and still love this sport.

It's not all about the ribbons and medals. Ultimately, true success is measured by the heart. Did you try your best? Did you have fun? Did you learn something new? Did you show good sportsmanship? Did you offer encouragement to others? Did you walk in love? And, most importantly, did you keep God first and give Him all the praise and glory? If you just did that last one, you're a winner whether you won every race or just barely made it to the finish.

We've talked about all of this a lot this season. How even the best athletes lose sometimes...and how the best of the best know how to shake off that disappointment and move on to the next competition with a positive attitude. And as for mom and dad, we are excited and proud and screaming like maniacs whether they are the fastest swimmer or the slowest...because they are our MVPs just for being them.

The kids did rack up some medals this year at championships. Being the oldest in each of their age groups gave them a bit of an advantage. Next year as the youngest in their divisions, they'll be the ones who are challenged to keep up with the older swimmers. :)

1st in Freestyle, Backstroke, & Butterfly; 2nd in Individual Medley (by .3 seconds...it was a great race); 7-10 year old girls' MVP. She dropped 2 seconds off her best IM time at championships!

3rd in Breastroke (less than 1 second between 1st and 3rd...another great race), 3rd in Individual Medley (by a fingertip...such close races!), 3rd in the Freestyle Relay, and 8th in Freestyle. She dropped 41 seconds off her IM time this year! :)

1st in the Individual Medley (he caught the swimmer ahead of him on the last lap and won by a fingertip!), 3rd in Freestyle, 4th in Butterfly, & 6 and under MVP. In his IM race at championships he dropped 12 seconds off his best time! 

Emerson wanted to show off her "trophy" too. 

Eli was excited to get a Marlin cup and is looking forward to swimming next season! He has been practicing hard this summer!

 Some of my favorite pics from the season...thanks to our Marlins photographer, Kristen Howrigan!

Butterfly is not her favorite, but she is getting better!

This relay was a force to be reckoned with!

Swim friends are the best friends!

Lily and some friends led The Star Spangled Banner.

Best Buds

So proud of Finn for finishing his first IM!

Screaming like a maniac...it's what I do!

2016 6 & Unders

2016 9-10 Age Group

2016 7-8 Age Group (Missing quite a few!)