Murphy's Law - Homeschool Blogger

Summer

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:07:00 -0500

Summer is finally here and we have been just as busy as I hoped we wouldn't be! We have been doing fun and not so fun things so far this summer. Monty had his first experience with a colonoscopy... (that would be the not so much fun thing). Thankfully, he received a good report from that. We have been to visit friends, gone swimming, and to a couple of movies too (the fun things).

We are gearing up for VBS at church and I have started buying luau supplies every where I can find them. We will also be switching our "school room" around this summer. Little man is in the smallest bedroom and is fast out growing it. So we will switch the room we use as a home base for school with little man's room. So we are losing some space in the school room.

I really want to add one entire wall - floor to ceiling- of bookshelves in our new school room. As we continue with TOG we are finding the books are piling up. This of course I love, but we are running out of shelf space. I do so wish we had an IKEA closer than 4 1/2 hours away. I've got my eye on either the Billy shelves or the Expedit book shelves. We'll figure out some way to get them. Their shipping charges are outrageous.

Little Man finished up soccer last week and he received a "gold medal" for his hard work. He was so excited. He only tackled a few people the last few weeks; an improvement from the beginning of the season.

I'm off to Curves...

Blessings,
Rhonda

Mother's Day

Tue, 20 May 2008 09:20:00 -0500

I had a terrific Mother's Day (it's been a couple of weeks now, sorry...wrapping up the end of the school year). On Saturday morning Logan played soccer which is always an experience to watch. He plays on the 3 and 4 year old Ripples team. My dad says trying to get 15 three and four year olds to play soccer together is like herding cats. It is a little chaotic, but he enjoys it.

Saturday evening the girls had their very first piano recital. They did very well. I am so proud of how hard they've worked. They've only been playing since January, but they've caught up to the rest of the students that started in August of last year.

My official Mother's Day present was a big gift bag full of shirts, a pair of shorts and a pair of white capris, plus yellow roses. I was very surprised and thrilled with my gifts. My husband is a master shopper for me.

On Sunday morning, the children of our church (first - fifth grade) led our worship service. Ashlin sang with the kid's Praise Team and then sang a solo. The Godtube video of her singing is in the sidebar on the right. She did a beautiful job.

I hope your Mother's Day was as blessed as mine.

Rhonda

19 Years!

Tue, 6 May 2008 16:14:00 -0500

Today is my 19th wedding anniversary. My sweet husband and I were married on this date in 1989. We were, of course, mere babes. When I look at our wedding picture I notice that my husband looks exactly the same. I cannot say the same for me, however. Three children have...seasoned me. Not the specific children as they are precious and for the most part a dream to parent. But let's face it girls, carrying, birthing, and raising kids is hard on the body. Homeschooling adds some mileage, too. Perhaps it's because I'm still in the "turning 40 mode" too, but I see my aging much more than I see my husband's. He protests and says I am just as beautiful as I was...more so. Yeah right! I say he is blinded by love. I appreciate his blindness profusely, but he is blind none the less.

If his statements are true, then tell me why...

he has ZERO gray hair and I visit my cousin so that she can do a chemistry experiment on my head on a bi-monthly basis to hide mine?

he is within 5 pounds of the exact weight he was when we walked down the aisle and I.....am not?

his smile lines give him character and mine look like the Rio Grande Gorge speading across my face?

Yes, 19 years has seemed to have made a huge difference in me and yet he looks the same. As long as he keeps seeing me as the barely 21 year old that walked down the aisle with him I guess I shan't complain any more. I thank God for these 19 years and all that they encompass. May God bless us with many, many more!

Blessings,

Rhonda

The Blue Angels and Soccer

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:31:00 -0500

We have had an exciting few days around here. We live a couple of miles from the local airport. It is actually a former Air Force base that was formed in 1941 after Pearl Harbor was bombed and stayed open as an Air Force base until 1971. It is third largest airport in the state and is actually the busiest general aviation airport in the state of Tennessee. It is also used to train Army National Guard units. However, no commercial passenger airlines fly into the airport.

It may be hard to believe, but we rarely hear airplanes. We aren't just blocking them out...you just don't hear them; even out of town visitors are surprised to learn we are just a few miles from the airport.

This week has been a little different though. This weekend the city is hosting the Great American Air Show. The special guests are The United States Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron; better known as The Blue Angels. We have had a front row seat to their practice runs every afternoon. There is no mistaking when they are practicing. The house shakes, the windows rattle, and the dog runs behind the freezer and hides.

They fly in many different formations and all the flipping and turning is a sight to see. There are six of them. They seem to fly 4 together with the other 2 doing all kinds of tricks together. At the end of their flight dance they will fly 6 together in a very tight formation. Logan hears the roar when they take off and comes running out into the yard saying, "They're hear, they're hear. They jets are back!"

I tried to snap a few pictures, but they are going so fast it's hard to get focused and get a good picture, but here is one I was able to take:

We get to see about 30 to 45 minutes of flying every afternoon. The air show is this weekend. I think they perform on Saturday and Sunday so we'll see them a couple of more times.

Logans has his first soccer practice/game this weekend. He is so excited. Since they are just three years old, there is not much soccer playing going on, but he is ready to go. He has this vision in his mind of scoring lots of goals and winning the game. I think they are mostly going to work on following directions and learning the rules. He was more than a little disappointed that his soccer "jersey" didn't have a number on the back. "Jersey's are supposed to have numbers!" he said. It is actually a t-shirt that says Ripples on the front. He does have his soccer shorts, soccer socks, soccer shin guards, and soccer cleats. He is sharp.

The girls take their standardized tests next week. Pray for them. They are not looking forward to them. Pray for me, I'm trying to decide what curriculums and coops to do next year.

Blessings,

Rhonda

The South

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 09:43:00 -0500

There has been a funny thread going through the Support for Home School Yahoo group that I am a member of about some of the peculiarities of the south and Southerners. In that spirit, I would like to offer explanations for some of the things that make living in the south so much fun...

Food:

It has already been established that we deep fry everything and everything tastes much better when it is deep fried in Crisco shortening (the solid form). You can fry in butter, but butter is very expensive and tends to burn too quickly, so most southerners use Crisco. Many southern ladies over the age of 60 use pure lard (this makes it even better). We fry birds (chicken & turkey), fish, potatoes, green vegetables (okra, crooknecked squash, zuchini, green tomatoes) any kind of dough (think Krispy Kreme doughnuts), cornmeal, some beef (country fried steak), and some desserts (fried Oreos). The more outdoorsy Southerner will fry some squirrel, rabbit and/or dove every now and then too.
Tea is sweet and iced; preferrably served with lemon. If you are watching your figure it is alright to use 3 or 4 packets of Equal in a glass of tea. A true southerner knows never to add sugar to a glass of already cold iced tea. All you get is a bunch of sugar at the bottom of your glass. The last swallow is good, but the rest of it is undrinkable.
A real banana puddin' takes at least an hour to make and is best eaten warm. You cook the pudding from scratch...you never use Jello pudding from the box. Real 'Nilla wafers are best, too.
A coke is any carbonated soft drink. If it is orange or grape flavored it is an orange coke or a grape coke. If you want a Dr. Pepper...you say Dr. Pepper.
Every meal is served with some type of bread. corn bread, biscuits, yeast rolls, french bread...whatever, but the meal is incomplete if it isn't served with bread. If there is some kind of gravy, as there often is, a biscuit is best (although cornbread is substituted often).
Any vegetable can be added to these basic ingredients to create a casserole: butter, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and cheese. You can make an entire meal by adding chicken to the above ingredients, plus your vegetable. It can be topped with either corn flakes or saltine crackers (mixed with melted butter) to give it a nice presentation and a crispy crunch.
Southern women hand down cast iron skillets like Yankee women hand down jewelry. There is no greater show of love from a mother or grandmother than to get her well seasoned, 50 year old, cast iron, black skillet.
Somewhere in every southern woman's kitchen, you will find a coffee can of bacon greese for seasoning.
Barbeque is sacred. There are many different types of barbeque in the south. Memphis is known for its barbeque, but Georgia, and Texas have their favorites too. Most southerners eat a sweet sauce, shredded barbeque (Georgians usually chop theirs). Ribs can have either a dry or wet sauce (good ribs have both!). Barbeque is served with either potato salad or slaw and baked beans (these are usually sweet; made with brown sugar). Of course, even if it is served on a bun there is usually some other kind of bread (cornbread) somewhere on the table. You must drink sweet tea with barbeque (I think it is a law).

Speech

Most Southerners do not think they have an accent until they 1. hear themselves on some type of recording device (answering machine or video recorder) or 2. travel up north (i.e. Kentucky).
Some greetings are not being used quite as often as they used to be. I blame this on the Yankee invasion. For instance, "How's yer momma 'n nem?" This translates to, "How is your mother and the rest of your family?" However, Yankees just don't understand this.
Still commonly used greetings when you pass a stranger on the street: Hidey (pronounced hi-dee), hey there, how you?. Many times a smile and a nod are sufficient.
Greetings used for people you know: "Hey Honey!, How are you doin'! I han't seen you in a month uh Sundays!" (A true southerner will then add..."How's yer momma 'n nem?")
We all know you can say anything about someone as long as you begin it or end it with, "Bless her heart." For example..."That girl is dummer 'n a rock...bless her heart." or "Bless her heart, who told her that outfit matched?"

Which brings us to...

Fashion

White shoes are NOT acceptable before Easter or after Labor Day. Does it make sense? No, but it is as it is. This is constricting for most Southern ladies, especially the after Labor Day part because in the south, we still have another month (at least) of warm weather after Labor Day. So, what do you wear to church if you can't wear your white shoes with your warm weather clothes? The debate still rages and anyone that finds a sale on "transition clothes" passes that information along to her friends. But, if you are comfortable wearing white during the before Easter/After Labor Day time you have been influenced by Yankee sympathizers.
Big hair is always in style.
You will never know what kind of underwear a true southern lady is wearing. This is to all you hip-hugger jean/thong wearing young "ladies" out there. The two should not mix.
Most southern women do not wear "Daisy Dukes." The exception being the ones mentioned in number 3.
We wear shoes...most of the time.

Social Life

We will talk to anyone...anywhere. If two Southerners meet up, they will know everything about each other in about 10 minutes. Usually, they will discover they are related in some way. If they talk for 30 minutes or longer, they will be invited to the weddings of each other's children. Many best friends have been made waiting at a doctor's office, waiting for a table at a restaurant, or waiting on a car repair. (Best friends for that time anyway.) The most exciting thing for two groups of Southerners is for the two groups (or individuals) to happen upon each other outside of the south; on vacation for instance. Others around you (not Southern) think they have happend upon a family reunion.
Most social functions revolve around 2 things: Sports or church (no, they are not the same thing). Everyone has an opinion about college football. These opinions can separate families. You are either orange (UT), crimson (Alabama), red (UGA), or blue and Orange (Auburn...pronounced Awwwbun). There are a few other fringe teams...Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina come to mind. University of Florida fans don't really count as Southern fans. For one thing, the tradition is not the same and number 2, Florida is very different from the rest of the south and (probably because of the Yankee migration) has an asterick beside it when it is included in a list of southern states. Nascar is also big in the south. (I myself have never fallen in love with the sport..Southerners are notoriously bad drivers; you can see the same thing on the interstate most anytime of the day.) Softball leagues are huge down here too. 40-50 somthing year old men huffing and puffing on the field is a sight to see. Of course, the only reason they play is that it gives their wives an excuse to sit and talk for an hour and a half in the stands.
Church functions always include food. The best place to eat is at church after the worship service. "Dinner on the Grounds" also called the "fellowship lunch" is where each church member brings a dish (or two). This is where each southern lady shows off her best recipe. You hear lots of comments like this on fellowship day..."OOOHH honey did you bring yer potato salad?" or "Miss. Irene made here green bean casserole!" and "The preacher's wife brought that awful asparagus thing again, bless her heart." Many are known simply for the dish they bring to church.
No, all Southerners do not go to church, but a true Southerner feels guilty when they don't.

My favorite Southern traditions:

All cars, regardless of they type of road you are on, pull over to the side and stop when a funeral procession goes by. This includes the cars traveling the direction you are going and the cars going in the opposite direction. It is just a kind, respectful thing to do. Even in big cities like Nashville this still happens. Many times road workers will stop and take their hats off out of respect. The whole world should do this.
If you are sick, had a baby, had a death in the family, had surgery or are "down" for any reason; someone brings you home cooked meals. Everything...meat, vegetable, bread, dessert and tea!
People say hello on the street. You get a smile, a nod, or a Hidee when you are walking. (Those of us that are DNA programmed to do this have a hard time getting through the mall at Christmas because we are trying to nod and speak to everyone.)

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure other things will come to me bye and bye. Those of you that don't live in the south...don't take offense to the term Yankee...it's not an insult...most of the time.

On This Date in History

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 08:53:00 -0500

We have a little section in our local paper that lists either important or unique happenings throughout history on each day of the year. Well, though not too important (except to my family) and not exactly unique, on this date in history....gulp.... 40 years ago... I was born.

40...I am 40! Oh my that is tough to wrap my brain around. I keep thinking I'll have an epiphany and I wil profoundly embrace this milestone, but it just ain't happen'.

I've said it many times to family and friends (some of them believe me), it's not so much turning 40 that bothers me (yeah, right). What bothers me is that the 10 years from 30 to 40 FLEW by. I feel like I was literally turning 30 a couple of years ago. If the 10 years from 40 to 50 go by that fast (and I've been told by those with experience that it goes by faster) then I will turn around a couple of times and then I'll be 50. Folks, 50 is scary. Those in the know tell me things start falling apart at 50. Yes, I'm completely irrational. I'm worrying about 50 on my 40th birthday.

On the bright side: I'm married to a man that still thinks I'm beautiful, I have 3 precious, healthy, happy kids, my parents are healthy, my in-laws are healthy, thanks to my brother and his sweet wife, I have a beautiful niece and another niece/nephew on the way, the Vanderbilt Commodores basketball teams (men and women) made the NCAA tournament this year, and if the Predators can win 2 more games (or Edmondton loses one) they will make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

I've accomplished quite a bit in 40 years...actually, I should rephrase that...God has blessed me abundantly in the last 40 years. I'm looking forward to the next 40!

Blessings,

Rhonda

Busy Times

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:12:00 -0500

Morgan and Ashlin got the sickness the same week Logan had it. (See previous update.) Ashlin got strep 24 hours after Logan's started and Morgan had a sinus infection for about a week.

It has been a busy time. We are dragging through this time of the school year. It is tough for all of us right now. None of us are very excited about having to do any schooling right now. Do you think maybe if Mom's attitude was better everyone elses would be too???

We have had a couple of deaths on my husband's side of the family; his cousin Beverly passed away from cancer in February and his Uncle Joe died last week. Please remember the families if you think about it.

I'm staring hard down the barrel of my 40th birthday (maybe that's the reason for the bad attitude). I am not so concerned about being 40, really. My problem is this: The time between 30 and 40 flew by like a flash of lightning. If 40 to 50 goes by that fast (and I am assured by all those that are 50 and older that it goes by even faster) then I will be 50 in no time...and 50 bothers me.

I am truly thankful for the life God has blessed me with and I am enjoying every bit of it. Brad Paisley has a song out right now called "Letter to Me." If I could write a letter to me at 20 and tell myself about my life at 40, my 20 year old self would be excited and happy about the years ahead. I don't believe my 20 year old self would change one thing about the future. So, while I moan and groan (a little) about my 40th birthday, I am so blessed and pray that God will continue to bless our family the way he has for so long.

Blessings,

Rhonda

This Week

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 20:39:00 -0600

My goal of updating more often has obviously not been reached. As I said in my "schedule" post, if you don't schedule somthing it doesn't get done on a regular basis. I'm going to try to schedule "blog time" at least a couple of times a week to keep this updated a little more often.

We've been having a great time this week. Tuesday night we all went to the Vanderbilt vs Kentucky men's basketball game. Vanderbilt DESTROYED Kentucky by 41 points. At one point they were up 38 to 6 in the first half. Kentucky only scored 11 points in the whole first half. We were having a great time watching our team play so well. We also enjoyed the anguish on UK fans faces. There was a UK fan sitting next to me and he was actually blaming the refs for their shallacking. UK basketball fans are out of touch with reality. VU has beat them 5 out of the last 6 times they have played (VU's 1 loss was in double overtime at Rupp) and they still think they are superior. Anyway, it was a ton of fun.

On Thursday night, Valentine's Day, we all went to the Nashville Predators vs Chicago Blackhawks hockey game. As great as the VU game was; this was the opposite. The Preds got waxed. 6-1; and it wasn't that close. They played really bad. They played the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and beat them, so I guess it was just an emotional let down or something. We still had a great time, though. Logan loves to watch hockey no matter what the score.

As much as I'm looking forward to the Vanderbilt vs Florida game on Saturday, Logan and I will be staying home. I had to take him to the doctor today. He has strep throat. He spiked a 103.5 fever around noon today (out of the blue he just fell asleep in a chair) and I called and was able to get him a doctor's appointment this afternoon. The strep test came back positive. He is feeling pretty crummy and just wants to lie around and watch Pixar movies; that he promptly falls asleep while watching. But, if they are turned off he wakes up, so we just let them play. He has slept through: Toy Story 2, Incredibles, Cars, and Nemo. So, Logan and I will watch the game at home. He will get to see his normally sane mom turn into a nut that yells at the television and talks to herself. (Okay, the talking to myself is pretty normal for me, but I only yell at the tv during basketball games...and hockey games...and certain football games...okay...and baseball games too.)

I've changed the name of my blog. I've never really liked it as I was in an odd mood when I created the template and blog. Hope you like it.

Blessings,

Rhonda

Random Thoughts...

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:05:00 -0600

The schedule is still going well. It is still a struggle for me to get up at 6:00 or 6:15 every morning, but if I don't I feel like I never catch up.

We took a trip down to Atlanta last weekend to take the girls the the American Girl Boutique and Bistro. They had a blast. They shopped and shopped; picked up stuff and put it back and picked it up again. We ate lunch there too. We (the parents) were afraid it might be high price/low taste, but it was very good food.

The boys roamed around the mall and looked for "boy stuff". Logan was on the lookout for a hockey store. The NHL All-Star game was in Atlanta that weekend and we headed downtown on Saturday so Logan could get his hockey fix. We found some Predators cards and an All-Star jr. hockey stick for him.

..................

Morgan got glasses today. Well, she was "fitted" for glasses today. We'll pick them up next week.

----------

Logan has been potty trained since last spring, but he still likes to do his serious business on his small potty (rather than sit on the big commode). He was sitting there today and decided to take care of two tasks at once, if you know what I mean. I was sitting on the step stool he uses to wash his hands and he shot a perfect stream about 2 feet in the air from his potty straight down the v-neck of my sweater. By the time we got that thing pushed down and pointed in the right direction I was soaked. He was quite pleased with himself and held up his arms and said, "SCORE!"

------------

I've added some new pictures to the slide show on the right.

Blessings,

Rhonda

Too Loosey-Goosey

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:49:00 -0600

That's what we had become around here. We had fallen into some bad habits over our Christmas break (staying up late, sleeping in, no schedule...you know...fun stuff) and they carried over into the new year. We were struggling to get things done and I felt like I was spinning my wheels. After a couple of crazy days Morgan said, "When are we going back on our schedule?" I had forgotten we had a schedule. So much for good examples and strong leadership. So, I dug out the schedule, made a few changes, and the very next day we got right back into it. Every child received their own copy (even the one that can't read) so I won't have to hear, "I don't know what to do next." Here is our day:

	Mom	Morgan	Ashlin	Logan
6:00	Rise,Dress, Make bed
6:30	Devotion
7:00	Load of Laundry, Make B'fast, empty dishwasher	Dress/Make Bed/straighten room	Dress/Make Bed/straighten room
7:30	Eat/clean up b'fast	Eat/clean up b'fast/am chores	Eat/clean up b'fast/am chores	Eat/clean up b'fast
8:00	Get Logan Dressed/teeth clean room	teeth/hair/devotion	teeth/hair/devotion	Dress/teeth clean room
8:30	Switch laundry school w/Morgan	School w/ Mom	Play w/ Logan	Play w/ Ashlin
9:30	School w/ Ashlin	Play w/ Logan	School w/ Mom	Play w/ Morgan
10:30	Fold clothes/chores	School work	School work	Help Mom
11:00	Start lunch	School work	school work	help Mom
11:30	Eat/clean up	Eat/clean up	Eat/clean up	Eat/clean up
12:00	chores	School work	school work	help mom
12:30	Read a-loud	read a-loud	read a-loud	read a-loud
1:00	computer time	school work	school work	book time in bed
1:30	computer time	school work	school work	book time in bed
2:00	Learning time w/ Logan	school work	school work	time w/ mom
2:30	chores	practice piano	outside time	outside time
3:00	zone cleaning	outside play	practice piano	outside time
3:30	school planning	free time	free time	free time
4:00	start supper	free time	free time	free time
4:30	quick pick up	quick pick up	quick pick up	quick pick up
5:00	eat	eat	eat	eat
5:30	clean up kitchen	clean up kitchen	clean up kitchen	clean up kitchen
6:00	Relax	time w/ dad	time w/ dad	time w/ dad
7:00	family time	family time	family time	family time
8:00	family time	family time	family time	family time
8:30	Bedtime routine w/ Logan	clean up/ shower/pj's	clean up/ shower/pj's	Bedtime routine w/ mom
9:00	Prayer time w/ girls	prayer time w/ mom or dad/read	prayer time w/ mom or dad/read	sleep
9:30	iron/bedtime routine	lights out	lights out

The hardest part of the day for me is the very first thing: Rise. I am NOT a morning person. I would prefer to get up around 8:30, slowly drink my coffee and read my Bible. Then I would eat something sweet and sticky for breakfast then start the day. But that won't work if we are going to get everything done in the day. Once I force myself out of the bed, the rest of the day goes pretty smoothly. If I want to get something done during the day, I must schedule time to do it. If it doesn't have an assigned time, it doesn't get accomplished on a regular basis.

When I first began homeschooling I wanted to see everyone's daily schedule so I could see if I was doing it "right." I know now, or course, that there is no right or wrong way... but, there is an easier way; for us anyway. This schedule keeps me on top of things rather than behind on everything struggling to keep up. I hope this helps someone trying to get some organization to their day. If you have any questions, just email me or comment and I'll be glad to expound if needed.

Blessings,

Rhonda