Vacation IV

I talked Kevin into leaving the beach for a day and we went up to Lake Arrowhead in the mountains for some hiking.

 

A resemblance, don't you think?

 

 

 

 

Here is something I wish we had in Indiana!! Yum.

 

A morning at Crystal Cove beach ...

 

 

Really great breakfast place right on the beach.

 

More Sand Castle Fun:

 

My dad got a bounce house for Labor Day--the kids were thrilled!

 

Our little Sophia had a run in with the playground equipment. It wasn't as bad as it looks!

 

Two of my sisters:

 

We miss Rubio's Fish Tacos and their fresh salsa bar. So we had to get our fix before leaving!!

 

Sophia warmed up to the waves and the last day we went to the beach she did NOT want to leave!

 

Vacation III

Whale watching was the most fun thing we did all week! We loved being out on the wide open sea and chasing after the blow spouts. Whenever we would spot the spray, the captain would pick up speed and take us to search for whales. We saw numerous blue whales and two different dolphin pods and other wildlife. It was quite the adventure!

 

Seeing the spray in the distance:

 

A closeup of a whale:

 

 

A blurry picture of a whale fluke.

 

The dolphins were awesome!

 

 

Vacation II

At one point during our stay, I overheard myself telling the kids, "Make sure to eat ALL of your fruit loops BEFORE you eat your doughnut!" Feeding the kids lots of sugar is a grandparent's prerogative, right? I'm sure I will do it too someday! :)

 

After eating fish tacos at Sharkeez in Manahttan Beach, we walked along the strand. California roses are the best, most biggest, most fragrant roses. It was a beautiful day and one of my favorites!

 

 

A day in Long Beach ... my hometown:

 

 

 

The famous hat shop in Long Beach. Don't quote me but I think it's the largest hat shop west of the Mississippi:

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Grandmother's House We Go ...

We are back from our trip to Southern California to see family and life continues at full speed, between loads of laundry, homeschooling, and all the other day-to-day activities. We really enjoyed time together as a family and a break in the routine!

If you have ever flown on an airplane with a 19-month-old, you know that it is absolutely one of the most fun and stress-free things you can ever do! (Fortunately for me Kevin took her for most of the air time!!)

 

The girls were so excited to get to fly.

 

Lots of time was spent exploring the sea shore ...

 

Lots of sand was consumed ...

 

Numerous sand castles were built. It was great.

 

 

Whenever I see snow falling, I feel like a kid because it's something I didn't experience growing up. Kevin is the same way at the beach. He is a big kid! He loves to be either in the water or elbow deep in the sand building something. Here he is boogie boarding with my brother David:

 

 

 

A family bonfire on the beach while watching the sun set over the pacific was a highlight.

 

 

 

 

Prayer Jar

One new thing we are doing every morning as we begin our school day is using a Prayer Jar. I got this idea from my MOPS group last semester. The kids love it because they get to pick something out of a jar every morning. (What kid doesn't love to choose something from a jar?!) I love it because it is teaching them to pray about a wide variety of topics and say it from the heart. It teaches them that God cares about every aspect of their life. It also gives them a larger vision concerning things that are important to pray about. I always enjoy hearing them take these topics and put them in their own words.

 

Here are the topics, if you are interested in doing it too!

Prayer Jar Questions
• Today thank God for something green.
• Today pray for people who live on the streets
• Today pray for people who don’t have food to eat
• Today pray for people who don’t have clean running water
• Today pray for people who are in the hospital
• Today pray for our country and our leaders
• Today pray that our government would seek Gods will for our country
• Today ask God what he wants to do in our lives today
• Today ask God to reveal a new aspect of Himself to you.
• Today pray for your Church
• Today pray for your neighbors
• Today thank God for something small
• Today thank God for something big
• Today thank God for saving your life
• Today pray for someone that you know, that doesn’t know the love of Jesus
• Today pray for your local Police department
• Today pray for your local Fire department
• Today pray for wisdom
• Today pray a prayer of thanks. Each person express 3 things you’re thankful for.
• Today pray for a friend
• Today pray for someone famous, why did you choose this person?
• Today pray for a country
• Today thank God for a blessing in your life
• Today thank God for the way he made you, what is it that you like most about yourself?
• Today thank God for your pets or your favorite animal
• Today pray for the oceans, forests, wetlands, deserts, of this earth
• Today thank God for your home, what is your favorite thing about your house?
• Today thank God for things that make you feel loved, what are some of those things?
• Today pray that God would reveal one way you could improve your relationship with Him.
• Today pray for people who are alone
• Today pray for understanding and patience
• Today pray that God would use you to change someone’s life
• Today pray that you would shine bright for the world to see, what is something you could do to shine bright for God?
• Today pray for your Pastor
• Today pray for your Parents
• Today pray for someone in your family
• Today thank God for your clothes and shoes, pray for those people that may not have them.
• Today thank God for your toys, pray for children who don’t have toys
• Today pray for people in slavery

Memory Work

Here is a picture of our "morning board," used for reviewing memory work. I revised it this year to greatly simplify it. I didn't want to spend quite as much time on it this year. It takes about 10 minutes and we are now doing it after lunch, so I guess it's not technically even a morning board anymore! All of our Classical Conversations memory is on it, as well as a few other things (a good character habit to work on, that I borrowed from my friend Catherine, and a corresponding bible verse, and also our home address and phone). The kids work on additional bible memory and memorize a poem, but we work on that separately in the morning. They are also memorizing the shorter catechism at night with their dad. My theory is that the more the kids memorize, the easier memorizing is for them. Kids are amazing!! They can retain so much in such a little amount of time when they are challenged to do it.

 

Summer Slowly Dies

Summer, we will miss you!