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Hmmm....did I say that though I was back, I might not be blogging as regularly as I use to?? Well, I guess a few months in-between posts is still better than a year and a half. But I will try to do better!
Here it is February...time is truly going by so fast these days. I know that is an overused statement but even my children think so, too! Which is strange because when I was a child, time seemed to go by at a snail's pace. As soon as Christmas is over, it's Valentine's Day...but that part is alright with me since it means spring is almost here!
I thought I'd take this time to talk about our newest ventures in our homeschooling journey. This is our 6th year and over all, it's going pretty well- especially now that we have added a few new things to our agenda the past few months....
In January, we joined a co-op group that some of you may be familiar with: Classical Conversations.
I have to admit, I had my hesitations...I had previously known very little about the style of learning that they advocate. And what I did know, I wasn't even sure if I fully embraced. Lots of memorization...wasn't that "old school" and not true learning? My style was mostly in the way of "unit study"...delving into a subject (such as the Revolutionary War era) and doing lots of fun things on the subject. But then I found out that we could still continue this type of learning at home if we joined Classical Conversations. In fact, I could pick some of the information that they were memorizing and in fact, do a mini-unit study on that at home if I wanted to! Okay...this was good...
And when we visited the group in the fall, the atmosphere was so fun and well-rounded. My girls were so ready for a part time class\group situation and after praying about it, I knew this was the perfect fit for us. Not only are all three of us learning so much but we are all enjoying getting together with others once a week and making new friends.
On top of this new part of our week, the girls are also each taking a science class geared especially for homeschoolers at a nearby Christian college on another morning a week. This has been another wonderful opportunity to have a touch of classroom experience (and spend time at a real college!) as well as learn more about science- a subject somewhat out of the comfort zone for me.
(Well, at least chemistry is, which is what my 11 year old is taking.) Electrons, neutrons and protons are not nearly as fascinating to me personally as say, the life of Abigail Adams or the route of Oregon Trail. And plus, she gets to wear a lab coat and goggles for experiments- bonus!
Meanwhile, we still have fun learning at home too. And these days, we have the added spice of their three year old nephew whom I watching a few mornings a week. He's actually a very fun and independent little guy, so it's actually been very easy to have him join us.
So, these have been our biggest changes on the school\home front recently...all good!
But now it's time I got off my laptop and do some laundry before it's off to basketball practice for my oldest. (Did I mention both girls are in Upward Basketball right now? A wonderful Christian-based sports organization...but lots of running around with two separate practices and two separate games at two separate places!)
Just like a lot of other families out there, it's a busy season for us. But we're so thankful for so many things- including the energy for this old mommy just to keep up!
Who would have thought that when I took this last blogging break, I'd actually stop for a year and a half! A year and a half!! There was a time when I felt so addicted, I didn't think I could actually stay away for more than a week...but somehow it had been just time I stepped away.
So, what is new in the last eighteen months?
Well, obviously, that is too long a time to try to catch you all up. (Unless we all want to be here writing and reading another eighteen months!) But luckily, some of my blogging friends have already been caught up most of this time through Facebook, just as I've kept up with them!
But for those who haven't, I'll super-condense it here in the "Ultra-Reader's Digest version:
My girls are now eleven and eight, and we're still homeschooling... and as most families are, busy, busy busy! But I can truly say, not overly so right now. I think we have a good rhythm going at the moment...school time, church, girls' clubs, basketball ...but sprinkled apart where there is still some time to just relax a bit.
Of course as I write this, we're actually on Christmas vacation..enjoying doing absolutely nothing!
One of the biggest changes came when we moved my mom, now 83, out of her house where she lived the past 31 years and got her an apartment just five minutes away. Then just this November we found an even better apartment for her which is just as close- for seniors only and she loves it. Sadly, her eye sight has declined along with some painful arthritis, and so I am required to shop for her, take her to doctors and generally help her in any way that time and energy permits. And I love my mom dearly...she has been there for me all of my life supporting me in so many ways.
Very recently, my back has been giving me problems and just before Christmas I completely threw it out, causing some intense pain. Nothing like a little hobbling around with a cane to humble you! It took all that was within me to put on a happy face on Christmas for my girls' sake...but thankfully, I am slowly on the mend.
However, on the much brighter side... our year was filled with many fun memories...we got to go as a family on several business trips with my husband...Eagle Crest near Bend, Oregon and then in the summer, Reno! (We're not gamblers but we all ended up having a blast!)
Along with those adventures, my sweet husband surprised me with two special weekends away, just the two of us...
Overall, it was a good year and I have so much to be thankful for!
Anyway...I can't promise to keep up blogging as faithfully as I did once upon a time, but I do hope to try to start posting semi-regularly...and to visit some of your blogs at long last!
A very Happy New year to all of you filled with God's love!
For those of you who have been following me from way back, you might remember that every year my husband's side of the family goes camping and I opt to stay home for a little "alone time". Well, the event has come and gone...and now without it's interesting twists and turns.
This year was going to be a little different... since they were going to be gone for an entire week, I would be joining them for the last two nights.
The day before I would be going, I drove down to retrieve my mom, who would be letting our lab in and out and feeding her. It was with much trepidation that I went with this plan, seeing that she is up in years and our lab can be boisterous. But amazingly, our big brutesss has been very gentle around Mom, just as she has been the past few years with the girls...as if sensing she must be.
So then, my mom and I went on to have a nice, relaxing visit watching old movies and visiting for a day or so and the next evening my husband dropped over after putting in one day at work to pick me, my suitcase and sleeping bag up and away we went.
All the nights leading up to then, I would talk to my family on the phone and blow kisses to my girls at bedtime. A few of those nights had my youngest in tears because she missed me so much...so needless to say, I was really looking forward to seeing my girls and holding them tight. When we drove into the campsite at last, the girls came running when they saw me...all of us SO happy to be together again...so much so, that my sweet littlest actually cried happy tears...just melted my heart!
That night in the tent, it was a bit hard to sleep...I kept waking to hear a raccoon family who seemed to like visiting throughout the night. Followed by loud shrieking jays and crows in the wee hours of the morning. Now, I am actually a bird lover...but these things were a bit obnoxious to a gal trying to get her beauty sleep.
So, all day I was kind of going on fumes, but we still had some good times visiting with all the relatives, having ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory,
touring a light house,
and watching the children play on the beach.
The weather that Saturday was nice...fairly warm with sun breaks followed by a pleasent evening around the campfire with everyone...
But sadly, the weather wouldn't last...
And neither, apparently, would the munchies that my youngest had eaten that day.
Yes...unfortunately, my little munchkin was sick ALL night in the tent on that very last night. And though I as the mommy am usually the main caretaker, this time my husband graciously took over after the first couple times while I escaped to sleep the rest of the night scrunched up in the backseat. Needless to say, we were all miserable.
As we emerged that morning (our sick little one was still sleeping after her rough night so we placed her into the back seat) we joined the rest of the family packing up our tents and gear...
In the pouring rain.
Only we had some nasty, messy items to also deal with from our tent. :(
Fast-forward two days...and little one is better. But now picture Mommy and Daddy taking turns running to the bathroom all evening and night. Not a pretty sight, is it? Ugh.
Somehow...our ten year old escaped the brunt of the 24 hour flu that ravaged the rest of us.
But unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for my mom. Although within two hours of arriving home from our camping trip, I drove her right home without her even touching our sick one, somehow she couldn't escape it.
The same night my husband and I were suffering, she was too...and ended up calling an ambulance! She was hospitalized most of the week but is thankfully home and doing well now.
What positive thing could come out of all of this horribleness, you ask? Well, for one thing, God has used it as a wake-up call for us to quit procrastinating and get my mom moved up here right away. We'll be looking at temporary apartments close to our home so that she is not living alone so far away from us.
After finally joining in on the big family camp out this year, will this catastrophe keep me away again for another yet four years?
It's a big question...but as everyone pointed out, sickness rarely invades the family camp outs...this was a rarity (and of course, just the year I'd go!) ;)
And I might...just might...be persuaded to go back next year...
if we had one of these...
I'm sitting here, after just writing everyone's name on teeny tiny little pieces of paper...cutting them up...and putting them in a little bowl.
What...you say there's that automatic random name drawing computer site now? Well, maybe I'll try it one of these days, but this way is so much more personal, don't ya' think?
And since I have a LOT of time on my hands this week, I didn't mind.
You see, this week is that annual time again when my husband takes our children and camps all week with his side of the family. The time when this homeschooling mom has a few days out of the year to call her time her own.
Only this year, I'm going to be joining them for the final two nights...because really, a gal can only have so much solitude before she starts doing strange things like...oh, say... finding old pictures of college friends while organizing and then googling their names...having long conversations with her dog... and considering actually cleaning things that haven't been cleaned in awhile.
But truely, I do look forward to just a few days to myself.
And since Sunday afternoon, I've been reading a lot, trying to make a dent in organizing a couple rooms, and just enjoying that rare time of not hearing arguments ensue or demands for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Honestly? I'm not a big fan of cooking and meal planning...so for me, it's a pure vacation to reach into the freezer for a Lean Cuisine of my choosing and call it good.
And most of all, I've been wanting to use to this time to have some uninterrupted time with the Lord...something that all of us as moms can find challenging during the busy days of parenting.
All of this said, I've got to come clean...
I miss my family SO much.
I miss my husband walking through the door at dinnertime and kissing me...
I miss my oldest daughter's silly sense of humor or our talks about the latest American Girl book she is reading...
I miss my youngest cuddling with me (at seven, she's still very much a cuddler) as we read stories at bedtime.
And last night, my heart was about broken when she began crying on the phone because she missed me so much.
I tried to encourage her, and then I prayed with her over the phone. But afterwards, I, too, was a puddle of tears.
So, needless to say, as much as I look forward to some rare alone time once a year, I am honestly looking forward to joining them in three more days!
Anyway, without further adieu...
Here is the name that I pulled out of my bowl with my eyes closed.....
DRUM ROLL....
Grandma Dawn!
Dawn, I'm so thrilled you won, since I know you love to read as I do!
You may have mentioned your first book choice already, but e-mail me and let me know what it is, as well as your mailing address.
(And I hope you enjoy sipping your Starbucks as you read!)
Blessings!
OK....are any of you still out there? I hope so, absent blogger that I am!
But at long last, my give-away is here!
But first...
This month of July has just flown by and I can't believe we're at the end already. Here's just a few tidbits about our month:
As some of you know, we here in the great northwest U.S. are in the middle of a heat wave. Over 100 degrees all week long, with today supposedly the highest, reaching 106 in some areas here! I was going to try frying an egg on the sidewalk with the girls...it could pass for a home schooling moment...but I find myself pretty much gravitating to inside all day where we are blessed with AC.
The girls are on their last week of swimming lessons this week, too...it's been pretty much the only times I've ventured out. I feel precariously cool watching all the kids swim below in the pool while I sit with the other parents in the hot bleachers, vying for the closest place to the fans.
But seriously, it's been a lot of fun, even for me, seeing how far they've come this year- especially my youngest who use to be afraid of the water. She is loving it this year!
In other catch up news, I gave my oldest an American Girl slumber party for her 10th birthday, complete with crafts, cupcakes (see picture at top) swimming in the backyard pool, watching an American girl movie and all the general craziness and giggling that accompanies all slumber parties.
A good time was had by all!
And now, back to our heat wave....I was remembering another heat wave that happened when I was growing up and I posted about it on Facebook today. I'll copy it here as well...don't worry, it's very short!
As Tony Curtis smiled, his white teeth gleaming at me through the little black and white television set, I smiled back and took another sip of ice tea. I was only about nine years old, but I knew a handsome movie star when I saw one!
We were in the middle of a week long heat wave in my little corner of the world- Kent, Washington. And though we didn't have air conditioning, we did have a nice, big basement- half of which doubled as my own personal play room. But this week, my parents and I were using it as our campsite...and it seemed like such a cozy adventure!
It wasn't a "finished" basement, but the cement all around only added to the cool comfort and cave-like feeling.
My parents had one mattress and I had another...and because we'd be there all week, they even strung up a rope with a blanket over it- just like in that classic movie, "It Happened One Night". I'm not sure why we needed this private wall of Jericho though...after all, they were just...you know- parents.
But somehow it just added to the adventure having my own private area for sleeping.
Yet before sleep would come, we'd all get our snacks and drinks and settle in to share the little TV, which was showing "The Great Race" ...part one the first night, followed by part two the second. It's has if they had planned this just to entertain my parents and I for our heat wave retreat down below.
This week as we go though our current heat wave, I am so thankful for our air conditioning....especially now that I'm a "mature adult".
But it will be forever ingrained in my memory the summer that my parents and I hunkered down in our cool basement with our ice cold drinks, he fan blowing breezes on us as we told stories and watching Jack Lemon chase Tony Curtis around on a little black and white screen.
OK...drum roll please...
Since I'm celebrating my three year blogaversary (a little late now!) I wanted to host a little giveaway.
I am giving the winner a choice of one of the following gently used (like new!) Christian fiction books-and tucked inside will be a $5 gift card for Starbucks!
The book choices are:
"With this ring, I'm confused" by Kristin Billerbeck
"She's finally found that nice, good-looking Christian guy who-gasp-actually wants to commit, but will she make it to the altar with her sanity intact?"
"Sweet Treats"- Four Fun Romances, written by four different authors- including Wanda E. Brunstetter.
"The Negotiator" by Dee Henderson
Book One in the O'Malley suspense series.
So, what do you need to do to enter? If you have already clicked on the sidebar to become a "follower" you are already entered! What if you don't actually want to be...let's say, you have all of these books and can't stand frappicinos? Well, if you neglect to tell me you don't want to be included but you win, I will just draw another name...simple as that! :)
If you want to be entered but haven't done that little sidbar thing yet, you have until this Friday -midnight. I'll be drawing one of your names on Saturday.
Blessings!
I know...I know...
After being such a devoted blogger for three whole years, I have recently become a "Random Blogger"... someone who no longer posts three or four times a week, and who rarely even visits you anymore.
I'm sorry.
But I think it will have to be either this way, or the "highway"...meaning, I'd rather be sporadic than completely say good-bye. But I will promise to visit most of you a little more often!
And the good news is that I am feeling good physically...in fact, yesterday I had so much energy that I could have done circles around my hubby and girls...and I'm so thankful for those of you who have prayed for me in the last month or so!
So, even though some time has elapsed, I just can't let the adventure of Father's Day weekend half done...so...
After our tour of the Oregon Caves the day before, we drove onto Wildlife Safari...I was so excited to finally go since it had been on my list from the time I was a kid.
We were all excited...and when at last we headed through the gates into the vast "safari" and spotted herds of yaks and zebra grazing, had to stop to allow a lone giraffe to cross right in front of us, and even wild rhinos roaming freely...we were all giddy. As we continued on, I saw my first herd of buffalo in person...it was amazing.
Here we had to stop again to allow for some yaks to nonchalantly cross in front of us...
And just look at this guy whom I caught munching on some leaves...I thought he (or she) was so cool...even if there was some obvious need of grooming going on.
Although I don't have a picture of it, there were some ostrich looking birds (I don't think they were ostriches but I can't remember their actual name) that roamed around, occasionally trying to check out the cars that eased passed them.
One in particular sauntered over to us...well, to me, actually. As it came closer, it's mouth grabbing at invisible things in the air, I casually rolled up my window...just in time for it begin pecking at the glass...much to the glee of the family. The bird really was a hilarious sight!
We really enjoyed our whole day there...they also had an area where you could walk around, eat, shop, and there they had a few animals as well. We decided we really wanted to go back again some time...but for now, it was time to say good-bye...
The next morning-our last day- we packed up camp and drove several hours before reaching our final destination...Crater Lake.
We had to spiral up a mountain, before finally reaching the lodge area and the breathtaking sights....and to make things more interesting, it was snowing on this first day of summer! Even though we are in the higher altitudes, we were told they rarely see snow in June...and we weren't exactly dressed for it!
Look at us, all huddled together, and my husband shivering in his shorts and sandals...
But the view was well worth it!
The girls and I also gave my husband his cards and little gifts this day, since it was Father's Day. Since he insists on being the driver, he didn't exactly get to relax or lie in a hammock this time, but it was still a wonderful family day to remember.
And an incredible weekend for all of us.
Next post I will be having...at long, long, last...my 3-year Blogiversary giveaway. With a few exceptions, I will be choosing from those of you who are listed in "my followers" so if you haven't already, go ahead and add your name if you want to be included. (And if you actually follow me!) ;)
I hope you're all enjoying the summer(those of you in this hemisphere!) which seems to racing by at lightening speed...
I'll try and catch up with you as I can this week!
Blessings!
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