FIRST DAY BACK TO SCHOOL THIS WEEK :-)

Hi Friends,

I had a good day, although my head is still killing me. Can't sleep -- the steroids are still messing me up. It's too late (or early) to tell you much, but I wanted to post this poem. My kids read it in homeschool today and then wrote it out for their handwriting assignments.

If I Were...

(Author Unknown)

If you were busy being kind,

Before you knew it, you would find

You'd soon forget to think 'twas true

That someone was unkind to you.

If you were busy being glad,

And cheering people who are sad,

Although your heart might ache a bit,

You'd soon forget to notice it.

If you were busy being good,

And doing just the best you could,

You'd not have time to blame some man

Who's doing just the best he can.

If you were busy being right,

You'd find yourself too busy quite

To criticize your neighbor long

Because he's busy being wrong.

------------------------------------------------------

What a great lesson if you ask me. We need to focus on ourselves, rather than blaming others!

So, today Cam and Bill left early for school in order to turn in Cameron's huge display of the solar system. I giggled as they left, just thinking about the two of them carrying it into school. But apparently, it arrived without incident! Thank God! His geography teacher was very impressed and used it all day to teach her 6 periods of classes. So, we're hoping to get lots of extra credit points, and now all of my kids have bragging rights -- even Isaac feels this makes him "smarter than an 11th grader!"

The homeschoolers and I did our usual stuff from about 9 a.m.-3 p.m., finishing up all of our chores and schoolwork. I am a big fan of the Oxnard Library, and we have gotten some excellent teaching resources there. Today, we watched a DVD on Thomas Edison and also a DVD on Agriculture, teaching the kids how food "goes from the farm to the table." It was a big hit for our "city-fied" kids.

When Cam got home from school, the other kids were all leaving to play with friends. So, Cam and I had some time to hang out together. He had no homework tonight, so I helped him set up his own FaceBook account. We also finished setting up Molly's when she got home. They will only be allowed to use the accounts under my supervision, but I do think it will be a great way for them to keep in contact with far-away friends/relatives. So, feel free to "friend" them!

Bill got home at about 6:30, and he made a very tasty chicken stir-fry for dinner. The kids gobbled every bit of it up. After dinner it was baths/showers for everyone, more chores, and off to bed for everyone except me -- crazy steroid lady. I am going to try to go to sleep now, though. It would be nice to get a few hours of sleep before tomorow starts. Wish me luck!!

More tomorrow...

Much Love,

Michele