December 1, 2007

Twas the month before Christmas

*Twas the month before Christmas**

**When all through our land,
**Not a Christian was praying
**Nor taking a stand.
**See the PC Police had taken away,
**The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
**The children were told by their schools not to sing,
**About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
**It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
** December 25th is just a "Holiday".
* *Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
**Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
**CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
**Something was changing, something quite odd!
**Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
**In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
**As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
** At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
**At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
**You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
**Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-is-ty
**Are words that were used to intimidate me
**Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
**On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
**At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
**To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
**And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
** Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
**The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
**The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
**So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
**Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
**Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
**Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!*

November 16, 2007

14 days of homeschool

THE 14 DAYS OF HOMESCHOOL written by a homeschool mom and her kids*(Sing this to the tune of "THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS")*

On the first day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Can you home school legally?"

On the second day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you home school legally?"

On the third day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"

On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E.,do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"

On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE!What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "How long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests,are they socialized, can you home school legally?"

On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you home school legally?"

On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you home school legally?"

On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests,are they socialized, do you home school legally?"

On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E.,do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"

On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, lookat what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE,what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will youhomeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we'll home school legally."

November 6, 2007

What is wrong with me!

It is almost holiday time....
I just can't get started. :(

I have some things for Thansgiving. We have the turkey in the freezer, some boxed stuffing and one visitor coming. I have been looking through a ton of cookbooks trying to come up with more options for dinner but nothing is catching my eye. It is hard to think of what, to me, should be a huge dinner with friends and family when our dinner (and all hoildays) is just me, hubby and the 3 children. Sometimes we have a visitor for the day but nothing like when I was growing up.

Hubby is missing his family something aweful. They are 2000 miles away and none of us have the time or money to visit. My mom comes but just for the day and usually she is just here for the dinner and a short visit.

I miss the old days.
I miss the huge meals that lasted hours because everyone was talking and laughing and sharing so much they were forgetting to eat! I miss the aunts, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins and grandparents all gathering from far away to celebrate making it through another year. I miss my Granny's cooking. I was 12 when she died and I have very few memories of her but I can still smell her homemade pies. I miss Grampa's stories about the 'good ol'days' and playing harmonica while we kids screamed 'make the train sound!' and he would...and it sounded so real. Playing cards all night and snacking on anything that had not been put away yet. Could that have really been almost 20 yrs ago?! It still seems like yesterday.

I am crying now typing this.
I want my children to have that. I want those memories for them to have when they are grown. But family is far away or too busy in their own world to slow down and for a few days stop what they are doing and just be a FAMILY. A big extended loud happy family.

I almost hate this time of year. Christmas will be the same. Just a quick meal and visit and then it is over. Over before it started.

Time to try and make our own memories. This is my family. The 5 of us. Time for new traditions! Time to make this our time of year instead of living in the past. We are talking about going on a vacation instead of having Christmas. Maybe making a tradition of going somewhere for that week just to get away and relax. The thought of no tree in the living room window makes me sad. Can I give that up? I don't know.

Times are changing and I need to get with it.

October 16, 2007

My hubby's the BEST!

My Husband is the best because-
He is better looking now than when I married him and he was HOT then
He eats what is served and never complains
He loves our children
He loves me!
I can talk to him about anything
He always encourages me when I get down on myself or if someone else says something hurtful to me..he is my #1 fan!
He brings me treats and makes me meals in bed when he thinks I need to rest or just because
I enjoy being with him more than any other person on the planet
He always cleans stomach messes
He thinks that I am the best mom in the world
He works everyday at his job so that we can have a nice home and plenty to eat
He is a giant Teddy Bear
He supports my visions, dreams, hopes
He is nice
His genetics (along with mine) have made some pretty good looking children!
He moves furniture for me!
He loves me through my craziness
My husband cares deeply about the children, and wants to provide a good life for them
He lets me homeschool
He doesn't take the kids trick-or-treating even though he would like to because I'm not comfortable with it
My husband can fix/do ANYTHING around the house
He will fix dinner if need be
He loves me!
He's got *the* best blue eyes!
He hugs me everyday when he comes in from work
He is a good provider
He will never leave me or give up on me
He adores me and would do anything to make me happy
He is very attractive, physically and emotionally
He is a strong leader for our family, and handles well the responsibility of making the tough decisions
He goes to work every morning
He comes home every night
He brings home the paycheck
He talks to me about what interests him (even though there are times when my eyes glaze over I'm sure)
He can be persuaded go shopping once in a blue moon
He loves me!
He desires me (stretch marks and all!)
He compliments me
He works hard for us every day
He does all the finances
He turns a blind eye to the messy house
He wants me to be with him and play games or watch movies with him
He doesn't mind that I don't get up in the mornings with him
He lets me have friends over or go to friend's houses
He gets up every single day, sick or not and goes to work
He gives me the privelege of staying at home, instead of going outside the home to work
He ALWAYS listens to my opinion (he might not agree or change his mind, but he listens)
He doesn't want me to be someone else's idea of a 'submissive' wife. He wants me to be 'me' and do it 'our' way. He does want me to submit, but he also doesn't want me to change who I am.
He loves me more than life itself and proves it daily with every single thing he does.
He is wonderful to share a bed and a life with
He provides for us with so much love!
He loves me, during the good times, but also the bad
He's sacrificed his wants and desires to put our family first
He is happy to take me out to eat just b/c _______
He rarely loses his temper with me, and only after I've really pushed him, so it is usually only if provoked
He is very good at maintaining me, because I am high maintenance
He always lets me have the "bigger half" of anything
He maintains our vehicles
He enjoys the outdoors, and spending time out in nature
He's always warm and I'm always cold
He gives me directions when I'm lost
He's always going along with my "plan" for the weekend
He fixes plugged drains and clogged toilets even if they have nasty things in them!
The only thing he requires of me, is that I'm happy and loving. The house can be a mess, I don't have to cook a single meal, the kids can be in their jammies all day, and he doesn't even notice or at least he never says so out loud!
He's happiest when the kids and I happy. He says so often "I love to make you happy".
And best of all he's all mine!!!
I'm so thankful for the wonderful husband that God has blessed me with. I'm so undeserving.

Grace lesson

every now and then I get an email too good to not post-

enjoy

I left work early so I could have some uninterrupted study time right before the
final in my Youth Issues class. When I got to class, everybody was doing their
last minute studying. The teacher came in and said he would review with us
for just a little bit before the test. We went through the review, most of it right
on the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that I had
never heard of. When questioned about it, he said that they were in the book
and we were responsible for everything in the book. We couldn't really argue
with that. Finally it was time to take the test. "Leave them face down on the desk until everyone has one and I'll tell you to
start," our prof instructed.When we turned them over, every answer on the test was filled in! The bottom
of the last page said the following: "This is the end of the Final Exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an 'A' on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because
the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this
test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced...grAce." He then went around the room and asked each student individually, "What is your grade? Do you deserve the grade you are receiving? How much did all your studying for this exam help you achieve your final grade?" Now I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to fight back
tears when answering those questions and thinking about how the Creator has passed the test for me. Discussion afterward went like this: "I have tried to teach you all semester that
you are a recipient of grace. I've tried to communicate to you that you need to demonstrate this gift as you work with young people. Don't hammer them; they
are not the enemy. Help them, for they will carry on your ministry if it is full of GRACE!" Talking about how some of us had probably studied hours and some just a few minutes but had all received the same grade, he pointed to a story Jesus told in Matthew 20. The owner of a vineyard hired people to work in his field and agreed to pay them a certain amount. Several different times during the day, he hired more workers. When it was time to pay them, they all received the same amount. When the ones who had been hired first thing in the morning began complaining, the boss said, "Should you be angry because I am kind?" (Matthew 20:15). The teacher said he had never done this kind of final before and probably would never do it again, but because of the content of many of our class discussions, he felt like we needed to experience grace. Have you thanked your Creator today because of the grace you've experienced?

October 9, 2007

NO MORE PARKS!

NO More parks EVER!
last time we went to a park my son got into fire ants and had 40+ bites on his feet.so yesterday we go back to said park to throw our oldest daughter a suprise birthday! yeah! party party party with the hs group. ate lots. talked lots! fun timesthen as we are wrapping it up ds goes over where the big boys are having a swinging contest. my mom tells me he will get hit being over there.before I can move he walks behind the boys. mom yells at him to move. so he stops and turns to her. and BOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!! he is hit by a big boy going very fast! the swing/bottom hits him in the base of the skull sending him flying 2ft into the air. he lands on his head and his body bends back over his head. he falls hard onto the ground not moving.mom gets there before me and grabs him. he whimpers. I pick him up and he gives a good cry and falls back passed out. his face is bleeding, he looks like ground hamburger. I shake him gently as I try to get him up to my body (he was fallin back away from me) and he wakes and cries. the hs moms try to clean him up but he is screaming at them. his face is swellingI called dh and said we are going to the ER. in the car ds passes out and I can't wake him. stop and dh meets us and he calls 911.ambulance takes us to ER. ds is still out but opens his eyes a bit if he is pushed. 2 hrs he is passed out!head ct-scan. NORMAL!!!!! (minus a sinus infection)they never bother to check the rest of him.sent home. 5 hrs of wasted timetoday he is bruised. his foot is swollen. he is very aggressive and biting/hitting. NOT normal. see his dr. she looks him over and sends us for more x-rays. she can hear a 'wet' noise in his lungs. great.oh, and the dr just called and scheduled him for his adnoids/tonsils to come out Oct 26th. I told them he was sick. the nurse said he was still going on the books. if still sick on the 24th pre-op check we can reschedule.*THAT* is the weekend hubby and I are to go camping/off roading ALONE. he is mad.and hubby calls today. he thinks he has a groin hernia. great. he either coughed too much or got it at the park yesterday helping me.argh!!!!!

September 4, 2007

crazy week!

and that is why I have not posted.

We had a roller coaster couple of days when hubby thought about putting the girls back into public school and then changing his mind AFTER we had put them back in.
The girls are home now and settling into the new stricter routine. I still need to get it down on paper and post it so I have some accountability.
Hubby started his final year of school tonight. He already has his Electrician's Journeyman license but he feels that finishing school will help him get a job if we choose to leave TX. He says some states don't accept TX license requirements but they do accept his degree from a national college so he won't have to go back and prove himself. Hopefully this will make us one step closer to moving to the mountains and having our dream home.

Well, it is late and I need to get the toddler in bed before hubby gets home. Lately the lil monster thinks midnight or later is his bedtime and I am getting to be one worn out mama! He knows just when Daddy goes to sleep and that is his cue to get up and start going through drawers or crying to get into our bed. It is too cute! shh don't tell anyone I think that!

August 25, 2007

HS- take 2

day 2-
Tonight hubby sat down again and started downloading the 'patch' and using the instructions. He has installed and uninstalled RC more times than I can count!

Still having the same problems.
After reading the RC site it looks like we will need to buy the upgraded version to fix our problem. So that is another $50 and a wait of 2-3 wks for the new cd to get here.

Looks like we are just drilling the math facts until then. I do have some of the books the girls are supposed to read (MUCH later). Guess I will get the oldest started on the 'LIttle Women' series. I hate working out of order.

August 24, 2007

more changes

Last night I got sick of my naturally frizzy hair so I went to my hairdresser and had her straighten it! Oh the joy! I can run my fingers thru it! I did not have to get up and spend an hour curling it only to have it PUFF on me an hour later!!! I love it! I just hope it stays so easy and straight as I have had it done before and 3 days later it was puffy again. We will see.
I may post a pic if I can figure out how

And today I quit babysitting!
Last night hubby told me I had to quit babysitting NOW after he came home and saw the bite mark left on our son by the 2yrob I was watching. Yesterday the boy bit our son twice, oldest twice, his brother twice, and then tried to choke my 3 and hit/push everyone.He had problems with biting before but I could put him in time out (only thing his parents allow as punishment) and he would stop. Yesterday he was not stopping anything even with me sitting there. Time outs don't work for him and seemed to make him madder. All I heard was him yelling "NO!" when I tried to stop him or put him down for a nap.I had told the mom this yesterday and she was like 'put liquid soap in his mouth if he bites or says 'NO' again" LIQUID SOAP!!!? she said she puts in a "whole pump" of the stuff and that he fights her but she does it and he does not spit it out! I told hubby and he said I would not be doing that cause what if something happened after all soap is nasty chemicals and if he is not spitting it he could inhale. It would be my fault if something happened. That is when he said to quit.I have been wanting to stop babysitting for a week or so and did not have the nerve to call the mom and say so.But I did it! I just told her hubby is NOT happy that my not even 2 yro son has teeth marks and bruises were he was bit. She was not happy but claims she understands. She also says her son left pants here but I have not found them.such a relief! one less hassle to deal with during homeschool!! but now I get to tear apart my house looking for shorts that I never saw him wearing

a good child rearing website

www.raiseyourkidsright.com

this is an awesome site!
check it out

August 23, 2007

HS- take 1

day 1-
I got out my new Robinson Curriculum cds and set out to install the program and officially kick off our first year of homeschool. then I ran into trouble. I had bought the curriculum 2nd hand and there were no instructions on how to get started. I email my RC yahoo group and find out Windows XP has a 'glitch' and I must get a 'patch' and someone sent me the instructions.

3 hrs of trying to get it to work and still nothing!

it is official!

We have to upgrade in order for my RC Cd's to work. Oh well, life goes on! I have some books for them to read and I got my Saxon math book 54 yesterday! DD1 wants to start in it but she needs to learn division and multiplication. We are using Hooked On Phonics for dd2 and she is progressing really well. I am pleasantly surprised at how well one can learn to read on their own!! The Cd's make it so easy for her that she is learning to read about 10 new words a day...far more than when she was in PS!! Praise the Lord for home-school!
Hubby is now working his 12+ hr days 7 days a week. It is weird to not have him home 'on time' every afternoon. I am trying to make sure we are eating dinner together as a family but it is getting harder and harder. He never knows when he will walk in the door at night and it is hard making the toddler wait that long. He is not upset if we eat without him but I want to have as much family time as we can. Looks like I need to rearrange my schedule during the day so it does not seem like we are eating so late. He also wants us to do things when he gets home but bless his heart he falls asleep when he sits down after his shower. The hours and the heat are really getting to him.
Today we are going to try and get the whole house clean and some more dinners made and in the freezer to make the work week a bit easier. I am thinking I need to go thru the girls' clothes as we bought new skirt hangers yesterday and we used all 24 and they still have more in the laundry! I am not sure how their closet is going to hold everything. I hate to get rid of anything as they can still wear all of it and everything will go well into winter if we add some tights and a few turtle necks.
Praising the Lord for His provisions as we want for nothing.

changes

Life is full of them. Some good. Some bad. Most are never what you thought they would be and certainly never expect!

This week has brought some changes to our home!

We have started homeschooling full time. We are preparing to pull the girls from public school next week with the official letters to the state and local school district. My oldest daughter has started reading "Little Women" and "Narnia". She is already done with the first "Narnia" book and moving rapidly thru the 2nd book. She is struggling a bit with the words in "Little Women" and finding it a bit boring. I have promised her that once she reads most of it I will rent the DVD and let her watch it. Maybe that will help her with the manner of speech of the 1800s.

Hubby has more work than he can do with is job thanks to a re-ordering of the company. Which is good and bad. The good is he is working massive amounts of overtime so the paychecks are nice. We will be able to finish up remodeling our home after all from the looks of things!! But of course so much overtime means he is not home but to eat and sleep and we are missing him dearly. The new stress of added jobs that the other workers left unfinished is starting to weigh heavily on his shoulders. Right now there is too much work and not enough men to cover it and this time of year hiring new help is hard to come by. We are praising God for once again providing for us!!

With starting school and soon 4H I have decided to declutter in a huge way. The children and myself are finding it hard to stay on task with school when there are piles that must be moved just to use the table, or laundry needing done, or biggest of all tons of toys cluttering the floor making it nearly impossible to walk without tripping and someone getting hurt. We have been talking for years about simplifying life. Getting down to the basics of what we 'need' instead of what we 'want' or think we need. It will be hardest on the kids as they are pack rats with enough toys for a dozen children crammed into their rooms. But I confess to owning things for the kitchen or for those formal dinners that I might someday have but in all honesty the things have not seen the light of day except when we packed for a move. I know there will be big objections on somethings as some see them as keepsakes or too valuable to get rid of. What is the value of things though when they are just taking up space, never used for fear of breaking them, or for 'someday when...' and someday never comes. It is time to stop hording up treasures on earth. Our excess it someone else's need.

But ask anyone here and the biggest change this week is with our toddler! We have always had issues with trying to get our children to go to bed as toddlers. With the girls hubby spent hours sitting by their beds until after a few months they could drift off to sleep on their own. Not something we were looking forward to with our son. Then a few nights ago he was very upset and crying because he had missed his daily nap and causing quite a scene. Without thinking I said "go to bed" and to hubby's and mine surprise he did! He went into our room and crawled into his bed, arranged his toys and covered up. Within minutes he was fast asleep! Since that night he has been easier to get to bed and we are hoping it continues. Time will tell.

We will be starting a new schedule come next week. I must get more organized if I am to home-school the children and get the house running properly. We need to be able to be on the go at a moments notice and be flexible enough to have late dinners if hubby's work schedule does not slow down.

I will probably post my schedule and ask for feed back as I am not very good at keeping on task.
Pin It

FRIENDS and FAMILY

This widget will be deleted SOON. please see new followers button ABOVE

Words of Faith

"O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." Isaiah 25:1

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" -Matthew 6:27

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." Psalm 126:5