Happy Birthday, Nemo

WE LOVE YOU, ERIK!

Aunt Laura, Uncle Skippy, Goose, Bean, Kiddo, Paws, Bailey, Baby, Mouse, Hope, Rascal, Simba, Emma, and Kitty

Here are some pictures from Nemo's birthday party today.

And a GREAT TIME was had by all!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I was random blogging when I came across one that made me remember something Steven had said to me not to long ago. We had just gone to pick up one of my daughters from work and she had not come out yet. While Steven and I were waiting in the car, I decided to call my close friend Sonya. She is 44 and I am 42. We talked about her move and then how so many things have changed since when we were growing up and, where we were now at this stage in our lives. I looked over at Steven playing his Gameboy and said to her, "I wonder what Steven will be like when he is our age?" Well, without looking up or missing a beat, but with a HUGE smile on has face he said................... "I WILL BE OLD!"

Kids...........you gotta love 'em!

My Two Diamonds

You hear me talk about Kiddo a lot because he is the one that I am hmeschooling. However, Skippy and I have two other children and I would like to tell you a little bit about them:

Goose is our beautiful, loving, mature, motherly, I have my whole life all figured out, daughter. She graduated high school in '05. She will turn 21 in February. She works full-time for a local fitness center and is also a full-time student. She has been working non-stop since she was 16. Three months after she got her first job, she had saved up enough money for a down payment and purchased her first vehicle, a GEO Prism. How wonderful it was for her to have just made her final payment on a three-year loan. Goose has also put herself through community college and will be graduating with an Associate's Degree. She then will go on to a university to get her Bachelors, then her Masters. Her goal is to be a child psychologist and the future Mrs. Tang. (not his real name)

Bean is our beautiful, loving, fiery spirited, , I don't have my life figured out, rebellious daughter. She graduated in '06. She just turned 19 in July. Working as a tour guide for the caverns here for about a year was interesting for her and she liked meeting people from all over the world. However, the walking 8-10 miles a day was wearing a little thin. After that, Bean moved out for a few months to NC. I thought I would die. It broke my heart and I cried for about a week. Two months later she came back and is home now where she belongs, safe and sound......PRAISE THE LORD!!!! After the caverns, Bean worked at Wal-Mart for awhile. She left there, and is now contemplating whether or not she wants to be an Interior Designer, Chef, or......hmmmmm, I'm not sure. One thing I do know is that whatever she decides to do, she will do it well.

I often wonder about what kind of lives they will lead as adults, but I am content in the fact that I know I do not have to worry, for GOD IS IN CONTROL!!!!!!

Settling In

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......today was a good day. MUCH BETTER than Monday and Tuesday had been. Kiddo woke up before me, ate breakfast, then sat down at the computer and started doing his lessons on his own. WAY TO GO, KIDDO!!! He did not like the fact that he lost his game privileges both days because of his refusal to do his assignments. He said that I was the one who was being unfair by making him have to do school work.......BAD MOMMY!!!

As I have mentioned before, video games (POKEMON, Megaman, Donkey Kong) are his favorites. They are his fixation and he excels at them. (I excel at eating chocolate and drinking coffee) It's a good thing he is not fixated on taking things apart to see how they work! I know he would head straight for the coffe pot and then it would be every man for himself!

No one comes between me and my coffee!!!!!

HELP

Can anyone help me? I want to change my blog template to a beautiful one I found, but I can't get it to work. Is there something special I need to put into the template code? Any assistance you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Blessings~
Laura

Is it In The Water?

We all woke up this morning in great spirits, looking forward to a having a great teaching day. I wanted S to finish up the rest of his history lesson and then move onto doing some research and index cards for his Explorers report he has coming due. So after breakfast and a little bit of free time while I threw in a load of laundry, S sat down to start his school day.

Oh, my goodness.......The same thing is happening again. Today, it was around 2 1/2 hours on one question in history. The answer was easy to find IF he had read the passage. But, being Mr. Stubborn, he felt he didn't have to read it and that the answer should somehow miraculously appear on his paper! I asked him to read it aloud to me because when he does, he usually HEARS the answer, thumps himself on the forehead and says, "That's it!" Well today he was NOT going to read it to me.
Trying to get him to read to me was like pulling teeth! Before lunch, I sent my sister a text saying "I QUIT!", and asked her to pray for me that God would give me the strength to continue and NOT strangle my son!!!! Funny......she text me back and said, "Yes, and would you do the same for me!!! IS IT IN THE WATER?

Back To School

After being away in Florida with DH's family, it was back to school on Monday. I have not had a day like this for a looooooooooooooooong time. S had to write a report on his M&M experiment he did while we were away and he did NOT want to do it. Not just that assignment, but he did not want to do ANY work. He wanted me to tell him what to write and I refused. I reminded him that he is 13 and in the 8th grade and there were some things he had to do on his own. He said he couldn't remember anything about what he did. Now ask him a question about POKEMON, and he can tell you everything there is to know about them, and every move he has made on his Gameboy game for the past 3 weeks......but he couldn't remember what he did with a bag of M&M's? Kiddo is very smart and has a memory like an elephant. He NEVER forgets. lol



Well, after 4 1/2 hours, a couple of snacks, numerous bathroom breaks and a few crying spells, (no that was not me.......I think I had around 6 cups of coffee and did a LOT of praying though during this time) I took his face in my hands and calmly said to him......."Honey, you have exactly 30 minutes to type up your experiment or you will lose your video games privileges for a week. The timer starts now!" Don't you know that little rascal had that report written in 15 minutes!!!!!! URGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Kids...........................YOU GOTTA LOVE 'EM! I know I do!!!!!!!!