Soccer!!!

Before every soccer game, Sam has us listen to "Life is a Highway" (not sure how that became our pre-game theme song).  Go Sharks!

Latin

Now that Maddie is taking Latin, here are the texts I get from her...

Friday school

We've been meeting the Hudson's at Panera on Fridays for school.  Beautiful day for Friday school outside today...

 

 

Had to share Jake's practice of the presidents for the week.  Love that President Kinity...



Love...

School in the sunroom...

Memory Verses...

Maddie's white board with her memory verses...

Painting Bowls for Second Harvest

Fun co-op day painint bowls for Second Harvest Food Bank fundraiser...

Visit with Nana & Gramps

Super fun weekend with Nana & Gramps!  Good food, football watching and fun.  Of course it always closes with a breakfast...today Jake enjoyed a chocolate milk from Cool Moose!

Afterwards Maddie and I decided to walk/run the bridges.  One of these days I'll be able to keep up with her!

Co-op Day at the Beach

Boys & Girls Weekend

Jake and Sam headed to Tallahassee for the big game between FSU and Clemson. 

Maddie and I decided to have a girls weekend.  She had Emily & Kristen spend the night...pedicure, pizza and playing!  Can you guess which toes are mine?

 

 

Oh, and we can't forget duct tape design fun...

 

Nutcracker Rehearsals

First rehearsals for Maddie Mouse...

Friday school at Panera

Kari Jobe

Awesome night with the TNT group at Kari Jobe! 

 

 

We especially liked the opening band, All Sons & Daughters.

 

Love these special nights with Maddie:)

Relish the moments...

Cummer Museum

The Cummer is free on Tuesday afternoons, so we decided to visit with our friends Amy & Hannah!  It was a really nice afternoon so the kids took in the beautiful view of the Gardens and did some painting.

Nutcracker Auditons

Maddie decided to audition for the Community Nutcracker this year....and....she is a mouse!  She is so excited! 

Summer in Florida...NOT!

Not sure where these kids think they live.  Definitely not Florida (in Sseptember) attire...

 

First Swim Class

Today was our first swim class and it was a workout!  The kids did great and loved it.  Can't wait to see how they progress as the year goes on.

School at the park

We decided to pack our stuff up for the afternoon, stock up on some Starbucks and head to the park for science & history. 

Fall = Football!

This Gator girl got to to to Tally for her birthday:)  It was a great weekend celebrating many birthdays and watching the first FSU game of the season (and the Gator game on TV)...

We had a great dinner the night after to celebrate Nana & Gramps birthdays too.  A fun night with cousins!

Presidental Lessons

In the afternoon after all of the individual math and language lessons have been done, the kids and I grab our pillows/pillow pets and sit together in the den to do history, geography and science together.  We have been going through presidential flash cards, trying to remember 5 presidents a day. 

Today we watched a video of the presidential election process in preparation for the start of the Republican convention.  I'm hoping as a family we can all watch a good portion of both conventions this year and discuss the candidates and the party differences. Not sure how much they will grasp this year, but I think it will be fun.

Summer Beaches Run & Night at the Beach

We celebrated Granny's birthday at Mel & Ben's house (fun day of kids swimming and catching up with family) and then headed out to the beach for the Summer Beaches run.  Sam ran the 5 mile race and Maddie & Jake ran the 1 mile fun run.  We got a hotel room for the night at the race site on the beach and did some night swimming in the pool and some beach time in the morning.  It was a fun way to end our first week of homeschool!

Fun Friday

It's Friday and just because you homeschool doesn't mean you don't have Fun Friday!  Today we decided to hit Putt Putt for 18 holes.

Impromptu lesson...

Jake got some erasers in the shape of a bowling ball and bowling pin.  He created a tube to put the ball in.  We measured and recorded the height on each end and the length of the tube. We each marked off a spot where we thought the ball could go the farthest to knock the pin down and then where we thought it had the best chance of knocking the pin down.  We took turns trying the ball out with the pin on our marked spots and recorded the results.

 

Independent Reading...LOVE!

Enjoying Home Schooling

Today we listened to Kari Jobe while we worked on school.  It was so relaxing! 


I hope we always love homeschooling and appreciate the flexibility and additional opportunities we have because of it.  Today we finished up some care packages and letters to send to our Compassion International sponsored children, Barbra & Emmanuel, that live in Uganda.

1st Day of Homeschooling in the Books

Today was our first day of homeschooling and I have to say, it was really nice.  We all three had a good day and I even think we learned a lot.  We were thinking it might just be a lot of review at first, but we actually learned a few new things.  Our general plan is to start the day at 9:00, so the kids can get up whenever and eat and do what they want as long as they are dressed and at the dining room table by 9.  Jake was so excited...he was up by 6:30 am and came walking downstairs saying, "Today is the day!"  He couldn't wait to get started.  I was up early too, excited to get started.  Maddie was also up earlier than usual.  She likes to go outside and practice 50 basketball shots and do a few tricks on the trampoline after breakfast (a little OCD like her mom).  It was a little wet on the trampoline so she had to take a shower before starting school...she was still ready around 8:30. 

I was a little worried about juggling teaching the kids, but the transition was really smooth.  They have enough independent work that it was easy to have them do that while I was teaching the other.  We did all our our math and language (spelling, grammar, writing, etc) in the morning.  We went to Panera for lunch and then to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate day 1 with a little skeet ball.  When we got home they got their pillow pets and we gathered in the den for a combined history and science lesson, followed by some flashcards of the states/capitals and the presidents. 

All in all, it was a wonderful day 1.  Praying that we continue to enjoy homeschooling and each other.  That we appreciate this opportunity we have and that we learn a lot.

Living Proof Live Girls Weekend

I got to spend the weekend with Maddie at a Beth Moore Living Proof live event.  We flew to Atlanta (Maddie's first plane ride) to stay with an old friend, Lavonda, and her daughter, Emily.  We spent the night in Atlanta and all rode together the next day to Knoxville for the event.  The event was Friday night and Saturday morning.  It was such a special time to get to spend with Maddie.  She really loved the event and took lots of notes.  Afterwards the ladies that follow Beth Moore's blog are invited to stay for a photo.  When Beth Moore walked into the room, she went right up to Maddie and grabbed her face to say hello. 

We had a long wait at the airport before flying back home (just missed an earlier flight, so were there for three + hours).  We took this time to have our "girls talk".  It was an incredible weekend!  While we were gone Sam and Jake had a fun guys weekend too...Adventure Landing (water park), Mandarin Mill (putt putt and batting cages), and a Jaguar preseason game.  Although we all had fun, it is nice to all be back together again as a family.

Here is the video recap of the event (Maddie and I are in it at 4:10!)...



My notes from the sessions are in a separate post.

Notes for Beth Moore LPL Event

LPL Knoxville Notes 2012

Verses for the weekend:

2 Corinthians 6: 1-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1-4, 9-10

¹As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ² For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Paul’s Hardships

³ We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴ Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶ in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷ in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ⁸ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ⁹ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

¹¹ We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. ¹² We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. ¹³ As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children —open wide your hearts also.

Warning Against Idolatry

¹⁴ Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

¹⁷ Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

¹⁸ And, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,  says the Lord Almighty.”

7 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Paul’s Joy Over the Church’s Repentance

² Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. ⁴ I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.

⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Notes

2 Cor 6:2 – “Now is the time of God’s favor.  Now is the day of salvation”.  A reference to now being what was prophesized in the past. 

Isaiah 49:8-9

Restoration of Israel

⁸ This is what the Lord says:

“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
⁹ to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free

The present (following Christ’s death and as Christians today) is the day of favor & time of salvation they have been waiting for, eagerly anticipating.  God is making himself accessible to us. 

Mark 1:14-15

Jesus Announces the Good News

¹⁴ After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

As with many prophesies, there is a sooner fulfillment and a later ultimate fulfillment.

2 Cor 6:3 – “We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited”

Key word for us as Christians:  CREDIBLE.  We have to be credible to advance the Gospel and fulfill our unique missions.

Credible, from the root word “cred” meaning to believe.

Lesson for the session, using the word CREDIBLE:

C-Credibility is believability that can only be earned

R- Reconciling adversity and divine favor is true mystery disclosed

E- Every single antithetical inch is spaced by grace

D- Dying to self feels most like a killing when the unloved love

I -Interlocking lives is double strength or double trouble

B- Bondage at is deadly best is trading repentance for regret

L- Living together and dying together (in reverse order…die, then live) in heart is fellowship at it s finest

E- Everything is nothing without Jesus

“C” – Credibility is believability that can only be earned.  Credibility is earned the hard way.  It can’t be bought, married into, faked, etc.  When our lives demonstrate we can do what would otherwise be impossible.

“The Gospel can’t be spread if we ain’t got no cred.”

We must be humble servants of God.  Competent to give evidence worthy of belief.

From 2 Cor 6:4-10:

But as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way, by great endurance in

             ___________________________________________________________________,

___________________________________________________________________,

___________________________________________________________________,

___________________________________________________________________,

             ___________________________________________________________________.

All of our “great endurance” blanks are different, but we all have them.  And we should want them.  We want to get to heaven before Jesus having overcome our great endurances.

They differ by person, but there are three basic categories:

·         Circumstantial

·         Other people

·         Price it takes in discipline for what we are called to do (hard work in discipline for our unique callings)

We have to be willing to pay the price to do what we are called to do.  By way of self-discipline to be credible to do our calling with the seal of God’s approval.

Memos – Greek word for discredit.  Greek god of ridicule and mockery.  Mockery is one of Satan’s big attacks.  Satan likes to make us think we are a fool, gullible.  We will forsake our faith faster over ridicule than any other form of persecution.

“R” – Reconciling adversity and divine favor is true mystery disclosed

“E” – Every single antithetical inch is spaced by grace

                Difficult circumstance ß------------------(God’s grace)--------------------à  Our attitude

From 2 Cor 6: 4-10:

                Dying                                                                                                                    Live on

                Sorrowful                                                                                                      Always rejoicing

                Poor                                                                                                            Making many rich

                Having nothing                                                                                      Possessing everything

“D” – Dying to self feels most like a killing when the unloved love

2 Cor 6: 11-12 “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. ¹² We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us”

Unreturned affection.  Ask God for understanding where we may be withholding words or love where you shouldn’t be.

Matthew 24:12-13 in reference to the end times:

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

I” – Interlocking lives is double strength or double trouble

2 Cor 6:14-16 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

It isn’t saying to not have any association.  It is saying do not be “yoked”.  Yoked is a more intimate relationship…a partnership.  It is fellowship in fellowship’s true definition:

                Fellowship > friendship

                Fellowship > kinship

                Fellowship = co-ownership

Don’t be unequally yoked in marriage or partnerships.

Love and obsession are not the same things.  If there is jealously, then something is off.  Be careful of instant intimacy – no such thing – must build over time, you should wait and see.  In ministry, partnerships, etc.

2 Cor 7:1 “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

Watch out for what we put in our minds and bodies.  What we watch, listen to, are around, associate with, etc.  It isn’t okay.  Carnality profoundly undercuts credibility.

Isaiah 52:11:

Depart, depart, go out from there!
Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.

“B” – Bondage at its deadly best is trading repentance for regret

2 Cor 7:9-10 “yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Repentance = own it, desire to turn from it and walk away from it.  It doesn’t leave you in it.  It is freedom.

Regret = just relive foolishness and stay in it through bondage. 

Regret by itself is worldy grief.

When you feel that regret/reliving happen even though you know you have been forgiven, instead replace it with thanksgiving to God for the gift of repentance and for forgiveness and cleansing (instead of wallowing in regret).

“L” - Living together and dying together (in reverse order) in heart is fellowship at its finest.

We tend to say “live and die” in that order, but it is actually dying that comes before living.  Paul uses a lot of metaphors of death and resurrection in his writings.  We must die (to self, to the world, etc) before we can live.  That is where true fellowship lives.

“E” – Everything is nothing without Jesus

2 Cor 6:3b “…having nothing, and yet possessing everything. “

In our society, most of us can not relate to having nothing, even if we grew up without a lot.  We can think we don’t know what it is like to truly have nothing.  But this isn’t true, because everything is nothing without Jesus.

Rev 3:17

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

A little science / spa fun

Fun with friends making a "spa concoction" / science experiment consisting of water, coke, g2, hand soap, leaves, lotion, dish soap, salt, pepper, skittles and who knows what else.

Swimming & Running

We got the kids signed up for a great swim/stroke class on Thursdays at 1:00pm at Episcopal school's pool. The kids are pretty good swimmers, but have never had formal stroke lessons.  It will be fun to watch them develop their skills and see how they like it as a sport.

We also checked out the YMCA outdoor track to use as our homeschool running club.  Our plan is to go two to three times a week to run/walk 2-3 miles.  We'll probably bring the kids bikes to ride afterwards.  It will especially be nice when the weather gets better in the Fall.

Week 1 Lesson Plans Done

So I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed now that I have put together our lesson plans for the first week of school.  I'm thinking we will start on Monday, August 20th...this is when their old school goes back.  We have a lot packed in and I'm sure we'll adjust as we go along, but it is nice to have a starting point.

University of Florida Visit

I got to relive my time at UF with the kids this week.  My friend's son was in the UF baseball camp and we joined her in Gainesville for the day.  We started off with lunch at the Swamp then proceeded to walk around campus in the 120 degree (or very close to it) weather.  We saw my old dorm, the accounting school I spent many hours, the library I always went to, the union and bookstore/gift shop, my old sorority house (ans where I lived my last year), the baseball, football, swimming, basketball facilities.  I think we wore the kids out with all the walking in the heat, but it was so fun being back there.  Go Gators!

We are crazy about the Olympics!

We are loving the Olympics being on!  When Ruthie was over, the kids made up a new Olympic sport...pillow skating.  Gold all around!

BIble study

We had the first session of our Thursday night ladies bible study last night.  I am so grateful to be part of such an amazing group of women.  Such diversity in age, life experience, current circumstances and walks with God.  Makes for incredible discussion.