An Unexpected Journey

Ok, so have you heard the one about a kid that asks - or actually begs - his mother to home school him next year? Yeah, that's what happened in our house last Tuesday night. So, like any good mother would do, I squelched that little request without batting an eye. But, then it came at me again! So, I made home schooling sound worse than going to jail - staying home with me, all day, every day, while his friends go to school and play at recess without him; staying home with me all day with no friends to play with; staying home with me all day and not getting to play video games at every corner because he is bored; staying home with me every day...well, you get the point. It sounded awful to me, but the response I got was so totally unexpected that I was left speechless:

"But mom, if you were to home school me, I would be able to do my work without getting into trouble. If I was home working, it would be quiet and I wouldn't get distracted as easily. If you were to home school me, I would really love school again!"

And, so my search for knowledge and wisdom has begun.

Whether we decide to traverse down the unfamiliar road called Home Schooling, or we stick to our original plan of sending our kiddos to the local, very well recognized public school, or maybe even suck it up and find the funds to finance private education for a year, I am traversing a road that I had never expected to visit. All of my plans for the coming year - 2 days a week with absolutely no kiddos to worry with - 2 glorious days every single week! - have been tossed to the wind, and I am diving into unknown waters. I'm worried, and scared, and excited all at the same time.

I cannot wait to see where it is that God will lead us! All of us...

6 Months Older than Me!

Today marks the point at which I can officially say that my sweet hubby is 6 months older than me!

May 1, 1972 - the date that my wonderful man was born.

Happy 36th Birthday My Love!!!

Heavenly Thoughts

This is a piece of a conversation that Morgann & I had while driving the other day:

Morgann: Mom, is Jesus real?

Me: Yes sweetie. Jesus is very real. He was born, grew up, died on a cross for our sins, then rose from the dead and went to heaven to wait for us.

Morgann: Oh. He's in heaven with grammy?

Me: Yep, with grammy :)

Morgann: So, is there a bedtime in heaven?

Me: Nope. I don't think you have a bedtime there.

Morgann: So I can stay up as long as I want? I don't have to go to bed?

Me: Yes, you can stay up as long as you want.

Morgann: Cool, I want to go to heaven!

Me: Well you will if you have Jesus in your heart.

Morgann: Wait, are there in toys in heaven too? Because if there aren't any toys in heaven, then it will be super-boring and I don't want to go there.

Me: Yes sweetie. I'm sure there are toys in heaven.

Morgann: Cool! Then I'm definitely going to go there :)

I'm so thankful that she has her priorities in order!!! But, I guess in 5 year old, toys are a priority, huh?

Something New, Take 2

We are a family of squash dislikers! Michael can't choke it down to save his life and I simply don't like it - steamed, raw, mashed, or otherwise! This, of course, means that our children don't like it either. Not so much because they've actually ever tasted it (and maybe they have), but they just assume they don't like it because we don't. So, there you have it, the ground-work for another Try Something New Night!

Tonight was spaghetti night, but in an effort to improve our eating habits and diet in general, I decided to bake a spaghetti squash rather than our typical whole wheat pasta. When I was a child, I remember my mother doing this to us, then informing us only after we had completed our dinner that we had eaten squash, rather than pasta. And, since we all ate it without complaint, assuming that we were eating mushy pasta, mom was rather pleased with her sneaky self.

Well, it seems that I learned a thing or two about being sneaky from my mom. I did the exact same thing to my children this evening - only Michael knew what we were eating.


Ian was the first to finish his salad, so he was the first to inhale his main course. As you can see, he had no problems finishing every last bite.

Morgann followed suit, as did Alex. They all ate, without complaint or question! And, when we informed them that they had just eaten a spaghetti squash, they seemed less than phased by the fact. Alex said that he knew it wasn't 'normal spaghetti' but he liked whatever it was.

Granted, the squash was covered in sauce and cheese, but at least we avoided the carbs!

Two TSNN's for mommy :) I'm on a roll!!!

Seeing with New Perspective

So, this is Alex's new look - I think he looks great! I am amazed at how grown up he looks with his new glasses! He's been asking me for a week if the vision store had called to say they were in, and they finally did last night. He has been super-excited about getting glasses, so we'll see how long this new-found enthusiasm lasts - I give it a week or less!