Kaleb

Third quarter has ended, and Kaleb had all B's and more importantly, he had all S's in conduct!! He also had perfect attendance.

Krispy Kreme gives out donuts for grades.

Kaleb and Jasmine hanging out.


This coming week is FCAT testing. There is a reason I don't teach even though I have my masters. Mostly because teaching just isn't fun anymore. And often it's not fair. Like FCAT. Kaleb has straight B's. But if he fails the reading FCAT test, he has to repeat third grade. That's the way it is. And it stinks. Not all kids test well. I think it's more important that they know how to use what they know and how to research to find out what they don't know.
(I also am not licensed in the state or FL or any other state at this time.)

This week is also dance picture week, so Jasmine will be getting her picture taken for her jazz dance and her hip hop dance. Costumes are here, but we are working on getting the shoes we need. Unfortunately the shoes they want the kids to have for the recital aren't the ones they wore all year for class!! Erg.

I can't believe how close we are to the end of the school year and summer! It's beautiful weather here today. Might be a good day to get the bikes out.

The Weekend

I have a few more pictures of Tyler and Rick from last weekend at the Louisville Comic Con.

Ty at Job Corp near Mammoth Cave.

This past weekend Tyler and some of the other guys had a weekend pass and went to Louisville together with no adult supervision. Tyler, of course, is 23 and would be fine. But I don't know the guys he was with. I haven't heard from him yet so don't know how it went.

Adam had a week of rifle training at his reserve base, and he's back safely from that and did quite well with it.

Jessica and I went to the Extraordinary Women's Convention in Pensacola. It's always on a Friday night and Saturday.

We stop in Destin for shopping on the way each year.

 Michael O'Brien leads the worship every year. He's a really good guy.

 Comedienne Chonda Pierce spoke first. Last time I heard her, she was pretty inappropriate for a Christian women's convention, but this time she was better. We still could have done without so much sex talk. It may have been totally appropriate for the adult women, but there are always home school girls who are early teens. Chonda talked about her husband turning to drink a few years ago, the separation they went through and the redemption of their marriage also. She's had a lot of real life battles that she shares defusing the pain with humor.

 Then Jeremy Camp sang. He is an amazing young man with a lot of passion for Jesus.

 Jessica's future mother-in-law was there with a church group. We got to introduce her to Karen, Kelsey and Kyle.

 Saturday morning started out with Kyle Kupechy, Karen's son-in-law singing and then Karen speaking. But the schedule said it started at 9:00. I got there about 9:10 and it had really started at 8:30. The correction was on their facebook page, but I didn't know about it. So Jessica and I missed Kyle and caught the end of Karen's talk. I'll see her again in June at ICRS.

 Then Kasey Van Norman spoke.

She was followed by Margaret Feinberg who is battling cancer.

We had a lunch break and went to David's Bridal to look at wedding dresses. We set up an appointment for later in the day to try on dresses.

Lisa Whelchel who was Blair on Facts of Life spoke after lunch. Any watch that? She went through a divorce about three years ago. She was on Survivor Philippines. I don't think I could do that.

Miss Kay from Duck Dynasty ended the conference. She was a refreshing change. She just said it like it was. It wasn't worked out and refined like many of the testimonies. She talked about Phil being an alcoholic (and a mean one!) the first ten years of their marriage and the separation they went through.

I think all of the speakers have been through painful things in the past--alcoholism of a family member, separation or divorce, cancer or other illnesses. I guess that's why they do what they do. To share the pain and the victory.

If you get a chance to go to EWC (used to be Extraordinary Christian Women but is not Extraordinary Women's Convention) then go. Take a daughter, sister or friend.

After the convention, we went back to the Bridal Shop. Jessica had three dresses she wanted to try on. She chose the second one. Sorry, but I can't show you. 

But here I am paying for the dress, bra, slip, preservation pack and cloth bag.

 We took a very scenic way home to look at possible wedding locations for Jessica.

So that was our weekend. How was yours?

Rest of Spring Break

 We didn't do anything big over spring break. Just hung around the neighborhood. We were disappointed it didn't get warm enough to go to the beach even just to play in the sand.

We walked in the park four days. I walked six miles three of the days! It took me 94 minutes, but oh well. At least I did it. This day we went through the Taco Bell drive through afterwards. The dogs are sharing a soft beef taco. Once in a while I'll take them through the drive through, and it's pretty funny to pull up to the window with three furry faces hanging out the window, tongues out.

As you can see, we have a dirt path. It's 6/10 of a mile so five times around is three miles. It's wooded on one side, sunny on one side and runs along the water for a short distance. There's a big wooden play area in the middle.

The bowling alley was advertising an open bowling special from 11-5 every day. We went one day, and when we got there it was empty, but the lady at the counter said someone had reserved every lane, so we couldn't bowl. That was disappointing, and I said so in a less than polite way. I don't usually throw around attitude, but the bowling alley is a ways away and the kids were so excited. When I told Rick, he let the bowling alley people know he wasn't thrilled about it either, and he ended up getting 12 free games for us. Now to find a time to go. Anyway, Jessica took Jasmine and Kaleb to Nut Job instead. Kayla had lied about something earlier to get a privilege she hadn't earned, so she had to sit the movie out.

We went to Taco Bell for breakfast the first day they served breakfast.

We went to run/walk afterwards. We have to with all the fast food!! Really, no one orders that much so we are okay. Everyone gets one thing, and we share a drink.

The girls shared some boneless wings from the Walmart deli one evening.

The kids learned the books of the Bible with the category divisions, so we went to DQ. Yep. More fast food. 

Jasmine and Kaleb made banana boats that evening. Cut open a banana like a canoe. Add peanut butter, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips. Wrap in foil. Bake on 350F for about 10-15 minutes, or until the "stuffing" is melted. You could skip the marshmallows and chocolate chips to cut the sugar.

Jasmine was taking out her corn rows too.

Or you could just eat the marshmallows out of the bag.

We did have some attitude and behavior issues during the week, but we just pushed on. If we all went out and someone was causing problems, that person got to eat a sandwich instead of getting whatever the treat was. At home they were sent to their rooms to write a few verses or think on things. If they chose not to write verses (which is what happened) they stayed in the the room and missed out. If they refused to do their daily job, they missed out. It was disappointing that sometimes one or the other of them would just get stubborn and refuse to do something knowing there was a treat coming. I just say soemting like, "I'm sorry you chose to play in the dirt rather than poop scoop the yard. I accept your choice and will allow you to sit in your room while we are ...."

Since we didn't go to the beach, we grilled the hot dogs at home.

Kayla is licking her marshmallows, so I guess Kaleb needed his tongue out too!

Sometimes something will be posted by a lot of people on fb. I don't always try whatever it is, but when I saw this idea for the hundredth time, I tried it. You just take a can of refrigerated cinnamon rolls and cook them in the waffle iron instead of the oven. Spray the iron well, and pull the waffles out before the ready light comes on or they'll be a bit too brown.

Jasmine liked them. So did the others, but they ate them so fast I didn't get pictures.

Sunday night the girls watched Frozen together and ate their way through the freezer using up some of the old stuff that had gotten overlooked plus some apple sliced and grapes. We do have a lot of healthy choices, but who wants to see pictures of my kids eating broccoli dipped in ranch dressing?

Going back to getting up at 5:05 today was brutal. After I dropped the four kids at three different bus stops and then went to Walmart this morning, I thought I might sneak back to the couch in our bedroom and be lazy. But it was already occupied.

We grilled out again tonight. Adam was supposed to come over last night and bring chicken but didn't show. He said he'd come today and didn't show. So we had hot dogs. He left this evening for rifle training for a week. He is sharing an apartment with a couple of friends just a couple of miles from us. He works full time and does Marine reserves.

Rick drove to KY and and got Ty, and they went to the Louisville Comic Con Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. Rick got back today and brought me the hat.

Comic Con

Comic Con

Ty seems to be doing really well at Job Corps, and I'm happy about that. I was not sure he'd fit in, but he does. The values are not the same as ours, but he has to make his own choices about activities and other things. He supervises the rec room sometimes in addition to his computer tech training.

Job Corps goes on outings sometimes and the guys can sign up to go first come, first serve. Since he's a rec supervisor, he gets to sign up first. This was taken in Louisville when they went to the Muhammad Ali Museum. Ty's in front of the Ohio River with Indiana on the other side.

So that's what our week was like.  Jessica and I head to Pensacola this coming weekend for the ECW convention with Karen Kingsbury, Lisa Welchel (Blair), Chondra Pierce (if she's inappropriate again this time I'm leaving!!), Kay Roberson (Duck Dynasty), Jeremy Camp and some others.

The first group of books from the last post will be mailed tomorrow media mail.