Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Happy New Year.....a little late

I know, as usual I'm late....very very late. Things have been busy...good but still busy. We started this year off with a sick Fred and a list of things that we needed to do. Fred is feeling better, snotty in the head but better and our list of things to do keeps growing somehow no matter how much of it we do ;-)

We had gotten behind on just about everything by the end of '06 and I knew that I would have to really put my shoulder to the load to get caught up but oh boy have we ever been working around here. We are working everyday on getting our school work caught up and our house in order. So far we are making progress but it seems like the more we do the more we find that we need to do.

Fred is working on her second math book for the year and is really chuggin' right along with all of her work (she usually does very well on her own and isn't really behind). She has plans to finish 8th grade really soon and go right on into 9th....she would really like to start 10th grade by fall, but I think she should just settle for taking some extra classes that are purely just suited to her interests and not rush into finishing high school just yet.

Jared is doing really well in everything but math...he just sees numbers and freaks out (kind of like his ole momma). The amazing thing is that he was able to teach himself some basic trigonometry on his own and totally understood every bit of it as long as it applied to something that he was interested in. His daddy and I ended up calling on some of our good friends back home who happen to be more experienced with diagnosing this type of problem than we are and think that we have found sort of a solution that we can all live with. A big part of the problem is that Jared is kind of rocky on the basic skills because of the moving around we did while he was in public school and the curriculum/teaching methods that he was exposed to during the years that those very basic skills should be mastered. The suggestion was that we simply go back to the basics with a very simple program and allow him to work his way through it at his own pace but not allow him to move forward until each individual concept is mastered at it's most basic level. His daddy decided to order the Practical Arithmetic books from Keeper's of the Faith and those should be getting here soon.

Caleb is doing good with math but his writing is frustrating him....he can do it and he can do it well, he just doesn't want to. We are focusing on writing skills and reading for him over the next few weeks to give him the time to get more comfortable with having to do it.

So that's what's going on with the kids and school for all you back home people.

The other major project involves sorting through all the years worth of accumulated stuff that we've had (and moved) for so long now. We've also decided to dig in and really give the house a good scrubbing before the weather gets nice and we want to abandon it for time outside. So far the kitchen and livingroom are done....scrubbed down from top to bottom and look great ;) We are still working on the rest of the house....but it won't be long and it will be finished.

We've been working on our garden too. The chickens provide us with the most wonderful dirt....we just put leaves and yard cuttings into their yard and they do all the work required to turn it into wonderful, rich dirt. So far we have about
1/3 of the space we use in the garden during the first part of the season filled in with our "super dirt" and we have carrots, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, turnips, beets, garlic and a few onions planted. The chickens are still laying fairly well for it being winter so we still have good eggs and before the end of this week we'll have meat rabbits to raise. Fred will be getting her first hive of bees this spring for sure thanks to a wonderful friend who has guaranteed her a good start in raising honey bees.....she's so excited she could burst.

Troy's job is going really well too, it looks as though he will be getting some airplane work in the near future and possibly be training for other things with this company that would mean a pay raise and maybe promotion. Right now the overtime he was working is finished (I'm happy about it for now, he really needed some rest)but he may be going back to a fairly hectic schedule soon.

My biggest and bestest news is that I got a new bible..... it's a Thompson Chain Reference Bible and my very first ever brand new bible. I love it and feel so undeserving to own such a nice bible of my own. Some dear, sweet friends gifted it to me and I can't for the life of me imagine why but I'm thankful....to the point of tears. I have wanted one of those bibles since I very first got saved but never got around to getting one for myself. I'm so blessed that I just can't find words to explain it.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful year so far.

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