Our Family Staycation

Life has been crazy, to say the least, these past couple of weeks.  So I was so looking forward to a couple of days to relax and unwind with Joe and our girls.  My friend had a timeshare at the Desert Ridge Marriott, and we were able to escape for a few days.  The timing really couldn't have been more perfect.  Tuesday night was still available at the last minute, so we invited our new friend, Kelley and her girls to stay the night, so they could have a little retreat together.  I stayed the night too and helped Kelley put her girls to bed and got to spend some time with her.  She works in Scottsdale so the drive was not as long, enabling her to sleep in a little longer.  I took her girls to their babysitter and then went and got my family and headed back to the hotel.

Joe was able to take Wednesday and Thursday off.  We had gone as a family last year, so our girls were so excited to go back.  We unloaded our stuff, packed up a lunch, got our suits on and headed to the lazy river.  I couldn't believe how much fun and how relaxing this time was.  The big girls floated in their tubes, swam around and got to go down the water slide.  The little girls were so content to float in their tubes.  It was a wonderful time!

 Waiting for the shuttle to pick us up.

 Just floating

Enjoying our lunch 

Being silly

Back at our hotel room, we just enjoyed each other and had fun being away from home.

 There was lots of snuggling

Laughing

Being silly

 And coloring.

The next day, we had school in the morning while Naya took her nap and then headed to a kids' pool called the Lizard Lagoon.

 We were the only ones there for almost the entire time we were there.  It was great!  The pool was only a 1 ft. deep, so everyone, including Naya could play.

 Daddy and his girls.

 Me and my girls.

 We ate lunch and played for a few hours and then went back to the hotel room for a quick nap.  After everyone was rested we decided to head back to the lazy river one more time.  Floating is one of my absolute favorite things to do.

 We had to get a picture of Jaelyn, she was off the charts adorable with her tube, glasses and giant smile the entire time.

We ended the day with pizza, popcorn, candy and a movie.

I couldn't have asked for a better little getaway with my amazing family.  Every time we are all together, I have to pinch myself, because I am so incredibly blessed!

My Life Forever Changed

I want to share an amazing experience I had a couple of weeks ago.


Two Sundays ago during church I was sitting with my mom and a teenage girl came down the row with a bunch of people, I didn't pay much attention at the time, I only noticed her, and she sat down in the seat next to me. After worship the girl asked if she could borrow a pen, so my mom lent her one. I noticed her writing things down for most of the service and when I glanced over she seemed to be writing a prayer request. I can't even describe what was going on in my head after I saw this.  All I could hear was God saying you need to talk to her and I was thinking the entire time how or what I would say. Finally at the end of service she pulled out the order form for The Story books that we are going through as a church. So I leaned over and asked her if she had a book yet. She said no. So I asked if I could get one for her. She looked me surprised. She said sure, but then said that there were 12 of them and none of them had a book. I was confused and then she told me she was from a group home and there were 12 girls total living there. I glanced down and saw the row filled with teenage girls and their leader. So I said, then lets go get 12 books for all of you. She was shocked and she told the girls who where very surprised and very appreciative. As we got to where the books were sold, I found out that there were actually 7 teens and 5 elementary age girls living in the home. So I bought them all the appropriate books and their leader one as well. They were all so sweet and thankful. I gave the leader my contact info and got hers too. As we left to go get the younger girls, they all promised to read their books and that they would see me next week. Their leader Kelley, told me that this was their very first time going to church as a group and she was nervous but excited to start bringing them and reading with them. We reconnected at the cafe and got the girls all lunch and ice cream. I then found out a little more about their situation and how difficult it is for these girls. I encouraged the girls to come back for high school youth group and put them in contact with some friends who helped connect them. They went and had a great time and can't wait to come back.

At lunch I was able to speak more with their leader, Kelley, and her situation really made an impact on me. She grew up in a group home herself. She went into the Army after high school and got married. Her husband left her after 5 years of marriage and abandoning her and their 3 daughters, ages 1, 3, 4. She now has to work 2 full-time jobs to provide for them. Through talking with her Sunday, texting back and forth and becoming friends on Facebook, she has expressed her gratitude for for everything that happened. When I checked my messages the next morning, she wanted to thank me again for everything that had happened the day before and also for the book that I bought her.  She was having a really bad day and started reading her book and told me for the first time that the Bible was going to make sense to her. She let me know that her babysitter quit on her the previous night and how she had no one to watch her girls while she works. She can't afford to be off of work.  But never once did she ask me for help, she only wanted to say thank you.

So all this to say in my heart is overwhelmed! I am so happy and excited to have met these amazing girls, who have been through more than I can even fathom, and also the opportunity to meet Kelly and be in a position to help her and her daughters.

I just started praying for God's leading, wisdom and discernment in how to proceed. The immediate needs are prayer, clothing and shoes. I would say currently the youngest girl at the group home is 7 and the oldest is 18. They are needing every size of clothing and shoes in between. They also could use resources for entertainment. They are given $20 total to cover expenses for the girls' entertainment for the entire weekend. So Kelley and the other leaders pay a lot out of their own pockets and they don't have the money to spare.  I'm asking for a list of items and supplies that they need around the house and will let you know when I know exactly what they need. But maybe Target gift cards would be a good idea, so they can get clothes, shoes or whatever other things they need. I'm up for suggestions.

I sent out an email to some family and friends, making them aware of this life changing experience, and their response was so amazing!  I had so many prayers, encouraging words, clothing donations and even financial gifts.

God is so good and He is evident in everything that has transpired since Sunday and my meeting Kelley and the Sunshine Group girls.

I was able to watch Kelley's girls for her last Monday-Wednesday, as well as all of last weekend, starting Friday through Sunday night.  This was not only a blessing for her but for me, Joe and our girls, as well. Her daughters are precious little girls and will forever have a place in my heart and in our life.  Joe and I have been able to get to know Kelley more and even took her to dinner to learn more about her, how she came to this point in her life and what brought her to CCV and into our lives. Her story is truly incredible...everything that she has been through and overcome and what an amazing mom she is to her girls, trying so desperately to give them everything she didn't have.

Joe and I have started collecting funds to help provide Kelley with child care expenses to hopefully cover the next month and any other expenses that will help ease her financial burden, so she can focus on getting another job that will enable her to spend more time with her daughters and finding a new housing situation, as well.

We are also still collecting clothes and shoes for the girls group home, for ages 6-18. We need girls, women's and even men's sizes...all sizes. I learned that some of the girls only wear men's clothing. I am in the process of working with the house manager to compile a list of items that they need. Kelley and I discussed creating welcome bags for when a new girl arrives. Everything has happened so fast that I don't have exact items needed yet, but would love to collect Wal-mart or Target gift cards to purchase these items when we do find out the exact needs. I will be writing an email/letter once I know specific needs, that can be sent out to friends, small groups, etc.

If you're reading this, I can't thank you enough for your prayers, support and contributions. My heart is so full of joy, love and compassion and my life is forever changed by this experience. Thank you for letting me share it with you! 

I wanted to end this by sharing Kelley's  recent Facebook status:

"I have never felt so complete... I had to hit the bottom and finally see I could not do this alone...I turned to God and in a few short hours I was blessed with something I had been looking for my whole life!!! Everything happens for a reason, and some people are put in you're life to make a difference!!! The feelings I have had the last few days are simply amazing!!!!"

This is what it is all about! God is so good!

Here are Kelley's girls playing dress up with my girls.

Our First Field Trip

So, on day 2 of homeschool, I decided we needed to take a field trip to the library.  I have been meaning to take the girls all summer, but for whatever reason, probably just laziness haven't.  We moved months ago, so I was excited about going to our new public library.  We had school this morning, while Naya took her nap.  We did our calendar routine and a fun math activity where we graphed leftover M&M's from our activity yesterday.  All three of the big girls enjoyed the activity, even Jaelyn had so much fun sorting the colors and counting.

We got our new library card and then the girls each set off to find books of their choice.  I found out that the library offered a special card for teachers.  With this card I get an additional 35 books.  I can either self check them out or I can call a head and someone from the library will pull books for me.  So if we are studying a particular unit or subject matter, they will pull books for me.  I think that is awesome!  I ended up choosing some books on the seasons, continents, poetry, some math books for Joleigh and some long vowel books for Noelle.

After choosing their books and looking at them for a bit, the three big girls got to use the computers to play some games, while Naya enjoyed sitting and spinning in the chairs.

 And then they explored the puzzles and games.

Overall it was a fun time and we can't wait to go back again.

1st Day of Homeschool

Today was the day I have been waiting for for months, our very first day of homeschool.  A lot of time, thought, energy and resources were put in to make this experience happen.  I've been excited, curious how everything will work and nervous about how the girls would feel about not going to regular school.

The morning started out great.  I woke up before the girls for my quiet time and felt really refreshed and  excited for the day to start.  The girls woke up around 7:15 and I made breakfast per their individual requests:  Noelle and Jaelyn wanted cereal and Joleigh and Naya had pancakes.  I started a new morning routine last week to get us more organized with our time.  After breakfast we cleaned up and had our family devotional time.  Then we headed upstairs to make beds, get dressed, brush hair and teeth and tidy upstairs.

I wanted to capture pictures of the girls first day of school.

Noelle's first day of Kindergarten

 Joleigh's first day of 2nd grade

 Jaelyn will be attending Happy Apple Preschool 2 days a week and she starts next Tuesday.  But we wanted to capture her first day too.

Here are all the girls in the classroom ready and excited to start the day.  We actually waited until 9:00 to start, after Naya went down for her morning nap.

 I wrote the girls a morning message and Joleigh read it to everyone.

I planned a half day today, since it is Joe's day off.  I wanted to get the girls familiar with our new routines and expectations.  We started the day off with our calendar activities and then also had some morning dance time.  As we were reviewing our "rules" for the class we created a Recipe for Success (I found on Pinterest and tweaked it a little).

Recipe for Success

You will need:

·        2 cups of Effort = Pretzels

·        2 cups of Kindness = Cheerios

·        3 handfuls of Curiosity = M & M’s

·        3 tablespoons of Honesty = Sunflower kernals

·        1 cup of Teamwork = Craisins

·        1 cup of Excitement of Learning = Peanuts

·        3 handful of Respect = Reese’s Pieces

·        3 Sprinkles of Pride in Your Work= Shredded Coconut

Method:

Combine all the ingredients with a gentle hand and a loving heart.

Success is always better when shared, so pass it around.

We created a class list and discussed how much fun we had this summer and all of the things that we got to do, as a way of saying goodbye.  And then the girls each took turns sharing what they thought we would do or wanted to do in school this year.

 Joleigh and Noelle then had a free writing assignment, where they chose to draw pictures of their summer vacation and then wrote about their experiences.

I had the girls do some beginning of the year handwriting samples, where they wrote their names, numbers and alphabet.  Joleigh had some free reading time while Noelle finished.  I spent the weekend leveling all the book I own, which is a lot!  It was helpful to be able to have books set aside for Joleigh and Noelle to grab that are at their reading level.

We then went into the kitchen and the girls helped make our own play dough for our class.

 Joleigh and Jaelyn had fun playing with their creation.  Noelle didn't like the smell at first and was having an emotional morning.  I'll share more about that.

We had lunch together and then I did some math assessments with Joleigh and Noelle.  I'm now enjoying this time, recapping and assessing how things went and how thing might go in the future.

The only discouraging time came today was when Noelle had a meltdown.  She was tired, became easily frustrated and started crying.  I sent her up to her room and then Joe and I later went to talk to her.  Part of the reason for her melt down was Joleigh woke her up this morning, so she was tired.  But the part that was hard for me, was hearing that she wanted to go to regular school and didn't know why she couldn't like Joleigh.  We had a really good talk and we both tried to encourage her and shared all the reasons we made this decision.  We talked about all the fun and positive things we did this morning.  She seemed to be cheered up and at least tried to understand.  It was hard for me to hear, even though I already knew she would have a hard time.  She is my social girl and I need to find outlets and opportunities for her to be around other kids her age.  So that is my goal.

I would have to say that the very best part about homeschooling, so far, is knowing that we will have some amazing family time together.  Joe got to experience our morning with us and now we will get to enjoy his day off together as a family.  Stay tuned for our new adventures in homeschooling.