Ouch!

Chase went to bed Monday night with a slightly sunburned face and arms.  It really didn't look that bad.  She had failed to put on sunscreen Sunday (as did the boys) but put it on Monday a few times.  I guess the damage was already done then.  The boys have an olive complexion like their dad, but Chase is more fair-skinned like me.  Well, she woke up this morning with her face so swollen that her eyes are just slits.  I guess she'll be inside for several days!  

What a picture, huh?

Cheese Butter?

Carys's favorite breakfast is a bagel with cream cheese, or maybe I should say Carys's favorite breakfast is cream cheese.



She, however, calls it cheese butter. Huh?

Congratulations, Landon!

Landon was recently informed that he has been admitted to the Cadet Honor Society. You can see the announcement here: http://www.flcadet.com/default.aspx. To be eligible, a cadet in good standing must score 90% or above on an achievement or milestone and maintain that average for 3 consecutive achievements. An achievement consists of a test in aerospace education and another test in leadership for most levels. The purpose of the Honor Society is to "help cadets gain academic recognition and credit for educational and scholarship purposes.

Here's a picture of Landon (in the middle) from his last promotion to Senior Master Sargeant.

I Will Survive!

This video is dedicated to all my homeschool friends out there, some of the most incredible women I've ever met!

Drowning in a Sea of Work!

It seems so long since I've blogged after the every-day blogging I did on our trip out West. I have been busy, as usual. School is in full swing now. We did a rolling start this year, and it worked much better.

Landon is studying Pre-Calculus, Chemistry, Church History, Latin II, and Literature. As well as doing some test preparation studies and his Civil Air Patrol work, which I count as Aerospace Science. We've discussed how this will probably be his last year to do math and science at home. It just doesn't make sense. He will probably dual-enroll at CFCC next year in those areas. He's already CLEPped 2 history courses, and we'll try to do the same with the English Composition stuff.

Gerren is taking Chemistry and Church History with Landon. Although he's only part way through Algebra I, we felt he needed to be challenged. He's also taking English I, Literature, and Test Prep (slightly different than Landon's). He's continuing drum lessons and doing an introductory Latin course as well. He's technically in 8th grade, but is doing mostly 9th grade work.

Chase is studying the second half of American history and all the general education subjects that come with 5th grade. She has been working diligently and finishing everything by 1:30 or 2:00. She is continuing guitar lessons and piano and is quite gifted at making up her own music.

I have been attempting to keep it all together while feeling exhausted all the time. God finally hit me over the head with a 2x4 during my quiet time this summer, and I realized that this was exactly how I felt 5 years ago when my thyroid began acting up. So, I've had a ton of bloodwork and a thyroid ultrasound done and am waiting to hear what is going on when I go in this Friday. I am praying for answers as I don't think I can continue at this pace much longer. I go through most days feeling like I've taken too much cold medicine. My head is in a fog.

I have done a very tiny bit of exploring with my new camera and have taken a few pictures. Greg found me an online tutorial, but I haven't been able to look at that yet.

I am slowly but surely reading Pontius Pilate by Paul Maier and One-Minute Answers to Skeptics' Top 40 Questions by Charlie Campbell. Last night I started The Shack by William P. Young. I've given up on keeping my Library Thing current, and I don't even read as much as many others I know!

Here are the few pics taken with my new camera:

What We've Been Up To

I guess I've been too busy reading everyone else's blogs to keep up with my own.  Really I don't have any good pictures to post, and I don't feel like I'm much of a writer.  So, if I don't have any pictures, I don't blog.  This isn't good because lots has been going on here.

First, here's why I don't have any good pictures.  Last week was our 19th wedding anniversary (hard to believe), and Greg bought me an awesome digital SLR camera.  I have been wanting one for a year or more.  It's is great, but I just don't have the time right now to read the manual and figure out how to use it.

Second, we took a quick trip to Atlanta this weekend to see a Braves game with Steven Curtis Chapman in concert after the game.  The game was HOT!  We only saw half as we were late arriving.  After the game, we moved down to the concert area and waited while they set up the equipment.  After it was all set up, they proceeded to cover it up because it was thundering and lightening in the distance and closing in quickly.  They decided to wait the storm out as it was supposed to pass over in 30 minutes.  It did.  However, it was too dangerous to uncover the equipment and play the planned set.  So, Steven came up and did a completely unplanned set with just his voice and guitar.  He talked a lot about the loss of their little girl Maria in May.  It was the first time he ever looked his age (which is just 17 days older than me!).  It was an incredible time, even though I wept through a great deal of it.

Third, we started school for the most part today.  I decided last year to do a rolling start from then on.  So, last week, we started 1 or 2 subjects each.  This week we added our Sonlight stuff.  Next week, we'll add everything else. 

It's going to be a busy week.  Tonight is our only night home.  The boys have CAP tomorrow night.  Church and lessons and rehearsal after church will fill up Wednesday afternoon and evening.  Thursday night we're spending with our dear friends who are moving to Greenville, SC, to start a church.  Friday night I have an LASIK check-up in Tampa at 6pm, then we plan to meet up with some other dear friends who have moved there.  Then it'll be a long weekend as I'm playing at church.  Whew!  Pray for me as we try to figure out what is causing this overwhelming exhaustion and fix it!