I will never complain of being bored again.. I promise

So be careful what you pray for.

The beginning of this year has been pretty routine, work has been slightly slow, home life has been active but normal (homework, school, grocery shopping, sports), and we've enjoyed many leisurely nights. Well, except for the last two weeks!

Work is quite busy right now as we prepare for the end of the fiscal year. Trying to see what we have left to spend, trying to prepare next year's budget, trying to predict what we'll spend and how. A project I'm working on is coming into full swing - it's a lot of fun! But also a lot of work. One of my co-workers is leaving (her last day is today :( ) and we've been busy trying to fill the position. Who knew that trying to get in applications and call people for interviews would be so time consuming! We have three ladies coming in for interviews this week and next, I'm praying for discernment on the ladies - I want to hire whomever God wants in our organization. So I need to stay out of the way, so I can hear Him (not easy for me to do).

The girls school year is winding down now, only three more weeks left. We're trying to make sure they remember all of the things they learned last semester and haven't fogotten any of the major things like how to write your numbers correctly (Lulu) and how to borrow when subtracting (Doodle). I'm very confident Lulu will pass with flying colors (some of the things she's doing is actually 1st grade work because she finished her kindergarten curriculum early). Doodle is doing well also, but I'm a little nervous for her math and writing. If you're right there with her - she does her math PERFECTLY, but as soon as you leave the room she forgets what she's supposed to be doing. That's been difficult. She KNOWS what to do, but either isn't confident in it, or doesn't care.. I'm not sure which. Also, her writing has come a LONG way, but I'm not sure it's where it's supposed to be for the end of second grade. So we're a little nervous, but just trying to put it into God's hands. We feel lead by Him to homeschool them, so He'll work it all out in the end.

We're also in the process of moving - yay!!! But we have quite a few 'little' things that still need to be done/figured out. We've been spending the last two weeks getting our ducks in a row after work/school/dinner at night and it's exhausting! We're looking into a few places in town and are excited at the prospects. If you could pray for discernment for us on this issue it'd be much appreciated. We want to go where He wants us, not where it seems 'right' to us.

So yes, 'bored' is not in my vocabulary right now.. which is funny, I'm now longing for a leisurely night instead of saying "Again?!?" Be careful what you pray for, He may just give it to you! :)

Amazed

We have two boards hanging up in our living room and the kid's room that we use to display school assignments and artwork. Yesterday, one of the empty tacks fell off of a board in the kids room and Doodle's little foot found it. She came to me crying a little and said "Mama, I just stepped on a tack." I know those hurt, my heart just went out to her! I checked it out and it was slightly bleeding so we put bandaged it and she sighed and said "I'm glad I found it and not Buddy, that would have hurt his little foot so badly. I bet he would have cried and cried." Now my heart really went out to her. What love she was showing! As a parent, I frequently have this same emotion "I wish I would've gotten hurt instead of her/him." My heart just leaps out of my chest. But here, at 7 1/2 (or 'almost 8' as she calls it :) ) she's learning this great love. How wonderful.

That's my girl!

Doodle had two games last Saturday. She played very well in both games, but especially well in the second one. She scored two runs and caught someone out at first base (she does better on first base than at any other position). Here are some pictures of my girly :)

Here is she is getting ready to bat. She has started using Lulu's bat for the last few games, it's lighter in weight, and has done MUCH better at hitting - she now hits everytime she's at bat.

Proud and not so proud

Proud
I'm so proud of Doodle Bug this weekend. She had a game Saturday morning and came up to bat four times, hitting the ball AND getting on base each time. She made two runs and could have made a third, but didn't run quite fast enough to 3rd base before being tagged.

We tried a new (lighter) bat for her and it was SUCH a difference! Now if I can just convince her to let me put tissue in the tops of her shoes, they'll fit better and she'll run better. We received the shoes as a gift from a friend who's a shopaholic, but they're one whole size too big. She found them on clearance for less than $3 - they're normally $40. Needless to say, I can't afford a $40 pair of shoes for her, so we've been making do. :)

Not so proud
The girls and I went to Walmart after church on Sunday to pick up some school supplies. Our cashier was a very talkative man. Doodle told him that we're buying school supplies because "we have a lot of school left." He looks at us and says "I thought school was just about over. Seems like they used to finish at the end of May. I think they finish at the end of May this year. Maybe it's June, I don't know. Sure is a lot of school supplies." I really didn't plan on replying, was just saying "Yeah" when "Well, we homeschool so our schedule is a bit different" popped out of my mouth. He gave me this horrified expression and said "Don't trust the school system, huh?" I have NEVER had this response before, didn't quite know how to handle it so I laughed and said "No, it's not that. I was public schooled and came out OK, this is just something we've been very blessed with." To which he replied "How do you know you're teaching them correctly, that they're learning their normal things?" Does he THINK I'm an idiot or do I have it plastered on my forehead somewhere?

This is where I got mad.. because my pride was hurt.. I shouldn't have said anything.. I should've just kept my tongue.. I'm working on it.. really I am.. "Well, Florida has very strict homeschooling laws, so my kids are tested every year to make sure they know what they should." "Yeah, yeah I know. Kids are tested every year. But what about yours? You could be skrewing them up" he replied. Hello? Was he not listening? So I repeated it a bit louder, the lady behind us backed up, my face got a bit pink and I said "I have them tested every year, by a certified teacher. Florida has very strict homeschooling laws. I don't get to do whatever I want, let them learn to eat paste and crayons and run around like barbarians all day. That'd be horrible." He just looked at me and finished bagging my groceries and gave me my receipt. Behind him, in another check out lane, an older lady was smiling at me. Either she was giving me a "That's wonderful" smile or a "Wow, you're crazy and I don't want to make you mad" smile.

As we walked out of the store I started calling the man names, right in front of my girls - wow, what a role model! Then I said "You know what, I wasn't very nice to him. I'm going to pray that GOd blesses him and then forgives me for being so mean." The girls agreed that it was the thing to do, and prayed with me.

I don't normally have a problem with my mouth - really. I've been reading through James for the past 5 weeks about how your actions and speech should match and guess I'm being tested heavily.. As a song from Great Awakenings says "Let the Words of Your mouth, fill this place" not my mouth.

Oh the joys of learning

Last night Doodle Bug was writing a thank you letter to someone and she did a very good job. When she was finished with it and addressed the envelop I told her "Do you realize that you just did school work?" She gave me this half blank half confused look and said "I did? When?" I told her "When you wrote that letter to Miss Nancy." She takes a second to think and says "Really?" I reply "Yes, you learned how to write letters and address envelopes this year. Remember all of those practice letters you would write in your workbook and the fake envelopes you would fill out?" "Yes," she replied "I don't think I want to write anymore letters."

Ha!

She has this mental thing about schoolwork being boring and dull. But the funny thing is, she'll spend her free time (if she's not playing) by adding up items in her pretend store, or writing letters to us, or even talking about inclined planes and rocks, without even realizing it! This is why learning is so much fun. It's SO diverse, interesting, and stretching. You can learn anywhere and anytime about anything! She's applying these precious skills throughout the day without even realizing it.

I hope someday she has a hunger for learning. There's always something new to learn, new to explore. Take God's Word for example. You can read the same chapter or book every day for a week and each day you'll learn something new. Repeat this for the rest of your life and imagine the richess and gold you can store in your heart about our great Teacher!

Duh!

I forgot two very awesome things that have happened recently.
Number two (I'll count down this time): Ryan and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Easter Sunday. We went out to the movies, went to Dairy Queen, and then walked around Lake Ella. We haven't been out on a date since before Buddy Boy was born. We usually wait until the kids fall asleep at night and then we'll watch a movie or listen to a sermon or do something. It's great, but actually being OUT of the house together was wonderful!!

Number one, in early March we went on a field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo. It was so much fun! The kids loved being able to see the animals - espcially the "I-no" as Buddy calls the rhino. Doodle is old enough now she could read the signs that told about the animals, so she had a great time running ahead of us and telling us all about the animals we were seeing. It was a cool day, but thankfully almost all of the animals were out and about, so we could see them doing more than just laying around. I was going to post some pictures here, but only have them on Shutterfly right now.. I'll see about putting some up from the home computer later on.

A lot has happened in the last two and a half weeks.
Ryan chipped his tooth while biting on a pen cap (he does that sometimes). Little Man broke and badly cut his toe while cleaning up his plate from dinner on the same night as Doodle's first softball game. Lulu and Doodle have been sick with hay fever. Doodle Bug ended up getting a very bad ear infection and had to get some strong antibiotics. Work has been very busy. Closing in on the end of the fiscal year, seeing what money we might have leftover (if any) and trying to budget for an even tighter year next fiscal year. Been busy!

I fell into the routine the week before last of sleeping through my alarm (or turning it off actually) and waking up with the kids. Problem with that is, when I wake up before the kiddos is when I have my Bible time. I get to read and soak up all the goodness He has for me. I tried bringing my Bible to work with me and reading during lunch breaks, but wouldn't you know, I'd be too busy for a lunch break or something else would pop up... Last week I was better, I made an effort to get it read. This week I've gotten up every morning (although this morning was very hard for some reason). My days go SO much better when I take the time to start the day out right. I have energy to get everything accomplished, I have guidance of what to do at certain times, I have more patience for my lovely children, I have time for my husband. Amazing! I'm trying to keep Ssatan from having a foot hold. Pray for me on this.

On a different note, I'm attempting to finish my AA degree by the summer time. I only have five classes left, but between working full-time and having a family to care for I can only get in one class a semester and I only go two semesters a year (I need a break sometimes). I've really enjoyed the break, but now I need to push through and get it finished. I looked up some Bachelor's degrees at our local university and would love to go into Business Management somehow, but I don't have the required classes for the program. So I may just go back to what everything teacher I've ever had has always told me.. Get a degree in English. I LOVE reading and writing - am having a joy teaching Doodle Bug (who's gotten very good). So maybe that's what I'll do.. who knows. I'm trying to see where He's directing me, I just need to pay attention to what He's saying!

Hope and pray whomever reads this is doing well.