Blessings--New Pictures Added

Crocuses popping up through the leaves.

We've been going through some very roller coaster like times lately, so it helps to focus on the blessings.

For those of you who do not know, we had a house fire that started in our basement in March of 2005. 

This is what our basement looked like. 

God took this mess and not only blessed us through it, but also the lady who bought our house.  Everything was fixed up nicely for her with a new furnace, hot water heater, electrical, duct work and everything was painted fresh for her.

Our prayers were answered!  

During that time, we'd lived in a campground in a camper so that our children would have room to ride their bikes and play.

We started out in an 18 foot camper with 3 kids and 2 dogs.  Yes, things were cramped!  We traded up to a 35 foot 5th wheel and spent 4 more months in it.  Needless to say, we were ready to move in to our house, which seemed so roomy and spacious when we first moved in.  

During the past 8 years my husband has had no desire whatsoever to do any more camping.  He didn't even want to consider a camper unless it was a drive-able Winnebago type RV.  He was so very disgusted with the thought of camping that we just stayed in motels whenever we went somewhere and didn't have friends to stay with.

Last year when we went to the end of the school year field trip to Columbus Zoo and the Creation Museum, we stayed in motels.  Plus we left our dogs behind with some good friends.  He wasn't too thrilled with doing that, but they were left in good hands. (He's attached to our doggies. )  Couple that with the cost of the motels and he was newly convinced that we probably should consider a camper.

We started looking, but not too seriously.  We just wanted to check prices and see what we needed to start saving for.  We realize that both of our parents are getting up in years and we needed to go see them, even if they did live thousands of miles away.  The best way for us to do that was to drive and camp.  

The Lord had His hand in this so much so that we just could not believe it!

About a month or two ago, a friend from church approached my husband about a camper.

"Huh?!" said my husband.  "Have you been talking to my wife?"  Our friend said, "No, should I?"  And the Lord worked out the details through my husband who didn't want to go camping for 8 long years.

I will say that the Lord works in mysterious ways.  His ways are not our ways, so when this camper was literally dropped in our laps, we decided to accept it without question, even though we didn't have a good vehicle to tow it with, yet.  We figured if the Lord wanted to give us a camper that He would provide the good quality vehicle to tow it with where ever we needed to go.

What an undeserved blessing this is for us!  The kids are smiling at the thought of making more memories, going camping, and enjoying our family.

When our friends delivered it, I was gasping because I didn't realize it was so HUGE!

The front of the camper complete with working stove, oven, microwave and full size camper refrigerator.

To the right is the shower and just below, the potty.  (I know...something you always wanted to know.)  LOL

Turning around looking toward the back of the camper--behind me is the table.  The first closet to the right is a pantry or linen closet, then there are clothes closets.  To the right is the bathroom and, of course, the bedroom in the back.

The bedroom, of course.  We bought ourselves a new mattress, so our old mattress went out to the camper.  

God bought us a camper.  It was only done through Him.  Just about everything we'd been looking for in a camper was given to us.  Isn't that just like God?  :0)

God is so good!

What an awesome blessing!

The Ending

If you have ever read an intriguing piece of literature, there is usually a cliff hanger signifying the pinnacle of the story.  After that, everything is "down hill."

This school year really had no cliff hanger.  There was no mid point noted, there was no "broo-ha-ha" when we reached the 180th day.  There wasn't even a celebration for the 100th day of school, much like many of our public school counter-parts celebrate.

We kept doing school daily as a matter of doing the next thing.  We've known for a very long time the course that we need to take for completion and we willingly  (most of the time) take it daily.  Some days the children are ahead of me in getting those things accomplished, but they forget the things they need to complete "before" getting to school work, like personal hygiene (yes, they forget) and their daily chores.  It is my duty as their mother/teacher to remind them to "go back and see what you've forgotten."   I know that one of these days they'll remember to make their bed, do their hygiene and finish their chores.  I also know that those days will most likely be when they have their own homes, or does it come with sheer repetition?

This year has been a very low key year.  It has been a year of very few field trips along with the one's occurring with the home school group.  The children have asked me, "Are we going to this month's field trip?"  Then I ask them if they'd like to go to that particular place and they most often tell me, "No."  I would like to say that this has been a year of excitement, or maybe I wouldn't.  Excitement is in the eye of the beholder, wouldn't you say?

Currently, I'm writing this post on Tuesday and set the schedule for this to post on Saturday at 10PM.  My family and I will have been on the road to the Columbus Zoo and the Creation Museum and on our way home.  It seems that our own pinnacle of the school year is definitively the end.  From this point to the end of June, we'll be finishing up some loose ends, as they are often called.  My oldest son will be completing his essay on "Operation Anthropoid" during our journey.  He has already been told that this is something that he needs to do and he agrees, without hesitation and with immediate acceptance.  If only all things were that easy.  Our daughter has completed her school work at breakneck speed with 90% and above averages, so we're giving her a break.  Our youngest son will bring his books to read and finish his book reports upon returning home, or a bit after.

Me?  I'm bringing the sock I'm working on for my daughter and Knowing God by JL Packer.  I'm limiting myself to those two things so that I get some reading done and some work done on the sock for my sweet daughter.  I try to work on it every day, at least until my carpal tunnel issues begin to rear their ugly heads, as is usually the case when I'd like to get something done a little faster than my body will let me.

What to do after our trip?  Well, we'll prepare for our final day of our home school group where we have awards and a picnic to follow.  It is a very nice culmination to our school year. All of the certificates the children get from all of their classes will go immediately in to their portfolios.  This helps us to keep track of all of them easier.  After getting their certificates in to their portfolios, we'll begin documenting the rest of the books that we haven't documented yet this year.  We'll take out the books currently documented that we've given away and add the new ones as well as the websites visited, educational shows watched and anything else we can think of.  The PA state home school law says "a contemporaneous log of subjects st,udied", so we fill 17+ pages of  "Educational Resources Used" each year.  If the children completely read the resource, then I document it AND they write a book report on it, usually.  This year, however, the older two children are writing reports on the Holocaust.  DA will be writing about his findings on "Operation Anthropoid" and HJ will be writing a synopsis on a book called Eleanor.  One of our topics we had chosen for History this year was "The Holocaust Through Children's Eyes."  It intrigues me to see the topics they've chosen to write about.  JL had written a book report upon completion of reading Who Was Anne Frank.

We'll start printing things out on the 28th.  Each day we will finish a subject, putting all of the records for it in to their portfolios.  The first subjects to do will be Math and Language Arts.  Then we'll add Science and History, then move out from there completing subjects one at a time.

Once we get everything done, we set the portfolios aside for a couple of days to "rest".  We walk, play, work on the garden and just get our minds off of them, or at least we try to.  It depends greatly on how well the printer is working.  If it is working at a snail's pace, then we're in for some frustration.  I think we'll probably get a new printer very soon.

When we go to our evaluator, it is a whole day trip.  It is almost a 2 hour drive, so we try very hard to visit friends when we go.  If it doesn't work out, we get something to eat and then come home.

From that point, we usually wait until the June 30th deadline to submit them.  In times past with previous superintendents they've compiled the portfolios until all of them were present until they did the evaluating.  This year, after calling, the superintendent told me that it would be a good thing to bring them in so he could look at them before he leaves for vacation.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Now we don't have to wait until almost the end of July to get our portfolios back.

After submitting the portfolios, there is still work to do.  Between submitting them and getting them back, I work on next year's objectives, getting the affidavit notarized and this year we'll be doing a religious exemption form for all the medical things they ask for.  In the affidavit we file, by signing it, we attest to keeping current with all of the children's medical and dental needs.  That should be enough, but for some reason the education system in PA is creating a database for all children who have had vaccinations and all who haven't.  For me, this isn't a debate about whether or not to vaccinate.  It is the basic principal that the school district is calling my home and requesting the medical records of my kids.  So, we just simply file the religious exemption forms and we'll be fine, in theory.  We'll see how well that holds up in the future.

Our new school year will begin on July 16th.  If the kids are picking berries at our friend's farm, then we'll start after they return home and shower.  But, that's not supposed to be in this post...that's another post, for another day, because that's the beginning.

This is the Ending.  And it went over with a SPLASH!!!  I loved seeing the polar bears and manatees!

Can you see it?

What am I doing here?  Talking to a Reticulated Python, of course!  LOL