Sharon Huizinga lives in Michigan with Tom, her husband of 13 years, and their four children. They both grew up in Connecticut, met at church, and got to know each other better in college at Western Connecticut State University. Sharon graduated with her bachelor’s degree just a few weeks before she and Tom married in 2006. She went on to teach second, fourth and fifth grades in Christian schools.

Natalie Smith lives in Fayetteville, NC – the home of Fort Bragg 82nd Airborne and US Army Special Operations. She graduated from Bob Jones University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Counseling and a Master of Arts in Teaching in Elementary Education. Natalie met her husband, Germaine, at Bob Jones University working in the University Cleaners. They have been married for 13 years. The Lord has blessed them with two girls.

My name is Beth Milligan. I live in a beautiful part of North Idaho surrounded by glistening lakes and rugged forests. We live in a rural area where fishing and hiking are within minutes and where a moose may pay a visit on our back porch. In the summers, you will find our family of 5 playing a fun round of “frisbee golf” at a nearby course in the mountains, spending our afternoons soaking up the sun while we picnic at the lake, enjoying a day of squealing excitement at Silverwood Theme Park, or climbing aboard Papa’s pontoon boat for some fishing in the evenings. We definitely love the recreational aspect of where we live, always enjoying the outdoors in some way.

Esther Black is a second-generation homeschooler, wife, mom of 7, and HomeWorks by Precept Consultant from Iowa. Her goal is to encourage and support other homeschooling families to find the tools they need to continue investing in their children.

As a homeschooling momma of 7, I’m familiar with the fear of ruining your children for life. I’ve even tossed around the idea of pushing my kids on the school bus and throwing in that towel! I desperately didn’t want to, and I just didn’t know what else to do! I was drowning. I needed homeschool help, and I just didn’t know where to find it!

Carla Heslop lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, just south of Delaware. She graduated from Salisbury University with a bachelor’s degree in social work and worked in grant management for five years. Carla met her husband, Jeremy, during college and they have been married 18 years. They have been blessed with four children, ages 13, 11, 8 and 4. When schoolwork for the day is finished and the housework is reasonably completed, Carla enjoys documenting family life in the form of blogging and scrapbooking. She always has at least one book in progress and believes that an afternoon nap makes any day better.

During this time of year, it is difficult to overlook the aisles of shelves displaying assorted candy and themed novelties at local retailers and supermarkets. This is a season where many anticipate confectionaries, cards, or flowers from loved ones while others make special reservations at restaurants or resorts.

Proverbs 1:5 “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance.”

There are certain moments in our lives that we will never forget. These may include the day you graduated high school, the day you met your spouse, or the day your first child was born. They are moments that are ingrained in us and stand out more than others. One of these moments happened to me on November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving. This year we spent the holiday with my brother’s family on a small farm in a suburb of Peoria, IL. We were at their house for several days that week, and on Friday we decided to venture out and spend some time in downtown Peoria. Caterpillar is based there, and we checked out their visitor center. This place has all the latest heavy equipment from CAT. You can watch a movie in a rock truck, drive a backhoe simulator, and climb all over their latest excavators. I had a blast – I mean my kids... my kids had a blast!

Planning is not something I had ever been good at as a student. Important dates and deadlines would sneak up on me, and I would not be prepared, or I’d miss them altogether. As I became a young adult I realized, little by little, that my mother was right all along when she said I needed to keep track of my important dates. The poor thing must have spent a fortune trying to find me a planner that would work for me, and that I would use consistently. Moms do know a thing or two about life, don’t they?!?

When we first started homeschooling everything chugged along very smoothly. My oldest was three and my youngest at the time was under one. We’d sit together and play with play-dough, read stories and finger paint to our hearts content. Time passed and my sweet baby turned into a screaming, jealous toddler... who still had her very sweet moments, don’t get me wrong. I found ways to occupy them both at the same time. He would play with play-dough and she would eat a snack in her high chair. He would draw with his crayons and she would play with some egg shakers. You get the idea. They both needed me constantly, and one after another the squeals for help would come. It. Was. Exhausting.