APRIL news summary:

-The kids and I enjoyed a week off from school!

-We celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord! The church smelled like a glorious garden and it was great to feast and enjoy the things we had given up for lent. The feasting after the sacrifice, like the Resurrection after the crucifixion, like heaven after our earthly life!

-Taught 2 NFP classes

-Riley & Geneva participated in the PEACH Spelling Bee

-Victoria worked as mother’s helper for the last time (the family she worked for is moving)

-We sold all our 4-H chocolate bars (mostly to ourselves!)

The kids and I attended ‘Freedom Train’, a play for kids about Harriet Tubman

-David & I had 2 Wright State University Med. Students over for breakfast to talk NFP & Catholic theology (they are asking questions)

-Sylvia had her expander removed at the orthodontist

-We finished up our year with the HEART co-op and the kids play was well presented – Victoria played a couple of parts and did a good job.

-The Confirmation Class was confirmed on April 22 and David has done a great job teaching and inspiring them to live their faith.

-The High Schoolers at church had a retreat given by some dynamic young people who have a traveling ministry.

-Our church is taking on a Youth Director this summer (he is an on-fire young man with a young family). We’re excited!

-We got our teeth cleaned, Riley has a cavity to be filled

-Geneva’s bear (given to her at birth by Grandma Ulmer), after being worn out from much love got ‘reconstructive surgery’ from Grama Gagnebin (through the mail). Good job, Mom!

-We did standardized testing (some at PEACH, some with K12)

-After 15 yrs of parenting we have signed up (for the first time) one of our kids for a sport! Victoria is playing softball and doing a great job (after many tips from her Dad and lots of playing catch with Riley)

-Our friends, the Hatfields, moved away (about 1 ½ hrs away) :*(

-Riley and David participated in The Raingutter Regatta with Cub Scouts. They made a nice boat that did well in the races.

-Riley is working hard to finish his Bear Badge for Cub Scouts and everyone is thinking about and sometimes working on their 4-H projects/activities.

-Our PEACH homeschool support group is discussing changing its by-laws and after May’s vote we will see if we will be able to stay in the group (2 main issues are "Do we include e-schoolers? and "Do we keep families that can’t sign the statement of faith?). I’ll be disappointed if we have to leave.

TODAY’s thoughts

As I look toward the month of May and the summer ahead, I am excited as always to be having a break from school. Though each year it seems that I anticipate ease and vacation, it seems the chaos grows when we’re off because the schedule/routine is not the priority anymore. Morning chores will still be there, piano lessons, 4-H for a while... I do usually make a summer schedule but does it get followed? Is it that I am trying to be a scheduled person and I will always struggle with this because I don’t have the right personality? Is it just laziness and lack of discipline?

This month David will turn 40. Wow. Where did our youth go?

I have been working on enrolling Sylvia in the Post Secondary Enrollment Option. This is where she take college classes (at our local community college in this case) and they count toward high school and college credit. I think she is disciplined and mature enough to do it if she qualifies. She will start slow in 10^th grade by doing one course. Then maybe as a Jr. and Sr. she’ll do more. The main reason for doing this is that the state pays for her college credits this way! This could save a lot on college costs. We have good things about the environment at Southern State (satellite campus here in Wilmington)

Eventually she is wanting to go Fransiscan University in Steubenville, OH, a private Catholic school that has a vibrant spiritual atmosphere. I like that it is not too far from home. The funny thing is (Ferrol, you may remember this conversation) that when I was in high school and a good Baptist, I remember a student saying he was going to Fransiscan and feeling sorry that he would be "missing the boat". Cedarville was the whole world to me then.

Well, I probably need to get some cleaning done. It’s also time for lunch. Oh, and Geneva needs some direction in cleaning out that toy box! Gotta go!

Love to all,

Linda

With this month’s time change, the Ulmers are now getting up too late and it seems attitudes about getting school work done are quickly deteriorating. Teacher must constantly harangue students to complete their work and students resist and grow more distracted by the day. Productivity is down. Husband wonders why we are not doing spring cleaning.

The Kids this Month

Notable activities include:

Riley goes to the Cub scout banquet, gets his belt and activity beltloops, takes a scouting outing to the local jail to be fingerprinted and to the bowling alley to see how the pins magically stand back up.

Sylvia wows her 4-H group with her handle on parliamentary procedure which she has been acquiring at Jr. Fair board meetings, she helps with 4-H recruitment at a local grade school and participates in the Winter Fair at the poultry booth, she teaches her first piano lessons teaching two homeschool girls, defends a ‘criminal’ in a mock trial at HEART co-op, writes an awesome research paper on the Underground Railroad, does her K12 state testing and goes to Cincinnati 2000, a weekend youth retreat (she’ll probably write about that on her blog).

Victoria celebrates her 12^th birthday with a bowling outing with friends, cake, gifts and getting her own e-mail account, graces the house with her flute playing, earns real money as mother’s helper, is organizing her stamp collection in the great album she got from her Grandma & Papa for her birthday, oversees the fund raiser as 4-H club treasurer (want to buy a chocolate bar?) and cranks out letters to her pen pals by the dozens.

Geneva makes sure that Mom does NOT forget to do this year’s New Life Tree (an Easter Tradition), makes sure that Mom does NOT forget that she need a top to match her new skirt, makes sure that Mom does NOT forget to keep reading her Bible stories at bedtime and generally keeps Mom in line.

John is so happy to go outside and play in the sandbox, poke sticks into the soggy ground...

NOTE: I did not have time to finish this post but now it is so old I thought I would just post it and start anew on a new entry another day.