The Results are In!

Had the doctor visit to finally figure out all that was going on with my body. Basically I need to cut back, cut out, even out my carb consummation. I am in the pre-diabetes stage! :( I was not too surprised at this. I was a little shocked that my numbers actually increased between the two tests. As is usual with things you are not allowed to have - I sooooo crave them now! I know it is the initial results and it being fresh on the brain but boy oh boy do I want a nice piece of homemade bread!!

On our outing today while looking at houses, Bill and I decided to go to lunch. We ended up at Panera Bread (funny) and I ate their salad. It was a delicious salad and at that time I did not miss the bread one bit. But now these few hours later I would love to have some! HAHAHAHA!

I like this doctor because he is all about moderation. He doesn't expect you to go without just to tone down. Now I know I can do that!! He is also a believer of the natural/organic side of eating and that suits me just fine! I really appreciate his approach to healthcare and plan on staying with him for sometime!

Dentist say what?!

Boy oh boy was I thrown for a loop today. I went to the dentist for a consultation in regards to the orthodontics for my older two. Originally it was believed that Stephen was going to be the one who was more urgent. His being older and needing some alignment with the back molars. Well, I was greatly mistaken. My poor sweet Abigail is in some desperate need of quick attention to her mouth. She has a tooth that did not even form which needs some consideration due to its location. She has a bite that is off. She also has some teeth that are coming in all twisted and at wicked angle. Shocked I was to see this. This is all in addition to the original findings of her bite.

So off to the specialist I head in about a week to see where we begin!!! I am in pain just thinking about what these next 5+ years she is in store for. Her Dad on the other hand will be in pain due to the financial impact this will have on our lives.

Home sweet home

I gotta say that even though we are apartment living here in NJ, one just likes to be where you have made your house a home. As uncomfortable and annoying we find this place, it is our place of residence now and it was great to get back!!

We had smooth sailing until the very end - two accidents within 30 miles from home caused us to be delayed by 45 minutes but my wonderful husband had chicken fajitas ready and waiting for us. It was wonderful.

Now the apartment has our things all scattered throughout. It will take the next few days to get it all organized and find "homes" for our "junk" (what Joshua called it). I completely forgot to take pictures of what the van looked like. We were all packed in that I had to put the rear seat down and have Abigail and Joshua sit in the captain's chairs and Stephen had to move towards the front. The fortunate thing was that we were not packed all the way to the ceiling.

We did things a little different this time around. DeeDee gave us a book on CD to listen to. It was bizarre, crazy, and funny. We began the book very hesitantly and then couldn't wait to put it on again after our stops. It really did make the time go quick. We were cracking up with this crazy book.

Melancholy

Yes our time is coming to an end here in Ohio. We are enjoying ourselves very much. Lots of activity mixed with the right amount of relaxation.

Coming back is sooooo bittersweet. It reminds me over and over again how much we really do like it here and our desires for staying here heighten 10 fold. I keep reminding the kids, and myself, that once we get a home in NJ we will be able to grow our roots and all will feel like "home" in that part of the world.

Great weather today allowed us to go to the park and meet with our friends. The kids really enjoyed playing together that when asked how long they thought we had been there, they were off by about an hour!! The families blend pretty well together. There are some "wholes" in the ages and sexes so sometimes there are some disagreements but all-in-all a good day. Of course, it makes it all that much harder to depart Tuesday.

Weekend in Ohio

The weekend in Ohio went by soooo fast. Saturday was a nice morning for me and Natalie going out to two Bazaar's held at local school and church. It was great seeing all the fall and christmas stuff. I even purchased a few items for stocking stuffers.

I packed up the car and out the door to Hoggy's for lunch. Joshua just loves their buffalo wings. We enjoyed some good eatin. Then we drove to the Best home. Lot's of playing for the kids. Then the adults got to play too. We had our happy hour. Heather, Suzanne, and I sat around the table eating, drinking, and talking. Just like old times. It was great and familiar!

Sunday brought beautiful weather so we decided to head out to Lynd Fruit farm. About a 40 minute ride, to go and pick some apples. It was the perfect fall day. Lots of people out and about picking apples, buying local produce, and eating the kettle corn. We chose to eat some funnel cake. It was the biggest funnel cake I have ever seen. Yummy goodness. We were not very hungry for the rest of the day with all the apples and other snacking we did! It really was a great day. Oh, I also got to go on a walk with Heather. We walked the two neighborhoods!

Good Times!

Oh, what a wonderful time we had today. It was great being back with our old peeps! We started at COSI with the Ball's. We have not been to the science center for a long time and it was great to do all the hands-on activities as well as see a movie.

Then off to the Stamper family for some bonding time. Before we knew it we were all sitting around their kitchen table playing taboo. A good game that made us late in leaving their home. We were suppose to depart by 6 pm but did not leave until 6:40 pm. The teams were stacked as the adults against the kids. I don't think they know we let me win. There were some rules that were broken plus lots and lots of help given by us! It was a great time and really felt like old times and that we never left.

Arrived!

Yes, we arrived in Ohio!!! Yesterday we were able to leave by 1 pm. After the van got fixed and then stopped for lunch at Wendy's. So we were able to arrive here by 9 pm. The ride was great and went very smoothly. We arrived at the Loeffler's and the kids got some time in with their friends then it was to bed by 9:30 pm.

Thursday brought beautiful weather so we headed over to the zoo! We love the Columbus Zoo. They are always doing some expanding. Next will be the polar bear exhibit. We were able to see some animals with the weather being nice the zoo was pretty crowded. We got to see Beco the new baby elephant. This is the zoo's second baby elephant in the last 5 years! This zoo is amazing with what they have to offer and what they do. We miss it tremendously. As we miss the rest of Ohio!

The kids really enjoyed being outside today. Abigail really enjoyed playing in the backyard!! She was out there for hours. She is my nature girl and let me just say that she would have stayed out later it was getting dark but it was time for dinner.

Ohhhh!

Van trouble. Boy everything just breaks down all at the same time. Body and van parts. The van is only 7 years old and it has been very good to us. Taking us back and forth from Ohio and PA, NJ, and NY. Plus our trips to Florida and Georgia.

Since we are making the journey back to Ohio, I like to make sure the oil is current and fresh. So as I went to NTB to have said stuff done, I also asked them to check into a noise coming from the rear. I figured it was the shocks and yes, I was correct! But that was not the only problem they found. A bigger problem is with the brakes. The brakes themselves A-OK, the disc that has the brake fluid flowing through to the brake pads is shot! And the one they had on hand was defective! They ordered the part and say it will be in in the morning. Here's hoping that it doesn't delay our departure too late otherwise we leave a day later!!!

We are eager and excited to go back and see our friends! But need to trust the Lord knows what is best for us!

What's a girl to do?

Lie!!! Yup my sweet (sarcastic) daughter has entered the lie zone! It was all due to the ice cream sundae party that church had. Since I was teaching for the 1st service and stayed for the second to go in the sanctuary, Abs and Josh got to go to class twice. I made it a point that they will not be getting the ice cream twice. But not little miss, she had two! And what really matters most is that she not only disobeyed my instructions but she lied about it later. Ohhhhh! I am at a loss as to how to handle such duplicitous behavior. I am sure some reading this will think I am overreacting but trust me when I say that this can and will have lasting implications for her in the future if she is unable to correct this wrong. Because make no mistake this is wrong!!!! Any comments of insight would be greatly appreciated.

Shopping Night

My eldest is just growing leaps and bounds!! This evening after dinner, we went to the store for some much needed sneakers and socks! Then off to Kohl's for much needed pants! The boy has grown so tall his old jeans are floods!

It was a nice time spent with him but let me just say he is a little picky. I remember now my Mom taking the boys shopping and how frustrating it was for her as they are extremely picky. I can relate to her! My boy is soooo much worse than my girl. I already sees signs in Joshua about his pickiness! Cra zy!!!

As crazy as it was, it is always nice to have some alone time with each child regardless of what the occasion is. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I am tired though! I hate hate hate shopping.

Perfect day for homeschooling!

Today, a very wet, damp, cold day is a great day to be a homeschooling family. I did have to go out in the morning for some ink for the printer. I had to go out as we were very very low - actually had zippo on the black and needed it to copy lots of pages. Anyway, this kind of day was perfect for schooling what we wanted when we wanted. Able to change things around and sit on the bed under the covers to do school work or simply just spend some time reading a good book.

I believe it is days like this that will help to keep Stephen home! I would like him until 9th grade. he can go back in 10th and think still have the experience he may be yearning for. I also know that when we get a house all things will change. Keep praying!!!!

Nature club....Not!

For the last week, Abigail has been excited about the nature club that her and Josh have been signed up for. Well, today was the 2nd one and I missed it!! Yup! Thought I knew where I was going and got totally lost. Used the GPS on the phone and it took me to the back of the mountain and the back entrance for the horse-trailers. I had to drive all around the mountain to get to the correct entrance. That took me 25 minutes! (Gotta love Jersey!). When we arrived nobody was there! Abs wanted to stay but there is nothing to do there! That was a very big waste of time.

I apologized and told the kids that we have to trust God that he allowed it to happen for a reason. I think it was due to the fact that Joshua is not feeling 100%. He has a very stuffy nose and was complaining about ear pressure this morning. With it being so cold outside I think the Lord knew best what to do for this family. Abigail agreed when she heard Josh and his cough on the way home.

This morning I did take Josh to the doctor, as mentioned above, about his ear. Thankfully there was only redness. The doctor did give me a prescription, just in case. I do pray that we don't have to use it and that he is able to get this over with very soon! I have been absolutely nuts about disinfecting and making sure we are all washing our hands faithfully. The kids think I am insane but I told them sick kids cannot go visiting next week!!!

Crowned

Finally my tooth is crowned! Yes, tooth number 13 is officially done! Now we will be attacking teeth numbers 18 and 19. Yuck!! It really does stink to have bad teeth. I don't wish this on anyone. I do hope I can instill good dental hygiene into my kids. I go back in about 3 weeks to begin the next series of work that needs to be done. I am going to become very familiar with the folks in the office. It is sooooo good that they are a nice bunch. Between myself and my kids, I should move close to their office as I will be there several times a month.

Since it was just put on today, I am on my standard liquid diet as they suggested no hard food. So in order to not have any complications, I am eating a very liquid diet today!!! It just means I pee a lot!

Marvelous Monday

Yes, much to my surprise our Monday has gone off fairly well. We have art class, as you may recall, which takes us out for 3 hours. Well this morning the dentist called and they were in need of 2 more x-rays for Abigail. After dropping Joshua off at art, we headed to the dentist office. I was greatly concerned as my Abs usually takes her time with schoolwork and was worried this would be a great excuse to delay even more. But much to my wonder and surprise the girl rocked it out today. She sat so good inside the car and did her work. She even began her work prior to us leaving for art. Again, I am stunned and shocked!!!! Hence, making it a marvelous day.

Last night my eldest was looking for a holiday. As he heard some others were taking the day off for Columbus Day. We reminded him that any time he takes off now we require him to be working the week of Christmas and even New Year's!!!! ... He worked today!

Lancaster County

We headed to Mennonite country today. Not for the reasons you would think. Nope, we were not there to study the Amish or Mennonites. We went to see a life-size replica of the Tabernacle and then off to a Christian Musical.

We drove for an hour and half to first go to the Tabernacle site. While not exactly what I expected it was still pretty cool. We were able to get a glimpse inside what it looked like. The tour guide was very nice to ask our children the questions. I think he was most shocked by the fact that all the kids new the answers to his questions. And probably shocked him more by using some "bible" terms.

The seating during the opening tour. Notice

the wall. It was the only pictures we could

take. We were not allowed to take photos

of inside were the tabernacle is.

This is a depiction of the east part of the court

just outside the Tabernacle. Here is where you

would bring your offering to the priest and he

would place it on the altar for you for your sins.

We packed a lunch that we ate in the parking lot. So glad it was a nice autumn day. Then off to the theater for the musical. I did very poorly as the co-pilot and we missed our turn which in-turn made us late for the show. (We only missed 3 minutes.) I was afraid they would not let us inside. As the tickets stated that late-comers will have to wait until intermission to get in!! I was horrified. But as we were walking up an usher was outside and escorted us into the building where another usher directed us into groups based on our section. Then they let us take the elevators up to our section for some temporary seats. Whew!!!! (God is so good!)

We had very good seats. I purposely picked the balcony so my kids would be able to see everything. And I am sooooo glad I did! This stage was amazing. It was wrapped around the outer walls of the theater. The name of the play was called "In the Beginning" and it began with creation and depicted the life of Adam and Eve. Both inside the Garden of Eden and then outside the garden. Great Production!!! Stephen said he liked it even better than the performances he has seen at Disney!!! (Way to go Sight and Sound)!!! Oh yeah and since they were doing the creation they even had some live animals that ran across the stage. Rode in on some horses. Had lots of goats and sheep. Very cool! They even had a live skunk! For some of the animals they had people inside costumes but for some they were animitronics.

A picture of the stage. Believe me when I say

it doesn't do it justice. It was magnificent. Here

was the opening scenes in the Garden of Eden.

Book club delight

This is our second month of book club and it is going well. The idea was originally to be for older boys 10+, but since we have younger siblings we decided to have them listen in on the family read and then they can have their own group. The other decision was to go through the entire Narnia series. We are taking the books chronologically as opposed to when written. We have finished the first two. Next, we read A Horse and His Boy!

So we break into two groups and have two separate discussions during the 1 1/2 hours. Afterwards we have some time to fellowship and eat snacks. Today was my turn for snacks. The other Mom's got the idea to have Turkish Delight (Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe). There was a recipe I found and ventured a try. I failed! I am determined though, so next time I will try again. The kids did not know until today so hopefully all will go okay once I try again! I did also have other snacks with me.

Side trip

Upon cleaning my teeth this morning, I felt a little pop occur in the general area of the temporary crown!! Uh-oh! It did not completely come out but was wiggling all morning. In order not to have my troubles get worse I had my banana smoothie again. I did call the dentist office and they were able to squeeze me in to be re-cemented. Oh happy day. Just a week away from the permanent one!

Where o where did the weekend go?

Oh the beloved weekend, where have you gone?!? With my parents having the young ones sleepover on Friday night that meant for a rather crazy weekend for moi! Friday night was also busy with the parents meeting for Belize and then Bill and I decided to go get "baby" back (my computer)!

Saturday morning flew by. I made some pancakes and then realized I needed to go out and get the kids from their cousin's 9th birthday party. An hour away! Then back to Grandma's house to visit with Aunt Dee and pick up stuff from sleepover.

Got home with an hour rest then off to our friends for dinner. We had a great time and much needed family bonding occurred. We stayed out for several hours. Got home for showers and bed.

Church on Sunday. Bill up early as he was on worship. The kids and I lazed around until the second service as I was not teaching. Poor Stephen he thought he was done being a helper and then Bill needed him for his class.

After church swung by an open house. (Not good.) { Oooops forgot that before church I ran out to Trader Joe's to get some much needed food for football sunday. When the Jets are on I don't like to cook. So I bought their meatballs and marinara sauce to place into the crockpot before church.} Home to make some lunch for hungry folks.

Just in time for some football. After several hours of that, I took Abs out for some needed pants that fit her. She was wearing "floods". Before I knew it it was 8:00 pm.

Belize in 2010

Stephen will be 13 in mere weeks. I am shocked and stunned that I will have a teenager. But I digress. The youth group he belongs to has been planning on going to Belize. One of the couples from our church have been going there for over 6 years and helping out some churches, orphanages, and getting the local youth involved in activities. This past January a small group went with them to see what type of missionary work we as a church could be doing for the people there. One of our pastors went and felt we needed to be more involved. The idea then surfaced that our youth group should go down. The churches that we have affiliated with have an abundance of children. There are waaaay more kids than adults. So, who better to send than our youth.

Last night was the parent meeting for the trip. They wanted to let us know the dates - end June into July - and the types of involvement our kids would be having while down there. As mentioned above they would get the opportunity to help in an orphanage, assist in a VBS, and go out into the village to speak to the kids their ages and younger.

What makes this a fabulous place to go is that Belize is an English speaking country. While located in Central America, it was owned by the Brits, so they speak English. There of course will be some type of communication barrier but for the most part it is not a new language to have to learn or even know!!! While I am still torn about sending him soooo far away from us, I am also confident with the leaders that are going and know that I can trust Barb to be his "momma hen" while I am not there. And trust Gregg to be "pappa".

Stephen is excited and nervous (I think) about going. He did ask if I was going too! He is looking forward to going. Over the next few months they will be raising money to make the cost more manageable. Let the fund-raising begin. Stephen will also be "working" towards earning money that the church will put into an account so the kids don't spend it.

My baby is growing up!!!!

It's Back

My beloved computer is back home again!!! They say it is fixed! I am a bit skeptical as this is our 3rd time trying to fix the problem. I tend to believe them this time as they finally heard the noise and know exactly what was causing it. Funny you would think they would have been able to diagnose it when I mentioned what the noise was! Go figure. Anyway, it is back home and I do hope that will make this week go much easier as being down one computer changed our week drastically. (impacts greatly when kids are using an online curriculum)!

The other wonderful computer thing is that I finally ordered the battery for our family laptop. You see this too was making our day rather hectic. As any type of movement that would dislodge the power cord would shut down the compute. Then it would take about 5 minutes to get it back up and running again because the date of the computer would be 1969 and it would not function properly. Ughh technology - a necessary evil. (Perhaps that should have been the title of this blog)!!!

Hoping this makes for a much better week.

Paying for bad decisions

I am reaping the benefits of really bad decision-making! Boy, if I could start this day over I would. I know we are suppose to move on and move ahead and look at all things as learning experiences but this day was @#$% bad!!!!!

What am I talking about? So nice of you to ask. Last year I thought it would be good to have a lighter curriculum for the children for school; for remember we were in the process of moving and we did need to travel back and forth while the house was on the market. The curriculum was a very basic bare-bone minimalist approach towards schooling. Since we were moving around so much I did not get to supplement like I should have. Jumping ahead. Since the house sold (yay) I knew I was going to be going back to the k12 curriculum as I like their wonderfully intensive academically challenging approach.

Now to today - My children are up in arms when they have to do ALL the work that is on their schedule! They beg and bargain to alter what the requirements are. When I say no! They actually continue to argue and complain. I have announced today that I am no longer going to continue to homeschool my children. As of next year I do believe they will be heading back out into the trenches of a brick and mortar. Some of them are not too happy about this statement. But I truly am feeling very defeated. We are working every day until 5 pm and I am physically and emotionally exhausted.

I truly hate letting my children see this side of me. I don't want them to remember me as being a crass mom who yells at them all the time. I read this devotional every day on homeschooling and there are times that she is right on about the attitudes that happen in this household. And then the conviction comes of how we are not suppose to allow those attitudes affect our decisions. She cannot be serious!!!!! I have officially given my resignation papers to my children and thrown-in the towel. (Now my kids will remember me as having a defeatist attitude).

I only ask that you pray for me and my family as this year is unfolding. I see a lot of the world entering into our lives and I am at a loss! :(

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky due to the fact that I was a taxi driver for my two eldest. I had to take Stephen to the orthodontist for the records/x-ray appointment first thing in the morning, 8:30 am. After an hour there it was home for some school work then back to the orthodontist with Abigail for her 11:00 am appointment. After her hour we go back home - very hungry!! We have some lunch and then go about finishing school.

At about 2 pm my realtor calls to see if I can go out to look at a few houses at about 5 pm. I said yes and he comes to pick me up as we were hoping Bill would be able to meet with us. (He didn't). The first house we did not even enter - did not like the lot location. (And you know it is all about location, location, location!) Next house was more promising but I felt that some of the rooms were too tight. For example, we could not all be in the kitchen eating together as our table for 6 would not fit! The final and third house we saw was very promising but after further inspection, by myself, I realized that there are things that would be very expensive to change. For instance, you could not go out the mud room door (to the outside) without pushing the dryer out of the way. (HUH!)

By the time I arrived back home it was after 6 pm and I still needed to make dinner. Very hungry people kept asking when it would be dinner time. At 7 pm we ate. The children then needed to take some much needed showers!