Meet our staff and family of writers:
Amy S of Milk & Cookies - Co-owner, Director of Operations
Amy B of In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 - Co-owner, Director of Development
Marsha of Our Homeschool Happenings - Assistant to Director of Operations
Rachel of Keep the Way - Assistant to Director of Development
Dianne of Bunny Trails - Heart of the Matter Digital Magazine Editor
Lori of All You Have to Give - Director of Devotions
Yvonne of Grateful for Grace - Newsletter Editor / Meme Coordinator
Amy A of Allen Academy
Andrea of The Honest Woman
Angela of Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
Belinda of With a Taste of Chocolate
Celeste of Busy at Home
Cheryl of Homeschool Journey
Dana of Principled Discovery
Darnelle of All Things Work Together
Heather H of Titus 2 Woman
Heather of Sprittibee
Gina of Chats With an Old Lady
Jen of Jeneric Jeneralities
Jennifer of Steward Ship
Julie of Jewelz Sightings
Kristine of Mama Archer
Kysha of Love's School
Lee of The HomeScholar
Lisa T of Koinonia Acadmey
Lisa V of Pockets of Time
Mandy M of MandyMom
Mandy Z of Inching Along
Marybeth of Cheaper By the Half Dozen
Nikowa of Knowledge House Academy
Renae of Life Nurturing Education
Robin of Heart of Wisdom
Sallie of Everyday Me
Suzanne of Joyful Chaos
Tammy of Garden Glimpses
Tiany of Less of Me, More of Him
Valerie of SoCalVal's Homeschooling With Encouragement
Amy S.
Co-owner, Director of OperationsWhat do you get when you walk into the home of The Administrator, The Superhero, and a self-proclaimed
canister collecting and appliance junkie? Well, Milk and Cookies of course!
Amy is a spunky, down-to-earth, Christ loving woman with a servant’s heart. She gave her life to God at the age of 21 and has strived to be a reflection of her Lord ever since. She stands in awe of the wonderful man that God gave her and she carefully teaches and freely loves their precious son. She says, “I knew that we would homeschool from the moment I saw the double lines.” And that she did!
She gave up her career as a Business Analyst for a large children’s hospital and now instead of tracking and reporting statistics she has chosen to mix up batches of oobleck, build things with legos, discover their part of the world with letterboxing and read for herself and to her son, a lot! And she still can’t beat the testosterone in the house at a good game of Battleship, even with a degree in Business.
Amy has a passion for genealogy and a love for helping others trace their family trees and learn more about their roots. In fact, not only is she descendant from Mayflower Pilgrim Francis Eaton, General Robert E. Lee and President Teddy Roosevelt are her fourth and seventh cousins, respectively. This conservative, traditional, organized, and creative woman probably should have been born in the 1950’s but she makes the best of all circumstances. In her spare time, yes she actually has that, she loves to cook, scrapbook, spend time with her family and friends, and watch movies with her husband.
While she is super excited to expand her project, The Heart of the Matter, Amy’s ultimate goal is to strengthen her family in a Godly manner and to help others do the same. She is always open to others and she actively pursues friendships with other moms like herself. She is definitely a friend to call on when in need… just don’t ask her to do laundry!
Visit Amy over at
Milk and Cookies.
Amy B. Co-owner, Director of DevelopmentJoining you from the heart of Cajun Country, Amy is a 30-something, Christian, homeschooling mom to three amazing little men. After a devastating divorce from her boys' father and more than four years of being a single parent, she was wed to her best friend Ryan Bayliss in September of 2007. When she is not writing or designing something, she loves to travel, cook, and read in her spare time.
Also a self-proclaimed canister collecting and appliance junkie, this former columnist and editor for a ministry newspaper hits home with her thought provoking, eye opening, and sometimes emotional way of writing to capture the hearts and hand of her readers. She has a desire to see the hand of God in everything, to always be aware of His presence, and to love and live life to the fullest. It is possible to have it all and you are only required to pursue one thing…. a true, deep, and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
Living in a testosterone-laden house, Amy often succumbs to the temptation of the numerous gaming stations that fill their home. This girly-girl certainly believes that God has a sense of humor…He gave her all boys! She gets bugs instead of flowers, tackles instead of hugs, and Legos in the dryer.
A side effect of her
ADD creativity gene is that she gets bored frequently with her hairstyles and must experiment with new ones. Amy is a self-taught graphics designer/
business owner, writer, and entrepreneur. So, in between dying her hair, she occasionally works as an independent contractor who designs logos, book and magazine covers, small scale web sites, eBay and Web log templates, a variety of scrapbooks, and other unpretentious attempts at artistry. She has been cited in several publications and currently co-owns and operates
Internet Café Devotions, the sister site of
Christian Women Online.
She has a desire to take her humble homeschool beginnings to the next level. She wants to learn from and help other homeschool moms as we all take this journey together. She intends to absorb as much information as possible; from the teachers, the young students, the text books, and of course… from her mistakes. In her words, “I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. Thank you all so much! This is going to be great!”
Visit Amy at
In Pursuit of Proverbs 31.
Marsha Assistant to the Director of OperationsHi y'all! My name is Marsha and I have been blessed to be the Mrs. to my David for almost 12 years. We live in Texas and have three fun and rowdy boys-- Austin (8), Noah (6) and Christian (3).
Our boys have been learning at home from the beginning-- and I am not too proud to admit that mommy and daddy have learned a thing or twenty in the process as well!
Our days usual begin with a cup of coffee in my hand and the boys eagerly and quietly awaiting their daily assignments. Okay, only
part of that is true... I'll let y'all decide which part.
Honestly, you
will find many things in our home-- much used pencils, unused and peeled crayons (they really don't care for coloring), piles of wooden train tracks, wrestling matches, dirt covered boys (and socks-- always the socks!), frogs galore, stacks of boardgames, even larger stacks of books, and
lots of laughter.
Our family is certainly not perfect (oh boy are we not perfect!), but we do strive to make Christ the center of our home and our hearts. I guess you can say that we really do live out Philippians 4:13-
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Even on the days that require a whole truckload of reliance, I am truly and abundantly blessed with the
privilege of being a wife, mother and home educator.
There is always something going on over at my house-- it might not always be good, but it's always
something!
Visit Marsha at
Our Homeschool And Other Such Happenings.
Rachel
Assistant to the Director of DevelopmentI am married to the love of my life, Gregg, and I am a preschool homeschooling mom of two little princesses, Jordan Faith (3) and Carolina "Cali" Grace (2). My wonderful Heavenly Father sprung this homeschooling thing on me early last year and it took us all by surprise. . . but after TONS of research and
prayer, we found this is the perfect fit for us!
I LOVE homeschooling preschoolers because they aree like sponges! They LOVE learning and it keeps me accountable. I have to admit I am one of those moms who can fall very easily into the trap of having Noggin on all day long but having a daily plan and schedule for learning, reading good books and exploring nature -- all in an attempt to wrap my brain around this homeschooling thing-- has kept the television to a minimum! We are having so much fun, making so many memories, and I am blessed daily, all thanks to homeschooling!
Currently our homeschool curriculum is very eclectic and is ever changing. We are definitely delight driven and include as much singing, dancing, skits, art work and lap books as possible! While we add many things, our basic spines are B4FIAR,
Brightly Beaming Resources, and unit studies found on
Homeschoolshare and
Homeschool Helper.
We live in Northwest Houston and are originally from New Orleans, which is where most of our family still remains. We are blessed to both come from very close families, including my parents who just moved behind us! We share a gate that is always open, with our girls running between the two homes. We know that this will only enrich our children's lives and our homeschool, thanks to the multi-generational outlook and life experience they will be exposed to!
Visit Rachel at
Keep The Way.
DianneHeart of the Matter Digital Magazine EditorI’ve been very joyfully married to my one true BFF for over 21 years. While the storms have blown in our lives throughout the years, our relationship has remained solid and steadfast. I am ever grateful for my husband and our marriage. We’re quite the wild and crazy couple. We celebrated our 21st anniversary this past summer with a rousing evening of take-out Mexican and the just-released "Wild Hogs" DVD at home (boys were gone, of course).
We have two sweet boys; Clay Guy, age 14 and the Comedian, 13 (names were changed to protect the mostly innocent). While hubs & I weren’t following the Lord when we got married, God got a hold of us prior to having children. Hallelujah! I cannot imagine trying to raise them any other way.
I love photography, though still consider myself an amateur. I take a ridiculous amount of pictures, an obsession that increased exponentially when I went digital in late 2007 (6,000 – 7,000 pix in one year). Of course, I’ll never give up my SLR with its zoom lens, but the digital fits in my purse or pocket, which means I'm ready for every Kodak moment!
In addition to the photography addiction, I love to read and scrapbook. Sometimes I just read about scrapbooking. I’m also big into word games. My mom and I are Scrabble junkies, squeezing in games whenever (and wherever) possible. Sometimes at her house, sometimes mine, and sometimes Taco Bell.
Our homeschooling journey began a bit later than many. Both boys went to our neighborhood public elementary school, two blocks from home. It was a nice, small school and everyone knew everybody. When it was time for middle school, we knew there was no way we wanted them to continue in public school. Originally, we thought they’d be heading to a private Christian school. As we started doing the math, we quickly realized that our budget and the school’s tuition were never going to become friends, not even acquaintances. That started us down a somewhat convoluted path (bunny trail) towards homeschool.
We brought Clay Guy home during 6th grade, and let the Comedian finish out 5th grade at the public school. I was grateful because it gave me just ONE kid to work with while trying to get my feet wet that first year. The next year, the Comedian stayed home as well, causing me to get wet all the way to my hips. Fall 2007 marked the beginning of our third year of homeschooling, so I’m expecting to bring out the full-blown wetsuit. It seems that by the end of one year (sometimes week or day), I sort of think I have it together and it all unravels the next (year, week, day). I guess that’s just the way it is with kids and homeschool. They grow and change, making it a constantly moving target. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m blessed and honored to have this opportunity.
You can read about the randomness of my life at
Bunny Trails, although I don’t blog very often about homeschool. However, you will find a litle of most everything, befitting the name, Bunny Trails. That’s how my life seems to work - from one bunny trail to another to another, until I’m not exactly sure how I landed at my destination. The one thing I do know is that God always keeps track of me. He knows exactly which trail I’m on and never leaves me there alone. My part is to be still and listen for His direction.
"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." Isaiah 30:21
LoriDirector of DevotionsLori's mom insists that she came out of the womb 'talking' and has not stopped since. Lori however, insists that over the past 39 years she has learned a thing or two about listening as well. Especially, when it is God who is doing the talking.
Hearing the voice of God has led her out of a 'desert place' and into a garden full of praise for the King. A lifelong Christian, Lori heard the voice of God 17 years ago when she said 'yes' to the man who would become her husband and best friend. In those 17 years, 13 addresses have made the journey a 'wild ride' at times! Finally, settling back in the Southern United States, a homecoming of sorts after having spent 4 years in college in Clemson, South Carolina...Lori says, "It is so good to be back in the south!"
Having grown up in the church, Lori knows that her 'true spiritual journey' began with an experience with infertility and surrendering to the Lord, allowing HIM to break her and remake her. The smile she wears tells that she is so happy to be on the journey that she is on now. A journey that includes homeschooling 3 wonderful children and teaching at the homeschool co-op as well as religion classes at church. She often wishes she could shout from the mountain top that this is all by the grace and mercy of God.
Homeschooling has become the 'new passion' in her life. As a teacher at heart, the call to home school is something that was places on her heart 4 years ago. Not knowing a single home schooler at the time, it was truly a leap of faith....It is her hope to grow in the home school ministry to encourage and support others on this wonderful and challenging journey! Lori believes "home schoolers can give so much to each other" and is thrilled to be a part of this new online magazine for home schoolers!
People often compare Lori to the "energizer bunny," but she is quick to comment that the energy that she has is from the LORD..."if HE is going to supply it, I'd better use it...lest He think that I don't need it...and I do!!"
Lori claims the phrase, "no storm can shake my inmost calm, when to this rock I'm clinging..." and insists that she will "take it Lord, ALL you have to give...." Praising HIM every step of the way....
She encourages you to enjoy the journey with her at her
blogspot: where she can be found daily... enjoying the journey every step of the way.
(here we are....we don't USUALLY look like this...although we are often barefoot! Embracing, Living and Loving Life!! It's the only one we've got~)
YvonneNewsletter Editor /
Meme CoordinatorYvonne Ferlita, married for nearly nineteen years, is a homeschooling mom to four children from kindergarten to high school. She has been blessed with eleven years of grace filled homeschooling. She strives to follow Christ in educating her children and prays that it is to His glory. In her blog, Yvonne shares many of the lessons God teaches her as she and her family learn Christ everyday. She is truly grateful for grace! Visit her blog,
Grateful for Grace.
Full of ideas, enthusiasm and a love for homeschooling, we are happy to bring you the online magazine and resource site: The Heart of the Matter.
