He did it

This is the baby sporting his relatively new glasses and playing around with my old camera that I gave him.
"It's new to me," he said before setting out to figure out how to take pictures with it. He couldn't just let me show him how to use it.

Isn't he just the cuteness. (Y'all ignore my voice on there.)

Hey Y'all

Guess where I've been?

We took the boys on vacation to someplace warm and sunny. Well, a little warmer and somewhat sunny.

We had a fabulous time and I managed to get a new camera out of the experience. (More on that later.)

So to start the story....we have to begin in the van.

Day one: the drive.

Can anybody guess where we're off to?

Please excuse the crappy photography. I was driving while being chastened by the GPS to take the right exit but stay in the left lane. And attempting to dodge a dozen motorcycles.

Anybody recognize the skyline?

How wrong is it.....

That my 7 and 5 year olds are playing with their playmobil Roman coliseum and the figures from the playmobil Nativity set.....at the same time.
Yep, it's The Holy Family, a shepherd, two of the wise men, some Centurions, a few gladiators, and ....of course....lions.

In the sense of full disclosure, Santa Claus and a couple of pirates are also involved.
At least Noah and all the his folks are safely ensconced in the ark upstairs.

Laugh and the world laughs with you

Get really sick...and the world runs away screaming.

You remember that "cold" that I had. Well, it never really went away. It just lingered until I got so sick that I couldn't function. And then to add insult to injury....I got sicker.
Because ZD had to stay home and care for the minions, my wonderful sister took me to the ER in her brand new car with leather seats....and she didn't even require me to take a bucket with me.
After some IV drugs and some fluids, I felt almost human again. Almost. I had the same ER doc that I always get and he remembered me. (He even asked how my ankle was doing.) That doesn't really reflect well on me that ER doctors know who I am.

The next day, I went to my physician who chastised me for not coming in sooner. Honestly, I thought it would just go away and that I was being a big baby.
There I discovered that I have a low grade fever, fluid in my ears, heavily congested lungs, and am still dehydrated. Hmmmm....that would explain the shortness of breath and general malaise...and the ear ache. (I have an ear infection....what am I? Four years old?)
ZD spoke to him over the phone and he filled the doc in all the stuff that I would avoid mentioning. (No energy, not sleeping, sleeping too much, no appetite, forgetfulness beyond my normal amount.) Apparently, ZD has gotten concerned about my well being.
So doc did a whole bunch of blood tests and put me on 2 weeks of antibiotics. I go back in two weeks to see if I am better or need more stuff done.

I hate getting medical care but I don't want to be sick when we take of for the Happiest Place on Earth.

Why my children don't go to school.

It seems like every time I turn around, I am reminded why my children do not attend public school.

Today's reason centers around my 2 middle sons who have asperger's syndrome. They are funny, witty, wickedly smart, but disabled children. They have issues. I am honest about that. But their issues are due to a problem that has existed since birth and not due to character or parenting issues.

In other words, they do the very best that they can.

Today I read about 8-year-old Evelyn Towry and realized that if my boys were in school, that could have easily happened to either of them. Both of them go into a primal state when they are overstimulated. For them it is similar to the reaction of someone with a deep seated phobia that has been triggered. They will do whatever it takes to get out of the situation.

I know this. The boys' therapist knows this. Even our school therapist knows this. But I can guarantee that all the rest of the teachers at the school we are zoned for, do not know this.
I can see this happening at just about every school across this nation.


And that is wrong.


Our autistic children are not going away. We will not institutionalize them for being different. We will not hide them from the public. We will not allow them to be treated as inferior people just because they want to wear a cow sweatshirt. They have the same rights guaranteed int he constitution as every other person in the is country.

Aren't we supposed to be embracing diversity these days? Aren't we all supposed to be more enlightened nowadays? And just how threatening is a cow sweatshirt anyway?


Bev, an autistic adult whose blog I read faithfully, co-oped the diddy:

We're here.

We're weird.

Get used to it.

Coughing, achng, stuffy nose, fever....these kids won't let me get any rest

Actually, I am feeling better today. I started a cough and that's not fun.

But I also discovered that ZD pays more attention than I realized. He gave me a stash of chocolate for Christmas. I ate the Godiva chocolate first. (of course)

Then I ate the little Ghirardelli squares. (I like to freeze the caramel ones.) After that, I alternated between Hershey kisses and frozen Milky Way bars.

That left me with this little gold wrapped candies from Dove.

Today, I tried one of those and found that they are creamy milk chocolate with caramel in them.

I would have eaten them before the Kisses if I had known that.

I got a blog award. Actually....I got two blog awards. First, Michelle at Whimsey Way gave me this award last month when I was swamped by Christmas.

Go visit her blog. She is an incredible homeschooler with way more creativity than I can muster on my very best days. I always learn something when I'm there and she has great music.

According to the rules, and I'm really bad at the rules, I have to link back to my awarder and then pass this award on to 5 others. Easy Peasy. I chose people whom I'd love to get together in one room, just to hang out. Y'all come on over.

First off is Kathy Jo at Barefoot Meandering. Boy mom, homeschooler, and knitter. I'm saving her a piece of land in our "Galt's Gultch." If nothing else, I'll get great joy from seeing Ernie in his Castro hat.

Second is Dy at Classic Adventures. If you want to see peace and love, then go visit the Forever Home. Even Dy's most chaotic moments, are incredible. I don't know how she does it all.

Third is Tammy at Tammy Knits. Who has 5 boys. Five of them. She knits beautifully, seriously beautifully. She posts pictures of them too. And she has a thing for Dr. House....which is another plus.

Fourth is Seanna, my IM buddy and go to girl on all political matters. She doesn't knit or homeschool. But I like her because she is the stuff of PTO nightmares and she's all crafty.

And lastly is Lisa at Hopewell takes on Life. She never gets down. She just keeps on going through whatever life throws at her. She's a teflon mom.

And speaking of Lisa, she gave me an award too. Talk about an embarrassment of riches.

Ok....so I decided that I would give award to the people who inspire me...that make me say "Gosh, I wish I could do that." Y'all can come over and hang out too. Hurry up now, the brownies won't stay warm forever.

First is Tish at Hoosier in the Hive. Tish does a lot of camping in incredible places. I envy her so bad because I am still here. And she is funny as heck.

Second is Jennie at Far Beyond Pearls. Jennie is the most amazing mom blogger. She just exudes peace. Really. I feel calmer when I read about her day.

Third is Becca at Foward Motion. Another knitter and homeschool mom. She's also a military wife. Since we don't get to travel anywhere, I can live vicariously through her. I wish she'd find out where we're going soon. Or at least help me score some Wollmeise.

Fourth, is Donna "Booshay", I'm sure that most of you have been to her blog. She has the most beautiful pictures and has such a warm spirit. I enjoy my daily peek into her life.

And lastly is Sadie at It's a Boy's Life. Another boy mom and uber creative homeschool mom. You know all those salt dough maps and other creative stuff? She does it! Amazing!

This post has been disinfected.

I am sick.

Really sick.

And I don't get sick. Sure, I might get a little sniffle or two but never a real "cold."

I have one now though. Ugh! And it's a bad time for me to be sick. We have stuff going on every weekend and most of the week days. Stuff that I can't get out of either. I just have to suck it up and drive on.

I have learned a few valuable things so far this week.
1. I cannot take Tylenol cold medicine and expect to stay vertical. It does alleviate my symptoms but has the unfortunate side effect of making me feel like a bobble head.

2. I cannot take Benadryl at night....not and sleep anyway. Adding further insult, the Benadryl makes me unfit to knit and doesn't help my cold at all. So I'm still stuffy but also jumpy, unable to sleep or knit.

Vicks vapor rub has been my dearest friend, but you can't go out in public reeking of Mentholatum. I'm hoping that ZD will bring home a wonder drug that will help me sleep, function, and get better quick.

For his sake as much as mine. I've sufficiently germ'ed up the entire bed, blankets, and all the pillows. And he's the only one in the house that has escaped this little virus.

Word for 2009

So, I'm jumping on the "Word of the Year" bandwagon and picking a word that will be my goal for the year. A word to remind me of what I should be doing.

My word for 2009 is Order.

Order in my household. Order in my parenting. Order in my priorities. Order in my activities. Order in my family life.

Order so I can find the time to do all the things I want to do for myself and my family.

Guess what I'm doing?

I'm posting from my new toy. ZD got me an iPod touch. How cool is that!
And it syncs with my outlook calendar and contacts.
Also very cool.
I've been drug into the 21st century.

By the way.....

I've chosen my "word of the year" for 2009. I'll unveil it on New Year's and I'm trying to start living it now.

I know y'all will be sitting on pins and needles until the 1st. ;)

Getter better

I want you all to know, we survived the Holiday lights/Visit to Santa. It was cold. Way to cold to be on a hay ride but we hay rode anyway. We met a few family members there and had a great albeit cold night. When the guy running the hay ride asked how many people were in our party, I told him we were a small horde. He smiled and replied, "A horde? Like a horde of barbarians?" I told him we were just like the Huns only slightly more peaceful and less tolerant of the cold. He glanced over at one family member, who is quite tall, who wore a pointed knit hat and covered herself with several blankets...one of which was brown and furry looking.

"Some of us are more like the Huns than others," I told him.

One day to go folks. If I don't get all the presents wrapped soon it won't matter. The boys are quietly excited. Which is infinitely better than wildly excited.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

OMG, I am so cold!
It's finally warmed up to 39 degrees here at 3:30 in the afternoon. I understand that might be practically swimming weather for some of you, but for me....it is freakin' cold!
And to make matters worse, we have to go to Lights of the South tonight and see Santa. I think I'll have to layer the clothes just a bit.
Oh.....you might want to turn down your speakers if you click that link or you'll start your children singing.

Where's the pause button?

Are you all aware that it is FOUR days until Christmas?

FOUR DAYS!

I have wrapped nothing, baked nothing and barely decorated. We have done no Christmas crafts, seen no Christmas plays or concerts, nor visited Santa. I haven't even gone grocery shopping...good thing I don't have to cook Christmas dinner.
I am running out of time.

And what am I planning to do today? ZD and I have to install a new mailbox because ours fell over. I get a new mailbox for Christmas. I think I'll put a bow on it.

Y'all better get ready because Christmas is coming.

Another little hamster grave

My oldest boy's hamster died today. He was suffering from tumors and a bad case of "wet tail" that he just couldn't shake.
My oldest did his very best, even offering him cola lids of water and medicine every hour day and night. But the little fuzzy guy couldn't get well.
It was all so very sad.

Cornflake was probably the sweetest hamster that I've every encountered. His friendliness was a testament to my my oldest son's dedication to him. That little ball of fur loved his owner and thought that his cage or Oldest boy's hands were the be places on earth. His cage was left open one night and he didn't even try to get out. He just sat waiting at the door for the treat that he knew had to be coming. Why else would the door be open?
He never bit or swatted at fingers.
He loved be held and picked up.
He was a good little fuzzy thing and his passing brought my man-child to tears.

I gave him the speech my father always gave me: "He lived a good life and you did right by him. You did every thing that you were supposed to do."

Cornflake was the last of our hamsters and he will probably be the very last hamster. he was worth knowing though.

In which Sheila considers male chastity belts and is thankful for alarm systems

I meant to share this yesterday but I forgot because I spent the day preparing to put up Christmas decorations. (Preparing because the house is currently overfull of all my other stuff and I have to move that stuff out and replace it with all my evergreens, berries, creches, and little trees.)

Tuesday night is pizza night. This was born out of the fact that if I have a meeting or a class to teach or the boys have sports practice or some other obligation....inevitably it will be on Tuesday night. ZD is not a big fan of pizza so I usually swing by his favorite Chinese food place and pick up Hunan Shrimp or Egg Foo Yung. (Both of which Andrew adores. He used to call them "Human" shrimp and Egg "food yum")

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and send my oldest boy, Jacob, into the store to grab some cokes while I picked up the Hunan shrimp. I left the other three boys in the van to wait. Oh....yes that led to discovering another cool thing about the new van.
Apparently, there is a anti-theft system. If you lock the van with the remote, which I did, the system automatically turns on. I knew this but I forgot until the alarm went off as I walked out with ZD's highly coveted shrimp.
My van has a very loud horn. Seriously loud. So loud that it set off the alarm on the car two spaces away from it. I knew before I opened the door what I would find inside: two laughing boys and one in tears.
It turns out that, while there is no motion sensor in the van, if the alarm system is activated...unlocking any of the doors from the inside will set off the alarm. Which is exactly what my youngest child did. He won't be doing it again, now that he knows that everyone in the parking lot will know what he's up to.

While all this was going on, my oldest was over in the grocery store being preyed upon.
"I'm not going to be able to go in there anymore. I'm developing a reputation," he told me as he got in the van. I asked him what gave him that idea. "The cashier said, 'Oh, I remember you.' when I went through the line."
I'm in this store a lot so I start in my head down the list of cashiers. "Was she young or older?"
"She's 16," he answered and I swear he had a on a poker face.
So that got me wondering why in the world he would know how old the cashier was. He wasn't gone long enough to get into life stories.
"She told me she was 16."
"Did you tell her you were 12?" It was dawning on me what exactly was going on in the Bi-Lo.
"Yeah, and she said 'Well, you don't look 12.'" and then he smiled kind of sheepishly. "I told her that I get that a lot."

The girl was flirting with my boy! Holey smokes! Those girls are bold these days. I would be put out but I know she had to be horrified when she found out that he was only 12. (Even though he's close to 6 feet tall and wears a size 15 shoe.) So that kind of evens it out for me. I knew which cashier he was talking about, a tall pretty blonde that works nights. I don't think you can be a cougar at 16.

I wonder if they make chastity belts with the same alarm features as the one on my van?

Crazy news people

A quote from Matthew as he watched the news with me:
"I don't understand these news people. They talk about something really important then they jump to something that doesn't matter at all. First they talk about the astronomers finding proof of a black hole in the middle of the Milky Way and then they start talking about something Barack Obama is doing.
So they start out with something that could destroy the whole galaxy compared to something we have to put up with for a few years."

I find it funny that he views the President-elect less dangerous than a black hole in the middle of our galaxy. When you look at it that way.... I guess he's right.

Saturday's recap

Today was an insanely busy day for a weekend.

We got in late last night after digging some post holes, stringing some electric fencing, and eating MIL's meatloaf for dinner.
So the plan was to sleep in a little today.

That was the plan until I remembered what I actually had to do today. I hate it when plans interfere with my sleep schedule.
We started the day by getting our (including mine) scout uniforms ready. My Webelos had a tour of the Federal Court house. Very, very cool. Not many people get to see the federal court house and I'm hoping that we'll only go there for field trips and not for legal matters.
Anyway, the court house was built in 1915 and is covered in marble and beautiful hardwoods. The doors to court room are covered with leather.
Gorgeous! But I don't think that most people in the court room are there to admire the architecture.
We got to meet and talk with a Federal judge (they are appointed for life by the POTUS), a county judge (they are elected by us voters), a State Marshall, and a county deputy.
And we were served cookies and hot chocolate by the Federal Court Clerk and given napkins with the court house seal embossed on them.
I'm not making this up.

When I got home it was time to drag out my 700 pounds of Christmas decorations. I'm not kidding about that either. I have 11 totes of decorations. 2 full sized trees and 6 small ones. One of the full sized trees and the 6 small ones went straight into the back of the new van for use later. (new van fact of the day: when I put the van in park, the driver's door unlocks automatically)
And the boys unloaded all that firewood that they cut over Thanksgiving weekend. Including a huge stump of fat lighter. (Woooooooo.....fat lighter!)

After sorting through decorations and cleaning out the garage it was time to take the two cub scouts to decorate the Christmas float. The parade is tomorrow, but we have to get everything set up ahead of time.
We had a great turnout. I think the parents had as much fun as the kids. Our theme is "Christmas camp out." The dads set up a tent and a fake fire with a dutch oven hanging over it. The kids put together my big tree and decorated it with yellow and blue garland and cub scout patches. Then we added the 6 smaller trees as a little forest. (It really is a small forest of little evergreens.)

Once the trailer was festooned with ribbons and garland, and all the little trees had been decorated and nailed down so they wouldn't fall over during the parade...we were off to Wally world where I had to buy more garland for the boys to use in decorating their bikes. They'll ride those in the parade tomorrow and they have to have a festive ride. I bought a pair of blinking reindeer antlers for me to wear. ;)

Then it was home to cook breakfast for dinner. I think I ate a half pound of bacon myself and now I'm feeling a little ucky about it. Bacon remorse is a cruel thing. It's not nearly as bad a Krispy Kreme doughnut remorse.

Tomorrow, we'll get up and decorate bikes then set off on the Christmas parade adventure. 2 vans, 3 bikes, 6 water bottles, 2 mobile phones, and 4 and half hours counting wait time.
It should be a fun, fun, fun day.

Soapbox moment

On a homeschool board I posted the following:

"Yes, homeschooling is better. It is better for the family. It is better for the children. It is a better system of learning that is the standard of human evolution. The school system is a poor mimicry of that standard. (Said by a former school teacher)
I won't apologize for seeing that truth."

Someone took offense that I said that homeschooling was better for the whole family. So I typed up a very rare statement about homeschooling. Rare, because I very seldom preach about the pros of homeschooling. I just live my life and let everyone else live theirs free of my opinions.

But I wanted to post my reply here because this is my soapbox. And since it's a homeschool blog...expect posts on homeschooling.
My repsonse:

I said that and I believe it. Let me tell you why. You might want to get a mug coffee for this post. I think I feel a ramble coming on.

I taught school before and right after my oldest was born. I got up at 6 am, and rushed to get dressed and pack up the baby so he could go to daycare and catch every known disease in the world. Then I spent the day at work worrying that he was being taken care of properly.
After work I rushed to pick him up and then went home to cook, clean, and grade papers. My life was extremely stressful and the kid was only 12 weeks old. I had only a few hours a day with my son and my husband.

I can't imagine what my life would be like if I had to do all that with four children who had homework, projects, sports practice, and therapy on top of that. Plus I met those teachers. I worked with them every day. I knew them well and there weren't many of them that I would even want babysitting my children, much less teaching them day after day.

Sending your children to school is stressful. You are now accountable to someone elses whims. (I tutor PS highschoolers. Some of those whims are are total timewasters.) Your entire family has to follow someone elses schedule, no matter what your family needs. You have limited time with your children. And therefore even more limited time with your spouse.

I have four boys. Two of them have Asperger's syndrome (a form of Autsim for those unfamiliar). They have spent many years going to speech and occupational therapy. If they were in school, they would spend all day in school and the rest of the day either hanging out in the waiting room or going to therapy.
Their father is in the Army. He was deployed for most of 2006 and 2007. And now that he's home, his schedule doesn't exactly mesh with the public school system.

Since we homeschool, we're able to set up our schedule to include him. Our holidays are based on his holidays and not what the public school decides. We were able to spend our full two weeks with him when he came home for R&R.
Our therapy and doctor visits are scheduled when we need them to be. The boys have school school in the van and the waiting rooms. It helps make our days peaceful instead of harried and stressful. And the boys form a bond that I don't see in the siblings of their PS friends.

There is no bus to get up and wait for. They eat breakfast as they do math. They work at their own speed instead of pace of the average learner. I don't have to get permission to take our spring break in March because that's when my husband can take vacation instead of in April when the school system does.

It is better for the family. I'm happy. The boys are happy. And my dear husband is much happy since he actually gets to spend time with us.

Homeschooling is hard. I know this. It consumes your whole life. But it also gives you a freedom that other parents don't have. It gives your the freedom to put family first. It gives you the freedom to make the family the center of your life and not public school calendar. That is an incredible gift.

At noon today, I have to pick up my wonderful husband. Then we are heading down to MIL's farm to help replace the cattle fencing. She needs it done fast before the cows escape. DH is relieved because he can help his mom instead of just worrying about her.And the boys never turn down a chance to go tooling around in the "gator" with Daddy.
We'll be studying electric current today as well as some carpentry skills. They might even get some driving lessons thrown in and I'm hoping to get firewood out of the day.
It's nice that we don't have to ask the principal for permission to do that or wait until after the school bell rings.

Merry Christmas to me

Sure it's a little early. A month early to be exact.
On November 25th, ZD and I signed the papers on my brand new van!

Oh, I love it! I love, love, love, love, love it! Even ZD loves the van. We ride around in it just grinning at what a great van it is.

Every day I find another little thing that makes it such an awesome ride.
Today, I discovered that the windshield wipers slow down when you stop and then speed back up when you start driving again. Now that may not mean anything to you, but I find that brilliant design.
Yesterday, I learned that when you put the van in reverse, the read wiper starts up even if you don't have it on. How stinking cool is that!
I also discovered that those heated seats are the most decadent thing in the world. I wish all my seats were heated. I want a heated couch and heated kitchen chairs, and heated bed.
I can listen to Fox news in the van! ZD is psyched about that. I feel so spoiled.

Y'all should come over and we'll go for a ride.

almost ready, but not quite.

My sweet, darling, and totally self-less sister came over to watch the boys while ZD and I went out. (2 of the boys are sick, hence the self-less part.)

We spent a lovely evening together......... at the car dealership.

It looks like I might get a new van after all. I'm giddy with anticipation but I don't really want to get my hopes up just in case something happens.

I'd be fine with that if it happens. My old van is only 8 years old and it hasn't even hit 100K miles yet. It still looks good even though the inside is currently (ashamedly) trashed. And it has been behaving so I have to praise it when due.

So we looked at new fancy schmancy vans. Fancy schmancy vans that cost about the same as my old one did 8 years ago. Man, we got ripped off!

The van I test drove is absolutely decadent.
power side doors and rear hatch door.
DVD entertainment center with wire less head phones and 6 disc CD player
XM radio and a dock for my ipod
a rear camera for backing up. (Holey smokes!)
leather seats for 8 (woohoo) that slide and come out and do all kinds of things I didn't know van seats could do.
second row windows that roll down and have little sun screens to protect my light sensitive boys.
a plug for the boys video games. They can play game cube in the van on trips!
all kinds of little secret compartments for legos, Star Wars figures and baseball gear.
heated front seats
eleventy-billion cup holders
and the cherry on top..... a moon roof.

OMG!!!!! A MOON ROOF!

It's so stinking wonderful that I can't imagine taking it home with me. It has everything I could dream of and they have the color I want for exterior and interior.

My dream car with no concessions at all in any way. No "well, it's a good enough color." Or "I don't mind this interior." Or "I guess this feature is a bit excessive we could save money without it."

Nope.

Now, I just have to let myself deserve it.
Oh, and I also have to check out the other dealership to see if I like the other van better.

I don't know when I got so fickle.

They are fine

I just got a phone call from ZD and Matthew. They are on their way home albeit through a route that was not on their travel plans.
Matthew started the conversation, "Hi Mom. Dad thinks we're lost." Turns out they were. I, however, who spent many a weekend in my Grandmother's station wagon wandering around a four state area, knew exactly where they were.

I relayed directions to ZD so he could relax a bit. (I guess this seals the deal for the new van I want. It has voice activate GPS mapping.) They will be home in a hour or so.
Now I can relax.

Worried sick....literally

ZD and Matthew are camping this weekend at a Webelos-ree. If this was normal November weather, they would be sitting pretty.

But it's not.

We are having record cold this week. For those of you in colder areas, lows in the 20's is no big deal. But our normal lows for November are in the 50's. February might get in the 20's but we don't go outside in February other than the amount of time it takes to go from building to car and back again.

We certainly don't go camping.

But that's where they are....camping beside a lake in a park north (colder) of where we live. I'm sure the temps were around 20 degrees last night. And the winds are 10 to 15 mph.

They have a propane heater, but you can't run that while you are sleeping. They have sleeping bags and tons of blankets including old wool Army blankets. They also have jackets, coats, hats, and gloves.
What they don't have is cell phone coverage, so I haven't heard from them today. I know they got there safely and were doing fine at 7:30 pm.

I have been immobilized with worry today. My only comfort is that if they had died of hypothermia or carbon monoxide poisoning....someone would have certainly called me by now.

So ZD must be taking good care of our little "Eeyore" son and they are just too busy earning those 7 Webelos activity badges to get somewhere with cell phone coverage.

Right?

cold feet, cold hands, warm hearts

ZD and I are cold weather wimps.
Really.
We both hail from deep in the South where the coldest nights are in the high 20's. And believe me...we are miserable for both nights.

I am the worse of the two of us. I can't seem to keep my extremities warm, my feet especially. ZD teases that I could get a job at Gitmo. Forget water boarding. All I'd have to do is put my ice cold dogs on them and those folks would confess to anything.
Woolen knitted socks are my dearest friends.

This evening the current temperature is 43 and ZD and I are fretting because he just let the fire burn out so we could go to bed. I know the people who live near here are thinking, "You had a fire going today? It was barely chilly."
Why yes we did. My oldest boy made the fire about 7 am and we kept it going all day long. It was so nice and warm in the house, that I actually went barefoot.

Thankfully, we have access to lots of free firewood. MIL had a clear cut on a few dozen acres. There are lots of little leftover trees that will make great firewood. ZD and the boys will spend Thanksgiving weekend cutting and splitting several cords of firewood.
I'm sure glad of that. My feet will be quite thankful.

Now I just need a fireplace insert like our first house and I will be the happiest warm footed gal in the state.

Sim City

My 10-year-old just walked in to tell me about his current game on Sim City.
I tried my very best to maintain a straight face until he left the room. The basic conversation was this:
"I built this city with lots of parks and nice stores. Then all these robbers and hippies showed up. The robbers stole things and the hippies wouldn't let anybody else use the park. Everybody in the city was mad at me and complaining about getting robbed all the time and the hippies using everything up. So I built some SWAT team buildings ant they took care of the robbers and hippies.
Now all my people are happy. Those hippies are worse than hobos."

I guess we should all keep a look out for the robbers and hippies.

A situation in which the ants win.

ZD comes in the kitchen to talk to me:
"We may have to get you a new car soon."
That perked me up, "Really?" Linda Blair, my oddly behaving van, is close to 8 years old. She looks good even though she's been hit three times. And currently, she's behaving except for one door that won't unlock. (No reason why. It just won't.)

"Yeah, with the economy the way it is....we should get a good price. Plus since we have good credit and actually have money for a down payment, we'll get a good interest rate too."
Not to mention that ZD has a pretty secure job. Wow, I wasn't expecting a new car right now. We tend to drive our vehicles until the break down permanently. And I'm not going to get my hopes up, just in case ZD comes to his senses.

"But it will have to be your Christmas present. You're not getting a new car and a PDA."
I guess I'll have to make do with my paper calendar. I'm not holding my breath though. If I end up with the PDA, I'll still be thrilled.

Some days, it's good to be an ant.

BWa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha

I am wolf den leader.
I have 17 wolf cubs.

That's 17 second graders!

Thankfully, I have an incredible assistant den leader and 15 sets of the most wonderful parents in the scouting community.

And I have 17 great little wolf cubs who make it all worth it.

But I can't be happy with that. Nooooooooo

Guess what I may be doing come February.

There's a large chance that I won't be a den leader anymore. I'm looking into being Cubmaster.

Yeah.

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha (wipes tears)

Time and Math

So we've made it through the first quarter of the school year and I thought I'd post a little about what's bugging me so far.

First of all, I'm not happy with my schedule. Things are just too busy for me. Mondays are science classes and tutoring. (And soon, Boy Scouts) Tuesdays are speech at school and then tutoring another child after school. Wednesday is two hours of OT and another hour of tutoring. Thursdays are speech at school and the PE for the boys. Fridays, thank heaven, are free. Saturdays are scouts, sports, and whatever else comes up.
I wish I could drop all the tutoring but two of the afternoon are family/close friend obligations. Science classes, PE, scouts, and sports all benefit the boys so I feel a need to continue those. Speech and OT are non-negotiable.
Then add in seasonal sports practices, parties, social events, play practice, camp outs, family obligations, and my hospital board position.
But I guess we'd be running around as much or more if the boys were in school and I worked. So i should not complain.
Still.....I'm homebody at heart.

As far as school goes, everything is unchanged with the exception of my oldest math program. I had planned to use Lial's math program and Jacob's Algebra.
But I hate the Lial's Basic College Math book. Really hate it. Words can not express the loathing I feel towards this book.
So he's using Dolicani pre-algebra now and both of us enjoy it. I went ahead and bought the Algebra 1 and 2 texts and TE's. Surprisingly enough, I used that same Algebra 1 text when I was in 8th grade.

Hmm...... I had a great text book. Looking at it now, I see the level of math required and that it is a very intensive program. I had the Teacher of the Year for SC as my instructor. I worked with her as an adult, so I know she is serious about math education and is an excellent instructor.

However, even with a great teacher and a great textbook....I really struggled through algebra 1 and subsequently every other math with the exception of geometry.
I want better for my sons. I want them to understand math. I want them to feel confident in their abilities.
I want them to be better than me.

Which is going to be hard when I'm teaching out of the same books that I barely squeaked through as a student. (In my household a "C" was unacceptable. In high school, I got 5 "C's" and "B" one quarter and I seriously considered running away. I cried all day, scared to death to go home. So when I say "squeaked" I mean I got a "B" or "C" for the year.)

Thankfully, I have four incredibly math minded boys, the TE's, a lot more math experience, and ZD to encourage me. (And the fact that ZD uses all that complicated math on a daily basis.)

"I always thought my math teachers were smart," he told me when the package of books arrived. "It turns out they just had all the answers."

Well, at least it's over.

I voted yesterday without having to wait at all. In fact, when I walked in, ever poll worker looked up expectantly. One even asked, "Did you bring the crowd with you?"
I had not.

I'm glad it's over even though I'm not happy with the results. Oddly enough, I'm not depressed like I was after Pres. Clinton's election. I guess I'm better prepared.
And maybe I'm curious to see what happens when you give people exactly what they asked for.
In my head, I liken it to my grandmother who was finally annoyed to frustration by my repeated requests to eat the apples from our tree, even though they weren't ripe.

"Go ahead, child. Eat all the little green apples that you'd like."

I hope our country fares better than I did.

Whatever you call it

I was thinking about our pet names for each other and all the lovey-dovey things that get said around here.
ZD and I are very verbal about our love for the boys and each other. So are both sides of our family.

I call the boys, "Monkeys." It started when I would sing "Four little monkeys jumping on the bed."

ZD calls the boys "Pumpkin" or "Pudding." Both names are endearing to me because his father called him Pudding and my father called me Pumpkin.

Zd calls me "Hun" which is short for Honey and not an implication that I am a 5th century barbarian.

I call him "Love." Which suits him because I know he'll always love me and there nothing I can do to mess that up.

But most touching to us was Andrew's 5th word ever...."bo-bas." When he couldn't say much else, he would call for Mama, Dada, and bo-bas.

Which Horror Movie Could You Survive Your Result: Hero You'd Scare Michael, Jason and Freddie. Your confidence and lethal abilities are matched only by your wits.Your favorite movie is probably Silent Rage!
Sidekick
Comic Relief
Clueless Supporting Character
Man/Woman at gas station
Which Horror Movie Could You Survive Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

That's why ZD married me. Not only do I know how to triangulate with a map, a compass and straight edge, but I'm also fairly competent at handling the big guns. As a bonus, I'm not the slowest runner.

Aspergers and the "new thing"

My middle sons are as different as night and day but they both have the same diagnoses. Aspergers syndrome, Sensory Processing disorder, Dyspraxia. A serious of words that describe what makes them act the way they do. But does little to explain who they are.

This year, the two middle boys are in Scouts. Matthew is returning to the program. He was a Tiger and Wolf cub. Andrew is starting out as a Wolf.

Both approached as they usually do. Matthew is quiet and reflective. He waits in the background to figure everything out. He is reluctant to just jump into conversations or activities. But by the end of the event, he had made friends with two of his den and could tell me their names. And he pointed out that these particular Webleos had the Wildlife Conservation patch that he has been coveting since his oldest brother was a Tiger Cub. (It's a patch with a panda on it. Matthew loves all things with pandas on it.) And as a bonus, the other Webelos viewed his quiet nature as a sign of maturity. Instead of seeming stand-offish, the thought he was cool. Plus he was wearing the new tan uniform with the vents and shoulder pockets....adding to his coolness level.

Andrew, on the other hand, never meets a stranger. He is constantly moving and can talk to anyone about anything. I'm his den leader, so he feels very comfortable. Plus about most of the den is just a wiggly and talkative as he is.
Really.
All of them are bouncing around, touching each other, and talking non-stop. So he just fits right in. Wow....a whole den full of Andrew's. I'm going to be totally grey haired by May.

Army Brat

Asked by Andrew at his first Cub Scout pack meeting after participating in a flag ceremony.
"Sir, do I have salute the higher rank Cub Scouts?"

It took the Cub Master, who is retired Army, a second to process the question. When he finally "got" what Andrew was asking, he did his best to stifle his laughter before informing the new Wolf cub that he did not have to salute the Bears and Webelos.

Good-bye Goldie

Your little owner is very sad that you have passed. He really liked you even though you were the meanest hamster in existence. He fed you every day and tried to pet you...as you tried to chew his finger off. But he never got angry. He thought it was his fault instead of your bad personality.

You were fun to watch. You loved your wheel and the hamster ball. And you were great at climbing the tubes. You never, ever escaped or tired to. That is a big plus for hamsters. You were also a very good mother. Your son and two daughters are very good pets.

And most importantly, you did bring smiles to a little boy who doesn't smile nearly enough. So rest in peace little Goldie. I hope you like your place in our little hamster cemetery.

Stop the ride....I'm ready to get off.

So Andrew still has his staples in his head. It's the talk of the elementary school gang. At least 3 children that I do not know, have stopped by just to see Andrew's staples. ZD and I have gotten quite a giggle over the reaction.

Speaking of ZD...he's on crutches for at least the next 4 to 6 weeks. He fell and messed up his knee. He goes back to the Ortho this week, but they've already scheduled surgery for this Friday.
Tonight he'll have an MRI which means that I have to get the boys to football practice and team pictures. And I'll have to miss both the Scout Committee meeting and Mother's Night Out.
(sigh)

And let's not mention the mountain of laundry that I need to do.


Aw shoot....and team uniforms that have to be washed and ready by 5:20.
Wonderful.
I have to find them first.

Something new

Picture this....I'm sitting on the floor reading the newspaper at the end of the evening. ZD is sitting nearby and telling me about his day. Dinner has been eaten and the kitchen is clean.
The boys are outside playing in the last bit of light of the day. They and the neighbor children have been playing with the marshmallow shooters, playing basketball, and riding bikes.

Suddenly, the door opens and my oldest staggers in carrying his 7-year-old brother who is crying with a terrified tone....blood is dripping down his face.

Yeah....that's how I responded too.

After we determined the injury and got the bleeding down to a manageable level, we turn our concern to the neighbor child that was also hurt.
I threw Andrew in the van and headed down to the circle to find my neighbor and her daughter in the street. We checkout each other's children and determined that they both needed to go to the ER.
Andrew with a deep gash in his head. Her daughter with hunk of lip hanging and bleeding.

So we headed to the children's ER. I've had numerous trips to this ER. The boys have been there for croup, stitches, high fevers, sprains, and a swallowed steel ball. But the neighbor didn't even know that we had a pediatric ER in the area. She was quite thankful for the level of care and that they were so quick to begin treatment.

The doctors joked about the two parts of the accident coming in together. And all were touched by the children's concern for each other. (Andrew kept asking how neighbor girl was doing. Neighbor girl kept asking about Andrew.)

The evening ended with stitches for the neighbor girl but thankfully no damaged teeth. Andrew left with 3 staples in his head.

Staples....that is something new. The first boy to get staples.

What we did for labor day Weekend.

We all went down to Grandma's farm to visit with ZD's family. BIL took the older boys fishing. BIL caught 1 fish. J &M caught 5. (Guess what we ate for dinner.)
Everyone hopped on the gator that was loaded with more than it was ever meant to carry, and rode out to fallow table garden.

Where the boys (ZD and BIL included) dug up a couple of rocks.

Yep, a couple of very big rocks. Very big goethite rocks to be exact. The boys have brought home many of these rocks over the past years. But these are by far the biggest that they've ever found.
Each weighs about 700 pounds. So they are still sitting in that excavated hole until ZD and his brother figure out how to get them out. I'm sure it will involved a tractor and possibly a wench.

BIL also found this (Look very carefully below.)
I took this picture will standing at the rock digging site. That is a paper wasp next that is about the size of two basketballs. If you squint you might make out the hole at the lower left side above the point. That was left by the rock that BIL threw.
The boys learned that wasps are not at all appreciative of goethite rocks that are flung into their home.

The digging was interrupted by this little bit of weather. It blew up all of sudden and lasted for the rest of the day. I was glad that it didn't turn into very serious weather but thankful that the tractor and wench portion of the rock excavation was rained out. (There's the fishing pond right in front of that small group of trees. Look how green everything is due to all the rains we've been having.)

So what did you do for Labor Day?

I have to buy new glasses

But not for me. My old ones are doing just fine.

Not for Matthew. His are old and worn out. They look terrible. But he found out today that he will be out of glasses for at least 2 months. His vision is doing great after his third eye surgery. (He's up to 20/25 without glasses. He started out at 20/80 when he was 4.) His alignment is off a little though but is actually better without the glasses.

Nope, the new glasses are for the baby. (I know he's 5 but he is my "baby.") Two weeks ago, I noticed that his eye were crossing. I tried not to freak out and scheduled an appointment with the ophthalmologist.
Today we found out that Sam is crossing his eyes because the boy is pretty far sighted. Holey Moley! I just checked his prescription and he's +5.00 and +4.50!
I can't read without my glasses and I'm only +2.50 and +2.75.

Poor guy. No wonder he has been having a hard time catching a ball. He couldn't see the stinking thing. I hope that this will be the quick fix that the doctor thinks it will be. I hope he can avoid all the interventions that his older brother has had to go through. (patching, various prescriptions and three surgeries.)

We go tomorrow to pick out the new frames and order lenses. He's not as cooperative and responsible as his older brother who started glasses at age 4. I'll have to get the super extended warranty.
Fun, fun, fun.

Palin!!!!

I'm doing my happy dance. If I was ever Governor/VP candidate, I would want to be Sarah Palin.
Way to go, girl!
Edited to add: Even with all the recent announcements.... I want to be the kind of mother/wife/leader/person that she seems to be.
I hope that if I am ever in her circumstances....that I could show the grace to my boys that she has to her daughter.

My Poll

Ok, I asked for opinions and then decided to just do what I wanted after all. Hee, hee, hee.

I'm leaving my knitting blog intact. I did add the link over there.
<----------------------------------------- and thanks to Blogger's new blog roll widget, you can see if I've updated and click over to see my pretty new socks if you want to. And if you're not interested, you won't be bored by the sock knitting tutorials that I'll be posting soon.

Cool.

And the non-homeschool folks won't get offended about me ranting about the local school system like this: one of the highschoolers that I tutor (my extra son) missed two days of school, with a doctor's excuse. His science teacher sent him home with the lab sheets from his missed class and told him to "just google it and write up the information." Thankfully, I had the materials for the lab and we did the experiment at my house so he could actually learn the material.
Insane!
If the lab took all of 10 minutes to complete. I'm sure he could have done it quickly while the kids were doing busywork, before school, after school, or during lunch time or homeroom. It would not have taken a huge sacrifice of time on the teacher's part.

And for the homeschool moms, the one thing the highschool student said that he wished he had more practice in before high school..... writing. He is overwhelmed with the amount of writing that he has to do. So get those kids writing!

We've reached that point.

You know, that point that all homeschool mom's dread....

Oldest boy, 7th grader, walks in the room and says, "Inverted sentences sound like Yoda. 'Great is the power of God.' So the predicate adjective comes first in an inverted sentence?"

I was washing dishes at that very moment so I just kind of noncommittally agreed with him. I think I may need to start my own grammar lessons.

Yep, we're at that point....if not dangerously close to it.

We'll never see the sun again

It's been a week of cloudy days. I don't mean lightly cloudy. It is dark outside!
I am not a "dark" person. I love the sunlight. I like bright lights. That's why I bought a west facing house with tons of windows on the east and west sides of the house.
Great big windows with only valances and blinds for privacy. And I open the blinds every morning.

But for the past week, it's been nothing but clouds. And Fay hasn't even really gotten here yet. We're due for more clouds and rain thought Sunday and maybe beyond that. I can't even cut the grass since it doesn't dry out enough for the electric lawn mower. By Sunday, we might not be able to see the house.

At least I don't have to water the grass or the driveway.
Yes...I'm supposed to water the driveway. It helps with the curing.

I'm ready to go to bed. All this darkness makes me sleepy.
BTW, I'm updating my knitting blog. I have a few of my summer socks up with only 3 more pairs to go. Check the link over on the left.

The upcoming week

I just want to get all this out there so I can remember what teh heck I am doing this week.
Sunday: Clean house, prepare lessons, prepare class lessons, wash clothes, prep ZD's uniforms, and tutor one of the 9th grade twins.

Monday: homeschool the minions, teach science classes from 12:30 to 4 pm.

Tuesday: Speech therapy, homeschool minions, get door measured by a trained tape measuring guy, more tutoring, 3 boys have football practice.

Wednesday: homeschool minions, tutor twin A, tutor twin B, clean house.

Thursday: Speech therapy, homeschool minions, clean house, go knit.

Friday: Homeschool minions. Woo hoo....a veritable holiday.

Question of the day

Why do people who are enrolling their kids in school ask homeschoolers if they are making the right decision?

Each year, I wonder about this. It happens in homschoooling communities across the world and the Internet.
Why do this on a homeschool community? That's like going to a breastfeeding community and asking if you should stop breastfeeding and switch to formula. Or going to a cloth diapering community and asking about Huggies.
Or....going to a teachers' online community and asking if you should homeschool.

I understand self-doubt. I'm full of it myself some days. But when I visit a homeschool support group, I expect people to encourage me to homeschool.
I don't expect them to tell me that sending them to public or private school is OK.

And yes, I'm not fond of public school. If I thought it was the best option for my kids...I would send them. But I don't so I don't.
I don't belittle any parents' educational decision. Each parent is charged with making the best decisions for their own children. Wow, what a responsibility!
It was hard enough to decide what I wanted to do with my own children. I sure don't want the task of choosing for others.

But if you ask me for my opinion... I would say that homeschooling is better. For us.

The question

For the past week, there have been contractors here replacing our cracked up driveway. They know we are homeschoolers. It's kind of hard to miss since all four boys file out of the house onto the porch any time a piece of new machinery starts up. One day we had a Bobcat, a front loader, a dump truck, and a cement mixer.
Cement mixers are definite boy magnets.

So the boys have watched all this work going on. They've also helped by turning on and off hoses and moving various small items. And they've asked lots of questions.

In the process of getting a new driveway, we've discussed how concrete was used since Roman times; how it cures instead of dries, exothermic reactions versus endothermic reactions, hydraulics, how the screw inside the mixer worked like the screw in our ice maker, and a myriad of other topics.

Each afternoon, and by the time the novelty of the concrete work had worn off and all school work was finished, it would be time for the school kids to appear and they'd all play Yug-gi-oh, bocce ball, lawn darts, or football, or they'd ride bikes, scooters, and skateboards.
Most days there are about 10 kids playing in the area in front of my house or on my front porch.
Which makes yesterday's conversation with the contractors so funny.

The owner says to me, "You really can tell that your boys are smart. I mean, just listening to their conversation and the things that they ask. They must get a lot from homeschooling."
You homeschool parents know what's coming next don't you. What always comes next in these conversations. I expect the question, but it still surprises me every time.

He went on, "I don't how they are doing social wise. I mean, do they get time to be with other kids?"

For a moment I wondered what he thought all those kids were doing in my yard. Or if he the 15 additional children came to my house for science lessons on Monday while he was tearing up the driveway.

I assured him that the boys have plenty of interaction with the public. That they play football, soccer, basketball, and two seasons of baseball. That my oldest is in a drama production and they all attend PE classes, field trips, and bi monthly activities. Plus play dates, parties, and family visits.
In fact, I have to limit the social opportunities.

Then I had to laugh. Sure they're smart but are they socialized?

Why do we always get that question...especially when said children are in the middle of a spirited bocce ball game with half a dozen other kids.
How much more socialized do they need to be?

Ha, ha, ha, ha....where's the straight jacket?

I'm slowly going insane and all my stuff is falling apart.

Here's a list of things that have had to be replaced, removed, repaired so far this year:

Refrigerator supply line (repaired)
Kitchen sink cabinet (replaced)
Kitchen faucet (replaced)
Kitchen floor (replaced)
Dishwasher (replaced)
Giant pine tree (removed)
Bradford Pear tree (removed)
Driveway (in process of replacing)
Stump from the Bradford Pear Tree (removed)
ZD's car (repaired)
My van (oil leak repaired)
My van (another oil leak repaired)
My van (body damage caused by a lady that hit me)
oldest boy's teeth (new braces)
TV in the living room (bought a new one)
Lawnmower (bought an electric one)
storm door handles (replaced)
and newest on the list....Front door (thought we could repair but we'll have to replace it.)

It's ok really. I have hated that door for almost 10 years. I don't mind getting a new door at all. However, I do mind that the Lowe's people have to come over and measure the door before they can order the one I want. Like I can't tell that I need the 32" door versus the 36" door.

But the new door is all picked out. I'll still have to paint the thing which will set off a whole chain reaction of painting/replacing. (New door will need new light fixtures, numbers, and shutters. I'll never match the old door color....not that I really want to.)

So what color should we paint?

More work?

I'm at a loss on what to do with my oldest boy. The one from the previous post who is in 7th grade.
You see, he's finished with all of his work for the day. All of it. At 11:15am. He started at 8:3o after getting up at and doing some reading this morning.
And what exactly has he done?

1. A lesson from IEW Middle Ages. He even typed it and printed it.
2. His 8th grade spelling assignment.
3. A vocabulary lesson
4. Read "The Monkey's Paw" and answered the assessment questions.
5. A lesson from Latin Prep 1 including making vocabulary flash cards
6. 40 math problems from Lial's College Math
7. A section from PH Physical science, the accompanying workbook pages, and a discussion with me.
8. Read two sections from his Middle Ages study and outlined the material.
9. 2 Mindbender exercises from level C.
10. a lesson from Rod and Staff English.
11. and a lesson from Artistic Pursuits.

And he's done. He's currently playing Fantastic Contraption. I've checked his work. he had a couple of minor errors that he caught the same time I did. He happily fixed those.

So my question is....what do I do with this child? Double up his assignments? That doesn't seem like a reward for working diligently. Accelerate his work? I think that will just create more problems for me next year. I planned to drop grammar after 8th grade. The level 8 book is pretty much the same as the level 7 book. His science and history are already 8th grade material. I could move him straight into algebra but that will create issues with our state's graduation requirements. (He'll need four years of math in high school. I had planned that those four would be geometry, algebra 2 and 3, then calculus.)

Or do I just encourage him to start some outside projects in hopes that his work will be more time consuming later in the year. I know that the material will get harder as the year goes on, but just how hard will he find it. School has never been a challenge for him. Ever.
I can't past the idea that 7th grade should take a little more than 3 hours a day. Right?

So relax and wait or ramp it up?

A Saturday Morning Education

My oldest is using Rod and Staff English 7 this year. Apparently, the first few lessons are a review of everything they learned last year.

Also apparent, he's forgotten a few things over the summer.

"Mom, What's an interjection?"
I break out into song: "Interjections show excitement or emotion .They're generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point,Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong. So when you're happy (Hurray!) or sad (Aw!)Or frightened (Eeeeeek!) or mad (Rats!)Or excited (Wow!) or glad (Hey!)An interjection starts a sentence riiiiiiight."
The 12 year old stared at me and he did that little fast blink thing. "Okaaaaaaay, thanks Mom"

A couple of minutes later....."Mom, Which part of speech connects words, verb phrases, and clauses?"

Yep.....those of you who grew up in the 70's know exactly what's coming next.
"Conjunction junction, What's your function? Hooking up verbs and phrases and clauses. Hey, boy. You know I learned my grammar from Saturday morning cartoons. You might need to watch more TV." He gave me that look that says, "This is why I never ask you anything." and walked back to his school books.

He never asked me about adjectives or adverbs. I would have been ready if he'd asked though. "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly....get your adverbs here."

heard and read

Each of these are things I have recently come across. Each of these as affected me. How do they affect you?

"I don't seek the presidency on the presumption I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need. I seek the office with the humility of a man who cannot forget my country saved me."
Sen. John McCain

"There are those who speak about you who say, 'he lost an arm, he lost a leg, she lost her sight.. I object. You gave your arm. You gave your leg. You gave your sight. As gifts to your nation. That we might live in freedom. Thank you. And to your families. Families of the fallen and families of the wounded. You sacrificed in ways that those of us who have not walked in your shoes can only imagine."
Gen. Peter M. Pace Returning Heroes Home

You can say what you want about President Bush; but the truth is that he can take a punch. The man has taken a swift kick in the crotch for breakfast every day for 6 years and he keeps getting up with a smile in his heart and a sense of swift determination to see the job through to the best of his abilities. You don't have to like him but you have to respect the simple physical resiliency of this man.
Varifrank

"We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free.
Pres. Ronald Reagan

15 Years

Think back on the last 15 years of your life. What would you tell someone that you haven’t seen or talked to for 15 years? How would you sum up your life? You get 10 bullet points. A list of 10 things to summarize about you. At the end of your list, tag 5 more people and send on the love…



Mine is a note to my old college roommate who is still single and childfree.
1. I married a wonderful man. He's everything I could every ask for. He rescued me

2. We've been married 14 years. Together for 15 years. It feels amazingly secure and freeing in a way. I have someone who is always there to help me when I need it but still expects me to take care of myself when I can.

3. I have four wonderful boys. I know! Can you believe it? I'm a mom. With FOUR children.

4. No, I'm not crazy. The husband and kids are what I needed to ground my life. They are my purpose. (Don't faint on me.)

5. I used to be a middle school science teacher. I decided med school was not where I wanted to end up. I thought I could do more good in a classroom.

6. I'm currently a SAHM. I just reached a point where my own kids mattered more than everyone else's.

7. Oh, yeah...I homeschool them too. no I don't wear denim jumpers or grind my own wheat. I haven't gone that far over the edge...yet.

8. I haven't seen Steve since we graduated. See....I beat that addiction. Things seem to work out for the best, even when can't see it at that moment. I also left behind everything that he represented.

9. My Dad died. He had esophageal cancer and he fought it harder than anyone ever though he could. He was as funny as you remember right up to the very end.

10. The rest of the family is still as crazy and tight as ever. If you thought Easter was wild back then, you should see it with all the Grand kids. We still do the bunny hop and the chicken dance.

And I tag the following:
Jennie, because I know she'll have some uplifting ideas.
Dy, because she will make me laugh.
Jacqui, because she will "think" the most.
Penny, because she needs to blog more. :)
and Becca because she will be able to pick out 10 things easily.

And, of course, anyone else who likes this meme feel free to join in.

Ok, time to fess up.

I am a planning junkie.

Yes, it is true. I love to plan. I don't love the follow through so much. But I love to organize, and schedule, and lay out the most grandiose plans.
I've been this way all my life.
Even as a little girl, I organized my Crayolas in the box. Sometimes alphabetically. Sometimes by spectrum.
I organize the laundry. ZD gets tickled when he sees a pile of underwear and shirts sorted by color: white, brown, and tan.
The calendar on the fridge is set up by person. My email inbox is color coded and automatically sorts into different folders. The pantry is organized by type of food and who eats it. The main cooking stuff is at my eye level. The snack foods are at kid height. ZD's odd stuff is above my head since I won't touch it anyway.

So right now I am in my "most wonderful time." It's time to plan for school. And boy am I planning. I have spread sheets and book lists. I have notebooks and dividers and more office supplies than I can possibly use. I am one busy chick, overwhelmed and craving more at the same time.

But part of me is starting to doubt my "planning" ways. I'm starting to think I should put the energy into the "doing" instead of the planning. I know, I know, it's blasphemy. But I'm just entertaining the idea.

Maybe this year.....I'll just figure out the very bare bones what what needs to happen and by when. Then I'll just wing it. (I heard that snort from someone who knows me IRL. I can wing it. I can.)

So what do you do to get ready for the school year....even if you don't home school. How do you prepare? Do you plan out each week? Do you have a monthly goal? Do you just do whatever comes next? Do you decide over morning coffee?

And does planning cause you stress or does it alleviate it? (Or does it do both?)

Well Trained Men

It was my Happy Birthday today.

I went to eat at our favorite family place.
The boys made me brownies....by themselves.
And I got this because I have always wanted one.

ZD laughed because after we purchased it, the bag was first put into a cloth drawstring bag and then in a shopping bag. It was a bag in a bag in a bag. I'm kind of scared to use it. It may stay inside the bag in a bag.

And I now have M&M's, skittles, Fudge Stripe Cookies, chocolate truffles, and chocolate covered caramels here in the house. Very good.

The incedent....as the boys are calling it.

thump,thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
That's the sound of Sam running up the stairs. I hear that sound 20 or more times each day.

Today it was followed by a house shaking "Boooooooom!" and then various crashing sounds and a faster thump,thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump of Sam running back down the stairs.

WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!
The tiniest little Zoo dude says rather unemotionally, "Something fell."

Yeah..."something" did. I walked upstairs to find the older boys' room completely destroyed. A four foot tall dresser lay knocked over in the middle of the room and laying flat on it's front. A 6 foot tall bookcase lay leaning against it. All the contents of both pieces of furniture were strewn everywhere and covered with pine bedding to add further insult.

And then....a very scared hamster crawled out of the rubble.

Sam is fine, thankfully. Either piece could have hurt him terrible. The story so far is that he was climbing up the dresser drawers to get a Nerf gun. The dresser started tipping so he grabbed the bookcase. The dresser is one of those 6 drawer jobs so it weighs a lot. If he had gotten pinned under it, he would have ended up in the hospital. Rooms can be cleaned up but little boys (and tiny hamsters) are a little harder to fix.

As it stands he gets to spend the day on the couch watching the new and is banned from his brothers' room. The hamster is waiting patiently in a bucket while his owner cleans up the disaster left by Hurricane Sam.

I would like to share with you....

the unconscionable crimes that my husband has committed this week.
Just to get you up to speed, the boys have been down on the farm for the past week.

The first day they were gone, a lady hit my van. She just didn't see me and decided that she needed to be in the left-turn lane. Unfortunately, I was in left-turn lane.
$975 worth of damage. No one hurt though.
So the week was got off to a grand start. Then the PMS began.

Night 1: dealing with the wreck.
Night 2: I discover that ZD has eaten the last of the chocolate pudding.
Night 3: I discover that ZD has eaten all of my Fudge Stripe Cookies.
Night 4: I discover that ZD has eaten all of the chocolate ice cream and left the counter, blender, and cabinets all chocolately.
Night 5: I find an empty box of fudgecicles in the freezer. (Hmmm...it was not empty when the boys left.)
Night 6: I discover that there is absolutely no chocolate in the entire house but there are plenty of healthy fruit strips and fat free snacks.

I haven't killed him yet. But I am considering a padlocked cabinet for my chocolate.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Party edition

That's a cake of two monkeys on a surfboard.
Soggy boys.
Superman!
The other Superman!

Seven and five. I don't know how that is possible

Tour de Kitchen

Recently, there was a thread about kitchen on WTM. I wanted to share our little spot here with y'all.
So grab a mug of coffee and settle in for the tour. Lunch will be ready soon and then we'll have some fresh bread.

First of all, our house was built in 1984. So it's got some dated issues but we've done some things to try to drag the house into at least the 90's without breaking our budget.

Here's the green thing, formerly known as the yellow thing. I painted it to match our green cabinets. But it just didn't look right. So I painted the top of the buffet and the hinges black then replaced the white knobs with black ones. I really like the effect and it was cheap. Those curtains are also low budget. I bought the rods on sale and then spray painted them black. I bought the ring clips to match. I made the curtains myself with fabric I got on an end of bolt discount and then 40 % off that price. I think I paid about 5 dollars per yard for the heavy canvas fabric. The whole look took no time and I can easily change it out if I want to.

Here's my buffet. On top: the baskets that ZD sent me from Bosnia. Top shelf: My green glass that I adore so much, plates that my MIL painted just for me, and a few of my favorite frogs. My goal is to hang these plates on the back of the hutch instead of having them lean on the plate rail. Second shelf: More baskets, my tart warmer of the day, an aluminum bowl I bought at an auction, my cake plate (sans cake at the moment) and a set of nesting bowls that are the most used dishware in the whole house.
Back door and the first glimpse of the cabinets that we painted. These used to be baaaaaaad 80's brown. You know the brown I'm talking about. A a few coats of paint and new hardware and they look a lot better. In fact, the new paint makes my ugly laminate fake butcher block counter tops look almost good. Our future plans include adding new moulding on the cabinets, adding bead board to the ends of the cabinets, and putting in under cabinet lights. I'd love to also cover the back splash with inexpensive tile or the metal sheets. And maybe one day....maybe...replace the counter tops. I don't see that happening any time soon. But look how good my new floor looks with everything else! I love my floor. I could not have picked a better material for our life.

That door way leads to a wide hallway that is our utility/laundry space. There is also another closet right around that corner where my baking supplies are kept. And you can see my other homeschool mom accoutrement's: a bread machine (in the process of making bread) and my Kitchen Aid mixer.

Ok, standing at the back door and you can see that lunch is almost ready. We're having burgers today. I wish I had more counter space in this kitchen. I have so much that has to stay out. Everything gets used almost daily. You can also see the one cabinet that makes no sense. See the bottom one on the right side of the stove? Notice how it opens.....I have no idea why it opens that way. Oh...that glass on the counter holds some flowers that Sam picked for me. I have a little bid vase that my MIL painted just for little boy flowers, but Sam thought these needed something bigger.
Ok, facing out the way you came in. Here's the fridge, the cabinet that I cannot access without a step stool, my calendar, the Leap Frog letters and a couple of doors. The door to the right is our pantry and that hall leads to our dining room/school room. (Which is painted the same color as our kitchen cabinets.) The other door is the infamous under-the-stairs-closet that holds school supplies and doubles as our tornado hidey-hole.

So that's it. That's the place. I hope you've enjoyed the tour.

Another good reason to homeschool

When oldest boy got his mouth full of brackets and wire, the desk person at the orthodontist office scheduled his next check-up.

"That will be August 11th, it's the first day of school," she asked hesitantly. I told her sure since we homeschooled, it really didn't matter.

She looked up at me quite happily, "Oh, we love homeschoolers. It is so easy to work them into the schedule. Everybody wants a late afternoon appointment but homeschoolers will come in any time."

Glad to be of help in balancing out the appointment book.

Metal Mouth

Jacob got his braces yesterday. Well, he got part of the final system that he will wear for the next two years. He now has brackets, wires, and some metal bands on his molars.
Tomorrow he has to have two baby teeth pulled... I'm sorry "extracted." Then he goes back in August for heavy duty wires and more brackets before getting the big spring things attached in September.

He chose orange bands (his favorite color) on his brackets and for about 2 hours he was thrilled with getting braces.
Until it was lunch time. Then he discovered that eating with braces really hurts. For the past two days he's eaten, pudding, spaghetti-o's, soup, and a lot of applesauce.
He's also brushed his teeth 5 times and flossed twice. And....I'm proud of this one...he remembered to not chew the ice from Sonic.
I feel for him since I love some Sonic ice. (When I win the lottery, I am buying a restaurant grade ice machine that makes the ice like Sonic's.)

But he hasn't complained much. This morning he asked for Tylenol. And he did grump around after spending half a hour flossing this morning.
His orthodontist would be quite proud of him. I wish I could say that I would be as well behaved.