Perspective

Our washing machine has been making horrific noises lately. Today, it died. The repair man said it would cost more to repair than getting a new one. Our emergency fund has recently been depleted. This purchase is not in the budget. Our van is making strange noises... (Trust)

I'm all alone today and craving everything I should not... (Discipline)

The girls were supposed to get their bus passes today, but the paperwork wasn't properly filled out so I was late picking them up for school on just their second day. I walked into the school to be greeted by the principal saying, "Is it the plan for you to pick your children up everyday?" He was unaware of our paperwork issue and the fact that I had only minutes before been notified they wouldn't be able to ride the bus. The girls were confused... No Mr. Principal, I'm really not one of THOSE parents, I just look like one... (Humility)

Our son tried to deceive us tonight by skipping swim practice and going to play video games at the Y instead. Unfortunately (for him), tonight Mom finished her workout earlier than their swim practice ended and went in to watch... (Wisdom, Grace, and Forgiveness)

My husband had an early dentist appointment this morning. He was in a meeting when I tried to call him to discuss the washing machine thing. He donated plasma after work. We were gone already for swim practice when he got home. He'll be at an elder meeting at church most of the night tonight. Missing him... (Patience and Love)

Believe it or not; my attitude is still positive... (Hope)

These "minor" mishaps are not so bad when taken in the proper perspective... (Truth)

Jesus is my Savior. He is always on His throne. He loves me more that I can even imagine. He is working all things for my good... (Peace)

I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion... Phil. 1:6 (Faith)

Praise the Lord!

The Children Speak

Hi, this is Ethan. Mom said the kids can post something on our family blog. So here goes...

My fall wasn't that fun because the leaves didn't fall off the trees soon enough. Also, it was raining a lot and I'm ready for snow. I want it to snow really bad. Now it's Hannah's turn...

I'm excited about swim team. We have a meet tomorrow. I hope I get to swim 50 Butterfly and 100 IM. My fall was fun, but it wasn't long enough. The leaf truck came to get our leaves right after they fell off the trees. We'd like to show you some random pictures...

Can you guess who this is?

We love our pets so much! They are so cute. Dudley likes to play with his pink and red toy. Dudley is very wild and crazy. Whenever he sees Selah, they chase each other around the house and he tackles her. And Selah growls at him. They lick each other a lot too. Rudy does lots of tricks and likes to play too. Selah likes to play with Rudy. She teases him. Selah can jump so high. It's funny when she tries to catch bugs (like ladybugs) on the door or on the ceiling. She tries to jump up to catch them. She is very sneaky. Once she actually caught a moth and ate it. She ATE it?! Oh, I don't remember that part! (Ethan) Rudy likes to play fetch and chew on his bone. He's soft and snuggly too when you want him to be.

This is me and my cousin, Elysa. She was at our house for a week this summer while my brother was at her house with her brother, Evan. We like to go swimming as you can kinda tell. We are silly together. Whenever I see her face and she's making a silly face and I see her I laugh and then she laughs and we can't stop. (And then it gets really annoying - Hannah)

Random thoughts on:

Food -
Sarah, "I really love food. If we didn't have it, we wouldn't be alive."
Ethan, "I love pizza!"
Hannah, "I'm glad my mom doesn't like tomatoes so we don't have to eat them."

Daddy -
Ethan, "He's always gone except on weekends...so I like weekends."
Sarah, "My favorite food is fettucine alfredo and when we have it, he always eats it."
Hannah, "He's big - a lot bigger than I am."

School -
Hannah, "I'm gonna love my new teacher."
Ethan, "I have too much homework."
Sarah, "I really love my new teacher. I'm excited to meet new friends. I already made one when I went to the conference. Her name is Sierra.

Swimming -
Ethan, "I'm doing way better this year than I was last year in 100 IM."
Sarah, "Last year I only was able to do 25s; this year I can do 50s. And that's the truth!"
Hannah, "I don't like to practice very much, but I love the swim meets."

Poop -
Sarah, "Poop and pee is very gross. Sometimes when I go poop really hard and fat, it hurts my butt like today."
Ethan, "In the movie called 'Shorts', the pteradactyl pooped on Loogie's head."
Hannah, "Daddy's smells really bad and so does Ethan's."

Computers -
Ethan, "I am a computer geek!"
Hannah, "I love playing Cake Mania."
Sarah, "I someday will make a blog about Selah and one thing I'll put about her is that she goes, 'Meeeeeoooooooow' (pronounced Mee - oo in a very high voice)because Selah can't go on the computer, but I bet that's what she'd say."

Blogging for the first time -
Ethan, "I can't believe Mommy let us put something on here about poop."
Hannah, "I wish I had my own blog and Facebook and Twitter."
Sarah, "Blogging is dumb."

That's all for now folks!

Moving On

We've come to the end of our homeschooling days over here. The girls will re-enter the public school system on Monday. We'd been praying about this decision for about a month now, and have decided this is what is best for our family. School has gone much better this year than it did last year. Attitudes are very much improved. In theory, we love homeschooling; in practice, we struggle. Our reasoning for homeschooling never really had to do with academics, although at one point we were excited about the opportunity for a more individualized approach. Many homeschoolers report a renewed love for learning in their children when they homeschool - that their children were somewhat stifled in the school system. I'm sad to report the opposite in our family. Our children are now more resistant and bored with academics than ever. Where they used to love school and the academics that came with it, they now view their work as something to check off the list so they can move on to something more exciting. They are extremely discouraged and resistant to learning and being corrected by their mother. I'm sure there are things that I, as the teacher, could do differently, but I'm ill-equipped and unmotivated to do so. I do not have a teacher's heart. I have a discipler's heart. The "spiritual" aspects of homeschooling met with eager and receptive hearts from both mom and children. We love reading books together (esp. missionary biographies). AWANA verses and Bible study time are highlights of our day. Our desire in homeschooling was to disciple our children in the Lord. This is still our heart. Homeschooling was what we felt we needed to do for a time in order to do our best for Him. We've learned a lot in this last year - the children did too. Our relationships in our family have been strengthened. Homeschooling was not a mistake for our family; it's just time to move on...

I've had many thoughts and feelings in the past few weeks...Am I a quitter? Am I a failure? Did I do enough? Am I just lazy? What will people think? What is God calling me to (rather than away from)? Mostly though, I just felt relief...

In the past couple of days, God has released me from any burden I had put on myself. I am as excited for the girls to go back to school as they are. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I'm hopeful. I'm prayerful. I'm moving on...

Nedra