Out of the Country Trips

For about a year now, we've been collecting miles in hopes of one day making a trip to Scotland. Since it takes A LOT of miles, which takes lots of time to accumulate, I've decided to start saving a small chunk of money toward this trip. It always seems impossible to take a trip out of the country but with a little bit of discipline, it's totally possible. I have no idea how to go about setting the trip up. I've been told that for our first trip, we'd be better off setting up a tour based trip. This way, we get to hit lots of the important points and we can always hit others on a return trip. Anyone have any advice in this area? Also, what about travel insurance ? Do we need it? Is it required?

Have any of you been to Scotland? If so, would you care to share your experiences? I'd love to hear the high points of your trip. It's going to be at least a year before we go....maybe two. I want to really be prepared so I figure I should start this new year by doing the research a little at a time. Your help is greatly appreciated, in case I forget to tell you later :-)

Birthday Fun

What a fun day we had with Caroline on her birthday. Here are various photos of the day.

Caroline got this cute mouse Webkinz from her big sister

Next, we all got to put on these beautiful shoes. The girls got the prettiest ones.

Caroline was a little embarrassed at first. This was her first time bowling.

She got over it and quickly got to work.

Caroline & I took a break, since I was winning :-0

You know your baby is growing up when she starts complaining that you are taking too many pictures of her.

What a blessing this little girl is to her family. She and her big sister bring so much joy into my life. My life would not have been half as fulfilling without them in my life. I am truly blessed that they call me mom.

 

Happy 10th Birthday

Ten years ago today, at 10:55a.m., the sweetest little red-head in the world was born. She wasn't red-headed at first. That beautiful surprise came later. She was cute and tiny. Her head was cone shaped for a little while. She looked like a baby doll. She decided that she wanted to make her entrance into the world the night before....while we had friends over and were playing Tri Bond. It was quite the exciting evening. You see, my water broke while we were playing the game and I wasn't sure what was happening. With my first pregnancy, I was induced so my water had never broken. Anyway, I got up without telling anyone what had happened and went to the bathroom. Of course, I was too embarrassed to come back out and called to hubby to call the doctor. Our friends had recently had a baby and were in no real hurry to leave. In fact, I think they hung around for at least 45 minutes while I stayed holed up in the bathroom :-) They all reassured me that this was normal but I was convinced that if I didn't get to the hospital, the baby was going to be born on the bathroom floor. It seems kind of funny to think about it now because I wasn't even having contractions. Hubby ended up talking to the doctor, who told us to go on to the hospital to get checked out. We arrived there shortly after and found that we were in for a long night. Looking back, I wish I could have just been patient and spent that last night in my own bed.

But this post is not about me. It's about my sweet baby. Caroline was a sweet baby and her big sister was lots of help during the early years. At first Caroline had her days and nights mixed up and it was hard for me to sleep. Couple that with the fact that hubby had the flu the whole week after she was born and couldn't be of much help at all. I was a basket case. Caroline didn't cry much....except when I put her down. I didn't spoil her by holding her. She just liked to scream her head off whenever I laid her down. That lasted for about three months and somehow I managed to survive. As each year passes now, I am reminded of just how precious time is. Babies don't stay little for very long. In fact, these ten years have flown by. I am thankful for my children. I am thankful for the wonderful craziness Caroline brings to my life. She is one of a kind.

In honor of her birthday today, here are ten things about her. There are so many things I could list but these are the ten things that come to mind right away.

1. What they say about red heads is soooo true! Caroline has a fiery personality and I have confidence that NO ONE will ever walk on her.
2. She is turning into a wonderful piano player.
3. She is obsessed with making videos on a digital camera. She does this every single day. She never seems to tire of it.
4. She loves to write letters to friends or to write journal entries.
5. Her favorite thing to eat is macaroni and cheese. Not just any mac 'n' cheese....my MIL's is her fav. She's always quick to tell me that my mac is good....but not as good as her granny's.
6. She is NOT a morning person. Let her sleep until at least 10 each morning and she's good. Otherwise, it takes her a long time to get going.
7. She has an infectious laugh.
8. She loves to eat sour cream by itself. She will dip a spoonful out and go to town. She also really likes cottage cheese (ACK!).
9. She always, always, always says goodnight before she goes to bed. She still gives us hugs and kisses and says the same thing every night before going to bed. It's become a routine of sorts and I love it!
10. She is one of the funniest people I know. She could keep a crowd entertained for hours.

Happy Birthday baby. Mommy loves you.

Christmas Eve 2008

This was our first Christmas without my brother-in-law. I have to admit that I was a little worried about how everyone would handle it. Turns out, I had no need to worry. Everyone did great and while we did miss Mike, we were able to celebrate and miss him in a healthy way. Mike was a very unique person. He had a huge heart and loved people. He knew everybody and I never heard anyone say a bad word about him. He was very charismatic and took everything in stride. He could eat more than anyone I know and never gain an ounce. He loved to play cards or board games. Probably something that everyone knew about him was that he loved the Vols.

We thought about him a lot this Christmas Eve. We celebrated much the same way that we did when he was with us. Here are some of my favorite photos from Christmas Eve:

Caroline and my niece Hannah. They took this one themselves.

Caroline, just before she started to hand out gifts.

My nephew Caleb and his girlfriend Chrystal

Logan trying her best to avoid the camera

Bobo, Mike's dog (my in-laws inherited this dog after Mike's death)

Playing Partini

 

Eating, Eating, and More Eating

Every year it happens. Come Thanksgiving, I'm telling myself that there is no way I'm going to over eat during the holidays. I tell myself I'll drink lots of water or that I'll eat a snack before the big meal. You can guess what happens, can't you? Every time, I get sucked in by the yummy food.....especially dessert. It was no surprise that when I walked into my cousin's house last night, the dessert table was the first one in my path. I think she did that to entice me :-) Laying in front of me were some of my favorite things....pumpkin rolls, peanut butter rolls, big honkin' sugar cookies with two inches of icing on top, etc. You get the picture. Now how in the world was I suppose to control myself? It was all over before I even sat down. Can you say Leptorexin to the rescue? Ok, it isn't that bad yet but I'm telling you, I find it nearly impossible to say no to the dessert table.

I guess I am glad that my family was kind enough to remember the 999 times I mentioned wanting Wii Fit. They got it for me for Christmas and it could not have come at a better time. I know I've put on at least five pounds since Thanksgiving. So, as soon as I get some batteries, I'm gonna fire that baby up and get to work. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

 

Thankful for the Little Things

Back in 1999, when the idea of homeschooling first became a reality for our family, I really felt like there was no way it would last. I didn't feel competent to teach my then first grader. Plus, I had a baby under 1 and, for the first time in a long time, felt lost in my life. I had worked for so many years. Now, suddenly I had two children to care for and a husband who wanted me to be at home....not somewhere else working eight hours a day. It felt like a curse at the time. I had the same attitude that sadly, many mothers have toward their children. "How in the world can I deal with these kids all day long, much less be responsible for their education?" That was the daily burning question in my mind.

Nine years later, I cannot imagine life being any different than it is now. I can't imagine putting my children on a bus and sending them off to public school for most of the day. Sure, there are days when I want to pull my hair out. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that. There are days when we get nothing done besides cleaning up messes (and there are lots of those). There are days when the girls want to sleep late. We have days when they don't want to school at all. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Mom, can't we take the day off from school?" There are many days when we run into problems with math concepts and I think that we will never get through them. There are days when I want to quit. There are days when I wonder why God entrusted me with these two souls to care for. There are days that I am ungrateful because He hasn't given me more.

It never fails though. Days like today come.... days when I look around and see the mess and think, "what's the big deal?" When a friend emails to say that she sure is glad I want to take the rest of the month off from our joint Latin class because we both have lots of holiday obligations to deal with. Days when another friend emails me to tell me that it is complete bedlam at her home and we have ourselves a good laugh. And days when black hand prints all over the wall brings a smile to my face. In comparison to what God sacrificed for me, my problems and complaints are nothing. Less than nothing even.

I am thankful for children. I am especially thankful for my own children. I cherish the privilege of spending every waking hour with them. I am thankful for the wonderful journey of educating them at home. I am thankful for one's ability to read a 900 page book in a day and for her continual complaints of how she will never use Algebra or Biology in her future. I am thankful for the other's musical and creative ability and for going at her own pace when it comes to math. Maybe most importantly, I am thankful that I have black hand prints to wash off of my walls.

Tree Time 2008

Well, we finally got our tree up and decorated last night. We weren't able to get the tree right after Thanksgiving like we normally do because of the stomach bug I had. The girls were finally relieved when I was well enough to go out with them and pick it out. My niece, Hannah, and my in-laws came over to help the girls last night and they did a pretty good job. I didn't even reposition any of their work! In fact, I sat on the couch and drank hot chocolate while they did all the work. My MIL was doing a great job telling them what they needed to fix so I let her do the dirty work!

The tree never seems to look as pretty with the lights on but they did a great job. We tried to do mostly orange and white ornaments this year but Logan couldn't resist putting her favorite ornament in the front so everyone would be sure to see it. Can you guess which one it is? Look for the blue ornament in the front....it's a TN Titans ornament. Her favorite!

The girls had a great time together and enjoyed spending time with their favorite cousin.

After my niece and in-laws left and my girls were in bed, I couldn't help but take a picture of the tree all lit up. It looked so pretty.

In the coming days, I hope to try and share some of our special ornaments. Do you have special ornaments? I'd love to see them! From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Guess Where I'm Going?

Lauren over at Baseballs and Bows is always talking about their wonderful family Disney vacations. Our family has never been but maybe one of these days we'll break down and go. We are planning a weekend getaway though. Jeff and I are taking off to Gatlinburg for the weekend next week. Guess what the best part is? It's a free 3 day 2 night vacation. We don't even have to go listen to anyone talk about timeshares for an hour!

Back in September, we decided to sell our Toyota 4-runner because it was a gas hog. We ended up buying a smaller truck and the dealership threw in this free weekend vacation. That's never happened to us before so it seemed too good to be true...until the gift certificate came in the mail. It didn't take us long to throw our plans together and make reservations. We haven't been in awhile so it'll be nice to go and see all the Christmas lights. I'm hoping to go to the Wild Plum Tea Room that a good friend told me about. I'd never even heard of it. That makes me wonder what else I've missed!

If anyone has suggestions, I'll gladly take them. Tell me about fun things you've done down that way or great places you've eaten. That's my favorite part!