our tadpole arrived!

Since becoming a homeschool Mom, 

I have found myself breaking many of my "absolutely never" promises.

I promised myself to NEVER to get an amphibian, never EVER! 

Well, a tadpole arrived in the mail today!

I have to admit, I am really excited about this little guy. 

We have had such fun today learning about him and introducing him to his home.

Oh the changes a woman undergoes when her name becomes "Mom".

We floated the container holding the tadpole in the aquarium water for about an hour before opening the tube and introducing him to his new home. This helps the water in the tube to become the same temperature as the water in the tank...

Our tadpole did not come with any food so we ran to the Reptile store. Such a cool store! Reptile stores were on my "NEVER list", but today I broke that rule and we had a blast looking at all the cool reptiles, amphibians and fish! So fun to explore a specialty store and talk to the owner.
The store owner said he had never had a homeschool family come into his shop. I laughed because we must have been a sight for him walking in with our notebooks and looking at every single animal in the store. I talked to the kids about the animals environments, food, temperaments, and even pointed out the different poo each animal made, haha....

Back home with the food and instructions on how to care for this little guy...

We released the tadpole in his new home. He swam all around and man can he swim FAST! Hard to take a good picture of him...

My kids all reacted in different ways, but the general consensus was "WOW!"...

E's science journal...

Day 1

Learned how to spell "tadpole" and then he had to circle all the relevant words for tadpole...

The reptile guy said it could take 5-6 weeks for him to become a frog. I hope I can keep this little guy alive that long! What fun it has been this year to learn at home with my children!! I am so excited that this tadpole observation unit is how we are closing out the year - FUN!!!

raised hand print {how-to}

My sweet husband gave me homemade raised handprints of my children for Mother's Day. I LOVE THEM! I love that they are 3-D and I can feel their sweet fingers. So special.

A few of my friends have asked us how he made them so here is how he did it...

My husband loves youtube tutorials. He has learned to do amazing things, all through watching youtube. He found this video and copied what she did...


For the recipe he used to make homemade playdough,
click on this link and use the first recipe listed...
http://www.kiddinaround.com/pages/3-Easy-Recipes-for-Making-Homemade-Play-Dough.html

He bought some plaster paints at a craft store and that is what the kids used to paint their finished hand prints...

Have fun capturing your child's hand prints!

my wednesday

We found a green caterpillar yesterday and decided to keep it and observe it. This morning we found him surrounded by a web. So cool!

Teaching my preschooler to blend colors (this was a very, VERY, messy lesson and took MANY wipes to clean up, but oh so worth it!)...

When my little kindergartner gets all the answers right in a lesson, he will go back to the beginning and write "100%". I never taught him to do this but I just think that it is the cutest thing ever! big Mommy smiles :D

what a perfect Wednesday morning!

hand prints

My husband made raised hand prints of my children for Mother's Day. I love that I can feel their little hands & fingers! What a sweet gift!

Look at my sweet daughters little hand print...

My almost 4yr old's hand print... 

My oldest son's hand print...

Today they painted their hand prints...

Ava really got into it!...

I love E's rainbow hand print!

Now, to go buy some plate hanging kits and get these pieces of art hung up!

Click HERE for the how-to for this project.

I'm a Mom

I was a Mom 2 years before I birthed my 1st born son Ethan.

You see, I got pregnant and carried the baby until just before the 10th week. 

Then, life took a u-turn and I miscarried. 

I remember sitting in church that 1st Mother's Day after I lost my baby, 

praying that I would make it through the service without completely losing it. 

I got close to making it but the children's ministry had the kids bring in roses to hand to all the Mothers in the sanctuary. 

Tears welled up in my eyes and I was fighting hard to hold them back. 

My sweet friend Terri reached over to me, 

handed me one of her roses, 

and she said to me "you are a Mother too".

The tears flowed, freely.

I felt in that moment greatly loved and embraced by the Lord,

understood and cared for by my friend Terri,

and also greatly healed and set free.

I felt an acknowledgement finally that I too was a Mother.

I did have a baby, now in heaven, in the very presence of the Lord, and I was his/her Mom.

I was a Mom.

Then, I had another miscarriage.

I learned to wait and trust in the Lord's best.

A year later I birthed Ethan.

42 weeks gestation, 8lb 3oz, perfect in every way.

My sweet, lovely 1st born son was here.

Ethan means strong & constant in Hebrew. 

He is his name, fully.

I love how his life has brought so much life to mine and my husbands' lives!

2 years later I got to meet my precious son Owen.

Owen is such a sweet warrior poet.

He is passionate, tender, emotional, deep-voiced, and imaginative.

I love being his Mommy.
And just look at how alert he was for being just a few hours old!

I had another miscarriage, which not many people knew about. 

Owen was a few months old and it all happened so fast.

Yet another sweet baby who gets to see the Lord before I do :)

I can't wait to meet him/her.

And then two years after Owen I had sweet Ava.

Ava was a surprise and yet she was such a tremendous blessing.

Her name means life, and life is what she brings to the family!

She is my only natural birth and I got to have her at home - it was perfect!

I am so thankful to be her Mommy.

And her brothers have LOVED her right from the start (Ava was only a day old here).

Children are a gift and Motherhood an amazing journey of love and self sacrifice.

Kiss those children of yours today Momma!

God is Good, all the time.
Now, go hug a Mom and tell her how blessed she is by the Lord.