I intended to post this yesterday, on the first day of May, but alas, I ran out of time! It’s hard to believe it’s May already! Of course, by the weather, it feels like February! We are having lots of strong gusts of wind and extremely low highs today – in the 40s! Weird. We are hoping that spring will really spring after this storm, but who knows! Oklahoma’s weather seems to be a lot like Arkansas’ weather – hang around five minutes and it will change. I’m so thankful that the weather wasn’t bad last Thursday, when we were moving in! God has been so good!

Gray clouds and cold weather outside today!

We have been here one week today, and are settling in nicely. My mother told me when I had my first child that the first day, the first week and the first month of having a new baby are the hardest. Once you pass those milestones, you will find yourself into a new rhythm and routine. I believe this saying also applies to moving! We’ve made it through the first day and now the first week. I’m hoping that by the first month, we will be more adjusted to our new home and new town.

I’m trying to get back to finishing up our school year. We started in July, so we are almost done. Lauren needs to finish up science, Leslie has some reading and math to do and Mitchell needs to work on finishing grammar. Laci needs to keep reading, since she has just learned this year. Terry bought me a cabinet for my school room – our old school room had a closet, and this one doesn’t, so I needed some storage space. He had to assemble it, but he’s a pro, so he did it in about two hours. I hope to start back next week.

Also on the homeschooling front, I’m planning out next year! As you can imagine, it’s quite an expense to educate four children, so I try to plan ahead and break up the spending over time. I made my first purchase for the next school year last week! I bought the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style writing seminar (for teachers) from the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I know it will help the kids, but since I love writing, I’m hoping it will help me also. My sweet friend, Stephanie, told me about this program and I’m thrilled to be giving it a try.

I’m still reading aloud with the kids, but due to packing, moving and unpacking, we’re not making progress too quickly. We’re reading On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I’m still in the middle of Truman, by David McCullough. In fact, Terry bought me my own copy as a surprise right before we moved! Now I can highlight! 🙂 We picked up our library cards on Tuesday and plan to go to the library for the first time today (weather permitting) – the kids are really excited! The Lawton Public Library is large and well stocked. I think we’ll have a good time.

Our library cards have a buffalo on them!

We located a park just a few blocks from the house. The kids can walk there and have had a fun time playing there. Lauren and Mitchell have been riding bikes and exploring our street (which is long).

I’m all caught up on the laundry! Hooray! I know everyone was worried about that! haha! The gas line was replaced on Monday and the washer drain was unclogged on Tuesday. What a blessing that was! It’s so nice to be able to wash dishes in hot water and wash clothes. The saying goes that we don’t appreciate things until we don’t have them, and that’s true for me, too.

Repairing the gas line was quite a job.

Yesterday, I did my first workout since tearing my tendon back in February. I just did an indoor walking DVD because I’m supposed to ease back into the high impact workout routine. I’m also working on eating healthier. We’ve eaten so much fast food that Terry and I both have put on a few pounds. Time to get to work on that.

We joined Bethel Baptist Church last Sunday. The people are so sweet and welcoming! They are making our transition so easy. I’m thankful to see how God has opened doors and directed our path. When we first felt that God was going to move us, we were afraid of making the wrong move. Our prayer for two years has been “Lord, please give us a plain path.” (Ps. 27:11) He has done that in all things – our church, our home, everything. I’m so grateful. It is sometimes scary to step out on faith and follow the Lord, but if HE is leading us, then we really have nothing to fear. You can never go wrong trusting God!

Thanks for reading my rambling post – I hope to have something more interesting to share soon! We appreciate your prayers. Please let me know if I can pray for you about something!

Blessings,