Live a Meaningful Life

We have had another adventurous year learning. John Gannon completed the 5th grade and Jackson completed 1st grade. Here are some of the highlights of our school year. DISCLAIMER: If you homeschool and have a tendency to compare what you do with others or feel bummed out when reading what someone else does...please just quit reading. I do these posts every year to document what we do. I absolutely love when other moms share what they do. I have gotten lots of ideas and encouragement from others doing the same. I salute all of you out there who have taken on the task of homeschooling your children. The beauty is that we all do it differently! Here was our first day picture! Our first large project was working with friends to create a movie: America:The Land of Hope, Opportunity, and Freedom. The movie is a compilation of interviews documenting the stories of people who have moved to the USA and now call it home. They were able to interview people from all over the world. The...

I have been struggling for the past two weeks. A war has been raging in my mind. Battles have erupted trying to steal my sanity, my purpose, and my resolve to win. It all started after my annual visit to the pulmonologist. I was diagnosed with a lung disease in 2010. I am not going to rehash the whole story of my last visit, but I left with this resolve that I was going to start pushing myself to see if I could expand my lung capacity. I learned at the appointment my lungs were functioning at 70% for someone of my age and size (which is a decrease of almost 9% since I have been going). For the past two weeks, I have whined. I have blamed. I have been angry. I have been sad. I have felt feelings of great motivation. I have felt completely defeated. I have felt like a failure at everything I do. I have felt stupid for having such feelings. I have felt guilty and selfish. I am glad that I know the truth. The truth is that almost every one of those feelings are lies. They are deceptive...

I'll never forget the day. My mom and dad were sitting in the kitchen in our little white house on Hwy 371. They called me in there and told me they were getting a divorce. I remember running my hand along the (now vintage style) gray table. As an adult, I understand that conversation was probably really hard to have with a 6 year old, innocent little girl staring at you. The next memory I have is going outside and running over to the light pole. It had a long plastic yellow cover at the end of the guide wire. I always tried to see how far I could make it slide up the pole. I remember doing it over and over as I cried. I was sure it was my fault. If I had just been a better child...  From there...moving out, visitation, overhearing phone conversations and adults as they chattered, being caught in the middle of still loving both parents when they no longer loved each other, new girlfriends, new boyfriends, step brothers/sisters, abuse.  The truth is divorce is hard for kid...