Even Better than I thought!

A couple days ago the school called and informed me that we had won more prizes in the raffel on Family Fun Night. Adrianna had entered to win time with a teacher after school having snacks and playing games, and she had also won 4 tickets to the Oregon Zoo, and a pass for the family for the day to the Childrens museum. Lucky gal!

New Blogger

Well Alyssa finaly talked me into letting her get a Myspace account. A lot of her friends have one, and I fugured she is almost 14, so if I moniter what she is doing, it will be a great way for her to keep in contact with her friends in different places. Well since Alyssa got a myspace, Shelbi thought she needed one also, but I really don't think she needs to have one quite yet. She is a bit to young, and really none of her friends her age have one, so I didn't see any reason for her to have one either. I did however agree to let her join the blog. I figure it would be good for her to write things down, and I think she is really enjoying it. Her cousion Bobby LeeAnn also got a blog, so they have enjoyed commenting back and forth on each others. So if you are interesed in reading another version of what goes on around here you can check out her blog at

http://shelbi-secondchildofsix.blogspot.com/
or you can click on the link on my page "Second child of six/Shelbi"

Family Fun Night....I WON I WON!!!

Last night was family fun night at the school. It was a fundraiser to help raise money for next years fifth grade class to take there annual trip to the coast. They had a few different activities for the kids such as a cake walk, karaoke, and bingo. They were also raffling off several items, and had a silent auction. During the bingo they had two different opportunities to win a Nintendo Wii. I was so close to winning, that the anticipation of the next number being called was almost to much. Only one number "G 60".....unfortunately some one else called out bingo. BUMMER!

Well after that let down we went back to the room where they were holding the raffle and silent auction, and to my surprise I had won something! It was two Excursion fare tickets on the Mt. Hood Railroad. I had only put one ticket in that particular drawing, so I was kind of surprised I had won. Anyway I was glad to win it, and it will be fun to get away this summer and enjoy the train ride and all the beautiful scenery. Maybe for our anniversary in June? I will take a lot of pictures and post them when we do go.

Will we make it?

With our recent move and our out of town trips for funerals and such, our homeschooling has been on the back burner for quite sometime. I am fining it hard to get back on schedule, and the schedule seems to be just dragging on and on. Shelbi for some reason this year has had a larger work load than Alyssa, and with us starting late and taking extra time off, it just seems to be getting worse and worse. I have had to reschedule the girls numerous times here recently, which in turn leads to extending our schedule way out into the summer. So to avoid schooling the entire summer, I decided to double up on some subjects. Well that wasn't working either. Shelbi would have 10-14 lessons a day to complete! That was going to be impossible. So I contacted her home room teacher this morning, and she was able to reduce some of the lessons, and reschedule her to 5-6 lessons a day. That was a huge relief for me. We are still going to have to keep on top of it to get it all done, but it definitely looks possible now.

Home schooling this year has been a lot like I thought it would be. I knew that I would do well with it all at the beginning of the year, and get a little burnt out by Christmas, and that we wouldn't always be able to finish every day "on schedule" Knowing this has made it easier in some ways. I didn't set unrealistic goals for the girls, or myself, and so when everything didn't turn out perfect, I didn't feel like a huge failure. I know time will quickly pass, and this homeschooling year will soon be behind me. I just need to stay focused, and catch my second wind.

I'm not sure what next year holds. I have contemplated putting the girls back in public school, but they really aren't for that, and I'm not sure if I am either. I'm not to sure if I want to stick with the online program. There are a few things I like about it, and some things I really don't like. I guess I just need to do some praying about it. Right now I am just trying to focus on finishing this year.

All Kinds of Stuff.....Update.

I realize I haven't posted in a while, time just seems to be quickly passing me by.... and still no posts. Well here in the Easter home I have been trying to focus on getting back on schedule with school work and just our daily routine. I find that after a move it always takes some time to get back in the cycle of normal day life, and get adjusted to new schedules and such. Well I feel like I am finally getting into the groove of things, so maybe I can start posting more frequently again. He he he. However I am sad to report I have not got any decorations up on my walls yet. I don't know what my problem is usually within the first week I have the whole house decked out :) I guess for the most part I am wanting to try some new things in the different rooms, and although I like the newer contemporary style, I am still drawn to the old fashioned country antique style. I think I have watched to many redesign shows on HG TV I just want to incorporate all the styles into my home. I should just pick something and go for it.

I can't tell you how happy I am to be in our new house! We are enjoying all the extra space and most importantly BATHROOMS :) It has been so nice living so much closer to Mary and Trina. My younger girls go to the same school as Mary's boys, and they even get to ride the same bus, so that has made the transition to this school a lot easier for them. They seem to be fitting in really well, and everyone at the school has been really nice.

Well this last week was Hayden's birthday....my baby is 2 years old! The time from when he was born until now has gone by so fast. It is hard to believe he is really 2 I find myself trying to keep him a baby as long as I can. I remember when Alyssa was a baby...the bottle was gone once she turned one, and I tried breaking her from the pacifier at that point too. By 1 1/2 she was no longer a baby....she was the big sister and I thought she should act accordingly. It's kind of sad when I think about it now. So I am savoring every moment and letting Hayden be a baby much longer. However the bottle and pacifier are going to have to go after a while, and I do look forward to the next stages. When he begins to express his thoughts and feeling in words and not just grunts, whines, and hand movements.

We didn't have any kind of big party this year for Hayden, I figure at the age of 2 they really don't care, and why have a big fiasco if you don't have to?? So we just had a simple party at the house with our family. I baked a cake. It was pretty sorry looking, but the girls helped decorate it, so it was made with a lot of love. After dinner we all sang "Happy Birthday" for some reason Hayden didn't really like that and he started to cry, but after being consoled by his Dad he did just fine and enjoyed opening his presents. Here are some pictures of our little party.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Life has been so busy here the last few days, I don't even know where to begin. Well I guess I will start with letting you all know....we finally moved to a different house! This weekend was so busy. We have had a lot of company, helped with a funeral dinner, and moved all this last weekend. On Thursday evening we had Bro. Terry and Sis. Valiere Boyd, come vist and spend the weekend with us, until after Sis. Beta's funeral on Monday. On Friday evening we signed the lease on our new house, and then went home and packed a few things (at that point I hadn't packed anything) All day Saturday we spent packing and moving everything we would need to host company at our new house. By Saturday evening we had everything important moved over to our new house, with the help of Bro. Terry, Sis. Valiere, Bro. Matt & Sis. Tisha, And Bro. River and Bro. Isiah. Thanks so much for all your help! At about midnight Bro. Jason and Sis. Velvadene Bohall, their three children, and Sis. Pam Bates arrived and stayed trough the weekend. On Sunday we all went to church, and after church we had our out of town company, and Bro. Rusty & Sis. Mary and there family over. Monday was the funeral and funeral dinner, and after the dinner our company came back home with us, and also Bro. Walter and Sis. Heather Gray came over for a while to visit. Bro. Terry, Sis. Valerie & Sis. Pam all left on Monday night. Bro. Jason & Sis. Vevadene stayed Monday night, and Tuesday we went to OMSI together. They left later that afternoon. It was a very busy extended weekend, but a very good one. I felt blessed to have a house large enough to accomodate all our company. The Lord knows just when to give us the things we need and desire. It was such a great joy to share our first night in our new home with visiting Brethren. Here are a few pictures of out new house, before all of our furniture moved in:) I will try to take pictures later after I get things decorated.

It was bound to happen!

In a house with five older sisters it was bound to happen sooner or later! The girls were playing dress up last night, and decided Hayden should be included in the fun. They all thought it was great fun and were very amused, there dad on the other hand not so amused.....