Frequently Asked Questions

1. How did you come to have children from different parts of the world in your family?

I've always loved to travel and I'm fascinated by other places and cultures. I met Steve while volunteering during high school with a humanitarian organization, Mercy Ships, and between the two of us we've traveled to over 25 countries.

When Jonathan was born, we felt the exhaustion of being new parents who were pouring all our energy into caring for this little soul. The thought kept occurring to us that there were many children who had no one to do for them what we were doing for our little boy.

We knew we couldn't change the lives of thousands, but we could provide a much-needed family for one little person. So we began to investigate adoption.

Soon after, Steve traveled to Liberia through our work with Mercy Ships. While there he discovered an orphanage who needed adoptive families for many children. Less than six months later, Elijah was welcomed into our family.

A year later, we were ready to do it again. This time we were drawn to India. Trishna had been in an orphanage her whole life waiting for a Mommy and Daddy. After much thought, we felt she would be the perfect addition to our family.

Even now our children recognize they are part of a much bigger world, and we celebrate their heritage. We look forward to traveling with them to their birth places as well as other countries when they are older.

2. What was your life like before you became a mother?

I graduated from university in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Language.

My jobs since then have included administrative work (I still hate answering phones!), conference planning, many years working with special needs children, and some writing thrown in here and there.

I've been an at-home mother since mid-2004. I started blogging in 2009 and now work every day to balance my two favorite passions--family and writing.

3. What's your favorite activity to do with your children?

Without a doubt, reading to my children is my favorite "together" activity. I have a passion for literature (hence the English degree), believing it helps children develop imagination, creativity, and critical thinking skills.

As the children have grown it has been special to me as I watch them get involved in a story or observe certain plot lines spilling over into their imaginative play.

In my spare time I can often be found with my head, mind, and soul in a good novel or biography. I love learning about life from the stories of others.

4. Where do your children go to school?

We are currently a homeschooling family. To us, homeschooling represents freedom.

We love that our children can follow their own educational passions and interests; we love that they can move at their own pace without being labeled as "gifted" or "slow."

We love that they are measured as valuable individuals, not just as test scores on a page. And we love the freedom of setting our own schedule, learning all year as we go about our daily lives.

I believe curiosity and the desire to learn are natural characteristics within children, until sometimes the institution of school and pressure to perform erodes their love of learning.

(Bear in mind, though, that this doesn't mean you won't find me online after a hard day researching public or private schools in our area - I'm not superwoman!!)

Though we love homeschooling at this stage in our family's life, we recognize that there are advantages and disadvantages to any type of education. We'll keep homeschooling as long as it is working for the family, but we're also open to different options in the future.

No matter where our children go to school, our family's philosophy of education will remain the same. We hope to make learning a lifestyle, not just something you do to get a grade.

I'm honored to serve as the editor of Simple Homeschool, where I share regularly about our family's educational pursuits.