Hurricane Season

I'm from Texas. I mean I was born here in Rockford but I was raised in Texas so I really always consider myself a Texan, so when I think of storms I think Hurricanes not tornadoes or earthquakes as some would. Right now I feel like I'm finally getting out of one. It seems as though for a long time I've been struggling with the concept of being a stay at home mom, homeschooling, having 4 kids, etc. etc. I mean I don't STRUGGLE, but it's been weird. Jeremy says it's because I'm a very ambitious person. I don't see myself that way, but maybe there is some truth to it. I have had to grow and become okay with being a stay at home mom. I guess society and my own self-reliance got me to think that I wasn't really doing anything because I was "just a mom". That's changed now. Not only am I now okay with it but I have begun to really understand the great job I've been given and now feel myself truly turn my "ambitions" towards it. I've really come to realize when an art homemaking is. I mean if you try to be good at it. I've just really started to try to crack down on budgeting, planning meals,planning school-in advance-taking care of myself, etc. All these things I've done but not with the same passion or vigor I've just recently discovered. I feel like I'm coming out of a fog and it feels really great. We've also been trying to sell our house to no avail. The current state of the real estate market has truly hit us. No one is buying or they expect the world for nothing. So as of July 1 our house will be off the market and we will be staying put, at least for another year. Although this means another year in a very small house, it's somewhat comforting to know. At least I feel like I can get my life back on track and not worry about showings or open houses on Sundays. No more cleaning like a maniac and disrupting my whole day and week sometimes. I can actually leave a mess on the floor for a day and not freak out. I might even be able to repair my relationship with my kids. Poor things and the dog, run and hide whenever they see me begin to clean."Don't touch that!" and "Just sit down and don't move!" Have been yelled way too many times lately. So the hurricane is subsiding and I am so thankful. I might still have time to enjoy the summer-yea. :)

New Beginnings

IT has been a long time since I posted. Isn't crazy the way life just gets busy and we don't take time to do so many different things. We just got back from 7 days in Maui. Just Jeremy and I, the kids stayed at the grandparents. I should be in a really good mood from being gone but instead I feel really bad. I know that it is because it is STILL so cold and ugly here plus I came down with this awful cold/cough/flu that is going around. I really just feel like going back to Maui and living like a bum on the beach. But of course duty calls- my house is a mess, I need to start school with the kids, I need to go grocery shopping did I mention I have an open house this Sunday. Yes we're selling our house. Oh and by the way in a moment of weakness I volunteered to coach my 3 little ones t-ball team to add to my already tutoring in Classical Conversations(which is soon to be over), Sunday School for the 2&3's and Junior Church. Thank goodness I only rotate for the last two. Plus ballet class, karate classes, piano class and I think that's it. What am I doing to myself ?! And I wonder why I'm feeling a little worn down. And in all this I can easily get swept up and away from the on person that can help me keep it all together-God. Why he is always the last on my list but the first that I need? Please pray for me and I try to snap out of it, put the Lord back at the top and deal with everything else.

Classical Conversations

Well last week on Friday we started the first day of Classical Conversations Rockford South. I think it is safe to say that it went very well. Margaret and I were extremely nervous about the first day. We wanted so badly to set the tone for a great year. The kids were all excited and we heard numerous stories of kids waking up at 5am eager to go to "school". This has been great for me as a parent also. It's nice to be able to talk to another parent on the same page as me. Especially if I don't understand something! :) Our kids are having a lot of fun doing their memory work and are happily looking forward to Friday. We had a little trouble getting started on some of our other subjects this year. We painted our school room (the basement) and it proved to be a much larger project than expected. It is now finished! We will be organizing and arranging everything and will start our official full first day on Monday. I can't wait.

Kansas City, Enid,Oklahoma and Baraboo in 8 days

Yes we actually did it and survived. We actually had a really great time. It seemed to go by so fast but we're all glad to be back in our own beds. :) For those who don't know we decided to go to Enid to see Barb Garards weeding and then had planned a family camping trip afterwards. On the way to Oklahoma we decided to stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas. Wow! What a great hotel. the kids loved the room and we had a great day at the indoor waterpark. To our dismay we realized we had just brought our kids to their very first hotel visit in their life-the bad part of that was it was the nicest hotel We'd ever been in. Needless to say when we got to the Ramada (still a very nice, clean, small room)they were a little disappointed. It was a really nice ride down there and the kids were surprisingly really good. I saw small signs of "the south" that I still miss. More pick-up trucks, a few more cowboy boots and hats and "signs" of sweet tea. Hallie was amazed at how much people say ma'am and sir. All this time she though her mama was a big meanie for making her say it all the time. Barb was a beautiful bride and I could go on and on about every detail but the just of it was that Barb was beautiful the wedding was sweet and Mark cried. It was great. It was really nice to see Mark, Bev, Grace and Kurt. We all really need to be in prayer for them and their ministry. It seems that things are some what of a challenge (to say it mildly) down there. Mark's brother preached Sunday morning and it was a real blessing. He preached about the unity of the body of Christ. I couldn't help but think about how much I missed Morning Star and then I looked around and saw Morning Star in the pews next to me and it really dawned on me to not be so narrow minded and to really see the body of Christ on a bigger level. It made me want to pray for Mark and what he is doing even more and especially for the people at West Side. I'm so happy the Lord has allowed me to fellowship with people who really want to know the Lord and want him to be seen through them by being transparent. I feel bad for everyone else that is missing that type of fellowship and are longing for it. After Enid we drove back to Rockford, unpacked then packed again for camping. We were home a total of 11 hours(including time to sleep) and then were on our way to Devil Lake State park. We camped until today with my Mom, Tim, TJ, Paige, Ron and Kim. The kids loved camping, especially since the grandparents were there. We went to Dells for part of the day, swam in the lake and spent a lot of time around the fire. Great memories! Now we get to focus on getting ready for school! :)

5th Sunday Fellowship

Yesterday we hosted on of several 5th sunday fellowship and we had a great time! It was so much fun having everyone over and getting just to spend time with people from church. The only bad thing about having a lot of people over is that you really don't get any time to sit and talk with any one person for a long time. I want to know whats REALLY going on in their lives. Iwant to find out what I don't know in order to make me a better friend to that person or just maybe feel closer to them. One of the conversations we had was about exactly what I'm doing right now-blogging. So many of my friends have blogs and blog often. After our conversation I really started to think about how nice it is to read some of those sites. It really does do exactly what I want-help you know a little more about that person and feel like your getting to know them. With our busy lives we just don't seem to have or make the time to just sit and talk so eveyone blogs. Well...when in Rome do as the Romans. I'm going to try to keep my blog a little more updated and I'm going to talk to Jeremy about having people over more, one on one. I still like the face to face stuff better.:)

Easter Sunday

It was a nice day today. Long at times but nice. Church seemed a little off today. I think it felt weird because it was our first "official" service and we are still working out kinks. We had quite a few visitors today. After church we went out to see Grandma and Grandpa. They hid about 75 eggs in the backyard and the kids had a lot of fun looking for eggs and then eating all the candy. We watched a movie, Open Season, and relaxed. Afterward we met and picked up Hallie and went home. On the way home I had to laugh because Hallie asked how our weekend was and John responded, " I ate too much chocolate." The kids are now in bed and wiped out. Hallie and Jer are playing Go Fish and Old Maid. Their funny as they play, pretending it's some high stakes game. John is still on Spring Break tomorrow, then Tuesday everything is back to normal-I'm glad, I'm tired!

New Church-n-Stuff

Well last night, Wednesday, was our first service in our new church. It was so nice we all had a lot of fun. I'm really excited about our parenting class all the young couples are doing. The book is great and I can't wait for discussion times. I feel like we just got a whole new huge support network. Somewhere where we can discuss and get biblical ideas for parenting. The kids started Kids-4-Truth. It's like a Christian scouting program EXCEPT its focus is learning about God and his word. All of the kids got little sashes and books for class. Even little Macy is old enough to participate!:) They just love it. Joe and John already have their verse memorized and Hallie is almost there. Macy refuses today to talk about it. She'll warm up, I hope. I can't wait for Easter Sunday. That will be our first "official" Sunday service. Everyone is invited, come on down and see us.