I must say that I'm really really tired right now.  The last few weeks have totally worn our family out and we're really struggling getting back on track.  I have made some New Year's goals (as opposed to Resolutions!) and am going to try really hard to work on them. 

One is decluttering the house.  We just have so much junk that gets in the way and is never used.  It's making us feel overwhelmed and we just have to rid ourselves of it.

Two is to stop watching so much TV.  I just watch too much and know that if I didn't watch so much, I would be more apt to get more accomplished.

Three is to get back into schooling and keeping track of our school time.  I've just not done as good with that as I should and need to work harder at it.

Fourth is to eat healthier and cook more nutritiously.  I had gotten pretty good at that, but then due to schedules and illness we either ate out or did 'quick fix' stuff that wasn't all that healthy.  Have to do better! :)

Will update on the progress and see how life goes!

This afternoon while I was making lunch, I was listening to the boys play.    I just love to listen to them play church, and this was their current activity.  B was the song leader, which made C the preacher and the person who would pray.  Well, B led several songs, all with a Christmas tune, but with his own made-up words.  Then he said they would have one more song and then the lesson.

When C got up to do the lesson, B quickly reminded him, "Remember, it's Wednesday so keep it short!" 

Here was the gist of C's lesson:  "The other day, Vindy and Conner and I went hunting.  And there was blood but we did good.  Want to thank you for paying attention today, we'll have a song and a prayer.  God bless you today."  ('Vindy and Conner' just happen to be our minister's wife and son, whom he uses in illustrations occassionally.  The rest is almost verbatim of what our dear ministers says every Sunday!)

Well, B got up and led one more song and then C had the closing prayer.  Then for the next 2 minutes, they walked around the living room, shaking each other's hands, hugging pretend people and saying, "Oh, how are you!?"  or "It's so good to see you tonight." or some other platitude.   

It really cracked me up!  To them, that is church.  That is what they see.  It is always so amazing to me how much they take in when we're not aware of what they see.   

Last night we were at a gymnastics makeup class and so I was therefore sitting with some moms that I don't see very often.  Most of them happened to be teachers so they were talking about the new year and how they can't believe that 1st quarter is almost up and so on. 

They began talking about how busy their schedules have been and how they don't ever get home until 8 or 9 at night and then have ot help their children with homework and such.  One teacher was talking about how the kids in her class seemed to be so tired...even to the point of falling asleep in class.  She said that one little boy was sliding out of his chair and another little girl kept sleeping on her arms.  They were laughing at these poor kids falling asleep in class!  I casually asked what grade she taught....1st.  She went on to say that she can't get too mad at the parents for not getting the kids enough rest, when her own don't get to go to bed until 11 or midnight each night due to homework. 

I just sat there feeling so thankful that I had a husband who supported the idea of homeschooling so that this wouldn't be an issue for our boys.  I couldn't imagine (for one thing) getting the note from the teacher saying, "Your child fell asleep in class today."  And for another, can't imagine the embarrassment that poor child had to go through for falling asleep. 

Thank you, Lord, for a supportive husband! :)

The following conversation took place in our schoolroom on Wednesday....totally cracked me up!

B:  Hey, C, I have a great idea for a game.  Why don't you hold your breath till I count to 88?

C:  Sure brother, that sounds like a great idea!!

B:  Okay, ready GO!  1, 2, 3, 4, ......86, 87, 88!  Okay you can breathe!

C:  Haha!  I tricked you!  I was breathing the whole time and you couldn't tell!! 

B is my Mr. Command and C is my Mr. Visionary/Mr. Steady.  C is willing to go along with most any idea and is very compliant.  One of these days, he'll turn the tables!

Please check out Snapfish...Our photo albums are yours for the looking!

Well, we've been getting back in the swing of school over the last few weeks, but I must admit:  The lack of schedule has been my fault.  We've been running like crazy around here and it has made school very difficult to get to.  However, we are getting on track.  And this week is no exception.

We started this week very slowly, but I have been determined to get everything done that I had slated for each day.  So far so good.  Brent is willing to work and wants to make it through first grade, so he is working hard. 

And I LOVE my new software that I've been using to track our progress.  Edu-Track has been a wonderful addition to our schooling.  Brent finishes his work for each day and leaves it on my desk.  And during naptime, I grade it and input it into the software, which tallies everything for me.  It couldn't be simpler!  Well, it might be.  The only way it would be a bit easier is if I could put the lessons in for a couple weeks at a time and then I'd only have to input the grade for each assignment.  This is highly doable with this software, just not with my schedule.  I never know from one day or week to the next how much we'll get done.  Anyway, I love it.  I truly hope someone who reads this will give it a try. 

Next I just have to get Clayton interested in doing schoolwork.  But he's only 4 and is just much to wiggly to sit still for anything like school.  :)  But he tries.  He loves to cut paper and draw, so that is a start.  He has a TON of time before it even becomes an issue.

Cheers!  And Happy Tuesday!

Oh, my goodness!!  I just checked on here and realized it's been 2 months since I've posted anything!    I just can't hardly belive it's been that long.  But then again, I can.  Life has been really really crazy around here.  I promise to post something soon!

Last night we went to wash our big blankets and pillows at the laundrymat, since we don't like doing this with our washer/dryer at home.  Before we leave the house, C realizes he has pockets and wants some money for them.  So Terry gave hime some pennies.  Anyway, after we were finished we still had to eat supper and, being in the small town we're in, there wasn't much open.  So we decided to eat mexican at El Torero.  Well, while we were waiting for our food to come, C takes a drink of his soda and tips the cup instead of pulling it down beside himself and keeping it upright.  (It's one of those styrofoam cups with a lid that leaks out the hole the straw is in when turn on it's side.)

The cup leaks and we hand him napkins to wipe up the mess and he says, "Oh no..my money got wet in my pocket!"

Terry looks at him, grins, and says, "That's okay....money can be laundered too!"

It is truly fascinating to me to watch hummingbirds.  We finally have a feeder up this year and have spent several hours outdoors watching them feed and fight and play and feed some more.  I would venture to say that we have at least 4 who frequent our feeder, but the information I've been reading says that you can take whatever number you see all at once and multiply it by 4 and that is the number you actually have using your feeder.  Wow!

We enjoy especially the evenings, cuz that is when the male is the most territorial.  He will swoop down and fight off any other hummer that even comes near 'his' feeder.  It's so funny to watch cuz the other hummers don't give up...they just keep coming back for more thumpings from him.  :) 

Last night I saw 2 females around the feeder and it truly looked like they were dancing with each other.  There was one on either side of the 4-sided feeder and they would mirror each others movements.  When one would drink, the other would drink from the hole opposite her.  When one would go left, the other would follow suit.  And so on.  Truly amazing.

Yesterday afternoon, I was out on the porch reading a book and the hummers were playing as usual.  Well, all of a sudden this one comes extremely close to me and starts flying right behind my book!  I just sit there very still, cuz I could feel his wings moving the air across my legs.  I also knew that if I moved I might scare him away, and they are very comfortable now with us being around so I didn't want to jeapordize that.  Anyway, he flew around me a bit, just looking at me and then abruptly flew away.  That's when I realized...the outside cover of my book was bright PINK!  He was attracted to my book color, looking for a food source!  :)

I did a bit of looking online this morning and wanted to share this link:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/index.html

This page describes much about the type of hummers we have here, the Ruby Throated:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/rubythroated.html

Please take a moment and look at the beautiful creatures.  If you have any in your area, get a feeder and then sit back and enjoy them!

I was just about asleep last night when I hear this weird noise.  It almost sounds like an animal making a weird noise.  Then I realize it's C crying like he's mad...almost screaming.  We've been dealing with night terrors with him for quite a while now, but we haven't had one in a few weeks...and certainly nothing like this. 

He was standing by his bed stomping on his blanket (apparently it had gotten around his feet in his struggle to get out of bed) and was screaming this deep throated scream, like he was mad at someone.  Then he starts angrily going around his room trying to pick toys up and not being able to (they were too heavy in his 'dream'?) and wouldn't let me touch him.  Every time he tried to pick up a toy or I tried to touch him to calm him down, he just scream more and went another direction.  Then he starts saying, "Aunt Darlene" or "Aunt Donna" but wouldn't say anymore than that.

Well, I see T walk past the bedroom on his way to bed.  I can normally handle these episodes on my own, so this isn't out of the ordinary.  But then C heads over to the step-ladder we built for their bunk beds and proceeds to climb them.  I started to follow him over there, but he was fast enough I couldn't get to them before he got to the top and started walking towards the edge of B's bed.  So I went to the front....he chose to go back to the stairs, which made me more nervouse...cuz I couldn't get there fast enough if he started to fall.  So I called T and told him I needed help....

By the time T got in there, C had come down the steps and walked right to his daddy like nothing was happening....  They went back in our bedroom and started talking.  T asked him if he had a bad dream...C said it was about an airplane that wouldn't get away from him.  He said he didn't have anyone else in his dream except Daddy so who knows about the Aunt connection!

Anyway, a few minutes later he just climbed down and said he needed to go back to his room for a while.  T followed him in there and he just crawled back in bed and went to sleep.  We didn't hear another peep all night.

Like I said, these terrors aren't new to me, they just seem to be getting a little worse as time goes on and I dont' know what to do with it.  There is no cure from everything I've read....people say most kids just outgrow them.  Guess we'll see.

On Saturday, we had such great weather that we decided to wash the van as a family.  When we were finished the boys played in their pool till supper time.  While they were playing in the pool, someone came to mow the lawn for the house across the street (it is vacant and was being auctioned on Sunday, so they wanted the lawn to look nice.).  The girl who came over to do this was wearing a very skimpy bikini top and very very short shorts. 

The boys continued to play for the first half hour she was there mowing...she was in their back yard where we couldn't see her.  Then she came to the front of the house about the time the boys were getting out of the pool.  Brent came over and was sitting in his chair drying off and was watching this lady mow.

He looked at me and (very quietly) asked, "Mom, why is she outside without very many clothes on?"

I explained to him about the word modesty and what it means to be modest and how dressing modestly makes people more comfortable and dressing immodestly makes then uncomfortable. 

He says, "She shouldn't be out of her house with only a bra on...she needs to wear a shirt too!  Maybe she forgot to get dressed?"

  Out of the mouths of babes!

Last night, B wasn't feeling well, so he and T stayed home from services.  But they decided to read through a part of the Bible together.  T was telling me about it after the boys went to bed...

They read the first 4 chapters of Matthew and T said that when they got to the part of Jesus fasting for 40 days, B said he knew why Jesus was fasting.  Intrigued, T asked why.  B said, "Well, cuz the flood lasted for 40 days and so since the water was all over the earth, there wasn't any food for Jesus to pick, so he had to fast."  :)  Terry explained to him the difference of time between the two stories and went on. 

They talked about how hungry Jesus must have been after not eating for so long, and how if we went even 2 days without eating how hungry would we be?  Terry explained how Jesus was God and could do anything and that if he told a rock to become bread it would at his command.   B said that if he had fasted for 2 days, he would look at the blankets and tell them to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for him.  And if he fasted for 5 days, he would tell the desk to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  :)  Gotta love the connections they make.

There was alot of other stuff they discussed but it was nice they had that time to be together and visit!

Good morning everyone!  I just wanted to pop this on here to invite you to join this great book swapping club!  Membership is free and you can swap books for only the cost of postage.  I have been a member for about a year and love it.....I highly recommend anyone to sign up and use it for teaching material or to get more books to read for pleasure.

Enjoy!

www.papberbackswap.com

We went to the air show recently and saw the planes performing all their cool tricks.  It was scorchingly hot and we all were soaked within the hour of sitting there.  The boys were getting restless and so we left early, but not before we saw several of the demonstrations and the parachuting part. 

Then as we were leaving we saw a young man from our church who is flying and getting ready to go to flight school.  He allowed the boys to sit up in one of the planes he was showing and play with the controls.  They loved it! ;) 

Well, this is my first official week She-Flying, which is what I've been calling my SHE and Flylady combination.  So far all is okay, although it has taken me all week to get my pots and pans all washed on the same day (something that should be a daily job).  However, I am determined not to let it get me down...this is only the first week and it takes TIME to change bad habits. :)  (I'm really trying to be optimistic, but it's hard!)

However, I have found out that I have an island in the middle of my kitchen and that I HAVE to vaccum 2 times a week, not just one.  Amazing how the floor looks when all those toys are picked up! LOL

I have also discovered that I have two relatively helpful little boys.    They clean their own bathroom (although it may not be up to MY standards right away, they are working and enjoying it...so that is what counts.), they cleaned the windows (after I sprayed them) and they went through the entire house and cleaned all the light-switches and doorknobs.  (That last one was awesome....I gave each of them a Clorox wipe and showed them how to do it and they took off through the house and had a blast!  While they were doing that I was making sandwiches for lunch and we all finished about the same time...and my 'germy' places were now sanatized!  Woohoo!)

Brent has taken to asking me at night or early in the morning what cards we have to do today, or is the grocery store on our one of our cards for the day, or questions like that.  The system is really cool, and very forgiving. 

My goal is for next week to go better than this week and continue it during the week the boys are away.  I am truly glad I found this new system and would recommend it to anyone who is struggling with organizing themselves.  One of the best things about it is I don't have this overwhelming feeling of all the things I want to get done while the boys are gone in 10 days...all of my jobs (big and small) are scheduled out and will be done at the appropriate time, instead of crammed into 5 days!

Finally, we were able to get the Bug Man over here today!  We've had ants and spiders and such and they were driving me crazy!! :)  Of course, the boys have been having fun with the ants and trying to play with them by the front door, but they're boys!  :)

Hard lessons are being learned around our house this week!  We've been working on B's attitude and 'hmphing' when told to do something he doesn't want to do.  It's been a building frustration with T and I and we've talked endlessly about what to do.  We've tried talking with B about it and explaining how we want him to act and how disrespectful it is to act the way he's been acting. 

Well, it all came to a head last night.  I was outside grilling supper and the boys were outside playing too.  A neighbor boy was playing in his yard and they all started to play together.  Then B and C decided they both wanted to be the 'fixer' and each picked up a toy wrench.  Well, C had the one that B wanted and he tried to take it from him.  C screamed no and said it was his.  I interfered and told C to stop screaming and use words...so he did.  Said, "No brother, I had it first."  Well, B was not satisfied with this so he proceded to get in C's face and scream at him at the top of his lungs with red face and clenched teeth, "I said give it to me....I want it...Give it to me NOW!"  Well, this again got my immediate attention and I was so aggravated (and okay, embarrassed) by the whole thing.  See, the little neighbor boys dad came out and I told him his son was fine and minding his own business...it was the boys fighting.

So, I had B sit in a chair till I could calm down and then we had a talk.  We discussed selfishness, treating others the way we want to be treated, how it makes God sad when we treat people bad, and many other things.  But it just didn't seem to be truly getting through to him.  I thought of spanking him, but realized at this point it wouldn't work either.  So I told him that he was finished playing outside for the evening and he was to go inside and sit on the couch and think about what we had discussed.  No toys, no tv, no nothing....just thinking.  He was very sad but went in anyway.

A bit later (maybe 10 minutes) I went in to get sauce and he said, "Mom, I thought of two things."  He proceeded to tell me these two things:   That C had the wrench he needed, and he wanted it.  I told him that didn't even begin to talk about selfishness and treating his brother with love.  He asked, "but can I come outside again since it has been a while?"  I said, "No, I told you that you were done for the evening.  That means you dont' get to go outside at all again tonight...this is a punishment...a consequence for your actions.  Punishments aren't supposed to be fun...they are supposed to make you think about what you did wrong."  Then I went back outside and I could hear him crying from the porch. 

Well, before supper, I talked to him again and had him tell me everything that went wrong outside and what he could have done differently, and what it means to be selfish.  We also discussed that he's been ignoring T and me and not obeying and wanting to only do what B wants to do no matter who's feelings it hurts.  And how sad it makes us when he's disrepectful to us.  He just burst into tears and hugged me for the longest time. 

We had supper and discussed it a bit more when he'd ask a question.  But I also told him that it has become a habit to act the way he has and that a habit is very hard to break.  So I told him that he may be in extra trouble for a little while cuz we're gonna stop this bad habit no matter what it takes.  So far so good.  We've had a couple instances this morning and he's handled them well....getting sort of sad, but I can also tell by looking in his eyes that he knows he wrong and that I'm trying to help him.

Such a hard lesson and so exhausting (to all of us) in the process!

It's been one of those days...nothing has gotten done.  We've worked all day and the house still looks horrible.  However, we're all very tired.  Long weekends will do that to you. 

Tomorrow we have gymnastics and we might have company for supper tomorrow night to look at the house.  Who knows...things change around here from one day to the next. 

Anyway, tomorrow is another day and hopefully we'll get more done!

I have finally gotten things copied and pasted from our B***ger account and I'm glad it's here!  :)  Now to send it out to everyone so friends and family know we have a new blog!

Hello all!  I am happy to be on the homeschool blogger finally.  We have been hsing for about a year now, but have finally switched over to this blog from another well-known site.  :)

Off to learn more and post more!

:)