PICTURES!!!!

Yesterday I had posted that it had been awhile since I had updated. Anyway I have lots of pictures to share with you. So sit back, grab your favorite beverage, and ENJOY!!!!

These are of the first day of "real" school. The yellow monster came and swallowed them up around 7:20 and then spit them back out around 3:15. They were so talkative when they got hom. As you can see Isaiah was enjoying his time by himself reading a book!

These are pictures of Zack's Christmas program. The pics did not turn out very good. My camera does not focus very well at a distance.

Our first snow fall. Isaiah did not want much to do with it.

Zack's Birthday cake from DQ. He really loved it!!!

These are pictures of us with our gifts from family. Terry Lee got Logan a gun and Uncle Bob got Zack one. Oh my were they on cloud 9. Logan said this was the bestest Christmas ever!!! Benita had me and got me a beautiful snowman, some potpourri, and a candle with a plate. I love snowmen!!! And Uncle Bobby got Isaiah a bulldozer and he loves it! He played with it for hours!!! Christal got Brian's name and got him a very nice Devotional book. I have not got a picture of him with it just yet. He tends to hide when the camera comes out.

I do want to apologize for my gifts being late. I ordered from Lakeside Collection and had no idea they did not tell ya when something was on backorder. This WILL NOT happen next year. I will get stuff done in August instead of November!!! Grrr......

Wow it has been awhile

It has been almost an entire month since I have blogged. I guess you can say I have not really been in the "mood"! The boys' are liking school. I don't actually care for Zack's teacher, well I guess her first impression was not the greatest. Maybe things will get better. Logan's teacher seems like a sweetheart. He really likes her. Zack likes his as well, but she has hurt his feelings a few times. Momma does not like when one of her little ones are hurt.... I will come out fighting like a bear!

Christmas came and went. The kids got some really nice gifts! They always do!! I took some pictures and will get them uploaded at some point. I tell ya there are not enough hours in the day! It is hard to believe a New Year is approaching us. Good bye 2008 and hello 2009.

Not much else has been happening. The kids are off until Jan. 5th. Logan has been actually hollering to go back. Zack on the other hand does not want his break to end. He enjoys playing his DS too much!

Oh I will say this Zack's teacher sent him a card to thank him for the gifts he took her for Christmas, and sent a letter to me and Brian.... so maybe she is going to be nice afterall. Brian had this woman in 4th grade.

My big yet hard for me news

It has came to a point in my life that I have reached the end of my homeschooling days. I never thought this would happen. I wanted so much to school my children all the way through high school. Things just have not panned out the way I wanted this year. I won't go on and on about what has happened, but I believe this step is the best for me and my family.... at least for now. If the boys want schooled at home later in time then we may do that, but right now they will begin public school on Monday the 8 th. It is hard to actually do this. I have had some rude comments such as "It is about time you quit playing school" Now that one wounded deep. I was NOT playing school. We did school everyday just like "real" school kids. My kids earned their grades just like the next kid. But oh well! I do feel like a failure, hopefully in time those feelings will go away. The boys are excited yet scared. It kinda hurt to see the excitement.... I mean I really worked hard with them and did things for them. I took them to K-mart on Friday and let them pick out their backpacks and trappers along with other goodies (school supplies and such). I did buy them some new shoes (which they had some nice ones, just not new) and a pair of new pants and a shirt for their first day. They both have very nice clothes already cause I bought new clothes a few months ago. But the boys' said Mom, "Can you get us one "cool" outfit?" I am a sucker!!! I want the boys to look nice cause I know when I was a kid I was made fun of. I don't want that for them. Anyway that is my big news!!! I plan on making some homemade chocolate chip cookies and have them ready for them for when they get home from school. I will take some pics of them to share. Melanie is going to take me cause she knows I am going to be a mess.... crying all the way back home. I feel like I am sending my boys' to the lions den! Ugh! They will be riding #2301 bus, which Melanie thanks that is my dad's old friend Larry Harper's bus. I sure hope it is. At least I would know the driver!

So I guess the boys' will go to school for 2 weeks then be off for Christmas break then start back again. I got all their grades together along with all the rest of the paper work I needed. Melanie said 2nd 9 weeks ends at the end of January. I went a head and added up what grades I have right now so their teacher would have a Midterm report for them. Go Mom!!!

I also took the baby back tot he doc on Friday for another checkup on this rash. He gave him some medication so we shall see if that helps. I will say he slept all night!!! Yay!!!!

Remember our troops

If it is not one thing it is another. Isaiah is sick now with a cold. At one point he was sort of sounding like Darth Vador. I hope he does not get worse! I hate when the kids are sick. Brian was gone all day. He had to help his dad over at his uncle's house to fix some of the ceiling tiles then he had to go to a Sister's house from church who just lost her husband. Doug's funeral will be Saturday at 2 and the viewing is from 6-9 at our church. I am thinking about seeing if Annette will need any help with cleaning the church to get ready for this. And we may have a dinner downstairs on Saturday for the family. I think if each person brings a few dishes there would be plenty of food, plus we could get a meat and cheese tray as well. What a hard time especially with it being the Holiday's. It seems more people get depressed around this time of year. Brian's friend is an EMT and he told him you would not believe the people going to the hospital over depression around Christmas and the New Year. So sad!!! I suppose with the economy the way it is and not a lot of $$$$ people are even more depressed than normal. Not much else going on around here. Right now I am watching Isaiah get one morsel of cat food and bring it back and forth to the cat which is eating it up! He is growing like a weed. Earlier today he was stacking some containers I have in the kitchen then putting them back. He is learning!!!

Well the title is Remember our Troops this Holiday Season....

I got an e mail from a friend about sending cards to recovering soldiers. Here are the addresses to do so. Pass the address on!!! Support our TROOPS!!

In the USA:

A Recovering American Soldier

c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center

6900 Georica Avenue, NW Washington DC 20307-5001

In Germany: (one regular stamp is all that is needed)

A Recovering American Soldier

Wounded Warriors Program

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center/General Delivery

Chaplain's Office CMD4

APO AE 09180

It's been awhile

Not much has been going on in the Haber household. I just have not felt like updating this journal. Time gets away from me it seems... even if we have not did a whole lot of anything. Thanksgiving has came and went and now Christmas is around the corner. Zack's birthday will be in 15 days. It is hard to believe he will be 11 yrs old. Where has my baby went? It is feeling more and more like winter. My body does not deal with the cold very well. I am like a grouchy momma bear wanting to hibernate. The old bones are aching!!! Well I have to get busy. I have things to do... don't we all?

Busy

I have been so busy around here! It seems like I have not had the time for anything. Well take that back I have been spending my time doing LAUNDRY! I did 5 loads yesterday and 2 loads today so far. And ya know what, I still can not see the bottom of my hamper yet!

Last week I was sick with a chest cold and the baby broke out from something unknown! Anyway he is real crabby. Now Zack has it on his face. We know his is from laying on a hay bale....so we are thinking that is what the baby's problem is cause he and I sat down in hay waiting on the guys one day!

The past few days school has been going really well. The boys are doing great! Now as soon as I brag on them... they'll make a liar out of me! LOL

We got our first snow fall last night of 2 inches but it has now melted off. I think snow is beautiful but my body disagrees. I hurt so bad in the winter! Old Arthur kills me!

Saturday

Wow it sure is a windy fall day. It is on the gloomy side as well. The leaves are just FALLING like crazy out of the trees. It is so sad to see the trees with no color and bare. I mean there are still some trees with leaves attached, but it is just dull. Kinda depressing!

I am still on the sick side of life. My asthma is kicking in and so I have been wheezing. I have been drinking some OJ to see if it will build up some forces against this evil sickness! Come on vitamin C!!! I took the baby to get his rash checked out on his leg. It is about a 5 x 5 patch. The poor guy has been itching and it looks so bad (raw and red). The doc thinks it is eczema. He prescribed him some Lorticaid and I am giving him a bath in aveno baby bath, and soaking him in some baking soda. Hopefully in a few days he will be on the mend. Zack has eczema on his elbows and his usually acts up in the Summer. Poor kids!

Where I have been sick I have not did much around here. Yesterday Brian got off early and well with that said he beat me home. He saw the house as it was and was quite upset. He asked what I had did all day and yada yada!!! Then he asked how come I did not do school. I tell ya, being mom, teacher, cleaner, doctor, and sick is hard! I won't go into the entire conversation, but when he goes on these rants it makes me feel so incompetent. Sometimes I feel like throwing my hands up and just say DO IT YOURSELF, I QUIT! But alas my job as a mother is an ongoing process and I can not quit! I guess he thinks I sit around all day and eat bon bon's! Now wouldn't that be a wonderful life! NOT!!!

Today I have been trying to get caught up on laundry but I think that is next to impossible. I have not seen the bottom of my hamper in so long I don't know what the bottom looks like. I quit using cloth diapers cause I just could not keep up with it all. Oh well such is life I suppose!

I guess I had better get off here and finish the house and do more laundry!

This week I have been sick. Yesterday was the worst. Luckily Brian was off so I could sleep. I have asthma and when I get a cold it seems to go straight to my chest. Today I am feeling better. I tell ya, when momma is sick it is rough!

I re-added my diet page. I had deleted it, but then decided I would add it back. I change my mind so much! I am never satisfied with stuff. I like change! Sometimes that is good, and other times it is BAD!

Not much has been going on around here. The boys helped Brian do some tree clearing yesterday. I went out to watch for a bit, but then started to feel bad and so Isaiah and I headed for the house and went back to bed. I am so thankful he allowed me to sleep!

We did not get any school done today. Since I was feeling better, I had so much cleaning to do. That is the bad thing about being a mom and a teacher! Ha! Although there is learning in anything we do.

The weather the past few days has been awesome. We could use some rain, but I love the warmer weather. Cold weather makes me hurt!

Election Day

Well I am sick. I thought the cold bug had passed me up, but alas I caught it 2 weeks later. I am unsure if it is more than just a cold or not. I am chilling and my teeth actually hurt. I sure hope it is not he flu. Anyway I did go and vote. I was not going to vote, but the more I thought about it I had to do what I could to try and keep morals here in America. I guess you could say I voted for the less of the evils. There were things I did NOT like about both canidates. All though Obama had a lot more negative stuff about him than McCain. So with that said I am sure you can guess who I voted for. My mother had surgery on Monday and I have not been able to go and see her. She had a gastric bypass done. Don't ask me how I feel about it, that is one thing I don't want to even talk about. I am not against the surgery so much as I am to see my mother at 56 go through something so evasive with the physical problems she already has. Oh well too late for that I suppose. I guess some would think that I am being mean about it, but some don't know what we have went through with her. Well I am closing, hope you had a good day!

We have been sick

If winter brings on any more sickness I think I will scream. We had to miss the last co-op due to me being sick. I caught some bug while away in Amish Country. Then toward the end of the week Zack caught a terrible cold, and now Isaiah has a runny nose and cough. So we had to miss church yesterday. I did not get to go to my mom's for her early Thanksgiving dinner either. She had it early since she will be having her Gastric Bypass next week. I am none to happy about it, I worry because of her age and her health. What do I know? I sure hope no one else gets sick and it moves on out of my house!!! I have been trying to keep up with the house. I just can not seem to get ahead to save my neck! I think I am at the bottom of my hamper and then there is another load of clothes or I have all the dishes done before bed and wake up to a sink full of cups. I honestly think there must be these little people who live in my walls and just love to dirty stuff up! I would love to catch em'! It would be nice if they'd clean up after themselves. Whether little or big, a mess is a mess. A mother's job is never done!!!

Our Amish trip

We went away Tuesday night for a small trip. We had to go to Mount Vernon, Ohio for a funeral so Brian decided to take us through Sugarcreek, Ohio to see Amish Country. Sugarcreek is about 1 1/2 hours from Mount Vernon. Anyway we spent all day Wednesday in Sugarcreek and had lots of fun. Zack did not go with us. He wanted to stay with my in laws. He went on a trip to Columbus Zoo over Labor Day and Logan did not go to that. I guess they have decided to take turns. The funeral viewing was Wednesday night so around 4:00 we headed to Mount Vernon. We had to wait 2 hours to get into the building for viewing. I have never seen so many people in all my life. Bro. William Harding was a very well known preacher and missionary. He did the mission fields in Phillipines, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Africa. He and his wife Sister Margaret worked the fields together. The funeral was at 11 am Thursday so I told Brian we had better leave early. We got their at 10:30 and had to wait 30 minutes to get in the door. I did not have a jacket and like to have froze to death. Sister Tigner was at the door and let me and Isaiah come in out of the cold. It was so crowded!!! The funeral lasted 2 hours. All of his children (5) had something to say about their father and the choir sang some beautiful songs. It was a very nice memorial service. After that Isaiah was fussy so we went to the car and did not go to the grave site. We headed back to Sugarcreek and went to eat at Troyer's Family Restaurant and then went local market looking for some deals but there were none and made a pit stop at a Chocolate place. Yummy!! We did find some deals the first day at a thrift store. I got a bunch of books for school. Why is it that homeschool moms run straight for the book section? Anyway it was a nice place.

Columbus day

How did you spend your Columbus Day? I met my sister at the park and we let the kids play. I brought some pizza and she brought the drinks, cups, ice, and plates. The kids had a lot of fun until the water fight! Zack got beat up by the girls! It was quite funny! He did not think so.

As you can see they had a BLAST! It was great being able to visit and talk with Melanie too! Shayla and Isaiah had fun swinging.




On another note, I fractured my third toe. Oh it has been killing me. I am supposed to tape my two toes together but that hurts too! Tonight I stumped it on the coffee table and cried like a big baby! Ouch!!! Also I have updated my recipe page and my lesson plan page. Hope you enjoy!!!

Monday, Monday

A start to a new week and my back is some better. I had to go out and take Logan to the Pawn shop cause my mother inlaw put a Nintendo DS on hold for him. She bought it cause his other one broke. I have tried to take it easy today cause I have been in bed all weekend. I thought I was going to end up in the hospital with my back. It really got bad! With me taking it easy today I have not did school. I can not sit, stand, or lay very long. It seems that I can not get comfortable. So I am having to do a little of each thing. I am taking Aleve and that is helping some. Over the weekend while Brian was able to take care of the boys I took Flexeril and all it did was make me sleep. I suppose that is one thing I did need. I am hoping tomorrow I can at least sit on the couch and do school. They will be doing some construction on the goat pen when Brian gets home from work so that will be Construction 101... and I will read the biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe to them tonight.


Nothing much has been going on around here. I suppose it has been a bit on the BORING side of life for me. Maybe as the week goes on it will get a bit more interesting.


Here are a couple pictures I took last week. Enjoy!

Brian and Isaiah at the Library "The Bug Show"

Zack and Logan learning about BUGS

I thought the sky was beautiful. Look Closely and to me the blue area looks like a Pegasus "Horse"

What a beautiful day

First off I want to wish my mother a very Happy 56!!! She got serenaded this morning! I think we almost made her cry. We got her a basket of goodies. She was in shock when the floral van pulled into her driveway! SURPRISE!!!

I took the boys on a nature hike today. They had a lot of fun. Isaiah tried to walk but kept falling, so Zack and I kept taking turns carrying him. It is nice to have older ones to help. We took a bunch of pictures on our walk. I wanted some "nature" pictures and some of the boys'. I told them maybe next time Brian could go with us and we would take a picnic lunch. We went behind our house in the woods.

New family member

The other day I gave Isaiah his first hair cut. He started off really good and held still then he started being a wiggle worm. It turned out cute, of course he is a cutie anyways!!!

He always has that thumb in his mouth. This is not going to be an easy task to break!! I have been cutting my boys' hair for about 2 months, which saves around $40.00 per month. That is quite a savings!! I saved some of the hair in a baggie for his baby book.


So I guess you would like to know who the new family member is. He is so fluffy!!!

My friend Lynne found this cat and went through her neighborhood to see if the cat belonged to anyone and no one claimed it, so she called me and I took him. I have been wanting a cat ever since Milo died 2 yrs ago. Logan claims the cat is his and it's name is Snowbell from Stuart Little. The cat slept in my bed last night and follows me around. I say he is my cat! Te He!!! I am a cat lover!!! I do have a little dog named Gizmo (a toy pom) who has been staying outside with his big dog friends, but since we got Snowbell he wants in the house! He is so jealous! Anyway I have a zoo here and Brian honestly did not want Snowbell in the house, but I begged him to let him stay inside cause I was afraid the dogs would kill him or maybe he would run off and get lost who knows where. I guess I am spoiled!

cleaning 101 continued

Yesterday I finished the other room that need A LOT of TLC!!! It was my school room. The sad thing is last month I had cleaned it really good and then .... here I go again. Isaiah sort of helped in the mess though. He took a bunch of the books off the shelves. So luckily for me it was mostly books and some papers that kids did not throw away.




So now that room is done and mom is happy! Not to mention Brian who has been patient on the house!! I am thankful the rest of the house was clean, just this room and boys' room were disaster areas ready to be condemned!!! So today I am going to steam vac my carpets and do laundry. Not much to do!!! We have some friends coming down to help Brian with our fence. So I have to make dinner, which is not big deal cause I have to cook anyway. I also need to sit down and work on a lesson plan for the week. That takes a bit of time!

Cleaning 101

Yesterday we took it easy since Logan hurt his foot... well they took it easy mom worked! My house needed some drastic attention. I did manage to get the living room, kitchen, study, and the boys' room cleaned. I still need to do the carpets (steam vac) and mop. The boys' room took me over an hour to do which is totally insane. I cleaned it last month like that too. This time it was worse! What gives? I got a garbage bag of junk out of there. They are pack rats!!! My boys are old enough to clean their room themselves. Do any of you other mother's have trouble with this? Here are some before and after shots of their room.

Today I have to run to the bank, stop at the Dollar General, then stop at the Library to return some books, and I need to check out some on our next state of study California. I am also thinking about studying one country a month and allowing the boys to make a dinner for that country. Have them make a display of it as well. Do this instead of a dinner on each state that Logan usually does. I want Zack to be included as well. And lastly come home to finish up on my cleaning 101. My bedroom, bathroom, and the school room need cleaned. I will probably steam vac the carpets on Saturday. I do need to get some school done today, so some of my cleaning 101 will have to go to Saturday. I did read to the boys, but not Harriet Beecher Stowe. We read a book on different breeds of horses, a book on box turtles, and a fun book. So they learned there. They played Scrabble yesterday and tried to spell as many words as they could. So all in all even though I was unable to do school, they still had a learning day. Today Logan is making his Hawaiian meal. That should be FUN!

I added some links to the side under Favorite Places, so far what I have added are additional blogs to this main blog. I have one for recipes and another for lesson plans. I will add my lessons sometime soon for next week. Anyway just wanted to let my readers know.

Glad yesterday is gone

I wish I could say we did not have an eventful day, but alas we did. First off we were supposed to go to the library and see Books Alive.... well we did, but I must have read the description wrong or something. Anyway I thought that people were coming dressed in character and talking about "their" life. Well it sure was not like that at all. It was basically for preschoolers and my boys were saying mom..... you know the roll of eye thing. The sad part was I drug my dear hubby out with me thinking he would enjoy it too! Rats!!! I bet he won't do a thing with me again on his day off!!! Well that may be a little extreme, he may ask to read the desciption himself next time! We ended up just checking out some new books and letting Isaiah play with his favorite magnets and he found some puzzels he liked. I did manage to take a few pics of the boys learning at the library.

Then we come home and the boys help Brian with building a feeder for our goats. The pen is almost done so our goats will hopefully be brought up to our property soon. They are so cute! I can't wait to get a picture of them. After this we ate and rested up for church. Well Logan and Zack decided to go for a ride on their scooters without permission and Logan ended up having an accident. These scooters are not motorized, they are leg powered. So right before church I have to take Logan to the ER. We were there from 6:45 until 10:00! They did some x-rays and said they did not think anything was broke, but due to growth plates it was hard to tell. They chalked it up as a bad sprain and if he can not bare any weight at all on his foot by Monday then he has to see an orthopedic doctor! I told him this is what being disobedient costed him, but ya know I think I am paying too! Hmmm....

So today we are taking an easy. Well one boy is anyway. I am having cleaning 101 today. I have a few rooms that need some attention greatly and well the house needs a good scrubbing! I am going to do a little math with the boys and then read some of a biography on Harriet Beecher Stowe to them. I know that is not a lot of school, but that is learning and Zack needs to do some trimming outside. I am sure Logan is milking this for all it is worth!!! Ugh!

I adde a favorite sites link to the sidebar. I now have a blog for my recipes and menus. You can check it out if you wish. Later on I hope to add some information on homeschooling and different things.

Chickens and School

We started raising chickens this summer and they started laying a month ago. Well today Logan brings one of Dolly's eggs and says mommy I want a chick. I am thinking it is almost winter and a chick would not be a good idea, but being the teacher that I am ... I gave in. So I have a bowl with some cedar chips in it and our red light heating this lonely egg. I have no idea if the egg will hatch or not, we will know in 21 days. We never incubated eggs before... well my dad did when I was kid, but as far as me doing it myself I never have.

Here is a picture from our barnyard in your backyard had in it.

Logan had me make a copy of this for him so he can make a chart to follow. He is a smart cookie. He loves animals and says he would like to be a vet someday. So now I have a science project in the making! ****After the bowl picture we had to change to a tote. The egg was getting too much heat in the bowl. Now the temperature is just right. (Any eggs dream)****

We did school on the porch again. The boys really like that and well so does mom! It is so peaceful. The baby got tired and I put him to bed and he is still there. I think he has been asleep for 45 minutes. If he does not take a nap he is a bear!!! I guess he gets it from his mom! I am not a morning person, but I am made to be! I would love to be napping right now, but here I sit typing and trying to stay awake. I am listening to Zack and Logan in the livingroom playing a game on their DS. I need to put a tape in that I checked out from the library about a boy from Kenya, Africa who finds an orphaned baby elephant. Tomorrow we have a class at the library to go to. It is "Books Alive". I will have to remember my camera so I can take a picture of the actors in costume. Booker T. Washington is one character. That is a good thing about home schooling cause I can incorporate whatever I wish into their learning experience. The only thing I get tired of, is when we go out, I have people ask did school let out early? My boys look at me and then at the person and say "I don't know, I am homeschooled." Before they were to shy to say anything, but they have became bolder!! I am glad they say this without a blink of an eye. It is nothing to be ashamed of, it is the way we have chosen. Statistics show homeschoolers do far better in testing than public. I am sure it is due to the one on one schooling they receive.
There are too many students per teacher. That is not fair for the children. And President Bush had the campaign of no student left behind. Hmmm... not sure if that has truely helped. I know of some children from our church that the teachers should of held back, but instead let them go on to the next grade. Is this what they mean about no student left behind? If so it sure is not helping a child to learn by promoting when they do not even know what they are doing. Okay I will step down off my soap box now. I know I am no better than the next person, and I am not trying to down public schools, I am just saying that if the teachers had less students they could focus on each child a little better.

Well I suppose I should get busy with my house cleaning. I think this is a daily post for me! I still have laundry to fold and well ya know the drill.