Wedding #1

Today was the first of two weddings we have been invited to attend this weekend. Monday night is the second. Elizabeth and Joe were married today. Both attended Kids Club and Preteens. I remember Joe a little, but Elizabeth was very involved in our church before she started attending college. She, Joy, and another teen girl, Sarah, were all impressed that we named our daughter "Sarah Elizabeth Joy"!! and doted on her whenever they could! Now they are getting married! Elizabeth was married today and Sarah has a date of August 2nd. Joy is still waiting for that special someone.

It was a simple ceremony and it was fun to hang out with the Darrow's and Curry's at the reception. Elizabeth looked beautiful and was so excited to get married! What was truly wonderful is her commitment to keep herself pure until marriage! Something rare among the girls in this neighborhood. God has truly blessed her decision and provided for her a loving husband who follows God. Please pray for them as they travel down to Florida on Tuesday. Joe is in the military and is stationed there. Elizabeth is transferring colleges, but will take this semester off to adjust to her new life. I forgot my camera, so as soon as I get a photo, I'll post it!

Daniel did really well sleeping in the big bed last night! He slept straight through until 7:30 am! He was so proud of himself! He came running into my room and said "I sleep in bed!!!" He is too funny! Melissa ("his lissa!" as he refers to her!) watched the kids today while we went to the wedding. He was put in the crib for a nap - which he hated! - and did not sleep the entire time he was in there. So putting him to bed was easy tonight. I only had to stay in the room for about 15 minutes. He hates it when I stay in the room. He keeps telling me to "go away!". It's funny because he keeps saying it and then it stops all of a sudden because he has fallen asleep! I think we'll take the crib down next week as this is the end - he wants absolutely NOTHING to do with it! One thing about Daniel is that when his mind is made up, it's made up and there is not deterring the child! Pray for us!!!

Love-Hate

I LOVE the new bed rail I got for Daniel's bed - he HATES the new bed rail I got for his bed!!! Today I went in search of a bed rail that does not have bars or straps that go completely to the other side of the bed. I found the Safety 1st Bed Rail. Why I like it is that it locks onto the mattress. I am not good with descriptions, but the mesh rail part sits on the top of the mattress and the two legs slide under the mattress. You then have to push the rail down and it locks with a click. It is great!!!! No more sliding out when the child sleeps against it. Daniel cried when we put it on! "Take it off!" were his exact words! I guess he feels his new found freedom was being infringed upon!!! I was on him tonight and it only took an hour for him to settle down and go to sleep. I am hoping once the newness of the big bed wears off he will go to sleep faster.

WRONG!

I thought we had success in putting Daniel into a big bed - but I was proved wrong at around 4:00 am! Daniel thought it was time to get up and roam the house with his new found freedom! He turned on his bedroom light and Sarah's bedroom light. He was caught playing on Sarah's bottom bunk with her Loving Family Doll House. Matt and Sarah slept through the entire thing! They have a gift! Andy kept putting him back to bed and finally laid down with him to make him go to sleep! He awoke again at around 8:00 am. I think we should put him in a crib until he is 18!!! Matt and Sarah never did anything like this - this is so new to us! I am going out this morning to find a bed rail that will keep him in his bed. Perhaps a floor to ceiling wrought iron gate?

If anyone has any ideas - we'd love to hear how you keep your child in bed during the night.

Success!

Last night when I was putting Daniel to bed he asked to sleep in the big bed - not the crib! I thought that this was a good sign and that he would settle down and sleep - not the case! He goofed around something terrible and would not settle down. He just wasn't tired enough. After trying to work with him for about 45 minutes I picked him and told him he wasn't ready to sleep in the big bed, we would have to wait until he was ready. He was so upset and sobbed in his crib. He even got to the point where he said he was sorry and would sleep. We tried it again and again we were unsuccessful - so back in the crib where he cried for about 5 minutes and fell asleep. By this point it was close to ten - we had started at 8:00 pm!

But tonight he is asleep in the big bed!!! And it only took about 20 minutes! Why? Well, we went to the King of Prussia Mall this afternoon and he only fell asleep for about 30 minutes in the stroller. We didn't get home until about 6:oo pm and we didn't let him fall asleep until about 7:30 pm. He was exhausted. I believe I need to adjust his schedule and only allow him to take about a 1 1/2 - 2 hour nap earlier in the day - maybe 12:00 to 2:00 pm. I have to work on our school schedule and work it out.

We had a fun day of shopping! We went to the King of Prussia Mall because I mistakenly got Andy the wrong thing for his Franklin Covey organizer/ calendar and we needed to exchange it so he could get his life for the next year organized! We walked around a little as we never go to this mall. I finally found an ornament for Daniel for this year - well, two! Hallmark had all their ornaments at 50% off - so I picked out Bob the Builder and Nemo - two of his favorite characters. I looked everywhere for a Backyardigans ornament but could not find one so we had to settle for his next favorite.

We also went to Target and got some things really cheap! Including Daniel and Sarah's birthday presents! Sarah really likes the "City" Lego's and they had the Fire Station. It was opened so I asked if I could get a reduction. They sent me to three different people before the manager said they usually don't but because they ran me around she would give me 10% off! I was happy because Lego's rarely go on sale, especially in June, so even 10% off was a help. We got Daniel the Fisher Price Easy Link Internet Launch Pad - it was 1/2 price! We had looked at it for Christmas, but felt he wouldn't be able to do it just yet. We think by three he will be and so 1/2 price sold us on it! This "toy" links the child to a specific web site to play educational and fun games. There are several different "keys" in the shape of the character whose web site they link to - Clifford, Arthur, Elmo, Thomas, etc. He is always wanting to go on the computer - I think he will love this!

It's been a good week just relaxing. Tomorrow we'll stay home and continue our week long effort of getting our house under control. Andy is doing incredibly well getting rid of stuff! We went through his clothing yesterday and he got rid of FIVE grocery bags of clothing. If you know Andy, you know he is hoarder, so this is a great effort on his part! We are getting there!

Christmas Happenings

Wow! It's over! It's hard to believe you spend so much time getting ready and it's over in a matter of minutes! We had a great time the past two days with our family and friends. I hope you all had a wonderful day as well.

Christmas Eve was WONDERFUL! Andy and I spent the day with the kids getting things ready. We cleaned and cooked and were ready for my family (Mom, Bruce, and my sister Lisa) when they came. We had a Cook's ham and I think I have finally found a ham that I like. I am not a ham eater as I think they are all too salty - but this ham was so delicious! I hardly tasted any salt! We also had homemade macaroni and cheese, broccoli, green bean, salad, and bread. For dessert we enjoyed Mrs. Miriam's (Daniel's Sunday School teacher) incredible cookie tray! At 6:40 pm we all headed up to church for the Christmas Eve service. It was PACKED! Pastor Bill did a great job with the sermon doing a biographical comparison between Rudolph T. Reindeer and Jesus. Sounds weird, but it was really well done! I especially liked the part where Rudolph saved one Christmas, but Jesus saved the world! It was so imaginative and really got people thinking. Matt loved the sermon and didn't realize sermon's could be so interesting to listen to. The kids sang and recited a poem "What Is Christmas?" by Michelle Adams. Daniel even got up on stage, but only lasted one song before panic started to set in and he wanted DOWN! I was up there helping lead the kids so I just grabbed him before he completely lost it and held him until the song was finished. He tried!

Christmas Day the kids woke up around 7:30 am, but being the mean parents we are we tortured them until 8:00 am! Matt finally brought Daniel into our room and since he had a stinky diaper we got up and got moving! I went down to get lights on and the camera's ready while Andy took care of Daniel! We had a great time together opening gifts. Daniel was a riot with his "ooh!" and "I love it!" at the opening of each gift. Sarah and Matt were excited with their new MP3 players they received. We now all have the same Creative Lab Zen V players, which makes my life a lot easier as I have to load them up and I don't have to remember how to do three different players! I got them both off eBay as they were brand new but much cheaper than the store. I paid half price for both of them! Matt's is a 4GB and can play video. He now wants to purchase some music videos for his favorite songs. I'll have to figure that one out this week. Daniel's favorite gift was the Shake and Crash track! He climbed under the tree to unwrap it! He is so funny!That afternoon we went to my mom's house and had dinner with my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Ray, cousin Lenore and her husband Mike and their three kids, Aunt Cheryl, Great-Grandmom Ruth and my sister. The kids played well together. We brought our Wii system and had a blast watching Great-Grandmom Ruth play golf! She is an avid golfer (at age 86!) and does well on the course - but the Wii was something different! She laughed and had a fun time playing with Sarah (8) and Amanda (6).

We got home late and I was exhausted and went to bed! Andy was sweet and let me sleep in today! We have absolutely NOTHING on the agenda for the next three days! I love it! I am going to take things slow, sleep, and get my bedroom under control!

I have more pictures to post but Blogger is having difficulty with their uploading. I'll post more when it's fixed!

Peaceful Sunday

Today was rather peaceful. We attended church and I taught the last chapter of the book we have been using "Every Day Deserves a Chance: Teen Edition". It was the perfect lesson for today as it talked about the gift of God's grace. My class was also well attended as three girls who hadn't been there for a while showed up! It was good.

Church was also well attended. There were several new faces present and I am hoping it is from the outreach that our church recently did. Bill asked for volunteers to hand out Christmas cards and an invitation to today and tomorrow's services. Several people handed out cards to their blocks. Over 2000 cards were handed out! Pray that many would come tomorrow to hear the message and receive the best gift of all - a personal relationship with Christ.

After church Andy and the kids helped set up the gifts for the kids who will participate in the singing part of the program. Each kid gets a ticket and then gets a chance to pick out a gift. Daniel knows the songs this year - he actually sings the words! So he will get a chance to be up on stage! This could be interesting!

When Andy came home I did a CVS run as I had Extra Care Bucks (ECB) that expired today. If you purchased $15 of Energizer batteries you received $5 ECB's. I went and purchased the following:

3 packs of Energizer batteries $15.87
1 Bausch & Lomb ReNu Solution $7.99
1 pack of 5 gum (stocking stuffer for Matt) $1.49

Each pack of batteries had a peel-off coupon for $1 off! I then had a $5 CVS coupon for the batteries, a $4 off a $20 purchase CVS coupon, a $2 off a $10 purchase CVS coupon and a $2.50 coupon for the ReNu. After using $16.50 in coupons I then used $7.99 in ECB's and paid .86 cents! I came away with $7 ECB's - almost even to what I used. I then made a second purchase:

5 30ct CVS cough drops $.99 ea
3 packs of Energizer batteries $15.87
1 pack of 5 gum (stocking stuffer for Sarah) $1.49

I again used the peel-off coupons, a $2 off $10 purchase CVS coupon, and a $5 CVS battery coupon. I also used the rest of my ECB's that were to expire today which totaled $9.78 so I ended up paying $2.53. I could have done without the gum but if I got one for Matt Sarah would have been upset. I walked away with $9.95 in ECB's. So, between Thursday and today I now have $37.45 ECB's! I was pleased because everything I bought I use. I really needed the cough drops as I have developed a terrible cough since yesterday. I feel terrible. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve already! This year has really flown by! I will be making dinner, but unfortunately, Andy's folks won't be able to join us as Lois has to work. They will be able to make it down for the service to see the kids sing. We will, hopefully, be seeing them next weekend for a few days. If I don't write again before Christmas I hope and pray everyone has a wonderful Christ-filled Christmas.

Busy Days

Wednesday Night Prayer Pals

Sunday Night Prayer Pals

It's been a few days since I have had a chance to blog. Life has been busy! Wednesday evening was the Prayer Pal Christmas Party. It was great to see the kids open the gifts they received from their loving pals. The kids were thrilled beyond belief to see first hand how much their pals think of them and love them. Each pal took special time to pick out the perfect gifts for their kid. Many received much needed clothing, jackets, and blankets as well as fun things like games, body lotions, and books. It was a great evening!

Thursday evening Andy, Matt, Sarah and I went to the Quakertown High School Planetarium. My sister and Sam invited us to attend a special show. We had no idea what the show was about - except that we knew it was going to about stars (obviously!) It was great and Matt LOVED it! It talked about the Star of Bethlehem and the different theories of what "the bright star" could have been. It was fun because Matt was asking that same question just a few days before. What was even greater was how Christian the presentation was - shocking for a public school when you can't even call the days off from school a Christmas Break but a Holiday Break! While we were at the show my Mom watch Daniel and he had a BLAST eating cookies!

Friday was our 90th day of school!!! We are officially half way through the school year! YEAH!!! As a treat we went to the movies to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. It was great! The kids loved it and there was a lot of history in it - just like the first one. I counted it as our 90th day because I figured many other schools were having Christmas parties and counting that as their last day of the year. That was our Christmas party! Movies can be expensive, but AMC Theater has a deal where Friday and Saturday's before noon all movies are $5 - much cheaper than normal prices! Our AMC also has a deal on Tuesday's where movies are $5 all day and you get a free popcorn! We can only go on Tuesday's when we don't have clubs so I am glad they have the Friday/ Saturday deal.

Friday night we went to my Mom's to exchange our gifts. My Mom started this new tradition last year where we meet the Friday before Christmas to give each other our gifts. It just makes it less crazy on Christmas Day when there are other family members around and we are ALL getting and giving gifts. The kids were thrilled with all that they received - especially Matt and Sarah with their new Nintendo DS hand held. They love the different features that they come with including "pictochat". It is kind of like messaging but you have to be in close proximity to do it. One kid can be in the basement while the other is up in their bedroom and they can write each other and send it. It is kid of fun! This morning we told the kids that they couldn't get our of their rooms before 8:00 am - instead I hear the bells of messages being sent back and forth from room to room! This could be a good thing and get them talking to each other more! Daniel's favorite gift was a Backyardigans "radio" with a microphone attached. He LOVES singing and dancing to it - he is obsessed with the Backyardigans!Today was a day of rest!! Well, sort of! We have been cleaning and fixing and getting our house ready for our family on Christmas Eve. Our parents come and join us for dinner and then we all go to our Christmas Eve service. It's a tradition that Andy and I started when we bought our house and found out we were expecting Matt. It was 11 Christmas Eve's ago that we announced to the grands that Matt was coming! We announced Daniel's coming 3 Christmas Eve's ago! Sarah we announced during Thanksgiving. There are NO announcements this year!

No Success

Tonight I tried to put Daniel in a bed. I am afraid I have waited far too long to do this and now fear it will be many months before he will get into a bed! He started to drift off, until the kids and Andy came home from Christmas Caroling, then he was wired! I really need to work on his schedule as I believe he is just not tired enough when he goes to bed. It is 10:00 pm and he is in his crib jumping up and down! He has been like this for the last few nights. I even woke him up from his nap early! I will have to try hard all next week to get him into a bed. It is definitely time for him to move and I am ready to do it. It will be a battle, but as with everything else, he will learn.

Last night was the God's Girls Christmas Party at Carisa's house. There were 20 girls! It was a lot of fun to see them giggle and enjoy each others company. They played "steal-the-present" and enjoyed stealing the hot gifts - a princess crown (which came with a special gift to the girl that wore it until the end of the evening) and a slipper/ body wash gift set. I had forgotten that preteen girls are so into lotions and body washes, etc. I will have to remember for next year! I really love these girls and am excited that many of them will be moving up into my Sunday School in the coming months.Tonight, Andy, Matt and Sarah went Christmas Caroling with about 40 other people from our church. They had a great time and the people that they ministered to this evening really enjoyed their singing. We are now officially done with all the seasonal responsibilities! YEAH! Andy will be home evenings and we can settle down a bit. We only have to do some small things for the Christmas Eve service as that is Bill and Joe's main responsibility. I think we really need this break. We have one week left of vacation left and we are thinking of just staying home and not answering our phone! We have so much we would like to do to our house - tile the kitchen and clear stuff out of the basement. It will take a week just to do those things!

No Jury Duty!!!

God is SO good! I waited until 11:45 pm (you have until Midnight) to call to see whether or not I had to report for jury duty and I didn't!!! YEAH! I am so glad as trying to juggle homeschooling and caroling tonight would have been a challenge for Andy. Thanks for praying!

The Tree is UP!!

The tree was put up today! We will decorate it tomorrow. When Daniel woke up from his nap and saw the tree he said "It's beautiful! I like it!" He is so funny! He really likes Christmas and it is so much fun to really understand it all!

Christmas Lights

Last night we went to the Children's Garden in Camden, NJ to see their Holiday Lights display. We met up with the Hinson family and had a great time walking around in the cold! The kids didn't seem to mind! I love the cold and didn't mind it so much either, except I was so concerned about getting the kids all bundled up I forgot gloves and a hat for myself! Oh well! It wasn't really THAT cold!

Daniel was funny as he LOVES lights! He was all smiles until..... we met Santa! He refused to sit on his lap. When we first went into "Santa's Lodge" he was talking and looking at Santa, but as we got closer he started to cry and yell NO! We managed to sit with Santa as a family and Carisa took this great picture!We came home and Andy and I just relaxed. Now today is a big cleaning day to get our tree up! It MUST get up tonight! I am ashamed it is not up already! Especially since Daniel will LOVE all the lights we put up around the house. Next year I will be more on top of things, right???

Life Keeps Going

I really can't believe that Christmas is only 12 days away! We still don't have our tree up! Life has just been moving along and things will hopefully start settling down in the next few days. Andy's last Teen Club of the year was tonight. He has Christmas Caroling with the Teens Monday evening and then his evening responsibilities are done for the year! YEAH!! He will be home at night for a few weeks before things start up again. My only responsibilities this coming week are teaching Sunday School, a God's Girl's Christmas Party Sunday evening and the Prayer Pals Christmas party Wednesday night. I also have Jury Duty Monday!!! Hopefully, I won't get picked. There is far too much to do before the 25th! I guess we'll see.

Matt started the day with a poor attitude which earned him a trip to church with Daddy to do school. We have decided, for now, this is what is going to happen. He did remarkably well in completing his work while there. He came home and we did Science and Art. He then only had to finish two assignments, Math and English, which should have taken him a total of 60 minutes. Instead, he drug it out for almost three hours!!!! I still don't understand his thinking. I am hoping one day he will get the picture that if he just sits and does the work he can then have fun! One day!

Daniel's vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds! He is speaking so clearly. Everyone is amazed. I am so thankful as he is tongue tied. His frenulum is attached to the tip of his tongue which can cause problems with speech. He has been like this since birth and the doctors that I go to said they don't do anything about it anymore. I am just to keep an ear out and make sure he isn't having any speech issues. So far, so good! I think he is going to be like his sister and talk non-stop! They should be good company for one another!

Preteen Christmas Party

Last night was the preteen Christmas party. It was so much fun! There were 52 preteens in attendance! Two churches, Trinity United Methodist from NJ and Central Baptist Church of Bucks County, did an incredible job running the program and providing both gifts and snacks. There were crafts to do, sweets to eat, a puppet show to watch, gifts to receive, and school supplies to restock on. The kids also received much needed hats and gloves thanks to Bethel Chapel of Huntingdon Valley. The kids were busy! The groups that came down really interacted well with the preteens and the preteens were shown God's love in action! I always find it amazing that people give to children they do not know. They give because they know the God that loves these kids and are being His hands and feet. I really love this group of preteens! They are fun loving and many of them have a deep desire to have a personal relationship with Christ. I am sad as many of them will be moving up in the next few months. But Andy will be able to keep tabs on them as they start attending God Squad and Teen Club. What will be more interesting is the group of ten year-olds moving up in the next six months! We have a herd of ten year old staff kids! Matt, Eliza, Josh, Morgan, and Eleanna will be moving up! HELP!!! I am so not ready for this group! They are an interesting bunch that, if they put their collective will together, will do a mighty work for God in this neighborhood! Please pray for us (and them) as we guide them in the truth and that they will take on the faith as their own.

Here are several pictures to show you the fun the kids had last night!

This is the long sleeve t-shirt that each preteen received. On the front upper left corner is our church name and then a message on the back: He died for me, I live for Him. It is fun to hear teacher comments when the kids all wear their shirts to school the next day! I only hope the kids behavior matches their testimony on the shirt! Pray for the kids as we will not have Kids' Club again until January 29th.

WHEW!!!!

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity! I don't think I have ever been so tired! In fact, last night (Saturday) I was in bed by 7:30pm! My wonderful husband bathed and put all the kids to bed so I could go to bed! He's so great! I slept from 7:30 pm till 8:15 am! It felt sooooo good! So what has made me so tired? Friday night was our yearly Cornerstone Adult Christmas Party. There were about 100 people there! It has been getting really big the past few years! It seems to be the highlight of the holidays. We had fun playing games and eating dinner with April and her niece Desiree, who had just had a baby the week before! April's testimony is amazing and her walk with the Lord is such a great example to the people of our neighborhood. I really enjoy spending time with her.

The other thing that made me so tired was the fact that I was up until the wee hours of the morning everyday last week (about 1-2 am) baking cookies for our big cookie day yesterday! We had 47 different kinds of cookies! I ended up making nine cookies/ goodies, many of them double batches. Here is a picture of the setup.

We had to move into my mom's living room this year because we had so many! Here is a picture of my completed pile. I made plates/ tins for all our staff and some neighbors.

Sarah joined us this year and did a great job as a "runner". She ran the plates to MomMom, who wrapped them in cello-wrap and tied beautiful ribbons around them. Sarah also ran the plates to their designated area and put tags on each of them. She was one hoppin' little girl!

After cookie day we went to "The Spotted Hog" at Peddler's Village for lunch. It was so crowded! We got in right away to each lunch and walked around the different stores. I found a great new pair of flannel pj's for $20. I LOVE them! But I'll have to hem the pants as they are WAY TOO LONG! I think they were made for a giant!

We had church this morning and I taught Sunday School as December is my month. We then stayed after church to have our photos taken for our new prayer card. Here is a preview of the one I am thinking we should use:

Ha! Ha! Just kidding!!!! But I thought it was so funny!!!! (You have to look at Daniel)

Andy and the kids stayed after for a bit longer to help with the setup of the 7-10 year old Christmas Party for tomorrow night. The Preteen one is being held Tuesday night and 5&6's is being held Wednesday night. Please be in prayer for all three parties. That there would be sufficient help, enough gifts, and a great message being shared at each party. Also, be in prayer for the kids who were not invited and the parents who get upset over this fact. There are specific guidelines in each club for those who get invited. There has to be as we can't afford to invite everyone. It is mainly based on attendance. 110 kids have been invited to the 7-10 year old party, 50 to the preteen and 50 to 5&6's. That's a lot of kids! But so many more have come maybe 1 or 2 times and then think they should be invited to the party. It's hard to turn them away, but what else can we do?

Guardian Angels

Daniel continues to test the strength and power of his guardian angels. Tonight he decided to "look" in the fish tank and pulled it down. He has never attempted to do this before. He was scared - as was I when I heard the crash and piercing scream. Fortunately he only came away with two small scratches near his chin. There was 20 gallons of water all over the floor, but that was easily vacuumed. There were no fish in the tank as the last one died a few weeks ago. I just hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the tank and putting it away until one of the kids was old enough to take care of the pets themselves. I guess Daniel helped along in that project!

School continues to be tough. Yesterday, Matt went to work with Andy and did school with him all day. He was gone from 9:00 am until 4:30 pm. Almost like he would be if he went to school! We are considering several options in how to handle Matt's schooling. Please pray for us as we make decisions. One of the options we are considering is putting him in a public school in the neighborhood. We know the principal as we went to college with him. He also told us that several of the teachers there are Christians. It is a tough decision because 1) we don't want Matt's heart getting any harder than it is towards authority and the school is a tough one, 2) the school curriculum would be a breeze for Matt to handle and he would get very lazy, and 3) how would this effect his character? Please pray we make the BEST decision for Matt and our family.

We did art today and the kids painted (again!). That's twice this week! We are discussing the primary colors (red, blue, yellow). They had to choose a painting challenge and paint with only those three colors. Matt chose to paint a boat on the water with a man fishing and Sarah chose to paint a picture of a child pulling a wagon. I think they did a great job!

Miserable Monday followed by Terrible Tuesday

The kids were miserable yesterday and today has been no improvement. They are complaining about every assignment, fussing about doing jobs around the house and are just at each other all the time. It has been a tough two days of getting school done as well as getting the house in order. What I don't understand is that we have been doing school at home for SEVEN YEARS and I still get grief about doing it! You would think that they would get the idea that this is what we do and just do it. I know my kids are not easy kids. They are strong-willed, stubborn, and independent. They are the kids God gave me - I often wonder why. I know I was also stubborn, strong-willed and independent as a child, but I did my work because I knew that was what was expected of me. Andy and I are baffled by their defiance when told to do their school work. I often hear from other homeschooling mom's how their children get their assignment sheets and go off and do their work. I am extremely jealous of these mothers! At this point Matt and Sarah are already two days behind on several of their assignments. It looks as if they may be doing school on Saturday.

I, however, am going to go to "Cookie day" with my mom and sister on Saturday. That is the day we get together and exchange all the cookies we have made and give out to friends and family. It is a fun day and I really enjoy putting the tins and plates together. This year I am making: Butterscotch Haystacks, Milk Chocolate-Peanut Butter Haystacks, Peanut Blossoms, Snickerdoodles, Peanut Brittle, Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, Farmhouse Chocolate Mint Cookies, and Muddy Buddies (or Puppy Chow). If I get time I also want to make Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers, Toffee Grahams, and Carmel Candy Bars. We'll see what time allows.

Today for Physics we discussed protons, neutrons, and electrons. We then discussed how scientists use models to represent things we cannot see with our eyes. Today we made the Lithium atom. They had fun painting (see Carisa! I let them paint!) and putting it together. I have to do more things like this. It is the only time today the two of them cooperated. They are making another one on Thursday.

The yellow balls are neutrons, the blue are protons, and the red are electrons. I LOVE science!

Please pray that the kids and I would get back into a flowing routine and that we would all be patient and kind towards one another. Please pray for our attitudes to be adjusted!