wow..... are you smarter than a Kindergartner!?!?

I continue to be amazed by Chip in school. Kids this age are totally into learning. If it is a game, interesting in the least bit, or makes them feel "Big", they are usually into it. This is what i have found, at least, with Chip! We continue to forge on in the world of homeschooling him and i absolutely wouldn't trade it for the world right now! He is reading on a level that I never in my wildest dreams would have envisioned for him at this age, and wants nothing to do but learn more, read better, and read bigger books - so that is what we do! We are also doing a study this semester on birds. He has learned most of the basic 'facts' about birds and now has had the opportunity to pick out one bird for the rest of the semester to just fill his little brain about. He has chosen Penguins - i know, right!?!? What a great bird to learn about! He has learned his continents and is in the process of trying to wrap his little 5-year old brain around the fact that we live on this big glob of round-ish stuff called Earth, that has all these pieces of land on it that he knows the names of, but that is such a big concept, we continue to work on that and he is totally mesmerized by it all! He is doing amazing at math, loving and breezing right through that and he loves nothing more than his literature/history stories he is hearing. You know you have a boy right where you want him when he is learning about Alexander the Great and loving it at 5 years old.

As you can imagine, homeschool takes up so much of my time, but I have been so blessed to be able to stay busy with my design work, as well. The holidays are fast approaching, no matter how much we try to drag it out and deny it, but the orders are coming in and I am behind but will be catching up on those this week. Also, the Saturday night service at our church has been an amazing success at reaching others who might not be able to attend otherwise, and it is requiring all hands be on deck at all times for it. We just wrapped up soccer season for Chip, I am traveling to NYC this weekend to go cheer on a Dystance4Dystonia team in the NY Marathon, and lots of other things are happening, too, but all in all we are doing well. We are still purely in love with PA life and just can't imagine ourselves anywhere else in the world right now. Pictures from our latest fun things with homeschool will have to come later as i have a load of laundry that is calling my name, dishes that need to be washed and work that needs to be done. Be blessed and carry on doing the work that the Lord has called you to do, wherever you may be!

Homeschool, pirate day, and more

So I have finally realized that I don't wear a cape and I won't get it all done in one day. What else I have realized, though, is that even if it doesn't all get done, it is OK!!!! :)

That being said, my blog just hasn't gotten done. Since I have been back in Pennsylvania, we have had to learn a new "normal" around here. Not only has my absence created a reason to readjust, but the church has added a new, AMAZING, Saturday night service that Tony leads worship at, soccer has begun, home school has begun, and business for me has picked back up. WHEW - so this seemingly leaves very little time for the 'little' things such as blogging.

But today is the day that I will get it done and share with you some of the incredible things we have done in home school. We have already learned Hard C, Soft C, how to skip count by 2s, 5s, and 10s, learned the four coins (penny, dime, nickel, and quarter) and their value, and have studied Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, and are now working on Abraham and Isaac. We have listened to some incredible old english stories from "50 Famous Stories" in literature and are learning about birds this term in science and the fact that the world is round and our Left, Right, Front, Back and perspective in Geography this term.

Believe it or not, we also have a LOT of fun! We use legos to learn math skills, handwriting for remembering and retaining language and handwriting skills, dry erase markers and paper for the excitement of being 'big enough' to use a marker, but we can quickly 'fix' any mistakes and correct them, as well as lots of exploring.

I also take time each week to do something fun and 'un-school'. Last week on Thursday was National Talk like a Pirate day and we went all out! We made an eye patch, pirates hat, painted a 'ship' and dressed up. Chip got to go on a treasure hunt and ended up watching The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (veggie tales) movie, after school. What fun and what joy to watch his imagination go wild and love school!

"What in the world have you done OUTSIDE of school?" you might be wondering!!! Well, that plate has been full as well! We have done lots of canning vegetables, played golf, Chip has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels, we have had play days with daddy, Soccer has begun, and nothing is complete without an ER visit... allergic rxn to his DTAP shot. All in all, we have had a great month! Lots of other fun things are to come in the future, and we are going to take them one day at a time!

I hope that you enjoyed the pictures of our home school and outside of home school experiences
so far and that you, too, will find something unconventional and just plain FUN to do each week! It is totally worth it!!!

it's been two months!

Wow - I was doing so great at blogging and then things in Alabama got busy and I just didn't sit down to do it. Since Chip's Birthday, so much has happened. He and Tony came back to PA on July 6, Dad had multiple doctors appointments with great results and conversations being had with doctors about his Dystonia, I made a trip to Chicago to speak at a conference for the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation as well as to grow and learn more, and I have returned back to PA, myself, and couldn't be happier to be back home.

People continually are saying to me, "Gosh, so how was it?" and really the only way i know to describe it was that it was a Horribly Amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Yes, it was awful to be away from home and my family for so long, I missed all the fun summer events with our new friends, and to be frank, i was gone for FOUR MONTHS - DUH, it was tough! But on the flip side, what an experience...

I was able to experience strength and love that I have never seen poured out. I have seen people treated the way they should never be treated and have, in turn, learned how to treat people, and I had to rely on a faith that I did not even know existed within my soul and Christian Walk. I have walked away from this experience with a care and concern for caregivers that you can only have if you have walked in those shoes, with a respect and regard for military and hard-working families that are away from their families for extended length of times, and I learned about strength and willpower to do the impossible against all odds that will stick with me forever.

In situations such as these, returning home and learning to 'be a family' again, learning to function among groups of people, readjusting to the fact that you don't always have to be "on" even at night, and so many other little nuances that you don't even realize you have adjusted to is tough to figure out and do. This is one of those instances and situations that are completely unable to be explained, and tough to do. Time, now, is going to be on my side to get re-settled in and to figure things out again, but the Lord is faithful.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord had me go to Alabama for the summer. It was a trip that I would have never done on my own had i known all it would have entailed, but isn't that how it is with the Lord? He only equips us to say 'yes' to go upfront because if we saw the whole pictures, we wouldn't do it...... in any and every thing.

So through all of this, i have learned to be a miracle to someone each day. And remember, Miracles come in packages that are as small as a smile or kind word. Be a miracle, because you, in fact, are a miracle from God! Share that with others with your actions!!

summer, birthday and fun!

at the Putt Putt place

he realized that he was going to have
the Imaginext castle he wanted when
he got back to Pennsylvania!

well the last few weeks here have been uneventful until the last week or so. In the past week, Tony flew down and we spent a few days at the beach, Fred turned 5 (FIVE!!! Can you believe it!?!?), the boys have gone back to Pennsylvania, and we are getting ready to start a new round of treatment for day in a couple of weeks.

Tony flew down for the week of the 4th and we spent a few days of this time at the beach with his family. We do this every year and it was spent with the cousins playing, the adults chatting, and the rain POURING! We were able to get a beautiful cousin picture as we try to do each year and Chip had the best time at the beach! He hung with it for the entire two days that it was pretty and had a blast! That Wednesday that we were down there, we had a birthday party for he and Doug with cake and gifts! Thursday we left and came back to Headland where we had another 'party' on Friday for him that had my and Tony's gift and mom and dads gift. Saturday the guys got up and drove to Atlanta (not without Chip vomiting in the rental car and spiking a 104 fever!) to fly to New Jersey to drive home and got home without incident. All Saturday night, poor Chip Sharp ran high fever and was sick and then by Sunday early morning it went away - TOTAL WARFARE, FOLKS!!! Well, they are home, and Chip has played with and touched each one of his toys probably 10 times and he is so excited to be home.

All the Sharp cousins with GaGa and PawPaw

love this boy!

my sweet boys

We found out last week that dad's case had NOT in fact been reviewed by the board in Birmingham and that it wouldn't be reviewed in July either, but it would be in August which took the wind out of our sails a little. We kept faith, though, and knew/know that the Lord is in total control of all of this. After many an un-returned phone call to the doctor's office asking for answers, we finally received a call directly from dad's neurologist. He couldn't and really didn't explain the hole in all that had happened but did tell dad that after further thought and speaking with a few other doctors, he really felt like dad should start the process of a Baclofen pump. This is the process that my brother and i were most in favor of in the beginning but after lots of prayer, thought, and consideration, dad opted against - which was fine. But the doctor seemed to think that the 'kind' of Dystonia my dad has would benefit from the pump. Well, we are willing to try anything right now and so on the 18th, we have a re-evaluation with the physicians about  the pump and tentatively on the 23rd, we will have a trial run of the pump in Birmingham. We are all very excited over the prospect of this as well as the fact that we are actually DOING something now, instead of just sitting around and waiting.

who is Mr. Incredible without his
bicycle and his helmet!?!?

The Lord is still in control over this and my dad has adopted a new scripture and claim lately, after a friend sent a beautiful card with the verse on the front of it.
Psalm 121:1-2 says, "I lift my eyes up to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth."

Papa with a 5-year old boy!

We truly believe that the Lord is in ultimate control over all of this and we are just waiting and watching for His timing. We have found ourselves to be experiencing the Lord in a way we never thought we would and have been beyond blessed at His provision and grace! He is a God that is bigger than us, bigger than Dystonia and bigger than this world! Praise the Lord that we serve this big God!