Sunday, November 26, 2006

So many things ...

have happened since my last post on the 10th (I can't believe it has been that long!). I have so much to post but there is just not enough time nor would it be the best use of my time to post it in detail so here is a glimpse of the last two weeks....

1. We received a call that my grandmother was in the hospital and was not doing well. Since the hubby was on leave we loaded up the van and drove 26 hours to Nebraska to see grandma for what may be the last time. Super Mommy was impressed with her Hubby's ability to daddy-task while driving and deemed him qualified for Super Daddy status. We pulled the kids out of school for an entire week...ahhh that is a whole different story.

2. On our last night in Nebraska Moe ended up in the ER. He had to get a breathing treatment, poor lil' guy.

3. The next day we went to Iowa to see my FIL one more day before heading back to the coast. While we were there our oldest boy was involved in a 4 wheeler accident and ...yep had to get 7 stitches in his lip. 2 states, 2 ER's, 2 boys.

4. Before we left for the ER "K" was trying to talk his way out of it saying that we could just slap a bandage on it and call it good. My FIL said that sometimes we just need to do things to make moms happy and going to see the DR was going to make his mom (me) happy.
"K" replied "But I thought that if I was happy she was happy, and I AM NOT HAPPY!"

5. Then at the the E.R. he asked the DR if he really needed stitches and the DR said yes that he really did need them. He tried to explain what the scar would be like and how the healing would go if he didn't get stitches and "K" my sweet spiritual son said with tears in his eyes
"That doesn't' matter the only thing that matters is that I live righteously"

6. While in Kentucky the lady working at McD's referred to Moe as Lil' Bit and now my lovable hubby can't resist calling him Lil' Bit. Now the poor kid gets called Moe and Lil' Bit, neither of which are his real name.

7. My oldest started Homeschooling when we returned home from our Nebraska trip and WOW is it off to a great start! He even said that his math made more sense doing it the way I was showing him. I was thrilled as I expected a lot of resistance to my methods. We started out slow last week and will be doing a bit more each day this week. I may need a new printer for our computer by the end of the school year, I think I may wear this one out....LOL

8. We had to talk in Church today, just for that fact alone you know that something bad had to happen....yep it was a puke fest at our house last night and this morning. But we were still there "K" sat in the foyer and waited for us to be done with our talks so that the sick ones could go home. That left only me and "Biene" (pronounced Beena). The other 4 including "no time to get sick Dad" all headed home.

9. Not only did I have to talk in Sacrament meeting today but when we got to Church I realized that I was the only Primary leader there. Not just the only one in the Presidency but the only adult period! Not even one teacher was there. UGGGHHHH! Good thing I was prepared with a great sharing time and singing time. I thankfully found two wonderful ladies to teach (we only have 12 kids and 2 of mine were at home sick). We managed, but wow, there were a few stressful moments.

10. Now I am home and looking ahead to the next week, the puppies are going in to be "fixed" and my MIL is moving in. At least Homeschooling is going well thus far and I have the lessons for the week all printed out and ready to go. Should be yet one more typically busy week.

Friday, November 10, 2006

What a day

Why didn't I decide to do this homeschooling thing earlier? I waited and now my son had to sit outside his school buliding for THREE long hours today as law enforcement searched all the lockers, backpacks,etc... while looking for a bomb. They had found a suspicious letter in the hallway and felt it compelling enough to call in the officials. D (hubby) and I drove by and saw the 815 kids (4-6th grade) from his school all outside the building while on our way to run errands.
I said "huh must be a fire drill."
Thirty minutes later on our way back home the kids were still outside. My thoughts...."must not be a drill"
Then 15 sec. later a silver unmarked car with blue lights comes flying down the road towards the school. I became nervous and D could tell, so we searched for the closest local radio station (not that there really is one local) and nobody was talking so we decided that since the kids were playing duck-duck goose and other games to keep them occupied outside they must be okay. Once home I turned on the news and nothing, so I went about my chores all the while wondering if my little man was okay.

When he got off the bus I was very relieved (to put it mildly) and calmly asked him about his day. He became very animated describing every little detail. I am glad he isn't worried about having to go back on Monday (the 22nd is his last day) but I am still sad that as a 4th grader he had to experience this.


D is finally home! Having him here full time with us is such a wonderful feeling! Knowing that Sunday night he won't be packing his bag and driving back to that big city too far from home gives me great joy.

It's a busy weekend for us and we hope that the weather allows us to get some much needed outside work done. We laid gravel in the barn this morning and that was oddly relaxing. Well for me, D was sweating tons. He was getting the buckets of crushed rock (moondust) out of the truck bed and I was raking it. I felt like I was at one of those fancy spas where one of the relaxation techniques is to rake patterns in the sand. LOL poor D had the hard work and I was at a fantasy spa. *smiles*

oh and my spell check tool bar is gone yet again! I do hate that.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Thursday Thirteen #7


Thirteen Reasons to Vote for ROB!
My friend Tiffany entered her hubby in a contest for FREE Lasik eye surgery from Sutton, Linder, and Sutton in Lincoln, NE. Out of several hundred who entered he was one of the top 10 chosen. Please help my friend Tiffany give this wonderful gift to her husband.
click4 VOTE FOR ROB! 3click
(The top 10 reasons are from Tiffany)

1. Because he is a WONDERFUL husband
2. Because he is a TERRIFIC father
3. Because he is a volunteer fireman
4. Because he is a volunteer EMT(Emergency Medical Technician)
5. Because he is a leader and a provider
6. Because he is selfless
7. Because he works at his real job all week, then helps his dad farm on the weekends.
8. Because he serves on a committee at a local Community College
9. Because he is the Treasurer for the local Firemen.
10. Because he likes to volunteer at his daughter's school when it's needed in her class.
11. You can count it as your good deed for the day!
12. He has small children and we all know they can break glasses and they think it is funny to flush anything including contacts tucked safely in their case.
13 aka-mom is asking you nicely....pretty please with a cherry on top
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!


Good Things

My week started off pretty darn rough having to take three kids to the Dr.'s office on Monday and then my other daughter in the following day. 2 out of 4 kids have strep throat.

Last night however things started to look a bit better for me. I was looking online for the best buys for homeschooling curriculum when I stumbled across this site. It is AMAZING it has everything we need. I even pulled out my sons objectives paper from the public school to see if there was anything lacking and really there is not. Well I will have to do a bit more on our state history but I can do that no problem. I was thrilled with the spelling and vocabulary lessons and the fact that they have a list of books we should read along with ready to print chapter quizzes and more.

This is just what I was looking for. It may not be great for the long haul but it is def. perfect to get us started and it might just be good enough to take us through the end of this year. The best thing was the price. It is very affordable.

I can't wait to put this site to use.

Oh and now all of my editing buttons are back, what a great way to start the morning! LOL

Monday, November 06, 2006

Monday Madness

#1 I have posted a question to the almighty ones who control my blog and a week later I still have no spell check or nifty little html insert options.

#2 3 of my 4 kids are sick and when I called the Dr.'s office I was told there was no way they could see 3 new patients today. Arrrggghhhh.....as if it is my fault we moved here in Aug. and only one of my kids has been ill and had to be seen by the Dr.(and she is not sick this time). Yeah and like I planned for 3 of them to get this sick all at once. It's a mom's dream to have 3 sick kids and no husband at home to help....or at least listen to her vent about it.

I asked if they could possibly split it up between today and tomorrow and I was only met with sighs. I thought this was the kind of treatment that was unique to the military clinics we are used to but I guess I was wrong.

Somehow she managed to squeeze us all in this afternoon and I really wasn't sure if I was supposed to thank her beyond the normal "thanks, see you then" or not. I mean am I supposed to bring her flowers? Maybe just candy would do...I do have 16 or so pounds of it in the house from Halloween. LOL On second thought she should give me flowers for the stress she put me through this morning!

#3 I am still searching and searching the homeschooling web sites. There is information overload out there. My plan was to go and deliver the NOI to the superintendent today but with the sick kids in the house that won't be happening today.

#4 My son (the older one) is supposed to start wrestling tomorrow night and is seriously stressed that he may have strep and won't be able to start tomorrow. I can only smirk as he lays out all his worries about missing this practice....wouldn't it be nice if my biggest worry was missing a practice. Ah to be young again. Nah, nevermind kids are cruel and I don't think I could survive todays youth, my generation was bad enough but what kids today face is way worse. Sad but true.

#5 We are getting the house ready, well I am the sick ones have no energy, the hubby will be home later this week and this time we don't have to send him back after just 2 days. He is ours! Yay us. This has been a very long 3 months. I know 3 months isn't long, esp. since we were able to see him 2 days a week, compared to what others are dealing with right now. After being a Navy wife for 10 years though, I have decided that no matter how long they are gone it is hard work! I think that seeing him on the weekends has been harder than just having him gone for 3 months. Just when you think you are getting a routine in place BAM he shows up and it all goes out the window. Then he leaves again and you have to wipe everyones tears and start the process all over again. I am ready for this to be over and just have him home for a while.

Okay that is all the Monday blah, blah, blah I can think of to share right now. I do have some things I would love to post but I am waiting for the blogger people to fix my posting screen. I am not that good with html or maybe I could do it myself.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Homeschooling Help...PLEASE

We are pulling our 9 year old out of public school to homeschool him. I have been online checking out site after site trying to decide which math program to use. I think I have decided to use the Saxon program. We went to the site to night to have him take a placement test and according to the placement test he should be in the 76 book. Fine but that is for 6th graders! He is only in 4th grade and frankly struggles big time in math. One of the big reasons I am pulling him out of public school is to get him caught up in math. He uses really weird methods to come up with answers and relies WAY TOO much on his fingers. Then there is the dot method which I CAN NOT stand. The poor kid is a military child and has been in 4 different schools and has learned 4 from 4 different methods, it is no wonder to me that he is confused.

Should I buy the Saxon books for 4th grade or should I buy the one that according to the placement test he should be in. Is Saxon typically at grade level or is it a bit behind?

Any advice would be SO appreciated.

Halloween Candy GALORE!

So this year we went to the Church and participated in Trunk or Treat. The kids had great fun playing games inside while the adults chatted and ate dinner. There was dinner for the kids too but with all the games none of them wanted to eat. Then after an hour or so the adults headed out to the parking lot and stood next to their decorated trunks and waited for the parade of kids in costumes to begin. We are not in a large ward, in fact we are in a small branch and there are only 12 kids in our primary. We did invite the members of the ward we share the building with but since they had already had their trunk or treat earlier in the week only a handful of their members came. That being said I was AMAZED when my kids made it back to our truck barely able to hold their LOADED bags of candy.

When we got home they wanted to weigh their bag to see who had the most candy. I pulled out the scale and one by one they were weighed with and without their candy to find the weight of their bags o' cavities. Are you ready for this......16.2 pounds of candy!!!!! That is right each of them came home with over 5 pounds of candy! Well all except Moe, he is only 14 months old so he hung out with me handing out the candy.

What in the world do you do with 16 pounds of candy? I combined it and sorted it into piles then put it in bags for our food storage. I have kept out one bag and am rationing it out. There is no need to have that much candy just sitting around. Good grief that is a lot of candy!

I am also using the candy to get my kids to remember to turn off lights in the house when they leave a room! It drives me nuts when I have to walk around the house turning off lights that everyone has left on. So now I have told them that for every light I have to turn off they lose a piece of candy. They were horrified, by the thought of losing any candy. We shall see how this works but so far so good.

Oh and for some reason my spell check and post preview have vanished so I apologize for any errors you have had to endure *grin*

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Women's BlogsI just got listed in the Mom Blogs Directory at "5 Minutes for Mom". If you've never been there before, check it out... it's is a wonderful resource for busy women. Their goal is to "bring moms the best of blogging, shopping, parenting and entertainment" and they list all sorts of blogs, stores and websites that are run by women. The site owners are work-at-home moms themselves who also run a pedal car store and a rocking horse and kids furniture store.