We've just had an amazing weather week - mid 70's to 80's and sunny all week long. It was wonderful! Today started with rain though, so far we've had 2 decent rain showers and Russ is out at our neighbors with the children... I'm guessing totally drenched. :) Sundays are always bitter sweet for me. I love going to church but it feels so different with your 'visiting' churches instead of having a church home. Today we visited Family Life Church... they rocked the building that's for sure. Personally, I think they could make a killing selling ear plugs in their little coffee shop. The music was good but very, VERY loud. The pastor was good too. We could tell he was passionate about Jesus because when he got excited he yelled and his face got red and the veins in his neck nearly popped out. The sermon was on Romans 2 something... about not conforming to this world. We enjoyed meeting more people and I signed up for a little women's event they are holding for the community in 2 weeks. It's 2 evenings and then Saturday with 3 speakers and the same worship leader. (I'll be sure to wear ear plugs ;) The children LOVED children's church - when they got in the van they asked if we could hear them yelling ... of course we said 'no' since our pastor/worship team was pretty loud themselves. The children really liked their program though. I believe we'll keep praying and visiting about where God wants us to be - for some reason I don't think Family Life Church is it. I joked with Russ that Dawn Mast emailed a couple weeks ago that there would be 100 Sundays until we moved back to VA if it works out to move back in 2 years - so if we visited ALL the churches in the paper in this area when we finished we'd know our time her was up and we needed to pack and move again! Ha Ha! I pray we find a church family before that though.
We met another set of neighbors who will be home schooling next year. They have 6 year old twins (1 boy, 1 girl) and an 8 year old boy. I really like them. Rebecca is a preschool teacher and Jason is a fire fighter. They have an in ground pool. The children have asked me EVERY DAY if we could go over and visit them. I think I'll give them a call this week. Our children seemed to get along well together.
This past week I sent out our first order all by myself. I believe I did everything correctly and was excited to do it. We got an open P.O. for 9000 parts from our main client which is really great... we know for sure we'll be able to make the next couple payments and then some. Another open P.O. was sent to us for bidding so Russ did that this week. If we get it he'll have more than enough work for several months... might even need to hire an employee. He had a couple parts break this week so he was fixing things and ordering parts along with making parts. There was a part he was making that had a revision to the program that hadn't been written yet. Tom wasn't here to write it so Russ studied it for several hours, figured it out, and changed it. It was almost perfect then. Bob, another machinest & programer down the road, looked it over for him and made 1 small change. We were all VERY impressed that Russ could even read the program and figure out how to change what he did! Such a smart guy! Anyway, he ended up having to work yesterday (Sat.) to catch up some so this order can be ready to ship next Wed.
Last Tuesday my mother kept Jessica and Levi and Russ, Katlyn, and I went to the auction in the evening. We bought a beautiful hanging lamp to replace the chandelier that was in the formal dining room (Karen and Tom took it as we had expected). It was a lot of fun. We also got a fairly large wall clock that looks a bit like a grandfather clock but is all red. It chimes every hour the number of hours it is, and once for every half hour. I love the sound of it.
I'm almost ready to paint the breakfast nook in the kitchen. I think I have the green I want... just need to live with the swatches I have for another day to see it in all the different 'lights.'
We visited a huge wooden park this week to meet another home school family. Donna and her 2 children, Hannah and Paul. That was a nice time. She's planning to meet us there again some time with some other homeschool families for us to meet.
The girls and I visited North Hopkins ISD school last Thursday morning. Jessica spent the morning with the 4th grade class and Katlyn with the 2nd grade class. I was in both to check them out. Jessica started out in reading class... which seemed very easy. I think she's a whole grade ahead in reading compared to what they are reading. The teacher said those children didn't like to read and she just did one novel study this year and it was like pulling teeth. They read, Sarah Plain and Tall. Jessica read that last year... in 3 days. Then she went to writing class. She took their spelling test and got 14/15. We didn't hardly even do spelling last year so I'm happy to see she hasn't fallen behind. I left when they went to gym. Of course she loved gym.
Katlyn was in class with our neighbor, Cheyenne. They studied prefixes while I was in there. Katlyn knew what they were and how to use them. I was a little more curious to see how she'd do. Then they read a story - she didn't read out loud but I could see that she knew most of the words. She needs to read more though to get faster. The goal in 2nd grade is 90 words/ minute. I got their reading book to work through the summer with her. In math she's definitely where they are or ahead. Then she had recess - her favorite subject.
We left before lunch and both girls wished they could stay for the rest of the day. That was a good sign. But they both said they'd still rather be home schooled. The school doesn't have music or art until 7th grade. The principal said they just have to much to teach them so the children will pass their TAKS (like SOLS) so they couldn't fit in music or art. I had mixed feelings there - part of me was glad they liked it but the other part thought... I could easily keep teaching them what they need, and they won't be gone from 7 AM - 4 PM. Although there certainly are times where that would be a blessing. If y'all think of me please pray for me to make the right decision about this. For some reason it's really HARD to give up home schooling - even though I was pretty sure I was going to this coming year. It doesn't help either that Jessica asks (well, more like begs!) to be home schooled next year. She's so sweet - she told me that she'd get up at 6 AM so I could give her the instruction for the day and then she'd take care of all her school work, chores, and siblings, if I need to help Russ or do other things. Funny thing is... she would! But Katlyn is not there yet... just a different personality and attitude. I have noticed better listening from her lately though. That's nice.
Oh, I should tell you how Russ saved me life this week!!! OK, I'm being just a little dramatic! He and I went for a walk one evening on our property and about 15 minutes into it and not seeing any snakes or scorpions, I stopped staring at the ground to watch each step. Of course no sooner did I do that than Russ said, "Cheryl - step back a snake!" So I immediately hopped back before putting my right foot down on a copper head snake. It was right there, easy to see. It didn't move on bit. I think it thought if it didn't move we'd leave it alone and go on... but remember... a good snake is a dead snake! So Russ hunted around for a stick and killed it. After it was dead he smashed it's head in for good measure and flung it into the woods off the trail. Whew... that was a close one! I don't think I'll hike to much on that trail alone - another pair of eyes is nice to have.
Russ turned 41 this week. We stayed home and had a normal day... except for dessert - strawberry pie! Yum Yum! Thanks for all the calls! He thinks of calling you men there but by the time he comes in for the night, we eat, and put the kids to bed, it's 9 PM - which is 10 PM in VA. So he doesn't want to call to late. We're 1 hour earlier than you VA people so call us anytime.
Mom and I have discovered that our County Road is 4 miles from our house to the main road and back. It's perfect for getting some exercise. The children ride bikes while mom and I walk. One morning I got up and jogged it to see if I could... I only jogged about 3 miles and walked the other mile and that would be s.l.o.w. jogging. But then my back hurt the rest of the day... I wish my chiropractor lived here.
One thing I've discovered about this area is that it's the real bible belt! There are NO movie rentals at the library that are over PG13, and also there is NO WHERE in the town of Sulphur Springs that you can buy wine or beer. You have to drive 20 miles east or west. Also, you can't buy the Good Earth Sweet and Sour tea here (thanks for that tea bag Dawn!), or tahini for making hummus. No one's even heard of it at the 2 grocery stores we have. Costco is 45 minutes away and I'm making a big... no - GIANT list for when I take mom back to the airport. I also really miss Target. We have a Walmart but it's quality and selection doesn't really compare. But I don't want to sound like I'm complaining... we can definitely get the basics and are doing just fine.
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