Vampire Bat Habitat

Julian decided to pick the 'Vampire Bat' for a habitat assignment. 100% grade!! Good Job, little man♥

Since I am a preschool teacher, I had plenty of supplies from paint to templates. 

Completely homemade from things around the house...  

Fun quality time for Ju♥ and I ;]

Fun facts about VAMPIRE bats:

1. They live in Mexico, Central & South America

2. They have sharp incisor & canine teeth

3. They only feed on blood of birds & animals (very seldom humans ;])

4. They live in dark caves, mines, tree hollows & abandoned buildings

5. They fly three feet off the ground

6. They drink about half of their body weight in blood

7. They can live about 20 years

8. The Owl is their predator

9. Their saliva has a special substance to keep the blood from clotting.

10. They wait till an animal is asleep or very still to feed. Using a sound process called Echolocation to find their prey.

11. They are the size of your thumb with an 8inch wing span

12. They can also carry rabies

**Thought you'd also like to know that bats are very friendly. People have been known to have them as pets. LOL!!

B Honor Roll



Julian and his third grade teacher, Mr. Moore
Freedom Christian School

This is about two weeks late, but here it is:

Julian maintained a grade point average between a 3.00 and 3.49. It has given him the honor of being on his schools B Honor Roll.

I have to say, honestly, I was extremely blown away by this... Yes, I had NO IDEA he was even close in the running. I say this because I know Julian's study habits (I fight him about it daily) and I know the curriculum is of a higher standard than most schools (being a preparatory for colleges) that I was completely SURPRISED. I dropped him off at school, knowing the school's assembly was later that morning. Me working from home couldn't possibly make it to the assembly. I have to admit, I wasn't to worried about it, knowing that Julian wasn't going to be on the Deans list or make it to B Honor Roll for that matter.

Shame on me... He came home with a surprise behind his back... "Mommy! Mommy! Sit down, I have a surprise for you!!" by the end of the day I had completely forgotten what day it was and that there had been an assembly at the  school, earlier that morning. You can well imagine the surprise look on my face and the complete horror of what I missed when I seen his surprise! Every emotion possibly went through me... I was horrified that as his mommy, I was NOT there to be a witness first hand or even to be a support it his accomplishment. I could not stop the tears from falling, I then realized I was standing in complete shock when Julian's face began to change with a look of 'Are you happy?'... I shook myself out of my daze and began to tell him how extremely happy and proud I was of him!!  

I have had my head in the clouds for so long that I didn't realize how well my son was doing in school. I have been working hard and trying to get a business running in my home and being mommy and daddy because my husband works away from home. That I failed to be a part of this wonderful moment of this little Bisiar... It broke my heart. Yes, the tears are falling as I type about this (silly I know) but I'm so extremely proud of my little boy who is doing well on his own... It just goes to show me that if I was more involved with his school work and projects,  he probably would  make the Deans list next time around, lol...

He's such a good natured boy and so smart like his father (school was never easy for me as a child) that I feel extremely blessed that he is mine. The LORD is good and I/we are blessed to be able to afford, at this time, a school of this nature.
I just wanted to share this wonderful moment of Julian's. So we can always look back at what he has done. Mr. Moore took this picture with his phone and sent it to me. I'm... thankful... and happy... and blessed.
Thank you LORD for Julian!

Spirit Wk at Freedom

This last week was spirit week at Freedom Christian School

Julian and I decided it would be so cool to face paint his school colors

Red, White and Blue

He definitely sported his colors!! And was proud!

Sweet!

FCS... new school

Julian in his newly painted room... yes, it is bright green ;]P

Today marks the beginning of Julian's third week in his new school,

Freedom Christian School.

I think we (Julian and I) are still not sure about this new school.

He tells me he absolutely loves it, but yet I feel a little overwhelmed with it, lol...

He also talks about how hard third grade is :(

this makes me sad because I knew it would be a transition coming from

public school curriculum to this Abeka Christian curriculum...

I just didn't realize how hard. I understand this curriculum and all it entails,

because Julian's older siblings went to a Christian School that taught solely using Abeka.

Sigh... Please pray for us that we can get through this transition soon.

I obviously don't do well with changes, lol.

Hmmm something I just discovered within myself

and I'm very impatient :/ that I already knew ;]P

A NEW school?!?

Julian will be going to a new school this year, 2011-2012.

His father and I are very excited to say the least!!

We were all very sad when his former school CFS was closed down earlier this summer.

Julian and I was beside ourselves with worry and desperately missing our friends,

since before Kindergarten.

But, God in all His mercy lead us, through a former student from CFS, to Freedom Christian.

We are beside ourselves with excitement of all that this wonderful school has to offer!!

First off, we love the fact that it offers a Christian base foundation.

In support of families and churches these families are involved in.

They are a small entity in regards of reaching each and every student.

in their spirituality, social, emotional, and academic growth.

Also: they are from K - 12th grade!!

Julian is excited of the fact that his teacher is Mr. Moore;

yes... a male teacher

*sweeet*

Julian begins school Tues. Sept. 6th.

I feel God has lead us here for this time and for that I'm grateful.

AND I pray we will be able to continue this path until his high school graduation.

Ju'z long trip with daddy♥

Julian's daddy insisted we go on this run with him (his job).

This run would take him for a few days away from home.

I was extremely hesitant, but Julian begged and begged...

I drug my feet but packed for the next few days.

It would be a wonderful time of a life time for Julian...

A time he would never forget!

I'm thankful we went =')

On this particular night we were in Idaho...

We were bedding down for the night at a rest stop.

Beautiful country side I had ever seen,

Julian was beside himself with the fact that he was in so many different states.

Julian's bed on this run was the top bunk...

He so graciously told me I could sleep on the bottom bunk with dad.

Thanks, Julian ;)

Our last night on the road, Nevada, before heading down the mountain.

5 days in a big rig with his daddy and mommy was the best time he ever did have.

His words exactly... It was a tight 8x8x living space, but we did it!!

California... here we come, our home

***SWEEEEEETness**

A proud little boy...

Only a dad with a tired face,

Coming home from the daily race,

Bringing little of gold or fame

To show how well he has played the game;

But glad in his heart that his own rejoice

To see him come and to hear his voice.

Only a dad with a brood of three,

One of ten million men you see

Plodding along in the daily strife,

Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,

With never a whimper of pain or hate,

For the sake of those who at home await.

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,

Merely one of the surging crowd,

Toiling, striving from day to day,

Facing whatever may come his way,

Silent whenever the harsh condemn,

And bearing it all for the love of them.

Only a dad but he gives his all,

To smooth the way for his children small,

Doing with courage stern and grim

The deeds that his father did for him.

This is the line that for him I pen:

Only a dad, but the best of men.

...Edgar A. Guest

(but a slight revise from me)

Julian was one proud little boy to ride on a big rig with his father. We, our family, are rejoicing and praising God for the miracle he brought our way. We were so thankful for this job when I lost mine on Monday. All in the span of two days, can our God work in situations like these.

Julian was beside himself with excitement to be up so high, above all the world to see from the top of his pinnacle :) he was in sky heaven! Well as close to heaven as his little person had seen.

I'm happy for this memory to be in my little boys life. And for the first real miracle he was able to see, touch, and feel.

*TO GOD BE THE GLORY*

Teddy Bear's are BAD!

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11

Hear we are again with another of Pastor's metaphors.

On Sunday night, two weeks ago he had a small teddy bear sitting on the pulpit.

He was exclaiming on how people hold on to their sin for comfort as you would do a teddy bear.

He was saying how children have teddy bears for comfort and we need to not be as children, but put away childish things and become a man. We need to put away our sins and become men/women of God.

He kept saying that we need to throw away, get rid of, or put away these teddy bears in our lives in order to make heaven our home, how can we go there still hanging on to our childish things.

I cannot give it justice to how Pastor preached this, it really and truly was meaningful.

When we got home, Julian slept with this on his mind. Yes, you got it...

the next morning he came to me and said he had packed up all his teddy bears and threw them away.

He was ready and willing to give up his teddy bears to make heaven his home =')

Of course I had to contain my composer and explain to him that Pastor didn't actually mean 'TEDDY BEARS' but that he was referring to sin... it took awhile, but Julian understood and retrieved his teddy bears from the garbage.

How willing he was to give up something so precious to him...

all because he wanted to make heaven his home and be with Jesus...

What a lesson to learn from this child about putting away childish things.

The BIBLE is 'a lie'!!

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 NLT

Lately our Pastor has been preaching about the Word being 'ALIVE'

(because quick in Hebrew means ALIVE) and Powerful

Living and Active!! He's been screaming it at the top of his lungs, lol

We have been gleaning on the fact that God's Word is more that just a relic.

But what this post is about is Julian's interpretation of Pastors preaching...

I was on the computer at home looking up scriptures and reading my Bible.

When Julian walked up and said, "The Bible is a lie."

"What are you talking about, Julian??" I exclaimed

"Pastor said the Bible is a lie."

Ok... now I was worried, how come this 8 year old thought his Pastor was saying the Word of God was a lie? I knew I needed to think fast and clarify what our Pastor was meaning... but I didn't know where Julian was getting this from. I don't ever remember hearing Pastor say the Bible is a lie. And if he did, I most definitely would have confronted him on the issue ;)

This mommy had to think fast... So I began to tell Julian that I don't believe Pastor would say the Bible is a lie... Julian was adamant that his Pastor 'Brother Jimmy' said it was!!!

it took me a while, but I finally convinced Ju that the Bible was true. And that he must of misunderstood what his Pastor had said... Later on after Ju left to camp. I shared this with my Pastor and his wife.

We laughed and realized Julian was thinking Pastor was saying, 

"THE BIBLE IS A LIE!!!"

when actually he was saying,

"THE BIBLE IS 'A-LIVE'!!"

Yes, my wonderful child and his way of thinking.

*Gotta love him and I most definitely do*

CAMP WEST!!

BckRow: Bro. Solis, Daryn, Caleb, Meshack, Maria, and sis Dawn Goodenough
FrntRow: Vivianna, friend, Caleb, Julain and sis Solis :)
*GREAT GROUP*

Here is our group that headed to Camp West;

Jr and Senior Camp...

We sent 10 of our children and young people.

we had t-shirts made with our church name on the back.

and they proudly wore them, lol....

this is Julian's first year to be away at a camp, from home.

I have been EXTREMELY anxious!!! LOL!

Here is the dorm[s] he will be in...

there are 12 bunks in the room Ju will be staying in...

Here is our very nervous, excited little man

next to his made (maybe the only time) top bunk.

I was sick all the way home...

  ๏̯̃๏  

Camp West

 

Julian is going to

'Camp West'

Whoo Hoo!!!

 He is sooo excited and so pumped about it!!

This is his first time to be going to a JR Camp... Yes, mommy is a bit nervous.

I remember going as a young person in church and it was the greatest time and memories of my life...

It was a life changing experience for me, being new in the Lord.

Julian did a 'Bike a Thon' with our church and raised $160.

We were so happy for him...

I was unable to be there, but his dad

and many others in the church were so impressed with his enthusiasm

and the energy he displayed... he rode all 10 miles!! Way to go Ju!!

He not only raised monies for himself but enough to help pay for someone else.

I'm finding out that when Julian really wants something,

he is willing to sacrifice and go out and get it.

 Like riding a bike 10 miles to raise the funds to pay for JR Camp,

and at our relay for life he walked 8 laps (equivalent to 2 miles)

to get a dollar to buy himself a treat, lol...

For those who gave, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Your contribution help Julian's way to pay for something that will be a life changing experience for him.

THANK YOU!!

Being Fearful ಠ_ಠ

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

2 Timothy 1:7

During the winter months and lately, there has been a lot of things said about all the natural disasters accruing in our world; tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and such... It has gotten Julian very concerned and very fearful. One day after school, dinner and a shower, Julian decided to grab his Science dictionary to look up some of these words.  

'HURRICANE'

was one of the words he focused on and came to me with a question.

"Mom, do we live near a coastal area?"

He became fearful that our home would be destroyed by a hurricane.

What BIG worries this young child had on his mind and of course it kept him awake till late into the night... He just couldn't sleep...

I reassured him that we were nowhere near the coast and he had nothing to worry about. 

Then he began to ask about 'VOLCANOES'... He just knows for sure that we are in line of an eruption of a volcano. Ummm, NO Julian, not happening anytime soon. Even though we do live close to Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen, two dormant volcanoes, a few miles away.   

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13

I'm just thankful today for the Words of our Wonderful God!!

You can always be reassured by the scriptures.

I began to tell Julian that we need to give all those churning thoughts in his head over to the LORD. I knew that if I showed Ju God's Word it would bring him peace.

We began to pray and go over a few scriptures... He realized that they were in the Bible meant for him and that he could hold onto the promises of God and not worry about things he has no control over.

What a wonderful lesson to learn from a child. I knew right there and then, I had no reason to fret or lose sleep over things that were out of my control... God gave me peace in the time of my storm and let me know to just call upon Him and He would help me to cope with situations and circumstances I was not able to 'FIX' by the power of my own hand.

✿ BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD ✿

Mommy Ju *TIME*

Julian was soaked from getting caught by a wave and rolled out into the water. We changed his T-shirt with an extra one I had and he still was freezing. I tried to warm him up but instead we fell in a heap. I love this kid!

Our little family; Julian, Dad and I. Went up north to Fort Bragg, CA.

It was a cold, windy, cloudy day, but extremely relaxing!

We drove up on Thursday and found a place to rest than made our trek on the beach the whole next day... It was a day to remember and a wonderful memories for my 8 year old son.

I wore a short skirt and flip flops and a sleeveless hoodie... needless to say a froze my tail off, lol!

Mackerricher State Beach offers a variety of habitats; beach, bluff, headland, dune, forest and wetland. We visited the tide pools that are along the shore and found all sorts of interesting critters. We tried taking many pictures to bring home rather than the critters themselves, lol.

Later we took a walk along the sandy beach and found where the Seals were sunning themselves and nurturing their new born babies... it was very fascinating! There was a kind woman with her telescope who invited Julian to watch the seals on the shore much closer. He exclaimed so many times how he felt he was right next to the seals and their babies.

*AMAZING*

There were many birds flying low and all around over our heads. We were told more than 90 species of birds visit or live near the beach. We sat for a very long time but did not spot any whales. But we did listen to the wonderful sound of the waves coming into shore... Watching the waves crash and spray the rocks on shore was a beautiful picture I was not so lucky to capture on camera :(

but I will never forget it's sound and the wonderful relaxed state it puts me in...

*sigh*

If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.

Even there Your hand shall lead me. And Your right hand shall hold me.

~Psalms 139:9-10~

It's a very popular park/beach at least with our family and enjoy every minute we have there... in it's complete splendour! to our God be the glory... what else can I say??

I'm always thankful I have times like this to reflect on my LORD and my little family and my wonderful life...

Fort Bragg in April

This free digital scrapbook personalized with Smilebox Took a over night trip to Fort Bragg... One of our favorite places to go besides South Lake Tahoe. We had a wonderful time. And Julian had a FABULOUS time! He absolutely LOVES the ocean and all it has to offer.... Well offer his IMAGINATION! Sweet memories

A Big Fat Enormous Lie

I haven't posted in awhile about our wonderful lil Ju...

WHY???

A while back just after his birthday we had an issue with him and I wasn't sure I should write about it... 

as I got to thinking about it, Julian is a cute kid but he is also a human 'little' being. Getting into situations that he creates himself that are not so pleasant. Right after Christmas break he began to tell us that he was being bullied in school... I confronted his teacher about it and they said they would take care of it. I left it alone in full understanding that the teacher would take care of the whole thing. 

a week later, he comes to me again and tells me of stuff the boys were doing to him. Now mind you, Julian is not a small child, and can hurt someone if he thought about it. But he is only 8 and thinks as an 8 year old. It doesn't matter how large or small the other boys were, it was really bothering and scaring him. 

I went to the teacher a second time and they told me that they had spoken to him and the other boys. They thought it stopped and didn't know it was still happening. 

I'm really trying to make this short... lol

Next thing I know two teachers came to my classroom (me working at the same school, Ju goes too) and began to tell me that he had made up the whole story about being bullied.

WHAT?!?!

They also began to tell me that "Julian was scared of his father" and was making this up because he thought that is what his father wanted to hear... (making me feel that it was his fathers fault) Now you better believe it stirred up some heat in me. I knew that Julian as any other kid was very respectful of his father and sometimes watched his step around him, but by no means was Julian afraid of his father!! I felt they were passing the buck of who was really responsible here of the situation... I became extremely upset and didn't like the feelings I was getting.

When we got home I had a very long talk with Julian. I wanted the truth here... he began to tell me "he made it all up" I couldn't believe my ears, he stirred up soo much emotion. Now I didn't know who to believe. When it was time for bed, I tucked him in and he and we began to pray. We ask the Lord to help us solve this issue and that the truth be known... because I still didn't know who or what to believe. I was very disturbed and he cried.

We decided to have a parent teacher conference with all the teachers. I didn't want them to think Danny was such a horrible father, I couldn't believe that was Julian's words or the way he felt about his father.

Danny and I had a long talk with all the teachers. We were all on the defence about this whole situation. Julian really made this out to be a huge ordeal, lol

YES!!!

He was lying about the whole thing or misunderstood about how the other children were treating him. We could not believe it!!!

'Our lil Ju, lied!!??'

Yes, he did... for some reason in his little 8 year old brain he decided to make a small situation with some boys bigger than it was to the point that he was being bullied.

so this whole ordeal made me think up of the children's story by:

'Marjorie Weinman Sharmat - A Big Fat Enormous Lie'

"A child's simple lie grows to enormous proportions in a form of a monster"

 'For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.'

1 Corinthians 14:33

I believe when we prayed it help Julian to come forth with the truth and an understanding of what was really happening with him and his peers. Helping him to realize this was getting way out of hand for even him. He had lost control of the situation when we (his parents) and the teachers decided to have this conference. I thank God we are able to go to HIM for all things, even little situations as this...

AMAZING!!

My Presents♥

Julian received so many Lego's and toys for Christmas that for his birthday, aside from the stereo, received clothes and boots for church♥

He also had a surprise and received his favorite books!!!

Stereo

Boots

New Clothes

The whole series of

Diary of a Wimpy Kid ::: by Jeff Kinney

We found out from his teacher that he absolutely L♥VES to read!!

*SWEEET*

♥ WangDoodles!!

WANGDOODLES

Julian's favorite place to eat... It was great fun and way to much of bad food, lol

Happy 8th Birthday to our little man, Ju'z.

We just had to pose in front of WangDoodles

Of course I couldn't get a good pic of Sean, because he couldn't believe his mom was trying to get a picture of them in front of WangDoodles, lol...

Then the more pictures I took, Cynthia and Julian had to get into a fighting match... lol

Finally Sean looks up and Julian is told to stop hitting Cynthia...

Yea... it really was a great time.

We eat lots of bad food and went home extremely full to the point of being sick.

*Great Memories*

Silly Sting WAR!!! Whoo Hhoo!!! ;D))

Time for a Silly String WAR!!!!

All three cousins decided to gang up on the one BIG cuz!!! It was great to see these little people chase Sean around the front yard... They definitely got his heart rate up, lol...

At first it was just Makayla and Serina, but then Julian joined in on the fun too...

All they wanted was to get Sean real good and that they did!! It was great and we got it all on camera and now it will never be erased from this blog... ;)

Our front yard was covered in silly string and was going to be a major clean up later on...

But it was all good to see the kids gang up on Sean, lol

He really tried to get away from them, but Makayla was determined to cover her older cousin in silly string!!

Sean, you cannot get away from these kids!! HAHA!!

running around sissy's jeep to try to detour them...

NOPE... They still were after him... and just look at the side of his head!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! Great stuff and wonderful memories. Loved it!

They loved it, Julian loved it, and Sean definitely loved it!!!

It was crazy fun!!!

Now who's going to clean up? ;)

Jelly Belly Factory!! *SWEEEETness*

We decided to take the familia' to the JBFactory...

Just had to get a pic under the street name :)

And a BIG squeeze from Ju, by the JBTree!!

Everyone in Northern Cali♥ decided to come to the JBFactory the same day we did...

they must of got the text message ;) the line was all the way out of the building, into the parking lot and around the corner. Yes, not good for impatient peeps, lol... but it was moving fairly quickly.

Juz cousin, Tess, took this pic to make it look like he was holding the sign... I thought it was pretty cool *sweet*

Can you see how dad was not doing so great in this very long, long line, LOL

We just chatted, like everyone else was doing and just enjoying every ones company.

Makayla and Serina

Cynthia, Ju'z BIG sissy

Julian sporting his Jelly Belly hat!!

Looking good Ju!!

cousins! Tess and Sean, Ju'z BIG brother.

Me and my hunny, we almost got a smile out of him, lol...

It really was a great day, just alot of people and a very long line...

cousins (by marriage) Yogi and Sean had the best time together, not only here but the whole week they were here visiting us...

Yogi you will be missed by your cuz *Sean*

OVERALL -- "We had a great day, even though it was absolutely freezing and the lines were CrAzY long. But to spend it with this wonderful familia' was good indeed... Ju had fun with his lil cousins and We all got to go... even big sissy, YEA!!! She didn't have to work on this day!!!"

AND....

The Price family absolutely LOVED the JELLY BELLY Factory!!

I'm so glad we took them :)