I've had a strange feeling all day today. A happy feeling, although I wasn't sure why. The words, "this is the day, this is the day, this is the day," kept running through my head.
I must admit, I knew what the voices were talking about, and for once they were right.

Needless to say I could just scream. Sadly, the rest of the house is soundly sleeping so I shall restrain myself till morning. Until then I shall grin, gaze lovingly at my purple progress bar, and feel like Queen.

For Today, Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Outside My Window...
Cold and sunny with a snow-covered ground.
I'm thinking...
We really need to increase our monthly support.
From the learning rooms...
The older girls are getting so much better at doing their work on their own. I have to be more diligent to check their work and do thier follow-up questions or narration.
I am thankful for...
Our suburban is bought and our insurance is paid up for six months. Also that we have siblings that pitch in and gift us with money when things are tight...
From the kitchen...
I am wearing...
I am hoping...
I am creating...
I am hearing...
I am going...
nowhere for the holidays.
A few plans for the rest of the week...
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
(coming soon)
caption.
I hope you enjoyed your peek into our mountain haven! Come again!
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol

The Dirty Shirt is giving away a pair of BEARPAW shoes, and let me tell you that you don't want to miss out because these look like awesome shoes. The ones I'm hoping to win are the brown Daffodils.
So hurry over to The Dirty Shirt to enter for a chance to win your own pair of BEARPAW shoes!
Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions
"Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power....
This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.
(View YouTube video on this subject here.)
If you're a parent with children in the public schools you can voice your objections here. But the best way to object is by removing your children from their schools. Without your children they have no real power.
In a related story, future teachers in Minnesota are being "reducated" and become "culturally competent"
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin in order to obtain a teacher certificate.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool

When I saw the theme for this week's I <3 Faces challenge,: “Sun Flare”, this picture just popped into my head! :) I love the Sun Flare coming down on her. Isn't Hannah such a pretty girly? I sure love that Dahling!
©AmandaDixon2009
Today I am Thankful For...
21. 41,685 words (bigger post on this later)
22. The sound of Christmas music drifting up the stairs in November.
23. My MP3 player.
24. A great choir concert.
25. Ale 8 1
26. Fellowship filled Sundays
27. The feeling of the holidays already installing itself within me
28. Crispy hash browns
29. My attic bedroom
30. Old quilts
What Are You Thankful For?

Here is this week's installment of my contribution to The Gratitude Community. I'm not actually an official part of it, but you can be if you like! Go check it out!
I am Thankful for...
11. Books
12. Blankets
13. Hot tea
14. Homemade bread
15. My first customer at my Etsy shop.
16. Pumpkins
17. Forgiveness
18. My best friend in the whole, wide world, Bluejane.
19. Knitting
20. New friends What are you Thankful for? Copyright 2009 Defective Compositions
Over the past 5 years, he really opened up to me about his WWII experiences which he hadn't shared them at all before. When I presented him the Armed Service album I made for him at his 65th anniversary, he was moved to tears. I knew that all the efforts and the sleepless night I spent on it was so worth it! Getting to know him was truly a blessing to me. I pray it was to him also. Since I did that for him and grew closer to him through it, I have a very important place in my heart for the armed service men. When we took him to the cemetery, they gave him a beautiful military salute with Taps and a 21 Gun Salute. I bawled through the whole thing. Knowing that his service was important to him, and that was so very important to me because of him. It was very hard to sit through for me.
Sitting in his funeral service remembering all the times we had together, the tears just flowed. We would color when I was younger and as I grew up, we would sit on his front porch and play cards. He taught me to play rummy, war, slap jack, and more. One of the last times he played cards he was 87 and got down on the floor with the Littles to play go fish with them. It wasn't easy for him to crawl on the floor but he showed his love to his family by doing it. He truly was a family man. That was all he was worried about: his family. He made it known that his family was all that was important to him.
I truly miss him. I miss his hugs. I miss his smile. I miss his playing cards. I now found myself crying when I pray because he is no longer on my list and it reminds me he is gone. I just miss him! But he lived a full and meaningful life. A life devoted to his family. I praise God that Grandpa knew our Savior and that I have the hope to once again see him on Resurrection Day. It hurts and its hard to have to wait for that day, but I know that the day is drawing close. OH, what a glorious day that will be!
Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever. Adonai ELOHIM will wipe away the tears from every face, and he will remove from all the earth the disgrace his people suffer. For ADONAI has spoken.
Revelation 21Love you, Grandpa!
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away."
Please continue to pray for us and also my Great Grandma who is by herself now, and also for my Uncle Keith. It's been hard for them too.

©AmandaDixon2009

From the Heart:
I'm loving being with my kids. Every moment that I get with them fills my heart. It is so wonderful to hold my son in my arms and hear him say, "I wuv you, Mommy. You're adorable!" I also love watching and experiencing the moments that my five year old studies her first words and reads them. Each day she makes so much progress. My 10 and 12 year olds amaze me with how they are growing into young ladies more each day and becoming individuals. Life as a Mom is good.

The little ones like to snuggle in the rocking chair after their bath near the wood stove.
I just finished looking over my blog from a year ago. I am so glad that I am not in that place any longer! A year ago my Snow Crystal was having concentration problems, abdominal pain, seizures, weakness, and looked like a little holocaust survivor. She was depressed and talking about suicide. I praise God for all my friends who so faithfully prayed, and for the cure of becoming gluten-free again, and avoiding artificial additives. She is my healthy, happy, seizure-free young lady again. No more of any of those things, and her school work has improved dramatically this year. I am so grateful to the Lord!
In the School Room:
Mountain Princess, 12, and Snow Crystal, 10: Abraham Lincoln was shot again this week (we learned it a few weeks ago, but readressed the reasons this week). The aftermath of the civil war was anything but nice. Andrew Johnson may have had Abraham's roots, but he lacked some of Abe's other successful political prowess. Matter can be in the form of a solid, a liquid, a gas, and plasma. Old Yeller is my 10 year old's first school book to be taken on without my help, and she's doing a good job. She even stated that this is her favorite reader ever. Caddie Woodlawn continues to be a spunky little thing. Tall tales are fun because they exaggerate a story and hyperboles are perfect to put in them. Mountain Princess finished up decimals, fractions and percentages, and moved on to tesselations. (Did I learn about these in school? They are fun.) Snow Crystal is working on fractions now.
Bubbies, 5, learned about the clothing and culture of the French in the period just before Napoleon's time and about the French revolution. Birds have feathers, lay eggs, are warm-blooded, and most eat other animals. We examined an old robin's nest and found an unhatched egg. Robin nests are made of mud, twigs and grass. Numbers higher than ten are made with groups of ten and units. She finished the week by writing her numbers between twenty and thirty.


Little Critter, 3, is beginning to take himself to the potty and we are having much fewer peeing accidents. On the other hand, yesterday he pooped in the bathtub again. Good thing sister wasn't with him this time!
On the Mission Field:
One of my favorite speakers, Graeme from Australia, was here speaking on cultural differences. We had another India - style dinner too. The students have only two more weeks before they head out on outreach. They will spend their first month in New Mexico with the Navajo work there, then the final eight weeks in India. We saw the Lord bring in a bunch of money toward their outreach expenses. That is always fun to see.
In the Literary Scene:
I am reading Brock and Bodie Thoene's second book in the Galway Series Of Men and of Angels.
Feeding on His Faithfulness,
Carol
If you would like to join me in this theme, just write up your own weekly summary, using mine or your own categories. Then sign the Mr. Linky below. I'd love to read your weekly summaries too! I hope to post mine on each Friday or Saturday. At the latest it will be on Sunday. If you get yours done before I do, just leave your link in my cbox or comments from the week before. Be sure and check last week's Mr. Linky for any new ones who posted before I did! It is a great way to meet new people.


