Leah and her sister Eden’s cat

You may be wondering what Leah has been up to since she graduated from our homeschool.

She’d probably tell you, “Blissfully nothing!” with a big smile on her face.

She has done the following:

• gone to bed way too late most nights (despite my reminders to go to bed earlier)
• slept in the next morning
• draws daily with her graphic art tablet that Ray bought her several years ago
• plays video games
• helps her friend David with a video game that he’s creating and programming, by drawing people and objects for it
• chats with her friends Nicholas, Nicole, Morgan, and David on Gmail
• watches Star Trek or other sci-fi movies with Ray when he is home from work.

In other words, she’s living a completely carefree, irresponsible life!

To be fair, Leah has to help me with household chores each day. She has to help with her own laundry, keep her room clean, and occasional dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and washing dishes.

One of her “perks” for getting her driver’s license is running errands in town for Ray and me. Ahhh, this is what children are born for! (Just kidding. But it does help us out immensely!)

Every Sunday we attend a small group Bible study, where we worship God together with contemporary songs and hymns on YouTube videos, have a Biblical teaching on using the spiritual gifts and other topics for spiritual growth, talk and pray with our friends, and occasionally have potluck dinners or other activities together. The teen group has become solid friends, and Leah loves going there to hang out with them.

As you can see in the picture below, they like to have fun. Aaron is the one with the sock on his head. Next to him is his brother, David. Second row are Annabelle (Leah’s niece), Alex, Rachel, and Mariah. Third row, Violet (Leah’s niece) and Abi.

Leah and her friends at small group

For Bible reading, she and I have been reading through Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence*** devotional each day.

Leah with her pretty roses on Valentine’s Day

Ray has also challenged her, as he has each of our daughters, to read Les Miserables. If Leah accomplishes this, she’ll be the first to do it because Heather and Eden dislike reading. (It’s a 1,260-page book!) She has started reading it, but I’m not sure how far she’s gotten.

But Leah does often read books on her own, even though she’s not homeschooling any more. This makes Ray and me happy because we are voracious readers, and believe reading is important. She prefers fiction such as Into the Wild (Warriors, Book 1) ***, but reads other genres of books, too.

Art is her passion. On January 1, 2013, she set a goal to do a “365 art challenge,” drawing art of some kind every day for the entire year. Primarily she uses her graphic art tablet.

Leah doing a special art project for me

Leah also is my personal assistant in my Speaking, Writing and Coaching Business at BethJones.net. She’s often the unseen videographer for my videos on YouTube and helps me with other administrative tasks. Pictured above, she’s working on a special art project for me for our RELEASED Women’s Conference.

She went on a family vacation with Ray, me, Heather, and Heather’s girls Annabelle and Violet to St. Louis, MO, to see the arch.

My dad bought Leah some brand new luggage for a graduation present, a tradition that he started when I graduated. Then he bought Heather some, and now Leah. Looking back now, I realize it was a prophetic gift, because my desire and my anointing and calling is to go to the nations for God’s glory. Heather has a missions calling as well.

Leah doesn’t want to travel to as many places as we do, but she does want to go to Ireland and Australia. She was able to quickly use the new luggage when she went on a road trip with Ray for his pastor’s ordination ceremony in Texas under River’s Edge Church’s covering and to visit her mimi, Judy (Ray’s mom), and Ray’s stepdad Leonard for a couple of days.

Leah’s graduation luggage

But the biggest thing Leah has been doing since graduating is learning how to play the violin!

Here’s how it started

You probably think it was my or Ray’s idea. Nope. It was Leah’s.

Actually, I believe it was God’s. I believe He put this desire into her heart to learn to play an instrument.

I believe Leah has dormant gifts that she hasn’t even begun to tap into yet, and God is beginning to draw them out Himself.

To my surprise, for Christmas Leah asked for either an electrical violin or keyboard for her gift.

She said she wanted to learn to play the violin and the piano.  Like Mary, I treasured and pondered these things in my heart. (Luke 2:9)

Leah researched violins and pianos, read all the reviews on Amazon and YouTube, and sent me links for the top 3 she wanted the most.

She was inspired to play the electric violin by the incredibly gifted Lindsey Stirling, who plays classical music with a modern hip-hop/pop twist. I LOVE Lindsey’s video Crystallize! She is flat out anointed to play the violin. I get chill bumps every time I watch it.

We ordered Leah a violin for Christmas, but she didn’t know if we’d bought her the keyboard or the violin. She thought it was the keyboard, from the shape of her polka-dot-wrapping-paper box, so it was a surprise. She had the biggest smile on her face when she opened it.

Leah opening her Christmas 2012 gift from Ray and me

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

As soon as Leah told me she wanted a violin, I immediately began praying for the right instructor. We had never covered music in homeschooling, other than a general overview study of the classical musicians like Beethoven and Mozart. I don’t know how to play any instrument or read music, and I knew we’d need to find someone – and I wanted someone GOOD.

I also asked God if it were possible, to help us find a Christian instructor.

I was having Mexican lunch with my friend Diane Bishop one day, and at the end of the conversation, I asked Diane if she happened to know of anyone who taught violin lessons.  She did! Years ago, her stepdaughter Hannah had taken lessons from a public school teacher, Emily.

I messaged Hannah on Facebook to ask her if she knew Emily’s number, then called Emily and she called back promptly. Emily has been teaching students for 15 years. (She doesn’t look old enough to have done that! She’s beautiful and so sweet, and she looks like a young adult herself!) She not only teaches lessons, but plays very well herself. Leah began her lessons right away.

Leah’s violin instructor Emily and Leah

She’s been taking the lessons for about a month and really likes it. Emily is teaching her music theory as well (how to read notes). Leah has to practice every day. It sounds like beautiful music to me!

Leah still isn’t sure what she wants to do career- or ministry-wise with her life. Ray says we shouldn’t push her, but has exhorted her that she needs to start setting other goals for her life. She will either have to go to college, vocational training school, or work eventually. I’m also encouraging her to create a bucket list – making a list of all the things she’d love to do throughout her life.

We are talking to her about signing up for at least one art class at a community college. She is an amazingly gifted artist.

But I’m so proud of her for beginning violin lessons and so excited she’s learning to play!

What is something you or your child has always wanted to do? Don’t wait! God wants you to use the gifts that are inside of you for His glory.

***These are affiliate links. I only share about products or services I’ve used myself or highly recommend. You can purchase the item without my affiliate link, but I’d appreciate it so much if you would use my affiliate link! Thank you!

Merida with bow and arrow, Brave movie

“If you had a chance to change your fate, would you?” – Merida, Brave movie

Yesterday I was wracking my brain, trying to think of something FUN that Leah and I could do for a field trip for her last homeschool day before she graduates tonight. I had googled Missouri, Kansas, homeschool field trips, events, you name it. We’ve been to so many places in Kansas City NUMEROUS times, such as the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, the Kansas City Zoo, Science City, Union Station, Powell Gardens, etc.

What could we do that was different and which would make Leah smile big and have a sweet good memory of our last day homeschooling? I wanted to end homeschooling on a great note. Then the idea came to me: go to the animated Brave movie and then eat lunch out afterward!

It was God-inspired.

Excellent movie! I highly recommend it. And Leah really liked it. The story is of a girl with flowing red hair on the thresh of womanhood named Merida, who is a Scottish princess and an aspiring, skilled archer. She protests against the expectations of royalty’s tradition (marrying a suitable lord after a sports competition for her hand),

Merida makes a reckless, foolish choice to try to change her mother the queen (who has been training and preparing her for years to be a “proper” princess and for marriage), and her rash decision results in chaos and near destruction of the kingdom.

I loved red-haired, high-spirited Merida, her big black horse, the beautiful scenery in Scotland, the Scottish music, the spiritual symbollism of archery (prayer, intercession, prophecy), the humor, and the realistic story of a relationship between a girl and her mother. The movie is about the importance of family and of a young woman creating her own destiny, which I felt was an appropriate theme for Leah’s graduation tonight.

Leah is a lot like Merida – strong-willed, independent, passionate. I laughed at the frown on Merida’s face when her mother would say things like, “A lady does not place her weapon on the table” and “Princesses don’t bite into their apples.” Despite my attempts at “training” Leah, she often insists on her way about doing things, choosing a new path.

When the queen helped Merida to dress for the special occasion of the suitors’ games, Merida felt restricted in her tight dress and headdress and she gasped, “I can’t breathe!”  “You look perfect!” the queen said. Seeing her daughter’s discomfort and misery in the dress, she admonished as she left the room, ‘Just remember to smile.”

Tears sprang to my eyes several times during the movie as I recognized Leah and myself in the daughter and the mother characters, as Merida ran her black horse (reminding me of Leah’s horseback riding and horse show winner days), and as she used her gift – her bow and arrow against an enraged black bear (the ancient prince Mor’du).

As I watched Leah smiling at times through the movie, I prayed a prayer of thanks to God for leading us to this movie to close out her homeschool years. I also felt it was prophetic for her life – the bow and arrows, the horse, the blazing of her own trail.

Ride like the wind, Leah. Touch the sky. And remember to smile.

Some say our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one’s destiny intertwines with many others. It’s the one thing we search for, or fight to change. Some never find it. But there are some who are led. – Brave movie (Pixar)

Video of Touch the Sky (Julie Fowlis)

Leah by fountains at Crown Center, KC

Tonight is our youngest daughter Leah’s high school (homeschool) graduation. I haven’t been blogging lately because I’ve been too busy living life. The last two weeks I’ve been running around like crazy, getting things ready for Leah’s homeschool graduation, which I am so dreading! Everything is almost done now. I’ve missed you, though!

I’m still crying a lot. Yes, STILL. Every time I see school supplies. Yesterday Leah and I went on our last homeschooling week‘s field trip (do you feel my agony from writing that?)  to eat at Fritz’s Restaurant where they deliver your cheeseburgers and fries by a little whistling train and to explore Crown Center in Kansas City.

Leah’s less-than-enthusiastic response to Fritz’s was typical teen disdain: “This is for BABIES, mom!” I wanted to say, ‘You ARE my baby!” but I knew that would go over like a lead balloon and I’d get the rolled eyes, which she has down to an art.  Besides, I liked the little train!

After we ate, we left (without the train engineer paper hat) to walk around Crown Center. When I saw the Crayola Store, I became teary-eyed again. I know, grow up, right?

That’s the problem. Growing up happens way too fast. Why don’t we ever notice while it’s happening?

For so long I’ve had the identity of “homeschool mom”…homeschooling for over 15 years now. How do I suddenly let it go? Or at least it seems sudden.

Yes, I have done other things in life. For the  last 1 1/2 years. I started an online business for my Speaking and Book Writing. (I’ve also been an editor and personal assistant to the CEO of a national organization, a pizza maker making an average of 30 to 60 pizzas on Friday and Saturday nights, a flight attendant, an executive secretary doing transcription/word processing for 7 executives, a waitress many times, a newspaper featured news/police beat reporter, and a J.C. Penny catalog clerk.)

It’s not like I’m an empty-shell person, a non-person, that I’ve stopped existing just because I had children or started homeschooling our kids. I am my own worst enemy my own person, not just wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend.

God wants us to use our gifts for His glory. He doesn’t want us wives and moms to have totally child-centered homes, for our identities to be completely wrapped up in our kids until they leave home. It’s not healthy for our children, our marriages, or ourselves as women.

BUT I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!

When I shared my feelings with some friends this week, they joked that I could find other children to homeschool. Yes, just go to the mall and ask some random child and her mother if they mind if I take her home and can begin to homeschool her.

One friend of mine admitted she had struggled a lot, too, when homeschooling ended: “Yes, I grieved over leaving homeschooling. I STILL miss it and it’s been several years!! God started planting the seed of leaving it a couple years earlier cause He knew I would have trouble leaving it, too.”

Another friend, who’s been homeschooling for 14 years and still has a 3-year-old whom she intends to homeschool until high school graduation, had a different view about the final homeschool year: “Let’s see, I’ll be 60 years old when I’m done. YEP, I will DEFINITELY be ready to stop by then!”

Seriously, this ache inside me is BIG. What’s a girl to do when she can’t homeschool any more? I LOVE homeschooling. What am I gonna’ do now?

Here’s just a few things I have on my homeschooling-is-forever-over list:

• Rise up and not regret. Remember and cherish the happy, fun times. Be thankful for the privilege of homeschooling.

• Keep dreaming big for me, Ray, our kids, and grandkids. Good things are around the corner!

• Have fun and laugh a lot.

• Strive to please God (not man) in all I do, say, and think!

•  Start letting go and watch Leah learn to soar on her own.

• Lather, rinse, repeat.

• Try to make myself believe this list.

As my sister Maria and our daughter Heather told me, it’s not like Leah will stop learning new things just because she’s graduating or we can’t still do fun things. We can still go on fun field trips.

Maybe this is even a brand-new, even funner chapter in our lives.

Just putting the books down and going on a road trip (letting Leah drive, now that she has her driver’s license!)….until the day she drives away, all on her own.

Now I’ve got tears again… 

“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” ~ Coco Chanel

Do you have children whom you have homeschooled who graduated or will you be facing it soon? Was/is it hard?

Have you ever gone through a transition time like this where your identity was changing? Please leave your comments below.

Graduation is around the corner for many public school and private school students. Originally I was planning to graduate Leah in May or June this year, but after praying and thinking about things lately and talking with Ray, we are postponing her graduation until later this summer.

Of course, Leah isn’t exactly thrilled about this – she doesn’t want to graduate “later” than her public school and private school friends – but I can’t in good conscience graduate her from high school if Ray and I believe she isn’t ready yet. There are some subjects/topics/skills we want her to truly master first before letting her spread her wings to fly and soar. This means college will be postponed, if she decides to attend (she doesn’t know yet if she wants to go. We are praying for God to show her what to do.)

Just a few of the “must master” requirements before Leah graduates are:

• Passing her drivers’ test and getting her driver’s license (I am hoping this will happen within the next 2 weeks! We have been practicing more this week on parallel parking and right turns!)
• Reading more classics in literature, such as Dickens, Jane Austen, and Alexandre Dumos
• More knowledge and understanding of major wars in U.S. History
• More proficiency in math skills to prepare for the SAT
• More cooking/baking skills
• Memorizing Psalm 23, Psalm 91, and the Love chapter
• Knowing the names of the apostles and women who followed Jesus
• Knowing some of Jesus’ parables
• Having a “life verse” and memorizing it
• Knowing how to fill out a job application and interview well
• Knowing how to change the oil in the car
• Knowing how to change a tire on the car
• Wilderness/Survival Skills.

I made a master checklist, and am checking these off as she demonstrates mastery of them. (Some she already has mastered.) These are a few of the ones that we believe are the most important (other than her relationship with God and improved social skills. Forbes says that outstanding social skills can help with climbing the corporate ladder with great speed.

We want to make sure she is properly prepared to be on her own once she leaves home. Above all, we want her to have a passionate, sincere faith in Jesus Christ, obeying God and doing what He has called her to do and to be. We also want her to be healthy, happy, and successful in whatever she chooses to do.

“Success” is interpreted in different ways by people. From the blog The Life Without School Community, which I just found tonight by my sometimes-friend Google, here’s a list of questions for you and me to ponder as homeschooling parents:

• What is success?
• What do children need in order to feel successful?
• What do children need in order to be successful?
• Is success a product or a journey? or both?
• How does one measure success?
• Can one measure success for another?
• What does one need to be successful in our society and how does one attain that success?
• How does one define a successful education and a successful “student?”
• Is a “good education” necessary for one to be successful?

What would you consider to be “success” for your homeschooled child after she or he reaches adulthood? What would that look like? Please share your comments below.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:2, NASB

baby ducks

Recently I resigned from a work-at-home position as a Blog Editor (editing articles, posting blogs on a WordPress site) and personal assistant, that I had been doing for 9 months, to focus more on Leah’s homeschooling. This is her last year of homeschooling; she will graduate later this summer. I want us to go on fun field trips and short road trips to make sweet good memories this last year.

So this past Friday, Ray, Leah and I had a whole day of fun together.

I want a duck!

First, we went to the Tractor Supply store to look at the baby ducks and chicks. Our daughter Heather had been there first with her kids and told me about them. I LOVE ducks and have always wanted one as a pet.

Ray teases me that I just want to be Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, author of the wonderful book Cross Creek, who had ducks on her farm.

Maybe that’s part of it (she was a successful writer, even winning the Pulitzer Prize for her book The Yearling, so emulating her is a good thing), but I also just like ducks. They are SO cute! I love to watch them swim, walk, and hear them quack.

Here are Ray and Leah looking at the baby chicks. Leah and I both thought that the ducks were cuter.

Leah and Ray looking at baby chicks

Ray looked at my smiling, animated face as I took pictures and asked, “Beth, do you want a duck?” They were only $4.99 and if I had said yes, he would have bought me one ~ even several. We live in a rental house and our landlord won’t allow us to have pets, so I had to say no.

“Where would we keep it anyway?” I asked. “We could keep it in the tub right now, but eventually it’s going to get big and outgrow the tub. It would need a pond or a lake to be happy.”

Yet it was tempting…one day I hope to have some ducks!

Next we went to Meadowmere Park in Grandview, MO, that has almost 53 acres and includes an “Enchanted Forest” theme play land for children.

The park was nothing specatcular, but it had a nice walking trail which leads to Longview Lake. The area was scenic and peaceful with tall oak trees, cherry blossom trees, and a winding river.

Ray and Leah walked ahead of me as I snapped pictures. I loved this picture of them walking together on the trail:

Leah and Ray on walking trail

And may the odds be ever in your favor! The Hunger Games

We then drove to Town Center Theatre in Leawood, Kansas, to watch The Hunger Games movie. The Hunger Games is a  young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins, published in September 2008. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in  a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem, where the countries of North American once existed. (Resource: Wikipedia)

The Capitol, which is a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl, ages 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol, are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive. (Resource: Wikipedia)

Ray has read all three of the books in the Trilogy (the other books being Catching Fire and Mockingjay), but Leah and I had not. He couldn’t wait to see the movie. I surprised him by buying tickets online, and then when Heather was at our house telling him she was going to see it, he said, “Yeah, I really want to see it!”

Heather, who knew I’d bought the tickets, smiled at me and I looked at Ray, grinning, and said, ‘You are!”  He then raised an eyebrow and asked, “I am? What do you mean?” Then I told him I’d purchased three tickets for him, me and Leah for Friday afternoon ~ which made him happy.

The movie is awesome, but does have some scenes of violence (children being killed), which should be considered for younger children or preteens or teens who are sensitive to violent scenes. Ray and Leah both asked me why I wanted to see this movie, since I don’t normally watch anything violent.

Why I loved The Hunger Games movie

The reason why I wanted to see it is because I believe it is symbollic of warriors ~ which we are as believers in Christ. (I wrote a book on women and spiritual warfare which you can buy here.) The main character Katniss, or Kat as she is nicknamed, is skilled with a bow and an arrow, from being forced to hunt for food in the forest for herself and her family to be able to eat.

In Medieval times, when bows and arrows were necessary for warfare, the training required by an archer to use bows and arrows was extremely time consuming. It was necessary for them to become expert marksmen. In Kat’s case, she would need and use these excellent skills to be able to survive. Kat also showed great courage, volunteering as tribute, to replace her younger sister Primrose, who was chosen for the annual Hunger Games.

I felt that Kat represented what God has called me to do – to have courage and to war on my knees in prayer, and to teach my children and grandchildren to do the same. I want prayer to be my legacy.

Oh, the food!

We all loved the movie. Afterward, we went to Mr. Gyros restaurant, where we ate delicious Mediterranean food: chicken kabobs, tzatkiki sauce, pita bread and hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and baklava – a heavenly dessert.

Chicken kabobs, stuffed grape leaves, tzatkiki sauce

baklava

It was delicious and the perfect way to end our day! What a fun, relaxing time.

What do you and your family do for fun? Please share in the comments section below.

Leah at Harmony Mission (MO), a mission to help Osage Indians

When Leah and I went  on a field trip to the Kemper Contemporary Art Museum in Kansas City, we stopped by the little gift shop before we left to browse. They had pottery, art books, carved statues, and other beautiful things.

Leah and I were looking at the jewelry, when she noticed one with blue stones on top that she admired. I offered to buy it for her and she said no (it was $25, one of the lower priced items).

The clerk raised her eyebrow, and brought out similar rings in different stone colors to see if she liked those better, but Leah liked the first one best. She still said no, though, when I asked if she wanted it again. I asked her several times before we left, just to make sure.

“How did you get one who turned out like that?” the clerk asked me, impressed. “Usually, it’s the other way around, with the teen begging for something and the parent saying no.” I just smiled in response, pondering these things like Mary pondered things in her heart.

Ever since she was a little girl, Leah has never wanted to buy a lot of things. Sometimes I’ve wondered why – is it a self-esteem issue? Does she feel like somehow she doesn’t “deserve” something new, pretty, or that she really wants? But when I’ve prayed about it, I’ve felt like God has shown me that Leah is set apart, and is not a “worldly,” materialistic person like so many people are today- and that He purposely created her that way.

Leah lives simply.  She doesn’t require a lot of material things to be happy. She just wants the love of her parents, family and friends; basic shelter, clothing and food; and a few favorite tech gadgets – her Ipod with her music,  her computer, and her cell phone when she leaves the house.

For entertainment, she loves drawing on her graphic art tablet. She enjoys nature walks and loves animals. Her personality is phlegmatic-melancholy, usually even-keeled and well-balanced.

Leah is not a person of extremes. She doesn’t feel driven to become President of the U.S., conquer the world hunger problem – or to urgently spend her birthday money all in one hour when she hits the jackpot with checks from relatives each year. Instead she saves the money until she sees something she needs or wants.

Unlike most girls her age, she doesn’t live for going shopping for new clothes, shoes, and purses all the time. She’d rather pop some popcorn and sit down to watch a sci-fi movie with Ray.

When she does shop, she doesn’t want to go for hours. She just wants to buy the essentials – no name brand clothing, no bold logos, no bright colors, no shiny pictures on them. Just practical, comfortable clothing that gets the job done – to stay warm or cool!

You won’t find her wearing a bright red Angry Bird or a Gap tshirt…no Kohl’s Candied Ruched Party Dress. Maybe her dress resistance is because when she was a baby, I had her closet full of beautiful, frilly dresses on baby hangers, that I would take great delight in choosing from to dress her in each day – and now she is protesting!

Seriously, when the clerk asked me this question, I realized I can’t take credit for this wonderful trait in Leah – a child who doesn’t want us to constantly spend money on her (unlike her older sisters, who were that way as teens!).  It’s just a God thing, the way God made Leah.

I’ve seen teens in other families who continually drain their parents’ bank account, acting like spoiled rotten brats, whose parents “owe” them the latest cell phone, Ipad, Jessica Simpson shoes, or new cars.

Sure, Leah enjoys it when we buy her things, and she is thankful for them, but she doesn’t demand them, whine for them, or gripe when we don’t.

Leah - field trip with Ray

Because she is content. What a beautiful place to be.

What about you? Are you content?

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4: 11-13, NLT

This year has been so busy that I haven’t posted much here, and I apologize. Too busy. I’ve had to slow down and pull back, praying and asking God what to do.

I just resigned this week from a position as blog editor that I’ve had since June of last year, editing articles and blogs and posting them on a WordPress website, because my schedule is too full and I wanted to spend more time with Leah in the next several months before she graduates from our homeschool.

I don’t want to live with the regret that I was “too busy” during Leah’s last year of homeschooling! For too many years, I was just too busy and I’ve had to repent to God for that.

Now I’m planning fun field trips and short road trips with Leah to make good, sweet memories this final year. The thought of her graduation brings tears to my eyes. I want to encourage and exhort you again to make sure that you are spending sufficient time with your child. Live a life of no regrets.

One website I recommend to you which focuses on interest-led learning, and includes great ideas for field trips and traveling, is my friend Christina Pilkington. While our homeschool method hasn’t been “unschooling” like hers, I believe Christina has some wonderful, creative ideas to implement in your homeschool.

Another homeschooling mom I love and who is one of my dearest friends is Kimberly Ehlers. Kimberly’s website is not about homeschooling per se, but she does share some tips if you homeschool and your child has serious or chronic illness. Kim also encourages you to have that close relationship with your child, putting God and family above anything else. (While there, be sure to check out Kimberly’s wonderful products! You will love them!)

You will also love my friend Susan Evan’s blog about hands-on learning in your homeschool.

Be sure to make room for FUN in your homeschool day.

*******
Are you new here? Be sure to sign up for my mailing list and receive a FREE copy of my ebook on our homeschool journey, The Call of Wisdom: Teaching Your Children at Home.

This week has been fun with a couple of field trips with Leah to the Arabia Steamboat Museum and the Kemper Contemporary Art Museum, both located in Kansas City.

The Arabia was a steamboat which hit an oak tree snag in the Missouri River on September 5, 1856, and sank into the mud. Years later, it was rediscovered by a team of researchers and thousands of items were recovered intact and are now displayed in the museum. The colored glass bottles were the most beautiful items, and I loved the ink wells and writing pens!

At the Kemper Museum, we saw several exhibits which made you wonder: “Why do they call this art?”

For example, I told Leah, who is an incredible artist (all mother’s prejudice aside), that she could EASILY paint this and make loads of money like the artist who painted this one probably did.

A red dot – can you BELIEVE it?

There was also this one, a painting of a man’s head, a butterfly, and a chicken inside of an aquarium filled with water.

I teased Leah that she could also try cutting out colored construction paper shapes and throwing them on a wall, like in this exhibit below. It is called Young Girl Dreaming. I took a pic of it to remind Leah to always keep dreaming – God wants to make her dreams – and yours! – come true!

Leah could also attempt something a little more challenging, such as painting a foreign language and numbers all over the body of a woman, like this one below. Interesting.

The woman’s feet were also intriguing. It looked as if they were covered in mud and blood:

Another painting which was incredible was this oil painting of a woman, which looked more like a photograph. I was amazed at the details to the woman’s mouth, teeth, nose, eyes, eyebrows, ears, and fingers. She looks as if she is made of water. I have the utmost respect for an artist with this kind of talent.

This oil painting of an African American man looked SO real, especially his eyes. A little disconcerting, it felt like he was staring straight at you. Notice the details of his hair, facial features, the clouds in the sky behind him.

Leah’s favorite was of a tree with intense blue colors. The picture doesn’t do it justice – the blue color was SO vibrant. It was beautiful, heavenly.

Of course, my favorite was of a writer. The picture also has my favorite type of dog in it, a white husky, and in the forefront you can see pottery – a blue and white ceramic vase.

Notice how intently the woman is writing, despite everything around her! Love it!

Here Leah is staring at an art exhibit across the room. I think it was the picture of the dog (she loves animals).

The dog picture is just a photograph of a labrador in a dark room. It looks like he’s balancing a blue object on his nose, but it’s just the perspective. This one was called “Parallelogram.” I wonder how much this one brought in for the artist? :O

Really, I am so intrigued by art, because the best I can do drawing is stick figures. I often send long letters to my sister Maria in Georgia, with cartoons of stick figures. (We are both easily entertained.) I’m also fascinated by photography, especially black and white pictures like this one below, of a woman in a hat and coat on the street by a jalopy:

This black and white picture below was also well-done, with a picture of the spray of water in slow motion, hiding the woman’s face. This piece was entitled, “Spit.”

One of the places on my bucket list to visit is New York. A friend of mine who lived in New York laughed when I told her I wanted to go to New York just to see the tall skyscrapers, shop, and buy a hot dog and big pretzel from one of those street vendor carts. Just sayin’! (I also have a HUGE, ridiculous desire to ride a street car in San Francisco!) Here is a beautiful pic of the streets of New York, the city lit up at night in the rain.

For those who desire more color, here’s something very PINK for you:

You can see a man and some cows in this pink picture. The man is on the lower, left-hand side right by the blue water and the cows are in the upper, right-hand corner.

Maybe you are more into birds. This exhibit by Petah Coyne, which is Untitled, uses taxidermy peacocks and taxidermy pheasants. The black “balls” you see on the floor are made of ropes. Other ingredients were: black sand from pig iron casting, Acrylex 234, black paint, cement, chicken wire fencing, wood, gravel, sisal, staging rope, cotton rope, insulated foam sealant, pipe, epoxy, threaded rod, wire, screws, jaw-to-jaw swivels. Sounds like a lot of work for an exhibit!

Our daughter Eden has her own cupcake business, so I thought she’d enjoy this cute, creative painting:

I took this picture below for my mother-in-law, Judy, who loves Elvis.

After we finished touring the museum, we went into the cafe where there was an exhibit of a horse, made from driftwood or tree branches…unique!

One thing I loved about this museum was the word paintings on the walls with creative slogans. This one was my favorite, and the one I want to leave you with today.

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted. I apologize – just the busyness of homeschooling, cleaning the house, groceries, a new job over the summer editing articles and posting them on the website for the CEO of an organization – an opportunity which fell into my lap, unsolicited by me, in June this year (and for which I’m thankful!).

But this is Leah’s last year of homeschooling (unless we decide to teach her college-level courses, too, which is a possibility), and I want to be sure to keep her homeschooling as my priority and not miss out on any part of her life. She has grown up so fast. In fact, when Heather took her senior pictures recently and emailed them to me, I cried. How could she already be a senior? Where have the years gone? Don’t let them pass you by!

Our daughter Heather did so good taking Leah’s senior pics (she had a beautiful model to work with!) that it’s hard choosing just one. Here are just a few samples of the pics. Which is your favorite? Please leave your comments below.

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill

Leah - Louisburg cider mill - by barn

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community by the "L"

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill - by pumpkins

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - on rock

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - by roses

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill - by tree

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - smelling roses

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill - leaves

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill - trees

Leah - Loch Lloyd Community - rock

Leah - Louisburg Cider Mill- closeup

Some homeschoolers “school” all year round, some parents closely follow the public school’s schedule and take a break during the summer months, and other homeschoolers take a break every few months – whenever they want.

We usually begin our homeschool in August or September, and then take breaks during holidays or whenever we’d like as a family. If we feel like going on a field trip somewhere fun, like Savanahland or Union Station in Kansas City like Leah and I did earlier this year, we do!

We will start homeschooling again next week – this time for her senior year of high school! Thinking about that really freaks me out! How did she get this age so fast?

School supplies

Tonight we bought school supplies. There is something about buying school supplies that still excites ME…the promise of a brand new beginning and a learning adventure!

I love the brightly-colored, polka-dot binders, the smell of new crayons, no. 2 pencils freshly sharpened, new black Sharpie pens that write so crisply across a clean, white page, and especially new books to read! I’m not so sure that Leah shares my excitement about school supplies; she was more interested tonight in buying a new purse, wallet, or sunglasses.

Today I received a homeschooling ezine and one of the articles it contained was so amusing,The Homeschooler’s Back to School List. You can read it by clicking here.

In this article, I especially loved these ideas: the bags of chocolate M & M’s just for mom on those days when using M & M’s as motivators don’t work, a copy of the latest homeschool convention on audio including the workshop, Getting It All Accomplished and Keeping Your Sanity, and the spa gift certificates for mom for those hectic days when mom is ready to pull out her hair and scream, “I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!”

Yes, we do have those long, you’re-getting-on-my-last nerve days as homeschool moms. Days when we say to our husband or sister,”Ok, tell me again, why exactly am I doing this? I could be at Starbucks with a friend!” or “Have I completely ruined my child’s life by homeschooling her (him)?”

But dear friend, it passes so quickly…oh, so quickly! Be sure to slow down this year. Take a pause – Selah, which is an expression in the Bible that occurs 71 times in the Psalms and 3 times in the book of Habakkuk. Its meaning and purpose was obscure, but it might have been a musical notation signifying the end of a phrase, or meant a dramatic pause.

When things are becoming hectic or overwhelming this year, think Selah. Slow down. Breathe. Remember this too shall pass – in the blink of an eye. Savor the moment, yes even those moments when your child is balking at math problems or at having to write an essay, or YOU as the teacher are balking at the math.

Hold the moments so close in your heart, because this moment won’t pass your way again. Your child will grow up and you’ll face an empty nest; homeschooling will come to an end one day. Enjoy your child this year; have lots of fun!

Family Pic of our 3 beautiful daughters and 2 of our grandkids

From left to right: our middle daughter Eden (now living on her own – her son Jacob isn’t in this pic), Kyle’s and our oldest daughter Heather’s girls Annabelle & Violet, our oldest daughter Heather (married, on her own, with the 2 girls), and our youngest daughter Leah, who’s still living at home, homeschooling her senior year this year.