frantlings

2 Weeks Under My Belt

2011-09-02T17:09:00.000-05:00

I've now got 2 weeks of homeschooling under my belt. And what do I think? How's it going? It's ok! It's not GREAT. But it's not HORRIBLE either. The boys are learning, which is the main point, I guess, right?

I feel like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster the last few weeks. Taking your child(ren)'s education into your own hands is a pretty big deal. And you want to get it just right. But then you start to realize that your child(ren)'s education was ALWAYS in your hands; you may have just allowed strangers that will never meet or care about your kid individually to make decisions without your consent in regards to their education. So homeschooling isn't that big of a change.

Or is it? I've been exhausted each day (and have found ways to take a cat nap in the afternoon). We're packing in all of our schooling in the morning and finishing most days before lunch. And since 90% of their curriculum is teacher-led at this point, that makes for an intense time period for the teacher. And what about the kids? I'm alternating which kiddo I work with while the other one goes off and plays (usually with Legos). So they're getting breaks. Mamma, on the other hand: not so much.

There is some tweaking I need to do to make things a little better. Like the intensity of the morning, for instance. I need to make myself take a break or two (even if it's 5 or 10 minutes) so that I'm not exhausted and spent by lunchtime. I also need to figure out what I want the boys to do in their spare time (while I'm working with their sibling). Jack can't read fluently yet, so it'll be a challenge to find things for him to do while I'm working with Cade. Cade, on other hand, is an excellent reader; I need to be more diligent in directing him toward reading 1 of 20 library books we have one hand, doing some typing games on the computer, etc.

But they're kids after all, so free play is OK too. I'm just thinking that maybe free play should be a reward for finishing all of their work.

One thing that we've been doing each morning before we start our work is a devotional time. I read a chapter out of the Bible and then read a devotion that goes along with the passage. And sometimes we discuss it. And we always incorporate what we've read into our prayer. This has been a blessing and has started off our days on the right foot. I love that we're doing this!

Curriculum

2011-08-24T13:00:00.000-05:00

In case you're curious, here are our current curriculum choices for the year. (I say current because homeschoolers are known to change their curriculum mid-year because it's not working for the teacher or the student.)

Math -- Saxon

Spelling -- Spelling Workout by Modern Curriculum Press

Grammar -- First Language Lessons by Peace Hill Press

Writing -- Writing with Ease by Peace Hill Press

Handwriting -- Zaner-Bloser

History & Science -- We are using Classical Conversations as our spine (main resource) and supplementing with various texts, encyclopedias and library books

First Day of Homeschooling

2011-08-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

I know you've been waiting, with bated breath I assume, to see how our first day of homeschooling went, right? Wait no longer, my faithful 3 readers! Here now, for your reading pleasure, is a summary of our day.

I had grandiose ideas of having some cool first-day-of-school kinds of activities to make the day special. You know, things like a special breakfast. Some crafts. An "about me" sheet to fill out. Things of that sort.

Since I didn't want to start out cooking some big breakfast that then I'd have to clean up later, I decided to try my hand at making some monkey bread as a special treat. I figured the combination of biscuits, cinnamon, and sugar... surely the kids would love this! And surely it would be a snap to make! Only I completely misjudged the time it took to make it (and then bake it, and then let it cool).

And as I was about to serve the kids the monkey bread, Jack mentioned that his foot hurt; he's mentioned this several times in the past several days. So I took a look at the bottom of his foot and sure enough... a splinter. I accidentally let the word "splinter" leave my lips and Jack went into hysterics. He was inconsolable at the thought of having the splinter dug out of his foot (Jack has strong anxiety when it comes to any hint of bodily injury or pain).

So now we're an hour behind in our day, my 6-year old is in hysterics, and I'm thinking that this isn't how I wanted our first day to go. Cade ends up tucking Jack into bed with a plethora of blankets, books, and pillows. Jack calms down, and I start math with Cade.

The rest of our time went OK. it was a fairly light day because most of what we were doing was introductory lessons in our curriculum. There are a couple of tweaks to be made and some things to add, but for the most part, a successful day.

Here are some back-to-school pics I took of the kids:

Claire (4)

Cade (8)

And Jack (6). Unfortunately, Jack was in a sour mood and didn't feel like taking pictures. This was the best I could get. He was in the process of folding his arms at me to let me know he wasn't happy.

And then all 3 kids together. Jack was still miffed about something and Claire wasn't sure where to look. :)

It's really hard to get all 3 kids to look the same direction at the same time. But I was thrilled that Claire was offering the hook-em horns sign without being coached.

So all in all, a good day. I think we'll try this again tomorrow. :)

August

2011-08-19T14:39:00.000-05:00

And now it's (near) the end of August. Where does the time go, I ask you? Apparently I've been a little too busy to update the blog. Sorry 'bout that.

Not much is going on with us as a family. Well, I take that back. There are some things going on...

Scott is about to start his long-awaited education at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is so stinking excited about it. The term "giddy like a school girl" comes to mind.
I will start homeschooling the boys (for real now... not just in math) next week. I'm sitting up in the school room right now, looking at all of the glorious books we'll be cracking open next week. Should be fun! Or at least good for some Frantlings fodder.
Mom's addition to the house is coming along nicely. It's bricked, sheetrocked and textured, and the trim has gone in. Not sure exactly what the next steps are. But hopefully in a month or two it will finally be finished and she can move back into her expanded space!
I've been taking photos of houses that my friend JT is listing for sale; this has been a fun little side job, as my friend JT is a hoot and it's really decent money for an hour or two of my time.
It's been stinkin' hot here. As in 107 for the high. *sigh* I'm really looking forward to the winter. Really. Really looking forward to it. Did I mention that it's been REALLY hot here?

That about does it. Claire and Jack have been playing nicely together the entire time I wrote this blog entry... the odds that it will continue into the near future are not good. So I better wrap things up while everyone still has their appendages.

July

2011-07-29T10:04:00.000-05:00

And now it's the end of July. One month has gone by without any updates. What have we been up to? Plenty!

Claire and the boys each had summer day-camps that they went to and thoroughly enjoyed. Mommy enjoyed them being at day camp! :)

We also had VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church. The kids had a blast, and I got to help with photographing the event. We were exhausted by the end of the week. But it was great!

We hosted a poker party

We went to two weddings

Scott flew out to California to have a guy's weekend with one of his best friends from high school (he had a great time!)

The boys and I have been doing math each day. 1, they asked to do it because they really like math. 2, it is allowing us to get our feet wet with homeschooling without having to jump into all subjects at once

Can't believe it's already the end of July. Less than a month and school really starts up!

Birfdays

2011-06-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

The kiddos were gone all last week at their grandparents (Scott's parents) in Missouri. What a wonderful break that was! But man! It sure was quiet around here...

The kids came home yesterday (Sunday). While they were gone, both Jack and Claire celebrated birthdays. Jack turned 6 (!!!) and Claire (my baby), turned 4. Their parties will be this weekend at McDonald's and Chuck E. Cheese, respectively (yikes).

Eager Beavers

2011-06-18T09:51:00.000-05:00

We've already started. Homeschooling that is. We've already started, and it's summer break!

"Isn't that child abuse?", you ask. Why no. No it isn't. Not when your kids are begging to start homeschooling. And no, we haven't drugged our children.

The boys had been begging me to start homeschooling since school let out. So I obliged them, of course! We have only begun math. And for the most part, it's VERY easy and mostly review so far. In addition to satisfying the kids' desire to learn, I also wanted to get my feet in the water and test things out with just one subject. As the weeks go by, we'll probably add in a subject or two and see how the adjustment goes.

I'm learning that a lot of Texas homeschoolers (none that I know personally, however) do school in the summer because it is SO STINKIN' HOT outside. There's not much else to do (my kids aren't strong swimmers and don't love the pool), so why not get some school done and take a break in the fall and spring when it's so nice outside?

It's so not what we're used to (public schools don't do it that way), that it's taking my brain a long time to get that it's OK to do things differently than what we're used to. After all, homeschooling isn't necessarily supposed to be public school at home. With homeschooling, and especially in the great state of Texas, you have the flexibility to do things the way you want to do them (and what best fits for your family), not the way a government tells you to do it.

Classical Conversations

2011-06-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Classical Conversations is the co-op that the boys and I will be involved with in the fall. It's an intense manifestation of the classical method, and we'll be learning a lot this year! The history we will be studying is American history. Science is anatomy with a little bit of chemistry thrown in. Geography will be American geography. And of course we'll be learning some basic latin. Latin? A dead language for live kids? Yep. It'll make moving on to Spanish and other languages later a lot easier. Plus, learning latin will help the kids decipher what new words mean (about half of english words find their roots in latin). And, the biggest reason to learn latin is that it helps show kids how to learn. It's a very systematic language, and you study this language in a very orderly fashion.

I'm excited to be learning right along with the kids. I love to learn! I'm sure this blog will see it's share of brags this year. I'll try to temper my urge to do just that! :)

Random pics of the kids

2011-06-13T21:22:00.001-05:00

Here are some random images of the kids taken by my phone.

The boys playing chess...

Claire with her new Dora doll....

Cade at the local library....

Claire at the same library ...

Jack at the same spot at the library...

The boys acting silly when they should have been trying to go to sleep....

Cade and his 2nd grade teacher Ms King (and Jack, who snuck into the pic)...

Cade being goofy....

Classical Education

2011-06-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

The method or style that we're going to use to homeschool our kids is the classical method. The classical method adheres to the trivium, which is an educational theory suggesting that kids grow and learn in three distinct phases. There's the grammar stage, the logic stage, and the rhetoric stage.

The grammar stage is approximately 1st - 6th grade. At this stage, young minds are excellent sponges and they tend to soak up facts like they're going out of business. So a lot of memory work (not necessarily with context yet) happens at this stage; they may memorize the US presidents, a history timeline, the 3 types of blah blah blah in science, etc. During the grammar stage, young minds typically aren't developed enough to creatively write, reason, and express themselves.

The next stage, the logic stage, is in the junior high years. This is where more of the context gets filled in on what the student learned in the grammar stage. The cause and effect of situations is studied (what caused WWI, for example) and the student's ability to reason is grown.

The last stage, the rhetoric stage, is the high school years where the students learns to persuasively express the opinions, reasoning, and logic that they developed in the logic stage.

The classical model is also great because it teaches students how to learn. First you learn the "grammar" of a subject. Then you study the "why" of the subject. Then you can express your findings through substantive expression.

There are many resources for learning more about the classical model of eductation. The following books have given us a solid foundation in the classical method:

You can also look on the Well-Trained Mind website for more information on the classical model.

There are many other homeschool styles out there: traditional, ecclectic, unschooling, unit studies, Charlotte Mason... But we chose the classical method because A) it is a rigorous method of studying B) it teaches the kids how to learn C) it will hopefully instill in the kids a love for learning.

Mavs!

2011-06-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

Mavs tie the series up 2-2. That's all.

Free (well, almost) Activity for Kids This Summer

2011-06-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

Once summer really heats up, it's difficult to make the kids go outside and play. It's just too dang hot! A friend of mine tipped me off to Kids Bowl Free. And it's almost free. You have to pay for the shoe rental if your kids, like mine, don't have their own bowling shoes.

We will most definitely be doing this several times this summer. Check it out for a bowling alley near you!

Preacher Man

2011-06-06T08:21:00.000-05:00

Much earlier than expected, Scott will get his preaching debut this Sunday, June 12. He is beyond excited and nervous. The fact that the elders trust him to share the pulpit already speaks volumes of how they feel about Scott. I'm both excited and nervous for Scott as well. I'm not sure how I won't be able to keep from pacing in the back of the church the whole time he's up there!

Scott's sermon will be on Joshua. We are currently in an "Ordinary Heroes" series at church, examining different ordinary heroes throughout the Bible. And Scott's lot fell on Joshua. A good guy to start out with! Scott's main point will not be Joshua, though. His focus will be on the God that Joshua has faith in. I can't wait to hear it next Sunday!

THE Homeschooling Post

2011-06-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

How in the world did we ever get into homeschooling. How in the world???!!!??? Let me tell you.

But first, a little backstory.

When our oldest was about 3 years old, Scott started looking ahead to Cade's education. We knew the 2 years prior to Cade entering kindergarten would fly by pretty fast (and they did). Scott read a lot of books and determined that homeschooling was his #1 choice followed by private school at #2 and public school at choice #3. He came to me with his findings, and I pretty much laughed in his face. Me? Homeschool? Ha!

I have not been very content being a stay-at-home mom since Cade was born. I'm not a "little kid" person, so these years of having numerous small people in the house has been difficult. Not that I don't LOVE my kids. I do! But this little stage just wears on me like nails on a chalkboard. The idea of extending this time with the kids into homeschooling, especially at the time when I had two kids 3 and under, was a big no. Homeschooling was great for other people (how on earth did they do it?), but it wasn't for me.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Cade entered kindergarten in public school. We couldn't afford private school (at least not for 3 kids), so public school was the only option left. Scott and I are both products of the public education system; and we turned out OK (keep your comments to yourself!). And Cade had a great time at school. And we were fairly pleased with his teacher and the school; we didn't have any major complaints.

Fast forward another couple of years when it's Jack's turn to enter kindergarten (this was around May 2010). By all measures, it did not appear that Jack was ready for kindergarten. One of the major obstacles we saw was that Jack still wasn't potty trained. At the age of almost 5. He was in diapers. And would freak out on us if we tried to put him in underwear or on the potty. I started looking around at private kindergartens. But none of them would accept him because of the potty training issue. We didn't want to try public school just yet: what if the kids that he was going to grow up with start making fun of him? What if they remember in junior high that he was the kid who went in his pants in kindergarten? We thought it would just be a colossal mistake to subject Jack to that ridicule.

Public school was out. Private school was out. Our only viable option? Homeschool him.

At first this didn't sit too well with me. But by golly, if this is what my kid needed, then I was going to do this for him. I started devouring books on homeschooling. And a funny thing happened: the more I read, the more excited I got about homeschooling. Sure, I was still nervous as all get out (can I really do this? what if I don't end up teaching him anything? what if he's behind his 1st grade peers the following year?). But I had to trudge ahead.

I homeschooled Jack for 6 weeks before we made the gut-wrenching decision to put him in public school (that's a long story -- a story for another post some day). And he did GREAT. We saw Jack mature a lot those first few weeks. And he loved school. His teacher was the quintessential kindergarten teacher: smiley, loving, sweet, nurturing, etc. God could not have orchestrated that any better.

Fast forward to March of this year. I'm not sure what got me thinking about it, but I started to be haunted by the idea of homeschooling. I had really enjoyed my time with Jack (even if it was only 6 weeks). And I recalled all the stuff I had read in the homeschooling books. I became convinced that homeschooling was the best educational option for our kids. Once I realized that, there was no turning back.

And the fact that none of this makes sense (I am the mom who skipped out of the school after dropping her first born off at kindergarten; no tears, just whistling and whooping) leads me to believe that God is behind all of this. And if He has called us to do this, then He will surely equip me to be successful.

So WHY are we homeschooling? What makes it a better education option for our kids?

we can beat the public school's student-teacher ratio in a huge way
we can go as fast or as slow as we need to with each kid according to their abilities
we can use curriculum that is not meant to be a one-size-fits-all education. we can use curriculum that meshes with the kids' learning styles
we (scott & i) will be involved in what they are learning; no more guessing at how the teacher teaches something when it comes to helping out with homework.
we can teach our kids our values; the public system tries to teach moral virtues. but without a Who or why (God and the Bible) behind the system, the teaching falls short and shallow.
we love our kids more than their public school teachers do.
we don't want to outsource the educating of our kids to strangers

There are more reasons, but I'll stop with the above 7. I'm excited about the idea of homeschooling our kids. And the boys are excited too! And most of all, a shocked Scott is thrilled that I've come around to what he has wanted since the beginning.

More Baseball

2011-06-04T15:39:00.002-05:00

I know a lot of the recent posts have revolved around Jack. Jack Jack Jack. Well, here's another one. Sorry! He's had a lot going on recently!

We just received his baseball pictures for this current season. So precious!

Rangers Game

2011-05-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

Recently a friend at church gifted us 4 tickets to a Rangers game. SWEET! So my mom and I took Jack and Cade. Cade had already been to a Rangers game, but this was Jack's first time.

To say that it was hot is an understatement. It was probably hovering around 90 degrees, not counting how hot the sun and humidity made it feel. And I'm guessing our plastic seats were in the range of 120 degrees. The seats were so hot that it actually burned my skin a little through my shorts. Ouch. So each boy sat on our laps.

After 2 innings of suffering in the sun, the boys needed to go to the bathroom. After we took care of that business, we realized there was a really nice breeze going through his shady part of the stadium. And there just happened to be some barstools and a closed-circuit TV that was playing the game. SWEET! So we abandoned our great seats and sat in the shade in a little restaurant kind of area in The Ballpark and watched the game.

Three innings of sitting there not being able to watch the game live got kind of boring for the boys...

We ended up leaving early, somewhere in the 5th. And that was OK. I got to see The Ballpark again (which is just beautiful) and got to take in part of a ballgame. And the boys got to skip part of school (it was a 1pm game) which made it extra special for them.

Updates and Things

2011-05-29T12:11:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned that a lot has been going on in our house lately. We've been quite busy!

Baseball
Jack has started playing modified pitch baseball this spring. And he LOVES it! Modified pitch baseball is a cross between t-ball and baseball. The batter gets 4 pitches from his coach. If he hasn't hit the ball by then, the T is brought out for the batter to hit off of.

Jack is on the Cardinals team, and boy does he look adorable in his uniform.

With 2 games a week plus a practice, Jack's baseball schedule keeps us on the go!

Homeschooling
Yes, homeschooling. It reared it's ugly head again this past March. And I haven't been able to shake the idea of it since. Soooooo, we're going to homeschool the boys this Fall. Cade will be in 3rd, and Jack will be in 1st. We've already got curriculum purchased and a co-op (Classical Conversations) that we're joining. And we are all very excited! Claire will be going to mother's day out 3 days a week next year, so that will help with getting things done! :)

I'll probably do another separate post on homeschooling since I am passionate and excited about it right now. We'll see how excited I am come September after a long summer with all 3 kids at home! :)

Scott's Job
Scott continues to love his job at Woodcreek Church. He almost feels guilty for how much he enjoys the work! He's been busy lately with different ministry projects that he oversees, and his job is going great.

One of the difficult things about some ministry positions is the lack of quantifiable progress; it's hard to quantify a congregation's spiritual growth. So it's difficult for Scott in particular to know if he's doing a good job. He can feel like he's doing a good job, but there's no quantifiable proof to support that feeling. And this is just something he's going to have to adjust to. At AT&T where he worked before, there was plenty of empirical evidence to demonstrate that he did a stellar job. At WC, it's a little bit more difficult to assess his progress in his job.

Whoa, Time Flies -- Jack Graduates

2011-05-27T13:55:00.000-05:00

It seems I've been living life and forgetting to blog! So sorry to the 4 people who read this. :)

A lot has been going on in this neck of the woods. But I'll update you guys on that a little later. Right now, I wanted the focus to be on Jack Jack. He's graduating from kindergarten!

I'm so proud of this little guy. He has grown (unfortunately not vertically, just emotionally) by leaps and bounds this year. His anxiety has reduced some, and he is learning that he can get through scary situations if he's brave. He made this momma so proud when, in describing a scary (for him) experience, Jack mentioned that he thought about King David and how God was with him when he fought Goliath.

Jack remembered God's Word to help him through his scary situation!

I was so proud of Jack when he told me about that experience. He has made friends this year and really come out of his shell.

We are so proud of our little guy!

Crash and Burn

2011-02-19T09:27:00.000-06:00

Howdy y'all. Not much has been going on with the fam, or I would have posted glorious photos of said events.

My laptop died earlier in the week; I went to restart it because I was having problems printing to the wireless networked printer. And alas, the computer never restarted. It was a black screen of death. No reboot. No splash screen. Just the faint whirring sound that screamed things weren't right inside the depths of my laptop.

Thankfully, after the last computer crash, we were subscribed to Carbonite, an online backup service. So I'm not worried about important files being lost. I'll be able to log on from any computer and transfer the files. But the expense of having to buy a new computer with the inconvenience of not having a computer (save my wonderful iPhone) is just a bummer.

We have always been a PC family. Not as in politically correct, of course. But as in non-Mac. I'm fairly technical (as is Scott), so having PCs wasn't terribly frightening. Plus they're just more affordable. But now Scott has a Macbook for his job. And the battery life is INCREDIBLE. As is the speed of the machine, the fluid synchronicity of Apple products, and the light weight. So now I'm thinking of switching. Of course it will cost me a kidney to be able to afford it. And people will say that I've drunk the kool aid. But I'm OK with that. :)

So proud

2011-01-27T21:49:00.001-06:00

I'm so proud of Cade. This note accompanied him home last week:

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

Sawdust in my Lipstick

2011-01-24T11:24:00.001-06:00

Many of you probably don't know that I love power tools. Love them. Scott bought me my first one many Christmases ago. It was a circular saw. The Sears sales clerk asked Scott if he could help him pick out a saw for himself. Scott sheepishly told the sales guy that it was for his wife. After a dubious look from the clerk, Scott proceeded to buy me my first tool (As an aside, he also bought me Mary Kay makeup that Christmas to balance things out).

Since then, I've inherited a jigsaw, nail gun, and router stand. I've also purchased a table saw and router (with both fixed and plunge bases). But I haven't used them in a while.

My mom mentioned that it would be nice if the kids had a book rack in their bathroom. Currently, they have a small side table in the bathroom (which gets in the way of everything) to put their books on. But not only is the table in the way, the books constantly slide off of it onto the floor. With the book rack, we could eliminate the table AND the mess of books on the floor.

She mentioned that she had seen a book rack in the catalog Land of Nod (which has way cute but overpriced children's furnishings).

It was way cute, but, accordingly, overpriced at $60. I figured, "I can make that! I just couldn't pay $60 for that!"

So last Tuesday, I bought my lumber and set to work. In less then 2 hours, I had built my own book rack.

Of course I still need to caulk, prime and paint it. But for 1/3 the price, and some fun time spent outside with my beloved tools, I made the kids a book rack. And I even have some material left over to build some for friends and church!

I'll get a picture up when it's painted and installed... I promise!

Mom Jeans & the Dreaded Mom Butt

2011-01-23T08:05:00.000-06:00

I just read this hysterical article... intended for ladies. Don't get stuck in Mom Jeans!

Time Keeps on Tickin'

2011-01-21T15:48:00.005-06:00

Sorry there hasn't been an update in a while. I think the last update I had was getting the Christmas tree... that was almost two months ago! Ack!

So we did Christmas. And that was great.

It snowed a couple of weeks ago. And that was great.

So you're now caught up with us. :)

Pictures? You want to see pictures? *sigh*. Fine. If you must.

Christmas 2010

GG and the kids worked on a gingerbread house...

Claire opening up her presents Christmas morning (this incidentally was a toy that lasted all of 5 minutes before it broke)

The boys opening their gifts as well...

January 2011: SNOW!

Claire, all bundled up and ready for some snow action.

Cade's feeble attempt to make a snow angel (we didn't get that much snow)

Claire's rain boots made excellent snow boots. Except she almost got frostbite on her toes.

Claire and her good friend down the street, Abby. Hugging right before they...

... fell over in the snow.

(sorry for the pic that didn't get rotated. i'm getting lazy). We built a decent sized snowman.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-11T16:11:00.009-06:00

Every family has 'em. Things you do each year around Christmas-time that become traditions. Memories etched in children's minds that they'll recall years later.

We haven't been too intentional about setting up traditions for our household. But there are a few things we do each year that we look forward to.

One of those is chopping down our own tree at a Christmas tree farm.

We've been doing this now for probably 10 years. And it is SO FUN. We ride out in the countryside to the farm (it's about an hour's drive). Then we hope on a trailer that is hooked up to a tractor and go for a hay ride out into the Christmas trees. We get dropped off with a saw. Then we wander and wander around, looking for the right tree.

Can't be too small. Can't be too high. Can't be too sparse. Can't be too crooked.

When we finally find IT, Scott starts sawing back and forth while I hopefully pull the tree in the right direction (the first year we did this, I accidentally pulled the tree in the wrong direction while Scott was sawing, binding the blade. Scott worked up a ginormous sweat for 30 minutes before we realized why this cutting a tree down business seemed a lot harder than it needed to be) . Then we haul our prize to the path where we and the tree get picked up and brought back up to the barn, which is where everyone pays for their trees. Grab a cup of hot apple cider, browse around at the crafts for sale in the barn, and then it's time to go home and decorate! Incidentally, the tree we purchased this year had a bird's nest inside as a bonus!

We weren't able to go to our normal tree farm this year (Our normal one was closed because their crop wasn't good enough this year). So we went to our backup tree farm. Only to get their and find out that they don't take debit cards. Only cash and check. Neither of which we had on us. So as Scott went to town to find an ATM, the kids and I hung out at the playground set up at the farm. I think the kids had more fun at this point in the trip.

I then tried to get some good shots of the kids together, thinking that it would make a great present for grandparents and for Scott. Didn't work out. Not so much.

But I did manage to get a few decent individual pictures of the kids

After torturing the kids for several minutes trying to get shots of them, I let them go back to what they do best: make a mess. They began making a HUGE pile of leaves

And then jumped in them

Not sure who the other kid is. Or where Jack is. But no fears. We eventually did find Jack (he was just out of this shot) and went home to decorate our ransomed evergreen. After Scott came back with cash, of course.

Chronicles

2010-11-08T20:07:00.001-06:00

A month or so ago, Scott started reading The Chronicles of Narnia to the kids at night. He started with The Magician's Nephew and is now on The Horse and His Boy. Cade has really liked the books. Jack sort of pays attention but often falls asleep during the reading. Claire pays attention for 37 seconds and then proceeds to do whatever she pleases.

I have never read the whole thing. I've only gotten through The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. So I'm excited about hearing the rest of the stories.

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

Scarf Luv

2010-11-05T17:01:00.003-05:00

I sewed this cute little scarf today, courtesy of the directions here at Living with Punks.

Walmart got rid of their fabric department a few years ago. But they got in some 5-yard bolts of miscellaneous fabric for only $5. It only took me 1/2 a yard to make this scarf. A $.50 scarf! I may make some more and give them away... it turned out so cute!

Contemplating...

2010-10-30T22:12:00.003-05:00

For years now, I have wanted to own my own business. I was never really sure what I wanted to do. But I knew that I wanted to own a business. And for years now, Scott has said that I should sew custom pillows. And for years I shrugged the idea off.

Oh sure. I've sewn a duvet, bed skirt, numerous pillows, crib bumber, crib bedskirt and curtains. I even did a paying job for a friend that included a faux roman shade, window seat cushion, and pillows. But actually do it for regular money? Do I have the time? Do I have the skill?

Having some extra money trickle in right now would not be a bad thing. Not that we are in need of extra money. The Lord is taking care of us. But the extra money would be nice. So I have thought about getting a part time job. Possibly with The Container Store (love that place!). But Scott is encouraging me to finally start my own company rather than working for "the man".

So I'm thinking of starting a custom pillow and curtain company. It would be made-to-order; I'd have a few examples on hand (that could also be purchased). But mostly, I would sew upon request with clients would bringing me fabric. Or even better, I'd get to go shopping with them for the fabric. I LOVE fabric and believe that I am skilled and talented at putting different fabrics together for a nice chic pallet.

But I also love making clothes for Claire... and there are TONS of boutique patterns online to make REALLY cute stuff. Plus the fabric that's online... oh... my heart starts to beat faster just thinking about it.

I'm torn between trying to start small (pillows, curtains, other home dec projects) and expanding to work on things that I really love (like oh so cute clothing for kids and accessories for kids and women). Or just starting out with the clothing/accessories idea. Since most of my competition are other at-home sewers, with or without a website, I'm having a hard time determining how much competition I have. And what they charge. And my competitive advantages. And a niche to focus on.

Clearly, more research needs to done. But at some point, it will be gut-check time. A "just do it" time. A "put on your big girl panties" time. A "p*ss or get off the pot" time. (I love that last one -- totally stolen from The Office)

Kids Karnival

2010-10-30T21:04:00.007-05:00

Tonight our church transformed its parking lot into a ginormous carnival complete with 6 or 7 inflatables, lots of games, concessions, a petting zoo, and several giant screens featuring the Rangers' win in the World Series. It was really a site to see!

We got the kids dressed in their digs (Cade -- Perry the Platypus, Jack -- Darth Vader, and Claire -- butterfly) and headed up there.

We were there early to make sure our booth game was set up and to deliver some first aid supplies. Most of the games weren't ready yet, so we headed over to the petting zoo area and watched the workers unload the critters. The llama, Lorenzo, liked Cade quite a bit.

We then headed over to one of the inflatables: an obstacle course. Cade had no trouble with it and went through and over it many many times. But Jack and Claire had trouble with a large climbing wall. But they had fun climbing up half way and then sliding back down. They did this for about 15 minutes before we pulled them out. Bigger kids were starting to come in and run them over!

We then took the kids around to the games where they played and gathered the all important candy.

We stopped to eat some hot dogs before venturing to our community group's booth game, PLINKO (think The Price is Right).

Lastly we stopped back by the petting zoo where we could now enter and pet the critters. Only Jack was frightened as all get out. And Claire wasn't too keen on being inside the fenced in area with the animals. So I stayed with them while Cade chased the bunnies, the chickens, the ducks, the llama, the shetland pony, and the little pig. I had to drag Cade out of there; I think he would have stayed in there all night if I had let him

We had a great time!!!

Ta-Da!

2010-10-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

I finished Claire's latest outfit. The pants are supposed to be capris. But thanks to my genetic makeup (so sorry, Claire), Claire's legs are about as long as a marine's hair. Add to that my laziness in not having Claire try on the pants as I was constructing them? And you get full fledged pants. Oh well. They are still adorable! The pants look short in the picture because of the type of hanger they are on...

A Generically Mundane Update on our Family

2010-10-27T15:02:00.002-05:00

This post goes out to Hillary (Hi Hillary!!), who for some weird crazy reason, likes to read about the sometimes zany but most often boring things my family is up to.

Scott's job at the church is going great. He absolutely loves it and is already making a difference. Some philosophical and real changes will be coming to the Community Group (our adult small groups) ministry, which is his main focus at this time. He's also been in touch with leaders from the other ministries he oversees (Men's, Seniors', 20's, Celebrate Recovery... I am positive I'm forgetting some) to talk about the current state of the ministries and to discuss where they want to take them in the future. Very exciting!

Cade, in 2nd grade, is doing great. He is reading at an accelerated level (although getting him to read for practice is like pulling teeth) and pretty much enjoys school. His favorite parts of his day are lunch and recess. Go figure. Cade goes to Tae Kwon Do once a week and enjoys it very much. He's also a cub scout and seems to like his den this year.

Jack, in kindergarten, is doing really well too. He continues to like school a lot, although he gets frustrated when he doesn't finish his work in class. The potty training issue hasn't been too bad. He always goes to the bathroom at school. And sometimes in the potty! (insert rim shot here) Seriously, he's doing OK in this area. But he still needs to work on identifying the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom. And then connecting that feeling with actually walking to the bathroom. For whatever reason, he hasn't caught on to this part and is what we need to currently work on. His therapist/counselor says that it's like he's not aware of his body. He doesn't understand or "get" his body all the time, and so he's out of sync with what comes naturally to most of us. But it doesn't seem to bother Jack much, and I don't think anyone has made fun of him yet at school.

We are trying to get Jack to do t-ball in the spring (this boy can hit a pitch both left-handed and right-handed; amazing hand-eye coordination). Some days he says he'll do it. Other days he's too afraid to try.

Claire Bear is doing well too. We're trying to get her moved out of this fussy phase she's in. She's 3, so it's kind of expected. "Use your words," we tell her. Usually to no avail. But every now and then, she'll say what she's feeling or needing, and there won't be any fussing. Small steps in the right direction! Claire takes ballet and tap once a week (which is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen). She's also started taking gymnastics. MawMaw gets to take Claire to both of these activities and gets to relive my early childhood with Claire (I was a gymnast for 8 years, in case you didn't know). Next time you see her, ask Claire to show you some of the things she's learning in dance class. There's no telling what she'll show you. And just assume that whatever she does show you is not what Mrs. Ericka is actually teaching her.

As for me,I am doing OK. My depression has reared its ugly head a few times in the last several weeks, which makes doing much of anything a real struggle. Motivation and confidence are at all-time lows at times like this. I'm still struggling with what I should be doing with most of my time. I've tried to get back on the house-cleaning train (after enjoying several wonderful years of having a maid every other week). Because who wants to live in a sty? But I keep feeling like there's something more I should/want to be doing. I yearn to have a calling. A passion that I don't feel guilty about doing (not that sewing or crafting is bad... yet I feel guilty when I'm so focused on a project) because it's what God has called me to do. Whether it's "spiritual" or not, who cares. I don't feel very used by God right now. And that makes me sad, lonely, and feeling crummy. Maybe I'll get a job. The extra money would ease our budget

Wow. Did this post just take a nosedive or what? Well, that's a look into my heart. Be careful what you ask for, Hillary!

Fall Monogram Wreath Quasi-Tutorial

2010-10-27T14:35:00.003-05:00

I received a request to go through the steps I took to make the front door wreath in the previous post. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to share of the process (like other so much worthier websites). I assume that nobody reads the dribble that I produce here at Frantlings and did not expect to get a question about the wreath! So here goes...

I've had the wreath for a couple of years now; it never was hung or used. Other than to collect dust. The wreath did that really well. When I saw this post, I ooohed and awwwwwed over the wreath. And since our front door was embarrassingly naked, I figured I had to make one. I did not follow the instructions over at Lil Luna (in fact, I did not even look at the directions), so my instructions will probably look a little different than theirs.

Supplies:

premade wreath (mine measures approx 24" in diameter and undecorated)
artificial/real twigs with berries or other decorative flora (if your wreath isn't already decorated)
wire cutters
hot glue gun (if you need to decorate your plain wreath)
letter (i used a wooden letter from Joann's that's approx 13" tall)
1 sheet of scrapbook paper or wrapping paper big enough to cover your letter
coordinating color of craft paint
paint brush
Mod Podge (I used the matte formula)
floral wire
staple gun

If your wreath is not already decorated, cut and arrange decorative stems (berries, fall leaves, etc) around your wreath to your liking.
Hot glue each piece in place
Paint the edges of your letter with craft paint; also paint a little bit over the edge onto the front of your letter (just in case it shows later)
Apply a thinish coat of Mod Podge (you could also use spray adhesive here) to your letter and place onto the wrong side of your paper. Turn over your letter and smooth out bubbles. Also make sure that the paper is adhering to the entire letter (especially the edges). If it's not, then apply a little more Mod Podge in that area.
Let letter dry according to the package directions (this is important; you don't want lots of bubbling in your paper!)
Turn letter upside down. Cut away excess paper with a craft knife. Take your time! To smooth out any rough edges, you can either lightly sand with a fine sandpaper or use an emery board.
Coat front and sides of letter with a light coat of Mod Podge (you could use a clear urethane type sealer here, but I don't think you'll get as good protection)
Attaching the letter is a little tricky: I stapled a piece of floral wire (the floral wire was probably 14" in length; give yourself plenty of length to play around with) to the top and bottom of the backside of the letter. At the top, I threaded one end of the wire through the middle of the wreath; the other end went around the outside of the wreath. When I got them to meet in the back, I twisted them together. I did the same for the bottom wire. Adjust so the letter so that it's in the middle of the wreath

That's it! It was pretty easy and very inexpensive (especially since I already had the wreath). If you have any questions, please ask away!

Going in Circles

2010-10-18T18:16:00.003-05:00

After perusing some of the websites I listed in one of my last posts, I decided to "steal" an idea and make a front door wreath. I think it turned out pretty cute! Now if the kids would stop slamming the front door and making it fall...

Crafty People, Unite!

2010-10-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

I wish I could spend all of my waking time on craft projects. Not lame projects that involves doilies (although, on occasion, doilies can be used in very chic ways), dolls, and popsicle sticks. But projects that can beautify your home, be given as gifts, or even be sold.

I've stumbled upon some pretty amazing websites. Seriously, where do these people get all these ideas?

How about Orange?
How does She? (under the "make it" section)
Curbly
One Pretty Thing

I am a sucker for good design. Be it fabrics, paper, a logo, whatever. I LOVE things that look sharp. And the above websites have some neat looking things on them. Enjoy!

But Seriously

2010-10-14T07:47:00.002-05:00

OK. So the last post was a joke. But seriously...

Not much has been going on in our house.

Scott has had a fairly busy week with work... trying to get some training information collated and in presentable fashion for a class on Saturday.

Cade has had a normal week of homework and Tae Kwon Do.

Jack has had a normal week of no homework and no Tae Kwon Do (and generally pestering his sister).

Claire has had a normal week of hanging out with a little bit of school sprinkled in. She also took her first gymnastics class Monday and loved it! So we may ditch ballet (it's a little too slow moving for Claire) and go with gymnastics.

I have had a normal week (I was a little down for a few days, but I seem to be popping back out of it).

No news is good news, right?

A Little Update

2010-10-14T07:46:00.001-05:00

A little update on the fam:

scott and I and the kids are fine.

Happy Campers

2010-10-04T17:54:00.004-05:00

We took a huge chance this weekend and went camping with the kids 2.5 hours away from home. I'm talking about 2 fairly high maintenance boys who get scared at the slightest thing (one of whom is not potty trained yet wears underwear anyway) and a drama queen 3 year old who's favorite form of expressing herself when she doesn't get her way is to cry and scream.

And we had a blast! All three kids, individually, said over the weekend that they wanted to live there. The kids were fairly free to wander and explore around our campsite with the other kids that we camped with. It was tremendously successful, and we can't wait to do it again!

Here are some of the highlights and favorite pics from the trip:

a light saber battle

SurvivorMan Jack

Princess Claire Bear

Cade doing either an angry version of the Chicken Dance or flexing. We can't decide.

A sweet picture of Cade loving on his sister.

The extremely tall pine trees of East Texas

Daddy with Claire

Our friend Vivian starting a paddle boat journey with Claire, Jack and her son Marshall.

Cade riding with his friend Gage and Gage's Dad, Scott.

Claire, after her maiden voyage.

Sitting around the campfire

Just Say Sew

2010-09-28T14:42:00.005-05:00

In an attempt to turn over a new leaf, I am buying Halloween costumes now (over a month before said event) rather than procrastinating until the day before our church's carnival and/or trick-or-treating and ending up with really lame costumes.

Claire wants to be a butterfly. This is pretty easy. I bought some pink wings off of the internet. I'll make her a pink tutu out of tulle. I bought antenna at Party City this morning. Put her in a pink leotard and tights, and voila: she's transformed from a cute little girl into a cute little butterfly.

Jack saw a Darth Vader costume at a store and instantly wanted with all his might to be the good ol' sith lord. So that was really easy. Plus it was on sale at the time. Jackpot.

And then there's Cade.

A little backstory is required here: We have been watching Phineas & Ferb (a cartoon on Disney) for several months now. It's a witty show that even Scott & I like to watch with the kids. As far as characters go, there's the brothers Phinease and Ferb, of course. And there's their sister Candice. And of course you can't leave out the evil but perennial failure Dr. Doofenshmirtz. But, by far, the kids' favorite character on the show is the family's pet platypus. Yes, the family has a pet platypus. Perry is his name.

Perry is not your ordinary platypus. He is actually a secret agent living out a "normal" existence with Phineas and Ferb's family when he's not on assignment. But when he gets the word that his assistance is needed, out comes the fedora and Perry is now Agent P.

So this is what Cade wants to be for Halloween: A secret agent platypus.

I briefly looked online, but couldn't find a turquoise platypus costume. What gives? So I had to switch gears and come up with one on my own. Because [insert sarcastic voice here] I have free time aplenty.

I was able to find someone else who has traveled this egg-laying-mammal road before and was able to pick up some pointers. But since I couldn't find any plain turquoise sweats, I am going to have to make them.

The pattern I'm using makes the boy blue pajamas in the picture below. I'll freehand a hood to attach to it.

Add the brown fedora that's already purchased, some orange feet made out of craft foam to go atop his tennis shoes, an orange bill that will fit over his mouth, and a beaver-looking tail (that reminds me... I still need to purchase fabric for the tail!), and voila. A more-complicated-than-mom-wanted costume that will transform Cade into Agent P.

First Day of School

2010-09-27T17:44:00.002-05:00

Today was Jack's first day of kindergarten. And lest I make you wait to the end of the post to see how things turned out... he had a FANTASTIC day! He is excited about school and wants to go back! Now I'm not naive; tomorrow could be a bad day and he may not want to go back. But today, we are celebrating that Jack had a good day.

Tears for Pee

2010-09-23T14:50:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I took Jack Jack up to his new elementary school to meet with the school counselor and get a tour of the school (this was more for Jack's sake, since Cade already attends this school and I"m vaguely familiar with it). It could not have gone better!

Jack loved the kindergarten area, especially the centers area and did not want to leave. He wanted to stay and play. This was such a fantastic reaction! I had expected him to be anywhere from indifferent to intolerant of the tour, especially the kindergarten area. But this is not at all what I saw. Jack was smiling, looking around, and playing with some of the things at the centers (cash registers, realistic looking food, etc).

We finished the tour and decided to check to see if the 2nd grade teachers needed any help with making copies. No, no help was needed. But then Jack said that he was getting cold, which is a signal that he is about to go to the bathroom.

I quickly found the bathrooms but then just as quickly realized he'd have to go in by himself. I couldn't take him into the girls restroom, because there could be girls his age in there. And I couldn't go into the boys' restroom; that would be inappropriate. So I told him he had to go in by himself and pee. AND GUESS WHAT?

HE DID! He seemed particularly excited about peeing in the little urinal (I had the door cracked open so I could hear him and he could hear me). I couldn't believe it. I almost started crying, I was so proud of him. Oh who am I kidding. I did cry a little.

Do you realize that this episode was unheard of just 5 months ago? He was still in pull-ups then. We couldn't put underwear on him without a physical fight and lots of tears and hysteria. Forget about getting him to sit on the potty. God has helped him grow up a LOT in the past five months. We've made great strides. HUGE developments. Praise Him!

Jack starts school Monday. I'm still expecting some transition issues but I am much more confident because of our experience at school today.

Pix of the Curtains

2010-09-22T15:48:00.003-05:00

As promised, here are pix of the curtains we hung on the back patio. I know there's a lot of "junk" on the patio; it's not an exceedingly pretty patio yet. It takes baby steps, right?

Pictures don't do the curtains justice. They really add a lot to the patio and soften it up. We've also planted a few trees in the backyard as well as relocating two crape myrtles from the front yard to the back. That has also softened up the backyard view as well. It's a work in progress!

Drilling a Hole in Brick

2010-09-22T07:59:00.002-05:00

This is a slight departure from the escapades of family life...

I was charged with drilling 6 holes in brick to put in hooks that would act as curtain tie backs for the curtains we hung around the patio. I knew that I needed to use a masonry bit for the job. I also knew that it would be best if I had a hammer drill (which I didn't have). But I also reasoned that it could be done with a regular corded drill.

I was correct on all those assumptions. What I didn't factor in was keeping the bit and the brick cool as I drilled. I went through 2 bits before getting the sage advice to squirt water where I was drilling to help keep the bit and the brick cool. Keeping things cool allowed the bit to dig into the brick and actually make progress. What a difference that made! So rather than taking 45 minutes to drill a hole (and use up a bit), it took 5 minutes tops per hole. Success!

I will post pics of the curtains later today. It adds some softness to the patio and makes it look inviting!

An Answer. But is it Our Final Answer?

2010-09-20T16:30:00.001-05:00

Scott and I have been sleeping on the decision regarding Jack's schooling. I think we have come to a decision.

It has become apparent to me that I am not going to be able to provide the amount of DAILY social opportunities that the therapist would like Jack to have while homeschooling him. I have sought out different playgroups, and there seems to be two problems with them (well, not with the playgroups, but with the opportunity).

One problem is that most of the kids tend to be young; they are barely Jack's age or younger. One homeschool playgroup seemed to be used as a general playgroup, with the moms not really interested in homeschooling, or they were planning on homeschooling but weren't there age-wise. The second problem I found with the homeschool playgroups is that I am there. And if I'm present, then Jack doesn't leave my side if there are more than four kids in attendance. Which defeats the whole purpose of taking him to a playgroup. To really get Jack out of his comfort zone and push him to deal with his anxieties, he needs more interaction without me present. And there doesn't seem to be many options other than a traditional school setting.

The thought of sending Jack to an all day kindergarten class is terrifying. This is going to be difficult for him AND us. The counselor told us to give it a good five weeks before determining if it's working or helping Jack. Five weeks is a long time for both kid and parents to be potentially miserable! But God knows that it can be different. It may not be as difficult as I'm expecting. Jack may adjust well and like it. I'll just need to trust the Lord that we are making the right decision for now. Later, He may have us take a different direction (like bringing him back home).

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us while we have been pondering this decision. It may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me, it's a pretty big deal. We are risking the progress we've made with Jack. We are risking Jack having a very negative attitude toward school and learning. We are risking Jack shutting down emotionally because of the stress. We are risking incidentally humiliating Jack (his potty issues and anxieties).

But we need to strike while the iron is hot (while Jack is young and still malleable). We need to start seeing some progress in the social arena soon or it will be harder to combat. So off to school he'll go.

I've put a call into the counselor at the school so that we (Jack and I) can walk around the kindergarten area while school is going on so that Jack can see what school will be like. Then the classroom will be familiar to him when he starts, presumably, next week.

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

Funny Jack Story

2010-09-15T16:35:00.004-05:00

Jack had a little accident in his pants this afternoon. He's been doing pretty well recently, so this is the first accident I've had to clean up in a while. When I was preparing to de-pants and clean him, Jack looked at me and said,

"Well, at least God paid the penalty for our sins."

Snappy Pickles

2010-09-15T07:48:00.003-05:00

a new phrase has been born in our household: snappy pickles. it's the latest invention by Jack, used for when something doesn't go one's way. "Oh, snappy pickles!"

The phrase is copyrighted and trademarked. Please use at your own discretion.

School. I Pity the Fool

2010-09-14T08:07:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to let you know that school is going great! Cade is enjoying 2nd grade and is turning out to be a fantastic speller. He's also the Star Student of the Week in his class which is exciting!

Jack continues to do well is his school as well. We've begun the more academic portion of our studies; this week we're on the letter "s" and studying the sun. We're also studying how Jesus is the Light of the world.

Claire began mother's day out last week and is loving her school. Her best friend from last year is sadly not in her class this year. So I'm looking forward to hearing who she labels as her good friend for this year.

Neither Scott or I are in school right now (not including the School of Hard Knocks). Scott will eventually be taking classes at Dallas Theological Seminary, but we're unsure of when he'll start.

That is all for now. Enjoy the cooler weather (after 100+ degree days, 90 feels like a walk in the park). Stay thirst, my friends.

We Must Never Forget

2010-09-11T09:52:00.003-05:00

Round 1. Still No Decision

2010-09-10T13:17:00.003-05:00

We still haven't made a decision on the immediate future of Jack's schooling. We've decided to try and put off the decision for at least a week. We were feeling an irrational pressure to make a decision quick so that he could start at the local school next Monday. But we needn't be pressured into making the decision right this instant. There is nothing magical about Jack starting public school this coming Monday.

We are so blessed. We have a wonderful network of friends here that are a huge support to us. That was evident after I posted my last post (discussing the current predicament of Jack's schooling). Phone calls, emails, and Facebook messages came out of the woodwork with encouraging words, suggestions, and love. This life was not meant to be lived in isolation but in community. And I am so thankful that we are in a loving community!

So a SHOUT OUT to all of you who have offered kind words. I'll respond to all the messages. I promise!

Currently we are trying to weigh providing opportunities through playgroups and classes with putting Jack in public school. There are homeschool playgroups out there; whether or not they'll fit into our schedule or we like the parents & kids there will be another question.

W don't see public school as evil. Not at all. Cade goes to public school (at least for the time being). We just don't think it's the best education option out there. The school teachers are bound by the TAKS test and have to teach according to what will be on the test. Add to that the wretched student teacher ration of 22:1, and you have the opposite of an ideal learning environment. At home, there's a student teacher ration of 1:1 (that could go all the way up to 3:1 if I end up homeschooling all the kids) which means we can go however slow or fast we need to, depending on the child's abilities. We can also choose what we teach our kids, including studying God and a Christian worldview. Public school just isn't able to compete with that.

But the thought of putting Jack in public school is just frightening to me. I'm not an overly protective parent. I don't hover over them, making sure they never get hurt or have disappointments. But with Jack, I feel the need to be protective because he's got "special needs". He's physically behind his peers. He stutters and prolongates his words, which makes him difficult to understand sometimes. He's also got the potty training issue (the best way I can describe this issue is that he is unfamiliar with his body). And then there's the overwhelming anxiety that he deals with.

I don't want Jack to be made fun of. I don't want him to shut down and stop talking. I don't want him to feel like he is inferior because he sometimes can't physically keep up or do what other peers are doing.

But his therapist thinks that the peer pressure will be good for him. It will show him that certain behaviors aren't acceptable (peeing in your pants, for example). But there's those other things (the stuttering, being physically delayed, etc.) that he can't control. He can't do anything about those things, and I don't want him to be laughed at because of those problems. But I guess that's part of life, right? Having to deal with what other say to you, good or bad.

I am planning on taking Jack up to Cade's school next week and walking him around the kindergarten area. I want him to be able to see the rooms and the grade area in case we do decide to enroll him. There will be less unknowns if he at least knows where he'll be all day.

Please be in prayer with us. We seek God's wisdom (which will be given to us if we ask for it - James 1:5) and His desire.

The more things change...

2010-09-08T13:58:00.001-05:00

Scott and I met with Jack's psychologist today. And we now have a decision to make.

It appears that keeping Jack out of school (where he would be around other kids all day, every day) and at home may not have been a good idea. Mrs. Katherine thinks that Jack needs more opportunities to socialize and interact with kids his own age or older (he still parallel plays at the age of 5 rather than interacting a bunch with other kids) to help with his development and his anxiety.

Currently, Jack has two, sometimes three, times a week that he is with other kids (other than his siblings of course). And those times are for 1.5-2 hours each. Contrast that amount of time with being in school everyday (approx 7 hours, 5 days a week).

*sigh*

We need to decide whether to continue homeschooling Jack or place him in public school.

I've enjoyed homeschooling Jack and was looking forward to getting into some of the more academic studies with Jack next week. To be honest, I have missed my "me" time that I was going to get on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Claire goes to school. It would be nice to have that time again.

We just want to make the best choice for Jack. It appears that sending him to school is the best choice. Or is it?

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

I Smell Football

2010-09-04T21:20:00.002-05:00

Ahhhh. It's that time of year again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The kids have gone back to school. And yeah, yeah, yeah. The 100+ degree days are most probably behind us. (can I get an "amen" on both of those accounts!?!) But that's not what I'm talking about.

Are you ready for some football?

Today marks the first Saturday of college football. And oh does it feel good to have ESPN on all day and have football in the background at our house. Not to mention the Horns won their first game, and we got to see Garrett Gilbert at the helm (I think he'll do quite well this year!)

But geez. We've got to be quick with the remote. I can't believe some of the ads they allow on TV during the day. I mean, we're trying to brainwash our children (like any good parent) into adoring the Longhorns. And we've got to dodge erectile dysfunction commercials. And beer commercials where scantily clad women are seductively trying to entice you to buy their beverage. And previews of the latest M. Night Shamalyan movie. (I'm pretty sure I just misspelled his name) Thankfully we have DVR we can pause and then fast forward through the offensive ads. But we have to really be on our guard when we've got the TV on. It's just ridiculous!

OK. I'm off the soap box now. What was the purpose of this post? Oh yeah. A violent sport where men are fighting over an oblong ball. Oh how I love thee!

School

2010-09-01T09:05:00.001-05:00

Claire joined Jack and I this morning at school. Jack was working on making a "3" because we were studying the third day of creation.

Claire? She was drawing a picture of me.

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

General craziness

2010-09-01T08:13:00.001-05:00

I came upstairs yesterday to find the following:

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

Comments, Commence!

2010-08-31T16:36:00.002-05:00

I have decided to lift the requirement to log-in with a Google ID in order to leave a comment on this blog. I know there are several of you out there who have wanted to and tried to comment, but since you didn't have a Google ID, were not able to. I'm guessing that my blog is going to go under the radar of any kind of spam-bot. Let's face it: "Frantlings" already sounds like spam, right?

So comment away, my friends, if you feel like it. Thanks Rachel (Mrs. Phelps, if you will) for your sweet comment on my last post!!

Did We Actually Do School?

2010-08-30T12:46:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of homeschooling. And it was over in a flash. To be more precise, it took more like 30 minutes. But at the end, I was kind of wondering if we really did school. Could we really have done it that quickly! Why, yes. Yes we did.

We first read in Genesis 1 about the creation of light and dark on the first day. Then Jack colored and cut out a number "1" and we put it on a big piece of green paper. Each day (for the next 7 school days), we'll cut out the creation number of the day and put it on this paper. Then we went over the alphabet (which Jack was able to sing to me while pointing to each letter) and "introduced" briefly two letters (which he already knew). After that, we made a page to go in our creation book. Jack colored one side of a white paper dark and the other side light (he chose yellow). Each day (for the next 7 days) we'll color a picture of what God created that day and make our own creation book when we're all done. Last, we sang the B-I-B-L-E song.

And that was it!

No learning to stand in line. No learning how to walk quietly down a hall. No learning where the backpacks go. No learning how to raise your hand when you want to speak. All of which Jack already knows how to do. So when you get that stuff out of the way, I guess kindergarten doesn't take up too much time!

Looking forward to being with Jack this year. I'm really looking forward to him learning how to read. I can't wait to see the proverbial light bulb go off in his head when he gets reading.

Yea! We made it through our first day with no tears (from Mommy or Jack)!

Le Homeschool Room

2010-08-25T10:38:00.004-05:00

I've been working the past few weeks on getting the homeschool room together. Jack and I start on Monday, and I wanted to have everything organized before we started so that I could concentrate on the job at hand rather than frantically trying to find stuff!

The room we chose for the school room is a little quirky. It's only 9.5' by 5.5'. We're not sure what the original purpose of this alcove-type room. The former owner (and builder of the house) mentioned that it was an optional wet bar area for upstairs. But then I heard a neighbor say that, in the model home with this same floor plan, there was a built in desk. So it was either supposed to be a wet bar or an office. Either way, it's an awkward room because there's not much you can do with it. The former owner had a treadmill in there, which was a pretty nice use of the space.

I started by painting the walls a dusty blue. The pictures make it look baby blue. But the color has quite a bit of gray in it. I decided to accessorize with a limey green, orange, and white.

After painting, I covered some wood letters with scrapbook paper and mounted those on the wall.

I also mounted a file folder holder from IKEA.

Next, I mounted what is essentially a curtain rod. But it's made of wire with a turnbuckle and has little clips for hanging. So I'll use it to display Jack & Claire's work.

Then I put together a desk from IKEA. It's long enough for the three of us to all sit together and work. I, of course, will be sitting between Jack & Claire so that it's harder for them to talk to each other, thus hopefully avoiding fights, bickering, and general tomfoolery. The chairs and lamp are from Target.

I also hung a few numbers over the light switch

My Mom had an armoire that my Dad had loved but that she wasn't a big fan of. Guess what colors are in it? Green and orange, thank you very much. So it sits right outside the room in the hallway (it's a wide hallway) and stores curriculum and manipulatives.

And voila. We now have a homeschool room that I won't be opposed to sitting in for an hour or two a day. I'm so pleased with it. It makes me happy to walk past it. So cute!

2010-08-22T15:53:00.001-05:00

We made it. Through all three months. Alive. All of us. Summer is over. Can I hear a hallelujah?

Cade started his new school yesterday and loves it so far! What a blessing; I was worried that he would be worried about not knowing anyone or how to get around the school. Hmmm. Guess worrying runs in the family. But so far things are going well. And his teacher is a Christian (who incidentally visited our church this past Sunday when Scott did announcements at the beginning of the service!) . AND she is also a LONGHORN ! Thank you God for giving us Mrs McCunniff!

Jack and I will start homeschool next Monday. I wanted to get a week of Cade's school under our collective belt before I started on this new journey with Jack (and Claire in tow).

Claire will start back at Mother's Day Out in a few weeks. That will be lots of fun for her. She will also start a ballet class on Monday mornings which has her completely excited. She keeps talking about being a ballerina and being so excited. So cute to see her so excited about something!

I will post pics of the kids and the homeschool room (which is just as cute as it can be) when I get off my lazy rear and take pictures. The heat has me motivated to do nothing currently but sweat. And that's more of an involuntary reaction anyway. So basically I'm not motivated at all.

But that's another post.

Change

2010-08-17T10:39:00.003-05:00

Hello to all 4 readers of my blog! Greetings and salutations. I apologize that it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. :)

There are some pretty big changes around the Stonehouse house. Most notably, Scott has a new job. Not only a new job, but a new career to boot!

Back at the beginning of June, the senior pastor at our church made breakfast plans with Scott. My intuition said that something was up, but Scott dismissed it as Bill just wanting to simply have breakfast with him. Later that morning, Scott called from work. I asked how his breakfast with Bill had gone. He said it was good. I asked if Bill had wanted to talk to him about anything in particular, and he said yes. Scott said, "Bill wants us to think about me going on staff at Woodcreek." "He WHAT???" was my response.

That started a month long conversation with Bill and the elders about a new position they were forming. And the more we thought about it (after the initial shock wore off), we recognized the ways that God had been training Scott for this position. We also saw the little changes that God allowed us to make in order to make this career move possible. Whoa!

And so we took the position. And as of August 1st, Scott was no longer an employee of AT&T. AT&T was wonderful to us, and we love the people Scott worked with. They (thanks to Amy Miller) gave Scott a wonderful sendoff.

Scott is now the Director of Adult Ministries at our church. He oversees all the ministries related to adults: small groups, 20s, men's and eventually women's ministires, etc. He will eventually go to seminary (DTS) part time to get his Masters degree (which he is so excited about). He will then be considered the Pastor of Adult Ministries. And Scott couldn't be happier. He loves the people he works with, which isn't too much of a change since he loved the AT&T co-workers too. But now his work has significance. Eternal significance. And he's leading, training, and inspiring people, which is what he LOVES to do and is good at. He looks forward to work and has had an excellent first two weeks.

P90X

2010-08-02T21:51:00.002-05:00

You may have seen an infomercial for it on TV. You may have heard co-workers talking about it. It's P90X. Also know as the biggest butt kickin' in the world.

I've really let myself go over the years. I used to be very trim and athletic. And then I had kids. But it wasn't the pregnancies that packed on the pounds. Oh noooo. I usually lost most of my baby weight pretty quickly and easily. It was the stressed-induced eating that did me in. If I was anxious, I'd head to the pantry. Nervous? I'd head to the fridge. So I now find myself waaaaay overweight, out of shape, and fairly miserable.

Scott and I decided a couple of months ago to go to the gym 30 days in a row. We figured that we'd start a habit by doing that. We did it (OK fine. So I didn't go a few times. But I went a lot!). But it didn't stick. AND, the little I was working out while I was there wasn't enough to encourage me to keep going. It would have been a LONG time before I saw any results. And I needed to see results to continue.

And then I started hearing about P90X. Friends were mentioning it on Facebook. And it seemed pretty intense. Intense is what I needed. Focused intensity that would allow me to see results quicker.

So I scoured Craig's List and found P90X for half the retail price. And I purchased it. And then it sat for a month in my living room. But wait! Before you judge... I have a good reason. I knew that we were going to Austin, and I didn't want to do P90X on my vacation, and I didn't want to skip a week. So I delayed my training so that I could go full steam ahead and not look back.

I did the first day of P90X this evening. It was a back/chest and abs work out.

My prediction is that I will not have the use of my upper body tomorrow.

VBS -- Bring it!

2010-07-27T14:25:00.002-05:00

This week is VBS at our church. VBS is Vacation Bible School. It's basically a week-long time for kids to come to church, learn about Jesus, play games, make crafts, and wear the adults out. Today was my first day to be there (kids' dental appts kept us away yesterday). And boy am I beat! I'm not sure what it is about VBS that is soooo tiring. But for all the exhaustion I feel right now, it's so worth it.

Once again, I get to be with 4th graders. And they are just so neat! They're old enough to have conversations with, but still young enough to not have attitudes. Not that many of the teenagers at our church do have attitudes. Quite the contrary! But, you know what I'm trying to say, right? And not all of them know about Jesus. Or get the concept of "eternity". Being apart of the light bulb turning on (hopefully) is exciting. I pray that I won't be a stumbling block to these kids!

Honey, We Now Have the Kids Again

2010-07-22T22:09:00.003-05:00

Scott and I spent three glorious days in Austin. We:

played pool at the Union
ate at Texadelphia, DoubleDave's, and Trudys
toured the state capitol
frolicked (well, we walked) in the Botanical Gardens
shopped at the Co-op
wandered around campus (we lingered at the LBJ fountain and main mall)
went to a Round Rock Express game with Hillary Williams

We did quite a bit while we were there! And of course we stayed in the fabulous AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center. The room, service, and view were excellent. We'd definitely stay there again. Although the bathroom area was a little cramped. In order to stand in the bathroom and open the shower door, you had to contort your body in such a way that Cirque de Solei would be proud.

We had just landed at our next hotel destination: Lakeway Spa & Resort. And then we got "the phonecall". Jack wasn't doing well at all and had been in some significant pain all that day. Scott's parents tried administering the enema to Jack but with no success. They were about to take him to the hospital (and in fact were already outside the hospital when they called us), but decided not to after talking with an ER doctor. The doctor informed my in-laws that they couldn't just give Jack an enema without thoroughly checking him out and doing all kinds of tests on him to determine what the problem was. They couldn't just take my in-law's word for it. And who wants to subject their already traumatized child to more medical testing when you know what the problem is?!?

So after being in our new hotel room for 2 hours, we checked out and headed up to Missouri. Graciously, the hotel didn't charge us for using the room for a few hours (it wasn't an hourly establishment, by the way; but we figured they'd at least charge us for that night since we'd already been in the room for a while)

By the time we got up to Missouri, it was 3 AM. But I'm proud to report, now that we're all back home, that Jack is doing well.

I can't lie; these medical issues have been just a little stressful. I'm looking forward to when this is all behind us (no pun intended... really)

Honey, Where are the Kids?

2010-07-18T11:30:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, the whole family trekked up to central Oklahoma to meet Scott's parents and hand the kids off to them. Those little dears (my in-laws) are going to have all three kids for an entire week. [insert evil, menacing laugh here]. They don't know what they're getting in to. I thought of them this morning as Scott & I easily and quickly prepared for church. A laughed to myself at the thought of Rick & Lin getting our high-maintenance kids ready for church...

So Scott & I have the week "off" as parents. We are going to Austin for 4 days. Four glorious days. I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. Austin is my home away from home. I really wanted to move there a year or two ago, and we seriously talked about the idea. But in the end, home is where you make it. And this is our home. So Austin will have to wait for weekends and weeks like this one, where we can visit her and relish in her beautiful scenery. God sure did make it pretty there.

We'll first stay at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center for two days. We'll have a tower view that would knock your socks off. Then we'll go for two days to Lakeway Resort & Spa, which is right on Lake Travis. We don't have a whole bunch planned for our trip to Austin. Here are several things we are planning to do:

visit with Professor Joe Culver (Jack's middle name is Culver, named after one of our favorite professors) and give him a picture of Jack Jack
go see a Round Rock Express game with Miss Hillary Williams.
eat at some of our favorite restaurants like Trudys.

This is a much much needed rest and vacation. I am so thankful to God for providing it!

I Think I'm Becoming One of THOSE Moms...

2010-07-16T20:41:00.002-05:00

Ever since we decided to homeschool Jack in the Fall, I have been ravenous for material on the subject. I've gone to the library several times, I've ordered a couple of things that I couldn't get at the library, and I've been scanning homeschooling websites. All in all, I"m obsessed.

This sort of things tends to happen when I get introduced to a new subject. My interest gets piqued, and then I'm off to the races. Trying to get my hands on anything and everything about the subject.

So I hope I'm not going to become one of those moms who gush and gush and gush about homeschooling and tell everyone why they should be doing it too. May the Lord keep me humble, graceful, and understanding, please!

All that to say this: if you haven't thought about homeschooling, you should. If you think you can't, I bet you really can.

Now if I can convince myself that I can do this... (that is not a plea for confidence boosting comments. that is just honesty talking!)

You're Gonna What?!?

2010-07-10T19:44:00.005-05:00

I've always said that I wouldn't do it. I've always said that I couldn't do it. I admired people that did it. But it wasn't for me. No way could I handle it.

Until now.

Instead of sending Jack to kindergarten this fall (he just turned 5 a few weeks ago), I will be homeschooling him. Homeschooling. Did you hear that? Now pick yourself up off the floor and continue reading.

It's become more and more apparent that our sweet Jack Jack just isn't ready for kindergarten. There's the whole potty training issue (we're still doing a load of laundry a day that is just Jack's wet clothes). But aside from that, he's not emotionally or physically up to speed. We didn't notice it at first, but then as I saw Jack around more 5 year olds, I noticed that he was... different.

The first option I explored was private kindergarten. But due to the potty training issue, I could not find a school that would accept him. Which is totally understandable. But it stunk.

The second option I explored was sending him back to his Mother's Day Out program. The wonderful director there said that they would take him back for another year. But seeing as Jack already knew all of his letters and their sounds before the beginning of last year... well, it would just be a long, boring repeat of stuff he already knew.

The third option, and the only one left really, was homeschooling. I have several good friends that homeschool, and they were very encouraging to me. They moved me from, "There's no way I can do that!" to "Well, maybe I can try it" to "I'm gonna homeschool!".

I still can't believe those words are coming out of my mouth. There are moments when I'm elated that we are going down this road. And there are moments when I wonder what in the world I've gotten myself into.

A Great Jack Pic

2010-07-06T11:09:00.002-05:00

I can't take credit for this great picture. The carpenter who worked on a cabinet for us took this and then sent it to me. Love it!

Birthday Mania

2010-06-25T10:01:00.002-05:00

We have a clumping problem in our household. No, I'm not talking about rice. I'm talking about birthdays. Within the span of two weeks in March/April, we have an anniversary, Scott's birthday, my birthday, and Cade's birthday. And then here at the end of June, we have Jack's birthday followed the next day by Claire's birthday.

We celebrated Jack's 5th birthday yesterday (can't believe he's 5!!) and are celebrating Claire Bear's 3rd birthday today (can't believe our baby is 3!). The juxtaposition of the birthdays makes for a procrastinator's nightmare. I still have yet to buy either of them their birthday presents. And since I scheduled their birthday parties but forgot to actually tell the invitees about the parties, the soirees are rescheduled for next weekend. *sigh* I really need to get my junk together.

The summer is going fairly well. Especially compared to my freakish nightmares of how I thought things would go. And here we are already at the end of June. Praise God! I think we might just make it this time!

Is Summer Over Yet?

2010-06-10T16:03:00.002-05:00

We're about to finish the first week of summer vacation. Is summer over yet?

The kids have already watched the amount of TV I had allotted for the entire summer. Just in the last 4 days. Oh boy. This is going to be a long summer. It's already getting so hot outside, that, short of wanting to have a heat stroke, we aren't too motivated to go play outside. And doing crafts with an almost 3 year old around is just asking for trouble. And a huge mess.

Currently, Cade is a sick blob on the couch. I'm betting on strep throat... but we shall see in the morning at Dr. Mathieu's office. Since he gets TV time, the other two are glue too. Oh well. At least it gives me some alone time to get some things done.

Yo Gabba Gabba it is! That DJ Lance sure is creepy...

Kid Pics

2010-05-25T17:16:00.001-05:00

We were hanging outside in the backyard this past weekend, and I got a few shots of the kids. Cade is a hard one to photograph because he NEVER has a normal smile on his face. So I think I got one of him talking, but it looks as if he's trying to smile. *sigh* There goes my shot as a professional photographer!

Cade - 7

Jack - almost 5

Claire - almost 3

Respect the Wagon -- the Swagger Wagon

2010-05-21T18:02:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you've probably seen this floating around Facebook. But I just had to post it because it's so dang funny.
Watch this and enjoy.

Here are the lyrics if you are hearing impaired or can't stand rap:

[INTRO MOM AND DAD]

Yeah

This one goes out to all you minivan families out there.
Sienna SE...in the house.
Where my mother/fathers at?
Where my kids at?

Where my kids at?
Where my kids at?
Where my kids at?
Where my kids at?
Where my kids at?

No, seriously honey where are the kids?
They're right there, see?
Oh, cool beans.

[VERSE DAD]
I roll hard through the streets and the cul-de-sacs,
Proud parent of an honor roll student, Jack.
I got a swing in the front, a tree house in the back,
My #1 Dad mug says, Yeah, Im the Mack.

[VERSE MOM]
I'm the world's best nurse when my kids get sick,
I make a mean gel-mold, I perfected my tricks,
Back when I used to party as a college chick.
Now I'm cruising to their playdates lookin' all slick...

[CHROUS]
In my Swagger Wagon,
Yeah, the Swagger Wagon,
It's the Swagger Wagon,
I got the pride in my ride.
In my Swagger Wagon,
Yeah, the Swagger Wagon,
It's the Swagger Wagon.

[VERSE DAD]

Check it...

I love hangin' with my daughter sippin' tea, keep my pinky up,
All the drawings on my fridge sport an A+.
I'm an awesome parent, (Right!) and it's apparent, (True!)
And in this house there's no mother/father swearin'.

[VERSE MOM]
Straight owning bake sales with my cupcake skills,
I'm better with the money, so I handle the bills,
And I always buy in bulk, ain't afraid of no spills.
Every Mother's Day proves...I'm kind of a big deal.

Daughter: Mommy, I need to go potty.

Bring the beat back, 'cause, yo, I got more to say,
You know I'm always front and center at the school play.
I kiss their boo-boos, clean doggie doo-doos,
Cut the crust off of PB&Js, chill the Yoo-hoos.

[VERSE DAD]

Singin' "Farmer in the Dell" in perfect harmony,
When I'm rollin' with my posse in the HOV.
We rock the SE, not an SUV,
And it's true, if I were you, I'd be jealous of me...

[CHORUS]

Smooth Moves

2010-05-15T19:53:00.002-05:00

The following is an update email I sent out to those for whom I had correct addresses (I almost typed that with a dangling participle. Yikes!):

Hi Friends-

You're receiving this update email because you are a part of Jack's life and have been concerned and/or praying for him over the last couple of months. I wanted to let all of you know what we've found out and what the future holds for sweet Jack.

We Know What's Wrong
Jack's colon is stretched out (diameter-wise) 2.5 times as wide as it should be. This makes it darn near impossible to poop normally. The colon got stretched out because Jack was holding his stool. A lot of it!

How it Got That Way
After quite a few tests, there seems to be no physical reason why Jack was holding his stool. The GI doc has been able to rule out quite a few diseases, physical abnormalities, and congenital birth defects. The reasoning behind the holding appears to be behavioral. For whatever reason, Jack has been purposefully holding his stool (which stretched out the colon)

So What Do We Do Now?
The doctor is confident that Jack's colon will go back down to normal size (and have it's motility/squeezing functionality back) if we can keep him "cleaned out." So we're going to be giving him stimulants like Ex-Lax to help encourage those muscles to push out the stool. If that doesn't work, then we'll be continuing to give Jack enemas every couple of days to keep him cleaned out (not fun).

And If That Doesn't Work?
A second option, if the above doesn't work, is to use Botox on his sphincter muscle to help him relax. Guess that would make his bum look younger?!? This would give him 6-8 weeks of relaxation down there to help ease things out.

And If We Had To Go To Extremes?
Our third and highly unlikely option is to have a colostomy bag outside of his body to bypass the colon and let it 'heal'. Again, this is highly unlikely, but it is an option if we can't get this under control.

Prayer Requests
pain -- that it would go away or decrease. Jack still has painful episodes every 30 minutes to two hours during the day. They can be quite painful. Thankfully, since his colonoscopy, he's been sleeping through the night without pain.
colon -- that it would get back down to normal size and have it's functionality (squeezing) back
being regular -- that Jack would be able to, um, poop regularly and not hold it.
being regular -- Jack mentioned the other day that he wants to just be a regular kid again. I'm sure its embarrassing for him (when he yells and screams in pain), and he wants to be normal
Thank you for being a part of our lives, and thank you for your prayers. If any other major developments erupt, I'll let you know. God is good. All the time. And He's overseeing this process and knows what will happen in His time.

The "No Update" Update

2010-05-06T15:22:00.003-05:00

The MRI has been rescheduled, rescheduled, and rescheduled again due to our insurance company needing proof that the MRI was necessary. And then, on Wednesday, we finally had our appointment to do the MRI. We arrived and promptly decided that there was no way Jack could do it. We're not sure how it slipped past the Gi doc, the nurse, and the MRI clinic that a 4 year old cannot lay still for 45 minutes without being unconscious. So we've rescheduled the MRI for tomorrow morning at the hospital where they can knock Jack out and do the MRI.

Other than that, status quo. Jack still has painful episodes that we can't do much about. We're giving him a restricted diet to help relieve some of the gas pain, and we're giving him enemas every three days to help him stay cleaned out.

One funny story that has come out of all this:

One of the first times we were administering the enema to Jack, he was rightfully screaming and mad that we were "assaulting" him the way we were. I was holding Jack down, and Scott was, ahem, doing the deed. In the middle of his screams to "please stop", Jack yelled at us that MawMaw should give us both spankings.

It did provide some comic relief to the situation, although the experience was terrible. We're looking forward to never having to give Jack enemas again. I'm praying that he won't remember any of this in a few years...

Jack Mini Update

2010-04-28T19:23:00.002-05:00

Heard back on the pathology reports from last week's endoscopy and colonoscopy: no inflammation and no celiac disease. Which is great news!

An MRI on Jack's lower back is scheduled for Friday to rule out any pinched nerves or tethered cord. Next week, we'll meet with the GI doctor again to go over the MRI results and talk about going to a colon motility specialist (someone who will oversee and assist with getting Jack's colon back to a normal diameter).

There does not appear to be a short easy fix to all of this. *sigh* And the GI doctor said that there's not much we can do to help with Jack's pain. Which is incredibly disappointing and frustrating. I'm going to try and assimilate Jack back into his regular routine (mother's day out, church, etc), but he is very hesitant. He's quite aware of the screaming and yelling he lets out when he's having a pain episode.

Scoping Out the Possibilities

2010-04-22T12:29:00.003-05:00

We finally have some answers on why Jack's been hurting. Well, sort of. Science isn't an exact science, is it?

Jack had an endoscopy and colonoscopy done this morning. [sidenote: the prep for these tests was NOT fun] The doctor said that there are no abnormalities or obstructions. Which is good news!

IT'S ABOUT TO GET GRAPHIC: QUIT READING NOW IF POO TALK MAKES YOU QUEASY

The doctor did say, however, that as soon as Jack was knocked out for the procedures, he let go of so much urine and stool that they probably cleaned up a quart. Wow. All that has been sitting inside Jack for a long time. No wonder he was in dire straits with gas pain!

We're not sure how all this began. Jack could have been acting like a "bonehead" (the doctor's term, not mine) and decided to hold his stool, which is the likely culprit. Or, his sensory integration issues could mean that the nerves in his intestines and colon weren't transmitting to his brain correctly and subsequently, the muscles in those organs weren't working properly to expel the stool out of his body. Regardless of how this all started, this problem remains: his colon is dilated way out of whack (from storing stool in it).

Next steps?

possibly doing an MRI on his lower back to make sure there isn't a pinched nerve or something similar that is causing his intestines and colon muscles to function properly.
seeing a colon mobility specialist (? i think i got that name right) regarding getting his colon back to normal size and elasticity
seeing a neurologist again regarding his brain's ability to communicate with the nerves in his intestines & colon.

For now, Jack is completely cleaned out and shouldn't be having any cramping for a while. Enemas will be a regular (pun intended) part of our routine for the coming weeks. Going to try and not let him get so clogged up. His diet will continue to be limited (no dairy and no fructose corn syrup, which is in EVERYTHING). Continued prayer is needed to figure out how we can help Jack get back to "normal". This little bubba has been through enough!

Jack Update

2010-04-15T19:19:00.002-05:00

We finally heard back from the GI doctor's office. And the tests done this week on poo samples didn't confirm anything and didn't rule out anything. So the doctor wants to do three more tests.

Monday morning.

We have to go through friday, saturday and sunday with Jack screaming in agony. Yuck. Thankfully it's not a constant pain. But the episodes can happen pretty frequently... and when you're child is screaming and yelling in pain, one time is one time too many.

I will update with more info as we know it.

Happenings

2010-04-14T20:58:00.002-05:00

I've been off the blogging grid for a while. So sorry! Things have been a little hectic around here, to say the least.

HOUSE
Tomorrow we close on our old house. It's bittersweet; we really like that house, and we love the little town we were in. But at the same time, we really like our new house and we're so much closer to church now.

We finally got all of our furniture moved over too. We had left 90% of our furniture at the old house to stage it. So even though we've been in our new digs for well over a month, no. We're not settled! But it gets a little better everyday. We're getting furniture slowly moved into place. We're slowly unpacking boxes. But there's still a lot to sell (mainly Mom's stuff). Let's just say it will be a while before we host any dinner parties.

TRAVEL
Scott was able to book a roundtrip flight to NYC for under $200 and thus was able to visit his brother last weekend. It was Scott's first time in the city, and he had a great time. He got to see quite a bit on his trip: ground zero, wall street (and the NYSE), central park, madison avenue, battery park, grand central station, times square, and Greenwich village. Scott had a good time, but we were sure glad to have him home!

JACK JACK
Our poor little guy. He's been through the wringer over the past several weeks. The drama started months ago, but it didn't get intense until the last 3 weeks. Jack has struggled with constipation for a year and a half. So months ago when he started straining quite a bit, we chalked it up to being plugged up. The episodes began to get more frequent, and then he started to really struggle. Over the last three weeks, Jack has started yelling and screaming in agony as the episodes continue. I took him to a GI doctor that dismissed it as Jack 'holding' it and fighting the sensation his body was communicating.

On a Sunday night, after he had been screaming quite a bit, we took Jack to the ER. Thankfully they took an xray of his tummy, and much to our surprise, he was empty. No blockage. Instead, Jack was FULL of gas. They discharged us and told us to give him Mylicon.

That medicine didn't work, on the screaming and writhing continued. At the second trip to the GI doctor, it was suggested that we take some stool samples and have some tests run. Why yes. Harvesting poop from my middle son was exactly as lovely and enjoyable as you're imagining right now.

A preliminary conversation with the nurse at the GI office suggests that Jack does not have Celiac Disease (where the body is essentially allergic to gluten). But there is definitely some inflammation in there... due to what? We dont' know yet. I'll talk to the doctor in the morning.

In the meantime, until we find out what is causing all of this gas buildup in our little guy, there's not much we can do for Jack. The Mylicon didn't put a dent in the pain. It feels pretty horrible to be helpless to stop your child's intense pain.

So that sums up what's been going on in our household over the past several weeks. Never a dull moment at our circus.

House Update

2010-03-20T14:26:00.001-05:00

We've sold our house! After only 4 days on the market, we received multiple offers and accepted one. WOW! That went by so quickly! Now we have to get through the inspection...

An offer!

2010-03-19T09:51:00.001-05:00

We have an offer (after 2 days on the market)! It's a little too low, so we'll counter probably. But who knows?!? Exciting stuff!

House

2010-03-18T19:33:00.001-05:00

The house is finally on the market! After weeks and many hours, we finally got the house into showable shape. Why did we wait so long to make the house look that good?!?

in a completely unrelated story... We're t chick fil a, and Claire just emerged from te play area and yelled, "I've got to go poop!". Ah. Good times.

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

Whew! I'm Tired!

2010-03-01T12:32:00.002-06:00

It was a busy weekend for our little family: we moved into our new house! It wasn't quite the ginormous move. We're leaving almost all of our furniture at the old house to stage it. So we really just packed our personal belongings and food.

I went back over to the old house this morning to gather a few more odds and ends that don't need to be there, and it was STRANGE walking into our house. Because it wasn't all junked up like it normally is! Normally I have a stack of papers here, a collection of toys I picked up off the floor over there, backpacks and diaper bags slung over there in a heap... and none of that was there this morning. The house actually looked... good! It's amazing what your house can look like if you can declutter (and if you don't have kids).

The latest

2010-02-22T01:06:00.002-06:00

We've been teaching the kids to share. Because sharing is good. Except in the case of germs. Which the kids have been obediently sharing. *sigh*

The cold bug took out Scott toward the end of last week, and it got me today. Hopefully the sickness and sniveling is over. The boys remain largely unscathed. Claire has a lingering cough that's been around since Conan got jipped at NBC.

And now, as the clock turns past 1 am, I can't sleep. So I thought I'd burn a little time on the computer with the hopes that it would make me sleepy. It's not working yet, but there's always Craig's List to peruse.

Good night and don't let the bed bugs bite (what a yucky thought).

A Joke to Lighten Your Day

2010-02-18T09:43:00.001-06:00

Courtesy of Cade:

Q: What kind of bus do shapes ride on?

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

A: A rhombus.

Snow Days

2010-02-15T20:21:00.004-06:00

So I'm sure you've heard or experienced the epic snow storm we had last Thursday in Texas. So much snow in a day! And boy did we have fun.

I walked to get Cade from school Thursday afternoon, and on the way home, we made ginormous snowballs, had snowball fights with his friends, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The boys spend a little time outside on Friday since school was closed. Here are the obligatory snow pictures from their frolic outside.

Cade built a little snowman...

Cade & Jack threw some snowballs at each other...

Cade layed down in the snow... not to make a snow angel... but just to lay down.

Cade slid down the slide on the swingset which had snow MOUNDED on it...

Jack enjoyed throwing snowballs at the fence. I'm sure the fence deserved it...

Cade then threatened to throw a snowball at me...

Update on the Potty Party

2010-02-15T19:18:00.002-06:00

So it's been a week and a half since I first started potty training Claire. And I have to say, she's doing a GREAT job. She's had very few accidents and happily sits in her little potty when asked to. She's not telling us yet when she needs to go, so we're going by the clock and when she starts to do the unmistakable wiggle. So far so good! She's even going potty at school and at church (they both of little real potties that are low to the ground)! YEA! Two kids down, one to go.

Jack is going to be a whole other animal. Thankfully, Scott is sparing me that job and will be taking off two days to make a four day weekend of potty training H*E*L*L. I wish him well and will be praying for success. But I'm not too optimistic. The physical delays, the sensory issues, the weak core muscles... well, let's just say I'm not expecting too much. But Jack's got to be potty trained to go to kindergarten in the Fall. And I want him to go to kindergarten in the Fall!

Casa Nueva

2010-02-11T18:53:00.003-06:00

It has snowed cats and dogs today (is that even a correct way to use that phrase?!?). At least 4 inches and counting. Despite the weather, Mom and I ventured over to the new house today to do some work. I snapped a few pics of the house while it was snowing. I love snow!

playing with the template

2010-02-07T09:32:00.001-06:00

I'm playing around with the template... excuse my dust. I don't have a server to upload and preview my blog before it goes live. So you're seeing the behind the scenes adjustments that need to be made. :0

Not so much a party...more like a boring work meeting

2010-02-07T08:46:00.002-06:00

Here's the update on the great adventure of potty training Claire. Bottom line (pun intended): it's going OK. Yesterday she didn't have any accidents. SUCCESS! But we were also preemptively putting her on the potty in anticipation of something happening. Today, I'm going to try and let her continue to let us know when she needs to go.

This whole process is just sooooo slow, tedious (it's like you're walking on pins & needles, waiting for a bomb to go off any moment), and boring. Probably much like the conference calls Scott is on all day at work! (shout out to any of Scott's co-workers reading this). I've watched enough children's programming for a lifetime. If I hear the Wonder Pets theme song one more time, I'm going to run through the neighborhood naked. Well, maybe I won't do that. I might just leave the room instead. It seems to be a much more rational reaction than my first idea.

Other than having Claire master telling us when she needs to go, the next phase in this process will be to transition her from the little portable potty to the big potty. She looks so tiny on the big potty that I'm afraid she's going to fall in! Alas, she'll still need to learn to go on the big potty if we want to ever leave the house again. And I'd like to leave the house again. I'm going a little stir crazy.

That's enough potty talk for now. Scott took the boys to "camp out" at the new house last night. They got a pizza and went to the new house, took showers, played, and watched a movie while in their sleeping bags. I'm anxious to hear how they slept (or didn't sleep).

Nicole. Out.

It's a Party on the Potty!

2010-02-03T12:00:00.002-06:00

Tomorrow I will attempt to potty training Claire. I'm holding her back from school so there won't be any other distractions (read: children) here at the house, and we can concentrate on the business at hand. I'm sure hoping that things go better with her than they have with Jack. I'm a little nervous about tomorrow. I think she's ready, and she's pretty sharp. So hopefully I will have worried for nothing. And hopefully seeing Claire going potty will make older brother Jack want to get out of his "diaper pants" (that phrase always makes our children giggle).

*sigh*

I wish there was someone you could hire to potty train your children. Maybe I've just stumbled on a niche market (for someone else to take advantage of, obviously)...

A Must Have Office Supply

2010-02-02T16:16:00.004-06:00

I received an Oriental Trading Company catalog in the mail today. I leafed through it, about to throw it away, when I discovered a jewel of a find: the nose pencil sharpener.

If my Daddy were still alive, I'd buy this for him in a heartbeat. Beautiful.

Who's Child is This?

2010-01-25T21:51:00.002-06:00

I'm not a girly girl by any stretch of the imagination. So who's child is this?

Claire is decked out in princess dress up stuff, a fantastic present from Scott's parents, GG and Granddad. Not too many days go by when Claire isn't in her high heels, putting her "lipstick" on, or asking for help with some jewelry. And man. Can this girl get around in heels! She can jump and run in them!

She is woman. Here her whine!

Dentist Brouhaha

2010-01-25T15:55:00.002-06:00

For some unknown crazy reason, I booked all three kids appointments at the dentist. At the same time. What in the world was I thinking?

A little background: Cade has seen the pediatric dentist 4 times now. And he has never allowed them to clean his teeth. Cade has never let them touch him. Just a basic visual inspection of his teeth is all Cade has allowed.

Jack has been only once before. And like Cade, will only let them peer into his mouth.

So what a huge surprise this morning when the hygienist comes out to tell me that neither of the boys are letting them into their mouths. Cade was at least communicating with words with them. Jack had resorted to tight lips and a hand firmly clasped over his mouth.

I debated the use of nitrous on the boys with the hygienist. We finally decided to wait on that and use it as a bargaining chip for the next dentist trip. Because, yeah. We have to do this again. And again and again. When I talked with the dentist, she informed me that Cade had announced that God knew that he was nervous and that God would not want him to go through with the cleaning since he was nervous. Okaaaaay.

As they were finishing up with the boys, Claire decides to, ahem, drop a load. And of course I didn't bring any diapers with us. She doesn't normally go in the morning! Thankfully my mom was with me and was able to run home and get some diapers. Meanwhile, I was liberally spraying Febreeze around the lobby, profusely apologizing to anyone still conscious despite the fumes.

The boys were basically done by the time I got Claire changed since there wasn't much the dental team could actually do with them. So it was Claire Bear's turn. They announced her name in the lobby and she bounded to the back, hardly containing herself. She couldn't wait to go! She did a great job of letting them look in her mouth (the hygienist didn't try and clean her teeth this time since it was Claire's first visit). But I'm guessing that Claire would have been fine with it anyway.

A little more drama from Cade and we were out the door. And it will only be six more months until we do this again.

Sad Jack

2010-01-23T21:43:00.001-06:00

Cade is staying over at a friend's house tonight. And Jack had a very difficult time going to sleep without his big brother. Made me realize how much Jack loves Cade. Cade is his best friend.

And I am so thankful.

-- Posted from my iPhone -- ain't technology grand?

The Amazing Collection

2010-01-20T17:40:00.002-06:00

For the past four years, I have been in a Bible study called The Amazing Collection. It''s a three-year video/workbook series that goes through the Bible sequentially, book by book. I can't adequately tell you what a difference it has made to me. I was fairly Bible illiterate before I started the study. But thanks to Big Dream Ministries, I know the themes, main characters, and main lessons of each book. I understand the historical side of the Old Testament now. I even enjoy reading the minor prophets!!!

A couple of notes:

the Bible study is geared toward women (all 4 teachers on the video lessons are women). Aside from the personal testimonies included in each lesson, there's no reason why men would not benefit from this study!
there is a difference between knowing the Bible and knowing God. One can learn a great deal about the Bible and about God, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they've grown in their knowledge of and relationship with God.
if you're church is looking for a fantastic women's Bible study program to go through, please consider The Amazing Collection.

A couple of you may have noticed that I said that I've been in this study for four years. And that it's only a three-year study. How is that possible? I'm studying the first year for the 3rd time. Yes, apparently I need remedial Old Testament. That and they needed some more leaders to facilitate year one groups. But I'm pretty sure it's because I need to go through it 3 times to really learn it.

Jack & Claire -- Buddies

2010-01-16T20:25:00.003-06:00

Since Cade's at school all day, Jack and Claire have had to learn to play together. While they can fight like cats and dogs, they play pretty well together. For about 4 minutes. And then it all breaks loose.

Here are two nice moments... the eye in the middle of the storm, if you will.

At Chick-Fil-A...

And yes, Claire is wearing a tutu. Few days go by without Claire wearing her tutu. She wears it everywhere.

And at Toys R Us riding in a pimped out Escalade.

This Escalade has nicer features than either my or Scott's cars. As soon as this picture was taken, Claire started throwing a fit because Jack was touching something on the truck something in front of her. *sigh*

Helping Haiti

2010-01-14T16:34:00.002-06:00

Need to know how you can help the earthquake survivors in Haiti? Here are a few legit organizations that are sending aid to and even have people on the ground in Haiti in the name of Christ:

World Vision

Mercy Ships

World Relief

Some scripture tweeted by Rick Warren earlier today got me off my lazy bum and put my faith into action:

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:17-18

Touche.

Uh Oh

2010-01-13T17:00:00.002-06:00

I knew there were some things wrong. I knew that the sounds I heard meant some trouble. The stains left behind couldn't mean good things. I had no idea...

We put the van in the shop yesterday (Christian Brother's Automotive; we love them!) to address several concerns. The prognosis: grim. The van needs about $3000 worth of work to keep it running in tip top cruising shape. Three thousand dollars. *choke* And apparently, some of the older Odysseys have had transmission trouble... those troubles could or could not be on the horizon for our van.

So now we're faced with the looming decision: should we sink some or all of that $3k into the 10-year old van and keep her running for who knows how long? Or do we bite the bullet and buy another used car? It seems logical to say, "NO! Don't pour money into an old car!" But we also are firm on not having a car payment. And that's a big chunk of change/cash to spend.

Where is that winning lottery ticket when you need it?

Honey, Pack Your Bags!

2010-01-12T08:25:00.002-06:00

As most of you dear readers know, my Daddy passed away unexpectedly in May of 2008. This left my mom on 24 acres of land by herself. Not exactly the scenario you want for your 65 year old Mom. Not only was the property too much work, it was lonely. Plus it took at least 40 minutes to get anywhere, including a decent grocery store.

Since I'm an only child, it just made sense for Mom to move up here where we live. Even though Mom had lived in the Houston area for nearly 45 years, she was willing to leave and come up here to by near me, her favorite son-in-law, and her 3 grandkids. Besides, she hardly saw her friends who lived in town because she was so far out in the country; instead she talked to them on the phone. And since we have a phone and phone service, she could continue to talk to her friends as if she still lived near them!

So Mom moved in with us at the end of August this year. She sold her property (a neighbor bought it; they didn't even use an agent in the transaction -- so orchestrated by God!) and was no longer a Houstonian.

The idea was for her to find a small house on our street (or within a couple of streets) so we'd be close and could easily come over to help with the little things (opening jars, for instance). But the more I thought about it, I wondered if we really wanted to stay in the town we're in. If Mom is going to be buying a house in our town, are we sure we want to stay here? We love our town, but I don't want to get the idea to move in 3 years if Mom's going to make the investment of purchasing a house. Hence a whirlwind of discussion commenced: should we stay? should we move closer to the church that we're already very involved in? do we want our kids to go to school with the kids they go to church with? would it be wiser to stay where we are?

Bottom line: we wanted to be closer to church. Currently it's a 20+ minute drive each way to church. If we only went there once a week, it wouldn't be that bad. But we find ourselves going up there several times a week; on Wednesday mornings, I have to leave 45 minutes early to get to church on time because of work traffic! Plus, if we moved closer, our kids would be going to school with kids they go to church with. And we really like that idea (especially as they grow closer to getting into youth group in junior high).

The next big question: did Mom want to live with us permanently or did she still want to get her own house? To my surprise, she likes living with us. I can't imagine what led her to that conclusion, but she likes it.

The search was then on for a big house that we could all comfortably live in. It wasn't too long after we decided to live together that we found a house. The house. The house we'll now call home.

There are so many reasons why this is a great house. It's big enough. Mom has her own "wing" with her bedroom and her own bathroom. It's on a cul-de-sac. There is a big backyard. The house faces south with hardly any windows on the west side of the house. There's an upstairs living area for the kids. There's a double oven in the kitchen. There's room for the grand piano. There's some good closet storage. There's some amazing moulding in the house. There's hardwood floors. There's a 3 car garage. I could go on and on about why we're crazy about this house!

We close on the house soon but will wait two months or so to move in so that Cade can finish the year at his current school. Honey, pack your bags!

He Finally Comes Clean

2010-01-11T17:23:00.003-06:00

So Mark McGwire finally admitted it. He finally came clean about not being clean.

No way!!! Really??? You've got to be kidding me!!

I don't think anyone is surprised.

OK. I'm off the soapbox. More family and random life updates heading your way courtesy of Frantlings Productions.

The Loss

2010-01-08T15:32:00.003-06:00

So Texas played last night for the championship. Unfortunately our star quarterback got knocked out of the game on the second series. Had Colt McCoy stayed in, who knows how the game would have turned out. Instead, a true freshman had to grow up pretty darn fast in front of a national audience. Things looked much more promising in the second half. Alas, Alabama was the better team. And geez can they run.

In honor of our beloved Horns, our entire family was decked out in our burnt orange finest.

iPhone Love

2010-01-08T15:09:00.000-06:00

With the new Google based Nexus One coming out soon, I thought I'd give a shout out to my dearly beloved Apple iPhone. I have had my iPhone for 2 years now. And I have realized that there are many things I would give up before I gave up my iPhone and its internet access.

With nearly 115,ooo applications (familiarly called "apps") available for download, there are tons of uses for your iPhone beyond it's simple functionality of a phone. I personally use my phone for my calendar, my address book, email on the go (all three of those are standard apps on the iPhone), checking sports scores (Sportacular), checking the weather (The Weather Channel), making lists (Evernote), following RSS feeds(DaisyFeed), following tweets Tweetie 2), updating Facebook (Facebook), listening to music, a calculator (the last 2 are also standard iPhone apps), keeping track of my gas mileage efficiency (Gas Cubby), looking at Bible passages (Logos), checking on my fantasy football team (Yahoo Fantasy 09), checking Craigslist (Craigsphone), looking up phone numbers (YPmobe), recording voice memos (standard iPhone app), reading the news (Dallas News, USA Today), looking for jobs (iJobs and Career Builder), taking pictures (proCamera), and playing the occassional (OK. Fine. The frequent...) game (Bejeweled 2).

And there are so many other uses out there that I haven't downloaded. Yet.

And besides. You've gotta admit. Apple makes the coolest products. And they have the best support. In general, I'm not rich enough or cool enough to own most Apple products. Fortunately, I do own the iPhone.

Texas Texas YeeHaw!

2010-01-06T16:58:00.000-06:00

Thursday night, our beloved Longhorns play for the nation title in Pasadena, CA. Scott & I will nervously be glued to the TV with friends, watching Colt McCoy and the high octane passing offense battle Mark Ingram and the Tide.

Hook 'em horns!

DVR -- Gotta Have It

2010-01-05T19:42:00.000-06:00

DVR. Digital Video Recorder. A fancy shmancy name for it is TiVo. Whatever you call it, it's a must have. Especially if you have kids.

If you've got kids and a few shows, especially prime time shows, that you like to watch, chances are that you're busy cooking, cleaning, bathing kids, getting kids into bed, etc while your shows are on. Wouldn't it be nice to watch your shows at your convenience? Whenever you wanted? And oh wait. That darn phone is ringing and it's Aunt Sally so you have to answer it or she'll start bad-mouthing you to Mom. No sweat. Just pause your show (or live TV for that matter), pacify Aunt Sally, then resume your show without missing a single second. Don't want to miss a single episode of the Go Diego Go because you're that kind of guy? Just set up a "season pass" to your favorite show and the DVR will record every episode for you.

I'm probably preaching to the choir. But there are still quite a few people lurking out there that have never had a DVR service. And they truly don't know what they are missing!

House of Hope

2010-01-04T21:16:00.003-06:00

I know. I know. Two posts in a week? I'm livin' on the edge.

A couple of months ago, I was approached about an opportunity that seems light years away from my life here in cushy Suburban America. And it is. House of Hope is a ministry in Managua, Nicaragua, that ministers to prostitutes and former prostitutes. The average age of a prostitute on the streets of Managua is 14. 14 years old! Can you imagine that? Doesn't that just blow your mind?

A brave woman named April started this ministry 8 or 9 years ago. She works to reach these women with the Good News of Christ. She also seeks to teach these women vocational skills that will allow them to leave their current line of work and make a new living for their families.

So where do I come in? I'm still not exactly sure.

But at the end of March, I will be headed to Managua with two other ladies to find out how the women of our church can serve April, the ladies living at the House of Hope, and the ladies April ministers to on the streets. I still can't quite imagine why God would have me go; but none-the-less. He has made a way for me to go, and go I will.