I wanted to share a conversation Hubby and I had this morning so y'all can get a glimpse as to why I love this husband of mine so much.
As Hubby was getting ready to go mow our lawn I told him he ought to take #1 and start teaching her how to mow the lawn. I never grew up mowing our lawn when I was a kid, but then I had four brothers as well. Now, I'm all for the "traditional" roles of men and women when it comes to what the Bible says our roles should be, but as for "the men should take out the trash and mow the lawn while the woman cooks and does laundry" mentality, neither hubby or I think that way. Not that I'm not happy to have him mow the lawn while I do the laundry, but we do it because that's what we've decided works best, not because anyone else thinks that's how we should do things.
So imagine my surprise when Hubby answers me by saying that he doesn't need his girls to mow the lawn for him. I laughed and told him that even if he didn't need the help it would probably be a good life skill for them to have.
At which point he comes back into the room he had just left to put his shoes on and told me that if his daughters have husbands who won't mow their own lawn then they (he and said husbands) were going to have problems.
I laughed again and said that I was talking more about if our girls were ever out on their own and had their own lawn to mow. To which he raised his eyebrows and said that that is when they would call their Daddy to come mow the lawn for them.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Daddy of girls in a nutshell. And now I'm off to eat dinner cooked by Hubby and #2. He mows and cooks! I'm proud that he's all mine!
Friday, August 30, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
So I remember on the not so great days
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| This is what she does during school |
I was surrounded by my children. We had gotten up when we were ready to get up, not because we had to be at school on time. Breakfast was eaten, a few chores accomplished, and a few pages read in some books because we weren't having to rush around. There was no sending them off for the day for someone else to enjoy them. School was started with a prayer and Bible Study because it is our school, and God is definitely allowed to be there. They were all learning something--something I just happened to have taught them. All by myself. No worrying if they were being taught untruths or what they were learning from their peers. They were peaceful. We were a family unit, working together for something that was important to us. It was a fantastic bubble of thought.
See homeschooling has its ups and downs. So far this year, again, all 6 days of it, there have only been ups. But seeing as this is my 7th year homeschooling I know the bad days will eventually show up. And when those bad days come I want to be able to remember that moment yesterday and remind myself of why we do what we do!
And just in case any of you know nothing about me and now think I am some sort of saint, let me just say that today #4 decided she wanted to be in my lap, and then on the chair next to me, and then my lap, and then the chair, and then color, and then draw, and then erase and I was thoroughly annoyed, although I managed to not let it show. Small victories!
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Curriculum for 2013-2014 school year
Yeah, this post is mainly for my own benefit so I can look back on this years from now. However, I've chosen a lot of our curriculum based on recommendations from others so I know other homeschoolers might be interested in knowing what we're using. Otherwise this post will probably be pretty boring for you! But if you do happen to read this and have any questions about anything I'd love to talk to you about anything that we use. I have no problem telling you if I don't like something so I'll be completely honest with you!
#1--6th grade
Bible Study Guide for All Ages is our Bible curriculum for this year. This is actually the first time I've had a set curriculum for Bible. We have a friend who has used this for a while and really liked it so we looked in to it too. It is written by a Church of Christ family and we agree with everything we've looked at that they teach. We were also impressed by the fact that their illustrations show people with brown skin--not white. Always good to be a little more accurate! We go through two lessons a week. It takes about 15 minutes to go through half a lesson.
Saxon Math 76 Don't think she's a year ahead, Saxon just has their years divided weird. 76 is the 6th grade curriculum. We started Saxon with #1 last year and it was exactly what I thought it would be. #1 struggles a little with math so all the review in Saxon is excellent for her. We never do all 30 problems in each lesson. She does even one day and odd the next. This gives her plenty of review without overwhelming her.
Excellence in Writing is our writing for the year. I can not say enough good things about this curriculum. If you are interested in your child being able to write a well-written paper this is the curriculum for you! I intend to use this all the way through high school. #1 is doing Ancient History Based Writing this year to coincide with our History.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature for the rest of the language arts. Excellence in Writing focuses solely on writing so we need something to cover everything else. I love the curriculum we use for the younger grades, but it only goes through 4th grade. This is actually the first time I've used LLATL so I can't endorse it just yet. Ask back at the end of the year.
Mystery of History for history. We have the audio CDs so the girls can listen to the CDs and follow along in the book. We have all the reproducible pages on a CD as well so I have those all printed out. We start Monday morning off doing the Pre-Test and then #1 and #2 work through three lessons and the quiz on their own. I love how this curriculum teaches what was happening in the world and relates it to what was going on at the same time in the Bible. We're able to use the timeline set up for this along with our timeline for Bible. I love that the girls can see that Helen of Troy lived around the same time as Ruth! We've used this curriculum for a few years and I definitely recommend it!
God's Design for Life is our Science. We've used this for a couple of years as well and I really like it. Mainly because the girls can read the lesson, answer the questions and then move on. Can you tell I'm not a science person? We occasionally do a science experiment, but not often. We're finishing up Weather from last year and then we'll to through Plants, Animals, and the Human Body this year. This is the last year #1 does this curriculum. Starting next year she's going to have to step up the science into something more substantial, but this is adequate for this year.
We're using two separate books for Geography this year. One I do with them that is mainly teaching how to read maps and discern information from maps and graphs about geography. The other is a workbook that they do on their own that has information about different countries that they read and then do worksheets on. I actually don't remember the name of the books we're using and I'd have to get up to go and see what they are, so you'll just have to trust me that we are doing geography this year. I haven't been super impressed with any geography curriculum so these are just books I've found used that looked like they would work for us.
Spelling Power I love love love this for spelling! I paid around $60 this book, but this is all I'm ever going to need to buy for spelling. I love how it is set up and how students work on correcting mistakes by themselves. I've seen a vast improvement from #2's spelling since we've started using this.
Mavis Beacon for typing. Again recommended by a friend. Love this program so much! #1 started using it last year and can already type around 30 wpm. She works through it on her own, at her own pace. I love that is teaches the correct method of typing from the very beginning. Hubby has even talked about going through it himself since he never really learned how to type correctly.
#2--4th grade
Bible Study Guide Another thing I love about BSG is that they have different levels of the same lessons. So even though #1, #2 and #3 are all on different levels, they are all going through the same lessons at the same time.
Math U See We switched to Saxon for 3rd grade last year, but I did not like the way they taught multiplication at all so we've switched back to MUS for 4th grade to learn division. MUS has some major holes in it which is why we'll be going back to Saxon for 5th and beyond, but I think they do the best job of teaching the basic concepts through 4th grade.
Excellence In Writing #2 is also using IEW for writing, she's just using a different book that is a little bit easier to go through. She struggles with this a little bit more than #1, I think because she wants to just write down whatever is in her head and doesn't want to think through the process of what it takes to write a paragraph well. However, I believe by the end of this year she'll be able to do both.
First Language Lessons This is another curriculum I found based on a recommendation and I love it! It is very teacher intensive, but I'm not sure a language arts program shouldn't be teacher intensive. Technically this program only goes through 4th grade, but they learn so much at such at an advanced level that I stretch the 3rd and 4th grade books through 3 years.
A Reason for Handwriting I love this curriculum because you are learning scripture as you are doing your handwriting. You're not just writing random words down, you're writing verses out of the Bible. #2 is just learning cursive this year. Mainly because her handwriting was pretty bad last year and I wanted her to have another year of practicing before learning cursive. This book does a pretty good job of teaching cursive correctly.
History, Science, Geography and Spelling are all the same as #1
#3--1st Grade
Bible Study Guide What do you know--the same as her sisters! #3 is actually the only one that requires the use of a teacher's guide, but it still only takes about 15 minutes to get through half a lesson. Plus the teacher's guide tells me exactly what to put on the maps and timeline which makes my life easier!
Math U See Used it for both of the other girls and loved it. #3 really loves Math and I attribute that a lot to this curriculum.
First Language Lessons I actually have the old book that has levels one and two together, but you can't buy that anymore. I love that this curriculum doesn't have anything for the student to do as far as workbooks, it is all just learning by listening to your teacher which I think is a learned skill for children. I also love that #3 already learned a poem last week. And I loved that #1 and #2 can still say the exact poem from when they learned it!
A Reason For Handwriting I've never bought anything but the student pages for this curriculum, I'm not sure why you would need a teacher book, but that is just my preference. This level is perfect for #3 to get lots of practice on her handwriting without getting too bored with it.
That's all the formal curriculum I do with #3. She reads to me every day to help improve her reading skills and I read something like Magic School Bus for her to get some exposure to science, but that is about it. I'm not a fan of overloading younger kids with a bunch of stuff just to be able to say we're doing something. I'm a big fan of learning through exposure!
And that is it for this year. I don't promise we'll get through everything or even that we'll be doing all of this in 6 weeks, but for now this is what our school year looks like!
#1--6th grade
Bible Study Guide for All Ages is our Bible curriculum for this year. This is actually the first time I've had a set curriculum for Bible. We have a friend who has used this for a while and really liked it so we looked in to it too. It is written by a Church of Christ family and we agree with everything we've looked at that they teach. We were also impressed by the fact that their illustrations show people with brown skin--not white. Always good to be a little more accurate! We go through two lessons a week. It takes about 15 minutes to go through half a lesson.
Saxon Math 76 Don't think she's a year ahead, Saxon just has their years divided weird. 76 is the 6th grade curriculum. We started Saxon with #1 last year and it was exactly what I thought it would be. #1 struggles a little with math so all the review in Saxon is excellent for her. We never do all 30 problems in each lesson. She does even one day and odd the next. This gives her plenty of review without overwhelming her.
Excellence in Writing is our writing for the year. I can not say enough good things about this curriculum. If you are interested in your child being able to write a well-written paper this is the curriculum for you! I intend to use this all the way through high school. #1 is doing Ancient History Based Writing this year to coincide with our History.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature for the rest of the language arts. Excellence in Writing focuses solely on writing so we need something to cover everything else. I love the curriculum we use for the younger grades, but it only goes through 4th grade. This is actually the first time I've used LLATL so I can't endorse it just yet. Ask back at the end of the year.
Mystery of History for history. We have the audio CDs so the girls can listen to the CDs and follow along in the book. We have all the reproducible pages on a CD as well so I have those all printed out. We start Monday morning off doing the Pre-Test and then #1 and #2 work through three lessons and the quiz on their own. I love how this curriculum teaches what was happening in the world and relates it to what was going on at the same time in the Bible. We're able to use the timeline set up for this along with our timeline for Bible. I love that the girls can see that Helen of Troy lived around the same time as Ruth! We've used this curriculum for a few years and I definitely recommend it!
God's Design for Life is our Science. We've used this for a couple of years as well and I really like it. Mainly because the girls can read the lesson, answer the questions and then move on. Can you tell I'm not a science person? We occasionally do a science experiment, but not often. We're finishing up Weather from last year and then we'll to through Plants, Animals, and the Human Body this year. This is the last year #1 does this curriculum. Starting next year she's going to have to step up the science into something more substantial, but this is adequate for this year.
We're using two separate books for Geography this year. One I do with them that is mainly teaching how to read maps and discern information from maps and graphs about geography. The other is a workbook that they do on their own that has information about different countries that they read and then do worksheets on. I actually don't remember the name of the books we're using and I'd have to get up to go and see what they are, so you'll just have to trust me that we are doing geography this year. I haven't been super impressed with any geography curriculum so these are just books I've found used that looked like they would work for us.
Spelling Power I love love love this for spelling! I paid around $60 this book, but this is all I'm ever going to need to buy for spelling. I love how it is set up and how students work on correcting mistakes by themselves. I've seen a vast improvement from #2's spelling since we've started using this.
Mavis Beacon for typing. Again recommended by a friend. Love this program so much! #1 started using it last year and can already type around 30 wpm. She works through it on her own, at her own pace. I love that is teaches the correct method of typing from the very beginning. Hubby has even talked about going through it himself since he never really learned how to type correctly.
#2--4th grade
Bible Study Guide Another thing I love about BSG is that they have different levels of the same lessons. So even though #1, #2 and #3 are all on different levels, they are all going through the same lessons at the same time.
Math U See We switched to Saxon for 3rd grade last year, but I did not like the way they taught multiplication at all so we've switched back to MUS for 4th grade to learn division. MUS has some major holes in it which is why we'll be going back to Saxon for 5th and beyond, but I think they do the best job of teaching the basic concepts through 4th grade.
Excellence In Writing #2 is also using IEW for writing, she's just using a different book that is a little bit easier to go through. She struggles with this a little bit more than #1, I think because she wants to just write down whatever is in her head and doesn't want to think through the process of what it takes to write a paragraph well. However, I believe by the end of this year she'll be able to do both.
First Language Lessons This is another curriculum I found based on a recommendation and I love it! It is very teacher intensive, but I'm not sure a language arts program shouldn't be teacher intensive. Technically this program only goes through 4th grade, but they learn so much at such at an advanced level that I stretch the 3rd and 4th grade books through 3 years.
A Reason for Handwriting I love this curriculum because you are learning scripture as you are doing your handwriting. You're not just writing random words down, you're writing verses out of the Bible. #2 is just learning cursive this year. Mainly because her handwriting was pretty bad last year and I wanted her to have another year of practicing before learning cursive. This book does a pretty good job of teaching cursive correctly.
History, Science, Geography and Spelling are all the same as #1
#3--1st Grade
Bible Study Guide What do you know--the same as her sisters! #3 is actually the only one that requires the use of a teacher's guide, but it still only takes about 15 minutes to get through half a lesson. Plus the teacher's guide tells me exactly what to put on the maps and timeline which makes my life easier!
Math U See Used it for both of the other girls and loved it. #3 really loves Math and I attribute that a lot to this curriculum.
First Language Lessons I actually have the old book that has levels one and two together, but you can't buy that anymore. I love that this curriculum doesn't have anything for the student to do as far as workbooks, it is all just learning by listening to your teacher which I think is a learned skill for children. I also love that #3 already learned a poem last week. And I loved that #1 and #2 can still say the exact poem from when they learned it!
A Reason For Handwriting I've never bought anything but the student pages for this curriculum, I'm not sure why you would need a teacher book, but that is just my preference. This level is perfect for #3 to get lots of practice on her handwriting without getting too bored with it.
That's all the formal curriculum I do with #3. She reads to me every day to help improve her reading skills and I read something like Magic School Bus for her to get some exposure to science, but that is about it. I'm not a fan of overloading younger kids with a bunch of stuff just to be able to say we're doing something. I'm a big fan of learning through exposure!
And that is it for this year. I don't promise we'll get through everything or even that we'll be doing all of this in 6 weeks, but for now this is what our school year looks like!
One week down, 35 to go!
Yep, that is definitely how I feel about the school year. I don't dread school, but I don't love it either. So we're counting down till summer break again. And really, 35 weeks sounds so much better than 175 days!
I would say that our first week of school went very well. Toward the end of last year I finally felt like I had gotten a handle on teaching three instead of two. It really did take that long for me to feel like I knew what I was doing. #1 and #2 are close enough in age that a lot of their subjects can be taught together. Also, they had both gotten to where after the initial lesson was taught they could do the work on their own for the most part. With #3 in Kindergarten again it was back to having to sit next to her for everything she did and help her with it. It was much harder to get used to than I thought it would be. However, I felt much better prepared this year.
I have a flow chart that I make up every year so that I have a loose schedule already written down for me to use. Basically I make a list of which subject I am teaching which child and what order we are going to do it in. I knew after the first day that I was going to need to do some tweaking, but I waiting until the end of the week. I did change something for every day, but I think I have a pretty good idea now of how things are going to go and I don't think I'll have to change it very much more.
One major thing we're doing differently this year is that #1 and #2 are going to be responsible for many of their lessons on their own. I have a list of what they need to get accomplished each week and they are responsible for finishing it all on their own. This includes 3 lessons and a test for history, 2-3 science lessons, handwriting or typing, and 2 lessons in geography. We have audio CDs that they listen to and follow along in the book for History, they have worksheets they work off of in geography, and science is set up where they read a lesson and answer questions on their lesson. They can see on the flow chart how much free time they have before I'll be working with them one on one and can choose what they use that free time to get accomplished. It actually worked very well this last week. I was watching #2 carefully because I wasn't sure she would be able to handle the responsibility of getting it all done without me constantly reminding her. However, seeing #1 working on her work made #2 work on hers as well. They both were done with all of their alone work by Wednesday. I don't know that it will be that way every week, but for now it seems to be working. Hooray for teaching my students to work independently!
We also joined a group called the Institute for Cultural Communications, also know as Communicators for Christ. The idea behind this group is to teach young people to be comfortable speaking in front of a group of people so that they will always be prepared to tell others about Christ, and be comfortable doing so. Hubby and I love that thought process. We've always wanted our children to be comfortable speaking in front of others simply because that is a good life skill to have. But we love that this group is geared towards teaching public speaking so that you can be comfortable telling others about Christ. We've only been to one meeting so far, but I think this is going to be a great thing for our family this year.
We're still waiting to hear about the Choir we want #1 to be in this year. They were supposed to have auditions this week, but I think they are having some issues finding a venue for this year. So we're just hanging out until we hear from them about that.
So those are the big things we're doing this year. We are becoming more involved in the homeschool groups we're a part of and just generally branching out more and getting to know the area even better. I'm looking forward to this being our best homeschool year yet. But only for another 35 weeks!
I would say that our first week of school went very well. Toward the end of last year I finally felt like I had gotten a handle on teaching three instead of two. It really did take that long for me to feel like I knew what I was doing. #1 and #2 are close enough in age that a lot of their subjects can be taught together. Also, they had both gotten to where after the initial lesson was taught they could do the work on their own for the most part. With #3 in Kindergarten again it was back to having to sit next to her for everything she did and help her with it. It was much harder to get used to than I thought it would be. However, I felt much better prepared this year.
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| Wall Map and Timeline for use with Bible/History |
I have a flow chart that I make up every year so that I have a loose schedule already written down for me to use. Basically I make a list of which subject I am teaching which child and what order we are going to do it in. I knew after the first day that I was going to need to do some tweaking, but I waiting until the end of the week. I did change something for every day, but I think I have a pretty good idea now of how things are going to go and I don't think I'll have to change it very much more.
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This was the extent of "special stuff" I did for the first day. What can I say? I'm not that kind of Mom!
One major thing we're doing differently this year is that #1 and #2 are going to be responsible for many of their lessons on their own. I have a list of what they need to get accomplished each week and they are responsible for finishing it all on their own. This includes 3 lessons and a test for history, 2-3 science lessons, handwriting or typing, and 2 lessons in geography. We have audio CDs that they listen to and follow along in the book for History, they have worksheets they work off of in geography, and science is set up where they read a lesson and answer questions on their lesson. They can see on the flow chart how much free time they have before I'll be working with them one on one and can choose what they use that free time to get accomplished. It actually worked very well this last week. I was watching #2 carefully because I wasn't sure she would be able to handle the responsibility of getting it all done without me constantly reminding her. However, seeing #1 working on her work made #2 work on hers as well. They both were done with all of their alone work by Wednesday. I don't know that it will be that way every week, but for now it seems to be working. Hooray for teaching my students to work independently!
We also joined a group called the Institute for Cultural Communications, also know as Communicators for Christ. The idea behind this group is to teach young people to be comfortable speaking in front of a group of people so that they will always be prepared to tell others about Christ, and be comfortable doing so. Hubby and I love that thought process. We've always wanted our children to be comfortable speaking in front of others simply because that is a good life skill to have. But we love that this group is geared towards teaching public speaking so that you can be comfortable telling others about Christ. We've only been to one meeting so far, but I think this is going to be a great thing for our family this year.
We're still waiting to hear about the Choir we want #1 to be in this year. They were supposed to have auditions this week, but I think they are having some issues finding a venue for this year. So we're just hanging out until we hear from them about that.
So those are the big things we're doing this year. We are becoming more involved in the homeschool groups we're a part of and just generally branching out more and getting to know the area even better. I'm looking forward to this being our best homeschool year yet. But only for another 35 weeks!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Is it still camping if you sleep in a cabin?
We were in the woods and we all came home with chigger bites, so I'm going to say yes!
Our landlady owns a campground about an hour and a half north of where we live and she invited us to come and stay the night one Thursday night. She knows Hubby has Fridays off and she usually doesn't have anyone renting the cabin we stayed in on a Thursday. We decided to go ahead and go this last Thursday as one more fun thing before we all started back to school tomorrow.
When we got there we all piled in her ATV and she took us on a tour around the area. It really is beautiful up there. Hubby and I both really enjoy camping and being in the woods. This was a nice time for us to be able to spend together as a family without it costing a bunch of money. We have been thankful for having a wonderful landlady before, but now we're also thankful she is willing to let us stay in her cabin every once in a while as well!
Friday morning we had decided to go see the waterfalls that our landlady kept telling us about. She asked if she could come along since she hadn't been to see them in about 20 years. The two waterfalls we got to see were beautiful. At the second one I even relented and let the girls go down and get their feet wet. When we go back I will make sure I bring flip flops for all of us so that we aren't trying to put shoes and socks back on wet and muddy feet.
The hike to and from the waterfalls was a bit more than we were
expecting, but it wasn't too bad. We'll be better prepared next time.
All the girls were troopers. Even #4 only asked to be carried a couple
of times. #3 was literally running circles around the rest of us.
Gotta love a 6 year old!
It was a quick trip, we weren't even up there 24 hours, but it was worth it! We're already looking forward to the next time we get to go back. As #4 keeps saying, "We're going to the cabin tomorrow, right?"
Our landlady owns a campground about an hour and a half north of where we live and she invited us to come and stay the night one Thursday night. She knows Hubby has Fridays off and she usually doesn't have anyone renting the cabin we stayed in on a Thursday. We decided to go ahead and go this last Thursday as one more fun thing before we all started back to school tomorrow. 
When we got there we all piled in her ATV and she took us on a tour around the area. It really is beautiful up there. Hubby and I both really enjoy camping and being in the woods. This was a nice time for us to be able to spend together as a family without it costing a bunch of money. We have been thankful for having a wonderful landlady before, but now we're also thankful she is willing to let us stay in her cabin every once in a while as well!
Friday morning we had decided to go see the waterfalls that our landlady kept telling us about. She asked if she could come along since she hadn't been to see them in about 20 years. The two waterfalls we got to see were beautiful. At the second one I even relented and let the girls go down and get their feet wet. When we go back I will make sure I bring flip flops for all of us so that we aren't trying to put shoes and socks back on wet and muddy feet. 
The hike to and from the waterfalls was a bit more than we were
expecting, but it wasn't too bad. We'll be better prepared next time.
All the girls were troopers. Even #4 only asked to be carried a couple
of times. #3 was literally running circles around the rest of us.
Gotta love a 6 year old!It was a quick trip, we weren't even up there 24 hours, but it was worth it! We're already looking forward to the next time we get to go back. As #4 keeps saying, "We're going to the cabin tomorrow, right?"
#1 Turns 11
#1 turned 11 just a few days after we got back from California. Because of that we kept it pretty low key, but my Mom and Dad were both able to be here which made it special for her. Mom and Dad hadn't been to our place since they helped us move in so it was nice to have them here for a couple of days when they could see the house as we live in it now, not full of boxes!
We started #1's birthday by going to an early lunch at PF Changs. This is my favorite place to eat and #1 really likes it to. She had asked before if that could be her birthday dinner with the family, but we told her no because it was too expensive. But then the other plans we had for her birthday fell through so we decided to splurge a little and go for lunch. We all enjoyed it.
Some more than others!
After lunch we went and watched Despicable Me 2. I love those movies! The second one wasn't as funny as the first one, but it had minions in it, so it was worth it! And I got to go to a funny movie with my Dad, which is always entertaining. If you ever get to watch Toy Story with him, do it. You'll laugh harder at him than you will the movie!
The next day we went bowling. Um, is anyone aware of how expensive bowling is now? We all really love going and would do it more often if it didn't cost $60 for 2 hours for our family. Good grief! Do they sell annual passes or anything, because it is almost as expensive as going to a theme park. But we did have fun, despite the last 30 minutes or so being the glow ball bowling, where they turn off the lights and everything is lit with black lights. Yeah, the adults used that as our excuse for not scoring well. Whatever helps us sleep at night!
And for dinner that night I made the girls' favorite meal--sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. I think I've finally figured out a technique to make it where it is not quite as much work, but it still requires more effort than I normally like to exert for one meal, especially considering clean up, so it is still going to be an occasional dinner, not one on the regular rotation.
Sunday was church and then the parentals had to head home on Monday. We always miss them when they leave, even after spending three weeks with Mom, but we were thankful for the time we got to spend with them and looked forward to seeing them again.
We started #1's birthday by going to an early lunch at PF Changs. This is my favorite place to eat and #1 really likes it to. She had asked before if that could be her birthday dinner with the family, but we told her no because it was too expensive. But then the other plans we had for her birthday fell through so we decided to splurge a little and go for lunch. We all enjoyed it.
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| Grammy, #3, Pappy, and #2 |
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| Birthday Girl and her Daddy |
After lunch we went and watched Despicable Me 2. I love those movies! The second one wasn't as funny as the first one, but it had minions in it, so it was worth it! And I got to go to a funny movie with my Dad, which is always entertaining. If you ever get to watch Toy Story with him, do it. You'll laugh harder at him than you will the movie!
And for dinner that night I made the girls' favorite meal--sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. I think I've finally figured out a technique to make it where it is not quite as much work, but it still requires more effort than I normally like to exert for one meal, especially considering clean up, so it is still going to be an occasional dinner, not one on the regular rotation.
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| An ice cream cake that she wanted so bad! |
Still in CA
Sadly, Wednesday morning we had to get packed up and head back to
Tulare. We did a little bit of shopping and because I took too long to
shop we just had to eat at a diner famous for its clam chowder. It's a
shame I don't like clam chowder, but everyone else does so we were all
happy. After that Hubby took the kids back to the beach for a few
minutes to allow them to collect some shells. #2 was really upset that
we left the beach so soon the day before because she had spent all her
time in the water and then didn't get to look for shells because we left
early. So Hubby, being the good Daddy that he is, took them all down
there and let her gather some shells. Mom and I went to a couple more
stores trying to find t-shirts for all of us and some salt-water taffy.
We all met back up, grabbed some amazing cinnamon rolls to go, and hit
the road. We made it back in enough time to take a shower before going
to church.
Once again, it was great to spend time with
all our church family there. We said good bye to D and Auntie M and
their kids and Papa and Gran-Jan who were all leaving the next day to go
on vacation and then went back to P and Aunt K's house.
At this point we had worn every article of clothing I had packed for the trip. This was how I planned, but still, getting all that laundry sorted from the last week and a half was a bit daunting. Remember this picture?
Now think of it all being dirty! So Thursday
was laundry day. Instead of taking all day trying to do laundry at the
house I just took everything to a laundry mat. 12 washes later and how
ever many cycles in however many dryers to dry it all, it was done. I
threw it all semi-folded into a couple of suitcases until I could get
back to the house and sort it all for our trip home.
See, I was in a bit of a rush because we had to make it to a certain bakery in Porterville to eat a torta for lunch. Hubby and I both worked in Porterville for a while when we lived there, and Hubby and his family had known about this little hole in the wall Mexican bakery for a while, and they make the most amazing mexican food. We really wanted to sample everything, but settled for a torta. So good!
The rest of the day was spent re-packing all of our things for the trip home and trying to cram 2 years worth of talking into just a few short hours. You guessed it--we stayed up way too late again, but it was worth it. We miss seeing our CA family!
And so began
our trip home. Pretty much the same thing as the trip out, only in
reverse! A lot of endless miles that have all blurred together. One
thing that did stand out because it was so funny was that when we
started this whole trip I was perfectly happy being in the car with
everyone and would talk and engage with everyone, especially Hubby, and
it was just another adventure we were on. When I got in the car to
start the trip home I just remember looking over at Hubby and thinking,
"Ooo, I already don't like you!" He hadn't done a single thing, but I
didn't want to have anything to do with him! I don't think I talked
much that day. Again, it's a good thing my Mom was along!
We got to Canyon Saturday evening and got to spend some more time with my Sis and BIL and our friends who live there. We decided to stay in Canyon on Sunday to give us some time to recover and to enjoy a little extra time with our family there. It was just what we needed! We went to see a movie and just enjoyed being together. My BIL fits into our family quite nicely!
Monday morning we traveled back to
The Farm (my brother D and Aunt A's place), stayed the night and then
headed home on Tuesday. We were very thankful to only have a 5 hour
drive on Tuesday. We weren't complete zombies when we rolled in to
town!
And so ends the saga of our trip to California. While the drive to and from was not the most fun I've ever had, the time we got to spend with friends and family while we were there made it worth it. However, the next time we go I'm going to make sure I find flights for cheaper than we would pay in gas to get out there!
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| All our family at the coast |
At this point we had worn every article of clothing I had packed for the trip. This was how I planned, but still, getting all that laundry sorted from the last week and a half was a bit daunting. Remember this picture?
See, I was in a bit of a rush because we had to make it to a certain bakery in Porterville to eat a torta for lunch. Hubby and I both worked in Porterville for a while when we lived there, and Hubby and his family had known about this little hole in the wall Mexican bakery for a while, and they make the most amazing mexican food. We really wanted to sample everything, but settled for a torta. So good!
The rest of the day was spent re-packing all of our things for the trip home and trying to cram 2 years worth of talking into just a few short hours. You guessed it--we stayed up way too late again, but it was worth it. We miss seeing our CA family!
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| Hubby wrangles children while I pack |
We got to Canyon Saturday evening and got to spend some more time with my Sis and BIL and our friends who live there. We decided to stay in Canyon on Sunday to give us some time to recover and to enjoy a little extra time with our family there. It was just what we needed! We went to see a movie and just enjoyed being together. My BIL fits into our family quite nicely!
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| Aunt S let them do her hair! |
And so ends the saga of our trip to California. While the drive to and from was not the most fun I've ever had, the time we got to spend with friends and family while we were there made it worth it. However, the next time we go I'm going to make sure I find flights for cheaper than we would pay in gas to get out there!
Now that we're in California
School starts tomorrow--I've got to finish all the posts about our summer or I'll never stay caught up to date!
We finally made it to California, after what seemed like a week in the car traveling. Our wonderful sis-in-law, Auntie M, got up and made a huge breakfast for us that was super good, and then we all got ourselves ready for a photo shoot! Auntie M does photography on the side and I asked her if she would take some family pictures for us. It wasn't necessarily a good time for either of our families. They were getting ready to go on vacation for two weeks and we only had a few hours before we needed to leave to get to where Hubby was holding the meeting, but she was sweet enough to fit us in. And she did a fantastic job! A lot of photographers aren't very good dealing with kids, being able to be clear and precise with what they say so that all ages of kids can understand, but Auntie M was fantastic. We got a lot of great shots of all of us, just the girls, and Hubby and I by ourselves. I don't have any of the pictures yet, but when I get them I'm sure I'll be posting them for everyone to see! Thank you again Auntie M for working us in and getting such awesome shots!
After a quick dinner prepared by Auntie M (yeah, I'm pretty sure I sat around like a slug that day. My apologies M!) we headed down to Bakersfield to start the meeting. And that is where we spent the rest of the weekend. We had dinner and evening services each night and activities during the day. We got to see friends and family we haven't seen since the last time we were in CA,
new family members we had never met,
held a few snakes,
and basically had a good time with everyone.
I love the meetings we do in CA because we know and love everyone there so it is a time of great fellowship, even if we don't get much sleep!
Sunday night we headed back to Tulare for one night and then got up bright and early Monday morning to head to the coast with Hubby's parents and brother P and his wife and 3 girls. We were looking forward to a time to relax, unwind, stick our toes in the sand, and just spend time together.
We had a bit of a snag when we got to the campgrounds we were staying at because the trailer our family was borrowing from a friend of Hubby's brother wasn't there because another trailer was parked in the spot we were supposed to have. We got it worked out pretty quickly, but as we were finishing up getting everything set up inside and went back outside we noticed smoke in the air. A lot of it. Turns out there was a brush fire less than a mile from where we were. We decided to get out of dodge so we left everything but a few chairs and headed to the beach a few miles away. Luckily the fire never got any closer to where we were so all the trailers were fine!
And even though I lived in CA for two years and went to the beach often during that time I had forgotten how easy it is to get burned at the beach. We were only there for about an hour at 5 in the afternoon so I didn't bother to put sunscreen on any of us and I got burned enough to be miserable the rest of the night. Luckily no one else burned much so they were OK. I still love going to the beach, even though it is a ton of work to lug all the equipment to and from the cars!
Tuesday we were joined by brother D, Auntie M, and their kids and we attempted to go to the beach again. It barely lasted two hours. I really wanted to spend all day at the beach, but it was 60 degrees outside and the wind would not stop blowing. We were all pretty miserable. However, the sun was still shining and having learned my lesson from the day before I made sure we were all covered in sun screen. Except that this still happened!
I got sunscreen on almost all of my leg, except that large red spot. And if you look closely you'll see that there are two large white spots where I apparently put my fingers that had sunscreen on them. Y'all, those marks have not gone away! So ridiculous! Hubby and his brothers and most of the children did get out in the water,
but after they got out they didn't want to get back in. So we packed it
up and headed back to the camp.
Then we felt bad that none of the kids had really gotten a chance to be in the water much so we got the bright idea to take them swimming in the pool at the campground. A pool that was not heated. And it was still only 70 degrees outside. It was miserably cold. The kids of course were having a blast. Even #4 couldn't be persuaded to get out if everyone else was in the water. So we stayed long enough to turn everyone's lips blue and then headed back to the trailers to get cleaned up.
This is our Suburban with twelve people riding in it after being in the pool! The heat of sitting so close actually felt pretty good!
We went out for dinner that night, we had to have some real fish and chips, and then Hubby's brother D just had to get some chocolate covered bugs for us to eat. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
I ate one, and like I said, as long as you don't think about what you're eating, it's not too bad. But when I watch my 2 year old niece eat a cricket and she has a leg hanging out of her mouth, it is kind of hard to forget!
The girls all ate every kind of bug and my Mom ended up eating quite a few as well. Hubby ate a boxful without even thinking about it. I ate one cricket. Go me!
So even though the actual beach was pretty much a bust, Uncle D made sure that the girls will never forget that trip! It was a very relaxing couple of days with our family that we don't get to spend nearly enough time with!
We finally made it to California, after what seemed like a week in the car traveling. Our wonderful sis-in-law, Auntie M, got up and made a huge breakfast for us that was super good, and then we all got ourselves ready for a photo shoot! Auntie M does photography on the side and I asked her if she would take some family pictures for us. It wasn't necessarily a good time for either of our families. They were getting ready to go on vacation for two weeks and we only had a few hours before we needed to leave to get to where Hubby was holding the meeting, but she was sweet enough to fit us in. And she did a fantastic job! A lot of photographers aren't very good dealing with kids, being able to be clear and precise with what they say so that all ages of kids can understand, but Auntie M was fantastic. We got a lot of great shots of all of us, just the girls, and Hubby and I by ourselves. I don't have any of the pictures yet, but when I get them I'm sure I'll be posting them for everyone to see! Thank you again Auntie M for working us in and getting such awesome shots!
After a quick dinner prepared by Auntie M (yeah, I'm pretty sure I sat around like a slug that day. My apologies M!) we headed down to Bakersfield to start the meeting. And that is where we spent the rest of the weekend. We had dinner and evening services each night and activities during the day. We got to see friends and family we haven't seen since the last time we were in CA,
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| One of our nieces |
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| #4 and a second cousin |
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| We all held the snake, even #4 |
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| Swim time at the end of the meeting! |
Sunday night we headed back to Tulare for one night and then got up bright and early Monday morning to head to the coast with Hubby's parents and brother P and his wife and 3 girls. We were looking forward to a time to relax, unwind, stick our toes in the sand, and just spend time together.
We had a bit of a snag when we got to the campgrounds we were staying at because the trailer our family was borrowing from a friend of Hubby's brother wasn't there because another trailer was parked in the spot we were supposed to have. We got it worked out pretty quickly, but as we were finishing up getting everything set up inside and went back outside we noticed smoke in the air. A lot of it. Turns out there was a brush fire less than a mile from where we were. We decided to get out of dodge so we left everything but a few chairs and headed to the beach a few miles away. Luckily the fire never got any closer to where we were so all the trailers were fine!
 |
| Cool classic truck painted the same color as the trailer it pulled |
 |
| Everyone put their toes in the water |
Then we felt bad that none of the kids had really gotten a chance to be in the water much so we got the bright idea to take them swimming in the pool at the campground. A pool that was not heated. And it was still only 70 degrees outside. It was miserably cold. The kids of course were having a blast. Even #4 couldn't be persuaded to get out if everyone else was in the water. So we stayed long enough to turn everyone's lips blue and then headed back to the trailers to get cleaned up.
We went out for dinner that night, we had to have some real fish and chips, and then Hubby's brother D just had to get some chocolate covered bugs for us to eat. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
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| Ants |
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| Nope, she's not a ham |
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| More ants |
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| Worms |
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| Cricket |
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| Whatever was in the box |
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| As long as you don't think about what you're eating... |
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| "I'll eat one if you eat one!" |
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| "It's just chocolate, it's just chocolate..." |
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| She loved them |
So even though the actual beach was pretty much a bust, Uncle D made sure that the girls will never forget that trip! It was a very relaxing couple of days with our family that we don't get to spend nearly enough time with!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Road Trip, part 2
Tuesday morning we were up bright an early again. And we spent the day on the road. That about sums it up. It seemed to take forever to get anywhere.
I do have to say that for this trip and the one home, the girls did an amazing job. Hubby and I had talked to them about maintaining good attitudes throughout the trip even though they wouldn't necessarily feel like it. We told them we expected them to behave with love and respect for each other and that we wouldn't tolerate any ugliness or hatefulness just because they were sick of being in the car, and they did not disappoint. That was probably helped by the money that Mom brought to bribe them with. Basically they started off with a roll of coins and every time they were hateful or asked when we were going to get there they lost a coin back to Grammy. I don't think any of them lost more than 3. Well, except #4, she should have lost all of them probably, but she does get away with a little more since she's only 3.
Speaking of Mom, I also need to say that the trip would not have gone nearly as smoothly as it did if she had not been with us. Number one, she sat in the back the entire trip which saved me from sitting back there and getting car sick. I felt bad, but in the way that you feel guilty but also secretly happy. Yeah, I can say that cause she already knows it. She also dealt with the girls so that I didn't have to as much. Mainly because she was the closest adult, but also because that is the type of Grammy she is. It made Hubby and my's life much easier. I don't know if she enjoyed herself as much as she thought she was going to, but we really enjoyed having her along!
That is #4 stuffing her head, arms, and legs into her pillowcase. We
might have let her stay like that for a while thinking we were playing
hide and seek. Don't judge, it was the only time she quit talking that
entire day!
So we got in to Flagstaff, AZ Tuesday night and we were completely wiped out. The late nights and day long travels had finally caught up to us. The nice thing was, because of the different time zones, we actually got in at 4 instead of 6 that night. So I got the brilliant plan that since we were all so tired we would eat right away and go to bed at 6:30, which would be the girls' normal bed time in our time zone. Great plan, right? We're all exhausted and should fall asleep immediately. Except for the sun that was shining in around the window curtain making our room look like it was lit up with a 60 watt lamp! OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but I can vividly remember #4 whining because she couldn't go to sleep while the sun was still up. Sharing a hotel room with children is so much fun! She did finally conk out and we were all able to catch up on a little bit of sleep.
We had plans of making it to Tulare, CA in time for church Wednesday night. That is where Hubby and I lived for the first 2.5 years of marriage and we wanted to see our family and friends at church. But that plan was formed before traveling in the car for 3 and a half days. We were so tired and too drained to try to make it in enough time to shower and change for services. So we took our time getting on the road Wednesday morning and didn't get in to Tulare until around 7. Turns out, even if we had left when we originally planned to we wouldn't have been there in enough time to go to church anyway thanks to the speed limit dropping to 55 and 65 once we hit CA. I know they do that so you can enjoy all the pretty scenery. In case you didn't catch that sarcasm, picture those scenes in movies when someone is out in the desert and it shows a shot of them looking in to the distance and there is nothing but wavy lines showing how hot it is? Yep, that's what we were looking at. We did get to see a few windmills though so that made it worth it!
We did stop at one fun place for a potty break. It was just a random fruit stand place that Hubby remembered being there when we lived there. It has turned in to quite the attraction now. No one else was there when we stopped because it was at 4 pm on a Wednesday, but they have a huge building full of produce you can buy, a play area, and a little petting zoo. The zoo wasn't open, but we were able to look at all the animals. We got to see peacocks, several of whom opened their tail feathers for us to see. I always forget how vivid the colors on their feathers are. Beautiful! Also, did you know that a peacock's cry sounds like they are yelling "Help!" Yeah, I didn't either until I heard them doing it. It would freak me out to hear it if I thought it was a person.
We also got to stop at a Del Taco for dinner. Forget In-N-Out Burger, we love Del Taco. Mainly their chicken tacos. I think we ordered 18 that night. It wasn't the last time we ate there on this trip either!
We finally got to Hubby's brother's house and got to see D, M, and their two kids. Hubby's parents and other brother and his family also came by after church to see us briefly. Which was nice since we couldn't have moved after we sat down if the house had been on fire. We stayed up late again. I know, you would think we would learn our lesson, but these are friends and family we don't get to see very often so we have to cram years of visiting into just a few days. So we'll sleep when we're dead! Which is actually what I slept like when I finally did go to sleep!
I do have to say that for this trip and the one home, the girls did an amazing job. Hubby and I had talked to them about maintaining good attitudes throughout the trip even though they wouldn't necessarily feel like it. We told them we expected them to behave with love and respect for each other and that we wouldn't tolerate any ugliness or hatefulness just because they were sick of being in the car, and they did not disappoint. That was probably helped by the money that Mom brought to bribe them with. Basically they started off with a roll of coins and every time they were hateful or asked when we were going to get there they lost a coin back to Grammy. I don't think any of them lost more than 3. Well, except #4, she should have lost all of them probably, but she does get away with a little more since she's only 3.
Speaking of Mom, I also need to say that the trip would not have gone nearly as smoothly as it did if she had not been with us. Number one, she sat in the back the entire trip which saved me from sitting back there and getting car sick. I felt bad, but in the way that you feel guilty but also secretly happy. Yeah, I can say that cause she already knows it. She also dealt with the girls so that I didn't have to as much. Mainly because she was the closest adult, but also because that is the type of Grammy she is. It made Hubby and my's life much easier. I don't know if she enjoyed herself as much as she thought she was going to, but we really enjoyed having her along!
So we got in to Flagstaff, AZ Tuesday night and we were completely wiped out. The late nights and day long travels had finally caught up to us. The nice thing was, because of the different time zones, we actually got in at 4 instead of 6 that night. So I got the brilliant plan that since we were all so tired we would eat right away and go to bed at 6:30, which would be the girls' normal bed time in our time zone. Great plan, right? We're all exhausted and should fall asleep immediately. Except for the sun that was shining in around the window curtain making our room look like it was lit up with a 60 watt lamp! OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but I can vividly remember #4 whining because she couldn't go to sleep while the sun was still up. Sharing a hotel room with children is so much fun! She did finally conk out and we were all able to catch up on a little bit of sleep.
We had plans of making it to Tulare, CA in time for church Wednesday night. That is where Hubby and I lived for the first 2.5 years of marriage and we wanted to see our family and friends at church. But that plan was formed before traveling in the car for 3 and a half days. We were so tired and too drained to try to make it in enough time to shower and change for services. So we took our time getting on the road Wednesday morning and didn't get in to Tulare until around 7. Turns out, even if we had left when we originally planned to we wouldn't have been there in enough time to go to church anyway thanks to the speed limit dropping to 55 and 65 once we hit CA. I know they do that so you can enjoy all the pretty scenery. In case you didn't catch that sarcasm, picture those scenes in movies when someone is out in the desert and it shows a shot of them looking in to the distance and there is nothing but wavy lines showing how hot it is? Yep, that's what we were looking at. We did get to see a few windmills though so that made it worth it!
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| This is the crazy that happens when you're in a car for three days |
We also got to stop at a Del Taco for dinner. Forget In-N-Out Burger, we love Del Taco. Mainly their chicken tacos. I think we ordered 18 that night. It wasn't the last time we ate there on this trip either!
We finally got to Hubby's brother's house and got to see D, M, and their two kids. Hubby's parents and other brother and his family also came by after church to see us briefly. Which was nice since we couldn't have moved after we sat down if the house had been on fire. We stayed up late again. I know, you would think we would learn our lesson, but these are friends and family we don't get to see very often so we have to cram years of visiting into just a few days. So we'll sleep when we're dead! Which is actually what I slept like when I finally did go to sleep!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Road Trip!
Ah, the Road Trip. Notice the capital letters. Because when I think of this trip I will always think of it with capital letters.
We started with just the six of us. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch after morning services at church on Sunday and then hit the road. We were only going to my brother D's house, about 5 hours of drive time, so it was a pretty uneventful trip. We make that drive enough that we finally got the bright idea to write which exits had good places to stop at along the way. We didn't have any paper handy so did we pull out our nifty smartphones and put them in a note on our phone so we'd always have it? No we did not. We wrote it in pencil on the safety warning on the visor in the Suburban. Of course, Hubby wrote them while he was driving, so we'll actually be lucky if we can ever read them again, but whatever! It occupied some time.
We got to my brother's house about 7ish and got to spend time with Aunt A and K-bug. It's nice being able to walk in to D and Aunt A's house and feel comfortable enough to just relax. D was working, but got to come home for a little bit when our older brother M got there. M was leaving in a couple of weeks to go overseas and wouldn't be home for about a year. I actually didn't think we were going to be able to see him at all because of our trip, but he came down to D's earlier than he planned so we got to spend a couple of hours with him. I appreciated him doing that and was really glad we got to see him before he left.
After going to bed about 1 we got up and were pulling out around 7 Monday morning. The last thing we saw as we pulled out of the driveway was M's dog, who had spent the last several weeks in an apartment in the DC area, take off running after a squirrel. I felt bad for M since he had only gotten up to see us off, but he got her back OK. I didn't have the guts to ask how long he had to search for her!
Monday we were on the road for about 10 hours total. A few things to note. Paris, TX is not a cool town. You might think it will be based on the name, but you would be wrong. There is a loop around it that has zero restaurants or gas stations. I found this out the last time I went through there so I was smart this time and actually went through town. There is nothing on the main road through town either. I thought we were going to have to actually turn around, one of my biggest pet peeves on a trip, but we ended up stopping at a Braums. Unfortunately, it was too early in the morning for ice cream!
Also, I don't really care for Wichita Falls, TX either. It seems like every time we go through there we end up stopping at a place that is in a bad part of town with a weird bathroom set up that makes me really uncomfortable. But the way we were taking didn't have a ton of towns to stop in, so Wichita Falls it was.
After Wichita Falls you can consider yourself in West Texas. Anyone who has ever been in or driven though West Texas understands why it is in caps as well. I have friends who love it there. I also now have a sister and bro-in-law who live there. It holds no appeal to me. Out of respect for my loved one's chosen dwelling places, that is all I'll say about it. Just note the capital letters!
And this was the one day we actually got lost. Well, not lost as much as we kept driving down a road instead of turning down another one. How Hubby figured that out when we're on a road that stretches for miles without ever turning and there isn't so much as a scrub brush to distinguish this road from any other, I'll never know. But he did. We only went about 10 miles out of the way. It could have been a lot worse!
So we rolled in to my Sis and BIL's (short for bro-in-law) around 5 Monday evening. My Mom was waiting for us at their house because she actually joined us for the rest of the trip. It's OK, you can ask yourselves why too. Everyone else looked at her crazy when she told them she was coming with us. I personally kept thinking she would wake up one day and realize how crazy it would be to come with and have to put up with all of us. She didn't, so she must love me as much as I think she does! Thankfully they had made us a home cooked meal which tasted amazing after eating the last 5 meals at fast food places. We also got to spend time with our good friends who live in the same town. They're actually BIL's parents who Hubby and I were friends with before BIL married my sister, but I don't want to confuse you anymore than I already have trying to keep track of who everyone is--so let's just say they're our friends. Sis and BIL took the girls for a snow cone and gave them cameras for the trip and I think they went to the park as well. I didn't care what they were doing, I honestly was just glad to not have to answer any questions for an hour! And thankful for family who was willing to give us a break when we needed it!
We stayed up way too late talking again. It was rough getting out of bed Tuesday morning. But we did it. I know you're dying to hear the rest of the story, but you'll just have to wait. Who knew a day and a half of driving could be so eventful?
As a side note, Monday was also Hubby and I's 13th anniversary. While it was a bummer to be traveling on our anniversary, we dealt with it by celebrating with each other before we left. I also had the brilliant idea to write down my favorite memories from each year of our marriage. The idea was that I would give him a year to read every hour and we would laugh about the memories and share some sweet moments in the car. I failed to take in to account that he would be driving all day long and therefore be unable to read anything. So what ended up happening was that I would give him three or four years every time we stopped and he would read them between trying to eat or gas up or whatever else we were trying to do. The last three years didn't actually get read until Tuesday because we left them out in the car when we unpacked to spend the night. Not exactly how I planned it going...
We started with just the six of us. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch after morning services at church on Sunday and then hit the road. We were only going to my brother D's house, about 5 hours of drive time, so it was a pretty uneventful trip. We make that drive enough that we finally got the bright idea to write which exits had good places to stop at along the way. We didn't have any paper handy so did we pull out our nifty smartphones and put them in a note on our phone so we'd always have it? No we did not. We wrote it in pencil on the safety warning on the visor in the Suburban. Of course, Hubby wrote them while he was driving, so we'll actually be lucky if we can ever read them again, but whatever! It occupied some time.
We got to my brother's house about 7ish and got to spend time with Aunt A and K-bug. It's nice being able to walk in to D and Aunt A's house and feel comfortable enough to just relax. D was working, but got to come home for a little bit when our older brother M got there. M was leaving in a couple of weeks to go overseas and wouldn't be home for about a year. I actually didn't think we were going to be able to see him at all because of our trip, but he came down to D's earlier than he planned so we got to spend a couple of hours with him. I appreciated him doing that and was really glad we got to see him before he left.
After going to bed about 1 we got up and were pulling out around 7 Monday morning. The last thing we saw as we pulled out of the driveway was M's dog, who had spent the last several weeks in an apartment in the DC area, take off running after a squirrel. I felt bad for M since he had only gotten up to see us off, but he got her back OK. I didn't have the guts to ask how long he had to search for her!
Monday we were on the road for about 10 hours total. A few things to note. Paris, TX is not a cool town. You might think it will be based on the name, but you would be wrong. There is a loop around it that has zero restaurants or gas stations. I found this out the last time I went through there so I was smart this time and actually went through town. There is nothing on the main road through town either. I thought we were going to have to actually turn around, one of my biggest pet peeves on a trip, but we ended up stopping at a Braums. Unfortunately, it was too early in the morning for ice cream!
Also, I don't really care for Wichita Falls, TX either. It seems like every time we go through there we end up stopping at a place that is in a bad part of town with a weird bathroom set up that makes me really uncomfortable. But the way we were taking didn't have a ton of towns to stop in, so Wichita Falls it was.
After Wichita Falls you can consider yourself in West Texas. Anyone who has ever been in or driven though West Texas understands why it is in caps as well. I have friends who love it there. I also now have a sister and bro-in-law who live there. It holds no appeal to me. Out of respect for my loved one's chosen dwelling places, that is all I'll say about it. Just note the capital letters!
And this was the one day we actually got lost. Well, not lost as much as we kept driving down a road instead of turning down another one. How Hubby figured that out when we're on a road that stretches for miles without ever turning and there isn't so much as a scrub brush to distinguish this road from any other, I'll never know. But he did. We only went about 10 miles out of the way. It could have been a lot worse!
So we rolled in to my Sis and BIL's (short for bro-in-law) around 5 Monday evening. My Mom was waiting for us at their house because she actually joined us for the rest of the trip. It's OK, you can ask yourselves why too. Everyone else looked at her crazy when she told them she was coming with us. I personally kept thinking she would wake up one day and realize how crazy it would be to come with and have to put up with all of us. She didn't, so she must love me as much as I think she does! Thankfully they had made us a home cooked meal which tasted amazing after eating the last 5 meals at fast food places. We also got to spend time with our good friends who live in the same town. They're actually BIL's parents who Hubby and I were friends with before BIL married my sister, but I don't want to confuse you anymore than I already have trying to keep track of who everyone is--so let's just say they're our friends. Sis and BIL took the girls for a snow cone and gave them cameras for the trip and I think they went to the park as well. I didn't care what they were doing, I honestly was just glad to not have to answer any questions for an hour! And thankful for family who was willing to give us a break when we needed it!
We stayed up way too late talking again. It was rough getting out of bed Tuesday morning. But we did it. I know you're dying to hear the rest of the story, but you'll just have to wait. Who knew a day and a half of driving could be so eventful?
As a side note, Monday was also Hubby and I's 13th anniversary. While it was a bummer to be traveling on our anniversary, we dealt with it by celebrating with each other before we left. I also had the brilliant idea to write down my favorite memories from each year of our marriage. The idea was that I would give him a year to read every hour and we would laugh about the memories and share some sweet moments in the car. I failed to take in to account that he would be driving all day long and therefore be unable to read anything. So what ended up happening was that I would give him three or four years every time we stopped and he would read them between trying to eat or gas up or whatever else we were trying to do. The last three years didn't actually get read until Tuesday because we left them out in the car when we unpacked to spend the night. Not exactly how I planned it going...
Monday, August 5, 2013
Home again--for a second anyway.
Once camp was over with we managed to get all 8 of us and our luggage back in the car and headed back to D and Aunt A's house. We stayed one night with them and then the girls and I headed home the next day. I was ready to be home, but trying to drive 8 hours by myself when I was completely exhausted was not a good idea! I was much more rested waiting until the next day to go home.
And so began our one week we had at home before leaving again for 2 1/2 weeks. We traveled out to California for Hubby to hold a meeting for a church there and to spend some vacation time with his family. I don't remember much about that week other than laundry. A lot of it! I could have left some of it, like our sheets, until we got back from California. But really, who wants to walk in to their home after being gone for a couple of weeks and have a pile of 6 sets of sheets to wash? I knew I would be much happier if I just got it all done, so I did. And #1 and #2 were happy because I just did all the laundry together, they didn't have to sort or do any of it themselves. I've gotten pretty good about letting go of their laundry having to be perfectly sorted and folded, but when I'm in crunch mode I don't have time to mess around!
The three older girls did have a sleepover party that they went to on Friday night. They got to stay in a hotel which they all thought was pretty awesome. Funny how when we were traveling they weren't that thrilled about the hotel rooms. Probably because our hotel stays didn't involve swimming in the pool or staying up until 12:30! They had a really good time though. And I had a very serious conversation with them about the fact that when they got home on Saturday I expected them to be helpful when I needed them to help with the packing and to have good attitudes. There was no way I was going to put up with whining and fighting and ugliness just because they didn't get enough sleep. And I'm happy to say that they all exceeded my expectations. With the exception of #3 being extra weepy, which really is nothing new, I didn't have a single problem with them. I was extremely proud of them!
So this is what almost all our clothes looked like before I got it put in suitcases. I have to boast a little bit that I got all of that in just three suitcases. I had it all sorted for traveling, for the meeting, and for our trip to the beach, each in separate suitcases. And it all worked out exactly like I planned for it too. The only fail was our last Wednesday night there I didn't have nice clothes to wear to church, so we were all in some pretty grungy clothes for services. Luckily for us God knew our hearts and didn't judge us based on my lack of planning!
Sunday morning we got up and got the Suburban packed up and headed off to church. We ate a quick bite of lunch and then got on the road for our first day of travel. Our travels definitely deserve their own post. More to come later!
And so began our one week we had at home before leaving again for 2 1/2 weeks. We traveled out to California for Hubby to hold a meeting for a church there and to spend some vacation time with his family. I don't remember much about that week other than laundry. A lot of it! I could have left some of it, like our sheets, until we got back from California. But really, who wants to walk in to their home after being gone for a couple of weeks and have a pile of 6 sets of sheets to wash? I knew I would be much happier if I just got it all done, so I did. And #1 and #2 were happy because I just did all the laundry together, they didn't have to sort or do any of it themselves. I've gotten pretty good about letting go of their laundry having to be perfectly sorted and folded, but when I'm in crunch mode I don't have time to mess around!
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| Fresh produce from our friends! |
Sunday morning we got up and got the Suburban packed up and headed off to church. We ate a quick bite of lunch and then got on the road for our first day of travel. Our travels definitely deserve their own post. More to come later!
Friday, August 2, 2013
On to Camp
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| What the Suburban looked like |
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| #4, Grammy and K-bug |
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| Play time! |
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| All the kids singing |
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| I mustache you a question... |
Swim time. Did I say that being responsible for all the girls in the cabin was when I thought about the unfairness of Hubby not having to be there and take care of some of our offspring? Well, every day at swim time I thought it too. EVERY day! The three older can get themselves changed which is a plus, but I still have to get sunscreen on, not to mention actually going to the pool with them all. And then trying to keep an eye on all four, including two who don't swim well. Let's just say that the year we didn't get to swim at all because we didn't have a lifeguard hurt me much less than it did my children!
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| Aunt A provided movies. Yay! |
Also, #4 got really sick in the middle of the week. Monday evening around dinner she started to get lethargic and looking like she wasn't feeling well. Her eyes were watering a lot so I thought it was allergies. I ended up putting her to bed right after the evening service was over. She fell asleep right away, but was up most of the night crying for no reason and she started to get a pretty high fever. I felt bad for everyone else in the cabin whose sleep was also interrupted that night. Tuesday morning I just kept her in the cabin, but asked if we could be moved to a private room. Mainly for everyone else's sanity, but also for mine a little bit. They ended up putting us in the infirmary which was actually really nice. It had a little sitting area with a chair and couch. It made my life much easier! She started feeling and acting like she felt better as the day progressed, but she still had a fever so we only came out of the room to eat. Mom and Aunt A took care of the other three girls in the cabin while I stayed the night in the infirmary with #4. I was especially grateful for them that night. Her fever ended up breaking during the night Tuesday night and she was back to her normal self Wednesday morning so we were able to join back in the daily activities as well as move back in to the cabin. I never did really figure out what was wrong with her. The only thing I can think of is that when any of my girls get overly tired they tend to do what #4 did, get a fever and need to sleep a lot. I was sad to leave the infirmary though--it was nice. I might "get sick" every year now!
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| Poor sick baby girl! |
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| We clean up well! |
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