Mama On The Move

Found a nice article on homeschooling here .

This is oh so cool.  Check out the size of everything in the universe.  Be sure to slide the scale both ways! http://htwins.net/scale2/scale2.swf?bordercolor=white

1. Plan Ben's graduation party A. Invitations B. Food C. Decorations D. Music 2. Ben's Eagle Scout Project 3. End of year testing for the kids 4. Play practice (I'm directing) 5. Move A. Set up dates with movers and airlines, pet sitters or kennel, hotel reservations B. Look at houses in VA (ask about rental restrictions on 160 pound dog) C. Find homeschooling groups - research piano teachers, guitar teachers, tennis teachers, art classes, Biology class, jumprope teams D. Start getting rid of stuff E. Make lists of what to pack F. Call airlines about shipping dogs (ask about flight restrictions on 160 pound dog), make vet appointments for health checks before flying G. Make appointment to ship vehicle 6. Ben and Emily going on youth group camping trip 7. Homeschool prom coming up 8. Judging for speech competition 9. Marriage seminar at church 10. Women's seminar at church 11. Military formal ball - make sure dress and uniform are...

Emily and I love organization stores. We love going through the aisles looking at all the cool boxes, binders and hangars. We love buying these things and bringing them home. We love watching them gather dust as we never use them. But mostly we love to just look at the stuff in the stores. Emily says we are geeky like that. Today we were checking out a new store. Emily, Katie and I were happily going along remarking on the neat-o items. We found some nifty baskets, some cool magnetic calendars, and pig that shot light out of its nostrils when you pushed a button on its back. COOL! As I pointed out a neat picture hanging thingy to Emily, she was giving me that look . That look that says this is the most boring thing we've ever done and how could I drag her to this stupid store? I was completely baffled. We had been having a good time until just a minute before but now it looked as if I had done something mortifying and she was humiliated to be in my presence. "What...

Tonight we went to a fabulous Thai food restaurant on the North Shore called Opal's. It's the same restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. The episode won't air for a while yet, but we figured once it does it will be impossible to get a seat. So we ran (well, drove really fast) there for dinner and it was just as good as we had been told. While we were perusing the menu, the chef came out to our table and asked us what sort of food we usually like to eat at Thai restaurants. First up, we told him that Emily doesn't like Thai food and she's allergic to dairy. He asked her a couple of questions such as, "Do you prefer shrimp or chicken? Rice or noodles?" Then he told her, "I'm going to make you something that will change your life tonight." He asked each of us the same sort of questions and what we normally like in a Thai restaurant. I'm usually a Green Papaya Salad/Chicken Pad Thai kind of gal. He also aske...

Kerry was scheduled to run a half-marathon recently. He planned get up around 3:00 AM to head out and knowing we would not be up to tell him goodbye and wish him luck, Emily printed out a Bible verse and wrote him a note and then taped it to the front door where he would see it on his way out. The handwritten part says, "Run fast, run well, and don't hurt yourself. And if you can, have fun. If you can't, try skipping the rest of the way. If you still can't, do a cartwheel. Except that I don't think you actually can. So don't. Hey, are there going to be prizes? Steal them from the administration tents! And send them to Panda! That'll be fun, right? Oh dear, I seem to be running out of room on this paper... Good luck! Emily" Well, as luck would have it, Kerry tripped during the race when he took his eyes off the road to call to a friend he saw standing on the sidelines and took quite a spill, and also took quite a chunk out of his hand. He ...

Katie doesn't like loud noises. She hates the vacuum cleaner, runs out of the stall in restrooms where the toilets flush noisily, and has worn ear plugs to every concert we've ever attended. I told her it's really odd that a child who is quite loud herself doesn't like for other things to be loud. "It's because I don't like for anything else to drown me out," she said, grinning.

My email account has been hacked. Someone somewhere has discovered my password and is sending out spam from my account. I've run all the virus scans I can find, I've changed my password twice, and every time I think I've solved the problem, it happens again. It happened again yesterday as a matter of fact. So this morning, I got up and I had an email from AT&T telling me that they think my email account has been compromised and so they had disabled it until I change the password. They included a phone number to call if I had any problems changing my password. So I went to their website and tried to change my password. I had to answer the security questions I had set up YEARS earlier when I first got the account. It then advised me that it would email me a temporary password to allow me to log in so that I could access my account. But of course, I couldn't access my account to get the temporary password. At this point I decided to just use the phone number they...

The youth group at the chapel on post is currently holding classes on dating for Christian teens. The class basically teaches them what is appropriate to do and not to do, and what the consequences are for breaking the rules (STD's and babies). Having just attended prom, Ben has had opportunity to observe courtship behavior among other teens. One of his biggest complaints about prom (both last year and this year) was that the teens don't really dance, they just grind up against each other. Ben and his girlfriend did the Cha Cha. The leader of the dating class was explaining to them that some teens will get as close to having sex as they can without actually having sex and still feel that they haven't done anything wrong because they haven't gone "all the way". He mentioned that when he was a teen they did what they called "Christian sex" which was simulating sex but keeping your clothes on. "Really," said Ben, "These days they j...

Ben has been to prom before , before , and before , and still has another prom to go to in May. Homeschoolers do not lack for chances to go to prom, believe you me. Five proms during high school is plenty. Ben and his girlfriend were exceptionally good looking if you ask me. It's not that I'm biased, facts are facts. They got a limo again this year and shared it with two other couples. Last year, Ben didn't know anyone in the limo. This year he already knew both the other guys. I couldn't help but giggle at the girl in the short dress. Every time we took a picture, she would take hold of her skirt with one hand and start hiking it up a little. Going to a real high school prom is not the only thing Ben has gotten to experience now. There were two cross-dressing boys attending the prom this year! I'll have to say, people warned me when we started homeschooling that my kids were going to miss out on a lot of experiences and diversity. Well, now they've be...

My friend Casey likes to eat at Opal's Thai Restaurant in Haleiwa. She was in there last week when the owner told her that Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives would be featuring Opal's on their show. He invited Casey and her family to be there for the filming. Her husband couldn't make it that day, so she asked me to come along. There were a number of people who had been invited to come see the fun and the restaurant is really small, so I had a feeling from the beginning that we would never make it inside. Guy Fieri, the host of the show, was inside already, sampling dishes and being filmed. One of the crew members talked to all of us and explained that they would take us in a few at the time to interview us about the food. They told us we would not actually be able to place orders, they would just put food in front of us. We were all cool with that. He immediately zeroed in on two young soldiers who were standing near us and decided they would be great to interview on...

Kerry has not regained the feeling in his lips and face after having his wisdom teeth out. He went back to the doctor and was told that it could be that the nerves were bruised, in which case the feeling will slowly return over the next six months. Or the nerves could have been killed, in which case the feeling will never return. There is no way to know which scenario it is, and there is nothing they can do about it. Kerry says they could drive a nail through his lip and he wouldn't feel it. So we'd appreciate some prayers on his behalf, as he loves his lips (actually, we both do!)

When Ben had all four wisdom teeth out in November, he couldn't understand why we had to take his wisdom teeth out. They weren't bothering him , and he saw no point in going through surgery and all the hassle of recovery and soft foods and no straws. So, I did some research and found out that it's better to have them removed when you are young even if they aren't causing problems, because the roots of the wisdom teeth keep growing and can wrap around your jaw. Removing them later in life can result in breaking the jaw, or even facial paralysis. It is a much riskier and more invasive process. Kerry had two wisdom teeth removed on Friday. He had the two on the right removed when he was nineteen and for no particular reason, the two on the left have always remained where they are. Because I had done all my research about having wisdom teeth removed when you are, ahem , over twenty-nine, I was very nervous about this procedure. Not only is it scary, Kerry would be a...

Katie and her friend Lindsey were riding in the car with me today. Katie had on some cute sandals and Lindsey said, "Your shoes are pretty, Katie! Where did you get them?" Katie replied, "At the PX, on the clearance rack!" Lindsey responded, "I think they're gaudy!" "Gaudy?" said Katie. "What does that mean?" "My mom says "gaudy" whenever she sees something that is really sparkly ," said Lindsey with great delight. It took about ten minutes before I could stop laughing long enough to let the girls know that calling something gaudy is not a compliment.

I had to take Ben to town to pick up his tux for the prom. Before we left, I gave each of the girls a chore to do. I've learned from years of experience that I have to do it this way: "Katie, I want you to clean off the dining room table while I'm out. Emily, I want you to clean the kitchen counters." "Yes, ma'am," they chorus back at me. Then I look each of them in the eye, "Katie, what did I tell you to do while I'm gone?" "You told me to clean the dining room table." "Emily, what did I tell you to do while I'm gone?" "You told me to clean up the kitchen counters." "Right. Don't either of you tell me that you didn't hear me say it." I took Ben to pick up his tux. We waited in line with a bunch of very pierced teenagers and my heart swelled with pride that my son remains un-punctured. It's apparently a rarity. Ben told me he'd never felt so conspicuous in his life. Which...