Well I had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. I didn't get to it a post or two ago, but we went to a friends house for a picnic on Saturday and had fun watching the kids (and adults) having fun. Add water balloons to any event and you're always bound to have fun, whether on the wet side or dry side of the fun. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and getting things done around the house. My husband has been working third shift for a few weeks now and had to work through the weekend. Even with that, it's nice because we get to see him earlier in the day than if he worked first shift even with sleeping.
So I bet you're wondering about the title of this post. My twins are in the stage of life where they need to see every bathroom to every place we visit. Totally drives me crazy. Usually it starts with a loud, so everyone within 20 feet can hear, "Mommy, I gotta pee!!!" It always seems to be in the most inopportune times too. My favorite is having to use the port-a-potties at the baseball parks. Of course, they want to touch EVERYTHING too! And you're like, "ooh, not that, no don't put your hand there... ewww". You take that chance too if you don't take them, right? Sometimes, I just want to wait, but we've also been getting hit with lots of peeing and #2's in pants. This I think they are doing for attention, but it's still so UGH!
Yesterday, my son said he had some poop in his pants. "Just a little" he declared. So I sent him to the bathroom to change his clothes while I finished up something on the computer. A few seconds later, I hear something like water hitting the floor. I jump up to see my son peeing on the floor. Oh my. words cannot express. I didn't even say anything. I just grabbed a towel, cleaned it up. Got the mop and bucket with soap, washed the bathroom floor all without saying a word. Then I calmly sent him to his room to wait. Can't wait for this stage to pass.
Another fun thing we did this weekend is all sleep in the tent. As I also mentioned a post ago, I had set up the tent in the backyard. Well of course all the kids were pumped and wanted to sleep out there. Knowing none of them would be okay without an adult, I was roped into sleeping out there with them. What I really don't understand is how with all this padding I have, I could possibly be uncomfortable. Let me just say, I didn't sleep much. The ground is much harder than I remember it being. It did feel great to be in the outdoors all night. I love the cool weather... it was in the low 60s that night.
That's about all for now. Today is our last official day of homeschooling for this school year. SO excited to have a break!!!!!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Preadolescence.... ugh!
I have a 9 year old, preadolescent son. He also is very strong willed and lately has been pushing my parenting skills to the max!! The ups and downs of emotions would be almost comical if it didn't hit so close to home and push my buttons some times. Yesterday he declared that he wanted to live on his own and be independent. I asked him of course where he would live, how he would earn money and what he would eat. To this he replied, he would be a construction worker like daddy and live in the forest. I didn't even get into the logistical part of living in a forest, like you can't just park it on someone else's land and most parks would kick you out. I just said, okay lets give it a shot. I'll set up the tent and you can spend the night outside "on your own". I'll even supply the food/water.
Now I know my son! This is the kid that hates going upstairs by himself when everyone is downstairs because it's dark and he's alone. No way, even with his strong willed nature, he was going to make it outside all night. So I pulled out the tent and in 90 degree weather set it up in the back yard. I even set it up within 10 feet of the house because I knew distance wasn't going to matter when darkness came.
My son, so excited at the thought, got his sleeping bag, a flashlight, water, and bible (go figure) and moved out into the tent. It was about 10 PM. I don't even think it was 20 minutes and he was inside asking if he could come back in. We needed to make a point and make sure he had "suffered" enough to remember this experience. So we sent him back outside after a stern talking to.
Being a part of a team means taking the good with the bad-- enjoying togetherness and the fun stuff while also working together to accomplish the "work" that needs to be done. The second time he came back in, I asked him if he was ready to be part of the team. I reminded him he is not the coach of this team and therefore cannot make decisions about it. I also talked to him about being in God's will and under God's umbrella of protection. When he chooses not to follow God's commands, he has to face the storms of life without God's umbrella and it's no fun to be rained on. Being in God's will doesn't mean the storms won't come, but their so much easier to face with Him than without Him.
All in all it was less than an hour! Hopefully it made an impact. Hopefully they'll be no more talk of running away or trying to make it on his own.
So being at 9, I'm guessing this is JUST the beginning! Oh Lord, give me the strength!
Now I know my son! This is the kid that hates going upstairs by himself when everyone is downstairs because it's dark and he's alone. No way, even with his strong willed nature, he was going to make it outside all night. So I pulled out the tent and in 90 degree weather set it up in the back yard. I even set it up within 10 feet of the house because I knew distance wasn't going to matter when darkness came.
My son, so excited at the thought, got his sleeping bag, a flashlight, water, and bible (go figure) and moved out into the tent. It was about 10 PM. I don't even think it was 20 minutes and he was inside asking if he could come back in. We needed to make a point and make sure he had "suffered" enough to remember this experience. So we sent him back outside after a stern talking to.
Being a part of a team means taking the good with the bad-- enjoying togetherness and the fun stuff while also working together to accomplish the "work" that needs to be done. The second time he came back in, I asked him if he was ready to be part of the team. I reminded him he is not the coach of this team and therefore cannot make decisions about it. I also talked to him about being in God's will and under God's umbrella of protection. When he chooses not to follow God's commands, he has to face the storms of life without God's umbrella and it's no fun to be rained on. Being in God's will doesn't mean the storms won't come, but their so much easier to face with Him than without Him.
All in all it was less than an hour! Hopefully it made an impact. Hopefully they'll be no more talk of running away or trying to make it on his own.
So being at 9, I'm guessing this is JUST the beginning! Oh Lord, give me the strength!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Memorial Day Weekend
Today I am feeling blah... I hate those days. Especially, when the blahs seem unexplainable. Everything in life is pretty good now. Nothing to complain about. The sun is shining, it's a beautiful day. And yet...
Anywho, only one more week of school. My daughter has to go the following Monday, June 4... but that hardly counts. My boys finished their grammar book yesterday. What a feeling of accomplishment! We finished math a few weeks ago, so only a few things to finish up this week. Hard to believe my first year of homeschooling is coming to an end. It definitely had its ups and downs.
About 3/4 of the way through I was feeling pretty down about my kids education. We had already decided at the beginning of the year to IOWA test the boys. We completed that testing in April. So I would say late March to mid-April, I started trying to figure out what to do for next year. I felt like we definitely had some gaps this year (mainly spelling!! - but art and music too). I decided to start looking again into an online public school. Next year my daugther is going to be home with us and I was feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing. After thinking about it for a few weeks, we decided to go forward with the public school option. I actually started the enrollment process without even consulting any friends cause I was afraid of what they'd say (not that I expected them to be unsupportive :) Everytime I talk to a friend who homeschools though, I get so in the conversation, especially about curriculums and groups to join, and so on. THEN, I got the test results back for the boys. They did SO well. I was so proud of them! There were a few areas where scores were low on the tests, but that was the whole point of me wanting to test... to find areas we needed to concentrate on more. So I felt pretty encouraged. I actually have until July 15 to fully enroll them in school. And I actually think we will enroll them, but I wonder if it will be just a one year thing. Hmm, thoughts to ponder.
My son is in the other room cooking blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes for lunch. How cool is that! My son is actually old enough to cook lunch for everyone. Totally loving it!
Speaking of sons and ages... my babies turned 4 this month. Hard to believe 4 years has already gone by. They are getting so big!
Ahh, the call for lunch has gone out.... I guess that's all for now. Ha! Just realized I didn't even get to what I was going to originally post about. So much for Memorial Day Weekend.... ha... lol... guess I have 2 more days to get back to that.
Ciao!
Anywho, only one more week of school. My daughter has to go the following Monday, June 4... but that hardly counts. My boys finished their grammar book yesterday. What a feeling of accomplishment! We finished math a few weeks ago, so only a few things to finish up this week. Hard to believe my first year of homeschooling is coming to an end. It definitely had its ups and downs.
About 3/4 of the way through I was feeling pretty down about my kids education. We had already decided at the beginning of the year to IOWA test the boys. We completed that testing in April. So I would say late March to mid-April, I started trying to figure out what to do for next year. I felt like we definitely had some gaps this year (mainly spelling!! - but art and music too). I decided to start looking again into an online public school. Next year my daugther is going to be home with us and I was feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing. After thinking about it for a few weeks, we decided to go forward with the public school option. I actually started the enrollment process without even consulting any friends cause I was afraid of what they'd say (not that I expected them to be unsupportive :) Everytime I talk to a friend who homeschools though, I get so in the conversation, especially about curriculums and groups to join, and so on. THEN, I got the test results back for the boys. They did SO well. I was so proud of them! There were a few areas where scores were low on the tests, but that was the whole point of me wanting to test... to find areas we needed to concentrate on more. So I felt pretty encouraged. I actually have until July 15 to fully enroll them in school. And I actually think we will enroll them, but I wonder if it will be just a one year thing. Hmm, thoughts to ponder.
My son is in the other room cooking blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes for lunch. How cool is that! My son is actually old enough to cook lunch for everyone. Totally loving it!
Speaking of sons and ages... my babies turned 4 this month. Hard to believe 4 years has already gone by. They are getting so big!
Ahh, the call for lunch has gone out.... I guess that's all for now. Ha! Just realized I didn't even get to what I was going to originally post about. So much for Memorial Day Weekend.... ha... lol... guess I have 2 more days to get back to that.
Ciao!
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