"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19
That's what I have been doing. We were "selected" for 2 boys last week after much talking and emailing between us and case worker. We mailed off our "Life Album" yesterday for the boys. I have been talking and emailing the foster mom. We are waiting on approval of a waver to homeschool. It has been approved at the local level and we are waiting to hear at the state level. Boys are 7 and 10. Case worker is thinking about Christmas or New Years they should be here. I just smile and think I serve an awesome God and His timing is perfect. If He wants them here sooner..... :)
I have to admit we have been close before so many times and gotten all excited and had our dreams dashed by something beyond our control. I try hard to look at it as God closing that door because He has something better in store. I have struggled to not allow me to be excited and plan and dream to much. I may be putting beds in the boys room the night before they are to come!
As we go fwd in adoption we find the bus that we were waiting on to come back from HI isn't coming anytime soon. This company we are/were buying it from sends 2 new buses every 2 years to HI and brings the old ones home to resell. Each time the HI company holds the old buses for a few weeks to make sure the new work well. This year BOTH new buses blew their motors. So they aren't turning loose of the old buses. In fact looking at the web site where we were getting ours. It looks like the two new buses are now for sale! Anyone want a pretty blue 15 passenger bus with a new motor? The motor just happens to be a Ford 6.0 which seems to not be Ford's best design. As we look for a different bus we are finding LOTS of 6.0's and gas and not many others, none that are 4x4. So again we have to trust God and KNOW His plan is better and He will lead us to what He has for us.
In other news Thanksgiving plans are in full swing. We sent off the first round of invitations yesterday. I know we will hand out more and think of others we want to invite and I have some I need to email invitations too since I don't have addresses, but do have email. This is DS#2's year to go to DIL's families. So we will miss them. I haven't printed off my shopping list yet or my early to do list. I do need to make cornbread and biscuits to freeze. If I make and don't freeze I have to beat children off with a big stick and then have none left to freeze.
We are blessedly green! God is so blessing us with lots of wonderful rain. That leaves our road a total disaster! I keep thinking maybe we could do without a 4x4 bus, then think about getting out WITH 4wd on occasion, like yesterday morning! I am thankful for the rain, don't fuss about the mud or the road. We are blessed!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wet Rainy Monday!
God is yet again blessing us with rain! We haven't gotten much, but it was a tad slick going to pick up grandson at the hwy. I think his mom will be able to come get him this afternoon. Unless it decides to rain hard between now and then.
Kids are busy at school. Two had test this morning. I gave them until grandson woke up to study. They must not have done a lot of studying since both "missed" the test. Meaning they made less than 80 on it and will be redoing that section of school work. Mom is so mean! It does help them learn though. S admitted that she was in over her head with school trying to get a year done in 3 months. Just to much and to hard to learn it that fast. She agreed to allow me to give her an extra month to do it. If that is to much then we will add a little more time. Even doing 3 years worth in 1 is a lot.
Grand Boys are busy playing in and out of the play pen. Tiger is outside giving kisses and mimicking K who is in play pen jail. For now he is happy in jail with all business around his jail. This morning I peeled an apple for K. He loved scraping apple off with those two teeth he has. Great entertainment for him. After that I even got him to take a nice nap. He is having teething issues and last week his idea of a nap was 30 minutes. Maybe this week that will go better too.
I really want to get my granddaughters socks made by this evening so I can give them to her. Yet hear I set. She told her aunt that she was sure the next pair I made would be for her. I had made both grand boys socks so as soon as I got a loom the right size I started on her a pair. I am using three skeins of variegated yarn all with pinks and purples and light blues in it. Should work well for her. It really doesn't take long to make a pair. It is just getting started. I have about an inch done.
Since I am working on the lap top in the school room I don't have pictures to add. I will try and add some later.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Kids are busy at school. Two had test this morning. I gave them until grandson woke up to study. They must not have done a lot of studying since both "missed" the test. Meaning they made less than 80 on it and will be redoing that section of school work. Mom is so mean! It does help them learn though. S admitted that she was in over her head with school trying to get a year done in 3 months. Just to much and to hard to learn it that fast. She agreed to allow me to give her an extra month to do it. If that is to much then we will add a little more time. Even doing 3 years worth in 1 is a lot.
Grand Boys are busy playing in and out of the play pen. Tiger is outside giving kisses and mimicking K who is in play pen jail. For now he is happy in jail with all business around his jail. This morning I peeled an apple for K. He loved scraping apple off with those two teeth he has. Great entertainment for him. After that I even got him to take a nice nap. He is having teething issues and last week his idea of a nap was 30 minutes. Maybe this week that will go better too.
I really want to get my granddaughters socks made by this evening so I can give them to her. Yet hear I set. She told her aunt that she was sure the next pair I made would be for her. I had made both grand boys socks so as soon as I got a loom the right size I started on her a pair. I am using three skeins of variegated yarn all with pinks and purples and light blues in it. Should work well for her. It really doesn't take long to make a pair. It is just getting started. I have about an inch done.
Since I am working on the lap top in the school room I don't have pictures to add. I will try and add some later.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Friday, October 23, 2009
We survived, I guess..
Again CPS called to postpone their visit. This time nice went OUT the window. I lost it! I hate losing it. I became a mad blubbering idiot. Instead of trying to explain why I was mad and let mouth overload judgment I did choose a better path. I started changing, "You need to talk to dh!" . Each time she would try to explain why she wasn't coming out she got about 3 words out and I interrupted with, "You need to talk to DH!" Then she changed tactics and so agreed to come get it done. But, by then I really didn't care if she EVER came out. She still got the same answer, "You need to talk to DH!" I was NOT going there. I bet I told her 10 times before she finally just ask for his phone number. By then I was so upset I gave her my son's instead :) so she had to get it from him. Oh well! After she called DH and he explained that we had put our life on hold for three days only to again have her change plans and he could tell her exactly what happened and why I was mad. She sweetly agreed to come do the home study. I did manage to cool off enough to be nice. She did manage to call me from the hwy for me to come get her. Good thing too since the road was rather deep and slick in places :).
I have no idea if we "passed". She didn't say we didn't. She left here talking about how well my children communicate and how large their vocabulary is. She was also talking about kids so we will see if we get an email today saying we need to do this and that to "pass". I doubt she would tell me anything negative yesterday since she didn't have her car or her other worker for safety. She ask them how many siblings they wanted. This was in private. :) MN said oh no more than 20. S said what ever God brings. The other two didn't care. Later we were talking and both T and MN pointed out they wanted to be like the Duggers. I didn't say much. I answered questions was nice and basically told her the same thing S did, that how ever many God wanted us to have. We ARE working on a 15 passenger bus so ......
Not a lot else going on. I am off to do produce today. Not sure I remember how. I also get to go by the IGA grocery store. I seldom go there but they have a few things that the big stores don't carry that we use like Grandma's molasses in BIG jars. Besides it is much faster than shopping the super centers and has all the basics.
I have no idea if we "passed". She didn't say we didn't. She left here talking about how well my children communicate and how large their vocabulary is. She was also talking about kids so we will see if we get an email today saying we need to do this and that to "pass". I doubt she would tell me anything negative yesterday since she didn't have her car or her other worker for safety. She ask them how many siblings they wanted. This was in private. :) MN said oh no more than 20. S said what ever God brings. The other two didn't care. Later we were talking and both T and MN pointed out they wanted to be like the Duggers. I didn't say much. I answered questions was nice and basically told her the same thing S did, that how ever many God wanted us to have. We ARE working on a 15 passenger bus so ......
Not a lot else going on. I am off to do produce today. Not sure I remember how. I also get to go by the IGA grocery store. I seldom go there but they have a few things that the big stores don't carry that we use like Grandma's molasses in BIG jars. Besides it is much faster than shopping the super centers and has all the basics.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday of "New Normal"
As I was making laundry soap for my dil this morning I though how blessed and different our life is. If someone had ask "What have you done today?" My answer would have been:
I started my day with some time with my Heavenly Father in His Word. After that I chatted on the net a while then it was time to milk cows. So I milked 3 cows. S has learned to put milk up and clean the milker. It is such a big help. She put the milk up while I had one more cup of coffee and visited on the net a few minutes. By then big kids and babies were over. Son doesn't want dil to stay alone for a few days and he had to go to work. DIL and I visited as she gave baby K a sun bath in the school room. The bay window is wonderful for that! After that mommy and baby went for a nap. I made a batch of laundry soap for DIL. We are now busy taking test as I "watch" 2 yo grandson. He is busy helping kids with school and playing with all his toys. I don't think he has even noticed his mama is napping. I know he doesn't know he is being "watched". Wow it isn't quite 11 am even! Productive day!
We are waiting for our CPS visit. I don't think I shared that they again cancelled yesterday. I explained again that if it was raining or had rained I needed to meet them at the hwy. She calmly said maybe it will be through raining by tomorrow. I tried to explain it would take several days or longer for it to dry out enough for a car to come if we get much rain. I do not think she got it. We did get 1/2 inch last night. It fell very slow and doesn't look wet, but is slick and sticky when you walk. I wonder if she will call? Remember what our road looked like last week? Oh well! I am not reminding them. She assured me they would be out "after lunch" which means?
When it is dry cars can straddle the ruts and come out. When it is muddy you must stay in the ruts are you will just flat STAY. The ruts are quite deep. So a small or even medium size something will drag bottom or high center.
Tomorrow is produce. I will even go get it. DIL usually goes, but seems she doesn't want to tomorrow. :) Her dh will be home. If he ends up having to work I will leave a big kid and offer to take a short kid. He likes to "help" with produce too. He might even snack on a few grapes or strawberries if the chance arises.
I started my day with some time with my Heavenly Father in His Word. After that I chatted on the net a while then it was time to milk cows. So I milked 3 cows. S has learned to put milk up and clean the milker. It is such a big help. She put the milk up while I had one more cup of coffee and visited on the net a few minutes. By then big kids and babies were over. Son doesn't want dil to stay alone for a few days and he had to go to work. DIL and I visited as she gave baby K a sun bath in the school room. The bay window is wonderful for that! After that mommy and baby went for a nap. I made a batch of laundry soap for DIL. We are now busy taking test as I "watch" 2 yo grandson. He is busy helping kids with school and playing with all his toys. I don't think he has even noticed his mama is napping. I know he doesn't know he is being "watched". Wow it isn't quite 11 am even! Productive day!
We are waiting for our CPS visit. I don't think I shared that they again cancelled yesterday. I explained again that if it was raining or had rained I needed to meet them at the hwy. She calmly said maybe it will be through raining by tomorrow. I tried to explain it would take several days or longer for it to dry out enough for a car to come if we get much rain. I do not think she got it. We did get 1/2 inch last night. It fell very slow and doesn't look wet, but is slick and sticky when you walk. I wonder if she will call? Remember what our road looked like last week? Oh well! I am not reminding them. She assured me they would be out "after lunch" which means?
When it is dry cars can straddle the ruts and come out. When it is muddy you must stay in the ruts are you will just flat STAY. The ruts are quite deep. So a small or even medium size something will drag bottom or high center.
Tomorrow is produce. I will even go get it. DIL usually goes, but seems she doesn't want to tomorrow. :) Her dh will be home. If he ends up having to work I will leave a big kid and offer to take a short kid. He likes to "help" with produce too. He might even snack on a few grapes or strawberries if the chance arises.
I better figure out what we are having for lunch. S is making enchilada casserole for supper. We shared one out of the freezer so I want to replace it and it sounds good for supper.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
New baby!
11:48, on Cow granny's birthday by the skin of her chinny chin chin! Without daddy! Mommy did wonderful! Birth is always awesome! She has a full head of hair, full as in LOTS of LONG hair. She weigh in at 7lbs and either1/2 or 1 oz. Even mommy said she came fast!
All three of my girls were invited over to watch. Two watched one needed more space. She couldn't handle mommy in that much pain. Big brother slept through it all at our house. He is still napping away this morning.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Labor........... Maybe!
Cowgranny just called and contractions are hard and regular so maybe this is it. Midwife is on her way. Specific prayer request: Midwife has 90 miles to drive. Pray for her safety and timely arrival. That labor is easy and productive. DIL's dh is working and has to finish the job so just peace for both of them if he isn't here like he wants to be. I really don't want her to labor all night so he can be here!
"Normal" Morning ? !?! Only at our house!
As we were working on breakfast a child said, "PEACOCK!!!" While looking toward the school room/garage. Sure enough not one but TWO pea brains had came in through a door that the wind blew open. After a picture or two I shooed them out. Not even a mess! that I have found.
Other news: DIL was having contractions strong and regular all day yesterday. Not strong enough to call the midwife but enough to know things were happening. Today is the other grandmothers birthday so maybe cowgranny will get a new little grandbaby as a birthday present. DIL is 4 days past due date I think. Cowgranny updated me this morning about 7 with the news that there was no news. DIL was still sleeping so she isn't in hard labor. Beyond that ?????? They haven't been over yet today so not sure if she is nesting or cowgranny has her walking. Yesterday she didn't have time to walk for nesting. :)
One more cute picture! Feeding the chicks! Not sure one of them may have snacked on a finger as I snapped this picture! The chicks are big beggers and love bugs and grass out of your hand. If your hand goes in without food well....... :)
As I was coming back with the camera I thought this to good not to share. MJ who is 13, took over putting muffin batter in the pans while I photographed peafowl.
Then along came MN toting the grand baby. She had to snag a bite of the muffin dough. As I took these pictures I thought how much better prepared they will be for adult hood because of being allowed and encouraged to "mother" the babies around and also being taught to put food on the table male or female!
Other news: DIL was having contractions strong and regular all day yesterday. Not strong enough to call the midwife but enough to know things were happening. Today is the other grandmothers birthday so maybe cowgranny will get a new little grandbaby as a birthday present. DIL is 4 days past due date I think. Cowgranny updated me this morning about 7 with the news that there was no news. DIL was still sleeping so she isn't in hard labor. Beyond that ?????? They haven't been over yet today so not sure if she is nesting or cowgranny has her walking. Yesterday she didn't have time to walk for nesting. :)
One more cute picture! Feeding the chicks! Not sure one of them may have snacked on a finger as I snapped this picture! The chicks are big beggers and love bugs and grass out of your hand. If your hand goes in without food well....... :)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday Afternoon
Not a lot going on. Kids are each doing their own thing or things for me! :) MN and S went to scatter salt blocks for me. MN is driving. MJ is building us a new cage. We seem to have acquired some chicks and a guinea. Really we acquired the guinea on Thursday morning. It was maybe a week old. Have no clue why it was all alone and cheeping to the top of it's lungs. Kids beat the cats and dogs to it so we had ONE bird. One bird doesn't do well. I decided to add a few chicks to keep it happy, and maybe alive. We bought 6 chicks on Friday. Two Rhode Island Reds, 2 Buff Orpingtons, and 2 Araucana,(color egged). They are all hens. Kids can't believe how gentle they already are. I can see these full grown hens perched on the windows begging to come in and do school!
This week is shaping up to be busy. Tomorrow (Monday) we keep grandson. Then Tue. we have a home study update. No matter how many times we get CPS workers out it still makes me uncomfortable. Please pray that we all feel peace and that it goes smoothly and easy. Then Wed. is again grand baby day. :) Not sure what we will do on Thursday. Friday is our normal produce run. DIL usually does that but she has to sooner or later have a baby! Maybe by then! Hey maybe that is what we will be doing on Thursday!
Here or some quick pictures I took this afternoon of our lazy day.
Dad and MJ working on a cage.
Dad and Grizzle, the male "puppy".
Snowball doing what guardian dogs should be doing... laying with the stock. Isn't she white!?
Lots of concentration in backing up and not running over anything.
Off to scatter salt blocks for mom!
Chicks in the poor man brooder.
Poor man brooder! Hey it works!
That's All Folks!
This week is shaping up to be busy. Tomorrow (Monday) we keep grandson. Then Tue. we have a home study update. No matter how many times we get CPS workers out it still makes me uncomfortable. Please pray that we all feel peace and that it goes smoothly and easy. Then Wed. is again grand baby day. :) Not sure what we will do on Thursday. Friday is our normal produce run. DIL usually does that but she has to sooner or later have a baby! Maybe by then! Hey maybe that is what we will be doing on Thursday!
Here or some quick pictures I took this afternoon of our lazy day.
Dad and MJ working on a cage.
Dad and Grizzle, the male "puppy".
Snowball doing what guardian dogs should be doing... laying with the stock. Isn't she white!?
Lots of concentration in backing up and not running over anything.
Off to scatter salt blocks for mom!
Chicks in the poor man brooder.
Poor man brooder! Hey it works!
That's All Folks!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Just rambling
Life is good! Life is BUSY! I don't seem to find time to post often. We were blessed with some wonderful rain early on in the week. It left our road ............ interesting. First DS got stuck. He can no longer brag about never getting stuck where he couldn't get himself out. Then DIL's brother decided to bury my truck in the mud. He does get the prize for doing it best/worst.
They took the tractor up there to pull him out that evening! The good news was he stuck it out of the lane of traffic so I could still go get grandson and take him back that evening.
Our road from the last gate. I went up the hill in the background sideways from bar-ditch to bar-ditch Monday! I made it to the top by the grace of God and LOTS of prayers.
My truck didn't rise to the challenge as well!
They took the tractor up there to pull him out that evening! The good news was he stuck it out of the lane of traffic so I could still go get grandson and take him back that evening.
Believe it or not this small ocean isn't a problem as long as you have a LARGE vehicle that doesn't drag. It has a solid bottom about 8 -12 inches down, as you can see by the ruts.
Kids are working hard at school. We do believe in starting them early in school! Grandson is happily working at his computer. We won't tell him it has no batteries and the mouse he has is a dead mouse that is one of his favorite toys.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Knifty Knitter
I found a new QUICK pattern that even I can understand... socks! I started these yesterday afternoon, now I am wearing them. They required knowing ONE stitch... I think I know 2! They did require some counting, but I have learned to count to 19! It took THREE threads to make them. This uses the blue loom.
Yesterday T wanted to make something. I suggested a scarf. This is using the blue loom. She used one thread and skipped every other peg. It is hard to see how long it is, but it is longer than she is tall! She was thrilled with it and now wants to make a shawl the same way. I want her to so I can see what it would look like! I know my next big project is going to be a shawl, I just haven't found an easy enough pattern that I really like to make it.
Yesterday T wanted to make something. I suggested a scarf. This is using the blue loom. She used one thread and skipped every other peg. It is hard to see how long it is, but it is longer than she is tall! She was thrilled with it and now wants to make a shawl the same way. I want her to so I can see what it would look like! I know my next big project is going to be a shawl, I just haven't found an easy enough pattern that I really like to make it.
I also discovered an easier way to handle the yarn. I saw it on a video I was watching. Take a straw or other small "pipe" where it is about 2 inches long. I started with a straw then graduated up to a air conditioner hose I think it is 1/4 inch hose. Either one will work the stiffer hose works a little better. Thread your yarn through the hose. Then start your project. Use the hose as a pointer to wrap between the post. This also keeps the thread looser as the yarn just flows through the pipe and isn't pulled tight. Just hold the pipe and swish it between the pegs and keep moving. I used a piece of jewelry wire for a long needle threader to thread my pipe. just double the wire, making sure it is longer than your pipe. Put your pipe on the wire, with the doubled end of the wire out. Thread your yarn through the wire, pull the wire through the pipe and you have it done.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
A day in the life of..... US!
Most days someone starts their day with a smoothie. Today the smoothie just happened to match the color of his hat!
Hard work leads to hard napping. I just couldn't resist snapping a picture.
Home schooling from a young age!
Tortilla making! Lots of helping hands make light work of it.
Then we roll them out!
Talented! One handed while we enjoy a glass of milk with the other hand.
Hard work leads to hard napping. I just couldn't resist snapping a picture.
Home schooling from a young age!
Tortilla making! Lots of helping hands make light work of it.
Then we roll them out!
Talented! One handed while we enjoy a glass of milk with the other hand.
Famous People that were Homeschooled.......
http://takeyourkidsoutofpublicschool.com/2009/05/famous-people-who-were-homeschooled/
Homeschooling is a modern term but it is a form of education that has been around for centuries. In fact, most children were taught at home until the push for public schools began in the 1830s-1840s. If you look at references to education before there was a public school system, you will see phrases such as “tutored at home,” “self-taught,” or “no formal education,” referring to individuals we might now call homeschooled.
My goal is to be as thorough and as accurate as possible. I would like to clarify that not everyone on the following list was homeschooled exclusively, but homeschooling was definitely a significant factor in their education at one time or another.Famous People Who Were Homeschooled
Constitutional Convention Delegates
Richard Basseti – Governor of Delaware
William Blount – U.S. Senator
George Clymer – U.S. Representative
William Few – U.S. Senator
Benjamin Franklin – Inventor and Statesman
Alexander Hamilton – Lawyer and Economist
William Houston – Lawyer
William S. Johnson – Columbia College President
William Livingston – Governor of New Jersey
James Madison – 4th President of the U.S.
George Mason – Justice of Virginia County Court
John Francis Mercer – U.S. Representative
Charles Pickney III – Governor of S. Carolina
John Rutledge – Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court
Richard D. Spaight – Governor of North Carolina
George Washington – 1st President of the U.S.
John Witherspoon – President of Princeton
George Wythe – Justice of Virginia High Court
Presidents
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Grover Cleveland
Jefferson Davis (the only president of the short-lived Confederate States of America)
James Garfield
William Henry Harrison
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
James Madison
James Polk
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
John Tyler
George Washington
Woodrow Wilson
Statesmen
Henry Fountain Ashurst
William Jennings Bryan
Winston Churchill
Henry Clay
John Dickinson
Pierre du Pont
Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry
William Penn
Daniel Webster
Military Officers
John Barry – Senior Navy Officer
George Rogers Clark – Revolutionary War hero
Nathanael Greene – Revolutionary War hero
Nathan Hale – Revolutionary War hero
Stonewall Jackson – Civil War General
John Paul Jones – Father of the American Navy
Robert E. Lee – Civil War General
Douglas MacArthur – U.S. General
George Patton – U.S. General
Matthew Perry – U.S. Naval Officer
John Pershing – U.S. General
David Dixon Porter – Civil War Admiral
Joseph Bradley Varnum – Revolutionary War hero
U.S. Supreme Court Judges
Charles Evans Hughes
John Jay
John Marshall
John Rutledge
Sandra Day O’Connor
Religious Leaders
Joan of Arc
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
William Carey
Jonathan Edwards
Philipp Melancthon
Dwight L. Moody
John Newton
John Owen
Hudson Taylor
John & Charles Wesley
Brigham Young
Explorers
William Clark – Lewis & Clark Expedition
Meriwether Lewis – Lewis & Clark Expedition
John Wesley Powell – Colorado River Expedition
Sir Ernest Shackleton – Antarctic Expedition
Scientists
Wilson A. Bentley – “The Snowflake Man”
George Washington Carver – agricultural research
Pierre Curie – discovered radium
Albert Einstein – theoretical physicist
Paul Erdos – Hungarian mathematician
Michael Faraday – electrochemist
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes – French physicist
Oliver Heaviside – electromagnetism researcher
T.H. Huxley – biologist, zoologist, Darwinist
Ruth Lawrence – mathematician
Gilbert Newton Lewis – physical chemist
Ada Lovelace – founder of scientific computing
Benoit Mandelbrot – pioneer in fractal geometry
Blaise Pascal – French mathematician
Joseph Priestley – father of modern chemistry
Samuel C. C. Ting – Chinese American physicist
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky – Russian rocket scientist
Inventors
Alexander Graham Bell – invented the telephone
John Moses Browning – firearms inventor/designer
Peter Cooper – built the first modern skyscraper, the first commercial locomotive, and patented the first gelatin dessert which was later named Jell-O
Thomas Edison – invented the stock ticker, mimeograph, phonograph, and electric light bulb
Benjamin Franklin – invented the lightning rod
Elias Howe – invented sewing machine
William Lear – airplane creator
Cyrus McCormick – invented grain reaper
Guglielmo Marconi – developed radio
Eli Whitney – invented the cotton gin
Sir Frank Whittle – invented turbo jet engine
Orville and Wilbur Wright – brothers who built the first successful airplane
Artists
William Blake – painter, engraver, poet
John Singleton Copley – American Colonial painter
Evelyn De Morgan – Pre-Raphaelite painter
Christian Grew – American Painter
Donal Hord – San Diego sculptor
Akiane Kramarik- 10-year-old art and poetry prodigy
Claude Monet – French Impressionist
Grandma Moses – American folk artist
Charles Willson Peale – American portrait artist
Lu Pinchang – ceramic sculptor
Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist, sculptor
Andrew Wyeth – American realist painter
Jamie Wyeth – American realist painter
Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach – Baroque
Irving Berlin – Patriotic
Anton Bruckner – Symphonies
Noel Coward – Musicals
Felix Mendelssohn – Romantic
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical
John Porcaro – Experimental
Francis Poulenc – Choral
John Philip Sousa – “March King”
Writers
Louisa May Alcott – author of Little Women
Hans Christian Anderson – fairy tale writer
Margaret Atwood – Canadian novelist, poet
Fawn M. Brodie – biographer
Pearl S. Buck – Nobel prize-winning author
William F. Buckley, Jr. – conservative writer
Willa Cather – American novelist
Agatha Christie – mystery author
Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain
Charles Dickens – British novelist
Robert Frost – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
Charlotte Perkins Gilman – early feminist writer
Alex Haley – African-American novelist
Sharlot Hall – poet, writer, Arizona historian
Joshua Harris- pastor and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye
Bret Harte – frontier California journalist
L. Ron Hubbard – science fiction writer
Helen Keller – blind and deaf author and lecturer
Rose Wilder Lane – journalist, ghostwriter, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder
C.S. Lewis – Christian writer and apologist
Amy Lowell – Modernist poet
Gabriela Mistral – Nobel-prize winning Latin American poet
Sean O’Casey – Irish author
Thomas Paine – political writer during the American Revolution, author of Common Sense
Christopher Paolini – teen author of Eragon
Isabel Paterson – conservative political author
Beatrix Potter – author of Peter Rabbit Tales
Jedediah Purdy – author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today
Kenneth Rexroth – poet, translator, critical essayist
Carl Sandburg – American poet
George Bernard Shaw – Irish-born playwright
Mattie J. T. Stepanek – 11-year-old author of Heartsongs
Rosemary Sutcliff – historical novels for children
Rabindranath Tagore – Bengali poet, essayist, dramatist, songwriter
Leo Tolstoy – Russian writer
Mercy Warren – American Revolution eyewitness
Phillis Wheatley – African-American poet
Walt Whitman – American poet
Laura Ingalls Wilder – children’s book author
Virginia Woolf – English novelist
Educators
Amos Bronson Alcott – innovative teacher, father of Louisa May Alcott
Catharine Beecher – co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary
Jill Ker Conway – first woman president of Smith College
Erik Demaine – associate professor of Computer Science at MIT
Timothy Dwight – President of Yale University
William Samuel Johnson – President of Columbia College
Horace Mann – “Father of the American Common School”
Charlotte Mason – Founder of Charlotte Mason College of Education
Joyce Reed – Associate Dean of the College, Brown University
Fred Terman – President of Stanford University
Frank Vandiver – President of Texas A&M University
Booker T. Washington – teacher and founder of Tuskegee Institute
Noah Webster – “Father of American Christian Education”
John Witherspoon – President of Princeton University
Medical Practitioners
Clara Barton – started the Red Cross
Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman in the U.S. to receive a medical degree
Florence Nightingale – Nurse
Susan La Flesche Picotte – first American Indian woman physician
Albert Schweitzer – Physician
Mary Walker – Civil War physician; recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
Business Entrepreneurs
Andrew Carnegie – wealthy steel industrialist
Amadeo Giannini – Bank of America’s founder
Horace Greeley – New York Tribune founder
Soichiro Honda – creator of the Honda automobile company
Peter Kindersley – book illustrator and publisher
Ray Kroc – founder of McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain
Jimmy Lai – newspaper publisher; founder of Giordano International
Dr. Orison Swett Marden – founder, Success magazine
Adolph Ochs – New York Times founder
Joseph Pulitzer – newspaper publisher; established Pulitzer Prize
Colonel Harland Sanders – started Kentucky Fried Chicken
Dave Thomas – founder of the Wendy’s restaurant chain
Performing Artists (Actors and Musicians)
Alan Alda – actor, screenwriter, producer
Louis Armstrong – king of jazz
BarlowGirl – Lauren, Alyssa, and Rebecca Barlow
Spencer Breslin – actor
Chris Brown – R&B singer, dancer, actor
The 5 Browns – five siblings who play classical music on five grand pianos
Aaron Carter – Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter
Charlie Chaplin – actor
Cherryholmes – Bluegrass family band
Erika Christensen – actress
Hilary Duff – actress, singer
Dakota Fanning – actress
Whoopi Goldberg – actress
Alexander Gould – actor, voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo
Hilary Hahn – classical violin virtuoso
Hanson – sibling singing group
Toby Hemingway – British actor known for his role as Reid Garwin in “The Covenant”
Jennifer Love Hewitt – actress
Hume brothers – Jon, Peter, and Dann of the Evermore alternative rock band from New Zealand
Tiffany Jo – Arizona yodeling star
Jonas Brothers – Kevin, Joe, and Nick
Nicole Jung – member of Korean girl group KARA
Josh Layne – harp musician
Lindsay Lohan – actress and singer
Scott MacIntyre – visually impaired pianist
Pat McMahon – television personality
Jena Malone – actress
Yehudi Menuhin – child prodigy violinist
Alyson “Aly” Michalka and Amanda Joy “AJ” Michalka – sister singing duo and actresses
Moffatts – Canadian version of Hanson
Trevor Morgan – American actor
Frankie Muniz – actor
Hayden Panettiere – actress best known for her role as Claire Bennet in Heroes and in “Remember the Titans”
Adam Paskowitz – lead singer, The Flys
LeAnne Rimes – teen-prodigy country music star
Rebecca St. James – contemporary Christian recording artist
Lindsey Shaw – actress known for her role as Jennifer Mosely on “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”
Jordin Sparks – singer, actress, model and American Idol winner
Kristen Stewart – actress
Jeremy Sumpter – actor
Raven Symone – actress and singer best known for her role on “That’s So Raven”
Maria von Trapp – one of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the third child of Captain von Trapp
Sofia Vassilieva – actress
Kaitlyn Weaver – ice dancer
Devon Werkheiser – actor known for the role Ned Bigby on “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”
Elijah Wood – actor best known as Frodo in the The Lord of the Rings
Evan Rachel Wood – actress
Athletes
Mike Beasley – basketball player
Tanith Belbin – figure skating champion
David Boudia – Olympic diver
Chad Compton – surfer
Alexa Glatch – tennis player
Katie Hoff – Olympic swimmer
Madison and Keiffer Hubbell – sibling ice dancers
Todd Lodwick – U.S. ski team member
Tamara McKinney – World Cup skier
Bode Miller – American alpine skier
Asia Muhammed – tennis player
Carly Patterson – Olympic gymnast
Ariel Rittenhouse – Olympic diver
Maria Sharapova – tennis player
Shayna Syken – figure skater
Jason Taylor – NFL football player
Timothy “Tim” Tebow – football player, Heisman Trophy winner
Sam Warren – basketball player
Venus and Serena Williams – tennis star sisters
Others
Abigail Adams – wife of John Adams; mother of John Quincy Adams
Ansel Adams – photographer
Susan B. Anthony – women’s rights leader
John James Audubon – ornithologist and artist
Alyssa Buecker – director, Milbo Productions
John Burroughs – naturalist
Jennie Chancey – historical costumer
Davy Crockett – frontiersman
Edward Curtis – photographer
Robin Lee Graham – youngest person to sail around the world at age 16
Alex and Brett Harris – twin teen writers and conference speakers for “The Rebelution,” a Christian ministry/youth organization
Eric Hoffer – social philosopher
Sam Houston – lawyer; first leader of Texas
Abraham Kuyper – Dutch politician, journalist
Mary Leakey – fossil hunter
Charles Fletcher Lummis – journalist, historian, photographer, founder of the Southwest Society
Harriet Martineau – first woman sociologist
Margaret Mead – cultural anthropologist
John Stuart Mill – free-market Economist
Charles Louis Montesquieu – philosopher
John Muir – naturalist
Raymond Parks – Civil Rights activist, husband of Rosa Parks
Sofia, Susan, and Judit Polgar – chess masters
Bill Ridell – Newspaperman
Will Rogers – Humorist
Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Bertrand Russell – Logician
Drew Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, director of Jim Ryun Running Camp
Ned Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, president of American Majority
Deborah Sampson – female soldier in the American Revolution
Emerson Spartz – 12-year-old internet entrepreneur (MuggleNet)
Herbert Spencer – philosopher, sociologist
Gloria Steinem – founder of Ms. magazine
Timmy Teepell – chief of staff for Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Lester Frank Ward – Father of American Sociology
Martha Washington – wife of George Washington
Frances E. C. Willard – educator, temperance leader, and suffragist
Frank Lloyd Wright – architect
John Lloyd Wright – architect, toy designer, inventor of Lincoln Logs
Sho Yano – gifted child prodigy
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman – Jewish scholar
This list was compiled by Compiled by Teri Ann Berg Olsen, author of “Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom”http://www.knowledgehouse.info
Also a very good links to show that homeschooling does work.
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001/HomeSchoolAchievement.pdf
Homeschooling is a modern term but it is a form of education that has been around for centuries. In fact, most children were taught at home until the push for public schools began in the 1830s-1840s. If you look at references to education before there was a public school system, you will see phrases such as “tutored at home,” “self-taught,” or “no formal education,” referring to individuals we might now call homeschooled.
My goal is to be as thorough and as accurate as possible. I would like to clarify that not everyone on the following list was homeschooled exclusively, but homeschooling was definitely a significant factor in their education at one time or another.Famous People Who Were Homeschooled
Constitutional Convention Delegates
Richard Basseti – Governor of Delaware
William Blount – U.S. Senator
George Clymer – U.S. Representative
William Few – U.S. Senator
Benjamin Franklin – Inventor and Statesman
Alexander Hamilton – Lawyer and Economist
William Houston – Lawyer
William S. Johnson – Columbia College President
William Livingston – Governor of New Jersey
James Madison – 4th President of the U.S.
George Mason – Justice of Virginia County Court
John Francis Mercer – U.S. Representative
Charles Pickney III – Governor of S. Carolina
John Rutledge – Chief Justice U.S. Supreme Court
Richard D. Spaight – Governor of North Carolina
George Washington – 1st President of the U.S.
John Witherspoon – President of Princeton
George Wythe – Justice of Virginia High Court
Presidents
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Grover Cleveland
Jefferson Davis (the only president of the short-lived Confederate States of America)
James Garfield
William Henry Harrison
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
James Madison
James Polk
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
John Tyler
George Washington
Woodrow Wilson
Statesmen
Henry Fountain Ashurst
William Jennings Bryan
Winston Churchill
Henry Clay
John Dickinson
Pierre du Pont
Benjamin Franklin
Patrick Henry
William Penn
Daniel Webster
Military Officers
John Barry – Senior Navy Officer
George Rogers Clark – Revolutionary War hero
Nathanael Greene – Revolutionary War hero
Nathan Hale – Revolutionary War hero
Stonewall Jackson – Civil War General
John Paul Jones – Father of the American Navy
Robert E. Lee – Civil War General
Douglas MacArthur – U.S. General
George Patton – U.S. General
Matthew Perry – U.S. Naval Officer
John Pershing – U.S. General
David Dixon Porter – Civil War Admiral
Joseph Bradley Varnum – Revolutionary War hero
U.S. Supreme Court Judges
Charles Evans Hughes
John Jay
John Marshall
John Rutledge
Sandra Day O’Connor
Religious Leaders
Joan of Arc
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
William Carey
Jonathan Edwards
Philipp Melancthon
Dwight L. Moody
John Newton
John Owen
Hudson Taylor
John & Charles Wesley
Brigham Young
Explorers
William Clark – Lewis & Clark Expedition
Meriwether Lewis – Lewis & Clark Expedition
John Wesley Powell – Colorado River Expedition
Sir Ernest Shackleton – Antarctic Expedition
Scientists
Wilson A. Bentley – “The Snowflake Man”
George Washington Carver – agricultural research
Pierre Curie – discovered radium
Albert Einstein – theoretical physicist
Paul Erdos – Hungarian mathematician
Michael Faraday – electrochemist
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes – French physicist
Oliver Heaviside – electromagnetism researcher
T.H. Huxley – biologist, zoologist, Darwinist
Ruth Lawrence – mathematician
Gilbert Newton Lewis – physical chemist
Ada Lovelace – founder of scientific computing
Benoit Mandelbrot – pioneer in fractal geometry
Blaise Pascal – French mathematician
Joseph Priestley – father of modern chemistry
Samuel C. C. Ting – Chinese American physicist
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky – Russian rocket scientist
Inventors
Alexander Graham Bell – invented the telephone
John Moses Browning – firearms inventor/designer
Peter Cooper – built the first modern skyscraper, the first commercial locomotive, and patented the first gelatin dessert which was later named Jell-O
Thomas Edison – invented the stock ticker, mimeograph, phonograph, and electric light bulb
Benjamin Franklin – invented the lightning rod
Elias Howe – invented sewing machine
William Lear – airplane creator
Cyrus McCormick – invented grain reaper
Guglielmo Marconi – developed radio
Eli Whitney – invented the cotton gin
Sir Frank Whittle – invented turbo jet engine
Orville and Wilbur Wright – brothers who built the first successful airplane
Artists
William Blake – painter, engraver, poet
John Singleton Copley – American Colonial painter
Evelyn De Morgan – Pre-Raphaelite painter
Christian Grew – American Painter
Donal Hord – San Diego sculptor
Akiane Kramarik- 10-year-old art and poetry prodigy
Claude Monet – French Impressionist
Grandma Moses – American folk artist
Charles Willson Peale – American portrait artist
Lu Pinchang – ceramic sculptor
Leonardo da Vinci – Renaissance artist, sculptor
Andrew Wyeth – American realist painter
Jamie Wyeth – American realist painter
Composers
Johann Sebastian Bach – Baroque
Irving Berlin – Patriotic
Anton Bruckner – Symphonies
Noel Coward – Musicals
Felix Mendelssohn – Romantic
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Classical
John Porcaro – Experimental
Francis Poulenc – Choral
John Philip Sousa – “March King”
Writers
Louisa May Alcott – author of Little Women
Hans Christian Anderson – fairy tale writer
Margaret Atwood – Canadian novelist, poet
Fawn M. Brodie – biographer
Pearl S. Buck – Nobel prize-winning author
William F. Buckley, Jr. – conservative writer
Willa Cather – American novelist
Agatha Christie – mystery author
Samuel Clemens – a.k.a. Mark Twain
Charles Dickens – British novelist
Robert Frost – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet
Charlotte Perkins Gilman – early feminist writer
Alex Haley – African-American novelist
Sharlot Hall – poet, writer, Arizona historian
Joshua Harris- pastor and author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye
Bret Harte – frontier California journalist
L. Ron Hubbard – science fiction writer
Helen Keller – blind and deaf author and lecturer
Rose Wilder Lane – journalist, ghostwriter, daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder
C.S. Lewis – Christian writer and apologist
Amy Lowell – Modernist poet
Gabriela Mistral – Nobel-prize winning Latin American poet
Sean O’Casey – Irish author
Thomas Paine – political writer during the American Revolution, author of Common Sense
Christopher Paolini – teen author of Eragon
Isabel Paterson – conservative political author
Beatrix Potter – author of Peter Rabbit Tales
Jedediah Purdy – author of For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today
Kenneth Rexroth – poet, translator, critical essayist
Carl Sandburg – American poet
George Bernard Shaw – Irish-born playwright
Mattie J. T. Stepanek – 11-year-old author of Heartsongs
Rosemary Sutcliff – historical novels for children
Rabindranath Tagore – Bengali poet, essayist, dramatist, songwriter
Leo Tolstoy – Russian writer
Mercy Warren – American Revolution eyewitness
Phillis Wheatley – African-American poet
Walt Whitman – American poet
Laura Ingalls Wilder – children’s book author
Virginia Woolf – English novelist
Educators
Amos Bronson Alcott – innovative teacher, father of Louisa May Alcott
Catharine Beecher – co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary
Jill Ker Conway – first woman president of Smith College
Erik Demaine – associate professor of Computer Science at MIT
Timothy Dwight – President of Yale University
William Samuel Johnson – President of Columbia College
Horace Mann – “Father of the American Common School”
Charlotte Mason – Founder of Charlotte Mason College of Education
Joyce Reed – Associate Dean of the College, Brown University
Fred Terman – President of Stanford University
Frank Vandiver – President of Texas A&M University
Booker T. Washington – teacher and founder of Tuskegee Institute
Noah Webster – “Father of American Christian Education”
John Witherspoon – President of Princeton University
Medical Practitioners
Clara Barton – started the Red Cross
Elizabeth Blackwell – first woman in the U.S. to receive a medical degree
Florence Nightingale – Nurse
Susan La Flesche Picotte – first American Indian woman physician
Albert Schweitzer – Physician
Mary Walker – Civil War physician; recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor
Business Entrepreneurs
Andrew Carnegie – wealthy steel industrialist
Amadeo Giannini – Bank of America’s founder
Horace Greeley – New York Tribune founder
Soichiro Honda – creator of the Honda automobile company
Peter Kindersley – book illustrator and publisher
Ray Kroc – founder of McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain
Jimmy Lai – newspaper publisher; founder of Giordano International
Dr. Orison Swett Marden – founder, Success magazine
Adolph Ochs – New York Times founder
Joseph Pulitzer – newspaper publisher; established Pulitzer Prize
Colonel Harland Sanders – started Kentucky Fried Chicken
Dave Thomas – founder of the Wendy’s restaurant chain
Performing Artists (Actors and Musicians)
Alan Alda – actor, screenwriter, producer
Louis Armstrong – king of jazz
BarlowGirl – Lauren, Alyssa, and Rebecca Barlow
Spencer Breslin – actor
Chris Brown – R&B singer, dancer, actor
The 5 Browns – five siblings who play classical music on five grand pianos
Aaron Carter – Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter
Charlie Chaplin – actor
Cherryholmes – Bluegrass family band
Erika Christensen – actress
Hilary Duff – actress, singer
Dakota Fanning – actress
Whoopi Goldberg – actress
Alexander Gould – actor, voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo
Hilary Hahn – classical violin virtuoso
Hanson – sibling singing group
Toby Hemingway – British actor known for his role as Reid Garwin in “The Covenant”
Jennifer Love Hewitt – actress
Hume brothers – Jon, Peter, and Dann of the Evermore alternative rock band from New Zealand
Tiffany Jo – Arizona yodeling star
Jonas Brothers – Kevin, Joe, and Nick
Nicole Jung – member of Korean girl group KARA
Josh Layne – harp musician
Lindsay Lohan – actress and singer
Scott MacIntyre – visually impaired pianist
Pat McMahon – television personality
Jena Malone – actress
Yehudi Menuhin – child prodigy violinist
Alyson “Aly” Michalka and Amanda Joy “AJ” Michalka – sister singing duo and actresses
Moffatts – Canadian version of Hanson
Trevor Morgan – American actor
Frankie Muniz – actor
Hayden Panettiere – actress best known for her role as Claire Bennet in Heroes and in “Remember the Titans”
Adam Paskowitz – lead singer, The Flys
LeAnne Rimes – teen-prodigy country music star
Rebecca St. James – contemporary Christian recording artist
Lindsey Shaw – actress known for her role as Jennifer Mosely on “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”
Jordin Sparks – singer, actress, model and American Idol winner
Kristen Stewart – actress
Jeremy Sumpter – actor
Raven Symone – actress and singer best known for her role on “That’s So Raven”
Maria von Trapp – one of the Von Trapp Family Singers, the third child of Captain von Trapp
Sofia Vassilieva – actress
Kaitlyn Weaver – ice dancer
Devon Werkheiser – actor known for the role Ned Bigby on “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”
Elijah Wood – actor best known as Frodo in the The Lord of the Rings
Evan Rachel Wood – actress
Athletes
Mike Beasley – basketball player
Tanith Belbin – figure skating champion
David Boudia – Olympic diver
Chad Compton – surfer
Alexa Glatch – tennis player
Katie Hoff – Olympic swimmer
Madison and Keiffer Hubbell – sibling ice dancers
Todd Lodwick – U.S. ski team member
Tamara McKinney – World Cup skier
Bode Miller – American alpine skier
Asia Muhammed – tennis player
Carly Patterson – Olympic gymnast
Ariel Rittenhouse – Olympic diver
Maria Sharapova – tennis player
Shayna Syken – figure skater
Jason Taylor – NFL football player
Timothy “Tim” Tebow – football player, Heisman Trophy winner
Sam Warren – basketball player
Venus and Serena Williams – tennis star sisters
Others
Abigail Adams – wife of John Adams; mother of John Quincy Adams
Ansel Adams – photographer
Susan B. Anthony – women’s rights leader
John James Audubon – ornithologist and artist
Alyssa Buecker – director, Milbo Productions
John Burroughs – naturalist
Jennie Chancey – historical costumer
Davy Crockett – frontiersman
Edward Curtis – photographer
Robin Lee Graham – youngest person to sail around the world at age 16
Alex and Brett Harris – twin teen writers and conference speakers for “The Rebelution,” a Christian ministry/youth organization
Eric Hoffer – social philosopher
Sam Houston – lawyer; first leader of Texas
Abraham Kuyper – Dutch politician, journalist
Mary Leakey – fossil hunter
Charles Fletcher Lummis – journalist, historian, photographer, founder of the Southwest Society
Harriet Martineau – first woman sociologist
Margaret Mead – cultural anthropologist
John Stuart Mill – free-market Economist
Charles Louis Montesquieu – philosopher
John Muir – naturalist
Raymond Parks – Civil Rights activist, husband of Rosa Parks
Sofia, Susan, and Judit Polgar – chess masters
Bill Ridell – Newspaperman
Will Rogers – Humorist
Eleanor Roosevelt – wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Bertrand Russell – Logician
Drew Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, director of Jim Ryun Running Camp
Ned Ryun – co-founder of Generation Joshua, president of American Majority
Deborah Sampson – female soldier in the American Revolution
Emerson Spartz – 12-year-old internet entrepreneur (MuggleNet)
Herbert Spencer – philosopher, sociologist
Gloria Steinem – founder of Ms. magazine
Timmy Teepell – chief of staff for Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Lester Frank Ward – Father of American Sociology
Martha Washington – wife of George Washington
Frances E. C. Willard – educator, temperance leader, and suffragist
Frank Lloyd Wright – architect
John Lloyd Wright – architect, toy designer, inventor of Lincoln Logs
Sho Yano – gifted child prodigy
Elijah ben Solomon Zalman – Jewish scholar
This list was compiled by Compiled by Teri Ann Berg Olsen, author of “Learning for Life: Educational Words of Wisdom”http://www.knowledgehouse.info
Also a very good links to show that homeschooling does work.
http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001/HomeSchoolAchievement.pdf
Mainly pictures...
Doesn't she look like she is about ready to have a baby? Midwife says anytime!
I have been playing with my knifty knitter. I got down my tote of yarn and let this child pick through it. He picked this yarn! So I made him a hat out of it! He seems to love it. He wears it a lot. Not sure is daddy is thrilled with his bright colored hat but :) That IS what grandma's do best right?
Yesterday I had younger grandson. He has decided playing on the floor is for babies. Catch me if you can! He is crawling like a rocket, and pulling up on everything. Instead of chasing, since he has decided the fun stuff MUST be happening in the garage which has cinder block steps going down into it. I put an old fashion gate in the door to the kitchen. Then had both boys pose in front of it. Older one is on his knees to make them the same height.
"Let me OUT" not sure he was thrilled with the gate.
I have been playing with my knifty knitter. I got down my tote of yarn and let this child pick through it. He picked this yarn! So I made him a hat out of it! He seems to love it. He wears it a lot. Not sure is daddy is thrilled with his bright colored hat but :) That IS what grandma's do best right?
Yesterday I had younger grandson. He has decided playing on the floor is for babies. Catch me if you can! He is crawling like a rocket, and pulling up on everything. Instead of chasing, since he has decided the fun stuff MUST be happening in the garage which has cinder block steps going down into it. I put an old fashion gate in the door to the kitchen. Then had both boys pose in front of it. Older one is on his knees to make them the same height.
"Let me OUT" not sure he was thrilled with the gate.
Monday, October 5, 2009
For those that think life in the Country doesn't have challenge
Yes, you are seeing right! It is a goat, a FULL grown goat rolled up in a roll of 5 ft 2x4 no climb. How you ask? So did we!
I went out to hang clothes on the line and heard her hollering. Since I had the 9 month old in the sling I knew that what ever her problem was I would need help. I went back to the door and ask MN to come help, she grabbed pliers and by then I had found her. I sent for camera and S to take baby. He did NOT like that goats scream. I took a few pictures then sent S in with him while MJ came out to help us. We unrolled some wire, where we could push horns back through and pushed and pulled until we managed to get her free. She was a bit wobbly to start with but soon was off to find more trouble.
Monday Morning... Back to the Grind....
Weekend was great! We exchanged kids with friends on Sat. S spent the day with their oldest DD while their son 13 and dd 9 came and hung out here. My aunt and son also came for the day. Kids all had a blast. We enjoyed the fellowship and fun of just visiting. I made a HUGE (think stock pot) pot of chicken noodle soup for lunch/supper. It was almost all eaten. I should have made bread to go with it. I decided to visit instead.
Church on Sunday was good. We came home and just vegged the rest of the day. We had gotten about an inch of rain during the night so doing outside was muddy. Older son did change the shocks on his truck. Carports are nice! When they stay dry! Dh had reworked the dirt around the carport on Sat. to help make the water drain away and not through it.
Kids played outside until dark thirty last night. The weather was so nice. We have a rain chance ALL week! Perfect going into labor weather as we will have to go to the hwy and bring midwife and all her stuff in.
Today I keep grandson. I have to get up reminding me I do it. I tend to forget what day of the week it is. S starts her new year of school today. She is excited. She did so well on her last years. I had her set down and make a plan out. She is going to do a years worth of catch up in school in 3 months then one more year. That will put her at 9th grade level in Math and LA. Once she achieves that she will start the SOS prep for the GED. She is hoping to take that and also talk to the local Jr. College this summer and in roll. She is looking at something in the geriatrics area. She is excited and scared. She never dreamed she would achieve what she has. She admitted people in her life that "loved" her told her she wouldn't ever learn anything. She is excited just not having a 3rd grade education. It has done a world of good for her self-esteem as she sees she is smart and does make good grades and can learn.
Time to get my day started. Grandson is playing behind me with a flashlight. He thinks he is special since he has it. Half the kids are still napping, something about this cool rainy morning I am guessing.
Church on Sunday was good. We came home and just vegged the rest of the day. We had gotten about an inch of rain during the night so doing outside was muddy. Older son did change the shocks on his truck. Carports are nice! When they stay dry! Dh had reworked the dirt around the carport on Sat. to help make the water drain away and not through it.
Kids played outside until dark thirty last night. The weather was so nice. We have a rain chance ALL week! Perfect going into labor weather as we will have to go to the hwy and bring midwife and all her stuff in.
Today I keep grandson. I have to get up reminding me I do it. I tend to forget what day of the week it is. S starts her new year of school today. She is excited. She did so well on her last years. I had her set down and make a plan out. She is going to do a years worth of catch up in school in 3 months then one more year. That will put her at 9th grade level in Math and LA. Once she achieves that she will start the SOS prep for the GED. She is hoping to take that and also talk to the local Jr. College this summer and in roll. She is looking at something in the geriatrics area. She is excited and scared. She never dreamed she would achieve what she has. She admitted people in her life that "loved" her told her she wouldn't ever learn anything. She is excited just not having a 3rd grade education. It has done a world of good for her self-esteem as she sees she is smart and does make good grades and can learn.
Time to get my day started. Grandson is playing behind me with a flashlight. He thinks he is special since he has it. Half the kids are still napping, something about this cool rainy morning I am guessing.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Update on "Parties" and other rambling....
Yesterday was therapy. I visit with the therapist first telling her how I think our 2 weeks has been, any issues we are having, just a general rundown of life. I told her about the parties and how I am seeing a change in MJ. He is more interactive with the other kids instead of "observing". He is making better choices, less parties. She had never heard of a consequence exactly like I was doing, but if it was working.... :)
Then we talked about S and how she is feeling afraid because she can see she really does have a future instead of living for the moment and not knowing what tomorrow will bring. S has talked a lot to me about how this feels so scary. She is also torn in that she has been conditioned by her bio that at 18 she should pick up her relationship with her, no matter what. I am very honest with her and told her if she goes to "visit" her bio at 18 she will be sucked into her lifestyle. She doesn't have the strength to resist yet. It will come, but in time. I suggest she start establishing a new relationship with her on paper first. As we talked a few days ago I had her shut her eyes and ask God to answer the question I ask. As she set there with her eyes shut I ask, "Dear God show S if she is ready at 18 to establish a relationship with her bio or if she needs to mature more." Almost as soon as I spoke her eyes popped open and she said, "I'm not ready!" I told her when she could ask that question and have peace that she is ready she will be ready. I also told her at that point I will have peace also and will help her do it. But, I don't have peace now because I don't think she is ready. I suggested waiting until she is established in her carrier. She liked that as she would have more control if she had a job and all.
After the kids all meet with the therapist I go back in for a recap of anything she sees. With MJ she said he talked about the parties. They make him VERY uncomfortable, but they are also making him make better choices which he is very proud of. He told her about "remembering" to make supper and how good it was on his day. He also told her about "remembering" to take down the chick pen for me. I ask him when we were doing chores if he would do it AFTER school. He remembered! That is huge! She said he explained that all of these consequences we give him aren't mean, that they are because we want him to grow up and be a MAN (said proudly). Then he went on to explain how he wants to be in the military and he needs to stop the choices he is making. While he doesn't like the consequences he is getting they really are helping him learn better choices and he is proud of that. She was impressed with his understanding of consequences and logic on how it really was helping, even if he didn't like it. We haven't gotten to party in TWO days! So disappointing! I am so sick of ice cream :) :P Guess it would take to long to cook a steak for a parity! That sounds better!
Other news............ hummm not sure there is any! Life around here is good. We are blessed! Hope everyone is blessed that reads this today! Pass it on (the blessing not the blog!). Touch a life, change a life with a smile.
Then we talked about S and how she is feeling afraid because she can see she really does have a future instead of living for the moment and not knowing what tomorrow will bring. S has talked a lot to me about how this feels so scary. She is also torn in that she has been conditioned by her bio that at 18 she should pick up her relationship with her, no matter what. I am very honest with her and told her if she goes to "visit" her bio at 18 she will be sucked into her lifestyle. She doesn't have the strength to resist yet. It will come, but in time. I suggest she start establishing a new relationship with her on paper first. As we talked a few days ago I had her shut her eyes and ask God to answer the question I ask. As she set there with her eyes shut I ask, "Dear God show S if she is ready at 18 to establish a relationship with her bio or if she needs to mature more." Almost as soon as I spoke her eyes popped open and she said, "I'm not ready!" I told her when she could ask that question and have peace that she is ready she will be ready. I also told her at that point I will have peace also and will help her do it. But, I don't have peace now because I don't think she is ready. I suggested waiting until she is established in her carrier. She liked that as she would have more control if she had a job and all.
After the kids all meet with the therapist I go back in for a recap of anything she sees. With MJ she said he talked about the parties. They make him VERY uncomfortable, but they are also making him make better choices which he is very proud of. He told her about "remembering" to make supper and how good it was on his day. He also told her about "remembering" to take down the chick pen for me. I ask him when we were doing chores if he would do it AFTER school. He remembered! That is huge! She said he explained that all of these consequences we give him aren't mean, that they are because we want him to grow up and be a MAN (said proudly). Then he went on to explain how he wants to be in the military and he needs to stop the choices he is making. While he doesn't like the consequences he is getting they really are helping him learn better choices and he is proud of that. She was impressed with his understanding of consequences and logic on how it really was helping, even if he didn't like it. We haven't gotten to party in TWO days! So disappointing! I am so sick of ice cream :) :P Guess it would take to long to cook a steak for a parity! That sounds better!
Other news............ hummm not sure there is any! Life around here is good. We are blessed! Hope everyone is blessed that reads this today! Pass it on (the blessing not the blog!). Touch a life, change a life with a smile.
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