Kristen Blog

What A Christmas!   In case you haven't noticed, I've had a rough stretch in the last month or so. For starters, at least one person in The Fam has been sick since mid-November. From croup to bronchitis to sinusitis...our immunities have been severely attacked this winter! This, along with other irritating and upsetting circumstances (a horrible computer virus, a HEATED mis-understanding with my dear friend's husband, etc.) has left me DESPERATELY on the edge of "The Cliffs of Insanity." (It's inconceivable, I know.) Well, one week before Christmas, the s*!& REALLY hit the fan...(Is that appropriate?...I think, in this case friends, it really is. I'm honest... not perfect, just honest.) Anyway, one week before Christmas, I, THE Mary Poppins of Law-Abiding and Tightwad Extraordinaire, received a $175 ticket (SORRY, AFRICA!!!!) for running a red light. I looked that cop (the same man who had come to my d...

Computer Miracle! What a day! What a day! We were running late this morning. Decided to shovel out my parent's drive, since my dad had to stay at a hotel near his work last night. We didn't get much homeschool done early on...ended up stressing to try to fit it in. I was rushing to try to get in a last minute credit with Nature Girl, when The Hub called me up (with intensity). Little Man had finally spilled water on the laptop. We thought all was lost, but I decided to keep the faith. Really...it's minor in the scheme of life. I prayed out loud. I confessed that God would take care of it one way or another, and we would adapt and focus on Him. Of course, I was bombarded with doubts, "What about our bills? What about my website? I can't really afford a new computer..." But I refused to submit to them. I refused to worry. "Ah well, I'm disappointed. Oh, yes, that WILL be a pain, but God will take care of us. I...

Homeschool Break No homeschool today. Nature Girl went to a dear friend's house. This little girl was homeschooled by her grandmother (a 20-plus year veteran teacher) last year. She had recently been diagnosed with Krohn's disease, and they pulled her out of public school for the year. I met them at the public library, and the grandmother later arranged a play date. After spending some time together, she eventually asked to homeschool the girls together once a week. It was hard for me to release that responsibility, but Little Man was a newborn. I could use all the help I could get. It was such a great experience for all of us, and the girls are still very close. This year, Nature Girl's friend is back in public school, so they don't get to see each other as often. They both treasure the times they do get to spend together. NG's absence left behind quite a trio: The Artist, Little Man and I. After we dropped her off, we shopped at a local antique m...

There are those days, as a homeschool mom, when I think to myself, "Aha! This is why people send their kids to school." We were under a bit of a mutiny around here. I was completely overwhelmed. The girls were complaining about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G I asked them to do. They were sluggish, and (may I say it?) quite LAZY. Dillon was interrupting every 5 minutes (no, I am NOT exagerrating) beg/whining me to fix his Mario problems on the Wii, and I was single-handedly trying to manage all of this on top of ridiculously huge projects (like canning and baking and harvesting foods)! Thank God, Matt had some time off to step in and establish order. I asked him to take over and lead us for a few days. You know, it can be hard to submit to authority and rely on someone else, but this time it felt so freeing! He has such a unique perspective from mine. He doesn't put up with bologna from the kids, and he doesn't try to save the planet one le...

Getting Structured Our little homeschool is off to a rough start this year...well, at least from a worldly stand-point. We have almost 100 hours. I think that's great, but we are having trouble getting to it every day. Our credits have been hit or miss throughout the day (week AND weekend). Add in all kinds of distractions and Matt's chaotic work schedule, and I think, "It's a good thing we homeschool!" It's a good thing, also, that I'm flighty and don't tend to like being boxed in. :) HOWEVER...and that's a BIG however...the kids are getting unruly. We NEED discipline. I think I've allowed them to wander a bit too much without enough boundary. I'm going to try to be a little more structured this week. (I believe that is a spirit-led conclusion!) We had a fun field trip at a pioneer musuem with our homeschool group last week! We went to a museum town designed around the 1850's. They had actual old ...