I am sitting here printing things out in order to plan for Tapestry Year 3 and thought, I probably should blog about this as I go. So far nothing has been the same in preparing from year to year. This year would have been, until the Lord brought to my mind that A1 has never studied this time in European History and parts of the American History we will cover. It also was brought to my attention, God is so good, that A2 will not be getting this time period of history again either as he is a freshman this fall. Enter panic into my thought process. "A1 needs to get the facts and things that are at the Dialectic Level, but still needs the synthises of putting it all together and making the bigger picture connections of how history is still affecting us today and cementing her beliefs about it. A2 needs both of these too. If I have them do all of both levels they will hate me, school and life.(Thinking like a teenager here)" Enter sanity in the form of my TLT friends who are filled with wisdom and love to share and help. After gleaning from them, my year just got a bit more complicated, however, the kids year should end up with just the right balance of both. I will be weaving the two levels together according to what is being taught in both each week. We've always done both discussions together so that won't be new, however, assigning reading and work from both levels without overwhelming them will be new. So I'm going to write down how I'm doing this for future reference, since I'll probably have to do the same thing next year, and to help anyone else coming along after me through this.
Since I have the DE(digital version) and I have to move so much between levels on the threads and reading levels I am starting by printing both of these things out so I can mark them up. To be most economical about it I am printing the Threads into a book by printing back to back. I am also doing it in gray scale with black only ink. While I love color, it isn't essential to my planning as I'll be highlighting the final way I'm wandering through Tapestry this year. (There will be a brief pause while I finish this up and decide if I'm using color for the next step or not.)
Actually, I digress. I next printed in gray scale, black ink only, the Unit Introduction notes for the year as well. Between reading these, looking through the threads, and listening to the Pop Quiz CD's when they get here, I should have an excellent idea on where to weave at. If I'm not sure for the week, then I'll read the Teacher Notes(TN's and background) for the week in question off of the DE screen on the computer.
I know some are wondering why I didn't just get the print version or the print/DE version. Here is the logic behind this. I don't need it all. I only need some things. I probably could have gotten by without printing the Unit Intro's, but I wanted to be able to take this to bed and read there and it is easier to read paper in bed then off a laptop. I love the DE version for the search-ability. I think this year instead of printing the kids Student Activity Pages, I'm going to put them on a flash drive either edited to word or have them do that so that they can type their answers on their computers. If they need them printed then they can do it. That is my thoughts on that part of it. A1 uses her laptop for everything and A2 likes to use his too. He is all about not wasting paper so that might work well for him too.
To print color or no color that is the question, whether 'tis nobler or...oops, not Shakespeare, but color it is. The kids may have to refer to these charts in case something goes weird with the whole workbox system we are also going to try this fall.
So all of those things are printed and I've actually read the Unit Intro's for the whole year. It is going to be an exciting year. Today I'm going to start through the threads, highlighting the things that I feel are most important for them to get. To start I'm going to use yellow for things I think we should do and then go back and refine with blue so that everything we are going to do will be in green. Then, I'll coordinate that with the reading assignments for the week and start checking to see which books we have.
I might be busy for a few days or so, but this is where it is starting. Somewhere during this I really need to get the rest of the painting finished around here too.
Have a great day everyone!
Anita
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Winding up the year
As we get ready to wind down this our 3rd year of home schooling, I am amazed at all the we are all learning. This includes me as well. I haven't just learned or relearned the academic things, but things about me and things about the kids.
I have learned that I need to not sweat the small stuff quite so much. That part of that process is letting natural consequences fall into place and watch everyone learn the life lessons. I still have issues with remembering this and following through with it, but I think it is getting better, maybe. I'm sure I'll have to continue to work on it. I've learned that I have got to stick to a schedule for me. If I follow it, I'll get my Bible reading in, workout in and seem to get more work done. The days I don't have a list or schedule of things I seem to wonder around. Yet, even in knowing this I still must remember to be flexible and open to things not happening like I plan them and go with the flow, following the path that the Lord has lead me down for the day. I am noticing things that I need to make sure that the kids know how to do; cleaning, maintenance, finances(not too much), cooking. I need to teach them and then let them do it; learning to let it go if they know what to do, expecting them to do it like they've been taught. I've learned that time goes so very fast with the kids home. I've got 5 years, 4 as Austin reminds me since it is the end of the year, before they are both gone and in college. I have got to remember to have fun with them while they are here, grounding them in their faith and in knowing that home is always where they can turn to. I have one summer left with Austin home before he joins the summer work force to enjoy my "little guy", who absolutely isn't so little anymore.
A1, my little girl, has grown up so very fast. She has learned to do better with her time management. She has more to learn, but improvement has been made and she is excited to try something new to help with it. She has grown in her relationship with the Lord and letting Him make decisions in her life. She has shown persistence, discipline, courage and lots of heart in fighting for her possible spot on the varsity team for volleyball this year. She has literally paid for it not just with her money for the extra club team practice this last year, but also in blood, sweat and tears with the pain of the dislocated knee and rehab done in order to get back to being able to tryout doing all movements. She has learned that age is just a number doing her service project with the women's sewing circle at church where she is the youngest girl there. Most are older than even her grandmothers, yet she she such a fun time with them and loves each one. The feeling is totally reciprocated. She is still my girl, not tomboy, for sure. Her highlight so far this month was her day shopping at Michigan City with her cousin and my Mom. They both spent all that they took. She had a list of what she wanted and truly found some great bargains. She was so excited the night I broke out the nail polish for my toes for the summer. She suggested this purple or blue; I declined for red and she thought that was fine too. Most of the time my jewelry gets put back, the pink necklace and earrings though are usually found upstairs on her vanity if they aren't on her person.
A2, my "little guy", has grown both physically and matured in his walk with the Lord too. He is far from little, being the 2nd biggest person in the family, only surpassed by his Dad, my "big guy". He loves being taller than his sister and does like to reminder her that he is taller. Soon, Andy will have extra shoes as right now the guys wear the same size shoe. I am so amazed that my "little guy" is not so little anymore. I tell him he will always be my "little guy" no matter how big he gets. He is still so in to his flying and wanting to do missions flying. Free reading will find him with his nose in some sort of book on aviation and/or drawing and calculating things for planes he has drawn. He is following his dreams by going to a camp this summer for missions aviation. He has gotten a special waiver to go because he is just one year too young. His interest, reading and ability to focus on all things aviation allowed the waiver to be given. He is learning from his Dad all about Authentic Manhood. He is getting better about rejecting passivity & accepting responsibility. These are the two that I can encourage. It is amazing that when I ask for something to be done or if something has been done, with just a reminder of these two phrases the response that I get. He has applied himself to his quizzing studies more this year and has seen the benefits from the extra time applied to this study.
As you can see, we have all learned a lot of different things. Together we are having fun, for the most part, in this learning journey. Some of the harder lessons are hard, but we are learning to lean on each other more, including the kids going to each other. I'm excited as we wind up the year and look forward to the next year to see all that we will get to learn.
I have learned that I need to not sweat the small stuff quite so much. That part of that process is letting natural consequences fall into place and watch everyone learn the life lessons. I still have issues with remembering this and following through with it, but I think it is getting better, maybe. I'm sure I'll have to continue to work on it. I've learned that I have got to stick to a schedule for me. If I follow it, I'll get my Bible reading in, workout in and seem to get more work done. The days I don't have a list or schedule of things I seem to wonder around. Yet, even in knowing this I still must remember to be flexible and open to things not happening like I plan them and go with the flow, following the path that the Lord has lead me down for the day. I am noticing things that I need to make sure that the kids know how to do; cleaning, maintenance, finances(not too much), cooking. I need to teach them and then let them do it; learning to let it go if they know what to do, expecting them to do it like they've been taught. I've learned that time goes so very fast with the kids home. I've got 5 years, 4 as Austin reminds me since it is the end of the year, before they are both gone and in college. I have got to remember to have fun with them while they are here, grounding them in their faith and in knowing that home is always where they can turn to. I have one summer left with Austin home before he joins the summer work force to enjoy my "little guy", who absolutely isn't so little anymore.
A1, my little girl, has grown up so very fast. She has learned to do better with her time management. She has more to learn, but improvement has been made and she is excited to try something new to help with it. She has grown in her relationship with the Lord and letting Him make decisions in her life. She has shown persistence, discipline, courage and lots of heart in fighting for her possible spot on the varsity team for volleyball this year. She has literally paid for it not just with her money for the extra club team practice this last year, but also in blood, sweat and tears with the pain of the dislocated knee and rehab done in order to get back to being able to tryout doing all movements. She has learned that age is just a number doing her service project with the women's sewing circle at church where she is the youngest girl there. Most are older than even her grandmothers, yet she she such a fun time with them and loves each one. The feeling is totally reciprocated. She is still my girl, not tomboy, for sure. Her highlight so far this month was her day shopping at Michigan City with her cousin and my Mom. They both spent all that they took. She had a list of what she wanted and truly found some great bargains. She was so excited the night I broke out the nail polish for my toes for the summer. She suggested this purple or blue; I declined for red and she thought that was fine too. Most of the time my jewelry gets put back, the pink necklace and earrings though are usually found upstairs on her vanity if they aren't on her person.
A2, my "little guy", has grown both physically and matured in his walk with the Lord too. He is far from little, being the 2nd biggest person in the family, only surpassed by his Dad, my "big guy". He loves being taller than his sister and does like to reminder her that he is taller. Soon, Andy will have extra shoes as right now the guys wear the same size shoe. I am so amazed that my "little guy" is not so little anymore. I tell him he will always be my "little guy" no matter how big he gets. He is still so in to his flying and wanting to do missions flying. Free reading will find him with his nose in some sort of book on aviation and/or drawing and calculating things for planes he has drawn. He is following his dreams by going to a camp this summer for missions aviation. He has gotten a special waiver to go because he is just one year too young. His interest, reading and ability to focus on all things aviation allowed the waiver to be given. He is learning from his Dad all about Authentic Manhood. He is getting better about rejecting passivity & accepting responsibility. These are the two that I can encourage. It is amazing that when I ask for something to be done or if something has been done, with just a reminder of these two phrases the response that I get. He has applied himself to his quizzing studies more this year and has seen the benefits from the extra time applied to this study.
As you can see, we have all learned a lot of different things. Together we are having fun, for the most part, in this learning journey. Some of the harder lessons are hard, but we are learning to lean on each other more, including the kids going to each other. I'm excited as we wind up the year and look forward to the next year to see all that we will get to learn.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Taking Time-final transfer from other blog
I hope you enjoy this post transferred from my other blog. As you all know I have a hard enough time keeping up with just this one blog. Enjoy. My major projects on the house are almost done as is school mostly so I'll have more time, maybe. We'll have to see what happens with that.
It has been quite awhile since I last posted. Life has been so busy that time has gotten away. This leads to lesson number two.
Time. We all need it and use it on a daily basis. We also have it taken from us to do with as we would chose by kids, spouses and family, commitments that we could have turned down, but instead chose to say yes to, emergencies that pop up "out of nowhere". With all of these things pulling us in so many different directions, there is one person who doesn't clamor for our attention. He is a gracious friend who waits patiently for us to realize the importance of our time spent with Him; my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and God the Father.
As I diligently went out each day to pull at the weeds and misplaced flowers in our front bed, I was surprised at how much time that it took to get a small section done. I also realized the sense of joy and accomplishment that I felt at the progress that I made. As a couple of days turned into a couple of weeks and my new friends at the Tapestry of Grace Loose Threads group were getting worried about all the weeding that I was doing, I was relishing the quite time spent listening to my God speak with me and to me. You see, I had planted the wildflower mix into this particular bed for the sole reason of not having to weed it all summer to keep it looking nice. We have a couple of other beds with wild flowers in them that I just love. However, this particular bed just didn't look right with the flowers even though they were put there it just wasn't where they were suppose to be(another lesson). The shrubs in it were hidden by the flowers and they weren't really growing because they weren't getting the water and light that they needed to grow.
This was a two by four to the side of the head moment. I can't grow right either in my walk with the Lord if I am not planted in the right conditions. I must have light and water and air and time from and with my Lord if I am to thrive. In order to do this I must weed out the nasty weeds, and beautiful flowers that may just be planted in the wrong place or time frame in my day for me to get the nourishment I need to grow and thrive.
I won't tell you that I have accomplished this consistently yet, that would be lying and I don't do that. I am getting better. I am learning to really look at something to see if it takes away time from my family which would cause me to juggle them to another slot and squish out my time for my Lord. That part is going fairly well.
Now I just need to be as diligent about keeping my time commitment with my Lord as I was with getting out to work in that flower bed this summer. That is a goal for me to do and achieve before the end of this year. How about you? Are you getting watered and weeded(lesson number 3) on a daily or weekly basis, outside of church?
My Lord waits each day to meet with me and yet do I meet with Him or do I stand Him up. How do I expect to grow and bloom and bear fruit if I am not making my date with Him each day? Now it is time to put into practice this first step that I was told this summer. Look how patient my God is. That is such a small comparison to how much I know that He loves me.
He's waiting to meet with you too.
Have a great week everyone.
1 comments:
coachmom said...
Anita,
I'm so glad that you take the time to see God in everything around you. I have often used weeding to help me grow in my relationship with God. I look at it like this...when we clean out all the bad things from our lives, we leave room for all the beautiful things to take root and grow. But don't look at my yard as any proof of this analogy, ok?
Love,
Coach Mom
October 24, 2008 6:43 AM
It has been quite awhile since I last posted. Life has been so busy that time has gotten away. This leads to lesson number two.
Time. We all need it and use it on a daily basis. We also have it taken from us to do with as we would chose by kids, spouses and family, commitments that we could have turned down, but instead chose to say yes to, emergencies that pop up "out of nowhere". With all of these things pulling us in so many different directions, there is one person who doesn't clamor for our attention. He is a gracious friend who waits patiently for us to realize the importance of our time spent with Him; my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and God the Father.
As I diligently went out each day to pull at the weeds and misplaced flowers in our front bed, I was surprised at how much time that it took to get a small section done. I also realized the sense of joy and accomplishment that I felt at the progress that I made. As a couple of days turned into a couple of weeks and my new friends at the Tapestry of Grace Loose Threads group were getting worried about all the weeding that I was doing, I was relishing the quite time spent listening to my God speak with me and to me. You see, I had planted the wildflower mix into this particular bed for the sole reason of not having to weed it all summer to keep it looking nice. We have a couple of other beds with wild flowers in them that I just love. However, this particular bed just didn't look right with the flowers even though they were put there it just wasn't where they were suppose to be(another lesson). The shrubs in it were hidden by the flowers and they weren't really growing because they weren't getting the water and light that they needed to grow.
This was a two by four to the side of the head moment. I can't grow right either in my walk with the Lord if I am not planted in the right conditions. I must have light and water and air and time from and with my Lord if I am to thrive. In order to do this I must weed out the nasty weeds, and beautiful flowers that may just be planted in the wrong place or time frame in my day for me to get the nourishment I need to grow and thrive.
I won't tell you that I have accomplished this consistently yet, that would be lying and I don't do that. I am getting better. I am learning to really look at something to see if it takes away time from my family which would cause me to juggle them to another slot and squish out my time for my Lord. That part is going fairly well.
Now I just need to be as diligent about keeping my time commitment with my Lord as I was with getting out to work in that flower bed this summer. That is a goal for me to do and achieve before the end of this year. How about you? Are you getting watered and weeded(lesson number 3) on a daily or weekly basis, outside of church?
My Lord waits each day to meet with me and yet do I meet with Him or do I stand Him up. How do I expect to grow and bloom and bear fruit if I am not making my date with Him each day? Now it is time to put into practice this first step that I was told this summer. Look how patient my God is. That is such a small comparison to how much I know that He loves me.
He's waiting to meet with you too.
Have a great week everyone.
1 comments:
coachmom said...
Anita,
I'm so glad that you take the time to see God in everything around you. I have often used weeding to help me grow in my relationship with God. I look at it like this...when we clean out all the bad things from our lives, we leave room for all the beautiful things to take root and grow. But don't look at my yard as any proof of this analogy, ok?
Love,
Coach Mom
October 24, 2008 6:43 AM
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mother's Day
Today is Mother's Day. The day that we honor our Mothers and as Mothers maybe actually get a bit of pampering too. Each year we typically have both my Mom and Andy's Mom, all the rest of the immediate family is invited too and we do lunch. Usually taco bar or hamburgers on the grill. The treat is the first making in the large ice cream maker of homemade ice cream.
This year is anything but typical for Mother's Day for me, very typical, however, for a mother's normal day. Starting about a week ago with A2 getting sick that accumulated in the removal of his appendix on Wednesday. We got to come home on Thursday to A1 who was fighting a sore throat and her neck was out of alignment. Still wanting to go to volleyball that night, but when she got back from her chiropractor appointment she hangs her head and asks for me to see if she has a fever. Yes, she did. So now I have two kids down, or up as they chose to be in their rooms. A good choice, since A2 really didn't need to "catch" anything from A1. I slept upstairs on the couch Thursday and Friday nights. I knew I would sleep better because I wouldn't be running up and down the steps to check on them if anything was wrong for everything I heard. A2, bless his heart, was afraid I wouldn't sleep very well there and that he would wake me up. I told him that was just part of being a mom, being up at all hours when the kids need you and I explained that this way I wouldn't be trekking up and down the stairs every time I heard something.
Things were running smoothly. While there was no snoring keeping me awake those nights, the wind was something else on Friday night. It had finally died down and apparently God wasn't finished carrying up through the storm when at 4am Andy came up to have me look at "some" hives he had. He told me he already had taken Benedryl about an hour before but was still itchy. His back was covered, like one giant hive. His chest and belly were pretty well covered too. I stayed up with him for about another 45 minutes until he was comfortable and sleepy. He said he didn't have any problems breathing. We tried to figure out what he had gotten into and narrowed it down some. A bit later, 2 hours, Austin was up and needing pain meds. Bless him, he took them and waited for some breakfast while I caught another 1 or 2 hours of sleep.
Saturday, I thought we were on the way out, A1 had been fever free for over 24 hours. A2's pain levels were down. Andy forgot what we thought he reacted to and ate some, so another round of Benedryl which knocked him out for the afternoon. He and A1 went to our church's dinner theatre that evening. He has sound to set up after tear down of the play's sets so they took two vehicles.
I hadn't planned on going to church because I didn't think A2 was going to be ready to try that and I didn't want to leave him home alone, just in case something weird happened. Well all the different eating times and high sugar and high caffenine foods caught up to me very early(2am) Sunday morning. I got up and took some things to make me feel better and went back to my bed. No couch at all that night; both kids had been doing great. Andy came in as he was getting ready for church later and said that A1 wasn't going she thought she was running a fever in the middle of the night. Back to running stairs. I rested in bed a bit, until A2 called me to see what was for breakfast. I did get a thanks Mom and I hope you have a Happy Mother's Day.
So today is not typical Mother's Day. I talked with my Mom on the phone today instead of live. I was glad that both she and my mother-in-law both had told me earlier in the week to just cancel our regular plans. That I should just take the day and rest. Well, while I took the day off, but I'm not celebrating a typical Mother's Day, I am celebrating a typical day for a Mom. I'm taking care of my husband and children, without whom I wouldn't have the honor of being called "Mom" in the first place. When everyone is well, then we'll send a day doing something special and fun. For right now, I'll just hold on to the Lord, who really is carrying me through all this. Thankful for all the prayers of my friends and family.
I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day, whether you are spending it typically or atypically.
This year is anything but typical for Mother's Day for me, very typical, however, for a mother's normal day. Starting about a week ago with A2 getting sick that accumulated in the removal of his appendix on Wednesday. We got to come home on Thursday to A1 who was fighting a sore throat and her neck was out of alignment. Still wanting to go to volleyball that night, but when she got back from her chiropractor appointment she hangs her head and asks for me to see if she has a fever. Yes, she did. So now I have two kids down, or up as they chose to be in their rooms. A good choice, since A2 really didn't need to "catch" anything from A1. I slept upstairs on the couch Thursday and Friday nights. I knew I would sleep better because I wouldn't be running up and down the steps to check on them if anything was wrong for everything I heard. A2, bless his heart, was afraid I wouldn't sleep very well there and that he would wake me up. I told him that was just part of being a mom, being up at all hours when the kids need you and I explained that this way I wouldn't be trekking up and down the stairs every time I heard something.
Things were running smoothly. While there was no snoring keeping me awake those nights, the wind was something else on Friday night. It had finally died down and apparently God wasn't finished carrying up through the storm when at 4am Andy came up to have me look at "some" hives he had. He told me he already had taken Benedryl about an hour before but was still itchy. His back was covered, like one giant hive. His chest and belly were pretty well covered too. I stayed up with him for about another 45 minutes until he was comfortable and sleepy. He said he didn't have any problems breathing. We tried to figure out what he had gotten into and narrowed it down some. A bit later, 2 hours, Austin was up and needing pain meds. Bless him, he took them and waited for some breakfast while I caught another 1 or 2 hours of sleep.
Saturday, I thought we were on the way out, A1 had been fever free for over 24 hours. A2's pain levels were down. Andy forgot what we thought he reacted to and ate some, so another round of Benedryl which knocked him out for the afternoon. He and A1 went to our church's dinner theatre that evening. He has sound to set up after tear down of the play's sets so they took two vehicles.
I hadn't planned on going to church because I didn't think A2 was going to be ready to try that and I didn't want to leave him home alone, just in case something weird happened. Well all the different eating times and high sugar and high caffenine foods caught up to me very early(2am) Sunday morning. I got up and took some things to make me feel better and went back to my bed. No couch at all that night; both kids had been doing great. Andy came in as he was getting ready for church later and said that A1 wasn't going she thought she was running a fever in the middle of the night. Back to running stairs. I rested in bed a bit, until A2 called me to see what was for breakfast. I did get a thanks Mom and I hope you have a Happy Mother's Day.
So today is not typical Mother's Day. I talked with my Mom on the phone today instead of live. I was glad that both she and my mother-in-law both had told me earlier in the week to just cancel our regular plans. That I should just take the day and rest. Well, while I took the day off, but I'm not celebrating a typical Mother's Day, I am celebrating a typical day for a Mom. I'm taking care of my husband and children, without whom I wouldn't have the honor of being called "Mom" in the first place. When everyone is well, then we'll send a day doing something special and fun. For right now, I'll just hold on to the Lord, who really is carrying me through all this. Thankful for all the prayers of my friends and family.
I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day, whether you are spending it typically or atypically.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Whose plans are they anyway?
Well, life has been zipping along at warp speed here in Indiana as spring is bursting all over. Planting season for gardeners has started and the farmers are gearing up to go in the next week or so depending on the weather. The wives of said farmers, are busy with those gardens and other projects that will keep us just as busy doing them and running errands-think food/drink-for our guys. This wife, doesn't have those errands to run since Andy actually works for a company that does corn research, however, it is easiest to explain he gets paid to farm. We live on a farming lifestyle schedule and our lives, projects and vacations still revolve around farming calendar. My plans for this spring/early summer were not huge, not really. It was something that I wanted to do and felt that I needed to do. I thought they were great plans, but again I'm reminded that my schedule/plan isn't about me, but about God and His plans for my day to help me grow and prosper. When am I going to learn this, I don't know for sure, hopefully soon, because the lessons are not fun. I don't enjoy repeating lessons over and even now being reminded how like a child I am sometimes with some things in my walk with the Lord, oh yeah, and that I need to exhibit the same patient teaching with my kids as He does with me.
For the past couple months in anticipation of Spring Break, I've been planning on repainting the inside of the house. We've been here now 10 years going on 11 and it is time. It actually was probably time 5-6 years ago when the beams finally dried out and left little gaps of unpainted space around them, but the budget said it wasn't time yet. I was excited, everything was lining up, budget, time and energy. I worked at figuring out the new colors. Was I going to go with any special painting finish or just paint. I spent a whole weekend working up poster boards with the colors I liked, but then didn't use those because they didn't look right with the beams, consulting with Andy too because it's his house too. Finally, the decision was made. The barn door green dining room and the cornmeal kitchen were both going to wild oats. Then north wall of the kitchen is going to have a color called Suede Grey. It really isn't grey, it is more of a green/grey color along the sage line. The cabinets that Andy built in my office are painted this color. The entry, fireplace and TV room, along with the loft upstairs are going from a hollyhock red below chair rail with corckscrew willow above to all corckscrew willow. The north wall of that section of the house will also get changed from holly hock red to the Suede Grey. A2's room is getting done too. He picked out this really neat green color. Okay, everything is picked out. Paint is purchased, while it was on sale-wahoo!!! Ready to roll on this project over spring break, literally. This is My plan, get all those rooms done over Spring Break; My project as Andy will be in KY on mission trip. My plan is set. (No the "M" being capitalized isn't a mistake, it is there for emphasis to remind me that My thinking was wrong.) Little did I know things were about to unravel.
The thread begins to unravel about mid-March. Thursday evening we are sitting watching TV after A2 has went to bed and A1 is a volleyball. Phone rings, after 9 pm, which means this might not be good as most people don't call us after 9. It is not good at all. A1 has dislocated her knee at volleyball practice and Andy's Mom, whom God placed there that week because of a meeting so she wanted to carpool, calls to wonder what she should do. I talk with the coach and they take her to ER where we meet them. Dislocated knee, anyone know what that looks like? Well, A1's was bad. She was holding her kneecap on the outside of her knee, like a whole 90 degrees from where it should be. She was in extreme pain and had to hold it at a weird angle from her body to be comfortable as they wheeled her slowly to the ER room. As we got towards the back the nurse wanted to speed her along to get her into a bed and she wanted to go slowly to keep it from hurting so badly. The mama bear in me wanted the nurse to let us go slowly, however, the practical side of this mama knew that the sooner we got her to the bed the quicker they could get rid of the pain. Long story short, pain meds, semi-conscience sedation meds, straighten her leg and take two fingers to guide the kneecap back and it's done. Followed up with xray and sent home with instructions to follow up with orthopedic surgeon. After visits with 2 different ortho guys we finally got some answers that didn't conflict and actually made sense. Her orthopedic surgeon that she was miraclusly able to get into 2 weeks earlier, thanks to prayers from my awesome group at TLT studied under Dru Bree's orthopedic guy who took care of his shoulder problems a few years ago. I literally hung up with the late appointment and went straight to post the request that we needed to get in earlier, this was at about 9 EST am. I called back after lunch around 2ish and they had an opening for 8:15am the next morning. Isn't God Great!! She is currently in rehab and will see orthopedic guy in about 10 days to check her progress and get our next set of instructions. While he was assuring to her about volleyball he also was assuring to me as he stressed that getting the problem solved correctly now was important so she wouldn't "have problems when she was older like him". I was laughing in my head because this doctor must be at least 10-12 years younger than me. She was given clearance to practice volleyball still, just no jumping and she has to wear a brace. So she has been staying in touch with the ball, just not killing it from the sky.
As A1 says for her all good stories start with volleyball, just 2 weeks later on the way to volleyball practice she was in her first accident, so the unraveling continues. Her Aunt Heather had to pick her up because Andy and I decided to be healthy that night and take a walk, A2 tagged along, but we left the cell phone at home, thus she couldn't get a hold of us. When Heather called, she asked how my day was going and said A1 is fine, I'm on my way to pick her up from an accident. Andy had turned right around when we got back and took the car to get eggs from our friends and didn't take the cell with him so we couldn't leave to meet them there. Heather said that she would just get her and bring her here. Bless her heart, she was so worried and upset, not about the accident totally, but more about what we were going to do and how we were going to react. She was fully expecting to be grounded from driving when she got home. We didn't ground her or take away her driving privileges; we just gave her a big hug, assured her it was an accident and it happens. We did tell her later that weekend that we wouldn't rule out having to help pay for difference in insurance, plates and help with the payment we knew we would probably have. "Sure, no problem," she said. "That will help me not to feel guilty for messing up the accident free bonus." This all happened on my birthday-Happy Birthday to me as A1 says I got you a new car! I was just thankful she was okay.
Did I mention we just finished the Seeds Campaign at church about giving God our time, talent and treasure? To help everyone be aware of all they have to offer to God and to commit as a church to get the mortgage paid off in 3 years. In looking at our time, talent and treasure we had made commitments to all three things. Commitment Sunday had been the week after the dislocation of A1's knee, the 2 weeks before the accident and new car payment that will now come out of a budget that was balanced well and finally working correctly. Celebration Sunday was also Palm Sunday, we had a lot to celebrate. The following Easter Sunday we had even more to celebrate as we saw things start to unravel and God start to work to put them back together while protecting us from harm. Cup of Cold Water had been on the schedule since January. Andy loves doing this and it follows right into his talent-building things and working with his hands. Spring Break works into the schedule for him at work, because when the group goes in the fall he is in the middle of harvest and can't break away. I was excited for him to go, however, we were under attack and that Friday a rage came over me as I was cleaning up in the kitchen and thinking about painting project for me over Spring Break. It started, no lie, in my toes and went clear to the tip of my head. I slammed my hands on the counter and was ranting, "Why does he have to go on a trip to KY to build a house for someone else, taking a week vacation to do the work, when he could stay here and get our house finished and help me with the painting?" Two seconds later I went, "Whoa, where did that come from? Lord, forgive me because this is not how I really feel. Satan, leave me alone in this for this is something that the Lord is in and you have no place." I was sure to let Andy know about the attack when he got home that evening. He was floored as he knew as well that I was behind him in this ministry. We came under further attack on Sunday night as A2 started having issues with Andy being gone too.
So Spring Break rolls in Monday. Andy is gone by 6:30am and takes the truck, leaving me with a kiss and the kids, who are sleeping in notes. I start on the painting project. Furniture gets moved to the middle of the room, curtains are taken down, the shelf is removed, spackling gets done, walls get washed, everything gets taped. Did I mention that I should have spackled and fixed dry wall with compound first and then washed the walls after sanding? No, well that is because I learned that I should have washed the walls after sanding. Let's just say the walls were well cleaned for the paint. Despite the mix-ups with washing the walls, phone calls made to and from the insurance company and looking for something to replace the van, I was able to get the dining room all painted with the first coat and the kitchen walls that were in the same color done as well. I had A2 reminding me that I needed to workout and my response was I am working out, climbing up and down on the chair to paint was like a giant lunge or squat. I wasn't sore though until Wednesday afternoon. I had to throw in a trip to the chiropractor on Thursday morning because Austin's neck was out of alignment and he had a bad headache going. I was also not feeling quite as well. So I had some adjustments done on my neck and back as well as my wrist. It is amazing what a 12" roller will do to my wrist vs the 9", however, after the adjustment my wrists didn't hurt anymore. I was really tired and just felt off. Thinking I probably just needed to rest a bit I took a nap that afternoon; I could just work later into the evening to make up for lost time. God says, "Guess what Anita, you are not in charge. This plan you have is not what I have for you to do this week." I woke up with a slight fever and still had a headache and now my stomache just felt yucky. No more painting for me. I rested, watched some TV and movies with the kids and researched and researched some more on a vehicle to replace the van. I was able to find something to replace the van, but not finish all the painting. My poor husband came home to a house that looked like a disaster zone and has only recovered somewhat. I did make sure he was forewarned, but I felt so bad. My lesson for the week was that God was in control of my plans and this was most evident when I went to take the things out of our smashed up van.
Things are not important, including freshly painted houses. It is the people who live, laugh and love in those houses that are important. The God I serve protected my daughter that day of her accident and in doing so protected me. The whole right front corner of our van was gone. You could see into the engine and the left side was smooched back to the front of the engine. From the rear it looked normal, but from the front it made my legs shake just to see it. Climbing into the van to empty out our things that Ashley had left in(she grabbed the registration and something else I can't remember now that was important), it looked totally normal as well. Nothing was smashed or crumpled or crinkled. Thank you Lord for protection for my baby girl.
We took an extra week for Spring Break, for me. The kids worked on some makeup things for school, but I didn't teach. I worked on the painting some more. I have some things finished. The dining room, kitchen and office. They are put back together, and my sweet husband's first choice to get things put back together was the dining room. He missed our nightly Sorry game. So after 2 weeks of eating in the TV room because everything was piled everywhere we were back to eating supper in the dining room and playing team Sorry. Last weekend while the kids were at a quiz invitational Andy and I worked on getting the TV room finished. Today I just got the furniture put back into it. The painting for the rest isn't totally finished yet, but it will be; when it's suppose to be done. I'm working on one room at a time now, the fireplace room and lower walls(think no scaffolding) of the entry area are next. The boarder is half off, but I'm taking tomorrow off to chill out, relax and scrap book with my friend. We both need to relax a bit. The painting will still be there when I get home and I can work on it next week between teaching, cooking and all the other things on my list. But it doesn't really matter what is on my list as much as does my list match God's list for me for that day? Does He have something else in mind and am I listening to Him close enough to hear them? If the kids ask for extra help with something or a friend calls and needs something done, am I listening to the Lord asking me to serve them or am I going to have to relearn that lesson about Whose plans they really are. I'm hopeful that at least for a longer period of time, this time, I'll remember Who is really in charge of my day, thanking Him for the chance to serve Him by living, loving and laughing with my friends and family and serving them and strangers who cross my path in the plans He has for my day.
For the past couple months in anticipation of Spring Break, I've been planning on repainting the inside of the house. We've been here now 10 years going on 11 and it is time. It actually was probably time 5-6 years ago when the beams finally dried out and left little gaps of unpainted space around them, but the budget said it wasn't time yet. I was excited, everything was lining up, budget, time and energy. I worked at figuring out the new colors. Was I going to go with any special painting finish or just paint. I spent a whole weekend working up poster boards with the colors I liked, but then didn't use those because they didn't look right with the beams, consulting with Andy too because it's his house too. Finally, the decision was made. The barn door green dining room and the cornmeal kitchen were both going to wild oats. Then north wall of the kitchen is going to have a color called Suede Grey. It really isn't grey, it is more of a green/grey color along the sage line. The cabinets that Andy built in my office are painted this color. The entry, fireplace and TV room, along with the loft upstairs are going from a hollyhock red below chair rail with corckscrew willow above to all corckscrew willow. The north wall of that section of the house will also get changed from holly hock red to the Suede Grey. A2's room is getting done too. He picked out this really neat green color. Okay, everything is picked out. Paint is purchased, while it was on sale-wahoo!!! Ready to roll on this project over spring break, literally. This is My plan, get all those rooms done over Spring Break; My project as Andy will be in KY on mission trip. My plan is set. (No the "M" being capitalized isn't a mistake, it is there for emphasis to remind me that My thinking was wrong.) Little did I know things were about to unravel.
The thread begins to unravel about mid-March. Thursday evening we are sitting watching TV after A2 has went to bed and A1 is a volleyball. Phone rings, after 9 pm, which means this might not be good as most people don't call us after 9. It is not good at all. A1 has dislocated her knee at volleyball practice and Andy's Mom, whom God placed there that week because of a meeting so she wanted to carpool, calls to wonder what she should do. I talk with the coach and they take her to ER where we meet them. Dislocated knee, anyone know what that looks like? Well, A1's was bad. She was holding her kneecap on the outside of her knee, like a whole 90 degrees from where it should be. She was in extreme pain and had to hold it at a weird angle from her body to be comfortable as they wheeled her slowly to the ER room. As we got towards the back the nurse wanted to speed her along to get her into a bed and she wanted to go slowly to keep it from hurting so badly. The mama bear in me wanted the nurse to let us go slowly, however, the practical side of this mama knew that the sooner we got her to the bed the quicker they could get rid of the pain. Long story short, pain meds, semi-conscience sedation meds, straighten her leg and take two fingers to guide the kneecap back and it's done. Followed up with xray and sent home with instructions to follow up with orthopedic surgeon. After visits with 2 different ortho guys we finally got some answers that didn't conflict and actually made sense. Her orthopedic surgeon that she was miraclusly able to get into 2 weeks earlier, thanks to prayers from my awesome group at TLT studied under Dru Bree's orthopedic guy who took care of his shoulder problems a few years ago. I literally hung up with the late appointment and went straight to post the request that we needed to get in earlier, this was at about 9 EST am. I called back after lunch around 2ish and they had an opening for 8:15am the next morning. Isn't God Great!! She is currently in rehab and will see orthopedic guy in about 10 days to check her progress and get our next set of instructions. While he was assuring to her about volleyball he also was assuring to me as he stressed that getting the problem solved correctly now was important so she wouldn't "have problems when she was older like him". I was laughing in my head because this doctor must be at least 10-12 years younger than me. She was given clearance to practice volleyball still, just no jumping and she has to wear a brace. So she has been staying in touch with the ball, just not killing it from the sky.
As A1 says for her all good stories start with volleyball, just 2 weeks later on the way to volleyball practice she was in her first accident, so the unraveling continues. Her Aunt Heather had to pick her up because Andy and I decided to be healthy that night and take a walk, A2 tagged along, but we left the cell phone at home, thus she couldn't get a hold of us. When Heather called, she asked how my day was going and said A1 is fine, I'm on my way to pick her up from an accident. Andy had turned right around when we got back and took the car to get eggs from our friends and didn't take the cell with him so we couldn't leave to meet them there. Heather said that she would just get her and bring her here. Bless her heart, she was so worried and upset, not about the accident totally, but more about what we were going to do and how we were going to react. She was fully expecting to be grounded from driving when she got home. We didn't ground her or take away her driving privileges; we just gave her a big hug, assured her it was an accident and it happens. We did tell her later that weekend that we wouldn't rule out having to help pay for difference in insurance, plates and help with the payment we knew we would probably have. "Sure, no problem," she said. "That will help me not to feel guilty for messing up the accident free bonus." This all happened on my birthday-Happy Birthday to me as A1 says I got you a new car! I was just thankful she was okay.
Did I mention we just finished the Seeds Campaign at church about giving God our time, talent and treasure? To help everyone be aware of all they have to offer to God and to commit as a church to get the mortgage paid off in 3 years. In looking at our time, talent and treasure we had made commitments to all three things. Commitment Sunday had been the week after the dislocation of A1's knee, the 2 weeks before the accident and new car payment that will now come out of a budget that was balanced well and finally working correctly. Celebration Sunday was also Palm Sunday, we had a lot to celebrate. The following Easter Sunday we had even more to celebrate as we saw things start to unravel and God start to work to put them back together while protecting us from harm. Cup of Cold Water had been on the schedule since January. Andy loves doing this and it follows right into his talent-building things and working with his hands. Spring Break works into the schedule for him at work, because when the group goes in the fall he is in the middle of harvest and can't break away. I was excited for him to go, however, we were under attack and that Friday a rage came over me as I was cleaning up in the kitchen and thinking about painting project for me over Spring Break. It started, no lie, in my toes and went clear to the tip of my head. I slammed my hands on the counter and was ranting, "Why does he have to go on a trip to KY to build a house for someone else, taking a week vacation to do the work, when he could stay here and get our house finished and help me with the painting?" Two seconds later I went, "Whoa, where did that come from? Lord, forgive me because this is not how I really feel. Satan, leave me alone in this for this is something that the Lord is in and you have no place." I was sure to let Andy know about the attack when he got home that evening. He was floored as he knew as well that I was behind him in this ministry. We came under further attack on Sunday night as A2 started having issues with Andy being gone too.
So Spring Break rolls in Monday. Andy is gone by 6:30am and takes the truck, leaving me with a kiss and the kids, who are sleeping in notes. I start on the painting project. Furniture gets moved to the middle of the room, curtains are taken down, the shelf is removed, spackling gets done, walls get washed, everything gets taped. Did I mention that I should have spackled and fixed dry wall with compound first and then washed the walls after sanding? No, well that is because I learned that I should have washed the walls after sanding. Let's just say the walls were well cleaned for the paint. Despite the mix-ups with washing the walls, phone calls made to and from the insurance company and looking for something to replace the van, I was able to get the dining room all painted with the first coat and the kitchen walls that were in the same color done as well. I had A2 reminding me that I needed to workout and my response was I am working out, climbing up and down on the chair to paint was like a giant lunge or squat. I wasn't sore though until Wednesday afternoon. I had to throw in a trip to the chiropractor on Thursday morning because Austin's neck was out of alignment and he had a bad headache going. I was also not feeling quite as well. So I had some adjustments done on my neck and back as well as my wrist. It is amazing what a 12" roller will do to my wrist vs the 9", however, after the adjustment my wrists didn't hurt anymore. I was really tired and just felt off. Thinking I probably just needed to rest a bit I took a nap that afternoon; I could just work later into the evening to make up for lost time. God says, "Guess what Anita, you are not in charge. This plan you have is not what I have for you to do this week." I woke up with a slight fever and still had a headache and now my stomache just felt yucky. No more painting for me. I rested, watched some TV and movies with the kids and researched and researched some more on a vehicle to replace the van. I was able to find something to replace the van, but not finish all the painting. My poor husband came home to a house that looked like a disaster zone and has only recovered somewhat. I did make sure he was forewarned, but I felt so bad. My lesson for the week was that God was in control of my plans and this was most evident when I went to take the things out of our smashed up van.
Things are not important, including freshly painted houses. It is the people who live, laugh and love in those houses that are important. The God I serve protected my daughter that day of her accident and in doing so protected me. The whole right front corner of our van was gone. You could see into the engine and the left side was smooched back to the front of the engine. From the rear it looked normal, but from the front it made my legs shake just to see it. Climbing into the van to empty out our things that Ashley had left in(she grabbed the registration and something else I can't remember now that was important), it looked totally normal as well. Nothing was smashed or crumpled or crinkled. Thank you Lord for protection for my baby girl.
We took an extra week for Spring Break, for me. The kids worked on some makeup things for school, but I didn't teach. I worked on the painting some more. I have some things finished. The dining room, kitchen and office. They are put back together, and my sweet husband's first choice to get things put back together was the dining room. He missed our nightly Sorry game. So after 2 weeks of eating in the TV room because everything was piled everywhere we were back to eating supper in the dining room and playing team Sorry. Last weekend while the kids were at a quiz invitational Andy and I worked on getting the TV room finished. Today I just got the furniture put back into it. The painting for the rest isn't totally finished yet, but it will be; when it's suppose to be done. I'm working on one room at a time now, the fireplace room and lower walls(think no scaffolding) of the entry area are next. The boarder is half off, but I'm taking tomorrow off to chill out, relax and scrap book with my friend. We both need to relax a bit. The painting will still be there when I get home and I can work on it next week between teaching, cooking and all the other things on my list. But it doesn't really matter what is on my list as much as does my list match God's list for me for that day? Does He have something else in mind and am I listening to Him close enough to hear them? If the kids ask for extra help with something or a friend calls and needs something done, am I listening to the Lord asking me to serve them or am I going to have to relearn that lesson about Whose plans they really are. I'm hopeful that at least for a longer period of time, this time, I'll remember Who is really in charge of my day, thanking Him for the chance to serve Him by living, loving and laughing with my friends and family and serving them and strangers who cross my path in the plans He has for my day.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Alone Time
Following is my first post from my other blog that I had started, back when I had grand plans of doing two different blogs, one about our school and family life and the other about things God was teaching me in my walk with Him. Funny how the theme of the two posts, yes only two, were about time. Since my poor followers here know I'm not quite in the routine of getting writing done here on a weekly basis, funny. So I will post the first one and get to the second one next week, during our Spring Break sometime during the painting project that I have going on in our barn. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by.
In my other blog Life Lessons from the Barn I talked about other things coming up instead that got in the way of my starting to plan for the school year. These first few posts are going to be some lessons I learned this spring during a weeding project.
We first had a garage sale with my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law, two actually. The first one was fairly simple and not a lot of work. The second one, however, was a lot longer prep as we were clearing out the old farm house. My Mother-in-law is in her own apartment/suite that is attached to my Sister-in-Laws new house and the farm house is coming down. In the few weeks that took to arrange the sun and rain conspired together to grow a healthy patch of weeds in one of my wild flower patches. I had planned on working in this patch to change it around a little this year, but first I needed to get time to work on it.
I did ask the kids(14 and 11) if they wanted to go out and help pull weeds. It was amazing how no one wanted to pull the weeds and flowers that weren't where they were suppose to be. Even my husband found other projects to do. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had time alone. No one bothered me with questions or needing things. They never even checked to see if I was still alive out there-this might have been a nice thing. I know they were concerned if I saw them they would have been recruited. I might have the first day, but after that I think I wouldn't have. God was talking to me and I could actually hear without all of the other things pressing me.
How often do we not want to do something like this alone? Sometimes, I feel that, yes, the kids and husband could help-they live here too. Other times though in the business of our lives as Moms and Wives a drive to the grocery store alone, weeding a flower bed, working outside or inside alone at something is a chance for God to use and teach us. I haven't asked for too much help when doing the weeding this year and after letting things get away from me as you will see in the next post leaves a lot of opportunity for musings along the path with my Lord.
Posted by Anita M. at 7:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: life, Quiet time, weeding
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In my other blog Life Lessons from the Barn I talked about other things coming up instead that got in the way of my starting to plan for the school year. These first few posts are going to be some lessons I learned this spring during a weeding project.
We first had a garage sale with my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law, two actually. The first one was fairly simple and not a lot of work. The second one, however, was a lot longer prep as we were clearing out the old farm house. My Mother-in-law is in her own apartment/suite that is attached to my Sister-in-Laws new house and the farm house is coming down. In the few weeks that took to arrange the sun and rain conspired together to grow a healthy patch of weeds in one of my wild flower patches. I had planned on working in this patch to change it around a little this year, but first I needed to get time to work on it.
I did ask the kids(14 and 11) if they wanted to go out and help pull weeds. It was amazing how no one wanted to pull the weeds and flowers that weren't where they were suppose to be. Even my husband found other projects to do. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I had time alone. No one bothered me with questions or needing things. They never even checked to see if I was still alive out there-this might have been a nice thing. I know they were concerned if I saw them they would have been recruited. I might have the first day, but after that I think I wouldn't have. God was talking to me and I could actually hear without all of the other things pressing me.
How often do we not want to do something like this alone? Sometimes, I feel that, yes, the kids and husband could help-they live here too. Other times though in the business of our lives as Moms and Wives a drive to the grocery store alone, weeding a flower bed, working outside or inside alone at something is a chance for God to use and teach us. I haven't asked for too much help when doing the weeding this year and after letting things get away from me as you will see in the next post leaves a lot of opportunity for musings along the path with my Lord.
Posted by Anita M. at 7:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: life, Quiet time, weeding
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Whew! Where did the time go?
It certainly didn't go to getting any blogging done. For my followers, I apologize, again for the long delay in posting.
Summer was busy around here. You would think life would eventually slow down, but I don't see it happening yet. I remember thinking that everyone was wrong about it getting busier as the kids get older; I was the wrong one.
A1 was busy getting her freshman year finished up over the summer. With her reading college level literature and history material and juggling her volleyball schedule and other aspects of life, like chores and eating and sleeping and youth group, she got a touch behind. So summer was spent doing Biology and briefly finishing up Algebra II.
It is so hard to believe she is 16 already. I sound more like my Mom everyday. The driver's license is officially in her wallet and on our insurance; a month later than it could have been due to her busy schedule not meshing with mine. She does a great job and takes it very seriously. It was funny while we were driving with her. Just a few things said are coming up. Most of these phrases came within the first few weeks of driving and taking her classes.
- When looking out for new obstacles: Andy said, "Did you see it before I told you about it?" A1 replies, "No, and that's why this is training." Andy, "Yea, that's why I lay awake at night."
- I don't remember what this was in reference too. "Oh geez that was really bad."
- When told probably scuffed tires coming back onto the road after slipping onto gravel at edge of back country road. "I love you car"
- Me, "We nee to work on stops." As I am locked into the seat belt. "But Mom I can stop on a dime."
A2 didn't have to make up any school work. He had a great school year and a great summer. Beside all the other things I posted about, he was our lawn mower guy again for his summer job. He also got to go flying this summer a couple of times and is hooked. He has wanted to do this for a couple of years and found out this year on time when the Young Eagles program was going to be happening. He has .9 hours logged of flight time in his book. He has been blessed each time to be in a single passenger plane and the guys have let him actually fly the plane. No take offs or landings, but in the air he has it. The biggest grins I've seen in a long time are across his face when he comes in.
The last flight though he learned that flying with a sinus problem is just not the ticket. He used some of his money from summer mowing to get a flight stick for his computer and used Flight Simulator all summer. This fall at the start of school he even was flying the WWII planes and doing battle on Flight Sim Air War over Europe. He is growing, and growing and he hasn't even hit the spurt yet, just steady growth. Just after I was out of quarantine(mid October) from flu/bronchitis, we measured on the post and he had caught up to his sister. He is only 12. So we had them back to back and she was about 1/4" taller. I thought that was strange, so we checked her to the post and she had grown about that much since her birthday. She said it was out of sheer desperation since she doesn't want him to pass her. I am guessing maybe around Christmas or his birthday the day will be here. He can wear Andy's grey cowboy boots and he looks just as good in them as his Dad. Size 10.5 shoes. The clothes are at a tricky spot. He is caught between a 18 boys and small men's so we might have some swimming in clothes for a bit.I spent the summer gardening and freezing, canning(52 pints of salsa)
and planning the school year this year. Tweaking things to work better and so far that has happened. I also had to keep reminding my freshman that if her work wasn't done before the new school year started that she wasn't moving up in grade level. She handed in her last assignment at 5pm the night before the first day. Nothing like taking it to the wire. I also got to go work at the farm planting in late May. We helped get the fencing done for the cattle too and we had our 3rd baby for our personal herd. I also spent the summer getting my thyroid medicine straightened out and think we are finally where it needs to be. Wahoo! Now if I can just stay well enough to start hitting the exercise hard again to see if it holds that would be great!Andy stayed busy at work and helping freeze and pick the garden here. I don't know that as much would have gotten done without his help. Gotta love a guy that helps out.
We went camping in Brown County State Park this year, stopping at the Children's Museum on the way there in order to see the King Tut exhibit. A perfect wrap up to our school year. The exhibit was so amazing and it was really cool when the kids asked questions of the people that they were curious about from their school work and things they were seeing. They people were impressed with what the kids new. The sad part was no pics. The hard part was not touching, for me. I could get so close to something that we had studied and that was so very, very old. It was so surreal. I just wanted to feel it. To touch something that people touched thousands of years before. I didn't though. Still amazed when I think about it.
The things they had. God is so amazing.
As we continued being chauffeured down to Brown County to our camp site, we talked about the exhibit and how neat it was to see. Camping was a blast!
We always have a great time camping and it is something we look forward too. The forecast was just a touch off in the rain category. It started to pour just after we got tents up and had started to eat. We all dashed to the van for cover as we hadn't set up a rain tarp over the eating area. It didn't last too long, it just seemed like forever. We hiked. Found a couple of interesting mushrooms on the path. Just had to post a pic of this one because, well, the guys noticed it first, enough said. Enjoy your laugh! 
We also biked and ate traditional camping food, not fajitas and other things we usually take. Andy and the kids went to the nature center talk the first night while I stayed back with the fire and worked on getting some computer things done for school. It was peaceful and quiet, just what I needed.So that was summer. This is now. School has started and it is going great! I have had to tweak a few things on HST+ because of illness and having somethings scheduled too tight, but we are having a great time. We picked up at the Fall of Rome and just ended our first Unit with the War of the Roses. It was so very cool to read my family tree history to the kids, reminding them that this was their family history too. We have things traced clear back and even mentioned fighting in the War of the Roses. The red rose, for the House of Lancaster, is on our family crest/shield. It made learning all the dates and kings more of a reality than being just out there. Both kids did awesome on the unit test(10 weeks of material, timeline and maps). We didn't review any, with me being sick for 2 weeks school is going longer, due to illness, not snow days. Plus this time I wanted to see what the remembered without going back. Both got high 80's. Great job guys!!
Our unit celebration, was a ton of fun. We didn't do the medieval feast, timing was off. What we did do was make cookie shields
Andy's traditional shape. Dad chose to be a Viking even thought the kids told him that they lose in the end. 
Austin went with the traditional shape, as did Ashley and Mom.
We also played a castle siege. Thanks Laura! This was great!
We played it two times through and the winner only won by 2 or 3 points. Lots of "I am on a rocky island"-like this solved all the problems of a moat and making her impervious to attack at all. Austin's quote "I have 28 towers and 150 foot walls."-kind of hard for arrows to get over those from attackers, but also tricky for those inside to climb up the ladders. My parents came again for the celebration! Anytime I want Dad to come for school, I think all I'll have to do is mention cookie maps or cookie anything. Dad and Ashley were on a team for their castle. She had to work on designing hers on the paper that day. Austin and Mom were on the other team together. He had a head start, since his work was done, and he worked on it one or two days while he was down sick.The teacher and principal have declared this week Fall Break! Also known as catch up week around here. While A1 isn't quite as far behind this year at this point, the 3 hour/2 day a week practice really cut into her time, so catchup week. I had wanted to schedule the year like this at the beginning, but the kids didn't think it was a good idea. They've changed their minds. It also gives me time to catch up on some grading as report cards are going out on Monday.
No promises of when I'll write again. I may bring my posts from my other blog here and just do the one. I can't even keep up with the one.
Thanks for reading everyone. I'll get to a post on what I did different with TOG and HST+ this year soon(relative speaking). In the meantime if you want help before posting, drop me a comment and I'll get back with your.
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