Grace For Gayle - Homeschool Blogger

Leaving My Comfort Zone

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:59:00 -0500

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!!!!!

Life Imitates Dance?

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:58:00 -0500

***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.

Mommy CEO!

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:30:00 -0500

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!

One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Treasure

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:18:00 -0500

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!

Got Some Goodies For You!

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:49:00 -0500

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!

Mysteries Of The Universe

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:56:00 -0500

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?

My Secret Admirer

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:09:00 -0500

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!

Keeping The Mom Tank Full

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 12:10:00 -0500

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.

How Unfortunate!

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:24:00 -0500

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.

There Is Just No Polite Title For This One!

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 16:39:00 -0500

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.