I am not doing well keeping this updated. I have even lost my NEW cable for downloading pictures.

News from our family? Ivy is running cross country for the middles school still. Having a great year so far.(thought I'd start in the middle). She is homeschooled except for Algebra which she takes at the middle school since I have to take Joel already and do not want to drive twice. Math is a little harder for her now, but it saves me a lot of time. She is great about getting it done as "homework". We are not managing to keep up in Spanish, but we are DOING it, which is a huge plus.

Joel is running Cross country and doing fine. He is not impressed with all the hard work. He is homeschooled and attends"weight training/cross country class. We have a little more trouble getting all his work done. What, you can't complete an algebra lesson in 30 minutes?

Anna-Laura is swimming and loving it. She is homeschooled completely and we have a lovely time in the afternoons. She likes Hannah Montana, though I am not sure why since we do not have Disney channel and we have not rented the movies. AWANA seems really hard for her this year.

Jeanette is going to school for the first time, in the third grade. She is doing great. She earned lunch with the principal(pizza and cookies) for reading the most! She likes swimming, too. Jeanette puts in her own requests at the library and I am often surprised at what she gets.

Trinity started first grade at school and had a hard time emotionally adjusting. She was not used to "keeping up" and having to be graded on handwriting. She is also easily exhausted at the end of the day. Her homework seems like a lot to me. Trinity likes swimming, finding it challenging.

At this juncture I'd like to say that Jeanette was offered a chance to go to the PUBLIC ballet school here in town. I refused at first because It was too much for me to do. After much begging and pleading I came up with this: What good will it be in ten years? If she becomes a dancer, and that is unlikely, she will have to travel at a young age to a large city in order to accomplish her goals. I will not be able to go with her. Even so, ten years past that, her career in dancing would likely be ending. I want her to invest her time in Faith, by being home when we do our Bible study together. The ballet school is further away. Family, even walking to and from school is great time together. I think , also, that it is a hard enough adjustment to start attending school, then to add to that the 2 or more hours a day of ballet. I am not trying to justify my decision to you, just to show that I really prayed about it and considered HOW it would be beneficial to her. She would love to do it, no doubt. Of course, as the only reigning princess, she would have one more way to show how special she was.

Grant is just three, but I have decided to hold him back now, rather than later when he notices. His birthday is late August, so he would always be among the youngest and boys I think need to be able to lead. Experience can only help.

Benjamin is a senior and, to be honest, I hate all the paperwork that goes with that. All the tests and applications, FAFSA, it is so much to remember. So far, his cross country season has not gone well, and he was pinning all his hopes on a scholarship for running. He is helping me teach AWANA Puggles and he is great at that. He attends school full time.

Savannah , I just figured out on Friday has 4 jobs! She works at the restaurant, writes for the paper, does photography and substitute teaches! I think she was offered another job on Friday by a parent who came to the team dinner at my house.

Liberty (also known as the Bird) often has whole conversations, just in a foreign tongue. She can follow directions and sign a host of words.

Is there more? Of course, but my fingers are tired and I must do school sometime!

I have been busy, but also mulling things over. A friend said that I just need to move past the guilt. It is true. All of you, my friends have been SOO supportive, and non judgemental. THANK YOU! I have come to the conclusion that a large part of my identity as a woman/mom included "teacher". It was HARD to let that go. Aside from the logistical snafus that will entail any time you are on a schedule that someone else chooses, school is actually OK. Of course, I do not agree with everything that goes on. For example, what IS this business that Jeanette is not allowed to check out books above her tested reading level? I mean she is not trying to read War and Peace, just an American Girl book that we don't happen to own. Whatever, we will get it from the public library, or, I will check it out myself, as I have persuaded the librarian to allow Anna to use the library. Trinity had a harder adjustment, she still wants to PLAY. She should! On the other hand, it is nice to have someone else hold her accountable for some things. But I do wish the teacher had not used the example of the "tooth fairy" to point out differences between American children and Chinese children.
onto the FRIDAY FUNNY

#1 I was emptying the dishwasher and was just about to close it when Jeanette hollered, "wait!" She reached in and pulled out............. a shoe! IT belonged to Liberty. Truth be told, her feet HAD smelled in those shoes, I guess she wanted to clean them. I had found the one, but missed the other that now sports a burn mark on the top where it rested against the element.

#2 We have been reading "Making brothers and Sisters Best Friends" and came to the place where we discussed Humility and how it is the key to all relationships. At the end of Bible study Jeanette finally spoke up with a question I guess she had been pondering for a while, " I thought humility was when it was hot!"