No I'm not referring to Jesus, although He is alive too. I just finished the book, Unbroken, that I mentioned in a post a few days ago. Again I was in tears over the book when Louie Zamperini dedicated his life to the Lord at a Billy Graham crusade. God's redemption is amazing! I got to the end of the book and it doesn't mention Louie's death at all, but it mentions dates in the 2000s. I looked at the publishing date and it was 2010. I immediately went to my computer to see if this man who endured SO much was still alive. Lo and behold, he was on the Jay Leno show just 5 days ago!!! He is 95 years old and still alive and seemingly still "with it" mentally. I cried again watching the clip on The Tonight Show. It's amazing to me what this man endured and the testimony that has come out of it. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking, I would just choose death. There is no way I'd want to live through all this. What a testimony to God's grace and redemption! I am in awe.
If you're interested in seeing this man, here's the link:
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/thursday-june-7-2012/1405500/
He was on the longest segment, I believe the fifth segment. Just amazing.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Sun-burned Racing Stripes
Saturday, I had the pleasure of sitting through 2 Little League games back to back. One child had a game at 9:30 and the other at noon. I was smart enough to bring sunscreen for the kids and snacks (I'm not always so prepared). I sprayed the kids and thought I should probably get myself too so I'm not burned. So I did a quick once over with the aerosol bottle of sunscreen. Apparently I was a little close to my arm and didn't get coverage over the whole thing. The result, I am branded with a racing stripe down my arm of where the sunscreen hit and sunburned on both sides where I wasn't so thorough. I've actually had worse, once I had lotion on my hand and tried to get the back of my arm where I clearly left 4 finger marks well defined. This at least was a little blended so its noticeable but not a straight defined line. I also probably should have gotten my face a little more. Either way, both boys won their games and all-in-all it wasn't too bad.
Sunday and today were also decent days. I didn't do too much, actually probably not enough, but it was nice and relaxing. I watched the kids do a "show" which is always entertaining. Sometimes, I look back on a day and think "what DID I do all day". Today feels like one of those days. Didn't accomplish much and can't even think of what I really did, but time passed and it wasn't bad. That makes it a decent day :D
I attended a book study this evening with some other ladies who home school. We're reading the book "Homeschooling Supermom .... NOT". It's been encouraging and SO nice to get away and spend some time with other adults! I look forward to getting to know some new people better as well.
Guess that's it for now. Ta ta!
Sunday and today were also decent days. I didn't do too much, actually probably not enough, but it was nice and relaxing. I watched the kids do a "show" which is always entertaining. Sometimes, I look back on a day and think "what DID I do all day". Today feels like one of those days. Didn't accomplish much and can't even think of what I really did, but time passed and it wasn't bad. That makes it a decent day :D
I attended a book study this evening with some other ladies who home school. We're reading the book "Homeschooling Supermom .... NOT". It's been encouraging and SO nice to get away and spend some time with other adults! I look forward to getting to know some new people better as well.
Guess that's it for now. Ta ta!
Friday, June 8, 2012
Why can't there ever be "extra"
Wow, so many thoughts today... let's see if I can get them all out.
I've been bumming for a few days for various reasons. I paid the bills yesterday. Wow, what a sobering activity. The way my husbands schedule is has given us a ton of overtime pay. That is a good thing because we had some catching up to do. With what we expected to be coming in, I thought we would have some, the ever illusive, "extra" money. With his second paycheck and realizing what will come out for benefits and taxes, its just so depressing. "Extra" never seems to be attainable. When we were both working and making a combined six figure income, we would often feel like we were "broke". Now I realize what a difference there is in having money that was spent and feeling broke and never getting the money in the first place and feeling broke. Even in the midst of this, I have to be thankful, because this was something we chose; a sacrifice we were willing to make for the sake of our children. So I am thankful that we are even able to be doing this. However, it doesn't make it any less humbling.
The second thing that's been bumming me is out the utter sinfulness of people. I am reading this book, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a true story about an Olympic track winner that went into service for World War II. Its a good book if you can handle war stories and hear the horrific things that happened to men during that time. I almost didn't read it when I first heard the general contents. This man ended up in a Japanese POW camp and was tortured for well over a year, if not two. I know he ultimately survives because it is a true story, but I am not yet past the POW camp part. The things one human can do to another is just beyond belief. I found myself in tears last night asking God "why?". I know its not for me to ask and we just need to trust Him, but wow, just floors me.
The last thing is family, especially in-laws. Its so much easier to love and get past the faults of your own family members then it is past the faults of in-laws. It's much tougher when you see those faults hurt your spouse. You know a few weeks from now, your spouse will be over it and best buds with siblings again and for me, at least, I still hang onto the frustration of the incident. There are times when I feel like if a sibling wasn't an actual family member there is no way we'd hang out with a person like that. Maybe we're on the raw end of the deal because we ARE family. Weird how its easier to take out your emotions and be somewhat "rude" to family members when you would never act that way to a friend or acquaintance. I'm just praying that I can figure out a good way to make sure my children don't treat each other this way when they're older. I hope they will be friends and really respect each other as adults.
A totally other subject.... I am so done with poopy underwear. I don't know what the deal is with boys, but seriously. Almost every day I have a pair of underwear soaking in a sink somewhere. Please tell me other moms have this issue cause it just totally grosses me out.
K, sorry for all the downers today, but just being real. Praying for y'all and thankful for your friendships!
I've been bumming for a few days for various reasons. I paid the bills yesterday. Wow, what a sobering activity. The way my husbands schedule is has given us a ton of overtime pay. That is a good thing because we had some catching up to do. With what we expected to be coming in, I thought we would have some, the ever illusive, "extra" money. With his second paycheck and realizing what will come out for benefits and taxes, its just so depressing. "Extra" never seems to be attainable. When we were both working and making a combined six figure income, we would often feel like we were "broke". Now I realize what a difference there is in having money that was spent and feeling broke and never getting the money in the first place and feeling broke. Even in the midst of this, I have to be thankful, because this was something we chose; a sacrifice we were willing to make for the sake of our children. So I am thankful that we are even able to be doing this. However, it doesn't make it any less humbling.
The second thing that's been bumming me is out the utter sinfulness of people. I am reading this book, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a true story about an Olympic track winner that went into service for World War II. Its a good book if you can handle war stories and hear the horrific things that happened to men during that time. I almost didn't read it when I first heard the general contents. This man ended up in a Japanese POW camp and was tortured for well over a year, if not two. I know he ultimately survives because it is a true story, but I am not yet past the POW camp part. The things one human can do to another is just beyond belief. I found myself in tears last night asking God "why?". I know its not for me to ask and we just need to trust Him, but wow, just floors me.
The last thing is family, especially in-laws. Its so much easier to love and get past the faults of your own family members then it is past the faults of in-laws. It's much tougher when you see those faults hurt your spouse. You know a few weeks from now, your spouse will be over it and best buds with siblings again and for me, at least, I still hang onto the frustration of the incident. There are times when I feel like if a sibling wasn't an actual family member there is no way we'd hang out with a person like that. Maybe we're on the raw end of the deal because we ARE family. Weird how its easier to take out your emotions and be somewhat "rude" to family members when you would never act that way to a friend or acquaintance. I'm just praying that I can figure out a good way to make sure my children don't treat each other this way when they're older. I hope they will be friends and really respect each other as adults.
A totally other subject.... I am so done with poopy underwear. I don't know what the deal is with boys, but seriously. Almost every day I have a pair of underwear soaking in a sink somewhere. Please tell me other moms have this issue cause it just totally grosses me out.
K, sorry for all the downers today, but just being real. Praying for y'all and thankful for your friendships!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Life is strange...
Have you ever said to yourself, "Life is a strange thing"? I say this to myself often. The stranger thing is that this life is all I've ever known, so why would it seem "abnormal"? I was sitting in the drive way today watching the kids ride their bikes. It's amazing to me how big the twins are getting. It just made me think about how everyone says "this time will our kids being little will go so fast". Then I think about how short life is in general. I'm so thankful for the hope of an eternity with God and everlasting life. Maybe that's the life that's supposed to feel "normal".
Things have been going well lately. School is done for all three big kids. My daughter had her last day on Monday and is now officially a 1st grader. I am so proud! We are starting to get in full swing of summer activities. Both older boys are playing baseball and their teams are undefeated. That is NOT normal. I've talked with moms on other teams who's kids are losing almost every game. I think we just lucked out with good players and good coaches on the teams. Unfortunately the boys are in different leagues this year due to their ages and so baseball has consumed most of our evenings. There is a week in June where we have a game everyday Monday through Saturday. Craziness!
We've also started talking about what fun activities we can do this summer. I think we're going to make a list of fun cheap activities and put them in a jar. On Sunday night of each week, we'll pick one out and then depending on the weather requirements for that activity, select a day of the week to do it. Hopefully that will keep a little spice and fun in our summer.
My dad spent a few days in the hospital last week due to an irregular heartbeat. Thankfully it was nothing serious like a heart attack or stroke or anything. I felt a little bad cause it started when he was moving furniture with my husband for our township trash day. It's strange to see your parents getting older. I'm just glad he's okay. Oh yeah, and taking 5 kids to the hospital at one time to visit Papa... not on the recommended activities list :D But we survived.
Guess that's it for now. I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful weather and have a great end of the week.
Things have been going well lately. School is done for all three big kids. My daughter had her last day on Monday and is now officially a 1st grader. I am so proud! We are starting to get in full swing of summer activities. Both older boys are playing baseball and their teams are undefeated. That is NOT normal. I've talked with moms on other teams who's kids are losing almost every game. I think we just lucked out with good players and good coaches on the teams. Unfortunately the boys are in different leagues this year due to their ages and so baseball has consumed most of our evenings. There is a week in June where we have a game everyday Monday through Saturday. Craziness!
We've also started talking about what fun activities we can do this summer. I think we're going to make a list of fun cheap activities and put them in a jar. On Sunday night of each week, we'll pick one out and then depending on the weather requirements for that activity, select a day of the week to do it. Hopefully that will keep a little spice and fun in our summer.
My dad spent a few days in the hospital last week due to an irregular heartbeat. Thankfully it was nothing serious like a heart attack or stroke or anything. I felt a little bad cause it started when he was moving furniture with my husband for our township trash day. It's strange to see your parents getting older. I'm just glad he's okay. Oh yeah, and taking 5 kids to the hospital at one time to visit Papa... not on the recommended activities list :D But we survived.
Guess that's it for now. I hope you all are enjoying the beautiful weather and have a great end of the week.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
I gotta PEE!
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!!!!!
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!!!!!
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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