Random Rant...

soooo,
is anyone else dislike blogger right now?

So rumor (too lazy to look up the facts- any volunteers?) has it that Blogger changed some of their codes. If you have blogger, and you don't use a pop-up comment box, fellow bloggers cannot leave comments. really. and it is annoying. after all, I've got so much to say to other lovely folks, right? ;^)

My other aggravation with blogger is that "spacing" is a huge battle. The more you try to correct it, the more wacky it gets. At this point I'm just throwing perfectionism out the window *hee*

So, I have a question for my faithful readers...
What do you use? and do you like it?

I am seriously thinking of changing things up around here (ie switching blog resources). I need easy-peasy and inexpensive.

Also needing to update our blog "title". We've spent the last few years with more than our "simple 8". Title ideas anyone? really, I am not creative in that area *sigh*

~Sheri

FINALS WEEK

This is our last week of school...

and much of the final studying has been with math. Our reading & writing skills have greatly improved this year due to the effectiveness of the curriculum we began this year. (I'll share my rave reviews at a later date)

So, what do the littles do while we are going over all things MATH...

Why...
enjoying some good treats....


Enjoying leggos...

Practicing being on 'target'....

and building messes, er,
lincoln logs. *smile*

We have a busy week of activities amongst our studying...

Katie has a few Camp Fire meetings & ballet rehearsals, then we are headed to our hometown for the kids to take their State Testing. Oregon & Washington provide the same test requirements, thus I take the kids where they are familiar. The upside to this is that we are hoping to put a deposit on a home while we are there! Yay! At this point we do not have a Plan B, so please pray that all goes smoothly.

On top of all that, Grandpa's birthday is friday, and Bryson will be 3 on Saturday, in which we will be at brother #2's soccer game, followed by a day of purging through our storage unit. (We have rummaged through much to *find* things, so I need to pack neatly again)... so we will be having our birthday parties on Monday!

I have many post ideas swirling in my head, just not the time to get to it quite yet... expect me to be a bit more chatty in days to come...

...and to ramble off on a fun note...

I was able to get connected with a new pen pal via a good friend.
This is from a blog that has followers all over the world, and my sweet pen pal was hooting and howling and giggling when I sent her my name & address, in which I responded with the same hooting and howling and giggling.... as we live about 15 minutes from each other! *hee*

JUST HANGING OUT ...

and enjoying the calm of our days.

Ofcourse some days are more chaotic than others...
that is the beauty
of having many children,
of homeschooling,
of staying home,
of being a mom...

So as I sit here relaxing during a quiet moment in the middle of the night, I can't help but smile at our day that has passed.

School went smoothly with Olympic Studies, French review, read aloud time at the top of our agenda. We also began a new seedling project as helpful Bryson dumped our last ones out. "Baby brother ate our homework" comes to mind. =)

Katie-girl began a new Health Study book yesterday...and finished today! I think it was meant to last a semester??

Andrew is big into "reading" books to us. He is quite the story teller.

Bryson is, oh so active! He tore up his foot on a metal wire a few days ago, but the way he runs wild, one would never guess so. He currently loves Grams sticks (from the window) as weapons. Personally, I think he has been hanging out too much w/ his older brothers whom been watching Ancient Weapon Technology shows lately. nice, huh?

The day only gets better, as my husband comes home and makes his famous yummy hamburgers!...and a batch of brownies! Yes, I am spoiled...and oh so grateful!!

Random thoughts of the day...

Today is just a simple day, I seem to be enjoying those more as I get older... maybe it's wisdom? Ya know? Like, to slow down enough to actually enjoy the here & now. I use to strive to be the multi-task, can-do-all-things, never-say-no-to-anyone, must win the mother-of-the-year award, perfectionist person... um, yeah, that was me... yikes! And I thought, in my young & naive years, THAT was living life; to go, go, go (I am tired just typing about it, lol). On the upside of all that, I DID enjoy life, I DID get lots of things done, I DID accomplish many things for many people, and that is all good. Yet, it also has a solemn side (here comes the get real moment) of never quite being enough, not quite measuring up to my own expectations so to speak.
I still have that can-do personality, but today I am more aware of my journey;
* to observe the beauty,
*to absorb every day blessings,
*to enjoy the scenery,
*to embrace and share kindness with others,
*the willingness to stop & smell the roses on the way,
*all with the realization that the destination comes at the end of my life time,
**an eternity with my Savior.
Today:

I had a peaceful morning w/ my daughter. She too, is a morning person, which is nice for our early morning routine, and the bonus is to have lovely chats with her while we drive to school.

I look forward to class time with the guys. Without sister there to distract (love her, but she does talk...a lot) we seem to get so much more done. As they share more input, I am even learning to talk less, and listen more...

What a pleasure to hear Andrew share his Alphabet book with Baby Bryson. "B says 'buh', b is for bubbles" etc...

Baby Bryson is quite humorous. He is into everything... toilets, plug ins, mystery drawers, stairs are currently a favorite, lol. Poor TJ gets a bit stressed out; me?, I just grin.

I adore my husband, I really do. He works hard all day, yet is always willing to come home and play. No down time, no feet up for a few moments, although I am sure he takes a deep breathe before entering our home...deep breathe in, slowly exhale, turn door nob, open the door, one foot in...DAD's HOME!!!!! (We pretty much all hollar that) Bryson grins his cheesy grin, bouncing in one place waiting for dad to pick him up; Katie & I give Dad big hugs; Andrew is already tugging on his shirt to go play; and the boys kick up conversation with their "Hey dad...." ; and oh yes, don't forget Asia (our dog), as she is rambunctiously in the mix. Our evening has now begun... Yep, gotta just love that man of mine! ;^D