First Day Of School @ Rolling Acres Academy

BBBBBRRRRRRRIIIIIIING, school is officially in session! Today was Jacks very first day of school and boy was he excited! This was my first day of teaching 3 boys but I embraced the challenge. When all was said and done, we had a great start to the new school year. Besides the usual book work of language, arithmetic and spelling we are embarking on some new territory. Every 2 weeks the boys and I are going to do a unit study on a country. To start us off and rolling, our first country is Mexico. Today the boys learned how to say all the primary colors in Spanish and some of Mexico's customs. Tomorrow we will be making home made corn tortillas and diving deeper into Mexico's history. I never thought home schooling could be so much fun! Here's to a fun filled school year... CHEERS!

Rolling Acres Academy

Welcome to Rolling Acres Academy! The boys and I have been hard at work getting our school room ready for class on Monday. After we placed all the final touches we decided our school needed a name. So we came up with Rolling Acres Academy since we live on acreage on a small hill, tons of trees and a lake. HA! I know it doesn't make any sense but it sounded good, so it stuck! Today our last shipment of books came in so we can officially start on Monday and the boys couldn't be more excited! I too have to admit I am anxious to start the new year.... ya know, get back into a good routine and have a schedule to stick to. Summer has been a blast, but we haven't kept to a schedule much. Then again that's okay cause it's summer and that's what your supposed to do... have fun..... and we did! We lived it up! Now it's back to reality. Happy home schooling to all you moms out there in blog land who take on this very rewarding challenge! CHEERS!

Back From Break

Wow.... time sure flies by when you having fun! We have had one crazy, busy summer! I cannot believe it has been so long since I blogged, but with three very busy boys who have kept my every moment running, and I mean RUNNING, I only seem to find a few minute here and there for blog land. Summer has never been better! Besides the usual visits to the pool and play dates with friends we have taken a couple of road trips as well and had a visit from Steve's brother Dale and his family for July 4Th. Our first road trip was to Tennessee to visit my dad with a quick stop over in Atlanta for the night. Seven hours is about all I can handle in the car alone with three boys. HA! We spent several days in the Cumberland Mountains with Pappy (my dad) then returned to Atlanta to visit my sister and her family. This was the much anticipated visit of the year as my sister recently had her second child and the first girl for this side of my family. We spent the rest of that weekend spoiling her rotten and making wonderful summertime memories with all the cousins. After a week of all that we headed home to unpack, clean then turn around in one week and head to the Florida Keys for a mini vacation with the hubs. This was the boys first trip to the Keys and their first time snorkeling. Needless to say Andrew is hooked... I think we have a future marine biologist on our hands. Andrew couldn't get enough of the water and marine life! Amongst all the trips to the reef we managed to fit it a glass bottom boat ride, that was spectacular, and a trip to Key West that is a whole other story in itself. On Saturday Steve competed in another triathlon, that was a sprint distance, and placed 5Th in his age group and completed the race with a new PR of 1 hr 10 min. We also celebrated Luke's 7Th Birthday while in the Keys and to Luke's surprise at dinner he received a birthday cake like no other!!!! The restaurant that we were having dinner presented Luke with a whole raw fish on a platter with a lit candle in the middle. His face, as was ours, was priceless upon seeing this creature on a platter with a candle in the middle! Good times and great memories. Now we find ourselves back in a groove and getting ready to kick off another school year. This year is a bit different that all the past ones as we will be home schooling ALL they boys this year. I'm looking forward to the change and embracing what God has in store for our family. Only two weeks to go and we're off and learning! Until then we plan to soak up as many pool days as we can and enjoy every moment God has given us! Happy summer to all. :)

Summer Flops

So this is what I've been up to lately.....





I have been making book marks for the teachers at Luke's school for Teacher Appreciation Week that is coming up. And I've been mastering my skills at making summer flip flops. I am tired of paying large amounts of $$ to buy all the fun stuff I love so I figured I would set out and just make it. Turns out it isn't hard at all and I am loving the craft time to let me creative juices flow! So now that I've mastered jewelry making, book marks and flip flops my next task is to conquer the Danskin She Rox Triathlon on Mother's Day. Only a few weeks left!!!!

Princess Half Marathon COMPLETED

Princess HALF MARATHON
Clock Time 2:24:10
Chip Time 2:23:33
Overall Place 2248 / 6150
Gender Place 2150 / 5956
Division Place 481 / 1211
Age Grade 46.4%
5K 31:07
10K 1:04:05
15K 1:39:35

A NEW PR!!!! So there it is! I shaved off about 15 minutes from my previous Half Marathon time. I will admit I was hoping to have completed the race in 2:10, but I started having a cramping issue around mile 9 that was very painful. I pushed through the pain and completed the race and that's what matters I guess. This was an amazing race, and not only that it was the first of it's kind so that was even sweeter. I tell ya.. there ain't nothing like crossing the finish line and getting a big fat medal placed around your neck. I will have to share some pics of the medals in my stash. It's all about the medals... LOL Any takers for next years run? You can't get any better than sunny Florida, on the brink of spring and the running temps in the morning are cool with the sun shining. CHEERS! I'm off to celebrate!

God's Grace

I don't know about any of you but I have to be reminded (daily) of God's Grace in my life. Just when I think I've made it over a vast mountain, I feel like I am going up against another vast mountain. Life is full of twists and turns and I am beginning to think I don't like some of them. I love adventure and I am always up for a new one but when I don't see the map laid out ahead of me I get freaked out. I like to think that I am truly living my life to it's fullest each day at a time, however I have come to the realization that I am so very wrong. God has amazing things in store for us all, even in this crappy economy, I just need to focus on HIM and HIM alone. I can no longer rely on what the stock market says or what comes down the line in the corporate world. I am choosing to take a stand on scripture and what the Lord has set before me. Here are a couple of scriptures I've been praying.....

"Because I seek the Lord, I shall not lack any beneficial thing" Psalm 34:10

"My God will meet all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19

I have been reminded today of how precious life really is. It's been almost a year ago that a friend of mine lost her battle with cancer. Her husband posted a blog today about his beautiful wife and how she chose to live her life, even in the last days. Here is a tidbit of what she wrote on her blog regarding her circumstance in the midst of fighting cancer:

"I’m still angry at God, but I know He is there with me. I am still learning to accept this. But, I’m going to stand up and take it like a child. Fearless, full of life, full of fun and talking all about it. The good stuff is right there in front of all of us. We are just too grown up to realize it or enjoy it. To all my little people out there, keep your parents on track! Remind them to play more, smile more, enjoy life and ROCK ON!"

I feel so guilty for feeling sorry for myself and what circumstances I may be facing. I have learned a valuable lesson today and it is to stop having a pity party and get up and live life. I need to stop and smell the roses more often than I do. I need to stop taking what I have for granted and most of all get off the speeding train that I am always on to get from one place to the next.
If you stop and think about it, life 30 years ago was so much simpler and laid back. Neighbors were friends, kids played outside with other kids, and families sat down to dinner together. I thank God today for shifting my focus from the material things I've been focusing to more focus on HIM. After all HE really is the one in control, not us. I will close this out with this:

GOD DOES NOT GIVE US GRACE FOR OUR IMAGINATION

I'm Diving In........

OH BOY..... so I am diving in feet and all.... can you guess what this means? I'm going to college! I must admit I'm a bit nervous and excited all in one. I have had a life long dream to go to dental hygiene school since I was 18, and as God would have it he had other plans for me. If I could go back 18 years I wouldn't change a thing! I have been so blessed to have been able to be a stay at home mom and raise my 3 adoring boys. I do however feel a tug at my heart regarding going to college. I have made this decision to better myself and personal growth, not to go out and make tons of money. I worked in a dental office as a dental assistant for 8 years before I had my first child and quite working full time, so I have the experience in the field. I told Steve I wanted to go get my degree and maybe work a couple days a week, and still feel like I'm at home with the boys. This endeavor of course will take several years to accomplish and that is if I go full time. I am going to start off slow and work from there, as I want to do well in each course and not bog myself down with too much. I love home schooling so this will all take place while I am home schooling all 3 boys next year! :-0 Am I crazy or what? HA! Never the less I am very excited and cannot wait to see how God steers my path. It has been in my thoughts and prayers for over a year now and I am finally ready to take that leap of faith! First step is making that appointment with the college advisor in the next couple of weeks to map everything out. Prayer has been my rock so when you think about it, please pray for God's plan in my life. I am SO NERVOUS!!!! :) I keep telling myself, With God ALL things are possible!