This is My Life.....

a-z

2012-02-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

I'm totally stealing this from Bethany, because I drove too many miles today & I am tired and whiny right now.

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: King, sleep number... Kevin takes up most of it, which is amazing for such a small boy.

C. Chore that you hate: Hand washing dishes, especially if there isn't even a pretty view outside.

D. Dogs: Max & Tinkerbell

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee. #duh

F. Favorite color: Orange, probably.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5’2″

I. Instruments you play: Psh!

J. Job title: Mom. Homeschool teacher.

K. Kids: LLK

L. Live: Norwalk... I wonder if we'll move again this year?

M. Mother’s name: Gissa

N. Nicknames: Mommy?

O. Overnight hospital stays: For me, when I had babies. And that week Lorelei was in the hospital. That was awful.

P. Pet peeves: Not having coffee....

Q. Quote from a movie: No, you look Time Lord. We came first. (not from a movie, but... meh...)

R. Right- or left-handed: Right.

S. Siblings: Ev

U. Underwear: Pink bunnies

V. Vegetable(s) you hate: I'm not the biggest fan of celery.

W. What makes you run late: The kids. Sigh. I try very hard to never be late.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Am I supposed to keep track? I wasn't aware.

Y. Yummy food that you make: I usually just follow zee recipe!

Z. Zoo animal: gorilla

The Homeschool Mother's Journal- 2012

2012-01-13T12:42:00.000-08:00

In my life this week…

Lorelei has been having stomach aches again, and we are trying to figure out what is causing them. Step one was blood work, that came back normal. Step two was an ultrasound. I took her in Wednesday morning, and we are waiting (a week) for her pediatrician to call me back.
After talking to a few people, and praying with some, and others praying for us... I am feeling much less panicky.

In our homeschool this week…

We are into our second week of school for the 'semester'

All is going well. Kevin seems to be interrupting less each week, which is fantastic.

Also, does citrus picking count as PE?

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Tomorrow Lisa & I will be going on a HIS Club field trip. Ice skating. Lisa is just learning how to roller skate! I haven't skated in years, and I only ice skated once. I hope we survive.

My favorite thing this week was…
Disney school.
A friend who had missed most of the first semester was able to come back, and I was so happy to see her. (And of course, happy that she is well enough to start coming to class again)

I’m reading…

The Duggars.
A friend sent them to me, and I'm over halfway through one of the books.

I’m cooking…
E-mealz.
It just makes my life so much easier.
I also use the portion control (weight watchers) plan, and I think I accidentally lost some weight. If I could find my scale, I could know for sure. I haven't seen it since we moved... possibly when we moved in the spring, not the summer move.
I guess I should pick up a scale at Costco.

I’m grateful for…
The prayers of friends. Thank you for caring.

I’m praying for…
Lorelei's health.

Also, we're praying for some changes, but I can't talk about them just yet. But please, pray for us.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look like we have some traditions around here.

I've never been a fan of my parents "Eat late, stay up til midnight, make a bunch of noise & then open presents" tradition. That bothered me since I was in... at least high school, maybe earlier.

We had it down in Riverside; Bernix went to work on Christmas Eve, I cooked, my sister & parents came over & whenever Bernix got home, we'd have dinner & then open gifts. One year Ev & I ran to Toys R Us for... I don't even remember what, but we were the only relaxed people in the place cuz we had already DONE Christmas that night.

Then we moved. AND THEN, my sister moved. And now I have a much smaller place than the house we had in Riverside (which finally sold last month! Good riddance : / )
Also, this is the first Christmas that I'm a Sunday School teacher, and Christmas is on a Sunday this year.

So, I knew I had to be rested for Sunday. I also knew we still have to have Christmas. I just didn't know until a few days ago what that would like this year.

This is what we came up with.

My mother is making dinner, so we will go there.
I'm not taking any of the kids gifts from us. They'll get plenty from my mom.
Sunday we will have Christmas at home, just the five of us. And it should be fantastical!

The Case of the Disappearing Lobster-Creature

2011-12-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

So, a while back, on The Day It Rained (not this week, back in September or October) my dad came over with a small lobster like creature. Because Lisa wanted a hamster.... don't ask me to explain the logic.
Well, we kept it, put it in the little fish tank we had in the garage; the kids fed it, everyone who isn't me helped to clean the tank. I would tap on the tank every day to make sure the thing, Sebastian, was alive.
The last time I tapped the tank to be sure Sebastian was alive was tonight. In the middle of getting the kids to finally go to sleep (they took late naps after we came home from a cookie decorating party & a quick stop at Old Navy, and lots of traffic), gathering the Christmas presents, finding the tape, not finding 2 presents... I remember hearing a small sound, like something fell, coming from the kitchen side of the house. I assumed it was outside; the dogs frolic on that side of the house sometimes... it could have been the neighbors. What else could it possibly be?
Cyber men showing up was highly improbable.
You know was extremely probable? Sebastian escaping. I guess he saw Finding Nemo, cuz homeboy made a run for it.
I went into the kitchen for... I don't remember... water? I'm feeling a bit dehydrated.
I looked at the tank, and it was... empty! No Sebas. I couldn't see him anywhere.
I even turned on my IPhone IHansy flashlight. No idea where the crustacean went.
And you know what?

I'm totally freaking out!
There is a lobster-creature, with big pointy pincher/crusher claws loose in my house!

I closed off the kitchen, closed the door to my bathroom, to the schoolroom (both doors) and then after nervously turning off the Christmas Trees, I ran to the bedroom side of the house & locked the door to hall. I sort of wish we could all sleep up high in Lisa's top bunk right now. Although I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight- with Sebastian running around.

Can lobster-creatures even survive out of water?

Bernix won't be home until late tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I will run out of the house in the morning & let him deal with it when he gets home. I'm scared!

***The answer is no. A small lobster-creature cannot spend a night out of water. Also, turns out he was small enough to fit under the door from the kitchen to the dining room (there's a good size space between) and we, uh, found him this morning.
Seriously. After I spent so much time trying to find him last night, so I could put him back in the tank & keep him safe....
he died.

Daddy told Lisa she can have a new pet.
I guess we'll be going to the pet store this weekend (or today)

Another Week Flew By...

2011-12-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

Last week was super busy, but also super fun!

Monday, after spending all day resting, we walked to the end of the street to see a special visitor. Santa came!

Thursday was Kevin's birthday! We woke up early, said happy birthday to him, then headed off for a fun day at Disneyland. We started with beignets for breakfast in Downtown Disney.

Then we took the Monorail into the park. We went on the Nemo ride, only because the birthday boy asked. It wasn't as bad as I remembered (the small enclosed space is a problem for me). Then we went on Astro Blasters, where I got my best score ever (yeah, I'm not very good at those game rides).

We enjoyed some rides in Fantasyland, then headed to Toon Town for a quick lunch. After lunch, Kevin was tired so we came home; the birthday boy fell asleep in the car.

After a while, Bernix woke Kevin up & we gave him his birthday presents. Daddy got him a super cool truck with sound effects (help me!)

We headed out for pizza & cupcakes, and had a great day.

Friday morning 3 of my favorite people came over for a not-party. Kids played, snacks were eaten, gifts were given (and opened on the spot by the birthday boy; no chance for pictures), juiceboxes were consumed. It was a pretty fun day.

Saturday was the first performance of the Christmas play, so we all got ready early & headed to church.

The kids were great!

I wish I'd been able to take pictures, but

1. We were asked to turn off cell phones because the radio frequency interferes with the sound system, leading to those annoying cracks & pops nobody likes.

2. I was helping with the kids, and having a big ol Nikon with me would have looked weird as I was walking the kids on stage & then off stage.

3. I was busy watching the show!

I did order a DVD, so I'll get to watch that all next year : D

Between Sunday school in the morning & the last performance (5:30 call time) I fell asleep. I mean, I passed out. Bernix woke me up to ask what time we had to leave, and I went into superhero, super fast mode to get us out of the house on time. It was 4:43. The kids weren't dressed. We had to leave by 5! We totally made it. Someone give me a gold star.

(Actually, I got a thank you card that is now in the schoolroom, and a cute ornament for the tree; which is more than enough <3)

Monday we rested some more, this time with Bernix.
We took Kevin for a hair cut (just a trim, no short hair for my boy).
Then we took the kids to Target for portraits. I ordered Christmas cards, which they make ridiculously easy. I also went ahead & bough some, well, portraits. The last time any of the kids were in a photo studio, Kevin was a month old! Lorelei requested we go back for family pictures, so I'll have to do that.
After ordering pictures, we went to Starbucks, were I remembered I had to get & send a gift for the REDDIT Secret Santa. All she gave me was "I'm 23 & I like coffee, and the color blue." So, she got coffee & a blue gift card. If she'd given me any more info, I could have gotten a nicer gift, but.. oh well.
We went to H.I.S. Club, where we were short on girls during game time, so I volunteered to step in and play. Stuff the Turkey. Running around grabbing bean bags & knocking over/picking up pins is quite exhausting. Also, 3rd-6th grade girls are very fast. I'm still catching my breath.

After club, I realized we still hadn't gotten a tree. Waiting until the weekend was too late, so we had to get one right then, at 9pm.
Home Depot lied to me & refused to sell just one little ol tree, so we went to WalMart. We ended up buying an adorable, prelit, 6.5 foot artificial tree.
The kids love it.
I want to buy some new ornaments for it; some bright balls to hang on the tree.
Other than that, once I find my wrapping paper, we are all set for Christmas.

I'll come back & post more pictures later, when blogger isn't being a big bugger head.

On Sleep

2011-12-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend was full of fun & work.
Friday I left early, right after we had a late lunch, and went out to OC for the Christmas Coffee at Harvest.
The doors didn't open until 6, but aiming to arrive at that time meant at least a couple of hours of sitting in traffic. So I decided the best way to avoid that was to leave a few hours early and just spend an afternoon alone.
I ended up walking & doing a bit of shopping, then getting coffee before I went to the Christmas Coffee.
At about a quarter to six, I finally headed to church & waited with everyone else for the doors to open. We got inside, everything was beautiful; we had cake & fruit & tea & coffee & water. There was special music (2 songs written just for the event) and the guest speaker was fantastic. I got home a bit after 10. The kids went to bed, and Bernix & I watched a movie that I enjoyed but can no longer remember.
I think maybe I watched some Doctor Who before finally trying to fall asleep. It was around 1 am.
Kevin woke up a few times between 2 am and 5:30. I think he's having growing pains. He cries and holds his leg and has trouble falling asleep again.

Saturday I had to get Lisa to church by 9 am, so we had to be out of the house around 8:30 to be sure we had time to park the car & get upstairs.
I had my knitting bag with me, thinking I'd have some time to sit & knit while I waited.
Of course, help was needed & what kind of parent decides to sit and knit when someone needs help? (I'll be a line leader next weekend for the Christmas play)
I didn't have a full cup of coffee, and I had gotten about 2 hours of sleep the night before (and not in one chunk) so I was tired. I had wanted to take the kids to Kids Concepts after the dress rehearsal, but I didn't have the energy for that once we were done. At least Bernix had dropped us off before running some errands with Lorelei & Kevin, so I didn't have to drive.
We went to visit my aunt & Lory, and give them an invitation to the play. Then we went for a walk.
I remembered that I needed snacks for Lisa, so we had to run to the store and get snacks.
At least I went to sleep early on Saturday. Oh, and Kevin didn't really wake up that night.
Sunday we had to be at church earlier than ever.
7 am.
*blink*
I woke up to a small sound from my phone at 5am. I had to make sure I hadn't missed the alarm. Then I couldn't really go back to sleep. So before 5:30, I was in the shower. I was dressed by 6, and got Lisa up. We had pancakes & I made my latte. We grabbed her lunch bag & water bottle. Kevin woke up so I had to run & put him back to sleep so everyone else could keep sleeping. Then Lisa & I were off.
We managed to arrive early : D
I got to help out again.
The kids were singing 2 of the songs from the Christmas play during each of the 4 services. The hardest part was getting the over 60 kids (!) to walk quietly from the kids sanctuary to the main sanctuary and back. I got to listen to 3 of services. (I still taught my class 2nd service).
I laughed after the kids got back from the first service and someone came in late. I turned to find a leader but there weren't any in the room, so I went to find one. I told pastor S someone had just arrived. he asked me who.
"I dunno..." He asked me if they were Samoan, Hispanic... "I'm not sure. It's a girl... she's wearing a pretty green dress. I haven't finished my coffee yet, please stop asking me to focus & think."
Then I got my klean kanteen & finished my coffee.
Class time went by quicker than usual. I actually sat down to give the lesson, because I knew I'd have to do more walking later. I used the Action Bible & the kids loved it. (Lisa said I can use her bible every week)
I went to 3rd service with Bernix & actually had to leave early because I'd signed up to help with the kids for the last session, which was halfway between 3rd & 4th service. So, after watching Lisa (oh, and the other 60 kids) sing, I quietly walked out of the sanctuary.
After a few minutes, I decided I wanted a cd of the message, so I went to find Pastor S & asked for a voucher... then I walked ALL the way back to main building to wait for the AV people to have the cds ready. The lady working was super nice & gave me the first cd before the copies were made : D
The watching of the 60+ kids was easier than I thought it'd be. It was mainly the choir director practicing with them, and at some points Ms. P & Mr. D singing worship songs with them. Then they got free time, where they all played quietly. Relatively speaking, of course.
Me? I sat and talked to other moms. Some I already knew, a few I just met, all super nice.
Meeting other parents is one of my favorite parts of helping out in the Children's Ministry.

Lisa & I headed home at 1:30, and I tried to take a nap. That didn't really work out for me. We all ended up going to Costco because we were out of toilet paper.

I picked up some of "The World's Best Cheddar Cheese" (that's what they claim) that also happens to be lactose free (okay, then) and some hors devours for the not-party birthday party on Friday.

After we had dinner, I watched more Doctor Who.
Then I finally went to sleep after being all kinds of sad that The Doctor died. I'm afraid to watch the next episode.

Next weekend we have 3 performances of the play. It should be a lot easier than yesterday was, though.
Which reminds me, I need to find that marigold newsletter and double check the arrival time for Saturday morning. All I remember reading was that the DVD's will be available for pre-order and cost $10. But we won't get them until January 18th : /

Now excuse me, but I haven't finished my coffee yet (it's nearly noon) and I have a Christmas story to read to the kiddos.
(Oh! and I have to renew some library movies)

And Just Like That... It's Almost Gone

2011-11-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

November, that is.
I have no idea where it went. I was too busy running around.
On my big cooking weekend, we also went to a birthday party out in Chino. The drive was surprisingly quick & easy. The pizza was good. The loudness of CEC was not any less annoying than it's ever been.
Sundays always fly by. Up early, teach Sunday school. Go to third service. Check kids out of classrooms. Buy a donut. Home. Or not.
The second week of November was pretty much non-stop work. Saturday Lisa & I went on a field trip with HIS Club. We went here. Then we had lunch at the park, and headed back home. We met Bernix, Lorelei & Kevin at El Pollo Loco, then walked over to a little shop to ask about getting a little aux thingamajig to plug my iphone into the car. An hour or two later, I had rejoined this century & am now able to listen to my music in the car. Which reminds me, I don't even know if I still have the Pandora app on my phone.
That Sunday was the day of "How did I get myself into this?"
I started off as usual, teaching my class. Except I was LATE because we decided that since everyone was awake, we would all take one car. Bernix stopped at ~~Noah~~ Einstein Bro's Bagels and of course, that took too long. AND I was wearing actual heels that aren't made for running. Of all the days I could choose to not wear my Tom's Wedge heels... Once I got there, it was all smooth sailing as usual.
We left after that service, got Mexican food for (can you call it lunch if it's 10:30 am?) and then Bernix needed a haircut. We took the kids to the park, fed the ducks (leftover bagel) and played for a bit. I had to get back to church for a meeting. Sigh. We stopped at Starbucks, because I wasn't going to be able to get through the rest of the day without caffeine.
I had another lunch at the meeting. Bernix took the kids home. He brought them back by 4:30 because Lisa had choir rehearsal. This was also the Sunday that bernix had to drive back out to Barstow. I thought I could drive Bernix to the shop to get the rig between 4:30 and 5, but he didn't bring his things. Oh, and I managed to lose a curriculum book, so I sort of ran around trying to find it. (it turned up, but I have no idea where... I just know I saw it the following Sunday)
This Sunday there was a special presentation at church. I had no idea this would be a super busy Sunday night when I agreed to cover a class that night. While I was at the park, someone had called to ask if I could be ready by 5:30 instead of 6. Choir rehearsal isn't over until 6, but since Bernix was there, I ended up not having to worry about how I'd get the kids checked into their classes so I could teach. Last time I had to bring the kids with me, I was just late... but it was my usual 9 am class and the parents for the most part know me and waited patiently. This Sunday, I had parents wanting to leave kids more than half an hour before the service began. I literally had a line outside of my class.
I've never ever had a problem in class that requires calling an overseer or the pastor. But this Sunday... by the time we were at worship, I mentioned to the overseer that I might just need to call for his help. He talked to the boy who was making me think I might actually need someone to step in, and for a while it was okay. Then I was interrupted for nearly an hour of teaching (one of my favorite bible stories, Joseph!) but I managed to keep around 20 4th graders in check until the end of the story (we stopped at Joseph being in jail, but not where he told the other prisoners what their dreams meant.) Then we had a craft. That went well. It involved clothes pins, and none of the kids tried to use them as weapons.
Just as class was winding down, I had to do it. I had to wave down Pastor and have him talk to the boy.
Then I had to have #thatawkwardmoment when a parent shows up for his child, but the child isn't in my class anymore.
That never happens on a Sunday morning. I'm going to say maybe all the kids were just tired. It was a long day, after all.
After church, which ended later than evening services usually do... we had to quickly grab something to eat, and drive Bernix to work.
I was almost asleep by the time he got back home to pick up his stuff and drive out to Barstow. I didn't notice that he'd called me to say he arrived until 7 the next day (he got there after midnight)

That week was a normal week of trying to make it through without daddy around to help.
Oh, and also a dentist appointment for Kevin. Yikes.
Thursday was busy, with a doctor appointment for Lorelei, rushing out to get the girls to kickball in OC. Lisa fell and got a monster scrape on her arm. The coach had a first aid kit, and we got it cleaned up and bandaged.
Then we rushed to Disneyland for a class on Egypt. That was fun! We hung out for a while, until we were all tired and ready to get home.
Friday I woke up to a text message from Bernix asking me to pick him up. And it wasn't until then that I realized I had to pick him up. The fact that I had switched cars during the week... nope, that didn't give me a clue at all ; )
I told the kids they could just go in their pajamas, because they hadn't been awake before I said we had to get in the car.
I drove over, and told him I was waiting outside. My left hand felt weird. he asked me to pull into the back lot, and when I turned the steering wheel, my hand felt awful. I wanted to cry.
I had him drive back, and wondered what was up with my hand. It hurt to move my fingers.
We went to Dale's for breakfast (banana pancakes- yum) and I had coffee. Then, I had trouble holding my coffee mug. I didn't spill it or anything, it was just extremely painful to hold the mug. After breakfast, we decided it would be a good time to take Lorelei back to the doctor for the lab work she needed (it all came back normal- phew!) (I guess she has some sort of food sensitivity, but we aren't 100% sure what it is or why)
As we were driving to the doctor, I realized my hand was getting worse. I called and asked if I could get an appointment for right now please. They could get me in at 11. Plenty of time for Lor's lab work before I went upstairs. The doctor sent in a med student, who made me do a series of things with my hand, all of which caused more pain. Then the doctor came in and told me to take some advil (insert fire breathing dragon here)
When I told her that advil wasn't going to help (last time I took ibuprofen, prescription strength did nothing for my pain) she asked if I wanted to go get a brace for my wrist. I said yes. Then I had to tell her that she needed to tell me where I would find such a thing. She finally told me I could go to another building and get the brace. An hour later, we were on our way. I was told not to wear the brace "all the time" but when I take it off, I want to cry.
I can't even hold a small plate without pain shooting through my hand. I don't think it's "just a sprain" but we'll see.
If I'm still in pain in December, I will call them back.
In the meantime, I have no idea how I am going to cook Thanksgiving dinner this week : O
And of course, even though I specifically uninvited my sister's mother when she was a jerk, she pretended to not have heard that. Sigh.
At least I get to see Ev tomorrow : D

Let's Call November Productive

2011-11-01T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well, hey there, almost over 2011. November snuck up on me. I knew it was coming, and yet this morning, I was almost surprised it was here. Yes, even after spending an hour handing out candy at Harvest Fest last night.
I decided to take a day off of frumpstopumps, and stayed in my yoga pants & tee all day. I didn't wear shoes, either. I did, however, do a lot.
Well, okay. I did some stuff.
School work with the kids. That was before they became hole-digging mud creatures in the backyard.
I baked 2 loaves of whole wheat bread. That included grinding my own wheat. It's almost funny how easy baking bread is with a Vita-Mix & a Kitchenaid.
The kids only wanted cereal for breakfast, and I only had coffee & something else which was so not special I've forgotten what it was.
Lunch we had the last of the freezer burritos I had made a couple weeks ago. Well, they did. I made a quesadilla with bacon, because there weren't enough burritos for all 4 of us.
I'm still in the process of making dinner. Chicken & butternut squash.
The other thing I did was try to print out the OAMM recipes for November. The recipe cards & shopping list weren't printing right for me (blue boxes, titles, but no, you know, recipes & grocery list). I didn't want to give up, so I got paper, pens, and started to hand write the recipes. You know, hand writing takes a lot longer than just printing something. Then I decided to mix a couple of the menus, and not write down a couple of recipes that didn't sound like something I'll want to eat. Once my recipes were written down, I had to write my grocery list. That meant doing the math (chicken in this recipe, and this one, and this one, and that one) myself to be sure I actually get all the ingredients I'll need.
This was all done while I was baking the bread, and you know, mothering the children (and doing school work & making lunch... and eating a bit so I don't pass out).

Interested in what we'll be eating this month? Here's my menu.
Breakfast:
Sweet Potato Spice Muffins
Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
Egg & Cheese MomMuffins (like Mcfood, but real food)
Pancakes

Lunch:
Chicken & Broccoli RollUps
Broccoli & Cheese Twice Baked Potatoes
Homemade Uncrustables (I've made these before, but I've never frozen them)
Potato Broccoli Soup
Butternut Squash Soup

Dinner:
Cranberry Roast Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
(Artisan Bread, you know, if I have the energy)
Chicken & Biscuits
Chili Cornbread Bake
Slow Cooker Potato Soup

These all freeze... I plan to spend all day Saturday cooking/prepping. There is also Thanksgiving this month, so turkey & sides will make an appearance later in the month. Having freezer meals really helps on busy days, like Mondays & Wednesdays, and Thursdays when we have sports & Disneyschool.
On more relaxed days, I can, you know, bake loaves of bread & stuff.

For Today...

2011-10-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

All 3 kids are sitting next to the sliding glass door, coloring and singing.

I have a loaf of banana bread in the oven. I have 4 more ripe bananas I need to use. Perhaps muffins & cookies will be made. Not before I get to the cinnamon rolls I have to bake. I need to figure out how much milk a quart is. Is that something I am supposed to know off the top of my head?

I'm taking half of the cinnamon rolls to church tomorrow for Koinania. The other half will be frozen until Sunday morning, when they will be warmed up for the bake sale. I'm sure someone would prefer a home made cinnamon roll over a donut from a cardboard box. Also, I don't feel like going to the donut shop Sunday morning ; )

The pictures the kids are coloring totally count as school work, because they are putting them in envelopes & mailing them to Ev. I should also address the thank you cards & get those out to the mailbox. As soon as I publish this boring, rambling post.

I also need to go find Lorelei a baseball glove, left handed. I still think I'll just check Target first. Unless I try to call Goodwill... I don't know if you can just call them and ask if they have one, and have them hold it for me. I don't know how easy it would be to go down there and look for one with three kids : /
I'm trying to remember where there is a sporty store that would for sure have one. Town Center? I can remember where there is one in Riverside, and that isn't really helping right now.

I made a lazy latte this morning, and it turned out to be quite yummy. I used flavored creamer I'd picked up for Lor's party (did I never post those pictures?) but since you can't just pour cold creamer into espresso, I warmed & frothed it. Lazy latte win. It's chocolate something or other.

Did I mention how sweetly my kids are playing together? I love it. I'd take pictures, but the camera is way over there.... just trust me, it's absolutely precious.

Oh! I have to find some cd's and get them in the mail, too. Maybe a trip to the post office is in order. I seem to have a lot of mail going out today.

*Yeah, I'm jut gonna run to the store and buy a quart of milk. Also, I need eggs, flour, and coffee for my Keurig.

** Fresh & Easy does not sell a quart of milk. I bought a half gallon. I think I need 4 cups of milk to make a quart. 32 oz is a quart; 8 oz is a cup... right?

*** Yes, I'm right. http://www.asknumbers.com/QuartsToCupsConversion.aspx

Are You Dressed Yet?

2011-10-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

So, about a week ago (it could have been longer, but my days have been a bit of blur the past... 9 years or so) I stumbled across a blog post by Sarah Mae. She talked about... getting dressed. Go ahead, I'll wait while you read that. Just come right back, okay. Don't get lost and forget you were reading here.

Lalalaa. Lalalalalaaaa!

Okay, good, you're back.

So, I decided it sounded like a brilliant idea. I mean... get dressed. In real clothes. AND SHOES! Why didn't I think of that? Well, I mean, of course I usually get dressed. Mostly, it's when I know I'm leaving the house. Especially when "Hurry up, guys! We don't want to be late... you'll miss/Bible Study/Sports/Disney Class/we're going to the store/park/visit someone"
But on days when I won't be leaving the house? On days when my husband is out of town, and I won't be leaving the house? I'll tell you what, if you decide to stop by for a visit (which would be awesome) just call me as you're leaving your house. Otherwise you might find me with a bandana on my head, hiding my hair, and wearing sweats or yoga pants, and nothing under my top. And it ain't pretty. Trust me, I looked in the mirror once when I was wearing that. I almost got rid of all the mirrors in the house ; )
So, back to the post. It was a challenge. Get dressed. Go from Frumps to pumps! Your one month motivotional to getting dressed and staying that way!
My calendar says today is Wednesday. Since B has been home for the past 2 days, I've lost track of what day it is. Also, I skipped Bible Study this morning to stay home and take care of him (he had minor surgery yesterday; he has stitches and is supposed to rest. Even though the nurse told him yesterday he could go back to work. Obviously she has no idea what kind of work he does. I'm not sure how he will work tomorrow, but I'm praying he doesn't hurt himself.)
Sorry. I'm back.
Monday I got dressed, even though I usually don't because around 5 pm I have to change into my HIS Club uniform. But, I got dressed anyway. I put on shoes. Then I changed those shoes, and put on different shoes. Not pumps. Cute gold tone sandals. They looked nice with my black skinnys, my fall colored top (a burnt sienna) and the owl necklace & super cute earrings. Yes, I went all out. And then, I didn't leave the house in the outfit. But now you know I wore it. And I looked nice!
Yesterday, B was home. All I was going to do was take him to the hospital at 3. Then, he told me his uncle needed help with something electrical & would we go with him... so we did. I had to wash my hair, and if I've gone through the trouble of washing my hair, I need to wear something nice.
I put on my new favorite jeans (they're not even skinny!) and a pretty blouse. I was even wearing a camisole under it (it's a bit sheer)! Then, because it's almost kinda sorta fall, I put on a sweater. I wore heels. Yes, Toms Wedge shoes are totally heels. And I wore jewelry again. Then, Bernix dropped himself off, and I took the kids... to the park. Then we picked up B, went to get Hawaiian food, realized that place went out of business, and got Red Brick Pizza instead. It was 'meh' as far as overpriced pizza goes. My mom realized (after a message from my sister) that B had surgery that day, and asked me if she was still watching the kids. So we dropped off the kids, and off B & I went to the hospital. I sat in the waiting room, tried not to be nervous. Prayed a lot. Tried not to panic the two (2!!) times the fire alarm seemed to be going off. Then he walked out, perfectly fine, and we made a follow up appointment. We went back to my mom's to get the kids. She had food. We ate. Then my mom and I went to a funeral for a bit. The grandma of two of our friends passed away. I was so glad I'd bothered to get properly dressed that morning. When I got dressed, and chose the black Toms, and a black sweater, I had no idea their grandma had passed. Showing up at the funeral in different clothes could have been embarrassing.
That brings us to today.
Since we started Bible Study a few weeks ago, not only do I get dressed every Wednesday morning; I try to look NICE. Even when I had to wear rain boots, let me tell you, those black dotty boots are cute.
But, today, I didn't go. I wanted to make sure Bernix didn't do anything crazy, like rearrange furniture or clean ALL THE THINGS and possibly--- what happens to stitches? Could they be pulled out? Whatever... get hurt. Have to go back in... I didn't want anything bad happening. Plus, he asked me to stay. So I did.
I got up and he was watching a movie with the girls in the living room. I watched with them. Partway into the second movie, I realized I wasn't dressed. I hadn't brushed my hair. So, I went to get dressed.
I put on my black skinnys (again), one of my wear under anything tanks, and my new panda "nothing is impossible' sweater top, and I dressed it up with big pink feather earrings & my new grey boots.
I walked into the kitchen, my husband saw me & said "You look so pretty."
Then I shared my coffee with him.
You understand what a big deal that is, to give someone half of my coffee.

I guess I should keep on doing this 'getting dressed' thing. Because someone in sweats or pajama bottoms doesn't hear the word pretty much... at least not me : /

It's Almost Party Time

2011-10-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

So, the day after tomorrow my backyard will be full of friends and the family members I actually like. Not the family members that make me remind myself they are only half-relatives... no need to put up with them!
All I have to do now is clean up the house (and by that I mean put away all the laundry that hasn't been put away in... well, let's just call it 'today'... and by put away I may or may not mean just stick the laundry baskets of clean clothes in my closet until further notice. Whatever you do, don't try to go into my room & look in the closet, okay? For all you know, I may be rigging it to drop buckets of water on you.
You've been warned.

Anyway... so aside from the laundry, and the usual "What could the kids have possibly spilled on the floor minutes after I cleaned it to make it kinda sticky again?" type of clean up, all I have to do is bake cupcakes, 'decorate' them & fill goody bags with candy & stuff. Oh, and a trip to Costco for fruit that is already cut up for me, because I don't want to do it myself. Just trying to keep it simple. Oh! And the birthday girl has requested a game of pin the tail on the burro, so I have to get that.
The food has been ordered & will be picked up by my mom & sister Saturday. The tables, chairs & jumper will be delivered Saturday morning. The dogs will be put in the side yard, all cozy with food & water in the crate so they don't, you know, run away from home. Maybe the gardener will even actually show up this week to mow the lawn!
I may or may not have one or two other fun treats I will work on. I won't tell you about them, in case I change my mind & decide to just not do it.

This morning we put up the flag banners & some cute owls.
I may or may not hang up some other decorations I happened to have. Let me tell you, don't waste the money on Martha Stewart decorations. They don't seem worth it. I got the ones I have free, so I'm not complaining, but I'd be complaining if I'd paid any money for them.

I'll probably have pictures up soon after the party. It should be fun!

Fun Day

2011-10-13T17:14:00.001-07:00

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

2011-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

In my life this week…

We've been Homeschooling & HIS Clubbing; Bible Studying, Flag Footballing & Disneyschooling. Still reading through Charlotte's Web. Getting ready for the big owl party next weekend. Oh, and we now have a pet lobster that my dad rescued during the big SoCal Storm on Wednesday. Because that's totally normal.

*Yeah, it just rained most of the day, but around these parts, it's kind of a big deal. Feel free to laugh. We got almost 2" of rain in some areas.

In our homeschool this week…

We've been busy as usual, with a lot of just trying to get through the lessons & some life learning going on.

Wednesday mornings are now church days, and the girls have been learning about Noah; but not in a babyish way. It's really great.

Thursday mornings are sports days, with the occasional Disney Schooling thrown in after. Yesterday was one of those days.

My legs hurt from all the walking. On the plus side, when we were about to do our Nemo ride assignment, we were told the ride had lost some power & we had to exit. After we got our passes to not wait in line again, we realized that people were stuck on the ride. In tiny submarines.... trapped! The group of homeschoolers with (well, the moms) said it never occurred them before that they could be trapped on that ride. That's pretty much why I hate the ride- the possibility of being trapped for God knows how long.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Wait... well, it's true... but this one.

Uh, that too... but I really mean this one:

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
We're heading to the farm today. As long as they are open for tours, that is. You see, we had a big storm this week (LOL!) and the farm had to close for a couple of days. Hopefully they open today. This fits in to our Charlotte's Web thing... really. It was even on my Core Tips. The ones I printed out & laminated with my new laminator. The one I bought when I went to Costco to buy ink; when I wouldn't pay $60!!! for ink. I'll take the generic $12 ink from Office Max, thank you very much.
Anyway- the farm. With friends! I'm excited!

My favorite thing this week was…
Bible study. Although I didn't see my new friend, and I gave her my number but didn't write down hers : ( Hopefully I will see her next week.
I not only had my bible study complete, I still managed to learn even more on Wednesday morning.
Also, on Thursday I made my own salted caramel mocha latte & it was better than any drink Starbucks sells. That was pretty badass.

What’s working/not working for us…

Husband being out of town in a far, no fun place. Well, I'm saying it's no fun cuz we can't make it out to be with him right now.
The laundry fairy is on strike, apparently. Also, I either need to get rid of more of my clothes or go buy more hangers. I really miss my old closet (the one in Riverside).
Our beagle has torn up her new pet bed; the one both dogs share cuz they sleep together; there may or may not be green polyester fluff all over my backyard. The one that needs to be picture perfect by next Saturday.

Questions/thoughts I have…
Whose idea was this homeschooling thing, anyway? This is a lot of work! I think I need a maid. That would help a lot. I'd settle for a dishwasher, human or machine.

Things I’m working on…
The owl party. Look for pictures after the 16th ; )

I’m reading…

Charlotte's Web. It's on the lesson plan
To Kill A Mockingbird
Max Lucado's "God's Story, Your Story" (ps it's free through Sunday if you click over here)

I’m cooking…
Chicken & dumplings in the crockpot. We also plan on making pumpkin bread. And if I have bread, I'm gonna make peanut butter & jelly sushi... to take the farm... because we're Californians and it seems appropriate to eat suchi on a farm : P

I’m grateful for…
God's lovingkindness.
The Children's Ministry at our church, our wonderful leaders & the blessing of being a small part of the ministry. This Sunday a girl gave me the sweetest card thanking me for teaching her. I will treasure it for always.
I'm especially grateful for how much my children love each other. The noise in this house is hardly ever unhappy noise. It's usually playing together & loving each other & coming up with the most creative games (or trapping lizards in the yard) and that is something that can't be learned in school- because they wouldn't have all this time to get to know each other & become The Three Best Friends That Anybody Can Have.

I’m praying for…
The mamas I know who will soon (within 2-6 months!) have new little babies to love. I'm so excited for them!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Monday afternoon I was feeling a bit down. My sister is far away, my husband was out of town; and well, I just wasn't happy. I called my sister & she prayed joy over me & said she saw a happy cloud over my head.

Fast forward a few hours, when I was at HIS Club & no longer feeling down. I was quite joyful. One of my girls (not my children, but my clubbers) said "You have a cloud smiling on your head" I turned to look & yup! I had to take a picture because even though Ev meant it metaphorically, God showed me literally. Isn't He awesome?!

The Panic

2011-09-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

Lorelei's birthday is in 17ish days. I started doing stuff for it back in July or August. I was relaxed & happy. It was going to be a small party, some snacks & cake, perhaps a bouncer; just some friends & us. And my parents, sister, & one aunt & 2 cousins I really like.
Last year for Kevin's birthday, I only invited my parents, this aunt, & the cousins. And my sister, #duh.
It was fantastic. No stress.
This birthday party, I would love for our friends to be here. This was the plan, and there was zero stress.
Then, I accidentally told my mom I'd be taking her big glass beverage dispenser that I saw sitting in the garage, just for a few days. One of my aunts was sitting in the room.
Stupid stupid stupid!
Well, now I had to invite her. She lives with her son (a cousin I do happen to like, with a wife & two teen girls I also like) so I had to invite them; otherwise it would just be very awkward.
Then on my mom's birthday, her other sister/myotheraunt was there, and we all went to lunch. I like her, I do. I don't like her husband. My husband pretty much can't stand her husband. See, this is where it gets stressful.
Now there is the possibility of someone I don't like coming to my house.
These people are going to expect a meal. Light lunch isn't good enough for them. I mean, they talked smack after my sister's birthday, which was at a nice restaurant, that my mom paid for, that had plenty of yummy Italian food.
Enter my stress.
I'm half tempted to not mail those invitations.

The really complainy branch of the family I stopped inviting to my parties a few years ago. After they once RSVP'd and then failed to show up. I bought food for these extra 20 people (yes, seriously) and then they didn't show up. That was the straw!

I'm gonna get this out & try to let go of the stress... just enjoy my baby girl's birthday.

How Is It Only Tuesday?

2011-09-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

I need it to be Friday... Friday evening, actually.
Weeks when B is out of town are never really fun. Weeks when B is out of town & Ev lives 5000000 miles away are even worse.
This is the first of such weeks.
I managed to get through yesterday just fine; but then, we didn't tell the kids B wasn't coming home. I'd have thought me picking up his truck at work would have made them ask, but no... they just asked if we could get In N Out for lunch. So we did.
Then Lisa had a dentist appointment, where she got two cavities taken care of. I really am not a fan of this dentist, because uh... they didn't even tell me exactly what they were doing. Just fillings? Something more? They numbed her mouth with the pink goo, then after a while they stuck a giant needle in her mouth, and walked away again. Then the dentist came back with a plastic mask on her face, and didn't even try to explain to Lisa (or me) what was going on... my poor baby was panicking in the chair; and I could do nothing to help her.

After the dentist, we went across the parking lot to Ralph's for some jello & some pain medicine.
*Warning: bubble gum flavored ibuprofen does not taste like bubble gun at all*
I asked Lisa if she wanted to go home & rest, or go to HIS Club. She chose HIS Club.
So off we went, got there really early... and then we all had a great time for the next few hours.
After HIS Club, I took the kids to a very late dinner. Since Lisa could only eat soft foods, we had Menchie's for dinner.
By the time we got home, the kids were all asleep. I had to wake Lisa up, because I can't really carry her, much less get her out of the back seat of the minivan. I told her she could sleep in my bed, and she went back to sleep quickly.
I finished my book, then tried to sleep. Sleeping with a quarter dozen kids in my bed was pretty much impossible.
That was Monday. Manageable.

Tuesday... it's only a bit past noon & I'm losing it.
Some kids are whiny, others are procrastinating...
I had to give the dogs a bath. Then I smelled like wet dog (or maybe I didn't, but I thought I did) so I had to go take a very hot shower.
We took a trip to the farmer's market (which is just around the corner) and then came home for lunch.
Really, it hasn't been a bad day (except for the occasional whining & that almost tantrum) but still... it feels like Friday is so far away.
I think I'll put our regular curriculum aside for a day or 4, and take the kids to watch Dolphin Tale. Then I'll do (some of) these with them.

Tomorrow we start our Bible study in Irvine. That will be followed by lunch & a trip to Sur La Table. And maybe Disneyland, if we aren't too tired.
Thursday we have a doctor's appointment & then flag football (I hope we make it to flag football!)
Friday we wait for daddy to get back home, and probably have a trip to the airport to pick him up.

So really, this week shouldn't be too bad... it just... feels like it will be long.

Is There Anything Better Than Pinterest?

2011-09-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Right now, I really don't think so!
This morning I saw this:

Source: houseofhepworths.com via Yara on Pinterest

and then I saw these:

Source: etsy.com via Yara on Pinterest

Source: thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com via Yara on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Yara on Pinterest

Source: saveathomemommy.com via Yara on Pinterest

I was inspired! We headed to the Dollar Tree before Kevin's dentist appointment (it's conveniently only half a block out of the way) and I found all the supplies I needed to try & make my own fall wreath.

What do you think?

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

2011-09-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

In my life this week…

We have officially started our school year. The week pretty much flew by. I hope the next few weeks also fly by; that would mean my sister will be back in town before we know it. I miss her terribly. We managed to have a great week anyway, though ; )

In our homeschool this week…
Sonlight! 100% Sonlight... and it makes everyone happy. Also, remember how I said the IG (instructor's guide) tells me to use it & not let it use me? Well, it was right. I had a couple of things in the schedule that I realized aren't all that important, at least not this week. I also like the flexibility of a 4 day week.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Does the dentist count? That's where we went this week. Lorelei had 0 cavities. Lisa, not only has a cavity (or two) but also an infection. She is taking antibiotics right now (I got up before 5 am just to keep the timing of her 4x/day doses right) and will go in for what the dentists assistant guy (hygienist? I think of them as Dentist Elves, because really, they seem to do all the work) called a baby root canal. He said it wouldn't take too long, and mentioned nothing about anesthesia... but I'm thinking if they do mention something the day of, I will probably kindly request a referral to a specialist (which insurance will cover) so she can see my orthodontist, who is also a children's dentist (and sadly isn't covered by our insurance unless it is by a referral to a specialist for something like this, or the little crown thing she needed a year or so ago)
Kevin has an appointment today at noon. Which us luck, he's never been before.

My favorite thing this week was…
Hearing my girls say that this is the best school year ever. I think they are really loving all the extra read aloud time. Or maybe my favorite was listening to the girls read to me. Unless it was the night when Lorelei did her reading a night before she had to, just so she could read to daddy. Every cent we spent on Sonlight was worth it... seeing the girls thoroughly enjoy school like that.

What’s working/not working for us…
Sonlight. It works! I wish I'd found it years ago when we first started homeschooling.

I’m reading…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Pinterest Is Not a Waste of a Time

2011-09-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

*I linked up at Mommy Adventures

I remember getting a Pinterest invitation a while back, and thinking it was a cute little site. I didn't really spend a lot of time looking at it, though. Not until the last month or so (maybe less?) did I really understand the complete awesomeness that Pinterest is.

I wish I knew exactly which pin turned it around for me. Probably something awesome someone did to their house. Possibly so many of my friends pinning things that are full of awesome.

One night I showed Bernix this amazing desk & he realized Pinterest is awesome.

Source: thecsiproject.com via Yara on Pinterest

I would love to get rid of Bernix's giant, beautiful, very heavy desk & have something like this instead. Someday...
This isn't something we've made, though. We have made these:

Source: athomewithrealfood.blogspot.com via Yara on Pinterest

The apple was a tiny bit brown, but not bad at all.

Source: bubblecrumb.blogspot.com via Yara on Pinterest

This is in our freezer, ready to be thrown into the crock pot for a meal on Thursday or so.
(tomorrow I'm making bbq chicken & potatoes; Wed I'm making a pumpkin pizza & pepperoni pizza)

Source: google.com via Yara on Pinterest

As soon as I find these hangers, my fabric will look nice in my sister's old dresser thingamabob from when she was a baby

Source: etsy.com via Yara on Pinterest

This just couldn't be more true...

Source: sweettalkonthespot.com via Yara on Pinterest

I did this with my regular polish, and then a girl at the Channel counter in Nordstrom's asked me where I got my nails done. "I did them" I answered, with a ridiculous smile on my face.

Source: moneysavingmom.com via Yara on Pinterest

kids loved these

Source: ikeahackers.net via Yara on Pinterest

We did this Saturday

Source: veryculinary.com via Yara on Pinterest

I'm not sure if I saw this on Pinterest first... but they were a hit at VBS this summer

Source: blog.craftzine.com via Yara on Pinterest

I need to make more of these... and since my current jeans are getting worn out, it will happen soon.

Source: picky-palate.com via Yara on Pinterest

These were SOOO good...

We made three of these:

Source: growinginprek.com via Yara on Pinterest

Our cost... $0!
We happened to have three of these crates. I have fabric up the wazoo... I used a camp mat that we had never used before instead of buying pricey foam... we used wood from an old real estate sign or something that was in the garage. This is my favorite item we've made so far. You can see some not close up pictures of them in my homeschool post from yesterday.

This was fun to do to my nails

Source: chloesnails.blogspot.com via Yara on Pinterest

Source: thevillagecook.com via Yara on Pinterest

These were delicious; I will have to change the recipe a bit now that B can't eat meat (or, not often)

Source: cooklikeachampionblog.com via Yara on Pinterest

THIS! I need to make more. I need to go find a giant can of pumpkin to have a gallon of this is my fridge. The small one I made last week is almost gone. Oh, it is so good. I've been making my own lattes now. I bought the small espresso maker from Ikea, some espresso from Fresh & Easy, and I either use my homemade pumpkin spice syrup or homemade chocolate syrup. Yum.

First Day of School... CHECK!

2011-09-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

We started our school year a bit later than we have in the past. The main reason was so the kids (and I) could spend as much time as possible with Evy before she left the planet to go live in Northern California. She made the ten thousand hour drive on Thursday morning.
We unofficially started school on Thursday. The girls had their first soccer class of the school year. They rocked. Did I not share pictures? My bad.

Kevin helped the coach put away the soccer balls after class.

Friday we went to the LA County Fair... I will post about that later in the week. Bernix went with us, and it was fantastic!

Today we started our Sonlight Curriculum. The day went great! I was hoping it would be great, and yet, we had fewer interruptions and distractions than I expected. We did a lot, too!

First I got up at 6 am, showered, got dressed (in comfy clothes) & gathered all our books. I couldn't find Lorelei's handwriting book, so I kept looking. I finally called my husband to see if he knew where I might have left it. Then I saw it on the shelf, right where it was supposed to be. Phew! Crisis averted.
I made breakfast. I had planned on having freezer meals made so we could just warm up something for breakfast, but I never got around to making any breakfast items (egg muffins, scones, etc.). That put me "behind". For some stupid reason, I decided to cook sausage... it takes a long time (or is it that my stove is weird & old?). Finally I got the apple juice, sausage egg & cheese sandwiches, and pumpkin latte on the table, and we ate. Everyone was in a very good mood, which doesn't always happen around here. I don't know why, but I'm just being honest. (I mean, I don't know why someone or other seems to be in a bad mood 7 days out of 10- not one person, just any of the 5 people who live here... does that make sense? I'm gonna stop now.)
After breakfast, I walked out of the kitchen (perhaps it was to put on real pants instead of the yoga style sweats I was wearing) and came back to find this:

I didn't ask them to do it; not today... but I've been telling them they should wash their own plate after they eat, especially if they plan on eating the next meal.
Here is what we got through after breakfast:
Bible reading, Leading Little Ones to God, Sing the Word (listening to a CD), History, Chapters 1-2 of Charlotte's Web, Science reading & activity questions.
Then I distracted Kevin, probably with the IPad. Actually, I think we had lunch, which was quick & easy since that I did manage to prepare for the freezer over the weekend. We warmed up chicken quesadillas & fruit & water. Meanwhile, dinner was cooking away in the crock-pot.

I had Lisa go over her spelling, then start her handwriting. While Lisa started her handwriting, I wrote Lorelei's spelling words & had her copy them. I put Kevin down for a nap. Lisa procrastinated during her handwriting work. I will admit it was rather boring work today, though. Practice writing the letter a in cursive... over & over & over. Then the letter e. 2 pages of that. Ugh. I know she will love the book once we get past these practice pages, though; so we will just push on through. And I may give her the occasional Smarties or cookies as incentive.
After spelling & handwriting, we moved into reading. Lisa; who, if you remember from a couple years ago, used to hate reading & would tell me or others "I can read, but you can't make me do it."; she flew through her chapter in a couple of minutes. Then she whined when I told her she couldn't read ahead.
Lorelei is starting to read, too. It isn't something I pushed with her for Kindergarden, because she wasn't ready. Now she is, but I'm still not pushing it. I tried that with Lisa, and well... go back and read a bit and you can see how nicely that worked out for me : O
We sent a video to Ev of Lorelei reading, and she was happy to read for Ev : D
After reading, Lorelei did copywork. Lisa did not, because she hasn't read the page yet, but she'll do it tomorrow ; )
The only thing left was math. This was also about the time Kevin chose to wake up from his blessedly long nap.
So, I was teaching Singapore Math 1A, 3A, and nursing a wiggly toddler all at the same time.

Now, we have to eat an early bird dinner, and head off to H.I.S. Club for the night. (Both girls have the week 1 Gateways memorized... I am very much proud of them)

But first, a few more pictures of the day!

These were before breakfast. Although I didn't require them to get dressed (pajamas are okay!) I did brush everyone's hair.

*Please note, Kevin just ran in here to tell me he has to go to the bathroom- yay!*

Kevin played with Logan for a while.

Lorelei joined them for a bit.

Lisa found the magnetic bookmark we needed after I read Charlotte's Web

More of Kevin & Logan being cute

This is her "I finished my math" face

Lisa workin on her numbers...

I can't believe this is the same baby girl who used to distract us when we first started our Homeschool journey... how time flies!

I am happier than I could have even imagined with our Sonlight Curriculum. Even the girls said this year is already way better than last year was! Thank you, Sonlight!

This Day is Different Than All the Other Days

2011-09-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

This day... my sister is packing her car (and my dad is packing their car) with most of her stuff. Then she is going to get in her cute little purple eggplant of a vehicle, and drive to Pluto... or Northern California.
Tomorrow she will find a job (one that will happily give her days off when she needs to come back home, like in October for court & Lorelei's birthday). Saturday & Sunday they might melt in the heat... I hear it's going to be about 1080000 degrees out there. Yuck.
Monday she will register at school. I do hope she remembered to, like, pay for school online & scan in her passport & email it to the school before she left. The plan was for her to be able to skip most of the stations at registration. I hear there are gonna be like a thousand students their. **insert claustrophobia here**
At some point, I will probably freak out because my sister is not a few minutes away.

Today, though... the girls have their first day of soccer. It should have been last week, but the park didn't get enough kids to sign up for that location, so they had to switch us to another park & didn't tell me this until after I had paid. (I paid online, so who was gonna tell me, but still...)
After soccer, I will take the kids out for ice cream (well, froyo) and maybe go visit Dodger. Possibly abduct him, I'm not sure yet.

She is still here, but it already feels weird. We already miss her.
I have this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach... I'm going to try and fill that with coffee.
Luckily, I made myself an iced coffee last night (minus the ice) and it's waiting for me, nice and cold, in the fridge. Pumpkin Spice.
In the meantime, I am going to try & stay busy so I can maybe pretend that I'm too busy to see her; and not that even if I wanted to see her, I can't because she is living in Timbuktu now (Or Redding, but whatever)

Soccer today. LA County Fair tomorrow (I have one extra preschool entrance, and 2 adult entrances; if someone cares to join us early tomorrow)

Saturday I'm trying to figure out if I will go to Harvest Crusade at Dodger Stadium (the $15 parking doesn't sound nice)
Sunday is church as usual- I get there around 8:30 am, teach my class at 9, wait for B & the kids 10:30, go to the service at 10:45, and then stop by the Missions Fundraiser table for some donuts and/or other yummies before heading home.

Monday is the official first day of school around here! (I say official because we have PE class in a couple of hours; and tomorrow we have a field trip to the county fair)
Monday is also the first day of H.I.S. club. Lorelei has memorized what she needed to for week 1, Lisa has half of her things memorized, and is working on the other half.
Tuesday is just a regular school day.
Wednesday is Not Back to School Day at Disneyland. It's also Hug a Homeschooler Day, so feel free to come by & hug us!
Thursday is school, soccer, and maybe more school if we have more lessons to do.
Friday is math, reading & anything that the girls need catching up on.

Wish us luck... not so much with school, but for surviving without the immediate help of The World's Greatest Aunt Ever...
I think we can do this, though. Of course, there is always FaceTime. Thank you, Jesus, for IPhones.

Today...

2011-09-03T23:27:00.000-07:00

Didn't go anything like I thought it would. At least, not the first half of the day.
Last night Bernix got home from work really late, and when he walked in, he told me his foot was hurting. I noticed he was sort of limping. He took off his work boots and his foot, around his big toe, looked red. I asked him if he'd hurt himself, he said he didn't think so. After a late dinner, we were relaxing in the living room watching movies. I looked at his foot and it was looking swollen. He moved and his foot hurt, so much that he asked me if we had any pain medicine. I gave him some (generic) advil. We watched another movie & then it was 1 am... we went to bed. When he got up it seemed like he could barely walk. I wondered if it was possible that he's broken his foot without noticing. Our house isn't exactly big, so walking from the couch to our bed isn't very far at all. When we got to bed, Bernix was shaking from the pain. I tried not to freak out... I was totally freaking out, though. He took two more advil because he couldn't handle the pain at all. I asked if he wanted me to take him to the ER, but we decided to wait til morning.
This morning, he wasn't complaining about the pain, but he wasn't walking well, either. After breakfast, and a bit of tidying up the kids room, oh, and quickly serging some flannel wipes for Kevin, we finally headed to the urgent care. We were told the wait might be an hour & a half. We got lucky, it was only about 50-55 minutes ; )
The doctor was really nice, and immediately figured out what it was. Well, he asked like 3 questions, and then knew what it was. "Did you hurt yourself?" (no) "Have you ever had gout? Has anyone in your family ever suffered from gout?" (no, no) Then I remembered a few years back another doctor (not at kaiser) saying his uric acid was levels were elevated. The doctor said it was most likely gout.
He sent him for an x-ray, because of course we had to make sure there were no fractures. That came back normal. He gave B a prescription for 2 medicines, and sent us to the pharmacy to drop off the prescription, then to get lab work. We'll be checking KP.org in a couple of days to see his test results.
Oh, and also, B has this thing on his back... has had it for a while, because a doctor in Riverside said to just ignore it... but it's gotten worse... so this doctor also referred him to a surgeon to get this thing removed.
Bernix's foot is already feeling a little better, and I'm praying that by Tuesday morning it won't bother him at all.

So, what I thought I was going to be doing was Once A Month Cooking. I had my shopping list & recipes all printed out. My sister was going to bring me an extra crock pot or two (she forgot, but then, she knew we ended up at Kaiser for a few hours). Of course, gout sort of threw a wrench in my plans.
Meat is out. I'd say half the dinners were meat. So, that won't work for us right now.
I think I'm going to go ahead & make the chicken meals, as well as the lunches (because B isn't home for lunch during the week, but the kids & I can eat the meals as planned).
My day of cooking will be spread to two days, Sunday afternoon & Monday.
I've never been nervous about cooking before. This once a month thing had me nervous yesterday, but I didn't know why. Maybe it was because I can't feed all of those foods to my husband now???

Thanks to the wonderful thing that is Pinterest, I have links to other freezer meals, and hopefully I will find things that will work for Bernix.

What I ended up doing today, after Kaiser...
Getting lunch- Pho. I'd never had Pho before, and the Pho wasn't that great. Not bad, but not wow. Next time, I think I will take Jen up on a Pho-day ; )
A trip the Dollar Tree. I needed some dishes I can freeze. I bought a few, as well as gallon size freezer bags.
I made things! I made this cute storage bin using an old pair of jeans. I've been wanting to use this mushroom fabric since I lived in Riverside! I have plenty left, so I think I will make a couple more of these bins. This one is holding some of my favorite sewing books & my rotary cutters right now.

I fixed up the kids table. Remember this table? Well, three kids and almost 3 years will make the nice shiny orange top not so nice & shiny. Although we've used many a magic eraser to get crayon, marker & who knows what else off of it, this time I decided I needed to DO something to fix it. I took some laminated fabric & covered the top. Easy peasy. I'll show you a picture in a day or two when the new schoolroom is ready. The table should now be wipeable, because the fabric is laminated on the top.

Oh, and the white chairs need some work, too. They aren't so white anymore. I clean them, they just aren't exactly all white anymore : ( Does that happen to any of your Ikea furniture?

The last thing I did was pretty much finish unpacking the boxes in the schoolroom.

While at the Dollar Tree today, I grabbed two nice size baskets (I should have bought more! I will get more tomorrow or during the week; if they still have them)

I also realized that one of my black boxes for the Expedit was still empty. So, I had B drag out the big box of stuff I'd never unpacked. I'd gone through it once or twice, I just never got around to really unpacking it. All of my Eyewitness Books were in it, and some work from last year, and lots of construction paper. I sorted everything out. Now, I have one more small box to unpack & I'll be done.

Tomorrow I hope to make these storage seat crates, to match the table. The not white chairs can stay in the garage, which is now also a movie watching area.

I'll try to run by my dad's and ask him to load our saw in the minivan, so B can help me (okay, do most/all of the work) cut some wood for the seat. The spraying on of foam, and stapling of fabric I can handle myself ; ) I already have two of these exact crates!

What If...

2011-08-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Source: a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net via Danielle on Pinterest

The Homeschool Mother's Journal- Summer Edition

2011-08-19T10:28:00.000-07:00

In my life this week…

We spent the weekend in Santa Barbara. B was working, and since he had been working out of town the past couple of weeks, we decided to all go out and spend time together (after he finished work). It was almost one of the best trips to Santa Barbara we've ever had.

If only my sister had waited until Monday to give me the news... a while back, she applied to this school. The week before last, she got an email saying they'd love to have her, but the spots for the year were all full. So, she wasn't gonna go this year. She'd go next year; I got to keep my sister for another 390 days or so. AND THEN! She got an email saying she was in. She texted me a picture of the email. I asked if she was messing with me, if she photoshopped it. She told me it was real. Then I cried. In less than 20 days my best friend is moving to the other side of the universe. Or, Northern California... but still... it's 10-12 hours away, so she may as well be living on Jupiter. As long as Jupiter has a good cell phone signal.

In our homeschool this week…

I picked a start date! I'm going to pretty much end up following my sister's school schedule. They start on the 13... I'm starting on the 12th. We're taking Friday's off (I already knew I'd do a 4 day schedule this year); her school also has Friday's off. I want the kids (I mean me) to be available to hang out when my sister is home visiting on her breaks. We will probably go longer after she finishes her first year, because I don't like long long summers, but... we're starting in 3 weeks.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

Tomorrow we're having a going away/birthday party for my sister. It should be great, especially since it's at a nice restaurant out on the patio near the beach.

My favorite thing this week was…

We finally went out and found a mattress for our futon. It's brand new, in case you were worried about it being sued and having bed bugs (eww!). We went to a local store, and they had lovely futon mattresses starting at $199.99... so I said thanks and we, of course, were not gonna pay so much for something to go on a free frame. If I wanted to spend that kind of money... well, I never wanna spend that kind of money! So last night after dinner, we went to Ikea & got their Exarby mattress. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was good enough. Plus, after we tried it; I was gonna exchange it because the one they gave me has a small hole in the fabric. The red paint kinda bled onto the light cream cover though. So... my assignment is to make a cover for it, and we're keeping that one. because $69 and a slightly smaller than perfect mattress is better than a perfect fit for over $200!

Questions/thoughts I have…

I could just google this, or go look at my files and find it; but... do you know the website with California info on homeschooling. Where/when we register (I know it's October) as a private school? How many days of school does CA require? And, since we can't file until October, do the days in September even count? Thanks : )

Things I’m working on…

I need to sew 3 kites, and make about 50 chocolate seahorses... before tomorrow. So far I've.... started to cut out the first kite! Also, I'd love to finish my sister's Toms flags quilt-like-blanket-thing. Yes, by tomorrow. AND I am suppose to have a mom's night out with a couple of my favorite gal pals tonight! **flails**

I’m cooking…

or rather, baking... lots of goodies, now that I finally own a Kitchenaid stand mixer! I gave my sister my old (not old) hand mixer, since she is moving. Which reminds me, I may end up making a batch (50some) of chocolate chip cookies for my sister's party tomorrow. Yeah, I like to do too much... and then procrastinate.

I’m grateful for…

My sister, and the past 23 years I've been blessed with the gift of Ev. Even though it took a while for me to, uh, like her.

I’m praying for…

My sister... and her new journey. Go ahead, boo, go to your Ninevah. I'm behind you all the way <3

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

My sister... Happy birthday, Ev!

If you'd like to help my sister out, here is a link where you can donate to her tuition.

There is a Reason I Don't Do the Watering Around Here

2011-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I remembered the garbage cans needed to be taken out to the curb (because who wants to get up at 6 am to get them out? Not I, said the mommy). The recycling can, which isn't taken out every week (it's huge, so it takes a while to sorta fill) was all spider-webby. And I touched it. **shudder**
Then I got the trash can out, because who wants garbage sitting out for two weeks, even if the can isn't full yet? Not I!
Once I was in the front, I realized the grass will be less dead if I remember to water it. So I did. Also, I went ahead & hosed off the spider webs from the cans.
After taking care of the front, I thought it would be a good idea to turn on the little sprinkler & water the back. Last time I used the water hose, the little sprinkler thing was attached. So I turn it on, and guess what happens?
My husbands super-strength water sprayer was attached... and not on the gentlest setting. Oh no. It came on full blast, lots of pressure, and the hose started swinging around like crazy. Before I can even find the end of the hose, I see it shoot the dogs with water (they were in the crate because I didn't want them running off while I took the cans out), and then, at the sliding glass door (thankfully it was closed!), and then... yes. It got me! I managed to grab it before I was soaked. I watered the plants, the grass, and then turned it off & came inside. I was going to wash my hands, and I look at my arm and realize I'm all muddy. Fun! Or not...
I guess we can say I'm one step ahead tomorrow, since I won't need to take a shower in the morning ; )

Also, I miss my old house... the one in Riverside with the automatic sprinklers, and the neighbor who would often bring the cans out to the curb for us.
I don't miss the black widow spiders that liked to live around the trash cans & the water softener, though! Or the insane heat. So, the grass is greener here. Literally.

Do I Dare Grow My Hair Out?

2011-07-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

It's that time again... that time of the year when I usually decide I want to grow my hair out.
Or is it, birthdays & Christmas & more birthdays are coming up, and school is gonna start soon, and I want to be able to pay for extra fun stuff (like Disneyschool; which I paid for half already)? Either way... I'm tired of the every-six-weeks haircuts, which can cost anywhere between $20 (if I just run into Supercuts) or a lot more... also, the bangs? The pricier place managed to mess them up, so I have to pin them back & hide them. Sigh.
So, I think I'm gonna do it. Grow it out. Just so I can tie it all up!
http://pinterest.com/pin/81156497/

Maybe, so I won't be so bored with my head in the meantime... I will add some color to it. Not my entire head, that's not my style. I'm talking bright, hot pink color. What do you think?