Tag: Homeschooling

365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 12

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January 12,2012

Childhood is such a carefree time in a person’s life. When my husband and I first me we used to go to the park a lot. We’d pack a pic nic and go. It’s something we still do now that we have kids. Even though our kids are half grown, they still enjoy family outings to the park. A park is where you park it and forget about your troubles and just enjoy your life.

Round n Round

30 Day Blog Challenge:Day 30

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Whew! I am finished with this 30 day challenge; this was a nice little journey I took and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts. I had to look hard through my copy of THE MOM AND DAD CONVERSATION PIECE  by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie, in order to find my last question. So without much further ado, I bid you adieu on this challenge!

Day 30 Question 30:When you were a very young child, what did you want to be when you grew up? When you were in high school, what did you think you would be doing for a living someday?

Answer: From the time I learned about words, I gravitated towards writing when I first began  school. I also loved to draw so I was never without paper and pencil. My favorite subject in school was always the language arts; I quickly fell in love with reading and I read everything I put my hands on. Back then my favorite TV show was THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. So I  wrote a story based on the characters, and I set them in present time. All through middle school and high school I wrote all the time. In the 10th grade, a friend of mine had a big crush on this guy and she loved my poetry. She had me write her crush several poems which she gave to him. Writing was my friend because I was a pretty lonely kid and I trusted my journal to keep all of my secrets. I could envision myself being a writer when I was very young.

In high school I discovered the seamstress in me. When I was younger and my Abuelita lived with us, I would never tire of watching her sew.  When I found out I could take Fashion Design , I was in! I loved making a new outfit and getting compliments on it at school. One time I made a dress for my aunt which she actually wore often; I realized that was her way of showing me she approved my work. I also made a couple of outfits and I was able to model them myself in the yearly Fashion Show. That fueled my desire to stick to fashion and pretty soon, I pictured my self owning my own designer boutique.

I went to college to learn fashion design. Once in the program though, I saw it was more of a challenge than I had previously imagined. Some of that passion I’d felt for fashion before began to wane. Then in my last year of college I enrolled in a fashion journalism course and I fell in love with writing all over again. I knew then for sure, that writing and I would never part ways again.

When I self published my first book,  a couple of years ago, I knew I would always pursue this dream of mine to the end of my days. This year I submitted my 2nd manuscript to a major publisher and it was accepted right away. Mind you, I had plans to self publish again, but thanks to my 2nd daughter who kept telling me to submit it, I’m so glad I did! You see, I was terrified of the possibility of receiving a letter of rejection and my daughter would say,” So? If you do, keep trying .”

I am thrilled to announce that my second book, a volume of poems, short stories and prose will be published next  year! I look forward to sharing it with you! I ‘ll leave you with a quote from yours truly: ” I’m gonna keep writing ’til they have to pry my pen from my cold hand!” – Eva

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 23

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense :)

Day 23 Question #23: What’s the best gift you’ve ever received from your children?

Answer: This question just made me chuckle as I readily knew the answer. I grew up in a very serious home where children were expected to behave as little adults. I had to suppress my humour a lot growing up because it was deemed inappropriate by the adults who raised me. I love to laugh and that is one of the best gifts my kids give me everyday. They all are hilarious in different ways.

My oldest girl loves to act and impersonate some famous celebs. Her rendition of Julia Child is hysterical. One time we had some friends over for dinner and she did her Julia child impression for our friends. They still talk about it because it was a hoot. My second daughter is witty and can come up with the best one liners. Sarcasm is her favorite way to get me laughing.  My son has his own brand of jokes that he and his younger sister make up and when they get going with it, it is non-stop giggles. My youngest daughteris the girl of a thousand or more faces. I often wonder how can such a beautiful face turn ugly, goofy hilarious in five seconds flat.

Girl of a Thousand Faces
Pretty to Goofy in 5 Seconds Flat!

All my kids have perfect timing as well.

My husband and I have often quipped that we don’t need TV when we have four funny, fun-loving kids who love entertaining us! 

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 21

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 🙂

Day 21 Question #21: What is the greatest lesson your children have ever taught you?

Answer: The one thing  I have learned after all these years of raising kids is how amazingly resilient their spirits are. When something bad happens they shrug it off more readily and easily than adults. I have asked my kids through the years to think back about when we were going through a rough spot, as a family or in my marriage to their dad. Their answers amaze me because I used to think that they would remember all the bad stuff in detail. Their answers that reflect that even though they knew times were bad, they took the good memories and cling to them. With the not so good things, they talk about it candidly and even laugh about some of the outlandish things they’ve seen.

A child’s bounce back ability is so amazing to me. I have seen each of my kids go through a terrible disappointment and be completely heart-broken and frustrated, only to shrug it off the next day. They move on quickly where adults linger in things that ought be discarded. That’s one of the biggest things I have learned from my kids. If things don’t happen like I thought they were going to, I follow their example; cry, shrug and move on.

30 Day Blog Challenge : Day 14

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense. 🙂

Day 14 Question #14: If you were making a list of your 3 favorite childhood memories, what would the entries be?

Answer: I thought of  this a  little while and here are my answers.The first one was when a poem of mine won an honorable mention in a local library contest. My 6th grade teacher, Mrs Gillard sent the poems in without my knowing it and then one afternoon she handed me a white piece of paper with the directions to go to the library and pick up my certificate. I never forgot that feeling that came with knowing that someone had read my work titled, ” The Fat Cat” and liked it enough to give me an honorable mention.

My second memory was when I was 13 and I received my fist pay check for baby sitting. I baby sat a 6 month old baby boy for the whole summer and the parent would pay me by check every Friday. I felt really grown up when I took the money and opened my first bank account.

My 3rd memory was my prom. I had worked hard that year to save my money so I could buy a dress, pay for the tickets and have a nice dinner. I learned that if I wanted anything in this life I didn’t mind working hard to get it.

30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 4

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Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense. 🙂

Day 4 Question #4: What is the greatest compliment you’ve ever been paid?

Answer: In the early ’90’s I worked at a museum in Atlanta. The museum director, Lillian and I got along great. One day she asked me to do something extra in order to promote the museum. She told me I had the option to say no and that would be fine too. Lillian asked me if I would make an exhibit using flowers to enter in the Atlanta Flower Show.

Midtown Atlanta, Piedmont Park
Image via Wikipedia

I was taken aback at first since I didn’t consider myself a “pro” at working with flowers. Then I thought about how I had worked with flower arrangements at home so I figured I’d give it a try. The job was to make  an arrangement that resembled the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War. Once I accepted the challenge Lillian stood back and looked at me then she said,” Wow! You’re simply amazing!” I laughed as I asked her,” What do you mean?” The comment caught me by surprise. Then my boss said,” I have never met someone who exudes so much self confidence. It’s almost as if you can do anything that comes your way, because you never let anything or anyone get in your way.” THAT, blew me away because at the time I didn’t think much of myself. I thanked her as we hugged and I went off to plan the exhibit. Words like that stay with a person 🙂

Be Advised :)

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CAUTION! Before you decide to home school you should know that not everyone is going to jump on your band wagon and support you. When both sides of our family learned of our decision to home teach we received mixed feed back from different people in our extended families. My sister thought I was just plain stupid to have gone to college and gotten my Bachelors only to sit at home with my 4 kids and in her words,” waste my talents.” My brother in law admonished her by saying,” Are you kidding? How can she be wasting anything when your sister is pouring out the best of herself into her children?” Thank you for that Larry! Has it been tough on us with one of us bringing in one pay check? Well, at times it has been but in the end our needs have always been met. We also have learned that you really don’t need as much stuff to have a happy, comfortable life. We may not have the latest gadgets or go on vacations every summer but we do have each other and that is really what kids want: A stable happy home life where they know they are loved by both of their parents.

Our Forefathers Learned At Home

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Good day to you!
Today I want to share from a historic point of view; I am a bit of a history buff so allow me to indulge for a minute. Did you know some of our nation’s forefathers began their education at home? Here is a short list if some of them:George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Do you know what else each of these men have in common? As children, none of them had any regular, formal schooling. They were all self-educated or taught at home!
Learn more about them and other famous homeschoolers at FamousHomeschoolers.net!
 
I want to encourage you that even though it may seem like a long road to travel, seemingly alone at times; that when you decide to answer the call to home school you are far from being alone. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses that testify to exactly the opposite. If our ancestors had the strength to do so back then,so can we!
Have a wonderful day and give yourself a pat on the back for your wise decision!