Hmmm, I have been doing alot of thinking today...a really dangerous thing for me to do!!! LOL   Not that any of it was of any importance...just thinking about this, that and the other thing.

Anyway, one of the really neat things that happened today was that we got a check in the mail. It was for $200 and it was a reimbursement for our post-Curriculum Fair dinner...well, it couldn't have come on a better day! The contractor that is supposed to come give us an estimate was still in SC today, so he is coming tomorrow. Well, he doesn't take credit cards, so we would have to pay by cash or check. We had been kind of concerned about how soon we could "afford" to have the floor fixed without taking out a small loan. So when this check came in the mail we were both just praising the Lord! Even if it isn't the total amount (the floor is only like 3' x 7'), we won't know until the estimate, it would at least be a good down payment as long as he is willing to create a "payment plan" for us. We shall see what happens.

The other thing I was thinking about was this whole adoption situation...with it being delayed. Well, it could be possible that "our children" aren't there just yet and the Lord is just waiting for the right time. Because if this were to have gone through now we would have already (or would be soon) getting information and probably opening our home to one of the 3 sets of siblings we have been watching. That is always a possibility.

I have been busy working on setting up my Homeschool Tracker Plus (thanks Jen for your post about yours! ) So far, I am loving it and think it will be a worthwhile investment. I love the fact that I can actually store everything on there instead of having to "retype" everything in every month on my excel forms. (not that it didn't work well, this way just seems so much easier and less of a hassle).

It reached 100 today....HOT, HOT, HOT. We have left all of the blinds closed for the past 4 days because it helps keep the house cooler, without the AC having to run all day long, Praise the Lord! Granted, I have to turn the light on when the kids do their schoolwork, but since we have those energy saving bulbs, I am not too worried about it. It probably costs a lot less than running the AC all day long.

We had chili for dinner last night...(yea, I know...what are you thinking?!???!?!? Chili, when it is 100 degrees outside? Are you crazy!!!...yup, I am) It was good...I am going to make spanish rice tomorrow night for dinner. Then Wednesday we will eat leftovers...tuna casserole (not the cold one you have w/BBQ but the hot dish one), chili and spanish rice. We also have stuff from burritos we can eat, too. I bought tortilla chips to eat with the beans & cheese. We all love that! 'Lil Buddy is begging for chili dogs, so we will make some of those up Wednesday night, too.

Tomorrow I need to run to the store for a few things (crickets to feed George included ) and do school, and do laundry, and do....hmm, what else can I do??? Well, I am sure I will think of something. In the meantime, have a blessed Tuesday!!!!!

Blessings,

SoCalVal is hosting a neat contest for some great Christian DVDs.  Here's the information:

Contest!!!

Click on movie cover, enter the movie's title and read the reviews

I LOVE giving stuff away to people... especially good, wholesome things like these movies! Who knows, maybe YOU will be the one who wins! Just leave me a message in my comment box by clicking here and let me know you're interested in winning the DVD's. Yes, all THREE can be yours for just leaving me a comment!!! I'll draw the winning name on July 31st - NEXT Thursday. So, tell your friends!!!


**FEEL FREE to copy/paste the movie covers, contest details, and links in a blog post of your own. This is too great of a contest to not share with others!!!

Also, feel free to visit my sponsors. They help support Weblinkeducation.com through financial contributions and/or advertisement. If you are interested in supporting this site and having me spread the news about your company, please let me know.

Go leave a comment at her blog to enter!

Tomorrow is Monday again. We didn't do much this weekend due to a couple kids getting sick, but on the bright side of that, we got to stay home all weekend and just chill. We did do some schoolwork today, just to catch up from last week. We have a contractor coming tomorrow to give us an estimate on our bathroom floor. Hopefully he will be able to work out a payment plan with us. I worked on CGCHE stuff alot this weekend, getting things ready for the new year with the forum/website. It is pretty much all set now, I have a couple things to tweak...I accidently deleted the email account where all the online applications go, so had to remake that and now I need to make sure that they are forwarding to the correct person. LOL - It had been a very long day! I completely redid the main website (www.cgche.com) and had to work out a couple of kinks elsewhere. But, I think everything is set for the new year. Yea!!! Our toad is getting bigger...he eats 3-4 crickets a day! It is one of our favorite things to do after our family devotions & storytime...watch George eat. He is really neat to watch. My son had to write a paragraph on something he could see for English the other day. This is what he wrote:

      We have a toad name George. He can stand on his hind legs. He eats three crickets every night. He also hides under the moss. But George doesn't get in his pond. He is small and is a baby. He likes our kitten. He looks out the window. There is one corner that is his favorite corner. He sits there most of the time. He watches TV with us. He also does devotions with us. He watches our games, too.

I thought that was pretty decent for an 8 year old boy. LOL And the best part, his handwriting is completely legible!!! Praise the Lord for that!!! Well, I am going to head to bed early tonight, I haven't slept much this weekend...we have stayed up until 1-2am most of last week & this weekend. Have a blessed Monday!!!!

Okay, our caseworker finally called us back today (we have tried to call her since Saturday to find out whether she had finished the paperwork and turned it in) and told us that she hadn't looked our record in about 3 weeks and that she didn't know if there was anything else we needed to do. She hasn't gotten our fingerprints yet, doesn't know whether to turn our study into Bibb County or Houston County etc, etc. Now, while she is a wonderfully nice person, we are really upset because other than the fingerprints she should have had everything else done. We talked to her just before Father's Day and she was going to have it turned in by the 13th of June. Wow! 1 month later and still not there. I am soooo frustrated right now I could cry! But, this means we won't be approved now until the end of August at the earliest. No children in our home before October now. Well, I guess that means I just need to pray and trust the Lord even more. He knows what is going on and knows why, too. I will focus on my children, my husband, my house, school and what I have at my fingertips now and allow everything else to happen in time as it will. The Lord is good through it all!

We have a contractor coming Monday to give us an estimate on our bathroom floor. Our insurance company wasn't helpful, so we are going to do it ourselves. It will cost us less in the long run to jus tpay someone to do it rather then having the insurance take care of it. Long story, but basically we know how they get their reputation! Praise the Lord anyway...His ways are the best, even when we don't think so!

Blessings,
JAD's Mama

Be careful of nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 KJV

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:14

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

These are 3 of the verses that I have been focusing on since this past weekend. I hadn't really had too much time to dwell on the adoption process during the month of June due to so many things happening. But this past weekend it hit full force. We are still in the waiting process and I am struggling to remain calm about the results. We are so close to the final approval that I feel I can't breathe when I think about it. I get so excited about the prospect of actually being able to meet the children that we would like to adopt that I have a hard time thinking about anything else. So, I need to stop and repeat these verses and trust the Lord and take care of what HE has already blessed me with in the meantime. It is ALL IN HIS HANDS!!!

 

Wow! We are in our 3rd week of school already! I am amazed at how smoothly this year has started out. Maybe it is because it isn't our first year anymore and we all kind of have the "feel" of how it works. I have to admit, being homeschooled and homeschooling your own children are definitely 2 different things! Yes, being homeschooled gave me the advantage of being comfortable, having an idea of how things work, and gives the perspective from the students point of view. It doesn't give you the parents point of view, though, and that is a totally different ball game! Off my soap box now and back to my first train of thought. We started with Reading & Math. We decided that each week we would add 1 subject until they were all in place...therefore by the end of the 6th week, we will have all our subjects going. (Except 'Lil Princess because she is in K therefore her subjects are Phonics, Reading and Math) So, last week we added English and this week we added Spelling for 'Lil Buddy. We added Math this week for 'Lil Princess. So far, they are both doing well and they are all seeming to enjoy it, even though sometimes 'Lil Buddy will say he doesn't. 'Lil Angel even gets in on the fun with her little workbooks/worksheets. LOL Our Toad, George, is doing well. He knows when we are feeding him crickets and now he is eating about 2-3 a day. He must be growing because a couple days ago he would only eat 1-2. And, we must be doing something right for his environment because we have had him a week and a half and he is still alive and thriving!!! It is so cool to watch him...now, there is one question that we just can't seem to find the answer for...if anyone out there knows could you let me know?!?!?! How long do the crickets stay alive in the toads stomach after he swallows them? We have looked in encyclopedia's, websites, google etc. and can't find that answer. It was 'Lil Buddy's question and we want to answer him, but since we can't find the answer it may be one of those mysteries that only God can answer when we see Him. LOL
We are still doing our devotions every day and are staying strong...though, I have to admit, I feel weak right now. Keep praying about the adoption process! We are almost there...hopefully we will hear within the next 2-5 weeks about whether we are approved or not. Then we can get info on the sibling group we want. There are 3 children in this group...2 boys & 1 girl. We are praying!!! Well, I need to get off to bed. Blessings,

(Sunday, July 13) - Well, I have to admit we haven't done well with our "30 day TV free challenge". I guess we will have to try again tomorrow! LOL

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We are doing a 30-day TV free challenge. If you are interested in doing one also please check out this link. http://www.reviveourhearts.com/tvfree/
 

I am thankful for God's love towards me!

I am thankful for my husband...he is my very best friend!

I am thankful for my son and all of the questions he asks that make us think!

I am thankful for my oldest daughter and her sweet, sensitive ways!

I am thankful for my youngest daughter and her 3 year old antics!

I am thankful for my parents and their wonderful examples of how to live for Jesus and how to love each other unconditionally!!

I am thankful for brothers and sisters (even though they DID annoy me alot growing up!)

I am thankful for nieces and nephews! (especially the 2 that are due in November & January)

I am thankful that our windshield was fixed today and it was less than $250!

I am thankful for friends (blogging & in person)!

I am thankful for the freedom to have, read and live the Word of God!

Thank you Lord, for all of your wonderful blessings to me!!!!!!!!!

We have been very diligent in having our family devotions with the dc every evening, our personal devotions every morning and our devotions (dh & I together) every night before bed for the past 2 weeks. I have been feeling like God is far away, though I haven't stopped the devotions etc. Well, obviously we are doing something right and pleasing God because the Devil is really, really, really trying us. First it was the windshield on our car...it cracked and we have no idea how that happened so now we have to replace that. Then it was the faucet in the shower..it started leaking into the wall and we have the part coming to us today. Then last night it was our master bathroom toilet. The tank cracked at 9:00 pm so dh went to Lowes which is 3 minutes away (thankfully) and he found a new toilet (we couldn't get the tank off the old toilet and dh has been wanting a new, taller one anyway so why not replace it with a better one). Well we removed the old toilet without much problem. Then we realized that the subfloor was sunken in too badly to place the new toilet on it, and the valve hose that attaches to the tank was too short, the valve even in the off position was leaking causing us to have to shut off the water to the whole house overnight (Lowes closed at 10pm and we decided to wait until the morning to call a plumber so we wouldn't have to be after hours fees). Plumber came this morning and fixed the leaking valve and replaced the hose so it will reach the new tank, however when he went to replace the flooring under the toilet he realized that it was going to have to be the entire floor that needs replacing. So now we need to call our insurance company and get that taken care of. On the bright side of it, we now can have the water on without it leaking in our bathroom, we do have 2 other bathrooms we can use, we can finally replace the carpeting in the bathroom (whoever put it in there to begin with wasn't the brightest bulb in the store) with tile or linoleum. So- while I wouldn't usually blame things like this on the Devil, we (dh & I) honestly feel that it is this time because we have been faithful and are really trying to serve God with all our hearts, souls and strength! (not like we weren't before, but when the dc were gone we kind of slacked off more that we would like to admit). Please pray that the Lord would give us the strength and finances to deal with this slight bump in our road. Throughout it all we will praise the Lord, for He is awesome!!!!

Blessings,

We had a very enjoyable weekend! DH was off Friday & today, so we spent 4 wonderful days together as a family. On Friday we slept in, did some school with the children, fixed the leak in the pool ring (we have an Intex above ground pool (15' x 3' deep) with the inflatable ring, and it was losing air, causing the pool cover to sink into the pool), caught a baby (and I mean baby, still has the bit of his tail left) toad..so we went to PetSmart to get an aquarium tank, lid, crickets, moss, water dish and some bedding. We made him a cozy home and we are enjoying having a pet toad! We thought it would be a great science project for the kids to do since we rarely ever see a baby toad..usually the full grown ones. We have him narrowed down to an American Toad or a Southern Toad. He is less than an inch big and is too cute (I never thought I would call a toad cute). The kids love him and dh and I have spent the last 3 nights after the kids go to bed sitting and watching him. It's so much cooler than TV! The children all have different names for him...1 calls him George (which seems to be the most used name so far), 1 calls him Cheeto & 1 calls him M&M. We didn't go see any fireworks for a couple reasons. One: dd5 is very much afraid of them, Two: it was raining and Three: There weren't any really local. (the town we live in had fireworks and a concert Thursday night instead) Saturday we did the same thing...just kind of lounged and enjoyed the day. Sunday we went to church...2 of our first graders had to leave due to a stomach upset...ugh. I do hope they feel better soon! Then we came home, ate lunch, took a nap, played games with the children and just relaxed (it was the perfect weekend since it rained most of it). Today, we cleaned, then went to the store to pick up a few groceries...school supplies were out and cheap so I stocked up. I won't need to go back again except for glue sticks but I can get those anytime. The children are always excited because they get new pencil boxes, crayons etc for the beginning of the school year. DD3 got her first box today and was thrilled to bits! We switched over to the KJV of the Bible so we all got new Bibles this past week. We had all of our names put on them, so the kids were thrilled with that. We had to get DD3 a Bible Cover and DS8 needed a new one since his old one was a tad "childish" for a 3rd grader (his thoughts). So we went to the Christian Book Store to get those and got a couple (6) study guides for DH and I to do together. We love those! Tomorrow we start another week and are looking forward to it! I am so glad we homeschool!!!! Thank you Jesus for all of Your wonderful blessings!!!!
Blessings,