My kids are goofy :)

Pictures from the past week...

Those cute faces brought in MANY customers :)

Soaking dad...

Dad preparing to fight back :)

The boys LOVE their water guns!

Don't mess with Joshua !

Loving My Little World

I am thoroughly enjoying my little corner of the world. My days are filled with school, water gun fights, swimming lessons, and loving on the ones I love.

The kids are doing great in school. Joshua loves his new math program Teaching Textbooks. Asher wrote his first paragraph this week :) Preschool is a great fit for Elliana. She loves reading stories and learning her letters. I am so glad that we made the decision to school year round.

Our home gym now contains a treadmill and a bike trainer. Which allows me to get in extra workouts without leaving my family. I have been training between 2 to 2 1/2 hours per day. It feels great!

Time to play with the kids! I will post pictures next time.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

That is the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around. I have never allowed anyone to tell me what I can and cannot do. In fact, the quickest way to get me to try something is tell me that you don't think I can. I am not sure where I picked up this mindset but it has served me well over the years. I never give up and I give everything I do; all that I have.

In high school and college I was determined to get A's, just so I could prove to myself and everyone else that I was smart. Studying was something that I enjoyed and I liked to see the results. Making the Dean's List was something that only fueled my desire. This was something that I had control over. I knew that if I studied hard, I would do well.

I have carried this mindset into my physical aspirations. If I work hard then I will perform well. Makes sense doesn't it? In the last three years I have competed in three triathlons, at least five 5K's and two 50 mile bike rides. In each event I improved in some way on my last attempt. That is one of the reasons I love to compete. I have control over my results. Or do I...

This morning I ran a 5K in 31 minutes. That is awful! My 5K time from last weekend (which I ran after a 600m swim and a 13 mile bike ride) was 30 minutes. And my last 5K time (not in a triathlon) was 27:50. So you can see that my performance this morning was horrendous. There are many reasons for my poor performance-

-I had the flu for three days prior to the race

-Due to the above situation I did not drink any water this morning

-I was overdressed for the weather

-At mile two I began to feel faint and dizzy, precursors to my tendency to faint in the heat

-I suffer from restless legs and did not sleep much last night or the night before

-It was VERY hot and humid (making me even more dehydrated)

I could go on and on and make a long list of excuses. But that is all it would be, a list of excuses. I have got to let this race fall by the wayside and learn my lessons.

Lesson #1- I do not have control over everything. I cannot control that fact that I was sick, have restless legs, and the weather was hot and humid.

Lesson #2- Remember what I do have control over and make sure I get those things done (HYDRATION, dressing appropriately)

Lesson #3- In the grand scheme of my life how I performed in any race has little to no value in God's eyes. Sure I can have a Godly mindset with those around me. But really, am I sharing the gospel during my run? Am I pursuing the plan that God has set out before me? Am I doing all that I can to bring God glory? No, I am pursuing my goals and my ambitions.

So when I have a bad race day I will endeavor to remember those three lessons, especially #3. Racing is fun, but it is not important. I have learned in my life that the truly important things in life cannot be attained by my strength, but by God's loving hand.

Little Update

Seems like there is always something going on around here!

A few days ago Asher lost his first tooth. He was very happy about this event. Mom and dad were a little teary. Aaron mentioned something about gluing them all in so they would never fall out and he would stay little forever.

Our homeschool materials arrived! The kids LOVE when the Sonlight boxes arrive at our door. They wanted to open them immediately. Unfortunately our microscope (yes, a REAL microscope! My dream come true!) is back ordered. It will arrive at the end of the month!!

The part of school all my kids love, reading.

Aaron and I have put the finishing touches on our school room. I will take pictures sometime soon!

Summer!

With summer in full swing, we are very busy around here. The kids start the day with a couple hours of school. Their favorite part is reading. Asher just finished his first chapter book :) After lunch the kids have hours to spend playing.

I competed in a triathlon last weekend. It was tough but wonderful. I placed 13th out of 29 women in my age group. This was my first time racing in this particular tri. The competition was very different from my other competitions (I saw many Ironman tattoos!). I analyzed my results comparing them with last summers competitions. I improved in the swim, bike and run! Can't get much better than that! WooHoo! Now to prepare for next months triathlon :)

Snapshot of our day...

What Newton did during school...

13 hours until..SUMMER SCHOOL :)

I am so excited for tomorrow! I love the excitement and anticipation of the first day of school. So many hopes, dreams, goals, and challenges lie ahead of us. I am excited to take my kids hands and jump into the unknown!

The classroom, organized and ready for three amazing students to timidly step in and grow abundantly in knowledge, character, faith, and the bonds of family.

Joshua's place is set with long division, Miquon math, and his handbook to record all of his reading adventures.

Asher will sit down and find his abacus, addition, subtraction, Explode the Code book 4, and his own handbook to record all the books he will read this summer.

Pictures!!

I made Elliana some pink play-doh. She liked that idea :)

She just takes my breadth away!

We had a water balloon fight with our next door neighbors. This is a picture of the kids waiting to race off our deck and start soaking each other. Having great neighbors is such a blessing :)

We made a water slide in our backyard (a favorite summer activity at our house).

Elliana loves the color pink. So after much pleading I painted her room from yellow to pink. I think it turned out awesome! We also got her a big girl bed :)When you give two imaginative boys cardboard boxes and painters tape they will build something really cool!

6 Years and Counting

Today we finished our school year. Asher is now a 1st grader, Joshua a proud 4th grader and Elliana continues to cruise through Pre-K. It has been a wonderful year and I am excited to start the next journey. Next years books have been ordered and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Fed Ex man.

I can't believe that this concludes our sixth year of homeschooling. It has been an amazing adventure. I never thought that I would homeschool. Now I can't imagine doing anything else. I am very blessed to not only be their mom, but their teacher as well.

I have been thinking about the typical school year for kids in the United States. The more I think about it the more it bothers me. Kids spend 9 months in school and 3 months doing nothing. So for 1/4 of the year they are not pushing forward in their education. In fact they are falling behind. Teachers know that they have to go back and reteach and review when the next school year begins. I am determined to forgo this back pedaling.

During the summer my kids will be doing an abbreviated form of school. They will have no problem getting their work done before heading outside to play. We will be focusing on math, Spanish, reading, and spelling. Other subjects will be brought in as well.

We have a lot of non-school related activities planned as well. I have no doubt that we will spend many hours on bike rides and at the pool. And just about every weekend is booked with some sort of family activity.

I promise to post pictures when I have the chance. The kids are keeping me pretty busy right now and we will soon be getting an addition to our household....no not a baby...a kitten :)