L.E.N.S. Challenge - Read

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My son is a big fan of maps. I had a hard time choosing a picture for this! This one is from almost exactly a year ago, as we were planning our trip to Disney World. I was all about getting the kids as excited as possible, so of course we ordered the maps and let each child participate in the planning. The little one STUDIED these maps. I mean seriously studied them! I should not have been surprised. I have a sweet picture from the year before of him studying the Sea World map.

I'm linking up with Home Is Where You Start From today, with their weekly LENS challenge! Feel free to hop on over and see the other entries. This week's theme is READ.

Ultimate Blog Party 2011 - 5 Minutes for Moms

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I decided to jump into this blog party this year! Looks like fun, and I LOVE reading blogs so I'm sure I'll find some more to add to my list this year! :)

About me ... I'm Melanie, married to Jim for nearly 15 years now. (WOW.) I'm a homeschooling mom of two and a half - one goes to preschool for another couple of months, and then he will be at home too. I have a seventh grader and a fourth grader. We enjoy homeschooling most of the time, and it seems that my blog revolves around that a lot of the time.

I also love to post about books I'm reading, what the Lord is doing in my life, how I'm being challenged, and there's an awful lot of just plain silliness around here too. I love to take pictures of my kids, and join some photo contests here and there. I am not a photographer, I am a mom with a camera, and I love that too.

I think that's me in a nutshell. I'm glad you're here! Be sure to leave a comment if you're a new visitor! There are a ton of blogs on the blog party list, and if you like my blog, I will probably like yours as well and wouldn't want to miss it!

Have a fabulous day!

Didn't Really Intend to Take a Break

Pin It Well, I didn't PLAN to take a blogging break, but it appears that I have.  I have a bunch of half-written blog posts that I need to finish and will ... eventually.  Right now though, I'm personally feeling quite yucky and lazy.  I was actually looking outside earlier and just hoping for a thunderstorm because it seems appropriate for my mood.

While I'm sitting around being all BLAH though, the Lord is doing great things.  Great indeed.

Josh and Jessica's story ... Parker, Daniel, and Josslyn's Story ... The Story the Lord Wrote ...

Just go read.  They'll be seeing their children for the first time VERY soon.  How awesome to have been able to follow this from the very beginning.  How awesome to see the effect that it has had on my children.  (Um, that would be one of the half-written posts.  More to come on that.)  I can't wait to see the ways the Lord continues this, like the ripples on a pond when a rock is thrown in.

And so that's it.  Nothing to see here, but tons of stuff to see over there. 

I'll catch up again soon.

A Bunch of Stuff

Pin It 1.  My mom should have her final chemo treatment today.  Please pray that she is healthy enough to receive it and will make it through it with no complications.  This round has been incredibly hard on her and we will all be happy when it is DONE.

2.  Today is my husband's birthday.  He is 49.  I don't think I'm old enough to be married to someone who is 49.  I was a child bride.  Or not.

3.  My friend Jessica is leaving in a few days to visit the children she will be adopting!  It is so exciting to just see this all come together.  I cannot wait to see those three little darlings!  Pray for Jessica, and her husband and kids during the travel process.  I think the three kids will be home in about a month! 

4.  I won a blog giveaway that I absolutely love and had to share it with y'all!

Pardon the weird angle photography.  I didn't realize how weird it really was until I uploaded the pics.  You can still see how gorgeous it is!  It matches my kitchen perfectly and looks so great on our wall.  I. LOVE. IT.
Oh?  You'd like to know where it came from?  I'll be GLAD to share!
It's from an Etsy shop - Fa Sew La Stitches!  She has so many cute things in there!  Click on over and see!

5.  I've had a couple of giveaways of gift cards from CSN Stores over the past few months, but just recently ordered from them for the first time.  It was time for a new car seat for the little one.  I searched all over comparing prices, and they had the seat that we wanted for the best price.  I ordered on a Tuesday, chose free standard shipping, and had it installed in my car by Friday!  Awesome!  I will be ordering from them again.  (Oh - and by the way - if you ask a five year old his opinion regarding his new car seat, he will study them very closely and then choose the one that has TWO cup holders rather than just one.  And if his friend's seat is red, red will be the only color that he will consider.  So we had to search for a red car seat with two cup holders.)

Okay, I think that's it.  Oh - neither Fa Sew La Stitches or CSN Stores requested that I tell you about their fabulous products.  I just did because I thought you should know!  :)

This HAD to be shared.

Pin It I had a post written for today but after reading one on another blog yesterday, had to postpone mine so I could share this one. 

Y'all know I how I love me some Ann Voskamp.  I just love her perspective on life and am constantly challenged when reading her blog to look for the beauty in the ordinary. 

This post from yesterday really spoke to me.  Screamed at me, really.

I just can't even put into words.  Looking at my own 12 year old who is just so grown up ...

The days are numbered. 

I don't want to miss a one.

Now go read Ann's post if you haven't already.  Then realize that the days are indeed numbered, and go enjoy every single one of them.

Gratitude Journal

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161.  Just for spring.  I love spring!

162.  Blooming azaleas.  I know they don't last very long, but they sure are pretty when they're all blooming.

163.  For five year old little boys who are very much cuddle-bugs.

164.  (Trying to make a positive here ...)  For being given AMPLE opportunity to teach a child what it means to keep her behavior above reproach.

165.  And for getting to see her heart and learn what is important to her, as we've had some pretty heavy discussions lately.

166.  For a fun date night and for the super yummy food from Pappadeaux.

167.  For seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this school year and for the motivation that the light brings even when it's still a ways off.  This is the most difficult time of the year for me and school because I am ready to be DONE after spring break.  Usually we're doing the Christmas lessons at this time, so at least this year we're on track and I can actually see that light, no matter how far off it is!

168.  For other mamas who share my desire to raise godly kids and are willing to do hard things to reach that goal.

169.  For unexpected laughter from the mouths of babes.  The little one greeted the mailman the other day with "Hi Mr. Mailman!  My dog hates you!"  Thankfully the mailman has a sense of humor!

170.  For grace and forgiveness, both to give and to receive.

I will be linking up with A Holy Experience today.  Hop on over to read the lists of other people.

Week In Review

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Ahh ... the Weekly Wrap Up, which at this point is more a monthly wrap up because I have been negligent!  School has been kind of on the back burner lately.  We're getting our work done, but there have been so many extra things going on that life hasn't felt like it's revolved around school the last few weeks.  I have to say (or shout!) THIS HAS BEEN NICE!

We're back in the usual swing of things now I think, and on the final rush to get it all done to end by the end of May.  We'll see if that actually happens or not, but as of now, we're on schedule.  We've finished week 25 (WOOT, that means ten to go!) and lesson 125 in the numbered classes (WOOT, that means 35-ish to go!  They average about 160 lessons.)  We don't stop math for the summer, but English, reading, science, history get a nice break.

So ... this week?  We're still in Rome.  We are enjoying Rome.  We learned all about Hannibal and about how Rome got so big and powerful.  (And I would not be a good mom of multiple children if I didn't point out that Rome's strength lied in WORKING TOGETHER and not FIGHTING AMONGST THEMSELVES.) 

We are talking about Galen in science and I think we're all enjoying learning about the beginning of medicine.

This is all relating to the oldest as she is reading The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers.  (These are my favorite fiction books E.V.E.R. - because there is super extra emphasis if I put a period behind every letter!)  She is learning about the Roman culture and reading about it at the same time, and the second book follows a doctor so it's extra exposure for her.  Don't tell her, okay?

Let's see ... for extra this week, and to enjoy St. Patrick's Day, we wrote a few limericks.

This one was a collaboration:
In our backyard we have a tree
Around it flies a big bee
One day I got stung
That bee, it got flung
And then I came in to pee.

This one was from the middle one:
I had a pet lizard named Scurry
I caught him one day in a hurry
I fed him bugs
He didn't like hugs
When he died, my eyes were quite blurry

And this one was from the oldest:  (she was not having a happy day that day, can you tell?)
I'll always be behind the fence
It's true my life seems so dense
I used to be free
Happy as could be
But now I'm trapped and intense
(We don't lock her in, if you were wondering!  She was referring to the neighbor's dog.)

And so that's it for our week!  I'll be linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers today.  Hop on over to see some more weekly wrap-ups!