My Journey from Here to There

Today marked day 2 of our training. I would rather say investing. No, not money. Something more, deeper, driven by the heart.

I am standing at the road less traveled and moving onto a new path, a new journey. One that moves me from teaching 4 children of various ages, sometime in our pj's, sometimes doing the same subject for hours, sometimes just working on one's character to teaching a classroom of twenty-two 5th graders. Shocked are you? I know, I know! Me too. This day was to come, I always knew, but to be upon it and living it out, here and now, is quite surreal.

The first 2 days of our training, at this fabulous new place I will call home for 40 plus hours a week, has been motivating, frightening, exhausting and rewarding but mostly revealing. The gals who are walking us through this new journey are our mentors. They are truly investing in our lives. The thing that has brought me to tears is to see their heart. I am surrounded by a room full of women who are like minded and desire to see the whole child nurtured, educated and given an opportunity to rise above to become more. They are showing us how to not parrot or control the room or conversation but to be a guide, to facilitate, and lead. I can NOT tell you how appreciative I am for their heart. It leans in to all I have done with my own schooling or with my co-horts in Cali when we lived there. These gals who are training us live out all I have lived out in my circle of homeschooling families. Could it be possible to teach in a place that values what I value? I say yes, it is possible. I have found a place I thought could not exist. I thought in my naivety, that only US homeschoolers could desire for the whole child to be developed in a way that is reflected in The Well Trained Mind. I humbly say, I am wrong.

One does not stop growing or changing just because we are "all grown up". I know at 43 that I will be more aware, more knowledgeable, and hopefully more wise at 53 than I am now. I don't want to stop learning. I don't want to become prideful or arrogant in my thoughts. How can I show the love of Jesus and his transforming power in my life if I believe I have cornered the market. I learn from my God, my husband, my children, my extended family and now I will choose to learn from my peers. Oh this new chapter isn't going to be easy for awhile. I expect some bumps, bruises and even a few mountains to tredge across but all the while I will continue this path before me.

My heart is full of gratitude for this new journey and for the opportunity to serve in a whole new way. I have so much to learn and as I do, you'll hear it here. Until my next lesson...

Humbly I walk.

Trains and Chocolate Cake

Did you know that Cripple Creek was in the running for our state capital? Yeah, me neither. During its prime, it was the 2nd biggest city in Colorado. Also learned the Red Light District began or became known here. Why you ask? Well, the men who worked for the train had to have red lanterns hanging outside their door. If the train had to suddenly leave, the conductor knocked on the doors with red lanterns. It then went from this to houses with madams on the same street. Hence, the Red Light District. Interesting, huh? One more piece of trivia.. Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, is buried here. Yep. I learned quite a bit today!

The views were amazing and we had a chacne to learn quite a bit about the area. Gold and more Gold!

This old place was a part of the first city here called Anaconda. This belonged to a blacksmith and he ran his business out of it.

Happy Birthday Dad T!

This week we have the pleasure of T's folk's visiting. We planned a B'day Cake Celebration for Dad T, chocolate..his favorite, and a fun train ride through Cripple Creek. Angelina made a wonderful cake for her grandpa and the weather held out for a great day away. Today was a pleasure for all of us. After a wonderful day away we came home to cool breezes and BBQ. What more could we ask for?

Deck Project: Framing and Sanding

We're dirty and HOT!

Step 100...okay it felt like step 100, is framing and then sanding. Framing was a great step in getting an idea of the size of our new extension. It looks great and we passed inspection this morning. Now sanding the original deck was a long time a comin'. We thought about turning the wood planks over and tried many, MANY, options to accomplish this BUT no avail. So, we rented a sander and hoped for the best. To our oh so pleasant surprise, it worked! The previous owner painted, yes you read right, PAINTED the beautiful redwood every single year. And so the paint was thick and stubborn. We worked and worked and WA LA! There is some final sanding still yet to do but the big part is done. What a relief. Next step...build out the other side with redwood and sand the railings. This will be a very nice place for our family to hang out when it's done.

I think we are all ready for it to be done.

A Summer Morning in Colorado

Our summer mornings are sweet to me. The birds sing, the breeze is gentle, the smell of the rain from the night before still lingers. It's magical. We have had such wonderful thunderstorms this month; a much needed rain for our state. The clouds begin to roll in early afternoon and by dinnertime the rain is falling and the lightning is booming. It comes and goes as the clouds move by. Some storms are longer than others but what is left behind is wonderful... sweet air, cool nights, and a feeling of simplicity. It's hard for me to do anything in the mornings cause all I want to do is sit outside and soak up the air and sounds. The squirrels are talking to each other and our dog Charley, the MagPies are mad at something and sharing it with the world, and the doves are farther in the background cooing. I have about 8 more weeks before we our weather turns cooler. I'm lovin' me some Colorado Summertime!

Tea anyone?

Suze to the Rescue

We read her books, listen to her show, and search her website. Suze just came out with a new book since America's economy took a bad turn. Along with the book, The Money Class, is a series of videos of which I did not purchase but watched a bit on PBS. I can't wait to read her new book. All the rules have changed and leaving a financial legacy of hope is important to us for our children. The second book is for my kids. It is for the new generation of spenders we are seeing all around us. We have always talked money with our kids and a few of them "get it", and a few.... well, are learning. This book walks them through educational debt, buying a car, starting retirement savings, defines all the financial terms they will ever need to know so they can start NOW saving for THEN. We want our kids to walk in freedom financially so they can be used however, whenever, and do whatever God asks. Let the Saving begin!

There Are Some things You Just Hafta Have!

Pappy's Seasoning has been a part of this family since we married. We always have it in our cupboard, always will. We first discovered it when my sister found it at our local meat market in Fresno. Yes, we went to an actual meat market called The Fresno Meat Market. How's that for creativity? Anyhew.. we ran out. We searched here in Colorado. No luck. Amazon sold it but for 3x's the price in Fresno. Although I wish my sister to be HERE not THERE, this one time I will be thankful for her THERE. She went down and mailed our stash to us. We're stocked up for a while now. Thanks Reg!

So what per-say do we use this amazing seasoning for? Well let me tell you...

1. Hamburgers
2. Tri-Tip (only thing we love on it)
3. Any other meat you want!

Pappy's and nothing else!

Small Town USA 4th of July Parade

Happy Independance Day America!

Summer Project Number 2: Deck Redo-Addition

The Summer 2011 Deck Project begins! After months of evaluating, measuring,discussing, drawing plans, getting permits, and doing a little more planning, we were off and running. Okay not so much running. It's a slow tedious process. More so than we anticipated. Let me just say, AGAIN, Terrell has taught his children well and they are so capable! We are blessed by their helpful ways and time given towards the family projects this summer.

Gabe is taking off the railing so we can get to diggin'.

And digging and digging and digging.

So this was a very SAD discovery when we took off the railing. Rot. An extra little step will be happening now that this has been discovered.

T is teaching the girls about this new tool. New to them at least. Such good learners!

DAY 2: Digging the Big Holes.

We rented this big ol' machine to dig 8 holes at 30 inches each. It took some work and all the kids to get this done. I am so glad we had this handy dandy thing instead of Buffy, Jody and a shovel. That would have taken for-ever!

I made them stop and pose... I just had to!

A little playtime added in to the hard work. :) Oh sister love.

When he's busy, forget getting him to smile. He's focused.

And yet another hole.

By the end of the day, we needed these holes cleaned out to make correct measurements. Well, shop vacs do all things.. even suck out holes.

And lastly, while digging all these holes we ran into our sprinkler lines. Well, we either delayed the project or re-did the lines. Re-doing the lines was a better choice. We only had the hole digger for four hours. Time was tickin' away.. tick, tick, tickin away. And yet another part to the project not planned.

Shoo. We are a tired crew. T is out there still pounding away. This deck will be splendid and a very nice addition to our home. Come August 1st, we'd like you to come over for some ice tea and take a sit with us. We will be ready by then to sit.