Small successes

Wow...things are getting busy around here. I just worked on getting the kids activities on my calendar last night, and I don't think I'm going to be home much this summer. I'll either be in the car, waiting on the kids, or traveling out of town. I need to figure out something that I can work on during my waiting times.

Here are my small successes for this week:

1-
Our bottle calf Flower has been with us for over a week, and she is doing just fine! She now has no trouble sucking on her bottle, and gets done with it very quickly...then she sucks on the bars of her pen for quite a while after she eats. The kittens are also doing well, and getting a little more used to people.

2-
Signed the girls up for swim lessons...unfortunately, I hesitated when I first called to make sure the time would work for our schedule. It took several more days of trying to call (I only seem to remember when the pool is closed!), but yesterday I stopped by the pool during our trip to town (we signed up for summer reading program, got books, dropped Eva off at Girl Scouts, went to the general store for home improvement supplies, went to the pool, played at the park, went to the post office, went grocery shopping, get a Sunday paper, and then picked up Eva from Girl Scouts) and it turns out all the level 1 classes were full. Eva failed level one last summer, so I had to choose between a platform class (where they stand on a platform and learn how to blow bubbles, etc) or level 2 (where they learn arm strokes and leg strokes for crawl and backstroke). So, Charlotte is in the platform class in the first time slot, then Eva is in the level 2 class in the second time slot. I need to take her to the pool a few times before lessons start to work on getting her used to having her face in the water (which is the main reason she didn't pass level 1 last year.)

3-
Eva and I had eye appointments this morning. I am still as blind as ever, but will have new glasses in a week or two. Eva is a little far sided right now, but no glasses needed, as the doctor thinks that she will eventually be nearsighted like everyone else in the family.

In the big successes department, hubby has gotten up shower walls in our upstairs bathroom! First, he had to chip off a gazillion tiles from the walls (about two feet high, all the way around. Then he had to patch, spackle and prime. Then I got to paint the bathroom (he helped with some of the edging over the lights and bathtub...I'm just a little too short for those). Then the walls went up, and silicone sealant went on. Tonight he is planning on caulking the bathtub and installing the faucet, knobs, and hand-held shower. He also got curtains up in our bedroom. Next on the list (after a few more small items in the bathroom) is either the exchange student's room or the junk room...depending on whether or not the window guy will be cutting a hole in the wall of the junk room to make it a usable bedroom space.

More small successes at Faith and Family LIVE!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
Some time this morning hubby is bringing home a bottle calf from the feedlot. Since MIL still has a cast on, we decided that it would probably be better if we take care of it. Well, better for MIL anyway...I'm not so sure about the calf.

2-
Remember Bitey and Scratchy? Well, both cats have since disappeared. At one point hubby found a possum in our shop (where the cats lived) and then he put away the water and leftover cat food so as not to attract more wildlife. Then, he noticed the good mouser at the feedlot had a couple of kittens with her, so he kit-napped them. They are currently being held hostage in our carpetless room in the basement while we try to get them used to people. I'm still thinking that this isn't the greatest idea ever, since neither hubby or I are cat people. But, I guess we do need something to help with mice, because I still haven't seen a snake here, and when I do, I'll be moving out until I calm down (could be weeks...)

3-
When I mow the yard (which is WAY too big for me to keep up on. I talked to the aunt who lived here, and she just did it all in one shot, and when her kids were little, she just had them play outside while she mowed. I'm a little more paranoid than that, so the kids have to be inside while the mower is running...so max, I can do about 2 hours at a shot...which is about 1/3 of what we have...) I have plenty of time to think of strange thoughts...but one that I think of most often is "what if there is a snake somewhere out here, and it doesn't get out of the way of the mower, and it bites me, and the kids are inside resting, and I don't have my cell phone..." Okay, so I do paranoia REALLY well.

4-
My mom is now retired...my mom is now on Facebook...this is a bad combination. Another bad combination is her and her telephone, because she is calling A LOT! I am hoping she finds some hobbies pretty soon, because every time she calls, the girls go nuts and start doing annoying and dangerous things.

5-
Charlotte now says at least a couple of times a week "I wish we could have TWO baby brothers!!" Usually in public, so I feel as though I need to tell people that no, I am not pregnant. Particularly since right after I had Charlotte, one man at church asked me when I was finally going to have that baby...to which I had to say "I did, she's over there".

6-
Eva is very much enjoying Girl Scouts. After the confusion with the first meeting when the troop leader didn't show up, I was pretty worried...but she had her meeting this week, and it was for 2 hours! I thought the meetings were only going to be an hour, but I guess that will be the school year schedule. Although, I have to admit, I found it strange that the troop leader was gone again (she had to work), but at least the regional coordinator came down to run it!

7-
I just found out that swim lessons in town are coming up this month. I think I may need to stop by the pool soon and sign the girls up...particularly Eva, who is still a little afraid of the water. Charlotte, on the other hand, needs to be a little MORE afraid of the water!

More quick takes at Conversion Diary

Small Successes

Well, I have actually accomplished quite a few things this week, but here are the small successes at the top of my list.

1-
Helped MIL and SIL plant half of our second community garden plot. I had no IDEA how big an area FIL plowed up...it doesn't look that big when I drive by, but we planted 17 tomato plants (the leftover plant is going in a topsy turvy planter that I bought for Eva) 12 sweet peppers, 5 hills of spaghetti squash, and four rows of beans. In the other half we are eventually going to plant summer squash, butternut squash, maybe some more beans and maybe some more sweet corn (we have a partial field planted). In our first garden that we planted a few weeks ago, we have rhubarb, strawberries, cucumbers, and pumpkins. We also planted a new strawberry patch at our house (the aunt who lived here before us had a great patch, but got sick of dealing with it, so planted a bunch of irises to kill off the strawberries...)

2-
CLEANED OFF MY COMPUTER DESK!!! Okay, I have to admit that there are a few items on it, but for several weeks I've had a stack of Eva's first grade curriculum (over a foot high) several personal books, pens, pencils, notes with random phone numbers, mugs (just one per day, I only have two big cups for my morning tea...) AND I had a TV tray set up next to the desk filled with overflow stuff. That's a lot of junk cluttering up the walkway between our kitchen and living room (where our desk lives.) I moved my cookbooks off of my "office bookshelf" onto our new china hutch, and put Eva's curriculum on the shelf that used to have my cookbooks. So, right now I only have an ipod shuffle (need to charge that one...), my mug, the book I am currently reading, a notepad I am typing from, Eva's science text and workbook, and my Sidetracked Home Executives card file (that has been ignored more often than used recently.)

3-
Planned the first quarter of Science for Eva (which is why her books are still on the desk...I'm hoping to knock out at least quarter 2 today!) I even have a list of materials I need to gather, materials listed for each week, and a bright highlighted reminder the week before we are supposed to observe the growth and change of mealworms (YUCK!!!) I even googled to find out where to buy mealworms, and it appears that pet stores may be a good place to find them. Now I just have to figure out if there is a pet store within an hour or so of our town that has mealworms in stock. There's part of me that is contemplating taking Eva for a week long visit to her (now retired) biology teacher grandma so that I don't have to deal with mealworms...but maybe I should just suck it up, rather than drive 6 hours round trip to avoid them.

More small successes at Faith and Family LIVE!

Small Successes

Well, I have been struggling this week with the ambition to do anything...other than obsess over what curriculum to buy to use next year with Eva. Last weekend hubby had Saturday off, so we borrowed a horse trailer and went to visit my mom, who just retired from teaching. We took off her hands a china hutch, a leather chair and ottoman, a tea chest, a wine fridge, a four drawer file cabinet, and a lot of miscellaneous stuff...of course that was a MAJOR success, but thought I'd add it in here.

On to the small successes (all from today, YEAH!)

1-
I changed the girl's sheets. I have been meaning to get to them all week, but this morning I finally did it (I will admit it got done because Charlotte had a small accident in them...but it's still done!)

2-
I loaded the dishwasher, took the trash to the burning barrel (which I hardly ever do), and packed up three books from paperback swap, got my registration form for the Rocky Mountain Catholic Home Educators Conference ready, and took them all to the mailbox, instead of waiting for hubby to get home and making him do it. (My old habits of having my own personal mailman are a bit hard to break, so I'm proud that I did it myself!)

3-
I CLEANED OUT OUR WALK IN CLOSET!!!! Yeah! Okay, this one counts as a major success, too. We have this giant closet in our bedroom, and it just kinda got stuffed with a lot of miscellaneous stuff during our move, so I sorted through the heap of clothes from our vacation to Hawaii, found about 16 sizes of little girl swimsuits, our camera(yeah!), the disk drive for hubby's netbook, my mending pile, a giveaway pile, and about 6 suitcases in various stages of unpacking. I also found my summer clothes, and given the temperature in our house today, I don't think it was a moment too soon!

Bonus Success-
I cleaned our fairly disgusting toilet this morning, which is always a success. I've been trying to clean it weekly, but I'm pretty sure it had been at least two weeks. Today I opened my new flushable wipes from Method (I bought them at Target) and I think I am in love! Previously, I had been using Watkins flushable cleaning wipes, and they worked okay, but I usually needed to use 3 of them to clean the toilet. ONE Method wipe cleaned the WHOLE toilet (started at the top, and worked my way to the rim. They are very thick, and worked wonderfully. Now, I know that flushable wipes aren't necessarily that great for one's plumbing (or septic system, though they do say they are septic safe) but I am just loving them.

More small successes at Faith and Family LIVE!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
How my week has gone: Saturday, started painting bedroom with help from MIL...ran out of paint. Went to Mass, then to the nearest Home Depot (to get more paint) and had supper out with hubby and kids. Sunday, found out early that FIL had taken MIL into the emergency room with an injured ankle. Went to MILs house to clean up and make a Mother's Day lunch for MIL (ironically, it was both daughters-in-law who did the cooking and cleaning...) spent the whole day there working on the house because MIL broke a bone in her foot, and needed to see an orthopedic surgeon to see if it needed surgery. Monday, finished painting bedroom by myself, did a bunch of loads of laundry and tried to get the house clean. Tuesday, drove MIL to orthopedic surgeon's office, did shopping for end of the year "picnic" for religious education classes (MIL is DRE). Wednesday, attempted to clean house more...removed tape and moved bedroom furniture...then went into town with MIL to help cook a roaster full of sloppy joes and another roaster full of beans, while packaging thank you gifts for catechists, setting up church basement and running the Bible story pictionary game. Thursday finally did get house clean, hosted my Bible study. Today, more laundry...very tired...

2-
Got in the mail today: Math U See blocks off of CathSwap (it was supposed to be a full set, but is 9 or 10 blocks short...don't know if I should bother to tell the seller or not. I am sure it was an honest mistake.) Spanish language stuff off CathSwap (CD with booklet, card game, tape, and bilingual book) and a book from Paperbackswap that I've been looking forward to reading.

3-
Next week is looking busy, too...Saturday night hubby's cousin is having her high school graduation party. Sunday is graduation. Monday is piano lessons. Tuesday the girls and I are taking MIL to her doctor's appointment in the city and hubby has a Knights of Columbus meeting in our old town. Wednesday seems free so far, thank goodness. Thursday is the first Girl Scouts meeting, followed by a parents meeting to decide on days and frequency of meetings.

4-
When the Girl Scout's regional coordinator called to see if Eva could make it to a meeting on Thursday, it was kind of a funny conversation. She had Eva's registration form in front of her, and she told me that they would meet right after school got out. Now, on her registration form, it says she is homeschooled. So, I told her (a little sheepishly) that I did not know what time school got out. So, since she was sitting with the local Girl Scout leader, she was able to tell me that they get out at 3:22 (seriously...who comes up with a school release time of 3:22??) Then, the regional woman told me that there would be a parents meeting after the girls met, starting at 5 pm. She said that they would pick up the girls at school and walk them over to the meeting place. I asked her what time they would arrive at the meeting place, and she told me that I didn't need to be there until 5, and that they would pick up the girls at school. So, I'm pretty sure that she is thinking I must be an idiot because I have no idea what time my kid gets out of school, and don't seem to be getting the concept that they will pick up the girls at school and walk them to the meeting...and I'm coming to the realization that she hasn't yet noticed that under school I wrote "Homeschooled". So, I told her that I homeschool Eva, so I needed to know what time to drop her off at the meeting location, since she wouldn't be at school to pick up. So, I'll be dropping her off at 3:40 on Thursday and then finding something for Charlotte and I to do while we wait on the parents meeting.

5-
The girls must be very tired from our crazy week. Charlotte slept 30 minutes past the required quiet time mark, and Eva is still asleep, and it's almost and hour past when she could come out. They've missed a lot of naps this week, and the only time I think they slept was on the day when we had to be out the door right after quiet time...and that day, neither one fell asleep until about 30 minutes before we had to leave.

6-
We've exchanged e-mails now with our Austrian exchange student. She sent us several questions, which I had fun answering...the one that cracked me up had to do with whether Americans eat McDonalds and KFC every day (she said she knew it probably wasn't true, but it is what many Austrian kids think). I had no idea that KFC was that global...the McDonalds part didn't surprise me.

7-
Next on our home improvement list is either: a cheap DIY remodel of our upstairs bathroom (we need to demo some tile, repaint, put in a shower surround and shower head, and replace an overhead light) OR clean out what I lovingly refer to as "the room of despair" (the upstairs bedroom with no window where we stored many of our possessions before we moved in the house that is now home to everything without a home such as my paperback swap books, furniture for the unfinished guest room, tacky drapes (& drapery rods and other 1960's items we have removed and/or replaced), filing cabinet covered with to be filed items, toys, canning supplies, and other things that have not surfaced since the move. Hubby is voting for the room of despair (not entirely because it would mostly involve me doing the work) and I am voting for the bathroom (because it is so very very ugly and I would like a normal shower). I think we may take a few days off before we get started on either of those projects, though.

More quick takes at Conversion Diary.

Quick Takes Friday

1-
Charlotte has recently been going through the "I don't like you/that" phase. She mutters about not liking me if I won't let her have gummy snacks for breakfast, she yells it at her sister, at her toys, etc. The other night there was some sort of horrible dispute coming from the girl's room, and when I went in to find out the problem, Charlotte's explanation was "My monkey was in my snowman's face, and I don't like that!" (while crying of course...) It makes more sense if you know that my girls each have 4 buddies (stuffed animals) that they sleep with. I'm not really sure how we ended up with 4, but it does come in handy if one has been puked on and is in the washer...Anyway, Charlotte's buddies are: Monkey (a curious George doll that belonged to my brother when we were kids) Snowman (a stuffed snowman) Kitty (a periwinkle from Blue's Clues doll) and Turtle (I'm not really sure if it is supposed to be a turtle or a ladybug, but turtle it is...) Eva has Big Monkey and Little Monkey (both curious George dolls), Magenta (from Blue's Clues) and Puppy (a white stuffed dog with purple ears and heart shaped spots.) Apparently some nights, even the buddies can't get along.

2-
After meeting our new baby Godson, the girls have decided that they are both hoping for a baby brother. Now, this wouldn't be quite as funny to me, but for the last several YEARS every time one of my Bible Study friends would have a baby (and that was pretty frequently...given that right now is the first time in the 4 years I've been involved that someone in the group is not pregnant...at least that I am aware of!) when the girls would see the new baby at church, without fail, the new mom would say to my girls "Do you want a baby brother or sister" after the girls admired the baby, to which they would both laugh and say "No!"

3-
The girls and I went to a Girl Scout recruitment meeting last night. I didn't tell Eva what it was until we got there, because I just wasn't sure that the one poster that I saw at the post office was correct, or if anyone would show up...but there were a whole bunch of girls there. They had dinner, sopapillas, snow cones, jump ropes, hula hoops, stamps, friendship bracelet making, and made duct tape roses (the only thing Eva didn't do was the roses). It looks like there will finally be a younger girl scout troop in town, hopefully even a Daisies group. I went ahead and registered Eva, so hopefully I'll hear before too long!

4-
Why, oh why can I never move to a house without a massive rhubarb patch??? Yesterday MIL came over with the strawberry plants we had bought (and then she bought some more because they were on clearance) and we went to plant them. Decided it would be way easier with a rototiller...found out MILs rototiller isn't working (after she hauled it over to my house!) dug it up by hand with hubby while BIL and FIL tried to fix the rototiller. Then we all had lunch and hubby helped me plant the 50 or so strawberry plants before he went back to work. Anyway, during this whole process, MIL helped me harvest some of my rhubarb...I have a huge pile on my counter. If I were feeling more ambitious, I'd go get the camera, probably have to change the batteries, find the cord to the computer, take a picture, upload it to the computer and post it here...unfortunately, I am not feeling that ambitious. So, since I didn't get to it yesterday, I REALLY need to clean, chop up and freeze all that rhubarb (except for enough for a rhubarb crisp for dessert tonight...yum!)

5-
I am hosting my Bible Study group this coming Thursday, it's Mother's Day this Sunday...and I really, really, REALLY want to start painting my bedroom (okay, not start, just do the whole thing.) I don't know what hubby's reaction to this plan would be (I have a feeling it won't be good...) but I've been wanting to paint our room since we bought our first house, I've just never gotten around to it (and of course, this is house #3...) I have the paint, I just need to pull nails and screws, take down the ugly drapery rods, and move all the furniture around...which is probably about the worst part.

6-
The trip for our Goddaughter's First Holy Communion and our Godson's baptism was great...but did make me wish that the state of Nebraska was significantly smaller. The girls had a great time with their second cousins, I had a great time hanging out, and it was awesome to be there for the First Communion and Baptism. I'm glad it all worked out and hubby's Uncle was willing to feed the cows for him.

7-
It looks like we are about done with the stomach flu (YEAH!!!) Although hubby has been complaining about not feeling well. Even though he's kind of a whiny baby when he is sick...he at least is old enough to get to the bathroom and not throw up all over the house (unlike certain little girls who have moved steam cleaning up on my to do list!)

More quick takes at Conversion Diary!

Small Successes

1-
I have survived two bouts of the stomach flu...Charlotte starting last week, and getting better by the time we left town on Friday evening, and then Eva who got sick shortly after getting back home on Sunday night. I also survived the immense amount of laundry that comes with the stomach flu.

2-
We finallly made some decisions about homeschooling next year. Since we are not going with Seton again, that means I have to pick and choose EVERYTHING. But hubby and I set a budget, and I've been trying to find things at CathSwap or ebay, and trying to find the lowest new price on books that I don't think I'll be able to get used.

3-
Through all of this, I have stayed fairly well caught up on the dishes. I have a few items on the counter that couldn't fit into a load, but I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I am not at the point where I have to wash plates by hand before we can eat a meal.

More small successes at Faith and Family LIFE!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
The car is cleaned out, the bags are packed, the saxophone we are delivering is in the car. We have hotel rooms, maps to (almost) everywhere we will be going, and Charlotte seems to be doing a little better today.

2-
Things I still need or want to do before we leave: reassemble car seats (had to wash the disgustingly sticky cover on Charlotte's!), unload and reload dishwasher, finish up Kindergarten with Eva (just testing on Math and Religion, and all her grades will be completed!), fold three loads of laundry, put away all laundry, make beds, drop off dog at MILs house and mooch lunch (so I don't have to dirty my kitchen), require a nap from the girls (since we'll get to our hotel tonight around midnight!), and possibly mow more of our yard. Then all I'll need to do is wait for hubby to get done with work, and then we can get going!

3-
Moved up on the cleaning list (when we get home, of course!) steam cleaning the carpet in the girl's bedroom, the office end of the kitchen and the living room...all areas affected by Charlotte's current illness. I might as well do the carpet in the bathroom while I'm at it, and I'll definitely need to do a major cleaning of the toilet inside and out.

4-
Because I am a dork (or at least, that is hubby's thought on the matter) I have set up a spreadsheet to track home school curricula that I am interested in looking at this summer at the regional Catholic homeschooling conference. I've decided on what we will be using for Phonics (because Eva loves Seton's phonics program), Science (because I found a great deal on the CathSwap yahoo group on a secular text suggested by Kolbe academy), P.E and homemaking (because I already bought the books!) I'm totally undecided on what to do for history/geography, spelling/English/handwriting, art and religion. I have a pretty good idea what I am going to do for math and Spanish.

5-
In the adjusting to farm life department, I have figured out how to plan dinner (or supper, if I was a proper farm wife...since dinner is lunch here, and I just end up plain confused!) Here's my new rule: I will delay serving the evening meal until 7:30 if hubby is still working. At 7:30, the girls and I eat whether or not hubby is home. If hubby is home earlier, I will serve dinner earlier, but that's not been an issue the last few weeks. In fact, yesterday he told me at about 5:30 that he should be home by 6:30, so I planned dinner for about 7 (he's never home when he says he will be) so naturally, his dad needed some help with something, and the girls and I started eating at 7:30 without him.

6-
We've had LeapFrog Math Circus out from netflix for over a week now...who knew the girls would like it so much!?! So, they are now watching it for the last time before we stick it back in the mail on our way out of town. I got Charlotte the LeapFrog Talking Letter Factory for Easter (because I make use of the DVD player to get Eva's schoolwork completed...Charlotte can choose a VeggieTales or other short and educational video after she is finished with her "class") I may have to look into getting more LeapFrog videos, because even though they make me want to poke my eyes out, they are very popular with the girls.

7-
Speaking of things that make me want to poke my eyes out...I have a bunch of papers sitting on my desk that I really need to get done, and soon...but I'd rather poke my eyes out. I have a 401K and a PERA (Public Employee's Retirement Association) account that I left with my last (and only) career-type job (which I left in 2002...) Late last year, I opened up and IRA, and I need to get both the 401K and the PERA account transferred into it. I doubt the two have much more than $500 combined, and the sheer amount of paperwork to get them transferred makes me stabby. But, since the account addresses have to match, I either need to get it all taken care of before our PO Box in town comes due (because we don't plan on renewing it) OR, I'll have to change addresses with all three companies involved, then wait for the addresses to be the same again and THEN fill out all the papers...Maybe I should be working on that now, rather than complaining about it...but complaining is definitely more fun!

More quick takes over at Conversion Diary!

Small Successes

My small successes this week:

1-
I have not lost my mind or my temper with Charlotte being sick. She's thrown up twice, two nights in a row (first night on her bed, her wall, and the floor in two rooms...second night on her dad...at least it wasn't me!) Her temperature reached a high of 104.6 last night at about midnight. She's back down to 101 this morning...but I am really hoping she gets better really soon, as we are supposed to drive out to Iowa for our Godchildren's first communion and baptism this weekend.

2-
I made 120 meatballs and a meatloaf this week, put 4 meals of meatballs in the freezer, served meatballs once and meatloaf once, and sent the leftover meatloaf home with MIL so that she could feed FIL who has been planting and spending most of his time in his tractor (when something is not broken down, that is!) I now have two lasagnas, two bags of taco meat and four bags of meatballs for those days when I just can't handle making a meal. My kitchen hasn't completely recovered yet...

3-
I broke down and agreed to purchase a riding mower...since we no longer have a mower, and with 2.2 acres, it's too much to mow with a normal mower (and hubby got rid of his hand-me-down 20 year old mower before the move). My original plan was to borrow MIL's mower. Also, I used the new mower...which is the first time in my 30 years of life that I have EVER used a mower of any kind...you see, I was raised that mowing was a men's job (of course, I was also raised that laundry was a man's job, and my dad did mine in college until I got married, so no commentary on traditional gender roles!) Of course, farmers seem to think that women should do the mowing, at least occasionally (such as planting season, when you don't see them for 14 hours a day...and that's if you are lucky and they come home early...) Now, if I can just find the time to go out and mow for several hours, I might be able to get part of the yard that hubby wants mowed before we leave done.

More small successes at Faith and Family LIVE!

Quick Takes Friday - my 400th post

1-
Not really surprisingly, since I do my quick takes far more often than I blog about anything else, today's quick takes happens to be my 400th post. I started this blog while I was pregnant with Charlotte, so I would guess it's been close to 4 years since I first started....so I average 100 posts a year.

2-
As mentioned below, hubby and I have been contemplating what to do for Eva's school next year. Well, we have come to some decisions for next year. We won't be sending her into the public school, but we also are not going to re-enroll with Seton. When Eva and I were doing school the other day, we ran into some frustrations with her math lesson. As much as I love a lot about Seton, my pet peeve about it is that they don't provide much in the way of information for me so that I can teach the subjects to Eva. That's really not a problem for me in any subject but Math. I am really terrible at Math, which people don't expect because I have a college degree in Accounting...let me let you in on a secret...Accountants love calculators! So, when I started looking into other math programs (some of which are pretty pricey) I looked at the price of 1st grade enrollment ($490) and then added up all the books that would come with enrollment that I might use, which totaled $103.25. So, I am going to be picking and choosing from curriculum this year. So, anybody have any great recommendations?

3-
We have been cleared to host an exchange student next year. The exchange company is still waiting on some paperwork from the high school, but our exchange student was accepted by the school board, and we passed our background check and reference check. Our exchange student will be coming from Vienna, Austria, so it should be a big change of scenery for her. MIL also has an exchange student coming...he's from Germany and is the little brother of her last exchange student. Now we just have to get the basement guest room livable!

4-
Countdown to our trip to see our godkids...T minus 7 days! Our goddaughter will receive her First Holy Communion on Saturday, and we'll gain a godson on Sunday. We are so excited to see them (and the whole family!) but are not particularly looking forward to the long drive/short weekend part of it!

5-
I've been trying to get my housework under control, but in our move, I doubled the amount of house to clean, and lost about 50 percent of my household help (hubby just doesn't have the time to help that he used to...) so, first I tried getting back into the whole FlyLady thing, and that didn't work very well, so I decided to try the Sidetracked Home Executives file card system. As of now, I have all my cleaning cards done, and they are filed and ready to go...the question is, will I get them done today? Only time will tell (and yes, I know I'd get more cleaning done if I were on the computer less...but it's my only tie to the outside world!)

6-
MIL was teasing me the other day that I'll have trouble homeschooling Charlotte because she won't be interested in anything unless it was princess related. My immediate response was that we could just do a bunch of unit studies involving princesses, but then, in my researching curricula yesterday I found some nursery school resources from Angelicum Academy: in Art - Cinderella shapes, in literature - the Red (Blue and Yellow) Fairy Book(s), and in Language Arts - Snow White pre writing skills.

7-
For Easter, we got the girls the Dogma Dogs CD (thanks for the recommendation, Whimsy!) and it is a little too catchy, if you know what I mean. I find myself wandering around several days after listening to the CD in the car singing the songs to myself. I have to admit (though hubby thinks I'm a dork because of this) I really like the song "21 Ecumenical Counsels", but the whole CD is pretty fun!

More quick takes at Conversion Diary!

Go check out the carnival of homeschooling...

being hosted this week over at Home Spun Juggling, the theme: The Cartoonist's Desk.

Isolated Homeschooling

I have to admit that I am not dealing well with our transition to isolation. Being suburban born and raised, I felt fairly isolated just living in a small town, and now we are 16 miles away from the nearest small town.

So, I guess it is no surprise that I am having more days where I contemplate putting the girls in public school and getting a job (not that there are any jobs in our area that really appeal to me, anyway). I worry about Eva being so isolated, since she is so social.

Hubby and I have been discussing the public school option for a little while, but when we think about the pros and cons, homeschooling is still winning at the moment. Here's our general thoughts:

Public school pros: Eva would be around more people throughout the week, and would have some playmates other than Charlotte.

Public school cons: Eva would be exposed to more peer pressure, would probably be bored in a lot of classes, she might have to repeat Kindergarten because of the cut off dates (I am hopeful that the school wouldn't give us problems since she is enrolled in Seton, so she would be a transfer, but I just can't guarantee they wouldn't fight me on it), she would be away from home for about 9 hours a day, 5 days a week (so if we take out sleeping hours she would have around 4 hours a day at home, and would probably have homework to do during those hours), she might feel even more isolated come summers and school breaks because she would be missing her school friends.

Homeschooling pros: Eva is doing very well with her school work, she works hard and gets done with her formal school work quickly, she has time to be a kid and play, she is around to play with Charlotte, we can take a day off to travel and can take MIL to her doctor's appointments in the city, she gets to see daddy at lunch time (we aren't seeing much of him this time of year...he won't be home until their bedtime tonight), Our school and sleeping schedules can change with the farming seasons, we can slow down on school work if she is just not getting it, we can speed ahead on things that she gets quickly, she has my (almost) undivided attention.

Homeschooling cons: The girls are home ALL DAY, EVERY DAY and I don't get much of a break, the girs tend to fight with each other as the day wears on, planning school can be very draining, and I can get very frustrated if I can't seem to get a concept across, being a little bit type A, I worry about whether or not we are succeding at school.

So, what do I do to make our lives less isolated? We go to town every Monday for Eva's (private) piano lesson. We also go to town twice a month for storytime at the library, which the girls love (I really wish more moms came to it though...it was so much fun in our old town to see all my friends at the library's weekly story time...but here, most kids are brought by their grandparents/daycare providers...) Eva also goes into town every Wednesday to Relgious Education at church with grandma. I wonder if maybe I am projecting the isolated thing on her, because she seems to get along great wherever we go.

I have contemplated getting her involved in Girl Scouts, but the nearest troop is around 40 miles away. I have contemplated starting a Little Flowers group, but then I'd have to start it...I don't know of any homeschoolers in town with younger kids, and I am pretty sure we are the only Catholic homeschoolers in the area...none at the local church, anyway.

Hubby wonders if we should put her in some sort of organized sport, but those only really exist for little kids in the summer months. I am concerned about how often they would practice and have games...I don't relish the thought of driving to and from town every day of the week, but I might be willing to give it a try.

So, if you have ever homeschooled in an isolated area (or were homeschooled in an isolated area) what are your suggestions for getting through it? I am sure in a couple of years, I'll feel much more at home and have some sort of community feeling...I'm just not sure how to do so in a small town while not sending my girls to the local school.

Small Successes

My small successes for the week:

1-
I filled out an application for our family to host an exchange student for next year. Not sure if that makes me nuts, but if all goes well, I will be parenting a teenager and dealing with the public school system for an entire school year.

2-
We did a lapbook for school! (Well, actually I've done a bunch of lapbooks in the last two weeks because I helped MIL with her CCD program's Lenten fair, which was a lapbook thing this year) Before last Easter, I printed out a lapbook for little kids, and I meant to do it with Eva...just somewhere in there, I forgot and lost it...then it turned up during Advent (just like the Advent wreath coloring page usually surfaces during Lent)...when I packed, I must have packed it well, because it turned up during Lent this year, so all last week, we did an activity or two per day, then did the last couple of things and assembled the book on Holy Saturday...we also colored Easter eggs that day, so double success!

3-
I caught up on laundry for a day this week. I had all four of my laundry baskets sitting around with folded clothes all last week, and when the girls ran out of clothes in their drawers, I still didn't put stuff away...it took a whole day to get the laundry still in baskets put away, and all the clothes washed...and of course, right now there is a load of hubby's work clothes hanging out in the dryer, a basket of folded clothes in the living room, and at least a load of clothes (not to mention some grungy sheets on the girl's bed) waiting to be washed that I don't think I'll be able to get to today...I was caught up once this week!

More small successes at Faith and Family LIVE!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
Here's one from the "I might not be cut out for farm life" department. My FIL is so not impressed with my sense of direction. The girls and I were over visiting, and MIL and FIL were in the office working on some government bureaucracy, when BIL came in and said he needed to move some equipment, so someone needed to come get him at the cattle crossing at grandma's house. It has been several years since I've been in that direction, so when it was time to go get him, I interrupted the pow wow in the office for directions. FIL kept saying "Go 1 mile south of G's house, and then 1/2 mile West." I kept asking questions...he kept repeating the same thing...so I gave up, got in the car, and called hubby (who had a good laugh) then went past the turn, called hubby again to clarify where I was supposed to turn, turned around (which made BIL sure that I was the one in the car...) and finally went to the right place. Hubby said that doing things like that is how I can learn. I told him it was how I would learn to stay home so that I don't get roped into things!

2-
We had some cats...affectionately named "Bitey" and "Scratchy". I thought the theory was to leave them locked in the shop for several days to get them used to being there and getting their food there...then, after two days, I noticed that the shop door was open yesterday. Turns out hubby thought that they'd stick around. We haven't seen them since, but rather than saying that maybe he should have left them in the shop a while longer and actually work on taming them, he has declared that they were probably too big to transplant...and besides, one of the mama cats at the feedlot should be having kittens any time. I don't think Bob Barker would approve of the number of mama cats on the farm as a whole, cause BIL has one that's about to have kittens, and MIL said that one of her cats is pregnant again (I'm not sure if this cat and the feedlot cat are the same one...)

3-
I may need another freezer at some point. Several years ago, we traded chest freezers with my parents...ours was the size of a dishwasher (we had bought it when we were apartment dwellers) and was getting too small for our growing family, there's was too big, since they had bought it when I was a kid. Well, after one cow was injured by a loader a few months ago and became hamburger, that pretty well filled up my chest freezer. Just this week we got a cow back (that was processed into steaks and roasts, and of course, some hamburger) and I had to fit our share in our house. So, I have no more ice (it all had to go to make room) and all the meat just barely fit in. Hubby is looking forward to a steak (or any meal that doesn't start with me defrosting a package of hamburger, I think) and naturally, today is Friday...and it's still Lent.

4-
My parents and brother might be coming down to visit tomorrow. Unfortunately, it looks like it may snow, so I'm not sure if they will be down tomorrow, Sunday, or next weekend...which would mean they would be here for Easter. My parents never like to come out here for holidays because they think they are huge gatherings...never mind that they've never been here for a REALLY huge gathering...and it sounds like we'll be having a smallish Easter...only 15 people (18 if my family comes down). Given that a family dinner on an average weekend starts at 8 people, having 10 more isn't that big of a deal!

5-
We inadvertently took a spring break this week. MIL stopped by on her way up to visit SIL in Denver, and asked if we wanted to come along (in front of the girls, who jumped up and down shouting "please mommy, please, please, please!) So, we were gone Saturday and Sunday, home on Monday, gone again on Tuesday (for MILs doctors appointment) and home again from Wednesday on...and I just haven't gotten to school stuff yet. Not too worried, since we only have three of her school books from Seton to finish up, and we are doing a bunch of extra review sort of stuff right now.

6-
My MIL is one of those people who pretty much can talk people into giving her what she wants. I do not have this talent, and find it pretty amazing to watch. Two examples from this week...when we went up to Denver, I got on priceline and booked a hotel room. Then we decided to make it a sort of retreat for SIL, so all 5 of us were going to stay in the room. When we got to the hotel, MIL went to check us in (and while she was waiting in line, FIL called because he couldn't figure out the TV...the clerk thought it was cute that he was calling her 200 miles away to figure out the TV...I thought it was unsurprising, since he called hubby while I was talking to him for help with the TV when MIL hung up...) and somehow she sweet talked the clerk into upgrading us from a 1 bed studio room, to a two bedroom, two bathroom suite with fold out couch. So, I had my own room and bathroom (the girls wanted to stay with SIL, who got the biggest bed as compensation) and we paid $52 with tax...all she did in return for the room was fill out their free rewards program application. Then, we got a coupon good for kids clothes at Kohls on Saturday, and on Tuesday we went to try to use it, and noticed that the coupon didn't start until the next day. She talked the cashier into taking it anyway!

7-
Hubby found a programmable thermostat for baseboard heat on Amazon...I just need to get around to purchasing it! I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a thermostat for baseboard heating, but I haven't been able to find one at any of the home improvement stores. The thermostat in our living room (which has baseboard heat on two walls) does not function right. If you turn it on, it stays on until you shut it off. This week, I took a short nap on the couch (while the girls were napping) and turned on the heat beforehand...after I woke up, I went to do something in the kitchen (and didn't remember to turn off the heat) and by the time I got back the room was 80 degrees! I think it will be nice when it works better!

More quick takes at Conversion Diary!

Small Successes

Okay, week 2 of small successes...

1-
I got out a basket to keep my Bible and spiritual books for prayer time in...rather than having them all stacked up on a small table and having landslides anytime I want to read something. I even remembered to find a pencil and put it in the basket. At some point I'd like to add a journal and a rosary...just have to find those items first.

2-
I baked something! First time I have baked anything from scratch since we moved here, I made the Pioneer Woman's prune cake twice (Once for the family, and then again this afternoon for my Bible Study group.)

3-
I ordered a baby shower gift for shower that I won't make it to...and more importantly, I realized that driving 2 hours to a baby shower on Holy Saturday while hubby's sister will be visiting is unrealistic, and as much as I would love to make it to the shower, I am not going to go. And I am not going to feel guilty about it (well, maybe a *little* guilty!)

More small successes here!

"...until the child turns 26 years of age."

A while back, I quoted Dr. Robert Epstein, author of The Case Against Adolescence, saying that "most Americans now believe a person isn't an adult until age 26." This still seems pretty ludicrous to me, but the federal government has now essentially enshrined this belief into law.

Under the healthcare reform bill President Obama signed into law today, insurance companies that provide coverage for dependant children are required to allow that coverage to continue up to the age of 26. I'm not necessarily saying this doesn't make sense when faced with the reality of the ever-extending childhood many young adults experience today... but I guess I'm not really comfortable with this becoming the "new normal."

I mean, by the age of 26, maybe it's time for the little baby bird to take the risk of stepping out of the nest. For crying out loud, a 26-year-old who joined the military at age 18 has already served 40% of the years necessary to retire with benefits!

I may not have really had my act completely together by 26, but I'm just sayin'...

Cat Quandry...

I almost blogged about this situation this morning, but I figured I should at least try to get some stuff done around the house after a whirlwind trip to visit my SIL in Denver this weekend, and before I go back to the metro area for a doctor's appointment with MIL tomorrow.

Then hubby came home and told me that I ought to buy a small, cheap bag of cat food while I am in town for Eva's piano lesson today.

I guess I should start with I am NOT a cat person. I had a cat growing up, and that was fine...I'm fairly allergic to cat hair these days, and I hate the feeling of cat litter under my feet. I am also a city slicker, transported to a farm. Farms have cats. Not because in some romantic sense Old McDonald had a cat on his farm...they serve a function...to kill mice.

No cats came with our house, and I thought "great! no problems with mice!" Thankfully I have not seen a live mouse yet (when I do, I am moving out...I've warned hubby that I can't take mice...) but hubby found a whole lot of dead ones in our shop yesterday. Turns out the reason there wasn't a mouse problem is that the relatives that lived here before us used poison. Not really recommended with a 5 year old, a 3 year old and a pug. Then, when they came to clear stuff out of the fruit room, hubby's uncle mentioned that his wife had been storing some decorative Indian corn in there, and there was no corn left on it...and there was ummm...evidence... that mice had been in the fruit room.

So, we need farm cats. Being from the city, I believe in spaying and neutering cats, which are seen as pets. The family (doesn't that sound like I am part of the mafia, rather than part of a big farm family?) tend to leave the cat population alone, and then take them out with a shot gun if there is overpopulation (or, in the case of my MIL, she tends to run them over fairly frequently...not on purpose...I would personally stay out of her way if she's coming at you with her vehicle!)

Well, my little BIL's house DID come with cats...lots of cats...and he has kittens the right size to catch...and he's about to have more kittens...so it appears that some time in the next 24 hours, I am going to be a cat owner (against my better judgement) and in a couple of weeks I will be taking my farm cats to the vet to be spayed or neutered...because I just can't turn into a real farm wife that quickly!

Quick Takes Friday

1-
As I mentioned in small successes yesterday, I went to confession this week. We had our local penance service on Wednesday, so we dragged the kids with us to the 7pm start. Since we had the kids (whom I would have left at MILs house if I had known she wasn't going to come) my plan was to sit near the front on the cry room side, and be among the first in line. Well, I ended up #2 in line, but hubby (who claims he couldn't get past the girls...note to self, put both parents on the edge next time) ended up #5, and then graciously gave up his turn for an older lady in the parish. I had taken an examination of conscience paper, pulled out a pen, and circled the questions that reminded me of something I needed to confess. I also picked up a really cool little booklet that had an examination of conscience based on the ten commandments broken up into a list of mortal sins and a list of venial sins. Well, after I did my penance, I took the girls outside to run around while waiting for hubby and I left my circled examination of conscience in a pew...OOPS! So, someone is going to come across it and know what somebody was confessing...

2-
My parents and my brother are going to come out and see us (and our new house) next Saturday. We haven't seen them since Christmas, but they don't want to spend the night out here (even though we finally live in a house big enough to accommodate them!) So, their plan is to leave Denver early Saturday morning, be out here before noon, and then leave when we go to church (we'll need to leave by 4:30 or 5 to make it to Mass in one of three neighboring towns with anticipatory Masses). My in-laws really do not understand this sort of behavior. FIL offered to feed the cows for hubby in the morning if my parents were staying so that we could have more time with them as a family. Very nice gesture, but they seem all set to leave and be home before dark...

3-
I don't think I've mentioned on the blog (although hubby keeps having to hear it from me!) how much I hate that the post office in town closes at 4pm (in our old town it was open until 4:30) and that it takes a good 20 minutes to get from our house to the post office? I finally am back to paperback swap (which I put on vacation hold in October or early November, and took off vacation hold on Valentine's Day) and I keep thinking I can just mail the books next time I make it into town...which works fine every other week when I take the girls to the library for story time in the morning. It just does not seem possible to combine the post office with Eva's 5pm piano lesson. I should just learn my lesson and print postage at home more often.

4-
I didn't manage a quick takes post last week...I had hosted my Bible Study group the night before, so I was EXHAUSTED from getting the house in order. In the "I admit I must have lost my mind" category...the night before bible study, after the mini blinds we had to special order for two windows in the living room and the curtain panels arrived, I convinced hubby to drive an hour up to WalMart to get curtain rods. Then, I had him install the mini blinds and the curtain rods before my guests arrived. Not to mention cleaning the house, and stacking all the unpacked items and items that currently don't have a home into one room and cooking a main course. I didn't make it down to our shower until after the ladies in my bible study group left our old town (thankfully it takes about 40-50 minutes to drive up here!) I had a great time, though, and it is nice to have a house in a reasonable amount of order (although I admit I haven't really made any progress on the room with all the boxes since then!)

5-
My homeschooling confession of the week. I always have grand plans...the goal each week is to do school 4 days, so I plan 4 days of classwork for Eva, which includes the subjects reading, religion, math, handwriting and Spanish every day (only 5 to 10 minutes on each one, usually). Then each day I plan an additional subject, such as homemaking, science, social studies/history/geography, music, art, or PE. This week we have done three days of school (so far...still hoping to get to it this morning) and ZERO of the additional subjects. I've had straws soaking in what was once hot tap water for our science project since Monday, I never had them color, cut out and make the St. Patrick paper dolls for Art, Eva was supposed to learn how to make french toast for homemaking, and I just don't see it happening today...maybe I'll get ambitious today and we'll do our lesson on the continents for geography...we'll have to see. Plus, for Charlotte's preschool, I have mostly been doing two or three things with her (never what I suggest...she makes requests these days) and then sitting her down in front of a Veggie Tales so that I can finish school with Eva.

6-
I started a new cereal rule that I will be breaking this morning. My new rule is that we can't open a new box of cereal in the same category as one that is already open. So, we had some generic fruity pebbles style cereal, and I got a box of Trix swirls cereal on sale...Eva wanted the Trix instead of the fruity pebbles, and I told her only one fruity cereal open at a time. Then today, they both originally wanted Chocolate Cheerios, but we still have an unfinished box of Cocoa Puffs, so I told them only one chocolate cereal open at a time. However, I want some Chocolate Cheerios (and I do not like Cocoa Puffs) so I am about to crack open a box, if I can distract the girls long enough.

7-
Anyone ever put down carpet squares/carpet tiles/peel and stick carpet? The bedroom downstairs (that will eventually be a guest room) had two layers of water damaged carpet, and we are now working on scraping up the carpet backing...next step, carpeting. The carpet squares that I could find (online) ranged in price from $4.99 to $20+ per square (which were larger than a square foot) but it still looks like it might cost us around $600 for the floor of that bedroom if we go that route...still not sure if it would be significantly cheaper than having carpet laid professionally. Any thoughts? Other flooring ideas for a basement bedroom that could have water issues if we aren't careful?

More quick takes at Conversion Diary!

Small Successes

Well, this is the first edition of small successes that I have participated in, though I love reading them...does participating count as a small success?

1-
I went to confession last night. Sadly, it has been since Advent, even though I keep telling myself that I should get to confession more regularly. I even talked with hubby about planning ahead and taking one Saturday a month where we leave extra early for Mass and go to confession, then take the girls to the park until Mass starts.

2-
I organized some of our homeschooling stuff. I cleaned out Charlotte's tot school container so that all the file folder and tot book pieces were in the right place, and even added in a folder of preschool worksheets that were leftover from Eva's preschool days. I also FINALLY got around to making folders for the months of the year and liturgical seasons. So, the Advent coloring page that I have had lying around for more than two Advents without actually finding (during Advent...it seems to pop up most often during Lent) is in the Advent folder, and the instructions for making star-shaped faux sparklers is filed under July, and the Turkey craft that I had printed for both girls to do at Thanksgiving that we didn't get to because of the move is filed under November. I even got hubby to find an old file folder box to put it in (that still had craft supplies from a bridal shower I hosted about 7 or 8 years ago...oops!)

3-
I bathed the girls...I know, not a major accomplishment to normal people...but I don't really like giving them baths (probably because of Charlotte's ear-drum piercing scream when I wash her hair) and although we were pretty consistently good about baths twice a week when we lived in our old town (before farming...when hubby was home every evening and usually gave them their baths...and we had a decent shower we could throw them in if necessary) but in our new house, it has been a major struggle to get them bathed twice a week, and I am sure we have had a week or two where they only got 1 bath. I don't like bath time so much that I often suggest that grandma give them their baths when they are at her house.

Those are my small successes for this week...there are plenty more over at Faith and Family Live!

Quick Takes Friday - naptime edition

1-
It's been a little bit of a long week...Saturday afternoon, hubby and I left for Denver to see the Symphony. We had a great time, had a nice dinner beforehand, had pretty good seats where we could see the pianist during the Horn trio, and then I got a nice hotel room off of priceline. In the morning, we went to Holy Ghost parish for their 7:00am Mass, then had breakfast and headed home. MIL and SIL headed up to the nearest medium sized town for some shopping, so we met them for lunch, MIL and hubby took the girls home, and SIL and I went shopping...there went another almost $500 to Home Depot...the joys of moving!

2-
Sunday night we had the Altar and Rosary ladies annual fundraiser "Family Fun Night" with a supper prepared by the Knights of Columbus, bingo, kids games and several raffles. The girls had a great time with the kids games...Charlotte loved to go to the "grocery store" (that poor kid thinks that any store is a grocery store!) which was a table full of little Oriental Trading Company toys and candy that they could trade in their tickets for merchandise. My girls earned so many tickets, and got a ton of little stuff. Charlotte's favorite is a pink and silver princess tiara, which we have hardly gotten off her head at all. Eva liked all the games, except for Plinko, where you had to climb a ladder on the back (she smudged her face painting coming down, and refused to play the game again.) Charlotte, on the other had, was the Plinko queen...I'm expecting to see her on the Price is Right someday. Of course, the girls kept being given tickets to play games by all their aunts and uncles, etc.

3-
The adults played some Bingo, and the girls got family members to win them the toys they liked on the Bingo prize table. I ended up getting them a Disney princess Easter egg decorating kit when I got a Bingo prize. Then, FIL won a beautiful quilt that was handmade for the raffle...it fit our King sized bed really well, so we ended up with it...we all had a great time.


4-
Monday we started school again, which Eva and Charlotte were very excited about. We are mostly doing review at this point...until we are a little more settled.

5-
Tuesday we did more school, then headed over to SIL's new house and helped her paint in her basement (okay, the girl's played "Aunt T's" Wii instead...) then had pizza as the whole clan and worked on removing a wall paper border (I was also working on removing one at home on Tuesday and Wednesday.)

6-
The aunt and uncle that used to live in our house came out to start cleaning their stuff out of our fruit room...they got it about half done...of course, after the fruit room, they have a storage area in our garage, a room full of stuff they want to sell at a garage sale, and a bunch of stuff in our shop...we'll see how many months it takes before they get it all cleaned out!

7-
Yesterday was another major painting day at our house. I spent all morning cleaning stuff out of the kitchen area, then taping off doorways and baseboards. In the afternoon, MIL came over and helped me with my main wall paper, a warm tan color (called Soft Chamois...paint colors have really stupid names...) It took all afternoon, then hubby got home from work, helped me put on a second coat, and then the two of us went up to Home Depot (again...it takes a little over an hour to drive up there) to get more lights for the kitchen. Hubby has taken down and replaced one florescent light box so far, and there are three more in our kitchen area that he'll be replacing this weekend. So, today I have been removing paint and doing school with the girls. I need to get more stuff put back, but then again, we have the ceiling to paint (hopefully Sunday) and then after that is done, I have an accent wall in the eat in kitchen area, and it will also be carried over above the cabinetry in the kitchen. I am hoping to have all that done before next Thursday, when I am hosting my Bible study at our house.

More quick takes over at Conversion Diary!