I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth but golly we have been busy.I just don’t know where to begin.
I finally talked dh into having carpets cleaned (again).They were really bad and truly need replacing but no money for that so PTL my MIL loaned us her newly bought Bisell and we are getting our money’s worth on that machine trying to do the entire house.It is a crazy mess with furniture all over the place stuffed into different rooms but I know it will be worth it in the end.
Unfortunately when we started to move furniture we discovered that we had a mouse problem!ARGH - I sorta suspected it but didn’t realize how bad it was until we started disturbing their homes UCK!Traps set and mouse problem gone we started realizing that the walls in our house were really bad too and needed cleaning.I started scrubbing walls and quickly realized that some areas just needed paint and the areas around the central heating vents weren’t coming clean.After speaking to a few people we realized that our vents probably needed cleaning before we painted soooooo $300 later we have some very cleaned vents LOL and we still need to paint.But man those vents were nasty and I’m so glad we did it even though I think the kids would rather we have bought the dishwasher that the money was intended for.Now we will continue with the plan of cleaning carpets, patching and painting walls and save some more money for that dishwasher.I doubt that any of this will be done in time for the holidays but at least it is getting done.
As Ronco would say, but wait there’s more…
The first half of the soccer season is over and we now take a break until about February but how I ended up baking cupcakes for BOTH my boys end of season parties is still mind boggling.So 80 cupcakes later and a cramped hand from “planting” all that green frosting grass I can officially say soccer is done for the winter (woo hoo -- I was sooo ready for it to be done).
Now we are preparing for the Flamenco dance show that also includes selling luminaries, a silent auction with donations being supplied by the scholarship parents (oh joy - we’re one of the scholarship parents) and the dance studio is moving to a new location sooooo if I’m not home you can find me with the Flamenco folks LOL
Hmm? What else?Chess has started again and I am once again co-captain for the team (how do I ever get myself involved in these things?).But thankfully dh helps more with that so I don’t have to go to ALL the chess matches.
We finally made some decisions about some things in the house that were taking up too much space like these huge vinyl gymnastic pillows that I had made for the kiddos when they were smaller.They have out grown them and I tried selling them but we ended up donating them to our library so my kids can still use them at the library too LOL
We packed 12 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.That is waaaay down from the 25 we did last year but this year we had much bigger boxes and money is so much tighter.
Oh and we have gotten rid of a bunch more stuff to the goodwill and some nasty mattresses that someone gave the boys but they were so gross & worn out that I couldn’t let them sleep on them even if they were free (one was moldy!!).
And in the mist of all this chaos and confusion I realized that I had only planned school through the end of October??? soooo I decided to sit down and get the basic plans done for the rest of the year and then go ahead and start on 2009!!!Yes Virginia, I get very side tracked but next years plans are coming together nicely.I hope to have those plans done & bound on Saturday (this are not indepth -- mostly calendar stuff but that is better than what I had at the end of October LOL).We’ll see --depends on how sidetracked I get between now and then LOL.
The RAW diet got moved around with the furniture (in other words I stopped doing it for the last two weeks).I have discovered that I don’t like eating raw food when it is cold outside but in the last two weeks I am starting to notice some health problems returning, one of which are my 3 day migraines so I may have to figure out how to eat raw in the winter time whether I like it or not.
So that’s why I haven’t been around and yes, things have slowed down for me compared to when soccer season was around LOL
but it was sooooooooooo GOOD! My dh took me today (for our anniversary) to see the movie Fireproof and all I can say was PTL!!!! it was AWESOME (and the perfect anniversary movie LOL). I laughed, I cried, my dh laughed and cried and we praised the L-rd for the work He is doing through Sherwood Films. This film didn't just present the gospel but it showed solidarity in marriage and how to set aside addictions for true love. I'm reccommending you see it at a "full pop" price because $$ is what hollywood sees and I just want this to take the world by storm. So many need to hear it's message. I pray that it helps our world see their need for a Savior. So, so, so GOOD!
I've been working on putting up 100 lbs of apples which are far from done. Flamenco is preparing for Christmas recital and annual sales that they do so "my" participation there has increased ten fold (my son is on scholarship so the parents are asked to do fund raising and help with all that is needed). Piano is also preparing for a Christmas recital. Then one of the little boys on our soccer team fell and broke his collar bone so he is now out for the season and now I'm not sure if all the work I just finished doing getting ready for the end of the season tournament was for not, including a scrimage I just set up for our boys to play a challenging team since they are currently 4-0 and nobody has scored on us -- never mind that the broken collar bone boy is one of our better players -- it is all such a bummer for the poor kid and our team but life will go on at the pace it likes LOL
What else? Dh found a car bumper to replace the one I hit but the nice man was still so nice that I'm just wondering if that is what I was supposed to learn from the whole situation. Dh's birthday celebration was only so-so because the poor man is just too tired (still haven't bought the bday tennis shoes that he asked for so he didn't even get a present). Rosh Hashanah was preped for and then dh was called into work so we just sorta talked about it without the complete celebration that I planned for. Our week long hot air balloon fiesta is in town so that means I have tons of out of town guests staying in various places that we will visit in the next week and I'm sorta afraid to even plan anything for our anniversary which is next weekend just knowing that something will come up, dh will be just too tired (or have to work -- he also got a new boss today so now he has to deal with that too) and I don't want to put so much effort into another something (bday and Rosh Hashanah) for it to get scratched again --- okay so I am going back to peeling apples. Send a search party if I'm not done soon LOL
This was just so poignant to me that I had to save it. It is a reminder that my freedom isn't something I should ever take for granted and that my presidential choice WILL and should always reflect that.
Well, today was better but I'm still pretty shook up from the fender bender yesterday. I don't like driving anyhow so this just makes matters worse, especially since I tend to beat myself up over the whole incident. I had a good nights sleep last night and a long nap this afternoon both of which I needed - sleep is such a good stress reliever LOL. What I reallllly need is a dozen or so chocolate chip cookies LOL --- this was sooooo NOT the week to start eating 75% raw LOL My dh spoke to the gentleman yesterday and he was still soooo nice that it made me realize that if the world would just be NICE we wouldn't have nearly as many problems in it. And the wonderful G-d moment in this all is that my kiddos have stopped thinking mostly of themselves -- they very happily said that washing dishes by hand and saving up our dishwasher money again they could live with (Ha! like they have a choice). They also on their own accord have stopped playing and fooling around in the car while I am driving, finally realizing how dangerous that is and everyone in my family is being very loving to one another so maybe this seeing G-d's glory despite the bent up bumper.
I'm grateful my dh just hugged me and said it will be okay.
I'm grateful that my kiddos did the same.
I'm extremely grateful nobody is hurt except maybe my ego.
& I'm grateful that we have dishwasher money saved that can now pay for this.....
Can you guess it? AUNT FLO WRECKED MY CAR!!! lol
No, it was a minor fender bender that was my fault because I just plain wasn't paying attention and I ran into the car in front of me. We will have to replace the other bumper (our bumper is worse but probably won't be replaced). And PTL nobody in the other car was hurt either but golly if this were the only thing in the long list of bad things that have been happening lately then I think I could handle it but man, it is all those little things that pile up that just get me down. I'm just going to bed and hopefully I will get a good nights sleep so when I wake up maybe this will all just be a really bad dream.
Please pray that the other bender isn't too expensive for us to replace and that the man, who was very nice during the accident, remains the same with no changes of mind that we will just pay for this out of pocket so it doesn't mess up insurance and whatnot.
Since my deep sea diver discovery, I started to take notice of how often this is starting to happen. Here is how this mornings conversation got totally sidetracked, turning a 15 minute assignment into an hour:
"Mama, did you know that I am the only person in the world that can travel to the future?" This is said while 1ds11y is SUPPOSED to be writing and gluing in timeline pictures in his Book of Centuries. 1ds11y has just glued & written in Beijing Olympics for August 2008 in his BoC. The kids like to play a silly (sidetracked) game with their BoC's where they touch a certain event and "magically" they are transported to that time and event. Often times they have to go and save the world from catastrophe or each other LOL. 1ds11y is the only one this morning who (so far) has something written down for a future event.
Next question: "Mama, where is the winter Olympics going to be?"
"I'm not sure son. I'm not sure if they have picked a city yet – it is a long process that the city has to apply for, now finish your BoC" trying to avoid the discussion – if I give the empression that 'I don't know' then USUALLY the topic is dropped.
"Well, they should have it in Albuquerque."
"Albuquerque isn't big enough"
"How come?''
"We don't have enough hotels and facilities to house all the Olympians and the various support people, let alone the spectators and press."
"How many people would come?"
"Well, think about how many countries there are in the world. There is a possibility of having one athlete for each event from each country and usually there are entire teams coming from just one country for each event."
"So how many countries are there in the world"
"Son, finish your BoC."
"Okay, while I do this, go look it up K? What country would you want to have the winter Olympics in?"
Mom googles counties in the world slightly curious herself "195 give or take" trying to avoid the second question.
"What is the give or take?"
Mother goes into a discussion about who is recognized as an independent country and explains that other countries (not just the US) have territories that are not technically considered an individual country, so on and so forth. "Now can we please get back to finishing your school work?"
"okay, but would they ever have the Olympics in a territory?" Mom gives the evil eye and doesn't answer.
A few minutes later 1ds11y asks "what is today's date?" runs to computer to check sees picture of un-contacted tribe in Brazil and decides that should go in BoC then asks "where exactly is this tribe? How many other tribes do you think there are undiscovered? What if you were walking along in the Amazon and you walked into this tribe? Why are two red and one black? What do they eat?
"I DON'T KNOW!!!! -- they are UNCONTACTED!!!"
"Do you think they would eat you (WHAT? and WHERE? did he come up with THAT!!!) … and, on and on and on and I wonder why my head is spinning at the end of the day!!! LOL
I know that I shouldn't give in to EVERY question that he has, but part of me thinks that this is an important thought process and I need to listen and answer his questions especially since I know that one day he won't ask the questions (at least to me). Never mind that this particular time it is only the ONE son asking the questions, when I have all three going it is just plain crazy off the wall 'how did we get here?' conversations with absolutely NO school getting done or off on some crazy bunny trail that is good and bad. And I wonder why my terms school work isn't finished?
NOTE: We have since discovered,like the rest of he world that this existence of this tribe has been known since 1910 and that the news story was basically leaked as truth, to disclose the danger the logging industry has to these peoples. Shhh! Please don't tell my children this or we will have another 2hr dissertation on the effects of logging in the rainforrest and the global effects it has on penguins!!!!
Well you just knew I would have a melt down eventually with the schedule of events that I have had going on LOL.I stayed sick with the bronchitis/flu thing for 6 weeks and I am still coughing off and on.Dh is utterly exhausted and trying hard not to get what I had.Kids have been sick off and on – cough, stomach and just being completely irrational and unreasonable.Thankfully another commitment – well actually two – have fallen off the list and hopefully we can get back to schooling and catching up with ourselves.
There are still so many things on the ToDo list:reclaim my house, de-clutter the entire house, set up boys bedrooms and school area ~ again, clean up the yard, plant the garden, paint inside and out, clean the car inside and out, and do yearly school planning.Somewhere in there I need to do some vacation brainstorming, financial planning and hopefully loose 15 pounds.We still have a wedding to go to, soccer parent sign ups, Reading Rainbow taping and award luncheon, Mother’s day – oh that is THIS weekend, hmm and Memorial day weekend.One can hope that twin mattresses go on sale somewhere that weekend because that would really help with the "setting up the bedrooms" situation.Thankfully none of this will take place without His provision and praying that it will all get done and be done in His will.Until then…
The finally day of convention opened with me still in bed not feeling too great.Had it not been for my 1ds11y enthusiastic plead to go, I’m not sure I would have made it out of bed (Dh took other boys off to soccer games).Besides being rather tired, my cold has moved into my chest so I am hacking & coughing so much that my poor diaphragm is so sore it is hard to breath.But in order to keep the fires ignited I managed to pry myself out of bed and only miss the worship portion of the closing ceremonies.Chris Klicka’s topic “The Heart of Home Schooling:Living What Really Matters” was not only encouraging, it reminded me that having relationships is the reason why we homeschool.Really that is the only thing that matters:our relationship with the L-rd, and each other.
The next session was Get Real by Todd Wilson and this was probably my favorite workshop of the entire convention.Not only is the man funny, he is Biblical, encouraging, inspiring, and he gave easy to remember practical put into action right now advice that I don’t have to read a book first to understand.He is so REAL himself it was like a sigh of relief!
The last session was Fiery Furnace Schooling which I was hoping would give me practical advice on homeschooling with my dh’s “all over the clock, never two days off in a row, barely making ends” meet job.While I was humbled that the women in this workshop had bigger, much bigger, furnaces – single parents, dh’s having affairs, runaway kids, dying mothers, dying fathers, suicide homeschoolers, depressed homeschool kids and more – it still didn’t solve my own fiery furnace.I walked out of this workshop hearing G-d say put together that workshop... the workshop that I needed that tells moms how to live with dh’s who work split shifts, swing shifts, night shift and how to make it all work with homeschooling.I could hear myself crying out to the L-rd saying, “okay but L-rd you have to tell me how to live with my own situation first” and then the words of this workshop hit me.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace but they were not alone.The fourth man in the fire, protecting them, being with them, saving them, “never leaving them, nor forsaking them” was Jesus and He is always there for you and me.G-d is always in the furnace with us and we just need to stay where G-d is until He releases us.We need to stay in the fiery furnace until the work is complete, until “the gold is made pure” and we need to look for the 4th man in the fire.For that lesson, I am so grateful for this workshop.
And that ended convention!I managed to stay away from spending money on yet another book or more curriculum that will sit on my shelf until I have time to read it or use it, which might just be when my ds graduates LOLMy 1ds11yr did spend some of his birthday money on some fun science things from R & D Education Center: a gel ant farm, and Torso Joe (a model of the human body) – things that he has been wanting for a long time.There were oh! so many things I wanted to get but G-d just convicted me that I am turning into a curriculum junkie and I need to just use what I have, finish the books I’ve got and stop collecting so much S.T.U.F.F (not to mention that it helps the pocket book too)
What I love best about this weekend is that it puts dh & I back on the same page and reminds dh how to support our Homeschool.Overall it was a terrific convention and I got waaay more out of than I expected and my 1ds11y can’t wait for next year’s convention so I guess he enjoyed it too.
Well today was jam packed full of fun, encouragement and seeing convention through the eyes of my 11 year old very excited son.The funny thing was that NONE of today was about the nuts and bolts of actually homeschooling LOL. I received encouragement on how to be a good wife, on having a great marriage, how to be a more focused mother (HA!) and how to take better care of my body --- all which will help with homeschooling but not the nitty gritty of schooling which I thought was a bit interesting.
I struggled a bit with this cough/cold that I can’t seem to shake but over all it was a fulfilling day.Todd Wilson opened with an encouraging message about our roles as husbands, wives, experienced and inexperienced homeschoolers.I walked away realizing that even though I am still learning “HOW” to make MY homeschool work that I am considered a veteran and need to also encourage homeschoolers just starting out – not that I don’t but I never saw myself as eventually being an “veteran”.LOL
The next workshop, also by Todd, was probably the most important workshop I attended in that it reminded me that putting my dh first is vital not only to my marriage, to my homeschool but it is a mandate by G-d Himself.Being teachers all day long, we tend to sometimes forget that our husbands come first and that this is the greatest danger to our school when we don’t put them first because without them then we don’t have a marriage, a home, a family or a school, again, not that I don’t do this, but it was a good reminder of what really matters in our homeschool and where my priorities should always lie.
The next workshop was Box Free Living by Diana Waring and unfortunately this is where the sinus medicine kicked in and I started to waver although I did enjoy her workshop that had nothing to do with boxed curriculum that I thought it would be about but rather the “boxes” or preconceived ideas that we stuff our children into.It was more about Biblical parenting than it was about homeschooling and allowing our children (within reason) to be who G-d intended them to be.I liked that she said, “Love is messy” but that is okay if we do not allow it to live in a box – boxes of rules, behavior modifications, legalism and judgment – but rather allow love to flourish with obedience, compassion and humility.
Next was LUNCH!! and not only did I get to meet Mr. Wilson’s wife, they actually sat at our table and it really was a wonderful experience considering the crazy actions of my dh.My ds11y also seemed to be excited and enjoying this “older” world of thought and ideas.I’m sure he liked the extra attention away from his brothers too.
After lunch came the most convicting of workshops by Renee Ellison called The Power of a Focused Mom.Being home all day long with our kids, homeschooling, disciplining them, but doing it all around my agenda as homemaker I have seen that I have started to turn my focus away from the relationship and that I am missing windows of opportunities as a mother.This is why I love convention.I was probably on the way down the road of wishing my motherhood away but convention stops me in my tracks and marches me right back to the reasons why we picked this road to begin with. It is so easy to turn the wrong way or let the littlest things distract us and then there we are wondering what happened.Renee also gave some very practical tips that I can’t wait to start using on ME to focus better.
In her workshop, Beyond Survival, again poor Diana had me nodding off but this time is was from our big lunch.I’m grateful that her book by the same title is on its way to my house via PaperBackSwap so hopefully I can put more than just survival into our homeschool and maybe fill in the missing blanks of this workshop. LOL
The last workshop of the day was the most fascinating in that it was looking at Health and Wellness from a Biblical Perspective.It was jam packed with not only reasons why nutrition, water and exercise are good for you but what G-d’s word says about it.Truly amazing and I hope to possibly have a personal consultation with the speaker sometime in the future since he was also a nutritionist, doctor and sport therapist.
I think the highlight of the day was attending graduation that evening.NINTY graduates this year and it was tear-jerking to see kids that we grew up with get their diplomas.I could only think that the 1ds11y sitting next to me would be doing the same in less than 7 years.I can’t even imagine the young man that will be walking up to receive his diploma from his dad and ME!Boy did I feel humbled and yet so proud for the mom’s whose sons and daughters that were graduating NOW.I couldn’t help but feel that I was looking at our future.These kids were the leaders we NEED for tomorrow for a better world and for a country that seeks G-d again.It made me proud to say I am a homeschooling mom.
Well I don't know if I should be elated or disappointed. Our vendor hall this year is soooooo sparse, our used curriculum sale had nothing I needed and so far I haven't been sucked into any of the keynote speakers books - yet - actually workshops start tomorrow so that is to be determined. We will see how I hold up LOL. I guess G-d knows the situation of my checkbook better than I do and He is making it so easy this year to just not spend any money. I guess I will be ordering everything that I truly needed online.
What is new this year is that my 1ds11 is joining us and I pray that it lights a fire under him and gets him excited about homeschooling and the fun we could be having since we have hit such a lull in his work and in our school. We knows a few kids graduating this year so we will also be attending graduation which is a first for me as well. I'm figuring that this year's convention is about him more than me. Keynote speakers are Chris Klicka, Diana Waring & Todd Wilson.
Of course yesterday's fiasco could not go unannounced and who opens tonights convention but yours truly Mr. Dad - Todd Wilson, telling all about my crazy dh. I tell ya, I sooooo am not the kind of gal who likes being put in the spotlight and this was sooooo embarassing I can't even hardly want to be in the same room with my dh. Is my dh having a midlife crisis OR WHAT? LOL and if he isn't, he is surely going to put me into one, FAST! but I do still love him ~ somebodies got to LOL!
Pray that I survive convention with him and ds11y tomorrow because it is gonna feel like I'm taking kids with me LOL. And this wasn't the break/refreshment I was hoping for. Honestly!
But I did I want to mention the tidbit of encouragement that I took away from today, courtesy of Your Da'Dad:
It ain't easy but it's GOOD
In otherwords -
It ain't easy being a parent, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy homeschooling, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy being a SICK mom, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy cleaning our messed up homes, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy getting rid of clutter, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy planning a end of the year soccer party, or Passover dinner, or planning for next years school term, but it's GOOD
It ain't easy dealing with our kids behavior issues, but it's GOOD
AND it ain't easy be married to dh's (who go looking for people in their RV's at Walmarts), but it's GOOD
Okay maybe someone can enlighten me. My silly husband gets the newletter/emails from "Your'Da Dad - Todd Wilson" who is speaking this year at homeschool convention. Somehow my dh figures that "Mr. Dad" will be in his RV, at a Walmart, somewhere in Albuquerque, before convention actually officially starts and my dh goes looking for him!!!! I am soooo NOT joking -- further more he FINDS the man.
Honestly I just don't even know what to think -- either my dh is off his rocker or he truly needs more sleep. Any way my dh and my boys meet Mr. Dad and his 8 kids (in the Walmart parking lot!) and I guess they hit it off or something. But what baffles me about all this is that my dh left me in bed -- sleeping off this stupid cough/cold/flu that has been hanging around for the last 4 weeks making me miserable -- totally unaware that anybody is gone, on my 1ds BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Now tell me -- is this how 11year olds like to spend their birthdays? I say NOT!!! I was so trying to be nice about it but golly what posseses my dh? I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Dad puts a restraining order out on my dh -- I WOULD!!! lol
OH! and this is why mom's should NEVER EVER in their lifetime get sick. Here is the birthday cake that my dh makes for my poor son's birthday because I am too sick to do it:
I just pray that the L-rd heals me soon because somebody needs to "BE the MOM" around here LOL
UPDATE: Mr. Dad has since blogged about this "experience" here and you can even see all my boys together INSIDE his RV - still shaking head in disbelief LOL
My family does not watch American Idol - frankly we aren't really big fans of any TV show; hardly watch the thing.So it was news to me that American Idol last year had a counterpart show called The Next Great American Band (also not watched by my family and apparently not by the millions either because it aired on Friday nights but you can see all their performances at the link).
The winners of this show were The Clark Brothers - three boys of 11 children whose father was a traveling tent evangelist/revival preacher. They started out in public school but ended up being homeschooled because they were on the road as a family ministry (learned this from a podcast interview).For this reason alone, it made me wish my family DID watch American Idol because on their “Idol gives back” week they has a guest performance where they sang a gospel song which is just amazing and totally brought Glory to G-d.Dolly Parton was on the same show and sang her new song "Jesus and Gravity".Maybe some day the TV producers will wake up and see that America wants and needs fewer idols and more of HIM.Hope this blesses you as it has me:
Okay trying so hard not to complain but this day, well the past week just has not been going too well so I am going to try to see the PTL's in all this:
PTL for my bil who is loaning us his truck since my dh's car has died and it looks like it is going to the junk yard because it will cost more than we bought the car for ($300) to replace the timing something or other that is wrong with it now ($700).
PTL that we didn't have to spend the $500 on my dogs eye (that the vet said we needed - personally think the vet thought he needed my $500 but that's a whole nother story) because it HEALED by G-d's grace. Now to continue praying that the dog's silly eyelashes will grow out instead of in, so she doesn't do it again.
PTL that AngelFood has come to our city and that it will help with the budget that my dh has now put us on in the food department -- praying that I can feed us for $50 a week. It is all by G-d's grace.
PTL that the washing machine that completely overflowed into the hall and all over the place doesn't need replacing and that it was just a child (who I am very grateful for) overstuffing the washer.
PTL that under the washer, behind the washer, under the dryer and behind the dryer are now all clean (even though my morning WHB for today hasn't started).
PTL that my oldest ds (who isn't the best of cooks) didn't burn too many of the rice pancakes this morning, trying a new recipe that he found and that we actually liked this concoction.
PTL that I know cherry eyes can go away especially since the dog now has another one because she scratched it out again this morning.
PTL that dh got to spend the morning with us and he was here to assess the washing machine when it flooded (even though my WHB nor school is done)
I'm STARTING my AFTERNOON WHB now and praying that we also get some school in today AND that this week goes better than last week.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Am I the only one TOTALLY outraged by this? Okay we (my family) obviously do not watch enough TV that I should be upset about this especially since I JUST found out, but I am still totally bugged. I was just informed by my TV watching mother that all my TV's aren't going to work in a year's time. Yes, it was that smug, "oh, haven't you heard that those old rabbit ears are going to be obsolete? Well, they have been talking all about it for months now" Humph! Well, obviously NOT! I have gone to the DTV FCC website and read the whole FAQ page and I understand that this is for the common good and yes, I heard that the government is even going to give me a $40 voucher so I can upgrade my existing TV sets ("how nice" she said sarcastically).
BUT THIS STILL JUST TOTALLY BUGS ME!!!
It seems like such a waste of money, of resources, of my time to figure out if my over-the-ancient-hill TV sets can be converted to the "new" system (which I will almost guarantee they will NOT!!!). Yes, I understand that I will still be able to watch VHS (yes, we are in the dark ages and still have those) and DVDS and someday my dear poor peasant family will be able to watch regular TV again when we sell our first born to buy a new DTV to replace our perfectly fine but obsolete analog TV's. And don't tell me that in this culture and in the world we live in today that people aren't going to just toss their old TV out with the baby's bathwater thus making more trash and waste while the poor people in Africa wish they had some drinking water. It just makes me sick but this just shouldn't bother me since we rarely watch anything on TV including the news and this shouldn't bother me since most of anything that you want to watch you can find somewhere on the net and this shouldn't bother me because there is nothing but junk on TV anyhow and this shouldn't bother me because haven't I been saying for awhile now that we should just get rid of the stupid box?
A dear friend of mine says it best, "we are becoming Charlotte Mason unschoolers" LOL! Can there be such a thing because I think that is what my family is becoming? I am struggling with my schedule again (part of the Ugha Mugha rut that we are experiencing). Not what is in the schedule; that's all good -- it isn't getting done but it is good when we do the school schedule. No, I am talking about the day to day schedule. The eat breakfast, comb hair, make bed at at any reasonable time before afternoon -- that schedule. I tend to blame dh's work for our craziness but honestly isn't it G-d who gave dh this job? So G-d knew that this was going to be difficult for me and for our homeschool so I just wonder if there is something bigger that I am missing? Another friend suggested that I look at our homeschool schedule by dh's shift since I was having such difficulty with following a Monday thru Friday sort of schedule. The thought had me pondering completely about our schedule and what we do. After the Ugha Mugha day I thought I would take a look at that day a little closer. In reality it was a day off for us because it was my dh's day off but this is what a day without any momentum looked like:
·middle ds read 9 books to youngest ds out loud - good for both
·youngest son didn't get enough reading from middle son so he went off to read to himself – also very good since this is my reluctant reader
·oldest son finished and practiced his speech on ancient pharaohs of Egypt that he gives this week at Toastmasters without ANY urging on my part
·all worked on and finished the leather moccasins we are making with a bit of help from dad
·middle ds finished reading his library book that was a bit advanced for him
·all watched a movie about Nefertiti - left over passion from last term about Egypt & not even related to this term
·oldest son discovered how tetrachords work and played the piano non stop (now that he knows what key to play in), to the point that he was grounded from the piano because he was driving everyone crazy
·youngest son decided to write his own song on the piano and he is putting notes to paper and has decided that his song will have words but he hasn't written them yet- he is still writing the music ("I can't write the words until I know what the music sounds like MOM!!")
·we all watched a Blue jay throwing rocks -- not sure why the bird was throwing rocks but it was
·oldest walked the dog of his own incentive -- counting this as exercise LOL I beg him to do this every other day
·youngest drew "tornado's across Kansas" in chalk on the back porch -- we are learning about Kansas so at least this tells me he is listening
·youngest pulls out the pirate ship and decides to act out a scene from the Tempest - we are also reading this from Shakespeare and despite the fact that his Tempest is rather violent, ds does have most of the story straight, so again confirmation that learning is taking place on the days we in fact do it
·all played games of chess
So despite my lack of momentum (did I mention that I am in my PJ's and it is 3pm?) my kids are having a day of school -- lol just not the day that is in the planner
Arrgh! We're in a rut -- a school rut, a "I don't want to do anything" rut, a "I'm sick of winter" rut, a "I don't want to do this job" rut (speaking mostly for dh here but I'm not too keen on my "I need to clean this closet out" job), a "I'm sick of water and don't want to exercise" rut, a "we need a vacation" rut --- a just a plain "you name it" RUT lol!
I don't know if it is Spring fever or if we are just suffering from the seven year itch of my dh's "awful hours" job. I just can't seem to shake the blahs. I have read that even public school teachers go through this so maybe it is just the natural course of things that happen this time of year. I've been told that a fieldtrip might help to change it up and get out for a bit. It didn't. The boys (dh and my older two) went up to the capitol for TeenPact last weekend. Had a great time; got to see the governor and smoozed with all the political folks on capitol hill and promptly came home to sit in our RUT! While they were smoozing I took the littlest one to the zoo. We walked around and looked at all the animals. They seemed so sad and they all looked like they were in awful RUTS.
I just want to DO something exciting! Something different, crazy and foolish that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg, but the practical side of me keeps everything in check. I just want to run away from the four walls that seem to be caving in on me. Yet I haven't a clue what to do, what we can afford to do or what kind of energy it is going to take to climb out of this rut (and just to clarify - this isn't a depression which I have experienced -although it could turn to one so I need to keep it in check. This is just a lackadaisy feeling of being bored and not wanting to do anything about it. LOL I never really looked at that word: lackadaisy -- that describes it best --- I lack a Daisy! LOL).
In the past I think I just rearranged furniture but honestly I really want to dump the "not good enough for the Goodwill" furniture and start over but that ain't gonna happen so here I stay sitting in my lackadaisy rut LOL!
Well I didn't really want to tell anybody but I started a New Year's resolution to drink more water. This is a tough one for me because I realllllllly hate water. I know! I know, water is so good for you and it has so many healthy benefits blah! blah! blah!
I only like drinking it when it is a realllllly hot day and I have been working very hard and I can drink it down really, really fast (probably so I don't taste it). I didn't want to tell the whole world that I started this because then I would have to follow through with how I am doing, which usually means an update of how I am NOT doing and I just didn't want that disappointment from breaking yet again another New Year's resolution.
Ha! But because I haven't been around much I have to explain why LOL. I really was on a steady pace. I was up to about 6 glasses a day when low and behold -- broken glass of water all over my keyboard! Fried the keyboard and I was hopping mad at that water LOL! It took us awhile before we could replace the keyboard but I had discovered a few things in drinking all that water:
1) Auntie Flo is really quite tolerable with all that water. As a matter of fact, I had no idea she was coming until she arrived. My only indication that it was "that time" was that I had gained an extra pound which I was blaming on the water. Aunt Flo didn't even want the can of Pringles that she usually kills for when she gets here so maybe there is something good to say about the water LOL.
2) My headaches came on pretty strong when I first started all this water (I suffer from migraines) but as soon as my body got used to all that water I think that they were getting better. I honestly think that all that water was washing out so many toxins in my body that I was feeling worse at first (and in the bathroom so often LOL) but now I think it is starting to stabilize. I just wish I could remember to drink it but I guess like any habit it just takes “keeping doing it”.
So in case you were wondering, that is the long story of why I have been missing.
Conversations with myself about the triumphs and tribulations of being a Mama Bear to 3 baby bears, a helpmeet, a CM AO Hs teacher, a Flybaby, a daughter of Eve and a princess to the King.
). Rosh Hashanah was preped for and then dh was called into work so we just sorta talked about it without the complete celebration that I planned for. Our week long hot air balloon fiesta is in town so that means I have tons of out of town guests staying in various places that we will visit in the next week and I'm sorta afraid to even plan anything for our anniversary which is next weekend just knowing that something will come up, dh will be just too tired (or have to work -- he also got a new boss today so now he has to deal with that too) and I don't want to put so much effort into another something (bday and Rosh Hashanah) for it to get scratched again --- okay so I am going back to peeling apples. Send a search party if I'm not done soon LOL
