What's going on here?

In case some of you are wondering why the absence on my blog, I thought I'd give you a little update on my life, and why I haven't written since the end of July.  Yikes, that's a long time!

My hubby and I went away for 4 days to celebrate our 20th Anniversary in August.  20 years!  I can't believe it!  Where does the time go?  We spent the first two nights in Ludington at the Candlelite Inn B&B in the Romantic Retreat Suite.  It was great!!!  I'd highly recommend it!  The hostess was wonderful, and the room was great.  It was like having our own little apartment, with a little room off the back of the house with our own entrance.  The food was great, coffee was always available and she made dessert at night.  We had ordered some chocolate covered strawberries and our room had a nice jacuzzi tub, oh and the most comfortable mattress ever!  Very nice! Very romantic! 
Knowing it was our anniversary, the hostess had a little table for two set for us each morning for breakfast. 
I could have stayed forever!   

Our last two nights were spent in Empire, Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes.  The little kitchenette we stayed in paled in comparison to the romantic Bed & Breakfast, but it was sufficient.  We had a great time sight seeing, the scenic route at Sleeping Bear Dunes, and the surrounding areas and towns.  Isn't the beauty of nature such a great reminder of God's majesty?

 

 

I love this picture of my hubby!

 

 

The week after our little retreat, I had an interview at the thrift shop where my daughter works.  They needed help and hadn't found anyone yet, and I really liked how nice their store is, as well as the fact that it's ministry oriented, and closed on Sundays. 

I got the job, and jumped right into two full weeks of training that started the next week. I'm not quite sure I was prepared for that, as it cut my summer short, and I still had a few things to figure out. 

One of those things was that I ended up letting go of my crossing guard job because I've been working at the store more than I had thought I would. 

Our transmission went out in the car that Rusty drives back and forth to work, so we were down to one vehicle, which made things a little tough with 3 of us now working. 

I also started out the year homeschooling "by the seat of my pants" instead of being quite as organized as I'd have liked. 

 

September came, school started, and we began waiting for my daughter's baby to arrive.  My hubby found a new to us car, and I thought things would slow down a little, and get back to "normal".  Haha, what's normal?  I usually look forward to fall, and the sense of routine that it brings.  It's a time that I reflect on changes that need to be made, and try to implement them.

 

I also had to plan and prepare for Brooke's baby shower, which became a huge event, as I heard from more and more people that they were coming.  It was great fun, and turned out beautifully, but what a lot of work, while at the same time trying to balance my new job, family, homeschool, etc... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year, I'm still trying to figure out what "normal" is for us.  Baby Sophia didn't arrive in September, my hubby did quite a bit of traveling back and forth and spent some weekends in Port Huron preparing for a big job that would start in October.  I was working more than I expected to be at the store, and life has been chaotic to say the least.

 

Rusty had to leave Sept. 30th for his big job that was suppose to last about 10 days to two weeks.  Brooke went into labor on Wednesday, Oct. 3. Just in time I thought to have the baby on my birthday Oct. 4.  I got really excited!  I was at work when Paul called to tell me they were on the way to the hospital. 

 

It turns out that Brooke wasn't dilated to a 3 yet, so she was went home.  She had contractions all night, but they let up in the morning.  No baby on my birthday after all. 

Contractions came on stronger that evening though, and we got excited again.  At 2 am, they woke me up, we all went to the hospital.  This was it!  Or so we thought... she still hadn't dilated any more.  They gave her a sleeping pill to help her "relax" and get some sleep.  It didn't work.  They let her stay for a little while and use the jacuzzi tub, and released her again around 6 am. 

 

By 10 am she was in such horrible pain, and everyone was frustrated and miserable.  Paul called the hospital and said we need to do something.  She was already a week over due, so they said come in and we will see what we can do.  Finally, when she got there, she had dilated to a 3, and they admitted her without having to induce labor.

 

By the time she was at a good 4, they went ahead and gave her an epidural (this usually happens at a 5, but the nurse said she had never seen anyone with such bad back labor).

I went home around 9 to get some rest, and at midnight, contractions stopped again.  4 am, still nothing... no contractions, and she was stuck at a 7 and baby was in distress.  I got a phone call that they were going to do an Emergency C-Section. 

I'm glad I live close, because I wanted to see my baby girl before they took her into surgery.  This was new to me, I'd never had a caserean.

 

Thankfully, baby Sophia was born at 5:08 a.m. Saturday Oct. 6th, and Mama and baby both did great! 

 

 

I am so proud of my daughter, and how well she did through all of this, and the positive attitude that she had!  And most of all, she's the best Mommy in the world!

 

 

SOPHIA JADE

 

 

It's all so worth it in the end! 

 

As for me, I'm still trying to find balance, and a new normal.  Rusty is still in Port Huron, and they keep running into snags on the job that are causing delays.  He says at this rate, he may have to retire there, and I'll just have to move over and join him. 

 

He is getting pretty discouraged and stressed out, so if you would say a prayer for him, we would greatly appreciate it.  He hasn't met his granddaughter yet, and felt bad that he missed my birthday.  He misses his family.  He's never been away for this long, and it's hard on all of us. 

 

I pray that you are all doing well, and I'd love to hear from you anytime.  Feel free to comment on my blog, or write on my facebook page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Latte-Blessings/303803836335198

 

Blessings!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 





Do you homeschool? Let's Talk

We don't look like a "homeschool family" and I don't really blog about homeschooling, because well, it's a struggle for me.  We don't have one of those large families with 7 or 8 kids (or more), although some would consider having 4 children a large family.  I don't wear a denim jumper, although I did try it, and they are comfortable, but honestly, I felt kind of funny dressing like that.  I will also tell you I don't sew or can, or bake bread, and grind my own wheat.  I don't make soap (oh wait, I do make my own laundry soap now, does that count?), and well, let's face it, I just don't have it all together. 

Really, isn't that what people think when they look at homeschool families?  We're considered "weird" and heaven forbid, our children might not be "socialized" in a public school setting.  I mean going to church, and playing hockey and being involved in other things isn't enough, is it?  My children are more socialized than I was, and I went to public school all of my life. 

Well, there are many families who homeschool who are all of the above (large families, Mom has it all together, etc...) but that isn't me.  I have admired those Moms, and wish I could do those things, and boy do I wish I could get it together.  There are times that comparing myself to other homeschool Moms, and what I think are "perfect families" has caused me to give up.

I've homeschooled each of my children at one time or another.  Currently, I have one in public school, one doing online classes, and I am homeschooling my youngest.

I struggle with what curriculum to use, and even overbuying curriculum because, well, this may be better than that, or someone said this is a really great program, blah, blah, blah. 

So let's talk.  What do you use for curriculum?  Do you use strictly one program that you've used for years because it works?  Are you a Charlotte Mason Mom, or do you love unit studies?  Traditional textbooks/workbooks?  It can be so overwhelming, and although sometimes I want to try something fun like a unit study, or a literature based program, there are other times when I just want to hand them a workbook and say here, do pages ... to ...

Have you been there?

My goal, hopefully this coming week is to take a couple of days and stay at a campground with all of my homeschool "stuff" and do some major planning for the upcoming year. 

I plan to take all of the books we currently have and see what will work for this year and what I need to add to it.

I have 2 subjects that we can do on the computer that we did not use last year.  (switched on schoolhouse).  I need to install those, and figure out how they work and if we want to use them this year.

With what I have, I need to divide how many lessons there are into how many days/weeks of school we will have so that we can get it all done.

I need to plan our schedule, to include days off, field trips, etc...  At the same time, while working around my daughter's public school calendar so that they have the same days off, Christmas break, etc....  Hmm... I wonder if that's even available yet?

Then there's the daily schedule, and how to fit it all in. 

Oh, I'm getting excited!  I love planning!

UNTIL

I have to implement it. 

There are so many things demanding our attention.  Keeping the laundry done, and the house clean, getting meals on the table, and grocery shopping and other errands.  What about Bible study, and what about ME?  It's easy to get caught up in trying to do it all, and be superwoman.  A friend of mine, one of those homeschool Moms with a large family who I admire.  One who seems to have it all together, said, "you have to look at it as a job". 

So, I hope that all of the decluttering I've been working on will help me this year to stay more focused.  I've decluttered my schedule down to the bare minimum, I've decluttered a lot of "stuff" including paper clutter from our home, although I'm still working on that.  It's all an ongoing process, and something that we have to keep on top of.  I've even decluttered some "toxic" people from my life.

We can do this!  I'm ready!  Well, almost. 

I'd love to hear from you, how do you plan?  Do you take time away from home to plan?  Do you plan for the whole year at a time, or weekly, monthly?

How do you stay on top of it through the year once your plan is in place?

I'd love to hear all of your ideas, and please share this post with your homeschool friends.  Let's support and encourage one another in what can be an overwhelming task. 

Blessings!   


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