http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 1 Oct 2008 16:26:00 -0500 Wed, 1 Oct 2008 16:26:00 -0500 Party of Five is joining her other parties already in progress...over at blogspot... you can find me at : www.partyoffivetn.blogspot.com... Thanks, HSB for getting me blogging.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/598434/ Wed, 1 Oct 2008 16:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/598434/ So, the good news is....last night I spent the evening with my friend Tamara, whose husband is in Uganda on a mission trip...and she is here with her two young kids.... Anyway, after much talking, I was out past midnight, so when I went to wash my face last night it was about 12:15...and what happens then....the stupid alarm. So, I am washing my face and hear the stinking thing right next to me.  So, I look through soapy eyes and see my ipod (not the original ipod culprit, the other one) is lit up.  And that was it....I hit menu and see someone has set an alarm to go off at 12:22 am (ipod time, not mine :) )  Mike claims his innocence, but I think he is waiting to see if I do indeed, go crazy...just kidding honey...but sounds like a controversy to me... So, for the bad news...Bekah started coughing last week and wheezing on Sunday.  I keep waiting for the day they tell me she has asthma because of the RSV she had as a newborn.  So, I take her in today, and she has walking pneumonia...again....and she hasn't slowed down this time either...and has worn me out today. But at least I will sleep all the way through 12:15 tonight... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/594553/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:23:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/594553/ Awhile ago, I woke up to a sound of six dings, for lack of a better word.  I thought it was coming from my bathroom, so I got up to check it out and saw the ipod, so I figured it had an alarm on it.  I went back to bed.  For the last week, it has happened every night.  No ipod in my bathroom, and I don't even know where it is coming from. The first night I heard it again I woke up Mike, who was sick and really not happy that I asked him to check out the house.  Our house is like Fort Knox, thanks to the previous owners.  It has an alarm that sounds when all windows, doors, and garages are opened.  It has stoppers on the back of all doors, so that even if someone picked a lock, they couldn't open the door.  (my imagination runs a little wild with possible intruders) Anyway, Mike, in his not feeling so good state, walks around the house and finds nothing.  The next night, I am on the couch because Mike is hacking up a lung in our room, and again...this stupid alarm.  So, I check out the house...nothing...and the next night and the next...and I realized the last two nights it goes off at 12:15 a.m.  What is this sound?  I have had both our cell phones next to me, to see if it the have an alarm...nope...I don't think it is the ipod, though it will stay close to me tonight... Ahhhh....have you seen the Friends episode with the smoke alarm?  Just call me Phoebe....at this point, I just want to go to sleep without being jolted awake by this annoying, irritating, bothersome alarm...make it stop..... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/592729/ Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:21:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/592729/ Elisa: "Dear God, please help the terrorists know better than that...." Bekah:"Lord, please help the terrorists to be Christians." http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/588809/ Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:22:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/588809/ We haven't had rain here in quite a while, and when we we leaving soccer practice last night Caleb said, "Look mom, there is lightning" After we got home and got showers and the kids got to bed ,it started.  And it rained and rained.  Bekah came out and said, "is it going to thunder?" It did. And each time she came out.  My girls hate thunder. When we lived at the "old" house, The kids were on the top floor, and Mike and I were on the main floor.  So, for seven years, they had the rain pounding over their heads, not me.  Now,I am on the main floor with the girls and when it rains, I think it is going to come through the roof....it has been awhile since I have heard it... Mike is working nights right now, and it is always hard for me to fall asleep the first night he is on shift.  So, I enjoyed the rain and my computer.  When I finally got to bed, I stretched out across my bed, something I do when he is gone, and fell asleep. Until 3:30.  That was when the loudest thunder I have ever heard boomed.  And, of course the girls heard it too...and were quickly in my room asking to sleep with me.  (Caleb is the lucky one in the basement,who doesn't hear any of this) Now, I am not a good mom who loves to have her children come into bed and sleep with her.  I like to snuggle for a moment, and then send them off to their bed. The storm didn't allow that.  I said, "Ok,you can come in bed with me...but we are going right to sleep."  Bekah liked that idea, Elisa didn't.  At first I thought, "this is so great.  I have these two little girls in bed with me, loving on me and trusting me to keep them safe..."  Elisa was next to me with her little toes up against my leg, her arm on my arm.  "Why don't I do this more often?"  I thought...And then a half hour past, and Bekah is passed out, and Elisa is saying, "Bekah get your feet off me...." And I say, "enough, go back to your room. Storms over."  And then pray, God please don't let there be anymore thunder. Lately, I have been in the midst of a personal storm.  I have watched my due date come and go with the baby I lost.  And in the midst of that I, have had my oldest sister call to tell me she is pregnant with her fourth.  Don't get me wrong, I am so happy for her.  She prayed for many years for her husband to change his heart toward wanting another child.  The timing was just hard on my heart....I want to be pregnant too, with my fourth.  That was a few weeks before my due date.  And I cried. And this weekend, while talking to my other sister about her son's birthday, she says to me, "I have news for you."  "Don't say it," I think...and she does....she is pregnant with her sixth...and the rain pours down....there is so much history that I can't even right  write between Beth and I and her bad feelings toward me for havig a baby when she wanted another one....so this...this news just put a bigger hole in my heart.  And led me to many questions of "Is this some kind of joke?  Shouldn't I be holding my baby right now, and rejoicing with them?  What is wrong with me?"  And I don't know the answers...but it feels like a big joke, a bad one... So right now I am trying to see through this storm, and I am not so patiently waiting for it to pass...I wish it were as easy as curling up in bed with my girls...I recently read a "saying" that said "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass....it's about learning to dance in the rain."  I want to learn that dance. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/587342/ Tue, 9 Sep 2008 08:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/587342/ Summer is officially over around here,well, except for all this heat....we started school four weeks ago, which I can't believe.  And today we started our Monday Fun classes.  This is the first year we are staying for four hours, and the first year I won't have Elisa at my side in my preschool class.  She isn't quite in kindergarten, but doesn't need to be in preschool classes either...And so it was a little chaotic trying to figure out where the four of us needed to be each hour.  But it was a great day, and even though I am teaching three classes, I have taught two of them many times, and the third I am team teaching with my friend Julie who is on top of things, and made sure we had our semester already planned before we started today. I am already looking forward to this school year.  After last year, things can only get better!  Last year, right about this time, Mike and I had the crazy notion to put our house on the market, and it took a LONG time to get it ready for sale.  And then we waited, and waited.  And also saw how awesome God is in the process, by us finding and affording a house above and beyond anything we ever imagined.  And so now in my new house, I don't have school stuff scattered everywhere, but in my new school room in the basement.  The room is cluttered and packed with every book and school supply imaginable, but, I know where everything is...and every day we do school, it is still there.  I discovered after we moved here that there was more than one pencil in our house.  In fact, there were about 100.  It's amazing how much you have when it is all in one place, I don't even know how man pair of scissors I found.  My school books are on my desk when we sit down to school and the kids workbooks are in their baskets.  It makes the day so much smoother when I am not breathing fire wondering where the math book went....again.... And so, here we are, our fourth year of homeschooling...and so far we are all ready an excited for a new year.  Gymnastics is back in session...AHG and Cub Scouts starts on Thursday...and we have four weeks down...and something like 32 to go....   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/587148/ Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/587148/ I found this tag on Suzanne's blog, who got it from Tina's blog...so, anyway, thought I would play along... Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions....they have to be real places, names, and things...and you can't use your own name for the boy/girl questions....so, here I go: What is your name?  Donna 4 letter word: done Vehicle: Dodge City: Denver Boy name: Dillan Girl name: Denise Movie: Dances with Wolves Occupation: Doctor Something you wear: dress Celebrity:  Doris Day Food: Dip Something found in a kitchen: dishwasher Something found in a bathroom: door knob Reason for being late: driving too slow Cartoon character: Dagwood Something you shout:  Drats! Animal: dog body part: dislocated shoulder       http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/559255/ Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/559255/ Tonight is the last night we will spend together at our first house.  We don't move until Tuesday, but the kids are all spending the night at friends tomorrow so we can do both closings and moving on Tuesday, and they can play.  So, I wanted to make our bed time special tonight, making sure we read together and all prayed together.  As I prayed, I thought of so many great memories of our family in this house....and a few not so good ones too. I remember looking at this house, almost exactly seven years ago, with a little 14 month old boy, and thinking, wow, this house is so big for us!  And then, two weeks after moving in, finding out we were expecting another baby.  And bringing that little girl home, only two have to take her back to the hospital not even two weeks later because she wasn't breathing.  This was the house my son became a big brother in, and we became a family of five.  I remember Bekah's first step and Caleb calling her Gekah.  I remember birthday parties, play dates, and telling Mike we had a third on the way. (way before we were ready)  I remember getting the news of Mike's grand dad's death, and Mike's grief.  I remember bringin another little girl home, and recovering from sugery. I remember many long winter months with three very young children, cooped up because I didn't want another baby with RSV.  And I remember Elisa's first steps, and that she could climb on our dining room table before she could walk. This is the house my kids learned to run in, skip in, jump.  This is also the house I started my homeschool journey in, three years ago.  This is the house I taught my children to read , add and subtract, and much of the bible. This house has trees out front, on the side, and in the back that bear my children's names.  It's the house my mom taught me how to plant tulips and iris'. Here, Mike and I have laughed and cried.  We have watched many a tv show and movie, had so many conversations, invited friends over, and grieved over the loss of a baby.  And so, my prayer was one of thankfulness.  These are memories that I cherish, and will always hold in my heart.  So, as we move on to a new house, and new memories, I just say, "Thank you, Lord.  How could I ask for more?" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/551306/ Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/551306/ After seven months of wondering if we would ever sell our house.... We did!  We got an offer on Wednesday, not long after Mike and I had discussed going ahead with the ceiling and floors in the basement, and hours before I was going to stain the stairs to the basement to make them look better.  Now, I only have to paint at our new house! We signed the contract yesterday on ours, and made an offer on another one, which was accepted... So now, packing up seven years of memories...oh, and waiting for the home inspections.... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/529607/ Fri, 9 May 2008 09:05:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/529607/ Home again, home again, jiggety jig...that is what my mom always says after coming home from vacation.  We got to spend five days in Mt. Vernon, WA last week with my sister, Amy.  We landed in Seattle around 3 p.m., to sunshine and 46 degrees.  Sunshine is pretty rare in the spring so we felt real lucky... until we traveled about 10 miles north...then we hit a winter wonderland.  I called up to my sister's and she thought I was joking because it was beautiful where she lived. And, once we got there (after traveling 40 miles in 2 hours) she was right.  It was beautiful.  Caleb, however had a hard time waking up and it didn't even faze him that a suitcase fell on him while asleep... The reason I wanted to go to Seattle in the spring was because of their annual Tulip Festival up where my sister lives.  It is absolutely amazing, the acres of tulips in all colors.  So, Saturday, we headed out for the street fair.  And it was cold.  It had spit snow that morning, but cleared up, and as we were finishing up at the fair, Amy looks ahead and says " Hail in three seconds."  It was hysterical.  It hailed for 25 minutes, and once again, it looked like a winter wonderland.  But that was nothing compared to waking up Sunday morning and hearing my nephew, Zachary, say "There is at least 2 inches on the ground."  It snowed all night and was still snowing Sunday morning.  And I am talking big snowflakes.  So, my kids, who haven't seen a good snow in  a long time, got dressed and played in the snow.  They said it was the first time they had snow like this in April. (Did I mention we were in Nashville during an earthquake before we flew out?) Two hours later, the snow was gone, the sun came out, Danielle drove up, and we went to the tulip fields.  I don't know how to even describe the tulips.  I am sure Smallworld would have a poem, but all I have is pictures.... Aside from the highlight of the tulips, we had a great time as a family, especially just spending time with my sister and her family.  this was one of the best times I have had with Amy in a long time.  Tuesday, Mike, Caleb, Scott, and Zachary got to go back down to Seattle for a Mariners game.  It was a fun night for the boys, and the girls got to stay up and watch Enchanted. Wednesday came to soon, with tears and goodbyes, but what memories I have of this time together! Our trip home was LONG to say the least.  We got caught in a storm in Dallas, and couldn't take off because of a tornado warning. (note the weather theme of this trip)  We sat on the plane for 3 1/2 hours before taking off.  We landed in Nashville at 4 a.m. Knoxville time, and drove up to our house at 6:45 a.m.  But, hey, we saw the sunrise!  And now, time to catch up on our sleep... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/522692/ Sat, 26 Apr 2008 09:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/partyoffive/522692/