Math Fun

  Marissa is pretty good at math, and she can enjoy the challenge when she lets herself.  The problem is she usually doesn't want to.  Today, however, we sat out on the porch swing to do her math because it was such a beautiful day, we didn't want to be cooped up inside.  She had learned how to do borrowing yesterday, and we practiced it today.  She got so excited.  Her daddy came in for lunch, and she literally squealed with excitement that she learned how to borrow.  Whose kid is this?!  The whole time we worked on her math, she had fun.  Maybe we'll do math outside everyday! 

    Another surprise today--my new table that they said would not be in until May 10, was delivered today!!!!   YEA!  It is beautiful, but it looks so out of place.  It's much too nice for my house.  We have neglected furniture around here for so long that it all is in extreme need of the dump.  It has been heavy on my heart to do things to make my home prettier for my family and myself.  So, my next want is either new bar stools which sit right next to the table, or a new love seat or sofa for the living room, which connects to the dining area.  The present one has a huge hole in it and is quite worn.   Time to start praying again!   Should I be bold enough to pray for both?  : ) 

  Our family will be spending the afternoon at our homeschool talent show tomorrow, which Maria helped organize.  Marissa (8) will be singing, Daniella (4) is showing a painting she did, and Briana (16) is playing a piano/violin duet with another homeschooler.  She's the piano part.  She is also supposed to be singing, so she is praying this leftover congestion from a headcold she has had will be better tomorrow. 

   The clutter is calling.  I am dejunking, and it is going very slowly.  Better get busy tackling it again.

Down By the Creek Bank

That's not where I am (unfortunately), but the name of the musical that Marissa was in last Sunday night at church.  She had a ball.  She has been so unbelieveably excited for months about her first musical .  It was very sweet, and the kids did a great job.  She had a short solo, and she has a really pretty voice, but between the fact that she was getting over a cold and still very stuffy, and they had the microphone up full blast, she didn't really sound like herself.  But it was beautiful all the same.  She loves to sing and wants voice lessons.  It's still to be determined when that might happen.  The "new" of things wears off very quickly for Marissa, so I don't know how long she'd stick with it.   Ballet lessons lasted a year, piano lessons lasted about a month, and tumbling has lasted 3 years, but she's tired of it now.  But, she is very passionate about singing, and she had quite a few adults who worked with the musical tell us what a wonderful voice she has.  So, we will see next fall.  Her next performance is this Saturday at our homeschool talent show.  She will be singing "My Favorite Things". 

A New Table

I am soooo excited!!  I finally found a dining table like I have been searching for.  I have looked all over this town and the next.  I wanted one large enough to seat at least 8 comfortably when we added leaves in.  But, my problem was finding the style.  Everything that big is either formal or country.  I am somewhere in between.  Today I went back to the very first store I went to, and THERE IT WAS!  They had just gotten this new one in.  And, it was on SALE! 

In order to completely understand my excitement, you would have to visualize the current.......yuck.  We bought this one about 13 or 14 year ago, very cheaply.  We also bought a trend that I LOVED at the time.  If anything ever possesses you to consider buying a table with tiles, please recall this post.  Don't do it!  First, when you buy a table with burgundy tiles, because burgundy is THE color, consider that burgundy won't be THE color for long.  But, most of all, imagine---white grout lines, toddlers, small children, spilled juice, glue, glitter of all colors, more spilled juice, etc.  It all makes for a lovely gookey combination in those grout lines.  They are constantly gooey black, and we are constantly trying to clean them.  Add to that that the 2 person bench that it came with fell in years ago, and now I have 2 lovely blue folding chairs in it's place, and you can imagine why I am so thrilled that today God answered my prayers.  He really did. 

He cares about our wants, too.  I wanted so much to have a dining area that I wasn't so embarrassed by when I had people over.  I have asked him to help me be patient with it, to wait on His timing, and to lead me to the perfect one that we could afford if it was okay with Him that I get a new one.  That's just what He did. 

Now, time for more patience.  They said it may take until mid May to be delivered.  So, you girls coming to my house next week will have to endure my lovely tile table still.  I promise to clean the grout lines.

Tisha

The Habit of Asking Forgiveness

When my 2 teenagers were little and they hurt one another or had an argument, after they calmed down, I would make them apologize to each other, give a hug, smile at each other, and say "I love you."  The smiling thing usually made them giggle, and they were on their way playing again.  Were they always sorry?  Of course not!  Were they ever sorry?  I don't have a clue.  I require the same of my younger two now. 
   Some may argue that I shouldn't try to force them to be sorry, I shouldn't allow them to fake being sorry, or that I'm wasting my time and being manipulated.  You might be right.  But,  I don't think so.  My older girls, Ashley and Briana, ages 19 and 16, were discussing this with me the other night, and they agree that even though they didn't always mean it when they said they were sorry, that they think it was a good thing.  They said that it got them into the "habit" of asking forgiveness.  In other words, as they got older, they were used to acknowledging another's feelings, and they eventually began to own it for themselves.  Their brains and mouths were used to the words, "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you", so there was not a gigantic prideful issue to overcome.
   Is this fool proof?  No.  It only works along with the Holy Spirit.  It is just one of the many training tools used by parents to teach their children to be respectful.  But, only through the work of the Holy Spirit will they truly own it for themselves and have a heart of love, compassion, and empathy for other people. 
   Those 2 girls are such a joy to be with.  They are also best friends. They love their Lord, and He has blessed them with hearts of love, compassion, and loyalty.  And, to think, God was able to use a few of my little efforts, and He was able to do that in spite of my many shortcomings. 
   As an added note--homeschooling, which we used to think only really weird people did, among other things, also played a big part in their friendship developing as it has. 
  I am so thankful for all these blessings.
Letitia
P.S.  Look for my avatar to change.  Some people were tired of me looking like an axe murderer in my posts!  : )  So, I'm giving up my night job, and I'll show you (if you're brave enough) what I look like on my day job. 

Good Visit

Well, the visit to my parents' house was anything but peaceful, but we had a good time.  There was no sitting out on the dock watching the lake.  Our beautiful spring weather was non-existant that day, so it was about 42 degrees with a constant wind.  They live in the land of eternal wind !  Don't ever go to the plateau and worry about what your hair looks like unless you have some heavy duty hairspray! 
    So, inside the house was my dad, mom, sister (Lara), dh James, Ashley, Briana, Marissa (8), Alexa (7), Daniella (4), and Julianna (4).    Not to mention 3 large inside dogs.  It got pretty wild sometimes. Did I mention that it's not a large house?
    We got there about 11:00 am, and my dad put burgers on to grill.  Yum.  Most of the afternoon, my mom, Lara, Ashley, Briana, and I played board games- Cranium Conga and ImagineIff.  The little ones had a ball playing dress up, hide-and-seek, etc.  We played Cranium Family Fun with Marissa and Alexa.  This led to a plastic frog fight between several of them, which somehow ended up being everyone against poor Ashley.  She said she felt like the Egyptians.  Frogs were flying at her everywhere, and she laughed until she couldn't breathe.   (Click on her link and see her March 20 post for some action shots.)
    And, on the men's side--they disappeared for while.  Can you blame them?  James and my dad drove over to property that we own over there, and James rode his 4-wheeler around for a while.  He was happy.  Lara's family was on their spring break from school, but her husband, Greg, had had to go back home early to work, so he missed the thrill ! 
    It was a silly but nice day with my sister and nieces, especially since we only see them about twice a year.  In spite of that, I would love it if we could help them grow up loving each other and being friends. 

Yay!

My family is going to visit my sister and 2 neices today.  They actually live about 8 hours away, but are visiting my parents only 2 hours away.  We only get to see them once or twice a year, so we're all excited to get to go. 

I love just going to my mom's anyway.  They live on a cul-de-sac, where the only traffic  you usually see is the one next door neighbor or someone lost, and they live on a small quiet lake (trolling motors only).  It is SOOOO  peaceful.  Of course, it probably won't be today, but I still love to be over there.  I love to go sit out on the dock when it is warm enough and just watch the water and listen to the geese and other birds.  Only occassionally do you see any other people.  It's not that I don't like people !  It's just great to take a quiet, peaceful break.  Two summers ago, I spent 4 days over there just with me and my parents.  Now, that was a rest. 

I guess I'd better get so we can make the most of our day.  Hope everyone else has a blessed day!

The Stalker

My husband has a lady stalker!  Lest you think I jest---I Do Not!  Fortunately, she doesn't want HIM.  She wants our money!  This is serious.  She's older than us, I'd guess 50's, and her husband used to paint houses for James.  He developed cancer, and we helped them out some financially.  After helping them several times, we began to get the feeling that we were being taken advantage of, and later pretty convinced we were.  Long story short (maybe), even after months later, and he was much better, he would only work for an hour or 2 a day, they still had cable t.v., 2 cell phones, including one for their 12 year old grandson, whom she homeschools, and many other obvious wastes of money.  Because he refused to work, James had to replace him.  The whole time she was continuing to call, manipulate, and even threaten us for us to give them money.  We didn't hear from them for a while, but she is back.  She is threatening James again, saying she is going to ruin his reputation all over the county, she's emailing our pastor, who has pronounced her "crazy", and saying we've ruined their lives.  Mind you, he refuses to get any kind of job, even though he is no longer sick or weak.  She called one day this week ranting and raving, then called a few days later, sweet as pie, asking if her husband could come paint James' next house.  This is starting to get very spooky!  She obviously needs prayers.  I will pray for her, as well as for the safety of my family. 

Introduction

Hi All,

   My name is Letitia, and I homeschool in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.  (Does that mean I can officially join the Smoky Mountain Gang online, too?!)  As my profile says, we have been homeschooling for 12 years, since our oldest was in 2nd grade.  She graduated from our homeschool last year.  Ashley is now 19, and taking online courses in creative writing, along with volunteering, occassional mission trips, taking ballet (her 16th year), helping me out with her sisters, and going to two Bible studies.  Briana is 16, a junior, ready to drive, is in her 13th year of ballet, her 12th year of piano, and loves drama and singing.  She is also a tremendous blessing and help to me.  Marissa is 8, and is my true drama queen.  She takes tumbling, and loves horses, playing baseball with her dad, mud, and many other active things--and not so active ones like the computer.  Daniella will be 5 in April, and she is our little fireball.  She is never still, and she is the queen of facial expressions.  She is the best hugger in the world!  Marissa and Daniella were both born in Guatemala, and the Lord blessed us extraordinarily by bringing them into our family.  Maybe I'll tell about their stories one day.

   The Lord has blessed me with a super patient husband, and we are seeking to continually grow together in the Lord-individually, as a couple, and as parents.

   Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll comment often on our crazy, eventful life where we seek to honor the Lord.