Saturday, November 14, 2009

It's getting closer to Thanksgiving and a lot of ppl are doing Thanksgiving count-downs. I can't possibly begin to list all the things I am thankful for but I will give just a sampling here and then move on. I am thankful, of course for what we in America call 'the basics', being: food, water, shelter, clothes, jobs, cars and family/friends. But what about all the beautiful 'extras' that we take for granted, like: Christian music and teachings available for us to listen to freely on the radio the web or even to buy. And, what about nature...clouds, water falls, flowers, birds, bugs, mountains etc. And, even body parts are to be thankful for as not everyone has all their limbs or organs. How often do we thank God for eyesight, taste buds and the sense of touch. Real extras like warm, cozy fireplaces and 10 pairs of shoes with as many purses. For guys, tickets to sporting events, local leagues, and cable sports channels. I can't even begin to say how many things there are that I am thankful for. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Now on to other things...just an amazing revelation about my personality. It hit me yesterday, that i am a 'Simon Peter'. I am passionate, and vocal and zealous...and sometimes get so into the convictions and revelations in my life...that I just can't wait for others to 'get it' . I have to be more gentle and patient, I guess. We all learn and grow at our own pace and I am sure that for the amount of time I have been saved..I should be way more mature than I am.

Well, that's it..just wanted to update on this before I forgot what was on my mind.

Friday, November 13, 2009

It's funny, but I guess I am trying to be someone who I'm not in a lot of areas. Have you ever done that? You see something that you admire in someone else, and think...oooo, I want to do that or be like that and then you take off with all this wild as the wind inspiration..only to find out that you lose steam before you really get started. I am sooo laid back, I am not a personality type A and hope I never will be. But, it would be nice to fall somewhere in the middle. I find that I am super passionate about what I believe and that means that a lot of ppl don't like to be around me during certain conversations. But you know what? Too bad. Not to be yucky, but you can't change the direction of your heart toward God..the place that He's leading, just because it isn't popular with others. I have to search out the motivation for everything I do. I often wonder why more ppl don't think the way I do...and I know that sounds really self-righteous. But, here's what I mean...I try as hard as I can to have perspectives based of factual info., sound reasoning and the Word. So, then, if this is how I come to many of the views I have of how we should live....why do a lot of ppl see it as over-zealous or legalistic? I am very confused. But, at the same time..I believe I used to be very much the same. If someone told me that something was wrong and they showed me proof... I would accept it but not until after a journey of stubborness and excuses. I find that in church some things are " controversial" issues and that there isn't unity of the Body, but rather offense if a challenge is presented. I feel like an outcast...the weird one...the over the edge one. Hmm, I guess I will just con't to be me...and hope to challenge ppl just as I have been challenged by ppl in my life. I want to keep learning, growing and going forward and putting behind be the deceptions of the Enemy. I hope to fall into the company of those who are headed in the same direction. I want no part of passive Christianity and I want to break lose from mindless traditions and burst out of the 'bubble' of my own life. I want to run this race unhindered by wordly cares...does ANYBODY want to go with me? Please, God, help me to do what I should and be who you desire.

Friday, October 30, 2009

So, what's been going on? I haven't felt like blogging at all for one thing. What's to say...life is happening every day...school, errands, church. There are good things and bad and so there hasn't seemed to be anything very "deep" or interesting lately. At the beauty salon the other day, while Victoria was getting her hair tricked with some color..I had several nice conversations with a couple of the stylists. I learned that Hobby Lobby has a christian founder, just like Chickfila and most of the Liquid Highways around. That's so cool, to hear of how those people have affected in such a good way the people around them. I also got to share my take on tooth fairy, Santa and the like and it was accepted without disgust. Day by day, there are things in the news, that tell us that the state of the U.S. is declining morally as well as, as a world power. I guess I am feeling a more realistic sense of impending struggle for those who believe. Maybe that's why lately, I don't seem to care as much about things that aren't going to help me prepare in my heart and mind for these trials. I want to kind of blot out the areas in life that tempt me to live materially. I want to enjoy being at home with my children and am so thankful that at least Victoria is almost done with school. If homeschooling ever goes out the door, then poor Francis will be the one to endure his high school yrs. in "the system". Blah! Well, I do have some ideas of things i want to do that are fun, like learning how to make different kinds of candied apples...get our fireplace fixed, so we can use it and get rid of as many things as I can to make this house as simple as possible. I thought I was super motivated to make some sets of scrapbook cards to use as Christmas gifts, but I have totally lost interest and I hardly got started. Bummer...maybe inspiration will hit again soon. I want to finish a couple scrapbooks, and prob. get 2-3 more started...after that, I think I will get rid of most of the scrapbooking stuff and leave that behind as well. I guess this season in my life is just to enjoy fam., simplify and be ready to do what God wants. I have hopes for the women's meeting to go on, but something tells me they won't. I am thinking about doing the girls purity class at church, so maybe that's where I'll be next. I don't want to shirk my responsibilities to the ministry God has for me...but sometimes I just don't know what in the world I am supposed to do. One day at a time I guess and no condemnation.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Struggle, struggle, struggle...I am in a full out struggle against the desires of the flesh. You think I'd know better by now...but the grass is always greener on the other side right? I have to say to God..well, you know I want this thing that's bad for my walk, but I know it won't lead me to paths of righteousness..so you'll have to change, or eradicate this from my life. It's so hard, but it needs to be taken care of lest I lose out on my reward. I think I've opened myself to it...allowing my devotional time to pretty much be non-existent. I hope God will help me to put this issue completely out of my life, forever and for good.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Being in God's Kingdom means constantly stretching ourselves to do better in God's eyes and according to His Word. We should always be assessing our "comfort zones" and make sure they are not instead "dead zones". We can easily curl up in our own worlds, creating our own kingdoms and trying to live out our own ideals. It's what we want to do..it's what we shouldn't do. And in today's society...it's really, and truly, going against the flow. There are even times when other Christians look at you funny and think maybe you are going overboard. I am still going through a "place" where God is leading me forward, but I am not sure I am responding correctly. I seem to myself to be so passionate about stuff that I offend others...then, I have to wonder if I am living according to God's ways or am I going off on a tangent. I need to do some musing/praying/meditating this morning...once again I feel that He is trying to speak clarity to me...I just need to give Him my undivided attention, so that He can speak.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

In about 2 and a half weeks my daughter will be 15!!! How awesome is that? However, I need to make her a neurologist appt. to make sure she will be able to get her permit( we have to make sure her motor tick won't be an issue) . If she can't drive I think it will be a big disappointment to her and to me as well. Also, we are getting our noses pierced and that's cool, however when i see my parents either at Thanksgiving or whenever, i am very anxious as to how my dad's going to react. He's very legalistic and outspoken about stuff he doesn't like as far as those kinds of things go. My mom is not going to tell him about it since she doesn't want to hear all the crap, so he will get a shock whenever he sees us. I am 34 yrs. old and am tired of wondering how he will react to stuff. And I am very quick tempered when he is around. At this stage of my life I no longer answer to my parents but I answer to God about all the choices I make in my life, either spiritual or physical. It's amazing that these cosmetic changes can irritate some ppl so much. I am also hoping that it doesn't stumble anyone at church. I don't want to walk into church and have ppl judging us or acting like we are different ppl,( in a bad way) just because of it. I miss having a church family that is concerned with spiritual life and not so much styles and fashions. I hope my current church family will think it's no big deal and not make an issue of it. Anyway, i can't believe I have taken up so much room about these piercings, but it seems like it's such a big deal to a lot of ppl, that it makes me wonder how many problems it may cause at first. It's not immoral or rebellious so I think it should be o.k. I am excited about it and hope that it doesn't hurt much,( I'm such a baby with needles). I will post pics when we get them.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I have been in a thoughtful mood again lately. Looking around the house again, to see if there's anything else I need to get rid of. This is happening a lot more often and I know God wants me to go to this deeper level. Part of me is ever so ready, and the other part is fighting tooth and nail. I am fine with getting rid of stuff...it's the not buying new stuff that is making me crazy. I am going through the cutsie catalogs and seeing all this cool Christmas stuff already that i want and it is ridiculous the spiritual battle that is going on about it all. Wow, is it supposed to be this hard? I mean it's all only material stuff that breaks, fades, and gets old. I'll be tired of most of it a just a few short yrs. and I'll always find something else I like to replace it. Oh, to live a simple life...and that's where I am headed, I am pretty sure. I need to be way more frugal so we can invest in some of the major projects we want to do to the house. And then, there's the list of stuff I want...sigh....a dream list really...gymnastics mats and rings for the kids to practice with at home...bunches of plants and stuff to make our next yrs. garden really nice. Little odds and ends to finish up "the look" in the living room and kitchen. But, that's why I am very purposefully thinking these things through...over and over again and then weighing them against the more important things that we will need money for: car repairs, braces, act.'s like gymnastics, and giving more money to organizations who help ppl and for taking care of the family/friends I know of personally who are suffering financially. Anyway, I guess that's it for now...I just needed to get that out of my system, I guess. Another way, to work through this process. Let's see where this new level of spiritual challenge takes me to. As long as it's closer to the person God wants me to be, then that's where I want to be.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Today's been weird. We got up an hour late because of me being sooo tired. Then, when we went to walk the dog..i just had so much energy that I started jogging right away. Later I did not 100, but 150 crunches. Victoria almost fell asleep listening to the drone of Dr. Vernon McGee's voice during her Bible class and I found her snuggled back up in bed after about half hr. of school. Francis started his work, but then I got totally psyched about organizing his room, and off we went. About 2 hrs. later and while we were still in his room, Victoria emerged. Just a bit after that...wouldn't you know it, the weather was so nice, that both kids ended up outside with the dog, and the hammock came out of it's temp. hybernation. After I finished with Fran's room, I went outside too and took a game called Blokus with me. Francis and I played under the shade of our oak tree. Now, the kids are watching a movie, and I am here. Francis will still have to finish school and it will be finished right on time for bed. Wow, what a topsy turvey, but oh, so fun day!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Got up this morning not very motivated to do anything..including devotions. I made myself do several chores, which got me feeling a bit better, but when I sat down to have Bible reading/prayer time,( and I'm still not done...just taking a break to blog) I just sat there...read a couple of verses and stopped...tried to pray and find out what was in my way of a good time with God. I have a concern for today,( seeing someone at an activity that I really would rather not see) and maybe it's just that, or maybe since it's rainy I just didn't feel "into it", but I knew that neither of those things should be keeping me from my studies. So, as I meditated for awhile I noticed that I was letting emotions dictate my actions. I meditated on that and God revealed to me just how much of our lives are lived through the tainted lens of emotions. Even on a day that I think all is going well, my emotions may be keeping me from doing what I should in the spiritual realm. A day may go way wrong because of my irritability..which is an emotion. I let that dictate the outcome of the day, when, if I would have just stopped right there and given it over to God, I would have been able to see clearly for the rest of the day. There's a lot more to this subject, but I have to go meditate some more...and let God show me the depth of this issue. Thank God that if we really do what we should and not what we feel like doing He will teach us good things.

Friday, September 11, 2009

I have had a great thing happen to me today...it was simple but I feel a sense of accomplishment. I have been stressed out lately to see the "unfinished" places in my house. I have been going over and over in my head what corners or walls need "something". Today though, something happened that made a huge difference in my kitchen and it didn't cost me a cent. Thank you God for providing an answer to an unspoken prayer, a desire of the heart and now I feel so good to be rid of the burden. To make a long story short...I moved a large potted plant from the very unused foyer, to the wall by my hutch, moved a lonely grouping of plants from the ugly, unused porch to the kitchen and put it on an improvised "stand" in another lifeless corner, moved my pitcher plant from the porch to hanging beside the window at my sink, and finally, filled a $1.00 round, glass bowl with potting soil, went outside and dug up some climbing vines at the base of a tree and...tada, a pretty plant to go on top of the hutch,( I even added neutral colored decorative rocks that I had stashed away). Now, my kitchen has more life! And all for free..just a little rearranging, and using what was available. Now I am going to see how I can do this in other places as well.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It's 09-09-09! It's funny but I am celebrating this day with the kids, even though it doesn't mean much to them at this age. I wish I would've started this with the kids much earlier. There are so many things I wish I would've started while the kids were still younger. A journal of their mischievousness would've been cool and the memory book I have been trying to get everyone to write in, would've been more enticing back a few yrs. It's hard because I still love all the little kid ideas and toys and have no more little kids. I wish I was with child again and I have been wishing that for about a yr. or so. I guess it's just not for me to have more,( I'm fixed) and God doesn't seem to want to undo what's been done. I know that He can do all things, nothing's too hard for Him, but it just may not be for me to do anything but raise these two that I have and then wait expectantly for grandkids. That sounds so weird! I am too young to be talking about that, but it doesn't matter because that's what I want. It's funnier that my 12 yr. old son is already yearning for a family. Maybe he and his future wife will have a lot of kids for grandma to baby-sit. Mmm, letting myself imagine!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Beautiful day today...fishing in the a.m., it was so peaceful and quiet out by the lake where we went. Victoria got vertigo for some reason and spent a lot of her day in bed, but managed to get school done anyway. Francis and I watched a couple of videos from the library and then I watched a Nooma video called "Rich". I have been trying to simplify over the last while..having days where I am totally gung ho about getting rid of stuff. I feel that I miss those incredibly small houses where we lived most of the time we were in P.R. and in Greenville too. After watching that video, I just want to sell this house and go move into a smaller one. We would be able to live with almost no debt and use our money to serve others. Wow, we are so rich but don't feel that we are...there's always more to be had. Shame on us! I will be in prayer as to how this issue may be dealt with. One thing though is the question that comes to mind when looking at the continuously growing pile of homeschool stuff that is amassing itself against my wall. I have always given stuff away for free, but I feel like there are a lot of things that I spent good money on and would I be a good steward if I gave it all away, or should I pack it up for a yr., until the next homeschool book fair and try to earn money from it? Another thing to put into prayer I guess. Does anybody else feel this way besides me?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A season of service. That's what God is putting on my heart. Over the last few yrs. I have served in the church, but mostly with the little ones. While that is a great place to serve, I felt God leading me to get others into and excited about resources that would help them know what's going on in this world and how to refute the lies that Satan has put out there for us,( and our children) to contend with. If we don't know how to answer people, then how will they know the Truth? Well, I really had this on my heart for the youth and for about 2 yrs. I have tried to figure out how to get this message to the young people. There seemed to be no open doors, so now I am trying to equip the ladies of the Body and hopefully they will teach their kids from what they learn. During this time, I began to feel that my heart wasn't in the kids' ministries anymore. I bowed out and waited. I had a season where I did nothing at church because even though my mind said," You should be doing something", my heart said, "Wait until God gives you the 'Go' ". So, now here I am and have just felt God recently giving me the desire and excitement for service. Now, not only in the church but out of it as well. I want to sign up for Meals on Wheels,
( but have to wait until Oct. to go through orientation) and I want to help with our shut-ins from church...I feel that it is time for me to get involved in kids ministries again and I want to con't to seek and outlet for the burning in my heart for the youth to know more than they do and to be challenged. What else? I want to lay tracts about Halloween in the stores to hopefully bring people into an awareness of this evil day, and bring the focus instead onto God's love for them and hopefully bring them to repentance. I have felt God speaking to me about inviting my neighbors over for one on one time so we can get to know each other and so that I can shine forth into their lives the love of Jesus. I know that my kids desperately need to be actively involved in ministry to the elderly so that they can glean from the love and wisdom to be had from them, and I want my kids to learn how to sacrifice time to serve, and to serve the unsaved in our community in order to plant seeds and bring in the harvest. It's so neat, how when God deems you ready for the next step or season in your "walk" it is a joy and not a drudgery to do his bidding. I am so eager to see how God will richly bless our lives with joy and deep satisfaction that I know will come from serving and I also pray that through this my children's lives will be drastically changed and that they will see Jesus working through us and the effect will be a deep hunger and desire to have God in their lives as their Saviour and know through their own personal experience that God works miracles, and will do amazing things in their lives.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Aaahhh! I am sitting here and trying to unwind and think about all the things I wanted to blog about today. The day has been busy in a pretty good way I guess. I am behind in my preparations for tomorrow's Into the Deep meeting. I will be spending some time on that in a bit,( I hope). This morning I was thinking about something I read in another person's blog... "Spiritual Temperature". I guess we all analyze ourselves in that area from time to time. It should be everyday though. I guess that would be a good thing to do at the end of everyday. Maybe I will have a notebook where I analyze my thoughts, behavior and actions to see where I am at. I bet I will find a lot to commit to the Lord! I guess when I am tempted to see others in a bad light, looking further into my own imbalances will keep my focus where it should be,( on the responsibility of my own walk). One thing I am not pleased about is something I have thought about off and on esp. when the conversation comes up among others. I have analyzed this and really need to decide how I will balance this out. It is the subject of healthy food. I already buy only wheat, (almost) and lots of fruits and some veggies. However, when I hear ppl talking all about only eating organic and stuff, I feel like we are not seeing things with spiritual eyes. I mean, we're not going to be here forever and all that extra money on organics could be used to feed someone who doesn't have anything to eat. I know it's good to be healthy but at what price to others? Therefore, I wonder if I should be more economical and buy some cheaper things in certain areas to provide for others. Hmm. I guess that would be easy enough to do in some areas, but I don't know if I'd be willing to really go for broke. What about other areas of my life...shopping,( clothes, home school supplies and so forth). I don't need half of what I have, yet I keep buying. I guess I need to commit that to prayer again too. I used to pray about having wisdom and self-control more but that is gone with the wind lately. Why am I not meditating on spiritual things more and allowing the materialism to grow stronger again. Hmmm, time to go over it all again. I guess all these things lead back to that occasional check of the spiritual thermometer my friends spoke of.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Ideas, ideas, ideas! I love good ideas. I can't implement them all, but I love to hear about them! We have actually come upon some good ones over the last few yrs. And I am still looking for more. Let's re-cap some really great ones. Let's see, there's the Christmas morning scavenger hunt to find the presents, and recently, we are trying to refine the new idea of a simple gift given to the kids,( or a special baking project, or even a service to someone) on each of the 12 days of Christmas. And on each day..we speak of the supposed christian "sybolism" that day represents. This yr. I want to find gifts that actually correspond to each day's part of the song,( last yr. I found a partridge in a pear tree ornament). I also want to do more "for others" projects in place of some of the gift giving. Our extended families are gearing towards not exchanging gifts but instead everyone giving money to charities on Christmas. Lots of people are doing that. I have also really given thought to not putting up the tree, since it isn't really anything to do with the celebration of Christ but just a lot of work and noone but me does it. It doesn't seem important to anyone, so one day, it may not appear. I will just pack up the ornaments and leave them in the attic to give to the kids when they leave home. What I do like, is the collection of nativity scenes and nativity calendars that we have and I hope to keep adding to that.

Besides Christmas ideas, we have started a memory book. One person writes a memory, then hides the book under someone else's pillow. After that person discovers the book, and reads it, they add their own memory and it keeps going from person to person. It's cute,( but the kids don't add too it much).

Also, I now have "mailboxes" for the kids in the schoolroom. I try to write some encouragement or compliment to each kid every week or so, and then write on the dry erase board..." you've got mail". I think that's neat for them and it helps me to really think out my words to them.

The other day, Francis was talking about drawing a picture on paper and being able to print a message on top of the picture, and that gave me a great idea. It's not original, because somewhere in the past I've heard of it... homemade stationary,( for the grandma that likes to write). So I told him that he can draw 2-3 designs on paper with a light colored pencils or even stamped images, and then we can make several copies of each, fold them nicely, and wrap them in a silk ribbon. What a great gift!

Family Fun Magazine has been a great source of ideas. I've wanted to do a million of them, but my kids are older now and don't want to do as much of the crafty stuff anymore. Still, this yr. we carved watermelon instead of pumpkins, and that idea was from the magazine. That was cool. And speaking of pumpkins, that reminds me of the harvest time. I looove Thanksgiving..it is my fav. holiday. However, Halloween is also in the time frame and I hate Halloween. It's such an evil day, both in it's origins and it's present day practices. I have tried to re-name it with the rest of the christian world as Hallelujah Night, but it just doesn't feel right still. I know the idea is to evangelize on that night, but mostly church people come to play and let their kids have fun. One yr. I felt God leading me to write a letter about Halloween and why we don't celebrate it and pass it out to my neighborhood,(this was in PR). This yr. my idea is to buy some Chick Publications tracts,( they are in the form of comics) and begin laying them around in stores way before the actual night of the 31st. My kids will of course want to go to church to have fun with their friends but I need more ideas on how to witness and be involved in educating people about this demonic night.

Hmm, that was kind of deep there. Let's move on. This summer, we all got way too lazy. So I made a booklet of poster board where each page has a theme,( diet, exercise, chores etc.) and pockets with strips of paper,(tickets). The pockets are at the bottom of the pages and at the top, there is an envelope glued on. Each time the kids finish another task or eat another serving of a food group, they move the corresponding ticket to the envelope. This has worked very well, and I don't have to do much checking or nagging to make sure everything is done.

Whew, well, I guess I need to finish this up, for it's extremely long already. However, I am sure that I forgot to mention something...so maybe an Ideas II will appear one day.

Monday, August 24, 2009

I love Mondays...I don't think anyone else feels the same though. It's a new week, a fresh start, and the beginning of another week that we can mark off of our calendar. This yr. has special potential and that adds to the good feeling of each week. Although, we are def. having some "issues" with attitude, we have also accomplished the unthinkable,(at least when regarding our family). We are now getting up at 7 a.m. as opposed to 9 or so. We are also starting the day by walking the dog which helps with the waking up of our bodies and minds. Then we come home and while the kids eat I read some devotional books. Then, we start our work. I am still not doing as well with keeping up on household chores and that's mostly because I simply don't like cleaning. I would rather be on the computer communicating with ppl. But, I still need to do it. I am lately in the mood to get rid of stuff though, so as to make life a bit simpler and to make sure we are actually using what we have. I love seeing shelves emptying. It's such a good feeling. Some things I can't part with though,(sentimental things from the kids' childhood). Those things go to the attic, where at least they are out of sight. And to think, in just a few short yrs. I will be sending some of it off with my daughter. Wow, how beautiful it is to think about my daughter beginning her own family one day and pulling out of that "special place" the keepsakes of her childhood. What sweet memories she will have to pass on. As each school yr. comes, I am always looking at new ideas to implement...and sometimes I am able to work those ideas into the schedule and sometimes not. Some of these ideas are merely educational ideas but some help me to focus on memory making. Of course, the kids aren't always pleased with these new things because to them it's just more things to comsume their free time. But once in awhile I get the feeling that there's a bit of enjoyment in it, even if just for a moment. Those moments give me the encouragement to go on. And occasionally, I have to let something go, seeing that I am the only one who likes the new habit or tradition and that it's not worth making everyone else miserable in carrying it on. It's strange that I didn't start this post to talk about these things, but that's the neat thing about blogging, sometimes your thoughts just spill out and at the end you've discovered that something has emerged that wasn't anticipated.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Well, this has been a good Sat. I organized, cleaned a bit, watched several old movies and Moody Bible Institute videos to see if we keep them or get rid of them. I have decided that since I have tried to sell off a bunch of homeschool stuff to no avail, that I will keep it in the attack until next yr.'s homeschool book sale. I am sure I will have much more to add to the growing pile with one more yr. under our belts. Then, I can try to make some money that will go towards the next yr.'s materials. So, that's my plan. The kids did a bunch of nothing today,(that's what Sat. is for yes?). I did have Francis mow the back yard and now I owe him money. I tried again to go out to enjoy the gorgeous weather..but no...I had to dive back inside because of the moquitoes and take Benadryl. How I am missing the summer fun! Looking forward though, to a pool party next Tues. That will be a highlight. Today I began feeling the disappointment of being let down by people who I thought would prove to be new friends that we would hang with. Is God trying to remove my deep emotional attachment issues and only have Him to lean on and trust in? I am so very glad that He is my Rock. Without him I would not want to linger long on this earth. I am looking forward to maybe starting up some volunteer work with Meals on Wheels. It sounds like a great way to incorporate service to our community and meet people into whose lives we can share. I hope these kinds of things work out for us this yr. I really think that we will gain a richness in our lives through these opportunities. So, with hope for our lives to hopefully become full with meaningful activity again, I go to bed and look forward to a few minutes to ponder and talk with my Jesus.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Hmm, what should I say. This is the first blog so where do I start. Well, I guess Monday is as good a place as any. It was the beginning of another homeschool yr. I have been ordered from my precious homeschool catalogs..all the goodies that I've looked over time and time again..sifting through the wanted list until there is an affordable list of things that seem the most likely to be used. Excitement is the the air, ( but only the air of my personal aura) and I have decided,( as I always do) to make some changes that will hopefully bring this school yr. to a climax of success and enjoyment. We are not early risers but I promise you that we have been awake everyday this week at 7 a.m.,( except today and it was 7:30) and doing well with the new and improved schedule. Sounds awesome right? It was..until I realized that I have a party pooper on board and there are some issues that are going to rear their ugly heads much earlier in the yr. than I thought. We all seem to be grouchy this yr. and each of us blames the others. I blame Victoria for being so grouchy and Francis for always making so much disturbing noise. And Victoria blames me for being grouchy and Francis for annoying her. Francis blames me for being grouchy,( two strikes against me) and Victoria for being too touchy. Just now Victoria came to me saying how much school,( the hard stuff-i.e. geometry and chemistry) that she has, and how many chores she still needs to do etc. I had to send her away disappointed that I didn't lighten her load...it's just going to get harder from here, so why should I baby her. Oh the joys. So, how is this school yr. going to go? Day 4 and we are already on each other's nerves. I guess I will need to be more involved in prayer and find more ways for the kids to get out of here and spend time with others. That is the only way I think we will all keep some sanity. So, I end this first blog with a bit of ho-hum and discouragement. But so be it...afterall, that is part of the journey, isn't it?