One Sock

I am sure that many of you remember that I have taken to knitting socks......well at least one sock anyway. I finished the first sock on Sunday. I started it's mate, but have already had to rip it out.....But that's ok, because as I told Lee, every time I have to take it apart and start over I have learned something. I must have patience and persevere so that my lone sock will have a mate :) Maybe by the end of the weekend I will have a pair.

I am learning more stitches and have a better understanding of how things are supposed to go together. I am getting valuable practice. Maybe I will be able to start something in that knitted lace book that is so intimidating! I will definately have to dig the book out and take a look again this winter. Unfortunately most of those patterns are in chart form and I am not very good at reading charts. Oh well, I guess that I will need to figure out a way to practice that also.....so much to do....so little time.

Blessings,
Carie

Teaching the Trivium

I am reading Teaching the Trivium by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn with a group (yahoo group: BasicallyBluedorn). I thought that I would post some of the interesting things that I am learning here with the hope that they will benefit others as well.

Distinctives of the Biblical Model of Education
1. All true education must begin with the revelation of God.
The Scripture is sufficient to educate us in all necessary areas of life.
Psalms 119:97-104
Timothy 3:15-17
2. The family at home is given sole jurisdiction over the education of children.
Deuteronomy 11:18, 19
3. Education is to fully prepare children for adult life.
Proverbs 22:6
Genesis 18:19
Titus 2:2-6
1st Timothy 5:14
2nd Peter 1:3
4. The ultimate goal of education is holiness - separation to God for his service.
Leviticus 20:26
1st Thessalonians 4:7
1st Peter 1: 15, 16
All education is essentially religious, and the sooner we realize this, the better. (TTT pg. 39)
Scripture requires us to maintain a separation from the world and its ways. (TTT pg. 40)

Fabulous article

Stephanie at Getting Back to Basics (see link to right) has a wonderful article about worship and women's conferences on her blog. I would encourage anyone who is having trouble finding the time to "worship" God to take a second and read her article. Our lives can be lived in worship to God without a special time set aside. We are to do everything as unto the Lord. Let's live our lives for Him!!!!!

What we have been up to....

Today is the last day of our 4th week of school. So far we have "schooled" for 9 days......now do you understand why we start so early???? I am hopeful that with the arrival of "school time" and the removal of so many friends to play with that we will be able to buckle down to at least 3 or 4 days a week. I said I was hopeful....but not necessarily optimistic.....But I figure that it is ok....we will get it all done eventually.

Lee ( my 9 year old reluctant reader) has discoved the Box Car Children series. He is enthralled. Dh was such a sweetie and bought him a set of 26 from ebay last week and he has been happily reading ever since. Greg is looking forward to reading them also. I figure maybe by Christmas he will be able to. He loves to read and reads everything he gets ahold of. He isn't even discouraged by the big words...he just skips them and keeps on going. He gets the just of things anyway.

I was working on my first pair of socks. I almost had one sock done before I made terminal mistake and had to take the whole thing apart. But I have learned from that mistake and am perservering....I plan on working on it some more today....maybe I can get it finished up.

The house is relatively clean and I am working on the never ending laundry.

Taekwondo testing is tomorrow. We signed Greg up for the leadership program so he will be in classes with his older brother now. Norman and I are going to start teaching some. Norman more than I because I run the front desk for Mr. G.

Well, I guess that is all about us for now. We are trying to stay busy and out of trouble. Have a blessed weekend!

Educational opportunities

I try to take advantage of outside educational activities when they are presented to us. I realize that I might not always know the best way to present various bits of information and sometimes my children just take to things better when I am not the one teaching them.

Some of the "outside" educational opportunities that we are going to take part in this year are:

1. Our local homeschool group is featuring David D'Armond in September. He will be teaching classes to K-6th on topics and experiments relating to the days of the creation week and the attributes of God. I am very excited about this.

2. We are hoping to attend at least one concert by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. They host education concerts at a reduced cost to students and educators. They are divided into age groups and have different concerts on different days. Taken from the brochure: "All the education concerts involve active student participation, interaction and engagement. The older the age group, the greater the depth of the exploration: What is going on in the orchestra? How do composers evoke moods? What are the concepts upon which the music is grounded? Through active listening, students lock into the excitement of sound."
For more information you can visit www.slso.org

I am always on the lookout for other fun things to do during the year that will help teach a character trait, historical event or concept. We love historical reenactments (who doesn't like a good battle :)) and I have an intense fascination with old houses. I think that it is very practical to seek out opportunities that will engage your children in hands on learning and exploring. I would encourage you to do so as well.

Happy exploring!!!!!

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

That is my preliminary diagnosis. I don't have the whole "scoop" on the situation, but from what I can understand, my ovaries are insulin resistant. There are a ton of complications that can occur with this (infertility, type 2 diabetes, and thyroid problems for example). PCOS can be treated and managed and women who have this disorder can have children, but will probably need medical help (infertility drugs or treatment).

I am very relieved to have this diagnosis and to finally know what is wrong with me. My doctor is very knowledgable and willing to work with me in treatment. There are some nutritional areas that I need to explore further. All of my test results are not in yet, so I don't have a course of treatment.

For more information you can go to www.soulcysters.net

We Made it Back

Yeah!!!! We got back home about 12:30 last night.....Norman was such a gentleman and drove all the way home so that I could rest.

We brought home 10 trophies!!!!! All "place" trophies, not competitor trophies....although we are usually very proud of those too :) Lee got a 2nd in forms, 2nd in weapons and 3rd in sparring. Greg got a 1st in forms and 1st in weapons. Shannon got a 3rd in forms (fantastic for a first tournament). Norman got a 1st in forms, 1st in weapons and 2nd in sparring. I got a 3rd in sparring....although I admit that I don't know how. I never did score a point. The girl I was sparring had incredible balance and I never could get past her leg :) We had a good time. It is always very stressful for me and I don't handle stress well, but I think that I did pretty good. The problem occurs when I have more than one person in different rings all at the same time. Yesterday I was trying to take pics of Norman, Lee and Shannon in 3 different rings all at the same time, plus get pics of some friends who were also in different rings......ARRRRRRR!!!!! But I managed :) I think that maybe I get a little less stressed every time...maybe. Remind me of that next time :)

So today we are resting. Taking Shannon home sometime this a.m. And resting.
Did I mention that we were resting today????

I got a new "learn to knit socks" book in the mail while we were gone, so I might try to find some yarn and see if I can figure it out. I just can't get the hang of 3 double pointed needles.

I don't know if I told you.....but I have to go REST now :) Have a good Lord's day!
Blessings,
Carie

Getting Ready to Leave

Yesterday was Leland's 9th birthday! He received many wonderful gifts and I received the gift of having him be a part of our family for yet another year. I am so blessed to have healthy children :)

We are gearing up to leave for Lexington KY for a taekwondo tournament Saturday. It is a 6 hour drive, at least, so we are leaving bright and early Friday morning. We will drive home late Saturday night because Norman has to work Sunday. Wish us luck and safety while traveling!
See you when we get home!

I just want to Praise The Lord!!!!!

This morning, at 11:00 a.m., my oldest son, Lee asked Jesus to come into his life and was baptized at the Falmouth Church of Christ. My dh and I were crying so much......luckily a dear friend had hankies to share :) I am so blessed that he is a member of the family of God.

Norman, was able to attend, after working a 16 hour shift last night....he got off work at 7 a.m. and drove home, arriving around 8. He took a 30 min. nap and then went with us to the services. We got home, ate lunch and he went back to work for his regular shift. I am so lucky that he is a wonderful provider! I think that I am going to stay up late tonight and talk to him on the cells while he drives home to help keep him awake. I worry about him when he is so tired.

I should be able to complete the baby blanket that I am making for a friend this evening. It is striped, white, light blue and dark blue. I am doing it in a stockinette stitch, pattern of my own design. Nothing fancy...but I think that it is pretty cute. I ordered a new book with sock patterns. I am really wanting to know how to knit socks! So hopefully I will be able to figure it out. In the meantime I will work on a cross stitch project that I have started.

This week will be pretty calm, relatively speaking :) Lee's b-day get-together will be Wed. a.m. We will grill out and have cake and ice cream. We aren't inviting a hoard of kids....we are going to do that in a couple of weeks on a weekend when Norman can be home. LOL This weekend we are going to go to Lexington KY for a taekwondo tournament. This will be the first tournament where I will be able to spar competitively. I am not very good so I am not expecting much :) But the kids love it and the trip will be fun. We are staying at a Hyatt Regency (bobbing eyebrows) with a reduced ATA discount. So we will see how the "other half" lives :)

www.whirlwindhandspunshappenings.com Is a great website that I have just stumbled upon. Amanda does amazing things with yarn. Scroll down and see the pastel yellow/pink one. They are beautiful.

Anyway, I don't know if I will make it back this week, but have a glorious time with our Lord!

Blessings,
Carie

Infertility

I hesitated to post this....
Really I did. I don't like to bare my soul to the whole world. I don't like being vulnerable. But God really has placed it on my heart to open up about this in case there is someone else out there in need of encouragement in this situation.

Many of you know that I have 2 children, boys. The youngest is 6. Dh and I have "actively" been trying to conceive for about 3 years now. The problem is that I don't ovulate.....

So finally, after many hours of agonizing about what to do, what not to do, and many prayers to God for guidance; I broached the subject with my dr. I was crying as I tried to explain the problem. He was such a blessing.....he never condemned me for my desire, but immediately referred me to a specialist. So I have an appt there on the 17th. I am scared and hopeful and trying not to set myself up for disappointment.

The problem that I seem to face the most is with others who don't see that I have a problem. I have 2 beautiful boys.....what is the problem??? In the world today, 2 is more than enough. Some people think that I am crazy, some people think that I am unsatisfied (and maybe I am)....but I think that God placed this burning desire in my heart to have another baby for a reason. I struggle every day with whether or not this is God's will for us. Maybe we just weren't meant to have more children.....maybe I should just let it be......maybe, maybe, maybe.

I share all this with the hope that if there are other women out there with children, who are unable to have more, that they will realize that they aren't alone. We all need to seek God's will in our lives, seek guidance from our dh's. I know that I can live the rest of my life not having more children, if I know that that is God's will for me. So please pray for me. Please pray that if this is God's will that his hand will obviously be in this and please pray that I will have a peace in my heart and contentment with what I have. Please pray for the dr.s that will be treating me. Please pray for my dh as he is my strength during this time. He is such a dear, never belittling my desires. He has made my desires his on this subject and I am so blessed by that. And please, if you are also suffering from infertility and would like prayer please leave a comment (they are moderated, I won't post it if you don't want me to).

1st Week Down

Today was another Fabulous Friday, the last of the year. We had such a great time at the pond of a friend. We had a singing time, bible story, bible lesson, lunch, horseback rides and swimming. The boys and I are very tired!

Last night was the first meeting of a local homeschool group that I attend. I just joined this group this year and I have already been so blessed by it. They are such a wonderful group of ladies! It was a tremendous blessing just to sit and soak up their wisdom. They all had such sweet, quiet, humble spirits.

Speaking of sweet, quiet spirits, I believe that I will need to work on mine. It isn't exactly sweet or quiet. I am also dealing with laziness in my life. I am such a lazy person. So today, I am working on that. I am trying to mow part of the yard for dh....if only I could get the lawn mower restarted :) I think that I flooded it.

Tomorrow is laundry day. I will probably try to mow some more also. We push mow a very large yard and so it takes a while :) About 3 hours total, but dh couldn't do it on his days off because of the extreme heat and then the rain so we are just doing it an hour at a time. Hopefully we will be able to finish it tomorrow.

Till next time.........
Carie

My Wonderful Life

Yes, it is a wonderful life........

School is going good. There don't seem to be any bumps in the road at all. The kids seem to like the math drills and are actually having fun doing math. Lee seems to enjoy Latin and is picking it up a lot quicker than I do. I will really need to keep working ahead so that I can stay ahead of him :) My schedule (posted below) has been reworked slightly. The boys didn't need so much time for the a.m. subjects, so they have a much larger break before lunch. I am grateful that they are able to have this time, as they can spend it with their dad before he leaves for work.

Lee is thinking about dedicating his life to the Lord. I am so proud/pleased/scared for him. I know that the road isn't always easy, but I am so grateful that God is allowing him, as well as the rest of us, this opportunity to reach his throne. What a wonderful blessing........Praise be to God!!!!

It is so hot here....the boys are outside playing in the sprinkler......I am sitting in the central air....very thankful for that....working on school and whatnot. I really do have a wonderful life :)

I hope that everyone is having a blessed day!!!