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How Did We get Here?

Come on over for a visit!!!!!!!!

Jimmy and my little niece! She is So cute. I miss her terribly!

Here is another!

What an amazing devotional. I have read this sporadically in the past and was very blessed. A small group of my friends and I decided to read through this together. I cannot express what a blessing it has been to me.

Peter is one of the people in God's word I truly empathize with. I react as he did. I get all in a tizzy, I react to everything and THEN I calmly think about things and figure out the proper response. Sigh! I am so weak in this area. Anyone who wants to send up a prayer for me regarding this, please feel free!!

Anyway. Yesterdays reading stood out to me. I decided to share something I shared with my on-line bible reading friends. I hope it encourages you as it did me. I LOVE when His Word reaches into the depths of my heart. he so lovingly teaches and guides. He so tenderly works with my faults.

WHY did this little blurb miss my attention yesterday when I read!

“All our vows and resolutions end in denial because we have no power to carry them out. When we come to the end of ourselves, not in imagination but really, we are able to receive the Holy Spirit.” OC MUFHH 1/5

WOW! Did I need to read that! I never really looked at Peter and his “vows” in such a way. When Peter said he would “go” at that moment, it was in his OWN strength. It was not until he was broken that it became something he could actually do by God’s strength. Christ new that Peter would have to go through denying Him before Peter would truly be ready to “go”.

I NEED some of that brokenness. Over these past years I have developed these bad habits of always re-dedicating a portion of my life, constantly living in fear that my last “promise” or “vow” was not sincere enough and that God is not pleased with my so called “mediocrity”. The truth is, all those vows and promises were made in my own strength, and they would NEVER come to fruition because anything done in the flesh will NOT yield the righteousness I SO desired!

Going through these trials these past months, I am able to see how much I worked within the confines of my unholy flesh. Always seeking and striving to earn what God will so feely gives if only I would yield to HIS will and stop trying to impose MY will onto Him. Does that make sense?

I wish I had more time to write more of what is racing through my mind! So much! I HAD to share this and get it down to someone who would listenJJ! I need to go and help take down the Christmas décor outside the house! Wouldn’t want to become one of those people that leave the lights up until Easter!

and WHAT an amazing thing for me to read! The author's experience in the world of "fundamental Christianity" was so similar to mine! Since she was able to articulate this WAY better than I could ever dream, I decided to quote her and link toher blog. DISCLAIMER: I have not read everything she has on her blog and therefore, I cannot say I agree 100% with what you may find there!

Cynthia’s Story:

The year was 2000.  Once again, I was on my annual retreat to a local statewide homeschooling conference.  That year, as I stood in line to register, was already different and I had no idea what God had in store for me later.  I was there not as an eager participant anticipating a weekend of encouragement but as a heartbroken parent.  Just the weekend before, my husband and I were slammed with the reality of some things going on in my oldest daughter’s life.  All that we had worked for, all that we had prayed for, all that we had strived to produce in our children seemed shattered.  With tears in my eyes, I gazed at the perfect homeschooling families with their pasted on smiles and matching clothes.  That is what we used to be and at that point, I felt lost and confused.

I started out my parenting journey in 1984 as a single mother but not for long.  My husband met and fell in love with me when I was seven months pregnant.  The next year we would marry and begin to build a Godly family.  We were young and had no idea of how to raise children.  Oh but there were plenty of Christian experts willing to guide us along the way.  It was my deepest desire to be a good mom, to love my children and protect them from the heartache that my own rebellion and mistakes had brought.  It was as if I set out to redeem my own life through the lives of my children.  I was looking for results and the parenting formulas made sense to me then.

There were promises that if I just did A, B, C and D then my children would be cheerful, obedient, godly children.  Coupled with the mandate that this was my calling, my duty to produce children for the Lord who would grow up to serve him, the rules of parenting became my guiding force.  The children were young, compliant and our family looked picture perfect.  Compliments were plenty and I thought all was well.  We were being obedient to God; we were following the recipe.  There were if and then charts, punishments were handed out for any infraction.  If you broke the rule, you paid the consequence.  God was an angry God who required cheerful obedience and holiness; nothing less was acceptable.

When it all came crashing in that spring of 2000, I felt like I was being spun in a hurricane.  I had no bearings, no idea where we had gone wrong, no plan for the next step.  God had me right where he wanted me.  Only when all I had held onto, all that I had replaced Him with, all the parenting books and charts … only when all that was gone could I hear that still small voice speak to me.  It came through the voice of Mark Hamby who was speaking at the conference that year.  I stood in the back of that room, tears of sorrow streaming down my face and Mark made a statement, not even directed to parenting, but absolutely what I needed to hear.  He said, “Wives, you need to let your husbands fail so that God can do the work He needs to do in their lives.”  My heart was split open by the finger of God at that moment and my true motives were revealed.  My spirit was broken and I turned to the One who should have been guiding me all along.  He picked me up, turned me around and set me on a 180 degree turn around.  I have never looked back.

Three things God revealed to me that day.  Our home was controlled by fear.  The children obeyed in fear and I parented in fear.  It was that failure that Mark Hamby spoke to that I feared.  I feared failing as a parent.  I believed that my children were a reflection of me, of my success.  They had to be good so that I could be good.  It was up to me to produce Godly children and if I could do that, then I was a good mother.  The key element that was missing was assurance of Love.  God taught me that perfect love drives away fear.  I had not known His perfect love yet and certainly was not demonstrating that toward my own children.  As I began to know and trust the Love of the Father and as my children began to be assured of my love, fear left our home.  Love is the driving force now.

The second thing God revealed to me that day was my pride.  It was an ugly monster that consumed my life.  As my parenting methods seemed to show results and as people recognized my efforts, the pride swelled inside me.  It’s a heady thing to be complimented about your children, to be asked for advice and teach others how to accomplish the same things.  It become all the more important that my children perform well so that the pride monster could continue being fed which led me to be more controlling, more strict, more harsh.  I look back in complete gratefulness to the fall of our idyllic family.  With that break, I finally began to understand that God gives grace to the humble.  He began to teach me how to walk in humility with my children and grace became the most beautiful thing to me.

The fear and the pride all settled into the third thing that God revealed in me.  Selfishness.  My motivations were centered on me.  It was all about my being a good mother, my self esteem as a parent, my accomplishments.  The very opposite of what people thought of me.  Being the mother of nine children, I was never accused of being selfish.  But I was.  God led me to Colossians and a verse I used against the children so many times.  “Consider others as more important than yourself”, He told me.  It went counter to all that I had been taught about parenting and my need to establish authority over my children.  God asked me to place myself beneath them. 

Seven years have passed since my epiphany into the grace of God and how to live that out toward my children.  God had an immediate paradigm shift for me and the learning process has been constant.  My trust in God has increased exponentially.  These years have not been absent of some very difficult times.  At first, I believed if I just parented differently, then the results would be better.  God had to get my eyes off of striving for results.  Grace filled positive parenting is not just another method to produce Godly children.  It is a life filled with God’s love and perspective.  I am so thankful for the journey that started with heart break but led us into a life of trusting God. 

–
You can read more from Cynthia at her blog, A Life Profound. 

but I feel like I have!

A quick summary....

Stomach flu, eye surgery, kidney infection, kidney infection again, Epstein Barre Virus!

See what I mean. The kids had the bug, Josiah had the surgery, I had the infection that will not go away PLUS the doctor called and told me I had EBV and need ro rest......for like 2 months!! UGH! We have been discussing the definition of rest on a Moms board that I go to. Personally, I define rest WAY different than most. I kind of think I should do "power" cleaning in the a.m. and rest the rest of the day. HMPH! Most people do not agree with that. I am SO not a rester. I don't even rest when there's nothing to get done. Sigh and sigh!

Well, the Lord obviously knows what it is I need. I am going to TRY and rest. I have so much to get done for Christmas. I am supposed to host dinner for my in-laws. The FIRST Christmas dinner we have ever had wioth them. I cancelled my trip to see my little sister.....who is pregnant again! YAY!!!

Well, I guess I will spend time vegging in front of old Christmas movies, rearranging my school schedules, and getting on the computer more than I have in 6 months! Appreciate the prayers.....

OH! I just love the snow. it is so comforting to me to sit on the couch with a fleece blanket and watch the snnow falling. We have a nush in the front yard that looks like a large coffee crumb cake muffin! You know, the kins that is covered with powdered sugar and yet you can still see the small, brown sugary mixture peeking through the top?

Zachary has been asking.......begging! for snow ever since he saw there was a "chance" of flurries on weather.com! I heard him running up the stairs this morning and look out the window. There was an energetic YES! and then he proceeded to curl up on the couch with a fleece......just like Mama!

Around here, we all have our own fleece blankets. Some have more than one, actually! I On the big couch (as opposed to the loveseat), we keep a huge queen sized quilt that I made years ago. It is fought over on a regular basis and shows the brusies to prove it! Anyone know HOW to fix a quilt? I know how to make one, but not fix one! I wish I had time for quilting.....

As a matter of fact, these days I am finding myself wishing for the ONE thing I simply cannot make........more time! Yesterday Meagan, Josiah and I went for a lovely walk through the small town of Hawley, PA. It is less than 15 minutes from our home and simply full of adorable shops, old fashioned diners, and the neates play house! Meg and Josiah went over to the candy store to check things out in the snack department! I wondered up to the World Dance Theatre. I met the proprietor who was the nicest guy! He and his wife have recently taken charge of the theater and are offering all manner of classes. Art, drama, ballroom dancing, Irish step dancing, and Karate. So, how what does this all have to do with my desire for more time? I want more time to Do some of these things!

I would love to have the time to take an aerobics class with Meagan, join the drama group and do play or make fantabulous costumes! Not that I have any skill, but I would still love to do it. Or, and this is one of those deep, dark, hidden secrets of mine.....one of those things that not even my husband knows and I am now sharing this with the public........I would love to learn how to draw and paint like Tasha Tudor! So, time is what I need more of. Maybe it is more that I need to get the time I do have in right order?

I have read and utilized dozens of time managment books/schedules. I know HOW to manage time, yet I find it challenging to implement them on a consistent level. I do them for a while and then something gets thrown into the mix.....a trip to the emergency room, a sick Grama, an impromptu visit to NYC for the weekend. Then, the schedule of my dreams gets thrown to the wayside! Oh well. I love that my life is on the unpredictable saide. Most of the time, anyway! Plus I know I am now entering into a new dimension of life! My boys are old enough to leave home for 2-3 hours without the fear of them burning the place down! Ryan is just as good at watching the younger boys as Ryan is.....depending on the attitude of the younger boys, that is! I can tell when they will be ornery and need to come with me.

So, maybe the lord will allow me some time to do those fun things I have had to put off over the past years. I have NO regrets and i do not want to sound as though I am complaining. On the contrary. Yesterday was invigorating to me. It challenged me to take the chance to consider that I could possibly accomplish some of these things!

Off to get some other things done. Ryan has his first digital photography class and this afternoon I am torturing Meagan by making her come with me to a free Irish step dancing class! possibly, I will have pictures to follow........

I had mentioned in a previous post that we went to a small PA town and walked around. Here are a few interesting pictures!

A nice antiques store!

Silly boys! We did not tell them what they were looking through!

And just WHO decorates these things? We see them ALL over PA. Wierd???

OK, he is not exactly my own son, but I figured I'd share what our dear friend Josiah has decided to don himself with:

That's not really a good picture of it as that was the first day and it still is red. What a silly. We told him to wait and be sure, but he was sure and so there it is! We all think it looks rather cute. OK, most of us. Can anyone out there guess who thinks THAT was the most ridiculous thing ever???

That would be Jimmy. OY! he has been merciless with the comments, but Jim is also of the opinion that guys do crazy things sometimes and he is really ok with it!

Meg thinks it is great. I think that;s the whole "bad boy" thing.....which Josiah is surely NOT! It is the "potential"  to be bad..........he consistently chooses to do good. Of course, there are those that think this is a VERY "bad boy" thing. That's fine. We are all entitled to our opinions!

I never did have an issue with earrings or long hair unless is it extreme. I know oftentimes it is a heart issue as well. WHY do we do the things we do, who do we do them for? Personally, I do not believe the Bible gives clear NT info on this. I could be wrong and if anyone wants to share, I'm open!

just thought I'd share a bit of our crazy life! I sure know there are WORSE thing that could be done!

This weekend, we were blessed to spend some time with a re-found friend! We met Lynne and her family a few years ago and sort of lost touch. I was so pleasantly surprised to reconnect!

My children adore hers! My husband her her husband get along fabulously! we sat and chatted and talked and shared and laughed. it was very relaxing.

On Saturday night was watched a movie called The Village. It is not a horror movie, thought the previews lead you to believe that! it is about a group of people that have tried to hide from the evils of this world only to find out that murder is in the hearts of men! In the end, they found a way to stay isolated. It was very disturbing to me because it hit too close to home. we were "isolationists" for so long. We thought we could hid in our own world and keep our family from any negative things. We controlled by fear. Sad to say, it was true.

But control by fear is simply falling into the trap of another fear! We cannot keep sin from our "world' because it is IN us. All we can do is walk by faith that Jesus will guide us and keep us safe and that HE is greater in me than anything IN this world. Meagan viewed this with us. She has a lot of thoughts on this as well but I am sure she will post them on her blog

Sunday we attended a poultry show!!Man! i never knew there was so much to know about birds. There were so many different kinds and of course, I forgot my camera and have NONE to share. Sigh.

Afterwards we headed back to the house where we met a lovely couple, Ally and Hogar. he is from Germany and has a neat accent! They bought their first ducks and chickens! What a fun family they are.

I began a new eating program today. To be sure, you will all grow weary of tales of losing weight! BUT, I am determined. I have lost that pesky 45 pounds over 2 years! I have gained back 10! UGH! NO MORE!.

South beach Diet and WATP walking videos!!! My goals:

Drink 2-3 quarts of water a day

Walk at least 2 miles 4-6 times per week

Follow the plan! I cannot really start until I buy some things, but today is ok so far!

I want to lose 15 pounds by january 1st and another 30 by April 30th. We shall see!!

Meagan is in NYC this week. We miss her terribly!!

This morning I woke up rather early......these days, anytime before 8 is early! Sad to say, we have become late risers compared to where we were just a year or so ago! I am determined to get my weary 40+ bones OUT of bed by 6 a.m.! Stop all the chuckling my friends that know me!!!!

I need to rise early so I can spend time in the Word without feeling rushed! I want to enjoy those days when it is still dark out and I can see the sun peeking in throught the window one inch at a time. I never was a "morning" person. I much prefer to stay up until 1 or 2 and then sleep until 9 or 10. Alas, the homeschooling household does not warrant such luxuries!

This has been the "coolest" morning we have had in a while. At a chilly 34 degress, I am glad to find out our home holds the heat nicely. We do not even need the heat on yet. A nice perk to our ever increasing budget, yet not so increasing paycheck!

About paychecks, I really WANT to have one! My husband is the best! he works so hard for our family. He is liteterally a financial genius when it comes to budgeting. We have ZERO debt! No credit cards, lay away plans. Not even a car payment. His faith is grander than mine and every step of the way, he prays! the Lord blesses us so much. One can just read my post about how we were given this house MORTGAE free and see how faithful God is to our little family. But part of me wants to help MORE.

YEAH I know! i do a lot around the house to "help". Budgeting to weekly output is indeed a challenge these days. I am amazed at the rising prices of food and household supplies! We have had the same weekly budget for 3 years and so, it is a needed thing to be frugal! Anyway, what I was feeling these recent days is the need to do more to acquire actual cash in hand. To help get the "edge" so to speak. My husband, being the amazingly perceptive person that he is, sees things differently!

he reminds me of ALL the days I am wearily dragging myself to bed froma  LONG homeschooling, dsciplining, planning, traveling the world to get things done, days! he sees it is CRAZY for me to actually leave the house for even MORE work. But I feel like I want to help....MORE! Sigh.

i am so not complaining! Just observing and sharing where my heart is. I need to get onto e-bay or something! 

Since we are on "vacation" this week...Jim included!!!!! I am hoping to really get some serious on line time to organize my e-bay stuff, get some more ideas on how to generat and income without leaving my home! Any ideas are welcome of course! 

We have had some busy days here and so I have not been around!

This past weekend,we went to NYC to attend the second reception of the DC wedding. It was a blast! I was able to connect with some old, dear friends! Some of whom I have not seen in every bit of 10 years! It was great to chat and dance and enjoy the interesting food! Go to jsbaby blog (link on my blog). That is my dd and she has pictures of what we did! I would do it here, but it would take forever for me to get that done.

NYC is such a great place to visit. the people, the business of it all. Each time I go back to visit I realize how much I miss it. Don't get me wrong. I do not *think* I want to *move* back, just get back more often!

We went to Times Sqaure. It is So different than when i was a young adult. It used to be the kind of place you would not want to see on TV, let alone go and visit. Now, there are specialty shops and lots of HUGE digital billboards on plasma screens. LOTS of lights and food and cars and people! I cannot wait to go back in December.

This was Josiah's first real trip to NYC. He was a little taken aback, but I do believe he had a good time.  After the culture shock of a Chinese, 10 course wedding meal, I think Manhattan was a nice change!

Now we are home and things are settled. We have no immediate plans of travel or weddings, or visits. Just sitting at home and "being". School is getting done quite efficiently. We have done more school this year than we have in the past 2 years. The consistency of it all is key for our family. The boys reading skills are moving ahead nicely but as usual, we are struggling with writing and spelling!

I am hoping that by next year we will be settled enough to do "fun" type school with my young boys. I used to have the time to do all manner of fun things with the kids way back in the beginning! Lap packs, hands-on leanring, nature walks. Now it is good if we get math amd reading in! We are also hoping that we will get connected with other homeschooling families in the area. We have a scheduled get together the end of this month so we shall see.

I thought we would do the Young Marines this year, but we just cannot commit to an every Saturday thing. The boys were dissapointed, but they handled it well.

Meagan is almost getting excited for her 16th birthday! It is just 3 months away! We do not know if we will have a party, but around here "16" brings a lot of newer responsibilites. More school, of course! But also the dreaded learner's permit and she will be engouraged to find a job outside of the home.

Working outside of the home is a "new concept" for us. For many years we did not want her to work outside of the home. We were very into "sheltering" and "protecting" our children. NOT that we are NOT into keeping them safe anymore! It's just that we had a spirit of fear that was causing us to really 'fear" things outside of our home. VERY unhealthy and unbalanced. i can lock them up and bad things can still happen. So now, we are looking forward to helping her find something she can do to make a little money. There are several cute shops in our little town, plus a family owned grocery store, as well as Highlights for Children. Remember that magazine? We would always read them while waiting for the dentist!! Anyway, they have an office in town and I thought it might be something woth looking into. She has NO idea what she wants to "do" if anything at this point! So, who knows. I am still amazed that I even HAVE a daughter who will BE sixteen!

Legalsim

Spititual Absue

Breaking the Bondage of Lagalism

The first 2 are sites that have many articles on the topic of true lagalism and spiritual abuse within the church. Eye opening.

The last is a link to a book of which you can read an excerpt from it. I hope these can be an encourgement to anyone out there.

I have a very neurotic 9 year old. I would say he even borders on OCD. 2 years ago we wnt camping and nearby the pool he found a very nice pair of swimming goggles. I told him we could not keep them as they belong to someone else and they would probbaly be back for them. Looking up at me contemplatively he said with a really gross face:

"Yeah! And who knows how many eyes have been in them???!"

Too funny!

Here's a few pics!

Wearing a piratey hat at a birthday party last weekend!

The cutest baby in the world! My niece!

My Gramma!

This is with a little kitten we foundlast year. We brought them over to the Assisted Living place before we brought them to PetSmart where they found them a nice home!

My Gramma is 88 years old and came to live with us a few years ago. She had a lot of medical needs and so she now resides at a local Assisted Living facility. I had the blessing of leading her to Christ 2 years ago. She was always a part of my life and now I find it a complete blessing to help take care of her. She is a PILL! Lived in NYC nearly her entire life she is one tough cookie. But don't let that fool ya! She is all talk. She gets a kick out of bossing people around but everyone loves her to pieces!

OK, I never in a million years thought it would happen to me. I mean, no one ever thinks it would happen to them, right?

Once upon a time there was a nice, homeschooling Mother out on a drive to visit Gramma. Low and behold, she notices a nice black and white vehicle following her. She pays CAREFUL ATTENTION to the speedometer. The nice black and white car comes extremely CLOSE to the homeschooling Mom. Soooooooo, the Mom decides she must have moved into a faster speeding zone and steps on the gas.

BWEEP!BWEEP! OK, Mom is now wondering if she did NOT move into said speed zone! Sigh......she pulls over, turns off the radio and prepares a nice story for her husband!

Homeschooling Mom: Is there a problem officer/

Policeman: Well, you tell me. Is there a problem?

Homeschooling Mom: Not that I can see?

Policeman: You were swerving an awful lot towards the fog line, Ma'am. Have you been drinking?

Homeschooling Mom: [trying not to guffaw and wondering what on earth a fog line is???] No, sir I have NOT been drinking (at 10 a.m!!!). Would you like me to get out and walk for you?

Policeman: No, that's o.k., but do you always drive like that?

Homeschooling Mom: Well, um, Yessir. I do. I have been told by certain male family members that I have a tendency to do that, but I did not believe them.

Policeman: You really need to work on that. I would have thought you were drunk! License and registration please [as said policeman looks around the van with 3 of my 4 kids in it that are DYING from laughter!!!!!]

He returns with my paperwork and tells me to pay careful attention. I accept the papers and apologize for any inconvenience. All the while the policeman did not crack a smile and spoke in a rather monotone voice which made the Homeschooling Mom want to laugh all the more!

OY! Are you kidding me???????????? I was pulled over for drunk driving?????????

I was NEVER, EVER ,going to hear the end of this.

Living in NE PA, we have the awesome blessing of SEEING fall come into play one leaf at a time! it is goremous and I cannot wait to share pictures with you all.

Yesterday we had a surprise 18th birthday party for Meg's 'friend". It was nice and he was suprised. I have been threatened by said young man for pulling it off as we did, but oh well.....I can take it! Maybe I'll find time to post a picture, but not yet. Too much technology for a Sunday!

Today was a nice day. We went to a new church heard a very good sermon, went for a walk along the Susquehanna River, ate out at McD's (not my fav!), then headed over to visit with my Gramma!

I know I spell Gramma "wrong", but all my life that is how I have spelled  it and so to me, she is Gramma!

Gramma lives in an Assited Living facility. It is the nicest place I have ever seen. They love her to pieces and take care of her too :0). It is about 30 minutes from us so we see her twice a week. Since she is 88, we really see our visits with her as a blessing! It was my privelege to lead her to the Lord 2 years ago! YAY!

Looking for a new church has got to be one of my least favorite things! I wish things could stay the same forever, but alas, our humanness is all to often seen in church. The "ugly" side so to speak. Sad, but true. This is a nice church with a lot of young people. The leadership seems solid and so far the teaching is very good. The music.....well, I am not so sure about that yet??? Still searching and praying, but hopeful! My dh thinks the teaching is solid as it is word for word scripture. Sola Scriptura! The kids enjoyed their first visit to Sunday School in over 4 years!

This evening we will try to relax after a rather stressful early evening. I love to pop in a movie and vegetate with popcorn and tea. The little guys hang on the floor with pillows and almost always fall asleep! OK, *I* often fall asleep especially after a week like this past one! What shall it be.....the tortuerous "chick flick" like Emma or You've Got Mail? The hubby is NEVER going for it! The adventure...."Pirates of the Carribean" or "Master and Commander"? Doesn't matter to me!

HEY! I should figure out how to do a poll/ How often do you re-watch movies? We love to re-watch the favs. Who can get enough of White Christmas or Meet Me In St. Louis???

Off to see where we might be going with this....................

Well, we did it! We had our first day of school......last week which ended with our second day of school as we went away for the weekend. \I was pleasantly surprised at the results!

This past year was a veritable homeschool BUST! We were under a lot of pressure and making MANY changes in our life that home schooling was pushed aside. Not something I would reccomend, but it did allow for a lot of growth in other ways for us. Sad to say, because of all the "growth" we went through, our children are now  wondering why on earth we need real school since we did "so well" last year.!!!!!!!!

We use a variety of curriculum and this year we had several items we needed to finish off from last year. That worked to our advantage since I delayed ordering my new stuff so long we had nothing to begin on our first day of school! But, it all worked out.

Now for the consistency I am SEARCHING for! I know I need to.....no!  I MUST get more than 3 days of schoolwork done in a week. Doubling up our days may be needed, but I cannot see myself doing schoolwork for 6-8 hours in 1 day.

The biggest issue is I cannot seem to schedule all the things I need to get done in one week. I tend to end up *either* doing schoolwork OR running errands or keeping my house clean or going to visit my Gramma. Just too many things in one week to get done. Well, more to come as to how I accomplish this! Any ideas are welcome!

Here is a photo of my dd first dance! They were so happy and it was the sweetest thing ever! We were at a wedding this weekend and so, my husband thought what a perfect opportunity! He---my hubby----was even "nice" enough to dance with ME! I'll add a photo of that as well!

And I should be sleeping. Why is it when we KNOW you need to sleep to start fresh in the morning, something happens to keep you awake!

We are beginning school tomorrow and I still do NOT feel ready! We took so much time off this summer, *I* am the one wanting to put things off until next Monday, but I won't! I need to be a good example to my children, right???????????? RIGHT>

I did not get all of my curriculum yet so we will be working on a few stragglers from the end of last year. It is sad how well I am known for NOT completing a chosen curriculum. Sigh...............

Last year we did manage to finish Apologia General Science and we are jumping into Biology this year. We LOVE Apologia. It is informative and easy to use.

The weather in NEPA has been phenominal! Meg and I went for a walk to town, shopped a bit, ate at a diner, stopped at the park and played badmitton on a small set I picked up for $1.50 at CVS then walked to meet her "friend" Josiah so we could all enjoy a nice town walk. I managed to squeeze in TWO ice cream treats but I figured since I was walking so much, it would be ok!!

It is 12:04 and I am finally tired enough to sleep, so my ramblings will end!

First question of this new day:

HOW do I implement a schedule when I do NOT want to follow it???