Trip to the circus...

I often compare my everyday life to that of a circus...So we decided we would visit the circus....




The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus provided our little family a thrilling and captivating experience. Preslee, Spencer, and myself were completely awe struck at so many of the amazing acts they featured! We saw clowns a plenty, tight rope walkers, acrobats soaring through the air, strong men, stilt walkers, amazing elephants, trampoline tricks, contortionist, jugglers, tigers, and a steel ball with 7 motorcycle riders in it! Here are some pictures from the excitement!!









Worth every penny spent!

Milestones.....

6 years old....4 years old....and 4 months old! Praise the Lord that each of our children have recently reached these milestones in their life.



Lets start with Preslee...my first born...my strong willed, passionate, and intelligent daughter.



She recently just celebrated her 6th birthday. As I type the words I can't even believe I have been blessed to have her for the past 6 years. I remember the day she came into my life like it was yesterday. In true Preslee fashion, she came into the world on her own terms and her own timing. I labored with her for 16 hours and spent 4 very long hours pushing in order to meet my little angel. From day one she has had such a fire about her. She wants to know all the answers to life's biggest questions and she would argue with a tree stump. Her biggest enemy is a grasshopper. She has a tendency to wake up multiple times during the night, loves to be in the kitchen, enjoys food network, embraces all things girly, but doesn't mind getting a little dirty, and loves Presley's Country Jubilee (a music show in Branson, MO....our vacation destination). I pray daily that she will allow God to lead her life and use all the beautiful qualities He instilled in her to accomplish His will in her life. Passion runs deep in her little body and I am so excited to see what God has planned for her life. Love her!


Spencer....my middle child...my boy...laid back, imaginative, and oh so loveable.



Spencer, in March, just before his baby sister was born, celebrated his 4th birthday. Oh, what a joy the first 4 years of his life have been for me. Spencer spends each and everyday with one goal in mind....to make people happy. He wants to see you smile and laugh. He is a self proclaimed comedian who tells the best knock knock jokes. He spends hours playing alone in his room making up elaborate stories. His imagination is wild....he recently created an imaginary friend. His friend is actually his brother who exists only in mirrors. He often informs me that this brother of his hits him in the face....I can't help but smile! Spencer has a desire to protect, loves licking his hands, playing in the dirt, Cars, Buzz, and legos. He sleeps with his sweet mouth wide open. To him the best days are the ones where he gets to use the bathroom in the back yard! At this moment in his life his biggest dream is to be a chef and Preslee be his waitress. He has a heart of gold. My pray for him is that He will follow the Lord's leading and become the man he is called to be. He will be a fabulous husband and father. Praise the Lord for his sweet little life!

Brooklynn Ray....the baby....cuddle bug....the rest is still to be determined!



It literally blows my mind that this little angel is already 4 months old! It feels just like yesterday that our family welcomed her into the world. I know often she wonders how she ended up with us, but we have been so very blessed to have her. She brings so much more to our lives...like sleepless nights, lots of noise, dirty diapers, and slobber. She smiles when she is happy and sticks her sweet little lip out when she isn't getting what she wants. She laughs at mommy and daddy when they are silly and seems so fascinated by her big sister and big brother. She sleeps on her tummy and sucks her thumb for comfort. Her favorite toy is a lamb that she loves to chew on. When she is getting worked up to get mad her cry sounds more like a squawking dinosaur than a baby. She can't stand car rides, loves hearing Mary Had a Little Lamb redone to be Brooklynn Had a Little Lamb, and loves to reach out and grab hair. She is beautiful and I am so excited to see her personality develop.
I cherish each and every moment with these three! God blessed me so richly with each of their life's.

Outnumbered

I was asked the question the other day...."How do you manage three children?" There are days that I ask myself the same exact question....

We recently (well 4 months ago) celebrated the birth of our 3rd child, Brooklynn Ray Hilliard (or as her older siblings refer to her...Ray Ray). She is a perfect little blessing that has captured the hearts of our whole family. I can say with complete confidence that our life will never be the same!

So how are we managing with 3? I wish there was a simple explanation for that one...Each day life hands me is a new learning experience and the key is finding the learning curve. I rely very strongly on God to keep my fatigue from taking over each morning. Our life is Crazy! Rushed! Dazed! But in truth I am so very blessed! I can tell you there is nothing like 3. You learn quickly that you must go from man to man defense to a zone! There are moments of pure chaos, but most the time they only last for about 20 minutes. Sleep is a gift when you get it! Laundry goes from being just piles to being mountains that you are very unsure about tackling! Dishes are always dirty!! You start calling your children the wrong name (sometimes even the dogs name gets thrown in the mix). You hope that before you left the house you brushed your hair and applied deodorant! Panic plaques your whole body when you are driving down the road cause you can't remember if you got all the kids in the car. Dinner is often prepared one handed cause you are trying to soothe a fussy baby with the other. In our particular home with have 3 girls and only one bathroom....things could totally get out of hand with that ratio. But none of this compares to the joy of another child to share in our lives! I can't give thanks to God enough! And I can't even wait to see what is ahead for us!

We are tackling having 3 children the same as we did with having 2, or 1 (although that seems like a lifetime ago). We lean on God for our strength and foundation. We bathe our children, ourselves, and our decisions in prayer. I spend day after day praying for each of my children....I pray for protection, patience, guidance, gentleness, a humble spirit, discipline, joy, grace, mercy,etc. God has been so faithful and I only pray that I can raise my children to honor and glorify Him.

Our Choice to Home School

I write this blog because I am weary of answering the same questions to those who don't support or better yet, understand our choice to home school our children. My biggest concerns when first looking into home school was my ability to properly educate my children, I honestly had no idea it would become such a controversial subject with friends and family. I went into it blindly just assuming that they would support us in our decision, because knowing Jason and I, they would know that we would do nothing with out great prayer and petition to the Lord and loads of research to accompany our decision, but I was wrong on this assumption.

The most common complaint I receive is the topic of socialization....that I am going to ruin my children personalities...or turn them into social weirdo's. But is that a fair point? Yes, socialization is an argument for public school, but all to often our children receive negative socialization at school. It is not ideal and completely out of the parents control. My child who is only 5 and currently attending public school, has been exposed to so many things in school that I don't approve of. I know, I know....I can hear you saying...your children are going to be exposed to these things at some point in life. Yes, I agree, but I want to be in control of those situations...so that I can properly explain to my children how to handle them and deal with it. I am sparing my children from being faced with growing up way to fast and facing negative peer pressure on a daily basis by educating them at home. There are so many opportunities today for home school children to receive socialization in a healthy and safe environment. My children are active in our church, they participate on sports teams through out the year and currently my daughter attends gymnastics once a week. There are multiple other organizations to be involved in where our children have the opportunity to interact with other children and adults. To me the argument of socialization is void.

The second biggest argument I get is....your children won't be able to compete on a educational level with those children in public schools. All the research I have done and all the other families I have encourtered with home school children prove this argument untrue. In a home education environment there is a unique one-on-one type of tutoring, which produce better results than mass-produced education where there is one teacher to every 17 kids (in some cases more). The statistics favoring homeschoolers are overwhelming. Kids who have been taught at home don't just out perform their public school counter parts by small margins. They outdo the average public school kid by 30 to 37 percentile points in all subjects.

I am fully aware that home schooling will undoubtedly come with it's own set of challenges, but I am 100% confident in our decision that this is the right choice for our children. We will have the wonderful opportunity to incorporate our religious values into ever aspect of our childrens lives...this includes their education. Instead of this two areas being completely separate from one another. We will be able to enjoy a strong family bond of unity and strength. I will have the freedom to teach my children the truth on certain issues, that public schools teach falsely. Such as the topic of creationism vs. evolution. Instead of having to combat our families stance on this subject we will be able to teach our children the beautiful literal 6 day creation that is found in the Bible...our source of truth. Our family will have freedom to go on vacation, visit family, take a field trip, etc when we want and not have to conform to a strict 5 day week of school where our children spend more time at school than at home.

Homeschooling is a personal conviction for my husband and I. I do not look down upon those who do not find it the best way to educate their children. I can not be the judge of what is best for another family...I can only do what I feel God has laid out as best for my family. I ultimately am the only one responsible for how I raise my children. I want to be able to say, "It is well with my soul." And finally after many many months of prayer, deliberation, and research on the subject of home school I have come to a place where I am able to truly say "it is well with my soul."

Working on Her Scripture.

This is a video of Preslee working on her Scripture memory. We use the Truth and Grace Memory Book by Thomas K Ascol, with both our children and are so pleased with the results we are seeing. It teaches memory of Scripture and Catechism. It has been a blessing in our life and a great tool to help bring up our children in the Lord.

Amazing Grace

All Hail The Power of Jesus' Name

1. All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown him Lord of all.

2. Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
ye ransomed from the fall,
hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.

3. Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget
the wormwood and the gall,
go spread your trophies at his feet,
and crown him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at his feet,
and crown him Lord of all.

4. Let every kindred, every tribe
on this terrestrial ball,
to him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.
To him all majesty ascribe,
and crown him Lord of all.

5. Crown him, ye martyrs of your God,
who from his altar call;
extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod,
and crown him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod,
and crown him Lord of all.

6. O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.