Remembering my friend......

My very dear friend from college (and bridesmaid!) said a temporary goodbye to her firstborn son in May of 2009. He fought 3 valiant battles with 3 different types of cancer. He finally won his battle and went home to his reward at the footstool of His Father.

His testimony is jawdropping and life changing.

The faith and strength that Jason and Courtney have and shared has humbled me and given me such perspective.

Each year, they and their sweet little girl, organize a golf tournament in Birmingham, Alabama to raise funds to benefit other families that are still in their battle.

Please take a moment to go to Tucker's CaringBridge page and read his testimony and sign up to be a part of this tournament if you play golf.

Roll Tide Beam family.... you are always in my hearts and on my mind! xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo

it's been 1 year and 1 week....

click on this go to this amazing site.... find out what my world looks like......

there is a grabbable photo that says, "my friend's baby died and i'm not afraid to talk about it".... will you? are you?

do you have questions that you're afraid to ask? does your mind wonder but your mouth is afraid to speak? are you afraid of causing tears and therefore say nothing?

silence is the loneliest place to grieve.... i have another post that's been on my heart for 1 year and 1 week....  this is not it. but it's a good place to start.

Happy 1st Birthday Kelsey Peace

Meet the real Electron

Hi! My name is SORA! not electron. You know who my mom said electron was, right ,well she got everything right, most of it anyways. She got everything right except  my name! Which is Sora if you were not paying attention earlier! Oh! By the way, this is Sora writing NOT my mom ok. so anyways  as I was saying ............................................ HEY why are you not listening. Ok so now you know the real me. That is what I wanted to say. I wish I had more time to talk but I have to go sorry bye. :D

OOPS!

Sorry grandfolks! I just realized that the anonymous comment button had been disabled!!!!  I fixed it. You can now leave a comment without having your own blogger account. I also took out that pesky word verification thing. It serves a purpose on certain types of blogs... but really, do more than 4 people read this blog? I don't think so! So, I'm not worried about crazy people coming here. hahahahaah I'm crazy enough that I scare them away!

Ok, got some GREAT! pictures of the kids working on their geography mystery game today.... they were so cute! But, they are still in the camera and Rex is still at work so... another day, another day.

Day 1 of the 10-11 school year went swimmingly. Here's hoping for the whole week to go the same!

IT'S OVERRRRRR! now, let's start over :D

Yep, I just closed the book on CAT5's for last year, raced to get them in the mail and now, I'm gettin' in gear for next year to start on Monday! I know, I know, I said I was going to start last week.... :D homeschooling can be flexible when you need an extra week to do CAT5's! But, sadly, that used my flex time for first semester so.... don't get sick kiddos! You can do school in between throwing up! hahaha (just KIDDING! no, really, don't get sick)

So, thank you Tara, I'm going to post what goes on around here and up the accountability level in my life! (She does this a lot... I like it! Keeps me on my toes!) THIS, dear friends, is why I never answer the phone and frequently forget what day it is!

First Semester Schedule:

6:30 am... everybody up and getting that day's responsibilities done (at the bottom:D)
7:00          eat breakfast and clean it up!
7:30          take the dog for a walk
8:00          Bible History (We are reading through the Bible together... I read, they draw. It works.)
8:30          I work with Electron on Math/Grammar/Writing/whatever. The other kids do cursive      copywork/math speed drills/copy spelling words/read/write a letter once a week
9:30          Math with the other 3 (Electron works on his own)
11:00        Grammar/Phonics/Writing with the other 3
12:30        quick lunch
1:00          review Classical Conversations work
1:30          Mon: Science experiments Wed/Thur/Fri Story of the World History
2:30          Reading (out loud to me)
3:00          Presentation work if needed... playtime when all school and responsibilities are completed
4:00          start cooking dinner
5:30          race to piano/football
8:00          get home/shower/eat a snack/go to bed


***rinse and repeat! yes, I know Tuesdays are left off of the above schedule. That's the day we meet with our homeschool group. We also have lego team for Electron every Friday morning... so school's on the road that day! Whew! I'm tired already!  Good thing I love what I do!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures of my school room posted and the kids actually doing said school work! We'll see.

If you're curious, here's our responsibilities list:
They each take a day doing one of the following chores: laundry/kitchen helper/pet care/trash-vacuum-bathroom. Then on Friday, we all work together to get it all done and we focus on cleaning out the car, sweep the carport, cleaning our rooms... that kind of stuff. And yes, I DO make my kids do their own laundry! If you can read, you can do laundry! If you're curious. yes, I have my own set of responsibilities to do! I SCRUB bathrooms on Monday, work on lesson plans and do my blog post for Classical on Tuesday, detail clean kitchen and clean out fridge on Wednesday, dust and declutter on Thursday, and do the vacuuming and my own laundry on Friday. :D I may be a slave driver but I drive myself too. And NO- my house is NOT anywhere NEAR perfect. It's not about perfection, it's about progress! We'll get there one day, I want to enjoy the ride. This just helps keep us sane, semi-clean, and helps me teach responsibility along the way....

Check this out!

I just randomly ran across the neatest blog! The post i read was about stewardship of time/money/effort.... you know, MORE THAN TITHES! So cool, very few people think that way. I am always amazed when I run across what I call "Christian hippies". Rex balks at that and I know it doesn't really fit but I know so many Christians (who challenge me so very much) that are beginning to think in terms of protecting God's creation and modeling for our children lifestyle stewardship. Okay, enough soapbox... check it out!

Carlisle Clan Conversations

I really should be doing the cloth napkins thing.... that one made me wince! We use WAAAAAYYYYY too many paper towels!

Writing contest link!

For you homeschool friends looking for a fun way to encourage writing this year:

http://homeschoolwriters.com/chart.aspx

enjoy!

Man, if you'd told me when I was a kid that one day I would find joy and pleasure in spending 1.5 hrs. cleaning the guts of my fridge I'd have written you off as nuts...........

Warning:D

I'm about to go "homeschool" on you:D not yet... you're safe for now.... but my friend who shall remain nameless for now, does some pretty amazing posts about her schedules and plans and daily routines! So, I'm thinking it'll motivate me if I post my intentions as well. I need the prodding seeing as how school, for us, will start August 2.

Sigh, next week we're doing our Cat5's! This week we're squeezing in some school in between basketball camp and football practice. Well, I'm making them read while I paint Glitter's room.... They need at least one week of "downtime"? Right?

I'm so ready to put this year behind me and start OVER! :D

If all goes the way it's supposed to, we do 17 weeks (of actual curriculum work) in the fall, 17 weeks in the spring and then spend the rest of our "school time" exploring and field tripping to museums/zoos/aquariums/science centers/caves and things like that. We also do a fun "study" of Jewish holidays around Christmas since our fall semester finishes the week of Thanksgiving. Don't be fooled though, I use that time to reinforce and review and pound into heads what we learned in first semester. We read a lot too but not all school takes place in a book! So the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year are put to good use in alternative ways.

Ahhhhhh, I'm ready for a new "normal" whatever that is.

Here's some pictures for you: oops, it's up there?!?!? ummm, from DC a few weeks ago.

IMAX movie...see? Learning takes place all the time!

DC National Gallery of Art... We even got some actual curriculum done that morning too! A full day of learning and fun crammed into one!

She was so hot and sweaty!! But, it was too hard to pass up, our lovely lady in front of  a lovely painting......

Summer School... and bribes.

What do you do when you have a tough year with school 2 years in a row? Summer school.

What do you do when you feel ridiculously guilty for having to do summer school? Bribes.

sooooooo, this is what we've been bribing our kids with :D.

Each day if they accomplish the basics (math and grammar) in the allotted time (2 hours) they receive a sticker and 3 pieces of candy- from the bucket. (yes, go ahead and faint! I'm actually letting my kids have sugar!! I can't believe it either.) After 5 days in a row, they get to choose one of the large candy choices (on the shelf next to the bucket). When they have successfully completed the needed number of lessons, they receive an item from the top shelf... each prize was chosen for a specific kiddo. The extra prizes are for reading books. The $5 and the Walmart gift cards are for reading books too.The playdoh giant pack is a group prize when everyone is finished! I'm sure what gets created will be blog worthy... their creativity makes me stand mouth agape while scratching my head.

I know, I feel horrible resorting to this but they get a little fun out of the deal after having to work hard. I don't feel the need to buy the kids lots of stuff and I feel staunchly that kids need to be diligent and have a servants attitude towards responsibility but....... Rex came up with this idea to make summer school more fun and it's been fantastic! I love it. I'm going to modify it for the next school year (which, sigh, starts in 2 weeks!)

Anyhow, this has given the kids a tangible reward for their efforts and they have risen to the challenge with a great attitude! We've even managed to fit swim team, Lego camp, VBS, piano lessons, pool parties, play dates, movies, and coming up, football summer training and basketball camp into our days and still get school done too! We also went to DC with Rex for a work trip (pics later). That's a lot to cram in!

PS- please ignore the junk accumulation on the bottom shelf. I haven't unpacked the kitchen yet! Thus the empty shelves that were available for filling. One of these days I'll post pictures of a decorated organized house...... one day. :)

Childhood at its finest!

Well, I'm a few weeks late but this just had to get posted (so i can remember it)!

The kids were having a ball playing in the hose. They claimed to be creating "habitats". They do this frequently.

Presently, I have a turtle living in my garden (I know, nasty. But this year there's nothing planted except 2 pathetic little tomato plants in the far corner and the garden plot is huge.... so i'm giving them a few days.) I think they were trying to lure another mommy frog into laying another 300 eggs in our yard.

Wish I had pictures of THAT! but my ever faithful MAC that I love ate the pictures....and about 300 others! It never acts up! Never! Never gets a virus.... nothing. One Christmas it just decided to eat my pictures. I'm not a happy camper about it.

Anyway, they were thrilled to find many animal tracks the next morning and had fun identifying them. I had to get them to move it to the grass so it wouldn't damage the vans but it was fun to see their ingenuity, creativity and just plain wild imaginations at work. Needless to say, bathtime was immediately after this picture was taken!

ahhhhhh, summer!

-Melissa

Oreo..our New Addition to the Harrell Tribe!

Wow won't do that again. We drove almost up to DC to get this little
monkey for Glitter. She is beyond excited to have a new puppy. This
little guy is a miniature australian shepherd. We had a choice between
this one and one with two blue eyes, but we couldn't help but fall in
love with this little guy....OREO. He is a total mess.

The ones with Glitter turned out really nice.

How can you turn that face down. Oh and his "full" name

per Glitter is Oreo "Cuddles" Harrell. No comment.

How can you not want to love me?

EWWWWW- YUCK! and other things

Well, I'm dashing off to get the kids from VBS so this is going to be short. It would be anyhow because I am just too sad anyhow. I've put off posting this since June 15.

Our precious beloved Bama Puffle got sick and left us before I could even get him to the vet. We are still expecting to hear his "click, click" on the hardwood floors. I still look to see where he is before I step out of bed, Cooking is breaking my heart because he's not in my way trying to catch crumbs. :D heheeh, he ALWAYS stood between me and the stove top!

The kids call for him, they miss him, they cry for him. He was a fixture in every aspect of our lives and his absence in tangible. This is the last picture I took of him. I was cleaning and unpacking my bedroom and he was "helping". Sorry the camera was out of focus a bit but it was just too funny to pass up.

and the ewwww gross part?  That would be "silver". The snake that the kids found in the garden and kept in an aquarium.... until it slithered away..... and then we later found shriveled and crispy by the basement door "trying" to get out.... yeah.... ewwwwww! Dead snakes are better than live ones, mama always said. lol

ew, yuck. I miss my Puffle.

Spaghetti Fallout

As promised a month ago (or more?), this is the story of the spaghetti fallout. hehehe If you are clueless as to what I'm talking about, read it here.

Ok, the next day we had some friends over and Gem and Glitter decided they wanted to cook dinner for us. hehehehehehe, The dark humor in me just simply could not resist. I "suggested" spaghetti! Gem had to go home sooner than expected so Glitter ended up cooking it ALL BY HERSELF while I sat in a chair giving directions. She was thrilled. Pay particular attention to the lovely bathing suit that she chose to cook in??? Who needs June Cleaver and an apron, right?

Jaja would be proud, she instinctively put the hand towel over her shoulder! By the way, dinner WAS yummy. :)

Lovin' it that my kids are cooking!!!! I'm going to retire soon.

Hey 2 posts in 2 days- I'm on a roll. I might actually get semi caught up before something else happens around here.

Updating! finally.

Sorry folks. Life got crazy around here and I haven't done the "better job" at updating that I promised. Sorry grandfolks. :(

Well, here's some pictures of Ondepenya's birthday party way back in May. He had a blast. We were so sad that one of his dear friends could not join us but he did have several other dear friends come. Add to that Rex (king of all fun), 3 siblings, and the fur child that barked from downstairs all night and we all had a blast! The theme of course was "bugs" and "gross" and "all things boy".

Please ignore the boxes in the pictures. I am unpacking but since I'm expecting at every turn that God will just put the keys to a house in our hands, I'm unpacking slowly out of precaution that I'm just going t end up re-packing! Don't laugh at me.

gift bags full of boy toys and gummy worms, "transformers" plates/cups, pizza boxes from the oh-so-healthy dinner we had, and a radio because we jammed!!!

make -your-own cupcakes,  complete with worms. let me just tell you, the Bama/Puffle had a blast licking the floor after all those kiddos decorated their own cupcakes with EVERYTHING in my baking cabinet!!!

message received without even sending it! what birthday is complete with out gifts of new bug catchers and robotic tarantulas???? seriously! all boys must think alike. :D

Warrior "breakin' it down". We had a dance contest. This kid is sooooooooo related to his momma!

The surprise of the evening was Electron cuttin' HIS rug!!!  Didn't know the kid had it in him. LOVED it!!!! He's got moves too.  So cute.

Anyhow, they watched a football movie and stayed up until 2am. They had an absolute blast and I'm so thrilled that he FINALLY got his party.  He waited a long time for it.

Testing, testing, 1,2,3?

Ok folks, I (Melissa) am going to attempt to post some pictures! They are piling up on me..... 

Our family had the blessing and privilege of my dad and brother coming to stay with the kids while I went to tutor training for our homeschool group. If I am going to tutor a class next year, I must attend a 3 day training workshop.... and YES! this year I actually learned quite a bit. I'm going to get the 4 yr olds I think. It will be the first time i won't have one of my own kids in my class. THIS! is going to be a hoe-down hoot! I'm so looking forward to it.

So, without further ado..... photos of JaJa and Uncle Jim with fishing poles (total fish count was somewhere around 100?) and shelters constructed from tree limbs. What do you expect when the kids have no TV to watch?  I hear that the trails around the house got thoroughly explored.....  hmmmmmm :D and can you tell Jim got suckered into the go-kart/ gas powered scooters too???? I'm sure they had to REEEEEEALLY twist his arm.

Is there any question as to why my sanity is fragile???  lol LOVE Electron's sense of humor! Please take special note of the matching headgear in the photo of Ondepenya and Uncle Jim! Can we say Mini-Me?

Again with the tongue? This shelter was all Glitter's doing. She's a master craftsman when it comes to forts but she was willing to share space with her brothers. Love my girl.

Bless Dad's and Jim's heart, they day tripped all over town with only the kids' sense of direction and a GPS! The kids formed memories to last a lifetime. Thanks!!! Even the Puffle went into mourning when they left. Wonder how many scraps he got under the table?


Dad and Jim were unable to attend Sweet Pea's funeral due to work conflicts so I was able to take them out to see her grave on what would have been her 9 month birthday. I had promised them I would take them on their first visit up. How special that it was on such an important milestone.

It's not the best picture of her spot. The flash didn't work on the really good angles?!?! Isn't that the way it always is? Oh well, who ever got a really good shot of a 9 month old anyhow??? (I know, morbid joke.... I take laughs where I can find them.)

If this works, I promise to get our recent birthday/sleepover posted as well as the fall out from the spaghetti... oh yeah.... the fallout.... life is so good when momma has a sense of humor too. bwahahahahaha

HeHeHeHe

I just found a t-shirt online.   "Thou should not meddle in the affairs of dragons for ye are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!"

Think I'll modify that to say, "Thou shouldest not disrespect thy mother, for ye are young and able to scrub walls! and ye are also crunchy and taste good with ketchup." because the crunchy/ketchup part is just too funny! Though I would NEVER (wink,wink) eat my kids....  I am NOT above making them scrub walls and other objects that accumulate fingerprints.... :D in fact, that's what they're doing RIGHT NOW! :D

Sorry grandparents, I know you're horrified! Just remember, you did this to us too.

WHY?????

Do you remember the theme song from the Mickey Mouse Club?  I think it ended with something along the lines of , "Why? because we like you!"

Well, that's what's playing in my head right now. NOT because someone likes me but because I want to know WHYYYYYYYY! :D

You see, I just took the kids to pick huckleberries off of a tree to make a pie for dinner. I'm a good mom, right? Well, we got back and discovered that Bama Puffle, dear sweet (might soon be killed) dog that he is, knocked a bowl of spaghetti off of the counter. Why? Well, he's a dog, they do that.

So, great mom that I am, I give the kids instructions on how to clean it up and go off to breathe deep and count to 10. I know I'll have to finish the job but hey, adults in training right?

After a few seconds I decide to go in and help with the last little bit of clean up to model how to finish up a job right..... classical education in practice.  hahaha

I'm holding my breath, laughing my head off, and counting to 10 AGAIN as I type. I came around the corner to find the 3 youngest kids SKATING IN THE SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!! The dog was having so much fun with this.

Sorry, no pictures because I didn't think I could manage that too...... 

:D still smiling, see? :D

sigh, I give up. Kids in shower- check. Dog locked in closet- check. Mom going to clean up THE ENTIRE KITCHEN IN PEACE IN QUIET WHILE KIDS DESTROY BATHROOM DURING SHOWER- check.

Any questions why I renamed this Harrell Hijinks? I mean, we've already gotten a dozen other bruises today, what's a measly spaghetti mess to top it off? It's only 4:00, heaven help me!


PS I forgot the best part... lol... they were SWEEPING  it up!!!  Yeah, the broom got a shower too. Fun times, fun times.

a pinch of salt.....

Get ready to laugh.

Electron, being the sweet adorable cook-in-training that he is, decided that he wanted to make cheese grits for breakfast today. Since mom was seriously down for the count with a very nasty sinus infection, he asked permission before cooking but not help WHILE cooking.

He did not know that "a dash of salt" meant a PINCH! He guessed and added 2 FULL MEASURED OUT TEASPOONS!

Bless his heart for trying. He just can't understand why there was so much left over. After explaining to him the details and differences of "dash, "pinch", and "teaspoon", I promptly thanked him and ate as much as I could.

Today, I'm thankful for the precious kids who jump in to help as best they can when mommy feels crummy. I'm also thankful that Rex figured out it was the pillow on our bed that is making me sick! 4 days of antibiotic left and then I'm home free. Bye bye ugly, orange, corduroy body pillow that I hated anyhow. Enjoy the dumpster,

Introducing: HUBBY!!

Hey friends from high school, I'm so glad you came by to check us out! Let me introduce you to the crazy man I married:) click HERE to find out what I've gotten my self into. Hahaha. I say this quite tongue-in-cheek because I definitely married a knight -in-shining-armor and I never have to kill my own bugs! or change my own light bulbs for that matter (that's the running joke. He changes light bulbs, I teach reading).  Anyhow, this will take you to my dear friend's blog. Scroll down a post to the one about the snakes! Yep, snakes.......