Blog tweaks and Bulletin Boards!?!

What is with me lately? I have been crazy about messing with my blog. I found a website that tells you how to change the html code so you can have 3 columns instead of 2. ( http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/2007/02/three-columns-blogger-template.html ) It was fun for me to look at the code and mess around with it a little. I took courses in grad school on how to create and teach online courses so I am familiar with a little of what the code looks like. I understand some of it. At least I am not afraid to get in there and mess things up. Sometimes at TFA, I would tell our tech guys that I was just comfortable enough to get things messed up really bad but at least I wasn't afraid to try new things. And besides we always kept a backup, right? I was actually on staff there when we first got computers in our classrooms. I was one of the first to start doing my lesson plans on the computer (in Excel), I spent MANY, MANY hours helping other teachers figure computers out. We had some amazing teachers who hadn't been around computers very much in the beginning. But like all great teachers, they were willing to try new things. Then I got the privelege to work in the tech department. It was fun offically training the teachers and getting them excited about using the computers in their teaching.

I am one of those people that used to put up her bulletin boards and then take them down again and rearrange them. SICK! I know. Especially when I worked at TFA and we changed our literature theme EVERY month and therefore changed all of our bulletin boards EVERY MONTH. Like August was alway the rainforest...picture paper vines hanging from the ceiling and all my bulletin boards coordinated with the theme. YES...Bible bulletin board that month for the character trait of self control had a tree limb with a Chamealeon on it (I think it was an animal in the rain forest). My "Job" board was the "Hop to it" with Frogs and lily pads. There are some really big lily pads in the Rain Forest. I had a book with pictures of them. In November I think we read The Mouse and the Motorcycle...so mice, fall, thanksgiving. It was a cute combination. In the fall I would hang all kinds of magazine and calendar pictures of what fall REALLY looks like. As Floridians we don't have a clue. I felt it my duty to educate my dear sweet second graders about fall...even though I haven't ever lived anywhere that you truly experience it either. I would stick up tonz of construction paper orange, red, brown, and yellow leaves all over the room. In December I remember doing dinosaurs. I actually remember having a poster of a dinosaur dressed in a Santa suit. Shhh!!! I had LOTS of baby Jesus stuff up and a REASON for the SEASON bulletin board. Anyway...It was a sickness...the room decorating. I guess I kind of miss bulletin boards with homeschooling. I do hang posters up on the windows in our school room. And every now and then I go look in my files and see what I have left from teaching that I can hang up. That reminds me I have a bunch of laminated pics of fall I could put up now. (Can you believe after 10 years they still look good...gotta love that laminating machine and the librarian-she did the laminating!!!) Forget seeing out the windows. Hee,hee! We don't have much wall space to hang stuff in the school room.

So you get the picture. You would think I would be crazy organized and decorated like this in my home...oh, well...I suppose I am venting that energy to my blog. It bothers me that I don't have all the fonts and backgrounds coordinating like I really want. I keep thinking if I had the software I could create these backgrounds and stuff that I find for free. But why? Why do I feel the need to spend the time doing this. I mean some people read it but WHO really cares what it looks like except ME, ME, ME!

I should go do dishes or maybe go sit in the same room with my hubbie...he did get home from New Mexico today. He's really tired though and has serious jet lag!

Falling!

Fall....in Florida that means it is somewhere in the mid-80's. At least in our backyard we have lots of shade so it is really nice. In El Paso...John says it was in the 60's on Friday.

Friday we played outside all afternoon. It was so relaxing. The kids really had fun until we had to scurry and clean everything up when the lawn guys got here. But praise God they bless us with free lawn care! They can come whenever they need to.

Spunky sat in my lap and told me Saturday morning that she wanted me to go away and stay in a hotel and Dad could come back. She said she didn't like me anymore. We talked for a little while and she did admit to loving me and said that I didn't have to leave. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she wanted pancakes for breakfast and I just wasn't up for that right then. So I figured I should try and make things a little fun. So it ended up being "backwards day" for us, as Lady declared. I told them we could have pancakes for dinner and that led to having dinner for breakfast. Yes, we ate cheese pizza bagel bites for breakfast and had chocolate chip cookies for dessert. The kids thought it was fun. I did slide back into my slave driver role and we worked awhile on cleaning up around the house before lunch and then napped. After that we hung outside playing with the neighbor boys...one of my kids' favorite things to do on the planet.
I found some Black Widow spider sacks and the mommy spider. ICK!!! They were hiding on the bottom side of Dynamo's little plastic basketball hoop. I decided to be a big girl and take care of them. UGH! I am okay with killing bugs typically but Black Widow spiders FREAK me out. Anyway, I sprayed them with wasp killer spray and smushed the mommy with a stick. Then after texting John for some wisdom on what to do for the egg sacks I used the stick to plop them in a ziplock bag and put them in the trash. Now the dump can deal with them. I should probably do some research on destroying them. I have the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it. I should probably save that research for sometime other than when I actually want to be asleep.

We went for a walk around the block and stopped to chat with some other neighbors. While we were chatting, Dynamo was pushing Dimples around and around and around in the stroller on the asphalt road. And I am sure you can see where this is going...one turn a bit too sharp and the stroller some how ended on top of Dimples. He has some VERY minor pink scrapes on his face and hand and knee. I felt so bad. He was OK very quickly... it was not as bad as it sounds but I am going to hate to have to explain this one to the nursery tomorrow. It goes very nicely with the small slightly purple bump on his forhead that he got from bumping the ceramic tile on the floor when he was pulling up on something yesterday. I suppose it may be Dimples' first fall but I know it won't be his last. Ha, ha, ha...how punny!

Thankful 25-

32.For Dimple's rolls on his legs, hee, hee! The only time in life that big ole' chunky thighs are actually cute. ( 9 month well check today...97 percentile in height AND in weight- Big BOY!)
31.For a 3 year old that FINALLY goes potty and wears big girl panties!!! Go Spunky!
30.For a blogger friend that took care of Lady's tooth that fell out at her very first ballet class. (THANK YOU JONATHA!!!!)
29.For Madison Street Baptist Church, where John spoke on Tuesday and Wednesday.
28.For hearts that will spend eternity in heaven now!!!
27. For the way God intertwines the hearts of believers. (He did this at MSBC).
26. For kindred spirits.
25. For cool wind in Boston and now in Florida!

Opposites!

The European Space Agencies online publication on March 5, 2008 reported that "The new observations show that, despite the differences in size and distance from the Sun, Mars and Venus are surprisingly similar." I am curious what the author of the book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" would think of that statement.

John and I made the trip to Boston to see UCF play Boston College and to have a romantic weekend away.

Today, as John and I prepared for a day in Boston, I would have thought that Mars and Venus weren't nearly far enough apart or could ever be different enough to encompass the differences between us. Yes, I married my polar opposite in so many ways and it was very evident today. I had the thought to go ride one of the trolley excursions with scripted guides. I didn't want to miss out on any of the things you are "supposed to do" while in Boston. John however wasn't too concerned about what one is "supposed to do" and wanted to take the car and make our own tour. If you know us very well, doesn't that sum us up? Me overly concerned about the appropriate-ness of EVERYTHING and John out to experience everything to the FULLEST that God would allow. How did the two of us ever get together?

Well we did end up having a GREAT day...at least after arguing in the Harvard Square. How many people can say they took part in a debate at Harvard? We wandered through Harvard's Campus and touched the toe of the statue of the guy HArvard was named after. Not sure why we touched the toe but everyone else was doing it and that spot on the statue was rubbed shiny. We ate lunch in an Irish Pub and then headed into downtown.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time in Boston Common. We road the Swan boats there. If you have read E.B.White's "Trumpet of the Swan" this is a part of that book. That was a part of our curriculum when I taught second grade. It was the last day of the year that the boats ran and they actually locked our boat up for the season when we got off of it. We saw the "Make Way for the Ducklings" sculpture there too. (Another children's book.)

We walked around town for awhile and then drove over to Fenway Park. John was in awe. We found a little bar that actually was inside the park and you could stand down at field level. I think he will HAVE to come back someday and experience a game there now.

Well, we didn't see all the historical things that you SHOULD see when you are here. We did see some of that. But we did see things that mean something to us and had a great time today.

It is kind of like our life, I suppose. We have NEVER done things how everyone else has done it. When other young couples were settling into buying houses and having babies, John was finishing school and then stepping into youth ministry. After we finally bought our house and started having our babies, then we stepped out into a faith based ministry. We have experienced some amazing things in life by walking the path less traveled. But somehow I still keep trying to pull us back there. I am sure glad I married this man...this man that pulls me out of the box. I would have had a pretty boring life, I think, if I hadn't. I guess opposites can enjoy life together.

Check!!! Check!!! Check!!!

TODAY....
Dining room reclaimed from being school room...CHECK!
Book shelf moved and items reorganized in back room which is now the school room again since it had been the baby's bedroom for a while...CHECK!
Laundry washed and dried...CHECK!
Hubby's slideshow presentation created...CHECK!
School taught...CHECK!
Dishes done...CHECK!
Floors swept...CHECK!
Baby toys and pack-n-play sanitized...CHECK!
Kids fed multiple times...CHECK!
Baths given...CHECK!
Spunky successfully wore panties all day...CHECK!
List to do tomorrow written...CHECK!
Took shower and changed from last night's pajamas into tonight's pajamas...CHECK!!!
I was too busy to get dressed. SHHH!!! I kept the blinds closed. And there would just be more laundry if I had to get dressed just to sweat in my clothes that I was going to stay inside wearing all day, right? I need to take notes from Layton Family's blog and think about taking a shower in the morning and put makeup on. At least Hubby wasn't home since 10 a.m.
Off to fold clothes and see if there is anything else to add to tomorrow's list. There always is.
Oh...I think I here Hubbie coming in from church. He is currently serving as the interim youth pastor at a church about an hour and a half away. He called earlier and said 6 souls saved tonight. WOOHOO!!! CHECK! CHECK! CHECK!
THAT is something worth checking off the list!

Chaos

I have so many projects in the works at the moment the only 2 things I can think about doing are eating and blogging. AND, well, this one shouldn't make me gain weight!!! I guess microwave popcorn is next.

GREAT DAY!

Can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of the day with the amount of exhaustion that I feel. Beautiful weather, lots of golfers, great prizes, God was soooo good to bring provision once again to this ministry we call 3degrees.

Not thankful for...

Have to say NOT THANKFUL FOR HEADACHES...the kind that start in your sinuses and move down your neck and all the way down your back and make you nauseous. I guess I shouldn't be surprised... the pollen count is Medium High for Grasses and Ragweed. I remember having my allergy test done in my early twenties and the nurse saying, "You're basically allergic to ALL grasses." Yesterday I skipped taking Claritin because it dries me out so much, I have to put eye drops in to see clearly. I don't know about this Claritin clear thing. Probably need to be drinking more water. But I guess dry eyes are better than ICKY, TERRIBLE, Headaches. No more skipping my Claritin.

But I am thankful for being in my PJ's at 10:40 in the morning and listening to my children play so well together. This is why homeschool families have so many kids. Not that I think 4 is SO MANY but...they socialize among themselves. No need to go to "school" for that. Lady just asked Dimples to marry her and Spunky is the bride's maid. I think Dynamo is officiating the service. So far, I have only gotten dishes done, had coffee, fed my kids and saved the day by preforming an operation on the doll that lost it's arm this morning. Moving a little slow. Got to fold a mountian of clothes and go to the store and drop off about 6 trash bags full of stuff to Goodwill. Woohoo!!! Very productive yesterday working in the girls' room.

The 3degrees golf tournament is tomorrow. I will need be there at around 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. We are praying for great weather and a great turn out. It is always great to introduce people to the ministry of 3degrees and how God is using John to change the lives of young people for eternity. It is a great time of encouragement in seeing how God provides for this ministry. And a bunch of guys and a few gals get to have a blast playing golf and win really cool prizes John has been collecting all year.

Say it with me...Headache, Headache Go away! Never to return another day!!!

Continuing my list . 15-24

It's a very long way until I reach 1,000 things I am grateful for. I have no plan. I won't write a list everyday just every now and then. I just want to remember to be thankful. Today's includes photos. My numbers are backwards because I think one day I will find a way to have all my lists in a row and they will be in date order so if I number them like I am below they will start at one on the bottom and go up the blogs until 1000. Remember they are not any particular order of importance.

24. Digitial Cameras!!!
23. The predictability of Weather these days...Meteorologists...and that we can evacuate for hurricanes now if necessary.
22. Freedom in our country!!!
21. M-n-M's
20.Joy on a child's face...that comes from something as simple as socks on Spunky's hands. She loves wearing them like gloves. They are technically clean socks btw just stained from being worn outside without shoes in their previous life before being worn on hands.

19. When my kids dress themselves and the laughter that sometimes follows!!!
18. Young Christian College girls that inspire me....these two gals are two that do. They seek after God with a passion and are amazing role models for my kids.


17. Discolored old pictures (below...that's me and my mom and my sister sometime before my little brother was born. I must have been about 10 here because I was 8 when she was born)
16. Memories of being kids from those pictures


15. The sound of rain on the metal roof of our home that was built in 1915.

A neverending list.

I know what you are thinking...she is going to list all the things she needs to get done but I am not. My heart has been tugged recently by a blog...http://aholyexperience.com/ . The author is part of a group listing 1,000 items they are thankful for... not collectively but individually. It has inspired me. So often I think of the never-ending to-do lists or the things I want to change list but never often enough... the Things I am THANKFUL for list. So I begin today on a journey...

(MY LIST IS NOT ANY PARTICULAR ORDER JUST THE RANDOMNESS OF MY MIND.)

1. Young love...beginning of a lifetime of growing together...when you sat too close in public, held hands ALWAYS, talked on the phone incessantly, and long good night kisses. (yes that was us)

2. His Smile
3. His laugh
4. His arms around me
5. His promise to always stay with me

8. the feeling of a just swept and mopped floor.
9. hot showers
10. the quiet that falls on my house when all the little bodies are asleep in bed
11. crayons
12. looking up through the trees to see a beautiful blue sky
13. old windows that have imperfections in the glass so that things are slightly blurred as you look out
14. my best friend from college

A woman's perspective...

Okay there are a few things that I know have been designed completely by men. I mean if they hadn't been, they would be at least slightly different. (No, this isn't a political statement.)

First...most sporting events would be at least half as long. I mean who needs that much time to play a game...or sit on the couch watching a game. Though my sweetie has taken to folding clothes while watching those sports recently. Honey you are AMAZING!!!! Seriously!!!
Though I have to admit, I did enjoy EVERY second of the UCF football game on Saturday. Especially the last 5 minutes that really took like an hour. How is that possible? Yeah, I know...clock stops, timeouts, etc. My throat still hurts from yelling so much! We were there until overtime was OVER!! We didn't win but it was AMAZING!!!

Second...All electrical devices that have a digital beeping system to alert you that they are done or have reached a certain temperature would have volume options...my oven and microwave...for instance. Who needs the microwave beeping with three long loud buzzes to let you know the bottle is warm at 3 a.m. Even if I press the off button at 1 second, it still beeps once. Who needs that?

Third...a doorbell that you could somehow turn off or set on a timer so it that the delivery man can't ring it during nap time. No, I don't remember to go put a sign up on the door.

And I think we all know that if God were a woman He would have created women with at least 3 arms, maybe more...no just kidding there. He knew it only took two hands to clasp together and pray to HIM for help. If I would just remember FIRST that is ALL I really NEED!!!

Tired!

Well, I have to admit it. I am tired. The good kind of tired. The kind when you have done just about all you can do in a day that you possibly can. Not just cleaning the house kind of stuff or marking things off your list kind of things. But the spur of the moment fun things along with the dishes and laundry and getting dressed and washing AND drying your hair, even wearing make-up. With a spur of the moment park visit thrown in there along with math, reading, social studies, Bible, sign language, snow covered pancakes and going to eat dinner at the church where my Mom cooks the Wednesday night meals kinds of things. It's been a good day. Deep Breath!!! Thank you God. Looking forward to what you have in store for tomorrow!

Snow Flurries in Florida!!!

It snowed today...

on our pancakes with whipped cream mountains and confectioner's sugar snow.

Too Fun!!!

We are learning about the Seasons. What they are like, when they are, the sign language symbols for them (Thanks to PBS's Signing time and our DVR, woohoo!!!)

Dimples just had to eat little triangles of bananas.
Hey, they were shaped like mountains, right?

We are learning that God has a time for everything! Cold, Hot, Rain, and Snow. He is a God of ORDER!!! He has a plan for our lives and each day. I am seeking to ask God each moment what HIS will is just for that moment. Sometimes He even allows hurricanes into our lives to teach us to trust Him (literally and figuratively). Sometimes my storms come in the form of squalls of sibling squabbles or an avalanche of laundry or waves of illness. But there is a time for each thing that God desires for me to do. I pray that I will have the wisdom and self control to see and do what God wants. I pray this right now for all you MOTHERS out there. You are greatly blessed with children. God has given you EVERYTHING you need to walk through the beautiful weather as well as the storms of life. I pray that God would renew your minds and free you from Satan's lies. God is enough!!! YOU ARE ENOUGH in Christ!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!

Oh the joys of the beginning of school!!!

There are soooo many fun things that you get to do with the beginning of the school year. I wondered if we would miss out on some of those because we home school. Not that it really matters because I think for OUR family, the benefits outweigh missing a few back to school rituals.

Things I love about the beginning of school:

• New classroom decorations... The school teacher in me ad libs by posting Spunky's letter of the week and pictures of things that start with that letter, and the sign language sign for that letter. And of course each week's bible verse. I post these on our dining room window. Windows are great bulletin boards!


• New school supplies: We got new school supplies and new supply boxes and I painted each child's name on them with puff paint. Then they decorated them with stickers. We also labeled every single item down to each crayon with the kids' names on them. The labeled supplies are to take to co-op.


• The excitement of leaving the house to go to school the first time: We had our first day of home school co-op. it meets 2 Tuesdays a months. Everyone from Mommy on down gets to go. There are classes for everyone even the baby. The kids were so excited to go on our first day. Unfortunately, Dimples was sick but Daddy saved the day by working from home for the morning so we didn't have to miss our first day. Spunky was soooo excited that Mommy was one of her teachers. It was fun-filled day of learning for us all. Except for maybe for Dimples, who was so miserable he spent most of his time whimpering in Daddy's arms. Come to find out he has cut a new tooth. The doctor says new teeth don't cause runny noses but I am not soooo sure.


• Little kids with new giant half empty backpacks. Dynamo's is camo and Lady's is pink and black and white. Spunky just carries a little insulated lunch box.

Last Sunday night, the night before we officially started back homeschooling for this 08-09 year, I was nervous and excited just like when I taught school and actually got paid for it.

Funny things about school so far...Spunky wants to do everything her older siblings are doing but always in her own way, of course. Dynamo loves doing school and is a meticulous colorer. Lady says she doesn't want to learn to read. Which is soooo funny because I am not sure what she thinks she is doing when she is reading her short vowel books to us. :)