Baby A was born on March 17, 2009 at about 2am! The only one of my babies to be born in the middle of the night! The others were all at 7:05, 9:02 & 7:45 pm. Daddy caught her in the bathroom floor 3 minutes before the midwife arrived! LOL She will be 3 months old tomorrow! Hard to believe it has been so long since I have posted on here! Sorry! She will be dedicated by her Great Granddady soon, along with her cousins Zo & M! We are so looking forward to that one! I have all the curric for next school year all ready! We will be setting up NB's and starting to plan out the school year in the next few weeks ;) I am working out, losing weight & inches and gaining muscle! I got a Moby Wrap from www.Mom4life.com for Mothers Day and Baby A and I both LOVE it! If you have a little one I TOTALLY recommend this product. I just finished reading a really great book and am thinking of having a contest on here in the next few months to give 1 away. It is called WHat Southern Women Know ABout Faith by Ronda Rich. Well, I need to go check on the laundry and feed the baby! TTYS I hope! Rachel

Let's see.  I am 35 weeks pregnant now and the baby is measuring 37 weeks.  School is going well, except we can not find DD8's math test book.  Not that it's all that big of a deal really but I was actually planning for her to to test on this lesson.  Oh well.  I am sure it will turn up.  I know that she did not hide it anywhere b/c she wouldn't do that. 

I am looking at creating new chore chart as we have not had any in a while and it shows in attitudes and in the appearance (in the house).  I am also looking at changing our school routine again (new baby, new routine).  Dh has it set up now so that I can do lots of work for him from home so that will help a LOT.  We are potty training DS22 months right now too (I know, I'm nuts! LOL).

My sister had her baby on December 30.  She weighed 5 pounds 7 ounces.  Today she weighs 9 pounds and 14 ounces, and is 21 inches long.  I cannot remember how long she was at birth honestly.  she is only being nursed, no formula.

the chickens are doing well except that one has decided to pick on the other 2 but is meanest to one specific one.  We are trying to figure out how to deal with that.

Well, DS needs to potty so I better run!

~ Rachel

This looks great, I know my kids would love to have this.  Check it out at: FreelyEducate.com.

~ Rachel

Hello Everyone!  Hope your Christmas and New Year's celebrations were wonderful!  We were very busy during ours :)  We left home on December 21st and headed to Illinois for about half a day then left there on the 22nd for Virginia.  We got in there stayed at my parents house until the 29th.  While in Virginia we spent Christmas Eve at my mom's parents house.  On Christmas morning we opened gifts with my parents, sister and her hubby at Mom and Dad's, later that afternoon we all went down to my dad's parents home.  On the 29th we drove to Ohio to visit with DH's grandma for a few days.  We then returned to Virginia on New years Eve because my sweet little sister decided to wait until I left Virginia to go into labor!  LOL  So, we returned to meet Zoey Jane who weighed 5 pounds 7 ounces at birth on December 30th at 12:07pm.  She was 18 1/12 inches long, has dark hair like her daddy and gray blue eyes.  She is an absolute doll!  Our kids loved meeting her.  DD8 would not let go of her and DS20 months had a great time looking at her and kissing her.  We never could get him to say Zoey, he calls her baby :)  We have no pics of her yet.  We stayed there for a day and helped out.  We then left Virignia for Illinois and stayed there for a day.  While there DH experienced great pain in one of his tooth to the point that he had an emergency appointment 45 minutes away from his sisters house!  The dentist was wonderful and quick, he started a root canal and placed a medicated filling in there for now.  He needs to go see our dentist within 4-6 weeks.  We also had Christmas there :)  We left for home on Sunday and arrived safely that night!  We are glad to be home but now we are taking care of the issue of unpacking the car without losing the house!   We will be having Christmas again this coming weekend, this time with DH's parents!  LOL  I'd tell ya what I got Mom but she might read this;)  LOL 

Oh a few more interesting things to note :)
Mom and Dad videoconferenced us via Skype from my sisters hospital room so we could be there for a few minutes of labor (she was in labor for 15 hours).  They were helping my sister and her hubby buy a house too.  So when Zoey was born they were at closing and passed around the camera phone with her picture!  LOL  (they said that was a first for them, the people doing the closing)  The hospital also said that it was a first for them to have a video feed during labor ;)  I was talking to one of the nurses via the feed.  Once Mom and Dad got back to the hospital, they videoconferenced us so we could see Zoey.  Zoey's apgar scores were 9 @ 1 minute and 9 @ 5 minutes. She did the best on her hearing tests out of all the newborns that day :)   Oh and at 5am this morning I woke up and could not find DS20months!  DH and I began searching the house for him, I found him in the first place I should have looked but it was the very last - his siblings room!  LOL  he ws in there playing.  We took him back to our room and made him lay in our bed and go back to sleep!  i guess we all need to do some adjusting to the time!

While in VA I was able to meet with my friend, Friday, whose DH has cancer.  She is not doing well herself (diziness, faintness, thrush, exhaustion from taking care of Robbie and their 4month old DD).  She has a drs appointment today.  Pleas continnue to rpay fro them both, he has another round of chemo Wednesday.  The dr has suggested hospice. 

We also met with another friend of ours, that we have not seen since the last VA trip.  He is engaged and planning to get married in Jamaica, I dont remember when though :)  Obviously we wil not be making that one ;)  LOL 

We were bummed not to be able to see everyone this trip but such is life with a large family that grows larger every year.  It was wonderful to see those that we did get to see though :)  And we are looking forward to visits from those who have "threatened" a visit soon :)

This week we will be spent cleaning kids bedrooms and rearranging them (still) and bringing in everything from the car and grocery shopping and planing school to start back up next week and going to the midwife and basically life!

Well, I better run and get the laundry started :)

~ Rachel

I received this email tonight from an *old* friend.  I have known her for 28 years now!  She and Robbie (her DH of only 3 or 4 years) have a 3 month old DD named Micah.  Also, they recently found out that her mother has Alzheimers.  Thanks ladies!
~ Rachel

Good evening all!  We got another round of bad news today. For those of you who don't know Robbie was back in the hospital last Wednesday through Friday.  They ended up drawing some fluid off of his lungs and sending it off for biopsy.  The fluid came back positive for cancer cells.  The same cancer cells floating around his abdomen.  His liver is still not functioning properly and now his cancer Dr is saying they are not sure his body will tolerate the chemo if we try it.   The chemo could in fact kill him before the cancer does.
They put him on a home pain pump today and are trying to keep him as comfortable as possible at home.  By next week a decision has to be made by his cancer Dr about whether or not to take the risk of chemo and we have to make the decision of whether or not we want to take the risk.
 
We are now deeper in the valley than ever and we are having a hard time taking it all in.  We've gone through a whole range of emotions over the last few months and now we are left mostly with anger and sadness.  The physical part of this battle has been horrible enough on Robbie, now the emotional part of it is ripping through BOTH of us.
 
We need your PRAYERS!   Not only for strength and peace through this but also for wisdom for both us and his Dr's.  We are still praying and asking God for a miracle and for healing but every time we think nothing else can happen and that we've rounded a corner something new pops up.  Our faith is wearing thin I'm afraid.  So please, please, PRAY!!
 
Love,
Friday

Actually, I was tagged last week and am just now taking the time out to answer ;)

My Tagger:  Chasity

The Rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know he or she has been tagged. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1 - I always wanted black streaks in my blonde hair (you know like highlights).  Closest I ever got was mascara ;)

2 - I have always wanted to live in the country in an old farm house with a wrap around porch. Not there yet, but I do have 3 chickens!

3 - I always knew I would have 4 kids, 2 boys & 2 girls.  So far I have known what every single baby was before the US told us.  We will see on Nov. 14th (if baby cooperates) if I am correct on this one.

4 - My favorite thing to wear is blue jeans and a t-shirt and if the right temp a flannel jacket (if you knew me you would be a bit shocked), but I have to look cute and girlie at the same time :)  For shoes I prefer flip flops or some sort of sandals.

5 - I am not ready for my 18 month old to have his own room and sleep in a big boy bed. I think he is ready for the toddler bed though - we will start with naptimes.  I will miss having him in our room but I know it will be better for him.  It just takes a while to reorganize things for us all to fit in our home ;)

6 - I LOVE a fire in the fireplace (but when it is only in the 40's for the high outside it just does not do what is needed to warm the whole house!).

~ Rachel

I am tagging: (picking these at random here):

http://homeschoolblogger.com/Sweetie/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/Ally78/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/momofsix/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/ByHisGraceInColorado/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/Lilangels/

http://homeschoolblogger.com/socalval

                DS9 & DD8 both have NB's with my parents who live in VA.  We just got them in the mail today.  Both of my parents wrote to both kids.  My li'l pregnant sister also wrote to DS9 but forgot to write to DD8. Oh well.  Anyway, for the lessons.  Dad told DS9 that he would give him $2 for every misspelled word that he found and highlighted, so DS got out his dictionary and went to town!  LOL  DD8 had to find & correct punctuation mistakes so she got out her Grwing with Grammar grade 3 text book and went to town.  They both earned about $16!  I did give some hints on what to look for.  They had a great time and it made for a great lesson.  And the notes that Dad wrote them (yes, I read them - the kids gave me permission) were great too :)   

                 DD8 is on lesson 28 in Math U See Beta.  She missed 8 out of 12 on Monday, really silly mistakes (she told me she had been tired when doing her math).  Tuesday she missed 4 out of 12.  Today she missed 0!  I am so proud of her!  She has not done that in a long time.  she asked me if she could skip to the next lesson, I told her sure.  It is more of the same so we will see how she does.  I know whe will breeze right through the last 2 lessons in the book as well (graphing, gauges & thermometers). I went ahead and ordered her Gamma student books today.

                Well, the kids are wanting to go out and play with their friend so I better go take charge of the baby boy ;)

~ Rachel

	DAILY SCHEDULE
Date:
Time:	Person:	Activity:
6:30	Mom:	Up, Snack, Walk
7:15	Mom:	Shower, Dress
7:30	Mom:	DS17mo up & ready for day
	DD8:	Shower, Dress, Brush Teeth, Brush Hair
	DS9:	Brush Teeth, Get Dressed
8:00	Mom:	Fix Breakfast
	DS9 or DD8:	Feed & Water dog &Chickens
	DS9 or DD8:	Egg Check, Water Garden
	DS17mo:	Cup of Milk, Play
8:30	ALL	Eat Breakfast
9:00	Mom:	Prep for Bible Study
	DS9 & DD8:	Dishes
	DS17mo:	Play
9:30	ALL	Bible Study
		Verses:
		About:
10:00	Mom:	Laundry (rotate / fold & put away) / play w/DS17mo
	DD8:	ASL	Spanish	computer lesson
	DS9:	Math	Video	&	worksheet
	DS17mo:	Play
10:30	Mom:	Daily Zone clean / play with DS17mo
	DD8:	Math	Video	&	worksheet
	DS9:	ASL	Spanish	computer lesson
	DS17mo:	Play
11:00	Mom:	Play with DS17MO / help DS9 or DD8 with whatever they need help with
	DS9 & DD8:	3 pages ETC, 1 Lesson WWUSA, 2 pages GDIC
	DS17MO:	Play
11:30	Mom:	Fix Lunch
	Kids:	Play Outback
12:00	ALL	Eat Lunch
12:30	Mom:	DS17MO down for nap
	DS17Mo:	Nap
	DS9 & DD8:	Dishes
								Page 1
1:00	ALL	Rest / Pray / Read Bible
1:30	ALL	Wisdom Words:
		Creative Writing:
		Spelling:
2:15	Social Studies:
	Science:
3:00	ALL	Daily	Zone1	Entrance, Front Porch, Dining Room
		Zone	Zone 2	Kitchen
		Clean	Zone 3	Bathroom & 1 extra room (basement)
			Zone 4	Bedrooms
			Zone 5	Living Room
3:30	ALL	Snack	(DS17MO up / diaper change)
4:00	ALL	Read Together
4:30	ALL	Fold & Put Away Laundry
5:00	ALL	Family Time
6:00	Mom:	Fix Dinner
	Kids:	Set Table
6:30	ALL	Dinner
7:00	ALL	Family Time
8:00	Mom:	Give DS17Mo Bath
	DS9&DD8:	Odyssey & work on room
8:30	Mom:	Put DS17mo to bed
	DD8:	Pajamas on, brush hair & teeth, prepre clothes for morning shower
	DS9	Shower, Dress for bed, brush teeth
	DS17Mo:	Bed
9:00	Mom:	Prepare for school tomorrow
	DS9 & DD8:	Bed
NOTES:
								Page 2

I have been working on this for a few weeks now.  We will see how it works out.  We will be starting out tomorrow all of us trying it out completely.  We do about half of it all ready as a routine.  I am not so sure how  will work out or us right now though.  It seems that baby #4 is goign to be the truly odd one and cause me morning sickness.  I never expereinced this before, I mean with DD8 I did expereince nausea so that I had to eat crackers when I woke up in the morning but this is more than that.  I have actually been throwing up (more bile or spit than puke though).  Today was a good day so I am hoping that a ew days of this was all I am going to experience this time.  I had my first appt. with th midwife last Monday.  We did a sonogram.  I was dating 10 weeks on the day and the baby was measuring 11 weeks 3 days (normal for me).  Next appt. is on Sept. 29, will probably just listen to baby's heartbeat that day and do another U/S closer to Thanksgiving.  The chickens are all laying now so we are getting 3 eggs a day and so far have had 4 double yolkers!  Hmmm....that is our pdate here.  I need to go to bed!  I am a few hours late with bedtime right now, we started Pirates of the Caribean a little too late tonight but we had to get the chickens into the coop first ;)

See ya later this week, I am sure, with the BFS assignment for the week :)

~ Rachel

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling.  Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back.  Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

Honestly, I LOVE homeschooling the kids.  This week is an example why.  DS9 has strep and we can still learn but in a modified, less booky, way.  We can read & watch videos and legos and the like.  I have never wanted to ship my kids off to school or threatened to put them on the "cheese wagon" as it drives by.  Why did we ever call it that?!?  LOL  We started homeschooling in preschool.  DH was not too sure about it so it was a trial, but I KNEW it would last.  DH now praises homeschooling and we have teachable moments in the car, at dinner or wherever. One reason that DH decided it wuld be good is because we have a small business that we travel for, sometimes as a family.  If the kids were in public school we could not decide ont he spur of the moment to go on a family trip every few months or to send the kids with Dad on a business trip.  We started with Weaver Interlock from AOP.com.  We are using Weaver Volume 2 this year. I LOVE that it is Bible based.  My goal is to raise God fearing men and women that can lead for Christ in whatever capacity he chooses for them.  I am not sure how much my own school experience really plays into my decision to homeschool. I started school (preK - 4th) at a private school at the church I got married at.  5th - 12th I was in public school.  I did not like most of my teachers, some I downright just did not get along with b/c of the things they were teaching.  I did have a few GREAT ones that I LOVE to this day and even invited 1 to my wedding (she taught my DH too)!  I did not have all the aweful experiences that you read about many people having in school.  I did have some pretty messed up friends, and I am still friends with some of them today, but I chose not to do all the things they were doing and hoenstly they would not allwo me to either.  One friend that I stil speak to today I met in Pre-K!  I NEVER have days where I regret this decision or wish I could ship them off to someone else.  I really don't, I know many people do not beleive that.  They say that EVERYONE has days where they question their decision.  I honestly have never questioned it.  Sometimes I do wish I had more time to me, but that is more being able to go to the bathroom or take a shower without someone wanting to talk to me about legos or some commercial on TV ;)  LOL  The only thing I do wish / pray for my kids is that they had more friends.  But I believe God will send them when He knows they need them the most.

My FAVE Bible verse is:

Philipians 4:13

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

 ~ Rachel

P.S. If you are participating in BFS and you comment, please be sure to leave a link to yourblog so I may put 2 +2 together ;)  Thanks!

Just a quick prayer request.  Poor DS9 has strep throat  :(   He started 
feeling a bit rough on Thursday am but nothing to be too concerned 
about. He suddenly had a fever of 102.1 on Saturday am.  I took him into 
an emergency care facility run by the hospital this morning with a temp 
of 102.9.  He has strep.  He has started his amox. and is taking a nap 
right now (as is DS16Mo). (DD8 & Daddy are out with Grandpa right 
now).  Please pray that he starts to feeling better soon and the the 
rest of us do not catch this!  The dr. said that DS16Mo is in the gray 
are of possibly still be covered by my immunity from being nursed so 
that helps a bit.  Well, I have a headache (not enough sleep and some 
sinus thing I mght have I think - I have been sneezing a lot today).  
So, I am going to go take a nap or a shower.

Thanks for the prayers!

Rachel

Hi Everybody!  I have joined BFS againt his year!   I am also participating in the back to school giveaway for nature study matierials :)   As I told Tamara, I hope to make the time to be able to enjoy it this year!  At least until March when I start prepping for th enew baby!  LOL

Let me know if you have signed up too :)

~ Rachel

We are finishing up week 2 of Weaver Volume 2 tomorrow.  Things have gone well.  I made the DS9 & DD8 assignment sheets for the things that they can do without me (Which Way USA, math, memory verse, daily writing, handwriting, Explode the Code, music, ASL, Spanish) and they have done a wonderful job of it!  The stuff that we need to cover together (Bible, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts, Creative Writing) we do either just before I lay own with DS1 for his (our) nap and I tell them what they can read while I am resting  or we cover it after DS1 lays down for his nap without me.  it just depends on how tired I am that day ;)  I am very impressed with how well they are doing with getting their days started and getting the work done!  I know that I am not being the best example of how to do that right now (even though the latest I get up is9!)  It sure is great that DH does not have to leave for work until 10:30 or so! 

The chickens are doing well.  They hold their own pretty well against the 3 kids and the dog!  Although last weekend my new lovely patio really was not all that lovely if you know what I mean?!? 

DS1 won a prize from the library's reading program he was so excited to pick it up.  Ours is purple though (not the Spanish version though).  He has one at Grandma's house but now he has his own here at our house and I did not have to buy it!  Wonder what Daddy will say when he gets home and sees one more noisy plastic kid toy in the house? Fortunatley he also likes to play with this toy at Grandma's and again I did not have to pay for it!  LOL

The heat wave has finally broke here and it was only in the 70's today and it has been raining off and on for a few days - it is wonderful! 

I am feeling pretty rough so I better go lay down for a bit. 

Oh, my friend, Shalom (the one I had been asking for prayer for her and her DH that was going throuh chemo) had her baby girl today!  Please keep them in prayer.  They had to induce Shalom on Wednesday am b/c of pre-eclampsia and then they had to take the baby today (Thursday) via c-section around 2. They are both doing well, just very tired.  Shalom is a little bummed that she had to have a c though.

~ Rachel 

This looks really exciting :)  Chek it out at: http://www.hotmconference.com/

~ Rachel

So, the other morning I was dreaming about being in this weird building.  I mean, it was a gazillion floors high and every floor looked like a different version of a Dr. suess book, not the characters mind you just the odd decor and the design of the steps.  I found myself almost crawling up the stairs holding on to the rails for dear life.  you could not see through the stairs or anything like that but I was afraid.  See, I am afraid of heights (& so is 1DS9), deathly afraid.  I can, at times, ride roller coasters - at least I have been known to in the past.  But I don't like going up (or down) stairs if it a very tall stair case or if you can see through the stairs - that one REALLY bothers me!  The last *set* of stairs that really bothered me is at Bishop Castle in CO.  DS & I came back down while DD & DH made it all the way to the top.   Wait, I take that back, that was not the last one to really bother me, the last one was a lighthouse in FL.  I came back down though because the steps started getting too steep and I kept hitting my pregnant belly as I walke dup them so I used that as an excuse to come back down.  My MIL came back down with me while the kids went up with their dad and grandpa.  Anyway, when I woke I had the realization that I am not afraid of the heights I am afraid of falling from those heights!  It only took me 32 years to fully put that one together!  LOL  So, then I started thinking that it really is not a fear of falling from ridiculously high places but it is a matter of trust.  Where is my trust?  If my dad or my Dh had built the place would I trust the steps more because I know the builder?  Very likely.  I trust my husband with most everything but there are still things I am afraid to trust him with (like scheduling my day out for me).  So, then I started thinking about God.  Yep, you knew that was coming didn't you?  Do I trust Him completely with every aspect of my life?  Obviously not, if I did I would not have any fears whatsoever would I?  So, now I am searching out my fears trying see what I am really afraid of and turnign those fears over to God, trusting Him moment by moment with my life and the lives of those I hold so dear (that one is so much harder for me).  Now, I have not been anywhere with ridiculously high staircases since then, and I don't plan to search them out either,  but I know next time I am climbing them I will think of God and the trust I have in Him. Now, will I ever make it to the top of Bishop's Castle?  I am going to say that is an empahtic no.  See, I also beleive that God gave us common sense and for me it is not sensible to try to make it to the top.  Do I need to fear those steps?  Nope!  Many people have climbed those stairs and descended via those same stairs but I likely will not be one of them  Maybe God will prompt me to climb them to prove that I have given Him my life fully....maybe....

~ Rachel

OK, flipping through the parade magazine in today's paper I saw a small article on homeschooling and the stuff that happened in CA.  They are taking a vote on whether or not parents need teaching credentials to homeschool their children.

go to www.parade.com to vote

~ Rachel

Check out Stacy's blog for a great Mother's Day contest :)

~ Rachel