a Break

Josh has been working a lot and we have been busy with super-packed days when he has been off, so we looked forward to a day off without much to do besides normal junk. We enjoyed Chili's dinner (it's one of our favorite places), and a few other errands last night. We took in more of the Olympics and saw more of the crazy gymnastics scoring. I wanted to sleep in today, however Keirah had other ideas so I just got up and enjoyed some computer time. We all got an early start and went shopping. Shopping was pretty quick actually. We took the afternoon to chill and take tiny naps. Josh mowed and did yardwork. He grilled some chicken on his new grill for dinner.
I planned to watch the Olympics and chill some more, but Aliyah is itching to start schoolwork. Now, yesterday when the rest of her books came in, she declared that she could now start school (to my chagrin). I wanted to wait til after Labor Day. Well, she did some lessons last night and I couldn't stop her--she kept going and going. Tonight, I thought she could do some if she wanted to. I used that time to organize school books, supplies and get a schedule together. I got it all done and it is very organized. She (the little energizer bunny), made it to lesson 11 already!! I had to stop her because it was bath time/bedtime. I'm glad she is good at it and loves to do school!! So far, first grade is great.
While doing school, I got a call from Julie's hubs to say that she needs another surgery due to fluid leakage. There is a lot going on there with the kids in school, the business, the house addition, and of course mama being in the hospital. Most importantly, pray that they get Julie's issues fixed so she can feel good and heal quickly!! Pray for the kids and daddy that they will be comforted and things will go fine without mama being there.
Well, the house is pretty clean, the to-do list is much smaller and I feel like I've had a break, so mission accomplished for this day off.

Pack Rat??

Ok, so I am NOT a pack rat. I think it is because my mom liked to keep lots and lots of things in boxes upstairs in her attic. I myself have 2 boxes and they are for the Christmas tree. Everything else is stored neatly in a tote. Well, I have been searching for good deals on homeschooling books. I have had luck so far. I paid a total of $9.75 for the readers rather than like $90.00 which made me happy. It really makes perfect sense to me to homeschool at this point. I went to college for elem. education and then taught school before my daughters were born. I have taught all of the grades she has been so far =). Aside from that, it saves us a few thousand a year since that is how much a private school costs. We will NOT be sending our daughters to public school (at least for elementary). They are HORRIBLE in our city. Don't get me started!

Anyway, back to the pack rat thing...I was driving along tonight after I received my beloved ebay readers and being quite happy. A thought entered my head--my mom has given me a couple of items from when she HS my brother--shouldn't she have more--somewhere?? I called her up and asked. She told me she knew of 3 boxes she could check. She actually found several books I can use as well as little books from my childhood. I don't know how she's missed giving the other books to me, but she thought they were my brother's books. Anyway, I have saved more $$ since I don't have to buy these books and I have the rest of the books I need on ebay watch. Cross your fingers that I can win all of these. I think it will only end up costing maybe 30% of what I would pay if I ordered from the publisher. Gotta love ebay & the fact that my mom actually saved some things. While I'm on ebay news, I am all excited because I was able to get Aliyah a new Leapster on there tonight. It was a Buy It Now and had free shipping. What sealed the deal for me was when I opened my email and saw the 10% off ebay deal. I got it for about $35 less than store price! She will be so happy since hers died. She played it A LOT!!

Oh, I want to wish JULIE a very HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Birthday! It's Sunday in case you didn't know. Remember, it's not about the numbers, it's all about the happy!! I'm writing now in case I don't blog on Sunday...and to give you a chance to wish her a HB!!! BTW, thanks Julie for explaining how to put the link with the person's name in the blog. One of these days, I will fix my other blog atrocities. For now, I have to ebay!! Hope you all have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!!