Make sure you wash that produce when you get home because you never know.

“A week ago.”  Followed by that all too familiar “which rock do you live under” look.

“Oh.”

Such was the case with the Top Hat Burger Palace.  For the last ten years I’ve been telling myself I want to try one of those burgers.  Recently, we heard Top Hat might be closing so today while downtown I noticed that it was open.   Excited and in my best Larry the Lobster voice I said, “Hey boys.  You guys wanna try a burger from  Top Hat?”  Of course, they did.  In fact, they were shocked that I was even offering.

I promise they were more excited than they look in this picture.

We get up to the stand and I order a burger.  ”We’re out.”

“Oh.”

I find out that today is Top Hat’s last day so I ended up ordering a large fry instead of burgers.  I told you I’m always the last to know.

While we waited for the fries, the boys read free real estate magazines that they grabbed from one of those corner newspaper boxes.  Maybe they’ll find us house so I can move out from under my rock.

xoxo
jenn

2009

Two thousand and nine turned out to be a year of change for us.  Probably our biggest change was our decision to homeschool the boys.  Yes, you heard that right.  Homeschooling.  Don’t worry I won’t be wearing jean jumpers or putting my hair in a bun anytime too soon.  After countless hours of thought, research, and prayer we decided homeschooling would be the best decision for our family this year. (We are taking it year by year.)  And so far, after four months it has!  We just love the extra time with the boys and our days are much less stressful than when we were running back and forth from school, taking care of school business, and fitting in evening homework.  It’s also been great to see their relationship grow (who knew they could get along so well!) and have more time for fun activities like the classical choir they sing in and taekwondo!  Hiyaaaaa!!!  Yep, early last year, we started studying martial arts as a family.  Currently we have worked our way up to green belt!  Next step purple with our eyes set on black in the future.

Nathanael and Noah have been living up to our “like legos” motto but instead of “we fit together like legos” it has become “there is nothing like legos”.  They continue to build and pretend for HOURS (I’m not exaggerating) a day.  We have lego boats, cars, mansion, ships, towers, billboards, stores, planes, pyramids, basically a lego cosmos growing in our house. They also enjoy playing their Wii on the weekends (see we are not total weirdoes!) and tormenting their cat, Sunny, who btw has grown fatter and lazier this past year.  He has almost caught up with the pugs, Nico and Nigel.

Brent’s business has remained steady.  Praise God.  And as Brent is a self-employed, freelancer, I don’t say that lightly.  This year, he was given the opportunity to do more video work, which was a fun change of pace.  In July, he shot 9 children’s music videos in 3 days with yours truly as his assistant.  In the future, he hopes to do more of that sort of work.  He also helps with homeschooling by doing Bible every morning, science, and reading aloud to them every evening.  It goes without saying, that the boys LOVE this time with daddy and I appreciate his commitment/help more than I can say!

I bet you can pretty much guess what I’ve been up too.  Teaching, kicking, driving, and assisting when needed.  The boys and I have also continued to deliver groceries to homebound elderly through the organization Shop Ahoy.  Two of our elderly friends have ended up in the county nursing home.  One is without family so she is a big part of our lives right now.  I’ve also continued writing my health and fitness blog.  In November, I changed the look and title of my blog to Girl-Heroes: The (almost) sane girls guide to insane health.  Catchy huh? J Check it out at www.girl-heroes.com.  In August I started training with kettlebells!  Kettle…what????  Kettlebells!  Think strong man sideshow circus freak!  Cannonballs with handles that you swing, press, lift, toss and swallow.  Not really!  Lovin’ the kettlebells.  Best workout ever and oh so fun!

Well that’s pretty much covers 2009.

We miss all of you and wish you a wonderful 2010!!!!

Mucho Love,

The Nims

Two weeks ago we went on a homeschooling camping trip and one of the wise moms there who had been doing it for a while gave me this advice: “Start slowly and add subjects in as you go.”  I had been planning to start with a full day’s worth of work because I wanted to dive right in but after some thought and consideration I decided to take her advice. Brent starts the day by doing devotions with the boys.  He has mentioned to me many times how much he is enjoying this part of his day.  As far as formal subjects, I decided that I would start with the toughest and sometimes most tedious subjects (for older brother) first which are math and grammar (phonics for little brother).  I figured if we could get through those we could get through anything.  So far so good.  Nathanael doesn’t really like math.  I’m trying to make it as pleasant as possible but I also feel like there is a certain amount of “it’s just something we got to do” and “not everything is fun”.  That said, he has shown great improvement the past two weeks in his work and in his attitude.  Noah’s math is going great.  I think he has complained once but so far first grade math is pretty simple.  While Nathanael finishes up his math Noah and I snuggle on the couch and do phonics and reading.  Then Noah takes a break whilel Nathanael and I do grammar.  After that we all cozy up together on the couch for history/literature.  Both boys LOVE this and so do I.  Next week we are adding in more literature, spelling, handwriting, and science.  After much debate and many hours of research, we are really excited about our new science book Apologia’s Exploring Creation Through Astronomy by Jeannie Fullbright.  It’s a beautiful easy to understand book celebrating the glory of God in the natural world with lots experiments.  I think we will have a lot of fun with it.   I emailed her from her website and she took the time to answer my questions which I appreciated.

The best part so far is that the stress level in our house has gone way down.  Waaaay down.  I knew running back and forth from school and fullfilling all those responsibilites that come with school (buying supplies, signing up as parent helper, ect) was wearing us down but I didn’t realize just how much until Nathanael and I were sitting in the living room one morning.  We were the only ones up chatting in the living room when he noticed kids walking by on their way to school.  With a big smile he said, “Look they are on their way to school.  I’m not.”  I asked what time it was and he went to the kitchen to look.  It was 7:45, ten minutes before we would have had to leave.  I thought back to last year.  Brent packing the lunches.  Nathanael yelling how he hates peanut butter and jelly.  Noah reminding us that he is not allowed to bring peanut butter and jelly to his class because of other children’s allergies. Nathanael complaining that everyone else gets chips and junk food why can’t he.  Packing the backpack and finding a crumpled permission slip that I was supposed to have signed two days ago along with an request to bring in “googly eyes” for a class project.  Ahhh…I’ll have to run to Michael’s this afternoon.  Then piling into the car when little brother suddenly remembers it’s “Share Day” and he has to rush in to the house to find “that one” Lego guy.

Instead this is how our days have been going.  I get up between 5 and 6: 30 to do devotions and write.  Brent gets up around 7:30 to make breakfast and do devotions with the boys.  Around 9 I take over and we start math.  Then onto grammar and phonics.  This week handwriting and spelling will be added to our morning routine.  Then we have our snacks and dive into history, literature, and this week science.  Lunch follows and then in the afternoon we either run errands, visit with our elderly friends, have a play date, go to the library, do a craft, practice taekwondo, or just play.  We’ve done all of those things these the last two weeks.  Three or four days a week we have taekwondo in the late afternoon.  In two weeks, choir will be starting on Mondays at 12:30.  It sounds like a lot but the nice thing about it is our schedule is for the most part totally flexible so it’s not stressful.

On Thursday we had a particularly good grammar lesson.  Our grammar book, Building with Diligence, had sandwiched this profound little lesson between lessons on finding the simple subjects and predicates.  It was about how good writers learn to use their ears and eyes more than their mouths.  It started with this little poem:

A wise old owl
Lived in an oak
The more he saw,
The less he spoke;
The less he spoke,
The more he heard.
Why can’t we all
Be like that bird?

We talked about how we have two ears and two eyes but only one mouth and how we should see and hear twice as much as we say.  This lesson sparked wonderful conversation between Nathanael and I.   He is interested in learning to write after reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini, a homeschooled boy who wrote the book at 15.  We talked about how observing/listening is where you find the ideas or inspiration to write.   The point of the lesson was a good writer must a good observer and listener.  The conversation also led to how good it feels to be listened to and we should try to listen to people to show respect and love.  Not always easy to do but important nonetheless.  These sort of conversations are the real reasons we’ve chosen to homeschool.  Knowing how to find a simple predicate is great but doesn’t compare to learning how to silence oneself to listen and learn from the world around them.  Not only do I love teaching my kids this sort of stuff but I need the reminder myself.

The boys also started sparring in taekwondo.  Just as I expected Noah loves it and Nathanael doesn’t.  Just like Nathanael enjoys learning the forms (a series of choreographed kicks, blocks, and punches) and Noah doesn’t.  They look really cute in their sparring gear.  I had to get them protective cups to wear and Noah exclaimed that wearing the cup is “Horror!  Pure Horror!”  He likes sparring so much though that he said he’s put up with the horror of the cup.  Brent and I will start sparring next week.

Here are some pictures from these last two weeks.

Reading about the early nomad's transition to farming. Nathanael thinks shadufs are cool!

Grammar

Making "cave" paintings.

At the nursing home with our friend, Lucille.

Good friends.

Saturday morning breakfast after a late night sleepover!

Hanging out on the deck with nasty little Nico.

xoxo,
jenn

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so cheap concerned with being a good steward of our money.  Like when we were waiting to get into the fair 5 minutes before the dollar day price ended.

All the people trying to get into by 3:00 at 2:58.

We dropped my parents off near the fair then Brent and I had gone to find free parking.  The closest spot we could find was about a mile and a half away.  By the time we reached the gates it was 2:50 and the dollar admission ended at 3 pm which would be fine if half of Ventura county wasn’t trying to get in for a buck.  Brent who is normally content to be somewhat passive managed to push us through to the ticket booth in the nick of time.  2:58.  Yay Brent.

I love the fair.  I love the smells.  Yes, I like the smell of farm animals.  I love watching the people the fair brings out of the cracks.  (Certainly not the Trader Joe’s crowd.)  I love that they have booths devoted soley to serious animal shirts.  I love watching my kids on the rides even though I’m praying that the ride holds itself together.  I love listening to carnies try to sell their games.  But most of all I love the goats.  Even though they chew my dress and eat my hat.

Every time I go I talk to breeders and get emails and numbers hoping one day I will actually find myself the owner of the world’s greatest pet.  (There is a lady in Camarillo who is selling brother and sister Pygmies and a young blue-eyed Nigerian Dwarf doe.  I will happily accept late birthday presents.)

They remind me of a mound of hamsters!

This year Older Brother  and Younger Brother were getting along particularly well.  It’s interesting to note that since they quit going to school we’ve noticed a dramatic improvement in their behavior.  We are spending more time actually watching/listening to them play instead of being referees.  Hallelujah.  At the fair, Older Brother, wanted to make sure Younger Brother didn’t get lost so he held his hand most of the day.  These are my favorite pictures of the bunch.   (You may have already seen them on Flickr)

Big Brother hates, yes HATES, rides that spin, flip, jerk, or go faster than .5 miles per hour.  I thought I was going to lose my life after I convinced him to ride this.  It goes up and around fast…sort of.

Younger Brother, however, believes the faster the higher to better.  I can just see the future.  Can someone get me a Xanax please?

Here are a few more pictures because…well….fairs are fun.

Watch out Evil Knievel.

Llama love.

We had our first official day homeschooling yesterday.  It was great!   I would have blogged about that but this post has been sitting in my drafts for well over two weeks.

xoxo
j

At home the boys have been playing Legos NONSTOP.  Like Older Brother’s seat?  It’s an empty planter.  Yes, that’s a robe he is wearing.  ”Rich guys” wear them even robes with race cars on the front.

They’ve made some really great creations including mansions, an rv, an airport, a toy store.  In fact, we have a Lego city spread out through our home.  Here is a close up of the restaurant in the living room.

“I’m rich.  I’m not poor.  I work here because I want too.  I actually work here for free.” The exact words I heard Big Brother’s Lego restaurant worker say to Little Brother’s Lego guy.  Interesting customer service.

This same restaurant worker has a billboard size painting of himself in the town.

They’ve been playing Legos so much, younger brother’s new line of defense is, “I won’t play Legos with you ever again.”  This always gets older brother upset.  He comes running, “Mama make him play Legos with me.”  Of course this just reinforces younger brother’s get-what-I-want-tactic works.    But they always make up.  See?  That purple thing is a massager.  I even think I heard Noah say sweetly, “I’ll always be your servant.”  Jessica, sound familiar?

Sunny is always nearby.  Sometimes right there watching the action or sleeping or disassociating.

Speaking of pet’s coping mechanisms.  Check out Nigel.   I think he’s having a mid-life crisis.  Instead of a small sports car he found a small box.  That’s a faucet box, half his size.

Nigel is looking old.  Brent said, “I know he looks old but when I look at him I still see the same cute pup we got 9 years ago.”  Awwww….so sweet.  I hope he feels the same way about me in 30 years.

That’s all for now.  I’ll catch you up on the fair and our taekwondo testing later this week.

love,
jenn

Saturday was Nathanael’s night with daddy.  I had a buy one get one free coupon for TGIFridays so they went there but not until after the great debate on China Palace vs. Mike’s.  (Nathanael said we were being cheap since we mentioned Mike’s….um…yeah we are.)   I guess TGIFridays was a good choice after all because Nathanael came home wildly excited about the sliders describing them in great detail.  Noah really wanted to go to Taco Bell with me but I had a coupon for a free burrito from a small hole in the wall place so we decided to try something new.  He was excited because it was called “Santa Cruz” and he thought it was hilarious to keep saying that we were on our way to the island.  (The Channel Islands are right off the coast of Ventura.)  Once we got there it was closed.  Good thing McDonald’s was near.  Since the back seats were down in the back of the van we had a “pic-nic” in the Target parking lot.

He thought it was great fun.  I was just happy no one could see me inhaling my Filet-O-Fish.  Oh yes!

We went into Target to look for coasters.  We didn’t find any but I did find a set of Corelle dishes for 50% off.  We’ve needed new dishes for a couple of years.  That is if 10 year old dishes with rust spots all over the edges constitutes “need”.  Since when did ceramic rust???  I’ve been searching the internet just to make sure I got a good deal and I can’t find a set nearly this pretty for less than $50 and I paid $35.  Of course, if you want to show me up then send me the link b/c I’m always game for saving more!!!  Anyway these are the dishes I got but I’m not sure if I’m going to keep them.

What do you think???

We also worked on the house a bit this weekend. The bathroom is almost done.  Two years later.  And I put the second coat of paint on two of our walls.  A year later.  My genius husband also hung the curtain rods he made from supplies from Lowes for LES THAN $20!  We saved a bundle since we needed loooooong rods for our front room windows.  I sewed some curtains all by myself without the help of my mom (or Aimee D.)!  They look great from 5  feet way.  Actually we don’t like them.  They are too busy with our new super duper awesome chairs.  Say hello to Sunny, aka, Mr. Magnificent.

We are planning to take a trip down to the fabric district in LA sometime soon so I can get some inexpensive fabric. We can’t find anything we like here in town and curtains at the store are soooo expensive.   Last visit to the fabric district we really scored with the glittery bright red shag fabric.   What. Were.  We. Thinking?

I also scored again on freecycle and got a free television for our garage. This is so I can test and review (at least that’s the idea) workout videos for competingtolose.com which, by the way, is well on it’s way to becoming Girl-Heroes.com.  We are also looking forward to trying P90x when it gets here.  ;)

Oh yeah.  The other day in the car I asked Nathanael if he thought he would move far away when he grew up?  He said very matter-of-fact without looking up from his game, “I’ll live in California but I’ll probably live in Beverly Hills or some place like that.”

xoxo
jenn

We have many reasons why we have decied to homeschool.  Here are a few in no particular order.

1. We feel like God has placed this desire in our hearts.  Sitting down with the boys to learn has by far been one of the greatest joys of parenting for me.  Some people have remarked that it sounds like such a chore.  A year ago I felt the same but I can say with honesty that I no longer see it as a “chore” but as a gift.  I can’t believe that God has given me two amazing children and has given me the desire and opportunity to homeschool them.
2. The boys are getting big and we know Nathanael’s next 9 years are going to go by FAST.  We know if we never give homeschooling a try we will regret it later.  We don’t want them to grow up and say we wished we would have tried.
3. We want to help preserve our boys unique personalities.  Although they have gone to a very warm and nuturing school we have noticed the effect of peers on their personalities and frankly it’s not been all that great.  Our boys are trying to discover who God has created them to be and we want to be the ones to guide them down that path.  Do we want to shelter them???  Yes, to some extent we do because we feel that is our job.  Forever?  Absolutely not.  But homeschooling will give us a bigger say in who they choose for friends.  Homeschoolers have a reputation for being “weird”.  This idea that all homeschoolers are “weird” is just plain ignorant.  A while back I spent some time visiting homeschooling groups.  Honestly, I was expecting to meet “weird” kids but what I found is that the kids actually seemed more grounded, thoughtful, confident, and kind than the kids on the school playground.  I observed kids appreciating the differences in others.  I even saw two juniour high girls discussing science and math with enthusiasm. One was encouraging the other who was not doing as well with those subjects.  This really opened my eyes to the types of kids who homeschool.  It was a far cry from what I saw happening between the girls at the school.  So if “weird” means being able to think for oneself, an interest in learning, and relating to others on a mature level then so be it…I want “weirdos”.  Of course, school kids are NOT all bad kids.  There will be a few that we hope to keep in touch with but these are some observations we have made that have influenced our decision.
4. We want to know our kids as deeply as possible.  We just don’t feel like we are getting to know them as well when they are in school all day and then coming home tired and cranky with only a few rushed hours trying to squeeze in homework, taekwondo, and dinner before bed.
5. Freedom and flexibility.  Brent has worked so hard to get to do what he does for a living but because the boys are in school we are unable to take full advantage of his flexibility and enjoy the fruits of his labor.  Now we will be able to go camping and visit family whenever and for as long as we want as long as it works with Brent’s schedule (and money and not wearing out our welcome!).  We have dreams of spending a year in a RV traveling the country really learning about American history.  Or spending a year in China teaching English.  Or who knows…..  We are all SO EXCITED about the opportunities that this will allow even if it’s just family trips to a museums during the week.
6. Teach them not just to learn but more importantly teach them to love learning.  Learning is not about textbooks, quizzes, and tests.  It’s a way of looking at the world, asking questions, and seeking answers.  It’s exploring the history of humanity through art, literature, philosophy, and science so that we can respond the work of God throughout mankind.
7. Reduce stress at home for us and for the boys.  As crazy as it may seem to some, we know that this is going to reduce the stress level in our home.  We are SO HAPPY to be done with the get up early and rushing around to get to school on time.  Not only that but stressing to get all the homework done after a busy day and having very little free time to just be kids and play.  Running back and forth between home and school had added unnecessary stress.  We are really looking forward to slowing down and being able to enjoy each other.  We also hope to reduce isocial stress.  We talked to one family who had home-schooled 2 or their 4 kids and said their home-schooled kids carried a lighter burden.  We hope to lighten our boys future loads.
8. We feel they will get a better education, one that is tailored to suit their gifts instead of a one size fits all approach that’s necessary when teaching in a classroom.  For example, Nathanael has already expressed interest in taking Dave Ramsey’s financial peace course and learning Photoshop.  Things we would never have time for if he is in regular school.  Not to mention those are real-world skills that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives if they so choose. Much (not all) of traditional school work is boring and a waste of time.   Okay so a few people love filling out worksheet after worksheet and cramming for tests.  And a few actually remember it.   As Nathanael has gotten older his busy work has gotten longer and longer.  He has sat for hours filling out science reviews or history reviews searching through dull textbooks for the answers.  Understandably so, he gets frustrated and bored.  Brent and I talked about this and remembered feeling the same.  Not only that but we remember very little from our textbooks BUT we remember almost all of the stories we read. So we are going to use very few workbooks and textbooks.  Our homeschool is going to be based on high quality, much of it classical, literature. See History & Literature below.Not only is much of the work boring but they either have to wait for everyone to catch up OR they don’t understand concepts because the teacher doesn’t have the time to explain it to them in a way they understand, so they fall behind. Most of world’s greatest thinkers were not taught in a classroom.So how do homeschoolers compare  academically with the rest of the students.  Read Academic Statistics on Homeschooling to find out!
9. Spiritual guidance.  So what if our kids do brilliantly academically but suffer spiritually.  If that is the case then we’ve missed the point of life.  This is why everyday will start out with Bible and we are going to approach every subject from Biblical/spiritual points of view.  When they are ready we will tackle the big questions of life and the implications of the different answers.   Far from wanting to shelter them we want to challenge them by asking these questions while they are still under our care because ultimately these are the things that REALLY matter.

So how are we going to do all this????  Well here is a list by subject and I’m sure this will change as forge ahead.

Bible – A Bible, The Awesome Book of Bible Facts,  A devotional Bible.

History & Literature & Reading – This is going to be the core of our program.  We are going to learn history through high quality literature. For our first year we are going to give Sonlight a try.  Check out their website for more information.  History and literature aren’t grade dependent so we will be reading many of the same stories together out loud.  Nathanael will also read from the advanced readers list and Noah will read from the beginning reader list.  We are starting with an overview of world history as opposed to American history because…well…the world didn’t begin with America and it’s not all about America.  We feel like this will give us a better perspective and appreciation for our own country’s history.

Writing - The boys writing assigments will be based off of the books we read for history and literature.  As far as a formal handwriting program, we are going to give the Writing without Tears program a try for Noah since he doens’t like handwriting at all.  I’ve researched and researched and this seems like it will be the best fit for him something that would not be able to happen if he was still in school.  Nathanael is going to use A Reason For Handwriting program since this is what he has used since Kindergarten.  As soon as he is consistently writing neatly we will stop a formal handwriting practice.

Grammar – We are going to use the Rod and Staff grammar program.  From my research, it is one of the best and most thorough programs out there.  Noah will not start this until 3rd grade.

Phonics – We are undecided on our phonics program.  So far I’m leaning towards Explode the Code, Rod and Staff or A Beka.  I’m still very open though and will be talking to other homeschooling moms for advice.

Science –  This year we are going to be using Sonlight’s science curriculum.  For now our focus on science is to encourage their curiosity, appreciation, and wonder for God’s creation.

Math – We are going to stick with Singapore Math for now.  Their school switched over to it last year and I was very impressed.  It’s a little different than the way most of us were taught math but I find the Singapore way of doing math to be way more intuitive and practical.  For those of you worried about me teaching Math I want to assure you I’m confident in my abilities for the next few years.  If or when I feel I need additional help we will either switch to a different program, take classes through the groups or co-ops and or get a tutor.  Just FYI I did very well in math.  I’m better at the language arts but I did get all the way through trigonometry in high school with an A.  I didn’t take any math in college so yes, it’s been a while but like I said if I need help, I’ll get help.

Spelling – I think I’m going to start Noah with Spelling Workout A and I’m trying to decide wether to do Sequential Spelling or Spelling Workout D with Nathanael.  I really like all that I’ve read about Sequential Spelling but again I’m going to talk with some other homeschooling moms before I make a decision.

Spanish – We are going to give the Rosetta Stone Homeschool Edition a try.  Of course, trips to Blancas (the little mexican market around the corner) will be great fun and practice.  I considered starting with Latin but since they’ve already had some Spanish and there are ample opportunities to practice we decided to wait on Latin.

Music & Art – Until we can afford piano lessons we are going to try to learn the basics together.  We are also going to spend some time learning about the great artists and composers throughout history.  There is a really cool drawing book we are going to try to go through together as well.

Socialization – This is possibly the most annoying question so don’t ask me about it.  People who ask this must have forgotten what it’s like to be on a playground or in the junior high cafeteria.  If this is a concern read Socialization: Homeschoolers Are in the Real World or this one and  you’ll see where Brent and I are coming from.  Don’t worry, we are not going to raise our kids in a bubble.  They will interact weekly with kids at taekwondo, church, playdates, our friend’s kids and our homeschool support groups CASA, ACHEVE, and we are on the waiting list for Group Solutions.  In additions we are considering joining the homeschool choir and/or Boy Scouts.  So they will have plenty of friends, in fact, we are going to have to be careful not to get too busy!!  We are already looking forward to a homeschool camping trip the last week of August.

So there you have it a basic overview of what will be The Nims Academy of Excellence in Exploration.  Yes, we realize this is a bit ideal on paper but we agree with Michelangelo  ”The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”  We hope in time Nathanael and Noah will be setting their sights as high as the heavens.

With Love,
Jenn & Brent

I am a nice smart boy.  I like rich people stuff. Also I like money and would not miss a payday.  I like to buy things.  I would be (best) for the job because I like to remind Mrs. Hoffman stuff like What day it is on the board.  Changes I would make would be giving us more money or lowering prises (prices) so we could afford it.  I would also have SSR so we could have more time to read.  I would also have homework passes so we could have a break.  And lastly share day every other friday for 5 kids.  And that is the end of my speech and I hope I convinced you to vote for me! See ya later!

The day after winning the election Nathanael decided to wear his suit jacket and tie so he would be dressed properly “for work”.  I’m glad my son is confident and I’m thrilled he wants more time to read but I’m not so sure about the current obsession with buying things.  We are trying to convince him that the millionaire next door drives a dumpy car and lives in a modest house because he is investing and not spending.  But he likes “fancy” things.

Noah, on the other hand, has been more interested in the metaphysical world.  Just yesterday he was asking Brent about Heaven.  He wanted to know if we could come back, go where we want to, see people still on earth and so on.  Brent told him that he didn’t know and the Bible doesn’t give us many details about that stuff.   Noah responded, “Then go online.” I wish it was that easy.  I have a few questions I’d like to email God.

We had a nice Easter today.  This morning we got up early and went to sunrise service at the beach.  It was so beautiful despite being a little chilly.  Later we went back to church and then visited our friend, Lucille.  The afternoon was spent napping on the couch, hunting for Easter eggs, and cooking.  Simple.  Wonderful.

(Brent’s been updating pictures on Flickr.  You don’t want to miss those!)