Scottish Festival!

Today we went to the 26th Annual Oklahoma Scottish Games and Gathering. We had a wonderful time! They really went all out in the kids area. Everything for them was free! They made crowns, ribboned head pieces, and a painted shield. They climbed on giant inflatable toys, and participated in sporting events with other kids. The girls got ribbons for the log toss, relay race, sack race, ring toss, and mini-golf. They got to take a picture with a knight, pet a giant horse, learn about falcons and ancient smithcraft, and listen to Irish and scottish bands. Daniel and I ate giant smoked turkey legs and read about the history of the Elliot clan. Daniel enjoyed watching a man actually hammering and shaping metal on an anvil in a forge! I loved the music and looking at all the beautiful silver jewelry twisted into intricate shapes.

The absolute most amazing moment of the day was when we were watching an Irish band perform and they invited kids to dance up at the front of the stage. Gloria said she wanted to, so I took her up to the front. She got shy, but joined in when a woman in costume took her by the hand and started dancing with her. Then Danya got excited about dancing and joined them. They were the only kids dancing at the front, but they were loving it. Then it got even better! The lead singer called for the three of them to join them up on stage!! So my girls went up there and danced with the lady in green while the band performed! Everyone was clapping and the girls were doing a little jig as the singer called out "kick your feet!". When the song ended he laughingly said that was the first session of the Tulsa Irish school of dance! The girls were breathless and grinning from ear to ear as they came down off the stage. We were so proud of them! Gloria kept doing a pretty little dance as we walked away. You can see her peeking out, wearing a white shirt, on stage in the photo on the right. I love how fearless they are! I hope they keep that boldness and excitement as they grow older! Danya even had the courage to ask a lady in costume to take a picture with her. She also asked one of the handlers questions about the birds when we were looking at the hawks. They are growing up into beautiful, fun loving, wonderful young girls!

Pizza Party!

The girls attended their friend, Myka's, 5th birthday party at Pizza Hut today. Myka's dad is the general Manager there. All the kids got to make their own personal pan pizzas at the party. My girls stuck with cheese only, as usual. They ran around with their little conical hats on and chased the birthday girl all over the store. The party was at 10 am before the store opened, so they had free run of the place. The Pizza Hut here is unique, because Myka's dad turned an unused storage corner in the main dining area into a play place for little kids. It has a small plastic slide and some other toys in it. The kids ran in and out from there to the main party room. Danya and Gloria gave Myka two coloring books and some pretty jewelry. They both came home with a goodie bag and a balloon. This may be the last year that Myka's family has birthday parties at Pizza Hut since their dad is transferring to a store in Tulsa. Daniel and I have both worked at this Pizza Hut for Myka's dad, Mike, at different times over the past few years, Daniel as a driver, and I as a waitress. Today we got a little flashback to those times. Daniel got recruited to work the cut table slicing pizzas for all the kids as they came out of the oven, and I wore out the carpet delivering them to the party room. It was sort of fun, since he and I had never worked there together. Ah, memories!

The Concert

The concert was amazing! Dennis Jernigan is such a wonderful performer! He's been playing the piano for audiences since he was 9, and it certainly shows in his inspired music. He puts so much passion and compassion in his voice and lyrics! Daniel and I were loving the old favorites that we'd sang together as teens, and enjoying learning his new music. Attending a Baptist church, even with a pretty good band, I've really come to miss the spirit filled joyful worship services of my youth. At this concert we were truly rejoicing in the Lord!

I didn't have the nerve to ask Dennis for a photo. That's why this is the only semi-decent picture I have. We did get a new CD of his music while we were there, though. This morning I played it loud while Daniel and Danya went out to get donuts for breakfast. Gloria and I danced and jumped all over the living room while the wonderful praise music filled the house! We danced until we both fell down out of breath! It was so much fun!

Dennis Jernigan Concert Tonight!

Daniel and I are going to the Dennis Jernigan concert tonight at our church. His music is special to me because while we were still teenagers, before I graduated high school, Daniel's family used to take me with them and other teens to hear Dennis Jernigan perform at the "Night of Praise" in OKC. His music affected me profoundly. I had never heard anyone sing songs that truly cried out to God like his did. His songs described God in a way that was brand new to me. I had heard God referred to as our "heavenly Father" before, but since I didn't have a close loving relationship with my natural father or my step-dad, it didn't mean much to me. I thought of fathers as being the disciplinarian and rejecting me when I made my mistakes. Dennis Jernigan's music completely changed my concept of God. To this day, his songs can bring me to tears. Not painful ones anymore though, but tears of joy that I have such an awesome loving God as my Father!

Here's a link to his website: http://www.dennisjernigan.com/

I'll post again this weekend, probably, to tell you how the concert goes!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

My friend Missy came over this morning with her girls Sara and Sydney. They stayed for lunch, and then we headed out with them to walk Sara to school for afternoon Kindergarten. On the way, a van stopped beside us and it was Azure, our hairstylist friend. She had a hair appointment with Missy and had come early to give Sara a ride to school as a nice surprise. Now that's my idea of a good friend! So we came home and they went to Sara's school. After the girls and I had finished our homeschool work we walked over to Missy's house so that we could ask Azure if she'd cut my girls hair too, while she was at it. She did a great job on Danya and Gloria's hair, as usual. This time, instead of curling under, she made their hair flip up at the ends. It's extremely cute! The girls got to play with Missy's daughter Sydney some more, and with Azure's son, Zack. As for me, I got to "play" with the other mom's. It's really great to have some grownup conversation during the day. With Daniel working days this month, I think I've been missing that. The good news is, that he got his new schedule, and he'll be back on nights next month. We've really been feeling the drop in pay with him on days, since he isn't getting the shift diff. we've come to rely on. With this new schedule he'll be working Thursday through Sunday nights, 10 hours a day. So it's like having an extra long weekend every week, PLUS his new company pays him a little extra for working weekends! God has truly been good, helping us make ends meet this month, but I'll be glad to have Daniel on nights again starting next month. Speaking of work, do you see the small sticker on Danya's shirt? She got that for correctly answering ALL of the addition problems on her flash cards today! Yeah, Danya! And doesn't her new haircut look cute?!

Art Supply Therapy

Recently I finally took the plunge, stopped being so uptight, and let my girls have almost free access to the art supplies in our house. In the past I couldn't trust them not to destroy everything they got their hands on. I'm finally allowing them a little more freedom and responsibility. They are loving it! Daily they get out the construction paper, crayons, scissors, and glue sticks. You never know what they will design or invent. Yesterday Danya decided to draw a city scape complete with houses, churches, roads, and trees. Gloria is perfecting her people drawing skills. Her Grandma Nancy says that she is amazed at all the details Gloria includes in her drawings. She says the average 3 year old doesn't draw fingers, toes, eyebrows, etc. on their people. Gloria has been doing it for a long time, and I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I'm trying now to teach the girls to clean up after themselves better. They tend to leave tiny scraps of paper and crayons all over the floor, but they are getting better about it. My worst pet peeve is when they leave the caps off the glue sticks. I guess the next frontier for me will be when I start letting them have free access to their paints. But for right now I'm just working on "baby steps" like Bill Murray in "What About Bob?".

Finger Lickin' Good!

We had a little bit of money left in the "eating out" budget this week, so we decided to go out to eat at Rib Crib. Actually, we were going to Chili's to use some coupons we had, but the line of people outside waiting to get in was rediculous, so we changed our minds. I can not WAIT until the new restaurants get finished here. There will be an Applebee's among others, which is exactly the kind of food I like best. I must have the most boring tastes in the world when it comes to food. I don't eat anything too spicey, I usually leave all condiments off of my sandwiches and just eat them as dry and plain as possible, and I prefer not to try a new restaurant unless I know that they serve something that I'm willing to eat. I'm just the opposite of Daniel who has a cast iron stomach and will eat practically anything. Sometimes I dare him to eat weird foods just for fun. I can usually order almost anything off the menu for him if he can't make up his mind, and he'll at least try it. So truthfully, the only reason we don't eat at home more is because I don't like my own cooking, lol!

Hi Ho! Cherry-O!

The girls have a rack full of games next to the couch that they can pull out and play anytime they want to. Almost all board games have some educational value, in my opinion. Even if it's just practice in counting as they move their game pieces around the board. In this picture the girls are playing Hi Ho Cherry-O! Here's a list of some of the games they play as part of our homeschooling:
1. Boggle Jr. (spelling game)
2. Bingo (math)
3. Hi Ho Cherry-O! (counting)
4. Rack-O (numerical order game)
5. Candy Land (color recognition and counting)
6. Chutes and Ladders (counting and good habits)
7. Memory
8. Pretty Pretty Princess (colors and counting)
9. Waterworks (critical thinking, problem solving)
10. UNO (colors and numbers)
11. Dominos (math)
Those are just a few. The girls also enjoy playing games with a deck of cards. Daniel and I have a card collection and the girls have a few decks of their own. We've taught them how to play "WAR" which is a very good game for learning number value. We are definitely a game playing family!

Masks!

Today we were doing some catch up work since I've been sick the last few days and going lightly on home schooling. We did some work on shapes today and colored some masks made from shapes. Then the girls got to make their own masks from brown paper grocery sacks. They did great with this. I didn't give them any advice really, just let them go crazy. They came up with some wild masks! Since they made them, they've been creeping up on me all around the house. Then they jump up and yell, "BOO!" I clutch my heart and squeal with fright and they burst out laughing. We're also going over their Awanas verses today since they have to say them tonight in class. I plan to start reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to the girls today. We've already read the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series "The Magician's Nephew". I'm hoping to get through all of them by the time the movie comes out in December. This morning Daniel emailed me about the Oklahoma Scottish games http://www.tulsascottishgames.org/ which will be in Tulsa this weekend. So we are going to read about Scotland this week and make the Scottish games a field trip at the end of our studies. That's the plan anyways. But then "the best laid plans of mice and men, often go astray", lol. We'll see what happens!

The Perfection Problem

The question is: Where do you draw the line between doing your best and trying to be perfect? Let me tell you, this is not a problem for me. However, I see my five year old, Danya, flirting with disaster sometimes. Danya struggles with the fear of failure. When we ask her a question that she doesn't know the answer to, she gets upset. She's likely to just blurt out anything in the hope that it will be right. She also loves to sing, but panics occasionally when she's expected to perform in public. We try to help her to relax and remember that it's just for fun. She puts alot of pressure on herself to do well. I don't want to smother that tendency, because if used appropriately, it can help her to succeed in life. She just needs to learn to not let that drive for excellence overwhelm and control her.

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." So I'm trying, through my own actions and words, to teach my girls to do their best, and not leave their work half finished. This doesn't mean I expect perfection. Anyone who's seen my house on a typical day knows that perfection just isn't in my dictionary! It does mean, though, that we need to do a job in a way that we can be proud of. I think public schools have confused ideas of self confidence. Self confidence should stem from the knowledge that you are prepared and capable and that you are a servant of the Almighty God. Public schools instead teach children that self confidence and pride don't come from a job well done, but from just existing. The idea that "you are special and that's all that matters" doesn't give children anything to base their self confidence on. Instead it breeds the feeling that "nobody is better than me" and there is no point in striving for excellence in your work. The bible tells us instead that "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (Colossians 3:23, 24) So, that is what we are trying to teach our girls. 1. Do your work with all your heart. 2. Whatever you do, do it well, so that you don't have to feel ashamed. 3. The only one you need to please is God.

Emma's Playdate

Emma came over today for a playdate with Danya. I had actually forgotten that I'd invited her last Sunday. I've had a nasty cold or maybe allergies, I'm not sure which, for the last few days. Her arrival was a good thing because it helped us all get going for the day. We played games, made crafts, and sang songs. Gloria kept trying to be the center of attention. She was bothering Danya and Emma so much and getting so out of control that I finally had to put her down for a nap. Danya and Emma play really well together. They played Barbies, dress up, and Boggle Jr. It was really sweet watching Danya "teach" Emma how to spell the words in the Boggle game. They kept going into Danya's room and shutting the door. Every so often I'd hear wild bursts of giggling. We had pizza for lunch, and Emma's mom picked her up just before dinner time. I'm so glad Danya has Emma for a friend. I'm worried that she'll miss her terribly next year when Emma goes to first grade. Right now, Emma is in half day Kindergarten. Next year it will be all day. I hope they can still find time to play together.

Cool Photos - by ME

I've read alot of different articles on photography, mostly scrapbooking related. I've learned neat tricks and ideas like the ones used in these pictures. But I think that I can claim a teensy bit of credit for keeping my eyes open to the picture taking possibilities around me. This picture of Danya, for instance. I've read that a photographer should look for "natural frames" to use in their photos. The problem with this one, though, was that this window was designed to allow kids to look through it to see the Aldabra tortoises at the zoo. My kids couldn't get behind it for me to take their picture. So I shoved my upper body through the window beside this one and took Danya's picture from inside the exhibit. Danya caught on to what I was trying to do and helped by sticking her head out. I bet no one else has a picture like this from the Tulsa zoo! Then as we were leaving I saw our shadows advancing before us as we walked along the pavement towards the exit. I had just been wishing that I could get someone to take a family picture of us at the zoo. When I saw our shadows I decided to eliminate the middle man! I like the results so much that I may just have to take more family shadow portraits!

ZOOpendous Day!

Today we renewed our family membership at the Tulsa zoo. The temperature stayed in the 80's and it was a perfect mix of hot and mildly windy. The girls were thrilled to finally go back to the zoo. We haven't been in months! Gloria rushed ahead of us to all the exhibits. She seemed to know where everything was. We got to talk to one of the zoo docents. He told us about the fighting going on between the two males, who are brothers. One had a nasty scratch on his nose from their last battle. They are trying to establish dominance. A girl chimp named Jodi, has just been taken off of birth control. They are hoping that she'll get pregnant soon! We got to see another zoo worker feed the otters. He threw dead fish all over their enclosure so that they could "hunt" for it. We also got to see the giant brown bear. He was enormous! The girls played with the penguin in the above picture. He would follow their hands all around the glass! They also explored a "meadow maze" among wild flowers, sat on their favorite turtle statue (a zoo tradition of ours), teeter tottered as a family, and stood in awe of the giant fish in the "Tropical Rain Forrest". Another highlight moment of the day was when a nice young couple gave the girls their leftover tokens as they were leaving. So next time we go to the zoo we'll let them ride the carousel and the train. We all went home today over-heated and exhausted, but happy.

Boys in the Park

My bestest buddy Glenda came to Tulsa this weekend! Yippee! I was so excited when she emailed me! Her husband, Eric, had some continuing education classes for Physical Therapy to attend in Tulsa, so she and their two adorable boys came along for the trip. On Saturday we got to meet them at LaFortune Park in Tulsa. Qorban brought a little football and he and the girls had a blast! He is the cutest thing on two feet! He can throw a perfect spiral, pretends to line up on invisible scrimmage lines, and even says "OU" when he sees the Sooners letters. He and his little brother, Caleb, are "all boy". They move faster than the speed of light and climb tall playground structures that you'd never think they could. Qorban is proud to be a "momma's boy", too. He seems confident to try new things and experiences as long as he knows his mommy is somewhere near by. Saturday night we got the privledge and fun of watching the boys at our house while Glenda and Eric went out for dinner. Poor Glenda was almost too tired to enjoy it, though. She is within about 6 weeks of her due date. She's having a little girl this time! Luckily, Daniel had mowed the back yard Saturday morning. So that night Qorban, Caleb, and our girls had a wild time all playing in and on our back yard toys. Caleb especially loved the slide! He would giggle and laugh over and over again every time we helped him slide down it! The next morning Glenda met us at our house and visited our church with us. The boys did really well with unfamiliar Sunday school classes. Qorban seemed happy by the time we picked him up after church services ended. Gloria was ecstatic that her daddy got to be her teacher for the first time in her class. After church we all went out to eat lunch at McAlister's deli (my fave!). Then we hung out at our house until Glenda and the boys had to leave. The girls and I have decided to try and muster up our courage to make the 3 hour drive to their "Tanti" Glenda's house some time soon without Daniel since he has to work days now.

Baking Bread

Today we went to our friend Betsy's house. She taught Danya to bake bread while Gloria and Betsy's daughters played. Danya got to do everything from scooping the ingredients to kneading the dough. She had a blast! Betsy explained to her that the yeast was alive and just like a little baby it needed milk and air. Danya really seemed to enjoy the concept of "baby yeast". She had fun rolling the dough and smacking it down. It took her a while to figure out how to use a rolling pin, but after a while she was practically a pro. It was so funny watching her get her fingers stuck in the dough when she was trying to separate it in half. Her hands would be too sticky and need more flour on them. Betsy offered to let me help too, but I was having way too much fun just watching Danya
enjoy the process. Besides, I much prefer to be the photographer than the baker! Gloria and the other girls came in every so often to take a peak at what Danya was doing, but mostly they ran around the house, pounding on the out of tune piano, dancing to the CD player, and generally wreaking havoc in the upstairs playroom. Little Megan was so cute when she would reach her tiny hands up to me so I'd pick her up and let her see what was happening inside the mixing bowl. Danya got to join in on the craziness 4 little girls can make during the intervals when we'd have to wait for the bread to rise or otherwise "do it's thing". She was very patient with the whole process and listened well to Betsy's instructions. We had pizza delivered for lunch, which was an hour and half late so we got it free. Free pizza always tastes better, doesn't it? Then it was back to the grindstone...or in this case, grinder machine. Betsy actually had a machine to grind wheat. So Danya got to scoop it full of real wheat grain and it made wheat flour. That was alot
of fun but it was also extremely noisy! Between the grinder, the mixer, and the kids there was quite a racket! The end results sure were tasty, though! We got to try some of the rolls when they were hot and fresh out of the oven. Danya made rolls and pita bread! She was so proud of her creation! Then Betsy surprised me by telling me that we got to take ALL the bread home because she had already made enough for her family previously! She didn't have to twist MY arm! lol. So tonight we had chicken and macaroni n' cheese with yummy wheat rolls. Mmmm!

Wagon Trail

The girls and I took a trip into town yesterday. You could call it a walk, but really I did all the walkin' and they did all the riding. Somehow I just couldn't convince them to pull ME in the wagon, lol. We stopped by two children's stores on the way to McAlister's restaurant for lunch. The first one was a joke. They were selling ugly children's clothing for outrageous prices. They had a dress with a flower on the front for $50!! The next store we stopped in was called Primarily Kids. It was awesome! They had educational toys, girly girl kinds of pink frilly toys, Thomas the Tank Engine, and dance clothes. The girls loved it! I saw several things that I will have to go buy as I get the money for it. They had several things for less than $20 that I thought were well worth the money. So we played with their Thomas train set, looked through their science toys and books, and bought a hidden picture coloring book about the alphabet. Then we went on to the restaurant. On the way back we stopped at the grocery store to get a free cookie for each of the girls at the bakery department. By the time I got home, after pulling two 40+ pound kids in a wagon all that way in 92 degree heat I was ready to collapse. Does that count as my exercise for the week? Oh, hey, you might notice the girls are wearing their new shoes in the above picture too! We got these on sale at Payless in the mall. I love that store.

Is Public School Biblical?

Picture this:
God gives me a beautiful baby girl and says "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:5-7 I thank Him and say I will obey. Then a few short years later a humanist group comes to me and says they'd like to offer me a great deal. They will gladly take that child off my hands for about 6 hours a day, 30 hours a week, for the next 13 years and instruct her in how to get along in a humanist world; how to fit in, be part of the crowd, and get a good little job when she's grown. They say that while they're at it they will even attempt to teach her how to read and do math. Of course, no guarantees that she will learn it well, in fact most of the children in this group will barely be literate and will fear math by the time they are done, but that will be their parents' fault.

The best part, they say, is that since I am not "qualified" or "trained" to teach my child myself, they will take the burden off of me so that I can have some "me time" away from my child. I'm not quite sure, but they say all the other parents are doing it, and besides, it's THE LAW. I ask how they will teach my child to love God during those hours and they look shocked! They say that mentioning God or anything about Him is wrong and that it would be unfair to the other children whose religions will be taught as social studies. I tell them that Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 and it seems that 5 days a week for 13 years of hindering them from coming to Jesus is just too much.

They say my child will be a social outcast and will hate me for making her miss out on all the fun times and friendships that can only be had in this one building closed in with 20-30 other children her same age for 13 years. Yet, I believe that I can provide her with fun and opportunities to form lasting friendships. I will follow the apostle, Paul, in knowing that "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" Philippians 3:7-9

"No," I say, shaking my head. I may not be qualified, but I do know that Phillipians 4:13 says "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." You may think children should be educated without any mention of Jesus Christ, but I think that they cannot be truly educated without Him. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ." Ephesians 4:15


Edited to add: Here is a link to the book that has opened my eyes and profoundly influenced my thoughts on this subject. http://www.lewrockwell.com/yates/yates61.html This web page gives an excellent overview of the book. If you'd like to get the book and read it yourself, here is a link for that: http://www.exodusmandate.org/info_books.htm The book is called "Let My Children Go! Why Parents Must Remove Their Children From Public Schools NOW" by Ray Moore.

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!

Woohoo!! The settlement check from the van accident came in today! Just over $1,100!! Now we can resupply our emergency fund and Daniel is taking me out tonight as an anniversary re-do since the van broke down last time. We keep a $1,000 emergency fund in the bank for life's minor emergencies like for when major parts go out on the van, unexpected medical bills, broken appliances, etc. Lately ours has been at about half full because of all the little problems we've had. Since we've had this emergency fund we haven't had any problems with going negative in our checking account monthly. I'm also excited that we can use part of this money to renew our zoo membership and to get another 100 hour pass at the local drop-in child care center. Getting the big pass really saves us alot of money on babysitting in the long run! Well, I'm off to check the movie listings for our date tonight!

Danya's Bike! Hooray!

Danya has been saving for this bike for months!! She started with the $20 her Grandpa Richie sent her for her birthday around the middle of June. Since then she has been working hard doing jobs around the house to earn money. She sorts laundry, loads the wash, transfers it, and puts it on the couch. Each of these steps earns her 25 cents. She also cleans up her room and the living room. When we take out the trash, she puts in the new bag. She has washed the bathroom counter, dusted, and helped empty the dishwasher. She has been one busy little girl. Whenever we ask her if she'd like to use some of her money at a garage sale or somewhere else she always says no because she's saving it for her bike. Well, today was the day. She saved up $35 which was how much her sister's bike had cost us a few months ago. The bike was on sale, but not that much anymore, so it cost $40. We covered the extra since we'd told her it was only $35 and we had driven all the way to K-Mart in Tulsa to get it. She is right this minute helping her Daddy assemble the bike. She keeps squealing, "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!"

What's in a Name?

What happens when you leave a 5 year old little girl alone in her room with some construction paper and a pair of scissors? At our house, the answer is, she surprises you. I thought she might make several different things, but her last name wasn't one of them. She was so excited! She came out of her room quietly and said, "Mommy, come see what I did!" I was thinking the worst. Had she cut all the paper into teeny tiny slivers I would be finding for the next week all over her room? What a relief to find that she'd made her last name, mostly from scraps. And to top it off she'd neatly gathered all the left over pieces into a pile on top of her Dora table. Yea, Danya!

Sparks and Cubbies Begins

Danya and Gloria have begun a new year in the Awanas club at our church. Danya is thrilled to finally be a Spark and Gloria is overjoyed to be a big girl Cubbie. We even broke down and bought Gloria a brand new vest for Cubbies instead of just taking the patches off of Danya's old one. They both memorized their verses for this week and proudly said them at church tonight. Danya excitedly told me that she didn't say all of John 3:16 correctly, even though she had it down pat before she left for church tonight, but that it didn't matter. She said, "My teacher says that all you have to do is TRY to say the verse. It doesn't matter if you can't say it all!" I'm afraid that I'll have to nip that in the bud. 13 years of public school will teach most kids that excellence doesn't matter as long as you make a half hearted attempt. But that's one of the very reasons we're homeschooling. I'm sure not going to encourage that mentality. I know that she is not only capable of saying the entire verse correctly, but that she is actually good at it and enjoys practicing at home. So I'm going to let her know that her dad and I expect her to always do her best and not do a shoddy job at something just because you can get away with it and not much is expected of you. The bible tells us to do all things not as if we are doing them for man but as if we are doing them for God. I may not always do so well at that myself, but I'm working on it and I want my kids to do the same. I'm glad the girls are in this program because it encourages our whole family to memorize scripture together. Also, it's a good "classroom experience" for the girls and of course provides that "socialization" that the anti-homeschooling group is always going on about. Then again, I'm not too worried about socialization. I mean, we're Americans. We're supposed to be a Republic. It's that other country that's supposed to be the Socialist Republic, not ours, right? Anyway, we've decided that at this age our girls don't need to be in 5 different activities each so this is the one that they'll be in. With our finances what they are and Daniel's shift changing so often we have really truly come to value our family time. We're not willing to hand it over to some weekly athletic team or whatever. And at this age the girls don't really understand most sports anyways. Well, it's after midnight, so I'm off to catch a few hours of sleep before our next busy day of homeschooling begins. I'm really looking forward to next week when my homeschooling friend Betsy is going to teach us all how to bake bread!

Miscarriage Again

This is the third one this year. It started last night. I don't understand this. I wonder if I should just go back to preventing pregnancy for a few months to give my body time to get back to normal? Going through this every month is just tearing me up. I don't know what to do. There doesn't seem to be anything I CAN do. On this last one I didn't even feel hopeful anymore really. I don't even know how to pray anymore except to keep trusting God because I know that He has a plan and a purpose in this. I'm starting to wonder if maybe He's preparing me to accept that I may never have another baby. Daniel and I both want to adopt an older child someday, and that would get pushed off farther if I had another baby. In the meantime, we'll just keep praying and waiting for God's answer.

File Folder Game: Camp

I made this using some Karen Foster scrapbooking cutouts, a pine tree thumb punch, and some paper. I got the idea online. You can use almost any theme to make these file folder games. I called mine "Camp Learn-a-Lot". When I finished it I took it to Office Depot. They laminated it for just $2. You can use this for any subject your kids are learning. We used phonics cards yesterday and coins as place markers. If Gloria could name the letter, or if Danya could tell me what sounds they made, then they would get to move forward one space. If they land on a tree space they get to go one extra space. You could change the rules to roll a dice to see how far you can move. Or change them any way that works for you. You can make your own question cards or just use store bought flashcards like I did. My girls really liked this and so did I so I'm going to make a few more versions. Some advice: The Office Depot clerk said that using more porous paper would make it laminate better. The scrapbook paper I used was too thick, non-porous, and bulky. So the lamination didn't work completely on the thickest side. Next time I won't put so many layers of paper on it.

Ceiling Fan Collapse

Another ceiling fan disaster. The last one caught fire, this one fell out of the ceiling. The girls saw it start to fall. So I came into their room, saw it hanging half out of the hole in the ceiling, and turned it off. When Daniel came home he took a look at it. He said the screws were stripped and couldn't hold it any more. So he took it the rest of the way down. He doesn't think it will support another fan, so he wants to mount just a light instead. I'm okay with that. Since we took down Danya's tent off her bunkbed I'm constantly worried that one of them is going to stick their hand into the fan. They've really enjoyed having the tent off, though. Gloria hung a blanket up in the corner next to the window and brought books and dolls up there. Danya likes to open the blinds and wave at people passing by on the street.

McDonald's Birthday Party!

Danya's friend, Ben, turned 5 this week. Watching him open his presents was the best part of his party at McDonald's today. He would get so excited jumping up and down and squealing "Awesome! Awesome!...What is it?" when he'd open a new present. He was just as ecstatic over markers as he was over his all time favorite "Thomas the Tank Engine". He even received a train named "Ben" that you can see at this link: http://www.myfavoritetoys.com/item.php?id=LC99025 We got to see several friends from our previous church that we've missed alot. The girls had a great time playing with all the kids. Our friend, Trish, even blessed us with some blue jeans and a jacket for our girls! She has girls just a little older than each of our girls. We also got to see her beautiful new baby girl, Carly. Danya gave Ben some mini monster trucks and Gloria gave him a nerf football. He seemed pretty happy throughout his party. It was good to see his Mom, Michelle, again. I really enjoy having her as a friend. The girls and I ran into Michelle and Ben at McAlister's Deli a few days ago. We got to sit and talk together over lunch. Michelle is a lot of fun and really level headed. She always has good advice and makes the neatest craft projects. She's a scrapbooker, too! Ben is lucky to have her for a mom. Happy Birthday, Ben!

Anniversary Gone Awry

Our nine year wedding anniversary was yesterday. Everything should have been great. Both of our girls were staying the night at their friends' houses. Daniel was coming home early from work. We dropped off Danya, and were almost to Gloria's friend's house, when the radio in our van quit working. Then the speedometer quit. Then the entire electrical system went nuts and our car died a block from our destination. We walked to their house, got a jump for the van, and made it half way to Auto Zone before the van died again. So we took a break and had dinner at McAlister's. Then we got another jump and made it the rest of the way. I stood around in Auto Zone for 3 and half hours while Daniel replaced the alternator in our van. I was impressed that he actually knew how to replace an alternator. I always thought an alternator was something in the steering column. I am sooo not mechanically inclined! lol. Finally we got to go to a 10 o'clock movie. We saw The Brothers Grimm which I'd probably give a B- to because I liked the special effects and the actors, but the plot line was terrible. This morning the van died again right after we picked up Gloria from her friend's house. Daniel had overlooked a connection when he was working in the dark last night. He fixed it and it's working fine now. So that's the story of our 9th anniversary. I'm pretty disappointed and I kind of hope Daniel will give us a re-do and take me out next weekend. Actually, we both discussed how blessed we were overall. We could have broken down far from help. It could have been a problem that Daniel couldn't fix. We could have still had the kids in the car bored and upset that they couldn't go to their friends' houses. It could have happened earlier this week and made Daniel miss a day during his first week at his new job. We could have had to buy a new car if the problem was expensive enough. Really, we feel like God took care of us the whole way and even allowed us time together despite the problems.

Meridian Turns 9!

My absolutely stunningly beautiful niece, Meridian, turned 9 years old yesterday. She is literally a beauty queen and has a trophy to prove it, but what makes her truly beautiful is her gentle heart. She is so loving and quick to help everyone including her younger sisters and brothers. Danya and Gloria love their older cousin. She is like a big sister to them. I love how intelligent and curious she is. It's a joy to talk and play with her whenever we visit her family. This picture doesn't do her justice. She has long gorgeous straight blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a smile that shines from ear to ear. She was born the day before I married her uncle nine years ago. She was one of the first babies I ever got to hold! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MERIDIAN! We love you!

Playing Games: WaterWorks

We've taught the girls to play "Waterworks" a game about plumbing. There are alot of games that work well for home schooling and this is one of them. They have to work together to create the pipe system. They also have to help each other out to fix the leaky pipes. We altered the rules to make it more of a cooperative game instead of competitive. The girls use problem solving skills and strategy. They talk to each other about what cards they have so that, for instance, Gloria will be able to fix a leaky pipe that Danya puts down. Gloria absolutely LOVES being the one to "fix" the pipes. But then, she loves fixing everything around our house. Frequently you'll hear Danya complain that she broke a toy and Gloria will say, "That's okay. I'll fix it!" and she really will too! This is a great game. This week the girls both asked to play it during their "special time". They each get one night a week that is their special time when they get to stay up an extra hour and play one-on-one with Daniel and/or me. You can find this game here: http://www.funagain.com/control/main

Every BODY's Beautiful!

For science this week the girls learned about their insides. The girls laid down outside on some paper and we traced their outlines. Then they colored and cut out the different parts of their bodies. They were especially fascinated with learning where poop comes from. Gloria even helpfully drew arrows on her picture. She had a little trouble following instructions on what colors to use because she wants to make it "beautiful". I figured in the long run it won't really matter if she colored her stomach blue or purple. The only problem we had was that the body parts were designed for a slightly older child, so they didn't fit quite right in her body. They were a little crowded, but we made it work. Danya felt that it should have included a ribcage. I had originally planned to spread out this project over the course of the week. The girls were enjoying it so much, though, I just let them do the whole thing in two days! This new science workbook I found at a garage sale is really great. I can't wait to do more projects from it!

Bye Bye MCI!

Daniel has left his job of 10 years to move to another company. This picture of him at his desk was taken in January of 2004. He's in telecommunications and, if I do say so, is an excellent technician! I am so proud of him! He works incredibly hard. He won't take a sick day unless he's on death's door...except if his family needs him for something important. (He has been known to fly home for a moment to kill an evil wasp for me once or twice, lol) He even drove in during a blizzard when no one else showed up one night! Daniel has a servant's heart and likes to help everybody solve work related issues. He respects others who show up on time and do their job well. He holds himself to the same standards, too. He's excited about his new job because he'll be learning new systems and really be challenged again in his work. Also, he'll be working with several people he knows who used to work at his old company. A few guys from our Sunday school class work in the same company too, just different departments. Today is Daniel's third day at his new job. Congrats, Sweetie!

Danya's Reading List

Our little book worm has made a book worm of her own. Or maybe it's a "read-apillar", we're not sure. Every time she finishes reading a book, all by herself, we write the name on a green circle and add it to the end of her book worm. We're hanging it on a bedroom door. When it's long enough to reach the bottom of the door we'll take her to Chuck E. Cheese! She's been reading like there's no tomorrow! She especially loves the "I Can Read" books for beginning readers. She even reads them when she finds them at department stores. I haven't written every book she's read on a green circle, just the ones she's read recently. There are a couple she keeps re-reading because she loves them. Her all time favorite book is a Sesame Street book called "I Can Do It Myself". At a bookstore the other day she found a series about a dog named Biscuit by Alyssa Capucilli. So we went to the library and checked out a whole stack of them. She's been reading one or two a day for the last week. Gloria wants to make a book worm, too, but she can't read yet and it wouldn't be fair if all she had to do was listen to us read them. So we are having her listen to Danya read. Then they will both get to go to Chuck E. Cheese.

Science Experiment: Air Pressure

Daniel is the man in charge when it comes to science experiments in our homeschool! Mostly because I don't like getting messy, but really he volunteered. This particular "science experience" as Danya calls it, was about air pressure. You fill the cup partially with water, put a piece of paper on top and flip it over. The pressure inside sucks the paper to the lid and keeps the water inside. Gloria's favorite part was getting to pull the paper off and watch the water fall out. The girls and Daniel have tried quite a few "experiences" this year already. They tried to make crystals out of sugar...but they left it outside and it got rained on. The tried to make a rainbow with the sun and a water hose...but just then Danya noticed that the bathroom toilet was flooding. But hey, at least they got to watch Daddy repair a toilet! Another time they filled a jar with water, flipped it over in a pan, and inserted a straw into the jar. Then Gloria blew into it to see how much air was in her lungs...but the water gushed out, the pan overflowed, and we had to clean up a huge mess. Danya also grew her own tomatoes to learn about plants...but a storm broke it in half and it died. I keep reminding myself that succesful experiments aren't the point. The point is enjoying learning as a family and all the great memories we are making together!

Car Wreck!

Daniel was hit at an intersection last Sunday by a speeding pickup truck that turned too wide! The driver smashed the side of our van and then took off! So Daniel (not about to let him get away with that!) chased him down and blocked his vehicle in. Then he jumped out and started yelling. The driver was a 19 yr old guy who was late for his job at a fast food place. His license was expired and he was driving his girlfriend's car. He wants to just pay for damages and asked Daniel not to make a claim on his girlfriend's insurance. We got an estimate yesterday. It will cost $1,200 to repair and take 80 hours of labor. So that probably means we will also have to have a rental car for a week or two. I don't see how this kid can possibly pay for this. I'm hoping Daniel will decide to just make a claim through the insurance. But he's feeling sort of fatherly, I guess, because he's talking about letting the kid make a payment plan. That kid made a whole series of bad choices and I don't think letting him off easy will teach him anything. If you're reading this feel free to comment and give your opinion!

The Fort at St. Augustine

The fort was interesting but would have been more enjoyable if it weren't so incredibly shockingly mind-numbingly HOT. We pretty much all entered the fort together then immediately split up and fanned out. I love fantasy novels about castles and guys weilding swords, so this was pretty close to heaven for me! I loved the texture of the walls, the ruggedness of the living quarters. The barracks rooms were so great! It was something straight out of a movie or book! I could practically "see" the soldiers and people fresh off the boats moving through the various rooms. I crawled through a tiny tunnel into what had once been a storage room and later became a prison. I tried to imagine the fear, filth, and sheer claustrophobia of being crammed into this room overflowing with other prisoners. I didn't stay more than a minute. They frequently had to hold out against enemy attack in this fort, so they'd made one room into a bathroom. The back wall had a long bench with holes in it. I imagine that several people would use it at once. On the roof, looking down, I didn't feel very safe or protected. It must have been awful to stand up there manning the cannons and trying to return fire while being shot at from below. You can see in the above picture that the walls along the roof aren't very high. I sat on one to have my picture taken. In the gift shop I found some playing cards with pictures and facts about Famous Women of the Civil War. I like the idea of reading to my daughters about women who made a difference in the world. I want them to know that women can be obedient to God and their husbands while still being brave and strong. Women of the past seemed to understand that better than alot of women of today. Also, a lot of history talks about the courage and strength of men, while not seeming to notice that women faced the same hardships..while also dealing with having their periods and raising children. I want my daughters to be confident in themselves.

Do you like Pina Coladas?

I don't like them, but then, I hate all things made with coconut. Actually, I dislike the taste of almost all alcohol. On my trip to Florida, however, I got the chance to sample some different drinks and decided that I definitely like strawberry margaritas and I don't really care for strawberry daiquiries as much. The top left pic is of me at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville http://www.alhambradinnertheatre.com/ where I ordered a daiquiri under peer pressure...but I must have liked it by the bottom of the glass because I finished off my friend Christina's drink, too. Oh, and Jennie, I still owe you 6 bucks! On the trip home Glenda, Christina, and I stopped at an Applebee's restaurant for dinner and to give us some time out of the van. We had been driving for about 12 hours by that point. I ordered a margarita, they served me a daiquiri. So then they made the right one and gave me the daiquiri free! How could I refuse?! Yes, I definitely enjoyed this time without kids and knowing I had a designated driver along for the ride. And for the record, I learned that only 2 drinks CAN make me feel pretty woozy. I didn't even finish the second one because my stomach revolted and I decided to play it safe instead of risking damage to my best friend's van. I got the opportunity to have a drink with my meal 3 times on this trip! Of course, it will probably be the only time all year since I don't usually drink at all. Interesting tidbit: My step-grandmother's name is Margarita!

Amelia Island, Florida

This picture is showing up kind of pixilated on my blog, but is one of the few group shots we took while on our girl road trip. It's missing our friend Claire, though. I think the only group shot with her in it is a bathing suit pic, and my friends would disown me if I posted that! LoL! We had a fantastic time and were already discussing a mini version of this trip in the future by the time we were headed home. We went on a float trip down a river next to Ginni Springs, did some boogie boarding in the Atlantic ocean (amazing waves!), shopped til we dropped, and went to a dinner theatre to see a swing music review. I really stretched outside of my comfort zone for this trip! I let everyone else make the plans, had a few drinks and even ate Calamari...which is breaded, fried Octopus! It wasn't bad! I don't think I truly realized how peaceful, overall, this trip was without kids or husbands, until I came home and was bombarded with the sounds and clamor for attention that are just part of having small children. I think a yearly trip like this would be cheap therapy for moms everywhere!

Off to Florida!

We are driving to Daniel's parents' house tonight. Then bright and early tomorrow morning my girlfriends and I are heading off to Florida! I'm frantically trying to decide what to pack! The cost of this trip keeps escalating. We are going to a musical dinner theatre performing some sort of swing dance music review. So I had to go buy something to wear because there is a dress code. Of course, none of my dresses or skirts fit any more. Also, I'm officially that weird size right between the "Misses" clothes dept. and the Plus size. So I searched 5 clothing stores before finding an outfit that fit, looked good, and I could afford. $50 later... uh, I guess "afford" is a relative term. I've never spent that much on one outfit before! Anyway, wish me luck! I'm super excited and nervous. I'm going to miss my family terribly, but I'm really looking forward to spending alot of time with my friends that I so rarely get to see for more than an hour at a time a few times a year.Well, my dh is about to start honking the horn if I don't go.
See ya in about a week!

Lobster Tales

They had live lobsters going into the holding tank at Wal-Mart the other day! We got to watch the lady take them out of a cardboard box, rinse them off in a bucket of water, and then let them loose into the tank full of lobsters. It was a little bit scary. Um..for the kids..yeah. So we studied them through the clear sides of the tank and watched them wake up as the lady put them in the water. I had no idea that they shipped lobsters, alive, in a cardboard box. She said they come via priority air mail. Apparently they sleep in the box until they get put back into water. The box had white plastic trays stacked up in it. There were about 40 lobsters in that one box! All the lobsters just walked right over each other in the tank. Their little eye stalks were waving but they couldn't open their claws because of the bands on them. It's funny how once you start homeschooling everything becomes a learning experience. The girls were asking us questions about the lobsters and we were all in awe of how interesting their faces were up close. Danya couldn't believe that people actually eat them! Here is a link to some fun facts if you want to teach your kids about lobsters or just learn a little something yourself: http://www.kathimitchell.com/lobster.html At the top of the page are two links to find answers to the questions on the page. One of them is where I got the lobster photo for my blog.

Date Night at Applebees

See my new highlights and perm? I've been having a bit of hair work done by Azure in preparation for my upcoming road trip to Florida. We got the highlights done Monday morning and went out to Applebees that night. Daniel and I spent about an hour at a bookstore that sells discount books. The clerk gave me the 15% off teacher's discount because I'm a homeschool teacher! He said his mom homeschools his sisters! We had a great time talking and enjoying each other's company at Applebees. I'm really going to miss my Sweetie next week. We've never been apart for a whole week before in the entire almost 9 years we've been married! Daniel is so great! He's going to follow my lesson plan while I'm gone and homeschool the girls. He's taking a week vacation just so that I can go on this trip. He says he plans to do alot of outdoor activities like going to the sprinkler park near the zoo. Our girls are so lucky to have him for a dad!