It's been a while

And I loathe bloggers that post and say they will post pictures later, but, I'm saying that again. I do have pictures to post, but something happened where I can't download from my camera anymore and it seems like such a hassle anymore. I have pictures of crochet stuff and pictures of the shoes I handmade.

It's been somewhat of a busy summer again. My mom moved at the end of July and I spend a couple of weeks getting her unpacked quickly so she would feel at home. She moved to a senior apartment and absolutely loves her new place. It has a great feel to it, and it flows well, and is bright and airy! She is extremely happy there and that makes me very happy.  Mom also turned 86 on July 1 and I have a birthday picture of her I will post. (hehehe)

We went up to Grand Marais this summer. The boys went fishing and I took a shoemaking class and made my very own custom fit/made shoes! It was really an incredible experience and I hope to go again next year.  The boys had fun fishing, and we would all like to go back to visit again. It is a very peaceful town. I love that we can walk anywhere in town too.

I registered for school. I will be taking Spanish and Philosophy. Both classes fill requirements for me to obtain a degree, and I signed up somewhat late, so this is what fits with my schedule.

My boy starts a new school in a couple weeks. I think he is excited and a little nervous and that is understandable.  We could use prayers for all of that.

The daughter is here visiting and it's been nice. She returns home on Wednesday. She is spending some time with Grandma and helping her finish unpacking. They work well together.

We are still trying to find a church home in our community. We like the church attached to the school, it's an Assembly of God affiliation and we are comfortable with that. Could use prayers for finding a church home as well.

For the second year I attended The Global Leadership Summit .http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/  It was incredible and each year I attend, I learn so much, and I learn so much about myself as well. This year it is all about communication. Not just communication, but effective, leadership communication. And I learned about forgiveness. That is a huge one for me right now because I am carrying a lot of unforgiveness and it is a burden. But I am working on that and I know the release will come.

Finally got my yarn under control. We cleaned the extra bedroom/storage  in anticipation of the girl coming home and it took us 6 hours to get the room under control. We did it. I have a very clear picture of the yarn I have and I know exactly what I have to work with. In this process, we also gave SIX large garbage bags of clothing and jackets to our local family services. In addition, there were also a grocery sack of books and household goods, rugs, even a working vacuum cleaner. It is refreshing to donate items we are no longer using.

Looking forward to fall, and what the new school year has in store for us.

School................

I registered for two classes that start in August. I am taking Philosophy and Spanish 1.  It should be a fairly easy semester, and I am slowly getting classes done.

My boy is all registered for his new school. In August we will have an orientation for parents and children, which is a switch from the other school. It will be nice for my boy to meet his teacher again and bring all his supplies into school before the first day of school.  We also need to get new uniforms, this school is a little more picky about the uniforms and have very specific uniforms available at one store. We will go in August for that.

I am somewhat hesitant enrolling him in another Christian school.  I've discussed the Christian school issue with two people I know that have actually been school teachers at private Christian schools. Both indicated that they were somewhat surprised how every one is treated. I am not surprised anymore because I saw it, and lived it first hand this past school year. I have to admit the behavior was somewhat shocking to me this year. We'll see how it goes. It saddens me to think that "christians" treat each other this way.  I understand why people back away from a church.

Not a terribly busy summer for us. We will be going to a couple of concerts in the fall, and we are going "up north" for a few days. We are all excited about that.

Changes.........

There have been some changes around here lately. 

We withdrew our boy from his private school and enrolled him in another private school. Which means we are no longer attending the church we've been at for five years (but attended on and off for about 17 yrs).

It got to the point where we no longer had the confidence in the leadership of the school, or the church to be able to continue at either one. There were some trust issues as well with the leadership of the school and his teacher this year. Several parents and employees heard a teacher yelling at the children and reported it to the principal, who did nothing. In five years I had never heard a teacher yell at the children. There were inconsistencies in discipline and that also was brought to the principals attention and nothing was done.

I am trying to move past this, but it is difficult for me. I made some great friends at the school and I am concerned about the children. I know all schools go through a transition, and I hope that this school comes out better at the end of that transition, but I fear there is a lot of heartache to go before that is accomplished. And we can no longer be a part of it all. It's heartbreaking.  I know of about 10 children that are leaving this year. And a substitute parent that is not even coming back to sub!! I know there is a spiritual fight going on there, and I will continue to pray for the school and the people that work there and attend.

My daughter is moving again, this time to California. I hope she does well out there, and accomplishes what she has set out to do. It's been wonderful having her home these past few years. We are currently taking a year long, once a month knitting class, and I'll miss her for these last 7 lessons! She likes knitting a lot more than I do. I prefer crochet. I;ll miss having her close again. And my boy will miss her too!! Dad will miss her as well.

School for me was interesting this past semester. I only took one class-Geography and it was not what I expected at all. It was weird and interesting at the same time.

My mom is moving into a senior high rise in August. I think she will be much happier there. That's all I want for her, to be happy.

We have a few things planned for the summer. Not much but it should be fun. The boys are going to Scout camp for a weekend, and they will go up north to my brother in laws to go fishing for a weekend. We are also going up to Grand Marais for a few days. I will be making a pair of leather shoes, and my boys will be going fishing, canoing and exploring.

My boy took a tour and shadowed the class he will attend school with next year and was excited! EXCITED!! I haven't seen him excited about school for a very long time. We are excited for this new chapter in his and our lives.

I took my yearly visit out to my cousins house. It was refreshing and relaxing. We took a walk downtown and there was a tea shop there. I brought some lovely tea home and I've made some delicious sun tea with it.  We also visited a salt shop. I never knew there were so many different salts in the world!! We also visited a delicious candy shop and a yummy bakery! I had a very good time and as usual, I look forward to visiting them again!

School update and stuff

I am taking one class this semester, Linguistics. It's pretty interesting. And, I am taking it online. I am not sure if I like the online stuff. On the one hand, it's convenient for me to be able to do the classroom stuff at my leisure. And I don't have to drive anywhere, which is very nice. On the other hand, it's a lot of time on the computer and I'm not sure I like that. Plus, I don't really get to know my classmates or teacher. It's very non personal taking an online class.  But, I needed to try it for a variety of reasons. One being that my husband is working some long hours this fall. So, it's good I don't have to drive to school.

My boy and daughter are doing well. A few issues with the boy in school, but I am confident they will be worked out. Mostly some social issues. He does very well academically, for which I am thankful.

The daughter is doing well too. Likes her job etc. We went shopping the other day and she served as my personal shopper, which is great for me because she is honest about what clothing works well for me and what doesn't.  I had a list of what I needed/wanted and we got it all done within about 2 and a half hours, including lunch.

Mom is doing well too. Getting older and more fragile. I still talk to her every day and clean her house twice a month. She stays busy with her card clubs and friends. She goes to a movie and lunch once a month with a group of friends.

My niece recently had a baby girl! The first next generation. And the niece is the first of that generation! I saw the baby the other day. It was a treat to hold a newborn baby. And the baby is just beautiful.

That's about all for now. Not much new going on. Continuing with school and just living.  I'm still crocheting and have a bunch of stuff to post about. I will try to get to that soon.

School update

I was busy again with school this semester. I took Research Writing and History II.  They were fun classes, but lots of work. Research writing was interesting and I learned a lot about writing and research writing. I received an A- in that class.
History II was interesting and boring at the same time. I learned a lot in this class too. I did my oral report and paper on Child Labor laws. I also received a 97!! on my final. I was shocked that I got a 97.  My grade for History is an A.

Now that I am done with school til August, I have a lot more free time. It's weird having so much free time now.  I have a lot to do around the house to keep me busy though, and I still continue to crochet.

My boy just has a few more weeks left of school, then he will be off for the summer as well. 

School this semester....

If you think of it, you could pray for me for this semesters class.

I am taking a basic college math course and it is giving me fits. Even with my husband helping me.

I feel very defeated and I don't want to feel this way at all.

My brain needs to understand this stuff because I need this class. I need to take this class and pass it.

I'm also taking a writing class which I foresee being a cake walk compared to the math class.

Thank you!!

Mid-Term exam

I got a "B" on my mid term exam.  

My paper..........

I received an "A" on my report. I'm so relieved.

Had the mid-term exam this past Wednesday and I feel good about that too! I was prepared and knew all the information.

School.......

Second week of school and so far it's going well.

Little guy starts next week, then we will really be busy.  He will have Boy Scouts one night and every Wednesday he has Awana at church.

A decision...

Hubby and I were talking last night about many things.

I decided that it's time for me to go back to school and get my degree.

Degree in what you might ask?? Well that's a good question and I haven't decided yet, but I am leaning toward two subjects.

I am just at the beginning of this journey so I have a lot of looking into before I begin.

Before I got pregnant with the little guy, I had thought about going back to school. Obviously the timing was not right.

I am excited, nervous and scared all at the same time. But it helps to have a very supportive spouse, and a spouse that is excellent at math so that I can have my very own tutor!!

I'll keep the blog updated on my decisions.

Spelling Bee

This past Friday my little guys school had it's Spelling Bee with all the other area private Christian schools.

We had two first place winners from our school. A first grader and a third grader. That's pretty good since our school is pretty small.

My little guy was an alternate for his grade. So, at just our school spelling bee, he was second in his grade!! I'm so proud of him.

I was also a judge at the spelling bee and it was very interesting to learn what each of the five judges actually do in their positions. The only position I would not want to do is the Master Spelling judge. This is the judge that gives the word to the spellers. In the group that I was in, we had 8 spellers from first grade. It was so fun to watch the little ones spell.

I volunteered to be a judge next year too!!

the germatorium.......

Otherwise known as school.

The little guy and I have been sick. I am not sure if it's something the husband brought home since he got it first or if the little guy brought it home from school.

Judging from the absentee list at school today, I think that the germatorium might be the culprit.

We have all had slightly different illnesses.

Husband had a snotty cold.

The little guy has a cold and stuffiness, sore throat and icky tummy.

And I have some type of flu--typical symptoms.

Now, here's the interesting part I learned today about different schools.

The little guy goes to a private school and there are about 11 kids in his class. Some of the other classes are smaller. There is one class of each grade.

We go to the public school for speech twice a week.

The whole school is kindergarten, and has been for about 9 years. I had no idea and am somewhat curious about it.

They have about 14 classes of kindergarteners. About 21-26 kids per class. It is a very busy and somewhat noisy school.

Apparently this works out very well and the teachers all like it. I thought it was interesting.

Can you imagine all the germs and illnesses running through the schools?? No wonder there is such a high number of kids out at any given time.

The little guy went to preschool for two years and caught the occasional cold. I wonder how different this year will be??

First day of school!!!

My little guy had his first day of kindergarten today.

He did well, like he has been going to school forever.

He got dressed in his uniform clothes, put on his brand new back pack, and went out to the car all by himself.

When we got to school, he put all his stuff in his locker and found his name and place at the table in his room.

I'm glad he went to pre school for two years because I think it helped prepare him for today.

My little guy wasn't nervous or anything!~! I'm so proud of him!! I know it will be an adjustment for him for a few days. And I know it will be a huge adjustment for me having him gone all day everyday. It's kind of a sad for me too.....

Now I am off to pick him up from his first day.

Open house

Tonight was the open house for the little guys pre school.

It was nothing new for us but a different teacher, yet one he has had before.

The little guy was happy to see his best friend in his class again.

School starts next Monday for him and he is excited. And so am I!!!!