Monday, April 27, 2009

Fun at LBL

We enjoyed our weekend camping. We even ran into friends from our church in Union City staying just a few campsites down from us. The "ditch" the kids loved to play in last summer was now a creek. They waded and went through three days worth of clothes in half a day. Luckily a warm fire dried things well and they had a great time. Some of you will remember that Tim hiked the entire AT without a stove. We forgot our stove this weekend and only made it one day before we had to rent one...kids change things! Pancakes and coffee are required camping food these days. Here are a few photos:

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Update

Sorry for the down time between posts. Its been a busy couple of weeks. Here's the summary:

I went to the Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati with Pam. We had a great time. We could "skywalk" to the convention so that gave us some flexibility and let us come and go as we pleased. Parking was a nightmare and one Pam had to settle with the hotel, but in the end we had a nice free breakfast for our trouble. A word of advice: always ask about in and outs in the garage. We ate well, learned a lot, and shopped a little. It was a good time and we arrived home exhausted but renewed.

We finished school today. We will do some review and wrap up activities next week, but we have finished all the material for this year. The timing was good.

Now for the serious reason for this post. A friend of mine is in the hospital today for testing. The doctors found a lesion on the lining of her brain yesterday. Some of you know her and are already praying- I am not posting names here for privacy reasons. She is a dear friend and I ask you all for your prayers on her behalf.

I promise to be more "on the ball" with the blog in the future. Laurel has some great pictures from the hike she went on with her Dad while I was away. I'll try to get some of those up soon. Many snakes- glad I wasn't there!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Katey's Fruit of the Spirit

WARNING: potty humor. Sunday morning while getting ready for church Katey was talking with me in our bathroom. She "pooted" as we call it. I said to her "Katey, you pooted!" She replied, "No, Mommy it was you!" (Yes, she is savvy in the shift the blame game) I told her "Mommy knows a Katey poot and that smells like a Katey poot." She then asked "What do my poots smell like?" I told her "STINKY!" She then told me, "My poots aren't stinky, they smell like the fruit of the spirit, Mommy." We have no idea where this came from, but I laughed so hard I had to reapply my makeup!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Importance of Enunciation

I was reading our read aloud book today to the children in school. They know that if they aren't understanding something in the story they should stop me and ask. Today Laurel stopped me and said she didn't understand why the family in the story was so scared. I thought "The child has paid no attention!" I explained "Laurel, we have been discussing for weeks the fear that the pioneers had toward Native Americans and vice versa. The family in this story is scared because of the events that have gone on with the Native Americans in the area." She said, "I know that, but why are they afraid of an Indian tortoise?" I could not figure out what she was saying until I glanced back at what I had just been reading. The line read "For there, slowly and softly, came a tall Indian toward us." She had heard "tortoise" instead of "toward us." Clearly enunciation on my part is important.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Bye Bye DS and I need Daddy!

The long saved for Nintendo DS is not coming to our home after all. Laurel bought a bike tonight at Walmart. Matthew may do the same later in the week. Laurel's was on clearance (the only one they had) so we were afraid not to buy it tonight. Matthew is going to do some thinking and be sure of his purchase. They both have come to realize the heavy financial investment a DS will be for them (with the unit and all the games). I am proud of them for choosing something non-electronic and for making the decision on their own. We will finish school in about 4 weeks so they can spend hours outside enjoying the pleasant Spring temps.

Today the morning began with a 45 minute crying episode because Tim forgot to kiss and hug Carter goodbye. He actually had to come back home to calm him down. Later tonight he fell apart again. I think he was just having an emotional day.

Friends came over this afternoon we did some crafting with kits sent to us by a friend and the kids got to play. The park is still too wet here after the heavy rains this week. Maybe park days will come along before long!