Our Family Circus

Second Grade Oh, what a gift you have brought! We did survive Kindergarten, who would have thought! Those days were so long, as I danced to entertain Only to hear the letter sounds correctly proclaimed. We shot water guns at vowels and made graphs about bears Oh, that he would just give a care! No desire to learn, "I can't!" He'd proclaim. When all I wanted was to just stay sane! Oh but Second Grade, you were worth the wait! When the boy showed up ready to participate. The work before him, easy as pie! For he had earned the admiration of someone more significant than I. Math, "this is easy" and reading, "I enjoy," for finally the boy learned that he drives the learning convoy. He knows he can do it, he has succeeded! So proud of his accomplishments- Second Grade, I needed! You see, sister's in Kindergarten, Here we go again! But at least this time, I have a friend. Cheering to the finish, lending a hand, Oh thank you God for my second grade m...

Dear Baby Blake, Tonight, I watched you clean your brother and sister's room. You spotted my doing so and joined in, putting things in their proper places. I left the room, but you did not stop until the Little People toys were in their place. You picked up dirty clothes to place in a drawer until I told you they were dirty, then you turned to the hamper in the closet. The big kids were preparing for bed, each in a bathroom, they did not see you, but I did. As they got into their beds Lydia requested water. I assured her I would get it but you left the room to retrieve an empty cup and brought it to her. We continued to read and pray together when you left and returned again with an empty sports bottle assuming Clay would need a drink too. When Clay suggested cough syrup instead you accompanied me to the kitchen. You waited as I prepared a tiny cup. Then reached for it to make your delivery. I walked away with the medication-you will understand this as you get older. Yo...

Yesterday, I took the kids to Wal Mart. Several toys were clearanced as they make room for the new designs for Christmas. Our Lydia has mentioned wanting a new car for her dollhouse. She has one but it is poorly designed. One was on clearance so I thought maybe I would get it. Lydia saw it and asked if it was for her. I told her it was a gift and I wondered if our cousin Allie had one. I had looked in Lydia's room and decided that she would not get it. The dollhouse and all of its pieces were all over the floor along with other toys. She just had too much to take care of. Miss Lydia asked later if she could see the car in my closet,she had already found it. She pleaded her case of why she wanted it. I told her my observation and that I was afraid she just had too much. She replied, that she had forgotten something and left the room. She then called for me to see that she had not only cleaned up the dollhouse but her entire room-that she shares with her brother. She...

Public school started back this past week. I thought about the boys that have graced our yard this summer and how quiet our days were about to become. I also thought about the excitement that the first day of school holds and that some of those little guys would be going home to empty houses. I wanted them to have someone to tell about their day! So, we hosted an ice cream party. The kids and I did some grocery shopping to pick out goodies for the celebration. The boys all showed up (as usual) and were pretty excited. One guy brought his little sister. I was so glad to see them and hear them talk about their day at school. I have truly grown to love these fellas. Before we ate, I prayed with them thanking God for their great day and the fun summer we had together. This masterpiece had blueberries in the bottom of it. The sillies with ice cream on their faces. This masterpiece had EVERY choice in it. After ice cream, I had a few water balloons for them. Then they climbe...

These are the items that clutter my desk for this week (or month.) What I need to take care of and what boggle my tiny brain. 1. An application for a part time teaching position. Part time rocks for me! I can work a couple hours a day doing something I really enjoy doing and return home to teach the people I really enjoy! 2. The certification paperwork trying to renew my certification in one state so that I can get certification in another. It is one checklist after another. 3. The same green ball in a baggie along with a couple of Lego Pieces to deliver to a friend. I think I can trap her now that school is starting....I know WHERE she will be on Thursdays....(insert evil laugh here!) 4. A LARGE stack of books to go through from a friend who does not allow stuff that can be used, to be thrown into the trash. It just makes sense to share it! She is a missionary in the public school system. Love that gal! 5. A calendar that I just pulled out to look up the new dates for the Vietnam trip...

For our children's birthdays, they have THEIR Day! In fact, the day is named after them. They choose what we do to celebrate them on that day. Today was Clay Day! We threw a surprise or 2 into Clay's day for him. This morning, two of Clay's friends stopped by and wanted to play on My Dear's game system. Because it is his day, the answer was yes. My Dear fixed them cinnamon rolls, one of which had a birthday candle. A great way to start the celebration. Unfortunately, right after that, our Lydia got sick so I sent the boys out to save them from the yuck! Then I got anxious. We were to take 7 boys to bowl today for Clay Day. I was to go to "the country" to pick 3 of them up while My Dear was in a meeting. But now I was stuck. We looked for help with the boys, with no luck. Our 2 pm party turned into 3 pm. I was home with the girls and My Dear was heading to pick up the last string of boys. I spent much of the morning in the kitchen calling par...

The first summer My Dear worked at our church, the kids and I lived in one state and he another. We did not have housing yet nor had we sold our home so we were stuck! My Dear called one night to tell me about an AWESOME event that the church does and how he so badly wanted us to see it! The Back to School Blow Out is a free event for our community. It is inflatables, a climbing wall, firetrucks, games, a car show and so much more! Free food, free school supplies, free clothes, and prizes: $100 gift cards, plasma television, game systems, notebook computer, i-pods and so one. You get the idea. It is a huge event for our small (and low economial background) community. This year, for the first time, there was a booth to win a Wii game system, large plasma TV, and a home theater system. All a person had to do to sign up for this drawing was to listen to a person at the booth give their God Story. The person told of who they were before Christ and who they are after Christ. After they lis...

Harry Wong wrote the book, The First Day of School. It was a required reading for one school district I worked which means, they bought each of us a copy of the book. We are beginning our 3rd year homeschooling but this year, we add a new student! Our middle button starts Kindergarten! When Clay started school, I had plans written out just like in the good ole days of teaching public school. It was as close to Harry Wong as I could get with mom as teacher, one student, and his little sister in the classroom. Our school books arrived yesterday and Miss Lydia was super excited! Today we started Kindergarten! With big brother, daddy built a room in the basement to call our classroom. It was Harry Wong! Miss Lydia started her school career on my unmade bed! Not exactly Harry Wong. Lydia has been sitting in that classroom right along side of her brother, she knows how this works. Baby girl wanted a piece of the action too and set up shop at the end of the bed with a marker and notepad for (...