My Girl will be "5" in 5 days

Hope, my love, I adore being your mommy! You are the best little Girl. I love the little lady that you are becoming. You make me laugh everyday. You teach me what a good mommy is like every time I grow weary trying to keep up. I enjoy being with you everyday and feeling how special that you make me feel.

You have the best sense of humor. You are so funny and always, well most always, filled with such laughter and joy.

This sabbath you will turn 5 years old. I still see you in my arms in Guatemala just 6 months old. Something about the first time that will never leave my heart. I have to let you grow up, that is what GOD ordained from creation. But I don't want to let go of the "LITTLE" girl. These days are the days you need me to feed you, still dress you at times, bath you and watch over you with a close eye and guide you safe. I am not ready for you to grow past this stage yet. But I am a mother who wants to hold you close and never let go! When you are older I can't do those sweet little child things anymore. Those days will fly by and you will be grown.

I pray for all the beauty of our days to etch my memories so I can remember all the things I see and do with you every day. I want to remember and be able to see all the bugs that you show me everyday and that look of wonder on your face. I want to remember how you love braid's in your hair, taking walks, telling me stories, scavenger hunts, rocks, birds, chickens, buddy, mearah, and so many more things.

Especially how you love to sing and praise Y'shua. You are a worshiper. I am blessed, so blessed, to be your mommy. Thank you Hope for your love and for being my sweet daughter.....I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Happy Birthday and happy first day at homeschool co-op ALL this week!!!!

LOVE, Mommy and Daddy

Our progress Update

We are still trying to find the path to daily order and what that looks like. I have been looking at what I would like to get done in a day and most times it leaves little time to just have fun. That is not the right balance.

BUSY is all I know to keep the house and chores done. Then it feels like busy is trying to fit in all the family things. HOW do you balance this? Let the house go?

I have made a schedule that allows me to look at time and priorities. That is where I have to start and stay! I have way to much to do for one person and I have to realize that all my interest will not get my time.

YHVH please direct my path even when I have my hands on it...take me over LORD!

Homeschool is something that we do daily in some form or another. I do have set plans, but getting Hope to agree is something that I have to be gentle with. I have plans but she is trying to create something else. She is going thru the stage of story telling and imagination. SHe is good at it. BUt for that she is more into this creative dream world right now. She is very smart and picks up everything very fast. I do not have to go over it lots and lots of time. SHe gets things easy! We are just taking our time and I want to make sure that I am sitting with her more and creating those close times instead of working in the house all the time. Take time for tea, cocoa and a cozy snuggle up read, nature and TONS of snuggle and play time together. SOON she will be grown and I don't want to look back and see that I WORKED more than I invested time in just sitting and breathing "closeness" together.

I love you my sweet dear loving Hope!

Homeschool co-op

We have officially started Homeschool...I can't beleive it. I planned this since you were 6 months old and now we are here. You are doing great at learning what ever I put before you. I love you! You are just the best kid!

You are in 3 classes at Co-op once a week and then we do work at home. You are reading some words by yourself. That is great! You go to a reading class, gym and then to bible heroes at co-op. The mom's that teach are really gifted teachers.

I am trying to find out just what you are really interested in doing and praying about what GOD has called you to do. You said you would like to do tumble-bees and you love to talk about them bones them bones :)  so we do. Maybe you will help others as a nurse or doctor? We are praying, watching and listening for GOD to give us clues in the direction that he has called you in life for HIS name sake! LORD even now show us Lord. We wait upon you so it's right!

Hope's love for bugs

This was last year at Grandma's. You love bugs so much. You love to observe all kinds of bugs.



This is from todays outdoor love for bugs investigation. How cute are you! This makes for great homeschool days with Mommy in GOD'S great big fun outdoor creation!!! Yeah GOD, thank you.....

Dick Hoyt and our first PRE-Homeschool day

Hope you will be turning 3 years old soon after we return from Israel. I have your 3 year old homeschooling material ready to start after you turn 3 in Sept. I am excited! I have waited for this day to come every since before you came home with Mommy and Daddy. I read and studied what I would need to know and do to be your education teacher. I really have already started when you were just a little baby and it has proved to be a success. You already know so many things. You love to learn. If I can make a lesson into a "seek and find" project, you are so in tune with finding the answer. I am excited to see that you love to learn and that you will seek to find the answer. I look forward to posting more of our homeschool fun right here on this blog.

We had our first PRE-official Homeschool "scavenger hunt."

I posted the info on our other blog.

Mommy made some flour finger paint. It was messy fun. At first you kept saying; "my hands are dirty now!" I had to convince you that it was okay for such a fun time as this! The water hose was a great source for cleaning up this messy fun.

I just posted the wonderful video story of the life of Dick Hoyt and his paralyzed son. We watched the video together 3 times. All I could do was cry and praise our Messiah for this earthly man's example of perfect sacrifice and love that he clearly has for his son. This will be our spiritual example in life that "I/WE CAN do all things thru Messiah who strengthens ME/US" Philippians 4:13

The Joy of teaching and learning

I say that I started homeschooling Hope when she was 6 months old. I read to her alot, sang to her all the time and played alot of music. Hope is 2 years old now and is able to pronounce almost any word that you ask her to say. It was a shock to me, because she was not offering to say these words on her own. She would speak alot of giberish. But one day in the car I decided to ask her to say her ABC'S and she not only repeated each letter, after me, perfectly, but she also went ahead to say the next letter, several times. I could not beleive it! She was really learning them when I would go over them with her everyday. Then I ask her to repeat different words and I found out that she does not have any problems pronouncing any letter sounds. I have not witnessed that with a child this young that had a different mother tongue to start with.

Hope is really excelling well at anything she try's to do. She really loves gymnastics and is very good at it. She is a wise fun little girl. I am very blessed to have her in my life! She is a pure treasure....