I AM A GENIUS!

WEBSTERS DICTIONARY DEFINES GENIUS AS "EXCEPTIONAL INTELLECTUAL ABILITY OR CREATIVE POWER; A STRONG NATURAL TALENT". SO YES IT IS TRUE! I WENT K-12 IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM THINKING THAT I WAS ABOVE AVERAGE AT BEST BUT I AM PLEASED TO LEARN, THROUGH HOMESCHOOLING MY CHILDREN, THAT I AM ACTUALLY A GENIUS!!! KENYON AND JACINTA ARE DOING "EXPLORING COUNTRIES AND CULTURES". IT IS A GEOGRAPHY BASED UNIT STUDY WHERE WE "TAKE A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD" LEARNING ABOUT EACH PLACE WE VISIT. THESE FIRST FEW WEEKS WE HAVE REALLY CONCENTRATED ON GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE WORLD AS A WHOLE AND DIVING INTO MAPS. THEY HAVE REALLY LEARNED A LOT AND I HAVE EVEN HAD SEVERAL THINGS CLARIFIED FOR ME THAT I NEVER COMPLETELY GOT BEFORE(IN SPITE OF MY GENIUS STATUS?!) ONE OF THE EXTRA PROJECTS SUGGESTED WAS TO BAKE A CAKE AND DECORATE IT AS A MAP. LAST WEEK THEY BAKED THE CAKE AND MADE THE FROSTING AND I TOLD THEM I WOULD MAKE IT INTO THE WORLD. THEY REALLY DID NOT THINK I WOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT AND WERE QUITE CURIOUS TO SEE ME TRY. AFTER COLORING THE ICING THEY STARTED TO SEE WHERE I WAS GOING AND AFTER I STARTED ADDING THE CONTINENTS THEY WERE AMAZED!!! I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE FINISHED PRODUCT BUT THE KIDS WERE IN AWE OF MY ABILITIES. THEY REALLY THOUGHT I HAD TALENT AND MUST BE A GENIUS. WHEN I LOOKED THE DEFINITION UP(OK SO MAYBE I WAS REALLY CHECKING THE SPELLING), I REALIZED THE DEFINITION DID FIT ME QUITE WELL. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I WOULD BE WILLING TO BET THIS DEFINITION FITS PRETTY MUCH ALL SUCCESSFUL HOMESCHOOLING MOMS. WE HAVE TO HAVE STRONG CREATIVE POWER IN ORDER TO DO WHAT WE DO EVERYDAY. CREATIVITY IS WHAT WE USE TO KEEP OUR KIDS ENGAGED IN THE LEARNING ACTIVITY. CREATIVITY IS WHAT WE USE TO MAKE GROCERY SHOPPING A FIELD TRIP. CREATIVITY IS WHEN WE USE UMPTEEN HUNDRED WAYS TO DESCRIBE FRACTIONS UNTIL WE FINALLY SEE THE LIGHT BULB COME ON AND THEY GET IT. WE COULD NOT GET THROUGH THE DAY WITHOUT OUR EXCEPTIONAL CREATIVE POWER!!! SO IF YOU ARE ALSO A HOMESCHOOL MOM-REJOICE IN THE FACT THAT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY A GENIUS!! IF YOU DO NOT HOMESCHOOL-DONT WORRY ABOUT OUR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION-THEY ARE BEING TAUGHT BY THE MOST QUALIFIED GENIUS AVAILABLE!!!

LIBRARY DAY AND WOMAN VP CANDIDATE ALL IN THE SAME DAY?!?!

Wow! What a day. We use My Father's World curriculum so we have a "book basket" at all times. We go to the library and everyone checks out books pertaining to things we will be doing in the next 2 weeks. All in all it is about 40 books each time(and usually a few movies). Well today is library day and always takes some planning. We had to get showers and hair all done, then finding everyone a pair of matching shoes is always an adventure(it is really just the girls that have so many pairs and obviously take them each off at different times in different rooms of the house???!!!) We learned from last time that everyone needs a backpack. We just took 2 last time and guess who got to carry 2 bags with 20 books each. We did not have the TV on at all today(not counting lion king Nintendo game Kalysa was playing) so I did not even hear the VP pick. Mom called on her lunch break and let me know McCain picked a woman. We got lunch finished then I got to talk to Kacy(sister n law) for a few minutes about it. Then it was off to the library. After about 2 hours there, it was off to walmart to get the rest of the school supplies we have been needing. We got home around 6:30 so I had to get supper ready and we ate. I just finally got to sit and read a little about the VP choice. I am really pleased that she seems to have strong conservative views but I just don't know exactly how I feel about voting in a woman with small children to be next in line for the presidency(as implied I do plan on voting McCain-I know he is not who I would choose but I feel voting for someone with stronger conservative views is to throw my vote away if there is no chance of them winning and there is NO WAY I could ever vote for Obama's liberal socialist stance) As I stated yesterday, I really believe a mother should be the one raising her kids and I know what my kids missed out on with me working a meaningless 40 hour a week job. I am not completely against women working. Right now I do a paper route everyday to help get rid of a car payment(our last debt besides the house). My kids love to go on it with me(even though it is from 4 am to 6 am and they usually sleep through it). I think there are plenty of ways to make some money and still be home with your kids. I know single mothers do not have a choice but to work but I just don't understand how a mom with a working husband and 5 kids, 1 of which is a baby with special needs, could choose to take on a position that will in all likelihood keep her away from her children more than she is with them for a minimum of 4 years. It almost makes me feel like the reason her children will miss out on her is because of my vote. I know I can not make the decisions for other people and God uses us all for different things. Could it be that the truth that God has shown me is not the same truth he shows someone else or is it that truth is truth and they have just yet to see it? If I vote for her, am I keeping her from seeing the truth? I know that God also gave us all free will and I have to remember that maybe she has rejected the same truth I have embraced. The choice to accept the nomination is hers and the choice to vote for her is mine. Whatever her reasoning, I guess her choice has been made and for lack of any other possibilities I will choose to vote for her.

MY FIRST BLOG!!!!!

I am so excited!!! I love to read other blogs! I decided to look into what it takes to have a blog and found out how easy it is to set one up. I think I have a lot to say and am sure most everyone can benifit from hearing my thoughts (ok, so maybe that is not true but I like to believe people want to know what I think). To start off I will introduce myself....My name is Charlynne and I have been married to Monty for almost 11 years. We have a 10 year old son ,Kenyon, a 6 year old daughter, Keslee, and a 5 year old daughter, Kalysa. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was in the 8th grade. I knew the basic do's and don'ts of the Bible but unfortunatly was not properly discipled. I grew up believing the feminist lies of my generation that a woman could have it all! I went to college and set God aside to do my own thing. I tried that for way too many years until it finally clicked that MY WAY DOESN'T WORK!! About 3 years ago I went to a revival at my mom's church and GOT REVIVED! The Lord has been opening my eyes to his truths more and more ever since. One of the most life changing truths (so far) I found is that just because I am a woman does not mean I can have it all. You can not "balance" career and family. One or the other always suffers!! I saw how bad my husband and my children had been suffering because I "was an independant women" and, even though I did not have a fancy career, I was gonna work to "do my part." I realized I had not been doing my part, the part that God made for me. I talked to my husband about being a stay at home mom and he liked the idea but was concerned about if I would really like it because I was so independant(and did I mention a control freak as well?!?) I assured him that I was sure God's plan for a wife and mother would work better than what we had been doing so we decided that we would try to get out of debt so "in a few years" I could come home. Things started changing at work and within a few months I found out that the department I was working in was being done away with. I had the option to move to another department with horrible hours that would in NO way work for our family so with a little more discussion we decided to take a leap of faith and I quit(God's timing is always right no matter how much planning we have done)!! Five months later(7/07/07) Monty accepted Jesus Christ! A month after that we started bringing our children back to where they belong-HOME! I started homeschooling my son in the 4th grade. I sent Keslee and Kalysa to public school for k and pre-k so that Kenyon and I could really figure out the whole homeschool thing and also work on our mother/son relationship with lots of together time(I saw how much I had lost with him and it still pains me the think of the waisted years.) Kenyon and I came a long way last year and this year we have brought everyone back to where they belong! We are in our 3rd week of homeschooling 5th grade, Kindergarten, and 1st grade. I have also brought my little sister, Jacinta(who is 1 year older than Kenyon), in and she is homeschooling with us using the same curriculum Kenyon is(MY FATHER'S WORLD-so far we LOVE it!!) I can tell you without a moments hesitation that GOD'S PLAN WORKS!!! It has not all been easy and there are lots of adjustments to make when you loose almost half of you income but I would have to say that my marriage and my children are SOOOO worth it!!