March was in like a Lion and out like a sneaky lamb who got away when I wasn't watching!

Well I'm going to post words this time but only bullet points, because bullet points pretty much sum up my disconnected, startaprojectandgetinterruptedabilliontimes kind of life right now. All I have the capacity for is dashing off little dots of memories so that I don't have to try to hold them all in this sieve of a brain of mine. 

• AWANA car races were more fun than I expected.  I'm so relieved we actually got our cars there after forgetting about them until the night before the dead lines, both times (there were two dead lines, one for getting the car made, and another for getting them decorated).  Dade won 2nd place for the best curves, and Matia won 2nd place for flower power in the design category.  Matia's car won 2nd place in Cubbies for speed and she actually had the fasted run of the day out of all the cars raced that day!  Dade thought he won 1st place in Sparks for speed, but it was actually an error.  The judges picked up the wrong sheet from the printer and had the results of only one race.  The places are the average of all 4 races that each car ran, so 1st place actually went to someone else.  Dade was a great sport about that sad fact, and even took his trophy to AWANA the next week to give to the true winner.  The AWANA leader thanked him for his sportsmanship and let him keep the trophy since she had ordered a new one for the kids who should have gotten them.  Dade calls it his sportsmanship trophy now, and it stands as a reminder that it is a privilege to be involved in the fun and we can be winners even if we don't finish first or get a prize.  It was a fun event and we are already looking forward to next year.
• We have been blessed with a new niece born on February 8th.  Her name is Mary and we have plans to visit her at Easter.  ( I know this is not a March event, but it still needs to be documented and I better do it now or who knows when I'll post again!)
• Kayla is officially eating baby food. I've been pureeing to beat the band.  She loves sweet potatoes and carrots and even cauliflower, but not broccoli.  I am able to mix her veggies with rice, but she doesn't really like rice alone.  I have tried cooking brown rice and pureeing it instead of using the baby cereals available.  It seems to be fine with her, which is nice because it is way less expensive and hopefully the whole grains will be better for her.  She still nurses 4 or 5 times a day and unfortunately gets up at night too, mostly for company I think.  I have not been as good at training her as I was with the other two.  I think it has something to do with our paper thin walls and the fact that she is sharing a room with the other kids.  I just find it faster to get up with her and settle her than to wait it out.  I get more sleep, or so I tell myself, but if I actually bite the bullet and train her to settle herself ASAP then I'll get to actually sleep with out interruptions, which would mean more sleep truly.  In the day time I resolve to train her to settle herself, but at 1am I just want her to be quiet so I do what makes that happen the fastest.  Not a good habit... I need to stop this train before it picks up more speed and becomes much harder to stop.
• Dade and Matia have completed  2 levels of swimming lessons.  I am very pleased with their progress and I'm very pleased that I'm done driving 11/2 hours every other day for 30 minutes of swimming lessons.  We'll start back at it in the fall, but I needed a break from driving hither and yon before we go on the road with ice cream. In the fall Dade will be in level 1 because he will be 6, and Matia will go into  Sun Fish or Crocodiles. In need to check with the pool.  The swimming instructor told me that Matia was swimming a tad bit better than Dade, but then she recommended that Matia go into the next swimming level (there are 3 more preschool levels), but because Dade will no longer be preschool age in the fall she said he should just skip over the 3 preschool levels left and do the Level 1 lessons. That doesn't make sense to me.  If Matia is swimming slightly better than Dade, shouldn't she be recommended to the same level as Dade, or at least be told to skip a preschool level?  Does it matter what level I put her in if they are all a review of the skills she is proficient in?  Am I wasting money going level by level?  I don't quite get the swimming system.  All I really care about is that their lessons be on the same day and at the same time... good luck to me!
• Homeschool is quite relaxed right now.  We read a few books each night, do a few work book pages each day and play, play, play.  I am looking forward to forming my plans for next year, but I'm a bit nervous about carrying them out and actually doing what I plan to do.  Still, I'm happy with the progress they have made this year.  They both know  all their letters and numbers up to 20 and a few beyond.  They are familiar with sounding out 3 to 5 letter words and they like to sound out 3 letter words to spell.  They are quite computer proficient and I think they could actually spend a bit less time playing on the computer.  I'm trying to balance the fun and games with some responsibilities and we have instituted a chore chart with reward incentives and it has been a good thing for the last 2 weeks, we'll see how it evolves.  Now that spring has sprung we'll try to do a bit more outside nature observations (when we are finally able to traverse our yard without getting covered in mud).  I think we'll continue with reading practice throughout the summer, so that we don't have to review much in the fall, just carry on.
• I'm tuckered.  I am tired all the time, I feel like I'll never not feel tired again.  I hope that is not true, but if it is, I've decided that giving up coffee (as per my new year's resolution) is not worth it!  Too many people pay the price when I don't get my yummy, nutty, creamy, sugary, hot and delicious caffeine fix each day, so for their sake I'm self medicating with a cup of joe or five every day. As for getting to bed on time, well, I'm getting better and actually average around 11:30ish... speaking of which, this post must now come to an end, even if I do think of one more bullet point in the next couple minutes.

Happy Spring to anyone who happens to read this still.

Monster Snowshoes

A lesson in weight distribution & balance...

The Best Laid Plans

There's not much that I like more than to stay up late, all alone with my calendars, day timers and schedules.  I love to use all the on-line gadgets to get that euphoric feeling of organization.  It's a feeling folks, remember I think I've noted that feelings aren't the same as reality, but still, I like the feeling! I like to have a hanging calendar with pretty pictures or interesting quotes or funny jokes.  I like to have a purse sized calendar to carry around and write stuff in when I'm waiting in the car for hubby, or when if am asked to participate in a prestigious social function.  When I get the church bulletin or nursery rotation I like to type it into my email dates reminder, pencil it on my wall calendar and jot it down in my purse diary.  Now that I'm homeschooling I'm in my glory ,blocking off weeks for unit studies and color coordinating them with different highlighter colors. Oh yes, I love the FEELING of being organized! 

The trouble is that right after I jot it all down and the organizational high wears off, I am no more organized than I was before.  I'm just reminded, everywhere I look, of what I wasn't organized enough to achieve. I have great intentions, but yeah, that 3 tiered diorama of the Brazilian rain forest is just not going to happen in real life. You see, it requires rounding up items and things and stuff and well, somehow that little activity never gets scheduled into my calendars. I also forget to foresee the unexpected, and my motto in life really should be "Expect the Unexpected".  Though I know things are going to come up to throw my schedule off course,  yetI never leave any lee way on the calendar for that fact.  So there it is, lack of organization and unforeseeable events are my greatest nemesis. 

In keeping with my greatest joy, I PLAN to overcome these little foibles of mine. Just yesterday I blocked off a whole week in February as a catch up week.  I know! Aren't I smart! That, and I found out from the first 4 months of homeschooling that there is no way on earth I'll ever finish everything I'd like to, so maybe it's ok to plan a little more realistically for the next 3 months or so.  Also, I'm only planning specific things 3 in advance.  This gives enough time for me to gather the supplies necessary, but it's not so far in the future that I'll have to revamp the entire year if things go awry, for whatever reason.  See, I'm expecting the unexpected.

Those of you who have been homeschooling for some time, or have been teachers or have had grown up jobs of any kind will be rolling your eyes at me right now and saying, "well duh!".  But for me this is a breakthrough.  I'm learning to face my life as it is, not just as I wish it was.  I'm learning to accept the fact that needing to catch up, take breaks and goof off now and then is normal, and ok, and should be part of the routine.  I'm learning that I'm not a failure if I don't tick everything off the list ( btw, I've never even come close to being able to do this with even a grocery list! I've just felt bad about the inevitable failure pretty much all my life ~ how is it that I'm just coming to grips with reality now?!!!).  I guess what I'm all in a dither about, is that I'm learning to have high expectations for myself and for others, and then the next step is allowing some grace when things don't go as expected.  I've heard it said that way up high is where we set our expectations and way down low is reality and what's left in the middle is disappointment.  I think that is a sad way to look at life, yet accurate as far as my experiences have taught me.  But that disappointment can be changed to blessing when I consider grace as the object lesson of the experience.  To accept failure and learn from it and remember that life is messy and muddled and rarely fits in my calendar boxes and to be ok with it and adapt is such a freeing skill.  One that I plan to hone and refine.  Now let me get a pen and schedule in some honing and refining time!

Unit Studies

So I'm a newbie at this whole homeschooling thing and I've recently found something that I really like (all you seasoned homeschoolers can roll your eyes if you want) it is The Unit Study. 

Yep, I was browsing on my favorite homeschool blog and by following a rabbit trail I found Homeschool Share and I feel like I hit the jack pot!  I've been trying to decide how to incorporate a little bit of each subject each day and keep it light and fun and avoid the feeling of drudgery.  My kids love to read books and have books read to them. Studying one specific book all week and basing lessons upon that specific story keeps them interested no matter what subject we're covering. I'm still trying to get the hang of Lapbooks, but I feel like I've found something to keep me moving forward with our fledgling attempts at "school".  I keep getting advised to take it easy, keep it simple, teach to the heart, and so on.  I'm wondering if I might be taking it to easy and slacking off.  It's easy to let school slide when you do it at home, and with us doing Kindergarten and PreK it's even more "acceptable" to do a little here and there with out much structure.   This is fine by my kids, and they are actually doing well and are making progress in their reading and writing and counting.  I struggle though.  I crave structure and order and routine.  Since I got married I have learned to tolerate less and less predictability in my life, but now I'm starting to feel like I'm just drifting along with no goals or purpose or accomplishments and it's a bit stressful and frightening.  I mean, I always have goals but they have become quite general:

1. get out of bed
2. feed children
3. feed self
4. pick stuff up
5. put stuff away
6. clean stuff up
7. move stuff around randomly if you don't know where to put it.
8. feed people again
9. catch up on the news Face Book
10. talk to my 5 on the phone
11. feed people again.
12. get children back into bed
13. get self to bed before a new day dawns.

These unit studies give me a  way to get focused.  We can do school in a way that I actually enjoy and relate to.  I'm so thankful that I live in the information age or I'd be lost. 

This past week we did a Unit Study on Boxes for Katje by Candace Flemming.  We read the book each school day.  Through the week we made a box for Operation Christmas Child, we planted a bulb (An Amaryllis not a tulip), colored the Dutch flag and looked at traditional clothing and other symbols of Holland.  In between all the fun stuff we squeezed in the usual stuff (printing, phonics, counting/grouping, cooking, cleaning, etc).  The week before we studied Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindburgh.  We counted apple seeds daily, sang the prayer, watched the Disney Tall Tales excerpt about Johnny Appleseed, did an art project on the changing seasons and apple trees, colored a facts booklet about apples, had an apple tasting and finally ate apple crisp. 
Next week we are going to examine pioneer life with The Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
I've chosen our books based on the season, and have tried to order them from the library well in advance so we have them when we are ready to study them.

Our lap books are a bit sloppy.  I'm hoping to learn a bit more about what other people do to keep theirs from looking like the photocopier threw up into a file folder and then my kids scribbled on it. Until then, I'm happy to have a record of our weekly progress, so I'll keep the lap book in what ever form it comes.
So that's what we've been up to this week and last, and I'll try to post a bit more about our special projects as we go.

Trying Not To Forget

Making Poppies: Silk Flower Petals, Black Adhesive Velcro Dots.  Stick the petals together with velcro dots, one on each side.  Stick poppies in hair or on fleece/wool clothing

While we made these I found myself saying that we need to take time to remember the soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.  My words were met with blank stares.  I started to panic because I was at a loss as to how to explain the valor, honor and sacrifice that was symbolized in our floppy little poppies.  Will our children grow up to have those values? Do we have them?  My Grandpa's generation is very different from mine, they grew up with very little and were still willing to give everything.  They know how to share,how to work hard, how to do without, and how to tough it out. Do we?  Will we be able to teach our children how?  I worry about this, and then take a breath and realize that they won't truly get it, just like I don't truly get it, but we can still pause and appreciate what was done on our behalf.  As I grow older I understand more about what sacrifices were made to keep our countries secure and free.  I know that is was horrific, messy, full of grey areas and darkness pierced with the light of measureless heroism and courage.  I didn't understand until... well, did I understand it until now, as I reflect and type, do I really understand it even now? I can't expect my kids to comprehend what I am still learning about.  I can make time to  "remember" and reflect each year and through the year with them.  Starting small with floppy poppies and talking about Flanders Field and standing at attention while we sing O Canada. Eventually, I hope, we will learn to share, work hard, appreciate what we  have and be generous to others who may be toughing it out.

Grandpa Al & Dade

Learning

Since we have started homeschooling if have found that I'm learning way more than I am teaching.
 
Did you know that Dade's Hot Wheels have names? His favorite truck, the black one he got from Uncle Jonny, is called Bracket and the other two new cars, that came with his floating Hot Wheels set, don't like Bracket.  They have names too, but I can't remember what they are. They crash into each other a lot and zoom through the air and land with a great crash.

Did you know when Matia plays "Baby" that she has a brother nambed Jacob and two sisters, one named Amy and the other is Jake. Yep, and Matia has the biggest bed and the others sleep here and there around the camper, which isn't really a camper but a big huge house!

Did you know that Dade's T-Ball stand is broken? No it hasn't run out of batteries, no, no pieces are broken, it actually works just fine, it's just that Dade thinks he doesn't hit the ball as good as he should and it surely isn't his fault, ergo the T-Ball stand MUST be broken.

I've learned that Dade likes eating snacks with lots of crumbs and Matia likes to cut up paper into little itty bitty pieces and scatter them on the floor.  Neither of them like to vacuum.

I've learned that Matia like's to color; Dade prefers to build. They both like to paint, but don't like cleaning up.

Singing O Canada is a new form of  Torture unless we walk down to the neighbor's drive way and sing beneath their waving Canada flag. Like wise the Lord's Prayer is drudgery, but Matt Maher's song Our Father is a relaxing, enjoyable song that they sing and hum whenever the idea pops into their heads.

Dade and Matia have very different personalities and preferences.

Matia's dough for an art project

Dade's dough for the same project

Somehow they are still able to work together to complete the project.

I've learned that I need to back up the teacher bus a bit and do more fun than flash cards, bribe with treats sometimes and allow some messy fun now and then (shudder). 

I've found a few helpful things like

• The Box system
• The hooked on Phonics pack
• The Library
• Homeschooler blogs

So for now I guess I'll keep on doing what seems to work, and learn as I go.

We have been a family of 5 for a month now. Some things are glorious. Some things are difficult. I don't mind admitting that I'm tired, pretty much all the time, I think that's just how it's going to be until the kids grow up for the rest of my life. The coffee cup and I have a little thing going on, ok well actually it's quite serious, we're inseparable really, and honestly when our lips meet there is a lot of hot steamy lovin' going on! Did I mention I'm pretty tired these days? Perhaps I should digress and draw your attention to more wholesome subject matter, like all the things that are glorious about life these days:

• The smell of a tiny baby, all milky and sweet.
• The way my older daughter takes on her sisterly duties with gusto, simply because she can't get enough of this new little person in our lives.
• The way my son will let Kayla grasp his finger when no one seems to be noticing.
• That I am seeing progress in our schooling in just 6 short days (don't get me wrong, we've got a long row to hoe, but still progress in any sense of the word is still glorious).
• We are home, such that it is, it is still home, still our stuff, our friends, our life and I'm glad.
• My husband is renovating our bathroom even as I type this! 
• We have kittens and a mama mouser cat that are sticking around and hopefully eating up the copious amounts of mice on our property.
• Mike got our hot tub refurbished and fired up! Heaven!

 Some things that I'm finding difficult right now are:

• Being tired all the time.  I can't even blame Kayla since I'm only up once a night and then usually she calls for me at a reasonable time in the morning (usually we hang out at 3am ish and 7am ish). She goes right back to sleep and usually I'm free to do the same, except that I really need to get up at 7 so I can get our day on track.  My difficulty stems from the fact that I have a bad habit of staying up until 12am or later, it's the carny in me I guess. All summer we have been rising late (after 9am) and going to bed late (1am ish) so I'm still having trouble getting to bed at a reasonable hour, especially since I like to give Kayla  a dream feed at 11pm ish.  
• Homeschooling.  I thought my kids would enjoy the activities I had in mind, but they have pretty much decided that they don't like school. They have decided this in 6 days.  Matia has gone so far as to say that O Canada is stupid and that she hates the Lord's Prayer. Oh my.  I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.  I'm hoping some object lessons (a paper mache globe) and a trip to the library for some good books will help things a bit.  Other than that we're just going to plug along and by gum and by golly they are going to learn that I'm the boss and they must get with the program and that they are not going to break me! I'm a substitute teacher, they haven't even scratched the surface of what I'm capable of withstanding! Oh ya, it's going to be so fun around here, let me tell you.
• Renovations.  We are redoing our bathroom. We have completely gutted the old one, it was pretty yucky. I am extremely pleased with this project, the only difficulty is that it means we are living in our travel trailer again this fall.  It also means that I have no washer and dryer right now.  I'm not uncomfortable in our travel trailer, and to combat the laundry pile up I went and picked out 7 outfits for each of us and I'm not keeping any more clothing than that in the camper.  Once we run out I need to run to the laundromat or we wear dirty clothes and that is that (or so we shall see). 
• I'm grumpy.  I'm unreasonably grumpy almost all the time.  I pray for God's spirit to grow the fruit of self control in me every day because I just want to bite everyone's head off all the time.  I know some of it is hormones, some is fatigue, some is running out of patience from constant disciplining of preschoolers, some is circumstances outside of my control.  I know I should exercise and get my sleep and my quiet time with the Lord.  Usually I'm getting one out of three. I'll keep on working on it.  Sorry, in advance if I bite your head off.

Over all I'd say the good out weighs the bad. We continue to learn from all of our experiences and we keep on looking forward to our future with optimistic hope.

Update

Well summer is long gone, or so it seems.
We are home from the road and have been greeted by a week of rain.
The kids are home from Grandma's & Grandpa's house and I am officially getting a grip on being a mother of three.
We have softly started school, with next week being the week of getting into the swing of things with a more rigid structure.  I'm a little nervous because we've only done two days worth of "school" and the kids have informed me that they don't like it. Not the Lord's Prayer, not the Phonics practice, not the coloring, not the letter magnets, not anything I've introduced.  Yikes. I hope they get over that or it could make for a frustrating fall for all of us! Maybe the paper mache globe project next week will be more up their alley, though I'm doubtful as to the calming effects paste, paper and paint in a small confined area in the hands of  two small children will have on me!!! Whatever it takes right? I've really been enjoying using the tools from this blog

for my planning and for interesting and engaging activities. I think the kids will like school more once I have all the printing and laminating of activities from this site completed for them to enjoy. I purchased the Letter of the Week Curriculum but am using it more as a letter of the Day since Dade already seems comfortable with recognizing and the sound of most of the letters.  I think it is good reinforcement and it is a good way to introduce the letters to Matia who is still preschool age.  I also bought the Expedition Earth Geography curriculum, it has tonnes of good ideas and references, well worth the money spent in my opinion. I'm excitied to get going on it (even if it does include a paper mache project or two).  So, in spite of the fact that my kids aren't jumping up and down excited about "doing school" like I have been for the last few weeks as I've planned their education, I think it will be fun and interesting once we get started for real. Pray for us! This could be a wild ride this year. Any of you lurkers who have any advice for me in the homeschool department, please be sure to comment! I can use all the help I can get. Actually any advice on any subject is always welcome! I have so much to learn about being a mom, a wife, a friend, a teacher, and about life in general.

Speaking of being a mom...
Kayla is being a dream baby still.  I love how small and needy she is, and how content she is, so that it seems easy to meet her needs. She is getting up usually once at night, but goes right back to sleep after she gets some food in her belly.  She makes me feel capable and confident as a mom...so far.  The other two keep me humble don't worry!

Matia is my wild card. I never really know what she is thinking, but she is thinking all the time.  She has given up her stuffed elephant "Elphie" to Kayla, but I can see that it is difficult for her.  She tries not to let on, but when I see her with "Elphie" and ask her what she is doing with it, she quickly whips her thumb out of her mouth and says "I'm just giving him to Kayla". Uh huh, sure you were. She is very sure she knows just what everyone else should be doing and is not shy about giving out instructions, and I need to remind her on occasions that I'm the mom, and that she needs to listen to me.  She has grown a foot this summer, or so it seems, and is wearing size 5 shirts!!!! She is three and a half years old!  She is so beautiful that I want to stare at her all day long.  She is graceful and self assured, something I've never been, and she takes my breath away.  She still loves all things girly, and I look forward to taking her shopping and to get a manicure and going for coffee and doing all kinds of girly stuff with her. I just hope her sneaky streak disappears before she is 14, or at least that she does not hone her skills any further before then.  If she's anything like her Dad or even me for that matter, we could be in for it! Lord preserve her....and us!

If Matia is everything girly, then Dade is everything a little boy should be.  He's into cars and guns and bugs and animals and explosions and anything fast or loud or both!  He's got an independent streak and he's been most annoyed with me lately because I keep on telling him what to do (of all the nerve)! If left to his own devices he would spend the day playing with his cars, watching Myth Busters or Top Gear, playing with the kittens, or shooting the walls and furniture with his arsenal of suction cup guns. He's a thinker and likes to ponder how things are made and how they work.  He will be good at building things when he is older; just like his dad.

I'm hoping the weather gets a little nicer before it winter comes.  I'm trying to get outside and get some exercise to get rid of some of my baby jiggle. So far I've gone for a walk two days in a row! Yay me! LOL, baby steps, baby steps...  some other remodeling projects we have on the go include our bathroom, and our yard.  We have completely gutted our bathroom, so we are continuing to live in our camper until that project if completed (hopefully in the next week or two), we also have a yard full of weeds.  We had hoped to seed grass this fall, but it seems that the cold weather is setting in sooner than we had hoped, and we will likely not have seed in before the hard frost shows up.  At least we can kill off some of the weeds/saplings that have taken over our yard, and we will be able to seed in the spring.  Unfortunately that means another winter and spring of muddy boots and dirty floors.

Mike has a hundred and one projects swirling around in his head this fall.  His work at the water stores is just beginning and he hopes that he and his partner will be able to build up a delivery route and increase sales this fall, winter and spring.  He is also thinking about making our concession prettier for next season, and maybe even building up our concession business to something we can run year round (doing trade shows and other indoor events, selling ice cream and other novelty foods). In addition to that he has some nearly completed projects he'd like to get out of the way; he has rebuilt a picker and would like to assemble it and sell it this fall, and the outdoor wood boiler still needs to be completed or revamped.

This fall and winter are sure to fly by with all the projects and ideas swirling around us. We look forward to a busy year full of accomplishments and experiences.  For now I'm planning to brew my 3rd cup of coffee and figure out what to make for supper.

blank

sorry, there might not be any pictures on here for a while. Our laptop crashed, and my pc doesn't have the thingy that the chips go into. So, unless I find the cord that connects to our camera (highly unlikely) to the computer I'll just have to type out word pictures instead.

Word picture #1: We are slowly making progress on getting our crazy chaos figured out. The cupboards in my kitchen are almost completely empty and ready to be ripped out at the first sign of new cupboard & flooring (yet to be determined). Our stuff is slowly being sifted into storage, and I'm reclaiming my home from the army of mice that decided to take over this spring & summer. It's not exactly pleasant, homey or comfortable, but it is livable. I'm a bit jealous of all the neat little crafty things ladies are doing to decorate for fall, since there is just no point for me to do those things at this time. I will just file away the ideas for such a time as my home does become something I want to decorate, not rip down.

Word picture #2: Dade informed me yesterday after we did some counting, that "this is NOT real school Mommy!". Sigh. He so badly wants to get on that yellow school bus that drives by our house every morning. He doesn't believe that I'm really a teacher, or that I am teaching him things he would learn at school. I hope he gets over it. I hope I do.

Word picture # 3: Matia is currently running around our chilly house in her bathing suit, carrying her baby around. She says she is pretending to swim. She is also being a really good mommy and having me wrap up her baby "nice & tight". She loves to dress up and pretend and has a very good imagination. Usually she dresses up as a ballerina, but pretends to be a mommy the most. If any Grandma's out there wanted to make/buy her some frilly aprons to wear when she plays kitchen, she'd be over the moon.

Well as far as descriptive word pictures go, I'm not sure I nailed it this morning. But it is nice to have an update to read. So I guess that is that.

Random

We're home from our gypsy life for the fall and winter now, officially! I have a very unsettled feeling, and I can't really decide what project to tackle 1st. I've been doing a lot of reading of other people's blogs, actually too much reading of other people's blogs. While I'm very happy for all the organized, routine oriented women out there, and am actually quite inspired by them (which I think IS the point of reading & sharing blogs) I'm also a bit undone by them. I'm struggling with the questions:

• Is it ok that we live a very unstructured, messy, and disorganized life? What if it is not ok?
  
• Are there any other bloggers out there who live like we do?
• How can I be at peace with my home, my husband and my kids?
• How do I contribute to my church and community when I feel like I can't even maintain my own home?

my plan is to just take one task at a time, rest when I need to rest, pray when I need to pray (all the time), and just do my best I guess. In the scheme of things a beautiful home, an organized life and a clean floor are not the purpose of this life of mine. They are important, but it's more important to love the Lord my God with all my strength, all my soul, and all my mind, and to love my neighbor as my self. I can do that regardless of where I live, or what I do, or what my floors look like. THIS gave me something to think about too.

In other news: we have cats! Four cats to be exact. They are named after ice cream flavors. The male orange & white is called Orange Float, the female grey is called Licorice, the female short haired tabby is called Roly, and the female long haired tabby is called Poly (Rolypoly is ice cream with Rolos in it). Roly has already caught herself a mouse! She was my favorite from the start and now I know why! So I hope the mice skeedattle!! Has anyone out there ever read the children's book the King, the Mice & the Cheese? Well we're living it! Check it out, it's a good read.

Things with wheels: We now have 2 vehicles for each registered driver in our household, plus a 7 ton Freightliner for good measure! We're kind of like the SPCA for cars that need fixing, or their old owners don't love them anymore. Mike has his hands full this week and next. His hope is to fix and sell the Jetta and the Navigator so we can put in new kitchen cupboards this fall with the money from selling them. Hope! Hope! fingers crossed! We will continue to drive our hand me down Windstar, and our new to us Sentra. The Freightliner will continue to work its way into the grave. After we gave it a new turbo this summer it seems to chug along with the stiputlation that Mike drives it when it is cold or at night only! Will it last another summer? Tune in next season for more amazing stories of our reluctant Freightliner.

Homeschooling: this year is our preschool year for Dade. We have definately had a soft start. So far this week we have covered gross motor skills (a nature walk, playing at the park for 3 hours, and outside play with the cats in our yard), fine motor skills ( a hammering lesson while working with Daddy on the dog house, pouring water into different containers in the bath), and some science exploration (identifying rasberry bushes and sampling some saskatoons while on our nature walk). Not exactly the structured routine I had in mind. I'm really going to have to rethink our system and be more purposeful as we go through our day. It is good that this is pre school. It is practise for Dade & Matia AND most of all for Mommy.

It is stinkin hot!!!! It is gorgeous weather for fun things like boating or hanging at the park, but it has been all I can do to vacum out our vehicles, make meals, do laundry,wash up and defrost freezers. If I didn't have the reward of going to my Grandma's house this weekend, I think I would play hookie and go to the lake or something. Every time I think that I should go do something a bead of sweat runs down my neck and I sit down! I'm just waiting for the kids' bed time. It will be cooler then and I'll really get into gear! You'll see....you'll see...