Easter and Our Spring Break Dream List

We had a wonderful Easter Celebration. We spent the morning at church celebrating our Risen Lord and watching Abigail and John sing. Can you pick out my kids (see video below)? We spent the afternoon at my parents, sharing in a wonderful meal and a fun egg hunt for the children. Enjoy the pictures...

Yummy Easter candy!

Easter with Papa and Granmommy

Daniel hunts for eggs on the beach...

while John hits the jackpot on the grass...

and the girls, with baskets full, also head to the beach to search!

Most of our Easter crew went outdoors to watch the children. Our wonderful PA family and Granmommy were responsible for the egg stuffing.
So much fun-thank you!

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We have been on Spring Break at home this week. Peter took off of work for the first 3 days of our sweet vacation. A few weeks ago I sat down with the kids and had them brainstorm about things they would like to do during our time off of school. They had some great ideas, which I built upon and then formulated, on paper, how we would approach getting their individual ideas done by doing one per child per day.
This is how we spent our 3 days, at home, limited expense, lots of fun and all 6 of us together!

Monday:
1. Trip to Toys R Us to spend gift money from Gram. Everyone picked out what they wanted. The result was a nice long time at the store and sweet joy watching their faces as they tried to decide what to purchase!

The boys are happy with their purchases!

2. Rearrange girls room to accommodate organization of toys, dolls, etc.
3. Jump on trampoline (all of us together).
4. Play choo-choo's and build the spiral track (all of us together).

Tuesday:
1. Ride bikes (all of us together).
2. Host a Tea Party. The girls baked scones and a doll cake, made egg salad, set the table and donned their bonnets for impromptu (it was only going to be the girls and Mom and Dad originally) afternoon tea with their Mom, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Aunt and Great Aunt. When offering teas they accidentally offered their Great-Grandmother a laxative tea. Fortunately I caught it before my grandmother found it an appealing choice!

3. Play Spiderman. We let John (our Spiderman dude) play the part and try to get us all in his web (silly string) in the front yard. We all picked up the string when his can was empty and covered him with it. It was such a fun time. The laughs were wonderful.
4. Play a choo-choo game. We were all excited to get back to our spiral track rather than play the game that Mommy and Daddy had invented for this event.
5. Watch a movie. Yea!

Wednesday:
1. Paint/Arts and Craft We let the children get out the t-fabric paint. The girls designed their t's from their Great Uncle and Aunt in PA while the boys covered some boxers with trains, spider webs and beep-beeps (this is the word for cars in our house).
2. Gymnastics at the new homeschool class in town. All 4 were able to attend and it was fun to watch them run, jump, bounce, swing, etc. This may turn into a regular event.
3. Eat a fun snack. This was John's brainstorming idea. We let him (the 4yo) plan dinner and boy am I glad I did. He picked hamburgers, french fries (we substituted tater tots) and a special drink. I found the new AirForce sodas at Sam's Club and we all enjoyed one.
4. Last but not least we intended to camp on on the trampoline or in the family room. This actually turned into the kids watching another movie and camping out downstairs for a while. Daniel was not feeling well yesterday (runny nose, cough, etc) so he didn't camp out.

To Fill Your Curiosity!

Well, this is what we did!









Hubby's plane has made it into the Smithsonian, yep, his real plane from his Navy days, name and all! We went to see it, take a walk down memory lane and get lots of pictures. It was a nice time with his parents. He shared stories. The docents (and everyone else that worked there!) wanted to meet him, shake his hand, tell him thanks for his service and hear a little about the jet. Even the Lt Gov of Florida made a point to seek him out to say hello and thanks. It was a great day. I was a little emotional as we walked away. It is hard to believe those days are gone. They are a part of our history, a time of growth together, yet separated through deployments and work ups. Life on the outside is different. As a military wife you are serving your country as well. You are making sacrifices that other women cannot imagine and who often remark about how they couldn't do it. You bond immediately with other military wives as you move from place to place, planting quick roots and then leaving a small part of your heart as you pack up to move again. On the outside, friendships are harder to make. Roots grow, but a little more slowly as you wonder if this is really where you will settle. For me it is all about where God has me and what my purpose is at that moment in time. I am here to serve Him. Each move in the military was for a purpose. God held each decision and knew the plans for us before we did. We have watched friends come to a deeper understanding of Christ and choose to walk in His will. We have left friends who we considered in some respects our peers but at the same time, our elders. It has been an exciting road. Only our eldest will remember a faint glimmer of those days. She will remember watching her Daddy do touch and go's on base. She will remember our last move, when she turned nine and her birthday present was that Daddy had to go on deployment. She will remember him coming home from his final deployment. I will remember watching my children's faces as they saw their Daddy again for the first time, in a long time. I will remember it all...

So, thank you to all of you, as you serve. I know how it feels to be separated from your husband. I am praying for you.

Enjoy the pictures...

Grandpa and Oma Visit

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. It was a busy week with Grandpa and Oma visiting as well as Ashley's Science and History Fair taking place for our Co-op. We had a great visit. I am tired so have decided to just post a short hello. We took some great pictures this week which I will load later. You won't believe what we did this week! I am not going to tell you. You will have to come back to see the pictures... I hope I have peaked your interest!

A Homeschool Family

I love this video. I am sure many of you have seen it. I sing it regularly during the day and have a good laugh. I hope you enjoy... Also, if you like Tim Hawkins comedy, you can see more at the bottom of this screen.

I've been tagged...

Ashley over at HelpMeetInTraining has tagged me.

Here are my instructions:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 (ok, I am only doing 6 and out of those I don't want you to feel pressured or annoyed, ok?!) people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Kristen facts:

1. I attended 7 different colleges before finally getting my degree. I was a junior at the college that I thought I would graduate from when I met and married my wonderful husband. When he asked, my Dad said, "Yes, as long as you promise she will finish her degree." I did, but I have a feeling my father didn't think I would because that promise took MANY years to fulfill as we traveled around the country. I did it Dad!

2. Peter was in the Navy when we married. We moved 11 times in the 12 years that he was active duty. Some of those moves were within the same city. I have many different size curtains.

3. Some thought we were crazy when we moved 6 houses down the street from my parents upon Peter's entrance into civilian life. We didn't think we were as we have a great relationship with them! I feel so sad for people who don't have good relationships with their parents and in-laws...

4. In the winter I love my crockpot.

5. I take mommy minutes. They are not what you think! I hide in the pantry and eat chocolate chips right out of the bag. I don't know how many, 20, 40 maybe, and then I am reset and ready to take on the rest of my day. Shhh, don't tell.

6. My favorite color growing up was purple and people still think it is, so they buy me purple stuff!

7. When I don't have the kids with me at the grocery store I buy myself something at the impulse aisle--something chocolate and really yummy--and then I leave the wrapper tucked into the steering wheel so that Peter will have a good laugh. He always does! Shhh, don't tell the kids!


I am tagging:
The Peterson Clan
A Second Generation of Homeschooling
50 Toes
Quilt of Grace
Steppin' Heavenward
Sadlier Adventures

California-Homeschooling Verdict

Please read below from Marlin Detweiler:


I wanted to alert you to an occurrence in California and ask for your help for our brothers in Christ there.

A California Court of Appeal recently decided that homeschooling is illegal in California unless a parent is a certified teacher. The case arose in a confidential juvenile court proceeding. The Court could have restricted its decision to the facts before it, but instead, it issued a broad ruling that effectively outlaws home education in California. The family and their California counsel are planning to appeal to the Supreme Court of California, which could result in reversal.

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) will be formally petitioning the California Supreme Court to depublish the opinion, which would cause it to be of little effect. Please join me by showing that many other people, both in California and across the country, care deeply about homeschool freedom in California by signing the HSLDA petition.

Click here to do so. Thank you.
Marlin Detweiler
President
Veritas Press


Contact Information

phone: 800-922-5082

web: www.VeritasPress.com

Heaven Rejoices!

Abigail and Daddy at Disney World

We are thrilled! Our sweet Abigail accepted Jesus this evening. She had been asking questions for a while and tonight Daddy, Mommy and Big Sister Ashley were able to sit down with her and share in leading her to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! There is a party going on in Heaven this evening all because Abi came to know Jesus. Jesus says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." (Luke 15: 6-7) "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15: 10)
We know as you read this you are thrilled too! Thank you for sharing in the party.

Let me know you were here.

Hello!
It seems that blogger has fixed the "comments" section of my blog. You should be able to leave comments now, yea! So leave me a note and let me know you were here. I am working on getting a guest book for the site as well but there are so many out there. If you have a suggestion of one that you really like, please comment.
I hope you are having a relaxingly wonderful Saturday morning. My hubby is back to work on what should have been our 3rd day visiting with his parents. We are sad that our visit didn't work out! One of the difficult things about being married to a military serviceman ("we" did 12 years in the Navy) turned commercial pilot is that in both cases we have never really felt like we could make plans. We just make our plans knowing that he might not make it. Sometimes he does, and sometimes he doesn't. My joke is that everything is written in JELLO. I know a lot of people say "written in sand," but for me it's definitely JELLO. My plans don't get washed away, they get set all different then we hoped they would. With JELLO you mix up all the ingredients and you just know it's going to turn out great. Then somebody bumps the bowl, or moves it to get the milk and the look of it, although tasting the same, is all different. JELLO doesn't set until the last minute. It either sets nice and smooth like we intended it or it has all the bumps to the bowl. At the last minute you know exactly what it is going to look like! I know many of you are current military spouses dealing with the same thing. Thank you for your service. We really appreciate your sacrifice for our freedom. Also, if you are making plans, I feel for you!