The Gift of Family this Christmas

A beach Christmas with all of my family was a wonderful gift this year! My two brothers joined us with their families and it was the first time we had all been together in three years.  Needless to say, we laughed a lot, got sand between our toes, ate some delicious seafood, fellowshipped with old friends, worshipped our Savior, and were very blessed this Christmas.  Here a just a few of the many pictures I took this trip...

Sunrise on Siesta Key Beach, Christmas Morning

 This was quite a beautiful sight to wake up to on Christmas Day!  It was a crisp morning in the 40's, but just so calming.

Eden & Joshua

The kids building sandcastles on Christmas Day!

 We were so busy that we didn't all get down to the beach until after lunchtime on Christmas Day.  You can imagine the looks we drew with 7 kids building sandcastles!  I'm sure they were wondering if they were 

all ours...

Me with my two brothers--Jamie & Ed

Jamie, my Dad, & Celeste are all smiles!

My Maximillian Isaiah

Mr. Sandyman by Celeste...  

 Celeste and Jamie are moving to St. Louis.  (In fact, Celeste left today.)  Since they had snow there on Christmas, they thought a sandman instead of a snowman was in order.  

Two Great Homeschooling Ideas

This week I have come across 2 homeschooling ideas that I think would be helpful.  I wanted to share them with you!

A great January Planner for you that's FREE!

We will be using this for chore charts and planning.  I've already gotten started with it.  It's great to have such a cute planner to work with and it really put me in a lively mood for homeschooling in 2011.  Enjoy!

I found this link on Facebook and it's a great idea!  I wish I had thought of it.  Did you ever just want to buy a homeschool book for less?  Do you ever find that you have trouble reselling things and it's a hassle?  If you don't need curriculum for an extended period of time then RENTING books for homeschool may be for you. Check out this new site!

 Homeschoolbookrenter.com

Light of the Stable

Hail, hail to the newborn King

Let our voices sing Him our praises

Hail, hail to the guiding light

That brought us tonight to our Savior!

Eden danced this morning with her worship dance group. She is right in the middle of this precious picture of little girls. They danced to Selah's song "Light of the Stable." Take a moment to listen to the song. This Christmas may you "cast aside your fear and be thankful!"

Reindeer Run!

December means physical fitness! Bet you didn't think of that!
We had quite an exciting weekend here. Three of our boys are active in a track club that meets during my Ladies' Bible Study on Tuesday mornings. They ran in the annual "Reindeer Run" this year. It was a 1 mile course and they each got a t-shirt, medal, and snazzy reindeer hat. It's been so good to see them enjoy physical fitness.

Tommy, Max, & Dan warm-up for the race.

Our Track Club--Coach Rebecca is in the blue hat! We are so thankful for our coach, Ms. Rebecca, who volunteers her time with the children for 2 hours every week. She is very enthusiastic and a great encouragement to the children. If you homeschool and enjoy physical fitness, you can start a little club like this in your area, too! All you need is a couple homeschool families and a very active mom!

My Seven from Heaven...