Happy Birthday Brendan

Brendan turned 12 on Thursday. He is getting so mature. Brendan has been such a blessing and a good learning lesson. I was happy when I just had the two oldest boys. Then I found out I was pregnant with Brendan. I was not the happiest in the world. I thought I had a bad sinus infection but found out I was pregnant instead. David was in the military. I did not want to have a baby on the army base. Plus I was missing my family so much. Then I was told that Brendan was a girl. We were so excited. The night before I was to have him I told David that we had better come up with a boy's name. We decided on Brendan Gabriel. When Brendan was born they told me he was another boy. The doctor asked if I was disappointed. I said definitely no. The first couple of days that I stayed at the military hospital was a complete nightmare. I not only was recovering from a c-section but also had to take care of a newborn who wanted to cry all the time. The military hospital policy was the baby stayed with the mother 24/7. Finally a nurse came in one night and said some babies want to sleep with their moms. She then put him in the bed with me. I never had another problem out of Brendan. He always has loved to cuddle. Brendan still is a loving and gentle soul. My mom says he is a good buddy. Brendan's middle name fits him to a tee. He even has curls like an angel. All the old ladies love to touch his curly hair. We are so blessed to have Brendan. The Lord knows exactly what to give people when they need it the most.

My favorite Christmas song

I just love this song. I love that it is from Joseph's perspective.

This past week was so busy. The only day I was home was on Tuesday. I decided today that I am going to take the rest of the year off. I have home schooled all year practically. I am just tired and need a rest. Not only that but there is a few things to be done before Christmas. I am going to groom the dogs this week, enjoy my week at home, go to Maggie's recital on Thursday, and celebrate Brendan's birthday on Friday. I am still praying the Lord will send some money so I can finish Christmas shopping. I cannot believe this month is almost done. Life goes by way too fast.

School

School seems to be going better with Maggie. She finally is catching on to reading. Maggie surprises me with her math. A lot of days I look at her math lesson and think there is no way she will get this. But Maggie seems to catch on real quick. The boys are doing okay. I think Brendan is finally catching on to easy grammer. He took his first test today and made a 100. I was so excited. The older two boys are going to take their ACT on Saturday. I really hope Micah will get the score he needs to graduate. I am sure he will do fine. I really would like to go back to homeschooling three kids again. I don't know why I feel this way because Micah is my easiest. I guess I know Micah is ready to move on. I will continue to update on our school year through the year.

Fun

We had a pretty good day today. We got the Christmas tree and decorations up. Even if you are not in the mood for Christmas just seeing the excitement on children's faces will put one in the mood. We went to the deaf play tonight. Every year we are not disappointed. It really puts into perspective what Christmas is all about. Going to this play is a great way to start off the holiday season. Days like today make for great memories.

update

I have not posted in a long time. I wanted to update everyone on our life. We are doing fairly well in school so far. Maggie seems to be picking up on her reading. She tells me every day that reading is her favorite thing in school. Maggie informed me today that she is glad I am her teacher. After all the trouble we have had I am surprised to say the least. Maggie is so hard to pin down. She seems to get everything real quick and then is bored. I don't know if this is good or bad. Math is going pretty good. I really like our math curriculum. It seems to suit Maggie. Brendan is doing better this year after a few changes. He still does better when he takes his medicine. Brendan will be turning twelve in a couple of weeks. Time goes by too quick. Jacob never seems to have trouble in school. His grades definitely reflect that. I am ready for him to start getting motivated to get a job. But Jacob in typical form is not anxious to grow up. He always has preferred to take his time doing things. Micah is doing better in school this year. He is anxious to graduate. Micah is now working produce at BiLo. He seems to like it most days. He is ready to spread his wings. David is doing all right in school. He is still on only 30 hours a week at work. God has provided by sending extra computer jobs on the side. David made a change in his schooling and is now going to become a programmer. I have been physically feeling better. I am just so tired all the time. I need to get more motivated. Life seems to be going too fast and I seem to be going in slow motion. I will try to post more as time moves on.

Summer and New School Year.

I have been meaning to write on my blog. The year just seems to be getting away too fast. The summer went by really fast. We didn't do a whole lot this summer. Jacob received Jesus as his Savior this summer. Maggie lost two teeth. My baby is growing up. We mainly just relaxed around the house and took Micah to work. Maggie and Micah home schooled this summer. Maggie was catching up on kindergarten because we got a late start. Micah did English this summer so he could graduate this coming May. It did not hit me that he would be done with school until I got the records for high school from Gateway. In a way it made me feel good because I have taught him since kindergarten and I feel the thrill of accomplishment. But I am having a hard time because I will not be his teacher any longer. I was thinking the other day how odd it will feel not to home school Micah. We have got off to a great start in school. We are already taking our first break this year. Micah has it the easiest this year. His work is mostly review. Jacob has the hardest but he always takes everything in stride. I am having to rethink some things for Brendan. He is still having a hard time in English and Math. Maggie is really picking up on her reading and cursive writing. We still are having some power struggles but we are coming a long. David is still on part time at his job. He started school up again this week. I thank the Lord every day for a wonderful family and the way He provides every day. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

Happy 4th of July

I love this song. It reminds me of the great country the Lord has given for us to live in. I take our freedoms for granted a lot of times. I tend to complain about how our country is being run. But then I remember God has a season and purpose for everything. People all over the world would love to have even a fraction of the freedoms we have. I hope everyone has a great holiday.

2 Summer Tips

Since it is summer I have two tips for everyone. The first is when you go for a picnic bring a twin fitted sheet it fits perfectly most picnic tables. I discovered this by accident. It works wonderful. I also like it because when you are done you can throw the sheet into the washer. The second tip is when you go swimming bring a squirt bottle of white vinegar. I use a perm bottle. You just squirt it all through your hair and then rinse out. This naturally takes out chlorine and leaves your hair really soft. I use this all the time on mine and Maggie's hair.

Neglected Blog

I have neglected my blog for two months now. It is amazing how time is flying. I get on here and feel so inadequate. I just cannot think of any thing to say. My life is still so busy. All the kids are doing well in school. I am ready for summer break to be here. Maggie is doing very well reading. I keep thinking this will be my last year homeschooling a kindergartner. She is growing too fast. We enjoy spending time reading the bible and different books that I read when I was little. I been trying to have devotions every night with her. I think this is so important for the mother daughter relationship. Maggie is also going to be singing a solo for the spring play at our church. She is so cute. Everyone who hears her sing says they are amazed at her. Brendan is also singing a solo part. I was shocked he was going to do it. He is very shy. Jacob is really wanting to spread his wings. He can't wait to get a job. Micah is going to drivers ed. In four weeks we will have another driver in the house. I can't wait till he can drive me around. I hate to drive. It makes me a nervous wreck. David is still doing well in school. He and I have been doing the Love Dare at church. Wow what a difference it has made in both of our lives. We started having devotions together which is a major answer to prayer. I thought this course was to change our lives. When in reality it changes you personally. We are almost done with the class but we want to review the book together at least 2 a year. I have just turned 39. I had a great birthday. David got me a baby bird for my birthday. She is so cute. Her name is Miette.

Feeling Sick

All of us have had the flu. Now that everyone is better I have caught it. I am hoping it won't last long. Good thing I won't be doing school this next week. Ever since my surgeries I seem to catch everything. I wish they made a multi vitamin that did not have vitamin c in it. I cannot have vitamin c because of my bladder problem. Just pray that we will all be feeling well soon .

Highlights from January

I just don't know what else to call this post. January passed so fast. Now February is going just as fast. Well let me give you a little highlight about what happened in January. We started back to school the first of January. I decided to start taking off every 6 weeks instead of every 9 weeks. So we will be getting a break next week. Micah is doing really well at his job. He started taking guitar lessons. He is doing very well. Micah is paying for his own lessons. So I think this is making him want to do well. Also he wants to be in the youth band this fall. All of his subjects are going okay. I think he would do so much better if he wouldn't be such a lead foot about everything. Jacob is still Jacob. We are having to work on his talking back. He has a comment about everything. He doesn't have any real interest other than reading, playing with his siblings, and cooking. Jacob has discovered that he likes to experiment with different recipes. He can't wait till he can get a job. Brendan is doing really well in school this year. The best decision I ever made was having Brendan repeat 4th grade English and Math. He is getting all A's this year. Brendan has been having trouble with a bathroom issue. We went to see a GI doctor. The doctor gave us some good news. He also gave us a little disturbing news. The doctor said in 10 years there is a good possibility that Brendan could have diabetes. He showed me on different parts of Brendan's body where he is not processing sugar very well. I knew this would happen to one of my children but still you hate to hear anything like that. Maggie finally started her Abeka Kindergarten. She is as smart as a whip. The days she wants to do school Maggie will fly through everything. If she doesn't well I can just about hang it up. Maggie gets this look on her face and this gleam in her eye and I know we are going to have trouble. Usually I nip this in the bud pretty fast. She is so cute that no one realizes what an imp she can be. We took Maggie for a sleep study because she has never slept through the night. We found out she has restless legs. I have been giving her Valerian root and Lemon Balm. Both seem to do all right for her. She still is not sleeping through the night. The little imp will wait till we are fast asleep and then crawl into our bed. What do you do with a child like that? It is amazing how smart kids are. David is doing very well in school. He feels a little intimidated because he is the oldest in his classes. I told him that he is setting an example to the other students that you are never to old too finish school. I better wrap this up. I have gone on long enough.

starting back

Well 2008 is come and gone. It will soon be a distant memory. I heard some one say the other day, "Where did the year go?" I feel the same way. We started school back on Monday. Sunday night I told David that for the first time I was dreading starting back to school. On Monday I told the Lord to take away my bad attitude. So far this week has gone reasonably well. I think the kids were ready to start again. They were getting bored. I think the reason why my kids were so bored is because of the rain. They have not been outside like they are used to. I personally have thanked the Lord for giving us all this rain. The news said that December was the wettest month since May 2003. For five years we have been in a drought. Call me crazy but I will not let the Lord hear me complaining about the rain. David will be starting back to school next Thursday. This semester all of the child raising will be on me. David has school five nights a week. He is taking a full load. Next week Maggie will be starting ballet and tap again. I have decided not to let Maggie's physical therapy run my life. Do not get me wrong I do think it is important but I seem to overkill everything. I am so much of a perfectionist. Keep me in your prayers.