Let Try This Again.

I have been very, very absent from the blog lately, but I think about it frequently. Does that count? Yeah, I didn't think so.

I'm going to attempt to turn over a new leaf and blog every single day for awhile. Maybe that will get me moving again.

Life has been good here lately. Full and good. The school year is winding down (4 weeks to go!). We've already finished grammar. Our last week of history is this week. Math and science are the only two subjects that will go to the very end.

I want to do a post about hits and misses, as well as plans for next year. I also want to talk about books I've read, movies I've seen, and life in general. So, hopefully, I can find plenty to talk about in my daily postings.

Until tomorrow...

I Won!

I don't usually enter contests. I'm very much of the "somebody's gotta win, but it's probably not going to be me" mindset. Ever the pessimist, that's me!

However, when I saw that Half Pint House was giving away copies of God's World News, and that there could be multiple winners, I held my breath and jumped in. I've wanted to get subscription to this magazine, but having never seen it before, I was hesitant.

I was thrilled when I found out I was one of the winners. I even won two copies! The magazine is divided into age groups and I won News Current (4th - 5th grade) and Top Story (6th - 9th). I was very happy with what I saw and now plan to subscribe.


Thank you, Megan, for having this contest!

Oh, It's Good to be Back

Hello, everyone. I cannot believe how much I missed being here. Even more, I missed knowing what was going on in your lives! This lenten sacrifice was incredibly hard. I don't know that I'll pick this one again. Wowza.

I was not perfect. I stumbled more times than I care to admit, but I was still on the internet for a lot less time. If you don't believe me, check out my bloglines. I have over 1400 blog posts unread. 1400!! Good grief. I fear I will never catch up. I've thought of selecting "Mark All Read", but I just cannot do it. So, if I have not returned to your blog, be patient. I'll get there.

I found that it is not enough to give up something for God, you have to replace it with something else. I started a Precept Bible study on Matthew that I found here. It's free and you can find online videos (also free) to go along with the lessons. I found that I did not have time to watch the videos, so I've just been doing the lessons. I took Precept training almost 15 years ago, but haven't done one of their studies in ages.

Here's a quick peek into our lives over the past few weeks.

My Privileges

I found this very interesting. I did not grow up in what I would consider a privileged home. My dad was a school teacher and my mom was a secretary. There were plenty of things we could never afford (Gloria Vanderbilt jeans come to mind - remember those?). Yet I was able to say "yes" to more than half of these.

From What Privileges Do You Have?, based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright.

Bold the true statements.

1. Father went to college
2. Father finished college
3. Mother went to college
4. Mother finished college
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home.
9. Were read children's books by a parent
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18
11. Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
17. Went to summer camp
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child [kid's work is original!]
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house
24. Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home
25. You had your own room as a child
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
31. Went on a cruise with your family
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family

HT: My Thoughtful Spot

Our Day

This seemed like a busy day, so I thought I would list the happenings to see if it was as much as I thought it was.

• School got off to a late start. I have GOT to stop staying up late watching Heroes on DVD.
• We got history, Latin (our first day!), memory work, and grammar done. Grammar was kind of a cheat. Ruthie made too many mistakes on yesterday's work, so I had her do a supplemental worksheet. Since I'm keeping them together on grammar, Robert pretty much got the day off.
• We headed for the orthodontist for 1:00 appointments. These were initial consultations, recommended by the dentist. Robert needs more work done than Ruthie, but she's ahead of him dentally (fewer baby teeth), so she'll get started in about 6 months. Robert has at least a year before we start with him. I'm glad. He can use the time to learn to sit still in the chair. Sigh.... Kids did math in the car.
• After leaving the orthodontist, we popped into a toy store right next door. I love small toy stores. They seem to have the best stuff. We found Papo figures for the first time and we all fell in love with them. They mainly had medieval figures, which is perfect for us. I caved and let the kids get one each. Robert chose an archer and Ruth got a horse. I see Christmas gift ideas for the grandparents.
  
• We got home and I let the kids have 30 minutes each on the computer while I semi-napped (remember the Heroes DVDs?).
• The kids played with some neighbor kids while I made dinner (baked ziti- requested by Ruth). Not long after it came out of the oven, Robert came home and told me Ruth lost her glasses. Another sigh... I went out and we looked everywhere she had been and couldn't find them. The other kids said they would let us know if they find them. I hope, I hope.
• After dinner, I headed to the store because we were out of dishwasher detergent. I bought myself a York peppermint patty while there. I deserved it. :)
• It is now 10:00 pm. Everyone is in bed. The house is quiet. And I, not having learned my lesson, am going to watch another episode or 2 of Heroes.
  

Wild Animals in Suburbia

I was talking to the kids as they worked at the kitchen table this morning when I saw something scurrying through our yard out of the corner of my eye. It looked like...

"Kids! Look! It's a possum!"

Much excitement was to be found until he/she disappeared under our fence. The kids wondered if it would have played dead if we had run out there to see it. "Then we could have taken pictures of it!" (Yep, they're my kids.)

Ruth told her dad about it later and found out that he had seen a baby possum in the driveway as he left for work this morning.

I think we can quit wondering what's been digging around in the flower beds.