WHEW! I made it through the first full week of working at the ballpark. The learning curve was huge the first 3 games. I worked my own cart one night and sold $140 worth of desserts to the public plus serving 3 suites. It was an exhausting, but fun experience. My $ and cash register receipts worked out perfectly but my inventory didn't match. The paperwork to figure it all out was challenging to say the least. I worked with 3 different ladies for on the job training over the 5 nights and 1 day game. I learned good tips from each of them.  The greatest thing I learned is that all of these ladies have unique challenges in life and are in need of a Savior. Some of them wear their need on the outside, several of them don't show the need until they really start sharing their story. I have gone to bed at night praying for them. They have accepted me as one of the team, most have made me feel welcome. I am trying my best to serve and love them as my Savior would want to do.

Home life is good. The dishes, meals and laundry are being kept up with well. The boys are doing their normal chores and their summer school this week, ie: Bible, Math and Reading. Ben is "Shakespeare's Scribe" right now. Kenny is still reading his Abeka readers and doing well right now.  The hardest adjustment for me- the boys and Darin are in bed asleep when I get home, Darin lets me sleep in since I am not getting home until 11:30-11:45 PM and I don't fall right asleep like he does. So we only saw each other sleeping for 3 days. FInally on Thursday AM, he awoke me thinking that I had to go to work by 7AM, no I need to be there at 10AM. He worked from home that day and I worked at the game from 10-4PM. That would have been a really long day at home for the boys. I will be working on that for the next day game in 2 weeks. :)

Jasmine's graduation photos have been ordered, the invitations will be printed today and she is working on address labels tonight. So that will be a good task completed by tomorrow afternoon.

Darin took the boys fishing 2 different nights this week. The boys and I planted Basil, Zinnia seeds and bought a Fern and a perinnal flower plant to add to our landscaping flowers. We visitied the Domes to complete our Botany science study on Monday.Ben has been jogging twice this week while Kenny rides this bike. Ben caught a 10 inch Bass while trolling but it was smaller than the 14 inch minimum. The boys helped me dust, vaccum and sweep, mop today so we are off this afternoon to see "Prince Caspian" at a matinee showing. Then I have a scrapbooking crop tonight at church. I am looking forward to doing something fun with  my friends tonight.

Ben is making lunch for us, then we off to Walgreens to buy movie candy. :)

Let us know what is going on with your lives this week-

Love-Sarah

Our little girl is no longer little and is a gorgous young lady. She and her handsome Dad attended the Red Carpet Premiere Homeschool Dance on Friday, May 2nd. She looked beautiful in her orange tafetta gown that her Grandma Theo bought her while her parents were in New York City. Jas and Dad went to Mader's downtown for a genuine German dinner.

As a Senior, she was recognized and given a "Star" of honor. They had a wonderful time and took 100+ photos. Yes, homeschoolers know how to socialize and have a great fun evening.

Our next big event is her graduation. We attended the 1st mandatory meeting last night, got her cap and gown, honor tassle and signed her diploma. We have a powerpoint presentation to create for her party on the 8th of June and a display board to decorate for the graduation ceremony on Saturday, the 7th of June. She has invitations to finish, adddress and mail and a new dress she wants to make for graduation and it will also count for the Fair.

She has 2 more weeks of classes. Her most complex speech, a 7-10 minute persuasive speech was Wed. She did great even though she chose a tough topic of  " Persuading her audience that Homeschooling is a viable option for parents to choose for their children's education." She has to critique herself on all her 7 speeches and write an essay about her speeches as her final which is due Monday.

The boys and I have about 3 more weeks of full school left. After June 1st, we will pare it down to Math and Reading each day. Ben has a quilt pillowcase to make, a Fishing educational Display, an art project to finish and his model DC-8 airplane to finalize- it is all glued together, now comes all the finishing touches and decals which we will have to create ourselves. He is creating a NASA DC-8 model. We can't find any NASA decals so we bought decal paper last night and we will have some Math problems to figure out to make it 1-72 scale.

Kenny is progressing on his reading in the last month. He now reads road signs and tries the billboards at times. The boys and I are just finishing our 1.5 year study of Botany!!!! We have one more chapter to read and discuss, then we will go to the Domes on Monday to review all the plants we studied. I will need to take all their drawings and notes and make a book for each of them.

Ben will start his General Science with Apologia Science in August. Kenny and I are excited to start a new study on all the creatures who were created on the 5th day of creation. I just organized all the notebooking pages last night for that study.

We are finished with our History/Literature/Church History/Geography/Fine Arts for this school year. We will begin studying the 1800's in August, about 2 weeks before Jas leaves for college. Ben listened to the 10+ hours of audiobook "Swiss Family Robinson" over the last few weeks, so Sunday night we watched the Disney version of the movie. After the movie, he and I worked out a compare/contrast worksheet between the movie and the unabridged book. He liked the book much better and we will work on his draft of this paper over the next week or so.

I have to go to work tonight so off to the kitchen I go to make supper at 3:30PM- how strange is that???

Check in again in a few days to see what other interesting things we Kojis' are doing-

Love-Sarah

It is officially gone- the 1998 Oldsmobile Silhouette. It was a great van and we have so many fun memories of vacations taken in that van. It's a luxury vehicle and it was a blessing. But we are in a new season of our lives. Jas is going off to college soon and it will just the 2 boys and I for the majority of the time in the car so we don't "need an 8 passenger van. With the increase in gas prices, she was very costly to fill up each week and being 10 years old- her repairs were getting more and more expensive.

Our goal is to be debt free except the house so we sold her (yes, she is the van) and yesterday bought a used Ford Escort wagon, one year newer than the one we sold last fall to Jasmine. This one is teal green in color, has cruise control, but other than that --this "Jade" is very familiar to us and cost effective in maintenance. We plan to keep this car until we are debt free which makes us smile to think about it.

A gentleman from Watertown bought it the Olds from us this afternoon and we bought "Jade" last night in a huge step of faith that we would sell the Olds today. We got a call on our ad yesterday and 2 this AM before 10AM. By 3:30PM today, we were all amazed and PRAISING the LORD at HIS provision and timing.

Yesterday morning after many phone calls and voice mails, faxes and more phone calls, I got the results of my drug test passed and officially to my new employer. I have new employee training tomorrow night and Thursday night for 4 hours each night. Then a hands-on training meeting and then we are off to the ballgame to work. It is strange to think about working outside of the home after 13 years working in the home but I have a great peace about it and the boys are excited that Mom has a job. They have really gotten into a routine with their chores lately and helping out with meals. This is a new season of life for all of us. My crockpot and I will be best friends very soon. 

The boys did the tree rubbings today- it was so cold outside. We are back to burning wood all day long. They are doing a sketch of our large tree out back in each of the 4 seasons. The buds are already 3 inches long and the green leaves are just barely peeking out.

Thanks for reading this and hope you enjoyed our little update. It's been a very busy 2 days already!

Love,

Sarah

What a wonderous day today has been!!!

I have had a headache, jaw ache, a migraine or Vertigo for the last 24 days since returning from our trip to New York City. I was diagnosed with TMD last week.  Temporomandibular Disorder- otherwise known as TMJ. The pain that I have been experienced for the last 4 years are the same Myofascial trigger points of the head and neck of TMD symptoms. So I have hope in feeling better soon. I am seeing Ben's orthodontist for this condition and have great trust in this man's plan for my treatment.

We worked on our Science study- BOTANY today. We are studying Tree layers and tree identification. Ben commented on how he had studied the heartwood of the logs he split the other night. They will be doing bark rubbings next week. We are enjoying watching the Horsechestnut tree bud this week.

I am enjoying feeling good today so I baked brownies this AM while Kenny did his math online. After lunch, I made dinner roll dough in the bread machine. It will be ready in a few minutes for me to shape into rolls. We are having Salsbury Steak, Squash, Stuffing, carrot sticks and dinner rolls. Should be a good meal.

We have a workday at church tomorrow morning and a dedication of our conference room in honor of the former head of our Missions committee. He passed away about 7 years ago and is greatly missed.

The bread machine just beeped that it is ready for me. So I am back to the kitchen!

Love- Sarah

Take me out to the ballgame!

Jasmine is now employed with the Corporation in charge of all catering, concessions and luxury suites food items. She is a runner who delivers food and beverages to the 71 luxury suites. She is working 6 out of the 7 homestand games. She is very busy between school and working- we rarely see her on homestands. They had a job fair to hire more workers and I interviewed for the Dessert Cart attendent and was hired for the summer season. There is usually 1 day game during the week per each homestand. Ben is old enough to babysit now. I will leave about 1-2 hours before the game starts. Jas needs to get there about 3-5 hours before game time. I will be using the funds to hire a tutor for Ben- his reading speeds needs to increase much faster.

Kenny finished his phonics reading book this morning. He is now reading 5 pages in the Abeka readers and just last night- picked up a book in his room, climbed into bed and started reading all on his own!!! THIS is a huge step in his reading process!!! I was so excited to see him taking the inititive to read! We celebrated by going to the ballgame-just the 2 of us!!! We had such a good time. They handed out BINGO cards for us to track the defensive and offensive plays. It really helped us learn the game and scoreboard plays.

Ben went to work with Dad for the Take your kid to work day. It was strange not having him here with us.

I worked on clearing out the debris around the plants and flowers last night as Ken rode his bike with a neighbor and Ben split wood. It was a little scary to see him with the ax but he is fine and it is a good hand-eye coordination skill to develop and muscles to make stronger.

Our yellow daffodils was just starting to bloom. The poppy flower plant is quite large and the bleeding hearts bush are ready to bloom also. The hostas are just breaking ground.

Dad is preparing for (fishing)Opening Day- May 3rd.

Jas only has 3 more weeks of college classes - she has several more big speeches to give and the Spanish final to study for. The Homeschool Dance is next Friday night. Her dress is gorgous and she is looking forward to her date with Dad that night.

Time to get these boys off to bed and prepare for a "real" schoolwork day. We all enjoyed our break from routine but it will be good to have a "normal" day of school tomorrow.

Blessings- Sarah

Darin just sent me this information from todaystmj4.com

GENERAL MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN MILWAUKEE HAS RECORDED 84.5 INCHES OF SNOW.

THIS AMOUNT RANKS AS THE 4TH SNOWIEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD IN MILWAUKEE.

BELOW IS A LIST OF THE TOP 20 WINTER SEASON SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FOR MILWAUKEE...


RANK   AMOUNT   SEASON

1      109.8    1885-86
2       94.2    1897-98
3       93.3    1959-60
*4*    *84.5*  *2007-08*
5       83.2    1973-74
6       82.9    1978-79
7       82.6    1903-04
8       81.9    1993-94
9       80.8    1922-23
10      80.7    1977-78

The sun is out today and that makes a world of difference. The fire is roaring, keeping us warm. The snow we got over the weekend did not stick on the roads or sidewalks which was a huge blessing. Can I say again that we are ready for spring!  The snow fort is an ice fort inside and out making it no fun to play in. We are ready for it to be gone! Jasmine and Kenny are sick with fever, severe cough and headaches. Chicken noodle soup for them! Ben and I are doing fine so far. Darin awoke with a headache and aches/pains yet this is a very busy day for him at work. He is on-call this week, too. Must be off computer to start mid-morning chores since I am not teaching Kenny today.

Blessings to you all-

Sarah

Looking ahead, there is a chance for snow in the seven-day forecast and more snow likely over the next few weeks. On average, the area picks up an additional 10 inches of snow between March and April, and in this very above-average winter, it will take as little as three inches to push Milwaukee into the top five snowiest on record.--- from http://www.wisn.com/print/15516979/detail.html

We got more snow- just a dusting but still will need to be dealt with. We are due to get more snow tonight as Lake-effect snow again. Thursday, the 13th, we are due to get a larger storm. We may make it into the top 5 snowiest winters on record for Milwaukee, yet.

More update to come another day-

The huge ice glaciers in our yard are starting to recede from the sidewalk even though they are still 3.5-4 feet in height! This week  has been sunny and blue skies. On Wed, Kenny saw that the grass was peeking through, he checked out the temperature, it was a balmy 40 degrees!! So Ben and Kenny donned their winter coats, hats and winter gloves, lifted their bikes from their lofty positions hanging from the garage rafts and rode their bikes up and down the sidewalk for over 30 minutes!

The snowbanks, which are 2-3 feet tall, on the side of the road are receding also. The roads, sidewalks and driveways are now clear, for which we are extremely grateful! They tell us Spring is only 13 days away, but the snowpile in the apartment building parking lot next door is still 7+ Ft. tall. 

Here is info from Today's TMJ4 weather blogger on Feb. 12th

Milwaukee received a record 7.5" on Tuesday which makes a total of 21" so far in February.  After 12 days, that is the 3rd most snow in recorded history only to 22.3" last February and 37" in 1994.  For the season, Milwaukee is now at 75.7" which is almost 40" above normal for this date.  Remember, 52.2"  is normal for an entire winter.  As of right now Milwaukee's snowfall this season is 13th all-time.  We keep inching toward the record of 109.8" from 1886.

We are gathering information for Jasmine's Graduation from High School. We finally have a portrait selected. She is working on designing her invitations and organizing her party.

Ben is working on his collections of patches- he is documenting where he got each one and why. He has gotten about 6 new ones this year and will have to sew them on to his messenger bag soon.

Kenny is anxious to get fishing!!! He is bugging Darin to get their poles and bait ready.

I am ready for Spring cleaning and ready to be done burning wood so we can clean the carpets of all the winter ash. The boys and I did some cleaning out of the schoolroom shelves and found quite a few items to put in the "Craigslist box" that we now need to take photos and get them posted on craigslist.

Next is to go through all the books that we used this year to study from 1492-1789, sort, categorize and store away for the next time which is in 5 years!! We take 2 years to study from the End of Roman Empire, 476 AD to 1789 AD. In Fall, we will begin studying Year 3 of Tapestry of Grace, the 1800's World History. It is a fun year! Ok, they are all fun years, but I really like Year 3.

The boys and I are going in depth through the Constitution which has been very educational for the teacher as well. We studied Article 1 for 2 weeks already. Two of the most interesting items we learned: #1 the authors of the Constitution knew that the slave trade would divide the states so they compromised by having the slave trade become illegal 20 years later. #2 our national debt is currently 9 trillion dollars.

I am off to church for Scrapbooking Ministry tonight! More another day . . .

Darin has been in China for 9 days so far. We are trying to be patient in waiting for his return to us. We both agree that 13 day apart  and half way around the world with a 14 hour time difference is a big challenge, that we hope not to repeat.

We are able to call him on a Chinese cellphone via a 1-800 number. We have great reception from him but half the time he is unable to hear us.

Our schedule is we call him at 9:30pm CST, when the boys are going to bed which is when he is on lunch break at 11:30AM China time. We say our goodnights quickly as he has only a few moments to talk. When we awake in the AM, we call him as it is 9 PM China time. We usually cuddle up on our King sized bed, put the phone on speaker and have a nice family talk for about 10 minutes. When Darin awakes at 6AM local time, Darin uses AOL IM to connect with Sarah. This is usually only 5-10 minutes but it is a time to ask and answer household questions that married couples have. Time always in short supply!

Last night, we received the news that Shanghai is due to get another snow storm on Friday, which is the day he is due to fly home. He leaves at 5:30PM local time which is 3:30AM CST. He is due to arrive in Chicago O'Hara at 5:15PM CST if all goes well. Read below about China's weather and challenges.

Thank you for praying. We believe the LORD is in control of all weather and has the best plan, even if it is not the same as our plans.

This is a wonderful land of snow and adventure for our boys. Darin, however, is wondering why we are living in this land. It is a heavy snow and great for packing and fort building but very hard to shovel. Almost all of our previous snow had melted until this morning. We are grateful for a snowblower that works!

We are the 5Ks: Darin and Sarah, Jasmine, Ben, and Kenny. We hope your Christmas is full of joy, peace, and love.