I was walking the dog, and it was hot, so I stopped in the shade of a tree to enjoy the sun glinting off the water of the pool and the breeze blowing through the leaves.
{happy}
The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls are a great way to celebrate any occasion! They were yummy on graduation morning, and they're very welcome on the Last Day of School.
Another version of {happy} is that I made that huge batch of cinnamon rolls (which are seriously the best I have ever had in my life!) and I didn't eat a single one. I didn't lick my fingers once while making them, and I didn't taste the frosting. And I was fine with that. Two miracles, you guys, TWO: not tasting and not caring!
{funny}
Meg's face after getting hit with a water balloon at the park with her school.
And high schoolers on the very sturdy swings going as high as they possibly can.
{real}
Gus got as close to a summer haircut as he's going to get. I got him a Furminator which removed way, way more hair than his regular brush. He hated it---more than the regular hairbrush (and that's saying something!)---and growled at me constantly, but he should feel a lot cooler now.
Also {real}---we are so close to the end of the May Mayhem that I can almost taste it! The past weeks have been absolutely crazy with so many events, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just 3 more days of Too Many Activities and then we'll be done. Maybe. I just thought of a couple more on Monday and Tuesday, but they're just "summer activities" and not part of the regular school year; they just happen to occur immediately after it ends. Sigh.
It will be okay. God has it all under control. Everything that needs to happen happens, and everything that doesn't gets cancelled or we say No. It's all good. But I can't wait for a day of not going anywhere. I started to say "doing nothing" but that never happens, if you know what I mean. ;-)
Are you putting your feet up yet? Or have you yet to begin your End of Year mayhem?
Maybe I'm stretching it to put this is in the {pretty} category, but I'm kinda pleased with it. This is a toolbox that Brendan (my 2nd oldest) made way back in Cub Scouts. It's been in the garage holding various items over the years...until now. I just decided to paint it (with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Greek Blue). Then I asked my sweet husband to pick up three of those cute, quart-sized paint cans when he was at the hardware store. Et voilá! A holder for utensils at a party! Personally, I think it's too cute for words, and I will have to find something else to put in it after the graduation party. And I didn't even see it on Pinterest. ;-)
{happy}
I was happy, nay, thrilled, to get my The Little Oratory in the mail on its release date, but I was also pleased to see it prominently displayed at one of my local Catholic shoppes. It was a nice little display full of all sorts of things to turn your home into a little oratory.
{funny}
We'll go with {funny} for the photo of the Kombucha Growler. I'm sure other people would prefer that I fill growlers with beer, but I'm happy to find that I can get my own growler at Whole Foods instead of trying to keep up with making my own Kombucha every week. Now I just have to find time to go over there----I can't wait until the new one opens up just. down. the. street!
And a bonus {funny} photo of Gus who was smiling. He doesn't usually smile---except when Daddy just gets home and is about to pet him.
{real}
The pool is open, and Meg was testing my Lifeproof case by taking lots of underwater photos and videos. It worked great. Except....she put in on the bottom of the pool (labeled 5') for one video, and that is just about the limit of the Lifeproof guarantee. Sure enough, there was just enough moisture in my phone to make phone calls impossible for a while, but everything else worked. The phone is fine after drying out for a little while, but just a word of caution if you want to test the limits!
Did I show you this picture of me and Meg at the Mother/Daughter Tea? It was back in the spring, but the picture was only sent to us recently. It was a lovely tea party/mini-retreat put on by some ladies in our homeschool group.
{happy}
Another picture of my babies off to school! Because that is consuming all our thoughts these days as we try to learn the homework system and figure out how to school at home and away. Their backpacks are so. heavy. Pip's is extended as far as it will go. Meg carries a backpack AND a messenger bag! In fact, Pip said to count to 3 and he would stand up straight under the load in time for the picture. Funny, but sad.
{funny}
I know, it's just a lame picture of a dog on his back! I'm still amazed when I see our once very dominant dog willing to lie on his back with his belly exposed. He's not perfect, but he's so much better than he used to be!
(Scraping the bottom of the barrel here for funny!)
{real}
A glimpse of some of the mess in my foyer. See those books in the back? Help me out by stopping by my curriculum sale and shopping a little! I'm cleaning out a bunch of the school books that will never get used again.
Life is cra.zay. these days! Gettin' up to say those prayers, doing our schoolwork consistently, and having time for other stuff that we enjoy. What is wrong with this picture?
---2---
I spent the first week back after Christmas Vacation filling in All the Blanks in our assignment book. The first part of the year had been just a few weeks at a time, in case we got behind. Guess what? We got behind, and I'd adjust the schedule, and we'd get behind again. During Advent--where I noticed a LOT of blank spaces in the schedule---we got so far behind we'd never finish this year! So, I've warned the kids not to get behind because we're just Making It All Up if we do. And I know we can do that because they're quite capable of doing extra lessons per day if they want a day off on Friday.
---3---
Yeah, it's only been a couple of weeks, but they are seriously CRANKING out the work. Pip finishes by 11:00 a.m. most days. Just kidding, because he has so much extra reading to do that he reads all day long.
Meg takes longer, but that's okay because we are git'n 'er done!
---4---
The dog is asleep at my feet because we are retraining him. He loves to sleep in the pale pink chair that was my mom's. When he gets shooed off that he's onto the leather furniture, which would be fine except that he's gotten possessive and growly, and just generally thinks he's a person and can do whatever he wants. I'm here to tell you, Buster---You are a dog and your place is on the floor! I'd be fine with it if he were cuddly and sweet, but he's not. He's bossy and aggressive.
---5---
Speaking of The Dog...I'm looking forward to a long walk with him this afternoon. The SUN IS SHINING! I honestly don't remember the last time we had Sun. It has been raining daily since Sunday, and before that it was cloudy for days on end. So, so happy to see the sun again!
---6---
The kids and I are listening to The Lord of the Rings on CD now. I'm shocked by people who don't like it at all (You know who you are!), but I love, love, love it. It's so rich! Just like the Catholic Church. I say that because one of the sponsors in my RCIA class used to say that all the time. It got to be kind of a joke, but it's so true---about the Church and LOTR.
---7---
My back is aching from sitting at the computer. It longs to be up and about---or lying on the floor stretching---so I'll do that and then take that walk. You have a great weekend!
Chai Tea ("chai" means "tea". I wouldn't want to be redundant.). One of my absolute faves, especially since an Indian neighbor made it for me once out of plain tea and real spices. No bags involved. I'm not a huge tea lover, so this must really be good!
{happy}
Brewing a second batch of Chai to make Kombucha with. Here's my first batch, newly bottled:
I thought I had died and gone to heaven this morning when I drank my first glass! I'm one of the weird ones that loves Kombucha, and it's excellent health benefits are a bonus in my book, but it's too expensive to buy in the store on a regular basis, so I had to learn to make my own. I was thrilled when one of my equally weird friends gave me a baby SCOBY a couple of weeks ago!
{funny}
Pip likes kombucha. Or he used to---until he found out it was "made from a Giant Ball of Snot!"
It looks pretty horrible, but it isn't that bad. It just feels a little rubbery. And to answer Meg's question: Does it move? No. It's alive in the sense that it is bacteria, but it's not a jellyfish, despite appearances to the contrary!
{real}
Just to help cleanse your eyeballs a bit---here's a picture of Gus curled up with his head on the chair for a pillow. I was sitting on the blue ball. Don't you love how his eyes reflect the blue?
All better now? Did I distract you from the horror?
I am ready to go camping this afternoon. All packed up except for my own clothing---and let me tell you that forgetting to pack my stuff is NOT out of the realm of possibility! I have this love-hate thing with camping. Right now, I'm looking forward to sitting around a fire with some friends, though I'll miss sitting around a Starbucks table with DH & friends friends for trivia. I am really looking forward to climbing something like 1200 stairs to the top of a waterfall tomorrow.
At some point, I'm sure I'll regret that decision.
---2---
Speaking of exercise----I've been trying to work out more this week, trying to do a certain number of Kettlebell swings in 20 minutes. Did you know that Kettlebell swings are supposed to work most of the muscles in your body? I can tell you that they do.
And I wouldn't be surprised if my husband wasn't a little tired of hearing me whine and whimper about how sore I am.
---3---
It's fall here---how about where you are? For some strange reason this weather change has prompted Pip to get up early in the morning (before 6?), and bring his big, warm comforter downstairs to sleep on the floor snuggled up with the dog. This morning he's not up out of bed---after staying up too late watching the debate, I suppose---so the poor, cold puppy is forced to curl up on the furniture and get repeatedly shooed off by me.
---4---
I am celebrating the Year of Faith, which started on the 11th, by reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church which is being emailed to me in small doses daily by Flocknote. When I get to the computer in the morning, I'm faced with approximately 15 paragraphs that I'd really rather not read just then, but I know that if I skip it then, I'll skip it all day. So far, I've managed to forget that I didn't want to read it, and get into trying really comprehend it. One of the comments I saw online said that it would take a year to read and a lifetime to learn to live. More than just wanting to read it, I want to internalize in and learn to live it.
I'm tempted to say I'll read the Bible this year, too, but I'm afraid that might be biting off way more than I can chew! Maybe just a few good Bible studies that I can do weekly, not daily. Do you know of any good ones?
---5---
But if you're interesting in growing in faith this year, Pat Gohn has a "veritable link-o-rama" where you can find all sorts of options for learning, living, and sharing your faith. Or just listen to her podcast weekly because it's full of awesomeness and woman-to-woman sharing.
---6---
I got home from my AHG meeting last night in time to watch the last hour of the debate which was an exercise in frustration if I ever saw one. I'm reminded this morning that there is a real advantage to the fact that we recently cut off our home phone service: we don't get constant political phone calls! We did get another service, but now we have a new number and absolutely no one knows it! No phone calls! It's awesome.
---7---
Finally, I'd like to share something really discouraging that happened to me yesterday---I bought trail mix for our camping trip. That's always dangerous because the M&M's in it are addictive---and they ruined it by swapping out half the nuts for chocolate chips and peanut butter chips! So now it's just a giant dose of sugar, which Meg will love, but me, notsomuch. It's not even worthy of the name Trail Mix; it's candy.
Nothing is sacred anymore. Sigh.
I can guess how much feedback I'll get on this question, but what do YOU eat on camping trips and hikes?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have a great weekend! I'll see you on the flip side!
Yep, the kids are grounded. Some of them. All of them. Even the 18 year old. Of course, for him it means something completely different.
He's perfectly happy to spend his life in his room sleeping, tweeting, whatever, and only coming out for food, the very occasional swim practice, or car keys. Instead of being sent to his room, he'll be forced to come out and help around the house, doing some of those projects that I don't see myself getting done!
The younger ones are practically never home from dawn to dusk! I know, it's every other mother's dream to have their kids stay out all day, but here's the thing: I like my kids. Unlike most of the moms I meet, I like having them around the house especially if they bring their friends.
Aside from just wanting to see them once in a while, they need to fulfill their basic household responsibilities AND spend some time using their brains during the day! We have lots of math to catch up on and books to read. All I'm asking is an hour, maybe an hour and a half of mental exercise, and another 30 minutes of chores!
Meg wants to know how long they're grounded for. In all cases, it's until we get a routine going and they're making an effort to get their stuff done before playing. In her case, it's extended until her disaster of a bedroom is clean and organized and she makes an effort to keep it that way every day. Clothes draped over every surface and shoved into every corner so the center of the room is clear just. does. not. cut. it. for. me!
The only one who is not grounded is TMax. The Perfect Child. (kidding, Katie!) Maybe that's just because he doesn't sleep as much as the Other Teen and he doesn't have friends in the neighborhood to hang out with, so he's home. He works. He organized his room voluntarily and cleaned out all his school stuff. He watches Khan Academy videos for fun! He's pretty much Johnny-on-the-Spot if I need anything. He could spend a little more time doing his summer homework every day, but he is working on it.
So, after a little attention to Duty and swim practice, they can run around with their friends all they want. They can go hunting for the pack of coyotes in the woods with just a tennis racket and a golf club for weapons. They can make Disney dance videos in the yard. I'll even take them to the pool! But for now, they're grounded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Sort of kidding about the coyotes...if you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that we hear them howling and yowling frequently. Sometimes we go a while without hearing them, but sometimes it's a couple of times a day. Their den seems to be about 100 yds from our front door, down an embankment, into the woods. The neighbors and their "weapons" stood at the top of the bank looking and saw at least one pup down there. I don't think they actually went into the woods, but I wouldn't put it past them! I saw a coyote out of the woods the other day while walking past with the dog, but he slipped down and drainage hole immediately. I was about 20 feet from him! When they start coming out for more than a few seconds, it will be time to do something about them. No more being outside on the chain for Gus!)
Gus is supposedly a mix of Pug and West Highland Terrier. Or he's a Border Terrier. Or he's a Cairn Terrier. Whatever else he is, he is a Vermin Hunter.
The other morning he spotted a little spider halfway across the room....
Resting on my sleeping mats for the homeless that I was finishing.
Playing with his still-wriggling prey
It's under his left paw.
Deciding how to play with it next.
After he catches it, he tosses it around and pats it with his paws before he eats it. Yum.
The next day, Katie said there was a huge cockroach downstairs (Don't judge. This is Georgia, folks!), so we sent him down after it. Apparently, there was quite a chase scene, which I missed, but Gus the Vermin Hunter prevailed and left the roach in 3 pieces on the floor.
I wish I could send him up to the attic to catch whatever lives up there!
It's Monday, and there are lots of thoughts rolling around inside my brain. There's the week ahead and what needs to be done. There's also the HHS mandate from the government and how shocked I am that children, the greatest gift from God, and the ability NOT to have them should be a "free" gift from the government.
We don't have a future without our children. Do our children know about this issue? How do they feel about it? How would you feel if you knew your parents rushed out and got sterilized almost as soon as they found out you were on your way? Would that make you feel wanted? Or as if your parents thought: Darn, we let that one slip by. We won't let it happen again!
That alone makes me very sad. The fact that our president wants to take away our religious freedom is downright alarming! Has everyone forgotten our history studies? I guess I've been studying/teaching history for so many years that it's pretty well ingrained that our country was founded by people who fled Europe seeking religious freedom. Remember the Pilgrims? It's the very definition of the word. It's one of the things that has made our country so great.
pilgrim |ˈpilgrəm|nouna person who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons.• (usu. Pilgrim )a member of a group of English Puritans fleeing religious persecution who sailed in the Mayflower and founded the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
Scary picture of the inside of Gus's mouth. Makes me think of the scary jaws of the government seeking to control us.
Looks like he has a little bug trapped between his teeth. Could that be the Catholic Church?
He's so adorable when he's asleep. Makes you forget how very naughty and misguided he can be when he's awake.
Sometimes he's downright dangerous when he doesn't get his way and uses his teeth!
When I started this, I thought that I would just show you pictures that my kids have taken instead of ranting about the government because I'm definitely not a political blogger, but I guess it needed to come out after all.
Meg did all the requirements to earn her Sewing achievement badge yesterday and today by mending a shirt, sewing on her badges, learning to use the sewing machine, and by making one of these holders for my knitting needles. I made one at the same time so I could make the mistakes first and show her what to do. She did a great job!
We could file this under {happy} too since I'm beyond thrilled to have a better way to corral my needles. I've been dying to find the time to make these rolls, and I was finally able to get the project done while helping Meg earn a badge at the same time.
{happy}
The dog cuddled up on his legs/backside while he studies.
Using a drill to open up the coconuts, and then drinking the water. Meg didn't love it, but I did and drank that one. We just had to get these when they showed up at our store for the first time ever.
{real}
My freezer was driving me nuts, so I went on an organizing spree. I had already gotten the little basket on the top shelf for "health food" stuff like coconut flour, and then I bought 2 more baskets. One of them holds different types of pork or "other" meats while the lower one holds all beef. It's so much easier to see and find things even though there is still too much in it!
My pantry and drawers were driving me crazy, too, so they look a LOT better than they did. Now that's capturing contentment! I function so much better when my spaces are organized and uncluttered----a fact which might surprise certain people who live here, since I'm not perfect by any means.
