Saving taxpayer money

Daniel, my sophmore, just had a conversation with me that I have had two times before.  I have had the exact conversation with both of my older daughters.  It goes something like this:

Kid:  How much does it cost to go to public school?

Me: It’s free. They have some fees for activities but it basically doesn’t cost the students anything.

Kid: No really, tell me how much it is.

Me: I’m not kidding. Go ask Dad.  He will tell you the same.

Kid: Come on, just tell me.  Is it expensive?

Sometimes this will go a couple more rounds.

I just think it is interesting that all of my children assume that it costs the students a great deal of money to go to public school. But we all know that public school isn’t free. I especially know this because not only do I pay taxes to send all of my neighbor’s children to public school, then I turn around and then pay for my own kids’ curriculum. According to an HSLDA report in 2004, roughly 1/10 of the money is spent on homeschooling that is spent on public school kids.  And the results? The average homeschooler scores in the 80th percentile on standardized tests.

On the more personal side of things, I spend about $250 – $300 a year, on average per elementary/jr high school student. In the 2006-2007 school year, Colorado spent an average of $8,167 per pupil (and we are ranked 40th in the county) I have saved the citizens of Colorado a boatload of money.

Kissing

From the time Christina was a very little girl, she would always close her eyes and turn her head away whenever anyone kissed.  Even while watching television, kissing made her very embarrassed.  She was this way up until high school.  It was very entertaining to watch her.

And then she met Nate . . . . When filling out their pre-marital counseling forms, they listed kissing as their most favorite activity. Of course, Pastor John Leach announced this at their wedding.  (Which was INCREDIBLE, btw, despite the rain and the bear. I may talk about it in a later blog.)

So now, a strange thing is happening. Michaela gets embarrassed when she sees people kissing. She will turn away and hide her eyes.  I think it is strange that they both reacted the same way to kissing. None of our other kids did this. Stina and Michaela have so many similarities.  This, of course, terrifies me. There is not a person in this world who gets more joy out of torturing me than Stina does.

Michaela had her first overnighter at Stina’s house last night.  They both had a ball. And to think, I was afraid that the 18 year difference between them would stop them from being close. Is the world really ready for a mini version of Christina? Am I?

Wedding Photos

I am so impressed with the photographer, Jenny Alders Smith, Stina found for her wedding. They took some lovely pics outdoors before the wedding (and before the rain). We haven’t seen all of the photos from the wedding yet but Jenny post some on her blog.  Some are photos from the rehearsal dinner and others are from when the wedding party went downtown before the ceremony.

Check out this link:

http://aldersphotography.blogspot.com/2009/06/christina-nate-denver-colorado-wedding.html

and this one:

http://aldersphotography.blogspot.com/2009/05/christina-nate-denver-colorado.html

Another Teenager!

Today, our family has just what every family needs . . . another teenager. Sarah turns thirteen today. Sarah is such an incredible person. I am so grateful for her.  I have had the privilege of watching God play an active role in her life. She has such a big, soft heart and she uses it to show love to so many people. She is always helping me with the little ones. I am so grateful that I can always depend on her.

She is a constant source of blessing to me, our family and her friends. I am very excited to watch and be part of all the things that God has in store for her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!

And, yes, he robbed the cradle

I want to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband Gary.  He turned 48 years old today.

Here are the top 48 reasons why I am the most blessed wife in the world:

1. He opens his heart to people.

2. He loves to tease me – and I love being teased.

3. He is an incredible spiritual leader for both me and our children.

4. He loves God with all his heart.

5. He is very, very active.

6. He helps to make me a better person.

7. He is even more attractive now than the day we were married.

8. He has awesome eyes.

9. He is a great softball player.

10. He is a man of his word.

11. He is faithful.

12. He has integrity even when no one is looking.

13. He works hard – all the time.

14. He plays hard.

15. He brings me flowers on a regular basis.

16. He appreciates what I do for him.

17. He pours himself into his children.

18. Even when he can’t completely understand his teenage daughters, he still tries to understand them.

19. He left at 6:15am to take Daniel to his hockey game yesterday while I slept.

20. He plays all kinds of sports with our children.

21. He loves to take Michaela with him wherever he is going, whenever he can.

22. He loves God’s word.

23. He loves to worship.

24. He is inviting and outgoing.

25. Even though he is very competitive, he is a good sport.

26. He encourages people.

27. He stays “plugged in” with his guy friends.

28. He has an incredible grandmother.

29. His family has always welcomed and loved me.

30. He encourages me.

31. He is interesting.

32. We never run out of things to talk about.

33. He is an entrepreneur.

34. He is not afraid to take risks – but he is wise in the risks he takes.

35. He is very interested in Christina’s wedding plans.

36. He pays very close attention to the things that are going on in our children’s lives.

37. He is supportive of my dreams.

38. He knows what my dreams are.

39. He is lots and lots of fun.

40. He does the dishes every day.

41. He lives by grace not by law.

42. I can always count on him to do the right thing.

43. He is full of ideas.

44. When I am weak, he is strong.

45. He is playful.

46. He is joyful.

47. He is forgiving.

48. Making a list like this is easy for me because he is a great guy.

Proposal Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago today Gary asked me to marry him. I said yes. I can’t imagine my life without him. It hasn’t always been easy but it has always been worth it. He is an incredible man and I am so blessed that he is mine.

Incredible Gifts!

Our children have recently given some incredible gifts to us.  For Christmas, they all chipped in and bought a night in Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs for just Gary and me. They also gave a gift certificate to us from Olive Garden. So in the middle of January we had almost 24 hours together, no children – just rest and each other. Wow. We had the best time. We talked and laughed and just enjoyed not hearing, “Mom, can I . . . ” or “Mom, can you . . .” It was such a blessing to us.

Then, for Gary’s upcoming 48th birthday, they chipped in again and bought tickets to the Chris Tomlin concert for Gary and me. It was, hands down, the most incredible concert that I have ever attended. It touched something deep inside my soul.

I absolutely love being the mother of six. I truly treasure every moment – I have even learned to treasure the moments that aren’t so pleasant. But, these two little respites from responsibility were exactly what we needed. It is like our children knew how demanding they can be and gave us the gift of time without them.

And the lyrics from last night will not leave my mind or heart -

“My chains are gone,

I’ve been set free

My God, my Savior has ransomed me

And like a flood His mercy rains

Unending love, Amazing Grace.”

The Lump is Gone!

Three weeks ago we discovered a lump the size of a small marble near Michaela’s carotid artery.  After having six children and seeing almost everything, it is a very rare occasion when I feel the need to take one of them to the doctor. (We try as many common sense/homeopathic solutions as we can.) But this time I insisted on seeing the doctor immediately.  The doctor determined that it was a very swollen lymph node (not related to her artery) and started her on a round of strong antibiotics.

We did this for a week and then waited for another week.  When we took her back to the doctor, the lump had only gone down a little bit.  So they sent us to have her sinuses x-rayed. Even though she had no symptoms, it turned out that she had a sinus infection.  The doctor prescribed two more weeks of the same antibiotic.   I decided to do a daily sinus rinse in addition to the meds. It was a challenge, to say the least, to preform this on  a three-year-old! When we started the rinses, the lump started to decrease. When I checked her neck it this morning, it was completely gone! We are very, very relieved.

I am going to call the doctor on Monday and see if we can discontinue the antibiotics. I know that you are supposed to always finish a round of antibiotics once they are started so you don’t develop an immunity to them or so the bugs don’t become immune to the drugs or something like that. But I hate to give it to her if she doesn’t need it. I am so blessed that all of my children are basically healthy and we have had so very few real health issues.

A Budd Night Out

We had a birthday dinner tonight for Elissa.  It has been an exciting month for her; she finished high school, bought her first car with cash (yesterday) and her eighteenth birthday is in six days. I love family birthday dinners. We always go to the restaurant of the birthday person’s choosing. (Unless, of course, Gary bribes the child into going where he wants to go.) Then we all go around and each family member tells the birthday person what he or she means to us. I treasure those times. It is so wonderful to hear the different perspectives of each member of our family. It is my favorite family tradition.

And then we did something that will probably not become a family tradition.

We all piled in the van for the ride home – there aren’t enough seats when everyone is there, so we usually have one or two on the floor. (If the children’s safety-conscious fireman godfather, Dan Hoff, is reading this, I apologize. Most of the time we take more than one car so everyone can buckle.) Next, Gary put in an Amy Grant oldies CD for the children’s listening pleasure. Nate is now very excited to have Gary’s help in picking the music for the wedding. Many members were happy to blast out the lyrics to “Mountain Top” and “Old Man’s Rubble”.  The children were enjoying themselves so much that we decided to go look at Christmas lights just to extend our time together.

The newest member of our family

Nate Noe came to Gary and I earlier this month and asked if we would give our blessing for him to marry Christina. We had been closely observing him for quite some time now and were delighted to give this to him. He proposed to her tonight and she said, “YES”! Years ago Gary and I wrote out blessings for each of our children. We included a part in those blessings that described qualities that their future spouses would have. In Nate, God has given us everything we wanted for our precious little girl and more. So now, I present to you . . . .

THE TOP TEN REASONS THAT WE ARE EXCITED

TO ADD NATE NOE TO OUR FAMILY

10. In the unlikely event that I get tired of making fun of the Buffs, I can now make fun of soccer players.

9. Sarah will get to move out of the closet underneath the stairs and back into the room that she surrendered to Christina.

8. I no longer have to wander around Home Depot and try to get a salesperson to help me. I will not have to use the word “thingamajig” again. I will just drag Nate home, have him look at whatever it is that I am trying to explain, have him come up with the proper name of the part and then have him take me to the isle in which I can find it. This will save time and lessen frustration. I am always interested in those two things.

7. When my children start chanting, “Seven! Seven! Seven!” (which is their strange and demented way of asking for another sibling), I can just point at Nate and let them know that I don’t have to get pregnant again in order give them a brother.

6. Our whole family has pretty much resigned itself to just letting Christina have her way on pretty much everything. Nate has not given up in this area (yet). Go Nate!

5. If I had to line my children up from the mildest to the wildest, Nate would be closer to the milder side. This should help the noise level in our home.

4. I now have the guarantee that my grandchildren will be good looking.

3. He brings out the best in Stina. His attention-to-detail personality matches well with her big picture mentality. Together they will bless an untold number of people.

2. My daughter is deliriously happy. This makes me deliriously happy. I can stand some delirious happiness.

1. Nate passionately loves Jesus Christ with his whole heart. He knows the Bible. He is a godly man with integrity. He has an intimate and real relationship with his creator. Who could want more than that?