I didn't say WHEN....

Well, I said I'd be back....
I've been thinking about this blog lately, but I just didn't know where to start.

I'm still in school.  I begin the R.N. program the end of August!  I got into the evening program at Metro.  I'm more than a little nervous...  Everyone suggests that a person get everything that is not a Nursing class out of the way before beginning the program, and I can't begin to explain how happy I am that I've  done just that!  I'll have classes Mon-Wed evenings and clinicals on Saturday & Sundays from 7am-2pm.  I know I'll have to fit lab practice in there at some time as well.....

Sierra will also be taking most of her classes at Tri-C in the fall, but she'll be going during the daytime.  If all works out, Timmy will be at the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center during the days too.  So, I'll just have Garrett home during the day.  That should really benefit him for homeschooling.

I'm trying to spend as much time at the campground this summer as possible- trying to gather any shreds of sanity before school begins in the fall!  If you'd like to join us out here at Pier-Lon Campground, just give me a call.  We'd love to have you join us!

Catching my breath

I have been absolutely & unbelievably busy! So much to share!

Timmy & Sierra went to camp with church the morning after we got back from our mission trip to Appalachia. Garrett went to Grandma's for a few days. You would THINK I'd get some serious tv & bon-bon time in, but nooooooooooooo........

We went to see Jeff in the hospital to visit him & his new liver Monday night.
The next day I went to visit another friend in the hospital who the doctors didn't know what was wrong. They were concerned about liver failure, but later found out it was a bad case of mono. (That was my second adult friend to get mono this summer!)
Wednesday is bible study
Thursday we went to pick up Garrett from Grandma's out in Vermilion and to visit Timmy & Sierra at camp. Luckily, I knew about this "hair thing" ahead of time:

Timmy & Sierra at Frontlines Camp
Friday we sat for hours at Garrett's orthopedist. He'll be getting orthodics for his shoes....hopefully soon.
Friday night I had a karate demo in Northfield Village.
About midnight Friday night we picked the kids up from camp.

The following week was insane, but AWESOME! It was SPORTS CAMP week!!!!

Our church has a very cool version of vacation bible school. We offer sports for the kids! They can chose from soccer, basketball, cheerleading, and now this year karate & flag football! We have camp from 9-12 in the morning, and from 6-9 at night. I taught karate at both sessions all week. (Sierra & Timmy helped, too.)

We had about 160 kids in karate. I had the3rd & 4th graders, and I had about 50+ kids between both classes. I was exhausted, but there wasn't anywhere else I would have wanted to be.

We had 629 kids at Sports Camp this year with over 200 volunteers. It is an amazing outreach. On Sunday we have our CELEBRATION! There are blow up, music, food galore, and demonstrations from different groups. And everything is F-R-E-E!!!!!!!!!

Our karate demo team performed and then we promoted all the kids who were in our karate class that week to their first belt: orange! They were so excited, and my class rocked!!!! The parents were taking pictures and were so proud of their kids.. and they had every reason to be. Those kids worked HARD that week.... I really miss them!


After that, we had two weeks off to relax and try to recover. Yesterday, we started school. Yes, it seems early to me too. But I use an e-school and Timmy is now in high school. His classes are very different now, and he needs to start when they start. Sierra is also taking high school English, even though she is still in 8th grade!

Maybe my biggest news: I am going back to school! Yup! I start classes on Sept 8th. I'm going full time. Right now I plan on going to become a surgery tech. Who would have thought, huh?

And last, but definitely not least-
A friends son put together this video about our Appalachia trip. Enjoy!!!!!

Appalachia Mission Trip: The Movie from Spencer Tuckerman on Vimeo.

On a Tangent

Sung in my best RUN-DMC style:

This math is the triangle, I think it's very vital
To rock (the sine), that's right (cosine)
It's Triggy is the title, here we go...


To know the sine, and the cosine & tan this time
It's Triggy...it's Triggy (Triggy) Triggy (Triggy)
It's Triggy to know the sine, and the cosine & tan this time
It's Triggy...Tr-tr-tr-triggy (Triggy) Trrrrrrrrrrriggy

Well, I'd like to say that my brain is fully recovered, and I'm back to my same old self.

HOWEVER-

Timmy, who is in 8th grade, is starting trigonometry.

I like math. I'm more of a geometry person. (I believe most people can be split into two groups- geometry people and algebra people.)

I've got a lot to RE-learn to be able to keep up with him now. He loves this stuff. He gets excited when learning new math concepts. He gets VERY frustrated until he understands it, but he will NOT let up until he has it mastered.




My brain is still like cold, coagulated oatmeal.

The toughest part is starting

How am I supposed to start this thing...... I've thought about starting a blog for awhile, but fear kept stopping me.

What if someone I know reads this? What if NO ONE reads this? What if I say something that comes back to haunt me??? ...ok. That probably won't happen. I'm waaaayyyy too boring to do anything like that. right????

I guess the best way to start is to tell about myself and my family-
I am a Christian, conservative, homeschooling, full time mom.
(Some frightened liberal who accidentally came across my site is now clicking their mouse with a fury to make a quick escape!)
But hang on! I'm also a recycling, almost-vegan, wanna-be homesteader!

I AM looking to get into the workforce again, but just part time. To work around my kids & hubby. You know... when most people sleep. After all- isn't sleep overrated? Naw... actually this would just get me to bed at a decent time instead of watching mindless tv at night.

I've also completely changed my diet lately.
For health reasons. I've gone completely unprocessed, no animal products. Now a tried & true vegan wouldn't consider me vegan, but your run-of-the-mill American would consider me a bit wacked out. After all, how on earth can I possibly get enough calcuim without drinking milk? How can I get enough protein without eating meat? Easy. Very easy. I just don't feel like going into it in this post. Maybe another time.



I'm a homeschooler. Not loved by the public school system, but also not totally accepted by the hardcore homeschool community because I use an e-school. (This is a charter school, done online, mainly run by me, although I have to answer somewhat to the eschool itself.) I may go with traditional homeschooling sometime in the future, but for right now, this works for us.

I've got 3 great kids, though sometimes I surprise myself with the volume I can muster to tell them just how they can better please me & the world. LOL Yea, I yell. I know I shouldn't, but I do. Then I feel horrible and I apologize. Yup. I'm a regular mom.

Hubby & I have a dream that doesn't fit well with what most people would view of the "American Dream". We want to move from our house now to a fixer-upper out in the country. We don't want a mortgage and two shiny cars. (Well, the shiny cars wouldn't be bad if they didn't come with shiny loans.) As far as we are concerned, the Joneses can keep up with themselves. I would love to grow most of my own food, use a woodstove and/or fireplace for heat, and have a yard big enough to love my neighbors from afar. Hubby still thinks I'm a bit nuts, but I'm working on him. I think he's coming around. Either that, or he's hoping it's a phase that will pass. ;)