Feb. 21, 2006 - Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!!

Hannah Faith is a whole year old today.  It seems like yesterday she was born! 

 

We tried for over two years to get pregnant with her.  Not that that makes her more special than our other kids, but she is my daily reminder that trusting in God is the way to go.  There was nothing I could do, but for the grace of God, that would have given us our baby.  Her life and ours, has always been and will always be, in His very capable hands.  Every time I hold her, I feel so very blessed to be her momma.  Today, that feeling is absolutely overwhelming.

 

I have done nothing to merit a single thing that God has given me.  Nothing.  All I can do is lift me hands in praise to Him, and do my very best to cherish every moment I have here on earth, with all the blessings He has seen fit to give me.  I will never understand it, but I will be thankful.  Very thankful. 

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Feb. 16, 2006 - I am not old enough to have a 6 year old!

Today was Noah's birthday.  But 20 years before it was his, it was mine!  I'm willing to share.

 

My dad and my only brother also share a birthday (May 20th), so I think it's really neat that I share a birthday with my boy.

 

We had a good day, with a normal beginning: Brian leaving for work, my day care baby being dropped off, normal housework and schoolwork.  Then when Brian got home, we went to "the city".  LOL  No, not New York City, we're a long way from there.  But all decent sized cities are at least an hour away from us, so we try to get more than just one thing done.

 

Today on our trip to the city, we bought Brian a refurbished chainsaw, just a year old, originally selling for $1200 and we got it for $450.  We ordered a couch, with dual recliners, so my honey and I can snuggle together.  Our old couch is quite literally falling apart.  Then we went to Applebee's for dinner and stopped for ice cream sundaes on the way home. 

 

We had a really good day.  YEAH for child tax credit and EIC!!!  LOL

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Feb. 15, 2006 - More curriculum for next year

Two of the three things I wasn't sure of have fallen into place for next year. 

 

Science: I ordered Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day from CBD.

Social Studies: I ordered a Map Skills book, and Symbols of the USA from CBD.

 

I still don't know what I want for art.  I am artistically challenged, so something simple he can do and clean up on his own would be best.  I could throw him some new playdo every now and then.  If anyone reading this has any better ideas, leave me a comment please! 

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Feb. 10, 2006 - Tagged by Maggie

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Painting the outside of a barn

2. Pizza Hut cook

3. Radiology secretary

4. Walmart customer service

Four movies you could (or do) watch over and over:
1. Top Gun

2. All the Indiana Jones movies

3. Aladdin

4. Ice Age

Four places you have lived:
1. Madison, New York

2. Rochester, New York

3. Pine Grove, Pennsylvania

4. Eaton, New York

Four shows you love to watch:
1. CSI

2. Dr. Phil

3. Survivor

4. Millionaire

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Virginia and DC

2. Corinth, Mississippi

3. Niagara Falls

4. Vermont

Four websites you visit daily:
1. Crosswalk

2. Homeschool blogger

3. Yahoo games

4. Netflix

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Veggie lasagna

2. KFC Mashed potatoes

3. Apples

4. CHOCOLATE

Four places you would rather be right now:
1.  In bed.

2.  Mississippi

3.  Yakima, Washington

4.  Anywhere warm

Four bloggers you are tagging:

I hate tagging people.  Please consider yourself tagged if you're reading this and are an interesting person. :)

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Feb. 4, 2006 - Next year curriculum

I'm going to be thinking out loud for a bit, so bear with me.

 

I need to figure out Noah's curriculum for next year.  We get our tax return deposited Friday the 10th, and I need to know how much I need to save out.

 

Here is what I'm pretty sure of so far:

Math- Bob Jones 1st grade.  Definite.  He did well with the K5 and I want to keep it flowing.

Phonics- Bob Jones also.  I'm not sure he will be finished with the K5 workbook before September, but I am becoming of the mind that reading is something that cannot be rushed, especially with little boys.  As long as we are moving forward, albeit slowly, I will be happy.

Reading- Bob Jones.  I am going 50/50 with a friend of mine on the readers.  I am not sure if we will really use them this year or not though.  I know I will continue reading to Noah, but I'm not sure he's ready to read out loud without frustration.

Bible- AWANA, and whatever comes up.

Physical Education- karate, and maybe swimming lessons, besides the normal little boy tree climbing and running around like a wild man  LOL

 

Here is what I'm not sure of:

Science- I am leaning toward the first in Apologia's zoology series: Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day.  I think this will go well with our many trips to the zoo, and not be too much actual book work.

Social Studies/History- I am not sure.  Bob Jones looks like too much book work.  I've got to find some other options.

Art- I'd like to buy a simple book of art projects, most of which he can do independently.  Art is NOT my thing.

 

Comments are more than welcome!

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Jan. 30, 2006 - Wow! I've slacked off on this

I keep forgetting to come back here and blog more.  I also have a blog on Crosswalk, but wanted to make this one mainly for homeschooling and related things. 

 

So...homeschooling...

 

Noah is in Kindergarten.  We are using Bob Jones K5 Phonics and Math.  Everything else is just reading about different things and talking about everything around us.  He also has several computer games that make him think he's playing when he's learning. :)

 

He is a bit behind on the Phonics because we took a month off when he was getting overwhelmed by all those letters.  I'm not worried about it though because I am planning on schooling year round.  It allows us to move at a more comfortable pace, and I hope will help with retention. 

 

He is ahead in his math book.  I often have to bribe him with math to get him to do phonics.  When he is done with this book, I will start him on First grade math as he seems to always be one step ahead of the book.  I really hope he continues to like math, since I did well in it and feel fairly confident in teaching him.

 

Right now, I am reading to him.  He can sound out some words, but it is very stressful for him to try to read on his own.  We are reading through Charlotte's Web right now.  We have a whole pile of chapter books waiting to be read: two other EB White books, Chronicles of Narnia series, and I want to get the Little House on the Prairie series.  I do not like to read out loud, but it is growing on me.

 

Next post, I will attempt to sort through what I want to use for curriculum next year.  But right now, a baby is loudly telling me she is awake, so I must go!

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Jan. 12, 2006 - Not sure what I want to say

Usually I have quite a bit to say.  For some reason, when I come here to write, all my thoughts and opinions fly away.  Blogger's block?  Maybe.

 

So here are some of the boring details of my life the last couple days:

 

Hannah had a fever before I went to bed Monday night.  Every time she gets even the tiniest bug, she seems to get a fever, and then a rash.  Woke up at 3 am to a whimper and a burning up baby.  Got her downstairs and her temp was over 103.  So I dosed her up with Tylenol and Ibuprofen, sponged her down, and sat and waited for the temp to go down a bit before I went back to sleep.

 

As I sat waiting, she suddenly let out a yelp, and then puked all over me.  Twice.  This was her first real puke, you know the kind that smells like vomit, not just milk, or even sour milk.  Stripped us both down, and got her in the tub.  I was surprised by how sick she was, being that she usually loves her bath, and she didn't want to play at all.  But it was 4 o'clock in the morning, after all.

 

With the vomitting and the bathing, her temp went down consierably, so we went back to bed.  I kept her in my bed because I felt so bad for the little sweetie.  An hour or so later, called my day care baby's momma and told her not to bring him.  Finally fell back asleep, this after being up for three hours, and wouldn't you know, the diarrhea begins.  That continued for most of the day Tuesday.  YUCK!  I was getting concerned for dehydration, but we continued to nurse almost constantly and she made it through.

 

Yesterday morning (Wednesday), she woke up happy and bouncy as usual.  I am amazed at how quickly kids bounce back from such a nasty bug!  If that were me, I'm sure it would be a week before I was demanding food! 

 

So, my beautiful, happy baby is back.  And I am glad to have her back.  I am immeasurably blessed to be the mommy to the kids God has given me.  All of them.

 

Guess I had something to say after all, huh?  LOL

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Jan. 5, 2006 - Some of my dreams

I have lots and lots of dreams for myself and my family.  Here are some of them:

 

• I dream of us being a praying family.  I want to pray with my husband and I want my kids to grow up being comfortable praying out loud, even though we aren't.
• I desire our kids to accept Christ at early ages (Noah already has!), and to grow in their faith just as they grow physically.
• I yearn to learn to be a great mom and an excellent wife.
• I would really love to have at least one more natural child (but will I be happy with just one more?  I don't know...).
• I have a long term dream of taking in foster kids and maybe adopting some of them.
• I want my kids to always know how loved they are and never doubt that.

Some of those things are bigger dreams than others, but all of them are important to me in some way or another.

 

My problem with dreams is that I want them to happen NOW.  I don't want to wait for God's timing, and so I get frustrated when things don't go according to my plans.  I think He is trying to teach me to give Him my dreams.  My Daddy loves me, and He has the very best of plans for me, His precious child.

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Dec. 31, 2005 - 2005 in review

The year 2005 for our family...

 

We moved from a 2 bedroom trailer with a leaky roof to a 4+ bedroom house.  The house needs work, but the foundation is solid.  We are renting from people we know right now, but hope to buy the house on a land contract next year.

 

Spent one night in our new house and then went into labor.  Beautiful baby girl was born screaming at the top of her lungs, on February 21st.  The joy Hannah Faith has brought to our lives and home is immeasureable!

 

Bought our first van.  It was too hard to fit three car seats in the car we had, and all three kids are legally required to be in car seats.  Never thought I'd be driving a van.  I feel old.  LOL

 

We didn't have to go to family court for my stepson one single time this year.  Compared to the year before, when we were there at least once a month, for one stupid thing or another.  We are on good terms with Nick's mom and stepdad at the moment and that can only be good for all of us.

 

Our involvement with our church grew exponentially.  We hosted a home group. Brian was part of the Blessing Group, which helps people with things they need done, like firewood, auto repair, roofing, etc.  I took over the Meal Ministry, arranging meals for people who are sick, have had babies, or have had surgery.  I started co-teaching a Sunday School class.

 

We have seen the hand of God moving in our lives and in our family throughout 2005.  I can't wait to see what He has in store for us in 2006!

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Dec. 28, 2005 - Random facts about me...

I'm new to the homeschool blogger, so let me share some random facts about myself and my family with you.

 

• My husband and I are both 25 and we will be celebrating our seventh anniversary January 1st.
• I have a 5 year old son, Noah, who we are homeschooling.  He is doing Kindergarten work, and absorbs knowledge like a sponge!
• I also have a 4 year old stepson, Nicolas.  He lives with his mom and we have him about 1/3 of the time.  (Yes, we had a rough few years in the beginning of our marriage.  Thankfully, that season is behind us and we have both matured immensely since then.)
• I also have a 10 month old baby girl, Hannah, whose Christmas picture is my current avatar.  She is truly a blessing and a joy to have in our family.
• We are quickly becoming of the quiverful belief.  God is amazing!  I never would have thought we'd be at this place.
• I love to play on the Crosswalk.com forums and count many there among my friends, though we have yet to meet IRL.

I guess that's all for now.  Please if you would, post a comment, so I know I'm not talking to myself here.  LOL

 

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