He's Baaaccckkk!

OK, so I know this is a really old picture, but it's the only picture I have of Matthew. He left for Iraq nearly 8 months ago, and he is coming home tonight!!! Needless to say, his 3 girls are very excited. Well, Callie probably doesn't care too much, but she's 1, so we'll forgive her. Thank you, Matthew, for your service to our country, and thank you Melanie for being the strong Air Firce wife you are. We love you both!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

We had the BEST day today. I didn't take any pictures, because they all look the same as the last post. The Shine family came over, and we grilled hamburgers (Veggie burgers for me and Sarah), hot dogs and Brats for the guys. The kids played outside on the slip 'n slide and the adults talked, laughed, and got thoroughly wet, too. It was so much fun.
Let's remember those who have sacrificed their lives so that we can have an amazing country to live in.

The Slip 'n Slide

Emily didn't have school today, so Sarah and I decided we needed a fun way to kick off the holiday weekend. We wanted to take the kids to the water park, but it isn't open yet except on the weekend. So, we decided to make our own water fun. We went to Wal-Mart and bought an $8 Slip 'n Slide. Much better than the $125 it would have cost us to go to the water park. Katy Eidson got to join us because her little brother had to go into the hospital. Get better soon, Ian!!!





Even Sarah got brave enough to try it!!

Pray for the Chapman Family

Yesterday, there was a terrible tragedy in the Steven Curtis Chapman family. His little girl, Maria, was killed when the SUV her brother was driving struck her. She was 5 years old. She was the youngest of their six children, and one of the three adopted daughters. The Chapmans have an incredible ministry helping families adopt children. I can't imagine the levels of grief this family is experiencing. The loss of one child, and the horror and regret of another. Please pray for them to find peace.

Our "Lil' Tiger"

Emily started playing T-ball last month. It's a short season with 2 games and 1 practice a week. Her team is the Lil' Tigers. She has had fun, but there have been some "moments". "Stop picking flowers Emily....watch the ball!!", "RUN Emily...not to the dugout!! to the BASE!!!" Ok, I'm not kidding. She likes it, though. She is about a foot shorter than everyone else on her team, but she gives it her all! Here are some pictures of her and of Savannah who LOVES to watch her sissy and yell "Goooo Tiggers" :) Yes, Tiggers.

Savannah eating an Oreo. Her favorite part of T-ball is Snack time!

I had to take this for her HAIR! Isn't it pretty??

She loves to smell the roses! :)

My two girls!

Look at my Hands!

Most of you know what Savannah's hands always look like. Well, if you've noticed in most of the pictures, lately, she's had gloves on. That's because we keep them on there almost 24/7. It keeps her from scratching them and making them bleed. Also, I bought a new cream off the internet that I think is helping. Anyway, here are some before and after shots. Before, they were so red all the time and were covered in scabs.

Hmm, they look better in person than in pictures.

Our New Dresses

THANK YOU ME-ME AND PAPA!!!

Then and Now

Daddy and Emily decided today was a good day to wash Mommy's car. As I watched them, my mind was taken back to a day when she could barely pick up the soaked sponge, but longed to help her daddy. I remembered I had pictures of this, and look.....it was exactly 2 years ago this past week. My how the time flies.

By the way, when Emily saw this old picture, she asked if she could grow her hair long again. I told her we had to let it all get one length and then we would.

And Savannah?? Well, this is where she is most happy. She was watching Veggie Tales. :)

The Past Week

I was reminded that I hadn't blogged in a while....I guess because things are pretty boring around here. Well, not boring, per se, but just day to day things.
The book fair was amazing! I went with Sarah, Tracy and Elaine. Three crazy women from my church. We had more fun than I could ever describe on here. There was so much laughter and just as many tears (Sarah and I are emotional people). I walked around that big convention center and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that homeschooling Emily is the best thing for her. I am super super excited to get started! We came home Saturday evening completely exhausted, but refreshed and excited to teach our kids! Thanks so much to my wonderful husband who was up from 5:00 Thursday to midnight Saturday morning nursing a sick Emily, while I was away. He did an amazing job, and I love him for it!
Emily only has two weeks left of school. She is just reaching the point where she doesn't want to get up in the mornings, so I think she's looking forward to summer. She wants to start homeschooling NOW, but I'm trying to explain to her about summer. I took her to a literacy night at school on Tuesday, and this conversation took place. (we were listening to the song, Nothing But the Blood of Jesus in the car).
Emily: "We sing this song in church!"
Mommy: "Yep, we do! Do you know what it talks about?" (it was an instrumental version"
Emily: "The Blood of Jesus."
Mommy: "That's right! Why did Jesus have to die on the cross and bleed?"
Emily: "So we could be saved and go to Heaven."
Mommy: "Good job, baby, that's right."
At this point, we were just about to open the doors to go into the school.
Emily: "Thank you mommy. We don't talk about Jesus at school."
WHAT!?!?! I asked her "why" and she said, "we just don't" I asked her if her teacher told her that, and she said no. I knew she probably hadn't, because her teacher is a Christian lady. But somewhere along the line, she was told that. No matter the Christian teacher, she knows the rules and that is to not talk about Jesus at school. However, this morning, she told me that one of her classmates dad told her that Santa was real. We don't teach her that Santa is real, and she was very matter of fact that "No he's not." I don't think the parents appreciate that too much. ha ha So, Santa is ok, Jesus is not. Just another way the Lord has shown US that she should not be in the public school system.
Will I home school her forever? I hope not. I hope that at some point we can put her into a good Christian school. Is Homeschooling for everyone? Not if God hasn't led them in that direction! But for us, for now? The Lord has made is ABUNDANTLY clear, and that's what we asked for...a clear answer!!
Savannah's skin is doing better. She was almost clear, but somehow got her gloves off during her nap this morning. She was bleeding again, but she is getting much better. I go to Lawton next week to get Emily's allergy test results. Maybe there will be something that I can take away from Savannah too, to make her better. We'll see, It's not my problem. Her hands belong to God.
Brian may have to go back to day shift next week or sometime in the near future. I won't mind SO much, but I'm kinda liking mid-shift. He definitely doesn't want to switch. We'll see.
Well, I guess that's about it. It's the weekend and I'm grateful! We love more time with Daddy and friends!! Have a great weekend!!

I've Been Tagged

Thank you, KC. No one ever tags me. ha ha

What I was doing 10 years ago
May 1998--I was just about to complete my Freshman year of college and just about to fall in love with the love of my life...Brian.

5 things on my list to do for today -
1. Pack for my weekend in Dallas
2. Laundry (always)
3. Clean house (always)
4. Make meals for Brian and the girls for when I'm away
5.Take Emily to T-ball

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Pay off my bills
2. Go to Disneyworld with my parents for 2 weeks
3. Provide a better living for our families
4. Buy our church a new building
5. Lots of plastic surgery.ha ha j/k....maybe :)

3 of my bad habits -
1. Biting my nails...I know, it's gross, I can't seem to stop
2. Spending too much time on the computer (what is it with us?)
3. Starbucks...yes, it's a habit

5 places I have lived -
1. Goldsboro, NC (12 years)
2. Tucson, AZ (15 years)
3. Pensacola, FL (off and on for 4 years)
4. Wichita Falls, TX (2 years, 8 months, and 12 days)
5. The state of worry? I don't know, that's everywhere I've lived!

5 jobs I have had
1. Babysitter
2. Target employee (I did everything there was to do!)
3. ABeka Book customer representative
4. Accountant
5. Mommy/Wife

5 people I want to know more about, that means you are tagged
Ok, seriously? Everyone that has a blog that I read has already been tagged....sorry.

Emily's Allergist Appointment

Well, today, I drove 104 miles for a PA to look at Emily and say, "She has allergies!" Ya THINK?? OK, so he did a little more than that.
We drove to Lawton, OK (Law-un...never mind, only KC will get that) today to see a PA at Allergy ENT today. They were super nice. Our appointment was for 2:10, and we got there a little early (I don't have very good time judgement skills, apparently), so they took us at 1:40. The first nurse that we saw made the mistake of telling Emily they made need to take some blood from her. Emily hurriedly assured her that she "didn't have any", and continued to fret about it the entire appointment.
The Dr....I mean, PA, came in and looked up her nose, in her ears, and down her throat and said a lot of things to his nurse that I didn't understand, and said she had definite "allergy shiners" (the black under the eyes). He was concerned with her eczema (HA! He should see Savannah!) and said that he wanted to do a full blood panel to check for allergies to environmental and household stuff. He also recommended food allergy testing for her eczema. Now, Tricare won't pay for food testing, so that came out of pocket. I wouldn't have done it if I was just doing it for her, but maybe if she's allergic to something, Savannah will be too! Wouldn't that be easy??
So, we have to go back in 3 weeks to get the results. Until then, she keeps taking the medicines she's already taking. Next time, I made my appointment for 7:30 in the morning so as not to put Brian through what he had to go through today. Poor guy, he was up from 4:30 Monday to 3:00 today. :( He's so tough!! Thank you Brian!!! Oh wait...I don't think he reads this.......

Our Big Decision

I think most of you know what I'm going to talk about, but I know some don't (sorry, KC...I've been a chicken about telling you. ha ha). Plus, I'm not sure if most of you know the route that got us to this point.

We've decided to homeschool Emily next year. Eeek. It still kinda gives me a pang when I say it. I haven't quite decided if that 'pang' is nervousness, dread, or excitement. Let me tell you what brought us to this point.

Emily has been in a public school for Pre-K 3 and Pre-K 4. Before we put her there, I asked a lot of questions about what she would be taught, and knew that if for any reason, we thought she was being exposed to bad things, we would pull her out. Well, that didn't happen....per se. I took her to school one day several weeks ago, and while walking down the halls, I noticed all the kid's writings on the wall. Obviously, they were cute and good, but none of them had anything to do with God. Well, DUH, you say, she's in a public school. But it hit me.....shouldn't her education be Christ centered? Didn't I want my child writing about God's Wonderful World and not "What I think is at the end of a rainbow"? So, I had these feelings come up at me. I didn't say anything to Brian because I knew that we couldn't afford Christian school or even homeschooling at that point. So, I shoved them away and kept going.

Well, several weeks later, Emily came home all excited about her school program. She asked us about 20 times a day if we were coming. I asked her what she was doing in the program, and she replied, "Dancing and singing Twist and Shout." Ok, cute, I admit it was, but when I was not much older than she, my class got up for a school program and recited the entire chapter of Hebrews 11. So, here came those feelings again. I talked to Brian and we both agreed to start looking at our options.

So, our options were 3 things. Two Christian schools in the area and homeschooling. The Lord reminded me (through a Presidential newsconference, no less) that we had that tax stimulus coming soon, so that helped. And, my parents (just elated at the fact that we were taking Emily out of public school) offered to help in any way they could. So, I scheduled a tour at one of the schools, and e-mailed the other. We immediately disregarded one school because they couldn't assure me that Emily wouldn't be exposed to false doctrine (well, false in OUR opinion, not theirs, obviously). I visited the other school and LOVED it. I filled out applications and financial aid paperwork (Christian schools are EXPENSIVE) and we continued to pray. As I was driving home from the school, I realized it would be 40 miles a day to get her to school and back. Have you noticed gas prices lately? And in my "not so gas friendly, yet super cool" SUV, that would be approximately $200 a month in gas. Sigh...you know what that leaves, don't you?

So, here we are. I am going to homeschool Emily with ABeka videos. She is excited about it, but a little nervous in not being with kids every day. I am excited that I don't have to leave the house in the mornings at 7:45, but nervous about being responsible for teaching my kid to READ. The flexibility really sold me. We like to travel to my parents a lot, and I can do that now without the school yelling at me for Emily missing so much school. People can visit and I don't have to worry about their kids being bored because Emily is in school (hint hint all "you people").

I'll admit. I have said some not so nice things about homeschoolers in the past. AND, I stand by most of what I said because there are some FRUITY homeschoolers out there. But, I REFUSE to be one of them, and my daughter will be just as socially capable as anyone. I promise. I'm nervous about having her home all day after being so used to her being gone, but maybe I need a couple lessons in patience and love, too. Pray for us as we embark on this together. I'm going to a Homeschool Book Fair (man, that even sounds geeky) next weekend to see what I can get for extra curricular stuff. We'll see how it goes!!!!

That's my story! :)