Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

Do anyone else's group shots look like this?  This is as good as it gets with us.   Not perfect, but better. This is my motto.  At one time in my life, I considered myself a perfectionist.  That was when I was the only person in my life.  I ate a healthy diet, I was in good physical shape, I had a super-healthy devotional life, and enjoyed my work.  I shared an apartment with a college friend, it was always perfectly clean.  My laundry was always done in one or two loads.  I bought a small bag full of groceries and it would last me a whole week.  I went on bike rides and joined a fitness club - I thought that was perfection.  But there was something I didn't know.   I didn't know how empty and lonely life could be when I was by myself.   And how quiet. I may have been teaching a classroom full of kids, but none of them were my own . I lived close to my family, but I didn't have one of my own.  Most of ...

It has been a long time since I've updated you on Art Girl's progress, so it's time! Actually, we had sort of a breakthrough day this past week.  It's all about Raising the Bar. After testing last spring , I decided to just buy the next level of homeschool books and proceed along the same path we had been taking. I was unsatisfied post-testing because we had no diagnosis, but I still knew there were some things about the way she learns that were not addressed.  They were not even a concern on the educational psychologist's radar.  She said to practice writing more and work on spelling.  Well...DUH! (Can I say that?  Is that too 90's?  Well, I was a teen in the 90's, so I'm owning it. I may even throw in a "Holy Cow!") There were also concerns about math, not being able to memorize, not understanding directions, shutting down in the middle of lessons...my list went on and on, but they were not convinced there was a serious enoug...

Slowly, it's dawning on me. We are moving on to bigger things.  I don't know if these things bigger and better , exactly.  Not yet.  Just a few years ago, I posted Superhero Undies in the Toilet and The Boo Boo Sock . When we moved in to this house, we had to put a step ladder up in the bathrooms so they could reach the sink. We devoted an entire downstairs room to toys and play, because that's what the kids were doing at ages 1, 2, and 5. The kids are now 5, 6 and 9 going on 5, 7 and 10 very, very soon (Hulk Boy's not 6 'til August). Whew!  Those 4 years flew by in an exhausting, busy blur. I once a shared with a friend that all of motherhood feels like a stone being "washed" in the ocean.  It rolls back and forth with the tides and the turbulent breakwaters, and finally ends up on the beach. After a quick breath of respite, the water comes back and pulls it back in the ocean.  Into the turbulence and the deep water.  The brin...

Has anyone else had to deal with statements like that this week?  Here are some sound bytes from our week so far: "I kicked him on the eye on accident," yelled Shopgirl in desperate attempt to erase the one millionth entry from the Hurt Hulk Boy Again Hall of Fame. Sigh. There's a lot of sighing that goes on in motherhood, I've found. It's time to head out the door.  All kids have miraculously found their boots, coats, hats, and gloves AND have put them on their bodies (be still my heart) and then comes that last-minute statement: "Where is my Star Wars shirt?  It's Star Wars night at our after-school program." Really?  You couldn't have mentioned that yesterday, or even this morning perhaps?  If you asked 5 minutes ago , we could have dug through your shirt drawer and threw something on.  Time's up.  Sorry - what you have on will have to do.  We're late (again!).  Let's go!! Sigh. We've had all mornin...

In the last month or so, everything spun wildly out of control.  Crazy-fast, extremely crammed, not a moment to think of anything except completing the next task.  The kids, on the other hand, had a great time! I'm not exactly sure how that happens.  We homeschool, so I set our schedule.  We keep our "out of home" activities pretty limited - two evening activities a week, and church activities on Sundays. All the extra Christmas shopping, baking, present coordinating, buying, wrapping and hiding might have done it.  We only baked one batch of cookies.  I sent only a few Christmas cards.  We went to only one Christmas party...but it all adds up.  Every time I sat down with the thought of writing a blog, there was something else that would come up. Things like Shop Girl's hair being caught on the water spout of the tub during bath time.  Shrieks of "Cut it off!  Cut it off!" could be heard throughout the house.   (...

<Pant pant pant> Whew!  How long has it been since I've posted?  Let's see... Was it before or after Halloween costume shopping, 3 Halloween parties, and trick or treat?  No.  That wasn't it. Was it before or after Hulk Boy threw up in the (new to us) van?  No - that was trick-or-treat night last week.  I think it was a combination of a belly full of candy and big sister's tickle fest that ended up on the big, stinky voms. Pee-Eww - I had to drive the vomit mobile for a few days because I had no time to clean it.  My good husband cleaned it as well as he could in the dark that night.  I just installed "caution" tape (not really), condemning the seat until it could be cleaned properly...and we kept going.  Windows down, of course.  Girls gagging and holding their noses during every trip.  Thankfully, I remembered vinegar's splendid odor-removing powers.   As soon as I had a "free" half hour, I attacked that s...

My previous post may have seemed a little grim in its perspective, but like everything else in life, we have good days and bad days. Some of the most wonderful homeschool days are when I come home from work and my husband has just finished teaching them for the day.  He's so excited to show me what they covered and how well each child did.  One day last week, he brought out his photo album from his trip to Israel.  The biggest takeaway was that the kids got to hold a real, actual rock from the valley where David defeated Goliath.  Hulk Boy was seriously impressed, and my husband took the time to share a passion of his with the kids. When I came home from work today, they had just finished an exciting lesson in entomology.  My hubby had found a really different looking bug while at work one day.  It was dead, so he put it in an envelope and brought it home.  This morning, he dumped the little bugger out of the envelope.  After the girls...