School is never fun

That's what my 8 year old told my husband this week. "School is never fun." Broke my heart. I will say, school isn't always fun, but I do try to make it fun sometimes. So, I would guess maybe I'm not doing a good enough job at this homeschooling thing? So, do tell...what can I do to make school fun? I just bought and downloaded a few notebooks from www.historyscribe.com. I attempted to print out the United States Army book, but my printer ran out of ink on the last page. Hmph. I also downloaded an Age of Discovery book and a History of Christmas book. Maybe she'll think notebooks will be fun? Who knows. I tend to think she would think that no school at all would be fun. For some reason, I'm not raising a bunch of kids who love to learn. They learn 'cause I make them. :-) So, if you have any ideas or advice for me, please leave me a comment.
Knitting news...I found my yarn. It was hidden in my closet. I hadn't been able to find my one lonely rubbermaid tote that houses my yarn stash. I was so glad to find it tonight. I needed some of the yarn that was in it! I've been working on the Clapotis. Still. I swear, it's never ending. I think I might make a couple of pairs of Fetching (google it...I'm too tired to link it right now) for my nieces for Christmas. Atleast the 2 older girls. They're 13 and 18. I should probably start them soon, since my husband will be home in the near future. Until next time............

Chaos

That's what my life has felt like lately....chaos. Will it get better any time soon? Probably not. :-) I am getting my house in order though. I still have quite a bit of stuff in the garage, but a lot of it will stay out there. It just needs some organization. I figured that will be a good project for dh to do while he's home on R&R. He'll have lots of helpers. Heehee. The last two days, we've spent organizing the bonus room, which we're using a toy room. I am putting a couch and a love seat down there soon. My friend Lori just got new couches, and she's giving me her old set. Gotta love a free couch! :-) It's in better condition than my current set, so I'll put hers my main living room, and the old set downstairs in the bonus room. I really hate to spend a ton of money on new furniture, because I have no idea how long I'll live here. I doubt we'll go anywhere within the next couple of years, but you just never know.
This is our second week back at school since we returned from Florida. We're having our good days and our not so good days. Monday was horrid. Tuesday and Wednesday went pretty well. I just realized that Benjamin knows almost all of his letters and their sounds, so he'll be ready to start reading in no time at all.
Mike will be home for R&R soon. I can't say exactly when, because I don't know exactly when. But, it'll be before Christmas. :-) He's supposed to give me a more accurate date soon. I can't wait. We're planning to maybe take a 3 or 4 day trip to Gatlinburg, TN. We've been there a couple of times already, and love it there. We'll most likely rent a log cabin and just stay there. We'll go to the aquarium, but that's probably it. We'll just enjoy being together the rest of the time. Last time Mike took R&R, we traveled for atleast 10 of the 14 days. He doesn't want to do that again. So, we'll travel for 3 or 4, and stay home for the rest. Maybe I see a 56" DLP TV in our near future? Who knows. Heehee.
Knitting. What's that? I haven't knit hardly at all since I've been back from FL. Seems like I've been exhausted since I returned. I'm almost done with the sock I started when I was at the YH event. That's it. I had big plans to do some knitting for Christmas gifts, but I doubt that will happen. We'll see.
Here are a couple of pictures for your viewing pleasure. :-) Well, never mind. I've been trying to upload pictures to blogger for 2 days now, and it won't work. Until next time................

Florida

I'm just checking in from Florida! Today was rainy off and on, but SeaWorld was still good. I have a story to tell that made steam come out my ears, but you'll have to wait to hear it. :-) My oldest daughter turned 11 today! Where has the time gone? Geesh...only two more years and I'll have TWO teenagers!
We did get all of the stuff out of the old house. I didn't think we were ever going to finish, but we did. I couldn't have done it without my friends help, that's for sure. Thanks to Becca and Ruben, and Tracey and Jim! :-) I still need to sweep and mop, clean the appliances and sinks...I think that's it....in the old house. That'll happen after I get back home. Tomorrow, we're not doing anything. We're all exhausted. Wednesday, it's Disney time! Of course, it's supposed to rain. Ugh. Until next time.....

I cannot believe it

WE ARE GETTING A BRAND NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!!! Those of you familiar with military housing know that a brand new house is nearly unheard of! When we found out in December that we would be here for a while, we decided to get on the 5 bedroom list. I called last month to find out our position, and we were number 7. Imagine my surprise when housing called my cell phone on Friday, then called my parents house and left a message for me. Of course, that would be the day I forgot my cell phone on my kitchen counter. I returned the call bright and early this morning. Of course, she wouldn't tell me on the phone, but she would make an appointment for me to come in to update some paperwork and talk to her. Off I went at 11:00 this morning. I had to update my contact information, give her a copy of my power-of-attorney, a copy of Mike's orders bringing us here AND the kids social security numbers. Why she needed those, I have no idea. Anyway, she was adamant that I have all of the paperwork. Of course I did, just not with me. Thankfully, she loaded us up in her van and drove us to look at our house. Imagine my surprise when I discovered we're getting a BRAND NEW HOUSE!!!!!! Five bedrooms. You can look at a floor plan here. The housing lady says it's 2700 square feet. Huge compared to the maybe 1400sq.ft. I have now. I am so excited! Here's the kicker though.....I can pick up keys to the new house on Wednesday, but I have to be OUT of my old house by Monday. I have no idea how I will accomplish it all, but it will happen. If God can perform a miracle to get me a new house, he will perform a miracle to get us out of this house in time. Right? :-) Amy is coming over tomorrow to help me pack boxes. Becca and Ruben will help me move stuff to the new house. I think Rear D might be able to help a bit on Thursday. I'm hoping a crew from church will help on Saturday. Hopefully between all of my helpers we'll get it done. I wish I could have had keys today, but an exception to policy couldn't be made. Hmph. :-) I did have to alter our plans to go to Florida a bit. We're leaving Monday instead of Sunday. I think that means we will miss the first week of co-op. I hadn't thought of that. Ugh. I guess I shouldn't be, but I am a bit surprised over the kids reactions. They are absolutely stoked that we're getting a new house. It means the two older kids will have their own rooms. BUT, they're going to miss their friends here. They're already exchanging phone numbers. I assured them they'll still be able to get together with their friends sometimes though. Me? I'm secretly glad that we're getting away from here. My kids don't get along very well with a lot of other neighborhood kids around. Our new neighborhood still has a lot of empty houses. It'll be very quiet there. :-) I better get busy packing boxes. Until next time.............

Fun with the YH

We had a blast with the Yarn Harlot on Wednesday. I would definitely go again, given the opportunity. This picture of the line doesn't even show the line at it's worst. By the way, that segment of the line was behind us. There were maybe 20 people or so in front of us. Not bad at all. We were able to get great seats in the theater. Who knew there were over 700 knitters in Atlanta who wanted to see the Yarn Harlot? Our first seats would have enabled us to take great pictures, but we were packed in like sardines. I am not even sure we would have been able to knit! So, Becca and I moved a few rows back. We were still packed in tight, but we did have about 6 feet of leg room in front of us. Much more comfortable. It was fun to sit there and knit. There were tons of hand-knits to look at. Some of them were begging to be touched, but I did restrain myself. :-) After the YH finished speaking, we got in line for the book signing. I think we may have waited longer to have our books signed than we did to get into the theater? It was totally worth it though. I was able to get my book signed, AND get a picture with her. Oh, and I got to touch the sock.
A special thanks to Amy and Ruben for watching the kids. Without you both, I wouldn't have been able to go. :-) Thanks to Becca for the ride and the fabulous time! Until next time............

Tomorrow is the day

You know the day I'm talking about....the day I get to see the Yarn Harlot! Mike calls her the Yarn Whore though, 'cause he says that Harlot is really an old fashioned name for whore. HA! I am excited. I think I've got my bag packed. I cast on a toe tonight, so I'll have a stockinette sock to work on if I need it. I'm thinking I'll definitely need it. :-) Clapotis is in the bag as well. I'm at the point where I don't feel like I'll ever finish it, even though I know I will.
We're in the 2nd week of school here. Last week went fairly well. Someone please tell me whos idea it was to start school the day after we returned home from our nearly 3 month vacation????? We didn't finish everything I wanted to accomplish, but we did pretty well. This week we're adding Latin, History and Science. Devin is LOVING Latin. He wanted to do three lessons today. We're using Getting Started With Latin. I really like how you can download the pronunciations in MP3 format. Very nifty. I didn't want something really in-depth for this year, something just to get their feet wet. This seems to fit the bill nicely. Today was the first day adding in History. I had forgotten how long it takes to do all of that Sonlight reading, but the kids really do enjoy it. Well, maybe not so much now that I require handwritten answers to the questions for the Readers. HA! Flying Creatures is going great. We did a fun little experiment today that the kids really enjoyed. I did take pictures, so maybe I'll share more about that later. Until next time.............

Home, Sweet Home?

Maybe not, but I'm home none-the-less. :-) I came home to a disaster, but I think it's fixed now. :-) I did get a sweet new computer out of the deal. :-)
So, Becca and I are going to see the Yarn Harlot on Wednesday. I am so excited! It'll be a blast, I'm sure. I'm going to have to figure out what to take in my knitting bag. I'm not sure I want to work on the Clapotis, socks it will be. However, I'm not sure working on Cross-hatch lace will be a good thing. I don't have the brain capacity to memorize the pattern right now. So, we'll see what I come up with. I do want to knit up a hat really quick to donate to charity. I wonder what I have in my stash for hats?
Mike has earned another award this deployment. It's an award I would rather him now have earned, but it is what it is. That's his most favorite statement lately..."It is what it is." He's earned a Purple Heart. He's fine, so he tells me. His tank was hit by an EFP. That's a fancy name for a big roadside bomb made of mostly copper. This was his 5th hit. The other 4 times, he's gotten off scott free. This time, he took shrapnel to his leg. His thigh to be more specific. He said they did x-rays to make sure all of the shrapnel was out, and it is. He said it hurts, but it's not above his tolerance level. HA! Praise God that it wasn't worse.
Fire ants. Have I told you how much I loathe fire ants? Liberty went outside this morning for a quick minute, and came screaming in with atleast 10 bites on one foot, and a few on the other. Poor kid. I filled the kitchen sink up with some water, threw a bunch of ice-cubes into it, and let her soak her feet. I gave her a few measuring cups to play with to take her mind off her feet. Seems to have worked. She's happily playing outside now with shoes on. :-) Devin carried something out to the trash and said the back yard is full of fire ants. I hope it's not, as Richard will be here shortly to mow for me. It's a jungle out there! I'll be glad when it's mowed though. There are lizards everywhere. Yuck. I hate lizards. They're not very big, and I know they're harmless, but those suckers jump. I've seen them all over my patio furniture. Yuck. Until next time.............