interesting view

At a fancy McDonalds having a Coke and fries.

So, I figured out how to follow my stats on my blog today. Here are some countries that I have views from:

United States- 800something
Canada-12
Japan-2
China-2
Spain-1
Latvia-1
Singapore-1

Now, I am a realist. I know that the majority of these folks stumbled upon my blog via the option "go to next blog" or by Google search. However, if you are reading this whether in Texas or in Alaska or Latvia - I'd love to hear a shout out! I get lonely.

P.S. As promised, I am working up plans for a Christmas card game this year! Be excited, be very excited!

Moratorium: the results edition

It has been one month since I took a moratorium. I have found out who my true friends are. I have been lonely. I have had a blast. I have enjoyed my children more than any other time in my life (or theirs). I have faithfully schooled the children every day Monday through Friday for 2 weeks. I am very proud of myself. I have taken school so much more seriously than last year.

• 'This One' is learning all about the Pacific Islands. The Mister is teaching her pre-algebra and she is reading several history books. She is taking a creative writing class, a science class (complete with dissection happening next semester!) and a class called "dancing through time" where she will learn dances of different era's through history. Soon, she will start up her sewing class as well (she is really very talented). Our home school co-op is hosting an entrepreneurial fair in November in which I hope she will sell some of her homemade puppets/creations to her peers!
  
• 'That One' is learning how to read 3 letter words, working on letter sounds and learning her addition facts (flashcards, yay!). Today we learned about fishermen. We "fished" in the bathtub like real fisherman (the youngest got in on some of that action!).
• 'The Other One' really, really loves Play-Do. He used up all of what we had, so The Mister made him some at home - it is blue, 'The Other One's favorite color. It could keep him entertained for hours! When he is unable to do what 'That One' is doing in school, he asks for the Play-Do and it makes everyone happy!
  

I have to admit that these last few weeks have probably been some of the loneliest in my life.

1. I don't quite fit into the preschool set anymore and I am not quite ready for the grade school crowd either or the middle school one yet, for that matter. I am learning, adjusting and finding a new balance at home.
   
2. I don't feel stressed about getting my household duties done in time to make a play date.
   
3. I don't come home from a play date to find that I feel terrible about coming home to a disaster. I don't feel bad about leaving the mess alone to focus on school instead. I don't have a clean house since I have more time (it might even possibly be messier).
4. I don't have anyone to lean on at this point really except the Mister who finds it hard to understand the SAHM dilemma of social interaction - but that's okay.
   
5. I don't have a great structure (like, we don't get up because we have to be somewhere. We get up at our own pace and do school in our pajamas most the time (but somehow we always get school done even though we aren't stuck to a regimented schedule)
   

I have learned more about my abilities in the last few weeks than I ever knew about myself.

1. I feel capable of helping my kids learn for the first time in my life and I am learning with them.
2. I enjoy their company.
3. I have enjoyed my time away from them more than ever when I have gotten it because I look forward to seeing them again.
4. I have loved seeing them grow over the last few weeks.
5. I really like what I do now.

Those are just a few of my humble musings this week. :-) Have a great holiday weekend y'all!

maybe fingerpaint?

The Mister and I went for a walk last night and he asked me about my spare time and my future. We were talking about long term goals. It is obvious that he has them, though they may not be seen to fruition yet. But he stopped his train of thought and asked what "I" wanted to do in a couple years. To be totally honest, I have no idea what I am doing next month. I mean, I know what I am doing, just not really. I have things on my calendar. I never have really had the luxury of planning out years ahead. I have been a mom since I was 17. I kinda lost my long term goals then (not that I really had the mental capacity to do it before that age). Wes said I should go back to school but I don't really want to. I never did well because of my severe attention deficit and I have lots of problems with math. I am not really the smart, academic type anyway.

I was talking to a friend at "this One's" sewing class and I was telling her how much she loved coming to her house and that it was the highlight of her week because she got so bored. She said "I have never been bored a day in my life." Wow. Now as she said that, I looked at her - and she was sewing- no wonder.

Today, I was supposed to go somewhere with a friend. I had planned my day that way. When things fell through I decided to stay home for awhile and clean out the home school room closet. I ran across some paints and some photography supplies that I used many years ago. It's obvious that I will not have time to do either of these things any time soon. I decided that I needed to do something about them.

I kept the photography things because I couldn't justify giving them away to someone who wouldn't know what a reel, 6x loop and a film loader even were. They'd probably end up in the dumpster. So I kept them. Not really in hopes of using them some day because, lets be honest- I don't/nor will I have a dark room. I won't get rid of them and buy a digital camera because I think digital photography is stupid trash - for the most part. So they are still up in the closet.

This is a box of paints that I inherited from my grandmother when she passed many years ago - though some paints were mine

I decided to go ahead and throw these away since I found one that expired in February of 1996 and the rest were no fresher. I did however keep some of my own things that may come in handy later on.

This is all I kept. A plate that I used, some brushes and some oil paints that I never really figured out how to use (who knew oil painting was so tricky).

Maybe we will finger paint when we start school on Monday. That's exciting.

some words from the "other one"

The kids with their new adorable matching hats

Over the past 8 months or so it has become painfully obvious that the youngest one has some speech delay. After much hemming and hawing and red tape, I was able to get him in to a private pediatric therapy company (I happened upon a friend of a friend who worked at this company). He started seeing "Miss Lucy" late in the spring. Miss Lucy is the highlight of his day because she gives him undivided attention and sisters aren't allowed to participate and she is super fun to play with! When he started, he was only able to say Momma and used that for everything. He could sign 'more', 'drink' and 'all-done'. My how he has grown! Here are some things he is working on:

• He can repeat any word you say like pizza, hot dog, wheelbarrow (I like that one), chicken, meat, zoo, juice, water, tower, zebra, donut, please, push, Coke (yikes, I know), and pretty much anything else including 2 and 3 syllable words.

• He was not working on colors and numbers before now because it was much too difficult for him to pronounce them. Now he is masters 1,2,3,4 and 5 and can recognize blue, yellow, white, black and red.

• Miss Lucy also said the he completely understand pronouns which is really a very good thing for his age. He understands that when you say 'mine' it is yours and when he says 'mine' it is his.

• He is putting two words together now. He came and told me to 'wake up' today! I hear him trying to say full sentences but I am probably the only one to hear them since I am his mother. :-)

• He has very good receptive language and understands most everything you tell him and he follows directions very well. He is very sociable and recognizes social cues. I am sure this has helped speed his progress a long because of his ability to do these before therapy started. For that I am super thankful.
  

I know it may sound like it is a slow progress since he should have mastered a lot of these skills nearly a full year ago but I am so happy with his progress. If this has only been 3 months worth of therapy, I can't imagine where he will be this time next year. Rejoice with me!

♥~Amy

It's the small things in life

I bought this pretty white Crockpot a few years ago for myself. It was a 5 qt oval one that I got for $19.99. I was so proud of that Crockpot. I used it several times a week whether I was home all day or not. Over time, the poor thing has deteriorated. First, it got very rusty inside. Then I had a hard time keeping it clean (DUH, because the inside was WHITE for goodness sakes - what was I thinking?) - plus I have this awesome recipe for black bean burritos. Black beans and white Crockpot don't mix. Then the handle fell off the lid. It sat around and waited to be fixed for a few months. Finally, one day Wes fixed it. Then, I used it and used it again. Then we had the great oven fiasco of 2010 and it was nearly used every day. The screw he put on the handle eventually rusted away and I was left with a gimpy lid again. What is a girl to do? ♥ Buy a brand new one for herself. ♥

PS:Sorry for the crooked picture - I am having issues.
PSS : My, you are so very quiet. Please comment! I love hearing from you!

Caulking the holes in my life with Blue Bell.

For some mistaken reason, I thought pieces would all fall into place much more neatly following graduation. Instead, in the span of three months - somehow I ended up on my couch eating a whole pint of Blue Bell to keep from a compulsive addiction I've formed over the last two weeks - filling out teacher applications. I realized how out of control this was when I google mapped Garland to find that it's a round twenty five miles from my house - nevermind they pay better than any other district.

I've been attending the Wednesday night "service" at Faith, and I must say the next to last question was quite relevant. It was something about how do we know if God wants us to pursue our desires. Andy confirmed my desire to be a teacher, stating that as long as our desire could bring God glory - it's OK. I love teaching math, and I love the idea of doing it full time. However, I don't want to let anybody down in the process - and I might have risked that.

I can't help but think this won't happen till I grasp some sense of priority. I've got tasks that have been neglected. I started on the bamboo a couple weeks ago and progress has slowed to a crawl. I'm making a concerted effort to just rest in God's providence for my life and finish what I've started.

After thinking over these things, listening to Ed-ification.net (highly recommend it), I can't help but have a bright optimism for the calling in Christ that I have. All this said, I'm wondering what eating an entire pint of ice cream will do to me... It's just like drinking a big tall cup of chocolate milk probably.

I love you Amy Basinger, thanks for letting me be a part of your life and your blog. You're right, you do have me - and that's good... because sometimes even the best thought out backup plans can fail :-)

Check out this huge fish I caught ;-)

moratorium

This is how I felt last week. I think it pretty much explains itself, right? I am paring back some things and getting back to what is necessary for survival and what is special. Abby is gone to her Grandaddy's house (having a blast - I am positive!). I am only working one weekday this week.

When I lived way out in the trailer, I had dreamed constantly of the day when I could help people. We lived so far that I was unable have people over much (not to mention how unsafe and ugly the trailer was). A very tangible way to help people my age is to watch their children. I have countless friends who have small children. We all need help sometimes when a doctor appointment comes up or we have to work. I have watched numerous children in this house since we moved in 6 months ago (really, too many to count - several we kept overnight). I consider it a huge blessing and it humbles me to think that my friends trust me with their children. I am rounding a corner in my life when I have been struggled with being used or just being a convenient target. So, I am going to take a break from watching children at home (unless it is some kind of emergency or something) for a couple of months. I will be taking time to invest more in my children and getting back to reality. I realize that because of my moratorium, I will not have anyone to watch my children for me in return. But let's be honest - I never really had that in the first place. Knowing myself, after a couple of months I will jump back in and be excited to serve my friends again.

The summer flies by so fast. I am not in any hurry to miss these special years of my life that I will never get back. My children are a joy to me and I love spending time with them unfettered.