What on earth is going on?

E-Iditarod

2010-02-12T13:21:00.003-05:00

I have decided to use this blog for our school news/newsletter. We are starting a project this winter following the iditarod race. We are so excited.
Currently we are mapping the route of the race on a 3'x5' map we have drawn. We are going to hang it in our kitchen (taking down some pictures and knick knacks to provide space). Next week we get to pick our mushers. The girls can't wait!

I know, I know......

2009-04-10T07:26:00.003-04:00

I don't get it.......why do I have this blog? I don't have time for this. Never did. This is how my life goes. You see, I think something is a great idea and without thinking about it, I do it. Now I have this nagging voice in the back of my head saying "What about your blog?" So here I am, 4 months later than the last blog (and I know I promised to write more often).

We've had an eventful year so far. Starting with my 38th birthday.....WTF! When did I get old!
Then, my twins turned 10. They are becoming young ladies not kids....that makes me sad. Before long, they'll be off with their own interests (not wanting to hang with "old" mom and dad).
So, for their 10th birthday I had one of those "great ideas" and took the girls "camping". Mind you, it's the middle of January and the high that weekend was 28 degrees. We were camping in a cabin (with no heat but a fireplace). It's a two story cabin with a loft. The loft has 20 bunk beds (no mattress's) and was the only warm place in the cabin. That is good considering that is where we slept. But the level floor was soooooo cold, the draft coming in from outside just froze your feet instantly. I kept my coat on the entire time. We had fun though. Lot's of games, junk food, and laughing.

Our homeschool co-op started in February. Just more stuff added to my already busy life. I decided to teach the 3rd-5th graders World Geography. Do you know where Uzbekistan is? Me either! It's been interesting to say the least. A few weeks out of the 12 we are there, I bring in food from the particular country we're are studying. I recommend not doing this ever! What a waste! Those kids, almost all of them....hated everything I brought in. By about the 4th time, I started asking myself...."Why am I doing this?". Of course that didn't stop me, it just gave me a bigger drive to make something they'd like. We are going on week 11. I haven't found anything they all like, yet. This Monday is Mexico (chips and salsa). I might just have a winner!
My other class I teach is Spanish (in case you are wondering if I speak spanish, I don't). So it is hilarious teaching these kids a language I don't know myself. I'm learning a lot though, right along with them. Mostly we are just doing the basic stuff like colors, numbers, body parts, food, family members, animals. They are picking it up just as fast as I am.....LOL! (by the way, these are K-2nd grade I'm teaching so it's not like a high school requirement class).

Well, that's all I have time for now. Gotta go get school ready. Hope you enjoyed this and next blog I'll get into March/April events. [Probably in July]

Money

2008-12-08T06:05:00.003-05:00

So, here it is Christmas. I've been seeing on the news a lot of stories about people not spending as much on their kids and only giving of themselves this year and blah, blah, blah.....
I haven't (as much as I wanted to) cut back at all.....does that make me ignorant? Am I going to be kicking myself come February? Of course! But here's the deal........
Sid and Saw know the truth about S.C. funny story.........
Sawyer lost her tooth a few weeks ago and I'll have to say the tooth fairy is pretty lame around here. She doesn't leave a big sum of money if she remembers to leave any at all or even show up! Well, it was a typical morning when I noticed the solemn face Sawyer had. I asked her what was wrong and she said the tooth fairy didn't come again! So in my sneaky little ways (I've done this before, you know the drill, do the ol' switcharoo while nobody is paying attention) I proceeded to sneak into their room and put the money under the pillow but before I could grab the tooth, Sawyer came in. I thought...uh oh!---I think she was on to me already because she had that look of 'I know what you're doing'---she climbed up into her bunk bed and pulled out the two envelopes and looked at me bewildered. At that point, whatta you do? So I put my hand out and blatenly said, "Give me the tooth". She said, "What?". I repeated myself and then told her she caught me. That turned into a discussion of who the tooth fairy really is and then Sidney came into the room asking what was going on. So I told her (you can't tell one twin without telling the other). Well, that turned into a discussion about S.C. So I fessed up! Really it was quite relieving to know I am no longer lying to them. They were a little bummed but quickly snapped out of it saying, "Can we help put the presents under the tree?". (of course I told them not to ruin it for Summer) They are learning the white lie process beautifully---I'm so proud.
Okay, I'm done digressing....
So after knowing the truth, they know I spend the money. I thought this would help lesson the list of toys wished for. NOT! I can't figure it out....do they remember all the gifts from Christmas past? Surely, if Mom bought all that other stuff she can afford this too!
Everyday, a new catalog comes in the mail with toys galore in it. And everyday, Sawyer revises her list. Now, unbeknownest to her....I'm done shopping :) But, I still feel like I've spent way to much money. Am I doing the best thing for my girls by doing that? Does anyone feel the same way? I'm trying to teach them the value of money (they want an American girl doll and are saving their money for her)....but what am I teaching them by getting everything on the list :)

About me

2008-11-25T08:12:00.003-05:00

You know, I wrote (in my "About Me") that I'm this busy 30 something with all these hats and I wonder why? Why do I keep myself so busy? I really do enjoy doing nothing, and by nothing I mean having time to read a book, or paint, or learn to sew or something. Instead, I'm running around like a crazy person trying to remember everything I need to remember. And remember every place I need to be. I remind myself of my mother....it is scary how much alike we are. I wonder if my siblings think the same?

A lot of times God will smack me right in the forehead when I've lost my focus. And I think I have lost it. Summer said to me the other day...."I want to have fun mommy, you never play with me" Wow! Is that a smack or what? I need to slow down, enjoy my littlest one like I enjoyed the twins at this age. I got to thinkin last night....I don't have any ideas for a craft for Thanksgiving....I used to do all kinds of things like that. I better go so I can get on the ball.....school awaits and creative craft ideas awaits too!

Rabbits

2008-11-18T09:57:00.002-05:00

Remember the rabbits....well....guess what I found out about my two girl rabbits...........................................that's right....they aren't two girl rabbits but a boy and a girl! You know what that means right? That's right! We have babies.....but unfortunately...we have 3 dead baby bunnies cuz if you don't seperate the mom and dad.....the dad kills them. Now we have to get rid of the boy (Cupcake) Summer's rabbit. There was a boo hoo session this morning. Yea me!

Where have I been?

2008-11-18T08:46:00.002-05:00

Hello all!
Well, last weekend was our family Thanksgiving (early I know...there's a good reason for that....more on that later) anywho.....I was given much grief during our gathering about not posting any blog since July. So here I am.....what should I write about? I have been living life the last 4 months.

We have been enjoying our new puppy, Manny (if that means enjoying picking up all the chewed up stuff that a new puppy brings) He really loves the wires under our trailer, and any and all plastic toys left in the yard. He also likes socks left by the trampoline. He loves to dig holes in my flower beds and pull my bushes out of them. Oh yeah, and he seems to think that whatever packages are delivered at my house is his personal gift.....he chews up every box he can get his mouth around. I ordered some special tea a few months back and came home to a yard full of tea bags....LOL. I laugh now but I was not happy then. He's cute and sweet and Sidney absolutely loves him!

We started our homeschool adventure in September. This year seems to be going really well. The girls are enjoying it much better this year than last. Last year we tried Ohdela (which is an online school) it sucked. We were all stressed out and not having any fun and really not learning much either. This year we are laughing everyday, learning and doing together. I really enjoy watching my girls learn and grow. We are also involved in a home schoool co-op which the girls took classes like, ballet, tennis, Land Animals Science, Photography, geography, Book Club, Community Helpers, and other classes like that. We actually just ended our homeschool co-op for the semester, I can't believe 11 weeks can fly by so quickly. This weekend is my girls ballet expo. I hope we're all feeling better by then.

Yes, flu season has hit us hard this year. Sid has an upper respitory infection and I just had a bout with the 24 hour stomach flu.....I hope I am the only one. I hate dealing with puke!

In October we went on our "big" vacation...we flew to San Diego, jumped in a rental car, drove to the Sequoia National Forest...how awesome those trees are...they are so big they look like you are walking in a fantasy world. My kids were amazed and we also got to see a wild black bear foraging in the woods we were walking through. So cool!!!! Then we drove back to San Diego and the next day hopped on a Carnival Cruise and cruised to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada MX. Cabo was beautiful....an adventure for real getting to Lover's Beach. Imagine a small mexican glass bottom boat, a beach with no dock, waves crashing in and a bunch of Mexicans yelling jump, you jump now! That's right...we had to jump out of this boat onto a beach with a rip tide from hell. It was crazy but worth it because it was beautiful. Ensenada was nasty, dirty, and very sad except for the natural blow hole we travelled 19 miles to see. That was way cool and totally worth the bus ride. All was very interesting and educational. My mom and step dad went with us and we all got along surprisingly good.

Now we are at Thanksgiving (our early one). It is always good to have everyone together, chaotic but fun. Imagine.....16 adults (give or take)....and 18 kids. In one small 3 bedroom house. It is loud and crazy. We had to go early this year cuz mom and dad are going on yet another cruise to Rome.....over Thanksgiving! The nerve of some people! Now our next Thanksgiving with the spouses parents is a totally different story....4-6 adults and 5-7 kids....quite the difference.

Well, you are all up to date.....I'll have to be better and more diligent about posting everyday funnies. More later and by later I mean in the next few days :)

My Family

2008-07-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

By family, I'm talking about my extended family....brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, mommy and dad. We went camping with most of them this past weekend, and I just have to say.....I love them all. We always have such a great time, laughing, arguing, being silly and sleepy. We do this camping trip annually. I wouldn't trade them for the world. The best part......seeing who has the hairest butt....LOL....we stole my mom's camera and all took a picture of the full moon, if you know what I mean? She loved it! But now threatens to black mail......LOL

Rabbits

2008-07-23T08:48:00.003-04:00

Well, we have rabbits now too! Actually we have had them since we've had the puppy. They are sweet, white and brown babies. They know my voice when I come near them saying "babies" in a high pitch voice. The girls love them! (Secretly, so do I) And.......so do my dogs. In fact, they sit and watch them, licking their lips. Wondering when lunch will be served. If they only knew their names it would confirm that thought.......Icecream and Cupcake :)

It's a puppy all right.....

2008-07-17T07:17:00.003-04:00

Okay, so the last blog told of a cute, round, cuddly puppy named Hardy......WRONG! We called another unsuspecting ad and found a 5 month old husky (named Garland...cuz he was born on Christmas). Very beautiful, slender already as tall as my lab/mix. Sidney instantly fell in love with him (I suspect it was because we could take him home right then). So we bought him......changed his name to Immanuel (Manny for short)....poor thing, he was so confused as to why he was taken away from his family. But since, he has warmed up to us quite nicely and knows his new name. He continues to chew everything.....mainly my outside rugs, Tucker's plastic bowl, shoes (imagine that!), and anything he can drag out of Dwayne's garage :) He is sweet as can be and loves to play. He is already an avid hunter (killing a Cardinal and eating the whole thing and also catching 2, yes 2, opposum (and wounding the 2nd one pretty badly)). Sidney is learning what it is like to be the sole owner of a puppy and the sacrifices she has to make to care for him. Every day she wakes up and has to pick up the yard of the mess he left overnight, pooper scoop the driveway (cuz that is where he likes to crap) and walk him on a leash to get him used to it. All in all, it has been a good experience for her....she is learning responsibility and that was worth it! A funny story......I went walking the other morning and when I left, Manny was in the house eating (we have to feed him seperate or the other dogs will eat his food). I told the girls to watch him while he is in so he doesn't do his business in the house. Dwayne was sleeping (thank God). When I got back, lo and behold, Manny was still in the house and the house reaked of poo! I said to the girls "Okay, where did Manny crap cuz I smell it, don't you?". I couldn't believe it, but they said they couldn't smell anything. We proceded to look and there it was....this big healthy pile right by our fireplace. Guess who had to clean it up.....yes, Sid. She was a good sport about it and learned a valuable lesson......keep a close eye on Manny.

Found : Puppy, Husky, Cute, Brown and White

2008-06-10T12:33:00.002-04:00

Well, we did it! We found a puppy. Not quite ready to leave it's momma. It is sooooo cute and irresistable. Sidney can't wait to get it. Maybe this weekend......She already named it: Hardy. It's hardy all right.....fat and round little thing. So the venture begins....I'll keep you posted :)

Out with the old....

2008-06-05T08:23:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I am feeling overwhelmed this morning. I look in my bedroom, which by the way is our "school room". It is an utter mess. Papers everywhere, the book shelf looks like a two year old got a hold of it and tried to organize it, pencils, crayons, markers, glue bottles, graded papers, and what not all over the girls desks, books upon books stacked everywhere. What do I do with all this stuff. Do I save the work the girls did? Can I throw last years away (that's right, I still have 3 years of schoolwork packed in my house)? I feel bad throwing away much thought out work and pictures that were drawn "specially for me". But, I can't keep everything right? Ugh! I feel like my mother.

D-Day (D is for Dog)

2008-06-05T08:10:00.002-04:00

So here it is, June 4th (well actually it's the 5th but who's keeping track) I'll tell you who.....Sidney. Today is the day she officially has earned the new puppy. Now we didn't go out to the pet store to find our newest family member (we wouldn't do that) but we have been visiting our local animal shelter looking for a puppy (yeah right) a husky puppy at that, to no avail. So, off to the local newspaper we go for any newly born puppies. Of course, we found one. 4 weeks old, brown and white, male (just what we were looking for). It is located in Springboro (north of us) which just so happens to be the way we are going this weekend, north. So we are stopping by the home of some lady who has two husky pups for sale (no, we are not getting two). Now I warned Sidney that if the living conditions of these puppies were unacceptable (and by that I mean, dirty, mean kids, aggressive parents) then we aren't going to put a deposit down for such an animal, and we'll keep looking. She is sooooo excited. Me, not so much. Oh a puppy is good, it brings happiness and more love in the family but I know what it also brings......headaches, pee stains, chewed up everything, holes dug, flowers trampled. Oh, can't wait! After this.....our next adventure.......RABBITS!

How did this happen?

2008-05-24T07:09:00.002-04:00

So, my nine year old, sweet, very compliant child recently (and by recently I mean in the last year) turned hateful, disrespectful and just down right mean. How did this happen? For the past 3 months I've been working on her attitude along with my own (every child picks something up from you, she must see right through me :). She has been improving but only because we (her father and I) have promised this child a puppy if she could change her attitude. How did this happen? Her attitude? She constantly has to deal with a twin sister, who can manipulate her way out of quick sand, a 5 year old sister who daily picks her "favorite" sister and often enough it is not Sidney, and a mother who sees her goodness and milks it for all it is worth. How did this happen?
A puppy...a Husky pup no less.....the child is obsessed with Husky's. Everything she owns is a husky (stuffed animals) or has a husky drawn on it, painted on it or whatever.
She even worked like a dog around the house for allowance to buy her own Nintendog Stuffed Husky ($19.95, mind you).
So the time is dwindling to get this puppy. She has been counting down to the very day she can get this puppy (which BTW is June 4, officially). I'm getting a little apprehensive about this event. First of all, we already have 2 dogs. We have this beautiful yard that will soon be destroyed by a puppy, and not to mention things chewed to bits. Our last puppy adventure ended up costing my husband a whole new wiring harness on our trailer.
Did I do the right thing here? Bribing my child to change who she is? Now, on my defense, she has done very well and we told her that her attitude needs to stay this way or the dog goes. She even admitted to me that she has been happier (and I must confess, things are running much more smoothly around here since this bribe). How did this happen?

Expectations

2008-03-16T10:46:00.000-04:00

So, things have been getting very interesting and complicated here in the Construction business. We "partnered" up with a friend and of course now things are "hairy". Expectations have been crushed and tension has grown. I'm pretty worried about this and not quite sure how to handle it. I don't want to see a friendship end yet believe this friend needs to move on......it actually has knotted up my stomach (hey, maybe I'll lose weight...LOL) anyway, all I can do is give this to God and pray he'll bring good out of this. Any advice out there?
Isn't it funny how we put these great expectations in our mind about so many things in our life. I remember how high my expectations were for my mother-in-law to be the greatest Grandma ever. What a weird expectation, and of course, she has a busy life, her own life, and yes, she is a great grandma to my kids but my kids are not her life like I expected. I also have the same expectations in myself as a mother, daughter, friend. Like so many things, failure rears it's ugly head and expectations are crumbled. I have failed in so many areas with my kids, my mom, and my friends. This leads me to something I learned through the years.....God brings failure into our life to let us learn from them. We just got to have faith there is a plan, even when things look out of control, chaotic, or gloomy.

Is everyone on a diet?

2008-02-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

So, let me just start out by saying....today is a new day! I have been struggling with dieting for 5 straight months now. I know, I know.....some of you are saying....big deal....I've been struggling for years. The truth is, it's been on my mind, and at my fingertips for 5 straight months. For some reason, I just can't get a handle on it? I now have to journal my eating habits. I can't seem to keep sugar and sweets completely out of my life, and I am very discouraged that I only have 3 months until swim suit season (which by the way, won't be happening unless I lose 30) I have people in my life that seem to be losing weight at the drop of a hat. What am I doing wrong? I just had to vent. How's everyone doing?

Totally Cool Idea

2008-02-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, here's the deal....
I got this idea from my totally cool sister-in-law and thought, hey I can do this. Then I laugh thinking about in one of her blogs she was not keeping up with her two childrens baby book.....she can't write it all down, but she can type it. So funny!
Anyway, I'm always saying how incredibly busy I am. And now I take on a blog spot. Kind of an oxy-moron.
But it is a great way to keep family and friend posted with my life, since my life is sooooo interesting....yeah it's all about me :) So I invite everyone or anyone to read my blogs and post a comment.