Scripture Verses

Grace and Faith are learning many new bible verses this year in preschool and committing them to memory. Originally, our curriculum came with a list of scriptures but we decided to make our own personal list from verses that we, (teachers/moms) loved. None of these short, 3 word verses for our kids! No seriously, we just picked some that were meaningful to us. We have allowed two weeks to learn each verse and as you can see, they get longer and more complex as the weeks go on. We have also chosen verses to coincide with the holidays, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter. I am simply amazed and how fast our kids can learn and memorize scripture! Talk about underestimating! My prayer is that one day, these words will not only be planted in their memories but more importantly, grounded in their hearts. This week's verse is Deuteronomy 6:5, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." At first, Morgan looked at our list and commented on how hard he thought they were. He also said it's a good thing that we have two weeks to learn them. It was so fun to see how surprised he was when the girls recited this week's verse to him after just 2 days!

By the end of the school year, they will have memorized 15 powerful God-breathed bible verses, countless Sunday school songs, the Pledge of Allegiance (which they practically know by heart now!), and even a few Christmas Carols to boot! Not too shabby for preschool!

The hand of the Lord is powerful. Joshua 4:24

Great is our Lord and mighty in power. Psalm 147:5

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Deuteronomy 6:5

Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face always.

1 Chronicles 16:11

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Colossians 3:20

For God so loved the world, He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

Jesus said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

John 11:25-26

Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

Welcome Fall

Well, technically, we are now into the fall season- even if the temperature outside still reads triple digits! It seems like our summer came to an abrupt end and the month of September is all but a memory as well. I have so much to blog about but very little time these days. School has been keeping us busy. I'm either taking the girls to school, preparing their lessons for my week to teach, or working with Faith and Grace on their school work. Morgan has been traveling quite a bit with his new role at work so I'm finding any free time I had, has been limited. On top of my normal duties around the house,
I'm also serving as Speaker Coordinator for Mom2Mom this year. Throughout the summer, I've been praying and booking our guest speakers. Each week, my job is to make the speaker feel welcome, introduce them before they speak, provide them with a small gift afterwards, and make sure that each table has their discussion questions. We have a wide range of topics and discussions planned this year so I'm excited to see what the Lord has prepared for us to learn. My hope and prayer is that each woman would leave feeling encouraged, inspired, challenged, and loved. I've also been feeling a little nervous about speaking in front of a large group every week but thankfully, the Lord has been working with me on this. I'm sure that I'll get more comfortable as the weeks go by.

We are supposed to get down to the 90's and even high 80's this week!
We are looking forward to spending lots of time outdoors in our gorgeous desert very soon. In the meantime, we searched the garage for what I had in fall decorations. It's not much but the girls sure enjoy the scarecrow and pumpkins. So long, summer! Despite the heat, you were one of the best summer's we've had! We loved spending lots of time in our pool. We will miss you but know that fall is anxiously waiting it's turn and has lots to teach us as well...

San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter

City girls.

Horton Plaza, right outside our hotel.

Faith gets a butterfly painted on her arm.

Grace's turn.

They loved their glittery butterflies. Only $2 each!

The longest carousel ride... ever.

Mommy was dizzy but Grace was all smiles.

"Hey, you've got a bird on your arm!"

Parrots.

Animal art work made of steel.

Cinderella's carriage.

Enjoying the afternoon.

My old apartment at 5th & G (except it used to be all white).

Last weekend, Morgan had to attend a business conference in Downtown San Diego. Since he was staying in a hotel on Saturday anyway, the girls and I tagged along. On the way down to San Diego, we stopped by the beach for a few hours but it was a little on the cool side for us desert folk. No one else seemed to mind too much but I was covered up with a towel for most of the time! Later, we checked into our hotel and had an afternoon nap before hitting the town. The Westin was conveniently located right next to Horton Plaza so it was fun to walk around at night and grab dinner without getting in the car. Being in this part of San Diego brought back some great memories for me. Ten years ago, Morgan and I started dating (long distance) while I was living here. He lived in Los Angeles and I lived in the Gaslamp Quarter, just a few short blocks away from where we were staying. It was a great "city life" experience for me. I loved my apartment and the fact that I could walk anywhere from it, including the mall (with a Nordstroms at Horton Plaza), great restaurants, jazz bars, dancing, and the grocery store. What more does a girl need? Ha ha!

On Sunday, Morgan was busy all day with work so after getting in a morning nap and a late check out, I took the girls to Seaport Village, hoping to just kill some time. I'm so thankful that the Lord allowed me to spend such a sweet afternoon with my girls. There happened to be an art show going on that day so there was lots to enjoy and do. We had so much fun! Perhaps my favorite part was just sitting on the grass as we shared a bag of popcorn, listening to a jazz player, and watching the sailboats go by...

Although we missed daddy throughout the day, I would not trade for a second all the little moments and conversations that were made for just me and my girls. What a special afternoon we shared together. Simply delightful!

Fire Station Field Trip

B is for bubbles!

Outdoor play time.

Teagan.

Vivien.

They're not having any fun at all.

Faith shows off her sun.

Grace is happy to be glueing.

Sunny Vivien.

Working on their placemats.

The card we made for the firefighters.

The inside.

School is cool.

We asked some friends to come along.

Yesterday we finished up our school lessons for the week. My week of teaching went great! I can't wait until it starts getting a little cooler so we can have more lessons outside. We were able to spend a little bit of time in the morning observing and blowing bubbles in the backyard- which the kids loved. They are all doing great! This morning, we had our first field trip to our local fire station. The kids did well considering we got started about 20 minutes late due to the fact that they got called out on an emergency, just when we arrived. Luckily, it didn't take very long and when they returned,

we were able to get a tour of the fire station as well as the ins and outs of the fire truck. The firefighters were very informative and gracious. Our preschool class made them a card and we baked some homemade goodies as a token of our appreciation. What a fun way to spend a Friday morning!

Week 2

Vivien got to hold the flag for the pledge of allegiance.

Practicing writing the letter B.

Today we learned about the letter B, the color blue, beans and bubbles.

Teagan and Grace.

Teagan making his bubble art.

It's worship time!

This corner of the kitchen (along with some cupboards) is devoted to school.

Here's our wall of art work.

It's only week #2. Can I just share how excited and encouraged I am about homeschooling?! It's my week to teach and I am enjoying it immensely.

The kids did GREAT today! They are learning their second bible verse,

"Great is our Lord and mighty in power." ~Psalm 147:5

We are also learning about the letter B and some different things that relate to it. Even though it's only the second week of school, I am super impressed with what the girls have retained so far. I am feeling extremely fortunate and blessed to have this opportunity to teach my kids and invest in them. Most of all, I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do at this time in my life. There's something beautiful and comforting about being in the will of God and loving what you're doing at the same time. It certainly fuels the passion. I also enjoy the fact that homeschooling gives dads an opportunity to be involved with school life as well. There's so much to talk about around our kitchen table! All of the week's school work is displayed on our kitchen walls. It's the perfect opportunity to share and review our lessons. And let's just say that if the girls are learning a new scripture verse, so is daddy! We are looking forward to our first field trip this friday- a tour of our local fire station!

First Day of School

All ready for school!

Cute backpacks from Pottery Barn Kids.

Big girls.

Class of 2024!

Our 4 students.

School is in session!

And so it begins... the girls started their first day of preschool this morning! We prayed about it as a family last night and again this morning. I've been slowly preparing the girls by talking to them about school for the last month or so. They are fully aware that they will be having 3 teachers and 4 students in their class. I have done my best at making it sound like an exciting, positive step, with lots of fun ahead. They were very excited about it this morning! They kept saying that they were big girls now because they were going to school. They also asked if they were going to ride on the school bus but unfortunately, mom's minivan would have to do. Shannon has the teaching responsibilities this first week, followed by me, then Hailey.

So, what did I do with my two hours of free time? I ran a couple of errands across town (rather quickly without two kids in tow!) and then exercised by walking around Shannon's gated community for the last 30 minutes.

How did I feel about my kids starting school? Honestly, I didn't get the least bit emotional or choked up. Maybe that's because we're doing the homeschooling thing. Truthfully, I was more excited for my girls. They are entering a new and exciting phase in their young lives and that's reason for celebration and optimism!

The girls enjoyed their morning and told me all about it on the way home. It was adorable. I heard all about how to take a stem off an apple, David and Goliath, painting with red paint, "head, shoulders, knees and toes," and how we live in the state of California. We had lunch shortly after we came home and the girls have been napping since 12:30. Yeah!

After the first day, here are some nice things I'm learning about homeschool...

-No pressures of back-to-school clothes shopping. Gotta love that!

-You don't even have to wear shoes at school- that goes for us teachers too!

-You get to play with pet dogs.

-You know and love all your friends (and teachers).

-Our kids get to learn and socialize in a loving, secure, and familiar environment.

I am in constant prayer over this new school year, our kids, and our families. May the Lord grow us and bless us as we endeavor to raise our children for Him!

Labor Day Weekend

Ready to play.

Fun in the sandbox.

Cooling off.

A storm was coming...

Better view from the sky deck.

The girls called them "cotton ball" clouds.


Morgan and Derek at Hideaway.

Rasta girls.

Viking and a moose.

When pigs fly!

Vietnam locals.

Beanies.

Davy Crockett

Being silly.

Captain and her first mate.

A night of dancing.

They were copying the other two sisters.

Dance party.

Feeding the horses.

Grace gives him a carrot.

The horses were hungry.

Faith liked doing it on her own.

Grace gets a boost.

Waving goodbye.

We had a nice and mellow long weekend and stayed close to home. Saturday, we spent much of the day in our backyard where the girls played in the pool and sandbox while Morgan and I cleaned the whole backyard area. Believe me, it was long overdue. Although I love living in our desert community, my biggest grip would probably be the dust. I can deal with the heat pretty well now but the dust is so irritating. We spent half the day hosing off all the furniture, decks, and cleaning all the windows. It's been unusually humid this past week too so every once in a while, we'd have to jump in the pool to cool off. Wouldn't you know it, later that evening, a big dust storm kicked up!? We never got any rain but it made for some cool thunder, lightening and a gorgeous display of clouds in the sky.

Sunday after church, Morgan got an opportunity to play golf at the super exclusive Hideaway Club with Derek, Hailey's husband. I'm so happy that he got to play a round of golf on his long weekend. He certainly deserves it! Later that night, we went to The River for dinner and walked around afterwards. The girls tried on hats at our favorite hat store and then danced the night away at the amphitheater. So much fun!

Monday, we made a trip to the pet store (it's our indoor zoo in the summer time). The girls love to see and pet all the animals there. We also stopped on the way home to feed the horses that live across the street from us. All in all, we had a nice and relaxing weekend. It was a great way to end our summer!