Sandy (see my links) took these. She has a great camera. See how happy I look in that second pic? Even my hair looks good. I give credit to the pond. The kids loved it too, can you tell?

Did I mention I LOVE nature!!

We are back home from our retreat at Brandon Spring . I love this retreat center with all my heart. I really want to live there, but hubby says it is way too far for him to drive to work (it is a long way from home). I have been doodling I heart Brandon Spring all afternoon. TLA & F(true love always and forever if you don't recognize it without the t,l, a and f all being joined in true yearbook fashion) Just kidding, but if I had not been busy with my last scout meeting and closing out a Pampered Chef show, I might have written that all over a notebook.

I have been trying to decide just exactly what it is that makes it a dream come true for me. I think it is the ultimate combo package. It combines water activities, food cooked by some mighty fine cooks, abundant wildlife and hiking opportunities, smart people everywhere that can answer all my biology questions, and well, a camp full of biologists which is the calling I missed. Mostly though, I think it is the biology thing. I shared Biology with my kids today. They love it too. The study of life. I never feel more connected to God that when I delve into studying his creatures. They are so varied and awe inspiring. Today we dredged a pond and found so much coolness. My pics are blurry except Lilly with a newt but I'm showing them anyway!! BECAUSE, I love the pond scum. That last one is a leech with her babies attached...AWESOME!

My feet have still not touched the ground. I will have this loving feeling for weeks. As it starts to wane, it should be just about time for my scout troop to go there and I can get another fix. It makes me want to go back to college and learn more biology. Maybe teaching a couple of high school boys next year will suffice.

Fortune-ly

I always open my fortune cookie and read the fortune, even though they never apply. It is always something really silly. Sunday, my darling hubby decided we should go out to eat after he helped me teach the preschoolers. I love him for helping me, I didn't even ask, he just came with me. ( : This class not only included a set of triplets, but also a set of twins in addition to the regular singles. I love him for deciding to go out after that especially since we were going away to a Co-op retreat soon after church and the less I saw of the mess that was/is our house, the better. So anyway, after eating we all opened our fortune and we just laughed out loud-they all kept fitting.

Lilly's- "Sell your ideas, they are totally marketable."
Throw in an "actually" and this even sounds like Lilly!

Erika's- "You have a deep appreciation of the arts and music"
She is the artist and also likes classical music alot.

Kayla's-"Stop searching forever. Happiness is just next to you."
She was sitting beside Lilly who, we all laughed, really is "happiness".

Erik's- "You are sociable and entertaining."
This was especially true after "entertaining/gigging" all week and weekend.

I said then, "Wow, those were all pretty true and relevant but you know mine will be something stupid like 'Your lucky number is 10.' " Then I proceed to open mine and I swear, we are still laughing because it was the MOST accurate one!!

"A good time to finish up old tasks."

The bathroom might finally get trimmed someday soon. Maybe after I finish painting the kitchen, wallpapering the dining room, sorting through the closet junk, trimming Kayla's room, taking down the wallpaper border in Lilly's room....I could go on all night which should clue you in as to why we laughed so hard!!

Memories...

I had very little excitement this morning, in fact, maybe even a little resentment. My day was planned for me and my presence was requested(with many reminders) at an estate auction. I don't feel the same love for auctions as I do yard sales. It always seems that whatever I want is also what other people want. Plus, I usually spend more than the amount that was in my head when I got there. This was an auction of my Aunt's whose huband recently passed away. She was also the beneficiary of most everything belonging to my Grandma, so I was hopeful that I might see a few of Ma's things come around. (I did not. It was mostly things that belonged to her husband's parents.)

So, drudgingly, I got up, made breakfast and three WARNED (this will not be fun, there will be sitting and waiting and I will not take any complaints) little girls began a Saturday auction adventure.

We arrived about 15 minutes after start-up. My aunt's son and his son, one of my other aunts and her hubby, my dad, 2 of my sisters, and myself were the family representatives. I expected my mom, but she wasn't there. IT actually ended up being fun. Visited some with my aunts and strolled down memory lane a bit. Spent $57 on some "stuff". Nothing to meaningful but fun things to clean up and fix up. I could have gotten so much more for fixing up and re-selling. Alot of things went VERY cheap-but I tried to stick with things that will be useful to us and memorable as well.

Lilly had a birthday party at two, so that dictated our leave time. I am shocked to say, I might have stayed longer if we had not had that commitment. However, the kids would have burst into flames and tears, so it worked out great.

Thank you!

Frist off, thanks to any of you who were praying for me. I have had a calmness that must be coming from God because if left to my own devices, I just stress out and play spider solitaire while the world crumbles around me. I have accomplished much and this time next week, I should be all through my entire list. Of course there will be a whole new one, but that is another post.

I have had two wonderful blessings since last post.

Last night one of my good friends treated me to "Spring Fling" at a local church. I went into there not recognizing the speakers name. She was awesome and my eyes are wide open about communicating with my fella. I am still amazed at the horrible awful things I have been doing to my husbands sense of well being and I DID NOT EVEN KNOW IT!!! I consider myself to be very enlightened about relationships-I have read many self-help books, we have been to a total of 4 marriage counselors over the years and have took many a "marriage inventory" and such. What I realized after last nights speaker is I have done everything I can to be exactly "what I wanted" in a mate. Loving, thoughtful, considerate, helpful and all the things we want our husband to be. Now after hearing Shaunti Feldhahn, I realize I have been direspecting my husband several times a day and this is his most dominant need-to be respected. Of course, I do respect my husband, a great deal, but I disrespect him in so many small ways I bet he doesn't think so. I am so thankful to have been there to hear her talk, and now to be an owner of a life-changing book, For Women Only, what you need to know about the inner lives of men. I highly recommend it. After sitting through that seminar, I had tears in my eyes because it is so unfair how little press our men get on what their needs really are. We all know they need s*x, but did we know it isn't the s*x near as much as it is needing us "to have the desire to have s*x with them"?? So just "being willing" doesn't even come close to filling their need. I am just so ashamed of being so clueless. What a blessing and just in time, my heart was soft and I am really convicted that I have not been a great helpmeet anyway. As usual, God's timing is great.

My second blessing is really exciting to me and this will ensure to most of you that I am weird. (As if you didn't know already. ) One of my friends was showing me her church grounds for a possible picnic location(that ends up not working out) and I noticed this cooler of whole grains in little baggies. She goes on to tell me that they have a food pantry that their members (and me as a friend of a member!) shop from since most of them are vegetarian, organic food consumers. I am no vegetarian, but I am delighted to find a place to get organic dried fruit, nuts and whole grain flour. I have such a great stash of healthy snacks now. Carob covered almonds!!! Dried peaches and apples. Almonds, pumpkin seeds, etc. I am so happy. YUM!!

I am soooooo overscheduled right now and about the last three months. A whole lot of things I have organized are all wrapping up this month and next. It is very tiring. Also Erik is doing alot of gigging. If I seem a little distracted as we talk, visit, blog, or email-it isn't you, it's me.

I am probably praying for God to give me a moment to run to the store for groceries.

Honesty is the best policy!

We have new trash cans in our bathrooms. They have lids that must be opened thanks to Tobilicious Toby. He loves toilet paper, especially the fun kind. Since we have a septic tank and all the fun that goes along with those, we just toss our paper in the trash instead of flushing. All that to say, until you open the lid, what is in there is not visible.

Monday, as I am getting ready to go to bowling, I throw something away and find the little 3LB dumbells that Lilly uses to make her muscles bigger. We just got them at a yardsale over the weekend, so I knew it wasn't her throwing them away. She loves them, I did caution her-only once per day and just 2-3 times. Since Lilly is often the culprit when something is awry, I did not even know who to suspect.

"Who threw away Lilly's weights?", I asked.

"Not me."

"Not me."

"Whoever threw away Lilly's dumbells had better 'fess up or this week's activities are cancelled." (This is about 30 minutes before bowling)

"Okay, it was me.", says Kayla.

"Why would you do that? You know she loves them. She has been using them every day. Why would you do something so mean." Erik asks her. (He was off on Monday.)

"I was afraid she would get stronger than me so I threw them away." said Kayla.

As soon as Erik and I stopped laughing...and it took a while, I followed up with this pearl of parental wisdom.

"Telling the truth has set you free, but I am totally blogging it."

Alot of passion in those comments!

Homeschoolers cannot help their passion. I know many people whose children are in the public school world. It is expected. No one ever asks you why your children are there. "Why on earth would you send your children to school?? I could never do that." That is something you never hear, not even from a homeschooler. Public school is the status quo and as such, never gets challenged. Even people who go the private school route are seldom questioned. It is accepted and I suspect many people are even just a little jealous of it.

Homeschooling, however, is totally fair game for opinions of all shapes and sizes. I bet I am questioned about it 3-5 times every day. Some days more, but never less than 3. The questions/comments are as various as the people asking/saying them.

"How do you do it? I couldn't teach my kids a thing!?"
"Aren't all of them school-aged? You are missing your me-time"
"What do you do for socialization?"
"Do you worry about sheltering them from the real world?"
"Does the school just give you the materials and you teach it?"
"Do you take them to the school every year so they can be tested?"
"You're not going to homeschool them all the way through, are you?"
"My goodness, I guess you have your hands full."
"Do you like it?"
"I don't like my kids enough to do that! I can barely stand them through the summer!"
"How many hours a day do you teach them?"

It isn't like it is my candidate for office, or my favorite cookie. My whole LIFE is BUILT around my decision to homeschool my children. It wasn't a decision made lightly. If it was, we would have returned to school by now-which reminds me of another question: Are you STILL homeschooling?

I truly don't mind questions about homeschooling. People are curious and I usually know the answer. It is the people that ask questions while looking at you open-mouthed like you have two heads that get to me. Or the ones that want to quiz my kids to see if I am really teaching them. Come here Junior and let me hear you read. Do your multiplication tables. People just assume that Public school is teaching kiddos and homeschoolers are not. Very unfair stereotype.

The best we can hope for in this world of differences is to be loving and supportive of whatever our friends have decided. If you love your public school, I am sooo happy for you. I don't think less of you. I am not doing a little superiority dance like The Church Lady. (My all-time favorite SNL skit) I will not go into exactly how I feel about homeschool vs. public school unless I am sure you feel that way to. That is kind of like a methodist trying to "save" a baptist. They are both already Christians. How they get there is irrelevant! If they are both believers, God can do the fine-tuning. If a mom is involved in her child's education, doesn't matter how. That is what kids need. If mom's teaching, great. Helping with homework, great. Involvement in your child's life is what is key and we each have our own inner voice telling us what that is supposed to be.

Also, don't assume all homeschoolers are Christians!! Many have pulled their kids out of school t deliver them from all the "religious crap" that filters in. Don't assume we can't be salt and light to a homeschool community. The number of atheists HSing is shocking. Also there is a whole group of homeschoolers whose kids have gotten kicked out of all the schools in their community and are forced to homeschool. It varies widely, the world of homeschoolers. Alot like other types of schools.