• Apr. 27, 2009
Mother's Day Giveaway
I don't usually do this but the prizes at stake are better than most. Take a look!
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• Feb. 25, 2009
Fireproof
We finally watched Fireproof last night (recognize the music?). We weren't able to see it at the movie so we borrowed it from my brother and sister- in- law. I thought it was a very good movie and would recommend it to all couples no matter what season of life they're in. It's so scary how Satan wants to tear our marriages apart. In my life it's a constant struggle trying to balance God, kids, and marriage, and Satan always attacks my weakest area (which changes from day to day). I long for the day when Jesus calls us all home and the difficulties of life will be over.
So if you haven't seen it yet...make time to see it!
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• Feb. 23, 2009
Jordan's 1st Oral Book Report
Jordan's First Oral Book Report!!
We are using Christian Light Education for Language Arts and Reading (both boys) and they are learning alot, although they probably wouldn't admit it. Jordan has been working on a book report for a couple of weeks now. CLE allowed them to pick out their book (with mother's approval of course), and then gave them a period of time to read it. They were instructed on how to take notes and then how to present the report.
Jordan chose The Mayo Brothers for his book. It's a fairly short book but one that I wanted him to read at some point anyway, so when he asked to use it for his report I readily agreed. He finished reading the book rather quickly and then spent several lessons learning how to take notes and present the report. Finally the day arrived that he was to give his report. I'm so thankful it was a day when Mark was home because he was able to experience this special time with us.
The Crowd of Onlookers
Jordan set the room up with a podium and lined the chairs up for us, the audience, to sit. He was a little nervous and excited as he began and he actually started by reading his report to us. That didn't work too well because he had some difficulty reading his writing (he takes after me in that respect). So Mark started asking some simple questions and that set him off on the right path. He took off and explained the book from beginning to end. By the time he was done all of us wanted to read the book for ourselves. Daddy told him that was the sign of a great oral report...when others walked away wanting to read the book.
Watching him nervously give his report brought back school memories for me. Watching timid classmates give their reports while I sat nervously waiting for my turn. Funny how scary it was waiting, but I always enjoyed it when I was doing it (or at least when I was finished and hadn't made too big of a fool of myself 
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• Feb. 23, 2009
Winter Be Gone!!!!
I am soooo ready for spring! My family has been battleing some sort of minor illnesses almost non-stop since Christmas. This is the worst year we've had with sickness. Thankfully it's always been very minor, but still I do wish my children would get well and feel better! My husband has a new job this year and he works directly with school age children. Also my kids and I are around them 1 or 2 times a week. I wonder if we're just being exposed to germs that we're not accustomed to? Hopefully spring will be here soon!!!
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• Feb. 17, 2009
Catching up....
It's been waaaaayyy too long since I last posted so here goes.
We are knee deep in our school year and trying to catch up from all the days we took off in fall. Hoping to finish up by June. I also need to get myself in gear and decide what I'm doing next year. Pretty sure I'll stick with CLE LA and Reading for both boys and probably Horizons Math for Josiah. I had planned to do Horizon Math thru third grade with Jordan and then use Switched on Schoolhouse. We'll see.
I feel bad that I started this blog and haven't kept it up. I really want to keep it up so I'll have something to journal in my scrapbook with, plus it's a good way to keep a record of memories for the kids to read when they're older. After all that's my main reason for blogging...recording our life. And since I'm working on a digital scrapbook I figure I could easily grab some of my posts from this blog and stick them in my scrapbook. So that'smy motivation...now we'll see if I follow thru =)
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• Nov. 11, 2008
Veterns Day Parade
The Cub Scouts were in the Veterns Day parade again this year and Traci and I took Lucas and Savannah to watch while Mark and Jay walked with the boys. This was Josiah's first year as a Cub Scout, he wore his uniform so proudly. We had a good time, the weather was nice and Amy and Hannah watched Shiloh so I was able to enjoy it without worrying about her missing her nap or fussing because she couldn't get down and run into the street 
I took my camara but I was so busy oooing and ahhing over the cute little Girl Scout Brownies (or 'little muffins' as Josiah calls them) that I didn't have my camara ready and time and couldn't snap a picture. The same thing happened to us last year...you'd think I would learn to stay ready at all times. Oh well, I got a few good shots at the end of the parade.
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• Nov. 4, 2008
Presidential Election 2008
This was the first year Jordan was old enough to follow the presidential election. He paid close attention to the media and asked Mom, Dad, and other family members questions, then he made his decision about who he would like to win. The morning of the election Dad woke him early and took him to the polls to watch him vote. As the polls began to close we started watching the coverage on Fox News. Jordan had a map with each states projections and as each candidate won a state he would color it blue (Obama) or red (McCain). As the evening wore on he held out hope that McCain would come thur with California, but at 11 pm the announcement was made that Obama would most certainly be our next President. Jordan hung up his colored pencil and went to bed, but only after commenting "everybody I pull for always losses." I think he was still a little bummed out that his race car driver wasn't winning, 
Jordan, Lucas, and Josiah working on their maps
Jordan's Finis
Jordan's Finished Map
This was before NC was officially won
Josiah's Un-Finished Map
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• Nov. 2, 2008
Halloween Weekend
Halloween has never been my favorite holiday, even before I learned the origins of the Jack-o-lantern and gobblins and such. I'm not sure why, because I'm a candy lover (especially *chocolate*) from way back, and Fall is one of my favorite seasons! But, for whatever reason I just don't really get into the halloween thing. I suffer thru it to make the kids happy and when it's all said and done Jordan throws me a few chocolate bars. (He doesn't like chocolate!!)
This year we used hand-me-down costumes for the two youngest kids. Lucas was a spider and Shiloh was a cute kitty. The older two wanted new costums. Jordan wanted a race car driver costume, but we couldn't find one. Josiah wanted a $20 Batman costume! We said 'no way'. We have a perfectly fine Batman suite already, but he wanted the new and improved version. So Josiah quickly agreed to go as a hunter, and about 30min before time for us to leave for Trunk or Treat, Jordan agreed to go as a deer. 
As usual we had a nice turn out for Trunk or Treat, we even had some entertainment from the king himself, king of rock n roll that is! Unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to get a good picture, you know how those Elvis fans can be.
Jordan and Josiah had recently been grounded from their friends due to the way they treat one another, especially when they're around other kids. I know this is natural for some siblings but it's not what I want for my kids. I want them to be close to one another, and to know that the other one is there for them no matter what. They will defend the younger two kids with no thought, but when it comes to defending each other they just won't do it.
My husband and I have noticed for awhile that our two oldest boys are always at odds with one another when there are other kids involved. When a disagreement occurs involving another child they automatically jump to defend the other child, which is okay if they know the whole story and realize their brother is truly at fault. Unfortunately they usually don't know the whole story and could care less who is at fault. It seems they just love to be against each other. This bothers me greatly because I would've never allowed someone to mistreat any of my siblings (yes, it was okay for me to mistreat them, but no one else).
(Jordan is missing from the picture because it was his turn to "hunt" on the game)
So their grounding was over on Halloween night and, they both invited a friend home from the Trunk or Treat for a sleepover, and for the most part everyone had a great time, even mom! By Saturday afternoon everyone was getting a little tired and cranky from lack of sleep the night before, and they started bickering a little. I guess we still have a lot of work cut out for us. All in all though it was a fun time. We played checkers and Pentago until midnight. We even played Go Fishy with my three year old, yelp he stayed up until everyone else laid down to watch TV. He was worn out Saturday. My boys really Love sleepovers so I think I'll be using this as a learning tool more often. They really handled themselves well for two weeks 
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• Oct. 28, 2008
~A Very Special 3 Year Old~
Yesterday was Lucas' third birthday and we celebrated by declaring it a "pajama day," and playing with all the goodies he received at his birthday party Sunday. His brothers were kind enough to take all of his toys out of the boxes for him, (*glad I didn't have to do it alone*) so they could commence to playing as soon as the sun was fully out.
Shiloh even joined in on the fun. He got about 25, 000 horses (of course I'm exaggerating) for his birthday so there was plenty to go around. He also got barns and trailers and trucks and hay and stables and fences and everything else you can possibly think of that goes along with the horse farm theme. Our children have really been blessed with wonderful, generous people in their lives. We ended up putting one of our gifts back in the closet to use for Christmas, because he got so much for his birthday.
I forgot my camera at the birthday party but I snapped a few pic's at home on his actual birthday.
Jordan, Shiloh, and Josiah enjoyed his horses as much as Lucas.
Shiloh loves to push his buttons...look at that grin on her face...she's gonna cause trouble I just know it!
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• Oct. 25, 2008
Warm and Toasty
Yesterday we cranked up the ole woodstove for the first time this season. It was a cool day and the heat kept coming on so we decided it was definitly time. So we all gathered up some sticks to use as kenneling, then we loaded the back of Daddy's truck with some wood and stacked it under the deck so it would be ready to throw into the fire when needed. The whole family pitched in to help, even Shiloh did her part.
We also sowed grass seed on some patches in the front yard that have needed it for four years, (since the remodel) it was so nice to have that done finally. The Lord provided the rain today so hopefully we'll have nice grass come April.
It was a really fun family day and it made me realize my life would be managable again, especailly when we're home. I still dread going anywhere without Mark because it's hard for me to manage all four kids alone. I feel badly for Jordan and Josiah because they miss out on alot of fun homeschool trips and activities, but today made me realize we're crossing some hurdles and it won't be long before I'll be fine on my own and we can join the other homeschoolers on these outings.
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• Sep. 29, 2008
A Sick Day
Our oldest child, Jordan, woke up yesterday morning complaining of a sore throat and saying he didn't want to go to church. Although that isn't normal for any of our kids we still wanted to be sure he wasn't just tired out from his Friday night sleepover at his cousins. He wasn't running a fever and by my husband and I both thought he was probably just tired so we forced him to church. Since he layed on the couch during breakfast, I took him a bowl of dry cereal and allowed him to go with his daddy to his Sunday School class and eat his breakfast. Apparently after he ate a few bites he got sick and threw up in the hall at church. Opps, my bad! I'm so thankful it wasn't on the carpet! So off they went home. I stayed with the other kids.
He ate again later in the day and again, threw up. He layed around most of the day and slept off and on. Of course we had to give him a sick day today. He says the only thing good about being sick is missing school. I still had school for my six year old but it was a really light day (shh don't tell Jordan). I certainly don't want to create a habit of giving everyone the day off when only one person is sick, unless of course the one person is the teacher :-)
So today was an easy day and I spent a great deal of it cleaning the house. The weather is nice here so I'm sitting by the open window exploring blogs. I really want to find other homeschoolers that have the same interests and beliefs as me. I spend alot of my free time on the computer so I thought a homeschool blog would be a nice way to meet other homeschoolers.
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• Sep. 20, 2008
Easily Distracted...Who Me?
Although I teach my kids everyday I realize I could really use some classes myself...in time managment! This is a typical 'wasted three hours doing NotHiNg' day for me!
We finished up breakfast and I told the boys to brush their teeth and get ready to start school. So far so good we were right on schedule and then it happened, I saw the checkbook on the bar and realized Mark made a deposit yesterday and I should pay some bills, and have them ready to go into the mail this afternoon. So I begin working on the bills, then I discover that DishNet hasn't sent me my Gift Card they promised me. I decide I should call them, and as I am talking to them I realize my Verizon bill went up because I switched to DishNet from Direct TV. I finish with Dish and decide to call Verizon.
I hollar for Jordan to start school without me, and I call Verizon. I found out why Verizon charges thru the roof for their services...so they can afford to pay the service department overtime that is aquired while talking on the phone to customers!! The very nice gentleman talked and talked and talked about high-speed internet and the probability of me getting it in this area (no I HAD NOT called to inquire about High Speed internet but he ended up on that subject, go figure) as I talked to him my brother, Avery, called but I didn't switch over to answer. I couldn't get off the phone with this person, and I didn't want to be rude but I really wanted to ask "shouldn't you get to the next caller"...no wonder the call wait time is so high!
Finally, I am able to get off and again I hollar for Jordan to get started with out me. I need to return Avery's call, who by the way would make an excellent Verizon employee, :-). I talk to Avery for a few minutes then I hear a loud cry and realize my kids still aren't in school and it's 10 am! I walk in the living room to find out what all the screaming is about, and immediately I see blood all over Lucas' neck and Jordan freaking out. I calmly send Jordan to his room and tell myself and Josiah that we are not allowed to freak out.
At this point I didn't know what I was facing but I knew it had the potential to cause me to faint. I knew this because Mark cut his finger a couple of weeks earlier and as I 'helped' him change the bandage, I nearly passed out, and that was before he actually got the old bandage off! I have never been the queasy fainty type but I guess all things change. So I realize I must hold myself togather, but just in case I call Josiah in for back up support! There is blood all over Lucas' back, it looks as though one of those chainsaw monsters from the '80s has attacked my poor baby. I send Josiah after my ice pack and a clean towel and I prepare myself for what I thought would be a gaping whole in the back of Lucas's neck.
As I begin to look I realize Lucas is no longer crying. Is he in shock? Am I in shock, why am I so calm? Could it be that it's not as bad as it looks? I ask Josiah to hold the ice on his head for a second (I forget why) and he did, for a second, then he informed me that he just couldn't take 'this.' I looked in his direction, and he was turning pale and wobbly. To the chair he went and I turn the fan on and remove Lucas from the room. I decide I better call someone before I start cleaning it up...just in case. So I call Mark and explain the situation and then I hand the phone to Lucas so Mark can talk to him and distract him while I clean him up.
As I begin to clean his neck I see a trail of blood down his head, so at this point I'm still not sure how bad it is because it looks as though he has an 8in cut in the back of his head. The more I clean the smaller the wound becomes. In the end the cut was less than a centimeter long. No wonder he was so calm! Whew! God spares us again! I wish I could remember the amount of times God has blessed us with His protection on what could have been a very bad situation.
The bleeding has slowed down quite a bit but I decide to put a little ice on anyway. I sit down with Lucas in my lap and hold the ice on his head for a while, then I decide we really need to get to school because we're going to miss at least two days next week. We finally got to school around 11am, and I didn't even remember to put my bills in the box before the mail ran at 3pm!
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• Sep. 5, 2008
Finding Our Groove
We've just finished our third week of school and I must say I think all in all it was a success. I told Mark that I only realized this week that I've never homeschooled without a baby around. When we started homeschooling Jordan in 2005-06, I had two months with just him and Josiah (age 3 at the time) and then came Lucas in October.
The next school year, 2006-07, I became pregnant with Shiloh and was sick the first few months of school. Lucas was 1 year and Josiah was 4. She arrived on the scene in May of 2007, just as we were finishing up our year. Then last year, 2007-08, Jordan was in second grade and Josiah in Kindergarten and it was difficult to teach two kids while dealing with a 6 month old and a 2 year old.
This year I'd hoped it would get easier because Lucas is going to turn 3 soon and Shiloh is 1, so they should be able to play together and occupy one another. HMMM, not happening! Shiloh likes to be where I am and Lucas isn't a loner so your not going to get him outta the room alone. Neither of them are TV Junkies so I can't sit them in front of the tube for very long (this is a good thing, I know). I usually just let them roam around while I work with the older boys. I just have to try my best to keep 'em quiet and occupied so Josiah can concentrate.
Lucas enjoy's the story time and Shiloh does okay as long as we don't take the dry erase markers from her before she's done with them. Jordan is in the room next to us and he's always quick to let us know if we get too loud.
We're still trying to find our groove and I think in time it'll get easier. This is a new curriculum (Christian Light) for me so I'm still getting used to it. So far I'm impressed with the material, it seems to move fast but it's soild academically. I really wish I'd used it with Jordan last year. Horizion Math is great too. I love the way they introduce a concept and then review it for several weeks all the while introducing new other new concepts. Then they'll stop with that concept and come back to it later. I hope CLE will do that as well but I'm not sure yet.
