• Jun. 24, 2008
Sticking to one blog site...

Hi ladies! I have another blog that I've been posting to as well. It's so much easier for me to upload pictures on there, and also to just "blog" in one spot. Here is the link As for me and my house we Will serve the Lord.

So, please look there for updates.

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• Jun. 23, 2008
Summer Day Camp-Day #1

Here is a picture I got of my kids with two of their friends. I'm actually picking the two boys (brothers) up every morning, and their mom will pick up the kids in the afternoon. This will save us so much in gas! Anywho...from L-R, their friend Josiah, Eli, Veronica, Daniel, and Josiah's little brother Jeremiah.

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• Jun. 22, 2008
God is in control!!

Thank you so much for your prayers regarding the homeschooling situation here in California. I totally feel Gods peace in whatever the outcome is. I know He's got in handled, and I just pray for His will to be done. I will keep you all posted when I find out!

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• Jun. 19, 2008
Pray for our Homeschool Law in California!!

If you get a moment, please keep the Homeschool case in California in prayer! On June 23rd, the decision will be made whether or not Californians will have to be certified to teach our OWN children. There are three judges involved in this case and they are each opposed to homeschooling even though our Governor and Superintendent are all for it! I can't imagine this happening (overall God is in control here), but I'm not surprised. So, please keep this situation in prayer, as we all know what God has called our families to do.

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• Jun. 18, 2008
Wordless Wednesday....

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• Jun. 16, 2008
Day @ the park...

We got together with a few friends today at a park that we used to take the kids to a long time ago. It's not that it's far, but I normally take them to the closest park to our house. This park is huge though. It has a humongous lake in the middle, and you can actually walk around it for exercise. There's also a boat dock to rent those pedal boats, and two play areas for kids. We were set up by a little creek that was also close to one of the playgrounds. When our two older kids were little, we never allowed them to play in the creek (even though there would be other kids in it). I would think, "Ew...you're not going in there!" I didn't want them to get dirt all over themselves, etc..lol. Well, I didn't even think that they would want to go in there, but sure enough...on this hot day, of course they did! It ended up being fun for  them, and next time we go back, they'll be wearing the right attire for it! They played in there most of the time. I took some really good pictures of them and my friends kids. I literally took over 138 pictures, but I'll share a few that I think came out good. My favorite is of Veronica and this little boy Adam on the bridge).







This picture looks weird! Miranda is actually talking to him, but I caught them in a moment that looks like they're frozen!

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• Jun. 10, 2008
Wax on..wax off!!

Call me weird, but I love washing my car. I like not seeing the dust on the hood when I drive. My kids like to "help" too, but I think they get more wet than the vehicle..lol. It was a perfect afternoon to wash it today!! It was in the mid 80's!!!!


I told them to stand on the neighbors driveway to "dry off". I think Isaiah (far right) was trying to "flex", so it looks like he has "moobs." LOL!!

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• Jun. 9, 2008
Summer Day Camp!

I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!! Our church is providing 2 day camps (the week of June 23rd and the other in July, and then VBS in August). Anywho..it is for kids K-5th grade, from 8:30-3:30, and it's only $50 for the entire week!!! That week in June, they will be learning about missions, but the days will also incorporate cooking, art, etc!!! Also, the junior high & high school kids will be helping out, which means my two older kids will be there helping all day too!!!! So, I will be kid free, and I am so thrilled I don't know what to do with myself! Of course, I'm signing them up again in July..lol, and to us it's totally worth it to spend that money. They will be blessed, and so will I!!!

Our school year ends this Friday, but we will continue to review certain subjects twice a week. It will be very lax, and I won't feel that "pressure" of "having" to do it NOW! There are so many things coming up, it will be so nice to have official downtime without the guilt!

Eli's birtday is coming up in a couple of weeks (the 28th). All my kids birthdays (except Veronica's) are literally back to back! After Eli's, it will be Isaiah's on July 11th, then Daniel's on July 22nd!! Oh, and if you want to count mine, it's August 2nd! Eli either wants to go to Cal Skate or Build-A-Bear and he already has his list of his five friends he wants to invite. I can't believe he's going to be 8 years old!! He's still as sweet as ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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• Jun. 2, 2008
Party Success!!

Miranda's party/sleepover was a success! When I say success, I mean, no over-the-top craziness, messes, and just good ole' fun!! All the girls got here on time (right before 6pm), and we headed out to Razzberry Lips first. These are all the girls. Miranda is the 2nd to the right.

This place is soooooo girly girl that my youngest dd Veronica would have gone crazy if she was there!! Anyway...the girls have to sit at this round table and pick which nail polish color they want. While they are waiting for their nails to dry, they start to get their hair done. This place has different themes to pick from, so Miranda picked  Rockstar Diva. The accessory that came w/ this theme was a headseat..LOL. It was really neat how they did their hair. It's actually really simple. They just mainly took their hair in sections and twisted it! They also had light make-up done and the finishing touch was glitter in their hair! They all turned out so beautiful!






When they were done with the hair & make-up, they played a couple of games in the store. One of them was the Limbo!

But, I would say the "highlight" was when they had to stand outside of the store and do a dance routine with a couple of the girls who worked there.

It was sooo cute & hilarious at the same time! I give them credit for doing it because I know if it was me, I'd be totally embarassed!! If you want to check it out...CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO!!

When we were done there, we headed over to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Yum yum!

After they ate, the waiters came with Miranda's birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to her. For some reason, the girls didn't want to eat the cake, so a couple of them thought it would be hilarious to stick their noses in them. Crazy girls!!




Done with dinner! Now off to my house for the "partay!"

The girls change into jammies and start to play Twister! Oh..fun!!!!


Opening gifts....


I also taped a little bit of us singing Happy Birthday. The adult person you hear talking is my sister in law..lol.
CLICK HERE TO HEAR US SINGING HAPPY BDAY!!

The girls also played other games like Charades, and "Guess Who I Am." We also did a game called "Who Knows Miranda Best." It was a multiple choice question test that I made up. I thought of 5 questions and they had to choose what the right answers were. Her friend Sara (the littlest one) got all the answers right! I forgot to buy a prize for that game so I just gave her a dollar..LOL! Anywho, the girls had chips, candy, & soda to snack on for the rest of the night! The girls only got a couple hours of sleep! I went to bed at 3:30 and they were all still up! When I got up at 8:30, they were all up and ready to go..lol. There was a Children's Ministry appreciation breakfast that morning at 9:30 that my hubby and oldest son was going to, so he took Miranda & two of her friends with him since their parents were going to be there too. LOL, I heard they were like ZOMBIES at the breakfast!! Overall, they were all so well behaved, and very respectful!!! Oh...and FYI, my dh took the boys out to dinner and movies that night and didn't get home till 1am. Per my daughters instructions!!!!

Last picture in the morning. One of her friends is in the bathroom so I missed her!

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• May. 28, 2008
My daughter is now 11?????

My oldest daughter Miranda turned 11 on Monday! Where did all the time go? I was looking at pictures of her when she was around 2 years old and it's so hard to remember her being so little!!! She's having her birthday party + sleepover with 3 (hopefully 4) of her girlfriends this Friday and I know she's excited! I still can't believe it's almost the end of the "school year" although we'll still do some light work during the week to keep them stimulated..lol. One of my friends (who also homeschools) asked if I was sick of school already, and I said, "YES!" I said, "Am I the only one?" Thank goodness the answer was no..lol. But in reality, I don't want to have that negative attitude toward school. Yes, I'm glad it will be done somewhat, but I want to have that excitement still. Does that make sense? Okay, I'm just rambling here!! Anywho..I took some cute pictures of my daughter last Friday and one yesterday. I can't help but share. Yes, I do have four other kids, but I just love taking pictures of her innocence...LOL!

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• May. 23, 2008
My son, Isaiah...

Here is a mini clip of my son Isaiah playing his guitar.  He is just playing a few chords of a Phil Wickham song. This was last night and he had no idea I was video-ing him. He thought I was just waiting to take a candid shot..lol. I had to turn it off when my cell phone started to go off with Mercy Me as the ring tone..LOL.
CLICK ON ME!

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• May. 21, 2008
Wordless Wednesday....

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• May. 21, 2008
Gotta love Chili's & EBay!

Let me start off by saying I had a blessed night! One of my nearest and dearest friends called me and asked if I was busy tonight. I said no, so she asked if I would want to go and get coffee & dessert with her. It was the break & fellowship I needed! We went to Chili's, shared a couple of appetizers & dessert! Yummy!

Oh..and about Ebay. I normally wouldn't put up a link to my auctions..lol, but I figured, hey, why not? I start my auctions off low and someone might be blessed by getting a good deal on some decent clothes! I only have 7 listings up for now, and I actually started a new Ebay ID. I wanted to have a new one for just selling, but I have bought a couple of things on that one too. Anywho...check it out if you want!!! They are from sizes 4-6 (all girls). Just click the link below!!

Click Here For My Current Ebay Auctions!!

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• May. 19, 2008
Been awhile!!!

I haven't posted since we've come back from Nevada! I have a huge praise report. My bil (dh's brother) got saved!! There was so much spiritual warfare once we got there, and I can tell you that I was soooooo super exhausted once we were on our way home. It felt like we have been through so much in just ONE DAY that we were there. Looking back to that weekend, I can see how the enemy did not want us be there and tried so hard to discourage us while we were there. Seriously, my dh was ready for us to go home Saturday night, but the Lord had other plans!!  God is good, and again, He showed us that His word never returns void. He is there to pick up the broken in spirit and reveals Himself in His timing!! That weekend just made me even see how much more we need the Lord. His Word is Truth. He will never leave you or forsake you. I was just so thankful that we have Him, our defender, our Father, our ally, our best friend!!!!!!!!!

School is going slowly these days. Can I still blame it on the hot weather we've been having, lol? Our kids are still on the no TV rule! In fact, I asked my daughter if she missed watching TV and she said that she has forgot about it!! I shouldn't even say it's a "rule" anymore. That's just how it is now! 

I'm so looking forward to "summer" but I know that we'll still be doing school things. It's so easy to get unmotivated once I'm on that track. One day all this "work" will perish, but His Word never will!!!! We can be sure of that!!

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• May. 9, 2008
Off To Nevada for Mother's Day!

We're off to Nevada for Mother's Day. My in-laws live 30 minutes past Reno, and in fact, the last time we were there was this time last year! I'm totally not looking forward to the 5 hour drive, but it will be worth it in the end. We visited my mom today and had Chinese food with her. Her birthday is next Friday so we're going to celebrate her birthday/Mother's Day with her next week. This week we have been all so restless with all this great weather we are having! Here is a little picture of the kids today in front of my mom's complex. LOL @Isaiah's hair. He was wearing this funky hat all the way there and his hair got smushed!! I hope you all have a blessed Mother's Day!!

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• May. 5, 2008
Back In The Swing Of Things!!

Geesh..where did last week go? With in-laws visiting, and two sick kids, things did not go as "planned." But, that's okay...today is/was a new day!! Like every Monday, my three older kids go to art class with a wonderful girl from our church. I tell ya, it's such a blessing for us to have them take classes from her every week. They have learned so many different techniques using just watercolors. Today, their painting had to do with trees and we thought they came out so beautiful. My husband wants me to frame them, so I can't wait to do that! Here are their pictures that I want to share. They are in order by their age (lol). Isaiah, Miranda, and then Eli.

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• Apr. 24, 2008
Tonight was AWESOME!!!!!

A couple of days ago, you read how we went to the library for story time. Well, as we were standing in line getting ready to check out our books, I noticed a flier with the words in bold, "OPEN MIC." It said Thursday, April 24th @6:30, join us for a lively evening of poetry, spoken word, acoustic music & performance art. I immediately was interested because my kids play the guitar. I was thinking that that would be an awesome opportunity for them to play a couple of worship songs and to be a witness!! Well, I asked them to pray about it to see if they would want to do it. My son Isaiah is still really shy about "singing out loud", and will only do it for a couple of people.  My daughter is the opposite. She will play the guitar and sing. They prayed about it and decided they would do it. Of course we talked about it and said that they weren't doing it for us or themselves but for the Lord. They are just the instruments that God is using to plant seeds. I even told them that this would be different because you are not going to be singing worship in front of a body of believers. This would be their first time to do that in a secular setting. Anywho, we arrive a little early and there is a poetry club that is also there (mostly adults) and a few kids around their ages. You know, when I think of people reading poetry, I almost expect it to be depressing or how down and out somebody is (especially for people who do not have the Lord). Sure enough, there were a few depressing and really deep poems being read. Your heart just aches for these people that really have no joy or feel somewhat hopeless. Even we as Christians can still have joy when going through a trial. Anyway, it was Miranda's turn and she did "Here I Am To Worship." Isaiah was next and did "Praise Adonai." It has a real thumpy beat to it, but he did it instrumental (remember, he is shy to sing.lol). Well, the guy who was heading this up asked him to play another song. So, he played "Empty Me" while Miranda sang the words. It turns out that this guy (who is a high school teacher) is a Christian too and he also used to play on a worship team! Isn't that awesome?? LOL, it felt like we had our own worship team out there because all our kids were singing along with Miranda. You know, it's nothing unusual for them because that is what they are used to doing! Toward the end of night, they asked Miranda & Isaiah to play again, so he played "God Of Wonders" while she sang, and then she did "Unchanging" by herself.  I was just praying that the people there were getting ministered to! Lastly, he closed by asking Isaiah to play one more song (instrumental). He said that it would be a good way to end the night (by music). Let me tell you that this was totally a God thing because we didn't know who or really what was going to happen there tonight. Ohhhhhhhhh...and the greatest thing was that a lady named Pam (who is in charge of the poetry group) asked us if they were homeschooled!!! I said, "How could you tell?" She said that she can see how connected we were as a family. I thought that was the best compliment ever! On our way home I reminded the kids of what she said and I told them, "See the bible says be part of the world but not of the world." It just really confirmed for me the reason why we homeschool. It's all about family, relationships, growing together, and giving all glory to God. And you know, that was my prayer that God would get all the glory for what was to happen tonight! You know what I love too? The kids KNOW when they play, it's always for the Lord. They never ask, "How did I sound? Did I mess up?" They play, then they're done. They know it's beautiful to God and that's all that matters!! I wish I would have taken pictures with my cell phone, but when I was there, for some reason it didn't seem right. I didn't want to appear like I was taking pictures at a concert. Actually I wanted to take them just so I could add it to this blog..LOL!! Well, we had a great night, and we were all super blessed!!!

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• Apr. 22, 2008
No TV week!!

We decided to turn our TV's off this week (thanks to www.unplugyourkids.com). It has been wonderful thus far! I have to download pics, but I will do that another time. We started doing our devotions again in the morning and the kids and I were so blessed! We did a little bit of school, but I really wanted to focus on quality time with all of us together. I had prepared our project for that day (which were totem poles). I wanted to start off with a simple one, and I told them that totem poles were used to tell stories. They each have their own story to tell, so they decorated them how they wanted to. It was so easy and they really liked it!! We also went to the park, and in the evening my hubby was teaching the kids some boxing moves (lol). They LOVED that! Today we pretty much did the same thing, but our art project was to go outside and just draw or paint what you see! It could be anything from a tree to the clouds. It was also a lesson to see how beautiful and perfect God made the world (and to appreciate the beauty of it)! Later in the evening I took the kids to the library because they have story time at 7pm every Tuesday. My two older kids stayed at the children's computer section while I sat with my three little ones during the story. It was very amusing so they sat there so attentive!! Afterward we all checked out books for us to read tomorrow during our story time! It's supposed to rain but I already have our wax paper project ready to go!! Oh...and they have not asked once to watch TV today!!! Yay! Okay..it's getting late!! I'll update more tomorrow!!

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• Apr. 18, 2008
End of the week!!

Yay!! I so look forward to Fridays!!! I don't have any exciting pictures or projects to share this week, but we have been outdoors alot! The weather has just been too beautiful to stay indoors! We have been doing the regular textbook work for now, but I was pretty easy with them since we were out and about. I will share pictures of my kids artwork that they do on Monday afternoons. A wonderful girl from our church has been giving art lessons for a few years now and she teaches my kids on Monday afternoons. They have been learning different techniques and it's so wonderful to see more of their creative side come out. On Fridays, my three older kids go to guitar class at church. What a blessing because it is free..lol. My older son is involved with the Jr. High group, and this Saturday they are having another air soft gun fight in the gym. That's all he's been talking about! Oh!!! I forgot! I looked at the site that was recommended by Kimalita (unplugyourkids.com) and we are turning all our TV's off for the entire week. I know that not only the kids, but myself will be totally blessed by it. My husband will be the happiest since he would rather us not even have a TV in the house! I will get into gear and just go as the Lord leads us. I know that I need to be more "hands on" with them!

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• Apr. 14, 2008
Great weekend!!

We had such a blessed weekend! The weather could not have been better. It was so warm, it felt like mid summer!! Saturday and Sunday were both in the high 80's! After my husband had a CPR class on Saturday, the three older kids went Rock Climbing at an indoor facility. I have a picture of Miranda, and I will post a picture of Eli soon. Isaiah opted out of climbing! That night we went to dinner with my sister in law for my husbands 37th birthday at his favorite restaurant (Casa Azteca). She also blessed us by babysitting them so we could have a "date night." Sunday was church of course (his actual birthday). That morning I got up early to make his cake so we could have it in the afternoon! We took him to lunch at Macaroni Grill (the kids favorite) and afterward home to relax, have more food (cake), and then off to church that night! So, here are couple of pictures from this weekend!  I took them with my cell phone so they are not super clear!! Enjoy....and I will catch up with our homeschooling "routine" soon.

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