TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

I better hurry or the day will be over and I will not have blogged! ::gasp::

~Went for another exhilerating bike ride...I've been FREEZING all day....seriously cold. I've been wearing wool socks, a sweat shirt, wrapped in a blanket, hugging a microwave heat pillow. Bre says I don't know what cold is until I spend a winter in WA. WHAT - has she FORGOTTEN AK so quickly????

~Day two of school. WOW - things are going very well! I kept rechecking the schedule to see if I'd left a subject out - I once left Science out for 6 weeks. ::snort:: It seems we've done all.

~Photos won't upload - so I uploaded an inordinate amount of blinkies which are SURE to drive me as batty as the music did...but hey...I've gotta play.

~Bible Study began again tonight. We had two new students tonight. That's always fun. We finished I John. MIKE, IT IS NOT *ALL* AN EASY BOOK - WANT TO TACKLE LEVELS OF SIN????? What a thought for John to tuck in the final paragraphs of a letter. ::snort:: We decided none of us knew enough to get dogmatic. I plan to do significantly more study on this verse. We'll study 2 John this week and 3 John the week after....then they all voted to PLAY on the 30th. I'm game. We discussed what we wanted to study next. Some want to do women and some want to do OT.....think we'll do Ruth or Esther or something. The last time I did a "women of the Bible" Bible Study it sort of made me sick...trite, shallow stuff....but I'm hoping if we are studying BOOKS of the Bible that you know....it can't really be trite!

~Josiah survived his first "corporate visit" as a manager. No sweat.

~I was able to talk to both big girls briefly tonight. I will admit that toddlers can be a handful; but it is no fun to be a mommy miles and miles away when one of your babies could use a hug, either.

~Sort of wondering about starting another sort of Bible Study on the blog - but I have no idea of what at this point. LOL

MAGNIFICENT MONDAY

~Blenders (even ones with new metal blade assemblies) operated in a large family with youth who frequently use said blender...should always be CHECKED prior to using. The smoothie went well....until I picked it up to poor the last child a glass and all the smoothie came out the bottom!!!! I've become so GOOD at grabbing the camera but didn't think of it this time.

~Nolan finished an Explode the Code book - his first one.

~The children are spending a lot of time creating tunnels and such....studying WW2 is making an impression.

~I dealt with banks - they are all nuts - I'm convinced it cannot be ME. ::snort:: They took my money and then told me that they are holding it all until the 16th...um...maybe should have told me THAT before I gave you the money....they can't give me starter checks because I signed up online.....sort of defeated the purpose of starting the account to deposit cash and checks around here so that I could pay the bill by the 15th. ::snort:: I called the national office and they very "MUCH want to keep your business" they "highly value me as a customer"....yeah ...probably because I explained it's THEIR credit card that has screwed up the online payment 3 times that I'm wanting to pay and now THEIR bank is holding my money.....we're working on a fix that will "satisfy" ME! ::snort::

~We went spur of the moment to the park with Adrienne and her boys, when they dropped by and invited us. OK - don't bug me about plans! I always maintained that I have a FLEXIBLE plan....we planned to work in a park date sometime this week.....and every time I begin to make bread something happens.

~Now I need to see what else I can do on the "to do" list, make something creative for dinner, read to children, bathe children and get children to bed....

~Due to circumstances TOTALLY of my making....i.e. tying all my money up we are going to be eating what is in the house this week and NOT going shopping until the 15th...well OK I did save $100 for things like postage and produce co-op....I say that only to put in this PLEA - "Send me your creatiave dinner ideas! Things that you have in your pantry and never use!" LOL We are NOT broke hon, I simply sent all the money in one account to pay off the credit card and all the other money is frozen.....I could CHARGE but I'm determined not to do that until they PROVE to me that they've figured out this whole payment mess. ::snort:: Next time I talk to them - and I'm becoming good friends with several of the associated, Beth, I think of you every time I call a credit card place and I'm CHEERFUL and NICE - I'm going to ask them to award me some free miles for all the hassle they've caused me. ::snort::

Hey check out that pixie...midriff and all. LOL It does warm up beautifully down here...and it IS nice that it cools off - though I seem to be freezing even when it is 67*. May as well move to AK and at least have great scenery and snow! LOL

GREAT QUOTE

How funny - this is almost a quote of what I wrote last night in the post that sits in draft. ::snort::

"If I am thankful for each of my children, I will not wish they were different or that they would not bring trials into my life."

Isn't it great when God confirms from several places what He is speaking to you???

Quote from *Homeschooling with a Meek and Quite Spirt* by Teri Maxwell - book review to follow - maybe today. LOL

Psssst - TEETH can be cold when biking in 27* weather!

WHAT I DID

Stacia graciously woke us up at 4 a.m. This means I am VERY tired (bed at midnight) but I DID find the time to pay bills. I also went all over the house gathering checks and cash and have $2K to take to the new bank today. Yep - I need a local account. That windfall was for Mike's trailer and my elliptical machine, but it will help to pay off the credit card now...I'll reimburse it on the 15th....I believe Mom calls this "robbing Peter to pay Paul". ::snort::

I'm going to ride my bike to the post office to post the bills. (Exercise and crossing TWO things off the to do list).

The kids are getting their own breakfast - buying me the work out time.

We'll do some school today and then see about the rest of the to do list....

I'm quite sure you are right, Dorothy. Liz would say I need some chocolate but the sad, sad thing is that I'm on a chocolate ration until I loose the rest of this weight....I am even rationing tea these days because tea simply doesn't TASTE good without lots of rapadura, agave nectar or stevia in it....and cream.....and since I'm usually not HUNGRY when I have my tea, I'm not sure how to work it in.....but I'll figure this life mystery out when I have a bit more sleep.

I must get back on a sane sleep schedule. If for no other reason Bible study begins tomorrow - the ladies deserve better than a zombie who can't put two sentences together.

Hmmm....Take Two ::snort::

Yep, I wrote another post first. A "warning deployed spouse zone" post and then I went back and saved it to draft. *I* don't mind being that transparent but years from now maybe my 4 yo would mind. LOL Here's Take Two -

Chapel was good and bad. We hadn't heard Ch C in months and so it was nice to hear him again (though I caught bits and pieces from the cry room). I also received some nice affirmations about my parenting...followed by a fairly low point. Wasn't it nice of God to balance things out like that? ::snort:: Upshot...My child was more defiant than I've ever seen a child of ours be...and he was very rude to another adult. He apologized. I called the lady later and she was gracious. I apologized. Before bed he asked if I forgave him. I do. I spent quite a bit of time today praying and thinking and "pulling myself up by the Bible straps".... I so want others to see the glimmers that I see in this jewel, but sometimes he makes that very difficult. Enough of this. I'll pray and debate and see if I want to post the previous post - later.

The boys had invited a couple of friends to go see Earagon (Eragon?) this afternoon. We attended the traditional service and brought two of the friends home. We had lunch, they wrestled on the trampoline (sounds more dangerous than it was - their father approved), they played RISK and went to the movies. Meanwhile, I played Dino Bingo, Mexican train and Apples to Apples with the younger ones. Josiah thought the movie was fine. Jamin and Jared thought it was bad. LOL It turned out that they had a group of 10 from the chapel at the movie. They needed to have fun.

I went to make bread and "somehow" ended up playing around with an old chocolate chip recipe. The older boys really like these better than the ones I've been making...more like the Toll House ones they remember....the youngers don't care (they are already forgetting life before whole grains and oat groats). ::snort::

I went to pay bills and realized that AGAIN the credit company had not credited a huge payment I made in December. My credit balance is now HUGE - way over the limit WE set, though *they* keep saying it's a "signature card" and we can go as high as we like - well we passed what we "like" the first time they didn't credit the payment. This is the third month. I called again. They again removed all fees and we again put the payment through. It seems they changed their system and it does something strange with our Alaskan bank....huh? I don't get it but the minute she saw the name of the bank she said, "Oh - we've been having a lot of trouble with this bank". ::snort:: She ASSURED me that it will go through this time. Ok - so you're wondering WHY I didn't catch this sooner??? Because my check register is on the crashed computer and I've been, well...anyway....I caught it. ::snort::

I took the opportunity to open a free, LOCAL, account as well. I realized I had $980 of checks to mail to AK - this isn't working for me. Mike suggested I open a local account a month ago, but every bank I tried wanted a fee bigger than what I wanted to pay (free). I discovered that I could sign up ONLINE. It's a free account because I signed up online....and the local bank is about 1/2 a mile away. LOL

I picked up my temporary AK driver's license. They extended it for a year. I can renew it in person this summer. I have a new goal...get slim before July DMV picture. ::snort:: I love the state of AK. Our previous state of residence insisted we send them signed, blank checks for registering automobiles etc. I hated that. They would then send us a receipt so we knew how much they wrote the check for. ::snort:: AK is so 21st century - probably because so many live in remote areas and NEED the internet access....so I was able to renew registration ONLINE, I was able to request the extension ONLINE - and all with credit or debit - no blank checks.

I'm debating here. It's late. I'm tired. Just got Stacia down. I still have things on my "to do" list that are undone....I need to pay bills...but it's late and who knows what mistakes I'll make...but if I try to do it tomorrow it will throw school, working out, and the day off kilter....what to do.....stay up late and frantically try to cross more off the to do list....go to bed and get a decent night's sleep....skip school another week or so....

The crib/toddler bed conversion

Jamin started the process while I was out with Jared. Jared finished taking the bed apart.

Arielle and Nolan moved the mattress and parts to Arielle's room. Arielle is driving this transition - I'm not ready to lose my baby. LOL

Stacia of course wanted to help
Think she likes the bed?
Hugs after trying it out...

Night One - went down and slept through the night...Mom and brothers checked on her repeatedly.

Night two - up at 4:00 and wandering the house with Arielle chasing behind her, Mom fits in some blogging time. ::snort:: I need to figure out that railing for my bed so when she does this I can put her in my bed with me. As is, she wakes up when I put her down and then pats me on the back when I pick her up.

PS

I got a few more of the things on my "to do" list done. Cy is registered for the SAT. This was HARD. First, I had to find the SCHOOL code...then they INSISTED I give them TWO testing center choices but there is only ONE for our area. I called and they wanted me to give them all the towns around us. I EXPLAINED that they all send their children HERE. They asked if he couldn't go to DALLAS to take the test....I think not. Finally accomplished the task.

The lab tests were all on my "to do" list - though I really didn't PLAN to get them done...I knew I should and put them on the list. Guess God moved them to the top.....LOL

I ordered the last few books I need for our upcoming unit. I compiled a list of library books that we needed. Josiah ran to the library and picked them all up.

Office Depot called and my temporary license is in. I'll pick it up tomorrow. I still have 3 or 4 projects that I wanted to finish before school begins next week - but I have the weekend! ::snort::

NOTE - I got the photos for the "joy" post to upload - check out the cool banner and the cross stitch that Bre does....she taught herself - wish she'd tech ME. LOL