Rough Week, But Not Entirely Bad

This has been a strange one, y'all.  Started off with me sleeping on my arm funny and then being in excruciating pain for two days.  Like, can't move my arm without gasping in pain and sobbing.  I cried while trying to wash my hair in the shower.  Never had that issue before.  After some prodding from friends, I went to the AMAZING Dr. Taylor at Crossroads Natural Health in Grand Prairie, and within 12-hours of her magic touch, my arm was 98% better.  I could move without crying... yay!

Preston's skin allergies had a nasty flare up.  We have been having problems with it a lot lately.  We went to the Asthma/Allergy doctor a while back and he was put on two rounds of antibiotics because the doc thought it was infection, possibly staph.  It got a little better... but it would flare up here and there.  Well, on Wednesday night it was so bad Preston could NOT stop scratching at it and crying, and he certainly couldn't sleep.  Michael and I tried everything we could think of to soothe him, but no luck... he finally passed out from exhaustion.  We broke down, and thanks to my parents, purchased some super expensive cream the doc has suggested (and we had used in the past) and we tried it yesterday.  His legs are less itchy, yes, but ... right before dinner, he started throwing up and continued well into the middle of the night.  I mean, really?  I don't know if it's related to his skin allergies, or something completely different.  I am just praying that when he wakes up this morning, we can be done with all of it.

In the middle of all this going on, I found a huge brown tarantula in the bathroom.  Hear that?  IN THE BATHROOM.  Now, I've come to be somewhat at peace with them burrowing their holes into our yard (Michael is NOT at peace with that), but when I find them IN my house, NOPE.  No, no, nuh-uh.

Callen is "rawring" at the approaching storm.

The highlights of the week have been getting to spend some good, quality one-on-one time with my friends Regina and Nadia.  Also, sitting and having a real, uninterrupted conversation with my husband on some serious things we needed to discuss.  Obviously, nothing bad or it wouldn't be a highlight, would it?  And, I dunno... the week wasn't entire wretched besides the overwhelming number of 'gahhhhh' that happened.  Here's hoping now that it's Friday, we can catch a nice break and enjoy the weekend!

Stupid Unknown (Medical Issues)...

"He is an excellent hurler." I actually typed those words out earlier in a comment on my Facebook page, in reference to Preston.  Truly, he is.  He gets it from me.  Poor kid.

This morning he woke up at 7am and got all ready and came in to wake me up because he was so excited about going to a church basketball day-camp.  I sent him back to bed because it was TOO EARLY.  Then, when I woke him up at the right time, he said "I have a headache... and a tummy ache" and ran for the bathroom.  Then he sat in the bathroom floor and cried because, "Why did I have to throw up today?!  WHY????"  I felt so bad for him, and I don't have an answer to his question either.

A very similar episode occurred just last week.  And about a month before that he woke up in the middle of the night with this same problem.  I'm glad he's an excellent hurler, but at the same time, I wish I knew why he had so much experience.  This has been going on for years, but never this close together.  I usually attribute it to simply "something he ate."  But I just don't know anymore.

I can't link it to any specific food, activity or situation at this point.  I don't see a pattern.  Which means I don't know what to avoid or how to fix it.  Stupid 'unknown.'

The 'unknown' already causes Michael's chronic migraines and nerve pain in his back/leg. He has had so many tests and they all come back positive or negative just as they should, no indication of what's causing his ailments.  The doctors just prescribe more tests, and at this point, we can't afford it anymore (nor the ones he's already had that have put us into more debt).  So... unknown, it is.

I just keep praying for complete healing.  Or, at least, a solid answer.

We all have a job...

I saw this image posted on a family-friendly company's facebook page.  And it got me a bit riled up, and instead of posting a crazy long comment on FB, I decided to bring it over to the long-forgotten blog.

I honestly don't know which way the person who created this card intended it to be read, nor do I even know which way the company who posted it intended it to be read.  Or, perhaps, the point was to leave it open for interpretation... because the comments below the post were cuh-razy, y'all.

Some women got all hyped up amen-ing it, reading it as sarcastic.  Like, I do ALLLLL this stuff because my husband has a "job." Look at what all is required of me, isn't that a job?  I deserve more recognition, he just sits at a desk all day while I blah blah...  He gets off easy "going to work" while my job is here 24/7, blah blah. Stupid stereotypical man's work vs. women's work, so old fashioned, blah bah.

I kinda giggled when I read it because I had literally just come in from mowing the rest of the yard after getting home from working most of the day at Power FM.  Now, I don't normally do yard work and I don't normally "go to work" much anymore.  While I DO take out the trash (y'know, man's work, har har), he is great about taking care of the yard stuffs.  Well, yesterday, he came home from a full day of work, and as he was getting out of the car, I was getting in mine to head to work at Power FM for the evening, so there was barely a "hello!" between us.  It's one of THOSE weeks.  So, after getting home from a full day of work, he was suddenly in charge of the children, had to make dinner for them, started mowing the yard and then they had to leave for AWANA across town (daddy chauffeur and chef, hmm).  He didn't finish the yard.  The next day (yesterday) was one of those days where he is gone before the sun comes up and gets home long after it's down, so he wasn't going to be able to finish then either.  He asked me to do it.  I admit, I pouted a tiny bit (that mean 'ole lawnmower hates me), but I did it.  I came home from MY work day, attended the kids, got out there mowed the lawn, made dinner, finished up school with Preston, etc.  And, you know what?  This morning I got out there and used the spreader to lay down bug-b-gone junk.  Boom.

All this to say that a family is a team.  You take on the role you need to.  Single parents have to do it ALL.  There are lots of amazing stay-at-home dads while the wife works and supports the family.  There are families, where (gasp!) BOTH mom and dad work.  What?  Then, there are lots of traditional-looking families where the man works, the wife stays at home and takes care of kids and house.  SO WHAT?!  Why is "tradition" so bad anyway?  If that's the way you and your spouse decide that your family is going to work, ROCK ON!  No one should shame you for being a stay-at-home-mom or a housewife, geez.  Yes, a mom's job is HARD, no one should ever deny that.  A dad's job is just as difficult.  I know my husband feels the pressure of having to provide for his family, and that's why he works 2-3 jobs at at a time.  It isn't ideal.  And it isn't because he WANTS to be away from his family so much.  It's because the economy sucks, and he can't work one job that pays him enough to make ends meet.  And we want to make ends meet, don't we?  His job is to bring in income, and my job is to make that income stretch as far as it can, and occasionally add to it with my little jobs.  We are a team.  He watches the kids while I work and I watch the kids while he does.  We have made the decisions together and we are happy with it.  And while sometimes I wished I was the one who was away from the house ALL DAY LONG (mama needs a break once in a while, right?), I truly love being here with my kids and being the one in charge of their learning and being.  I know that my husband appreciates me and recognizes it for what it is, my job.  And I love and respect him for being willing to do what he does for us so that we can be in this position.  My husband is wonderful, and while it does put extra pressure on me to do a few things that are considered men's work... OH WELL. 

I Am That Stark Raving Lunatic...

This is my life.  Mostly with my kids, though... at least my husband is a little more understanding.  The boys do not seem to respond to me unless I am screaming and flailing my arms about. Or possibly throwing things.  I constantly find myself in absolutely uncontrollable monster mode because I was ignored the first twelve times I calmly asked them to "stop."

I want to be a gentle mother.  I want obedience.  I want pleasant attitudes (mine and theirs).  I do not want my boys to look back on their childhood and remember their mother screaming at them.  But right now, I can't muster an ounce of respect or submission to my authority without going ballistic.  I don't want them to be scared of me... I just want them to know that they are to obey me.  Silly me, I was under the impression that kids were built to understand that their parents are in charge.  I mean, I feel like Michael and I have made this pretty clear over the past 8 years... but, they don't get it.  They continue to push everything past it's limits, to push ME past my limits.  And I feel like a parenting failure.  I keep thinking, OK, it'll sink in soon, they'll realize that they can't get away with this behavior because the consequences always catch up with them.  But, no... the very next day it's the same exact routine, they don't LEARN.  

As a homeschooling mom, there is no break.  I'm with them, basically, 24/7.  And that's tough when I'm spending about 12 of those hours each day saying "No. Stop. Don't do that. Come back here.  Put that down. Stop picking at each other. Listen to me. Pick that up. NO NO NO NO NO NO!" and they're NOT EVEN LISTENING TO ME.  I admit I am NOT the most patient person in these situations, but I try to give them a chance.  And they poop all over those chances.

From Preston (8 years old) I get: "But I didn't know" and "I tried to do the right thing."  He did know, and it wasn't the right thing in any way, shape or form.

From Callen (almost 4 years old) I get: "I'm going to do it anyway" and "No!" because he does not think I have the right to tell him what to do, apparently.

I've read a lot of things and I've tried a lot of approaches, but nothing has worked in gaining any ground in this fight.  Prayer, lots of prayers for patience, the right words and approach to use, that they'll somehow just "get it" and be GOOD.  

Why am I sharing this?  My children are not bad, and I am not a bad mother.  I have a feeling there are a lot of other parents in my shoes.  But I hope that one day in the near future I can look back at this blog and I will have figured it out and I can laugh at how silly I was for not knowing then what I know now.  And my two boys will be caring, respectful, upstanding, obedient men of God.  For now I will enjoy those moments where they do the right thing, where they snuggle with me for a few minutes, where they play nicely together, where I handle the situation correctly, where they learn their lesson and where I see that spark of hope that this phase of our lives will end.  I don't want to rush their growing up, I'd just like to be able to enjoy it a little more.

[Edit: Added 01/29/14] I just read these two articles.  Dear Lord, I needed these two articles!
5 Ways to Overcome the Yelling Mom
I Don't Want to be an Angry Mom, so I threw away my coffee pot

Ice Day(s) 2013...

On Preston's birthday, December 4th, it looked like this...

Remote control cars & chalking w/Uncle Daniel

Fast forward a few days, to December 6th, and it looked like this...

WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?!

And that, my friends, is NOT snow, believe it or not.  It is pure ice.  Yep, tiny ice pellets that fell.  All day.  And then, that ice stayed... for days.  It was insane for this part of Texas.  Schools were called off for nearly a week, people didn't go in to work if they didn't have to, grocery stores were literally bare of essentials.  Ice-aggedon 2013.

The boys were excited to go play in it.  Of course, they thought it would be fun... like snow.  Oh well.  They enjoyed it anyway.  For a little while.

He really wanted to make a snow angel.

Look at Callen's face, so happy!

He did really like being out there in the freezing cold!

Ice Day 2013

Found ways to stay warm inside!

When it all finally started to melt, our metal roof gave us quite the show.  The heavy sheets of ice would inch over the edge of the roof, then suddenly slide forward, break off and crash down.  The first time I heard a huge crash, I opened the back yard to look around.  I saw the ice sheet danging above my head and quickly closed the door, which caused it come crashing down.  Our back porch was soon completely covered in thick, hard ice... couldn't open the door any more for a few days!  Callen and I went around the side and then out the back and stood out there a while watching all the ice sheets come crashing down one by one, until the end when a bunch of it gave at once and there was a huge ice-sheet-water-fountain type display.  It was unbelievable!  Callen loved it!

Climbing the ice 'mountains.'

Several days later that those ice sheets were still built up along the edge of the house despite everything else having melted away.  The boys played in it and tried to see who could lift the heaviest chunk.

An unfortunate side effect of the freak ice storm on a metal roof is that some of the water froze in certain places and expanded, bending some of the metal, and making a place for water to leak in.  One morning a week or so after the storm, it rained... and there was a puddle in our living room.  It also bent and nearly broke off an exhaust stack from the water heater.  Geez!

House Update, We're Moving!

Thursday, 9/19 Let it Begin: I can only hope and pray that this second contract on our house is the final contract we'll need.  The family came by yesterday to look at the house again.  They made an offer, we countered, they accepted and the contract was signed today.  So... we're back in this!  Now, off to find the house of our dreams...

x

Monday, 9/23 Update: We found a house we really like Midlothian and put in an offer yesterday.  So, waiting to hear how the inspection panned out for our own house and to hear if the sellers of the other house accept our offer or not.  Eep!

x

Friday, 9/27 Update:  It's been an emotional couple of days, y'all.  The inspection came back on our house and the buyers only asked for a few simple repairs.  No problem!  Their option period ended yesterday, so it appears we are full steam ahead on the selling of our house!  And we were proceeding just fine with the Midlo house, the sellers countered, we re-countered and they accepted.  Woo hoo, everything was falling into place beautifully.  But then, all of a sudden, we found out that Midlothian was being kicked off the USDA land list as of October 1st.  That didn't give us enough time to get everything submitted and close and all that.  So, we can't use the 0-down-payment financing that was our plan.  Y'know, the whole reason we were looking outside the "metroplex" in the first place, so we didn't have to come up with a down payment from out of nowhere (we are simply breaking even on the selling of our house, not earning anything in that transaction). But, after much prayer and conversation with a number of people (and each other), we have decided to continue pursuing that house with regular financing, and we'll come up with a down payment somehow.  It's scary, but we feel confident that this is right, so we're pressing on.  We have sent in our option fee, our earnest money and we have an inspector scheduled for Sunday afternoon.  Please continue to pray for us in this quest... I know that God can and will provide, but my logical side is terrified at all the 'what ifs' that go into selling and buying a house.

x

Monday, 9/30 Update: Ok, so the roller coaster ride continues!  Late Friday night we received an email from our lender saying that our prayers are working because the USDA decided to postpone their changes, meaning we can still get Midlothian with the USDA financing.  Crazy!  Thank you, Jesus!!!  Michael and I did a little jumping for joy, I must say!  So, Sunday we had the Midlo house inspected, and it looks good.  A few things are simply due to the house being built in the 1940's and the rules being different then, but nothing major surfaced.  Woot.  We drove around the town with the boys and checked things out.  We played at the park right by our 'new' house.  It was great.  I believe we are gonna like it a lot!  So, we will recap with our peeps today and see what the next step is... we gotta get both houses appraised still.  Looks like our biggest concern at this point is closing at the same time so that we don't end up homeless for a while.  Yikes!  We are scheduling or working on the little things that our buyers asked for, and hopefully those will be finished out this week.  Moving right along!

x

Thursday, 10/04 Update: And then... the government shut itself down.  Seriously, between last update and this, nothing has happened.  NOTHING.  As in, NOT moving right along.  The government can't get itself together and it's just decided to quit, apparently.  Meaning we can't submit our USDA loan... so it's not processing or getting approved.  We were already worried about not closing in time and being homeless for a while, and now... well, it's pretty much guaranteed that we won't be able to move into Midlo any time soon.  We are trying to negotiated a lease-back, and hoping the buyer of our house will cooperate and let us stay here till we CAN move, but we can't even give an estimate as to when that would be.  There have still been no appraisals on either house, not sure what's up with that.  Oh, this roller coaster ride is NOT the fun kind.  I gave up the house situation to the Lord a long time ago now, so ... :::throws hands up::: whatever will be will be, right?  God's got this.  I'm just along for the (nauseating) ride.  Massive prayers appreciated.  I know this government shut down is affecting a lot of people in a wide variety of ways, so prayers for our entire messed up country.

x

Monday, 10/07 Update: So, after hearing nothing for nearly a week, some stuff is finally moving forward.  The government is still shut down so we have just given up hope on the USDA and are just going ahead with an FHA loan.  It sucks for a lot of reasons, because the whole point of finding a home outside the Metroplex was to get use 0% down through USDA.  NOW, we have to come up with a down payment, have PMI and all sorts of other things that are going to cost us more in the long run.  And it sucks, because, frankly, we just don't have any more money to use towards all this.  But, God will provide, and we have fallen in love with that Midlothian house and area and truly want to move there.  So, anyway, we'll find a way... we truly believe that God has ordained this and it will work.  Both houses were appraised today, and Michael has been answering questions from various sources (realtors, lenders, etc) all day long and hopefully we have everything together that needs to be together to get this ball rolling.  The buyers of our house are going to let us stay here several days after closing so that we HOPEFULLY won't be homeless between closings.   We just have to see how quickly we can get closed on Midlo now that we are finally working on the right loan.  I am very sorely disappointed that the USDA thing didn't work out, especially after the roller coaster ride we had with it last week of not being an option, then yes being an option, and now we have a big fat no again.  But... again, God's plan, not ours.  He knows better than me, that's for sure.  Carry on.

x

Thursday, 10/10 Update:  Wow... the story continues.  We received word yesterday that the appraisal on our home came in under our selling price.  Lame sauce.  The appraiser was here for all of 7 minutes, no way he really LOOKED at the place.  So, to my understanding, we have to come up with the difference between the appraisal price and the selling price, which means... we have to come up with more money that doesn't exist.  Yay, magic tricks!  No... we are just relying on the Lord to give us opportunities to come up with AT LEAST $2000 in the next 10 days!  Not magic tricks... MIRACLES.   Our realtor and lender are working really hard to negotiate things and crunch numbers so that we can make all of this work, but wow... the things being thrown at us lately, mind boggling.  I am still confident that this is right, and we should move forward.  I choose to believe that it's just the devil doing his nasty work because what we are doing is right.  But he will not win, we will prevail with God's help.  Lord, Jesus, MOVE THAT MOUNTAIN!!!

x

Thursday, 10/17 Update: Fast forward a whole week and I've been a packing maniac.  Today we finally made some headway and got some news on the status of our transactions.  The buyer of our current home is signing papers tomorrow, we shall sign and close on the Midlo house on Monday morning.  It LOOKS like we won't have to come to the table with anything for selling our house, praise God.  We certainly aren't coming out ahead with it, but at least we aren't having to pour more money into it just to get it sold.  Praise God if that does truly work out.  They are supposed to give us final numbers tomorrow as to what our down payment will come out to be and all that.  So we are in prayer that the number they give us will be within reason and we can make this happen.  Ok, HE is totally making this happen, but you know what I mean.  So, numbers tomorrow so we can prepare for all that.  Then the owners of the Midlo house won't be out until next Thursday.  So, we'll get some of Thursday and Friday until 11:59pm to be out of Grand Prairie.  Crazy!!!  I feel like we're pretty much ready to be out of here, though I there are some areas I haven't packed up yet... but now, I have a whole week to do it.  I've been a frantic mess for the past few days thinking come Monday we'd be shoving our stuff in a truck, lol.  So, there's good and bad to that.  But, yes... still pressing on and praying hard!

x

Monday, 10/21 Update: We officially signed next to every 'x' and have closed on both properties.  Woo hoo!!!  While we are official, we can't move into our new place until Thursday, when the sellers get out, and we have to be out of our current house by 11:59pm on Friday so the new buyers can take over.  CRAZY!  We are mostly packed but still have some work to do over the next few days.  But, but the end of the week, we shall officially be residents of Midlothian, TX!

The Frustrations of Trying to Sell Your House (regarding showings and keeping it staged)...

Our house has been on the market for about 110 days now.  That's 110 days of trying to live in this de-cluttered, staged home.  I have two young, wild and rowdy boys who are home with me 24/7.  That pretty much sums it up, but just for memory's sake...

• As I clean, those children follow in my wake leaving a path of destruction. (I vacuumed the bedroom carpet, and not 2 minutes later Callen crushed goldfish crackers into the carpet.)
• Realtors don't always lock the door when they leave.  Um... not cool, y'all.
• Some potential buyers apparently don't care that they track in sticky stuff or mud.
• Making my bed.
• Realtors who schedule a showing for 8:30 in the morning, I get my boys up and out (no small task around here, especially that early), we stay gone doing pointless stuff for the hour we're supposed to and come back, then that realtor rings the door bell half an hour later, stands there with their clients and says "Oh no, we rescheduled, didn't they tell you?"  I'm not a natural curser, but that wanted me to exclaim some profanity real bad. 
• A realtor who schedules a showing for 8:30 in the morning, period.
• Potential buyers whose feed back simply states "too small."  Um, read the freaking description and dimensions, y'all.  You are wasting my precious time.
• Having to make my stupid bed.  And Preston's stupid bed.  And Callen's stupid bed. And then mine AGAIN because the boys have played in it.
• Investors who put a contract on the house, but bails out on the last day of the option period leaving you back at square one.
• People who submit ridiculously low bids to see how desperate you are.  We're not that desperate.
• Having your closets and garage packed full of stuff that you occasionally need to get to but can't.
• Leaving the lights on and the A/C down, using more electricity than normal and running up our bill (especially in the summer).
• Having to pack up and put away homeschool stuff constantly instead of having it in a convenient place.
• Have I mentioned how much I hate making my bed?  Well, I do.
• Having strangers milling around my house.  It's creepy.
• Realtors who ask for 2 hours of showing time, but only spend 3 minutes actually in my house.
• Potential buyers who complain about the door in the back bedroom.  That is clearly noted AND pictured in the listing.  Don't be stupid.
• Needing to sell this house at the price we're asking and not being able to budge just to get it done.  That sucks.

I'm sure I'll continue to add to this list.  But I hope I don't have to.  I would like to be done with this now.

Convicted Myself About School (and I'm a little crazy)...

So, yesterday someone on one of the facebook homeschool groups I participate in posted something about feeling like a bad mom because she's disorganized and doesn't have a homeschool area for her kids.  I immediately jumped in and encouraged her that homeschooling is not about having a classroom, or even a designated area, that you set up to work in.  You school in your home, or in the car, or at the park, etc.  I said some other stuff, too.  I hope that my comments helped her to realize that her homeschool doesn't have to look like those pinterest-perfect homeschool rooms we drool over with awesome desks, shelves of bookshelves and organizing bins, supplies all neatly arranged.  Even if it didn't, it convicted me, that's for sure.  Oh my gosh, y'all, I drool over those dang magazine-looking homeschool rooms I see.  Such jealousy, you have no idea.

I have been struggling with not starting school yet, saying that we would start once we were settled into our new home.  Well, here we are... no where near ready to move.  We had that buyer who backed out, and we've had several offers that were unacceptably low... our house has been on the market over 95 days now (but, um.. who's counting?) and we aren't even going out to look at homes with our realtor anymore.  My brain flip flops between let's call it off and live here vs. we need to find a bigger space, let's just keep waiting for things to happen.  Granted, we have started math and spelling, so it's not like we're not getting anything done.  Our curriculum is 34-weeks, and the further I push it back... the more we'll be behind.  Then, my brain is all "you won't be behind, you set your own schedule, plus Preston is actually ahead of his age anyway, chill out."  Oh, Brain... give me a break, will ya?  Why you gotta be all wishy-washy, huh?

So, then I start thinking, well, if we aren't moving...I can move the boys into the same room and use Callen's small room for a school room, set up the new desks we have in the garage for them in there, bring in the bookcases and get this ball rolling.  And, hey, even if we are leaving our house on the market, it'll still be fine to do that... it'll just make Preston's room look a bit more cluttered.  I just have this deep desire to have an area where we can set up school.  BUT, didn't I just reassure that sweet lady in the fb group that you don't NEED a school area?  Yes.  Yes, I did.  And, honestly, I don't know how good of an idea it is to put my boys in one room at this point.  Callen still destroys Preston's room on a regular basis when he gets in there.  The bunk bed we have in storage is gonna take up a lot of space... and which of the boys will be the first to fall off of it?  Indecisive Brain, you are killing me!  I want this.  Or that.  And maybe this.  But that isn't a good idea, so... this?  That?  The other thing?  Arghhhh.

If I don't set up a school area, we can still school, dang it. We can, we can, WE CAN!  So, I THINK I have decided to get our school stuff ready, put it in a crate - something that can be hidden away when needed - and just go with the flow.  No, I can't put up stuff on the walls as I like to.  We still can't use the desks I bought from my friend.  It will take more effort to get things out and put things up constantly.  But... if I don't officially start our school year soon, I'm gonna explode!  Ka-freaking-boom! So, I'm thinking we'll start up in a few weeks (the week after Labor Day?) and see what happens.

Meanwhile, still praying like a crazy woman that we get a buyer, for our full price so our math works out, and that we find our new home quickly and easily, the move is smooth, and we live happily ever after.  I do want to move into a new-to-us home, something that has more space (and yes, a stinkin' homeschool area, of course) and more yard to enjoy.  But, if we end up here, and that's God's will for us, then fine.  I just... would like to be out of this not-knowing phase already.

On heavy repeat in my mind...

Proverbs 16:9 "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

Got a contract on the House! (and then we didn't)

So, after 75 excruciatingly long days of being on the market (ok, I'm sure they were regular days for anyone other than me), our house is under contract.  The Inspector (and buyer, eep! He's an investor, by the way, and will be using it as a rental... oh well) came last night to do what they do.  Waiting to hear if he found anything that needs negotiating, and, obviously, praying he didn't.  If this all pans out, closing date is September 12th.  30 Days!!!

We have been to look at a handful of houses so far.  Most have been disappointing... it's amazing how they can look so great online, and then totally not live up to that idea.  We did find one we like and are considering in Arlington, but would like to look more.  It's not everything we want, but could definitely work well and is definitely the best we've seen so far.  It's in a fantastic neighborhood, it's in great shape, the price is right.  Cons are that the backyard is a lot smaller than we've been hoping for, it doesn't have an extra space (like a formal dining or extra bedroom to set up school - and yes, that is really important to me, though I KNOW, from experience, we can school "anywhere.")  It also would need major updating... carpets ripped out, flooring installed, and the wallpaper fairy got cray-cray up in there... but those aren't really big issues in my opinion, totally doable.  So, like I said, we're continuing our hunt, checking out a wide variety of areas and styles of homes. Our house is out there, just waiting for us.

We've got 30 days (barring anything unforeseen with the sale of this house) to find our new home!

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Update, 8/15/13: Well, the buyer wants an additional sum of money towards "repairs."  That additional sum of money would be pretty much our whole savings towards down payment on our new home.  We can negotiate, but pretty sure we'll have to come up with something for him and it will wipe out our chance at a down payment at all.  I am bummed, but hopeful that we can come up with something to continue moving forward.  Another option would be to move outside of the Metroplex to an area that has USDA 0% Down loans available.  I wasn't really thinking we'd have to move that far... and it certainly wouldn't be convenient for Michael's work, our church, and my parents (who already think we live too far away - and are our main babysitters!).  I am trying to remain positive, but as a natural what-if worrier, my mind is racing.  Hoping to hear some good news from our realtor and/or lender today... perhaps they will find some sort of special loan/grant/something we qualify for that will help us.  Would greatly appreciate prayers for precise, clear guidance from the Lord on how to proceed (or not proceed).

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Update, 8/16/13: Ahh, the exciting ups and downs of selling/buying a house!  Yesterday, we were presented with additional options, so rural living may NOT be our only hope after all.  We saw a house we liked in NRH.  Well, we REALLY liked the street/neighborhood, the house needs a lot of work and is WAY above our new price range.  But, who knows what God is capable of, right?  We are continuing our search.  A counter-offer was sent to the buyers on the repair costs, waiting to hear from them.  And, according to our realtor, if they accept and we keep our closing date with them...we need to have a contract on our NEW home by the end of next week.  Um.  Ok.  No problem.  EEP!

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Update, 8/16/13: And about an hour after I posted the last update, we find out that our buyer has backed out.  No real reason given, just changed their mind.  Wow.  Ok.  Back to square one, I guess.  And I was really enjoying not having the showings, but ... we'll see.  I don't know what the next step is.  Call the whole thing off?  Keep showing it?  Do some repairs and then try again?  I just don't know.  Relying on God for continued guidance in all things.

On a Mission Again... this time with Zumba!

Ok, while I was at convention a few weeks back, one of my teammates was snapping pictures like crazy and I got a good look at some of them I was in.  Um, holy cow.  Literally.  I dunno how it happens, how I don't SEE it happening.  I knew I wasn't losing weight, and I knew my clothes were fitting tighter than they should, but all of a sudden, I realized that I am creeping closer and closer to my top weight again.  Not what I'm shooting for, c'mon!  I'm embarrassed.  I don't know how I let myself get to this point.  Ugh.

In 2008-2009, I was able to successfully lose 75 pounds through Weight Watchers.  I watched every bite I took, was walking the neighborhood for exercise, and I lost that weight in just over a year (like, 53 weeks, I think it was).  My goal was to lose that weight so we could have another baby (Callen).  Well, we want to have another baby soon, and I certainly can't gain baby weight on top of what I am already carrying with me at this time.  So, I've got to do something!!!

Back to counting calories (yay, free apps like My Fitness Pal) and being active.  A few days ago I discovered some Zumba Class videos for beginners.  I tried it, and loved it.  I've done 40 minutes of Zumba for 5 days in a row now, and been trying to stay under my calories (though not being so great at that so far).  I am hoping to make this a habit.  Not just hoping... determined!

And hopefully by posting it here for anyone to see, it'll push me to stick with it.  

In Limbo...

Our house has been on the market for nearly three weeks.  We've had about 25 showings or so.  Most feedback has to do with it being "too small."  Not much we can do about that.  Just need to find the right young couple or empty nesters, I guess.  It is an interesting experiment in keeping this place tidy.  Getting out the door with two kids is hard enough, but now I have to do a full sweep of the house anytime we wanna go out to make sure it's pristine.  This evening I was in the middle of cooking dinner, and got a call for a showing for 6-7pm.  Problem was, it was already 6:05 and dinner was only half cooked!  We had them give us till 6:45, wolfed down our food, tidied like fools and got out.  Lol.  Such an adventure!

We've looked online at a list of houses for sale that our realtor gave us.  Narrowed down a list of about 125 to about 35.  There's not a lot of use going to look at these places until our house has some interest.  So, feeling a bit in limbo.  Waiting for something to happen.  The homeschool mom in me wants to start planning out school... normally, we'd be starting back up in a few weeks.  But, that stuff is in a tub under everything that's been piled and stashed in the closet. So, trying to let that go and not worry.

Preston has been doing Cub Scout Day Camp this week, and has been LOVING it.  I was freaking out on Sunday night.  This was our "kindergarten moment."  The first time I really took him somewhere, dropped him off with people who weren't family or super close friends, for SEVEN HOURS.  But he did great, I didn't cry, and all was well.  He has really had a great time out there, despite the 95-degree temps.  He's gone swimming, done archery and shot BB guns, and all kinds of fun things.  He's in heaven!  I'm really glad that he's doing well and enjoying this experience.  It's probably going to be one of the last scout activities he'll get to do.  The recent decision regarding openly homosexual scouts is just a bit too much.  I understand that at this age it's not an issue, however if that's the case, why did it have to be an ISSUE?!  I can only see it going further, and don't really want to have my child in the mix.  I love people of all sorts, but I do not agree with their lifestyle if they choose to live like that.  And I do not appreciate it being forced into places it doesn't even belong.  No, it shouldn't be an issue... but it is now, isn't it?  I'm very sad about it all.  Michael was an Eagle Scout.  My dad was an Eagle Scout.  And all Preston got was Tiger and Wolf?  It's been a hard decision, he doesn't even know yet - and I am not looking forward that conversation.  Mergh, it's just all so sad, really.  "Duty to God" is the scout motto... sigh.

Anyway, we finished up AWANA at church.  There is a new program going on starting next week called Art & Soul and I think the boys will enjoy that.  And, of course, we'll have VBS in July.  Hoping to do some more fun things while we're having our break.  And, Lord willing, we'll MOVE before the summer is up.  Lol.  My UBAM convention is next week.  CAN'T WAIT!!!

Our Little House in the Prairie...

So, our house was officially listed last Friday.  The photographer did a fantastic job of capturing our "model home."  The staging is nice, and even though keeping it "nice" is difficult with two little hurricanes living here... it's worth it.  Check out some of the pix:

Curb Appeal

Entryway and kitchen view from living room.

Living area

Kitchen and breakfast nook.

Master bedroom.

Backyard with swing set and deck.

We've had about 10 showings so far, and the feedback we've received from just a few of the potential buyers that bother to leave feedback... is that it's too small.  Yep, it's a perfect little house for a couple just starting out or empty nesters.  We are moving because we need a bigger space if we plan to have another child... which we do.  But, this house has served us well with our two current children and has been our home for over 10 years now.

Michael and I are enjoying looking through listings for what we want in a new house.  Actually, Michael has already found us the perfect house... at least on paper.  I keep thinking there must be something horribly wrong with it if it's still on the market, but who knows.  We'll probably start going to actually look at places next week.  Don't want to get too excited about a place and then have to lose it because ours hasn't sold yet.  BUT if ours happens to sell quickly, we'll need a place to live, right?

We are in the throes of this next step in our life, and believe it or not, I am still super calm and excited about it.  For me, that's huge.  I do not deal well with change, and this type of change (MOVING!!!) is major.  So, I guess that's a pretty good sign that this is the right time and God's got it under control.  

P.S. The thing I struggle most with right now in keeping the house tidy for spur-of-the-moment showings... making my bed.  Ugh, I HATE making my bed.  Always have.  I am blessed with a husband who feels the same way, so we've just never done it.  Plus, the kids are always tromping on it and throwing the blankets off anyway, what's the point?!  So yeah, lol, if that's any indication of how NOT STRESSED I am about this whole experience... the fact that the most trouble is making my bed.  RIGHT?!

Spring Turns into Summer...

Well, we're on break from school.  You'd think I'd have more time to blog... but not really.  I still need to upload the pix from my real camera of our camping trip several weeks ago.  Oops.  And lots of other this and that's on my to-do list as well.

We are busy getting ready for a garage sale this weekend.  Trying to de-clutter the house.  Why?  Well, I'm sick of the clutter and everything collecting dust.  No more "maybe I'll need this someday..."  Ugh, no, get rid of it!  But, also because we are planning to put our house on the market and move.  Like soon.  CRAZY.  We've been here over 10 years.  And it's just time to get out from under it... find a bigger place in a different area and start over a bit.  Obviously, we don't want to go too far.  We are very connected to our church near here, our friends and my parents... obviously, can't wander off to far from them.   So, we're in full-swing to make this happen this time.  Talking and meeting with realtors, seeing what our options are, having a foundation company come out and fix what they can.  It's overwhelming, and honestly... terrifying.  But exciting as well.  Just praying that we are truly guided by God in all of our decisions with this.  Both of us really feel it's time to move, so... we're doing what we can to get that ball rolling.


The kids are going through their phases.  Callen is still in his "terrible two" mode despite having turned three in March.  He is challenging, and it's just a real good thing he's so darn cute.  Sheesh.  Preston pesters him like crazy and often completely lacks common sense, so he has his share of trouble.  I'm doing my best, but I often feel like such a huge parental failure with them so far.  Preston cries about everything.  Callen destroys everything.  I'm sure that most kids their age are like this, and I'm expecting too much on them and myself.  It's just hard sometimes to see the same mistakes day after day, and no real sense of them "learning" the right way to act/react.  I keep looking at myself and realizing that I'm the same exact way, though.  God must face-palm Himself a lot regarding my actions, too.  Lol. On a positive note, the boys and I have met a new family in our area that we have just fallen in love with.  They travel a lot so we have to take advantage of them when they're around, but The Stauffers have been a great addition to our friend circle in the short time we've known them.  April and I get along really well, as do Preston and her son, who is 8.  They have two girls, too... and Callen enjoys all of them! Another random, but positive, note is that the boys and I have enjoyed having smoothies lately.  Getting in our veggies where we can.  The boys have loved them all, so it's really easy to make us a quick drinkable lunch packed with fruits and veggies (spinach!).  I am loving having that option instead of always trying to come up with a lunch that they'll actually eat.  Whew!

Michael finished up his teaching semester yesterday and won't be taking on a Summer class since they wouldn't fit his regular full-time job schedule.  Hopefully he'll get to return in the Fall.  His full-time job seems to be going along just fine, no real news to report there apparently.  Other side things are going ok, and he only does pizza every once in a while when they need an extra hand and he's able.  His earache, migraine, hip/leg pains are all still present and bothersome.  As are the many medical bills arriving constantly for the things we've tried to do for those particular ailments.  I just want him to feel good again.  Is that too much to ask?  He works so hard to provide for his family, it just isn't fair that he always has to be so miserable.  The boys have enjoyed utilizing Netflix with him and they watch episode after episode of superhero cartoons.  I'm glad that Michael is good at deciding which ones are appropriate for their ages, 'cuz I have no idea.  But they're quickly becoming experts on all things superhero and comic books, haha.

I was able to accomplish this year's Connect4Challenge with my Usborne Books & More business.  I am going to convention in June for FREE!  That'll be such a blessing.  A chance to get away, learn more about making my business successful, meeting a bunch of people I only know via Facebook.  I'm really looking forward to it!  After the last four months of steady action, taking a bit of a break in May and then I have a bunch of events lined up for June to hopefully get right back into the swing of things.  Getting the commission checks for those months was definitely a nice thing, plus... now I don't have to spend out-of-pocket money and feel guilty about going to convention!  Woo hoo!

That's about all I can muster at the moment, as far as an update goes.  I do have several things on my to-do list that need to get knocked out over the next few months, so... prayers that those get taken care of easily.  And prayers that this moving business is a smooth transition for all of us.  I'm a natural worrier and get extremely stressed out with big change like this.  I'm TRYING to take it easy and go with the flow, but that is just not how I'm wired.  

Homeschool Recap, April 19th (Week 32)...

It wasn't even that hot outside!

In our lives this week...

Three weeks ago, we had our A/C company come out to do a routine inspection/tune-up so that when warm weather got here we wouldn't suddenly find out it was broken (like we have several years in a row!).  He came out, said everything was fine.  Then, on Sunday, a few hours after we turned the system on because it was warm and humid, water began leaking through our garage cieling.  Yep... out they came again to fix a PVC pipe that had come unsealed.  And then, on Tuesday, after we returned home from the dentist (Preston had to get a cavity-filled), I turned the A/C back on and several hours later, I realized it wasn't very cool in the house.  I looked and, sure enough, the unit was not cooling to the temperature it was supposed to.  Waited till about 11:30 at night, and the guys finally showed up, said it was a solid block of ice and it looked like the refrigerant was used up.  Um, shouldn't the guy have noticed it was low either Sunday or three weeks ago?  Sigh.  They didn't have any and couldn't do anything with it all frozen, anyway, so we were put on "priority" for first thing in the morning.  Annnnnd, we didn't see the guy until after 4pm that next day (priority, eh?).  He said the refrigerant was fine, it just wasn't getting released as it should so he fixed that.  Thankfully, it's been fine since then.  But man, I am so tired of trouble with our still-new, not-yet-paid-for unit. Hopefully, this will be the only trouble we have this year and we can get through the summer just fine?!?!  Praying so!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: Since we're done with our A-Z stuff, Callen didn't do much "school" this week.  He did some doodling in the Wipe-Clean First Letters book and a few other dry-erase books he has, as well as coloring books.

Bible:   This week's name of Jesus was "The Word" and Preston's memory verse is John 1:1. We looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that talked about Jesus being The Word.  Preston did his copywork and we added the verse to our Names of Jesus branch on the wall.

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure. Finished with lessons 79-82 in Primary Language Lessons. That's all of that for the year!  We continued with In Grandma's Attic, our last read-aloud. 

My happy readers!

History: This week Preston learned about inventors, as well as four states: Montana, Washington, Idaho and Wyoming.  Books we read included: Volcano: Eruption & Healing of Mt. St. Helens, Mailing Mae and Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression.

Math: Preston finished Part B of Math Mammoth, Second Grade!  Completed a mixed review, a chapter review and the Chapter 10 test.  All that's left is a few more reviews and an end of the year test next week!

Preston with his multiplication tables card from Phoenix Trading.

Science:  This week's lessons were about Sound.  Did a couple of pages from The First Encyclopedia of Science. And used some info out of Science with Air about how air affects sound, as well.

Music/Art: Our patriotic song this week was "Armed Services Medley." We finished our World's Greatest Artists, Vol 1 unit study by constructing a lapbook portfolio of all that we learned and Preston's artwork.  Can't wait to show it off!

Spanish: Pretty much just quit with Spanish for the year.  =)

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

I Need a Chill Pill...

Today was a doozie.  My two-and-a-half-year-old was a maniac and my nearly-seven-year-old has no common sense.  I am tired, stressed, my head aches and I am in just complete shock about how much trouble two kids can manage to cause in one short day.  It's like they know the exact buttons to push, and boy... do they like to push buttons!  But... as I sang Callen a night-night song and as I read Hank The Cowdog to Preston before he laid down... I can't help but be so very grateful and full of love for those two.  They are my world.  God gave me two lively, adorable and brilliant children - they are healthy, they are complete, they are amazing. 

Lord, grant me patience and gentleness with these two!  And keep the coffee coming.

Homeschool Recap, August 24th (Week 6)...

In my life this week...

Didn't do much out of the ordinary this week.  Working on my business a bit, because I got three brand new recruits this month.  Very excited about that!  The boys and I were lazy, just hung out inside otherwise.  Michael had some training for his teaching job, he starts classes on Monday.  Very excited that he is getting to do that again... there was a bit there where we thought he wasn't going to have a class this semester.  Praise God he does!

Things I'm working on...
I had to institute a new behavior chart to try to bribe... er, give the boys an incentive for behaving.  They've been on the wild side lately... talking back, out right defying us, etc.  So, I created a sticker chart... stickers for good behavior and x's for naughty behavior.  If they get 15+ stickers for the whole week, they'll get some sort of prize.  Nothing fancy, but something to show that it pays off to behave.  We are using this chart in conjunction with the Doorposts' Blessing and If-Then charts.  We've had those up for a while but have failed to really stick to them.  Hopefully this will do some good.  It's Friday afternoon, and the boys have 11 and 12 stickers (it only goes through Saturday)... so, we'll see!

Posted on the pantry door for ALL to see!

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: We continued the 1plus1plus1equals1.net "Tot School" printables this week with letter "B."  Callen was slightly less excited about his notebook this week, even though the theme was Balls.  I mean, come on... he is obsessed with all kinds of balls.  Wow, the novely wears off so fast!  We didn't really spend a lot of time on his pages this week, but we went through them... he did the tracing, coloring, scribbling, lacing, puzzling and all.  We even did a Baseball Lapbook (and I'm trying to wrack my brain to remember where I got that from, printed it out a long time ago and I usually try to save the links... but I guess I didn't this one, oops!).  And, of course, we played with Balls and read lots of books about Balls like Beach Ball, Hit the Ball Duck, Preston's Goal, The Ball Bounced and Froggy Plays T-Ball.

Big Brother helped a lot with the lapbook.

[Quick Callen story: Last Wednesday at church, we were making fish to go along with the story of Jonah.  There were little foam stickers and googly eyes to decorate your paper plate fish.  At one point, Callen came to me and said "Eye in my nose!"  I tried not to freak out, but calmly look in his little nose.  I asked him three times "Did you put one of those eyes up your nose?"  Twice he said yes, and the last time he said no.  I couldn't see anything up there, so I dismissed it and made a mental note to check closer later.  Mental note instantly forgotten after a room full of 2-5 year olds!  Fast forward to this Wednesday, and Callen lets out a great big sneeze.  He comes running to me with something in his hand says "Eye from my nose!"  Oh my gosh, y'all... there was a little, red foam dot (about 1/4" around) in his hand, covered in boogers!  That thing HAD been up his nose for a WEEK!  Thankfully it didn't bother him too much or cause any major damage, and it easily came out with that big sneeze.  It was part of a sticker so it had a sticky side and I guess it was just stuck up there all that time.  I felt so bad because I had totally forgotten about him telling me about it in the first place and didn't make it a point to look later.  GEEZ!  That was my first (and hopefully ONLY?!) experience with a kid sticking something up his nose... I know it could have been a lot worse, I've heard the stories!  So, praise God it wasn't a big deal.]

Bible: Introduced Jesus as "The Bread of Life."  We used Mama Jenn's printable up on our Morning Board to help us memorize John 6:35.  We looked up verses in The Discoverer's Bible that described Jesus as bread, food or drink for the spirit.  Added the Bread of Life picture to our Names Poster.  Preston wrote the first line of the memory verse as copy work.

Reading/Writing: We continued Spelling by Sound & Structure.  Reviewing the words we went over the first 5 weeks.  On today's test, Preston missed "sick" and "road."  Not sure if it was because he wasn't fully paying attention, or really got confused spelling it.  I don't make him write the words out for the tests, just spelling them aloud to me, so sometimes he gets lost in this thoughts (y'know, since there's usually a screaming 2 year old around, lol).  Continued with lessons 4-6 in Primary Language Lessons.

History:  This week's history topic was New Netherland/New York and the Dutch colonists.  Our hands on activity was to make butter!  The boys enjoyed shaking the cream for about 2 seconds, but we managed to make really good butter.  FYI, a little salt goes a long way... yes, I over salted it.  It tastes good on toast, though!  Our main read-aloud from MFW this week was The Courage of Sarah Noble.  So far I have been reading most of the read-alouds, but this time Preston read a few of the short chapters from this book as we traveled to and from errands this week.  We also read from our MFW book American Pioneers and Patriots, and from the library, The New Americans: Colonial Times 1620-1689.

Shaking the cream into butter!

Shake, shake, shake!

We made butter!

Math: Preston continued working on addition facts this week, including adding with 6, reviewing 6, 7 and 8, then moving on  "what's the difference?" and "how many more?"

Math and lapbook work.

Science:  Science went along with our scripture verse this week, having to do with bread.  We did two yeast experiments.  Mixing water, yeast and sugar in a bottle and putting a flat balloon on the top... watched it expand because of the carbon dioxide.  Then tried the same thing with salt, no expansion.

Music/Art: We continued the My Very First Art Book, using a painting by Franz Marc to discuss "wild colors."  We colored animals in crazy colors. And in the My Very First Art Coloring Book, we used another Franz Marc painting and colored outside of the lines so that the colors all ran together.

Spanish: Continued with the next two episodes of Salsa. We reviewed words having to do with "La Juegateria" in our First Thousand Words in Spanish.  And we continued our second lesson of La Clase Divertida!. I attempted the tostones again, and though they were much better this time, the boys still didn't care too much for them.  Oh well, I tried.

Callen's reaction... see, not a fan.

Mostly ate the powdered sugar off the top.

We are using Adventures in My Father's World. See our curriculum here.



[This post contains affiliate links for Usborne Books & More and Amazon.com.  By clicking on those links and purchasing items, you are helping me continue to be a SAHM so that I can focus on homeschooling my children!  Thank you!]

Me On the Map... from Pinterest

The other day I expressed my love/hate relationship for Pinterest on my Facebook page.  It's inspiring, for sure... but more often than not, I look around Pinterest and it makes me depressed!  I wish I was more crafty! I wish I had more money to achieve this or that.  I wish.. I wish.. etc.  It makes me envious.  I only visit Pinterest like once a month, if that.  I use it mostly as a bookmarking site so I will know where to find things I once found interesting.  I've made a few recipes from there, and attempted a few other crafts or projects... but again, I usually just feel like a big, fat failure at life when I visit Pinterest.  Lol.

All that being said, I saw the following project on Pinterest and decided it was too easy and neat NOT to attempt!  And, believe it or not... it came out great (thought not exactly as the "pinned" example did).  It's called Me on the Map, and the original blog post and idea can be found here.  It helps your child understand where he exists in this world... while the idea of a state, country, planet may seem abstract to them.

I cheated a bit and printed out images for Preston to use, but he wrote and did some coloring on it.  He thought it was super cool!  Just a fun, quick little project during our month-long summer vacation.

Me on the Map

All spread out.

A little Callen Update...

Callen is... a handful.  He cannot be left alone for more than 60 seconds before he is, literally, destroying something.  I have never had to watch something or someone so close in all my life.  He breaks stuff, spills stuff, ruins stuff faster than anything.  Ever.  And I don't know what his obsession with taking his diaper off is... but I'm really tired of cleaning poop out of the couch, the rug... everything.  He's definitely two.  Despite his craziness that keeps me constantly exhausted, he's a sweet, smart boy... and I wouldn't trade him for the world.  But catch me at the right moment, and I might just hand him over for a good, long while.

His vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds just in the past few weeks... he repeats nearly everything.  He can sing songs, tell stories and will certainly make known what it is he wants.  "Want snack!  Want breakfast!  Want Mama hold me!"  

I was able to catch some sweet video of him cooperating the other day (this was in between him breaking a Dublin Dr Pepper coffee cup and chucking his sippy cup at Preston, splitting his lip right open, sigh).  He was singing "Bob Song," which is the VeggieTales Theme Song and he said his name, ABC's, counted, etc:

We also finally cut his hair a bit.  It was getting really long and he had these precious ringlets in the back (like mine!).  

Sad to see these little curls go!

For a while he was going to bed really well, would just lay down in his bed and fall asleep.  The past few months have had him standing at the gate in his doorway, screaming and crying and trying to climb over for 20 minutes or so, sometimes less, sometimes more.  Michael has gotten really good at calming him down and singing him to sleep.

He wasn't feeling well.

We are working on potty training, attempting to be more consistent.  He gets SO excited when he goes on the potty and will run around announcing it over and over: "I poop on potty! I poop on potty!"  I think if I make a point to be more consistent, he'll get it down pretty soon!  That'd be nice!

Callen is so far nothing like Preston - in looks, in behavior... so it's definitely been an interesting ride thus far!  I pray that as the boys get older, they'll get along better... right now they tend to fight more than anything.  They do play well together at times, which blesses my heart so much, love to see them being sweet and helpful with each other....but it almost always ends up in Preston getting hurt by Callen somehow.  =(

Brothers w/haircuts.

No matter how much trouble this little one gives me, I treasure these moments of toddler-dom.  I know they'll before over before I know it. 

Down with the sickness...

Everyone in the house has been sick.  Not. Cool.

It started with Preston and Callen two weeks ago having fevers and coughing and way too much snot.  Took them to the pediatrician, and they got two different diagnoses.  Callen's was an ear infection; Preston's... his usual allergies.  Hmm, ok.

Fast forward a week, Callen finishes up his antibiotic and comes down with another fever.  Preston is doing fine.  Back to the pedi, Callen has an ongoing ear infection... prescribed a stronger antibiotic.

And the next week?  I am suddenly stricken with a ridiculously painful migraine that has me in bed all day... well, between ralphing every thing that dare enter my body.  I couldn't keep any medicine down... nothing.  I go to the doctor and she treats me for migraine and thankfully I started feeling better right away... but I lost two days of my life somewhere.  And somewhere in there Preston had more fever, says his throat hurts and he wants to throw up...so he goes to the doctor the next day.  There's a spot on his throat, thankfully NOT strep, just a virus that will go away.  The pediatrician literally prescribed ice cream.  Ok.

And through all this, Michael is dealing with general not feeling well and tinnitus in his ear.  He goes to the doctor and gets meds for that.

Good grief, I think we're all on the mend at this point.  But I'm really tired of paying doctor visit co-pays.

Homeschool Recap, April 13th (Week 28)...

In my life this week...

I have another van!  It's a 2000 Honda Odyssey (yes, another Odyssey).  It's so much better than the last one... looks nicer, runs better, just overall so much better!  Praise God for His blessings and His timing.  Hoping to keep this one longer than a week, of course! 

Honda Odyssey, you are the van for me!

Playing while getting the van detailed.

On Friday, I watched a friends 2.5 year old daughter.  That was an interesting experiment.  I don't think Callen ever really adjusted to her being there (he swung at her a few times and she shoved him a few times, so... yeah).  At first, they just stared at each other, giggled every once in a while and stood there.  Then they warmed up a bit, Callen "showed her around" the house, pointing out things and babbling.  I had a play-date Usborne book party so I took the kiddos with me and all three had a blast playing with all the kids and toys at our friend's house.  On the way home, both littles fell asleep and stayed asleep for a good, long while.  Overall, it was a good day with an extra toddler... definitely went better than I had worried about, haha!

Getting used to each other.

Chalking w/a friend at the party.

In our Homeschool this week...

Tot School: Callen had a complete breakdown on Saturday morning.  He dropped his bowl of dry cereal in the kitchen floor and Michael told him to pick it up.  He said, "no."  Michael tried to get him to pick it up and it turned into an hour long ordeal (I'm not even kidding, an hour) where Callen refused to pick up the cereal, was screaming, crying, resisting.  We sat in the floor with him, tried to "reason" with him, took away toys, tried to bribe him, gave him a spanking and more... he just absolutely refused to pick up the pieces of cereal and put them back in his bowl or the trash can.  It was CRAZY.  He is very strong-willed, but I had never experienced anything like this before.  We finally just left him alone because we had stuff to do... Preston came along and picked up most of the cereal, then Callen picked up the last few and poured the bowl into the trash.  Geez.  He is definitely in a defiant phase.  I pray it passes QUICKLY!

Rolling around in the plastic Easter eggs.

Bible: Preston and I went over Proverbs 15:16, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil."  We also learned more about the calling of Matthew, Jesus choosing his 12 disciples, the parable of the farmer and the seeds and the stormy sea that Jesus calmed.

Reading/Writing: Preston's writing is certainly improving when he is in the right mood to do well.  When he isn't, it's a mess.  

We took school to the car wash, lol.

Math: Worked on money... recognizing, adding and subtracting coins.  He did really well with this, like adding a bunch of coins to see if you have enough to purchase something.  We also finished up the last page about fractions and did some two-digit adding that required regrouping.  Preston is getting it down.  And we are getting close to being done with the Complete Book of Math!

Science:  This week's science from book Science with Plants was about growing plants.  We kept watching our bean seeds, and boy, have they sprouted.  I actually just replanted them in some soil and a pot because they were so tall!  Our snapdragons are starting to sprout a bit too.

Our growing bean stalks!

Music/Art: Our hymn this week was "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past."  And we talked about the accordion.  I also picked up Drawing with Children again, and we did an exercise that had us drawing an object without looking at our pencil/paper.  That brought upon quite a bit of giggling between Preston and me... it was pretty funny!  I think he rather enjoyed it, as did I.

Spanish: This week we learned some action words.  Preston isn't picking up on these (remember them) as well as he has been with words in the past... so I'm trying to take it a bit slower.  He's also just not really giving his best effort either, so ... he might be a bit burned out.  But hey, only 23 days of school left!  Wow!

The countdown has begun!

We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.

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