Our journey as we shape & aim the arrows God places in our quiver. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:26:00 -0600 Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:26:00 -0600 On Friday, October 13, 2006, Jarel Braddock N. joined our family!  God is truly great.  I had a homebirth and he was born in the water and I was inadvertantly the one to catch him, which was more amazing than I could've imagined.  Don't get me wrong, it was still hard work to labor/give birth (and there was definitely still pain involved lol), but it was such an awesome experience for our family!  Little Man was not so little, at least not for me .  He was 9lb 4oz/22.5 in, w/a 14in. head and 14.5 in. chest.  I know full well that so many mamas have bigger babies than that, but I never had!  My biggest up to that point was dd, at 7lb 14oz.  He was born only a day after his due date, so it wasn't that he had so much "extra" growing time either hehe.  Whatever the cause, it doesn't matter.  He's here and he's deliciously smoochy and adorable and squishy (sorry for getting a bit gushy).  He doesn't lack for love or attention here.  He probably feels he gets a little too much attention from his older siblings .  Not sure if the picture works or not, but we'll see.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/236936/ Sat, 11 Nov 2006 22:26:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/236936/ It's been a loooong time since I posted anything, but lots of crazy and busy stuff started happening at that time, so that's my excuse .  Besides helping dh with the start and growth of launching a new business, last October, he had a Vas Reversal surgery and in January, we got our baby :-D.  I remember February 1st being the day we found out and our kids went nuts.  They're still really excited and today, I'm sitting here at exactly 34 weeks and v-e-r-y tired, since sleep isn't my friend lately .  In the last 2 months, we also got our house ready to put on the market, so getting it ready to show and to sell was an, um, adventure.  Especially since that part (getting it ready to show and then leaving the house several times a day) happened the same weeks we started school.  Now we're only a week and half away from our closing date and buyer-requested repairs are in progress.  And in the next couple of days, we're moving the rest of our things to an apartment until Nov/Dec when we *really* move - to VA! LOL  We had put our house on the market when we did because the time on market/time we had left here in SC was something we needed to at least *try* to balance.  But God is good and our house sold 4 times in a week and a half .  First buyer said he wanted it and he wanted to close in 2 weeks (I'm getting the idea that God wants to keep me on my toes, aren't you?).  Then he said no, he didn't want it.  Then he officially put a contract in and did want it after all.  After almost a week, he vanished into thin air.  His realtor and lender couldn't reach him, neither could our realtor, etc.  So that went away.  And 2 days after that, we got 2 contracts, one on top of the other and eventually went with one of them.  Whew.  In the middle of all of that, since we originally had expected to close in 2-2.5 wks, my dad and sister came here from MN and got our kids.  We were, at that time, going to be moving to an apt while they were gone and having all of the repair/closing stuff happening.  What's ironic and funny is the kids are finally coming back tomorrow night and we're moving this weekend.  God has such a sense of humor .  But I can tell you that it will be exactly 3 weeks they were gone when they get back and WOW have I missed my babies!  They did take school with them and my sister and my mom took care of that.  And if there's anyone I'd trust to HS my kids temporarily for me, it'd be my mom, so that made me feel good.  She did a great job HSing all of us and a lot of things I've learned about HSing are because of her.  So here I sit, on the verge of moving and just waiting for TS Ernesto to land here this afternoon and then leave tomorrow "clear and sunny."  Praying that God keeps any major (or even minor at this point) damage and flooding at bay right now.  If He chooses not to, we'll still be ok, but I'm allowed to at least ask .  Last thing that's hitting my sleep-deprived rambling thoughts is that my best friend that I grew up with in MN just lost her FIL last week.  She and her dh were also HSed and they have 5 children and HS, too.  It was unexpected, yet not.  He was in his early 50s and he died at home with his wife and 3 of his 4 kids with him (they were getting ready to take him to the hospital - he had had a stroke a year and a half ago and struggled with seizures related to a brain tumor that caused the stroke.  He had, however, been doing *very* well in the last several months, but had been having a not so good week).  I can honestly say I was and still am very happy for him - he suffered physically a lot, esp. that last week and now he's not.  For his family, I can't even imagine what this is like.  I don't know how I'd tell my kids, like my friend was telling me she had to, that their G'pa had died.  My two older ones would understand this, but my 5yo would not (he'd understand "G'pa was very sick, is in heaven, etc" but I know he wouldn't grasp at this point that it means "he's never coming back here.").  As a wife, the hole that would be left by my husband dying would be huge and gaping and so I've really been praying for God to give her so much comfort.  I will quit my rambling catch-up and just try to come here more than once a year!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/193612/ Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/193612/ Tonight, I have a jumble of songs I learned in childhood going through my head.  Little snippets here and there.  "My God is so great, so strong and so mighty.  There's nothing my God cannot do."  "My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; all I have to do is follow....Strength for today is mine all the way and all I need for tomorrow..." These are such simple lines, yet they contain big truths.  Big promises.  And they imply so much more - MY God is so great.  Yes, he's MY God.  MY Lord knows and if I just follow my personal Lord God, I'll be more than ok.  I could just weep thinking about His personal and tender love for every single individual, including me.  The times I feel insignificant (far more often than I should), He reminds me that I am who *He* says I am.  I am *not* who *I* say I am.  HE says I'm blessed, loved, adopted, forgiven, accepted, chosen, redeemed.  I have to believe Him.  And my belief pleases my Lord.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/29626/ Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/29626/ A speech from a "legendary" American hero is just as pertinent, if not more so, today than it was the day he presented it before Congress.  This is long, but oh-so-worth it.   http://www.pointsouth.com/csanet/greatmen/crockett/crockett2.htm Today is a day of quoting others, I guess.  The following quotes were published in the 05-39 Brief of The Federalist Patriot http://federalistpatriot.us/pub/05-39_Brief.htm "The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale." -- Thomas Jefferson "I find no warrent for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and the duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. . . The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow citizens in misfortune.  This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated.  Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strenthens the bonds of a common brotherhood." --President Grover Cleveland Personal charity and giving of yourself.  These are things I want to impress upon my children.  Somehow, in an age where the government is expected to (and expects to) "take care" of everyone from pre-birth to the grave, I will have to find a way to demonstrate this to them.  I think they are seeing this in a small way when they do things like help to get supplies off of the list from the church for one of the relief teams we've been sending weekly to 2 different areas.  In fact, I almost cried last week at something ds1 said.  Our pastor had been on the first team we sent and during the sermon, he was mentioning some of the things that went on while they were there.  He was also talking about the team that would be leaving the next morning for a different town and asking for prayer, care kits, supplies, etc.  And volunteers for the 3rd team (it left this morning) that was going back to the first town.  Toward the end of the service, ds1  pulled on my arm and whispered to me "Mom, how do you get to do that?"  I didn't know exactly what he was talking about (him asking wasn't immediately after all this discussion), so he expounded "Go on one of those teams.  I need to go.  People need help."  He said this in such an urgent, almost desperate tone that I wanted to cry.  He really has an extremely tender heart and he's not always lost in an egotistical "kid world" (not to say he's never like that lol).  The moments when he truly gets it are like a pure balm to my soul.  It's an affirmation in the midst of intermittent doubt, that at the very least, we're doing  something right.  When I told him kids just weren't able to go, he was very disappointed and asked me how he was supposed to be able to help all these people if kids aren't allowed to help.  I reminded him of all the things we'd brought to the church just that morning and how Dad and I couldn't go right now, either, but we can send things that the people need with the ones who can go.  So back to the original thought - can I, in this time of "entitlement" for everyone/everything/ every situation impress the "Love your neighbor as yourself" way of life into my children?  I think we've already started.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/28417/ Mon, 26 Sep 2005 21:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/28417/ Wow.  We just finished studying about Noah Webster in history.  I wish I had the time to make a unit study out of *everything,* because that is where my heart lies.  I'm not sure the kids grasped the magnitude of what it meant for NW to write the first American dictionary.  The man studied and learned from 20 different languages in order to complete this task.  A task that took him almost 20 years!  Now there's an example of dedication! The kids did think this was an enormously long time, but I don't know that it'll sink in until later in life.  Today, Edge was supposed to be working on a book report for the book he just finished reading.  I don't require pages and pages of reporting from him and I don't even want a "formal" report.  I just want him to be able to summarize and highlight main points from what he reads.  He visibly drooped when I told him about this book report, since writing (i.e. penmanship, not the words part) is not his favorite thing to do.  Then I decided that he could use the computer and he was actually excited about it lol.  It's not like he needs even more practice with handwriting.  He has HW every day, he writes in his Language book, he write in his "Just Write" book (learning how to write), etc.  And seeing his demeanor change from "droopy and depressed" to "excited and animated" was worth it.  Plus, I will count that as his typing for the day.  He really loves typing and gets a big kick out of Mavis Beacon .  Brynn surprised me today.  We had a history test and I usually go through it with her.  She had a matching section and she picked the wrong answer for something.  I didn't say anything, but she got a couple of questions down and went "Wait a minute.  I'm so silly!"  She cracked me up when she said that, because she laughed at herself.  She realized her mistake and corrected it.  I was completely expecting her to just get two things wrong (because of mixing up the matching), because this has happened before with her.  If she's already selected something, she won't even consider it as a possibility for the remaining things.  So this was a big deal to me that she figured out that it was wrong and went back and fixed it.  Yesterday, we had a great time at the library and I found out that there is a 30 minute story time for Nikol's age on Wednesdays!  Since Wednesday is the day I've been going every week anyway, I'll just adjust my time of day and go during the story time.  If he is occupied w/that, it'll make it easier to keep an eye on the other two while they're getting their books.  Plus, I think he'll really like it.  Today, Nikol was reenacting the "rope and mark a pig" scene from Old Yeller.  He was sitting on one of our kitchen stools and had a long red shoelace that he somehow had a circle tied in (??) and was totally into the whole scene.  He is soooo Mr. Drama in more ways than one.  When he was 2.5, he was very into the Disney Davy Crockett movie.  He had a fake coonskin cap that used to be E's and would wear that all the time.  One day, I was in the bathroom and he burst in through the door in his diaper, cowboy boots, t-shirt and coonskin cap (this was shortly before he potty-trained) and marched up to me with a very serious expression.  He grabs my hand, shakes it firmly and vigorously a couple of times and says "Good seein' you again Crockett!", wheels around on his boot heel and marches out of the bathroom.  Maybe you had to be there, but that was one of the funniest things ever.  I hope I never forget that one.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/25554/ Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:46:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/25554/ My how time goes quickly.  I just realized that I haven't written anything in over a week.  Let's see what I've missed. Dh is not only working more than full-time hours (Navy - his command has minimum 48 hr work weeks), he's taking Calculus I and College Chemistry II M-Th in the evenings.  We don't get to see too much of him lately.  This weekend was his long weekend, so he was home more, which was a nice change.  Yesterday, afternoon (swing/2nd) shift started and he took T and Th as leave days because of school, but he has to miss class tonight.  So he's been around in the mornings this week.  Yesterday, he and the kids let me sleep and while he did homework, the kids surprised both of us and did most of their schoolwork alone.  I was surprised at what time it was when I woke up and amazed that almost all of school was done - w/no teacher LOL. Today, we're doing our weekly library trip and I have already decided ahead of time that this shall be a "video-less" visit.  The last two times, the kids have gotten videos.  Nothing bad, but they feel under pressure to watch them as many times as possible before we have to bring them back the next week.  Yeah, that's it - pressured.  ROTFL.  While I'm delighted in my own right that there are "Ramona" videos that are almost 100% true to the stories in the books, how many times do we need to see a 27 min. video?  And Peter Pan?  Somebody save me.  Last week, it was Old Yeller that I gratefully returned.  This week, it's Peter Pan who can leave and never come back, as far as I'm concerned . Today, Nikol and I worked on alphabet things and a little bit of writing.  I was bowled over that he actually did it.  First, we practiced writing his name.  Not the whole thing, just N-i-k, but it's a start.  Then we took his wooden alphabet train puzzle and worked on finding those letters a few times.  He had a great time and even told dh how to spell his name "N-I-K.'' In case you weren't aware, N-I-K spells "Nikolas Traven Norenberg."  He drew me a picture of something that is not an object of this world, but it's colored beautifully with markers and what a stunning variety of colors he used.  He told me he was making me something and it was going to be "very bee-ootiful."  My sweet boy.  So we worked on "schooly" things for about 10-15 minutes before he was off again.  That's fine with me, since it's a start and Rome wasn't built in a day.  Tonight, we're also going to try the Mission Friends programs at church.  There's a preschool one for Nikol, a girls' Gr 1-5 for dd and a boys' Gr. 1-5 for ds1.  I'm kind of excited for them and for me, too.  I need to get out more than I do.  It's hard to go everywhere with the kids by myself all of the time, but never to a place where I can really try to find friends.  I really feel very lonely IRL rather often.  I've lived here for almost 3 years and I've had the starts of several friendships, but never anything that has either continued or blossomed.  I do have one person I'd consider a good friend here, but we talk about every 3 months LOL.  We both apologize for not calling sooner, etc.  She's also a homeschool mom with kids the exact same ages as mine.  Her 3rd is even named Nicholas ;-).   But seriously, I could use a little bit more moral support IRL.  My two best friends live in IL and MN.  Both the best friends you could ever hope for *and* they both homeschool.  But they're not exactly around the corner.  I'm very interested in joining the women's Bible study group starting at the end of this month (I LOVE Beth Moore and I've been waiting to see what the Patriarchs study will be like!), but I need to find out if the provided childcare will accept my 8.5yo and almost 7yo.  I don't know if they were thinking of those kinds of age groups.  It's one morning a week from 9:30-11:30 and dh is only on 2nd shift once every 5 weeks.  So I obviously would need childcare.  I also need to somehow figure out more babysitting arrangements in general.  I used to have a couple of babysitters, but one moved away and the other went to college.  I think I should just suck up the increased cost of my local support group and join again, even though I did virtually nothing with/through them last year.  There are a couple of moms of teenagers in my local group and I know I'd feel comfortable with their kids as sitters.   OK, off to go rest my head for a few minutes before we take off for the library.  I have been getting one book a week for myself.  Last week's book, which I'm almost done with, was "Ina Mae's Guide to Childbirth."  I like these midwifery and homebirth books too much, I think LOL.  Hopefully someday soon, I'll be able to actually USE all this accumulated knowledge . http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/25111/ Wed, 14 Sep 2005 14:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/25111/ We started our second 6 week stretch yesterday.  It's actually good to "be back" for me.  I evaluated how we spent our time off and have made some decisions - or I'm in the process of making some - about how to better utilize our time off next time.  Yesterday, ds1 had his first "spelling pretest" w/his new spelling curriculum.  While it doesn't really call for a pretest, I want a pretest, so I can see from one week to the next how he's progressing.  He totally made my day, though, when he informed me that he already knew how to spell 'friend.'  "Mm-hmm," I replied, because I wasn't giving an answer one way or the other whenever he said that, since I want to really see how he spells things on his own.  So he pressed his point.  "No, I really do know how to spell it.  I remember how from that song on Mr. Rogers'."  ??  I had to pause to think "What song?"  Then it hit me "You are my friend, you are special.  You are my friend - you're special to me......F-R-I-E-N-D special....."  I've had that song running through my head since y'day afternoon now and it makes me smile to think that my boy is remembering how to spell a word like that because of Mr. Rogers (who I just happen to have very fond memories of and a special place in my heart for ).  We also had a discussion about there/their/they're when he was doing his LA things.  It was fun, because he comes up with things that are sort of related, but not totally, yet he has the right answer to what he's talking about.  DD informed me that she is not happy that school had to start again.  Said with crossed arms and in a "Hmmph." kind of way.  However, she can't help herself when she gets going on something she's enjoying.  Today it was her Write About Me pages.  When she realizes that she knows things, she gets excited and that is exciting to me. Ds2 was actually interested in looking at some pages in the HWT book.  He colored a bit and we talked about some of the things on the pages.  We also read some of our library books again and did it in what I think of in my head as the FIAR style lol.  I really enjoyed it and he is enjoying listening to stories more.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22912/ Tue, 6 Sep 2005 19:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22912/ EnterStageRight.com Nagin's Failure Reading the comments posted to the second one is very enlightening, as well, if you read far enough.  I will add only one more link and I truly hope if anyone sees this, that you take the time to click on them and read through them.  Everyone keeps asking "Why?" and "What took so long?" and if you're not asking who's to blame, then you probably have your mind made up who you think is to blame.  Well, I am getting very angry at the mainstream media going on and on and on with the same garbage over and over.  Talk talk talk talk about how the federal government is at fault.  How the federal government has failed.  How many people are not getting help.  It's all a bunch of lies!  And I'm beyond sick of it.  Whether you like or agree with our President in general, this is not his fault and I think it's just all too convenient to blame everything on him.  Look at the facts and then tell me who really should be at fault.  It's getting ridiculous the things he's being accused of, such as having some sort of hand in the Chief Justice passing away when he did, so he could direct attention away from his "awful mishandling of this disaster."  Anyway, I could (and am lol) get very fired up about this and continue on, but it's better if I just post my links and sign off. So here is the last link. The Un-Missing National Guard http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22820/ Tue, 6 Sep 2005 14:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22820/ From the fine printing presses at the Federalist Patriot: The Culture of Blame - on assigning blame for Hurricane Katrina "Let me make this clear: Everything which has happened as the result of Hurricane Katrina is my fault.  Mine. Alone. No one else's. Stop wasting energy pointing fingers and put your hands to work helping out.  It was me.  Got it?  I was a United States Senator from Louisiana in 2001 when the levee at Lake Pontchartrain was declared unsafe and I didn't have enough clout with my Senatorial brethren to get sufficient money appropriated to fix it.  It was my fault.  Oh.  I almost forgot. I was the Commander-in-Chief of all United States Armed Forces in the 1960s which includes the Corps of Engineers.  The cost-benefit analysis? My fault. It is my fault that, as the Governor of Louisiana, I didn't foresee the need to have enough Louisiana National Guard troops - the vast majority of whom are NOT currently in Iraq, or Afghanistan or, for that matter, Indiana -- pre-positioned and read to preserve order. I frankly, forgot that there is a portion of the population which will steal anything from anyone given any opportunity and then will blame it on me because I didn't -- in spite of ample warnings by sociologists from large Eastern Universities -- foresee the need to have 27" flat-screen television sets available to every family in the New Orleans city limits as soon as the electricity went out. That one WAS my bad. It is my fault that, as Mayor of New Orleans, I was boogying down Bourbon Street the night before the hurricane hit rather than being where I should have been -- on the roof of the Superdome pouding in extra nails to hold the roof on. As the architect of the Superdome, it was my fault for claiming that the Dome could survive 200 mile-per-hour winds. It couldn't even handle a relatively gentle 160 mile-per-hour zephyr. Strap me to my drafting table and set me adrift. Global warming? My fault. Despite the fact that nearly every serious climatologist in America has stated over and over again that there is no clear evidence tying human-generated greenhouse gasses to global warming, and even if there were, there is no evidence tying global warming to hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, I was opposed to the Kyoto treaty and so it is my fault.  It is also my fault that during the administration of Bill Clinton, the U.S. Senate rejected the terms of the Kyoto protocols by a vote of 95-0. That would be zero, zilch, nada, nil, bupkis. As the Grand Poohbah in Charge of all TV Coverage, it is my fault that there is constant video of looters and almost none of humanitarian activities.  I am the person who issued the statement: 'No more rescue footage UNLESS the person rescued complains about how long they had to wait or, if he shoots at the rescuers.' And finally, as Chairman of the National Association of Gasoline Producers it is my fault that I had the bad judgment to put so much of my drilling, refining and transportation assets in a hurricane-prone area like the Carribean basin. What...was...I...thinking? If I could re-do that whole thing, I would have put all that equipment in Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. There may not be any oil there, but hurricanes are very rare. So. There you have it. Everything that has happened is my fault. Now. Shut up and help." -- Rich Galen Editors Note: And...one more person yet to claim blame...http://federalistpatriot.us/news/depot.asp The Federalist Patriot (FederalistPatriot.US) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22502/ Mon, 5 Sep 2005 16:13:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/22502/ I just heard earlier today from my dear sweet friend that she and her family are all safe.  The second I saw that she'd e-mailed me, I could feel my whole self just sag with relief.  I didn't realize just how tense I was feeling about the "unknowns" with that until I saw that they really were ok.  They are blessed in that they still have their home and it's not flooded, although they're not *at* home currently.  It is beyond sobering how many people do not either have a home to go back to or just don't know.  And the people who have died.  This is almost as crushing of a feeling as 9/11, but not in the exact same way.  Terrorism isn't the same thing as a huge hurricane.  One is people and their twisted ideals.  The other is an enormous natural act allowed and controlled by a God Who really does love His creation.  You might ask how I could say that in the face of all this.  I have no solid answer for you except to say that I know He loves me.  And I know He loves you, whoever you are and where ever you're reading this from.  The world used to be perfect.  He made it perfect.  He even said, after looking over all that He'd made, "It is good."  But we messed that all up.  WE brought death into the world.  Along w/death came destruction, disease and decay.  With sin comes consequences.  Just like our bodies decay, so does this world.  My Father speaks of natural disasters in His Words to me and I know that while they may continue to happen and while they may get worse and more numerous, He is there.  HE is my eye in the storm.  The place of calm in the midst of an angry, swirling mass of destruction that is life here apart from Him.  I understand a little bit better each day what it means when it says that all creation is groaning and awaiting His return to set things right again.  I am waiting and groaning with them in my spirit.  There is so much death and destruction just from "natural disasters" in the past year that it's almost not comprehendable.  This particular thing strikes so much closer to home in my heart than even the tsunami.  So did the bombing of the USS Cole.  My blood really felt like it ran cold when that happened.  And it happened right before my dh was about to deploy.  On a ship.  To the Persian Gulf.  I wanted to crawl under a rock and never come out and see any news again.  And that was *before* 9/11.  He deployed and I obviously stayed home.  We had 2 very small children at the time and while I wanted more, I wanted to start trying for that when he got home.  That didn't happen.  I found out less than two weeks after my husband left to spend 6 months across the world that I was pregnant.  Surprise!  God's thoughts are not my thoughts, His plans are not my plans and His ways are not my ways.  This has been made abundantly clear over and over to me.  And you know what?  I am so much better for it every time.  I have my precious Nikolas because God's plans were better than MY plans.  There are lots of other things I could say about that, but I know that in all of this awful tragedy that's occurring because of this hurricane, God has a bigger purpose.  Whatever that is is not for me to say.  I just have learned - at least a teeny bit lol - that I can trust my God.  He really does have it all in His hands.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/21225/ Thu, 1 Sep 2005 00:39:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/neddygirl/21225/