http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:41:00 -0600 Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:41:00 -0600 Hello everyone! Yes, I know. Shame on me! I've been away too long. I have been checking in on you all and reading, but just haven't taken the time to write. I know this is a busy time for us all. I wish you all a safe and happy new year and hope we can all reconnect after the hectic holiday time. Love and prayers~ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/259996/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:41:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/259996/ I just want to say thank you to Christi for making this beautiful layout for me.  So what do you all think?  Awesome huh?    Check her out, the link is under my blinkies.  AND!  She even knew exactly the song I was thinking of and put it on for me.  What can I say?  She rocks! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/242708/ Tue, 21 Nov 2006 15:05:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/242708/ Thanks a lot, Christi!   Let's see if I am doing this right.  Caylin told me this is how I respond to a tag.  Sheesh!  I will TRY to think of that many weird things about me.    1. I like the smell of gasoline.   2. My towels have to be arranged in the linen cupboard department store perfect.   3. There has to be icicles hanging off the fireplace mantle in January, or I am too warm.   4. I don't like the comforter on the bed to touch my face when I am sleeping.    5. I don't like my bread to get squished.   6. Whatever it is, you can put cheese on it.  And it's never too much!   7.  I only like fine point pens.   8.  I can go barefoot outside with no problem, but I can't on my kitchen floor.   9.  My sheets have to be smoothed out with no ripples, or I can't sleep.   Since my darling daughter, Caylin thought it was so funny that I needed help with this, guess who I am going to tag! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/238696/ Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:18:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/238696/ Well, since I've been grounded to the house for these past couple of weeks, I am afraid I don't have a whole lot to talk about.  Although, Roy and I did get to go on a date over the weekend.  We haven't been out for a night together in months and I think couples really need that alone time to stay connected.    We saw a movie.  *snick*  How well can you talk and connect at a movie?!  We saw One Night With the King.  I love the story of Esther.  I don't think it followed the Bible exactly, but I still thought it was pretty good.  Probably one of the most tasteful movies I've seen in a long time anyhow.  To think they can make a movie with no potty humor these days!  Amazing!    After the movie we had a late lunch, or early dinner, however you look at it.  We went to Newport Bay.  You know you are a parent when you want to go to the quiet restaurants.  And you know you are a homeschooling parent when after the restaurant you walk over to the Learning Palace and buy two yards of butcher paper and the Teach a Coin money set.    I suppose I should get my day started.  As much as I'd love to sit here a little longer and entertain you all some more with my fascinating life.  Heh heh!  Have a great week Ya'll! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/234032/ Tue, 7 Nov 2006 10:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/234032/ I am one of those moms that has a hard time delegating jobs to other members of our family.  I tend to want to TRY to do it all.  I make breakfast and lunch for everybody right through their teen years, do their laundry and keep up most of the house chores, aside from someone occasionally taking the trash out for me.  On the weekends my husband does it all so I can have a break, and he does not do well delegating jobs either.   I always mean to have the kids help me more or teach them to do more for themselves, but I get lazy and I do it myself because it is just faster and usually less mess if I do it myself.  My mom always told me, "If you want it done right, do it yourself."  And of course my way is the only way to do it correctly.   I've been working more with letting the kids do what I have showed them alone instead of still wanting to do it with them to head off any potential disasters.  Maybe the need to rest as much as possible with this baby will help me do that.  The most strenuous thing I've been doing is coming downstairs in the morning.   I am happy to report that I am learning to let go and have others help me.  My two teenage daughters have always been helpful, but I am mostly talking about our younger children.  They are at an age where they actually want to do chores. They think they are fun,  so why not use it to my advantage?   They have been sweeping, setting the table, loading and unloading the dishwasher, cleaning their own bathroom, bringing their own laundry to the laundry room, and getting their own snacks.  My two oldest have been making meals, changing diapers, playing with the younger kids, doing laundry and a ton of other things.  I can't believe for the first time in years all three hampers are EMPTY!  Thank you, Caylin!  My kitchen floor is spotless.  Thank you, Crystal!  I'm starting to wonder what I am really needed for.   So, here's what I am thinking ... when this baby is born I am going to hide it!  I am going to hibernate in my room upstairs and let everyone think I still have about six months to go.    I LIKE this delegating thing!  I like seeing my kids be diligent!  Why didn't anyone ever tell me it was SO cool not to have to do it all?!  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/232003/ Fri, 3 Nov 2006 16:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/232003/ Well, DUH ...... Ever do something so totally stupid you just hate to even admit it  but, you decide to share it with all your friends that you know will laugh with you rather than at you?   The ultrasound had my due date way off!  They kept telling me I must have MY date wrong.  Frankly, I was starting to get irritated about it.  I mean, they actually have on my file that this is my 21st pregnancy!  Seriously!  Give me credit, doctor.  I KNOW what the date was.  I circled it on the calendar the very day it happened.  There's no mistake.  I even put it in my blog.  See?  Right there in my last post?  It says "I know I have my date right."   I got to thinking about it last night.  Hummmmm .... that ultrasound has to be right.  I mean, we expected to see a baby with little stubs for arms and legs and a bumpy head.  This baby had a round head and actually had arms and legs that could bend.  Something isn't right.  Okay, I really must have messed up on my date.   I went upstairs and checked my little pocket calendar.  I keep personal dates to things like that in there rather than on the kitchen calendar, you know?   Yes, I KNEW I was right!  Right there!  I circled September 4th.  Well, that's interesting ... we didn't have that park play day with the homeschool group on September 11th, it was August 11th.   I realized that when I flipped the page over in my calendar the pages were stuck together.  I didn't have enough sense to check the name of the month on the next page.  I just started recording August's information on September's page.  I suppose that is an honest enough mistake, but I have to tell you ... Do you have any idea how stupid I felt when I realized I had been so preoccupied with other stuff in my tiny, unorganized little mind that I didn't even realize I had been pregnant a whole month?!  Goodness!   And you know, this time I tried one of the tests that can predict pregnancy up to five days before you miss.  I was skeptical, but I took it three days early and was SO impressed!  Look how PINK that line is!  Well, DUH!!  I wasn't taking my test three days early!  I was taking it three weeks late!  Last night the ticker on my blog said "7 weeks, 3 days pregnant."  Today it says "12 weeks pregnant."  That my friends, is how you go from 7 to 12 in less than 60 seconds flat.   I seriously need a vacation! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/228415/ Sat, 28 Oct 2006 18:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/228415/ I just had to put this on tonight.  Caylin is spending a couple of nights with her friend, Savannah, who has an African Grey.  Caylin drew this picture for Savannah today, just using colored pencils.  I think it turned out so beautiful.  I just wanted to share.  I have my whole house decorated with other great drawings and paintings done by her.    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/227483/ Thu, 26 Oct 2006 23:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/227483/ Tonight as I was making dinner and the kids were playing in the family room, Matthew had a wooden block that he was beating against the window.  I glanced over my shoulder at him saying, "Mattheeeew ......"  To which he looked over his shoulder at me with that "who, me?" smile.  The other kids seemed to be totally oblivious to the constant banging noise.    *Sigh*  "Will somebody please take the block away from Matthew before he breaks the window with it?"  I couldn't do it.  I was being careful to stir constantly, as the directions said, you see.   In a second my oldest son, Roy and middle son, Jered were in a heated argument over who was supposed to get the block.  I turned in time to see Roy get to Matthew first and take the block, while Jered was saying "Roybee, Mom told ME to get it."  I said, "Jered, thank you for trying to get the block, but I just asked for SOMEBODY to get it."  He looked at me with big teary eyes and said, "But I'm somebody!" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/223215/ Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/223215/ Last fall our next door neighbor threw all of her pumpkins on her compost pile.  So, naturally this spring she had volunteer pumpkins popping up all over the place.  She transplanted one into a one gallon pot and gave it to Ashley.   Ashley took such good care of that pumpkin plant.  She watered it faithfully at least 15 times a day.  She moved it around all over the yard in search of the sunniest places.  She carried it with her everywhere she went and she even played with it on the swings.    It got lots of blooms on it, but by September it was clear nothing more was going to come of it.  It broke my heart to see her work so diligently for nothing in return.  So, with a little help from some super glue and a small pumpkin from the grocery store I was able to make one very happy little girl.  She was SO excited when she looked out the window the next morning and there it was!   Like every lie, this one grew.  Ashley now expected to see another one soon.  After producing three small pumpkins, she was just sure it was going to make a really BIG pumpkin any day now.  I had to drag a very dear friend into my tangled web of deceit (who laughed all the way through it).  She gave me a basketball size pumpkin from her garden with about three feet of vine still attached.  No super glue needed this time!   It was almost like Christmas morning when Ashley looked out the window and saw that big pumpkin.  She ran out in the yard in her jammies yelling, "Whoa!  Look at that really big pumpkin!  And it has really big leaves too!"  I'm thinking of Little Red Riding Hood.  "The better to deceive you with, my child."   I managed to convince her that after producing a pumpkin THAT size, the plant was very tired and probably would not grow any more.  Really, I think it was all the super glue that killed it.   Don't worry.  My punishment for all of this is coming.  Now she wants to help me make a pie with it.  And trust me!  She isn't going to go for "I woke up and there was a pie on the counter."  She wants to HELP.  I only know how to make pumpkin pie from the canned pumpkin mix, so I am in for it! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/219157/ Thu, 12 Oct 2006 21:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/219157/ Today is Thursday.  Thursday is becoming my new favorite day.  My oldest daughter, Caylin, has a sign language class on Thursday evenings and it lasts an hour and a half.  Usually I take her and while she is in class I get to have some quiet time alone to window shop or browse around Barnes and Noble.  Tonight, my wonderful husband took ALL of the kids with him to drop her off and then they got Happy Meals and played at a park.  He left me with strict instructions to do something fun for myself while they were gone.  (I know!  Isn't he great? )  He told me to relax, or play on the computer, or maybe get some scrapbooking done.  No problem!  You don't have to tell ME twice!    First thing I am going to do is make myself some dinner.  It will be nice to have a quiet meal with no waiting on anyone else .... I need the sink and it's full of dishes.  Well, it will only take a couple of minutes to load the washer and I'm sure Roy will appreciate not having to deal with them when he comes home with all the kids ... Well, it will only take a couple of extra minutes to UNLOAD it first. Ew!  The table is all sticky.  Why is it every time I want to sit at the table it's always sticky?  What is that?  Play Doh?  Does anyone else hate Play Doh as much as I do?  It's dried on the seats of the chairs.  Somebody didn't clean it up very good ... there's dried pieces all over the kitchen floor.  The broom is in the laundry room ... I better throw a load of towels in while I am thinking about it.   While I am at it, I may as well run the vacuum real quick.  Who knows what's on the floor that Matthew may end up putting in his mouth and choke on?  I better turn the table lamp on so I can see what I'm doing.  Yuck!  There's a cobweb on the shade.  I better wipe it off real fast.  Goodness!  Is there actually something growing in that layer of dust on the table?  How long has it been since I've dusted in here?!   There goes the washer buzzer.  Better toss those towels in the dryer before I forget about them and have to wash them again in a day or so.  I hate it when I do that!   *sigh* I've dusted and vacuumed and swept.  I may as well wash the sliding door while I am at it because it's all that's left.  Well, that and the TV screen.   Done!  Okay!  That's all I am doing.  I'm going to get on the computer now and catch up on my blog buddies and .... "What are you guys doing home so soon?" "So soon?  Sweetie, we've been gone for three hours!" http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/215148/ Thu, 5 Oct 2006 21:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BundleOfBlessings/215148/