day 92, Thursday

We have had THE busiest day ever.  We left home at 8:25 this morning and I'm just now returning at 4:30.  This, my friends, is rare in the homeschool world. 

My homeschool group meets every Thursday, so that's where we were all day.  I have to be there early, because I help with admin stuff, and setting up the sign-in sheets for our instructors. 

I think I ran from one end of the church to the other at least twenty times, before I could go join the other mom's for Bible study.  (I'm NOT complaining, I promise!  I'm just giving a break down.)  Our day usually ends at 12:45, but since Graham and Drew are with me now, they have joined Gen SC (Generation Student Council).  They meet the last Thursday of every month from 2-3. 

I forgot about that and had to come home so we could all eat lunch, then drive them back to Germantown Presbyterian. 

We got back home around 3:15, but I needed to make a Kroger run and stop by my Mom's place of work.  Graham and I did that, and visited with her and the sweet owner for a little bit before coming back home. 

So now, here I sit at 4:37.  I'm seriously about to go put on my most comfy clothes and veg out the rest of the evening.  Todd's working again, so guess what that means?!  I get to watch my shows!  And Glee is supposed to be amazing tonight.  :)  And we're having oven-baked chicken tenders and something yummy my mom just gave me for dinner tonight.  Because it's easy and all I have to do is heat it up in the oven.  (Thank you, Mom!!)

I'm thankful for busy days.  As crazy as that sounds, I am, because that means we are healthy and happy and able to run around like crazy. 

Love to all. 

day 91, Wednesday January 30th

I threw in the date for my benefit.  Pay no attention.  :)

Today was an okay school day.  Some days seem really productive, some don't.  Today was so-so.  Jonah suffered from a sinus headache most of the day, so he did piddly stuff while Noah did other things.  I really try hard to keep them on track with one another just for my records.  I can wing it tomorrow and Friday, though. 

Graham and I had fun practicing Spanish today.  He is able to keep up with the class he just came out of, which is really cool, so we learned words for party planning.  Drew is testing my brain over vocabulary words in this English we're doing called I.E.W.  I finally made him install a dictionary app on his iPod. 

We did other things, too, but those are the ones I thought were blog-worthy. 

Noah got a new toy today!  With his leftover Christmas money, he bought himself a mini-trampoline.  Graham, Jonah and Noah worked hard putting it together today after lunch.  They did really good, too.  The only adjustments Todd had to make were minor.  He had to tighten up bolts that weren't screwed on tight enough. 

So guess where it will (temporarily) reside? 

Yup.  That would be in our living room.  He was resting and watching a show, all at once.  ;)

Today my list of things I am grateful for consists of several things I observed in my house today. 

I am thankful for:

a protective older brother.  Graham offered to do something first to keep the other boys from getting hurt.

a good attitude, even when I know Jonah didn't feel good today.  He was a trooper, and kept working.

a son who is a good steward of his money, and who loves to share it with his brothers.  (Noah)

a helpful Drew.  We're reinforcing our long division skills, and he answered questions today while I got dressed. 

These things might seem small, but in my eyes, they're huge!  I have been praying (and praying and praying) for an obvious change in attitude with my oldest son, and I saw it today.  I saw him being helpful and protective.  Do you know what that does to a mama?  It's so good for my heart.  I think now that they've been de-school-ified helps.  (Mrs. Spell Check does NOT like my word, but isn't it great?!)  They've accepted that our days are different now, and while it's been an adjustment, I keep seeing little glimmers of hope. 

I love it and am grateful for moments like these. 

Love to all. 

just a few things

Since I started homeschooling all four boys, I feel like the majority of my time is spent in the kitchen.

*Please don't think I'm complaining, I'm not, I promise!  I love the kitchen.  I love cooking, I love the cleaning part (well, maybe not always), I love that all the boys are here every single day for every single meal.

If you ask them, they'll tell you one of their favorite parts about being homeschooled is the fact that they get really good breakfasts and lunches.  ;)  It's true that the way to a boy's (man's) heart is through his stomach.  This morning I made breakfast sandwiches which consisted of sausage and cheese between two pieces of toast.  I had yogurt.

Just now we had lunch.  Jonah and Noah had a leftover chicken tender (which was HUGE) from the other day, Noah had cheese with his, Graham had a sandwich and French onion dip, Drew had broccoli cheese soup and crackers, and I had half a sandwich with a few chips with dip on them.  We all drank sweet tea, except for Jonah, who had a coke because of a sinus headache he's had all day.

*Note to self, maybe on days when a child has a sinus headache, that child shouldn't be made to read or concentrate heavily on a unit review of vocabulary words from the past ten weeks.

I will be done in the kitchen until about four thirty.  Then I'll start pulling everything together for tonight's dinner.  Which will be super simple because it's church night.  I like to clean as I go, so at the end of a meal time, my counters are always clean and clutter-free.

Like I said, most of my day is spent in the kitchen.  Especially when you factor in the fact that at least two boys do work at the kitchen table.  My Bible and devotional books are in there, too, so sometimes, we all sit while we work or read quietly.  It's kind of nice.

Speaking of the Bible and today's devotion, I came across a great verse for today.  It's from first John, chapter five, verses fourteen and fifteen.  They read like this:

 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

I simultaneously love and dislike these verses.  I love them because, obviously, it's God's written word.  And I love that assurance that God hears us, and gives to us what His good, pleasing and perfect will is.  The thing I dislike about these verses is that sometimes when we pray God's will, it hurts.  

For example, Monday nights have become my favorite.  :)  My sweet best friend, Mandy, and I have started watching The Bachelor together.  I know the show's junk, but I love it and it's always more fun to watch with a friend.  The first night we watched together I made a fudge pie for us to enjoy together, and I took a thermos of decaf coffee with special cream.  This past Monday night, she made cookies, along with strawberries and whipped cream.  Yum!!  I was miserable when I left her.  

The reason I go to her house is because her hubby manages the Carrabba's in The Ville.  Lately, he's been traveling to Murfreesboro (near Nashville) each week, from Monday through Friday.  She hates the traveling he's been forced to do.  Even though he works late hours, just knowing that he'll be home with her later, is reassuring.  We've been talking about this for quite some time, and the big question has been, 'is he going to be transferred there?' because of how much he's been going.  

I've started praying that God just have His way in their lives.  Mandy is miserable, I know David isn't thrilled, the kids miss him when he's gone.  I know that God's plan for them is perfect, and I've been praying for some answer, any answer for the direction He might be leading them.   And as much as I love my precious friend and would miss her, I know that the way they've been living apart is not good for a family.  

We have this rule, that we each come last with one another.  Husband and family ALWAYS come before our time together.  Which is why, when we spend Monday nights together, it's late, after our families have been taken care of.  She gets me in a way that nobody else does.  We have this thing, where we laugh with our eyes.  I swear, we can tell stories without uttering a single word.  

The first time we met was when we were in middle school.  She was from Atlanta, Georgia and lived here for two amazing years.  They moved back to Atlanta, but I traveled there to see her anytime I could.  Spring break, summers, this one time I was there on vacation when her parents decided to take us to Panama City Beach, Florida.  We have stories that would make an Armed Guard laugh.  

We go way back, needless to say.  

Which is why I am near devastated over the fact that they are moving.  I don't know when, or for how long, but I know it'll be within six months.  Probably less.  I always knew that this was their temporary home, though.  I wasn't all that surprised, even, when she told me.  However sad I am, though, I am so happy that God is doing His thing, and getting them all in the same location.  I know her daughter is sad, but it'll be a good thing for their son, who doesn't have many friends here.  (He's in 8th grade, she's in 11th.)  

Why do my best friends always have to leave?  I could really start a pity party here.  

I won't, though.  I know the tears will come soon enough.  For now, I will enjoy whatever time with my sweet Mandy that I have left.  I will continue watching our show on Monday nights with her, I will continue to have our girls' night outs with her, I will celebrate her 37th birthday with her next month.  And you better believe, I'll be visiting her at least twice a year in her new town.  :)

Sorry for the length~I just needed to "cry" a little to someone.  I'll leave you with a pic of us from Christmas.  

  
I hope you all are blessed enough to have a best friend, or at least a friend, as amazing as this woman is.  I love her.  

Love to all.   

day 90

I can't believe I'm on day ninety.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I started this whole project.  Has being intentionally thankful helped me in any way, you might wonder?  I would say that it most definitely has.  Writing it out forces me to take a day, good or bad, and find something positive in it.  Some days that's easy, but some days it's very hard. 

Today, on this ninetieth day, I am thankful that my man is home with me tonight.  He tends to work on stormy nights, but so far, he's staying here.  The boys and I are all very happy about that. 

What is it about storms that creep me out?  I guess the fear of the unknown.  Are you ever too old to be scared of one?  I don't think so.  I'm about to retire to our bedroom with my book.  Hopefully I'll be fast asleep by the time it really starts to get nasty.

We'll see how many kids end up in our bedroom floor.  I'll let you know about that tomorrow.  ;) 

Love to all.  

If you were a fly on the wall, you would see (or hear)...

...

the way that Graham did an about-face in Walmart today.  Seriously, I almost ran him over with the basket.  We were heading out the door, when he stopped and ran up to an elderly man who had just walked in.  He was saying, "Sir!  Sir!"  The man stopped, and Graham held out his hand and said, "Thank you for serving our country."  The man looked him dead in the eye and with a stunned look that turned radiant, said, "Thank you, young man."

the many times the boys told me "thank you" today.  For a special lunch, for dinner, for making homemade chocolate chip cookies, for homeschooling them, for helping them with math or vocabulary words, for buying them all their favorite flavors of yogurt.

us once again at the Johnson Park turf football field.  We had a great day of school and celebrated by going there when all the work was completed.

the kids arguing.  Me telling them to stop.

them hug each other.  How can argumentative little souls argue one minute and hug the next?  I don't know, but I love to see it.

the looks I get when I walk into the Walmart at twelve thirty on a Monday afternoon.  With four boys around me, on a school day, no less.  I can see/feel the judgement.

me pray about friends who I feel are mad at me for some reason.  I don't like knowing or wondering if someone is mad at me, and over the past few weeks, I have felt that way.

me, dressed down on a day that started off being dreary.  I did apply some make-up, though. 

hearing/seeing Jonah and Noah cry tonight over a conversation we had about loving one another. 

(Written Monday night)

Love to all. 

catching up~days 87, 88, and 89

Our weekend was so great, and so low-key.  Sometimes it's just nice to not have anything to do or anywhere to go.  We even missed church yesterday~because Todd was missing about half of our day, we decided to just relax all day, together. 

I am so thankful for time like that. 

Today we have had a spring~like day in The Ville, so I'm thankful for that as well.  It was nice wearing a short sleeved tee shirt and flip flops today.  After our school work was done, we celebrated by going to their favorite turf field so they could play football.  :-) 

I also grocery shopped and got all prepared for dinner tonight.  Tonight's menu consists of hamburgers.  Good, old fashioned hamburgers.  

How was your day?  Thanks for all the comments lately!  Love to all. 

day 86, Friday (and some other fun things)

I am thankful for days like today.  A perk of being a homeschool family is flexibility.  We'll do some math and language to catch up tomorrow, but for today, we took a field trip.  :)

Before we left, Crash decided he'd like to sit in the head of our family's seat at the table. 

Can you even believe how ridiculously cute this is?  He should be glad he's cute~sometimes his looks are all I like.  ;)

We were anxiously awaiting on Pappaw to arrive.  We had lunch at Chick Fil A, then we headed to the Children's Museum.  A favorite place of ours. 

We always go to the Fed Ex exhibit first.  How funny is it that the boys had to wait on Pappaw for their turn to fly the plane?!  I'm pretty sure he had more fun than them. 

They have lots of new things they've added since our last visit.  This rock wall was one of them. 

So was this playhouse thing.  Jonah said he was pretending he was being kidnapped.  ???  Don't even ask.  All I can think of is that he watches too many cop shows with his beloved dad. 

You are never too old to pretend.  These emergency vehicles will never get old!  One thing they're adding is a firehouse.  Hopefully it'll be done in the next few months and we can go back. 

Another new thing was this see-saw.  Can you believe the man on the right of this thing is almost eighty-two years old?!  Don't tell him his age, though, it might depress him. 

Seriously, this day was amazing.  Like I said, we might do a little weekend catching up on math and language, but that's perfectly fine.  I'm not constrained by time anymore.  :) 

I hope your weekend is immensely blessed.  Love to all.