Week two

Hi everyone,

Yesterday after I dropped my boys off at school I was heading home up our winding two lane road. Cars coming at me were flashing their lights which meant to be careful because something out of the ordinary was up ahead. Well what I saw was a school bus broken down on the side of the road which was mostly in the lane it was driving in because there is no where else for it to go. I also saw my daughter and her classmates sitting on rocks up and off to the side of this broken down bus. Oi vey. I didn't know if I should wave or keep going. I slowed down, talked to them and decided to head up to the school since cell phone reception is sketchy on our road. No police or security were there to direct traffic so I knew it had just happened. I drove up to the school to alert them. The school admins knew and were trying to get the proper people to help the kids. The kids were on their way to a field trip when liquid started leading inside the bus and then something exploded or popped from what they described. They were stuck on the side of the road for an hour and a half. Poor kids. They did continue on to the field trip, just really late.

When I got home I ended up sorting through our curriculum cabinets which are in our garage. There was a used curriculum sale today with other home schooling people so I had several motivations in getting this done. The cabinets just needed to be cleaned up, sorted through, and organized. As I was cleaning and sorting I had to figure out what I really didn't want anymore or that I knew I wouldn't use. I then took my 2012 A Beka catalog and inventoried what I have on hand so I could figure out what I needed to buy. Of course the A Beka curriculum I have is not current, but usually not much changes except the cover. When I organize my books I put them in subjects and then grades. Also my elementary is separated from my upper grades too.

I found I had sold my fourth grade curriculum a few years ago when we were fundraising. Now that the girl I was fundraising for is home, and in need of some school books I need to buy some; preferably used.

We had Awana Awards last night at church. This year I was the slacker mom. The mom whose kids didn't finish their books. This is the first year since 1988 that none of my kids have not finished a book. We dropped the ball. The big Awana ball. Next year we'll have to be on top of this. No more "Participant" after our name!

At today's curriculum sale there was not much to pick from. Most people are not using A Beka anymore so there is not that much to buy. I did find some from someone with older kids, but not much from anyone else. I picked out two items from one mom and went to my van to get money to pay her. I must have gotten distracted because she came to me a long time later (like 45 min) and reminded me that I had not paid her. Her car was so close. How could I have been so distracted within minutes to forget to go pay her. For the love. I am losing my mind. Which is not news to anyone who is around me on a daily or weekly basis. Most people would tell you I lost my mind a long time ago.

We then went to Michael's and picked up two presentation boards. The two middle school boys need them for their science fair projects. The boards had to be the one that has the three different sections to it. Never easy there were two choices. I can't stand making decisions for people, but calling home and talking to my son about what and why it was needed was like talking to a brick wall. I decided to get a larger board; just to keep it on the safe side.

Went to Target and bought some hair color. I've been in hair turmoil for two years now. I want to stop coloring my hair and let the natural white/gray take over, but I don't want to go through the process. Who does? I lightened my hair two weeks ago and bought an even lighter shade this time, but I want someone to help me blend it in since I do have some growth and want the colors to blend nicely. I also bought some groceries for lunches.

Since we were having carne asada and pollo asada tacos I decided to stop by the little market here in town. They cater to a Mexican population and always have delicious salsa, chips, and guacamole as well as cotija cheese. When we were at Costco last time we bought some uncooked corn tortillas. I cooked the asadas on my giant skillet (Steve was painting so no bbqing) and fried some red peppers and onions to go on the tacos. Heated up those corn tortillas and we are talking quite a feast. It was delish. Those tortillas are a must. I.must.have.them.with.my.meal.

Now the girls are in bed, high schoolers are at youth group, middle schoolers are doing school work, and we're relaxing. Steve has been painting the ceiling in our living room which is two stories high. There is a beam with tract lighting that needed to get done so he was working on that.

Tomorrow Jesse comes home with Sage and Jaidyn! The last time I saw my granddaughter she was just hours old. Can't wait to love on her!

A Year in the Life - Week One- Day 3 & 4

Hi everyone,

After getting the four girls off to school I headed down to the boy's school where the 7th and 9th graders had to do P.E. testing. I volunteered to help weigh and measure the kids, but instead I ended up checking every one in and out. The kids had to run so many laps, do flexibility and strength exercises, and get weighed and measured.

 I knew a few of the kids but not many since my boys are both in 8th grade. At their school not all the students go to school on the same day. When the 9th and 10th graders go to school they are the only students on campus. When my boys go to school you would find four grades attending at the same time, 7th, 8th, 11th & 12th.

We had three different shifts of kids so I was there from 8:45 until 3:30. I did manage to get a Costco trip in there. During a break two of my sons met me at the school and we drove over to the bank and Costco. We shopped, they dropped me back off at the school, they took all the groceries home and put them away, and then brought the van back to me. These are teenaged boys. Yes, teenagers can be responsible.

This week at the boy's school was a week that is called Projects Week. During the week different groups of students work on different projects already selected by the teachers. Some students visited 5th grade students from a local school, learned about them, and each made a scrapbook to give to their student. The one that broke my heart was the boy who said his happy day is, "The day I don't get bullied and my family isn't sad." His sad days are, "When I get bullied and my family is sad." What?! Heavy stuff. This is too much for a 5th grade boy to carry. (May we reach out to the children around us and treat them as we would want others to treat our children. You never know what a child's family life is like.)

Another project students and parents made homemade blankets, crocheted blankets or infant hats. They get sent to an organization that sends the items to hospitals around the country so babies can go home with a homemade item. There were many other projects that the kids selected from.

The project that my boys signed up to do was a Walk About San Diego. For three days they were to go to different areas of San Diego, learn about them, and journal about their experience.

The first day we hiked Cowles Mtn. I made it about 1/2 - 3/4 of a mile up. The kids all went to the top and some ran down. Me? I needed my walking stick to help me down the rocky path.


 
From Wikipidia: Cowles Mountain is a prominent mountain within the city limits of San Diego, California and also within Mission Trails Regional Park, in a neighborhood known as San Carlos, San Diego. The mountain is named after George A. Cowles, an early ranching pioneer in San Diego County. Its 1,593-foot (486 m) summit is the highest point in the city of San Diego. The main trail to the summit is a popular hiking destination taking hundreds of people per day to a 360-degree panorama of San Diego County. The hike to the top is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and an elevation change of about 950 feet (290 m).

 

 

Mission Trails Park

After our hike we went to the Mission Trails Visitor Center and had lunch out in the amphitheater. We then walked to the Grinding Rocks where we took a few pictures and the teacher explained what the Grinding Rocks were. After a rest there we continued on our path on another loop.

I was glad when the hike was over. I was tired, but glad I went so I could spend time with my teen boys and get to know some of their friends.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Year in the Life - Week One - Day 1 and 2

Today I was thinking about faithfully blogging every day for a whole year. I know I'll miss days here and there. So much happens in my family that I thought someday the kids might like to look back and see what we did.

I'll start with this last week.

A friend of ours plays in a Lynryd Skynrd cover band called Skynrds Innyrds. He is a guitar player in the band and we had never heard him play so we thought we would go to the show. They were fantastic! We (mom and dad) love rock music, and they did a really good job and sounded just like Lynyrd Skynryd. https://www.facebook.com/SkynyrdsInnyrds

Sunday we went to church and watched the last DVD session in our Sunday school class. We've been going through the series The Art of Marriage. It's a six session series and covers the topics listed below.

1. Love Happens: God’s Purpose and Plan
2. Love Fades: Overcoming Isolation
3. Love Dances: Fulfilling Our Responsibilities
4. Love Interrupted: Communication and Conflict
5. Love Sizzles: Experiencing Real Intimacy
6. Love Always: Leaving a Lasting Legacy

We both come from families of divorce. Both sets of parents are divorced. My dad divorced his first wife and married my mother, and then he remarried twice after my mother My paternal grandparents were divorced. We have had to make a conscious decision to do things differently than the way we were raised. We needed to break the cycle. It's not always easy, but we made a vow until death do us part. We renewed our vows in 2011 after our thirty year anniversary. All our children were here so we asked our pastor if he was available and we renewed our vows in our front yard.

After our vow renewal we had a friend who is a photographer take some family pictures. It's not often we're all in the same place. Since that picture above we've added one daughter and four grandchildren to the mix. We now have thirteen children ages 31-7, and our oldest grandchild is four.

So you can see why I'm going to make a little daily diary. I would never remember all of this, but if I write it down now, the kids will thank me later. I hope.