I have had some health issues pop back the last couple of days so I didn't go to church yesterday. I read most of the day, but I finished what I was reading around 7 so I turned on the TV for a little bit. I ended up on what I thought was the Oscars, but turns out it was the pre-show fashion show. I watched for about 10 minutes and then I had to turn it off. I couldn't believe that so much time was dedicated completely towards critiquing every last person that showed up. What they were wearing, how their hair was done, who they were with, what purse they were carrying, what nail polish they had on, if they had a bugger hanging out their nose... OK, probably not the last two, but that is what it felt like. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes like looking at different fashion magazines, but the fact that so much time was spent on this seemed like a complete waste of everyone's time. The fact that there were people riveted to their tv watching this was unfathomable to me.
Which got me thinking about the Oscars in general. Did you know that when someone is nominated for an Oscar but doesn't win they receive a gift basket worth $45,000? Yeah, you read that right. The nominees who don't win receive gifts worth more than a lot of families make in an entire year! Now I don't know how many awards they actually give out, but let's say there are 100 Oscars actually given. That means that for all the Oscars that are won there are 500 losers. That is a grand total of $22,500,000 spent on the losers. I did the math twice. Over 22 million dollars given out to the losers. Please understand, I am a conservative Republican. I believe in and support capitalism. I do not believe that taking money from those who have earned it and giving it to others will ever work. My question is, why are these actors and actresses, the vast majority of whom spout support of green living and Obamacare and taxing the wealthy more, not taking a stand and insisting that the 22 million dollars be used for something other than gift certificates for spending a day at clown school? Yeah, that was a real prize this year. A chance to go to clown school. I can't make this stuff up people!
Seriously though, that money could have been used for so much good. Support for the victims of Sandy who are still struggling to rebuild. Clean water for how many villages in Africa. Any number of children or research hospitals. Schools struggling to keep their art programs alive. Good grief, give it to a company that will provide electric cars to people. I don't care what it goes to, but couldn't it be spend better? It's not like we're asking them to give up money they have legitimately earned. Just prizes that are worth money that other people want to give them. It literally makes me feel ill to think of the amount of money that was wasted last night. And makes me angry to think about all of those people who received those gifts and then turn around and use their status to talk about how horrible our country is because we don't take care of those in need.
OK, I feel a little bit better having vented. I hope I didn't offend anyone who genuinely likes watching the Oscars, that wasn't my point. I just wanted to shed a little light on something that I never knew myself until this year.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Best Writing Curriculum Ever!
Baby Girls #1 and #2 completed their first paper of the year. Before you judge, I purposely didn't start this curriculum until after Christmas. We have another Language Arts program that I use and really love. I wanted to focus on that the first part of the year. But after the Christmas break I wanted the girls to have an actual writing curriculum along with the Language Arts.
I can't take credit for finding the curriculum. We joined an academic co-op at the beginning of the 11/12 school year. We were only in it for the first semester, but I was introduced to this writing curriculum. At first I wasn't crazy about it because it seems really confusing for Baby Girl #1, but after the first month or so we found our groove and I realized how awesome it is.
Why is it so awesome? First of all, the writing process is put forth almost like a formula. A formula that you follow each and every time you write a paper. You always start with an outline. You always brainstorm for quality adjectives, strong verbs, and adverbs. In each paper you have a certain number of "dress-ups" that you have to have. You always have a first draft that you revise and then write a final copy. As we get further along there will be vocabulary words that they learn that they will then have to incorporate into their papers. I love that as my children get more familiar with the process it will become a habit for them to write like this. What I think is especially awesome is that this is a process that they will become familiar enough with that I will be able to have a short lesson with them at the beginning of the week teaching any new concepts and then they will be able to finish the rest of the work on their own. There is always a checklist to remind them of what they have to have in their paper, so there is no excuses for them to not get it right.
Not only does teaching them to add these dress-ups in their writing help me not die of boredom when reading their papers, it also translates into making their every day speech more interesting. For example, I would like my child to tell me that the fireworks display was breathtakingly amazing instead of telling me it was cool. I firmly believe that when they are able to write papers and add those kinds of words in without having to think about it that they will begin to use those types of words in their everyday speech! And I think that is really cool! ;)
So what is this curriculum? It is the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Don't be intimidated when you look on their website. They have a lot of products, including a DVD set that they recommend you watch before trying to teach their curriculum. But I have never watched them and I don't have any problems understanding anything. Granted, I had the best English teacher in high school, but I haven't had any English beyond that. I don't even get the teacher book, just the student book, which states that I can make copies for multiple children in my own family. That means that I am spending just $29 a year for our writing curriculum. Can't beat that!
So it might seem a little ridiculous to be this excited about our curriculum, but as other homeschooling moms will understand, when you find something that you really love you want to pass that information to as many other moms as possible!
I can't take credit for finding the curriculum. We joined an academic co-op at the beginning of the 11/12 school year. We were only in it for the first semester, but I was introduced to this writing curriculum. At first I wasn't crazy about it because it seems really confusing for Baby Girl #1, but after the first month or so we found our groove and I realized how awesome it is.
Why is it so awesome? First of all, the writing process is put forth almost like a formula. A formula that you follow each and every time you write a paper. You always start with an outline. You always brainstorm for quality adjectives, strong verbs, and adverbs. In each paper you have a certain number of "dress-ups" that you have to have. You always have a first draft that you revise and then write a final copy. As we get further along there will be vocabulary words that they learn that they will then have to incorporate into their papers. I love that as my children get more familiar with the process it will become a habit for them to write like this. What I think is especially awesome is that this is a process that they will become familiar enough with that I will be able to have a short lesson with them at the beginning of the week teaching any new concepts and then they will be able to finish the rest of the work on their own. There is always a checklist to remind them of what they have to have in their paper, so there is no excuses for them to not get it right.
Not only does teaching them to add these dress-ups in their writing help me not die of boredom when reading their papers, it also translates into making their every day speech more interesting. For example, I would like my child to tell me that the fireworks display was breathtakingly amazing instead of telling me it was cool. I firmly believe that when they are able to write papers and add those kinds of words in without having to think about it that they will begin to use those types of words in their everyday speech! And I think that is really cool! ;)
So what is this curriculum? It is the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Don't be intimidated when you look on their website. They have a lot of products, including a DVD set that they recommend you watch before trying to teach their curriculum. But I have never watched them and I don't have any problems understanding anything. Granted, I had the best English teacher in high school, but I haven't had any English beyond that. I don't even get the teacher book, just the student book, which states that I can make copies for multiple children in my own family. That means that I am spending just $29 a year for our writing curriculum. Can't beat that!
So it might seem a little ridiculous to be this excited about our curriculum, but as other homeschooling moms will understand, when you find something that you really love you want to pass that information to as many other moms as possible!
Monday, February 18, 2013
#2 turns 9!
Today is Baby Girl #2's birthday. We kind of celebrated all weekend long with her. Or more correctly, she's gotten pampered all weekend. And she has taken full advantage of it!
Friday we went to Chuck E. Cheese. I'm sure you remember that that is one of my least favorite places to go. We thought there was another pizza place that had games in it here, but when we looked it up online there were no games. So Chuck E. Cheese it was. Fun was had by all the girls. Although I think #1 is getting why I don't like it. She told us that she was disappointed because the games there don't give out hardly any tickets. Exactly!
Anyway, after Chuck E. Cheese we took them to get an ice cream cone. Baskin Robbins has some of the same flavors now that they did when I was a kid. Anyone else remember the bubble gum ice cream that had actual bubble gum pieces in it? Seriously, who thought that was a good idea? The girls enjoy me telling them what flavors I used to get.
For dinner we had nachos, #2's request for the night. We also had red velvet cupcakes, also the request of #2. Want to know my Mommy fail moment of the night? When I went to put candles on one of the cupcakes I realized that I only had 8. She turned 9. Kind of defeats the purpose of having candles if you don't have the right amount. My solution? Hubby held a lit match up next to the cupcake as we walked it out singing. It counts, right? I think it is safe to say that we were done with junk food for the rest of the weekend.
Early in the week last week I got online with #2 to have her pick out an 18'' doll. Why she wants one, I don't know, but she did. We ended up getting one that was exactly what she wanted on Ebay. It actually came on Friday, but she didn't know it so she didn't open it up until today. She loves it!
The biggest moment of today was that she got to get her ears pierced. #1 got her ears pierced the first time when she was 8. Turns out her ears are very sensitive and they got infected a couple of times and we had to let them grow back in. She got them pierced again at 9 and has done much better with them. Unfortunately for #2, that experience taught me that 9 might be a better age to get the ears pierced than 8, so #2 had to wait until this year. She's been talking about it since her last birthday. She was excited all day today, but as we got closer to actually getting it done she got more and more nervous. I took her to dinner with just the two of us first, thinking that after she got it done she wouldn't feel like eating. In retrospect, I probably should have taken her to eat afterward. She was so nervous before hand that she could hardly eat anything. Even when the staff made her a birthday treat, she just couldn't eat.
But she did very well getting them done. She cried a little, which is totally OK. But now she is feeling fine, and loving her earrings. She feels so grown up and special.
I'm just amazed that it was 9 years ago that she was born. She was so unexpected and arrived at a difficult time in our lives, but we are truly blessed to have her as our daughter. She is so much like me in so many ways, which is great for the rest of the world, but it drives me a little nuts. She has the best laugh and biggest heart. She loves to think she is so grown up, but she still loves to play with her little sisters. She creates songs and plays that are beyond impressive. I can't wait to see what the coming years with her brings. I don't know what they'll hold, but I can guarantee they'll be a blast!
Friday we went to Chuck E. Cheese. I'm sure you remember that that is one of my least favorite places to go. We thought there was another pizza place that had games in it here, but when we looked it up online there were no games. So Chuck E. Cheese it was. Fun was had by all the girls. Although I think #1 is getting why I don't like it. She told us that she was disappointed because the games there don't give out hardly any tickets. Exactly!
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| This is what $30 in tokens will get you! |
For dinner we had nachos, #2's request for the night. We also had red velvet cupcakes, also the request of #2. Want to know my Mommy fail moment of the night? When I went to put candles on one of the cupcakes I realized that I only had 8. She turned 9. Kind of defeats the purpose of having candles if you don't have the right amount. My solution? Hubby held a lit match up next to the cupcake as we walked it out singing. It counts, right? I think it is safe to say that we were done with junk food for the rest of the weekend.
Early in the week last week I got online with #2 to have her pick out an 18'' doll. Why she wants one, I don't know, but she did. We ended up getting one that was exactly what she wanted on Ebay. It actually came on Friday, but she didn't know it so she didn't open it up until today. She loves it!
The biggest moment of today was that she got to get her ears pierced. #1 got her ears pierced the first time when she was 8. Turns out her ears are very sensitive and they got infected a couple of times and we had to let them grow back in. She got them pierced again at 9 and has done much better with them. Unfortunately for #2, that experience taught me that 9 might be a better age to get the ears pierced than 8, so #2 had to wait until this year. She's been talking about it since her last birthday. She was excited all day today, but as we got closer to actually getting it done she got more and more nervous. I took her to dinner with just the two of us first, thinking that after she got it done she wouldn't feel like eating. In retrospect, I probably should have taken her to eat afterward. She was so nervous before hand that she could hardly eat anything. Even when the staff made her a birthday treat, she just couldn't eat.
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| They made a really cute little palm tree out of bananas and kiwis |
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| Look close, they're there! |
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Random Going Ons
Baby Girl #4 has slept all night in her own bed for the last two nights. I'm not getting my hopes up, but maybe it'll become permanent. I'll let you know how that goes.
Notice I didn't say how restful it has been not having her in the bed with us. That is because last night I had Baby Girl #3 in bed with me instead. She came in around 4 burning up with a fever. Not sure what is going on with her, just that she does this sometimes. Usually when I haven't made her lay down and take a nap for too many days in a row. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be the flu!
For her or Hubby who has also been laying in bed all day with an upset stomach. He apparently was up for several hours early this morning as well. I didn't notice. I've made up for it today by getting him anything he wanted and keeping the girls out of the room. A feat unto itself. Anytime Daddy is home they want to be with him.
Baby Girl #2's birthday is less than a week away. I'm sure if I asked her she could tell me exactly how many hours it is. The child can not make a decision to save her life. We gave her the option two weeks ago of either going bowling, to Mr. Gatti's Pizza (think Chucke Cheese) or going to the movies. She has changed her mind no less than 20 times. She knows that if she hasn't decided before Thursday that we're making the decisions for her. She'll probably change her mind 10 more times between now and then.
When we lived in Houston I was signed up for with a market research company that I did several focus groups with. You go in, give your opinion about something, and they pay you for it. Nothing like that where we are now, but I am still signed up with several companies that do everything online. I've been involved in a study about bottled water this last week. I've never drank so much water every day in my entire life!
We're going to California this summer. Hubby is holding a meeting for a church out there and we're all tagging along. The 30 hour drive will be no fun, but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends out there, as well as going and doing something fun. Like a vacation, maybe? I have to keep reminding myself it is still 6 months away. I want to start making lists already.
My sister is getting married in 2 1/2 weeks. We've been getting packages almost every day with dresses and shoes for the girls and I. I've been pinning boards on Pinterest to get ideas for hair for all of us. I'm going to have to be very aware of the time it takes to get all of us ready. We're all looking forward to it.
There is an ice cream drumstick in the freezer seriously shouting my name now that the girls are all in bed. I've been good all day. I think I will answer the call!
Notice I didn't say how restful it has been not having her in the bed with us. That is because last night I had Baby Girl #3 in bed with me instead. She came in around 4 burning up with a fever. Not sure what is going on with her, just that she does this sometimes. Usually when I haven't made her lay down and take a nap for too many days in a row. Thankfully, it doesn't appear to be the flu!
For her or Hubby who has also been laying in bed all day with an upset stomach. He apparently was up for several hours early this morning as well. I didn't notice. I've made up for it today by getting him anything he wanted and keeping the girls out of the room. A feat unto itself. Anytime Daddy is home they want to be with him.
Baby Girl #2's birthday is less than a week away. I'm sure if I asked her she could tell me exactly how many hours it is. The child can not make a decision to save her life. We gave her the option two weeks ago of either going bowling, to Mr. Gatti's Pizza (think Chucke Cheese) or going to the movies. She has changed her mind no less than 20 times. She knows that if she hasn't decided before Thursday that we're making the decisions for her. She'll probably change her mind 10 more times between now and then.
When we lived in Houston I was signed up for with a market research company that I did several focus groups with. You go in, give your opinion about something, and they pay you for it. Nothing like that where we are now, but I am still signed up with several companies that do everything online. I've been involved in a study about bottled water this last week. I've never drank so much water every day in my entire life!
We're going to California this summer. Hubby is holding a meeting for a church out there and we're all tagging along. The 30 hour drive will be no fun, but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends out there, as well as going and doing something fun. Like a vacation, maybe? I have to keep reminding myself it is still 6 months away. I want to start making lists already.
My sister is getting married in 2 1/2 weeks. We've been getting packages almost every day with dresses and shoes for the girls and I. I've been pinning boards on Pinterest to get ideas for hair for all of us. I'm going to have to be very aware of the time it takes to get all of us ready. We're all looking forward to it.
There is an ice cream drumstick in the freezer seriously shouting my name now that the girls are all in bed. I've been good all day. I think I will answer the call!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Awkward....
Our church started the reading the Bible through in a year at the first part of the year. Hubby and I decided that we were going to read in the evening with our girls and go through it with them. I'm not going to lie, we've missed a few days. For the most part we get caught up quickly, but there have been a few times that we've just said that we're going to skip ahead to where we should be. I figure as long as we don't quit we'll be doing good.
The bad part? There are some things in the old testament that are a little awkward to talk about with the girls. And we're not talking about Song of Solomon awkward. More like explaining what circumcision is. And why a concubine is different than a wife. And why that was ok then, but not now. And why Abraham was married to his sister. Lovely topics, all of them. The best was discussing what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. We were able to discuss all of it calmly and matter-of-factly, but I'm not going to lie--I wish we didn't have to have those conversations.
But that got me thinking about another subject that we need to start discussing with the girls. Homosexuality. One of the big reasons we homeschool is the ability to keep our children innocent and ignorant about a lot of sins for as long as possible. It has bothered me for many years how the homosexuals are pushing their agenda on our children. One of my brothers asked me once what I meant by the "homosexual agenda." To me it is the teaching of our children from a very young age that being a homosexual is completely OK and something someone is born with that they can't do anything about. As a Christian I see over and over in the Bible where it talks about homosexuality as being a violation of God's Law. It is not natural nor is it something that we as Christians should tolerate. Now I'm not saying we should approach homosexuality with hate and fear. We should approach it just like any other sin. But when there are children's books for young children about Heather's Two Mommies or My Two Uncles that to me is an agenda to start teaching our children from a very young age that homosexuality is completely normal and that if you don't agree, you are the one that is wrong.
I am very glad that up to this point I haven't had to discuss with my children what homosexuality is. Not because it would be awkward, but because the knowledge of sin brings the Christian heart sorrow. I can not teach my children about homosexuality without also teaching them the sorrow that we as Christians have for those who sin. I would like my children to not have to bear that burden of sorrow for as long as possible.
But a few days ago I had a friend put on FB a book published by Apologetics Press entitled Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies? It is a children's book addressing the issue of homosexuality. When I saw it I really started thinking about the fact that our oldest two are probably old enough to start talking to them about this. It is apparent to me that we can not start teaching our daughters why a sin is wrong in God's eyes without first teaching them what the sin is.
We'll probably be buying that book soon and having a discussion with our daughters about it in the near future. And a litttle bit of my children's innocence will be gone when we start discussing sin in the world today. And they will never be able to get that innocence back. And that makes me incredibly sad.
Come quickly Lord Jesus!
The bad part? There are some things in the old testament that are a little awkward to talk about with the girls. And we're not talking about Song of Solomon awkward. More like explaining what circumcision is. And why a concubine is different than a wife. And why that was ok then, but not now. And why Abraham was married to his sister. Lovely topics, all of them. The best was discussing what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. We were able to discuss all of it calmly and matter-of-factly, but I'm not going to lie--I wish we didn't have to have those conversations.
But that got me thinking about another subject that we need to start discussing with the girls. Homosexuality. One of the big reasons we homeschool is the ability to keep our children innocent and ignorant about a lot of sins for as long as possible. It has bothered me for many years how the homosexuals are pushing their agenda on our children. One of my brothers asked me once what I meant by the "homosexual agenda." To me it is the teaching of our children from a very young age that being a homosexual is completely OK and something someone is born with that they can't do anything about. As a Christian I see over and over in the Bible where it talks about homosexuality as being a violation of God's Law. It is not natural nor is it something that we as Christians should tolerate. Now I'm not saying we should approach homosexuality with hate and fear. We should approach it just like any other sin. But when there are children's books for young children about Heather's Two Mommies or My Two Uncles that to me is an agenda to start teaching our children from a very young age that homosexuality is completely normal and that if you don't agree, you are the one that is wrong.
I am very glad that up to this point I haven't had to discuss with my children what homosexuality is. Not because it would be awkward, but because the knowledge of sin brings the Christian heart sorrow. I can not teach my children about homosexuality without also teaching them the sorrow that we as Christians have for those who sin. I would like my children to not have to bear that burden of sorrow for as long as possible.
But a few days ago I had a friend put on FB a book published by Apologetics Press entitled Does God Love Michael's Two Daddies? It is a children's book addressing the issue of homosexuality. When I saw it I really started thinking about the fact that our oldest two are probably old enough to start talking to them about this. It is apparent to me that we can not start teaching our daughters why a sin is wrong in God's eyes without first teaching them what the sin is.
We'll probably be buying that book soon and having a discussion with our daughters about it in the near future. And a litttle bit of my children's innocence will be gone when we start discussing sin in the world today. And they will never be able to get that innocence back. And that makes me incredibly sad.
Come quickly Lord Jesus!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Nothing says fun like sticking your hand in a cow's stomach!
It pays to have friends who have lived in this city all their lives. Why? Because they know about all the cool things going on that you normally wouldn't have any idea about. Yesterday the cool thing was the LSU vet school having their annual open house. Now normally I would ignore this information because I'm not exactly looking for information about a vet school. But because this cool friend knew about it she informed me that they actually had a lot of cool things that the kids would love and it was free. We had no other plans so after looking online to get us exact directions so that we wouldn't get lost in the downtown/college area we took off and met our friends.
The very first room we went in showed several different hearts of animals. One was a dog's heart. With heart worms in it. I've heard a lot about heart worms, but haven't really spent a lot of time of what they might actually look like. If you are like me, allow me to enlighten you. They are really skinny worms whose larva are delivered through a mosquito bite that make their way through a dog's body, into his heart and then begin to grow. The heart that they showed looked like an organ with angel hair spaghetti in it. It was gross. My wonderful friend has informed me that she got a picture of all our girls looking at the heart with much interest and I'm in the background horrified. When she puts in on her blog I will provide a link. It was gross.
Here our girls are playing with cow and dog eyeballs. Again, gross. But being the good mother that I am when #4 wanted to touch one I put a glove on her and held her up so she could hold one. And being the mean mother that I am I made #1 pick it up again so I could take a picture when she was clearly horrified to be touching it. What can I say, she needed some more science.
This is all #3 wanted to have with the eyeballs.
Another fun room was where they had two cows set up with a hole in their side that you could stick your hand into its stomach. #2's face pretty much sums it up. Never one to pass up a learning experience, I asked the people there why the cows had holes in their stomachs. I figured they had to do surgery because they were sick. Turns out they do it because if they have another sick cow come in they can take the digested food out of these cow's stomachs and give it to the sick cows and it supposedly has the right amount of bacteria and nutrition to help the sick cow get better. See how educational this day was? And just in case you're wondering, the girls didn't actually touch anything in the stomach. I however looked inside it and it wasn't gross or slimy. It looked like a barrel full of mulched alfalfa. The smell was pretty bad though.
Can't have a vet school open house without some cute baby animals to pet. And let me tell you, those vet school students were so excited to be holding these animals so all the crazy children could go by in a line and pet them.
Last, but in no way least, the heart and lung of a cow. But it isn't just any old lung laying there on a table. Oh no, they have it hooked up to a machine that makes it move like air is going in and out of it. #4 had to touch it. She was fearless and wanted to touch everything all day. I'm pretty sure #1 and #2 touched it as well. This was the only organ I touched. It was actually very soft and squishy. And yes, squishy is a scientific word. I know because the vet student used it to describe the lung while trying to convince me to touch it!
All in all, it was a really fun day. Now that I'm in the know, we'll make sure and go back every year!
The very first room we went in showed several different hearts of animals. One was a dog's heart. With heart worms in it. I've heard a lot about heart worms, but haven't really spent a lot of time of what they might actually look like. If you are like me, allow me to enlighten you. They are really skinny worms whose larva are delivered through a mosquito bite that make their way through a dog's body, into his heart and then begin to grow. The heart that they showed looked like an organ with angel hair spaghetti in it. It was gross. My wonderful friend has informed me that she got a picture of all our girls looking at the heart with much interest and I'm in the background horrified. When she puts in on her blog I will provide a link. It was gross.
Here our girls are playing with cow and dog eyeballs. Again, gross. But being the good mother that I am when #4 wanted to touch one I put a glove on her and held her up so she could hold one. And being the mean mother that I am I made #1 pick it up again so I could take a picture when she was clearly horrified to be touching it. What can I say, she needed some more science.
Another fun room was where they had two cows set up with a hole in their side that you could stick your hand into its stomach. #2's face pretty much sums it up. Never one to pass up a learning experience, I asked the people there why the cows had holes in their stomachs. I figured they had to do surgery because they were sick. Turns out they do it because if they have another sick cow come in they can take the digested food out of these cow's stomachs and give it to the sick cows and it supposedly has the right amount of bacteria and nutrition to help the sick cow get better. See how educational this day was? And just in case you're wondering, the girls didn't actually touch anything in the stomach. I however looked inside it and it wasn't gross or slimy. It looked like a barrel full of mulched alfalfa. The smell was pretty bad though.
Can't have a vet school open house without some cute baby animals to pet. And let me tell you, those vet school students were so excited to be holding these animals so all the crazy children could go by in a line and pet them. 
All in all, it was a really fun day. Now that I'm in the know, we'll make sure and go back every year!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
This is what it feels like to be social
Today we had the opportunity to go to a Papa Johns Pizza and make our own pizzas. It was a field trip set up with the homeschool group I joined back in October. This is the first outing we've gone on with them.
Believe it or not, I'm not entirely comfortable meeting new people. I can do it and I don't necessarily hate it, but I think if we were all honest we would say that it is easier to just stick with the people you already know and the friends you have instead of branching out and making new friends. Unfortunately, with the move I had no other option other than making new friends. It's not exactly easy for the girls either. I wouldn't consider any of them shy, but it's just plain hard to make new friends.
But we all buckled down and guess what? We all made new friends. I met a couple of moms with children the same age as the girls. I really hit it off with a couple of them. The girls had fun playing with the other children. And best of all--we got to eat pizza and play at the park! In addition, I found out about a few other homeschooling groups in the area that don't have websites that I can now contact and hopefully have even more opportunities to get out of the house a little more! I had forgotten how good it feels to go out and do something fun. I'm looking forward to settling in here even more and making friends for myself and for my girls!
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| We got to keep these awesome aprons! |
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| #1 went with another group so I don't have | any pics of her. |
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| It's hard to see, but their aprons are covered in flour |
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Feeding the crowd
I made dinner tonight for everyone at church. The congregation here has a meal before services every Wednesday night. I'm not sure why they started. And to be perfectly honest, when we first moved here I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. Turns out, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. First of all, it isn't a potluck. One person provides the entire meal for everyone and we rotate who cooks by signing up for it. That means that I only have to cook one Wednesday night every 6-8 weeks. Granted, that one time I have to cook is quite an undertaking, but still. 5-7 weeks off, even for one night a week is awesome!
The first time it was my turn I was actually nervous. Trying to come up with something that you think everyone is going to like can be a little nerve racking. But I finally decided on taco salad and it went over pretty well. Everyone especially loved the brownies I made. I take no credit--they came from a box.
The second time it was my turn I made white chili. I've never had so many people ask me what a dish was in my entire life. Or so many looks of trepidation when they tasted it. I think most of them told me they were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good. I chose not to look too closely at the trash cans to see how much was thrown out. Ignorance is bliss!
So tonight was my turn again. I considered chicken enchiladas, but that is what I make for pot-lucks. I don't want to make them eat the enchiladas too often, then I would have to stop bringing them to the pot-lucks. Right now I always come home with an empty dish so I decided not to mess with a good thing. So I went back to taco salad. I figured it had been about three months since I made it the first time. I was feeling pretty good about how it all turned out until one of the elders walked in tonight, looked at the food and exclaimed, "It must be Anita's night to cook!" I never did find out exactly what he meant by that, although I believe the general gist was that I can be counted on to bring something Mexican related. I tried to tell him that the white chili wasn't even close to a Mexican dish, but he just smiled at me and shook his head. I told him that since I was in such a rut next time I was going to only bring turnip greens and it would serve him right. Unfortunately for me, he actually loves those nasty things so he would enjoy that meal. Cajuns...
The plus side to all of this, is that even if I am constantly bringing food to this congregation that they don't know what to do with, they all love the desserts I make. Most of them have gone over pretty well. So even if most of the actual food gets thrown away, at least I can enjoy the compliments about the desserts!
The first time it was my turn I was actually nervous. Trying to come up with something that you think everyone is going to like can be a little nerve racking. But I finally decided on taco salad and it went over pretty well. Everyone especially loved the brownies I made. I take no credit--they came from a box.
The second time it was my turn I made white chili. I've never had so many people ask me what a dish was in my entire life. Or so many looks of trepidation when they tasted it. I think most of them told me they were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty good. I chose not to look too closely at the trash cans to see how much was thrown out. Ignorance is bliss!
So tonight was my turn again. I considered chicken enchiladas, but that is what I make for pot-lucks. I don't want to make them eat the enchiladas too often, then I would have to stop bringing them to the pot-lucks. Right now I always come home with an empty dish so I decided not to mess with a good thing. So I went back to taco salad. I figured it had been about three months since I made it the first time. I was feeling pretty good about how it all turned out until one of the elders walked in tonight, looked at the food and exclaimed, "It must be Anita's night to cook!" I never did find out exactly what he meant by that, although I believe the general gist was that I can be counted on to bring something Mexican related. I tried to tell him that the white chili wasn't even close to a Mexican dish, but he just smiled at me and shook his head. I told him that since I was in such a rut next time I was going to only bring turnip greens and it would serve him right. Unfortunately for me, he actually loves those nasty things so he would enjoy that meal. Cajuns...
The plus side to all of this, is that even if I am constantly bringing food to this congregation that they don't know what to do with, they all love the desserts I make. Most of them have gone over pretty well. So even if most of the actual food gets thrown away, at least I can enjoy the compliments about the desserts!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Friends
You know those friends who are true friends? Those friends that really can just come over whenever and you have no qualms about how picked up your house is or if there are dirty dishes in the sink? Or that you can go to their house whenever just because and always feel welcome. We had those friends before we moved, the E's. Amazingly enough I was friends with the wife and Hubby was friends with the husband and all our girls were friends. It happens, just not that often.
To be perfectly honest, I was a little afraid of what our friendship would become once we moved. I knew we would have the best intentions of staying in touch, but both of our families are busy with our lives. Neither Mrs. E or myself are the type to write each other an email every day. I know our Hubbies have talked several times, but that doesn't necessarily help the Mrs. and I. Back in October my Hubby took our girls and went camping with the E's when I went from my Grandma's funeral. Good for the Hubbies to catch up and our girls to enjoy each other, but again, not very helpful for my friendship with Mrs. E.
When the E's called several weeks ago and asked if they could come stay with us for the weekend, we were all excited and looked forward to them coming. And you know what? It was like we hadn't been in two different states for the past 4 months. We were all completely comfortable with each other. Having an extra 5 people in our home wasn't any more stressful than having family here. All our girls played with each other just like they always have. The Hubbies started several discussions about the church and basically had many "preacher" discussions. Mrs. E and I shared the same snarky attitude we always have, and the ability to laugh about the same things.
I'm so thankful to know that even though we don't live in the same town and see each other several times a week, our friendship can remain strong. The knowledge that we can get together after many months of not seeing each other and pick back up right where we left off is such a blessing. And the best part is that it is a blessing for myself, Hubby and our girls!
To be perfectly honest, I was a little afraid of what our friendship would become once we moved. I knew we would have the best intentions of staying in touch, but both of our families are busy with our lives. Neither Mrs. E or myself are the type to write each other an email every day. I know our Hubbies have talked several times, but that doesn't necessarily help the Mrs. and I. Back in October my Hubby took our girls and went camping with the E's when I went from my Grandma's funeral. Good for the Hubbies to catch up and our girls to enjoy each other, but again, not very helpful for my friendship with Mrs. E.
When the E's called several weeks ago and asked if they could come stay with us for the weekend, we were all excited and looked forward to them coming. And you know what? It was like we hadn't been in two different states for the past 4 months. We were all completely comfortable with each other. Having an extra 5 people in our home wasn't any more stressful than having family here. All our girls played with each other just like they always have. The Hubbies started several discussions about the church and basically had many "preacher" discussions. Mrs. E and I shared the same snarky attitude we always have, and the ability to laugh about the same things.
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| All the girls together |
Monday, January 14, 2013
I can be crafty!
***I apologize for the length of this post. I thought I had moved on from the trauma this caused me, but once I started I realized I'm still scarred.
I would not consider myself to be a crafty person. I like the idea of crafting, just not the actual process. I like getting everything organized and sorted out and lists made of what all I am going to need. Because I'm a list person. But I really dislike the clean-up. Even if it is just me, having to get everything cleaned up when I'm tired and grouchy after doing the craft is a pain. Not to mention the fact that I have never once had a craft go according the plan. Ever.
As for doing crafts with the girls, kill me now! I wish I was the type of Mom who loved to do crafts with my children. My girls certainly like doing them. But I can not stand doing it with them. Not only do they make a huge mess, regardless of what it is we are actually making, they very rarely do it correctly. Imagine that, a child not being able to flawlessly execute a craft that I myself can not seem to make look right. And even though my head knows this, my oh-so-carefully-kept-under-control control freak nature is driven absolutely nuts when my 8 year old does not evenly space the jewels she is gluing to the paper. Now, before you think I'm a completely awful person, I have never taken a project away from my child to do it for them because theirs doesn't look right. But I secretly want to. And it makes me twitch that I can't. So you will rarely see me sitting down to craft.
Despite all this, for some inexplicable reason, I decided that I would make a large majority of the Christmas gifts to give out to family this year. I blame Pinterest and my friend B for guilting me into joining. She knows who she is. Most of them turned out OK. None of them turned out as planned. And I have already instructed Hubby to remind me of everything I went through to make all this stuff next year if I should happen to temporarily lose my sanity again. Here are a few of the things I made.
Cinnamon applesauce ornaments. They're kind of cute, they smell really good. Baby Girl #3 was able to help me with them. However, once done I wondered if they had any true functionality. The thought was to have them for several years to help the house smell good. I gave several away to different people and I still have quite a few. If they still smell good next year it will have been worth it.
Multi-colored crayons. Made for Baby Girl #4 and the two cousins that are close to her age. You basically melt down several pieces of different crayons. Turned out OK. Uglier than I thought. This is probably due to the fact that I was so desperate to not have to peel the paper off 100 crayons that I recruited Baby Girls #1 and #2 to do it for me. They apparently decided that all the gray, black and brown ones should be done first. They were probably conspiring against me because I won't do any crafts with them.
Cute, right? WORST CRAFT EVER!!!!!!! It seemed like the simplest craft. Cut some cord and some old t-shirts up, braid them together and then glue a magnet on each end. I was even going to have #1 and #2 help with this one. Only to discover #2 doesn't know how to braid. News to me! #1 has known for a while and #3 just recently taught herself as well. I just assumed #2 had taught herself as well. That was not the case. Also, the lady whose blog I read on how to do this simply stated, "Glue a magnet on the end with tacky glue". Did she mention that tacky glue takes forever to dry? Or that if you try to put it down after 30 minutes thinking it is dry enough that the magnet will fall off because it is not, in fact, dry at all? Did she mention that the magnets themselves are a real pain to find in a craft store, or that the size of the magnet matters? Did she mention that if you try to order magnets online because you can not find the right size in 5 different stores that they might not be strong enough to actually hold the ends of a bracelet together? Or that if you try to switch to a hot glue gun because you have wasted hours of your life and only finished one stupid bracelet that it will not work if you already put tacky glue on the bracelet? In case you have missed the sarcastic tone, no, she did not mention any of that. I could go on with several more things that went wrong. Suffice it to say, I made several of the bracelets for my girls and their friends. I don't know if any of them can be worn. And I don't really care at all. If I never see those bracelets again I'll be fine with that.
This was my favorite. It didn't turn out as planned either, but at this point I didn't care at all. I made one for my Mom and made one for myself at the same time. I really liked it and it's a little awkward to ask someone to make something for you. In case you're wondering, my Mom and I both have a tendency to snort when we start laughing really hard. I love it when my Mom does it, it makes everyone else laugh even harder. It's not so cute when I do it, but I'm usually laughing too hard at that point to care what other people think about my laugh.
That's all the pictures I have. I made some other things--sugar scrubs that turned out OK, rice bags that you can heat up, bath crayons for the little girls that are basically colored soap, some seek and find bags. I don't know how much everyone will use what I made for them. At this point I just hope they lie to me and tell me they use it all the time. Until next December when they admit that it has just sat in their home not being used so that I can quell any desire to make anything for anyone. EVER AGAIN!
I would not consider myself to be a crafty person. I like the idea of crafting, just not the actual process. I like getting everything organized and sorted out and lists made of what all I am going to need. Because I'm a list person. But I really dislike the clean-up. Even if it is just me, having to get everything cleaned up when I'm tired and grouchy after doing the craft is a pain. Not to mention the fact that I have never once had a craft go according the plan. Ever.
As for doing crafts with the girls, kill me now! I wish I was the type of Mom who loved to do crafts with my children. My girls certainly like doing them. But I can not stand doing it with them. Not only do they make a huge mess, regardless of what it is we are actually making, they very rarely do it correctly. Imagine that, a child not being able to flawlessly execute a craft that I myself can not seem to make look right. And even though my head knows this, my oh-so-carefully-kept-under-control control freak nature is driven absolutely nuts when my 8 year old does not evenly space the jewels she is gluing to the paper. Now, before you think I'm a completely awful person, I have never taken a project away from my child to do it for them because theirs doesn't look right. But I secretly want to. And it makes me twitch that I can't. So you will rarely see me sitting down to craft.
Despite all this, for some inexplicable reason, I decided that I would make a large majority of the Christmas gifts to give out to family this year. I blame Pinterest and my friend B for guilting me into joining. She knows who she is. Most of them turned out OK. None of them turned out as planned. And I have already instructed Hubby to remind me of everything I went through to make all this stuff next year if I should happen to temporarily lose my sanity again. Here are a few of the things I made.
Cute, right? WORST CRAFT EVER!!!!!!! It seemed like the simplest craft. Cut some cord and some old t-shirts up, braid them together and then glue a magnet on each end. I was even going to have #1 and #2 help with this one. Only to discover #2 doesn't know how to braid. News to me! #1 has known for a while and #3 just recently taught herself as well. I just assumed #2 had taught herself as well. That was not the case. Also, the lady whose blog I read on how to do this simply stated, "Glue a magnet on the end with tacky glue". Did she mention that tacky glue takes forever to dry? Or that if you try to put it down after 30 minutes thinking it is dry enough that the magnet will fall off because it is not, in fact, dry at all? Did she mention that the magnets themselves are a real pain to find in a craft store, or that the size of the magnet matters? Did she mention that if you try to order magnets online because you can not find the right size in 5 different stores that they might not be strong enough to actually hold the ends of a bracelet together? Or that if you try to switch to a hot glue gun because you have wasted hours of your life and only finished one stupid bracelet that it will not work if you already put tacky glue on the bracelet? In case you have missed the sarcastic tone, no, she did not mention any of that. I could go on with several more things that went wrong. Suffice it to say, I made several of the bracelets for my girls and their friends. I don't know if any of them can be worn. And I don't really care at all. If I never see those bracelets again I'll be fine with that.
That's all the pictures I have. I made some other things--sugar scrubs that turned out OK, rice bags that you can heat up, bath crayons for the little girls that are basically colored soap, some seek and find bags. I don't know how much everyone will use what I made for them. At this point I just hope they lie to me and tell me they use it all the time. Until next December when they admit that it has just sat in their home not being used so that I can quell any desire to make anything for anyone. EVER AGAIN!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Baby Girl #3's birthday
Poor kid has a birthday just over a week after Christmas. Since my own birthday is exactly two weeks after Christmas I am aware of how much it actually stinks. It's not that I didn't get enough gifts or attention growing up on my birthday. It's just that everyone is always so partied out from Christmas that there isn't much celebration left in them when it comes time for your birthday. The one good thing is that we're usually around extended family for Christmas which means I'm able to throw a celebration for her in there somewhere. So far she doesn't seem to mind.
This year we were up at my parents' and my brother (D) and his wife and daughter were coming up a couple of days before our family Christmas. #3 had told me multiple times she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday. I really dislike that place. I'm not exactly sure why. It is entirely possible that I dislike it solely based on the cliche aspect of it. And the fact that it always seems dirty to me. And that I have never been to one where I did not see a child climbing on the ski-ball machine. (Once it was my child--but that's another story). Regardless, I did not want to do Chuck E Cheese. Instead, I thought we could go to a place called Incredible Pizza, which as it turns out is now called Gatti Town.
Gatti Town is like a grown up version of Chuck E Cheese. There is a Pizza/Salad/Dessert Bar that is all you can eat for as long as you are there. And you put money on a card for the games instead of having to carry 4 cups filled with a million tokens. There are also a lot more games that actual adults can enjoy like putt-putt and go-carts and miniature bowling. But also plenty of kid games as well.
I had a good plan. We went on a Thursday and got there about 3:30. My plan was to play first and then eat and then leave, missing most of the evening crowd. It didn't quite work out that way. Which is OK. One of my other brothers (S) was able to get off work a little early so he was able to come, so the extra stress was worth it. But seriously, it is so stressful to me to try to keep track of 4 children, make sure they all get to play and do everything they really want to, count tickets, and then take 15 minutes at a crowded counter to decide whether they want a pencil or plastic ring. I had 6 other adults there with me and I still left completely exhausted, and quite frankly, a little hungry. All you can eat doesn't help when you're trying to make sure your children get everything they want. Don't get me wrong, my family did most of the work for me. But I try to not just assume they will handle everything so I was constantly jumping up to get another breadstick or refill a drink.
So we left a little later than planned. And then we swung by my brother (S) and his wife's place so brother (D) and family could see their new house. One does not simply "stop by real quick" in my family. Our quick stops involve making a pot of coffee. But luckily I have done this before so I knew to bring the girls' PJs for them to change in to. We had an hour and half drive home. Made slightly longer due to the fact that even though I have made the drive several times in my life, and was actually following my Dad, I was talking instead of paying attention and took the wrong exit. Onto a turnpike. For those of you who are not familiar with the Oklahoma turnpikes, suffice it to say we had to go several miles down the road in order to turn around.
We made it home around 11, all the girls went right bed and the adults were not far behind. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to give Baby Girl #3 a celebration at a pizza/party place, even if it wasn't Chuck E Cheese, and even if it wasn't on her actual birthday. That proud moment disappeared on her actual birthday when she asked me what we were going to do for her birthday and then got a blank look when I explained that Gatti Town was her party. *Sigh*
This year we were up at my parents' and my brother (D) and his wife and daughter were coming up a couple of days before our family Christmas. #3 had told me multiple times she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for her birthday. I really dislike that place. I'm not exactly sure why. It is entirely possible that I dislike it solely based on the cliche aspect of it. And the fact that it always seems dirty to me. And that I have never been to one where I did not see a child climbing on the ski-ball machine. (Once it was my child--but that's another story). Regardless, I did not want to do Chuck E Cheese. Instead, I thought we could go to a place called Incredible Pizza, which as it turns out is now called Gatti Town.
Gatti Town is like a grown up version of Chuck E Cheese. There is a Pizza/Salad/Dessert Bar that is all you can eat for as long as you are there. And you put money on a card for the games instead of having to carry 4 cups filled with a million tokens. There are also a lot more games that actual adults can enjoy like putt-putt and go-carts and miniature bowling. But also plenty of kid games as well.
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| Baby Girls #1, 2 and 3 with Uncle on Bumper Cars. Baby Girl #4 and cousin are looking on morosely because they are too short to ride. |
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| Baby Girls #1 and #2 on the go-carts |
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| Baby Girl #3 actually enjoyed the little kid section more than anything |
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| She loved this train |
We made it home around 11, all the girls went right bed and the adults were not far behind. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to give Baby Girl #3 a celebration at a pizza/party place, even if it wasn't Chuck E Cheese, and even if it wasn't on her actual birthday. That proud moment disappeared on her actual birthday when she asked me what we were going to do for her birthday and then got a blank look when I explained that Gatti Town was her party. *Sigh*
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Our Christmas
The majority of my family was able to get together on the 29th for our family's Christmas gathering. Hubby didn't come with the girls and I because I was going to be at my parents' for two weeks. My older brother and his wife spent Thanksgiving with us so they were with her family for Christmas. Everyone else was there though, even my sister's fiance who drove 10 hours round trip just to be able to spend a few hours with us.
My family is not huge on traditions. We decided several years ago as more of "us kids" were getting married that we would plan on celebrating Christmas whenever the most of us could get together. One of my brothers is a State Trooper and he works a lot of holidays. Hubby usually isn't going to be taking off any time around the holidays because he's expected to be at home for the congregation. So we work around everyone's schedules to include as many as we can. We figure as long as we're together, the actual day isn't as important.
The one tradition we do have? We have a scavenger hunt every Christmas. Mom and Dad started doing one, I don't even know how long ago. We used to have it just around their house, but the in-laws started complaining that it wasn't really fair since they hadn't grown up there and how were they supposed to know where the dog was buried? Whiners! Anyway, this year Mom and Dad went all out and actually gave items to several church members, gave us the addresses and we had to map it out on GPS and then figure out who had what. It was a lot of fun. Although the driver in my car was the Trooper brother, and I'm not crazy about what a stickler he seems to be for the "laws of the land" such as the speed limit. Anyway, it's the one thing we have all decided needs to be done every year. I sometimes think my parents wish they hadn't ever started this tradition, but we all tell them they have no one to blame but themselves!
After the scavenger hunt we opened gifts and ate a laid back meal of enchilada pie. If you've never had it, you've missed out! I gotta say--my family is loud when we all get together! Even when there were 8 of us living in the the house when my siblings and I were all at home my parents' house seemed plenty big. (Most of the time!) However, when there were 17 of us talking, opening gifts, and eating it seemed a little cramped! But you know what? I wouldn't change it. I'm so thankful I was able to spend time with all of them. And let's be honest--anyone who knows me knows that I'm not what you would normally term a quiet person. We're all pretty loud, and I love it!
My family is not huge on traditions. We decided several years ago as more of "us kids" were getting married that we would plan on celebrating Christmas whenever the most of us could get together. One of my brothers is a State Trooper and he works a lot of holidays. Hubby usually isn't going to be taking off any time around the holidays because he's expected to be at home for the congregation. So we work around everyone's schedules to include as many as we can. We figure as long as we're together, the actual day isn't as important.
The one tradition we do have? We have a scavenger hunt every Christmas. Mom and Dad started doing one, I don't even know how long ago. We used to have it just around their house, but the in-laws started complaining that it wasn't really fair since they hadn't grown up there and how were they supposed to know where the dog was buried? Whiners! Anyway, this year Mom and Dad went all out and actually gave items to several church members, gave us the addresses and we had to map it out on GPS and then figure out who had what. It was a lot of fun. Although the driver in my car was the Trooper brother, and I'm not crazy about what a stickler he seems to be for the "laws of the land" such as the speed limit. Anyway, it's the one thing we have all decided needs to be done every year. I sometimes think my parents wish they hadn't ever started this tradition, but we all tell them they have no one to blame but themselves!
After the scavenger hunt we opened gifts and ate a laid back meal of enchilada pie. If you've never had it, you've missed out! I gotta say--my family is loud when we all get together! Even when there were 8 of us living in the the house when my siblings and I were all at home my parents' house seemed plenty big. (Most of the time!) However, when there were 17 of us talking, opening gifts, and eating it seemed a little cramped! But you know what? I wouldn't change it. I'm so thankful I was able to spend time with all of them. And let's be honest--anyone who knows me knows that I'm not what you would normally term a quiet person. We're all pretty loud, and I love it!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
It's my Birthday!
And I did a whole lot of nothing! I had a tuna fish sandwich for lunch and tacos for dinner. We were late getting home from our trip so school had to start today. I got to open all my gifts early so I had nothing to open today. Baby Girl #1 made cookies after dinner but since Hubby and I started counting points today I can't eat more than one.
And you know what? I'm OK with my day being like that. The gifts that I did get were pretty awesome. Hubby fixed my wedding ring that has been broken for several months! He also got me a certificate for a massage and money to go and do anything I want to for an entire day. I'm really looking forward to that day, whenever it comes. My parents got me a bracelet that I love. Hubby is making my favorite breakfast for brunch on Friday.
So my actual birthday wasn't one that will go down for the most spectacular day of my life. That's OK. My blessings are many. And if the gifts and breakfasts and special treatment get drawn out over several days instead of being all in one that may be even better. That's just that many more days that I get to say, "But we're celebrating my birthday!" to get out of cleaning the dinner dishes!
And you know what? I'm OK with my day being like that. The gifts that I did get were pretty awesome. Hubby fixed my wedding ring that has been broken for several months! He also got me a certificate for a massage and money to go and do anything I want to for an entire day. I'm really looking forward to that day, whenever it comes. My parents got me a bracelet that I love. Hubby is making my favorite breakfast for brunch on Friday.
So my actual birthday wasn't one that will go down for the most spectacular day of my life. That's OK. My blessings are many. And if the gifts and breakfasts and special treatment get drawn out over several days instead of being all in one that may be even better. That's just that many more days that I get to say, "But we're celebrating my birthday!" to get out of cleaning the dinner dishes!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Finally home
We are finally back home. We're two days later than what I planned thanks to a fever that made its way through each of the girls, one day at a time. Baby Girl #3 was actually sick on her birthday! Poor girl was miserable. But we're mostly all better, and we are so happy to be back home. I missed Hubby and the girls missed their Daddy.
I'll do a re-cap of the last several weeks over the next several days hopefully. We had a lot going on, but we had a wonderful holiday season. We're thankful for the time we got to spend with family and for all the blessings God has given us. God is so Good!
I'll do a re-cap of the last several weeks over the next several days hopefully. We had a lot going on, but we had a wonderful holiday season. We're thankful for the time we got to spend with family and for all the blessings God has given us. God is so Good!
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Who has time to write a blog post?
I am back together with all my girls! The littles and I headed up to my parents' house on Thursday and Friday. Let me just say that I am so glad that my brother and his family live almost exactly halfway between my house and my parents. I could have made the 10-14 hour trip (if you have little ones you understand why the trip time could be either 10 or 14 hours) by myself, but I'm really glad I didn't have to. We stayed the night Thursday night at my brother's. When we got up Friday morning and ate breakfast I was washing our dishes and Baby Girl #3 asked if I had to wash the dishes. I explained to her that when you visit someone's home it is always nice to leave the house as nice or nicer than when you got there. That way if you ever want to visit again they will look forward to you coming instead of dreading it. Then I told my brother about the conversation and informed him that I intend to be visiting a lot, whenever we travel back and forth to see the grandparents! Luckily we all get along and our visits are always fun!
I miss Hubby a lot, but it is nice to be back with my parents and be getting ready to enjoy the week with my family. Hubby told me a little while ago that one of our elders told him today that he should come up here this week so that he could be with us for Christmas even though technically he doesn't have the vacation time to be able to do that. Unfortunately, Hubby has a funeral to do in Houston this week so he couldn't come up anyway, but it means so much to us that our elders offered to let him take the extra time. It's nice that they feel that way even though we've only be there for about 4 months. This move has been tough on us, but things like that make it easier to feel like we're really a part of the congregation.
So now I have all the presents wrapped, goodies made and bag unpacked. All that is left is to unwrap all the gifts and enjoy spending time with family. I'm looking forward to not having to do anything that I don't actually want to! I hope all of you have a wonderful week filled with love and laughter. To any of you who are having a difficult time due to a loss or dealing with any depression, I may not know exactly who you are or what you are dealing with, but I will be praying for you.
I miss Hubby a lot, but it is nice to be back with my parents and be getting ready to enjoy the week with my family. Hubby told me a little while ago that one of our elders told him today that he should come up here this week so that he could be with us for Christmas even though technically he doesn't have the vacation time to be able to do that. Unfortunately, Hubby has a funeral to do in Houston this week so he couldn't come up anyway, but it means so much to us that our elders offered to let him take the extra time. It's nice that they feel that way even though we've only be there for about 4 months. This move has been tough on us, but things like that make it easier to feel like we're really a part of the congregation.
So now I have all the presents wrapped, goodies made and bag unpacked. All that is left is to unwrap all the gifts and enjoy spending time with family. I'm looking forward to not having to do anything that I don't actually want to! I hope all of you have a wonderful week filled with love and laughter. To any of you who are having a difficult time due to a loss or dealing with any depression, I may not know exactly who you are or what you are dealing with, but I will be praying for you.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Perspective
We've been having some problems with our Suburban lately. Hubby has tried a couple of different tricks to try and fix it himself. We thought we had it taken care of, but yesterday a light popped on again and we realized that we were going to have to take it in and have it repaired.
Praise God we have the money to get it fixed! The down side is that that leaves us with zero dollars in savings. Which isn't all that different than it has been for the last several years. Any time we finally are able to put money into savings something big comes up that we end up having to pay for. We are thankful that we've been able to pay cash for so many things that have come up the last few years. But we also struggle with the frustration of not having money put aside.
But with the shooting today in Connecticut, everything seems to have come into sharper focus. Today I have my two youngest with me safe and sound. My 5 year old was not at a school today that had a mad man come in and kill innocent babies. I know that my older two are also safe. Hubby and I are healthy and our children are healthy.
So what if we have to pay for the water pump to be fixed? So what if we have to be careful with our finances because we have no savings? I'm not sitting at home tonight, staring at presents that my child will never open. I will not have to navigate the next hours and days and months and years with a void in my heart that my child once filled. I do not have an adult family member who will be missing at the family dinner this year. So tonight I praise God that my children and my spouse are safe and whole. I pray for those who did lose their children and their loved ones. I cry for the pain they must be feeling.
But through it all, I feel an overwhelming thankfulness that even in times when we can't understand why something happens, we have the knowledge that one day God himself will wipe away our tears.
Praise God we have the money to get it fixed! The down side is that that leaves us with zero dollars in savings. Which isn't all that different than it has been for the last several years. Any time we finally are able to put money into savings something big comes up that we end up having to pay for. We are thankful that we've been able to pay cash for so many things that have come up the last few years. But we also struggle with the frustration of not having money put aside.
But with the shooting today in Connecticut, everything seems to have come into sharper focus. Today I have my two youngest with me safe and sound. My 5 year old was not at a school today that had a mad man come in and kill innocent babies. I know that my older two are also safe. Hubby and I are healthy and our children are healthy.
So what if we have to pay for the water pump to be fixed? So what if we have to be careful with our finances because we have no savings? I'm not sitting at home tonight, staring at presents that my child will never open. I will not have to navigate the next hours and days and months and years with a void in my heart that my child once filled. I do not have an adult family member who will be missing at the family dinner this year. So tonight I praise God that my children and my spouse are safe and whole. I pray for those who did lose their children and their loved ones. I cry for the pain they must be feeling.
But through it all, I feel an overwhelming thankfulness that even in times when we can't understand why something happens, we have the knowledge that one day God himself will wipe away our tears.
Monday, December 10, 2012
The Littles
We are still down to just two girls, but now we have the littlest two. I was totally prepared for the next two weeks to be more difficult with the little ones instead of the big ones. But so far it hasn't been too bad. Yes, one of the girls is completely dependent on us for everything still. Except for getting her drink in and out of the fridge, she can't do much on her own. And while Baby Girl #3 is doing extremely well learning to read, she is still not able to read real books on her own. Which means that on rainy days like today she needs some major distractions since she can't play outside. Add to that the fact that the big girl's chores have fallen back on my shoulders, I was thinking that I wouldn't have much time to do anything around here.
But I forgot one huge factor. School for a Kindergartener takes MUCH less time than a 3rd grader and 5th grader. I'm talking an hour tops and we're done. Well, at least I'm done with my part. It might take her a little longer to get done with handwriting. But seriously, I had forgotten how quickly I can get done with just #3. It was a nice surprise today to be able to do 6 loads of laundry, an hour trip to Wal-Mart and everything else involved in the day after doing school this morning. So now I'm not worried about not having enough time for everything so much.
The one bad thing out of all of this? I'm not actually going to have much of a break from school. The girls will each have about 4 weeks off because of the trips to the grandparent's and the actual holidays. But since I'm going to be doing school with #3 until the 21st and then taking some math for the older ones to do while we're at my parent's, I'm not going to have many days that I don't have to worry about school at all. Oh well--hubby is going to make sure I have the day off for my birthday. Since this school year was thrown out of whack with the move I'm going to be thankful for the small things!
But I forgot one huge factor. School for a Kindergartener takes MUCH less time than a 3rd grader and 5th grader. I'm talking an hour tops and we're done. Well, at least I'm done with my part. It might take her a little longer to get done with handwriting. But seriously, I had forgotten how quickly I can get done with just #3. It was a nice surprise today to be able to do 6 loads of laundry, an hour trip to Wal-Mart and everything else involved in the day after doing school this morning. So now I'm not worried about not having enough time for everything so much.
The one bad thing out of all of this? I'm not actually going to have much of a break from school. The girls will each have about 4 weeks off because of the trips to the grandparent's and the actual holidays. But since I'm going to be doing school with #3 until the 21st and then taking some math for the older ones to do while we're at my parent's, I'm not going to have many days that I don't have to worry about school at all. Oh well--hubby is going to make sure I have the day off for my birthday. Since this school year was thrown out of whack with the move I'm going to be thankful for the small things!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
We might have gotten something right
The other day Hubby and I were talking on the phone to the younger girls. Then I hear the older two in the back of the car asking if they could talk to their sisters as well. This surprised me since just a few days before they were talking about how nice it was going to be to not have their sisters around. Listening to them on the phone I was happy to hear them be genuinely interested in what the little ones were doing and they engaged #4 in a real conversation.
I had a nice "ah ha" moment where I turned to Hubby and told him that this is what we had been working for ever since we had more than one child. That bond between siblings that is real and everlasting. Caring about each other and wanting to be a part of each others lives instead of viewing each other as annoyances to be shoved aside for other friends their own age. This is what we want for our children! It reminded me of a quote I saw recently that said, "Don't become so caught up in raising a good kid that you forget you already have one." It felt nice to believe that maybe, just maybe, Hubby and I were doing something right.
And then we got home and I saw that #1 and #2 hadn't done their chores for the day like they were told to before we left. Oh well, one battle at a time!
I had a nice "ah ha" moment where I turned to Hubby and told him that this is what we had been working for ever since we had more than one child. That bond between siblings that is real and everlasting. Caring about each other and wanting to be a part of each others lives instead of viewing each other as annoyances to be shoved aside for other friends their own age. This is what we want for our children! It reminded me of a quote I saw recently that said, "Don't become so caught up in raising a good kid that you forget you already have one." It felt nice to believe that maybe, just maybe, Hubby and I were doing something right.
And then we got home and I saw that #1 and #2 hadn't done their chores for the day like they were told to before we left. Oh well, one battle at a time!
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Feelings...
You know you're singing the song in your head too! I actually don't know that I know more than the first five words of that song! Nope, just thought about it and I don't know anymore words!
Yesterday Hubby and the older girls and I had a great day. We decorated the tree, did a little shopping, went to see a movie (Rise of the Guardians is awesome) and then had dinner together. I enjoyed all of it, but I felt a little weepy all day. The kind where I felt on the verge of tears almost constantly. We were going so much that I didn't really try to figure out why I felt that way until after the girls had gone to bed and I had a few minutes of quiet. And I realized that I was just missing my Grandma.
I don't know what set it off. Maybe the decorations I put up that used to be at her house? Maybe it was putting away her picture to put up other Christmas decorations. Or maybe I am just sad and it has to come out sometimes. I honestly don't know. I wish I did. I think I've mentioned before that this whole grief thing is new to me. I've found myself lately thinking a lot about Grandma's last days and the pain she was in. I have a hard time wrenching my mind off of that and remembering better times, when she was healthy. Is that normal? I don't know that either.
But it got me to thinking about all the people who have lost those who they are really close to. Parents, spouses, children. I can't imagine that pain. I loved my Grandma and considered myself close to her, but it wasn't the same as losing someone really close to me. I have already found myself wishing that it didn't hurt so bad. How does someone who loses a spouse or a child walk through that pain? How can they function in the normal day to day life?
If losing my Grandma teaches me nothing else, I hope that I am able to be more sensitive to those who have lost a loved one. To remember that while they may look ok on the outside, they are still grieving on the inside. To remember that the grief process lasts so much longer than most people realize, and to give that person the time and space they need to grieve. To remember to guard my tongue carefully lest something I say unthinkingly causes more pain. And to remember to show that person months and years down the road that I have not forgotten their loss. But most importantly of all, to pray for those who are grieving, as often as I think of them. That God would grant them a measure of peace as they wade through their new life without their loved one in it and that they would always remember how much He truly loves them.
I think Grandma would be glad that even in her passing, she is still teaching me how to be a better person.
Yesterday Hubby and the older girls and I had a great day. We decorated the tree, did a little shopping, went to see a movie (Rise of the Guardians is awesome) and then had dinner together. I enjoyed all of it, but I felt a little weepy all day. The kind where I felt on the verge of tears almost constantly. We were going so much that I didn't really try to figure out why I felt that way until after the girls had gone to bed and I had a few minutes of quiet. And I realized that I was just missing my Grandma.
I don't know what set it off. Maybe the decorations I put up that used to be at her house? Maybe it was putting away her picture to put up other Christmas decorations. Or maybe I am just sad and it has to come out sometimes. I honestly don't know. I wish I did. I think I've mentioned before that this whole grief thing is new to me. I've found myself lately thinking a lot about Grandma's last days and the pain she was in. I have a hard time wrenching my mind off of that and remembering better times, when she was healthy. Is that normal? I don't know that either.
But it got me to thinking about all the people who have lost those who they are really close to. Parents, spouses, children. I can't imagine that pain. I loved my Grandma and considered myself close to her, but it wasn't the same as losing someone really close to me. I have already found myself wishing that it didn't hurt so bad. How does someone who loses a spouse or a child walk through that pain? How can they function in the normal day to day life?
If losing my Grandma teaches me nothing else, I hope that I am able to be more sensitive to those who have lost a loved one. To remember that while they may look ok on the outside, they are still grieving on the inside. To remember that the grief process lasts so much longer than most people realize, and to give that person the time and space they need to grieve. To remember to guard my tongue carefully lest something I say unthinkingly causes more pain. And to remember to show that person months and years down the road that I have not forgotten their loss. But most importantly of all, to pray for those who are grieving, as often as I think of them. That God would grant them a measure of peace as they wade through their new life without their loved one in it and that they would always remember how much He truly loves them.
I think Grandma would be glad that even in her passing, she is still teaching me how to be a better person.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A tree that actually smells!
We finally got a Christmas tree that smells like a Christmas tree! We had an artificial tree for several years. That was for me. So much easier to just pull it out and have the lights already on there and we had one that looked pretty good. Until last year when Hubby informed me that he really preferred real trees because he liked the smell. I had not known this up to that point so we decided to get a real tree last year. We went all out--drove an hour to a Christmas tree farm, played on the toys, cut the tree down ourselves, the whole shebang. Only to get it home and realize that it had no smell to it whatsoever. Nothing! We spent $90 on that stupid thing, and that doesn't include the gas to and from.
That is not the case this year! I am sitting in front of our gorgeous tree and enjoying the smell of it permeating the entire house. This thing is strong! And I have to admit I'm loving it! The best part? We drove maybe 3 miles to pick it up and paid $40 for it. And it is just as pretty, if not more, so than our tree last year!
I also have the rest of my Christmas decorations up. Usually I don't have everything up this early. In fact, I have a little light that you can count down how many days until Christmas and I didn't realize before today that it went above 25 days. But since Baby Girls #1 and #2 are going to the grandparents next week I wanted to get everything up before they left so they could enjoy it for a little while. And they enjoyed being able to help me set everything up. And let's be honest, it is so much easier to get everything out without a 2 year old wanting to help.
That last picture is a singing village of Disney characters. My grandparents put them up for so many years in their home at Christmas time. My Grandpa took a lot of time to get them situated just right on their organ. I remember as a kid just sitting and watching them for the longest time. About 5 years ago when they were downsizing Grandma asked me if I wanted it. I said yes, not really thinking at the time that I would use it that much. But I've put it up every year and it makes me smile every time I see it because it makes me think of Grandpa and Grandma's house. And I love to watch my girls sitting in front of it listening to the songs, just like I used to. And I remember how big Grandma smiled when I told her how much my daughters loved it. I like having a piece of her in my home like that.
That is not the case this year! I am sitting in front of our gorgeous tree and enjoying the smell of it permeating the entire house. This thing is strong! And I have to admit I'm loving it! The best part? We drove maybe 3 miles to pick it up and paid $40 for it. And it is just as pretty, if not more, so than our tree last year!
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| No decorations yet--we got home too late. Tomorrow! |
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| They're a little hard to see, but I love snowmen! I have a lot of them, but I always want more! |
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| I seriously love these Hallmark things that sing! I only have two, mainly to help Hubby's sanity. |
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| My attempt to keep the more breakable items out of reach of Baby Girl #4. I'll let you know how that goes! |
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| You can't see it, but these are right next to Hubby's homework table. It's because he loves them sooooo much! |
That last picture is a singing village of Disney characters. My grandparents put them up for so many years in their home at Christmas time. My Grandpa took a lot of time to get them situated just right on their organ. I remember as a kid just sitting and watching them for the longest time. About 5 years ago when they were downsizing Grandma asked me if I wanted it. I said yes, not really thinking at the time that I would use it that much. But I've put it up every year and it makes me smile every time I see it because it makes me think of Grandpa and Grandma's house. And I love to watch my girls sitting in front of it listening to the songs, just like I used to. And I remember how big Grandma smiled when I told her how much my daughters loved it. I like having a piece of her in my home like that.
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