What matters most to me

  This fall we are going to home school again. I enjoyed my time off while they were at public school. I even wrote a novella in all my free time. Looking ahead to this fall makes me sigh a little in the realization that writing will again take a back seat to kid priorities. 

  My three are/have grown up so fast. I want to take all the opportunities I can with them now. In that aspect, homeschooling doesn't seem that bad after all. Plus, the great thing about writing is you can be 30 or 60 and it doesn't matter, the words are still there waiting to be written! 

  

highlights

  I came home from one of my many bike rides to find 4 out of 6 kids running through the woods shouting about the squirrel that would soon die at their hands. The smallest of the three, following at the tail end of the party, was wielding a garden shovel. I assume that it was going to be used in case the squirrel went underneath anything.
  The professor passed his swim test for the entire pool. He beamed at me through his goggles and swam in the deepest part of the pool for an hour. When we were done, he told me how exhausting it was to swim in the deep end.
  Mr. Steel got up in the morning and my mom mentioned that he must be cold because he was not wearing a shirt. He told her that he wasn't because he radiated heat. Its true.

homesteading

  I have gained a new respect for the settlers. After a month there is no way to play catch up. I'll touch on the highlights.
   We drove away from the peninsula June 6th after fetching a coffee from Adelades. Greg drove the animal van (5 goats, 9 chickens and Aiden) while I took the other two kids and dogs in the jeep. A trip where nothing breaks down at the side of the road or gets a flat is a good trip. This was a good trip! We made it in record time and peeled our household stuff off the top of the van and from the crevices of my jeep.
  The first week went by in a flash. Greg and I constructed a movable goat pen and I began a better milking schedule along with putting the chickens into a temporary pen every day. The kids played non-stop with their cousins and took multiple trips to the pond. I went to my MIL to help her move for the weekend and then picked up a $700 gas saver suberu on the way back. Why was it so cheep? Apparently the last driver chose to change lanes into a semi. Its not pretty, but after a month of tinkering its running well and Greg will be saving at least sixty dollars a trip.
  The next week we moved a shed and converted it into a chicken pen. We inherited 4 more chickens which were supposed to be layers but ended up to be Cornish cross. Those suckers can EAT! We couldn't figure out how the chickens could be going through so much feed and why they were getting SO fat. Well we butchered the three meat chickens and again inherited anther 4 hens. Yes these ones are the egg laying kind.
  There are two more weeks of life that have slipped my memory. Many people have come and visited us, I bribed Greg's uncle with a pie to move the homestead house next to ours so I could refinish it. The kids have stretched their legs in freedom and utilized all 20 acres over and back. Even my media hound Professor son has gotten into playing outdoors. He is currently reading a non-fiction book about chicken care and is planning on growing a beard and starting an egg business. To him, the two things go together.
  I dropped my peninsula weight gain like a bag of dirty laundry. Its nice to be able to slip into my jeans instead of hold my breath and tug. I've been working so hard that I fall into bed without getting to the extras like blogging and TV.
  Well, I hope now that I have caught you up and I can actually get around to blogging at least once a week. We don't have Internet (or constant power) at our house so it takes more work than walking to the computer and turning it on. Catch you all later!

parting shots

The leaving

Sure the experiment is only for the summer and after that we will make a decision about forever, but I can't help thinking about goodbyes. There are several things/circumstances I am happy to wave over my shoulder to and never look back at. It is the relationships that we have cultivated over the last seven years that give me pause. They are as follows;

1. The friendships I have made are hard to give up. It has never been easy for me to make friends quickly, its a process. I am happy to say I have several friends here whom I will miss the company of.
2. The church here is a good fit. Moving somewhere new means church shopping (for lack of a better word) and new faces, people, etc.
3. Greg and I enjoy going out to our local coffee shop. Driving five minutes to town, sometimes walking together, is a nice perk. I will miss it.
4. The ocean is beautiful. When I count up all the years I have spent living near the ocean, they outweigh the years I've spent not living there. When I look at Gods hand in nature it brings me peace. From the beauty of sunsets to the scuff of the sand as you traipse along the waterline, these things are an eternal imprint on my soul and the things I will, no doubt, be talking about when I am 85 and reminiscing.
5. Living close to my mom, although many days 2 hours seems too far, has provided much joy. She is truly my best and closest friend and confidant. My eyes get teary acknowledging the fact we will be separated by such a great distance. I figure if our relationship can survive menopause, six hours is an inconvenience our relationship can endure. Thank goodness for in network calling plans.
6. My dad provided the man figure when Greg had to work full time and go to school. The kids adore him (even if he spoils them too much) and although we grumble at each other from time to time, he is special to me. I hope he decides to travel to see us in his twilight years. (Just not driving a motor home while on oxygen *wink*)
7. I will miss coaching. Are you surprised? Last year was a rough one, but all the roughness helped me see the real reason I like to coach. I like it because its a tiny blip in time that I can make a positive impact on another person.

  I can't say how this experiment will turn out. I wish I knew. I hope you will stick with me through this journey and forgive me when the span of blogging stretches past a week.

lets play catch up

  Millie had her babies! Twin bucks. I roped my friend April into taking at least one. We are practicing milking and the kids all tried the milk...with mixed reviews. If its in their hot chocolate, who's to say they'll notice it?
  We have nine chicks. I love chickens and couldn't help myself when I found chicks for two dollars. Its my mom's fault, she gave me the money. Who can say no to free chickens? Not me!
  Two out of three kids have glasses. My oldest needs to wear them all the time and the youngest has reading glasses. They are both excited to show their cousin that they joined the glasses club. My youngest was singing a song about being a nerd and loving it. Funny boy.
  I am finding myself a bit sentimental as we look at moving on. I'm not a very sappy person, but there are a few things I will miss if we don't come back. The friends at our local coffee shop is one thing, my running buddy, and a handful of people who make this place bearable are a few others.
  Homeschooling has proved to be a boon as we prepare to leave. Its given the kids some down time from the stress and also provided an opportunity to shore up their reading skills. I don't regret my decision to pull them out when I did. I do miss all the time I had to write though. Now I think about great posts to write and fantastic plot twists...and it never gets past thinking. I went to coffee with a friend who encouraged me to make a point of writing. To keep it up. She's right. Sometimes it takes a friend to point out the obvious and make you see the importance of things.
  With that I have to sign off!

of soap and goats

  This month, when Greg got paid, I purchased some soap making supplies. Pretty much more oil than usual and some lye. There are two ways of making the soap: Hot and cold processing. I like to see both sides of the fence so I tried both ways. It proved to be quite enjoyable. The first kind was a castile soap (full olive oil) and it made such pretty bars. The kids chose the smell and its a bit strong, but from what I've read that fades a bit with curing. The second is an unscented olive oil/coconut oil with a splash of vegetable oil for kicks. I like the look of the cold process bars. They are firm and milky white. We will have to see about the hot process ones. The advantages to hot processing is you don't have to wait for it to cure very long. Its been fun to learn how to do something new.
  Millie continues to grow, grow, grow. I can see the advantages to owning a milk goat since they were a baby over buying an older one. She is still skittish about her udder being touched. If she has a doling we will probably keep it and have that be our milk goat next year. That way I can train her how I like. Millie is a very nice goat though and the kids love to go out and feed her sunflower seeds. They are excited to share their goats with the cousins.
  Today all three of my kids were making future plans. Some were about what we will be doing over the summer. Several discussions about movable playhouses and motorized go carts were quite entertaining. Some days I just sit back and listen to their plans. It cracks me up. The Professor said that when he grows up he will have a house very close to his best cousins and have only one child.
  I forgot to say something! Last week the weather got up to a face roasting 86 degrees! I record for spring at the coast. It was sad to see it give way to the usual 55 and rainy the next week. Blah.
 

last years hiking trip

 

This is how the Professor feels about camping. He is giving, what I like to call, the seven mile death march look. I promised him he wouldn't have to hike more than 3-4 miles a day on a backpacking trip again. Funny thing is, he complains the least and hikes the steadiest pace of all three kids.

 

Here is a family pic of us. Yes we are dirty and smelly, but we're all together. 

 

Until we discovered frogs, the kids were ready to mutiny because of the mosquitoes. Praise God for frogs!

The kids trekked the 7 miles in. Take my advise, take friends when you backpack with your kids. They have more fun and complain less. This hike was such a stretch.  Man were we tired when we got there! The cool part about pushing yourself to do hard thins is the feeling that comes afterword. All three nine kids never wanted to return because of the mosquitoes, but my three all agreed that a three mile backpacking trip was a cakewalk in comparison to 7 miles. 

 I love this shot because in about 10 years all these kids will be nearly grown up! (from left to right)Mr. Steel is the third one in, then the professor and my girl on the end.

The clear and beautiful lake held many a fish. Too bad we didn't bring any poles. I helped the kids make fishing spears, but the fish were all safe since no one actually knew how to spear fish.

 The professor hid in the tent the majority of the time. He hates mosquitoes. My other two hopped up from daylight until dusk and explored all around our camp-sight.

 This pic is me during the first part of the journey...before we ran out of water!

  Don't make me go to bed!!!

 What do you mean I cant chop down live trees?

 Mr. Steel and the Professor are opposites. Mr. Steel spend close to the entire time in the water or wandering the woods. He is made for the outdoors.

The professor came out of the tent in order to snuggle and talk with me. You can see he is hiding in the sleeping bag away from the mosquitoes.

I'm sure you noticed the redundant use of the word mosquitoes in this entire post. Believe me the droves swarms large scale invasion of mosquitos nearly ruined the trip. The frogs may have been a plague in the bible, but it was the saving grace of this trip.

pregnant goat update

I talked to the previous owner ( who bought millie pregnant) and they were pretty sure the dates were in fact correct for her kidding out the end of next month. (May) Holy cow she is going to be huge! I'll make sure to post pics so you can watch her grow to an enormous size. Goat watch 2014 has officially been postponed for a few more weeks.

Waiting for babies.

  Millie is stretched like a balloon. Her spindly dairy legs don't look like they should be able to hold her up underneath her burgeoning belly. Yesterday we checked on her three times, but no baby. I've been reading posts on kidding...insert your own pun here...and have found nothing helpful. Everyone else out there is guessing too. Short of buying an ultrasound machine, we're stuck with checking on her three times a day. These are the times I wish she lived in our yard.
  Homeschooling is going well. All three are a more at ease and are treating each other better. I DO miss my free time to write, but what's life if you didn't have to learn new things all the time, right? I decided to work on another novella. The first one needs some marinating time: Time that I don't look at it and tweak it repeatedly. Perhaps I'm just avoiding it?
  This AM Mr. Steel woke up, got dressed, and headed out the door. He started a garden plot for himself right in the middle of my aged compost pile and he wanted to get an early start on it. I'm to pleased with his work ethic to get upset about the fact my compost has turned into a tire garden with a 'frog pond' feature. Mr. Steel feels spring biting at his heels. I'm trying to hold off planting because we wont be here for the summer.
  My leg is much better. The scar will color for a long time. Yesterday it turned purple because it got cold.. I guess I'll have to get rid of all those mini skirts I wear, not to mention the Daisy Duke shorts. (HA)

Here is the garden in its beginning. Mr. Steel is digging away. It looks even better this morning. He just asked me if he can purchase Koi for the 'frog pond.'

My girl is walking in a parade on Saturday. Last week she received the citizenship award with another boy from her class. She is ecstatic about it. She's an extrovert like my brother.

Allergy season isn't kind to the Professor. He spends all spring stuffed up. It doesn't sop him from being the first one up every day. He's a morning guy.

Birthday pics

The first picture is the "smile nice" picture. Doesn't Mr. Steel look like he is smiling nice.

 

The second one is Mr. Steel sitting on top of his brother. Much happier, go figure.

My rabid pack of hyena's ran around the house eating cake. They watched a movie and then managed to spread wet paint across several pairs of jammie pants and the floor.
 Where did they find the wet paint? How do flies find poo? It cleaned up. The kids did too. Great party. What did he wish for? To go to camas to be with his cousins.

Name that tune

  This morning is Mr. Steel's official birthday. We celebrated on Sunday along with Easter because my parents were up. He got up with a smile and his audio book. The professor cooked him noodles for breakfast (noodle are king in this house) and all three broke into 80's rip off songs where you put the word milk goat in the key phrases... Here are two that made me chuckle:

1. Hit Me with Your Best Goat. (Hit Me with Your Best Shot-Pat Benatar)
2. Don't you look at my milk goat, she's the only one I bought.(Take a Look at My Girlfriend-Supertramp) 

  So much has happened in the last month, finishing a novella, the writers conference, my horrid burn, a milk goat purchase, etc. I can't remember if I told you the kids came back to homeschooling? They did. All of them. My writing productivity went down fast. All I've accomplished is blogging more than three times in a month. At least that's something? 

  Every homeschooling year has this honeymoon period at the beginning. It lasts around a month...It works out just right. By the time my three are squirming in their seats, we will be at summer break and doing bridge the gap books. My goal is to get Mr. Steel reading so well that he can work independently without having me read all the instructions to him.  

   

Oh my...

Its healing for sure. It looks worse, but feels better. Yesterday marked the first day I could handle hobbling around without surging pains in my burn. Both Greg and I are more than jumpy when the kids are around hot water. Eventually he will forget and I'll be able to hold a mug without him scowling at me...Then again maybe not.

 I took pics of every day. It helped me see the healing, because when your stuck on the couch for more than a week even pictures of your own burn are entertaining. The top shot is in the AM. The shot below is of that evening. Sorry if I grossed you out.

Millie milk goat

Millie is our recent herd addition. I told you about picking her up in my jeep on the way home from the writers conference. She is a black earless (its natural not docked) Lamancha goat. She looks round because she is carrying twins, due to come the end of May. The three white and brown goats are the goats we purchased from my friend April. The mom is named pumpkin and the babies are destined for the freezer upon maturity... we aren't naming them. Did any of you read Heidi when they were young and fantasize about owning goats? I did until my mom told me goats smelled. We moved near a buck goat shortly after. It convinced me, hands down, no goats. He smelled so bad that we had to shut the windows during hot summer evenings in Idaho. Bleck! What a surprise when I found its only the un-castrated males that reek. (Apparently they like to pee on their heads) My goat girls don't smell like much at all. Its an adventure for sure. We are hoping Millie has at least one girl so we can keep it around.

 

 

 Millie and her pregnant belly

 pumpkin and the meat twins

 

Millie and the geese at our friends farm.

 

 



to Easter

  The Easter season has its own set of traditions. In California it meant hunting baskets in the snow. In Idaho Dan and I elbowed past a thousand children in the park to find one egg that might contain cash instead of candy. In Oregon we hunted our Easter baskets inside because the weather rarely permitted for anything else. The traditions that didn't wax and wane with the years were dressing fancy for Easter Sunday, getting up for sunrise service, and being a family.
  Today instead of dressing for church I dressed my leg. Sunrise service was out of the question. Family on the other hand is a tradition not so easily shaken off by circumstance. I'm grateful for the fact my family came to be with me today. We celebrated Easter along with my youngest son's birthday. I'm thankful for the sunlight after the rain and celebrating Easter with people I love.
  As God pushes our lives in a new direction this year I have to stop squinting to see what's ahead and be thankful we have a direction to go.

He is risen!

why I hate taking sick days

1. Because when your a mom and work at home you watch things fall apart while your 'sick' ( in my case injured)
2. No amount of craigslist surfing can cover the bordom of staying on the couch five days in a row.
3. I leave this one blank...
4. Last, you have to be sneaky about doing dishes or any other house chores lest you endure grumpy looks from your husband.

  Honestly the thing that's keeping me down, other than a throbbing pain in my leg is the threat of infection. This year we are debt free other than the house. One zippy trip to the ER and all our hard work penny pinchhing would dissapear. We' d soar right back to where we were. Ug. Yes I've spent way too much time on the couch. Ug ug. It would help if the household were cheery. Its funny how the movies always get it wrong. Instead of opening the curtins to a sunny day where I sit on the pourch as the children play happily in the yard...I'm stuck inside on a dreary day where two out of three kids re stomping about grumpy and/or emotional while my third wishes I would get better so he can sit on my lap again. 

 Ug.

couch surfing

  Staying still for more than a day is rough. Today I went against my sisters advise and I did all my usual routine things...like volunteering for recess. Oh man. By the time I hobbled home I wished my throbbing leg would fall off. No taking care of the goats today. I'm back on the couch. Greg forbid me from volunteering tomorrow and I see his logic. Dying form a leg infection in a tropical jungle away from helth care is one thing. Its a whole other ball of wax when you live in the developed world. Am I grumbling? Yes.
     Wish me luck as I surf netflix movies from the couch...

tea leaves a mark on me.

  Yesterday I arrived home with a live goat stuffed into the back of my jeep. That's right I said a goat, Lamancha to be precise. We have meat goats and just needed a milk goat to round out our herd. I spend the writers conference pitching the novella I wrote and scanning through Craigslist adds in the area. Sure enough a little black Lamancha add came up and I worked out the details to see her on the way home.
  With Craigslist, you never know what the person is going to be like that is selling said item.  The family selling Millie was a 20 something version of Greg and I. They had one little girl and were starting out doing something new and had moved from Portland to the sticks to start a more simple life. We chatted for a long time. I couldn't help but pet their livestock guardian puppy who rolled about my feet, soft downy fur deep enough to bury your hand into. I left them with money in their pocket and a goat in my back seat. I felt temped to pull into a coffee shop with my new goat Millie poking her head out the rear window, but figured she needed to get home as much as I did.
  We settled her in with our Meat goat pumpkin. Pumpkin is the herd queen and Millie and her had a few rounds before Pumpkin won.
I came home to settle into the usual routine and poured my steaming cup of tea, sat by my husband (who I missed seeing over the weekend) and started watching a show. Two minutes into an episode of Psych, I bumped the couch and the cup poured over onto my lap. I flung my pants off and dashed to the freezer. Ice didn't help. I ran/hopped up to the tub and poured frigid water over my leg. At this point I admit to crying out in uncontrollable pain. I spent the next 6 hours in excruciating pain half of my body submerged in tub water. I thought about going to the ER, but the bill and the fact I would have to ride in the ambulance without my icy tub of water stopped me short. Every time I tried to get out my leg shook with pain, heck I shook with pain. Finally, at three AM I hobbled to bed and sprayed peppermint/ clove oil on my burn while the fan blew air over it.
  Exciting right? It left a memorable fingerprint to the time I spend at the writers conference this last weekend. A memorable event I NEVER want to repeat. This AM my husband brought me my coffee in a cup with a lid. He said, "Someday you'll get to use a real cup again." Too true.


Scroll down if you aren't too squeamish to see my leg. I'm wearing shorts and the worst of it is covered by a bandage.

Sixty days

  What am I doing? Blogging. What should I be doing? Unpacking.
  We arrived home, after the usual 6-7 hours of driving from the camas house. What is it about driving that makes sweet little cherub children turn into loud marauding bandits? We stopped at Grandma Judy's house and one of my bandits (ahem ahem Mr. Steel) snuck outside the van when we went to leave. Nothing like waving goodbye to your own child as you pull out of the driveway! He hopped back to his seat, a sly grin plastered on his face, satisfied to have given us our daily dose of shock therapy.
  We accomplished so much on our trip, building a goat pen, cleaning the barn out, burning piles of debris, and yes...envisioning living there on a permanent basis. More than one night I crawled into bed feeling older than 32. The back draw to projects and hard work is the time zooming by. It felt like we pulled in to turn around and drive back home again. *sigh*
  A box containing the correct size of heels arrived at the house during our trip away. They aren't the 4in variety I sported at last years writers conference. These mustard colored beauties could fall under the sensible category. But don't be fooled, the cone heel and x strap pull of the vintage feel without looking marmish. 
  Today marks our 60 days until moving back to the mountains. Its been sparse blogging for the last few months, I know. Once I'm out in the middle of the woods you'll be surprised how much more I have to say- till then keep checking back.
 
 

Drip of water

  It rains a lot here. Too much even. There are days when I just don't feel like hauling in the toys/wagon/sports gear and it sits until I feel like its become part of the scenery. A white trash version of a pond surrounded by lawn statues. The rain starts to fall one drop at a time, filling buckets and wagons and puddle boots until I cant take it any longer and I dump them out, haul them back inside, and tell the kids, "Next time I'm throwing it out!"
  The days are disappearing before the next writers conference. In the last calendar year I've sold three snippet articles to Focus on the Family. Three droplets of rain at the bottom of my wagon. When it fills up, perhaps a part time job will appear? Who knows.
  I've always struggled to have confidence in myself. When my writers copy of a devotional I wrote came in the mail today, I felt embarrassed. Who am I to think that writing a few words and selling them is truly writing? It takes so much work to ignore my inner voice, that some days I shut the computer on my work and let it sit for another day.
  This year the writers conference is looking for Novella (short) length manuscripts for Christian romance. I noticed it on the website and  conned   bribed begged   asked Kristen to join my novel in a month challenge. We both pulled out a rough draft in 28 days. I don't think I've ever written 21,000 on a project before. Its exciting...and silly. I'm not hanging too much hope on it getting published, but the fact remains that I set and met another writing goal.
  Public School has left me more stressed this year. Its a rough bunch of kids this year and mine are getting the brunt of it. We've met with the principle so many times in the last few months that I'm worn out. The last two weeks (three?) I have attended lunch recess to make sure the three are safe on the playground. It chops up my day into little sections. I cant wait for the school year to end.
 

   

Eleven...not seven.

Yesterday we celebrated my girl's eleventh birthday. ELEVEN AK! Wasn't she just turning seven? My parents couldn't make it because of the flu so I zipped into town and bought her a tiny cake, some fabric markers and a t-shirt to decorate. She had her close friend from school over and they decorated t-shirts, ate cake and played with dolls. I'm so thankful for my girl and all the joy she brings into our house.

 Her birthday party started off with Mr. Steels suggestion that we should throw balloons on her when she entered the door. My girl loves surprises and balloons. She was thrilled about the cake I picked out too. It's just her size.

Mr. Steel looks like a geriatric version of Lex Luthor with his head shaved and two front teeth missing. Anytime the camera is pulled out...he's there, ready to jump into the shot. Thanks especially to Aunt Lori for sending a running hoodie and running shorts. She looks like a tiny athlete in them. fortunately for me 11 is not to old for me to tell her how cute she looks in them.

nit picking

  I only wish this was a post about how I'm obsessively pestering my kids about reading, writing, and homework. Its not.
  Last week during our bi-annual cousin extravaganza I came up with a great idea. My kids have been sitting at the table sewing so much I've been tempted to start selling items on the internet as "made in America by an American sweatshop." They must enjoy it, since a few mornings before school they have stumbled down and skipped breakfast to sit and sew. I thought, hey if my kids love it...why not buy old sheets from the thrift store and the cousins could join in the fun too?
  That's not where the problem came in. They did indeed have fun. The problem came when, on the way back, the kids pulled out the unwashed fabric and played with it in the van. Here comes the gross part- ready for it?
  The next day my girl plopped down at the table and I did my usual obsessive head checking. Ever since school has stopped doing it, I find myself picking through all three kids hair on a regular basis. Lo and behold there was a stranger on a strand of hair. A little bump I've never see before. A NIT.
  You have my permission to itch your head now. Everyone checked out clean except my girl. My head still itches just thinking about it. Those little suckers tried to break into the wrong house. My sis and I cleaned like mad, gave everyone lice treatments (just because), and did laundry until 2..no 4...no all night.
  My girl has been nit free for two days. I am surprised she's got any scalp left, I check her 2x a day and then make her shower and change. Its been a long week. I didn't let it overshadow the cousin visit though. It was so much fun to be with Kristen. We are both participating in a challenge to write a novella in a month. I might actually make it if I can stop being distracted by...ug...laundry!
  Hope your week has been a less crazy than mine!

catching up pics

  Sorry I didn't format these pictures so they would be smaller. I don't think I have posted pictures of Greg and the kids shooting before. These are taken around April of last year. Its hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact this month my girl and the professor are going to be another year older!
  My girl is turning 11 years old. Shoot, at eleven I was such an emotional mess. I wanted to be a grown up but still liked playing with my totally hair Barbie (shout out if you know what I'm talking about) I remember for my 11th birthday, I used all the money that was gleaned from the birthday cards toward a cabbage patch kids crimp and curl pony. My mom warned me that I might not play with her. Being stubborn, I played with her just to prove a point...but she was right. I would shortly be leaving my little girl days behind. With my girl I'm taking it one day at a time. Kid or young adult, she is fun to be with.
  Tomorrow I am breaking the professor out of school to go play at the arcade. He LOTHES school. Not the work mind you, its the crush of people and the bustle of the whole thing. So for his birthday this year I decided to take him out without his siblings and just have fun. He is such a special little person. He is very caring and compassionate and never forgets to give me a kiss in the morning. He has a constant cold/stuffy nose, gets tired easy, and loves indoor sports like video games and more video games. My life wouldn't be the same without his encouraging attitude.

a few things to remember

  Wow this week has been intense. Not only is basketball proving more challenging than I anticipated, now we are looking at getting Steel tested for dyslexia and looking into what it would take to move while Greg commutes back for work. Even writing the words makes my eye twitch!
  Basket ball has been challenging because we have a number of girls that didn't start out working well together. God changed my viewpoint about coaching and helped me see that this year its more important to teach good teamwork skills (and to get along) instead of shooting drills. Its been WAY more stressful, but the girls are getting it...and working as a team is a good life skill to help develop.
  Today my girl and I rode our bikes to her friends house where I dropped her off. On our way we were discussing my outfit for the upcoming writers retreat. I've been in a dilemma, skirt or dress...dress or skirt. My girls opinion is always fun to hear because she looks at life so differently than I do. This was her answer.
  "I think you should wear a dress. You look good in dresses. Unless..are you going to be sitting down in bean bag chairs?"
  Love it! 10 year old kids look at life from a different angle, I would have never even thought of the possibility of a bean bag chair/wardrobe malfunction, but she was on it.
  My blogging has been less of late as I am pouring all my writing time into the kind that pays money. Last month I sent 6 snippet articles off and am now working on a larger project for the conference. Thanks for being a patient reader and checking back.
  Yesterday on our monthly shopping extravaganza I found a circa 1950's brother sewing machine and its all I can do to focus on writing instead of playing with it. The best part about it, other than the fact it was 25 bucks are all the foot attachments. Well that's enough for now! Catch you all next time!

Basketball, bling, and birthdays

  The season starts again. That's right folks basket ball! Actually, in my mind right now its,'uuhhh my aching legs..basketball.' I am playing at assistant coach again this year. That means nightly crock pot meals the kids make faces at, late bedtimes, and very very exhausted me.  It also means my writing time is pruned down to the necessary, aka the kind that makes money. This week I am sending off some devotions to Focus on the Family because its nice to get paid for words. Truth be told, after outlining an entire book, I got the urge to print the file out just so I could burn it. I cant stand looking at my work for more than a month. Now you know why I give away 90% if my knitting projects.
  Greg's grandmother gifted me the most amazing sapphire ring for my birthday. Its gorgeous, beautiful, and more than I could have ever imagined from someone not even related to me. Pictures to follow when the kids stop robbing the camera of all the double A batteries.
  Today was Greg's birthday. 33 no 34. I get it wrong every year. At least I remembered what day it was on. We went out and looked at all the stores he likes. I even sat in a knife shop for more than an hour and talked with a couple old men while Greg browsed and chatted. It was good to spend the day doing nothing, because this morning we received the, "this is what your medical insurance company wont pay," letter. Always a downer, but even worse on your birthday!
   Life is going well here as we enjoy the sweet spot of our kids childhood basking in all the silliness before its gone for good. Hmmm that end sounds just like a Christmas letter. Perhaps next year I'll write one out, stuff the envelopes and leave them in a box in my closet.

And now I get in shape.

  Three years back, I use to get up early in the AM and do pilates. Every morning. No fail. My kids would stumble in and say, "don't you want to stop and be with me mom?" My dad (we lived with them at the time) would walk by the family room and say, "what's the point." Still I pressed on.
  When we moved back into our house three years ago, I seriously considered that question. What is the point? Here I am working out every morning for nothing. My kids want more time with me anyway. So, after eight years of consistency, I slowly tapered off. It wasn't changing me at all.
  With thoughts of, 'I'll do it tomorrow,' and 'a few months skipping wont hurt,' filled my head. Months turned into years. Perhaps, its the changing of a new year that got me thinking about it or the fact I tried to do a few sit-ups the other day and died, but all that work had accomplished something. It may have been subtle and small on a daily level, but huge over a span of time. It did in fact make a difference.
  I am not sure if I will ever be inspired to work out in the AM again. Who knows. I am going to think a lot harder about the little daily things I do and their real worth. What if I chose to tell my kids, "No. Today I'm not going to hug you. I don't feel like it."

The daily value of something could be as small as a penny, but the overall value is beyond compare.

Happy New Year 15 days late!


   

back to normal

  After two three glorious weeks away on vacation, we are home. Please accept my apology on being gone from blogging! I got distracted by chasing kids and sledding down hills. Runner sleds are even more enjoyable when your an adult because it goes so much faster! Of coarse you have to turn off the responsible part of your brain that is calculating the hospital bill totally OFF.
  We spent two weeks with Greg's family and I turned around and spent a week with my mom and dad. By the time I arrived home for good, the many nights spent on 'guest bed' mattresses had caught up with me. What's that? No, the sledding doesn't count.
  I reveled in the thought of climbing into my own bed and getting a real nights sleep. After putting the kids to bed and watching a movie by myself, (Greg is back to work) I walked onto the porch and turned the dogs out one last time. I stood there waiting for them to come in, thinking how nice it was to be back... when I heard talking. My girl must have turned on an audio book? I poked my head inside. Nope. When I stepped back outside, the talking grew louder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a lone figure walking/talking to herself. All my time away made me forget about the meth zombies that live around here. I hurried the dogs inside, but not before she had the chance to call me baby. As I cradled my shotgun in bed, I thanked Jesus that meth zombies are loud and if they do try to break in, they might talk themselves out of it.

Welcome home!