Speaking from the Heart

I have resisted the temptation to blog, but the urge is too much. It has been awhile since my last update. I hope friends and families are doing well. Considering how busy we've been this summer, this is a very light week.

The family had a great time visiting families over 4th of July. Dear husband and I started a vegetable garden. I think we started too late. The tomatoes cracked before they ripened. The watermelon did not do as well as we had hoped. However, we've gotten a pound of purple hull peas and Lima Beans. We're hoping the next crop will do better.

It seems like in a blink of an eye, summer is almost over. We'll be starting school on August 11th, a week after the planned intital date. It's going to be a busy year. In addition to doing schoolwork at home, Dear Son and Daughter have classes with other homeschoolers. That means 3 out of 5 days, we'll be on the road. I am already feeling a little frazzled of how I am going to get everything done.


The kids have been busy with summer day camps. Dear Son spent a week at Camp Rock. This camp was not an ordinary camp, where campers only played and had a good time. Dear Son and campers were missionaries. They went to a low-income community to clean a residence's yard, to paint another residence's home, and to help out with Vacation Bible School. Dear Son and his fellow campers returned to the church around 3:00 daily, where they got some rest and recreation. After dinner, the campers had a Bible Study before they went to a movie, bowling, or just participated in a planned game. Lights were out by 11:00. Dear Son was supposed to camp out at the church, but Dear Husband and I opted to pick him up every night and returned him to church every morning. It was a great experience for Dear Son, not to mention the fact that he got to get away from me and his sister, and he earned 40 hours of community service towards his high school credit. Besides Camp Rock, Dear Son particpated in Volleyball Camp, and he is looking forward to computer programming camp, which will begin next week.

Dear Daughter busied herself with Dance and Music Camps, and Wednesday choir this summer. At the last minute, she qualified to participate in Engineering for Youth. For five days, she and 9 other girls worked together to build cranes, electric motor cars, etc. with Lego's. At the last day of class, they designed a birthday cake and programmed the candles to flicker on and off. Dear Daughter had a good time and learned a lot. However, the hardest thing for her and for myself was being away from each other for 8 hours daily.