Struggles of this Homeschooling Mom

When you wake up to the trash man driving down the street...realizing you forgot to put the trash down....you know it is NOT going to be a good day!

Well that is how my day started out...Then one kid woke up with fever and not feeling well...then the other....then the other!  REALLY????  On top of the HUGE list of things I needed to get done the last thing I needed was 3 sick kids!  I had it all worked out so I could have the car today to do grocery shopping even!  AAAGGHHH!!!!!

So as I sat at the table sobbing into my cup of coffee I prayed for strength and a good attitude.  Now as some of you know I got back on my diet this week...off sugar/carbs and back on my workout routine.  If any of you have EVER gone off sugar you can understand my week.  MAJOR crabby and SORE!  Who would think 3 months off diet and exercise would be such a drastic thing!  So my prayer for strength and a good attitude was no small request! (at least in my mind)  I mean who ever changes their crabby attitude so drastically?  Especially someone who has been GORGING on sugar for the past 3 months!

I must add a paragraph here on my AWESOME husband.  I sometimes don't know how he survives me (although he dishes it out quite a lot!)  LOL!!!  The first night I was off sugar I was HYSTERICALLY laughing one second then SOBBING the next!  Poor guy was so confused...I kept sobbing...go get me an oreo bon bon!  PLEASE!!!  ( I know I am pathetic!)  But he didn't...he just sat there (major confused with my laughing/crying episode) and held me!  He is such a great hubby...I am totally blessed!

So how is my day going?  TOTALLY AWESOME!  God totally answered my MAJOR request.  I am in a great mood, the girls got ALL their school done for today and tomorrow (so we get a day off tomorrow)!  They all got showers/baths...they are all feeling better...I almost have all my laundry done...and it is after lunch and I am going to get my grocery shopping done.  PRAISE GOD!

I know some of you probably are going back to my comment...I am so pathetic.  I am...I admit it ;-)  To you it might seem a small request and small answer to prayer...but if you would have seen me this week...and this morning...it is a MAJOR answer to prayer ;-)  So all I have to say is THANK YOU GOD FOR ANSWERING THIS PATHETIC GIRLS PUNY REQUEST!  GOD YOU ARE AWESOME!!!

Well I am not sure if anyone is following this anymore.  I probably would have given up by now if it were me :-)  Things have been just SUPER crazy in our lives lately.  As most of you know we just moved across country....from South Dakota to Michigan.  We are WAY closer to family now which is a great blessing.  We were able to go home for Thanksgiving last week.  5 1/2 hours is much more doable than 16 1/2 :-)

The week and a half after we moved (up until Thanksgiving) we were only doing half days of school.  It was a big adjustment for the girls and a VERY sad experience.  We lived in South Dakota for 3 years, and we made WONDERFUL friends there.  The girls are 7, 8, and 9, so they had also made some very close friends.  It was a really rough move for all of us.  So I tried to make the adjustment as smoothly as I could.  I figured doing half days would not stress them out too much, but also keep us in some sort of routine.  Also we were a bit ahead in school, and some subjects more than others, so it worked out nicely.

We are unpacked and settled as much as we can I think.  I still need to cross a few things off my list...find the board of education and register my girls for home schooling, get new driver's license, license plates....all that fun stuff :-(  With only 1 car it makes it hard for me to do "running around" while Allan is at work....but we will adjust!

With Christmas quickly approaching it is getting stressful.  We just had the youngest 2 birthday's last week...and I never got them a present :-(  MAJOR GUILT AS A MOM!!!  Now trying to Christmas Shop in an area you don't know...and without a car...and with the kids with you 24/7 makes it a lot harder.  I have been doing a lot of shopping online, but you just can't do it all online...at least I can't :-)  I must say I am about 75% done with my shopping...so that is good...I hope :-)

So I am finding as I meet people I am getting the whole "so how long are you going to home school?", "the schools here are great, aren't you going to put them in school?", "are you going to home school ALL the way through High School?".  I am finding with all these questions I am starting to doubt my home schooling decision.  I start wanting to "fit in" and be the "normal" mom who sends her kids to school and goes to work. ( I was going to say sits around all day eating bon bon's ).  So as I started full days of school this week I have all these doubts going around in my head.

Today I came across this verse in my devotional. (God ALWAYS confirms me home schooling whenever I doubt)
Romans 12:2 (Phillips)

Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity.

WOW...smack in the head!  I love when God does that for me :-)  Everything I have been struggling with the past week or so...God took care of in 1 small verse!  I think this is one I am going to have to memorize.

Now total confession time....(not excuses) I have been HORRIBLE with my devotions and bible time since I started packing for our move...so about a month or 2.  I have just been struggling emotionally and physically with all the stresses of moving.  You would think by now I would know better and KEEP in my bible during these stressful times.  But when time gets stretched it seems that my time with God is the first thing to get squeezed out...WHY IS THAT???  Am I the only one?  I feel HORRIBLE. 

I just got a new devotional book  Fresh Grounded Faith.  It is a small daily devotional.  A quick reading (2 small pages) and a verse and then an area to write a few things you got out of it, a prayer, and a praise.  Now I am only on day 3, but I feel SOOOO much better.  I know it is a short devotion and I owe God WAY much more time than this, but I have found over the last day or 2 that I am reading extra in my bible throughout the day, and listening to worship music.  It has made all the difference. 

All the doubt and worries of home schooling are gone (for now...Satan knows it is a foothold for me).  It has been an AWESOME week.  The girls are doing awesome with school...despite their disability!  I am REALLY needing to start all the dyslexia stuff.  I keep making excuses as to why I haven't yet!  I also REALLY need to get hooked into a home school group.  The one I found is on break for the holiday's, but I need to register now so after the holiday's we will be all set to go.  Also, we are still looking for a church.  We tried 1 and really liked it, so we will go there again this Sunday.  I think once I get to meeting people things will get better.

We are all really struggling with this move.  We had some really great, wonderful friends in South Dakota which has made this move SUPER hard.  Also we had a GREAT church family.  So it will be hard to find a church to stand up to the standards we are used to :-)  I know God has a wonderful plan for our family...I am just trying to trust in Him daily....some days are easier than others I must say!

Hopefully I will also be much better with updating my blog.  Like I said things have been SUPER crazy!  I am praying after Christmas and New Year's things will get into a "normal" routine :-)

Well I feel super horrible for not keeping up with my blog!  Things are just so crazy here I don't know what to write about. 

As some of you know I am USUALLY on a strict diet!  Well for the past 3 months I have totally not been on ANY kind of diet...or workout routine :-(  So I am a super crab and feel super yuck and super chubby!

So today I decided ENOUGH!!!  I started this morning on my old sugar free/low carb diet.  It seems to be what always works best for me!  But after 3 months of eating carbs and TONS of sugar....today was NOT a happy day in our house.  I have been yelling and screaming and I have a HORRIBLE headache....who would think 3 months of eating crap would equal feeling this yucky! 

I am expecting a VERY rough week!  Trying to detox from sugar and carbs can make for a super cranky mom...and with homeschooling....LOTS OF PRAYERS APPRECIATED :-)

I will let you know Friday how the week went...but please pray all week for our household!

WOW!!!!  It sure has been a long time since I have posted anything!  Sorry about that all!  I know you are all just following this blog so diligently and have been in such distress from not hearing from me in so long!  HA HA HA!!!

Things have just been SOOOOO crazy and busy lately!  I just don't know where to start!  Our family is going through some personal struggles right now that I cannot really talk about yet.  Believe me I will be blogging about it all shortly!  Why stress alone?  HA! 

School has been going super well!  Everyone seems to be in their routine.  I STILL have not started any of the dyslexia stuff.  I am wanting to take a week off of our regular school work and work on just the clay stuff.  I am just waiting a few weeks to see what all transpires with everything we are dealing with....as I said I am sure to blog about it in a few weeks ;-) 

Just keeping you all interested! 

Sorry for the long wait and the short blog.  My birthday is tomorrow...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! So I am just trying to get lots done today so I can relax a bit tomorrow :-) 

Well we made it through another week!  All my attempts to start the clay failed!  I found many excuses and "reasons" and distractions this week to put it off another week!  I know I am TERRIBLE!  Although I am DETERMINED to get it started this coming week ;-)

We had a great week though...besides the guilt of not starting the dyslexia stuff :-)  School got done daily with very little resistance, we had time to play with new friends, I FINALLY made my doctor appointment (under duress!).  So it was a good week! except for the dr. appointment.

Nothing against doctors...I just don't like them, and I don't like going.  They never listen to me and they WEIGH me!  I mean really how necessary is that?  But as some of you know I have some "health" issues related with my "female" stuff!  Since Cuckles is almost 7...I figured it was time to go!  I also asked for bloodwork to be done.  Everything came back normal except my cholesterol was high (Thanks Grandma)...but my cholesterol is ALWAYS high...my good cholesterol is so high, it is never an issue...and is not this time!  But also my bilirubin level was high.  I can't remember the number she told me, but I am ASSUMING it is not high enough to be a big issue...since she didn't say I had to come in or anything.  But those of you who know me and my "thinking" (thanks mom) I am major stressed over it.  I had bloodwork done a month and a half ago and my bilirubin level was normal....so I am not sure why it is elevated....the nurse said it could be due to some of the sinus issues I am having, it could be because I forgot during my fast and took my tylenol pm, could be lower water intake due to the cold weather (I ALWAYS drink less water when it is cold out...and more coffee) But I did fast...so no coffee, but I didn't drink a lot of water!  Who knows?  I am going to call Monday and ask if I can get the number of the level and see if there is anything that might be the cause.  I am also going to take a liver detox tea for a month....and GET BACK ON MY DIET!!!

I know it is sad...but the past 2 weeks I have been TOTALLY off my diet :-(  Starting tomorrow I am getting back on it full force :-)  Although it might make a crabby school week :-)

Also my disappointment with my doctor appointment....I HATE TAKING MEDICATION!  Those who know me well know I have some MAJOR pms issues since I had my tubes tied.  So they are trying a birth control pill to try to regulate my emotions and pain during that time...although I have to take a pill EVERY DAY!  YUCK!!!  I told her I would try it for 2 months (that is what she gave me samples for) and if it didn't help by then I was not going to take it anymore.  She thought I would notice a difference within 2 months....so we will see!  If it does help me during that time (2 weeks for me) I think everyone in this house will appreciate it...so it will be worth it if it does help. 

I sense my babbling taking over since none of this really has anything to do with my homeschooling :-)

On the home schooling note...I took the girls to the library yesterday to find some reading books for Hunter...she is in 4th grade, but with her dyslexia I was told to not use the 4th grade readers with her, but to go down a grade level or 2 until we can get her caught up.  So I was looking at some books...I got a Spiderwick Book (suggested by my sister) which we started yesterday.  It is a 4th grade level book, but she is doing rather well with it....although she does struggle a bit.  I also got a younger Nancy Drew book....it is a mid 3rd grade level.  So we will read that one after this next week!  I am anxious to see how it goes....if there are any other suggestions please let me know :-)  She LOVES the Candy Fairy books, but she has read them all except the new one...which is a halloween story, so I was trying to wait till mid October to read that...and October is her book report, so I was going to have her use the Candy Fairy book for that :-) 

Well that was our week!  Hunter is spending the night at a friends house and we are FREELAXING at home with a houseful of "fwaps" (wasps)!  We have called the house manager and are waiting for the maintenance guy...Allan has killed about 50 within 2 days now, and was stung 3 times.  Cuckles has an allergy to stings and her epi-pen is expired (and they won't refill without a doctor visit)  So I am praying she does not get stung...with the freeze the other night they are rather slow...but you never know when you will come across a feisty one!

Well off to get the girls out of the tub!  Then an evening of Star Trek....lucky me!!!

2 Timothy 1:7-11

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

So you must never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.  And don't be ashamed of me, either, even though I'm in prison for Christ.  With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the proclamation of the Good News.

It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life.  He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began-to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.

And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life through the Good News.

And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News.




While "thinking" in bed last night this verse kept popping into my head....so first thing this morning I got up and looked it up :-)

I have really been struggling with the dyslexia stuff.  I just have been procrastinating for WEEKS!  It is so sad to admit, but it is true :-(  The main reason I have been putting it off is due to fear.  I am afraid I cannot do it....or do it properly.  I am afraid I am not equipped enough to help them,  that I will do more damage than good. Partly, also, I totally do not understand this way of thinking....it frustrates me!  But Allan said something to me last night that really made sense (don't tell him I said that).  "If you get frustrated because you don't think like they do, then you can understand how frustrated they are, because they don't think like you do!"  DUH!!!  LOL!  But it would definitely be EASIER for me to pay the lady to have her do it :-)  Then I wouldn't have to face my fears...sounds good to me :-)

What I have learned (the hard way of course) is that God usually doesn't call me to do the easy stuff!  LOL!!! 

Lucky for me I have the promise of Matthew 6:33   and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.

Well I am not sure about all of you other home schoolers, but I don't usually take off the little holidays!  But today we did not do school!

Allan worked all weekend, and decided to stay home today, so I figured I would take the day off!

I slept in, didn't do my workout...and we just sluffed around all day :-)

I did my workout at 2:30 this afternoon!  Now after a full week of not doing my yoga workout it totally kicked my tush today!  My arms are still shaking at 5PM!  I got a shower then decided to make gluten free chocolate chip cookies and make a hot chocolate tea party for the girls :-)  It was a lot of fun I must say!

Now we are all playing wii sports and having a blast!  I must say if the holiday off is always like this I might just keep taking them off ;-)  We would still finish school the same time as the school system...but I like to be done by Hunter's birthday May 17th.  So we will see how the rest of the school year goes! 

Although I could make up the school day on Saturday!  LOL!!!  My OCD is kicking in full gear!