Dawn's Day-2-Day - Homeschool Blogger

FAY:Hurricane, Tropical Storm....or just a nuisance???

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:08:00 -0500

We are doing the Hurricane Trance...this is dance that you will see many Floridians (transplants and natives) do when there is a disturbance in the Atlantic or the Gulf. You can see them driving around with a blank expression deep in thought of what they "should" be doing. They can also be spotted in the stores mindlessly stacking water and can goods in their shopping carts; because it is what the media has told them to do. We sit in front of our TVs much like the entire country did after 9-11 waiting for the weather up dates every three hours, for days on end because as you may know hurricanes tend to give you many days advanced notice. Every channel giving their description of the "cone of probability". And even with all this technology, we still don't fully know where a storm is going to make land fall until it's bearing down on us.

I can't say that I'm fully excluded from this Hurricane Trace. However, I am well over hearing about this storm every time I speak with someone or turn on the TV. I'm still spread out between here and there...kinda kicking myself for not just moving last weekend and getting it over with. I just keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason.

Life Among the Boxes

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:34:00 -0500

We've been packing for the past 5 days straight. Of course, we probably could have packed the entire apartment up in a day or so if we didn't have to live here at the same time. But that's ok because we aren't able to move things home until next weekend anyway. I have the kids' rooms and bathroom done. My bathroom and most of my bedroom. The only thing left is to finish my bedroom, the kitchen and the living room. I've already took everything off the walls and packed up the book shelf; that in itself was the biggest part of the living room.

Today we will head back home for me to work the weekend. I've only been working three days a week for 2 weeks, and I'm already exhausted. I am hoping that I will regain some energy when I'm not living a double life; here and there.....and trying to move us back there. I still haven't ordered our LA and Math, we aren't going to start school until the day after labor day (that's our usual start date so that's okay)...we have some time. Did I say I'm leading a double life.....I think it's more like a triple or quadruple life, LOL...

We're Moving Back To Our HOME!!

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 22:16:00 -0500

I found out yesterday that I will be moving home....not just back to my hometown, but back to my HOUSE. I am so thrilled!! The details of how this is going to happen is a little harder to explain so I will just leave it at we are going home. I pray that everything works out. We are supposed to get the house back at the beginning of September. I have my contractor waiting to do two projects that are going to make a world of difference (to me anyway). We are filling in the floor in the master bedroom. It was built with plywood and 2x4's...I know, I know what was I thinking? So ~~> we are going to fill the floor with concrete to raise it to the level of the rest of the house (our master bedroom used to be the carport), and we are going to extend the roof out on the back of the house so that we have a sort of porch area out the back door at the pool.

Boy, I sure do miss living at home. I hope I keep this appreciation for the house that we call home. My kids are thrilled. They are looking forward to swimming in our pool and playing in the back yard. I'm looking forward to being home for all the holidays that are coming up. Decorating, dressing up the kids for Halloween, carving pumpkins, Thanksgiving Dinner (which we will be cooking at my house regardless of what the others in my family do), and ah, Christmas... I will be back to update you as things happen...we will be moving our stuff out of the apartment and into a storage unit next weekend.

One little baby step at a time...

GUESS WHAT!!!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:40:00 -0500

Every summer when my kids are between 4-5 years old they have learned to swim. I was pretty sad when I realized that since we are renting out our home until next summer, my Taylor was going to miss out. While I was away working a few weeks ago, Tommy taught my little monkey how to swim! He spent lots of quality time with the kids which included taking them swimming at our apartment.

Last night we took the kids swimming (in between rain storms) and I got to see first hand what Taylor refers to as "swim lessons". She is totally swimming!! I mean he has taught her to swim to him many different ways....she jumps in the pool and swims, he throws her and she swims and she'll even kick off the side of the pool. Last night we taught her how to come up for air. She is so proud and we are SO proud of her.

I'm very thankful that she is learning such a vital skill, especially living on the coast and having a pool in the back yard. She still has a long time before I will trust her like I do Bryce and Caitlan...they've earned their trust. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel....one day I will have a back yard without a pool fence (well, maybe).

Who's my man.....

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:03:00 -0500

My friend Marsha did this and since I read hers...she considered me tagged and I thought that I would go ahead and introduce you to my husband. For those of you that know him...here's a deeper look and for those that don't take a few minutes to meet the man of my dreams!!

1. Who is your man? Tommy

2. How long have you been together? We've been together for almost 12 years and will celebrate our TENTH anniversary October 2...we will have our first 48 hours alone since we became parents, and we're looking for an adventure. Got an ideas?

3. How long dated? We dated for 1 year and 8 months before we got married.

4. How old is your man? 33

5. Who eats more? Probably him....

6. Who said "I love you" first? I did. I was in love with this man from the moment I saw him. I told God that if he ever brought me a man like that I would never let him go...and I haven't.

7. Who is taller? He is! He was 5'11 when we got married but is now 5'10" after breaking his back. I am only 5'4".

8. Who sings better? I don't know...neither one of us would make money at it...but we can be found belting one out with the kids in the car if one of our favorite songs comes on the radio.

9. Who is smarter? We are both very smart. He is very good at math and history. I prefer science and language arts/literature. We compliment each other well....guess that's why homeschooling works.

10. Whose temper is worse? I have to do some confessing here. Ok, so I have a temper...who knew? Tommy can get mad but it's very few and far between that he shows anger. I tend to do this on a daily basis.

11. Who does the laundry? We both do. Since I work nights...he had to help...but I hope that one day soon when he's done with school and working I can take over this task and he will just know that there will always be clean clothes in his closet and drawers.

12. Who takes out the garbage? This is primarily the guy's job (Tommy and Bryce). I will take it out of the can and tie the bag, but one of them will take it out of the house and later to the road.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking at the bed...he does.

14. Who pays the bills? Are you talking Buffalo Bills? Our football team?

Oh, you mean the things that come in the mail each month...I pay them. I have a system and it works. I know what we have and what's due when...one day I will get this all on paper and out of my head. If anything ever happened to me he'd have no idea about the bills.

16. Who mows the lawn? My brother does! Of course we pay him, but since we have rented out the house it's just easier to pay him to do it...at the apartment we have no lawn and at my mom's.....well, my brother does he lawn, too!

15. Who is better with the computer? We are both very good with the computer...he took classes in college and I taught myself. But we don't do anything technical...if it needs to be fixed we take it to the Geek Squad.

17. Who cooks dinner? This comes along the lines of laundry. He has to cook more than I would like for him to have to (due to my work schedule) but he is VERY good at it! And one day soon...I hope that he won't have to cook as much and that he will know that dinner will be waiting on him when he gets home at night.

18. Who drives when you are together? I do, mostly. (ps...I agree with you Marsha re: wives vs. husbands driving but I love to drive. I do find myself giving up the wheel for reasons you described though.....).

19. Who pays when you go out? The money belongs to both of us, but it's usually me who physically pays....because we choose to have one debit card.

20. Who is most stubborn? Me, hands down!

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Well, since I am usually in the wrong (see above regarding temper and stubborness), that would be me. But Tommy has no problems admitting he's wrong if that's the case.

22. Whose parents do you see the most? Well, since we are going to be living with my mom for a while, it will definetly be my mom. But his parents live "right around the corner" and he sees them all the time, too (but usually on the weekends when I'm working).

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me!

24. Who asked who out? He did....we spent the night talking and then he asked me out to lunch the next day. But because he kept me up all night, it ended up being dinner with friends that evening.

25. Who proposed? He did!

26. Who is the most sensitive? We are both rather sensitive....I just show mine more easily...

27. Who has more friends? We both have our friends from before we met...who are now mutual friends...but I have to say he probably makes friends easier...

28. Who has more siblings? Me! He has a sister and I have two brothers and a few other siblings from my dad.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? Tommy does! I tend to be more vocal about my opinion but let it be known that he has the finally say. God wants it that way and it's always better to do things the way God wants them. I trust that Tommy would never do anything that wasn't in the best interest of our family.

30. How did you meet? Unofficially, I seen him talking with his ex- (who shall remain nameless) at a Valentine's Day party and noticed how loving and sincere he was with her (totally attractive). I never ended up saying anything, but a few days later he asked one of my friends about me and a few of them conspired to introduce us....the best things my friends have ever done for me!!

Things are coming along.......

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:40:00 -0500

Today we ventured out to do some research on buying a different car. We weren't sure if we would trade in the suburban or the van.....um.....since we only have the suburban here with in Orlando with us we started with that. We had the Chevy dealership down the road from our place make us an offer. I was shocked (actually that is an understatement). Don't get me wrong, I knew that the big SUVs have taken a hit but when they offered me $2,000 for a vehicle I paid 9x that just 2.5 years ago. I was thinking...."are you serious?!?!" I told them they were way off and they upped the offer to $4,000. If I was serious about getting rid of the gas guzzler, I would have taken them up on their offer, but I couldn't find anything on their lot worth giving up my paid off vehicle for. I had success with CarMax when I sold my Camry last year so I decided that it was worth driving there to see what they would offer....and they felt they were being generous by offering us $2,500. I really feel that God is leading us here...and if we were supposed to get rid of the suburban it would have worked out. We've decided that we are better off selling/trading the van and getting Tommy a small truck. After our quick trip to the Chevy dealership turned into a 4 hour trip + dinner, we found a truck that Tommy has all but fell in love with. The draw back for me....it's ORANGE!!! The dealership was closed so he will call them in the morning. We also found a white S-10 (just in case the orange S-10 isn't for sell since we think it might be a display truck).

We will officially be moved in 18 days. Our goal is 8/13 since we are truly only wasting money going back and forth here. I started full-time this week at work....yippie!! And we are working on becoming DEBT FREE....I actually have been working toward this for about a year. But with Tommy starting school and the move and the move again there has been set backs. We are starting the baby steps using the principles taught by Dave Ramsey. It's not hard, but requires discipline! I always seem to forget the first step though in my haste to "get started".

Night Shift Insomnia Blues

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:57:00 -0500

It's 3am and I'm up again. I spent the weekend working, and Tommy stayed in Orlando with the kids. It worked out well. But I have to work tomorrow night so we are leaving to to go back to my mom's in the afternoon tomorrow. This back and forth is killing me. I'm ready to be settled! Then I/we need a vacation...

I accepted a full-time position at the hospital in my department. I wasn't sure that I was going to get it because I applied 6 weeks ago. I hope this will be a good thing. I look forward to having a weekend off here and there so that I can spend time with my family. I would like to go see Michelle this year. I hope that we can make that work.

Ok, I'm running out of sleep time....Only 284 more days.......

DOWNTOWN DISNEY

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:34:00 -0500

Tommy was sick today so we all had an afternoon all together. We all needed that!! We were to Downtown Disney and had lunch and played for a while. It was our first trip there. We had lunch at McDonald's (Ewww, yes I know) and then on to the the Lego store and Disney store and Mr Potato Head/My Little Pony store. It was a good day.

Tomorrow I will head back home to work the weekend. This will be the first weekend that I am traveling alone. Tommy is staying with the kids in Orlando. He's still not feeling good. He thinks he has a cold, I think it's stress.

Below is a silhouette of the kids that we got at Downtown Disney...I just love it...best money I've spent in a longtime!

YUCKY UP HERE

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:56:00 -0500

Well, I have been back in Orlando for a few days now. It's been raining every day. But that isn't the problem. My problem is that I think I'm allergic to the trees that my apartment in surrounded by. I'm not sure if they are Oaks, but I tell you I start having reactions within miles of this place and it doesn't get better until I've been back home overnight.

**maybe I'm just allergic to this apartment and this whole set up, LOL**

The kids haven't been out of the apartment since Sunday....we are climbing the walls. We have decided to attempt to save so money by driving one vehicle. So, Tommy is at school all morning and by the time he gets home....it's like he brings the rain with him. I'm trying to think of some "we live in FL with the afternoon thunderstorm blues" attitude kickers. I'll come up with something?!?

Here in the last few days I've been trying to organize a trip to see my best friend and her family in Tennessee. It's been almost a year since I've seen her....but it feels like years! Her babies are growing up and I wish that we could be apart of each others lives like before. But I don't see that happening, because she's happy where she's at and I've learned that I'm happy in my hometown too.

I've never driven so far alone. But the problem isn't that I will be alone. It's that I will be driving over 800 miles (one way) alone with my 3 young ones. I've gotten alot of great advice from my friends on the UL but I'm starting to see this trip as alot of work. I'm thinking that I should waiting until Tommy can go. Maybe we can go up for Christmas lights and pictures like we had plan to do last year. It would be so nice to have pictures of our babies together. I have alot to think about.

Well....my little one's up now....and she's already upset about something....so let the day begin

Letter of intent.....

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:42:00 -0500

"I look forward to the day when people who want to homeschool don't need to submit a letter of intent. People who choose to send their children to school would sign a waiver saying they wish to give up their rights and responsibilities to educate their own children and would like the state to do so for them instead."

-Quote by a homeschool friend.....

I'M BACK...IT'S BEEN A WHILE.......

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:15:00 -0500

It's been many months since I've been here to blog...and MANY things have changed and many things are coming full circle.

Back in March, we decided that it was time for Tommy to find a trade or something since his boat building career was something that was pretty much taken from him in his 2004 car accident. So, we packed up our life and house and moved to Orlando. Tommy began school for auto mechanics in April after we "settled in". Due to Tommy's schedule it was in our best interest that I continue to work at the hospital in our hometown. Shortly after spending every weekend at my mom's, where I worked at night and slept during the day. I also realized that about Wednesday of every week I was pretty depressed and it was affecting everyone in the family. Our second floor apartment faces the southwest (where the sun is not until the afternoon) and we are literally in the trees so there is a very limited amount of natural light that comes in at all during the day. I am serious it looks like evening in my living room/kitchen ALL DAY. I decided that staying at my mom's might give us some consistency. Tommy headed back to our apartment every week and we stayed with my mom. Since I was sleeping during the weekend while he was at my moms with us, this started to be very hard on our marriage...because essentially we never saw one another. After being at my mom's for 3+ weeks, I was lonely and overwhlemed and Tommy was lonely also and something had to change. We decided to terminate our lease. All of us are going to move to my mom's in August, and Tommy will commute with a friend (who also happens to be a family member) that he met at school. This will require discipline from all of us...considering that Tommy will need his sleep (because he will have to get up at 3am during the week) and the kids will need to learn to be quiet for him to sleep and study. But I feel that having him home with us every night for dinner will be HUGE!

So, now we are slowly packing trying to get things in order. I will again be arranging the move (with the movers and the truck and getting a bigger storage unit)....I will also need to help my mom organize her house. She has lots of stuff that has been given to her by people that she loves...or that she feels is worth "something" so I need to help her pare down for her sake and for the sanity this will provide once there are two families in one house.

I am looking forward to this. I am also still on the countdown to getting my house back....only 291 days!!

Month number TWO~~

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 07:53:00 -0500

Well, here we go into our second month of homeschooling. I have to say that things are going well. We are all learning new and interesting things about one another. We spend a great deal of time together as family and love it. Reading out loud is one of our favorite things to do. God is so good, I love when he woos me into things for my (and my family's) good that I might otherwise have over looked.

Thank you Lord!!

Happily Homeschooling

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:58:00 -0500

It's been a couple of weeks since we officially started our first year of homeschooling. Things have been going great. We are still finding our way...but we are having a great time doing it. Our family dynamics as a whole have changed. We do EVERYTHING together. Bryce and Caitlan are on the same team...he plays football she cheerleads. She takes horseback riding lessons...and loves it! They also participate in JBQ - Junior Bible Quiz at church. We have lots planned for the future...traveling, field trips, science fairs etc. I love to watch the kids play together now. We enjoy the slow mornings, the chance to be a family. We do breakfast, clean up, school and later in the afternoon we are free to do the things we choose to do. This has been a great choice (I'm so glad God chose this for us).

Caitlan and Korbi

BRYCE, CAITLAN AND TAYLOR......THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Sept 4th~~first day of HOMESCHOOL....

Sun, 2 Sep 2007 07:20:00 -0500

Still waiting on the DVD player to be shipped in (Labor day weekend isn't helping)...And the Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL) that I ordered have not arrived yet either. Tuesday was supposed to be our first day of school. I think that I'm going to go ahead and make it a school day...it just doesn't look like we will have math or lang. arts? We can do Bible and work on some other things that were supposed to be extras while we wait for things to come in. I spoke to the kids tonight about us starting some school and Byrce who is nine and does very well in school covered his ears. I explained to him that this will not be like how he remembers school...he said really, we won't have just 30 minutes outside and then sit at our desks for the rest of the day (WHOA that was an insight to his image of school). I explain to him that school was NOT going to last 6-7 hours a day like "real school". And that we would have lots to do but we wouldn't always be sitting at the dining room table doing it either. He seemed more interested. Caitlan and Bryce are really interested in taking field trips to Seaworld (we have yearly passports), she wants to learn about Orcas and be a whale (specifically Shamu) trainer when she grows up. They also want to visit a couple of farms (a real farm and a reptile farm) that we have in the middle of the state. I figure that we can go just about anywhere and call it school if we explore and talk and learn...isn't that what learning is all about?

'til next time~~~~>

Let's ROLL.....

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 07:25:00 -0500

I thought this whole time that I was SO ready. I pulled my stuff out to begin our first year of homeschooling, and I get really nervous. Then a couple of days later, I pulled one subject out, BIBLE. I realized that it was not what we needed. Maybe alittle to mature for my audience of 9 and under. Ok, let's try math. My reaction to my husband...."what do you mean the DVD player isn't working?" Our math curriculum is partially on DVD...and I can't really start without the DVD player working....SO, I am taking a set back. Talking to my HSing friends and regrouping my ideas. Just when I think I have it all together, I see it begin to crumble. Well, I'm bandaging the crumbling pieces and working on getting the ball rolling.

'til next time~~~~>

It's time to begin......

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 07:08:00 -0500

Well, as the summer starts to come to an end we are looking forward to starting our FIRST year homeschooling. I am so excited. I have all my stuf pulled out. I figure little by little I will pull things out and introduce them to the kids. This will give me an idea of the things they really like and the things they aren't really keen on. This way I knwo what we need to get out of the way and the things that will go smoothly. This will be trail and error for some time. We are going to Cocoa for Tommy to take his class for his new career. We are slowly transitioning into position to make this move smoothly. I look forward to being home much more with the kids. They need me these days, and God knows I need them. It makes my heart SWELL when my 4 year old looks at me with a huge smile and says "We missed you, Mommy". I want my home back. I had to turn it over to my husband and family after my husband's accident. I had to get through school......but it's been almost 3 years and it's time for me to become the parent in the home again. I want to be the one cooking the meals and washing the dishes and the laundry again. What woman in the right mind actually says "I want to cook/clean/stay home with 3 kids all day"???? I can't believe that I miss that. I believe that it has a lot to do with the role of a mother. I only have some much time left with my children as children.

I just can't wait until we are in full swing. I look forward to things of FALL...Halloween, Thanksgiving and on into Christmas. We want to see the leaves change and snow.....and the Christmas lights in Nashville this year......Life is so full and great....God is so good!!

THANK YOU JESUS, for giving me such as awesome life =)

Below is a picture of Taylor last Saturday at her FOURTH birthday party!

First Night Shift

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:53:00 -0500

It's almost 6AM. The first of my many night shifts is coming to a close. I'm enjoying being in labor and delivery at my local hospital. I wonder what God has in store for us as we close in on the first of our homeschooling years. We aren't doing formal "school" right now...but we are taking the opportunities to teach as they come. It's nice to really set our kids apart from everyone elses and let them be who God intended for them to be. Bryce turns NINE this weekend. OMgoodness...I can't believe it. They are all growing so fast. "God please help me to soak up every moment..." Til next time.....

TOMORROW'S THE DAY!!

Wed, 6 Jun 2007 07:02:00 -0500

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids...then we are official HOMESCHOOLERS!!! They are so excited. God is molding our family into what he wants it to be...HOW FABULOUS!!

Prelude to a Birthday!!

Sun, 20 May 2007 07:19:00 -0500

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday as I have said before....and I came home from work to dinner and cake and ice cream. And the best part it was just the five of us!! Check us out below........

I just love being a Mom!!!

17 more days...

Sat, 19 May 2007 07:48:00 -0500

Today my daughter's kindergarten teacher is marrying my mom's 1st cousin's son...is that a little too southern for you? We've lived here in Florida for so long (6 generations deep) that eventually...if you aren't a transplant from another city/state, some where along the lines we are related. I am about to start getting ready for the wedding. I was going to where this awesome dress (a previous bridesmaid's dress) BUT I just remembered that I was in the sun this week (with a bathing suit with wide straps) and it s strapless dress I guess I will be wearing something else.

Monday is my TWENTY-NINTH birthday. I love my birthday. Not for any particular reason but the fact that it's my birthday. I will be working ALL day...but that's okay!

We went to Cypress Gardens Thursday. It was so nice! It's a water park and theme park mixed!! It's beautiful...so beautiful that I got all caught up in the moment and I didn't take ONE picture. I loved it and cannot wait to go back.

PRAYER REQUEST: I ask that you pray for my household. We are all doing just fine...but I want to be home with my kids (hubby's a stay at home dad right now) and that my husband be the bread winner and that I be the one to homeschool our children. I just got the job that I wanted to retire with in say 30-35 years...I thought that I would end up here 10 years from now...not this soon. So, I don't want to burn my bridges...But I feel God pulling at my heart strings, I should be home with my kids and be their teacher. Please pray that God, gives us the answers on how/when to do this and that through it all we stay in his will.

Til next time...