There is a Happy Dale - Homeschool Blogger

And the Rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down.........

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 10:33:00 -0600

I always think of that song from Winnie the Pooh whenever we are getting a ton of rain. Oh, I'm not complaining! It COULD be snow! I will take the rain any day!

Well since my last entry Donavon has turned 8. I can't believe it! This is the last few months of all of the kids at one time being a single digit. Joe will be 10 in May.

Well how was your Fri? Mine was not so great unfortunately. It started with my SIL calling to tell dh and I that their mom was in the hospital having triple bypass surgery. I haven't seen Joyce in 6 years. She has chosen not to associate with us. She absolutely loathes dh and has since the day he was born. Really. Not an exaggeration. Through the years dh has tried to be respectful and honor his mom and she has thwarted all of his attempts and truly has been an awful person to him. (not that dh is perfect, but are any of us?) I have to say that with all of the pain and hurt she has caused dh through the years I honestly had a hard time feeling charitable towards her. She has hurt him and my dear, sweet SIL so much I have often wished that she would go away totally and leave them alone. She manages to hurt them in the cruelest ways. When SIL told me she was having open heart surgery I actually thought of how relieved I would feel if she went home to be with the Lord (if in fact she is actually saved)

Well the surgery went well and she is going to be fine. She'll live another day to hurt her kids. Sad, but true.

Then the day got worse when I was taking care of the baby I sit for and I reached down sideways to pick up something out of the playpen I had gotten him out of and all of the sudden my right knee cracked 4 times and totally gave out on me. No warning! Nothing! Just extreme pain! LOL

I had a party planned for ds so I couldn't do much about it. We needed to be at the family fun center by 6 and it was 4:30 so there wasn't time to go to the chiropractor or anything. I managed to get up off of the floor, finish getting things together for the party and get the baby ready I sit for to go home and we headed out the door by 5:15 to get there early enough to set up.

It was a nice party and the kids had a total blast! It was worth it. I don't think anything gives a mom or dad greater joy then knowing they have done something to really make their kids happy. And to know that they all appreciated it was just great!

Well, I have iced my knee and stayed off of it last night but it is so painful this morning it is unbelievable. I won't even be able to go to the dr and have it looked at because I am baby sitting again today until 4:30. I am going to try and ice it again and take more Motrin. Hopefully it will help keep the swelling down to a minimum. I will try to stay off of it too as much as a person can do with 4 kids to take care of! LOL

Hope YOU have a good weekend!

Wow 10 days since my last entry

Fri, 6 Jan 2006 06:23:00 -0600

Seems like every time I come on here to post I get sidetracted by one thing or another.

It has been a long time since my last entry. The new year has come. The decorations have mostly been taken down. School has been back "insession" for a week and things seem to be returning to their normal routine. In a way it is nice to be done with the distractions that the holiday season brings. There is security in routine. Knowing what is expected each day.

On the other hand......I love Christmas and Thanksgiving and I will look forward to it again much later this year. But for now I am very content to be back to just day to day.

Every year at this time I wonder what the new year will hold. Will it be a good year? I hope so. Seems that there have been enough bad years in a row for our family for the past 5 years. Seems we are due for a good year. There are so many things that are on the horizon for this year. I pray the year holds some good, big changes for us. I pray.................I have made resolutions in the past, but not this year. This year, I just pray for the Lord to guide us.

I hope the Lord will bless you all in the coming new year also.

I found this on another bloggers page

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 10:13:00 -0600

I won't mention any names......hehehe but thanks! LOL You know who you are! HAHA This is just the sort of mindless activity I need to keep me from going over the edge today!

<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#96D6C5" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>You Are A Lily</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#C5EFE4"><center><img src="http://images.yournewromance.com/whatflowerareyouquiz/lily.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist.
People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you.
You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words.
Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatflowerareyouquiz/">What Flower Are You?</a></div>

Well ok then! LOL

<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEE9E9" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>You Are Fun Sexy</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAFA"><center><img src="http://images.yournewromance.com/whatkindofsexyareyouquiz/fun-sexy.gif" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
You're funny, quirky, cute, and sassy.
Guys always have a great time with you, and that alone is sexy.
You've got an upbeat, optimistic spirit that totally shines through.
Any guy would be crazy to turn you down!</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatkindofsexyareyouquiz/">What Kind of Sexy Are You?</a></div>

Your vibe: Sweet and heavenly

Falling in love with you: is like falling in love for the first time</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatcolorroseareyouquiz/">What Color Rose Are You?</a></div>

Interesting....I have no idea how they came up with this but if I ever decide to go on the lamb I'll remember this! LOL

<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#CDDEFF" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>Your Alias Should Be:</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#EBF2FF"><center><img src="http://images.yournewromance.com/whatshouldyouraliasbequiz/girl.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
<center><strong>Ryleigh Sarai</strong></center></font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatshouldyouraliasbequiz/">What Should Your Alias Be?</a></div>

OK, now this is too funny!!! LOL LOL

<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEE9E9" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>Your Inner Retro Girl Is</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFAFA"><center><img src="http://images.yournewromance.com/whatretrogirlareyouquiz/1950s-pinup.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
<center><strong>1950s Pinup</strong></center></font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="http://ynr.blogthings.com/whatretrogirlareyouquiz/">What Retro Girl Are You?</a></div>

This is too funny! I had such a crush on him when I was a little girl! LOL

<table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#B6B6C2" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><b>Your 80s Heartthrob Is</b></font></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#D7D6DE"><center><img src="http://images.yournewromance.com/whosyour80sheartthrobquiz/kirk-cameron.jpg" height="100" width="100"></center><font color="#000000">
Kirk Cameron</font></td></tr></table><div align="center"><a href="Who's">http://ynr.blogthings.com/whosyour80sheartthrobquiz/">Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?</a></div>

There is more but these were fun! Hope you can unwind with them too!

Back to School

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 07:10:00 -0600

I had given the children a few days off but now we are back to work. We have so much to do. It seems that if we even take a few days off we are all out of sorts when we start up again. Is it that way for you all too?

I have been wondering.......what sort of curriculum do you use?

Do you unschool?

Do you belong to a homeschool group or co op?

Do you get support from you church people?

I will answer my own questions first. I use School of Tomorrow (ACE). I belong to a homeschool group but I am not at all happy with it for myself. It is nice for the kids but not really what I had hoped for for me. As for church, our pastor and his wife are grandparents but they feel that children should be in the public schools as evangelists. I won't even go into the reason why there are holes in that theory! LOL We all know them, that is why we homeschool. It is very lonely when you go to a church that does not support homeschooling.

The "W" in Christmas

Mon, 26 Dec 2005 16:36:00 -0600

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and
Peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential
obligations -- extensive
Card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even
overspending. Yet still,
I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the
precious family moments,
and
Of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It
was an exciting season
for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing
songs for his
school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to
tell him I'd be
working the
Night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining
moment, I spoke with
his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress
rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to
attend that
evening were welcome to
come
then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the
compromise. So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten
minutes early, found
a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the
room, I saw several
other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I
waited, the students
were
led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their
teacher, sat
cross-legged on
the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to
perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday
as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than
fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus,
snowflakes and good cheer.
So, when
my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was
slightly taken aback by
its bold
title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his
classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens,
red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the frontrow-center stage
held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the
title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child
would hold up the
letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until
each child
holding up his portion had presented the complete
message, "Christmas
Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we
noticed her; a
small,
quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M"
upside down --totally
unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st
through 6th graders snickered at
this little one's
mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at
her, so she
stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many
teachers tried to shush
The children, the laughter continued until the last
letter was raised,
And we all saw it together. A hush came over the
audience and eyes began
To widen. In that instant, we understood the reason
we were there, why we
celebrated
The holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos,
there was a Purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter
was held high, the
message
Read loud and clear: "C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.
Amazed in His presence...
Humbled by His love.

May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect
on
His Amazing Love for us...

Christmas Memories, Precious memories

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:48:00 -0600

I was in a mommy forum that I frequent and that Christmas survey came up. One of the questions was to tell about your favorite Christmas memory. Here is my reply:

the year I got my Christy doll. My parents had next to no money and there wasnt going to be much of a Christmas. But I had seen what I thought was the most beautiful doll I had ever seen. She had dark hair and blue eyes and rosey cheeks. She rememinded me of my oldest sister. And she was dressed in this beautiful victorian handmade dress that was as blue as her eyes. I had seen her at a flea market and she was $40....a lot of money for us...it may as well have been $400! I just loved her but I really knew there was no way I would get her. Anyway, Christmas morning I open up this box and there she was! I actually cried! I found out years later how my dad managed it. He went back to the lady and asked if he could barter for the doll and an extra outfit. My dad painted her living room to pay for the doll and her outfit. Years later a little girl the daughter of a missionary friend of ours fell in love with her and just before she left for Brazil with her parents, I gave her the doll. Oh, and I named her Christy after my sister Christine. That is my story! LOL
I re read my post and thought how precious this memory really is. My dad has gone on to Heaven now and this time of year I miss him so much. More then I can even type.

I wonder if I ever told him how much that had meant to me. Did he know I gave Christy away because she had meant so much to me that I wanted another little girl to feel the same thing? Did he think I had just disreguarded her as I had done with so many other toys in my childhood?

I don't know if daddy can see me or our family but I would have loved for him to know the granddaughter born just a few weeks after his death. The granddaughter he had prayed for and helped pick out a name for.

It makes me realize how precious time is. Before it becomes bittersweet memory, we should make sure our family and friends know how much they mean to us.

This Christmas I hope we will all take time from our gifts and food and songs and remember what God gave us. The families we have been blessed with.

Two down, one to go!

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 06:43:00 -0600

Last night D tells me his stomach hurts and he feels sick. Well like a good mother I didn't pay much attention to it since my kids have a flare for the dramatic.( At this same time his older brother was literally dragging his body across the floor because he said his legs hurt. I told him to get up because he was never going to win a accademy award for that preformance) Anyway, it turned out that this was one of those times when he actually was sick....D, not J. By 11pm D was losing his dinner. Not my fav part of being a mommy, I must confess.

Well this morning S....my dd.....gets up telling me her tummy hurts. I haven't given her any food yet, just some juice. But I am betting she has the same thing as D. He is still sick too.

We were supposed to go to my mom's today and my sisters tomorrow but I don't think we are going to go anywhere.

Well we have been very blessed up until now with the kids all being healthy for the Holidays so I can't complain too much. I just have to figure out what dh and I will do for dinner tomorrow. I was asked to do the baking. As much as I love cookies this time of year I think we will need more then 5 kinds of cookies, a few pies and brownies for food. Hmmmm, ok, maybe not! LOL

Catch that dog!!

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 22:27:00 -0600

The dog(Mindy) had to go to the vet today for her booster shot. I also had to run some errands. One of them was to return a few things to Kmart.

Well for one thing, we haven't had Mindy very long. She is a black lab who is almost 2. She is worse then an actual toddler! She is so loving and so beautiful but she is a bit unrully. We are working on that.

Anyway, I had some things to return and I was trying to get out of the van......and so was she! I just about made it when she made a break for it! There she went running like a mad dog through the Kmart parking lot! There I went haulin my big ole butt after her!!! Screaming at the top of my lungs for the darned dog to come!(Yeah, like she was going to listen)

Have you ever seen a 250lb woman run a sprint? No? There is a reason for that!!! Because it isn't pretty!!!

I finally caught up to her and drug her back to the van. Let's just say I wasn't happy!

I finally get to the vet and I have wrapped her leash around my wrist....she's not getting away this time! I get in and try to sign in....yeah, right! They call us in and no joke, I stood up with both of my feet on the floor(as opposed to the way I usually walk which is hoppin on one foot. HA!) and she literally pulled me!! That one strong dog! I ain't a small girl(incase you didn't catch that from the description earlier) It took 2 of the handlers and me to hold her down to get one quick shot in the butt! And after all of that, SHE get's the treat!

Next time, dh can take the dog to the vet! She makes taking care of the kids look like a breeze!

Ho Hum......but atleast it's not Bah Humbug

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:00:00 -0600

Ever gotten the Winter blues? Not sure what is causing it. I even have a "stress" sore in my mouth and yet I am not sure why. Probably the ole hormones playing games again. LOL

Why do we let ourselves get caught up in the commercial part of Christmas. Why is it that we have to have the perfect gift/s for everyone. No one can be left out. A toaster oven for mom, a harmonica for son, a doll set for daughter, tool set for dh........and the list goes on. The money has stopped but the list goes on. How did a holiday that was supposed to be about redemption and salvation become one of debt and glutteny?

I am not downing Christmas or gift giving or dinners with families.....but when did they get to the point that they started causing stress? How did it end up causing stress?

I don't know that I am even stressed about all of that really. Not really stressed at all. More like down.

I think the root of my blue mood is our church situation this year. This is the first year we haven't had a church family to share it with and it is so upsetting. After a year of being betrayed by everyone we held near and dear for more then 12 yrs it is lonely not to have them all around. I try not to dwell on all of that, and yet it was such a big part of our lives until now. I feel so lonely..........

Slip sliding away

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 13:22:00 -0600

Oh, I so want to choke a child! UGH! Did you ever have that sort of day? I have told the kids over and over about putting the dogs water dish in the middle of the kitchen floor and they keep doing it. Well this afternoon My oldest son goes in and gives the dog some water...in the middle of the kitchen floor again and when she was drinking she slobbered of course. Well I went in to check on dinner in the oven and slipped and ended up with my leg hitting the the bottome of the stove, my finger jammed into the fridge and my hid decided it couldn't be a part of it all and tried to go off on it's own! Oh, the pain! I sooo wanted to choke him! Don't you just love kids! LOL