Joys of Homeschooling

You just never know who (or what) is going to show up to class in the morning.

Love it!

From the Archives 1/15/06

From the other room I hear: Beep. Beep. Peels of laughter. Repeat. I had to investigate. I found our two mischievous girls thoroughly enjoying the air purifier. Hey, it makes a neat beeping noise and then blows air up your nose. What more could you ask for? BTW, this is our second purifier. Sis ruined the first one at Mudge's age, enjoying this exact pasttime. Sigh.

Ewwwww.

This past week I made real mashed potatoes to accompany the baked chicken. For added flavor I threw in a couple of tablespoons of Ranch Chip Dip, you know, a little extra zing. Spices with itty bitty chunks of carrot.

Well, Mudge wouldn't even touch her potatoes. We encouraged her to eat them, but she'd have nothing to do with them. This from the girl who normally devours mashed potatoes.

When we asked her why she didn't like them, she answered, "Cuz there's deer poop in them."

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

I may have my family try new things, but deer poop is NOT one of them.

Honest!

2 Words

Warm. Up.



It's on the way!!!!

Big Men Fall Hard

How's that for a catchy title?

We arrived home from our whirlwind trip to Florida just as a snowstorm was pounding on our county. We safely made it home, broke through a huge drift in the driveway, and parked the car.

As we were all heading to the house, eager to get out of the weather, Steve fell on the patio. Apparently there was a couple inches of ice under that 10 inches of snow.

Right down he went, trying to catch himself he heard his elbow go POP! I was sure he broke it.

So off we went to the ER 15 miles away, in a driving snowstorm, with no sleep for 29 hours. We were both a little out of it at the hospital, but once they were done with x-rays, slings, and meds they sent us home, and again we made it safely.

Thankfully, Steve's arm doesn't appear to be broken. They may do an MIR in a week to see if he's torn any ligaments, which could mean surgery.

This is where you come in. Please, please, please pray that there is no need for surgery, and that Steve will heal quickly. Thankfully he's in very little pain, but I suspect he's going a little stir crazy. It's his right arm, and he's right-handed. That means no work for over a week.

We are both very concerned that this could negatively impact the Colorado job. I can't even think about that right now. ugh.

He just needs rest for healing. Pray that he will rest, heal, and not go nuts in the meantime.

Or drive me nuts.

Yeah, pray for me too : )

Anderson Adventures in Florida

We were blessed this past Christmas with the chance to visit my brother and his family in Navarre, Florida. We hatched a quick road trip plan once it dawned on me that moving out west would make it even harder to see a brother I haven't seen in 6 years! (how's that for a crazy, run-on sentence? Also, for you regular readers, there's no word on the move yet.)

As soon as Steve was done with his bus route on the 23rd we hit the road, drove straight through, and arrived in Navarre just in time for Christmas Eve dinner. The trip down was a test of one's driving skills, to say the least. Two-thirds of Illinois was experiencing a freezing rain/drizzle event and we drove through all of it. I quit counting flipped vehicles and semis, it was stressing me out. For the record, if not for the humidity, I could live in the hills of Alabama or Tennessee. Both states are beautiful! Illinois... there are no words to describe my contempt!

Christmas Eve found the 6 cousins getting to know each other some and 2 of the adults trying to maintain an upright position having had no sleep for 20+ hours. Christmas day was great fun, exchanging gifts & hanging out with Mike, Amber, & the kids. We formulated a plan for the remainder of our days together, based on a weather forecast that turned out to be WRONG each day, and basically laid around all day. It was such a huge stretch from our normal daily routine, but it was really nice to be away from farm chores, customers, and ringing telephones. Amen!

I said from the get-go that if I only did one thing in Florida besides hug my brother it would be to take my family to the ocean. So off we went! It. was. incredible. The kids chased waves, hunted sea shells, and buried each other in the sand. The wind was pretty relentless, hence the waves, and the water was cold, but it was so much fun. Mountains. Oceans. Initially it's a toss up, but then I remember the humidity. Mountains it is, but man the ocean is so awesome! God in all His glory with the wind & the waves & the sounds!




All the kids ended up soaked and sandy. Hot showers were on tap for later.


The sand was so white & clean, and full of beautiful shells. Mudge especially like this.


This is my brother's youngest. I think Mudge has met her match!


Me and my little brother!


None of us could figure out what the name of this was. It basically took you from the parking lot to the beach, but I thought the beach came right up to the parking lot! If anyone knows the technical term for this bridge-like walkway to the beach, let me know! I love this shot!


When I looked at these beautifully colored houses only one thing would come to mind.... hurricane! Isn't that horrible? The houses were really neat out by the beach. Up on stilts, palm trees, vibrant colors. It was so neat, and sandy :)




A genuine Florida Christmas tree. I loved it. Fake, lit-up snowmen in some front yards was just plain silly.


This is the boat I like to think brought our fresh fish in to market. We visited Joe Patti's Fish Market in Pensacola and bought lots of shrimp and a fish called Amber Jack. Mike grilled the fish and boiled the shrimp with red potatoes & corn on the cob. We ate like kings!


We visited the local zoo, which was fantastic. In case you're wondering, the young man in the wheel chair is my oldest nephew. He had dropped a stool on his big toe the day before we arrived. He has 20+ stitches in that toe now and walks with a cane, or travels by chair if it's available. He'll be healed and ready for surfing when the waters warm up.


I'm not sure what's happening here, but I love the faces.


Our little zoo keeper.


All together now, awwwwww.


On Sunday we visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. I can't say enough about it. It was fantastic. You would never guess there were so many types of airplanes. It was very well done.






I can say, without a doubt, all our kids quickly latched onto one another. You'd never know some of them were meeting for the first time that weekend.


Thank you, God, for the chance to get together with loved ones! We had a ball!