Just two more days until we leave for Awana Scholarship camp.  This is my 3rd year as a counselor.  I LOVE IT!!!!  Awana is great and scholarship camp is fantabulous.  I pray that I get enough sleep to be kind while I am at camp.

Today I waxed a friends thighs.  Gosh, now I know why they charge $30 at the salon.  What a mess!

I am trying to pack clothes for 6 days into one small suitcase.  How do pilots and flight attendants do it?  I don't want to run out of underclothes again this year, but I don't want to bring all my clothes.  SIGH, I will have to repack again tomorrow and see what I can do without!

Jesus Loves Me this I know!

Tina

Today I placed my biggest Dharma order ever.  Over $1000 of tie dying supplies for three upcoming classes at our local arts association.  I am also going to set up a booth and sell at the youth car show next weekend.  It was scary to order so much!  Now I have to dye up a bunch of shirts!

Daniel and I are working on phonics and math.  He is gettig the concept of a digital clock on the hours side. 

Katie is getting her wisdom teeth out next Monday morning.

Blessings to you today!

Tina

I spent the past weekend at the Georgia Home Educators Conference in Atlanta.  I spent two wonderful days in the vendor hall looking at old and new curriculum.  I am always on the lookout for new or better material for our home. 

On Friday, Katie, Tim and I spent the morning giving the vendor hall the "once over" before proceeding to the used book sale.  The used book sale was HUGE and as always a bit overwhelming.  GHEA volunteers do a fantastic job of running this huge event and I congratulate them on another job well done!  After the book sale, Tim went back to stay with the Caldwell family and Katie and I got to shop, hear sessions, and visit college recruiters.

Katie found out after visiting about 10 college booths, that her SAT score is not bad, that colleges like homeschoolers (buy why would they be at a HS conference if they did not like homeschoolers?), and that she could possibly play college soccer.  We stayed to watch the graduation ceremony and got to hear Georgia governor Sonny Purdue give the commencement address.  Katie's friend, Rae Rae, graduated in the ceremony so that made the event more personal.

Saturday saw Melissa and I at the conference for a 9 a.m. session with Richard "Little Bear" Wheeler.  He does a great job presenting, and as always his costumes are so fun!  Melissa and I had a terrific time visiting vendors, colleges, and looking for books.  I saw two really neat, new curriculums.  One is called Algebra: A Fresh Approach and is by Christy Walters.  Christy spent about an hour talking with Melissa and I and she gave Melissa a tutoring session on word problems.  Her books look great and I will be working on a product review of both Algebra I and II.  Her website is www.aplusses.com if you want to check her out!

The second curriculum that totally wow'd me was Astronauts to Zippers by Dr. Jane Hodges of Literacy, LLC.  You can check out this product at www.astronautstozippers.com .  I have used 5 different learn to read programs and this one looks like the best.  I have the privledge of getting to use it with Daniel and then doing a product review, so stay tuned. 

If you have a homeschool conference coming up, don't miss it.  I have been homeschooling for 12 years, and I never get tired of being encourage by others. 

Blessings to you, dear readers!

Tina

I came across the following quote and I feel it is one to take note of:

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Dale Carnegie

I am easily satisfied with the very best.

- Winston Churchill

Oh, what a wonderful quote I came upon this morining.  My kids call me picky, but I agree with Winstone Churchill, I am easily satisfied witht he very best.  I don't want a job 1/2 done.  I don't want sloppy work.  I don't want lazy work.  If you don't have time to do it right the first time, you certainly don't have time to do it over.  I am not picky, I am easily satisfied with the very best!

Tomorrow morning I get to go to the Atlanta airport to pick up my mother.  She likes the red eye, overnight flight into Atlanta.  It gives us more time together I tell myself.  I don't get up at 3:30 A.M. for just anyone, but my Mom is special. 

I have been watching the news and keeping an eye on those pesky Delta pilots.  Will they strike before she takes off?  What happens if she is in the air and they strike?  Lord, I pray, let my Mom get to Georgia and then let those pilots go on strike.  She can stay here a long long time!

I will drive the first hour and then Katie takes over for the second hour to hour and a half to the airport.  It's time for her to see what commute driving is all about.  I figure, you are never too young to hurtle through Atlanta at the beginning of rush hour.

After we get Mom, we get to visit Uncle Danny at his fire station.  WE are very excited about that. 

After our trip to the fire station we will go shopping at Costco and try to find a dress for Katie's soccer banquet.

Lord, please be with my Mom as she travels to Georgia.  Protect us as we travel to the airport and home.  Be with Katie as she drives in her first commute rush.   Help us to find a dress that is nice and affordable.

Yesterday, Daniel whined and complained about his medicine tasting gross (he is taking it for strep throat) and smelling bad.  I yelled, "JUST TAKE IT!"

So, he did.

Than the vomit machine arrived.  No sooner was the medicine into his throat than his rather large breakfast was on its way up.  Fortunately he was standing by the kitchen bar so he was able to vomit on the counter, wall, floor, chair and himself.  All this with just 10 minutes to get to a dentist appointment 15 minutes away.

So, I yelled.  Then I cleaned him off, cleaned up the vomit, gave him a second dose of antibiotic, dressed him and we all ran out the door.  I am so thankful that Abigail, Kelsey, Melissa, and Katie were not in the kitchen when this all happened, or there would have been gallons of vomit.

I congratulated myself on being only 5 minutes late.  It was not until later that I realized I had frightened my  6 year old boy.  Thankfully he forgave me for yelling and we made up.

Later on he took another dose without a whimper and just the bearest hint of a gag.

I am so glad the Lord forgives me when I mess up.  I am thankful he does not yell at me every time I make a mess.

Lord, help me to remember not to yell.

Do I care enough?

Do I care about clean clothes, dirty clothes, clothes that fit?  Do I care about nutritious meals, nice snacks, and fruit?  Do I care about a clean house, made beds, floors picked up, and a clean toilet?

YES, I care about those things.

But, do I care about relationships?  W E L L ..... I do care but not enough.  I put more energy into clean and healthy than into relationships.  I am convicted that it should be the other way around.  I should care more about relationships than clean (although clean is important).  I should care more about people than laundry.  I should care more about time with my children while they are home than putting away every toy RIGHT NOW!

I should care more about tone of voice, words used, and requests for help.  But, will I?

Oh Lord, help me today to care about that which matters.  There will always be laundry and cleaning, but my children won't always be here.  Help me to remember that I care about them and you care about me.

Tonight I found out that I have not had enough accountability for one of my daughters regarding science.  I have slacked off on checking her science notebook, and realized tonight that the last time I looked at it was 3 weeks ago.  During this time it appears that she has not done any work.  ARGH.  I know I am the mother and I should be responsible to check her work, but gosh, an almost 14 year old should be responsible enough to do the work assigned.

Because of this incident my daughter will now have to show me her work daily, instead of weekly.  This is more work for me, and more for her.  I feel like I am the one being punished though.  She is just doing what I would have done at 14- NOTHING!  I need to work on accountability and responsibility with her.  It is not her fault she has been lazy and not doing the job she was supposed to do; it is my job to train her and I let us both down.  I did not hold come behind her to encourage her or train her.  I did not check to see if she had been doing her work.  If I had been on the ball, we would not be 3 weeks behind!

Oh, the trials of being selfish and lazy (I am talking about myself here, not her)! 

Now I ask myself, what have I learned from this?  One thing I learned is that without someone holding her accountable, she will not work on a subject she dislikes on her own.  Another thing I learned is that by being lazy and wanting the time I spent going over her work each week for my own pleasure, I have created extra work for us both. 

Oh Lord, forgive me for being selfish and lazy.  Forgive me for letting my daughter down.  Help me, Lord, to be a better example at working hard and getting the job done.  Thank you Lord for sending your Son to die for my sins.  I love you Jesus!

Today I reflected on the thought, "What do I cherish?"  Is it material possessions, good grades, a job well done, time with my family?  Do I take the time to notice when my children have faithfully done well on a thankless chore that will have to be done again tomorrow, or do I only cherish and praise them when they have gotten a good grade?

Today I read my fellow blogger Lilacs' post on the Gods of Education (see her post here:  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Lilacs/ ).  Through her post she reminded me that while an 'A' is good, a relationship with Jesus is better.

Lord, help me to cherish my relationship with Jesus and to encourage my children to do the same.  Let it be said of us, "Those Rice kids sure love and serve Jesus," and not, "those Rice kids sure get good grades."