Park Fun!

A group of us from church went to the park to play. We had so much fun!

Kasie and Carissa. I wonder if she knows how much she is loved?



Kalie and Caroline are eating lunch together, alone as "big" girls.



Josiah and Caleb conquering the wilds. LOL! These boys are so funny, cute, smart and we are very glad to be part of their life.



I am very thankful to have this "church family" they have been a wonderful support to our family.

Show and Tell Day

Half of our Girl Scout troop is homeschooled. How cool is that! In the Girl Scout organization each troop is set up a little differently. The organization has a framework for leaders to follow but there is pleanty of room for leaders and girls to make each troop their own.

One thing our troop allows, is badge work outside of meetings. The girls are give a form that needs to be completed and turned in. They are also required to bring proof (photo, the completed project, a program or brochure, etc.) to share with the troop. Our plan is to have 3 Show and Tell meetings a year. One at the end of the year (May/June), end of the Summer (August) and one mid year (January). These times match up with our Court of Awards. The COA meeting is usually the next meeting after our show and tell meeting.

As they arrived the girls were given 15 minutes to set up their tables. We began our meeting as usual with the Pledge, Promise, Law and announcements. As leaders, we choose 2 activities (per girl) from the requirement forms as the "shareing" activities. After the group sharing time, we divided the girls into 2 groups with the first group manning their tables and the second group visiting. Halfway through they switched. The girls did a very good job sharing their "talents" and talking in front of a group.

Hannah sharing to Brooke and Kalie.




Karin and Hannah.





Katy explaining to Karin.




Brooke and Katy.

Our troop is small, we now have only 6 girls as we have lost 2 due to behavior expectations. The girls have learned so much this year. They have become a close group of friends. At the beginning of the year Katy and Brooke hardly spoke to anyone and if they did speak you could not hear them. Karin and Kalie were wild and crazy. Hannah was so excited about life and Hayden was happy to be in Girl Scouts again. (She had been a Daisy but could not find space in a Brownie troop when she bridged.) Now they all interact with each other.

The night was GREAT!

A New Bed

A few days ago someone from our church posted on the email loop that they were downsizing to a smaller house and had a full size bed for sale. Well Kasie jumped right onto that! For being so little she wants/needs a lot of room. LOL!

The new bed for Kasie means ... that we now have a bed for Kalie. We rearranged, cleaned and moved the daybed into Kalie's room. She was so excited! She covered up with her daddy's blanket (she has used it often since he passed).



She arranged her "friends" and read them a goodnight story.



Maybe she will begin to sleep in her room? I will not hold my breath. LOL!



P.S. We did NOT paint her room this way. The people who lived here before us had the wonderful decorating ideas. LOL! Kalie liked it, so she was lucky enough to get this bedroom when we moved in.

Build A Bear Workshop

Kalie is a very lucky girl. Her older sister (Kasie) works at Build A Bear Workshop! How cool is that?

Kasie's ex-boyfriend (Blake) bought her a Build A Bear for her 17th birthday in June of 2006. Kalie received Kamie Kitty (her first) for her 6th birthday in August 2006. All was good. We had 2 Build A Bears in our family, a respectable amount. Now the amount is not so respectable. LOL!

Well Kasie was looking for her first job in February 2007 and she was hired at Build A Bear Workshop. It has all been downhill, I mean wonderful since then. LOL!

Kalie is an interesting child. She has a wonderful active imagination and plays with the weirdest things. She is not like other (almost) 8 year old girls. She doesn't play with barbies or dolls and she is not into Littlest Pet Shop. She has a very large fake creepy crawler collection. She plays with blocks, (plastic) animals, math manipulatives, etc.

But ... she LOVES Build A Bear! She saves all of her money to buy new clothes and animals. She thinks that every child should have at least 4 Build A Bears. LOL! She takes them places and dresses them. They are often students in our "classes" and have earned Brownie Try Its. LOL!

Everyone knows and loves Kalie so well there. When we go in they all say hello to her and ask about her animals, because she usually has one with her. Kalie loves to go to Build A Bear. She will straighten things in the store and has helped customers. If it is close to closing time and they are not busy, sometimes they let her help "stock" the animal skins. She loves it! She says, when I am 16, Kasie and I will work at Build A Bear Workshop together. LOL! (I do not have the heart to tell her that in 8 years, Kasie will probably not be working there.)

Well this weekend Build A Bear Workshop had a community service opportunity available for their customers. While you were building a bear for yourself, you could also build a bear (maltise puppy) for free and choose one of three organizations to donate it to. Well when Kalie found out about this we just had to go. (Kasie was working, so we had to go anyway.)

Kalie was SOOOO happy to make bears for kids that do not have any. The charity she choose was a childrens cancer organization. Here she is stuffing a dog.



Kalie had to do the whole shabang. They all needed a bath.



They let her build 5 dogs to donate to charity.




She made sure each dog was made with love. She named all of them. She spoke to each dog individually and told them it was their job to make a little boy or girl who was sick very happy. She had a great time and it was free.

Friday ~ Babies

I love babies! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE babies. I hold them, love them, kiss them, read to them, sing to them (not well), .....

I wish it had been in the Lords plan to give me lots and lots of babies. I always wanted to get married (to Prince Charming, of course) and have lots of babies. Being a mom is my dream job (and some days I do it very well, others not so much). Well the Lord had other plans for me, so ...

I have to love other people's babies. This is my mostest favoritest little baby girl in the world ...
Carissa!



She belongs to Chris and Melissa, the hosts of our community group. How could you look at that baby and not want to kiss her cheeks? I love her boys Caleb (almost 3 1/2) & Josiah (almost 5)as well. They are so smart and funny! Totally energetic boys (which scares me, LOL, as I have only had girls). They are having a joint Spiderman/Batman party next month for their birthdays! How fun is that!

Well much to my delight and joy. I have 2 new babies to love. Will and John, 3 month old twins! Yea for me, double the love and babies! They belong to Ryan (Mr. music man) and Becky, who are also part of our community group. Melissa has been helping take care of the boys on Fridays until Becky finishes the school year (she is a teacher at the high school). This past Friday Kalie and I went to help.

Caleb is helping me feed Will. John is in the background.



Kalie feeding John. (She loves babies too.)



Both boys. Aren't they so adorable? John is on the left and Will is on the right.



My three babies ... Will, Carissa and John.



I love homeschooling because it gives us the opportunity to love others. Kalie and I had the best day. It is always so fun to hang out at Melissa's house. She is the best hostess, always making you feel as if her home is yours. She is very kind and gracious! We spent the day: feeding babies, holding babies, visiting, playing and we had a great lunch. It was an awesome day!

ps. Do you think Becky would notice is one of her twins went missing??? LOL!

The Greenville Zoo

Our entire family went to the Greenville Zoo today! It was so fun! We also went with our extended "church" family. Meridith came, with two borrowed children. (LOL!) She was babysitting Anna Catherine and Colin Beachy (our asst. Pastor's 2 oldest children). Melissa was there with Josiah, Caleb and Carissa. Katie, Kasie, Kalie and I were there. Someone asked us if we were from a daycare, Kalie said "No, this is our family!" In her almost rude sarcastic way. Mer said we should of had matching shirts. LOL!

Colin, Kalie, Josiah, Anna Catherine & Caleb.

Kalie, Josiah, Katie & Caleb.



Kalie & I.



Katie & Caleb (her buddy).



Kasie & Colin.





Kasie planned this excursion (she loves the Zoo). When we were leaving Kasie said, "What should we do next Tuesday?" I said I don't know, what are you planning? LOL!

Community Groups

Our church has a Sunday evening worship once a month, on the other weeks families meet together in homes in Community Groups. Our group has a meal, sermon discussion and then the we split up (boys and girls) for prayer time. The groups are set up with a diverse population of young and old, single and married, couples and families. These groups are usually bases geographically. Well being the troublemakers that we are ... we meet with a group that is 20 minutes away.

Actually the reason is that this group was a better fit for our family, because of Kalie's anxiety issues. Meridith, one of the members, is also one of Kalie's Sunday Worship teachers. (The teachers rotate on a six week schedule.) She suggested that we visit her Community Group, we did and haven't left. LOL!

Our group is pretty diverse a few young single girls, a few newly married couples, one church elder and his wife, an older single woman, a couple with new twin boys (I can't wait until the boys are old enough to come to CG and they can come back. We miss our music man!), a family with 3 young children and our family.

Community Group has given Kalie a "safe place" to make friends and develop relationships. She is the oldest of the children by almost 3 years. Kalie has really opened up to the group and will talk to almost everyone with out fear. She prays for the members of CG without prompting and talks about them throughout the week. This HUGE accomplishment has allowed me to have new friends! YEA!

One thing that has been hard for me with Kalie's anxiety is the seclusion I feel. I like people, activities, going places ... Kalie does not. Sometimes I feel isolated and alone. When the big girls were little they did EVERYTHING, Girl Scouts, dance, summer camps, swimming lessons, etc. We were involved in a very large, active church. Kalie does Girl Scouts (and sometimes that is a struggle).

Community Group is filling my need for friends and acceptance. When we first started going we would leave right after dinner, then we were able to stay for part of the sermon discussion, it moved up to the beginning of prayer time. Kalie felt more comfortable and we were able to stay for prayer requests and now Kalie will actually participate and request prayers (usually about Kasie's knee). Now we are almost always the last ones to leave. Kalie loves going to CG now.

Not only has CG filled a spiritual need but they have become our family. In times of trouble and need they have helped our family. Days that I have been sad, they have lifted me up. Days that I need to rejoice with another, they have been happy for me. Days that I have needed a friend, they have been there!

We are truly blessed! I am very thankful for the love and acceptance that our family receives from our Community Group. They have become our friends and extended family. The Lord is good to me!

Quiet Time

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I am not the most pleasant person in the morning. My cats and dog usually wake me up between 5:00 and 6:30 every morning to be let out, and when I am awake ... I am awake.

I use to be very angry and ugly during this time. I use to drink my pot of coffee (I know I should not drink an entire pot of coffee myself.) and think "what a crummy life I have, this world sucks, blah, blah. Then I began using this time to collect myself, read emails, lesson plans, pay bills, etc. and my life did not seem as crummy. Now ... just a note, my life is still pretty stressful with many trials and obstacles, it just seemed better.

Lately I have begun to use this time for a short reading of the word, not a study, nothing in-depth, just a short reading of the word to hopefully read the bible in a year. Kalie and I are studying together during school (most days) while she creates her Bible Notebook. This morning time is just for me to read.

Well ... let me tell you ... the Lord works in a wondrous way! My mornings have become much more enjoyable. I am less of a crab, have a much better outlook on life and am able to see the many positive things that are around me. The world still sucks, but it doesn't matter because it is in God's hands. He is in control and will take care of things.

Would I rather sleep in? You betcha! (The Minnesota in me coming out.) But since that is not an option, I am very thankful that the Lord has used this time to bring me closer to him.

The Past...

A few years ago, during the MySpace craze, when the big girls were all into it ... I got a page. Mainly just to kinda keep tabs on them. They never abused the freedom and conducted themselves just as I thought they would. The MySpace craze ended for them and they have moved onto Facebook (I have not. LOL!). They routinely share what they are doing and want me to see this or that on their pages. I am so very proud of them. Katie and Kasie are making good life choices. I am blessed to have them as daughters.

Well I forgot that I had a MySpace page. It sat dormant for over a year, until this week.

One of my very best friends from High School (Kathie) contacted me this week. She left a comment for me to approve. At first I was not sure what to think or do. I am not the same person I was in High School, in fact I am not the same person I was a year ago. I have spent the past two days thinking and reflecting on my life and the mistakes I have made.

I returned the message. I gave her my email and blog address. (As I love to be able to blog about our life, even if no one reads it. LOL!) I checked out her MySpace. She has 3 daughters. WOW! I guess I never thought of others from that part of my life growing older, having kids, etc. Not that I thought they would all stay in their 20's or something. I guess I just never thought of them having kids. I had just blocked out that part of my life. I was not a good kid or teenager and I did not make good choices. I do not want to revisit that part of me. I have changed and am trying to make right choices.

My sister (Dawn) contacted me yesterday also. We have not spoken since right after Bill died. I do not have a good relationship with my family. It is partially their fault, but I accept most of the blame. In the past I have not been a very accepting or forgiving person. When I felt I had been wronged (legitimately or not) I just walked away. Many months or year could go by without contact with someone. Usually the other person will make the first gesture. I know this is not right! This is one of my MAJOR character flaws. The fight or flight reflex is almost always set on flight for me. I try to avoid confrontation at all costs. This is not right or healthy. I know this.

This is not to say that I have not thought of people from my past. I have. In fact I think of Kathie and her mother (Carol) almost daily during my quiet time. I am very thankful that she shared the Lord with me. Does she know that the seeds she planted in me while I was a troubled teen have now grown and continue to grow stronger? Probably not. In fact I am not sure if she was even aware that she was planting seeds in me.

I have thought of my other best friend (Paula) often as well. My sister informed me that she has 3 daughters and a step-son. Dawn told me that she is going through a divorce. They are linked friends on MySpace. Maybe I should check her out and make the first move?

One of my biggest regrets is that I do not know my nieces or my nephew. I have not seen pictures of them in so very long. I do not know what their voices sound like or the type of people they are becoming. I have no idea about their likes or dislikes, hobbies or passions. The girls do not know their cousins. I had always dreamed of my nieces and nephew coming to spend weeks with us in the summer. I wanted to be the Aunt that sent them cards, letters and the best most creative presents. You know the fun one. That is not who I have become. I have become nothing to them.

This is sad and it is my fault. I have struggled with this for the past two days. The Lord has laid my sins and transgressions on my heart heavily. I know that I must make some type of amends and ask for forgiveness but I am not sure how. I have prayed, cried and struggled. I know that I need to leave this with the Lord and he will bring me through it. I am just not sure how.

Our School Day!

Ok! How can I count this as school?

Now that the big girls are home, it has been harder and harder to get Kalie to focus. I think our summer vacation might be the month of May and August while the sisters are home. We will have to do school during June and July while they are both working at camp.

Laundry! YUCK!

Our dryer is broken. I am not sure what is wrong with it, but it doesn't really matter. We do not have the money to fix it right now. So we are hanging all of our clothes on hangers throughout the house to dry. They usually fit in this one area in our laundry room.



But ... now that the big girls are home. We need to catch up on all of their laundry, so I have been washing clothes ALL day. My usual spot was filled with wet clothes so I moved to spot #2, the hallway (girl's) bathroom.



The washer kept going and going. So I had to move to spot #3, the mini hallway by the girl's bedroom. And spot #4 Kasie's bedroom doorway.



I do not have a spot #5, or at least I do not have another tension rod to hang things on. LOL! So the rest of the laundry will have to wait until tomorrow. I still have about 4 loads left. Hope you day is filled with less ... LOL!

Quiet Sunday

We are having a quiet day here. We went to church and then our usual trip to Wal-Mart for a newspaper. Kalie and I came home and the big girls went to work. (They work at the mall. Katie works at Eddie Bauer and Kasie works at Build A Bear Workshop.) We made eggs for lunch. I put the ingredients in the bread machine for wheat-white bread. Threw the ingredients for taco style lentils and rice (vegetarian recipe as my oldest and youngest are vegetarians) in the crock pot for our portion of dinner for our church community group.

Kalie is vegging out watching movies with the dog. I am "playing" on the computer. We will have to leave around 5ish. So today is a nice calm quiet day!

Hope your day goes well!

Plants

Johnny Jump Ups (on the left, not growing), Marigolds, Onions and Corn.



Watermellon (on the left, not growing), Cantelop, Yellow squash, Zuchinni Squash.



Climbing Green Beans.



Daisies (on the left, not growing), Climbing Morning Glories.



I think that they are almost ready to plant. I need to build the boxes (square foot gardens) for our gardens.

The Big Girls are Home!

Katie and Kasie are home from college.



With all of their stuff.



and more stuff... (sorry I do not know how to rotate pics)



Most of their stuff is put away. (This is our school room.)

I am very overwhelmed with all of their stuff coming home. Our house is not big enough for all of us and their stuff. LOL!