It was quite a special day for Mason on January 1, 2017. God gave him a totally unexpected gift.  It was a tangible love gift that involved John Deere construction tractors. Those who know Mason’s love for these yellow tractors will fully appreciate the magnitude of this special gift. To read more about his special day head over to our website for a journal entry and photos.

http://www.totsites.com/tot/2bundlesofjoy

The 2016 election! Could it be any nastier, uglier, lewd, and grotesque?! Goodness, what a sad day when I had to worry about my 9 year old watching the Presidential debates! But the nastiness didn’t stop with the candidates. It bled into each and every citizen developing a very strong opinion about their preferred candidate, which lead to many debates being waged and many friendships being strained or severed. But, this article isn’t another debate nor is it another post bashing a certain candidate. It’s simply an article I felt compelled to write. This article is simply me sharing my heart thoughts about this election.

So to better help you understand where I’m coming from here’s just a quick summary about my little family and our support of politics. We were always the family that put signs in the yard, wore the hats, t-shirts and pins of our favorite candidates and attended campaign events and proudly cheered as our candidate walked on stage. In 2008 we attended a Sarah Palin rally and had the privilege to stand directly behind her with Mason dressed up as an adorable elephant. We even ended up on national television and in newspapers because of Mason’s costume.  Jeremy, my husband, would blog about politics and be proactive in campaigning, in our local community, for our preferred candidate. Yep, we loved the excitement each Presidential election cycle brought!!  So when this election cycle came around my family and I could hardly contain our enthusiasm. We would watch the primary debates with our bowls of popcorn and we were just as excited as if it were Superbowl Sunday. I’d have the kids take notes and we’d discuss the important topics and our favored candidates. Yep, political junkies with no shame. 😉

But…………as the the primary debates wore on our enthusiasm began to wane. Especially, when the nasty, negative and lewd comments began to emerge. We sadly began to accept the realization that this election cycle was failing to produce a candidate we could comfortably support. Coming to this conclusion lead us to re-evaluate our political stance. This step back provided an opportunity to seek God and view the political process through  the lens of His Word. In doing so it put all things in perspective. God’s Word is always good about doing that isn’t it, and in doing so it once again reiterated, People we are NOT in control.

The political process gives us all, as voters, that sense of control, that our vote matters, and that our voices are being heard, but ultimately in the grand scheme of things it is God, and God alone who makes the ultimate decision who is in the Oval Office. Although, as we read all throughout scripture God can and will use His people for His glory but the bottom line, He does NOT need us to accomplish His will. It would be arrogant of us to think otherwise. Now, you may be asking, “Am I advocating citizens not to vote”? Absolutely not! I feel it is our duty as Christians to participate. More importantly, as it states in Timothy 2: 1-3, we are to pray for our leaders, but what I am advocating for is this, that each Christian turn off the news, Twitter and Facebook, dig into God’s Word and compare each candidate through the lens of scripture and pray for God’s guidance.

As we seek God’s guidance about this election I feel we should strive, first and foremost, to honor and glorify Christ with our vote and leave our wallets or our freedoms in God’s hands.   Just as it states in 1 Corinthians 10:31b “……..whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” But sadly what I’ve observed and heard, in this and even past elections, is not how can we glorify God but more of the ancient old argument of both parties evoking fear of the future to secure loyalty to a particular party.  The fear then drives our vote, but to be quite honest I’m tired of that argument. So instead of voting out of fear let’s stop and look at what the Bible says. What does God have to say about fear?  Well, it’s an important topic to Him because He mentions in His Word, “Do not be afraid” 365 times. He also states in Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…”, and He promises in Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So  I urge my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to let this election be an opportunity for you as well to re-evaluate your political stance,  to take a deep breathe, turn off the voices of the liberal and conservative pundits, news media outlets,social media and look solely through the lens of scripture. Let us let go of the fear of what tomorrow may bring but put our hope in the One who we know holds the future. Let us put aside the promises uttered by the candidates, who always fail to deliver, but put our hope in the One who never breaks His promises. Let us rest assured that regardless of the outcome of the election it’s all going according to His ultimate plan. Let us put our hope, trust and confidence in the King of Kings, Lord of Lords because in the end it is all going to be okay because fellow Christians I read the last chapter of the Book of Promises and we win!! Now that’s something I think we all can agree on and support!! Amen!!  😉

 

 

 

It’s truly hard to believe that exactly one year ago, on November 11th, 2012, we became Floridian’s!!! To be quite honest if I could have seen the difficulties that change was about to bring I probably would never have left the comforts of home!!  I would have chosen to stay in my lovely, comfy, and familiar birthplace and home-place of little Scioto County!!  I think Jeremy and Mariah would agree, however, Mason says he’s never leaving Florida!!  😉

Yeah, I know what you all are thinking!! Your moving to Florida, you’ll be living near the beach, you’ll be enjoying beautiful weather year round and be an official beach bum!! Sounds perfect, right??   Fortunately,  Jeremy and I didn’t have those expectations!! 😉  As anyone knows moving, even locally, is stressful and change is difficult but moving to a new area 700+ miles from our little home town wasn’t easy for this small town family!!! Yep, even the beach couldn’t calm all those nerves!! 😉

Day one of moving brought lots of change for us, but we jumped in head first with eager anticipation looking forward to all that was in store!! Like making new friends, new church, new school, new job, and creating a new life for our little family!! Of course change meant stretching ourselves outside of our comfort zones and participating in lots of social functions!!  I mean we had to get “plucked into the social pipeline”!! (In case you’re unfamiliar with the quote it is from one of mine and Jeremy’s all time favorite movies “Dumb & Dumber”) At times that’s exactly how Jeremy and I have felt this past year!! LOL  However,  let me be clear on one thing I may be dumb but I’m not dumber!! 😉 Joking!!!

However, change is unfortunately something we can not avoid and it’s no stranger to any of us!  It usually requires or forces us to step completely outside of our comfort zone and take a giant leap of faith!!  In a book I’m reading called “Beloved names of God” it explains life change through the analogy of God as our Potter and we are His clay:

“In a similar way, we can theorize that the clay on a potter’s wheel would probably rather stay in the ground.  Instead, it is dug out, processed, shipped, sold, soaked, beaten, stretched, and manipulated on its way to becoming something useful-or perhaps even a work of art.  The Potter puts us on His wheel of life and forms us according to the true purpose from which we were created. It may be a messy, difficult process, but we can trust our Potter to build us up to our full potential.” ~   Beloved Names of God

Sure, life would be much easier if we could just “stay in the ground” where its comfortable and cozy and not much is required of us!! By staying “in the ground” we can go about living our “comfortable” lives all the while missing out on what we’re truly capable of accomplishing!! Things that we can only accomplish if we allow the Potter to “dig us out” and “stretch us” for His purpose!!

This past year our little family has felt “stretched”, “dug out”, “beaten”, and even “manipulated” due to our ever-changing circumstances but to be honest we wouldn’t trade it for anything!! I’m thankful that we couldn’t see the difficulties ahead because we would have chosen to stay comfortable and then we would have missed out on being molded on the Potter’s “Wheel of Life” for His greater purpose!!

Last year as we began our new adventure of homeschooling I knew I needed a behavior modification program that would help Mr. Mason sit, listen, and cooperate with Momma!!  I did not want a program that focused mainly on Good/Bad behavior because the verse found in Mark 10:48 says, “Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good except God alone”!! Therefore, I knew God was directing me to create a program that would nurture him spiritually and help him develop a relationship with Jesus, rather than focusing on his behavior.

During the summer of 2012 I completed some Bible lessons with Mason about Fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” We played Fruits of the Spirit Bingo and learned the Fruits of the Spirit songs. It even became a theme in our home!! Mason would be caught saying to his sister, if he felt she was being “bad” ;-), he’d say, “Fruits of the Spirit”!! LOL  Then as I began brainstorming about a behavior modification program, of course the Fruits of the Spirit came to my mind and “Fruitful Mart” was born!! 😉

So some of you have asked, “How does “Fruitful Mart” work”? Well,  Mason earns fruit for his basket when I’ve observed him exercising a fruit of the spirit!! For example, this morning I asked him to come get ready for school and he immediately said, “Okay” and got dressed!! He earned the fruit of the spirit Goodness!! I reinforce each fruit he earns by using it as a teachable moment to help him better understand which fruit he has exercised!!  However, there have been times he’s exercised what we like to call “rotten” fruit 😉 yep, we’re none perfect right 😉 LOL, and exercising  “rotten” fruit has consequences so he’s had to take a fruit or two out of his little basket on a few occasions!! 🙂

At the end of the week, on Friday, we count up the Fruits of the Spirit he’s earned for the week and each Fruit of the Spirit is $0.50.  I have the bins in the “Fruitful Mart” separated and color coded by prices. Bin one is $1.00 and orange color coded, bin two is $2.00 and yellow color coded and bin three is $3.00 and green color coded!! I also have a cheat sheet for him to follow which has $1.00 outlined in orange, $2.00 outlined in yellow, and $3.00 outlined in green.  This program has also been helpful in educating him on how to properly spend, save and make wise choices in spending money. He’s only allowed to purchase the items that he has enough money to purchase. If there is an item he wants and doesn’t have enough money he can save some of the money he’s earned and add it to the following weeks shopping trip or try to earn more “Fruits of the Spirit” during the following week!!

I fill the bins with items I’ve purchases from the dollar bins at Wal-Mart, Target, or the Dollar Tree!! I also fill it with items that are special treats for him, like a Hershey bar, fruit snacks, skittles, some Star Wars items, you get the idea!! He really looks forward to his shopping day every Friday and he gets a thrill throughout the week looking and counting the fruits he’s earning!!!  I’ve thanked God on many occasions for impressing “Fruitful Mart” upon my heart!! It’s been such a fun and teachable way to encourage Mason to be more like Jesus and to impress upon his little heart God’s Word!!

You can follow these links below to Fruits of the Spirit lessons, songs, bingo and some great printables:

*Tip: I laminated the fruit badges and fake money to make them a little bit more durable!! 🙂

Fruit of the Spirit Printables: http://www.biblestoryprintables.com/BiblePrintablesFruitoftheSpirit.html#.UkL55H-aWSp

Fruit of the Spirit Devotional and Checklist Chart: http://apronsandapples.blogspot.com/2012/07/free-fruit-of-spirit-devotional-and-fun.html

Fruit of the Spirit Bingo:  http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/Bingo/BibleBingoFruit.html

Fruit of the Spirit Badges: http://pennypinchingmother.blogspot.com/2012/03/fruits-of-spirit-sunday-school-unit.html   *Tip: I copied and pasted onto Word before I printed!!

Fake Dollar Bills: http://www.kidsmoneyfarm.com/user/image/fake-bills-template-1.pdf

Fruit of the Spirit song by “Go Fish“: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyBmPOlPWNA

Fruit of the Spirit song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDNvUOZRFxs

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Have you ever had a time in your life when you really felt God speak to you? A time when you felt Him so close and can hear Him speaking to you through His Word?

Well, this past Sunday morning was one of those times for me. Before I began my devotions I was praying and asking Him to lead me to a passage of scripture that would really wow me!! I was craving something like a “juicy steak” of scripture that I could really sink my teeth into and be able to feast on throughout the entire day and as I began flipping through my Women’s Devotional Bible God led me to the book of Isaiah!! Isaiah 40 to be exact!! It was though God came beside me as a close friend and with a sense of humor said something like this, “You want me to wow you, I’ll wow you”!! 🙂

And WOW me He did, but did I really expect anything different?? No, not really!! That’s why I asked Him!! 😉  As I began reading Isaiah 40 passages of scripture  literally began jumping off the page and wowing me in amazement of my Heavenly Father!! The passages were Isaiah 40: 12,15,18, 22, 25-26, and 28!! Here they are written in that exact order:

12. “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, or with the breadth of His hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

15. Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

18. To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare Him to?

22. He sits enthroned about the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

25. To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

26. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens; Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because His great power and mighty strength , not one of them is missing.

28. The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.

Now granted I’ve read these passages a hundred times before but today it felt like God Himself was sitting next to me and sharing with me, this lowly grasshopper, 😉  just how Awesome He truly is!!  My heart was filled with such worship, praise, Wow, joy, laughter, honor, adoration, Wow , love, peace, well to be honest my heart could hardly contain it!! I was so filled with wonder of my Heavenly Father!!

I’m still feasting on those precious passages!! Wow!! What an awesome and amazing  God we serve!! I’m thankful that through His word He gently shows me how insignificant I am and how insignificant my momentary earthly problems are but reminds me just How Great He Is!!! Now that’s something to be Wowed about!! Praise His Holy Name!!

Mason’s first two days of Kindergarten went great expect for the morning good-bye’s!! He would cry and say, “I can’t take it, I miss you”!! Yesterday the good-bye was so dramatic that the teacher had to pull him away from me!! I was kinda shocked at the drama of it all since he went to Pre-K and Spanish camp with no real major issues, a few tears sure, but not the pulling away, reaching and heavy crying!!! Yikes!! But I began to pray and seek God’s counsel and God revealed to me that Mason was convinced that the beginning of Kindergarten was an ending to his childhood as he knew it!! He was a big boy now and would be responsible for big boy burdens!!

God’s revealing reminded me about statements Mason made two weeks prior to Kindergarten. A lot of our conversations would include, worrying about living alone, raising a family, being a daddy, making money and having a job!!! Of course I would always give quick silly reassuring answers like, “Mason you don’t need to worry about it right now” or “Mason you’re being silly” or “Mason no matter how old you get you’ll always be my baby boy” and I would leave it at that!! However, Mason did NOT!!

Mason is a deep thinker and was taking the statement “you’re a big boy know, you’re in Kindergarten” really seriously!! The very thought of him becoming a functioning, living on my own adult, became a burden he could not bear!! That very evening I set Mason down and began to talk with him about his burden, with a sad look on his face he nodded in agreement that he had believed he was going to grow up and have to be on his own following Kindergarten. Well, this Momma’s heart broke into a million pieces!! He had created such a heavy burden for himself, which led to worry, overwhelmed feelings, anxiousness and fear!!

However, Mason’s story reminds me so much of myself at times!! I worry, fret, panic, become overwhelmed and have feelings of anxiousness, all because I’m trying to carry a burden that I wasn’t intended to carry alone!! I begin leaning on my own understanding and telling myself that I can handle it, fix it, or control it, but until I come to the realization that I can’t carry the burden all by myself I remain in the anxious state of worry and fret!! But when my Abba Father comes beside me and gives me gentle counsel through His word I’m reminded that He wants me to “Cast my burden upon Him…” Psalms 55:22

And just as Mason found relief in the reassurance from his Momma that his Daddy will continue to provide for him and that Mommy will continue to take care of him, we too need to lean on our Heavenly Father just like it says in the passage found in 1 Peter 5:7 “Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you”!! Wow! What a comforting verse!! What reassurance!!! Our Heavenly Father doesn’t intend for us to carry our burdens alone. He wants to reassure us that He’s the One who will take care of all things and most importantly that “……He will never leave us nor forsake us” Deuteronomy 31:6

Mason’s experience has been a great reminder for me to exercise my childlike faith!! Just as Mason is trusting in his Mommy and Daddy to continue to provide for him, I too can trust God, my Heavenly “Daddy”!! Because in His word He asks me to “…not be anxious about anything” and to “not lean on my own understanding” but to “Trust in the Lord with all my heart”!! Philippians 4:6, Prov. 3:5!!!

Jesus is calling to us today to allow Him to lift our burdens, for He says in Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. Not only is His burden light He longs to have us cradle in His arms with total dependence on Him!! As Mason said this morning, “Momma can you still hold me”?? I responded as I was picking him up into my arms,”Mason of course momma still can hold you”!! Sadly there will come a time when I will no longer be able to physically pick him up but I’m thankful that I can lead him to the One who he’ll never outgrow. The One who will walk beside him daily, carry his burdens and relieve all worry, anxiety and fear just as long as he continues to put into practice his Childlike Faith!!

Beginning in September of 2012 my life began a rat race!! I began Homeschooling Mariah and Mason and since it was our first year homeschooling it was difficult to find the schedule that worked for the little Estes’ family!! But just as the kids and I were getting settled and feeling comfortable with our schedule we get news that God has opened the door for us to move to our favorite little corner of the world Amelia Island, Florida!!! YAY!!  🙂  I was so excited, as was my little family!!! Then the realization began to set in that we are moving 700+ miles away!!! Yikes!!!

Well, out the door went my “perfect” little homeschool schedule!! 😦  I now had to make time for packing, packing and more packing, and also a garage sale!!! Ugghh!!!  Most of the month of October was consumed with preparing for the move, but we managed to squeeze in a Halloween Slumber Party for Mariah and our annual Trick or Treat with the family!! 

Then November comes and the moving date is drawing closer!! More craziness piles onto our now crazy schedule.  Then on Saturday, November 10th we pull out of our drive way on Thomas Hollow Road and began our journey to Amelia Island, Florida. Jeremy is driving the Penske truck and pulling the Toyota Corolla and Mariah and I follow behind in the Honda Odyssey!!  After a 14-15 hour drive and one night’s stay in South Carolina we finally arrive at our new home on Sunday, November 11th!!

Well, every since we have arrived we’ve hit the ground running. It seems as though it’s difficult to catch a breath!!! In our first week in Florida we began a new church, Jeremy started his new job, major unpacking began, celebrated Thanksgiving with new friends, Mason begins Jack and Jill Preschool, and Mom comes for a wonderful three week visit and we celebrate Christmas with all of it’s wonderful and fun festivities. 

Following Christmas I began participating in a Women’s Bible Study, Mariah began participating in her youth group, Mason began AWANA’s, which means we’re going to church three times a week now!!  We then celebrate Mason’s 6th Birthday Party, Mason has dental surgery, Mariah gets her permit, then we celebrate Mariah’s “Sweet 16th” Birthday party, then the adoption of two kittens and then I’m squeezing in the demands of homeschooling. It’s been difficult trying to manage a “perfect” schedule since I’m still homeschooling Mason in the afternoon’s following Preschool. Yeah, I’m just a tad bit OCD about structure!! 😉 Then on top of all of that I’m taking care of the daily routines of cleaning, laundry, dishes and the needs of my precious little family, and dealing with the stress of adjusting to a new environment!!!

Now that we’re heading into our fourth month here in Florida things are beginning to settle down a tad bit, just as Mason is beginning T-ball, but that’s the wonderful life with kids!! 🙂 Never a dull moment!! But in reading about our busy lives, did you notice that something crucial is missing?  The missing component has eternal significance. So, what’s the missing component? 

There was no time set aside to meet with God!!! Of course, I would read my bible briefly, pray on the run, do a 5 minute devotional, a couple times I had a 10-15min. Bible study, listen to worship music, and don’t forget that we began attending church 3 services a week, too!!  But although I was doing all the things that “Good” Christians are supposed to do I was left  feeling empty. I wasn’t allowing God time to offer me rest and comfort in His Holy Presence!! 

This morning as I sat at my kitchen table to have a “sustainable” devotional and Bible reading I was prompted to listen to one of my favorite worship songs by Sara Groves “He’s Always Been Faithful”!!  I searched the song on You Tube and came across an Unofficial  Music Video for the song!! In the video it shows a man waking up and rushing frantically to get to his destination. As I watch the video I wasn’t quite sure where it was leading then it becomes clear!! He’s rushing to get to God’s house to meet with the Lord and Savior and at the end of the song you’re asked the question, “In the busyness of life, when was the last time you rushed to meet with God?”  I broke into tears and was overwhelmed with conviction!! I haven’t rushed to meet with God in quite sometime, but boy I sure was rushing to get through my daily check off list of what a “Good” Christian is supposed to be doing!!!!

I know everyone of us have busy lives, I read your Facebook postings!!! LOL 😉 But I’m going to challenge you as I’m challenging myself to make an intentional effort to meet with God each day.  Give yourself time to sit in His Presence and let Him refresh you, speak to you and strengthen you!! Like it says in Lamentations 3:22-24 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”

The entire verse is full of God’s Truth,  but the part of the verse that jumped out at me was, “because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed“!!!  By allowing the busyness of  life to distract me it kept God’s daily renewal of His mercies, love and faithfulness to fully permeate my life!!! Yet, because of His great love and His constant pursuit of me I’m NOT consumed!! Like the song says, ” All I have need of His hand will provide. He’s always been faithful to me. .”.  So, I’m going to ask you the same question that I’m asking of myself, “In the busyness of life [Misti], [Fellow Believer], when was the last time you rushed to meet with God”?  He’s Waiting!!

Below is the link to the Unofficial Music Video to “He’s Always Been Faithful” by Sara Groves

These past few weeks have been really crazy for our family!! We found out on October 8th that we are moving to Northeast Florida!! However, I’ll be posting a blog about our move at a later time!! So when I say crazy, I mean crazy!!. The busyness of everything that is involved in planning a move has been overwhelming. In addition to managing the everyday schedule which has included homeschooling, soccer practice and games, a very quick trip to Florida for house hunting, and most importantly managing my sanity has been a very daunting task, but we’ve managed!! I think!! 🙂

Although life has been busy, schooling and learning must continue. We managed to have Discovery Modules in Fire Safety, Spiders, and Pumpkins. The Fire Safety Module included Mason learning how to dial 9-1-1, how to Drop, Stop and Roll, he became familiar to the sound of a smoke detector, and how to stay low, low, low when crawling in a smoke filled room. He also had to test a door to see if it was safe to open, because if the door is hot, don’t open because fire is on the other side!! Just ask him he thinks he’s a Certified Firefighter now!! 🙂

The Spider Discovery Module included the anatomy of the spider, egg cycle, counting, graphing, craft and AB patterning. The Spider Discovery Module was completed while we were in Florida. We took one day and stayed in our Residence Inn room and completed a day of home school, while Jeremy ran errands and completed necessary business.

Schooling also continued while on the road, that’s the beauty of home school. It goes everywhere you go, even in the van!! The kids completed studies and worksheets while traveling cause what better way to pass 13 hrs than learning, right? My kids would disagree, they could find plenty of other ways to pass the time on a long trip!! 😉

The latest Discovery Module was about Pumpkins, which included reinforcing the letters J and P, graphing, sight reading practice, counting and carving out pumpkins!!  And of course the carving of the pumpkins was his favorite part. He dug right in, cleaning out the pumpkin’s ooey gooey mess!! I also included the books “The Pumpkin Patch Parable” by Liz Curtis Higgs, and “Let’s Shine Jesus’ Light on Halloween” by Diane Stortz. “The Christian Pumpkin Poem”~author unknown  was also included because we always find ways to reinforce God’s Holy Word even during Halloween!! :-))

During all of the craziness Mariah has stayed on track with her Independent learning with Virtual Community School of Ohio (VCS)!! She is actually doing well and maintaining an A average! She also has been a great help with packing, cleaning, entertaining Mason, and maintaining a healthy sanity, too!!! LOL

These past few weeks haven’t been easy but I’m so thankful that God has been there every step of the way to guide, calm and comfort!!  Even though moving to Florida is exciting, it brings with it lots of mixed emotions and stress. Umm, did I mention stress!! 😉 But, over all it’s going really well!! We’re getting packed, doing our best to maintain a balanced schedule for homeschooling and making sure we live it joyfully!! 🙂

*Check out our Family Album for the recent journal entry and photos of Mariah’s Halloween Slumber Party 🙂

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For those of you who may be asking, “So what’s a typical home school day look like? Do you stay up late? Sleep in? Do you have school everyday? ” Well, we can’t answer all of those questions for every home school home but we can give you a glimpse into what a typical day looks like for us!!

Our usual school week is Tuesday – Friday. We keep our Mondays open for Field Trips or a day to prepare for the week ahead, especially since Jeremy is off  and Mason is convinced it’s a day for play. 🙂 Our day begins around 7:30-8:00 a.m. with getting dressed, completing chores, having breakfast and by 9:30-10:00 a.m. we are ready for the learning to begin. Mariah heads upstairs for her independent learning through Virtual Community School of Ohio, while Mason and I head to the classroom for his studies in Phonics, Word Building, Math, English, Science and Social Studies. We are using the Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E.) curriculum with Mason in which he works in PACE’s. A “PACE is similar to a unit in a textbook. Each level consists of 12 PACEs in each subject. PACEs integrate Godly character-building lessons into the academic content, and self-instructional activities are carefully designed to develop thinking skills and create mastery learning.”

Around noon we break for lunch and some well needed playtime for Mason, free time for Mariah and a time for Momma to catch up on some dishes and laundry. Around 1:00 p.m. Mariah heads back to her studies and Mason and I head back to the classroom. We complete any unfinished projects from the morning and then it’s  time for crafts, music, physical development, computer and iPhone education apps. We usually try to end our day between 2:00-2:30 p.m.

Our evenings usually consist of taking a walk to the pond or playground, riding bikes, or doing some sort of outdoor activity, weather permitting. There is free time for Mariah and Mason to do as they wish, which allows momma time for documentation and preparation for the next day, catch up on household chores, and prepare for dinner.

We also like to incorporate Discovery Modules into our days. These modules will cover an area of interest or importance. So far we’ve completed module’s on the History of 9/11, Life cycle of a Pumpkin, The Skeletal System, Money and Money Management, and Snakes. The joy of these modules help create life learning skills and allows for more of a hands on learning approach.

On September 17th we took the kids to the Scioto Trails State Park for their first home school outing . Along our 3+ mile hike we found all kinds of acorns and leaves, an inch worm, a dragonfly, a granddaddy long leg and a 5-6 foot long Black Rat Snake!! Yep, you read it right!! A long, veeerrryyyy long Black Rat Snake was lying along the path just basking in the sun. We were in awe to see such a grown adult snake in its natural habitat, and one would think that our natural instinct would have been to run the other direction but actually it was quite the opposite. We “basked” in this learning experience.

We stopped and took pictures, however at a “safe” distance. We felt at ease getting more acquainted with Mr.. Black Rat Snake since he was at a restful state enjoying his sun bathing and not coiled up ready for a strike!! However, after quietly and cautiously taking pictures of this amazing creature he began to become a little irritated and gave us a quick strike of his tongue. We then proceeded to careful back away and leave him to his basking!!   You’ll find pics of our forest friend below!! We ended our outing by having a picnic lunch at Yoctangee Park, located in downtown Chillicothe and the kids enjoyed hand-feeding the local Canadian Geese.

So there is just a little insight into a typical home school day, “Estes” style!! 🙂 Not each day runs smoothly, perfectly or right on time, believe us we tried. The first few days we tried a stringent schedule, which led to us crashing and burning!!  The military tight schedule wasn’t fun, and learning was becoming a duty not a privilege!! We are learning that sometimes we have to go with the flow, allow for some wiggle room but most of all giggle room because, “A wise teacher makes learning a joy” ~ Proverbs 15:2

*Below are some pics of our last few weeks of adventures*

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