Destination: Exceptional Motherhood

2011-09-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like you are walking in circles and getting nowhere? I often do. Being a stay at home/homeschooling mom makes me feel that way a lot. Day after day, week after week, the same ordinary things happen. The kids change and get older, as do I, but I often feel a sense of wonder about whether what I am doing is making a difference in the world. This is not a post about homeschooling, because I believe wholeheartedly that God has called me to do this. Not that I am against public school, because I am not, but more so against how children are being raised or not raised by their parents in today's world.

So many times I have heard in sermons and read in the Bible that we are not saved by our good works. I know this, and believe it. However, the Bible also states that by our good works we shall be recognized. What I have come to realize by this verse is that we are sometimes the only Bible that people read. It is by how we act or react that people either see Christ in us, or don't. I struggle in this area, because I let my anger and control issues sometimes take over, and I am sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am not showing anyone Christ in me. Probably the opposite actually.

My younger children are still in the molding stages. They accept Christ at face value and don't ever question the Bible's teachings. They wander around the house singing their little Bible songs from church, and are pretty accepting of everything that is held within it's pages.

My oldest child however is at the age of questioning everything he has been taught through the years, seen every mistake I've made (most with him as he is the oldest) and actually seen how ugly the world can be somewhat. He has no belief system right now, and as scary as that is for me, I know that God has a reason this is so. I remember when I was 18. I had been brought up in church, was sick of attending church, and wanted my Sundays free to do what I wanted. I completely stopped attending church for about 5 years. I think I still believed in God, but honestly I don't really think I thought too much about Him. I think I was a lot like Matt in that respect.

I don't remember my parents hounding me to go to church, or to find a campus ministry program at college, or suggesting I find a church, but even if they had said those things I probably wasn't listening anyway.

Now as a parent it saddens me to see Matt starting out in life without Christ as his guide. It scares me. It cuts like a knife. I feel like a failure for not leading him straight toward Christ. I feel like I haven't done my job. I guess I always thought there would be time for that, but the world continued rotating it's way around the sun year after year, and all those plans I had locked in my head, never made it's way to Matt. Day after day, week after week, I had many chances. As I was walking the circles of my daily life, I missed the path I was supposed to take to lead Matt where he needed to go.

I hope and pray he will find Him again someday, but I know now that I have lost my chance at leading my child to Christ. The control freak in me thought I had lead him there several years ago, but I was wrong. I made the terrible mistake of pushing it all on him and not letting him make his own choices. He is not angry at me about it. It just doesn't matter to him right now.

Please pray for Matt, if you have a little time to do so. Pray for his future, and for his safety. He was accepted at OTI (Ohio Tech) over the weekend. If all the pieces fall into place financially for him to go, he will be moving out next Fall, and be on his own for the first time in his life. I'm both excited and sad. Time passed so quickly. I wish sometimes that I could magically turn the hands of time backwards a wee bit, so I could have all my kids be little again. Hunter and Ethan are growing so fast. I can't believe they are the ages that they are either. Life is certainly melancholy.

We've had such a fun summer visiting so many of our friends and family this year. I am filled to overflowing.
I am so lucky to have friends and family that I am so very close to, and love so dearly. They bless our lives each and every moment we are near them. I hope that we are a blessing as well.

Summer Days...Drifting Away...

2011-08-12T10:46:00.001-07:00

Wow! Were we busy this summer. Starting in May we have been going, going, going! I finished up school Mid-June, which wasn't initially my plan, but just how it worked out. We traveled a lot, and spent a lot of time in hotels. Were almost caught in that terrible Joplin tornado, and spent way too much money. Scott and I decided that in future years we just need to budget summers like this better. It's been crazy, to say the least.

The end of May we traveled near Oklahoma City for my nephew Alex's graduation. We knew our old van would probably not make the trip. So first on our list of duties was to trade in our old van for a new one. We had really needed a new van for a long time, but the joy of not having a car payment kept us calmly in our old van for probably too long.

There are photos below of the cool hotel we stayed in on the way, in Springfield, Mo. Once we got to OKC we stayed in another hotel, and were able to visit with my sister and her family all weekend. We had such a fun time visiting and playing Apples to Apples with them. On our way back to Springfield, to stay in that cool hotel again on the way back, we were rerouted due to the tornado that had just hit Joplin about 30 minutes before. We were scheduled to go right through Joplin to get to Springfield, but never made it there. We ended up driving another 10 tortuous hours into Kansas, and then over and across Missouri to make it to mom and dad's house. I say tortuous because it was a long drive, but in retrospect we could have been on the highway when the tornado hit, or in Joplin itself. We experienced nothing like those precious people suffered that horrible night in Joplin, for which I was very thankful.

Soon after returning, I went with one of my dearest friends to the Anita Renfrow concert. We laughed so hard we cried. We also met up with some of Michelle's friends from church, went to dinner at Avanti's and just had the most fun time together.

Things went back to normal as we continued finishing up the year with our studies. Scott's cousin Mary came for a visit, and we a had a few family reunions on Scott's side of the family. Soon after my Grandma came by train to visit us. It was a nice visit, although I ran her around so much, I think she was pretty warn out by the time she returned home. I even took her to Bunco night with me and my mama friends.

The next weekend my niece Madison flew in from Washington State. Mom and dad picked her up in St. Louis and we all traveled up to Wisconsin for my niece Courtney's graduation. We all had such a fun time visiting. It was so nice to get to spend time with my sisters, and see friends and family we hadn't seen in such a very long time. Hunter and Matt ended up going back with mom and dad for the week.

After returning home from that the last week of June, Ethan and I headed straight back down to Missouri for the 4th of July. My sister Jennie's family came up from OKC and my brother Ken and his family came down from Milwaukee. We had such a great time out on the lake, watching fireworks, jetskiing, and just having a great time together as a family.

After returning home my niece Madison came to us for a visit. The kids had such fun seeing their cousin again, and she was able to visit with her pen pal Molly she had met last year while visiting here. My brother came up from Milwaukee and visited for a day as well.

The past few weeks have been filled with working on 4-H projects for the Fair, Matt going to Alabama, registering Matt for his senior year in high school, attending the Fair, and this past week was Hunter's 10th birthday. So a birthday party to boot.

It was a lot of fun, and it went by so fast. Today I am back in school mode, ordering Matt's school clothes and shoes, and downloading things for me to start homeschooling again in a week and a half.

I am excited for the Fall and for things to slow way down. I love our playgroup, and my mama group, and my gardening, and all those fun outdoor experiences summer brings, but Fall is a slow time of year, and the one time of year I think I cherish the most.

I apologize for this being a somewhat boring post, I promise my next one will be much more interesting. I added a few new websites and blogs to my blog roll, if you are interested in taking a look, and also want to remind you that Big Picture Classes is holding their Big Idea Festival, Aug. 15-23. You can click on the link to get registered. It's completely free, and a lot of fun! I've been on-line scrapbooking for a few years now, and I love that I get to meet and chat with other scrapbookers around the world, even the famous ones! Famous in the scrapbooking industry anyway. It's full of fun prizes and challenges. I've won a few myself. If you scrapbook, I recommend you should really check it out. Ciao!

My sister Ann, and her daughter Courtney (the graduate), Megan, and her husband Scott.
Ann, Scott, and Courtney at the graduation party.
Mom and dad with some good friend. Pete and Bev, and Pete and Rosie.
My dear Uncle Pete and his wife Rosie.
Our group at the Anita Renfrow Concert. Super fun time!
Play date at the splash park with friends.
Dinner with my handsome husband.
A great time with good friends!
Hunter and Ethan with some really good friends!

Hanging on the zip-line at Sugar Grove :)
Splashing at the hotel pool.
Sitting by the fountain "at the cool hotel" which is what the kids called it. It was cool!
The boys favorite place to eat in the whole wide world.....Ryan's Steakhouse.
Playing Risk with all the cousins, and cousins of cousins :)
Cool hotel! Awesome food too :)
Swimming at the "cool hotel".
Our new van. New to us anyway. 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan with stow and go seats.
Beach volleyball with all the cousins :)
Fun with homeschool friends at our favorite park in town.
My little Ethan boy just a swingin'.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and please post a link to your blog. I'd love to see what you all have been up to this summer too.

Spring and New Life.

2011-03-21T14:15:00.001-07:00

This afternoon after homeschooling the boys I decided to go take a look at my strawberry plants and black raspberry bushes out back. Every year I hope and pray that my strawberries make it through the Winter. My black raspberries usually fare very well over the winter months.

So outside I went with small shovel in one hand and a set of pruning sheers in the the other. My raspberry bushes go crazy with vines going this way and that way, all over the place. They are not nice either. Full of thorns and over 6 feet long. I always prune them down in the Spring or Fall so they don't get out of control and into our neighbor's yard.

I pruned the first bush and started digging under the matted down grass and leaves left from the Fall before. Low and behold there it was a beautiful green strawberry plant, and then another, and another. It looks like we will have more strawberry plants this year, than last year.

The raspberry bushes are already budding, and doing well. They look nice an neat now that I pruned them. I am thinking of putting up a tall chicken wire fence along the outer rim of the bushes, so they can climb taller and not poke at anyone.

So as I was giving new life to my strawberry plants, I got to thinking about God. Somehow my mind always turns to God when I am outdoor working with my hands. I thought about the strawberry plants that were buried by the grass and leaves, and how if I just left them under there without light, they would eventually die. Then I thought about how I was giving them new life by uncovering them so the light could reach them. Lastly my thoughts turned to human sinfulness, and how when we are deep in sin we are like those strawberries buried under the grass and leaves. There may be a bit of life or Christ in us to help us survive for a little while, but unless we dig ourselves out or are dug out and have the light shown to us we will surely stay in that sin forever. We can not have light in us, if we do not allow it to come in. We need to invite Christ into our lives if we want him to reside there and give us light. Just like those strawberry plants need light to grow, we also need God's light to grow as Christians.

The kids are memorizing this Bible verse this week:

Thy word is truth. John 17:17. Praise God for His immeasurable truth!

Random January Photos

2011-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

When Scott and I started dating. He worked as a cook at the Dixie. He would always make my eggs look like this. Nearly 14 years of marriage, and he's still doing it. He always puts a heart made of cheese on top. What a guy I married!

H and E chilling in their room in their pjs. Hey look...their room is clean :)
Scott cooking my sweetheart eggs. He makes the kids with a heart too.
E with his new glasses and missing teeth. He lost 4 in about a month.
Building Lego's at the library with the boys. It was a fun afternoon, and they won a prize from the drawing.
H and E with their Lego creations. We have the game Lego Creationary at home. It one of our favorite games.
Matt's friends stopped by to show me their new baby. So precious!
The kids built a silly snowman this afternoon in the front yard. Ethan stole one of his eyeballs off and ate it! He just giggled himself silly after that.
Building the snowman.
He's a silly snowman, no doubt about it!

January Happens...

2011-01-28T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

It's been awhile since I updated my blog, so I thought I'd do a little updating now. December was such a busy month, with Winter piano recitals, Christmas parties, field trips, etc... and then there was sewing, and crocheting, and more sewing and crocheting. It was fun, a lot of work, and it certainly went by very quickly.

January has been a little slower. We have been busy with our studies, and getting back to our normal everyday routine. Hunter is learning to play Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and is doing great! Heidi is only teaching piano every two weeks now, since she moved back to her hometown 2 hours from here. We feel very blessed that she has decided to continue to teach her students, because we really feel that she is the very best piano teacher we could ever hope to have.

I started a weight loss program on Jan. 1 and have lost 11.8 lbs. I am really excited because this is the most I have ever lost in quite a while. Best part of the program is that it is completely free, and I get to enjoy a very nice Bible study while doing it.

Scott and I will have been married 14 years on Feb. 14th. So this anniversary could be considered our "golden" anniversary even though it's not, really. I am thinking in the same terms as golden birthdays, in-case you are wondering where this came from. Scott has planned a very nice trip for us to Starved Rock Lodge for the 13th and 14th of February. It's an all inclusive weekend of dining, dancing, and wine tasting. Now, what could be more romantic than that? I am so looking forward to spending some alone time with my love. He has really been working so very much lately. He was made the supervisor of 2nd shift security at the hospital and is now doing the schedules. This in a sense is not a bad thing, although he generally gives himself the leftover days and leftover hours that no one will fill. He's been working 6 days a week for the past few weeks. I'm trying very hard to be the patient wife, and not complain. If you know me well, you know that this is a task in itself. The extra money has been great though, so I shouldn't be complaining at all really.

I filed our taxes yesterday and realized that this is really the last year we can claim Matthew. I can't believe that he is now legally an adult. In a lot of ways he is much more mature, but I still have some moments with him that I'm sure a lot of parents of teenagers today deal with. Matt is really enjoying the high school this year, and we both can't believe that he has only one more year left before graduation. Wow!!! So much to do before that happens.

Hunter is doing great in 3rd grade, and Ethan also in kindergarten. I am having so much fun teaching the both of them this year. January has been filled with lots of learning. In geography the kids are learning about Egypt (history), Germany (Beethoven--composer study), Wyoming (Stone Fox) ...a book Hunter is currently reading, Georgia and Alabama (MLK study), and Minnesota (we are currently reading On The Banks of Plum Creek). We are done with MLK, and just started Beethoven, since Hunter is interested in him because of the music he is learning in piano. Hunter is nearly done with Stone Fox, and has a few more things to learn about the Shoshone Indian tribe of Wyoming. I use a lot of living books to teach from for two main reasons. The first reason is because I really believe in Charlotte Mason's way of teaching. Secondly, because financially it makes sense for us to use this method. Any book we need is right at our fingertips in the library exchange system. Hunter and Ethan both use a curriculum set, along with all the reading they do. We use K12 for History and Science, A beka for Reading, Phonics, Spelling, English, and Art. Lastly we use Addison Wesley for math. It's a long day of learning each day, and we usually don't get done until 3:30 when the bus drops Matt off from the high school.

Why Charlotte Mason? Well, over the past 4 years that I have homeschooled, I have been reading more and more about Charlotte Mason and her methods of teaching. It's been a growing experience each year we use it. Initially I enjoyed the fact that my kids retained so much more through the use of really good living books, and through their own narrations of these books. Over the years the kids have had the opportunity to read novels or have had novels read to them that I never got the chance to experience until high school and college. Matt was my guinea pig, when we first started, and he read so many books that I only wished I had had the chance to read at his age. When he started high school in the Fall, he was so surprised that a number of books they were required to read, he had already read one to two years ago. In October his English teacher told us that Matt should become an English teacher someday because of his ability to pick up and comprehend classical literature the way he does. Let me tell you, coming from a mom who has little to no teaching experience, and latched onto Charlotte Mason on a whim, I realized that what she has written in her books rings true. The more a person surrounds themselves with great classical literature, the more they become comfortable with it. It's like learning a foreign language. Once you start using it a lot, over time and practice it becomes a second nature. As you can tell I do have an emotional attachment to Charlotte Mason. You could even call it love, if you wanted to. I am very passionate about her work.

I guess I got away from telling you all about January. I get on a tangent about something I am passionate about, and holy mackerel, watch out!

Oh, I guess I was talking about what we are doing in school. In science the kids are learning about the weather and snow... We have done some fun experiments with snow. One experiment we took 2 identical glasses the same size. Filled one up to the top with snow, and the other to the top with ice from the freezer. We recorded which took longer to melt. Then our 2nd experiment was to measure how much water was left from the melted snow, and how much water was left from the melted ice. Then we did a whole long study on that. We even tasted the water to see if there was a taste difference. We have been using thermometers a lot also in science. Recording temps day to day, weather changes, and cloud formations. In math, Hunter is working on adding and subtracting in the hundreds with regrouping, and simple multiplication and division. Ethan is still adding small numbers, and is just starting to learn to read.

Another thing I am passionate about is making school fun. I think it comes from the fun I had working in the ECE classroom. I wanted their day to to be fun! About 2 years ago, I came across a publication called the Mailbox, and one called Teacher's Helper. I have had a subscription to both for the past 2 years, and they are a big part of our library. All the supplementary material is amazing! I can honestly say that I am in-love with The Mailbox!

I am just so excited to have the opportunity to homeschool my kids. This is a great country we live in, with the freedom to be able to make decisions for our own family that we feel are best. I never have to worry about what I read my to my children, and my passion for giving my children a Christian education is never an issue. Almost every morning I do a Bible study with my kids. Right now we are actually using a Beth Moore study called 90 Days with Jesus. It takes us from his Birth through his crucifixion and resurrection. It's actually a an adult study, but I am thankful to Beth Moore for her thought provoking yet easy to understand way of writing. The kids are getting to know Jesus better, and that's the most I can ever hope for in my children, no matter what they become someday.

Our weeks are filled with piano lessons, homeschool PE at LCU, homeschool coop, 4-H (Hunter is vice president this year), and playgroup. Busy, but fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Amy :)

A Big Ho Ho and a Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Greetings from the Bailey house. I love this time of year. It personifies everything that I am about, all rolled up in one month. I am busily making my home ready for the holidays, each and every day during the month of December. Advent is such an important part of our lives, in so many ways. From Christ's humble beginnings on this earth to leaving this earth to again reign over the heavens and the earth at Easter tide. The story is so important, and one that so few hold dear in their hearts these days. Oh Christmas is always there for everyone and commercialized to the hilt, but the true meaning of Christmas is held dear by so few. This is what Christmas means to me:

A homemade Santa.
A boy one day, a man the next.
Non-electronic play. Constructive play.
Snow!!!!Visiting with old friends.Having old friends visit us. And new little ones.

Handmade nutcrackers out of toilet paper rolls.

Handmade venison steak that my Dad shot, and pomagranites. Grandma always sent us some every Christmas. Figs too. I guess that's why I always buy both each and every December.
Hand sewn tree skirts.
Or a super hero cape.

Craft days.
Nifty Lego Santa creations during breakfast.
Friends to exchange gently used toys with.
Two children counting down every minute until Christmas.Eating broccoli (even though you hate it) because you want to be good so Santa will come.

Warm hearty oatmeal on cold mornings, and coffee with lots of cream and sugar. Yes, I let my kids have coffee.

Snow Angels!
Creating so others in foreign countries can have food and shelter.
A fun, old fashioned game of spoons. What could be better than that?

Merry Christmas Everyone! We love you!

What We've Been Up To Lately

2010-10-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hunter had his fall piano recital and did a great job!

Matt and his date Emily before the Homecoming dance at LCHS. He doubled with his friend Josh and his date.

Hunter at his piano recital with others who take lessons with Heidi.

Hunter playing his recital pieces (this is a posed photo, as no photos were aloud during the recital).

Hunter and his piano teacher Heidi. She is a very accomplished classical pianist.

STL Cardinals vs. Brewers game.

Enjoying our first MLB game.

A quick shot of Nonnie and Papa.

All the boys were very much into the game. I have to admit it was fun to watch, and I had my crochet hook and a ball of cotton yarn. I completed an entire dishcloth (start to finish) during the game.

Me and one of my boys. The one that is most like me in so many ways.

4 little pumpkins laying hanging on a vine.

The first one said, "Oh my, I'm looking fine."

The 2nd said, " I smell winter in the air."

The 3rd one said, "but we don't care."

The 4th one said, "We'll roll, and roll, and roll."

Ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! and OUT went the light,

and the 4 little pumkins rolled out of sight.

Crockpot Applesauce! YUM! It must be Fall.

Oatsies! Double Yum! A chocoholics dream!

Our 20lbs of organic beef. Stocking our freezers for a long cold winter.

12 organic chickens and 1 20lb. organic Tom for Thanksgiving Day.

2 cuddly little kittens to brighten the long winter ahead. They are basically twin tabbys. Hunter named his Stripes, and Ethan named his Fluffy.

Last but surely not least. Close friends to spend the night, and play board games with. It truly is a wonderful Life.

Appendectomy for the little guy! So Brave!

2010-09-05T20:13:00.001-07:00

Scrap Room Tour - Stacy Julian's Scrap by Color System

2010-08-13T13:37:00.001-07:00

Hi and welcome to my scrap room :)
This area is part of the color organizing system that I use inspired by Stacy Julian. I use the same color bins she uses. Mine are from Walmart and I believe I paid $3.99 a piece for them. Maybe $4.99. I can't remember, but not more than that. In these bins I use the same color sorting technique she uses. I do put my color letter stickers and chipboard in my bins. I do have a jar in each bin that I use for small items, although mine are mason jars. They are labeled with the appropriate color ribbon, as well. My center bins are for storing other items such as deco scissors, punches, powder embossing items, borders, and photo mats (which are also sorted by color vertically). Above this small bookshelf (Walmart, $15.00); is a poster from Stacy's Photo Freedom book that illustrates how her photo tracking system works. Mine is still a work in progress.

Because I have more bins than shelves, I put 3 more color bins on this green plastic shelving unit. I think it was given to me, so I can't tell you how much it cost. On this shelving unit I have my 3 least used color bins, which are pink, purple, and multi-color. I have all boys, so I don't get to use these very often. Multi-color is a bin I store striped and misc. color items that I can't find a place for in the other color bins. On these shelves I store my pizza boxes, flowers (in an XL mason jar), misc. tools, pens, inks, and a bin for misc. chipboard on the bottom.

This is the bottom section of a wooden LP record stand. I actually got it for free from someone who used to own a record store. If you can find one of these, it is perfect for scrapbooking, in my humble opinion. On the bottom shelf of this record stand I store my stamps, dry embossing plates, paint, photo boxes, and misc. ribbon.

I prefer to vertically file my paper. I have a lot of paper, and it always ends up taking too long to find what I am looking for when I file horizontally. Filing vertically makes looking for just the right paper very easy. I file my paper by color. Each slot of the LP record stand is 12x12 because LP records were 12x12. So I use 1 slot per 2 colors of paper divided by a piece of chipboard in between each color. I also use the extra slots for misc. items such as page protectors, stencils, and large 12x12 chipboard pieces.

This is my photo filing system. It is not Stacy's system. I saw it in a scrapbooking magazine once, and I can't remember whose system it is. I am thinking maybe it was Heidi Swapp or Becky Higgins. Possibly Ali Edwards. Anyway, it is a bill paying file system. I purchased it from Target for $20. I have a recipe card posted on one end of the file system that tells me what is in each file slot. Each are numbered accordingly. Such as #1 is January photos, #2 is February photos. After #12 which is December, I start in with #13 Birthdays, #14 Christmas, etc...

In one section of my LP record slots I keep my scraps. I rarely throw a scrap away, unless it it too tiny to use. I a sort these by color as well, and keep them in 2 gallon size ziplock bags. Mine are acid-free as they are from CTMH paper packs that I have collected and saved over the years.

These are my pizza boxes. They are from Club Scrap. I currently have a membership with them, and so I save the boxes that the kits come in. I use these for my holiday memorabilia, simply because I don't want to see Christmas items every time I pull out my red and green bins. My color bins are mainly stored with general items that can be used for any layout or theme. I keep anything pertaining to specific holidays (including baby and birthday) in these boxes. It also makes it easy if I need to make a card for someone. I just pull out one of these pizza boxes and can make a card quite efficiently.

Lastly, this is where I store my tiny items such as buttons, brads, eyelets, jewels, charms, etc. I was given this storage system, but I've seen them in the tool dept. at discount stores. They are mainly used for storing small screws, or nuts and bolts. I sort by color in these as well. I labels each drawer with a small scrap of cardstock, and simply keep all those tiny scrapbooking items in there. I am missing 1 bin so I keep my chalks in there. On top I store misc bottled items that I don't want to spill such as crystal lacquer, staz-on cleaner, and ink spray cleaner.

Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope I helped in some capacity. I think it's important to remember that Stacy's method is a great method, but as she always says that you have to make it work for you. So if some area of her system doesn't work for you, there are other ways that might. This is my version of her system. Hope you enjoyed!!!

Now back to the festival!!!

NOT ME MONDAY

2010-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

This has most definitely not been the week for NOT ME's. I most certainly did not take a nap an hour before our minister and his wife were supposed to drop our son off from church camp this week, instead of cleaning our house. Then when they both came in wanting to use the bathroom, I didn't even blink an eye when directing them to the dirty kid's bathroom that had underwear and toilet paper all over the floor, instead of our nice clean adult bathroom in our bedroom. I also would never go to bed at 8 p.m. with the TV babysitting our 6 and 8 year old until their father came home at 10 p.m. I would most definitely never do that. And there is no way that I would only weed around the plants in our garden and forget about the weeds growing everywhere else. And you would never see me bringing a 1/4 eaten container of salted peanuts to a 4-H meeting because I was too lazy to bake the brownies I promised I'd bring. And you can be sure that you would never see me washing only my own clothes in the washer on a given day, and no one else's. And lastly you would never catch me doodling funny notes to my husband during a slightly boring church sermon on a Sunday morning. Not Me! I'm a respected Sunday School Teacher. Are you kidding me? That could never be me!!!

Recipe for Disaster

2010-06-24T14:39:00.001-07:00

This is sort of an update post. It's been a crazy summer so far with 4 days of school left. Lots of very hot days and thunderstorms at night. Luckily we live on a small hill, and we are toward the top, so we don't ever get any flooding like our counterparts at the bottom of the hill. We do get the majority of tree damage though, and luckily the tree that is causing the most damage is slowly being cut down by the city. I say slowly because they come every couple months and trim parts off. Eventually the tree will be gone, but it may be 2012 before we see that happen. Plus it's not our tree, but our next door neighbors. It's a massive cottonwood that has been a pain in the butt for all of the 6+ years we've lived here. It will be nice to see it go, but sad in part because it's really only 1 of 2 huge shade trees in our tiny subdivision. Well, aside from the woods behind the houses across the street. It's big enough that it shades our vehicles in the driveway. I guess now we'll actually have to put up a carport.

M is at church camp this week. I'm sure he is having a good time. His battery died on his cell phone a couple days ago, so I won't really know until tomorrow when he gets home. I'm sure he is having a better week then poor H. Not only is he battling rude and obnoxious neighbor kids, but he has a terrible case of dermatitis that has covered 3/4 of his body. Scott and I took him to the ER this morning because we weren't quite sure if our 8 yo son wasn't turning into a lizard. It all started 3 days ago. I noticed that he had this small rash on his armpit that made his skin look and feel like shoe leather. I put some ointment on it, and the next day it spread to his stomach, rear end, and the insides of his arms. I then made an appt with his pediatrician for Friday (tomorrow). This morning he woke up and it had spread to his neck and legs. He was starting to look like a shriveled up old man. It totally freaked me out, so we decided to take him to the ER. They told us that he must have had some reaction to the pool water. Scott tests the pool water every time he puts chemicals in to make sure that it's safe to swim. Besides, it hasn't effected any of us other than H. So he is itchy and miserable, and looks just awful. Poor kid. He wanted to go outside and play catch with the neighbor boys (who generally are rotten) but I told him that it sounded like a recipe for disaster, but that he could go. Fast forward 5 minutes and the neighbor boy (I call him Eddie Haskell, for those of you old enough to have watched Leave It To Beaver) comes to my window, knocks on it, and says that Hunter threatened to throw the baseball at him. Now, knowing H the way I do (I am not just saying this because I am his mother) he is non-aggressive. He would never threaten to harm anyone, unless he was provoked. Also, knowing "Eddie" the way I do, and by the smile on "Eddie's" face, I knew that this was not the entire story. H (in the house now) enters the room crying, stating that the 3 boys (recipe for disaster) were calling him names, and when H said he was going home and that he wanted his ball back, they threatened to beat him with a bat. Lovely little heathens, they are. I then told all 3 boys to go home. Tomorrow, it is certain that at least 2 of them will be knocking on our door to play. Karma is lovely that way. It's not surprising that our society has this problem, when these kids (who are 8-10 years old) are never watched by anyone, and they roam the neighborhood. It seems I pray consistently that these renters will move, but we will just get more renters in with rotten little kids that congregate at my house. Uggghhh... Can you hear my frustration? Well, I can at least pray for Fall to come quickly, so the rotten little heathens will be in school terrorizing other little kids instead of mine. Sorry for the negative tone...because I know that we've all lived next to naughty kids before. This is nothing new.

On to something else. I had minor surgery on Monday to remove an endometrial polyp from my uterus. Is this really any better? Everything is fine except that I can't seem to get rid of this headache. I can't seem to shake it. I first noticed it after waking up from anesthesia. It's not a bad headache, just an annoying one. I wonder if that is normal?

Scott is working tonight, and we have our last 4-H meeting until Fall. We are planning on playing games and just having a fun night. Hunter is showing 3 exhibits in the fair this year. 1 in Cooking, 1 in Bicycles, and 1 in Outdoor Adventures (camping). He is pretty excited about it, and looking forward to getting paid for his accomplishments.

Matt is looking forward to attending the high school next year. He had to take a diagnostic exam to determine what classes he would be in this fall (because he was homeschooled) and he did very well. They placed him at 483 out of 500 students. He tested out of History and Science, so he doesn't need any of those for graduation unless he chooses one for an elective. He absolutely loves history and geography so he will most likely choose one of those. He was only slightly above average in Math and English. Overall very good scores. He shouldn't have any problems getting into the college of his choice. I have to say that I was a bit nervous when he went in for the test because (as his teacher) I didn't want to feel like a failure if he did poorly. He really has worked very hard these past 3 years, and I assumed he would do well, but you don't know. So I was a bit freaked out until we got the results. I guess I'm an above average teacher, or maybe it's just that I have above average children.

Well, I better get ready for 4-H tonight. I still need to bake some brownies. Hope everyone is having a good summer!

Experiment In Writing

2010-06-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just had a brilliant idea! I was reading Ali Edwards blog post this morning, and it really affected me. You can get to her blog and read her post by clicking on "Ali's Blog" on my side bar or clicking on this http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/
To make a long story short, Ali's husband recently took their son Simon on a camping trip. While on this camping trip he wrote a letter to Simon telling him how very much he loves him. The letter truly brought tears to my eyes. I thought about all the children in the world that have never received a letter from their father telling them how very much he loves them. What about the moms in the world that have never written a note to their children telling them how very much they love them? I think the world would be a much different place if parents gave this small gift to their children. A gift that costs nothing but their time.

Words are so important. Words can more often than not, hurt people. They may have been provoked or said out of anger and frustration. They may have been misinterpreted or misunderstood. Words can kill a relationship. This is sometimes all a child ever hears from their parents. What a small existence this poor little child must feel.

A written letter is a bit different. Especially one written out of love. A letter is a tangible thing. It can be held, and touched. It can be read over and over. It can be saved for a lifetime. Writing your child a letter of love can help reconnect a tie that has been broken. In the book "To Train Up A Child" (Paul and Debi Pearl) they talk about reconnecting ties that have been severed. That a parent and child relationship consists of many ties or strings. Each time a conflict arises in which the child feels betrayed by a parent, a tie is severed. Some children get through childhood with only a few strings left. Rarely do children reach adulthood with all the strings intact. More often than not, all the strings are cut by the time a child reaches adulthood, and they are left feeling unloved and betrayed. These children (more often than not) go off and either find their own way while still holding onto a lot of resentment; start abusing drugs or alcohol; commit crimes; or worse. Some may simply treat their own children the way they were treated.

Is all hope lost if you are one of these parents? Maybe not. It is possible to reconnect each broken tie, one string at a time. Each time you say a loving word (one string is reconnected); each time you write a small note telling your child you love and respect them (one string is reconnected); each time you tell them you are proud of them (0ne string is reconnected). Get my point?

Being a child that was rarely told how much they were loved or respected, or even valued, I have tried to instill the fact that I love my children first and foremost, under God and my husband. I am a child that never received a letter from my parents telling me that they loved me, and neither was my husband. We were children of a younger generation. Children of children. Parents who were trying to find their way in the world themselves while bringing children into the world. Everything looked great on the outside, but gray on the inside. I am not saying that my parents did not do the best they knew how to do at the time, and I am very sure that my husband's parents did the the best they knew how to do at the time also. It was simply a different time than it is now. I don't feel that this is a good excuse, but do feel that people can only do what they are taught to do. There is so much more information these days on how to raise children. Lots of conflicting information as well, which leads to very confused parenting styles, and very disturbed children, but that's a post for another time.

So, my experiment is this. Starting this month, I will be writing a love letter to each of my children, hiding it in their bedroom. My teenager's bedroom is usually a mess, so he may not find all the letters I write, but at any rate, I'm still going to write them and post what I have written here. I will write each child a letter once a month for the coming year, hiding them throughout their room. So at the end of the year, they will each have 12 letters. These letters will never be mentioned unless they happen to bring them up, and even then I will just smile and say it's true. These letters to each child will reflect only positive things about them, explaining to them how much I love them. They won't say things like "I am so proud of you for .... but you need to work on ..." There is a time and place for these conversations, but this is not one of those times. Not a time to list past struggles, etc. Just a time to reflect love and admiration for that person. Scott has never been much of a writer, but I am hoping that he will jump on board as well. I want more than anything for my children to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my love for them is completely unconditional, and that I cherish exactly who they are, and who they are becoming.

There is so much bull in the world today. I just have to get this off my chest. Why do teachers tell students that they won't be able to get into a good college if they don't take certain prerequisite courses in high school? That AP courses are the only way to get into good colleges? What a line of horse manure. You may need 2 years of Algebra and 1 year of Geometry to get into a university, but you don't need to take those courses in high school. Many students attend a community college to complete the courses they need to get into a university. These have smaller class sizes and instructors that have more time to help a student. It may take the student a bit longer to get through college, but does it really matter?

Many students I went to high school with, who took college prep courses, and graduated with honors, flunked out of college the first or second semester. Even our Valedictorian flunked out the first year. One thing I learned in college was that it really doesn' t matter how old you are when you begin your degree. I also learned that it's more about your grade point average than it is about what college prep or AP classes you took in high school. I also learned that just because you have a college degree doesn't mean that you are hireable, so don't expect your dream job right out of college. So why tell students that everything is black or white? I feel that teachers, advisers, and parents should be honest to students and not tell them that their grades are not good enough for college, but instead, give them all the information so they can use it to their benefit. Many students are told that they are not college material. What a detriment to the student who realizes when he is 35 that this was not true. This student has given up a good portion of his life, changed his goals, all to start working in a lesser field he has no interest in. Shame on those people who are misleading our young adults. You can become a student at any age, and complete any goal you have for yourself at any age. Most likely, your goals will have changed some over the years.

My initial major in college was Art, and then I switched to Fashion Design. I found that I didn't enjoy art projects completed according to other people's standards. I lost the love for it. In fact, I found that I had formed more of a love for Art History, than Art itself. I then found that most people who majored in Fashion Design neither had a gift for drawing or sewing. Most of the girls and guys in my classes were "beautiful" bimbos that simply wanted an easy break into a modeling career. I have never worked in either of these fields, but have used what I learned in those classes many times throughout my life. I graduated with a Business Office Degree but found that I didn't like Corporate America. I found it stressful and a bloodbath to step on each other's toes to get to the top. Hated every minute of it. Ten years out of college, I found that I had a love of teaching. This led to 7 years employment at a public elementary school until my young ones were school age. Who knew that I would love doing that? Certainly not I.

By the time my middle child was ready for kindergarten, I began feeling the urge to homeschool. I think back to those years that I worked at the grade school and it all seems like a blur. I can't remember much from when H was a baby, or when E was tiny. It all went by so fast. That was my turning point. That was when I took a step back and saw my life flashing before me. I knew that I needed to be home with my kids. Now my days are slow, and joy-filled. I am where I am supposed to be at this time in my life. If I am 55 when I go back to work, so be it. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that I was created to teach. What was your child created to be? Write them a letter telling them you love them. Great idea, Ali! Thanks for sharing.

Playing around with Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels

2010-06-11T15:53:00.001-07:00

Okay, I am so excited to share this with you that I could almost bust. Today I was fooling around with Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. I've never used it before. I've been watching Noell Hyman from http://www.paperclipping.com/ use it over the course of the past few months on her website, and decided to give it a whirl myself. It is quite addicting! I think that there is something very cool about misting dye onto paper, and watching different color combinations emerge. I am definitely not an expert. Sorry these photographs are nothing to write home about either, but you will get the idea.
Last week on www.paperclipping/live.com, Noell mentioned a contest that Tattered Angels was sponsoring. The winner would receive the same Glimmer Mist products that were used in Noell's Live show the previous week. What you had to do was post something that you were interested in seeing on upcoming Paperclipping subscribers videos. I posted mine, which had absolutely nothing to do with Glimmer Mist, but did have something to do with using up old product (paper/stickers/embellishments) and then I started reading posts from other people that were stating that they wanted some ideas on how to use old product that they already had on hand. More than a few people posted this. That got me thinking, and I wondered if spraying old product (paper) with glimmer mist would make it more relevant or current. I quickly posted the idea to Noell. Today, I decided that I wanted to give these ideas a try. I started with some of my older style scrapbooking paper, and just started playing around. Then I got another idea. What if I used some of my old stencils as masks? Hmmm... so I tried that. I really liked the outcome of that idea. Then I tried letter stencils. Liked that too. Some of the older style papers I tried turned out nice. Some are just okay. A few were ugly. It's all trial and error, you know. So below, for your pleasure, are some of the things I tried. None of them are perfect, but it was fun. So play around with your Glimmer Mist. I hope you have as much fun as I did. Mist away ladies!

A story within...photographs ---CHICAGO

2010-06-08T14:38:00.001-07:00

SPRINKLES CHALLANGE

2010-05-28T19:17:00.001-07:00

I am sure you have probably heard me mention Stacy Julian on my blog before (several times) and I just love completing her challenges. Especially her Sprinkles challenge. They are always simple, always fun, and always something to help brighten your week. This week's challenge was: Time to treat your toes right, and so that is what I did.
Here is the link to her Sprinkles Challenge #34: http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=358

Last week's Sprinkle was to find water and sit by it for 15 minutes. I did take the kids with me on this excursion. But none-the-less, we sat and listened to the water running in the creek for 15 minutes. Pure bliss!

Here is the link to Sprinkle Challenge #33: http://www.stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/?p=347

Here's to a purely blissful, water-filled, toe-painted week!

In love with a Photo Booth

2010-05-13T15:16:00.001-07:00

Have you ever tried a photo booth? I am truly in love with them. If I see one, and it works, I am always enticed to pay the $1 and go for it! This was just the case on our recent trip to Chicago. We took the kids to the children's museum, at Navy Pier (we have a traveling pass, that is good for the entire year, and gets us into numerous children's museums across the country) and low and behold, on the 3rd floor of the children's museum was a "working" photo booth. I put working in quotes because most of the photo booths I seem to come across, are not in working order. I was delighted to find that this one worked. We all had a blast, for a buck! Can't get much for a buck these days, but these are priceless!

Enjoy!!! Have a great day!

Prom 2010

2010-05-02T11:40:00.001-07:00

I don't actually know what is more exciting. Going to your own prom, or having your child attend his first prom. Yesterday morning almost felt like we were getting ready for a wedding. Everything was centered around when his date was getting her hair done, was the formal ready to wear, showers taken, flowers attached. It was a pretty amazing day. The Grand March is always held outdoors on the local courthouse lawn. It is also taped and played continuously throughout the following week, on our local broadcasting channel. There were tons of people there, so I am glad that we got to the courthouse early. Beautiful music played in the background as each couple was announced as they walked down the steps and under the arch.

M is all ready to leave to get his date. She is actually on the phone, telling him when to come.

M and T. Beautiful couple. I am partial, but I think they were the best looking couple there.

T's dress was gorgeous. I'm so glad that the traditional prom dresses are back in style. Mine in high school was very big and billowy too. An experience you never forget. I thought about all the proms I went to, a little bit yesterday. Seems like yesterday.

This is my favorite photo. They look so good together. Awww......

I love this one too, on the courthouse lawn. I said a little prayer before he left, yesterday afternoon, that he would have a great time, and be safe. He did, on both accounts.

Catching up

2010-03-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Gosh, it's been a long time since I sat down at this computer and typed. Life is busy, and it moves fast. Sometimes faster than I feel comfortable with. The past few months have brought a new insight to my life, and maybe slowing down is the answer. We've made a lot of changes. Mostly good ones, some we'd rather just forget. But all the same, we trudge forward at a steady pace, and hope for a better tomorrow.

This past weekend I spent with Matt at the Annual Homeschool Conference in Peoria. All in all, it was a good conference. Matt learned quite a lot about applying for college, scholarships (availability, and when to start the process of applying), and the whole interviewing process, the right college for you, and so forth. He's only a sophomore, and I thought we were right on schedule with everything, but apparently we are a bit behind in the game. They are now advising that as a freshman, you should start to begin researching.

Matt and I stayed at the Staybridge Suites that is located right across from the Civic Center, where the conference was located. Friday night, I let Matt choose where he wanted to eat dinner, and he (being as daring as I am to try new foods) began looking for a fun and interesting place to eat. Well, he found it. Nestled among many little shops in a strip mall, was a fun little Sushi Bar, that we just had to check out. Very art deco inside, with a very modern feel to it. Sculptural paintings in bright colors decorated the walls, in a very refined and sophisticated way. Each sushi roll was served in a decorative style, and cut into 6-8 slices. Matt and I decided that we both wanted to try each others for variety, so we each ordered a roll, and a soda to drink. Matt ordered the Crispy Dog, and I ordered The Volcano. I believe we also ordered The Ninja. They first brought us each out a bowl of seaweed soup (yum!) and then our platter of rolls came out one at a time. All were simply divine, but our favorite was definitely The Volcano. Each roll was sliced and arranged on the plate in a very artsy fashion, with wasabi and other various sauces drizzled in a decorative style about the plate. Matt took photos with his phone. We ate, and laughed, and talked about how grandma and mom, would love this place, and how his dad would not. I realized for the first time, that my son had somehow become a man before my eyes. He was no longer the child that I had to raise, or instruct. But a companion, and a friend.

I remember when I was 17. My mom and I had been at odds for a few years, and we had somehow drifted apart. Mainly what I am seeing now with Matt at times. Perfectly normal teenage stuff. Although my situation was somewhat different because mom and dad had foster kids too, so my life (and not only my life, but my siblings as well) was somewhat harder at times because we had to share our parents with others, and sometimes it felt as if we weren't as important to them, and that we were always fighting for their attention. We all sort of went off in our separate ways, and did our best to fill in the gaps where we felt void. Well, when I was 17, mom invited me to go to a homemaker's convention, just me and her. We talked, and went out to dinner, and at first it felt awkward, but as the weekend wore on, it became nice, and pleasant, and I still hold that memory dear to me now, as an adult. I see that this past weekend with Matt, was much the same. We learned from each other, and really communicated. We watched a comedian Friday night, and we both laughed ourselves silly. It's definitely a memory that I will hold for the rest of my life, and assume that Matt will too. I'm glad we had the chance to spend some time together alone. The importance of alone time with each other is so vital to feeling accepted within the realms of a family. Whether it's husband/wife time, father/son time, or mother/son time. The time to say: "How's it goin? How's it really goin?" And then waiting for the answer. (I got that from the conference, this past weekend) for any of you who are reading this and attended too. Wise words (or questions) that I never really thought of asking before. Really listening to what the other person has to say. Maybe I will go into more detail, on what that particular session was about, at a later time. I'd like to go through all the sessions with you, just in case you are interested. I find a lot of good information on other people's blogs about homeschooling, saving money, eating healthy, etc... I guess it's my turn to share.

Some other changes: We are dogless (petless). We just haven't had enough time to spend with the dogs, and they were causing me stress by all the messes they were making and so forth, so Scott took them up to Carlock, to an animal shelter up there called CISAR.
Link: http://www.cisarshelter.com/
They post photos of the animals and find good homes for them.
It's really been a blessing in disguise for us, because we knew we didn't want them to be killed if someone didn't adopt them right away. CISAR is a "no kill" shelter.

My home daycare has slowed down some to the point that I only have 4 kids that I watch, besides my own, instead of 9 that I was taking care of in Jan/Feb. It was really too much, and I just couldn't handle the stress of it all. 4 is pretty comfortable.

I have been using my tailoring skills lately, altering an Easter dress for a lady at church. So I am actually using my college skills, that I worked so hard to pay for.

We are getting ready to start Spring Break, Apr. 4-9. We'll be heading up to Chicago Schaumberg area for Ethan's birthday on the 8th. We plan to visit some museums, and have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe'. They have a very cool volcano birthday cake, that would make any little boy get all excited about. Then of course there's Legoland to consider, and IKEA for me, and of course a HUGE Cabella's store for Scott, and the boys. It will surely be a fun short vacation.

Looking forward to cleaning the family room a bit more today, and maybe getting the kid's to clean their rooms. Happy Sunday!

New Winter Scrapbook Layouts

2010-01-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

So it all started because Scott purchased me a variety of new scrapbooking supplies this past Christmas (3 weeks ago), and since the kids and I were on break from school, I thought it might be fun to do a little scrapbooking. Well, a little scrapbooking was a bit of an understatement. I guess I got a little carried away. Anyway, enjoy :)

Some still need some journaling, but for the most part they are complete. I also completed 11 pages this past weekend at the Winter scrapbooking retreat. Lots of fun! I was also asked to do a scrapbook demonstration of my December Daily album, that I created from an idea on Ali Edward's blog. It was fun, and it gave a lot of people some new ideas about scrapbooking over the holidays. Of course, I didn't take complete credit for the idea, and pointed them in the direction of Ali's blog, in-case they needed further instruction. I always give credit where credit is due.

SPRINKLES CHALLANGE

2009-12-31T12:26:00.000-08:00

Here are my 12 favorite photos of 2009 in 12 minutes (Read below for details...) Here is also an explanation as to why they are my favorites too :)

This one just needs no explanation! Too funny, and almost scary...

My sweet littlest lamb E, all ready for the Christmas Program at church. He was a sheep. Can you tell?

I just love this photo I took last weekend. All the kids in a row on their way down the sledding hill.

The boys with my favorite student D that I helped teach from 2003-2006. I know, a teacher is not supposed to have a favorite, but I just love this little guy. He's 9 now, and still a close friend of the family. So glad he is friends with my boys.

Scott and I in 2010. Well, we will be working toward that goal, but I don't think you will be seeing me in a two piece any time soon. Like... never!

This is so funny. I had been blaming M for messing up my computer, just recently before I took this photo. He kept messing with the setting, and it was annoying me to no end. Then one day, I tried to get on this particular website and this is the message that came up. I ran and got M and showed him it. He was like.... "What???? I didn't do anything!" I had to take a photo! Sooo funny, I guess you had to be there.

H with one of the pups. Too cute for words!

E and I in our Little Missmatched Socks! Love them!

Look at the smile on E's face. He had caught a chicken in the 4-H Chicken Scramble. He was so proud of himself! He received a gift certificate to Dairy Queen.

H and E, 2 of my 3 silly boys.

Spaghetti Fight! Need I say more?

My precious Christmas Angel!

Just in-case you are just stepping into this, and are unaware of what is going on with this post. See Stacy's blog post under Sprinkles for today. Here is the link: http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/

What is a Sprinkle? Well Stacy posts a challenge, either scrapbooking related or sometimes not, but definitely something worthwhile and rewarding. Helping us to Sprinkle our lives with Color and Happiness.

So this challenge is somewhat scrapbook related, and since I am attending a weekend retreat next weekend in Bloomington, I am thrilled with the possibilities this gives me as a scrapbooker. It simply makes scrapbooking more fun. Last summer I realized that my scrapbooking, although still a fun hobby, was losing it's excitement. Yes, you heard me say it here. Can you believe it? So I was reading some of Stacy's hints in one of her books I own called Photo Freedom. Here is where I would post an Amazon Link if I could, but I don't know how, so you will just have to look it up yourselves, sorry... it's by Stacy Julian. So what did I do? I took my scrapbooking stuff outside. It was a beautiful day, the kids were swimming in the pool, I was under a big umbrella at the table with some of my scrapbook stuff, and I created like I hadn't done in a long time. And it was fun. So much fun, and so relaxing. So I did it again on a nice day, and so on. I have now figured out that I enjoy scrapbooking outdoors more than scrapbooking indoors. Funny thing about life. Another challenge of Stacy's that I tried a couple years back was to just grab random photos, your box of scraps, a stapler, and adhesive, 1 black pen. Only use those things. I had a blast scrapbooking with only those items, and some of my favorite pages came from that. So thanks to Stacy, I am figuring out new ways to stay happy and excited in my hobby.

Thanks Stacy, for making this year a whole lot brighter, and here's a champagne toast full of Jelly Bellies to you! Happy Double Digits Everyone! 2010 here we come!

THIS BOY...YES, THIS BOY...IS 17 TODAY!

2009-12-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that it is true. That this boy of mine is 17 years old today. This precious little baby laying in a cradle in Wisconsin on Christmas morning 1992.

That this boy at 8 months old, smiling for one of his first professional portraits, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, full of spunk and wonderment in his Lion King one-piece outfit, chewing on a graham cracker, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, dressed in his first cap and gown, for his preschool graduation, is 17 years old today.

(Sorry, this one somehow got out of order)... That this boy, at age 1, sliding down the inside of a heart at the children's museum in Appleton, and who stole my heart away, is 17 today.

That this boy, so big and full of life and learning in Kindergarten, with a smile that would melt any heart for miles around, is 17 today.

That this boy, who got the chance to meet a professional wrestler, at age 6, and was thrilled to extremes, is 17 today.

That this boy, who played his heart out at his piano recital, with such confidence, and excitement, is 17 today.

That this boy, who loved to climb on things and is full of fun and laughter, is 17 today.

That this boy, who is loved by all his grandparents, and relatives alike, and is a friend to many many people, and loves to make his Nonnie try bad tasting things, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, who totally cracks me up, and is so much like his Nonnie, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, who loves his Uncle Ken, more than words could ever express, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, who is never afraid to laugh at himself, and never afraid to make people laugh, is 17 years old today.

That this boy, that makes each day a joy. Who makes me laugh each and every day, to the point of tears sometimes, is 17 today.

And that this boy, this beautiful boy, my most precious oldest son, whom I would never trade for anything in this world, who is growing into such a nice and decent man before my very eyes, is in fact, 17 years old today. I love you M, more than words could ever say. Happy Birthday Son :)

NOT ME MONDAY!

2009-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly don't have a few to share this time. First of all, I didn't post on McMama's Blog this very same thing, before I learned how to link myself... Long story, but basically the same thing I posted there. Tried to copy and paste, but it didn't work. Anyway, never mind. I can never get the same wording twice, so please bear with me.

My NOT ME weekend started Friday, when I took the kids (with our homeschool group) to The Nutcracker Ballet. Midway through the show, I most certainly did not find my self staring at a particular male ballerina's man candy, while he was pirouetting all around the stage. Not that he wasn't (or was) wearing a thong under his white and very form fitting tights, but the package in front most certainly was not "out-there" so to speak, for the world to see.

This morning I never would have succumb to my 5 year old's half-hour fit over wanting to put all the nutcracker ornaments on the tree and not share with his brother. His reasoning... because at said Nutcracker ballet above, his brother told him that it was boring, so apparently he thought he didn't deserve to put any nutcrackers on the tree.

Later this afternoon, my middle child, the boring nutcracker boy, while reading the states off in a random form, and as a 2nd grader is the perfect reader who never mispronounces anything, did not read West Vagina aloud, instead of you guessed it, West Virginia. It's just been a house full of nutcrackers and vagina's all day long!

LET IT SNOW...LET IT SNOW...LET IT SNOW!

2009-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

I know, I know... It's been awhile again. I believe that the past 2 months have been the busiest I have ever experienced. October was full of Halloween/Fall excitement, November revolved around Thanksgiving/Turkey stuff, and now we are full into December with Advent, many Christmas Parties, and activities galore.

A few things to take note of... My husband Scott was awarded Employee of the Month at the hospital where he works. That was big and exciting news!

I am co-directing our church's Christmas Pageant this year, and am busy doing that.

I have taken in 3 extra children to take care of daily, while their mom is at school.

And I trudge along on the homeschool highway, trying to come up with new and exciting things for the kids to learn, without being too overbearing.

It snowed overnight, and the ground was blanketed with white this morning. Although the thought did hit me to take a picture this morning, I got sidetracked, and by noon it was gone. Tonight we are supposed to get up to 3 inches, so hopefully I will get the chance to take a picture for my December Daily album I will be posting soon. Below are a few photos I took for my December Daily album.

Dec. 1... First day of Advent. What is better than waking up to new Legos each and every morning. Nothing, I can imagine. M of course didn't want Legos, so he's been getting packs of his favorite gum, a book, cheese, a hat, and some WOW cards.

Dec. 2... I put the candy canes out front, and E decided to give my winter boots a try.

Dec. 4... The Nutcracker Ballet. The boys are patiently waiting for the show to begin. M was a bit miffed that he was the oldest of the group to attend this event, and I made him go. Oh well, a bit of culture can't hurt anyone, I must say.

Members of our homeschool group that attended the Nutcracker Ballet.

H and E with a few of the ballet dancers from the show. I thought it was simply wonderful. Great performance. Although a bit disturbing in a certain part, but I will post on that later.

Late September - October Highlights

2009-10-24T19:47:00.001-07:00

I guess I've gotten a bit behind on my blog. It's been a very busy couple of months, and it doesn't look like it's going to end very soon. Maybe after the 31st it will slow down some. I sure hope so. I have lots of photos to share, but am only posting the highlights right now, and will post the others as I have time. I will try to catch up as best as I can.

We started school the day after Labor Day. M in 10th grade, H in 2nd grade, and E in Junior Kindergarten. Every one's been working very hard, and I believe they have been learning a lot. M is currently studying Polynomials in Algebra; Kingdoms, Species, Class, Genre, etc... in Biology; Learning about the Aztecs in Spanish, along with the general stuff (you know...El numeros, Dias de la semana, Meses del ano, and Estaciones... Plus the all favorite... El Juramento a la Bandera).
He is studying Mesopotamia and the Near East in World History. He is currently reading Walden by Thoreau, and Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, and Greek Mythology. His outside classes consist of PE, and Speech/Debate.

Last night he went to see a play at the University about Emmett Till, and the start of the Civil Rights Movement. Very powerful, he said. He met with other homeschoolers in a discussion group after.

H is doing general 2nd grade work: Reading, Phonics, Literature, Math, Health, Science, American History, Spanish, Art, and Music.

E is working hard at learning his letters, and the sounds they make. Learning his numbers, and handwriting. He is also learning Spanish with the other boys, and cutting/pasting as well.

In late September, Scott was given a 4 day weekend for working extra hours, and just as a special treat. They love him there. We decided to take a small vacation to Chicago, and do some sightseeing. We took the kids to Legoland, and to the Museum of Science and Industry. We stayed at a really great Holiday Inn with a holidome attached. I have to say that it was the cleanest hotel we have ever stayed at. Pretty impressive. The pools and jacuzzi were exceptionally clean, and the nice restaurant next door provided us with a free buffet breakfast every morning.

The entrance to Legoland. M didn't want to be photographed under a Lego giraffe. Who can blame him?

October is Fire Prevention month, and so a small gathering of our homeschooling group took a field trip to the fire station in Decatur. They have the best program. Puppet and magic shows, a ventriloquist, and a tour of the fire house. The kids got to spray a fire hose, slide down a fire pole, and watch a fire fighter dress and undress for a fire. The kids were encouraged to go hug him in full gear, so they wouldn't ever be afraid to go to a firefighter if their home is ever on fire. Such a great program. I can't say enough great things about them. They were super!

Another field trip in October was to the Veterinary Clinic/Hospital in Atlanta. The vets and assistants gave us a tour of the facility, and outside they even had a petting zoo for the kids. As you can see, many more of our homeschoolers were able to come on this field trip, than to the fire station. This is about 1/4 of the children in our homeschooling group. We have a rather large group. Large enough for the University here to provide 2 homeschool PE classes. One for elem. school age children, and one for Jr. High and above.

October also marked a very special birthday in our family. Scott turned 36. As you can see by the cake I made, there were 36 lit candles all a glow for him to blow out. We just had a small family party.

Yesterday we took a few kids to the pumpkin patch in Beason. As you can see by their faces, it was a cold and wet day. The kids had fun none-the-less, but not many of the group decided to brave the cool weather.

Last night, the Marvelous Mama's (a mom and kids group we belong to), went out to a night club. Mamas only... no kiddies. We had such fun! What a great group of ladies to hang out with. I can't remember laughing so hard in such a long time. The Cafe'tini's were super yummy too. I think I'm going to have to try making these at home. Yum!

Well, I better sign off for tonight. I will be posting more photos related to the ones I just posted soon. Night... Night... Tomorrow is church and another Fall Festival. This time with a bonfire and hay rack rides. Thursday night is our MM's Halloween Party. Saturday we are Trick-or Treating with my best friend and family, while M helps out at our Church Halloween Outreach party. We will be stopping by that too, after trick or treating.

Besides all the homeschooling, field trips, and such. I have started babysitting for another family every weekday, and then I have Z on Thursdays as usual. So, most of the week I have 6 kids, and one day a week I have 7. It's been fun though, and it's helping out financially too, which is always good.

Adios!

The County Fair

2009-09-12T17:36:00.000-07:00

I apologize that these are a little dated. The county fair was the first week in August. I am just getting a chance to post them because we have been so busy the past few weeks. It's been a fun few weeks though.

For those of you reading this on Facebook, you will want to go to my website to see the photos, as they don't show up on Facebook, for some reason. Go to: http://www.destinationexceptionalmotherhood.blogspot.com/

This was H's first year to show an exhibit at the fair. He chose 3 categories. In the "All About Abe Lincoln" category, he received a 2nd place ribbon. He was very proud of himself. We were very proud of him too.
Here is a close up view of his collage.

What's better than hot dogs and lemon shake-ups at the fair? Hardly anything. At least E thinks so.

H thinks that the bumper cars were sweet. He had tons of fun ramming others with his car of choice. The blue one.

H also enjoyed the roller coaster. E was afraid to ride it, but did enjoy riding the helicopters and the tilt-a-whirl.

Both of the boys were in the 4-H Scrambles this year. E was in the Chicken Scramble, and H was in the Goat Scramble. Just in case you don't know, this is where they let animals loose in the grandstand, and the 4-H kids try to catch them. The youngest ones don't get to keep the chickens, they receive a goody bag instead, but the older kids get to keep their animals and have to show them at the fair the following year. E did end up catching a chicken. H just missed catching a goat. Not sure what I would do with a goat around here anyway. I get unnerved by the 2 dogs we have. I can't imagine a goat to boot.

E waiting in line to start the scrambles.

Waiting for the chickens to be released.

H's age group, in the goat scramble. Waiting for that to begin.

More chicken chasing.

E with his goody bag. He had a good time as you can see on his face.

ON THE HOME FRONT THIS PAST WEEK:

Last Sunday night I went to see Julia and Julia at the theater with friends. It was about Julia Child, and another young woman named Julia who thinks the world of Julia Child, and decides to cook her way through JC's cookbook. Then ends up starting a blog about it. It was a very funny movie, and I had such a great time seeing it. Especially in the great company of friends. It was fun, and I hope we can all do it again sometime soon.

Monday night I went to my friend Angie's house. Scott had to work, and so did her husband. We had an enjoyable quiet evening just chatting, and having fun. Tuesday we went to a cookout at her house, since her husband had off of work. We hadn't done that in a long long time. We really did have a great time, even though we burnt the steaks. Oh well, it was the time spent together that mattered, not the steaks.

Thursday, M started his speech and debate classes at LBC. They look like they are going to be pretty intense, but I know he can do it, he's a smart kid. That night I watched Z, and took the kids to McDonald's for dinner.

Friday was our homeschool picnic at the park. The kids had fun playing with the parachute, balloons, and playing baseball.

Last night I booked our hotel for our 4 day Chicago get-a-way in two weeks. We are going to The Harry Potter Exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry, The Chicago Children's Museum, and the Brookfield Zoo. I was able to get a great price for our hotel stay through Priceline, at the Holidome, in a close Chicago suburb. Also, I got a great rate on a family membership through the Chicago Children's Museum. It's a year long pass, and includes many half price admittances, including the Museum of Science and Industry. Our price for the year was as much as what the tickets would have cost for the museum alone. Our pass also includes the CM in Blm, and many others. I'm so thankful to Gina in our hs group for telling me about it. I'm looking forward to the trip. This will be our only vacation this year with our whole family, since Scott has no vacation days until January.

This afternoon I was a contestant judge in the National Bible Bee competition held at LCU. I am so very proud of the children that participated. It took a lot of hard work to memorize all those bible facts, and memory verses. I am so excited for my children to participate in this next year.

Tomorrow I have Sunday School to teach, and M and I are greeters. Then we are having friends over after church for lunch.

Next week we have doctor appts for all 3 boys (check ups and asthma check for M), play date in the afternoon with our Blm friends at Holiday Park, M has speech and debate classes, there's homeschool PE, our first 4-H meeting of the year, and The Railsplitter Festival next Saturday. If you would like to take a trip back to the 1800's, stop by with the kids, for a very fun weekend.

Here's hoping you all have a great week ahead!

THE JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINS WITH ONE STEP

2009-08-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed a few changes on my blog, but I was in need of a makeover, so I changed a few things. It's a woman's prerogative, you know. One of the things I changed that I should tell you about right away, is that I have changed my children's on-line names. My oldest child is now called M (simply because it is the first letter in his name), H is my middle son, and E is the youngest. It made sense to change this because M no longer skateboards, which makes calling him Skaterboy irrelevant. Truthseeker isn't always as truth seeking as he once was, and Thumbody is still working on giving up his thumb, but at 5 doesn't really like being referred to on-line (not that he even realizes this) as Thumbody.

Today was our first day of school, and E's first day of kindergarten. He was so excited to start, that he got up early before the other kids, and insisted on starting right away. He loved it. Every little bit of it. The coloring, drawing lines, making his name out of clothespins. Wasn't kindergarten the most fun ever? I remember it fondly, I think. Kindergarten and the 6th grade. I had the best teacher. She had us memorizing poetry, and singing all the old songs every day. I remember drawing lots of pictures, and writing poetry over top of them. So beautiful. Listening to nature programs on the radio, and doing narrations of them. Very Charlotte Mason, I must say, even for the early 80's. If she were alive today, I would ask her if she was ever influenced by Charlotte Mason. Of course back then, I didn't even know who Charlotte Mason was, much less care. Funny thing is that my memory remembers the most from that year in 6th grade, more than any other year in school. I have a friend who I went to school with, that also uses a lot of Charlotte Mason in her homeschool. I should ask her sometime if she feels the same way as I do, about our 6th grade class back in 1980. About 14 years ago I got the chance to see my old teacher at a square dance my Dad was calling at. I got to tell her what a great teacher I thought she was. She seemed very humbled. I'm not sure if she is still alive or not. But my memories of her and her way of teaching has stayed with me all these years, and has definitely helped influence my career choice later in life, and the way I teach today.

The kids stayed on schedule pretty well today, and we were done shortly before 3 p.m., which is about the same time as the public schools let out. I am trying my hand at teaching the children Spanish this year. I took 2 years of it in HS. and surprisingly it's coming back quite well. At least the pronunciation so far. This week they are learning the Spanish alphabet, and !Bienvenidos! Which means welcome. The first exclamation point is supposed to be upside down because it is a greeting, but I can't find it on the keyboard. It's probably here somewhere though, because I believe that most keyboards are created multi-lingual.

So glad that M is home from Missouri. He had a great time, and was able to see my favorite fun uncle and aunt that were visiting while he was there. Mom and Dad brought M home late Friday night, and my grandma came too. We had such a nice weekend together. Saturday, Mom, Grandma, and I went to the $1 a bag book sale at the library. Such fun to find old children's books for our home library. The kids already have some favorites they want read again and again. We then went uptown to the Arts and Balloon festival. Mom, Grandma, and I went to the wine tasting tent, and you would have thought we were all girlfriends the way we were sipping each other's wine, so we could taste all the different kinds. We even got to try pumpkin wine. Mom snuck some out of the tent in my purse so Dad could try some. He stayed on the sidewalk with the kids. It really was a lot of fun. The kids got to tie dye t-shirts, and make a few crafts. H tried bungee jumping (the safe way) and loved it. I say safe because there are bungees on either side, and a trampoline underneath you, so you bounce as high as you are comfortable going. He did get pretty high. That night I took my parents to a BBQ at a friend's house, that lives across from the airport. Her and her husband are pilots. The hot air balloon launch was taking place Saturday night at the airport, and we were able to see it all from her front lawn. It was quite spectacular, with all the balloons lit up in the twilight of the evening. Very fun night as well. Sunday the went to church with us, and then mom decided she wanted to color my hair, so I let her. She had gotten a haircut (very short) the day before at a local beauty shop. and wanted me to highlight her hair too. So we spent time Saturday doing each other's hair. It was time for them to leave all too soon. Dad was wonderful and reinstalled our bedroom door that Scott and I didn't do a very good job installing (it was up, but it wasn't plumb), and then he fixed our screen door latch that had broken. Last time he was up he fixed our dishwasher. I feel bad that when he's on vacation, my house keeps him busy, and he never charges us. Such a great Dad I have! Well, it is half past midnight, and tomorrow is a full day of school again, so I need to go to bed. Scott is working a 12 hour shift tonight, and won't be home until 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. The Little's are in bed with me, which should make an interesting night of tossing and turning for me. Maybe I'll just sleep on the couch. I may be more comfortable that way. Happy September 2009.

One "Two" Special Birthday!

2009-08-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was this child's birthday. He is 8 now, thus the 8 whole pancakes he got to eat for breakfast that "night". Yes... these were for supper. We had to be at Chuck E. Cheeses by 10 a.m. for his party, so we left kind of early, since it's about a 45 minute drive there. So the tradition continues, only at dinnertime this year. And in case you are wondering, he did eat them all.

Our fun family and friends party we had at the house the Saturday before his real birthday which was on a Monday. He had a Lego themed party at the house, with a homemade Lego pinata (made by mom) and many fun Lego themed games with prizes. He even had a blue Lego Cake (made by mom, ie... me) too. Here the kids are picking up all the pinata goodies that they can get their hands on. The kids had fun swimming and playing outside. It was a fun relaxing party.Two of Truthseeker's friends each made him a homemade card, and wrote a story inside it. So sweet, and cute. Here his friend is reading Truthseeker his card, since she wrote it in cursive, and Truthseeker was having trouble reading her writing. Too sweet though. Something he will definitely save forever. The metals around the kid's neck were prized from the games they played.

Truthseeker's real birthday was held at none other than... you know who's. He wanted his party there so badly, but adding up all the kids he wanted to invite would have been too expensive for us, so he invited his cousin, who couldn't come Saturday, and a few other friends.

Truthseeker's b-day guests at Chuck E. Cheeses. A fun time was had by all.

Love this boy. Love him even more now that he's 8.

June and July in a Nutshell

2009-08-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

This has been an incredibly busy Summer. I can't believe that it's almost over already. In a nutshell, here are some of our favorite photos from our Summer 2009.

One big highlight was having lots of friends come over to swim each day.

Nana gave birth to 8 puppies. It was a huge litter, and she was thoroughly exhausted. We jokingly nicknames her the octo-mom. Those puppies sucked her dry. She most likely (as far as we can figure) bred with 2 different dogs. A Yorkie, and a Pug. Simply because some look like Yorkies and some look like Pugs. At 6 weeks we gave them all away, except one. A little black one that Matt wanted named Ozzie.

This is just a funny incident that made me chuckle. It was pouring rain outside one afternoon, and a squirrel just happened to be resting on our back bumper trying its best to get out of the rain. It kept popping its head out from behind the van. Then it would go back to where I couldn't see it again. Then again it would pop it's head out. It totally made me laugh. I just had to take a photo.

4th of July at the church. The kids has a blast playing tag in the parking lot.

The older boys played a game inside the church called ladder ball. The balls are on strings and you throw them across the room and try to rack them on a plastic ladder.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

2009-08-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

More 4th of July pictures from our church. Truthseeker is playing pin the flag on Illinois. All the kids had fun playing this game.
Kroger was giving away free 4th of July balloons. Thumbody was lucky to get one.

Truthseeker (and all the others) were in love with the puppies. You could find them carrying around one, most of the time.

Another Summer highlight was making Cold Stone ice cream with our Cold Stone kit we got from mom and dad for Christmas, this past year. As you can see (behind Thumbody) we used the bottom of our car top carrier to house Nana and her pups. There were so many of them, we didn't really have anything big enough to house them. This worked nicely.

One Summer afternoon was spent at the Splash Pad in a nearby town. It's a free place for the kids to run around and get cooled off. The kids enjoyed this so much. I did too. I sat under a shaded area, and worked on lesson plans for the upcoming school year. As you can see from this photo, I had a perfect eye view of the kids. Love this park!

More Splash Pad fun.

Our home all in bloom. I just love summertime. All of my flowers are in bloom, and the house just looks so nice.

This is how Skaterboy spent the first part of his Summer. He and World of Warcraft have been companions during most of his freetime. He did complete driver's ed, which took up most of the month of June, but in his free time this is where we could find him. He is currently in Missouri working for my dad, as an electrician's apprentice. We will go pick him up in a few weeks or so.

A fun Summer carnival in the park.

There were lots of these blow-up things, and everything was completely free.

Truthseeker, down the slide.

Here comes Skaterboy!

What is better than an ice cold snow cone on a hot Summer day?

Here we are. Mom and Thumbody. Truthseeker wanted to take a photo of us at the carnival.

One tradition that we tried to hold true to this Summer was a weekly trip to the farmer's market. I loved being able to pick up fresh organic vegetables, and the kids enjoyed getting a little sweet treat too. Thumbody is enjoying a small loaf of banana bread in this photo.

Here is one week of organic fruits and veggies for the family. Yum!

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

2009-08-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

More Summer fun stuff. The kids enjoyed a very fun Star Wars birthday party for their friend Daniel.
The pin'ata is always a huge hit.

Truthseeker tries his hand at the pin'ata.

Camp Lean On The Lord was the title of our church's VBS this year. The kids learned all about people with disabilities, and how they can help them, and reach out to them. The VBS was narrated by Joni Erickson Tada. It was a neat experience. Here they are singing some of their VBS songs in front of the church.

Camping... In the living room. We had planned to go camping (for real) this particular night, but there were storm warnings, and so we chickened out. Instead we let the kids have a campout in the living room. Hope to do some real camping soon.

Since our camping trip was post poned, and the next afternoon was nice, we decided to take the kids to the water park. Scott and Skaterboy are resting after taking on some wicked water slides.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

2009-08-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here we are. Don't we make a gorgeous couple?
The bumper boats were fun to drive. I tried to squirt Scott as much as I could.

Thumbody on the paddle boat. We took a leisurely trip around the pond.

The toilet slide (as we like to call it) as it feels like you are being flushed down a toilet.
Strange experience, I must say.

Scott and Skaterboy on the paddle boats.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

2009-08-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is the scariest slide ever. It doesn't look too bad, does it? Well, let me ask you, have you ever had a dream where you were falling? This is how this slide feels when you are going down it. Then you slide up to the top of the other part, and you feel like you just may go off the edge. Once was enough for me on this one.

Scott took Skaterboy and Truthseeker on the Go-Carts. Thumbody was just a little upset that he was too young to ride.

After a nice trip to the water park, Scott drove us past the hospital where he works. This photo is only a small portion of the hospital. It covers 2 complete city blocks, plus a number of doctor's offices in the area as well.

Our 2nd to last stop after the hospital tour, was a visit to Abe Lincoln's Tomb. Truthseeker did an exhibit for the fair titled Celebrating Lincoln, and he needed a photo of his tomb for the collage he made. He did 2 other exhibits as well, that we will see tomorrow when we go to the fair. Truthseeker and Thumbody are also in the Goat and Chicken Scrambles tomorrow night. Ann and the girls should be here around 4 tomorrow, so they are going to go watch too.

Lots of family reunion time this Summer. Dad, Mom, my brother Ken, my niece Madison, and my brother's girlfriend Nikki came for a visit, and stayed the weekend. Here we are all enjoying the pool on a warm afternoon.

June and July in a Nutshell (Cont.)

2009-08-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here we are, my family. Not everyone of course. It was so nice to see everyone and visit. It's been a good Summer, after a long hard Winter.
We belong to a playgroup that meets every week. This particular week the kids made homemade icecream. Here they are shaking the half and half (with 2 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp vanilla in a small baggie) in a large baggie of ice and rock salt. It's pretty tasty I must say.

Shake, shake, shake....shake your bootie :)

Enjoying their home made ice cream.

MY SISTER JEN

2009-07-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite parts about my vacation was getting to see my sister and her and her family being a part of our adventure in Oklahoma. We drove up from Branson, which all in all was a pleasant drive. My dad and I chatted most of the way, and listened to more than one Banana's (http://www.bananascomedyclub.com/) dvd.

My sister and I don't get to see each other too often. We don't really keep in touch through email. Just the occasional phone call, and lately it's been fun to communicate with her through facebook. Jen and I are about 3 years apart in age. I was out of the house as she barely started high school. She has been through a lot in her 30+ years. Lots of good times though, and has remained faithful to her passions in life. She has always been one I have looked to for inner strength, yet not so sure where I stood in her life. Right now she is busy making lots of decisions, and working hard for her family. She has always been good at looking inward. Figuring out what is best for her and the direction she wants to take her life. Much better, I think, than I. I admire her for this. For always challenging herself. For just being her. Love that we are sisters-and that we are now staying more connected.

I found this quote some time ago, and it made such an impression on me:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ...a church ... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people act a certain way.

We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindoll (AE)

Oklahoma Trip To Jen's

2009-07-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, these crazy kids are cousins. They had such a fun playing together, and getting to know each other all over again. This tends to happen when you live so far away from each other. My boys keep talking about their fun cousins and how much they miss them.

Our original purpose for the trip was because my sister Jen's two oldest children were graduating from HS. It doesn't seem possible, that they could be that old already. Just a few short years before my oldest graduates. Time goes by too quickly. BTW... I don't know why my dad is making a fist over my niece. Something funny was obviously taking place, I just can't remember what it was, just now. Can't believe she will be going to college this Fall.

These two boys. Cousins. Aren't they adorable? I don't think there were two happier boys to be together than these two. I hope they get the chance to do lots of fun things together over the years. I hope they are very close growing up.

Here are my nephews. My oldest nephew who was graduating, and is going to college this Fall, and my youngest nephew, who I got to see and hold for the first time.

Here is my oldest son, who has this laptop his great grandma gave him attached to his hip. He takes it wherever he goes, and is at this very minute probably on it playing Ruin Scape, or WOW, his two favorite on-line games. He knows so much more about computers than I do, or ever will know. He is so technically minded. I am not, and I don't have a lot of patience of technical things either. He can sit for hours dealing with computer stuff, where I would get frustrated and shut it down. I am so proud of this boy!

ON THE HOME FRONT

Life has been busy lately. Skaterboy finished driver's ed last week, and has his permit to drive. He now has to do behind the wheel training, which starts in a couple weeks. He isn't really interested in practicing much, so I'm not pushing him. He's doing very well, when he has driven though, and is very cautious. I'm really glad he's taking the whole thing so seriously. Forgive me if I already put this in a post. I know I posted this somewhere, but don't remember if it was in an email or on facebook, or here. That's the problem with posting so many places, you forget where you last posted.

This week has started out slow, but starting tomorrow, we have a full week ahead of us. Tomorrow is another homeschool picnic at the park, if it doesn't rain, which it's supposed to. Tomorrow night is church, Thursday we are to meet friends at the splash pad in the morning, and Friday morning Skaterboy and I have a date to meet my best girlfriend and her son, for a day of scrapbooking (for my friend and I), while Skaterboy and his friend spend the day at State Farm Park swimming. Then that night, Skaterboy and I are going to see the new Harry Potter movie. Matt is super psyched. He has read all the books more than once. I haven't read any of them, but I always go see the movies with them. The last one was pretty dark, and I really didn't like the ending too much. I'm not crazy about scary films, and it got pretty scary (even for me) at the end. Hoping this one isn't like that.

Well, it's late, and I better get to bed. Goodnight to all my friends and relatives who read. I miss you all!

Palin's Resignation...Goodbye Old Friend.

2009-07-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

It came with a sort of melancholy sadness, when I heard that Sarah Palin had resigned her post as governor of Alaska yesterday. Sadness, because my hopes of her becoming the first female president or vice-president someday are now a bit a wash. It's okay though, as a mother, I completely understand. She is not only talking the talk, but walking the walk. Sarah Palin has been a great mentor for me. A mother, first, and a working mom, second. She has supported many things that I also support. Things maybe other women have lost sight of, or disagree with. Biblical principles, and standing our ground for those principles.

I have never really done a political post before, and to be honest have never really considered myself a political person. Yes, I vote, even on the local front, but have never really supported or apposed a candidate, other than when voting. I was a Bush supporter, and have always felt that he was treated unfairly due to the circumstances at hand. I have mixed emotions regarding our current president, but I won't get into that here. Sarah was the one person that I (personally) could relate to. She made it okay for women to slow down. She made it okay for women to want to stay home and raise their children. She made it okay to let God plan the size of our families. She made it okay for mothers to choose their families first. This is big! In the past, Conservative men have made these claims, and it was all fine and good, but when she was saying it, she meant it, because she has lived it.

I love the fact that she shops second hand. Don't all women? I love the fact that she looks like a mom. I love the fact that she personifies motherhood. I love the fact that she is choosing her family ahead of her career. It says volumes.

Will I continue to follow Sarah's example? Yes, indeed. I truly hope that she will continue to teach mothers how to continue on the path to excellence in motherhood, hopefully through a book series. I am signing up for an advanced copy right now.

So Sarah, goodbye old friend. I know that you won't be truly gone, but no longer in the limelight for others to judge or see. You will be doing what you do best; mothering. I will be doing the same.

Have a great 4th!

Love this website... Simply had to share.. No pun intended.

2009-06-19T09:37:00.000-07:00

I just found this website on Ali Edwards blog, and had to share a link to it.
http://simplemom.net

The Best Thing About My Vacation....and a week at the condo.

2009-06-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

The very best part of my vacation was getting to see my sister. Although you can't see her very well in this photo because I'm taking a picture of her taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her. Does that make sense? Oh, sure it does. I missed her so much! I will post a better picture of her tomorrow. This one makes me smile though :)

Below is a view of the lake from our condo. Too bad I was too lazy to walk down there. Time just got away from me. Yeah right... who am I kidding?

Just another day at school. Even on vacation you say? Even on vacation.

Thumbody is rarely seen without his Duckie (ie. blanket). He is more like Linus than you will ever know. I love this child!

ON THE HOME FRONT

Scott started working 3rd shift last night, therefore I had a nighttime visitor all night. He was male, he was cute, and he is 5. Yes, my dear son snuck onto daddy's side of the bed during the wee hours of the night. I awoke to the front door opening (I am a very light sleeper) and to the smell of coffee brewing. I heard him wake Skaterboy up for driver's ed, and then come in by me to undress, and get ready to take a shower. (OK, maybe I didn't need to put that... I know TMI.)

After he took Skaterboy to driver's ed he went to bed. I was up before he got back, and was drinking coffee when he came in the door. The little kids finally woke up, and we had breakfast and started our school day (yes, we are still in school and will be throughout the summer). They get plenty of breaks, I promise. They just retain so much more if you don't stop for 3 months. Besides, all we are currently doing is reading and math, so their done within an hour or two.

Skaterboy is finishing his Algebra book, and American Government, and then he's done.

After they were done with school, the kids had some neighbor kids over to swim. We were supposed to have church tonight, but our minister got sick, so I had to quickly think of something for dinner, which ended up being a Banquet meal (you know, the turkey slices with gravy) and Scott made mashed potatoes, and a veg. The kids are now at their grandma's house, and I am hearing nothing. Ahhh....it's so nice once in awhile. Scott has to leave for work in about 30 minutes, and then be gone all night again. Thankfully Skaterboy is home, or I would probably be more nervous than I am. I don't like being home alone at night. I must have watched too many horror movies in my teens.

Tomorrow Scott has a doctor's appt. with his sleep apnea doctor. He hasn't seen him in a year, but he is doing so much better than he used to. It's been over a year since he's been on any medication for his narcolepsy (mind you, it was a very mild case). His cellulitis is looking better too. His leg isn't even red any more. I plan to drive him up there tomorrow because he will have worked all night, and then has to be at this appt. at 8:30 a.m. and it's 45 min. away. So we will have to leave shortly after he gets home.

I know today's post is sort of boring, but that's my life folks. The exciting parts... well, our dog is now so pregnant that she can't even get herself up on the couch by herself anymore. That's pretty exciting. Dachshund/Yorkie or Pug puppies should be coming any day now. Want one?

Looking out over Branson, Lunch at Fuddrucker's, and Spending the day with Grandma..... Priceless!!!

2009-06-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

These photos aren't exactly in order, because we actually ate before we stopped by this scenic observatory on our way back to the condo. The view was breathtaking. If you look to the far right, you can see part of Celebration City,(we didn't go there this time) which has killer roller coasters, if you're into that sort of thing. My boys are, so I'm all up on roller coasters. I think I personally have had my fill of them, and am very thankful that Truthseeker is now tall enough to ride with Skaterboy. I used to be his riding partner, and am glad that I don't have to be any longer.
A sweet photo of Skaterboy walking towards me. Why is it that teenagers think that if they smile their face will crack? It's hard to get him to smile for photos now that he's a teenager. Is melancholy in style or something? Maybe I'm just out of the loop.

I think the kids really enjoyed our stop. It was a chance for them to actually "feel" that they had been in the Ozark mountains. That was my goal anyway.

Lunch at Fuddrucker's. Still one of my favorite hamburger places. Vicki, if you're reading this, do you remember what we used to call Fuddrucker's back in the day? I still always think of that whenever we drive by one.

Grandma and I. Can you tell we're related?

ON THE HOME FRONT

Today was nice and sunny out. Scott left the house early today to take Skaterboy and a friend to Walmart to buy a World of Warcraft game. I'll save my opinions about WOW later for another post, but my sweetie made coffee for me this morning, so I was happy when I awoke. He then went to pick up a couple Freecycle things I had been given, and to the pharmacy to pick up another (stronger) antibiotic for his cellulitis, which still isn't completely gone, and Scaterboy's inhaler. When he returned, and I had been bugged more than a dozen times by neighbor kids standing in front of our house waiting for us to let them go swimming in our pool (I'll get to my opinion on that later, as well) the kids cleaned up their messes, Scott got ready for work, and left.

After he left for work, I did allow the neighbor kids to come over and swim, while I sat outside leisurely reading a saucy novel (okay, please don't judge me, but I bought the book "Story Telling" by Tori Spelling) that I honestly had a hard time putting down. I love to watch "Tori and Dean", I'm guilty....so sue me. I am also wanting to purchase "Mommywood" after I'm done with this book, which should be a in day or two. I almost have to force myself to quite reading, or I'll be done with it too quickly. I must admit, it's very good. If you know me at all, you will know that I usually buy a few mindless books each summer to enjoy while I watch the kids swim. I don't always like to be in the pool with them, and the escape from reality for awhile, is a treasured treat, and something I look forward to.

For dinner we had the honey shrimp recipe that I posted below a couple days ago. Just posting it made me hungry for it, and to my surprise these shrimp were already pealed and deveined for me. I know where I'm going to buy my shrimp from now on (Walmart). Much easier. I made it the original way tonight, with the egg white and cornstarch. It was really good, but a bit heavier than the way I usually make it without the breading. I think I'll go back to my way of choice next time. The shrimp were definitely crispier this way though.

So now it's about 8:30 p.m., the kids are in the other room watching a Clone Wars cartoon, and I am here at the computer, getting ready to shut it down for the night, get the kids in bed, and plan my day tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I will actually get something on my list done.

Good bye for tonight! Enjoy your weekend!

My Dad... Nakhon Phanom, Thailand

2009-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Our visit to the Veteran's Museum ...Branson, MO.

2009-06-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

I highly recommend taking your family to this museum. It didn't cost much, in fact, Thumbody was free, but it was one of the best I have seen. The kids really enjoyed it too. What a sobering fact that our children have to grow up in a time of war, just like our parents and grandparents did. I was born during the Vietnam War era, but most of my childhood/early adulthood was during a time of peace. So I don't remember much, other than what my dad has told me about Thailand during the Vietnam War. That is where he was stationed, in Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. Here is a link to the memorial site for Air Force servicemen killed in Nakhon Phanom, during the Secret War of 1962-1975: http://aircommandoman.tripod.com/
Luckily, my father made it through the war okay. Some weren't so lucky, and this is what this museum is all about. Honoring our fallen soldiers.

The Memorial the kids are standing in front of is spectacular. There's no other words to describe it. It's a WWII Memorial commemorating one man who died in each state of the USA during WWII. So there are 50 soldiers marching in this memorial. Each person (statue) is different in size, and facial features. Under each soldier is the name of the person, and which state he came from. All 50 states were accounted for.

On either side of the monument, which was life size, were the names of all the soldiers killed in WWII. My grandma's brother was one of them. She was able to find his name on the long lists of names of the deceased. Here is a photo of her pointing out his name to the kids. What a learning experience that was, for the kids to see one of their relatives names on the WWII memorial. I think it gave them a sense of connection to the war, like they hadn't experienced before.

The photo below is of my dear youngest son, who sat taking in this painting for quite some time. This was in the Vietnam War room, I believe. He sat there and stared at it, very somberly for quite some time. I asked him what he saw, and he did a wonderful picture narration for a 5 year old. Such attention to detail this young child has. Oh Gosh, that just sounded like Yoda from Star Wars, didn't it?

Thumbody who is a very young 5, was probably the most interested in this museum. The huge WWII memorial he found the most fascinating, and wanted to see the soldiers, again and again. At one point he asked me why they all had the same weapons, and I answered (not knowing that anyone was even around us), "because they were all on the same team, Sweetie." An older gentleman, who probably (I am guessing) fought in WWII, laughed and said, "That's right, we WERE all on the same team." It still gives me goosebumps when I think of that moment.

I won't go into detail about all the different rooms there were, but there were many. It started with WWI and took you through Dessert Storm. At the very end of the museum, was a sign that read, "and for those currently fighting for our freedom". So all were remembered, except of course, those from way back... French/Indian War, Revolutionary War, and Civil War. But there probably wasn't that much documentation back then. (I'm guessing) I don't really know why those wars weren't listed.

The Home Front
It's raining today, and the kids are disappointed that they can't go swimming in our pool we set up yesterday. I believe that the water is too cold to swim anyway, but they wanted to give it a go. Skaterboy had his 2nd day of driver's ed this morning, and has had a lot of homework. He gets his permit on Tuesday. Scott has to work today, and will be leaving in about 40 minutes. I am looking forward to doing some sewing and scrapbooking today, if I can get it together here soon. I am cooking corn beef for dinner, but I think I will be splitting it into 2 meals. I think tonight I am going to make a reuben casserole, and then save the rest for something else tomorrow night. I can't decide if gravy would taste good with corned beef or not. What do you think? Email me and let me know, if you have any ideas. I love to try new recipes.

Oh, BTW... Yesterday's recipe I posted is also supposed to be served with steamed broccoli mixed in, or on the side. I completely forgot to add the note about the broccoli, and that's what makes the dish more healthy than just eating shrimp, sugar coated walnuts, and rice. Have a great rest of the day. Please keep my brother in your prayers. He's going through a tough time right now, and could use some praying on.

More vacation photos - Relaxing at the condo, visiting relatives, and Grandma's 84th Birthday. Oh... and a promised recipe ;)

2009-06-10T09:19:00.000-07:00

Thumbody and I, and his duckie (this is what he calls his blankie) relaxing at our timeshare condo, the first day we got to Branson. Our condo is actually in Kimberling City, not far from Branson.

Aunt Verna and Uncle Ray stopped by for a visit. They were camping at another resort close by.
Uncle Ray visits with Dad, and smiles for a photo.

Here's what all southern ladies do, while together. Did you know that? The men go off on their own, and the ladies "sit". To "sit" in southern terms means to actually sit and talk, and sip tea, or other beverages. We enjoyed our time "sitting" with Aunt Verna, mom and Grandma, catching up on "everything". That's the coolest part about "sitting", you get to know everything you've missed over the past couple years.

Grandma turned 84 while we were at the condo. I gave her some organic herbal tea, and some bright and colorful socks. Mom and dad gave her the prettiest decorative hat box. I believe my grandma has a collection of hat boxes, and she loved the one they gave her. I think she had a nice 84 year's young birthday.

Grandma and her hat box. Happy Birthday Grandma! Oh, the morning of her birthday, mom and dad had to leave for work, so they had to leave early in the morning. I decided that I wanted to cook her something yummy for supper, so I made that delicious Crispy Shrimp recipe that I have been raving about for the last number of posts, and that I have promised to post, more than once. I will post the recipe below. We love the recipe so much, we have it at least once every 2 weeks or so. It really is delicious.

The recipe:

Honey Walnut Shrimp

1 lb. raw shrimp (raw tastes 100 times better in this recipe than pre-cooked)

1/2 cup walnut halves

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1-2 tbsps evaporated skim milk

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 egg white (may be omitted, see below.)

1/2 cup corn starch (for coating shrimp, but may be omitted...see below.)

olive oil for frying (any oil will do though)

For the walnuts:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Method:

Peel and devein all the shrimp. Pat dry with paper towels, add the egg white, mix well with the shrimp and set aside.

Rinse the walnut halves with water, drain and set aside.

Heat up the water until it boils and add in the sugar.

Keep stirring until it turns thick and golden color and then add the walnuts.

Boil for 2 minutes, then drain and place walnuts on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray so they don't stick.

Heat oil in a wok or frying skillet on med/high. (It's 7 on my stove, but I end up turning it down to 5 to cook).

Coat the shrimp with a thick layer of corn starch and then fry in hot oil until golden brown. (I have omitted the cornstarch and egg whites altogether, and I think it's much better just to cook the shrimp until they are pink). I then drain them on a paper towel. Shrimp cook very fast, so I watch them closely, and only do as many as I can handle at one time.

In a bowl, stir together the mayo, honey, evap skim milk, and lemon juice.

Add shrimp and toss with the mayo sauce. Mix in sugar coated walnuts.

Serve with cooked rice of choice.

Enjoy!!! My family loves it. Even the young ones.

You know you've once lived in Wisconsin When... More SDC photos.

2009-06-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Your 5 YO can milk a cow. Okay, so it's not a real cow. But he took to it like a fish out of water. Speaking of fish, you'll have to look at the last photo on this post. Very funny, and entertaining. Thumbody spent time milking this cow at SDC in Branson, when we were there on vacation. Notice how the bucket says "pull gently". I mean, who wants their nipples pulled hard, right? This cow actually spewed white stuff, but I don't think it was milk. Probably chalk water, I imagine.

Thumbody enjoys steering the boats at SDC. His brother is at the other end.

And here he is. Truthseeker is having fun steering the old time boats too.

What is more fun for a 5 YO than playing in a fountain? Well, anything that has water in it, in general.

This was so very funny. The last show of the night, which if you have ever been to SDC, you know they close the park, and then start the night-time show. It changes every year, and this year was very good. Well, every year I have ever seen is good. These guys were hysterical. They are singing "Cletus Take The Reel". Too funny!

Have a great Tuesday! Scott is off today, and he is trying to get the yard work done before tomorrow, since it's supposed to rain. The kids desperately want him to put the pool up. So he is going to try to do that today as well. This is the latest we ever put our pool up. It's usually up by Memorial Day. My garden isn't even tilled yet, and it's always planted by this time of summer each year, as well. I do have my tomato patch done, and we have ripe juicy strawberries from our strawberry patch. Our plums should be ready for picking soon too.

We have so much to do today. Still have to run to the store, finish with the yard/pool, pick up a couch for our family room, and a bunch of other things that need done. Scott has off tomorrow too, but we'll focus more inside the house tomorrow, since it's supposed to rain.

Yesterday, I planted 12 or so orange day lily plants that were given to us, in one corner of the backyard, and a yellow cone flower plant in the front yard, by our purple cone flowers. It was somewhat raining yesterday when I did this, so I was pretty much coated in mud, when I was done. I also picked quite a few strawberries from our patch for dessert last night. They were wonderful. Probably grilling out tonight. Posting more photos tomorrow :) Thanks for reading!

Silver Dollar City -- 2 weeks ago.

2009-06-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

My dad was joking that he wanted to take me on this swing ride, because when I was little I used to ask him to push me higher and higher. He said that I used to squeal, "Higher Daddy, Higher". So I obliged his wishes, and got on this swing ride. Let's just say that I will never ride this again. Can you see me praying? I was. Each and every minute that this ride lasted. First, I prayed that the harness that was holding me in the swing wouldn't break, then I prayed that I would not get sick (this one I prayed, more than once), and lastly I prayed that the ride would be over soon. I had to keep my eyes closed, for fear that I would lose my cookies all over my 2 sons on either side of me. Once I got off the ride, there was no looking back for me. I didn't even want to see what was behind me. I wanted out of there.

My dad is in the yellow shirt, Skaterboy is in the orange shirt, I am in the brown shirt, and Truthseeker is barely visible. He's so tiny in that huge seat. Luckily, everyone else enjoyed the ride. My mom took this picture as she waited for us with my grandma, and Thumbody.

Skaterboy and Truthseeker on a roller coaster at SDC. They are in the last row. It was pretty fast, and Truthseeker was thrilled that he was tall enough to ride. I have to say that hee was a bit scared afterward, I think (though he didn't really show it, in front of his big brother) because he didn't want to ride anymore roller coasters that day. His favorite ride was Fire In The Hole, which is somewhat of a small indoor roller coaster. Thumbody did not like Fire In The Hole, at all! It scared the juice right out of him, and I should have known it would. I remember being terrified of Fire In The Hole when I was 5. I hated that ride, now that I remember it. I guess I deserve the "Bad Mommy Award" for not remembering. My poor baby.

Truthseeker is smiling in the photo right now, but they haven't left yet. I don't think he knows what is in store for him.

All of us (minus Scott who had to work) waiting for the saloon show to start. We had such a fun day. I just love SDC, and we forgot to go down in the cave. I was so bummed, when it was too late to go. Well, next time the boys will be a bit older, so it will be more memorable for them then. The last two times we were at SDC, I was pregnant, so I haven't been on a cave tour in quite some time.

Pictures of mom, dad, grandma, Truthseeker, and Thumbody.

Here's my sweet Skaterboy. This photo kind of makes me sad, since he's 16, and really has only a few family vacations left with us (as a child). I will miss him when he's out on his own, and not going on family vacations with us anymore. I hope he still will. I just don't know what I will do not being able to see his beautiful face each and every day. Oh, and he starts driver's ed on Wednesday. Homeschoolers are allowed to take driver's ed at the h.s. during the summer time if there's room for them. He and another homeschool friend of his are taking it together, so they won't be all alone, not knowing anyone.

2009-06-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, here are the Dam photos I promised you yesterday. We actually got to see the dam open and the water pouring out with great strength. This made the fishing that we had intended to do, not so good. There was no doubt that the fish were moving, but too fast, I fear, to stop for a bite to eat. This is the Truman Dam, in Warsaw, MO.

Below, Truthseeker tries his hand at fishing anyhow. The men behind him are using huge rod and reels, hoping to catch a big fish. The fish were moving so fast that when they would get a bite, it would break their line, every time.

Thumbody enjoyed playing on the rocks most. He kind of reminded me of the Morton salt girl. Don't ask me why, maybe it's the way he's walking joyfully amongst the rocks.

See the foam from the dam water? There was so much foam from the rapid rush of water flowing through the dam, that it kind of reminded me of the ocean waves. Very fast, and heavy.

Thumbody smiles ever so cutely under the no swimming sign. Do ya think you should swim here? I'd say, "not"!

Tomorrow I will post photos from Silver Dollar City, near Branson. Have a great Sunday afternoon!

More photos from our trip. Thumbody's B-day and Christmas in May with Nonnie and Papa

2009-06-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great time celebrating Thumbody's birthday and Christmas in May with mom and dad. Ethan is thrilled with his new video, as was mom and dad were with their baskets of goodies. I already mentioned how much we are enjoying our Cold Stone Ice Cream set, with all the goodies to go with it, and the tortilla warmer (which we used tonight with our tacos), and our microwave splatter cover (I will never have to clean my microwave again...LOL). We did go to Cold Stone Creamery last week after Scott's doctor's appt, and we bought a half gallon of their cheese cake ice cream. The guy thought I was nuts when I just asked for the ice cream, and told him that we would mix it at home, but he sold it to us. It was worth the $10 we spent on our gift certificate. We will probably be buying "good" ice cream from the supermarket with the rest of the gift certificate though, so it will go further. Thanks mom and dad for some great gifts! Oh, I forgot to add that they also gave us a book about the meaning of Christmas, a cute "happy birthday Jesus" ornament for our tree, and a Willow Tree collectible to add to my collection. You may be wondering why we waited until May to do Christmas, but we simply hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving last year, and in our family we like to watch each other open their gifts, even if they're late. It's just a tradition we have always had. Enjoy the photos, I will post more tomorrow. Probably the Dam photos. I'm not swearing, they really are Dam photos :)

Vacation Photos - Day 1- Observing nature.

2009-06-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

I have so many photos from our vacation last week, that there is absolutely no way that I can post them all in one day. I will have to post some every day, but I will try to keep them in order. So check back regularly. One thing that I have noticed this trip, probably more than I have noticed any other time in my boys is their fondness of nature. Charlotte Mason said that one of the most important learning experiences for a child is learning the art of observation in nature, and your surroundings. Over the past year, I have noticed that their fondness for nature was growing, and the fire for learning about nature was maturing in them. On this particular trip however, I noticed for the first time, unguided observation of nature, in my children. Let me explain more clearly, in case I am not making sense. For the past year, we have been doing weekly nature studies, learning to observe nature as it unfolds around us. We have studied many things. Different plants, trees, flowers, animals, birds, seasons, etc. The kids have sketched and painted in their nature notebooks. They have learned the scientific names for these different things we have studied. They have gone on numerous field trips and nature walks, learning from park rangers, and through the use of nature guides. But until this trip, I hadn't felt that they had grasped exactly what Charlotte Mason meant when she stated how important personal observation of nature was to children.

Then I saw it, when I wasn't even watching for it. My 5 year old crouching down to observe something. I was talking to my grandma, but watching him at the same time. He was about 5 feet from me, and my heart skipped a beat as he ever so gently lifted a rock on my grandma's patio, and crouched down even closer to watch what was going on under that rock. He observed in silence, studying every so carefully, like I had never seen him do before. For moments on end he continued to observe, quietly taking it all in. It was at that moment that I knew what Charlotte Mason meant.

She stated all so eloquently that parents should not fill their children's minds with what they know about nature. That children should have the freedom to explore and observe, and ask if they feel inclined to. But only if they feel inclined. Watching Thumbody at that moment made every minute I spent on nature study this year worthwhile. I hadn't taught him this, no matter how much I would have loved the credit. This was instinctive, and unguided; all his doing. I'm so proud of my little guy, and my big boys too. They are all very attentive to nature. Pointing out certain birds by name, or noticing small animals that might be overlooked. Or even insects, like Thumbody found. It's just the beginning, of a world of learning more about God's creation. What could be finer?
Fishing off of Nonnie and Papa's dock.

Thumbody tries his hand at fishing, for the first time.

Can you see the excitement in his eyes?

Skaterboy is digging into the big bait box on the dock.

Truthseeker waits patiently for a bite.

THE WEEK THAT LIES AHEAD...

2009-05-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Today is a bright and sunny "hot" afternoon. I use the term "hot" loosely because in Illinois, it is rarely ever really "hot". So when I say "hot", I mean that it's not very comfortable outside. Too warm for my taste anyway.

It is Sunday. We returned this past Wednesday from our 2 week trip to Missouri and Oklahoma, to see my niece and nephew graduate from high school. We spent a very nice week in Branson, sightseeing, and some light days of schooling inter-mixed. We visited many relatives. Those we see regularly and those that I hadn't seen in 8+ years.

The drive home was nice, and the 6 hours passed quite quickly. I returned home at around 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. My husband, who had to work, and wasn't able to join me and the kids, was anxiously awaiting our return. I smiled at him as I walked through the door, so very glad to be home. He was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I looked down, and saw that his left left leg looked very red and swollen. I asked him if he had gone to the doctor for that, and he said "not yet". I felt the red area, and it felt hot, so I told him that he should really go to the ER, because it looked infected. My biggest fear was that he might have a staff infection because he does work in a hospital, and he does deal with patients quite a lot, so I felt he better get it checked out right away. His entire leg from his knee to his ankle was red, so it spanned a pretty large area.

Now, the very last thing I wanted to do that night was sit in the ER with my husband. I just wanted to relax, but I hadn't seen him in 2 weeks, and I missed him. We dropped the kids off at his mom's and we went to the ER. It was a very busy night there, and by the time the doctor came in, ordered blood tests, and a sonogram was done, it was midnight. The prognosis is that Scott has cellulitis. He doesn't know how he got it, probably at work, but not sure. He is currently taking an antibiotic, and got a shot in the rear end while we were in the ER. The kids thought this was very funny.

Since that day, I have been unpacking, and cleaning. We did manage to get away Friday morning for our weekly homeschool playgroup at a local park, and we had a nice visit with a friend who stopped by yesterday afternoon.

Last night, Skaterboy had his best friend spend the night, and we had the chance to use our Christmas present from my mom and dad, for the first time. I only got it last week, that is why this was our first time using it. Parts of it were very breakable, so it couldn't be mailed. What was it, you ask? A Cold Stone Creamery set, so we could make our own Cold Stone Ice cream. If you've had this type of ice cream before, you will know that they hand-mix your choice of ice cream with mix-in's of your choice on a marble stone that has been chilled, with two paddles, to create a wonderful concoction of ice cream heaven. So our set included the marble stone, 2 paddles, a huge variety of mix-ins, 2 ice cream scoop, 5 cute ceramic ice cream bowls, and a gift card for ice cream. Cool present. No pun intended :)

So last night, we had fun making different concoctions, and the consensus was that this was the best ice cream that they had ever had. Even Skaterboy's friend agreed. I have to admit, that my vanilla, cashew, toffee, peanut, m&m, Andes mint, pretzel treat was out of this world "good"!

Today was rush, rush, rush, it seems. Rushing to get everyone up for church, rushing to get to church, rushing to finish our Sunday School lesson before church started, and then rushing to get home, before Scott had to leave for work.

I knew that I needed Scott to rototill a small patch by our shed for about 10 tomato plants that were given to us yesterday, and needed to get into the ground. So we hurried and ate lunch, then he tilled while I helped the boys clean their bedroom. This had to be done before they could go outside and play with friends. After he was done tilling, I ironed his shirt for work, and off he went. I went back to the kids' room, to finish up, and then decided to check my email. We are picking up our 12 organic chickens this Saturday, and I needed to see if she had sent me an email of what time to come get them. She did, and everything is set for Saturday, I just have to clean out my deep freeze so there is room for 12 chickens in there. I then decided to plant the tomato plants, which didn't take too long. I decided to put the tomato cages on them now, so I didn't have to do that later on. I then decided to clean up the front of the house, by aerating the mulch out front, and planting some new herbs in the planters on the porch, and on both sides of the glider. In the planters by the glider, I planted peppermint in one, and fennel in the other. In the two hanging pots, I planted jack in the pulpit in one, and chamomile in the other. I weeded out the irises, and pulled any dead tops off them. I then watered them all, and mulched around the purple cone flowers. I am pleased with how it looks.

I also sorted crayons. I know this sounds sort of strange, but my sister runs a daycare in her home, and while there, I saw the coolest thing. If anyone appreciates this tip, homeschooler's might. She had all her crayons divided into cups, with each cup being designated for that color only. So I spent time putting all the greens together, blues together, oranges together, etc. This may seem like an unimportant and tedious task, but when you have more than one child that might be coloring at the same time, and a huge tub a crayons, it is easier if there are plenty of that color to go around, let me tell you from experience. All the crayon cups fit nicely into a plastic tray, so they are kept together neatly.

I have a few more things on my list to complete for the day, and then I am calling it quits. I want to do a few relaxing things too. So as I type this, which should be a relaxing task, I am arguing with my 5 year old who is standing next to me in his underwear, wanting me to get him a new pair of shorts, because he no longer wants to wear the shorts he had on. There is nothing wrong with shorts he had on. It's a daily battle. He's currently in the change your clothes many times a day mode. I thought girls only did that.

I came home to what I think is a pregnant dog. She is a dachshund, and her girth is much wider than it was when we left. Her nipples are also swollen. I thought we had been told that she was fixed before we got her, but it may have been a misunderstanding, now that I think about it. My biggest concern is that her boyfriend appears to be a German Shepherd. We have seen him trying to mate with her before, but it's always been quite comical to watch, because he is so much larger than her, that it simply doesn't work, if you know what I mean. There are many other smaller dogs on the block too, and our neighbor actually has 2 male dogs that are out sometimes, that are about her size. One is a Yorkie, and the other is a Pug. I am hoping that one of them is the father. So what do you call a Dachshund/Yorkie mix? A Dorkie? How about a Dachshund/Pug mix? A Dug? or is it a Pachshund? Whatever they are, I am hoping that they are not half German Shepherd. I'm afraid the puppies might kill her. She has a long body, but she's pretty short to the ground. I wonder if her belly will drag the floor when she gets really big?? It shouldn't matter, all she seems to do these days is snore on the floor, like she is doing right now, next to me. I was also wondering, " Can a dog have sleep apnea?" She snores almost as loud as my husband used to before his c-pap machine. Do they make c-pap's for dogs? I wonder?

What lies ahead this coming week? To Bloomington tomorrow to the doctor for Scott's leg check-up, which I don't mind, because he and I will eat at Ming's, like we always do when we go to Bloomington, and that's a treat. They have the best sushi bar.

Wednesday we have our annual homeschool year end picnic, where we bring old homeschool materials we are no longer using, to exchange or give, and the kids bring squirt guns, and get soaked. We always have a good time. This time a new person to our community organized it, so this will be a neat treat, to meet her, and her family, while having a good time seeing everyone.

Thursday, I will probably be taking the kids to Night at the Museum 2, by myself, as Scott has to work, but they really want to see it while it's in town.

Saturday, is chicken pick-up day, and later that night I will be scrapbooking with friends.

Mornings will be filled with schoolwork. We are hitting it heavy the next two weeks so we can finish before Skaterboy starts driver's ed at the high school on the 10th. Our local high school allows homeschooled students to take driver's ed during the summer, if there is room. There was, so we signed him up. I want him to be done with school by then so he can concentrate solely on driver's ed. Both boys are close to being done. I have to say that I too am excited to start my summer vacation.

Hope you have a great week!

HEY, YOU SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY (dun...dun...da..da) WELL HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA!

2009-05-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

These photos are a little late, but I'm trying to catch up. This is Thumbody's Star Wars Cars Birthday. It was very eclectic... Need I say more?

Birthday breakfast. Yes, that is a #5 candle in his cheese omelet.

It is an annual tradition to be able to lick the beaters and spoonula with cake batter from your cake on it.

Skaterboy is enjoying waiting for his turn to bowl at Thumbody's Bowling Birthday Bash, that afternoon. We invited friends from church to attend.

Here is the star himself, in his favorite bowling position, which was watching balls come up through the ball return. Feeling the air come out of the hand dryer was a close second.

My Mom

2009-05-11T14:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I know that I called you last night, but felt that I wanted to do a post as well about my dear old mom. Here are 30 interesting facts about my mom:

1. My mom was not always old, she was once young, like this. (This tid-bit is for my kids)
2. My mom is a very creative seamstress, and can create almost any costume imaginable.
3. My mom (and dad) love to dress up for parties.
4. My mom loves to entertain.
5. My mom once dumped an entire container of worms in her lap.
6. My mom once let my oldest son hang fishing lures from her face.
7. My mom makes the best cheesecake in this entire world. One was once auctioned off for over $100.
8. My mom has traveled to many parts of this world.
9. My mom loves to travel.
10. My mom loves to talk to her kids most.
11. My mom is beautiful.
12. My mom loves to shop.
13. My mom is loved by my dad.
14. My mom won't tell anyone her age.
15. My mom is a self professed black thumb at growing things.
16. My mom would die for her children.
17. My mom has 12 grandchildren.
18. My mom teaches Sunday School.
19. My mom can't remember dates well.
20. My mom loves the lake.
21. My mom is the only person I know who owns a bidet.
22. My mom can't speak any foreign languages.
23. My mom can type very fast.
24. My mom's favorite color is orange.
25. My mom used to drive an orange beetle.
26. My mom currently owns a white MG convertible.
27. My mom used to sing to us when we were kids, and sometimes still does.
28. My mom has been a secretary, a cashier, a salesgirl, a waitress, a Tupperware lady, a nurse's aid, she tied flies, worked on a potato farm, was an office manager, worked in collections at a hospital, was a home care manager, worked in an orthodontist's office, worked in a factory, was a travel agent, was a church secretary, owns her own travel business, and works at a doctor's office.
29. My mom got her driver's license when she was in her 20's.
30. My mom graduated from college when she was in her 40's.

Love you mom, for all the things you do!

Amy

PURE INSANITY? MUD BUDS...

2009-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have to digress for a moment to the fact that I am not a perfect mom. No matter how hard I try, sometimes I end up giving in to letting the kids do something that I otherwise wouldn't. Before you think that I am totally nuts, let me explain the photos below, before I receive that much deserved bad mommy of the year award.

We were on a nature hike with friends. The kids enjoy getting together weekly with their buddies, as do I, with the 2 other mom friends that I have made. On this particular day, the kids had fun climbing trees, and throwing sticks and rocks into the little creek at the nature center that is within 20 miles from our home.

It was one of our first Spring days of 2009, and it was fairly warm. At the end of our play date, the kids ran to this outdoor stage, in which they love to jump off of, and into the grass below. This time, the area was flooded. One of the children (can't remember which one, or whether it was one of mine or not) jumped into the big puddle. Soon after the others started jumping in. Soon they were covered in mud and muck. Now, before you judge, how many of you secretly wished that your mom or dad would have let you jump in mud puddles too your hearts delight, when you were a kid? I know I would have, loved it! So in the end, I said to myself, and my friend who stood beside me, why not? What will it hurt? The kids played in the muddy water for quite some time, until we absolutely had to go. They had the time of their lives, and a memory that will stay with them forever. Luckily, I had blankets in the back of the van in which to strip them down to their underwear in the parking lot, and cover their muddy bodies up with blankets for the trip home. My only fear was being stopped for a traffic violation. I mean, what if? I thought about it all the way home. Can you imagine how I would explain two half naked children with faces covered in mud, buckled in the back seats of our van? The thought made me laugh all the way home. As I laughed (out loud) at the prospect, my thoughts turned to a more serious matter of how I was going to get them into the house and into the bath, without them touching everything. My plan worked well. I first ran into the house and started the bath water with bubbles, and then grabbed a garbage bag on the way out to the van. I bagged up all the muddy clothes and shoes, and then led the first child into the bath, and then the 2nd child. I then started the washing machine, and dumped the entire contents of the garbage bag into the wash. Everything came clean, including their little joy filled bodies. Now all I have left are the photos. What a treasure that day was.

MORE PHOTOS FROM OUR FIELD TRIP TO LINCOLN MEMORIAL GARDENS

2009-05-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

I took this photo of all the little boys looking over a bridge. I just thought that it was so cute.

Can you see the Crane on the far left sitting on the little islet midway in the water of Lake Springfield. The kids were so interested in the nature tour guide's description of so many things, including the crane.

Back inside the nature center, there was so many educational things to see, touch, and learn from. Thumbody is enjoying listening to different animal sounds.

Petting a turtle. The kids really enjoyed watching the turtle crawl around on the floor, and learn more about the turtle from the nature guide.

Here the kids get the chance to pet baby raccoons. They were so cute and fuzzy. The kids really enjoyed this part. Unfortunately these cute little critters grow up to be big critters that won't stay out of people's trash, ie... ours.

Field Trip To Lincoln Memorial Gardens -- Springfield, IL

2009-05-05T17:00:00.000-07:00

April 24, 2009... Our homeschool nature study group met up with the Springfield group, and met at the Lincoln Memorial Gardens. Once there, we split up into 5 groups, with our group being the younger children's group. Skaterboy went with the older kids. We had such a pleasant time identifying different trees and flowers. We got to see a crane, down by the lakeside. The hike took about 45 minutes, and the kids enjoyed it tremendously. Every so many feet along the path, were benches, each with a quote from Abraham Lincoln on them. Later we went inside the Garden nature center, and the kids were able to do some hands-on activities, and got the chance to pet a turtle, and some baby raccoons. I will post those photos tomorrow. Have a great night!

Oh, by the way, the recipe I made the other day was wonderful. It really didn't taste much different from the one I had at the restaurant. I have learned recently, that cooking with raw shimp makes a huge difference. I was originally using precooked shimp for my recipes, and they always tasted rubbery. The raw shrimp (although more work) were much, much better. I will try to post the recipe tomorrow as well.

IKEA !!!!! HEY EVERYONE, I LOVE IKEA!!!

2009-05-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here I am, so amazed that I finally get to venture into my new favorite store. Good thing that it's a 2 hour drive there, isn't it? Bolingbrook, IL. April 16, 2009.

Just Another Day In Paradise!

2009-04-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so today is Sunday, right? Well, normally we would be going to church today, right? Well, we did not do that. How do I say that I played hooky from church today? Is that sacrilegious? Undoubtedly God will forgive the fact that I skipped church today, and that I just wanted to stay home with my family. Call me selfish if you must, but I just needed that extra few hours of sleep today. I'm not sure why.

This past week was so busy, and I just haven't been able to catch up with my sleep deprived body. It's been chaotic, to say the least. Scott's been working most of the week without a break, and does so until Tuesday, which leaves me to handle the young ones on my own. This in itself is not bad, but can be crazy from time to time, when your 5 year old acts more like a 2 year old would, at times.

Have you ever forgotten that you had to be somewhere important, until about 5 minutes before you are supposed to be there? This happened to me last week. I was scheduled to give a food demonstration for our 4-H club and I somehow thought that 4-H was this week, and not last. I was totally not prepared. This particular night was the last night of our 12 week bible study we had been doing at church, so I was pretty much focused on that. I arrived at the bible study only to find out that we did in-fact have 4-H that night, and leaving my oldest child at bible study, I took off like a lightning bolt toward home, to pick up what supplies I needed, and then to the 4-H extension office to drop off some of the stuff, and to tell them that I would be back in 15 minutes, because I had to run to the store to pick up more ingredients. Crazy... let me tell you.

Then, last Sunday no one was able to pick up the teenagers from the church retreat they went to, so they asked me to do it. Fine, I said I would, since my child was part of the group. Said church retreat was 2 hours away, I had never been there, but was able to ride along on the way up, to see where I needed to go. Last Sunday it rained buckets. Said church retreat was down a long dirt road, which had literally turned to mud before my eyes. Thinking I was pretty smart, I pulled into a parking spot in the grass. This turned out to be a bad mistake. The ground was soft, and my tires sunk in "you guessed it, Mud..." It took 5 gracious and muddy men to push and pull my van out. I then rode home with 7 teenagers, who watched "Over The Hedge" on our portable DVD player all the way back home. It's the only DVD that was in the van. Go figure.

The next day, we were asked by some friends at church if Scott and I could witness their will for them, so we met them at the lawyers office, and did that. This got Scott and I to talking about writing a will for ourselves, and so we went back to our friend's office (who just happens to be a lawyer, himself) and started a worksheet of sorts, for our will. I don't believe that we got very far with the whole thing, because there just was so much to discuss and decide. We are still discussing and deciding. Our friends are currently on a cruise, hence the updated will that needed to be witnessed.

Then Tuesday, I almost forgot, Scott and I drove up to Bolingbrook, IL for the Simply Charlotte Mason Seminar. We stayed at the Sheratan there, and had a fabulous time. The hotel was great, our room was great, everything was great! We arrived in Bolingbrook, about 3 hours before the conference was scheduled to start, so I thought it might be nice to visit IKEA. Yes, I said IKEA!!! Oh my word, that is my favorite store. I have been wanting to go there for 2 years now, but didn't know that there even was one in Illinois. When booking the hotel on-line, I noticed that there was in fact an IKEA there. Every person I have ever talked to that has been to IKEA in the past, has recommended this store to me. It was so cool! I totally fell in love with the bright colors, the kid's department is fabulous, I just can't say enough. Well, if you know me, I had to buy something. I ended up buying the cutest red children's table to go with their little brown chairs my mom gave me. The table was $12.99 people. How could I pass that up? I then saw the brightest and cutest place settings for children. Not that my kids need more plates, cups, and silverware, but I could not pass up the bright happy colors. The $1.99 price tag for each set didn't hurt too much either. I mean what is cuter than eating lunch on an orange plate, with an orange bowl, and an orange cup, and orange silverware? I digress.

Oh yeah, the conference... I was so excited to meet Sonya Schaffer in person. Wow!!! That is like meeting a movie star for us Charlotte Mason homeschooling moms. In case you don't know, she is the author of many Charlotte Mason based homeschooling books, and heads up the website Simply Charlotte Mason.com. The conference was held at a church, with around 30 people in attendance. It was so good! I learned so much that night. Have I been practicing what I have learned? Well, it is a work in progress. The conference was titled: Laying Down The Rails, and Reaching Your Child's Heart. I will go into more detail on the conference on a later post, as I need to go cook supper. Super conference though. I would attend another one by her, in a heartbeat, and homeschoolers it cost $7. to attend, and Scott was free. How's that for a deal?

Oh and speaking of supper, we ate at this awesome Chinese restaurant there, near our hotel. I ordered the crispy walnut shrimp and scallops. Oh my, it was wonderful. So was the pina colada, I had, in a coconut cup of all things. The walnuts were sugar coated, and the shrimp and scallops were in some sort of a white sauce. When I got home, I looked up the recipe on the Internet. I found it! Yummo! Guess what we are having for dinner tonight? You guessed it! I told Matt that he had to try it. I just knew that he would love it! I have already sugar coated the walnuts, and the shrimp is thawed. We are not having scallops because they are too expensive, and not necessary. The shrimp was the best part anyway. Oh and tons of broccoli florets. The white sauce is actually made with evaporated skim milk. So it's non-fat. I will post the recipe soon, if it's as yummy as the restaurants.

Well, today has been a cleaning, computer, lazy type day. If you read the negative post about our dog, I posted yesterday, I deleted it. She takes off so many times when the door is left open. It's been frustrating hunting her down for the past week, and then she disappeared for 28 hours. I truly needed today to rest. God forgive me.

Before I go, I have to tattle on Thumbody, who mistook sunscreen for hand soap this afternoon, and squirted it all over himself, and the bathroom counter, while I was cleaning up the family room. It's just another day in paradise!

MORE PHOTOS FROM OUR FIELD TRIP TO THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

2009-04-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

TRUTHSEEKER PAINTING BEAUTIFUL PICTURES ON THE HUGE GLASS WINDOW. THEY ACTUALLY GET TO SQUIGEE IT OFF WHEN THEY'RE DONE.

TRUTHSEEKER PLAYING A HUGE GAME OF CHESS. CHECK-MATE!!!

THUMBODY PLAYING TRUTHSEEKER IN A HUGE GAME OF CHESS.

AVANTI'S PIZZA ANYONE? IF YOU EVER GET TO BLOOMINGTON, IL ... YOU MUST TRY AVANTI'S PIZZA AND BREAD! YUMMO!!!

YOU DIDN'T THINK THAT WE JUST PLAYED ALL DAY, DID YOU? THUMBODY IS RACING A SKELETON ON THIS ELIPTICAL BIKE. I THINK THAT THE SKELETON WAS WINNING :)

HOMESCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM

2009-04-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Our little homeschool group that gets together every Friday, rain or shine.

Scott had off of work this particular day, so he came with us. He and Truthseeker are having fun at the computers.

Thumbody enjoyed making his own pizza. He loved playing in this area so much, that we ended up purchasing him the pizza on the right. It's a Melissa & Doug set, in case you are wondering. I just love Melissa & Doug toys. I guess that's why we own so many of them (grin).

Everyone had such a blast at the water table. What could be more fun than playing in water?

Of course, Thumbody couldn't leave with playing with the Lego table. This is by far his favorite past-time.

I will post more photos later of this fun field trip with the kids. Happy Easter!

Missing Teeth!

2009-03-30T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last July, Truthseeker lost his first tooth, at age 6.

Okay, well this photo should be last, but oh well. This photo was taken a couple weeks ago, Truthseeker has finally lost 5 teeth, including his top two. Can you see the new teeth poking through? Age 7.

This picture was taken about a week before the one above it. Both top teeth are very loose. They both came out a day apart. I was glad to see them go. Every time he would talk, they would move and dangle. It was a pretty funny sight!

MORE PHOTOS FROM OUR FIELD TRIP

2009-03-28T09:44:00.001-07:00

Truthseeker was facinated by the snake. What little boys isn't?

Climbing the tree fort at the nature center.

Dipping fingers into the sweetwater for a taste.

Playing and exploring by the creek.

The kids and I counted the rings on this tree stump to see how old the tree was. It's 120 years old.

Homeschool Field Trip to Sugar Grove Nature Center

2009-03-27T14:51:00.000-07:00

Our little nature study group.

Learning all about maple sirup and tapping trees. Yes, we got to taste the sweet water.

Looking at, and feeling all the different nature objects on the touch and feel table.

The boys play a conservation game inside the nature center.

Thumbody and his friend Tom :)

TOP O' THE MORNIN' TO YA!

2009-03-17T13:57:00.001-07:00

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY!

So it's not morning any more, but my wishes come with great Irish joy and enthusiasm. I am told that our family heritage is Celtic, not Irish, but none-the-less we celebrate this holiday annually in our home.

The planning of the festivities began last night as I cut out gold coins to hide with little St. Patrick's Day stickers and tattoos taped to the back of each coin. Scott hid the coins around the house late last night, so the kids could hunt for them this morning. I also printed out the gold coin box so the kids could have something to put their gold coins in. This box was taped together by yours truly late last night, and a nifty pair of shamrock glasses were placed a-top each box waiting for their arrival to the table this morning. All these neat little St. Patrick's Day goodies were downloaded, for free, from this fabulous website linked below. They have neat things to download for every holiday of the year, and other old fashioned paper toys as well.

http://www.thetoymaker.com/TOYLISTNEWSLETTERS/1TMNews0309.html

So this morning the kids awoke before us. They were so excited that the leprechaun had come and left gold coins for them to find. This was the first activity of the day, even before breakfast was served.

What did we have for breakfast, you ask? Why the traditional Irish breakfast of Lucky Charms, of course.

After breakfast I put the corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes in the crock pot to cook all day, and then it was off to read the kids an Irish Tale of leprechaun trickery. We then played a few games of Irish memory cards also printed from the website above.

After the games had ended, I sent the kids outside to play in the backyard while I took a quick shower. Scott was home supervising the kids outside. After my shower, we got down to the business of our regular school day, with math, reading, history, etc...

At around noon Scott went and got his mom, brother, and uncle to come for our Irish feast. It should be done by 5 p.m. and then I will take them home. Scott had to work tonight, and had to leave by 1 p.m. It doesn't matter, he doesn't like corned beef and cabbage anyway.

Soon after his mom arrived, I put her to work making a chocolate cake for dessert tonight using my new stand mixer I got for our anniversary in February. I just love it!

For lunch we had a non-traditional Irish meal of ham and cheese sandwiches, avocado, chips, and a fresh fruit salad of green grapes, strawberries, and bananas.

We are now done with school for the day, I am relaxing at the computer, and finally getting to update my blog once again.

Wishing you a great St. Patrick's Day! By the way, the photo in my heading above is from last year's St. Patty's Day celebration 2008.

Artistic Talent- Dry Brushing Technique

2009-03-11T14:03:00.001-07:00

The boys used a dry brushing technique on their nature study paintings this morning. I thought that they were so talented that I chose to frame their artwork and hang them on the walls in our home. What home doesn't need to be filled with great artwork?
Truthseeker's rendition of a Canada Goose, and a Crocus.

Skaterboy's is titled: Canada Goose in Flight. Thought you might like these.

God's path to righteousness

2009-03-06T14:05:00.000-08:00

I mentioned to you in my last blog post that I was planning to reveal what I have learned thus far on my path to righteousness. This began last Summer, or probably way before that, but I didn't notice a change occurring until then. I guess I will start from there.

I guess this all came to a head during the Winter of 2008. I'm not sure whether it was January or February, but none-the-less it was Winter. I remember feeling like I was in a rut. A huge rut. Scott had been working at the same job for years, I was homeschooling the kids, I was burnt out from volunteering too much at church, and other organizations that I felt obligated to help with, and my house always seemed to be a mess. I was yelling at the kids, the kids were yelling at me, and Scott was yelling at everyone. We were miserable souls. I remember thinking on this cold and bleak afternoon, that nothing would ever change. We would remain this way forever. I remember calling up to God for help, but not even certain that He was listening. Life was the pits.

Spring forward into May 2008. Skaterboy was graduating 8th grade soon, and feeling obligated to have a celebration for him, because all his friends were celebrating, soon became a reality. I invited mostly friends and family to this event, not even considering adding the local homeschool group to attend. Before I knew it, I was hosting our local homeschool 8th grade graduation in our backyard. How this happened is beyond reason. All of a sudden I was ordering tasseled key chains with '07 printed on them, and printing out personalized diplomas for a number of families that wanted to attend. Little did I know that it was in God's plan for that party to take place at our home that sunny May afternoon.

One of the families who wanted to come to the graduation, I had never met before. They were newer to our community, and had a boy about Skaterboy's age who would be graduating 8th grade. When they got here, it was only the son and mom who came. They said that their daughter had been in the hospital for quite some time, and just so happened to be able to come home the day before the party, so the father was home with her. The mom had thought about not even coming to the party, but wanted to do it for her son.

Them being at the party at that time had no significance to me. I was happy they were here, and everyone seemed to have a great time. After the party, everyone left, and life went on as usual.

Little did I know that this family would become so near and dear to our hearts in the coming months. Soon after the party we began looking for a different church. The size of our church had grown considerably, and there were some problems that we began to see, that we just didn't feel comfortable with. We started trying different churches in town. Scott was not into this. He felt comfortable at our old church, and didn't feel a need to change. I was adamant that we must find a different church. After being disappointed with some of the local churches we visited, I digressed that we would never find a church family that we could feel a part of. I remember on one particular Sunday, after visiting a church we chose to check off our list, sat down at the computer and googled "churches in ..........., IL." Well there were a number of churches listed, some we had already tried, and very few websites. So I chose the first one with a website. I clicked on it, and up popped a photo of a nice church, the hours, and the pastor's name, etc... As I skimmed through the information, I recognized the pastor's last name being the same as the lady and son who attended our homeschool graduation a few weeks back. Under the pastor's name it said "family blog" , so of course I had to find out if it was them. Sure enough, it was them. I noticed on their family blog that the wife had written a book that was downloadable from their website. Of course I had to read that too. It took 12 hours to read, but I read it, on-line, without printing it out. It was very good. This confirmed my decision that this church must be next on our list.

So the following Sunday, we attended church there. It had a small congregation, just what we were looking for, and more teenagers, than I could have ever hoped for. There were potlucks scheduled, and a camping trip at a nearby campground. It seemed like we had found our family church, and everything finally felt like things were going right for once. I started reading Edith Schaeffer's book The Hidden Art of Homemaking,
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hidden-Art-of-Homemaking-by-Edith-Schaeffer-1985_W0QQitemZ190290257940QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item190290257940&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

I had purchased it on ebay some time before, and it inspired me to basically clean up my act, and my house. Things were good.

Fast forward to late October 2008. Things were still going good, and our lady's group at church decided to start a new bible study by Beth Moore called Breaking Free. http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=beth+moore+-+breaking+free&tag=yahhyd-20&index=stripbooks&hvadid=42582012011&ref=pd_sl_4yp15vrmnt_b

Little did I know the impact that this bible study would have on my life. This was also in God's plan, but I didn't know it yet. As I daily went through this bible study course, I began to learn many things about my life, and how my sins, generation sins, and other people's sins, have effected my life. The best part was that at the end of this bible study I could be free. Free from the bondage that had kept me prisoner for years. It was true freedom I felt, and nothing could disrupt that, or so I thought. I felt closer to God than I had felt in a very long time, and I was actually enjoying my bible reading every day, and planned to continue my reading as time went by.

Well, as most people know, Satan hates when we are no longer in bondage, and he whammed us harder than we had ever been hit before. I am talking smacked, pummeled, beat-up, spit us out, and continued to do it over and over again. I thought that it would never end. But we remained steadfast. Shaky, but steadfast.

In November alone, our washer broke, our dryer died, our van broke down, our microwave died,
our computer had to be taken in a number of times, as did Matt's laptop. We were running on empty. It was downright ridiculous all the things that were breaking down, but I remained steadfast. Shaky, but steadfast. Then WHAM....the biggest one hit!!! Scott called one cold and snowing morning in mid December, and said that the company he had worked for for 10 years was closing down in 3 weeks. Okay... I have to admit that I panicked. I got off the phone and just cried. I felt defeated. I was angry. Why had God allowed Satan to do this to us, after I had worked so hard to be faithful to him. Then immediately I felt ashamed and completely unworthy of any grace that He gave me, because I was so undeserving. I was completely numb. Then God himself gave me a peace that I cannot comprehend, that this was all in His plan, and things would be alright. I did some figuring on paper, and felt secure that things would be alright. Surely Scott would find a job soon, and we could live on unemployment for at least 6 months, and our tax return, if we needed to.

It was great having him home at Christmas. The kids enjoyed every bit of it, as did I. It was a wonderful Christmas, although we were more careful than most years not to over do it. Little did I know that this would probably one of the few Christmases for years, that he would have off work to be with us.

The day after Christmas, I started to feel sick. My stomach hurt unbearably. I could hardly eat anything. I was miserable. I remembered that I was supposed to have an upper endoscopy back in July, but dismissed the appointment, because of other things that came up, and I felt well. So Scott ended up taking me into the ER. Long story short, I was very worried that I had esophageal cancer. Don't ask me why, because you know the answer. I got on the web, and did some symptom searching, and found some blogs. Oh, you don't want to know the rest. All I can say is, bad idea. So I was so worked up, when they scheduled the endoscopy, sure that my life was entirely over, and even to the point of wondering where my kids would go, it was bad... real bad.

Anyway, I had my endoscopy in late January, and everything turned out fine. Better than fine. The Barret's esophagus that I had had for 7 years prior, was gone, completely gone. Praise God!!!
Being that it was January, and January is the most depressing month of the year, I began to despair about Scott's job. He had been applying at places, but no one was hiring. I was starting to worry a lot, and stress a lot about the situation. I was trying not to, for Scott's sake, but unfortunately that was easier said than done. It seemed hopeless, and the future seemed pretty bleak. Luckily, our bills were still getting paid on-time, because we had gotten our tax return back, and Scott was getting unemployment. This made things easier to digest, but an uncertain future feels..... well, unsettling.

Then, about a month ago, a man from our "tiny" church asked Scott if he was interested in security work. Scott told him that he had worked security for many years, but it didn't pay well. The man asked what companies Scott had worked security for, and Scott told him. The man told him that his company bought out the last firm that Scott had worked for. He then asked how much Scott needed to make. Scott told him, and the guy started laughing, saying that since 911 they were paying security officers much higher, little did we know how much higher. The man told Scott if he was interested that he should go into his office the next day, and fill out an application. When Scott got there the next day, he was all ready for him with a few client interviews. One was at a low income apartment complex in a larger city near here, that seemed kind of unsafe to me, and the other was at the hospital. He interviewed for both, and praise God, he got the job at the hospital. The Lt. at the hospital that hired him, was very impressed with Scott's record, and background, and best of all, Scott loves his job. He loves it!
He will have to work many weekends and holidays, but I'm okay with that. He is much happier than I have ever seen him in quite a few years.

For Valentine's Day (our wedding anniversary) we watched Fireproof at our church with a group of other couples. What a wonderful movie. It has totally inspired me to give our marriage more attention than I have been giving it. It's so hard sometimes when you have kids; because you sometimes forget that you have another life with another person. At least I had forgotten.
So, now I am working on that, and other things too.

In closing, I want to ask you a question. Do you see a profound path here, in the story I have just told you above? I do. I see a clear path, a road in which God is leading me and my family on. I don't know where this path will go, but I do know that it's headed for an eternal place where we can finally find peace and happiness once and for all. It's the only place that we can see God, and know what righteousness really means.

Simple Women's Daybook -- February 22, 2009

2009-02-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 22
Simple Women's Day book -- February 22, 2009

FOR TODAY . . .

Outside my window. . . Sunny and cold. No snow/frost on the van.

I am thinking. . . That life is finally getting back to "normal" again.

I am thankful for. . . Scott has a new job!!! Can I hear an A-MEN! It just goes to prove the old adage that it's not what you know, but who you know that matters most in some cases. I will give you the short version of how this all came about.

Our church consists of about 50 regular members (including children). It's a very small, yet spirit filled congregation. We love our church. I have said this time and time again. It's a perfect fit for us. Anyway, after Scott's company closed in December, our whole congregation was praying for Scott and new employment.

In late December one of congregation members came up to Scott and offered him a job with his security firm, but Scott wasn't so sure he wanted to take it. Scott worked security for quite a few years after being in the Marines, and we both knew that it didn't pay very good. That is why Scott left his security job in the first place. The last time he worked security was back in 1997.
He loved the work, but we couldn't support a family on what they were paying him. It was all in God's plan though.

All through January and part of February, Scott continued to look for work. The economy is so bad, that most places are on hiring freezes right now, or they simply are not hiring. Now I'm sure he could have been hired in a restaurant or something, but he wanted to make at least what he was making when he left Babcock, and more than what he was getting on unemployment.

So anyway, after church one afternoon a few weeks back, Scott was talking to Rob (the security manager for this particular security firm) and Scott commented that he couldn't afford to go back to security work. Rob said, how much do you need to make? Scott told him, and Rob started laughing, saying that after 911 security firms are no longer paying their workers poorly. That he would be paid a considerable amount higher than what he was making before. Scott also found out that Rob's firm has bought out the last security firm that Scott had worked for in 1997, and that Scott's file was still in their office. Rob told Scott to come into the office the very next day, and would get him some client interviews. He interviewed at Memorial Hospital last week, and was hired the very next day. He will be working 4/ 12 hours shifts a week. He will be among 2 other hospital security guards, that are in charge of hospital security, monitoring the morgue, and checking people in and out of the morgue for autopsies. Helping with the Helli-pad, and other duties. It's such a great job, and Memorial Hospital is a great place to work, from what we hear. We have a friend who is the Director of the Radiology Dept. at the hospital, so Scott already knows someone who works there. I am really excited for him and for what this means for our family. Praise God!!! It has totally been a test of faith and trust for me. I will post about this journey I have been on, in a few days.

From the schoolroom. . . . Skaterboy: History: The study of Molly Pitcher; True facts about the Declaration of Independence. Geography: Revolutionary War Route; Spelling: Review for Spelling test tomorrow; Math: Continuing on with Algebraic equations and percentages; English: continuing on with the current chapter; Reading, Kidnapped by RLS. Science: Review for chapter test tomorrow. Free reading: a few books he picked up at the library last week.

Truthseeker: Reading: A Beka's Tiptoes (almost done with that one); Phonics: K-12 and A Beka lessons 40- 48 this week. Math: still working on Adding and Subtraction; Social Studies: Unit 6, Around the world, finish lesson by Friday. Spelling test tomorrow. God's World Science: Still studying our Magnet Unit.

Last Friday, I paid Skaterboy's annual tuition and testing fees for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year at Midwest Christian Academy. He will still be homeschooled next year, however this accredited school, will provide the curriculum, books, guidance counseling, and testing. Since Thumbody will be starting Pre-K next year, I feel that I need to turn HS over to someone else. I will still be his teacher, but I won't have to do any of the planning. It is very cut and dry. I may add some additional material (books) as I feel necessary. The Charlotte Mason philosophy that is instilled inside of me to the very core of my being, knows that "living" books are the key to "real" learning. We will be using "Higher Up and Further In's curriculum for Truthseeker and Thumbody next year. Thumbody will be year 0, and Truthseeker will be year 2. We will use other things as well. Probably a lot of A Beka, K-12, and Rod and Staff. Those seem to be my favorites, and work well with my children.

From the kitchen... Breakfast: Berry and banana smoothies with flax, banana nut muffins; Lunch: Ham and cheese sandwiches, crackers, and mandarin oranges; Supper: Chicken Caccatori with broccoli, and stuffed baked potatoes.

I am wearing. . . PJ's again. Does anyone else ever homeschool in pj's?

I am creating. . . I have a lot of catching up to do in this department. I am currently stitching a tapestry for our bedroom wall. Tropical scene by the sea, with a sailboat. Very tranquil. I am using colors to match our PB duvet cover.

On the home front.... Still haven't finished hanging the new bedroom door yet, but at least we know what to do now. We had to ask someone who does construction work at church, if we could saw a small portion of the door off at the bottom, and sand it, so it won't scrape the carpet. He said that we could.

I am going. . . No where today. What a blessing! We've been running around all weekend!

I am hearing. . .Nothing, this kind of scares me...

A few plans for the rest of the week. . . Nothing really, until Friday. We have our nature study group meeting at Cindy's on Friday at 10 a.m.; Saturday, Kaysha and I are attending a Charlotte Mason Homeschool Seminar in Bloomington, all day; Scott and the kids are going with the 4-H group to Sugar Grove Nature Center for their annual Maple Sirup Experience. I need to make sure I send the camera with Scott that day.

A photo I feel like sharing.... Our 3 Point Basketball Star!!! Skaterboy actually made a 3 pointer at the homeschool basketball game against the Home School Black Knights this past Saturday. I think Skaterboy was as shocked as the rest of the team. He ended up scoring 5 points for the team during the game. The Lincoln Home Educators team beat the Black Knights 59-27. They lost the first game. Our girls team was beaten both games, but the 2nd game they fought hard, and the ending score was very close.

One thing we found interesting, and somewhat strange, was that the other team seemed to be tripping our team members. It happened a good number of times. A few of their team members seemed to have poor attitudes during the final game, and there was some ball whipping out of anger shown. It surprised us that a homeschool team could show such poor spirit. This we feel was their downfall during the second game. There were quite a few personal fouls given for poor sportsmanship. We were very proud of our boys and girls and the good sportsmanship they portrayed, whether they won or lost.

Simple Women's Daybook -- February 19, 2009

2009-02-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Simple Woman's Day book - Thurs., Feb. 19

Simple Woman’s Day book ~

FOR TODAY . . .

Outside my window. . . Bright and sunny. No snow. Looks very much like Spring is right around the corner.

I am thinking. . . The path that God is leading us on. It seems to be following a consistent path of spiritual growth and learning to trust in Him. I will elaborate more on this, as I find out more myself.

I am thankful for. . . My test results from the endoscopy I had about a month ago. They called yesterday to confirm that there was no sign of anything other than acid reflux disease. Even my Beret's esophagus has gone away, which was a huge surprise to me since I didn't know that it could go away. As you can imagine, I was very excited to hear this.

From the schoolroom. . . . Skaterboy has been working diligently on his Early American History. He has recently done studies on The Boston Massacre, Paul Revere (the true story, not just the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) , Dr. Church, Benjamin Franklin, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In math he is currently working on algebraic equations involving percentages; In science he has been studying global warming, and the ozone. He is currently reading Kidnapped by Robert L. Stevenson, and in English he is just about to start a new chapter.

Truthseeker is toward the end of his "Tiptoes" (A Beka) reading book. He is currently working on adding and subtracting in math. In science he is currently studying magnets (God's World -- A Beka), in history and geography, he is just beginning a chapter on "Our Country and Beyond". He is doing well in spelling, and is quite the little artist in his nature study notebook.

Both kids are learning Latin.

From the kitchen... Breakfast: French toast; Lunch: PB&J's, carrot sticks, and Cheese-It crackers; Supper: Marinated sirloin steak in the crock pot with roasted root vegetables (sweet potato and carrots).

I am wearing. . . Dare I say that I am still in my pj's?

I am creating. . . Costumes for Saturday. A couple of homeschool friends are throwing a birthday party and we all have to dress up as our favorite classical storybook character. Can you guess who mine is? If you answered, Josephine March with a big patch on her booty, you are correct. Skaterboy hasn't decided on who he wants to be yet, Truthseeker chose Huckleberry Finn, Thumbody is going as Sherlock Holmes, and Scott is undecided, at this moment as well. I'm sure we will come up with something for everyone.

On the home front....Mostly home remodeling projects. Yesterday we began what we thought would be an easy job of installing a new bedroom door. We purchased a prehung one, so we thought how hard could that be? Well needless to say, we are still trying to get the darn door to sit right. Our house is not level, making the job more difficult than we first imagined it would be. If you have any ideas, please feel free to comment.

I am going. . . Skaterboy has basketball practice at noon; 4-H at 6:30; a trip to the grocery store, and to the library.

I am hearing. . .The spin cycle on the washing machine, the kids "getting along" in the living room. Wait... what did I say?

One of my favorite things. . . Some time to myself... Ahhh, the joy of it!

A few plans for the rest of the week. . . Field trip to the children's museum in Bloomington tomorrow morning with our nature study group, then onto Midwest Christian Academy to register Skaterboy for next year, and pay the annual tuition; Midnight madness crop at Cindy's house tomorrow night; Skaterboy's basketball game in Decatur on Saturday morning, then back home and off to a birthday party for 2 homeschool friends.

A photo I feel like sharing.... Don't you wish it were Summer? I have been longing for Summer lately.

Truthseeker in our backyard pool, 2008.

Monday, February 2, 2009

2009-02-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Simple Woman's Daybook - Mon., Feb. 2, 2009
Simple Woman’s Day book ~

FOR TODAY . . .

Outside my window. . . Happy Ground hog's Day! The weather has been nice today. Sunny and quite warm. Most of the snow that has accumulated over the past week, is melting.

I am thinking. . . About all the lost jobs here recently. The neighbor across the street was talking with Scott this morning, and told him that after 35 years of service to his company, they laid him off last week. We have another friend whose husband is working for Caterpillar, and wondering if after 20 years of service, he will be laid off soon. There simply are no jobs available right now anywhere it seems. Scott has been looking everywhere for work, but most places have a freeze on hiring right now. It doesn't look good. I am optimistic that we will survive, however. At least I am still working doing respite care in my home. So some additional income is coming in, and I just got a raise. Praise God!

I am thankful for. . . The peace that passes all understanding.

From the schoolroom. . . . Truthseeker learned all about groundhogs today, and put together a lap book about them. He predicted that the groundhog would see his shadow today, by reasoning that he could see his shadow, so therefore, the groundhog must be able to see his as well. I thought he was pretty smart to be able to reason that at 7. He was thrilled when he found out that he was correct in his prediction. Reading, math, and science, also planned for him. Social studies test tomorrow. For Skaterboy, History and geography research papers, algebra, science and English tests tomorrow.

From the kitchen... Breakfast: Cereal and toast for the kids; toast and mashed avocado for me. Lunch: Cheese pizza. Supper: Chicken salad wraps with left-over baked chicken from last night, coleslaw, roasted fries and fresh vegetables in olive oil, salt and pepper.

I am wearing. . . Black jeans, burgundy turtleneck, navy blue hoodie. I am barefoot.

I am creating. . . Last week was a nightmare, as far as my creativity was concerned. Not getting much in this area done lately. I am still hopeful, however. Still planning on sewing these for Samuel's birthday which was a few days ago. http://family-centered.com/needleworks/soft-baby-shoes/

I am going. . . Need to go grocery shopping. Mainly need to pick up some gummy candy for our big "gummy" basket the kids are creating for our 4-H auction and spaghetti dinner next Sunday afternoon. Meeting is tonight at 6:30 p.m. I have my respite care child until 6 p.m. tonight.

I am hoping. . . That it is in God's plan that Scott gets a great job soon. If not, we are prepared, as we are saving most of our tax refund, to live on this coming year, if and when his unemployment ends. We are living day to day. Hopeful that the president will come up with something new to help those unemployed.

I am hearing. . . The dryer, Scott putting things away in the kitchen, and Zach.

Around the house. . . Still trying to finish up our bedroom; the family room is in desperate need of rearranging; the kid's room need cleaning.
What I have done this past week: Gave a huge bag of baby things away to freecycle. org; dusted every nook and cranny in our living room; vacuumed every nook and cranny in our living room and hallway. Yes, down on hands and knees. I threw away a ton of old magazines that I was holding onto for no goof reason; did quite a few loads of laundry. Oh, and I've lost 10 lbs. probably due to stress and not eating last week, don't want to gain those back. I have a goal, but I'm not going to tell you about that yet.

One of my favorite things. . . Making lists, and actually checking things off.

A few plans for the rest of the week. . . Depositing checks; paying bills; planning for the rest of the week (menu, school, activities); Catching up on chores that need completing. Maybe some time to scrapbook and sew.

A photo I feel like sharing.... Some sewing projects I finished for Christmas this past year. Stitched felt ornaments for all. Truthseeker and Thumbody's ornaments were snowmen; Skaterboy's was a cup of hot cocoa. The last photo is of pj bottoms I created out of old fleece baby blankets we had in a storage box. I am a big fan of recycling, and I wondered why I hadn't thought of sewing these sooner. The notion hit me, and I took off with it. There was enough material left over for many pairs of hats and mittens, as well, plus 2 other pairs of pj bottoms.

Praising God!

2009-01-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

This will be fairly short, but for those of you who have been praying for me and my family, I wanted to give you a short update.

My endoscopy went well today. They only found that I have esophagitis, gastritis, and a possible ulcer.

Thumbody is doing well, but still is unable to bend over. We were told that it could take up to 30 days for healing to occur.

We received a huge blessing yesterday, when Skaterboy received a huge bag of teenage clothing jus this size from Freecycle.org. I can't say enough great things about this organization. It's for anyone and everyone with things they are looking for and things they have to give away. There is one in most every city in the country. You sign up in your local area. It is a yahoo group, but one of my favorites.

Nana Banana... Our Weenie... Happy Birthday 2 year old!

2009-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo I felt like sharing with you of our lovely dachshund Nana. She is 2 years old today. We are a one pet family, and she most certainly feels that she rules the roost. She is very determined and somewhat vindictive. For example, if she is kenneled for longer than she would like to be, she will walk right in front of you (after being let out to go potty) and look you straight in the eyes and pee on the rug. She insists that the sofa is the only place (her royal highness) deserves to be laying, unless it is on top of me, which is her favorite spot for some reason. Maybe she understands that we are both hormonal, and the only females, and that we must stick together. I never thought that my only daughter would be a dog, but you get what you get. It's a love/hate relationship.

God's Mercy and Provisions

2009-01-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, I will be the first to admit that I haven't been a grateful servant lately. I've basically been a wreck. 2 more days until my endoscopy. Still very nervous and uneasy this time around. New doctor, different hospital, added to the fact that I haven't been feeling well lately. God has been merciful though.

Some of you may not have heard that 2 short days ago, while sledding with our church, Truthseeker and Thumbody had an accident. They hit a tree. Very scary for mom and those around them. Truthseeker supposedly was knocked out for a few seconds, and Thumbody had bit his lip, but took the brunt of the hit, as he was in front. I was at the top of the hill when the accident occurred at the bottom. Luckily some people from church were at the bottom of the hill to assist in their care, while I tried my best to carefully walk down the hill as fast as I could. I thought about grabbing another sled, but then thought that with my luck, that I would hit a tree as well. I also thought about sliding on my backside all the way down, but I had a long coat on, and thought that might make me go even slower, so I opted to walk. One of our church members pulled Thumbody on a sled back to our van, and Truthseeker insisted he wanted to stay and sled some more. It was such a long haul back to the van, in heavy boots, that I thought that I would either pass out, or throw up, by the time I got there. Luckily a dear friend was with Thumbody until I got there. Thumbody is a tough kid, and has taken many rough and tumble hits in his short 4 years, but something didn't look right when I got to the van. I chatted with my friend for a few minutes, about his condition, and decided that I would not wait for Scott to get back to the van, and that I was taking him to the ER. I told my friend to tell Scott to get Truthseeker, so we could have him checked out as well. The ER was busier than usual, and we were forced to stay in the hallway. They took x-rays of both boys, and gave Thumbody a shot of morphine to help with the pain. The doctor looked at the x-rays and said they looked okay, and sent us home. Truthseeker was back to normal shortly after returning home, but Thumbody didn't appear to be okay. I was worried something more was wrong, but I chalked it up to being a worried mom. The next morning Truthseeker had a dental appt., and on our way back from the dentist, the ER called us and told us to go straight to his pediatrician, because Thumbody needed an MRI. Apparently the radiologist had looked at the films and saw a compound fracture of the lower spine. Panic struck me as we drove to the hospital. During this time, Thumbody appeared to be a normal 4 yo. aside from complaining that his back hurt. We got into his doctor right away, and she sent us across to the hospital for the MRI. I hate their MRI machine. It's enclosed, and the last time I had an MRI I requested the other hospital in town, as they have an open one. The enclosed one felt like a coffin, and I could barely stand the banging sound, even with the headphones and music. So I wondered how they expected a 4 yo. to lay still for 30 minutes, when an adult (me) can't stand it herself. To my surprise and delight, they told me that they played cartoons for kids to watch during their MRI's, so Thumbody watched Spongebob during his MRI. He came out of it unscathed.

They called us on the way home from the MRI to say that he does have a very slight compound fracture, but most of his pain is due to swelling and bruising around the general area of the boo-boo. He is not to run or jump around for awhile, and they said that it should heal just fine.

I am so thankful to our merciful Savior for protecting my little boys in an accident that could have been much worse, or even fatal. I know that I have been rebelling lately, and trying to cope and figure things out on my own, and I know that He will provide and take care of us. I just need to trust in Him. I struggle with trust so very much. I need to just let go, and let Him do his job. Please pray for me, that I can do that. Thanks :)

My Taxes are Filed!

2009-01-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

I am finally done, and it took all of 45 minutes to complete. Both federal and state. Now most people I know dread tax season. Scott and I love it. We always get a hefty refund, and this year (thank God, under the circumstances) our refund is $3,000 more than last year. It is a blessing during a hard time, and we plan to use it wisely, and cautiously. So in 7-10 days they both should be direct deposited into our bank account. I know our world of technology is somewhat out of control, but the joy of being able to do your own taxes online in 45 minutes and receive your refund in 1 week, is still an amazing thought to me. So blessings to you all, and hoping that you too receive a great big refund.