As I sit here at Deerhunter's desk, not-so-patiently waiting on hold for a lovely helpful government employee to pick up the phone so I can let them know that once again they sent me an intent to levy..because I missed a payment, but their computer says I did send it.....gotta love efficiency..first recording said 15 minutes...we'll see..I've checked facebook and all my friends' blogs, and now will write this as I wait...
God has burdened me lately in the area of our eating. About 2 years ago Deerhunter and I lost a combined 50 or 60 pounds using Atkins/low carb. Although we do think about starches and sugars differently, we have had a hard time sticking to it. We've gained some of the weight back. My kids are not eating enough healthy foods, and as a woman in her 30's I am struggling in the area of hormones. all those factors put together have been a matter of concern, and God has laid it on my heart to make some pretty drastic changes. Here are our goals:
-reduce the amount of refined sugar in our diets
-increase the quantity and quality of fruits and vegetables (going organic when possible)
-reduce and possibly eliminate hormones and antibiotics in dairy and meats
-increase whole grains and fiber
This is our second week. I think I will blog weekly on our experiences as to help those of you who are considering similar changes, or who have helpful input.
WEEK ONE-
I came up with a plan of attack. I wanted to immediately change the things we eat the most of. So as we begin making changes, I will continue to have us eat what is in our freezers and pantry. I don't want to waste OR hit our pocketbook so hard that we get discouraged right off. I decided that my weekly mainstays will change..hormone free dairy, whole grain bread...and not buy other things without reading labels first, steering clear of fructose, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, phosphates, and anything else I can't pronounce, and as condiments or other thigns run out, replace them with healthier options. DH and I had a date night at Whole Foods, just to see what's out there, learn some things, and get sticker shock.
(yeahh! the hold is over..I'll get back to you guys in a minute!..she put me back on hold! ughhh!)
Also we had J's birthday party this week. I wanted to keep the kids aware of the changes we were making, but also reassure them that special occasions are an exception. I am not at a point in my life where I can do the all homemade treats, so I just did J's party well, plenty of sweets, a really cute construction truck cake made using all different sorts of candies. That brings us to week 2!
WEEK 2
The thing I've noticed this week so far is that shopping takes more time, $, and thought. I have to go to 2 grocery stores now (Walmart and Publix), I may have to go more frequently because of using more fresh produce. And because of having to read labels, I have to either go to the store with 1 or no children versus the 3. Deerhunter is going to check out the farmer's market downtown this afternoon to see what is available, organic or otherwise, since he has a recent infatuation with his new gadget, the juicer. My pantry is starting to clear out, as well as my fridge.
(okay, so the wonderful government employee said they are no longer going to levy my belongings, but has left me confused as to whether I am behind or ahead on my payments...can anyone say 'flat tax please??!!!')
So there it is, in the midst of wrapping my brain around the upcoming school year, I've got this project going...I'm beginning to hear from friends that that is how I operate..it's never just one thing, and it's never simple...it's just me, being who God created me to be!..and sometimes driving myself and the people around me crazy, dizzy, or both....
-yep, one of those things you probably heard growing up, too. And so far, I've used it only once, as it ended up with a lecture on different forms of government (kids are 8, 6, and 3). But yesterday as we were cleaning house I got a great peek into a social studies lesson. And I've got to document it here for when the kids are actually old enough that we can use it as an object lesson.
I was vacuuming our stairs. The kids are trying to finish their housework so they can go play. We had clothes mysteriously jump out of the dirty hamper all by themselves and they were contesting with each other over who should pick them up. I told them in no uncertain terms that none of them were going out to play until they were picked up and to' work it out among themselves in a fair way'. I went back to vacuuming. A few moments later, as my head was seeing over the top of the stairs I saw something that cracked me up. They had definitely found a way to make the job fair...did I say efficient? nope...
All three were in a single file line in front of the hamper. The person in front would pick up one piece of clothing, toss it into the basket, and go to the back of the line. They did this quietly, and I think they actually enjoyed it. I have my guess that the middle child (bonnetgirl) came up with this one, I'll have to ask.
...one day the idea of efficiency, initiative, and self-sacrifice will kick in. And one day they'll be old enough for mom to pull this story out of her bag of tricks and say, " This isn't a Socialist Republic, either!"
June is always a crazy month for our crew. We have our anniversary, Father's Day, and 4 family birthdays...not to mention being wedding and graduation season. This year we also had our church day camp (where I taught a class), Shelby Crossings VBS, and sports day camps (soccer for M, tumbling for Bonnetgirl). This was also our first year having our own pool. We ended up the month with a bang, opening our house to our dear friends who are celebrating Sweet D's (our sitter- she's in pics from West Virginia and the beach last summer) graduation and upcoming move to Maine to attend Bowdoin College. It was a blast, at least 60 people all over the house, kids squealing in the yard and splashing in the pool...even a little cha-cha slide poolside. So yes, pictures are sure to come. You know me, even a photog. 'furlough' can't be totally setting the camera down for all this fun.
So we've survived June. Comparatively speaking, July looks wide open, which feels nice..but I know it will be busy and gone before we know it!
My husband saw this blog the other day. He checks it all the time, especially if he is out of town for work. As much as he gives me a hard time for the time I've spent on it in the past, he actually shamed me for being 'so behind'. So here goes an update on our crew...
We finished school close to the end of May. I don't think I've ever been so happy to be 'done' for the year. I will post our year in review at the end of this entry. It was a good year, but momma's worn out. So next year, M will be in 3rd, Bonnetgirl will be in first, and J will be whatever he wants to be as his four year old self.
We haven't traveled much as a family. Texas was our last family trip, and other than that, I think we'll slip down to Seagrove for an extended weekend some time in the near future. Deerhunter and I are supposed to be scheduling a cruise and looking ahead to OUR trip to Vietnam in September or October..anybody want 3 homeschooled kids for about 10 days? After that, we may be planning a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, but don't tell the munchkins.
Deerhunter, however, has traveled quite a bit. He has spent quite a bit of time checking out the Lakeland Healing Revival in Florida. I don't want to go into detail too much about our thoughts, and I don't want to cause a stir among us homeschoolblogger moms, but I will tell you it is nice to get excited about the Lord and consider His ability to do ANYTHING, and use the most unlikely types to do so, especially since Deerhunter and I are some of society's unlikely types.
We have hosted some folks from Texas, and are waiting for more old friends to make the trek.
And, for the most part what my summer looks like is- dump kids off at various sports and church camps/VBS with sack lunches in tow, clean house and run errands, pick up said kids, dump them and myself in the pool, and wait for any number of buddies to come take a dip with us....which reminds me...pool is open at 10 am this Friday to come play....
So, until I pick up my camera again OR deerhunter invests in a cordless/wireless/waterproof laptop..I'll be seeing you when the pool is closed...I wonder how long that will be?
I hope you all had a special Mother's Day...this Mother's Day we decided to go to Texas and visit with friends and family. As always, we couldn't fit in enough people OR enough time with the people we did see. Deerhunter did some work and I took the kids to the Dallas Arboretum.
It had been at least 10 years since I had been. It sure has changed. I have been reading The Last Child in the Woods, and it rang out loud and clear to me there...it is now so structured, manicured, and 'proper', that no child will ever experience it again the way I did. I grew up going there to play frisbee,kick the ball, have picnics, and tour the two large homes...my girlfriends would run the grounds and imagine that our families lived together in the mansion and that there were secret hidden gardens and hideaways just past rickety rusty gates and down paths through the brush. Now you can't bring any flying or rolling objects. And actually, I am surprised they still let you bring your own food in. It broke my heart a little to see how much it has changed in that way...too much concrete for my liking, but beautiful nonetheless. The kids enjoyed themselves...especially at Toad Corners..and as always, God wrapped up our amphibian and reptile study in His special way, which touched this worn out end-of-year momma's heart.
We were able to bless Deerhunter's mom with the first mom's day in years where she was with as many of her crew as possible, and God topped it off with her getting a card from one who she hasn't heard from in years. We attended Vietnamese church with our old friends, where we received a handmade gift from Thuy..I'll post it later.
God has a way of teaching me things through nature..as with many of us. Below you'll see where He and I have been meeting lately for 'school', and boy, am I learning. I've been taking a bouquet (in the physical AND spiritual) away from our meetings almost every other day. Just to observe, soak in, and compare is amazing. How different each bouquet is...each day and it's triumphs, troubles, and pests...the maintance required to keep the enemy at bay...and the payoff- a feast for the senses. Some days I feel big, bold, and strong. Others small, ruffly and sweet...and still others, simple, plain, and just glad to be holding on to a few petals. Some days have no aroma, and others the aroma makes your mouth water and trips a trigger in the brain..right next to that chocolate trigger.
Let God trigger something in you today and show you how He cares for you as the Master Gardener. You are beautiful in His eyes. His eyes light with pleasure as the light dances across you, valuing everything that makes you special from any other rose in His garden.
• May. 5, 2008 - One is silver, and the other gold...
God is so good. I know I've gone on and on about our house and the move and all, but there is yet another aspect of our move that is turning out to be a beautiful blessing...neighbors....
Not just neighbors, but neighbors who introduce themselves eagerly at my front door with, "we have been praying for you, we're SO glad God brought you to us!!". Neighbors who don't care what their house OR my house looks like when we hang. Neighbors who encourage godly character in their children AND mine.
I can't wait to see what will unfold for our two families in this neighborhood together. Already they have challenged us, taken us out of our bubble..and its good. I must say this isn't a typical new neighbor thing. God made sure that we had enough common interests and acquaintances that many of our defenses were melted away. We are used to transparency, but typically moreso within our church family, so this has been a new territory for us (seeing as before we were country folk and all), and I do believe they are a gift to us. May we all grow as 'iron sharpens iron' and we learn from each other and watch our children grow together.
So...Mater & Co....(code name for the neighbors)...thanks already. You don't know how much of a blessing you are and are still becoming in our lives. ( And we are glad you still talk to us after that, well...okay..umm....that hilarious/unfortunate segway into Deerhunter's testimony the other night...I'm still laughing)
This was Bonnetgirl's first soccer season. We thought we'd give it a try, but felt pretty sure she'd peter out half way through a game and complain. Boy, were we wrong. She did an awesome job. She's a tough go getter, already learning how to defend her team's goal during a game. She must have been listening and watching all the seasons that big brother has played. It was fun taking pictures of light-hearted soccer games again and watching her make new friends and her little girly antics. Her ballet definitely showed through, not just in the random dances she'd do DURING the game, but also in her grace as she dribbled the ball down field. She loved the whole experience, and no doubt will be asking to play again next season. Now if mom can just chill and get used to TWO teams, TWO game schedules, TWO snack rotations....and, of course, MORE TO SCRAPBOOK!!!!
A few weeks ago we had a weekend that ended up with this very unintentional theme..yet another opportunity to get further behind in my scrapbooking!!! Enjoy the pics.
..and my name is Pendulum Girl. I am able to leap from one side of the spectrum to another in a moments notice...from homebody to busybody, from traditional schooler-at-home to unschooler in a single bound. I am low carb AND mucho carb. Spend thrift to shopping Diva, I can do it all...just watch me...
and then explain to me why the only area of life this is NOT true is in my spiritual life...which stays mainly at so-so to blah, and then tough times hit and it ramps up for a little, then eases its way back to blah....
• Apr. 15, 2008 - Today, April 15th...the first one falls in...
..and those of you who know my wonderful family can guess who it was that earned the dubious title of "first one to fall in the pool"..you guessed it right, J. J, who does whatever strikes him most of the time, like screaming randomly one word in a sentence. J, whom I neglected to post a birthday slideshow last year...because he is our 3rd..not to mention I think we were remodeling the house and preparing to move into the trailer at the state park. J, who is the roughest, loudest kid I know....until he catches sight of a busy bird outside a window.
All is well. I think it actually took mommy longer to recover than J. I had been cleaning the pool and the kids were playing around it. As we were finishing up I had to fish out a toy J 'accidentally' dropped away from the steps. After I fished it out I laid there, my head hanging over the edge, watching the water ripples and enjoying the sun on my back. Out of the corner of me eye I see two tiny hands and arms going straight for the water. I think he was trrying to lay down with me to see what I was looking at and overshot his landing. I was close enough to grab him up by the arm (after what seemed like forever) after his second head bob and gasp for air.
It was a good reminder to us all. We knew someone falling in the pool was not a possibility, but an inevitablity..and we knew who would be the first. It was an opportunity to remind the kids why no one is allowed in the (locked) pool area without an adult, no matter if you can swim or not, and no matter if you are not planning on getting in the pool..it's just too risky.
I asked J what would have happened if it had happened while I was in the kitchen where I wouldn't see or hear him. He said "I would be gone". We thanked God and His angels for watching over us.
..and then J says, "I was swimmin' and making all kinds of big splashes!!!" -with a big grin....
Summer is going to take years off my life, I have a feeling. If that and yesterday's 'let's tie little brother up and drag him around the yard' incidents become any more frequent. Aaahhh...motherhood....
Okay, so I'm trying not to take personally that No ONe voted on what blog entry they wanted to see next....and besides, it was so mild outside yesterday morning I decided to go ahead and walk the yard with my camera and give you guys a tour. It has been fun, being the first Spring in the house, to see what all pops up. The rose garden is still taunting me, now with tons of buds all over each plant. The wisteria is a special treat as well. We didn't have very many blooms, but I hear it takes 2-4 years to really get going, so the few we got gave me a special birthday treat last week. I will trim it way back later in the year to hopefully save energy for lots more blooms next spring.
Enjoy the tour...move the mouse over each picture. Its just like how I would walk you through it in person...have fun....
There will be a prize for those of you who can figure out how many tiki torches I decided to put out in the yard, you should be able to see them all.
My brain is overflowing with possible blog entries..we've been up to SO much over the past few weeks, and I keep finding myself saying.."that'd make a good blog entry" and then not getting around to it. Now there are so many half-baked ideas up in this little head of mine that I need your help! Below are several blog titles that have been swimming around, and I want you to help me decide which one comes up for air first.
Here they are, in no particular order:
God, Swans, Woods, and Filling in the Gaps
Party Yard Tour
Hostile Takeover
Water Weekend
Bonnetgirl Plays Ball
Voting will end Friday afternoon....may the best blog win!
A week or so ago the kids and I slipped out of our regular routine to visit a local wetlands area. For my local friends..please check with the university before you go..I didn't know we had to until we got there, so we plan on arranging for permission to visit occasionally.
It was a nice change. We didn't see very many different and new things on this visit, but hope to return occasionally to see if we find anything new. We saw beaver dams, petal-less flowers, giant vines, and met an old tired dragonfly that made Bonnetgirl cry (she was worried he might die). They really wanted to take home some 'helicopter seeds', but I stressed the importance of following the rules at the entrance of not disturbing the environment and not picking/taking any samples. Enjoy the pictures!
Every year since we started schooling at home I have been amazed come Spring. Never enough time to be outdoors, and once outdoors, there is so much to observe and learn. I have got to admit I lean heavy on nature study EVERY Spring...but why not? Enjoy the show, adorable children and all!
Alright, here it is...I'm hoping to get better about blogging. I've been going through some yucky stuff lately and it hasn't been in me to write, although I have had good ideas. When I do feel better I find myself outside with the kids and taking pictures. I am working on a Spring slideshow I hope to add soon.....but, until then....I am being faced with 'Tiki Torch-ure".
My dear friends Beth and Company blessed us with a generous thank you gift and instruction that she wants to see my tiki torches I so yearned for up by the time they come to stay again. I swiftly and obediently went to my neighborhood tiki store and bought as many torches, oil, and replacement wicks as their gift would allow (and a bird feeder!). Now I can't figure out if I bought enough and exactly where I should place them. It is driving me crazy! I'll have to post pics of the before and after so you can see the daunting task before me. Not to brag, but our new backyard is an awesome party yard, so there are many considerations when placing them. I guess I'll go out there and figure it out now....I've got HSmoms coming over for a fellowship on my birthday next week, so I might as well just go out and do it....enjoying the awesome weather!!!!
Okay, so I have been pitifully lacking in writing. I do check blogs from time to time, it's just been harder to slip away and write lately. I can blame most of it on this...
This is TulipGirl, ExpatBeth's sweet girl. It never fails to amaze me how God gives us such strong feelings for our brothers and sisters in Christ and their sweet children. We haven't had but one or two face to face visits in their 3 years of being in Europe, yet they come home and it feels as if they never left and our friendship has grown even stronger. God's grace was over their time with us, that must be said..because I don't think most normal families could live together so well. Both our families have home businesses, we homeschool, our house was round the clock busy, and although their were frustrations and chaos at times, it went really well. They have gone to Colorado to visit more family before they close on a house in our area next month. Their rooms are here waiting for them when they get back so they have a place to stay as they prepare for closing and moving. The kids miss TulipGirl and her parents. We have missed being greeted when we come home by a sweet-cheeked squishy little girl. No..I'm not ready to have another one, but we all lay claim to this one. If she stays for more than two weeks again, she'll have to stay for good.
I have been shamefully lacking in blogging lately...NOT that I haven't had plenty of material, mind you. We have battled the flu and survived, and now we have expatbeth & company staying with us while they re adjust to the US and find a home...like I said, PLENTY of material around here...now if I could just pull myself away from Beth's sweet-cheeked munchkin, then maybe blogging would actually occur. Pictures of said cheeks will follow shortly.
Once a classroom teacher, now a mom of three...God has laid on our hearts to teach at home. It is a neverending journey, with twists and turns, ups and downs. We aspire to call forth the gifts and talents in each of our children, giving them a unique educational experience that brings out the best in each of them and nurtures them in their walk with God.
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YOU Thuy!!!
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