Just a little FYI

So today Greg came home and told me we have another potential tsunami on the way, sheesh. We don't have we don't have many poisonous spiders, snakes or killer animals. We don't have fires which ravage the coastline. I suppose a Tsunami warning every so often is the price I pay for these little lazy town perks. Probably won't pan out considering the quake was in Chili, but better aware than blind, if you know what I mean. Hope you day goes good too.

homeschooling, birthdays, and friends

This is a pic of hannah right before her life was saved by a mouthfull of goldfish

So I have decided that I like 2nd grade math much better than 1st. My girl has been far less bored with the lessons and I believe its because of the small measure of challenge. Last book we often times would skip to the assessments, not so much on this book. On Wednesday we celebrated her birthday by taking cupcakes to our moms group. I felt a little bad that the only one her age was Hannah. I think next year we will make invitations and have friends over to the house. Hannah and my girl have such an interesting and emotional relationship. Its VERY girlie. Its a stretch for me because although I desperately desired a best friend my parents moved too much for me to be successful at it. Now that I look at it, I think I escaped allot of drama. ;) Still I am thankful for what great friends they are even if it is fraught with hot and cold emotions often accompanying their play. Here are a few pictures of the two of them though the years (wow that feels weird to say 'through the years') I know I have more somwhere but am not sure whos computer they are on.

funny things

this morning I was sandwiched between two out of three children who had invaded my bed when number three came in and complained he didn't have any room to snuggle me. I was the one with no room, so I convinced him to go back to his bed and I would snuggle him there. Me thinking another half an hour would be nice, settled in under a shamrock blanket with Mr. steel by my side. A half an hour passed and I had resumed my sleep only to be awakened by the thump thump thump of Thomas looking through the house. He was saying MOOOMMM in a not so quiet voice. I figured he would find his way to me eventually so I didn't reply. His thumping came closer until he had shuffled himself next to me and whispered into my ear. "Mom, how come I always find you in someone elses bed! You should be snuggling MEE."

thoughts

My life now is tangled up in family, children, husband and housework. Its hard to separate the strings because they are all so bound together. Other than teaching my kids about the love of Christ, the impact I have on the world feels so little. My young friend who passed away this Christmas left behind a letter which touched me deeply. It was a school essay about how my friendship made a difference in his life.(I adopted him as a brother because he came from a family of all boys) His words were precious and a needed boost to a mom who finds herself bogged down in the details of laundry duty and toilet scrubbing. This letter also got me thinking. How long have I been so wrapped up in surviving life? Focusing on the day to day instead of looking to the greater good of loving like Jesus. There are certain limits to my outreach and as much as I would love love LOVE to globe trot again (Africa does have my heart) I am bound to my three little ones and family. A few days ago God put a burden on my heart. Prayer for a friend and her husband in Kenya. I wish I could physicaly be there for her as she pushes through the hard days in the clinic, but I remember how much it meant to have a face petitioning for me when I was out working at camp or traveling abroad.

one quarter left!

Thomas turning five has put school thoughts in my head. He is such a joy to teach and I find myself not as fearful to play schoolmaster for two different grades. Next years curriculum for him is still up in the air as with my soon to be 7 year old. K12 has been an awesome help. The thing I appreciate the most is the accountability. I'm not good about motivating myself to do school every day. If it were not for the fact I have a teacher calling me and encouraging me, we would not be consistent. More power to all those moms who can fly freestyle!! Someday I will be there, quite possibly when my girl is in Jr. high. Don't hold your breath for anything sooner. The things I am working on with my girl are writing and reading. It dawned on me a few days ago that the reason my girl cant sit still when she learns is not because she is ADD or hyperactive, its because she suffers from the dyslexia which runs very deeply on both sides of the family. This is the reason writing is like torture for her and reading (although she is reading at a second grade level) takes allot of concentration and often times is exhausted afterwords. I love this girl of mine and wouldn't want to change her a bit. Even though I wish the kitchen tables came with seat belts and stores sold pencils which bounced back when they got dropped, I'm glad of the work we are doing together because of the groundwork its setting for future learning.

if sunny days could stay forever

three little monkeys at home on a rock

I'm glad my girl gave me a genuine smile :)

Its fun to share special places with my three amigos, living life through little eyes is truly learning to love it all over again.


I couldn't help but go back and do more rock climbing with Thomas, he loves to pretend that he is a spider. If you know him, you would understand he is like a constant drop of water when it comes to something he wants to do..mooom moom mooooom mooooooommmm....can we go??? can we go???? can we GO!!!

hmmmm

there are days that the camera is a bit askew on the shelf, the only other sign that its been played with are these mysterious photos which appear on the memory card. I'm not Sherlock Holmes but I think this is a self portrait.

overheard

This is a conversation my brother overheard the boys discussing while I was in the shower this AM

Mr steel is constructing a structure out of blocks when he becomes frustrated and exclaims that HE will blow up the earth. Thomas then replies, "well you have to be in outer space to do that!" Mr steel counters with, "well then you will have to come with me." Thomas pauses and says, "I cant because I'm afraid of heights!"

too funny!

Today we are starting into our second grade math book!!! I'm so excited because we will have it all summer along with Internet access to her classroom. ;) Its fun do Math with my girl because she succeeds in it with very little effort. Its a nice buffer to have since reading and writing can be so challenging.

man, I feel like a woman

Before I start on my tangent let me first explain a small detail. I NEVER jog alone and when I jog I and my partner dress very modestly. (me I'm actually on the side of frumpy/unkept/modest)

Have you ever had that feeling your going to be in trouble soon? A prickly urge to abandon all and run? The first time I felt this when I was working out was in my old hometown while walking with a good friend of mine. I particular man in a truck use to drive by us every day and then park by the beach. I felt it as being uncomfortable but it was okay because my dad accompanied us most of the time. One of these days on which he was not able to make it, eds wife and I took our usual stroll. He drove by as usual...but then he drove by again, and again. Em and I took a shorter rout home and I bumped into the police chief, described his truck and his schedule then changed our route. Next time was at our old house and if you don't remember it click here to read about it. Tonight was another gut instinct moment. Two guys parked at an intersection waiting. When they pulled forward s-l-o-w-l-y and started messing with their door I got creeped out and asked city girl to hold up her phone and look at it. They crept ahead at a 2mph speed. We slowed down...there was no way we were going to pass them! They moved their car just enough to keep in front of us. *creepy feelings* When we calmly walked into a friends driveway like it was our own they sped up just a bit. We waited until they were far off before continuing our walk. Its better to go with your gut instinct than end up in a ditch, who knows if they were just acting weird. Better safe than sorry. Monday we will take a guy with us! If Dan doesn't scare the creepies away I don't know what will! Now I appreciate my husband urging me to get my concealed to carry permit.

another sunny day at the beach

wow what a day, 70 or so degrees and oh boy enjoyable. Is there anything else to say?

gorgeous day

playing in the ditch finding whirligig and boatman beetles

help meee!!

sadly I didn't take the time to edit these shots, I think they would have benefited from some cropping and color adjustments.

this one is my very favorite

promises of spring are showing up everywhere, a little reminder is the singing of frogs every evening. My girl was more than pleased to find this hopper residing on the green garden hose. Its color is so vibrant and alive! It did live through the experience of being discovered and was let go to pleasure us with more nighttime choruses of froggy love.

Finally found it!

I found this cardi pattern on ravelry.com and will try it as soon as my mass hysteria of birthday quilting is finished. Ravelry is a fantastic source for knitting and this pattern is free to top it all off!

Fridays...

So today is obviously Friday. The reason I know, other than the calendar, is my epiphany. It happens every week without fail. I get up in the AM rub my eyes as I start the daily chores and suddenly realise that everything is caught up. The laundry, the dishes, the vacuuming are com pleated. Even the bathroom smells nice. "Wow, I cant believe I finally did it," Mentally patting myself on the back the whole way when WHAMMO it hits me..tomorrow is Saturday and everyone is home. Sigh, sometimes you just cant win. I guess I will just console myself with the fact I have a whole week to forget again before thinking the same things next Friday. Ground hogs day with housework. On a lighter side, thanks to my husband, my mom and I are seeing south pacific this weekend. What a great guy!

oh sick boy

after nearly a month...no wait it was a month of not-sick kids, today we are sick again. I hate to say it but we keep picking things up from church. Story of a parents life, right?
Whatever the illness is my youngest gets a high fever. His body must not have much of a thermometer because it shoots up to brain burning heights unless I catch it and give him Motrin.
When we were living on the peninsula, I had my most frightening night ever. His little shivering body felt so hot my hand hurt to touch him and this was an hour after I had given him Tylenol. The thermometer beeped and I rubbed my eyes to make sure it was correct. 106 under the arm, that meant 107! I rushed him into the bathroom and stripped off his clothes pouring tepid water into the bath and jumping in with him. I was grateful to get him in cool water no matter how much he was crying. Considering it was Greg's day on shift, I was alone. If he would have gone into a seizure from his fever, which is common with a temperature spike, I would have called 911 and then packed him in ice cubes. As it was I spend the night laying next to him, forcing him to drink water,toweling him down with wet rags and opening all my bedroom windows. The bath lowered his fever and every 4 hours without fail I re-medicated. Most of you are saying what I still think to myself, "why didn't you just take him to the ER???" I don't know. Two sleeping kids and the fact I was all alone and didn't have Greg around to decide with, perhaps lent to the situation.
Now every time Mr. Steel gets a fever I don't play around.

Motrin, Tylenol, water, rest, repeat.

just moments in time

Today Thomas turns five. Five. Five. It will sink in eventually. It use to bum me out eternally thinking about how fast it has gone and how they aren't little babies anymore. Not lately though. The cause might be noticing how much more simple life has become. Its been small unnoticeable changes. Things left in obscurity until out of the blue you are sitting on the beach in the sun NOT chasing after the youngest as he runs full tilt toward the ocean, rocks, dead inedible objects, and anything else dangerous oh and I forgot drowning. This must be the why the ladies gather around and awe over how 'small' a newborn is. You forget.
Em and I were talking about when older grandparent type people seem to struggle with tolerating kids and why. I don't condone them but the reason is becoming clearer on what is motivating their reaction. Now that my kids have moved past the baby/toddler stage I find I have to choose to help with other peoples kids, choose to care. Life gets easier and your much more inclined to just stand back and be a spectator. When a spectator is tired of the show they leave as opposed to stepping in and being part of the play. Analogy to weird for you? yeah Greg gives me that look too. Whatever the case a person has to choose. When I get old and tired and cranky(man I'm going to be cranky), the choice wont be easy...but I hope I choose right and jump in with my grand kids like my mother in law and play play play like there is no tomorrow.

Sun and the Beach

Its a miricle, the sun is out and its not raining... We went down to the ocean with the Dante family and soaked up as much vitamine D as we could before hauling ourselves up to the car missing only one thing, a pair of undies. Now how did that happen?

and the name of the cleaner is....

Mrs. Meyer's clean day

Click here if you want to see the product details, Im sold!

a couple more pics

oh the joy of a house full of boys

Years ago Greg and I moved into little apartment house, prietty much new, to find the toilet filthy. How one man could make such a mess and not clean it up, I thought I could never understand. Now with two little boys and the toilet, * sigh *. I would like to think that this pee filled chaos will end soon even though the track record of most men is sordid. The bathroom has a constant urine tinge not to mention those midnight trips which leave the seat a little moist. I'm not going to solve the problem all in one day, but I did find a solution to the wafting pee pew. A basil scented non-poisonous cleaning spray. My bathroom might not be sterile, but man it smells good. Considering my room is down wind, this is a win win solution. Not only can I get rid of the smell (careful I feel an infomercial coming on) But I can leave it under the counter...its warning states "keep out of eyes, if swallowed drink a glass of water" score..works for me and my boy who eats everything!

after six or seven years tada!

Today I spent the entire morning sewing together the quilt top that has lain dormant in my closet for close to a decade. Its a lantern pattern in insect print. I never thought I would become one of those fabric hording ladies...never say never. Boy number one's birthday is on Wednesday and his love for all things buggy gave me a brilliant and perhaps masochistic idea. I could complete a twin size quilt in a week. Its Saturday and I have the top done, does that count???

saxon math

My girl really enjoys math, its easy for her and unlike reading and writing she will do it without much fuss. My sister has used the kindergarten and first grade set. Each time I go to see them I drool over it. Today I ordered the K set on amazon to give it a go with child number two and three. Thomas is going to be 5 years old in a matter of days. It got me thinking about school and how much I stressed over the first compared to now. He is so easy to teach! Today he read me hot dog from the animal antics easy reader series, it made me sigh. He is my little Mr. monk, folding his clothes and reading textbooks for fun. I know it runs in the family because after our visit to the cousins, my sister and I had a chance to compare notes.

for all those who read this thinking 'why is homeschooling always easy for her?', let me burst your balloon. Some days I wake up hating being a THE teacher...I loathe motivating my kids to listen and sit as well as being the big meanie who makes them finish. Just so you know...

snow days