going to see my boy today...

saying good-bye was bitter sweet....

but...we get to see our boy!!
This was actually just some camera fun we were having!! The kids and all of us are so excited to see our college boy today! We have a weekend celebration planned and we can't wait!

doing ok...

this one is off at college now, attending his second day of classes...he seems to be doing ok..
here he is probably thinking excitedly about this being the last burning job he has to do for awhile...:)

We are starting to miss you......

This boy is inheriting the major part of mowing of the yard...'mom, can I make a checkers pattern in the grass?' sure...why not.....

hopping...hopping...bouncing....

look at this fella...he is 3 months out from his last chemo...look what he can do now!

It is such a good, simple, wonderful pleasure to see him out here, staying out here, hangin' with the sibs...having energy...feeling better, thinking better...getting some real school work done this year so far...

We are so thankful. If you could please pray, we have CT scans this week. I am feeling fine really. Sometimes I feel a little nervous. I felt sure that God told me He had real plans to heal this boy...I have trusted and rested in this...but there are times when a test to look inside makes me cringe a little. Other times cancer is just a word to me. It means nothing at all, not scary like it seems to be out there...selfishly, I think to myself..'I don't know if I can do this again' I don't know if B can do this again..but then I just look up and ask God to keep carrying me..He is in control...He always does...He is so good...
ya see..He loves us...

leaving the nest......

Father son good bye photo...

Study hard at college...:)

Dylan with granny.
Good bye my son...you're not far, we'll see you soon, we love you.
I have some photos with me but my mom forgot to mail them to me so I will post those later...

i'm back, i'm refreshed

I did it! I spent the day getting all my 2008 photos into an album. I spent the day resting, socializing..eating, ugh. Now I will start getting ready for my 2009 photos. I just like to have them in an album then maybe one day I will scrapbook, but not for now. This is my favorite way to do it, by going off, away from home so I can get it done quickly with no interruptions. Dad gets to bond with the kids. It all works out real well.
Friday we (meaning me, my hubby, my mom and my granny) went up to see the college my son was visiting over night at their weekend open house. We toured the grounds and had dinner with him. Here they spent time visiting classes, playing sports, worshiping, eating and more. He even ran into some other students he knew. This campus is small, the teaching is excellent, the faculty get to know the students personally and access to the cafeteria and all it's food, is included with room and board 24/7! The 24 hour cereal bar is a teenage boy's dream come true. It is a really nice place. We are excited that he was accepted and will continue to pray for God's direction and perfect plan for our son.
Blessings to you all.

college transcripts

I am fine tuning transcripts here! I have kept them up ever so casually over the last 3 1/2 years. Now I am preparing them for final preparedness to send to a potential future college school. It hasn't, honestly, been all that terribly hard to do. An extremely specialized school with many specialized needs might require different, extreme details. That can be produced if needed. I suppose that many kids would know that bent as they get closer to college time.
I re-familiarized myself on how to calculate a GPA. It is not too hard either. However, I did find a nice site to help with 'cumulative' GPA which I found very helpful. I put the link in my side bar, but I will also post the link here today.

I am so excited and find it hard to believe I am sitting here preparing a transcript for my Senior High son in preparation for college!! Wow. I am so grateful for being able to home school him through this time. Home schooling has really given us an advantage in preparing for college in many unique ways. I will admit, it was a struggle at times too. No school choice is easy. One is, in some way or another, strapped to whichever choice one's family has made. There are weaknesses on both sides that can be gained or lost as well. Raising kids is hard work no matter where they are! Well worth it though, I might add.

My boy knows the general area he wants to go into and has only a couple different ideas of where to go. I am thankful for that at this season in our lives. I am so excited to see what the Lord does here.
I will update you some more on college stuff some day soon.

senior year #1

It's true...I have a senior this year! This is so exciting! He has made it this far and he can read, write, calculate mathematical equations and I didn't 'mess' him up too much. :) I am loving this age since he is so self sufficient. He is a man now and nearly all grown up. I am thankful for all the help God has given me and his father.
This is a year of finishing classic reading lists, furthering math levels, starting community college coarses, while acquiring some more college credits. He has been blessed to apprentice in computers with a wonderful man that God sent in our path. This led to his now first official part time job. It is essential that a part time job during high school be the right kind of job; one that fits that teen's needs, goals and social environment positively.
This will be my first home school graduate in May 2010. Meanwhile, we are trying to help him to prepare for college and his future prospects that God has for him, while saving money and avoiding huge debts as he starts out his adult life. If you would like to start thinking of these money saving ideas for college, please see the link on my sidebar.
Here is a great book to get you started called ACCELERATED DISTANCE LEARNING.

Have a great homeschooling year and enjoy that high school student!

class is over...finally!

This is the face of a teenager who took his first in house college class, who did a really great job, with a very challenging teacher, including a major power point presentation!! I think it would be safe to say that although he learned much and loved the subject...he is glad it is over!! What do you think? :)


Good job D, we are proud of you...mission accomplished! for now......

mission: organizing school room/office

Well, this week starts a fresh beginning of all things organization. I am please with my progress thus far. I am working hard, but not without breaks and realistic pauses...those kids have to eat I guess. :) It seems I can't quite finish one room without having to finish another thing to get the other thing out of the first room! Ugh, see what I mean? I have however, mostly stayed focused on one room at a time. I have gotten rid of bags of clothes to younger kidlets we know and many boxes are going bye bye or to their new home in the house. My goal is to go through and do only what I can do without any major purchases at this time. I can't believe how fast everything can get behind and of coarse families grow and needs change as well which adds to the mess.

The damsel and I finished Anne of Green Gables finally and finished the hundred dresses (very cute book). We will be doing a project with that soon I hope. We are starting a spree of doll house books (you can check our book list, which we will be adding to). When I am done getting through the whole house, we will be able to sew, craft and do projects much more easily and efficiently.

The children are continuing their school work daily. B is starting to get into the groove more after limited work this last 8-9 months due his chemo effects. I am trying to limit my 'projects' with them at this time so I can focus on organizing and they can pitch in as well. Good lesson for them.

I am very excited for Dylan. He has a full day here and does most of his school work on his own without any help from me. He is doing very well getting back into this semester. He is also starting his first college coarse at the local community college. It is a computer class and he will get 3 duel credits; 3 for high school and 3 for college. In addition, he has already earned credits for college using the CLEP exams. I will blog more on that some day soon. He is also working with a man who is an excellent computer repairman that owns his own business and has agreed to take Dylan under his wing to teach him. We have been praying for this type of opportunity for him for some time now and are very thankful.

I am going now to work on this school room/ office which is filled with tedious paper work type stuff that bores me...so pray hard. :)

signing up for class

Today I had the surreal privilege of signing my high school junior up for a college coarse!! Wow, how old am I anyway? As we were walking in he was wearing that darned, ugly, worn, bright orange hoody sweatshirt. Ugh. I have never been an 'overly dress up appearances are all that matters' kind of mom. I have never allowed complete bumdome either. We try to step it up a notch for church but we have been pretty relaxed as D got older since we want our son to go there to worship and we want it to be real and not about how he looks for Jesus. Having said that, I was generously offering my advice about how important it is at times like this to maintain a certain appearance while at the same time I am trying not to sound like ones looks are what matters most and is the guiding force in our lives...whoa!! Deep stuff, eh? Are you impressed yet? Who would have thought that would be so hard. If you're like me, you over think it and want to cover every aspect and be oh so careful about how you convey this advice. :)
Needless to say, after we took care of business, we were walking out together and at the same time a young woman was walking in. She was dressed all in black with hyped up hair and funky jewelry and other unusual paraphernalia and I think there were multiple piercings. Hey I love freedom of expression, we kindly held the door for her.
Quietly I leaned toward D as we walked in step together, "Scrap everything I said earlier, your ugly orange sweatshirt isn't that bad after all hun. (smile)
That was a fun moment. God does have a sense of humor.