Mindy's profileFive of UsPhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
October 08 Spelling WoesI have three children who don't like to do things wrong. I understand this. Perfectionism runs deep around here. However, my concern is that this issue, when it comes to schoolwork, actually goes deeper than perfectionism. I think it has a lot to do with laziness. And pride. Help me out here. We use Spelling Power for our spelling program. We love Spelling Power. I absolutely hated spelling lists at the beginning of the week as a kid...and the concept of having 20 words handed to a child on Monday, with a test scheduled on Friday and then they write the words 10 times, write them in a sentence, and study them at home Thursday night...to be tested on Friday...and after that, more than likely never dealing with that word again even if they got it wrong on the test...just seems pointless to me. As the kid who generally got the spelling words right on the pre-test on Monday...half the time, I didn't even learn new spellings in a week. How silly!! Spelling power introduces new words each day...if the child knows how to spell the word, you move on to the next. If the child spells the word incorrectly, they cross it out, spell it correctly in the next column, and that becomes a study word. For Reasa and Lainie, we'll go until we get to as many as 4 or 5 study words for that day, and then you stop giving new words, and they go through a 10-step study process (where they spell it, say it, write it, close their eyes and spell it and say it, and so on), then they write each word in a sentence. Sometimes we follow this up with other practice techniques--making the words out of play doh, writing them in rice trays, making pancakes with the letter shapes...etc. Basically, the kids get 15-20 new words a week. This is wonderful! Here's the rub: my children turn into whimpering puddles of ridiculousness when they spell a word wrong. The first missed word, it's a mild pout. The second word, they start fussing. The third word? Oh, my gosh...it's like their little worlds came tumbling down and they feel like hopeless idiots who have been sentenced to a life of stupidity. And I've made the girls go to 4 or 5 a day. Just imagine the result. This may sound strong to you. Let me assure you...it's worse than that. And it's every day. Every day that they get words wrong (and the lists are getting harder, which is good!! But it means more words wrong than they're used to). Every single day, I assure their precious little heads that they have to get words wrong occasionally, otherwise there is absolutely no point in doing a spelling lesson. They have to get words wrong in order to learn new spellings. If they already knew how to spell every word in the English language, as their teacher, I would not be a necessary part of their lives. Now...if they want to learn the spellings of every single word in the English language on their own time and impress me with their knowledge when we do Spelling lessons...hey, have at it. But I can guarantee you, this is not going to happen. Today, I put my foot down. I told them (Lainie specifically) that I would never again have this conversation with them. They would get words wrong daily, that was the point, and I would never listen to them whine or fuss about it again. If they did whine or fuss again, I would assign them the ominous task of writing 25 times, "I will not whine or fuss or pout about spelling words ever again. I need to learn to spell new words." If it happened after that, I would increase that number by 10 each time it happened. Or maybe more. For Lainie, this would be a punishment pretty much worse than death. And I told her it would happen during free time...that she would not hold the rest of us up while she pouted and whined about having to write sentences. Plus, if she did that I would give her more. It was not a good mommy moment. That Homeschooling Mommy of the Year Award? Yeah, I wasn't in the running for that anyway. I want to believe that the reason they get so upset is because they just can't stand getting things wrong. They want so desperately to do everything with excellence that the thought of missing a spelling word rocks their worlds. I'm pretty sure this is not the reason most of the time. With each misspelled word, the work load becomes greater. Another word with which they must work through those 10 steps. Another sentence to write. More school to do. For Lainie, this is definitely the case. For Reasa...however...I think it's pride. She hates the thought of being wrong. I know this is true for her because it transfers to other areas of her life. This is just another area where we need to deal with this. These are the parts of parenting nobody tells you about. And absolutely nobody tells you how to actually deal with them. Time to bust out Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours again. Maybe Kevin Leman mentioned something in there about this issue...I didn't read through to these ages... So, tell me...how do you deal with pride issues or laziness in your child's schoolwork? Other areas? I wish I could tell you that I handle these things beautifully. My reaction above would indicate...otherwise. October 06 Ten Years Later......I have a job again. Now, it's quarter-time. And it's more like fun than work. And I can mostly do it from home... ...but it's a job. I'm the Worship Arts Assistant/Director/Copy Maker/Organizer/Crazy Person Who Almost Sort Of Knows What She's Doing. I had my first staff meeting tonight...more of a training session than anything, it was truly an opportunity to get to know the three other new staff people who came on with me this month, and our Lead Pastor. Life is good. Life is a little nuts, but it's good. So, now that I've got the next three weeks' worship lineups planned, if you happen to know how to insert a video clip from wingclips.com into a powerpoint presentation...hey...I'm all ears. October 05 Simple Woman's Daybook, 10/5/09 To join Peggy or to see other daybooks, click on picture.
And to follow my "friend" Lainie, from whose site I link to this each week...visit Mishmash Maggie.
Outside my window... crickets chirp under a waning moon...the moon my daughter can't stop staring at through her fun, striped sheers...and the chill that is so distinctly fall. Have you stepped outside yet just smell the leaves and crispness this fall?
I am thinking... that it will be good to have the wii hooked up again. I prefer watching guitar hero tournaments and tennis matches to Saddle Club. Ugh. I am thankful for... the opportunity to use the gifts with which God has blessed me. I am wearing... a pink tank top and flannel jammie pants. I am reading... Fearless by Max Lucado. I am hoping... that I can do all of my jobs with excellence and balance. I am creating... a wedding cake for Saturday, a worship plan for the next two weeks, and a meal plan. I am praying... for Eric and Kendra as they wait on God's timing, for Dan as he searches for a job, for our new worship service format and the lives it will touch. Around the house... about 20 more boxes that make me crazy every time I look at them...but I just can't seem to find the motivation to tackle. From the kitchen... black beans and pork chops tonight...which my whole family scarfed...even Lainie!! and a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies straight out of the Nestles Toll House pull-apart package from Angel Food! One of my favorite things...vacuumed floors. and a house I am proud to have people drop in on. A few plans for the rest of the week... schooling the monkeys, my first staff meeting, two karate practices of sparring (yuck), a Vegas-themed wedding cake to deliver on Saturday, and celebrating Sukkoth with the kids...more or less.
Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you...  Sigh. It's happening. Right before my eyes. What's scary? She did a great job, on hers, and the other girls'. A few more years, kiddo. Hold on. October 04 Tinker FairiesKnow what you get when you put 13 8-10-year-olds in a house for 15 hours with glorious amounts of pixie dust, sugar, craft supplies, and a sleeping bag and pillow apiece??
Absolutely no sleep, that's what.
 And some really, really adorable pixies scattered about. That up there is Bridgette. She was the birthday girl. :) Check out the sparkles.
  Lainie very sweetly gave Bridgette her Tinkerbell costume to wear for the party...Bridgette very sweetly gave it back for Lainie to wear for a little while too. And Bridgette shared her future Halloween costume with Reasa (who, for most of the party, was actually much more of a helper than a fairy. She is, after all, outgrowing all of this cute fairy stuff. Mmhmm. Right.)
 Yep. There's 13 of 'em.
There was pixie dust everywhere. Stacy will be vacuuming the stuff up for the next 10 years.
 Tinkerbell with her cake. I have to admit...I was a weepy mess when I watched her eat her cake. Do you remember Bridgette?? (Follow the link to refresh your memory a little bit...and then read this one...and really, she's all over my blog... :) ) We had so much fun. So much fun. And all the sleep we missed...well, who cares? Spending an unexpected few hours with a couple of my sweetest friends and their munchkins...altogether worth it.
September 30 One of Those DaysYou know those days you have where you get to the end of them, you replay them in your mind, and there truly just isn't anything redeeming about the whole day? I didn't have one of those days today... ...but it was close. The redeeming factors? Spending an hour helping a friend plan for her daughter's Tinkerbell 9th birthday party (seriously, some day, I'm going to run a party-planning business and I'm going to throw birthday parties for children. no joke. and i get to make the cakes. i think i'll do this when my kids are in college and i need a kid fix before i have grandies.). Talking to my pastor about what he expects of me for this weekend's services. Watching Bryson wear his glasses and read like he's never read before. I'm sure the novelty will wear off really, really soon...but for today, he read like a little maniac. Did this mommy's heart good. Yep. That was it. No, having my husband show up with a Contractor and his foreman without any notice and take a tour through my house was not a high point. No, having Reasa's trainer approach me about the possibility of leasing the horse she is currently riding as part of her general lesson fee was not a high point. No, the discussion Seth and I had regarding this option was not a high point. Nor was the conversation regarding another opportunity... Having to tell a friend I just couldn't help her with her statistics of sociology homework because I didn't understand it any more than she did...nope. Not a high point. Fearing I had stepped on another friend's toes...heck no. Tomorrow? It wouldn't take much to make it a better day. I don't want to tempt Murphy, though. So, I'm going to say...it's going to be better. Please, God. September 29 This Week......I get to really figure out balance. Or I get to figure out how little I really have. ...I get to teach my kids the science of pyramids. How fun is that? ...I get to jump in headfirst into our next Singapore math curriculum with the girls. If only they loved math as much as I do... ...I get to experience two of my littlies adjusting to everyday life with reading glasses. So thankful that's all they need. ...I get to step into a role in my church I never expected I would have anywhere...but feel pretty stinking blessed to be trusted to tackle. ...I get to watch as the monkeys put together Greek root words and make sense of them...and watch lightbulbs pop over their heads. ...I get to listen as my kids learn the discipline of repenting...and accepting Grace and Forgiveness. ...I get to pray more. And focus more. And concentrate more directly. ...I get to intensify my karate workout as my instructor prepares me for a tournament. And I get to feel those competitive butterflies kick around in my stomach again. ...I get to design two cakes...one for my sweet niece's birthday, and one for her great aunt's wedding reception. I love this week. And it's only Tuesday. September 28 Simple Woman's Daybook, 9/28/09
Click to join Peggy at The Simple Woman or to view other daybook entries.
A few plans for the rest of the week... trip to the library...deciding how to advertise my cake business...school, school, school...a major focus on the Days of Awe, and a Yom Kippur celebration on Saturday (yes, we're a week behind)..maybe my birthday celebration with my family on Sunday...you just never know what's going to happen around here!
Here is a picture thought I'm sharing with you... 
Pretty sweet find last week. The kids had never seen one, and I had never seen one that wasn't all green...he (she?) was huge!! September 25 Sabbath RestSo, I'm pretty sure our next 24 hours have nothing whatsoever to do with "rest," but we're pretending. I just sat down for the first time (basically) since 7:30 this morning. If you know anything about the Jewish practice of "Sabbath," you know that this 24 hours of rest begins at just about sundown on Friday evening, with all of the preparations for the evening meal and the next day (including house cleaning, meal preparation, etc.) complete by the time the evening meal and its blessings and traditions begin. This is a beautiful theory. I'm sure that if I had planned well for this before today, I may have been able to accomplish that. OK, maybe not. I have to say, though, amidst my crazy cake-for-125-decorating-and-delivering, sit-at-Munroe-Muffler-for-an-hour-and-a-half-waiting-for-a-diagnosis-and-an-oil-change-that-cost-me-over-$200, run-Lainie-to-the-gym-after-cake-delivery, make-another-cake-for-tomorrow-while-making-our-Sabbath-meal kind-of a day...my children cleaned this house till it shone. And nearly without complaint. Our curriculum planned this day as a "day of preparation" rather than a normal school day, and I'll tell you...if I ever needed a day planned to have them help me...today was the day. Tomorrow may not be quiet (with a car scheduled for repairs at 9:00, two kids' eye doctor appointments at 10:20, a cake to finish for a trip to Elmira, a plan to hopefully buy a new car in the afternoon (we'll see about that), and that trip to Elmira...), and it may not foster reflection...but the preparation for tomorrow has helped me to appreciate my kids...the blessing they are, their willingness to help me when I need them, their sweet, gentle spirits during our celebration, and knowing that they can flex and stretch during craziness as well as restfulness. We need to find some restfulness. Maybe next month. :) September 23 Theoretical FreedomDays when school starts at 11... ...suck. You start homeschooling thinking it's going to be this wonderful, schedule-free situation. Oh, it's wonderful all right. But the schedule...well, if you have a doctor's appointment in the morning, a car repair scheduled for the afternoon...no problem!! You can work it in! You can school around it. In theory...this is true. In reality...this sucks. Now, don't get me wrong. I know that all you working moms...you have to fit this in around your work schedule, or during your lunch breaks, or on your weekends. I get it. I understand. If I had to choose, of course I would choose what I have. Flexibility is a wonderful thing. Sometimes. Some days, when I know that tomorrow, we have a dentist appointment in the morning and have to go look at a car in the afternoon, then we have gymnastics and karate and worship team rehearsal in the evening...and I need to change over my license and car registration and that tomorrow after the dentist would be the most convenient time to do that...I have to strategically plan school. What can we take with us to the dentist's office so that we don't lose an entire morning of schooling? What can we leave off tomorrow and pick up on Friday to make tomorrow a more realistic day when we're out of the house for hours? Friday is a "day off" in preparation for our start of Rosh Hashanah celebration (yes, I know that started last weekend, but we're celebrating it to understand the biblical feasts, not because it's when they're really happening. I do not mean to be sacreligious by any means...really.) and sabbath...and I have a cake to be delivered by 6, and one to begin for Saturday. Couldn't we just do a couple of things on Friday morning that we're going to go crazy trying to fit in on Thursday?? UGH!! I always work it out. Really. But never without losing my mind a little bit. And if you ask the kids...they probably don't even notice. But when we're running around like maniacs, and school gets checked off as kind of an afterthought... ...I hate those days. You can pray for us tomorrow. I'm going to fit it all in...but I'm going to slightly lose my mind in doing this. I love homeschooling. Everything else...well, some days, it could all go away and I'd be ok with that. September 22 The Unexpected, etc.Do you have things that pop into your school day and reek absolute havoc on your grand plans?? I'm finding, more and more every day...I have to fight for days that don't include those unexpected situations, circumstances, phone calls, visitors, or events. And even more importantly...to ignore them or reschedule them or just plain old refocus when they do come up. Just as a "for example..." For whatever reason, when my husband comes home from work in the middle of a lesson (because we've put off school until the afternoon due to several unexpected kinds of things), the rest of the lesson, and generally the rest of the schooling, for that matter...completely over. Might as well pack it up and walk away. In our new location, however, that is a much more difficult scenario. He is closer to us even when he's working now than he has been in the past two years, where before he worked either a couple of hours away or at least a couple of towns away, and couldn't do his work (operating heavy equipment) from the kitchen table, this is no longer the case. A couple of times a week, he may set up office in the kitchen...or spend an hour or two making and receiving 900 phone calls and sending 400 emails in the garage while he works on a project for home...or he comes home in the early afternoon to prepare for a dinner meeting with a construction firm or a township meeting or a meeting with some senator in Harrisburg. He loves his job...and I love that he loves his job...but we're going to have to adjust. So, today, when he walked in the door during the beginning of our math lesson...we refocused. I know it was hard for the kids, I know they had to work through some loud conversations and fight the urge to run up the stairs to see what Daddy was doing...I know Daddy would have liked a bit of our attention...but we did it. They even got their 30 minutes of quiet reading done after that math lesson...while he paced the living room and typed reports at the table. Maybe today was a breakthrough. We'll see. Yesterday, we found a praying mantis in our back yard...and today, the kids found a cicada...neither of which they have seen before. I kind of like this house. :) This has nothing to do with our breakthrough...just fun information. Today, I made the decision that long division is taking too long because my girls don't know their times tables well enough. I remember 5th grade...standing at Mrs. Jautz's desk, reciting times tables, or having her quiz me, getting one of those lick-'em stars to put on the chart for each fact family I learned without a mistake, terrified of that final "all-of-the-families-combined" test...and then rejoicing in the fact that I had done a certain (crazy) number of facts in a minute without a mistake. The girls are in fifth grade...and it's just going to be more important that they know their facts from this point on. So...we add "times tables" to the morning chore charts. They'll love it, I'm sure. And for the record...Bryson thinks Spelling Power rocks. I think he thinks it rocks primarily because it means he's doing something just like the girls have been doing the past two years...and that makes him "cool." But the great thing? His enthusiasm is contagious. I have two girls who haven't complained one bit about getting two spelling words "wrong" the past two days. You won't hear me complaining. :) And, for whatever reason, this entry is on a white background. I have no idea why. It just is. I apologize. September 21 Simple Woman's Daybook, 9/21/09 Click to join Peggy at The Simple Woman or to view other daybook entries. For Today, Monday September 21th, 2009... Outside my window... gloomy clouds...and the largest praying mantis I have ever seen! love when my kids turn into scientists. I am thinking... that I'm thankful for fresh starts...even at the library. I am thankful for... the disaster in my home--a result of a house-full of family and friends. finally. I am wearing... jeans and a melon-colored t-shirt, fuzzy socks and a cream cardigan I am reading... The Tanglewood's Secret aloud to my kids. I am hoping... to work through some of the frustrations involved in parenting pre-adolescents and the challenges of a new school year. I am creating... plans for two birthday cakes this weekend... I am praying...for my friend Tina...that she would have peace and comfort and wisdom. would you join me? Around the house... a bit of clutter from the weekend...but more of a feeling of home than a week ago... From the learning rooms... a fascination with dinosaurs, experiments involving light and waves... From the kitchen...tiramisu cake, and leftovers from yesterday's picnic. :) One of my favorite things...Macintosh Apples. In season. Right now. :) :) :) A few plans for the rest of the week...the usual crazy schedule, deciding whether to allow my gymnast to become a horse rider, last real rehearsal before our worship team makes things happen for real, one more week of sanity before I actually start my new job. Melting Down Over our 7 years of homeschooling, we have used two main curriculum companies...both of which I have enjoyed for different reasons. We began our adventure with Sonlight, which, though rich in real literature and jam-packed full of great information, wound up not really working for our family. I found myself spending hours every week trying to make the information interesting, whether through hands-on types of activities or skipping some of the more complex, uninteresting material presented to first and second graders. Don't get me wrong...with the "right" kid, this presentation of information would have been perfect...it just didn't work with my girls' learning styles. And I realized that along the way, I would add a younger brother to the mix. Not wanting to teach two different levels of history, we needed a curiculum that would work well through a couple of different (three-school-years-apart) levels. With a bit of research and a ton of encouragement from my friend, Paige, we jumped into My Father's World's Adventures curriculum when the girls started 3rd grade, 4th grade brought us Exploring Countries and Cultures (and Bryson worked through MFW 1st grade), and Creation to the Greeks began this year in grade 5. As a result of this hopping around, I'm pretty sure that 4 years out of the seven (plus Bryson's 1st grade study while they inadvertently listened in)...we have begun our studies with Creation. Let's add in there the number of times they have talked about creation in Sunday school, VBS, different churches we've now attended, and general family devotional types of situations... I think my kids are "creationed" out. Don't get me wrong...it's a great topic for my kids to explore. They still can't tell you exactly what happened on each day, or how the rest of Biblical history progresses in exact sequence...so there is always more to learn, always deeper to dig. But they know the stories. And therefore, they assume they are experts and shouldn't need to study this further. This has become a sticking point in our schooling this year. Because, you see, they aren't just applying this philosophy of "we've studied this before...we're over it" to History and Bible. They have decided that anything we've covered in any subject shouldn't be revisited, and they currently plan to throw a fit about it if I bring it up. It has been an interesting couple of math lessons, let me tell you. I had the audacity to bust out a couple of review sheets on 2-digit multiplication and long division last week in the midst of our Singapore 3B review. You would have thought I had told them they had to conjugate 30 greek verbs. And when they suddenly realized they didn't remember how to correctly do these problems (because every problem of this type wound up with a big red box around it on each of their papers)...the meltdown began. "We shouldn't have to do this again" was met with "But you don't know how to do it anymore" and the comeback? "But we already learned it! We shouldn't have to ever do it again!" This led to a lengthy discussion (ok, so it was more like a lecture) about how all of the information you learn builds upon all of the stuff you already know...and how knowing how to do this type of problem will help them when they have to learn more difficult math, and might even help them with more complex science and so on...it pretty much went right over their heads. They sat at their workstations and cried...but not because they were worried about that difficult math or complex science...they just didn't want to do long division or two-digit multiplication. So...tell me...how do you handle it when your kids meltdown over something they're doing for school (besides the repeated asking of yourself why on earth you chose to homeschool, or reminding them that if they were sitting in a classroom with 25 other students and their teacher, they wouldn't be crying over a multiplication problem)? Especially when it's truly not too difficult for them? Especially when it's a matter of plain-old-stubborn-refusal-to-want-to-work-at-something-that's-less-than-obvious? Or am I the only one battling this?? September 20 Blog Walking Each day, I sign in to my google reader to check in with my friends via their blogs As a result of reading along with the friends I know personally, I have been tuned in to the informative, thought-provoking, sometimes belly-laugh-inspiring blogs of their friends and family members. In the mix, my favorites have also found their way into my reader...including several blogs belonging to fellow homeschoolers...moms who write amazingly, who challenge me to love deeply, who give me ideas for subject matter or projects (including the design of my own homeschool classroom (thank you www.my3boybarians.com!!) (my link thingy isn't working tonight, apparently...sorry about that...cut and paste!!), who have a sense of humor about their lives and their children, and whether they share my opinions or views or not...always make me think. Reading these blogs helps me realize that my life isn't so unusual. That I truly am not completely insane, that I struggle through the same issues with which other moms struggle, that my kids are basically normal, and that homeschooling...is the challenge I try to brush off and say "it's not that big of a deal" about all too many times. In reading through one of those amazing homeschooling mom's blogs tonight (a friend who writes briefly about her schooling nearly every day), she linked to another friend who wanted to keep track of bloggers who blog about their experiences with My Father's World curriculum...I realized I almost never write about what goes on day-to-day in our schooling. Almost never. We currently use My Father's World Creation to the Greeks this year...with a smattering of other things (all recommended by MFW, with some additional read-alouds thanks to Sonlight's list for our grade levels), and we absolutely love it. This is our third year with MFW, and if you were to ask me any given day, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. With that said, at this point, my lack of writing regularly about school changes. I write about everything else...with the goal of remembering things I know I will forget, and maybe helping my kids remember it some day when my memory is truly gone...because I haven't taken the time to write it down in any sort of journal. I can't promise that anything we do in a given day will remotely interest any of you...I can't promise that I'll say anything inspiring about our schooling...but then, that won't be a big difference between that and what I already write. So, umm, consider yourselves warned. September 09 *insert sigh of relief here*On Monday, August 31, 2009, at 9:00, we signed the papers. At 9:30, we shook hands with our lawyer, and walked out of his office, homeowners. By 11:00, the first load was off the trailer...and life got a little nuts again...but it was nuts inside a house that is ours. *insert sigh of relief here* Since then, we have discovered much about this wonderful place...how fabulous a clean, working pool is when your kids have been desperately wanting to swim every day of the summer. How wonderfully said pool occupies them when mommy has a million boxes to sort and unpack. How spoiled I was with the kitchen in the brown house...but how incredible my father is for restructuring the existing pantry (including knocking out a wall, pushing it back, and adding shelves) to make it more usable for me. How huge and fanastic the classroom space is and how much more productive the school year will be as a result. How yucky carpet can become when people don't remove their shoes or train their animals well. How textured walls become when one applies faux finishes to them...and how interesting that is to cover. How far you can stretch one can of chocolate brown paint in a 13'x21' room that started out light grey. How much furniture it actually takes to fill a 2500 square foot home. How long it takes to sweep, mop and vacuum a 2500 square foot home. How quickly the floors in that home become...well, yucky. How a little more than a third of an acre in a neighborhood where you already feel welcomed and at home seems a lot bigger than the little more than two acres in the middle of the woods that you thought you really wanted. How great it is to be over the hump of "transition," and moving quickly into "settled." I have to tell you, though...I've been wandering around this house, going through the motions of "getting settled," and not quite sure how to feel at home here. I think that I have spent more than a year feeling not-at-home. We listed the house in Painted Post on August 20, 2008. We sold the house and moved on October 24, knowing that the cabin was as temporary as three months, but more likely closer to six. We lived in the cabin until May, but had an initial closing date on the brown house of March 13. We actually moved to the brown house in May...but within a week of moving there, issues had come up...and we knew all was not well. We moved out on August 13, and into my parents, then here on the 31st. My brain is still swimming. I keep feeling like, "Well, I'm going to paint this room, but I'm going to save the paint chip...I want this for the next house." And, "I love this (fill-in-the-blank-feature), but I'm not going to get too attached." It seems like there's a lot at stake this time...I love this house. So much more than the last house. It is ours. Period. The papers are signed. The check was handed over. The deal is done. No turning back. I keep having to remind myself. So, in the midst of all of this "transition," we've torn out that pantry, painted two bedrooms and the classroom, gone to lessons and rehearsals, attended a neighbor's birthday party, groomed a horse, gone to a horse show (Reasa, as usual, did very well), found a wonderful ice cream place (that's open year-round and makes it's own ice cream...mmmmmmm), restructured a classroom, sorted curriculum, built desks, and had our first day of school. Which, I must add, rocked. I love the classroom. It is my favorite part of this house. Seth kept coming into the room yesterday while I was working and saying things like, "You're going to love this room, aren't you, Mrs. Frazer?" and "You look like such a teacher in this room," and "Wait until your homeschooling friends see this room," and so on. I even have a chalkboard painted on the wall that's the same color as the wall itself...this is the kids' favorite feature of the room, I think...and it was my last-minute addition. Along with corkboards above each kid's desk. One more addition of pretty white shelves above their desks, and a couple of coats of white paint on the now-wood bookshelves we already have, and it will literally be the perfect classroom...I can't wait to take pictures of it completed. It made such a huge difference in our day today...everything in one place...everything where we need it...everything usable and accessible and organized. *insert sigh of relief here* We're here. We're getting settled. We're loving it. It's taking some adjusting...as usual...but...we'll get there. August 31 Ellipses... Outside my window..crisp fall air...noisy crickets. a freshly-mowed lawn, a neatly running pool, and Seth in the hot tub. I am thinking...that I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do about my kitchen, but I bet my dad will figure something out. I am thankful for...a house that is ours. finally. From the learning rooms...big plans, lots of boxes...the need for a coat of paint, one less wallpaper border, and a wall of shelves and desks. From the kitchen...a gas oven that works. clean cupboards. a six-month-old dishwasher (a kitchenaid!!). the demand for creativity... I am wearing...my favorite jeans, a black tank over a white t-shirt, and a chunky brown belt. I am creating...a plan of attack for the disaster that is currently my garage. I am going...to bed. in about 12 minutes. which is unheard of for me. I am reading...99 notifications from facebook friends about 3 of my status updates today. my friends pretty much rock. I am hoping...that we find the broom and the vacuum tomorrow. :) I am hearing...Chelsea snore. and the traffic on route 15. Around the house...he he...about 20 less boxes than I started with today. One of my favorite things...the end of the past year's unsettled-ness. A few plans for the rest of the week: unpacking, reorganizing, spending Wednesday working on the house with my parents, picking out colors and design ideas, planning for a cake on Thursday, a cake on Saturday, and school next week...all amidst this week's lessons and rehearsals. :) never a dull moment. August 29 Sleepovers. With tweens, teens, and other such creatures.The next time your child, who participates in a sport/activity/other organized event, is invited to a sleepover with said team/group, I challenge you--his or her parent--to volunteer to stay. Be one of those adults who hangs out with the little angels, follows them throughout all of their adventures, and "sleeps" with them. Or doesn't sleep. And I promise...you mostly won't. The first activities of the evening generally go so well. The little people begin the process excited, sweet, and relatively organized. As the evening wears on...things become less...hmm...pleasant. Meltdowns occur. Tempers flare. Craziness ensues...as some of them amp up their energy in an effort not to fall asleep. Little people decide they're not thrilled with other little people who, 30 minutes prior, were their best friends. Mothers lose their patience...coaches who do so well in organized activity don't necessarily deal well with children who have no real goal in mind other than "fun"...the kids who smile their way through push-ups and v-ups can't handle staying awake past 9:30. When it's 1:30 in the morning, the last movie is over, the last snack is consumed, the directions to "find a place to sleep" have been given...all those excited, sweet, organized children/tweens/teens turn into something else. Some of them drop right off. Some of them fell asleep during the movie...thank God. Some of them are quietly (until the grown-ups finally pass out) having a contest to see who can stay up the latest. Somebody snores. Somebody can't fall alseep without her teddy bear (which she left at home). Somebody has to go to the bathroom one more time. Some of the moms konk out immediately (which is so wise)... ...I'm so not one of those moms. Some of us lay awake until we hear no other activity. Some of us worry the whole night that one of the more rebelious teens (or two, or three...with encouragement from that one) is going to attempt to either sneak out or sneak someone in. Or get into some other kind of trouble. Not really knowing any of the older girls well...you just don't know what they may actually attempt. Some of us wake up every time one of the 10-year-olds rolls over. Every time the door creaks open because a parent has to leave for work. Every time the rain comes down so hard the teenagers upstairs can't sleep through it (as if they were sleeping anyway). Before you know it, it's time for the kids to wake up...because parents are coming sometime around 8...and there are donuts to be eaten. Some of the girls wake up when that first parent walks through the door (after her full night of sleep in her own bed, mind you) half an hour early and announces to the comatose participants in the sleepover that it is time to wake up...in her most cheerful, chipper, "I am taking great pleasure in waking all of you people who were stupid enough to sleep in this building after bowling, eating, and movie-watching until all hours of the morning, and I will now make sure you all know I think that just with my general tone and presence." Some of the girls will literally sleep until their parents come in and drag them out...maybe still in their sleeping bags. Some of the girls will grump and complain and trudge, snapping at their friends, their parents, their coaches and anyone else who dares cross their paths...and others...will still bounce...finding things off which to jump, putting their sleep-deprived lives in further danger than that which comes from aforementioned grumpy friends. Somebody's mom doesn't show up until an hour after she's supposed to arrive...and all the moms who stayed all night feel obligated to make sure everyone leaves with the correct parent...the gym returns to it's original, pre-sleepover condition...and no one dies from general over-active, underslept stupidity while waiting for parents to show up. In October, Laine will be invited to another sleepover at her gym. It will involve dressing up in creative costumes, playing games galore, and, I'm guessing, even less sleep as a result of the consumption of altogether too much candy... Yeah. I'll be there. What can I say? I love my kid. I have to admit, though...everybody else's kids??? Hmm. That's a toss-up. August 26 EllipsesOutside my window...cooler air...and apparently pollen. sinuses running amok. I am thinking...that this weekend....will likely cause further insanity for me. four trips to Williamsport in four days...thank God for a car that gets good gas mileage. (and it's clean!!!) I am thankful for...impending routines. because there will be some. and they will be...wonderful. From the learning rooms...it's a learning box. and it looks good. From the kitchen...chocolate pudding layered with mocha chocolate mousse...and a complimentary raspberry jello and strawberry mousse...everyone was happy tonight. I am wearing...a black tailored t, brown shorts, and a barrette in my hair. I am creating...dreams for decoration...complete with furniture and paint colors and bespreads and window treatments and wall hangings and candles. I am going...somewhere close to crazy. I am reading...curriculum. English from the Roots Up, Celebrating Biblical Feasts, Creation to the Greeks' Teacher's Guide...etc. school time. I am hoping...that the homeowners we've been dealing with do the right thing. just this once. I am hearing...Hannity. sigh. what are we going to do with our country?? Around the house...dogs who were just agitated by the presence of a skunk, too much food i would normally avoid, laundry left in the washer too long...general signs that routine has been absent for too long. One of my favorite things...being this close to my mom again. oh, how i've missed her. A few plans for the rest of the week: setting up a network connection between my computer and the printer at our church, Reasa's horse lesson, Laine's gymnastics practice(s), karate, worship rehearsal, a sleepover for Lainie and me at the gym, a Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn birthday party with dear friends...church...another rehearsal...and a final walk-through/closing/moving date!!! August 22 Disappointment (everything is fine with the house...) A week ago, I joked with someone that after the craziness of the move, I would spend the next two weeks living a life of leisure. In my mind, living with my parents for a couple of weeks meant no real responsibilities, no housekeeping hanging over my head, being away from real-life, the opportunity to sit on the couch, crocheting, watching movies, and listening to the kids gleefully playing with one another...with a couple of trips to Williamsport slapped in there to keep us active throughout that time. What I forgot was that things don't really change that much despite a complete change of locations. Since we're not living in a hotel, the house still gets messed up--and it's my parents' house. I know how mom likes things. The kids still need food. Everyone still wears clothes. Spending the entire day in Williamsport on Tuesday meant figuring out what to have Reasa and Bryson do during Lainie's practice, filling up their time while waiting for the horse lesson that didn't happen, packing snacks so that we weren't buying those at the last minute along with the two meals we would buy during that one day, figuring out what to do while waiting for karate, trying to keep things straight with Seth during the day, waiting an extremely long time for dinner to come, and having thoroughly exhausted children who couldn't fall asleep in the car and driving through a torrential downpour all the way home at 10pm. After a second day of that--and Thursday, honestly, was much more complicated than Tuesday--and getting home even later because the parade Lainie was in didn't get over until 9, and my rehearsal was done at 9:20, and the kids hadn't had dinner...putting us back in Corning at 11:30... A life of leisure?? What is that? Truthfully, I wouldn't do well living a life of leisure. In the time we have stayed at "home" this week, I have designed a couple of wedding cakes using a new program I haven't quite figured out yet, hammered out a few songs for worship team, crammed the schedule full of visiting with friends we don't get to see, run around, planned next week's schedule, actually talked on the phone with a friend with whom I haven't spoken in months, got caught up on my reading for our 90-days-through-the-New-Testament venture this summer, planned and shopped for my niece and nephew's birthday and cake...I don't do well with sitting still. Sitting here writing a blog post is about all the sitting I can handle. And today...sitting isn't a good idea anyway. Working through a serious charley horse in my right calf...not sure if it's injury-related from karate on Thursday, or dehydration/lack-of-nutrition-related from the past week of eating out so much. Zero nutrituional value in Diet Coke, unfortunately. Doesn't do much for your water intake levels, either. And let's not talk about the 1/3 pound angus burgers smothered in mayo, american cheese and mushrooms, all on a thick, fluffy, carb-laden bun. So, anyway. Charley horse. Apparently, standing up helps. So far, I have found this to be the case. Every time I sit down, it tightens back up. What I've realized in this week of leisure-turned-madness, however, is that I don't deal well with disappointing people...whether those people are my children, my parents, my husband, my friends, my kids' friends, the worship team, coaches and parents at my kids' sports...in the past 2 days, I had to cancel or reschedule four of the different plans we had made either because the kids were going to lose it, or I wasn't going to accomplish something that actually needed to be done--responsibility, rather than fun. I found myself so stressed out at the thought of making that decision...putting it off until after I really should have done it...and probably disappointing people even more as a result of my avoidance. Interestingly, everyone completely understood--which, other than my kids, I was pretty confident would be the case. I want to give everyone everything, if at all possible. I may make myself completely insane doing it, but I want to do it. I have said before that I thrive on stress...and that is true...but sometimes I know I take that too far. Having seven different activities planned for one day, on opposite sides of town (or in a different state) might push the boundaries of the stress I can handle...it did this week. I could have saved myself at least one sleepless night, and probably another worrisome day if I had just called people when I realized I had overbooked myself, rather than waiting until after bedtime and after I had worried it through 47 times, trying to figure out how I could juggle it. And let's not talk about the fact that every time I left the house for what I knew would be hours, I worried about the condition in which I left it...my parents have full lives. They don't need to clean up after us. Sigh. In nine more days, my life of leisure will come to an end. I'm not complainin'. August 18 Let's go to NowherelandThere is something about the time before 7am which turns my children into ferocious beasts. And I don't mean the kind resembling that adorable, giant yellow creature with big red (sometimes removable) spots on Noggin. I mean the actual scary kind. The ones who breathe fire and stomp loudly and moan with vicious rumblings, screeching their way through every movement, threatening potential captors with bodily harm. At 6:42 this morning, upon entering their bedrooms...three of those beasts confronted me. They're still sticking around. Actually, the middle one, the one who currently swings on the high bar above the foam pit, muscling her way through her skin-the-cat conditioning exercises...she transforms back into that adorable, sweet child pretty quickly. But then, she's been doing this 8:30-in-the-morning-practice-three-days-a-week thing all summer long. And we had to leave at 7 this morning and drive the hour and 15 minutes for her sake. Makes it a little more bearable for her. The other two...the dread of sitting through her three-hour practice and too many out-of-the-ordinary circumstances (we had a bat in the house at 8:45 last night, for pete's sake) just got the better of them I'm afraid. Can we please go to Nowhereland instead? I'm pretty sure that cute little redheaded Maggie would silly their grumpies right out of them (and yes, silly is now a verb). And Beast's obliviousness and naivete would help them forget their displeasure about an entire day with "nothing to do." (And I don't know about you, but I wish when I was their age and had to sit through my brother's ball games, I had a laptop with internet capability, a nintendo ds with 20 games, coloring books, crayons, paper, and scissors at my immediate disposal.) Sigh. This afternoon, there's bowling (which I haven't told them yet) with friends, a horse lesson, karate, then dinner with Daddy. We close on our house on August 31 at 9am, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Part of me thinks I shouldn't actually type that here...like I might jinx it. Because I believe in jinxes and all. We shall see. In the meantime, this is day one of our drive-to-Williamsport-three-days-a-week-for-sports-and-rehearsals-and church. Off to lunch. August 14 We Did It. Somewhere in the southern-most part of Cogan Station, Pennsylvania...sits a very empty, very clean house. A house I will never, ever enter again. Thank God. It's over. Well at least the packing and cleaning and moving-out-of-it is over. As for anything else that could be coming down the road for our dealings with the owners of that house...who knows. Honestly, we have complete confidence that something will come up...that they will attempt to keep the money that we put on deposit when we originally made the offer on the house...that they will accuse us of ridiculous things regarding the condition of the property...that this process may drag itself out much farther than we would like to see it go...but then, nothing has actually happened well with this house. We have no reason to believe that will change now that we don't live in it. Or have any contractual obligations to it. Sigh. You know that whole "sometimes you're the windshield....sometimes you're the bug..." idea? We seem to have a knack for being the bug. In the meantime, we now live with my parents. We will travel back "home" three times a week for sports and church...but we live here. Until we close on the house. Probably on the 31st. We will, once again, move in the middle of a week, because we can't just wait until the freaking weekend to do it when other people can help us. And I have a birthday cake on Thursday, and a wedding cake on Saturday of that week in Corning...so...you know...whatever. Some themes just don't change. Especially when they're involved with my life. But today, I'm going to do nothing. I plan to sit on the couch, fully absorbed in the act of nothingness. I plan to dream up a menu for the next week and eventually go grocery shopping...I need hair color after all ;) ...but...that and making dinner will be my big accomplishments for the day. And tomorrow, I get to meet my nephew, Kaden, for the first time!! You know, that sounds busier than I wanted to be. Ah, well. I don't have to pack an entire house in 3 days. Anything that isn't that is liesurely. |
|
|
