Our Family Project

I have my own little soux chef.  Yes, indeed.  Well, maybe she isn't a soux chef, but more like my substitute chef.  Frequently, Kate will get up and make breakfast for everyone.  Which has really helped me out recently. You see, recently, I have been having a hard time with fatigue.  It's crazy.  I will go to bed at midnight, and sleep until 8 (so, yes, 8 hours of sleep), then I'll be yawning at 10:30 and ready for a nap at around 12:30 p.m.  I have hardly any energy during the day, but then at about 7 or 7:30 p.m. I will have a ton of energy and want to just get going and do everything I didn't want to do earlier. So, because I am so tired all the time, Kate has been such a blessing.  She'll get up with the littles and play with them, or make them pancakes for breakfast.  It's so reassuring to know that she is up with everyone and taking care of them so I can get a little bit more sleep.  And, frequently, I can say, "...

The last couple of months, on Tuesdays, we have gathered with some families from our homeschool group to learn and practice some Christmas songs in different languages.  It all started when I decided to sign "Prayer of the Children" for our homeschool group talent show.  I don't know why I wanted to be in the talent show.  Most of the moms weren't in the talent show, and I wasn't planning on it until a couple hours before the show.  But, I really felt like it was something I wanted to share with the group. The mom who was in charge, Tiffany, was so thrilled that I signed a song.  She approached me after the show and asked me to teach the group a song in sign language at her upcoming "languages class."  Originally, I'd had every intention of not attending the class because I was already feeling too stretched thin, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my love of sign language with others. Originally I was only going to teach "Wi...

Please excuse this very grainy, very ugly picture.  I decided that there are so many times when I am behind the camera, that I needed at least one picture of me with a child. Today I am grateful for my Miss Maryanne and her helpful attitude.  Sometimes she is not ready to be helpful, but for the most part, she does like to help.  At least, she likes to help me when I allow her to help me. On the particular day this photo was taken, the children were all being great cleaners.  We were working together going from room to room, and cleaning together.  Maryanne is always a little stubborn when it comes to cleaning, but she really wanted to help vacuum the school room.  So, I decided that was one chore she could do. She's such a cutey.  I'm so grateful that she wants to help me clean ... dishes and vacuuming are her specialties ... which I'm grateful for because those are the chores I really dislike!

Today I was able to attend Time Out for Women.  It was a pretty good day.  One of the speakers talked about how we, as women, have negative thoughts about ourselves all the time.  She said that if we were to actually say to other people what we say to ourselves, we wouldn't have any friends.  At that point, I leaned over to my friend and said, "Yeah.  You're so stupid."  She laughed.  It's so true!  I almost want to count all of my negative thoughts about myself just to see how many I have all day long. For example, this morning I was thinking that the person I'd been talking to in regards to my church calling probably was rolling her eyes and complaining about my ignorance and ineptness at what I was supposed  to be doing.  But, imagine if I were to go up to someone I work with at church and say, "Okay, when are you going to finally understand how to do your calling?  You're so stupid!  Just get your act together.  It's...

Be sure to scroll down and check out all of my posts ... I went on a "catch-up" spree. After a two month long hiatus, I finally decided I should check in.  Recently, I have been thinking a lot about forgiveness ... for me.  It's one of the hardest things for me right now: forgiving myself.  For some reason I have a hard time letting my little imperfections go, and it seems to drag me down. In the evenings when 4:30 or 5:30 rolls around, I am kicking myself because my day is almost over and I haven't been able to get everything accomplished on my list.  And, I spend time rehashing everything that I did and why I don't have the time to finish everything before bedtime. I've learned that what I need to do is just move on.  Look at the situation and realize that I made a few mistakes, but it's okay.  It's all part of this learning experience we call life, and I've learned that there are lot of ways to make mistakes.  But, what makes this life so...

Okay, so I haven't posted anything about this because I've been told it is silly ... which initially made me think that the person who said that thinks that I am silly for being a part of this program.  However, I've weighed that against how different I feel about myself and I've decided that this program has helped me have so much more confidence.  And, I think that if it helps me, it might be beneficial for any of my other friends. So .... let me tell you about my Dressing Your Truth experience. For years I've struggled with confidence.  Mainly, not feeling like I was presenting myself as well as I would have liked.  There were times when I would say something bold and the people to whom I was talking would take offense or be so surprised they wouldn't now how to respond.  Which left me thinking that I shouldn't have said what I did, and that I needed to change and be more soft spoken.  I never realized that it was actually okay for me to express myse...

My good friend tagged me .... which means that I get to answer questions here and then tag more friends. Here's what I have to do  :) :) :) )  1. Post the rules 2. Share 11 random things about myself 3. Answer the 11 questions from the post in which I was tagged 4. Create 11 new questions for my tagees to answer 5. Tag 11 people  11 Random things about me: 1.  My thumbnails split way, way, way below the skin ... so I have to cut my nails really, really, really short.  It hurts. 2.  My mouth is worth $16,000.   3.  I never wanted to be a mom.  I always planned on having a career ... didn't even imagine being a mom. 4.  Once I get started thinking about something that I can't remember, it drives me crazy until I find the answer.  Example: my friend mentioned a talk she remembered from a general church meeting, but could only remember the message, not the person who gave the talk.  I could not move on in the...

So, I went to the chiropractor yesterday.  Got another massage.  Besides the fact that I got the one massage therapist that I kind of don't like, I had some really random thoughts. I was lying there on my stomach with my face in that little cushiony hole thingy, and all I could think was that my face was sitting on a toilet.  (Does anyone else feel like they are putting their face in a toilet when they get a massage?  Seriously.  It looks just like a toilet seat with one of those paper seat covers you use in a public restroom on top.)  And, so to make it kind of real, I started to drool.  Well, not like I was peeing drool or anything out of my mouth, just a drop here or there.  I mean, my cheeks were all spread apart, and my mouth was kind of open, so the over-produced saliva in my mouth kinda fell out. And, while I was lying there, I thought, "Wow, I feel so sorry for this girl.  I mean, I have a zit on the back of my neck and she has ...

Apparently, my last post may have offended some of my friends and family.  That was not my intent.  I may not have explained myself very well. It is not that I have anything against women working.  (There are many jobs and professions that I think are extremely well suited for women.  There are others, though, that I think are best for men.  And there are many of those "male" jobs that I think a "specific" women can perform just fine, and vice versa.) I do not ever hang up on anyone, regardless of their gender, or their annoyingly way of making sure they get their three rebuttals.  I merely have had many experiences which have made me want to hang up and call back to get a different customer service person (and, this is not exclusively for women customer service reps; I've had plenty of experiences with men as well).  I just happen to have an affinity for talking to male reps as opposed to female.  Having said that, if I do end up talking to...

For a few years now I've come to the conclusion that I am sexist.  A least, I think that's the correct term.  I think that our society would be greatly benefited if women, as a whole, returned back to their original place in society instead of trying to infiltrate the places where men are. Case in point: I have not interacted with a business woman who has been as competent as a man in the same position.  I have not interacted with a woman in a business setting who was able to get straight to the point and do what I, as the client, wanted.  These are things that, in my experience, men have been able to do. I think it comes down to the difference between men and women.  Men compartmentalize, and women see things as a whole.  While the way that women think works in some jobs, there are other professions in which I think it is a huge hindrance.  I have not had any positive experiences with a female real estate agent.  In fact, the times when ...

My little Maryanne loves to talk.  She can talk and talk and talk until the sun goes down.  We just got back from Andrew's reader's theater performance at the school.  Thankfully, his group performed first.  Maryanne talked through the entire thing. "Look, I found a star!" "Pink!" "There's a doggy." "He's looking at me.  He's looking at me!  Look, he's gone!" "Hey, that's mine.  Oh." "Blue!" "I'm the Mommy and you're the baby." On and on, she talked.  I had to leave early because she was so loud we had a hard time hearing the students read their lines.  Of which, Andrew was the best!  I don't say that because I'm biased.  Well, okay, maybe I'm a little biased, but every parent has a right to be biased, right?  Anyway, he was the best because he was so into his character.  The play was "Spiderella."  Andrew was the Cicada Prince.  And, when he read ...

Within the last month I threw out my back, causing a string of visits to the chiropractor.  Now, in Minnesota, the same thing happened and I went to a chiropractor who didn't have regular massage therapy sessions scheduled for his clients before their adjustments.  The most I got was a few minutes lying on a heated massage table with rollers going up and down my backside. My chiropractor here firmly believes that his clients get better adjustments if they first get a massage ... from a massage therapist.  In fact, the receptionist tries to schedule each patient with the same massage therapist. I have been into the chiropractor a total of 12 times.  I saw one massage therapist ... the one with seniority ... on my second visit because for one reason or another I didn't get one on my first visit.  Then, I was switched to the newer massage therapist because of scheduling conflicts; and I've been seeing that massage therapist since. Until today. Today I w...

Saturday I had the opportunity to spend my morning at the church with several other women.  There were 6-8 different projects we could work on ... and each project was going to a different charity.  There was a table all set up for assembling hygiene kits, one section of the room was filled with two quilting frames and women were tying quilts, at another table women were making hair flowers and headbands, and on another table some women (and young women) were putting together art kits.  I brought my sewing machine to help sew together drawstring bags for children in foster care.   I lugged in my machine and set it up, then walked over to the table to get some fabric.  I quickly found out that the women who were in charge of this activity were well prepared.  There were stacks of pillowcases, a bag filled with canvas cords, and another pile of old t-shirts.  The woman in charge of the bag area explained to me that we were cutting off the sleeves and ...

Recently I have noticed that most of the blogs I read almost seem unreal.  Like the writers/photographers are living an idealistic life filled with joy and perfectness.  It seems like their world is peaceful and everywhere in their houses is clean and their photos look like they were taken straight out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  They all know how to decorate, sew, teach, craft things from wood, take fantastic photos, and then they all write about it in a way that makes me want to be them.  It makes me wonder what a "real" day is in their lives.  I also realize that there are times when I don't want everyone to see what is not perfect in my life as well.  But, not today.  Today, I am keeping it totally real.  I do not like to exercise.  At least, I don't when I am not in the "groove."  There are so many of my friends who are into running, or exercising, or just seeing how fit they can be (at least, that's how it appears to...

I was sitting in the kitchen, doing a little blog hopping on my phone when I heard, "Come on, Ming Ming!" and "It's stuck, Lenny!" Maryanne has really been into watching "The Wonder Pets!" recently.  So, hearing those two sentences normally wouldn't be out of place.  Except that it was my little Adam (who is not so little anymore), and my princess Maryanne (who, most definitely is a princess) who were yelling those words to each other. As I heard those cute little voices, all I could think was that they aren't going to be in this stage for very much longer.  Eliza and Kate still play like this, but only with Maryanne, not with each other.  They have already grown on and talk about boys and friends, clothes, makeup, and fingernail polish.  And, they aren't even allowed to participate is most of those things!   My children are growing up so quickly.  And, I realize now that I've missed most of it. Yesterday, Andrew had a reall...

This last week has been quite an eye opener for me.  I never realized how hard and traumatic our moving experience was for our family ... until recently. I spoke in church on Sunday and used an example of a question Adam once asked Jon after we moved into our house as an introduction to my topic ... sort of.  Anyway, it was as I was preparing that I realized that our children/family have been yanked back and forth so much in the last year. Adam's question was: "Do we get to stay here?" It was after Jon told me about Adam's question that I realized that our children have been deeply affected by our move.  10+ months of limbo will do that to you. The affects have been most apparent in Andrew.  His behavior has changed so much since we moved out here.  He has started to throw up a wall everytime he gets upset.  Sometimes that wall is so thick we can't break it down and have to walk away in frustration.  When he gets upset, he simply sits, lookin...

In 2004, we decided to homeschool our children.  We came to this decision after talking to many, many homeschoolers that we met at church, and because the children who were homeschooled were much better behaved and could converse with adults much better than the public-schooled children.  We researched homeschooling and realized that it only takes up a fraction of the time that our children would spend in a public school, and they learn much faster and better because of the one-on-one environment.  That, coupled with the fact that we could decide what they were learning, really solidified our resolve to homeschool. The year that Eliza turned five I started to collect homeschool resources.  I looked online and found many, many blogs about homeschooling, and many homeschool resource stores.  One of our goals with homeschooling was to incorporate the Gospel of Jesus Christ into everything taught.  During my research online, I found a website called: Latter-...

We found the dress up clothes a week or so ago.  I posted these photos on Facebook, so they aren't a surprise to most of you, my friends and family.  The story behind it, is this: Upon opening the box of dress up clothes, I saw many, many items which I made in the past.  This one item stood out to me.  I think it's because I never took a picture of it when Adam wore it for Halloween in 2009.  This cape was originally going to be green on the outside with a black lining.  I cut out all the pieces for the cape when I cut out everyone's costumes last year (I made almost everyone's costumes ... two of four consisted of capes which made it easy), then set the fabric aside.  Adam decided to be "helpful" and cut the green fabric in several places.  So, I improvised.  Instead of a cape with a lining, I rounded off the places he had cut and ironed them under about a 1/2-inch.  Then, I sewed the green and black together so that it looked like ...