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!