IT WAS TIME.  Here's Connor "before":

And here's "after" (Thanks, Nana, for the "new 'do"!):

Yes, I miss the curls, but not necessarily the hairdo, if that makes sense. He's growing up, and it's so precious to see him looking like the rambunctious little BOY that he is...rather than a body double for Shirley Temple.  

*Sigh* Why can't they stay small? 

Here's what Abby gave me for Mother's Day!

"Pappaw" took her fishing for the 1st time, and she snagged this little beauty. I have no idea what kind of fish it was. Any experts out there? But Roy filleted it and fried it and we had ourselves a tiny little feast, supplemented of course with the inferior breaded variety out the freezer section of Wal*Mart. She was SO proud of herself! It almost makes me want to try my hand at fishing...well, almost! 

Alayna & Abby look like they're getting ready for show business! But, hey, who's that other girl? Oh, right! Barbie, with the hair that grows! Alayna waited SO long (and impatiently) for her 9th B-day, and she wasn't disappointed!

     The threat of rain turned our picnic at the State Lake into an all-day Open House on Cedar Road. Folks dropped in to honor the Birthday Girl from 2-10 p.m.!  (It just sorta' worked out that way.) But the festivities began a whole week earlier when I took these 2 girls for the 1st time ever to an ice skating rink. (A lifelong dream-come-true for both of them!) They got right out there and skated around like a couple of naturals. By the end of the session, I even had'em starting to skate backwards like me. I sure was happy to get off the ice without having fallen, though. I tell ya', rental skates are murderous on the ankle bones! 

     Well, a few days later, Alayna's biggest birthday wish came to pass: I took her (and Abby) to a horse ranch about an hour away to see a colt which had just been born a few hours earlier. The owners were kind enough to even let the girls enter the stable. We were all truly shocked, though, to see how HUGE the newborn horse was. Here's a snapsnot:

     Then, they even got to ride one of the horses there. (And they convinced good ole' Mom to take a few passes around the corral, too.  I couldn't tell you the last time I had been on a horse!)

     So, by the time Alayna's actual birthday rolled around (el Cinco de Mayo), she was already feeling pretty doggone special. Then, the steady stream of guests topped it all off. Funny enough, though, out of everything, guess what brought on her strongest reaction of total elation?! Getting out of debt!!!   That's right! She had "borrowed" $14 from Abby many moons ago but never received enough money to pay her back. So, the cloud of debt has been hanging over her head for months. (Don't I know the feeling!)  

     Anyway, she had paid of $6 of it and had $8 to go. Knowing how much it would mean to her, I gave her $5 in her birthday card that morning. Then, later, when she put her hands in the pockets of the jeans my mom gave her, she gradually discovered enough $1 bills to pay off Abby and net $2. (Did you figure out that little math problem? Hehehe) At that moment, Alayna jumped up and down squealing with joy. It was beautiful! I hope she never forgets it...so that maybe she'll never get herself in that position again.  

     Well, in addition to the pile of clothing from grandparents, a smattering of toys and whatnot, she received a potted rose bush from a friend! Too sweet! We planted it in our raised flower bed in the front yard. I can't wait to see it blossom! Plus, I bought several Marguerite Henry horse books for her (which brought a few more squeals), a stuffed horse that Abby found for her, a Barbie horse, and an adorable horse poster. Are you noticing the theme of the year? :-) 

     So, my firstborn baby is now in her 10th year of life. How did it happen? And she's already at my chin-level. Who knows? By next year, she might sprout right up past me. In any case, I'm savoring these milestones because it's all going SO fast. I'm going to turn around, and she'll be walking down the aisle to her Prince Charming. And maybe they'll ride off together into the sunset on his valiant stead.

Now that Connor is starting to learn to be a bit more civilized, Trevor is getting over his fear of his little monster brother. It just warms my "momma heart" to see them like this:

And here's a shot of each of them from the beginning of March. (Can you see why it's hard not to spoil'em rotten?)

Yup, I love'em to pieces!   

OK, I admit it...Lydia, Abby, & Alayna are not always this loving toward each other. But, when these golden moments come, we've gotta' grab'em, right? My prayer for when they're all grown up is that my 3 girls will truly be The Three Amigas. (FYI: Here, they're 5, 7 & 8 1/2.)

 Here's Connor's special day so far: When the clock struck midnight, the Birthday fairy found him fast asleep on the living floor. He had a fit when I put him in bed last night, which was a problem because his bed is in our room and my dh really needed to sleep. So, I put him in the exersaucer to watch the wonderful Cedarmont Kids while I did a late night kitchen cleanup. That bought me a whole hour!

Finally, he started fussing, I changed his diaper and left him on the floor while I finished the dishes.  He actually laid right where I left him and fell asleep!  

1:00 a.m. I started mopping the kitchen floor. (Yes, at 1:00 a.m.!) OK, it had been awhile, I admit. It took 3 passes across the whole room to get the water to run clear. An hour later, I finally crashed on the couch, since Baby Connor was still asleep on the floor.

3:00 a.m. Connor woke up crying. So, I took him to bed with me.

7:30 a.m. Connor awoke on his Birthday morning, made a beeline for the edge of the bed, and landed on the floor with a thud. Happy Birthday, Buddy! (Awww, he was fine! Tough kid!)

10:00 a.m. 3yo Trevor decides that Maple Syrup would double nicely as a new brand of shampoo. Note: Trevor HATES to have his hair washed. So, after the earsplitting screaming that ensued, Connor decided a nap would be a good way to escape the chaos.

12:00 p.m. Connor joins us once again. And here we are. The kids sang to him, but for the sake of my out-of-town SIL, we're pretending that his B-day is not until Saturday. That's when we'll have the Par-Tay!

After the last 3 days, if Alayna doesn't feel thoroughly honored, pampered, spoiled rotten, and celebrated -- I can't imagine what more it would take.  The birthday festivities began on Thursday. We spent the day preparing for our care group, which doubled as Alayna's 1st Art Show. She had sent out invitations at the beginning of the week which read,

Dear Mr. and Mrs. _____,

You are invited to my first art show on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Artwork will cost 25c each. I hope to see you there.  

First, I dictated this to her and gave her a chance to write it as well as she could. Then, I showed her the correct spelling, etc., and had her rewrite the paragraph. I cut 2 cardstocks in half, folded them, and had her copy the invitation onto the 4 homemade cards. She then drew and colored a different picture on the front of each card. Finally, she learned the proper way of addressing an envelope.

This exercise was wonderful! I had her total cooperation and excitement. She was happily learning spelling, grammar, handwriting, formal letter writing, etc. -- and didn't even realize it!

So, Thur. night, thankfully, we had 10 people show up. Alayna's artwork went fast! It was fun to see who chose what. She had helped me make cupcakes, and she "artistically" decorated them w/ the gel tubes I bought for her. (After all, it *was* her art show, right!) We sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out her #8 candle. Then, I ushered all the little ones outside with cupcakes in hand. Whew!

The next morning, el cinco de mayo, Alayna awoke to the sight of a gift by her pillow. It was just a Mad Lib, but it made her happy. She climbed in bed with us for a few minutes, then I made pancakes for her, with apple pie filling stirred in.  Next, Nana & Papa came over with Leah, and brought some nice clothes and a really cute Bible companion...a great complement to the Bible I gave her.

Right after that little visit, Mammaw & Pappaw came over for 2 hrs (while I took Liddy to the podiatrist). More gifts...clothes, a Barbie, and a really cool Barbie wall clock with Barbie clothes hanging off each number. So, I spent quite a while pounding holes into Laney's wall to hang that thing up. But she loves it.

For supper, I made her favorite: Mac-n-cheese! Then, she and Abby were off to the drive-in w/ M&P to see "Ice Age 2" and "The Wild," followed by a sleepover. When we picked them up Sat. morning, we went straight to the Mall at Robinson for the grand finale.

Let's see. First, they got to experience Japanese food (and attempted to eat with chopsticks -- a belated go-along to "A Pair of Red Clogs"). Then, it was on to Build-a-Bear. Those women are hardcore salespeople! But, Alayna didn't go ridiculously crazy. She picked a white kitty to stuff ("Casey"), bought one outfit for her, and a kitty bed. They gave all the other kids each a fuzzy photo frame, just to be nice.

Then, we suprised her by heading over to the Piercing Pagoda. The first time we stood there, she chose her earrings but then chickened out. So, we started to walk away and I saw how crushed Abby was. She had been dealing with Alayna's hoopla so well that I couldn't bear to make her miss out on yet another thing. So, I convinced Roy to let Abby get hers done without Alayna.

What a plucky kid! Six years old and she marched right in there and took it like a champ. Alayna wasn't feeling so brave about it still, even seeing Abby's reaction. But, the "buy a pair, get a pair 1/2 off" sale gave me the motivation to work on her a bit until she finally agreed. Besides, I knew she'd really regret it if she came home with naked ears and had to look at Abby's pretty pink flower earrings all day, every day.

Well, they both look darling now. Lydia wanted to do it, too, but we told her she had to wait until she no longer screams bloody murder every time we brush her hair.

From there, it was onward to Brewster's for some ice cream. And finally, the 3 girls got in one of those photographing contraptions and had a cute picture taken. I was so proud of them. They really behaved themselves. And Connor was a perfect little baby for most of the day. God bless Roy's parents for keeping Trevor during that outing, or things might have been a LOT different.

So, you would think that concludes Alayna's birthday festivities, right? Wrong! She'll be spending all of next weekend with Mammaw, Pappaw, and Great-Grandma Row-Row at Auntie She-She's in Columbus. And so the spoiling continues...

It's been a great week with our Five in a Row book. My little 6 yo scientist really got into it and asked me to help her make a book about the story. Here's what we came up with. It's hard to see, but each letter of the title is on a snowflake-shaped hexagon. If you want to see the actual Bentley photographs, check out this website mentioned in the FIAR archives: http://www.snowflakebentley.com/snowflakes.htm 

One morning not too long ago, Alayna (my 7yodd) called me away from the computer to come see something "really cool". I'm not always patient with being dragged all around the house to see yet another thing, but hey...it was a new day, right?

So, I followed her to the bathroom, where, with a big grin on her face, she showed me a rainbow on the wall. I realized that it was a result of the sunlight refracting off a little mirror behind a crystal figurine, so I decided to explain that to her. I taught her the little acronym I learned in high school: ROYGBIV (pronounced "Roy-G-Biv") and had a little laugh about the fact that I married a man named Roy. Then, lesson over, I left the room, thanking her for sharing that beautiful sight with me.

Moments later, I hear her in there w/ her 6yo sister, saying, "And the light shines off that little mirror and breaks up into little rainbows all over the room." Boy, did that warm my heart!  She really surprised me, though, when she came back in here and told me, "Mommy, I explained the whole thing to her and taught her the colors...Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet."  WOW! What a memory! Gotta' love those acronyms!

Anyway, would I even bother doing any of that if I weren't homeschooling? Probably not. I'd think, "Aaaah...she'll learn it eventually in school." And oh, the precious moments I'd be missing. I love homeschooling!!! 

Here's a guideline I've been following to a certain extent, before I even found it on the www.triviumpursuit.com website. It's part of an article by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn, which was then expanded into their book, Teaching the Trivium.

Ten things to do with Children before age 10
1. Reading & Writing	Intensive Phonics; Copywork; start English Language Notebook
2. Oral Narration	Daily
3. Memorization	Bible; poetry; passages of literature; Greek and/or Hebrew alphabet
4. Hearing & Listening	Read aloud 2 hours per day from a variety of fiction and nonfiction; start History Notebook; timeline
5. Family Worship	Family Bible study morning and evening using grammar level questions
6. Arts & Crafts	Provide the time, space, and materials; develop creativity
7. Field Trips & Library	Start learning elementary library research; investigate the world
8. Work & Service	Schedule for chores; visit nursing home, etc.
9. Discipline	First-time obedience
10. Play & Exploration	Develop the imagination

I know He does. I hear Him all the time. I usually say with a laugh that I heard "that little voice". But I know whose voice it is. Sometimes He speaks things that are profound or even life-saving, like "Go check on the baby right now!" And I find him at the top of the steps to the basement. Someone forgot to shut the door. But God was watching. 

Sometimes He just wants to help me avoid spilling a pitcher of water, like a few minutes ago. He warned me. I knew that my Brita water pitcher lid was going to pop off with a big splash if I didn't let the water filter down through first, but I tried pouring that water anyway. Yup. Sure enough. Had to run get an old towel.

No matter how profound or simple the message, though, I always end up kicking myself if I ignore that precious voice of Wisdom. Oh, Lord, help me to always hear AND heed the words You speak to me, whether through your Word or straight to my heart.

About 15 yrs. ago, in college, I read a newsletter article that my dad thought I might be interested in. It was by Art Robinson, who was HSing his 6 dc in place of his wife after she died. In fact, that same article is broken down into 9 sections under the Robinson Methodology tab at www.robinsoncurriculum.com . Well, on that day, the Lord put a burning desire in my heart to HS my future children.

Fast forward 6 yrs, to 1996 -- the year of Roy. I did a crazy thing. I told God that I could not bear the thought of yet another deadend, painful relationship...that I could not bear to continue my friendship with Roy and have it grow into "something more" unless I knew up front that he was to be my future husband.

So, on Aug. 27th, I said this: "God, I'm throwing down a fleece. I am vowing to You this day that I will never mention to Roy my desire to HS. I am asking YOU to cause HIM to (1)bring the subject up AND (2) inform me that he wants his future dc to be HSed." I was so serious about this that I wrote it down and sealed it in an envelope, vowing to never breathe a word of it to anyone.

WELL!!! Are you ready for this? (*I* sure wasn't!!) The VERY NEXT MORNING!!! Roy came over to my parents' house to see me, sat at our kitchen table, and out of the blue, BROUGHT UP THE SUBJECT OF HSing!!! He then proceeded to tell me that...take one guess...HE wanted his future dc HSed!!! AND...he finished up with the comment that he had been having "these visions" of ME, Angela, up at our church, HSing my future dc, along w/ the dc of other folks as well. (Yes, like a co-op!) AAARRRGGGHHH!!!

Honestly, I almost fell off my seat. I mean, you've gotta' understand. I thought I was making it impossible for God (yeah, right!) because I wasn't particularly sure that I wanted to marry Roy. But, when God, in His infinite mercy, gave me such a wonderful assurance of His perfect will for my life, it wasn't such a stretch to trust Him with Phase Two. I said, "OK, Lord...then it's up to You to make me love him." And, let me tell you, Ladies, God has answered that prayer a million times over! The hardest part was "pondering those things in my heart" for the next several months as we slowly entered into a courtship.

Well, when God finally made it clear that I was released to tell Roy about the fleece, Roy told me that God had shown him something about me, too, before he ever met me in person. See, our 1st "encounter" was by phone. Roy's family attended my dad's church & knew that their pastor's dd (*me*) had also lived in Va Beach & might be able to recommend a good church for him, since Roy's job had sent HIM there just as I moved back to Ohio. So, I gave my suggestion.

Then, I got the brilliant idea that maybe, when he came up to visit his folks, he could bring my stuff that was still in a storage unit down there. (Boy, was I a user!!) So, I called him to make the arrangements (after his mom had contacted him and told us he agreed to do the favor). And, the moment Roy heard my voice on the phone, the Lord spoke to his heart and said, "You will be hearing a lot of that voice, and it will be a source of peace and rest to you." Wanna' know something funny? To this day, I often talk Roy to sleep as we lay in bed together. 

So, after we each revealed our "advance notice" from the Lord to each other, we were engaged a mth later, and married 6 mths after that -- almost one year from the day God had spoken to me. God is SOOOOOOO good! And, on those hard days -- when the baby is screaming, the toddler is taking his p**pie diaper off, the preschooler is whining and the 2 oldest are fighting w/ each other and have no interest in learning anything -- I have the firm assurance that I'm doing exactly what the Lord called me to do, and that our very marriage is based on that fact.