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I finally figured out how to get the sunflower off my blog. I liked it okay by itself, but wanted to go with different colors and it just didn't fit. I looked through that template a million times before I finally found it. Now I just need to figure out how to get that "x" off that stays to the left of the picture! Also, I finally learned how to do a hyperlink (thanks, Beth!). I saw people type go "here" to get to some website and had no clue how to do it. I also read about how you steal people's bandwidth if you don't do it right and I was afraid I might be doing that. I've learned a lot today...my brain hurts! The picture above is of Cumberland Falls, which is here in Kentucky. If you click here you can see a picture of a moonbow there. It only happens in a couple places in the whole world. We haven't seen it yet but it sounds cool. Did you notice I did the hyper link thing...aren't you proud of me |
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I've been playing with my blog and just learning stuff on my own. I can't for the life of me though figure out how to change the flower on top. I can't find where it even is in my template. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know! Also, I keep hearing about hyperlink. I think that's where you say "go here" and you click on it and go to a website. How do you do that within your blog? I am looking forward to finishing school and having more time to play. I'll try to figure out how to space everything, etc. then
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Today we started more "fun" school. The schools kind of wind down this time of year too and we're done with our 'text took' type stuff (David does Switched on Schoolhouse so it's actually on the computer!), so we're doing more hands-on learning our last few weeks. Matthew (2nd grade) came up with the idea he wanted to write stories in a notebook like his cousin (who has awesome talent as both a writer and illustrator even at ten years old). Matthew comes up with ideas faster than he can write or type right now, so we are doing it together. He comes up with the ideas and I re-word it for him as needed and he approves it. My mom is going to help him illustrate it. Right now we are writing a chapter book about Scruffy the Dog! We are also doing nature studies inspired by my friend, Pam. Instead of reading about everything we are going back in our woods and exploring. I also want them to identify some of the birds around us. I used to do school this way all the time, but in the past couple years just haven't been able to get it together like I used to, so kind of got in the text book rut. Hopefully I can find a balance next year! |
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We have just three weeks left of our Dave Ramsey class. There is a lot of good information in it and I highly recommend the class. However, I recommend reading the book(s) too. For me it gave me the "big picture" so that what he says in class makes sense. However, everyone has their own learning style. I'm one of those that read the last chapter of any book first, then read the book. Or, I like to tape shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol" not only to skip through commercials and through things I don't want to see, but to see first who was voted off, then go back and watch the show. Also, fill in the blanks drive me crazy. I spend all my time waiting for the answers and miss everything else that was said. So, in this Dave Ramsey class, the 'answers' are at the end of each chapter. I fill them in before class and then take my own notes during class. My boys call that cheating! (It's not as the blanks are for taking notes, not answering questions). The reason I recommend reading the book, and I read both Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace Revisited, is that he skips some things in the video that he gets more into in the book. One example is college. He talks about how to get your kid through college without borrowing money. But in the books he gives more examples...community college, living on campus vs off, not choosing a real expensive college without scholorships, etc. Another example is giving. I haven't seen that video yet but I understand he doesn't make as big a deal of it. I was most impressed on his attitude of giving when I read the book. I understand he is trying to reach a wider audience in the videos. It's a great class, and either way I suggest reading the book(s). I think there is something in there for everyone. I wish he had a class for teens/tweens (other than the school curriculum he has). This ones a little advanced for them, yet the Financial Peace, Jr. is too young for them. Still, I hope David and Daniel can pull some useful things from the class. You could certainly do some good things without financial stress if you followed his principles when you were younger. |
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As I was dropping Daniel off at school this morning and I saw teachers standing around making sure kids got where they needed to go (middle school and high school are right next to each other here and share the same parking lot/driveway), I was reminded of how important it is for us to pray for the teachers and administrators in the schools. I know as homeschoolers we are usually very anti- public school and I personally don't think that's healthy (not judging as I have been guilty of that myself). And I know that 'the powers that be' somewhere may have other agendas for the kids than they should, but I think for the most part our local teachers really care and are trying to do what's best for our students, at least here in our small town. I think homeschooling is a privilege and a wonderful thing, but not everyone can do it. And I think sometimes we become prideful about it which just turns people off about the good things homeschooling does, and sometimes there is division about it even among fellow church-goers. I've had a chance to reflect on that this year as I have two homeschoolers and one in public school, and I know all are just where God wants them to be. I've said before that one of Daniel's teachers is a local minister as well and sometimes he takes a break from math and preaches. I understand he is an excellent minister and he is retiring from teaching this year but not from preaching. Another teacher is a member of our church and another was a member of our old church. Not one of the many teachers he's had this year has been negative to us because of homeschooling at all. In fact, they have gone out of their way when I have had a concern. So, if you are a homeschooler, I encourage you to be thankful for that, but be careful about being too prideful and speaking against those who choose to teach (or send their kids) in public school. Instead pray for them. They are on the front lines. Think about all the different issues they must face every day- where we came from there were kids who didn't even speak english in some of the classrooms! Pray for the students too as not everyone can, or should homeschool. And the administrators too. I've been challenged this year to kind of be a bridge between public school and homeschoolers as I feel that we are all trying to do what 's best for our children. |
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We are still enjoying the Dave Ramsey class and have a few weeks left. I especially like it because he talks to "average" people- although anyone at any stage could benefit from the class. I just always thought the investing stuff was for people with tons of money, but he has a plan to work up to investing and letting your money work for you, after you go through some steps first. Many of us have just gotten in some bad habits and don't know how to get out of them. In our house, Mike and I are so different (he's the ADHD impulsive one, I actually love to GIVE things away). The class kind of explains how to come to a happy medium, and we are still working on that! There was some concern in class about too much emphasis on building wealth and I could understand that. I know in the book he talks about 'giving' a lot though and I really liked that about it. It sounds like maybe it isn't emphasized as much in the tapes as he is teaching a wider audience. Still, overall I think it's a great class and highly recommend it! I did a lot of reading and searching his website before class, and that has helped a lot. |
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Well, today is the day we were suppose to leave for the Georgia Homeschool conference. We decided not to go this year for several reasons and I'm fine with it but I will miss everyone. I like to go as much to see old friends now as to hear the speakers. I always spent too much money there though. It's funny because now some of our dearest friends used to travel the 'homeschool circuit' as vendors. I used to get 'counsel' on how to keep the vendors from bugging me as I looked around and I chuckle about that now. I'm not as involved with homeschooling as I was in Georgia so it's not an issue now, but back then I wanted to keep up with the latest things to pass on to others, but I didn't want to be bugged while looking. If you are attending the conference this weekend, I'm with you in spirit and have a wonderful time! I always tell people to listen to the speakers because to me that was my 'shot in the arm' for the year. Seeing curriculum and such was nice, but that was my "teacher training" and I always found a speaker I'd never heard of and grew to love. One of my favorites is Dana Spears so check her out if you get a chance- she helped me understand one of my children and without it I think I would have a very difficult teenager now. |
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As you can see, I have been playing with my blog. Someone told me how to change the background color (thanks, Pam!) and I've been playing with that. Purple and pink are my favorite colors (and I really like them together). I haven't figured out how to change the font though...my 45 year old eyes can't handle how it looks now. And I have no clue how to space everything. I also like roses or purple or pink flowers better than sunflowers and can't figure out how to change the background on that... but, I've had fun playing with it. I wanted to mention something I do every day that doesn't take much time but can be very helpful. I have a list of blogs in my "favorites" that I check most every day, just to see what everyone is up to (they are listed here, to the right as well). Before I do that though, I have added in that same folder- so I just see it every day, the websites to click on to help donate to help breast cancer (it's just something you click on and takes a second) and also a site where you can donate rice, which costs a lot nowadays. That one takes a bit more time as it's a vocabulary quiz you take and it's quite addicting. Both are listed over to the right of my blog under "links". If anyone knows of others like this, please let me know. We are trying to become debt-free, so we don't have a lot of extra money to donate right now, and this is something I feel I can help with while we get through this. It's in my blood though- I'd much rather give something away than sell it and I would love to have money to just help people as the Lord leads me to them. But, we're not there yet! |
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Speaking of Dan's Little League team (see previous post), he had his first game last night and was the pitcher. He almost got a shut-out! His team won 15-1. The run was controversial (that happens) and it came after two outs in the last inning (there is a 10-run rule so if the other team didn't score 5 runs, the game would be over). Dan had to have under 40 pitches (which would normally be just a couple innings) so they pulled him and a run came in. It wasn't the other pitcher's fault though as I said there were actually two questionable calls (it happens- I have great respect for refs!). It was a great game though. Daniel is just having the time of his life on that team. He's one of the most experienced players, and he enjoys helping the younger guys who just moved up to this league. He has been very encouraging to all his teammates, although he doesn't have much respect for coaches sons who don't have to earn their position. I have a feeling that's not going to last long on this team. And Dan always thought he was shy! |
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I guess we are considered a SPORTS family! All three boys are playing on some sort of team, and Mike helps on them all while I cheer them on. Daniel is on his middle school team, and they split into two teams ('A' and 'B'), and both get to play. He plays on both plus he plays on the local Little League team, so really he is on 3 teams (he didn't expect to make the 'A' team at school his first year). He is very athletic though and enjoys them all. Matthew plays Little League too and is showing some of the intensity and passion Dan has. I have just agreed (with my mom and Mike's help) to take David and his friend to a town 60 miles away to play basketball in a spring league. The guys who will play on our homeschool group's basketball team are getting together for awhile to play and it's a great opportunity for these two to play. I admire and respect families who are very family-oriented and enjoy each other's company and don't need outside things. At times in my life I've probably actually envied them. But for us our outside activities have been a very big part of our homeschool. We don't have the choices here that we did before (it still kills me that David is so close to being an Eagle Scout and it just hasn't worked out to continue it here). But, we do enjoy the sports we've found here. Yes, I am happy when the season ends and I get a breather, but give me a short amount of time and I'm ready to go again! Mike and the boys seem to really connect through sports, and usually whichever kid(s) isn't playing a particular sport has someone to hang out with at the games while the other(s) play. I remember one of the speakers at a homeschool conference once (Mark Hamby) said he moved to a farm with his family years ago and thought that was just the perfect homeschool thing to do. He almost lost his family and I think it's easy for us to look at others and think we should be doing what they are doing. And sometimes we're intimidated or feel sorry for other homeschoolers but I'm pretty confident that the majority of us are just trying to raise godly families and there is no cookie cutter mold for that. I know I've had to let go of some things I thought homeschoolers (or church people) were "suppose" to do but that didn't work for our family. If you are discouraged, I encourage you to pray about what your own family should be doing. You may find, as I have several times, that it's something totally different than what you, or anyone else thought it "should" be! You kind of get used to "going against the flow" after awhile |
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(for those who asked to be put on my mailing list for when I send blogs out...I apologize as I realized I have to check a box every time I want them to go out. Also, if I forget I can't go back and check it later, at least from what I can tell)... I stop at our local park and walk after I drop Dan off for school. It's a 1/2 mile track and I am trying to walk more and more- although I pretty much have to increase it by 1/2 mile each time, so it'll take awhile! I did real well for 2-3 months before Christmas. The very first day I looked up at the temperature and it was 31 and I thought if I didn't do it then I'd never do it. I don't think I ever let the weather stop me then (we were in drought at the time so there was little rain to worry about- it did get cold though). We went away for Christmas and I never really got back into it after. It got REALLY cold and I kept meaning to do something else, but never did. I got sick 6 weeks ago and there were days I just couldn't (and shouldn't) walk. But I've been trying to do it now even though I still don't feel well. Some days I only get a 1/2 mile in but I try to at least do that. It helps physically, but the best thing is I use it as a prayer walk. I'm not a fast walker any more and I don't worry about it as sometimes I get so caught in the moment the time goes by fast. And I can focus there better than I can most other times. There is a river next to the park and it's fun watching the seasons change. I watched the leaves change and then fall and now I am watching the leaves return. Taking Dan to school gets me up and out (whether I want to or not!) and I hope I can keep up with it when school is out |
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I said the other day that I was a "modern girl" and that I would explain it one time. It's not that I like big, expensive things at all. I could care less about most things and am really very simple. I'd rather wear jeans than anything and love that people don't feel they have to dress up for church here. Everyone is welcome to, but it isn't an issue that takes away from the worship. I've heard people say they weren't going to church because they don't have the right clothes. But, I also appreciate living in the here and now. I like antique shops once in awhile, but I don't go crazy over them like many do. I like the latest things like clothes washers and dishwashers. When we were looking at houses, many didn't have central air and many didn't have dishwashers. I like those things. I don't particularly care for old houses. In my defense, I am allergic to dust and mold, and I think I associate that "old" smell to sneezing and headaches! When I was younger I didn't watch TV much, but when I did I never really cared for the 'old' shows like Little House and such. Now I like history a little better but still prefer a more modern show. I like looking at other peoples things that are antiques and such, but I don't really have any in my house. It would have to mean something to me. So, when I say I'm a 'modern girl', I'm not talking about fancy things so much as just up to date things! |
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I have been asked if we felt the earthquake here. None of us felt it here at home. There were people in our town who felt it, however, and Mike was in Louisville at the time and he felt it. I hear there have been several aftershocks but I don't know if those have reached us. I haven't felt a thing. Flooding, tornadoes, gas prices, food prices, now earthquakes. I guess one could really get themselves really worried if they chose to!
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We had an awesome service this morning, as we always do. One of the highlights though was when one of the men got up and talked about his experience at Walk To Emmaus last weekend. He shared how much closer he had gotten to the Lord there and how important it was to be a good example for his sons. Mike and I went on a Walk almost 20 years ago now and it's an awesome experience. We were single then and as we married and had children we kind of got out of the activities, but it is pretty big here. I have been thinking about getting involved again. Back to this morning though. The guy who spoke has two sons around the same ages as our two youngest, and are friends of theirs. We've known them since we got here, but not from church as we haven't been going to this particular church for long. They've been on ball teams with our guys. I remember when we moved here and didn't have the choices we had in Georgia so we decided to play on some of the 'secular' teams, wondering if we were in some way selling out and if we'd regret it some day. And I felt a little guilty when I actually enjoyed playing on the local 'secular' team better than on the 'Christian' team we drove over 60 miles for. I've said before that generally in a room full of kids (or grown ups, for that matter), it's sometimes hard to pick out the Christians from the non-Christians, and the strict Christians from the more laid back Christians, and I've just tried to accept people where they are. I remember teaching elementary kids one time at church awhile ago, and one boy I had all figured out. He had kind of an attitude and I knew he was one of those public school kids, probably came from a pretty rough home and probably didn't show up at church much. I couldn't have been further from the truth. He was homeschooled, his dad was a pastor, and his mom was one of the sweetest ladies ever. I decided right then that I was not a good judge of who was good enough and who wasn't, and I didn't want anyone to judge me or my kids either. This morning was just another reminder of that. You never know what is in people's hearts and you never know what God has in store for them. It was a really neat testimony and actually the second father/stepfather of one of Dan's 'ball' friends to do so this year, and I wonder what a blessing we would have missed had we decided to just allow our kids to be friends with those kids we judged were okay for them (I used to be like that in the past), rather than to trust the Holy Spirit to lead them to make good choices. That has been something I have been convicted of lately. |
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I just had some thoughts this morning as the school year winds down. We actually have about 5 weeks of school left, but this time of year I'm usually focused just as much on the following year and things have been running through my head. See if you can follow this as the thoughts pop out randomly... This year will be different as we don't plan to go to the Georgia Homeschool Convention. It has always been my 'shot in the arm' each year and I especially love going now to see old friends. But, I always spend more than I need to there and with gas and food prices so high we decided to skip it this year. I hope I don't regret it- I have only missed it a couple times since I started homeschooling 10 years ago and regretted it both times. Mike changed those days he had off though to this weekend to go on a mission trip with our pastor, so that's good. This has been a challenging year for me. I haven't been feeling great (probably the 20+ pounds I've gained since we moved here hasn't helped...then I got the flu or whatever was going around a couple months ago and feel even worse now). Also, David started high school this year and I just didn't feel like what we were doing was enough so I actually bought a 'computer' school program for him this year. He has some learning issues so I had to adjust it, but I at least felt like he got 9th grade material. Matthew was a challenge at the beginning of the year (in hindsight I think he was bored, but I didn't have the energy to do what I did with the other two at that age). He is much better now and I think I worked out a compromise- we had a lot of fun this past week. The highlight of the year actually was sending Daniel to public school. I still believe in homeschooling with all my heart, and I know that homeschooling Daniel in the beginning was the right thing to do, but school has been the best thing for him this year. I know it's going to be a year to year thing for us, but this year was good. And there were some things I missed about school that has been fun again. Our relationship has improved too. I remember years ago a friend telling me she had to put her son in school to protect their relationship and I didn't understand it then. I do now! He seems to fit in better there too. In the past he'd have one or two really good homeschool friends and didn't really fit into a group of homeschoolers. He's so full of life and thinks if something is boring, it's his job to liven it up, and not all homeschoolers appreciate that! I know teachers don't always either, but I think the pressure of not having to be 'perfect' and it being okay has been good for him. I've been on my soapbox before about how homeschoolers can sometimes be too judgemental and unforgiving (I like the term 'standard bearers' and I joined a monthly newsletter a friend told me about that talks about this- http://www.spiritofelijah.com/chariot/. Look at the issues from November 2007 to the present). Going from that to teachers at school loving him and one in particular, a local minister who is retiring from teaching this year, saying that he was one of the finest gentleman he's had in 27 years can really change a kids life for the better! But he never felt free to be that person until he went to school. Certainly popped my homeschooling bubbles! Not to say there weren't any challenges with going to school, but I found challenges either way. It's really been a lesson for me in trusting God. My mom will tell you I didn't give her much grief growing up, and I think I would have been very prideful if I had children like that, and would not have learned to trust as much as I had to. It's not much fun going through and I would much rather have 'perfect little homeschool children' though (I chuckle because I see some of them in classes and such and their parents would be crawling under a rock if they knew how they behave when they are not under their watchful eye!). It has been an interesting/challenging/difficult/wonderful couple of years for me and a lot of things have changed. Homeschooling is different here- a lot like 'going back in time' as there aren't the choices we had in Georgia. The schools are much smaller though and it's easy to keep in contact with teachers and students. Sports are MUCH cheaper to play here. I miss my Kroger and Whole Foods Market immensely! Being in a small town again is interesting too- both good and bad. I love our house and location- we're about 2 miles from town and not in the middle of hilly, winding roads- so we're sorta out in the country yet close enough to buzz in for all our activities. I love the church we are going to now almost as much as the one we went to in Georgia and feel uplifted every week (the other church we went to here was nice, but very traditional and just not our thing. I'm a 'modern' girl and will write about that one day as it's not what you may think). So, as I look back at our challenges the past couple years, I can't even imagine what God has in store for us next school year. A year ago I never thought I'd send any of them to school. I had a totally different plan for the year for the other two when we did start last summer. I am not getting David tested until July (a gal comes from Florida and administers the Peabody test- I highly recommend it if you can find someone who does it!). So, usually by now I have a good idea (at least I think) of what I'll be doing the following year. I have no clue this year! I don't even know if we will be able to travel the 60 miles for co-op and basketball next year. And, as we try to become debt free and not use the credit card and such, I don't think I'll want to spend as much money on curriculum this year. And so far, I'm pretty calm about it all. This is a new thing for me! |
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I changed my template the other day, as you can see. These are probably my least favorite colors, but I like how it is laid out. This summer I hope to play around a little more and change it how I want to (and hopefully keep it purple), but for now I had to choose one that was available. I just don't have the time and patience to fool with it right now. |
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Did somebody say it was spring? It's been a cold few days here. I think I even saw a little bit of sleet today. Brrrrrr. I think it's suppose to warm up this week. I started walking again last week and want to keep up with it. When I drop Daniel off at school in the morning, I stop by the park on the way home where they have a walking trail. I walk about a mile since I've been sick, but hope to do more as I get better. My cough comes back when I'm in chilly weather, so I don't want to over do it. I kind of use it as an exercise/prayer walk and it's very refreshing in the mornings. I usually get home before the other two are ready to start school. Well, I'm going to crawl back under a blanket and look at the mail before it's time to fix dinner. My favorite show (Dancing with the Stars) is on tonight and I always look forward to that. I don't enjoy it as much this year as I did the past couple seasons, but it's still fun. My dream has always been to throw the TV out the window and I am still all for that though |
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We had some bad weather move through this area but we're okay. The boys and I hung out in the basement watching a movie so I have no idea how bad it got here (we have no windows on that part of the basement). A few miles from where Mike works (about 12-15 miles from us) there was a tornado and he of course went and took some pictures with his cell phone. I'm so thankful we didn't have to go to co-op today because we would have driven through there. There was baseball-sized hail where Mike works and some even bigger. He got some dents in the hood of his truck but right next to him the hail went right through the lady's window. Just praising God for safety! |
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We've been taking this Dave Ramsey class and he talks about saving money all you can until you get these 'baby steps' done and getting out of debt. One thing he mentions is to buy things in thrift stores. I haven't frequented them much...not because I'm a snob or 'beyond' such things, but we just never went to them growing up. My dad grew up poor and he wanted us to have new things. We lived in the country so nothing was fancy or anything. I am also very global and see the 'whole picture' vs 'details', so it's hard for me to find treasuers amongst junk. I usually miss bargains too because of the whole global thing. My kids don't have fancy clothes either, most of what they have was either given to them or on sale at Wal Mart. Still, I went to the local thrift store in town and found a nice jacket for David to wear to this formal banquet he is going to for $4. I was very proud of myself and thought this thrift store thing was okay. We just needed some nice dress shoes. Okay, now to my adventure. I was going to go to Goodwill today after co-op and on the way there I saw a thrift store with a big "shoe" sign on the building. That's it I guessed and I turned right in to check it out. There were some nice shoes but too small so I thanked the man, told him we were looking for shoes and walked out. The parking lot was kind of difficult to get out of but I thought I could handle it. I backed out and heard this awful noise. Oh, no, what did I hit? There were no cars behind me, only a sign and I was no where near that. David gets out to check it out and I'd run over a pole! It was sticking out of the ground but not tall enough for me to see it. We tried a couple things and it was stuck good, up under my back bumper. So, and some of you know I don't strike conversations up very well...I went back in to the thrift store and told the man what happened. The people in the tax place next door kept looking out the door and didn't seem to care, so I didn't bother with them. The nice man came out and saw what a predicament I was in. It was STUCK! It was finally decided we needed to jack the van up, using cement blocks to make it higher. This pole was filled with cement so it was solid. We got the van up off the pole though and then we had to decide how to get the van out of there. Another nice man (I was blocking his way and he stopped to help) got the idea to get a board and sit it on top of the pole, and slowly drive the car off of it. Worked like a charm! I thanked the nice men for helping but I was so embarrased! Good news though, no damage and at least I didn't rear end a school bus like someone else did while we were working on my predicament. We were really hungry by this time and we needed to get home for Dan's game, so decided to head on back toward home and stop at the Wal Mart closer to us, and eat at the BK there (Matthew had a postcard for a free meal). After discussing it on the way, David and I decided the shoes he has are just fine and much more comfortable anyway (he would have only worn the others once). Last week remember it was pouring rain so we didn't get any then either. Oh, by the way, I did find the gum and the towels got washed this time! (see previous post.) |
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I don't know if it's a sign of being too busy or what, but I've been doing some silly things the past couple days. Yesterday I was washing towels and had two loads, plus a load of sheets. As I was taking the "last" load of towels out of the dryer, I saw a pile sitting on the laundry room floor. I didn't! Yep, I washed the same load twice, and still have a load of dirty towels. I bought a pack of gum yesterday because my throat still gets dry, and remember chewing a piece and putting it in my purse. It isn't there. I have no clue what I actually did with it. Bizarre, but, now I sure have a hankerin' for a piece of gum |