http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:43:00 -0500 Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:43:00 -0500 My son Zac left for Army bootcamp on Tuesday.  This whole week has been kind of a blur.  You would think that this would have been easier for the family since our oldest son, Keil, left for the Marines in Feb, 2007 but it was just as hard.  I am so proud of Zac and he really feels that God is calling him to be in the Army.  I find that difficult to explain to my non-Christian friends.  Going into the service isn't as respectable as it used to be in this country.  Zac said that he hates when people ask him if he is for the war in Iraq.  The war in Iraq has nothing to do with his decision.  He said that when he was in middle school during 9/11 he knew that he was going into the service to be a part of fighting terrorism. Please pray for his safety during this hard time and don't forget to pray for all of our military personnel who volunteer to put themselves in harm's way for our freedom.  Our freedom is still important to a lot of us. Have a great day!!! God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/546483/ Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/546483/        Last night my son, Zac, graduated from high school.  He leaves on Tues morning for Army boot camp.  I thought that I was going to be a mess last night but praise God I was able to get through it.  I felt surrounded by God's presence the whole night.  My husband and I are having a real tough time letting go of Zac but we know that God is with him and we want to see him fulfill all of God's plans for him.  He says that he knows that this is what God wants him to do.        I had to sit in between my husband and my ex last night at graduation.  My ex has not been a good father to our children so it is very difficult to be around him.  He always shows up at these special events and acts like it is his place to be there.  I feel like we not only failed at marriage but we also have failed at being divorced.  There is no good way to be divorced but I know that things could have been better.  I feel like he was not the father he could have been because of me.  He still has a lot of bitterness towards me and I think he doesn't deal well with the children because of it.        Please pray for our family this last weekend that we get to be with Zac.  The younger children are having a hard time letting go (our oldest is in the Marine Corps) again.        Have a great day, God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/543743/ Fri, 6 Jun 2008 06:38:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/543743/        Well, my mother came and went and the graduation party is over.  I survived it all but just barely.  I am actually having a really hard time right now because she just wants to fight about everything that happened while she was here.  I have to control my urge to fight back with her to defend myself.  I need to just let it drop for now.  I feel like I am grieving my son leaving in a week and grieving the fact that I don't have a mother who can put aside her own feelings to comfort me during this time.        Ok, enough of that.  I want to live in the moment of all the blessings that I do have right now.  I have my wonderful friends who are there for me during this time.  Zac graduates on Thursday and I want to celebrate that fact instead of thinking about him leaving.  I had a really nice talk with him yesterday about how he is feeling right now and he seems to be handling it well.  He has a girlfriend and I wish he didn't because I know how difficult this time is going to be for the both of them.  I want him to focus on bootcamp and not thinking about what she is doing while he is away.        Has anyone else out there had to deal with the whole boyfriend/girlfriend issues with your teenagers?  I would love to hear how you handle it because I know that I am not very good at it.  I have a 17 year old daughter who is also itching to date.  I try my best to explain how I feel about dating as a whole but in this society, I feel like I am swimming upstream all the time.  I have given her all the books about dating, but she usually just rolls her eyes at me.  She is a Christian but I think in her mind, it is so conflicting to the secular world and she is torn.        Have a great day everyone. God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/541582/ Mon, 2 Jun 2008 06:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/541582/ Tomorrow afternoon my mother arrives.  I haven't seen her since last year.  We basically get to see her once a year.  She lives in FL and I live in PA.  She works one day a week and thinks that my family should come to see her -- I have six children -- one is in the Marine Corps stationed in SC, one is graduating next week and leaving for the Army and the rest are homeschooled and involved in a lot of activities.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my life.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I just think that it is easier for her to visit us.  She doesn't think so.  I look at my friends who have less children and have mothers who help them so much and it is hard because I feel like I can never do enough for my mom.  Did I mention that my mom is only 60 years old and in perfect health? So my prayer for the day is that I find the patience and love to show my mother while she is here.  If anyone has any advice for me -- I would greatly appreciate it!! God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/534369/ Mon, 19 May 2008 06:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/534369/ There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you. Maya Angelou Last year I started writing my life story. If the only thing that ever happens with it is that my children will read it some day -- that will be the gift. I think everyone should write their life story. Everyone has a story to tell. Then they can pass on to generations their successes and failures. I wish my grandparents had done it and I beg my mom to do it. It's not easy because seeing your failures in print is really hard to take. It is like re-living them but how can we help anyone if we don't share it. I was thinking about this a lot this week with Barbra Walters' autobiography coming out this week. She is receiving some criticism for it but I plan on reading it because I love to read other people's autobiographies. I want to learn from their mistakes and successes and it is history. Everyone's story is history. Think about it today -- what is your story -- whatever it is -- it is important to somebody!!! God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/528431/ Wed, 7 May 2008 06:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/528431/ Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it. — Henry David Thoreau I am really bad at spacing on this blog -- in case anyone can help me figure it out -- please help!!! I keep getting one big paragraph and I hate it!!! I think that us homeschool moms have a lot to learn from this quote. We are just too busy to see what success we have in our children. I do see some success at the strangest times. Like last week at my son's baseball game. He is 8 years old and plays with kids who all go to school. These kids already use very foul language and it really bothers him. I wonder what it would be like for him if he was with them all day. Would it bother him then? Probably not because the more you hear and see bad language and bad behavior the less it bothers you. It almost seems normal. So all I have to do is go to one of his baseball games and I leave there extremely happy that no matter how hard it is to homeschool or I should say how hard it is to always know that you are doing a good job, all you have to do is look around and you will see how soft your child's heart is for God. My heart breaks when I see an 8 year old who already has a hard heart. God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/526812/ Sun, 4 May 2008 08:45:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/526812/ I can't believe I have some free time on a Sat morning. It is raining and dreary here in PA and my youngest son still has his t-ball game. Thankfully, my hubby took him so I could stay home with the rest of the kids. Kara is at her SATs this morning and is just miserable. She was so upset about taking them but she went anyway. It is only a month until my son leaves for bootcamp for the Army. He leaves just 5 days after graduating. Today I have to go get the invitations for his grad party which I am having over Memorial Day weekend. I am trying to go through this knowing that God knows my pain and will help get through his party and his graduation. Oh, and did I mention that my mom is coming in from FL on May 20th. It's funny how that would have me all worked up except that I am too upset about Zac leaving for the Army to really care about her coming. See how God puts things into perspective for us. I am still working on getting all my CM curriculum for next year. I am so excited about this because K12 really wore me down. I want to get excited about homeschooling again. I feel like I have been in such a rut. Have a great Sat --- God Bless, Michelle http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/526403/ Sat, 3 May 2008 07:54:01 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/526403/ I'm sure everyone watches the news as much if not more than I do. I really try hard not to but when I open up my laptop, there is my yahoo page with all of the news on it. So if the news doesn't make yahoo than I don't know about it. This last week I've been reading about the polygamist sect that has recently been invaded. The looks on those women's faces is just haunting. The thing that strikes me the most though is the way they dress. I read a whole article last night on the symbolism of their outfits. I know this sect is a cult but I was trying to understand why these people believe that covering up their entire bodies was pleasing to God. We know that uncovering our bodies is not pleasing to God so where do we draw the line? I struggle with that line with my daughters almost every day. Do we decide where that line is drawn or does society tell us where that line is? If we listen to society, that line moves all the time. When I go to church and see young girls dressed like every other young girl in a magazine, I think, "what is the difference between how a Christian dresses and a non-Christian?" I want my girls to look differently but not have to stand out like these cults. Does anyone else struggle with this problem? I would love to hear some of your solutions. God Bless, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/520247/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/520247/ I am asking anyone who can help me make my blog site more custom and beautiful like all of yours. I did a little research this weekend and really can't figure it out. I am so computer illiterate and I really wanted to have a blog but I don't know how to fix it. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Have a great day, God bless, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/515903/ Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/515903/ This morning we woke up and went to Annie's gym at 8:30 to meet Shawn Johnson. Annie is a full time gymnast and Shawn Johnson is a girl who is supposedly going to make the Olympic team in June to go to Beijing, China in August for the Olympics. She had a line of little girls waiting to get her signature so they can say that they saw her when they are watching her on tv this August. All the parents are standing there taking pictures of this girl with their daughter. My daughter, Annie, was in line with all of her friends waiting for her turn to get Shawn's autograph. I stood behind the other parents just watching this scene unfold. It was kind of surreal. Shawn is a cute 16 year old girl just sitting there smiling as these little girls look at her like they just couldn't wait to see if they grow up to be just like her. I didn't bring my camera to take pictures and I thought it was kind of funny watching the parents get as excited about her as their daughters were. I was trying to figure out why I wasn't excited. Am I just to cynical because I know in the gymnastic world a lot can happen between now and June when the trials are. I know that she could get hurt and not make it there or fall on events and not even get picked to be on the Olympic team. It looks like right now she is going to be on that team but how sure should we be that that is what is going to happen. I have nothing against this girl and I do hope she makes it -- my point is that I just don't know how much importance I should put on what seems to be a kind of "idol worship" that we do in our society. If she doesn't make it her autograph is worth nothing and everyone will forget who she is in a matter of months. Or she will end up being the one who was supposed to make it and couldn't do it. I think that is a horrible position to put on a 16 year old girl. I am always confused about how much importance our family puts into sports. Annie isn't the only athlete in our family. I want it to be balanced and I want them to know that watching athletes on tv is fun but when it comes to worshiping them the line has been crossed. I think that God makes idol worship very clear to even have it at the top of the Ten Commandments. I took my daughter today because I thought it would be fun to see a girl who has worked so hard at her sport and it seems to have really paid off for her. What I didn't expect to see was parents who were more excited than their daughters to get their pictures taken with this little girl. God Bless, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/515484/ Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:00:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/staywithme/515484/