Life IS a lesson…….

 

When I was younger I didn’t REALLY understand how hard it MUST have been to let me GO.

I left Texas when I was 19.

I just wanted to go…experience something different.

It had NOTHING to do with my family…

BUT

I KNOW it was HARD for them.

To just let me go….

because they HAD to.

I was an “adult”…

(when I read that I LAUGH!)

ADULT????

Not quite.

Not even CLOSE.

I just wanted to GO…

to live on the beach.

to travel.

to experience.

NOW……………..

after having 4 children of my own.

4 children that  LIVE in my soul.

I can’t even IMAGINE how hard that was for THEM.

I ….being ME….just WENT.

I remember telling my Dad that It wasn’t SOOO bad.

“Dad-Think of the people in the PIONEER days? They just went…no phones, no communication.  It’s not THAT bad!”

I KNOW.

HORRIBLE.

I had NO IDEA.

I blame ….YOUTH.

NOW….

After spending a week with my Dad and Suzette…

It HIT me. It must have been SOOOOOO EXCRUCIATING for my family.

I was soooo 19.

CRAZY, YOUNG, STUPID, and SELF-CENTERED.

Dont get me wrong….

I LOVE My life.

I feel like GOD put me HERE for a REASON.

I would not be who I am today…If I WOULD’T have moved.

It forced me to make REAL LIFE decisions…on my OWN.

BUT…That dosen’t make it easier to say GOODBYE.

Maybe even HARDER.

Because I NOW REALIZE how precious these times are.

How precious  FAMILY  is.

How precious TIME is.

How precious LIFE is.

Love you ALL…Jana

Reflections…….

Life is sooooo WEIRD.

As I sit in my bed with my AWESOME laptop in front of me, reading some BLOGS that I LOVE…..nestled in warm blankets…with the sound of Jay and the kids playing Wii together….SAFELY in our home.

I CANNOT help but GIVE THANKS!

I cannot help but REFLECT on LIFE.

We are SAFE…

SOME are SUFFERING.

I have an AMAZING friend Heather that I went to HS with.

She has 4 kids also….but has made the BRAVE choice to adopt 1 of them.

I read her blog DAILY.

Check it out … HERE.

This morning she posted about a missionary family in Haiti.

When I read about these people that are out there…DOING WORKS….

I am AMAZED, HUMBLED,PRAYERFUL, and INSPIRED.

Check it out here: The Livesay Family

Here is a PART of the blog written by the mother on the morning AFTER the earthquake:

“The sun is about to come up. The aftershocks continue. Some more noticeable than others. There is no way to even begin to share the things we’ve heard and seen since 5pm yesterday. To do so would take hours that we don’t have to give right now. Some of them feel wrong to tell. Like only God should know these personal horrible tragedies.

The few things we can confirm – yes the four story Caribbean Market building is completely demolished. Yes it was open. Yes the National Palace collapsed. Yes Gov’t buildings nearby the Palace collapsed. Yes St Josephs Boys home is completely collapsed. Yes countless countless - countless other houses, churches, hospitals, schools, and businesses have collapsed. There are buildings that suffered almost no damage. Right next door will be a pile of rubble.

Thousands of people are currently trapped. To guess at a number would be like guessing at raindrops in the ocean. Precious lives hang in the balance. When pulled from the rubble there is no place to take them for care Haiti has an almost non existent medical care system for her people.

I cannot imagine what the next few weeks and months will be like. I am afraid for everyone. Never in my life have I seen people stronger than Haitian people. But I am afraid for them. For us.

When the quake hit it took many seconds to even process what was happening. The house was rocking back and forth in a way that I cannot even begin to describe. It felt fake. It felt like a movie. Things were crashing all over the house. It felt like the world was ending. I do not know why my house stands and my children all lie sleeping in their beds right now. It defies logic and my babies were spared while thousands of others were not.

There are friends and co-workers that are missing. People whom no-one can account for. People we work with and love. There are more than I can name, but in particular we wait on one single friend who lived near the Hotel Montana – which has reportedly collapsed.

The horror has only just begun and I beg you to get on your knees – I truly mean ON YOUR KNEES and pray for the people of this country. The news might forget in a few days - but people will still be trapped alive and suffering. Pray. Pray. Pray. After that - PLEASE PRAY. “

REALLY????

And we are playing Wii?????

Really???

We are soooo UNBELIEVABLY BLESSED this morning.

Blessed to be SAFE.

Blessed to be FED.

Blessed to have ACCESS to the REAL LIVES of those who are LIVING IT.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Wiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excuse my absence….

A Wii has entered our home.

We are a BIT preoccupied.

Wii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You Pawpaw and Mimi Suzy!!!

Live.Love….and APPRECIATE your life.

 

From the RESCUE CHILDREN website:

Haiti is an independent republic occupying the western third of the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, and bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Dominican Republic, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the Windward Passage, which separates it from Cuba. Its area is 27,750 sq km (10,714 sq mi), slightly larger than Maryland. Port-au-Prince is Haiti's capital and largest city.

Haiti is the most densely populated nation and has the lowest per capita income of any country in the western hemisphere.  Plagued by disease, malnutrition, illiteracy, political upheaval and deforestation, more than three quarters of the population live in extreme poverty.  Because of the dreadful conditions, people often try to immigrate to the United States or the Dominican Republic in search of better opportunities.  Click on map for larger image.
Click here to see Haiti on a world map.

For Haitians, daily life is a struggle for survival.  An estimated 80 percent of the population lives in poverty. These people, many of whom farm small plots of poor mountain land, are often malnourished.  Famine-like conditions plague many parts of the country. Eating weeds and bark to stave off hunger is common year-round. Many have turned to eating clay just to survive.

The world doesn't have any idea how bad this situation is getting here; nobody's paying any attention to Haiti," says Alain Grimard, a senior diplomat with the United Nations Development Program based in Haiti. "And at the heart of it is the very severe environmental crisis in this country. The Haitian case is ... unique in the world now; you have too many people living on land that can no longer support them."

 

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Prayer works……

Lets just bow our heads…

Take 5 minutes and Pray for these beautiful people who have suffered BEFORE the earthquake more in 1 day than we suffer in a YEAR!!!!

I often ponder WHY?

Why are we HERE?

Why do we ENDURE less????

Why do others suffer MORE?

Tonight I pray that God eases the pain of all those who have been touched by the earthquake.

AND

I pray that WE ALL can be open to the fact that WE HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.

I pray that WE can understand that we should GIVE THANKS for the EXTRA 10 lbs we are sooo worried about….it means we HAD FOOD.

I pray that WE can see thru our differences …because we HAVE EACH OTHER.

God Bless all of you tonight.

May we wake tomorrow…

and GIVE THANKS  for the ABUNDANCE of blessing we have LAID before us.

Life is amazing.

Love each other,

Make a difference.

More Bookshelves…….PLEASE!!!!!

Today we woke up and went to the doctor….again.

All 4 kids …..again.

Sooooooooooooo……we didn't really have school.

After the Doctor-we decided to make it a LIBRARY DAY!!!

It was cold and the kids didn't need anti-biotics….

We were CELEBRATING.

The kids LOVE the library…I love the library.

I couldn’t homeschool without our library.

Let’s just say we are THAT family that takes our “library crate” to and from the library.

Full to the top …EVERYTIME!

And we usually go AT LEAST once a week…sometimes 2!!!

So you can imagine my JOY when we walked in today and they were having a BOOK SALE.

and to top it off….EVERYTHING was 50% off!!!!!

I got all the books in the pic above for $3!!!!!!!!!!!

You read that right….. $3!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am OBSESSED with books.

Jays keeps building me MORE bookshelves…..

Sweet man-  God LOVE him…

He has learned to DEAL with my OBSESSION over 2 things:

wooden bowls(any kind,color,shape…I LOVE them!)

and

BOOKS.

So..

NEEDLESS to say….

When he came home and saw that stack sitting on the table ..

He knew.

We need another bookshelf.

And Oh……..

Don’t tell him…

BUT….

I think I might GO BACK tomorrow.

Maybe I’ll bring $6 this time!!!!

Happy Reading!!!!!!!!!!

Chess…..

Over our WINTER BREAK,,,,

we spent New Years having a sleepover at Aunt Amy’s and Uncle Jefff’s.

Well…

in the short time we were there…

Sebastian(11) taught Zeek(9) how to play chess…….

AWESOME.

I guess he will have to teach ME!!!!!

Thanks Sebastian!!!

You ROCK!!!!!

PSL -Patois as a Second Language?????

“Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant. Class distinctions are embedded in the term, drawn between those who speak patois and those who speak the standard or dominant language.”

IN ORDER TO READ THIS POST…GO DOWN TO THE MUSIC PLAYER ON THE RIGHT AND HIT PAUSE. THEN YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE VIDEOS…SORRY!

Did you understand THAT???

OR

Did it SEEM like another language??????

Well……….

Its ENGLISH.

Patois.

A Jamaican dialect.

I hear people say ALL THE TIME that they CAN’T understand reggae music.

They can FEEL it …they just cant understand the words.

Like this:

SEE!!!!!

Sometimes you CAN understand it.

SOMETIMES you CAN’T.

BUT…YOU CAN DEFINANTLY FEEL IT!!!

The more you listen to reggae music …

the easier it is.

I could tell you EVERY WORD of this song.

(If your interested..leave a comment LOL)

BUT…that is because we listen to REGGAE music.

ALL THE TIME.

EVERYDAY.

EVERYNIGHT.

The kids have GROWN up listening to REGGAE music.

We add in some blues and JAZZ.

But MAINLY…Its REGGAE.

Its pretty much the main STAPLE around here…musically.

PROOF:

When I was about 8 months pregnant with Zeek, Jay and I went to see our friend DJ….

He was spinning TECHO music (so I already had a pretty good idea that we weren't staying long.)

ANYWAY….

When we got there we said HELLO and stood off to the side.

About 5 minutes in…Zeek started FREAKING OUT.

In the WOMB.

He was kicking me and moving around soooooo much that I was in PAIN!!!!

SERIOUS PAIN!

“I DO NOT LIKE THIS MUSIC” pain!

Needless to say….we left.

I took it as a sign.

LOL

ANYWAY….

The other day I was cooking dinner and Shasha was sitting at the kitchen table coloring .

We were listening to music when she asked me SOMETHING about the song that was on.

She wanted to know WHY they were saying something.

What she was asking wasn’t as important to me at the moment as the fact that SHE could UNDERSTAND the words.

I asked her…”Shasha- can you UNDERSTAND what he is saying?”

She looked at me TOTALLY CONFUSED and said, “Yes, why?”

It was so EYE-OPENING.

I started laughing and thought , “I wonder if PATOIS can count as our 2nd language?”

LOL….

Probably not…sadly enough.

But to me ….THIS HOUSE IS BILINGUAL!!!!!!

Love and Light…….

I

School Days……..

This week we got back into our school schedule.

Its a LOOSE schedule…But I TRY !

The way I figure it ……as long as we get it done-it doesn't matter WHEN we get it done.

But I have really been trying to make them WRITE more.

ALL OF THEM.

We are doing lots of copy work(bible vs.. mostly).

And LOTS of reading. 

Before the break I decided that I didn’t want to spend to much time on History or social studies for the rest of the year.

Reason 1:

I am reading THIS book :

and it TOTALLY changed the way I think about historical events.

Reason 2:

I  really wanted to FOCUS on reading and writing for the rest of the year….ALOT.

AND we also decided not to focus on too much science.

The kids LOVE “The Magic School Bus” series.

And Ms. Frizzle can teach them a 30 min science lesson WAY BETTER than I can!!!!

LOL

So far ..so good.

Zeek has really improved his reading this year.

(AND he doesn't like to read really)

Then there is Shasha …

SUPER READER.

Sweet girl….cant read ENOUGH!!!

And Malachi seems to lean more in Shashas way.

He LIKES to read and is getting better….

So …I guess you could say that things are going well.

I feel renewed after the break and came back w/ lots of new ideas!!!!

HAPPY HOMESCHOOLING!!!!!

Kandinsky-ish….

The kids did this art lesson today.

They watched a SHORT video exhibiting Kandinskys’ art and then we went to work………

Here is KANDINSKYS ART:

 

Here is OUR KANDINSKY-ish art:

Shashas’:

 

Zeeks:

Shebas:

And Malachis(my favorite)

I think these are defiantly are FRAMEABLE!!!!!!

Spiderman Adventures and Dinosaur Dreams………..

Malachi had his party today in what we “Floridians” call FREEZING weather.

It was 53.

COLD.

Malachi had a great time.

He played with all his friends at PROJECT SWING.

 

 

 

THEN….We sang “happy Birthday” and had DINOSAUR CAKE!!!!!

YUMMY!!!

  

Aunt Amy brought hot cocoa and we had a little food…….

AND…..

He got LOTS of GREAT PRESENTS!!!!!

(Thank You ALL!!!!)

Sorry for any gifts I didnt get pics of(football,PJs and Jags jerseyx2, Hot wheels, sword, ninja, electronic drum set!)

He had a great time !!!!

It means alot to us that even on a “FREEZING” day…we can come together and still be WARM.

ANd tonight after he played with EACH and EVERY toy and watched adinosaur movie he climbed in bed …

held tight to his new spiderman(thanks Aunt Ci ndy) and fell asleep surely having SPIDERMAN ADVENTURES and DINOSAUR DREAMS!!!!