Happy Times with Gioia

Shannon and I had the pleasure today of attending a sweet little get-together for our friend Becky's new little baby Gioia (pronounced "Joya"). She is absolutely adorable and so fun to hold and snuggle. We're delighted to have Becky, Nate, and Gioia visiting from Holland.




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Shannon's Basketball Game

I got to watch Shannon's game today. She's doing a great job learning the sport, and she gets a good workout running back and forth on the court.

Her team won their game today (yeah!), and she even made a basket (a big deal for a beginner). I couldn't tell if it was a 2- or a 3-pointer, but it was from pretty far out.

In the picture she's guarding the girl from the other team. There are usually two girls per team, and since everyone gets equal time on the court, the coaches usually have one girl from each team on the court at a time.

We wish we had found out about this league earlier! John & Shannon are really enjoying the sport.

Liz, for the family


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Christmas Choir

The entire FitzGerald clan is participating in the Christmas Choir for our church this year. We have the largest group of singers I can remember for many, many years. It's been hard work, but we're praying it'll pay off with a Christ-honoring performance on the 23rd. Both Shannon and David have solos, and they sound fantastic!

What a blessing to look over and see my children singing their hearts out for the Lord.




The entire service will be available live via the Internet that morning. Here's the link to watch us on 12/23 at 11:00 am PDT

Watch us live

Liz, for the family


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Debate Tournament

Shannon participated in her second debate tournament today. As a beginner she was on the novice track at the Candy Cane Tournament. David went with her and helped judge several rounds.

At the end of the day when all the ballots were counted, Shannon and her partner Jacob won SECOND place! They had won all four of their rounds.

We are so excited for her and believe she will be moving up to varsity level soon.

Congratulations, Shannon!



Jacob & Shannon show off their camo Santa hats. (The resolution this year involves military policy.)



After finding her seat, Shannon is still surprised.



Shannon with her coach Katie


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Basketball Season

John & Shannon have joined a local Christian basketball league sponsored by the Golden State Warriors. John's team just finished playing against one of his best friends and his team. We found out today they both have a #31 jersey.







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Our Tech-savvy IT Guy

John is the family's IT guy. That means if we have any questions about our computers, how to get them to talk to a printer, what's new with Apple products, or anything else tech-related, we go to him. If he doesn't know right away, which is VERY rare, he'll figure it out. He says he's in training for being a Mac Genius at the Apple Store when he turns 18. Imagine what he'll learn in the next 17 months!




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David is musical

Now, those of you who know
my husband David know that he is musical. He sings. He plays the guitar. He even taps out rhythms when working with the worship team for a Sunday morning set. What you might not know, however, is that he also used to play the trumpet. I'm told that that era of his musical career was short-lived, but remnants of those days eek out every so often. In fact, we get an earful of his tunes whenever he gets ahold of any cylindrical tubing, the legs to our swim team sign being a perfect example. Do I love him for his mouthy melodies? Not exactly for that, but it's just one of his quirks that makes him him. I get a kick out of how much HE enjoys it so much, and the kids often join in with their own tunes. It certainly helps me find him easily in a busy post-meet parking lot.

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Swim Meet

Today's swim meet went well. The other team had more than 20 more swimmers than our team, but we still managed to win. Yahoo! Almost every swimmer on our team shaved off time. John took off almost 2 seconds on his back stroke, both boys took off time on their breast stroke, and Shannon's free relay team got first place, again! This particular team of 13-14 girls is still undefeated. Here's a short video of the end of John's leg of his free relay, where he gave the other team quite a challenge.

Go Penguins!


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Used Curriculum Sales

n. A place where homeschoolers pass on materials they no longer need at unbelievably low prices. Here's our table. I'd really like to not bring any of this home. Anyone interested in sixth grade reading?



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Organization Makes My Heart Sing

Each day I check my tickle file. It holds items that have been tucked away for my attention on a specific date in the future.

I've known about tickle files for years, and several times I've tried to get a system up and started, only to lose papers to a neglected stack of files. Last year I read a blog post about David Allen's Getting Things Done. I devoured the book in a few days and immediately set a day aside to get my inbox to zero.

It takes a bit of effort to keep the new habits in place, and I have to get right back on track as soon as I see disorder nudging close again. However, I'm learning that staying organized is a lot easier than getting organized The biggest reward is the peace of mind that being organized brings. I can only keep so much in this 50+ noggin, and I much prefer to let my tickle file handle the not-right-now storage space.

Oh, yes! I'm singing the organizational melodies today!

It's a Wonderful Life

The lights have been dimmed,

the props and sets are put away,

the makeup has been washed off,

and we are all reflecting

on our experience with joy and gratitude!

Our drama production of

It's a Wonderful Life

with the Jubilate Deo Chorus

was a rip-roaring success.

Following are some videos I took during the final performance

on Saturday, May 15, as well as some still shots

from that evening and some of our rehearsals.

I wasn't able to record the entire show,

so there are bits and pieces missing,

but you'll certainly be able

to see our kids in these clips!

Enjoy!

First Show Done

Tonight was our opening night of the kids' musical, "It's a Wonderful Life." All I can say is that these kids were amazing. The entire cast was stupendous. The crowd was roaring with laughter and absolutely loved Joshua's rendition of Mr. Potter. John crooned out his solo and nailed all of his lines--he was fantastic! Shannon was delightful in her three different roles, singing and dancing her way into everyone's hearts.

We have two more nights of performances. The kids have been told they are required to rest tomorrow and Saturday. Such a bummer, I know. Imagine homeschool children who have been assigned two days off wanting to read, write, and work on their computer graphics classes anyway! Yep, those are my kids.

I'm savoring their moment and enjoying being a drama mom this weekend! What tremendous fun. Pictures will be forthcoming, but I don't want to ruin it for those of you who have yet to still see the show.

For the family,

Liz

It's Show Time!

Today's Stickie Note

Our little girl turns 12!

Here is a picture of the birthday girl

with her "twin," Titus Williams, on the morning

of the Baja team's departure.

You see, Shannon's birthday started with her brothers

getting all packed up and out the door

for a week of ministry in Baja, California.

Yes, Shannon's biggest gift this year

was to be an only child for nine days,

a gift that she really enjoyed.

The twins were born on the same day 12 years ago,

and we've tried to get a picture of the two of them

together each year since.

Take a look at how much they've grown in just one year!

We took Shannon and her friend Jessica Cunningham

out for dinner at Mimi's Cafe.

Here is a picture of the girls posing

in their beautiful Easter dresses.

One of the reasons Shannon likes Mimi's

is because of the mud cup desserts.

Jessica couldn't remember having one before,

so Shannon had to keep encouraging her

through each of the gross but yummy layers.

Chocolate pudding, oreo cookie crumbs,

and gummy worms--a kid's delight.

The next day, we visited Grandma Nancy,

and Shannon got to open more presents.

She was delighted with the warm microfiber blanket.

She had a great time shopping with me that week

and using the Target gift card

that Grandma & Grandpa Erwin had sent her.

Later in the month, Grandma Jodie came to visit

and gave her a precious painting

that has been hanging in the kids' bedroom

in her Morro Bay house for several years.

Birthdays are such a special time,

and Shannon is truly a special young lady.

We love you, sweetheart!

A Dinner with Patrick Henry College

On March 30, David, the boys, and I attended a wonderful evening in Danville at the Blackhawk Museum. The event was sponsored by Patrick Henry College so we could find out more about the college and offer some support since they receive absolutely no government subsidies.

The evening began with a stroll through the antique car museum. David and John loved every minute of it and took tons of pictures.

We dined on an delicious dinner catered by Scott's Seafood Restaurant out of Oakland and were surrounded by friends. It is amazing how many people in the area we have come to know after homeschooling for twelve years.

There were several speakers during the program, including Brian Sussman, a meteorologist who used to be on a local TV station and who is now hosting a talk radio show on our local KSO-AM. Brian provided copies of his brand new book Climategate which was just released on April 22, "Earth Day." How's that for great timing?

We also had the honor of listening to Michael Farris, chancellor of PHC and president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, a group we have been a member of since the beginning of our homeschool days.

Hard to believe we're actually seeing college looming on the horizon, but that's what happens when you have two students in high school. We have yet to learn the the plans that the Lord has for these children that He has entrusted to us for this time.

Here's a great video that shows highlights of our evening.

Debate

The boys and I have attended a few debate tournaments this year as part of their Intro to Debate class, which they took this last winter. We were also at the tournaments to cheer on Lydia and Abigail, who were actually competing this year as a team. The boys learned the intricacies of timing debate rounds whereas I learned how to use up every extra synapse in my brain serving as a debate judge! It required incredible brain power!! Here are the boys during the February CLASH tournament, discussing a round they had just observed.

The resolution for the STOA team policy this year has to do with environmental policy, so the intro class used that as their topic as well. During the last two class sessions the students had practice debate rounds. John paired up with Zach Cunningham to put together an affirmative plan that involved replacing coal energy with nuclear plants across the country. They worked hard for a couple weeks researching, writing their speeches, and practicing together. Joshua teamed up with Joshua Cunningham to argue the negative perspective against their case. What fun to have the two teams of brothers competing against one another!

During the last week, the two Joshuas presented their case which had to do with restricting shark fishing off the U.S. coasts. Katrina and Kaci were on the negative team.

John & Zach played negative against the Broker brothers, Sean and Eric, and their affirmative plan about cleaning up the litter on the beaches.

At the end of each debate, the class voted for which team they thought had won the round. Then they received the invaluable feedback from their amazing teacher Katie.

The final tournament before Nationals was to occur during the Baja Missions Trip, which both Lydia and Abigail were going to attend. Since the girls couldn't attend the tournament, we had a fun evening in March instead with a potluck and then a video one of the girls' rounds at the CLASH tournament. No one but the girls knew the judge's ruling, so after watching the video we all discussed how we thought the round had gone. To no one's surprise, the girls had won their event!

Future speech and debate students...

Chip Ingram

One of my favorite Bible teachers is Chip Ingram. He has a great way of teaching God's Word, and I always walk away from one of his messages with a valuable nugget of truth.

Last month Chip was the featured speaker for the KFAX Speaker's Series, and so I promptly got my ticket to the event. What a delightful evening! There was a worship team from Santa Cruz that opened our time with amazing music, and then Chip gave a message from Romans 12 about authentic Christianity and surrendering our whole lives to Christ. What an excellent reminder of what the Christ-exchanged life is all about.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers,

in view of God's mercy,

to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,

holy and pleasing to God—

this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:1

I have been crucified with Christ

and I no longer live,

but Christ lives in me.

The life I live in the body,

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20