Commander and I enjoy Homeschooling boys (Herogian, Hawk and Gluten), raising chickens, ducks, and dogs ( Penny and Casey), eating gluten free, surviving breast cancer, coach track and field, and loving God for every minute that He gives us to cherish our family.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

T shirts -trying to get rid of them

I bought 72 shirts for a Track/XC fund raising idea. I'm "official team fund raiser" - I take the title because I croke at being a recruiter. Anyhew, the idea was for "Create your own USM Spirit Shirt". I went to the trouble of cutting out 72 block letters to spell U-S-M  S-P-I-R-E-S for each shirt. Cut out large numbers for team sports, skull candy designs, bought stars, flowers and a bunch of foam letters to write names on the shirts and anything else the buyer could think of, along with rolls of contact paper to create their own design.

After two days of sitting in the hot afternoon sun with my boys at campus, we realized this idea wasn't going to work. The kids came by, said it was a great idea and then walked off. One who wanted to make a shirt, then questioned why I asked for money when we finished it. Oh bother.

Thank goodness the ladies from church are going to the Women of Faith Convention in KC. They helped me out by letting me make shirts for them.

Now I'm making a few more to get rid of the last 2 dozen shirts. Here they are.

We are Ambassadors for CHRIST.    II Cor. 5:20
 To God be the Glory   Great Things He Hath Done
 For God so Loves Me   - I Run   (with footprints)

THe shirts are $8.00  if interested. Give me a shout. Or let me know if you have a design you would like on a shirt. I'll see what I can do.
Stickers are sprayed over with bleach to bring out the design.
Have a great weekend.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Changes

Thanks for your prayers on our school situation. I feel like they have been answered. Today, we met with the school counselor at the local public school. Yeah! Can you believe it? After 10 years of homeschooling, we will be sending the two oldest to LHS.  Hawk wants to go back into 9th so that he'll be with his original class, and  next year as a sophmore he will have a chance to try football. He is the one that made the thoughts and prayers start looking like answers to our problems. He has always said (like me) that he wouldn't go to public school. In the last year, he has developed a desire to play football. I was shocked, but glad to see his eyes light up over somethings besides XBOX.
Herogian hasn't been as thrilled with the idea, but after the visit to the school today, I think he is more on board. He realized he will be able to do more in science lab than I can give him, and woodshop - made his eyes light up. The higher sciences and math will be easier for me with the schools help.
So, come January it will be Gluten and I at home with our four-year-old charge NC. I think Gluten will enjoy the time - it should take us less time to get his work done, he will be able help kidsit more (making $$). He is also looking forward to high school at LHS so he can try out for the soccer team.
For someone who knows not to say NEVER. I've definitely have had enough lessons on it.... plus here's another.

You don't know your missing something until it is gone. I'm missing the stress and worry that was building up over the boys educational path when I thought I was in charge of it. Letting God brings relief in so many ways. I'm looking forward to the future now. Sometimes it is hard to let go when you see the release as being failure, turning it over and looking at it differently (God's way) makes a big difference.

Here's a pic from today's activities around the house. Mr. Matt is giving lessons on plumbing to NC under our kitchen sink.


Monday, October 1, 2012

It's been so long since I was here

Physically and mentally.  I would think about posting and then go to bed.

We have been working around the house trying to get ready for winter. Two weekends ago, I decided to tackle the chicken coop door. A friend had given us a metal house door that would do a much better job than the 'cut out of siding door' that was the original on the lean-to. I yanked, hammered, cut and kicked, stomped and did whatever it took to get the wall out where the door needs to go. The concrete was crumbling on both ends and I wasn't sure just how I was going to get the door in, hold it in place and use the screwdriver at the same time. My neighbor came to my rescue. I asked her for a placement suggestion, since she had built her own coop. She then asked if I'd like some help. We had a fun time building the wall around where the larger door needed to go to fit under the slanted roof. we did a bit of framing and then stopped there.
We have to have the patio room jacked up on one corner due to settling with the dry summer. When the crew comes out, Mr. Wendtz said he would gable the chicken coop roof over the door for me. Yahoo. He is also going to fix a permanent doggie door down stairs so we can use the patio door again. THENNNNN hope I still have the picture for this. We are getting a bid on a reading nook for under the stairway. Here we go. He has the whole wal down stairs to use. The return air vent will just be moved to the top of the wall allowing the nook to be as long as we want it - 7 feet at least - I have tall relatives that I'd like to come visit. Each person in the family has already claimed this area as theirs, and we haven't even decided if it is in budget. Praying. Praying. Praying. I could so cuddle up in this area with my computer and get carried away writing.
Other stuff going on is planting 21 junipers, 4 fire bushes on the east hill out front, filling it in with mulch and outlining it with rocks. On the west side I put in a pallet pathway, a few different plants and flowers, mulched it this weekend and lined the edge with rocks. 5 truck loads of mulch were moved this weekend. Can you say 'my body is sore!'

The four year old that stays with us in the morning has become my digging partner for dandelions and chickweed. I jab the digging stick in, he powers it down and pops the weed loose. We do about 30 minutes outside each morning playing and digging as we wait for Dad to show up. He's been a great help in helping me find the time to do the weed pulling.

Would ask for your prayers on a school matter. Will let you in on it later, but afraid to jinks it if I mention it too much too soon. You know what I mean?