I Should've Known

I'm having a bit of a rough day. It's been decided, we're not having any more children. I'm disappointed. I'm hurt. I'm angry. And I'm struggling to be the obedient wife I should be.

Today we needed to either renew our insurance policy (which has maternity coverage) or cancel it and get less expensive insurance (without maternity) because the insurance provided through Shane's work is outrageously expensive with poor coverage. So, with tears streaming down my face, I made the call.

I'm trying to look at the positives. No more children means I can:

Get rid of all the baby stuff cluttering my basement

Continue to eat and drink whatever I want

Get out of nursing bras once Bram is weaned

Not have to wear another maternity outfit

But it's difficult. Each point is bittersweet. It just seems so unfair. We are blessed with fertility when others have to fight for it, as well as easy pregnancies and uncomplicated deliveries. But God is in control. He has a plan. I will do my best not to fight it.

WFMW - Artist/Composer Lunch

I've recently started a new lunchtime routine to our homeschool day, I call it our Artist/Composer Lunch. I took the original idea from Sherry's post(and comments), and tweaked it to suit our needs. It's blending nicely with our days. In a nutshell, here's what I do:

I chose a different artist or composer each week.

I try to correlate the artist/composer to Fox's curriculum. For instance, 2 weeks ago he read the book Stink Alley. At the end of the book you learn that one of the characters was Rembrandt as a child, so all week we studied Rembrandt. It was very rewarding to watch Fox's face light up when he made the connection that THIS Rembrandt was THAT Rembrandt and he knew a lot about him.

For the first couple of days, during lunch, we view the artist's work or listen to the composer's music. For this, YouTube is great, they have tons of classical music plus slideshows of many artist's paintings. While we listen/view and eat, I usually go over the basics such as place and date of birth, type of artist, period etc. I also try to throw in fun facts that will help my son remember who is whom. Example: Rembrandt; he outlived 2 wives and all three of his children, he lived a lavish life or Chopin; he is buried in Paris but his heart is sealed in a church pillar in Warsaw.

The last few days of the week we'll highlight the work that interested Fox the most...for good or bad. If he remembers a specific concerto because he hated it, or if he loves a painting for it's bright colors, then we learn the story behind it (if there is one). We'll also do fun activities like word finds and crosswords. If you can't find one for a particular artist you can make your own.

3 Things You Should Teach Your Kids

So, I'm participating in this blog hop that asks the question What Three Things Should Every Parent Teach Their Kids?

My first list was:

1) To not pick their nose-it's just gross

2) To chew with their mouth closed-again, it's just gross

3) To vomit in the toilet-not in bed, on the carpet, in the car or toy box or down mom's back

But then I got to thinking that, okay, maybe those weren't the worst things in the world. Maybe...have you ever had a child vomit down your back? How about someone else's child? Uh huh. So I came up with a new list. A serious list, one that broke THE RULES. Oh well, I'm fearless like that. It's just how I roll G. So in all seriousness this is what I feel we should teach our children:

1) To make God #1 in their lives-this is a life of purpose, a life worth living

2) To love themselves-they won't allow themselves to ill-treated, lied to, disrespected etc.

3) To love others-they will not treat others poorly, lie, be disrespectful etc.

Special thanks to Shoplet.com-Purell Hand Sanitizers for sponsoring this blog hop.

Music Monday #17

Welcome to Music Monday! This is a music sharing meme, open to anyone who would like to play along, be sure to read the guidelines. Leave your link in the comment section as I haven't gotten my linky up.

This morning I felt like something fun, light and easy! So I chose Men at Work's LAND DOWN UNDER. Sing along with me, you know you want to. "I come frumma lan down unda!"

Breastfeeding Resources

Breastfeeding is wonderful thing....except when it's not.

Many proponents of breastfeeding like to share the great aspects of breastfeeding-the bonding, the convenience, the health benefits-and none of the difficulties nursing moms may face.

It's not all easy. Breastfeeding success takes patience, perseverance, a level of pain tolerance and a sense of humor. But once you get your groove you'll be so happy you stuck with it!

I was only able to nurse Fox for a about 6 weeks. He had dairy issues which I knew nothing about and I was young, inexperienced and uneducated. I thought you placed the baby on the breast and voila! happy baby. I had no knowledge of food allergy complications, milk supply, colic, lanolin, mastitis, clogged milk ducts...nothing. So when nursing wasn't 'easy' I thought I was doing something wrong and quickly succumbed to the myriad of voices telling me to "just give him a bottle".

When I had Bram I was older, wiser, more patient and armed with two great resources...the internet and a friend who used to lead La Leche League meetings. I was able to overcome low milk supply, SORE nipples and milk blebs (clogged milk ducts). Bram has now been nursing for 2 years.

So for newbie breastfeeding moms, I just wanted to pass on a bit of encouragement. You will most likely experience some pain and setbacks, but each one is TEMPORARY. You may have sore nipples several times over the course of breastfeeding, you may have a few embarrassing leaks, but it will pass if you persevere and soon it will be be easy. Below are a few resources that may help you on your breastfeeding journey.

La Leche League

Breastfeeding Promotion with WIC

KellyMom

Breastfeeding Support Forum

WWU - The GreatFrederick Fair

This week was rushed but enjoyable. I still haven't gathered activities for Bram to do while I work with Fox so he just has free play and Kipper. Not good, I know but I'll remedy that soon :) Fox is still plugging along in his curriculum, but since this week was rushed we only fit in the essentials. He's started reading Amos Fortune, Freeman and together we are reading Landing of the Pilgrims. We're learning the difference between Puritans, Pilgrims and Quakers it's really fascinating. We're also learning the founding history of our home state Pennsylvania!

The reason we were a bit rushed to fit "everything" in this week was because we were busy 3 of the 5 days. Monday we went to The Great Frederick Fair!

Cooling off in the shade.

We had a blast. We rode lots of rides and ate WAY TOO MUCH- steak subs, french fries, lemonade, lime fizz, bang-bang shrimp, chicken-on-a-stick, cotton candy...you name it, we ate it. Fox's favorite ride was the Gravitron, Bram liked anything that didn't go too fast or too high. We saw lots of machinery and animals. The piglets were beyond adorable...though I can't say much for their parents. There were also goats, alpacas, donkeys, cows and freshly sheared sheep, Baaa!

Fox even had a science lesson on volume. As in, if I buy a root beer float, I cannot press the ice cream down into the cup because the existing soda will have no where to go but all over me...DUH! :)

On Tuesday we had co-op. Bram did well in the nursery again YAY! Wednesday and Friday were slow days at home. But Thursday was errand day. One errand we took care of was applying for passports for the boys. Fox had one but it expires next year so we decided to go ahead and get it reissued. Bram DID NOT like getting his picture taken. I'm waiting to see if "they" will reject it because he was crying...with his mouth open...and a green fruit snack in his mouth. *sigh*

We don't have any plans yet, other than going to Germany in 2010. But we don't know where we'll end up with our 10 year anniversary plans up in the air. We're going to wait and see what last minute deals are available. So we may go somewhere exotic, stay local or just stay home! :)

I'll be really happy to get the boys passports. I never had one or gave them much thought until we went to Europe in 2004. Since then I can't imagine not having them. It's a great feeling to think that if this country goes crazy we could hightail it to Mexico or Canada.

Lastly, we've learned a little bit about warts. Fox has one on his finger. We tried the Dr. Scholls freeze-it-off-yourself thing. It didn't work. Half of it fell out and then it started to get infected. Since the infection cleared up Fox has been picking at it. It's gross and fascinating. He peeled off the top layer and you can see the little "fingers" that make up the wart and the "roots". He could take tweezers and pull these fingers out individually-but it hurt. We're currently trying a home remedy of cider vinegar soaks. If that doesn't work we're going to the doctor to get it froze off.

That's it for us. What did you do this week? Join the fun at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

What World is This?

A friend of mine sent me this email. She checked its validity on snopes, as did I, it's true.

The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.

Irena Sendler

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

In 2007 Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected.

Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

In Memoriam

What world is this? What world would deny this woman the Nobel Peace Prize? Who would choose a man touting a theory...something yet to be proven, over a woman who risked life and limb to save thousands of innocent lives from a wretched existence and painful death? What world is this?

Putting it in God's Hands

I think I'm slowly moving my way toward an epiphany. I'm just beginning to learn what it really means to 'let go and let God'. It's a wonderful feeling.

As I've shared before, I feel like God is leading my family toward...something. I don't know what. We feel lead to move, but don't know where. So we're in the process of preparing to put our house on the market, with no real plan of what to do next should it sell. We're trusting God to illuminate our path when the time comes.

What I haven't shared before is that Shane and I have been considering the possibility of having another child...for a long time. Some background:

We had Fox in high school. I was 17 when he was born. We were married when Fox was 3 and had a miscarriage shortly thereafter. A year later we had another miscarriage. We felt God was telling us that it wasn't the right time for a baby so we put that dream aside for "a year or two". Well that year or two turned into 7. We finally worked up the nerve to try again and were blessed with Bram.

After his birth I knew I wanted more kids, but I didn't know if we should have any more because of our history of miscarriage, our tiny house and our love of travel--traveling with kids is expensive! On top of all that Shane is a planner and likes things in place for college, etc.

We decided to put off a decision until Bram was a year old. Bram turned one and we were still unsure. So I put it all on Shane's shoulders. I told him that I was up for having more kids but I wouldn't ask for any more, so he needed to decide. I would respect his decision as the spiritual head of our family. He decided to give it another year.

We waited another year and Shane was still unsure. He was reluctant to make a decision. He was afraid I would blame him if we were to have another miscarriage. Our previous miscarriages had thrown me for a loop. I was in a state of depression for quite a while. So together we decided that if there wasn't a decision by fall that we wouldn't have anymore. Tuesday was the first day of fall. I broached the subject.

We/he (even though we've been praying for guidance) still didn't know what to do so we decided not to have anymore kids. I was heartbroken but relieved to have a decision.

Well...Thursday at work TWO people told Shane that he needed to put things in God's hands. Although these were unrelated topics, Shane felt God was telling him something.

So sometime in the near future we might be putting it in God's hands. We won't be 'trying' but we won't do anything to impede a pregnancy either. I'm curious to see what happens. This next year could find us pregnant and homeless. And while everything in me says I should be scared I have such a feeling of freedom. There is no other way to describe it. Truly handing your concerns to God is so FREEING!

WFMW - Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances

The only stainless steel appliance I have is my coffee pot. Even so, the fingerprints, water spots and dullness drive me crazy...but not crazy enough to pay for the outrageously priced stainless steel cleaners. Seriously, outrageous! So I was thrilled when I learned that you can clean stainless steel items with DRUMROLL please................................................

Olive Oil!

Try it, it yields great results!

I Want To See This Movie!!

Music Monday

Welcome to Music Monday...the late edition. In fact I'm so late I almost considered not posting it at all. But I just couldn't let this week pass without a little tribute to Patrick Swayze.

Patrick Swayze was my 2nd teenage-Hollywood- crush. (My very first crush was Dale Midkiff) I remember when Dirty Dancing came out in 1987. I wanted so badly to see it because it was strictly vorboten! But I was only 8 years old, much too young.

So I waited, and when I was about 10 I came across my mom's copy of the coveted film. It wasn't even the official movie, it was a homemade copy (sorry to sell you out, Mom) and the first few minutes were all wavy and out of focus. Remember how movies used to do that with VHS? Now the DVDs just skip :)

Anyway, I asked to watch it and the answer was still no. So being the well behaved daughter I always was I didn't watch it....................until the next day after school while my mom was still at work. (It's too late to ground me now Mom)

Thus began my love affair with sultry dance and Patrick Swayze. When I learned that he sang a favorite cut from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack I was even more enamored **sigh**. So here's to you Patrick Swayze, may your spirit be at peace.

Surprise Guest

Guess who came knocking on our door around 9:30AM...that's right! A nice police man. Our caddy-corner-neighbor called them.

We let the dogs out at 7:55 AM and brought them in at 8:45 AM. They went nuts for two minutes (literally) barking because there was a stray cat in our yard. I made them stop and they didn't bark again until the minute before we brought them in.

Still he called. The law says dogs have to be barking incessantly for 30 minutes to be considered a nuisance. So that means our neighbor lied.

The police man asked us several times if we let our dogs out earlier than 7:55 AM. So that makes me wonder if our neighbor also lied about when we had our dogs out or if other neighborhood dogs were out barking before ours and he assumed they were all our dogs...sigh.

We've started keeping a log again, just in case this escalates.

Weekly Wrap-Up

I'll make this quick, I don't have a lot of time, Hubby and I are headed out to a wine festival. Woo Hoo! Biggest is spending the weekend with my mom at a nearby lake and Littlest is spending a large chunk of today with Shane's mom. A kid free afteroon...I don't know whether to celebrate or cry! :) Here's what we did this week:

Monday- On top of Fox's orthodontist appointment, we fit in almost two days worth of school work because I knew this week would be busy.

Tuesday- Co-Op! Fox had all of his work done neatly and I was 100% prepared for my General Science class! May wonders never cease. Bram did well in the nursery. He only cried for a few minutes after I left him.

Wednesday- Bram had a doctor's appointment for the last of his DTP vaccination schedule. The nurse forgot to give it to him last time and, silly me, I didn't point out her mistake :) We got through it then went home and dove into Fox's schoolwork. We finished reading Peace Child and I have to say that even in all its wordiness it was a great book! A Peace Child is a practice in the New Guinea tribes where warring tribes used to exchange two children as a sign of peace! The poor mothers! But as long as the children lived, peace remained between the tribes. It was amazing the way the missionary Don Richardson was able to use this tradition to illustrate God giving his son to the world. What an amazing story!

Thursday- Our contractor friend was here working on our office. We made two trips to Lowes this day. We also fit in a day and a half of school work. Except math, that was overlooked. Ugh! What else happened Thursday?? Oh yes! I almost burned the house down! :)

Friday- We did about a half a days school work and last minute laundry. Fox packed his bag for his trip this weekend and I dropped him off with my mom. Then, since were in the neighboorhood, Bram and I popped into MawMaw's (Shane's mom) work and said hi.

That's pretty much it. We covered Rembrandt this week in our artist/composer lunch time and I spent a ridiculous amount of time cuddling and nursing Bram on Thursday and Friday. Vaccinations make him fussy, clingy, grumpy and tired. But it's like he can't sleep even though he's tired. Thursday night he didn't sleep untl 11PM, then he was up at 6:30 Friday morning, only to go without a nap (again) until 10:30PM. But he's okay and will have a great time visiting with MawMaw today.

How was you week? Share at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Fire Safety; Homeschool Style

You know you're a homeschooler if...you almost burn the house down, and decide to use the situation as a fire safety lesson.

Let me start by saying that I blame MommyMaestro!

Yesterday evening I decided to throw a quick frittata together for dinner. I had my laptop open at the kitchen table, catching up on some blog reading in between stirring the veggies. (Note to self: No more multi-tasking!) Also, just so ya know, I have a flat top stove and am often guilty of setting things upon it I ought not.

After I had sauteed the veggies and added the eggs, I popped the hot skillet into the oven to finish cooking. I forgot to turn off the stove-top burner I had been cooking on and hastily threw my pot holders down on the stove. I was in a hurry to get back to my reading. I was laughing out loud at Mommy Maestro's description of the old Publisher's Clearinghouse envelopes. (I remember those!)

I had my back to the stove and even though I heard a strange crackling noise I ignored it. I mean c'mon, this post was funny! The strange crackling noises continued until I finally turned around...just as I noticed THE SMELL and my smoke alarm went off. The sight that greeted me was two pot holders, flaming 8 inches high and a foot of smoke hovering on the kitchen ceiling. What? I said the post was funny.

I yelled "Oh! Shane, fire!" as I turned off the burner. My wonderful husband came running out, picked up the flaming pot holders with his bare hands, threw them into the sink and doused them with water before I could get the tongs out of the drawer. He's brilliant, I was impressed with his speed. I was going to take potholders outside and stomp them out but I probably would have set the deck on fire in the process. Of course, putting them out in the sink added another foot of smoke to the room.

I stood in the kitchen, hacking up my lungs, and what popped into my mind? Hands-On fire safety lesson! I felt compelled to share this moment with Fox. He was just upstairs (our house is not big) and managed to not hear the smoke alarm or smell the smoke until he was halfway down the stairs.

"Ew! What's that smell?" he asked

"Your fire safety lesson." I replied

This is what we did:

We observed the way the smoke rose to ceiling and tried out the "fireman's crawl". We discussed the toxicity of smoke inhalation and the way the smoke made our throats feel. We also marveled at how a very small fire created huge quantities of smoke. We also discussed the observation that even though he was awake and his bedroom door was open he didn't smell the smoke or hear the alarm--this is one reason house fires are so dangerous. If they're not in the same room, many people don't notice the fire until it's out of control.

Every parent dreads a house fire. We worry about getting our kids out of the house in time. But we have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers so our thoughts quickly turn to how to save the family photos and keepsakes. This fire experience, while blessedly simple and small, opened my eyes to how unrealistic it is to think of anything other than the preservation of life. A whole house can go up in minutes and just breathing or seeing in a mildly smoky room is difficult. The observations that really stuck with me:

• House fire smoke is VERY different than campfire smoke. It is acrid and chemical laden. Even a small amount makes your throat want to close up.
• While it's true that smoke rises, in a smoke filled room the air on the floor is still smoky and difficult to breath in.
• Due to the above fact and our fireman crawl activity I can ABSOLUTELY SEE how people can die of smoke inhalation even when the fire is nowhere near them.
• Fire is quite silent, it would be very easy to sleep through.

Yes, it's hard to believe. I had the whole downstairs filled with smoke. We could hardly see, much less breath, the smoke alarm was sounding and this is all the damage that was done. I'm so thankful we didn't have to deal with a 'real' fire. I cannot imagine the horror.

With Love From Afghanistan

I've been wanting to post this for a while, but just never took the time. LOOKY LOOKY at what my brother brought me from Afghanistan! Isn't it beautiful? It's 100% hand woven silk, gorgeous and beyond soft. This is going up on the wall, it will not be walked on :) I thought it was so sweet of him to think if me while he was over there. I know he had his hands full fighting extremists, dodging roadside bombs and earning medals.

Works for Me and What Can I Eat

WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAY

How To Fold A Fitted Sheet

One day about nine years ago my saintly Grandmother-in-Law taught me how to really fold a fitted sheet. It changed my life. I have

kissed her feet in gratitude every day of my life ever since then. Because, you know, I'm kind of obsessive about laundry.

First you take your freshly laundered sheet and fold it in half top to bottom (pattern side out, of course). This leaves you with two sets of fitted corners.

Next, take your pointer finger and stick it into the 'corner' of the fitted sheet. Tuck each fitted corner up into its mate. It should like this:

The reverse pattern side of the bottom fitted corner goes up inside the top fitted corner.

Fold the sheet in half again, side to side this time, and tuck the two double corners inside each other. You should now have all four fitted corners tucked neatly into one another.

Two layers

All four layers

The short edge will naturally fold itself down. Just make sure it is in a neat line.

Now, along that short edge, you need to find where the fitted edge begins to curve. Where the sheet begins to curve is where you will make your fold.

Fold the sheet lengthwise along that imaginary line.

The rest is simple, just fold the sheet lengthwise, into thirds. Then fold it in half widthwise and there ya go!

What works for you? Share your tips on Words for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

WHAT CAN I EAT THAT'S GLUTEN FREE?

I haven't participated in What Can I Eat That's Gluten Free in a while. This is a great resource for gluten-free recipes, hosted by The Gluten-Free Homemaker. My recipe this week DEFINITELY won't win any healthy-living awards, but I wanted carb-filled comfort food.

Monday evening dinner time rolled around and I had nothing planned and nothing thawed out. It had been a damp, rainy day and I wanted something hot and comforting. So after rummaging around I decided to throw a few things together for a one-pot meal and see how it turned out. It was good.

One-Pot Potato Meal

2 1/2 lbs white potatoes

1/2 lb bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

In a large pot boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and remove potatoes. Reheat the pot, add bacon and fry until crispy. Remove the bacon and dry on a paper towel. Add onion to the bacon grease and cook until wilted. Chop the potatoes into bite-sized chunks while the onion cooks. Add the potatoes to onions and fry until lightly browned. Turn off the heat, stir in bacon and enjoy! This would probably be good with cheese too but Bram and I are allergic to dairy.

Eggs!

We eat a lot of eggs around here. We're a family of four, we've gone through 2 and a half dozen eggs since Friday and I haven't even been baking. That's just plain egg consumption. With Bram and I being allergic to dairy, eggs (along with hemp milk) satisfy a lot of our protein needs. We have eggs for breakfast almost every morning. They're usually scrambled.

When I was a kid I enjoyed fried eggs or 'dippy eggs' as I used to call them. But as I got older I just couldn't stomach the runny yolk. I don't know why. So we eat scrambled eggs or 'hard-fried' eggs, meaning we fry it until the yolk is cooked through.

Well, last weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone...I made Hubby a poached egg. (Vomit!) Just the thought of that slimy, wiggly, gelatinous blob of goo waiting for you to slurp it up. Yuck. Somebody catch me I might faint!

I had never made a poached egg before, so I went to the school A La You Tube and watched a few tutorials. I found that poached eggs are actually rather easy to make. You simply heat water to a simmer, add a teaspoon of vinegar, stir the water so it is swirling and then dump the egg in the center of the vortex. The water swirls around the egg and you get a perfect little lump of egg. I was even able to cook MY eggs to the soft-boiled-like stage. It wasn't slimy at all. Who knew?

Music Monday #15

Welcome to Music Monday! This music sharing meme is open to anyone who'd like to play along. You can read the Music Monday guidelines HERE. This week's theme is All About Kids.

I chose The Mom Song by Christian author and comedian Antia Renfroe. I LOVE this song. She just cracks me up to no end. Being homeschoolers, I am thankful I don't have to deal with the daily "get up, get up now, get up out of bed!" part. But whether you homeschool or not, if you're a mom...I'm sure you can identify with every verse.

If you'd like to play along, leave your link in the comment section. Next week is a freebie, no theme! Thanks!

Update on Nancy

If you're not familiar with Nancy you can find her on my sidebar, she blogs at Mom Just Like You. I first mentioned Nancy a few weeks ago when she found out there was a problem with her developing pregnancy. Thank you to all those who stopped in and offered encouragement and prayers.

Well, I just realized that the little baby, Kara Faith, has a diagnosis. It's not an encouraging one, but there is hope in God. She's been diagnosed with Holoprosencephaly a.k.a. HPE. But Nancy's faith is strong and I trust God will work wonders in her life and that of Kara Faith.

Nancy has made a blog to share Kara Faith's journey. You can visit HERE. Take a few moments to lift them up in prayer.

Weekly Wrap Up - Co-Op

We had a pretty good week here. Nothing fantastic to report, but nothing horrible either. I was going to list my WWU by subject again, but not much has changed, so I'll just give you the highlights.

Fox finished up Cameron Townsend and moved on to Stink Alley, which at first he said he didn't like. But then I caught him reading it at 9:45 last night and he admitted it's better than he originally thought :) I'll highlight Rembrandt for our artist/composer lunch to coincide with the book.

Speaking of our artist/composer lunch, we started it on Monday. Fox acted like it physically hurt him to listen to Chopin's 'girly music' as he so politely put it. But that opened a great conversation about how, even in his time, Chopin's music was considered overdone with too much flourish. But this was the music of the day and men (real men who sailed, fought wars, conquered lands and dueled) enjoyed this music. So it was a great start...but then we had co-op on Tuesday and I forgot about it the rest of the week!! Arrgh. We'll have to do Rembrandt next week and then go back to Chopin.

We finished the first volume of The History of US, boy there is a lot of info packed into those pages. I need to do a better job of pulling out and expanding on the highlights. I'd like to plan at least one hands-on project each week. We don't do enough (okay, any) hands-on projects. They fell by the wayside a few years ago and I need to incorporate them again.

We started Physical Science this week. Fox's reading load is heavy enough with the Sonlight Curriculum so I had bought him the audio CD along with the textbook, that way he could just listen or read along. Of course, when it was time to begin, the audio CD was no where to be found. Fox was sure there never was an audio CD, I began to question my sanity. I went through his room like an angry tornado and guess what I found on his floor, never opened...uh huh.

Our highlight this week was that we began co-op. You may remember that I had some apprehension about Bram and the nursery. I'm happy to report that he did pretty well. He was excited about all the kids and walked right in to play along at the train table. They only had to bring him to me once when he wouldn't stop crying and that was toward the end of the day. I'm hoping he'll do better each week, rather than regressing, and I'll be able to continue to teach General Science.

That's about it. Fox's laptop was repaired and returned by Dell so Shane will be loading Rosetta Stone German on it. So that means next week Fox will have his full course load. Woo-Hoo! How was your week? Share at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Light of Hope

We've grieved as a nation. We won't forget. You're not forgotten. We were not the first country to be touched by extemeist violence, we certianly won't be the last. So today, as we remember those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, I want to say thank you to all those countries who grieved with us and pass on my condolances to those who have experienced similar tragedy.

I Know What Causes Inflation

Those stinkin' kiddie rides at the grocery store. A dollar?? Seriously?? Good thing Bram doesn't yet realize you can turn it on. He thinks they're just for sitting on and pretending. :)

Works for Me Wednesday - Sorting Laundry

It's time for Works For Me Wednesday, a tip sharing meme hosted by Kristin at We are THAT Family. Click the link, share your tips and play along!

My tip this week is about sorting laundry. When I sort and wash my laundry I put towels and jeans together. This works great because they are both items that take a long time to dry and the lint from the towels won't stick to the jeans. I love it.

If you read my blog regularly then you know that I used to be obsessive compulsive about all the wrong things. You couldn't walk through my house because it was so messy, but my closets were neatly organized, arranged by clothing type and color. The laundry was never caught up, but it was neatly sorted in specific piles.

I was meticulous about my laundry sorting. Ridiculously meticulous. I wouldn't even wash blues and purples together, God bless me. I was in need of healing.

I got that healing, through a lot of hard work. One of my early accomplishments was getting over my laundry-sorting compulsion. The first step I took was to wash jeans and towels together. This was difficult for me. I truly felt anxious mixing these items and had to fight an overwhelming urge to stop the washer mid-cycle and separate them. Sad, I know.

But I am over that hump, and on the other side of most of my obsessive-compulsive tendencies, thank God. I now wash all dark colors together. I even mix yellows and oranges! GASP!

We're Off To Co-Op

Our first day of co-op is today. I'm excited and nervous. Pray it all goes well!

Music Monday#16

I almost forgot Music Monday! This week's theme is 'Dance, Dance, Dance' in celebration of the holiday. I love to dance, but unfortunately I'm not very good at it. I used to be. But I married a man who doesn't like dancing and as I've gotten older opportunities for dancing have come fewer and farther between. So I don't know any of the new moves. I only get the opportunity to dance at weddings. And since I can only wrestle one or two slow dances out of my husband I usually stick to line dancing. Yes, I'm a dork. I still love to do the Electric Slide, Macarena, Strokin' and the Cha Cha Slide. I think I need to take come country line dancing classes, I would love it. So here ya go, my current favorite line dance, The Cha Cha Slide. Enjoy! Next week's sons choice will be all about Kids.

Lift Us Up

Pray for me Shane. He's starting the Master Cleanse tomorrow. Seriously though, there is something troubling me. We attend a homeschool co-op. It meets for 3 hours, on Tuesdays, for 30 weeks out of the school year. We've gone for about five years. Last year I taught General Science and I signed on to teach it again this year. While I am teaching Bram goes to the nursery. It wasn't his favorite thing, he would cry when I left him but usually settled down and had fun. However as the year wore on, he became more and more distraught when I left him and would cry for longer periods of time. I couldn't stand it. I was so happy when co-op was over. I figured next year would be easier, when he was a little older.

Well, I'm on the co-op committee and being that co-op begins tomorrow I decided to head in and restock the supply cabinet yesterday. Shane and Bram went with me (Fox was visiting his Grandparents). We haven't been to the co-op building since May, Bram was 21 months old, yet when we pulled into the parking lot Bram became upset and started quietly saying "No, no, no." Shane went to get him out of the car seat and Bram started fussing and saying "No" more forcefully. This isn't like him, he loves to go and do and explore.

When we entered the building Shane was carrying Bram and we headed for the stairs (which are in the same direction as the nursery). At this point Bram started crying, holding his hand up in the 'stop' signal and shouting "No, no, no!" As if he were begging us not to take him to the nursery. I almost lost it, I wanted to cry.

I don't think that anyone hurt him or anything sinister happened. I think that since he has never been babysat by anyone but family the nursery was a traumatic experience for him. One he remembers and does not want to revisit. I don't know what to do. The thought of leaving him crying there tomorrow turns my stomach. I'll try it and see if he adjusts, but if he doesn't do well I won't continue to teach. Someone will have to take over my class and I will help in the nursery.

That's easier said than done. And I truly would feel bad about backing out of my commitment, but I won't subject my son to 30 weeks of that. I know a lot of people will probably think me crazy, and that I should just make him tough it out. But to me that's like 'CIO (cry-it-out)' a practice I don't agree with for my kids, and won't do if it can be avoided. I won't think badly of you if you choose to do it. I feel that as a stay-at-home mom I am overwhelmingly blessed in that I can choose to put my children in a daycare-like setting or not. I choose not.

But hopefully all this fretting will be for not and he'll have a great time!