"ELECTRIC" -Sarah Palin

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!
I have found a HERO!!!!!!

I actually got to listen to her WHOLE speech tonight. We Tivo'd it last night and sheesh......I dont know what we recorded-but it was a wee smidget of what Sarah said. But the broadcast was made to feel as though it was the whole thing-there was no commentary etc. We missed TUNZ of policy topics etc-the recording started late so thats why I thought we hadnt heard everything-but listening tonight to C-span online-it looks like things were actually OMITTED! How can stations do that? UGH! =MEDIA...sigh.......enough said I guess....

At the beginning she made a special remark abt special needs children. As most know in April she gave birth to a beautiful son with down syndrom. So she is ONE OF US who has an understanding-shes a special needs mom. This is what she said:

" And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the
> world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family
> ever seems typical.
>
> That's how it is with us.
>
> Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges
> and the same joys.
>
> Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
>
> And children with special needs inspire a special love.
>
> To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a
> message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for
> your sons and daughters.
>
> I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate
> in the White House."

Have we EVER in History had a Vice President utter those words of hope and encouragment?

A friend called me last night and said that while watching and listening to the speech her eyes were tearing up-I didnt understand. Tonight I do.

Im just speechless tonight.....I dont know what else to say......

Heres the WHOLE thing.....
http://rnc08.c-span.org/?z

COUNTRY FIRST!!!!!!

Okay-Im the first to admit that Im not so well informed as far as politics goes. I hardly ever get on this bandwagon. BUT- PALIN has me...whats the word Im looking for here......EXCITED!!!!!!WOW!!!McCain REALLY knew what he was doing when he nominated her as his running mate.

C-DID YOU WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!!

I havent even seen her broadcast yet-Reviews are alllll over Fox, and it will be on again at 12-so guess what I WILL be watching....be even set to record it as DH dindt want to miss it.

The Liberal Media is sure having a day with her though-but I think after tonight that all will be put to rest. Shes a Mom-one that MANY can relate to. She's just had a special needs baby. She has a daughter who is 17 and pregnant. She has executive experiance-shes even got more experiance than Obama-LOLOL-which I think is tooo funny. And yet still the media is all over these normalicies. I mean what family in America can not relate to this woman? "They"say this is too much for a "woman" to bear. "They" say "5 kids is too much of a distraction"

PLEASE!!!! If ANY woman can do it Palin can-"they" are just petrified that she will take this.....and I hope she does. Our country NEEDS this woman. She WILL get in there and make changes-and changes are what we need!

I was listening to Rush today in the car and I just cant get enough of this woman and hearing all the media try and find something they can get her on...LOLOLOL-its rediculous. But I say search away-the more they speak the sillier and more desperate they sound! LOLOLOLOL

K-Im off to search for her speech on Utube-LOLOLOLOL

Social Festering......

Last night was a difficult night-I found myself feeling lost and unsure of what to do. I spent the night festering, worrying-something I have learned to do quiet very well. I might add...I wrote to some boards, the "old wise ones" I am apart of to get some jewel of wisdom and sure enough I got one that touched me...It amazes me, humbles me, and makes me realise how much I am still learning and how much I still need to grow and learn....Here's her email posted after mine...

>
> Okay ladies-Im in desperate need of support and guidance here....
> This will be our 2nd year homeschooling and Im feeling more alone
> in this than ever......:(Tonight I found myself in tears-and I havent
> cried since he was in that nightmare we went through in PS....:(
> I feel we dont belong anywhere. Co-ops ard here have typical kids
> and they dont understand. ASD support groups ard here all have their
> kids in special programs in PS and arent homeschooling...sigh....I
> just feel alone....:(
> We live in a little country town in Utah. A Homeschooling Co-op just
> started in our own little town and I was SOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I
> thought Okay-this is a little group Stinger will be fine...right? Well
> they meet tomorrow and its just a getting to know you type deal at the
> playround near the library. I went over everything with Stinger
> tonight-very low stress and informed him of every detail. He procedded
> to put his head under the covers and cry.....:( He said he doesnt want
> to have anything to do with any kids-no matter who they are. He says
> they are all mean-they will be all mean-he HATES them already he said
> and cried some more telling me he'd stay in the car and play with his
> army guys....
> I had no idea how the peers at his PS had hurt him so deeply
> inside.It makes me tear up just thinking abt it....:( Will the trust EVER
> be there back again-or is it permanantly gone?????
> We had a deep discussion and he said he was fine playing with his
> sister and brother-that is all he needs he said. I said well what abt
> when they get bigger and they both have other friends and are out with
> them? What then? He said "well then Ill play by myself-I dont need
> anyone......."....SIGH.......
> I guess I thought things had gotten better-we have been doing soooo
> well at home with school-hes loving it and was so excited to start on
> Monday :) But the hurt is still there from the peers at PS. I dont
> know how to get ard this? Can I? How do I change this? Do I? He has
> absolutely NO desire to make ANY kind of connection with anyone
> outside the family. He said he is happy, that he is not lonely-that he
> doesnt want a friend. Is this all that matters really? Is this okay?
> When he was in school they forced this type of social interaction on
> him( which Im sure caused alot of the problems)-at home its not. But
> as his teacher now how do I go abt dealing with this? Or is this just
> how it is going to be?
> Now you talk with the Mental Health professionals and they seam to
> think this is sooo unhealthy. Im lost as to what to do.
> His first comment when he went under the covers tonight was " Today
> in school was great Mom-but you just ruined it." .......:(
> Help me ladies-what do I do????????
>



You are NOT alone! You nearly described my life in your post. My son
is 11 and we are going to start our 3rd year of homeschooling. We
live in a neighborhood with no potential kid friends, we also don't
really "fit in" - we tried the local homeschool co-op - didn't work
for many reasons. Ever since we started homeschooling I knew we would
have to venture out of the house at least sometimes. My son would
happily stay inside and occupy himself but we joined homeschool
bowling -one of the few sports type things that my son is good at and
enjoys. Through that we did find a friend for me and my son. We have
done many activities with them and are so utterly grateful that at
least we have that. For some reason, though, other potential friend
opportunities have fallen through - just not meant to be I guess? It
is truly heartbreaking but I have faith in God and that gets me
through a lot. I remember a Bible passage - can't remember where it
is but it gives me comfort "God sets the lonely in families" I
really believe that.

I don't mean to turn this into a post about "me, me, me" but I want
you to see how you are not the only one that feels lonely at times.
My son, having AS, has a low tolerance for loud, chaotic, kid type
things -which is what most things for his age are - he also has a low
need for a lot of social interaction. I have finally accepted that -
after MUCH stuggle on my part. He can be social when the activity or
subject matter is interesting to him - if it's not - he wants no
part of it. I understand what your son is feeling about how his peers
hurt him in ps - they did the same thing to my son and it took a lot
of discussion and hugs and loving on him to get him to see that it
will not always be that way.

OK all the doom and gloom is done and here's the postive side of it!
We may never fit in? So what? We can and will still enjoy many
activities and experiences that life has to offer. My son is
currently trying an acting class through a local christian theater
group - will he make friends through this? I don't know but the fact
that my son is willing to try this is the most important thing to me.
As he gets older and more mature he can tolerate much more of the
social stuff- that doesn't mean he goes somewhere and instantly has a
rapport with another kid and they are best friends forever. That may
never happen and may not even be important to my son....right now.
Right now he is still figuring things and he cannot be pushed. Please
don't believe the so called "experts" who say you're harming your
child by not forcing your son to "Be social"- it can't be done. Your
son is telling you what he needs right now and right now he may need
you to back off of the "social thing" and just find real easy, no
expectation of socialness needed type activities to do with your son.

I found that most of my time in homeschooling is looking for these
activites -it takes a lot of effort but the internet, newspaper, etc.
does ease the burden. It would be nice if we just "belonged" to the
co-op where all the activities are sort of ready made and the kids are
already there but that doesn't work for us.

You will find what works for you and your son - it takes time, soul
searching and actually looking at your son and seeing what he truly
needs, not what society might THINK he needs.

Pray a lot, cry a lot and come here or to other boards (I belong to
several) I always feel uplifted when I do.

Jane

---

What a lift -eh? I tell ya what-it felt like a hug from a long lost friend:) Made my night! What an encouragement-eh?

Back to the Grind-LOLOLOL

Eeeek-its already WED and I havent even written abt everyones first day back at school......Ive been festering about a couple of things-next post;)LOLOL-but Ill fill ya in on what has been going on here........

Stinger is doing FABULOUS!!!! I did a Picture schedule(PECS) that he can rearrange every day and he has been thoroughly enjoying picking when we are doing each subject. Of course History and Science are first each and every day-LOLOLOL. Tuesday we made a bug catcher, today we planted some seeds to be ready for when we do Plants in Chapter 3. He ha sjust been loving it. Ive also trie dto arrange things a little differently-giving him a book bag and having him take out his binder which has all class dividers and is filled ( by me) each night of any work to do each next day. So at the beginning of the day he can see what we are going to be studying-he really likes that. So he is having to be more independant and get his supplies each day and his work for each subject. Last year I basically handed him everything , but I thought he needs to be doing alot more on his own-taking on more responsibility-and hes doing wonderful. Monday we went through all of our books and he organized his binders and organized all his new supplies-he thought that was a LOT of fun-LOLOLOLOL

Flamingo is having a ball as expected. She has a good friend that was in her class last year , in her class again this year and I guess they are always together. She took her two jump-ropes today since the school has ones that are too big and they played together at recess. They eat lunch together every day as well and sit by each other in class. Its good to see her have a close friend, one that is nice and not so flip flop friend happy. Drives me crazy how many times I have to bite my tongue when I hear her talk abt friends being mean and then nice , mean and then nice to her. SOO much Drama-I dont remember that happening until I got into Middle school....LOLOLOL She comes home and goes directly into her room to do her homework-LOLOLOL-amazing -eh? But shes doing really well and I can tell she is happy to be playing with some more girls again.....

Monkey Boy is just a bundle of hyper happiness-LOLOLOLOLOL Each morning he wakes up sooo excited and each night he goes to bed with "Mom-you know what tomorrow is????? Another School Day!!!!!!!!" LOLOLOLOLOLOL He's lovin every bit of it! He brought home is first art work today and was oh so pleased to pull it out of his backpack-LOLOLOL. He also enjoys telling me abt all the different kids and how they get into trouble every day-crossing my fingers hes really not talking about himself-LOLOLOLOL He's got a girl friend. He said her hair smells like cotton candy!!!LOLOLOL Killin me!!!! LOLOLOLOLHe told me he lets her know how pretty she is every day and that he tries to watch out for her as thats his job now that she is his girlfriend;)LOLOLOL When I walked him to his class the first day he wassuch a trooper and was so excited-wasnt a hard goodbye fro him at all-but I did stay back and spy as usual-LOLOL I noticed a little girl who was really pretty and had long flowing blonde hair really having a hard time-clinging to her mom and really crying hard. This mom had to drag herself away and sat outside just in tears(been there done that)having to sty, yet could bare to see what was going on as sh eheard her littel girl crying. I kept reassuring her that her daughter had stopped crying that she was doing good and that she was going to be fine. The Mom said that the little girl had anxiety issues and I could see that it was just breaking her heart to see her having such a hard time. I felt like giving this woman a hug as I could soooooooo remember the time with Stinger when I was in the same boat. She took a deep breath, gave me her best smile, and was gone. Anyway-this is the little girl Monkey Boy has chosen for his girlfriend :) Cute-eh? He just goes on and on abt her. He gives her a hug if she starts to cry and he says that she has told him this makes her feel better....A boy kicked her on the playground and Monkey Boy kicked this kid back-and both boys had to sit out for recess....LOLOLOL . Young Love------ACK!!!!!!LOLOLOL

Summer '08-Fun in the Sun

Billys B-day Pics

I really liked this......

Different Like Me

Different Like Me

By Kathleen Freeman

My name is Thomas and I’m different you see,
But a whole lot of others are different like me.
There are kids different colors and kids different sizes,
Kids who win contests and kids who win prizes.
Kids good at math, science, spelling or reading,
Kids good with drawing, at games, or at beading.
There are kids who catch baseballs, and kids not so fast,
Kids scared of nighttime, or dreams from their past.
There are kids who feel squashed when their pants are too tight,
And kids who feel itchy when a tag isn’t right.
There are kids who will wiggle, both sons and daughters,
There are kids who are thinkers, designers and plotters.
There are kids who spin round, or jiggle their hands,
And kids who have crowded teeth in bands.
There are kids who dance, and kids who sing,
Kids who learn about most everything.
Some are in wheelchairs and some kids get sick,
That’s just how we are, and we don’t get to pick.
And some kids remember and some kids forget,
Some kids are glued to their TV set.
Some kids read maps, and some don’t, I bet.
That’s how we were made, and you get what you get.
Some kids pretend, and some like things real,
But really it isn’t that big of a deal.
My name is Thomas and I’m different they say,
My friends are all too, and I like it that way.

Super Stinger-Tinks Hero!......

Well today started out like a normal day. Kids getting breakfast, getting Dh's tea, feeding and taking the doggies potty-normal...........
The kids went out to play after breakfast and the dh left for work. Stinger comes in all out of breath and is holding Tink(our little 6 month old min-pin). I guess Tink had gotten under the fence right there under to our neighbors back yard. Now this would have been a "Notty Tink" moment-but she has never gotten through the fence to our neighbors before. They have a wolf and Husky -pretty BIG dogs-kwim? They were out! They got ahold of Tink and were pawing at her ,Stinger said, in a hole that she couldnt get out of. They then proceded to grab her and pick her up with their mouth. Stinger saw all of this happening-I had absolutely NO idea-I was inside cleaning up the kitchen.
Stinger immediately hopped over the fence and grabbed Tink and went over the fence carrying her to safety. Looking back I see how much he cared abt Tink and thought abt HER as he was doing this-WHAT an example of Empathy-eh? Hes a real hero in my book-as well as Tinks Im sure.
So we get her inside and she can barely move and has doggie slobber from the dogs next door all OVER her-poor thing. So we give her a bath and lay her down on some blankets so she is comforteable. I notice when I picked her up taht there was squishy material all along her side where there shouldnt be. Its the absolute worsed feeling it like crinkled and made a squishing crinkling sound under my hand-which I KNOW wasnt right. She is breathing really labored and is barely moving as she is laying there. I try and coax her to eat some tuna and she sniffs it , but wont touch it-THIS is when I start to get REALLY worried as she usually goes ga-ga for tuna. Im having abt a heart attack during this whole thing by the way...
So I call the vet who ask me to check her gums-which are gray and they should be white. She tells me we need to get in to the office as time is of the essence. That she might not make it. So I REALLY start to freak out now and I call Dh.
So I load up the kiddoes and we get to the vet and they take ex-rays and IV and everything. Seams she punctured a lung so she has to be on antibiotics for awhile to get rid of the contaminate that was caused by the puncture of teeth. She has some bruising too and that noise I felt was air thats not supposed to be there.......ack! But they said they didnt have to use a tube-which was a good thing and to watch her and call if her breathing changes or there is more air on her side.
Tonight as I was lifting her to go potty outside I can feel more air now- its under her belly and on her other side too......sigh....So I dont think we are out of the woods yet, but her breathing is okay so we shall see what develops this weekend I guess.....Poor Tink!!!!!!
Ugh-I keep blaming myself knowing I shouldnt have left her outside for so long-she just takes FOREVER going potty-we had even considered selling her-buts shes like my little baby. Dh told me today that we could just see how it goes or we could take her to the vet. So I think right then and there I made the choice she is staying with us no matter what or how hard she is being to potty train. Guess you dont know how close you are to something until you risk loosing it-kwim?
I have to pick her up as shes still not doing so well with stairs to go potty outside. Have to feed her by hand and bring her water right under her head f her to drink. I dont care-Ill do whatever it takes to make sure shes going to be okay.....But I hate picking her up-as I know it hurts and every time I can feel that air squishing. But she is surely but surely doing slowly better-she got up a little this afternoon to go on the back porch for a bit.
So Im crossing all my fingers and toes and saying many prayers. Please if you are reading this send some prayers up for her as well.

The Homeschool Song

Okay-I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this-it had me giggling-Enjoy :) JUST what I needed to hear!

The Homeschool Song

I Will Survive (the first year of homeschooling)
Originally written and produced by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris
Originally performed by Gloria Gaynor
Mercilessly altered with apologies by Natalie Criss
============ ======== ============ ======

First I was afraid
I was petrified.
Kept thinking I could never teach
'Cause I'm not certified.
But we spent so many nights
Reteaching homework that was wrong.
I grew strong,
so now I teach my kids at home!
We study math
and outer space.
I just kept on despite the fear
with a big smile across my face.
I bought a set of Base Ten blocks.
I bought books with answer keys.
My parents think we're nuts,
but they don't even bother me
Come on, let's go walk out the door.
We're on the road now,
'cause we're not home much anymore
My friends would laugh and say we'd be unsocialized.
I heard one mumble
that I'd give up b y July.
Oh no, not I!
I will survive!
As long as I know how to read
I know we'll be alright.
I've got all my life to learn.
I've got energy to burn.
and I'll survive.
I will survive.
It took all the strength I had
not to fall apart.
Decided to attend
a play date at the local park,
and I met oh so many moms
who offered eagerly to help.
They used to cry.
Now they hold their heads up high,
and so do we!
My kids are cool!
They're not those chained up little people
stuck inside at school.
So if you feel like dropping by
and just expect us to be free
you'd better call ahead first
'cause we're probably busy

You Know You Are a Homeschooler If.......

Tooo funny..........

1) you have a yardstick permanently duct-taped between two dining
room chairs (for testing the strength of magnets. . .
taking "soundings" of the ocean floor. . . for creating chimes out
of nails. . . ).

2) you start counting on your thumb instead of your index finger (a
habit developed from constantly fingerstretching words in phonics).

3) You can't start a song without a perky "here we go!"

4) even your first grader starts to say "Mommy, can we log this?"

6) You are reminded of how much you love homeschooling curriculum when you step on one
of those connecting cubes that are thrown about the house.

7) August is like Christmas - waiting for those school books to arrive.

8) Your e-mail box is always full!
(at least mine is)

9) You walk around your house saying "apple, apple, peach, peach"

10) YOU LEARN A LOT MORE THAN YOU EVER DID WHEN YOU WERE A KID IN PS! (I never
heard of a decimeter) LOL!

11) the door to your hall closet is covered with sight words on business
cards.

12) the wall over your kitchen table is corked and covered with a map of
the world, an American flag (for doing the pledge in the morning), a
calendar, and "Weather Bear" who needs to be dressed appropriately every
morning

13)your living room has two messy computer desks in it

14).a child's art projects adorn the places on the living room walls where
Rockwell prints once hung

18) Your child wants to check the mail and you tell him to jog so it can
be counted as P.E.

19) You have your children count their chicken nuggets and then subtract as they
are eaten so you can count it as math.

Kris Ashley

20) you are asked to name the 7 continents, and
you need to do it by singing!



22) your kids start asking if their activities
count for hours

23) you have ever uttered the words "quit
throwing the globe at your baby brother/sister" ROFLOL

24) when your kids start saying...

If I cut my hot dog into little pieces and count them, that's Math.

25) Vinegar, baking soda, and balloons are standard science supplies.

26) Volume is not measured in decibels, but graduated cylinders.

27) Your kids know who George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison,
AND Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and
Sequoia are.

28) You spend hours racking your brain for the perfect storage system,
comparing the advantages of binders over file folders, sorting by day
or week, color coding.
29) Your kids don't get snow days, but they do get "OLS is down" days.

30) Sledding and skateboarding are gym.

31) Literature reading and discussion involve snuggling on the living
room sofa.

32) You have no idea what some of your best friends look like, but you've
seen pictures of their kids.

33) you know that a "newton" is actually a unit of measure in
Science, not a cookie usually prefaced with "fig"

34) you allow your daughter/son to keep insects that you would
normally squash as pets as long as they keep a daily log of the
insects activities, what they eat, etc. so that you can log exta
science hours

36)your almost two-year-old spends her day writing on the white board, playing with math manipulatives, counting money, singing "let's go round and round boom shaka ley lee chichi boom," and "so so mi mi" (with solfege hand signs), scribbling in teacher guides (I hope those don’t have to be returned) and in general, copying everything her older sister does.

37) dividing snacks turns into a math class

38) multiplication facts are done with chicken
nuggets.

39) you want to sing North America instead of
saying it.

40) your 4th grader can answer the SAT-prep questions on that
commercial where the kid is getting quizzed by his folks about salt
("Mom! It's NaCl! That's EASY!")

41) your kids sing songs that nobody has ever heard of before, or have
forgotten years ago!

42) Dad asks "what did you learn today?", and it actually sparks a
very lively discussion at the dinner table, diving into everything
from history and math to art and science. My personal favorite, tells
me they are integrating the information!

45) The words, "Stop eating your protons and neutrons and finish your atom model! " are heard coming from your kitchen. Or, your kid comes home and finds out his brother has eaten all the electrons off his atom model. 46) Your kids ask to do fire drills so they can practice climbing out the window 47) you don't mind that you set off the smoke detector while cooking dinner because it's a good excuse for a fire drill and it's getting close to the end of the month anyway. 48) your children jump up and down in the kitchen chanting "more school, more school" 49) Your child ass 50) you sing "this land is your land" and the words to the songs actually mean something to the kids!

being part of "that yahoo group" is not an insult.

Blogger Class Mates

Okay Im trying to figure out how to add this page to my blog-it looks like alot of fun-so Im TRYING to figure this out-we shall see-eh? ........LOLOL
Okay- I got it! WHOOT! all my assignmenst will be posted under Labels-BCM assignments on the left under the BCM picture :)
Okay now that my brain is fried Im going to bed-LOLOLOL
ugh.......LOLOLOL

Hmmmm.....wondering...(yes,its a bad thing usually...)LOLOLOL

Okay well on alot of my Davis K12 groups people are talking abt going to Washington Online-its another district here in Utah. Not to mention everyone has gotten their supplies and they are all going through them and to tell you the truth Im getting a wee bit jealous. All the Math manipulatives, all the new books....I mean there were def things I hated abt K12, things -outside things like the testing that made it really difficult, but all the costly supplies we just cant afford like we got at K12. I keep having to remind myself that it was mainly computer-which we BOTH hated......ugh......but then comes the festering-wondering if Im doing the right thing. Especially when I hear that Washington Online is set up with an IEP program and the Pennsylvania K12 said you could choose your IEP services outside the school system. The ones on the board seamed to think Washington was set up the same way.
Last year I had aREALLY hard time keeping up with our own ideas of an IEP and keeping with those goals we had set while keeping up with the curriculum, and I tend to wonder if I had some help in this area I could have done it-ex-like Washington is willing to provide.
I just worry that Stinger isn't meating the bare necessitey(sp?)goals and Im going on in a curriculum that is average when I should be focusing on what he is struggling with. He is doing really well on the curriculum-going through each lesson fine, but its like he has missed the basic steps to everything and I wonder how important that is-should I be concerned if he cant add 4+5 unless its on his fingers, yet he can add 3567+8743 down on paper-he gets the harder concepts and can do them-really well too, but not the simpler ones. And its like this in basically all his subjects-kwim? Its things like that and if I had an IEP set up-someone to help me I could work on these things, or do I just go on and on to harder stuff because he can do it?
See-its stuff like this that I feel I need help and guidance on. I dont know what is the right thing to do for Stinger.
Then there are the social things. I have no goals for Stinger and I wonder if I should set up some sort of thing with Mr B etc. Or do we just do what we have been doing? UGH........
Anyway -I was wondering how Washington K12 was set up so I wrote the director-
Hi -------
, My name is --------. I live in --------. My son ------ was enrolled in Davis Online last year. He did really well but we struggled in fitting extra hands on activities and Life Skills that he needs to be sucessful-which were not provided by Davis Online. Also testing accomidations were not available to him which made testing very difficult. I have talked to many people who are switching to Washington now that Davis has decided to omit many K12 subjects. My son --- was in Special Education and had an IEP in the previous years when he attended PS. He will be going into 4th grade this year.
I have many questions abt Washington Online-I am wondering if Washington would be more accomidating to my son so he could benefit more from the program. At this time I have decided to homeschool him on my own as I can fit the curriculum more to his needs than Davis could. I saw on your web sight that you do have a Special Needs program? Davis said that they were not providing Special Services to anyone, and then procceded to write me a letter telling me that they had decided that Davis Online was not --------LRE so they did not have to provide services. I never attended this meeting, but agreed to this as it was the only way my son could be in the K12 program I thought. Is Washington set up this same way, or do you offer services and testing accomidations? If so I would be interested in my son possibly attending Washington Online-as I did not know this before and thought all K12 schools were the same. Davis said that my sons IEP was good for 3 years, so he would still be elligeable for services. I would appreciate ANY info you could give me on these issues. Please email me back or my phone number is:---- I look forward to hearing from you.
This is what I wrote to her. She responded back saying that they were still working on their SPED programs and didnt have all the details to give me at this time. She also stated that she had met with the SPED district leader-but she gave me no info on that meeting?
So Im not sure what to think about that one....LOLOLOL
I guess what Im wondering and worried abt is that Im not organised enough to come up with an IEP and incorporate it into our curriculum. I didnt really think it was necessary so I didnt do it last year, but I did notice throughout the year how certain basic skills and terms are missing with Stinger. PS had this organized a little too well-focusing on his weaknesses wayto much-but they were organised.....LOLOLOL
I dont know.... guess Im festering since school is right ard the corner and worried that Im not going to be up to par so to speak.....sigh......help....LOLOLOLOL

The kids are all sick with the sniffles, coughs, itchy throats and mucus yuck going on. Started with Flamingo after the reunion and now its spreading to the whole clan...as usual....
*knock on wood Im not next*

Yesterday night I had quite a scare. I was upstairs reading until DH came home and I hear a thump outside-kinda sounded like dh coming through the garage door. So I wait a minute to see if its him and I go over to the window to open it up as I can usually tell by the noises coming from the garage if he is home. And I see sitting on our front lawn what looked like a large man, at first I thought it was Dh, but then I hear Dh's car coming down the street and I realise this cant be Dh-so I start rationalizing it thinking its by our water deal thing so maybee a line has broken or something and someone is just here fixing it-sooo stupid-eh? LOLOLOL-yeah thsi is at 1:30 in the morning-You are such a dork Momma Bear! LOLOLOLOL.
But anyway TWO people get up and I realise its complete strangers sitting there on our front lawn. Dh pulls into our driveway and these two individuals high tail it outta there-I guess they thought DH was just a car passing by until it turned-kwim?
Dh came through the garage door and I say" Did you see those two guys?" And he had totally not even seen them. So he goes up and down teh street with a big ol flashlight to se if he can se them-no luck they are long gone. Puddin' is barking this whole time-so I know Im not going crazy-LOLOLOL
So as I calm my heart down-it was feeling like it had skipped SEVERAL beats I realize that sound I heard was probably them coming out of the garage. ACK!!!! So When this registers Im really freaking out. I mean how scary is that?!!! Two guys sitting on your lawn and possibly going through your garage right under your nose at 1: 30 in the morning!
So we call the cops and two cars show up and they comb the street and cant find anyone. Nice-eh? They get a statemnet from em and Dh and them go through the garage and nothing we know of is missing.....
So anyway-Im kind a freaked abt the whole thing and Dh stayed home today and bought a lock for the garage and fixed it to the door so we can lock it now.
THIS is exactly why I,repeat I, need a Rottie again...LOLOLOLOL So if I have anything to say abt it-we will in the NEAR future be getting one!!!!
Living out here is really nice-dark quiet nights, beautiful scenery, but sometimes its a bit too quite-kwim? Especially when something is not quite right......Im sooo thankful Dh came home right when he did....shudder....ugh...
I still cant understand why I was rationalizing it sitting there at the window for so long and didnt let Puddin out sooner-She would have given them a run for their money-but I still would have felt better letting a Rottie run...LOLOLOL

Back Up and Running....

Well our computer/phone has been having "issues" Ive got over a thous. emails to read-yeah.....If youve trie dto call our phone was dead too-I finally recieved a call back from the net people and they said there were some outages and it effected abt 4 others in our area,not soo cool when your phone line is atache dto it-eh? Or is it? LOLOL-I have no idea-but when our puter is down-so is our phone. But everything is on now tonight-So Im just now getting on here to post abt Flamingo BEING HOME!!!!!!!!
Oh .......Its absolute HEAVEN!!!!!!!!
I cant keep my hugs off of her-its soo nice to have that giggle back in our home...LOLOLOL And I look into her room and SHE IS THERE!!!!! LOLOLOLOL How cool is THAT!!!!!:)
Im sooo happy to have her home-I MISSED HER!!!!! When we saw her at the reunion on Saturday I swear she had grown while she was away-LOLOLOLOL
But shes back and ALL is right as rain again......:) :) :)

Qualified To Teach?????

I received this today and it made my eyes tear up-its wonderful to hear this-heck I think I need to hear it at least once EVERY day-LOLOL Especially since Im back at planning our curriculum. I thought I could just vaguely write our topics every day-but looking at it I figured out each and every day has to be planned really well for me to rememebr whta it is I am wanting to do with that subject for that day-something I had handed to me last year...LOLOLOL

"You're not qualified to teach."

Hello? There are a lot of things I'm not "qualified" to do, but I do them anyway. Wait a minute . . . I am qualified in one area . . .

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, I am qualified to hunt wildlife (in season) with a gun. Several years ago I took a hunter's safety test with my son, Dane. I wasn't personally interested in hunting, but I did it just to support him. I passed with a 98%. But trust me--you don't want me to go hunting with you, or even near you for that matter. The license (i.e., qualification) means nothing. Really!

On the flip side, just because someone has a teaching degree doesn't mean they are qualified to teach. I've met teachers who couldn't write or talk their way out of a paper bag, let alone impart truth and knowledge to a child. They were dry, disinterested, oblivious, and unskilled in the most common principles of communication--yet they had degrees. Go figure. A degree does not qualify someone to teach.

God gave me the authority to train my children, and He also gave me the command to do it. Hence, I am qualified. You see, God doesn't command me to do something and then withhold the necessary resources to accomplish His will. I may not be qualified by the government's standards, but I am qualified by God's. What I don't understand today, by His grace, I will learn tomorrow. Since God's wisdom is infinite, all I have to do is 1.) Seek, 2.) Ask, 3.) Knock and sometimes, 4.) Repeat steps 1-3.

One reason the "Are you qualified?" question comes up so often is that people don't understand the difference between being "qualified" and being "called." If you are applying for a job then your chances of being hired for that job will be based upon your qualifications: experience, knowledge, aptitude. This is the case if you are applying for a job.

On the other hand, if you are "called" to a specific task, then the person calling you is already convinced you are capable of doing a good job. You may not think you are ready for it, you may feel ill-equipped, ignorant, or frightened by the magnitude of responsibility--but the one who has asked you to do it is willing to mentor you and enable you so that you will function successfully in the new position. Can you see the difference? Homeschoolers aren't applying for a teaching position--God has called them to it.

After I'd worked as a banker for seven years, a man from a large local business contacted me and asked me to work for him. I questioned his sanity in thinking I could be an asset to the company. He persisted, so I went to work for him. He sent me off for training, worked around my schedule, and offered me bonuses and incentives that amazed me. I worked harder. We became good friends. He trusted me with more responsibility. I couldn't disappoint him. In many ways, our business relationship grew into a ministry. There is a broad difference in being "qualified" for a job you are seeking and being "called" to do a job by someone who can enable you. A "calling" seems to spur more loyalty.

A "calling" also helps you persevere. If I apply for a job--because I think I'll like it or it will pay well--then I won't feel bad at all if I choose to leave it for something better. If, however, the Lord "calls" me to a task, I am more apt to stay when the going gets tough. Why? Because I didn't choose this on my own. It wasn't my bad judgment call. I wasn't misled or deceived. God led me here, and He knew everything that would happen. He knew that, with His help, I could handle it. It's better (and safer) to trust Him than to jump ship. Surely He knows more than I do.

So by the world's standards, I'm not qualified to pastor, preach, write for homeschooling magazines, train horses, shoe horses, build a house and stables, counsel people, organize educational clubs, or teach my own children in my own home. Oh, well. Being unqualified hasn't stopped me yet. Maybe one day I'll run for President.

"You don't have patience."

At times we didn't have it, but like any other virtue, the Lord laid the proper foundation and built His character in us so that the Holy Spirit could bear His righteous fruit of patience in us. If we had waited until we had our act together, we would still be waiting--or else we would have given up.

"You can't afford to buy all that curriculum."

Wow, that is almost a good argument! That is, until you consider the savings you will build up by not buying gym uniforms, band uniforms, brand-name clothes, duplicate items stolen from your children's locker, hundreds of leftover candy bars from those annual, semi-annual, and quarterly fundraisers, and gasoline to get you to all the blessed public events. See, you can afford all kinds of cool curriculum now.

Finances is one of the areas in which the Lord has really surprised me. My income has never been extravagant, yet the Lord has provided for my every need--and more wants than I could mention in one article. I have never had to beg, plead, join a pyramid scheme, play the lottery, or send chain letters to make ends meet. I have given to the Lord's work and to those who had nothing; after which, it seemed the Lord would load me up again.

Curriculum of all sorts has found its way into our home. Everything from music books to science books to Bible study aids. Most of it we purchased ourselves. A bunch was given. On top of all the curriculum we've purchased, we have also been able to afford uniforms, dress clothes for church, outfits for showing horses, sports equipment, and a myriad of other things. Homeschooling did not create a financial burden that crippled us and made us miserable. Actually, it did the opposite. It opened us up to the vast, creative resources of God. And He is still amazing us!

Homeschooling presents a host of challenges, but if God is calling you to the task, then survival and success are possible. Don't let the odds distract you--not even for a minute. Look to Jesus Christ for the inspiration you need to carry out the plan; find strength in His Word each and every day. Those obstacles (which He allows) are not meant to discourage you from doing His will. They are meant to strengthen you as He manifests His awesome grace to overcome them--one by one.

"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." (I Corinthians 1:26-29)

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Timothy Palla is pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in southern Ohio. He and his lovely wife, Jennifer, have five children--Drew, Dane, Aidan, Ethan, and Meghan--and have been homeschooling since 1993.