I am having a great week! I have seen the power of God at work in my life this week and He is good. The last week of April, I was not feeling so great! But we live by faith not feelings, right? So, my back was achy and I had to keep going, ya know care for the family n stuff. Wednesday afternoon the kids were enjoying the slip-n-die (slide!) and after their play was over I had my eldest put the slip-n-slide on the fence to dry. After bringing him to Youth Group I noticed it was not "right" on the fence, so I take my aching back over to the fence to fix the slip-n-slide, raised my hand over my head and could.not.move! I was seized with a pain that can only be compared to back labor at 10cm minus the pain meds I tried to walk, nope, crawl, nope. Here I am in my FRONT yard in a crawling position, it hurt so bad I put my head down on the ground. Picture this - rear in the air, head on the grass, in oh so much pain. But still my vanity held up - I realized how ridiculous I must look so I slid my legs down (with mucho oucho) until I was laying down flat, I propped my head up with my hands and was so thankful that I had not landed in one of the dozens of ant hills in the yard (time for some bug killer...) Praise God I had my cell in my pocket, called Andre' who rushed home from work to rescue his damsel in distress. He had to pick me up from the ground and carry me (wailing and crying - it hurt so so bad) to the couch. We ended up in the ER - Thank God we have wonderful friends who came and spent the night with the kids. 5 hours later we were headed home, still in a bit of pain, but thankful for Loritab  and with a perscription for muscle relaxers, an anti inflamatory, and strict instructions to 'try and stay in bed tomorrow, just get up for *ahem* hygeine reasons!' Yeah right - I can't walk dude, I will be going nowhere tomorrow or maybe ever . I figured the kids could be on their own, eat whatever they can find and consume large amounts of Disney Channel and Nickelodeon while I stayed in bed with my muscle relaxers wishing I also had a catheter so I did not have to move at all! Sweet Andre' had to carry me to the facilities and back from Thursday until Saturday. My precious friend Julie came over Thursday, unannounced and oh so welcome, acted like a substitute teacher and had the kids complete their school work! I am so blessed to have such great friends. My sweet mommy went to the grocery for me and made sure the kids and I were well cared for after Julie went home to her family and Friday and Sat. so that Andre' could work. Sunday, glory to God, I was able to hobble to the couch and begin to get around. Monday I began seeing a chiropractor, oh how wonderful she is! She dx me as having a bulging disc and my rt hip is 1" higher than my left. We continued to pray for complete and speedy recovery and as of this Thursday, she says I am much straighter and my pain is now a 1-1.5 instead of an off the charts 10+! I can walk and move and pick up things off the floor without hurting. God is so good! I am content at home with my chickies and delighted to be able to serve my dear husband again. And oh goody, we will be finished with school in the next two weeks!!! Friends, if you are healthy, remember to thank God for your health. If you are not, I lift you up before the throne and ask for your healing, He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. He is faithful and He is good.

I have the greatest husband in the world. I know you may disagree, you think you have the prize mate, but alas, you are decieved - he married me!

I am so blessed to have such an amazing partner. Andre' will do anything for us. He works hard to provide for us, thankfully, he has a job he absoultely loves. But he puts in long hours to keep his clients up and running. At home he loves to hang out with us, he is helping Preston and the boys build a skateboard ramp - we are all very excited about it! Of course he is totally wrapped around Catherine's little finger! And the greatest testimony to what a great daddy he is  - the kids can't wait for their turn to spend a day at work with him. He is so kind and loving to them, and so much more patient than I am. I hit the jackpot!

There were some concerns though, mainly, what would I do without him? Last August Preston went into our room when Andre' was sleeping and came out very scared. "Mom, Dad stopped breathing for a few seconds when I was in there. Is he ok? Does that happen a lot?" Well, actually son, yes it does, several times a night. I was either awakened by his outrageously loud snoring, or by the silence, far more horrifying, of him not breathing. Do I nudge him and risk waking him up,? His sleep is so restless, I hate to disturb him. Will he wake up? Then the sharp realization that he was not breathing would alert his body and he would gasp for air and resume snoring. He slept late nearly every day. We blamed it on his work schedule or late nights chatting or playing computer games. But deep down, I knew differently and I was afraid. Worried he would develop diabetes that is so prevelant in his family, afraid one night I would not be awake to nudge him so he could take a breath and I would wake up a widow. Occasionally I would share my concerns, but mostly I pushed my fears aside and continued to sleep the sleep of a new parent. Not fully asleep, always just at the edge of consiousness, just in case I was needed.

Andre' and I celebrated 15 wonderful years of marriage last August. We were able to get away for a night and his incredible mom kept the kiddos. We drove for hours, just talking, reminiscing, renewing our promises to one another. In the course of our conversations I shared what Preston had witnessed just days before we left. It was as if a light clicked - he realized I was not making this up, and he had frightened his son. It was time to make some changes.

I am so proud of him! It has been a challenge to put aside our favorite junk foods and start feeding our family healthier - and we are not perfect, but I would say we have made a ton of progress! Congratulations Andre'! You did good babe!

Before - taken June 2007

After - Taken April 20, 2008

We both sleep easier now! His sleep apnea is completely gone. He does not snore! He wakes up refreshed and energetic, ready for a new day. And I am not afraid.

Andre', Thank you honey, for taking such good care of the man I love. Yours, Jes

Hooray! I am so excited! Andre' gave me the goahead to order our fall curriculum...

Here is the rundown for those who are interested in such info...

Preston - Sonlight Core 300 - 20th Century World History (sounds fun huh! - we are both so excited to be returning to Sonlight after spending a year with Christian Liberty Press. He actually told me to NEVER order CLP for him again and that under no circumstances should I use it for any of his sibs - it is good info, but we are not a text book family! - I am grinning inside and thinking 'told ya so!') He will also be taking IEW (writing course) at our Co-op, Teaching Textbooks Geometry (so happy about a break from Alg!), and Apologia Chemistry (I am a little scared of this one - chemicals and equations and alchol burners ~shudder~) He is also looking into teaching guitar at co-op - a big step for him (pray it works out and the admin allows it - he will be only 16 after all!)

Catherine and the boys will do Core 7 - World HIstory from the Reformation to today. I can not wait! It is so tempting to start as soon as the box arrives - but I will hold off and give em a summer!

Catherine and Cuyler will do Teaching Textbooks 7, Apologia General Science and will taking the IEW class at Co-op for their writing.

Catherine will continue with Spelling Power (she is on Level G now - I believe it goes to Level K and we are doing about 2 or so levels per year)

Cuyler and Cade will continue with Sequential Spelling - love it!

Cuyler, Cade, Geoffrey and my neice (3yo) will do Handwriting Without Tears on their respective levels.

Cade will continue with Singapore Math and Geoffrey will do Miquon and Singapore combined. It is my first trial with Miquon and if I like it I will add Miquon for Cade. These guys will take a Science class at co-op.

Now if I can just keep my hands off till August! Actually I will spend my summer by the pool reading all of the Core 300 books (or at least a good chunk of em) so that I can have intelligent conversations with Preston discussing his history and literature.

In other random news - just an observation really. My daughter was making an account online at Millsbury.com and wanted her user name to be 'Jesus is 2good 2be 4gotten' she was denied because it contained OFFENSIVE material! Doesn't the Bible speak about Jesus being an offence to some? She was actually offended that her Jesus was considered offensive. Esp when tried 'God Rocks' and found it was already used??!!  So apparently only the Son is offensive ~ sheesh!

The lady on the phone made me feel so important. My opinion was needed to provide better television programming - at least that is the gist of what I heard over the constant hum of noise that is ever present in the background of our home. I would watch a new sitcom "Rocky LaPorte" and fill out a questionnaire expressing my thoughts on the show. "Be sure to watch on Monday night and be available to answer some questions Tuesday afternoon when we call you."

OK, no biggie, watch a flick, answer some questions, chat on the phone a bit and win $100. Not exactly. Here is really what happened. The packet arrived Monday afternoon, I put aside schoolwork to look over the information. I was instructed to fill out a booklet noting my favorite brands of several different products before watching the show. Check - I filled it out and went about finishing school and beginning dinner.

After dinner the kids and I settled down to watch the program. It was mind-numingly bad. Kinda like your typical sitcom, dad is a dolt, mom is hard-working, teenage daughter has an attitude, young son is smart but looked down on and felt sorry for bc he is a geek. And there were the commercials. Which is REALLY what the survey was about. The show was a front to get me to watch the commercials -which could not be fast forwarded (we tried). I filled out the questionnaire about the show (one page - they were not interested in my answers!) I filled out the second packet of "Which product do you like most". Ah hah, I am on to you now Mr. Survey Taker Guy - I am no dummy, the second list was similar to the first, the products that stayed the same were the ones I just watched a commercial for. But guess what, your tricky ad shinanigins will not work on me - I know what I like. So far I have spent a little over an hour dealing with this survey.

Tuesday afternoon. We have been interrupted so many times by the phone (I know don't answer it - sigh - so tough for me!) and kids who did not want to cooperate and a 2yr old who did. not. want. to. nap. And now it was 3pm and the baby needs to get up from the nap she finally took, and the boys are running in and out of the house with their toy weapons shouting like banshees, and the girl needs help with her math, and the teenager does not understand his science questions. And I am on the phone with Mr. Survey Taker Guy. We have been chatting for 30mins. I have answered no less than 900 questions. 600 of the questions were dealing with a baked bean commercial (I am having a sneaky suspicion this guy works for the bean company). My blood pressure is rising. I ask Mr. Survey if we were going to chat about each of the commercials in equal depth. He assures me he does not know. I smile and tell him that is because noone will stay on the phone long enough for him to finish his job. I have the best of intentions, I really want to finish this, I like to complete things. So we continue - another 50 questions about baked beans - this is really getting old mister.

Chaos is swirling around me. I open my mouth to correct the children and remind them that "Mommy is on the phone darling - stop shouting and attacking your brother, no baby girl - do not go outside alone - hang on Cici I will be off in a bit...." But instead of the above I ask Mr. Survey "What is the most important thing?" He is silent. I continue, "My children are the most important thing right now, I hope your next call is to someone who has time to finish the survey and does not need to tend to a bunch of children. Have a great day." He stayed silent. I hung up.

And it felt so good! I will not be held hostage by other peoples demands on my time. My family is too important. Especially when the "prize" is actually a drawing for $100 in coupons and discounts on my 18 favorite products. And he never did ask me ONE question about Rocky LaPorte.

So what are you being distracted by? The phone, the latest curriculum catalog, Oprah or Dr. Phil, useless surveys? I am going to take care of what is the most important thing and let the other things go. How about you?

I overheard the strangest thing the other morning...

But first some background. Cuyler is our third child, he is 19mos younger than our only daughter and 6yrs younger than our oldest. When he was born I began dressing him and Catherine (and sometimes Preston - esp for pictures) in similar outfits of the same color.

Two years later, Cade arrived. Preston was 8, I let him wear what he wanted - mostly! But the three babies (3.5yrs,22ms and newborn) still needed mom to help dress them. So if I was in a blue mood, everyone wore blue. Or an orange mood, you get the idea. Then I began searching for outfits that were the same for the boys and got Cici a dress in the same color. They looked so adorable.

Two years later Geoffrey arrived. Preston was 10 - he was NOT going for this wear the same as the little guys thing - I actually only tried a couple of times, plus his clothes were in a different dept and kinda hard to match to the little ones. BUT those cute little stairstep guys! I bought a newborn, 12mos (Cade was always little) and 3T in the same outfit. Actually the only clothes they had that did not match each other were hand me downs from friends!

And life continued in this happy little way. At about 7 Catherine began to fuss about matching the boys and I let her alone (mostly! If we are going on field trips we are ALL matching!) But the little guys did not protest, just accepted it as par for the course. These are our clothes, no biggie.

Cuyler is almost 10. He is not a little guy anymore. He is actually not a big boy, he is (gulp) a tweenager. No can't be he is still my little boy right please! Ok so he is growing up and has asked me - very respectfully- if he could not dress like his brothers.

So we came to a little agreement. If there are pictures, dress similar, fieldtrips or family outings, dress the same. Day to day stuff (deep breath mom) ok, you can dress differently. And life is happy again.

It was Co-op day, ya know the day you see all your friends. I picked out weather appropriate, stain free, hole free clothing. (Purposley did not match them to eachother). From their room I hear Cuyler telling Cade, "No dude, put back that shirt mom got you, we need to wear our red shirts today."

WHAT! (slighlty grinning to myself - they do look so cute!) Next thing I saw, Cuyler and Cade in matching shirts and shorts. and Geoffrey - jeans and a green tshirt - different drummer kinda guy!

Our sweet Catherine, the beautiful ballerina, has been benched for the rest of the year. Turns out BOTH ankles are injured in the same way ~ weird huh, only one of mine could've managed that! The x-rays show there is a chip missing from the interior bone on both ankles. She is in a cast on the right foot and will wear that for 4 weeks. After the cast she has to wear a boot for several weeks as we watch and pray that the bone will grow back properly.

We are just watching the left ankle right now (couldn't very well cast em both!  she is having enough trouble getting around with just one, sweetie keeps kicking herself in the back of her left leg with the cast) Hopefully, now that she is not dancing both ankles will heal. Ya know no more 'grande-jetes' and 'pas de chats' or whatever else she did.... However she did tell me earlier tonight that the left ankle is bothering her like the right one was before she got her cast.

Meanwhile, she is having a great time getting all her friends to sign her cast and can't wait to go to dance to visit (and have them sign!)

So if you think of her, please remember her in your prayers. We are both pretty bummed about her not being in ballet anymore. Although, we are enjoying our free afternoons, she was dancing 3 days a week, and now at class time we are free ~ blessedly free! We are praying for the casting to work completely and for both ankle bones to grow back like they should ~ because if they don't she will be looking at surgery.

In other news, our Homeschool Co-op ends next week, which is always bittersweet. While we will miss meeting with our friends and going to such great classes each week, we will enjoy not having to rush out of the house right after lunch on Tuesday's.

 My week seems to be emptying of the rush it has been all school year. We were out of the house every afternoon for something or another, and now all but one of these activities has ended. Feels almost surreal. It really has been nice. I actually sat down and created a menu for the first time since about September! And I have been home to actually COOK - standard fare this year has been me standing in the kitchen with glazed eyes about 5 or 6ish wondering what I can throw together or worse, calling Andre' and asking him where he wants to eat!!!

I am beginning to feel like a HOMEschool mom again, and it is very sweet.

Cade just finished reading his "Read with Me Bible", a NIrV Story Bible for Children. This school year he has read a story to himself or outloud to me and Geoffrey each morning and yesterday he read the last story in this Bible.

This morning he asked if he could start reading a 'real' Bible now and was delighted when I gave him his very own Bible. He is sitting at the table reading Genesis (he insisted on starting on page 1!) and underlining his favorite verse to write for his Promise Box*.

He is growing up and I couldn't be prouder!

* Each child has a recipe box with index cards, their Promise Box, where they write verses that are special to them. This year we have been focusing on individual quiet time and searching the Bible for nuggets that speak to us. They are all accumulating quite a collection of special verses and quiet time is much more meaningful to them as they see verses leap of the page and grab their attention.

I believe I have already shared how Geoff lost his first tooth and how sorry I was to see him growing up. Today he lost his third tooth. I did not even know it was loose, apparently neither did he.

He is missing his two bottom front teeth and was trying to open a container of Play-do with his mouth. I heard him exclaim, "Aw, nuts, it happened again!" He walked into the kitchen clutching his bloody chin and showed me his newest lost tooth!

You'd thunk he would have figgered this out - he lost his second tooth trying to open a toy truck door....  Silly boy!

Watch this...

Our Disney Pictures

Isn't that cool!

I will post later with park info and my favorite pics, but you can get a peek at them now... enjoy.

If I was not so weak from the flu I believe I would actually do bodily harm to my cat. If I could also pinpoint which of the four is the culprit. It is 10pm and I am ready for bed and I am greeted by cat pe* on my bed, oh yeah, it went through all four layers of covers and into the mattress! BLECH!

On the bright side dh brought home Popeyes for dinner and was home to help me clean up the mess, he even offered to do the dishes since the child assigned to the kitchen is also sick.

So the final count 2 boys and mama with the flu, four cats in the dog house, 3 kids and dad picking up the slack! Here is praying tomorrow evening is better! And today started out so well...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have a few minutes to chat now. My oldest is off to his first Valentine dinner with his *gasp* girlfriend, I know weird huh! They are having a supervised meal at her house and I am to pick him up in a couple of hours. Two of my boys, Cuyler and Cade, are sick with the flu, Cade's fever is gone and he was given clearance to play outside with Geoff (he has cabin fever something feirce!) Cuyler is taking his temp to avoid doing his math (I can feel he has no temp - but Mr. Math brain must see the numbers! 99.3 - not too sick to do math!) Catherine is busy entertaining my 2yo neice so I am free for a little bit.

So nice to sit down with a peaceful home surrounding me and be able to share our life with you all. But I better get on with it - with 3 busy boys the peace is fleeting I am sure!

I promised Disney details. So I will start at the very beginning ~ a very good place to start (are you singing with me yet?) I began the Great Disney Adventure back in November. We needed a place to stay (with a kitchen), tickets to the parks and lots of work done to our van to get there! I spent countless hours researching, reading websites, and seeking out friends who had travelled this road before me. I am posting to thank those who advised me and to pass along what we learned.

Where to Stay: We wanted a condo or house or something with a kitchen and some room to spread out because  a week in a hotel room with 5 kids is not only questionably foolish (maybe against the rules even) but totally too cramped. Ebay became my friend and after weeks of patiently searching we finally picked out our home away from home. We chose to stay at Silver Lake Resort. We agreed to listen to a 90min timeshare promotion in exchange for 8 days and 7 nights in a 1bdr condo. We had full access to the entire resort and they really kept us only 90mins. We did not buy the timeshare, they were only mildly upset, oh well, I told them going in we would listen but had no intention of buying before we even booked and they were fine with that. This condo cost us $310.00 (including resort tax and fees) for the week. I spent hours searching for something in this price range and the only other option for under $400 for the week was a Knight's Inn motel about 15 mins from Disney with no kitchen, just 2 queen beds. Similar accomodations without the timeshare speil would have cost in the neighborhood of $1600 for the week, and to stay on Disney property at the Fort Wilderness Resort to CAMP in my own tent (not fun after spending a day at the park but...) would have cost us $479 before tax! Umm no thanks!

Getting the Tickets: We ordered our tickets through Undercover Tourist. Their tickets include tax (most sites do not) The tickets were our biggest expense, 4 adult and 3 children (adult charge applies to anyone 10 and up) 6 days of tickets were $1400.00. I read lots of sites and compared prices and this was the best price I could find from a company that was reputable and recommended by many (and not just by testimonies on their site!) I was tempted to purchase tickets through ebay - someone goes and has leftover days so they sell the extra days at a reduced price. The problem is two fold - first, you are trusting your vacation to their word that they actually have days left on the ticket (there is no way to find out till you are at the gate - not fun!) second, each ticket is registered to ONE individual with a fingerprint - if the prints don't match the ticket may not be accepted. (only adult tickets require fingerprint accuracy).

How we stretched our Dollars: I purchased cups with neckstraps (see this picture) to see the cups. We used those with single serve flavor packets and water from the water fountains to keep everyone hydrated. At $2.50 per bottle of water in Disney I figure we saved $85 each day by refilling our bottles and not buying water on site! (That math makes me shudder - without preplanning we could have easily drank $510 of water that week! WOW!) I also picked up a *treat* for the kids to get in the morning. Instead of buying autograph books at DW, I picked up a pretty flower notepad and 3 Pirates of the Carribean notepads for the little guys to use to get autographs. ($1 each at Dollar Store) They got those on the first morning (and the kid dressed and ready to go first got first pick! worked great to motivate them to get a move on earlier than normal!) I also got them glow sticks and Disney figurines - for a buck each! The light sticks were great for evenings  - everywhere you look someone is selling lightup thingies - we just pulled out ours and saved $15 a kid! I got each one of us (except the teenager who MUST be cool!) a fanny pack. Every morning we packed em with 6-7 snacks for each of us, their autograph books, 3-4 flavor packets for H2O, and a clip on "GigaPet" for entertainment in long lines. My back did not hurt at all! No lugging around everyones stuff, each of us was responsible for our own snacks and water - it was glorious! They really self regulated well, I was concerned they would pig out in the am and be starving by evening, but there was so much to see and do, they only ate as they got hungry. (Btw Preston wore a backpack with his stuff - ya know cool - except his back was aching at the end of the day! Beauty hurts!) We went to the grocery in Fla and got easy non perishable dinners (incase they did not get eaten!) and cereal, milk, and sandwich supplies. We spent $200 on food for our pantry, which is typical for a week at our house anyhoo!

The first day we went to Animal Kingdom. It was great. I will tell of the wonders of the parks later - right now I want to stay focused on stretching dollars. So we had not made it to buy groceries yet, we planned on eating at the park once and then shopping that night. We ordered 7 hotdogs (no chili, no mayo -the only way I LIKE hotdogs...) and a bucket of popcorn for $40.00! Thank God we had our own water!!! Hotdogs and drinks would have set us back a C Note! We did not make that decision again! Each morning we made 14 sandwiches - 7 meat and cheese and 7 peanut butter and jelly (or honey! my favorite!). We ate the meat at lunchtime and the pb in the evening. When we left the part we either headed to a fast food joint (I know - so unhealthy! but we are on vacation ) or back to the condo for a homemade dinner (ok, Pizza Rolls - but I count it if I dirty a pan!) On eating out we spent $580, which is alot for a week, but we were on vacation and wanted to have fun, and it was in the budget so we went for it! Each day at the park we got the kids a special snack, icecream or funnelcake etc which ran from 10-30 bucks a day. However had we eaten lunch and snacks in the park we would have spent double that or more. Growing boys and all ya know!

We hit Downtown Disney where there is a store called Mickey's Mart, all the souveniers are under $10. The kids wandered around and spent their own money (Grammy had blessed them all with spending money right before we left - they all felt so grown up trying to figure out the best buy for their money - although the poor cashier was a bit harried trying to sort out WHY I would ring up 5 seperate orders!) We stopped at one of the many gift shops on Hwy 192 and picked up Mickey Ts for everyone and a couple of other things - we spent about $200 on souveniers which comes to just about 28 bucks each, not too bad! And the shirts are too cute!

Gas and parking ($11x day) round out the rest of our budget and bring us right at the 3000 mark. Definately this was the priciest vacation we have ever taken, yet the memories are so great. God provided, the weather cooperated and the family got along famously.

So maybe it looks something like this...

Room and Board: $1090.00

Tickets: $1400.00

Essentials and extras: $510.00

Memories to last a lifetime: Priceless!

Andre' with Catherine, Geoffrey, Cuyler and Cade in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground at MGM.

It was truly a miracle that we were able to take all seven of us to Disney World (arguably the potentially most expensive place to vacation!) for just at $3000. We were able to get lodging, food, tshirts and memorabilia, gas, parking and 6 days of park tickets. All in our budget!

Andre' and I decided long ago that we wanted to give our kids memories and have purposley chosen to drive older, paid for vehicles and live in a smaller home with a smaller morgtage in order to have the freedom to travel with our family. Thankfully my incredible inlaws see the value in what we are doing and often help us make these dreams possible. Each year about Thanksgiving they begin asking what the kids want for Christmas, this year we asked them to help us take our kids on their first trip to Disney World and they graciously agreed by funding nearly half of our trip.

Our Heavenly Father provided the rest. Andre's business stayed busy through all of December and January. Jan is usually a pretty dead month for us, not many people are buying new computers right after Christmas! The children and I prayed daily (well nearly daily!) for God to provide the finances we needed to make this trip happen and He came through just in time!

On the second day of our trip, as we were wandering through the lands of Epcot, I was chatting with the children and telling them how glad I was that God placed each one in our family and reminded them of Gods goodness in providing for this trip. As we were reminiscing it was as if God tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me of a prayer I had offered up six years earlier. When I was pregnant with our caboose, Geoffrey, I had been pregnant or nursing without a break from 1996-2002. I love my babies, but I wanted to take a trip to DW with all of our children and not have to deal with bottles and naps, strollers and diapers. I also wanted to take the trip before my oldest graduated highschool. That was of course not the deciding factor to make Geoff the last one, but it was a future perk, if you will. That prayer / thought / desire of my heart had been long forgotten in the busyness of life. It is just like my God to remember even the prayers I forget. He never forgets and delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. As I was walking in Epcot laughing and playing with my family, Jesus whispered that memory to my heart and just made me smile. Disney's Year of a Million Dreams ain't got nothin on my Jesus!!!

And just in case you missed it - Geoffrey is 5, fully potty trained, no stroller needed, no naps anymore, totally capable of long term memory - he will never forget this trip! And Preston, the oldest, is 15 and a sophomore in highschool. Is God's timing awesome or what?

I will post soon with more details of how we budgeted and made every penny stretch. We had a blast, were not "deprived" and did not go into debt to make this happen.

ARGH! I just lost the entire post. and it was good. and I must return to mommy land and do school because they are so fast and are done with the assignments I gave. UGH. Hopefully I will be able to get back on tonight and repost.

Meanwhile here is a pic of us at Animal Kingdom.

What a great week! Our family chose to forgo Christmas presents in favor of a trip to Disney World. We just got home after 8 glorious days with Mickey!

Today we are unpacking and cleaning the house and trying to get back in the school groove. I will post of our trip and some pics later. Gotta go do math now...

I am leaning more towards 'unschooling' my youngest children. I have read lots and lots and continue to research the best way to educate our children. When we began this journey into homeschooling our oldest, Preston, was in first grade and all I knew about homeschool was Abeka. I also knew I did not have enough money to purchase all I "needed" for first grade, so we bought some $1 workbooks from Wal-Mart and began our quest. I felt at the time that I was giving him an inferior education but was doing the best I could with the resources I had. I truly believed that he needed a full'real' curriculum that came neatly packaged in a box. So we saved our pennies and the next year my mom and I drove to Pensacola, FL to shop at the Abeka bookstore. Oh the joy of fresh workbooks and 'real' readers! I packed up everything available for second graders (minus the teachers manuals bc I figured if I could not correct his 2nd grade papers with out a manual - I had no business homeschooling him!)

We began the year with a bang! We were living 30mins from town and had 3 children and the 4th one 'baking'! Preston was 7, Catherine was 3, Cuyler was 1 and mom was tired! But we persisted. I had him doing 1-2 pages in each workbook everyday and reading aloud to me everyday. Math was torture, he would cry almost every day, he absolutely hated it. And so did I, but it was all there was, the only way, right? He did not care if he could not multiply (he was SEVEN!! but it was on the page, so he must do it right?) Catherine could not even count to 20, so why did it matter if he could not multiply (his justification) In March we welcomed Cade home and pressed on with school. Every day was a struggle and by the end of the school term Andre' and I decided we could not do this anymore.

So I went to work to pay for his tuition and put the three little ones in daycare, a very difficult decision, but the ps's in our area were awful and obviously I could not homeschool this child! He went to our church's small private school for 3rd and 4th grade. And I got pregnant for our 5th child the summer between 3rd and 4th grade. Andre' got a new job an hour away from home, so we moved. In our new community there is one Christian school and the tuition is out of range for our budget. And Catherine was beginning school. Preston went to the local ps to finish out 4th grade and he hated it, so did I, but I vividly remembered 2nd grade, I CANNOT homeschool him, the others sure, but not him.... he asked to come home.

We agreed to try it out and I knew we could not return to a boxed curriculum full of workbooks and textbooks, btdt - never again! After many hours of research and prayer we found Sonlight - it sounded too good to be true. I did not want to overwhelm him with the amount of reading required and I wanted our year to be an easy transition, so I chose Core 2 World History. We had a great year, stress free and he (and I, and the little kids who listened in) learned a ton. And we were on our way to being a true Sonlighter. However, I was still a perfectionist box checker. I loved that Sonlight gave me a schedule and I faithfully checked every box, which worked great for a 10 year old doing Core 2.

We have since completed Core 3+4, Core 5, Core 6 and Core 100 and the check every box philosophy has not worked as well. I have learned to trust myself and make decisions on how deep we delve into a topic and which areas or books we skip. And it is working so well, we are all loving school and learning so much.

I have learned so much in the 8 years I have taught my children at home, and now that my youngest 2 are in K and 2nd grade I see how much I have grown.  Homeschooling families have options ranging from "school at home" in which the family has a traditional classroom setting with a black board, educational posters, desks and textbooks to "unschoolers" who allow their children to follow their own passions in the pursuit of education.

Our family began with the "school at home" model (Preston even had the little school desk) and now are endeavoring to give the children more of a say in what they learn. There is no way to for anyone to learn all there is to learn in 12 years of school, indeed we continue to learn our entire life. Andre and have realized that we have learned far more teaching our own children than we ever learned in a classroom. Think of your own life, any situation where you were 'forced' to learn something that did not interest you (most of what I experienced in school) you only learned long enough to pass the test, then most of that information was forgotten. But when we are interested in a topic, we retain so much more of that information - for good. Why would we think our children learn any differently?

Which brings me to the title of this post, Unschool? We have been studying history extensively since we began using Sonlight (it is really my favorite subject) but Catherine was tired of "wars and dead guys". We had a conversation about what she would like to study and she wanted to learn more about her body. So we spent last semester reading lots about anatomy and how our bodies work, also did a s*x ed study (using Passport to Purity -amazing stuff) and read Beautiful Girlhood, all about being a godly girl inside and out. It was great, we all enjoyed it.

This semester we are studying Japan in preparation for 'Mega-fest'. Mega-fest is put on by our local hs group, it is like a giant social studies fair. Each family studies a different country and presents a project board and food from their country. We are having a great time learning about Japan (the boys are loving the sumo wrestlers!) We ordered candy from Japan and will serve real sushi and kid friendly sushi.

So I suppose for us, we are somewhere between the textbook approach (Preston is using textbooks this year that he chose, and is doing great; the others also have a few workbooks they use for math and phonics) and unschooling where they choose what to study and I provide the encouragement and materials. With the youngest two boys though, we are leaning more toward unschooling with our approach to their education. They do a little workbook study, but the majority of their education comes from life experience. For example, weeding the garden (science), making pancakes (math and home ec), comparison shopping (more math) and building with lego (problem solving, following directions). Most of the time they are learning they don't even realize they are learning - they are just having fun being little boys exploring their world!

I just finished reading The Way Children Learn  by John Holt and truly enjoyed it. His research with children proves that they will figure out their world and learn a ton if we allow them to. When children have a reason to learn something there is no stopping them. But it has to be their reason, not just because "I said so." Don't get me wrong, I know there is a place for obedience, we teach our children to obey the 'first time'. I am excited to see where their learning takes them as they have more say in what they want to learn about.

Life is good!

I saw this warning at the Sonlight Forums and had to pass it on to you dear ladies, be aware - this may have happened to you and you did not even realize it. Scary...

THEFT WARNING FOR WOMEN

Most of you have read the scare-mail about the person whose kidneys were stolen while he was passed out. Well, read on. While the kidney story was an urban legend, this one is not. It's happening every day.

My thighs were stolen from me during the night a few years ago. It was just that quick. I went to sleep in my body and woke up with someone else's thighs. The new ones had the texture of cooked oatmeal. Who would have done such a cruel thing to legs that had been mine for years? Whose thighs were these and what happened to mine? Hurt and angry, I resigned myself to living out my life in jeans and Sheer Energy pantyhose. Then, just when my guard was down, the thieves struck again. My butt was next. I knew it was the same gang, because they took pains to match my new rear end to the thighs they stuck me with earlier. I couldn't believe that my new butt was attached at least three inches lower than my original. Now, my rear complemented my legs, lump for lump. Frantic, I prayed that long skirts would stay in fashion.

It was two years ago when I realized my arms had been switched. One morning I was fixing my hair and I watched horrified but fascinated as the flesh of my upper arms swung to and fro with the motion of the hairbrush.

This was really getting scary. My body was being replaced one section at a time. How clever and fiendish. Age? Age had nothing to do with it. Age is supposed to creep up, unnoticed, something like maturity. NO, I was being attacked repeatedly and without warning. In despair, I gave up my T-shirts. What could they do to me next?

My poor neck suddenly disappeared faster than the Thanksgiving turkey it now resembled. That's why I decided to tell my story. I can't take on the medical profession by myself. Women of the world, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE! That really isn't plastic that those surgeons are using. You KNOW where they are getting those replacement parts, don't you? The next time you suspect someone has had a face "lifted," look again. Was it lifted from you? I think I finally found my thighs, and I hope that Cindy Crawford paid a really good price for them!

This is not a hoax! This is happening to women in every town every night! WARN YOUR FRIENDS!

P.S. I must say that last year I thought someone had stolen my breasts. I was lying in bed and they were gone! As I jumped out of bed, I was relieved to see that they had just been hiding in my armpits as I slept. Now I keep them hidden in my waistband.

I lost a dear friend of the family a couple of weeks ago. She had been with me since our oldest was four. Sweet Mrs. Roper served our family daily for the last 12 years, making sure all of our whites were white and our colors were bright while her dear honey Mr. Roper dried everything to a fluffy softness. He passed away two years ago and nice old Ken More moved in to help out Mrs. Roper with the chores her honey used to take care of. But alas she has gone on also, although she is not too far away - she has been sitting in our back yard since her passing.

After Mrs. Roper moved to the backyard I decided to be creative. Surely her job was not that difficult. A little water, a little soap, agitate it, rinse and maybe rinse again, ring it out and send it on to Ken. Humph, she has been fooling me! I filled the tub with hot water and a little Sweet Pea bath soap, tossed in some socks and undies, added a couple of young boys to agitate the clothes (I figured they agitate me enough...) and left to fix dinner. Lets just say young boys do not do the same job as dear old Mrs. Roper!!! But on the up side, the bathroom floor got a well needed mopping! So I removed the boys, drained the clothes and rinsed them - FIVE times! I still had soap in em. And the socks were still grungy, so I ran the hot water again, added powdered bleach and detergent to the sock soup and tried to hand wash the suckers. Two hours and three busted knuckles later I gave up, rinsed everything one last time, called in the resident hero (aka dh Andre') and he wrung everything out. I tossed the wet things into the dryer (aka Ken More) and crossed my fingers. Another hour later and Ken delivered dingy dirty dry socks and undies. So much for nostalgia and the good ole days!

Ken More was delighted to meet Miss Roper and the two of them got right to work on Mt. Washmore which has invaded our home since Mrs. Roper passed away. Miss Roper welcomed the dingy socks and cup of bleach and sweetly delivered the whitest socks this house has seen in years! I will miss my dear friend, but her replacement is making the transition much easier!!

Guess what I got for Christmas? Aint she purty!

Sure beats last years gift...

 A radiator for my van (yep the van that kicked the royal bucket 4 months later...) I am sure Miss Roper will be with us much longer than that silly radiator was - and she was half the price!!

*the following link directs you to youtube to view - I can't figger out how to add just the video wo the youtube stuff - sorry*

One more reason to keep the kids safe at home! I am glad they have a dress code and oh so sorry that our times require one. And I do realize he could not walk packing all that heat - I think the point is that lots could be hidden and it only takes one. Btw - my dh is a card carrying NRA member with an active concealed carry permit that he uses daily. I am not afraid of guns, just concerned about them being in the wrong hands with the wrong motive.

In our little suburb just this past week we have had several bomb threats including one at our only area Private Christian School. The threat at the cs was written by two sophomores who claimed that what they were planning would make the tragedy at Columbine pale in comparison.  It breaks my heart to realize that this kind of garbage is going on even in the seemingly safest places. Now those two young men, who thought they were being funny (turns out is was a joke - whatever) are now in our local juvenile detention center with a federal charge hanging over their formerly bright futures.

This is where we seriously considered sending our oldest this year (the school not the detention center!). I am so thankful we kept him home - not to keep him sheltered. Our children are active participants in their world. But home where he is learning and earning his education and not being pulled into foolishness like this with his so called "friends". Home where his dad and I are available to discuss the issues of his life and are able to help him navigate these rough waters called adolescence. We know where he is, who is with and what they are doing. I wish I would have had parents who were more involved in my teen years, lots of regret and sorrow could have been avoided. My parents loved me, still do  and they did the best they knew; but I was allowed way too much freedom, way too early.

Moms, be encouraged and challenged. Stand up for what you know is right! Do not be intimidated by what your childs friends are allowed to do. Know what you believe, why you believe it and stand ready to enforce it. Your teenagers will thank you! Even at 15 my son has shared with me gratitude for our boundaries as he sees friends of his allowed to roam and do as they see right only to be wounded and stray from Christ.

Proverbs 12:15 'The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise.'

Be strong, be the mom and keep your sense of humor! Teenagers do not have to be the rebellious tormentors our society leads us to believe. I have thought that, and said that for years (even before I had a teenager) and many parents of teens would roll their eyes with a look of  "Just wait till you get one then you will be singing a different song." Well I am in the thick of it and while we certainally have had our issues I stand firm - they do not have to rebel. Rules are important, but without the loving support of a strong relationship a child would tend to rebel. My teenager (although I prefer young adult) is a blessing to our family and we are thoroughly enjoying walking alongside him as he becomes a man.