He is With Us in Trouble

Hubby has been a traveling man these last couple weeks. On Thursday he was returning home so I went to move the vehicle making room for the truck and trailer he was pulling. As soon as I got out of the vehicle I saw little girl take a header onto the concrete. She went down hard and stumbled back to her feet. I was to her in an instant, taking her in my arms. She had begun to cry. The SILENT cry, the one where you know they are hurt. No faking. The cry where there is no sound, no tears, no breath. "Breathe baby breathe." "Lord be with her." "Breathe baby breathe." I knew that if she did not breathe she would soon pass out. I held her close expecting it to happen. Moments later she passed out, limp in my arms. Scary moment for a mother. She came to with a gasping breath, still crying hard. She began to convulse in my arms. Her body shook and I began to pray. She body went still and I coaxed her to talk. "Talk to Mommy sweety, I need you to talk to Mommy." All the while I am rushing ever so gently to the house, praying over her and pleading with her to talk. Finally she screams out "MOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYY" "Praise God, thank you Lord, be with her. Lord heal every bit of her. Let there be no internal bleeding. Let there be no concussion. Restore her."
I place her on the bed with her head on the pillow. I look her over. Strawberry mark on the upper forehead, Slight swelling. Breathing. Crying. Talking. Complaining (never so happy to hear complaining). Note: Get ice.
I locate the ice and phone and call Dad, "Pray, DD hit her head on the concrete, cried so hard she passed out, convulsed in my arms, is now talking, I am still evaluating. PRAY!" He assured me he would, that he would be home in 30 minutes and to call him if anything changed or we needed to go in.
After the call she calmed considerably. I asked her if her head hurt. If she had a head ache. If she remembered what happened. (She tripped) I asked her if she thought she needed to go to the hospital. To which she replied "No, I'm ok." Now a mother has several choices here. One, go to the hospital. Two, wait and see if the situation really warrants a hospital visit. Third, Pray. I opted for a combination of 2 &3. I made her walk to the living room. Talk to me. I checked her pupils for proper dilation. I comforted her.
At this point she is appearing fine. Her worst complaint, her toes are dirty and hurt. So we go take a bath. After the bath she is happy.
Daddy arrives home and she is so happy to see daddy. You would never know of the whole ordeal that took place a half hour earlier.
The neighbors were out and talking with our family and as I shared with her what happened she marveled at how she looked and was acting. She confirmed that things were going to be good and I did not need to take her in.
Praise God!

Psalm 91

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

Thank you Lord!

Note: I did wake her up in the middle of the night as is protocol for head trauma. It took some coaxing but she finally relied with a "Mommy! I love you, I'm sleeping." :)

Presidential Candidate

Wonder which candidates carry similar views to your own? Who are you in support of for the presidential race? Take this simple survey to see who is most compatible with your views. You could be surprised. I was NOT surprised Hilary ranked LOW on my list.
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

Blessed

Last weekend marked my 10th wedding anniversary. Amazing. 10 years. Married to the same man. Heehee.
In the midst of hubbies travels things have been a bit crazy. With him two weeks in Florida during our anniversary, I flew down to spend our anniversary with him. Not far from our original honeymoon. It was great seeing his home away from home. His favorite restuarants, he has many. We enjoyed walks on the beach. Hanging out on the pier, this was my favorite. We saw dolphins, pelican and tons of fish. We ate and ate and ate. Like I said, he so many places to take me. We had no agenda. So it was very laid back and relaxing. The kids were back in Michigan, cared for by loving relatives. God is so good how he prepared the way for all of it. He worked out every detail and provided in ways I could not have imagined. I am blessed!
Oh and I was able to add the states of Florida and Georgia to my geocaching list. We found 2 in Florida, near locations we were already planning on going and I found a virtual in the Georgia airport. YEAH!

Webkinz

How do cute stuffed animals transform into an online animal world? With Webkinz, of course. Webkinz are collectible stuffed animals, much like beanie babies. Although unlike Beanies, Webkinz give access to an online world. Made by Ganz, these adorable animals come with codes for the owner to gain access to Webkinz World. Great idea.
Like I mentioned previously, one of my girlfriends sent us three in the mail. Lucy Goose, Hopscoth the Bunny and Roaring Lion. The kids and I eagerly set up our new rooms. On Webkinz, each animal is given a room that you can decorate as you wish. Each animal comes with 2000 kinzcash. You determine how to spend your money. Buying a bed and bathtub can quickly eat through your cash so on webkinz there are MANY opportunities to earn cash. You can get a job. Every 8 hours you can do your job and get cash. Do it well 3 times and you get a promotion, making more money the next time you do that job. You can play games at the arcade. Family friendly games! The better you do the more kinzcash you can earn. You can take surveys or spin the Wheel of Wow. But my favorite way to earn cash is Quizzy's Corner. A trivia game that is by age and subject. Every right answer earns you $5. Get it wrong and it eliminates your answer and still can get you cash. So even if you have no clue the answer, you can work through the responses until you find the answer. It is like test taking with no penalties for incorrect answers.
The makers of Webkinz wanted this to be a kid safe environment. And I have to say, as a parent I am thrilled with all the safety features they put in place. For one, they have a chat area but it is pre-made sentences. Easy for kids just learning to communicate over the internet. Then there is a Chat Plus option that parents must approve. But even there the kids a restricted on what they can say. Unacceptable words turn red and the message will not be sent. No personal names or numbers are accepted. Meaning no kid can give out their name or address to online predators.
All games are appropriate so there is no need to filter.
The only thing I do not like is the room theme option of a wizard. We are not into wizards, although I do understand many kids are into that. My kids know that wizard stuff is a no go for their rooms, and they seem to be fine with that.
Bonuses of playing:
Understanding of responsibility- You need to take care of your pet. Indicators tell you if it is happy, healthy or hungry. If you click everyday on the daily Kinzcare you earn cash and a free food item.
Knowledge of keyboard- I taught our son his username and password. By typing them in he is learning his way around the keyboard. The other day he completely shocked me when he was able to spell his 14 letter username from memory. Amazing! Made me wonder if he has a photographic memory. I plan to change his password periodically to words I want him to know how to spell and type.
Money management- You have to have money to buy food and furnish your home. If you spend it frivolously you will have to work harder to get more cash. It is a great model of how we need to prioritize our money. You need to eat more than you need new clothes. You can expand your home with new additions, such as rooms to make into a kitchen or bath. Or get an outdoor space so you can grow a garden or get exercise outside. These things cost big bucks, so plan and save to make it happen.
Generosity- You can make friends. You can send your friends letters and gifts. The kids love to do this. And boy do they get excited when they receive a letter.
Learning- With Quizzy's corner I read them the questions and they answer. Things I want my kids to know are being introduced to them in the context of fun.
Easy to use- Even little girl, nearing 4 can completely navigate her way around.
Fun- It is so much fun! Safe fun. My kids love it so much that it has become the most effective discipline tool I have.

Where else can you go to hunt for gems, make recipes or sort boxes to be shipped? Only in Webkinz world. If you have any questions I would love to answer them. For those considering purchasing a Webkinz for themselves or their kids, check out the parents area of the website for a tutorial. For a store that sells them near you, check out the store finder on the site. Most Hallmarks will have them. Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do.
www.webkinz.com

I Pledge Allegiance

The last couple weeks we have been working on the Pledge of Allegiance. This morning I noticed that the boy followed along nearly word for word. After telling him good job, he starts again. Reciting it on his own as proud as can be. Here is his version.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of United States of America.
And to the Republic that which it stands
One nation
Under Arrest
and Under God
And indivisible
And justice for all

I love this kid.

What I Have a Blog???

Wow! I never intended to be so negligent of this blog. But it does appear that I have done so.

101 Things I could post about if I took the time. Life is still happening. Let's give little tastes here and there. And then I will try harder to post more consistently.

Wonder why you have been seeing less pictures these days?
My camera is pretty much DEAD. I can charge it all day and it turns on for 3 seconds not even long enough to take a picture. Shot battery...do I buy a new battery or a new camera. Still debating so still no camera. Thankfully my parents and sister-in-law have taken pictures of recent events so we are not completely without photo documentation of life.

Wonder what little girl has been up to?
Amazing growth! In a matter of a couple days she absolutely blossomed. My sister had passed along her daughters smaller bike, albeit without training wheels. Well, needless to say, little girl was not dettered by the lack of additional wheels. For a couple days she shooted about with her feet trying to find her center of balance. Then one day she asked my to help her for a second. 10 minutes later she was riding ALL BY HERSELF! Starting and stopping. She really can only do straight aways as she still wobbles but she is riding BY HERSELF and she is still three. Now that is amazing all in itself. But she did not stop there. That same day she climbing the fireman's pole in her brother's room. 6 feet straight up. Amazing. AND THEN, the next day we were at my mom's and she starts swinging and pumping ALL BY HERSELF. Awesome stuff. It is like her body turned on a switch and said, 'hey let's go to the next level here.'

Wonder how school has been going?
It is going pretty well. DS is doing first grade work. So far he seems to be grasping it. Not all that excited about how many times he is expected to write his name (at least 5 times a day.) He has been doing really well with all the new demands of first grade. At times it is hard sitting still for longer periods. We try and mix it up but book work requires table time and that requires sitting. I am SO thankful little girl is to the age of interest and ability to sit at the table. She loves school and wants to be there at the table. A huge blessing for me. Some of my friends have been struggling with younger siblings, balancing demands of little ones with the teaching of the older. So I am very thnkful that both are doing school, although little girl is not expected to participate as much as her brother she seems to bee eating up all that is being taught. She can count to 50 and I believe this is completely because she soaks up everything being taught to her bro.

Wonder what has sucked lately?
Anxiety. The boys
In late July we went to a large family gathering. Sometime during the day he went to the bathroom and could not figure out how to open the antique lock on the door. He was trapped inside crying until someone heard him and talked him through how to get out. Unfortunately he did not tell us of this experience until nearly a week later. We were somewhere and he started freaking out that he might not be able to get out. Which made no sense until he told us what happened at my uncles. A few weeks after that he went ballistic on his dad that he was going to get locked in an unfamiliar car. It came down to the fact that he was scared he would not be able to open the door. The anxiety has been showing up at church, when he moved up to a new room and different environment. He was crying so hard the leader returned him to my husband. When I talked to him later he was afraid that dad would not be able to find him in the new room. Needless to say we had a LONG talk about how we would never leave him and we would search endlessly until he was found. And that we know how to ask for help. Which brought us to our next issue. Enrichment day. Our home school coop has an enrichment program that meets every Friday. I signed out family up back in the spring for this fall semester. A new experience, in a new building, with new people. In light of the new anxiety I was not looking forward to it. He would tense up at the mere mention of enrichment day. So during our long talk we talked about what his concerns were for enrichment day. The unknown. Friday came and we went early to take a tour. I showed him every room he would use. Offered for him to check out the bathroom and explained his schedule. Then I bribed him. No computer for the entire weekend if there were any fits. The bribe worked. The tour and explaining worked. His leader stood up to take him to his first rotation and he gave me a kiss and said see you later. He had a great time. Gym, Art and Michigan History. He was full of excitement as he should me his project and shared facts he learned about Michigan. While this anxiety has had it's sucky moments I think we may be on our way to licking it.

Wonder where we send most of our computer time?
Hmmm. A girlfriend of mine sent us a package recently. In it three stuffed animals. A goose, a lion and a bunny. Not just any stuffed animals but Webkinz. We totally and completely love them. They deserve their own post. Maybe that is what I will write about tomorrow. I really will try and write tomorrow.

Loves to all!

30

30 is Fabulous!
Funny but it feels ALOT like 29.
My aunt told me "Age is mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter."
To me age doesn't matter. But it was a great reason to have a party and invite all my girlfriends over. YEAH! Because I love Mexican food we had a Fiesta. I love my girlfriends. Without fail I laugh so hard I cry when I am with them. I have some as my son would say "stinkin' halarious" friends. Thanks ladies for making my day.

A TRIBUTE TO DR. RAYMOND MOORE

The following tribute was posted in our homeschool support email. Original author not noted.

On July 13, 2007, Dr. Raymond Moore, known as the grandfather of the
homeschool movement in the United States, died at the age of 91. Today
many homeschoolers may not be familiar with who Dr. Moore was, but in the
early 80’s when many of us first learned about homeschooling it was Dr.
Moore that sparked our interest. Dr. Moore’s research in the early 70’s
and articles published in the 80’s showed that early institutional
schooling was not necessary for a successful education. Dr. Moore’s first
interviews on “Focus on Family” (in 1982) exposed millions of people to
the idea of homeschooling. Personally, those interviews were the ones that
started our journey into homeschooling. These conversations had great
influence on those who eventually became leaders in the homeschool
movement. Mike Smith, president of HSLDA, commented that “Moore was
responsible for exposing our family to homeschooling in 1982. He has a
deep love for children and remained passionate that parents should be
their child’s primary teacher.” (Washington Times Op-ed; Honoring Moore’s
Achievements, August 20, 2007)
Dr. Moore, and his wife Dorothy, faithfully served the homeschool
community for over 50 years, traveling across the country to many courts
and hearings to testify as an expert witness in homeschool cases. The
Moore’s testified in state legislatures when bills were introduced to
legalize homeschooling and spoke at many conferences encouraging families
to educate their children at home. Dr. Moore’s influence will be missed.
For more information on Dr. Moore and his contributions to homeschooling
visit: www.moorefoundation.com. Listen to the original broadcast on Focus
on the Family at http://listen.family.org/daily/A000000601.cfm.

First Day of School 2007

Summer is over! Above pic is of DS doing his famous arm farts at the pool this weekend.
I absolutely LOVE the expression on his face.

Today we started back to school. Since my Literature Arts is being shipped today it will be another week before we go full time. Today we did Math and Handwriting (He wanted to when he was looking through it.) And looked at other materials we will be using this year. I wanted to ease into it so doing Math only this week will get us back in the flow without demanding too much of any of us.

The following are our traditional first day of school shots in front of the house.



My camera is dead so my mom came over to take them.

Here's to a great and blessed year!

Have You Ever...

Have you ever had a moment that as soon as it happens you know something life changing just happened?
Last night I went to the "We Are Chorale" concert reunion. My aunt had traveled home from Maryland to attend her High School Chorale Reunion. 9 years of chorale students reunited for 5 days to practice and reminisce. The end result a beautiful concert giving a taste from the past.
I have to say "Man, we missed out!" These people were raised in an age where prayer was still in school. Their songs were predominantly Judo-Christian. The majority of songs played last night would not even be considered these days. Oh, sure we may still have musicals and "Trouble" or "Soliloquy" could still be sung. Maybe.
Looking through the many faces, most now wearing glasses, I saw contributing members of society. This tight knit group of people had someone who believed in them and inspired them to be all that they could be. Some became professional musicians, another a chief of police, teachers and choir directors. It was apparent to me that this man leading them was a part of their success in life. I realized as well that this man, Oak, was a part of my musical heritage. He instilled a love of music in my aunts who often sang with me on car rides. While my mom was not directly under him in choir he impacted her too. Then there is my choir director from my church choir that I was in during high school. And a dear man who mentors at Visions leading others into the Lord's presence through worship. Each has played a part in my love for music and they each were under the direction and care of this man. It spoke to me about how we impact those around us effects far more than we can see.
The concert was beautiful. Truly talented people. A glimpse of what school was like in the 60's and early 70's. Before email and internet, a connection, community. A deep sense of faith in one another and in God. At the close of the concert I saw the vision's mentor and went up to talk to him. I asked if he was a part of this and the smile in his eyes spoke it all. When we made the connection of who he was and who I was it came down to he was one of my aunt's best friends in high school. We had no idea. At the realization of how huge God is he began to cry. This night spoke of his redemption. Healing the past, where poor choices put an end to some of his most important relationships. It was a taste of just how far he has come and the moment was beautiful. We prayed, we talked. I asked him when prayer left the schools and he shared with me. 1969. We talked about the effects as they were evident.
I guess I left there feeling a few different things. First of all, God is huge. He orchestrated this moment and it was beautiful to see the joy, the healing, the laughter of remembrance. It was a night I am sure none will ever forget. Secondly, that we all are important and we all effect one another more than we realize. I want to be an influence in my world that leads others to a sense of accomplishment, joy and a knowledge of my Savior. The ordinary does accomplish the extraordinary. Third, PRAYER MATTERS! In my home school I still have the right to incorporate prayer into our day. And pray we shall. And lastly that I want to keep singing as there is something miraculous in song.

Thank You Lord!

Friday afternoon I got a call from my sister-in-law. "A tornado is heading toward Lansing." I turned on the TV and all the local channels had storm alerts. I saw the path of the storm and knew I was not wanting to stay in the house through the storm. It took less than a minute to have shoes on the kids and everyone loaded into our car. It was still calm, even partly sunny. I spoke a quick prayer, "Lord, protect our home." and headed for my parents a mile away. There we watched the weather rolling in and the weatherman project the storms path. On of the focal points was the school at the end of street. Our house was the projected path. While a tornado did touch down 10 miles away, they lost sight of the funnel. At the projected time the rain begin to pour. Technology these days! We kept watch out the window ready to break for the basement at any moment. 5-10 minutes later the storm was passed. It calmed. I waited a few more minutes and then headed for home to see if the tree next door had fallen. The winds had been high as was the rain strong. I rounded the corner of my street and it appeared the tree was still standing. Praise God! Yes indeed it is still standing. In the one mile stretch back home I only saw one tree branch down. Amazing. The streets were flooded but all was well. At least for my neighborhood.
Reports came in. Destruction. Houses with roofs gone. Barns collapsed. Power outages. Trees down. A mobile home overturned. Later my husband called, he had to drive through one of the destructed areas. In the evening we drove by to see. A half mile from our home, it looked like the tornado had hit. Trees completely uprooted. Car windows busted out. It was crazy. AND a half mile from my home. It was heading directly for us veered to the south AROUND MY HOME and then veered back north continuing on its path. THE LORD PROTECTED MY HOME!
If the tree standed through that storm I am fairly confident it will stand until Thursday when the tree company takes it down.
Thank you to all who prayed and THANK YOU LORD!

I Tell Ya What

This week has been stressful!
Family camp was nice spending time with fam and playing games. Although the weather was terrible. Crazy rain storms and the like.
Then the tree looming next door. Which is still standing by the way. Thanks for praying. We have been sleeping here, not my desire. Hubby wants to stay put so for now we are. The neighbor has tree removal scheduled for next week Thursday. Still praying it comes down safely with no damage to our home or property.
While considering home stuff we realized our insurance policy had been lapsed. Not intentionally by any means. When policies were transfered a while back the home was completely overlooked. DO NOT ASK ME HOW. All is well now and policy is current. Thank God we discovered this BEFORE we needed it.
Last night I was doing my two week lesson planning as I wanted to start school next week, at least the Literature portion of it. About 45 minutes into my planning I realized that the teachers edition is different from my student work text edition. As in WAY different. Unknowingly I had an edition 1 for teachers and edition 2 for text. So not going to work! I was amazed at how different they were. Stories were not even the same. Looking into it this morning I found that edition 1 was published in 1980. The likelihood of finding new student texts that match my teacher plans are slim. I found one on Ebay but it does not close until Sunday night and other people have already bid on it showing interest. I can not risk waiting until Sunday. I need these materials NOW. As in pronto. I asked my son if he prayed that school would not start next week and he confessed he did. So apparently God is listening to my son's prayers. Edition one has 165 lessons for reading, it looks like edition 3 (which we will probably end up with) has even more. I tell ya.
Oh Yeah ...AND I have been sneezing like crazy from allergies. This has not been a good week for me.

Please Pray For My House

Hello All...
Please be in prayer for the safety of our home. This morning the neighbors tree was struck by lightning and remains standing. However the integrity of this huge tree is uncertain. Our house is directly in the line of fire as is our neighbors depending on how it comes down. The neighbor is not sure when it will be taken down. I have chosen to evacuate until further notice. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE staying in the house as our bedroom is directly under it. I will try and update but please PRAY!!!
Thanks!

Highlights of Ludington

I LOVE CAMPING!!!
So much so that nearly the whole month of August is devoted to it. Well, not the whole month but certainly most of it.
For 12 days the kids and I went to Ludington State Park with my parents and dear friend. I love it there. There is SOO MUCH to do. All within the confines of the park you can go out on the boat to Hamlin Lake, canoe, lazy river tube down the Au Sable River, hike, bike, geocache, climb sand dunes, play on the beaches of either Lake Michigan or Hamlin(Lake Michigan has waves/Hamlin is calm), climb a lighthouse, there is large variety of activities throughout the day led by park naturalist and voluteers. There is always something to do. That does not even touch the time back at camp lounging around reading or sitting around the camp fire.
So obviously this place is one of our favorites. It is also loved by many others which makes it esp. hard to get into during the summer months. Exactly six months in advance, usually in the first 5 minutes of the reservation center opening THE PLACE IS BOOKED. Thankfully we got in this summer. The kids have been here many times but during fall color change when the salmon are running. The last time we had made it up for the summer months was when DS was 4 months old. Since we made it during the summer this year the place was overflowing with kids. And God smiled on my dear ones as we were surrounded by them. We had 4 first grade boys with their younger sisters. Perfect playmates for my kiddos. The parents took turns supervising as they made their way around from site to site as a little pack. Those first few days it was hard to keep track of the boy as he wanted to be with his friends. I never had to look far, he was at one of the surrounding sites with one of his new pals. Since our site backed up to a sand dune and wooded area it made for a great place area for the kids. Giving me time to sit back and read while still being able to see what they were up to. I actually got through a trilogy on this trip. Woohoo!
The kids and I like to canoe so we brought ours along. On our first night there, the naturalist led a canoe tour through parts of Hamlin and Lost Lake. It was nice and informative. Ludington has an elaborate canoe trail for those wishing to explore the wetlands. While we did not do this with the naturalist we decided we would give it a try later in the week. On one calm morning we packed a picnic lunch and headed across Hamlin to a shelter to do a geocache that was nearby. We made our find, ate our picnic and chatted with some hikers who had hiked out to the shelter. Nice trip! Near the end of our stay we had another calm morning so the kids and I (including my niece who joined us) packed another picnic and headed out to explore the canoe trails. However, it is a ways out to the entrance and what started out calm, turned to wind and waves. Not too ferocious so we pressed on. We made it to the entrance of the canoe trail. My mom and Bob decided to fish near the end to watch for us to come out. We paddle along through overgrown lilypads and weed thick paths. Then we hit our first stump. The kids grow concerned and think we should go back. I maneuver around it and we press on. When we made it to our first portage we had our picnic lunch and picked blueberries. Pond to second portage was very nice. Pond to third portage was a bit stumpy but easy to get around. The pond to our last and final portage was more than the kids could bear. Following the arrows we found ourselves stuck. It was very mud and rather shallow. This alone had the kids concerned. When we came upon the two down limbs they lost it. "Were gonna die" "How will we get out of here?" "I don't like this." "I want my mom." "Let's go back." amidst tears. When I could not get over the limbs we turned back around to take an alternative path. I could now see Hamlin Lake ahead and knew we were nearly there. Yet my niece would not be calmed. She cried for the next 20 minutes as we worked our way through the VERY THICK lily pads. Finally we arrived to the last portage and the end of the trail. Or so we thought. It turns out there was an additional route and the END END was around the bend. Meaning my mom was out of sight. The kids played in the water and calmed down but it was obvious they wanted nothing more to do with the canoe. I decided to go around the bend to alert Mom and Bob that we there at the first exit. The depth of the water and the waves that were coming in made taking the kids not a great option. I opted for leaving them in a cove with the understanding that they stay put and look out for each other. I made may way to the point and could see their boat, I yelled back to the kids that I saw them and then made my way closer to them to get their attention. Finally they heard me and came to pick me up. Then we made our way to the kids. Who were crying again. Even though I had been gone a total of 15 minutes and less than 5 of it out of their sight. I loaded them into Bob's boat, rescued and we tied the canoe to trail behind. All the kids have absolutely NO desire to ever canoe the trail again.
The visitor center has well done displays explaining the local history and wild life. My favorite was the monarch display. When we first arrived they had over 20 caterpillars and many chrysalis. On our second trip DS was showing grandpa the display when he noticed that one of the caterpillars was morphing. For the next minute we watched in awe as it transformed from a caterpillar into its chrysalis. It was not like anything I expected. Here is what happened, somewhat sci-fi like. The head of the caterpillar split open to expose a green goo like substance. It then continued to shed it's skin as it did a swirling dance motion. Wiggling and squirming it made it's way completely out of it's skin until it was this green glob hanging. For the next hour it dried with a yellow band slowly making the gold drops that I love. It was so AMAZING! We made frequent trips back to the visitor center and watched as more chrysalis appeared. We had hoped to catch a butterfly emerging but never did time it right.
While away we attended another geocaching event. This one was a meet, eat and greet in a park in Grand Rapids. Making it a nice place to meet my sister to get my niece and nephew. We did some caches in the park, met some new cachers, saw some we have seen before, ate some good food and overall had a good time. Add this to the geocaches we found in the Ludington area and we are now up to 167 finds. I think we will have no problem making it to our goal of 200 finds for 2007. It will probably end up being more like 250+.
Now home with the laundry done, I think it's time we headed out to go camping again.
I will attempt to post pictures at the end of the month when we slow down enough to get it done.
Have a great week and get outdoors!

Shankies Batman

The last week was a whirlwind as I found myself the lead teacher in the Third Grade Boys class at VBS. These kids were awesome. Really and truly a great bunch of kids. I know many people shudder at the thought of 20+ boys together in one room. These kids proved that boys can be boys, have fun and be respectful too. I am so proud of them.
It may have helped that the theme for VBS this year was sports; Game Day Central. It was fun relating to the boys in this way. Being team players, joining God's team, doing their best in EVERYTHING. The boys loved it and I think they made the connections.

This week we celebrated our 150th find for geocaching! We also went on a caching streak going to at least one find for 14 consecutive days. Recent highlights... We found a live salamander IN a cache. We have launched a few geocoins and a couple travel bugs. We have taken more family and friends on their first finds. Seen great parks that we did not know existed, places we will definitely visit again.

Last week the UPS man delivered two boxs of school books! Add that to my INCREDIBLE finds from the used curriculum sale and I think we have what we need for a successful year. Of course, there are still things I would enjoy adding to our supplies but I know I have everything I NEED. I am looking forward to this year of teaching. I think it will be a little less flexible as I have more subject, meaning more table time. It is going to take the first couple of weeks to figure out the time demands and a doable schedule but I think once it is worked out we will need to stick with it rather strictly to make it to the end of the year in time. For those interested our main materials for first grade are:
BJU Press- Reading, Phonics, Spelling and Handwriting
Saxon Math 1
Abeka Science, Our America and Bible
Christian Liberty Press- History for Little Pilgrims and Science Readers
IF- Map Skills 1
Geography will include wherever our travel bugs travel. We sent them out with missions of traveling to all 50 states and asking those who find them to answer 5 simple questions to help us in our learning. I am looking forward to following them as they have already visited 3 states a had some replies to our questions.
Enrichment Day will be every Friday with similar aged children and will include Music, Art and Gym

While it will be MUCH heavier on the books and work texts this year we will sure to stay heavy on the fun as well. Many trips to the YMCA, geocaching, camping, theater(our homeschool group has great discounts to incredible shows,) and other field trips galore. After all learning IS fun and we want to make learning as fun as possible for our kids.

Blogging has been sporadic at best and may continue to be so through the remainder of the summer. Hope all of you are enjoying your days outdoors and with your families.
God bless!

Did You Know...

that if you put baby or mineral oil over a band-aid a few minutes prior to removing it will make it pain-free?

It really works I just tried it. No more ouchy removal.

Laughing/Crying

This video is 32 seconds and WORTH watching. I laughed so hard I cried....everytime. Many times. SOOOO FUNNY!

Object of My Attention

I think the condition of my home is directly correlated to my mindset in any given season. If I am operating in a "I Can" mentality, my house is looking pretty good. If I am in a season of defeat, my house begins a downward spiral of messiness. Right now when I look around my house I feel defeat. Not wanting to deal with it, I would much rather grab the backpack and hit the road to go geocaching. This summer we have spent so much time outside. It has been easy to live in the house enough to mess it up but not stick around to clean it up. Simply because life demands, I have kept up on the dishes and laundry. If we did not need clean dishes or clothes, I am quite certain these things would be left undone as well.
Today after breakfast I sat looking at my counter. Overwhelming. Stacked with bottles, trash, messy appliances, dishes and counters caked with crumbs and spills. I knew something had to be done. Part of me wanted to run away. Part of me wanted to do something about it.
Since Wal-Mart this week has their awesome school supplies sale, I picked up our year's worth of crayons, markers, folders, glue...and other misc schooling supplies. This morning I gave the kids their own art supply box complete with the essentials. With the kids occupied, I set my mind to cleaning the counter. Once everything was cleared, I sprayed it down and scrubbed away. Tough stains were visited my Bar Keeper's Friend...love this stuff! With the counter looking spiffy I tackled the cabinets, then the appliances. It looks really good and I feel good about accomplishing something.
So I think my mindset for the next couple weeks will be this: Object of My Attention. I will pick an object or small area that needs my attention. I will clean the object/area will excellence. Organize where it is needed. I noticed that once I started today I wanted to keep going and make everything around it look good too. Hopefully this will help me to get things done. Making the house look better. Without feeling overwhelmed. And still able to enjoy our summer.

Great Grandparents

My kids have never known them. My grandparents all pasted away before the kids were born. My paternal grandmother, an hour before she passed, spoke to my sister and I, saying "I will never meet your little ones this side of heaven." We were both pregnant at the time. On my husbands side, his grandparents are all gone now as well. DS, met the last remaining grandfather when he was a month old. Just before he passed on.
A couple weeks ago now, when we were gone for a week, we went up north. My girlfriend invited us up to spend the week at her grandparents cottage. They own acres on a beautiful lake. Their main home is directly next to the cottage. For my kids it was their first real experience with an older generation within the family. Over the week four generations were present in their home. And I realized what we had been missing. What I was missing.
They were incredibly sweet and adopted us in. We shared meals together. They shared their home and their history. Grandpa took us on boat rides and tubing. We explored their land and had a fabulous time.
On the fourth of July, grandpa asked us if we would like to ride in the parade in his 1928 Model A. Of course, we did and had a fabulous time. The parade route was about 5 miles from their home. The kids were in back in the trundle seat. Their hair flying in the wind. Grandpa showed me all the unique features of the Model A. I watched at he finessed it just so to make her run. Amazing. In the parade we put the top down, smiled, waved and threw suckers to the kids in the crowd. Good times.
I wonder what kind of stories my grandparents would have to tell if they were still around. I am sure I could sit around for days listening to all they had to say. Maybe the other side of heaven I will be able to do just that.

Blog Addiction?

71%
Apparently according to this online test I am 71% ADDICTED TO BLOGGING.

So much to blog on, hopefully I will get to it soon.

Public Service Warning

I will not have computer access for nearly a week. If you hear nothing from me please do not be concerned. I will return to blogging at my earliest convenience. Have a great week!

Tooth of a Tale

Yesterday I noticed the boy's tooth was getting looser as it had descended and was wiggling much more than before. I figured within the week he would lose it. Hubby and I had a meeting to attend last night. When we returned I noticed the tooth sitting next the the bathroom sink. Interesting...he lost it sooner than I expected but not a real surprise. Hubby and I decide to give him $5 on his pillow. We don't "do" tooth fairy but we do give him cash. Usually we have been present for the occasion and hand it over shortly after. Anyway, I climb up the ladder to his loft and place the $5 on his pillow. This morning I wake him to take his dad to work and tell him to look on his pillow. He finds the cash and asks what it's for. I point to my teeth and he smiles. Lays back down and examines the bill with a cute grin on his face. Then dad calls out to look again. What??? Nothing on top of the pillow, he looks under, another $5. Apparently hubby thinks loosing teeth is a big deal. But ten dollars. Then the kid mentions that his aunt stopped by to pay him for house sitting, another $10. He then runs off to get his save envelope in which he had $12. His grin went to a full blown smile when he realized that he had $32. He put it all back in his envelope. I have no idea what he wants to spend it on or if he will continue to save it.
Later I got the story of how it came out. He was chewing on a yoyo string and when he pulled it out it got caught on his tooth and pulled it out in the process. Inadvertently he tried something similar to his grandpa. Whom tied a string to the tooth and a door. Anyway, tooth is out, the kid is rich.

Tinman Tri

The triathlon on Saturday was a success. When I mentioned it was a fitness tri, it was totally a fitness tri. While not as organized as my first, it was totally a blast. Since it was in a pool the field went in heats. 5 heats for the women and 5 for men. Making approximately 100-120 athletes. I was in heat 2. The swim was strong and I was thankful it was in a pool rather than murky water. The bike was 4 times around the same course. Since there was two hills on the course it made for 8 hills on the bike. The run was a mile course that we had to run twice. With one wicked hill it meant we had to do it twice. Considering the hills which I had not expected I was happy with my time of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Within my target range. Yippee! One great part of being in an early heat was that I was able to cheer all of my friends in, which was so much fun. The group of people I have had the privilege of training with are incredible. It was so awesome to see them accomplishing their goals. Everyone finished. And as more came in the cheering got louder and louder. Great stuff.

I am currently not signed up for anymore triathlons this year but I am planning on biking the Women on Wheels event in July. If anyone is interested in joining me... 18 miles with 2 breaks along the way. YES, THIS MEANS YOU CAN DO IT!!! My son and I did it two years ago when I was TERRIBLY out of shape. So if your interested let me know.

Tri #2

This morning I will be racing in the Jackson Tinman Triathlon. It appears that it is more fitness than competitive. The swim is in a pool for 200 meters. Biking for 8 miles and running for 2 miles. All distances are less than my previous race so I am hoping to drop my time to under 1:05. Ecstatic if under an hour.
If you think of me, pray for strength and focus. Thanks.

This Baby is MINE

I won bid on it today...hope to see it in the mail SOON!

Summer Session

Summer in our home is in FULL EFFECT. We are having a blast geocaching, canoing, swinging off ropes and picnics galore. We are spending more time outdoors than indoors which is exactly how I like it.
While we are living it up summer style I do not want to the kids to lose skills during the break. My solution is "Skill of the day!" Each morning after breakfast I have a simple task for the kids to complete. It could take 2 minutes or 10 depending on their focus.

Tasks thus far have included:
Read a sentence I laid out using sight word cards. Write the sentence in notebook and draw a picture to show comprehension.
Spelling words and writing date
Math worksheet
Handwriting practice sheet
Read early reader

For little girl:
Counting to 30
Patterns
Basic letter trace
Singing phonic songs
Ordering numbers 1-9
Days of the week
Matching shapes

What I like about it...
It allows them to sharpen skills without huge time restraints.
I can tailor it each day so over a weeks time we can touch a variety of subjects.
I can see what skills need work and where they are excelling.
The kids don't complain because it is not burdensome to do one of anything.
Sometimes they ask for more stuff to do (usually little girl.)
Shows learning is important and you should never stop learning.
Easy way to introduce new concepts.
Being in the morning they know that the day ahead is theirs once completed.
It is super easy to come up with one thing.
It can be done on vacation or during sleepovers.

While we focus on a skill in the morning, I know that learning is taking place all day as we explore our world and play. Hope you are enjoying your summer! We most definitely are.

Creek Pictures 1

The following are pictures taken from our day at the creek. My dad has an incredibly awesome camera. To view in ful detail click on the picture.

Creek Pictures 2

Pictures at the Creek

For the rest of the story see here.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures of our day. If you live in the area and want to know where this place is...call me. Information too classified to give out over the net..heehee.

Touch a Truck Day

I took my son to this a couple of years ago and we had a blast. Well worth a trip out.

The Lansing Police Department, North Precinct, in collaboration with the
Police Athletic League and the HOPE Scholars program, are sponsoring a
free Touch-a-Truck Day at the North Precinct, 740 May Street, on Saturday,
June 16, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be trucks from many
different disciplines, including Semi-Trailer Trucks, Fire Engines, Police
Vehicles, a CATA bus, an ambulance, a bucket truck, some Army vehicles and
trash vehicles, as well as a cement truck and a wrecker. There will be
hot dogs and chips, face painting, balloons, music, and other activities
that may draw a group of children from elementary through high school.
This will be a family affair for anyone in the mid-Michigan area. Many
young people don?t see themselves as candidates for professions such as
teaching, computer programming, or other typical office jobs. This would
give them a glimpse of other rewarding, high paying and challenging types
of employment.

Too Good To Be True?

With summer in full effect we were ready to get to the creek. The plans had been in the making for almost a week. We arrived to an empty park, found a picnic table and threw down the blanket. Next to arrive my sister and her kids. Then my parents with two of my nieces and nephews.
It took a matter of seconds for the kids to make their way into the water. The creek is a diamond in the rough. A gem of a place that few know about. It has a rope swing, a bridge, a small playground and lots of wildlife.
Little girl at first stayed in the shallow playing with a bucket and water wheel. While the older kids went time and again off the rope swing. They played on the old merry-go-round. They went hunting for frogs.
I decided I wanted to check out the creek for a good spot to hide a cache so I went further down away from the action. That is when I spotted it. A huge fish. For the size of the creek it was gigantic. I went back to home base and picked up the net and 5 gallon bucket. I was determined I was going to catch it. My dad doubted my prowess. But looking for adventure I set off with one of the nephews as back-up. We spotted him right away and I eased into the water. Taking one look at my net I knew it was too small for him so I sent my boy back to get another bucket. While he was gone I brought the net up to his tail and he moved a little up stream. I repositioned the net, waited for the boy and waited and waited. So I decided I would see what I could do with the net. I swooped in and made my catch. He went to thrashing. I went to steadying the net. Since I was a small butterfly net it came off the rod. Freed from my control he settled right back on the bottom, still completely in the net and unable to escape. My son finally arrived with the extra bucket which was WAY TOO small for the fish so we took the frog out of the 5 gallon bucket and brought that into the water to scoop him out. He was so big he did not even fit in the 5 gallon bucket. I worked him around a bit until he was in. Then we began our victory march back to show the others. Only it was really heavy so I had my nephew carry it. He carried it for a bit then a guy that was at the park with his family brought it in the rest of the way. He declared it a carp. Not good eating but good bragging. I figure he was about 2 feet long. After everyone got a look at him he released him back into the creek and he swam away. Not too far at first so my dad got a couple pictures of him in the water. So I caught me a big one!
It was around this time that some of the bigger kids let little girl have a try on the rope swing. She's pretty gutsy. She went right out and then my 6 year old niece would pick her up off the rope and take her to shallower water. After many times of this we realized that she could touch so we encouraged her to put her feet down herself. At first she was not so sure of this idea and it took some coaxing. She had it pretty good with the whole carry me like a princess thing. Finally she realized she could touch and she felt so big. She went again and again and again and again. Until we made her stop to warm up.
We spent six hours at the creek yesterday. It was picture perfect. Almost too good to be true. No toilet paper in the porta-potty, back to reality.

End of the Year Celebration

Yesterday marked the end of our first and successful school year. To mark the day I gave each of the kids a blank cassette tape and recorded them doing a variety of things. Such as displaying their knowledge. For little girl that would be ABC's, counting to 29, spelling her name, singing songs and reciting the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear. For the boy it included ABC's, counting to 107, counting by 10's and 5's, to 10 in Spanish, spelling words and reading a couple of books. They also shared some of their favorite things. They both enjoyed hamming it up and listening to their voices at the end.
In the evening we attended the end of the year celebration with our homeschool support system. Michigan Bomb Squad was there with their robot used to retrieve bombs, scope areas and bring notes in hostage negotiations. The boy got to man the control's and pick up my toxic shoe. We also got to meet Rob Dale our local Meteorologist. My son has been a big fan of his for a couple years now. He is the first "celebrity" name he ever recognized. When his weather reports come on the radio, we have to stop any and all discussion to hear his report. So of course the kids enjoyed meeting him and getting to check out his storm tracker van. The kids also enjoyed meeting the K-9 unit for our local police department. The kids got to pet him and ask questions about the dogs job. Pretty cool stuff.
Then it was time to eat and I am not sure how many people were there but by the looks of the potluck table and the one dish to pass per family, I would say 70 families were present. Multiply all the children and there were a lot of people there. Lots of people, lots of food.
After the meal the firetruck arrived. The firefighters sprayed the kids and they had a blast getting drenched. Mine also decided to play in the sand and dive into mud puddles.
Directly following they assembled everyone to call the kids forward. IT was a small way of recognizing their completion of their current grade. Being the bad mom I am I did not have my camera. So you will to use your imagination and picture about 10 kindergarteners in swim suits. Mine caked in sand, all in a line smiling as they receive their pencil reward.
The kids enjoyed the evening. So did I. I had a chance to talk to some other homeschool families and reconnect with an old friend.
I am now ready to embrace summer. All the picnics, play dates, camping and geocaching I can muster.

Congrats to me and the boy on a school year well done.

Ya Gotta Press On

About 100 yards into my swim I thought to myself, "You have only just begun." I ran as far as I could into the water and begin to set my pace. I could not find a good breathing pattern. People in front, behind and beside me. Breathing funktified from the run in. I struggled to find my rhythm. Out in open water I had a few choices before me. Turn around. Head for the paddle boat. Tread water. Back stroke. Or press on. I decided to press on. I fought to move forward. I rolled over and back stroked for a bit and realized I was making more progress this way so continued that way to the second buoy. After passing it, I rolled back over and pressed on.
Out of the water I ran up the hill to the transition area. Clicking on the helmet and putting on my shoes I was ready to go on. It took the first mile to catch my breathe and I eased into a nice bike ride. Having forgotten my bike computer at home I just kept pushing myself to keep at it. Just before the end of the course there was a hill that had me pumping and again out of breathe.
Coming in on the bike I took off my helmet, slipped on my running cap and was off. It took the first mile to catch my breathe and then it was a really good run. The last felt better than the first. As we headed into the woods I thought it was a quick jog in the woods. It kept going and going, turns out it was MUCH more in the woods than I originally thought. I pressed on.
As I rounded the bend of that final mile I took off in a sprint. I knew I had made it, I knew I had finished what I set out to accomplish and it was all because I had pressed on.
In my life right now there are things that have me questioning if I will ever make it. Well I ever conquer this house? Some days I feel so defeated I just want to turn around and forget it. Other days I feel like I am just hanging on to the life boat. Some days there is progress and other days I may just be treading water. I need to press on. Someday, hopefully soon, I will accomplish that which I have set out to do but only if I press on.

Yes Sensei

Do you recall Ralph Machio in the movie Karate Kid? Wax on, wax off. Patience Daniel son. Recall the scene where he catches a fly? I was totally reminded of this movie this morning when my son decided to go on a fly swatting rampage.
I do not know where they came from. But over night my house seemed to be home to some giant flies. I set out to find the flyswatter and came up with nothing. That is when my son tells me not to worry he will take care of them. Now I have tried to kill flies bare handed before and I know how fast they can be. I think I looked a little silly, ok very ridiculous, going after a few last night. Not my son, he walked up to the window and bam! Kills it. Then another and another. I was amazed. Before we could do school this morning he had to rid the house of any and all flies that he saw. I think he had like 25 or so before he finally came to the table. Most of them on his first swat, all of them bare handed.
Daniel Son! You kill flies!
Yes sensei...

TRIUMPHANT TRI

I successfully completed my first triathlon! Woohoo...dance dance!
My time was 1 hour 29 minutes 14 seconds.
5 minutes and 46 seconds faster than my goal. I was ecstatic to say the least.

Returned from the East

Last night the kids and I safely returned from our trip out East.

We had a great trip! My aunt married and moved 18 years ago. On occasion we get a chance to go out and visit. This trip my other aunt came along with us. Which made for nice traveling and shared cost for the (outrageous) gas.


Since the travel bugs we brought with us on our trip had goals, we used their goals as a platform of our travel entertainment. I'm a Bill wanted to see the capital, so we took him to DC. Unfortunately we failed to realize that the Rolling Thunder Memorial Bike run would close down over half of DC. Thankfully we found a nice spot along the Platomic River to have a picnic. Then we realized the motorcycles were going over the bridge nearby as the starting point of the ride. So we went up to check it out. I did not expect the flood of emotions that came over me as I watched them go thundering passed. Yound marines in uniform lined the edge of the street. Bikes were decked out with US and POW flags. It was a great way to spend the eve of Memorial Day. It was not that far to walk to Lincoln Memorial, from there we got the shots of the capital that the travel bugs desired.



At one point my boy was standing on the wall with the flag up in the air and someone said it really touched them and asked if they could take his picture.

The next day we took a country drive and (intentionally) found some caches along the way. We saw some beautiful bridges, one of them covered. It was such a great way to spend the day. Beautiful scenery and 12 caches.

On day three of our east adventures we took in some small town shops. The small historic town was cute but I was not impressed with the shops. It seemed that the town was taking a turn for the new age. We did find one nice toy shop with a friendly owner. For lunch we went to a huge mall.

On day four, we returned to DC. Since we could not get access to the Zoo previously, we decided to try again on Wednesday. After all Miss Monkey wanted to visit zoos as did Midnight traveler, whom we picked up on our country cache day. The Nation Zoo in DC is free admission. Bonus. There are many cost that do add up but with planning you can avoid most if not all of them. Since this was our one big event and expense we decided to play the part of tourist. Spending $11 to rent the double stroller (we worth every penny spent for it.) $17 for lunch which included 2 cheetah lunch boxes. $16 for parking, we split this cost. While it cost me about $35 (again you can plan and reduce this cost) we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the zoo. Little girl could have sat all day watching the different animals. A zookeeper observed her and said "Looks like you have a future biologist." She was so patient to just watch and observe their behavior. I could have spent all day watching the meerkats. There were 2 week old pups that had just emerged from the den. And the Beta female had a fight with the new mother. Drama, I have never watched Meerkat Manor but I think I might like it. Both days we were in DC it was HOT! The kids enjoyed cooling off in this mister at the zoo.



One thing not so pleasant about our trip was the encounter with ticks. After one cache I came out of the woods with my pants covered with them. We brushed them off and went on our way. A couple days later we encountered again. This time a small deer tick was trying to take residency in my flesh. We got it out and cleaned the area with alcohol. Then I checked the kids only to find little girl had one of the larger variety. Normally she freaks out with bugs. This time she has one working its way into her skin and she stayed calm as we removed it. No sign of lime disease, thankfully. I am glad I live in Michigan where these insects are much less of a threat.

Since the triathlon is only days away, I trained while away. One thing about the area I was at, HILLS! As in monstrous hills. I ran or biked everyday. It was a really good workout going up and down those beasts.

Driving home we hit caches along the way. Four states in all. 9 caches. One led us to a nice family restaurant with a duck pond. Others were quick grabs at rest stops. Another was a virtual cache counting the number of a certain landmark. Midas well cache on.

Great trip!

Have TB's, Will Travel

Let me introduce you...

This is Miss Monkey. She is a adventurous little monkey that desires to travel the world and visit zoos. While she has been staying with us she went to Potter Park and is currently on her way to the National Zoo in DC.


This is I'm A Bill or Bill for short. Bill desires to visit as many State capitals as possible including the capital in DC. He visited the capital here in Michigan and is on his way to DC with Miss Monkey.


This American Hero:Firefighter. We have nicknamed him Hero Bear for short. His goal is too see America in all it's glory. While here in the Lansing area my friend's daughter took him to their local fire station. And we did the same. The firefighters welcomed him in and let the kids take pictures on one of the rigs. Hero Bear will be traveling East, destination to be determined.


These are a few of our travel bugs that we have picked up the last 2 weeks while geocaching. It has been fun having them around but now it is time to send them on their way. Each with a goal. A destination. The kids and I will be heading East to visit my Aunt, while hubby holds down the fort. While we are there we will help some of these guys meet some of their goals or try to move them one step closer to it. Who knows what kind of travel bugs we may meet on our trip and how we can help them on their journey's.

Living life vicariously through inanimate objects. Have travel bugs, will travel!

The Son-In-Laws

My parents have three daughter (and a son.) All three of us girls married. Enter the three son-in-laws. They have an unwritten code. Only one can attend any given family event. Well, it was never really established this way or thought out but it has now become the family joke. If my husband is there, the other two are inevitably not. If my sister's husband is there, the other two are not. No one ever plans it this way but between work schedules and traveling it never quite works out for them to be at the same family event. One would think they plan it out and take a rotation of who's turn it is to show up.

Last night we had a great cook out at my parents house. It was my husband's turn to show up.

Maybe this year at family camp they will all be in the same place at the same time. If it happens I will be sure to get a picture.

Cool Video

This time lapse video is of corn seeds growing over a 10 day period.



I have subscribed to a cool blog that lists fun and educational videos for easy access to homeschoolers. Check them out at http://www.wholesomechildhood.com/homeschoolvideos

What Does It Look Like Again?

With the entrance of nice weather comes being outdoors. For my family it means hiking and most recently geocaching. Which has taken us into the woods for a few caches, ok many caches. Pretty much every summer it is inevitable, contact with poison ivy. I am one of those people who get it. Now you would think by now I would know what it looks like and avoid it. You would think. Not the case. Let's have a reminder now of what it DOES look like.
Visiting the poison ivy site, I am reminded. LEAVES OF THREE, LET THEM BE!

Needless to say the kids and I have all gotten it. Thankfully this year's recovery has been MUCH better than year's past. Thanks to Aveeno! Their colloidal oatmeal bath along with their anti-itch cream has done wonders. And it is kid friendly. The kids rash did not even spread. Mine did because I initially thought I had bug bites which I itched and spread the poison ivy to other parts of my body. DOH! It is almost gone now and Aveeno has really worked well.
http://www.aveeno.com/products.jsp
Scroll down to anti-itch to learn more about the products.

Remember LEAVES OF THREE, LET THEM BE!
Science lesson over.

The Weekend

Friday night I got a call from my good friend's mother. My friends husband had been hit by a SUV going 60mph while her husband was going around 20mph on his bicycle. Praise God he is alive and well. Banged up and bruised but in good spirits. He had surgery on his shoulder on Saturday. He is currently home and resting. Thank You Lord for your protective hand!

While up to the hospital visiting above friend, I got to meet my new nephew, Luke. See cute picture of him on previous post. He's adorable. Mom and baby are well. They have quite a birth story but I will let Mindy tell it on her blog in due time.

On Saturday we went to Fitness Fair at church and had a good time. I rappelled off the roof. The first few moments going over the edge were awkward but I made it safely back to the ground. No crazy jumping away from the wall for me. Nice gentle descent. I got a great massage ate some good food. The kids had fun on the inflatables. I raced both my boy and my friend in the bungee bean bag. Good times. Hubby spent the afternoon giving rides on his motorcycle. He got a kick out of the kids, one girl in particular who kept wanting to go faster. How fast can you really go in a church parking lot? If you did not attend this year, I highly recommend you go next year.

After the fitness fair we hit some caches. One that was a travel bug motel. Someone got there before us and took the TB I really wanted, but I still managed to get two that I will send out to meet their goals. We also found some small caches that are called micros. They were in matchstick containers. They were a bit tricky and took some time to find them but we found them. We are currently at 38 finds in the world of geocaching.

Sunday we went to church, where the message was on unity in the family. This has been a recent prayer focus for me. Unity in the church, unity in marriage and unity in families. Good stuff.

In the evening I headed over for a tri training time with fellow triathletes. I had predetermined I wanted to do a half tri consistently moving from one discipline to the next so I could work on transitions. What I did not take into consideration was the weather. It was 55, cloudy and windy. I did it anyway. With lifeguard approval I got in and swam within the perimeters of the swim area. IT WAS COLD! The coldness threw off my breathing making it easier to swim with my head out of the water. Not the norm for me but I finished the distance none the less. And moved right away to the bike. In setting up my transition zone I forgot to lay out my helmet. And I forgot to attach my front break when I put the tire back on. Oops. I quickly retrieved the helmet from the trunk and attached the brake after trying to brake the first time and realizing my mistake. The tire still seemed off so instead of doing the road course I adjusted the wheel and opted to ride 5 miles around the lake instead. Being wet and knowing the guys were going to pass me, I wanted to be where I could stop if needed. After riding 5 miles. I transitioned to my run. Running 1.5 miles, one time around the lake. It felt good and I pushed myself to finish. I ended it after 58 minutes of continuous movement. I was a bit cold but not traumatized. It made me that much more confident of the actual triathlon. It also made me desire weather conditions of 70 degrees and no wind for race day. Less than 2 weeks of training left.

Have a great day!

Luke

My newest nephew is here. Proud daddy sent on his picture. I hope to see him today.

He looks so beautifully handsome.

Trinity Fitness Fair

What: Trinity Fitness Fair
Where: Trinity Church at 3355 Dunckel Rd Lansing
Who: Something for everyone
When: Saturday, May 19, 2007 (9am-2pm)
Activities include: 5K fun run, 3-0n-3 basketball tournament, inflatables, face painting, motorcycle rides (my hubby) soccer, football and golf clinics, sand volleyball, archery, Dr discussions on various health topics, yoga, pilates, karate, dance classes, dodgeball, rappelling off the roof, frisbee golf, blood drive, massages and much more.

COST IS FREE!!!
To get more time specific schedule information, go to this page and click on fitness fair schedule.

I will be rappelling off the roof and have already signed up for a massage. Hope to see you there!

Here He Comes

Mindy's in labor. Woohoo!
Praying for a safe delivery. I can't wait to meet him.

Girl's Date And Other Stuff

The boy had a sleep over at his cousin's so after the housework was (mostly) done, little girl and I went on a date. We loaded up the bike and tag-along. Packed a lunch and headed out for one of our favorite parks. Before I left I got the coordinates for a couple caches within the park. The park has some nice bike trails making caching by bike a nice option for us. Little girl likes treasure hunting, she does not always enjoy hiking. We biked and found the two treasures. The one was the glitter cache and everything inside was glittery. Perfect for little girl and our girl's only date.
The weather was gorgeous (83 degrees) and the splash pad was open so we found our swimsuits in the gym bag. We had so much fun. I took a few pictures of the girl and she took some of me.





After we splashed around we decided to go down to the lake as the guard was on duty and people were in the water. I put on my swim cap and goggles and swam out to the buoy and back. This was a bit of an eye opener for me as I am SOOO used to the pool were you touch feet against the side of the pool every 25yds. I swam out and started heading back a bit disoriented from the break in my rhythm. I ended up touching down as soon as I could touch before continuing on. It made me realize this pool mentality I have. I think ifit would have been a straight live it would not have bothered me but turning around without touching down and breaking up my breathing threw me.

Today I went to the gym wanting to figure out how to fix it. I set the time for 15 minutes and swam it continuously WITHOUT TOUCHING THE WALL to turn around. I did it! I swam 600yds and only once (accidentally) touched the wall. I realized even in the midst of turning I need to keep my breathing pattern. HUGE difference. No longer concerned about the swim, still want another warm day to try it out.

I went with my parents to the grave sides and got pictures and GPS coordinates for them. I am in the midst of putting all the information together and plan to send it on to family members. Still need to do a few more that we did not make it to the other day.

My homeschool support group had an open house last night. I am amazed at how many families are a part of this group; over 200. And all the resources we have available to us. I signed up for Enrichment Day in the fall. They had openings for 8-9 more families and we were number 9 to sign up so I am hoping we DO get in. If they fill up for AM we do have PM as an option but most of my peer group is in the AM class. Hope to know soon.

The falcons did not hatch. It was an unsuccessful clutch. They may breed again and still have a late clutch this year. No hatchlings to watch. (Sad)

Plugging away at school. Vacation is coming up SOON. I am getting excited about the trip. I plan to convert my aunt and uncle into geocaching. Sounds like they are up for the challenge and excited about it too. We plan to take a few travel bugs along with us to move them along towards their goal. Miss Monkey will be seeing the National Zoo and The Bill will go to see the capital. Lots of fun to be had.

Kids Portrait

Our church had a couple photographers taking pictures the week before mother's day. They then printed off some of the pictures and gave them to the mother's as a gift. They are available online if anyone is interested I can send the web address and you can print your own copy.

The Salamander Room

A couple years ago when a homeschool resource center was going out of business, I picked up this book. After finding the salamander in the woods over the weekend I remembered we had it. Cuddled up on the couch, the boy and I read it. GREAT READ! A boy finds a salamander and wants to bring it home. His mother asks questions of how he will care for it. The boy is imaginative as he think how he will create a habitat suitable for the salamander. I had to read it a few times with promises to read it again today. Great for boys who like to explore the woods. Perfect for us as we had just found one. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.