Coming Full Circle

Not sure where to start..so much time has passed and so many things have happened since the last time I posted.  Let's start with the easy stuff...the kids survived their second year of homeschool and we are slowly starting our third year.  Sami is in 5th grade (unbelievable) and Matthew is in in 2nd.  Both kids have kept me busy with their little social calendars!  Sami is doing gymnastics, 4-H, piano lessons, homeschool choir, church choir, and AWANA.  Matthew is doing 4-H, homeschool choir, church choir, AWANA, and soccer/baseball (depending on the season).  I have loved seeing each of them find their talents and what they love to do...not much better than seeing that joy!  The exciting news of the summer is that we are moving to Exeter.  We should be in the house within 2 weeks and we cannot wait!  It is the perfect house for our family and still accommodates the business.  Pictures will follow once we are in and settled a little!  We have all been preoccupied with working out the details these days.  I will be glad when the move is behind us...I never want to see another box!

But on to the main reason of this post...actually it is the reason I started this blog to begin with over 5 years ago.  In 2008, Matthew had us all a little preoccupied but it wasn't with fun stuff like a new house.  At that time, Matthew had a mass on his back that they thought was sarcoma.  He had surgery up at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and it was found to be a vascular malformation.  He was followed by the neuro team there for a couple of years and eventually discharged from their care.  The next couple of years were pretty uneventful.  He was doing great and it seemed all of his health concerns were behind us.  That is until last summer when Matthew began complaining of headaches. After several months and several doctors, a brain MRI was ordered.  In December 2013, Matthew had a MRI that showed a cavernoma on the right side of his brain.  After much debate, frustration, even switching doctors, we were given a referral back up to Lucile Packard.  By mid January, he was seen by the neurologist and neurosurgeon.  Both doctors believed Matthew had migraines and that the brain cavernoma was not related to his symptoms.  He was put on medication and we tried to figure out what was triggering these headaches.  As time went on, his symptoms got worse and new ones appeared.  The headaches were 4-5 times per week and he was waking up at night vomiting.  Then came the scary ones...he would complain that he couldn't feel his arms or legs, he was having complaints of vision changes where things didn't look right (which we now know are actually focal seizures).  In February 2013, Matthew had another MRI.  This MRI showed a second cavernoma in a different part of the brain.  At that time, this neurologist still wasn't convinced that his symptoms all went together.  She felt he had migraines and possibly a genetic condition that accounted for the cavernomas.  From here, Matthew was seen by a slew of doctors (geneticist, ophthalmologist, gastroenterologist, radiologist, a second neurologist...you name it, we saw it) and a slew of tests (abdominal MRI, fructose testing, lactose testing, EEG, blood work).  Finally, just this month, we found a doctor that listens and has a possible answer.  They believe that Matthew has the genetic/familial form of a condition called Cerebral Cavernous Malformations.  Here is a link that has tons of information:  Angioma Alliance

At this point, we are working on finding a medication that controls his headaches and seizures with minimal side effects, and fighting insurance to approve genetic testing.  His next MRI is October 16th and we will meet with the neurosurgeon the following day.  As of now, there is no true treatment for this disease.  All we can do is control the symptoms with medication.  The next option would be brain surgery if/when his seizures can no longer be controlled or he has a large bleed/stroke.  Sitting back and waiting for a catastrophe is just not how we roll folks!  Cory and I are getting involved with the Angioma Alliance (see above link) to fight for research, clinical trials, and treatment..more about that another time.  But for now, if you could please pray for my lil' man.  Pray for relief of headaches, fewer side effects and ultimately healing!  God is good, all the time-we are holding onto the promises our Lord has made and the knowledge that He is sovereign in ALL things! 

Homeschool, Round 2

On one hand I can't believe the summer has flown by..on the other hand, I'm so excited to be back in our routine!  This summer has been jammed full with play dates, swimming, bowling, family camp, movies and fun.  But the predictability of our school routine has been warmly welcomed by all!  Here are our 2012-2013 Curriculum choices:

SAMI (4th grade):
~ My Father's World  Exploring Countries and Cultures.  This curriculum includes history, geography, science and art.
~Singapore Math
~Bible will be daily devotions and worship, memory verses from AWANA
~Rod & Staff Grammar
~Handwriting by A Reason For Handwriting
~Building Spelling Skills by Christian Libety Press
~Typing Instructor
~Online Spanish by Speekee

MATTHEW (1st grade):
~My Father's World First Grade Curriculum.  This contains phonics, handwriting, history, science and art.
~Singapore Math
~Bible with daily devotions, worship and AWANA
~Online Spanish by Speekee

I'm still working on getting a schedule that allows for enough individual time, but we're getting there.  We are already learning so much...ecosystems, map reading, geometry. ant farms, worm habitat - lions and tigers and bears..oh my!  It's going to be a wild ride people!

End of the Year Wrap Up

 The horse pictures I tried to upload on the last post...

 Easter

 Cal Ripken TBall-Go Mudville!

 My sweet niece-Eleanor

 AWANA Awards

 CHEVA Homeschool Convention-Sami won 1st place in her age group for her horse study

 CHEVA Choir

Matthew won 2nd place in his age group for his horse study

These last few months have been crazy busy in every way possible!  Easter, T Ball, AWANA Awards, CHEVA Homeschool Showcase, choir performances, my beautiful niece was born, vacation, on and on.  To top it off we have finished our first year homeschooling!  Whew..we survived!!!  It went better than expected in some ways and worse than expected in others.  My relationship with the kids has grown tremendously...come to find out, I didn't know them as well as I thought I did.  We have all grown closer to the Lord, learning more and more the importance of grace and forgiveness.  I think I have apologized to the kids and God more this year than ever before!  He has really shown me my weaknesses as a mother and I have learned to rely on Him daily for strength and patience!  I am looking forward to next year and all that the Lord has planned for us!

For the Love of Horses

We have been studying different types of animals for a couple of weeks. I had the kids pick one animal to study more in-depth and horse was the winner! We spent one week learning about body language, body parts, feeding..you name it, we learned it. We finished it off with a visit to a local horse ranch. The woman who runs the lessons spent 2 hours with the kids going over all the care that is involved with a horse. She finished it off with each of them getting time riding. She had the sweetest horse named Argo, the kids can't wait to go back and see him. That same weekend we were able to visit some friends who own a horse. The kids took turns riding "Baby" and we went to an english horseriding lesson. The kids have loved every minute of this lesson. Now there is only one problem with this, every couple of days I hear, "Mom, why can't we have a horse???" Ugh...
*Pictures to come whenever Blogger decides to let me load them :/

Something to Chew On...

This was an article shared by the President of our homeschool group CHEVA. It brought tears of relief and frustration all at the same time. I think any mother can relate, homeschooling or not.

Empty Cisterns and Real Refreshment

School Days

School has been interesting with the holidays but big progress has been made. Matthew is officially reading! I wasn't really expecting it to click until next year...such a smart boy! We are doing a study on animals and took a trip to the zoo with friends. Now we are specifically studying horses. This weekend the kids get to take a visit to a ranch. They are going to have a 2 hour lesson on the care of horses and how to ride. They are so excited! More pics to come...

Christmas and New Years and Valentine's...Oh My!

Where does the time go?? Christmas came and went with the blink of an eye! The "big" gift for all of us was a 4 day vacation to Disneyland. We went the end of January. The kids ran in Tinkerbell Kid Races and I did the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Topped it off with 2 days at the park and dinner at Medieval Times. Our best vacation as of yet! Now here we are at Valentine's Day already?? The kids had a great time at our homeschool group's Valentine Celebration. So much fun crammed into such a short amount of time!

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away! The stockings are hung, tree is decorated, presents are wrapped and we are enjoying this season to the fullest. The kids were able to go caroling with the CHEVA Choir in Exeter to kick off the month. Then Sami had her first choir performance with CHEVA just last week. She has loved every minute meeting new friends and learning more about music. To add to it, she recently started back up her piano lessons with a new teacher. Matthew can't wait to be able to join choir too, we just snuck him in for the caroling! This week will be full of festivities, ending with a birthday party for Jesus on Friday night with friends! We are all excited for Christmas and enjoying some quality time together. School has still been going well...I think the kids enjoyed our Thanksgiving lessons the best so far. We have just started doing a review of the 5o states and formation of the US. We have all decided that we want to take a trip to Pennsylvania for all the history to be absorbed! So here are some pics of our recent adventures!

Livin' & Learnin'

I can't believe so much time has past since my last post! Although, when I take inventory of all that has happened these past 3 months, it's easy to see why. We started school with a bang on Labor Day. In a single day we lost our dog, electricity went out on the property, called an ambulance for Sami who had a seizure, got a new dog, new dog gets skunked and in the midst of it all we DID get through our very first day of homeschool! Sami said it best, "The devil really doesn't want us to obey God and homeschool does he?!" Even 2 days later, when I was hit with a nasty stomach flu, Sami kept telling me we couldn't let the enemy win and needed to do school anyway. I love her spirit and deep love for the Lord!

About the same time, both kids started soccer season. Sami liked it, but there was no love lost when the season ended last week. She did agree to play one more year, but on the condition that she got a hair feather?! Matthew, on the other hand, ate up every minute he was on the field! He hasn't met a sport yet that he doesn't love. I'm starting to see that Sami's niche is really in music. She is blossoming in choir and just about to start back up her piano lessons. Might have a musician on our hands! The remodel on the house was done much sooner than anticipated. We were able to move into the home on October 1st. We couldn't move in quick enough!! I appreciate every square inch of this small, cozy home. I don't want to step foot in another trailer for a very long time. We are especially enjoying all the room the kids have to explore and roam. From treehouses to digging up coyote bones, these kids have no reason to be bored!

And lastly, homeschooling continues to be a huge blessing and answer to prayer for our family. I wish I had listened to the Lord's calling years ago! Sure, there are days when I want to pull my hair out. But most day, I am grateful for the peace it brings to our home. My plan was to have Matthew do PreK this year, but that little booger is smarter than he lets on! He had his first day of Kindergarten on Halloween...which he thought was very cool! I love seeing them learn and grow, but most of all I love seeing their love for the Lord grow!

Risen Son Christian Academy

Well, the countdown is on. Only 2 weeks left until we kick off our 2011-2012 school year. I can't believe it's here! For those who homeschool (or who don't), I wanted to share my curriculum choices and see what ya think!


Sami ~ 3rd Grade

We are using Adventures in My Father's World for Geography & History, Bible, Art and Science. We decided to not use the music recommended.

We will be studying US History as our core subject. We will go over history of how the country was founded and dive into each state individually. I'm thinking we will slow down and take a couple weeks on California. We have so many cool resources at our fingertips with museums and libraries.

With Bible, we will be pulling in our AWANA's lessons and memory scripture. Also adding in daily family devotionals with Leading Little Ones to God by Marian M. Schoolland.

For English/Language Lessons, we are using the recommended Primary Language Lessons. I really like the simple and straight forward format.

For Math, we are using Singapore Mathematics. This is the one I am most intimidated by...likely because it is also my least favorite subject. I have scoured the Manual and pulled together all the manipulative's. But I am afraid..very afraid!

We are adding in additional science with Apologia's Zoology 2: Swimming Creatures. I love digging into one topic all year long. It helps that all of us LOVE the sea and are intrigued by all its creatures.

Building Spelling Skills and Writing with Prayer by Christian Liberty Press will round out Sami's curriculum. I am hoping to incorporate Spanish but I want to be realistic too. With this being our first year homeschooling, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. We will just get the school year going and see how it works out.

Matthew ~ PreK

Matthew will be joining in with many of Sami's lessons. Geography/History, Bible and Science (including Apologia) will all be done together.

Then he will have Rod & Staff 4-5 year old program for more age specific lessons. I was torn on which route to go for him. He went to preschool last year at St. Paul's School. So he knows the letters, colors, cutting, pasting..all the basics. But he is just turning 5 this month and I don't know if his attention span is ready for a full Kindergarten program. I went with this one and I think it will work out...but I am still hesitant if it will bore him.

We are going to add in BOB Phonics books for reading skills and basic counting/math skills to beef up the Rod & Staff.

I have a proposed schedule made up but still haven't found a way to make it attach to my post :( Once I get it figured out, I'll add that too! So there it is...this is our plan. Let me know what you think or any tips you might have for a green newbie!

Pruning

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2

And pruning He is doing! Not only are we preparing to start our first year of homeschooling, we are also moving. All was going as planned, too good to be true - and we finally hit a snag. The home we are moving to is being remodeled and is not yet done. It actually won't be done until November 1st?! Wouldn't be too bad if we hadn't already found renters and need to be out by September 1st. Praise the Lord for wonderful neighbors, ours are saving us! They own a HUGE trailer and are graciously allowing us to use it until the home is done. The new house is on 2 acres so we will be putting the trailer on that property while we "patiently" wait. Still working on praising Him for the not so good things as well as the wonderful things. I am being stretched to fully rely on His timing and provision for our lives. So, we will embark on this next school year living in a trailer with school books in hand! Amen!

The Rumors Are True..

After lots of prayer, serious discussions, research up the kazoo...we have finally decided to answer the Lord's call and homeschool. This was laid on our hearts months ago...but we fought it tooth and nail. I had every excuse in the book, listed out all of my faults that would cause me to fail the kids, even had a few nightmares of college age children who can't read! But the Lord knew better, duh! Now, with just a little over a month before we kick off our adventure, I can honestly say I am excited. I know that we are going to encounter hurdles and meltdowns, both the kids and me! I am anxious if I picked the right curriculum or if I will be able to answer all their questions. But knowing that I am following the will of the Lord and the direction He has shown us...well, that part is just plain awesome! His wisdom, patience and endurance are the only things that will get us through this next year. We are praying that His grace would flood our lives and our home will be filled with all that is pleasing t0 Him.

What We've Been Up To

Sami & Kate ~ AWANA Award Ceremony

Matthew ~ AWANA Award Ceremony


T Ball Trophy ~ Only time we will ever say "Go Yankees"

Sami's Birthday trip to American Girl Store in LA

Best Buds ~ Sami & Amelia

Last days of school at St. Paul's ~

Sami finished 2nd grade and Matthew Preschool