late night chatting

It's late and I'm tired but I thought I send a quick hello out into cyberspace.

We've been busy but not too busy. I've been exercising when I can.

DD is feeling poorly so I've made her a Dr. Appointment for tomorrow. She's been feeling icky for about a week now. Poor baby. It's the kind of icky that just lingers. Hopefully, we will get that taken care of and she can be feeling better soon.

DS is goofy as usual. No, he's been wonderful. He is so protective and is all male! He doesn't want to be as protective and pretends not to be but then when he needs to be he is to the bone!

It's neat to see it develop. He worries about me a lot. He's not as bad as he was when DH first left but it's still there. If he hears me scream or yell at all he comes running full force! Sometimes it's funny because I'm not really screaming but laughing loudly but he worries.

He tends to want to stay near me when we are out with certain people that he thinks might even just hurt my feelings. People don't really understand it but you know, he is the man of the house right now even though I try really hard not to put that on his shoulders, he's at the age where he puts it there himself. He's not like this at church but if we are out, boy howdy! You better be nice to his momma! It's cute.

I really haven't seen this in him too much about his sister. I mean if were to see someone hurting her he would quickly put a stop to it, but he doesn't really try hard to look out for her like he does me. Well, at least not usually.

We went to eat tonight and I left them at the table for a second to go get them some milkshakes for dessert and she came to me when he wasn't looking. I was just coming around the corner but I saw the panic in his eyes when he thought someone had taken his sister. It only took him a second to see her but the panic was real. He even got on to her but walking away without telling him. I did too. I'm really quite proud of him.

Wow, for just a quick hello this has really gone on! I'm just proud of my babies. I'll have to tell you how protective the dog is later. I'm tired right now and off to dreamland. Sweet dreams dear friends!

Such a lucky girl*...

I received a very loving email from my wonderful DH and then I even got an unexpected phone call from him! He can be the sweetest when he tries and I love it when he is. It just makes my heart swell.

I know that I am very fortunate that I hear from my DH as often as I do but when I have to 2 or 3 days without hearing anything I start to ... not exactly worry, well yes, but.... well, honestly I just get cranky! Miraculously I was not really in my cranky mode yet but I could tell I was headed that way! DH saved me, or more importantly the kids, from it.

Anyway, just had to share my wonderful mood and shout to the world that my DH is AWESOME!

*I will forever consider myself a girl, I'll be 105 and still refer to myself as girl. Sorry, but it's true.

Still reading...

I just can't seem to stop! I have to break myself away to do anything. Even eat! Hey this could be a good diet for me!! Except the kids come in hungry and force me up to feed them and then I eat too.

Anyway, I'm in love with my book. Anyone else reading anything? Share, if you will, what you are reading and how you are enjoying it. Have a good night!

Getting lost in books...

Yes, I'm back to my reading... well I talked about reading on my other blog... Anyway, I love to read, to get lost in books. I frequently get lost and get so absorbed I can't do anything but read. That's kind of where I am right now.

I call it my escapism. Is that a word? I'll find out when I do spell check... anyway, it's my escape from life without DH. It's how I cope. Last time he was gone, spent close to $1000 on books. I didn't realize it until much later of course (I'd never have spent so much knowingly). I've been a lot better this time. I've been occupied reading homeschooling books and websites and lots of blogs. But I did get a good deal on some books a while back and went crazy buying them but then never got to reading them!! Crazy! But this week I've been making up for lost time!

I've also been busy writing lots of letters to DH. I love letter writing and stationary and all that goes with it. I'm not really all that eloquent but... I think it is important that DH get letters from me regularly even though we talk often and email. A handwritten letter means so much more. Well, it does to me anyway.

Then, I've also been writing in my journal. Just after Christmas, I decided to really start keeping a journal of the time while DH is away. Something he can read and maybe see some of what we experienced while he was away. Who knows if he'll ever read it but it's therapy for me.

So, I guess the point of all is that I've been keeping busy, reading and writing. So, if I'm missing for a day or two, don't worry, I'm just lost in a book.

It's HOT here!

Is it hot there? I've got a headache and think it's the heat and allergies. It's terrible. I want to take a nap but DD has other ideas. She is learning to "sew" and keeps losing her thread and so I have to re-thread her needle for her. She is so funny about it.

DS is doing ... I don't know what and he's not offering any information. We are just hanging out today. It's too hot for anything else.

Just thought I'd check in and say hello. My head hurts too much for much writing. Sorry. Maybe later.

So sad...

The news today is very distressing. I'm so sad to hear the fate of the two missing soldiers. I've thought a lot of them and their families over the last few days and I cried for them today as I heard about them. I can't imagine. It is so frightening.

But then I hear people say things about how WE don't treat people that way and maybe we should and I get so angry at them! I heard that comment today and my reply was, "You know, we are supposedly a Christian country and so hopefully as Christians we do the right thing and the treat people the way we should." The person who said it was somewhat speechless. As they should have been! It just blows my mind.

Anyway, I'm so very sad about all this and hope that everyone will keep these soldiers and their families in your prayers. Please keep all the military and their families in your prayers.


*** note: I'm not sure if this all made sense but bear with me. Hopefully anyone reading here will know what I mean to say.

Monday Morning....

I typed the title and then thought, "It's barely morning!" Oh well...

I got up this morning and exercised for about 30 minutes. YEA ME!! I hate exercise but it is necessary. Then I got the kids up and we busied ourselves with morning chores and then breakfast.

They quickly got to their Latin lessons and then some math.

Now DD and I just put the makings of some bread in the bread machine and DS is up in his room. He said to clean but I figure he's building with Lego's.

I love homemade bread. YUM!! I actually like to make it myself but it takes so much time and heats up the kitchen. So I bought myself a new bread machine for Mother's day and it's not been working out too well for me. I've thrown out 3 loaves so far. They just aren't mixing well. I can't decide if it's the recipes or the machine. The mixing is probably the machine but I've had one turn out okay but the taste was horrible! That's the recipe.

For me the whole purpose of the bread machine, is that I just throw in the ingredients and then move on to other things, but with this one I'm having to really sit and watch it. I keep having to add water as it is kneading. I never had this trouble with my last bread machine but it was really having problems at the end (it was 9 years old), that's why I got the new one. I wonder now if it is the climate here and that the old machine was fine. (I kept the old one though because it also makes butter! Love it!) Hmmmm.... Since we've lived here my bread in the machine has not turned out at all.

When you do it all by hand you can feel what needs to be done and don't really think about it so maybe that is it. The climate. But I don't really think the climate here is that different from the last place we lived. Maybe it's altitude... I don't know the altitude here or our last place we lived though so I'll never know. Any ideas?

It is cloudy here and it's making me feel tired. Clouds always bring out the worst in me. On cloudy days, I need to be alone with my thoughts or a good book. Not an easy task though. I'm afraid DS takes after me here. Poor kid. He's been cranky this morning too so the two of us together have not been fun to be around. POOR DD!!

Well, she is wanting to try the needle (she got a Sewing Kid Kit for her bday) so I'm off to help with that. What happened to alone with a book??? This will be fun though. Until next time...

Waiting...

Well, we called my Daddy and DH's dad this today and wished them both a Happy Father's Day. Now we are just waiting for DH to call so that we can wish him a Happy Father's Day but probably by the time he calls (if he calls) it will the day after there. Oh well, it's the best we can do. We sent him cards and an email and they all arrived in time so he knows we are thinking of him.

Today at church, the kids sang their VBS songs and we watched a video of the week. It was cute. Then we had a special video of fathers talking about being fathers and kids talking about their fathers. It was really nice. I got a copy to send to DH.

It is raining cats and dogs here. DD wants to go sit out on the deck and listen to it. I guess I should go and join her. That's part of the reason we covered it. So we could sit out and watch the rain. The problem is when the wind blows! Hopefully it's not blowing to hard now. Have a good day!

The finished product!

Here is the finished product. Sorry it took so long to post them. Been busy enjoying it!! Sorry they seem dark. It was 9:30 pm before I got to see the finished product myself.

It really changed the look of our home. We love it.

Last night we spent the evening out there enjoying the breeze. DS brought his Lego's out and built and DD chased fireflies, while I read a book. It was wonderful. It was very relaxing.

I out early this morning again, reading. Now I really do have a porch to share (reference to other blog talk about porch). Come share a cup of tea or soda or lemonade and sit and chat for a while!

The Process

Well, we are having a cover put on our deck today. I hope it is going to look nice. We have no shade on the deck so we can't really enjoy it until late afternoon. That will all be changed soon!! In just a few more hours to be exact! I can't quit going out to look at the work. They laugh and say just a couple more minutes. I told them I'm worse than any kid!!

Here are some pictures of the process...

If it's not one thing, it's another...

I'm telling you! Really!! Got up this morning to get ready, to take DS to his golf lessons and the car wouldn't start!! I guess the battery is dead. Don't know how that happened. I guess maybe someone left a light on, but I can't tell because there are no lights on now! So now I have to see if I can get someone to come over and hook it up to our charger. Yes, I'm one of those helpless females. Sorry girls. I've just had a man to take care of me too long, I guess.

Thankfully we have 2 vehicles, so I got DS to his lesson. DD and I went to our church which is near his lesson and practiced on the piano for a bit and then practiced her handwriting.

I'm appalled at the lack of handwriting instruction in school these days. I guess they just put the letters in front of the kids and let them figure out how to form them by themselves. And it's not just my kids either. I helped at VBS last night and watched how other children wrote and was very surprised that they don't know how to properly form their letters either.

I really believe that there is a right and a wrong way to start each letter. You should do things in a certain order and way. It makes things easier in the long run. I mean really! No wonder my kids handwriting is so messy.

So we worked on that and she didn't enjoy it but we joked about it and that made it a little better. I'll get off my soap box now...

At this moment, we are cleaning their rooms. Yes, we are still working on them. I went and bought some really pretty decorative boxes for DD's room to help her and then I bought some very masculine ones for DS's room. I get so angry when I go into their rooms. I have cleaned both their rooms spotlessly, so that everything has a place (several times!!) but they just can not pick up after themselves for anything!! Drives me crazy.

Today I bought a Flip book for them on cleaning their rooms. I hope it helps them. I ordered it online through Free Homeschool Stuff and got it free, just had to pay shipping. I've got several things through them and it works well for us. If you homeschool and you haven't ever checked them out you really should. Even if you don't homeschool, they have some really neat stuff; computer games, science kits and so on.

Well, my break is over. Have a great day!

It is a nice morning here. There is a gentle breeze that feels wonderful. It's over cast which makes me sleepy.

I'm doing okay this morning. The kids and I did our Latin lesson and then they moved into a short math lesson. Now they are working on cleaning their rooms.

Their rooms are really out of control. DS is afraid that I will come up there and "help" and he hates that so he is working a plan and told me to stay away. We'll see...

The Plan... they help each other. She is helping him now and then (supposedly) he'll help her. I told them I'm talking spotless!! I want all the corners, closets and under the bed done too! I need to run up and tell them all surfaces too!

I guess while they are doing that I can straighten up my own room and the finish going through the piles on my kitchen counters. I also need to do some laundry.

That said.... I'll guess I'll go get to it! Have a great day!

BLAH....

I'm having a bad time today. I started to say that I'm having a bad day but the day is fine. It's me.

I'm having a hard time getting over my missing DH. Not that I really get over it but I had gotten used to the feeling ~ the lonely feeling, the missing him feeling. I was used to it and could work around it but I'm feeling overwhelmed by it and am having to get used to it all over again! He was only home 2 weeks. You wouldn't think it would be too hard but it is.

I feel so sad when I wake up in the mornings, when I go to bed at night, and every time I go to cook a meal. I'm having a hard time cooking because I just get so sad. Now, I know why we had been eating out so much before he came home.

Now, he's gone again and I have to start over from the beginning. Don't get me wrong. It was wonderful to have him here to see him and be in his arms again. Wouldn't trade that, just wish it was easier to get back into my swing of being used to him being gone. (Never thought I'd say that!)

DD is having the same trouble. She was so sad at church this morning. When it came time for Sunday school she started crying. Poor baby. It took everything in me not to cry with her. She ended up staying with me for Sunday School. We have VBS tonight and I'm hoping she will be strong so she can go and have fun.

DS has just totally zoned out with technology so that he's not really given himself time to think about it. He does usually come in around bedtime and tell me he misses his dad. Tomorrow we are backing way off of technology so we'll see how he does then.

I guess that's really it. It's just BLAH here and a little sad. It will get better eventually.

Up early this morning....

I don't really know why but for some reason I was wide awake at about 5:45 am this morning!!

I got up and took the the dog out and it was such beautiful morning. The birds were chirping and singing, the squirrels were hopping from tree to tree and scurrying from here to there. It was just wonderful.

I came back in and, of course, got back in bed and played with the dog for minute and then I picked up a book.

I finally received "The Latin Centered Curriculum" by Andrew A. Campbell. It is very interesting and I'm very interested but it hasn't really talked about how to start in the middle (yet I've not finished the book). With DS being in the 7th grade that is for sure in the middle and even DD isn't at the beginning since she in the 2nd grade. So I'm not sure where exactly to start but we'll figure it out soon. I think it's what I want to do with our family so we will figure a way to make it work.

We are going to try to start our Latin this summer, on Monday to be exact. The kids are very excited. I'm a little intimidated and scared but again, we will make it work.

DD is about to bust with the excitement of her starting to homeschool. She wants to start NOW!! I've been trying to show her that we are learning in everyday things but she is in a "school" mindset so she's not sure she believes me. She is so cute and willing to learn.

DS? Well, he enjoys it but is having a love affair with the computer lately. He runs up the stairs saying, "I'm going to do history now!" Meaning that he is going to play "Civilization III" on the computer. I will admit that he is learning quite a bit from it but I wish he wasn't on the computer quite so much. I told him starting Monday, he'll be on it much less.

Our summer plans include, Latin, typing, some math and lots of reading, both family reading and reading on their own. I'm looking forward to it and I think they are too, for the most part. I'm not talking spending hours of their summer days this way just enough that we don't lose what we had (ds mostly) and move to far from our routine, so that DD can start to get used to it.

Well, I'm still trying to help the house recover from DH's visit. We've almost got it all done this morning but I do have some paperwork that is piling up that needs to be filed or shredded and just put away. I guess I best get to it so that in an hour or so we can go out and swim in the kids pool.

Have a great weekend!!!

Happy Friday!

We have a busy one planned. We've already been out to sign DS up for free golf lessons. I think he is excited about it. The lessons are just down the street from our church so I think on those days DD and I will go over there and use the piano for some lessons. We just have a keyboard so it will be good for her to use a real piano some.

We are getting ready now to mail some things at the post office. DH left sftuf behind that we are mailing him and then I have got to get DS's attendance form mailed in before I forget. I read some where that you should send a SASE and an extra copy of stuff you send in for them send back stamped filed so that you have proof and to also mail it certified with return receipt. Sounds excessive but I guess better safe than sorry so I'll be doing both. Do any of you do all this? If not what do you do?

DD has a birthday party tonight and I have a thing at the church for me and DS. He doesn't want to go but I just can't leave him at home at night. It wasn't well announced so maybe no one will come. Is that awful? I love doing stuff with the church and all but some times I just want to be at home. Especially after telling DH bye. I need that time alone, you know? This was on the calendar before DH came home and I'm supposed to be one of the people in charge. So... we'll go and I'm sure we will have a great time.

Well, that's about it here. How is everyone out there?

Hello dear cyber friends!

Well, DH was home for R&R the last two weeks. We took him back to the airport this morning. It was very hard to let him go again. We had a great time and really enjoyed being together again.

We did so much. DD had her dance recital and that was great. Then we had her birthday party a few days later. She had a great time.

We also had a fun trip to the zoo, and to a science center nearby. We did some shopping and some window shopping. We went to the movies. We scheduled some home improvements and just spent time playing and talking.

He's only been gone a few hours and I miss him so very much already. The kids are really having a hard time but in a day or two we will settle back down into our routine again and we will be fine.

DD is very excited about homeschooling and keeps asking when it's going to start counting for her days of homeschool. It's so funny!! We were playing a kind of game and they were laughing and having such a great time. I told DD, "Hey! Can you believe that we having this much fun homeschooling?" She giggled and smiled. It's great!

Well, I guess I've really updated you for now. I hope all is well with all my dear cyber friends. Until next time....