Paul and Gena Suarez
Welcome, welcome all you new TOS subbers! There are thousands of you now and we are so excited to get to hang out! And hello to all our old friends, as well. So nice to talk with you again! Hey, this issue is a little strange for us because a good portion of it was crafted while we (the Suarez clan) were on the road. In fact, this very column is being penned in a Klamath Falls, Oregon, Holiday Inn hotel room as we speak. The kids are jumping around with excitement because Dad is taking them to Crater Lake tomorrow. Mama is behind her desk, nose pressed against the laptop screen, typing furiously to make deadlines.
Oh, we are so happy it is Fall! Cool, California is not cool at all, and the falling yellow, orange, and red leaves signal more relaxing times ahead. The holidays! Speaking of that, have a look at our holiday section in the mag this issue. We bribed er, begged a few of the TOS staffers to write about their own holiday traditions. We thought you might like to see how some of us spend our Christmas-time. The associate staff is getting really big, and the diversity amongst us is very cool.
Hey, how are things going? Many of you started up your school year in the last month or two. Others, like our own family, school year-round. What kinds of things do you have planned this year? How many subjects are you focusing on? Don't worry if you are only pursuing two or three solid areas of study right now. Remember back when we were in school? We had about 30 to 40 minutes per subject, and loads of them every day! Once we found ourselves interested in something, or were gaining depth to what we were learning, a bell rang. That's no way to study! Do you have a child who is destined to be an engineer? Let him spend hours (under your watchful eyes and involvement) pursuing his interests. How about a dancer? Let her go at it. Allow her to excel, to dive in completely. Life is a constant learning process. If you overly compartmentalize learning, your kids will wonder what to call periods of time that are not spent in formal education. Let all of life be a constant learning adventure; the key is that YOU are learning with them, spending time with them, building relationships. So you don't like engineering? You don't particularly want to learn how to take apart a computer and put it back together with your son? Then, don't. But be there with him. Share his excitement. Let him teach you. Allow your eyes to fill with wonder at how smart he is and urge him to tell you more. Do you want to know what the key to homeschooling is? Adult conversation and lots of it. That's it! Relax; your children are going to do great! Look at the enormous numbers of successful homeschool grads nowadays. Check out the colleges and universities that are actively and specifically recruiting them. Need we say more? Homeschool graduates are thinkers. They are not nodding sheep, ready to follow the mainstream they are our future leaders.
Let's see
what have we been up to? Oh! Julia (7) and her daddy took a quilting class! A wonderful couple from our church happen to be professional quilters and offered to teach them and the Baird children (one of our "best friend" families at church) a basic quilting course. We really love Dave and Cyrina Baldwin and their philosophy of teaching. They insisted that we look at quilting as an art form, and use only the highest quality materials. The resulting product proved their methods; the finished quilts are GORGEOUS! Julia has neatly tucked hers and Daddy's in her large, cedar hope chest (given to her by Kentucky Hills Cedar, www.KyHillsCedar.com). The Baldwins, in their kindness, also gave Julia and our family two, beautiful, black 1951 vintage Centennial Singer sewing machines (they are avid collectors). We were astounded at their generosity. So Julia is now our family quilter (and loves it!), with Paul making his own creations on the side! The two of them love to quilt together.
Hey, have you met our new webmaster, David Peake? Thanks to him (and his beautiful wife, Heather), our website is new and fresh, and much easier to navigate. David and his wife, Heather, have three very sweet children (see them with our kids, below, at the Skunk Train) who have become fast friends with the Suarez kids. We all camped together a couple months ago, and then headed over to Fort Bragg, where we boarded the Skunk Train! (www.SkunkTrain.com) A special thank you to Chris Hart, President of Sierra Railroad, who blessed both our families with an exciting ride that ran from Fort Bragg to Northspur. We crossed bridges and went through mountain tunnels, our oldest son with video camera trained on everything. The scenery was breathtaking! If you are ever out this way, get a hold of us or the Peakes, and we'll try to meet you up there!
That reminds us! Heather Peake wears a number of hats at TOS, one of them being our ATIC Coordinator. She has a quick message for you, here:
Hello, wonderful TOS readers! It's time to clean our your ATIC. No, this is not a typo. It's a concept I learned from your Devotional & E-news Editor, Deborah Wuehler (who just happens to be my sister). ATIC stands for "All Things in Common", taken from Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-33, and we would like to invite you to participate.
We are looking for families who have curriculum, books, or supplies no longer needed, who would be willing to mail (at their own expense) to a family in need. We are also looking for families who may have a need for these items. If you fit either category, simply send me an e-mail with your contact information and a detailed list of items to give, or a brief note about your needs and situation, and we will match you together. We will be attempting to obtain gift certificates donated from partnered corporations for new items as well. Names will not be listed in the magazine or our website, but we will share generally how many matches are made so we can all rejoice together.
"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need." Acts 2:44-45
"Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common." Acts 4:32-33
If you have any questions or would like to participate, please e-mail me at: ATIC@TOSMag.com
Heather Peake Marketing & Distribution Specialist // All Things in Common Coordinator
Shortly after the camping trip and Skunk Train with the Peakes, it was time for the road trip! Paul, Paul Jr. (14), Luke (12), and Levi (10) set out to explore the wild frontier and meet up with various TOS staffers and advertisers across the US. TOS's own "frontier man" is Gerry Tokarski, who, with lovely wife, Dora, runs A+ Homeschooling Supply in Billings, Montana. Gerry and Dora distribute TOS Magazine and have been great friends with our family for several years. You don't know know "mountain man" until you meet Gerry! The boys and Paul camped with the Tok's (they have two sons who fished and hiked with our three) and had a great time in Yellowstone National Park!
Along the way across the US, from Wyoming and Montana to Wisconsin, Paul and the kids stayed with Monica Cook, TOS's General Editor. Her kids and ours had a great time together pretty common for homeschoolers who meet for the first time (no trouble socializing)!
From there, they went on to meet up with Heather Idoni and family of www.HomeschoolingBoys.comand www.HomeschoolChat.us. The annual F.I.R.E. conference Heather directed (and nicely, we might add!) was held in late August/early September, and Paul and the boys LOVED it! They did boatbuilding and all sorts of adventurous things that whole week while getting to know other homeschooling families; it was wonderful! You'll have to check out www.KidsAboard.com to see the boats the group was able to make.
By this time, Gena and Julia, who were left behind to slave over TOS work (haha), were incredibly lonely. "Where's my daddy? I miss Daddy." They counted the days until they'd fly out (Julia's first flight!) to Chicago to reunite with the rest of the family. It's no fun being apart for two-and-a-half weeks like that!
Finally...D-day arrived. "D"-light for Julia, who was estatic to board a plane, and "D"-oom, for Gena, who is scared to death to fly. Two days prior to the flight, Gena chatted on the phone for a while with history curriculum author and speaker, Diana Waring, who gave her extremely good counsel on this whole "fear thing. Gena received it and agreed, as Diana's advice was 100% biblical, but still struggled with the whole idea of being up in the sky with no ambulance nearby if she decided to flip out or something (we know it's baseless). Still, Diana comforted her a lot and prayed with her, and she felt ready to make the plunge into the abyss um, flight.
The big day: Gena and Julia were driving to the airport. All was well. The sun was shining, the traffic was good and nerves were basically relaxed. Julia was all smiles in anticipation of this newest adventure and Gena was working hard to remember the truths she knew. Paul called her on the cell phone, which was a pleasant distraction. We had not seen each other for so long...we could not WAIT to lay eyes on each other again! Gena shared with Paul about Diana's good counsel, and that she was doing well with this flight thing now. All was calm; all was bright (for the moment). It was nice talking with him on the phone.
"I HAVE TO CALL 911. PAULIE'S HAVING A SEIZURE!"
Immediately her whole world went black. Gena fell numb and the phone was dead. She dropped it immediately and began stuttering and breathing fast. Praying out loud, begging God to hear, she cried and helplessly shoved the rising panic back down. Julia looked up at her with confusion as Gena again grabbed the phone and called her sister, Jenefer. Jumbled words flew out and more panic rose up. Everything was moving slowly, like a strange movie. None of our children has ever had a seizure. Never have we called 911 (except the time the house caught on fire last year). And there was no comfort in knowing that Gena had to board a plane in a matter of an hour, not knowing what was wrong with her son. Was he still alive? What was happening clear across the country?!
Shortly after, Paul called again. The ambulance was at the hotel in Chicago taking Paulie away. "He's OK; he's all right, Honey. I have to go; I'm going to follow the ambulance to the hospital."
Paul shared with Gena afterwards that Paulie had been sitting on the couch in the hotel after he and his dad had awakened that morning. Luke and Levi were still asleep. Paul was on the phone with Gena while she was on her way to the airport. All of a sudden, Paulie was yelling for his dad. He completely seized up while screaming, "Dad, Dad!!" With that, he passed out.
Instantly, Paul jumped into action. He called the paramedics and tried to make sure Paulie was breathing. He was not. As Paulie turned blue, Paul knew he had to do something, and fast. He couldn't wait for any ambulance. He yanked out his pocketknife, which had some pliers attached, and pried his boy's mouth open. "Breathe!! Breathe, Paulie!!" He did not wake up, but with mouth now open, his breathing started up and his color resumed. Paul's hand was bleeding where Paulie had clamped down on it.
Another grand mal seizure happened upon arriving at the hospital. Meanwhile, Gena was sitting at the Sacramento airport because her flight was delayed. Friends and her sister comforted her while she held Julia and waited. She never found out about that second seizure until she arrived in Chicago Paul didn't want to frighten her any further, especially with her so far away and having to fly.
Hours went by. The plane ride wasn't so bad when you consider everything around you. Paulie was on her mind.
God is good, and we know He had a purpose in this. He also did not let us fall on our faces; with Him, there is always a safety net. He brought an angel to us, TOS Senior Correspondent and Resource Room columnist, Christine Field (and her dear family!), who right away met Paul at the hospital (she lives near Chicago), taking the boys all day so he could stay behind with Paulie. Then, she picked Gena and Julia up at the airport later that afternoon and delivered them to the hospital. What a godly, peaceful, kind woman (www.HomeFieldAdvantage.org). We have known her for about three years; she's been one of our main writers since before we were even a color magazine. We always liked her, but now we know her. And we love her we will never forget what she did for our family that day, and for several days afterwards.
So we did not know what to do. Here, Paulie was in the hospital in Chicago. Someone stayed with him at all times (either Paul or Luke) and we wrestled to understand what had happened. Several TOS staffers were flying in from around the US to participate in our annual management meeting, held in Chicago this year. Paul asked the doctors if we should immediately cancel plans and head home. The doctor actually chuckled and said, no, that was not at all necessary. It's actually not terribly uncommon for adolescents to have at least one seizure. They gave him some meds and sent us back to our hotel, where TOS'rs were already beginning to gather.
The next week was a lot of fun. Things felt much more back to normal and Paulie and the rest of the kids were having a great time! The meetings went well, and we were able to meet so many staffers face to face! Our magazine is getting pretty big it's retailing in Borders Bookstores and Barnes & Noble, nationwide. The staff has really grown as well, and a whole management level has developed. What a bunch of GREAT people! But we've never seen them! The magazine is almost completely operated by Internet, phone, and fax. We communicate with each other by e-mail, for the most part. What you are reading is a labor of love by not just one family, but by many. Managers bark out e-mailed orders (normally with crazy jokes and funny graphics) to other associates, and everyone does their specialty, normally on their computers from home. This Chicago trip allowed us to meet our own managers what a concept, huh?
Lisa Barthuly and Janella Murry are our Marketing Managers. They came to Chicago full of ideas to share for the new year. David Peake is our Webmaster and his wife, Heather, one of our Market and Distribution Development Specialists. Michael and Sharra Badgley are our Homeschool Nation Managers (contact Sharra if you want to become a TOS Coordinator for your state!). Jenefer Igarashi is the Marketing Director (the big boss that everyone shivers under even we do
haha) for TOS. All of us had such a great time getting to know each other, exploring Chicago and buckling down for the new year in the homeschool community. We have some great things coming for you...so stay tuned!
Hint: The Spring Bouquet Promo is already lining up be prepared to get more gifts than ANY other year. Enormous companies, like Scholastic, Bob Jones University Press, Christian Liberty Press, Calvert, and more are already on board!
After our adventures in Chicago, it was time to meet up with Staff Writer, Terri Camp (www.TerriCamp.com), also author of Ignite The Fire. We all met for dinner at TOS Graphic Artist Jodi Whisler's home in Iowa. The house was FULL of kids! Ours, several of Terri's (she has eight!), and Jodi's two brainy boys. We had a wonderful time with all of them!
Iowa is interesting. Lots of corn. Huge, huge amounts of corn, bushels of it. Stalks everywhere. Cows, too. It has a very interesting...aroma. We are from California so this was the first time we really met corn (and cows) face to face. In large quantities.
We do want to give a very special thank you to the nice folks over at Stony Creek Inn, www.StoneyCreekInn.com, in Des Moines, who gave our family a complimentary gorgeous, large suite for one night. Their hospitality is second to none, and the room was just so pretty very classy!
Denver was next after a quick change of plans. See, we went to Omaha after the corn state and had one last fun day together as a family. We thought that it would be best to get Paulie home, just in case he decided to have another seizure or do something unpleasant like that. So, Julia, Paulie, and Gena bought their tickets out of Omaha since it was less expensive than Des Moines. We had a great time! We did the Imax theater, had lunch at the Cracker Barrel (and bought these cool mid-west blankets), and then kissed each other good bye. Paul, Luke, and Levi would drive home, finishing up our appointments along the way about a week more on the road.
The flight out of Omaha that was headed to Sacramento connected in Denver, and Gena was rather nervous on that plane. Diana's words were sloshing around in her head, and she truly was trying to catch them, but for some reason, they werent reaching her "reasoning" side and she still panicked. It must have been the pilot's crazy driving (yeah, that's it). By this time, her head was throbbing and she missed Paul. So, they got off the plane and begged for their suitcases, which were en route to Sacramento. The airline officials looked at all three like they were crazy.
"You don't want to go home?"
"Nope."
Are you sure?"
"Yes, give us our bags, please."
"Why?"
"Umm, I have a headache and I want to stay in Denver."
At that, they sent the three weary travelers to the baggage claim area where, supposedly, the bags had been pulled off the plane headed to Sacramento. About two hours went by. Still no bags. Headache was getting worse. Finally they inquired of another official who replied, "Oh, drat. The luggage must have gone on to Sacramento." So they grabbed a shuttle bus to a hotel and called Paul with the crazy news they were not home, but instead in Colorado. He, after cracking up a bit, came straight to Denver with Luke and Levi, where we had a happy reunion! (We know this is ridiculous)
The next day, it was time to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where museum press organizer, Julia Taylor, had our family out as guests for the day. What a great group of people! We took the kids to see all kinds of wonderful exhibits, along with two Imax films one on mummies (Mysteries of Egypt) and the other on coral reefs (Coral Reef Adventure). We also got to do the planetarium, which was fascinating; technology is amazing! We love places like this because while a lot of it is history and science that is relevant and true, there is evolution all around you. Millions and bazillions of years. It's perfect for discussion time with our kids on the Truth of God's word. Genesis. Be sure to check out www.AnswersInGenesis.org for answers on millions and bazillions of years.
Our hosts were wonderful and we were so blessed to be out there. Julia Taylor told us that homeschoolers flock to the place we can see why! A special thank you to her and the rest of the crew at DMNS we'll be back!
Next on the itinerary schedule was Mount Rushmore! Wooohoooo! The kids had never been there, so we had to go! The park is located near Spearfish, South Dakota, where Bill and Diana Waring live. We stayed two nights at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge, www.spfcanyon.com, which is a beautiful place in an even prettier surrounding area. The trees were all changing as we got there and everything was a vibrant gold, and it was rainy. Gorgeous! The rustic hotel with enormous fireplace and wooden staircase had our family stay on as their guests and we woke up to sounds of the breeze and rushing creek outside our open window.
On the second morning there, Diana Waring called us up and then she and husband Bill met us at the lodge. They only live about 25 minutes from the place. We hung out for about half the day and then as we were getting ready to hit the road for Wyoming, they asked us if we would like to stay one night at their home, and they would show us Crazy Horse, which was about an hour away. Our fellowship with them up to that point had been so special we didn't want to leave! We found that our philosophy on raising children and homeschooling are so similar, we hit it off beautifully! Our kids were in heaven because Mr. Waring had been telling them all about Crazy Horse over lunch, and when we announced we were going to trek on up there with the Warings, PLUS spend the night at their house, everyone got excited. Julia got to cozy up with their pretty dog, Marble, for a portion of the night, which was one of her favorite parts of the whole visit!
Dinner with the Warings was a delight. We had a full afternoon at the museum and a bus ride up to the Crazy Horse monument, just getting to know each other. The next morning, Diana made a delicious pancake, bacon, and juice breakfast (the fluffiest pancake dish we have ever had!) for Bill and our family. We talked a bit more, huddled over a road atlas, and then hit the highway. Just like with Christine Field, we always knew we liked Diana (she is a TOS staff writer), but now we know how much we love both her and Bill. They are not just great curriculum producers; they are down to earth, extremely generous, God-fearing peole, and they live what they teach. www.DianaWaring.com check them out for your history needs. You'll love them, too!
Have you ever traveled around like this for a month? It's crazy! This is not normal for us at all; in fact, it's the first family vacation we have had in our 15 years of marriage. The kids loved it, and we did too, but home is really looking good right about now.
Wyoming and Idaho were next lots of pretty places to see. Once we got to Oregon, though, and about ten miles from Crater Lake, our van completely rebelled. We were stranded. Fortunately, we broke down near a little forest motel. The next day, we hailed a tow into Klamath Falls, and here we sit, while the van is being repaired. Tomorrow the kids and Paul will go to Crater Lake while Gena and the team finish up the last bit on the magazine before it goes to press. What a crazy trip! But, how blessed it was, too. We saw God's hand every step of the way. And He kept us safe, completely covered by His grace.
So, that is our big adventure this last quarter. Hopefully, next issue we will have less to talk about. We are not used to chatting on and on like this. Our life is pretty plain and simple even boring compared to most, so this has been twilight-zonish. We feel like we have had too much sugar or something time to slow down!
Anyway, let's get the show on the road before we all fall asleep with the droning. Town Square is great this issue with Dr. Heather Allen the research is pouring in. We also have VeggieTales stars Bob and Larry visiting this quarter. They really are smart, and quite active (for vegetables). Larry had to be reprimanded by Paul at least once, because he likes to jump on the couch. Otherwise, they were perfect little veggie gentlemen! And they like homeschoolers a lot! Who else is here? Oh! Doug Phillips from Vision Forum stopped in for a chat with TOS, too. Check out all the homeschool friendly colleges! Read the higher education articles they are so good! Here, we'll quit gabbing now and let you see for yourself what's going on.
As always, it's a pleasure to know you. Thanks for your friendship, your prayers and for hanging out. It means a lot!
Til next issue, Truely Yours,
-- The Suarez Clan
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