Today is Thursday so I went to the school to volunteer. As I was sitting in Mrs. Whaylen's class (Caylee's teacher) I was thinking to myself that this seemed like the perfect school situation for my girls for right now. Especially for Caylee. First of all I do not worry about secular influences penetrating into her thoughts too much because I have gotten a strong feeling that she and I are on the same page as our beliefs. We have not had a formal conversation about it because there is always so many other things to discuss. But I have picked up little things here and there. One instance I saw a bag of candy in the back of the class today and asked her if we were going to have a haloween party and she said yes but it won't be celebrating halloween. I like that she puts a stong emphasis on Thanksgiving just like Christian Heratige Academy does. We are planning to put together a play coming up pretty soon.

Caylee is learning so much and Mrs. Whaylen is filling in gaps that she had. Caylee reads great but needs extra work in math. Also when she first started she was probably the slowest person in the class. Their were a few that were close contenders but I think she would have earned that title. In homeschool she was used to going at her own pace and didn't have any incentive to go faster other than Mommy nagging not to mention it made it more difficult to get alot done. Even the timer did not work too well. But now if she does not go fast then she has to work while others are reading books and she has extra homework. It took about 3 or 4 weeks but nowI am proud to say that she can keep up with the class quite well. Part of the reason that she was slow was because I was a bit of a stickler on handwriting (due to my training at CHA). I have noticed that it is not quite as important at Sheppard as I would like it to be, but I can't have everything the way I would like it.

Another reason that I like Caylee's class is that there is more socialization. Some homeschoolers will deny it fiercly to the end. But homeschooling families, unless they live in a neighborhood with a lot of children, tend to get isolated because they are busy doing school at home. Do they still get enough? I would say usually yes. I am not saying that homeschoolers don't get enough, I am jsut saying there is more in a public school setting usually. The reason I am bringing this up is because Caylee spends alot of time with the children in her class. Of course when any group of people spend alot of time together, what happens? Conflict. It is usually the girls. Caylee had one of her friends say they were not friends because Caylee did not obey this girl's orders. She mentioned it too me at home and we had a talk about how girls say things like that to manipulate each other and they don't really mean it. Well, the next day everything was smooth again and Caylee learned a good lesson. Caylee never seemed to have conflict with her other friends in Oklahoma so I think she is having some valuable experiences.

Natalie is doing very well. She knows how to sign all the letters of the alphabet. Her teacher uses it adds is in when they are working on spelling and she uses it as a quiet game whenever needed. Natalie is great at math. We got her report card yesterday and she recieved all A's and one B in reading but I know that will improve with practice.

Oh, My WORD!

This Osage Land Company will not leave me alone. They keep sending me letters saying that they want to buy the oil mineral rights to our old house in Del City. That is not our house anymore but even if it were I would not sell the rights for $13.73. Mind you that is not a monthly or yearly fee. You sell those rights and they are gone. I need to call them and tell them that I am sorry but I just would not want an oil pump in my backyard. What person in their right mind would?

Hey everybody.

Sorry for the long hiatus. Been a bit busy and blogging everything that has happened seemed to be overwhelming. But I am back now hopefully with more regularity.

Things you may have missed are that I moved to Sheppard AFB in Witchta Falls, TX and I have put the girls in public school, bought a new dryer. All very exciting and different.

Moving down here was extremely stressful. Especially in retrospect. You know how when you are going through something you just do it because you have too . Then you look back later and wonder how you did it. But I can't say it was all bad either. We had some excitement and fun in the middle of everything. Asher was able to be with me when the moving company packed and loaded our stuff. It was wonderful to have him there. We stayed with my parents for a week to finish last minute stuff like painting and caulking and spackling.

Then we made the two hour trip down to Sheppard. Asher had a head scratching time with the military housing leasing office because they were insistant that his orders were that he was to spend three days at Sheppard then off to COT (Commissioned Officer Training) in Alabama, and then he was done with his commitment to the Air Force. So therefore he would not be needing a house. Fortunately Asher left before I did so I did not have to wait the whole time 3 or 4 hours he was trying to deal with them. Asher was finally able to contact a higher up at the dental clinic to explain exactly how to read orders.

Asher was able to spend three days with us here getting used to our new house. There is no carpet in most base housing and we had no furniture yet so the girls ran around alot sliding in their socks for fun.

Sunday afternoon Asher left and Monday morning our stuff arrived. It just kept coming and coming. I had hoped that because I was moving into a house with more square footage there would be as much or more storage. No such luck. My eyes kept getting bigger every time the movers brought something in. It got to the point were I just had to say with some things, there is no room for that it is going to stay out side and get donated. I am relating to my newest neighbors who moved in a few weeks ago and are going through the same thing. It is good though. I think as Americans we tend to accumulate more than we need and moving helps one to streamline. I have gotten rid of so much. I think moving next time will be much easier. I think often about how I can make the next move go smoother.

Some of the bright points in the move was when my two friends Tegan and Michelle came to visit me. They came seperately to spread themselves and be a better help. Isn't that sweet? Tegan came first and she was like a locomotive getting boxes unpacked. She had a mission and it was going to get done. I had been able to get most of the kitchen unpacked before she came but my children had just gone through a major life change and Daddy was gone so they needed so much of my attention. Bethany was having the hardest time but they were each acting in their own way so I needed to give them attention to keep family order. So when Tegan arrived we really went to it. I am so grateful to her because she helped me start to feel sane and like this was my house. Fortunately I was able to put the girls in VBS that week so we went shopping and did girly stuff by ourselves for a little while. Then Michelle came and brought peace to the house. She helped me organize some but most of it was just stuff that I had to do so we mostly chatted and ate chocolate. She brought me such sweet fellowship.

Then Tegan and Michelle both surprised me and came back for seperate visits. Those were wonderful also. I felt like they were lifelines back to my old life. I hadn't gotten connected yet to anybody and I had only met one person briefly whom I felt like could be my friend so their visits were just what I needed. When they were here it just felt so natural for both of them to be here. So warm and perfect. I will always cherish their ministry to me. I think that situations like that make a person more aware of meeting the needs of others around them because it was so wonderful to have one's own need met.

Tegan asked me to write my side of this story in my blog. Tegan this is for you.

While Tegan was here the second time she mentioned that she thought she might be pregnant. I internally rolled my eyes because I have heard that same thought from friends so many times. Women are always freaking about this so I didn't pay much attention to it but then she started describing her symptoms. When she told me about the cramps in her lower abdomen I perked up. "You are probably pregnant," I said. Her eyes got real big and she immediately went from trying to convince me that she was pregnant to how she was not pregnant. She kept stopping and saying,"Do you really think I might be pregnant?" I loved that we got to share that moment together. Tegan went out with Caylee to get a pregnancy test and Oreo's during nap time. Tegan came back and did not waste time in taking her test. When she came out she was quite confused about the results of the test. She told me that she thought it might be positive and I agreed that it was. That did not sink in, I could tell. I had to tell her several times and show her on the box in detail how the plus sign matches the positive sign on the box. It was amusing to see my self'-assured friend so discombopulated. After the information finally penetrated there was lots of happy hugs and tears. Then of course she had to call Mike and share. He was overjoyed as expected. The rest of the day was spent in shock calling all of Tegan's relatives to share the good news. It was a happy day and I am so glad I could be there for you Tegan. I love you!

I want to share one last thing. I mentioned earlier that I met a friend briefy and I want to say more about that. After I first got here I was at Wal-Mart by myself (the kids were at the first day of VBS) I was shopping for Tegan's visit, making sure I would be able to make her comfortable. I was looking at something in an aisle when a lady and her adorable daughter walked up (or maybe they were there first, I don't remember that part.) But anyway the daughter was telling her mom about her mean friend that does not share and how nobody wants to be her friend. My heart went out to her and she was so cute that I had to get in on that conversation. The lady was a farmer's wife named Cory Thompson. She lives in Burkburnett. She and I seemed to make an immediate connection so we exchanged numbers. I have never met someone at the store before so it was a little wierd to me but exciting because she seemed like such a sweet and wonderful person. Definitely someone worth pursuing as a friend. I have talked to her a few times in emails and I really think that it was a God thing that we met.

I have so much more to say but it is getting late now so I will continue later.