Random...

Happenings around here.... 

Doing house chores, learning how to write, and crafting with the girls..

 

Reading a great book that was given to me ... with her notes in it too!

Celebrating Uncle T's birthday at Disneyland!

Daddy wins a mini-surfing contest! The girls were such great cheerleaders!

Loving her big sister's hand-me-down dress. 

Celebrating a friend's birthday at the dry bar (hair styling salon)!
Such precious time with these girls that I cherish!

Many Benefits...

It's typical for Big Sister to fall asleep on the sofa during her quiet time... 

But as I was looking at her sleeping peacefully and all snuggled up with her blanket.. 

I can't help but to be thankful... for one of the many benefits and blessings of homeschooling...

that she can relax and take naps when her body needs it. :)

Mini Field Trip

We completed our alphabet series so we went on a mini field trip today.. 

They are waiting patiently to get on the orange balloon...

Littlest sister was brave on the balloon, and brave enough to get onto the carousel.. 

but not yet brave enough to sit on her own horse.. 

But that's okay, because I got to sit and snuggle with her while her big sisters had their fun! ;)

Painting

I love painting with these girls.. 

It is so relaxing now (unlike before)... 

They love it.. and can sit and paint for a while..

I plan on collecting a lot of colors and having more painting sessions. :)

Around Here...

She is two, high energy and makes us laugh! 

Fall is here! And the girls and I made these flowers from brown paper bags. 

She's in preschool..but doing Kindergarten work with her big sis!

The "study room"...for now..

The girls exploring the wetlands...

She loves the outdoors!

Our little Pumpkin..next to the Mickey Mouse pumpkin!

Loves doing puzzles!

Neighborhood nature reserve. 

First Day of Homeschool

Today is the first day of homeschool...and this is just the devotional I needed to read to start the day off!

(from Homeword Daily Devotional- September 17)

Life in the Fast Lane  By Jim Burns The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

Far too many of us live in what some people call "crisis mode living." This lifestyle is when you spend most every waking moment of almost every day trying to figure how to keep all your plates spinning and how to juggle all the balls in the air. In crisis mode you keep running, even on empty; faster and faster, project to project; deadline to deadline, school, jobs, friends, church, lessons, homework; and it just gets faster and faster. Usually people who live this kind of lifestyle eventually crash. Their plates fall, and they have to pick up their lives in pieces. I keep these important words close to my heart. There is a lot of wisdom and prevention in them: Slow me down, Lord. Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind. Steady my hurried pace with a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, amid the confusion of the day, the calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music of the singing streams that live in my memory. Teach me the art of taking minute vacations - of slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to smile at a child, to read a few lines from a good book. Slow me down, Lord, and inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil of life's enduring values, that I may grow toward my greater destiny. Remind me each day that the race is not always to the swift; that there is more to life than increasing its speed. Let me look upward to the towering oak and know that it grew great and strong because it grew slowly and well.

Once Again!

One of my dearest friends came to visit California from Tennessee this month...to visit her mother-in-law who is fighting pancreatic cancer.  I know it was a really challenging trip for her...emotionally, physically, mentally...but we were sure glad that we had a few opportunities to spend time with her and her two boys!! 

Littlest sister was blessed because her little guy was here last year on her birthday.. and this year too! 

This was the first time we got to meet her new boy! And he's already so big!!