Passover Week

This Passover week was very special to us this year. It's our first week living it in Florida. Well, the truth is that we were here last Easter, but we were only visiting Mat while we searched for a place to live. We spent that Easter at First Baptist Church Orlando, but we were able to spend this Easter at our home church, in our established home.

Let me tell you how God blessed me this week:

We have been attending a homeschool group PE class at the YMCA here. Andrew goes nearly every Tuesday, and we have met some of the most precious families there. I was feeling really down at the beginning of this week, and after one day of moping and feeling super sorry for myself, God sent so many friends my way to remind me of HIS love for me through others. I could go into detail, but you wouldn't believe me. I will tell you one short story. A sweet lady I met at the YMCA came into PE class Tuesday (after I'd been gone for 2 weeks) asking me if I would attend Easter dinner at her house with her family and other Florida transplants. I had already succumbed to the fact that it would just have been the 4 of us for Easter dinner, but we were invited to a huge dinner.

We have been attending (moving slowly to make a wise decision) a new church plant 1 mile from our home called Bible Harvest Chapel. It was only built and opened in January right around the same time that we started the search for a new church. And has God ever blessed us there! The church has grow leaps and bounds from the small group of families who met at a school previous to the building opening. I can tell you why...God is there!

God is present in the worship like I've never experienced anywhere else. God is present in the messages, and the people are just so kind! We've only been a handful of times, but we've already made relationships.

So this past Wednesday, the church had a family passover Seder...which all 4 of us were able to attend (yep, even Lizzy). I invited a precious family to go with us, and they joined us in learning and teaching their children about why we celebrate passover. It was a very relaxed environment. Poor Andrew really tried to understand passover, but he got so worked up when we got home. He thought we needed to cover our door with lamb's blood so he wouldn't die. It proved to be a great teaching experience, and now Andrew seems to understand passover more than I imagined he would.

Thursday, there was a Seder for adults only, and Friday there was a cross raising and communion. We were unable to attend these, but there is always next year!

Saturday, we attended a picnic & Easter egg hunt with out old church family. We were a bit late b/c Andrew had a soccer game (and b/c we exercised at the YMCA before enjoying our Easter feast). When we got there, we enjoyed our picnic, and we saw so many friends. They held the biggest egg hunt I'd ever seen with melty chocolate and even money filled eggs! The kids had a blast, and we were able to sit and share a relaxed time with friends.

Sunday morning, I woke up to find Mat had gotten up to cook us an Easter feast. Coffee, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, and biscuits!!! Then we got ready for church, but when we opened the garage door, we found we had been egged. There were at least 2 dozen candy filled Easter eggs on our lawn (and it's a jungle out there b/c the lawn guy hasn't come for wayyyy tooo long). The kids had a blast gathering eggs before going to church...and I still don't know who the Easter bunny was.

We went to church for the beautiful and very worshipful service at Harvest, came home, cooked up a nice veggie for our Easter dinner, and headed to our friend's house. The kids had another egg hunt, swam, we ate lots of delicious food, and we had the best time celebrating Easter with our new dear friends.

This Easter was truly a time of Christ showering His love on our family! I hope you found it to be the same for you!

Camping

We have had a fun filled March packed with visits from friends, lots of field trips, fiestas, and just busy bustling days! That's why when friends invited us to go camping, I thought that we already had too much on our plate. I'm so glad that I didn't turn down the opportunity. We decided that we'd go for just one night. That one night was packed full of so much fun that we can't wait to go back again.

We camped at Kelly Park which is just about 45 minutes directly North of our house. Kelly Park is in Apopka, Florida, and is also home to Rock Springs. We were able to stay on the same site as friends (Andrew's piano teacher, fellow homeschool friends, sweet Christians who love Jesus, and just some really REAL and genuine down to earth fun people). They were camping with another family. We fell in love with that family too, and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The fam we met up with is an avid Boy Scout family, and they provided us with lots of entertainment around the campfire. They did songs, story telling and skits. The led us in an old fashioned water balloon fight (no worries, the water balloons are biodegradable these days), they lite up the fire with lots of colors with a special trick, and they had just about everything a camper would need plus more to share with us!

The kids favorite part was floating down the GOD made lazy river in the Springs. The families were generous and shared inner tubes so we didn't even need to rent them. Even Lizzy joined in the floating, but the 72 degree water was enough to keep me watching from the coast. I couldn't capture the beauty of the springs (or all the freakish rednecks camped along the edge of the water either) so you're just gonna have to make a stop at the springs yourself to see the beauty!

Mat and I kept thinking...we LIVE here! It was an amazing trip...one that we will be experiencing again one of these days...and hopefully with the same 2 wonderful families!

The kids were wiped slap out when we got home. Poor little Lizzy fell asleep with food in her mouth on the way home. She drooled the food out of her mouth. She woke up when we got home, walked inside, and fell asleep just inside the house on the school room floor for well over an hour! I was pretty tired myself, but I managed to get Andrew to swimming practice where he swam like a tired fish for a half hour. We all enjoyed an early bedtime!

Shirtless

Andrew cracks me up b/c he has to be fully clothed at all times. It's even an ordeal to take his shirt off at the swimming pool...that is until the other night. He had his first sleepover. His friend took off his shirt and put on PJ pants...and that was what he was going to sleep in. Andrew wanted to be cool too so he took off his shirt and slept in PJ pants.

We got home from the YMCA, and my shirt smelled like burnt oil from our extinct dryer (a friend gave us a 2 year old Maytag dryer for FREE - praise Jesus!) so I took it off. Then Andrew followed my lead. He took off his shirt too...and it has remained off for the afternoon.

Of course, sweet little Lizzy couldn't be outdone so she promptly said, "My shirt smells too. Please take it off." So she went on to nap shirtless :)

My Little Stinker

Being a Mommy brings me so much joy....and adventure. If you've been following my blog, you know how active I keep our schedule. I love it, the kids love it, and it typically helps keep the kids having fun instead of creating mischief...at least that's what I would hope. This month has been filled with mischief.

My little girl is proving to be all sass. She doesn't like to sleep, and the moment she senses or hears that it's nap time, she runs and hides. I'm not talking about hiding around the corner. I'm talking about hiding deep in the closet buried under clothes. She is SILENT, and it's very difficult to find her. She's done this at the store a few times, but at the store it's even more difficult to find her b/c she likes to hid deep in a clothing rack. The people at the store always think it's funny, but when you lose your mind in panic in search of your child, it's NO laughing matter.

She is also trying to skip her nap time. She can get into and our of her pac-n-play with ease now so I can't go to a friends house during nap time (if I intend for her to sleep). I do put her in her crib at home, but she uses nap time as play-in-her-crib time or make the most horrible poopoo time. And when she thinks her quiet time should be over, she hollars, "Mommy, I want you!"

She is very shy...or coy one. I'm not exactly sure. I know it takes her time to warm up around people, and sometimes even I have a difficult time getting her to do something cute b/c she gets embarrassed. She LOVES to sing...LOUD...especially when we are on the way to the YMCA. She sings the YMCA song to the beat of a different drum...and makes us all laugh hysterically!

She loves all things dress up, playing with girl friends, loving on babies, and her favorite thing to do is harass her brother. She likes to play "house" where she has even started putting herself in time out!

Elizabeth woke up from her nap one day screaming. You would have thought she was dying the way she carried on. I rushed to her room to find her holding her finger up in the air. She said, "Mommy, a bugar" through her tears. So stinking dramatic! And then there was the morning where she woke up super early screaming for her Daddy to come take care of a bug in her room. I rushed in there only to find that the "bug" was a pair of Minnie Mouse ears (too giant for any bug). I picked up the ears, & she said, "oh, that's not a bug." Duh! She kissed me and went back to sleep. Gotta get that girls eyes checked?!

The other day we were sitting at Toyota waiting to buy an over priced key, & Lizzy told a grumpy old lady that she looked funny...fantastic and excruciatingly embarrassing. Other people there started to giggle, but I wanted to crawl under my seat. I think we redeemed ourselves. The old lady finally warmed up to us, and we had to wait so long that they took $50 off the price of the $100 key...ridiculous, but it was the best spend 45 min. I made over a dollar a minute :) I still feel bad that Lizzy told her she looked funny :( She did that another time when we were at a restaurant. An Asian boy had died his black hair blond, and she said (in the boy's face no less), "Mommy, that boy does look funny!" I wasn't as embarrassed that time b/c he had to know he looked silly. Instead, I sneaked a laugh or two while trying to explain that wasn't a nice thing to say.

I know I'm carrying on and on about Lizzy's antics, and while I could go into Andrew's antics, I'll save those stories for another time. He's grown out of some of them...fortunately. Being a mom to these two kiddos makes for a home filled with laughter (and some frustration). There is certainly never a dull moment!

March thus far...

Today, I am tired. It has been a stressful, busy, fun month filled with decisions and lots of time with the kids by myself.

March has to have been the most difficult month of school so far. Both Andrew and I are tired and all we want to do is go play. So we went on a lot of field trips.

We went to Ponce Inlet Lighthouse on the coast, and we go to play at the beach too.

We went to Barberville - a pioneer settlement about an hour from home.

We went to Epcot - to discover the flower and garden festival.

We went to Animal Kingdom - to learn more about animals.

We went ice skating with a sweet group of homeschoolers.

We had a fiesta with authentic Mexican food.

We painted lots of pictures and watched lots of Popular Mechanics for Kids videos.

We even set up a big tent in our living room and did school in the tent. We also had a campout, & Andrew & Lizzy had their first friends sleepover in the tent.

And I have ideas for more field trips this month already:

We are going strawberry picking.

We are having a field day on St. Patrick's Day.

We are going to the Shakespeare Theater to watch a play.

We are going to Gatorland Zoo.

We are going camping at a park with springs where we can tube with other homeschool friends.

We are going to meet some firemen with other homeschoolers.

We are even going to make a trip to Atlanta where we will have to go to Stone Mountain! We will also get to visit dear friends!

I'm so blessed that we started homeschooling in kindergarten. You may think we're slacking with all our field trips, but you wouldn't think so if you spend a day "schooling" with us. Andrew is so brilliant, and he so enjoys school that we've already finished most of his curriculum by doubling up on school most days. And when we take trips, we always learn valuable information! We started school August. 2, and we will have fulfilled our 180 days by mid April. I'm not stopping for the summer. The fun will just continue!

First School Book Completed

Andrew is a joy to teach. He is an avid reader, and it shows. He can read just about anything. In fact, we checked out new library books yesterday, and he is currently reading "The Red Hen" making his voice different for each character. Today was a big day for him too. He completed his first text book which also happened to be his reading and phonics book. As an aside, if you want to teach your child to read (homeschooler or non homeschooler), I highly recommend Reading Made Easy. It's a fun book that Andrew loved. Because he loved it so much, we've completed all 108 lessons in February. I'm very excited b/c now we are going to start a bunch of writing assignments, and he is soooo ready!

If you could include us in your prayers, we are currently trying to decide what to do about Andrew's school for next year. We are still planning to homeschool, but we'd like him to have some outside schooling too. He currently goes to school one day a week, but it's very far away and not quite meeting our expectations. We went to a meeting about Classical Conversations last night, and I very much like the way they do school. I'm going to an open house to actually see how it works tomorrow, and I have another open house with a school on Tuesday of next week. Both schools only meet for one day a week from 9-12, and both schools are much closer to home.

I really want to start sending him to a school in our area where we can make relationships with other children his age and be able to do field trips or play groups with friends locally. I think I've found the right solution, but it's always a leap of faith. After all, it's my son we're talking about!

Kids Fitness

I love Tuesdays. The kids do too b/c they are very full fun packed days. We have several things that happen routinely on Tuesdays that make our days very special. Today was a little bit different b/c of some meetings that are going on, but still, it's been a very fun day.

We all woke up extra early for whatever reason. Maybe it was b/c we left the windows open and the gorgeous days was calling for us to come and enjoy. We were able to get a majority of our school work done early, and by 9am, I decided to go to the YMCA for Lizzy to enjoy a kid fitness class before Andrew's normal homeschool PE class.

Lizzy was beside herself with excitement, but nerves started to get the best of her as her and about 20 other 2 year olds were whisked off to the gym in a cute little line that left everyone watching with a smile. I promised her that I would follow and watch the class although they have plenty of helpers and it isn't a requirement for parents to attend.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching my little toddler try to figure out how to follow the instructors lead. She is a bit shy so at the beginning she just watched. Little by little, she began to copy the movements, and she especially liked the "running" part. It was during one of the running times that another 2 year old girl walked up to Elizabeth, gently grabbed her hand and just started running along side of my little girl. Lizzy was beside herself with joy. Her smile beamed from ear to ear as that little girl stayed by her side and ran along side of her. She was so excited.

I enjoyed watching as Lizzy kept looking down at her hand to see it holding the other girls hand. It was a priceless experience, and I'm so glad I was there to see it. I tried to capture a picture, but it was just too difficult to catch them running without the pic being blurry. After all, they were running at warp speed!

The teacher gave the kids stickers for their participation, and Lizzy has looked down at that sticker countless times with a look of pride on her face. She asked me if we could go back again next week so she could get another sticker for her other hand.

I was deleting some old emails and I came across this (March 8, 2010):
Elizabeth brought me a cook book, turned it to a page, & started licking the picture of this delicious steak dish saying YUM. I went right to the freezer, got out some steak, and prepped the dish in the crock pot for supper. What can I say, the girl has great taste!

I sure do love my little princess. It is such a pleasure to be her mommy! I'm certainly one blessed Mom!