Been a While

Well, I know it has been a while.  This school year has been a whirlwind.  I am teaching Kindergarten this year and have 5 kids that I had last year.  It has been interesting to see the growth over the last year and a half.  In September we had a school fire and we put together a new school in only a weeks time.  The high school was building  a new building that was scheduled to be done a few weeks later, so the construction company put in overtime and had it ready in a week.  As they were moving out of the old building, we were moving in.  It has been quite a year.  We are teaching with virtually no curriculum.  It has been challenging.  Thankfully most of the teacher's guides are online, but that does not help with student books.  The other challenging thing has been the fact that we didn't get to take most of our item from the half of the building that was saved due to smoke damage.  For some teachers it has been harder than others.  I was okay with it, since I didn't have as much, but teachers who had been there 20 plus years and lost everything, well, that was a grieving process.  We are working through it and we will be better for it in the long run.  I am thankful that the fire was on the weekend and no one was hurt.

This past weekend my baby girl turned 13.  I officially have a teenager in the house.  We also have celebrated 10 birthdays with my beautiful girl.  I am so lucky and blessed to have such a beautiful young lady.  I love her so much and know that God placed her with us for a reason.

Christmas is right around the corner and we are counting down the days.  Have you started your shopping yet?  Not one thing has been bought in this house.  Nothing!!  I'm usually almost done by now, but I have no desire to shop.  LOL!  We are going small this year as we have been saving for a substantial trip next year and we don't have as much to put towards it.  The trip though will be a once in a lifetime experience.  I'd tell you where we are going, but it is going to be a surprise for my beautiful girl.  She will not know where we are going until we get there.  LOL!!  That oughta be a fun 2 days in the car.

Well, I guess that is all.  Just wanted to get on and update.  Thanks to those that still read.  I know my posting is very sporadic.  Thanks all and if I don't get back on between now and then, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  :-)

School's out....sort of...

Well, I did it.  I survived my first year back in teaching after being out for 7 years.  It was by God's Grace that I made it.  I spent the majority of this year sick and it was very hard and trying and I almost quit quite a few times.  It was hard on me emotionally, physically and mentally.  Being sick and my emotional well-being are how Satan has been trying to attack me.  It's hard.  I keep on and kept on getting struck down.  Thankfully, after we got rid of the mold in my bathroom, which seems to be a big part of why I was so sick, I haven't had all the issues with breathing that I usually do.  Dust will still get me down, but nothing has been as bad as the mold did.

Anna just finished up her 5th grade year in school as well, but unfortunately did not pass the state standardized test in science, so she has to go to summer school.  I am praying that she passes the objectives quickly, because then hopefully we will be done at the end of this week.  I was looking through old tests that are released on this subject and know for a fact that they have not covered all the concepts on the test.  Unfortunately for us, this test covers everything that she should have learned from Kindergarten on up through 5th grade.  And another unfortunate thing is that I never taught her science on a steady basis when we were home-schooling, so she did miss out on quite a bit.  We are going to practice as much as we can between now and Thursday and hopefully she will pass all the objectives on the end of week test.  Due to her being in summer school, I will also be teaching summer school in 1st grade, but only for one week.  If Anna still has to go, I will not keep teaching.  I need that break.

Health wise, I am only so-so.  I have been have a LOT of joint pain and weakness, overall tired feeling, headaches, muscles aches and stomach issues.  I am progressively getting worse, but I have decided that it may be due to a new medicine that I started a month ago.  I didn't really put two and two together until last night.  Symptoms are all there.  It makes me sad that it didn't work, but I'd rather not feel like I've been hit by a truck.  I'll be calling the doctor tomorrow to make sure, but pretty sure I'm getting off of it.  I've also been diagnosed with endometriosis in the last two weeks and will be starting a new shot for that.  Yes, it is rare to get it after a hysterectomy, but not impossible, since I still have my ovaries.  Apparently taking them out is not a cure all and it is highly likely that it will stay or come back, so the shot it is.  Sigh.  I can't seem to catch a break on this whole health thing.  I get tired of feeling lousy all the time, but also know that it is just something or something else lately that I have to deal with.  I get the treatment that the Doctors want to give me and then pray it works.  I try very hard not to let the health issues get me down, but sometimes its hard.

I guess that's all for now.  Hoping that this week goes by quickly and that Anna is done with Summer school after this week.  We both need a good break.  If nothing else we have a good trip to Dallas coming the end of the month.  Ready for that break.  

No more homeschool

Sad day for me, but I have officially removed myself from most homeschooling groups.  I have signed a new contract for next year, so I decided it was time.  We loved our homeschooling years and will never regret going broke to stay with Anna and do what we thought was best for her.  We met a lot of great people on the way and had lots of fun, but it is officially on to a new chapter in our lives.  Anna is doing good in school.  I will teach somewhere between PK and 2nd grade next year.  Exciting and scary all at the same time.

More Sleet, Snow and COLD!!

Ok, I've decided that we have had enough snow, sleet and cold for a long time.  It's been just about two weeks since our last round of cold and ice storms and here we are again with another.  It was mostly sleet and ice.  School dismissed at 12:00pm today and the Lubbock teachers were allowed to leave at 11:30am.  As soon as I had coverage in my room, I rounded up Anna and we made the slow treacherous journey home.  A drive that usually takes us 45 minutes took us almost 2 hours today.  Not too bad and certainly could have been longer, but I HATE driving on ice.  Completely hate it!!  It's scary how many people passed me at unsafe speeds.  The roads were almost all covered in ice.  We drove 20-25 MPH all the way home.  It wasn't until we were 5 minutes from Lubbock that we could drive faster, 30-35 MPH in town.  The sad part is that all that was slush in Lubbock has now frozen over and will probably stay that way for the next 2 days or so.  Sunday it should all melt down again and be okay.  I'm glad I have a job, but having it so far out is not so fun, especially in this kind of weather.  I'm actually praying that we have classes cancelled tomorrow morning and that I do NOT have to drive this again tomorrow.  If I do, it will be about 2 hours to drive in and about 2 hours to drive back and I will have to stop at a gas station at some point because I used more than I planned today trying to thaw off the car.  Sigh.  Just complaining, I guess.

On a plus side, my evaluation was done this week and I did really well.  I am pleased, especially since I've been out of the classroom for so long.  I obviously still have some teaching in me.  LOL!  I never really stopped teaching, since I homeschooled for so long.  I miss it a lot and when I asked Anna, she said she misses parts of it.  I think she really just likes that there are other kids around her all day everyday.  She too hates the long commute every morning, but we are in it for the long haul this year.  Who knows what next year will bring. 

Guess that's all for now.  Need to wind down with some gaming time and get to bed.  Night all. 

Wall-E and Anna

I searched the house for Wall-E last night at bedtime and couldn't find him. He's usually on my bed or in his bed and I just say good night. Last night I could not find him anywhere. I searched in Anna's room, since she had a sleepover l...ast night and I couldn't see him. I looked in the playroom where the girls were sleeping and couldn't see him there. I looked the house over and finally went back to the playroom. Looked a little closer and there was Wall-E sleeping with Anna under the covers. It was too cute not to capture, so I tried to take a pic with my phone and that was a no go, so I quickly went to grab the "real" camera and here's what I got. Not bad for being taken in the dark. I was praying the flash didn't wake up the girls!!

 

First pic shows how cute they looked...

 

 

Second pic shows all three of them all the way across...

 

 

 

  I am so glad I got these pictures and that I didn't wake the girls in my attempt to capture this.  The flash on my phone went off 3 times and them 3 for the camera.  LOL!  Love that I came across this before bed last night.

Do you miss your old job?

A co-worker today asked me if I missed my other job and if I was glad I went back into teaching.  I told here there are pros and cons to each...I miss the people I used to work with, but I had been there forever.  I like teaching, but right now, it still feels like the first year all over again and I still feel like I am missing info I need to make this a most successful year, but overall, I don't think its too bad.  We certainly couldn't be at a better school for getting back into the swing of things.  I really like the staff and for the most part, I feel like things are okay.  I wished I had started earlier in the year, like oh you know, with the other teachers, but I think it will be okay.  Still not sure about a lot of stuff, but I have come a long way. 

They are doing great with Anna and she seems to be adjusting pretty good.  She loves being around other kids all day long, but really does not like our early mornings, the drive and having to go to bed by 8:30-9:00pm, but overall, I think she likes it.  She really does not like homework. She also does not like the fact that if she gets a bad grade, I make her correct it.  But again overall she likes it.

I couldn't ask for a better position.  I think God truly knows what he is doing, even if we don't.  I am trying to rely on him for strength to get through this year.  I certainly can't do it on my own....

One Year

We have now officially been in our house for one year.  So glad to have a house, but sometimes wonder if we did the right thing by buying a house.  It has been a struggle.  Getting the house was not the struggle, but repairing things that break down in and around a house is challenging.  We have repaired a fallen fence (like a month after we moved in), had the electric box outside replaced and now we are having plumbing issues.  It seems as if we might keep Drano in business!   Neither one of us in very handy, but we sure try, but this bathtub we have might cost us a fortune. The drain gets clogged after one week.  One week.  REALLY!!  I can't buy Drano once a week just to keep the drain clear.  That is ridiculous.  But, short of paying an arm and a leg for a plumber, which is next to impossible right now, we will continue to use Drano once a week. (But not till I get paid, so for this week, we just have to deal with water to our ankles.) 

In other news, Anna is working on schooling with me.  After going all summer long, we took one week off and then started right in on 5th grade work.  (4th grade math)  She is loving it and we are making good progress.  We are still behind in math, but she is mostly remembering what we have been studying.  We have our days, like one day this last week she forgot how to tell time to the hour, which we have been working on since Kindergarten.  She has known that for a long time, but it was just one of those things that we had to re-learn.  She does love horse club.  I wished I could pay for her to do it more than twice a month, but it just isn't possible.  Too expensive.  I also need to find her an orthodontist.  That girl is going to need braces.

I'm still working at the same ol' place.  I'm not exactly happy there right now.  There is a lack of authority there and we certainly need a take charge kind of person.  Oh and to top it all off, the person I wanted to be in our dept I was told couldn't and now the girl they put in will be leaving.  I so just want to say that I was right, but it won't serve any purpose.  I am currently waiting on the results of an MRI I had last week as well.  I sure wish I knew why they ran it.  I will be carrying my phone with me tomorrow at work.  I need to hear from them tomorrow.  Until then, I just worry about what it could be.  I try not to worry too much, but there's not a lot one can do.  At least I worked yesterday and that took my mind off it for a while.  I have been having several health issues lately, and I am trying to get some answers.

J's job is questionable, as always.  His bosses seem to make up rules to suit themselves and then write you up.  They have a common goal to make life miserable for everyone but themselves.  I am hoping that J won't have to be there too much longer, but its hard to look for a job when the one you have emotionally exhausts you, which is sometimes worse than physical exhaustion.

I guess that's all.  Still hard to believe that we have lived in our house for one year.  Still have lots that I want to do with the house too.  As J says we have 29 more years to get it done.  LOL!!  It may take me that long to get it the way I want it.  Now, its off to search for Christmas and birthday ideas for Anna.  She doesn't NEED anything else and we are in an in-between stage for toys and such.  I'll be glad to accept ideas from anyone who may have them.  LOL!!  Take care all.

Literal Life

VERY PERSONAL STORY-AUTISM RELATED-if you can't handle Autism and the life that comes with it, quit reading.

Everything in Anna's life is literal.  She doesn't see two sides of anything unless you show it to her.  From her reading to things people say, she only sees things one way...her way.  Recently I've toyed with the idea of putting her back in school, but I just can't seem to make that decision.  We took Anna for a Doctor appointment with her developmental specialist this past week and she again reminded me that homeschooling is the best choice for Anna.  She said, "That's the best thing you can do for her."  It made me feel a bit better, but I still have toyed with the idea the rest of this week.  I've bought her curriculum for next year, not knowing if I was going to use it or not.  I wanted to be prepared and keep it as cheap as possible.  Well, last night I had an epiphany.  No matter how hard school is, or how hard our life gets, she needs to be homeschooled.  With her literal view of everything, and the older she gets, she will become a target for people to use her.  She will be an easy one for people to say, go do this for me.  Since she doesn't see that some people don't have her best interest at heart, it could lead to trouble, because she will do whatever they ask and then think about it a lot later.  We already see some of this with her "friends" she is hanging out with, but we can more closely monitor that.  She needs some processing time.  Sometimes it takes her weeks to process things.  I will find out things a week or sometimes several weeks later, because it took her that long to fully process what is said.  She has these same issues in school which sometimes challenges our days to the max.  We sometimes have to move on for that day and continue the next day.  She gets very frustrated with us when she doesn't understand things, but we also sometimes forget that she needs this processing time and get frustrated with her.  We are all only human.  We try hard to be compassionate and there are some days that it just doesn't work out.  Things do eventually work themselves out, but not always in our time. 

So, anyhow, back to that homeschooling bit.  I will continue to do it as long as I feel it is necessary for my daughter.  She will feel successful.  She will not be put down.  We will not have people taking advantage of her and using her for their benefit.  She is our daughter and we will do whatever we think we need to, even if it is a big challenge and very hard sometimes.  We will continue to remind her that movies are not reality and we will continue to try to get her to see two sides to things that she needs to see two sides.  We have made great strides already and I have no doubt that we will continue to make great strides, even if we are slow to achieve them.  This is all a prat of our life.  We will do the best that we can with it and with the daughter we have been completely blessed with.

Hmmm.

Wow!  Not sure I like new blogger layout for posting.  Looked the same till I went to post.  Now I'm way confused...but, thats not why I'm posting today.  I'm posting about Autism.

Yes, Autism.  Did you know that April is Autism awareness month?  It is.  We did the walk for Autism awareness on Sunday.  It was hot, but fun.  Did you also know that dealing with some parts of it can be challenging on a day-to-day basis?  It can.  Some people have more of a challenge than others.  Sigh, anyways, I'm really writing to vent some feelings.

We found out that my daughter dis-obeyed us yesterday.  It is going to cost us an extra $25 in fees for what she did.  Sigh.  Now comes the hard part.  I am not 100% sure that she did it on purpose.  She told us she understood when we were going over the rules of this new item.  She recited things back to us, but it never sunk in.  Anyways, so yesterday we allowed her some freedom and instead it came back to bite us.  She did exactly what we tole her not to do.  She must have done it all day too, cause like i said, we have an extra $25 in fees from one days work.  I took the item and modified it and password protected it so that hopefully it won't happen again, but then came the punishment phase.  Sigh.  Even if she honestly didn't remember why she did it, we had to punish her.  So, for the next however long it takes to pay us back, she will be working it off.  No allowance for her until it is all paid in full.  This could take 2-3 months to pay back.  Sigh.  It is so hard to punish her when she honestly doesn't always have a clear thought in her mind.  It is really a parental dilemma.  I am trying to help her learn how to do right and act right, but sometimes she makes wrong decisions and she can never tell us why.  She can't even tell us when she feels bad half the time, you have to use her visual clues to figure it out.  So, I'm just torn half the time.  Yes we discussed why she did wrong, but is it really sinking in.  I wonder sometimes.

I know some people will never get this.  Some might, but most of you have kids who can describe how they feel, act right in all social situations, have no delays, and no sensory issues.  Sigh.  Just a little vent.  Not really going anywhere with this.  Just needed to get it out.  I better go, so I can encourage my lovely daughter through school time.  I do love her very much.  Nothing would ever change that.  I just am frustrated right now.  I'm human.  If you don't like it, don't read here anymore.  Sigh....

Not sure what to do...

At what point do you let your child investigate (search) for things online on their own and not worry about the "trouble" out there waiting to find them? Anna has been looking at and researching ok things online, but she was told something at "school" over a year ago that she had to research on Netflix and we do NOT in any way want her looking at this content or anything like it again. So, now the question is, how much freedom do we give her online. We've blocked a lot off her iPod Touch, but she is not always with us. Sigh. Just not sure where to go with this. She hasn't been at a public school in a year. Well, almost and she is just now remembering things that were said to her there and trying to find out for sure if they are real. Just scary content that she doesn't need to deal with.

Anna Funny

I'm watching TV with Anna and she sees a commercial for a certain type of dog food. She said we could buy that for Wall-e. I said "no, cause its e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e!" She turned around right back and said "S-a-v-e m-o-n-e-y!" (Yes, we spelled out the words. She was pretty quick with her response!! LOL!!)

This and That

Wow!! Its November 13th already. I'm not sure where the time has gone. Here is a little bit of randomness for you all to ponder.

Christmas decorations are up. We put up the tree and outside lights yesterday. It looks fun at our house right now. I love Christmas time. Lights are oh so pretty and we really need to leave that tree up all year. I love to look at the memories on our tree. Oh and apparently us hanging Christmas lights outside yesterday made my neighbors want to hang lights this year. Their kids are really all grown, or pretty close. Their youngest is in school at a local college, so they really haven't put anything up, but with us having a "little one" (Sh! Don't tell her I put that) they are probably going to put theirs up too. A little more Christmas spirit to go around.

We have a new manager at the store I work at. He is nice as a person, but absolutely LOUSY as a manager. He has no interest in learning what he needs to know behind the scenes of working or operating the store. All he cares about is customer service and sales number, which are all fine and dandy, BUT, having a store manager not know the inner workings of the company and how to do the daily and weekly paperwork is NOT a good thing. There are two of us there that know more than he does and he is not interested in learning. Sigh! I'm really trying to get along with him, but its trying my patience a whole lot.

Anna's birthday was a huge success. She said it was, "the BEST birthday I ever had!" I am very glad she enjoyed it. Total cost including the gifts we gave her, about $35. I usually spend that on just her cake. I am so glad she enjoyed it. We are thinking of a smaller party next year. We'll see how that goes.

As for Anna, she is doing good too. The PDD diagnosis this year was a shock, but it explains so much. She is behind her peers emotionally and developmentally. She may always be somewhat behind. I have come to understand that she will always understand things different from other kids and not always fully comprehend everything. It only scratches the surface for her. She doesn't see anything beyond what you actually say. If you say its "raining cats and dogs," she will probably always be looking outside for them. Everything in her world is very literal. If I could get everyone to understand that, life would be easier, but it will never be that way. She also copies and says things that she hears others say, even if the timing is not right. She copies me a LOT!! She doesn't always use the words in the correct context though. The word she says a lot right now out of context is "seriously!" LOL! Yes, its cause I say it alot, but her context timing of using it is almost always off. What can I say. She also still does not like loud shrill nosies, but is fine with doing it herself. Again, its the PDD and the sensory part of it. I get it. Most people don't. SIGH!! I guess I'm just rambling now trying to get people to understand my girl. None of this really matters in the long run of things. She will always be my girl and I will always be there to love and care for her. As long or short as I get. She is our gift from God!!

I guess that's all for now. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy next week with your families for Thanksgiving. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Newsboys

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to go see the Newsboys in concert. We really didn't want to see all the other groups, but it was a package deal. Anna was super excited about going to see them. I decided to make this the best first concert she'd ever been to. She got a shirt and a poster. Here are a few pictures of that evening. (We took over 100.) LOL!!

Anna showing her shirt and poster:

Michael Tait Singing:
The best picture of Michael Tait:

Drummer Duncan Phillips:

The whole crew at the end:
We stayed around for about an hour after the concert was done and had her poster autographed and bought a couple CD's which we also had autographed. It was great! I am so glad she had a great time and that she enjoyed herself. She sat mesmerized through the entire concert. She just watched. All I heard about all night and all Wednesday was the concert though. The opening act was Carlos Whitakker. He really is a great singer as well. They also had Disciple, which is way to rockish for me and I left for a break during their show and Kutless. Kutless is pretty good too. We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Newsboys drummer Duncan made the best faces as he played the drums. He really cracked me up. Like I said we REALLY enjoyed the concert!

The other thing that we did during the concert was gain a Compassion sponsor child. We now have a second little girl who is 9 years old all the way across the world in Africa. Yes she is the same age as Anna. It was God I tell you! We were handed a little boy in the audience, but I really wanted a girl. So I took the packet to the booth and said can we please get a little girl? They looked at me and said I'm sorry, but there were only 200 kids for this concert and they are all gone. I said okay and thought about just giving that one back and waiting. I wanted a girl so that Anna could relate. I turned around not 5 seconds later and the guy had a little girl in his hand. I looked at him and said can I swap you. The little girl we got is the same age as Anna (4 months older) and is from Africa. Anna said she was beautiful. Anyhow, we have her info packet on our family ready and Anna has already written her a letter and drew a picture for her. That will all go out tomorrow in the mail. It was God working there. We are very excited about this. I have explained to Anna over and over again how this provides a good schooling for her and medical care and food and water. I am very happy about this.

Anyhow, I guess this is long enough. I hope everyone has a great weekend! More posts to come later, I hope. Take care.

Plant Study

Anna and I are reading about plants in school, so what better way to learn than to see which plant will grow faster and taller. So, we planted Sunflowers and Daisies. We have had fun watching them sprout so quickly. We labeled the pots and set them to grow. Here are some pictures.

Day 1:

Day 4 (Sunflower sprouted first):

Day 5 (Sunflower is growing fast):

Day 6 (You can't see it, but the daisy did finally sprout):


Day 8 (We planted the sunflowers outside):

We have had a great time and have since reused the sunflower pot to start some morning glories. They will be blue. They are doing really well too. We still have one daisy sprout, but its not near strong enough to be taken outside yet. I'm praying that it stays alive to make it that far. The sunflowers are still doing good outside, which is surprising. I thought for sure we would lose them with the cold we have had lately. I'm about to take the morning glories outside for transplanting too and start some more inside. Its been a lot of fun and she has enjoyed it and so have I. Its fun to watch them grow. We will continue this through the spring. I will bring you some more updates as we get them. It was well worth it.

New Routine and other things

We are slowly getting into the groove of a new routine. With me still working full-time, it has been a change to homeschool and do this. Anna and I are getting used to it though and we get done what we can.

She was super excited about school today as we planted two types of flowers this morning and I had her make predictions for them. We planted daisy and sunflower seeds. She has predicted that the sunflower will sprout through the soil first and that the daisy will grow tallest. She also wrote down step-by-step directions about how we planted the seeds. It was fun. She finished her writing with this sentence; "I think that planting the daisy and the sunflower was very fun. Everybody should plant flowers." I would think that she had a good time with it. We also are going to try taking a daily picture to monitor their growth. That will be fun to watch as well.

As for the other things, she has discovered the truth about all the seasonal myths. She is handling it well, but she was not happy to say the least. She couldn't believe that Santa was not real. She figured the Easter Bunny out last year, but still insisted on the other. This was half instigated by a friend from church telling her that none of it was real. I had a conversation with her Sunday about it all and we gave her several days to think about it. This morning I discussed it with her again. She understands, but isn't happy. I told her that Santa is about the spirit of giving and is a fun character for kids. She is not to tell anyone. I also told her that it will not stop Christmas or Easter. We will still buy her things, but that now she knows who really cared enough to bring her the things she asks for. Like I said, it was hard for her, but she is going to be fine. It did not completely devastate her. OK, well, I have other things as well, but they will have to wait. We are heading out for some lunch and errands before I go to work. Take care all.

Newsboys Here We Come!!

Anna is very much into Newsboys. She loves listening to them and watching videos on You Tube. She knows the names of who used to be in the group and who is in the group now. She likes them very much. Anyhow, I made a promise to her last year that if they ever came to Lubbock, I would definitely buy tickets and take her to see them. Well, they are coming in May. May 3rd, our family will be sitting on the front row by the stage and watching Anna's favorite group. To say she is excited is an understatement. She is thrilled. It should be an adventure. I am not really thrilled about the two other bands coming with them, but I am keeping my promise and for the most part I like the Newsboys, so we will go and enjoy it. So as the title says...Newsboys Here We Come!!

Changes and Surgery

Well, lots of changes have happened. We are back homeschooling as of Friday. Anna is much calmer and mornings are a lot smoother already. We are excited and happy about this change. I am glad we came back to it.

As for the surgery, tomorrow morning, bright and early at 5:30am, I will be admitted to the hospital for exploratory and then full surgery. There is a possibility of a hysterectomy, but I won't know what all they do until I wake up. I am not in the least bit worried about the surgery, just the recovery. This will put me out of work for 6 weeks. I am a little worried about that, but I will be able to pick back up when I am cleared.

I will have some time on my hands afer surgery, so maybe I will get on here at least once more? Hey, you never know?!

Anyhow, if you all have time or can, prayers are appreciated for a successful surgery and a good recovery. I know I am in good hands. Thanks so much.

Asked Anna...

her opinion on going back to homeschool or staying in regular school and she listed some good points for homeschool.

1. You only gave me spelling tests at homeschool. At school I take a test in everything every week.

2. We did history. (Anna LOVES history, but since it isn't tested in school, they have done none of it.)

3. There was no math tests every week. (I never tested her. I checked her work everyday so I knew how she was doing.)

4. No one made fun of her clothes everyday. (She has a little bully picking on her at school. This girl picks on her outfit everyday. EVERY DAY! How depressing is that for a child.)

Anyhow, we haven't made any permanent decisions yet, but I really am seriously considering pulling her back home for school. Not sure how yet, since I want to remain full-time, but I'm starting to side with yes we will probably go back to it. I know a lot of people are against it, but this is whats right for our family. I'll make a more permanent decision by end of month or so. Please continue to pray. Thank you.

Thinking...

about pulling Anna back home for school at the end of this school year. I have good reason of course, many of which I am not sure I should post, but I don't feel she is getting what she needs in school overall. That's what it all boils down to. I wish I could say more, but for now that's all I think I need to say. Prayers are appreciated to ensure we are making a sound decision for Anna and our family. Thanks all.

Too much?

Well, it is Christmas again and I always think we get Anna too much. I try to limit it, but its hard, since she is the only one. This year, there are two gifts from Santa and about 5 main ones from us, along with little junk. Is that too much? She has friends who get only two gifts and some that get tons. I feel we are middle of the road in regards to this, but still feel like maybe we over-indulge in the holiday. Not sure yet. Nothing she gets is especially fantastic and this is the most she has gotten in several years, but I still sometimes think that it is too much. UGH!! What a complicated dilemma. I'm not sure. Anyhow, that's what I am thinking right now. Do you think she gets too much, too little or just the right amount? I won't be offended by any answers, just looking for a happy middle ground. Thanks!