Category: children

My “Short” To Do List:

I am overwhelmed with our schedule at this time and our numerous deadlines.

I am going to try to keep track of things here out in the open unashamed and accountable. I can not even remotely keep up right now. I ask God for help daily. I am just plain tired. I could curl up in a ball and hibernate till baby is born. My husband is up at 5am for work 5 to 6 days a week lately. I am picking girls up from work or night classes at 10pm or later 3-4 nights per week. Kayla works anywhere from 2-4 days per week. Kara is working on her c.n.a. classes for nursing school. She is in class two nights per week and every other Saturday during the day. David has two more Physical Therapy sessions left. Two hours for two days per week.

1. Paperwork for Classical Conversations. I am supposed to teach Challenge this fall and I have not completed my paperwork. It is due Tuesday. I also need to finish paperwork signing the boys up and put down deposit to hold their spots.  Done

2. File our taxes, both Kayla’s and our’s. We owe her money for getting our brakes fixed and we need money for CC.

3. Need to print and send current bank statements, copy of past two pay stubs, and certificate of completed online class about budgeting to lawyer. Stopping foreclosure, we missed too many payments when Darling wasn’t working, an although we can make current payments, we haven’t been able to catch up with the older ones. The lawyer said since the house payment is our only debt, it is a shame that we couldn’t somehow borrow or raise money through a fundraiser to prevent doing a chapter 13.  I was originally broken-hearted at the thought of it. Now I am just happy to save our home of 16 years.DONE

I realize that in our state of economy and all  of the jobs that are being eliminated, we are so blessed to be where we are at.  Blessed to live below our means for so many years so we could live without income for so long. God really took car of us. Not saying we haven’t struggled or felt things, but I have seen through others, that it can and has been much worst for others.

4.Received paper’s again from the bank for home loan modification. I will fill those out again for the umpteenth time. FedEx back to bank and hope THIS time the proper person receives them and finally get working on it. DONE

5. Get boys to load my 5 bags and 6 boxes into my van from the 40 Bags in 40 days Challenge. Got started and couldn’t stop!Done

6. Did not work on boys home school schedule. Spent all day trying to catch up on laundry and I am still a few loads behind. Sit down and work on this weeks work schedule. Monday will be  a review. A few color sheets about the Orchestra, math flash cards, Latin Game with flash cards and review of CC memory work. Work on presentations for Tuesday also. DONE

7. Go through Rubbermaid containers and see what shape my cloth diapers are in and if I even have them or if I gifted them away. DONE. I need more newborn diaper covers. I have a pretty good stack of prefold diapers and small covers.

8. Get boys to move kitchen table to living room and other table into kitchen. DONE

9. Move computer and printer to now cleaned off desk in living room. DONE

10. Get boys to move sofa to a different wall DONE

11. Put extra table leaves under sofa DONE

12. Get a son to sweep the walls. they are really dusty. DONE

FOOD WASTE FRIDAY:

FoodWasteFriday

No food waste to report this Friday. I believe I cheated again.

Barely cooking, barely shopping. Some days I cooks to late.

Breakfasts are mostly cold. Lunch is cold sandwiches and dinner I cook late.

I have majored in napology this week. I seem to either be overwhelmingly tired or overwhelming hungry.  Maybe it has something to do with being seven months pregnant and feeling slow and huge?

I have too many plans for dinner but I really want someone to bring us dinner already cooked and paper plates so I don’t have any dishes to wash and can sleep more. Most days by the end of the day I am quite deliriously exhausted.  I haven’t been enforcing undone chores. I have been too tired to parent, I have been asleep. When I notice undone things, my people are away at their activities: Community College,Part time job or basketball practice or some other important cause. Maybe if I insisted on everyone doing their share, I will be less tired and have more time to be Mom.

CACAA Basketball Tournament

Tuesday was a super busy day. Culminating in a First time Championship Game win for the CUCA Warriors.

We being fifth seed played First Assembly.

We won the game 61 to 49.

We play the top team Central Academy at  Lake Park tomorrow at 430pm.  The sixth seed Fletcher plays second seed Carolina Christian at 6pm.  If we win, we play the winner of the second game at 6pm on Friday.

Rough Sunday Night

I spent a few hours in the Children’s ER with my son Daniel. We arrived home by 2am.

Daniel

The three-year old, Jesse, socked him in the eye with his fist. For no reason whatsoever.  He said he wasn’t angry or anything.  Daniel was helping him and Noah with their baths since that task is too hard for me at my expanding girth and lack of center.

Daniel had a nice shiner, non stop tears from the eye, major redness, pain and blurred vision. SO I had to take him to get checked out. After some pain drops and a through examination the doctor decided he should see a specialist in the morning.

Wednesday’s Rambled Musings

Today was a productive day.

The Greg Ott Center for physical therapy and sports performance

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the opportunity to chat with some really nice people while waiting on D during his long physical therapy rehab sessions.  The ladies, whom I chatted with, were an elderly mother and her daughters. The mom and a daughter were in for rehab also. We sat and chat about life, children, food, and television shows. I am always enthused to meet school teachers who are not the least bit offended that I homeschool. This sweet lady even commended me and offered encouragement that I am doing the right thing for my children. She even called my children blessings after finding out I had so many. She grew up as one of five. It was an encouraging couple of hours we sat and talked and made the time go by faster.

I was also able to go through a few of the little boy items and box up some give away items. I have them stacked in the hallway so there is visual clutter. DH and I will take the items to a donation site on a day when we have plans to pass that way in a few days.

We are really enjoying studying Georgia O’Keeffe! She was a great artist. I love her paintings. We are enjoying her paintings and working on our own mini replicas.

I am constantly hungry and constantly nauseous. The two are diametrically opposed!

I have 2 cameras. One is an old Canon Powershot S50 and the other is newer Nikon Coolpix S220. At any given time neither camera works. I think I have both working now. D has a basketball game tomorrow against CSCL in South Charlotte. I am praying one of the cameras will work for me. I like the Canon. It is older but the pictures are of better quality. The 10 megapixels on the Nikon doesn’t do much for us because the picture quality is poorer.

Busy Tuesdays

Tuesdays are our Classical Conversation meeting days. They are full and fun and exhausting!

We start the day with baths and breakfast. Today the boys ate beef sausage and blueberry DeWafflebaker’s pancakes. There was a buy one get one free sale at Bi-Lo and I printed a couple of coupons online making them less than a dollar per pack!

We drop sisters off at the local CC and off we go to our meeting day.

We meet together the entire group for announcements, Pledge of Allegiance, Pledge to the bible, prayer and dismissal to class.

Then we go to our separate classes. I sit in Foundations with my little boys. There or 8 children in each classroom for the tutors to work with.

The littles are thoroughly enjoying their renditions of Famous artist painting. Even Jesse is working really hard on painting.

Science experiments have been really fun too. Getting the children physically involved to understand concepts.

Learning is FUN!

We leave, pick up the girls and go home. Give dad the van to take D to basketball practice. I try to stay awake and get dinner started. Sometimes I fall asleep at the kitchen table waiting on the oven to pre-heat. So I frequently set the timer to wake me in 20 minutes.

Today was a good day. Good night!

New Years Resolutions

The Girl's Fun Henna Tats from RenFest 2011

I have not really been one to make resolutions. I usually have smaller monthly goals that seem more attainable.  This year as a BlogHer challenge I sat down and made some new years resolutions.

I have resolved to give myself a break. Not get lazy or anything but just not drive myself when I really need to sit and rest for a minute. I am saying no to more things and trying to focus on a few things and do them very well. I know that is hard to do being the mom of eight children. I must multitask but I will purpose not to get gratification from things.

I resolve to enjoy my family more in slowing down. Let some things go so I can sit and enjoy the board games and coloring or playing cars on the floor once in a while with the boys. I think I will regret more missing some quality time than the cleaning and scrubbing I can be obsessive about at times.

I have resolved to go to bed at a more decent hour most nights instead of missing precious sleep to catch up on cleaning and computer time.  Rest is so healing to a weary body and mind!

I resolved to insist on more frequent communication with DH and not letting tiredness, kids schedules, or whatever creeps in to come in between us.

I have resolved to not take personal anything people say about me good or bad. It is just their opinion and everyone is entitled to an opinion I guess? Right or wrong.

2012 Is my year for slowing down and listening for God’s direction and feeling HIS peace daily!

December 13, 2011 Thankful List

Daniel cleaned the living room! I can see my floor again. It is December 13th and we have no decorations up yet. I usually am excited, bake cookies with the kids, plan fun stuff to do, we love crafts and such. This year I believe the gloomies have taken residence in me and have not the faintest clue of how to evict them.

I have been praying a lot. I decided that maybe I should list as many things that I can think of that I am thankful for.

December 13, 2011 Thankful List

1. God loves me unconditionally

2. He sent His Son to save me

3. He has much grace for me

4.  My husband loves me

5.  My husband has a job

6.  Most of my children are caring people and hard workers.

7.  A lawyer may be able to help us keep our home. We have lived here for 15 years.

8.  We have a decent sized wood stove, so we can keep our house warm.

9.  I have had some great nurses caring for me, who actually seem to care and are not just doing their job.

10. My teeth aren’t hurting.

11. I still have morning sickness but I am able to keep down food now.

12. I can feel baby moving around.

13. My children are fed well.

14. We have relatively fresh filtered water to drink.

15. I have a great group of friends with my local Classical Conversations. They are definitely a God inspired group. I literally would not know what to do without them.

16. I have some great internet friends, some whom I have met and some who I have not met , but would love to meet one day!

17. We own our minivan, no payments and it runs.

18. My husband makes more than minimum wage.

19. My husband works so close to home that he rides his bike and I get to keep the van. I don’t have to get up early to take him to work or wake up early to pick him up from work or all of the crazy schedule stuff I have done this year for his temp jobs.

20. I  love planning meals, cleaning house and taking care of my family in general.

21. Daniel cleaned my living room without me asking or offering bribes or rewards.

22. I have the best mother-in-law and father-in-law. They are hard working, down to earth, just really good people.

23. My regular internal medicine doctor really listens. He heard my stomach pains and is the only doctor who felt I should be tested for celiacs. My other doctors said I just had to live forever with my IBS symptoms. This year is the first year when I have actually felt “Alive” physically.

24. Glasses. Without them my vision is poor. I am very thankful for my glasses.

25. My old Canon camera. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. It takes excellent pictures to be so old.

CUCA BBall Game Vs CCS

ACK!! Wake UP!! I shouted during the game. What happened to the defense? Why are you leaving gaps and watching them score? Box OUT!

Our guys were missing a starter tonight. ( He went on a family vacation.) It seemed to kill the morale for some of the team. They basically slept through the game. Awakening  in the fourth quarter and started playing but they still got beat. At least it was only by 20 points.

We should have won. How do you boost the moral of a team if they are already defeated in their own minds?

The game was truly frustrating to watch. I teach, You do your best no matter what. Whatever it is in life!

I enjoyed the fourth quarter. The guys played hard and were a worthy competition in the end. The crowd roared at Joshua’s AND ONE.

CCS Game
Another CCS Picture

October 28,2011 Ramblings

Working on returning to blogging and other things that I find relaxing and comforting. I don’t know how to adjust to this new schedule yet. It is taking me awhile to catch up on housework. Seems like I barely maintain, let alone catch up. I am learning to let go of my perfectionism these days. Listening more to God and my body and resting. I did get up at 330am to do dishes that one of my children did not do last night. I noticed all the lights on last night and got up to turn the off. I am trying to lower all

of our bills but it seems to be a lone venture. Our power bill has been crazy expensive and I feel we are wasting resources that we currently do not have.

Our water bill has also become exorbitantly expensive so I feel we must have our utility company check for water leaks as soon as possible.

Classical Conversations has been wonderful for my boys and I. Last year this time I was quite stressed and feeling a failure as a homeschooling parent. I met a wonderful group of ladies. It was such a God match. I could not have planned it better myself. We all have a love for God and an overwhelming desire to please HIM and do HIS will, regardless of what is happening around us. I feel so blessed that God has sent me to them and them to me. Most of my self doubt in the homeschooling department has left. We give one another accountability and fellowship of common minds.

I would like to start a Challenge group for my boys. I am not sure if that is too much for me yet or not. I have gotten better at saying no, when, at one time, I used to take on too much. I need to find out what the title of Director of Challenge group entails and also figure out which or if I am interested in being a Challenge tutor. I am trying to work “catch up” with my older boys. I want to teach their level stuff but also give them Foundations learning too. All of it make so much sense and is so important. My eldest son is not interested at all in Latin. People fail to realize the roots can teach us the meanings of so many English words and helps you learn any other foreign language much much easier.