I just wanted to share this gem from the internet monk before I add it to my links section.
H
I just overheard my two oldest...they were talking about how much they like a new video game they are playing (egads...I know). They were being all serious and conversing like little men when my 7 year old says, "Yeah and it's soooo cute."
This kid is such a heart breaker. He is one of those people who gives the best hugs. You know those people. I did not grow up with touchy, lovey, affection..so it's hard for me. But, I always knew there was something different about the good huggers. I used to think someone taught them that, but I swear there is a certain type of person that is just born with it.
yes it's true.
I realized I miss someone everyday.
But, it's only one of them.
I miss them for different reasons.
When I'm at school
I catch myself gazing out a window
or watching a small child.
Sometimes it is a sign
or a rock.
But, I find it is only one of them I miss.
I wonder if I should feel guilty.
I don't miss the same one everytime.
They get a pretty fair rotation.
I came home and gave my oldest the biggest of hugs
and kisses because today I really missed him.
with that last post. I just couldn't stop laughing in the store. I don't (can't) drink wine, it gives me a huge itchy face breakout...but I almost bought some anyway. I'm sure I could find someone to present it to.
Got my first paper back for English and I got a 3.2. Seriously, I couldn't be happier...I was thinking I would be lucky to get a 2.0 on it. It was an absolutely horrible experience for me to finish it.
Thanks for the encouragement...my inner child really likes oatmeal cookies with the little dark chocolate chips. If desperate eating the chips out of the bag will suffice.
Now aren't you excited.
Seriously though...I need some pictures or something. Maybe I'll take my camera up with me soon. My camera phone just doesn't cut it. Although, I took something hilariously naughty at the store. I wonder if I can email it to flickr?
I have this little woman inside of me.
She pokes me.
She prods me.
She says
Your not a real Christian woman
She says
What kind of man plays with his sons all day long
I wish we could spend the rest of our time with them like this. I treasure my time at school. I love watching them connect so wonderfully with their father.
I hate that little, itty, bitty tiny woman inside of me.
Where did she come from?
I finally found FREE Shakespeare recordings at LibriVox, so I can memorize Sonnet 65 for my mid-term on Thursday. I am having an awful time with it and I hope this helps. It's now on my iPod and ready to be listened to over and over again for the next few days.
I've been doing very well with my computer time. I've been on a bit here and there. I've been doing so well. It's amazing what I've gotten done this week by just getting up early and staying away from computers.
The realtor is coming with papers to sign.
Last night my dh started to grieve.
The loss of his own personal
garage
hot tub
yard.
But, then he started to talk to the boys.
We have things we need to give up.
But, in exchange we gain opportunities
that far outweigh the life we have here.
We aren't happy here at all.
We have been trying to fix it.
All those fixes have failed and they are eating away
at our foundations.
So, tonight we move on. We start this journey.
We will sell our home.
We will sell our couches,
the kitchen table,
the big roll top desk,
the beds,
the bookshelves,
the pantry storage...
Yesterday I took my first public bus.
I got a little lost.
But, I did it.
I got my classes.
I start on Monday.
Things we have to do.
1. Sell our house for more money than we bought it for. We have a realtor already.
2. Sell our furniture and all big stuff and the Mommy Van.
3. Donate what we can't sell.
We are only going to move easy stuff. The biggest things will probably be mattresses, bikes (we actually get to use them!!!!!) and the iguana cage.
I was checking some information out on the UW website. They have these little tidbits all over the website and many of them reference those oh so famous people who have graduated from the UW. I found this one endearing.
Beverly Cleary, author of children’s books including the popular “Ramona” book series, graduated from the UW in 1939.
Yesterday I realized I had not check the mail in awhile. Oh, maybe a week. So, I purged the mailbox of late bills and credit card offers.
The purple and yellow envelope says, "Your a Husky."
But, I thought God closed that door.
I thought I was taking a break.
Is this what God was preparing me for?
I sobbed...I don't know for an hour, maybe two.
I called my husband.
He came home and loved me.
He scooped me up
and held me.
He congratulated me
and then he called my mom.
And, when I came home from Shakespeare class at night,
he encouraged me
he congratulated me again
he told me he was proud of me.
I don't handle that well.
I cannot line up with my vision of the perfect, good mother.
I just cannot do it.
I must let it go.
I must embrace my challenges,
my changes.
(A bit of back story. I was informed some of my transcript information had not been received a few weeks ago. And, a few weeks ago is well after the deadline date. When I got that email, I grieved and let go. I had applied on a whim really. I'm not finished with my AA yet. I need more foreign language and a science. I thought my boys would be in public school.)
I tend to leave it on all the time and the excuse is because when I get a moment
I work on homework.
Well the 14th is my last day of school.
It is, also, the last day I leave my computer on all day.
I'm forcing myself to get up earlier in the morning.
If I want computer time I will do it then.
I have relationships to build.
Children to raise.
Food to make.
Walks to take.
I love research.
This computer sucks me in.
I don't need to know everything.
So, I cannot promise you will loose weight.
A discussion prompted some thinking about how and why we shop. Here are a few suggestions I came up with. Do you have any suggestions for making a "green" grocery trip.
These are the tips that have allowed me to do the things like buy more organic or a new cloth bag. I have revamped my relationship with food and my shopping cart.
Give yourself a wholesome and good connection to your food so you can make good choices when you eat and shop.
1. Actually eating what we make. If I make soup then we eat it all. Sometimes I even freeze a portion or two before I serve it. I like mason jars for that.
2. Have a leftover day to do the above. Do this the day before you plan to shop if you shop once a week. Clean out the whole fridge, too. Take everything out and scrub it up a bit. Reshelf all your goodies. Freeze anything you don't think you will eat. Chop up that half of onion in the bottom bin and freeze it. You will feel better about what you have and you might get inspired, so you don't get wasteful at the store.
3. If you can buy from bulk bins than only buy what you need. If you need 1 cup of flour or only one meals worth of falafel than buy just that.
4. Make a menu or a list of meals and snacks family members want this week. If I'm craving something I will often stick it on the grocery list. If I want homemade pizza I'll put it on the list. When I get ready to go to the store I can just write down the ingredients we need.
I turned off the radiant heater.
I turned down the thermostat 8-10 degrees.
I put an extra blanket on our bed.
We all put on more clothing.
Yesterday I wore yoga pants under my jeans and I was so comfortable.
I even wore them to my ceramics class and I wasn't cold.
I'm always cold.
I totally forgot how I always wore long johns when I was younger. I guess I must have grown out of them when I first got pregnant and got rid of them.
Next year everyone is getting 2 pairs of long johns, maybe 3, and some kind of warm slippers for house wear.
It's really not so bad. I'm so embarrassed how much our gas bill has been. What a waste?
We (as in husband and I) talked some more today.
We talked about energy assistance and food stamps.
We talked about getting off of food stamps.
We got enough money to pay all our bills and catch up.
My husband has decided to not focus on making money, but focus on his tithe instead.
I've never thought about it like that...boy he is creative.
So, I scrounged up a little notebook from around the house and started a simplifying list.
On that list is to get off of foodstamps.
1. To accomplish that I'm going to keep better track of the prices I spend.
I want to see if I can save any money buying in bulk from Azure Standard.
I know it would help us because we wouldn't be in the grocery store as much.
2. My dh plans to put up the greenhouse this spring, so we can try and start a salsa house. We eat a lot of salsa and if we could grow all the stuff year round we could probably save a bundle, plus it would be tasty. Not sure how well that would work in Washington though.
3. My dh wants chickens for eggs since my mom is not getting more after this last bunch passes away since she is planning to sell her house. Well, their house =)
4. I would like to come up with some outlines of meals we eat each month and a shopping list. Maybe then I would see what we would benefit from buying in bulk first. I can go to Costco with my mom, too. So, that helps because they have more and more good stuff there that I can eat.
This is just part of our loose plan. It's amazing really. My husband and I are growing so close. It brings tears to my eyes to see it all working.
and not our own.
I've not been around for awhile. I've been busy finishing up school. I've got one more class I have to take to get my Associates. But, I'm going to take a few quarters off. Then I'll be taking only one class a quarter. I don't need a foreign language because I had French in High School. But, I've decided I should be better prepared. So, I plan on taking 3 quarters in Japanese. I want to take Ceramics at least once more. Then I need that darn Science class with lab.
But, God has been putting so much on our hearts lately. We have felt like we are battling unseen forces..so I guess we are right? At least that is what our Pastor talked about today when he taught on Job. We have found a new church, it's a good fit! We actually have two. One for Saturday night and one for Sunday morning. Our oldest prefers the church we go to on Saturday night, so we compromise. It's not like you can really fight with a kid who wants to go to church twice on the weekend.
We both feel ready to move on. But, we don't know where to go. We both feel overwhelmed with burdens, the house, the chores, and stuff. We are really sensitive people. We could never work 9-5 and survive. We would have a nervous breakdown.
God is getting us ready. He is calling us to him and asking for us to prepare. We have no idea what for. But, so far these are the plans he has been sharing:
He wants us to rely on him
to simplify our household
to let go of our connection to our possessions
to reconnect and build the relationship we have as a family
So, we have been
cleaning,
condensing,
praying,
and finally tithing.
I've been working on really loving my husband.
Not just when he behaves or performs to my standards.
But, for all the things that make him who he is.
Yes, it's official. We are not finishing out the public school year. The boys are home and very happy about it. We have started Ambleside Grade 1 and it's going well. It's engaging enough for my oldest. I'll be adding more from Grades 2 and 3 if he needs more to do.
because I read through Ambleside Online and we are going with that. We are going to do Year 1 and I will add extra if G needs it.
I'm trying to come up with a way to spend a very little amount of money for the year. This should be good. There is only one book I would purchase and I just might omit it and do something else. If G can't keep busy enough he can do some Story of the World from the library.
Yeah....I've been reading through the Modern English version of The Original Homeschooling Series. I feel so peaceful and happy =)
Once we get going I'll share what we do every week. I'm sure I'll change somethings because that is what homeschooling is all about.
The Very Happy Mommy
So, I said I would start laying out some plans here. I really want to try Sonlight, but I just cannot afford the whole thing. My oldest is almost 10, has Aspergers and will be in Grade 5. My second child is 7 and will be in Grade 2. My third child is 3.5 right now and I have no academic adventures planned for him aside from reading a lot. Anything I come up with will be in a separate post. My oldest has requested some order and my second has requested fun. So, I'm trying to put together a plan ahead of time to take advantage of Ebay and our local used curriculum sale this Spring. We homeschooled for 2 years before this year, so I know some of things that work for us and some of the things that do not. This is our plan so far....any thoughts?
I really wanted to add this...I'm not sure if I'm taking a break from The Big School this next year. So, creating a plan of study will really help my dear sweet adoring husband to have an easier life. He cannot handle much more on his plate. We might have to consider hiring my Niece for some child playing during the week, as well. I would love to just leave the house and put a plan down that says...here do this!
Heather
Otherwise here is the plan right now:
Planner
10yos really wants a planner like he has in school right now. So, I'm going to start searching for one. He really likes the spiral binding.
My 7 year old had this read aloud in his class. I love this book and I can't believe we have never read it yet.
Shame
Shame
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