Official

It is official... I am NJ legal.   About two weeks ago I finally got my driver's license and today was the day my vehicle became official.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute and bad weather to accomplish this task.   It took over 2 hours to complete.   It was not the way I wanted the day to go but I am relieved it is done!!!!!

Down on the Farm

We went on a field trip to Howell Living Farm.  A farm that lives in the past.  Turn of the century type stuff.  Some of the things date to 1800's and some 1900's.  We went for the maple sugaring.  And yes we did get to taste some.  It was syrup though on our pancake.  But all in all a fun day.

It was a long one.  We spent over 2 hours going to different stations in the process.  We began at the wood cutting.  As the wood is needed for the fire in the evaporator and in the house for heat and cooking.

 Next stop the house.

 Where we got to see and taste the pancakes.   No making though.   It was a tiny kitchen.  But big in those times.  The ladies were very good about asking questions but I feel one did not allow the children enough time to formulate answers.  Our ages ranged from k-7.  Then it was off to the sugar maple trees where we got to see the tapping process and see the results inside the pails.   Finally off to the evaporator house.  This was were they turn the drippings into the syrup.   Now a real farm would not have had the evaporator house, they would have done it all over the fire.

We are all glad we went.  I especially like it when we walk away and my children say they learned something new!!!   An A+ day when that occurs!   I love love love field trips and even more so when the learning occurs sandwiched with interest and fun.

Only Tuesday

Okay folks, here it is only day 2 of the week and I feel as though it is Thursday already.  My body wants it to be Friday soooooo bad.    We still have a filled week ahead.   While it is nice to get out and about, it is also very challenging.   I am trying very hard to arrange the schedule to go with the time we need to be out but unfortunately it doesn't always go as planned.  Especially when there are big assessments that are due.  Those take a long time for the children to finish.  Some of them are 7+ pages with 40-50 questions.   On top of those assessments there are still the regular work that needs to begun.  The big challenge comes in grading said pages.

We are plugging away as we are trying to get all school done by first week in June.  This will not be easy with all the time we had off in December.  Plus there are days we will be taking off in the Spring.

Near Misses

Well we were out looking at houses this weekend and may I say that we are getting closer.  This time was the first time were I truly felt like we are moving in the right direction.   We only saw 3 houses but 2 of the 3 were near misses.  What I mean by that is, we were the closest we have ever been.  That to me is promising.  I know with the Spring market on the horizon we will definitely be able to find a home that will meet all the qualifications we are looking to have in a home.

Thank You, Lord!

Oh and thanks for the prayers.  Keep praying it is working.

Olympics

This entire week I have been watching the Olympics.  I know I mentioned earlier that I am a junkie!   I even have it so I get updates on my phone!    I really enjoy watching the amazing things that these athletes accomplish.

Needless to say I have been one tired individual staying up late and getting up early to school.   Next week will even be worse as we have a much busier week with a field trip on the horizon.  Stephen also has 2 baseballs and 2 basketballs this week.   Will definitely be napping whenever I can.

These crazy teen years!

It is a roller coaster ride in this household.  My teen of only 3 months is both amazing and confusing all at the same time.   He gets kudos from people on his manners, his eagerness to help, his willingness to be available, his ability to stay on focus and not allow the pressures of what others say change his thoughts or inhibit his responses, and many more things.   But when he gets frustrated he becomes frustrating.   I adore him!   I really do.  It is such a great age and I really want to take these months to speak so much truth into his life.   I am always reading up on the latest about what teens are exposed to.  One of the ways the exposure occurs is via books.   Stephen is an avid reader and I cannot keep up with him!   I am thankful that we are using a program that has him reading loads of classics that he finds interesting and wants to continue with the series, if there is one, or try another book by the author.   But with all the buzz and craziness about vampires and other dark elements in teen literature, I read and rely on Pluggedin.com.  I take what I can from the reviews and apply as much knowledge on the subject matter that I can.  And I use it as an opportunity for many discussions with him.   I am thrilled that we have this wonderful relationship where we can and do talk about everything.   As awkward as some topics are, I am a big fan of him hearing it from me than others (books included)!   In one of the articles at Pluggedin I came across this statement and it is one that is sticking with me for truer words are hard to come by:


"Sometimes when we wade into dark, frightening, permanent territory, we're tempted to take up residence."


I know for myself it becomes very easy to allow a little of the world in and before I know it it is a slippery slope I find myself struggling to climb.  I know as a parent I want the best for my children and that means helping them to not make some of the mistakes I have made.  I want them to learn from my mistakes but I realize that they must learn from their own.  I just want to be accessible and available for them to come running to in their time of need, concern, and confusion.  I am very fortunate that Stephen is like me so I am able to read him and I think that helps him to feel understood.  I worry about Abigail as she is a stifler.  Her phrase is "I don't want to talk about it."   Which means we really need to discuss it!  


Having my children home has given my so much opportunity to get to really know who they are, how they think, and how they respond.  I am not saying you can't know your children if they are schooled out of the home.  All I am saying is that it really has been an eye-opener for me and I am truly blessed to have this chance.  


While I know we are only beginning the teen years (I calculated and due to the ages of my children I will be in the teen years for the next 12 years!) I look forward to this journey with anticipation and trepidation.   I know that there will be times when I want to hang 'em high and times when I won't want to let them go.  So you will most likely find me on my knees before the One who will carry us through this time of our lives.

Sleep Over

Friday night Joshua had is first ever sleep over that was not family.   Granted Abigail was there too but he did it!!!!  We are very excited about this.  He said he had soooooo much fun and that is what helped him.  He and Abigail were gone for about 23 hours.  Stephen had his youth group missions meeting so Bill and I had the evening to ourselves.  Which one would think would be good but we were able to just sit and talk because before we knew it it was about time to get Stephen.

Watched some olympics later on.  I love the olympics.   It really reminds me of my youth.  We would get so pumped to sit in front of the TV and watch.   I remember in the summer time we would create olympic type games in the pool.  Relay races and individual races.  What a great time!!!   Even had the opportunity to attend the 96 games in Atlanta!!!

Have been an olympic junkie these last couple of days.  Love getting excited for the Americans!!!  Go Team USA!!!

Ortho

Let the teeth fixing begin.  She is a trooper.  She had these rubber bands placed into her teeth over a week ago.  We had scheduled the next appointment on Wednesday but due to the snow we needed to change the time.  So here we are on Friday getting impressions done.  In all honesty, I have no ideas what all is happening as I never had braces.  She asks me all sorts of questions and I am unable to answer her.

I realized a few years back how high her tolerance to pain is.  So when she complains it's not good!   So far all is well.  But we have not gotten to the hard part yet.  I have been reading the pamphlets with her as a reminder of whats to come.   Let's pray that all we are doing will be a good thing and she is able to handle and maintain all the is involved.  I worry about her age.  She is young!   But the Lord knows what she can handle so I will rest in that.  It is a reminder that we need often.

Terrific Tuesday

Ahhhhhh.  Tuesday was a great day for us.   It was the first school day that we had no place to go or any errands to run.    Compared to Monday and all of last week that is saying a lot.  

We all had good attitudes and worked diligently to get everything done.  This is one happy proud momma. The children even enjoyed the day.  Shocked at the time as to how they were progressing and certainly shocked by the time they completed all work.

Let's pray the rest of the week is much the same!

Ugh, Monday again!

Okay so it really is official, I am not a fan of Mondays!  I used to be okay with them, in fact one could even say I liked them.  But now NO!    I think it is because we leave at 10:30 and don't arrive back home until 2pm.  I know that is not tremendously long but schooling in the van is becoming annoying (especially during these very cold days).  Inevitable someone forgets some work, or they get hurt, or they can't get comfortable. Believe me I get it!  But this is how it works.  I would also guess that I am annoyed because they do have a room at the church we could work in but it is freezing.   I mean so cold it hurts to write!  And we tried writing with gloves on, uh, it doesn't work!   I tried earlier in the year to leave Abigail at home to work while I dropped off Josh then I would race back to get her so we could pick up Josh and eat lunch in the car before Abs went into class.  Sounds crazy just writing it down.  It didn't work.  I was going to try the library as there is a branch only two blocks away, but it was waaaaaay too crowded and it is hard to teach when you need to be quiet.   I cannot wait until May.  That is when it is scheduled to be done.  They do like it though.  Well Abs more than Josh.

But here are some photos of them playing in the snow before Abigail's class.

Weekend Woes

The weekend brought us lots of snow.  (Just like everyone else.)  I awoke early on Friday to get out to the grocery store.  I waited and waited and waited until we really needed groceries.  But then realized that the stores would be packed with all the impending snow.   Up and out by 8:45 am.  And let me just say how very glad I am that I did it that early.  As for the crowds, it wasn't too bad.   And they had just about every other cashier open, so I was able to check out very quickly.   Leaving the parking lot was quite another experience.  They were crazy about finding spots!
I became my Mom that day when I visited two grocery stores.   I never did understand why she did that.  I know it was in effort to save money but I am not one to shop so I like one-stop shopping.  Anyway,  I did not care for the meats at the first store, so I ventured out to the second one.   Much much better.  And let me say that they were not as crowded as the first store.  I was ecstatic.
I arrived home about 10:30.   The children all helped unload the car and Josh was a big helper in putting all the groceries away.
We had some plans for the evening and we were wondering if they were to be cancelled due to the snow.  It was set to begin here about 4 pm.  Then it was 7 pm.  Then it was 10 pm.  Finally at 11 pm the snow arrived.  But due to the fact that they thought it was going to get bad fast all our plans were cancelled.
Saturday was snow, snow, and more snow.  We pretty much all stayed indoors and watched from the comfort of the couch.  We were a little bummed as we did have plans to get out and visit with our bestest of friends and were unable.   There were some very unhappy people in this household.  I was waiting for the coup.   (I understand there was unhappiness in the other household as well.  As a matter of fact we came up with a code word in the event there was some need of rescuing.)
Sunday brought church (and it was good) and visiting with my family.   My Dad's sister and her family were in town from Florida and we have not seen them in years so we went over there and stayed and watched the Superbowl.  Well at least until half time.  We were exhausted.  It was a great time of visiting with family.  As usual.   But very sad that our weekend went waaaaaay too fast and not as we had hoped.

The crowd watching the game. Abs with Chocolate (on floor)

Uncle Tom, Bethany, Uncle Frank, Aunt Dee, and Stephen.

My crazy Mom taunting my Dad about the Saints.

You see she likes to choose opposite him to make it more

fun to watch.  He chose Saints.  She came in singing.

"Oh when those Saints go marching home!"

(It was before the game began.)

That is my Aunt Liz behind Abigail.  Her daughter

Bethany is in the pink pants.

Baseball

Baseball practice has begun and Stephen couldn't be happier.  He had a great practice!   The coach also coaches an under 10 travel team right after our practice and asked the big kids if they wanted to stay and help.  Stephen agreed to do this and really enjoyed himself.  Some of those young ones are "really good."  He was very excited to have his glove and is now awaiting the time we go for a bat.  I am not as thrilled with this (the price is steep).   He also was excited to hear that he could try to get on varsity.  That made him even happier as they play more games and it is that team that goes to Indiana for a tournament.   I am just praying for The Lord to work it all out as he has never played before so I don't know what he can or cannot do, or even the abilities of the other players!!!   Only time will tell.

Wood?

During the 5 hour event that occurred yesterday (eye doctor) we needed to eat lunch.  Since there was a Fridays located near by we decided to stop in and eat.  

The young ones order the standard chicken fingers meal.   I ordered the Mediterranean Salad with chicken meal.  We were famished so when the food came we got right down to eating.  Not too much talking was going on as we consumed our food.   Then it happened some where near the bottom of my dish, I bit into something that sent some needles through my mouth (reminder - all my dental work).  I fished said item out of my mouth.  It appeared to be a stem of some sort.  Which was extremely surprising because there was nothing in my salad that would have one.   I tried to cut it with a steak knife and couldn't.  I brought it to the waiters attention.  About 10 minutes later the manager comes over to apologize and see if there is anything else I would like.   Seems it was a piece of WOOD!   Needless to say, I received a free lunch!

There has only been one other time in my life that I found something in my food that did not belong there.  So now I ask you.  Has anyone ever gone out to eat and had a foreign item end up on their plate?!?

Glasses for all... save 1!

It is so easy to get behind on appointments for a family of 5.  Granted I don't schedule Bill's so that is helpful but for the rest of us, I procrastinate.  I finally made the eye appointments that have been needed for far to long.  So long that I actually will not admit to the time lapse.

When we had gone for the well check up at the doctor, they noticed something in Joshua.  We were hopeful that it was just the user or the machine or even the combination of both.  Well today at the eye doctor we found out...  they were right.   Joshua needs glasses.   He was sooooo worried over this.  When he awoke this morning he was very solemn and sad about visiting the doctor.  Thankfully between the doctor himself and the optician, Joshua has better spirits about it.  (Maybe it is also the fact that he can SEE.)

Abigail's check up was first and her big news is that she doesn't need to wear her glasses all the time!!  WooHoo!  She only needs to wear for reading and computer work.  Needless to say, she is thrilled!   She too received new glasses!

And finally me!  Yup have been wearing glasses/contacts for over 20 years now.  But since it has been __ years, I was in need of new glasses too!!

I did get new contacts as well.  They are really cool as they work great with over 40 eyes that need reading glasses now.  Since they have a different curve to them they don't require you to wear or need readers, so long as you are reading 20/20.  Anything too small and you need readers.  It was a loooooong day though.  We were out for 5 hours just doing all that.

At this current time, Stephen is the only one of us who does not need to wear glasses of any sort.  I hope for his sake he can keep that up.   He should be fine as Bill did not start wearing glasses until the last 1 1/2 years.