Homeschool mornings

I am fascinated with photographing food...I don't know why but I think it is so cool.  I tried really hard to get the steam rising from our huge stack of pancakes, but after 20 pics everyone was quite ready to eat so I had to quit.
There are some things I just absolutely love about homeschooling. I need to post those things as I think of them so the other 75% of the time that I am not sure why in the world I am doing this, I can look and remember...OH YEAH!  So one of the things I love is our occasional sleepy mornings when we make pancakes and waste time in our PJ's not sure we are ready to welcome the day quite yet. This morning was one of those mornings that I did not rush into our day, and to my joy I found two of my kids engulfed in their recent reads, in PJ's, sitting in the sun of the morning.  We had a great devotional out of recently recommended book.  When I figure out how to post a picture of it I will share it with you. The day progressed into not the greatest day...but at least we enjoyed the beginning!



I love when he finds a book, sometimes takes awhile to find one that catches him.



And this one....well I can't get her out of the books.....ever!

What a BLAST!

Well- we finally had Joseph's birthday party (his birthday was February 18th)!  We had an Amazing Race party, about 20 kids in cars around town completing all sorts of challenges.  It was Rob's brainchild of racing to drink milkshakes, to putting up tents with no directions, to a Walmart extravaganza...and all sorts of things in between. It was his last birthday party- in our house all the fun ends at 10 years old...and he went out with a bang!

Five teams- red, orange, yellow, green, blue....and lots of good friends helping us out...

The birthday party of the year- good job Dad!

Feel free to comment on the new facial hair....he is very proud :)



My 10 year old!



Blissful Morning

Annabelle: Mom, you interupted me again!
Mom: Honey, you are talking nonstop right now and no one can get a word in, we have to interupt.
Annabelle: Well- you talk nonstop with your friends and we can't interupt!!!

My favorite part of the morning

 Good news....no juvenile rhuematoid arthritis!  What a relief.  I don't think we realized how nervous we were about these results, when the doctor called on her day off- my heart sunk!  But her news was wonderful.  Of course, we still have no idea what is going on with MacKenzie and the pain she is experiencing in her joints, but hopefully time will tell. So- enjoying my cup o joe and relaxing before the storm of the day.  Two more soccer games today (one last night) and then getting ready for Joseph's delayed birthday party tomorrow.



Joseph is having an Amazing Rcce party tomorrow....updates to come :)



Health....something we strive for

So it seems there is always the saga of health in our of our lives.  We do so many thing to strive towards good health.  There is the amazing idea that God created our bodies and we are the stewards to care for it.  There is the idea that it just feels so much better to be healthy.  There is the idea that maybe we could live longer more fruitful lives if we are healthy while we are here on this earth.  Whatever the reason I believe most of us desire to be healthy in some way, but how do we do this???

 I truly want this for my family.  We have been through so many years of ill health with my body and currently ---well---- I seem very healthy.  I no longer get sick like I used to.  Of course it seems that there is always a sacrifice and I have traded my ill health for sugar cane.  I was tested 2 years ago and found a food allergy to sugar cane and have found a degree of health that I have never know before.  Now, as my daughter approaches her teens, she has been suffering with various health issues.  Today we discovered that she is going to be tested for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and she also has an apparent allergy to gluten!!! So-- off we go on a new "health" endeavor with our family, or at least one member of our family.

Welcome Spring....

It seems the weather is staying consistently above 50 degrees right now-YEAH!  I just could not resist getting outside today as the sun was shining and the wind was down.  So, we headed out to Beezely Hill, the only hill in town, to look for signs of spring.  Seeing as it is only green around here for about 3 weeks out of the year, we have to make sure to never miss an opportunity in the spring to get outside (especially before the snakes wake up)!  The kids seemed to soak up every moment, it was a well needed excursion as each one of them experessed satisfaction by talking non-stop and having me personally respond to and veiw EVERYTHING they saw....someday I will miss that.  Being New England born and bred and having forests and trees and wildlife as "nature" to me, I have struggled in this desert.  I want to be thankful for the small joys this desert does have, let me share them with you:


That is our town in the background.......exciting, huh?




A tiny shoot poking through that winter ground!




We have such a beautiful big blue sky.




Elation!!!!!!





Everybody brought their cameras to play with




And a little bit of color!!!



Tis the Season.....

Well- it is soccer season once again for the Hock's...which means busy days, meals in the car, tired bodies, and a very exhausted Mama and Daddy!  This was the first weekend back for everyone and we broke it in with 4 soccer games and a piano recital!  Two goals for Annabelle, 1 goal for Joseph, MacKenzie played for honors recital, and Sammy......well- he went along for the ride and got an ice cream at the end, simple pleasures.


Always thinking...I love this guy





Spectating is his life, someday that will change

 




Creativity is a good thing to pass all of these hours

 



How does she do that??

 

The Start of a New Era

So I have toyed with the idea of writing a blog for sometime now and have finally taken the plunge.  First though, I had to come up with a purpose to  my blog.  I started to think about why I look at blogs?  There are so many reasons I look blogs: keeping in touch, being inspired, getting ideas, and wasting time but the top on my list is to keep up with friends I love.  So-- that is my purpose- to keep up with family and friends.  We are so far away from everyone and I would love for family and friends to have a window into our lives.  I have found so much joy in keeping up with seminary friends Jen and Kit or their blogs...planted-by-streams.bogspot.com and kitandhercaboodle-ki.bogspot.com and this has made me feel close although we are thousands of miles away.  Well....we are...thousands of miles away from most of our family, and there are so many exciting things happening in our lives that I can't help but to share.  So- I hope you all find some bit of joy in sharing in our good times, trials, tears, and adventures...............and away we goooooooo!

Joseph, Annabelle, and Sammy recently made and raced pinewood derbie cars at AWANAS, no one placed