Little Time for anything else

Well hello all you long lost readers. It has been a while since I have written, because teaching two and caring/entertaining two, and having a husband at school all day (and sometimes all night can be quite a bit of a challenge, let alone keep up with my blog.

But just so you know we are still alive. Here is a little of what is going on.

Elaina turned two on October 23rd. It is amazing how time flies and for the fact that usually by this time I am pregnant with another one or have already had another baby. But not this time. We are trying to hold out till Robert finishes school. (Just in case anyone was wondering).

Anyway, Elaina was trilled to get her dress-up shoes, and purse, but not as thrilled as getting a new baby doll. She squealed like she had just won a beauty contest! It was so cute. What a joy to know that I shopped well to make her happy.

Back on October 24th Robert passed his Review.
That means he is officially in the Masters program
at Savannah College of Arts and Design (aka SCAD). This was quite a large task. He had previously failed two reviews which really destroyed his self esteem. But he is also really lucky because after taking all those classes he should be done in May '09 or Dec '09. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

The kids enjoyed Trunk or Treat at our old Georgetown ward. We got all dressed up. Katie and Samantha also attended a halloween party with a primary teacher. It was nice to see them have a good time. We also attended our halloween ward party where they had a carnival and we all enjoyed it. Needless to say with all the parties we did not go our for Halloween.

The kids and I went on a field trip to Poppell Farm
in Olum or Odum, GA (sorry I just can't remember
how it is spelled.) We took a little friend with us, Pheonix, who is also in the Georgia Virtual Academy. We had a great time feeding the goats and catfish, taking a ride on the cow train, and taking a hay ride to pick out our pumpkins. We also enjoyed the spider slide and jumping in the tweety cage. We even managed to have enough energy to go through the corn maze. It was so refreshing to be out in the country where the sun shines and there is no traffic. It almost makes me like living in Georgia.

We are looking forward to the Holidays where we
can give school a rest. But I am proud of all that
my girls have learned since we have started. We will be driving somewhere and they will look out their windows and tell me what kind of clouds are in the air. We had a thunderstorm yesterday and were able to look outside and count, after we saw lightning, and determine how far away the storm was. Katie is learning multiplication and division as well as cursive handwriting. Samantha is a good reader and doing well. Brian is showing much interest in learning and doing "school work" so I have things for him to do as well. Elaina likes to sit on my lap and color. I posted a picture of our leaf pile. We took a break from school and raked up the leaves and jumped in them! They had a good time.

Now my house is a different story. Since putting all my time
and focus on school and soccer/games, my house has seen
cleaner days. But I make sure that nothing is growing, or roaming the house ready to set up house, but I have had to learn where my priorities lie. I know that these days will soon be over and I will have a clean house again. But for now I am learning patience, learning to listen, and make memories with my children that will last forever. I just hope they are good memories.

What impresses me the most is that we are communicating better, we are more tolerant about the little things and we are a closer family.

Kids and Sports

Here are just a few pictures of Katie, Samantha, and Brian in soccer.

Leslie

Leslie's New look

Hey all,

I got my hair cut....finally. What do you think of it? Let me know.

Leslie

Sorry the pictures are kinda bad, but it has been rough lately.

Homeschooling Begins

For all of you curious at how we are doing with school, let me just tell you that we started out rough, (like anything new and challenging) but we are definitely progressing toward the more positive side of things.

Our first week was awful. 12-14 hour days trying and still not finishing the minimum. Neglecting little ones and frustrated with older ones.

But I tell you Tuesday things really turned around. But before I tell you, I just want you to know that I was crying all day Monday. I was at rock bottom. But, I remembered a story that I had heard on Sunday at church about a mother who had her family to care for plus an additional family to care for and she had to do everything, cleaning, laundry, meals, etc. (and to top it off she lived in the 1800's) Well, as the time progressed she became burdened with her trials and was very down. She went to pray and was visited by an angel who helped her. She did not know that it was an angel, but later found out that it was.

So I was reflecting upon this story so I decided to pray also. I asked Heavenly Father to help me to sustain me in my burdens so that they would become light, so that I may do all that was required of me. I opened my scriptures in the Book of Mormon and read D&C 121:7-10 which reads:

7. My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8. And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
10. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as thy did Job.

Then during our family scripture study I had Katie pick a story from the Friend magazine. She happened to choose a story about the prophet Joseph Smith and read how he is a true prophet of God in these latter days.

This again bore a second witness to me that God does live, He knows me personally. He sent his son here to the earth to establish his gospel and teach me what is true. I know that my prayers have been answered and that I can find those answers in the scriptures, through modern revelation, and through others, even virtual teachers.

On Monday in the early afternoon, the girls teacher called me to ask me some questions. As soon as she asked me how I was doing I began again to cry. I expressed to her my struggles and all the trouble I was having about juggling my schedule with my older kids with my younger kids. She listened to me cry and yell and really listened to me. She was an answer to my prayer, because I was able to get all that tension off my chest and she took no offense to it and was a stepping stone for me to leave all that behind and start again. She helped me change the girls schedules so that I don't have to do everything every single day. She bore my burdens and told me she would research what other moms are doing to balance school kids with non school kids. How awesome is that! A teacher who has time for me and my family.

Let me tell you this has made all the difference in the world. Yesterday, the girls had a dr. appt. so I printed out their worksheets and explained to the girls that we were taking our schooling with us. They were OK with that and so off we went. We finished at the dr.s and had one more appt to go to. Both ended taking up all of our morning. I dropped Robert off at school (where he stayed till 8am the next morning) and headed home to feed the kids. We spent another two hours-3 hours on homework and stopped at 4pm. We went to the YMCA and played. I walked for 1.5 hours and we came home and had dinner. Then took baths and went to bed. I even got to stay up and watch a movie, the one I wanted to watch! (I didn't go to bed till midnight) but that was beside the point I was not bound to my house, I was able to see the sun and daylight. I was able to enjoy me kids. I was free! This is what it is all about! Fitting school into my life--rather my life fitting into school.

I am a new person. I am elaited and ready to begin my quest....again. Renewed and afresh. All thanks be to Heavenly Father.

(By the way for any of you curious, I started school before the K-12 people gave me advice about the first 5 days....to start out slow one subject a day then add to that. I jumped in with both feet and sunk quickly....I won't be doing that again.)

Next week we get to tackle more juggling...three of the four are starting soccer, and the girls are starting girl scouts (maybe). Go Hagen's.

Many more changes...as usual

Hey,

We have been in a whirl wind trying to get this and that done. We worked many hours trying to get our house ready for the housing assistance inspection. So much so that I have missed Dr. Appt's. and mailing in important paperwork, etc. Anyway, I have been under a lot of stress lately and to top things off, the lady I babysit for bounced yet another check. So I have given her notice and told her that I will not be babysitting for her after August. (2weeks notice). One less thing on my overloaded plate. We are no longer in the Georgetown ward and so we had to say good bye to our wonderful calling as Nursery leaders. Tears come to my eyes as I think about not doing that anymore with those great kids. Robert and I really enjoyed it there. But as you may as well know that it is just yet another part of our life that has been uprooted. We have also begun homeschooling with the K12 program. Georgia has accepted it as an online public school called Georgia Virtual Academy. They just do their work at home.

This started on Monday and officially on Wednesday. They give us a few practice days. There have been some materials missing, which makes school go a little slower. But as soon as we get in our groove we should succeed just fine.

But until then my throat will remain sore from yelling and my head will hurt from my headaches. And my tears will keep flowing until we can complete school work in 4.5 hours rather than 14 hours.

But if you think this is a very depressing blog, so be it, but I have already learned that these things must happen in order for us to raise above and learn from our mistakes. I have already learned some valuable lessons:

"Gentle ways often prevail when rough ones fail"
"Unity is strength"

this next one came out of our August 2008 Ensign (church magazine) entitled Grasshoppers, Purple Bathtubs, and Other Surprises

By Wanda I. Allen

"I’ve learned some of life’s most valuable lessons from preschool children: to greet each day with enthusiasm and eagerness; to pursue adventure despite obstacles; to delight in new discoveries; to enjoy spontaneous fun; to regard the eating of toothpaste and the emptying of sand-filled shoes on the carpet as minor problems, not major catastrophes.

I had thought my college classes prepared me to control my environment so things would always go smoothly. But I’ve learned that when five children are hungry or tired or both, things don’t go smoothly. When I accept this as an inevitable—even adventurous—part of daily living, I can be more flexible and less demanding. When I can scoop my mud-covered two-year-old into my arms and deposit her into the bathtub for an unscheduled bath—and remain unruffled—I know I’m making progress."

Each day is a learning experience and it is up to me on how I react to it. As I began this blog entry I was down and depressed, overwhelmed with despair. But as I enter the words of the article above, I feel a glimmer of hope and desire to rise above this....and I know I will.

We have Moooooved!

Hey all,

Life has sure been crazy since our last post. We packed up the rest of our belongings and moved a couple miles down the road. It was bitter-sweet, but since the highway is coming and the car dealership behind us is buying out our neighborhood, I guess we had no choice. But we have worked many, many hours and our house is almost put back together. Here is a picture of our new house in case you were interested.

Talk to you later

Me

Trip to Missouri Part II

Friday, June 13th: When I woke up, I walked Tiki our dog and when I got back I saw my Mom. I apologized as soon as I saw her and everything is OK. Later that day we went to my sisters house again! She had made this massive pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. It was really good. We ate in shifts since there were so many children there. The kids played on the trampoline out back. I walked out there and saw Katie do a flip! It just about scared me to death. I didn't know she could do it. But I guess kids can do things that we adults can't do anymore.

Saturday, June 14th: The day of the Big Surprise 75th birthday party for my Grandma Peters. My mom and dad left early to help with setting up. Kim and her family and my family car-a-vaned to Dupo, Illinois. The party was to be at my Aunt Debbie's house. My grandma's and Aunt Debbie's yards are back to back. We were expecting a large crowd, so we thought we could park at my Grandmas so we could avoid the traffic. We thought that would be OK since Grandma would be out with my Great Aunt Bonnie. We pulled onto my grandmas street and there in the front yard was my grandma and great aunt Bonnie! Yikes.
Luckily we were able to drive right past them without them noticing it was us. Can you believe that! So we drove to the street parallel to grandmas and parked at Debbie's. I was surprised though, there were no cars. Then I found out that everyone parked their cars at a vacant building near by. We said our hellos and then it was time for the big moment. We all gathered in my Aunts Living room while grandma and Bonnie crossed the back yards. They came to the door and passed it. They were headed to the side door where all the food was. Yikes! But luckily my cousin, Anna, went out the door and asked, "Grandma what are you doing here, come in this door." She took the bait and we all yelled Surprise! And sang Happy Birthday. It truly was a surprise. Her kids had pulled it off Perfectly! She asked how they planned it with out her knowing. My Uncle Danny said, "what do you mean we planned it right in front of you!" Everyone had a good laugh at that. They had even gathered pictures and made a movie of her life. She thought they were taking pictures because she suspected that they thought she was going to die soon or something. She was just amazed at how many people were there and some of them she hadn't seen in years. I have to admit I hardly recognized my cousins all grown up with their girl/boy friends. All who came had a good time.

After we left we went home and finalized things for Katie's baptism. Things did not go as smoothly as we thought. We ended up making a trip to Walmart at 10:30pm to print out her bulletin and picture to display on the table but because I left the original CD with the signature giving permission to print it, I could print it out, but I could not buy it. Bummer! The bulletin was the wrong size. It was supposed to be a half sheet folded, but instead I made it wrong in InDesign as a full sheet of paper. So we headed home to print them off the computer. But we figured out how to resize them, but it through some of the pictures off center. Bummer.

Sunday, June 15th: Father's Day. I forgot my Dad's Father's Day gift at home. I forgot the Father's Day cards that I bought Robert from me and the Kids. Oops. Both were very understanding since there will be more Father's Day. So today the focus was Katie. You only get baptized once. This Sunday did not run as smoothly as last Sunday. Our systems converted over to Central Time.
On the way home from church I was hoping that the Kids would fall asleep. Nope. And it was about 30-45min drive! When we got home we had a quick lunch and packed Katie's bag of panty's, change of clothes, hair dryer, etc. We packed the kids back in the car and headed back to the church to set up everything. I put Katie's bags in the bathroom. Set up the display table, bulletins in place, etc. Everything was in place. I assigned my sister to be in charge of taking pictures with a list. She was busy with Katie and Robert. The meeting started in the Relief Society room and all went well....almost. Brian, who didn't get a nap, wanted Robert.
But Robert was busy. So he was in and out of the meeting way too many times! When it was time to take Katie to the baptismal font I was expecting to go to the gym, since that is where I thought it was. Instead it was on the other side of the building. So I watched her be baptized. I went into a different bathroom where Katie was and then headed to the other bathroom to get her bags. When I returned I realized there were no outlets in the new bathroom. OK. We went to the primary room. Katie took her wet clothes off and wrapped a towel around her. I went to get her change of clothes (panty's etc.) I could not find them! I left them at my mom's house. Yikes!
Luckily my sister-in-law, Tia's, sister, Julia, lived just a few blocks away and ran home to get Katie some under clothes. We dried her hair and got her all dressed up-- Just in time for our 25 min intermission video of Katie to end. What good timing. It was time for the cousins and siblings to sing "I am a child of God" to Katie. It went as well as could be expected for their first and last time though it. After Katie's baptism was over we gathered in the gym for family pictures. That was a little stressful. But maybe the pictures won't show it.

Back home at the cabin on the lake everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves. I was a little disappointed because my brother Brian and his wife, Chelsea, took off and headed home to Rolla. So my brother Ben and Tia, his wife, and their kids, our family, Kim and her family, and my parents enjoyed ourselves. I guess I had imagined all my siblings over at the lake where we could talk and reminisce about the our childhood while our kids played and had a good time. And we could take pictures on the lake. But I didn't verbalize that so how could I expect them to read my mind.
Monday, June 16th: Happy 30th Birthday, Leslie! I had planned to spend the day with my family and my friend Heidi, but she is expecting and has difficult pregnancies and so she ended up in the hospital. We went up to Herculaneum to purchase our bike rack. We returned home and put it together and got the bikes out for the girls to surprise them. We had to buy training wheels for them so they could ride. That evening my mom made homemade ice cream and a cake. I opened my presents. It was a low key birthday for this old lady!


Tuesday, June 17th: I can't quite remember what happened this day. My guess was Laundry. That evening my mom and I sat down and watched Phantom of the Opera, the movie. It was really good!
Although, at about 9-9:30pm finally got a phone call from Monica's grandma and she gave me grief to have to drive 30mins to drop Monica off to me and a few other things. I finally told her if you don't want to bring her then you can find a way to get her back to Georgia. But I was not going to let her give me another excuse. I told her I would be at our meeting place from X time to X time.

Wednesday, June 18th: Packing day. We gathered all our stuff to pack the van back up to head home. Robert and I went up to visit Heidi to see how she was doing. We took her to lunch again at our meeting spot for Monica and then Heidi took us around the Old part of Herculaneum and showed us all the houses and streets that were bought out by Doe Run's lead factory. I couldn't believe how many houses were gone. We stopped off at a park to look at the flooded Muddy Mississippi. Got a few pictures and then took Heidi and her son home. It is never easy to say goodbye.

After we got home I went swimming with my sister and the kids. My mom made S'Mores for the kids, then they played in the sand box.

Thursday, June 19th. It was so hard to leave. I'm Missin' Missouri. It took us longer to get home. Everyone was a trooper.

Thanks for reading about our trip to Missouri.
Thank you to everyone who made it possible for Katie to have a memorable baptism. Thank you to all our friends and family for being there for us.