Life.........

I have been sickened today by many things.  THIS article is one of them that has just given me deep thoughts.  This family mentioned wins $50 MILLION dollars because they say if they were told that their little boy had a genetic defect, they would have aborted him. So they are going to raise their child knowing that he wasn't wanted??  They were willing to just "throw him away?"
Why did this touch me so?  Because of this:

This is our son Joseph.  He was born from a difficult pregnancy.  I was sick the WHOLE nine months.  I threw up, had phenegran and at the time of delivery, I gained 3 pounds TOTAL.  They took him, SAYING he was 38 weeks.  They used words like "growth retardation" and other scary words. They had us convinced that there was something wrong with our baby.  But we were willing to accept whatever the Lord gave us and blessed us with.  He was wanted.  He was named after my favorite uncle and my great grandfather, to fulfill a wish/promise to my Mammaw, who died a year before.  He was born and he was obviously premature.  He was PERFECT but little.  VERY little. Absolutely perfect....what was wrong?  The doctors had completely skewed my dates, and he was born at 34 1/2 weeks instead!  He was still 5 lbs 10 oz but he was perfect.

Today he's 18.  If we would have chosen the route that the doctors would have suggested, we would have missed out on the funniest, smartest and loving young man.  We would have missed out on such a tremendous blessing of a wonderful young man.  Now we are pro-life, so that wouldn't have been in consideration, but I can't imagine our lives without him.

From a spiritual side, I am thankful for a Jesus who loved us enough to come down and die for our sins.  I am thankful for a Jesus that loves me regardless of my issues.  I am thankful for a Jesus who loves me regardless of my defects.  I am thankful for a Jesus who doesn't just "throw me away" because I was born with a sinful nature & have "issues".  I am thankful for a Jesus, who takes me back into His arms when I screw up, when I fall and when I make mistakes. I am thankful for a God and my parents, who gave me life & breathed life into me.  I am thankful for that unconditional love.

What these parents don't realize is that NONE of us are perfect.  No one is....we ALL have our issues and the only perfect man was Jesus himself.  Regardless of what our issues are, we all have them.  I just wished they would see their baby as a blessing instead of a burden.......because you know what?  I am thankful that Jesus sees me as a blessing and His child and not a burden and that is the way he sees them & their baby too!

Are you Cultivating? Encouraging? or Discouraging?

When our Joshua was 6, We were attending a precious church in Alabaster, AL when our sweet Pastor mentioned the Titanic in his message.  It peaked Joshua's interest and he had lots of questions about it.  From there, we went to a local Alabama (where we lived at the time) Library to find age appropriate information at his level and he came upon the Magic Tree house book "Tonight on the Titanic".  He read that more than once, got the resource guide and wanted to know more.  Over a short period of time, he eventually got ALL Titanic related books in the county, then in the state in regards to that subject.  So we began to have so many overdue fines at the library (LOL) and running out of resources that we started to purchase him books from Amazon and other resources on the Titanic and other ships (like her sisters, Olympic & Britannic).  We also started to record documentaries on the subject from TV and found the videos from other sources.  His passion, now turned obsession was growing.

You know that feeling where EVERYTHING in his life was consumed by this subject?  His playing, his drawings, his conversations to the point of ad nauseum, his birthday party themes.  Pretty much every inch of his life was consumed by this!

His lego models.........

and all other models were ALL ship/Titanic related................

                                                                             Age 12

And his Living history reports (as Charles "Herbert" Lightoller).............

And our field Trips.....................

and his Fall festival costumes............

............. and so were his drawings.

I had NO idea how long this passion turned obsession would last.  We went to every exhibit available in regards to the Titanic (as of date, it's about 6-7 of them!).

I did get kind of weary after a couple of years because quite frankly I was getting sick of it, I was overwhelmed by it, and didn't understand it.  Then I listened to a long-time homeschool friend & mentor, Cindy Rushton.  We watched her 2 kids grow up before our eyes and her son Matthew's passion for the Civil War was similar to Joshua's and the Titanic. Matthew had written books and was doing different things with it.  She encouraged me (long ago) to keep encouraging him and NOT TO DISCOURAGE HIM!  I could have EASILY done what so many other parents/teachers have done, and said "I am sick of it, let's move on" OR "okay, it's time to talk about something else".  I DID have my moments, but then there's that moment (with the encouragement of Cindy) of  "what IF this was something that would be part of his future?  What IF this spawns something else?"  We ALL have our obsessions/passions in one time of our life and this was his.  We DID get other subjects done by the way but in his spare time, it was ALL about sunken ships, anything history, but mainly the Titanic.

So when he was 15 and he had sooooooo much knowledge that would continue to flow out, he wanted to write a unit study book on the Titanic to help others that might want to dig deeper into the subject.  He found other Titanic unit studies on the subject to be SEVERELY lacking or inaccurate, so I encouraged him in the area.  He spent the better part of 2 YEARS writing and writing. He wrote a semester long unit study and then a year long one.  It covers ALL subjects and can be used for K-12 grades.  He wrote it to cover homeschoolers, co-ops, public schools and private schools (if they are allowed).......or even parents that want to encourage their children's passions!    He also has other outlets, like his facebook page Titanic Gazette and his blog with the same name.  

Last year for the 100th, we went to the Local Titanic exhibit...........

AND we went to a Dinner to commemorate the 100th in Alabama, at the American Village.  Joshua was introduced as the "Titanic Expert"............

Joshua at Titanic Pigeon Forge

Joshua (middle) with 2 of his Titanic expert "idols" Don Lynch and Ken Marschall (artist)

Joshua with 2 friends/authors: Bill Wormsteadt and George Behe

                               
                               Above : Joshua with Ken Marschall (left)                                

                                                       
                                  Joshua with President of THS: Ed Kamuda
                                                                 

Fast forward to a weekend in 2013.  He was 19 and was a member of the THS.  We were able to go, as a family, this weekend to Pigeon Forge, TN to the Titanic Museum and the 2013 THS convention. I was the only one that was with him during this event (the others stayed in the hotel), but to say he blossomed was an understatement.  I saw him happy, amongst people that he had a "kindred spirit" with, people that understood and KNEW his passion (because they had the same passion), bond with new friendships, and connect and meet some of the pioneers and experts in the field of the Titanic. When we got there, it was overwhelming, because I realized JUST how big of name our son had made for himself.  When we got there, there was ATLEAST 3 or more people that were looking specifically for him and then others that knew him or were seeking him out.  He was the youngest one there!

Now, I am NOT going to say it wasn't "overwhelming" for me.  Every time we go to something like this, I call it his HUGE "brain dump" because all of his info that he has stored since he was 7, comes spilling out and FAST!  But it was a JOY to see his passion come full circle.  But you know what? What would have happened if I hadn't cultivated or encouraged his passion a long time ago?  This passion has branched into so many areas of history, sunken ships and theology.  What are you doing to cultivate your child's passions?  encourage them?  I have been there.  I understand when your child has a Passion that you don't understand!  But there's a story and many stories to tell here.  If we don't keep passions alive like this for years to come, they will be forgotten.

This has turned into a  5 part series.  He's continued on with his life's passion.  His dedication to education.  I will continue to add more links and information as they come up.

You can read Part 2 here

You can read part 3 here

You can read part 4 here

You can read part 5 here

Homemade Granola Bars

I love it when I get to meet online friends IRL (In real life).  In 2009, I had the privelege of meeting my friend De'Etta in person (and her family).  I visit her blog quite often but I love (am obsessed) with her recipe list!  My most recent favorite is the homemade Granola Bars!  I love how flexible it is and I can add whatever additions I want (raisins, chocolate chips, dried fruit etc).  Enjoy!

Homemade/No bake Granola Bars

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 cups granola, ( I used homemade granola)
• 1 ½ cups rice crispy cereal ( I used gf brown rice cereal, rice crispies, cocoa rice)
• raisins, crasins, and/or chocolate chips (optional)

1. In a pan heat the butter, brown sugar, and honey. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
2. Remove from heat and stir in granola and cereal until well combined.
3. Stir in raisins, crasins, or chocolate chips if adding. We also like these on their own with no additions. By changing around what I add in, I can vary these a little and make everyone in my family happy.
4. Press mixture in to a 9×13 pan. Let mixture set for several hours or overnight before serving.
5. Cut into bars and serve. I also cut, put into saran wrap and put into ziplocs.

Joshua's Piano Guild graduation

Joshua has been taking piano since he was 7 years old.  This chapter in his life came to a close when he did his piano guild concert in front of a crowd.  This was my 2nd graduation in 2 years......my third will happen soon after when his brother Joseph graduates from high school! WHEW!  This happened before he had to go before a judge and be graded on all things piano/music/theory etc.  He had to play 15 pieces by memory, be quizzed on sight reading, ear training, all cadences, major chords etc.  It was tough!  We are so proud of him for completing this huge task!  Anyways, my friend Lee is obsessed LOVES graduations lol.......no she just loves the pictures.  So I told her I would put some up :)

We had a small reception and set out a few pieces of memoribia of his work with the piano, including a photo slide show (frame on top of box) of photos of his piano along the years.

Joshua with his teacher........she helped him tremendously!

Joseph's graduation

have I said I am tired?  exhausted?  3 graduations, 1 retirement in 2 years?  yes......First we had Joshua's graduation last May (2012) from High school.  We then did Joshua's Piano guild graduation this last April.  Then today, we had the pleasure of doing Joseph's High school graduation.......I wanted to go simple and easy, but then I just decided to meander  look for ideas torture myself on Pinterest! I stumbled on 3 fabulous ideas there.....which I duplicated.  It was actually easier than I thought.  I will put the original Pinterest links in the descriptions when I upload the photos.  We had basically similar to a Baccalaurete service.  Our pastor spoke and did a charge.  My husband spoke about his life up until now.  The men there prayed over Joseph.  We sang hymns, had a slide show of his life and ate.....If you have ANY questions, just ask in the comments and I will be happy to answer!

This idea was of a candy table off of pinterest.  Mine was not near as condensed as the original, but you get the idea.  Almost all of the candy was purchased at the Dollar Tree.  Here's the original idea!

 our 2013 Graduate!

 our 3 precious gifts....our boys!

This collage was done through Sam's club and only cost $5.96 for a 16x20!

 This is the original idea for this board that I did for him!  Loved doing this!

lots of canvases that I made myself and hang here in the dining room. Some of his sports memorobilia (he's a big packers fan) including a Bart Starr signed photo, the newspaper from the day he was born, awana awards, chess awards etc.  Also back there is his civil war scrapbook and some of his schoolwork!

These are purchased from the Dollar tree (the glass squares).  I put wallet photos of him (4 different ones) on cardstock and turned the square upside down.  It has a battery operated light in it as well.

To keep things simple, we did water, Lemonade and EASY punch.  Basically it was 1-2 two liters of 7up to 1 container of sherbet!

My brother had come to set up for his slide show of photos where the reception was.

Here's a larger, bigger version of the candy table idea!

I didn't have some of the things to make this one fuller, but I LOVED this idea!  Here's the original post from this idea.  Since we homeschool, a school bus wasn't necessary but we made due :)  I didn't want to spent the $2.50 on the chalk boards for the front.....but it turned out cute.  Who knew that Ring pops could disappear SO fast :)

  I used this idea to make the lables for the food!

In case you can't tell what these are.......here's the post on this. I wanted to make them into suckers, but they were still frozen :)

Other than that, the rest of the food was simple.  We had fruit kabobs, bbq meatballs, piggies in a blanket, homemade chocolate chip cookies, brownies, strawberries with dip and lots of chips & dips!