Busy Holidays!

WOW!!! We have been very busy the past couple of weeks. Getting ready for the holidays, wrapping gifts, mailing them and trying to keep an 8 year old out from under the tree!

We made it to Six Flags over Texas this year for Holiday in the Park. We had a good time and the kids had fun!

If you've never been you should try and make it. Not just during the Christmas season, Six Flags is fun whenever...as long as the heat isn't too bad!!

We will be starting back to school around the 8th of January. It is going to be extremely hard since we have been staying up later and sleeping later!!

Our Christmas was very good this year...the kids recieved some good stuff. They didn't get a whole lot like in the years past...and they didn't mind that...maybe it was just me that really minded. Next we have to plan for New Years. I don't make resolutions, never have. Why when I know that I'm not going to keep them!! LOL!!!

I have a friend that is trying to get "organized" this year. Bless her heart she's having a hard time with it...I guess I need to tell her that organization isn't a one day or week thing...it's a way of life!!! LOL!!

Happy 2007 hope all is good in the coming year.

Homeschool woes

To Homeschool or not to Homeschool, that is the question. Of course, that's Shakespeare, not Cooper.

I got to looking at my "schedule" for the year. We are going by the public school's calendar and I noticed that we are behind! OOOOPPPPSSS!!!! So now I'm freaking out!!
How do we play "catch up"? Do we play "catch up"? or do we just do what she can handle???

We use the curriculum from Bob Jones University. I love it!! It's organized, laid out well and it's easy to work thru. A has come so far with her reading and math. She still hates subtraction! In a few weeks we will be starting multiplication.

My husband, the preacher/computer data base manager, gave me this bit of advice:
Just teach her the Bible and what God wants and everything will fall into place.

I think he might be right.

Am I trying to keep up with the "public" school so I can say where we are or what she has learned? You read these articles that homeschooled children do much better on SAT's and are better well behaved. I have noticed her behavior and attitude is much better!!

I want to do what is best for my child! So I think for here on out...we will take our time and learn the things that God wants her to learn...it may not be every chapter in the books but it will be what she needs.

Reason for the Season

We had a long day today...we took off at 8:00am for our Homeschool Co op meeting. The kids are learning about writing and also practiced "Silent Night".

After that we took off to Tyler to go shopping. A and I had a good day. Although she wanted everything and the things we did get she wants them now. She has no patience.

My youngest is 8 years old, third grade. She no longer believes in "Santa". That ended sometime after last Christmas. So one from church mentioned it to her and I had to explain. Does that make me a liar? Or was it a story or legend to help make the season exciting?

I'm still undecided. I remember being a kid and getting so excited about "Santa" visiting that special evening. I was in the third grade when I found out the truth also. Except I found the presents stashed in top of the bathroom cabinet. I never did say anything about it though.

Don't get me wrong...I love getting gifts, I love giving them also. This year I have tried not to get all wrapped up in the commercialism of the season.





My favorite Christmas program to watch is "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Yes, it's old. It came out in 1965...ohhhhhhh that's so old considering I was born in 1967!!





If you pay attention to it, it tells you the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Who would have thought that after 41 years this little cartoon would still be allowed to tell the true "reason for the season".
Luk 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Luk 2:2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
Luk 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
Luk 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because (he was of the house and lineage of David:)
Luk 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
Luk 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luk 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Luk 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luk 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Luk 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Luk 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luk 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Luk 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Luk 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luk 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
Luk 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
Luk 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Luk 2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.
Maybe some don't know...but what Linus quoted was from the Bible. It's the nativity story, the reason we have Christmas. We read that story every year to the kids on Christmas eve. This year I am trying to make the season about Jesus and not about Santa. After all...what did Santa do for me?

Jesus died for me, that's the greatest gift!

Merry Christmas!!!

Rest??

Wow, I didn't realize how long it had been since I posted anything...I kept thinking, "I'll get to it".

We had a good Thanksgiving. We took a week off of Homeschool. Now we will have to get back into the groove of things again.

Marching season is now officially over. It was sad to see it end but I'm ready for the rest. Not that I will be getting any of that. Our church will be moving this week into our new building. Praise God!!!!


We are so ready for this! We have so many people that have talents and gifts that God has given them. We are so thankful they have decided to use them at our church. Cornerstone started with 3 families in the Library downtown.

We have grown to 11 families. We have many different ages and of course personalities. We are a very fertile bunch!!!

Personalities...that is where problems come from. Doesn't Christ want us to put aside personalities and get on with His business??

Why is it we (the church) educate people, have bible studies, try to give biblical advice to people but no one applies it to their own lives? Are we just studying for studying sake? To get the cool book that we can write all over? Or just to look like we are interested??

If you're not applying it to your life, why are you waisting your time?? And that of other people??

It isn't as though we can apply it for you. Understand now...I'm asking this off the top of my head and haven't search the Bible for my answers.

I feel bad for the preacher...He has so much going on that he shouldn't have to put up with pettiness. I guess when your a bigger church and you have so many people you don't have these problems? Or is it they are just overlooked??

Let's not mention having to defend my belief in Christ. When you have to do that with family, it's tough. What do you do? Believe that you make them feel awkward and apologize or stand up for what you believe? I am tired of being made to feel that I am the one that is offensive.

Didn't they stop to think that I could possibly be offended by them and their lack of belief???

These and many more are questions that keep running thru my mind. The ramblings of tired woman...notice I didn't add the word "Old".

This tired woman is now off to bed. Have a blessed week and keep the faith!!

It's Almost Over

Marching Season is almost over. The band made it to Finals but needed 2 points to make it to State. It was a sad evening for the Seniors and Juniors. The entire band worked hard and had a great year. Next will be concert season, UIL, Spring Trip to Disney.


Mabank's last football game is next week against Kemp. The team has already made the playoffs, so let's see how much longer football season will last.

A is doing ok in school. Her reading is coming along so well. We are starting our substraction unit in math...guess what she hates it!!! Once she gets it though, it won't be that bad.

Our church will be moving into the new building on Dec. 1st Praise God!!!!!
We are so happy!! Right now the preacher is up there at an auction, the only thing he has bought is sheet rock...sheet rock. Out of all of the things up there, table cloths, candleabras, arches, snow cone machines, and he buys sheet rock. I can say this because the preacher happens to be my husband!!! Sheet rock????

Later this afternoon we have a church wide skate party. We never know how many will show up. Then we will all be eating afterwards.

This post wasn't too exciting...I have been feeling yucky the past few days and haven't done that much. Take Care

Sleeping Beauty

A and I attended our first ballet together. I took her and a friend who is also homeschooled to Ft. Worth to Bass Hall. It is a beautiful building! And a great learning experience for A.

The Texas Ballet Theater performed Sleeping Beauty. It was beautiful !! A and our friend had many questions about the story, performance and ballerinas.

It was our first time with the Athens Homeschool group. Most of them seemed like nice people. I have got to try to get over there and meet with them. We have been so busy getting together with our little homeschool group, school, band, and church.

M and a relative of ours were voted Most Handsome and Most Beautiful...yes, our family is good looking!!!!

So far everything is good. God is good to us in so many ways. We have our health and all that we need. Our church will be moving into the new building Dec. 1. I pray that everything will go ok with that.

We most of the time take for granted all that we have and are able to do. God blessed us by allowing us to be born in this country. We have to freedom to worship how and when we want.

I thank Him for all he has done!!! Have a great weekend.

State Fair of TEXAS

Everything is BIGGER in Texas!!! or so they say.

We made it to the State Fair this year.

I've posted some pictures that I took. Make sure you wear good walking shoes!!

We have been so busy with school and band. M, the son, was elected "Most Handsome" !!! We already knew this...it just took some time for others to figure it out!!! The girl who received "Most Beautiful" happens to be a relative. Of course it runs in the family.

We spent all day Saturday the 14th, at Panther Stadium for the Marching Festival.

It turned out great. I believe everyone had a good time and it turned out to be successful!!

I will be glad when October and the first 3 weeks in November are over...well I'll be sad at the same time. I have enjoyed watching M grow up and become involved in the band. That's what he wants to do in college. He wants to be a percussion instructor.

A and I are still homeschooling. She is adding better and her reading is improving. She went to the ear doctor again and her tubes are coming out. Unfortunately, her ears are STILL filled with fluid. In Dec. we will see if it's still in there and have more tubes put in. They may even take her adnoids out. I pray that God heals her ears and that she doesn't have these hearing problems anymore.

That's all for now...time to get the child in bed...it will probably be my bed!!!

MDL

October is so busy if your child is in a marching band in Texas. Drumline competitions, BOA and UIL make for long weekends.
The Drumline came in 3rd in the Plano competition this weekend. That isn't bad considering that this is the first one they have competed in.

Between Band, Homeschool, church and stocking the concession stand I will be so glad when Oct. is over.

Homeschool is good. I'm learning a lot, I just hope A is. I had forgotten most of the things we are going over, especially in English.
We dissected our earthworm. Our next subject will be an oyster. I'm not sure if any place around here have oysters in the shell.

A wants a report card so I need to get busy and make one for her. I did find a template for one on the web so I may use that.
She had decided that she wants to be "Laura Ingalls" for Halloween.

We bought the material today and passed that project to my mother. Mom has always sewed and made things. She's very crafty.

We played with the camera on the phone last week, this is one of the pictures that we took. It isn't too bad. She is getting so big.

That's all for now. On my way to pick her up and get the grades ready.

Homecoming 2006

Homecoming 2006 was a good time. The Panthers won their first game, a Homecoming queen was announced, no one got hurt and the band did good!

Here is M with his girlfriend M. Don't they look cute??

We played hooky from school today. We had been gone all weekend football and to the Genesis Women Shelter. I had to clean the house. I know that my family doesn't care that "cleaniness is next to Godliness" but I do!

We'll play catch up tomorrow.

Radical ????

I use to watch The View. I don't anymore. I know that everyone has opinions and they are entitled to them.

There are men and women who have risked their lives and put everything on hold in their lives so that we can be entitled to them.

Could someone explain to me how people of a "peaceful" religion can run around scream obscenities about Christians and Jews, burn down churches and synagogues, fly airplanes into buildings, bomb train stations, blow up buses and still be the victims?

Then demand apologies?

You know that Satan is looking at all of this and laughing, having a good time, it's exactly what he wants to happen.

Does anyone see Christians or any other religious groups terrorizing other people because a remark was made, a cartoon was produced or quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

When did we become the bad people?? I just want to scream "Look God, Look at what they are doing, come on down and take care of them"!! I know He sees and He will handle everything in His own time.

'Cause in the end, WE WIN!!! If more would read "The Book" more would know how it ends. Even Satan knows the ending!!

We need to pray that God will send His Holy Spirit to convict some people that they will get into His will and forget their own.

Have a good evening.

Science Experiments

Here is A during science today. We are creating crystals. Our science curriculum has little experiments you do with household stuff.

Today we boiled water then dissolved salt in it. Poured half of the mixture in a shallow dish and the other half into another dish.

One dish goes into a warm place, then other in a cool place. After a few days we will check them and see which place larger crystals grew.

We are now going on a month of homeschooling and God is helping us all the way. We will not be able to do this without His help.

We make sure that every morning we ask God to help us thru this and to be with A. She really needs help with math and reading. We have figured out that somewhere, 1st or 2nd grade she missed the lesson on counting. Bless her heart, I don't know why she didn't learn that.

She has trouble skip counting and counting in the hundreds. I talked to a teacher that I use to work with and she said that doesn't surprise her. She has 8th graders who can't count.

With God's help, things will work out. Have FAITH!!!

Five years later

I'm sure all of us remember where we were on 9/11/01. I remember mom saying "I remember I was a junior in high school when JFK was shot and they sent all the kids home".

I remember sitting in a portable building on the Middle School campus watching events unfold on tv. I was with 2 other ladies and all we could do was cry and stare in disbelief. People calling one another on cell phones cause you couldn't call long distance from the school phones. Needless to say...that is when I purchased my first cell phone.

My husband was in downtown Dallas. People were being sent home from work and trying to get out of the city.

I know some people are probably tired of hearing about 9/11, maybe they don't understand. That day changed us and the world.

I remember watching the Republican National Convention in 2004. A man named Zell Miller delivered the key note speech.

Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier.
And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home. For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.
Zell Miller, Republican Convention 2004

It's true...we owe them and their families so much!!!
Take time to enjoy your loved ones and appreciate what God has blessed you with.

Long Week End and Texas Football

Our little team didn't do so well last night. They tried. But the band looked and sounded good.
The drum majors podiums got left at the band hall...I felt so bad for them.

I thought I would post a picture of my little homeschooler. We upgraded our phones so now I'm playing!! Trying to figure out what all I can do with it.

Not a bad picture for a camera phone.

After 3 weeks of homeschool, we have noticed a difference in "sweet angels" attitude. I'm not saying that all children who attend public school have bad attitudes, but hers has gotten better.
Praise God!!

Another Praise for God...He has given us a new church building!!! We move in Dec. 1!!! We are so excited. The homeschool group that we are involved in needs a place to go and maybe we will be able to use the church.

Might have to twist the preacher's arm...he's my hubby so maybe I won't have to twist too hard!

Have a safe weekend.

Flutterby

Texas Football
Tonight's the Night

Football season, aka marching season for the band!! Homeschool playday this morning then off to East Texas.

It's bitter sweet! MJ is a senior so this is his last first game to perform in.

Homeschool is going good. AP and I had the house to ourselves for 3 days this week. Hubby had to actually GO into work. Usually he rolls out of bed and goes to the kitchen table to log in.

Off we go...to play and find caffine!! Then load ice chest for the band, take a spelling test, math work and read a story.
We have decided to take it easy on Fridays. Since this is Labor Day weekend that means no school on Monday!! WOOOHOOO!!

Have a good and safe one!!

Homeschool and Marching Band

Week 2 of homeschool went well. Now...marching season will be starting. Our oldest is a senior in public school and plays tenors in the band. If you have ever been involved with something like that it takes so much time and energy. As president of the "Booster" club, I get to attend everything and oversee it. WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!! I so much enjoy the people you meet doing extra curricular activities.

Some of the other homeschool families around town are trying to organize a co op. Which is an excellent idea! We met on Friday morning and let all of the kids play. We discussed the reasons we decided to homeschool our kids and what we would like to do within the co op.

For some reason around here, homeschool has a bad reputation. Whether your bummed out with the "public" school, wanting to encourage more Godly views, morals and values, people tend to look at you with the "deer in the headlights" look when you mention you are homeschooling.

I can't think of anything "special" that I can contribute. I am still thinking...

Between teaching, marching season, football games, meetings, co op, blogging(which I am still learning), concession stand duty, I don't know when I will be eating, sleeping, sunday school lessons, laundry, LOL!!!

Have a great weekend and blessed week.

We made it!!!

Well, it's still HOT in Texas!! You can't even turn on the oven...it makes the whole house even hotter. That's a good reason to go out to eat.
AP and I made it through our first week of school. We didn't bite one another's head off!! We make sure that every morning we pray before beginning our lessons.
I think she may feel comfortable enough to actually learn something. Not that she didn't last year, this way she will feel more comfortable asking for help.
I have cousins that homeschool also. One does unit studies, one uses ABeka cd's. We are using Bob Jones.
Yes, I bought the whole 3rd grade curriculum. It matched up to the TEKS and I like to have structure. I think I choice this curriculum more for me than AP. She really enjoys the science, not to excited about the English.
The thing I like most about it is in every subject God is somewhere, somehow used. I thought that was pretty cool!!!
MR, the graduating one this year is all involved with the band. He's a percussionist. I learned early it's not called a drummer. He's glad to be back around all of his MDL people.
I'm still not too sure about this blogging thing, I may have to decide between this and MySpace.
I have looked and read many of the homeschool blogs that are out there and can't decide how I want to set this thing up or what I should do. I am still trying to figure it out.
It's getting late and Drive Thru History is about to come on.
Until next time...have a blessed weekend.

Flutterby

Flutterby

I'm sitting here in Texas in JULY!!! It is so hot!!! The ac stays on until about 10pm. It never stops...sure do hate to see the electric bill. I guess I will tell you a little about myself.

I am a wife and mother. My husband is a preacher/data base developer. We have 2 beautiful children. One will be a SENIOR in high school, then other in the 3rd grade. This will be my first year homeschooling the 3rd grader.

I worked in the public school here in our "town" and know what happens there. I'm sure all SMALL town schools are like ours. Only the people with certain names get everything and the politics are rotten...since I do not have the capability to rearrange things for my child to get the help she needs I thought I would take on the school process myself.

After all, who do we really want our children to learn from??? It's not the people in the schools that are bad, well, maybe some of them but it's the "system" that upsets me. All Texas wants to do is teach our children how to pass "their" test.

Homeschooling isn't something that should be taken lightly or an excuse to use to pull your child out due to discipline problems. This is something that I honestly had to pray about and seek God's guidance.

I will continue to pray about this next school year and try my hand at this "bloggin" thing.