So it has been a while since I was over here at HSB.  I am now keeping up with our adventures in homeschooling through blogger since more people can comment and access it because many of my friends and family are not homeschoolers but have their own blogs....

Here is the link to where I will be:

www.thinkeditup.blogspot.com

Katie's glasses came in YESTERDAY! It was supposed to take 5-7 business days. BLESSED AGAIN! I was on the phone waiting for a friend to come to the line and the eye dr. beeped in...needless to say my friend got "hung up on" before she even got to the phone. They said Katie's glasses are in...they are open till 6. It was 4:20 and I had JUST put bread in the oven and we were on a "must have a shower before we go out the door one more day" day. So....at five minutes till five Katie and I had both been bathed, dressed, the oven shut off (good luck bread!) and we were on our way! When we got there and they put the glasses on Katie, as I told my friend, it was no "Helen Keller" moment, but her eyes got really big and she got really close to the mirror to look at herself. She kept saying "I look SO cute!" (I think she may have heard that from me :)
Here is Katie in her new glasses! She kept making funny faces so this was the best we got...we were on our way out the door....
I think that these glasses just look like they were made for her! It's almost like she is finally herself...her personality is now complete! If you have been around Katie then you know what I am talking about when I say that....it just seems so natural!
I didn't even make it through the morning without another tearjerker though. This morning as I was getting her ready, I took off her glasses while she was standing in front of the mirror so I could brush her hair and pull it back. She squinted and looked in the mirror and said, "Mommy, I need my glasses back on...it looks like bumpy water!"
Katie has been seeing "bumpy water" as normal for as far as we know 5 years.....

There is no telling what she has missed....everything that she didn't look straight at apparently. We stopped by the in-laws on the way out of town to let them see her glasses. When she got out of the car she immediately looked into their flower bed up next to the house. There was a Brinks security sign on a post next to the house. It was white with blue writing against their basically whitish house. She said "What is THAT?!" They told her. I said, "How long has that been there?" Nana answered, "The whole time we have lived here." (since before she was born).....................

What an amazing and wonderful world for Katie to get to rediscover!
Keep her in your prayers as she continues to adjust and we do the patch therapy with her.

THANK YOU GOD FOR HELPING US HELP KATIE TO SEE!

(The bread didn't get done....oh well....)

I almost think I will not be able to explain this fully through a blog...but I am going to do my best....
Those of you who have known us for a long time know all this, but I am going to share a little background for anyone reading who doesn't....
Katie, our 5 year old daughter, has had a developmental delay with her gross motor skills from birth. She didn't crawl until 11-12 months and didn't walk until she was 17 months old. Her pediatrician didn't seem overly concerned (although she is quick to refer to any kind of blood test available-another story) but she did eventually refer us for physical therapy for her. She went for a month or so....was catching up somewhat....but still far behind her age group. She is also very big for her age, so it appeared to be even worse than it was...for a child that looked 2 years old to be barely walking. She is smart, was talking, mentally fine. Just confusing to us all around and frustrating.
It really broke my heart as a mom. Why was our little girl dealing with this? I prayed over it, I worried and cried over it....but we were in such a different season of our lives at that time. I was a full -time student...pregnant again...dealing with all kinds of things.
Eventually Katie caught up to be not that far behind. We figured and accepted that Katie is just Katie. She likes to walk slowly, she very very slowly and cautiously took steps one at a time on the same foot, didn't enjoy playground as much as she should...etc...just heartbreaking.
Side story ....at her 4 yr check up, she was slightly not perfect on one eye during her vision screening. They said follow up with an exam, but with the "over-cautiousness" of my pediatrician always reccomending some test or another I didn't ever get around to taking her. Katie is SO smart..already knowing all her letters and sounds at 3 years old, and in the earliest levels of reading at 4. I talked to her 3 yr pre-k teacher who agreed that Katie was doing GREAT in school and didn't seem to struggle with her sight at all, saw things fine in class, etc....plus we did not have vision insurance.
Fast-foward to Oct 2007. Katie is taking Tumbling classes....not doing so well as we expected. I mean I am proud of her because she has started turning foward rolls (a major feat), attempting the balance beam, being a real trooper. In our first year of homeschooling I had started noticing that Katie was having fine motor skill trouble as well. It was a struggle for her to concentrate on forming letters with a pencil and for putting little pegs in a hole. I just thought, well Katie will be a little behind with fine motor skills also.
Nov: 5 yr check up. Same results with the eye screening. For some reason (GOD!) I decide since it is the second time, we will take her for an exam.
Yesterday: Take Katie to the eye doctor. They spray her eyelids with this stuff that makes them relax the eye muslces so they cannot strain. I quickly notice during the exam as it was confirmed by the dr. Katie's vision is extremely bad. She basically sees in blur. Both eyes are very bad, and one is hardly being able to be used at all because she has overcompensated most likely for FIVE years!!!! She has no depth perception. She has no peripheral vision.
I asked the dr. knowing the answer, "Could this possibly affect her gross motor skills?"
The dr.'s answer brought me straight to tears: "OH ABSOLUTELY YES!"
She continued to say that it will also make them complain of headaches (check) and make them feel sleepy (double check!).
It all makes so much sense now. But I never would have thought that her delay in going up and down stairs, jumping, climbing on playground equipment, etc. was due to her sight, as much as it seems SO OBVIOUS now. And her tiredness....just everything. I might have thought of it had there been ANY other symptom (not learning letters, not recognizing objects, not being able to see things we saw) She was "seeing things" but just the way she had always seen them and was smart enough to adjust to that. Motor skills were the ONLY thing that she showed a delay in, which to anyone would seem to be a strenth/movement/confidence issue. Difficult to have confidence climbing a ladder with blurred vision and no depth perception!
At first I felt SO overwhelmed with guilt. But the dr. assured me that it is wonderful that I brought her in when we did because something can still be done about the one lazy eye and that she is just starting serious school so this is year.
As the day went on I went from guilt to complete and total overwhelming joy!
What a BLESSING! Katie, whom I have cried and worried over...who we had just accepted to be a little behind...is going to have a HEALING of sorts over this thing we weren't even thinking about anymore. And I am compelled and happy to give thanks where thanks is due, because I can't even tell you what a miracle this is for us. I really wasn't planning to take her for an exam. She didn't seem to show ANY symptoms at all with struggling with sight. She has dealt with it for so long that it is just normal for her. She doesn't struggle academically, has started reading by just getting by with her one eye. There was no sign that she would need glasses. I fully expected to get the same result as at the pediatrician: she is a little bad with distance. It was the opposite: Katie has trouble with closer distances. Which even further explains the particular issues she has (handwriting, pegboards, balance beams, steps, etc.)
We weren't worried over it anymore actually, we were past that point. I didn't even know that this was an area that was even "up" for a miracle anymore. But we were just dealt the biggest blessing of our lives!
GOD was in this from the beginning.
WHY didn't I take her last year? Because God's timing is PERFECT!
My husband and I have also been on a spritual journey the past 6 months in a new season of our lives....and if we had been given this miracle last year....we would have said Thank God, but not to the degree we can this year. God is real and in our lives as #1 priority to us now, and he knew that ALL HONOR would be given to him...in THIS year, at THIS TIME, and in THIS CIRCUMSTANCE.
I am just so thankful I can't express how much. We are excited to see in a few days when we get her glasses how the world is going to change for her. I am holding on to the faith that was poured out on us yesterday. I will not let it fade.
I know that Katie's first few days with "working eyes" will be an adjustment, but I am ready...SO ready to see how this changes her life. THANK YOU GOD!!!!

I decided to paste something I wrote for my other blog:  www.thinkeditup.blogspot.com

I haven't been here for a while, what with homeschooling and all! lol.  actually, I got pretty addicted to my other blog, so that's where I have been.  I need to catch up with everyone here though, so I hope to see you all on your blogs!

thanks!

Well..I have avoided the topic till now, just because I didn't want to offend anyone...but really I don't have anything offensive to say...and if you are reading this, then you must be my friend and will hopefully realize that I am talking about my belief here, and nothing is meant to criticize anyone for their choices!
So, with that being said, I just want to say that I LOVE homeschooling! And...my children seem to enjoy it as well!
They are learning so much! I want to brag that my daughter is reading end of year kindergarten level books (in case you didn't know they read in kindergarten these days!) and so that puts us at being on track for first grade level by the end of the year! (She just turned 5). She knows even and odd numbers, can add number up to 10 in her head, and her handwriting is looking very good!
Noah is also doing very well! He has learned his address, phone number, birthday, letters A-G and the sound (the important part) and can recognize numbers and count. Besides that, he knows all this colors, shapes, lots of stuff about various "stuff." Oh, and Katie knows what a quadrilateral and parrallel lines are! And...Noah can write his name! (he is 3)
They also both have friends at church, can interact in a group of students at the local playschool where they play while I have moms bible study, and have access to many more, but we have such a full schedule that we just haven't had time to go to park day yet.
I am saying all this to say: homeschooling works, and it works well!
I do not mean at all to sound like I am bragging...but I am a mom, and as the one who was there when her children learned all the above mentioned things: I am PROUD of them! (and their teacher!)
Why should a mom cry because she has to send her child "off to school." I have to say that homeschooling has equaled "PEACE" in our home. Just like the name we chose for our school: PEACE Academy.
Peace in knowing that Katie and Noah can learn at their own pace (Be it fast or slow). Peace in knowing that they are safe. Peace in knowing that they can stay in out of the stormy, snowy, cold, or hot weather. Peace in knowing that the friends they have are from families we know, that we know will be a positive influence in their lives. Peace in knowing that what they are reading, being read to, learning about science, learning about values, are all things based in a belief system that we believe to be honest and true. Peace from knowing that there is no divided allegience between what is going on at school and what is going on at home. Peace in knowing that their faith will have time to be built strongly, matured, and nourished before it is attacked by outside views. Peace in knowing that that we can say that we did what was right for us, and we have all benefitted from it.
Some may view this as being a sheltering parent. I believe that all the "unsheltering" my child needs can be acheived by walking through the mall or Wal-Mart.
This is just my opinion. Some may not feel called to homeschool their children. That it is a matter that should be prayer over, and I don't disagree. But, how many people pray over sending their children anywhere else? Would they be willing to accept that they weren't called to send their children to public or private school? God doesn't always call us to our comfort zone. I just felt the need to share my views, as it has become something very dear to me. I want everyone to experience the closeness and rewards of being a homeschool family. It is just so much fun, so rewarding, and not to mention the flexibility. All that stuff I mentioned at the beginning? We just started school in September, and we average 2 1/2 hrs 3 days a week of actual "school." It is awesome! And our kids are wierdos because of it. We were all wierdos long before we started homeschooling! :) Oh, and I don't claim to have any advantage by having been a teacher before...I am glued to every word of the script in my math teacher's manual!

So, I won homeschool blogger of the month on a yahoo share group in which I am a member.  I was so surprised!  It is really encouraging to hear from other ladies who homeschool...I just love that group and was honored to be chosen for October! 

Our homeschooling it going pretty well.  We are still finding our routine, we never have two days exactly the same!  Which keeps it fun!

I am using Right Start Math with Katie and sometimes I am tempted to skip over something that I think is just too complicated for her to understand, but I usually just go ahead and try it, and boy she is so smart!  So far she has learned the term "quadrilateral" and "parallel" and "non-parallel."  AND she really understands them!  I have decided to not think about skipping anything anymore!  They are capable of so much more that we give them credit for being able to understand!

On the other hand...my silly son.  He is three and he just messes with me sometimes...I think he knows that I need to know that he is learning "something."  We have done 4 letters so far...and sometimes he just says "I don't know" when I ask him "what is this letter?"  He smiles when he does it too.  He is going to be one of those who you know he knows it but he just doesn't want to show it!

We are having a great time, though.  We are visiting a local pumpkin patch this week for a field trip.  Next week we are going to a local orchestra concert....I am really excited about that.  My kids love to watch Little Einsteins and are very interested in orchestra instruments.  Great opportunities for us!

LOVING EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!

School is going great.  I am enjoying every minute of time spent with my children...they are learning everything well and just showing me how smart I know they are!  Our new classroom is working out so well...plenty of room to roam around and play and also get things accomplished.  My mom's Bible study has also just began a new study.  It's a Beth Moore series:  A Woman's Heart:  God's Dwelling Place.  It is just wonderful.  It is making me do my homework each night, which I actually look foward to doing and have to pace myself to not finished it too soon!  I have to share something though...it is something I wrote and shared with my email friends.  A thought was mentioned in my Wednesday night class at church...a thought about God changing the nature of a person when they become saved.  Just wanted to post it here and see what anyone thought of it.  Talk to you all soon!

Well....I have to say that I have a a fantastic and FUN first week of school with my children!  Katie and Noah are excited to go downstairs to our classroom in the mornings, and they LOVE school with mommy!  Mommy LOVES school with them as well!

Our first day was a little bit rough for Noah.  With the new room, he just wanted to play and not sit still AT ALL.  I know he is only three, but he could sit still for a story or to see what day it is lol!  Anyway, we did school Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  By Thursday, he was more in a routine and overall it was a great week.  They both learned their memory verse for the week, Noah really and truly learned the letter "A" and Katie is off to a great start with Right Start Math.  I am teaching them both together with Math at this point, though I anticipate that later I will have to split when it starts moving along faster.  I am interested to see how he does with it though.  He has had no prior number "schooling" at all really, so I am anxious to see how the "blank slate" responds to Right Start.  I am going to skip Katie a good bit in Reading, she is pretty bored with the beginning of the year stuff in kindergarten Abeka, so next week I plan to see how far she can go in the book.

So...we love school!  Great week!  Can't wait till next week!

We are finally ready to start school!  These are the after pictures of our basement room!  We start school tomorrow!  I am so proud of my husband and his paw paw and dad who worked many long hours to finish the room for our precious children.  Don't be alarmed if it looks formal bc of the desks...these were passed down "heirlooms" you could say, they belonged to me and my brother.  Katie and Noah love it and just don't want to leave it since I got all the "school stuff" put in Friday.  I will blog to let everyone know how day one goes.  Pray for us!  By the way, I am so proud of the after pictures that I am not ashamed to share the before.  Here it is:

I haven't posted in a while...mainly because I am at a stand still in the homeschooling department.  I am currently waiting on all our curriculum to arrive, and waiting for our homeschool room to get finished.  We have a start, but limited time to work on it, so hopefully our space will be done by September.  I am anxiously awaiting our orders to come in so I can look over all the curriculum and hopefully start making some plans with it.  I have a daily and weekly schedule done, with the enrollment in tumbling classes and a library day worked into our weekly schedule.  The waiting is difficult.  I want to be busy, but my hands are tied with this stuff.

I got to see some great close friend of ours this past weekend, so that was a welcome break!  We always have so much fun with them and our children enjoy each other.  Unfortunately, they are a military family, so the prospect of them living nearby is only a far in the future thing.  She will homeschool also, so we really would enjoy having them nearby, but it is not God's plan right now.

I have enjoyed looking at all the homeschool open house entries.  I haven't been able to comment on all of them, because I have a dial-up connection and getting from page to page is hard enough without going to the comment box every time.  I have learned lots of things and gotten lots of ideas for organization.  Anyway....hopefully I will have my before and after pictures of the classroom up in the next couple of weeks.  I look forward to sharing it. 

Talk to you later!

We attended the Homeschool Expo this past weekend, so I HAD to make some changes!  WOW!!  I saw so many things and got my hands on some awesome stuff!  We have definitely decided to go with some curriculum, which of course we will use at our own pace and add to and modify to fit our two little "students."

So my new encourager, Jenn4Him, begged me to do an open house entry, although I am FAR from being ready for day 1.  It is encouraging as well as pressuring to see what a great job everyone is doing and how so many of you have already had "day 1!" 

My goal is to begin day 1 of school on Sept. 4th.  A rough outline of our day follows, because I am one who NEEDS a schedule or I will slack or spend too much time on something that I truly don't want to.... Here's what I have so far for our daily schedule:

7:00-8:30:  Wake up, dress, breakfast, morning routine

8:30-8:50:  Center/Play time while mommy gets thoughts together for the day

8:50-9:00:  prayer, pledges, memorization time (verses, poems)

9:00-9:15:  Calendar time, action songs

9:30-10:00:  Phonics and Reading time, together and individually.  We are going to use the Abeka Program for Reading/Language/Phonics.  We are using the 5 yr program for Katie and just a couple of books for Noah from the 3-yr old program.

10:00-10:15:  Kumon Workbooks (cutting, tracing, mazes), Handwriting Without Tears (MAT man-I loved him!)

10:15-10:45:  Upstairs to make snacks and do a few chores around the house

10:45-10:55:  Read aloud, Bible storytime (Bedell Bible Curriculum)

10:55-11:25:  Math lessons together and individually.  Noah will just be "learning" some number recognition and counting.  We have chosen RightStart Math for Katie.

11:25-12:00:  Monday-Art activity, Tuesday-Science, Wednesday-Music, Thursday-library, Friday-Playtime and Gross Motor Skills practice.

12:00-12:30:  "Recess" on indoor play area or in rooms

12:30-1:00:  lunch/done for the day!

The schedule will be for Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.  On Tuesday mornings we attend a Mom's Bible study that takes most of the morning where they will play in a preschool during the time I am in the study. 

After Tuesday Bible study, I will try to do some short reading and math lessons with Katie while Noah plays with some educational toys and games, so she is sure to get everything she needs in those areas.  On Thursdays I am planning to take them to the library for storyhour during the morning, then in the afternoon they are going to be enrolled in some kind of physical activity class, dance or tumbling. On Thursdays I also plan to fit in some sign language learning during the day.

 We absolutely fell in love with the format and thoroughness of the Bedell Bible Stories. I also LOVE the Handwriting Without Tears program, esp for my son, who isn't ready to "write" yet.  It looks easy and fun so I hope both of them will enjoy it!   I also have high hopes for the RightStart Math program.  I hated Math as a child, it was so boring and repetitive, so I am hoping that using the abacus and learning while using games, etc will make math time fun for Katie and she will look forward to "playing" with math.

One of my favorite discoveries has been the Kumon workbooks.  My kids have loved these.  These are great for my three year old to learn cutting skills, pasting skills, and right now tracing skills, where he just practices "drawing lines" to connect the two pictures to make straight lines, later on curved lines, etc.  It is so much like a game that he doesn't realize he is getting ready to be ready for writing letters.  Also, the cutting practices are so much fun!  We also have a simple mazes book that is great for practicing pencil control.  I really enjoy these books and have already purchased several to use this year to help them with fine motor skills.

I had to change the paragraph about homeschooling for free, because my views have definitely changed since I attended the expo.  There is just so much out there to help moms be great homeschoolers, and even though it will cost us a little upfront, I truly believe we will be making a great investment for our children!  I still plan to supplement with some fun things online as we need or see fit.  I will definitely be searching out the science/social studies/music/health activities and lessons online.

I am getting more and more excited everyday!  We have so much to do between now and Sept. 4th! I took a picture of my downstairs basement room (the future classroom) in its current unfinished state, and I will be anxious to compare it to the "after" picture when everything is ready!  I will definitely post our results as our adventure begins next month!  I couldn't bring myself to post the before picture until I have the "after" one ready!

Thanks for reading my extremely amateur open house blog!  I am really excited about looking at everyone else's postings and may change some things if I find some really good ideas elsewhere!

Today I am getting ready to welcome my husband home after a week of his being gone out of town for business.  He has been in Austin, TX for a week while I was here in boring old Adairsville, GA.  lol.  Anyway, the kids and I have been prepping the house and now it is the waiting game.  He should be here anytime between 4-6pm.  The closer he gets the more "in stone" the time will be.  This is the first time he has come in from out of town and it wasn't middle of the night or early morning, so I will be interested to see if it is different for the kids...usually he tries to drive on through and just gets here late and the kids just wake up and it is back to normal, no big welcome home ceremony. 

I am really excited because we are going to have the chance to hang out just the two of us TWICE this week, and after he has been gone!  Tomorrow night, some couples at church are getting together for a "no kids" night.  Then, Saturday, we are going to the Homeschool Expo together, just us.  I am very very exicted about that, at least two meals alone this week!  woo hoo!  That hardly ever happens right after a trip. 

By the way, if anyone reads this and has been to a homeschool expo before, do you have any tips or ideas about what to look for, what questions to ask, etc?  This will be our first, of course, and I am really excited...but I don't want to be overwhelmed.  They are offering free workshops as well, so I am trying to decide how much time we will have for everything.

This is an extremely boring post.  I think I will go check out the open house!

Also...please don't be offended if I don't comment a whole lot...we have DIALUP!!! BLAH!!!!  It takes forever to load blogs!  TTYL!

I think I have finally come up with a name with meaning

and that fits our family!

PEACE Academy.  I know that probably lots of people use this acronym, but it just seems to "fit" us.  The word "Peace" completely describes the feeling we had when we decided that homeschooling was the best thing for our family...total and complete peace from being able to give the very best to our children, to not have to "part" with them to a total stranger...feeling the "peace" from making the decision that is God's will for our family!  Perfect Peace!

So I wanted to come up with words to give even more meaning to the name, so I came up with these "traits/desribers" for our homeschool.

P:  Pray (What we will teach our children to do, and what our decisions will be made with)

E:  Encourage (What we will do for each other and for others as a school and family)

A:  Act (What I want my children to do and us as a homeschool, act within the community and family)

C:  Care (For others, for our siblings, classmates, everyone, just a great trait)

E:  Educate (Let's not forget the initial purpose, to educate in truth)

 Our Homeschool: 

PEACE Academy

Motto:  Nosce teipsun (Know Thyself)

I had the greatest thing happen today, I am just SO excited!  I attend a Bible study with other moms in the community, it is fairly new and most of us don't know each other very well yet, but I did know that one of the other moms is a homeschooler.  Today I asked her when she plans to start school and we were talking and she offered to bring me her Abeka 5-yr old curriculum so I could look at it and if I like it she will let me HAVE it!!!! WOWWWW!!!!!  I am so excited!  This is exactly the year curriculum I need for Katie and I have definitely heard great things about Abeka.  I don't know if she is bringing the entire "shebang" (she uses Abeka for all subjects I believe), but either way this is an awesome wonderful blessing!!!!  All I know about Abeka is that my brother and I both learned to read using it and we have both always been fantastic readers....and I am willing to give anything a great look if it is FREE! I still plan to attend the expo and see what else is out there for future reference, but I am just dwelling on how great this is for us right now!  I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who has used Abeka for other subjects...I will get to "get my hands on it" next week, but I am really really excited!

I will stop "gushing" now!  Woo HOOO!!!!!!!

My son and I are working on the "L" sound today and he is so cute trying to get the sounds to come out right.  He is only 3 and I know that speech isn't something to worry about at this age, but when I think about it we "practice" saying a few words with the sounds he needs to practice.  Today we tried "L" (he says the "w" sound, very common).  It was fitting since daddy is out of town for business so after a little practice he called daddy to say "I Love You!" rather than "I Wuv You."  Daddy was impressed, of course.  Don't know if it will stick, probably not right away, but it made me think about how I will miss hearing the "wuv you" when he finally outgrows the speech thing.  He is just so adorable saying it, oh it is just TOO cute!  ***SIGH WITH A FARAWAY LOOK IN MY EYE***

On a completely different subject:  I have a GREAT website to share with you!  And it is one I ALREADY had in my favorites that I found all by myself!  It is a great resource for anyone with preschool aged children, even kindergarten.  It isn't overly educational, but it is a great source for cute fingerplays and songs with Christian themes.  My daughter would come home from 3-yr-old pre-k singing the CUTEST little songs and I thought "Where does Mrs. J find all this stuff?!?"  I thought my kids would be severely lacking in the cute poem and song department with just mommy for their teacher...but ALAS, I found it, the ultimate resource for Christian songs, fingerplays, poems, etc, and crafts to go along!  I am such a newbie to the homeschooling world, that I bet most everyone has this already tucked away in their favorites list, but here it is anyway!  Have a great day!

Bible Rhymes and Songs

I feel like a little kid!  I just started my blog and "woo hoo!"  I get to play a game!  I don't have many people in my friend's list, so I don't know if it is "proper" to tag people randomly, and I really wouldnt' want to offend anyone by randomly tagging them...without any prior messages! ha ha!  Anyway, here are the rules of being tagged, as copied and pasted from my tagger's blog!

1) The player starts with 8 random facts about herself.

2)The person who is tagged must post on her own blog her answers and she must post the rules first.

3) Then the player must pick 8 people and tag them. Then leave them a note so that they will know that they have been tagged.

Here are my 8 random facts:

      1.  I can't stand the term "BBQ" Why not just write "Barbecue?"

      2.  I also love to write, and dream of writing my own book someday and having it published!

      3.  My children changed my life!

      4.  My husband and I almost NEVER fight.  It's the truth.  We have only had one major spat in 6 years and that is the honest truth!  He is my best friend! (we do disagree, but we don't fight about it)

      5.  I LOVE BAKING!  It is a newfound love this past year!  I bake every week with my kids now!

      6.  I sort my M&Ms by color before I eat them, then eat them one of each color till they are gone.  (please don't think I am too weird)

       7. I love to scrapbook, but don't get much done at it.  I am a 2-3 page per session person!

       8. I don't watch commercials.

There...the sad sad random truth.  I tag....just three...1thessalonians516, jenn4him, 3menandalittlelady

I am so excited about homeschooling my Katie and Noah this year!  I was a public school teacher for two years (first grade) and I saw enough to know I didn't want that experience for my own precious children!  My daughter attended a private Christian 3 yr old program last year, but we decided to go ahead and make the move "home!"  I am so happy to find this blog space.  I am looking forward to making some friends and getting ideas.  I am trying to not let myself get too "uptight" about the whole school thing this year.  I want my children to enjoy it and me as we learn together this year. 

What a great opportunity!!!!!!