Back To It

I've missed this little virtual space on the internet.

This past school year I stepped into a role that took a little extra time from our already busy lives. A few things had to be set aside for awhile.

Like this blog.

And cleaning the house.

And cooking.

And dieting.

Which you would think would actually work out well together.

Not the case.

My family didn't die from eating a few more processed foods, the house is still standing, and if I quickly reintroduce myself to exercising, there may still be hope of fitting into some summer clothes.

Actually, the thing that is bothering me the most has nothing to do with how crazy busy life was over the past year.

My current problem: I cannot find my wedding ring.

It disappeared shortly before Christmas.  I know this because I remember spending parts of Christmas break going through drawers and rooms in an attempt to find it.  I have always had issues with my rings in the winter.  My hands are like ice cubes, causing the opposite result of swelling fingers in the hot summer. My theory is that as I was putting clothes away, or taking gloves off or on, or something of the like, my ring slipped off.

However, my theory has not led me to find my ring.

The summer ring pursuit has begun. Yesterday I tackled two drawers in the kitchen. You know, those drawers that hold the pencils, tape, paperclips, and anything else four busy people decide to throw in there. No ring.

Last weekend I cleaned out the pantry. No luck there either, although I did find one long-lost shoe (my son's), monopoly money, and a blank field trip form from April. I'm thinking if I can find shoes and field trip forms in the food pantry, my ring could be just about anywhere.

Next up - going through every piece of clothing in my boys' rooms. That will be loads of fun.

In a bit of irony, our 18th wedding anniversary is today. No girl should be ringless on her anniversary. Which means...I either find my ring today, or I start working on convincing my husband to go shopping!

And Then There Were Three

Someone must have decided that I need to spend a little more time praying.

A few years ago, we started this madness with the simple purchase of a small dirt bike.

 

And then there were two.

And after a short 5 hour father-son trip yesterday....now there are three.

 

I go back and forth between wondering what kind of mother would freely give her blessing for this.........and wondering when I can get one of my own so I can ride with them.

Ten-and-a-half years ago, my husband and I decided it was time to move. I thought I was more of a city girl.  Scratch that.  The biggest "city" I have ever lived in had a population of 14,000 people.  I was more of a town girl.  You know...neighbors, paved roads, sidewalks...somewhere you could have your windows open without having to dust every day.

My husband grew up in the country.  He really wanted his kids to grow up in the country. When a family member offered us a few acres of land for an extremely low price, we couldn't pass it up.

Sometimes, it drives me a little bit crazy. However, most of the time, I am very, very thankful. 

 

 

 

As long as they all come home in one piece.

All In A Days Work

The weather is gorgeous here. It's hard to believe that just last weekend it was freezing cold and snowing.

With warmer weather comes open windows, fresh air, playing outside.....and creatures.  Lots of nature's creatures at their finest.

This afternoon my husband and youngest son were outside and were nowhere to be found.  They were gone for hours. I should have known it had something to do with insects, spiders, amphibians, or reptiles. 

My son spotted a turtle.  Every time he moved, the turtle would go back into the water.  

What's a kid to do?

Become a ninja spy, of course.

He started at the top of the hill. It took him 30 minutes to slither down to this spot.

 

Another ten minutes later, and he was at the edge of the water.  His target -- the turtle in the red circle.

 

He faced a new quandary when he hit the edge of the water. It's hard to see in the picture, but the only way to the turtle was to venture out on the 15 foot log where the turtle sat.

 Inch by inch...

 Foot by foot...

Until he looked like he was literally lying on top of the water.

It was about this time that his dad was 99.9% sure that this would end in disaster.

Sadness.

Tears.

Huge meltdown.

And a turtle swimming away as quickly as turtles can.

But, no, the ninja spy outwitted the turtle.  He was inches away at this point.

As soon as he saw the little turtle legs start to peak out, he grabbed the turtle in victory.

No picture to show for it, but said turtle is resting happily (or not...) in his new turtle home.

And we are still trying to get the pond scum out of his clothes.

Oh.My.Word

My youngest son's teacher asked him to work on his multiplication facts over Christmas break.  I can totally see why.  This is taking every ounce of patience I have, and I typically have a fairly strong reserve of it!

This child can ace every history and science test he has.  He remembers details about state, local, and national government, the electoral college, and our founding fathers (on a 3rd grade level, of course).  Information about conservation of matter, atoms, solutions, and chemical changes? No problem.

But math details....they just don't stick right now. 

Our practice session is sounding something like this...

Me: Okay, let's practice our 3's again.

Him: Okay.

Me: 3 x 6

Him: Was there a hot air balloon flight before the Wright Brothers had their first flight? Which came first?

Me: {Blank stare.} I think the hot air balloon.  Look at this one. What is 3 x 6?

Him: Do you think chickens glide?

Me: What??

Him: Do you think chickens glide?

Me: What are you talking about?

Him: I just wondered, if you threw a chicken up in the air, would it glide? You know, like a sugar glider. Would it glide like a sugar glider?

Me: What in the world is a sugar glider?

Him: It looks like a flying squirrel. You know, its legs and arms are connected with skin.

Me: Ok, of course.  What is 3 x 6?

Him: I don't know!!! 


I don't understand why not.  I mean, he's working so hard on studying these facts. Ha!

We've tried everything. Games, flashcards, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities, you name it, we've tried it. Except jumping on a trampoline.  That may be our next attempt - memorizing while jumping on a trampoline. Don't knock it.  I once had a student who couldn't pass a spelling test unless she was jumping up and down.

To his credit, tonight we learned that the first hot air balloon flight was in 1783 and the Wright Brother's flight was in 1903 (okay, I learned that one; he already knew the 1903 date).

We also learned about the differences between a sugar glider and a flying squirrel.

What we did NOT learn: 3 x 6.

There's always tomorrow.

Uh Oh.

It's 2015.

Back in high school, that date seemed so far away, so futuristic, so...impossible.

Yet, here we are.

We are not traveling around like the Jetsons just yet, but I will be the first to admit that I wouldn't have guessed that we would be texting, Skyping, tweeting, messaging, and the myriad of other "ings" we can now do with technology.

Usually at this time of year I get serious about New Year's Resolutions. I contemplate the typical resolutions (all of which need to happen) and brainstorm some new and original ones that I might want to focus on. I evaluate how much I can take on at this point in my life (yikes!) and how doable my choices might be.

Then it hit me.

I turn 40 this year.

Ouch.

I have been bravely hanging onto the 30's for years now.  And, honestly, I like the 30's.  A lot.

40?  I'm just not feelin' it.

I have friends who tell me the 40's are the best years.  We'll see about that.

As I was processing this little issue, I realized that I have bigger problems than simply choosing a New Year's Resolution. You see, back in 2010, I made this little list. It's called my "40 Before 40". At that time, I was working part-time. Now I work full-time, plus. I may have been a bit overzealous in my planning.

I revisited my 40 Before 40 to get a scope of what I have not yet accomplished.

Well....in order for me to achieve all 40, the first 6 months (my birthday is in June) of 2015 will need to look something like this:

• Read 1 classic per month.
• Landscape the front yard.
• Visit the Mall of America, Niagra Falls, the Grand Canyon, and go on a Missions trip.
• Exercise for about 2 hours a day to achieve that single-digit closet full of clothes.
• Write an adoption book for my son.
• Make a family recipe book.
• Relearn to play the piano well.
• Buy new living room furniture.
• Go water skiing.
• Try more foods that end with "ese"...Chinese, Japanese....
• Spend about 1,000 hours scrapbooking to try to catch up.
• Repaint all the walls in my house.
• Volunteer more.

No problem.

I'll just need to make a few adjustments...like quit my job, send the kids to live with grandma, and decrease my sleep to about 2 hours a night.

And possibly win the lottery to fund it all.

Happy 2015! 

There Always Comes a Moment...

...when I wonder what in the world we were thinking.

Each year during Christmas vacation we bring out a new "Christmas Break" puzzle.  It has been a tradition for quite some time now (hence the word "tradition"), and one that we all love immensely.

Well, 3 of the 4 of us love it.  

The other 1 of us sits at the table now and then until he gets frustrated that he can't find any pieces.  That usually takes about 3-5 minutes.  

Last year my son chose this puzzle.

We were in the midst of getting a bedroom ready downstairs that would someday be his, and he was already collecting KU paraphernalia for it.  He had visions of completing the puzzle, gluing it, and framing it to hang in his room.  

Two of the three have occurred...and it is currently sitting in the basement collecting dust. Apparently 13x39 is not a frame size that the average Walmart, Target, Kohls, or any department store in the midwest carries. It is so convenient, however, that there is a website listed on the puzzle box where one can buy the perfect size frame.  That's a handy little business arrangement.

I digress.

This year, in honor of our family's first Chiefs game in October, we chose this puzzle.  Same theory, smaller people. Waaayyyyy smaller people. 

You see, last year, if one looked at the picture on the box closely enough, you could basically tell what the vast majority of the KU fans were wearing.  This was hugely helpful in putting the puzzle together. 

This year, all we can tell is that there is a lot of red.  Lots and lots of red. 

And a green field.

Here they are, getting started.  To the credit of the little guy, he did actually help sort edge pieces for a really long time.

 

He did not, however, help put them together.

  

I had to capture this rare moment as well.  Two boys working on a puzzle and not fighting.  It's a happy mom moment...even if it only lasted for a moment.

 

Everyone needs a weapon made out of hot wheels race car tracks and duct tape to help them put together a puzzle.

See all that progress? We decided to start with the field -- because it's not red.  See the hundreds of pieces left? All red.  Lots and lots of little red people.

Stay tuned for the finished product, sometime in the year 2015.

We are excited to get it completed and glued together.

So it can sit in the basement and collect dust too.

Where Did We Go Wrong?

I walked out of the bedroom today, to hear my son singing this rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my mommy gave to me...9 brand new X-Boxes,

8 iPad Airs,

7 iTunes cards,

6 hundred dollars,

5 diamond rings (which I would sell for lots of money)....


We have obviously done something drastically wrong somewhere along the way.

And, we are going to have some seriously disappointed children in about 5 days.