Last day (Feb. 4-Day 21)

Wow, I honestly never thought it would be possible to go so very long with no sweeteners (well almost, that bitter hot cocoa was too much to handle).  I feel so good.  Clean, from the inside out.  Now the next step...keep it up for 2 more months so I can kick this Candida Albicans to the curb!!

Starting Stats:
Weight: 159.5 lbs

Waist: 38"

Hips: 41"

Bust: 41"

Thigh: 24"

Ending Stats:
Weight: 158.8 lbs

Waist: 37"

Hips: 40.25"

Bust: 41"

Thigh: 23.5"

 

So I am down almost a pound, an inch off my waist, 3/4 inches off my hips, and 1/2 an inch off my thighs.  Not bad, but I'm glad I wasn't doing this for weight loss.  It does make you wonder though why I didn't lose more weight.  You'd think that kicking both sugar and grains to the curb would net more drastic results.

That will be my next goal...figure out how to lose weight and get even healthier.

Me and the littlest muddler



Dealing with Diapers (Day 18-February 1)

Having a baby means that 90% of my life seems to revolve around the little muddler.  It is still amazing to me that such little creatures require so much time and so much stuff!!  And I'm not even talking about the extraneous stuff (like toys and wubbies and diaper wipe warmers and change tables).  I'm talking just the basics people.  Diapers, clothes, blankets, car seat, pacifier (though some might consider this extraneous), baby gates (though these are not required for every home).  Seriously, the younger the infant, the more stuff you have to carry with you when you leave the house.  Thankfully (and sadly) my littlest muddler is now 14 months old and our 'suitcase' is rapidly decreasing in size when we go out.

Before she was born the debate was on: cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers.  Some background here, we cloth diapered with our second youngest muddler.  My husband does NOT like cloth diapering...at all.  He thinks it is gross.  This makes me laugh because people have only been using disposables for the last few decades.  However, he actually was the one who decided to go with cloth diapering.  I like cloth diapering.  Putting on those bright happy colors and patterns makes an oft performed chore...dare I say it...fun. 

 

My box of cloth diapers

BUT I do not like cloth diapering at night.  SOOOO I discovered a fabulous company that makes me feel better about disposables.  The Honest Company ** Non toxic better for baby diapers that come in a variety of adorable patterns.  I just opened my box to find all these fun patterns.  So fun.

My box of Honest diapers

 It is the little things in life.


Menu

Breakfast:  Choco monkey smoothie

Lunch: Sweet potato, chia, and bratwurst hash

Dinner: Chicken, cauliflower, fresh artichokes

Snacks:  Lemon ginger tea




**I recieve no compensation from this company for saying nice things about them.  I just really like them.

School Day Blues (Day 17--January 31)

January.  Blech.  For anyone out there who home schools (and probably even teachers in public or private schools) this is a totally blah month.  Coming out of the Christmas holidays full of presents, family, fun, games.  Ending on the high of New Years Eve with our house full of people talking and playing board games and eating.  Going back to the daily grind of schooling seems...well boring.  I'm guilty of giving my kids and I an extra day off almost every week since school began again.   Not for them, for me.  I don't want to do school.  I'm hoping now that January is about to be finished we can head into the homeschooling time zone of, "Oh, it's almost May we need to get this done!"  Today though, I just want to play hooky (but I won't).  However, I do believe I will take the kids swimming this afternoon.

Menu

Breakfast:  Cranana smoothie

Lunch: Sweet potato and chia seed 'pancakes' (I use the word pancakes very loosely here, as they were very, very delicate.  The downside to not being able to use eggs).

Dinner:  Bratwurst, cabbage, and brown rice noodles

Snacks:

Tax Time (Day 13-Jan. 27th)

Hmmmm, how to describe the last day and a half.  One word: taxes.  Yep it is that time of year again and being married to the marvelous man that I am we are never, never even close to filing late.  In fact if the calendar flips over to February, we are late.  This is a good thing and something I admire and am more than willing to ride along.  However let me add two more words to that first one: glitchy technology.  OOOOOHHHH the wonders of our modern age.  Everything is peaches and cream until it happens.  TWORK!  A glitch!  We must have had to restart our computer 5 times yesterday, run 3 scans, correct, disinfect, and clean.  I am so over having to think about doing anything harder on the computer than typing this blog post and checking my facebook page.

Then today, taxes finally filed, we start on the girls' passports.  My muddlers and I are heading up to Canada this summer to visit with my family.  Since the baby has never had a passport this is a great time to get her one.  I decide to double check the other passports.  Son, check. Still good (we missed our last trip up to Canada because his passport was expired!). Daughter #1, shoot. Expired.  Daughter #2, shoot. Expired.  Mine, ooooo cutting it close.  Expires the month after we get back from our trip!  Well whoop dee doo now we get to go and spend $315 on passports PLUS $33 for their passport photos.  Super fun. 

So we trek into the city (20-25 min from home).  Arrive at the courthouse.  And realize that I have forgotten ALL of the paperwork at home.  Birth certificates, expired passports, the whole thing.  Which means that we get to do it all over again next Monday, as that is the only weekday my hardworking man has off.  Garumph.

So I am off to enjoy a banana, avocado, coconut smoothie and then I am going to bed.

Menu Day 13

Breakfast:  Chocolate banola with coconut milk

Lunch: Homemade spaghetti sauce over zoodles (zucchini noodles-surprisingly delicious)

Supper: Greek veggie and bacon 'pizza'

Snack: banana, avocado, coconut smoothie

Think Excellent (Day 9 --Thurs, Jan. 23)

This has been a hard day for me.  I am exhausted from cooking and cleaning and homeschooling and extracurricular activities.  I'm tired of not eating rice, and pasta, and bread (all gluten free, egg free, and dairy free of course).  I want to be able to easy snack.  Garumph!  All I want to do is grab a plate full of tortilla chips and dip them in salsa and guacamole.  I want easy food!!!  And to top it all off I am pretty sure I am getting a cold.  It has been a very, very, very, very long time since I was sick.  I don't want to be sick.

Alright I'm done.  Truth be told I feel good.  (other than the whole getting sick thing :-) ). I feel...clean.  Food is starting to taste sweeter (though I don't think that super bitter hot cocoa will ever taste sweeter).  I feel good.  I can tell that my body is already functioning better.  Most of my candida symptoms have cleared up which is marvelous.  I have also been exercising more often this week and I can tell my body is responding positively there as well.

Wow that is amazing.  I sat down at my computer desk full of grouch and growl.  But as I wrote that second paragraph my mood began shifting.  Focusing on the positive things, despite feeling down, really does shift your emotions as well.  Hmmmm now to remember that the next time my children spend the day pushing each others (and my) buttons.  To look at each of them and remind myself of all the positive things about them.  My mom used to say that for every negative character trait there is a corresponding positive one.  Point in case my five year old is stubborn and independent.  If she thinks you are wrong it is nearly impossible to convince her otherwise...even with proof right in front of her.  BUT that stubborness if fostered correctly will become tenacity, which is not a bad thing at all.  That independence, which at five drives me bananas, will serve her well as a young woman and adult.  And that need to be right, if taught how to find the facts and adjust her opinions accordingly, could lead to a person who digs deep for the truth and doesn't take everything at face value. 
Yup, an amazing lesson just writing those first two paragraphs demonstrated:  focus on the positive.  It is even biblical!

 

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philipians 4:8

Menu Day 9

Breakfast:  Choco Monkey Smoothie

Lunch:  Leftover shepherds pie

Dinner: Ratatouille

Snacks: Chocolate banola, butternut squash soup, zucchini/onion/ham saute

Learning Lessons (Day 7 Sugar Detox)

So in I came from doing the milking this morning only to hear my children before I even got to the house.  Yes, my wonderful, sinful, young muddlers were in the midst of a finger pointing sibling yell fest.  Joy (insert sarcasm).  I started to join them.
"I don't care, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!  Whatever it is canNOT be worth the fighting and the tears. It doesn't matter!  I don't care!"

And then it hit me.  I was adding to the problem.  I was making it worse.  I was informing my children that their concerns (no matter how trivial) didn't matter!
Normally at this juncture in the process I would internalize my shame and keep on with the lecturing.  Today I did something different because of two different things that had pierced my parenting bubble yesterday.  The first was this article written by Dr. Vanessa Lapointe of The Wishing Star.  And the second was a long facebook 'note' another girl posted saying basically the same thing only adding the gospel truth to it. 
 

Sooooooo, I paused.

I washed the milk bucket.

I began rinsing the milk filter.

Behind me my son began crying.  Big tears of absolute sadness.  Normally I may have chosen to ignore this.  Or more likely I may have given him a hug, but without saying anything or perhaps lecturing some more.  Today I hugged him and then asked what was going on.  Gulps, more tears, and it slowly came out, "I hate being yelled at and getting in trouble. But sometimes I get so angry I just can't keep it in.  I just go all AAAAAARGH."  Bingo.  There it is. The truth.
Today I helped this all play out different.  Today I HEARD him.  And the truth is sometimes I just can't keep it in and I go all AAAAAAARGH! And the truth is, that is just being human.  Soooo we chatted about that.  How everyone has trouble and does things that are unkind, or hurtful, or mean.  How at some point everyone has lost it.  BUT I informed him that I love him, no matter what, and that we have a great, big God who loves him no matter what.  And that same great, big God will live in us and help us act right with His strength.  Now I was much wittier and gave real life examples of my own struggles controlling my temper, both helping to ease the tension (giggling ensued) and pointing out that indeed "there is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10) Not even moms.  BUT "sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14) and "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). 
 
Let me put it more simply.  This is what my son was told this morning, he was told he was HUMAN, and LOVED with a love that had no conditions upon it. We are sinners, through and through.  We are going to mess up, time and time again, but we can learn from our moments of frustration and anger, we can call upon God to help us and forgive us...and we an realize that we are going to have to do this again and again.  He can KNOW that I love him and he can talk to me no matter what!

The outcome was he returned to doing dishes with a smile on his face AND patience with his little sisters.  It is several hours later and still he is showing patience and love and kindness to his sisters.
ALSO...I am responding to each of my children with more love and compassion.  With a voice inflected with interest showing them that what they are saying IS important and DOES matter.

I know this is a lesson that will have to be repeated, both with my children and with myself, over and over again.  But it is a lesson worth repeating.  I desire my children to feel loved, to change their behavior, not because I have threatened them or yelled at them, but because they desire to show love and patience (with God's help).  I want to see hearts changed first so the behavior changes will stick.  So the behavior flows from the inside out instead of from the outside in.


Menu: Day 7

Breakfast: Cranana hemp protein smoothie (This is pretty yum!)

Lunch: Shepherds Pie with cauliflower/sweet potato mash

Dinner: Leftover Shepherds pie

Snacks: coconut meltaways, chocolate banola, herbal teas

Babies!

Baby, baby, baby.  Probably my most favorite thing about owning dairy goats are the babies.  Every spring little bouncing baby goats make their debut and they are soooo adorable it is ridiculous.  Except this year of course.  Oh, they are adorable, no mistake.  BUT they arrived at the beginning of December instead of the spring!  On the coldest day of the year to date!  With snow falling! (Now I grew up on the prairies of Canada, so this shouldn't be a huge deal, but here in Southern Oregon snow is a bit of a novelty).  Brrrr, goat chores in winter can be c-c-cold.

Two muddlers and 3 babies (Sled, Frosty, and Ginger Snap)

Day 5:

Breakfast: Choco monkey smoothie (I really like this smoothie!)

Lunch: Left over parsnip and bacon stuffed chicken, leftoever butternut squash soup, green salad with italian dressing (homemade)

Dinner: Baked pork chops, cauliflower, sauted zucchini and green onions.

Snacks: coconut lemon meltaway, bitter coconut hot cocoa (oy, so I cheated on this one by adding coffee hazelnut flavoring--it was sooo bitter I would have had to toss it and just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Still bitter, but it took the edge off). Fresh ginger and lime juice 'tea'.

Thief (Day 4-21DSD)

There are times I look around my house in wonder.  I marvel at the cascade of both clean and dirty laundry in my laundry room.  I wonder where those dirty dishes came from (didn't I just do those?).  I wonder if the floors really need to be swept and vacuumed.  I wonder, how did this become my life!

But I also look around and, as frustrated as I get with the perpetual mess, think how lonely and sad I would be if my children simply weren't.  It helps take the edge off all the clutter the little muddlers produce (okay and the 2 big muddlers too).

Littlest muddler stealing my smoothie!

(She did NOT want to let go)

Mmmm, Lunch

Day 4:

Breakfast: Choco monkey smoothie

Lunch: Green salad with almonds, bacon bits, and homemade italian dressing, and grilled chicken breast

Dinner: Bacon and Parsnip stuffed Chicken, Asparagus, salad

Snacks: Coconut Lemon Meltaways

Grrrrr (Day 2 DSD)

Yikes!  I was a bit, um, grumpy today.  My poor children.  I really did try to keep scary mommy in check, and I think I did alright mostly, but my goodness, the sound of roller blades zipping around my kitchen just about did me in!!  Thankfully the sun was shining and at some point the older kids landed outside on the trampoline and I was able to find a little bit of my patience (though it was ragged)
The day ended on a high note with my 1 year old belly laughing so hard she could hardly breath as she rolled a little car down my stomach.  She had me laughing right along with her, pumping endorphins into my brain.

Who wouldn't smile at this sweet face?!

Menu: Day 2

Breakfast: Bacon and root veggie hash (surprisingly sweet)

Lunch:  Mini Mexi-Meatloaves

Dinner:  Curried butternut squash soup (this is one of my all time favorite soups!)

Snacks:  Choco-monkey smoothie, cinnizilla nut mix

Was hungry today, but that was my own fault.  I just didn't stop long enough to really eat a good meal.  Should have added salad to lunch, I think that would have helped.

Triggers (21DSD-Day 1)

Exercise: Ice skating with my kids. Super fun!

Triggers.

I had one today.  A memory trigger.  A moment when that one small sound or sight sends you whirling backwards into days of yore.  I don't even know how to adequately describe my trigger.

The smell of cold ice, and bleachers,

and skate polish, and the musty scent of damp, arena floors. 

The smell of an ice skating rink.

 

I love that smell.  I practically grew up wearing ice skates. It has been probably 11 years since I have even stepped foot in an ice rink.  One deep breath though and the memories flooded in.

 

 

 

Alrighty then.  Day one is unofficially over.  I have survived.  I have felt the beginnings of sugar withdrawal.  It is not horrible just yet, but me thinks it will get worse before it gets better.

On the plus side, I did not feel out of control hungry, and even though I am craving sugary treats I do not feel overwhelmed by the cravings. 

Menu: Day One

Breakfast: Chocolate-Monkey Smoothie--DEELICIOUS!

Lunch: Green Salad with Asian style meatballs and spicy sesame ginger dressing--Meatballs were good, but the dressing needs tweaking.

Dinner: Tuna salad and green salad

Snack: Very small green apple with coconut butter

Even though this is NOT a weight loss program I thought it would be interesting to see what happens in that area.  So I will give you some of my stats today and then again on day 21.  Even if there is no change from now and then, I know I will be on my way to ridding myself of the Candidiasis infection and feeling a whole lot healthier.

Weight: 159.5 lbs

Waist: 38"

Hips: 41"

Bust: 41"

Thigh: 24"

 



New Food Adventure

Let the Food Adventure Continue! 

 

Now that I have conquered The Big Three , I am getting set to climb the next culinary peak.  One that appears almost insurmountable.  What is this vast mountain?  S-U-G-A-R!  And I am not talking about just the obvious forms of sugar (cane, beet, succanat, honey, coconut/palm, etc), but ALL sugar including all things fruity (with a few very, very tart exceptions) and all things fake (which I don't use anyway).  Yikes!  Good-bye all things yummy and delicious.


Now I knew when I found out about my food sensitivities that I also needed to ditch all things sugar for a minimum of 3 months.  Why on earth would I ever try to torture myself this way?   Well I seem to have a mild Candidiasis overgrowth in my digestive tract.  Lovely.
I have unsuccessfully tried since finding out to break up with all things sweet.  I have yet to last even 2 weeks.  This has to be the hardest thing...food wise...that I have ever in my entire life tried to do.  However, now that Christmas and New Years Eve are slowly fading in the rear view mirror, I believe I can now take on this last hurdle (fingers crossed) to the new healthier me.  That said, I am going to be utilizing a new tool to jump start my journey. 


I was doing the bi-monthly grocery shopping (all by myself, no little muddlers) and I ran across this book, The 21 Day Sugar Detox.  It intrigued me.  It appealed to me.  It begged me to buy it.  I picked it up and perused, drooled over recipes, and then placed it in my cart.  21 days, menu's already planned, pre-made and printable shopping lists!  Um, Yes. The prep work has (mostly) been done for me.  A lot of the food my family will simply eat along with me which is even better! 

**Some of the recipes use eggs so I will have to replace those, and some call for seafood in various forms which I dislike and my DH has a shell fish allergy so I will avoid those (except the ones with tuna...I like tuna)**

Now 3 days post shopping trip I am sitting down and finding the replacement recipes for those that I cannot (or will not--in the spirit of truthfulness here) eat.  Also, I am trying to eat up those things in my house that I know I will not be able to resist if they are sitting in my house. 

Like these super delicious chocolate coconut butter cups I whipped up last Friday.  They are mouth meltingly good!  These are my last four.  They will be gone by tomorrow at the very latest.

 

Inspired by my own mother (her blog: A Journey to Health--One Step at a Time ) and encouraged by her to blog my 21 Day Sugar Detox challenge, I will try to blog each day (four kids and homeschooling family that we are, we may have a few misses here and there). I am taking the first step toward the summit. 

Today is Day 0.  The day before I officially begin.

 

Let the Detox begin!!

 

P.S.  Those delicious chocolate treats pictured above?  Yep, gone already.  Sigh, this is going to be difficult.

The Big Three

Time marches on. Time flies. Time rushes past. It doesn't matter which well-worn phrase you choose, they are all true (except when they aren't!)
My baby, which I wrote about in my last post, is now a lovely, chunky monkey at 10.5 months and has been the happiest baby ever.  I tell people she was born 99% happy.  Now that she is older and desiring more independence I would have to say that ratio has dropped down to 90% happy.  Elizabeth is a joy (now if she'd just sleep through the night!)
(I'd post pictures, but my SD slot is on the fritz and I have no way to direct connect my camera. She's pretty adorable though.  Trust me.  Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Now onto the next...
Topic, not child!  I have recently been diagnosed with some super fun (insert sarcastic tone) food sensitivities.  Oh I had kinda figured that I had them because I have almost always had digestive trouble for just about as long as I can remember...starting with dairy when I was a child.  But I had no idea the extent or extremes of my sensitivities.  The first thing to go was the super trendy sensitivity GLUTEN.  In fact I cut gluten out before I ever made it into the doctors (only for 2 weeks though).  Okay, I can live with that.  I have niece who has celiac's disease and a sister who is very gluten intolerant (and recently my mom has been diagnosed sensitive as well).
Then the Dr. ordered tests and when the results arrived she opened our meeting with the oh so encouraging statement, "Well, the bad news is your system is a mess, but the good news is we can fix it."  With that she confirmed my gluten sensitivities suspicions (off the chart, celiac levels, but without the official celiac disease).  The second thing to go was...DAIRY! (including goat milk).  This means no butter, no whey, no milk, no yogurt, no cream cheese, no any cheese, no anything that includes the word milk.  Do you know just how many things have some form of milk in them?  I bet you don't unless you have become a label reading maniac like myself.  The third thing to go was EGGS! Okay hold on, did you know that almost EVERY THING THAT IS GLUTEN FREE CONTAINS EGGS?!  Yup, so now I can't even buy gluten free bread, if I wanted to.  Cookies off the shelf, gone**. Ever tried making pancakes (gluten free or otherwise) without eggs? yup, not as easy as it sounds. (at this moment I will interject that I also have moderate sensitivities to about 8 other foods, but dealing with The Big 3 are all I am handling right now.)

Let me tell you for about a month I was starving!  I felt hungry all. the. time.

I have never eaten so much salad in a month in my entire life.

I have never spent so much money for a months worth of groceries as I did that month.

I have never had so much stress over food as I did that month.

I have never panicked over food so much (I was stockpiling.  If I found something at the grocery store that I could actually eat, I would buy it...a lot of it!)

I look back now and I am thankful to be past that initial stage.  In fact (it has been 4 months since the initial diagnoses) I now have 3 official cookbooks that contain none of the things I can't have, including 2 baking/dessert books.  In fact when my first baking book arrived in the mail yesterday (yay), I opened it up expecting to have to go buy yet a whole bunch more weird ingredients and lo and behold I actually already had everything at home.

That moment when I realized I could go home instead of to the grocery store made me smile.

THERE IS LIFE BEYOND FOOD ALLERGIES!

I'll say it again, there is life beyond food allergies.  Even more than life, there is good tasting, good for you food.
Because almost every processed, pre-packaged food out there is off limits to me, my healthy food quotient has gone up, up, up. 
Salads?  Actually craving them. Bread? bah, take it or leave it to be honest.

So what's next? 
Converting my family over to my way of eating.  The kids are willing participants in this endeavor.  I try to warn my husband beforehand if something is made so I can eat it to.  So far, there have been very few fails.  (waffles without any flours didn't work so great, but tasted delicious as a 'pancake' scramble).

And I have stopped panicking.  I no longer stock pile the junk food that I can have.  I feel like I am almost in my new normal cooking place.  I am getting to know which restaurants I can eat at, which brands I can buy and where I can buy them for (more) reasonable prices.  I am beginning to believe that I can live the rest of my life without The Big Three.

I. CAN. DO. THIS.  My new chant.

**Note**
I have, since that first month, found several brands that cater to people like me.  They even make cookies I can buy in a pre-made packet.  However, these cookies sell for about $5 a box...for 16 small cookies.  A little pricey for me to indulge in too often. And also a pancake mix that I just add water to, but again pricey to buy a package for an entire family.

Growing...Adventures

Written March 26th--Sesame seed, lentil, blueberry, kidney bean, grape, kumquat, fig, lime,
medium shrimp, lemon...I get a kick out of this.  No, I'm not creating some strange new dish, rather tracking the size of my growing and developing baby.  Yep that's right.  Baby #4 is on the way!
I am both excited (yay I get to have another baby) and scared (oh no I miscarried the last one, will this baby be alright?)  Oh no, my youngest is already 4 I'm going to have to baby proof the house allover again.  Yay, I get to breast feed again!


Continued August 9th--My goodness, what a myriad of emotions roll over and through and around us pregnant women.  Well I'm happy and relieved to be 26 weeks along as of tomorrow.  Little munchkin is bopping around with great force at times and making me smile, even if her bounce house antics keep me from falling asleep easily.
It is different this pregnancy.  For one the kids are so very aware of what is going on this time.  With my last (full term) pregnancy, my oldest was only 4 years old, so he knew a baby was coming, but didn't really have any questions about it all (other than, how was the baby going to get out of my tummy!).  This time the kids are concerned about what I eat (is it safe, too cold, too hot) and how hard they hug me (will the balloon the baby is in pop?)  My youngest (who is now 4) has all kinds of fun questions like, "Mommy when the baby comes out of your tummy, will you be able to bend normal again?"  Every question and concern they have for both me and the baby makes my mommy heart smile.

Oh and it's a girl.  Our house is definitely estrogen ridden.  My gallant son (9 years old tomorrow) informed us he "wasn't TOO disappointed" that it wasn't a boy.  Knowing my children as I do, and having seen their reactions to other infants I'm sure they will be head over heels in love with her the instant she arrives...at least until she is big enough to be into their stuff and know how to push their buttons.
As for me, I feel like I'm going to be sooo very ready for this munchkin.  We have a crib, I have diapers (yes I'm cloth diapering this time around), I have a change table, as of today I have some clothing for her to wear for the first 3 months of her life.  What I'm not sure about is how she will fit into homeschooling.  Perhaps the better way to phrase that would be how homeschooling will fit around her!  It is all an adventure and I'm looking forward to starting it with her in my arms...but am planning to enjoy the rest of this last (hopefully) pregnancy.

Lasting Impressions

I was just outside pitching baseballs to my son.  What fun to see his face light up when he hit the baseball.  Nothing says spring is coming like sunshine, blue sky, and a boy with a bat!
Memories of my own softball playing days came crowding in as I watched my sons enjoyment.  Most good, but not all of them.  One in particular stood out.
I never actually played t-ball, but I did go to a practice...once.  The coach lined me all up, put the helmet on my head, handed me a bat, and put the ball on the tee.  Then he stepped back and I took that as my sign to swing.  What I didn't see was a younger kid (mind you I was all of 6 at the time) behind me.  CRACK!! Yep, you guessed it.  My enthusiastic swing caught the poor child right in the head.  Even now, many, many years later I feel the remorse well up inside of me...and also the feeling of being blamed and punished for something that I never intended to happen.  The coach read me the riot act (as a parent I logically understand why, but as a child all I heard was "You horrible, awful kid look what you did!!") and sent me home.  I never darkened the t-ball field again.
So all you parents and coaches out there.  Be careful not to react in such a way as to send a child away from a sport to never return.

Shoeshine

So you know those moments where your heart is just overwhelmed with love for your children or your spouse? Well I had one of those today. My son Nathan has been choosing to wear his 'church' shoes on Sundays. His question before lunch today was "Dad can you teach me how to shine my shoes?" Now why this particular comment would cause that love sensation I'm not sure, but it did.

Learning

Well the school year for us officially started on September 6th.  I was nervous, let me tell you!  Me teach my own kids reading, writing, and arithmetic?! 
We started they day off just reading the Bible and then praying for each other.  Even now a week later this is the best time of the day.  The kids seem to really enjoy this part.  Then we do weather, days of the week, and our hundred day of school count up (bee #6 is on the board today).  Next we start school.  Nathan starts with penmanship and seat work and Emily and I do her language arts, reading, and poetry.  Then I introduce her new cursive letter and she does the practice sheets for that.  While she is doing that, Nathan and I take on language arts, reading, and poetry.  Then we all take a break.  After break Emily does seat work and spelling and Nathan and I do Math.  While he does Math worksheets Emily and I do Math.  Then she does Math worksheets and we are done.
On Fridays we do any tests that are needed and then right now we are doing science.  Later we will take on American History.
I've learned a lot this first week.  I've changed our schedule 3 times already :)  Also I've learned that at some point during the day I need to remove myself from their range and just be alone.
Let the Adventures continue.

The Decision is Made

Well we have made the decision to home school starting this next year.  We will be taking it one year at a time.  Several things brought us to this decision.  First, we have a hard time placing our children in public school.  Our district has been hit hard by these economic times and that has led to cut upon cut upon financial cut.  This year the number of teachers has been razed to the bare minimum and they are predicting around 40 kids per class!!!  Also, I have a hard time subjecting my children to friends that I wouldn't be comfortable letting them go to their house to play with.  Our children are not missionaries!
Our kids have been attending a private school and the curriculum they use places our kids at least one if not two grade levels ahead of public school (My 2nd grade son was learning some of the same stuff my 4th grade nephew in public school was).
Second, the gas money required to get my children to their private school was 3 times what the tuition for the school cost!!  Now David has a pretty good job, but with gas prices going up our gas was going to land at almost $800/month!!!
So we looked at our options.  Homeschooling won.  For less than one month of tuition + gas to get them to private school we could buy all the home school curriculum and outfit the 'school' room.
Now that the decision is made, I've ordered the curriculum and have started organizing the school room.  I must admit I'm part excited (always thought I'd be a good teacher) and part terrified (stay at home with my children and teach them!!)
Let the Adventure Begin!

It's a Foreign Language

You almost need a degree in Meganese to understand my daughter when she talks...at least about some things.  You have to just know what she means, or you are out of the loop.  I can understand what she's after....mostly, her father is a bit more clueless.  Some examples:
"Mom I want my tappings."
"Those are my click, clicks."
"I want to wear my rounding."
"Do you see my oncles?"
"I want to watch Sam."

The interpretations are as follows:
"Mom I want to wear my blue canvas shoes with the rubber toes."
"Those are my plastic princess dress up shoes."
"I want to wear my dress/skirt."
"Do you see my elbows?"
"I want to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

Now I'm sure you could have guessed the rounding, but every single other one threw my husband for a loop.

Kids are so fun, and I love all her little sayings and will miss them as she grows up.

Who Knew?!

So who knew dishwashing was a contact sport? Apparently in our house it is. Nathan faked right and went left and I smashed into his forehead with the edge of a plate. Whoops!

                                                               

Spring Cleaning Fever

Well spring is in the air.  It must be because my little fingers are starting to itch and my brain spin with spring cleaning ideas.  It doesn't help that I've been reading a book titled "Is There Life After Housework" by Dan Aslett (I think I spelled the name right).  My plan for spring cleaning this year is to start by SIMPLIFYING.
I was doing laundry this week (so what else is new) and Emily brought down her dirty laundry...all three baskets mounding full...and she still has stuff in her drawers!  Seriously?!  Nathan and Megan's clothing piles aren't much better.  So I'd like to downsize the kids closets and then just get rid of all that stuff that's been sitting there for years that I haven't touched since we moved in here 3.5 years ago. 
I'm planning to start in my bedroom, which is a bit overwhelming because our closet has a storage area in it.  I am so looking forward to decluttering our house!
Of course it may take me years to do it, but I'm hoping not.
Alright, off to bury myself in dust and stored stuff.