Looking Up

Tonight was the evaluation for the girls at the new gym.  THEY LOVED IT!  I was so excited to see that what I thought was going to be just okay for them turned out to be a fantastic experience.

JJ made an immediate friend and Nina was chatty with all the girls (some might say she takes after her mother, I don’t know why *grin*).

The girls did good, even though there were skills that they hadn’t learned yet.  What the gym lacks in “bling” they make up for in the individual attention they are able to give to the girls.

Bubs was able to show his abilities to the boys coach for a few minutesm which was a pleasant surprise that we hadn’t planned on.  Moe of course found his way to the bars and wanted to show what he could do as well.

All in all it was a great night and I am really not all that sad we had to walk away from the other gym.

 

Priceless

Competitive leotard, warm-up suit and personalized gym bag….. a lot of $$$

Fees for 12 hours a week of gym time…. even more than you can imagine $$$

Gas to get to gym 30 minutes away several times a week…. I don’t even want to think about it

Watching JJ’s face when she heard that this fall there may be mandatory practices on Sunday and if not at level 4 then definately when she gets to a higher level…..PAINFUL

Hearing her say she needed to walk away from this FANTASTIC gym with amazing coaches due to that Sunday practice….. PRICELESS!

 

We signed all the paperwork for the parents association, brought her to her first official 4 hour TEAM practice, and then found out that there would at some point be mandatory regular Sunday practices.  I was NOT prepared for that one.  I had a feeling I would have to find a way to deal with meets on Sunday, but I never thought that there would be practices on Sunday.  Maybe that is my simple mind living in my “keep the Sabbath Day Holy” world.  It really was painful to see the hurt in her eyes when I asked her if she still wanted to be on team if she found out that there would be practices that she HAD to attend on Sunday.  You could see the hurt pouring out of her eyes in a steady flow as this was something she REALLY wanted.  Yet, in a nano-second she replied, “I will have to quit”.  She didn’t want to wait and see if it was going to happen while she was in level 4 to make her decision.  She knew that at some point in time if she stayed with this gym she would be asked to make this choice and she decided to walk away.

Rodi and I quickly made calls and found another gym, smaller & maybe not as great, but there are NO Sunday practices and not all meets are mandatory so if there is a meet that falls on a Sunday she still has an option to opt out.  The girls start tomorrow and the boys begin next week.  We could have kept the other kids at the gym we were already going to as Sunday’s would not be a factor for them (yet) but we figured that would be hard on JJ.

This was a HUGE choice for her and we are THRILLED with the choice she made with out hesitation.

Priceless, simply Priceless

Red, Red, Red….

Are you wearing your red today?  Today is Go Red for Women day.  Please wear red if you have it and show your love for those who have been touched by heart disease in their lives.

My grandparents on my Dad’s side of the family both died in 1993 in their early 60’s of heart disease.  My Dad past away in 2002, 2 short months after turning 50 of heart disease.  My mother’s side of the family has also been touched by this ugly beast.

My dad may not have been the picture of health but at the same time he didn’t look like a heart attack waiting to happen.  My grandparents were VERY healthy people and their lives were cut short by this life threatening disease as well. 

My family story has shown me that heart disease does not discriminate and while you may not look the part it can still worm it’s way into your life.

I am trying my best (though it is very hard at times) to keep it at bay.  I do not want my children to look at their children and wish that they could have known me.  It brings sadness to me quite often as I watch Bubs at a wrestling meet, or hear something that Moe has said and I can’t pick up the phone and call my dad to share in that moment with me.  My grandparents were never able to meet Rodi and that would have meant the world to me.  I think my grandfather would have loved the fact that Rodi was into athletics and that my children are following that path as well. 

So instead of my grandchildren wondering who I was and having my children shed tears about conversations that can no longer occur, I am going to step up to the plate and do my best to not let heart disease take over.

Please check out the Go Red For Women web site today.  There is a ton of wonderful information on the site.

Join me as I CHOOSE TO MOVE

Homeschool Schedules

Just when I think I have the perfect schedule ready to go something happens and tears my schedule to pieces.

Today when I took the girls to the YMCA for their PE class I discovered that my M,W,F schedule had been vandalized in a huge way. M,W, and F mornings were set aside for Bubba and I to workout in the fitness center while the girls were in youth watch and Moe was in child watch.  We would then do classes after lunch and if need be we would finish up after dinner.  Well that just isn’t going to happen.  They will no longer be offering the morning youth watch as of October.  It just really stinks because the only other time of day they offer it is from 5-8pm.  Once wrestling starts next month there is no way we will be able to go in the evenings. 

We are there on Tues. and Thurs. for HS PE but they don’t offer child care during those hours.  Today Bubba, Moe and I took advantage of open swim while the girls were in their class.  Bubba swam laps and got in a good workout.  I on the other hand held Moe the entire time and that was about it.

I have got to figure out how I am going to fit in my exercise.  I don’t do well with late in the day workouts so it may be a real struggle.

Right now a typical day finds us picking up the house for an hour before we begin classes at about 9am.  We break for lunch around 12:30 or 1 and then at 2pm the kids independently complete those last lingering assignments for the day.  Sometimes there isn’t much to do and they are finished by 2:30.  Other days they go until 3:30 or 4pm  Just really depends on how much we can get in during the morning hours. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays we try our best to start on time and stay on task so that we are done with our day before we head out to PE class.  No one, including me, feels like coming home to do more school work after 3:30.

When I first pictured HS’ing life I saw something so different than the reality of it now.  Homeschooling moms and dads juggle so many different things in their day and each of us does the “school” day differently.  I guess that is the beauty of it.  I am not forced to conform to a certain schedule because it is what works for others.  I am blessed to be able to schedule our day around what works for our home. 

I am sure once Rodi comes home our schedule will go through another series of changes.  Those changes will be met with gladness though as he will be here, and that can bring nothing but good things!

Homeschool PE

The idea was to get the kids out of the house and have them running around once a week with other home school kids. 

It’s the thought that counts right?

The girls arrived on time for their class today only to discover they were the only ones.  I was a bit shocked, not that I expected 30 kids in the 5-8 year old class.  I had expected maybe 5 though.  The reason I signed them up was because I had heard such great things from others about this program.  So where were all these others that had given me the info.????  I’d like to know.  The girls wanted to stay so I said okay.  I mean it was paid for and it was exercise so no one was really losing anything.

The girls had a BLAST.  They loved their instructor and were surprised to find that the hour and a half was up when I came to pick them up.  They worked on basketball skills today and even had a bit of homework, a worksheet with scrambled basketball terms.  JJ was thrilled to report she made 10 baskets in a row.  Nina even made a few, not in a row, but the fact that she made any brought a huge smile to her face.

Bubba goes on Thursday.  I double checked before we left today to make sure he wasn’t the only one on the roster.  Thankfully there are a few more kids, well 2 more.  I hope he has as much fun as the girls did.

Now you see it…

Hey where did you go????

Today Bubba and I had so much fun with Moe.  The girls were in the YMCA participating in the Home School PE class, the boys and I were outside taking a walk.  It was a sunny day and there were shadows everywhere.  I wasn’t sure if Moe had ever realized what shadows were so we stopped and I said “look down there, where’s ‘Moe’?” 

 He looked at me funny but looked down anyway.  He found a leaf and picked it up.  Uhhhh….. “‘Moe’ do you see mommy waving?” 

“Hi”

“No look down, see mommy wave on the sidewalk”

Bubba was laughing pretty hard by now.

Moe looked down and as it was if that bright little bulb in his head all of the sudden clicked on.  He immediately reached down and tried to grab my “shadow hand”

Bubba quickly decided it was game time.

“‘Moe’, can you catch me?” 

The boys went back and forth trying to catch each others shadow.  The funniest moment was when Moe bent over to catch his own shadow.  When he bent over he could no longer see the shadow.  The look on his face was priceless (and there I was with out my camera) all he could say in his newly developing 2 year old sentence structure was “Where’d I’d go?”

It is so much fun to watch him grow and learn.  He seems to catch on quick….sometimes too quick.

Whistle while you work…. (part one)

That’s right it is Labor Day, so what else would we do besides WORK.  Boy did we work today….well some of us.

I woke up this morning and was about to do one of those “That Girl” spins tossing a towel in the air (didn’t have a hat handy) as I opened the bedroom door and felt the cool breeze gently brushing by me.  I LOVE not having the a/c on.  Before I could spin I felt the eyes of my 6 year old gazing at me as if I had lost my mind so I resisted the urge and said “what ya fixin’ mom for breakfast?” 

She giggled and said “You can choose, Cheerios or toast, but I can’t reach the toaster.”

“I think I will have a banana if that is okay with you?”

“Yep, I can get that for you”

“Sure, that would be great”

Sort of Leave it to Beaver I guess but I swear it was the great weather, it was getting to us all.

I decided to take the holiday and there would be no school today.  The kids loved it. That is until I told them the real plan….. YARD WORK!

My flower beds haven’t been flower beds since oh I don’t know ….. we moved in.  They were driving me crazy.  The weather was perfect so why not tackle them in the morning and then mow in the late afternoon.  Of course that would be after weeding in the 20 or so areas that need it .  The kids were not loving this idea at all.  Do you want to see why?  Take a look at this:

At one point there were BEAUTIFUL flowers in there I swear.  Now it is just grass, tall, thick, well rooted, wild, grass.  There is a flower or two here and there but that is about it. 

We worked hard for about 3 hours and while we are a long way from being done we know that we accomplished quite a bit today.  This darn flowerbed extends along the length of the garage to the left of this picture.

 Moe had a really important job during all of this…..

(Yes his shorts are a bit big…..that happens when you have a big cookie belly and short little monkey legs.  We still love him to pieces though)

Once the grass fest was over we headed inside for some lunch and ice water.  Later we would tackle the weeds and lawn mowing.   I will post on that adventure in part 2, so stay tuned.

The Underwear Drama

So have you heard?  In Atlanta they are trying to ban baggy pants. 

Read about it here

 IT’S ABOUT TIME!

I know it will never pass but the fact that they are drawing attention to it is a wonderful thing.  I am constantly telling Bubs to pull up his pants and asking him where is your belt?  With this being all over the news right now maybe he will understand that it isn’t really cool. Nor is it just mom being old and out of style.  Others actually share my opinon. Don’t get me wrong his pants don’t hang so low they show his entire backside, but even a little is too much for me. 

For those who are crying racial profiling……last time I checked many of the youth walking around with their low hanging britches were of various races.  It may have started with one  peer group but it has manifested itself into a multi-cultural monster.

Now what they aren’t talking about in the news is that this law they are trying to pass goes beyond baggy pants.  They are also trying to ban wearing jogging bras (without a top layer to cover it) and showing bra straps.  I personally think that this is the part that will make this law even harder to pass.  While I wouldn’t be caught running around in a jog bra and shorts I think there are worse things.  I also think that showing a bra strap is just tacky.  But I guess that just shows my age.

Athletic women will protest heavily on the jog bra issue I am sure.  I think those who are proposing this law (men) need to remember that when they play a sport and get overheated they can remove their shirt (and it is not against the law).  Women don’t have that option.  Again I am not protesting such a law to benefit myself.   I do see the argument on that one though.

What do you think?  Please share in my comments.

Today I…

• Learned that green dry-erase marker will come off the wall with the help of Mr. Clean and his handy dandy Magic Erase sponge.
• Learned that red dry-erase marker will not come off no matter what you try.
• realized we own WAY too many VHS movies
• heard Sunny say “Pretty Bird”
• was comforted by the loving voice of Rodi.  No matter the distance his voice always make me feel better.
• Went into complete panic mode when the fire alarm went off while I was on the treadmill at the YMCA.
• Prayed that all the kids were safe and being led out of the building by responsible adults.
• wanted to give the child who pulled the fire alarm “just because” a real long lecture.
• signed the kids up for a homeschool PE class at the YMCA
• Reflected on my “I Love You” moment from yesterday as Bubba reverted to that my way or the highway 10 year old once again.
• Realized a locked door doesn’t always mean it’s locked.
• had to just let some things go
• Talked to my mom
• took a moment to look out the window and smile at the green grass and the Zebu happily grazing
• didn’t scoop anything in the barn
• got joy out of watching Bubba do curls with 5lb weights
• Mopped my kitchen floor TWICE
• realized with enough loose change (that hadn’t yet found it’s way to the vacation fund jar) you can scrape up just enough for a lemon-berry slush from Sonic.
• looked at the house and just knew it was going to be a long day and an even longer night.

House or a 3 Ring Circus you Decide

4 kids, dance classes, scouts, homeschool, 4 zebu (cows), a deployed dad, and one very tired mamma.

In Circus terms I guess you would say that Moe is the ringmaster.  Today we had to chase Moe through the house in fear that he would sit his then exposed stinky bum down on something (can we say eeeewwww).   Then while I was giving the other kids their Friday Spelling test Moe was off being artsy.  I found out as I walked down the hall and saw one doodle after another beautifully scribbled across the wall, correction walls (5 to be exact)  I thought he had gone to get his sippy cup.  Maybe that is what he started to do when he became distracted by the stray marker.  Did I mention that it won’t wash off.

Laundry is done….well sort of it still needs to be folded and put away.  The dishes were loaded and the magic wash button pushed, but the cycle stopped half way through and now I still have dirty dishes.  Only now I have more of them.

Bubba and JJ started painting Bubba’s room earlier this week and I have not had time to finish it yet.  I promised it would get done this weekend.  Looks like I will be rolling some paint tonight.

 Bubba and JJ have started their research projects and I think it may involve a guinea pig at some point in time.

I have started to clean out the storage closet upstairs….WHY do we have all this junk?!

Still fitting in my time at the YMCA so that I can keep moving towards my goal for the year as well.

Putting together another package to mail out to Rodi.  I am thinking that finding room to send the originals of Moe’s art masterpiece might be hard so maybe just some photo prints instead. *sigh*

We had some rain last night and that has made the Zebu quite happy in the pasture.  Today they are quite easy to care for.  Just a little barn scooping in the morning and they are pretty much good to go.  As long as they don’t escape the fencing that is.

 I feel as if it is just go, go, go all the time.

Must find time to take a class on meditation *grin*