Flashback Friday

Disneyland January 06'

I chose this for a flash back cause I am 8 weeks pregnant now and I was 8 weeks pregnant with Gus in this pic. Just wish I felt as good at 8 weeks now as I did then.

I'm Alive!!!

Yes, it is a cheesy title. But at times this past weekend I felt a bit like I wasn't going to be for very long. For those of you who haven't heard yet, this pregnancy has been tough so far. I have been extremely sick this past week. It started hitting pretty hard on Tuesday and by Thursday I couldn't hold anything down. After going 4 days w/ out food and very little liquids I landed my self in the ER yesterday afternoon. I was dehydrated and feeling absolutely miserable. PRAISE GOD for IV fluids!!! I am feeling much better today but still dealing w/ the queasiness and feeling a bit weak. They have me on medication to stop the vomiting and help w/ the nausea. It is definitely doing its job! I just have to take things slow and easy. I normally consider myself to be a young person but this pregnancy makes me feel old. I suppose in some respects me having to slow down is a good thing. Making the change to home school and now adding #4, my crazy busy lifestyle was bound to have to slow down anyway...

On another note I would like to announce that I did the dishes today!!! Sounds kind of lame to announce that but I have been doing nothing for almost a week and my girls and Clint and been picking up all my slack. It was amazing how good it felt to be helpful again. It's hard when Hubby works SO hard all day and then has to come home a take care of everything else. He has been such a trooper though all of this and I feel so blessed to have him. He's definitely "Man of the Year" in my book!

And since I'm sharing how helpful Clint has been, I would also like to give a shout out to one other amazing helper. My sweet Drewanne could probably run her own household at the young age of nine. That girl has been cooking for herself and siblings, bathing them, putting Gus down for naps, laundry, dishes, changing diapers and getting Gus dressed, not to mention waiting on me and my needs hand and foot. She has a true servants heart! And she's so good at all of it too! She can settle Gus in for a nap better then I can. The other day I was trying to push myself to get some chores done and she could plainly see I was really struggling. She immediately jumped up to help and urged me to go lay down. I told her it made me feel bad having her work so much. She said "Well I'm gonna keep cleaning whether you lay down or not so you might as well go lay down." So that's what I did. Bless that girls heart! BTW-Please keep her in your prayers this weekend. She is attending her first girls camp weekend at Lakeside. She is super excited as are we. I am praying she will have a fun time with friends old and new, make lots of memories and most importantly grow closer to God and deeper in her understanding of who He is.

Spell check

Would someone please tell me the proper way to spell this word? I've seen it done different ways by different people. Its kind of starting to drive me crazy... I'm hoping together we can figure this one out!

YA!

YEAH!

YAY!

YEA!

Would anyone like me to add a different spelling to the list?

Coming soon...

That's right! Mitchell #4 is on his/her way!

It almost feels like a sequel...

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Answer # 1- On the eve of Thanksgiving our Internet stopped working. After hours on the phone of trying to figure it out we finally switched carriers and got back online 3 weeks later.

Answer #2- I got really used to not using the Internet and liked it. It gave me a lot of time to reflect on how much time I spend online, what I was doing while I'm on there and what else could I be doing with my time. I was ready to thrown in the towel on all of my online activities! However after careful consideration I have decided there is a place in my life for my blog, facebook and just a very little bit for myspace. So plan on seeing more of me on here...just maybe not has much as you used to.

Answer #3- I've just been too darn busy and having too much fun!!!

Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas!

Playing in the snow.

Hubby was off work cause of the weather and we were soaking up the family time.

Playing the Wii. (We got one for Christmas and LOVE it!)

Lots of cleaning and organizing.

Getting ready for HOME SCHOOL!!!

That's right, HOME SCHOOL! We can't wait any longer and have decided to start in January. We figured Christmas break was a good time to make the switch. We are all really excited!!!

FYI- The last week I have been doing a little bit of peeping at some blogs but haven't had time to read much or comment. At this point it would take me hours to catch up on it all so I'm not going to but please now I do care what's going on in your world and hope I get a chance to connect with you soon. Call me and lets do lunch or a play date!

Much Love,

Amber

PS- I'll try and post some pics of all our happenings soon!

Working Moms miss out!

One of the hardest parts about working is missing out. I feel every week that I have missed out on different pieces of my families lives. Bed time kisses and prayers, dinner around the table, interesting stories about what happened at school... Conversations missed with Clint and spending time alone with him after the kids go to bed. While I do get those things on the nights I don't work, its still tough on the nights I do. Last night I missed my first "event" for one of our children. Rather then complaining about missing it I will use the rest of my blogging time to brag about Drew's accomplishment.

Drew absolutely LOVES art! She has been honored for her art at school a few different times. She's been chosen by her teachers as well as her classmates for excellent artwork. Last night she was honored at a district wide awards ceremony for the "Best Book I Ever Read" poster contest!!! Her artwork is be displayed right now at the Lynnwood Library if you want to go check it out.

We are so proud of her!!!

Homeschool blog:2

It's been a while since I've written about this but I am trying to take things slow since I have a year of public school to finish. As much as I'd like to take off running w/ homeschooling right now, I know this extra time is going to help prepare me for the journey ahead. I am excited and scared all at the same time! I've been reading a couple books and have many more lined up. I want to take in all that I can before I start making any "big" decisions for our first year. Their is SO much to consider.

Things I am praying and pondering over...

~Can we do this? Neither Clint or I went to college and we both just barely got through high school. I often ask myself if we have the knowledge and wisdom to do this. I'm praying for wisdom. James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

~Co-op or no co-op? I know being part of home school organizations will benefit us but I'm not sure if I want to do it the first year. My girls will both be "deschooling" and because of this I want to take things easy and make fun and creativity a priority.

~Text books, work books, curriculum? Should I use these? Which ones? How much will it cost? The common pattern I'm reading and hearing about from homeschoolers is how often work books and text books can become more of a burden then a blessing. Since I was raised in institutional school and both my girls have done that thus far, I fear how easy it might be to fall into the patterns and procedure of the institutional schooling process. I do not want homeschooling for us to just be sitting around a table doing worksheets and answering questions from text books. However, it seems that they are a vital "tool" for homeschooling. I just need to keep it a tool and not let it be a tyrant. How will this look for us?

~Change? This is going to bring much change into our lives. I alone am going to have the change the most. I will need to shift some of my priorities quite a bit to give my kids the time they need and deserve and to be the best influence possible. Time spent online, chatting on the phone, attending every social gathering, being a part of everything, various ministries... all things that will have to decrease or at least change in order for me to give this my best. God has already begun a work in me.

Things we are very excited about...

~Our first purchase! Clint and I bought maps the other day to hang in our playroom. We got one of each; the World, North America, US and a bonus poster w/ the flags of the world. (good price at Costco if your interested) We are confident they will come in handy for homeschooling. Maybe one day we can mark them up with all the places we travel in the US. (Field trips!)

~Tornado's, sports and honey! Both the girls have thought of some things they are excited to learn about when we home school. Drew wants to learn about the history of sports. How they started, who, where? She is also very interested in learning more about tornado's. Lilly is excited to learn how bee's make honey.

~Freedom!!! Homeschooling is going to give us the freedom to learn about all the things we are interested in and the time to do it.

~Family!!! Spending the entire day learning, working and playing together. Being the key influence and role model in my children's lives and growing deeper in relationship with them because of it.