170 Days

I HAVE MOVED...

2010-02-12T14:32:00.001-08:00

Come find me at my new home!

Day 78. Confessions.

2010-02-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

I think I have been so caught up in making sure that I am DOING SCHOOL correctly that I have forgotten to DO SCHOOL. Can that be possible?

I think it can. For I know those that are so busy planning their lives, they forget to live them. So focused on creating the correct process in which to implement something, that they forget why they even need the process.

Sometimes you HAVE TO LET GO...and just do, just be, just let it happen.

I feel like the kids are not learning. I mean they are passing tests. Our days seem to be a series of check marks to finish curriculum for the day. A countdown 'til summer, just like my bloggy blog. Perhaps this is because of the type of curriculum I have chosen, am I implementing it incorrectly, mid year blahs, or the overachiever in me?

It's very hard to balance two older kids with two different curriculums, and a curious and insanely active pre-k student. Meet all their needs at once.

Home school fairy god mother, where are you? Hmmmm.

Cynics look high and low for wisdom—and never find it;

the open-minded find it right on their doorstep!

Proverbs 14:6 (the message)

Now there are just 92 school days left until summer.

Day 77. Guests Are Coming.

2010-02-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

It's amazing when you learn something new, start paying attention to it, and find that it is everywhere, ya know? Three families I know in the last month, have decided to homeschool. I couldn't be happier. For them of course, but let's just be honest...more FRIENDS along the way. I want to find a forum where I can get all kinds of information. Books just really don't work out for me. They have no pictures, they are long, and well sometimes boring. I want to hear from a real live person. Perhaps through a convention, where experts can speak, or people share real life experiences or through my friends. That is how I learn best.

SO SO SO....that leads me to the GUESTS ARE COMING title of today's post. I decided to contact some people via Facebook to see if they would consider guest posting on my blog. Would you believe that I had 35 people that I know that either homeschool or were home schooled. That's amazing. What a resource. I have contacted these people and have I'm in from 9 lined up so far. This series of amazing incredible peeps is coming soon. All aspects will be represented from newbies, to veterans, to kids who were, to peeps who haven't even started yet. They are going to share their best tips, or personal stories.

How fabulous is this gonna be? Can't wait.

Now there are just 93 school days left until summer.

Day 76. Copy Cat.

2010-02-10T11:13:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed when you are in a new situation that doing some familiar things just makes you feel "normal?"

I left my home church of 25 years, a few years back, when my husband accepted a worship pastor position at a new church in Elk Grove, Ca. EVERYTHING was foreign. I hated it in the beginning. People in this strange place, talked about things like getting stuck behind the train, power lines too close to their house, and the developers buying up too much land. Well five years later, I can say I do hate getting stuck behind the train, I still could care less where they put the power lines, and I wish the developers would buy all the land and DEVELOP it. At the time however, I was completely lost.

One night after I had been here a couple of months, I attended a scrapbook night at the church. FINALLY, I understood and related to what people were talking about. I knew what the circle cutter was, related to being overwhelmed with too many pictures, and absolutely understood how you want to own ALL the scrapbook paper, but really have no use for that much of it. It may seem silly, but on that night, I met some of the best friends I have here, still to this day.

My point is, that familiarity is comforting. Therefore, we have decided to put on an open house for our school. The kids looked forward to the one night each year that people came to see what THEY were doing and learning at Bradshaw. We got to step into their world and understand a little bit more. We will be busy getting ready for it. The kids are excited and planning is underway. It will be held during the first part of March and pictures will come for sure! Stay tuned....

Now there are just 94 school days left until summer.

Day 75. Take Me Away.

2010-02-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Somedays are "don't get out of bed, kinda ones" and for SOME days, its o.k. Today is such a day. In my house right now...Cameron is studying science. Taylor is reading the Secret Garden. Emma is racing Mario and I, am dreaming of a few of my favorite places....

Oh, just being in this store inspires me. It is absolutely a true expression of what I love.

How about some exotic ness? Like Kauai? I have been to the Caribbean and the beaches of Rio. Can I tell you that Kauai is still my favorite? What's not to love?

aaaahhh, and then there is the place where red bulls eye lives...enough said.

How about a Broadway Show? I'll see any production of anything and find something to love about it. There are so many to get lost in...I love 'em all. It's one of my greatest escapes.

And last but not least...Mickey and Minnie are always at their front door waiting for me...

see?

and now there is just 95 school days left until summer....

I'm Packing.

2010-02-09T19:40:00.000-08:00

I am packing and will soon be moving to my new blog home, in a land called

Just A Night Owl.

Here is a sneak peek of my new logo.
My site will be up soon.

My husband designed a fantastic new space for me.

I love you Babe...

Thank you!

PLAY Wall Art.

2010-02-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

This simple reminder and good use of scrapbook paper hangs on the wall in my home. I bought sixteen wooden squares from Joann's ( I had to special order). I bought some yummy scrapbook paper with lots of different textures and some wooden letters to spell one of my favorite words...

P L A Y. Then I grabbed some left over fabric and embellishments from around the house and went to work.

1. Paint the sides of all squares. Make sure and paint the face of four of the squares that will hold the wooden letters on the rest, it doesn't matter. I chose ivory paint.

2. Paint the wooden letters to the desired color. I chose black.

3. Cut the paper/fabric to size for the face of the squares. I used both fabric and paper on mine.

4. Use Modge Podge to adhere papers, fabrics, and letters onto the squares.

5. Use any flowers, charms, ribbons, stickers, to accessorize... should you desire!

This quote to live by

"Never underestimate the power of acting young silly and crazy"

was a sticker mounted on light green solid scrapbook paper and mounted again on my original polka dot paper

The blue paper had a cool little BE YOURSELF design already in the design so I just cut it to make sure I had that part showing and then added three self adhesive silver embellishments

Make sure you paint all the sides of the squares! As clearly, thanks to this pic above, I missed a bit on the toile square. OOPS! I have to go back and do that one...

I used command strips to hang these up.

(YES, they really DO work!)

I want to make more! Imagine the possibilities!

I'VE MOVED! COME FIND ME AT MY NEW HOME...

I am linking up with

Day 74. Warp Speed.

2010-02-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

I do not envy the responsibility a teacher holds. I mean on days when I seriously question my abilities, motives, and performance....I think about the first year teaching. Must be rough. At least if I screw up a kid, it's gonna be my own, right? There is some sick twisted comfort in that.

I think its safe to officially say we will be homeschooling again next year. One of the things I will do differently is to have school from a certain time to a certain time. Right now school is a check list of curriculum to get through. I can not tell you how much that does not fit with my family. It's like chocolate ice cream and onions. Does NOT go together.

I did very little research, if any, outside of A Beka because we were doing this for one year initially. Their curriculum is broken down into 170 lessons...Therefore, 170 days. Clever, huh? I just assumed. It's the rookie in me. I now know better.

So, what's my point? Well, a lot of things that count for "school" I have not "counted" for school. So my attendance sheets and blog posts don't always match up. Who cares? No one really....just warning you that for the next couple weeks the "extra" stuff will be trimmed down and the core info kicked up to catch us back up to where I want to be.

Hang on....we're gonna fly.

Day 73 Orphaned in Haiti.

2010-02-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

I came across this story Orphaned in Haiti at Heather's blog. Take a minute to read it and pray for this family. There has been SO much tragedy in Haiti that we can not even begin to wrap our heads around what's going on. This story put some faces to just a piece of it. I can not even imagine all the emotions that this little boy has been feeling. The fear, excitement, disappointment, relief, the unknown? How about his adoptive parents? They really are amazing people. The love for a child. Isn't he handsome?

I knew immediately, there was no question, that we wanted to help. I read the story to my kids and we talked about what to do. Their money for some toys at dollar tree, welcome cards, a new outfit from Target, and a handmade fleece blanket seemed perfect. Gina at Blessed in Red Headed Bliss immediately jumped right in to help too. She's that kinda girl! Thanks G.

Shawn was doing his thing, singing at a concert for Courage House Ministries (another amazing amazing story) last Friday night. The kids and I went shopping for this sweet boy and went out to dinner, together. We talked about Haiti and Ronel off and on, all night long. The conversations were priceless as we discussed the strength Ronel must have, the courage of his new parents, and how scary that earthquake must have really been. They asked a million questions to which I usually replied, "well, what do you think?" They always had an answer. These kids jumped outside of themselves ALL night long. It was awesome.

First stop was the dollar tree. The kids all pitched in and bought 2 puzzles, a ball, a yo yo, and a car.

Next stop was Dos Coyotes...YYUUMM...then off to Target where we acquired this killer little Shaun T White ensemble... and decided every boy needs to have his own soccer ball and bubble gum, for sure!

Final stop was off to Joann's to get some yummy, cozy fleece.

Emma picked out these two patterns, all on her own. Taylor and I put the blanket together.

There is nothin' like a new fleece blankie and we sure

hope Ronel feels cozy and safe under his new one.

This morning during school, the kids all made cards...

and we packed up his items and went to the post office...

A box full of goodies is on its way to Ronel and his new family. We wish them ALL the best. People like this are inspiring and we hope these few small things can put a smile on their face. We sure had fun putting it together. Thank you Heather for sharing their story and allowing us to be a part of it.

Now there are just 97 school days left until summer.

In Control Of My Goals.

2010-02-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hi, my name is Darcy and I am a control freak....and also a bit of a success junkie...and o.k. I'm pretty hard on myself too. Making goals for myself to achieve things in my life is something that I have always done. However, when I do not get the result that I want I tend F R R R R E A K and obsess. I have found that a lot of times, looking back, I make the goal to be the desired outcome. This seems reasonable, right? However, in evaluating the situations I have failed in, some of the things that I have set as my goals, are beyond my control. Then the "failure" in them inevitably produces a downward spiral in me. Here is an example...

If you have been following my Minority Reports at all, you will see that I am in a frustration stand off against my metabolism. I used to make goals like....I am going to lose 10 pounds this month.

Well, my thinking has changed. I can do everything "right" and if I have a scared metabolism from years of harsh behavior, or hit a plateau phase during dieting, or even have lack of knowledge or skill in an area... I can still find that I worked my butt off and came up short. Therefore, failure, in light of my set goal. Therefore, frustration. Therefore, negativity. Therefore, the impending and ceremonial...throwing in of the towel.

An example of one of my old goals would have been to drop at least two pounds a week. First time that doesn't happen. I'm done. I have failed. It's terrible, I know. However, true.

So now...Here's what I do.

Q What do I want?

A To look like Jillian Micheals O.K. noted exaggeration, realistically lose 30 pounds. Although, I wouldn't mind being Jillian's twin.

Q What do I need to do?

A Eat 1500 calories a day, exercise 5 times a week, cut out diet coke, and get 7 hours of sleep a night.

THOSE things, in general, I can control. It's my part of the process. That is what my focus needs to be. I have the ability to succeed in that. Therefore, that should be my goal. I can not control what I lose each week. 1-2 pounds a week will hopefully be the outcome, once my goals listed above have been achieved. I just need the ability to succeed in my goal setting.

Make sense? This maybe just the ramblings of an overachiever, but it has freed my thinking up tremendously. It can apply in lots of different areas of my life and it has helped me to let go of control. All I should focus on, is doing the right thing in my daily part of the process. The rest is up to God anyway, isn't it?

Sleep Like A Baby?

2010-02-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

Where DOES that phrase come from?
It is just plain weird.

Each of our kids have been SO different in their sleep patterns, right from the beginning. Cameron had to cry himself to sleep EVERY nap and bedtime for quite some time. Taylor was a fantastic sleeper from the beginning. She slept through the night for the first time, her 3rd week of life (o.k. she was 10.6 lbs at birth, that probably helped). Emma's sleeping has been nothing short of chaotic, just like her wonderful eclectic little personality. She is 5.5 and is still napping a solid 90 minutes a day. However, she suffers from frequent bad dreams at night. The screaming, sweating, waking up in a sheer panic kind. It breaks my heart. Her other sleep "issue" since baby-land is this...Looks peaceful enough, right?

Here it is just seconds later...

and seconds after that...

and a few more seconds after that...

This child is so rough in her sleep. She tosses and turns and thrashes all night long.

I find her in the most interesting positions ever.

See what I mean? Who can fall asleep like this?

Some things never change.

Christmas ABC's Album.

2010-02-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

You may remember my post awhile back about my sweet little friend Lillian. I wanted to share with you a great gift idea that can be changed up to fit any theme. I did a Christmas ABC's album to give to Lillian's family. I don't have pictures of the completed product, but here is what I did.

A picture of Lillian with a Christmas object for every letter of the alphabet was the goal. It took a couple photo sessions to accomplish, but we did it. Here are some of my favorite shots.

A is for ANGEL

D is for Darling Santa Hat

E is for Egg Nog

M is for Mary

P is for Please No More Pictures

and S is for Star

I chose to print all the pictures in black and white matte finish. I purchased some coordinating lilac, aqua, and silver papers and letter punch outs. I kept the decor VERY simple in the 8x8 album to keep darling Lillian as the focus of each page.

A wonderful keepsake for her family to treasure.

AND I couldn't stand that I didn't have one to keep, so I inserted all the pictures into an iphoto book and printed one for myself!

This could be changed to Valentine ABC's, birthday ABC's or anything your mind can imagine!

Have fun!

A Movie Night B-day.

2010-02-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

We chose a Hannah Montana party for Emma's #5. Her b-day falls in late September. The usual rule with birthday parties in our house is one friend for every year you are old. However, if we go somewhere special for a party its usually one or two friends at most.

With the recent release of the Hannah Montana movie on DVD...we lit up the fire pit and had an outdoor movie viewing party.

The timing was a bit tricky as we needed it to be dark to play the movie, so we did cake and presents first.

The cake was s'mores served on a Hannah Montana plate. Graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows with some funky candles stacked up high. One of Emma's favorite desserts. All the kids took turns roasting their own marshmallows to make their own "cake".

One of Emma's favorite presents was a BFF necklace from her Sophia. Aww how she loves her.

It is all Sophia...all the time around here.

After that the girls kicked it on some sleeping bags with popcorn...

we were able to borrow the equipment to project Hannah on the big screen.

The girls all went home with Hannah Montana make up kits that I had saved from 90% off Christmas sales last year.

We had a great time. So simple. So fun. (and SO inexpensive!)

Bagel Baby.

2010-02-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

When I see pictures like this my heart aches. Just look at those chubby little fingers. I miss theses days...and Noah's Bagels. This is Emma at 5 months old, crazy hair and sucking on a bagel that was almost bigger then her head....

The Minority Report. wk 3.

2010-02-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I must tell you, that it is with great anticipation that I bring you my report this week. So much so, in fact, that I thought I would write it a day early. Just because I couldn't wait until tomorrow to bring you this written piece of inspiration.

All my workouts this week were completed. In fact, I am completing week four of Chalean Extreme with perfect attendance on my part.

Vitamins consumed

Regular meals eaten, measured and all

Not a drop of diet coke in my body, mostly water, water, water....

Sun~ I didn't count calories, but its not like I ate a house either/ REST DAY

Mon~ I didn't count calories, see above/ Burn Circuit 1

Tues~ 1265 cal/ Kick box 30 min, abs 20 min

Wed~1250 cal/ Burn Circuit 2

Th~1520 cal/ Kick box 30 min, abs 20 min

....and ta dah....the prize for my efforts ....NOTHING. not even a tenth of a pound. I wasn't expecting 8 pounds like Atkins, or 10 pounds like diet pills, but I was expecting at least ONE POUND. or even a tenth. I know slow and steady wins the race, but this isn't even slow yet.

Is there a secret condition that I suffer from called sleep eating?

I'm going to go call Jillian....

Foot~tastic Family Night.

2010-02-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

A night dedicated to feet. Even though I skipped the pedicures to avoid intense humiliation on the part of my eleven year old son, it turned out to be a fun night. The night began with a yummy dinner. Foot long sandwiches made to order and some fruit by the foot for dessert.

And of course, we all had to stand on our own two feet to eat it...the whole time.

After dinner Taylor presented a failry dramatic interpretation of the Foot Book...

We wrapped up the night with multiple rounds and variations of foot volleyball.

A simple piece of yarn or string tied between two anythings and you have a net. A balloon becomes the ball. Rules are FEET ONLY and BOTTOMS OFF THE GROUND WHILE BALL IS IN PLAY.

Lest you think our family nights are calm, carefree, and all shiny happy people...

I leave you with the following picture.

That's how it goes sometimes...

Have a fantastic weekend with your families!

xo.

Emma's ABC Treasure Box.

2010-02-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Seriously, don't you just love Home Goods? It all started with this box. $5.99 and I was hooked.

I took a bunch of old scrapbook letter stickers and put one capital letter of each letter of the alphabet on white cardstock, cut them up, and put them in the box.

I then took one small, household, non-perishable object to correspond with each letter and put them in the box. Here is a sample.

(Continue scrolling down for a complete item list below.)

pictured are leaf, butterfly, fish, alligator, circle, tape, hat, yarn, q tip, napkin,

and 4 of the letters R, X, P, and H

Everything can tuck neatly inside

And best of all, it looks adorable on any shelf!

Lots of games can be played with this. Match the object to the letter. I can ask Emma to pull out the first letter of cat, car, and can....etc. There are lots of options. A variety of ways to learn our letters and sounds, seems to work the best.

ITEMS FOR EACH LETTER

A lligator

B utterfly

C ircle

D oll

E gg

F ish

G rass

H at

I ce

J ar

K ey

L eaf

M irror

N apkin

O ctopus

P encil

Q tip

R ose

S traw

T ape

U nicorn

V alentine

W isemen

X ray

Y arn

Z ipper

I am linking up:

A Place To Hang.

2010-02-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

I had some scrap wood left over from the scrabble magnet board project that you can check here. I have fond that I need somewhere to keep out all of the charts, maps, and displays that is big with the A Beka curriculum. We need to be able to get to them quickly and often.

I put these two extra pieces of wood up on the wall and hot glued some of those metal clippy~esque things on to them. You know the ones. I put two on each board. I didn't even have to saw them down. I love it when things that happen. So I didn't spend an additional dime...and here's what I have....

Day 72. Long Lost Friend.

2010-02-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

How have I lived without these? A simple package of cards and a bucket of blocks that I purchased at Lakeshore.You can check them out online here. I did not price shop at all because I had a gift card at Lakeshore. I remember something similar we had when I was a kid. They are so much fun.

When I pulled them out today my older two went NUTS. They apparently had them at BCS and LOVED them. They looked like they had found a long lost friend. I actually had bought them with Emma in mind because I still struggle to keep her occupied while doing school with the older two. However, it was my older two that played with them for a solid hour before I ripped them away from the blocks and let Emma play, who played with them for another 45 minutes

I highly recommend for any age...they are pretty fun, I must say. Here are some the kid's morning creations.

Turtle by Cameron...

Flower Garden by Tay...

Patterns...

The more fun I seem to add into school the easier the work gets done. I keep forgetting that.

Even despite Emma being down for the count with a cold, it was a pretty stress free day.

Now there are just 98 school days left until summer.

Scrabble Magnet Board.

2010-02-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

A cute alternative to the typical classroom magnet board. I saw the scrabble letter idea here and was able to incorporate it with the board that I already had done on my wall. Since I have ditched the generic plastic magnet letters, my older two kids (and sometimes me) play with the board too. Since there are points on each letter, you can create some pretty fun games.

Supplies needed are:

To make the board:

The board was made by nailing metal sheeting (an 18x24 piece that was purchased at Home Depot) to the wall. I bought pieces of wood (that Home Depot cut down to size) and used black stain to finish them off. The wood was nailed over the edges of the metal

To make the letters

Magnet tape (sticky one one side, magnetic on the other). I used 1 roll that costs 1.50 at Home Depot.

Wood Scrabble pieces. Target has a kit to make a card in the Valentines section. It was 9.99 as opposed to the 19.99 version in the game aisle. They both had 100 pieces.

Cut the magnet tape into little pieces.

Adhere to the back of each letter.

Get help! My 5 year old was a brilliant little helper.

Place on board and have fun!

Day 71. On Your Own Day AGAIN.

2010-02-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

I was wondering what was going to happen when somebody got sick. Today Emma has a "yucky mouth". Ah the way kids explain things. We stayed in bed, snuggling, and watching movies until 10:30 a.m. Milkshake run occurred after that, which everyone was super pleased about. Milkshakes at 11:00a.m? Who wouldn't be. I drank my ice water and chanted I love h2o and then we returned home.

The kids are on their own again today with a list of assignments THEY LOVE IT. However, yesterday Taylor was loving that we took a break during school to play light bright and some other things. I know that it's a balance of everything combined into one. I am not sure about the way that I have gone about this school year with having a list of assignments for each day. I would rather have a time frame that I am committed to and accomplish what we will during those hours, I think. That would work better for me and the kids, I think. It would be hard to switch right now in my brain, but maybe I will. We'll see.

Now there are just NINETY NINE days until summer. Double digits..

Day 70. A Little Confused.

2010-02-03T13:35:00.000-08:00

Oh, today was CHAOS. Somehow through some grumpiness still a beautiful chaos. How does a human being simultaneously teach letters and sounds, the Mexican War, and Fractions? Wow, it's an art form in and of itself. Some days are just fine while others are just not. You see, contrary to previous years in class where my shy one..."never asked questions, cuz he didn't want to be laughed at" this year the teacher is five feet from them ALL the time. So the questions, can become endless and the requested switching of topics is faster then my brain can handle. In addition, an endless parade of thoughts on what they are reading or doing starts flying. I think a much more effective use of our day would be to plan out the subjects between the kids so I can constantly rotate on who I am working with. However, that's hard to do and more structured then I like. So, my quest will continue. I'm still learning what works best.

I was working for quite awhile this morning with Emma on reading a blend ladder. I had to get something off my desk, so I took a break for a second. Taylor asked a math question of me. The question on the paper is what unit of measurement would you use to weigh a cow. The answer being kilograms. Well, I glanced at the paper and blurted out.."well what does a cow say?" um "moo"...she answered. We cracked up forever at that one. Clearly get going a little too fast sometimes and my brain doesn't catch up. It entertains the kids.

Now there are just 100 school days left until summer.

My Armoire.

2010-02-02T13:38:00.000-08:00

My first time of doing a BIG piece of furniture. I fell in love with Eddie's delicious blue armoire and had to attempt it. You can see her fab creation here and get a tutorial. It was a bit hard for me to do because I LOVED the current piece as it was, but knew that love would be taken to a level of obsession if I could pull of the deep turquoise color with half as much skill as Eddie. I will probably be playing with the final finished look for days. Sanding, dry brushing....its kinda addicting to find just the right balance.

It lives in our classroom now and is a great addition. It is surrounded right now by other half finished projects that I need to complete. The color is so fabulous, it makes me happy.

I did not sand this piece to start with and clearly should have. So the candle technique as explained in Eddie's post, did not really quite work out this time. In addition, the post sanding attempt is a bit tricky as well without peeling the paint. So, I had to resort to some dark brown paint and dry brushing. Live and learn.

And p.s. I am in desperate need of photography lessons, but you get the idea. I am saving for those as we speak....I need someone to verbally teach me. I am too impatient to learn from books (and yes I am homeschooling my 3 kids, kinda scary huh?)

Here was the before,

I am linking up with

Day 69. Keeping It Real.

2010-02-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

Oh today is one of those days. Have you ever noticed it seems the really good days are followed by the REALLY bad ones. Today was opening registration day for school next year. How ironic that we were supposed to be almost debt free by now and we had to tell the kids today that school next year is a no go. Tears. Not only that, struggling to find the finances for homeschool next year. That's pure irony.

Today I keep struggling with things that the kids are "missing" at school outside the home. Some independence, Cameron's 5th grade promotion ceremony, time with their friends, the first day of Kindergarten for Emma? ugh.

This has been the strangest year of my life to date, I think...Thank goodness that the people in my life who build me up are more prevalent then the ones that tear me down. That I have a supportive husband to figure out life with, three precious kiddos who try their best to role with the punches, and the God given wisdom to know what the right thing is to do.

I often hear Christians say that God doesn't give us more then we can handle, but I prefer to think of it that God gives us the tools we need to handle what we've been given....I've got what I need to get up day in and day out and do this. Just gotta find it and grab it. Today it's one of those days....again. There will be many more in the future, and I will get through them the exact same way. One foot in front of the other, friends by my side, minor temper tantrums, prayer, and a whole lot of kickboxing.

I feet caught in the middle of some educational abyss. I don't feel like I "fit" really anywhere. While there are definite things I have come to adore about homeschooling, I struggle so badly some days with wanting my kids back where I feel like they belong. A very wise woman in my life told me the other day...that if the Lord isn't providing the funds, then you probably don't need them. I guess we don't need much of anything right now, but each other....and we've got that.

Now there is just 101 school days left until summer.

The Minority Report. wk 2.

2010-01-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

ok...so I have good news and bad news...Good news goes first. THE SCALE IS MOVING.
Bad news is in the wrong direction. Up 2 pounds. How special. I love it when hard work produces the desired results. It makes my heart sing.

So the way I figure is this...if after 20 years I can give up diet coke for 27 days now...I can do this....SERIOUSLY! I am hoping that it is partially due to a rebound effect from Atkins...

Here's my number one problem right now:

COUNTING, MEASURING, TRACKING....heaven help me, I hate it.

I once had a job that I had to track my work duties in 15 minutes increments ON PAPER. Talked on the phone, worked on this, worked on that. It nearly drove me to an institution of some kind. I remained committed and did it to the best of my ability, but all kidding aside it killed my soul to live that way. This is eerily similar, but there is no way around it that I see. SO, I am trying a slightly new tactic this week. I have planned out my meals and snacks for the next week. I just came back from the store and have purchased everything and it is ready for the week. Everything is pre measured and packaged mostly...not the healthiest, but it'll have to do for now. At least, this way, I won't have to write something down and do math every time I eat something.

I am going 1310 calories a day this week. I feel like I am trying to turn the titanic around to go in the right direction. Wait...did I just compare myself to the Titanic? I think I did...oh whatever....

I will also be lifting weights 3 times this week 40 minutes each session, 20 minute ab work out 5 x's, and 60 min kickboxing 2x's.

If the scale doesn't move in the desired direction by next Sat morning...well let's just say I'll be applying for the Biggest Looser. You can watch me next season...I hope I get the pink team.

Wish me luck! How was your quest for healthy living this week?

Day 68. My heart is full.

2010-01-30T15:20:00.000-08:00

Another day of uneventful schooling down. I am in the process of rearranging the classroom. With 68 days of school behind me, I have a much better understanding of what I need and don't need in there. Also, realizing that too many bright obnoxious colors, make me feel like I am on the set of romper room and make me cranky. I am looking forward to sharing pics, hopefully next week.

I have a moment to share with you, that God blessed me with today. However, I need to first preface this by saying that each of us have our own story and journey. NOBODY can tell you what is right for you. That is between God and you. He asks something different from each of us. We are all in different seasons and different particular circumstances. Here's mine...

....a relaxing Friday at home. All five of us together and hanging out. We had a low key, picnic type dinner in the family room. The girls were making crafts, Shawn was working on my new blog, Cameron was making a shield for his next Nerf gun fight, and I was snuggled on the couch reading. Emma, who is just 5, gets up from her craft, runs over to me and whispers in my ear...."thank you mommy for quitting your job to be with us"......

What else do you say after that?

Now there is just 102 school days left until summer.

Emergency Family Night.

2010-01-29T21:13:00.000-08:00

What happens when one of your best friends ends up in the hospital to undergo immediate and emergency surgery, just a couple hours before family night is supposed to happen?

Well the answer is simple...you gather your kids and explain the situation.

Get the 10.99 pizza coupon from the drawer and a movie for the rest of the family to enjoy at home.

Immediately depart for the hospital...trying to get there before they wheel her into surgery.

Family Nights aren't 100 percent of the time about only blood relatives...sometimes you just gotta roll.

Yes, I did consider having the family at home play a game, but thought that might be a BIT over the top. Despite the fact that Nicole would have greatly appreciated the humor in it.

Nicole is at home minus one gall bladder and appendix, but on the mend. My kids learned a valuable lesson about the importance of people first....and I am glad I got to make it to see her and give her a big 'ol smooch... cuz she is one of a kind.

Family nights will resume next week. Enjoy your weekend.

XO.

Day 67. Some Puppy Lovin'.

2010-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00

After our morning studies, we devoted this afternoon to animals. We spent some time in the kitchen making some homemade doggie treats for the SPCA. We used wheat flour, peanut butter, milk, and baking bowder. Rolled and cut into shapes, they made adorable little snacks for some lonely doggies. However, to people,...they tasted like cardboard. Yeah we tried 'em.

We were able to drop off the doggie cookies and spend some time wandering around looking at the animals.

They were adorable and Taylor would have taken every single one home, if she could have.

I would have considered bringing this "little" guy home. His eyes were breathtaking.

After that little adventure, we headed over to our local vet. They have free tours for groups up to 9 people. We met some friends from church there. It was very interesting. The staff was very kind. What we saw was pretty "real". My kids were a bit stunned.

Here is Taylor and Kaitlyn BEFORE we went in.

At our first stop, we met Joey. A Dog who chews his hind legs because he is crazy, they told us. Cameron said "oh, he thinks he's food?"

then we got a brief explanation of how the digital xray machines work...

we got to see some cool pics of dog insides...

Following that, there are no more pics. It got a little graphic. They walked us right through the area where dogs get worked on and dogs recover. So, we saw some STUFF. There was blood, there was sad doggies, there was a recovering 135 pound doggie, there was a dog completely under anesthesia getting his teeth cleaned, two feet from us. Lovely images burned in the minds of me and my children forever...

Then we saw this ADORABLE puppy who was waiting for surgery, shaking like a leaf, and I wanted to take her home. A silky terrier...so cute. Our puppy Brooklyn, needs one of these to be her sister. She was beautiful.

Anyway, then we walked through some more areas where we saw some recovering animals with nasty conditions...Blood vessels rupturing, knees dislocating. Me? I'm squeamish...very squeamish. So today I learned, that me potentially fainting, is not just limited to human traumas. Apparently, animal traumas are included as well. How Dr. Doolittle of me.

Just when I was getting concerned about the care that would be taken of me, if I went down in a vet hospital, we stepped outside to see where they took care of the larger animals. Crisis averted. We peacefully entered the other side of the building where we ended our tour learning about how they put animals to sleep, the kids were given leashes, and told to have a nice day. In that order.

If the kids look a little confused....they probably are, I know I was. Oh and the final story we received from our tour guide, as we were leaving... was how a doggie had passed away on the floor of the exam room earlier that morning...

THANKS FOR COMING KIDS....!

All in all, it was a free tour. The hospital is FANTASTIC (they care for our puppy), and the people were VERY nice. Not quite what I was expecting, but overall a very fun day.

Now there is just 103 school days left until summer....

Family Nights Do's and Don'ts.

2010-01-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

Since I began posting about our family nights, I have had so many questions about the logistics of how we pull this off. I thought I would jot down a few thoughts on some of the things I have learned so far...

DO:

1. Decide your dates in advance. Then put them on the calendar. WHATEVER number of family nights that is reasonable and doable for your family. Once a month, once a week? Doesn't matter. Just decide and commit.

2. Plan your themes at one time. Sit down and plan your upcoming family night themes. I usually do mine for 3 months at a time. Make a list. Shop (if necessary) in advance. I have a cupboard in my home that's ready for upcoming family nights. It's full of bargains I find while I'm out, supplies I have purchased, after holiday sales, left overs from parties, etc.

3. Utilize the web for inspiration. www.familyfun.com is my number one resource for all family night ideas. Other resources are blog's, birthday party idea sites, and GOOGLE. Try even picking an object....like feathers. Build a family night around it. Search it's history, find a recipe, a craft project, clothing item.....It's out there!

4. Have a place to collect your future family night ideas. Create a binder, a folder on your computer, or a journal in your purse.

5. Get out of the box. Do the unexpected. Don't do a Valentine's theme family night in Feb. Do it in September and use the after Valentines Day sale items you purchased from the previous year. It's more fun. Do am "I Miss Christmas Party" in the summer....the weird is more memorable.

6. Tell your family, friends, and Facebook when your family nights are...the anticipation and accountability is a good thing!

7. Keep it Simple. This is the whole reason for pre planning. The last thing anyone needs is to have something else on their to do list. Don't let it cause more stress. Back off if it is! Stress is not the point.

DON'T:

1. Be discouraged when things don't go as planned. MANY a family night in my house has a minimum of one fight, one meltdown, or a bucket of tears. It's o.k. DO NOT STOP!

2. Spend tons of money. It's not necessary. Frugal Family Nights are just as much fun.

3. Tell your kids in advance what the theme is going to be...keep 'em guessing. This way you can also make last minute adjustments if necessary. I don't usually even tell my kids what's coming up, once the night is revealed. Sometimes projects or games take longer then planned and then you can delete something off of your agenda without any disappointed people.

4. Don't be so hard on yourself. Do not say "I'm not creative" or "I'm too busy". The resources are out there. USE THEM. You can even get together with a friend and commit to 6...Each of you plan 3 and share. Spend a little time to get organized and remember The TIME your family spends together is the best part.

5. Don't be surprised at the potential addiction that you might experience. The memories will be amazing....I guarantee it.

Day 66. On Your Own Day.

2010-01-27T00:11:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck. A Little bit annoyed with all the "healthy" steps I have been taking in the physical world. Patience, I tell myself and then, Emma and I snuggled in bed watching and sleeping our way through Little Bear a little bit longer than normal. Remember that post where I said I was starting school at a certain time? I haven't done it once. Remember the post where I said I was lesson planning on Wednesday nights? I haven't once done that either. BUT the beautiful thing is, I realized I have been beating myself up for not doing these things and then I suddenly realized WHO CARES? We have been doing school, getting our work done, getting good grades, and learning...so CHILL. It's not the exact way I want to do it, but it's getting there.

For someone who likes perfection, I quickly realized the guilt vortex I could be jumping into with homeschooling. Any lesson, any subject, any day, I could beat myself up for not doing it good enough. I will not go there, or at least I am trying not to. Cameron, Taylor, Emma, and I are making distinct progress in this new way of learning and the progress will continue to come. Improvement should always come with each year that we choose to school our kids at home and for that matter, each year that we choose to send them to school.

I needed a little change up today...so, I decided to declare it "On Your Own" day. I provided each child with a list of their work and the rules were simple....get it done before bed. No nagging from me and you give me your word it will be done and done well. Also know that I am available to help you at any point today that you need help on your work, or have a question. It was quickly agreed upon and we were off.

Those little loves of my life, sat down (at their desks) and attacked their assignments with ZERO complaining, rolling of the eyes, or heavy sighing. They all chose to finish their work first, so that they can go play. Hmmm. There are so very many things I could analyze about that.

They all finished before lunch and then asked..."Does on your own day mean making your own lunch?" In a split second decision, I brilliantly answered "Yes Baby, it does...."

Now there is just 104 school days left before summer.

Day 65. Recess Rocks.

2010-01-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

When you are doing school with your three children and you see a face book post from their dad like this:

Shawn Struckmeier I am dragging today...seriously need some coffee.

Stop immediately. Take a Recess.

Suggest to the kids that perhaps since daddy works so very hard for all of us, we could do something nice for him by going to buy a coffee. Throw out there the following shocking information: "if you would like to, I think it would be very nice for you to all pitch in some of your own money to help buy it. However, it's your choice."

(Cameron brought .10 cents, Taylor brought .50 cents, Emma brought .11 cents. Cameron excused himself and came back with .50 more cents.)

Take all your hard earned

and go get one of these

treat the kids to one of these, (split by 3)

Wish for your childhood metabolism back while simultaneously downing one of these instead

Console yourself with the fact that you look a whole lot classier then you did carrying around an am pm big gulp type cup.

If you do all of these things you might just receive a great big

from the most important person in your life...

May I always model for my kids a love and appreciation for their dad who does so very much for us all. Always teach each one of my kids that living with other's needs before our own is the best way to be...even if it is aiding with a horrible life sucking addiction like caffeine consumption.

Now there is just 105 school days left until summer...

Turkey Chili.

2010-01-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

Another family favorite, quick and easy recipe.
Today I made in the crock pot instead of on the stove.

1 lb lean turkey
8 oz can black beans
Lawrys chili powder package
8 oz corn
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
8 oz can chilli
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dice onion

Cook turkey and onions and then add remaining ingredients. Heat thoroughly and serve.

Enjoy!

The Minority Report. wk 1.

2010-01-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

And so it goes….a staggering 67% of American’s are overweight. Due to my love of being in the minority, I am going to become non overweight. I have contemplated writing on this topic for a couple months now. Since I have seen such huge benefits of blogging other topics: accountability for me, relating to others, and even possibly helping someone else. It’s a win win. So here goes…

I have worked every trick, done every diet, and jumped on every bandwagon there is. I have had a life long battle…not with my weight (until recently), but always with food. Food has been the enemy. You eat as little as possible. I was very good at that for many years. Combine that with competition level cheer and dance, and well, all was good. Fast forward many years to mid thirties, post three babies, wife, mother, overachiever, demanding job, ministry work, school volunteer, housekeeper, chef, and ceo of my home….hello unsuccessful. My vices no longer work and I am unhappy with the results.

And you know why? I don’t feel good. I feel old and yucky. Lazy and sluggish. Stressed and tired. I refuse to think that is how God has designed this magnificent body I’m living in to feel. Therefore, I need to make some MAJOR changes and start treating it correctly.

So, I will change. This means I get off the road of quick fixes and unhealthy behavior and jump on the road of the sane, slow, and healthy. I will tackle one thing at a time. It’s gonna be slow….and surely irritating. The results are farther away, but better. I have mastered the extremes, I have. I can go weeks eating Atkins, do 10 week boot camps of 90 min of exercise 6 times a week, but then I stop. To achieve the results that I want for myself…I need to live in the middle…and let it be known…I hate it there.

The world is literally inundated with programs of exercise and eating. They can be helpful, sure, but the bottom line is we all know the reality. Healthy bodies are attained by eating less and moving more. I want a pill or program to buy that will give me the health that I want. After all, we live in a world of instant gratification. My children comment if a drive through is taking “too long”. Completely pathetic.

So, I will update my progress on Saturdays in the "Minority Report". It will help keep me on track. I will share what I’m learning and what I’m annoyed with. I will not share what I weigh. God and I alone will know that. I will, however, share that I am five foot ten and I want to lose forty pounds and so far I am down 9. Thirty one to go. (the number looks less harsh, written in word form.)

Here are my friends to help me on this little journey to blissful bikini wearing this summer:

Tap and Track (for the iphone…)

Chalean Extreme (click here for more info)

water (the diet coke is GONE..its been 20 days)

Join me….won’t you??? It'll be well worth it and more fun with friends...xo.

The Naked Wandering Woman.

2010-01-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

Written a couple years ago. Something I don't want to forget...

So, today on the way home from Chuck E. Cheese, I notice tons of smoke near my neighborhood. Ever since I was a little girl, anytime there was any sort of disaster my dad would hop in the car and go investigate. I always went along!!! So, I have passed this tradition on to my three children as well... Cameron goes very nervously, the girls are all for it. Today was no exception, we went in search of the fire....

Well, we hit major defeat... there was NO way we, or any of the other curious people, were getting anywhere near these fires... so we gave up, and turned down Gerber Rd. to go home.

All of sudden (as we were going about 10 mph in major traffic) I looked to the right to see a thin young girl maybe 20 or so, very attractive, walking down the street completely and totally naked in broad daylight. She looked like she was just truly enjoying her afternoon stroll, with not a care in the world. She was clearly a bit delusional. Not only was she walking naked in front of numerous onlookers, but she was walking on the hot asphalt, sticks, rocks and yuck through a construction zone, and didn't even seem to notice.

Two cars behind me was a cop and sure enough not more than two seconds later he made a sharp turn off the road right near her. The naked woman looked at the cop car and turned and started wandering into the fields... WHAT would a poor cop do when he got to her? Do they carry extra clothes for this type of situation...I can hear it now, um ma'am, do you realize you have no clothes on?

I was so stunned and engrossed in these thoughts that I completely forgot for a moment that my kids were in the car. As I looked in the mirror to see their reaction the silence was broken by my 3 year old, Emma...

" aww mommy, that's not fair. I want to grow up and be a mommy and have big boobs and walk naked down the street with no shoes on......."

The flu cycle of '07.

2010-01-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

A little tale written a couple years ago....

So, there is a new, almost nightly ritual goin' on in the Struckmeier home. It all begins during the wee hours of the night. It starts with just a simple cough. At the onset of this sound, my husband, leaps forth with enormous zest, untangling himself from our down comforter, and flies down the hallway while simultaneously shaking pretty much the whole upstairs. I think he is halfway down the hallway in pursuit of the cough instigator before he is even awake. He scoops up his victim and has them dangling over the toilet in about 2.2 seconds. I have never experienced anything like it. The speed at which he gets there is incredible. Truly admirable. Being a born and raised San Jose girl, earthquakes are a way of life to me. By the time I wake up from his dramatic exit from the bed, realize I have moved to Sacramento, and am not experiencing an earthquake, he is a million steps ahead of me. I slowly drag my butt out of bed, find the action and take over. You see from the birth of our first son and his first vomit experience with Mountain Mikes Pizza, we quickly discovered that when it comes to illness: Shawn takes the bottom end and I take the top. Anything else can result in one of us joining in the fun.

A slight variation occurred from the normal recently. I heard the usual steps,

but all of sudden heard Emma literally yelling at Shawn, " Daddy I am NOT throwing up". Poor thing. Imagine being yanked out of bed from a deep sleep and hung over toilet just because you coughed! Oops. Although, after a month of this flu, its a very justified behavior from Shawn. Cough and he is on the run. I applaud him. Since vomit clean up is my job, I sure appreciate the many carpets he has saved. My hero.

Tonight this ritual has occurred again. This time with my 9 year old son. I hear the cough, experience the exit from the bed, and take my walk down the hallway wondering which one of my children it is tonight. I was surprised to see Cameron this time. The next victim in our endless cycle of flu this season. As I quicken my steps to get to him I step right in the vomit, as Shawn's scoop and hang method is not so effective with a 3rd grade boy. Cameron has not thrown up in years. Therefore, the hallway carpet became the casualty this time. He almost made it to the bathroom linoleum. Almost. As I sat at 4 a.m cleaning all of this up, all I could think was what a difference 6 more inches would have made.

Day 64. The Truman Show.

2010-01-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today, started off a bit rocky. Friday/Saturdays are supposed to be our days off of school, but we didn't finish everything I wanted to get done this week. The older kids and I spent some time in the classroom this morning. I am proud that I mustered up the discipline, as I have a million projects waiting for me.

Originally, I began blogging to record our "one" year of homeschooling. I am completely smitten....and so, I have decided to expand my blog and move over to Wordpress...I have a new name, a new look coming. It will be done in the next few days. Blogging is an amazing outlet for me for many reasons, not the least of which, it connects me to the grown up world. I came across this post today from Melissa over at A Familiar Path and it gave me goosebumps. It's amazing and captures my heart today.

As my husband and I were working on my new blog this afternoon, we listened to my 3 children play like angels. Today, we could have been a family on the Truman Show. In fact, as I write this my 11 year old's homemade banana bread is in the oven, the rain is falling, and my entire family is snuggled under blankets together....yes, the fire is roaring and the puppy lies at our feet. All days are not like this. In fact, yesterday, I would have considered selling my kids to the gypsies if they had come a knockin'...but that's o.k. It's those days that make days like today, that much sweeter.

Today, my little Emma was playing and wrote some words, as if she had been doing it her whole life. Amazing and to think that I taught her that....

O.k. we all learn it somewhere, but man it filled my heart with joy.

Now there are just 106 days left until summer.

The B Night Family Night.

2010-01-21T20:49:00.000-08:00

Deviation from the originally scheduled family night tonight. Those usually end up being the best and tonight was no exception. With the parade of storms this past week, we had been inside way too much and I definitely was feeling stir crazy. At about 3 pm today, the "B" night was planned. I usually try and keep family nights at home and cheap. However, we had gift cards from Christmas and I needed to get out :)... so "rules" are always made to be broken, right?

B night How to's:

Take your stir crazy family to BAJA FRESH. Speak each word starting with the letter B, but don't say niche, itch, or stitch...

Head over to BORDERS and read BOOKS while sitting on your BUTTS...

Finally, complete the evening with a trip to BASKIN ROBBINS...

A night well spent...

Enjoy your family time this week...

Happy Weekend.

Day 63. Facebook Lovin'.

2010-01-21T15:07:00.000-08:00

Some days are just like that. Today is one of them. I like accomplishment. I like to do things, be done, and move on. School, in some ways, is kinda like the dishes. It's NEVER done. Even though I hate that, I can roll with it. But, my whole life right now seems to be checking off tasks. Laundry, workout, cleaning, worksheets, science lessons, 21 meals a week to feed my family. It's just amazing how secluded and shut off from the world I feel some days. I am sure this is something you get used to, or it isn't really a bother for some people.

I scored one away from the biggest extrovert, that you could be. You know on those personality test~y things. I need my people. I dearly love the short ones, but sometimes I need a little bit taller of ones. Today I am super grateful for the online world. You get such encouragement from people you would otherwise likely never talk to in a day.

Here was my Facebook status from this morning:

"today, it's one foot in front of the other....that's about all I got right now..."

...Said because, today I am just dragging...feeling like the more I accomplish, the more I see that is not done. Not just the tasks to complete, but the things I want to change in my own life. The areas I want to improve in. It's sooo slow going, sometimes. I want to see results NOW. Have I mentioned that before? The regular day in and day out can get rough for me. I need to grow up in that area.

Here was one comment from a dear friend:

"Many great things were accomplished by just that method....."

That was brilliantly stated and perfectly timed, thank you so much Jim. If I keep putting one foot in front of the other, I am always moving forward. I will get there, eventually. So my baby steps, really do make a difference. They aren't baby at all. Some days, they really are huge, simply because they are taking me in the right direction. After all, they do say "Rome wasn't built in a day"...

School is completed. I'm snuggled under covers, during the kids chill time, when they wake up it's kick boxing time, family night, and I have a sad ugly duckling chair and some great ideas waiting for me...

Now there are just 107 school days left until summer.

Day 62. Field Trip Day.

2010-01-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be a big field trip day. We have been looking forward to it for a couple of weeks. After being tortured by various dentists (ok tortured may be a slight exaggeration), I decided to take the kids back to San Jose. We had an amazing dentist center there. The people were so sweet, we never waited...literally have never sat in their waiting room, the kids loved it...I could go on and on...They just know children's dentistry and they do it well. I like that.

After that we were going to get together with some friends and visit the Children's Discovery museum. It literally is one of the largest in the nation. It's amazing.

However, with the biggest storm of the year hitting today (o.k. its only mid-Jan, but it was a big one)... I decided to cancel. However it was mostly due to the fact of how long our trip would probably turn out to be. It takes less then two hours in good weather. However, with a storm and commute traffic...not sure. There and back could easily have been six hours. I don't know about you, but if I am in the car, with kids, for 6 hours...I better be gettin' out at Disneyland.

We still took the day off of school (except for reading) and had a rainy day party. We went to Mcdonald's playland with friends, watched movies, had popcorn and hot chocolate... a great snuggly day.

Tomorrow back to the grind....

But now there is just 108 school days left until summer.

Day 61. My ABC's of Thankful.

2010-01-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

I adore the weather we are having these days...windy, rainy, love it! It makes me want to stay in jammies, all the live long day. I will resist the urge and upgrade to sweats today. Taylor's science lesson is on wind today. I have to admit, I am kinda enjoy learning along with my kids. I mean really, how many of you can explain what exactly causes wind. I can. Yay me. Although it does cross my mind, what is the point of learning all this, when they will not remember it as an adult??

My heart is kinda sad today. I am missing some things. I will not look back and I will trust that my God is taking care of me, both my physical needs, as well as my heart. I will not only look forward, but will look to the here and now. I was directed this morning to http://annas-eyes.org/ from a Facebook post of a friend of mine. What an amazing young lady who is serving in Haiti. It sure puts things into perspective. Make sure and click on my Hope for Haiti link to check out some of the things that the blogging community is doing to help. I read this morning that the death toll is estimated at 200,000 and 1.5 million people are hurt and without homes. I don't know about you, but those numbers are so surreal, that it is hard to wrap your head around.

An older post of Anna's was about her ABC's of thankfulness. I thought it was awesome and a good idea to snap me out of my mood...please post yours as a comment! This is definitely going to become a school project in my kids future...

Amazing friends

Black and white damask print curtains

Christmas...and all that it brings

Darling...the actual word itself

Energy

Family Nights

Growth in my life

Husband...my life would just be wrong without him

Ice ~ especially crushed

Jesus... who's love for me is beyond my comprehension

Krispy kreme donuts

Laughing

My children

Never giving up

Opportunity

Push ups...they make me feel like superwoman

Queens...they are pretty

Remembering the priceless moments that I never want to forget

Sleeping in...

Target

Understanding

Visine...makes the springtime in Sacramento, doable.

Water (kind of a lie but trying to become obsessed with it)

Xerox machines...don't judge me, my choices are severely limited

Yoga pants ~ black ones

Zebra print anything

Enjoy your day, hug each other, and pray for those in Haiti.

Now there are just 109 school days left until summer...

Garage Clean Up.

2010-01-19T10:00:00.000-08:00

Just to hopefully inspire someone...my garage pics before and after.

Here is the before...yeah I realize I look like a hoarder.

Here is the after...

The entire right side is a garage sale pile...if you see something you want

call me, text me, or email me, or do whatever it is you do...

When the right side pile is gone...both cars will fit in the garage.

For now, Shawn can park in the driveway....

Day 60. The Day of Perfect.

2010-01-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

I wish all the days were like today...every single last one of them. However, all that good, could get boring I suppose? It did start sketchy as I did the typical routine of waking up at like 8:30 as Shawn was leaving...(I am always tired in the am and will that EVER end?)

The house was SILENT. I mean except for the rain and wind...NOTHIN! Eerie. I got up to investigate. I came downstairs to find the three kids huddled together at my computer playing a newly discovered game called Fancy Pants. I left 'em there. It was beautiful. I got all my lesson planning done for the week, got ready for the day, and did some straightening up around the house. There was no arguing, sassy~ness, or anything. The fire was roaring, the wind was blowing, the rain was coming down harder than I've seen it in a while. My heart was full.

About 10:30 I stopped them and we sat around the table and had hot chocolate and toast. It really was amazing. We started school around 11:00 today and got through TONS! It's amazing what good moods can do for you....

I read a book with Emma today and she can read all the "at" words...hat, rat, bat...HOW FUN! She's such a big girl...so proud of herself.

Now there are just 110 school days left until summer.

My Laundry Room.

2010-01-18T21:22:00.000-08:00

I am in a full scale clean my house operation over here. Garage, Master bedroom closet, and laundry room were the top 3 on my list. I am happy to say the laundry room was completed yesterday. With Ralph Lauren paint running $7 a gallon right now...it got a fresh new coat of Tapestry Green to go along with the unpleasant task of cleaning the room itself.

I have a question? How many of you regularly pull out your machines and clean under them? Up until this home, my husband and I had never lived in a home for longer then a year (except one home for two years), and many of those were apartments...so this whole cleaning under the machine thing escapes me. I decided to tackle it.

For the queasy stomach, you may want to avert your eyes for the remainder of this post.

Here is the before...

bye bye copper brownish color...that kinda grates on my nerves..

embarrassed to say this is four years of not cleaning underneath. um gross!

How did I paint that brown, without moving the machine? I sat on the machine and leaned down behind it of course.

yuck...and more yuck...

and the after...

ahhhh....nice and pretty.

simple and clean.

home for one puppy Brooklyn, as well...

Project completed in 4 hours.

Time well spent.

Now, off to take care of that new white curtain I hung up, without ironing....

The Pink and White Room.

2010-01-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

One of my clients, who happens to be a dear friend of mine, asked me to do a make over on her daughter's room. Her Ten year old and two year old share a room. Budget $300.

HERE IS THE BEFORE...

HERE IS THE AFTER....

real life design, on a real budget...

HERE IS ONE HAPPY LITTLE GIRL...

HERE IS MY FAVORITE PEICE...

this is just a big square canvas from Joann's with multiple sheets of scrapbook paper adhered to it with Modge Podge ... cupcakes, zebra, dresses, Barbie...What's not to love.

Ashley's Baby Shower for Liam.

2010-01-18T20:14:00.000-08:00

I Love party planning. I have been doing it my whole life. When I get the honor of doing it for a friend... it is twice as fun. Meet Ashley...crazy, quirky, fun-loving, mom of three, and wife to Josh. Check out her blog at http://lifeaccordingtothechristians.wordpress.com. This was the celebration we had before Liam was born.

Ashley is the wife of our youth pastor at our church and we needed a big space for her shower. Fortunately, we were able to use our worship center. In order to cozy it up a bit, I hung white fabric panels around the room. I also was fortunate to have an ultrasound picture of Liam that we put up on the screens.

The table at the door had some scrapbooking pages to sign a note for Liam. Also there, was in my opinion, the funniest of funny baby shower games... a bit quirky, so know your audience. In each of the clear plastic cups pictured, was an ice cube. Frozen inside each ice cube was a plastic baby. When each of the guests arrived, they were given a cup to carry around. The first person's baby to bust out of the ice cube (because of melting) would create the winner...but the lady has to yell, "My water broke". Fantastic.

Each of the tables held a diaper cake. I had 5 ladies pitch in money to create these. A very useful gift for the mom having her third baby boy!

Ashley is not one who would be into sappy baby shower games. She marches to the beat of her own drummer and she does so beautifully. I tried to think out of the box. Ashley likes to laugh....so....this game was born.

Have you seen "Who's line is it anyway?" We copied the props game...baby shower style.

I had some ladies that I had asked to participate and then asked for volunteers from the guests.

I put buckets of various items behind the stage. The instructions were "things that you would find in a delivery room". I might have scared her family a bit, but it was pure entertainment.

Use your imagination as to what was being said...

a princess helmet...

a lantern...

a lightsaber...

and a flash light...

The girls who participated were amazing...they would give Drew a run for his money.

For the cakes, I ordered plain cupcakes from Costco and added some hand made chocolate candies. They helped decorate the tables, as they were pre set at everyone's seat.

We closed the afternoon out with a prayer time for Ashley, Liam, and the rest of her family.

Love you Ash. xo.

Gina's Baby Shower for Joie.

2010-01-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

Baby Shower's...we've all likely been to dozen's. Here are some

highlights from the shower I did for my dear friend Gina...

When planning a shower, or any type of party....remember this, if you remember NOTHING else.

Plan the party FOR YOUR GUEST OF HONOR.

For example, when speaking of baby shower's, if you mom-to-be is a chic, stylish, mom on the go...do not pick pastel baby blocks to be your party theme, etc. You get the idea.

For Gina...business owner, lieutenant wife, classy mom of one...this point get's illustrated perfectly.

I chose a Friday night, chocolate fondue party. This screamed GINA and isn't that who and what we were celebrating. These days, stepping out of the box, is welcomed. Plan your party for your guest. Little touches, just for them!

First of all meet Gina...

yes she's sitting criss-cross legged, opening her presents while 8 months prego.

Good thing she's so nice...

Here are some party details:

Shower colors: red, aqua, black and white (colors of Joie's Nursery)

THE CAKE

I ordered a plain cake for $16 at Costco. Took a black and white photo to the bakery at Bel Air and for just $4 they created an edible transfer. I was able to add this to my cake at home, along with some ribbon. We have a personalized cake of Mom and Big sis Ella kissing her soon to be baby sissy for $20...and it feeds 48! (oh and the box it comes in, turned upside down and covered with cloth napkins, becomes the perfect stand to show off your creation.)

THE FAVORS

I took Oreos (conveniently red filled from Christmas time) and dipped them in white chocolate, sprinkle candy, and topped with aqua hand made chocolates in adorable little baby shapes. Placed in little baggies with coordinating ribbon, and a clear plastic pacifier...about .25 cents per favor.

THE DIAPER CAKE.

A diaper cake is instantly for the modern mama, when done up with red satin, and a combo of black and white ribbons, topped in an adorable modern diapered baby cake topper.

THE TABLE.

Red Roses, specialty drinks with ice cubes that had frozen raspberries inside, and Chocolate Fondue Fountain with all kinds of fruits, pretzels, and desserts perfect for dipping, all surrounded our diaper cake...set on a bar height table, it was the perfect area for hanging around and chatting....and dipping.

a wonderful evening to celebrate Gina, Ella, and Joie (and o.k. dad/hubby and crime fighting superhero Tod).....

Meet Joie...

Happy Baby Shower Days to all of you.....xo.

Heartwarming Party.

2010-01-18T00:10:00.000-08:00

Taylor came to me a couple of months ago with a party idea from her American Girl Magazine. It was to have a heartwarming party. We could get together with friends, everyone bring their own fleece. and make items for charity. We decided on a mom/daughter party where we could make blankets for Shriner's Children's hospital.

I was determined to shush the inner party planner in me and let the girls take the lead on this one. They picked out the evite, the time and day of the party, and made up the guest list. They chose the snacks, drinks, and decorations. I did pretty good, staying out of their way. It was super fun to watch these girls plot and plan.

They spent Saturday morning make hearts to hang from the ceiling. Cameron (my new chef boy) made cookies and we served hot chocolate and waters.

We took over the downstairs and the girls went to work...

After a couple hours of flying fleece and knot tying lessons, we had 5 adorable blankets made for some waiting children who may need them for some comfy snuggle time.

We also had 5 adorable girlies who had fun testing them out.

I'm so proud of our girls...tomorrow we will be off to take them to Shriner's....

I have a signature....now.

2010-01-16T15:14:00.001-08:00

O.k. that is a whole lotta fun.

Chicken and Worms Family Night.

2010-01-14T21:18:00.000-08:00

These items make up our chicken and worms family night. Chick fil a chicken & fries, accompanied by sour gummy worms and 100 chickens and a worm puzzle.

I was walking around Target (shocking, I know) the other night and low and behold...there was this puzzle. I have always found the 100 dogs and a cat thing so funny. Now there was a 100 chickens and a worm, and in puzzle form. It jumped in my basket immediately. For 6.99 and a couple bucks for gummy worms, this week's family night was created.

There is a batman chicken, zebra chicken, two headed chicken, and of course a worm. It's awesome AND huge. 750 pieces. No way we would finish it tonight, but it will sit in the dining room and hopefully over the next couple of weeks, we can get it done. I actually love making puzzles.

We had our dinner and then munched on gummy worms while getting started on it...

We got the outside DONE...

We took a break to play worm, worm, chicken...similiar to duck, duck, goose. Well o.k. exactly the same except you say worm, worm, chicken. I have to give a shout out to my Gina, for this game. She suggested it while we were on the phone today. It was so super fun.

And you probably guessed it by now...we wrapped up the night with the chicken dance...

It's amazing what a little puzzle can inspire....

Hope you have fun times with your families this week.

Day 59. Be The Change.

2010-01-14T20:30:00.000-08:00

I honestly can not believe how much has changed in this last year. I think I am doing my New Years Reflection today, for some reason. I have given up many things that I love for the greater good. It feels amazing to learn to love new things. How many times do we live in a rut for way longer then we should? It is possible to change. I sometimes forget that. I have an incredibly blessed life and I need to be living it to the fullest.

Why do we all keep doing the things we know are so unhealthy for us? It's so confusing, yet we all do it. Is it fear based, laziness, indifference? I'm sure the reasons are all different....but sometimes you gotta give up to grow up, as they say. Real courage comes in slowing down and looking at the reality right in front of you...., the scale, your credit card bill, and your relationships. In this world of instant gratification, the gratification often time masks the truth. Real courage, real living comes when you take reality and do something about it. I know in my life, it's always the harder road.

Today we went to Shawn's work to bring him a surprise donut, then we did a couple errands. I went to Home Depot to get some supplies to make our daily schedule board for the classroom. I'm resisting it, but it'll be the best for us, I think. The rest of the day was intermingled with school, chill/nap time, clean up, work out....a lot the same as yesterday. Pretty uneventful. Tomorrow and Sat. we are finishing the Christmas take down (yeah our lights are still up), cleaning the garage, and deep cleaning the school room. I am completely looking forward to it. I'm just weird like that.

Now there are just 111 school days left until summer.

Day 58. A Typical Day.

2010-01-13T23:45:00.000-08:00

I notice a routine forming and it's comforting...here is a day in the life of me, a mom who homeschools (o.k. just some highlights).

8:30...wake up. First thing I think is "Darn it" I overslept again.

8:35...I hear Emma screaming downstairs. Doesn't sound serious, so I stay where I am.

8:45...my other half leaves for work

9:00...school begins

9:05...Emma and Taylor are playing letter and sound bingo....music to my ears...emma's got her sounds down well, she must have a great teacher, I'm thinking.

9:15...Taylor, Emma, and I occupy the floor and tackle science. Emma tickles us to death while we try and learn that when you eat food, the hydrogen atoms, mix with the oxygen in your body and create water. (wow)

9:18...Emma get's bored and moves on to her worksheets, while we actually learn our science lesson.

10:15...Cameron get's a 100% on his Science quiz

10:20...Taylor get's a 100% on her Spelling test.

10:30....RECESS and lesson planning for me

10:35...laundry in...

10:40... Emma's done with school and camped on couch with Little Bear.

11:00...Cameron studies China and declares he is thankful to live in America.

11:10...I give Emma some gold fishies, milk, and get a wet slobbery kiss in return.

11:44...Cameron has a fit because I assigned some homework, which is unusual...(the homework being the unusual part)

11:45...In our Bible lesson, we learn that obedience means doing what's right with a happy heart.

12:00...school's out

12:01...I do dishes, laundry, put stew in crock pot

1:15...everyone goes to their rooms for naps, chill time, and computer time for me.

3:00...everyone up, straighten up house, vacuum the stairs and switch laundry

3:45...Kids get involved in projects while I bust my butt with my work out

4:45...shower and wish I wasn't on Atkins so I could taste my stew...

5:15...kiss and hug husband as he walks through the door and I walk out...

6:00...enjoy hanging out with my dear friend Genee as she works some magic on my hair. Came in with long straight brown hair and leave with less long red, blonde, and brown curly hair.

9:15...stop at Bel Air for a box of Atkins bars and some MORE milk.

9:30...hang with husband

11:00...snuggle on couch with favorite blanket and pillow

11:29...gonna shut the computer and watch Ellen from this afternoon....hoping that the kids did their homework cuz I forgot to ask husband to check.

?????...fall asleep praisin' Jesus that I get to wake up and do it all again tomorrow.

Now there are just 112 school days until summer...

Day 57. The Big Mouth.

2010-01-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

This morning we had an ortho apt at 8:30. Taylor has been with a retainer for 8 months now. It's zebra with crystals in it, by the way, (where were these choices when I was little?) The top of her mouth was too tiny....the ortho expert people say that surgery would be in her future without the retainer/separator apparatus (that cost us $1100). We turn a little crank on the middle of the retainer 2x's a week, and now 8 months later, BAM insta-big mouth Taylor. Next visit, she will likely be able to stop the cranking and just continue to wear for the duration of the treatment time. I find that amazing. I want to tease her about being a big mouth, but I will resist. When she was four, her dentist told me to start saving for her ortho treatments...that's never a good sign. So, phase one of her ortho care is nearing completion and I did not have the nerve to ask about phase two. I scared.

At the end of the apt., the ortho man says..."so, are we off to school now?" I cringed and said as normal as I could, "oh no, I homeschool and actually we are headed to chuck e cheese, for a field trip." To which I get the response of "oh, what are you going to learn there? the value of a token?". I adore our ortho man, truly. However, those comments, then led into a 15 minute conversation of all kinds of questions about homeschooling from him. To which it ended with, " I sound like I am thinking of homeschooling my kids and I'm not, I mean my wife would never do it...she likes her personal time too much."

"Um o.k"....I mutter some awkward comments and then we head out for the rest of our day. I really don't want to become bitter and defensive. I really don't. But honestly I struggle...people comment ALL the time. I really don't think it's intended in some ill fashion. However, my son even commented to me the other day that he doesn't like how many people talk to him about homeschooling. It makes him feel "different". I need to get thicker skin I suppose.

Anyway, on to other things...off to Chuck E. Cheese. We arrived their at 9:15 and stayed until almost 1. I brought things to work on and we all just hung out. It rocked. We had the place to ourselves until about 10:30.

Some big things happened today at Chuck E's place...

First, I looked over and was astonished to see this...

11 year old boy helping 5 year old sister drive a race (without be forced to)

equally astonished to see the size of the ice cream that the kids won while playing one of the games

and finally texted this picture to daddy...

and told him we pierced Emma's ears....

I'm just a little evil like that...

Now there are 113 school days left until summer.

Day 56. Two Little Letters.

2010-01-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

o.k. I will admit it. I am a baby...a rather big baby sometimes. I cannot stress enough how big the difference is when I pre-plan properly (say that 10 x's fast) our day in the classroom. The beauty of the A Beka curriculum (and it could be all of the curriculums, I really have no idea) is, that it is laid out one day at a time. There is specific detail that you just follow...say this, do that, ask this, write that, stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight. It's also my nemesis because in theory, I absolutely can get through the day, with very little prep. Clearly this is not ideal. I almost hate having that fall back.

I woke up this morning, with my work out and eating plan in place, all the meals for the week were planned and groceries were bought, my weekly visit to Target and been completed, my house was fairly clean, and I still was caffeine-less....BUT (and that is a pretty big BUT) I had not planned and reviewed near to the extent that I wanted to or need to for school. I overslept and woke up with the blah's and I'm not going to lie.....tears were shed. I was very annoyed at the situation.

All the household chores are constant and never will be done. They can sit. School needs to come first. I have no excuses now that I am not working, for not being ultra planned, prepared, and pretty (o.k. maybe not pretty... I just like 3 things in a row starting with the same letter). So, I have now planned a time to plan. WHAT is this world coming to????? Alas, it's true. Our family nights, happen on Thursday, and after that, it's planning time for me. Then I can plan for the school week ahead and still have a couple days to go out and get supplies for the next week, if need be. It needs to be said, that my cohort in crime, Gina, pointed out that crucial piece of information to me last week. Otherwise, I probably would have planned the week on Sunday night. Thanks G. She's a genius I tell you....her and I together, are unstoppable.

We started the day at the park. I planned on practicing my picture taking skills, but picture taking 101 says to have a battery in the camera and I forgot mine at home on the charger. After freezing to death at the park, I stopped by am pm and got a cup of crushed ice and bottled water for my "fake diet coke". Between that and lots of love on Facebook due to my whiny status....I found myself cold, but all better.

At home, we started school with a new DVD for Emma and a couple new books for Cameron and Taylor. I had them read for 35 min while Emma watched her movie. Cameron is reading Tom Sawyer and Taylor is reading the Secret Garden. They are going to build dioramas when they are done. The good thing about homeschooling is not having to sit at a desk all the live long day.

Taylor curled up in her bed...

Cameron in mine....

Love that.

The most exciting thing that happened today is Emma read "AT". She really got it and was able to spell it with magnet letters and even add letters to make bat, cat, and yes even fat...can't wait 'til that girl can read. What an accomplishment that will be for the both of us.

Now there are just 114 school days left until summer.

American Idol Party.

2010-01-11T15:34:00.000-08:00

Sixth birthday party time for Taylor...There was no question for her, it was going to be American Idol. We had just moved into a new home and had a whole room with no furniture....so it became a stage.

Each of the girls had a contestant number....

Karaoke was the hit of the night. Thankfully no Simon or judges to critique them (although I did think about it for a half a second)....

There were lots of costume changes...

and lots of fun...

Taylor's Tea Party.

2010-01-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

This party was had when our baby girl was turning 5 years old. She was enamored with my friends, much more then a lot of the kids her age. We decided to have a tea party for her with "grown ups". She couldn't have been more pleased. She chose the menu including sandwiches, peppers, and the yummy "orange chicken salad" from Jack in the Box. Of course there was cake, chocolate covered strawberries, and pink milk. All of the delicious treats were served to us by Shawn and Cameron, which worked perfect to keep them involved in the girly fun!

All the place cards were hand written by Taylor and we bought fairy notepads for each of the ladies to take home.

We dug out my grandma's china and had lots of toy friends, twinkle lights, and bubbles. I collected things from all over the house and it was amazing how much ended up in one room.

There was plenty of girl talk, bubble blowing, and tea drinking all around the table.

It was such a fun afternoon and a big hit with Taylor. When it was all over, I made a special little scrapbook of the party for her. She still looks at today. Overall it was a very inexpensive party and very little work to put together. When party planning for you child, think about the things that they love to do and who they love to be with. Look around your house and outside of the box...you never know what you can come up with and the memories will last a lifetime!

Happy Party Planning and Birthday Celebrating to you!

Leap Frog.

2010-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

I can not highly enough recommend these two DVD's. I have tried others and been kinda disturbed. These two are FANTASTIC. I use them during school time for a change of pace for Emma. This also gives me 35 minutes with the older two kids. If you have a pre reader, or new reader...RUN to Target and whip out your 9.99 plus good 'ole tax and BUY THEM!

Day 55. Love Leaps.

2010-01-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

I just fell in love, all over again, with my kids today. You know the feeling? A little love leap, perhaps. The day started a little rough as I dragged my caffeine starved body out of bed at a miserable 7:30, threw on a hat, mascara, brushed teeth, and was at the doctor by 8:00, for yearly check ups for my two oldest.

After plenty of poking and prodding, and some uncomfortable turn your head and cough moments, we left the doctor with 2 clean bills of health, picked up Emma from daddy's work, and headed home. I pulled Cameron into the kitchen and told him he needed to pick a cookie recipe and make them, all alone. He embraced the idea with intensity and turned into a male Betty Crocker instantly. He had the ingredients all pulled out of the cupboard in a line, in a moment's notice. This was his first time baking solo.

Emma enjoyed all of our play dough "stuff"

...and Taylor got to paint her new Triple bunk doll bed that she received for Christmas.

I sat at the table and just relaxed, soaked it all in, and looked around online for fun field trip options.

All three mastered their projects. Cameron cleaned up, without me even asking. He asked if we could take the cookies down to my husband's work, to pass out, to everyone there. I quickly agreed. Then I secretly forced him into a living word problem, as he had to figure out how many cookies each staff member could have and yet still leave left overs for us. He was stunned when I pointed out he just did a word problem. "oh yeah, I guess they are useful". The girls made cards while Cameron bagged up his creations and we were on our way.

We were able to hand deliver, to everyone on staff, except our Senior Pastor who was out of the office, daddy who was at lunch, and our youth pastor who was on the phone. We were making a sufficient disruption on our own, until we were completely outdone by our Children's director. When asked for a photo op, she began shouting, "I'm gonna make the blog", repeatedly in the halls. You made it T...you've been published :). Thanks for helping us document our trip.

After chill time, we headed down for our book work in the late afternoon. It's funny how in the beginning of the year that was always a total train wreck. It worked perfect today. We ended the day with our Black Out Family Nigh t. It was a great day, surrounded by those that I love with all my heart...

Now there is just 115 school days left until summer.

Blackout Night.

2010-01-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

The first Family Night of twenty-ten was a smashing success. The kids were wound up all day long in anticipation of returning to our absolutely favorite family tradition.

I sent the kids upstairs while I prepared, which involved going on a candle and flashlight hunt. I gathered up what I could, turned off all electricity, prayed to the Lord that the candles would stay vertical.

We informed the kids of the travesty that occurred...we will have to man up and do family night in the dark. Instantly there was lots of pointing out the running clocks on the stove, the backyard light (oops), and humm of the refrigerator. Emma, quite proudly, turned the kitchen light on just to be sure. Once everyones curiosity was satisfied that we were in fact, lying (for the sake of fun) about it, we moved on to dinner.

We grabbed what we could from the pantry and the refrigerator (quickly so as not to lose the cold). It consisted of lunch meats, cheese, sandwiches, tortillas warmed by candlelight, and fruit. The only casualty during dinner was a Hansen's soda. Not bad, overall.

These were the rest of the activities:

crowning Shawn the champion in Candy Land

flashlight tag

shadow puppets

reading stories, and

being thankful that our fireplace, still works when the power is out.

it was great, it was easy, and it cost nothing. The only thing we were missing was an actual storm.

Can't wait 'til next week.

Emma's Fancy Nancy Tea Party.

2010-01-07T23:10:00.000-08:00

Emma had been waiting for her tea party ever since she was old enough to look at her sister's album from her tea party. We went with a Fancy Nancy Tea Party for Emma. I fell in love with Fancy Nancy as soon as I saw her, she reminds me of Emma. Emma loves her too...

We fancied up the dining room, with lots of girly~ness, rose petals on the floor, boa's on the chandelier, and twinkly lights wrapped through fabric on the ceiling.

We had a nice little spread of sandwiches, snacks, and pink milk.

the little girls loved every minute...

...toasted with their fruit loops in plastic champagne glasses

...and celebrated with Emma as she blew out her candles

and for the mommy entertainment...a pinata with a bunch of little ones dressed fancy...

...a wonderful afternoon party. With a bunch of special young ladies.

Happy Birthday Emma. xo.

Day 54. Let's Plan It.

2010-01-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

Oh, back at it today. Unfortunately insomnia, lurking shadows outside of Emma's door, and snoring husbands, made last's night sleep incredibly brief. To make matters worse, because of my insane idea of quitting caffeine, sugar, and carbs cold turkey on Sunday morning....I am miserable. Self induced misery is sometimes the worst kind. I read that if you taper of caffeine slowly that you can do it with very little discomfort, but the critics of that plan state that if you go cold turkey you will see just how very bad you feel. This will hopefully show you what caffeine is doing to your body and increase your chances of staying off the stuff. I personally don't care about any of that right now. I am so tired, walking around in a cloud, ridiculous muscle aches, and just wanting to sleep for weeks. I hear that 9 days is the maximum these symptoms can last. I have just completed day 4.

I am slowly taking back control of my spun out life, my house, my health, my schedule, etc. This inevitably would have been my phase in life right now, but how convenient that it falls around New Years. I will take full advantage of my clean calendar and fill it with things that matter the most. I am in the middle of planning our field trips, school days, and holidays for the rest of the school year. Also we are looking forward to beginning family nights again this Thursday. Read about those here. I am also planning some house projects, and all the while trying to take things slowly. I have no reason to rush. My top priorities right now are school and my health. My health plan is all laid out for the next 12 weeks. This caffeine removal from my life is phase one. I already do feel empowered.

I am working on a system to try and condense the trips to the grocery store, Target, and Costco. Perhaps visit them once a week ? I wonder what that would be like. I am also trying to figure out when to schedule in the house chores. The beauty of this all is that between quitting my job and being home so much more with school...this is for the first time in a long time, this actually could be all doable. How lovely.

We started off school today working on our Christmas Thank You Notes. Target sells some fun stationary that allows coloring around the edges of it. The kids all worked on that while I addressed the envelopes. The thank you's will get written tomorrow night and they should be in the mail Friday.

Emma was particularly thrilled to be back at her desk. She did lots of worksheets today. Her favorite thing to do, still remains cutting and pasting. She got some great new books for Christmas. I am a bit concerned though regarding her developmental process....she was insistant that the tops of these sail boats pictured above, look identical to a "bunch of butts"....

Now there is just 116 school days left until summer.

Cameron Night.

2010-01-06T04:48:00.000-08:00

I plan to have a family night celebrating each person in our family. So far, we have had Cameron night. I had a meal that was all of Cameron's favorites...Pineapple, Chevy's chips, and Chevy's tortillas made into quesadillas. My boy is all things science. I scoured Family Fun and found a test tube cake, buggie wonder mold, edible eyeballs (almost turned out), and some fun science experiments with food coloring and dish soap. I made a poster and hung it up to celebrate is great qualities (stole that idea from my friend Nicole who does this for her kid's on their birthdays). We dissected the mold and have some new additions to our family...you've gotta love little boys and their toys....Love you Cam, xoxo.

Octopus Night.

2010-01-06T04:40:00.000-08:00

We ate octopus dogs on an ocean of mac and cheese under some fancy blue streamers. After dinner, we spent a long time creating a family of octopus-es out of rice, odds and ends, and some mittens from the Dollar Tree. Emma and Shawn worked together. Meet our Octopi friends....there are earrings involved! Fantastically Fun craft idea from Family Fun Magazine.

Snow Night.

2010-01-06T04:36:00.000-08:00

As one would expect with snow it was cold in our house, due to the air conditioning running pre-family night in Jan. We did lots during this family night....dress up in scarves and hats (Struckmeier family fashion moment), build igloo's with sugar cubes, winter bingo, and the grand finale of a snowball fight with socks. The family night ended with a game of see who could sort and fold their socks the fastest. Yippee.

Snowman Night.

2010-01-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

Family Fun magazine is one of my best resources for fun family night ideas. Their website is full of amazing crafts, recipes, and all kinds of other fun stuff...

We had a fun time building a snowman out of some fruit and snacks, eating snowman pancakes, watching Frosty the Snowman, and of course listening to the song over and over and over and......

Disney Night.

2010-01-06T04:15:00.000-08:00

Our friends, the Eaton's, went on a Disney vacation and upon their return home, we received a family night in a bag from the Magic Kingdom. It contained Disney Mac and Cheese, and candy...add some Costco Mickey Mouse Chicken Nuggets and Disney Scene it and you've got yourself a party...

Grandma J was in town from Oregon to join us for this one! Fun to have some family over for our family nights!

Thanks Scott, Lisa, David, and Grace...we loved it!

Love Night.

2010-01-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

A night of love included heart shaped pancakes for dinner. We also made love notes for people we ....well, "love".

All Things "P" Night.

2010-01-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

This was a result of family night planned minutes before we began...still turned out fun, no need to be elaborate all the time.

Pizza....Pears....Peter Pan....PJ'S

Fall Night.

2010-01-06T04:03:00.001-08:00

With the onset of fall came our Fall Family Night. We made homemade apple turnovers and had a picnic by the fire complete with Top Ramen, apples, cheese, and crackers....very simple. very fun.

Upside Down Night.

2010-01-06T03:54:00.000-08:00

Here was my all time favorite. We did this over a year ago and the kids still talk about the "one time mom and dad turned the table upside down". Makes my heart happy. The look on their faces when they came in the room were absolutely priceless. Shawn and I may be old, but we can still stand our heads with the best of 'em (although did you notice I am on a pillow, Shawn's a bit more hardcore)....

Princess Night.

2010-01-06T03:44:00.000-08:00

The boys were gone at a baseball game. The girls stayed home doing all things princess...

There was munchin' on princess cookies, curling princess hair, applying princess make up, walking princess runways, princess boas, princess crowns, princess sparkles (all over the house), princess music, princess movies, princess cakes, princess stories, princess smiles,....you get the idea....and yes I walked the runway too.

Back To School Night.

2010-01-06T03:29:00.000-08:00

This night was our first family night. It was done on the eve of back to school in 2008. Some of the highlights...

~Dinner was served in brown bags, complete with Taco Bell and notes on napkins.

~Scavenger hunt around house to search for school supplies that would be in each of the kids "homework baskets" for home.

~A novice attempt at a school bus cake (kids really don't care if it's below cake store status)

It was a great night. Ideas were taken from Whittaker Woman ...

The Beginning of Family Nights.

2010-01-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

Family Nights is not a new concept, but I had never seen them done like this. One day my hubby emailed me a link to a fabulous blog that you can check out here . I saw the way Heather did family nights and immediately jumped on board. It just fit with our family. I love planning parties and events and this just clicked with me immediately! I will post some of our favorites that we have done in the past to give you an idea. Our family time around these nights have been some of the best memories we have had. Thanks Heather!

I had the opportunity to teach a workshop at our women's retreat at church about the idea. It was so inspiring to be able to pass on the idea. I have heard from several families that have begun this tradition. My fabulous friend Ashley and fam have even incorporated a Bible Lesson into their nights! Check out her blog... . Whatever your family style or personality....THIS can be adapted. Point is PLAN in our crazy life some time for your family...however that may look...

One thing I do that really helps, is plan out 3 months in advance. I also have a cupboard in our house devoted to all things randomly purchased on huge sales that family nights can be created around. I keep a binder at my desk that I can throw ideas into, that help me with the planning. I plan 3 months of family nights on our calendar, gather up the things I need to wait in designated cupboard, and then pulling family nights off once a week is really not a big deal...

With all the changes the close of 2009 brought, family nights sat on the back burner for a time. We are beginning again this Thursday. I have 3 months worth planned and we are all looking forward to them. I will be posting weekly about them.

Spend some time with those you love, be a little crazy...that's the stuff memories are made of!

The Bell Will Ring....

2010-01-05T19:58:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow it's back to school....our LLOONNNGGG break is over....We eased into it today and did a little bit.

Our next part of math is reviewing money...so, I took advantage of the Christmas clearance at Target and we went on a little field trip. Each child got a dollar to spend. There isn't much left at this time of year, but they managed to find lots of little treasures. That is real life practical math in play. When they figured out the mark down price and how much more they could buy because of the sale, they were incredibly pleased. They each paid on their own and got their own bag and receipt. While I was paying, I sent them over to the snack bar to sit and wait. They were all comparing their "savings" on the bottom of their receipts! It ranged from $7-$8. They were pretty pleased. I was dying laughing...it was adorable.

We stopped at Bj's on the way home for an impromptu lunch. Yum. Cameron tried to negotiate that the children's menu activity sheet should count for school work. Whatever. After chill time, we did some major cleaning around the house. ALL the millions of Christmas decor items are down and in the garage, about 50% packed up. The rest is going to have to wait, but at least it's all out of the house.

We worked on some penmanship and spelling this afternoon and did a special project. I had the kids write down their 3 top field trip choices. I also had them write down what they liked and didn't like about school. WOW interesting. Cameron thinks my school is harder then BCS. LOL. That could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. Both of the kids asked for more structure....EXCUSE ME? Are you kidding? They both want to have school be from a certain time to a certain time. Alright, I'll play along....or try to anyway...

SO, tomorrow as requested the bell will ring at 8:47. Why? because I'm the teacher and I said so. School will dismiss at 12:01.

Off to lesson plan......

One Step At A Time.

2010-01-03T00:25:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking over the last couple days of how to accomplish change. I have come to the painful conclusion that there is no easy way. Unfortunately magic wands do not exist.

I need to get myself on the right path, and do the right things...over and over... and over. The most important right things to do, in my own little opinion, are the little ones.

This time of year people get very reflective and make incredibly large goals, wish for change, and brighter tomorrows. I think that success is found in the littlest of decisions, that done repeatedly add up to a large amount of achievement. We all know how to do it, down deep. For example, if you want to lose weight ~ eat less, move more. You want to build a meaningful relationship with someone? spend time with them. If you want the laundry done...do it, one load at a time.

I am a results girl at heart. I am not good at doing the little repetitive things, generally. I want to see accomplishments and I want them immediately. That's generally not how it works. We have to continue to put one foot in front of the other....it's all we can do really. You'll get there, eventually.

On that note...I am going cold turkey off of caffeine tomorrow. Diet coke is my drug of choice. Cutting back does not work out for me, so I am going for the all or nothing method...I am hoping for better sleep, less late afternoon crashes, and more money in my wallet.

I am saddened to be saying goodbye to such a dear friend. It has been by my side through thick and thin (literally) for the last 20~ish years. My initial goal is 90 days of soda free for me. On day 91 you may find me bathing in those luscious little bubbles, but for the next 90 days, you won't see me touch the stuff. I have read that it takes 72 hours for it to leave your system. I hope that's right. If that's the case my body will be back to normal by wed. There's no information about your mind. Go Figure.

Pray for my family for the next few days...I would like to say pray for me...but they may need it far more than I.

Raise your Aquafina water bottle in cheers to me! I can do this....