Surviving and Shopping

I'm still here. I have survived a double illness (stomach virus on top of allergies), driving Gabriel far and yon to the drama performances and 3 solid days of teaching in the same kindergarten class. My house needs some serious attention tomorrow and my brain needs a rest. I must make time to read a good book. I happened to get 3 in the mail. I actually won a contest! Thanks Marsha! I can't wait to sit down and relax a bit with these.

Last Friday night, Hannah, Holly and I stayed on the other side of town while waiting for Gabriel. I had a $10 off coupon for JC Penny so we decided to check it out. We happened upon a great deal. Most everything was 40% off and I was in desperate need of some new clothes. It was actually fun to shop with Holly as she hurried around all the racks, picking out things that she thought would look good on me. "Oh Mom, you have to get this one!" was repeated over and over again. I was glad to have Hannah along to, to help me decide what looked the best. We had a great girls' night out.

I have some more blog entries in my head. A bit deeper and hopefully not as boring as things have been lately. Please stay and chat a while. I've missed my bloggy friends.

News

The weather here in Virginia can be so fickle. One day it's summer and the next you need a winter coat. Friday was nice and I decided to wear my sandals to school. It didn't take me too long to remember why I never wore them to school before. I was in a kindergarten class and had my toes stepped on at least a dozen times. Today and yesterday have been filled with April showers.

The more exciting news of the week is that my daughter Hannah got her learner's permit today. I now have 2 teenagers with their learner's permit. Oh help! Gabriel will be getting his license soon and Holly has another 5 1/2 years before she'll be old enough to drive. Maybe they'll raise the driving age by then!

In the cyber world, there's a great birthday party going on. Marsha is having a bloggy birthday bash and giving away gifts. So click on over there and wish her a happy birthday.

I've got to finish up lesson plans for tomorrow and run Gabe and Hannah to their final drama class for the year. Their performance was last Thursday and they did an awesome job. Tonight's class is the end of the year celebration. That's about it for my busy day. How's your day been?

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

You have been a huge part of my life but now it is time to say good-bye. I have loved being here, writing down my thoughts, events of the day or just silly memes. I've met many friends, most of them are simply cyber friends. Other's I've been able to meet in real life. I've enjoyed making and especially getting comments. The contests, awards and popularity have been immensely exciting. I'm still one of the top 10 commenters on homeschoolblogger even though it's been more than a year since I left there.


Now it is time to move on. Life has gotten too hectic with homeschool and substitute teaching, trying to spend time with my family and a moment or two on house cleaning. Maybe I'll even find time to read a book now and then. So, I will just say Good-bye dear blog. Thank you for being a fun part of my life.

Please leave me a comment so at least I will know I'll be missed. And I would like to add just one comment here at the very end. April Fool! Have a nice day and leave a comment anyway!

Welcome to my Party!

(This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for more recent additions. Thanks!)

Hi! Welcome to my blog. I am Karen and I'm so glad you have come to my blog party. It's going to be an exciting week. Last year's Blog Party happened to occur during an exciting yet sorrowful time in our lives. We were packing to leave Romania, a country that became home to us and friends that we love with all of our hearts. After more than 10 years in the ministry and 7 years on Romanian soil, God called us back to the states. Now we find ourselves in Virginia, watching in awe as God unfolds His plan for us. My husband John and I will celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary next month. We have three children:

Gabriel - days away from 17, happily employed at Chick-fil-A and recently promoted to trainer. He was an avid lego collector/builder but now they mostly sit dusty on his shelf or dormant in boxes. He has dreams of bigger, more expensive toys these days.


Hannah - 15 and hoping to soon be employed at Chick-fil-A. One of her immediate goals is to learn more about digital photography. Here is her photo blog.

Holly - weeks away from 10 and a wanna be teen. She is a girly girl and loves anything pink and sparkly. One minute she's playing with baby dolls and Barbies, the next she's trying hard to grow up.

There's lot's of prizes being given away at the Ultimate Blog Party. I am donating a beautiful hand painted porcelain Easter Egg (#33) painted by my mom. I posted a picture of it in the entry below. Check it out- it's gorgeous!

The top 3 prizes that I would like to win are:

59 — $25 Cash Provided by: Lori
60 — $25 Gift Certificate Provided by: Judy
67 — Blog Makeover Provided by: Shauna

Other great prizes include:

117, 55, 140, 129, 39, 82, 49, 70, 102, 24 & 21

Pull up a chair and make yourself at home. We'll have some fun and games and hopefully make some new friends! Introduce yourself and tell me something about your family.

Still Partying

Holly was invited to a real life party on Sunday night. Since we don't have a PM service on Sundays, I thought it would be a good chance to get to know some more people. Holly was really excited about going and I was happy for her. It was at a place called Pump it Up. I lost all excitement for the celebration when they handed me a waiver to sign. Whatever happened to having birthday parties at home anyway? Letting a child, whose nickname happens to be Crash, loose in a place like that is nerve racking. She did fine, thankfully. Only ended up with a slight friction burn from one of the slides. I'm glad she had fun. I'm glad it was only two hours.

Are you enjoying the Ultimate Blog Party? I've been busy the last couple of days with substitute teaching but I'll probably check out some more blogs tonight and put another party game on my blog. Tell me who has a great party going on?

Cherishing Home

My life isn't boring but sometimes it's not very interesting to read about. Last week, I subbed three days, leaving me with Monday and Wednesday at home. I cherish being at home, even when there is nothing blog worthy going on. Simply hearing my children talk, laugh and even complain is comforting; knowing where they are and what they are doing. Even when I'm isolated in my room, typing away or perusing others' blogs, I have, at any given moment, the chance to go and give my kids a hug, tell them that I love them, or remind them for the 10th time that there is a basket of clothes needing to be folded.


While I am grateful for the ability and opportunity to earn some extra income, I am hoping it is only for a brief season.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

Ecclesiastes 3:1

The 12 Days of Blog Parties

I love people, parties and blogging and this week there are two fabulous blog parties going on. Chickadee is having a birthday party and we are all invited. And what's a party without gifts? But she will be the one giving them away. Sounds like a lot of fun so invite your friends and join me there.

Then, back to back with Chickadee's birthday bash is the Ultimate Blog Party. This is a great chance to meet friends and win some more prizes too. The prize list is already huge. Check it out! I am hosting one of those fun prizes. You can visit my mom's blog for an idea of what it might be.

This is going to be a busy two weeks! Who's going to party with me?

An Intercalary Day

Busy or not, I decided that I must blog on Leap Day. How often does a person get to blog on such an intercalary day? (I know you are impressed with my vocabulary. I just learned that word today and I am not sure as to how useful it will ever be.) The Leap Year of 2004 I had not even heard of blogging and who knows if blogging will still be around in 2012. So I just had to post today.

Now for some more exciting news, my daughter Hannah has given me an award!

She didn't say what it was for exactly or who I was supposed to pass it on to. Seeing as it is called, "The Daily Dose" I will pass it on to three of those blogging friends that I read whenever they have something new to pop up on my Google Reader. There are many, but those who seem to post more frequently are Julie, Kathleen, and Jane. I can't actually stop with those three because I have so many blogging friends. So I also give this award to you. Thanks to everyone for being such great cyber friends.

I'm Too Busy for My Blog

Homeschool, substitute teaching, family life, church and various extra curricular activities are keeping me away from my blog. I'm still here. I'll write more later, maybe even tonight.

What are you too busy for?

Miscellaneous Monday

• John and Gabriel returned home early this morning! It is so nice to have our men back.
  
• I was able to accomplish many of my goals while they were gone - except the part about the paperwork . . .
• I will be posting more of my story each week - most likely on the weekends.
  
• Today is my one year blog-aversary on this blog.
• The Ultimate Blog Party starts in just a few weeks. This was a ton of fun last year. A great chance to meet new people, get people to notice your blog and win some nice prizes.

• I am going to be hosting a prize for the party. Something hand painted by my mom.

How was your Monday?

Blogger Reflection Award

I have been given an award by Patricia and Sheryl. They are both long time blogger friends with inspiring blogs themselves. Both are very worthy of this award and I am honored to be a recipient.

Here are the rules for passing this award on: The reason for the title is because this award should make you reflect on five bloggers who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy... of knowing them and being blessed by them.

1. Copy this post.
2. Reflect on five bloggers and write a least a paragraph about each one.
3. Make sure you link to this post so others can read it and the rules.
4. Go leave your chosen bloggers a comment and let them know they've been given the award.
5. Put the award icon on your site

Limiting the award to just five bloggers is tough. I would love to do more but time would never allow for that. Here are the ones that I have chosen:

Dana at Principled Discovery is not afraid to tell you exactly what she’s thinking. I like her insight on homeschooling, religion, the government and other topics. She even has another blog entitled “Backyard Birding”.

I met DK Raymer through the Thursday Thirteen meme. DK has a patriotic spirit all year long, reminding us to show our support of our troops by wearing red on Fridays. I love her quotes and pictures and learning more about her personal life. She had surgery this past spring that has made my broken pinky toe quite inconsequential.

Julie and I started blogging about the same time on Homeschool Blogger. Blogging is not the only thing we have in common. Our children are all close in age and we have both recently gone through a long distance move. Julie’s blog always has many things to reflect upon from door knobs to a relationship with Christ.

Gayle at Life with my Crew is another Homeschool Blogger friend who has moved to blogspot. Although she lives in my former state of Alabama, we never met in real life. There’s still a chance since my family is all there and I know we’ll go home to visit. I am encouraged by Gayle’s blog as she shares her daily life and leaves comments on mine.

Several of my blog friends moved to blog spot right before or after me. Kathleen aka Coffee Mom is one of them. She lives on the other side of the continent, in another country even, but she is a blogger that I’d love to meet in real life. In many ways, our lives are different but I find similarities too. Kathleen frequently posts pictures of her daily life happenings from birthday shoes to summer vacation fun.

Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!

I ROCK! I never would have thought that but now I know it’s true because Julie , DK and Carol have awarded me with the Rockin’ Girl Blogger Award. How fun! Thanks so much! Now, I am supposed to award five other bloggers. Here are my picks:

Drewe Llyn at Palms of His Hands – Who has been on the mission field and understands much of what I’ve been through.

Heather at Especially Heather – Who inspires me by her faith

Kim at The Continuing Adventures of Slug Mom – Who posts lots of fun pictures along with her entries about everyday life

Hannah at An American Girl - Whose fun loving personality shines through on her blog

You at Your Blog – Who I forgot because my brain doesn’t have enough memory

Bio Poem

We have had some busy days and some technical difficulties with our new server. So, there has been little time for blogging or anything else online. I thought I would share a bio poem that I did on my old blog when I first started blogging. The line about my fears was written when we were in Romania without libraries and bookstores. The first two on that line are real!

Karen
Optimistic
Wife to John and mother of Gabriel, Hannah and Holly
Lover of her family, reading and chocolate
Who feels good after drinking orange juice in the morning, playing games with her children and snuggling on the couch with her husband
Who needs the Lord, His mercy and His grace
Who gives what she cannot keep to gain what she cannot lose
Who fears snakes, frogs and running out of books to read
Who would like to see Hawaii once, New England once and California one more time
Book Lover
Woodward

Here's how to do your own:

First Name

Adjective

How You fit in the Family

Lover of (3 things)

Who feels (3 things)

Who needs (3 things)

Who gives (2 things)

Who fears (3 things)

Who would like to see (3 things)

Descriptor

Last name

Blog Comments

THURSDAY THIRTEEN EDITION #39

Don't you love comments? Here is a list of the last 13 people who stopped by my blog and left me a comment. Thanks!

1. Coffee Mom
2. Half Moon Girl
3. jblieu
4. Tammy
5. Amy
6. Blackpurl
7. Gayle
8. mipa
9. Nadine
10. Sandy
11. Janice Campbell
12. Drewe Llyn
13. Becky

GET THE THURSDAY THIRTEEN CODE HERE!!

A Visit from a Friend

I began my first blog nearly two years ago. I hadn’t been blogging long when I added Julie to my friends list. She was also fairly new to the blogosphere. Our blog comments evolved into e-mails and Instant Messages and then, when we were home on furlough in 2005 she invited us to drop by her house. On one of our Alabama – New York trips we decided to take her up on her offer. Julie is truly a brave soul to invite practical strangers to stay with her but she has a heart for missionaries and genuine hospitality. In fact, she never felt like a stranger to me but more like a kindred spirit.

Yesterday, she and her kids plus a couple of extras were able to stop by for a much too brief visit on their way to West Virginia. I am so glad that we are here in the states and we don’t have the Romania/US distance to deal with, but Texas is still too far away. I am thrilled that we are just about the halfway point for her on her journey and she was able spend some time with us. Who knows? Maybe some day we will live closer to each other. Until then we have the blogosphere to keep in touch.

Answers to Prayer

I have been asked how I can blog when so much is going on. My answer is “How can I not?” This has been an awesome stress reliever and I have been so encouraged by comments left. The hardest physical work is over. Now we have the difficult part of saying goodbye.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed. We have found a wonderful home for Chloe, my daughter’s cat. A missionary that we are friends with in another city has been wanting an indoor cat. Chloe will be perfect for them and we know they will love her and take good care of her. The Lord has blessed us with the sale of our van. Also, the timing is perfect. We will be able to keep the van up until Friday. We will be staying with a friend who will take us to Bucharest on Tuesday.

Do you believe in answered prayer? Stick around for a while and see how God works in our lives. I believe in miracles.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Ephesians 3:20

Welcome to My New Home

My life seems to be about moving. Packing up belongings, hauling them to another location and settling in to a new place has almost become a routine. Now, it not only applies to my physical life but my cyber life as well. Today I am officially packing up my old blog and moving here. It will probably take some time to adjust to my new surroundings, find the best spot for everything and get settled in. I am so glad you dropped by. Welcome to my new home!