The end of the school year is always so busy! There are library books to find and return, teacher gifts to purchase, class parties to attend! All of this can be really time consuming and tiring! It seems as though the kids are bouncing off the walls! They are ready for the year to be OVER!
My beautiful, Amelia, graduated from Kindergarten on Monday! I don't necessarily agree with the notion of an official "Graduation" ceremony (with cap/gown & diploma), but I must admit, it was a lovely program and I was definitely a proud mama! Her final report card was excellent and I'm very pleased with the progress she made this year! She is reading completely on her own! I know for a fact that I didn't read until First Grade!
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| Amelia on Graduation Day with Grandpa & Grandma! |
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| Amelia and Sister Clare on Graduation Day! |
Since her graduation was on Monday....she's been out of school all week! Nathan and Olivia don't get out until Friday! Although I have enjoyed some one on one time with Amelia this week, I wish they were all out at the same time! This can make for a very stressful morning when one gets to stay home (and isn't sick) and the others don't. I literally have to PUSH them out the door!
Dan and I have been working on our finances and we are making some major changes here. For one thing, we are going to get rid of cable! We had made the decision a few months ago...but honestly, we wanted to wait until the series finale of LOST! Now that it's over....we are going to take the plunge. I think we just hit another billing cycle but by next month at this time, there will be VERY LITTLE television in this house! This will be just as hard for me as it will be for the kids, but I believe it's the right thing to do for our budget and the right thing to do for our souls. There will be less distraction, less inappropriate commercials and a lot more time for each other and for the things of God!
Another thing that will be changing is our phone/internet service. We found that we were paying a huge amount for this service that we really didn't need. We will no longer have messaging services, caller ID, call waiting or unlimited long distance. We will have a regular answering machine and if we're on the phone when someone else calls......they'll hear a BUSY SIGNAL! We'll have to see how the long distance thing goes...for now. Two of Dan's siblings as well as my sister, all live far enough away that it requires long distance calls. In addition, some of my very best friends live out of state. We will try this for awhile to see how it goes but we may need to be flexible with this as it's important for us to keep in touch with our family and friends.
When I escaped from the hospital on Friday, I came home and found out that my sister was also in the hospital. She has been having some major health issues for several years. I am hopeful that they can get to the bottom of all of her pain....both physical and emotional....and have her on the road to healing soon. She asked me to put her on my prayer list and so, I thought I would ask you...my wonderful online friends, if you would pray for her also. In addition to my sister, I have another dear friend who is struggling with metastatic breast cancer. She faces an uphill battle at the moment and she needs some peace about the very serious decisions she is having to make. All prayers are appreciated!
Blessings to all of you!!
7 comments:
Several things...
1st, I received the book today. Thank you very much for sending it to me. I look forward to sitting down and reading it later tonight.
2nd, We do not pay for long distance or any of those other services either. We bought a $9.00 old school answering maching at WalMart and use it. Any long distance calls we make with our free minutes on our cell phones. It's amazing how easy those decisions were to make. Plus, no interruptions during a call. We get enough of those as it is.
3rd, I'll be praying for you and your sister's pain and your friend's decisions. God bless.
We have no phone bill at all anymore. We purchased an ooma, which was pricey (about $250) but now we have no landline. We pay $80total combined for satellite for TV and for internet. That's it. My mother-in-law just did the same thing. Anyway, that's our change.
Praying for your sister, of course!
Nancy,
we stopped our cable service over 15 years ago now. While it was hard at first and sometimes I do miss tv, it has been very good for our family. We do have a tv that we use to watch dvds on occasion and now that our kids are older and have their own laptops, they can watch shows online. It was a good move for us.
We do have caller ID, but no other phone services. We use our cells for long distance. I have a good friend who uses Skype for all his long distance calls.
I am praying for your sister and your friend.
Count on my prayers too.
My kids finish on the 4th, 11th, and 18th, respectively. I'm sure the Big Ones will tease the Little One mercilessly when he is still in school and they are not. Yikes.
Nancy, I am so sorry that your sister is in ill health, and for your friend battling breast cancer. I will email our Prayer Warriors immediately and begin my own prayers for them.
If we must, we can find many things that are luxuries and that we can do without. I hate the you are having to make the sacrafice, but that seems to be the way of our country these days. I pray the Lord will guide you and bless you with his Graces.
Peace and Love,
Abbey
prayers for your sister. Good for you getting rid of cable. Here it is called paid TV and we haven't ever had it. Every so often we get a salesman on our door saying don't you want access to lots of educational programs for your children? Last time they used that line I said to Steve after, is a child really going to choose to watch some educational show when they can have cartoons any time of the day?
We recently changed our mobile and home phone features and have lowered our bill by about $20.00 a month.
I don't remember how I found your blog, but I love it! Just wanted to say hi and that I have an Amelia too!
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