Forever 21-My Feet Wish They Were

Kaitlin is 16 years old.  We decided to do a little shopping before her band trip. Where did she want to go? Charming Charlie's (She had a gift card) and Forever 21. We were at Charming Charlie's for about 45 minutes and she did not look at one piece of jewelry! She did try on several tops and dresses. She came out of the store with just one item. A hat.

She absolutely loves it. She probably already has 20 pictures of it on facebook. :O) We then drove to Forever 21 at North Star Mall. Can I just say, "It's huge!" ?

Nothing is in any particular order...so you have to walk all over both floors to find a couple of pairs of shorts and tops. We were there for 2 hours and I was exhausted! I'm not one that just loves to shop for long periods of time. It was definitely a sacrifice of love for my feet.

The rest of me enjoyed spending some rare "girl" time with my youngest daughter!

Homeschool Easter Project

We had a little homeschool get-to-gether last week. Most of it was pretty typical...eating hotdogs and chips, decorating eggs and the traditional Easter egg hunt. We did do a little craft, making little paper Easter baskets. Each child did one and we had a total of 12 baskets. Each was filled with "grass", a decorated egg and a piece of candy. Sunday morning the kids delivered the baskets to the Senior Adults ladies' Sunday School class! There were many "aaaw"s and "thanks you"s. The kids came out of the classroom beaming.

Ryan said, "Those ladies were so happy."
"How did that make you feel?"
"Really good." :)

Get the original pattern @ http://www.bhg.com/holidays/easter/eggs/easter-baskets-and-bags/

The Monster Tree

We must say goodbye to the "monster" tree. :( Greg, Kimberly and Jonathan picked out this tree in 2004. I don't think they thought through how heavy it would be. I was so relieved when Jonathan was big enough to help Dad bring in the two big boxes that held the 5 parts that make up the tree. Kimberly was always the navigator, making sure A was plugged into A, B into B, etc. She also labeled everything so they knew what to do the following year. This year we did it without her and amazingly enough, we plugged everything in and it worked. There was a plug or two that we weren't sure about and just did it anyway. After Jonathan and Greg put the tree together and returned the boxes to the garage (Greg calls this their annual pilgrimage), I set out to get it decorated. Instead of going broke trying to buy enough ornaments to fill it up, I just filled in the empty spots with poinsettias. Since Jonathan will be in college next year, Greg decided this was the last year for the big tree. Even while putting it back into the boxes for the last time, the post on the base section might have bent. We may never know. We're thinking 8 feet at the most for the next tree....and much lighter!

A Star in the Making

Ryan was in the Christmas play this year as obviously a hippie. :) This was his first time with a part and he learned it very well. He said he was a little nervous, but you couldn't tell. He even lowered his voice to sound older. His lines were funny, and he had the crowd laughing. Good job, Ry!

30 Years!

On August 2, Greg and I celebrated our 30th year of marriage.  It seems so hard to believe!  God has taken us on quite a journey and continues to do so.  Sometimes He has taken us places I wasn't too excited about.  But since He is in total control of every situation, we have learned some very valuable lessons.  We learned some of those lessons easily, some lessons we failed and had to re-take them. Some we are still working on.

The blessings He has given us are truly amazing.  With each act of obedience, He has given us peace. Because of our very young age when we got married, we had an enormous task of maturing to do.  Our expectations of marriage were unrealistic, depending on each other for needs that only the Father could fulfill. As He grew us, we learned to lean on Him and not that of ourselves and our "own understanding". I learned being a submissive wife was more than an action, but that it came from the heart. Greg learned how to speak my "love language" and I learned to speak his.  I learned how important it is to give my husband respect and he learned the importance of not only keeping promises, but the importance of giving a promise.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary by going on a cruise to Alaska....our kids kind of pushed us into it.  Thanks, kids!  It was so fun to spend a week away from everything and just enjoy each other.  I'm so blessed that I can truly say that my husband is my best friend! It was an experience neither one of us will forget. 

Of course we just kept telling each other the whole time that we wished we could do it again with the kids! :)

 I am looking forward to where God will lead us next, for the journey is not over.  I pray we will weather the storms that come our way, trusting Him and allowing Him to discipline us and grow us. May we keep our eyes on Him!

Conversations with Ryan

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Today when I was giving Ryan a haircut, he was talking about what "style" he wanted his hair.  :) I responded that it's either long or short.  That started the topic of discussion on his "little" ear. (Ryan has a birth defect called microtia..."little ear") He likes his hair a little long, so that his ear is not the first thing people notice.  He told me that only 3 people noticed (at least that said anything) at R.A. camp.  One that he told me about was hilarious. --He had been in the pool and was standing in line again for the slide, wet hair plastered to his head.  A "kid" he didn't know said, "Dude, when you jumped in the pool, your ear folded up." Later the same "kid" asked if it did that often.  Ryan responded, "Pretty much."  We were talking about how embarrassed the boy would have been if he'd known it was a birth defect. I thought he showed great maturity by just playing along.  He says it doesn't bother him when kids ask about his ear.  He just says, "I was born with a little ear."  When we talk about the surgery he could have to make it "big" he says it's convenient to have one little ear sometimes.  He had no problem going to sleep at camp even when all the boys were talking.  He just laid his head with his big ear on the pillow.  Problem solved. ;)

First Day of School 2010

Today marks my 12th year of homeschooling! Jamie was in in 7th, Robin-5th, Kimberly-1st and Jonathan-PreK and Kaitlin was 2. 

First day of school 1997

Now Jamie is 25, starting her 4th year of teaching. Robin has graduated from college and working as a graphic designer. Kimberly is beginning her Sophomore year in college, getting her degree in Math Education. Jonathan is a Senior and Kaitlin is a Sophomore in high school. Ryan, last but not least, is the last one at home homeschooling. He was excited about the first day of school and day one was a success. We pray the year will continue in the same manner of great attitudes and a desire to learn! :) We will be partnering up with another homeschool family. Two days a week, Ryan will school with them and two days a week, Gunter will school with us. We have done this for 3 years and the boys love it. This gives the moms an opportunity to work part-time, keeps us on a schedule, and the boys will enjoy doing History, Science and Language together (and of course, "recess").

Ryan-nine years old!

Mom is ready with laptop, lesson plans and my CUP OF COFFEE!

Our visitor in the classroom (Chloe is Robin's dog).

Jackson=Two Years Old

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Baseball Season is Over

Both boys played baseball this spring.  Ryan played his first time in the Little League Minors (more like REAL baseball than Tball or machine pitch) and Jonathan (aka Skeeter in sports) played on the  high school Varsity team...Go Tigers.  I was a bad mom and never got a picture, except for the ones he had taken at school.  Dad was assistant coach for Ryan's team, but still missed a few games when it came down to choosing an away game of Jonathan's.  Home games he just rushed over to the school as soon as Ryan's was over.

Jonathan played center field and made some really great catches.  Ryan played second base most of the time, pitched a few times and played center field the last game.  He made a great catch while there and one of Jonathan's teammates who was umping in outfield called Ryan, "little Skeeter". 

I kept stats this season and now I really want to get the "Baseball Scrap Book" w/score sheets project done!  My friend and sister-in-law started designing one and we just haven't had the start up funds to get it all going.  Now that I've kept score all season for both boys I want to tweak the score sheet a little.  Maybe we'll have something for next season.  Could be a new business opportunity...who knows? :) 

Jonathan's Pride and Joy

After weeks of searching the internet and used car dealerships, Jonathan and Dad finally found a sweet deal...a 2004 Audi.  It has been in an accident, but after looking at pictures and carefully checking out the engine, they decided it was a great deal.  After they took it on a test drive, they told the owner of the small dealership that they would call him on Monday.  When Dad took Mom to see it Saturday afternoon the owner was in the lot even though they were closed.  He let us look at the car again and put a down payment to hold it until Monday.   Unbeknown to Jonathan, we picked it up Monday and had it waiting in the driveway for him when he got home Monday evening.  He was totally surprised and told Dad that he had thrown him a "curve ball".  He couldn't quit smiling.  Even though it is Dad's car now, Jonathan plans to get a job so it will be truly his car someday.  His big sisters are waiting and watching closely to see how all that turns out. :)