Uhm...I think that's a word....anyway, just trying to get my head, heart and body back to health - that's what that's supposed to mean.

Yesterday was hard. Today I am in more of an "acceptance" mode. It is what it is. 

I think I should explain a bit, too.  I was due to start on the 7th and I thought I just had monstrous PMS.  I was tired and dizzy and grouchy and migrainy and hotflashing and tender everything....but by the 9th, I sort of figured, hmmm....so I got a home pg. test and sure enough, positive.  So I tested again on the 10th, positive, and on the 11th, positive,  and decided by Monday to see the doc and start prenatal care (I am high risk, have been since my 1st, so its just prudent to go early, for me anyway).  I test more than once, always, because I have miscarried quite a bit.  I just like to be sure.  The third test wasn't as quick to go pos, but I blew it off, because I had drank *alot* of iced tea just prior, and thought maybe it was too watered down.  I should have known.   Anyway.

I went to the doctor today.  As doctors go (and I am NOT a big fan of the medical community), she is simply awesome.  She went ahead and did a pelvic (uurrgghh) and had blood drawn. She decided to run an antimitochondrial antibody test because I have had so many miscarriages, she did an ANA (because I seem to get mono alot), hcg and CBC and I guess that's about it.  She wants me to come back Monday, so we can continue to monitor hcg levels (you know, make sure it's not a molar pg or something). 

It is somewhat helpful to go to the doc - this is a routine I know from previous pregnancies and there is something comforting about knowing people are there to take care of you when you are down and out.  Even if they are money swiping, blood sucking, cooter swabbing vampires...ha ha ha....yeah, even when I feel like ca-ca, I still have a warped sense of humor.

Yesterday, it was warm, in the 70's.  Today, it is raining and cold, down in the lower 40's. Appropos, all things considered.  I was glad to get back home after my appointment, I didn't linger in town.  I came home, had hot oatmeal and coffee, took my vitamins and parked here in front of my electronic buddy.  Next on the agenda is hot tea with honey and then napping with my littles.  I think I will build a fire in the woodstove after we get up - it will feel good, drive away the damp chill.

This too shall pass.  I am sustained by the Lord, knowing He is the Master and that nothing happens that He will not sustain us through.  I will read my Bible today, finding solace and wisdom therein, and I will draw on the strength that family and friends so lovingly offer and this too shall pass.

~*~*~*~*~*~Thank you TC and Fringey, for the kind comments.  I know we're all basically just strangers here in the Blogosphere, but you both made me feel better. ~*~*~*~*~*~*

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So just a short entry...as I had mentioned, we have been trying to conceive. We found out last week we were successful...so we were happy campers until today.

I started miscarrying around noon. 

Not much to add to that right this moment, so thats about it for today.

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Now this is maybe more info than you wanted, but I am PMS'ing in a bad kinda way.  I am feelin' whole new levels of grouchiness today and feeling incredibly pessimistic about some things and ridiculously warm and fuzzy about others.  *sigh* I will be happy to receive menopause as a gift, I think.  Conception and carrying children is amazing, a miracle....but it will be just as much a miracle to not be an evil troll once a month!

Personal disgustingness aside, today was another simply marvelous shopping conquest.  I decided to go back to Salvation Army and took my boys with me.  We made out like bandits - my oldest got a very very nice suit (which appears to maybe have been worn once, for just under $4!).   Plus, we also  left there with a total of 8 t-shirts (nike,old navy,etc), two skirts, a dressy sweater, a sweatshirt with cute "mommy-isms" on it, a suit, three dress shirts, 3 pairs of jeans for my middle son, a pair of dress pants for him too, two belts, three ties, a beautiful purple winter coat (for my daughter for next season), an aquarium and roughly 20 books...for $59.04...... Oh yeah!!! We didn't know until checkout that just from the 25% off sale yesterday, everything was 50% off today!!!  Yayyya!!!!!(My books were only 5 cents a piece!!!!)

Then we went back to Trendy Teens and Kids First (a consignment shop) and there, got my other son five pairs of shorts, a suit (very nice as well), two pairs of pants, a short sleeve button down; two dresses for my daughter, two pair of shorts, a pair of jeans and two t-shirts for my youngest, three t-shirts and a very nice leather jacket for my oldest......total there was $89.00 (i forget the change).  (Oh, I also got a copy of "What To Expect When You're Expecting" for the pregnant 19 year old daughter of one of my best friends.)

We were piglets and went to Arby's and Burger King for lunch and just porkered right on out, plus had a lovely french fry fight in the truck and spilled a large amount of my iced tea in the floor board....but had a good time goofing with my teenage goober-heads.

I got an email from one of the Kentucky social workers today, very encouraging...she actually sounded excited that we are interested.  I am soooo impatient to get our homestudy done.  I am still waiting for the packet from our county, nothing yet.  I also emailed a couple of local agencies that do homestudies, doing a little comparison shopping. 

 I had been told to go thru our local DFS, because they will pay for the homestudy, and being the thrifty chick I am, that was appealing.  But not appealing enough to wait endlessly for the wheels to turn.  So we are definitely investigating our options.  Is it too impatient to say, I hope that one child in particular will be living with us by the time we go on our annual vacation to the North Carolina coast?  I pray pray pray...so, lol....we shall see see see!

Well, one of my finds yesterday was a giant bag of markers.  Most are washable, ha ha ha, but not all!! Naturally the NON washable are the ones my two year old gravitated towards, so I have been snagging them from him all evening!

Homeschooling is still at a standstill - again, somewhat laughable because this is supposed to be a homeschooling blog. 

Ahh well, one of the bright things about being unschoolers is things like the aquarium find.  The oldest is already scrubbing and going through all the seed/plant catalogs, the scientific supply catalogs, etc, preparatory to making it into a terrerium.  He wants to make a series of little aquarium habitats, so one with plant life, another for fish, another for reptiles, another for amphibians, another for reptiles and yet another for desert life. 

So natch, his brother is somewhat jealous, which prompted another endless debate about why we are NOT getting a bird of prey (of ANY kind), why we are not/cannot have an iguana in the same house as a two year old, and why we are not getting either one of them a monkey or a venemous anything!!!! Arrggggghhhh.....then he went slinking off muttering about how pansy-ish a parakeet is, insulted that I would even suggest something so foppish, how dare I?!?

You know, I thought I should mention, not that this defines who my children are but that it is a fact of daily life. We are so used to it, but w/e....of the four children we still have at home, one has dyslexia and ADHD, two have high functioning autism, one of those has a seizure disorder and I think the two year old is showing early indications of ADHD as well.  We do not medicate.  We do not do therapies or IEP's or any of that.  We tried it all, and wound up with very damaged children, very depressed children.  So, we are homeschoolers.  So I get a bit tickled when anyone thinks we might struggle with "special needs" encountered in the adoption process.  Ha! it is a daily fact of life here, not to mention the damage we did to our own children by being stupid in our early adult choices and thus, divorce and all that that entails, including the ugly custody battles, the PAS, the child support issues. 

Becoming Christians was the best thing that ever happened to us, aside from having our children and marrying one another.  God's love has filled gaps in our souls we didn't even know we had.  It has allowed us to move away from past hurts and healed us all as a family.  There is no possible way we could realistically consider adoption had we not accepted Christ and changed our entire approach in life to a Christ centered approach.

Well, again it is getting late and I am prattling, so God's blessings to anyone who reads this. Night Night..

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Ha ha....that was a line from an Edie Brickell song.  She was like a one hit wonder, then married Paul Simon and dropped off the radar.  But I liked that song alot.  And some of the lines are true even if they are a bit acid-space-cadet-ish.  I have been waxing philosophical all day, so it just seemed fitting...

Shopped today too, girly girls...ahhhh yes, the victorious thrill of consumer conquest!!! We went to Salvation Army, a consignment shop called Kids First and a Christian bookstore.  We got alot of super deals, especially at the Salvation Army store.  They are changing locations and trying to get rid of a lot of inventory so that their move will be easier, so everything in the store is 25% off, plus another 50% off pink tagged items. 

Homeschooling in this home is flaggingly slowwwwwww.....making turtles look like cheetahs, I must say, with our progress.  But I am afraid progress will wait until next week.  Although we have read and watched a buncha educational stuff, and had alot of outdoor-go-ask-mom-about-this-slime time...so it's not an entire loss this week.  I am actually focusing a little more on the next school year and what kind of approach we are going to take.  I am, by nature, a pretty loosey goosey, non-scheduled kinda chick - more natural in my approach, I reckon.  So anything horribly structured is just not gonna fly here.  But I do think the kids need more structure than what we currently have......well, honestly, picture a clean Pippi Longstocking house with good food, lots of insane cacaphony and carpet - that's our house. 

I have heard nothing more from the social worker....impatiently waiting for the packet she said she would send.  I am sure, being that DFS is a government agency, the wheels of progress will churn agonizingly slow.  I also emailed that out of state agency with the majority of the children we are interested in, just to kind of let them know we are here, we are jumping through the requisite hoops and we are for sure interested in some of "their" kids.  Also, to get information particular to that agency, so if they have any weird quirks I havent learned of doing research, we dont have to find out the hard way. 

My Mom got home safe and sound, thank you everyone who prayed for her safe journey.  She is thrilled with what we did here at the house, to my great relief!!!  I also sat down with her and discussed the whole adoption issue and she is actually 110% in favor, to the point of saying she had been seriously considering adoption herself here for several months, but at 64, not so sure she would be able to keep up.  Whew!!! Another big releif and a huge answer to prayer....leading us to feel even more so that this is a God-led ministry....this IS for sure the direction he is leading us in.  Praise God!

Ok it is late, I have just spent quite some time helping the boys with their various email and myspace challenges, and really, everyone needs to get on to bed.....

Gods blessings to you all......

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....beggars would ride.  Ha ha - that's what my folks used to tell me when I was a kid whining about wanting something we couldn't afford or I wasn't gonna get, regardless.  Well, that saying is all about my emotions right now.  I am still the big softy, wanting to collect "strays"....always have been.  I guess God gave me a hole in my heart for "all creatures, great and small" who are unwanted or unloved. 

And that is how I feel about all of these foster kids.  The numbers are overwhelming.  I knew there were a lot of kids in foster care, but dear Lord, there are millions of kids around the world....and I can only take so many.  My heart is full of mixed emotion today - excitement that we have started the process to add to our family, but heavy and sad for the ones that will never get help, never have a loving family.

I spoke to Nicole from DFS again yesterday.  She sounds very sweet and very motivated.  She is sending me the packet to get started.  Found out the hubby and I do not have to take our parenting/fostercare/adoption classes together - the requirement is 40 hrs. per parent.  So I am confident we will be able to work around his zany schedule. (He is on call 24/7)

So I was looking at "my kids' " profiles again today and did a bit more searching and actually (heaven help me:)) found two more I am interested in, which takes my list up to 17. I wish I had a giant house, I would happily take them all.  The two I found:  one is a precious little 4 year old girl who looks much like my 5 year old, only with blue eyes. The other is a 15 year old girl who, it says, enjoys going to church and Bible study among other things.  I will continue to pray my way through this process, for God's guidance and for the provision to take as many of these youngsters as we are able.  I know that any we can accept will be by God's will, that he will pave the way.  I would like to look at more boys, but for some reason my husband seems to think the three we have are enough at the moment.  Lol...I think he is unsure of how to deal with our newly adolescent boys and wants time to adjust.  But typical man, they never seem to be able to vocalize what is going on.  Of course I could be wrong, but extrapolating things he has said regarding the matter, that is the conclusion I have reached.

Changing subjects, my momma is enroute, on time....yaaaayyyy!!!  She should be getting pretty close to Chicago by now.  She called last night from the mountains of New Mexico, near the Colorado border.  Her train is supposed to arrive here (well across the river 20 min away) at 4:30 tomorrow morning.  I am planning to cook a huge breakfast, light lunch and huge dinner.  Breakfast will be eggs, buttermilk biscuits (i make awesome biscuits!!:)), white gravy, sausage, bacon and fruit salad.  For lunch, just sandwiches.  And then dinner, a huge potroast with carrots, potaotes, onions, celery and green beans. Yummo.  Maybe I will get super ambitious and make a cake or pie or something.  But yeah, we're killin' the fatted calf.  We are all very excited about Mom coming home!

I don't know if I mentioned it here, I don't think so.  But I have two brothers.  One older, one younger.  Polar opposites.  One is retired from the Air Force and is now a sheriff's deputy.  The other is a pothead and alcoholic who seems like he will never grow up.  I love them both very much. 

Anyway, the older one was married for almost 20 years and his wife left him for another man.  After a long recovery period, he finally started dating again, and has been in a relationship for about a year or so now.  Her name is Stacy and last fall, she was diagnosed with a tumor that was wrapped around the top of her spinal column then leading up into her brain.  The doctors operated and got it out, but she still had to do radiation.  She is still doing radiation.  She has lost about half of her hair.  She had long beautiful mink colored hair - actually she kinda looks like Sally Field with long hair.  She is also a sheriff's deputy.  Anyway, I guess I mention them to say, if you happen to be a praying marathon, offer up one for her.  She is back to work, but not out of the woods yet.  Thanks.

Well, I am slowly slipping into prattling mode...lol....I am all keyed up! So hopefully all is well in ya'lls worlds. 

*~*~*~*~*~Blessings!!!*~*~*~*~**~*

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My mother is pathalogically afraid of airplanes.  Weird, especially in light of the fact my father was a career Air Force man, flew 57 combat missions in Vietnam and countless other flights on peacetime missions.  Anyway, she is deathly afraid of flying, so she took the train to Cali and is taking the train back. 

So she spent the night in Chico last night, found out this morning the train thru the mountains was cancelled due to storms (I am guessing snow??).  Then she was told she would be taken to Sacramento.  She is born and bred and spent alot of her life in and around Sacramento, so she figured she would spend a couple days running her old stomping grounds.  

Well, then the train gnomes decided to route these passengers to L.A. where they could catch a different train heading in roughly the same direction.  Well, then the train gnomes decided the passengers wouldn't make it to L.A. in time, so they re-routed them to Bakersfield and then on to some other town to catch a connecting train to Chicago.  *sigh*  The airlines are NOT this bad, I try to tell her.  But no, the train for her is it., no if, whats or buts about it.   I would have at least rented a car by now.  Her itenerary has changed three times today. 

On another topic, I got the ball rolling with DFS the other day.  Talked to the gal in charge of foster care and adoptions.  Just so happens they just started a class last Saturday.  So I am trying to figure out how we can do these classes with my husbands crazy work schedule.  If you don't live in Ohio, you may not have heard of the "Marcus Feisel" case, but it is a case of foster care gone horribly wrong and resulted in a 3 year old little boy named Marcus being murdered by his foster "parents".  It generated alot of interest in foster care in Ohio, and also prompted much more stringent guidelines and training.  Which I think is excellent, no complaints whatsoever.  The careless attitude that has permeated our foster care system in this country is simply inexcuseable.  *ahem* OK, yes, done with mini-rant now. 

Anyway, I am trying to figure out how we are going to do this.  I am so excited though.  I am praying we are able to specifically adopt two girls I am interested in.  They are both teenagers.  One is named Tiffany, the other Kimberly.  I have read and re-read their profiles and just keep them in prayer every night.  Maybe someday they will be my daughters.  They just sound like they would fit in with our family and they look like really sweet girls. There are actually a total of 15 kids we had tenatively chosen as possibilities, so we will just have to see how the Lord guides us.

My 13 year old is sick, woke up with a sore throat, aches and a fever.  I think we are going to go to the doc tomrrow if he gets up with a fever.  Strep throat is going around and I am pretty sure that's what he has.  Hopefully we don't all get sick all over again! Lol....you know how it is in a family, one gets it, everyone does, boy it is a challenge! 

Well, I was just informed I was voted to run to town to the grocery store...lol....so I best git crack-a-lackin!

*~*~*~*Blessings*~*~*~*~

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Ya know, this whole adoption thing will really make you think!  I was getting my littles settled in tonight and snuggying and just laying there in the dark thinking about stuff....and some of the things that crossed my mind:

1.  How offended would my adoptive kids be by me running around in my nightshirts with no bra? (my stepdaughters would kindly sum this up with "eww, ur gross".)

2.  I wonder if they are living in foster homes where farting breaking wind is considered dinner table humor.  And if the mom shares or maybe even leads out.  Or if they would think I was weird for trying to con them into pulling my finger.

3.  I wonder if our dogs would bite them?

4.  What if they think I am mean?

5.  What if they have some horrible habit, like wiping boogers on the wall by their bed?

6.   I wonder if they will be nervous?  Because I am a bit nervous.  Not quite the same as "emergency fostering", cause for the most part, you know the ideal goal is to get the foster kids back home with biological parents.  These particular kids I am looking at, all their legal ties have been severed with biological family.

7.  Oh my goodness, what if??? we get all the ones we are interested in? Lol...we will have to use half this 14 acres for a parking lot!!!!

So....there are a few of the random thoughts that were floating thru my head while I watched night-light patterns on the wall. 

On a completely different subject, I finally found a myspace layout that I really really like. It has butterflies on it and is just really pretty.  Now if I can just get my avatars and blingys and icons, etc all lined up the way I want them, I will be a happy camper.  This is only like, the 15th time I have changed layouts in a month.  But none of them were making me feel like it screamed me! 

Tomorrow is Preparation Day.  We have a pretty busy day planned too.  Lots of cleaning around here, getting church clothes ironed, etc and laid out, cleaning out the van, grocery shopping, library, etc. At church on Saturday, we are having potluck.  So I need to get all my stuff ready for that tomorrow. Lol...it is gonna be like a big reunion, it has been so long since we all went to church.  I talked to our pastor today and he said we are just gonna get together and celebrate and praise God - it will be a great worship and fellowship! Ya know, I think he's right!

*~*~Blessings*~*~*~

PS....I almost forgot....TTC means Trying To Conceive. :)  Holy cow - 500K's here would practically buy you a mansion.  This house is about 12 years old, was roughly 75k built new, the 14 acres about 7k and it has appreciated to MAYBE 125K.  3BR, 2.5 bath, 3000sq ft.......so I am in sticker shock every time I look anywhere else!!!

Thx for the prayers - for sure, we always need LOTS....lol...seriously, this (both the house finding and filling....loll...I like that!) is an undertaking we definitely need God's guidance in, so again thx.

Oh and in my opinion, the more kids you have, the easier it is to run a home.  The most we had at one time was 10 and it was simply easier.  Right now we have four at home and it is harder than ever.  I would die if we only had one or two.

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Whew...busy days, busy days :)  We got alot accomplished here on the Cookie Jar Ranchero today...lol  More cleaning, moving furniture and such.  I am just so pleased with what all we have accomplished. And after today, only nine days until Mom comes home!  We are all very excited!!! 

So, I think I have mentioned in a previous post or two that we are TTC.  Well, we are looking into adoption as well, but leaning more towards older children in the adoption area.  There is such a need for families to adopt especially older children.  So many kids are aging out of the foster care system - it is a national tragedy.  Just so many kids in the world in general, it is heartwrenching really. 

Come Lord Jesus & end the suffering on this wretched planet! - Amen to that?!?!!!   

But on a personal level, we have had foster kids, although only one time, with a sibling group of five.  So anyway, here recently, we have been searching photolistings.  We have identified 15 potential children that we are interested in.  There is one sibling group of five and the rest are individual.  The sibling group are ages 6, 5, 4, 2 and 1, so a very young group of children, but simply beautiful.  The other kids are all teenagers, but the descriptions of each child just sound like wonderful matches with our family, our lifestyle, interests, etc.  So, it has been a while since we did anything with DFS & the like , so we are looking at different agencies to do an updated homestudy.  We are hopeful that our "transitional stage" here won't last long...lol....read: that our house financing goes on through soon and we can start building or find one big enough for us at a price we can realistically afford. 

Speaking of which, the housing market in the country is astounding.  Homes here are dirt cheap compared to alot of areas.  I watched one of my favorite shows last night, "What You Get For The Money" and they were showing little 1500 sq ft. townhomes in the northeast (Delaware I think) for like 800 big fat ones.......HOLY STROMBOLIS!!!!!!  That's almost a MILLION bucks people!!!!!!  Do they use alot of crack when they come up with these prices???? Because that's about where it'd be here!!!!

Anway, I am quite the babbling fool tonight but really have a glob of things to get done, so I am gonna close this post....lol....uhm, for now anyway! I might be back later on tonight - who knows?

Blessings!

OK - PS....I just had to add this....reading this ^^^^^  above sounds ridiculously dizzying, but I think you know how it is - it sounds more than what it actually is in real life.  As far as TTC or adoption, the Lord has just really impressed it upon us to build our family.  And we have both felt, through prayer, careful thought and consideration, and discussion - that it is pleasing to God to both submit to Him to bless us biologically with as many children as He will, but also that we both feel strongly impressed about providing a loving home for children already alive and in need of parents.  So, it will be some time before we actually have "new additions" to our family -- it will be in the Lord's time -always in His timing, never ours. Whatever we do, we do to and for, the glory of God.

*grin*

Ya feel me? :)

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Yaaayyyy!!!!!! I got everyone's hair cut today!  (I am a very frugal person, so I cut my familys' hair).  the only person whose hair I did not cut was mine.  I am waiting til my "mommy" time this evening, when I can soak in the bathtub and shave legs and pumice feet and all that other girly maintenance.  I thought I would cut my hair and then primp up really cute - it makes the hubby happy :) We know all about that, right girls! *wink wink* Well...lol...we ARE TTC after all *grin*

So other than that, I got caught up on blogging and myspace stuff, now I need to get school work ready for the week and work on our March calendar. (I keep it posted on the fridge with important dates, appts, etc on it).

After I finish paperwork, I am going to move some furniture around - a dresser and shelf out of our bedroom - then put my hope chest in there with a TV on it, so that the kids have somewhere to watch videos and/or play PS2.  Then I am moving some other shelves and creating a "library area" in the basement and a "game table" area in the living room.  Mom has a couple of little oak tables my Dad made years ago and they are the perfect size for playing games on, doing puzzles and so on.  She has some really super ugly naugehyde chairs that I am going to cover with some cheap throws from the dollar store, and put coordinating pillows on, tie them in with the couch, which has a wine & dark blue plaid on it.  I think it will look really nice.  Then I will hang an oak clock my Dad made over the game table. 

 I am enjoying this and I think Mom will be pleasantly surprised.  She is a bit apprehensive - I hear it in her voice, even though she hasn't voiced it.  I think she is afraid I am getting rid of all her stuff, and the joy for me will be seeing her face when she sees that not only did I keep them, viola!!! Here is all her stuff presented in a new, really attractive way.

I really don't like the idea of a library in the basement, but I would like to keep most of the books together. We have a lot of books and so does Mom.  She has 3 oak shelves, 3 presswood/laminate shelves and about 20 of the old-style metal w/window barristers cabinets.  We have 3 oak shelves and one metal one.  So I thought I could arrange them all in an attractive way and then make a reading nook in the basement.  A friend recently gave me a lovely (and new!) loop style berber rug. (She didn't like it because of it's "new smell" and was going to throw it away!!! )  It is about 6'X10' and is oatmeal colored.  So I am going to put that down, then put the large rocker and the kids rocker, maybe a couple of side tables with bright lighting and I think that will do nicely.  We can keep textbooks and whatever Mom wants upstairs, along with the obvious like Bibles, devotionals & the Concordance.

I will start posting pix on here soon.....lol...hopefully I can come up with some good ones like TC's cheez doodle son.  Look over at my "friends list", click her and get tickled.  Sheer comic genius!!!

*~*Blessings all*~*

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I've been tagged by "eclectic education"

From A to Z:

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:-(  I am ashamed....My intent was to blog regularly here, not once a month!  I really enjoy reading other blogs and talking to folks here at HSB, but man alive!!! we have been sooooo busy!  We got all moved in, but there is still so much to do. 

I think I mentioned in a previous post that my mother is a major packrat, so I have been going thru her things (with her consent & blessings!) and weeding things out, organizing, etc.  I have alot of things ready to take to the Community Care Center ( a pantry/clothes closet for needy that our church runs). 

Also, I am trying to organize things to either sell on Ebay or take to an Ebay store.  Mom has collected a huge amount of antiques and glassware such as Fenton and depression with the intent of resale for profit, but somehow just never got around to the resale part!

Then the other part is the "while you were out thing", so basically I am redoing the whole house, room by room.  Only I am operating on shoestring budget, so I am trying to only use what is here, or supplement with ultra-thrifty stuff.  I got a cute picture of irises and a tiny little bucket of light violet flowers for one of the bathrooms, at the dollar store. The little flowers were $1.00 and the picture was $3.00.  So far, I have redone the master bedroom, the first "guest bedroom, all three bathrooms and the living room.  the kitchen and dining room are almost done, then I have to do Mom's bedroom and the basement where the boys' bedrooms are.  *whew*  I feel a massive sense of accomplishment, but there is still SO much to do!

Homeschooling has been going fairly well, but still not at the pace I would like.  However, the boys' attitudes have steadily been improving, so that is a blessing.  My little Katy continues to self-pace on writing and is still a genius :) at coloring pictures.  Her creative skills are picking up pace too, so she is beginning to create pictures with stories behind them.  My youngest child is right on the brink of willingly potty training, so hopefully he'll want to soon.  I am getting him some big boy underwear next payday with the hope it will motivate him.  He will be three in April, so it is time. I am not duly pressed - all of my kids have been slow to potty train, but it has never been a major peeve of mine, so...anyway, it would be a blessing to get him out of diapers soon, tho, because we are TTC.

Church has been cancelled four weekends in a row now due to weather.  We live out in the country and our church is in a tiny town and most of us that attend there live in the country, with terrible windy roads, some of which never see a snow plow.  It has simply been too hazardous to try to do church.

I am currently reading a book called "The New Foxes Book of Martyrs".  Along with the bazillions of other stuff I read...lol...newspapers, magazines...oh, yeah and a great "cleaning" themed book called "2001 Amazing Cleaning Secrets" which has a cleaning system that I tweaked and personalized and have now adopted!  That was a neat find. 

Well, that's a goodly update on life in the "Cookie Jar" here. 

*~*~Blessings to all*~*~

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I heard the "Hallelujah Chrous" this morning, I think.  It was at the moment my eyeballs realized there were solar rays available and streaming into them.  Ahhhhhh.....sweet sunlight....Nectar for the irises....fecund stimulant of serotonin....OH!...*ahem*...mm, yes, excuse me, just waxing psychotic....

See, I don't do well without sunlight.  Seasonal Affective Disorder and all that jazz.  So.  Today was a vacation paradise for my UV Ray-starved body.  Sunlight drenching everything all day.  A large portion of my day was spent basking like a fat lizard in front of the french doors.  I wanted to naked, but you know how it is with kids and telescopes and all - you just can't! *tee hee*

Oh mercy me, and I was sooooooo Productive today!!!! I whipped so many assignments out on those boys, I think they may run away tonight.  ('S OK, I made chocolate cake - they'll be back).  And I got laundry caught up and the whole house clean.  I felt like Wonder Woman today. 

For an Adventist, getting the house ship shape on Friday is a true blessing, because we celebrate the Sabbath of the 4th commandment. So our Sabbath is like the ancient Jewish Sabbath, beginning at sundown on Friday night and ending sundown Saturday night.  We consider it a true blessing to be able to have such a long rest period to worship our Creator and build our relationship with him.  Many Adventists actually refer to Friday as "Preparation Day" indicating the importance of preparing the family, home and self to enter into holy rest with God.  It is truly a blessing.

 So, how was your day?  Sunlight? Snow? Rain? Hopefully, whatever it was, it worked for you and your brood.  And if not, may God grant you a super sunny day tomorrow on His blessed Sabbath.

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Yeppers, we're crankin' away at the spanish again! This time we're trying a new CD, the "immersion" method.  Well, the CD is ludicrous, really - the two people they have speaking on there are almost pure castillian in their speech patterns, which is sort of like the Queens english compared to good ol Americano.  But it's fun for the boys because there are games and it causes them to focus and listen.  hey, anything that helps with focus or listening is a winner in my book!

Anyhoo, we're really looking forward to spring around here.  It makes biology a teensy bit more fun.  I think, although we're really doing macrobiology, we're gonna have some fun with soil and water samples, see what kinda nasty moldy grunge we can grow from field samples.

The boys' attitudes have improved slightly since Daddy sat down and worked with them the other day.  This is a very unusual occurence around here, as Daddy works long hours and treasures his bumming hours when he is home.  But he really worked well with them and they responded quite well to it.

My little five year old princess is almost learning with no help from me.  A week or so ago, she brought me a paper with a picture she had drawn, and beside the picture, she had very carefully lettered the words "Katy" and "Mommy" to show that it was a picture of us.  I was soooo surprised and so impressed. I mean, I have the little notepads for beginning printing and two or three penmanship books for her, but always got aggravated and frustrated and wouldn't finish any lessons.  So I figured I would back off, and true enough, Lil Miss Miss is self-pacing.  So that is exciting.

Well, logging out to gobble brownies & hibernate.

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Forced the boys to take a math proficiency test. ROFL....Oh yessssss (said with the certain hiss of a ticked off reptile).....my boys are just a squeek behind.  (read......*gasp* they have cardboard and steamgrates in their housing futures!!!!!!!!!)

Soooo, math wise we have a glob of work cut out for us.  I am soooo discouraged. One of the few saving graces being I was talking to a friend of mine who also homeschools and she is in similar straits with at least one, maybe two of her kids.

As parents and home educators, I feel the number one purpose of educating a child should be fitting them for service to God. Secondly, and as a part of that, preparing them for adult life outside the parental confines.  So, I am not so worried about them memorizing theory or crazy algorithims....just want to be sure they have a firm grasp on practical math and then beyond that, whatever they may need for their chosen career paths.

On a positive note, my kids are a bit more science geeky than others, only because they are cursed.....ahem.....uhm, I mean blessed with a science geek mom who forces scienc-y stuff down their throats.  Well, in a cool way, like hey, let's strip this fan's guts out and find out how it works, or collecting critters or leaves or mixing baking soda and vinager and whatever else sounds good to make a culinary lava flow.....fun stuff, good times!

OK, I would love to chat more, really, honestly, I have been soooo remiss in blogging here like I should.  I have discovered myspace and been working on my page, and also using computer for work, and boys school stuff, so have fallen behind here.

Have a simply lovely.....night, day, whatever it is whereever you are:)

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So tonight is more fun than a barrel of monkeys at our house.  The boys are giving the little ones rides, like they are horses.  The thrilling part for the littles is that they can "spur" their horses, which just sends little thrills of sadistic joy up and down their spines.

So one of the boys was deliberately dumping his rider, so Daddy made him kiss her toes so she would stop crying....lol....he told her to give him the "big ol' fungus nail".....not that she actually has a fungus nail, but it was hysterically funny at that moment.

Yeah. I know. We need a life.

So, anyway, we are getting back on track with table time.  Except the 5 y.o. We'll have to work on that.  The boys are enjoying computer class and dreading math every day.  I am making them take the 7th grade proficiency (w/Ohio standards) and they are NOT happy about it.  For crying out loud, it's open book! But, yeah, they are behind in some areas.  They rock in consumer math, but *ouch* the algebra and geometry definitely need help.  We are seriously looking at options like Calvert. This year's text book is Saxon, but we don't really care for it.  I have heavily supplemented with online study, printable worksheets and curriculum items I have created with every day practicality in mind (like balancing a checkbook, calculating interest, comparison shopping, etc).

Well, it is late, almost bedtime & I have too many distractions.

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Ironic that I put that scripture on the ol' blog the other day, because apparently the Lord wanted me to understand how seriously we are to take that particular verse.

Because sometime during the night of the 10th, unbeknownst to us, someone slipped into the house we've been moving out of and made off with about $5000.00 worth of our stuff....including our riding lawn mower, our rototiller, pretty much all of our electronics including a 35" TV that was less than a year old, our stereo, all the kids' PS2 games, all their Gameboy stuff, most of our DVD movies, my husband's big 5' tall Craftsman tool box and almost all of his tools. 

So.  Ahem. 

*breathing*

I am dying to self about, oh, every two seconds.  I pray, I'm good for about, yeah, two seconds and then I get mad all over again, and so I have to pray all over again.

My good friend "L" reminded me that we need to pray for the people who did this.  My pastor suggested that maybe this is something the Lord will use to bring them to Him.  My other friend "B" thought it was cool that there was nothing but christian CD's (including Clarissa Worley and Mercy Me) in the stereo (except one Laurie Berkner CD), so she thinks they will listen to them and be convicted of their sinfulness and come to the Lord.

My husband thinks we should hunt them down like dogs.

So do both of my brothers.

*cough cough*

I am conflicted.

*sigh*

I will blog more when I am less conflicted and have more to say about homeschooling.

*grin*

Pure joy, right?!?

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Yeah baby!!! We will finish getting out of the old house today! 

I should explain - we were living in an old crusty rental farmhouse, decided to buy another home, were waiting on financing to go thru....so we decided to stay in my mothers house temporarily (with her blessing - it's just up the road from our rental and she is in California indefinitely, so her house is sitting empty).  Anyway, the whole deal fell through, so we are back to square one in our house hunting. *sigh*  At least we aren't homeless! But it is frustrating, because now things I thought we could unpack in our new home in a couple weeks are stuffed in under other things...so now, I have to go digging through boxes and bags to get stuff out that we need, like clothes, homeschooling stuff, MY spices & cooking gadgets... it's a real pain. 

Anyway, we are getting the last of our things (incl. appliances & living room furniture) out of the rental house today, and then I am doing a nice deep cleaning and we are finally DONE! Until we find another property to buy, do a deal and have to move our stuff again - which would sort of be Phase Two of moving, see?

I ordered new print cartridges for the printer, so this afternoon we can get back on track with schooling.  I am a big printables fan, and also the internet is great for the older ones to do research and online assignments. 

The next big couple of hurdles this week are:  get my van fixed (yes, ladies - I am without wheels because my van has something wrong, maybe only the battery, maybe electrical, but we have not had time or money to figure out) and as we live out in the country, you can imagine - I am going stir-crazy!!), get my husband's truck out of shop and return rental truck (he squished the front end hitting a deer while going 55mph, so we have a rental while his truck is getting fixed - thank God for insurance).

Maybe next week we can start settling back into a routine - that would be nice. It has been pretty chaotic around here for a while now.

Well, we need to get rolling, so here's some food for thought:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ." - Col. 2:8

"It is not important how long we wait; it is important how we wait!" - Pastor Jim Mamanua

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*sigh*  OK, today has not been a prizewinner.  I chose the "glass is half-empty" route today.  I do not recommend it.  For the record, we are in the middle of a move, a financial crisis and less than pleasant dialogue with my two step-daughters (who used to live with us, but now live with their mother) (ages of "infinite wisdom", 14 & 16.)  I found their pages on "My Space".  Let's just say the pages were reminscent of "ladies of the night" - I was horrified.  Any step-moms out there are more than welcome to share stories, insight.......lol......or just prayer would be super, thx :) cuz I ain't feelin' the love this week - nope, it's a straight-up hator-aid marathon here.

It has been a rough week and I am trying to find laughter in my heart, but today all I managed to find was some mean feelings I have been apparently nurturing quite well.  So now I am feeling quite hypocritical and more like a pharisee than anything.  Prayer. uh, yeah, that's the word that keeps popping up in my thick noggin. Chores just didn't have quite the same thrill factor today.  I felt like being greasy, sitting on a couch in a darkened room, sniffling into my Haagen-Daz and Cheese Nips and watching a "My Three Sons" marathon.  But, no, reality check in the form of my brats.....*stutter* (what, did I say that out loud???) uhm, I mean, my lovely children......*giggle*......uhm, yeah, the kids were rip-roarin' to go this morning, so Goodbye, my sweet Haagen-Daz and sweetly-salty Cheese Nips, hello Keeper of the Home routine.

"Keeper of the what? Of the home??? Ah HA HA HA HA......"

*phegm-filled cackles fill the air*

"Uhm, no todays career aspiration was *keeper of the winning lottery ticket*." 

*Ahem*  Eh, no, don't get excited that you cyber-know me.  The keeper of the winning lottery ticket thing didn't pan out.   Bummer, I know.

Sooooo.......let me tell you about my new Swiffer duster.  I am LOVIN' it, girls!!!  You gotta try one of these things.  Oh yeah - this baby gets dust out of all the cracks and wedges.  I am a very frugal person.  Lemme tell ya, I'll squeeze a penny til a booger pops outta Ol' Abes nose!  So, even though the Swiffer line is expensive, for me, it is worth it. Some women want diamonds and furs, but this lil chickie thrills to New Home Cleaning Devices.  *tee hee* I was a bit savage dusting cookbooks today, but all in all, a superb performance from my new Swiffer, especially on the candelabra.

We finally got our dogs here today.  We have a Staffordshire terrier mix and two Jagd terriers.  So later this afternoon, my older boys looked like the mighty hunters out behind the house.  They had their BB guns over their shoulders, their "Rambo" knives strapped on, and leading the Jagd terriers to sniff out groundhog holes that they found.  It was cute watching them. One of those Kodak moments that will stay with you forever.  I am sure they would be horribly offended if they heard me describe them as cute.  I am sure they were feeling quite manly. LOL....They are 12 and 13, so it won't be long and they will be grown men and gone.

Well, it's late, I need Advil, my brain left town several days ago and the hot flash is over. Here's some food for thought:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." - Psalm 46:1

"Criticism is the devil's counterfeit to intercessory prayer." - Marvin Lowman

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OK, I confess, in addition to being a monsterly addicted bibliophile (book-lovin' freak), I am also an information junkie.  Due to my morbid fascination with dark things like death and destruction, I also happen to be a humor junkie, y' know, to offset the ugliness.  Or maybe just self-medicating for the  'I-can't-help-it-I-gotta-look' sickness.  Who knows?  Anyhoo...I figured it would be kinda nifty to, at the end of each entry, put a favorite scripture and then either a cool quip/quote or a tiny joke.  So that's the big master plan for the end of this entry...lol...and that's pretty much the end of my planning day.

I DO have a really good excuse though.  My mother is in California for an extended period of time helping my Grandpa, so I am doing a "while-you-were-out" kind of thingy to her house.  Oh, I am sure she will hate me when she gets back and all her rat piles are gone.  But I fear she is in danger of turning into one of those lonely widow cat ladies living in the house with newspapers in the window and 30 years worth of trash and old cars in the yard.  Seriously, I'm thinkin' I got a good chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa here, maybe even the Lost Colony.  She subscribes to almost every magazine known to mankind....well, ok, maybe just to old women.....but the point is, she reads NONE of them!  She has pay stubs from my fathers jobs from BEFORE I was born.  In case you missed it, that would be roughly back in the Jurassic Period. 

Well, I have two littles napping and two attitudes parked at the table, sulking into their assignments.  So I am off to find a fly-flopper or wooden spoon and go issue empty, hollow threats. 

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer;  and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24

"My three year old great-granddaughter learned the word expensive, and she was using it to describe everything.  I had to ask, "Sweetheart, do you know what expensive means?"  "Yes, " she said.  "It means that you don't need it."  Margaret Greenfield in RD

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Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant. Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness. In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do. You are unique, creative, and expressive. You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while. And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

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