Lord, move in a way that I've never seen before. There's a mountain in the way and a lock on the door. I'm drifting away, waves are crashing on the shore. So Lord move, or move me.

~~Lord Move or Move Me, by FFH

So we're still working on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. With the Fold-N-Learn from Five in a Row and all of the goodies we found at Homeschool Share, we've had plenty to keep us busy for awhile! Adisson's still really enjoying this book. I love it when he really enjoys what we're working on, it makes it so much easier and way more fun.

A few weeks ago we started a Notebook. I just grabbed an unused one subject spiral bound notebook we had already. I wanted to use something inexpensive in case it wasn't something we decided to stick with. Well, Adisson really likes it. He loves flipping through what we've already learned and reviewing it. I like it too because I think that just helps cement past topics in his head, at least for now. :) Next year we'll get a nicer notebook. In the meantime, he's SO EXCITED to show his grandparents his notebook when they come to visit this weekend.

I'm still working on some Tot School goodies. I've decided to have 15 activities ready to go and then plan out the five we are going to use for the week. I want to work on Letter of the Week stuff with him, but he's just not interested in it. I don't want to make him do any of it...he's just 2. But I would like to print off some coloring pages, either just to color (ie. something fun like an Easter egg) or something to color that is a little more educational (ie. a letter or number coloring sheet) so he can work on that as well as his other activity.

We're also working on some Easter activities this week. Yesterday we made a tomb from salt dough. I'm hoping we did it ok because it is not turning out exactly as I had hoped, but there's still time for it to work out. :) We're also making some other crafts I found in Five in a Row Holiday and our Easter Fold-N-Learn from Five in a Row. I love making new traditions. :) I just love thinking about when the boys grow older that they'll remember holiday traditions with fondness and remember what fun we had doing them as they were growing up. I'm hoping to post pictures soon, just as soon as I get the camera all gathered up. :)

We're waiting on some important decisions from the Army this week. Pretty big decisions. I'm praying and praying for this situation. I'll let you know how things go...and what has been decided once it's been decided. :)

So I'm feeling better! Yay! :) I was stuck on the couch for longer than I can remember being in the past. Adam took care of most things and made me rest....at least for the first 24 hours. After that, he pretty much just let the natives roam free. :) I'm still dealing with some discomfort but it's so much better than it was.

School has been going well this week. We're rowing The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Adisson's really interested in it. We purchased the Fold-N-Learn from Five in a Row as well and he's had a ball today "speaking British"! In the FNL it gives some examples of British words and what we call the same thing (i.e., loo means bathroom, etc.). The fun part is that Adam's got a few cousins that live in England so he remembers some of the things he's heard them say and I managed to remember some words from their last visit (six years ago, that's been too long!). Adisson's been chuckling about it all day. I was trying to get more than one math worksheet done each day, because we had fallen behind, but I'm actually grateful that we'll be able to continue working on his math through the summer...so as not to lose the foundation of facts we've been building on. So now that we're back to one math worksheet and doing only FIAR, 3 R's, and Bible study, our days are so nice and relaxed. :)

I keep wanting to work on some Tot School goodies for Zander but haven't got my act together yet. He does a lot of neat stuff, but I want to do more things on purpose. We'll be doing Before Five in a Row next year with Zander (he's really not ready for it yet) and I'm excited to purchase all the B4 FNL's and then other lapbooking goodies from Homeschool Share. I'd love to have it all ready to go by August.

Tomorrow's April Fool's Day and I have some neat ideas in mind for my boys. I'll hopefully be able to post pictures of my little tricks. :)

Can't blog. Got pneumonia. :( Gotta rest. Be back later.

"He took my case-of-dee-uhs!!"

God has answered some prayers for us this week and I'm just pretty excited about it! First of all is the good news I mentioned earlier this week but can't talk about yet. Then we realized that there is something hinky going on with the van and it's got the potential to cost a lot of money. I thought we were inching close to our warranty expiration, and while we are, we are nearly 6,000 miles away from it expiring. Praise the Lord for that! And Adam's been worried about the tires on the van in need of replacing and the only thing I can think of is dollar signs in front of my eyes....tires aren't cheap. Then we found someone today that is selling the brand new tires off of their vehicle (they are getting bigger wheels) and they are just the size we need! For the cost of ONE TIRE!! :)

Tomorrow night we have an FRG meeting to go to. It was announced today. For future reference, if you want a lot of people to show up to meet the incoming commander and his wife, you should give them more than one day's notice. But of course I'm going. I'm hoping Adam gets finished up with school early tomorrow afternoon so we can all go at the same time and take his car. I'm worried about driving the van. I once blew up the engine in a vehicle (uh, I will tell you now that I ABSOLUTELY did NOT blow up the engine, it was a mechanical failure. A replacement engine cost me 2k. If I wanted them to take apart the blown engine to determine the exact cause, and then contact GM regarding the issue, it would have cost nearly 5k. I had to go the cheaper route and thus have to tell everyone that I blew up the engine.) and refuse to do that again so I'd rather not drive it until it's repaired. We were supposed to go in today to have it looked at, but Zander was up VERY VERY late last night. He woke up early today and ending up falling asleep just a half an hour before we were supposed to leave. I wasn't about to stay up so late again due to a nap interuption, so I rescheduled the appointment. Unfortunately, they can't get us in until Monday.

This weekend I've got a list as long as my arm of stuff I want to get done around the house, but I have to get a bunch of stuff done inside before we can do outside stuff. It should be a busy few days. In the meantime, I've got to clean up a little and get to bed. :)

I cooked. A lot. He ate. Enough. The kids hate lasagna. Ugh. Of course they do. And it's nearly midnight and I have to clean the kitchen. Party time!! :) So not really.

And tonight, Tiffy made her kids some mexican food. Tiff's got four kids, EJ is 9, E is 5, F is nearly 3 and Little L is just five months old. (Not my kids, so I won't put their names on here.) The big kids (9 and 5) are boys and the little ones are girls. One of the things she made was quesadillas. And while we were on the phone for a few minutes tonight, Cute Patootie F walked up to her and said "Mom, E ate my Case-of-Dee-Uh's!" And it made us laugh harder than the other day when she called the Smurfs, the Smorfs.

And that pretty much was our day. Tomorrow I have to take the van to get looked at. I think it's going to need a lot more work than I really want to think about. The good news would be if Adam got done with school in time tomorrow that he could take the van up to the dealership and the kids and I didn't have to go. Oh, that would make me super happy. I'll be putting that on my prayer list tonight. In the meantime, I've gotta clean this kitchen and go to bed. :)

Well, after some exciting news last night, we all went out to dinner. I'll share the exciting news next week after it's official. But anyway, we're sitting down to eat and I mentioned to Adam that we don't go out to eat often. We do have fast food about once a week, but does that count as "going out to eat"? Then the food comes and we kinda realize why. :) It was fine and all, but it wasn't great.

What was great were my boys. My sweet boys who sat still, didn't get out of their seats, didn't yell or cry, didn't fight or fuss, but were just absolutely good boys. It further impressed me when we were seated near other families who allowed their children to run around the restaurant, lay on the floor, yell, and race each other from one end to another, literally.

So tonight I want to make up for our lackluster meal with a great dinner at home. Adam loves lasagna so I'm hoping to get that made as well as some rolls and dessert. However, time is rapidly ticking away and I've got many other things to get done today as well. :) So I'm off to cook like crazy and clean like mad. :)

My homeschooling head is heavy tonight. I often feel like I don't do enough with the boys. Part of me wants to just enjoy having little kids right now and not be so strict and regimented with learning. Adisson's only in Kindergarten and I feel he exceeds expectations of public schooled kids so part of me just wants to let him enjoy these last few months of being silly and having a good time more often than not. I know, life is still fun in the first grade! and that it won't be too much different than it is now. I'm just hoping that next year we can have more of a schedule, a plan, a routine, and expectations of what needs to be accomplished each day for school.

And my little 2 year old. Some Mama's do some amazing activities with their toddlers and we don't do enough I don't think. I know I shouldn't compare but I am now wondering, am I not pushing my kids enough? Are they not learning enough? Am I not using all the brain power in their little heads? Am I just too easy going when it comes to schooling?

I guess another reason I'm not more scheduled is that I'm often ill. I've been sick since Christmas. Some days are good, some days are not so good, and other days, it takes all that I have to get up. I know I should see a doctor and discuss possible issues (though I have a pretty good idea of what's going on), but I'm not sure how to approach my Care Manager (I don't see a doctor on post, but a nurse) with my concerns without sounding like a flake that spends too much time online.

I want to provide my children with the best education possible, and let me tell you, right now, I don't feel like I'm offering it. I am not even a little bit considering public school, but I am wondering how I can make this better....how I can be the homeschooling Mama I wanna be. I'm praying about it, pretty often, but I'll be praying even harder.

In the meantime, it's bedtime.

So a topic around here lately has been babies. One baby in particular. After Zander was born I thought for sure our family was complete that two was enough. After all, when Adam is deployed, I'm quickly outnumbered and stretched even farther. I know lots of Mommies do the deployment thing with a lot more kids, and I give them the enormous credit they deserve. I know how difficult it is with two, so I can't imagine how hard it would be with even more.

Enter Cooper Thomas.

This is my absolutely precious nephew. He's my newest nephew, born in January. I have two others, Boden is going to be one next month and Landen is three. I'm the world's most blessed Aunt. But until Cooper got here, I was done with having kids, I felt at peace with our family size.

Then I saw him. And my resolve started melting. Maybe we needed one more baby. Maybe just try one more time.

Then I held him. And that was it for me. I felt like we just needed another baby. But more than that, I want a daughter. I want to play with dolls and have tea parties. I want to bake cakes and go to ballet class. I want to paint a room lavendar and decorate it with butterflies and rainbows. But, to my dismay, Adam absolutely does not. Not even a little. Not even a teeny tiny bit.

So that's my answer. And while in my heart, I'm elated at the blessings that God has given us because it was a struggle to have the two children we do have, part of me wonders if the desire to have a little girl will ever leave.

In the meantime, the goofy, silly, precious little boys that live here want to watch a movie in Mommy and Daddy's bed....and I am more than willing to do that. :)

Here's an email I sent out to my family, I wanted to share it here so I don't have to repeat myself. :)

Right after Zander was born I had a column in the weekly newspaper on post. It was fun to write but after Adam deployed, it got to be too much for me to keep up with, so I had to stop. In any case, the name of my column was Mom's Good Cents. I like the title, so that's what this newsletter (aka, a weekly email I send out to my family on how to save some cold hard cash!) is going to be called.

Here goes!

Mom's Good Cents

Welcome to this week's edition of Mom's Good Cents. I'm not quite the money saving Guru that my grandmother is, but I'm on the path. Last week, I gave y'all some recipes for homemade cleaners. I had tried all of them and use them exclusively except for the fabric softener. I have come across some more info. in regards to the fabric softener situation. Tiffany has become my guinea pig for this expirement. She has now tried adding 1/2 cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle of her wash and then put some hair conditioner directly on a washcloth to toss in the dryer. She said it seems to be working as well as the recipe she previously tried but the upside is that it leaves her clothes smelling like the hair conditioner, which she loves! But here is another quirky tip I've found online. I hear that a ball of foil, the size of a tennis ball, will also act as a fabric softener. I've heard from several online sources that it does indeed work. I'm still waiting to give it a shot! Tiffany is using it and says it seems to be working!

My next good tip is about magazines. Did y'all know that you can sometimes get a free magazine subscription? I know it sounds crazy, but it is inded true. I recently received a free 2 year subscription to Parents Magazine from Value Mags and I signed up today to receive a free subscription to Woman's Day from Free Biz Mags. I haven't received my issues from FreeBizMags yet, because, well, I just signed up for them. I heard about these two sites from other sites...I'll talk about them now.

I visit Freebie sites. The one I visit most often is Sweet Free Stuff and one that I just found this week is Free Product Samples. I also use Start Sampling. It is at sweetfreestuff that I found the free 2 year subscription to Parents and then after signing up, I received an update from FreeBizMags regarding the Woman's Day subscription. Also, WalMart has samples listed on their website as well and I receive samples from them often.

Ok, there are my tips for this week!

Love and vinegar,
Nicole