Enough is Enough

There is nothing more that can get in the way of my life like a cold can. And it certainly has gotten in my way this week. The sneezes have been constant and the itchy nose has been enough to drive me c.r.a.z.y!!! Enough is truly enough! I am ready to move on.
.

Thankfully I am feeling much better today and it's a good thing. I have a LOT of catching up to do!

.

Working around my cold, we managed to have a pretty productive week. My cousin Andy was down for his spring break and helped out tremendously. He took Colton to the movies, the kids to their tennis lesson, and just played with them and kept them busy while I acted like a sloth.

.

Josh and I even managed to sneak out for a date night which was a rare and special treat for us. After eating at one of our favorite Thai restaurants, we went to the movies to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was extremely intense (something that I'm not used to these days in movies) but really, really good!

.

Yesterday I took the kids on a field trip to the Environmental Studies Center and although I was feeling awfully sick, we managed to have a really great time. The kids got to dig for bloodworms and later feed them to the fish at the center. They met a sea turtle named Boomerang, a shark, an alligator and lots and lots of other sea creatures and fish. This was their first time allowing homeschoolers to come into the center for a field trip as they are run by the public school district who are not overly supportive of homeschoolers. So this was a huge deal for us! I was especially excited because this was a field trip that I enjoyed going on when I was a child. Although I've brought them to the center myself to go on a little self guided tour, I just assumed we would never be able to go on an official educational field trip led by their teachers. Just another example of how homeschooling is becoming more and more excepted and encouraged. It's truly awesome!

.

I was reminded how blessed us homeschoolers are these days after attending a homeschool conference in Vero a few weeks ago and hearing this couple speak. They are truly pioneers of homeschooling considering they began teaching the first of their 14 children at home back in 1980 before it was even legal to homeschool in their state. They used to have their children hide under their beds whenever the doorbell would ring during school hours. They were even prosecuted once by the school board superintendent for homeschooling. Now one of their oldest son's job is to set this same superintendent's yearly salary. How ironic and rewarding that must be?

.

Anyhow, I am looking forward to getting back on track after this awful cold that I am slowly defeating, and I know that my future holds lots of laundry and cleaning for the weekend. How does yours look?

{I had to wonder if these jared specimens were the same ones that were there when I was a child}

{their teacher Mrs. Fowler is one of Aunt Kelly's friends}

{the older kids in the distance were getting ready to go seining while the younger ones collected bloodworms}

{can you see it? we had a whole bucketful by the time we finished}

{looking at the shark and other fish}

{I couldn't help but think, this is how I feel many days ;D}

.

Hope you have an awesome weekend! We have an extra special package that we can't wait to be delivered so stay tuned! We are just so very excited about this!