Food for Thought

Here is yet another reason that I have chosen to Home educate my children and further confirmation that I am doing the right thing. This is a copy of an article written for a newspaper in Kansas about how education in the public schools has declined over the years. It speaks for itself.

- Testing Standards -
Compared to the 8th Grade Test in 1895

Could You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?
Probably Not...Take a Look

by Michael Hodges (email)
prepared Feb. 2001and updated 3/05, as a section of http://mwhodges.home.att.net/education.htm

This is a sub section of the Grandfather Education Report, a chapter of the comprehensive Grandfather Economic Report series of mini-reports with dramatic pictures on critical subjects proving serious threats facing the economic future of our young, compared to prior generations. Poor education quality is a major threat to our nation, partly caused by unacceptable teaching methods, and dumbed-down textbooks and test standards.

This is about test standards, compared to the past.

---

Questions: What percentage of this year's seniors and last year's high school graduates could pass the following 8th grade test required in 1895, even if the few outdated questions were modernized? How many college students could pass it? For that matter, what percentage of high school teachers could pass it? And - - what percentage of today's schools have standards for promotion from 8th grade equal to or tougher than those required in 1895?

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, Kansas - 1895

This is the eighth-grade final exam* from 1895 from Salina, Kansas. It was taken
from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society
and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts. per bu, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $.20 per inch?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10.Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865?

Orthography (Time, one hour) - Do any of us really know what this is?
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'. - What?
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10.Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of N.A.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10.Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

The top of the test states > "EXAMINATION GRADUATION QUESTIONS OF SALINE COUNTY, KANSAS
April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent.Examinations at Salina, New Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.)"

According to the Smoky Valley Genealogy Society, Salina, Kansas "this test is the original eighth-grade final exam for 1895 from Salina, KS. An interesting note is the fact that the county students taking this test were allowed to take the test in the 7th grade, and if they did not pass the test at that time, they were allowed to re-take it again in the 8th grade."

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grad education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!? It also shows you how poor our public education system has become...

My Summer Blog Album Part I

Jozie turned 7 in April and got her first digital camera (a $20 cheapie! Hardly worth the money!) and this is one of her first pictures - Luke in a store when we took our mini vacation to Michigan City, IN - she wouldn't put the thing down and had the memory filled with over 60 pictures in like 15 minutes!




We went to see the Power Team at a local church (HUGE church) and Luke was mesmermized! This is Big Russ - Lukes favorite guy - the first two pictures are pretty self explanitory, those are cement blocks. The third picture is Big Russ blowing up a hot water bottle. This was the last frame just before it exploded! They were pretty impressive and I would HIGHLY reccomend anybody going to see them. Boys LOVE them and they have a very awesome and powerful testimony. Luke got his picture taken with them too, but I think that Kristin has those because we used her camera that night (we went 2 nights because Bob couldn't come with us the first night) - I will post them in my Blog Album Part II. Luke also got a 2 inch thick steel rod that Big Russ bent with his teeth then over the top of his head. The whole team signed it and one guy told him to practice with it and when he could bend it back to give them a call and they would put him on the Team. He was pretty excited about it and still gets that thing out about once a week to "practice" with and shows everyone new who comes to the house how good he's getting!
On a different note, Jozie HATED it! All the fire, noise, loud music, and sweat just wasn't for her girlie girl ways, she SLEPT through the last quarter the first night then stayed home with Amma the second night! What a girl! :) LOL

Congratulations Levi and Jaclyn!!!
My little brother got married on July 15th in West Virginia. We packed up - all 7 of us - in a rented 16 passanger van, and drove out to see it. It was a beautiful wedding! She made all the dress, including her own and she had wildflowers for all her arrangements. Jaclyn is perfect for Levi and if you know Levi, you know it would take a very special girl to be his wife! :) John, his now brother-in-law, was his best man with Josh E and Brian (from MD, not the one from CA, formerly of MI) as his other 2 guys (I foget what they are called right now!). We got to see family from MI who we haven't seen in quite some time, including my dad, and some friends from when we were kids were there too (Dave and Julie S and also Bethany and Josh w/Isaac, who Jozie and Luke adored!). I was going to post more pictures but it is in a HUGE file with a TON of pictures and it's late and for some odd reason the wrong pictures keep uploading so I guess I will stop with the wedding pics before I get too mad at this dumb thing and break it. If I get time in a couple of days I will post more if...

Ok, so it's doing it to everything now...I guess this will be the end of my post but there is more to come....so stay tuned!

I'm back...sorta...

I debated about posting this since it has been so long since I last posted but thought I would just because I took the time to do it...I am really trying to find time to blog more and I got an extra day off this week so I thought I would take a moment out of my laundry time and post something...anything...! So here it is...but there is more to come! :)

Yoopers Gone Wild!!!

I just got this via email from my uncle and thought that some of you might enjoy it! :) This is too funny! The person who put this sign up must have been a Baraga graduate (and I can say that because I am a Baraga graduate)!!!!

Clubber of the Month!

I can't believe I forgot to post this! I must have been too busy with work and field trips that I forgot about it!

Luke was the Feb. Clubber of the Month for his Awana group, Sparks! What that means is that he passed more sections than any of the other kids in his class! I was so proud of him! He did 14 sections that month and was so excited to get the pin and certificate. I think he was just as surprised as I was because it wasn't something that we were working towards, he was just working hard to get his book done before the end of the year. I didn't even know what it was until he showed it to me when I picked him up that night. He was so excited that he had to call Uncle Levi and tell him all about it and he called Daddy at work to tell him too. Plus he had to wait up until Amma and Papa John got home from youth group to tell them all about it. He was one proud boy. He even buttoned his vest nicely and wanted a hanger to put it on to hang it from the knob on his dresser drawer! LOL I will post his picture that they have up at the church when we get it at the end of this month.

Bedtime Stories

When Bob got home from work the other night both of the kids decided they had to show off their reading skills and read him a book. Luke only got through the first few pages before he decided that his legos were more interesting but Jozie read the her whole book! Halfway through she heard him snore and said, "Dad! I guess I must be reading you a bedtime story, huh!" I suppose he had a hard time staying interested in "My Pony Jack" after a hard day at work!

What Dounut are You?

I found this and thought it would be fun...Boston Cream are my favorite! And Yes, I would choose them the first time, everytime!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Maple Syrup, Ice Fishing, Doing Dishes and Making Friends

The Voyagers Camp, Deep River Maple Syrup Time

Our Homeschool Group at Deep River for Maple Syrup field Trip


Jozie and Courtney at the Maple Syrup field trip. This is Luke's friend Courtney that he talks about all the time.

Deep River Sap Collection through the green tubes into one large bucket.

Luke decided to help with the dishes one night, but was playing in the water more than anything! Just thought I would catch this moment for when he gets older and doesn't want to help with this chore!

Luke with some of his friends in our hs group. Alexander, Benjamin, Evan, and Raphael.

Jozie's second fish while ice fishing.
(Luke didn't catch any but really didn't enjoy it and came back in to do some more sledding that day.)

Patience is a virtue!
That's why Luke quit so soon!

Jozie's first fish!

Jozie's third fish! If she would have thrown it back in she would have gotten more use out of it as bait! :)

"Back to the Salt Mines"...

...As Bob would say! I went out and got myself a job about 2 weeks ago...Hence, I have been quite busy and not taken the time to post about it yet. I work at a greenhouse about 6 blocks away from home. I walk almost everyday and I work in the morning so I am done by noon. I actually really enjoy it and though I really didn't need to get a job, I felt pressured from my mom and my husband and my step dad because I am the only adult in the house that "doesn't work"...or at least they say so. So now I work part time, about 20 hours a week, and I get to keep working and doing the things I normally do at home. I don't really mind too much. The kids are learning to become more independent in their studies and it's nice to come home to only a few questions instead of them not having any of it done. We don't get to do as many extra activities as we used to do but summer is almost here and things will slow down a bit then when we won't have any school work to do.

We have been on 2 field trips for maple syrup making over the last couple of weeks. It was neat to see how it was made and the kids got to ask a lot of questions. Jozie brought some home with her, she used her money from daddy to buy it, and she tested it on several different things. She started with her finger, then french fries, then peanut butter and banana sandwich, and then she tried it on pancakes and found that she liked Mrs. Butterworth better. She said it is sweeter. But she liked maple syrup on everything else better. Luke used his money to get a toy motorcycle...big surprise there!

I have sat down and looked at our calendar and figured out that by the end of May we will have our required 180 days in and Jozie will be finished with first grade! I am so excited for summer to be here it doesn't even bother me that Luke didn't finish first grade. I know he will pull ahead again soon, he just lacks the attention span. It's 3 seconds long then he wants to be on to his cars or drawing something.

I would like to know how many people actually read my blog...I know 3 for sure because they have posted in the past but now I want to know if you are there and have never posted a comment. You can still post even if you don't have a blogger account, just do it as anonymous...this way I will at least feel that I don't do this just for me. That someone out there actually reads what I write. Hope to hear from you soon! :)

Ice Fishing, Sledding, Fun Rides, and Birthdays!

We went to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate my grandma's 85th birthday with her. We got to see some of our family and the kids got to play with their cousins. Grandma got a lot of cards and many more visitors on her very special day.

We also got to see Uncle Lyle and Aunt Debbie with my dad. That was nice because we haven't seen them since my wedding 5 and a half years ago. The kids had a blast there! We had a long ride there so the kids got to spend some quality time talking to their Papa (my dad) and Jozie told him that she wanted him to take her ice fishing. He said he couldn't this time because he didn't have his gear but he would another time.

The drive up was pretty; it was nice to see the snow again (we don't get much of that here in N. IN) and to drive through some farm country that isn't flying by on the interstate!

When we got there the kids got to ride with Uncle Lyle to the house in his old military vehicle. Luke got pretty excited when he saw it and thought the army guys were coming to kill him...What an imagination! They went with him willingly, which surprised me because they were way too young the last time we saw him to remember who he was (Jozie was 18 months and Luke just 1 month!). I didn't think they were going to have much to do but I did bring their snow clothes just in case they got a chance to get out and play. But, how wrong I was! There was so much to do! (Thanks Uncle Lyle!) The got to ride in and drive the bobcat, go sledding down the hill behind the house out onto the ice, and go ice fishing! Plus Uncle Lyle was going to get the snowmobile out to take them for a ride! They came in to warm up with Aunt Debbie's hot apple cider (Thanks Aunt Debbie!) and have lunch then out for more sledding and the ice fishing. Jozie was so excited that she caught 2 fish (which she threw back to get bigger to catch the next time) and Luke claimed to get cold but only wanted to come back in to go sledding again. He went half way across the lake on one of those antique sleds with the metal runners! He was so thrilled the was hardly understandable when he talked! :)

We had a really nice weekend.

Thanks, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Stan, for letting us stay with you.
Thanks, Dad, for taking us to Uncle Lyle and Aunt Debbie's!
Thanks, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Lyle for having us and showing the kids such a great time! They can't wait to come back!

The Face of Utter Joy! :) That's my boy!

Luke, Papa, Jozie, and Uncle Lyle.


Luke on the Bobcat

What else is Papa good for? :)

Jozie on the Bobcat

Luke Sledding

Luke crossing the lake!

It was a LONG walk back! :)

Ice fishing!!!

Jozie and Jenae :)

Me, my Mom, Jozie, Grandma, and Luke (Katie is the cat).
Hey, that makes 4 generations!
(This is the first picture I am posting of me!)

My pictures are back! :)

Kristin

I have been thinking about my friend Kristin lately. I haven't spoken to her since her Birthday Party where we said we would be spending more time together but haven't. There are a lot of strange circumstances surrounding our estranged relationship - we were like sisters a few months ago and I miss her a lot.

Kris, if you read this, know I love and miss you lots and can't wait for the day where we can be friends again. This is for you:

Aly & AJ
"Never Far Behind"

I know this really isn't you
I Know your Heart Is Somewhere Else
And I'll Do Anything I Can
To Help You Break Out Of This Spell
I See You Following your Crowd
I Know You're Trying To Fit In
But If Your Gonna Find Yourself
You Gotta Start From Deep, Deep Within

Hold On To What You Believe

[Chorus]
I Will Always Be Your Friend
I Know Who You Are Inside
I Am With You Till The End
Never Far Behind
I am standing in the distance
You can take your time
And I will be there waiting
Never Far Behind
Yeah
Never Far Behind

I Am Sending You A Message
Don't ever Think That It's Too Late
When You Care About Someone
There is always room for change
you're allowed to make mistakes
it's a part of every life
I Don't See You very Different
The Truth Is Shining In Your Eyes

Hold On To What You Believe

[Chorus]
I Will Always Be Your Friend
I Know Who You Are Inside
I Am With You Till The End
Never Far Behind
I am standing in the distance
You can take your time
and I will be there waiting
Never Far Behind
Yeah
Never Far Behind

You Can Take Your Time
And I Know
From My Heart

I Will Always Be Your Friend
I Know Who You Are Inside
I Am With You Till The End
Never Far Behind
I am standing in the distance
You can take your time
and I will be here waiting
Waiting by my side God Is Never Far Behind

I Am Sending you a message

Which Peanuts Character are You?

I found this on Jamie's blog and thought I might try it...though I'm not quite sure how accurate it is...it does say that only 11% of the people who took this quiz were also Woodstock so I guess it is true in that I am unique... :)


You are Woodstock!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Still Looking

We have been pretty busy lately with our hs stuff and also looking for a house. We made an offer on one last week but they accepted someone else's. We are pretty disappointed but we know that God has something better for us somewhere. We just have to keep looking. The house was beautiful but it didn't have my big yard for the kids - there wasn't much of a year at all so I am glad that at least that is still an option now that we didn't get that particular house.

We are preparing for our Valentines party with our hs group next week. The kids each got a box of 48 valentines and at the rate they are going, we will definitely need every one, I think the last I heard the count was up to 41 kids! They are excited about going to see their friends and meet some new ones. I think our group is growing at the rate of about 1 family a week here lately. The kids are going to make cup cakes to take and they are also getting a lot of practice writing their names and "My Friend" on all those Valentines!

Luke has a special friend who is in our group, her name is Courtney and she's 5 years older than him. He is so cute - he follows her around whenever we do anything with them and now he wants to make her a special valentine. What a boy! I don't know if he really "likes her" likes her, I think he just admires her because she is older and she gives him attention. Although this wouldn't be the first crush he's had!

Homeschool Thoughts

I have been considering joining a co-op next year to get my kids more involved in the "arts" and possibly more physical education (more than just riding their bikes up and down the driveway!). My question is, do I want to go big or small? Should I join in with my current HS group that I am involved in that meets about a half an hour away or try and find something closer? Can I actually teach a class for a co-op? I always wanted to be a teacher (I went to college for it, but didn't graduate), could this be my chance? Am I patient enough? All these questions, so little answers! :) I guess it's something to think about and consider, I do have a few months to makes my decisions, right? I never really thought much about it before because living in the UP we didn't have that as an option, there just weren't enough HSers around. Although if you have a co-op with 2 families in your kitchen I suppose you are doing better than not (if that be your desire). Now that my kids are getting older, I do have more things that are possible to be involved in.

I have been thinking about starting a group of Keepers of Faith for the kids in our group. For the girls it's called Keepers at Home and it teaches girls how to be mothers and wives and to be God fearing in the process. The boys group is called Contenders for the Faith teaches boys to become godly men who provide for their families and become the men that God wants them to be. I still have to see if there is any interest in them for our group. It's not a strictly Christian group so I suppose if some don't want to participate they don't have to.

I was also thinking about teaching Latin to the kids next year. Not that I know anything about it but a few different people have suggested this Prima Latina Christian Latin program that they say is really easy to understand, even for kindergarteners. Although it may be more practical to teach them something that they may actually use in the future like Spanish...it's not set in stone yet, just thinking about it. I just think it would be cool to learn it myself and to tell others that my second graders are learning Latin! How many public schools can say that?! HA!:) Who knows, maybe I can teach it in the co-op in a year or two!

I also had an idea that I haven't brought up with my group yet is to have a curriculum drive for hurricane victims. We are members of the Home School Legal Defense Association and in their most recent issue of The Home School Court Report they had an article about hs families that lost everything - it's sad to see how many hs families were affected by the hurricanes. Not only did they loose their homes but also their schools. I figured in an area like this there has to be a ton of hs families that have books and supplies that they are done with and their kids have outgrown. I know I have some stuff that I probably could sell but really don't know how to go about it and it's just sitting there being unused. Somebody who needs it may as well put it to good use. I will probably call HSLDA about it this week and see how we could go about doing it to make sure that it got to the right people.

"The Big City" Library...

Well, we finally got to the library today to get the kids their very first library cards. They were pretty excited about it and it didn't take them long to pick out 2 things. Thankfully that's all they were allowed to check out this time because I didn't feel like being there all day! They each chose a computer game and a book. Luke was pretty upset though when I wouldn't let him keep his card in his pocket. After they were done I went to find some that I had found while browsing the online catalog at home this week. It took me some time because Luke had to pee - well, he said, "I have to go potty mom! That has a "t" in it! And I have to go REALLY bad!" - and kept pestering me to find the bathroom. Well, after looking for 5 different books in 5 different places (and finding 5 completely different books with the same call numbers) I figured out that these books weren't at this particular BRANCH of the library, they were spread all over the county at 4 different libraries! I guess that's what happens when you come from a small town that has only 1 library and go to "the big city" - as Luke and Jozie call it - and have like 6 branches of the same library all over the county! I felt kinda silly after I asked the librarian about it...I didn't even bother looking for anything else, I was pretty embarrassed. I guess after tomorrow they say I will be able to check out like 25 things and I will just request them online and go and pick them up when they come in! AND the next time I go to the library for me, I won't be taking my kids! :)

Woo Hoo!!! :)

Things are going pretty good here. There are a few things that I am more excited about than normal though...

1. Nobody else got the flu! Sam was actually not feeling to well and came home from school on Mon. but ended up going back to school Tues. morning. She didn't sleep well but didn't end up getting sick either! And I know that was nothing but God - I was awake most of the night praying for her!
2. It's almost spring! Well, at least it seems like it here in NW Indiana! I have never lived anywhere that I can go grocery shopping and to the library in short sleeves WITHOUT a coat, hat, and gloves in the middle of January! And without my shoes filling with show! This weather is unbelievable! But, they say it's suppose to snow tonight...like 6 inches...oh, no! *gasp!*...being a Yupper, that doesn't bother me too much, though I know it will be terror to most residents of NW Indiana!
3. I went shopping last weekend with my mom, Jozie, Sam, and her friend, Cierra at Old Navy. Now, I know, that isn't such a big deal, people go shopping all the time, right? BUT this happened to be a sale week where all their clearance was an ADDITIONAL 50% off the marked down price! I couldn't believe my luck! I got Jozie 2 new skirts for less than $5 each - which she picked out, one was pink, of course! I got Luke a fleece hoodie and pants outfit for under $10. Plus, I got myself 3 pairs of pants! But wait...that's not all! I got these pants in a size 12! At lest one of them is! The others are 14 but they are big, the easily pull down without unzipping them.!!! Sorry for all of the "!"'s but this excites me!!! (there I go again:) My mom and I decided that we weren't going to be the fattest ones at Levi's wedding this summer (July 15th) and I believe that I may just pull it off. And the best part of it is that I haven't even been "dieting"! I just quit eating like a pig and everything in sight. It's rather embarrassing to say that I was up to an 18 earlier this winter but I am happy to say that that won't be happening again! And to think that I always thought I was FAT in High School...I took a size 6 or 8...wow...now that's a cow, yah right! I can only DREAM of being that size again! But I know I can do it!
4. Oh, and before I get carried away with my "non-diet" I will add my #4 of "Woo, Hoo"'s! We are starting to look for a house again! Trying to rent to own and find what will fit us in our budget...which is always a fun thing for anybody. Why is it that that "perfect" house is always just a little out of your grasp and you have to settle for just a little less than what you actually want? Is it that we are selfish? Piggish? Wanting more than we really need? Who really knows, I just hope that our house hunting this spring can be better than it was last fall. God willing, we will find that house we have been looking for.

PS...Why is it that so many people send forwarded email that they don't check that validity of BEFORE they send them? I HATE forwarded email and rarely read them because 99% of them are just junk and lies but I fell for 2 of them today! I did check them before I sent them because both of them sounded rather outrageous to be true and sure enough, both of them were just false. So, a little advice, before you send them, check them! :) It's the only way we will rid the world of horrid forwarded email! :) Here's a website called Urban Legends Reference Page where you can check your forwarded email against their research to see if it's true or false.

It's Flu Season! :P :(

So, we got hit...I was really hoping that we were past the holidays and we probably had missed it...but nope. Bob came home sick from work on Mon and was sick all day tues...then Luke started Wed. night and actually woke up puking...on the bed, floor, rug, and finally all over the toilet... :P and to make things worse, he had red coolaid at Awana that night so I think the rug is stained! Sorry for all the details, but I am pretty upset about it. He was so sweet about the whole thing though. He was more upset that he threw up on the rug because I was going to have to clean it up than he was about actually being sick! He said, "I'm sorry Mommy, I didn't mean to puke on the rug!" That's when the tears started. Then later on in the night, I was trying to sleep on the love seat while he slept on the couch (with a bucket next to him this time!) and he woke up and said he was feeling fine, that I could get some rest now in my own bed! What a kid! But, after I went to bed he called me for a drink, then he called me because his belly hurt again (so much for mom getting some rest!) I was sitting next to him on the couch and just trying to comfort him and he said, "Mom, you don't have to stay there, I don't want you to get my sickness. You can go back to bed!" It almost made me cry! It's times like those that make his strongwilledness all worth it. I wouldn't have him anyother way! :) He was feeling better in the morning and actually ate a little breakfast and was going down the steps and quoted Garfield to me - "Love me, feed me, never leave me!" He loved that movie and has seen it about a hundred times!
Jozie has had a little diarrhea today and keeps saying that her belly hurts but I think that's just because she was hungry (I didn't let her eat much all day for fear that she was sick and didn't want her to puke more than she had to)...hopefully that's all she gets. I am just waiting until this weekend or Mon. for my turn...I do not look forward to it! I'm just praying that it stops here!
So, since I have been cleaning washing towels and sheets, and disinfecting all week, I haven't had time to post about our trip to Navy Pier.
The kids had a great time! We did end up paying for all of us to ride the rides at the Winter Wonderland because the lady who coordinated it didn't know that you didn't have to pay to get in, only to ride. But the kids definitely used their money's worth. The only thing they didn't do was skate because none of us adults would go with them. I MAY have been tempted to take one at a time but it's been so long since I have been on skates and they only had hockey skates, which I could never skate in, for rent. So, they went on the climbing wall, down all of those big blown up slides, those big blown up trampolines, the Ferris wheel, and a bunch of other rides.
The Chicago Children's museum was free that day so we went there in the afternoon. The kids had a great time there too but our time was cut short because my mom, Bob, and John decided they were bored and sat at the ice cream shop and waited for us..and got bored doing that too. But, they did get to dig for dinosaur bones, check out the robots, play in the waterworks room, and climb the ships mast and gang walk. We didn't find our group until the last room because we all ate at different places and didn't all get to the museum at the same time but once we found them they didn't want to leave. We were in the waterworks room, which is like a huge water table play area. They supplied raincoats for the kids to wear! They did get wet, despite the raincoats but had a lot of fun. Jozie had all her little girl friends there and was very upset to leave, and Luke liked undoing all the things the girls were doing so he didn't want to leave either.
But, we had a good time and actually made the trip to Chicago in about 40 minutes and back in the same amount of time! Anybody who lives around here can probably tell you that is record time! The traffic was unbelievably good, which was good for me because I always get sick when I ride in that van for very long!
We just got our new Paces in this week so we will be starting them on Monday. I'm excited. It's all new stuff and I know the kids were getting tired of just letters and numbers everyday. I'm really hoping they will both take off and finish first grade this year. I know Jozie will, but I'm sorta nervous about Luke, he isn't too big on school work yet but if he doesn't make it all this year, there is always next year. He is a year ahead at this point anyway.

Jozie and Kylie on the huge rocking horse (Jozie wasn't letting go for nothing!)

Jozie, Luke, and Daddy by the Robots

Jozie and Luke on Lukes favorite ride, and of course in his favorite drivers car! (Tony Stewart, because the car is orange, of course!)

Luke at the Waterworks

My budding archeologists!

Luke on the climbing wall (with daddy there to catch him!)

Another Tag....

With all of these tags I am having a hard time finding time to make an actual post from me! Maybe it will come soon...we are going to Navy Pier tomorrow for their Winterfest and the Childrens Museum so I should have some more to post and some picutures...so without further adue...here's my whatever it is... :)

Four jobs you've had in your life:
1. pizza maker (pizza place in L'anse, MI)
2. photo taker (worker for Soumi College news paper...I think that's what it was!)
3. ice cream scooper (same pizza place in L'anse)
4. message taker (MTU IT Dep. office assistant)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. While You Were Sleeping
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. Kristy
4. Princess Bride

Four places you have lived:
1. Almost as far north in MI as you can go
2. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, SD (yes, I lived there at the dorms while I worked there for a summer in college)
3. Northern MN
4. Northwestern IN

Four TV shows you love to watch :
1. CSI (all of them)
2. Gray's Anatomy
3. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
4. Survivor

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Springfield, SD
2. Omaha, NE
3. Orlando, FL
4. Bayfield, WI

Four websites you visit daily: (I'm NOT excluding blogs)
1. Amie's Blog
2. Jamie's Blog
3. My yahoo groups
4. Handwriting Practice!

Four of your favorite foods:
1. IceCream
2. Papa Murphy's Pizza
3. Chicken Fajitas
4. Steak (red meat!)

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. In bed, reading and relaxing.
2. Watching TV
3. In MI visiting my daddy
4. Visiting reletives in SD

Four bloggers you are tagging:
1. You
2. You
4. You and
5. You

2005: A Look Back Through My Eyes

I was tagged by Jamie for my reflections of 2005.

What did you do in 2005 that you've never done before?
I live in Indiana. I've never lived in this state before - this is a definate first!

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
What is a "New Year's Resolution"? No, I'm just kidding! I guess you could say that I kept my New Year's Resolution because I don't make any...I don't want to disappoint myself or anyone else.


Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my sister-in-law gave us a new nephew, named Dakota James. Aply named, since they live in South Dakota! Although I'm sure that Jesse James was also on her list! :) Also my friend, Amie, had a sweet little boy, Jonah.

Did anyone close to you die?
Bob's grandma passed away early this year, I think...she was a wonderful woman and would have been Luke's namesake, Mollie, had he been a girl.

What countries did you visit?
I may have been to Canada...but I'm not sure...things have gone so fast this year that I believe that that may have been 2004...wait....yep, that was fall 2004. Nope, no other countries except ours!

What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
I would have to say to be master of my tongue. I often say things that I later regret when I am angery, esp. with Bob and the kids. And the Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks...I guess that means, please change my heart, God! :)

What date from 2005 will remain etched in your memory and why?
I would have to say July 5. That was the day that we made our move to IN. We packed, had a garage sale, cleaned our old house, and moved all in a week. With very little help in MI (thanks Mom, Sandy, and Dick and Mary!), and then when we got to IN, we had to unload the biggest UHaul that they have plus our van that was fully loaded on a trailer and the back end of my mom's van, all by ourselves - Just Bob and I! In 1 day because the truck had to go back the next! It was exhausting to say the least!

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I hate to keep coming back to it...but I would have to say the move. Emotionally more than physically because I grew up where I left. That was and still is home. I left my friends, my home, and most of my family there. It was an extremely hard decision to make but we made it because we believed that it would be the better choice for our family in the long run...but we are yet to see the "long run"...but that's another story all together! :) Oh! That and teaching my children to read!

What was your biggest failure?
I think maybe being a good friend. I left a lot of them behind in MI that I seem to have pretty much lost contact with completely over the last 6 months. And I have none to show for the time that I have spent here except for a couple of new ones that are fellow HS moms.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
I think maybe a sinus infection last Feb. or so but that's about it!

What was the best thing you bought?
I guess I couldn't say...I didn't make any major purchases this year...except for an old beat up car that we bought from my brother, and I can't say that was the best thing! :)

Where did most of your money go?
Probably junk...things we really didn't need, but really wanted. Oh, and books! :)

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Starting the school year with a classroom of 2!

What scripture is a theme of 2005?
"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

Compared to this time last year are you:
a. Happier or sadder? Probably happier. This is usually a hard time of the year for me because in the UP, when it snows daily it seems for weeks on end, you never see the sun, and never go outdoors unless it's to go into another door, it's pretty easy to get depressed. (Not that it's literally like that there, it just SEEMS like it sometimes.)
b. Thinner or fatter? Thinner, I lost some weight last spring and though I gained some of it back, I am not back to where I was at this time last year.
c. Richer or poorer? Probably Richer. My husband got a new job that pays better here than when we were in Michigan.

What do you wish you'd done more of?
Spending time as a family. With the move, and now with Bob's new job being so stressfull, along with him working 2 jobs, we haven't had a lot of family time.

What do you wish you'd done less of?
That's easy! Watching TV! And to think we were back down to basic cable and my husband decided that as a family gift for everyone this year we would get a satalite. We have been talking about it for a while but now, here it is, and we spend more time in front of than thing than ever! I hate it! (though it is nice to just sit and vegitage and relax!)

How did you spend Christmas?
At home with my family (Bob and the kids with my mom and John). We had a nice meal and then Bob went to work about 3 in the afternoon. The rest of the day I didn't do much. I had a nasty headache so I slept for about 3 hours!

Did you fall in love in 2005?
Of course, I fall in love with my kids more everyday (well, most days! :) and my husband (sigh!), but there was also a sweet little boy that shall remain nameless that captured my heart. We bonded quite closely but since we quit going to our old church I haven't seen him in months and probably won't see much more of him again.

What was your favorite TV show?
It's a close call but I would have to say CSI: Miami. Although CSI: NewYork and CSI: Crime Sceane Investigation, and NCIS are all a close second.

What was the best book you read?
I can't say what the best one was, I read constantly and often so I probably don't even remember all of the books that I read this year. I will be safe and say that the best book I read this year was the Bible.

What was your greatest musical discovery of 2005?
Without a doubt I would have to say shine.fm ! I listen to it all the time, it's our "local" Christian radio station. It's from Chicago and it plays a lot of really good music. Even the kids like it, they ask if I can turn the radio on to Shine.fm so they can listen to some music. They are even starting to recoginze some of the bands! It's pretty cool! :)

What did you want and get?
I really have no want for anything. Thank God, and my hard working husband! :) I'm not a frivolous person and don't have a lot of wants but if I do, I usually just get it, if it's within reason! :)

What did you want and not get?
That's another easy one! I wanted a house of my own! I want a bedroom and a kitchen and a living room and a bedroom for each of my kids! But I live in a basement...I'm not complaining. I have definately learned to be content but there are those days....

What was your favorite film this year?
I'm not a big movie buff. I watch them and usually fall asleep during them at home and the last move I saw with my husband in the theaters was probably Along Came Polly...that's old! We got a gift certificate to the local movie theater but haven't spent it yet so until then...I don't think I had a favorite film either.

What did you do on your birthday?
Birthday? What's a birthday? I quit having them about 4 years ago! But if you mean that day that my family insists on celebrating every year, the one where I was born, I believe I stayed home with my kids and did everyday things! Just the way I wanted it :)

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To have found a home of my own and to not have had to leave our church that we moved here to be a part of.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
I really don't have any concept of style. I have a scarf that my grandma made me last year for my uncelebrated birthday that is one of those furry knits and I was going to wear it the other day but wasn't sure about it and with nobody else here to ask, I asked Jozie, "Belle, can I wear this or is it so last year?" and she said, with a frown on her face, "It's so last year, mom. Can I have it?" LOL What a girl! :) Anyway, I live in jeans and sweatshirts or tshirts - depending on the weather. And if I'm going somewhere I will put on a nice shirt. Other than that...I really don't care what "fashion" dictates!

What kept you sane?
I can't say that there was much sanity to any of my year. So, to quote Jamie, "Who said I was sane?"

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I'm sure if you asked my husband, I think he would say "Ty, the Gay Guy"! (Ty Pennington!)

What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm really not the political type, I rarely even watch the local news, let alone the national news! Anything interesting I get usually comes from Amie.

Who did you miss?
My dad.

Who was the best new person you met?
Not sure I have met any new people...pretty sad, considering I made a pretty big move a few months ago! I would say maybe our new Pastors; Pastor Sam and Judy, and Pastor Ron and Judy.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
Make sure you know what you are getting into before you jump in with both feet.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Casting Crowns - "Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as You mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will life my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth


There are many songs that I could have chosen but this is the one that pretty much sums it up.

Here are my Christmas Pictures!

My "Good Christmas Picture"!

Luke with a new toy!

Jozie and "Baby Alex"!

I don't understand.....

I just posted and the stupid thing took me like 2 hours because it WOULD NOT change font size back to normal in the middle, so it looks gay, being huge halfway through for the rest of the post...sorry...I guess it's not like that many people look at my blog anyway so there shouldn't be too many of you to apologize too! :)

Christmas -

Don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas season and celebrating the birth of Jesus but I am glad it's finally over! Things just seem to start earlier every year and I get tired of all of the hullabullu. Next year things are going to be different. Simple. Like my blog template!

We had a very nice time this year, dispite not seeing family that we usually see at this time of the year. We spent the day at home with my mom and John. Bob had to work at 4 so we had everything done by 3 for him to leave so we had the afternoon to just relax and the kids played with their new toys.

Luke's favorite toy, I think, was his handcuffs. He has had a couple of pairs from the dollar store that break within days of bringing them home. So he was excited to have some metal ones that he could "cuff up" his sister with! It was either that or the video game plug-n-play thing I got for him. The spent pretty much all day in front of the tv with it the day after Christmas and thankfully got it pretty much out of their system. I think they have only played with it like 2 times since then!

Jozie's favorite, without a doubt, was the baby doll and set that we got her. It came with a pack-n-play, swing, car seat, and high chair, among other various little peices. She even had to go shopping for clothes for him at the Salvation Army and spent part of her money from her Grandparents there. She named him Alex and it's so cute to see her be such a good little "mommy"! :)

We spent Christmas Eve at church where I FINALLY got my "good Christmas picture"! :) Luke is sporting his new hairdo and tie...he just loves both and thougth he was pretty hot stuff that night! Jozie is wearing her favorite dress. EVERY Sunday for the past year she has asked if she can wear it to church! She was so thrilled to wear it she walked around like a little princess all night in it...holding it on the sides so she didn't step on it (not that it's that long, she just does that little prissy thing!)! I'm pretty sure I saw her walk on her tiptoes more than once too! She is such a girly girl!

Today is my dads birthday!!!

mas gift this year!HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I think he's 58 today!

Tonight we have a NewYears Eve service at church but because my kids were up late last night (it was like 11 when they finally went to bed), and they were crabby all day today, I decided that the best thing for my sanity and their wellbeing was that we stay home, took a bath, and go to bed EARLY tonight...that way mom can enjoy NewYears Eve with the grown-ups (I think the youth pastor and his wife are coming over tonight to celebrate with us) and not have to deal with them! :) I am aiming for a 7:00 bedtime but I'm sure it will be closer to 7:30 or 8...which will hopefully have them asleep by 9! :)

On a final note, I must tell you about MY favorite Christmas gift...our family got some pretty scarey news back in Sept. from the new doctor that we took the kids too, the first one since we moved here too IN. I asked her what this white stuff was on Jozie's hair and she said that it was lice! After she gave it a quick disgusted glance! Didn't touch it to look closer or look for bugs, just declaired it like it was fact and at that point the visit was over! I was so horrified! How had my child gotten lice?! When we were in school, it was like the worst thing that could happen to you! I bathe her at least everyother day and more than that in the summer because of the heat and dirt! There was only one place that I could trace it back to but at this time that is irrelevant... I went DIRECTLY to Wal Mart and purchased enough of that lice shampoo, spray, and gel to treat an army then went home and vaccuumed, swept, and sprayed every cleanable peice of floor, furniture, and bed that was in the basement. I spent at least 2 hours in the bathroom treating and combing Jozie's hair and then Lukes. Kristin and I both treated our hair and we washed EVERYBODY'S bedding in Hot water and then dried it in the hottest dryer setting. I was pretty conifdent when we went to bed that there was no way they could survive this treatment. I spent the next couple of weeks itchy and crawly and nausiated at the fact STILL and watching Jozie for any motion of itching in her head. Things finally seemed to taper off and after daily checking and picking here and there, I was glad to see that I was gone. Then, about 2 weeks ago, I find the little white things there again! This time, instead of freaking out, I went online to research things and find a guarnteed treatment. I found it - at like $40 a shot! That seemed a little rediculous to me, seeing that nobody else even had it - that in itself was a mystery since Jozie and I share brushes and hair ties, she sleeps with Sami often or is watching TV in her or my mom's room on their beds. I actually brought home some home remedies (listerine and shaving cream for starters) and was ready to use them but got a peice of VERY helpful literture in the mail the other day that confirmed what I had hoped all along - she NEVER HAD lice!!! She has what is called Hair Casts. They are thin, elongated cylinder-shaped segments of dandruff which encircle the hair and slide off easily. I NEVER saw any bugs - which have to be there in order to get the nits (lice eggs) that the dr. said she had - and I spent literally HOURS searching her hair! Nits are little yellowish or graish-white oval-shaped eggs that are "glued" at an angle to that side of the hair shaft. There were pictures along with the descriptions which further confirmed that what she had wasn't lice! No wonder nobody else got it! I was overjoyed and this, I must say, was my best Christmas gift this year!

What Kind of Food Are You?

You Are Mexican Food

Spicy yet dependable. You pull punches, but people still love you.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Thanks Amie! I will write more later, but who knew that we were so much alike? :)

The ""Christmas Program"

Well, we had a couple of technical difficulties yesterday for the kids Christmas program at church. First, the director had a baby on Friday, so she wasn't there to direct the kids. Then, when all the kids were walking in, according to age, I missed Luke. Jozie was there, but Luke was nowhere to be seen. I told Bob I was going to go and look for him and ended up finding him in the Nursery. The lady who was working in the nursery said that he was a little nervous about singing in front of everybody so she told him that he could just be in there with her. I was not happy! I dressed him up in a new outfit to have to drag him kicking and screaming out of the nursery?!? I was NOT happy! Not only did he get his way, he thought he should stay in the nursery for the remainder of the service, and he's way too old to even be in there to begin with! Needless to say, I ended up missing Jozie singing with the rest of the kids too! That was only about 30 seconds long according to the accounts of when I got back to my seat with a crying Luke. So I figured I would at LEAST get to see the pictures when I get home. Right? WRONG! Bob only got one blurry picture because Jozie was in the back and it was so short that by the time he was ready to take another picture, it was already done! So, this is what I have to show for all my hard work yesterday morning in getting them ready for church (the first one is when we got home, I figured I could at least take a "nice" picture by the tree...Well nope, no such thing!) Jozie is the blob in the bottom picture with red hair and a red dress right in the middle.

The Gingerbread House!

It turned out to be about a 4 hour project - and that was only the decorating part, that didn't include the time that it took me to put it together yesterday! I would do it again BUT I would probably make my own gingerbread. If I did end up buying another kit like this one, the first thing I would do is throw out the icing that comes with the kit and make my own! That stuff was awful! It was way too stiff and it hardened almost as fast as you could get it out of the pastry bag! I just used a pound of powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of meringue powder, and 6 tablespoons of water and let it mix in the mixer for about 10 minutes. It was much softer and SO much easier to work with! I even ended up throwing some out (after I dumped the whole bag of powdered sugar in the mixer, I realized that it was a 2 lb bag! So I had to double everything - it worked fine though!). I wasn't thrilled about that but it really wasn't good for much else, except maybe paste for the kids art projects! :) It tasted fine but it does end up drying really hard and I wouldn't want to use it for a cake or cookies. So, here's our finished project! After we were done, I just wanted to sit and look at it because we put so much hard work into it! :) Luke has a towel on his lap because he just got done taking a bath! So much for a nice picture!!! :)

Seven Sevens

Amie tagged me with this.

Seven things I hope to do before I die:

1. Adopt a child from Guatemala from House of Hope Orphanage.
2. See my great grandchildren.
3. Live on a farm that is my own.
4. Follow God's will for my life, not my own.
5. Own and run my husbands computer business (he will do all the computer work!:).
6. Simplify my life - get rid of the nonessensials!
7. Be debt free!

Seven things I cannot do:

1. Keep up with the laundry. Even if it's done everyday, the clothes my family has on are going to be dirty eventually.
2. Make pancakes. My kids hate my pancakes - even when I make them out of a box!
3. Give driving directions. I don't know where north, south, east, and west are most of the time!
4. Remember new peoples names.
5. Quit reading a book in the middle of it - no matter how boring!
6. Keep a collection of something - my husband keeps enough for both of us!
7. Buy something that isn't on sale.

Seven things that attract me to my spouse (significant other, best friend)

1. He talked to me like a friend.
2. He went out of his way to get to know me (he walked 3 miles with me everyday in the dark after working a 10 hour shift most days!)
3. His beautiful blue eyes!
4. He is a mans man, nothing about him is feminine!
   
5. He loves the Lord.
6. He works hard to provide for his family.
7. He gives and doesn't expect anything in return.

Seven things I say often

1. "Luke, stop hitting/kicking/scratching/chasing/being mean to your sister!"
2. "Stop talking and go to sleep!"
3. "Did you wash your hands?"
4. "I love you!"
5. "Goodnight, I love you, I'll see you in the morning!"
   
6. "Hey, hey, hey!" (I suppose this is my "no, no, no!")
   
7. "That behavior is unacceptable!"

Seven books or book series I love

1. Anne of Green Gables series - L.M. Montgomery
2. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series - Ann Brashares
3. Little House on the Prairie series - Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Love Comes Softly/ Canadian West Series' - Janette Oak
5. The Heritage of Lancaster County series - Beverly Lewis
6. Mandie Myseries series - Lois Gladys Leppard
7. The Oath - Frank Peretti

Seven movies I would watch over and over again

1. Princess Bride
2. Anne of Green Gables
3. First Knight
4. Napoleon Dynamite
5. Ever After
6. Uptown Girls
7. Christy

So that's my "Seven Sevens" but, since I got tagged by one of the two people that I know who read my blog and the other tagged her, I guess I don't have many other choices so if you read this than you are "tagged"!

Well, I have now been "tagged" twice!

And I didn't even know it because I haven't checked anybodies blog for so long, probably not since my last post! That's pretty bad! Sorry :) So, here are some highlights of how things are going since my last "real" last post (I'm not going to go into great detail because I'm sure you don't want to read a book about my life! :) :

• School is going good - most of the time! :) We are pretty much finished with the ABC's with Ace and Christi. We are now doing review and polishing up on our writing skills until Christmas break then in Jan. We will be going back to finish up first grade. And of course we are always looking for new books to read...Luke gets so excited when he reads something new, and also has the opposing tempertantrum (sp?) when he can't figure out a new word! That gets a little tiring after awhile! Jozie loves to read (a girl after her mom's own heart!:) but doesn't really care for writing - hence the next week of review! :) We haven't been on any new field trips lately.
• The kids are both still enjoying AWANA. They are in different groups with different kids but they do most of the class stuff together. Luke is almost done with memorizing the books of the New Testament and Jozie has started learning the books of the Old Testament. I like this program even more now that I see how it builds on what the child has already memorized and helps them to learn not only how to memorize but what the verses mean as well. I look forward to many years to come with the AWANA program! :)
• We have been having "Christmas Class" every afternoon this week and will continue through next week. We have been doing somekind of Christmas craft and or activity everyday and talking about what Christmas really means (though they do know who Santa is, Amie, though the also know that he isn't real! I thought it was cute and great that Isaac didn't know who he was!). We have done snowflakes and cards, decorating the Christmas tree, Christmas Cookies, and today we started our Gingerbread house (ok, I will admit, this being our first gingerbread house, I did buy a kit. I didn't want the kids to put all the time and effort into baking it and then have the disappointment of it not working out so I broke down and bought a kit. BUT it will NOT look like the box. I also bought a bunch of different candy to decorate with so it won't look like the one on the box.) We will be finishing that tomorrow because Sami is helping us with it and she went to her first semi-formal dance tonight with some of her friends from school.
• We no longer attend KCC Outreach Ministries. For those of you who don't know, that is the ministry that we moved here to be a part of. That's all I am going to say about that for now but it's part of the reason that I have been so quite on here lately. It's been a pretty stressful time for my family the last couple of months. If you want to know more, you can email me and I will tell you what happened. So, that said, it brings us to my next point...
• We have recently started attending South Lake Worship Center. I have really enjoyed being back in a church body and just being fed. The kids love going to children's church and call it "the church of the three crosses" because there are three crosses in front of it. The first day I took Luke he was reluctant but went and when we went to pick him up he was so excited to have so many new friends that the said he forgot that I was coming to pick him up! I was glad to hear that :) It makes me happy to know that I am at a place where my children can also be fed.
• Which brings me to my next point. Jozie and Luke are going to be in their first Christmas Program this Sunday! We never really had anything at our church in MI for the kids since there weren't too many people willing to help out with it so this is their first opportunity to Join in on the fun. They are singing and signing Silent Night and they will also be singing Hark! The Harold Angels Sing.
  
• Well, now that we are here in Indiana, people have told us that we aren't supposed to have snow that stays until like late Jan. or early Feb. I think they lied. We got our first snow a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The kids thought they were in heaven because, to prepare them for the winter to come, we have told them that they wouldn't have much snow to play in this year. So, they were out to play in it the first thing after breakfast. It was wonderful heavy wet snow so I showed them how to make a snowman (in MI our snow was always too dry to make much of anything unless it was spring and it was melting). They made a small one and then Luke had the bright idea to see how big of a snowball he could make. He made a big one. I took pictures but don't know where Bob put them right now. Well, it was a good thing that they went out to play when they did because it was pretty much gone by noon. Except for the big snowball which sat in the yard for about 2 more days. So now, about this time last week we had a small snow storm. People were nuts and just making fools of themselves on the roads. BUT it hasn't gone away. People PROMISED me it would! I was looking forward to a relatively mild winter and here I am, in the coldest winter on record for this part of Indiana! I think the snow must have followed us here. Oh well, at least I won't have to worry about having a green Christmas! :) And it also makes me feel more like I'm at home, because as much as I hate to say it, I miss Michigan! :(
  
• I think they sold my house!!! >:| I am NOT happy about it!!! The house next door has been my house since I saw it but at the $125,000 they were asking for it, we couldn't afford it. We offered him $80,000 earlier in the summer and he really wanted us to have it but said he couldn't come down that far (understandably). But, as summer came to an end, and he had to take his ailing wife back to their home in FL, he said he was putting it up with a Realtor again but would sell to only us if we wanted to, for only $90,000!!! I was pretty thrilled but didn't want my excitement to show. It's still a little out of our price range but with some interest rate fanageling and a good loan, we could cope. We talked to my mom and John about it because they agreed to buy it through their company and we could rent to own from them and we could get a much better payment that way. Well, since we quit the "ministry" the guy they were working with on this realstate investment stuff pretty much dropped them and they didn't really know what to do. So, it has kinda been put on the back burner because they weren't sure if it was a good investment or not. Well, the last week I have noticed a car coming in and out of there and some trash on the curb. I thought it was the daughter just doing some cleaning out because they had some furniture and other family things in there still. But yesterday I noticed that there was a large moving type truck in there. I can't see the sign and I am scared. The sign is white and my eyes are bad and its some distance away so it's hard to see in the snow anyway, but tomorrow I am going to make a point to either drive by or walk by and see if it's true. If they DID in fact sell it, I really hope that they have some kids my kids ages. They don't have any friends near by like when we lived in MI. And I know that if they did sell the house than God must have something better for me, but sometimes that is kinda hard to believe! :)
• The job that I was supposed to be doing online/at home work didn't work out. They weren't very helpful and we had a virus so Bob had to format our computer, twice, over a period of a week and a half which was the time that I was supposed to start. I didn't finish by my deadline so they kicked me out. I haven't heard anything from them since. It cost me a lot of money too! Figures! I guess you live and learn. It seemed like a good thing but it didn't turn out to be that great.
• We aren't going anywhere for Christmas this year. With Bob just starting this new job this summer he hasn't gotten any vacation time yet and if he takes time off it is unpaid so we can't afford for him to do that. I am pretty disappointed because we usually go to see his family at least once during the year but we haven't been able to do that this year because of our move. But dad has moved to Flint and won't be going home for Christmas either this year so I guess we are just as well off to stay home with my mom.
  
• I had a cousin that passed away the first of Dec. She was on John's side of the family and only 12. She had lymphobalastic lymphoma (I have no idea if that's spelled right) cancer. It showed up suddenly in March and she was in and out of the hospital until she died. His family took it really hard, they aren't saved and had a really hard time understanding why God would do such a thing to a little girl.
• Jozie has joined a arts and crafts class with other homeschool girls her age. They just started last month before Thanksgiving and meet every other Tues. afternoon. She loves it and just completed her first sewing project! She made a little purse out of felt and added a couple of shapes for embellishments. I will have to take a picture of her with it before she gives it away. Next week the girls will be having a doll Christmas party where they will be exchanging gifts that they made for eachothers dolls at our last class. Jozie asks almost everyday if it's Tuesday (we haven't quite gotten down the days of the week!)!
  

I guess that's about it. Longer than it should have been but much shorter than it could have been (I'm pretty good at that!). I haven't been taking many picture lately. I guess the novelty of it has worn off for the moment and we haven't really been doing much lately either. I have also been keeping my hands busy with crafts and sewing and knitting for Christmas! Another reason that I have put my blogging aside! Stay tuned, I will follow up with my two tagged items soon - if I can do them! I did notice that the things on Amie's "Seven Sevens" would be almost identical to mine, can I just copy and paste hers?! :)