Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tiny Talk Tuesday



Tiny Talk Tuesday celebrates our children and their view of the world. They continually make us laugh and by recording their Tiny Talk we can focus on one of the many JOYS of parenting!

If your kiddos made you laugh this week (don't they always), then feel free to share the humor!

Check out more Tiny Talks with Mary.

I haven't participated in this in a while, not that I haven't had plenty to say (or rather That Other Kid), but I have been busy and forgotten about it till Wendesdays or just decided not to do it.

Anywhooooo, today was our first day of SCHOOL. That Kid went off to Dual Credit College classes for his senior year and That Other Kid and I started working on some Pre-K/Kindergarten stuff. We went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and we got a great "toy" in his lunch. It was a bunch of cards with pictures/words and you were to choose some cards and create a story using the pictures. I thought it would be a great exercise in using his creativity. At first he didn't want to, but I kept encouraging him to give it a try. These are 2 of his stories:


1)The bear walk-ed to the car so he could drive to school and he made a call on his cell phone to his teacher, but the radio was too loud so he couldn’t talk to the teacher. So he just went all the way home and called out “I’m home!”.

2)One day the bear driv-ed all the way to the airport so he could ride a airplane but he couldn’t ride the airplane cuz they landed on the mountain and it burned his eyes and he couldn’t see.

Monday, August 25, 2008

My First Post School Poem

I always hated writing poetry while in school so I never did it unless I absolutely had to but today I thought I would try my hand at it again....Shannon from Rocks In My Dryer is holding a Haiku contest and I entered this little poem in it. Hope you are adapting to school days better than me!


That Kid startin' school
That Other Kid startin' too
Both sides of school scene!

Dual Credit College
and Pre-K for my babies,
time sure flies for me!

That Kid almost done
That Other Kid just startin'
Oh where does time go??

Sunday, August 24, 2008

School is Starting

For the kids around here school starts tomorrow morning bright and early 8 a.m. or there abouts. For our family the start of the new school year has never been a dramatic thing. As a homeschooling family we usually do school year round, with a lighter load in the summer months. This year is different!!!

This is That Kid's SENIOR year and as a senior he has earned the right (in our system of rules) to attend Dual Credit College Classes at the local community college. Homeschoolers, like other high school students 16 and older, with the approval of the student's teachers and administrator (ME, in both cases!!!), are allowed to take up to 2 college classes per semester and earn high school credits as well as college credits as long as they pass the entrance exam or do well with their SAT's and maintain a "C" average throughout the courses. Well the first criteria have been met -- he is now 18, passed the entrance exam and has signed up for his 2 classes for the semester. He is taking classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he will start Tuesday morning! He is excited to finally go to a "real school" and I am excited that I have MUCH less responsibility for his school work! He will be taking a math class on Monday mornings -- outsourced also! but he will be doing 3 classes here at home. He will be a BUSY BEE, but I believe it will be a good year. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS will be the key to success for him this year!!

So, you ask with all this "spare time" on your hands what will you do with yourself???...OH, that has been taken care of...you see That Other Kid WANTS to do school too, so we will be doing a relaxed PRE-K/Kindergarten with him. We will do most of the school work while big brother is gone, so we will not be a distraction to him when he is here, and we will try to find things to do, places to go while he is here so he can give his full attention to his studies...not that I am a fool and believe he will actually use this time, but at least his brother won't be an excuse!!

Anyhooo, hope your school year starts with BIG SUCCESS, whether you are just starting your school adventure or are finishing up!! Or maybe you are doing both, like me!!

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Disappointed 4 year old

Today we got up and did our normal morning routine, then excitedly drove the 15 miles to the ice rink where That Other Kid was supposed to start his HOCKEY CLASS ...we got COMPLETELY dressed in gear...from HELMET TO SKATES, taking some 20 minutes. We walked up to the skate counter to get his name tag for class and lo and behold, class doesn't start till NEXT week. I read the date wrong on the brochure and the lady who actually did the paper work told me the wrong date. He was soooooo bummed. He was allowed to go out on the ice if he wanted, but he couldn't take his BRAND NEW stick so what's the fun in that????, so a friend of ours from a previous hockey season of That Kid's played hockey in the rink area with him...They were not on ice but he had fun anyway. Our friend really saved the day!!!

Sooooo, I guess next week we will do it all over again and hopefully, there will not be any glitches. I don't think I could handle that!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Proud Hockey Mom

I believe I've mentioned a few times that I am a proud momma of 2 hockey playing boys. One big, rough and tumble hard core player and one just starting out...still taking skating lessons. Well this weekend That Other Kid starts taking the beginning HOCKEY Class - it's called Hockey 101 and he is to show up in FULL GEAR! Well let me tell you I had FUN buying hockey gear for my little 4 year old. Keep in mind - he is a whole 40 1/2 inches tall! So you can imagine the difficulties in finding hockey gear in his size! Well we managed it....although the jersey is BIG (as in HUGE) and the hockey socks that cover the shin guards are HUGE also....but we can adapt! He looks sooooo cute I just couldn't resist a handful of pictures....and you can be sure there will be A LOT MORE this weekend!





Sunday, August 17, 2008

Birthday Wishes

I'm writing right now as That Other Kid plays with a new Lego Star Wars set and the Olympics are on in the background. I went shopping at Walmart early this afternoon and came home too tired to do anything else....so now I sit and think of my wonderful mother-in-law.

Today is her birthday! In a little bit I will pick up the phone and relay to her how much she means to me....but first I wanted to tell you, my friends. I HAVE THE BESTEST mother-in-law in the WORLD. She is kind, loving, understanding and super supportive of me. She thinks I am a good person, even when I make mistakes. She loves me regardless of what I do...My only complaint about my lovely mother-in-law is that she lives almost 3 hours away so I can't just pop over and hang out with her like I would a girlfriend....of course, maybe this is a good thing. She might not like me so much if I could do this just whenever!

Anywho, I just wanted to say I love you, sweet, loving, mother-in-law. You have been here for me through thick and thin and I LOVE YOU! I pray you are having a special day, even among the construction site you call your home!!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Time to Relax...

The past few days have been pretty mellow at the house. I'm grateful for that after having had a summer of constant movement. I have enjoyed just relaxing and watching the Olympics almost non-stop. Normally I am not a big sports fan unless, of course, my kids are involved, but I LOVE WATCHING THE OLYMPICS!! It is the highlight of my summer/winter when it is Olympic time. Gymnastics are my favs, but I also love the skill and precision of the divers.
The women's Marathon is on tv right now and I have to admit I've been flipping channels....it's not that I don't appreciate the capabilities of these spectacular athletes, but OMG it is sooooo boring to watch them just run, run, run, and run some more. The top USA woman had to drop out with an injured foot and that was extremely sad. Can you imagine all the training, for years and years and you are finally there actually running the race of your life and you are injured to the point of not being able to complete your race?? I can't imagine how disappointing this must be.

Not to change the subject, but that's what I am doing....I got to have the house to MYSELF FOR 2 1/2 hours yesterday!!!! What a joyous time of quiet it was! The guys ALL went to see the new Star Wars Clone Wars movie! I'm not a Star Wars fan....so I got to stay home and enjoy the quiet! I cleaned the bathroom, folded some laundry and watched some tv shows that had been recorded .... all without interruption!! Then I went out for ice cream with a wonderful young lady and had a nice talk. What a great night I had!

Today I took relaxation to a new level -- I took a NAP for about 1 1/2 hours. I'm thinking I could live a while like this!! But I know it will never last, so I'm just enjoying it for TODAY....tomorrow I'm sure it will end!

Hope your weekend is relaxing!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Raising Children ....

is enough to make a sane person go crazy...don't you agree? I thought 18 years ago as a young mother that my days of discipline and constant attempts to correct misdirected behavior would be over now for my then little newborn baby. How naive' I was!

Over the past almost 3 weeks I have had to seemingly, constantly correct behavior of not only That Other Kid, which is to be expected, since he is only 4, but I have had to do the same with my NOW 18 year old! How frustrating and exhausting this is! I don't know what I expected way back then in my new motherhood idealism, but I can assure you I never expected to have to go through the many challenges that have presented themselves to me in the past 3 weeks.

God gives us children and calls them blessings. Tells us to direct, correct, and challenge. Then says let them go....as That Kid approached 18 I started noticing more and more difficulties and I started feeling more and more like a failure. I know that I have done the best I knew to do, giving him space when he needed space, giving him guidance when he asked (which he actually did do sometimes, thank God!) and giving him love and discipline daily. I think this is the hardest stage I have come across with him...from the time he turned 16 to now...and I know it's not over yet.

A few months ago I sat down with him and told him life would change
some for him once he turned 18, like he would not really have a curfew, etc. but there would be many things that would not change. He would still be expected to participate in family events, fulfill his responsibilities with school work and maintain a "C" average in ALL of his classes, including college work. Since he is driving cars with our names on the titles, the cars would be available but he needed to respect the fact that they belong to US, the parents.

He broke that part of the bargain this weekend and I am stumped! How do I get it through his head that just because the law says he is an adult, he is living at home and is for all intensive purposes still a child??? We pay all his bills, buy his food, pay for his education, etc. How do I differentiate between the child and the adult that is now living with me??

I think the only way I can successfully make it through this stage of life is "on my knees" so that is where I will be spending some of my next few days. Please pray with me for answers.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Back In the Saddle

Well here I am....back in the saddle of blogging. Sorry that it's been sooooo long since I've been around. I guess having my dad's colon cancer surgery to deal with then immediately come home and celebrate That Kid's 18th birthday with his big party, then going to Beth Moore's Satellite Seminar, then to a baseball game/Mercy Me concert, 2 doctor's appointments in 1 day, trying to register That Kid for Dual credit classes twice (don't ask!!)...and on and on it goes has been a little more than my mental faculties could deal with.

This week I kind of went on a little mental vacation in my living room not really doing much of anything that didn't absolutely HAVE to be done. I barely even checked other people's blogs....I was sooooo out of it. Not to mention I must have caught a lovely summer cold from somewhere in all my adventures of the past few weeks, because I have been blowing green snot and feeling weak and tired regardless of how much sleep I've gotten during the night!

Anywhoooo, my dad is home from the hospital as of this past Wednesday evening. From the couple of times I have talked to him since he has been home it sounds like he is doing good. I'm trying to arrange a quick trip up there, but it looks like that isn't going to work out...too much going on and too little time. Oh well, maybe I can work it out soon. He has an in-home nurse that is coming to help out for a couple of weeks so that will be a big help to my mom as she is taking care of my niece and nephew again.

That Kid's party was a BIG success and a lot of fun. We rented a party boat and went out on the lake for 4 hours. The weather was HOT, just as you would expect for a late July night, so all the party guests swam, and swam, and swam with some intermittent eating and just hanging out! Everyone seemed to have a good time and That Kid even told me "thanks for throwing it", which for him to say anything about it told me he appreciated it and had fun. He's just not the mushy, gushy type:) Here's a picture of him just as the party is starting!


Here is a picture of him the night after his party .... he lost a "titty twister" dare and had to shave his head! I was shocked he actually did it...his hair has always been one of his highlights of his features. Oh well it's growing back already!


Well that's about it for tonight....but as I was sitting here I realized that I have been blogging for just over a year now. My first post was August 4, 2007! and I can gladly say I'm thrilled that I started this....it has been fun and fulfilling. I'm looking forward to expanding it some this next year so that I can actually start getting more readers and maybe even start making some money from it. Thanks for joining me in my ride!!!