I love the community here at HSB!   So it was a tough decision to move to a new location.   I wavered and thought and stalled and wavered some more, but finally decided it was time leave my comfort zone and find some new digs.    I've made so many great friends here and I would hate to lose contact so please save my new address in your bloglines account so we don't lose touch.  And I'll still be around reading all my favorite HSB blogs. 

Gayle

FOLLOW THIS LINK!!!!!

***inspired by a conversation with nsremom***

For years I’ve wanted to take local community classes with Chris (hubz).   I thought it would be a way for us to have something to do TOGETHER; a common interest, a common goal.   He didn’t quite seem to get it when I brought it up, but sweet guy that he is, he agreed to take a class with me.   I knew it was a huge sacrifice on his part and he wasn’t too thrilled about it…but he did it.

So the first class I could talk him into was a conversational Spanish class.  We had two small children and I still worked one evening a week at a pediatric office.   We have a large Mexican community where we live and I thought it would be a terrific idea to actually be able to converse with our Mexican patients so I signed us up and off we went. 

The class was a little boring.  The most entertaining part was the 60 year old couple we sat next to who were constantly sharing their spicy intimate life with us.  Way more info than I wanted, but enough comic relief that we actually finished the class. 

So my heart was set on our next class…..ballroom dancing.   I’ve always been a dancer.  I competed and coached in high school and have always loved the graceful moves of the ballroom dancers.   But Chris would have none of that.  He was a football jock and this was just way to girly for him.   I accepted the fact that this just wasn’t meant to be and moved on.

Well, don’t tell me that God doesn’t care about the desires of my heart…no matter how little they are.   

On Sunday night we were invited to a birthday party and the hostess hired a ballroom dance teacher to give us all lessons.  We were to arrive in semi-formal attire and spend the night gracefully gliding over the floor.    Chris was NOT thrilled….but I was! 

We spent two hours learning the steps and practicing our moves and I have to say I haven’t laughed that hard in years.    My toes were sore, my shoes fell off multiple times during the evening and I laughed so hard I cried.  But it couldn’t have been a better night. 

But….It was HARD to let Chris lead.  

Being the experienced dancer and a strong willed woman to boot, I had a hard time letting him guide me around the dance floor.  When you’re ballroom dancing, the woman has to follow the cues of her partner.   You have to have eye contact and notice the little guided signals that he sends your way.   I could tell a dip was coming by his raised eyebrow.   I could tell a spin was coming by his slight lifting of my arm.   I could tell a change in direction was coming by his letting go of one of my hands.    He was the one I had to trust as I danced backwards across the floor.  As the leader, he had an eye on where we were going and guided me there.  All I had to do was let him.  When I interfered or didn’t pay attention, that’s when I got my toes stepped on, ran into another dancer, or made him lose his step. 

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now please know that I don’t have a perfect marriage.  In fact, anyone who tells you they do is, well….lying.    We’ve had close calls, hopeless moments, big arguments, and times where I thought, “I don’t know if we are going to make it.”  And God has always been faithful to meet us there and do a work in both of us.

But a lot of the time I’ve stirred up the trouble by not following Chris’ lead.   Sometimes I don’t trust that He knows where he’s going.  Sometimes I don’t think he knows the right steps.  And sometimes I disagree with the dance he thinks we should do.   But you know what?  That just doesn’t even matter.   My God is bigger than what I might perceive as my husbands bad choices.  

Cuz, you know what?   It’s not about who’s got the right moves and who doesn’t.  It’s about knowing that we each have a part in the dance.   He needs to gently guide me in the direction he’s chosen and I need to step in harmony with him. 

The dance is so much better when I just follow his lead. 

I know there is a common misconception out there that stay at home mom’s have nothing to offer to the workforce by the end of their parenting years.  But the amount of organization it takes to set up a bevy of  babysitters, pack for 6 people going in separate directions and map out each kids destination  so that Mom and Dad can get away for a long weekend,  leaves no question in my mind that I could totally run a fortune 500 company without breaking a sweat. 

TOTALLY!

It’s taken four different babysitters, working in shifts, to do a portion of what I do by myself every day of the week.   And that not only makes me feel extremely underpaid, but very deserving of a break.    So….while I’m off discoing under a mirrored ball,  watching the sun set, and eating breakfast in bed (I’m completely fantasizing, it’s a church leadership retreat in the boonies) my blog will be blank. 

See ya on Monday!

Malachi, who’s 6, loves hand me downs.  What can you expect from a kid who thinks goodwill is the only place to get new clothes?  (Yes, brainwashing can be a good thing.)  So he is constantly asking us if we have “anything we don’t want anymore”.    His  brothers and sister give him old toys and clothes, I give him old craft supplies I’m not going to use and hubz has been known to give him his old trophies, office supplies and dead cell phones.

So today while foraging for used treasures, Daddy gave him an old tape recorder.  He was giddy with excitement and immediately began recording every thing he could think of. 

Let me just tell ya, that can really stop a mommy in her tracks knowing that all her scolding, phone conversations, and bathroom noises were going to be played back at a later time for whatever crowd happens to be available. 

But Malachi soon realized his own noises were more entertaining.  So all day I have had the pleasure of listening to recordings of burps, farts, screams, hysterical giggles, more burps and farts and a few nursery rhymes thrown in there for good measure.    

ALL AT DEAFENING VOLUMES!!!!

So much fun, girls, so much fun!

I can only imagine what kind of horrific dreams I will be having tonight!

Being a nominee for the homeschool blog awards has widened my bloggy horizons. (Nah, I didn’t win but I’m still going to wear my tiara.)  I’ve been introduced to all kinds of great blogs that I didn’t even know were out there.  So, I decided to share my favorite reads, homeschool and non-homeschool,  in the hopes that you’ll find something new and exciting cuz it’s always fun to meet new people, right?

TC over at Fish In My Hair is a total crack up!  If you want a good laugh go visit her but make sure you’ve already gone to the bathroom first!

Emily at The Learning Never Stops puts on no airs.  I just can’t stand those blogs that are all preachy and perfect.  C’mon, let’s have some reality here!  But, Emily is the most REAL person I know.  She’s honest about life and hits a huge range of topics that just make you think.  Plus, she’s pretty funny too!

Amy at Chitlins and Camembert is a southern girl married to a French man, living in the French countryside.   Ahh….I can only dream!  We have some different political and social views but I absolutely love reading her blog and learning what it’s like to transplant yourself into a different country.   She’s a witty writer and I love to check her blog daily.

Boomama is another addiction of mine!   She just cracks me up with all her southern charm.  She’s got a heart of gold and half the time she’s just talking about fried chicken, relatives and pre-schoolers but she does it in a totally entertaining way! 

So go read some good stuff and let me know what you think!

Why, oh why does everything that needs a $70 per hour plumber break on a friday night after 5pm when they can charge extra? 

Anyone got an answer to THAT mystery of the universe, hmm?

A friend just happened to mention to me today, “Oh, by the way, you’ve been nominated at The Homeschool Blog Awards.”

“I WHAT?!?”

“Yeah, you’ve been nominated for funniest homeschool blog.”

I didn’t even know what a Homeschool Blog Award was and I don’t even have a clue who nominated me.  Somewhere out there lurks my very own Secret Admirer.   Can you feel the love I’m sending your way?

So, my tiara is on order and I’m not going to let the little fact that I’ve only received 1% of the votes stand in my way.  Cuz out of 476 votes that’s 4.7 people who think I’m kinda funny and that makes me feel all warm and gooey inside.   

I thought I should prepare some campaign promises since I’m going to be wearing that tiara for the next forever and I can’t just stand there and look pretty, I need to have something important to say too.  So here’s what I came up with…..

I promise:

Close parking spaces for moms at every mall across the nation

Free chocolate bars provided at 28 day intervals

World Peace

Oh, and maybe I’ll lower taxes too.  I’ll have to see how tired I am after all that other stuff.

So in a pathetic ode to a raunchy Rod Stewart song….

If you think I’m funny….and you really want me…come on baby let me know!

Vote Here!

A moment of enlightenment occurred about the time my first child reached the age of two.  I remember sitting in a daze on my couch at the end of the day surrounded by buckets of unfolded laundry.  I had just tucked my 2 year old son into his bed next to his 1 year old baby sisters’ crib.  I remember being exhausted from my days activities but I had been so busy that I couldn’t even recall what I’d accomplished that day or even what I had eaten for lunch.  Then a wave of awareness and humility hit me as I realized how much I took my own mother for granted.   As a child I just expected my mother to do for me.  Not once did I realize how much she was sacrificing to make my meals, clean my clothes, teach me how to read, and in later years, prepare favorite foods at my whim, drop everything to taxi me around, and spend thousands of dollars to keep me entertained.     Like a revelation it occurred to me;

Mothers don’t get much appreciation for the job they do until AFTER the job is done.    

Which leads me to why I blog.

• I need an outlet for my thoughts or I think I might explode
• I have a place and an accountability for expressing myself with writing
• I get a deep satisfaction out of making other people laugh
• I’ve made some really neat friends
• But most of all, I feel appreciated when someone actually takes the time to read my blog and lets me know it. 

And that, my fellow blogsters, is what keeps my gas tank full during the many tiring days when I’m feeling less than appreciated for the work that I have chosen to do.

So my Works For Me Wednesday tip is this…..

When you are in the thick of the mothering years it’s so important to do things that keep you feeling built up and appreciated.    

Pretty simple, I know, but so important.

It all started at lunch the other day.  Elijah, my oldest, picked my favorite Chinese place as our lunch stop after church.  I happily ate everything on my generous plate;  sesame chicken, heaps of fried rice, barbecued pork, Triple Crown and  numerous cups of sugared tea.    I reached for my fortune cookie, looking forward to the little white paper that would tell me all the good news my future holds, cuz you know how accurate those little ditties can be.    My family received things like this…..

You bring sunshine into the lives of others

Your strength of character outweighs your flaws

A new business venture will bring many rewards

I opened my stale cookie and pried out the paper.  The heavens opened and the angelic choir began to sing as I read what the future holds for me...  

Work on improving your exercise routine

Seriously, what kind of evil people stick a fortune like that into a dessert?!?  

So what’s a slighty chubby mother of four to do with a message so obviously sent from heaven?  Blow the dust off the treadmill and set up my first appointment with a personal trainer, that’s what! 

So my personal trainer and I (hubz who is reliving his glory days of teenage muscle power) arose at 6am this morning to perform torturous exercises resembling a contortionist that would make my evil fortune cookie maker very proud.    And I learned a few things today that I thought I should pass on.

• When handing over the exercise reigns to your husband, it’s probably a good idea to be getting along.  Any unresolved issues just might come out during the course of events….specifically when he’s deciding how many reps you should do, I’m just sayin.

• And  most importantly of all,  Never, and I mean never, stand BEHIND your husband while he is lifting large amounts of weight.  The scientific force of all that weight being thrust up and down can sometimes produce a gaseous waste that involuntarily expells itself towards the unwilling and innocent victim.   The husband will find this terribly amusing, the wife will not. 

We’ve always used the REAL names for body parts when teaching our children during those early talking years.  You know…..arm, finger, leg and yes, even the private ones.  My rationale was first, that I didn’t want to teach it once and then have to teach it all over again and second, I surely didn’t want to get so caught up in our busy child rearing years that I forgot to eventually tell them the correct names for all their parts. 

I could just see my adult son announcing to his new wife that he and his wee-wee need to use the bathroom or my daughter going into her first GYN appointment saying her yoo-hoo was doing just fine, thank you very much.    

Nope, not a real good idea.

As you can imagine this has been the source of some embarrassing moments through the years.     There was the time that one of my sons announced to the whole of Wal-mart that his p*n*s had an itch.   People were getting whip lash trying to get a good look at the nasty boy in lane #9.     And another time, on a trip to the library, when a son wanted to know where babies come from and my daughter in all her superior knowledge yelled out in her impatience, “From v*g*nas!  Sheesh, don’t you know anything?!”  

Cringe-worthy moments, yes indeed!

So it’s no wonder that during the toilet training process of my youngest son, the topic of body parts is frequently bandied about.   Being male, he is very proud of his unique set of plumbing and enjoys talking about who has the same parts that he does.  Combine that with his complete adoration of his oldest brother and this is the conversation that occurs….

Gabe- shi-shuh, do you have a p*n*s?

Elijah  – Yep!

Gabe – Can I see it?

Elijah  – No way! (With a huge laugh)

Gabe  –   Pweese!

Elijah –  Huh-unh!

Gabe – Then, yours isn’t REEEEL like mine!!!  It’s Fake!

Elijah wisely let him win this one but I'm sure there are many peeing contests in the future.

Boy I’ve been reading some good stuff on the ole internet today. 

I checked out chickadee’s blog and was totally built up by her perspective on stay at home mom’s.

And then the icing on the cake was an article that momn4boys has a link to and yep, now I’m ready to tackle the world….well at least the laundry, the kids, and the dishes.   

Go take a look!

Our kids grow up too fast and then they’re off to lead their own lives. 

Give your kids a great big hug and then go read this article….and then go hug them again.

Oh, Yeah! That's where I'd like to be today.

During our "corporate life" days, the company would send us on kidless vacations once a year and one of my favorite spots was the Four Seasons in Great Exuma Bahamas. We spent those 7 days reminding ourselves how to sleep without being awakened by a vomiting child, how to live life without doing a headcount to keep track of our little people, and how to cuddle like we were on our honeymoon again.

Now that we are self employed our getaways consist of hours of torturous travel with four bored kids, multiple stops to go potty, and a sneak to the indoor hot tub after the kids have gone to sleep.

But that's the trade offs to this family that we have and I can bide my time until it's just me and my LUVAH again.

Go check out the linky at Crazy Hip Blog Mama's to see where everyone else wishes they were today.

When spring comes, two things happen to me.  First, I feel this urge to put my feet in the sand and hear the ocean waves crashing against the beach and second, I start fantasizing about a garden. 

Every year I dream up great plans for raised beds, rocky garden paths, and climbing green bean vines.   I envision a white picket fence to keep the deer out and a homeschool routine of weeding and watering as a family, while gathering our abundant crop in wicker baskets to bring into the house for canning and freezing.  And sometimes……sometimes  in my fantasies, I’m even wearing an ankle length skirt, an apron and a bonnet. 

But in 13 years of marriage, I’ve managed a garden only once.  And I think that only happened because my Dad came over and built the beds for me, my husband helped me plan and plant and I only had ONE CHILD THEN!   Plus, that one child who was about 9 months old at the time decided to take a big taste of freshly manured earth and well, I don’t think I got back out to the garden much that summer. 

So today, I again decided that I was going to have a garden.  I put my perfect garden ideas aside and picked a location close to the house that would require minimal work. 

And we dug……and dug….and dug.

We pulled weeds and turned fresh moist earth and sweated.   We oohed and ewwwed over fat squishy worms and pill bugs and larvae.   We complained about our sore backs, our dirty fingernails and our lack of progress…..and then we went back inside while a half finished garden plot lay churned up by the window. 

My hope is that we’ll get back out there and actually plant something edible to harvest, but I’m thinking we just had a good day digging  in the dirt. 

This is a picture of a man who loves his wife.  

It all started with a home school seminar that I wanted to go to with Emily.  I casually mentioned it to my husband who promptly volunteered to watch my 4 kids and her 4 kids while we went to the seminar in Emily’s town.   And he wasn’t just volunteering to watch them, but to keep them overnight.

Eight Kids…Overnight…All Alone!

Now, to us mom’s that sounds like a lot of work, some sacrifice and planning, but not impossible.  To a man this means no wife to cook and clean up afterwards, no woman to coordinate activities to keep them occupied, no time to watch the game on the telly,  and  no adult conversation for a more than 24 hours.     And maybe, just maybe, a little more understanding of his wife’s extreme need for chocolate therapy.

And what was the first thing that we did with our free time?  Why, hit the local goodwill of course.  We also ate a nice dinner at a restaurant without a playground, tried on clothes at Old Navy without kids climbing out from under the dressing room door or hollering things like, “Wow Mom, those are BIG UNDERWEAR!” and  sat in our pajamas at night watching Dancing With The Stars and playing card games. 

When I came home I figured the trade off to having a girls night out was going to be all the work that would be waiting for me.  I expected my house to be thrashed by happy children who ran from room to room strewing toys all over.  I also expected piles of dishes in the sink and mountains of dirty towels since Superman took them all swimming at the local pool.

I was greeted at the door with what I knew was the same look he sees when he arrives home from work; a thoroughly exhausted person that is ever so grateful to see another adult.     But here’s how he wins the Superman title.  All the kids had their stuff packed and waiting by the door, there wasn’t a toy out of place, the dishwasher and clothes washer were both running, and a humbled man was telling me how hard my job is. 

I couldn’t have been more satisfied!

You might want to wander on over in the next couple of days to his blog.  He’s assured me that as soon as he recovers he’s going to blog about his adventures.  And it should be mighty good reading. 

“Mom, Malachi crashed his bike and he’s bleeding all over!” 

Not one of the more popular phrases I like to hear coming from my children.  Hubz and I ran out the door to find our six year old son crying while blood oozed out of his mouth.   We sopped up the mess and got the blood to stop and were faced with this….

He’d done a face plant on the pavement, and while his skull was protected by the helmet, his mouth was not.  His two front baby teeth were pushed in and one was hanging precariously with the roots completely exposed.   (I have to put a little disclaimer here.  My first thought was IS HE OK?  My next thought was where’s the camera, this will be an interesting blog.  I’m sick aren’t I?)

We spent an hour on the phone while the pediatrician tried unsuccessfully to contact a dentist on a Saturday.  She finally told us we would need to go to the emergency room. 

Oh Joy! 

We all know that means hours of sitting in a waiting room watching the homeless guy next to you barf into a bucket not big enough to hold a goldfish and praying mercilessly that he will actually get all the barf INTO the teeny tiny bucket. 

We were finally escorted back to a cubicle big enough for one, where the nurse told my son to get nekkid down to his underwear and put on a gown.  Malachi’s eyes got as big as saucers as he leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “Uh, mom, I’m not wearing any underwear.”

OH JOY!

Well we waited…

and waited…

and waited. 

4 hours in fact.  All this time the poor boy was nekkid under what he miserably dubbed “the girl dress” when finally a doctor came in to tell us the dentist was out of town and would meet us back at his office at 10pm that night. 

10 PM folks!  WAS THERE ONLY ONE GUY WILLING TO YANK OUT A FEW TEETH IN THE WHOLE BLINKIN’ TOWN?  

Fast forward to 10 PM.  

A very nice dentist met us, took some x-rays and in short order and relatively painlessly, my brave son was holding his two front teeth in his hand.   What a night! 

We got him home, tucked him in and fell into bed exhausted.  Oh but the night wasn’t over yet.  Just as I was starting to do that twitch thing right before you fall asleep, I heard a horrible sound coming from the bathroom.  My daughter was retching all over the floor.  She’d caught the flu. 

And I have no picture for that one.

A few have you have been concerned that I’ve shriveled up into one big raisin of a wrinkle and blown away with the wind, since I haven’t posted since my “Wrinkle” post. 

Instead I’ve just been neglecting you all of my wonderful prose….my deep insights…..and my huge amounts of knowledge in all things chocolate. 

I’m evil that way sometimes.

To be honest, my life has been filled with papers, receipts, documents, and a very unorganized filing system as we try to file our business taxes that were due YES-TURR-DAY!  (Uh, yeah, we filed for an extension.)

I’ve also been dealing with my vast stores of cellulite (must be from all that durn chocolate) and the fact that in a few short weeks it will be exposed in all its pale white glory as spring approaches.   

In other news this week, I had a gigantic case of road rage during my latest trip to Costco.  

WHY, OH WHY DO PEOPLE PARK THEIR ENORMOUS CARTS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE!!!!!

I found myself resisting the urge to scream in the middle of Costco.   Not only was I the only one willing to make eye contact and yield to others but am I the only one who thinks you should drive on the right side of the aisle….you know, just like the street?

Nuff said.

Which brings us to today.  Hubby and I have planned a 3 mile jog/walk this afternoon…..without kids!  (Yes, there is a God!) and then a mouth watering jaunt to the library book sale where all books are 10-25 cents each!!!  (again without kids)   Books to us are equal or greater than chocolate so this is quite a thrill, let me tell ya. 

So…..I’ll leave you with a little something until my next post…..

Now that I’m 35, my skin is crying out to finally be taken care of and I have no idea where to start.   I have to admit, I’ve never really followed any kind of skin care routine other than washing my face with whatever bar of soap has been left in the shower.  I don’t even use sunscreen except for when I know I’ll be out on a boat or something and  even then I only put it on my nose and the tops of my ears.  So…..I need some good advice on what products to use.  

Can someone help me?

I’ve got normal combination skin….nothing too tricky and nice pair of crows feet and laugh lines that need to GO  AWAY!  I can’t even fill them in with a nice thick dose of foundation anymore.  So…..what do you swear by!   What skin care product can you just not live without?

My crows feet will thank you!

(I just read through that and realized I sound like a commercial, but I'm desperate ladies!)

Yes, I have reached that point where I can no longer say I'm in my early 30's.  All birthdays will now move me towards the big 4-0.   So I thought I would document my birthday weekend in pictures for those who couldn't be there.....and you know who you are, Em!

My actual birthday was on friday so I met for coffee with my gorgeous friend Sharnessa who probably just toppled out of bed and looked like that, while I had taken a full hour of scrubbing, brushing, drying and stuffing to even look presentable.

Then hubby had arranged for me to have a haircut and weave.   (I must be crazy to show you this NAS-TAY picture of me, but I DO like to keep it real,)  I look a bit lethargic because me and my tinfoil head had been sitting under the dryer getting rather snoozy.

The hubby AGAIN out did himself by setting up a mani-pedi for me.   My sweet vietnamese nail tech must have thought I was crazy when I asked her to take my picture.   She kind of missed the point and didn't actually get the pedicure part but at least you can kind of see what I'm doing. 

The next day........

Friends had set up a birthday breakfast in my honor.  (L to R is my friend Sharnessa (Barb's daughter), Me, Julie, Caren, Barb Shelton (who I blogged about a while back) and  Julie)  All homeschool mom's! 

So now the whole town knows me as the crazy lady who keeps asking to have her picture taken!  How vain! 

This was the headline that caught my eye today….

Numbers drop for those married with children.  U.S. Census says 1 in 4 households have traditional families.  (They mean a married man and woman)

The article goes on to state that….

“The culture is shifting and marriage has become a luxury item, one that only the well educated and well paid are interested in,”  says marriage expert Isabel Sawhill.

Hmm…..very interesting.  

First I’d like to set the record straight.   Whoever classifies luxury items (ie. Furs, jewels, caviar, big screen TV’s) with marriage has frankly NEVER BEEN MARRIED!  I don’t quite consider waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of a secretly released stink bomb and a long hairy man arm pinning me to the bed, a luxury.    Nor do I find that the self control it takes to keep my big opinionated mouth shut when my husband has dreamed up a plan to sell our home and live on a teeny tiny boat with our FOUR children, anywhere within the realm of pampered luxury.   

I love the cuddles, laughs, companionship, personal growth and the product…….my kids.

BUT LUXURY?   You’ve got to be kidding.  

Lady, this is work!

I’ve realized lately that my parenting skills are sorely lacking.  My early diligence and consistency with my first two children have been AWOL for a good long time now and I’ve been seeing things in my children that I have learned to accept but just don’t like.   Things like angry outbursts, disrespect, sassiness, put downs, impatience with each other, griping, nit picking, a ME attitude, and a host of other unpleasant attributes.   I’ve noticed, but have just been so overwhelmed with how far off track we’ve become, that I just don’t have a clue where to step back in and gain control….much less how.   

But God is faithful even when I’m not and our homeschool meeting last night was a seminar on relationships between parents and children and how to connect with their hearts.   It was hosted by Barb Shelton an author and homeschool mom who has graduated three children from home.  And they are just amazing people who  happen to be friends of mine so I’ve actually seen the fruit of what she’s teaching.  (I highly recommend checking out her articles on her website!  In fact, TOS magazine did an article on her a few issues ago…you might have read it!)

What I got out of the night was this….I”M THE PROBLEM, NOT THEM!  The things I’m seeing in my kids are exactly what I’ve taught them.  (Aren’t they just SO smart?)  I speak disrespectfully to them, I’m impatient, griping, nit picky, self centered….OUCH!  Barb gave me the tools so I decided I was going to start fresh tomorrow.   I went home and repented to God and started my day this morning with prayer and purpose.

My day began with plenty of opportunities to use my fresh attitude and within 30 minutes I was faced with 2 arguments, 1 moment of sassing, and a temper tantrum. .  I spoke softly, kindly, wisely……Whew!  I glided into the next room to address my husband, looked him straight in the eye and leaning over him, I  said in a loud whisper, “THIS SELF CONTROL CRAP IS GONNA KILL ME!”  Then I took a deep breathe, walked back in the room with the kids and pressed on. 

I knew before I could do anymore correcting, I needed to privately repent to each one of them and THEN begin the retraining process.  The opportunities presented themselves without any effort on my part and it was an amazing bonding time for each of us

Our Day Was Great!

It sure wasn’t without problems but every time, and I mean EVERY TIME an issue came up, we dealt with it. Nothing fell through the cracks or got ignored.   It didn’t matter where we were.   In fact we had a whining and screaming incident with my 3 year old in the car and I pulled over on the side of the road to deal with it.  But the response from the kids was great.  They loved having their calm talking mom back.    And we actually all enjoyed each other for the first time in months.  I was their mom but there were moments of friendship too! 

This evening I’m looking back realizing that I ended my day with no regrets.  Nothing I did today left me feeling ashamed of my actions.  Did I do stuff wrong?   Yes!   Did they do stuff wrong?  Oh yeah!  But we were quick to seek forgiveness and deal with the heart of it all in a loving way.    I know we still have lots of work to do and I’ll still have days when I want to just lose it, but relying on God to keep me focused and strong will help me to have more days like this……days where I can be a parent with no regrets. 

It so easy for me to get caught up in the academics of this homeschool journey.   Being a task oriented person in a very OCD way, I love doing work book pages and checking things off lists.   But I started down this homeschool road not because I wanted to imitate school at home, but because I wanted to guard the hearts of my children from the influences of our culture.  I wanted to make sure that the things they learned about life and knowledge were based on truth and faith and learned at the appropriate time.  

Academics are pretty low on my priority list compared to character building and a relationship with Jesus.   So sometimes I look at my homeschool counterparts and I get a little panicky that my kids aren’t in the appropriate grade book for their age, haven’t learned a foreign language yet, or aren’t taking the bazillion co-op classes that are offered in my community.   That’s when I start to feel overwhelmed and question my choices. 

And then days like today happened.

Is there anything more cool than when your kids learn a new concept and take it one step further?   We’ve been studying the parts of a friendly letter in our English books, you know, the heading, greeting, body…..all that stuff.   I forced the kids to use what they learned to write a letter to their best friends.   They whined and complained quietly to themselves, but they did it.   School was done and off they went.  Pretty soon I catch the 2 older ones at the computer, excitedly hovering over the keyboard.  What were they doing?   Writing letters of course.

They wrote to their favorite author, (Lemony Snicket) they wrote to their heroes, (Maria Tallchief the first African American prima ballerina and George W. Bush), they tracked down addresses on the web, read bios…..they learned, people, THEY LEARNED!   My little bit of teaching set their minds to ticking and they took what I gave them and made it their own.   I love that!

My son heard about a boy who wrote a book at the age of 15 (The books is called Eragon…haven’t read it yet) and was a bestselling author by 18.   That inspired him so much that now he’s writing his very own book.  He has illustrations, 10 chapters written, and the next book already forming in his mind.    I love that he’s found something that delights him and is pursuing it on his own!  And do you know how much teaching I can fit into his pursuit?   We’ll do tons of editing (English, grammar, spelling, sentence structure), figure out how to send it to a publisher (research), and probably learn to deal with rejection (character building), learn how to start something and see it through to the end (leadership skills) and build our prayer life while we wait for a response from the publisher. 

So, I guess I say ALL THAT to say this (as much to myself as to anyone)…….don’t compare your homeschool journey with anyone else.   If your kids are learning you’re doing a good job.    If your kids are taking it deeper, well, you’re doing an even better job! 

I keep forgetting to let y'all know to go check out hubby's blog.   I swear he is just a slow movin', deep thinkin', always serious kind of guy but once he gets a writin' he turns all witty and stuff.   Anyway, go visit him and leave him a comment so he knows someone out there is listening. 

www.homeschoolblogger.com/ChrisBryant

The kids and I spent the day hanging out at my parents house.  Once a week we go over and visit with my 97 year old Grandma who lives with them, while they take a much needed and well deserved breather.   

You don’t know how hard it has been to NOT blog about my Grandmother.   But, in a moment of family loyalty I agreed to my Mom’s request that I wouldn’t share all the funny details of my Grandmother’s current life.  And even now it’s just killin’ me.  But I will tell you this.  She is one spunky lady! 

So I’m going to attempt to blog about Grandma without actually telling you any of the tasty little tidbits and hilarious anecdotes that are her life now.  But it’s just killin’ me.

KILLIN’ ME!!!!

Going to Grandma’s house as a kid was always a treat.  The usually ritual was to greet her and Grandpa at the door with hurried hugs and kisses while running past them to the freezer in the laundry room.   Grandpa was known for his sweet tooth and always kept a gigantic bag of candy and hostess snowballs (those pink coconut-marshmallow things that were a cavity waiting to happen) in the freezer for our visits.    Then Grandma would proceed to give Grandpa a fierce tongue wagging for feeding us all candy.    Now I understand she just didn’t want us hopped up on sugar while we were at her house, but then, it was just a comforting tradition to watch Grandpa grin at her in glee while he was being berated by this 4 foot 11 inch ball of fire.   Grandmpa would wink at us while diverting Grandma from our binge and the fact that the freezer door was still hanging open. 

Grandma was the most stubborn, independent  and determined woman I know.  She wouldn’t accept a lick of help from anyone because she just knew she could do it herself.   But she was always there to help everyone else.  She had something like 11 brothers and sisters and was the oldest of the bunch.   So she started being responsible at the age of 3 as all the younger kids started coming along.  She would help cook and clean, dress and watch the younger kids and to this day the ones that are still around look at her as something between sister and mother.

After Grandpa died and Grandma lived alone we would come over to her house for a visit and find her moving the refrigerator by herself or climbing up the ladder to the roof to do some kind of maintenance.   Now keep in mind that she is just a little shrimp of a woman and must have been in her 70’s – 80’s at the time.    You can probably imagine my parent’s reaction at finding her doing all this dangerous stuff at her age.  But for me, I was just proud and hoped that I would grow up just as feisty as her.    

Nowadays, every time I see her she always reminds me that she’s almost 100.   I’m convinced that she’s determined to hang in there until that time.    And she’s just stubborn enough to do it too! 

It’s been really fun for me to take the kids over to visit Grandma and let them listen to her stories of growing up.   It started out as a time to give my Mom and Dad a break but it’s really turned into a living history lesson as we learn about 1^st hand accounts of what life was like before cars, television, pre-package foods, and plain old convenience.    A period of time that seems like a fairy tale to the kids. 

So even though I couldn’t share the funnies of today, the memories of yesterday have been a good thing to revisit. 

Being a single income family of six is synonymous with the need for thrift.    And, since the grocery budget for 2 adults, 3 growing boys and a dainty daughter can equal something close to a house payment, I’ve found ways to make sure that every scrap of food get’s used in ways that won’t make them gag. 

My biggest moment of food genius came in a fit of panic.   I opened the fridge to see what leftovers I needed to use up and was faced with 1 chicken breast, ½ cup of green beans, and some tomatoes that needed to be used before they sauced themselves.   Surely not enough to pass around to six people, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to pull of the loaves and fishes thing.   But then it came to me.   Soup!   I chopped and mixed and boiled and spiced, made some rolls and Voila, it turned out to be one of the family’s favorite meals.  

So from then on I decided to keep a container in the freezer to catch all the leftovers in. Whenever I have leftovers like veggies, meatballs, pot roast…whatever, I chop it up and put it in the container in the freezer (keeping in mind what tastes good together).   When the container is full I thaw it out, add seasonings, broth, and maybe the handful of uncooked pasta that wasn’t enough for a full recipe, and we have hot soup and fresh bread machine rolls for dinner. 

I’ve got more compliments from my family on the leftover soups than I did when it was cooked in its original form.   And now I keep a couple of containers going in the freezer; one for beef and one for chicken.   Plus, I never throw out leftovers that have been sitting in the fridge too long and are now growing hair, because they immediately have a place in the freezer.    

So, that’s my brilliant Works For Me Wednesday idea.   Go check out Rocks In My Dryer for more great ideas!