Category Archives: PARENTING

JOURNAL, PARENTING

MICAH’S EPIC TOOTH LAUNCH

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With our boys getting older, we’ve become veterans when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of baby tooth losing…or pulling…or falling out.  To date, Imanuel has lost 8 teeth and Micah has lost 2.  Ty is still dreaming of the day he discovers his first wiggly tooth.  Israel and I both had our share of doing the honors of making that final yank and seeing the joy on the boys’ faces.  This last time, Micah had a very unique situation.  His bottom adult tooth grew in behind his baby tooth so it didn’t push the baby tooth out.  So, when the baby tooth got quite wiggly, we were excited to know that he wouldn’t grow up with layers of teeth like that of a shark.

IMG_5268The day Micah’s tooth was quite shaky and almost ready, Israel was out of town and over the phone, he entrusted Imanuel to do the honors of pulling out Micah’s loose tooth.  I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but he did it!  And he did it in his own creative way:

 

PARENTING

A TRIBUTE TO THE WORLD’S BEST TEACHER

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A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:1

Today is historic for the Ramos Family.  Our two oldest boys started their first day of school.  Prior to this, they were homeschool students at the Ramos School for boys under the leadership of the world’s best teacher–their mom.  Homeschooling is something that Judy and I agreed on early in our relationship.  Both of us have a background and tremendous interest in education and spent many hours talking about the philosophy we would take when the time came to grow our family.  When we first began to contemplate the topic, homeschooling was not as popular or common as it seems to be today.  It took time for us to explore the pros and cons of each educational approach: homeschooling, Adventist Education, high-ranking public schools.

In the end, the value that society places on knowledge pressures many parents towards imbalance and an unscriptural approach to learning.  Homeschooling places huge demands on the teaching parent that make real education a tremendous challenge.  Additionally, in the homeschool environment, fear always lingers regarding the child’s social development and the parent’s qualifications to do a job that others are professionally trained and qualified to do.

Fortunately, in our experience, the boys had the privilege of learning from a highly intelligent and well-equipped teacher known to them as their mom.

Even in moments when Judy may have doubted herself, I was always fully convinced that the best educator in the lives of our boys was, has been, and always will be their first and best teacher–their mother.  No one in this world has captured their hearts more than she has.  No one else has thought about, wrestled with, and even obsessed over their development more than their mother.

I am eternally thankful for the investment that Judy has made in the lives of our boys.  Some call her a stay-at-home mom.  I call her an artist who works, not with clay or paint to create pots or paintings.  She’s an artist of a different kind.  She is one who shapes, works, presses, molds, and fashions life and character.  And in shaping the lives of these young boys, she has literally shaped the course of world history.  For, whatever positive impact they make–large or small–it will be because one brilliant mother who could have been anything she wanted be and done everything she wanted to do, decided to take on the world’s most difficult job.

We owe so much to our teachers.  We owe so much to our parents.  We owe everything we’ve got to the parents who make the education of their children their top priority and in their homes impart more than just knowledge, but wisdom instead.

As Manu and Micah move on to the next phase of their educational experience, I am thankful that Judy emptied herself to fully prepare them for what’s ahead.  Our prayer as parents is that God’s grace will make up where our many deficiencies have interfered with His plans in their lives.  Manu & Micah, as you meet achievement and success, my prayer is that you’ll forever remember this: wisdom — the right use of knowledge and ability is true power and more valuable than everything else combined (Prov. 22:1).

Even now, put your fingerprints all over God’s great world as your mother has placed her prints all over your lives!

FAMILY, JOURNAL, PARENTING, SPIRITUALITY

I WILL CARRY YOU

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I was staring up at the drop ceiling lights for some time.  “Don’t worry,” she reassured me, “sometimes it takes a while to find it”.  I knew that wasn’t true.  At least it wasn’t true for me.  I had gone through this exact same routine at least 20 times over the years.  It doesn’t take this long to find a baby’s heartbeat.  I lay there on my back for several minutes as the nurse slowly and systematically moved the doppler across my lower abdomen a few times.  Then she called in another nurse who did the exact same thing.  I continued staring up at the outdated ceiling tiles as the thought kept going through my head, “This can’t be happening.  This isn’t happening.”  I tried to hold on to any glimmer of hope that was within me.

I was ushered to the dark ultrasound room.  I laid down and immediately fixed my eyes on the screen.  My neck was craned in an awkward position but I couldn’t take my eyes off my baby.  I just remember the tech honing in the baby’s heart and clicking on it.  A flat line ran across the screen and no sound of the heart beat.  She repositioned the doppler and tried again.  Nothing.  She did it one last time.  She took the final measurements and she was done.  She wiped off the gel and helped me sit up.  The frantic part of me wanted her to try one more time.  The rational part of me slapped myself across the face and I was overcome with emotion.  My baby was dead, all hope was gone, and my heart broke in pieces.

You can never be prepared for sudden tragedy.  It was supposed to be a routine OB visit.  One that I’m usually in and out within 20 minutes.  As I sat there in the little side room, I went into emotional shock. My body turned numb and my vision was foggy. I felt like I was going in and out of a dream. As my mind came back to focus, we were still there and the doctor was still talking to us and explaining our options. This was really happening. I held my belly that carried our lifeless son and wept.

That was Friday, February 21, 2014. We decided to have our son delivered on the following Monday. We could have scheduled it earlier, but we decided to wait. I needed time. I wanted these last few days, this last Sabbath, this last weekend with him. I wanted to carry him a little longer as I sorted through everything that was happening. I spent a lot of time in prayer and claiming promises in God’s Word. That dark weekend, I found renewed hope and courage in God. I knew He understood my heart and He gave me hope that this wouldn’t be the last time I’d be near my son. As I carried him for the final time, I asked our Almighty God to carry me. He drew very close. In my moment of deepest despair, I put my trust in Him and I found peace.

Our fourth son, Seth Aaron Ramos, was born on Monday, February 24, 2014.  I carried him 19 weeks and he quietly passed away a few weeks prior.  As a memorial, we made a small memory book for baby Seth.  We included his ultrasound pictures from when he was alive among other things.  Each of the boys made a special card for him.  It is a little book that we, as a family, treasure.

By faith, I know I will get to hold our youngest son again. However, I recognize that getting there won’t be an easy road. It hasn’t been easy. Grief comes and goes. This life is filled with a myriad of trials and temptations. As we are nearing the end of time, Satan is attacking with full force and he will use anyone and anything to bring us down. But through this experience, I get a taste of God’s undying love, because He created us and we are His own. I understand a glimpse His desire to carry and protect us until we are made whole. And by faith I know Christ longs to be reunited with His children. It is a Love worth trading our selfish, sin-sickened lives for.

So, as I go on life’s sometimes difficult journey, it is my desire to ask God to carry me each step of the way.  No matter what I lay at His feet, I know I will never be a burden to Him and I am confident He will never let me go.  I believe His love is enough to take each of us through even the roughest, most painful trials of this life.  In the end, it will be worth the wait.

IMG_6096“…I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4

 

 

EDUCATION, PARENTING

Changes at the Ramos School for Boys

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There have been some changes made at the Ramos School for Boys.  We’ve relocated our school room from a smaller room to the main open area upstairs.  They boys are actually glad about the change because the previous school room has now become their toy room.  According to them, the smaller play room is a lot easier to clean up than the big open area.  Basic rules are that no toys are allowed in this area and that it must always be kept clean.  This school doesn’t have a paid custodian!


Books & educational school supplies

Word wall, maps, writing/coloring drawers, and a futon for the teacher to take naps

Reading & cat observation corner

Student desks.  We’re at full student capacity:  3
 
Students hard at work (disregard their PJs)

One thing I love about being a teacher & homeschool mom is that many of the gifts the boys receive are educational.  For Christmas, the boys got 2 awesome science kits and an ant farm, and just recently, they got another two science kits.  I’ve been trying to space the experiments out to make them last as long as possible.  They’ve been having way too much fun in science!

    
Crystal Mining Kit
 
Making Volcanoes

Making Fruit Batteries using different variables
 
Ty’s limes & Micah’s apples worked!

Manu’s potatoes, not so much.

You can always count on Mexican soda. 

The longer we’ve been doing this, the easier it seems to be getting.  Imanuel and I have been doing so much better in keeping with our school routine.  Initially, we were inconsistent and it was difficult to get things going.  But now, it is getting so much more fun and exciting and he is really motivated to learn.  He is also able to work more independently so for certain subjects, he can just read the instructions and start them off on his own.  It is such a miracle to watch children learn and grow.People have often asked me how long I plan to homeschool.  It is a question that I think about often, but the answer is quite simple.  If I know my boys will receive an overall education at some place better than the one they are receiving at home with me, I will send them.  You can be certain that I’m not willing to relinquish my role that easily, yet, I am praying even now, that the Lord has a godly teacher out there that is even more committed than myself who will be able to take my children even further than I ever could.  I now see how much it takes for a parent to entrust their precious children to a teacher.  If you are a godly teacher, I am accepting CVs and applications.  Send them to principal@ramosschoolforboys.edu.