Sunday, September 30, 2007

Our family fun day!

After church today we decided to head out to Tom's Farm. It's been a very long time since we had been there. The boys had fun riding the ponies, train, and the tractor ride.



The boys' favorite part was the shooting gallery.



My angels:









PE at Biola

Biola has a fun PE program for homeschooling families. It is taught by Biola students who are learning how to teach PE. How cool is that? The teachers begin and end the class with prayer. The boys had fun and are looking forward to next week. Here are a few pics from the day:




All the kids are under the parachute praying. Awesome!







The new Lego catalog arrived....


Sunday, September 23, 2007

Children's Festival

Yesterday I took the boys to South Coast Plaza to check out the Children's Festival. It was fun! The boys made silk screen totebags with the Paul Frank designers. They also got to meet the monkey. Here is where the dork in me comes out. The boys asked me what the monkey's name was and I just assumed it was Paul Frank. Beth informed me today that his name is actually Julius. Oops!! So, here is a picture of the boys with "Julius".



Matthew's Baptism

I was surprised when Matthew told us he wanted to be baptized. I knew his class would be talking about it. We asked him a few weeks ago if he wanted to be baptized and he said no. We didn't want to push the issue, so we dropped it. Well, the awesome teachers in his class (Darrenn, Tim, and Michelle along with the wonderful Jenny Platt) did an amazing job teaching the kids what it means to be baptized.

After class Matthew said he wanted to be baptized. When I asked him why, he said "to wash away my sin". I knew that was a teacher talking and not him. So we talked about it and I read him a few stories in the Bible about baptism. We also prayed about it. He said he still wanted to do it and I said OK.
The day before the baptism he was talking to someone about the baptism. This is how he described it: "Baptism is when you go under water and your old you is washed away. You come up with a new you and a bigger love for God and everyone will know it."
Unfortunately, my camera decided to act up. A wonderful family at church stepped in and took some pictures for us. I'll post those when I get them. Here are a few that I was able to take.


Sorry about the red eye. I'm not sure how to fix it.
Thank you to our family and friends who were with us to celebrate!

Long Beach Aquarium

My sister and I (along with Grandma) took the boys to the Aquarium of the Pacific for the homeschooling day. It wasn't too crowded and the boys had a blast. Here are a few pictures:
Matthew (7), Nathan (8), Justin (5), Jason (5), & Jeremy (3)


Our oldest nephew, Anthony. If you look in the background, you can see my sister, Michelle.

Homeschooling success!!!

I was working with Justin and sent Matthew to his room. I assumed he was playing video games, but I was wrong! I went to get him to start his lessons and I found him doing this:

I left him alone. He read the book "Clara and the Bookwagon" all by himself in one day! This is a book with no Star Wars, Legos or Sponge Bob. In fact, the story is about a girl and books; two things my son doesn't like! I'm so proud!

That same night I found the boys doing this:

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A year ago....

Wow, what a year this has been. A year ago today we buried our baby, Aaron. This past year has been quite a journey. I wanted to share a struggle that I had during that time.

We lost Aaron on Septeber 6th. On the 10th our church celebrated it's 3rd birthday with a worship and celebration night. That day I wasn't sure if I could go. I asked God, "can I worship you tonight when tomorrow I have to bury my baby?" He didn't answer.

We ended up going. It felt great to be surrounded by our church family who loved and cared for us. The worship band started and I felt nothing. The band started to play "Better Is One Day". That's when God spoke to me. He said, "I'm here". At that moment I knew what I had to do. It's easy to praise God when life is great. I needed to praise God during the hard times. So that's exactly what I did. I raised my arms in the air and worshipped and praised God like I had never done before.

I'm excited to see what God has planned for us over the next twelve months. Last year at worship night I was mourning the loss of our baby. This year I look forward to celebrating Matthew's Baptism. Wow, what a year!

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Welcome Aiden Bryce Calderon!!!




It is with great joy that I get to introduce Aiden Bryce Calderon to all of you. He was born this morning weighing 2 lbs and 14 oz and 15" long. He's small but beautiful! Aiden is a true miracle from God. He was born 8 weeks early but he is able to breathe on his own and was peacefully sucking on his pacifier when I paid him a visit.

Kristi was recovering from the C-section while I was there so I wasn't able to visit her. Joe is amazing! His strength through all of this is inspiring. Here are a few pictures that Joe and I took in the NICU unit. Isn't he precious?

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Confessions of a homeschool mom...

Today was our first day back to school (well, back to the den where we do our schoolwork). We hit a few bumps, I'm exhausted and the house is a mess. This is my first year schooling two kids so I'm sure we will hit a few snags. We did enjoy the lessons today and it's great to know that Matthew didn't forget too much over the summer.

A few people have asked what our "classroom" looks like. Here is a picture of the boys in our classroom this morning:


The boys are not at the stage where they can do their school work independently so most of my time is spent doing one on one work with them.

OK, here comes the confessional:

What do I do with the one that isn't being schooled? At first I envisioned the other kid reading books, coloring, building with blocks and/or Legos. Yeah right!!! Reality...this is what it looks like in the Uribe home:

While Matthew is doing lessons with me...


...this is what Justin is doing:


And while Justin is with me...


...this is what Matthew is doing: