2 Must Read Character Building Fiction Books for Tweens

2 Must Read Character Building Books for tweens

Today I have the honor of writing this article, 2 Must-Read Character Building Fiction Books for Tweens, over at LikeMindedMusings.com, as part of Lee Felix’s 30 Days of Tween Parenting Encouragement! For each day of May, Lee is featuring another blogging mom of tweens on her site to talk about this phase of parenting. There’s so much information out there for the years of parenting babies and toddlers, and then it feels like the older your kids get, the less […]

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It was not a failure, though I thought it was at the time.

Failure stings when it’s something that means the world to you. It stings like getting stung by a HIVE OF BEES or 50 fire ants.

I set out to home school those two years with two objectives:

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7 Unexpected Ways Life Changed When We Quit Homeschooling

For the past two years, I home-schooled my four boys. Now that sentence alone should clue you in to the great difficulties I was up against: 4 BOYS, home-schooled! Add that to the fact that I don’t enjoy teaching, and it was a sort of a pressure-cooker for my heart. The stress was too much for me personally. I gave it up, and enrolled my children in a Christian school this year. It was a change I had to make […]

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Caleb, Aiden, and the Wolf: Creative Tales From California

Today I want to talk about creativity. When I was a child, it was greatly celebrated, but I was never so sure that I actually possessed any of this creativity stuff. There were only two subjects I disliked in school: P.E. (We’ve talked about this) and Art. Yep. I never liked Art. I love to admire other people’s artwork. I would just rather not make any myself. Sure, I write all the time. Non-fiction. All of my work is simply […]

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How to Make Fire with a Magnifying Glass

Last weekend we were enjoying a leisurely weekend of letting the kids play in the backyard while we visited with family. Caleb, who loves all things science-related, asked Alan if he could show him how to use the sun’s light and a magnifying glass to make fire. Deep down, I guess we are all like cave-men because every one of us was full of joy to watch this happen. I had never actually seen this done before. The sun was […]

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Life Lessons I Learned from Our Years in Monterey

golden life lessons from our years in Monterey

There are 3 things everyone should do the week they are moving: So that’s what we’ve been doing. We’re officially under contract on a house I’m excited about too. Wahooo!!!  It has ZERO carpet in the living and dining areas. The master bathtub is gigantic, and so is the fenced backyard, so let me tell ya. I am happy. Am I sad to leave? Nope! There ARE lots of people I loved here, and I will miss you all. I’ve […]

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Daniel Sings the Gospel Fuzzies (And it’s ADORABLE.)

YES, I KNOW.  It’s just too much cuteness. So today Daniel graduated from Pre-school. We are a low-drama family, I think. Okay, well, we are 5/6ths low drama, plus me. I bring the emotions, for sure. They started out the ceremony with this video of painting the nursery and the baby gradually getting bigger and bigger, and yes, I was crying. Daniel came strutting out like a rooster when they called his name. It was pretty hilarious, but then he […]

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A Happy Season for Me: Wrapping Up Homeschool Year 2

Well, if you’re new here you might not realize that I’m sort of a reluctant teacher. It’s not that I don’t possess the joy of teaching. Sometimes it is fun. The thing is that I cannot enjoy having so many things to do. There’s a fourth grader to teach, a third grader to teach, and a toddler running around. I finally threw in the hat and sent Daniel to pre-school, but it’s only three days per week, so sometimes he’s […]

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Field Trip Week: Rose Gardens and Santa Lucia Preserve

We declared last week “Field Trip Week”, and had ourselves a grand ol’ time. We visited the aquarium, a beautiful rose garden, a robotics show, and Santa Lucia Nature Preserve. The big boys practiced their lines for their upcoming end-of-year parent night, we squeezed in a few math lessons, read a few books, and welcomed Nonna and Aunt Janet to town. *************** Now for stop two on our Week of Adventures: Santa Lucia Preserve This place, located in Carmel Valley, […]

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Homeschool Week 64: Peace, Testing, and Toddlers in the Waiting Room

This week our family is preparing for standardized tests. I can safely tell you one thing that will never ever work at home school. Standardized tests. Oh.my.goodness. Alan downloaded practice tests and Scantron sheets for the boys to practice with. Here’s an example of why this sort of super official testing would never work at home school, at least not at ours: “Mom, I’m done! I’m done! I’m done!” Joshua shouted as he finished his math section. “Yay!! That’s great! […]

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