Travel Group Reunion

Betsie, Julia, Abbie

These little princesses were all born within 10 days of each other and lived in the same orphanage for their first 10.5 months.

A little over 2 years ago, six families from all over the country shared one of the greatest adventures ever...the journey to China to meet ~ and adopt ~ six orphans from the Hunan Province. Our journey together began with a really LONG layover in an airport in Chicago, followed by two weeks of sight seeing, memory making, scary traffic, assertive street vendors, laughter, prayer, lizards, chicken knuckles, and tears.

On Saturday, for the first time since that great adventure, three of those families spent the day together in the Atlanta, GA area. It was so special to see how the babies, now preschoolers, had changed and grown. It was fun hanging out with people who became very dear to us two years ago. And I was so happy that I got to introduce my other two girls to them as well as meet a few of their family members as well. I can't wait for the next reunion (in Florida, right Heather?)!

And Now...The Smile Award

(Laura, Nikki, Michele, Candace, Amanda, Deleise, and Heather P, scroll down to the I Love Your Blog Award post.)





Sheri also nominated me for this award:

This award comes with another set of rules:

1. The recipient must link back to the award's creator. (It's on the award.)

2.You must post the rules to receive the award.

3. To receive the award, you must pass it on to 5 others.

4. You must fit the characteristics of the award recipient. (below)

5. Post the characteristics of an award recipient.

6. Create a post sharing your award with others.

7. Thank the giver.

And here are the characteristics of award recipients.

1. Must display a cheerful attitude (not all the time - we're all human!)

2. Must love one another.

3. Must make mistakes (This must be what helped me get this award.)

4. Must learn from others.

5. Must be a positive contributor to the blog world.

6. Must love life.

7. Must love kids.

I am passing this one on to Heather (who I get to see on Saturday!), Leslie, Jill, Marcy, and Hollie.

Now on my To DO List: Accept and Pass on Blog Awards!

Sheri has given me TWO blog awards today. I would pass these on to my husband, but I am guessing he'd rather me not.



Here is the first award. I'll do the second one in a separate post a little later:

The rules for the I Love Your Blog award are:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Include the award on your blog.

3. Pass it on to 7 worthy bloggers with links to their blogs on yours.

4. Notify your recipients

I am passing the "I love your blog" award on to Laura, Deleise, Michele, Nikki, Amanda (who thinks no one reads her blog and who tagged me for another post but I haven't done it yet...HA!), Heather P, and Candace.

Monday To Do List

Let's see how much actually gets done...

1. Change the sheets on Mary Evelyn's bed.
2. Have the girls clean all the junk out from under their bunk beds! (Gonna start that as soon as this post gets published.)
3. Help older girls pack for a night at Mimi and Papa Bill's house.
4. Go to meeting for new co-op and get pics made for the security system they have there.
5. Deposit check from Betsie's birthday.
6. Drive girls to my parent's house.
7. Usual daily maintenance of laundry, dishes, etc.

I'll let ya know!

Our First Break

We are now officially taking our first break from school. We completed our first 6 weeks on Friday and will be off for the coming week. I have made a to do list a mile long. Actually, I made an index card for Monday through Friday and wrote on each day what I hope to get done this week...things like shoe shopping for the girls, a haircut, going through all the kids' clothes and figuring out what fits, what can be tossed or given away, etc. Always a big chore. Lots to do.

Even with all that I hope to accomplish next week, it feels SO GOOD to have 6 weeks of the new school year under our belts just as the schools here are starting back. We have had a great start. I wish I could show some of what we did, but now even my cell phone is acting weird so I can't even use that camera! When we start back, we will study Canada and then Brazil before we take another break.

Other recent blog-worthy highlights are:
1. The birth of a new niece! Jason's brother and his wife just had their first baby (a girl) last week.
2. I was able to spend Tuesday with a friend that I had not seen in 8 years! We had been quite close from college on into early married life but then lost touch about 4 or 5 years ago. It did my heart good just to laugh with her over some of the funny memories we share.
3. We went to my grandmother's 87th birthday party today. Jason took some pictures with his phone so maybe I can post some of those later. My poor grandmother was not able to recognize many of us as her memory is so poor now, but I hope she felt loved as we celebrated her life and influence on all of us. I had a wonderful time catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
4. We are planning a Disney World trip in a few monhs with my parents, aunt and uncle, and my siblings and thier families. Have you ever tried to make dinner reservations for 19 people at Disney World? Crazy!

Devotion Time

We are studying the book of Matthew. I thought this was a sweet scene in our home tonight so I went and grabbed the phone for a picture (camera still not working). Sorry for the grainey looking photo, but this made me smile tonight.

What Would You Tell A New Homeschooler?

One of my friends is about to begin homeschooling. Her child has already been in school, so if you have experience pulling a child out of school and then beginning to homeschool that would be great! I know sometimes that is different than starting with a pre-K or kindergartner.

I suggested trying NOT to be overwhelmed with the gazillion choices for curriculum and joining HSLDA, but I am wondering what others might suggest!

Got any special nuggets of wisdom for my friend? I'll point her to this post if anyone decides to comment with suggestions.

Thanks!

Hanging Out at the Library

Where would we be without our library? And where would the library be without all the books we help them buy with our late fees?

Happy 3rd Birthday Betsie!

These pictures are from first thing this morning. Family is on their way over here now for cake and ice cream...more celebrating to come!

Week 3 of Exploring Countries and Cultures

Well, I really wanted some good pictures of the girls doing their various assignments and projects this week. Unfortunately, even though the camera battery is in good working order now, the lens won't open. So...if you don't want to read about our school week, I understand. Visuals are so much more fun.

School is still going so well. I can't believe the difference in last year and this year. The hard parts are not necessarily gone...I just feel that God has given me some tools that help. And he has let me be encouraged enough to persevere. Today was probably our hardest day yet, but still, we hung in there and got our work done. By the way, when I say hard day, it is never about the academics...always about the attitudes or atmosphere in the home. Or the interruptions. Rachel answered the phone today during school and by the time I was able to get off the phone, Mary Evelyn had left the white board where we were reading and headed into the back yard. Those kinds of things do not help. I think we are clear on letting voice mail handle calls during school from here forward.

In our Bible time this week, we read about D.L. Moody from the book Hero Tales. I love this book now. I tried to use it a few years ago, but I think the girls were too young. We are really enjoying it now though. We also began a biography of Cameron Townsend. It's really good too.

For geography we began our journey around the world right here at home...the good ole USA. The girls can identify many more states on a blank US map than they could just a week ago. For science, we focused on deserts (and will for a few weeks to come). We'll continue to hang out in the states next week, plus we'll have guests! My nieces and nephew are coming to visit so they may be doing a little summer school whether they like it or not! (They are wonderful so I am sure it will be fun...better check and see if I have enough craft supplies though!) We will also celebrate Betsie's birthday next week.

One final tip of the "here's what is working for us" sort. In the past I have often saved the fun school stuff for last. We would do the least favorite thing first in an effort to get that thing over with. This year I am finding the opposite to be working. We started this morning by completing a floor puzzle of the United States together (a fun activity). It helps get all of us in a better mood from the start. We ended with the least favorite subject. With Mary Evelyn, it makes her work a little faster and keep her focused. I can remind her that if she sticks with me and finishes up, she can go play. It works so far! Just wanted to share in case it helps someone else.