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This was so sweet I just had to share! Hope you are blessed! My sweet Bailey, 7 years old, brought along a spiral notebook today for a little road trip we took. She decided to do a little writing. Here’s what she wrote exactly… I love GOD God is Love, he is hevin. i Love god. Good pepol will go to hevin But bad pepol will go to hell. hell is a bad place it is full of fire. Baleev in god for he is the rite way. Satin is the foollish way. Foollishnis is bad God will not forget you. Now, always looking for a teachable moment, I did have to give her a tiny theology lesson and tell her that even good people can end up in hell because no one can be good enough. To which she replied, “Oh I know Mom. I meant good people who actually do believe in Jesus.” How sweet and precious is that? If you’re not tearing up then you should check yourself for a pulse! J
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WOW! Katie is welcoming baby number #12, Jodi, sometime very soon!!! Whoever guesses the right date and time wins BIG! Read all about it here.... http://www.teambettendorf.com/2007/12/22/another-giveaway/
For fun, my 1st guess is 1/11/08 at 11:11 am!@ Wouldn't that be a neat birthday? Of course my 2nd guess would haveto be 1/11/08 11:11 pm! :-) |
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Here's a funny story that happened about 5.5 years ago when Allison (my oldest) was in Kindergarten. I can laugh about it now because so much time has gone by but during the episode I was "fit to be tied" as we say in the South!!!! For some forgotten reason, Allison and I went to IHOP right in the middle of school day in the Fall. Breakfast or lunch...who knows...and it's not important. We were waiting to be seated as were a few other random folks. Allison was being her typical precocious self and drawing attention. Finally, Allison was noticed by a lady who fit the exact description of a retired, school marm (God love the children who endured this woman during her last years of teaching). This lady looked at her, looked at me, looked back at her then (if I recall correctly, this is the moment she adjusted her glasses) asked Allison how old she was. Of course Allison promptly replied something adorable like, "I'm 6...how old are you?" The lady looked at me and gasped, "Why!!! It's a school day!!!! She should be in SCHOOL....learning!!!" I couldn't help myself...really I couldn't.... I said, " Oh she's homeschooled. You see, she's got the IQ of a genius and the PUBLIC school system couldn't accommodate her!!!!" At that exact moment, the IHOP hostess called our name, the people parted like the Red Sea and we left the "school marm" staring after us, mouth gaping like a fish out of water! I like to think my sarcastic response was due to my being new to homeschooling but really, when I think about it....nnnaaaaaahhhhhh...I would answer exactly the same today! (Thanks to my friend Ginger for jogging my memory about this story and inspiring me to blog about it! )
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Merry CHRISTmas from our family to yours! Please enjoy this e-card from us!
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If you haven't seen this you are missing out!!!! This is HYSTERICAL!!! http://www.doublesharpevideo.com/HomeSchool2/Homeschool2.html Enjoy! Krista
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Posted in General
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Well, only a few days left until Christmas is here. We did enjoy Thanksgiving and the whole month of December has been a real treat! We drove around 3 different neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights and decorations. We were involved in a Birthday Party for Jesus with our soon to be official CM co-op folks! That was a blast. All 3 of my children did a Christmas poem and then Bailey recited the Latin table blessing and Lillian sang Jesus Loves Me! It was great to see all the kiddos willingly reciting poetry and singing! We had a Christmas celebration with our Keepers at Home group as well. That was neat and sweet. We made snowmen out of adult tube socks, rice, and polyfil. Then we accessorized our snowmen with flannel scarfs, button eyes, felt smiles, etc! It was awesome! I'm loving the freebie Friday stuff from TOS! They had a cute little nativity lapbook I'm going to do with my kiddos later today! :-) Our CM co-op planning is really coming together! I'll keep you posted on our progress... Merry Christmas, Krista |
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I'm so excited about January that I'm skipping right over Thanksgiving and Christmas to get to it!!! Okay so I'm not skipping Thanksgiving or Christmas but I AM excited about what January holds!!! With the help of 6 other moms, I am starting up a Charlotte Mason inspired co-op!!! We are completely elated and can not wait to get started. In fact we are getting together for a poetry recitation and cookie exchange in December because we are just so thrilled! Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Krista
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The cooler weather has returned! Yea! However, this IS Texas, so tomorrow it could be 85 degrees again! Who's ready for Autumn and Thanksgiving? Here's a poem to celebrate the season: Then It Is Fall When you hear the wild geese calling And up in the sky you see That they all are flying southward In a long and straggled V, When the wooly caterpillars Crawl along the porch and wall, And your kitty's fur gets thicker; Then you know that it is fall. When the mornings are so frosty That you put a sweater on, While the leaves in gay bright colors Hold a party on the lawn; When the friendly black-eyed Susans Fill the wayside with their cheer, And you hear the bells a-ringing, Then you know that fall is here. When the children gather pumpkins, And the chipmunks bury seeds, When the squirrels carry walnuts To be stored for winter needs, Then it's time to say, "I thank You," To the one who made it all, For of all our changing seasons, None is lovelier than fall. -Ada L. Wine
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Barb - "Harmony Art Mom" has a great nature blog using the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Comstock..... check it out here! Enjoy!!! |
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Dear Friends, All is well. After 8 years of dealing with what ifs and unknowns, the pediatric neurosurgeon has given both Allison and Lillian a clean bill of health!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! 8 years ago, Allison had the neurosurgery to correct a tethered spine. This condition could have caused irreparable damage such as paralysis, loss of function of everything from the navel down to her toes, etc. The surgery was extremely high risk because the surgery itself could have done the same damage! We went through with it and God was good. After that surgery, we were told the percentage that the tethered spine could reoccur was about 15%. If it did, the first indication would show up in her feet. Well lately, she has been having trouble with one foot so the neurosurgeon wanted another MRI on her. Lillian was born with many of the same indicators Allison had which point to a tethered spine. She was tested and a sacral cyst was found at the base of her spine. Since her birth the neurosurgeons have been watching the growth progression of this cyst and for clear evidence of a tethered spine or not. Last year, we were told to wait one more year. At the end of that year an MRI would be done to determine if we should continue waiting or undergo the same high risk surgery that Allison had endured. Those were the two options. The year has passed. The MRI happened yesterday. To our amazement and utter surprise and inexpressible joy and gratitude, the pediatric neurosurgeon looked us square in the eye and told us he would never have to see us again!!!!!!! Allison’s MRI showed a perfect spine!!! The foot problems are growing pains or shoe issues or something minute and inconsequential!!! Lillian’s cyst has not grown at all since last year!!! While these cysts are not normal, they are common and many people are walking the earth with just such cysts. She will not have surgery of any kind for the cyst or for a tethered spine! Being the skeptical MOM, I asked questions and he finally was able to get it through to me that they are fine! To allay my fears, he told us that if we notice anything unusual or abnormal in the future, we can contact him but that he was closing their files and was not ever scheduling another appointment for them unless he heard from us! While we are grateful to Dr. Swift and his “Brain Team” and the staff at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, we are so glad to never have to see them again!!!!! Brett likes to think of the cyst which remains on Lillian’s spine as a reminder of God’s mercy and grace and proof that HE does answer prayer!!!! HE stopped the growth of it last year because it hasn’t grown at all! Spread the news!!! |
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That is actually going pretty well. I'm enjoying it but I have to keep a close eye on how much time I allow myself for it all. I could really use up the hours. However, it is a privilege to be doing it and it is fun! The things I've had a chance to exercise so far are developing friendships, compromise, patience, humility, team spirit, sticktoitiveness, comraderie, problem solving as a team, organization skills, promptness, among others. I've been stretched in many of these areas and I've grown as a result. It's been a great experience thus far!
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I entered to win the writing instruction program MY Access! Home and the SAT Prep Pack on the HSB Company Porch! |
Posted in Me, Myself, and I
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Hello all! It's late July and I'm beginning to wonder what I've gotten myself into! I recently was elected onto the Board of Directors of my local home school organization. Now anyone who REALLY knows me can attest that I am scatterbrained, disorganized, forgetful, a procrastinator, or on the bright side, creative, innovative, talkative, fun loving, and spontaneous. There is a lot to this volunteer job and I've already made a few silly mistakes. We'll see how the year goes...plus my home schooling! Have a blessed day! Krista
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Posted in Me, Myself, and I
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Lately, I've been hearing these stories about Ronald Reagan. It seems he was a prolific letter writer and journal keeper. I heard from Fox News that he wrote in his journal every day beginning around the age of 40. The only days he missed were a few immediately following the assassination attempt on his life. Apparently, he did not write for 3 days but when he did the first words he wrote were, "Getting shot hurts!" I'm not sure how accurate my information is but golly! ..... if it's half true..... what an inspiration! I noticed I took off 9 months from my blogging. That was basically the entire school year which can be viewed as a good sign! Maybe I was actually teaching my kiddos and didn't have time to blog! :-) More than likely though, life got in the way and I just forgot or the novelty wore off or who knows! I'm thinking of trying to commit to blogging at least once a month. I've always wanted to journal but I realized somewhere along the way that this really takes discipline to sit down and actually do it. However, I'm sure there are folks in this world for whom it takes no discipline because they live for stuff like this! I thought I was one of those folks but soon found out that really, I dream big but I lack a plan. So here's the plan --- blog at least once a month. Keep me honest won't you? Remind me if you don't hear from me in a while! Be blessed, Krista
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Posted in General
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I've been away for far too long! It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten my "sign in" name! :-) I finally figured it out though so, voila, here I am! Formal lessons ended Friday, May 25th! Yippee! I don't know who is more ecstatic....me or the children! I'm going to keep Allison going on math so she doesn't lose anything and I'm going to keep Bailey reading since she's not quite independent yet, but other than that, we are done! Now we can get down to the business of making soap, making paper, making jelly, harvesting our summer SQUARE FOOT garden (which is really 27 square feet), making whatever other creative messes we can dream up and let's not forget, enjoying the inevitable HOT Texas summer! It feels good to be blogging again. Don't hold your breath though...there's no telling when I'll be back! :-) Blessings, Krista |
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Well, we are two weeks into school now. Things are going well, mainly because I recently heard David Quine speak on "RELAX"ing! here is his presentation in a nut shell......
R=relationships. Build good ones with your kids. All the schooling in the universe can't make up for bad relationships.
E=exploring. Spend some time on things that peak their interests. Allow them to explore that instead of moving on to "getting the rest of it done." If they develop a love of learning, they'll remember it. If you push it on them, it won't stick long term.
L=love. Teach them the love of Christ. Live out the love of Christ. Help them develop a love for Christ. (Mr. Quine said that really this should be first but he couldn't come up with an acronym.)
A=academics. Again, develop loving relationships, develop in them a love of learning, explore their interest and the academics will come.
X=extra curricular activities. Enjoy GOOD ones. Don't sign up for the sake of signing-up. Don't force the children to learn at these. Let them enjoy these and they will learn naturally.
After hearing his presentation, I'm rethinking my whole schedule. I worked for 2 months getting it "all' worked into the schedule. I had allowed no time for meaningful "R"elationships with my kiddos, no time to "E"xplore because that schedule was so packed. I really need to work on the "L"ove area. Me loving them, me loving Christ, showing the love of Christ through my actions and words, helping them develop a love for Christ. "A"cademics will be more enjoyable now that I've got a new perspective. We've enrolled in a few exciting e"X"tra curricular activities....
Horsemanship class, Tae Kwon Do, classical ballet, Keepers at Home club, nature group, skating, and various field trips.
This sounds like a lot but remember, I have 2 school aged girls (with toddler girl in tow). Some activities are twice monthly or even once a month; not every week. The field trips are at various times throughout the year. Both girls are involved together in some and some are activities just for that special girl and her particular interest.
Enjoy your new school year but more importantly.....RELAX and enjoy your children!
Blessings, Krista |
Posted in General
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Happy 13th wedding anniversary to us! We'll celebrate more elaborately this coming weekend. Last night we planned to cook out on the grill which was a good thing because the electricity went out in our whole neighborhood. That threw a wrench into things since I was going to cook baked beans in the oven and mashed potatoes on the stovetop.
Oh well, we skipped the potatoes and Brett cooked the beans on the grill! We're the masters of improvision.
The big girls got a good scare as they were coming home from across the street so they ended up sleeping in our room. They had been swimming at the neighbor's all afternoon and evening. On their way home, which is only across the street, a guy was walking along the sidewalk with a wine bottle in his hand. He had on those huge baggy shorts and when he saw them he grinned eerily and held up his hands like claws and made a sudden jerking motion at them...you know....sort of like the big "BBBOOOO" motion.
My neighbor was watching the girls get home from her front doorstep and I guess the guy didn't see her! My oldest yelled "RUN!" They ran back to my neighbor. She actually didn't take my girls very seriously and shrugged it off thinking it was a teen from the neighborhood just teasing them.
Upon hearing the report, my husband immediately went looking for him. While searching, he spoke with some neighbors down the street and they said the guy was intoxicated and that he had asked them for a wine bottle opener. They said no and he proceeded to ring a few doorbells on the street. DUH...you would think those neighbors would have called the police right then!!!
Brett finally found him a street over and about a block down. He was standing on a lady's porch and she was there with him with the wine bottle in her hand. Brett questioned the guy but he would not answer. The woman finally said she knew him because he was a friend of her son. She said he didnot live in this neighborhood but in the area across the main road. He was not a neighborhood teen but actually in his late 20s.Brett told this woman what this guy had done to our kids and then he left.
When he got back home, he immediately called the police. They came very quickly. I'm not sure if they got him. I hope so...on public intoxication or something!!!
Brett felt confident that he wasn't a CREEP...just a drunk. He said the guy was just clowning around but in his innebriated state he didnot realize his actions could be taken as threatening and frightening.
My oldest was the most upset by all this. She was very disappointed that we lived in an "UNSAFE neighborhood!" We explained to her that it was safe enough but unsafe people can show up anywhere! We thought she handled it very well. She was able to describe him in great detail which was impressive.
We explained to her that the uneasy feeling she had upon seeing this guy was the Holy Spirit prompting her to be on guard. She felt good about that. We talked to both of them about stranger danger (again) and we told them to call before coming home so I could stand out there also. Between the neighbor and me, maybe nothing like this will happen again!
SOOO...happy anniversary to us! lol What a night! LOL |
We roll with the punches!|
Remember the old Toyota commercial? Sing the little jingle while reading my blog entry title....
Okay I'm tagged ... thank you Alli!:-)
Favorite TV show? Everybody Loves Raymond (reruns at 10:30 PM) Those folks are NUTS!!! :-) If you could dye your hair any color, what would it be? I recently heard hair dye causes cancer....better keep my dark mousy brown! If you could have a tattoo, where would it be? NOWHERE...anti-tattoo mom! My kids will probably end up covered! lol I hate those things! Have you ever been in love? Well of course! What is on the walls in your room? Besides the cobwebs you mean? 2 mirrors, a wreath, a picture, a plaque, a map cut out of a newspaper, a few strategically placed stickers (remember my 2 year old?) Write the first thing that comes to your mind?! This is fun! Is your glass half empty or half full? Today...half full. Tomorrow...who knows? What is your favorite Snapple? Don't really do Snapple Are you righty, lefty or ambidextrous? LEFTY!! I'm in my right mind. Do you type with your fingers on the correct keys? Oh, there are correct keys? I didn't take typing b/c that was only for secretaries...I was going to be a brain surgeon...didn't need it! :-) If you could be any gardening tool what would it be? The 3 pronged fork. It breaks through hardened soil, exposes it and makes it soft and fresh. What is under your bed? Scary thought...2 tubs of scrap booking materials I've never used, a fax machine, probably old sippy cups (YUCK), dust What is your favorite number? 17
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Posted in General
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It seems like just yesterday that I was discovering Homeschoolblogger.com .
I can't believe my first post was nearly a year ago! WOW! Time really flies, whether you're having fun or not! LOL
We are taking a break for summer, although, I threatened to continue math. It hasn't happened but that's my fault. I needed the break as much as the girls did.
I really want to get a bit more creative with my blog so be watching for changes...
We've met some interesting folks lately. Things are looking up in the friendship department for my children and me.
I'd enjoy being tagged so...tag away people!
Blessings, Krista
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Posted in Children
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Well, Lillian did finally have her MRI. The outcome is...more of the same...waiting.
Her spinal cyst has grown but in proportion to her own growth. Her foot is slightly turning out which may or may not be due to pressure on the spinal nerves caused by the cyst.
The doctor prescribed some exercises for her foot to strengthen it or give tell tale signs of weakness.
She does them all well so that's good news.
He will re-evaluate in 6-12 months. More waiting.
The LORD knows I need practice in this...waiting on HIM! Resting in HIM! Relying on HIM! Yea for this opportunity! |