Still here....

Elizabeth and I just started working on her 10 grade year of our home school journey. It has been some of the most frustrating and fulfilling time of my life. She has become a wonderful young women. She is interested in all things art and music. She tolerates most of her other subjects. She really enjoys looking for her own things to study. I call her the queen of useless facts because she loves nothing better than to research some obscure subject and learn all about it. I think the greatest treasure I have given her is a love for learning. Something mot of her friends in public school lack. Next year as she begins her 11th grade year she is going to start attending Anderson University to study Art and Religion. It is a wonderful school just about 40 minutes from our home. It has a wonderful program and reputation. She is getting very excited about it. Since we have not been on in a while I would like to share some of the amazing resources we have been using in our home school journey as of late. Most of them are free to boot. One of the most used and needed resource has been The Kahn Academy at https://www.khanacademy.org. It is awesome. Next we have been using CK 12 and the flex books system at http://www.ck12.org. You tube is one of my daughters favorite places to hang out as well. We spend a lot of time at the local library also. I do not spend a whole lot of money. Being rather low income has never prevented me from providing my kids with a very well rounded and diverse education. Some people are amazed by this but I am resourceful when I need to be. I love learning new things and love sharing those things with others. Being a parent and a home school teacher has afforded me the freedom to do just that everyday of my life. I truly believed God has blesses me and my family in so many ways. Finding out I could home school those I cared about has been a big blessing. If anyone out there needs questions answered or just some one to talk to about becoming a home school parent, or teaching or even just an ear to listen. I would truly love to here from you. Thank you for checking out our little piece of the web. Keep coming back because we are here always for you.

Family

I love my family. They mean the world to me. I think God has blessed me greatly.

Joshua, Jen and Alexis Grace.

Shaun, and family visiting the Indianapolis Zoo.

Beth annoying her big brother Joshua. Who is holding Alexis.

This is Zoey and Xavier

My Birthday

Well we have been really busy in our home school classes this winter. Elizabeth and I are working on a lot of different projects at the moment. We are working on a Easter Notebook. It is going to be beautiful when we are done. We have also been working on getting healthy. Last July I found a new website called Sparkpeople. It is an amazing place with so much information it is not funny. There are nutrition trackers, exercise trackers, healthy recipes, coaches and so much more. I have lost 52 pounds since I joined. There are also sister site for teens, pregnant moms, and more. I have been using the diabetic trackers to get my blood sugar under control. And this is the amazing part. It is free. The site was started by a man named Chris Downie. It promotes good health and goal setting strategies that have been extremely successful. If you decide to join tell them rpwilkin referred you. My daughter is learning a lot at spark teen. Check it out at www.sparkpeople.com. I have been motivated by my 50th birthday that is coming up on Tuesday.

Elizabeth and I also have been trying to spend lots of time with my grand kids. Zoey is 5 and she will be turning 6 in May. She has a little brother Xavier who is 3. He will be 4 in May. Their dad is my oldest Son Shaun. He is 31. He is married to Jessica. I have another son named Joshua. He is 30. He has a beautiful little girl named Alexis Grace. She will be 2 in October. He and his girlfriend have been together 3 years and are getting married in September. I am so proud of my boys. They have become wonderful men and wonderful fathers. I love to spend time with my kids. Joshua lives 4 hours away so I never get to see them enough. Beth and I spent some good quality time with them back in January.

Zoey just got back from spending a week in Pennsylvania with her Granddad. He has been relocated there to work. It is about an 8 hour drive so she was so happy to see him. But she sure was missed at home. She has never been away that long before. Xavier spent quite a bit of time with me as he was missing her so bad. All and all it was a good "spring break." I hope everyone else had a great time also.

We are considering moving. It is an awesome place in the country. I can not wait. Where we are now there is very little outdoor space. I want to put out a garden. I want to lie on the patio and watch the stars. I think Elizabeth will be so glad to be somewhere where she can spend tons of time outside. Sitting outside and reading is a favorite pastime for us both.