• Sep. 17, 2009
Back at last!

We have internet again!  Wow, that was a long 5 days.  I did find some free Wi-Fi spots that I was unaware of before though!  A silver lining to every cloud. 

Yesterday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the zoo with friends.  They had a half day of school so we met about 1:00 and headed out.  We had been to the zoo earlier in the year together but there were a few areas that we didn't get to take advantage of.  We also still had train tickets that we didn't use last time!  That made it a nice cheap trip since our zoo is free and we were blessed with a free parking spot right by the entrance to the zoo!  The only thing we paid for was the stingray exhibit and it was well worth the $3.  We actually got to pet and feed the stingrays.  (Their stingers had been removed.)  Then we went through the "River's Edge" exhibit and saw the rhino's, elephants and hippos.  I think the hippos were my favorite because they swim right past you, about 6 inches from your face!  I had forgotten how huge they were! 

It was a fun day.  I forgot my camera though so I apologize for the lack of pictures.  The day ended with choir practice.  I handed out the parts to the kids for the musical.  I love to watch their faces when they get their parts.  It's like Christmas! 

Shannon

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• Aug. 26, 2009
Going out with a bang!

This week Sarah had both a dentist and an orthodontist appointment.  Yesterday (Tuesday) we were headed out to the dentist first thing in the morning.  As I backed out of the garage there was a huge crash!  I looked all around and could not figure out what in the world I had hit!  When I got out of the van to check it out the garage door was pushed out of the frame.  Now, lest you think I am a complete moron that I did not see the garage door, it was not closed.  The garage door had been open for quite a while before we left.  It was open when we got in the car.  But when we got in the car the opener was in my seat so I handed it to Sarah to put on the visor.  When I gave it to her she must have accidentally pressed the button.  The garage door was on it's way down while we were on our way out!  It made it as far down as far as the spoiler on the back of the van when we hit it.  It bent and knocked the garage door out of the frame and cracked the spoiler on the van!

Thankfully, my husband was able to fix both problems and everything is in working order today.  We made it out of the house for her orthodondist appointment without incident.  Life is never dull.........

Shannon

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• Aug. 3, 2009
Making my bed

I have never been a bed maker.  I am sorry if that shocks anyone.  I really don't like making my bed.  To me it seems pointless, as the old cliche goes, "I am just going to sleep in it again, why make it up."  Seriously, if no one is going to see it, what is the point?

I think I have figured out the point. 

About 3 weeks ago I got on an organizational kick.  It started in the school room and just kind of spread.  (I don't get these kind of fits regularly so I thought I'd better go with it.)   I went through and organized the whole house, including.....,our room!  Our room is always the last to get cleaned.  It is generally the dumping ground for whatever doesn't have a home.  If company is coming stuff gets dumped in our room and the door gets shut.

Well, after my organizational fit, everything had a place.  There was no more need to dump things in my room, and it was clean!  So, without giving it much thought I decided to make my bed, every morning, whether I wanted to or not.  I still don't like making the bed, but I discovered something shocking.  I like the way it looks when it is made.  And when the king size square in the middle of the room looks neat, it is more compelling to keep the rest of the room looking neat.  (As opposed to when the king size square in the middle of the room looks like a jumbled mess, it is easy to allow the rest of the room to become a jumbled mess.)

I was telling my friend about my new revelation and she told me about Flylady.net who says the same thing about the kitchen sink.  The basic premise is, if you keep your sink cleaned out and shiny, you will want to keep the rest of the kitchen clean around it.  I am now a believer. 

So, like it or not, I have committed to making my bed, everyday, because while I don't like the job, I am loving the results.

Shannon

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• Jul. 28, 2009
Some things to think about

The following quotes really have nothing to do with each other.  They are just quotes that made me think and I thought I would share them with you.

"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep the streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep the streets like Beethoven composed music...Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." Martin Luther King Jr.

"Perhaps some of you claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you - Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's word? Do you make it the man of your right hand - your best companion and hourly guide? If not, the blessing of Psalm 1 does not belong to you." Charles Spurgeon

"There are more people voting for a living than working for a living." H. L. Makin (sp?)

Shannon

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• Jul. 10, 2009
A Quote

"Many young people today are living for their friends.  They spend their whole time trying to please, and measure up to the expectations of their friends.  But from the day they get their diploma, most of those people will never be seen again, no matter what is written in their yearbook.  And all of that time has been wasted."

Ken Davis

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• Jul. 6, 2009
Fabulous 5th of July

While we spent our 4th of July simply, we had a much more fun 5th so I thought I would share about it here.

We started our day at church (as usual) and it was a wonderful way to start the day.  In my Bible study class we started a new study called The Emmaus Lesson.  It is a study on Jesus in the Old Testament and if the first lesson is any indication it is going to be fabulous.  With both of our pastors on vacation, one of the young men in the Pastors mentoring group brought the sermon.  It was a wonderful study of Psalm 1.  The part that spoke to me the most I think was when he pointed out that the Psalm would be incomplete without verse 2.  Many people think it is enough to avoid doing bad things.  But it is not those people who are blessed.  Those who are blessed by God are those who love and delight in His word. 

After church we had lunch at Penn Station, which has fast become my favorite sub sandwich place!  After lunch we spent some time at Jay's mom's house and he installed a new kitchen faucet for her.

Later in the afternoon we headed to a friends house to help get ready for the evenings house church session and spent the rest of the evening there in a wonderful time of fellowship and study.

At about 8:30 we left, with the addition of another child (Sarah's best friend) and headed to First Baptist Arnold to meet my sister's family for fireworks.  They had a good show and the kids were happy to finally see fireworks live, even though the wind was blowing our way and we were all rubbing ash out of our eyes by time the night was over.  On the way home I found out that the girls (Sarah and her friend) are no good whatsoever at the quiet game!  I kept hearing this from the backseat.  "Let's play the quiet game.  Ready, Set, Go!" Then there would be two seconds of silence followed by giggling and, "That didn't count, let's try again."  Then repeat the above scenario about 20 more times.  It was hilarious.

Needless to say we got to bed late last night, but the day was full and well worth it.

Shannon

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• Jul. 4, 2009
4th of July

Happy 4th July everyone.  It is such a blessing to live in this country.  What a wonderful blessing to live in freedom.  Happy 233rd birthday America!

We celebrated this Independance Day simply.  We slept in due to the wonderful darkness created by the rain.  We had a fantastic BBQ lunch with Jay's mom and half-sister.  Later in the afternoon since the sun had come out my daughter convinced me to get in the pool with her.  The experience could only be called CHILLING!  The water was 68 degrees and while she was swimming and doing all kinds of flips in the water, I only stood there trying not to become a popsicle.  When I could stand no more we came in for leftovers for dinner and got ready to go out to see fireworks. 

Someone seemed to have lost their mind this year and all of our local firework displays happened last night!  Whoever heard of shooting of 4th of July fireworks on the 3rd of July!!!  Luckily we found this out before we drove out to see them.  So we decided to end the 4th of July sitting on the couch with homemade brownies and watching the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.

Hope your 4th of July has been great.  Don't forget to thank God for the blessing of living in this great country.

Shannon

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• Jul. 2, 2009
Unbridled Joy

I am currently watching my daughter and her best friend play Horseopoly.  They are giggling and laughing at the silliest things, and naming all their horses.  It is fun to watch!  They are showing full expressions of joy and it is contagious as I sit here smiling and watching them.

It has been another fun but busy week.  This week started with surgery to remove a cyst on my shoulder.  That went well and I am healing nicely. 

The night of my surgery Sarah and I went to the Muny to see "Annie".  It was fantastic.  I felt great and thanks to my wonderful husbands 'taxi service' I did not have to drive.  The show was great and the weather was perfect.

We have been taking it pretty easy this week since then.  Yesterday we visited my parents and today we went to my daughter's friend's band concert.  It was a lot of fun and we decided to kidnap the kids after the concert and bring them back to our house.  Some of them were even brave enough to get into our new pool.  (The old one got several holes in it and we had to start new.  It is still filling up and the water is REALLY COLD!  But you just can't keep kids out of water.  They had fun.

Shannon

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• Jun. 26, 2009
What a week!

What a week!  This particular week is always a doozy but it seemed to be even more so this year. 

This week is VBS.  Our church does VBS at night which I like because I still have the full day to get things done.  However VBS and the homeschool conference always fall in the same week.  Always, without fail.  Therefore we miss two nights of VBS.  VBS has gone well this week and I have enjoyed working with the 1st graders again.  Timmy really likes his class, they made pancakes last night!  Sarah enjoyed her class as well although she only made 2 of the 5 nights with the homeschool conference and tonight she is going to a Cardinal game!  Lot's of fun for her, she is also going to the Magic House today!  One more night of VBS tonight and things will settle down a bit.

The homeschool conference was great as always.  The only downside to this year was that I got a booth to sell my book at therfore I did not get to sit in on any of the workshops in person.  I bought lots of CD's as a result!  The speakers were all great although Voddie Baucham was my favorite by far.

This Sunday night starts our summer of Sunday evening House church which we are co-hosting again this year.  This is always a great time (and a great incentive to keep the house clean!)

I will be somewhat glad when next week starts, although it begins with surgery to remove a small benign cyst off my shoulder Monday morning and Sarah and I going to the Muny to see Annie Monday night!  Yeah, you could pray about that if you'd like!  Nothing boring at our house!

Shannon

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• Jun. 13, 2009
Swagbucks

I have talked to you about Swagbucks before but I wanted to let you know that I just got my first reward for being a part of it! I chose a $10 Starbucks gift card as my first prize, but you can choose anything from baseball cards to i-phones! (The amount of swagbucks you have to earn are obviously different based on the prize you choose!)

Seriously, if you haven't signed up yet you really should. All you have to do is search through the swagbucks search engine to earn swagbucks. It's that simple! They also have other ways to earn swagbucks like codes they post on places like Facebook and Twitter, but I earned most of mine just by searching.

You can visit Swagbucks by clicking on the "Search and Win" referral box in my sidebar! Enjoy your searching!

Shannon

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• Jun. 10, 2009
Slowing down

Life is finally starting to slow down around here!  We are doctor/dentist visit free till the end of the month (Lord willing) and we are fully enjoying it.  After 3 weeks straight of at least 2 doctor/dentist visits a week it is a nice change.

One of the unexpected doctor visits we had was for my shoulder.  I have a small cyst that has been there for quite some time but it got infected all of the sudden.  The infection is now gone but I have to have the cyst removed.  Most of these things can be done in the doctor or surgeon's office, but just because I am so special  I have to have it done in the hospitial.  It figures, last year after we took Timmy to the ER I had to go to the hospital for gall bladder surgery.  This year Timmy went to the ER for a myster leg issue and here I am, scheduled for surgery again!  At least this surgery is not so invasive and it is scheduled for June 29th.

On a more fun note we got our pool up and running.  We moved it from it's previous location so it will get more sun and less tree debris.  We are excited about the prospect of warmer water, if it would just stop raining!

Looking forward to the slower pace of summer....

Shannon

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• May. 28, 2009
Stay At Home Mom? -- Hah!!!!!

Who is it that thought up the title "Stay At Home Mom" for the women who don't work outside the home?  I have not been home for two days in a row for the past 3 weeks!  Gratefully this is not normal for our lives, but it seems to be a recent trend.  In the past week we have been to the oral surgeon twice and the orthodontist once.  Then I had to throw in a doctor's visit for myself unexpectedly.  We've been to graduation parties, funerals, church and other general errand running. 

Tomorrow I will be home (at least as far as I know) but then off again on Saturday and Sunday.  I was looking forward to maybe being home all next week but we have one more follow-up to the oral surgeon next Tuesday.  Who knows the next time I will have two days at home in a row.  So for now, if someone asked me, "Do you work outside the home or stay at home?"  I would have to laugh and say neither!

Shannon 

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• May. 24, 2009
The 21 Rules of This House

We have this list posted on the refrigerator in our kitchen.  Many people ask me if they can have a copy when they are at our house so I thought I would post it here.

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• Apr. 24, 2009
So quiet!

My house is so quiet right now!  Sarah finished the last of her school work yesterday.  She got so motivated that she finished everything three weeks early!  Since she finished we decided to make today testing day.  So, little brother is at Grandmas house and I am administering her acheivement test.  There is not a sound in the house besides the clock ticking.  It is a very, very rare treat!  I so rarely have this much quiet time to think that I don't know what to do with myself.

Shannon

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• Apr. 17, 2009
I'm still here!

It seems like a very long time since I have posted anything here, yet the time has been flying by.  We have been in a whirlwind of dentist/oral surgeon/orthodontist appointments for Sarah and the $$$$$$$$$$$$ Cha-Ching!!!!! sound is starting to get daunting!  All I can say is she had better have perfect (if not gold plated) teeth when this is all said and done!   She should have braces on her teeth in June.  In the mean-time she has a couple fillings to get and a couple teeth to be pulled by the oral surgeon.  Fun times!

We are already nearing the end of our official school year.  Sarah got really motivated and decided to cram.  She has probably shaved a couple weeks off her schedule by doing so!  On top of that she is doing well, she is really getting a handle on the math concepts that have tripped her up in the past.  She has always been good at math (though she didn't believe she was) but getting certain things to stick was a different story.  It is neat to see how the light has dawned for her is this area.

Timothy is currently marching around me singing "Onward Christian Soldiers".  It is so cute.  He love to say the pledge of Allegiance and sing God, Bless America and Onward Christian Soldiers.  I hope to have a video posted soon.  He turns all goofy when he knows the camera is on!  He is quite the ham.  The problem is that he wants to watch himself on the camera.  He doesn't quite get the fact that he actually has to perform something for me to record before he can watch it!

We just finished our Easter concert at church and it was a wonderful, worshipful experience.  Now we are working full steam ahead toward the children's musical!  It is only one month away!  Those words excite and terrify me all at the same time!  This weekend however we are looking forward to a marriage conference that our church is hosting.

Deal-seeking is still a passion of mine and I have been enjoying the challenge of keeping our weekly budget to $50 or less.  You can read here, all about my money saving mission. 

Now I must do what I am not passionate about...clean the house. 

Shannon

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• Mar. 31, 2009
Home again

The conference is over and it was a lot of fun.  I got to see many people that I had not seen in a while and my booth was right next to a spiritually like-minded lady so we had good conversations during the lulls when people were attending workshops.

I was able to talk to a lot of people about my book, I even sold several so that was good.  I look forward to my next conference in June.  

Sarah helped me out on Thursday and Friday and I missed her on Saturday, especially since I was missing her compete at Awana Games!  She did great though and had a great time.  

Now my goal is to find my house again under the pile of rubble that accumulated while I was out of the house almost everyday last week!  What fun!

Shannon 

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• Mar. 26, 2009
Homeschool Conference

I am currently sitting at my very first vendor booth at the Greater St. Louis Homeschool Expo!  So exciting!  Hopefully it will be a productive weekend and I will be able to sell all of the books I just published!  The only downside to this venture is not being able to attend the workshops.  I get so much encouragement out of all the wonderful speakers.  If you are planning on visiting the expo please stop by and see me.  I am on the third floor.

Shannon

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• Mar. 25, 2009
A long day!

Today has been long already, and there is a long way still to go!  Got up at 5:30 (and got the kids up) for a garage sale with a friend today!  I don't believe that it is biblical to get up before God turns the lights on!  We had a good sale and I was glad to do it with a friend, it really made the time pass faster, and kept me from falling asleep!

After the sale it was off to Sarah's dentist appointment.  Unfortunately for our budget that dentist appointment is going to lead to several more appointments with the dentist, orthodontist and oral surgeon!

Now it is off to children's choir practice followed by two hours of adult choir practice!  It will be almost 10pm before I get back to my house tonight!  I want to go to sleep just thinking about it! 

Tomorrow begins the Homeschool convention where I will be selling my book.  I am very excited about that, although a little sad when I think that I will be sitting in a vendor booth instead of getting to go to the workshops.  And Jay Wile will be there too.  I haven't heard him speak since Sarah was 3.  He got me all excited about homeschooling and about Jr. High and High School science.  Now that Sarah is actually going into Jr. High I won't be able to go and hear him speak!  Oh, well.

I think I shall rest now for the next 20 minutes before the rush starts again.

Shannon

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• Mar. 19, 2009
Zoo Trip

Yesterday we took a trip to the zoo with our friends.  It was a great day for it and we finished our trip with a picnic at Art Hill.   What a blast.  You can see the pictures here.

Zoo Slide Show

Shannon

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• Mar. 19, 2009
What a mess.

So I found out that moving your photos around into different albums on Photobucket messes up all the places that they were posted.  Please be patient with me as I get everything straightened out.

Shannon

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