So proud of you Wednesday

So proud of Veda today. Last evening she came into the living room while I was on the couch....YES on the couch I was! I really wasn't feeling well and was fighting the voices in my head that said, "Get up! You need to be doing SOMETHING!" and I said, "Nope. It is OK to rest. I am going to rest." Anyway, Veda walked in and asked what side the soap went in the washer (there are about three options to dump the soap). I thought she must be doing laundry but didn't pay anymore attention to it until this morning. Veda folded the dry clothes, put the wet ones in the dryer and did a load of jeans! All by herself! How cool is that. You've got to feel good when your 7 year old volunteers to do the laundry and it's done right! Way to go Veda Rene!!

So proud of you two!!!

My littlest two made it through a whole dentist app't with no tears! I am so proud of them! First, Major Cutie has been to the dentist. This is her third visit and she does well except when they try to get x-rays of her teeth. Her jaw is just so small she gags on those bite wings. The first time they tried so much she started crying and I said again, that I think it's not going to work. Well today I told her we weren't doing it and that we would wait until our summer visit. Well they asked her if they could try and she bravely said yes, and it worked beautifully! They even printed off two pictures for MC to take home! She is very proud of herself and so am I! And my Boo, well this is his first visit after one year of preparing him and he was a bit squeamish but he did great! It was funny though because as he watched his sister get her teeth done he would turn away and say, "That is so gross!" He didn't like watching that!! LOL!

Yep, this pretty much sums up how Boo felt and acted at the dentist's office! LOL!

Once again...

...I am so proud of Graham! I don't have favorites among my kiddos,really! but wanted to share another "So proud of you" moment. Last Saturday we celebrated Christmas on my mom's side of the family. Every year we raise money for a family. We usually bring items to auction off but this year decided to bake goodies instead. We had prepared smaller plates for the children to "buy" from and big plates for us adults. I had reminded my kids to bring a quarter or two so that they could buy a plate of goodies and they did. Later that evening my sister gave me the money and said it was for a family that use to come to our church. Graham knew this family and asked, "Are you talking about Wes' family?" to which I causally replied yes and continued with my conversation with my cousin. Moments later Graham pulled out his wallet and reached inside so that he could offer more. Our church has always been big into relationship and what it means to be in relationship with not only Christ but with one another. Graham understood that message somewhere along the way and because of his relationship with this family wanted to, without hesitation, give all that he could. How cool is that? I am so very proud of him.

So proud of you.

I think I am going to start a blog series called, "So proud of you." I have felt like I have been missing the blessing of having children. So in an effort to be more aware of them I will notice something they do and blog about it.

Tonight my oldest son didn't want cereal for dinner. Imagine! LOL! Yes, we were having cereal cause we are out of groceries (I am heading out to Walmart late tonight). He didn't complain but found bread, tomato paste, a few pepperoni and some Parmesan cheese and made sandwiches, on his own for himself and his oldest sister in the electric sandwich maker. Later when I asked all four kids to come empty the dishwasher, Graham stayed after and rinsed and put all the dirty dishes from the sink into the dishwasher, without me ever asking. I am so proud of him!

What I am Thankful for...

Today I am home with some sick kids so there will be no family gatherings for us this year. This is of course NOT what I am thankful for. I am thankful though for the homeschooling freedoms I have in the Great Lakes State of Michigan. I know many are having to move away from this great state, that jobs are almost nonexistent, but I am rooting for Michigan! I am holding out hope that we will come back...I am hopeful that my husband will still have a job in 2009. For today though I am very thankful for my right to home school our children in anyway that I can to meet their individual needs. I am thankful that testing isn't mandated or turning in my curriculum or assignments. Not that I am opposed to doing these things, not that I don't do these things or do the things that will meet these requirements. I am just glad that today, in Michigan, I have many homeschooling freedoms. I am also thankful that the homeschooling voices that are heard on our state Capitol's door steps are one of the loudest and strongest in Michigan. Thank you God for these freedoms. I don't want to take for granted what they mean to me, my family and our children.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New File Folder Games Website!

Here is a great website for free File Folder Fun and Games! They are also having give-aways too! So click on over and find out more about them!

I've been trying to add their link and can't get it to work! So just click on their webaddress below. I'll keep trying to add the link.
www.folderfun.ning.com

Halloween Story Starters

I found great story starters for Halloween and thought I'd share a few. I did not do any with my oldest as he is deer hunting with Grandpa but I did with my neice who spent the last few nights here and my oldest daughter. They seemed to have fun and I would ask a question to get them thinking about their next sentence. I don't have them ready to share but here are some of the story starters....
*It was a dark and stormy night when...
*My friends and I were trick-or-treating and knocked on the door...
*Meow! The black cat was scared...
*The silliest Halloween ever started when...
*A yellow glow was coming from the jack-o-lantern, only...
*I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden...
*You won't believe this story, but it is true...
*The whirling winds of that October evening sent chills down my spine...