I'm back!

I don't really have any reasons for going this long between posts. Lots of excuses, but no reasons, really. Does that even make sense? Probably not. 

A lot has happened in 3 months! We found out we are expecting baby #5 in December! We started a kitchen remodel, which started great and became a disaster very quickly. We are still trying to put our kitchen back together. I'll share more on that another time. 

We did not go on vacation this summer, we had planned on going on vacation in December........but then came the baby news....so no trip in December! We have done nothing this summer, really. It has been wonderful. The kids have spent time with grandparents, we have become a permanent fixture at our neighborhood pool,  had a great week of VBS, Matthew and Andrew had birthdays.....nothing out of this world....but it has been great. We are gearing up to start school on Aug 10, until then we are frequenting the snow cone stands, playing UNO when it's too hot to go to the pool, watching movies, especially westerns (my fav)....and just enjoying the slower pace before we get back into the swing of a new school year. 

I read a blog yesterday and the topic was "summer confessions." You know....the stuff you let slide in the summer because...well, its summer. Here are a few of mine.

• This week, I have washed the same load of laundry 3 times because I kept forgetting to put it in the dryer and it got that disgusting mildew smell. Yep, 3 times.
•  I fed my kids cheez-its and grapes for lunch twice this week.
• On Monday we were home all day (pool closed for cleaning) and I let Andrew take 3 showers, just to keep him entertained.
•  I'm pretty sure I was more excited about seeing Despicable 2 than my kids were. Seriously...I couldn't wait.   

 

Ordinary Day

This is our 3rd year to homeschool. Every year in late April/early May I am ready for a break. I am ready for sunshine, afternoons at the pool, trips to the snow cone stand, long walks in the neighborhood with kids and dog in tow, cooking out every night....I could go on. But, we aren't quite there yet and some days it is tough to stay the course. We have had an unusually wet and cold spring and this family cannot wait for the sun and warmer temps to return so we can spend more time outside.

We managed to get through reading, math and vocabulary this morning. This afternoon we took some time to do important stuff like....play dough.

I remember these hands being much smaller.

This is Henry Bob. This is what he does when the kids are working. I'm pretty sure he is tired of being cooped up in the house due to all the rain lately. I wuv him.

This is Henry's "Icy Stare." If you watch Duck Dynasty, you know all about Uncle Si's icy stare.....well, Henry Bob has one, too. This is what he looks like when he wants to play, needs to go potty outside, has been digging in the trash and wants you to know about it, and anytime anyone is eating anything. I'm pretty sure he could stare down Uncle Si. 

After Henry's impromptu photo shoot, they are still playing with play dough.

M loves to draw.

And he loves to laugh!

I love him!

Then they decided to get out the piece of crap toy that one of our kids begged for at Christmas....it broke after a week, but they still play with it. I've tried to throw it away a few times, but it keeps reappearing. 

I'm not sure what the deal was here, but I promise you, nothing terrible happened. I really don't know.

I just love her chippy pink polish. Sweetest lil' hands ever!

We had a fun day today. I am learning to find joy in the little things.....even play dough!

Garage Sale Season Kickoff!

Last Saturday was "opening day." My parents were in town, so I got to kickoff the 2013 season with my mom and my daughter. Here are a few "treasures" I picked up.

Pretty vintage linens. They remind me of the linens my mother-in-law brought me from her trip to Belgium. I have no idea where these are from.....probably not even vintage....probably made in China! I really do not know, but I like to tuck these under teapots, or under dishes inside my china cabinet, so I bought them.

This is my favorite find from last weekend. It's a children's book published in 1933. I don't buy things at sales so that I can re-sell them, but I do like to research what I find. I paid 0.75 for this book and it looks like it is valued between $60 and $85!

I remember this story as "The Little Red Hen." Maybe the "small" was dropped later? It is kinda redundant.

I'm always drawn to anything made in the U.S.A.

I think the illustrations are great. Every other page is in color, I'm guessing because it was expensive to publish entirely in color??

I found this at an estate sale, she was a Dutch lady and she had several of these around her home. I am guessing this means "Welcome" in Dutch.

Now, I got really excited about this dustpan....is that strange? You just can't find these heavy-duty "mom tools" anymore! It is HEAVY and who knows how old and I was happy to pay 0.25 for it! I told my hub that, "Someday, our kids will fight over this dustpan," he just rolled his eyes. He doesn't get it.

I have been looking for an end table for one of our boys' rooms and this little typing table fit the bill! 

And lastly, I couldn't pass up this vintage Fisher-Price ferris wheel! It was a big hit with my little guy, it's true what they say, "They just don't make 'em like this anymore!" 

Always Learning

This is our third year to homeschool, and I am still constantly reminded that learning takes place every single day......even when we leave the workbooks on the shelf.

Yesterday the weather was beautiful. After math and reading, we spent the day outside! We were in the  neighborhood park when my hub called to tell me that he was stuck in a parking lot with a flat tire and needed me to bring him a jack and a lug wrench. This was a perfect opportunity for my boys to learn how to change a flat!

Isn't that a great picture of  learning and cooperation?

.......it lasted for 3.7 seconds....well, almost.

And then the silliness began......

Mmmmkay, time to wrap up this lesson.

March Confessions

I can't decide if these are confessions, or random facts, or both. I thought it would be fun every month to share things about me that may interest my kids later on. Or maybe they won't be interested at all! Ha!

* I have a "thing" for new pens. When I'm at the grocery store and I see really cute pens, all new and packaged, I always want to buy them. Same with notebook paper and crayons. That's strange, right?

* I don't like to go to Ladies' Conferences. I always leave feeling inadequate....and guilty....and like I don't measure up....so I just don't go to them. Ever.

* I don't like to eat the ends of things.....like pickles, bananas, and hot dogs. I don't know why, but I've been that way as long as I can remember. I just cut off the ends and it's all good.

* My 13-year-old has a little mustache and it bothers me. When I talk to him, I just stare at it. How did this happen? 

* My kids don't usually have cute Easter baskets to put their eggs in (bad grammar, I know). They have used Wal-Mart sacks, plastic Halloween pumpkins, and paper sacks from Braums. And it doesn't bother me.....not even a little bit. Is that redneck? 

* Jay makes fun of me because I call OKC, "The City" (he's from Arkansas, he doesn't understand). Until a few years ago, I always called the refrigerator the "ice box." And lastly, he thinks its strange that I pronounce coyote in 2 syllables and it sounds like kie-oat instead of ki-yo-tee. 

Spring and Summer Garden

I really love spring and summer. I love the sunshine, warmer temps, cooking outside, but most of all, I love getting my hands in the dirt and working in my flower beds. This year is especially exciting because it's our first year to plan a flower garden for this house. We moved in last June and the flower beds were already full and blooming.

Here is a picture of our house right after we moved in. I hung the flag and 3 Boston Ferns, everything else was already there. We could not quite figure out what was going on with the lawn.....we watered and watered and it just looked dead. Maybe it had a disease? Maybe it was just too hot? I don't know, that is my husband's territory. The previous owners planted the front beds with Posies, Geraniums, and Sweet Potato Vine. 

Under the Mulberry Tree, I am planning to plant a few Hostas. They like shade and are low-maintenance. 

Among the Hostas, I'd like to plant some Lily of the Valley. They are the cutest blooms ever and smell divine!

On the front porch, I will hang a couple of Boston Ferns and put another in my plant stand. Boston's can be a bit of a mess, I may go with the Kimberly Fern instead. 

On each side of the front door, I'll do a couple of pots with Lavender. 

Along our privacy fence to the west, I'd like to plant Gladiolus. If you will plant the bulbs a few days apart, you will have color all season into the fall! 

In the front beds I'll grow Portulaca (Rose Moss). This is the easiest stuff to grow and it spreads like crazy. The blooms open up wide mid-day and close in the evenings......and its okay if you forget to water them for a week.....or two. 

I'll also plant a couple of pots of Lantana, butterflies love this stuff! 

 Lastly, I'll put Sweet Potato Vine under the ornamental tree. My husband hates SPV. It grows like crazy and can be a nuisance if you don't keep cutting it back....and flea beetles love it, so keep an eye on it if it gets droopy. 

We have decided we aren't going to try a vegetable garden this year. I don't have the patience, and I really like shopping at the local farmer's markets. 

Are you a gardener??

Burn Out

This was a hard week for me. I'm pretty sure it could be termed "burn out." There was nothing out of the ordinary, and maybe that's part of it. 

Winter is not my favorite time of year. In fact, if it were up to me, we would skip January and February after Christmas and start the new year in March. I usually start counting down the days until spring in November! 

So, back to this week. The kids were bickering more than usual. There was a monstrous pile of laundry that never seemed to lessen no matter how many loads I washed. Dirty dishes in the sink....and the living room....upstairs. Trash cans were full. Globs of toothpaste in every bathroom sink, dirty mirrors, floors that needed mopping. And stuff. Everywhere I turned....legos, matchbox cars, crayons, library books, wooden blocks, stinky basketball shoes, candy wrappers, and 3 million Hello Kitty lip glosses....littering the house. 

And then there was homeschool. They didn't want to do school, and truth be known, neither did I. But we did, and it was a chore. My six-year-old would disappear at the mention of lesson time and my older kids were less than compliant. We'll just leave it at that. And then there is the 3-year-old in a full leg cast that is immobile and milking the situation beyond belief. Top all of that off with a husband who needed an emergency root canal and a 98 lb furry Goldendoodle who has barked incessantly inside the house all week and I. was. toast. Burnt toast. 

I leave note cards all over my house to help me with scripture memory. There is nothing better than clinging to God's word. I heard a quote a few weeks ago, not even sure who said it, but I wrote it down and taped it to the kitchen window above the sink. "The Lord walks among the pots and pans."  I got up Thursday morning to find that my dear hubby had added a few words to the bottom of my note card. Yep. The flood gates opened and the ugly cry made an appearance!! My hub knows that I thrive on words of affirmation. 

Isn't he the best? He really is. 

This week we got through the dreaded math, grammar, vocabulary, phonics and reading lessons. But I hope my kids learned more than that. I hope my kids saw that even when mom and dad are tired, frustrated and just plain burnt out...we still have joy. We love each other, serve each other, lift each other up and most importantly we cling to our Savior and His Word. 

 ^"That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."  2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)