• Saturday, July 26, 2008 - Our Tenth Anniversary-Show and Tell
Posted By Kristy
Our tenth anniversary is tomorrow (July 26th)!! Ten years ago, I married the love of my life. God has been good to us and blessed us with many things. Here are two pictures from our wedding day.
I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride! Check out my daughter's reaction. LOL
I love you honey! I look forward to many many more years with you.
But sadly, our grandson had to go home. We managed to get an extra 10 days with him by changing his airline ticket. It went way to fast. Last night, we made brownies. As you can see, Dan really enjoyed the brownie batter!!
Good to the last drop!!
He's so funny! We miss you, Tiberius (inside joke) Hope you get to come back and visit again real soon.
As I emerge from the morning sickness and begin to feel well again, I thought I'd share some insights I've gleaned from the 4 times I have done this since I began homeschooling.
First off, give yourself a break. Morning sickness is not for the wimpy. It takes a lot of energy to lay on a couch and try to convince yourself you will survive. In fact, it takes a lot of energy just to make it to the couch in the first place (unless of course, you spent the night there). So, give yourself permission to take a break from all things. Make meals as simple as possible, enlist someone to help you w/ laundry and dishes...better yet, use paper plates, cups, etc. Get your husband to shop for you and keep the refrigerator stocked w/ easy snacks for you and the children. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You can be superwoman some other time.
As for homeschooling, consider my entry on Homeschooling Year Round. You can catch up later. That is one of the many beauties of homeschooling ~ flexibility. Is there really a need for you to stress right now about what is not getting done? Think about the larger picture. Will it really matter that you did not do 3 months worth of math with your 3rd grader when you can make up those 3 months somewhere else? Older children can keep up with many of their studies on their own and with very little direction. So, really, the short amount time you are sick (I know it feels like an eternity when you are in the midst of it), will even itself out in the long run. It will be okay. I promise.
One thing I really struggle with when I am down with morning sickness is the Bad Mother Syndrome. I am convinced that my children are the most unruly, my house the most messy, my world the most chaotic, and I am very, very afraid I will never, ever feel "normal" again. It is during these times that it is most crucial that you ask for the Lord's guidance. Sometimes, these feelings are a good "jumping-off" point for us to truly analyze our shortcomings and those we see within our families, but we also must be aware that Satan will use these times when we are already down and out to knock us down further and convince us we are no good at this Christianity thing or this homeschooling thing. He will put questions into our heads like, "Wouldn't they all be better off if I just sent them to public school?" So, even in the midst of your illness, you must ask the Lord for discernment. Ask Him to show you TRUTH and give you the ability to PERSEVERE.
And finally, when you do come up for air and realize the morning sickness is beginning to subside, REJOICE! Then, take a moment to look around you and do the next thing. What one thing that did slip while you were "away" should be re-established right away? Do you need to take some time to get the discipline of the children back under control? Is your husband begging you to clean the house and have all the laundry done up? Is everyone hungry for some "real food?" For us, it was the discipline. But, as a bit of encouragement, I will tell you it only took a few days to remedy this. They were immediately aware that mama was back. So, do not dispair...what fell apart while the couch held you hostage will not take all that long to rectify with a little bit of consistancy.
So, as a final note, let me just say that as someone who has survived morning sickness many times and considered herself a homeschooling mom through the majority of those times, I empathize completely with your plight. It is a very difficult place to be. I hope you find some encouragement from my words. And a great big cyber-hug from me to you!
Today I woke up feeling great! Dare I say, NORMAL??!! Since the onset of the morning sickness, this has been my best "working day" so far. So, I jumped into my trial schedule just to see what would happen. I thought I'd take a moment to share.
Most of us got up at that not-so-magic hour (still not tellin' ). I'm not up to doing full-blown breakfasts yet (much to my oldest son's dismay), so he made toaster waffles for himself and I had a bowl of cereal. Morning chores were completed and we were on to the Daily Chores. For the first time in months, I actually got them put up on the dry erase board! My oh-so-scheduled first-born was absolutely THRILLED!
We worked through all the chores in good time...I think it was 10:30 when the last one was erased! Time for school with Child #3!
At first, she was a bit confused because up until now, "school" has meant grabbing a coloring book and crayons and pretending it is important work. When I pulled out actual materials, she said things like, "Can I color now?" and "When can I do my coloring book?" Part of me is wondering if she is still too young and I misjudged her readiness...but I'm not going to let one day make up my mind for me. Besides, by this afternoon (when her school was long-over), she was asking over and over to do school and kept getting her book out and telling me which pages she wanted to do next ("Sorry kiddo...you don't get to pick and choose at random," says my brain as I nod and smile at her utter cuteness)
That went fairly well, but this is about the point I stopped taking my own good advice...meaning I tried to implement EVERYTHING all in one day. Will I ever learn???
Remember, I was going to have my bigs take turns making lunch? Well, I realized nearly too late that not only was it quickly approaching lunch time (and this pregnant mama DOES NOT like to miss lunch!), but I really had not informed them of this fact. Thankfully, I was finished working w/ Child #3, so I could ramrod the operation, but it literally took all 3 of us working like crazy to get lunch on the table. This is one of those areas that is going to have to wait I am afraid. I think for now, I will just enlist them to help ME with lunch until I feel confidant they can actually handle it on their own.
Now onto Not-Taking-My-Own-Advice Chapter 2...
Two gigantic boxes arrived on my doorstep today from Rainbow Resource. This is the thrill of every homeschooling mother's life...new stuff! Well, I decided TODAY was the perfect time to start all those new subjects. Prep time? Who needs prep time? I can wing just about anything! HELLO?! (All of you who have been reading my "advice" so neatly laid out for you on this blog, here is your proof positive that I am a real, live, occasionally insane, perfectly normal, homeschooling mom who does ridiculously foolish things more often than she would like to admit!)
So, I wing it through the schedule of subjects I had listed for today using brand-new materials I saw for the first time TODAY. Amazingly enough, it went rather well. Which is actually a BAD thing, because it means come tomorrow, I will try to do this all over again and the law of averages says there is NO WAY I can make this work for more than a couple of days in a row at which time, I will fall flat on my face and feel like a failure. Yes, I will say it again...Will I ever learn???
Frequently we will lose a toy or a ball into the neighbors yard. The residents only come to this house ever few weeks, so usually we have to wait to retrieve our lost items. They come home, find our junk and toss it over into our back yard. Well, it's good to have a young strong teen staying with us because he can do it for us! He would like us to believe he did a back flip over the wall (like a Ninja) and saved the day, but I have pictures to prove otherwise. LOL. Danny was able to extend his stay from the 15 to the 24th, unfortunatly he does have to go home this time. Even though he and my daughter have eaten me out of house and home, one day going through 4 gallons of Lemonade, and countless gallons of Kool Aid and food. We've enjoyed his visit very much and hate to see him leave on Thursday. P.S. He knows I am only teasing him. Yes, they did go through that much but we don't get to play grandparents very often so it was worth it!! So, don't get on him mom and dad!!
This is what my cubboard has looked like since the July 1st. I can't keep up. Normally, it's full of cups, glasses and bowls and plates. Yes, paper and plastic would have been the way to go! Again, it's a grandparent thing so I don't mind!!!
So, how exactly do you get it all done when there just doesn't seem to be the hours in the day?
Well, after much deliberation and looking for how others were making it work, I arrived upon a decision. I'll walk you through this piece by piece because each part has its own set of challenges and fleshing this out may prove to be much more difficult than I am imagining in my little head.
First off, I intend to have a set wake-up time. Or at the very least, a wake-up-by time. Meaning, everyone, myself included, should be awake by such-and-such time. No, there is no magic hour (at least not that I am aware of), so I won't bother telling you what time that will be for us, but I am beginning to see the merits of having everyone awake and ready for the day at a set time. This is not something I have been readily convinced of in the past, so this, in and of itself, is a huge step for me.
Prior to breakfast are Room Chores. This is something that USED to be intact for us, but has been allowed to slide. No more!
After breakfast will be morning chores. If you'll remember my post on how we clean, this is where I intend to plug in our Daily Chores List. So, if it is Monday, we will dust, do laundry, and water plants during this time. It is my hope that all of this will be accomplished by 10:30 am. This IS a magic hour, because HERE is where I am going to try to grab my precious teaching hour for Child #3.
And here is what I hope it will look like...
Bible with all the children. Then, the bigs split off to do subjects that are independent for them while I take Child #3 and spend an hour doing her school. Much of her "work" is fun stuff and art projects, so it is quite possible that she will continue to be occupied by a project well into the afternoon while I school the olders.
After her "official" school time is over, we will eat lunch. Now, here is where I ran into yet another snag. HOW do I do school AND cook??? Well, my solution is to assign simple weekday lunches to my 10 and 7 year olds. This is the one thing I am still not sure about mainly because I grow rather weary of the same thing over and over, but I think once we consistantly do it, it will work well. So, the idea is that whoever has lunch that day will break off from their studies around 11:30 or 11:45 and start their particular easy lunch. And since I will be doing school with my little one at the dining room table, I can supervise the cooking as well without having to do it myself.
Next, we put the youngest down for his nap, do table chores, and start in on afternoon schooling. It will be during this time that I will do the teacher-intensive subjects. Once those are finished, there will more than likely be a bit more independent work to finish up. I am cautiously optimistic that all will be accomplished somewhere around the 3:00 hour.
So, what do you think? Sound doable??? I sure hope so! This is a big step for us. Never have we taken morning AND afternoon hours to do school. Any thoughts?
My dad sent this to me in e mail. I thought it was really cute.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like
sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the
chips and dip coming.
-- Alan, age 10
No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry.
God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're
stuck with.
-- Kristen, age 10
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?
Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by
then.
-- Camille, age 10
HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the
same kids.
-- Derrick, age 8
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don't want any more kids.
-- Lori, age 8
WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?
Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each
other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.
-- Lynnette, age 8 (isn't she a treasure)
On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that Usually gets
them interested enough to go for a second date.
-- Martin, age 10
WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?
I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers
and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.
-- Craig, age 9
WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?
When they're rich.
-- Pam, age 7
The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with
that.
- - Curt, age 7
The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them
and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do.
-- Howard, age 8
IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?
It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone
to clean up after them.
-- Anita, age 9 (bless you child)
HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN'T GET MARRIED?
There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there?
-- Kelvin, age 8
And the #1 Favorite is........
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump
truck.
-- Ricky, age 10
2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER? Almost 10 years (July 26th)
3. HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? 1 year, but knew each other a lot longer
4. HOW OLD IS YOUR MAN? 60
5. WHO EATS MORE? Him, but I run a close second
6. WHO SAID I LOVE YOU FIRST? Honestly, I don't remember
7. WHO IS TALLER? He is.
8. WHO SINGS BETTER? It's a tie, but both stink at it. No, really, I think he has a nice voice
9.WHO IS SMARTER? Him, of course!
10.Who has the worst temper? Me! Sorry, honey.
11. WHO DOES LAUNDRY? It's what I live for. Sad huh.
12.WHO TAKES OUT THE GARBAGE? We both do
13. WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? He does
Who Pays the bills? Him.
15. WHO IS BETTER WITH THE COMPUTER? Me
16.WHO MOWS THE LAWN? No lawn. He does yard work, I hate it
17.WHO COOKS DINNER? We take turns, he cooks a mean breakfast every Saturday!
18. WHO DRIVES WHEN YOU'RE TOGETHER?He does
19. WHO PAYS WHEN YOU GO OUT? He does
20. WHO IS MOST STUBBORN?It's a tie, but mostly I am. He is very patient.
21. WHO IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT WHEN THEY ARE WRONG? It depends
22. WHOSE PARENTS DO YO SEE THE MOST?Mine, his are dead
23. WHO KISSED WHOM FIRST? He made the first move
24. WHO ASKED WHO OUT? He did
25. WHO PROPOSED?He did
26. WHO IS MORE SENSITIVE?Hmm, I am not sure how to answer this. I am more emotional but he is more patient and caring.
27. WHO HAS MORE FRIENDS? Not counting the blog. We have the same number of friends.
28. WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS?He does, I am an only child
29. WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THE FAMILY? He does and that's the way it should be, both literally and physically
30. HOW DID YOU MEET? When we both worked 911.
I don't normally do tags, but I thought this one looked fun. I won't tag anyone back but if you choose to do this tag, let me know so I can read your answers. Thanks.
Summer is a great time for rejuvenating the soul. We have gardens growing, a new baby goat, the chicks getting bigger, milk from the dairy goats is flowing, the sun is shining and the kids are swimming. It is wonderful.
). I'm not up to doing full-blown breakfasts yet (much to my oldest son's dismay), so he made toaster waffles for himself and I had a bowl of cereal. Morning chores were completed and we were on to the Daily Chores. For the first time in months, I actually got them put up on the dry erase board! My oh-so-scheduled first-born was absolutely THRILLED!
