Looking back at 2012

What a year! I cannot explain how I feel.  I think you only understand unless you go through it.  God blessed us so much, a new business, a close family and close friends. The storm is changed us so much, the damage, it bonded my town.  I have seen what a storm can do to people who have lost everything.  We got damage but were blessed to have so many in our town care about us and help us;  So many people who we got closer during this storm who helped us; So many who we became close to during all this.  An awesome homeschool group from up north came down and help me and my town. I cannot say enough how thankful I am and how much they did for us. A good friend is doing a fundraiser for my town. Recently I felt like everyone forgot.  Then the concert came.  I heard what Bon Jovi and Billy Joel said and realized we are not alone. Recently I went to Epiphany church in my town and the priest said we are tired and broken, but we will survive. I cried through it but he knew exactly how I was feeling. I am so connected to this church.  I am so grateful and appreciate what I have.  Thank you for all that helped us through this and more.

The aftermath of Sandy

It has taken me 3 weeks to write this.  I would start, stop and cry.  First of all, we have an awesome Governor in NJ that prepared us for it and after it.  God Blessed us with Governor Christie. As I sit here I am preparing the house for Christmas, a Christmas  I thought we would never see. I am so grateful for so much, most of all that God spared our lives. The first week after Sandy I was numb.  The day after the storm driving through town was surreal. School buses blocked intersections, military vehicles, utility vehicles, police, firemen everywhere.  The ambulances rushing to the hospital brought me to tears.  It was not one or two but 5-6 at a time.  I pray that those people recovered.  I always liked the fact I lived 5 minutes from Mantoloking and Brick Beach.  The kids love the beach.  They grew up here.  The pictures that emerged from the shoreline made me cry.  I saw places that my children grew up with.  I loved sharing their childhood in those places.  People living more inland don't get the full view of what is happening until you visit a shore town. People who I thought were just friends I saw now and then became so much more during this storm, from bringing me boxes to crying with me. We became so much stronger as a family.  We endured and are strong, we will survive.  Those first few days the damage all over was so much too much not to cry.  I had a good friend tell me, thanks Nan, that I am strong and it was okay to cry.  Coming home I didn't know if we would have a house, we still do. I am so thankful to everyone who has helped our state, donated items, given free meals to people.  Our town has banded together like I never saw it ever in my 9 years.  Strangers became friends.  We are now truly neighbors not just passing by.

Praising Him always,
Noelle

Book Review: Engaging a New Generation by Frank Mercadante

Book Review: Engaging a New Generation by Frank Mercadante

This is a wonderful, informative, and engaging book for parents of teens, youth ministers, and pastors.  This book focuses on Millennial teens, who were born from 1981-2002. The author focuses how they are collectors of experiences and relationships.  They are full engaged in a world, which they want to make a difference to. They want to encounter God, in which they will experience him personally. He talks about  how youth ministries need to engage them in their faith through apologetics, faith development, and about the New Evangelization, called Immanuelization(God is with us). This approach moves from a program and agenda centered approach to a people and presence centered focus.  I highly recommend this book for parents of teens.

You can view the book here:

http://www.catholiccompany.com/engaging-new-generation-vision-reach-catholic-teens-p1006222/?

Given book to Review by The Catholic Company:
http://www.catholiccompany.com/

9-11, 11 years later

11 years. It seems like yesterday when I was pulled out of a classroom and shown what happened. They told me to go home and wait. Waiting is the worse.  The cell towers were down.  I was so concerned what was going on in Manhattan. I am from New York and proud of it. I realized at that moment they attacked my home town. My family was in the city. They all worked there. Friends who worked in the city. Some got out safe and some didn't. I always remember but today it is just more intense. I remember all of us waiting by a train station for my dad. He never talked about what happened not even to this day. I could see the tears in his eyes that day. He retired soon after. God bless them in heaven looking down on us. You are missed.  My son reminds me of one that a grew up with that died that day eleven years ago. Our sons are the same age. I always think of his wife and his son. God's reminder that life is short. Be grateful for those in your life and love them.God bless those are here today because you were late that day. I love you all.

Revelation through Crosses 9-11

Life is not safe, being a Christian is not safe. We all must carry our crosses. As I look at the cross, I see love poured out from Jesus to us through the nail scars. Lately my crosses have made me closer to God than I ever have been my entirely life. I am embrace Grace at the cross. I thank God everyday for the opportunities he has given and the blessings he has entrusted me with. Tomorrow will be 11 years...  11 years passed fleeting.  I remember like yesterday, so many lost. We will never forget the day that changed our world.  God Bless all the souls whom are walking with God.  You are missed....

God is amazing

I haven't really posted this before but I am writing a book.  I was unable until today to come up with a title for my book.  I was in the shower and God inspired it.  He answers when you least expect it.  Expect the unexpected.

Praising Him,

Noelle:)

Letting Go and giving it to God

I was unsure to write this, but several things happening lately forced me to talk about it. I never realized what letting go and giving it to God meant until recently.  My life has been a series of crosses lately.  Believe it of not Facebook has been one of them.  I need Facebook for my business and I enjoy getting my newsletter through there.  But the drama on there that normal wonderful people engage in has taken me back.  I had been praying about it for months and a decision was made.  If I have upset anyone in my decision I am sorry.  I chose to unfriend people whose drama upset me.  I have been trying to walk away from drama but it has come upon my personal life where I have had to let go and give it to God. A strong person walks away not to hurt others but to accentuate their life with the positive. So I have chosen to walk away from drama. Crosses are not easily carried alone. Christ is there aiding us alone the way, being our cheerleader than we can make it through. Through God the impossible is possible.   In His wisdom has shown me other wonderful things to come, the light at the end of the tunnel.

God Bless.

Enduring all things

I never thought I would write this post but I am.  God has helped us endure so much these past couple of years.  I am so thankful and so proud of my family.  We have walked closer to God.  We have been through unemployment, struggling financially, sadness, joy, change, and growth.  We endure all things through Christ who guides us.  And Yes, I home schooled through it all.  God brought us to homeschooling. I wanted everyone to know homeschooling is a way a life, not a school my kids go to.  We are constantly learning through our nature walks, beach combing for sea glass, or just walking along the board walk. We cherish God's beauty and design in all things.  God's Will is ever so much present in our lives.  Our family has grown closer to Our Lord because of it.  I am writing this to encourage people, not to give up.  Were there times I wanted to give up? Yes.  Did I? No because,  God was carrying me through it all.  It has taught all of us strength and wisdom through life's challenges.  As I look back, do I wish it was different?  Amazingly no.  We wouldn't be the people we are today if we didn't go through it.  We endure.  We overcome obstacles.  They make us who we are. We are all beautiful in our own amazing journey.  Always encourage, never discourage each other.  We all have different opinions about politics, religion and etc. We need to agree to disagree that our opinions are different because we are all unique people of God. Today my family and I still struggle, but we are walking closer to God.  The walk is not easy, but the reward is so worth it.  I encourage you all to dance in the rain, and cherish the journey.

Praising Him always,

Noelle

Things going on

Some interesting things are developing and will give more information in the following weeks.  I would appreciate prayers.  God is awesome!


Praising Him,
Noelle

Fork in the Road

God provides the insight when the time is right.  Right now we are in a fork in the road.  Praying is the only way for guidance and clarity.  So I keep praying steadily and vigorously.  There so much at stake for the decision, but God will provide the answer in His time.  In the meantime I will be the prayer warrior He taught me to be.

Praising him through the Storm

I have had a rough week.  Growing up I learned the bible, we were taught to worship God through the storms.  When you are going through life and not the storms it is easy to say Yes to God.  Your true test of faith is when you Praise Him through the storms and worship while you are waiting for his answers. God is ever faithful to us.  Are we faithful to him through the storms? When we are weak, He will lead us the storm if we only hold onto his hand. We are strong enough to follow Him.  I am learning this week how strong I really am. I will always Praise you, Lord through the storms because I know I am never alone.  Nothing is ever impossible with God.

Praising Him,
Noelle:)

My sophomore

Congratulations to my beautiful daughter, who had a difficult first year of High School.  You are amazing.  I am so proud of you.  My once little girl is now a bright young woman.

Love you always,
Mom

8th grade

Congratulations to my son who is an 8th grader! Time flies.  I remember when he would follow me around the house vacuuming.  My little guy is now my big guy.

Love you always,
Mom

Review: IEW Student Writing Intensive B

What can I say about IEW?   So much.  First of all Andrew Pudewa is so amazing.  My kids absolutely love his dvd's.  I have two children who struggled with writing.  This program taught them grammar, mechanics, and an amazing love for writing, with some added humor into it. In my opinion,  I think he should be a drama teacher also. Both of my kids journal after using this program. Their writing has been  100 times better than it was prior.  They really know how to teach writing to struggling writers. I highly recommend this for learning disabled students who struggle.  I love this program and their products.  Yes next year we will be continuing with Teaching the classics and two other writing programs they have.  I absolutely love this program.  Thank you Andrew for this amazing program!

Book Review: A Mother's Bouquet by Sherry Boas

Book Review: A Mother's Bouquet by Sherry Boas: A Rosary meditation for Moms
This wonderful little book is a life-saver for a Mom.  It goes through all the Mysteries of the Rosaries with Meditations as you pray.  These Meditations are geared for moms.  These Meditations show and guide mom through her life's vocation as a mother, and a Child of God in small but poignant ways. It guides through scriptural references while praying the Rosary.  I highly recommend this for any mother in any stage of her motherhood.

You can view the view book here at: http://www.catholiccompany.com/mothers-bouquet-rosary-meditations-moms-p1006165/?

Given book to Review by The Catholic Company:
http://www.catholiccompany.com/

What a year!

Yes I homeschool and proud of it!  I am finishing my first year of High School with my daughter.  I would love to say it was easy because I am a certified teacher.  Life is hard and we had some unexpected medical issues pop up for, which hopefully will be resolved over the summer.  She had a difficult year and I am so proud of her plowing through adversity this year and winning. She worked really hard. I am very proud to say in a week she will be a 10th grader.  My son rose up to challenges this year too. He will be a 8th grader soon. What a proud mother I am of my soon to be 8th grader and 10th grader! I have two awesome teens whom I am very proud are my children.  Now I am off to finish portfolios, reports and the end of the year paperwork which I love by the way.

Serpent's Shadow

Wow!! The last of the Kane Chronicles was awesome.  Carter and Sadie Kane finally face Chaos.  They go through amazing adventures to get there.  They bring along Zia, Walt and other magicians. Will the Maat survive or will Chaos win?  You have to read to find out.  I will give one clue the Kane's have amazing fighting ability.  The way Rick Riordan ended this I wonder if he plans to link Egypt, Greece, and Rome together in the final book, in The Heroes of Olympus. All I can say is I love Mythology in his stories.  The best adventure stories ever!

Change on the horizon

I can't believe I haven't blogged since Lent.  A lot has happened.  Long story over the next few blogs I will explain. What an amazing Lent I had.  I didn't think it was an amazing Lent at the time.  I realized God is pulling to get ready for a change yet again.  I don't know what it will be but I trust in Him.  I guess I need to get back to blogging to see what it is actually is.  

Praising Him,

Noelle

Book Review: Legacy of Love by Kimberly Hahn

Book Review: Legacy of  Love by Kimberly Hahn
I have read many of Kimberly Hahn's books before and they are always so insightful into our walk in Faith with God. I awaited this and knew it would be the same and I was not disappointed.  Having a teen daughter, I wanted to review this.  It took me a little longer than most books because I was writing notes for myself.  This is an amazing book for a parent of teens. For those who don't know this is the fourth book in her Proverbs 31 woman series.  In this book, she explains how we as parents need to keep challenging them to choose Christ.  We need to show them how to have priorities in our faith walk and stewardship in supporting our churches. The chapter on the Works of Mercy details each one, and how we can apply reaching out to others through each Work of Mercy.  The book explains how we can do simple things for each. The most important thing I received from reading this book is that the teen years is an adventure. As parents it is all about our attitude, in how we perceive these years.  These are awesome years if we listen and share our lives.  In the teen years we are a guide.  Lastly, the book ends in talking about courting and qualities they should look for in a Godly partner soon to be spouse.  As parents, how we guide our teens and transition them to adulthood to marriage or a vocation is a witness to God.  I highly recommend this book for any parent who has teens.  The teen years can be like a roller coaster ride, but having joy or negativity will have two different outcomes on your children and yourselves.

You can find this book at Catholic Company: http://www.catholiccompany.com/legacy-love-biblical-wisdom-parenting-teens-young-adults-p1004893/?


Given book to Review by The Catholic Company:
http://www.catholiccompany.com/

God's work

Today was the worst day I had in quite awhile.  I woke up really sick. I still am but had to write this. It is amazing how technology has changed our lives and, sometimes I wonder if it is for the better.  Well today my phone shut down three times.  My internet server was off and on all day.  So I got the message about the silence of my heart in prayer to God, as I was blocked off from the rest of the world.  I prayed and talked to him a lot today.  It is funny how He shows us what needs to be in our lives.  We  do homeschool and that is the root of homeschooling: real learning. Today was a real learning day.  In the midst of my talking and prayer time to God some answers and some I didn't want to do, but is His Will.  Thy will be done, as The Blessed Mother said her yes to God we all do.  My yes means a career change, scary yes, but He will be there to guide me through it.  So tonight being sick allows me to focus on Him and His Will for my life.

From Sea to Shining Sea(The Catholic Textbook Project)

I throughly enjoyed visiting history with my kids with this book.  We traveled to visit the Mayans, through the American Revolution, Civil War and so much more. It is the Story of America. This book is written in a narrative form, as if you are reading a book which is what drew us into it.  Hands of a Child sells a lap book which we used with the text which I highly recommend.  The Catholic Schools Textbook project, sells the text, a teacher's manual, and CD workbook.  The workbook is highly effective for left brained learners.  Since I have two right brained learners we used the lap book, created unit studies, along with using the questions in the teachers manual to notebook with.  This is the first textbook series that I have seen written from a catholic perspective.  My kids enjoyed learning about American History from this perspective.

http://cstp.myshopify.com/

Conference Season

The Conference begins within the next month or two, so I will be reviewing some products that might help you.  So stay tuned....

FAFSA

Here is a good article about FAFSA forms for college about homeschoolers:
http://www.stonesouphomeschool.com/1/post/2012/02/are-homeschool-high-school-diplomas-valid.html

Homeschooling and the love of learning

Yes I am not a saint. We have been homeschooling for 6 years, and realized this has been my vocation that God guided me on.  My daughter has a rough year medically.  She also started high school and through it all she loves literature.  She requested to do Shakespeare and it has been amazing year.  My son, who loves history enacted a civil war battle in my living room.  I have inspired through God's grace yearning for the love of learning.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to say Yes when you asked me to homeschool.

Narnia series

We finished The Last Battle today.  All I can say is wow.  God really worked through him.  I never expected it to end the way it did.  This is an awesome series of literature.  Each book keeps you coming back for more.  The last few books were amazing how Aslan personifies Christ.  In the book, The Last Battle, it amazing how it coincides with things revealed in the Bible and, yet in a Narnian perspective.  I was crying at the end. I just didn't expect it to end that way.  It was a brilliant conclusion to a brilliant series.  C.S. Lewis' Narnia Series is a must read.

Anatomy and Physiology

This book is awesome by Jeannie Fulbright.  It is thorough and engaging with experiments/activities at then end of each chapter. It is goes into terms may only see in a high school book, but explains them on the level of a 6-8th grade student.  She has made scientists out of my children. My kids love her books.  This maybe be the last book we do because my son will be hitting 8th grade.  She has made my children's elementary experience with science awesome! I highly recommend her books.  They are for the gifted, average, and slow processing learner. For those of you who use Charlotte Mason or Classical education this a huge resource for your homeschool. Thank you Jeannie for the ride!
http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/anatomy-and-physiology/

Curriculum time again!

Well I will be posting reviews soon and lots of links to curriculum I plan to use next year.  Keep watching.


Praising Him Joyfully,

Noelle:)

NY times article

     As a writer, this article was not written well.  First of all, why write an article until you have all the facts including a copy of DSM V in front of you.  I am not defending DSM V.  I will not jump the gun until I have all the facts.  I have a child with autism so this does impact us, but you need the facts.  I have been on facebook and people are going crazy over this article. I have learned from the past until you have proof of anything you can't prove anything.
     If the DSM V supports what the article says, then it is not fair.  We have a responsibility as a community and country to give all special needs children a fighting chance, whether they have autism or a learning disability.  I have lived this journey and believe me it makes you a stronger person.  Each autistic child is different just like each person God made is.

Praising Him Joyfully,
Noelle

Homeschooling, Special Needs, and a diagnosis

     The last couple of days I have thought alot about my faith and being a mom who has a special needs child.  God always seems to shine on the truth in the open. I am not  embarrassed about my life.  I am very grateful for it.  God has allowed me to become a special mom to a special child.  Yesterday I was humbled by the evaluator of a test I took him too.  She told me that I have done so much for him, though he has a journey still to climb, he has gone beyond what others have expected.  For the first time in 6 years, I heard someone tell me homeschooling was the best thing I could have done for him. She even told me I should become an advocate for special needs kids who are homeschooling.  She was very impressed with me. I was so humbled and almost on the verge of crying. He finally got his diagnosis of Autism.  He is high functioning on the spectrum.  Anyone who has met him would know that.  She told me he is very bright.  It is not just me being his mom. What a journey it has been! I feel blessed by Autism, because it has allowed me to see the world in a different light, the way God intended for our family.  My close support system you all know what we have been through thank you being there.
      I am proud of him and my daughter.  They are my greatest accomplishment in this world.  Homeschooling has just enhanced that.  There is only person I have to answer to and that is my Lord and Savior.  I am doing the work He wants me to do.  I feel so Blessed he asked me to do it. He has given me so much Grace through it. Thank you Lord,  for the small miracles this week and there were many.

Tapestry of Grace

As a mother of two special needs homeschoolers, I found a curriculum that will connect the dots especially for my daughter.  Yes I have tried many curriculum packages but they never worked.  Unit studies always have, she thrives on them.  For many year I wanted to try Tapestry of Grace but never did. Now I am, after downloading a free 3-week trial I can see how this will work effectively.  We have always used the Great Books approach and a classical education and this fits our work much better together.  I will keep you posted and do a review after a week or so.

Praising Him Joyfully,
Noelle