I just gave my 2 weeks notice......

YAHOOO!!! Praise God!!!! I am jumping and dancing with Joy - you just can't see me!!! it has been a really rough month of trying to do it all and we just decided that me working is not worth the extra stress it is adding to our lives!! I have worked almost every night for the past 3 weeks and it is sooo not worth the gas money, the kids crying, I haven't seen my hubby in weeks, the stress it adds to mommys day, the way mommy yells because she is stressed and tired all the time! This is not the life we want for our family and that comes first!!! There is such a peace in my spirit right now and the joy it brought to the boys faces was even more worth it!
We have been a 1 car family for over a month now and with me working it was causing way extra stress and we will be a 1 car family as long as needed(it all depends on how much it will cost to fix danny's car)! We have been following Dave Ramsey's plan for getting out of debt and with the last 2 paychecks I make we will have Baby step 1 - which is our emergency fund - and so that was the cincher in me being OUTTA THERE!!!

Saturday.....AAAHHHH....Saturday

On Thursday night I was able to get someone to cover my shift at work on Saturday and I couldn't wait for saturday to get here!!! The weather was supposed to be hot, my hubby was off and with me not having to work we could all hang out at home all day and putz around!!! For me that meant sleeping in, projects and hanging out with hubby!!!!
I almost finished painting the picnic table for the deck, almost finished spray painting a new bookshelf i got at a yard sale - these two projects will have to be completed sometime this week in my spare time. We got a queen size bed - Praise God because our old bed(King) was so horribly misshapen and my back was on fire from sleeping in it - from the same yard sale and my hubby moved some things around for me in our room to make it look a little nicer!!! Sleep was so good last night and we made it loud and clear that the new bed doesn't accomodate small children so we flew solo all night long last night!!! We will see how long that lasts but for now I will enjoy the quiet of my new, Hard bed with just me, my hubby and Shiloh!!!
Hubby and I also got to go on a date sat. night!!! We went to a free concert at JMU performed by their girls christian accapella group - they were fantastic!!!! Now - the concert was free but the groceries, the garden supplies for my dear hubby and the other non essentials that were picked up at a few stops we made along the way - were not!!! It was so nice to get to hang out with just my main squeeze for a couple hours!!! I highly recommend it!!

Life has been CRAZY around here.....

and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any at all!!! I have barely seen my hubby and my kids in the past 10 days between his work, my work, track meets, and all the other Life that has happened in between! We have helped my in laws move out of their house in MD, spent a few more hours in the ER getting Ben's stitches out, driven across town and back again to look for lost backpacks and so much more that I can't even remember!!!

We are back to a one car family again - after a $400 repair bill it died again after about 3 days and who knows if we will be able to fix it again and when!

Alex and I spent all day Saturday in Roanoke at SeaCadets. It is a really neat program run by the Navy for young people ages 11-17 who are interested in the military. This particular program is run by the Navy and Roanoke is the closest one to us so we visited on Saturday and Alex loved it!!! He will go to training once a month and this summer he will attend a Boot Camp that is an intro into military life! Next summer he will be able to go to Boot Camp that specializes in a more specific area of interest that he has - like Seal training or marksmanship!! This is going to be an interesting journey for Alex and for us to see if the Military is really a path he wants to pursue!!! I can't wait to get pics of him in his uniform to show you guys!!!!

Talk about BLISS.......too cute not to show off!!!

Happy Easter

Yesterday our church had a 10,000 egg hunt! It was a chilly day but that didn't stop the boys from eating sno cones, bouncing/sliding in the bounce house and hunting down alot of eggs Full of candy!!! Our church Rocks!!! Uah & Tat (danny's parents) were here to join in the fun with us.

Some pics for you all to enjoy......

Hospitals and Owies......

We have spent way too much time and money dealing with both things these days! I am guessing that instead of having all the extra girly type things to buy and spend extra money on we are going to be blessed with dr. bills and hospital visits!!!

Stephen had some kind of abcess on his finger that had to be drained(more than once) and that cost us close to $300 and tons of tears!!

A month later he broke or fractured his sternum - crazy I tell you! We are currently dealing with the orthopedics on this one but at least the swelling and pain has gone away! Poor guy! The bills haven't started arriving for this injury yet - can't wait!!

Ben fell on Sunday and cracked open an old scar under his chin and we spent a couple hours in the ER getting 4 stitches! This was very exciting thanks to Ben's extremely out of control habit of crying hysterically!!! Praise God for fabulous friends so I didnt have to drag the other 2 little ones with us!!! All is well now and we will get the stitche sout in 7 days! I am on pins and needles waiting for the bill for this visit!!! Because you know I am going to get a bill from the dr.,the nurse, the hospital, the anesthesioligist, the receptionist, the security guard and his entire team that were on duty that whole night, the linen company for the sheet thathe got blood on......okay okay I know I am exaggerating just a little but it is a bit ridiculous at the bills that come after every hospital ER visit!!!

just in case you wanted a close-up view of the stitches(ben did)!!

A New Blog....

I just created a blog that focuses on our Homeschool journey.....come on over, check it out and become a follower - followers are Fun!!
http://boysschoolandfun.blogspot.com/

I LOVE DIRTY JOBS!!!!

Homeschooling...a way of life.....

In no way am I judging anyone or criticizing in regards to the choices you have or have not made - I am simply stating my recent observations and how they have made me feel. My ramblings from my head!!!
I have had a couple of conversations this past month about the mindset of homeschoolers and this is what I have realized - homeschooling is THE reason we have become a better mother, father, brother, family, learner, teacher and lover of all things that happen in the world around us! I have learned to stop and smell the flowers, to look at the stars, to not be in a rush(okay we still are some of the time) when we leave the house and to truly Love, Appreciate and Enjoy the Blessings God has given me in my children! I used to laways rush thru whatever they wanted so I could get back to what i wanted and I have had the most Joy brought to my life by the Lord convicting me to HS and to stop being consumed by me, me, me and to change my idea of what I want from the time I have been given with these sweet boys of mine! Don't get me wrong - I am still the Queen of projects, rearranging furniture and redecorating from a recent thrift store adventure but I am not consumed by it!!!
I recently read an article where a lady was talking about how at the end of the school year they had decided to start homeschooling the following year. That summer they went on a car trip and instead of sitting in the front reading her book, fussing(yelling) at the kids, breaking up fights and whatnot (as she ahd done in years past) - she was in the back with them - reading, laughing and enjoying the time she had with her family. Her mindset had changed in just the decision to HS - they hadn't started HSing yet and that I think is one of the biggest differences between us HSers and the other parents - our mindset is different.
I think we look at our kids different, we learn from them as well as them learning from us, we truly have Fun together, the boys are friends - not just brothers, we enjoy each others company, our kids are definately more aware of why we make the decisions we make and how they affect All of us, they live alot of their school - not just read about it and I could go on and on.....
All of the above reasons are why I am learning to not feel so terribly quilty about how far behind we are in school due to mommy having to go back to work! The boys have learned way more than I thought they had in areas I didnt even realize I was teaching and our family has grown in ways we never would have if the boys were at school all day long! As soon as I can quit - I will and that will be time enough to get all caught up!!
Now - I do have 1 in school all day but I believe he has benefitted from all of this as much as the little ones have because he sees the changes around him and he responds to what all of us are doing - as we are all more on the same page than he might be!! Because of that mindset we have adopted it affects everything around us and how we deal with life!
Thanks for letting me ramble!!!

Twilight...

Oh my goodness....we watched this movie tonight and I am totally hooked!! I have just been scouring the internet to find the books at the library or from paperback swap and neither of them have them! I want to read them - I want to know what happens next - it is killing me!!!
I may have to give up eating this week and buy them!!!
I am off to watch the movie again.........