The Amazing Alligator!

Denisha brought the kids some little treats the other day. She got the girls some socks and got Micah this alligator. It said to put him in water and he would grow. It was so funny. Micah would get his ruler out each day and report his growth and he finally stopped growing after about a week. I wish I had gotten a picture of him holding it before he grew, because the picture doesn't do it justice. It didn't just grow in length, but width and all around. He is made out of some weird rubbery material. Once he is dried off, he isn't slimy or anything. He just feels similar to a rubber ball or something similar.

So, now he is back on his dresser and is shrinking. I'm not sure he'll get as small as he originally started, but he is slowly going down. He does "sweat" a bit in this process, but not too bad.

Who knew that $1 could bring such entertainment for the whole family:-)

Here is a picture of him when he came out of the package. He was just about 6 inches long:


Here is a picture of him next to the same ruler and Micah holding him:

Happy Birthday to Jamie!

Today is Jamie's birthday! We laugh, because we are constantly reminded with doctor's appointments, aching bones, heartburn, wrinkles, and gray hair (him not me...ha ha!) that we aren't getting any younger! I get teased for 5 days out of every year and this year was no exception. I still say that if you are a Christian and truly believe that life begins at conception, then Jamie is technically older than me:-) It is an ongoing yearly argument that we'll never win.

Jamie is the first best thing that has happened in my life this side of heaven. He is a Godly husband and Daddy and wonderful example to our children. I admire his initiative to continue his education and he works darn hard for this family! He encourages all of us in different ways, and I love to just sit back and watch him be a "Daddy" to these 4 blessings that we get to share. I know there are days where he is bone tired, but he still musters up enough energy to give us a little of his time and efforts each day. I love him for that! I really cannot imagine my life without Jamie in it.


Happy Birthday Baby, the love of my life, the best Daddy I've ever seen, and the most amazing man I've ever met. Thank you for being you!

A Perfect Weekend

This was about the most perfect weekend we've had in a while. It was just plain ol' fun! Friday night we stayed up late with the kids and played "Clue" (see Jamie's post about that). Saturday, we worked in the yard a little bit, put up our porch swing (FINALLY!) and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine! Nisha and Trevor came over later that afternoon, we walked to the park, flew a kite, played disc golf (well the men/boy/and 1 girl did), etc. We walked back to the house to grill for supper and ended the night staying up a bit again for a movie. Of course yesterday we attended church twice, I sat out on my porch swing in the shade reading a magazine while the kids played, took a little nap, and ended the day watching some TV and soaking up some extra "Jamie time" since he'll be incredibly busy this week with school and work.

We also had a proposition from church about a month ago. It was intriguing, but the more we prayed about it, discussed it, dissected it, imagined it, we decided that we had to turn it down. I cannot imagine adding 1 more thing to our plates right now! Our pastor was amazingly understanding and we both said that we'd be HAPPY to be a part of some kind of team effort, but we cannot do this alone....not now! I love being on this end of church again. I love that we can teach classes, chaperone events, be appreciated for who we are, and not have all the pressures from it. Since going to that church in August, I've just felt amazingly blessed and I've learned more in this short while than probably several years of some of the other churches we've been at. That is not to say that all the churches we've been a part of wasn't a learning experience. It is just different and in an amazingly refreshing and good way. I LOVE being a volunteer and playing my part as a member right now.

I think people tend to forget that working 43+ hours a week and going to a full time Master's program and writing a thesis now is really more than anybody needs stress for. Jamie is wonderful to make time for us and he sacrifices a lot of sleep for himself in order to complete his education. I'm proud of him and I think sometimes that I wonder how he is fitting it all in. He is in pursuit of a dream, and I support that, respect that, and honor that. But to just say that he is "busy" is an understatement.

I guess it has just hung in my mind all day though. We just aren't 'used' to this side of the coin just yet and having to tell someone 'no' has never really been a choice before. I know that there are people that will be disappointed in our choice when they hear, but in the end, we answer to God and God alone for the choices we make in any aspect of our life.

This morning I got up earlier than usual and went for a walk/jog on the walking trails that we live by. It was a gorgeous spring morning and I need to kick myself into a better shape. A couple of years ago, I exercised daily, had dropped close to 20 pounds and felt great, energetic, and just generally better. Well, last year, I got depressed, and well, I got depressed...the rest is kind of history. I need to get back to a healthy routine again. It was/is never about a scale to me, but just being healthy and Lord knows that we aren't getting any younger. We'll find that out even more here in a few days:-)

I've Gone to the Dark Side

I used to hate used clothing stores and such. It isn't that I cared what other people did. I didn't even really think it was gross or anything, but I hated the "hunt". I like to find a rack of clothes I like, then look for the size, which is impossible to do in those stores. It is dig through piece by piece until you find something that catches your eye. I tended to shop clearance racks, sales, with coupons, etc instead

Well, the past 2 seasons, I've moved to the dark side (at least for my kids) of thrift storing. I buy new shoes for them and maybe a piece here and there, but the bulk of their wardrobe is made up of thrift store finds. I try to catch Friday $1 day at one store. You know you have moved totally to the dark side when you go to the other thrift store in town and pick up something and think, "I'm not paying $2.50 for that!"

This has saved us a lot of money and I worry less about them ruining something, because it simply just doesn't matter. I guess the next step to the dark side is yard sales, which is not something I really care to do, but I never though I'd be thrifting either, so you never know:-)

Moms' Night Out

Last night I went to a "Mom's night out" at a church member's house. We ate some dessert, talked, laughed, played a couple of cheesy party games, and fellowshipped together. It was fun and nice to get out, I suppose, but I realized something too. I really like just being boring and spending my Friday evenings home with my kids watching a movie in my PJ's. It is fine every now and then to get out though. The kids were deeply disturbed that I was the one gone at bedtime instead of Jamie, but in the end, I missed kissing them goodnight.

I spend all my days with my children and people often tell me that I need to 'get away'. There are some days I will agree with that sentiment, but most of the time, I'm pretty content with my life just the way it is (lack of break and all).

I love this phase of my life!

Boring old 30 something mommy of 4 who is a wife, sister, sister-in law, aunt, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, teacher, cook, driver, organizer, accountant, nurse, entertainer, tear wiper, referee, snuggler, cleaner, hairdresser, self-esteem builder, volunteer, painter, floorer, washer, and friend ....I'll take it. I have the best job in the world!!! Hands down!

I just began to take a survey of the different women in the room last night. There were 9 of us there. Some just starting out moms, adoptive moms, moms of special needs, large families, small families, homeschooling moms, working out of the home moms, pregnant moms to be, divorced moms, single moms, ... We all had 2 things in common: Our children and our Lord!

Michelangelo

This morning our history was about some of the great artists during the Renaissance period. So, what do you do when you are a homeschooler and you want to show your kids how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel? You have them do it, of course!

Here are pictures from my kids painting a "ceiling" while lying on their backs like Michelangelo. They had a ball and realized that paint dripped onto their faces, it was difficult, and their arms got tired. Imagine doing that for 4 years on much higher off the ground! That makes you appreciate it that much more.

Please ignore the PJ pants. We were out of town this weekend, and laundry is a bit behind in the Hughes house:-)

Whew....we are home!

We left a little earlier than we anticipated, because I didn't want to wait 2 hours for a class when I had everything else accomplished. It was good though! We got curriculum bought. I really only need to order a few little odds and ends and we'll be complete for Fall 2011. I want to check the library first to see what I can access there for free. I kind of wish the conference was a little later in the year so that I didn't have to store all this stuff AND my current stuff though . I mean, we still have 43 days of school left, so it is kind of hard to think of next year already. 43 days will zip by in a hurry though. I want to take a field trip or 2 during our "spring break" while Jamie is off, so we can count those days too. Oh, the beauty of homeschool and being finished by the end of April or first week of May:-)

We took 4 seminars. 2 of them geared towards writing, reading, spelling, etc (I'm a math person, not a writer) and 2 of them 'lighter' to sit back and enjoy. One of the 'light' ones ended up being a dud and I was really wishing we had sat by the door, so we could escape. It was just not that informative and I think it was suppose to be funny, but it wasn't. I looked around several times and almost everybody had a glazed look in their faces hoping that the hour would hurry up.

We saw Tim Hawkins last night. About half the material we have on DVD's, but about half was new and fresh for us. I laughed until I literally cried and my stomach got a good ab workout. He is a very talented man and has his eye on the big picture of Christ. We also got to listen to his wife speak this morning and she is a lovely lady

I don't know that we'll go every year, but it is so nice to kind of get fresh ideas, see books in person, and get a "recharge" and excitement going to finish out that spring slump. I learned quite a bit too. I think I'm still in that uptight, I must do everything perfectly or screw my kids up forever, worrying about the future, am I doing enough, am I doing too much, what works, what doesn't mode. I wonder how many years it takes to get out of that mode. I suppose there will always be a bit of doubt, because God has called us to this and it takes time, patience, commitment, energies, etc every single day. Satan wants to put doubt in my head and I often have moments where I really stress out about this big responsibility. Being a parent is always a huge God sized responsibility anyways.

I'm taking a little bit of a different approach to teaching next year. I needed the curriculum to hold my hand a bit this year, but next year, I'm going more with unit type studies and more 'laid back'. I'm glad I did what I did last year, but I'm also glad that I have a new vision. My kids are too fun to be around to not have fun with them:-) They are fun people!

It was nice to just have Jamie to myself for a couple of days too. Even if I believe he probably 'suffered' through some of it for my behalf:-) I love him!

In about 5 hours...

I'll be kidless until Saturday night. I really can't remember the last time Jamie and I just went 'out'. Let's see...the last time I was without kids was for a funeral. The time before that was for an early morning ER visit. Not exactly what I would call a date. The time before that was that same weekend and we were visiting the newest Hughes in the hospital. Oh, we did go out to eat with Jamie's parents that night. Hence the reason for the ER visit (food poisoning!). Before that? It was.....ummmmm.....Ok.....Christmas shopping???? I think maybe I need to get out more:-) It is kind of sad and funny at the same time.

So, this weekend we are conquering a big homeschool convention. I will MORE than make my money back for the convention fee with the discounts and free shipping. We are revamping a bit for next year. I'm kind of excited about our changes. I'm hoping to free up some time for more fun natural type of learning. I think it takes a few years to kind of weed your way through and figure this whole thing out. It is definitely a journey for us all. Sometimes I feel very inadequate and small in all of this. I have to constantly remind myself that God put me here, he will provide our needs, and he will will not fail us.

We are going to take a few classes at the convention, peruse curriculum choices I haven't decided on quite yet, eat meals that are not prepared by me, stay in a hotel, lavish in the quiet (Ok, probably miss my noisy kids), and try to just enjoy ourselves. It is just killing 2 birds with 1 stone in a way, because Jamie and I need this recharge every now and then for ourselves.

And to leave you with this. The past several weeks we have been studying Psalm 121. We have a CD that goes with our curriculum and they learn most of their scripture through song. My kids were able to successfully write the entire chapter and even Chloe can recite it. This is one of the many reasons that I do what I do.

Psalm 121

A Song of Ascents.

I WILL lift up my eyes to the hills
From whence shall my help come?

²My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

³He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved; He Who keeps you will not slumber.

⁴Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand

⁶The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.

⁷The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.

⁸The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Subbing, Masquerade, and an Accomplishment

I was asked by a friend at church to sub in the Preschool class for 2 Wednesday nights. I said 'yes' immediately, but I was thinking to myself "great!" Preschool is just not my calling. I love little kids to pieces. Don't get me wrong at all. It is just that I like bigger kids in a classroom setting. I taught Kindergarten prior to having children and even that is different, because you can set rules and have consequences to them. What are you really going to do in a church class for an hour?

So, I decided to teach the Parable of the lost sheep. We talked about how Jesus is a Shepard, made Sheep masks, then took turn hiding a little stuffed "Sheepy" and finding him like the Shepard. I thought all was going well until the last 5 minutes. The speaker downstairs (ummm....my husband) didn't let out on time, so they were "done" by 7:30 and were proceeding to go bonkers. I was trying to maintain some kind of order until Parents picked their kids up. 2 little boys were kicking at one another (just playing) and I told them to sit down until they were picked up. One little boy did after some reluctance and the other stuck his tongue out, told me "no" with his arms cross, and crawled underneath the table. When I tried to retrieve him, he proceeded to spit on me. I was appalled! All I can say is that I appreciate my OWN children more and more every day!! Wish me luck for this Wednesday! Help us all! Give me bigger kids or teens any day of the week.


Our sermon series this month is Masquerade and how we all wear "masks" when we are around other people at times. I think between me making the sheep masks and the sermon series, it spawned a bunch of little masks being made around the house. They are very cute, but now we have about a billion of them laying around. I knew buying that pack of 600 paper plates was a mistake:-)


And, I must have a mommy brag time. I bought a USA puzzle at the Dollar Tree yesterday. We are going to do some US history next year, so I thought I'd add it to our homeschool shelf. Little did I realize that Chloe would take such an interest. It was a 60 piece puzzle, so more than she has ever done before (24 I think), but she sat here and put the entire thing together all by herself. She would protest when the other kids came over the "help" She wanted to do it all by herself and have that accomplishment. I thought it was quite impressive for her age!

On another note, just 3 more days until our weekend get-away. I can't wait!