Chicago Marathon - part 2

For those that want more pictures of the Marathon, here they are! These were not taken by me, but by others along the race. To see my pictures look two blogs down. I am bias, but they are good! 8-)

Here are some more of Jason on the race!

Have I Been Educated?

HAVE I BEEN EDUCATED? by Carolyn Caines

If I learn my ABCs, can read 600 words per minute, and can write with perfect penmanship, but have not been shown how to communicate with the Designer of all language... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can deliver an eloquent speech and persuade you with my stunning logic, but have not been instructed in God's wisdom... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I read Shakespeare and John Locke and can discuss their writings with keen insidght, but have not read the greatest of all books -- the Bible -- and have no knowledge of its personal importance... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I have memorized addition facts, multiplication tables, and chemical formulas, but have never been disciplined to hide God's Word in my heart... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can explan the law of gravity and Einstein's theory of relativity, but have never been instructed in the unchangeable laws of the One Who orders our universe... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can classify animals by their family, genus and species, and can write a lengthy scientific paper that wins an award, but have not been introduced to the Maker's purpose for all creation, ...I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can recite the Getty burg Address and the Preamble to the Constitution, but have not been informed of the hand of God in the history of our country... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can play the piano, the violin, six other instruments, and can write music that moves men to tears, but have not been taught to listen to the Director of the universe and worship Him, ...I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can run cross-country races, star in basketball and do 100 push-ups without stopping, but have never been shown how to bend my spirit to do God's will, ... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I can identify a Picasso, describe the style of da Vinci, and even paint a portrait that earns an A+, but have not learned that all harmony and beauty comes from a relationship with God, ...I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I were to graduate with a perfect 4.0 and am accepted at the best university with a full scholarship, but have not been guided into a career of God's choosing for me, ...I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

If I become a good citizen, voting at each election and fighting for what is moral and right, but have not been told of (or believe) the sinfulness of man and his hopelessness without Christ, ... I HAVE NOT BEEN EDUCATED.

However, if one day I see the world as God sees it, and come to know Him, Whom to know is life eternal, and glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for me, THEN I HAVE BEEN EDUCATED!

I found this poem and loved it point and purpose, and it is a great reminder to me as I teach my children that there is more than being the top of their class (although that is a good thing to be too). It reminds me to keep my priority straight throughout the day and I thought I would share it will you.

Chicago Marathon - World Vision

This weekend my husband did such a wonderful thing...ran a Marathon to raise money for kids in Africa! Last year it was to help the kids with AIDS in Africa, this year it was to raise money to supply them with clean drinking water in Zambia. He did a great job running it in 6 hours and 5 minutes. The kids and I were able to go and cheer him on at 3 miles, 11 miles, 21 miles (in Chinatown) and the finish line. The kids did great cheering him on and they walked to all the different places, after I even had to wake them up at 6 am to get downtown soon enough to get a good spot to cheer him on. Jason had a few friends join him in the cause this year and it was a great time for them all. Sidney even surprised us all and in his first marathon at almost 50 years old ran it in 3 hours and 51 minutes! Go Sidney! At 11 miles he looked like he was out for a fun jog...it was so cute to see him bouncing up and down! Next year Jason is planning on doing it again and I am planning on doing the 1/2 marathon so if you want to join us to help kids in Africa and get healthy too...come and join our team!!! Go World Vision! Check out World Vision at http://www.worldvision.com/ and if you want to sign up to join me with the half marathon check out http://www.chicagohalfmarathon.com/

Once Upon a Time...

So we are studying ancient Egypt and read about the one of the first fairy tales, Gilgamesh and the lion. So for one of our project it suggested the kids to come up with there own fairy tales. I thought I would put them on here so that you can sit back and enjoy!

Pirates at Sea by John Platt

The pirates were out at sea. They were looking for the treasure, but they couldn't find it. All the nice guys hid in trees because they were so scared. The pirates searched and searched, they couldn't find the treasure anywhere. The captian said, "I think I know where the treasure is!" "Where?" said the crew. "At Sunny Island" he said. "Let's go, sir!" they shouted. So they went to Sunny Island. They searched on Sunny Island for the U V W X Y Z, the X was the one they really wanted to find. When they went there all the letters were there but the X. "This must be the wrong island" said one of the pirates. Then another pirate spotted the X far away on another island, so they got on their ship and sailed to the other island. They ran to the X as fast as they could. They dug and dug and dug until one of the pirates hit something. Could it be? Yes, it is the treasure! "Yeah," they all said, " we found it after searching miles and miles and miles and miles and miles. We finally found it!" When they opened it they found tons of money. The nice guys suddenly came out of the trees. They fought back and forth, back and forth until finally the pirates won the battle! The End

The Fairy had a baby by Emily Platt

Once upon a time the fairy had a baby on Sunday. The mermaid said, "I love your pretty baby." Then she said, "Let's go to the park with your pretty baby." Then a princess came along to the park to see the pretty baby on her way back from school. Then the princess' mom, the queen, came to the park to see her husband. The king had been teaching the princess. Then a prince came to see the pretty baby, he had followed the king and queen. Then they had some beach time and then the fairy was swinging the baby in the water. They all went for dinner and lunch. They had a big feast where they ate and ate. The baby started to cry because the baby was allergic to the water and the mother did not know. They put her to bed to get good rest and in the morning she was not sick at all. They they had her birthday party! The End

Princess of Fairy by Kiley Platt

Once upon a time a girl was walking to school and she knew just what to do. She went over and did her math before her teacher came because her mom told her to so she would be helpful. When the teacher came she did her lessons. Then she came home and her little sister came and gave her a big hug because she was excited her big sister came home. It was lunch time, they ate berad and went to the park, they ate their lunch at the park. Then mom said, "Girls, it is time to go, we have to go bring flowers to Grandpa because he is sick." When they gave him the flowers Grandpa said, "Thank you." Then they had dinner.

Lizzie and Peach and Sarah by Karli Platt

Once upon a time the princess was going on a walk to the store to get some food. While at the store she broke the jelly jar. Then they picked out some other jellies and took them to the farm and ate them up. Then they went to the fair and went and got some candy with chocolate and strawberry. They put it in a bowl for dogs and cats. Then they went to bed and got some rest. When they woke up they got some cereal for dogs and cats. The End

I hope you enjoyed these priceless tales. I did and I was so proud of them and their creativity. I wish my computer was working better so I could get the illustrations on here. I will try at a later date. I hope sometime soon you have a chance to sit down and just take a moment to think about what your fairy tale would be of. We would love to hear!

Me and my girls

So Fridays are girls day! John is off to One Day Enrichment for classes and it is just me and my girls. We catch up on school first thing to get it out of the way and then it is girl time. Last week we cleaned together and they loved it. We surprised Jason and John with it when they came home (Jason is teaching P.E. and logic at ODE). The girls had so much fun. They cleaned the upstairs all by themselves and I did the downstairs. After that I taught them how to mop. They were so excited that I let them mop. It was quite fun! We loved surprising the boys with a spic and span house. It felt fun doing that together. Today since my girls love "new" clothes and shoes I decided to sort clothes and get out the next size hand-me-downs we had. They loved it. I let them pick the drawer to reorganize the clothes and they couldn't believe it. Then after we sorted through the old clothes it was time to bring out the "new" ones. Then on to the shoes. The box of hand-me-down shoes were pulled out and we went through the old shoes and got rid of ones too small, etc. Then after lunch we decided our surprise for the boys would be blueberry muffins. So we baked. They felt so special and they even got to pour the batter into the muffin tins (usually they lose interest during that part, but they really wanted to try it themselves). It is fun having girl time. I can't wait to think about what to do next week!

Our new little hobby...playing the stock market...

So, it has always been my dream to just "play the stock market." Ever since freshman year in high school when our economics class had us each pick a stock and follow it I have wanted to try it on my own. Of course, in high school my stock was terrible and lost a lot during my time tracking it, but it still seemed like fun. I had mentioned it to my husband a few times through out the years when the market has done bad. "We should just put in $100.00, pick a low stock that we think will do well later and just do it." We would chuckle and not do it. Well, on Monday he came to me and said, "Let's do it!" The stocks were so low so we decided to go for it. Had I gone with my instincts on Worldcom I would have done great a few years back, oh well! Here is our chance! Anyway, of course, we have no idea what to look for, but we finally decided to pick AIG. Crazy as it sounds we really think that it will come back up. So, we bought 40 shares at $2.50 a share on Sharebuilder.com and and we are in the stock market. As of right now our shares are worth about $4.00 a share so we have already earned a little bit. We decided that it would be a little hobby of ours to check on our baby every once in a while (ok, it has been fun checking on it a few times each day)...our pre-marriage counseling told us to make sure that we have a lot of fun doing things together. We just found a new one. Win or lose it is fun playing. We are even having the kids keep track for fun and learning about the stock market. Crazy, I know, but don't you know our family??? 8-)

Time with GG

Here are some pictures of a recent time with GG (Grandma Georgia). The kids had a lot of fun!

Life seems a little crazy these past two weeks.

I just feel like the past two weeks have been a furry blur. This morning I went in for my CT Scan. Thankfully, the headaches have not been as often as before so I am hoping for a no show on the results. Also, this morning I had to have an ultrasound of my left leg because I started to get pain there on Saturday and by last night the pain was shooting down my leg and my veins were showing stronger than usual (I could actually see them) and my knee and calf were swollen. So the doctor sent me in for an ultrasound, came back negative!!! Thank goodness that was a little nerve racking. So I am still in pain and not sure what is going on, but nothing serious it seems. As you can tell this is just a really random blog, but that is kind of how I am feeling right now. Last week was crazy because of a need that arose for someone in our community that I was helping them with. In all of these things school has gotten done, but we have fallen behind a bit. I am ready to get back on track, I don't want to drop the ball on the kids too! Thankfully, Jason is amazing and ultimately GOD is amazing and is our strength through times like these. I praise Him for that because without Him I would be a bigger mess than I am right now. 8-) Hopefully, by my next blog my head can get back on track and so can life! Till then...oh the CUBS made the playoff!!!! Totally excited! GO CUBS!