Holly Hobby Day

Marley wanted to play with the food today in the Living Room. That is my room that I share with the kids for things like drumming together or reading together. For the most part, though, it is off limits to the kids. I use it for quiet time and meditation. I keep a lot of personal things in there that I don't want them to touch... Like my Holly Hobbie collection. Well Marley brought in some stuffies to feed. Then I got the idea that it might be a good time to take the Holly Hobby dolls out of the shelf, and the Holly Hobby tea set and have a tea party with them. We took them out. Marley was a barrel of imagination. It occurred to me that I have these dresses that my mom made for me and my sister when we were little, in the image of Holly Hobby dresses. So I went into storage and hunted one out for her. Brenda found the bonnet. It came with the house when we bought it, and is also hand made. So before we knew it, the girls and I were all involved in a grand game of "house" where we were feeding babies on the Holly high chair, and rocking them to sleep in the bed. What a fun time that was today. Marley has just become a bundle of imaginative play lately, and she insists that she have company. I have been struggling to keep up with her needs, and the needs of the household in general. It is so important that she really have time to expand her imaginative play. It has even taken a chunk out of her reading time. She would rather play... with me. So this was a great day to spend with that, at a time when I am trying so hard to find time to work this play into MY schedule as well.

Sanding in the Nude

I don't know why Marls likes to play with sand in the nude. Maybe it is the way the sand feels on her skin. When I told her that I would bring the sandbox (really it is just a sled with sand in it) outside for her to play with, she stripped right down to her birthday suit and told me she was ready. She is truely an amazing soul.

And Brenda... remember that book she got from the library for reading however many hours? One of the ideas that it gave Brenda was for a Mom and Brenda Spa Day. She keeps asking me when we are going to have our spa day. We went to the Thrift Store the other day looking for games and found a Spa Science Kit. It spouts such promises as "create your very own secret formulas" and "make foaming and frothing spa baths". And even this great schooling quote... "It's REAL Chemistry!" How could we go wrong. Now to find the time...

And also a charades game for little uns. That will be great for us. We could use some creativity. And also some practice doing things in front of people that we are not necessarily too comfortable with. Public speaking and really just being in the spotlight at all is out of my comfort zone. I never know how to approach this subject in a supporting way. This might be a good start.

Great Book

I got a series of books the other day that I have been reading to Bret and Brenda. They are amazing books. I am always looking for a way to introduce more spiritual learning into their lives. These books compliment our lives real well. These I bought. The Little Soul and the Sun, and The Little Soul and the Earth. Both are by Neale Donald Walsh. And they explain many things in little children terms that take patience and time for adults to hold truth with. As Brenda and I loved the books so much, we raced through them. With Bret I am taking the books chapter by chapter. We are actually starting with the second book, The Little Soul and the Earth, because it is more relatable right from the start. Then we will go to the first book and get the background to how the little soul got where it is now.

And since Brenda and I finished so quickly, this morning we read another book that I got from another library a few weeks ago. I have been holding onto these books to read to the girls but the right time didn't show up. Now Brenda is back into sitting with me and reading books again. This new book is The Secret-Keeper by Kate Coombs. Again, a great book. Not a chapter book, just a shorter kids book. We read it in one sitting and loved it both of us. It gives us a chance to talk about how important it is to have positiveness in your life. Just enforcing what we already know. I love those kinds of books.

Anyway that is our homeschooling happenings these days. Other than hanging out at the pool, that is.

As For the Rest of Us

Our days are no less busy for being summer, AGAIN. Yesterday, for example, it was swim team practice to craft day at the park to a different park for a homeschool park day with friends then back home and to the pool to wear those buggers out even more. Finally it was dinner and put the kids to bed so I could do my online CPR training for Girl Scouts camp. THAT was a nightmare and took me all the way until midnight to complete. That is what I get for doing last minute.

I think today I will just hang out at home until the swim meet tonight. Actually I have a friend whose children are swimming against mine tonight. That means... it is time for us to get in our adult time!

Here is what I have going on as I type. Marley has removed the base/amp cord from the my husband's amp (not a cord that plugs into the wall, one that plugs into his bass). She put it up to her mouth to sing and said, "mommy see? this is loud!" I told her what would dad think if she was using that? She said, "No mom, no mom, this is a macronu. I said, it is a microphone? with raised eyebrows. she said yes. Then she put it back up to her mouth and began singing her Hannah Montana song, "You Got de Best of bof words..." Now Bret is in the kitchen blowing bubbles. Marley is side tracked to catch bubbles.

The drumming circle is this Friday. A muchly needed break, I assure you.

Time to get busy

A friend of mine of mine helped me realize something real important the other week. That although I am losing my oldest child to the outside world, he is heading to lose something too, his childhood. That boy is almost to adulthood. That encouraged me to do something totally off the wall for our family. I let him go. I sent him off to enjoy the rest of his summer with a big smile on his face. He has shown up several times to check in, eat our food, practice his music with his friends. But I don't know that he has slept a day at home since. He is just floating around having a good time with his friends. He checks in and that is all I asked of him. This whole time I have been trying to pull him back, while he was trying to be free. Free he is now, at least for the summer.

Crayon Toes

'Why?' You ask. I guess because no one told her that there is anything strange about putting crayons between her toes before. She thought of it on her own, while coloring rainbows, and decided to hop on the table and try it out. Again, 'why?' I suppose she would say, 'why not?'

More Economics class for the kids

Along with the new budget I will be implementing, a friend of mine suggested I check out a Thrift Shop by her house. It has been a while since I thought about going used somewhere other than Once Upon... The kids all came home with something. Here is Bret in her new summer dress. She is so proud.

Budget Time

Our spending is a bit over the limit lately. We need to downsize the recent spending spree we have been on. Here is the survey I have recently set up for our family meeting tomorrow. I plan to sit with my husband (begrudgingly no doubt, as he cannot stand dealing with our finances) and prioritize our spending quite a bit. Will it be successful? I don't know. We will find out how much everyone really needs the things they want. It will at least give the kids some say in what stays and what goes away.

Family
Survey
What is most important to you??
Number 1-7

Snacks of choice
Cable TV
Music Lessons
Blockbuster Movies
Gas $ to go places
Pool Pass
Extra spending cash
Music Lessons
Leaves of Learning
Movie Theater $
Air conditioning
Going out to eat
Hang w/ friend $
Name brand clothes
Vacation
New Pet (Gerbil)
Fixing up house
Othr:
Othr:
Othr:

Craft Time

Summer time in our town means Craft Time. The city sets up crafts for everyone MWF. From 10-1 kids (and their crafty adult friends) can show up at the park to do the craft of the day. Today was beading necklaces, we have painted maracas, decorated bandanas, made foam animals, colored stuffies with fabric markers, and so many more things in the past. This is an activity that my kids will grow up to say, I wish there was something like that for MY kids.

The Food Issue

In a funny turn of events, I have recently taken meat products out of my diet. Gone vegan, some might say, if not forever, than at least for a while. I was was at a party of vegans after a church book study at a friend's house a few weeks ago, and I was prodding around trying to get some information from everyone. I should preface this by saying we are BIG meat product eaters in this house. We seldom have a meal that does not rely on at least two or three of the following: milk, ranch dressing, sour cream, cheese, eggs, and meat. My husband usually eats only meat and cheese, with a salad thrown in there every now and then (swimming in ranch dressing, bacon, and different cheeses of course.) So anyway I am asking a bunch of questions... why? Because I have wanted to make this change somewhat for a while. I have had health issues pop up that I am trying to irradicate, as well as I am thinking ahead to the future of my health. So I say at the table, all the while eating this amazing vegan pizza, and chips with this to-die-for vegan "cheese" sauce, that I have a family of seven. It is very expensive to feed us all. Switching over to non-meat products would be even more expensive. And this man says to me, words that brought a wave of epiphany through me, "You don't have to add anything to your diet. All you have to do is remove things. You don't have to go out and buy meat and cheese substitutes. You can just take that stuff out of our diet and eat without it. You can get your protein and calcium from the other foods you are already eating." Or something similar to that. I do not have a photographic memory for words. I realized that he was right. If I wanted to remove the high saturated fats and the hormones and preservatives from my diet that the meat products are providing to me, I could just remove those foods. So that is what I did. I recently got a couple books from the library about recipes and such. I have a few more on the way. So when Brenda asked me the other day if I wanted any of her smoothy that she was making, and I told her, "No thank you. It looks great but I am choosing not to eat meat products right now", it spurred a host of questions. We have talked for a few days about why I am eating the way I am. Coincidentally, BTW I am also gluten free, and will remain that way until I am ready to introduce that back into my diet. Then yesterday, Brenda asked me if I wanted to try her food, but she caught herself and said, "Oh that's right, you can't eat that food." That was a great teachable moment for me. "I can eat that food, Brenda," I said. "I am choosing not to today. But again thank you for asking. It sure does look good."

Yesterday Brenda suggested that she wanted to be on my diet and try it out. We had another big talk, which goes like this. My eight year old thinks her hips are too big and she would like to lose some weight. Yes of course, changing to foods with less saturated fats might cause a drop in weight. In fact it most likely will, considering how much cheese, ice cream, and high fat foods she eats. She might switch her food habits and realize she doesn't get skinny. Some people just don't have bodies that are heathy when they are skinny. And it is the healthy that is important, not the skinny. She is scooping straight from the ice cream container as we talk. But there is something more important in this, I tell her. I am not on a diet. I am changing my diet. When you are on a "diet" there is an end in sight, usually a poundage end. Then the diet is over and the weight goes back up, and so the yoyo goes... up and down, up and down. But really diet doesn't mean to eat less and lose weight. Diet means, what I eat. Will I probably eat meat again? Well, yes I probably will. In fact I have been thinking about the future of eating a moderate amount of meat products every now and again, but I don't SEE that in the distance yet. Because I have over saturated fatted my body, and I am concerned to get back to healthly living.

Although I am typically thin, I eat like a food junky. I gorge and crave. My father in law is typically a thin man too, but he has had heart problems for years, and a couple heart attacks under his belt to boot. That is not where I want to be at his age. More importantly, I have not been a very good example of health for my kids.

Where is all this coming from suddenly, you ask? Church, for one, is giving me grand ideas of abundance and happiness. Go figure, I am getting this from church. But I am. I just love going there and sitting in the services. This week I heard how God is like a GPS system. This has been the theme for the last couple weeks. First, you need a destination. Somewhere you want to get to. Then you tell the system where you want to go, and it sets out to tell you how to get there. If you miss a turn or turn too soon, it doesn't tell you how stupid you are. It doesn't criticize you for the choice you made. Instead it says... RECALCULATING. Then it begins to steer you back to the road you wantto be on. Sometimes you turn on a road and it will tell you, TURN AROUND. But never does it get mad or frustrated at you. It just patiently continues trying to get you where you want to be. And when you get back on track and you are going the right way, you know what it does? It is silent. It doesn't speak up again until you are close to your next turn in the road, when it reminds you that you are going to turn soon. This is what I want for my whole family. I want to be the patient GPS system that steers my family where they want to go. I don't want to be that judging and frustrated mom anymore. It is inspiring to go to church and hear the Reverand up there talking about MY LIFE. So I keep going.

Having this big change I am working on, something else is happening. My husband told me the other day... Well I should say that I have this friend, whose attitude does not support me right now. She is not the positive uplifting spirit I need. But I have brought a new supportive friend into my life that has been instrumental in guiding me toward change I want to be. So my husband tells me the other day that she and I will not remain friends much longer and do I know why? It is because of C, my new supportive friend. And although that is not true, it somewhat is. Not because of the way my husband thinks. But because I want people in my life that support who I want to be. C is one of those people. My other friend is not. I have wanted to change the way I am with my family for a long time, and really just a change in the way I am. I have wanted to live more aware for some time now, and have not known how. But I am getting there. And so unfortunately I am leaving some stuff behind. That is ok, I am also pulling some new stuff in.

So how is this related to homeschooling? We will have to wait and see, but I know that it is. Enough of this rant. Marley sees zombies. I must go hide with her. This picture is Bret making a smoothy of her own. She is so inspired by Brenda's recent yearning to cook.

Marley's New Game

Marley has a new game that she likes to play. I think it spawned from watching Scooby Doo the movie the other day. Now when she climbs onto the bed she wants to tell me that she saw zombies and we have to hide. We hide from the zombies, or sometimes we hide from someone coming. If I tell her I am scared she tells me that they are just here to give us presents. She has been into hiding since she was just a baby and her dad would hide her in the pillows for me to find. She just loved that game! Now here she is two and a half still loving the same game. After she painted today we hid in the sheets from numerous people and villians.

Another Busy Saturday

So we started our day making badges with the badge maker kit the girls got from the Girl Scout cookies they sold. They have been really bugging me to make these for them. Bret's was a cat button, and Brenda found a picture of a baby pig. She made one from that. Then we headed to the library. There was the kick-off of the summer reading program. We were already ahead of the game. In fact, Brenda had read so many hours in the last week that she already qualified for three prizes AND a book. She had been staying up late with a small light reading my old Calvin and Hobbes comic books and Bret's pet fairy books to up her tally. So she picks up this book called Chillin' Trix for Cool Chix, by Leanne Warrick. I asked her if she was sure that this was the book for her, and she said yes. We decorated our backpacks. That was the craft to kick start the summer program. And away we went home to get ready for the pool.

I took the book with me to scan over at the pool while the kids played. It was a cool book. There were quizzes about all kinds of cool stuff like how well you get along with your mom, there were fun snack recipes (plenty that a gluten free girl like herself could make), there were horoscopes and Chinese zodiac info to read, pages on decoding dreams, palm reading, activities to do, pages about make-up and clothes swapping parties. Anyway, it was a cool book and I was impressed. So we went to the store after the pool, to collect ingredients to make some cool snacks. Brenda asked if we could use these recipes instead of the ones in the Girl Scout book to complete one of the badges she is working on. I thought that was a good idea. She made a couple snacks. Then we decided to make a horoscope activity. I will help her put together a set of cards with everyone's different horoscopes on them from the book, including their color, gem, and Chinese zodiac sign. Then she will prepare something for each family member that uses the color(s) to match with the Horoscope sign. We will work on that this week.

Josh was in charge of cooking a meal for the family for dinner. Sadly he couldn't stay to eat with us. Social life called. Though since I have decided to ask him once a week to make a meal for the family, I think that will be the non-friend night. We can have him here that one day. I am considering asking Gaige to do the same, prepare a meal once a week for us. That will free me up from two dinners, and get the kids cooking independently.

Today at the Park

With Gaige off to the beach with a friend and Josh spending the night at a friend's house, the girls and I took this opportunity to hang out with some friends. We started at the library where we spent an hour or two looking at books and playing on the computer. From there we headed to the park for a picnic, some swings, and feet in the creek. All this was good fun. Then we headed home for a much needed family dinner.

It was not my usual library that we went to today. It was a good chance to scan someone else's goods. We rented Babes in Toyland. I have never seen it, so neither have the kids.

Now it is off to bed, because we will be back over in that neck of the woods again to do some gardening.

Busyness at ASL

Well wouldn't you just know that the weather was stormy again. No zoo this week, so we scheduled our end of school year party instead. First everyone played Sign-O. When we ran out of prizes, we turned to just partying. Here is the kids blowing bubbles in the kitchen, one of the prizes at the Sign-O table.

Pink Unicorns

No picture today. That is because Brenda was upset with my last win at Kings Korners. After Brenda's loss, I asked Bret if she would play a card game with me before she went to bed. Then I asked Brenda to take a picture. She was still sore and refused. And believe me, being upset enough to refuse a chance to use the camera is a big deal!! Anyhow, Bret wanted to play Go(ld) Fish. Only she didn't want to call it Gold Fish anymore. She decided to change the name to Pink Unicorns. So it sounded like this... "Bret, do you have a five?" "Nope, Pink Unicorns. Do you have a seven, Mommy?" "Nope, Pink Unicorns..." What fun a small misunderstanding can be!!! For now on, we have changed the name of Go Fish. Spread the word. New name, Pink Unicorns.

The HoliDay

The kids were in the parade this year with their swim team. And the rest of the day is fun in the sun. Well the rain will come again, but for now it is pool side for us.

Crazy Saturday

So we have this birthday party to go to. It is a girl that Bret really likes so we couldn't blow it off and take the easy road of doing nothing today. I keep trying to do that but it doesn't work out for me lately. Anyway so we had this birthday to go to. It was about half an hour drive which already had me a little crabby, and I was headed to the shower to clean up. This crazy thing popped into my mind while I was in the shower. I had been trying to figure out the name of this store that I wanted to go to. I tried to find it on line unsuccessfully. Then this morning in the bathroom the name popped into my head. Evidentally it was the time to go shopping. I was very excited. I had been thinking for a bit about buying some hand drums for the house so that the girls and I could experiment a bit with drumming together. I really get so much out of my drumming circle that I thought I could pull some of that into our homeschooling. And this store advertised just such drums as I was looking for. So I planned out my trip. First we would go to the store to get presents for the birthday girl. Then we would travel the half hour to this store that I wanted to go to. Last we would head over to K's house for her party, yet another half hour. BUT if I took a separate trip to the store, it would be an hour, round and back. Another trip to the birthday party would also be an hour round trip. So really I saved my self half hour of driving this way. Salvaging a bit of gas money was my excuse. I took the girls, who just loved this earthy indianish store. We stayed much longer than I had anticipated because the girls wanted to look around. In the end, we bought two drums and ordered one more smaller one that would fit Bret's size better. Then we were off to the party. Later tonight, we got together, first Bret and me, then Brenda eventually joined up with us. It was a blast. We made up songs that we sang and drummed to. Bret danced around. At first Brenda was a little uncomfortable picking up the drum and doing her own thing, but eventually she gained some confidence. They loved it. But all things must end. I had to put them to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

History Hunters

A mother in our homeschool group has set up a list of trips dedicated to the history of our state. Once a month the kids meet to take a hike, visit a museum, or see a site. Today was the first of many more to come. Don't know how many we will go to, we will see. On one hand it fulfills a requirement... History and Geography of our state. On the other hand, I exert no pressure on the kids to learn anything. Gaige and his friends did the scavanger hunt that went with the museum portion of this trip. Brenda and a friend tried to, but I think they had a goal of finding answers to questions... not the same thing as wanting to learn. Anywho, after the museum we headed for a hike on the grounds. It was very muddy, but all in all, I think the kids had a great time. And really, what more can I ask for?

The girls are preparing their habitats for their Girl Scout patch. Recently, since we quit our troop we doing Girl Scouts on our own when we feel like it. Doing it on our own terms, so to speak. We have some options open that we are considering for next year. We could start a new troop, join another troop, stay independent... we are not sure what to do. Still mulling ideas over in our heads. We are really waiting for camp. That is our big goal. The kids are looking forward to that time.

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my Birthday. Happy Birthday to Me!!! Here is Marley smelling my flowers that my kids went to the store themselves to buy. Big Bret tells me that he didn't know anything about it until the kids showed him what they did. Isn't it great? What a bunch of thoughtful sweeties.

ASL

It is coming upon summer already. We have two classes left. We have spent the last two weeks learning (and reviewing) foods in sign language. Here they are following orders from their deaf teacher, Steve. He tells them the food and the color and they color the right food on their paper with the right color. That is to review both colors AND foods. Then we are off to the family room where I have a kitchen and restaurant prepared for the kids. The parents sit around at the Deaf Restaurant while the kids take orders, tell the kitchen what they want, the kitchen "cooks and prepares" the food and the servers serve the food to the "customers". They want to keep playing this game even when the class is over.

Well two weeks left. Steve really wants to get the kids to the zoo to review animals. It is a great field trip for the kids, plus review at the same time! The last class is the Sign-O party. It is like Bingo only with signs. And of course the end of the year party with food and fun.

I am revamping for next year. Steve and I have talked about some issues we both have. I am considering setting the classes up next year as private lessons with Steve as the teacher. My kids were not focused on the class very well. This is because their friends were here and they wanted to play. I would like to try them having special time with Steve to learn their signs. I got the idea because, Brenda, who is 8 and loves to sign won't even go to the classes anymore. She sits it out. Then after the class she comes to sit with Steve on her own and practices with him. This is what she needs. And also it takes a lot of work for me to set up these classes that are not working for my kids. I want a better way for them. I am considering a group every other week instead or once a month. The other parents may or may not be on board, but I need to do what is best for MY kids and myself. Going to school, myself, my time is precious. I don't want to focus MY energy on activities that don't work for my kids. So I am working on that right now.

The First Day

Here is my first blog at blogger. I have had a couple years at 360 but I am having issues and it seems to be time for a change. C thinks that blogger might be the place for me to make the big leap out of yahoo... we will see. First why the visings?? Because that was the word I had to type out in order to get this account. Isn't that funny? What is a vising? I googled the word and came up with nothing. Remember when you were younger and certain words just had a ring to them? Or maybe you see your kids rolling a word off their tongue multiple times to see how the word tastes, or thinking about whether or not they like the feel of the word. That is what vising did to me. I just liked the feel of it. I liked the sound it made. So I am making a meaning for this word that I cannot find a meaning for, but should be a word because it sounds like one. Visings are the ramblings of a person who has something of interest to say. But I digress. Why am I here...

I will start with my first story. Marley dropped the ice cream cone that we brought home for her yesterday. Well it started when we went out to eat. We have learned a little trick for the kids. We are allowed to bring home an ice cream cone from the buffet that we frequent. So if we fill a cone with gummy bears and take it home to the kids, that is allowed. That is what we do when we leave. We each fill a cone with gummy bears, a big favorite in our house. I usually eat my cone and most of my bears before we reach the house, but H saves the other one for the kids, particularly Marley. So anyway she stepped on it right in front of us. We heard it crunch and looked down at her. H looked shocked... I don't know why, after all he lives with her too. He knows what she is all about: creative distruction and tornadic excitement. This girl lives like the wind, swooping down and destroying whatever she wants, only to sit peacefully and quietly a moment later as if nothing just happened. She loves life and cannot bring herself to live it with less than the full enthusiasm of a volcanic eruption. Anyway, so she crunched this ice cream cone with her bare foot, the little King Kong. H told her to pick it up. This, to her, was a challange of control. She said "no" in her little worried voice, that told me she wanted to pick it up to keep from the wrath that she knew would follow, but she couldn't bring herself to say "yes". He repeated the command adding that he was going to whoop her butt. Butt is my word, not his. I was nearby, typing my English assignment on the computer, watching the whole thing enfold. The poor little thing said "no" again in that same mousy voice. He did give her a smallest of taps on her little two year old butt. That was enough for her. I could see her eyes starting to well up. He repeated it again, this time adding "you little sh!t" Now, he was not angry. He was more ammused than anything, and it showed in his voice. The man just swears a lot, be it good or bad, it is what it is. But still that little thing couldn't take it. She buried her head in my lap. "I am NOT a sh!t, I am not." I consoled her and told her that H knows she is not a sh!t. She is not really a sh!t. I reminded her that if she didn't clean up the mess, she would sit in her room until I could get to cleaning it up so that I knew she wasn't making more messes for me to clean up. She agreed that the best thing to do would be to clean it up herself, so she didn't have to go wait in her room for my school work to be done. She cleaned it up. A couple points here to make, she has a mind of her own. This one will do what she wants no matter what. It is painful now, but it will be good later. Second, is my friend C who is teaching me, and I am a slow student no doubt, that there are better ways, and third that we will learn and grow from everything hopefully, even being bemusingly being called a sh!t. She really is a sh!t right now, but it is so much fun. Every time I get frustrated and overwhelmed with her shanagans, I try to remember that this will to pass. I will miss it, then.