SCHOOL BEGINS TOMORROW...

It had to happen. We didn't take many days off at Christmas. We didn't take a spring break...all so that we could take time off when Mike got home from his fun in the sand box. He went back to work on Wednesday of last week...and we must start school again tomorrow.

As always - we're EXCITED but I'm also wishing I'd made better use of the time to get more THINGS done before school begins again....LOL I miss our days of schooling year round but now that the boys are in high school they are really driven to stay on a "traditional schedule" and the rest of us keep up with them....they compromise a lot for our fun so it's the least we can do. ::snort:: Maybe we'll just do history quilt squares tomorrow. Come to think of it that would be a GREAT way to review what we had been covering. OK - that's what we'll do for history...and I have Math u See placement tests for math. Science is always one they clamor for....

I've been praying and thinking and I think I'm seriously going to begin looking for a few families who are either doing TOG year 1 or studying ancients next year to meet a couple of times a month for "enrichment" - "fun with a purpose". LOL

OH - and it looks like I'm going to a homeschool convention this year. I'm excited. I've not been in about 6 years.

EASTER

I wanted to write something very profound today,but it is late at night and I'm too tired to even make an attempt. I love this time of year. I love remembering what Christ's Sacrifice bought for me....what GRACE...what LOVE...and LIFE...wow....but words fail tonight.

The day began early. We opened our last egg. We asked the kids WHY the egg would be empty? What does this have to do with the story we've been telling? Zander replied, "I opened the wrong egg?" ::snort::

We don't do the whole Easter /baskets/bunny thing. We didn't dye eggs, we didn't buy clothes, we didn't have a big meal....but we have been profoundly and gratefully aware of Jesus for the past few weeks. We usually do a bit more of the trappings...but I simply couldn't pull it off this year. The boys don't WANT new clothes. Arielle HATES to wear new things....I pulled out three frilly dresses that we have from when Bre and Krista were little and let Stacia pick one to wear. Here's my best attempt at a photo of the children who are still home. I tried....

Yes, she was wearing a tie. I guess she thought if Zander and Cy could - she could.

The book I ordered on Bible Feasts arrived on Saturday. I spent some time today in between services reading about Passover. I'm so relieved to know that a Seder meal isn't JUST the bitter herbs, bone, parsley and apple/raisen mix. ::snort:: We'll probably do a Seder in the next week or so.

We went to the Traditional service this a.m. Had breakfast/brunch with them. Took the children to Burger King for Easter Dinner. Believe it or not - the younger ones LOVED this. We've not been going in the last 7 months and they really miss it. ::snort:: I guess this ranks up there with Rachel's stories about Thanksgiving at Taco Bell...but I didn't feel bad about it at all. We dropped the kids off at home and then Mike and I went to the Gospel Service (had early dinner with them) and then the Contemporary service. I was glad to have gotten such a wide and varied Easter this year. It was cool to see all the different expressions in the Church celebrate Christ....there are days that I feel very blessed to be part of the military chaplaincy...and days it simply tires me out. ::snort:: This was Mike's first time back at the Gospel service since he returned from his deployment....they were so happy to see him.

We just got off the phone with the girls. They were so excited to share about their time in Mexico. They are getting ready to settle back into life in Spokane. I still miss them a lot. It seemed strange today not to have them in the pew with us...but the 9 of us fairly well filled the pew.

Blustery Days

Jamin spent the blustery day in the kitchen...and I was happy to let him do so! ::snort::

He made cookies (choc chip/cashew/whole grain).

He made Fiddle Faddle.

He made these little bread rolls with pastrami in the middle.

He made pizzas for dinner.

Mike worked on computers. Jared read Dilbert. The youngers played some game with dinosaurs and cowboys and soldiers....

Stacia kept changing clothes - not always with good results.

We played.

Ice, Snow, Sleet and Thunder - Really!

Jamin's back from his run. It's ICY, snowing, sleeting...and THUNDERING. I'd never heard of THAT combination. Mike is trying to figure out what to do about the Sunrise service tomorrow...well really to do the Sunrise service we have to have youth out at 6 a.m. because they are doing the breakfast and it will only be 30* then...and doing this "winter mix" all day today.

Monthly Weigh In

Curves weighs and measures you monthly. I've been slinking in all week and avoiding it. I did great the first two weeks, 3 wkouts the third week (Mike came home), 0 the 4th week and 5 this week.

I lost 5 lbs - meaning that I've lost 30 lbs now...5 lbs to my original goal; 10 lbs to Curves goal. I lost 17 inches - yeah - 17 inches. 9.75 of them were in my abs. We measured 4 times and I weighed twice. Unfortunately, my fat percentage went UP 2%. I don't get that - neither did the trainer. I'll talk with the owners about it more next week. Anyone have a clue? How could everything else go down and that go up??? I told her what Gary (exercise physiologist) said about it. He said NOT to take your fat reading in the morning because the ratio is higher before you drink and eat....she didn't think so...but that's the best I can come up with.

This means that I'm going to go ahead and change the ticker, even though it's not Wednesday.

Only 10 more lbs to go!!! though I'm already 14 lbs lighter than before I conceived Stacia.

WEATHER REPORT

It's hailing or icing or something....the littles ones are SURE it's snow. Jamin is out running....

I had to scrape the ice off the van this a.m. with my credit card. I think I WILL go buy an ice scraper soon.

Anastacia Joy (Resurrection Joy)

Someone on SHS asked how my "precious little girl" is doing. I've been thinking of this as Easter approaches and decided to cross post a bit here.

We named her Anastacia Joy before she was born. Her name means Resurrection Joy - which is what I walked through and learned during that pregnancy. Because of the Resurrection I can choose joy, regardless of my circumstances. She was born without Downs. Her heart was fine (the last ultrasound showed it looked great). She did have a problem with her kidneys. We had tests and such and they said that it should be a problem that doesn't require further treatment or testing...unless she has trouble potty training.

LIGHT BULB moment here...God is GOOD and such a sense of humor. Stacia has begun removing her diaper and saying "poo"immediately that sort of thing. During service last night she decided to let everyone know "poo, poo, poo" I didn't think it was appropriate for a Good Friday Service and rushed her out. She was right, she had indeed done a job.

Anyway, we've been commenting that it looks like she is ready to train - she has woke up DRY all week and two of those nights were 12 hour nights. How funny that we were told to watch for the kidney malfunction if she potty trained late...I think God is trying to show us something with her diaper antics.

She blesses us daily, though she's not the passive "pink and lace" girl I dreamed of after my macho boys. God wants her to have spirit and spunk and I don't want to train that out of her. She'll need it some day.

Her name reminds me DAILY that because of the Resurrection I can choose joy...otherwise I'd be at the mercy of circumstances. It's been a blessing to have a daily reminder of the Resurrection.