tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41026080535138617852024-03-05T06:44:09.727-05:00Mom of 5A place where this homeschooling mom of 5 can vent and talk and ramble as she pleases without interruption, which is a luxury when you have 5 kids!! Plus it gives my poor husband a break...Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-38544538647032245552012-01-27T14:05:00.002-05:002012-01-27T14:27:00.606-05:00Being involved in your CommunityAs a homeschooling mother of 5 kids, you can imagine that life is busy, trying to get all the kids educated and the house cleaned and the laundry done and dinner cooked every day. Not to mention driving the kids to and from piano lessons, choir, play practice, basketball practice, and outside classes. And of course there are church responsibilities....I am the Superintendent of the K-8 Sunday school, plus teach the middle school class, and sing in the choir and participate in the book club. So it is hard to fit anymore into my schedule. But my husband and I have decided that it is also important to be involved in our small community. He is a local attorney and as such needs to be involved to get his name out there and let people know that he cares about our town. He is on the Board of the local Chamber of Commerce. He just finished a 3-year term on the Board of the local food bank. I and the kids have participated in 4 productions with our community theatre troupe. Because of my involvement with the theatre group, and because people know my husband, I was asked to be on the Board of the Arts Commission, to which I answered yes! As homeschoolers, it is so easy to insulate ourselves from the world around us and just hang out with other homeschoolers. But I think it is important for non-homeschoolers to be able to see that we do not just care about the education of our kids but also care about our community. Our communities need to see what homeschooling looks like from real people like us, not from stereotypes they hear b/c they've never met a homeschooler.<div><br /></div><div>So tonight my husband and I are going to the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner, which brings up that perpetual question, "What do I wear?" As you can imagine, going to "fancy" dinners means I need to wear more than the typical jeans-and-sweater I wear in winter and shorts-and-tshirt I wear in summer. This is the third community event I've gone to in as many weeks, so I am running out of choices! I will see a lot of the same people I have seen at the other two events, so I can't re-use an outfit. Maybe I will need to go shopping to enhance my wardrobe, if I plan on being involved in my community! Just one of the many perks. :) </div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-78758771831992040182012-01-04T12:17:00.002-05:002012-01-04T14:25:05.533-05:00How many children?My husband and I were at an after-Christmas party with friends last week. It was good to see everyone. These are friends he's known since high school. Surprisingly, most of the couples still live in the area, though with everyone's busy schedules, it is hard to make time to see each other. At the end of the night, conversation turned towards the number of kids people have, as one of the couples present are a new aunt and uncle to his brother's 8th child. The comment was, "Man, how do you have a life [with so many kids]? Well, I REALLY wanted to say something to that, but I didn't want to start anything, and I didn't want to embarrass my husband. Here are the things that came to mind when he said that....<div><br /></div><div>1) No where in the Bible does it talk about people being able to "have a life" aka have a bunch of fun in life. To the contrary, life is to be lived in service to God and others. To not have children because you "want to have a life" is such a selfish reason! </div><div><br /></div><div>2) There are many Bible passages that talk about "being fruitful and multiplying" (Genesis 1:28) and "children being a reward from God" (Psalm 127:3) etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>3)People today are having a lot less children than in the past and some countries are worried about extinction b/c their inhabitants won't have children. </div><div><br /></div><div>4) It's not his business (or anyone else's) how many children a family has. That is between God and the family.</div><div><br /></div><div>But, I didn't say anything. Maybe I should have. Would you have? </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm sure there is more to say about this, but those were the thoughts that came to mind. </div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-10835189737237471342012-01-04T12:08:00.002-05:002012-01-04T12:14:58.756-05:00Ice Festival Ball 2012Save Friday evening, January 13! And buy a ticket to the 1st Annual Ice Festival Ball, to benefit the Rockford Area Arts Commission. The $100/couple ticket gets you a great date night of dinner, dancing, babysitting (at Wolverine Worldwide YMCA) and good music, all at the beautiful and chic Blythefield Country Club. What fun to dress up in the middle of winter and dance the night away with your spouse! Or bring a friend and people watch. You probably don't even realize all the things that RAAC does for the city of Rockford....they sponsor the community band, choir, orchestra, and children's choir, as well as the Rogue River Community Theatre (with which I have acted) and the Rogue River Artists Association. Not to mention events like Art Capsule, Art in the Park and the Summer Arts Camp. And we need your support to continue the work! Tickets can be bought at Rockford City Hall or online at artsrockford.org. Check out the whole Ice Festival at rockfordicefestival.com.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-56907516616623905102011-11-12T21:29:00.003-05:002011-11-12T21:35:11.395-05:00ShakespeareMy oldest dd, Maiah, a freshman, was in performances of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)" at the local public high school this week. Though we homeschool, she takes an art class at the local ps, so is eligible to be in the play. She was Juliet and did a fantastic job, though I say so myself. Everyone said so. The Lord has given her a talent and passion for acting and it will be exciting to see where it takes her. Right now, she is wanting to pursue an acting career on Broadway.....definitely theatre and not film. She is at the cast party now....a nervous thing for this mama...her first co-ed party. She is growing up fast!Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-66997145800637725272011-11-06T23:05:00.002-05:002011-11-06T23:11:32.411-05:00A tree and a vanWhat do these have in common? Cutting down the first enabled us to buy the second. Or I should say, "is enabling" b/c we haven't actually bought a van yet. I am going to look at a 12 passenger Chevy Express tomorrow with my dad. It is burgundy....so excited for that color! I know color isn't sooo important, but I've wanted a burgundy for forever! The price is great and we will even have some leftover. <div>Now, if you are a tree-hugger environmentalist person, please don't leave nasty comments about me cutting down trees. It was a hard decision, but one we think the Lord led us to. </div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-51071478677519168182011-09-14T08:33:00.002-04:002011-09-14T08:35:26.221-04:00Nourish Organic MarketSo this is a plug for my mother-in-law's new store in West Michigan. It is basically an organic grocery store. She tries to carry as many Michigan products as possible. The grand opening is October 8. She has actually been open since the end of June, but this will be the big celebration. Come on out and support our local growers and producers. And get healthier in the process!Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-90460675917158551302011-09-14T08:19:00.001-04:002011-09-14T08:28:50.332-04:00New school year!So I have a goal this year of writing more on my blog. I am hoping once a week, it is mostly just getting into the habit, I think. And if I do them regularly, they don't have to be super long.<div> <div>We are having a "soft opening" of school this week. Finishing up summer reading, figuring out and buying school supplies, getting everyone their books, finishing up planning, getting the last minute curriculum etc. Next Monday we start full steam ahead.</div><div> </div><div>Yesterday was my oldest's birthday, she is now 14! I think she had a good day. She just got her own bedroom and wanted to re-do it, so we got her a duvet, shabby chic light blue with dark pink and rose flowers. I also found a blue table which is now her nightstand and 2 chair cushions that match perfectly, in stripes. She loves it all and had fun putting it together last night.</div><div> <div>I no longer work at the markets for my MIL. Just got too busy, especially with school starting. And I realized I was starting to hate it and it was really affecting my mood and family and my weekends. But I have an idea for a new way to make money, which I will blog about later.</div></div></div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-51724199893010837662011-09-06T16:31:00.000-04:002011-09-06T16:32:40.309-04:00Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-32271794926556743632010-12-27T21:22:00.003-05:002010-12-28T17:51:53.227-05:00Hello again!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: medium; ">So, I haven't written in a while. Mostly b/c I am so dang busy homeschooling 5 kids and trying to keep up with the housecleaning, laundry, cooking, errands, etc. Though, over the summer we got an iPad, and my lovely dh got me an iPhone as a Christmas present, so today Ifinally figured out how to get a blogging app for those, so now I can blog away from my computer. So exciting. So hopefully I will write more.</span><div style="font-family: Chalkboard; font-size: medium; "><br /><div>Also over the summer, I was working 3 days a week at the local farmer's market, selling my MIL's locally grown, organically grown, sustainably grown food products. These are not items that she grows or makes herself, but she collects from others and re-sells it. So I worked Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, roughly 8 hours a day. I was also schooling the kids most of the summer, to prep for our October trip to Colonial Williamsburg, so it was way busy. I will not do that again....work and school. Way too hard. Not sure how it will go next summer.</div></div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-29897518730328984612010-05-26T11:06:00.002-04:002010-05-26T11:13:04.973-04:00Tapestry of Grace - the classical, Christian homeschool curriculum for the whole family | TOG.comWe are finishing up our second year of using Tapestry of Grace. We started at the beginning with Year 1 last year and are in Year 2 Unit 3 right now. I love it so much, that I talk it up whenever the opportunity arises, so today I looked into becoming an Affiliate and have decided to do it. So I get credit if you click on one of the icons on my blog. If you decide to buy something, you can put give my code (on-line or by phone) and I will get credit for your purchases......my code is "shannonrop." If you are looking for a Christian, classical, history-based curriculum, Tapestry is what you want. When we stopped homeschooling 5 or so years ago to send my kids to public school, I had already heard about TOG and knew that if we went back to homeschooling, that is the curriculum we would use. My thoughts hadn't changed when we got back into homeschooling in the Fall of 2008. It is the best out there, as far as I am concerned.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-5006995905265552062010-05-18T09:56:00.002-04:002010-05-18T10:03:47.870-04:00More schooling decisionsWe think we are going to have our two oldest daughters, in 6th and 8th grades, take some electives at the public middle school here. Michigan homeschool law says that homeschool kids may not take core classes, like math, history, science, but that they can take electives, for free. So my 6th grader wants to take Band, which is great, b/c she wants to play trumpet and I can't teach her that! There is a local-ish homeschool band here, but it is expensive and a 35 minute drive one way, so her going to the public school is more convenient, as it is only 2 blocks away. My 8th grader wants to take the speech/drama class, art, and the foreign language class. The FL class is really cool....they get 6 weeks of French, 6 weeks of German and 6 weeks of Spanish. So the girls can get their school "fix" and can take some cool classes at the same time.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-35051092347010143062010-05-18T09:50:00.001-04:002010-05-18T09:52:59.792-04:00Lazy DaySo the kids are watching the DVD of our musical, "A Case of Monkey Business" which is basically Tarzan, but Tarzan is a copyrighted name so we couldn't use it without paying money. We really should be doing school. But I am feeling lazy this morning and the kids are all occupied and getting along......We'll get to school today for sure, but I guess it won't be a normal day.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-86979892303034830082010-05-17T16:13:00.001-04:002010-05-17T16:13:37.518-04:00Explode The Code Online » Overview<a href=http://www.explodethecode.com/01_overview/>Explode The Code Online » Overview</a><br /><br />Posted using <a href="http://sharethis.com">ShareThis</a>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-32672570124755728042010-05-17T15:53:00.000-04:002010-05-17T15:53:49.689-04:00Tapestry of Grace - the classical, Christian homeschool curriculum for the whole family | TOG.com<a href="http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/index.php">Tapestry of Grace - the classical, Christian homeschool curriculum for the whole family | TOG.com</a>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-26118593867050256662010-05-17T15:42:00.002-04:002010-05-17T15:50:31.473-04:00Schooling decisionsSo my MIL said the other day that she thought dd7yo should go to "real" school next year b/c she thinks dd is getting lost in the crowd of her other siblings. DD has been homeschooled the last 2 years in K & 1st grade and has never had the classroom experience. We had already been thinking about sending ds5yo to school for a year of Kindergarten in the fall, so he could get a taste of what a structured environment is like....we are definitely more unstructured here at home, as it should be. So now we are maybe sending two off to school in the fall, but only for one year. (We would still homeschool the older 3.) Which means a public school, in all likelihood. Though we are looking into a local Christian, classical school which would be my choice, since we do classical ed. here at home. Will be interesting to see what happens. Though I am SO not looking forward to being on the school's schedule. If the 2 kids do go to school in the fall, they will miss about 2 weeks right off the bat, as we are planning a trip to Colonial Williamsburg then.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-19720622767130730122010-02-18T15:52:00.002-05:002010-02-18T15:59:42.006-05:00Derailed lunch plansWell, today is Jason's grandma's birthday and the women had made plans to take her out to lunch. We (mom, 2 sisters-in-law, gma and me) were at the restaurant when I get a call from Jason saying he had locked his keys in his car and I needed to come home right away to unlock his car b/c he had to get to court before 2pm (it was about 12:30). I asked if he could borrow a car from a colleague, but he said they were all at lunch so I asked if he could borrow his cousin's truck and he thought he probably could, but then remembered that the case file he needed for court was also locked in the car. So I had arranged 2 different types of child care (one for the girls and one for the boys) and had driven 45 minutes to meet everyone, was there for about 20 minutes and then I had to leave....without eating lunch!! I had the waitress cancel my order, so at least I didn't have to pay for any uneaten food. To his credit, Jason was hugely apologetic. He made it to court when he needed to, but the girls missed their meeting. I ended up going to the new local Pizza Hut for some pasta, so I finally got lunch about 1:3pm. So now Jason has said we need to have spare keys to both cars in the house, just in case!!Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-65947002472373842422010-02-16T08:53:00.002-05:002010-02-16T09:00:00.348-05:00Mid-Winter BreakWe are taking this week off school. <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">We just finished our unit on the Middle Ages last week. Now this week I need to plan for the next unit, on the Renaissance and Reformation. I love both these periods in history. Yesterday, our first day off, I got the house back in order. It seems to me that when I am going gangbusters with school, the house really gets messy. And vice versa...if my house looks great, then I am not spending enough time on school. Finding a balance is pretty hard, I guess. I hope to start painting our hallway this week, but don't know if that will happen. The upstairs and downstairs hallways are about the only place in this house that didn't have hideous wallpaper on it, so painting it will be easier than when we did the living room and dining room and study. I'll let you know how the week shapes up. </span>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-58754998685582389332010-02-16T08:44:00.002-05:002010-02-16T08:49:55.680-05:00TarzanWell, we had try-outs a week ago yesterday for the spring musical, "Tarzan and a Case of Monday Business." This is with the RRCT. Two of my kids are monkeys and will be singing in the chorus. My oldest daughter is Millie Thatcher, the oldest daughter of missionaries in the jungle. I am playing Karla Wellington, a ditzy, blonde, movie star. It is a fun character. Performance dates are May 6, 7, 8 at the Kent Theatre in Cedar Springs. I wish my husband would've been in this one, but he says he needs a rest. He doesn't like to be so busy...we have practice Monday and Wednesday evenings.Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-22710666469265267612010-02-13T20:10:00.003-05:002010-02-13T20:17:10.768-05:00I'm Back! :)Well, can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted. Today we had our Medieval Feast, to celebrate the end of the Middle Ages unit. We use Tapestry of Grace and they have these great celebration ideas. We did Year 1 last year, and I am sad to say we did no unit celebrations.....it was our first year homeschooling and I already felt overwhelmed enough without adding all the preparation for a big celebration. But I am so glad we have started to have them. The Renaissance and Reformation are next, and that will be fun, too, I am sure. The 2 big girls are bowling with the Jr. High youth group now. Can't believe they are old enough to be in a youth group! We are loving the snow....wish there was more of it! Though Spring sounds nice, too....I just love having all four seasons! Just when you get sick of one, it changes! In the past year, Jason's sister got married and we were pretty busy with that, as all 5 kids were in the wedding and Jason & I were the Master and Mistress of Ceremonies. Fun times. In the Fall, we got involved in the local community theater, and did "Joan of Arc." I was Isabelle D'Arc, Joan's mother, my oldest daughter was "Young Joan," my second oldest daughter was "Young Catherine," (Joan's younger sister), my husband was Joan's sweetheart and my oldest son was a page in the castle of Charles VII. I have the theater bug now! What fun. Plus since we had been studying the Middle Ages, it was the perfect play for us. Gotta go get the girls from bowling!Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-46512179569566917212009-03-31T21:06:00.002-04:002009-03-31T21:17:08.914-04:00hello againI know it has been awhile. Life has been busy and by the time I have free time in the evenings recently, after schooling most of the day, or cleaning or cooking, I am ready to crash and have no energy for blogging. <div>We are taking an official Spring break next week, when all the area schools have off. We are not really going anywhere exciting (or warm!) but over to South Lyon to visit my parents for Easter weekend. But just not having to worry about school will be nice. </div><div>I have started babysitting Jason's cousin's son before and after school on Tues., Thurs., and Fri.. His name is Logan and he goes to Kindergarten 2 1/2 days a week. I take him and pick him up from school. It is nice for the kids to play together. And I get a small weekly fee, which is always nice.</div><div>Today I took Anya and her friend, Lydia, to Calvin College for a concert featuring Bach songs, just for 3rd and 4th graders. It was a free program and they had kids up there playing piano pieces by Bach, and a guy playing the organ, which I just love. There was nice variety, and the kids enjoyed it. Lydia's mom, Jennifer, stayed at my house with my other kids and her 2 others, and then we had Subway for lunch. Always nice when I don't have to cook!</div><div>Maiah and Anya just got back from an open swim at the middle school, with Lydia's family. It is nice that my big girls are old enough to go do fun things with friends sometimes. Especially b/c we don't often get to do much, since spending money for 7 people to do anything is often too expensive.</div><div>That is all for now. </div><div><br /></div>Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-32763714421443283122009-02-10T18:27:00.003-05:002009-02-11T08:31:52.500-05:00SkypeHave you heard of Skype? I don't quite get it, but it is something like a chat application, but you can also "call" people. My daughter has a friend in Latvia (a boy, no less) who wanted her to get it, so they could chat. Maybe they don't have iChat over there, who knows. So Jason looked into it and we downloaded it a few weeks ago...nice thing, it is free. Today was the first time Maiah and Harry skyped...another funny verb that comes from technology. They were on for over an hour...I realized that since it was almost 3pm here when they finished, it was almost 10pm there, since they are 7 hours ahead. I guess he had to go to bed. Weird to think that my 11 year old daugher is interested in boys...though she is really just interested in Harry. We met his family at our church in Louisville. They came for a year from Summer '06 to Summer '07 so Harry's dad, Martin, who is a hand surgeon could learn stuff or something. Louisville is apparently a good place to get hand surgery, should the need arise. So they are reformed Christians, which is nice (they don't necessarily have to be reformed, though that is nice, but the Christian part is key.) Harry is 12, will be 13 in June, so the age is OK, too. He is a cutie, too. He looks like the kid in the American Girl "Kit" movie, the boy hobo. You can send pics over it, or files, too. So they were sending pictures back and forth. It is so nice that they can continue their friendship in this way, which works better than actual letter writing, I am sure. They have written letters before, but they are few and far between. So if you have Skype, I think our name is Rop or Rop Family. Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-50591994394800935272009-01-17T11:05:00.002-05:002009-01-17T11:14:46.004-05:00FacebookDon't you just love Facebook? It has been so fun connecting with friends, even some from elementary school, which was like, 8 houses ago for me! I joined this summer, I forget why, or who prompted me. I don't do much with the "extras" like games and sending people different things (ornaments or snowballs or stickers etc). Don't really have the time for that. But I love to find people and read how they are doing. I recently added photos, which I finally figured out how to do. I am getting so computer savvy! I got Jason to join, though he does almost nothing with it. He thinks I have an insane amount of friends (just over 200) and can't believe that "friend" has become a verb, as in, "Hey, two people friended me today!" Too funny. Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-64526118729492211722009-01-06T17:38:00.004-05:002009-01-06T17:51:11.579-05:00Merry Christmas (a little late, I know :))The Holidays were a busy time, hence my lack of posts. Hope y'all had a safe and fun and meaningful time celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Every year, we read the children's book, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson, about this awful family of 6 kids, the Herdmans, who have never heard the REAL Christmas story and take over all the lead roles in the Sunday School pageant. I get choked up at the end each time (for I am the designated reader), but this year for the first time I outright cried, so Maiah finished reading it for us. It has a great message and really makes you think about Jesus' birth from a new perspective....one of the Herdman kids wants to know why they wrapped the baby in "wadded up clothes" and the ones playing the Wise Men want to know what will happen if they DON'T go back home a different way to avoid Herod, and "Mary" screams at the shepherds not to touch her baby. Not your typical pageant, but funny and heartwarming and meaningful all at the same time. As you start this new year, don't forget to think about the greatest gift that is Jesus. Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-55832067865320597922008-12-15T18:23:00.002-05:002008-12-15T19:08:07.152-05:00Sunday School Christmas PageantI am sure a lot of you have this annual tradition...watching your kids in their Sunday School Christmas pageant. Ours was last night at the evening service. All 5 kids had parts. The 3 oldest were in the play, "Born for You and Me" and the 2 youngest were among the littlest ones who each recited a verse from the Bible passage Luke 2:4-7. The oldest kids all got to read their scripts, but the youngest had to memorize b/c they can't read. It went well. Olivia memorized her line and spoke it loudly into the microphone and did great. But Tristan had never wanted to practice his line and would never say it at any of the practices. And we thought the same was going to happen last night, as he hid in the back behind the other kids and wouldn't come up to the microphone when it was his turn to say his line. So the girl after him went (she was also the last person to go). When she was done, and there was a lull btw. the end of that and the singing of "Away in a Manger," Tristan comes running to the mic and yells out "It was a boy!" That was his line and he said it perfectly, though so fast that most people didn't understand him. It was, of course, in the wrong place, but at least he said it. Jason and I were dying laughing, as was the woman who had coached the little kids, b/c we all knew how stubborn Tristan had been. And we all understood him, b/c we knew what his line was. It was so cute and funny and we were so proud of him b/c he said his line. Hope your pageants were as eventful as ours. :) Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4102608053513861785.post-51873512786140006602008-12-11T18:57:00.002-05:002008-12-11T19:57:24.733-05:00Homeschool mom's devotionalThe first time we homeschooled (when my now-6th grader was in 1st grade) I looked for (and found) a devotional book written expressly for homeschool moms. We have our own unique problems and triumphs and I thought it would help me to have better ways to turn to God and better things for which to pray. And a good support system, too. The book I found (there are probably others) is called "101 Devotions for Homeschool Moms" by Jackie Wellwood. She has 7 kids that she homeschools. Incidentally, all their names start with "J." I just remembered about that book a few weeks ago, found it on our book shelf, and pulled it out and put it on my bedside table. I read one devotion every night (well, almost every night:)) at bedtime. They are encouraging and concise and even have a few thought-provoking questions at the end that you can answer...preferably not out loud or you might freak out your husband. So far, I have been able to personally identify with most of the devotions. It is always an encouragement to know we aren't alone in our struggles. If y'all have a good devotional, let me know. I am sure there are other good ones out there. Shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09062054933676324726noreply@blogger.com0