School Update

So we aren't quite done with school yet. Jozie has been done since about the first week of May. I have been working with her reading through SRA Reading Laboratory (I have an old edition from 1990 that a fellow home educator gave me) and some extra math too with Saxon Math (again, the same fellow home educator gave these to me - her husband works with the public schools and gets a lot of old curriculum that the schools are getting rid of), grade 2 worksheets that I have. She doesn't seem to mind too much. I also have an art/etiquette called Little Annie's Art Book of Etiquette and Good Manners that she really likes. I'm suprised that she hasn't complained about doing extra work since she knows that she finished her PACES (we are currently using Acclerated Christian Education) so long ago. Thankfully she finished before Luke because if he had finished first than I never would have gotten him to do extra work until she was done.

Luke is a little behind because he finished first grade at the beginning of the year and didn't start second grade until after Thanksgiving. We also took more time off for Christmas than I intended and almost 2 weeks for spring break when we were sick for a week and then had a break for the second week. Plus the here and there days that we did other things like field trips and such. I could just let him finish second grade next year but with us not really sure about next year I want him to be ready to start third grade if we have to put them in public school. He actually seems to understand and hasn't complained or throw any more fits than normal! LOL

Last night Luke asked if he could watch cartoons for a little while before bed when his sister was in the shower and I said no because I hate having to have them watch TV so I told him to find something else to do. There wasn't enough time for him to watch a whole program anyway. So he asked - ASKED - if he could work on school work and get some extra done! I was FLABBERGASTED!!! STUNNED!!! Is this really my son? My child who HATES doing his PACES when he has to, let alone the mention of extra work usually throws him off for AT LEAST a half an hour?! Well, I didn't react at all for a moment then, to cover my true emotions, I said, "Sure, if that's what floats your boat." Just like if he asked me to play with his legos - which he doesn't have to ask to do. I was afraid if I got excited he would change his mind! So he went straight to the table and promptly FINISHED the math PACE that he was working on! Test and all without even asking for help with instructions. I was a pretty proud mom and teacher. This is what it's all about.

Over the last couple of weeks with Jozie working on her reading I have seen great improvement. She has gone from sounding out most of her words - even ones that I know she knows much to my frustration - to sight reading almost everything only to have to sound out new words. She still could use some help with math, it doesn't seem to be her strong point, she must get that from her mother! All in all I am pleased with her progress and am confident she will make a great third grader.

Luke is also a wonderful second grader. There isn't much that gets by him and he really only needs instructions once for most everything. He has gone to reading most of his science quietly to himself and only asking if he needs help with sounding out a word. He hates the repetition of math because once he understands a concept he has it down and doesn't need to or want to waste time doing things over and over again. He's a boy, he has better things to do! LOL I think the only thing that he has problems with is maybe spelling. But again it's the repetition thing. Our Word Building is pretty easy and straight forward but when the introduce a new word they have to write it six times and then usually write several words that have the same ending sound as the one they just wrote. His problem tends to be that he just copies the word as letters and doesn't bother committing it to memory as a word. He found out the hard way that he has to pay more attention to what he is writing because he ended up having to erase and redo a whole PACE - which is 6 school days worth of work - because he only got like a 40% on the spelling test. He is doing better but still needs constant reminding! :)

So, before the end of June, both of my kids will be prepared for third grade. Luke needs to work on his attitude and fits and Jozie still needs work in math. I PLAN on continued reading and flash card work through the summer but those kinds of plans don't usually work out...I guess we'll see!

Corn, Clothes, and the Swimming Pool Garden

This week has been busy so here it is in bullets...lets see if I can keep it short! :)

• Luke loves corn on the cob. I made a dozen ears on the grill last night for supper along with hamburgers and hotdogs. Luke is always the first one with corn on his plate, finished with corn before anything else touches his plate, and has it all over his face - literally from his forehead to his chin - which isn't uncommon for him when he eats corn on the cob. Jozie was sitting next to him and noticed and said as she picked up his napkin and wiped his face, "Oh, Bubba, you have a mess all over your face! Here, let me help you." It was so funny just the way it came out, I had to laugh. She is such a mother!

• I finally got approval for a clothes line! Yeah! My mom's dryer doesn't work the greatest so it takes an average of 2 hours to dry a load of clothes in the dryer! I can hang them and get them done SO much quicker it's unbelievable! I'm just excited to have sunshine fresh clothes again! Did I already say, Yeah! :)

• We are late getting our garden in again this year. Today we finally got it tilled. We have a Man*tis tiller and it's kind of a pain. It's ok for small jobs or in little areas but it takes SO long to do it in our swimming pool garden. I only did about a quarter of it and my hands are KILLING me. They are so swolen from the vibration that I am having a hard time even typing!

I will have to post pictures of my clothes line and the swimming pool garden when I get them. It probably won't be tomorrow though, it's supposed to rain.

To Those Who Died For Our Freedom:

Thank You.

Happy Memorial Day

Another FREE Concert - Thanks Shine.fm!

Yesterday Luke and I spent the afternoon together taking in some FREE music. It was sponsered by a local church and it was an outdoor outreach event. They were raising money for their new church building on the sight of the event.

Luke and I went to see Skillet! (I have been listening to them since I was in high school so I am considered one of their "old" fans! LOL) It was nice to spend some time with my son one on one where I only had to talk to and listen to and play with him. We had a great time. He got a poster for them to sigh and we waited in line for them to sign it and to give them high fives for almost an hour. He was too shy to tell them that his daddy used to drive their bus though! :) The music was awesome, as always with them. I had to put Luke on my shoulder so he could see over the crowd so I'm a bit sore today but not as bad as I thought I was going to be! He loved the loud music and the fact that he got to stay up way past his bedtime!

After the concert he convinced me to take him to Pizza Hut with some of the kids from our youth group that were there so it was after 11:30 when he finally got to bed! Bob got home just as he was getting into bed so he had to show Daddy his poster and tell him all about seeing Skillet and Jarius Cry. He was disappointed that he didn't get to meet the guys of Jarius Cry - he thought they would be with Skillet to sigh autographs - but Papa John promised him that when they come here this summer him and Luke would out for dinner with them and even play with their kids if they bring them. That seemed to please Luke and he asked for clarification several times just so he had all the details. :)

I even let him drink Mount*ain D*ew and have a Bo*mb Po*p from the ice cream truck, two things that NEVER happen in our house, he thought he was pretty special...and he was right! :) He is a very enjoyable child to have, when he wants to be! :) I love him and I wouldn't trade him for the world! :)

Morning Drive

This morning we decided to go for a drive wit the kids just to get them out of the house - they are DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! Here are some things we found along the way:





If you notice there are no pictures of me. There is a simple explanation for that...I AM SO FAT I AM EMBARRASSED TO PUT UP ANY PICTURES OF ME! I should just find a picture of a cow or a pig or maybe one of those advertisements for fat pills to put in for me. I knew I was fat but when I see pictures of myself I think it makes it that much more obvious....I almost cried.

I am going to go and throw up this ice cream I have and quit eating now.

Baby Sadie! - Sorta.

We checked out the pictures of new baby Sadie yesterday morning and when Luke saw how tiny she was he wanted to know how it would feel to hold a baby. So for comparison sake I got out a 5 lb bag of sugar. I showed him how to hold the "baby" in his arms and he thought it was pretty easy, "she" was a little baby. But after a few seconds he got tired of it and said, "Here, you take her mom, she's drooling!" And handed "her" back to me! What a boy! He even did it gently, like he had a real baby in his arms!

Free Concert! Woo Hoo!

Last night Kristin and I took Sami to see Bui*lding 429 (my space) and Jacks*n Waters (my space) in a free, yes I said FREE, concert! It was awesome. We were the first ones in the doors and got second row seats. We were about 5 feet from the hugemungus speakers on the stage. I didn't take the kids because Bob just wanted to stay home but I almost wish I would have brought them anyway. There were a lot of other kids there and I'm sure they would have liked it - but I was afraid Jozie wouldn't like the loudness of it so I left them at home. When we went to see the Pow*er Te*am last summer she complained about it then and we were in the BACK row!

I liked the music for JW - they opened for B429 - but I had a hard time hearing the words because the music was so loud. The drummer was great! He was very animated with his facial expressions and you could tell he loved doing what he does best just by the way he did it.

Buildi*g 429 - which stands for Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." - was better than I was expecting. I was expecting a concert, that it would be entertainment and good music but that's not what it was. I was excited to find that it was a worship service. They didn't come to bring glory to themselves but to God. The whole purpose of their newest album was that the people who come to their concerts and be able to sing the words to the songs with them. They did a couple of the songs that they have had on the radio and some new ones too.

I GOT A FREE T-SHIRT!!! They were throwing out t-shirts and I caught one. It wasn't what I expected but it was free! :)

Meet William!

Goodbye Buster, Hello Bugs!

No, we didn't get Buster back or anything crazy like that, but my mom talked to the guy she gave him to at work today and things aren't going as planned with him. He said that Buster had been doing great for the last few weeks - he was obeying commands really well and not having any problems with his anger issues - but then he got home from work on Friday afternoon to find him sullen and cranky. Buster snarled and snapped at him 2 times that afternoon for no apparent reason so when his kids came he wouldn't let them play with him. He got excited and wagged his tail when the kids got their but the guy didn't want to trust the dog with his kids - I don't blame him. So, he is going to have to put Buster down. It's a sad and hard thing to do but we all agreed that it would be for the best before he bites someone, especially the kids. It would even be hard to give him away to someone else for fear that they would turn around and sue you the moment that he bit someone. But what else can you do with a dog that can't be trusted?

And no, we didn't get bugs now that the dog is gone either! :) This summer is the summer of the 17 year cicada and my kids are extremely excited. They are suppose to come out in some great number here in our area so the local paper has been having stories about them almost weekly. I got this link to an interesting and disturbing video of them in my email today and thought I would share it with you guys. I HATE these bugs, they are ugly, huge, and noisy so the moment I see them on the move, you can guarantee that I will be on the move too - straight back into the house! Though they are harmless, I just can't stand them! Yuck! So, check this out and see what we get to experience in just a few short weeks!

http://www.bio.indiana.edu/~hangarterlab/broodx/broodxmovies/NSFmovie.htm

Don't say I didn't warn you though! :P

Happy Mother's Day!

I got this cute little story via email the other day and figured it would make a great Mother's Day post!

Hope you all have a wonderful and memorable Mother's Day!


So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.

Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.

Well, we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES IT. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped.

And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.

And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.

UP Pictures...Finally!

Trip Details....

We had a great trip to the UP last week. We just happened to be up there the same time that my dad was so we got to stay with him at the farm. If you don't know he doesn't live up there anymore, he lives in Fli*nt now where he works driving truck. He still owns the farm but only gets up there once every couple of months.

The kids had a blast at the farm. They found out quickly that if they ventured too far off the cut grass into the tall dead grass in the fields than they got a good dose of wood ticks...we hate those little creepy crawly things and I was really hoping we would get there before they arrived for the summer! :P I was sorely disappointed! Luke figured he could outsmart them or something by running fast through it but still failed...he couldn't figure out how he kept getting them because he had to be running at least 50 mph! LOL

My dad has a road that goes out behind the old chicken coop to the woods and the kids loved running back there with Ginger and seeing who could do it the fastest. It was wonderful to spend almost a whole week outdoors without even worrying about the TV and when they were going to watch cartoons! :) I tend to say no to that more often than not at home but they didn't even ask the whole time we were there! Miracles never cease! :)

I think Luke's highlight was getting to shoot Papa's .22 and pellet gun. Both kids got in quite a bit of target practice out behind the woodshed and also some gun safety. Luke mad the mistake of getting too close to the scope and luckily only got a small cut in the middle of his head when he was shooting the pellet gun. It was almost funny if he hadn't actually gotten hurt! He tried to hide the pain at first but then he saw the blood and it was all over. He cried and it was worse because he did it in front of Papa! Jozie didn't really care too much for the target practice but she turned out to be a pretty good shot when she took her time and aimed! I even got in on the fun and the kids were amazed at how good their mother was. I was in the shooting club in 4-H when I was in Junior High and took hunters safety when I was 12. So I have handled a few guns in my day! I think my dad was surprised to see that I still had it in me. :)

We spent a day at my grandparents house and I found them - with a bit of relief - pretty much the same. I was a little bit worried that I would find them old and decrepit and on their death beds for some reason...maybe because I haven't seen them for a couple of years. I pretty much grew up with them only miles away so it was strange to go so long and not see them. It felt good still have grandma still want to baby me after all these years and be able to baby her a little instead! :) I did end up needing her sewing expertise though because I started a project that I couldn't finish myself! I am a little embarrassed but I found what I thought looked to be an easy pattern for an apron for Jozie for her birthday. I cut it out and had my sewing machine out and ready to only take one look at the directions and dew a complete blank. So I luckily was taking this trip up north and decided to take it to Grandma. She did it. It took her most of the afternoon and into the evening but she said that I never would have gotten it on my own and she has never seen a pattern for an apron that hard! So much for my big head when it comes to sewing....I guess I need a little more practice! I will also have to take a picture of Jozie in it so you can see the final product. It is so cute! Grandma even put a little tag on it that says "Made with Love by Grandma". She's the best!

We didn't get to spend enough time with A. Darlene but that was my fault. We weren't sure we were going to end up going because of my other grandmas health so I didn't call her and let her know we were going to be there. She did stop by at my grandparents house on her way home from work but she was sick with a nasty cold and didn't want to stay long and spread it around. She stayed long enough to talk and play checkers with the kids. She beat Jozie (she's not the best checker player around) but I think Luke took her down. :) It was wonderful to see her even for a short time. :)

So that's my trip. It was hard to come back to the business of suburban life but we managed. Even Jozie noticed how quite things were while we were driving through the UP without even being prompted that we don't live in such a nice quite place now. It must be pretty bad if an 8-year-old notices!

I will post pictures tomorrow. Our Internet was down for most of the day here so I didn't have time to upload any pictures. I'm going to bed now! Goodnight! :)

**Thanks for the tip Jodie! I noticed the Edit Html tab and the compose tab before but never looked at them both so I didn't think to check and see if there was a difference...Duh, I feel really cool!!! 8)**

What's up With That?!?

We got back from our trip yesterday afternoon. We only had 2 close calls with the wilds of WI - one with THREE deer and one with a turkey who wanted to see our dinner table but never made it...

But, while traveling through Milwauke*e, WI we came across this billboard that made absolutely no sense...I guess it's like a tease and reveal technique of advertisement where some off the wall thing is put up to get attention and then the real ad is put up a couple of weeks later so it gets more attention...who knows. I just don't understand. Do you?

More to come about our trip and pics...I've got a headache tonight though and the ghetto Wa*lMart didn't have my brand of headache pills stocked...no surprise there...so I'm headed to bed early tonight to try and sleep it off. I will post more soon!

C-ya!

Welp, we are leaving for the UP today. We will be coming home on Thursday night so I will let you know how it went then!

Later!

Blogger Question...

I have noticed that for the last couple of weeks my blogger post editing place here is missing a couple of buttons. I no longer have all the buttons to change the font or the font size and color. I usually don't change it much but if I am writing a caption for a picture or even quoting things at times I did use it.

Does anybody else have these buttons missing? Maybe it's my template but if that's the case it should have been like that for months because it's been quite some time since I have changed that and I used different colors, fonts and font size several times since then. Any, just kind of frustrating, that's all. :P

I just noticed that where I used different fonts and colors and sizes in my archives, they are gone! Who is responsible for this? Did I do something to make it change? I haven't even looked at my template or changed things on it in months - except for the sidebar...how frustrating!

Packing - Again!

Well, I am packing to take a trip to the UP next week. We plan on leaving on Sun. after church and returning Thurs. morning. My dad is up at the farm so it will work out quite well to stay with him. The only problem is that we won't have a car. It's not such a huge deal but I'd like to visit some friends that live about an hour from my dads and probably won't get the chance to. That part is a bummer but we will get to spend plenty of time with my dad and grandparents and my aunt and uncle and that is really the whole point of going.

This trip comes at a pretty good time actually. I started making an apron for Jozie for her birthday and got the whole thing cut out yesterday only to get my sewing machine out today and I can't figure out step one of sewing it together. So, I will be taking it with me to have grandma help me, shes been sewing for YEARS so we should get it done in no time. I thought I'd be able to do it myself because I picked out the easiest pattern I could find for a child's apron but I guess I was wrong. Hopefully I can learn a lot and do the next project on my own!

Happy Birthday Belle!

Jozie turned 8 today! We didn't do much celebrating - with AWANA and church on Wednesday nights we don't have a whole lot of extra time. We had popcorn cake after dinner of homemade chicken noodle soup.

I can't believe how much she has changed and grown over the years. Here are 8 things about her:

1. Jozie is a very loving and compassionate child. She is always ready to give a hug or hold someones hand.

2. She is the most forgiving person that I have every met. Her brother does normal mean brother stuff to her on a daily basis and still she quick to forgive and ready to call him "friend".

3. Jozie is always ready to help. She loves to help clean the house, help with dinner - whether it be setting the table, making a salad, or cleaning off the table and doing the dishes - she likes to garden - even pulling the weeds, she will even help her brother clean his "room" (the space by his bed that he keeps his stuff in)! The only time she will complain about doing something she is asked to do is when she has to clean her own mess up!

4. Jozie loves babies. When I was her age I never gave babies a second thought but she loves to go into the nursery at church and hug and help with the babies. That and with her willingness to be such a good homemaker-in-the-making, hopefully she will be a great mother and wife someday.

5. Animals are special to her - and not just her stuffed ones! She really likes horses but hasn't had much of an opportunity to get up and close with them. She says she wants to a vet someday. She isn't even scared of the things that most girls are afraid of like bugs and snakes and other creepy crawlies! :)

6. She likes to tell me that she wants to be just like me when she grows up! Lord, help her! LOL

7. She isn't fond of school work but when she works hard and doesn't complain she can do it without many problems.

8. She is a gift not only to our family but to everyone she comes in contact with. There is no doubt in my mind about that. I believe that she will grow to be a woman of great faith in her Lord, a wonderful mother, and a loving and supportive wife. I believe that she will bless many people as a result of these things that God has birthed in her at this young age.

I don't know what we would do without her!

Happy Birthday Beautiful!

Busy Saturday

Yesterday was the Youth Olympic Night at our church. It was a night of games for the kids where teams of 3 competed for cash prizes - first place got $50, second place got $25 and third place got $10 - with a big obstacle course as the final game. There was all kinds of food - hotdogs, corndogs, nachos, chips, candy bars, pizza and pop - it was all only a quarter.

It wasn't as well planned out as it should have been so I ended up running around all afternoon looking for a place to get change at but since it was Saturday afternoon none of the banks were open. I ended up going to WalM*art where I got a candy bar with a $100 just to get change.

I was the photographer for the evening with my camera and the churches digital video camera. The video camera had a dead battery so I didn't get much with that but I took almost 300 pictures with my camera so hopefully they will have enough to put a slide show together or something.

Luke donated his bike to the occasion because they needed a small bike for the obstacle course and they couldn't find a trike. I'm glad I brought it because it kept him occupied riding around the parking lot of the church, going "100 miles per hour" as he said, while the other games were going on. And thankfully they didn't wreck his bike because although he needs a new one badly - this one is too small, the back wheel is slightly bent, the chain is completely rusted, and he has had it since he turned 3 - we don't currently have the money to replace it! :)

The games were made up by some of the teens and leaders so the fine details and rules were sometimes questioned. One of the games was taken out because by the end they didn't really understand what to do and there were a few disgruntled kids when it cames to the rules of some of the others.

It was an exhausting day for everyone involved but I think the youth group kids enjoyed it and I'm sure there will be another one sometime in the future - although more planning is greatly needed!

Why? II

***This post is in no way meant to upset or offend anybody, it's just the way things are in my family. I'm sorry if it does.



Why does the family of a divorced man have to suffer because of the sins of his ex-wife? Because she left him with 3 children - ages 0 to 5 - only to come back a year later and reclaim them and let them never have a relationship with him again? Why does a man have to work like a dog only to bring home barely minimum wage because half his income goes to child support? Why does nobody else but me care? Why does the state of M@ine have the right to take his income tax return when he is almost $700 OVER paid on his child support? Why is it when he calls to get it back they tell him that they will send out a check on Monday only to find out SEVERAL weeks later that THEY haven't received the money from the Fe*dera*l Gov*ernm*ent? Is it just me or does that sound a little funny? And they can't answer when you ask if the $700 over payment will be included with the money they owe us for the tax return that they have STOLEN from us! I get so SICK of hearing how EVERY man who pays child support is a "de*ad be*at d*ad" because my husband is anything BUT that and still he is treated like crap JUST BECAUSE HE IS THE DAD! Why is he told that he "should have thought about that BEFORE he got married again" when he asks how he is supposed to support his wife and 2 kids on minimum wage? Why is his ex-wife deemed unable to pay child support when she goes back to school but when my husband goes back to school he will have to pay in through the nose JUST BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO BETTER HIMSELF to make a better life for his family - INCLUDING ALL 5 OF HIS CHILDREN?! So not only will we have to start a new job with college loans he will most likely be behind in child support payments as well, what a life! Will it ever end? What do they want next? His blood? Oh, wait, they already have that! They have his 3 children that want nothing to do with him because of the lies of a crazy woman!

So when people blog about how perfect life is or can be, it makes me want to comment on their blogs about how reality is and how life could NEVER be perfect until we are dead and in heaven!

Why?

Why can't life be easy?

Today I read a lady's blog who seems to have it all together. She has beautiful children, a beautiful home, the ability to stay at home and homeschool her children, even the the pictures on her blog are perfect and the words she used are so idyllic. She is the perfect Christian mother and wife and can juggle 5 children, a part time job (she is an attorney), running a household (she bakes bread on a weekly basis - and it's HOMEMADE - not just the frozen dough), and she homeschools and sews her children's clothes. Looking at her blog made me long for something that I don't feel like I can ever have or accomplish. I only have 2 children and I'm hard pressed to make dinner everyday because I always have something to do and the days are never long enough. My kids are never prefect (don't get me wrong, I love my kids and wouldn't change them for ANYTHING) and I don't have any time to do the things that I want to do more often, like sew, or scrapbook, or even get outside and hike or Rollerblade. I always seem to be yelling at my kids about something and they are always fighting about something, even if the get the great idea to play TOGETHER they still can't agree on what to do or how to do it. The lady both inspired me to try and do better with my time but at the same time it was a bit depressing because it seemed that she had endless time and energy and resources to do what she wanted to do and she does it all with perfection! It kind of irritated me because I wondered if she was even being completely honest.

Anyway, this is a little disjointed and cranky (at this moment Jozie is having a crying fit because she HATES math and doesn't want to do her schoolwork so her crying in my ear isn't helping) but I needed to vent and all I really want to do is curl up in my bed and read my book so I don't need to think about reality right now!

But laundry beckons...