Yesterday was such a great day for all of us. The kids had half a day of school, then we went to the local theater and saw a play of The Jungle Boy. It was so cute and very well done. Coming from Chicago, where there is lots of culture, to an area where there isn't, was a concern of ours. But it seems like our area has smaller versions of all of Chicago culture (except for the food ). We have museum's, art gallery, zoo, theater, and symphony. Not the big ones like Chicago, but at least enough that the kids will know what a little culture is. We are going to see the Nutcracker again this year, but this time it will be with a symphony. First time for the kids, we can't wait.
So after the play, we went to the thrift store and found some shirts for Sarah and me. Can you believe it, one of the shirts, even after I washed it, I could still smell perfume or something on it. I'm washing it again today, hopefully that will take the smell out. Then we went to the library, at completely the wrong time, it was pre-school story telling time. Little kids everywhere. We got what we wanted and got out of there.
We came home and relaxed for a bit, then after dinner all four of us, hubby, me, Sarah & Paulie, went winter clothes shopping. Of course both of the kids just had to grow out of snow pants, jackets, boots and such at the same time. I won't tell you the price tag , but thankfully we didn't focus on that. What we did focus on was having a great time. We laughed, we joked with each other, we made a ruckus in multiple stores and truthfully if they didn't let us in the mall again, it wouldn't surprise me. But you know what, we all let our hair down and had fun with each other. And the whole time, we were all so aware of the memories we were making. We might not always remember what we bought, but we will always remember the time we spent shopping together. I still get a smile on my face when I think about it.
And through all of that, we didn't get everything we needed. Totally forgot some more shirts for Sarah & me, and a lighter jacket for Sarah. We are thinking of going shopping today, just can't decide. It's overcast and cloudy, but we already have plans tomorrow and Sunday, so today might just be the only time. Maybe I should see if Paul wants to go again, and go tonight. We'll see what other trouble we can get into as a family.
Tomorrow is our big day we are looking forward too. We don't do halloween or harvest festivals on the 31st. No I'm not going to get into why we don't do either, and no I don't want to hear your opinions on whether you think we should or shouldn't do them. Just trust that Paul and I have prayed thoroughly on this issue, and we know where we stand on it. So because we choose not to celebrate them, and it's always a bit difficult to stay away from all the kids, we started a tradition of going out to dinner on that night. But this year we are doing dinner and a movie. That's our plan anyway, hopefully we can find something good at the movies. If not, maybe dinner and then rent something special, something like that. We just enjoy being together as a family, doing something fun and trying to stay away from the crowds. So we'll see how it goes tomorrow, if we can find a movie or not, and what restaurant to pick. But we'll probably stay away from the shopping. Three days in a row, the way we get when we shop together, and we'll definitely get kicked out of stores. lol
And I'm going to leave you with a picture of Sarah's new hat. We think she looks just great in it.
Yep, we have started school. We actually started it last Thursday, the day after Sarah's birthday, and did half days Thursday and Friday. But we forgot to take our yearly 'first day of school' photo. So on Monday, our first full day of school, we took the photo. Only dealt with a little bit of an attitude from one of the kids on Thursday then Monday, but nothing too bad. And I think we found a good flow of things too. We have a schedule in the sense that I have a order I like to get the work done in, but the times don't really matter. And I think the flow of things will work well for us. The only difference this year, and something that's going to take me a while to get use too, is actually grading all the work Sarah does, and recording those grades. I have a good article that shows me different ways to grade when it's not just answering questions, its just actually finding time & remembering to do it. She's only in 8th grade, but I really want to use this year to practice things like this, and I'm glad I am. Because for me, it's not that easy. I will get in a flow with it, maybe weekly, every Friday or something. But at least we have gotten things going. Here are our first full day of school pictures.
Sarah teaching Paulie the piano (his first time learning it)
We went to my parents house this past weekend to spend time with them and saw my niece. She's doing great. We took some pictures, which she said we could share. It was great to see everyone, and we had a great time. Jessi's doing good and healing well. Still dealing with different issues and pains, but all in all, doing great. Thanks for all your prayers.
Tomorrow is my birthday. We are still doing school, but I did get my grocery shopping done today so I didn't have to do it tomorrow. Paul's taking us all out to dinner for my birthday, I just have to figure out where I want to go. Plus I have already gotten my birthday money, and I have some ideas on where I want to spend it. Once I get my gifts I'll take some pictures to share.
OK time to finish watching Wipeout on tv with the family, have a good night.
We went to the free family movie festival that Regal theaters do every year. We saw The Bee Movie. We've seen it so many times, but not on the big screen, and Paulie really likes it. Next week we are going to see Alvin & the Chipmunks again. We have the DVD, and we have seen it on the big screen, but hey, a free movie is a free movie, right?
We also went school supply shopping. With the kids getting up in their grade level, we don't need as many 'supplies' as we use to. But I still always like to get them new spiral notebooks & folders, just because it's fun to get new ones. The old ones are usually fine, but what's the fun in that? But we had to get more supplies this year for our history time line will be making with the Mystery of History. I'm a bit lost with it all, since I've never done a time line, even when I was in school. So understanding why the supplies they suggest are needed, do I need every last one etc... was a bit hard. But I joined the MOH yahoo group, and sent an email to another mom who has used it and understood more about what needs to be done. I got the basic necessities, skipped some things, and hope it all works out well. I'll show pictures when we get going on it. But here are some pictures of our school supplies we picked up. Oh the Atlases are needed for history too, but we are blessed that my dad had loaned them to us last year. Thanks dad.
And then like I said, we went to a local reservoir about an hour from on house last Friday. Paul took the day off, and we packed a nice picnic lunch. But unfortunately it was a rainy, cloudy day. We did still go, but only stayed for a bit, and didn't go as far as we had wanted to. We still had a great time, and took some great pictures. We know exactly where we want to go next time we head out that way, now, if the weather will just cooperate with us. Enjoy the slide show.
VBS officially ended on Friday evening and we were wiped out by the time it was over. I never thought I could be so sore and exhausted from working with VBS, but it was all worth it. Over 20 children came to the Lord throughout the week, that makes it worth it all. I was busier than I've been in a long time, and the party Friday night had over 400 people show up. Since Paul and I were running the party, we got a bit overwhelmed pretty quick. Then to top it all off, Sarah had a cold, and though she came and tried to work through the cold, she started spiking a fever in the evening. I ended up leaving before the clean up was done (which like I said, Paul & I were responsible for). Paul stayed and had some other helpers, so it got accomplished. But I felt bad having to leave. Paulie is now getting a slight cold, and my eyes are hurting terrible from a possible cold coming on. So I won't be on the computer a whole lot today, it hurts my eyes. So through it all, would I do it again? Of course. It's a terribly exhausting physically, emotionally and spiritually time, but through it all I enjoy it and will do it again.
I have realized though I am so out of the routine of getting out of the house early. I use to do it all the time when I was a career woman. And still, even though I am a stay at home, homeschooling mom, we don't sleep in during school in our house. We are not the type that casually gets up whenever. I figure when they get out in the working world, they will have to get up at a certain time, so it's a good thing to learn. Plus, I don't like doing school late in the afternoon, so I would rather start in the morning. So I'm up and moving around 6:30am during the week. But I'm not ready to leave the house if needed until around 9:30 after quiet time, workout, getting school started etc... This whole VBS week I had to be at the church by 8:00am. The first day or two was ok, but then as the week wore on, it got harder and harder. We, the kids & I, did it, but it was so very hard. I'm glad that I don't have to do that all the time.
We haven't done much this weekend, which is exactly what we needed. Paul had to work early Saturday morning. But it wasn't too long, so that's nice. Then we went out by ourselves for a bit & shopped at WM and got some munchies for all of us this weekend. Since then, we haven't left the house, just rested. The kids are getting over their colds. Thankfully once I got Sarah home on Friday night, got some medicine in her, got her cooled off and a bit of food in her (she wasn't hungry and only ate cotton candy, snow cone & one hot dog no bun at the party ), she felt better. No more fever, just dealing with the ending of a cold. Paulie now has it a bit, but doing fine.
So this week my neice has her open heart surgery. They leave for the hospital in Washington on Monday, pre-op on Tuesday and surgery on Thursday. I will let you know how it goes. I've got to get my house cleaned up tomorrow and get back on a bit of a routine, and get some grocery shopping done this week. Sarah has a pool party to go to sometime this week & Paulie has a play time set up with one of his friends. Then, hard to believe, it's the last week in July. It's now getting time to start thinking about school. Paul & I have been talking a bit about things, but I won't go fully into it until later this week or next. But I can't believe it's less than a month away from actually starting school back up. We'll be starting around August 12th.
Now it's time to get off the computer and finish working on my crochet projects. It's quite hot outside, in the 90's, but we are inside with the air on, so it's comfortable. A nice day to work on some crochet projects while resting.
Well, my niece didn't get her surgery done today, and won't get it done at all at this hospital. It's so hard to explain everything that happened, and truly I don't want to talk anyone down on here, so I'm going to be very vague. The original doctor that was suppose to do the surgery wasn't allowed to do the surgery by the in charge doctor. The in charge doctor decided he was going to do the surgery himself. They changed around the schedule saying it couldn't be done on Thursday, it had to be done on Friday. Plus he proceeded to tell my sister and niece some very scary information about my niece's condition. No bed side manner at all, none. My sister and niece of course got a bit upset by it all, but controlled themselves until he told my niece she would 'never' have children. When he said that, she was calm, but indicated she would probably still have them anyway (her main doctor said it was fine as long as she had c-sections). Well, this doctor got very upset because she wasn't obeying him (at least that's what it seemed like) and kept repeating that she wasn't 'allowed' to have kids. My niece got up and walked out trying to control herself (though a bad word did slip from her mouth), and because she did that they said she wasn't 'emotionally ready' for the surgery and it was canceled. The other surgeon (who was originally thought he would do the surgery) wanted to do it, but was worried about the repercussions from this 'in charge' doctor, so he can't do it.
Thankfully though, her main doctor (which had no control over any of this, and did try to get things worked out) has it all set up for her to have the surgery at another hospital in another state. And they think she'll be able to have it done before the end of July.
It's weird and strange and sad that things like this can happen. But I keep thinking that the Lord has probably protected her from something from this particular hospital. This really messes up the time off for my sister and her work, all the money that has been spent on the hotel this week, and the stress of still having to wait a few weeks before it actually gets done. So if you can continue to keep my family in your prayers I would greatly appreciate it. And please forgive me if I've come across as mean, gossiping or talking someone down. I really tried not to, yet I wanted to explain what happened. I think I stuck to the facts, without sounding condemning, forgive me if I didn't.
I'll update you all when I know more. Thanks for your prayers. I don't know how much I'll be around this weekend or next week. It's VBS time next week and I am extremely busy, but I'll stop your blogs when I can. Have a great night.
We had one of the best, fun, blessed, tiring and thoroughly fulfilling 4th of July weekends we've ever had.
Ok, just a quick background for those of you who don't know. We (Paul, me, Sarah and Paulie) are involved in our churches VBS program this year. It doesn't actually start until July 13th, but they wanted to put a VBS float in our local parade so we could get the news out about it. We only had the warehouse to build the float in for one day, Friday. And our parade was Saturday. The kids and I showed up about 11:00am to start working on the float. Paul showed up about that time too because for his 'work' that day, his boss had his crew come and work on the float too. There were about 15 of us starting the float. The men built the float and us ladies & children worked on getting the decorations ready to put on the float once it was built. It was a tiring, but fun day. We were only going to stay until late afternoon, then only until after dinner. Well, by the time we left that day it was 9:00pm. Plus a couple of others stayed until 10:30pm, and three main people working on it didn't finish it until 1:30am.
Once I got home I realized I still had a couple of loads of laundry to do, which I needed for Saturday. So by the time that all got done and we were in bed it was close to midnight. We had to be up and at the beginning of the parade route at 8:30am. But I felt more for the people who were up until after 1:30am. They had to have the float in line at 7:30am. I woke up around 2:30am not feeling real well. I stated getting very nervous, worried I wouldn't be able to make the parade. So I just prayed and prayed for the Lord's strength. By the time morning came I was still very tired, but I felt better. We got up, ready and out the door on time, surprisingly. Paulie started to have some sort of eye allergy reaction, so I had to swing back home, pick up his eye drops, and rush to the parade starting point. Which truly, I didn't need to rush, once we got there, we still stood there waiting and getting ready for about another 45 minutes. Once the parade started, it was a blast. I sat on the float with Paulie, waving and singing with the VBS music. Paul sat in the back of the truck controlling the music. And Sarah, she was the brave one, she walked the whole parade, 2.4 miles, while holding the banner up for most of it. She really enjoyed herself.
By the time the parade was over, we got back to our Jeep, got some lunch and got home, it was almost 1:00 in the afternoon. At 5:00pm we were heading to a friends house for dinner and to watch the fireworks from their back yard. So what did we do until we had to leave? We all took naps. I didn't get as much sleep as I needed, but it was enough. We headed out the door to our friends house around 5:00pm. I was nervous as we had never been to this couple's house before, and I wasn't sure who I would know there. But again, the Lord blessed it tremendously. There were a couple of people I knew casually there. Which was nice, because by the time the evening was over, I had gotten to know them much better. Our friends live on a small, man made lake and said the kids could go swimming. Well, storms were coming in (but never hit thankfully) and the temp. had dropped, so we decided no swimming. But they did have a paddle boat, and boy was it fun. We all took turns, along with others that were there. Paulie never wanted to get off the boat, he enjoyed it so much. Finally we saw the fireworks, and they were great. By the time we got home it was about 11:00pm.
Today we haven't done anything but lay around and relax all day. The only thing we left the house for, was to get a local newspaper. Turns out our float made the cover of the local paper, with me in the picture. So of course we had to go get a copy. But that's been it today. I am still a bit tired, and feel like I'm dealing with allergies or something, but it's probably just tiredness. So I will leave you with a slide show of our weekend while I go find something to eat. Plus, I put in the slide show my finished coasters I crocheted and my shawl I'm working on. I'm not done with it yet, but it's progressing nicely. Have a good night.
This blog is so I can share my journey with the Lord, my journey as a wife and mother, and my journey as a homeschool mom. I pray that you will see the Lord in my life through happy and sad times, and that this blog glorifies the Lord.
This is an award and tag free zone, thank you.
). We have museum's, art gallery, zoo, theater, and symphony. Not the big ones like Chicago, but at least enough that the kids will know what a little culture is. We are going to see the Nutcracker again this year, but this time it will be with a symphony. First time for the kids, we can't wait.
I'm washing it again today, hopefully that will take the smell out. Then we went to the library, at completely the wrong time, it was pre-school story telling time. Little kids everywhere. We got what we wanted and got out of there. 
, but thankfully we didn't focus on that. What we did focus on was having a great time. We laughed, we joked with each other, we made a ruckus in multiple stores and truthfully if they didn't let us in the mall again, it wouldn't surprise me. 
So on Monday, our first full day of school, we took the photo. 
I have a good article that shows me different ways to grade when it's not just answering questions, its just actually finding time & remembering to do it. 
She's only in 8th grade, but I really want to use this year to practice things like this, and I'm glad I am. Because for me, it's not that easy. I will get in a flow with it, maybe weekly, every Friday or something. But at least we have gotten things going. Here are our first full day of school pictures. 
