Today I felt loved

Today is the anniversary of my sister's death.
Aug 23rd!!!
So I wrote on Facebook about who she was and is to me today and yesturday

AUg 23rd!!! The date rings in my head like a loud gong!

MY RACHEL, My precious sister.
She has been gone much to long. I have learned so much because of her, because she left us so soon every moment in this life is lived to the fullest.
She was Strong, loyal like no one I have ever met before, she was truth, misunderstood and clumsy. She made me want to be a better person, she had a heart so sweet, she was always there for me, so much so that there are still things I cannot do with out her. She was my strength in so many ways. Her laughter was loud and uninhibited, we laughed and laughed together, being silly with someone is such a gift. She made me feel good enough exactly the way I am. She stuck up for me when I was wronged.
She was much to good to stay here on this earth. She was a gift for a little while and I am so thankful GOD choose me to be her big sister even if it was for such a short time, what an honor.

So many beautiful people commented or liked the post and  I thankYOU. 

Each and every one of you made a difference today to me, and my family. You cared that my sister  lived. Some of you new her and so many never did meet her.

If you have been through grief you understand how little we all really are on this earth. We are so small. We are here and then gone so fast. It is a moment.

 A deep fear is that people will forget her. Forget her laughter, forget that she lived and who she was. 

I feel as though today I am healing from her loss on a whole new level and it is because of all f you who took the time to care, to comment to remember her. It means so much to me I can hardly express in words.

Her life does matter, that she was here does matter.

She made an impact in the world that will stay a long long time.

ThankYOU, each one of you that cared today.

You have helped me heal a little bit deeper, and believe me the pain goes DEEP, so DEEP it touches every part of me. It affects how I live every moment in my life. It is though I see life through a different set of eyes because of it. I used to hate that, but today I embrace it. It is the gift she left with me. I see life differently, I see the moments, I see people and I love deeply and this is because of her.

A child like faith....beautful!

The most important thing to me is to teach my children to love, to listen, to be with our God.
I want each one of them to have the relationship I have with our wonderful King. He is sooo good and I adore him. He is the answer, the reason I love, the reason I can go on each and every day.
It is one of the main reason I want to homeschool, I think spending time with God, getting to know our Jesus should be the top priority in our lives.
I spend time with God all day, I talk to him constantly, he is my best friend. In the early morning is when we have our alone time though. He has often told me " I will meet you in the morning" And I do find him in the quiet of the morning.
Here is the problem, with 3 children who love to wake up early, this is not easy.  I used to feel quilty for telling my kids to wait and be quiet during this time. But then one day I realized this is so important for them to see me spending time with God. They need to know that this time is so important, it is my lifeline. And what better way to teach them how to spend time with God then to show them.

This week Nevaeh has been really pushing me during these early morning times with God. She seems to need me extra much during this time. I have been firm. And often I will tell her with joy and excitement in my voice some of the wonderful thing my saviour has told me. I show her how when God talks to me I write it in capital letters and then when I talk to him it's not. The other day God had so much to tell me, and I showed her how many pages it filled and she was so excited and so was I and we squealed with delight at the wonder of our Saviour.

When Nevaeh wakes up she usually comes running into my room, but not today. I heard her in her room happily humming and giggling. I went in and said "Good morning my merry sunshine, I love you, I am so happy I am your mommy, I missed you while you slept, what are you doing?"

She hid her little face under the covers and smiled big and with a little giggle she said  "I am talking to God mommy! I just finished reading my bible and now I am talking to God and he is telling me things, very nice things." She told me she wasn't done so I left her alone.

Then she came running into my room , I noticed her hand was open and I asked her why? She told me she was holding Jesus hand. Then she started to sing of her love for him. She sang and sang a sweet little 5 year old made up song of her love for her saviour.

My heart is smiling right now. It has not been an easy week.
To many things to mention here but one of the things that grieved this mothers heart terribly was this...
 Yesturday Neavaeh was yelled at by an adult that she loved and trusted. This adult is very dear to her and it has happened numerous times, my fear is this little precious child's heart would be hurt, so wounded. It was such a hard day, as a mother I want to protect my child's spirit at all costs and I hadn't protected her, and how could I fill her back up again? As Charles I spoke on how to heal this little girls heart, God whispered his truths.
He reminded me how he works ALL things out for Good. He told me how even this injustice to my child could be used for his glory. And today, so soon after I can see it has. My little Nevaeh is clinging to our Savior, he is our healer and she is happy and sweet and feels Loved. Only our King can fill that in us, only Jesus. I could never fill it and God doesn't ask me to, she is mine for this moment on earth, that is all.
God is her true HOME, she is HIS!

Learning about our blood

We got up bright and early and left for the lab to take our blood.

The perfect homeschooling opportunity to learn about why we do this and what it tells us.

Here is a cute little video as well

http://kidshealth.org/kid/feel_better/things/med_videos_landing.html?tracking=K_RelatedArticle

They took alot of blood

Next we waited int he waiting room and the girls were WILD!

 

So i thought to myself, how can i be teaching here int his moment?

So i got the girls to look out the window, for 30 seconds and observe.

Then we each had to say what we remembered from looking outside.

Then we got our EKG

Here is a cute video on it

http://kidshealth.org/kid/feel_better/things/med_videos_landing.html?tracking=K_RelatedArticle

We asked the Tech a lot of questions and she was wonderful.

So these are the 3 tests we did today

The girls were especially excited how full I made my bottle, and of course exclaimed loudly to their Daddy, that Mommy sure can pee a lot, she made the cup so full !

I also loved this video about blood, it is visually appealing and short.

The Components of Blood and Their Importance 

And my kids LOVED this one, it even kept my 2 year old interested, and she usually doesn't like movies.I personally hated it. LOL

But they loved it so much we watched episode 2 and 3 as well.

 

And then of course they had to tell me what they learned. And my 5 year old drew a picture about what she learned and my 9 year old wrote a page on Blood. I let her take it where she wanted too, I also let her use the computer to search more information to write about. I suggested writing about what red and white blood cells do and also what platelets do in our bodies. Since we are just beginning our school year this is ok for me, but as we continue my goal is to work on her listening skills and attention span as well. So we will do some lessons where i will not let her search the interent, but rather write on what she remembers.

Another suggestion is to find pics on the internet and make a collage.

Today was a short day, Kaylani has been on a sleep over and she was just exhausted. But that is one of the amazing things about homeschooling, we get to do what we want when we want to do it.

All 3 girls jumped into my bed bright and early.

I wasn’t sure what to study, and then I got a phone call  and it was my little sis. She has been having alot of issues with her kidney’s, so We thought that was the perfect thing to learn about.

What we did to study Kidney's

We read about it online

I just did a search and picked something that sounded interesting to me and i read it to my girls.

We watched a video for adults on you tube 

 

 and then we went to 

http://kidshealth.org/kid/

 I love this site for learning about different things about our bodies and how they work

We did the video, quiz and the Kaylani read article out loud

 I got out big poster board paper and traced each of my children and cut it out.

I then got Kaylani to search Kidney’s on the computer and find out how big they were.
We drew some and cut them out and colored them and pasted it on our silhouettes.

.

Then we called Daddy, and i got the girls to verbally tell him what we had learned so far about what kidneys do. 

And last but not least Kaylani( my 9 year old) will write a page on what she has learned about kidneys.

Why i teach like i do

I want to explain a little on why i highlighted certain words in pink. They show all the different ways to teach my girls during this project.

 I believe  in using every opportunity for learning.

When i read to them i was working on their listening skills and attention span. I notice today alot of kids have a short attention spam, they can't seem to focus very long on one thing. Each child is different but i try to push them a little further each time to train them in this area.

When we watched the video, i picked one geared to adults. I want them to start using bigger words and have a large vocabulary. Here is the thing, i don't have a large vocabulary, i know that about me, it is one of my weaknesses so i need extra help in this area if I want my kids to rise above what i know. This is a fun easy way to introduce them to bigger words and someone else teaching them other than me.

The kiss site is fun and so easy to understand. I want Kaylani to be able to read out loud with ease, i want her to work on expression. 

The cutting, drawing, coloring and pasting is all fun and crafty. My favorite!

When i got Kaylani to search Kidneys on the computer it was because i think we can learn alot on computers. when she has a question I want her to know how to search it and find things using the computer.

When we called Daddy in, it was for a couple of reasons. 1st i think it is really important to tell what they have learned. I want my children to be able to talk our loud and in front of others without feeling scared or nervous. And the other reason, is because it made them so excited to share what they learned with him and as he praised them, i saw their little faces fill with joy. We are instilling what is important to me and their Dad. We value learning, and we get exscited when they learn something new.

And last Kaylani had to write a page on what she learned about kidney's . Writing is important.

So that is what we did today, it was a fun day and I am excited about what's to come.

Tami Tyson

Homeschooling here we come!

Homeschooling

God gave me the go ahead  so here we go!!!
Homeschooling is something that i love, it is not a journey for everyone, but for me this year it is one I am to take. I am excited and anxious all at once. Looking at all the choices and what I want to teach my children is overwhelming to say the least.

So where do i start?
How do I begin this?
I think the bast place to start is to ask myself this question... As a mother what do i want to teach my children?” What do I want them to learn, who do I want them to be as adults. What values are important to me, what values do i see lacking in our world today. How can i raise daughters who live with integrity, who love God with their whole hearts. How do i raise women who know their worth in God , who make wise choices. Women who are willing to risk in order to do what is right.

Gotta make it fun!

It is easy to get completely overwhelmed and feel like a failure before I even begin. So how can little old me do this enormous task before me. The first thing i must believe deep within my soul is that I trust God completely. And i ask myself do I really trust him?

He gave me these children, he said I should home school. He is the God who created me and my children so he must know I can do it right? But here is a catch, I can only do it is if  keep depending, leaning completely on him to give me strength , wisdom and insight on how to do this.

Sounds easy?
HA, this world is filled with many people who have the best of intentions, but are also full of ideas and want their way to be the best way. The way they do it works! People still wanting the law!  It is hard to not get sucked into what looks good on the outside. When it looks good on the outside, it doesn’t  neccesarily mean we are following what God is telling us. I need to follow what he is saying to me, not what is working for everyone else around me. This is when it gets tricky and when i begin to realize how important my time alone with God is. Without t I am lost.

There is no right way to do this. The only right way to do this is to continually listen to God and take one day at a time. The only right way to do this is to keep saying I am sorry, when i mess things up. to live in God’s Grace and to keep getting back up.
So here we go!!