Ok, I'm losing it! - Homeschool Blogger

Fri, 1 Sep 2006 23:15:00 -0500

Sorry! The addy is: http://okimlosingit.blogspot.com . I'm not worried about when you change me on the list De'Etta. Just whenever you do the next one. No biggie. I figure if anyone wants to read my blog they'd follow me from here....

Jen

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 07:24:00 -0500

I'm moving....

I've decided to move my blog here. Just wanted to keep this one here at HSB for a few weeks giving everyone a chance to meet me over at my new one. I will probably be deleting this one at the end of Sept. Hope to see you over at my new one!

Jen �ܺ

P.S. I've enjoyed being part of HSB, just looking for a change.

Me, The Scorpion Slayer? LOL

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 03:14:00 -0500

De'Etta, I just saw your comment on the post a couple of days ago calling me "The Scorpion Slayer", if I was drinking something I would've spit it across the room! LOL It does have a nice ring to it....(VBG)

Today was our second day back to school and I'm encouraged about the rest of our year. The kids are doing great so far and are very eager to learn. We started learning about the body today too. I know it's sticking because Brandon was telling daddy tonight at dinner that we have teeth for "tearing/biting" and teeth for "crunching". I told them next time we're going to be learning where the food "goes". He'll sure have a lot to tell daddy at dinner then, I'm sure. LOL This is my daydreamer, so to hear that something is "sticking" makes me happy!

We had a meeting at church tonight for this year's AWANA workers. It started at 6:30pm and ended just before 9:00pm. We ended up at Denny's for dinner since hubby hadn't eaten yet and tonight is their "Kids Eat Free" night. Our family can eat there for the same amount that it costs us if we were to go to McD's or Burger King or something.

Right now I'm printing off business cards for hubby for his employees. Hubby has been swamped at work. He's down a Human Resources Manager so that means that he's doing THAT job in addition to his. That is alot of work considering their whole business consists of providing employees to their clients. His bosses are cutting him no slack either so he's really rundown and stressed right now. So, I'm going to be up for awhile getting some stuff done for him. On that note, I better go so that I can get this stuff done. This would go some much faster if I could do this on my computer instead of his laptop...

Jen

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:44:00 -0500

I typed up a huge long post about my weekend, complete with pics last night then when I pushed "post" it didn't work and erased my whole post. I opted to head to bed instead of composing it again. Here are some edited portions of last night post....

Friday: Had to take mom to the dealership to have her car worked on. Spent the day doing Walmart, Payless Shoes, Joann Fabrics, and then Savers (thrift store). We were on the hunt for some good fabric at least 60% wool for a sewing contest that Hannah will be doing. She has to do the whole project herself, we can only be there to advise/suggest we can't touch it in any way. We're hoping she can make a simple skirt and matching vest and then *maybe* a hat. We picked up a wool blanket that was pink/cream check to use. I'm hoping to find some reasonably priced burgundy and some cream to use as floral accents. Wool is so very expensive and pretty hard to find in Az.....I also picked up a couple of "baby" things that were really cheap and I just couldn't pass them up.

Gender neutral, brand new condition, and totally cute. Do you blame me? They will be even more perfect if we have a little Violet...

Saturday: We headed out again to Goodwill this time. We were on the hunt for a decently priced dresser for Matty. The boys' dresser was overflowing with clothes-time to move one out. I ended up with a really nice solid wood desk that was $25. Kinda weird using a desk as a dresser, I know, but it works for what we need it for. The top will make a handy "diaper changing" area, the drawers are plenty large enough for his clothes, and the space where your legs would go, will work great for him to slide a toy bin into. Saturday night I started working on some baby blankets that I'm making for friends and family who are having babies within the next 6 months or so. This is the first one so far...4 more to go!

They are made from "baby" chenille and flannel and so soft and snuggly!

Today we started back to school. Had a rough start this morning and really trying to get myself into a regular schedule. The kids were a little wiggly but we got it all done. I'm doing Saxon Phonics K with both my 6 yo and 4 yo and they are both "getting it". My 4 yo's fine motor skills are not as developed yet but he's right up there with the 6yo in memorizing the letters and sounds. Both my 7 yo and 6 yo LOVE math and would sit and do it all day if I let them. My 4 yo is chomping at the bit to do it as well but we've gotta get him memorizing his numbers and doing his counting first. We all sat down and actually played a *game* today. I really am NOT fond of board games, ESPECIALLY kids ones. But, I did it anyways and we all had a good time. Even my 2 yo had fun, he kept asking me "My turn!?!". I'd say "not yet..." and then he go "K!". It was too cute...

I headed out this evening to take Penny to the groomer. I know, it seems like such an extravagence but I can't *stand* cutting her nails. I figure it's worth the $10/month to go have her done. I do give her a bath though about halfway in between and clean out her ears every other day. Bassets are known for "smelling" and it's mostly because of their "hound ears" so I keep them clean.

Well, the diet subject has been brought up again. Becky just joined WW and is wanting me to check it out. I've been wanting to get back into it but right now I'm kinda waiting until I know if I'm pg or not. Won't really be able to find out for another week or so. I'm trying to eat healthier and chose a buffet restaurant tonight instead of Wendy's for dinner while I was waiting for Penny. I was able to have a salad and grilled chicken and even had some SF pudding for dessert. Not trying to lose weight at this point just looking to make better choices. I'm also on a juice kick. I figure if I want something instead of water to drink, a little juice is healthier than soda and I can get some extra vitamins that way. Sooo I am working my there, just kinda in limbo right now until I know for sure. If the past is any predictor of the future I'm really expecing a + result next week, but God is ultimately in control and it might be a "no" for now. I'm ok with that too. Then, I can get myself back into "shape" and then sometime next year start thinking about a baby again, or maybe not. Hubby has kindof started panicking thinking about another. I thought he was ok with it, but maybe God needs to work some more in his heart first. I think the biggest thing for him is the financial responsibility of a child and the medical bills right off the bat. He's really working towards paying off our debt and is probably looking at it as "2 steps forward, 1 step back". If it wasn't for the money, he would be right there with me 100%.

Well, I better go. I'm determined to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. Might not be able to fall asleep but at least I can say I went to bed early.

Jen �ܺ

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 00:44:00 -0500

Today I awoke with a "BOOM!". A monsoon storm rolled in around 7 am and was so strong it literally shook my bed. I thought, "Oooh! today is a good day to all snuggle up in mom's bed and watch cartoons and listen to the storm." My children had other plans....everyone kept bugging each other or wrestling so that didn't last very long.

We got up and I started making breakfast when our doorbell rang. The kids all ran to the front window to see who it was and started yelling "Mom, it's a LADY!" "Mom, it looks like that neighbor lady across the street!". Mind you, we had just gotten up and I had a 4 yo totally naked because he had wet the bed and was getting clothes to change into. I answered the door in my pj's. What must she think of us? We had gotten her whole stack of mail in our mailbox about 3 days ago. We had repeatedly gone over there and knocked on their door to give it to them, but they were never home. So, I decided yesterday to leave a note on her garage door. So she stood there holding the note, all of the marker ink had bled except my house number so she wasn't sure what I wanted. I handed her her mail before she could really ask. She went on to talk about how scary that is, that the post office gave me all her mail etc. I agreed and she thanked me and went on her way. I went back to making breakfast and was thinking to myself, "You know what's REALLY scary?" "Where's the mail that we SHOULD'VE gotten that day?" We haven't had any neighbors hunting US down to give us our mail.....

After that, we all took showers and got dressed for the day. I decided last night that we're going to move the kids' rooms around a bit so we're continuing our "Spring Cleaning" mission for the week. We got the whole downstairs done except the kitchen, which I'll do tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll also start to tackle the upstairs. Not much to do up there really. I've just got some leftover stuff in the old schoolroom which needs to come out so that we can make room for Hannah to go in there. On Saturday I hope to take down the boys' beds and put up their bunkbed. Actually one of the boys' beds will go to Matthew (2 1/2yo) in his room. It has rails all along the side so that he can't fall out. Also on Saturday, I hope to hit the Goodwill and Savers (Value Village in Wa.) to try and find a decent dresser for him so I can set up his room. Right now we have his clothes in the same dresser as the other two boys, in their room. Not too convenient.

I took Penny to class tonight. Was a little exhausting the last two weeks. Tonight we started to teach them to "Stay". Then to stay with distractions. Training dogs is hard work I tell ya'. It will be worth it though, if when It's all said and done, that I have a calm and obedient doggie. Never had one of those before. Now, if I can just figure out how to adapt these lessons to my kids......just kidding! (VBG)

Jen �ܺ

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:29:00 -0500

Today was pretty uneventful as well. We did run up to church so that I could pickup my Sunday School materials for my SS class. I teach the 2's and 3's. I had to have someone fill in for me this weekend since we were in Tombstone. This next week is the last Sunday of the Summer quarter so I picked up my new materials for Fall quarter as well.

We went out to dinner with Mom tonight. We went to Garcia's mexican restaurant. Of course I didn't have anything "healthy". Mexican is the WORST place to go if I'm trying to be good, I LOVE IT TOO MUCH!

One interesting thing DID happen on the walk that I took Penny on tonight. A bark scorpion ran across the sidewalk right in front of us. You know that nasty kind that stung my baby a couple of months ago and landed him in the ER at 4am. I was wearing sandals and was afraid to actually step on it, afraid that it might sting my foot somehow. So, I took off my sandal and threw it down until I squished the little bugger, while holding my bare foot in the air, and holding the puppy's leash. I must have been a sight to watch! Oh well, THAT one won't be travelling our way any time soon......LOL.

Well, better go. I'm going to earnestly try and get my schedule changed to a more normal one. I've been an insomniac since I was like 4yo and have been going to bed around 2am since I was around 14yo. It's a hard habit to break!!! I've tried and tried and tried. I finally tried a melatonin supplement so that I could go to sleep "naturally", BIG HUGE FAT NO-NO!!! Never again! NOT good if you're prone to depression already....

Jen �ܺ

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:14:00 -0500

Here are the pictures of our weekend in Tombstone. I forgot to post them the other night...

The kids and Grammy swimming at the Motel 6.

Matty finally trusted Grammy enough to get into the pool with her.

The "Ok Corral" reenactment.

Matty on a saddle in the Tombstone courthouse.

Jacob's turn in the saddle.

Brandon not very happy to be posing for mom.

My "big" girl taking her turn in the saddle.

Our family after our wagon ride tour through Tombstone.

This is how I found my son sleeping in the van on the way home from Tombstone. I had to check to see if he was breathing, lol. Funny boy!

This is how my boy ate dinner last night. Still tuckered out from our weekend jaunt.

Ok, had to sneek one in of Penny. She's sitting so nice for mommy! Looks like she's smiling a bit too....

Jen �ܺ

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 01:04:00 -0500

Nothing too interesting happened here today. Got a little more housework done. Mom came over and made some phone calls and looked at the classifieds online.

I spent a good part of the afternoon arranging for "speakers" to come out to give a presentation/workshop to our "SLArizona Eastside Playgroup". I volunteered to be the "Eastside Speaker Coordinator" and also the "Mom's Night Out Coordinator". This is HUGE for me as I'm so shy and really mostly like to be a recluse, but I'm forcing myself out of my comfort zone and getting involved in things this year! My kids will be soooo happy!!! I'm part of two groups this year, my church's homeschool group, and the Sonlight Arizona Yahoo group. They each have a monthly park day. My church's one also has field trips planned, which is why I changed the focus of our history and science mid-year (for us). The Sonlight one has field trips which we probably won't attend much of, but they also have the Mom's Night Out and also co-op classes which we might do some of. I'm thinking of having my dd do the cooking class and we're putting each of the kids in a class at the YMCA. We just joined last week so we could get the kids in some "activities". We're going to have a busy year!!!

The kids got along pretty well together today, a little tiff here and there but nothing major. The puppy had alot of energy today though. I was constantly trying to keep her from jumping on the kids. I can't wait until she's a lazy old bassett!

The kids are wanting to start school. I'm hoping I can stall until next Monday so I can get caught up on the house. I got them interested in the math blocks and some games and that seemed to satisfy their itch for learning.

We rented The Shaggy Dog (the new one) last night so the olders could watch it. They got a kick out of it. Tonight they watched The Incredibles, another movie we rented last night. They can't get enough of the "superhero" type movies like Sky High, The Incredibles, Rescue Heroes, etc...

Jen �ܺ

I've been tagged

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 01:39:00 -0500

By mommy2fourc's, here are my answers....

5 things in my freezer:

1. A roast

2. frozen veggies

3. Ice cream

4. 2 loaves of bread

5. Cool animal-shaped gel ice packs Grandpa and Michelle sent the kids!

5 things in my closet:

1. Shoes

2. Cowboy hats

3. A baby gate

4. An antique quilt

5. Coats/jackets

5 things in my car:

1. A Tombstone newspaper reprinted (forgot to bring it in)

2. 4 car seats

3. Garbage (only a little, I cleaned out the van finally!)

4. Sticky stuff in my cupholders

5. Sunshields on the the windshield (finally got some and they really work!)

5 things in my purse:

1. Wallet

2. Checkbook

3. Cell phone

4. Keys

5. gum

(I stole all of mommy2fourc's answers!)

5 things in my wallet:

1. Library card

2. Drivers License

3. Debit card

4. Receipts

5. Pics of my kids

5 people I tag:

1. Not2many

2.Ok, I'm also losing it!

3. MLPinky

4. Kelly's Weightloss

5. DMalament

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 00:39:00 -0500

I'm still alive and kickin'. I know it's been a few days since I last posted and my last post was such a "downer"....don't mean to be downer to anyone. Think of it this way, if I'm posting in my blog, I'm forcing myself to do something "normal" and refusing to let myself sit around and be depressed!

We went down to Tombstone again on Saturday and stayed the night. My grandparents came over with my two oldest and stayed the night as well. They had a fun time swimming in the motel's pool on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Then on Sunday after lunch we headed to Tombstone. We got there in time to see the reenactment this time and my grandfather was so wonderful to watch our puppy for us so that we could go see it and the rest of the town. It was a funny sight, my grandfather sitting outside of the tavern with a baby bassett hound attached to the leg of his chair. They got so much attention from the people going in and coming out it was too funny! I think my grandpa enjoyed the attention as much as the puppy!!!

After the reenactment, we met up with my grandmother at the Courthouse again. It was more fun with the two olders as I was able to actually "teach" them a little more about the exhibits than the younger two had the attention for last time. After that, we walked downtown and visited some shops. We stopped by the Epitaph which was the old newspaper printer and we picked up a reprint of the newspaper printed the day after the "Shooting at the Ok Corral". I haven't had much time to really look it over or read it yet but it looks interesting. After that, we went on a wagon ride tour through Tombstone. The driver tells about the points of interest along the way, Wyatt Earp's house, etc....it was worth the $$$ as it gives you a visual layout of where things are/were. After that we had dinner with my grandparents and headed home. We got home around 10:45pm and only got the essentials unloaded from the van as we were all tired.

Today we made a Walmart run to get garbage bags along with some other things. Got home and started unpacking the kids' trip stuff. They came home with at least 2X what they left here with! Gotta' love Grammy's!....

I really miss her and wish they lived a little closer to us. They are only 6 hours away but it makes for a looonnnggg weekend so we don't do it much. Maybe hubby will get that Albuquerque office and we'll be even closer to El Paso!!

Ok, on to another topic. This is a secret now, so don't tell anyone....(VBG). My husband informed me this weekend that he will no longer "worry" about having another baby. I've had "baby fever" for at least 5 months now and have been hinting here and there but not pressuring him in any way. We finally had the "talk" this weekend and it started with him saying "You REALLY want 5 kids!?!". I told him I'd at least like one more, but that I didn't want to pressure him into it as it's a big responsibility. Well he thought about it for awhile and decided that it wouldn't be too "horrible" if we had one more. Yay!!! Becky, iffin' things happen this month, it might be that May baby that you've been bugging me to have! LOL

Things are kindof "rough" still with mom. I've made huge strides as far as that's concerned though. I've somehow managed to "remove" myself from her situation so that I can be "here" with my family again and get things on track. I was too involved in her "stuff" that I didn't have anything left for my own family. I haven't turned my back on her or anything, don't want to give the wrong impression, but I've just emotionally removed myself from her problems. I've done what I can do and the rest is up to her. I can't go "down" with her, but I'll be here for her when she wants to come back up....

We're getting the olders settled into life here again and we're working on "spring cleaning" the house so that we can start school again on Monday. Good thing we school year 'round because we take so many "life breaks" that it takes us a whole year to get things done. I've also gone to two homeschool meetings this month and have found some new focus for history and science this year. For science we're going to major in the human body and minor in the SL's science projects. For History we're going to major in Arizona history (because we're here right now) and then minor in the ancient history from SL. Hope I don't confuse the poor kids! If it gets to be too much I'll drop the SL stuff and go with the topical stuff as it's relevant to us right now and they'll retain more of it than reading from books or textbooks about it later.

Ok, that's all the exciting things going on around here.

Jen