really excited!!!!

Okay, taking the plunge into homeschooling five of my kids has been exhilarating yet terrifying. Well, perhaps not exactly TERRIFYING, but a bit scary. I mean, what if I don't teach them enough? What if they fail their end of year exams? What if I wreck their entire lives?

I am sort of kidding, but being a mom is scary enough sometimes. These blessings called children have been placed in my care. To raise them up into responsible citizens, able to make their own way in the world is daunting. To labor to instill values in them, to help them to fear God and keep His commandments, to follow Jesus and live a clean victorious life...that is my whole heart's desire for them. Worldly success is good, but if they will live those faithful lives, that is beyond magnificent.

Anyway, here we are, school starting next week, and me being tempted to think, "What was I thinking!? I can't do this!"

So, I did what any freaked out mom would do, I went shopping! I scrolled through Amazon, and placed an order. (I haven't actually completed the order yet, Jon knows the password and he's still sleeping:))

I have a basic idea of what I want to teach them, but having more books specific to grade level will help.

Okay, so Duke behaved last night. He didn't bark or howl a single time. Paul however, was really bad. His allergies kicked in big time, and he sniffed and sniffled for a huge section of the night. I hate when I wake up and can't get back to sleep, but when he's tossing and turning too, ugh. Oh, the trials of life, ha. Anyway, this morning at 7: ish, I hear the school bus pull up, and honk a few times. I look out the window, and sure enough, there is the bus. What? Did I sleep for a whole week? Did I get the dates totally mixed up? Three of my kids are getting on that bus this year, but I thought school started next week. hmmm. Then Evelyn came in to my room and told me, duh Mom, there's high school orientation this morning. That's why the bus came, but she wasn't going on the bus, she wanted a ride instead. Okay, good. I didn't sleep for a week or get seriously mixed up with dates.

And, I got up and drove Miss Ev to school, then came home and took my walk.

Today I have to do some grocery shopping. I am not complaining, but food prices just keep going up. The cheap food is the most unhealthy, too, it seems. I like to feed the kids good stuff, like chicken and veggies and a little brown rice on the side, which is what we had last night. They seriously like ramen noodles, and boxed mac and cheese, which in my humble opinion, isn't even food. I get it for them sometimes for summer lunches, but blah. We don't eat much pasta any more, or even much bread. I like the sprouted grain bread, which is like $5 a loaf....the cinnamon raisin Ezekial bread, toasted with butter, yum.

Anyway, I like to have fresh fruit and we are almost out. We do have lots of green beans from the garden in our freezer, :)

I bought a new toothbrush last week, which I stuck in my purse. It is sticking out. Charlotte Claire said I should just leave it in there, in case we ever go to Florida again.

I talked to Benjamin today. He is in the Army and is stationed near Seattle Washington, at Ft. Lewis-McChord. He and his wife and little Anya, the sole grand child, are probably staying out there when he gets out of the Army. He is training for an apprenticeship in HVAC (heating, air conditoning), and the job market is good there, as is the weather, and they have made a few friends there. Wah for me. But they are happy there, I guess, and it's obviously their choice. There are no words to express how much I would like to be part of little Anya's life, not just a long-distance Grandma, but there's not much I can do about it. I can't explain it properly, but it almost hurts to see pictures and videos of that darling little girl.




She is a sweetie pie.

My nocturnal teenagers are all still sleeping. The little girls have had breakfast, and are deeply into playing dollhouse. The dogs are sleeping, and the house is quiet. I have to leave to pick up Evelyn soon, and switch laundry.

Tomorrow I am working at the baseball game, and on Friday we are going camping for the weekend. Our kitchen table reflects that I have started making camping piles. :)