Ups and Downs of Life

Last weekend, we headed to Fayetteville to enjoy some fun time together.

When we arrived on Saturday, Caylie and I dropped the boys off at the U of A campus, where they mingled with the enthusiastic Razorback fans for a little while. Carson was sooo excited about getting to be a part of the Razorback scene! We came back before game started, and picked up Carson so that Corey and Christian could have some good "guy time" while watching the game.

After eating a delicious, gluten-free dinner at Carino's, Caylie, Carson, and I headed to our hotel to relax. Carson went to bed, and then we watched "Legally Blonde", while playing Speed Scrabble during the commercials! It was fun, and laid back...just what we were in the mood for!

We woke up the next morning, and went to a REALLY cool place called "Fast Lanes". It had bowling, go-carts, an arcade, putt-putt, laser tag, and a little restaurant! We chose to do glow in the dark bowling, and had a great time! It was lots of fun to watch Carson get so excited when he, or anyone else, knocked down some pins!

When we left Fast Lanes, the guys gave Caylie and me some "girl time". They dropped us off at a really nice outdoor shopping center, where we chilled out in the book store, ate at PF Chang's, and then did a little bit of shopping. I love hanging out with Caylie!

The guys picked us up after a few hours, and we all went to see, "Ramona and Beezus". It was a really cute movie that we could all enjoy. Carson is still talking about Ramona, and the mischievous adventures that she got into!

Next stop, the park. We found a nice little park, where Carson could run and play. It was pleasant weather, and so we just hung out for a while.

When we got back into the car to head back to the hotel, we started getting word from people at church, that the leader of our preschool ministry at church, had suffered sudden heart failure, and fallen off of a ladder, while painting a room at the church, was not breathing, and was being rushed to the hospital. We stopped and prayed for her right then, but quickly learned that she had passed away.

This was traumatic news for our family. Carson loved Ms. Mary dearly, and always ran to her for a hug when he saw her in the hall at church. We loved her for the wonderful way she reached out to him, and us, when we started attending our church!

Ms. Mary had her hands in so many things! She was also one of the leaders of the homeschool organization that covers Central Arkansas. If you wanted to know anything about homeschooling, you talked to Mary! She was one of the first people that I talked to after we decided to homeschool.

She leaves behind her husband, and 3 children, the youngest is her sweet 16 year old daughter that is in Caylie's grade. Mary has always homeschooled her children.

The news about Mary knocked us off of our feet, and we went back to the hotel to process through the loss of this special friend.

Mary's memorial service was this morning. It was a beautiful celebration of her remarkable life, with more people attending, than could be seated in the sanctuary.

Corey wrote the following poem, as a tribute to Ms. Mary, and her precious ministry to children. The poem was read at the service.

A Tribute to Ms. Mary (By Carson dad...Mr. Corey)

A Voice For The Children

She touched so many, who can't understand,

The ones on her hip, the ones on her hand.

They called her Ms. Mary, but just those who could talk,

They all felt her love, before they could walk.

She led a small army, a commander of love,

hundreds of soldiers, guided from above.

They all felt her care, and knew it was real,

They all knew her love, so warm you could feel.

Many are now older, and mourn on this day,

this love for Ms. Mary, it won't go away.

The ones that are little, the ones in her class,

they can't understand, and the questions they'll ask.

The parents, we grieve, we know what a loss,

we answer their questions, in bed we all toss.

In time we'll all know, why it happened this way,

it's all in His plan, we'll continue to pray.

The children she touched, her legacy alone,

Her passion unmatched, they'll feel when they're grown.

Ms. Mary they cherished, she helped them to see,

God's love for children, for you, and for me.

A woman of mercy, a gift from above,

I speak for the babies, an army of love.

Her time has slipped by, so precious it seems,

The children they sleep, Ms. Mary in their dreams.

But the children in Heaven, they rejoice on this day,

With arms raised to Ms. Mary, "Please hold me, come play!"

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Learning To Be Gluten Free

We found out today that Caylie is "gluten sensitive".

For a while now, she has been feeling fatigued, having headaches, and stomach pain. I have several friends that are gluten intolerant, and I wondered if that might be Caylie's problem as well. I started doing some research, and decided that she should be tested. After a three week wait, her test results arrived today.

Caylie's "anti-gliadin" measurement was 406 units. "Normal" is less than 10 units, and the lab usually measures up to 350 units. I called the lab to make sure it was not a mistake, and was told that occasionally someone just has an exceptionally high number, and Caylie is one of those exceptions.

The results require her to follow a "strict and permanent" gluten free diet, which is a big adjustment for most anybody...especially our little bread lover, but we know that she can do it.

A couple of weeks ago, Caylie started trying to adopt this way of eating, just to see if it helped, and she says that she can already tell that she feels better.

I was told by a well-informed friend today that we should also have her tested for the celiac gene, and if that comes back positive, that she should then have an intestinal biopsy to determine if she has celiac disease. To have this genetic test done, she would have got get back ON gluten for a few more weeks.

None of us were happy to hear that.

After experiencing the positive results from changing her diet, she is not looking forward to feeling badly again.

All of this is a lot for us to take in, and wrap our minds around. I am trying to take in as much information as I can, but there is so much out there, and honestly, much of it is conflicting!

Aarg!

I will be doing lots of internet research, reading books, and talking to as many people as I can to learn more about what we are stepping into with this new diagnosis.

What we are thankful for, is that we were able to quickly find the cause of Caylie's problems. Many people go undiagnosed with gluten sensitivity for years, while the damage to their body increases.

Also, we are thankful that her condition requires no medicine, only a change in diet. Yes, a big change, but still...we are thankful for that.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Caylie's Blog...

As I have mentioned before, Caylie is much more consistent with her blogging than I am. I love to read her frequently updated blog thoughts! She is such an inspiration to me! Here is what she posted today.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Thank You God!

Today my sister Jeanna had her second successful open heart surgery.

She has been so sick for so long, and we are all very grateful for her opportunity to have a healthy, new chance at life.

She has been through so much. We all believe that God has a great plan and purpose for her. There is no other reason that she should be alive!

As I go to bed tonight, after a very long day at the hospital, this is my prayer...

That Jeanna will cling tightly to God, actively seeking his purpose for her life, and allowing him to guide her every step, each day.

God has been so faithful. We are thankful.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

So, Here's The Plan...

So, for the record, here are our subjects for the year, and how we plan to tackle them...

Caylie...11th Grade

Most of Caylie's classes are going to be done in group settings. She loves "CoOp"! In our city, there are about 100 homeschoolers that attend a wonderful high school CoOp on Mondays and Wednesdays. Caylie's CoOp classes this year are...

*Art
*Algebra 2
*Spanish 2
*Writing

She will be taking Apologia Chemistry from a teacher that holds a few science classes in her home. Caylie will attend this class with 5 other homeschool friends.

Her "at home" subjects will be...

*World History (modified Sonlight)
*World View (selected memory verses and books)
*Grammar (ABeka)
*Vocabulary (Wordly Wise)

Last year, she did not do Grammar and Vocabulary, but we are adding them this year as extra preparation for standardized testing.

In addition to her academic classes, Caylie is excited about remaining active with the youth group at our church, taking guitar lessons, playing volleyball with our homeschool sports organization, and hopes to participate in some local theater.

Christian...7th Grade

Christian's courses this year are...

*Pre-Algebra (Aleks.com)

*Physical Science (Apologia)

*Writing (IEW)

*Grammar (ABeka)

*Vocabulary (Wordly Wise)

*Spelling (Spelling Power)

*World History Part 2 (modified Sonlight)

*World View (selected memory verses and books)

Christian also participates in our Homeschool Academy that meets one day a week. He gets to take Art, as well as several other classes. He really enjoys his days at Academy.

Starting in the winter, Christian will participate in a 4H Science day camp, called SEEK, that meets one day a week for 12 weeks. He did this last year and really enjoyed it. They spend most of the day outdoors, studying science. Last year they dissected fish, and lots of other "fun" stuff that I am happy to NOT be doing at home! :)

Christian will also remain active with our youth group, as well as participating in football, basketball, and guitar lessons.

Whew!

Never a dull moment around here!

Writing the Waves,

Christi

Off To A Good Start!

Well, it appears that I have officially fallen off of the blog wagon!

Caylie has been begging me for months to get back to it, and I have had the best of intentions, but my "to do" list keeps taking over my life.

Another reason that I haven't blogged in FOREVER, is that in my mind, a blog is not really very interesting without pictures. Unfortunately, when I add pictures to my blog, and sometimes, even when I don't, Blogger throws the line spacing all out of whack, and then it takes me WAY to long to get it straightened out. Unless I have a good hour or so, which I never seem to have, I don't even try to blog. Frustrating!

A couple of nights ago, Caylie convinced me that even if I do not include pictures, that I need to be blogging, so that we can keep up with our family memories.

I had to agree.

I'm going to work on doing better. Even if it means that many of my posts will be pictureless.

Ugh.

So...

Today was our first day of school.

Caylie was sooo excited about heading back to CoOp to see all of her friends, and get into the groove of the school year again. She had her backpack loaded with fresh, new supplies, and was ready to roll, with a big smile on her face as I dropped her off this morning. I love that she loves it!

When I got back home, Christian was already sitting at the table, hard at work. We have tweaked our curriculum this year, so we worked through those changes, and had a really good day. We both talked about how much happier we are with homeschooling than we were before.

Sooo glad that we are homeschooling!

So. Glad.

I have been doing preschool activities with Carson most days throughout the summer. Both he and I really enjoy doing these activities, so I will continue to teach Carson this year, even though he is enrolled in a 2 day a week preschool.

Although we always welcome summer vacation, and the break from routine, it is also great to get back into the swing of things in the fall. I enjoy waking up and having a plan for the day!

Tomorrow I will post about what subjects the kids will be studying this year, and how we are going to tackle each one.

Writing the Waves,
Christi

Winding Things Up!

Today we finished Christian's first year of homeschooling! It has been a GREAT year, and we have LOVED it!

Caylie still has a little bit to go (she started a week or so later than Christian did), but it has been a successful year for her as well.

Both kids have participated in homeschool sports, in various co-ops, and have made lots of new friends! It has been such a positive experience for our whole family.

I truly can't even put into words how very thankful I am. We started this venture a lot later in the game than most do, and although I had spent many, many hours in preparation, I was still intimidated. This past year has just been a time of such confirmation to our family that God has been working out His plan in our lives...in many very unexpected ways.

I have learned sooo much this year (and the kids have too!), and while we are all looking forward to our summer break, it brings me such happiness to know that we will also be looking forward to another year of homeschooling in the fall!

I leave in the morning to go to the state homeschool convention. I am excited about selecting new curriculum and also plan to attend some classes.

One of my many goals for the summer is to catch up on my blogging. I had hoped that I would be able to continue blogging regularly during this past year, but I just really didn't seem to have the time. Oh well...that's what summer is for! :)

Writing the Waves,
Christi