Ahh! - Another Fun Day

Sunday's fun events:

*Going to Sunday School and church - hearing another great sermon and receiving Holy Communion.

*Eating lunch at the church with friends and celebrating an 8th birthday. (Lady Bug's friend.)

*Taking the birthday party to the water park with 4 Lutheran home schooling families in attendance.

*Making a train of our Lutheran home schooling families on the Lazy River. (I think we had up to 12 people in our train at one point! It was funny going around the corner!)

*Going back to the church to enjoy supper together and a little more visiting.

I'm hoping to get pictures soon from my friend (who is nicknamed Lucy - and by the way - I'm know as Ethel to their family) so I can post some of this fun! 

The Meeting of the Six

Minus two. Our dear friends, Michele and Devin were unable to join us because Devin was ill. We pray for a speedy recovery for Devin. They still insisted on ordering the pizza, so we requested a photo that we could use to take a picture of all 6 of us with our pizza. Thanks Michele and Devin from all of us! We missed you! And by the way, each family ended up with a whole pizza left over, so you have fed us all for two meals for sure! We ended up playing spades (one of our favorites). Laura and I didn't do as well as we usually do. Although, for the hands that we were dealt, we played extremely well! Brian and Rod were very happy to take advantage of our unfortunate luck. While the adults played, the six kids (they have 3 boys) had a great time outside with water balloons and inside with various toys.

The Line has Been Drawn

I've been thinking about this for a while. It's been on my mind since reading RPW and Cheryl's post with the video on Obama. (I apologize to others of you who also blogged on the subject, I have forgotten who all blogged on that particular interview.) After watching that interview, I found a related video on that page which was just gruesome.

When my husband and I were trying to have children, we could not wait to find out if we were pregnant or not. If I could have had a video camera mounted inside of me during the whole pregnancy, I would have loved it. I read book after book trying to find out what that little one inside me was doing day by day. Each was such a precious gift. Every movement was a blessing to me. All three of my girls had the hiccups and I loved it.

Consequently, I will NEVER understand how someone can support abortion. (I won't even get into abortion doctors...) Obama has children. Are they not precious to him? Did he treasure them before they were born? I know that there are other issues to consider when voting for our next President. But, I simply can not and will not support anyone who will not protect the tiniest blessings.

In my view, this has become a selfish argument. The woman should have a choice. What about serving our neighbor? (the baby) I think this is an issue on vocation. If you are pregnant, you have the vocation of being a mother. Your body is now shared with a little one. You have to weigh what you eat so that the baby can be nourished. You should be serving that little baby that is inside of you, starting from the beginning. We have gotten so selfish that we don't want to give up our lifestyles, our bodies, our sleep (Cheryl's link) for a baby. Sad.

Therefore, my vote will go to the candidate who will at least protect the babies. There is my line. 

Site Meter

I installed a site meter last night just for fun to see how many visits I get on a daily basis. There are days that I feel like I'm talking to myself. Oh wait, that's normal! There are days that I feel like I'm blogging to myself. That is fine, but I'll at least feel better knowing that someone has stopped by even if they leave no comments! I don't know why that is important. Does anyone else out there feel that way? (time for comments - hint hint...)

I know I many times just pass through blogs without leaving comments. I just want to see what is going on out there and enjoy the posts of others.

Our School Year Plans

We really school year round and have been back to work on a more structured schedule since Brian went back to school. But, for the sake of having a first day of school, I am going to declare the day after Labor Day as our first day. Here's the plan of attack:

Lady Bug  - age 8:

*Bible Work from the Middle Level Growing in Christ series, memory work from The Congregation at Prayer as printed in our bulletin.

*Math - Math U See - Beta

*Phonics - MCP Level C

*Reading - read aloud classics, Lady Bug reads on her own all the time!

*Writing - Classically Cursive

*Science - Sonlight

*Music - Violin and Piano

*Spelling - Sequential spelling

*History - American Girls - we are on Addie

*Grammar - Shirley Grammar

*Foreign Language - Rosetta Stone Spanish

*Geography - Geography Matters - World Guide

Monkey - age 5:

*Bible - same as Lady Bug - memory work according to her age.

*Math - Math U See - Primer 

*Phonics - Get Ready, Get Set, Go For the Code

*Reading - 5 in a Row, Sonlight K read alouds, 

*Writing - Italic Book A

*Science - Sonlight

*History - same as Lady Bug

*Music - piano (we're taking the year off from violin)

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but that is what I could think of at this hour!

You Know It's Been a Long Day When...

I thought that my husband was upstairs gathering the trash and putting away music, etc. in the music room. However, this is what I found when I went upstairs! I thought it sounded pretty quiet up there. He made it part way through sorting out his music. The click of my camera woke him up and he didn't remember how he ended up on the floor. I think it's time for bed! I just don't know how he does it! I have to be really comfortable and then it still takes me forever to fall asleep. 

Snacks: Moms (1) vs. Kids (1)

The score is tied:

Lady bug came down as I was typing the previous post to ask if she could have the trail mix I bought the other day. I told her that I was saving it for snacks. She said that it was the only thing in the cabinet that resembled a dessert and that she wanted to have dessert. I asked her where we had just been.

"A birthday party. "

"What did we have at the birthday party?"

"Cake and Ice Cream."

"Isn't that dessert?"

"Yes.  ***pause, looking at the trail mix***  Can I have a snack?!"

"Nice try...NO!"  :)

Snacks: Moms (0) vs. Kids (1)

I went shopping with my home schooling friend. We also had to take her 10 & 13 year old boys along so that they could try on shoes that she was purchasing at our first stop. They know after many shopping trips with their mom that the day could go long and so, they pack snacks for themselves. Their mom found some ring pops at a good price at one of the stores and purchased several to save for later. The boys asked to get into the ring pops several times, without success.   My friend told her boys that they had their own snacks and they should eat those instead.  At this the 13 year old replied, "Yes, mom, but we are going to the furniture store and then the book store - I need to ration my provisions! They got the ring pops!

Music to My Ears

Something that I truly enjoy about our day of home schooling  is singing hymns. I had the joy of hearing three sweet little voices sing "Feed Your Children, God Most Holy" today. That includes the sweet, tiny voice of our two year old who tries to catch up with the words!

Another fun time is lunch. Many times as we're sitting at lunch, one of the girls will start humming a hymn or another favorite tune and the other two will start humming along (and they may not even be humming the same tune or at the same time!). I have to tuck these sweet little times in my heart and hope to remember them when I'm packing them off to college some day! **sniff, sniff**

An 8 Year Old's Excitement in Violin Shopping

Lady Bug came downstairs this evening (late) and asked if I would read a book to her that we are reading together. My answer was no, that we might go in to town tomorrow and I need her to be able to get up in the morning.  Here's the rest of the conversation:

"Where are we going?"

"To the violin store to try and find you a new violin." 

"May I take a backpack of things to do?"

"No, you won't need it."

"You mean I have to try it on?!"

*giggling* "We do need to see what size violin will work for you now."

"Well, that place just doesn't interest me."

Back to Business

I started the first day of fall private lessons today. I've got lessons down to three days now, instead of being spread across the week.  There are always advantages and disadvantages.  The advantage is that I don't feel so spread out with lessons all week. The disadvantage is that it piles them up all at once and makes for several longer days.

We'll see how I like this change in schedule. It seemed very hectic today. I think part of the problem is that I just don't feel ready to start this schedule again! Maybe my problem is that I keep watching all these late night olympics.

Monkey's New Hairstyle

While getting Monkey ready for dance class today:

"Mom, can you put my hair in that 'bundle'?"

"Honey, it's called a bun."

After class:

"Mom, can you take my hair out of the 'bundle'?"

Issue's Etc. Music

I finally broke down and purchased "Viva La Vida" on iTunes. If you aren't familiar with that song, it's ok - I wasn't either until Issues, Etc. returned.  I read on someone's blog (I'm sorry I don't remember who's blog it was) that they heard that song come on and were expecting to hear their favorite talk radio.  The same thing happened to me tonight while I was at a restaurant! I think I really expected to hear Todd Wilken's voice next over the speakers. I couldn't even concentrate on the conversation I was having for a few moments because my brain was getting ready for another great topic. 

A Chip off the Old Block...

One of our friends is a doctor and his young son was asking me today:

"Did you see the amount of food that Michael Phelps eats?!"

"Yes,"  I replied.

"Wow, he must poop a lot!"

Spoken like a true doctor's son!

That's Heavy!

Statement by Monkey while we sat waiting for a train to cross:

"A train is the most heaviest thing on earth"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, a Dad can't even lift it up."

Family Reading Time

We just started a family reading time this summer. It has been so much fun! We just finished reading A Little Princess tonight. 

It was great to hear Lady Bug express how much she hated the middle part of the book when things were not as good and then hear her laugh with delight as things changed and she would anticipate what was going to happen next.

Now it's time to find another book to read together!

iTunes Help For a Forgetful Musician

A year and a half ago, I purchased an iPod for myself with birthday money. Even though I am a musician, my main purpose of buying the iPod was to download and listen to Issues, etc. podcasts. Thankfully, those are back! While Issues was on "spring break", I started loading some music on my iPod as well. (I also loaded one movie - couldn't resist loading The Princess Bride!)

Here's my dilemma. I love music. I love so much music that I'm forgetting what I might want to load on my iPod! I just loaded the Olympic Fanfare and Theme after remembering how much I love that piece while watching the Olympics! 

So, help me out.  What are your favorites? Maybe you can stir my memory. I go to iTunes and just glaze over with music overload!

The End of Summer

Oh yes, I know, it isn't officially over YET. But, for those of us who have family members and friends who teach in public schools, the summer is over!

I wished Brian well on Friday and told him I would see him in May! That is pretty much how the school year goes around here. It is starting off that way for sure. Brian has to work until 5 p.m tonight. (they added extra hours to get some time off at Christmas) Tomorrow is a regular professional day. Wednesday, he works until 4 p.m. and then has an open house from 5:30 - 6:30 and then a Board of Stewards meeting at the church at 7:30 p.m. School starts on Thursday. Busy, busy!!

Pinching Pennies

I now shop on Thursdays because our Walmart matches a local grocery store's banana price on Thursdays which is 18 cents a pound. Bananas around here have been running around 64 cents a pound. So, it is worthwhile to change my shopping day to Thursday to save on bananas!

I also make my rounds at Dillons and search for manager's specials. Today I was praying for lettuce. Our tomatoes are doing very well and I was hoping to find a good buy on lettuce so I could make a taco salad. Prayer answered:  Lettuce on special for 25 cents a bag!  Woo Hoo!

Then, to make things better, I found bacon on manager's special. Time for BLTs too!  Yeah!!

I also decided to check out the bargain bin and I found a digital camera memory card for my camera highly discounted.  Score!!

With the price of gas, I have to celebrate when I can save money on other things.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday. She turned 59 today, but does not look even close to 59! She usually passes as my sister if we go anywhere together. I hope she had a wonderful birthday. I know that when I called her tonight she was enjoying a dinner out and was savoring some nice compliments from a lady on campus who seriously thought that she was not 40 yet! 

I hope that a youthful appearance is genetic... :)

This photo is my Mom with Panda (2 years ago) - it is one of my favorites, so I had to post it!

A Nice Touch

While we were at my parents house, Lady Bug cut some flowers and greenery (with permission from Grandma) and then arranged them as a center piece for their table.  I thought she did a very nice job! I took a picture from each side of the arrangement.

The Coda

The picture on the top is the faculty band. Brian is in there, 5th trombone in on the 3rd row (right hand side). He had the opportunity to play bass bone.

The next picture is Kay and with Dee's daughter.

The final picture is Dr. David Holsinger and his wife Winona. They are such a sweet couple. They directed the Honor and Silver high school bands this summer.

Part two of "part of the rest of the story"

The first week was spent rapidly preparing for camp. Counselors and staff come in a Saturday each year and the campers arrive on Sunday. There never seems to be enough hours in a day to accomplish everything that needs to be done, but somehow, it all comes together.

My friend, Kay, who is the director of camp very kindly surprised Dee and I this year. She purchased pedicures for both of us! We were so excited! Neither of us do have pedicures regularly, so this was a real treat! Here I am enjoying the wonderful massage chair as my feet soak in a whirlpool tub. I felt very spoiled!

Of course, Kay laughed 

at me and asked me to tell the truth - that I was wondering why on earth she scheduled a pedicure on Friday afternoon when we still had so much to do. I had to confess that I really was thinking that (see my personality profile - all things HAVE to get done before I can enjoy anything) but, I really did enjoy the pedicure!

Here's the seal at the entrance to the newly renovated Union. This is the first year that we have ever used the Union for registration for camp and it was a wonderful change! 

The next picture is the beginning of our registration line. People like to have lines, so we utilized the pillars as guidance for a line. I used the tv with dvds of last year's band performances as a barrier so that people would not come directly to the first table (early) and stand over us!

To begin, campers and their parents would stop at table 1 and give us their name and their medical form. They would go to the right and pick up their packet at table 2, their t-shirt at table 3, and then a bag and water bottle at this last table. It went very smoothly. Everyone was registered by the end of our registration time which also has not happened as long as I can remember!

When one thing breaks...

Since returning from camp, Brian and his dad continued to work on finishing out the basement windows (they were poured two years ago). As with any do it yourself project, things have not gone as planned. The windows are looking very nice, but it is taking much longer than Brian or his dad had imagined.

Then, there is the mower. The pull cord broke off before camp. Thankfully, our neighbor volunteered to mow our lawn while we were gone with her riding mower. She even mowed it once after we got home! Brian dug into the mower with my dad's help via cell phone and cell phone pictures. Long story short - Brian took the mower to a shop this morning and the mower is now running.

Before he could get the mower to the shop, he had to go get the van repaired. It wouldn't start. He got it jump started but was worried that it could have been the alternator. Another repair bill later, we have a new battery and a running van.

Now, there's the weed eater. It won't start either. It was running for a little bit, but when Brian stopped for a break, so did the weed eater.

Oh, almost forgot about the bathroom sink.  It's dripping again. 

All this and Brian goes back to school for a work day on Friday. Don't you just LOVE home-repair problems?!

Now... for part of "the rest of the story"

First of all, don't hit enter after typing just the title...(I got a title and no story posted - duh!)

I'm back-tracking to fill in the details of our two-week camp trip. If you are reading this post, you probably read about how our trip started with a sick cat.  The first picture is Josie being lazy well before any signs of being sick.

The girls and I went on after church while Brian dealt with the details with the cat. Our first stop was at Andrea's. 

This picture is some of the kids in our van before we left. I can't believe I forgot to take pictures until right before we left!

From there, we went to Angela's and had our yummy supper.

After supper we went to see Angela and Travis' horses and the girls went for a short ride. We took them to a park after riding horses where they could play on playground equipment as well as have some fun in a water play area. 

The next morning we got up and went to visit my grandma. We had a short visit. The girls always get kind of wound up. Grandma always seems to enjoy them, but I never want to wear her out. We left from there to head to camp. We arrived in the afternoon and since Brian was not with us, I ended up getting nothing done for camp that afternoon at the university. I took some work with me and did it from Mom and Dad's house instead, so that the girls could play while I worked!

I'll try to get more loaded tomorrow. Trying to get the pictures and text to line up tonight is about to drive me crazy! Plus we had a mower repair incident in the middle of my blogging. I won't even go into that story...