Stuff Life is Made Of

After the crazy week and weekend that I had just experienced, I was hoping for a quiet week, and so far that's what I have been given.
I'm still sick and my broken toe is still swollen and bruised and incredibly painful to put any pressure on. I'm on new medication that knocks me out-so hopefully I can finally get over it all. Of course, I have to go to the Ortho on Friday to have my toe/foot checked out.
Lite version of school started yesterday and we made it through both days without too many interruptions. Full school starts next Tuesday, after our first hockey tournament of the season -- its local, yeah!!!
Both kids seemed to be ready for some routine, so I'm going to oblige and see where that gets us.
Hope your week is going well so far.

Where Are the Brain Cells

That Kid, being a typical teenage boy, decided he wanted a girl friend. It was oh soooo important to have a "girl" to call his own. So about 6 months he started dating a girl. I had my doubts in the beginning, she called at all hours of the day and night - homeschooling allowed a lot of opportunities for phone calls and instant messaging when a typical teen might not be able to socialize.(I thought homeschoolers were supposed to be anti-social:) ). Their relationship grew, as well as my discomfort level of said relationship. Lies started, missed curfews became the norm, general discourse among the normally compliant teenage boy.
After a couple of months of dating, he discovers some BIG issues with her that had yet to be finalized and solved. He decided to stay with her, and just accept these ISSUES and work around them.
Things have continued to follow the same lines of discourse and now they have been together for 6 months. I am about to ground him AGAIN for lying and basic disobedience. I normally ground for 2 weeks...I think I'm going for 2 months or more this time.
Soooooo again I ask what happened to my generally agreeable teenage son's BRAIN CELLS????????????????
Advice appreciated....

Togetherness

A little brother time this evening as "the boys" play video games together. That Other Kid just loves to play games with his brother and he's pretty good at most of them. He's a fast learner and That Kid has been playing them with him for probably 1 1/2 years. What a good big brother!!!

Please excuse the site of the room -- he is afterall, a teenage boy!

He's The Boss

From day 1 of That Other Kid's life, he has been opinionated and demanding. So much so that the first few month's of his life I slept in the rocking chair, 'cuz his bed/room were not good enough to sleep in. He needed to sleep with mommy - maybe I should say ON mommy. If I wasn't holding him, he wasn't sleeping!
Fast foward to 6 months ago -- daddy thought his bossy behavior was amusing so he started saying "obey my orders" "I'm the boss" and then getting him to repeat the phrases.
Fast forward to today -- daddy says That Other Kid needs to do what mommy says, 'cuz mommy is the boss.
He turns to daddy and says "no, I'm the boss, you obey my orders, and mommy has to obey my orders, too. I.AM.THE.BOSS."
I guess we should have seen it coming 3 1/2 years ago.....I'm just the peon around here, he's the real boss.
At least till I get the wooden artiliary out and prove to him that I have more authority!

Preparations for Junior Year

We will be starting school over the next couple of weeks, in stages. This will be That Kid's junior year of high school. It has been a long, interesting journey homeschooling him and I would be lying if I said it was always fun. There have been times when he didn't want to do school and I didn't either. He has to work HARD to get the kind of grades we expect out of him and he doesn't always perform under pressure. He has struggled with math throughout his school career, but we have finally gotten help (in the form of a tutor and a class w/a professional teacher, who happens to have a Ph.D in engineering. It should finally be a sucessful year for math....it's about time, dontcha think? Some people might wonder, why didn't you get help sooner? I wanted him to want it as bad as I did! You see with That Kid, when it comes to school, he needs to have a real reason to do it, i.e. ACT's, and SAT's so that he can get into a good college. That is his motivation for the next 2 years. He'll make it. I have faith and confidence in God that He will fulfill His promise, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength". I claim this for That Kid this year, as this year will really be a big CHALLENGE.
Prayers will be appreciated as always.
Nighty, night......

My First Meme

Kirstie at My Journey Home tagged me for my first meme. I'm sooo lucky cuz my middle name is short..... so I'm supposed to do rules first then the meme, so here we go.....


WHAT’S IN A NAME?
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of their middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
4. At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.


Ann is really my middle name - I started going by it when we first moved to Texas. My first name didn't really seem to fit me or Texas, and besides I never really liked it. Now seemed like a good time, since no one knew me from Adam or Eve as the case is.

So....

Avid reader. I love to read, which is how I got started reading blogs. My favorite reads right now are short, historical novellas. I can read a few pages here and there (like in the bathroom), since I really don't have a lot of time to read, with all the blogging and preparations for our new home school year.


Nurturer..... I love to take care of my kids and nurture them in any way they let me. It is getting harder as That Kid is growing up into a young man, but That Other Kid still loves to snuggle, cuddle, and get hugs and kisses, so I'm going to treasure this opportunity and do the best I can with my young man.

Nasty patient --- I hate being sick or injured. So, needless to say I have been rather difficult to get along with for the past month or so since I have sick and/or injured. I'm praying that my family forgives my grumpiness.

Now I'm supposed to tag 3 people with names beginning with the letters of my name:

Addie at http://littlewomenmomma.blogspot.com/

and if your name begins with "N" please consider yourself tagged. I can't find anybody with a name that begins with "N".

Hope ya'll have a great night.

A Dog Tail

Here are a couple of shots of out completely tolerant dog, Rex. Read on for more of the story. (Oh, and ignore the "junk" in the shot with him, he wasn't really in the mood for a formal pose in a perfect location.)

Beth Moore and her daughter Amanda write one of the best blogs I read on a regular basis. Check them out http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/

and you will be blessed, for sure! The entry there today was about dogs and their antics. I thought to myself, Gosh, it's too bad I don't have anything clever to write about our dog, Rex or "poopfin" in the words of That Other Kid and lo and behold he did something worth writin' about, at least it will get a laugh.

He is a Sheltie and sometimes that tail just gets in the way of his bodily functions, if you get my drift. Today was one of those days. We kept smelling something strange whenever the dog came near us. We thought, maybe he has gas -- out he goes. A few minutes later he come back in, we still smell it. Oh well, he just needs a bath.

A little later, we see a smear of, how shall we say it, residue, on the carpet, exactly where he had just laid down. Then a few minutes later another smear. Ok, lets take a looksee ''Oh yes, there is a BIG Smear of Residue"! The dog goes out and I get the distinct pleasure of hosing the dog down. Now if you knew me very well you would know that this dog was not my idea--I'm not a dog person. I am much more of a cat person, so this was not my idea of a fun activity and there was always the thought "what if he decides to take a hunk out of my hand or steps on my "still bruised, and broken toe". But alas, he is the best dog, ever and he just stood there and let me clean his b*tt with a cold hose. He was happy to be done with this little "torture" and I gave him extra treats.
Hope to read some more great dog stories, soon.