Ponderings In The Field of Grace

Well I finally got some time, so I thought I would post about the trip we took to MB this past weekend. á

We left around 7:15, and arrived in Surfside about 10:00. We are looking at coming down for a week in September, and were wanting to see a house we wanted to rent. It ended up being perfect timing. We already had the address of the house, so we rode by there first thing. We liked the location and the looks of the yard and house, so we trucked it over to Garden City Realty to find out more.

The ladies at the desk were so nice. They answered our questions about travel insurance, linen packages, price quotes, and even let us grab the key to check out the inside. (I was really surprised we were able to do this simply because it was a Saturday and they were busy.) The house was great!

After checking out the house we headed down to Huntington Beach State Park. We used the State Park pass, that alone saved us 10-15 minutes, by allowing us to skip paying at the booth!

The parking lot was packed, but the beach really wasn’t that bad considering it was a Saturday in July! We had never been there before, so being able to sit on the beach and just look up the coast and see no buildings was amazing. We could see Murrells Inlet in the distance. That was kind of cool.

We left there when a storm came up and the lifeguard had to clear the beach. So, we decided to ride up to Ocean Blvd and see for ourselves how things had changed where the Pavilion used to be. It was kind of sad, but at the same time I am really hoping something equally awesome will replace it.

We drove on up the blvd, by our usual hotel (Long Bay, a great place btw. ) and then went to Barefoot. The parking lot there was pretty full, but for some reason we didn’t really see that many people. The kids saw several turtles and birds they thought were neat.

After that we drove to Broadway. The kids were so excited! This is the one place that is a must for us every time we come. They watched the dragon, climbed on the dinosaurs, played on the playground, and fed the ducks and fish. In other words, they had a blast!

So we drove down to McDonald’s on about 18th Ave S. and King’s Hwy to grab something to eat before going home. While we were there I talked with the girl ringing up our order. She was originally from Russia, had moved to Bulgaria, and was spending the summer in MB. That is one thing I love about this town. I always meet at least one person from another country while I’m here. I love hearing a little about where they are from, and why they decided to come here.

Anyway, after that we headed home. We pulled into the driveway around 10:00PM. It was definitely a full and exhausting day, but by all means worth it!

Well, we’re off school this week! I think we all need it. Tomorrow I have to take A to therapy, but that’s it as far as got to do’s. I am going to take the rest of the time this week to try and get my house back in order and plan some for school. A lady at The Homeschool Library had Yr. 1 Unit 1 of TOG for sale, so I was able to save some money! Believe me, you don’t know how bad I needed to. I am so happy! I am also planning on hitting the library soon to begin checking out books we will need for this unit. Luckily, the library around here is halfway decent, so I should be able to find most of what I need.

On another note, we are trying to get a budget together and get some bills paid off. This is so much easier said than done! Thankfully, I have a friend, L, who has taught Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Though we haven’t taken the class, I have been reading D.R.’s Total Money Makeover. We decided we were going to take the plunge and really try to do it. So, today I have spent most of the day working on a budget, and trying to get things to balance out. Needless to say, it hasn’t been easy. I am trying to create a realistic budget. Not one that we will blow out of the water in the first 2 weeks. I’ll try and give you updates every so often, and let you know how it goes.

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. Hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods.

Hey, this will be short. We did get to go to MB. We had an absolutely awesome time! We checked out the house we are looking to rent when we go in September. It looks terrific. It even has a private pool in the small fenced in back yard. We are hoping to reserve it in the next week or so.

The kids were great. They were probably the best behaved they have ever been! I was so proud of them. They got to play in the beach at one of the state parks. It was great! I’ll try and write more later if I can. Right now, I’m just wiped out.

Remember the old playground game Red Light, Green Light? I think I’m living it!

Well isn’t that just the way it seems to go? As I told you earlier we were planning on taking a day trip to MB and surprise the kids. Notice I said were. Right now we don’t know if we are going or not. My wonderful husband finally gave in and went to the Dr. yesterday for his foot. He hurt it on the 4th of July. They did x-rays and came up with the opinion that my dear husband’s foot is not broken, however, he has torn/pulled the ligaments on the bottom of his foot. He is now on crutches, taking steroids, icing it, and just generally trying to stay off of it.

And, as you might have guessed, you can’t do that well playing in the ocean, walking on the beach, or shopping. So, as of right now, it looks like our trip is on hold.

Leave it to us! We are the couple who planned a 10th anniversary trip to the beach, left on a nice afternoon with no sign of bad weather, only to arrive as the Gov. was ordering an evacuation and a hurricane had went from a Cat 2 off the west coast of Florida to a Cat 4, and about to hit the coast of the Carolinas! That just seems to be the way things work! á After all this is the third time this year we have talked about heading to the beach, and actually had things planned out, only to find out for some off the wall reason we couldn’t go. Do you think God has a lesson in this somewhere? I wish I could figure it out so I didn’t have to keep going round and round on this one! Oh well, at least I’m not crying this time, so maybe it is a little bit better.

Sorry for not posting sooner, but I thought you would rather have no updates than another pity party post. Thank goodness that’s over! Anyway…

We’ve been busy as usual it seems. We’ve had a light school week, simply because the kids are just plain worn out. I think we are all looking forward to our school break next week. I am still trying to get things together for my TOG order. I have narrowed it down to what I absolutely have to have right now. The extras are nice, but not when it means no vacation. So looks like it will be just unit 1 with map aids, and weekly trips to the library for now. But hey, it’ll all work out in the wash.

We are trying to get things together for our vacation in September. We will be going to MB again this year. It’s pretty much where we go every year, and we all look forward to it! This year we are not staying at the hotel. We are venturing out a little. We are looking at renting a house for a week instead. I don’t know why, but I just don’t want the crowds of the hotel this year, and to be honest it usually isn’t that crowded. I just really need some space this year. I also like the idea of not having to worry about a maid coming in and out everyday. (I know maids are nice, but if they come while we are in the room, I always feel like I am in their way.)

So, we are going to surprise the kids and do a day trip to the beach and check out a few places! We leaving early Saturday morning and going to the state park there. Then after playing in the surf and sand, we’ll go drive around and check out the addresses for the houses we are looking at. We might even see if we can take a look at one or two. Then we will head over to one of the shopping/entertainment complexes for a while before heading home. That should sufficiently wear out the kids for the ride home. We’ll have picnic lunches with extra drinks and snacks. Then we might splurge for fast food on the way home. Definitely a cheap outing, but we’re looking at it as an adventure.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

What a day. We’ve gotten through the morning school work and the kids are taking a break. We still need to read a book, do Bible, and read Science.á I just do…not…feel like doing…anything. Maybe it has to do with the rollercoaster I have been on lately. I can’t remember the last time I actually spent time with my husband. I know it’s been a few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve been at home together, but we haven’t really spent any time together. Saturday we did get to hang out at home with the kids for a little bit before he had to go work on some things. Yesterday I left for church, and he left to go in to work. That was 9:30 AM. He got home at 10:00PM. I know a lot of people have a busier schedule than us, and I know I am having a pity party, but still. I miss my husband. I need a little break from the kids. (I know that is considered horrible by some, but it’s true for me.) I am not a very good Mom right now, and don’t even get me started on my housecleaning.

We all need a break right now. At least next week is a scheduled break from school, so that will be good. I know the kids are needing a break as well.

We’re trying to save up money to go on vacation. Right now, things are not looking good. Iá really do not want to put anything on the credit card. At the same time I don’t see how we can go otherwise.á We really need this vacation. Do we just not go if we will need to use the credit card? Part of me knows that is the wisest thing to do. But part of me really doesn’t care what is wise and what isn’t. Oh well. We’ll figure something out…

Don’t you just love days when you just get to “be”? I do. We have spent the morning doing some house cleaning, yard work, and playing with the kids. It has been so nice. I didn’t realize how much I needed it. We have been so busy with life, we haven’t been able to live it. We were just getting by. Today I am getting to live it again, and it is wonderful. Even with kids fussing and still having to do chores, I just don’t seem mind it as much today. I think I am going to just hang out, maybe do a Sodoku puzzle, and do a little cleaning. Guess I better get off this computer. I’ve got some living to do…

…after it’s all said and done, you’re fine with what was said, but for some reason you’re just not sure how you feel about it?

I did. Today. It was a conversation with someone I greatly respect. We talked about things that have been on my mind for years, and some things that have just recently popped up.

I am at complete peace with everything we talked about, even though I don’t necessarily agree with everything. I want to put more trust into the things we talked about, but I am scared. I don’t want to get hurt and lose a mentor I respect so much.á I don’t know why I’m writing this. I guess things are just so…hard. Well, we’ll see how things turn out in the coming weeks. Only time will tell…

We had a pretty neat day yesterday. The kids started off with a bang. They really knocked out a good bit of work, and then they stalled. Luckily for me, they didn’t stall out until they were over three-fourths of the way done, so not too much weeping and gnashing of teeth. After lunch we read more of Story of the World and discussed the pharaohs and mummies.

The rest of the day entailed my mother and I going to Hobby Lobby (I needed watercolor crayons for art!). We also hit Wal-mart for a few things. By the time I got home I had agreed to keep K1 for a while. She came about an hour after I got home. So, no dh and an extra kid. Strangely enough, it usually works just fine like that because K1 helps entertain mine so much. Later on my friend L and her son S came over as well. They stayed until B came to pick up K1. Then B and I ended up sitting around and talking for about another hour, and as B was leaving, H called to tell me he was on his way home! So, I guess you could say I was definitely not lonely while he was gone!

Overall, I have say it was a pretty good day. We had a great time, and got spend some time with good friends and family. You can’t beat days like that can you?

This is one of the things I like about homeschooling. By the end of June my dc are usually bored out of their minds and ready to do something fun, so they beg for school. When July comes it is just too hot to do much of anything around here in the middle of the day, so we do school. Then by the time the days has cooled off some, they are done with their work, and ready to play. I look at it as a win-win situation.

Today we did our workbooks, and other lessons. When we were done, we took a break and then read some of Story of the World Vol. 1. We’re into week 4 of school, but still in week 2 of Tapestry of Grace…and they are still enjoying it!!!! That is just so unusual, honestly. We have spent the week watching some programs we recorded off of Discovery Channel this past weekend. They had a marathon of shows about Ancient Egypt! Can’t beat that can you?! So we have been spreading out our book reading, and stories with the programs. I can honestly say, I think these kids know a good bit about Ancient Egypt now! If they don’t, something is wrong!

I was going over my order for TOG again last night, trying to determine when I need to place my order, when it dawned on me I have had A on the wrong level. He needs to be in the dialectic level, and I’ve had him in the Upper Grammar! Oh, well! I’m just chalking that up to easing him into a new program. (Like that? )

As a result of my little snafu, I am now making a new list of books I need. However, this time I am also trying my best to see what I can find at the library. I am not sure how this is going to work out though, truthfully. I know this is horrible, but… I am not a library kind of person. I much prefer to just go to the bookstore, buy what I need, and then not have to worry about returning anything on time, or what condition it is in, both of which are major concerns when I have to use the library. We’ll see if it works out or not.

I am also still trying to figure out what exactly I need to order. We are tight on money right now, since we are trying to save for our vacation. I really want to order the whole year, but it looks like I will be doing things right now one unit at a time. I like that I can order the units as I go, even if I do have to pay a little more in shipping. I think that is going to help me a lot, however, I do still wish I could just order the whole she-bang. Well, if there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that the good Lordá provides exactly what I need when I need it. So if I don’t have the $ I must not need all the stuff.