High School a Little Different

The two oldest have arrived to high school unscathed, for the most part. No, we haven´t killed them, nor have we put them in a barrel with a hole in it yet as our pastor joked about us doing when they were little. He actually said to put them in a barrel with a hole in it, but when they turn 16 to plug the hole! 

Now that is just wrong! As a mom of three teenage boys, however I sometimes wonder if I should put myself in said barrel.

This year we will be homeschooling a little differently. The Lord put it on our hearts to change our curriculum totally. After all, I am only an elementary teacher. They needed more than I could give. We spent most of the summer praying about what to do. God led us to Liberty University Online Academy through my cousins who have just graduated through the program. 

We have just finished our second week, and I must say I love it! However, when I asked them if they "liked" it, all I got for an answer was from my second son Andrew, the more anylitical one who said "Mom, it´s school!" 

The work effort they are putting in this, though shows how much better they like it. They are getting up on their own and starting most days on their own. LUOA plans their daily work and their projects! I just oversee and help study now. 

Michael is  in 7th grade now. 

I must admit to shedding a tear at storing their old grade book. I have kept their grades since they were in Pre- K in that book. Reminding myself of God´s answer to our prayers, I put it away without a second look. We continue to pray that God will provide for the monthly payments which we are more than happy to make sacrifices for. 

How are you coping with high school? If you homeschool, have you thought what you will do when your littles enter high school or middle school?

Some Major Heart Warming!

What makes your home run smoothly? What makes you happy when you come home? 

When I came home tonight from a meeting, this is what greeted me and just warmed my heart!

My dear hubby making his new favorite meal - shrimp tempura (with some veggie tempura to make me even more happy)



My middle son, Andrew, working on his last few lessons of math to get ahead. (yes, really, he decided he wanted to have a lighter day tomorrow)

My youngest son, Michael, doing all of his school work for tomorrow, so he can help his "Coach Daddy" paint their football helmets! 

My oldest son, Isaiah, with all his homework done! 

Working-out while watching one of our favorite series with my family. ( me working- out and the rest watching)

Bringing to my mind the verse my dear hubby and pastor preached yesterday,

"Therefore, my beloved brethern, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 

1 Corinthians 15:58 

Be Strong and Consistent,



Check out how you can also be strong in your fitness journey at my other blog www.faithfitnessandfun.blogspot.com
.........and
Check out our BE STRONG Ministry at www.bestrongmissions.blogspot.com

Joining every Monday with,

What I Love about Autumn

Fresh starts, cool breezes, the smell of leaves,

FOOTBALL! 

And the first day of School!

Our 9th year of homeschooling! Maybe we´ll make it yet. 

Our Theme verse:

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:"

Let ´em Flow!

For awhile now, words have been coming to me, however slowly. Often only in a whisper, but they are coming. Wanting to be shared. Some screaming without an audience. If only for the release and relaxation of it; "Let the words flow," but also mainly for edification and upliftment. 

Do I really think I can come back to writing after such a long hiatus? Will I have time? Can I stick to a schedule? Bombarded with these doubts, I pray and post only when it is in the means of my schedule and not to its demise. 

My two main goals will be to post a Fitness and Faith post from my Fitness Challenges, as well as at least one post about the Good Morning Girls Bible study in Colossians. (button on my sidebar) 

I also hope to update more on our Be Strong Ministries and little growing church that we began in Gijón, Spain. So much has happened in this past year, I look forward to assimilating it all, and sharing what great things God is doing. 

Oh, yeah, We also homeschool! Did I mention school starts for us finally this Monday? We had a lovely summer and I do believe we are ready to get back to the grind. Ask me again on Tuesday, though.

I would love for you to join me in my next Fitness Challenge or even on this fall Bible Study. You can join on Facebook or even on your own blog. Post a comment if you would like to join either one of these. I will be giving more information about the fitness challenges in the following posts. 

Wow! It feels good to have actually written something. Of course, I do write in a journal,too, and that helps, but I actually missed the interaction of blogging. *gasp*

May you have a wonderfully positive day, 

Cleaning Frenzy Slower than Slow!

Getting only half of a room cleaned last week and only a couple of tests corrected, doesn´t count for a frenzy. Does it? I mean, I have a right to throw a Mama Fit!  ( My friend NINA and missionary neighbor in Portugal started these fits.)

Every time I get started working on something, I get interupted by something else. The boys needing something, needing to get dinner, English classes, exercise, well, just about my whole daily schedule gets in the way of this summer cleaning frenzy.

Today, I started with good intentions of finishing the grades before I posted this, but the baby cried abit more today inorder to sleep, the boys had Spanish class, I had to feed the baby, and I had to clean the kitchen. Well, you get the point.

I didn´t throw a literal fit. Just here on my blog.  It makes me feel a little better to vent. I didn´t take it out on my family, I promise.

Today, I am doing the Making my Home Sing  meme by going with the flow. Praying to be able to get to some more cleaning and grading done by this evening.

Here is my new list for the whole Summer:

Finish the boys room

  _X_ Clean under and behind beds

  _X_ Organize and sort their clothes to give away unused stuff

  _X_ Organize toys to give away unused stuff

  _X_ Make a list of things needed for Furlough.

We are going to visit the States August 9- January 13. Seven weeks and counting.

 the Schoolroom

  _x_ Organize all school books

  _x_Clean and dust whole room.

  _x_ Clean all the cupboards, drawers and under the bed.

  __ deep clean the windows

Kitchen
  _X_ Deep clean behind dryer and the corner shelves.
  _X__  Clean Microwave
  _X_ Scrub down dryer and washer
  _X_ Clean windows and curtains.
  ___ organize, sort and clean cupboards.
  ___ Clean above the cupboards.

Bedroom
 __ dust and deep clean
 ___ sort clothes in closet move them to Hubby´s side to make room for those who will be staying in our place while we are gone.
___ sort all drawers.

Clean the pantry and sort.

Living room:
 ___ clean and dust all
 ___ clean under and behind sofas and inside.
 ___ organize and sort entertainment center
 ___ organize computer cupboard

Bathrooms
 ___ scrub all tiles
 ___  organize cupbords - clean them out.
 ___ paint ceiling

 ___ Plus finish grading tests and recording grades.

I will keep plugging away at it. While taking care of my family and this new sweet addition. Yes, you read right.. A BABY!

Meet Ester. 

She and her mommy come to our church services. Her mommy had to start work, and I offered to take care of Ester so she didn´t have to go to child care. She is a good happy baby, and a joy to have around.

The boys love her!

How are you getting ready for the summer? Will you all be visiting family or going on long trips? How will you get ready for school next year?

Catching UP - Camping in Cudillero

I have been missing in action too long. Not on purpose, mind you. There is SO much to write about, I don´t know where to start catching UP.

We had a church excursion at the beginning of the month of May. I wanted to post pictures of that. We have been biking and picnicing, and we finished school. What pictures do I choose? Where do I begin?

I choose CAMPING! 

We take an annual end of school camping trip almost every year. We all look forward to it, but it seemed I had to really push hard for it this year. We were all so glad I did!

 You may remember our camping trip from last year. Our dog rolling in .."ehem". If not you can read about it HERE after you look and comment on this post. None of this browsing and not commenting business, please.

Here I am with my Spanish bread we got every morning.

Our camp and first days breakfast.

Then hiking to the beach.

We even had wifi! 

(paid a little for 2 days worth)

Of course the freedom to wrestle and ramble!

Our last evening, we went out to the small port town, Cudillero.

Hubby treated us out to a seafood grill. Meal for two split 5 ways.

Cudillero at night. (pronounced Cood ee yairo)

Our view on one of our hikes. (the Bay of Biscay)

So my young Knights say a farewell and hope you have enjoyed catching UP with our camping trip.

From Old McDonald a La Granja

Many here in Spain they sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" at an early age, but how many children in the USA learn what  "La Granja" is?

Yes it´s ...

THE FARM

We will be singing and having a grand ol´time tomorrow as our vacation starts with a 5-6 hour drive to a farm in the state of Toledo. 

No, we don´t have to go so far to visit a farm, but we will be attending the first ever Christian Homeschool Retreat here in Spain. (that we know of) We call it CECA. Cristianos Educando en Casa. It will be held at a Farm School for kids. We look forward to the fun and relaxation as well as meeting many other homeschool families. (which is very rare in Spain)

I will be around to see you all when I get back Wednesday night. Have a wonderful Easter week.

*** Linking with Making your Home Sing meme. ***

Gulp! Sniff! GRRRR!

How many of you are feeling this way today?

How many had a hard time getting out of bed this Monday morning?

MEEEEEE!!!!!!

Before I even went to Momstheword today, I was planning on writing about sleeping in.

Even though we have to sleep more, because we are sick, does not mean we have to fall into a bad rut. (I am telling this to myself) I will make my home sing today, even though I am getting sicky, by getting back on schedule.

We did it! Now to just go heat up those leftovers for our big meal at 2:45 pm. How many of you would be able to get a big meal ready by 2:30 in the middle of the day? That´s when most Spanish families eat their big meals. I try to plan at least one day for leftovers, so I can have an easy day. Monday, is a great day for leftovers.

Hope the family likes lentils, chicken, rice, beans and whatever else I can find in the fridge.

Weekend Flash

HERE AT GOSPEL2GIJON, WE ARE SO HAPPY IT´S THE WEEKEND!

We want to stop and share some the blessings of our week.

1. A very smooth school week, almost every lesson taught and every quiz and test given. I am so thankful at how well the boys are doing!

2. Our schedule flowed fairly smoothly as stated on my last post. Only a few minor changes as to my wake up time. We had an unexpected, but very welcomed guest come in Tuesday from Bolivia very late. Then it was up late talking and getting ready for school the next day.

3. We kept up with all our dishes, and laundry this week, even with a broken dryer. (It has decided not to heat up anymore.)

4. And I am especially thankful for a nice guilt free nap today!

Ok, so humor me and pretend that it´s still Friday for a moment. I missed out on Alicia´s meme yesterday, due to a lot of running around from music practice, to working out, to karate, and to getting groceries. I suppose I could post the night before, but I like to live on the edge a little.

Here it is. What you all have been waiting for. (right?)

My wedding pictures.

The ceremony was on one of my favorite bays that flow out of Lake Ontario. For those who have never been to upstate NY, it is one of the most beautiful places to live in the Spring, Summer and Fall. If you like snow, then you would like the winter too.


My uncle did our ceremony as I had always wanted since I was a little girl. I wasn´t one of those who plans her whole wedding out from the time she is 5, but I did have that in mind. He had also done my parents wedding. There was one other thing that was important to me. I wanted an outdoor wedding on the lake. I wanted it at the lighthouse originally, but just in case it rained we had it at the country golf club. The Lord blessed us with an awesome day!

Here we are at the lighthouse after the ceremony.

This was one of my favorite proofs of which we never got copies made.

And we were off!

Off to El Paso, TX to begin my first year of teaching as a second grade teacher and my hubby to be an assistant pastor.

Our marriage is even more beautiful today. I am so blessed beyond my wildest dreams! Thanking my Lord for my marriage of 12 years.