Swimming, Cable TV and Wabi-Sabi!

Hubby has had this whole week off and has taken the older boys swimming every morning, trying to help the older 2 get their next ranks in scouts. I'm hoping we stay YMCA members for a month or two, so he can continue taking them before work every morning. :)

MM is getting there - needs to work on his stamina. TSS has the crawl stroke down, but has issues getting his face in the water for extended times. (That and he doesn't sink or float, but hangs in the water - "neutral buoyancy" Hubby says.) EB, he says, "sucks" at swimming. The child has no control over his limbs. It's like each limb has a mind of its own, and his brain doesn't control any of them. (He's kind of like that in taekwondo - his strikes and kicks are loose.) TCC has decided he'd like to go too, but I'm not about to get up at oh-dark-thirty to go swimming, no matter how much I love it. (Honestly, they're gone between 6 and 6:30 every morning.) We might do an afternoon thing, when Hubby takes the older ones during an afternoon session.

As far as cable goes...we got rid of it on February 7th. TCC, who was the most vocal about not getting rid of it, told us last night he doesn't ever want it back. (Mind you, he can watch the shows he wants online...) Hubby is undecided, but is investigating purchasing equipment to get the local channels. I, personally, don't miss it much at all. I'm getting much more stuff done at home and even my time online isn't as much as it used to be. I rather liked the first night or two, when we all gathered on the couch and watched a movie. Or reading to TCC, instead of having him hang out in the basement watching the boob tube until bedtime. I think it's going to be a good thing for us and I'm excited about the prospects.

Hubby and I recently read about wabi-sabi in Mother Earth News and I would love to see us do more (or less, as it were) with that. I'd love to pare down our things and leave the house simple, pleasing and have things with history and presence. I think the timing of the article was fortuitous, as I recently watched a show on Buddha and felt what I learned was profound and has an application for all of us - regardless of spiritual beliefs. Essentially it was this: No one knows for certain what happens when we die, except those who have died. So, stop worrying about your future, as well as your past, and live in the here and now, with those who are with you, in each moment, and live fully, within that moment with those people. Appreciate them and everything around you.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be well.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

May you be happy.

Quiet Sunday Morning

Hey look - I'm updating again! In the same month even! Figured no one else is stirring, so why not. I couldn't sleep - mind is too active right now.

I cleaned up a little bit of the kitchen (more on why not the whole thing later), made myself a mint mocha (with homemade chocolate mint syrup) and came down to study for my taekwondo test on Tuesday. After almost a year of inconsistent attendance, I'm finally going to test for my next belt. Woo-hoo!

Ok, so the reason I can't clean up the whole kitchen is because I only have full use of one hand right now. (Ceej, I'm sure, would be laughing with me about that...)

We were starting back on our school schedule when, last week, we had 2 snow days. Normally these don't impact us, but EB and I decided to make something comfy for dinner for Hubby, who works out in the weather. Cutting up the veggies with the mandolin (yeah, you can see where this is going...) - had one last thing to cut and it got stuck. It shot through, with my index finger. Sliced my finger from just under the cuticle to the first knuckle, deep enough to probably do nerve damage. The rest of Monday was spent applying pressure and directing the kids on what to do to finish the meal. (EB, BTW, was exceptionally helpful! He and MM helped me take care of the wound; EB shoveled several times and he made my lunch!)

Decided against going to the hospital - couldn't drive during the snow (what, with one hand bleeding all over and the other trying to stop it?) and figured they wouldn't be able to stitch it well - just superglue it. And have you ever had to go get stitches and they take so long to get to you that the wound seals? And then they come and rip it open? Seriously, who needs that? Not to mention the last time I went in, I had 2 cuts - one needed stitches, the other didn't - they stitched the one that didn't and I said "we're done". Then it was such a lousy job - the cut wasn't even stitched completely closed - that I had to go get them taken out.

So anyway, Hubby was off the following day, which always is a day off of school. We had a packed day of appointments the next day; I worked the following and we had a performance to go to on Friday. (Which we couldn't find any parking for, so we left - thankfully it was only $20!)

Maybe this week will be better for school. :)

Tomorrow MM goes to his first official orthodontist appointment. They said they were taking a mold of his mouth, but they already did that last month during our consultation. I'm hoping that means they'll actually put things on - he's getting anxious for it to be done.

Alrighty, time to hit the "books" - need a refresher on my terminology before anyone else gets up.

Happy New Year!

So, I'll try to be a little more regular about updating this thing. :)

The past several months, life, in general, just feels right. Sounds a bit strange, but I'm a gut-instinct, feelings-based person. I might not be able to explain why something doesn't seem good or bad, but I'm almost always right. (Got that instead of a superbrain, I guess.)

Here are some thoughts:

• I'm looking forward to having the kids start up school again tomorrow and having that routine. Getting done with our Lewis and Clark study - finally.
• We're down to 2 pets and that also is good. The dog crate has been relegated to the garage for the time being. Our dog food consumption has been cut almost in half. No litterbox.
• I'm heading back to taekwondo tomorrow, three times a week, plus doing core strengthening and possibly some dance.
• Eating right more consistently. Ultimate goal is to be 30 pounds lighter by summer; 60 by this time next year. (Though I'll take 30 by fall!)
• We're making some changes - tightening the budget so other things aren't so restricted. My goal there is to get rid of cable at least, maybe even the landline.
• Going to decide if we're planning on staying here for the rest of our foreseeable lives. (That right there makes me cringe...LOL...so maybe a move is in the cards.)

I, personally, am in such an awesome place right now. I love my life, my family and the direction we're headed. (Though, I always expect something to come up when that happens - that's usually when we adopt a child and chaos reigns supreme!)

I'm truly thankful to have all of our friends and family - past and present - who have helped shape (and, yes, even motivate) me.

Life is GREAT!

7 Months?

Geez, has it been 7 months since I last posted?  Time flies, I suppose.  Though since no one reads this, I guess it doesn't matter.  :)

The last two weeks have been chaotic and weird.  

• Our dishwasher went out right before Thanksgiving - leaking water through the floor into the basement.  Check that - pouring would be a more accurate term.
• New dishwasher didn't work right within a few days - ended up having a hole in the bottom of it. Two weeks after the first install, the replacement came.
• I got bit by the neighbor's dog.  (A week and a half later, I still have puncture wounds and bruises.)
• Our Vizsla attacked and killed our remaining cat.  (We're down 3 pets since the beginning of the year.) What made it even worse was that I had already planned on getting 2 kittens for Hubby for Christmas - he's been asking for them for quite a while.
• Our furnace went out less than 2 weeks before Christmas. 

Seems to me there were a few more things, but can't recall them.  I suppose the above things kind of overshadow them.  :P

I believe we finally found our methodology for homeschool!  We started using the Charlotte Mason method, and I really love it!  The kids are generally cooperative with it as well - bonus!  We started using Math Mammoth for math, which seems to be a paper version of Montessori - but we can add the manipulatives if the boys need it.  And starting this week, we're going to give Time4Learning a shot. (They have a trial month for $5 per child - can't beat that!)  

I'm really excited about getting back to schooling!  Though we'll probably only do half days for a little while - I'm going to be paying for the YMCA for the next 2 months so we can go swimming 3 days a week and get the boys comfortable swimming.  Then I'm going to cancel it.  (Since they were supposed to cancel it last summer and they didn't - and Hubby hasn't taken them swimming once like he'd said he would. )

Ok, time to head out. Doing some Christmas shopping today and hopefully will be able to spend the afternoon wrapping before heading to an early dinner with the extended family.

Happy Holidays!

YAHOO - School's Out!

I know, strange title for a homeschooling family that schools year-round. :)

My cheering is for a few reasons:

1) TCC is out of preschool and will now join us on our homeschooling journey. He's excited as much as I am! Loved his preschool and the teachers and staff there, but we're thrilled to start another path.

2) I'm off work for the summer! I was only working one morning a week anyway, so it wasn't that bad - and I love my job. Starting in August, I'm slated to work two mornings a week.

3) I've been picking up two boys from school twice a week for three or four years. They're out of school in 2 days but my responsibilities are done! Don't know what the plan is for next year. The oldest is going into 7th grade and doesn't want to come over (can't blame him - he was MM's friend in school, but they were already growing apart there - and he mostly reads while he's here). The youngest both EB and TCC enjoy playing with as he's right between their ages. Either way is fine for us though.

4) Scouts is done for the summer! Now I can go to taekwondo twice a week!

I guess I'm just happy to have our own schedule for the most part. We'll still have taekwondo twice a week (maybe more - that's at least an option now!) and we're doing the farmer's market once a week though we still don't have a schedule for that.

Yes you heard that right: we're selling things at a farmer's market. Right now our portion is breads, muffins and cookies, but once the produce starts coming in we'll have other stuff to sell. The kids are enjoying it - it's held at a park once a week in the evening. MM is really enjoying getting into the selling aspect, earning money and being around people. Oh and bonus! It's school. The kids are learning that we have costs - had to pay for the spot, have to pay for ingredients, consumables and our time. Hubby's getting a little disillusioned as he's spent the last few weeks busting his buns making bread and he's not seeing much return for it. However, we're having repeat business, so that's a good thing.

Time to close out. The mowing needs to be done, bushes to be planted, garden beds need to be prepped and flowers need to be planted.

I LOVE IT!

A New Day

Finally, after about 2 weeks of feeling morose, my spirits are starting to lift and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  (Though, truthfully, that could just be the sun...)

Had to put one of my cats down which, after over 14 years, was exceptionally hard.  It was the right thing to do, but still difficult.  He had an aggressive cancer that came on suddenly.  Now we're down to his sister and the 3 dogs.  (Ok, and the kids, which pretty much washes all other troubles away - or makes them pale in comparison, depending upon the day!)

Anyway, haven't updated in a while, so thought I'd make a short entry before running out on a couple of errands.

Homeschooling front, we're trying to get back in gear, which has been challenging.  The schedule I'd put together, while on paper works, doesn't IRL. With taekwondo twice a week and everyone having it at different times, plus scouts, plus family night, plus trying to teach the boys how to swim (so Hubby will open our pool), trying to get some exercising in, housework, mounds of laundry, trying to keep the kids away from each others throats about half the time and me being such a disorganized person, it's a wonder anything gets done!  Urgh.

Personally, as an ADDer, I need a schedule.  (Not to mention, the ADHD kids do too!)  I'm full of good ideas and intentions. But I'm so much more interested in spur of the moment things and activities.  Maybe we want to run to the museum, the zoo or the park.  I suppose I could put together a schedule and then drop it if we need to.  I'm inclined then, after things fall through too many times, to not schedule anything.  

I'll have to ponder while I'm waiting for kids to get done with TKD today and see what I can come up with.  

Listen to that - can you hear it?  Yes, that'd be TCC yelling and crying at someone else.  That's my cue... 

So bad...

So, I'm really lousy at updating this thing. Life happens.  :)

We've had some serious time off from homeschooling (glad I planned on "over" teaching!).  Hubby had a shoulder injury and was off work from just before Christmas until almost a week ago.  We didn't do a lot of teaching during that off time, but we did do some.

Now it's February - our theme for the month is Black History and health and fitness.  All four of the boys started taekwondo at Therese's Taekwondo twice a week.  I'll start next week (until summer I'll only be going once a week as scouts conflict with the other night) and I think Hubby will too.  They all really enjoy it and I think this was a great decision for us.  I'm also taking the older three to the YMCA a couple times a week to work on swimming, which they're enjoying. (Nice that we aren't competing with anyone else during that time!)

MM is doing really well.  He's my reluctant reader, probably because most everything he's read at school has been something he would never have chosen.  Everyone had to fight tooth and nail to get him to read and it took him an obscenely long time to read the books.  Saturday, when he was sick, he pulled out his never-opened copy of The Lightning Thief and read almost 7 chapters! I was so proud!  He's set himself a goal to finish the book before he can see the movie.

TSS went on his first campout with the Troop over the weekend.  He had a great time, but on the way home, the group (approximately 40 people) had to stop at the halfway point due to a 10-car pile up, whiteout conditions and a closed highway.  The leaders brought everyone back to their starting point about 5 1/2 hours after their expected arrival but everyone was safe and sound.

EB has been doing extremely well!  We took him off of his medication about 2 weeks ago and I'm pleased to say there has been very little behavior change!  He's our only Cub Scout left (through November, then he wants to move to the Troop as well since he'll have earned his Arrow of Light early, just like TSS did) and he wanted to do the Parent/Scout Dessert Contest with me.  Over the weekend we did a trial run on his dessert and he made almost the whole thing on his own - we both were really proud!

TCC has been coming into his own and is definitely a child with his own agenda.  He's been doing quite well in TKD and has been enjoying school.  He's working on math (addition!) and is learning techniques for reading.  Last night he deciphered "waiting" without any help or prompting - he was beaming!

Homeschooling has been pretty laid back, as mentioned above.  We've done some field trips, a couple of minor science experiments, but will be getting back on our regular schedule today - hooray!  Our final barriers have been broken - MM told me late last year that he doesn't want to go back to public school and with Hubby being home the last 6+ weeks, he's come to appreciate the boys being home and being able to teach them what we want at any time.  Yes, we even have school on Saturdays.  

Our schedule this month - and probably through May - will mostly be:

• Sunday - Day off
• Monday - Swimming and chores a.m.; afternoon school; evening Scouts (for MM & TSS)
• Tuesday - Chores and cleaning a.m.; afternoon TKD (lasts about 1.5 hours); evening Scouts (for EB and myself) and TKD for Hubby and TCC
• Wednesday - Swimming and chores a.m.; afternoon school
• Thursday - School at the in-law's a.m.; afternoon TKD and library; evening TKD for Hubby, TCC and myself
• Friday - Swimming and chores a.m.; cooking afternoon/evening
• Saturday - Chores and school

There are, of course, going to be schedule changes as field trips come up or other things come about.  That is, of course, one of the wonderful things about homeschooling!

Oh and one final thought before I close out - we're going to Walt Disney World for their Homeschooling Days in September!  We have just over 2 weeks of vacation time and will head down there, will make a stop coming or going to see TCC's birthmom and possibly stop and see my cousin if he's still in the southeast then.  We still have to plan everything out, but we're hoping to find some great teaching opportunities along the way.