Kalysa-She is SO silly!

Kalysa was doing the army crawl across the kitchen floor-ya know, on her belly and using her arms to pull her along. She even had the sound effects to go with it that told me she was really doing some serious work there so I asked her what she was doing...

Kalysa:I'm pretending.
Me:pretending what?
Kalysa:Pretending that I am climbing up a wall!
Me:Of course-why didn't I think of that!?


And then when she sees me on the computer at my blog she asks me to scroll down so she can look at the entire page and then dances off singing...
"WE'RE FAMOUS! WE'RE FAMOUS!
WE ARE ON MAMA'S BLOG!
WE'RE FAMOUS! WE'RE FAMOUS!
WE ARE ON THE COMPUTER!"

I always thought I was destined for Fame-only I was kinda expecting that the FORTUNE would come with it!????!

God is The Answer!!

I am soooo glad that God is always first for my kids! They remind me (more often than I would like to admit) to think of God first. They really are living their lives with a Biblical world view. The girls can not remember a time in their lives that God was not a the center of things. Kenyon was about 7 when my life changed and we really started trying to live for God instead of for ourselves. He may have some memories of our life before but his world view was not developed yet. Well since kids are kids, and kids say the funniest things, this Biblical world view has offered many humorous situations (like this one). I just thought I would share a few more...

One of the best ones is actually ongoing. It happens anytime we are playing a game (like Trivial Pursuit) or when I am asking questions in school. Anytime they don't know the answer they say "GOD!" They know with this one they can never be wrong because God is always the answer.

Today Keslee was drawing pictures for a book she decided to make and I heard this...

Kalysa:What are you making Kes?
Keslee:I am making a book.
Kalysa:What picture are you drawing?
Keslee:It is a boat.
Kalysa:OH! You are making a boat. Is it Jonah's boat or Noah's boat?

I just love the fact that those are the boats she would think of first. I mean what else could it be if not Jonah's or Noah's? I know that I have/am/will fail so often in the God given course I have in raising my kids for Him but it is the little things like this that God sends me for encouragement. It just says to me "You are getting somewhere! Keep it Up! You may fail but I will never fail you nor forsake you. You can finish this course for My Glory!" So I try another day and with His grace get a little closer to the mark that He has set for our family.

A Little Fun In the Sun!

The kids have been waiting for summer. Even though May is almost over, we are just now beginning to have some real summer weather. We had about 2 weeks of nothing but rain at the first of the month so now the sticky-humid-heat has arrived. Personally I prefer cooler weather. It always seems so much easier to add more covers in the winter and get warm. There is really only so much you can take off in the summer to cool off. I know when I was a child I always anxiously waited for the summer to arrive so we could get outside but somewhere in the growing up process, my preference has changed. My guess is that a big factor in my attitude change is....

THEY DON'T REALLY MAKE SLIP-N-SLIDES FOR ADULTS!

I can not even imagine now, at thirty-blahblah years old, running as fast as I can and then all of a sudden plopping myself from the standing position to land on my stomach on to a thin layer of wet plastic covering the HARD ground and calling that fun?! Were we nuts???

I mean I love to go swimming and I agree that being wet is the only way to go when the thermometer starts climbing up into the 90*s or 100*s. I am all for the pool and I will even run through the sprinkler but throwing myself onto the earth on purpose. I don't like to trip and fall-how is this different?

And for those of you that agree and choose not to hit face first, you can try it the way Kalysa does-RUN AT FULL SPEED THEN JUMP INTO THE AIR AND LAND ON YOUR KNEES!! It hurts me even to watch!

Then again-you can always land on your hiney before hitting your back...

or how 'bout shoulder first and sliding in on your side?


Oh well-it is all in the name of a little fun in the sun! I think I will leave the plopping, dropping, sitting, hitting, sliding, gliding, slipping wetness to the kids-I'm going back to the air conditioning!

The kids all say "THANKS AUNT KACY AND UNCLE CHUCK FOR KESLEE'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT!!!" even though they had to wait over a month to get to use it.

A Substitute Teacher

Last week we had a substitute teacher. Mom had some vacation time that she had to take so she came to school and conducted shop class and horticulture. Grandma and Kenyon drew and cut out pieces for a bird house.

You know this was right up Kenyon's alley!! He would do just about anything to get to use some power tools. He did a great job on his first time with a circular saw! He even stayed on the lines and cut each piece pretty straight.

My drill would not work-the rechargeable battery pack will no longer recharge-so they hammered holes in a circle with a pick and then knocked it out for the bird's doorway. Kenyon then had to take a file to even it out and get rid of some of the splinters. The result was not a perfectly round hole but I am sure it will be more than sufficient for the birds.

They used some epoxy to glue all the sides together and help seal the cracks and then nailed it all together.

I was VERY impressed with the end result! I thought it was terrific-especially since this was Kenyon's first time working with the power tools.

I think Kenyon was pretty pleased with it as well.

Doesn't he look so proud of himself?!?

So while grandma and Kenyon were working on the bird house, grandma was also showing the girls some tips on gardening. They dug some holes around the porch and planted some flowers and pulled weeds and planted flowers in our flower bed.

They even found a little friend...

See the little frog? He was doing his best at trying to blend in with his surroundings

Keslee wanted to keep the little guy but I finally talked her into letting him stay in the flower bed and eat the bugs.



Kenyon thought he had found the first inhabitant for his new house....

They caught an injured bird in the back yard. I am not sure if the dogs injured him or if because he was injured, the dogs could get to him but the kids saved him from becoming a chew toy. Kenyon named him Bob and insisted on trying to nurse him back to health. I convinced him not to put him in the new bird house(there would be no way to get a hurt bird out.) Remember trying to get your money out of the piggy banks that did not have any opening besides the coin slot...that was the image that kept playing in my head only with my son shaking this big wooden bird house trying to get a bird out of a 2 inch hole! So we agreed he could stay in a box in Kenyon's room for the night. The kids gathered some grass and leaves and twigs from the yard and made Bob a little nest in the bottom of a box, made sure he had a worm and some bread crumbs, and settled him in for the night.

After seeing how much fun Kenyon had with grandma in shop class, Jacinta wanted to make a bird house as well. Hers is quite a bit smaller but she got most of it finished before we finally stopped school for supper time. She still needs to make her doorway and add a bottom. Then of course there is painting for both of them.

All in all it was a great day with a substitute teacher!! I am not sure who enjoyed it more....

the kids getting to do something different and spending the day with grandma?

grandma not having to go to work but spending a whole day with grand kids?

or mom-I pretty much had a day off and just got to observe!! : )

I would have to call it a 3 way tie!!

oh yeah! I am sorry to report that Bob did not make it through the night-boy am I glad Kenyon did not shove him in that bird house!!

Just call me the Cow Whisperer

Every morning, mom and I do a rural paper route. We have lots of dirt roads and farms. We get to see lots of God's creatures out and about between 4am and 6am. There are the wild opossum, raccoon, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, and deer(as a matter of fact mom hit one this morning-she is ok the car is ok and the deer ran off so he is probably ok). Then there are the regulars we see in the same places everyday-cats, dogs, horses, cows, llama, goats, turkey and sheep. Maybe it is because of the solitude-just me and the animals out on a dark country road-or maybe I am just a little crazy but you kinda form a relationship with animals you see everyday. I often talk to the turkeys and they always talk back! There are several dogs that seem to be waiting so we can race down the road and I always encourage them and try to let them win sometimes. The sheep don't pay much attention but I at least say hi when they are near the fence. I would hate them to think that I was rude! Well today, as I was going down a dirt road, I noticed a group of cows out beside the road. One-obviously their leader-was standing right in the middle of the road just watching me. He did not move at all as I pulled up to him and so I had to stop. There were 12 all together and I had my window down so naturally I said "What are you doing out here? You get back in that fence RIGHT NOW! HURRY UP! GET BACK IN THERE! YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE ROAD! ALL OF YOU, GET BACK IN THAT FENCE!" The leader of the pack looked at me and then looked at his posse and turned around. They all followed suit and every one of those cows walked right over the cattle guard(lot of good that thing is doin!) and right back in the fence! I wanted to make sure they were not just trying to play me since some of them stopped just inside the gate and turned to look at me, so I added "ALL THE WAY IN THERE! GET IN THERE AND STAY IN THERE!" So guess what they did? You got it! They turned back around and kept on walkin! I sat there for just a minute just to be sure and they all 12 headed back out into the pasture away from the gate and away from the road. I guess that is what God meant when he said "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" Genesis 1:26

The End Is Near!

Can you feel it? The end is getting nearer and nearer everyday and we are all feeling it. Ok, I could get all theological on ya right now but that is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the end of another homeschool year! Spring fever is on the rise and we have all caught the bug! We(as in ME) are having a harder time at wanting to sit down and get school done each day. I could really tell the effects of spring fever when we had a library day today. With 4 library cards to use each visit, we normally come home with around 40 books and a few documentaries and then a cartoon movie(or 2). Well today we came home with only 8 books, 5 documentaries, 2 old movies and 2 cartoon movies. I hope Kenyon (and Jacinta) never have a serious debriefing on facts about Asia or Australia later in life because we are kinda flying through these last continents like never before. We are gonna finish our curriculum for the year and I am very happy about that(even though it may mean cramming 5 weeks worth of learning into 2 weeks). I am pleased with the way our school has gone this year and so I must deam the year a success. Last year I only homeschooled Kenyon and we were doing lots of trial and error(emphasis on the error) trying to see what would work for us. This year I went from homeschooling 1 son to homeschooling 1 son, 2 daughters and a little sister. It very well could have been a recipe for disaster but thanks to the INCREDIBLE GRACE OF GOD, we all know more about the countries and cultures of the whole world than I ever did-even after receiving a public school high school diploma! Both my girls are reading and LOVING IT! Kenyon is still not to fond of reading books that have more than 100 pages but he is getting there. For some reason he feels he has to be able to finish any book he opens before he can close it and more than 100 pages "takes too long". I am trying to get him to realize he can actually use a book mark and start where he leaves off at a later time. I have given him a challenge. If he reads 25 books with 150 pages or more between now and Christmas then he gets $25. He really likes to get money so hopefully he will follow through. We had our homeschool convention a few weeks back and it was just what I needed. It gave me the little extra boost to finish this year off strong and really got me excited for the next year. I know what all I want to get for next year! We are definitely sticking with My Father's World. I love it and am really excited about the next year. Kenyon and Jacinta will be starting on Creation to the Greeks and Keslee and Kalysa will start Adventures in My Father's World. I am also planning on using Math U see for everyone. We all seem to really do great with a more hands on approach so I think it will work well. I got Eagle's Wings Considering God's creation for Keslee's science. It will probably take us a couple of years to get through it since we are starting it in 2nd grade but it looks awesome and I can't wait to start. I thought about getting Kalysa the same but since she will have a month of therapy after her surgery, I decided to wait for now on extra science. I also found an new science that I am planning on using for Kenyon and Jacinta. It is brand new and REALLY teaches a Biblical world view. That was their whole purpose of writing it! It is called Truth in Science and I am SOOO excited about it! I got Personal Help for Boys for Kenyon. It is a Biblical character training workbook that he is just at the right age for. I also picked up a writing workbook for each of them, Kenyon's is cursive and the girls is manuscript. I got them for next year but the kids get just as excited about new school stuff as mama so they couldn't wait. They all have about 20 lessons done already. (another reason I love homeschooling!!! : ) How many public school kids have ever said "PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Can we do this work now?!? I don't want to wait till next year!! PLEASE MAMA! PLEASE LET US DO EXTRA!!")

Well that is our plan for next year! Now I am just waiting for God to show me how we are gonna purchase it all but I know he will. How 'bout you? Are ya done for this year? Are ya gettin close? Do you have next year all mapped out? Would ya like a chocolate pie?-ok, just checkin to see if you were still listening! But seriously, I would love to hear about your year-this year or next years plan.

HAIKU

In our studies on Asia, we learned about the Haiku. They are the easiest type of poetry around-no rhyming-not even complete sentences-just 3 lines-5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. I wrote one to use as an example and then Kenyon and Jacinta each wrote one. This is what we came up with.

WEEDS!
Wispy, Feathery
grow unrulely everywhere
weeds, ANNOYING weeds!


Jacinta's Snake
Awesome pear shaped head
long, sleek, elegant body
slithers through the grass.


Kenyon's Tree
Colossal branches
Majestic, Tremendous trunk
leaves blow in the wind.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

This week in school, Keslee asked me "Is mother's day over?" I said "No. It is this Sunday." Then Kalysa and Keslee began a few art projects on their own that I was NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK AT! This is what I got....

This is the front of a card made by Keslee. It is her and I out on a sunny day. I love how the sky is filled with "love".


This is the inside of her card. So sweet!

Kalysa made this one. I told ya she is a full time daddy's girl. She could not leave daddy out just because it was a card for Mother's day! As a matter of fact, that is a picture of me with daddy in the corner. That is ok. I don't mind sharing the love of my kids with my hubby even on "my" day!

Monty bought a lovey, mushy card from the store and Kenyon signed that one. Lucky for me he signed first and LAST name. I would hate to be confused about who it was from : )

Just wanted to take a moment to wish all you mom's a GREAT DAY! Hope it is filled with love and kisses, especially sticky gooey slobbery kisses. Aren't those the greatest!

Didn't sound very good to her!

Our cat, Jefferson, has realized that he is a Tom cat and has gotten into a few fights. Last weekend he came home with scratches on his ears and around his eye and he was holding his right front paw up. He would not move it and would not even touch it to the ground. I was afraid it was broken so we took him to the vet Tuesday. Well, it is not broken but very infected and abscessed. He is on antibiotics and we had to take him back in for a check up today. So while we are sitting in the vet's waiting room, Keslee stands up to look out the front door at the same time that one of the vet assistants is coming back in from her lunch break and Keslee gets hit with the door. She tells the lady she is ok and that it just scared her but she did not get hurt. The lady offered to give her an ice cream sandwich to make them both feel better. Keslee refused several times and just took the lady's apology. On the way home, Keslee tells me.....

Kes: I really did get hurt a little with the door on my mouth.

Me:Why didn't you say that? Are you Ok?

Kes: I don't know why, I was scared to say it, but I am ok.

Me: Why did you not want the ice cream sandwich she offered you?

Kes: MOM! ICE CREAM ON A SANDWICH?!?

After I quit laughing and explained what an ice cream sandwich was, she wanted to turn around and tell the lady she really did want one.

What a Great Dad

Now that Monty gets home from work around 9pm instead of 2am, the kids are waiting for him at the door every night. Even though 4 months have gone by, the routine is still the same....Car pulls in drive-"It's Daddy! It's Daddy!" starts going through the house in case anyone is in another room and did not notice a car pull up-Children start uncontrollably bouncing around-Front door opens to screams of "DADDY! DADDY!'- and then hugs all around. They are so excited for daddy to be home and tonight I witnessed, what may be, the reason why...

Monty:Little Mama(keslee)! Come in here please.
Kes:Yes?
Monty:I heard something about you today.
Kes:What was it?
Monty:Are you gonna tell me about it?
Kes:(trying to think about her day and unable to remember any incriminating incident)I don't know what your talking about daddy.
Monty:Are you sure?
Kes:Yes.
Monty:Well I heard...
Kes:What is it?(Looking a little scared now)
Monty:Well I heard-that-you-ARE SO CUTE!!!(accompanied by tickles, kisses, giggles, and squeals)

Monty usually calls each child separately and I often don't get to hear what it is that he has to tell them. I overheard this tonight and I think I just learned his secret ; )

MUST READ FOR ALL HOMESCHOOL MOMS!

Spunky is one of the first blogs I ever came across when I was doing research about homeschooling a few years back. At that time I was trying to decide if homeschooling was really something I thought I could do and I had NO idea what a blog was. I found Spunky and started going through her archives and reading everything I could. She seemed so full of knowledge and wisdom. I learned so much from reading her blog then and still learn things when I read it now. She is great at keeping me up with political things going on in the country that could/is affecting homeschoolers as well. Today she posted 10 Commandments for Homeschool Moms, and I think it is GREAT! Go check 'em out! Just what I needed to hear today(why is #7 so hard for me?-I need prayer!).

89ers Day!

Every year, Guthrie holds an 89er Day celebration commemorating the original land runs in Oklahoma. It is an event I have been to (almost) every year of my life. There is a parade, carnival, rodeo and of course tons of family members and cook outs. Even though I grew up in Texas, we drove to Guthrie in April for 89ers. I remember sitting on the curb watching the parade and waiting for one of the floats to throw out candy. That curb was always full of cousins-Sandy, Holley, Chastanie, Chuck, Chris, Char, Stephanie, Kevin, Eugene, and when we were a little older we sometimes got to bring a friend from Texas with us for the weekend. Well the names have changed on that curb but it is still the same......

Kenyon, Keslee, Kalysa, Peyton, Hunter, Alyssa, Aliyah, Mia, Ashton, Ashlynne-and some friends Gabby, Nathaniel, Jeriamiah. I LOVE seeing all the cousins together! They love each other so much and have so much fun together. My kids cousins all live about 2 hours away but they get to see each other often enough to be best friends. When it is time for 89ers, the kids do not ask "Are they coming" but "What time will they be here!?!" Just thought I would share some photos of cousins having a blast together...

Kalysa coming down the big slide

Nathaniel. Gabby, Jacinta, Keslee preparing for take off!

Kalysa and Kenyon also waiting.

Kalysa and Aliyah on the dragon roller coaster

Keslee, Nathaniel, and Gabby on the coaster.

Nathaniel and Kalysa saddle up

Gabby and Keslee do a little trick riding!

We did not get to go to the rodeo this year but spent extra time at the carnival. This was the one year we really got our moneys worth for the ride bracelet. All three kids are now tall enough to ride just about EVERYTHING. I still was a little surprised that my baby girls were not only tall enough but READY to ride everything. They rode every single ride there except for the Zipper(Kenyon rode that one!) and the Power Surge(that one is a little much for any of them!!). They wore their mama out running from ride to ride and back again but they had so much fun. I can't help but think about the memories we made as kids like.....

times Chuck and I used to see how many flips we could do in the Zipper(if I remember right it was in the high 30's!)

One of the Duke Boys(Duke's of Hazard) was in the parade

The HUGE American flag that stretched from one side of the street to the other as it was carried and the entire crowd stood up and clapped

The Shriners coming out in their bowling pin cars

Dancing along to the marching bands

The "gun fights" in the street

Trying to trick dad into riding the Ferris Wheel so we could watch him freak out at the top

The list could go on and on. I love those memories and I am so glad that my kids are making the same type of memories with their cousins every year. It is such a special time when you look up and see you are surrounded by family!