it's here!

My new camera and lens....are absolutely fabulous! I can't wait to break them in at Lisa and Matt's wedding on Saturday.

The picture files are so big though that my computer is running sooooo slow. These are some of the very few pictures that I've been able to upload.

I must be crazy!

I am home schooling my children this coming school year. I repeat I AM HOME SCHOOLING MY CHILDREN THIS YEAR.
Yes, I MUST be crazy. Now this might not be a big deal to some, but this is a huge deal to me. Although...I did say before I had children that I would home school them. BEFORE I had children I said this!
I have never confessed or have aspired to be Super Mom. I'm not the mom that is PTA President and Room Mom and Soccer Coach and Girl Scout Troop leader and and and.... I'm not a great multi-tasker. I am not the most patient person in the world, and I have my daddy's quick temper. But by the grace of God I WILL home school my children this year. I will be calling on Jesus more frequently than perhaps ever before because to me home schooling mom's ARE some strange breed of Super Mom. I know lots of mothers with as many if not more children than I have and they do it, and I always think how overwhelmed or deranged they must be. You know super and all, but crazy to do it. Why do it when you can send those rambunctious little kiddos off to school for 6 hrs a day and catch a little break?
So here's why I'm home schooling this year. We can't afford private school, and because of budget cuts the public school my kids would have been attending will be having 30+ students per class. I just can't do that to my kids. Katelyn would be completely lost in the crowd, and I think my little over achiever Jocelyn wouldn't be challenged and get bored. So that's the reason. I really believe this is best option for us at this time.
We are not doing traditional home-based instruction though. The girls are registered in another school district that basically needs a higher head count so that they can stay open. Each of our registered kids get $1200 per year to spend for educational purposes, and we have to check in weekly via email or phone call with an assigned teacher. I like the accountability. AND should I decide to continue to home school until they graduate then the kids would get a HS diploma instead of a GED. But let's not get too carried away. The thought of home schooling 4 kids all the way through elementary to HS is a very overwhelming, so we will be taking it one year at a time!
I know it will be a challenging year, but thinking about all the cool things I could teach my kids I have to say...dare I say it...that I'm looking forward to it. Praise Jesus that my neighbor across the street is also home schooling her kids and is walking me through this process.

Kate's big moment

Okay, so this is totally for the grandparents and an auntie.

One of Katelyn's birthday presents was some horse lessons. Kate was so excited because she has loved horses for a long time but has never been able to ride one for longer than 3 minutes. She is living for her next lesson because she will get to ride the horse completely by herself with no help. It was gratifying for me to be able to capture her little dream unfolding with my camera.

It was sad afterwards though because one of her eyes got real swollen and itchy. She pet the horse and then rubbed her eye so, bummer...it looks like we can add horses to her list of animals she is allergic to.

Meeting Z for the first time.

Sizing each other up.

(One more for good measure...'cause she's so darn cute.)

Bad News/Good News

Well, we like to keep things exciting around here...keep people guessing as to where we live, where Josh works and how many kids we have. So in an effort to keep you all informed I would like share some good news and not so good news. It's also a good reminder for me to keep perspective.

(Deep breath.)

Bad news- We no longer own a restaurant.

Good news- Josh has a new job that he loves and actually makes money at.

Bad news- We have a lot of debt.

Good news- Josh is home every night and weekend. I am handling being a mother of 4 way better now, and no longer want to slit my wrists :)

Bad news- We look like flakes and waffelers.

Good news- I don't care because I have my husband back.

Good news- I get to continue with my dream of being a photographer. I'm going to fully put myself out there which is scary and exciting at once.

So there you have it. I think I covered the basics.

P.S. We still just have 4 kids. None in the making ;)

9 years ago

9 years ago today God blessed me with the most gentle, kind-hearted little person. Her name (first and middle) means "pure joy" and she has certainly lived up to it.

(during the last round of pinata bashing josh had to resort to holding the paper mache beast himself. a very dangerous job not for the faint of heart.)

Simply the best...

dad a kid could have. Happy Father's Day, babe!

My little athlete

Okay, totally gonna brag about my girl. In our town (not sure if this is statewide or nationwide or what) we have this club called Junior Joggers that is sponsored by The Lion's Club. School kids have an opportunity to run during one of their recess's and the teachers keep up with how many miles they run. Once they run so many miles they get a shirt. If a student gets double or triple miles they are invited to a special dinner.

Well, my little Jocelyn has logged in 82.5 miles this year! She has the 10th highest logged miles in her school of a little over 100 students and the most miles for a Kindergartener. That's the distance of over 3 marathons. The student with the most logged miles in her school had 174 miles!

Way to go Jocelyn! I'm so proud of you!

Opinions needed

Would you please humor me and click HERE and tell me which post you like better, Kayla+Lance or Kayla and Lance Part 2?

I need to know which one you like better and why. There are no wrong answers but if you prove me right and my hubby wrong then I will.....get to say I told you so.

Just leave your comments here on this blog. And if you've never left a comment here before now is the time because about half of my blog readers are out of town and the other 3 are probably busy.

UPDATE: Okay...I get it now. I get what my husband was trying to tell me. It's too vulnerable of a subject for me to share but I get it, so there's no need for me to prove anybody wrong. But if you still want to comment on the post and leave an honest critique and/or some enncouraging words then by all means go ahead...and thank you.

Why do they have to stink so much?

It's true. Boys stink. Alot. I only have one boy, but I don't have to have a whole herd of them to know that boys stink more than girls. AND they stink more from day one. I've heard it from other moms, and I'm a believer. Why DO males stink so much more than females? Is this just a human thing, or does this ring true in the animal kingdom as well? I know..."Deep thoughts by Ashley." :)

(That would be a robe that Josh is wearing. It's a women's robe...and it's not mine. He found it, and swears up and down that it is a men's robe but it defintely is not!)

(Right as I took this picture Sophia was SCREAMING downstairs. This is the ,"What is it now??" expression.)

(Josh's signature pose.)

Well, they're MY stinky men and I wouldn't trade them for the world.