Testosterone

There was a lot of that in my house today!  Each of my boys had a friend over.  That means six boys in one house with one Momma!  Joe escaped early this morning and called home around lunch to see how I was faring.  He asked me if I had changed my mind yet (about wanting another child).  I told him that yes, that indeed I had changed it.  Now instead of wanting one more, I would like to have three more! 
It was such fun today in a way that can't be explained but only experienced.  Children certainly are a blessing and I can't even begin to imagine my life without them.

Surprise!

This has been the year of the birthday trip.  In January for Noah's birthday we went to Savannah to the Round House Railroad Museum and rode home on the Amtrak.  In February for Micah's birthday we took some friends to the circus.  Since we had not been to the mountains in a few years, we decided that a fall trip to NC would be perfect for Jonah's birthday.  If the look on his face in this picture is any indication, he thought it was a perfect trip as well.

We set out Sunday after church and drove to Maggie Valley, NC.  The leaves on the trees were beautiful.  We got to the hotel about 7:00 and I took the older boys for a swim in the pool.  We got up early Monday morning and found ourselves under a severe weather advisory.  (Oops, forgot to check to see what the weather would be like!)  Anyway, about 10:00 the weather cleared and we headed out to Cherokee.  We took the kids to pan for gemstones and Noah found a "diamond" for Grammy.  After panning for gemstones we had lunch at the Oconaluftee Park and then headed out to the main attraction of the day...SANTA LAND!!!  The kids all had a blast riding rides, feeding animals, paddling paddle boats, and watching bears. We closed down Santa Land and headed back to the hotel for another swim and night's sleep before heading out for home this morning.  It was a fun, fast paced, short trip...and I am already looking forward to the next one!

Out-Laws

My newly turned three year old rudely informed me tonight at the dinner table that I needed to shut my mouth so that he could speak.  After the shock wore off, Joe and I asked him where he had heard that before.  I refuse to mention any names but I can assure everyone that there will be no more unsupervised visits to my husband's parents' house anytime soon!  Ugh.

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy Birthday to my Jonah!

Your smile lights up my world.

 Your mischievousness keeps me on my toes.

 Your excitement is contagious.

 Your determination is inspiring.

You were an amazing two year old and we have a big surprise in store to start out year number three!  More on that to come later...

Thankful Thursday

In no particular order...

kids, spouse, parents, friends, technology, health, electricity (when I remember to pay the bill), Bible class, cool weather, fall decorations, thick cinnamon raisin bread with fresh pear butter, laughter, tears, Grandmother, birthdays, chocolate, my minivan, good books, liquid stitch, and caffeine free diet coke.

If they were in order of importance, the caffeine free diet coke may or may not have been first on my list!

Get Well Soon

Noah and I made a trip into town today to go to the library.  While we were in town, we decided to run by my Dad's house and give him a painting Noah had made for him.  On the way there we had quite an interesting conversation.  I was telling Noah that Christmas was coming soon and that he needed to be thinking about who he wanted to give a gift to and what that gift might be so that he could start either making the item or saving money to purchase it.  He came back at me with a question...

Noah:  Do you think Pappy will be feeling better by Christmas?
Me:  I sure hope so.
Noah: Well if he isn't then I want to buy him a present.
Me: Does that mean that if he is feeling better that you wont buy him one?
Noah:  No, I will still buy him one, but it just wont be as good!

I'm afraid Noah provides little incentive to get well!  Then as we were on our way home I asked Noah to quiet down so that I could call our pastor.  He wanted me to let him know what time Dad was going to be having surgery.  As I dialed the number, Noah asked why the pastor wanted to know that information.  I told him that it was probably so that he would know when to pray for Pappy.  As I heard our pastor pick up the other end on the line, I hear Noah exclaim, "Well that is just silly, he should be praying for him all the time, not just when he is having surgery!"

Kids...they sure do make dealing with tough situations easier!

LOL

Jonah:  That scared me so bad I almost peed my pants!

Noah:  Jonah, you wear diapers.  You pee your pants every day.

Me:  Bahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

To Dad

I know I ask a lot of questions...I am not going to stop, I do it because I care.
I don't expect to be involved in the decision making process and I may not agree with the decisions you make, but I will do my best to honor your wishes and not question your choices.
I can't walk this path for you, but I promise to be with you for every step that you let me be a part of.
Get used to me being there, because I am not going away.
You might see me cry, but you will also see me smile.
Remember that I love you, because I am not going to forget it.

Home School

Most of you realize by now that Joe and I have decided to home school Noah again this year.  It is going well, but takes so much more of my time than I had expected. I get asked all the time why I choose to home school.  We choose home school because of many different reasons, but basically it is just the right decision for us.
It may sound selfish but one reason that I home school is for myself.  I am one of those strange parents that actually likes her children and wants to spend time with them. (Not saying that parents who chose other schooling options do not like their kids)  I watch Noah grow so much during the school day and right now I can't imagine missing that.  I love seeing his excitement the first time he figures something out and I like learning along side him. I love the fact that we are teaching him what he needs academically while sharing with him the faith that is so important to us.
Of course I am not the only factor in this decision.  Another big reason that we decided on home school is Noah himself.  We feel that Noah's educational needs are met better with a one on one approach rather than in a large class.  We are able to focus more on the areas that he needs and watch every day to make sure that he improves.  Which by the way, he is doing very well.
Homeschooling simply fits us right now.  Because we are a self employed family, our schedule is a little different than most and we like the flexibility that homeschooling gives us.  The closest school that we would be comfortable sending Noah is a thirty minute drive from home.  That would mean two hours of travel time every day for us.
This may not be the path that we always take with our children's education, but it is working for us right now.  Noah is scoring well, I am still sane, and the little ones are starting to pick up on things from watching Noah in school.  Now if I could just manage to live on twenty minutes of sleep a night, things would be perfect!

Church

I think blogging is sort of like church...the longer you stay away, the harder it is to get back to it!  I have promised myself to get back soon.  (The blogging thing, not the church thing)  We will see how that works!