Lastly, Jill:)

Our Christmas card photo 2014

Hello all! I’m Jill and I’m thrilled to add a few tidbits of info to our collective blog.  A little about me and my family:  I’m married to “the boy next door” (actually he lived down the street), my childhood sweetheart - Ronnie.  I met him in 2nd grade when my family moved off base (Barksdale AFB) and into a new school district. Of course, we were just acquaintance till high school, then bam - muscles!  We’ll celebrate 24 years of marriage this year - how did that happen?  I feel way too young to have been married for 24 years.;) 

Ronnie is an operations manager in the paper industry, so he’s super busy, but in his free time he loves to ride his mountain bike and go kayaking (kayaking is a recent interest, but he’s loving it!). Unfortunately, he also enjoys Japanese ninja movies, with subtitles. :-/

Josh, Dev & Jules

We have three kiddos: our son, Josh, and our two daughters, Devan and Jules.  Josh is 18 and a senior at a public school. He is knee deep in college/scholarship applications and interviews. He is a gifted writer, I'm sure he's written more words than he’s spoken. Not kidding. He also has a heart for orphans and spent a few weeks working at Hope House orphanage in China this past summer.  We pray he glorifies God with his talent and passion.  Our daughter Devan is 15 and a freshman at a university model high school, which means she goes to school 3 days and schools at home 2 days. It has been a wonderful fit for her personality. She has an artistic eye, takes beautifully creative photos and can braid hair like nobody’s business! Bringing up the rear is Jules, Julia Grace. Sweet Jules is 10 and I’m pretty sure she’s never said an unkind word about anyone - with the exception of me and my cooking. She's pretty outspoken about that and doesn’t hold back. Maybe she’ll be a food critic when she grows up. But she has great insight - her suggestion to add cumin to our homemade sweet potato chips was genius!:) Jules is a Classical Conversations homeschooler, this is our third year in CC and also Jules’ first year in the Essentials program.

So we are a blended family! We have blended pretty much every type of learning: public, private, homeschool and even semi private - the big kids (Josh and Dev) attended a lab school at one point. We’ve pretty much done it all.:) Homeschooling is my favorite, by far. There are few things that can compare to watching your children learn. Interestingly, I never thought I would, or could, homeschool. Forever thankful for friends that encouraged me to take that leap.  My iron obviously needed sharpening, and still does!:)

In the last few years, I have become an autodidact (yes, I’m a homeschooler too) of biblical health and nutrition. I’ve learned some fascinating things - all point to an amazing Creator. We ARE fearfully and wonderfully made!! My enthusiasm for the subject is hard to contain - this blog will be a welcome outlet. I've decided to call my additions: Things I Wish I'd Known Way Back When...:)