Frankie Turns 25

This still blows me away that Frankie turned 25 this year! It wasn’t that long ago when she was 5 or even 15. I see her and think at that age I had been married 3 years and was raising a 7 year old. Anyway, back to Frankie’s Day!

Her birthday fell on a Sunday morning this year, and because we attend morning services it was very early in the morning when we opened gifts. Her breakfast of choice was chocolate donut holes and chocolate milk.

She began her day opening lots of wonderful gifts from friends and family, including new karaoke CDs (with a microphone stand!), jewelry, coloring books, horse figurine and lots of new clothes! After church services we joined the Gungans at the Olive Garden for her birthday lunch.

She had lots of sweet birthday wishes on Facebook. But probably her favorite was the church ice cream social fell on her birthday! She talked about this for weeks ahead of time, and she wasn’t disappointed! Lots of ice cream and everyone sang happy birthday to her. She couldn’t stop grinning!

National Bible Bowl

In conjunction with Leadership Training for Christ, sixteen of our youth competed in the National Bible Bowl tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma this weekend. I have been coaching this awesome group of kids since the beginning of November. We've worked for an hour and a half every Sunday afternoon.

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Previous competitions have been held at Abilene Christian University and Oklahoma Christian University, however this year it was sponsored by York Christian College and held during the Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop. This is the largest number of youth our congregation has taken into this competition.

The National’s Test consisted of 300 questions to be answered in two and a half hours, that’s :30 seconds per question! When all was said and done, our three elementary teams took first, second and third place. Our Junior team took first place in the team competition!!!!

In the Elementary Individual division the kids took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th & 10th places. And in the Junior Divisions the kids took 1st, 2nd & 3rd!!! I am so proud of everyone of them. They all worked so hard and it showed!

PEACH Kick-Off 2010

School has started and that means our PEACH back to school kick off. Our homeschool group is pushing 200 families, and at the kick-off we were busting at the seams with 300+ people! It was so encouraging to see that many homeschoolers together in one place. Donna and I are both serving on the board again this year, you know, because we both have a lot of free time!

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At the kick-off I ran thru how too use the PEACH Yahoo group, so that members can navigate their way easily. It was great to see our homeschool friends and check out the field trips and schedule this school year.

Strange Grocery Lists

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When you homeschool you never know what will show up on your grocery list. Things like boric acid or vegetables you know the kids don't like. When these things appear on the white board in the kitchen I know one of the kids has a science experiment coming up. This weeks experiment for Abigail involved understanding how water and nutrients move up a plants stem to nourish the flowering portion of the plant. Abigail placed hearts of celery in a beaker with food coloring and then mapped out for the next few days the changes as the red die moved up the stalk. Jon doesn't even ask anymore why strange things can be found lying on our kitchen counters.

NTHEN Convention

Every summer Ms. Gungan and I with kids in tow head to the North Texas Home Educator Networks Summer Conference. Usually we are there to shop for curriculum and books we don't really need. This year we took on a new role: exhibitors! Donna is the VP and I'm Communications Director of Plano Educational Association of Christian Homeschoolers, or P.E.A.C.H! PEACH is a support group for Plano homeschooling families.

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It was fun to be one of the 100+ exhibitors and meet homeschooling families from all over Texas. The keynote speaker was Mr. Rick Green of Wallbuilders. You've probably seen him on of of Glenn Becks Friday shows.

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And yes, Donna and I did manage to get in some shopping!

Hawaiian Falls, Baby

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At the end of Spring ball Abigail won tickets to Hawaiian Falls for ten friends. Today we met up with Ms. Gungan and the boys along with Ms. Lori and the girls. Unfortunately Caleb and his pink eye didn’t get to join us but we went on with the fun.

The kids spent hours taking on the Halfpipe, Wipeout, and Pipeline. They also spent their fair share of time at Breaker Beach, the wave pool. The newest ride is the Torpedo, it is a tube you climb in and then the floor drops out on you and fall almost straight down into a pool. Abigail said you’re in the tube just long enough to think, ‘what am I doing?!’

The moms spent most of the time in the lazy river, floating along and laughing. I love those ladies, after time with them I always thank God for our blessing in Texas.

Green Frog Blanket

Abigail loves running and softball, rocking climbing and all things tomboy-ish. She is not a princess, not in to the dress-up and girly thing. But the creative side of her loves to cook, and sew and many of those type of feminine activities. The other day we purchased fabric and I showed her how to machine quilt. She made a simple quilt top with green frogs and a soft cotton backing. I enjoy quilting too and was blessed that Frankie's foster mom took the time to show me how to quilt.

Sugar and Spice . . . and Blue Toes

Every Saturday night Jon paints Abigail’s toenails, I can’t remember how this started. It probably came out of my desire to have a girly-girl and Abigail being all tom-boy. The compromise was she would at least look like a girl on Sunday. Anyway, Abigail never picks the pinks or mauves, her toes are usually green or blue. Oh well, at least she likes the long hair, even if it is only because all she has to do is put it in a pony tail.

I’m sure somewhere early on we frightened Abigail with the giant ‘80’s bows I used to put in Frankie’s hair.