La Dolce Vita
• Tuesday, March 25, 2008 - Moving....
• Thursday, March 13, 2008 - The Ultimate Blog Party!
 
Hey, take a few minutes , click on the button above, and check out this fun place in the blogosphere....
And if you are popping in to my place, thanks for stopping by. :) I am a happy mama to four kids, wife to a wonderful guy, and most of all, a gal who loves Jesus and tries to live every moment for Him, whether it's in how I take care of my kids or take care of my home...I try to do it all in a way that will bless Him. Now, that all sounds nice, and some days it can get kind of crazy around here. But, each day is fresh and new, and God doesn't love me based on how well my day goes, He loves me just because I'm His.
Thanks for stopping by La Dolce Vita!
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• Sunday, March 9, 2008 - The Movie Marathon
As you might guess from the graphic, you can tell what we have been watching lately. We have watched the original Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and will finish tonight with Return of the Jedi. We are very selective with what we let our kids watch, and have waited quite some time for them to be old enough to enjoy these three movies. It has been fun to watch them enjoy the same stories that we enjoyed as kids. We have also had a great conversation about "the Force" and how it compares to Christianity. It's so lovely to take advantage of teachable moments.
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• Monday, March 3, 2008 - The School Update
This past week has been full of hard work. We have been skating by doing minimal work-enough to keep moving forward in math and language arts, but not much beyond that. I am finally emerging from the new-baby-we-just-moved-fog enough to end this minimalist schooling, and move back towards the richer, broader schooling I prefer. Naturally, adding more work hasn't been greeted with cheering and jubilations by the kids in the house. In fact, some of the behavior issues that have been surfacing are probably related to the character development we have been enjoying. 
Nevertheless, this mama is undeterred. We are back to doing our full plate-math, language arts, history, science, Bible, recitation, and hopefully this week-Latin. They're just going to love me this week!
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• Saturday, March 1, 2008 - Character Development Days
It has been a character development week. For the kids. For me. Since the Lord opened my eyes regarding my tone and attitude, I have noticed a marked improvement in my day. Previous to this, I was getting sucked into whining back at the kids, responding to their bad choices with frustration instead of correction, and just generally not being the intentional parent I want to be. This week has been better. Although their whining has continued, mine has not. Their misbehavior has been met with firm correction. I have been much more thoughtful and intentional in my parenting.
Periodically, it seems we go through this refocusing in our house. We move along in life at a pretty good clip, parenting well, and then we veer off course. Just slightly off course, but enough that when ignored for a period of weeks, end up being far from where we want to be. A variety of things knock us off-illness, a vacation, too many activities, in this case-having a baby and moving shortly after. When the kids were little, this refocusing was much tougher on me..by the end of a day full of discipline, I found myself exhausted, maybe even a little teary, at all the conflict. By nature, I'm a conflict avoider, so these intensive times of redirection are hard on me.
A couple of years ago, though, I had a revelation (God is so good to give us insights at just the right time!) that these days of conflict weren't bad days (my perception), but were character development days, both for me and for the kids. Since that time, when I find my little family back in one of these high discipline seasons, I have found it a bit easier to endure with grace, I find I am more peaceful and loving as I correct my kids. I see them less as adversaries, and more as young people who need me to help them grow in character-God is using me as a tool to chisel at their character. And that's my job....to raise them in the ways of the Lord.
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• Friday, February 22, 2008 - Honey and Vinegar
In recent weeks, the tone in our home has been full of vinegar...children snipping and bickering, mom impatient and frustrated, unkind voices, grouchy faces...you get the idea. I am the one who opened the door to this vinegar tone...I have been very tired, and when I am tired, I am not very patient. Additionally, I have been working to add some good habits back into my day (my rhythm is starting to return since Noah's arrival), such as my Bible time in the morning, group devotions with the kids, and exercising. Nothing extraordinary, but certainly things my enemy would like to quell. I think he has been using my fatigue to his advantage...but no more.
Jesus doesn't want our home to be full of vinegar...he wants it to be full of words that are sweet and kind, like honey. "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24. I am praying that God will help me put this into practice, and help our home to be sweet and healing.
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Running update: I have continued to run, but have experienced a setback that has caused me to modify my plan. I strained my hamstring, causing pain behind my knee, and seem to have some shinsplints. RATS! I am walking my route briskly, trying to keep my cardio up, and hope to be running again soon.
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Noah News: he's still rocking on his knees, but not crawling yet, much to my relief since I still need to get a couple of gates in place. Last night he was up most of the night, with several little catnaps along the way. This was very unusual for him. He wasn't running a fever, but was clearly in pain. He has been teething, so we gave him tylenol, which only seemed to bring minimal relief. At about 4 am it occurred to me he might have an ear infection. The doc confirmed our suspicion later in the morning. After two doses of meds and a good nap, he is mostly back to his normal, smiley self.
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• Friday, February 15, 2008 - Valentine's Day
Since 2001, Valentine's Day week or weekend has fallen right in the middle of High School Winter Camp. When one is married to the student ministries pastor, that means there are minimal plans made to celebrate Valentine's Day. Lest you think my dh never did sweet things for me on Valentine's Day, let me share with you that he conspired to smuggle bouquets of flowers and tender cards to give to me...sometimes in the middle of camp. I always loved his thoughtfulness, and never minded being at camp on such a romantic holiday....we were so romantic, we didn't need a holiday (and still don't, for that matter!).
Now that dh is no longer in student ministries, we are free to celebrate Valentine's Day in a more elaborate fashion, should we want to. This year, sweet dh surprised me with a one night getaway to a bed-and-breakfast. He arranged for my mom to stay with the kids, and even arranged a ride for our daughter to get to youth group. This little mini-getaway was delightful. It was relaxing and reconnecting. It was delightful to have uninterrupted conversation, uninterrupted meals, and (best of all!) uninterrupted sleep!
I am so grateful to have a husband that prioritizes time for us together, whether it is a getaway like above, or a regular date night, or even time together in the family room in the evening. 
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• Monday, February 4, 2008 - The One and Only
| The past two weeks I have been enjoying a wonderful book/journal I received for Christmas: Jesus-90 Days With the One and Only . My sweet husband gave me this book, knowing that I was just finishing up another book by the same author, Beth Moore. Through this book, I am being guided through small chunks of scripture, currently from the book of Luke. Each chunk shares a small part of the story of Jesus. After the daily reading, there are several thought provoking questions, a reflection written by Beth, and then a section for personal prayer and reflection. I have greatly enjoyed this book, and find the scriptures and thoughts coming back to me at different parts of the day.
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• Monday, January 28, 2008 - Fun Stuff
• Saturday, January 26, 2008 - Thankful
It has been a fairly productive week in many respects. We are finally settling into a decent schooling routine. I have decided it's a very challenging thing to have a baby, buy a house, pack and move, homeschool, and work part time. Acknowledging that helped me to see that we are doing pretty good to do school every day (in varying degrees of thoroughness, but always math and reading), to be wearing clean clothes most of the time, to have groceries in the fridge, and a mostly clean house (either the bottom floor or the top floor, but not usually both).
The big highlight of this past week has been the library. Upon moving into this house, I decided to make our formal living room into a library. (I guess the reading geek in me is coming to the forefront). We have made do with 5 mismatched white bookshelves, but this past week we got to go to IKEA and purchase 5 bee-yoo-ti-ful Billy bookshelves, and five lovely little lights to sit on top of them, casting down a warm illumination on each shelf. My dh stayed up late Wednesday assembling them for me. He hefted the old bookcases out of the way, and I reloaded the new ones. They look wonderful. I find myself just walking out to the library to stare at the pretty shelves. What a goof! ;)
Bit by bit, this house is feeling more like us. We have some curtains to hang in the library, master bedroom, and dining room. This was an unexpected expense, as I thought we would be able to recycle some of our curtains from our other home, but the windows are very tall here, and I need 96" panels to hang from the top of the windows down to the floor. Today, we were also thrilled to go buy a dishwasher. The little, low end dishwasher currently in our home was inadequate to meet our needs. I found myself running the dishwasher a couple times a day just to get all our dishes washed. It only had a spinner on the very bottom, so there was always some residue on the items on the top shelf-yuck! The new one will be here on Tuesday-woo hoo!
Overall, I am in a celebratory mood right now. It is clear we are experiencing some delightful gifts from our sweet heavenly father, who gives good gifts to His children. I never thought I would consider a dishwasher or bookshelves as good gifts, but I am so thankful.....
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Running Update: I bumped up to running for 3 minutes and walking for 1. That one minute sure goes fast! The first four cycles weren't as hard as I'd expected, but the last two were tough! But, I just kept running.
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Noah Update: Sweet boy is now rolling his way across the family room. He has only figured out how to roll in one direction, though, so he gets stuck. He is also pulling his tummy up off the floor. I think crawling is in our near future!
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• Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - Running Along
I have started running. I have a love-hate relationship with running. I hate it while I am doing it, but love it when I am done. I am trying to lose my baby weight and build some healthy habits into my weekly routine. Not only is the running good for my body, it's good for my brain to get outside and be quiet for 30 minutes. I am currently doing an interval training program to work up to running 5k. Ultimately, my goal is to run in a 10k race by July 4. Now that I have announced my intentions publicly, I am really committed! Here's to running! 
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• Thursday, January 17, 2008 -
| Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ISFP) |
 Your personality type is caring, peaceful, artistic, and calm.
Only about 7% of all people have your personality, including 8% of all women and 6% of all men
You are Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving. |
How Rare Is Your Personality?
Way back when I was young(er) than I am now, I was INFJ. I'm not sure about the accuracy of the above quiz, but it's fun to take and the description definitely describes me. What are you?
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• Friday, January 11, 2008 -
Last weekend I planned out my expectations for how my week was going to go. An opthalmologist running an hour late, adolescent attitudes starting to rise up, and an achy back have conspired against me and thwarted my plans. ;) However, I have persevered, and though my week didn't work out as planned, we have made it to Friday and still gotten lots done.
In school, we slid partially back into a regular routine. We touched on Latin, and dove back into our history, science, math, and language arts. Next week we will add writing back into the mix. Hopefully, good attitudes regarding school work will return, too.
The littlest man in the house had a great week. He was caught on his tummy, rocking up onto his hands and knees. I think mobility is in the near future. He spent all day Thursday with his Papa, while I was at an inservice. He reaffirmed his hate of the bottle by only eating cereal all and refusing the bottle when offered. Fortunately, he was cheerful while I was gone, even though he was probably hungry!
Well, I'm off to run (literally!) More about that next week!
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• Thursday, January 3, 2008 - A Fresh Start
2007 was a momentous year for our little family. Sweet Noah arrived, our Hannah entered junior high, Caleb & Caitey were baptized, we bought a home, moved, and bought a car (the first new car I have ever had). I get tired thinking about it all over again! However, each circumstance above is a reminder of God's provision and goodness to us....we have 4 healthy kids, 3 have chosen to serve Jesus all their days, we have a beautiful, sturdy home to shelter us and a safe car to drive.
As we enter into 2008 I will be attempting to blog on a more regular basis to record the ins and outs of our days, mostly as a record for us. So take a peek if you like, comment if something makes you smile, and celebrate God's goodness with us. :)
Happy New Year!
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• Monday, November 5, 2007 - Babies and Packing and Moving, Oh My!
Yep! We are in the midst of a move...a very good one, I am glad to say! The Lord has provided for us in some pretty incredible ways and we have purchased a home. Woo-hoo! We have been waiting a long time for this, and the Lord brought us a home far nicer than we ever imagined we might own.
Moving with a baby has it's own unique set of challenges (nurse, burp, change, pack a box, plant baby in bouncer, pack half a box, re-bink the babe, rock the babe, finish packing that box, and then start cycle again.) Mix in three additional kids, homeschooling, working part time, and laundry (who needs to cook?) and I have been flying around here. Fortunately, moving day is this weekend, so the end is in sight at last. In fact, I am off to pack some more....
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• Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - A Quick Update
We have passed three milestones since my last posting...
*DS # 1 turned 9
*DS #2 turned 2 months
*I turned one year older (36!)
We have been doing well, just super busy with the return of our fall activities, so I haven't had time to post. Here is an update in a nutshell...
DD #1 is enjoying the life of a tweenager. She attends youth group each week, participates in ballet twice weekly, and is a tremendous help around the house. She has been working very hard at her school work-she is flying through fractions.
DS #2 is a dangerous boy-he received the Dangerous Book for Boys for his birthday. He loves it-and has learned to make a multitude of things out of folded paper (airplanes, hats, boats, and water bombs). He is still loving being a big brother again, but doesn't like the crying in his room in the middle of the night. ;s
DD #3 is great. She flits around the house singing, and generally tries to be as helpful as possible. Sometimes her help is actually helpful, but it is always thoughtful.
DS #4 is adorable. He is currently smiling interactively and lifting his head with good control. He also regularly flips himself over from tummy to back-can you tell he's not a fan of tummy time. :)
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• Monday, September 3, 2007 - Back to Routine
We are settling into routine, much to my relief. In many ways it has been easier than I expected to get back into routine with a new baby. I can really see where the Lord has equipped me, given me stamina, and given me patience to parent my brood-all four of them! It has been a long time since I had a newborn, and I was unsure if I would remember how to do all that needs to be done. Fortunately, it has come back to me. :)
We started back to school four weeks ago. The first week we did only math, then the next week we added in writing with IEW. Two weeks ago we stepped back into a more complete schedule with Tapestry of Grace, as well as our other language arts components, like spelling and handwriting. This year is our first year with TOG, and we are enjoying it tremendously. Each week we meet with two other families to discuss our history, as well as complete some projects.
In addition to the start up of the school year, it is our birthday season. All six of us are born between July and October. Our littlest girl recently had her birthday, and was treated to a birthday breakfast date with her papa.
 Happy Birthday, Squirty!
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• Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - The First Shower
Back when we were expecting our first child, we spent some time talking with friends older and wiser than us about parenting. We talked with them about things they loved about their parenting, and things they wished they had done differently. We learned tons from these godly folks, and tried to implement many of their lessons into our own parenting. One idea we grabbed onto was from a dear friend who showered with his babies as soon as they were old enough to shower (and kept showering with them until age and awareness made it no longer appropriate). He felt this time was tender, allowed his children to learn that Papa would shelter and protect them (as he protected their eyes from the water), and was generally a sweet Papa-kid time.
All of our kids have loved "show (rhymes with cow) time." In fact, even now that our bigs are too big, they will still ask for a swimsuit shower with Papa. Little Noah had his first shower this past week. He LOVED it. He kept leaning into the water, and was so relaxed. After the shower, he was calm and quiet for almost an hour afterwards-so sweet!
Here he is-Mr. Clean & Mellow!
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• Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - Introducing...
• Saturday, August 4, 2007 - Noah
We are so thrilled to announce that Noah William Mullis C____ made his entrance into the world on July 30, 2007. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long. He is healthy, handsome, and has unmistakable red hair, just like his papa. All has gone well in labor, delivery, and his first week of life outside the womb.
Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful gift our boy is!
I will post photos soon...
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• Saturday, July 28, 2007 - All We Need Is The Baby
For the past three weeks I have been a woman on a mission. I have been working on daily to-do lists miles long. Amazingly, my lists have been getting completed, and then replaced with a new, equally long list. Baby clothes have been washed and hung, shower gifts are put away, thank you notes are written and mailed, and the house is in a general state of "company could come over at any time" cleanness. This cleanliness is probably a very good thing, as it will be a while before I will have the time and energy left to clean with such detail (I even got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floor boards).
So now, I am waiting. Waiting for this little man to arrive. His carseat and diaper bag are loaded and ready to go, and my hospital bag is packed. We have people on standby to stay with the older kids, and meals ready to go in the freezer. So it is time-time for little "Mo" to arrive. Come on, little man....let's go! :)
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• Monday, July 23, 2007 - Trying Out New Things
At the request of an out of town friend, I am trying to learn how to post more pictures on my blog. :) Here are some pictures from this past Easter. Enjoy!
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• Friday, July 20, 2007 - Take the Plunge!
This summer the kids are attending VBS-Take the Plunge! It is the first time they have gone to VBS without me. Every summer past the kids attended and I helped out...either by serving snacks or working in the craft room. I love going...it's so fun to serve the kids and hang out with other grown ups. However, this summer my husband vetoed my service at camp. Although I was very disappointed at first, I have a confession to make...I have really been enjoying my afternoons. I have taken an uninterrupted nap, puttered around the house setting up babydom, and just generally enjoying the quiet. The kids are having a ball each day learning about their "splash points," and VBS has been a wonderful carrot to help them get their chores done every morning.
I'm looking forward to stepping back into serving at VBS next year, but I am savoring this summer. :) |
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• Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - Baby Update
I went to the doc today for my 36 week check up. She offered to check for dilation-I said sure. I suspected I might be dilated a wee bit as I have been having some pretty good contractions daily, just with no pattern to them to indicate a real, get down to business labor. I am 1 cm and 50% effaced...yay! Just a little start on all that hard work to come. :)
She also thought that little "Mo" (name to be announced later) is about 6.5 pounds-a nice and healthy size should he decide to put in an early appearance.
Many other things have been going on in our little home, leaving me with little leftover energy to blog....but I will try to post a more thorough update on us soon.
**PS-for any Chicoans who happen to be reading....H is at her first junior high camp at that favorite place in the Redwoods....Wow! |
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• Saturday, June 23, 2007 - The Anniversary
On June 5 my husband and I celebrated 14 years of marriage. It's hard to believe that we have been married that long! God blessed me with a wonderful, godly husband, and I'm so grateful that he likes me, too!
We celebrated by going out of town together for 2 nights. We stayed in a little bed and breakfast modeled after an English cottage-the owners are British, and even served tea in the afternoon. It was so fun to be together in such a beautiful setting...
The first night we went out to dinner at a very upscale restaurant recommended to us by the b&b owners. It is a California style restaurant, where the menu rotates regularly based on the availability of fresh, local ingredients. The food and service were wonderful-very chi-chi- as my friend would say. The next morning we had a delicious breakfast, and then went and visited a local winery (there are many to choose from). My husband tasted, and I smelled, and we had a great lunch. In fact, we did a lot of delicious eating on this trip.
Since we have been married, my husband has always gotten me two anniversary gifts each year. He bases his gifts on the suggested themes for contemporary and traditional anniversaries (like paper is a traditional gift for the first anniversary). I always love seeing how he makes the themes tangible....he invests tons of time into discovering something I would enjoy that matches the theme. This year the contemporary theme was gold, and the traditional theme was ivory. For gold, he chose me a beautiful necklace with two hearts interlaced for the charm. One heart is yellow gold, and the other is white gold. Ivory was a much more difficult theme...new ivory is illegal (it is from animal tusks), and much of the antique ivory available is made into little figurines that he thought were ugly. In his researching, he came across a product called Tagua, from South America. Tagua is a nut which is harvested, laid out in the sun to dry and harden for six months, and then is carved. It looks just like ivory, and is even marketed as the vegetable ivory. He chose a simple heart necklace out of tagua for me. In all his searching for ivory, before he discovered tagua, he was typing in different google searches for ways he could fill that theme. He typed in movies with ivory, and came up with A Room With A View, which was directed by James Ivory. This movie is one of my all time favorites, so when I opened up my "ivory package" not only was the necklace there, but the movie, too. It was delightful to be together just the two of us! |
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• Monday, June 4, 2007 - Reason 4,567,955 Why I Love My Husband
Our boy is in his fourth season of baseball. Over these seasons, our goals for him have been to have fun and learn the skills of the game. God has blessed us with great coaches who have these same goals. We have discovered, however, that not every team has been so fortunate.
This past weekend we had a Friday night game and a Saturday afternoon game against the same team. The intensity at which those other coaches coached was crazy...especially given that these are younger guys who aren't even pitching yet! This other team was certainly a skilled team, outfielding and out hitting ours, but I wouldn't want to put up with that kind of coaching.
My sweet husband is a coach on our team, and he usually stands out in the field with a clipboard and keeps track of runs and hits. This is very helpful because the inning ends with either 3 outs or 5 runs. Often a nice little dialogue runs between the coaches of the two teams about how many runs or outs have occurred. Not with this team. At one point our guys had 4 runs, and these other coaches called the inning and brought their team in. Rather than make a big deal about it to our guys, our coaches, including my husband, just laughed and rolled with the call, sending our players to the outfield. Several other calls were made in a similar fashion, always to the disadvantage of our players.
I talked about it with my guy afterwards. He said it was a little frustrating, but pointed me back to our original goals-fun and skill building. He and the other coaches knew they could keep the focus on our goals by just rolling with these competitive coaches and not making a big deal about their choices. His (and the other coaches') gentle response kept the focus on the game and the kids-where it should be. 
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• Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - I'm Still Here!
I'm still here. Still pregnant (that's good!), still chuggin' through my days. It has been a very busy season for us, and I have had little time or energy left over to decide what to blog. We finished up standardized testing for the school year, and I wrapped up some big work projects. Following all that I thought I might have a chance to catch my breath, only to be hit with a horrible stomach flu. I haven't been that sick in years. My sweet husband stayed home from work for two days to take care of me...I was pretty weak. Then the poor guy got the flu himself! I think we are through with sickness for now and ready to enjoy the sunny weather.
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• Sunday, April 15, 2007 - When a Friend Comes to Town
This past week my college roommate and her family came and stayed with us for a couple of nights. It was wonderful to reconnect with Pam and her husband and to get to know her kids. On Tuesday night the kids all went to Bible club and the adults went out to dinner. On Wednesday, I made chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot. Here is where the story gets good....
I have made this recipe three or four times. It is tasty with good spice flavor, but it doesn't pack a lot of heat. Every time I have made it, my littlest girl has whined her way through the meal with "It's too hot" type comments. We have handed her a glass of milk and have said, "finish your dinner." So on this particular occasion, we handled the whining in a similar way-putting more cheese on top, adding some sour cream-things one does to cut the spice a bit. Pam's kids were putting up a fuss, too. We figured it was peer pressure or something, so she was handling the situtation the same as we were. Then the adults sat down to eat.
My husband took the first bite, then our guests. Eyes started to open wider, hands grabbed for milk. "Honey, what did you put in this soup?" came next. I took a bite....and began instantly to sweat. I wracked my brain...what did I put in that packs heat? 1 tablespoon of chili powder in a huge pot of soup wouldn't do this? Maybe the enchilada sauce? I bought the same kind I bought before. My sweet husband went and fished the can out of the recycle bin. I bought picante hot instead of mild! I was mortified that I had a.) not believed those poor children with the on fire mouths, b.) messed up a recipe when we had guests!
Fortunately they were gracious, and Pam's husband even had seconds! I scrambled up some eggs for the kids, and have learned to live with my disappointment that I would be without leftovers to such yummy soup. |
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• Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - Starting to Get Ready
I have been starting to prepare for the arrival of our little man by assessing what we have left from the first three (very little!), research some of the products that are out there (way more than we will ever need!), and by taking up the kind offers of hand me downs that have been made (a high chair, porta-crib, Baby Bjorn, and a backpack). A very kind lady in our church knitted seven adorable sets of booties-a pair for every day of the week. Then this same sweet lady knitted a beautiful blanket, too. We will be getting our crib and bassinet back from my cousin, so our little man will have somewhere to sleep.
Early on I did make the mistake of looking at the bedding at Pottery Barn Kids. Naturally, I fell in love with one particular set, and none others (the less expensive kind) could compare. Fortunately for me, they went on sale. I kept watching, and the price dropped again, so I bought it-our first official purchase for this baby.
I only ordered the quilt. I plan on using less expensive chambray and red fabrics for the ruffle, bumper, and sheets. I'm pretty excited about this quilt-I think it is cozy and old fashioned looking.
I'm starting to compile a list of things we need and want. Do you have any suggestions or tips for someone who has been out of the baby loop for quite some time? |
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• Tuesday, April 3, 2007 - 5 Things About Me
Five things about me that I have never revealed on my blog....
1. I had a goldfish for 7 years, through college and early marriage. I named him Nomad because he traveled back and forth during breaks in a small dish with a lid.
2. I am allergic to bananas...and always have been. I am looking forward to arriving in heaven so I can peel and eat a banana for myself.
3. My secret fantasy is to rent a little apartment in Florence, Italy for 6-8 weeks and really soak up the atmosphere and culture. Ideally, this would happen before the kids leave home (the ultimate field trip experience).
4. I am a creature of habit...I stumble to the coffee pot every morning as soon as I am up. And not much happens until I have sucked down at least 2 cups.
5. I was the sixth generation in my family to be born in my hometown.
Anyone who needs an idea for a blog entry...you are tagged. :) |
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• Monday, March 19, 2007 -
• Sunday, March 11, 2007 - This and That
I think pregnancy must be so demanding on the body that all brain cells cease to function....it seems to take every ounce of energy I have to keep all the details of life straight...and I am not even responsible for as much as I usually am (my sweet husband is currently doing all laundry). Actually, I do know that I have a low level infection my body is fighting, so I am sure that has something to do with how I am feeling. :) Hopefully tomorrow I will hear back from the doc regarding some test results and maybe some prescription to help me out.
This is an exciting week...we will find out who this little person is...Clem or Clementine. I will post here when I find out...feel free to put your guesses in the comments. :) |
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• Saturday, February 24, 2007 - Learning How To Work
When I was little, my parents weren't involved in a church, but they were very involved in our community through service groups and local volunteer fire departments. A hallmark of these groups is their work ethic..each group is committed to its cause, and works tremendously hard to raise money for it. When I was little these fundraisers took the form of spaghetti feeds, dime a dip dinners, pancake breakfasts, and giant garage sales. Usually one or both of my parents was helping to serve at one of these events, so that meant my sister and I went along. We helped roll hundreds of plastic place settings into paper napkins that were fastened with rubber bands. We wiped down tables, set up chairs, and chopped veggies for salads (when we were a little older). I never looked upon these days as drudgery-it was great fun! My parents were older than most of my friends' parents, so their friends were older, too. Usually my sister and I were the only kids present...so we got lots of attention. I knew who was funny, who to avoid due to their grumpiness, and who might give me a treat. I learned how to work hard, and that many hands make light work.
Tonight my husband and I will be attending a crab feed fundraiser for our local fire department. We have gone for several years now. Naturallly, one of the reasons I love going is to eat the crab...fresh dungeness crab is hard to beat. One of the other reasons I love going is it reminds me of those fun memories from childhood...working hard, and laughing with friends.
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• Thursday, February 22, 2007 - The Catch Up
Life has been plugging away for us on multiple fronts. Church, work, school, pregnancy-all are moving along. I seem to be missing any creativity brain cells these days, so this blog will just be sort of an update.
Church has been good. In the fall, our church began a video venue service. Essentially, it is a self contained service at a location apart from the sanctuary. Music is live, there are ushers, and a pastor. The difference is we view a DVD of the pastor's message that was recorded at a previous service. My dh is the pastor in the video venue. I wasn't sure if I would like the change....but I do. In the venue, music is a little louder and more contemporary than at the live service. I was worried that only young people and students would attend, but the age range has ended up being very diverse. I also like the change because it is a smaller setting...about 125. It's so much easier to connect with people. On the logistical side...it is almost like a church plant within a church....rather than just adding another service of the same, this provides an opportunity to design a service to attract a different cross section of people....but all people are still hearing the same message and participating in home fellowship groups on the same topics during the week. It has been fun to see God bring people to this venue service who have never been to church before. They are connecting with God and his people...that's a great thing to see.
Work is plugging away. I have a heavy work week this week, ending with a staff meeting tomorrow. I think it will be fun to go, as only a few of my colleagues know I'm pregnant. The last meeting I was at was in November, and I missed the January meeting, so many of them haven't seen me. I really like many of the people I work with, so it should be a pleasant meeting, even though I do have a lot of work to prepare!
School is in a pretty pleasant rhythm, especially math. We use Professor B math, which I love and hate. I love seeing how the kids learn, and how his methods make sense. I hate the format-it doesn't progress neatly from one chapter a week or one lesson a day (you stay on a topic until it is mastered)-so sometimes I feel rather bogged down by it-and I think the kids do to. This week we have hit a good groove, though. All the kids are picking up the concept they are on rather well, so bogging isn't much of an issue this week. Caitey even pestered me the other day to do math...she was mad I didn't let her bring her book in the car.
The ticker above is funny...I don't know when it will flip to seventeen weeks, but I flipped on Sunday. I feel a little wriggling, but not very strongly yet. I had my appointment last week and it was very reassuring to hear the heartbeat, I can't seem to get enough of that. I have had to wear maternity pants for the last three weeks or so. One of our young married gals gave me a huge bag of clothes-I am so grateful. I am having to supplement here and there with purchases, but she gave me a great start. I just hope spring will come soon this year. As much as I want the rain, I won't be fitting into her jeans much past the second trimester. After all-this is a fourth baby, not a first! ;) A sweet friend at our church has made seven pairs of baby booties (one for every day of the week!) and a beautiful blanket, so this wee one already has some cozy things that have been lovingly made just for him/her. I am trying to schedule an ultrasound in the next three weeks, but I can't get the imaging people to call me back. So hopefully I will get an ultrasound and get to find out who this little one is....any guesses?
ps-Morgan....I'm not showing too much...if you didn't know I was pregnant you would probably just think I was heavy around the middle! I promise to post a picture when I actually look pregnant. :) |
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• Monday, February 19, 2007 - Funny Boy
One of the hallmarks of my boy's character is his sense of humor. He never fails to take full advantage of a moment to make people laugh, even if they are laughing at him. Tonight we had a family staple meal, Gourmet Joe's, that is a scramble of hamburger, spinach, and eggs. It is served with vinegar. My boy decided he wanted to eat vinegar all by itself. So my husband obliged him by giving him a teaspoon of straight distilled vinegar. The crazy boy sucked it down, and then rapidly contorted his flushed face as he experienced the tartness of the vinegar. Of course, the rest of the family thoroughly enjoyed his little show. 
After he regrouped and got some water, he "offered" to do the whole thing again if we would pay him, since we enjoyed it the first tiime so much. Naturally, we declined. I do think, however, that my boy is going to be the kid at junior high or high school camp who will volunteer to eat gross things to earn points for his team. |
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• Tuesday, February 13, 2007 - An Old Friend
Recently I reread Anne of Avonlea. I have owned this exact copy since I was in sixth grade. The pages are yellowed and worn, the binding is creased, and many of the corners are dogeared. I can open the book up to any page and start reading, instantly transporting myself back to the magic of Avonlea and my kindred friend Anne.
Sometimes I will just pick up this book and read a chapter-a quick visit. Other times, I will saturate myself and read the whole thing. Either way, reading this book is like visiting an old friend. It is familiar, comforting, and enjoyable.
I hope at some point in my kids' childhoods that they connect with a book that will become their trusty old friend, ready to transport them to a magical world of adventure (or scrapes, in Anne's case!). |
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• Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - Hitting a Stride
Right before Christmas break we had hit a great stride in school. The days were flowing smoothly, the kids were making good progress on their subjects, and Christmas preparations were chugging along. Then break came, along with some pretty serious fatigue on my part. Following break we couldn't seem to have a smooth day. Then we went out of town for a week, followed by the week relearning how to behave with Mama and Papa (somehow there is always some re-education that needs to happen). Sunday night a week and a half ago, I thought to myself "At last, the rhythm will return this week!
All that returned was the stomach flu....to all three kids....simultaneously. In the history of our little family, we have never experienced something like this. Yes, the kids have been sick, but usually in quick succession, 12 hours or a day apart in symptoms. Yuck! Fortunately they never vomited at the same moment, but it was still a hectic day of snuggles, laundry, and hydrating dehydrated kids. This tanked my hopes of a productive school week. This particular flu was vicious...it brought painful tummy cramps that lasted for days after the initial upset tummy stuff. My littlest one was hit the hardest. I spent lots of time cuddling her on the couch coaxing her to drink and eat little bits. Finally, by the end of last week, the kids were up and moving around. They still looked very pale and had circles under their eyes, but they were upright and playing again.
So here we are, trying again to get that stride back. I'm hopeful it's close! |
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• Saturday, February 3, 2007 - The Cruise
I have been trying to decide what to write about for several days now. So many things have been going on, I have had difficulty trying to pare my thoughts down enough to get them on the blog. I am not sure if my "writer's block" is just that or if it is something that is pregnancy induced. Either way, I am determined to get something down tonight so my friends know I haven't abandoned this little blog! I think it will end up being something of a catch up entry....
Some very generous friends paid for all the pastoral staff and their spouses to go on a cruise together for our annual retreat. This cruise was planned back in September, with a cruising date of mid January. My mom has been really great the past three years to come down during our retreat to stay with our kids. The day I found out the dates of the cruise I was on the phone with my mom so she could arrange to take vacation time. In December, the news of my pregnancy put something of a damper on my enthusiasm for the cruise. How much fun could a barfy, twelve week along gal expect to have on a rocking ship where every decision is about which place should we go eat at next? I decided to forge ahead and go for it...sick at home, sick on the ship...did it really matter?
As I mentioned previously, I have ended up being the least sick during this pregnancy. Departure day was growing nearer, and I was feeling less tired and more into eating every day. Preemptively, I went to my ob and got a prescription for a seasickness patch. I also took along a stash of phenergan and zofran. So we headed out...and had a great time. Granted, I never made it to the midnight buffets (I was usually sacked out by 10 pm), but I had a great time. I ate a ton...it was so great to just walk through the cafe and load my tray with whatever happened to look good at the moment, no prepping involved. Dinner at 8 pm was perfect as I was past my late afternoon queasiness and ready to eat. Ironically, it was my seasickness patch that actually made me feel yuckiest...I experienced all the side effects listed. After I took it off I felt great.
Our cruise took us to San Diego, Catalina, and Ensenada. My favorite place was Ensenada. It was very fun to be back in the culture I enjoyed so much last summer. I was much more comfortable speaking Spanish than even a year ago. I'm looking forward to getting back to Mexico.
I did want to write about this a while back, but upon getting home, we were hit with sickness...colds followed in quick succession by the stomach flu. But more about that later.... |
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• Friday, January 5, 2007 - Sharing the News
So I am pregnant with our fourth (!!!) child! Craziness, I tell you, pure craziness! Never in a million years did we think we would be adding to our little family. In fact, we had really reached a pleasant stage of childhood with the kids big enough to pick up and go places easily. Granted, we occasionally had longed for a little body to cuddle, but thought we could get our baby fix with friends' babies. God obviously had other ideas in mind. :) It has been very fun to share this news with our family and friends. Our youngest is 6, so it was rather unexpected that we would be having another baby, so the jaw dropping has been pretty fun to watch.
When I was pregnant the other times, I had a very rough first trimester of morning (all day) sickness. Typically I became so dehydrated I would need an IV to rehydrate my body, as well as prescription anti-nausea meds. I lost between 15 and 30 pounds each time. This sickness was obviously a great detractor to future children, as this sickness greatly impacted our family for 3 months. The amazing news this time around is that I haven't lost any weight, and I am actually doing pretty well. I have had a few terrible days, and I do get tired very easily, but I can actually eat on most days, as well as drink. It is wonderful. I think God has allowed me those few really terrible days (a few hit during the holidays-I think I was over-tired) so I can really appreciate how great the other days are. Granted, I still fall asleep on the couch by 8 pm, but I can live with that. It is so wonderful not being so sick. :) Prayerfully, this will continue to be my experience. |
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• Saturday, December 23, 2006 - Some Surprising News
Sorry to have been MIA the past few weeks. We had some surprising news come our way and we have been dealing with the repercussions. Maybe you are curious what our news is....let me give you some hints.
1. Sometimes this news makes one feel a little green.
2. Sometimes this news makes one feel a lot green.
3. This news can cost a lot of money.
4. This news can require investing in some small things.
5. This news can give one heartburn.
6. This news brings lots of laughter.
7. Sometimes this news makes one just sit and stare into space.
8. This news can cause wild swings of mood.
9. This news can make different family members react in amazingly different ways.
10. This is some of the best news a person can ever receive.
I'll put the news in the comments to give you a chance to guess....
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• Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - The Great White Shark
It has been pathetically long since I last updated this blog. It has been tremendously busy around here. We are doing well. We have been quite busy with schooling, which has been moving along at a nice clip. In particular, science has been especially fun this year. I partnered with a good friend, and we have done science together. We are using My World Science, the Oceans. We capped off our unit with a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
We (especially my boy), were thrilled to see a Great White Shark in captivity. It is very unusual to see a Great White-they don't tend to survive very long if caught. This one, however, seems to be doing very well. You can learn more about this shark here. We happened to go to the aquarium on a homeschool day, so there were all kinds of wonderful activities set up, both around the aquarium and in a conference room. The kids had such a great time that they never asked for a snack...AMAZING!
If you have a chance, please visit the aquarium, either online or in real life. There are many wonderful activities online, as well as webcams of many exhibits. You can even view the Outer Bay exhibit on a webcam, which is where the Great White is living.
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• Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - Wow!
• Sunday, November 12, 2006 - Granny
We had the joy of a visitor last week...dh's Gran. She is visiting from Portland, Oregon, and is down in California for six weeks. We haven't seen her in two years.
Littlest dd gave her bed to Gran. This meant that oldest dd was Gran's roommate. Every morning I would go upstairs to find oldest dd reading The Daily Missal to Gran. I thought it was so sweet to see them sharing morning devotional time together. We aren't Catholic, so Gran's reading and crossing herself was good fodder for conversation, as well. Over the course of the week, it was precious to see Gran bond with the dc. It was almost as if she was drinking them up.
My favorite part of the day while Gran was here was the evening. After the kids went to bed, we would sit and visit. My dh would sit on the couch next to Gran, with his arm around her. My dh is a tall man, and Gran is tiny (like 90 pounds tiny), and she would just snuggle right into his side. Then Gran would talk to us about her life. We learned all kinds of interesting things about her over the course of the week. We learned that she was chubby when she was a girl (hard to believe since she is SO petite now), that she took ballet, and that she has always wanted to take piano lessons. We also heard how her heart was broken by different circumstances in her life, and how Jesus has carried her through. Her sweet determination to do His will in every situation was an encouragement.
Gran-we can't wait for you to come back!
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• Friday, November 3, 2006 - She's in the Double Digits!
I haven't posted for while, but hopefully this entry will bring you up to date. :) We have had a crazy two weeks. On October 20, our oldest dd turned 10. She has been anticipating this day for MONTHS...often asking us questions such as "So how does it feel to have a daughter in the double digits?" Of course the answer is "It feels crazy!" She was just born yesterday, I'm sure of it.
A special birthday merited a special birthday party, and dd wanted a 'baker birthday.' She wanted to bake things. What this really meant was that she wanted to frost things that she happened to have helped bake. I was able to encourage her to only invite one friend, who could sleep over, as opposed to the five friends she usually invites to her birthday parties. I was having nightmares of flour and frosting all over the kitchen with too many kids. Sooo, with one extra little gal in the house, we got down to the baker birthday party. The kids had a wonderful time baking cupcakes, and then frosting cupcakes and some storebought sugar cookies. I pulled out all my cake decorating tips, so they squeezed piles of frosting onto those cookies and cupcakes. We also made candy from a candy making kit. All in all, it was a sweet party (pun intended!).
Because 10 seemed like such a milestone to our dd, we chose to do something extra special for her. In this area, junior high starts in 6th grade, so this played into our choice as well, since dd is in 5th grade now. The weekend after her birthday I took her on a get-away weeked where we worked through the Passport to Purity from FamilyLife Ministries. Passport to Purity is almost like a retreat in a box, that you can work through with your child. We listened to messages on a CD, and then completed object lessons designed to reinforce the messages on the CD. Topics included peer pressure, dating, and sex. Although it seemed a little premature to be discussing these topics with my newly 10 year old, it was actually the ideal time. The idea is to discuss these issues before they become emotionally charged, so the child can make choices before they hit adolescence. The whole weeked was designed to knit the hearts of child and parent together. I certainly think we accomplished the goal. :)
It was a great weekend-I took dd back to the town in which she was born. Although it was difficult to be back there and not connect with the many dear friends we still have in town, the point of the weekend was for the two of us to be together. It was very memorable, and she loved being in her "hometown." A highlight for her, apart from the lessons, was getting her ears pierced. She has delighted in showing everyone her ears, with the pink ice earrings. :) I am so glad we chose to make that weekend her special 10 year old birthday gift.
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• Thursday, October 19, 2006 - The Science Class
I am defective when it comes to teaching science. History, math, reading, writing...I can manage those subjects well. Even Latin and Spanish are moving along in our little school. Science has always been the first subject to drop off the radar in a busy week. But, no more! I have found another "science defective" friend and we are collaborating! We have done science together for five weeks, and the kids are in heaven. I look forward to Wednesdays. My friend and I visit, the kids run around and play for a while, and then we settle into science. We take turns teaching. We are studying the oceans using My World Science. We have learned about the sandy shore, the rocky beach, and tidepools. Coral reefs are coming up.
As a grand finale to our ocean study, we are going on an overnight field trip to a wonderful place...Monterey Bay Aquarium. If you or your children have an interest in the ocean, I highly recommend this wonderful place. If you live too far for a physical visit, try a virtual one. The aquarium has a great website, with many interactive activities and webcams on many of the exhibits. We have found some great resources on this site to complement our study.
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• Thursday, October 12, 2006 - A Day in the Life...
I thought I would record what we are doing today, as a glimpse into our life, so here it is...
6 am- Rise, make coffee, quiet time, and computer time
7 am- Clean up school room that definitely needed it (rearrange a few things, vacuum)
7:15- Girls get up, followed by my boy. They have breakfast and dress. I take a cleaning break to eat oatmeal dh made for me.
8:00 - I am still cleaning school room (did I mention it really needed cleaning?). Kids head outside to sweep up the driveway that was filled with sidewalk chalk remnants from night before.
8:30 - I finish school room, get dressed, and sit to catch my breath for a moment with a game of spider solitaire. Kids are finished outside, so they straighten bedrooms.
9:30 - We head to grocery store to pick up food for dinner-we have guests coming and I need to get food going in the crockpot.
10:30 - school starts. Kids work on independent work while I load crockpot.
11: 15- official snack break and blogging time....
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I will update later to let you know how the day plays out.....
11:30-Cracking the whip...back to math and grammar
12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - Listen to Classics for Kids and Adventures in Odyssey while coloring
2:00 - quiet resting time...kids onto their beds, me onto mine for a nap before ballet
3:00 - get ready for ballet and head out
3:45 - ballet starts, help son finish math, visit with friends
4:45 - ballet class #2 starts, walk down to market to by caffeine
6:00 - drive home
7:00 - eat dinner, get kids in pjs, and whew! what a day. :)
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• Sunday, October 8, 2006 - Strikes, Spares, and Sore Muscles
On Friday night dh and I went out to dinner with his parents, brother, and future sister-in-law for my father-in-law's birthday. We generally have a great time together, and this was no exception. My husband has a fabulous sense of humor, and it is magnified when he is with his brother and dad. They bring out the fun in each other. After dinner we decided to go bowling. On a Friday night, without reservations. This was not a good idea. We were told to wait 45 minutes and then we would probably have a lane. Being generally flexible people, we went cheerfully to Starbuck's, and then came back to the bowling alley.
The people bowling in our lane decided to keep bowling (I guess they were having a great time), so we were out of a lane. The guy assured us that one would open up if we waited 10 more minutes. So we did. And no lanes were available. Dh and I usually have a good time, even if the unexpected happens (which it often does in this life, so I guess that's a good thing.). The same is not true for my dear brother-in-law. His patience is short, and then he tends to get angry. So rather then wait around 10 more minutes, he wanted to leave. So they did, along with my in laws, since they all rode in the same car.
Two minutes after they left, we got our lane.
So we bowled. Quite happily, I might add. We even spiced things up a bit by betting. The loser would have to wash both vehicles. Inside and out, vacummed, polished, and shiny. The winner would get to gloat. Let me tell you that I started out fabulously. I had some strikes and some spares. Unfortunately, these were interspersed with gutter balls. Dh also bowled fabulously. He had no gutter balls. So now I have a very clean van, he has a very shiny truck, and I have super sore muscles. And he has been gloating. Lots!
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• Thursday, October 5, 2006 - Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head!
This past week I was sitting in my school room, and I happened to gaze up at the ceiling. There were watermarks. It is never a good thing to notice watermarks on the ceiling, especially when you know that there is a bathroom right above your head. So, I called the rental company (a perk to renting).
Mr. Repairman called yesterday morning at 8:55 am, and said he would like to come by in 10 minutes and take a look at the watermark. After I quickly surveyed the scene, taking in the unswept kitchen floor, undone breakfast dishes, and me still in my pajamas, I said to come on over. Naturally, the minute I hung up, I sprinted upstairs, threw on clothes, sprinted back downstairs and cleaned up the kitchen.
Mr. Repairman arrived and went into the school room, verified the existence of the watermarks, and proceeded to inspect both upstairs bathrooms and the outdoor roof that covers part of our ceiling in the school room. The only place he discovered a little potential leakage was right next to the tub in the kids' bathroom, where water could have escaped the shower and dripped into the wall. He put some caulking there. He also poked three holes in my school room ceiling with a screwdriver, to see if any water was sitting up there (there was none). He left, telling me to call the property management people by Friday if I noticed any more leaking.
I sent the kids up to shower, not really thinking to much about the leaking, and especially not thinking too much about the three holes now in the school room ceiling. Apparently, the leaking area wasn't fixed. Said kids showered, I remembered the school room, and raced in to see water all over the table. My recitation binder was soggy. :(
So now we are doing school in the family room, so we can be out of the way when Mr. Repairman returns. It does look like there is some leak somewhere in the wall in the kids' tub, so that will need to be fixed, as well as the ceiling. Aaugh! I am glad we don't have to pay for the repairs, but it still will be a pain!
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• Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 10 Little Things I am Thankful For...
1. pencil eraser caps- no elementary aged kid should be without these.
2. cheap hairspray-my almost ten year old delights in using TONS daily.
3. a husband that makes me breakfast every morning (ok-he's not so little, but the action is small in comparison to all he does/is)
4. a trusty, reliable coffee pot
5. duck tape-useful in a multitude of circumstances
6. little birds chirping outside the window when I woke up this morning
7. a little girl who comes up with funny phrases and names for things (the current hit-she has a wart, which she calls her "nerd." When corrected, she says, "I know, but I like "nerd" better.)
8. Barbie pom-poms-did you know they can substitute for pierced earrings on little girls who don't have pierced ears?
9. the big grins on little faces when they are playing games at AWANA
10. quiet time in the afternoon
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• Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - Mr. Eight
I would be remiss if I didn't apologize up front...my boy turned eight 12 days ago, and I am just now getting around to posting his birthday tribute. It's not that I haven't wanted to do it, I just haven't had sufficient quiet time to do it properly. I am up early this morning, so I have found my quiet window to tell you all about my boy.
When I found out I was going to have a boy, I was very nervous. I had no previous boy experience. I grew up with a sister, all girl cousins, I even lived on a street that was filled with girls. What do you do with a boy? From the minute they placed my boy in my arms, I was hooked. He had a shock of dark hair (my husband and I are fair) and really long toes, and I was in love.
My boy continues to delight today. He makes me smile. He is 100% boy-he loves to get dirty, catch lizards, and do things on his scooter that make his mama cringe. He is curious, with his head forever in a book. He is hilarious. I have so many stories about the funny things he has said. His sense of timing is impeccable to lay down the one liners. He is tender with kids littler than he is. He plays with my little godson (3 years old) so sweetly, holding that chubby preschool hand and helping him up and down our stairs. The best part about our boy is that he is learning to be bold, brave, and godly. He wants to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
Happy Birthday, Best Boy!
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• Saturday, September 16, 2006 - Please Pray for Karen
My good friend Tracy just found out her sister-in-law, Karen, has a malignant brain tumor. Karen is a homeschooling mom of three small children. Please lift up this family in prayer. If you would like more up to date information, please visit the family blog.
Thanks for praying!
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• Thursday, September 14, 2006 - Classics for Kids
I came upon this website through a recommendation at the Well-Trained Mind message boards, and I wanted to pass it on to you. Classics for Kids is a wonderful music education resource. Each month a different composer is featured. This month the composer is John Philip Sousa. Last month was Felix Mendelssohn. Every week there is a short 6-10 minute show for your listening pleasure.
Yes, this is coming across as a commercial. That's intentional on my part. This is a fabulous, free opportunity. My kids love it...we listen on the laptop on Mondays during lunch. Check it out...I bet your family will enjoy it, too!
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• Monday, September 11, 2006 - Constitution Day Parade
I grew up in a little town called Nevada City, in California. I was the sixth generation in my dad's family to be born there. My childhood was filled with tons of cousins, family dinners, and fun town events. One of my most favorite times was parade time. We had 4th of July parades like many towns, but even better, we had the Constitution Day Parade. I thought the Constitution Day Parade was better because it was cooler outside, the parade had more bands since school was in session, and because it had lots of Shriners riding on funny little motorcycles or running around as clowns.
Yesterday, I took my own kids up to Nevada City to enjoy this fun parade. The parade of my memory was much more fun. I don't know if the parade in my memory was really better, or if it was just because I was an excited kid so the memory is better. Although there were still Shriners, many of them have aged/died, so there weren't as many. The clowns rode along on floats and waved, they didn't walk up and down the streets. The only bands were local bands, no high school bands from other areas participated this year. And the parade had four different protesting groups marching along expressing their opinions. Although I support their right to express an opinion I disagree with (and it was a Constitution Day Parade, after all), I was disappointed at the level of divisiveness they brought to the event. As they came past the crowd filled with boos and cheers, and friends on the street started looking at each other differently. Also, in an effort to communicate their message, at one point a group stopped in front of the parade grandstand and refused to move forward, halting the entire parade for five-ten minutes. That was very rude, to both the parade watchers and the parade marchers still waiting for their turn to march past the grandstand. That was an innapropriate venue for a protest- it was a parade. The whole point of a parade is that it parades-it keeps moving.
Despite the tension level within the crowd when the protest oriented groups marched past, my kids had a great time. They collected candy tossed from different marchers, and stickers that look like badges from the fire department. They thought the Shriners on motorcycles were funny as they whipped around in fancy, motorized version of follow the leader. The veterans groups that came through brought tears to my eyes as I thought of the great sacrifices they had made so we could enjoy things like parades. And we had great conversations about the freedom of speech.
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• Friday, September 1, 2006 - Catching Up...
It has been a crazy couple of weeks around our little casa. You may be aware that I work part time for a local charter school. I love my job-it's tailor made to my interests and abilities. I get to supervise other homeschooling families, encouraging and supporting them in a variety of ways. At the end of last school year I decided to cut back on the number of students I serve, so I could have more emotional and intellectual energy for schooling my own kids. I kept four families that are "dream families-" easy to work with, use similar materials so ordering is simple, and are very thorough and on top of things. I thought I was set for a smooth year of work. Then it happened....
It is the new record keeping system my school adopted over the summer. This delightfully challenging new system changes every single facet of my job, so in many ways it is like starting over as a brand new employee. In addition to that, the school adopted a new accounting system, changed the school name to better reflect it's mission, and even changed my job title-from Education Specialist to Supervising Teacher. I do like many of the changes, and think they will improve the service our school provides to families. However, the quantity of changes all happening within a 2 week period has left me breathless and spinning. Every time I get my brain wrapped around one change, another has been added.
On top of my work related transitions, I have had my normal responsibilities of wife, mom, teacher, laundry lady, and housekeeper. These have not received their normal, loving amounts of attention. So today I am looking forward to vacuuming, washing, and hugging my way through the day, blissfully ignoring that new computer system and all it's related details. It should be a great day!
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• Tuesday, August 22, 2006 - Happy Birthday, Little Chick!
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Today my littlest darlin' is 6! Hard to believe. As you might have guessed, she loves pink and orange, and is having a pink and orange cheerleader birthday party. I have lots to do to get ready for all the young cheerleaders coming over tonight to celebrate, so I'd better get going. LET'S GO!
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• Sunday, August 20, 2006 - Sounds of Home
Some days the sounds around my house make me crazy-I just want to hide my head under a pillow to get away from it. Other days, I love the sounds of my house. Like right now. My dear husband is warming up for college group tonight by tuning his guitar, and by playing some worship songs. He has an amazing voice (and I'm not the only one that thinks this!) and is a great lead worshipper. As my kids are playing through the house they are singing along. There are breaks in the music to fiddle with strings, or as one of the kids passes through the room. My fingers are tapping a rhythm on the keyboard. I am so grateful today for the buzz around my home.
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• Friday, August 18, 2006 - My True Birth Month
| Your True Birth Month Is December |  Logical
Patriotic
Ambitious
Not egoistic
Loves praise
Loves to joke
Fun to be with
Not pretending
Loves attention
Short tempered
Hates restrictions
Loves to socialize
Loves to be loved
Loyal and generous
Impatient and hasty
Changing personality
Good sense of humor
Honest and trustworthy
Influential in organizations
Takes high pride in oneself
Active in games and interactions |
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• Thursday, August 17, 2006 - In The Car
• Monday, August 14, 2006 - The First Day Back
So, here we are, part way through our first official day of the new school year. I have some pretty high ambitions for our little family this year, most importantly, that we would be better stewards of our time. I prayed and worked diligently on a schedule for us, based on the principles taught in Managers of the Home (MOTH). Today we are attempting a modified version of our schedule. So far, so good.
The biggest change to our rhythm include a definite waking time for our kids. In the past, I have always let the kids sleep until they woke up. We had late nights due to my dh's work schedule, and I was comfortable allowing this. However, as the kids have gotten older, I realized that I needed more structure, and that the kids did too. So I woke them up at 7:15 this morning. They weren't too happy about it-especially oldest dd, but they got up, dressed themselves, and came down to breakfast.
The other change is for me to be more specific in my devotions with the kids. Historically, we have taken great advantage of the multitude of "teachable moments," that come up daily in our home to teach about our faith. I am trying to be more diligent and systematic in my approach, having a devotion at breakfast and at dinner. Keep in mind these are very simple devotions...nothing too complex.
Like I said, so far, so good. I am hopeful my munchkins will catch on to this idea and be more cooperative and self starting, as they learn what I expect and as they get acquainted with the routine. I'll let you know how it goes. |
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• Friday, August 11, 2006 - The Summer of Reading...
A while back, I discussed my desire to rediscover my love of reading this summer. I feel I have accomplished this task. I have read a number of books, I swallowed my pride and paid the late fees at the library so I could once again check out books, and I have tackled some books I thought I wouldn't enjoy but did. So, as a recap, here is what I have enjoyed thus far...
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
1776 by David McCullough
John Adams by David McCullough
Abigail Adams, Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsberg
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I read John Adams while we were in Mexico. I found him to be so fascinating! I had no idea the depth of his influence on the beginnings of our country. His relationship with Abigail was so tender and passionate. My husband even laughed at me (and I laughed a little bit at me, too) because I cried when Abigail died. Even though I knew she would die, I was still moved deeply by her death and John's pain. I so enjoyed this book that I checked out a biography on Abigail, and I found it to be less well written. It came off much more like a school report.
I loved reading the Hobbit, which I had never read before. Now I am looking very forward to delving into the Lord of the Rings series. Especially since I can check them out for free. (Okay, true confessions...the library fine was $37. I have heard of homeschoolers having much larger fines, but this was still huge to me and I had a vision of the librarian saying in a booming voice, "You owe $37," broadcasting my shame all over the library. However, in real life she was quite kind and discreet.)
My friend Nicole has started a blog about her family and life over in North Carolina. You can read about her summer of reading here. |
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• Thursday, August 3, 2006 - Why Mexico?
Recently we traveled to Mexico. Gayle asked me if I was nervous traveling to a foreign country with my kids. YES! I was nervous before we left, but we ended up having a great time. In case you are interested in going to Mexico, here's what I learned...
Mexico is actually a fabulous place to go for first time international travel with children. And that's not just my opinion-our Frommer's travel guide said the same thing. Children are viewed as a national treasure in Mexico. We felt very safe during our trip. The only thing transportation wise that made me uncomfortable was driving (well, actually riding, since my dh did the driving). They follow very different rules there!
We have dear friends who let us use their condo in a sweet little town called Puerto Morelos (about midway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen). I was nervous about the ocean and the kids, as I had visions of them getting smashed by the waves. I learned that the second largest coral reef in the world is off shore on the eastern side of the Yucatan peninsula. The large waves break on the reef, and very gentle waves actually reach the shore, making it an ideal place for our little children to splash in the water and learn to snorkel.
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