Back to School

This is our last week of summer. It has been the hottest summer since moving here - I am so ready for it to be over. We attended our annual home school convention over the weekend, and I am armed with new materials and ready for another school year. It is hard to believe we have been educating at home for over 11 years. The time has flown by like a blink, just like so many wise moms warned me it would. It hasn't been an easy journey; often it has been quite challenging, but I wouldn't trade one second of it. The kids have thrived, despite it all, and in the end, what matters most is their walk with the Lord. Really. That is all that matters. The words of men will fade, but the Word of God lives on forever.

I rarely get asked the usual questions anymore about homeschooling. You know the questions, like, "what about socialization?", and "how will you be able to teach them through high school?". People can clearly see that our sons are well educated, not just in knowledge, but in character. The fruit we have harvested thus far from these guys would make any parent proud. They are honest, hard working, caring, giving and obedient. They are patriotic and well versed in our God given rights to pursue happiness.

We pray in our school and recite from the Bible throughout the day. We read living books about real heroes and missionaries and people who have made a difference in this world. People who have sacrificed, so they could give of themselves. They get to choose what we study, and there is no greater joy than learning something we are all interested in, together as a family.

They have all told me how they would like to find a wife who will home school their own children, and to me, that says it all. God bless all of my home school friends as we embark on another year of learning and growing at home.

Happy Birthday, Keith!

Yesterday we celebrated Keith's 49th birthday. Twenty years ago, that sounded so old, not it just seems normal. Funny how that happens.... Anyway, we decided it was best to just cook a special meal instead of spend way too much money eating out. I think the marinated fillet mignon, then cooked on the grill, along with oven fries made with potatoes grown in our garden, salad and a made from scratch milk-chocolate cake was quite enjoyable. We tried to give him a kingly birthday by giving him peace and I even let him win Dr. Mario a couple times.....

Happy birthday, Keith! Next year it's the big one!!!

I love old friends!

And when I say old, I don't mean old in age, but in length of years we have been friends! Cindy and I met when Chris was a few months old, and our friendship blossomed immediately. We were pregnant a couple of times together and I can remember many a times when we would sit and nurse our babies together. Such sweet memories!! We were always at the children's birthday parties and many play dates, park dates, etc. Often we would just cook lunch together and hang out, always having time to discuss our walk with the Lord and what He had been doing in our lives at the time. This week was just like old times, and I am so thankful for the brief, but very gratifying visit!

Hannah was born 2 weeks before Michael. She didn't talk much the other day, but thought some of my one-liners were funny. Ben was in Atlanta playing baseball with The Perfect Game, while Josh stayed in LA since he is apprenticing as an electrician! David and JohnPaul seemed to enjoy shooting pool and playing guitar hero with Michael and James.

I am ever thankful for old friends and hope to see them again soon! God Bless you, Cindy and your family. You are such a treasure to me!

How cute!

I just had to post this picture of the two sleeping-beauties! This is just too cute!

When in Rome....

...do as the Romans do. And when the Lord blesses you with sons, you play lots of boy games! Over the years, I have gotten on the floor and played hot wheels, built legos, forts, had sword fights and all the other activities that boys like. Boys are tons of fun and I love getting engaged with them. One of their favorite hobbies is to airsoft gun fight. I host LOTS of boys over here and they shoot the guns in our woods. We probably have 10-15 guys here at a time and I always feed them well. They are all such high-standard, Godly young men. I had them over the other day and I couldn't resist joining in a couple rounds with them. Can I just tell you that I had a blast!!

Week in Review

A week in the life of the Brauds, from the moment the three oldest guys went on encampment with the Civil Air Patrol. First of all the quiet that ensued the minute they left was unusually soothing. I bathed in the quiet and prayed for their safety, then commenced to spend that quantity and quality time with James. We had watched fireworks the night before, so we were dragging some, but as soon as we ate lunch, we headed to Toy Story 3! We didn't see it in 3D since Keith and I get headaches from 3D, but the normal version was quite good. None of the Toy Story movies will ever trump the original, as is with more original movies, but 3 was very clever. It also made me so happy none of my kids had to experience the daycare environment that 3 seemed to depict quite astutely.

Monday my store was open, so James was left to himself. Poor thing played video games all day with no one to bump him off. It was almost abusive of us to do such a thing to him. Tuesday we snagged a GI Joe @ 20% off at a local store and then picked up one of his close friends for a play date. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their conversations and watching them hop from one activity to the next.

Wednesday the movies has $1 movies, so How To Train Your Dragon was quite enjoyable and quite affordable. We hated to do it, but Bruster's ice cream just happened to be on the way home, so I forced James to eat some ice cream. He resisted, as you could about imagine. At this point, I am feeling more like the gramma with only one child and saying "yes" to so many things. You just can't say yes when you have 4 of them. Four movie tickets, four ice creams and you are broke.

Thursday we had a yard and house clean-up day. Not that fun, but needed. Keith was off so we bought a new Wii game. He and I played way more hours than I would care to reveal..... But it was fun and peaceful and we were together!

Friday we took a day trip to Rome, GA. Very cute and clean city. We ate at a yummy restaurant, and even had catfish fried the way they do in Louisiana. For a moment, we felt like we were in New Orleans at a cafe. The temps outside even made it seem all the more real. The shopping was fun and the eye candy delightful. We can't wait to drive back in the fall when the scenery will be breathtaking.

Of course we all woke up Saturday eager to get our guys back and hear all about encampment. Although the week of peace was very therapeutic, I was really missing my guys and am happy to have them back!