I Don't Even Need A Million Dollars

I have not posted a lot lately...there really is not a lot going on right now.  I continue to have half the children here with me as we prepare the house for showing.  I continue to waiver as I wonder from day to day if the house will sell or not.  Of course, it will eventually sell and then we will have a grand adventure in a new town.

The other half of the drew are with Michael at my mom's house.  They are enjoying these last few days of summer...swimming and playing at the park.  Michael even took them to an amazing outdoor store that is like a museum of animals.  And, they almost ended up in an antique car parade driving home from the pool last week!

Michael continued his exciting week by losing his wallet at a gas station...finding it only to run out of gas to go back for it...sleeping in and being an hour late to work one day....and the next day having a flat tire that made him a half hour late to work!  I am so glad the work is flexible and he is OK...he says he is already tired of the long commute so I ask that you all continue to pray for us to be patient in this transition period.

However, that is not why I started this post today...while I have this 'free time' this week...I have been planning out our next year of school.  For the past few years, we have used a box curriculum.  It came at a time when I needed a little less stress and a lot less planning on my part.  It served its purpose and we made it work for us.  However, we truly love the Charlotte Mason style of teaching and so we decided to back away from the box this year and get back to our roots!  Quite literally, as we will be spending more time outside and looking closer at the world around us...even the roots of the plants and trees we love so much in nature!  I am excited about the new school year and I hope I can carry that excitement over to the children.

So...I thought it was funny to read my all time favorite comic strip this morning to see the children talking about homeschooling.  The children are talking about school and the young boy says that he asked his mom to homeschool him but she agreed only for a million dollars.  I will save the punch line for you to read yourself.

But it got me thinking...

You know...I have some wild...crazy...whirlwind boys...but I do not need a million dollars to teach them about this world.  I do it because I love them and want them to have the best.  I want to be there when they discover new things and see their eyes sparkle in wonder.

Are there times when I am frustrated with them and wonder why I am doing this crazy thing called home schooling?  YEP!!!  Oh yeah!  But usually this happens when they are frustrated too...and I have found that if I step back and think about what is happening that I have an "ah-ha!" moment and we can get back on track.  This is one of the reasons I love the CM style...I can go with there interests and new interests to get us back into the joy of learning.  I don't need a textbook to teach about the world.  I can find a good living book or go on a nature walk and teach so much more!

The greatest part of my day is when one of my children shares with some one else what they have learned.  That is when I know they truly get what we are learning.  That does not come with a standardized test or cookie cutter curriculum.

So, you could not pay me a million dollars to home school my children...what I enjoy with my children is priceless.  And I look forward to this year with joy knowing that I will be right there learning along with my children...there is no price tag on that feeling!

Life can be Crazy...

We seem to enjoy perfecting those crazy moments!

I know I said I was going to just send out a message once a week for a while but yesterday proved to crazy to wait until Sunday!  So here is another one of our crazy adventures that I thought you might like to read:

The plan for yesterday at the house was to run errands around town...actually two towns in either direction from the house.  Amanda and Sean helped me so much that we were able to accomplish even more than we had on our to do list!  Thankfully we managed to do most of one town's errands while Zaira slept...we even made it to the next town as she gently cooed while waking up from her nap.  Maybe she heard that we were going through the drive-thru at one of our favorite spots...or most likely grace from God!

We were able to:

• Drop off Prolife signs with another local coordinator
• Donate more baby items with the local pregnancy help center
• Drop off dry cleaning
• Get my contacts added to my smart phone
• Go to the bank
• Visit the community college (will need to return later this week for that errand)
• Update a game for Amanda at the local gaming store
• Drop off garage sale donations at the church

While at the church I spoke to the priest and he said he would pray for us...and then he introduced me to a young wife/mother who was new to the area...happened to be that her husband is the new Marines coordinator.  She had the most precious baby girl and I just had to hug her and kiss her!  Then gave my standard advice to newbies to the military...Never forget to make time for prayer with your spouse...even if they are across the world...find a way to pray together even if it means choosing a time when you know you are both praying at the same time...it saved our marriage and our sanity...placing our trust in God was the only way and still is how we make it work today!

We got all of that done in less than two hours...but we were not done with our day.  We continued on to the next town in order to:

• Try to fix a lock at the locksmith
• Grab that bite to eat!
• Shop at the local discount store
• Wait at the library for the librarian who had prizes for children (Sean won the grand prize...Henry won a drawing...and our family won the prize for the scavenger hunt!  How awesome is that?!)
• Final stop at the grocery store for the few items needed for dinners this week.
• Then home again to complete the store run by unloading it all...just in time to make dinner!

It was a full day and we were glad for a quiet evening at home.  It really was nice to have gotten so much done even though it meant a lot of running on our part.  Once I slowed down enough to sit and rest, I realized that I should be hearing from Michael soon...he was due in from his whirlwind trip to Maryland.  And sure enough...the phone rang...but to my surprise...Michael asked if I had heard the news!

You know there is always that thought in the back of my mind when Michael travels that it is dangerous to fly or drive or anything that might happen in between.  I guess it is just one of those things women do...worry about their family.  This time was no different...I thought as he left for this short trip that he needed protection and I prayed for him as I always do...but then you just get used to it and you start to wonder why you worry so much.  Then the unexpected happens...and you hear..."Did you hear the news?"  It really takes your breath away!  Thankfully Michael and the other passengers are OK...thankfully the man who had the desire to take his own life...did not succeed...praise God Michael eventually made it back to my mom's house!

Life can be crazy....but we trust in God and we are reminded how precious life can be...it makes my list of errands seem so small in comparison.  And it makes me love my family...my husband and children that much more...and I know that God was looking out for us once again!

Imagine!

It seems so strange to not have all the children hear...the house is quieter (although Zaira tries to make up for the lack of boys with her chatter!).  There is definitely less mess.  But I really miss them and will be glad to have all of the house in order and back to my mom's (God bless her for taking care of them!) so we can start school in just two weeks.  Of course the ultimate goal still remains...to sell this house so we can all be back together.

Here are last week's highlights:

Monday:  We ran errands...trying to get everything back in order...we went around the house making  a list of all the immediate concerns that needed to be completed.  We really tried to make the list as complete as possible so we could have a to do list that was do-able.  Then we started the tasks...a little each day throughout the rest of the week.  The house was shown once today...it happened to be two hours before Sean was due to interview for the 4-H award...this meant we had to get him ready early and find a cool place to sit while we waited for his interview time.

Michael started his new job...mainly orientation but it was a good day....looking forward to this all connecting so we can really benefit from this new opportunity.  I just remind myself that all happens in God's timing...Lord, please grant me patience!

Tuesday:  I spent most of the day on the phone with my phone company and Apple...it was finally agreed that it was NOT user error and a new phone was sent to me.  It took almost five hours to come to this decision, but all was taken care of and I was supposed to have a new phone within 24 hours.  We also met up with Christina today so the girls could get their photo at the butterfly bench together...I was so clever and got Zaira dressed up also and got a cute picture of her surrounded by her favorite stuffed creations.

Wednesday:  The house was shown twice...both times at meal time...it is annoying but how can I complain the house is being shown and that is always good.  We managed to run out of the house without eating both times, but we will be better prepared for the rest of the week.  We also met up with Christina and Shane...we were so sad that this could be the last time we see her in a while...we kind of got attached to her!

We also managed to get some painting done in the evening.  I hope I never see a paint brush again...I really do not like doing this...would much rather tile any day!  But it is something I can do so I got it done!  YAY!

Thursday:

We worked around the yard today...we really have so much more to do but we were proud of what was accomplished.  My mom and Michael say I am working too hard but it is all about first impressions and I know that if I am noticing it that the potential buyers will see it also.  I was especially proud of the side yard going up the main entrance (that just so happens to be the kitchen door) We added white rick and pretty red, white and blue flowers to the tub seen in the picture, but the dogs had them destroyed after a couple of days so I have decided that my choices are to either rid myself of the dogs (in a terrible horrific accident...just teasing....really!) or not planting it again.  So being the kind person that I am...I decided it will be an empty pot full of dirt for the next owner to fill.

Sean also enjoyed a nice afternoon at the pool with his friend and then we met up to go to Mass at the college for the feast of the Assumption.  I am always so happy to be in worship with the college students...they are so on fire for the Lord.  It reminds me that we should always be ready to do God's will and I really needed that pick me up this week!

Friday:  We woke up in a leisurely mood...then realized it was our week to serve the veterans.  We arrived just in time to make the sandwiches.  We were told it would be a slow day and we could leave by 11am...we ended up staying until noon as a nice elderly man was reminiscing about Germany as a chaplain which bot hare so dear to my heart.  We also had a friend stop by to have a cup of coffee and talk.  We were supposed to be doing this at my house but she remembered my schedule and came over without a thought.  It is good to have friends who know you so well!

We left just in time to run a couple of errands (like drop off some baby supplies at the pregnancy help center along with a nice hefty check from the book sale we had earlier this month...YAY!)  Then we got home to find Christina wanted to see us one more time before her big trip away from us!  So nice to give her one more hug and tell her that she was always welcome in our home.

Then I found out what I have known for a long time...The comics continue to to duplicate our lives...Baby Blues seems to be the best at looking at our lives (there must be a hidden camera somewhere!)...this time the children even got sick at the same time!  And that is what I learned about the fun taking place at my mom's house.  Brendan especially is not getting better...and now my Mom is sick also.  Praying they get well soon.  Michael is definitely getting a dose of what I have been doing for the last few years.  It just makes us pray even harder for the house to sell and get back together.

Saturday:  We cleaned out about a third of the garage...I worried the realtor would call to show the house but it was all OK.  We now have a van full of items to take to a local church that is having a garage sale...so glad it is going to a good cause.  We were exhausted and still have much to do...but again it is happening and I really hope the cool weather continues so we can get the job done next week.

Sunday:  Mass was celebrated in memory of our dear Aunt Dorothy.  Sean served at the altar by himself...and the theme was about Jesus not accepting peace when there was injustice in the world...I thought this was quite fitting for Michael's aunt...she lived her life fighting the injustices of this world.  May God bless her soul in heaven!

Today was the time at the airport for Christina and Michael...both going to the opposite ends of the earth (well at least our country) and arrived close to the same time.  SO glad they are both safe...and especially glad that this trip closed the door for Michael for his past job ...it served us well but this will hopefully end his deployments to Afghanistan.

SO that was our week...obviously, I have already started into the next week....but I am hoping we can slow down a little this week.  I will probably give updates like this for the next few weeks.  It gives me a chance to digest all that is happening without a lot of effort.  Please continue to pray for us!

Highlights of the Last Week

Let me just say that sometimes highlights are not always fond memories.  LOL...this last week has been CRAZY!!!!...and the song..."They're Coming to Take Me Away" comes to mind quite frequently!

As most of you know, we spent the week with my mom so we could be close to Michael and celebrate little Zaira's birthday (Yeah...I know...I need to update that post!).  It was mostly a quiet week with her...swimming and looking at the lay of the land as we prepare to make the move to a new home (but not until we sell the old home!)

However, as I love to say...truth being more exciting than fiction...you just cannot make this stuff up!

Top Ten Highlights

10.  Found several options available to us when we make the move...beautiful canyon view vs. country home vs. urban vs. energy efficient....so glad that choice does not need to be made yet.  We also enjoyed looking at the various churches in the area.  Henry especially enjoyed this one in the photo dedicated to St Louis (his middle name)...it was built almost 150 years ago...WOW!  Love the history!

9.  Children began to drop like flies...a virus took over the house...from the oldest to the youngest...throwing up their guts!  So glad Michael made it back from his training just in time to help take care of that fun!

8.  Realtor convinced me to finally break down and hire a landscaper...he did a great job...except for the broken window from a misguided rock!  We are getting it fixed and the yard really looks so much better minus the bare spots that come from the massive heat wave that is now making its way through the area...not much I can do about that so will hope it greens up in the fall or people understand.

7.  Missing keys...I never knew we did not have a key to fit the exterior doors until the realtor asked for the keys.  OOPS!  I guess I should not be saying that I do not lock my doors...but after a trip to the lock smith...we now have them locked at all times...we just had to play a game of hide and seek with the keys to get them to the realtor.  All is good now and house is secure...as long as I remember to lock the right door and the realtors that show the house do not lock the wrong door.  LOL!

6.  Did I mention that my mom VOLUNTEERED to watch half my children?   Yep...I am in a house with only three children...although one seems to go missing in action, so I really am only keeping up with two...Sean and Zaira.  Sean is trying to help...bless his heart...I am sure he wishes h had stayed at Gramma's (but he had events that brought him back home instead of staying...read about that on my 4H blog if I ever get to write that post).  Zaira is so confused but she wants to help as well.  They are both troupers!

Look close...yes Hank does have his water tank stuck on his head!

5.  Puppies...God love them...after spending way too much on lawn care...I cannot allow the puppies to roam the yard digging up the flower beds so I am sure they wish they had the option to stay at Gramma's house also.  LOL!  But, it is hard to keep a puppy contained...we have a fenced area that is meant for a dog run, but Beulah has already learned to jump the fence.  Hank would love to join her but either he cannot jump or he is obedient...not sure which I believe...so he spends his waking hours barking at her...I am not sure if it is to tell her to get back in with him or to convince her to help him out!  One of Sean's jobs is taking them out and observing them so they stay out of trouble.  Unfortunately, the puppies have fleas...being outside dogs it was bound to happen...and long ago I vowed to never let a dog into our house because of a terrible flea problem we had before....but that thought never came to my mind when we were transporting the dogs in my van last week...so now poor Sean has been eaten up by fleas and even Zaira and I have a few bites around our lower legs.  Just one more exciting turn of events that is keeping me busy this week.  If anyone has any solutions, please email me!

4.  Just before leaving to come home...I was convinced to join the 21st century and obtain a smart phone...I am not sure why these things are called 'smart'...they make me feel stupid.  Michael got one also...but he works with computers daily and already had a smart phone with his last job so it was not a big change for him.  To make things worse...I ended up with a dud...a lemon as I like to call it.  I was so ignorant about how these things worked it took me a couple of days to realize I did not have a working phone!  I mean it made calls out and received calls in...isn't that what a phone is supposed to do?  SO...today was spent talking to my phone provider and then the Apple company (who were very patient with my ignorance!).  After a full day of trying to get the phone to work properly...we did indeed come to an agreement that it was in fact the phone and not the user...so I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my new phone.  Of course, I cannot help but wonder why my flip phone was not a perfectly good functioning alternative, but such is life!

3.  Not sure if I have ever talked about our other pet on this blog...but we happen to have a boa...it is Amanda's and it stays in her room nicely secure...no problem.  However, we made the decision to leave sweet Juliet at home (recently fed and made comfortable) when we went to my mom's last week.  Amanda had made the trek to my mom's in her own car along with her friends so they could have a fun frolic in the big city...so she arrived home yesterday and quickly went upstairs to check on her scaly friend.  Soon after she was running down to tell me that I had let someone steal her snake!  WHAT!?!?  Yep...the snake was missing even though the top was still secure...and Amanda was convinced someone had stolen her pet!  After convincing her that this was highly unlikely and she should begin the search...I quietly sat down and prayed that it could be found as I got chills up and down my arms at the thought that it was missing IN MY HOUSE!!!!  By the grace of God, it was found...but it was wedged in between two drawers and swollen from the experience...it did not look good!  Thankfully, we got it back out and Amanda got it past the worst of the trauma.  I think it will be OK...what an experience!

2.  Preparing to lose one from the nest...Christina is planning a move herself soon...she is heading out of state to start the next phase of her life.  We have been so blessed by her presence in our home.  I will miss her terribly.  We have managed to help her get her high school diploma...and just this last week...thanks to some serious parallel parking instruction from my big brother Adrian...her driver's licence!  I am so proud of her perseverance!  I pray that her choices will be the will of God...I have given her all the sound advice I could and now she must follow her path.  Amanda, Christina and Katy are trying to enjoy these last few days together before she leaves.  It is good that she has the support of good friends.

1.  Throughout all of these adventures...the house is being shown by realtors.  I am not sure how but I have been able to keep the house intact and have left at a moments notice several times in the last week, so a realtor can come with a potential buyer.  No real leads yet but not from lack of trying on my realtor's part.  I do hope that if this is God's will for us to move...that it happens quickly...I am not sure how much longer I can deal with this chaos, but God does have the plan so I pray for patience.

SO...there you have it!  It does not sound near as bad now that I have blogged about it.  Just another walk in the park...our style!  This week is over now and we will continue to make the most of what is served us....I think we will make it through this move just as we have the last 18...one step at a time!  God has the plan and I think I am finely learning that what I cannot change I place in God's hands.  I still have moments when I stress and wonder "Why me?" but it is all good.  It will all work out in the end and the best part is that we can laugh about it when it is all over!

Toddler in the House

A big happy birthday to our sweet Zaira!  Her birthday was yesterday but we are celebrating with Michael today, then heading back to Lufkin (update on our week with my mom tomorrow).

I will tell about her special day tonight or tomorrow.

De-Cluttering Continues

Have you heard the phrase..."What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."?   Well...I think this de-cluttering stuff is enough to kill me.  The dust that I have been too lazy or too tired to take care of is everywhere...and my throat burns!  But, I think we have overcome and so that must mean we are stronger, right?  Of course we are!

The children have been troupers...the plan was to take two days and get all the work done...so we could prepare for our trip to San Antonio (I am sure the first of many!).  But, just before we got started, I had a brainstorm...well call it a Momma-moment.  The boys were already getting a little fussy about who would do what job or who would help each other.  SO...I said that each person was going to have a job and we would put all the jobs in a hat a each would take whatever was drawn.  It turned out there were just enough jobs for each of us!  AND...I had the sense to say that if one person finished before the others it would be KIND to help someone else!

So...here is the luck of the draw:

Momma-clean out the shoe closet...It is a closet that runs under the full length of the stairs...it is a DIRTY spot that know one likes to take care to clean because it gets crammed with everything!  I cringed at what I might find...but it was an inside job and I could do it while Zaira slept...which thankfully she would do most of the time we worked.  Thank you, Lord, for that special grace!  And...I also had her help along with Brendan...so sweet!

Amanda-tape and move the boxes from master bedroom to the garage...what a plush job!  But there were a lot of boxes and it did make the room look amazing...and she did do the job without any help...so I was very glad to have the job under our belts!  I can actually walk in my room again!  Yes...I will probably need to throw out stuff on the other end of this move...I really need to get rid of stuff!

Christina-such a hard worker!-She got the job of pulling out the old raised beds that were overgrown after our lack luster harvest this year.  We pulled the beds because the area is a small fenced in spot behind the house that as always been hard to mow around...now it is an open area that can be taken care of with ease.  More on Christina in a bit!

Sean-he had to gather as much of the thrift store items that would fit in the van...this included the books I set aside from the remains of the book sale still going on through Saturday...and anything that he could find in the garage.  It did not take him long...to start coming to me asking about each item he found!  LOL!...actually he did have a hard job...because it was not a task that was very straight forward.  I was proud of him for being able to make choices and then confirm with me.  Great job!  And the van did get filled and taken to the thrift store for the first of many trips when we all finished our various jobs.  YAY!  A major de-cluttering of items from our house!

Henry-clearing out the carport...He probably got stuck with the hardest job....but the boys had all gone out and cleared away a lot of this "junk" earlier in the "cool" of the day.  He also got some help from Christina so it became a team effort.  Most of all...a HUGE victory against the UGLY monster!  It really looked bad and I was thrilled when I saw the area cleaned!

Edward-moving the pavers out of the area beside the deck.  This was my punishment job for the boys over the last few days.  We had once had an awesome life-size chess board set up in this area, but when lawn care became too overwhelming, this area became severely neglected....so the solution was to mow the area.  Unfortunately, the chessboard needed to be removed.  SO...when anyone bickered they were sent out to pull a paver.  Edward was asked to complete the job...there were only a few left.  However, Edward is not a big guy and he is not one to do heavy labor...so he ended up getting A LOT of help from Christina!  Job accomplished and now we can mow, so it will look much better soon!

By the end of the day...the house is clean and ready for realtor to start showing to clients.  The outside is ready for the landscaper to come and work his magic at the beginning of next week!  I think we are definitely stronger from the work...and EXHAUSTED!!!

After all of that...Henry made an amazing dinner with kielbasa, bowtie pasta and green beans....then I took everyone into town....we got a group picture in front of our CLOSED (for good!) Planned Parenthood...We praised God and asked for the building to be dedicated to a Pro-life cause.  Then we made our way to the thrift store drop off before heading home for ice cream sundaes.

An awesome day and the best...we got BOTH days of work completed so we can rest and pack for our trip tomorrow!!!!