We made it through the day with no weather episode. Quite a bit of rain, but nothing else. I do think the news stations like to sensationalize those events, maybe to keep people tuned in and increase ratings. I don't know...
Since it was raining all day, that meant our mom's park group wasn't going to be able to meet there. This would have been the third week in a row and I am a grumpy mom if I don't see my friends. Oh, yeah, and the kids wanted to play with their friends, too. When this happens, we often meet and one family's house. That's what we did today. 5 moms and 23 children were all happily occupied for 2 hours in the A household and we all left feeling refreshed. Well, W left with mud and leaves all over him, but he had fun!
One of these friends had read here about the sinus infection from Mars (I think if the Martians could give us all infections like this one, we would be so distracted and miserable they could actually take over the planet) and brought me some tea. Hibiscus mint tea...yummy. I am enjoying a hot cup right now, L, so thank you. The hot liquid feels so good if I just hold it in my mouth since the greatest pressure is above my soft palate. This just has to ease up soon. Today is the third full day of antibiotic so I fully expect to wake up in the morning with some relief. Please.
So even though I was not feeling my best, I left feeling great after an afternoon with my bestest friends. Every girl needs a few bestest friends, doesn't she?
Friday, March 30, 2007
Weather Watching
We're watching the weather on TV all morning since there is a large storm cell moving through and it has already spawned two tornadoes. We have a plan so I'm not worried about. As a matter of fact, 10 years ago this May we experienced a tornado that ripped right down our street. Luckily, J was home and he is my weather and news junkie. He's the one who called me this morning and said to turn on the TV.
On that day, he was home because he was unemployed. Some time in the late afternoon, around 3 PM he told me to wake up the sleeping children and bring them down to the stairs under the closet. At that point, I knew we had trouble. The oldest 3 were 5, 4, and 1. Waking up sleeping children is serious business around here :)I was pregnant with R, which makes it easy to remember what year it happened. So, we hid out under the stairs under some blankets and heard the tornado pass. It sounded just like a freight train passing through the house, as I've heard others describe it in the past. We heard many objects hitting the house. We waited it out, holding the children and reassuring them. I think we felt safe enough but it was scary.
I'll never forget the aftermath of that storm. When we emerged from the closet and looked out the windows, what we saw looked like a war zone. There was debris everywhere. In our front yard, we had someone's ceiling fan, a gas grill, and one of those Little Tyke cars...not our own. The damage to our home was minimal, broken windows, roof damage, truck all beat up. The houses 3-4 down from us had much more severe damage and one across the street was leveled. In that house, there was a family of 6, hiding in their bathtub and the only room left of that house was that bathroom. God was putting a bubble of protection around that family. It took months to rebuild all the homes on the street and for several years we had street parties on the anniversary of that event. It did wonders to build community on our street of mostly families who only knew each other in passing. We'd retell the stories of that day like they were old war stories. I guess in our protected little sphere of the world, they were.
I don't expect to repeat that experience today but I know that if we did, we would be under God's protection. I'm not worried.
On that day, he was home because he was unemployed. Some time in the late afternoon, around 3 PM he told me to wake up the sleeping children and bring them down to the stairs under the closet. At that point, I knew we had trouble. The oldest 3 were 5, 4, and 1. Waking up sleeping children is serious business around here :)I was pregnant with R, which makes it easy to remember what year it happened. So, we hid out under the stairs under some blankets and heard the tornado pass. It sounded just like a freight train passing through the house, as I've heard others describe it in the past. We heard many objects hitting the house. We waited it out, holding the children and reassuring them. I think we felt safe enough but it was scary.
I'll never forget the aftermath of that storm. When we emerged from the closet and looked out the windows, what we saw looked like a war zone. There was debris everywhere. In our front yard, we had someone's ceiling fan, a gas grill, and one of those Little Tyke cars...not our own. The damage to our home was minimal, broken windows, roof damage, truck all beat up. The houses 3-4 down from us had much more severe damage and one across the street was leveled. In that house, there was a family of 6, hiding in their bathtub and the only room left of that house was that bathroom. God was putting a bubble of protection around that family. It took months to rebuild all the homes on the street and for several years we had street parties on the anniversary of that event. It did wonders to build community on our street of mostly families who only knew each other in passing. We'd retell the stories of that day like they were old war stories. I guess in our protected little sphere of the world, they were.
I don't expect to repeat that experience today but I know that if we did, we would be under God's protection. I'm not worried.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I've Been Hit
What began as a relatively minor allergy reaction to oak last week has turned into one of the worst sinus infections I have had in my life. Today was day 6 of major pressure and pain in my whole face. I can usually tough it out and within 2-3 days, it clears up on its own. Not thie time. I ended up at the dr. this morning and walked out with antibiotics and Flonase. I am taking so many things to try to manage this. Mucinex to thin the secretions, ibuprofen to manage the pain in my head, and acidophilus to counteract the effect of the Amoxicillin. I am a walking pharmacy. And I feel like it. I am hoping this will all take effect SOONer rather than later. I have been worthless all week long.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Back in the Swing
Soccer has begun in earnest now. Since Spring Break fell right after the beginning of the season, it felt like we barely got started and then took a break. This morning they had pictures. at 7:45. Don't these soccer people ever sleep? So we had pictures, then a game at 9:30...which they WON! That was really an exciting game with our team keeping it at the other goal 95% of the time. The final score was 1-0, so you can see they were both pretty equally matched. There were at least 10 other near-goals. H was very pleased.
Tomorrow is one of those action-packed Sundays again. dsB will return from camping with Scouts. In the morning, B and I will be selling breakfast tacos as part of the youth fundraising effort. I have to cook all the bacon tonight and crumble it so we can cook the eggs and assemble them in the morning. I agreed to make 50 bacon, egg, and cheese along with 20 bean and cheese. The other family is bringing 50 sausage, egg, and cheese. HOpefully they will all sell.
Then in the evening, the older two have youth, the girls have bells, and H has a makeup soccer game at 6 PM. Which reminds me I had better email the coach and let him know she'll be late since she has to come from bells...and I had better figure out how dinner can cook itself-looks like a crockpot night!
I'm settling in to get a little work done now and then I'll be ready for bed. I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.
Tomorrow is one of those action-packed Sundays again. dsB will return from camping with Scouts. In the morning, B and I will be selling breakfast tacos as part of the youth fundraising effort. I have to cook all the bacon tonight and crumble it so we can cook the eggs and assemble them in the morning. I agreed to make 50 bacon, egg, and cheese along with 20 bean and cheese. The other family is bringing 50 sausage, egg, and cheese. HOpefully they will all sell.
Then in the evening, the older two have youth, the girls have bells, and H has a makeup soccer game at 6 PM. Which reminds me I had better email the coach and let him know she'll be late since she has to come from bells...and I had better figure out how dinner can cook itself-looks like a crockpot night!
I'm settling in to get a little work done now and then I'll be ready for bed. I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Update on W
I am getting very frustrated. If you'll remember, on Monday, Wesley had a very severe ear infection. We had been up all night Sun night with him in pain and I took him to the minor emergency where they referred us to the pediatric ENT.
I called and they squeezed him in at 1:40. He has not had a history of chronic infections, just that once when he was a baby, but it went on for over 2 months so we had been to see this ENT guy. While we were there, he did calculations and figured that the dose the minor emergency doc had prescribed probably wasn't enough. They gave him a Rocephin shot (VERY strong antibiotic) that afternoon and told me to call back when I got home about upping the dose for the Augmentin. I did call about 4 when we got home. THat was Monday.
I waited all day Tues and called again on Wed. No return call. We're going on 3 days of too little medicine now and so I called back this morning about 8:40. She told me she had 29 phone messages. I understand being swamped but this is important. I know our regular pedi doesn't go home at the end of the day until all phone calls have been answered and issues dealt with. Not to mention that we are self pay and I had forked over $260 for that visit. I am paying him for his services and I am not pleased.
I just needed to vent! Thanks for listening. My baby has been sick all week and I just want to have the doctor help us make him well. In addition to the ear, he has bronchitis. He is feeling much better but is still not back to normal. Last night we went to a concert of the African Children's Choir at church which was fabulous, by the way, and he slept in my lap through much of it. And they were beating drums and singing very loudly so I know it was because he wasn't feeling well.
I called and they squeezed him in at 1:40. He has not had a history of chronic infections, just that once when he was a baby, but it went on for over 2 months so we had been to see this ENT guy. While we were there, he did calculations and figured that the dose the minor emergency doc had prescribed probably wasn't enough. They gave him a Rocephin shot (VERY strong antibiotic) that afternoon and told me to call back when I got home about upping the dose for the Augmentin. I did call about 4 when we got home. THat was Monday.
I waited all day Tues and called again on Wed. No return call. We're going on 3 days of too little medicine now and so I called back this morning about 8:40. She told me she had 29 phone messages. I understand being swamped but this is important. I know our regular pedi doesn't go home at the end of the day until all phone calls have been answered and issues dealt with. Not to mention that we are self pay and I had forked over $260 for that visit. I am paying him for his services and I am not pleased.
I just needed to vent! Thanks for listening. My baby has been sick all week and I just want to have the doctor help us make him well. In addition to the ear, he has bronchitis. He is feeling much better but is still not back to normal. Last night we went to a concert of the African Children's Choir at church which was fabulous, by the way, and he slept in my lap through much of it. And they were beating drums and singing very loudly so I know it was because he wasn't feeling well.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Church Retreat
Well, it looks like Blogger will let me do this so I'll try again. We went last weekend on a retreat with 230 of our closest church friends :) This is a highlight of the whole year for the children since we have been going since H was only 4 months old, making this our 10th or 11th one, I forget. In the early years, it was fairly small and I knew almost all of the other families. The environment is a beautiful ranch on a river isolated from the outside world. When we are there, everyone takes care of each other and cooperates to get everything done. They have a large industrial kitchen and common dining area but there is no staff. We work as teams to do all the work involved. We sleep in dorm style cabins and enjoy plenty of free time to enjoy nature walks, the river, or just hanging out with games or needlework. At least that's what I usually do. Not everyone is interested in the needlework :)
When the kids were little, their favorite thing to do was to get as dirty as they could in the sand pit. We take toys, trucks, and buckets. I would sit for hours on the bleachers with other moms watching all the kids and visiting. My friend Elizabeth and I joked that it was our once a year chance to catch up. There were many older folks who would come and play dominoes. My B loved to join them. Her special friends, Al and Lu have been our surrogate grandparents in the church since they were all born. Their 4 granchildren who live in CO are the same ages as my 4 older ones so they just have a natural bond with us. We were sad that they couldn't join us this year since they are getting older and it is a difficult trip for Lu who has MS now. But we are planning a domino outing to their house and Mr. Al promised banana splits. Anyway, the point is the multigenerational mix at this retreat has been unique.
This year was the first year I felt comfortable with W wandering on his own. They are perfectly safe there, but there is a river and I needed to feel like he would be safe about that. He was allowed to go anywhere as long as he had an adult at the river. Dad takes them fishing and canoeing so that works out well. This all left Mom with a bit of extra time and not exactly sure how to spend it. I tried stitching a while but my eyes were tiring easily so I didn't accomplish as much on the Secret Project as I would have liked. (I guess I could share now since I have already showed my sister- I'll save that for another post) I ended up helping in the kitchen more than usual. They were feeding 230 people for almost 3 days. That is a pretty big job. And I feel most at home in the kitchen anyway... I found it lots more fun to be working with friends than alone in my own kitchen. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they had separate clean up crews :) That's not anyone's favorite part of cooking, is it?
The kids all had a blast going about independently with their friends. dsB stayed up late playing games, B had her best friend along for the first time, and the little girls were all over the place, mixing and mingling. The worst part is coming home and knowing we have to wait another year for the next retreat. Well, vacuuming out the sand isn't all that great either, but it's worth it.
until next year...
When the kids were little, their favorite thing to do was to get as dirty as they could in the sand pit. We take toys, trucks, and buckets. I would sit for hours on the bleachers with other moms watching all the kids and visiting. My friend Elizabeth and I joked that it was our once a year chance to catch up. There were many older folks who would come and play dominoes. My B loved to join them. Her special friends, Al and Lu have been our surrogate grandparents in the church since they were all born. Their 4 granchildren who live in CO are the same ages as my 4 older ones so they just have a natural bond with us. We were sad that they couldn't join us this year since they are getting older and it is a difficult trip for Lu who has MS now. But we are planning a domino outing to their house and Mr. Al promised banana splits. Anyway, the point is the multigenerational mix at this retreat has been unique.
This year was the first year I felt comfortable with W wandering on his own. They are perfectly safe there, but there is a river and I needed to feel like he would be safe about that. He was allowed to go anywhere as long as he had an adult at the river. Dad takes them fishing and canoeing so that works out well. This all left Mom with a bit of extra time and not exactly sure how to spend it. I tried stitching a while but my eyes were tiring easily so I didn't accomplish as much on the Secret Project as I would have liked. (I guess I could share now since I have already showed my sister- I'll save that for another post) I ended up helping in the kitchen more than usual. They were feeding 230 people for almost 3 days. That is a pretty big job. And I feel most at home in the kitchen anyway... I found it lots more fun to be working with friends than alone in my own kitchen. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they had separate clean up crews :) That's not anyone's favorite part of cooking, is it?
The kids all had a blast going about independently with their friends. dsB stayed up late playing games, B had her best friend along for the first time, and the little girls were all over the place, mixing and mingling. The worst part is coming home and knowing we have to wait another year for the next retreat. Well, vacuuming out the sand isn't all that great either, but it's worth it.
until next year...
Monday, March 19, 2007
A Daily "Done" List
Well, reading this list will give you a clue how my day went, even though I didn't see this in the AM,
1. 5:30am - give W 3rd dose of tylenol for ear infection that erupted only last night but kept us both up all night in the recliner while he wailed, moaned and writhed in pain.
2. Use dh's printer to print quiz for Chem that I couldn't last night since I was out of black ink.
3. Pack up and load science lab in van after long weekend camping so it had to be removed.
4. Drive to classes and set up for sub to cover while I took W to dr.
5. Take W to dr.
6. Get Rx filled at Walgreen's.
7. Also get snack to take with meds, and pudding and Ramen for dsB who got braces on Friday and still can't eat real food. And pullups since we are out. And a Frappucino for Mom-she deserves it by now!
8. Make appt for pedi ENT today!!! since the ear drum is on the verge of rupturing. And he has bronchitis...
9. Go back and teach Biology-starfish dissection while W sleeps on a sleeping bag in the corner of my room.
10. Cover one class and cancel another for the afternoon.
11. Visit pedi ENT for Rocephin shots in both legs simultaneously.
12. Fork over total of $465 for the day in dr's bills...
13. Come home and crash after administering last dose of Tylenol and helping W crash on the couch.
Still to do: prep for tomorrow, dinner, and early bedtime
1. 5:30am - give W 3rd dose of tylenol for ear infection that erupted only last night but kept us both up all night in the recliner while he wailed, moaned and writhed in pain.
2. Use dh's printer to print quiz for Chem that I couldn't last night since I was out of black ink.
3. Pack up and load science lab in van after long weekend camping so it had to be removed.
4. Drive to classes and set up for sub to cover while I took W to dr.
5. Take W to dr.
6. Get Rx filled at Walgreen's.
7. Also get snack to take with meds, and pudding and Ramen for dsB who got braces on Friday and still can't eat real food. And pullups since we are out. And a Frappucino for Mom-she deserves it by now!
8. Make appt for pedi ENT today!!! since the ear drum is on the verge of rupturing. And he has bronchitis...
9. Go back and teach Biology-starfish dissection while W sleeps on a sleeping bag in the corner of my room.
10. Cover one class and cancel another for the afternoon.
11. Visit pedi ENT for Rocephin shots in both legs simultaneously.
12. Fork over total of $465 for the day in dr's bills...
13. Come home and crash after administering last dose of Tylenol and helping W crash on the couch.
Still to do: prep for tomorrow, dinner, and early bedtime
Friday, March 16, 2007
Irony of Ironies...
You know how most people don't really put out their very best effort in the first year or two of college? Most of us never really learned how to study in high school. If academics come easy to you, then it's that much harder to really learn how to buckle down and learn the much deeper, more intensive content of college.
Well, that tendency I had 20 years ago is coming back to bite me. I can't remember if I've told this story before but in brief: From the time I was 10, I wanted nothing more than to be a doctor. Having been born and spent my first years in Memphis, my plan was to become a pediatric oncologist and work at St. Jude's saving children who were very sick. I spent the next years of my life preparing for that. I took the maximum math and science in high school, Latin... Somewhere during my sophomore year of college, I started to have a change of heart. God was impressing on me that maybe I wasn't created to save other people's children. Maybe He wanted me to have a family of my own to care for. That WAS NOT in my plans and I fought Him mightily. Pride can be very destructive, and it's even worse when you're young and foolish. While I had already been seriously considering changing my major, the final straw came when I failed...Organic Chemistry! Now, I realize I am not alone in my inability to master this subject (at least not the first time around-and I wasn't interested in sticking around to see how attempt #2 might turn out). It is the killer subject for most pre-med students. But if you combine that failure with another in college Calculus (well, actually a C but you might as well call it a failure since I didn't have a clue what I was doing) and my change of heart..and well, you can probably figure out the rest of the story. The young fiery feminist wannabe who went into college with no intent of ever changing her name other than to add M.D. to the end of it came out of college with a different name and the Mrs. in front of it. I didn't know it when I walked across that stage to accept my degree in Home Economics Education, but I was already expecting our first baby.
Okay, so what's ironic about this? Well, last night, some 20 years after failing Organic Chemistry, I sat down to prepare for class next week since we will be gone all weekend. And I started to read the Advanced Chemistry book first. Guess what our topic is for the rest of the year??? You guessed it. Organic Chemistry. But, to my amazement, this stuff is so much easier than it was 20 years ago. Who knew Chemistry would advance to the point where even I can name the 2-fluoro, 4,6-diethylcyclooctane? I never in a million years thought I'd have to teach this stuff when I was sitting in that class visiting with Renee about her weekend plans. Oh, God has such a sense of humor, don't you think?
Well, that tendency I had 20 years ago is coming back to bite me. I can't remember if I've told this story before but in brief: From the time I was 10, I wanted nothing more than to be a doctor. Having been born and spent my first years in Memphis, my plan was to become a pediatric oncologist and work at St. Jude's saving children who were very sick. I spent the next years of my life preparing for that. I took the maximum math and science in high school, Latin... Somewhere during my sophomore year of college, I started to have a change of heart. God was impressing on me that maybe I wasn't created to save other people's children. Maybe He wanted me to have a family of my own to care for. That WAS NOT in my plans and I fought Him mightily. Pride can be very destructive, and it's even worse when you're young and foolish. While I had already been seriously considering changing my major, the final straw came when I failed...Organic Chemistry! Now, I realize I am not alone in my inability to master this subject (at least not the first time around-and I wasn't interested in sticking around to see how attempt #2 might turn out). It is the killer subject for most pre-med students. But if you combine that failure with another in college Calculus (well, actually a C but you might as well call it a failure since I didn't have a clue what I was doing) and my change of heart..and well, you can probably figure out the rest of the story. The young fiery feminist wannabe who went into college with no intent of ever changing her name other than to add M.D. to the end of it came out of college with a different name and the Mrs. in front of it. I didn't know it when I walked across that stage to accept my degree in Home Economics Education, but I was already expecting our first baby.
Okay, so what's ironic about this? Well, last night, some 20 years after failing Organic Chemistry, I sat down to prepare for class next week since we will be gone all weekend. And I started to read the Advanced Chemistry book first. Guess what our topic is for the rest of the year??? You guessed it. Organic Chemistry. But, to my amazement, this stuff is so much easier than it was 20 years ago. Who knew Chemistry would advance to the point where even I can name the 2-fluoro, 4,6-diethylcyclooctane? I never in a million years thought I'd have to teach this stuff when I was sitting in that class visiting with Renee about her weekend plans. Oh, God has such a sense of humor, don't you think?
Thursday, March 15, 2007
finally...
well, this is finally in two senses. First, that I can get a post to work and second, that I have found some motivation. The first part of this week I just so needed a vacation that I haven't accomplished very much. But already this morning I have cleaned my bathroom, straightened the dining room, and cut W's hair. I think it turned out well. Next I'm heading upstairs to finish the playroom we began over the weekend (edited to say DONE!). I would like to get some ironing done this afternoon as well.
The website is being built by a woman who wanted to barter for her child's tuition in Biology next year. I think that is a great solution since I have been needing this for some time. Now if I can just get a barter to clean my house (just kidding, kind of-she grins sheepishly)
The website is being built by a woman who wanted to barter for her child's tuition in Biology next year. I think that is a great solution since I have been needing this for some time. Now if I can just get a barter to clean my house (just kidding, kind of-she grins sheepishly)
Happy Thursday Morning...still typing through titles, kids still coughing but fevers subsiding, going to build a website for business today :),later-
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
My posts are showing up w/o text so I posted WFMW through the back door You Tube - will try again later...
Monday, March 12, 2007
A Cacophony of Coughing
That's what my house sounds like these days. The boys started today; and B had a fever tonight. Fortunately, the little girls' fever is gone and R felt much better today. I doled out the meds when our Bible reading this morning began to sound like the Tuberculosis ward. Between sneezes and coughs, nose blowing and moaning, this was anything but a quiet day. It's a good thing we didn't have to have school. We just read together. I'm hoping they are all well by the weekend for the retreat. dsB is also scheduled to get his braces on Friday afternoon.
Tonight we planned to use some gift cards the girls had to a local entertainment place with bowling, putt-putt, and laser tag. We arrived about 6 to a line stretching out the door. Apparently, all the kids out for Spring Break convinced their parents to let them go out for the night of games. We decided to try again later when it is NOT Spring Break. Instead, we walked the mall for a bit, bought pretty barrettes at Claire's and had smoothies. It satisfied the girls' need for a night with Mom and we can still go to the really fun place later. H is still pretty tired and was fading by the time we left. Probably not the best night for arcade noise for her tonight.
1957 French Commercial for Necchi Sewing Machines
okay, so 2 videos in the same day. Once I figured out how to do this You Tube thing, I'm hooked. This is actually a machine I own, even with all the cams to do these fancy stitches...what beauty!
Mom My Ride
If you can spare 3 and a half minutes, you have got to watch this. If not, you're too busy and you should seriously consider some therapy :0) and you're probably the one who needs it most!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Refreshment for the Weary
I think this is a timely followup to the last post. Sometimes we just have to reign things in and reevaluate. I am thankful that Spring Break coincided with my little discontentedness crisis, since I have extra time now to get things back in order. How do you do this? Well, here is my usual plan of attack:
First of all, eliminate whatever you can of the superfluous "noise" in your life. Whether that's errand running...or TV...or the internet...talking on the phone with friends. For each of us, there is something that is draining our energies from what is most important. Take a little time off to get the basics back in line.
Second, spend extra time with God, reading his Word, praying, asking for wisdom and discernment in y
our walk. Think about the possibility of your faith walk being stagnant. It happens when we least expect it. I know when I start to feel off kilter about my life, it's usually a symptom of a problem in my heart. I ask God to show me where I'm needing to work.
Third, get your surroundings back in order. I love those commercials for car insurance that declare, "Life comes at you fast!". It's so true. And when life comes at us, we as moms tend to drop plates. I often use the analogy of a plate juggler to represent my life. I have so many plates in the air at once- homeschooling, meal-planning, my teaching job, housekeeping, friends, outside activities, ...What are your plates? We all have them. The thing is, if a juggler gets the slightest bit out of balance, the plates come crashing down around him. Mine do the same thing. One of the first plates I drop is the housework. My laundry piles up, the living room stays extra cluttered. The hot spots pile up. Then I get overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it all up. This happens on top of an already emotional time and I just give it up!!! I have perfectionistic tendencies and I say to myself, "if I can't do it right, then I had better not bother trying". That only leads to further feelings of failure.
Lastly, and this isn't necessarily the last on the list, be kind to yourself. Have a little grace for
the soul inside you that needs TLC. This will look different for each woman. For me, it means a hot bath with lavender, or a cup of tea with a sweet book or magazine. Yesterday, I browsed through a beautiful catalog from a vintage home supplier. It just made me feel better to look at beauty on the pages, even though I know I won't buy anything.
I have several sick children this weekend, which has slowed us all down. We had an exciting day planned for yesterday. We were going to leave early, visit the zoo about 90 minutes away and then stop at my family's on the way back to see my little niece. Most of the children haven't seen her yet. While we were all sorely disappointed to miss out on the fun, the calm of a day at home was refreshing for all of us. I did clean up the school room which had collected way too much project clutter and trash! Since 2 of them still have a fever today, I stayed home from church with them. This only happens about once a year but it is a special time when it does. I watched several edifying sermons on TV, then I cleaned up the kitchen completely, mopped, and vacuumed. I put a spinach artichoke quiche in the oven just before the others arrived home from church. The house is clean, the lunch smelled wonderful, and the sickies were cuddled on the couches sleeping with their blankets.
After cleaning up from lunch, I took a book and my favorite ecru afghan, crocheted for me by my grandmother, and took a nap in the clean sweet-smelling livingroom.
Now I'm in a better frame of mind and I'm ready to tackle whatever this new week has in store for me. I love this picture to the right; It's titled Believe in Yourself. Shows how I like to feel. We will be taking a break from all school except history. Next weekend we will be attending a church retreat with 250 of our best friends :) so I will plan to get my preparation for the next week done by Friday when we leave. That will make Sunday's return home less stressful.
First of all, eliminate whatever you can of the superfluous "noise" in your life. Whether that's errand running...or TV...or the internet...talking on the phone with friends. For each of us, there is something that is draining our energies from what is most important. Take a little time off to get the basics back in line.
Second, spend extra time with God, reading his Word, praying, asking for wisdom and discernment in y
our walk. Think about the possibility of your faith walk being stagnant. It happens when we least expect it. I know when I start to feel off kilter about my life, it's usually a symptom of a problem in my heart. I ask God to show me where I'm needing to work. 
Third, get your surroundings back in order. I love those commercials for car insurance that declare, "Life comes at you fast!". It's so true. And when life comes at us, we as moms tend to drop plates. I often use the analogy of a plate juggler to represent my life. I have so many plates in the air at once- homeschooling, meal-planning, my teaching job, housekeeping, friends, outside activities, ...What are your plates? We all have them. The thing is, if a juggler gets the slightest bit out of balance, the plates come crashing down around him. Mine do the same thing. One of the first plates I drop is the housework. My laundry piles up, the living room stays extra cluttered. The hot spots pile up. Then I get overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it all up. This happens on top of an already emotional time and I just give it up!!! I have perfectionistic tendencies and I say to myself, "if I can't do it right, then I had better not bother trying". That only leads to further feelings of failure.
Lastly, and this isn't necessarily the last on the list, be kind to yourself. Have a little grace for
the soul inside you that needs TLC. This will look different for each woman. For me, it means a hot bath with lavender, or a cup of tea with a sweet book or magazine. Yesterday, I browsed through a beautiful catalog from a vintage home supplier. It just made me feel better to look at beauty on the pages, even though I know I won't buy anything.I have several sick children this weekend, which has slowed us all down. We had an exciting day planned for yesterday. We were going to leave early, visit the zoo about 90 minutes away and then stop at my family's on the way back to see my little niece. Most of the children haven't seen her yet. While we were all sorely disappointed to miss out on the fun, the calm of a day at home was refreshing for all of us. I did clean up the school room which had collected way too much project clutter and trash! Since 2 of them still have a fever today, I stayed home from church with them. This only happens about once a year but it is a special time when it does. I watched several edifying sermons on TV, then I cleaned up the kitchen completely, mopped, and vacuumed. I put a spinach artichoke quiche in the oven just before the others arrived home from church. The house is clean, the lunch smelled wonderful, and the sickies were cuddled on the couches sleeping with their blankets.
After cleaning up from lunch, I took a book and my favorite ecru afghan, crocheted for me by my grandmother, and took a nap in the clean sweet-smelling livingroom.
Now I'm in a better frame of mind and I'm ready to tackle whatever this new week has in store for me. I love this picture to the right; It's titled Believe in Yourself. Shows how I like to feel. We will be taking a break from all school except history. Next weekend we will be attending a church retreat with 250 of our best friends :) so I will plan to get my preparation for the next week done by Friday when we leave. That will make Sunday's return home less stressful.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Discontent
I'm really struggling this week. I'm just not in a good frame of mind. Discontent is a valuable tool of the enemy. He sneaks in the back door to make us think life could be better "if only". So instead of blogging or hanging out on the computer this week, I am spending extra time in the Word. Please forgive me as I pull myself back together. I'll be back...
Monday, March 05, 2007
A Man's Voice
I come today to share a revelation I have had over the weekend. My son, who will be 14 in April has a man's voice! As a matter of fact, his singing voice is deeper than his father's. I was overwhelmed with pride watching him perform this past weekend. He has such confidence and talent. He memorizes easily. He's just a natural on the stage. He really blew everyone away with the power behind his relatively small body. I used my camera to take a little movie but when I transfered it, I didn't hear any audio and couldn't figure that out. I am hoping my techie guys (said son and my dh) can figure it out, but we haven't had time yet. Tonight they had Scouts and now I need to prep for tomorrow.
I had a terrific Chemistry lab today in which they popped popcorn with an Erlenmeyer flask and an alcohol burner, measuring the water lost in the process. Their objective was to use that information and the ideal gas law to calculate the pressure the gas was under when it popped. Fantastic application of this lesson! They also used seltzer water with added flavorings and colors to create their own sodas. I think my favorite was the strawberry coconut.
I had a terrific Chemistry lab today in which they popped popcorn with an Erlenmeyer flask and an alcohol burner, measuring the water lost in the process. Their objective was to use that information and the ideal gas law to calculate the pressure the gas was under when it popped. Fantastic application of this lesson! They also used seltzer water with added flavorings and colors to create their own sodas. I think my favorite was the strawberry coconut.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Frustrations
Okay, I am now one very frustrated blogger. I have had nothing but hassles since switching to the new Blogger format. I admit that the added features are nice but I have tried to post 3 times in the last two days and lost the entire text of the post. I tested this and it worked so we'll see what comes out. I'm not writing a novel, that's for sure. I was out at the soccer game in the wind tunnel. They didn't win, but they played well for the first game back. There are quite a few new girls on the team this time.
I've just about finished the papers for the week which I'll need to copy so I'm headed to the copy shop. Then I think I'll come home for a nap; I didn't sleep well last night due to a lingering cough. I just can't shake it. Tonight, we'll be at the church by 6 for the Big Show. I'll try to remember my camera.
I've just about finished the papers for the week which I'll need to copy so I'm headed to the copy shop. Then I think I'll come home for a nap; I didn't sleep well last night due to a lingering cough. I just can't shake it. Tonight, we'll be at the church by 6 for the Big Show. I'll try to remember my camera.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Daily Doings
This was a Thursday, my favorite day. We are well into our Revolutionary War unit, one of my favorite history studies. We read all about the Boston Tea Party and surrounding events. I learn something new every time I teach this stuff. Both H and W finished their math last week and we had to wait for the new books to arrive. Yesterday they came! I've never seen children so excited about math books before. W started on "First Grade Math" a really big deal to him. He's doing 1st grade math and in a 2nd grade reader. I'm afraid his head is getting a little too big for his dinosaur PJs. I also got him a little Logic book since all the other kids do that subject. It was pretty basic, a "put these things in order" lesson today but he loved it. He's reading Stories of Great Americans by Edward Eggleston for his reader and he loves it. The stories are short with black and white pictures and fun details for little people.
This afternoon dsB had rehearsal so I took the opportunity to run a few errands. I spent all week getting the paperwork filled out for H's camp. She saw the dermatologist on Tuesday afternoon. It was time for a recheck and I was hoping the derm could fill out her forms. But it needed more information than she knew so she sent us away to make an appt with the pediatrician. I was lucky to get her in yesterday afternoon between the boys' gymnastics class and her soccer practice. She needed a tetanus shot and otherwise had a clean bill of health. She had not been in for anything other than a flu shot in 3 full years. While we were getting the paperwork filled out at the pedi. we realized that one page HAD to be filled out by the dermatologist. Back there we went to drop the form off. I picked it up this afternoon and now I think I finally have all the paperwork ready to send off her application. They didn't make this easy, and it's only a weekend camp, for goodness sake!
Dinner was burgers on the grill, since I didn't know how long dsB's rehearsal would last. The evening has been quiet as the kids played and I worked on updating some stuff here on the new blog template. I do like this new drag and drop method. It works fine on my desktop but not on the laptop. Haven't figured that one out, yet.
This afternoon dsB had rehearsal so I took the opportunity to run a few errands. I spent all week getting the paperwork filled out for H's camp. She saw the dermatologist on Tuesday afternoon. It was time for a recheck and I was hoping the derm could fill out her forms. But it needed more information than she knew so she sent us away to make an appt with the pediatrician. I was lucky to get her in yesterday afternoon between the boys' gymnastics class and her soccer practice. She needed a tetanus shot and otherwise had a clean bill of health. She had not been in for anything other than a flu shot in 3 full years. While we were getting the paperwork filled out at the pedi. we realized that one page HAD to be filled out by the dermatologist. Back there we went to drop the form off. I picked it up this afternoon and now I think I finally have all the paperwork ready to send off her application. They didn't make this easy, and it's only a weekend camp, for goodness sake!
Dinner was burgers on the grill, since I didn't know how long dsB's rehearsal would last. The evening has been quiet as the kids played and I worked on updating some stuff here on the new blog template. I do like this new drag and drop method. It works fine on my desktop but not on the laptop. Haven't figured that one out, yet.
A New Look for Spring
I did it. I changed my template. I like the simple classic look of this one much better. Someday I'd like a custom design but for now, this is better. And I did lose all the other extras but I think I can fix it. What I can't figure out is how to get to the drag-and-drop template setting. I actually have a test blog where I play with this stuff first and when I switched that one, it automatically took me to that page but this one hasn't. Maybe there is a delay. I'll try it again later. It's time for school now so I am out of time.
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