July 21, 2006 Patriotic Friday
July 14, 2006 Patriotic Friday
July 9, 2006 The First Injury
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Yep, our
youth group has been gone for less than 48 hours and we have had a report that
Bud is the first on the trip to sustain an injury. After arriving safely
in Ontario last night, they were playing musical chairs, and my guy, in his
teenage boy exuberance ran and dived onto a chair, hurting his back (and Im
guessing, a little of his pride.)
Praying that the ibuprofen is all that is needed to help him feel better
quickly, and that there is not a serious injury lurking there to hinder his
work for the LORD this week.
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Well, all my babies left yesterday and I'm home alone at the moment. Hubby is on a bike ride, so it's just me and Gus, the stinky-at-the-moment puppy.
My two oldest are on their way to Kingston, Ontario for
and my two youngest are spending the week being spoiled by mammaw and pappaw.
My
boys have gone to camp for several years now, but I actually had tears
in my eyes last night before saying goodbye to them. When they
started calling van assignments, Bubba's name was called in the
first group, Bud yelled out "Bye Bubba, I love you!" and of course, all
89 attendees and their parents started laughing and broke the tension,
so no tears flowed when I hugged them one last time.
Thursday we went to the midnight showing of Pirates of the Caribbean.
All in all very entertaining (I didn't fall asleep!) except for the
creepy river woman. We got home at 3:30 am, and my internal clock
had me up by 6:30 (I do not use an alarm clock, but it is rare for me
to sleep past this time.) So, yesterday I was running on three
hours of sleep and lots of caffeine.
Bud has had some noticeable chin hair for several months now. We
have avoided the first "official" shave with a razor, but something
needed to be done about it. So, before he left yesterday, I got
out the ol trimmer and chopped it off. He turned 15
AND A HALF on the second (and yes that "half" is important to him as it
signals the time that he may go to get his temporary driving
permit.) But I am in no hurry for him to get a car or his
license. Let's see, he also has a girlfriend now,
Strawberry, who I will say is adorable and is a wonderful Christian
girl. They have been an item for over three months now. She
has joined us on family outings, and they sit together for church
activities, but we are not allowing dating just yet. But they
talk on the phone every night. He gave her a betta fish in a vase
for their three month anniversary. I cannot imagine how he is
going to top that gift, but my advice to him was that it wasn't about
how much time or money he spent, but the thought behind it. But, Oh my soul! Where has my baby gone to?
Bubba earned six merit badges at scout camp. He borrowed a phone
card from a fellow camper and tried to call me. I, of course
happened to be out at that time, so he left this message to me that was
just "heartbreaking" In the whiniest voice
possible...>>> "Mom, Where ARE you? Pick up the phone, this is not a telemarketer.
I miss you. You better be there next time I call." Of
course, he is a big ham, so I understood that he wasn't really
upset, but if anyone else had heard him...So, I spent about 30 minutes
trying to record the "perfect" answering machine greeting assuring him
(and my other two boys who were also at various camps) that I was SO sorry to miss their calls . And wouldn't ya know, he never tried to call back.
Boo went to church kids camp. He has a hard time matching his
clothes, normally putting on the first shirt and pants that he sees, so
he asked for help making certain that he had matching outfits. I
packed each days clothes in a Ziploc bag. A day or two after he
returned, he came down with red and black shorts on with a white shirt
trimmed in black. Honey Bunch says, "Boo, you look really good
today, you match." To which Boo replied, "I had an outfit left
over from camp." Hey, whatever works, right?
Boo'ism: "I really want the nut of the litter," said when we were picking out a puppy.
Baby Girl'ism: "I want to go to BackOut (Outback) steak
house." She got her braces put on Wednesday morning.
She was left home with me while Honey Bunch and the boys were off to
camp. We got movies from the library and the video store, went to
see Over the Hedge,
ate at Ruby Tuesday's, Subway, and McDonald's, but she still said more
than once, "I'm bored". I'm sure she won't admit it, but she
really just missed picking at her brothers.
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June 29, 2006 Entertaining
Well, we had 23 people in my house Saturday night for a Sunday School "small" group fellowship. I have never had more than 12 people around my table at one time, but I made all the food, and if I do say so myself, did a pretty good job on judging how much to make.
Here is my menu:
Veggies and Dip
Chips and Salsa
Brisket
Grilled Chicken Breasts
Hot Dogs (yes, we had some adults who ate these)
Hash Brown Potato Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese
Corn Pudding
Green Beans (canned last summer)
Rolls
Watermelon
Homemade Vanilla and Cookies n Cream Ice Cream
Pound Cake
Brownies
Apple Dump Cake
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June 29, 2006 Time for a template change
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Well,
what does it say about me that I've spent the better part of the
afternoon changing around my template and have no time to write an
update. You'd think I would have prioritized differently since
I've been absent from around here so long. Oh well, I would
promise to update tomorrow, but all of my men folk (hubby included)
return from camp, so my free time will diminish once again!
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Here's
a picture of our new puppy. He's a Labradoodle--His mama was a
black poodle and his daddy was a chocolate lab. He's 13 weeks
old, but we've only had him for one week. We've never had a male
dog before, so please tell me that he'll behave. As for his name,
we're still unsure, but leaning towards GUS (for Augustus Caesar, or
the mouse, Gus-Gus in Cinderella, or if he's just a big goober, Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) This guy's going to be big, but isn't he just a cutie!
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June 28, 2006 Snake in the Pool
This
guy has been seen swimming around our pool. Then he (or she?)
hides in the skimmer, just out of reach. Baby girl refuses to
swim until this critter is caught but all the guys are away at camp
this week. Just for the record, he looks bigger in this photo, but I'm
not reaching in to get it out.
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May 11, 2006 Just another quick update
Once again I
have left this blog neglected. It has been crazy around here
since we bought a 30 year old, 3500 sq foot house and have removed
wallpaper and painted almost every surface (including ceilings) while
trying to unpack boxes and make time for schooling.
I feel so blessed to have this house. Each of the children has
their own room and we have a separate school room and craft room!
We have birds at the feeder daily and have seen our share of cardinals,
robins, finches and blue jays. Of course we have also
seen mice and snakes in the shed...but don't tell Baby Girl!
We are trying to wind down for the school year and are awaiting the
arrival (hopefully any day now) of our IOWA tests. All in
all, I feel that this has been a good year, even with the interruption
of moving.
Summer camps start in just three weeks with our oldest, Bud, going to
Scout Leadership Camp (he was just elected Senior Patrol Leader), then
onto Youth Super Summer Leadership Camp. Bubba will go to Scout
camp, while Boo attends Church Kids' Camp. Then Bud and Bubba
will go to International M-Fuge--traveling this year to Canada!
Poor Baby Girl just gets to stay home with mom.
Our latest purchase was a drum set.
'nuff said on
that topic.....
And, that's my life in a nutshell for the moment.
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February 1, 2006 Where has the time gone?
Yes, I have neglected my blog for over a
month. Travel to Florida for the holidays, along with searching
for and buying a house have kept me busy. Although there is lots
to update about, I just don't have much to really say at the
moment. Just figured I would add a little bit about why it's been
quite here, in case you've random blogged your way here.
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December 15, 2005 let it snow
December 8, 2005 Quick Update
November 16, 2005 Allowances
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Today was
allowance day in our household. It was
supposed to be yesterday, on payday, but I never have cash in my wallet.
We have
gone back and forth between how much, or even if, we should give to our
children. We have come up with a
solution that works for our family. Our
children have chores because they are a member of our household. But, because they are a member of our
household they also receive and allowance based on their age.
Since the
older ones end up having more responsibilities, we did not feel that it was
fair that the little ones received the same amount, so we came up with the age
scale. They get one dollar for however
old they are on honeys two pay periods per month to spend however they please
with
one exception
.they must give some (we teach 10%) back to the LORD.
This has
greatly reduced the can you buy me
questions when we are in the store. They have to really want something, and be
willing to spend their own money on it.
They are learning the value of the dollar and that an impulse buy can
determine whether they have to wait an extra two weeks to get a bigger
purchase. At times they pool their money
to buy a video game. But most times they
save it and watch the sum grow larger in their wallets. And of course, they look forward to their raise
each year on their birthday!
Now, this
has been revised at times based on our family dynamics. For instance, when we had season tickets to
the amusement park and made a trip down there weekly, they did not receive their
allowances. We were spending way more
than their allotment each week to justify giving them more.
I guess I
had this on my mind today because Bubba just bought a new electric guitar
yesterday. He knows how much money he
will be receiving next week for his birthday from each of the grandparents and from us. However, he spent a little over and will still
owe us money, so today he didnt receive his $11.00, but only $1.00 for his
tithe. He doesn't have any "fun money", but he will have that guitar for
a long time and the little trinkets he may have thought he wanted (or needed)
are not so high on the priority list.
Is
he happy with his purchase?
Absolutely.
But well have to ask
him again in a few months!
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November 14, 2005 Natural Consequences
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Honey and I
are in a Bible Study for parents of teens and pre-teens. We have been talking about natural
consequences for wrong behavior.
So, we have
been trying a few in our household. For
instance, when our children leave their beds unmade, they will find that there
is no bedding on the mattress when they retire for the evening. (This one only occurred once and they have
all learned the lesson from it!) When my
teen (who, in his defense has always been on a night owls schedule) has not
made it into the school room by 9:00 am, having already eaten breakfast, then
he loses his IM and xanga time. (okay,
were still working on this one.) One of
the other moms is dealing with hateful names between her children. Her solution was for them to sit by the
aquarium while holding their tongues.
The reward for not name
calling for a week was to go out for ice cream.
She said that not one has broken the rule this week! Another mom was having trouble with her
daughter slamming a door. The solution?
She removed the door. Toys and
clothes left on the floor? Take them
away.
Okay, so
this is working! And why on earth I have
never tried it before, Ill never know.
Our youth pastor has even given us a contract to sign with our children
about character behaviors that they need to work on. Its right there on the contract what the
wrong behavior is and the punishment that will be given should that behavior
continue. Both the parents and the teens
sign it. So they know that there is a
consequence (either a bad one or a good one in the case of the ice cream) for
their behavior.
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A Little About Me
I'm Corky, a military wife and mom of four. We're in our 11th year of homeschooling and have lived in many different places in our 18 years of marriage. My hobbies include reading, tandem bike riding with my hubby, and blogging, of course!
Meet My Family
Honey Bunch
Bud, 15
Bubba, 12
Boo, 10
Baby Girl, 7
From His Word
"Those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall
mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31
Biking is better when We are TWOgether
Recent Ramblings
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