Something to Brighten My Day

I have been hit with a cold. It started Mon. night when I was at the quilting club, which I have attended for about 6 mos. now. It meets monthly, and works on various projects for charity. I should have skipped this month's meeting, coming down with a cold, but I so enjoy sewing for charity groups. I took my little girl with me this time, and she was an angel. The other ladies really enjoyed her, and were pleased to find her so well-behaved. They invited her back next time.

Anyway, I've been muddling through the last couple days with this cold, trying to maintain my sanity with all 3 kids underfoot, without as much direction/school activity from Mom to keep them busy, and it's hard. My other HS friends know what it's like. : ) Well, today I got notice that I won (2) drawings for quilt shop merchandise from a recent Shop Hop that I participated in. I am so excited, because I never win anything! I won $100.00 store credit to a local shop for anything I want. Second, I won a $75.00 gift basket to another local store. This surely brightened my day.

Out Our Front Window in the Morning

I have posted pictures before of the view from our property in the evenings. Here's a picture of what I saw when I got up the other morning. It was so neat. We've seen them before, where they passed right over the house!! That was exciting for the kids, to be sure.

I'm Hopeful

My husband quit attending church with me 3 years into our marriage. He has not been anti-Christian, and has remained an honest and moral person, but has not been practicing what he believed religiously when we were married 14 1/2 yrs. ago. It has been pretty hard for me to hold my tongue these past 11 or so years.

Imagine my surprise when he told me several days ago he would attend church with me and the kids this Sabbath. We'll be digging into his closet tonight, to find something that fits, so we don't have to worry about it tomorrow morning. I am holding my breath, and praying, hoping that nothing comes up to sway his decision.

Second Honeymoon?

Oops! I forgot to tell you something. The hotels were all booked solid and it was very difficult for us to find rooms to stay in the entire time. Last night was a surprise gift, though.

Because we just celebrated our 14 year wedding anniversary, Ch and I have been joking about how this trip would be our "second honeymoon" even though we were bringing the kids with us. Our real honeymoon consisted of 2 nights at a budget hotel near a local Florida theme park, and one day at the theme park. We were going to ride all the roller coasters the second day at the park, but then we went home a day early because we were in the middle of building our first home and it was expected to "close" at any time and we couldn't miss that! Our honeymoon was on a very tight budget because we had already paid for our wedding and were scraping together our pennies for the down payment on our home, and well, a fancy honeymoon was out of the question. You get the picture. It wouldn't take much to improve upon it if there were a second go-around....

Back to the surprise gift part: we ended up staying in the honeymoon suite last night! It was absolutely their last room, because of 6 buses that came through last night (yep, all headed to N.Y. to see the Pope). We got the room for a steal! We all took turns in the fancy jacuzzi tub and 8 spray head shower. And the KING-size bed was very comfortable. How's that for a second honeymoon?

And while I'm at it, I must say something about the kids' behavior on this trip. They were absolutely fabulous. They walked, and walked, and walked some more! I know B's little legs were sore but she didn't complain or ask me to carry her. I know my legs were sore! The kids didn't argue or fight (more than a few minutes.....). They didn't complain about the difficulty finding food we could eat because of our dietary challenges. They didn't grumble about the long periods of waiting the last 3 days because of their dad's business dealings. Shoot, they didn't even complain about the long hours of driving. Counting my blessings, I'm feeling pretty blessed right now. What more could a mother want?

And I am sending out a great big "thank you" to a friend of mine for suggesting I try using 5HTP with C. It's made a huge difference for him. Thanks again, Kiwi!

You Know You're a Homeschooler When...

I have been tagged. I am posting a few reasons why we know we're homeschoolers:

You Know You're a Homeschooler When....

• A large portion of your school focus is on home ec, work study, and nature study.
• You can take the kids with you to the store (as usual) during the hours when a lot of other people are still at work, or children at school. This makes for less congested store isles and shorter lines at the cash register.
• Your kids don't need a note from the doctor to return to school if they were sick and out of school too long.
• Your 4 yr. old preschooler schools right along with the older kids, and she actually learns stuff. Your classroom doesn't have to be age segregated to flourish.
• Your list of field trips for the school year is getting pretty lengthy.
• Your kids feel sorry for public school kids that get to attend only a field trip or two for the entire school year.
• You can take family vacations off-peak and avoid many of the crowds.
• Your hubby comes home and states he has a business trip coming up, and we get to drop everything and go with him!!!

We are going to travel to Washington D.C. in about a week and a half. We will be there for 4 or 5 days, plus 2 days for driving up and back (that's the part I dread. Yuck!). I am so excited. Ch doesn't go on business trips very often; I can only remember one time when he went to Puerto Rico to check on a truck there. (Well, okay, when he used to drive truck he was gone all the time, but that was different.) Maybe that's why I am so surprised by all of this. About 2 of our sightseeing days will have to be done without hubby. It's a business trip after all (and how lucky we are that the business will be paying for much of the trip, to boot). I figure I can take the kids to the Smithsonian on those 2 days by myself just fine. After all, I survived a very long day at Disney by myself with the kids. (And yes, I plan on posting pictures of that day soon. I've been very busy quilting!)

So, my question for you all: what are some things that are a must see? Should we spend a day with hubby and travel to Williamsburg, or is there so much in D.C. we should just stay put the whole time? Please share. Thanks. I was thinking 2 days at the Smithsonian, and all the monuments. We'll at least drive by the White House. Do they still let people in for a tour? I have no idea what to expect since the 9/11 happenings changed the world as we knew it. I can't remember how old I was when I visited Washington D.C., but it was a very LONG time ago. I'm very excited. Can you tell?

On Our Way to Disney

Tuesday morning, the kids and I headed out to Disney World bright and early. We no sooner got to the top of the hill by the main road and there sat a Bald Eagle on the road fetching a road kill rabbit for his breakfast! He was no farther than 8 feet from the car!! I was so shocked to see him sitting there, I gawked for a few seconds, and then the photographer in me kicked into overdrive. I had my camera right next to me in my purse, but I was too late. He flew off down the road and landed on top of the telephone pole. There he sat, eating away. This is the best picture I could muster. Oh, how I wish I had a picture of him sitting on the road. He looked right at me and I will never forget that picture; it's forever ingrained in my memory.

This experience reminded me though of something I have known before. Whenever we are studying something, or interested in something, God seems to throw instances of enhanced learning our way. He surprises us with unexpected reinforcements! He is, after all, the Principal of our Homeschool. I have seen this time and time again. There was the time we saw a raccoon under our tree in broad daylight (they're nocturnal!) the very day we came home from the library with all our raccoon books. Or how about the time I was reading to the kids and a skunk entered the story? You guessed it!! We smelled a funny smell, and when I opened the front door, a skunk had sprayed outside somewhere! But the kids were then able to smell it for the first time (hopefully the last!), which did reinforce the story we were reading! To some, these things might be considered just coincidental occurrences, but I choose to see them for what they are. Our Heavenly Father is looking out for our homeschool journey in a very personal way. I really believe this.

We just had our Eagles class a couple months ago at Tibet Butler Nature Preserve, which we visit once a month during school months. They told us about an eagle's nest not far from the Preserve, so we stopped to see it on our way home that day. (bfarmmom--Joe was with us that day, so he saw this too.) Here's a picture of it, though it is pretty far away. (Click on the picture and it will enlarge.) One point brought out in the class was that eagles are opportunistic. If an eagle has a choice between a freshly killed meal (road kill or by another animal), he will take that over having to kill a meal for his own. He is a bird of prey, but would rather take the easier route. It was neat to see the kids recall this information, seeing the eagle with the fresh road kill in his talons.

Unexpected Surprise

We came home yesterday and found a package in the mail for the 3 kids from my father. It was very unexpected. You see, I have only visited with my father 2 times in about 25 years. It's a very long story, but he and my mother separated then divorced when I was 6 yrs. old. I had very limited interaction with him, and what we did have, was tumultuous. I didn't see him at all after I was 11 yrs. old until Thanksgiving 2 yrs. ago. He came to visit and stay with us from Oregon. He came again in June of this year, and was actually here for my birthday, although he didn't plan it that way. Also, it just so happened, that he was here the same time we were moving into our new house, so during all the chaos, he actually helped with a LOT of the heavy lifting, but with absolutely no grumbling about it. But after he left in early June, I hadn't heard from him since. (I can't call him since he has no phone of his own and I never know where he is.....) So, with this little background, you might imagine why I was so surprised by this unexpected event. It turns out he was so thoughtful, though. I want to quote the note that he sent along with the package because it struck me as so endearingly thoughtful, yet funny too. "Call it early Christmas or B days, or just hello--or gifts thinking of you. Love ya all, & P.S. You boys help Dad with the home work and your school. P.S.S. Some things for Mom's quiet refuge: the BATH!! with kids knocking at the door." He sent money for the boys, and the most beautiful beaded purse for B, but he included some surprises for me, too. There were several Burt's Bees products, as well as some handmade Oregon Lavender soap! It smells so good; the scent was permeating the box it was packaged in. How cool is that? My consolation prize for missing the soap-making class I was scheduled to attend until it was cancelled and then on-again before I even knew about the rescheduling. Anyway, I was tickled pink. He did call later the same day, so we all got to say our "thank you's". It's still kind of weird, though, because even though he's my father, I don't have any warm, fuzzy feelings for him. He pretty much abandoned me and my sister, for my entire life, and the father-daughter closeness does not blossom overnight. I think he's starting to understand that, but it was weird and kind of strained when he did visit. It's even harder to explain all this to my kids. They can't fathom the kind of childhood I had. It's like nothing they have ever experienced. Even my hubby doesn't understand fully even though he tries.