Head Spinning

That's what I feel like lately. I realized lately that there is not one room in our home that is "finished". We've had lots of remodeling going on, windows replaced, carpeting, flooring, trimming, drywall, granite countertops, you name it, and now I begin to paint so we can get our house on the market. It's a bit of a challenge doing the single mom thing during the week, but we're doing okay. The unemployment is still 10.6% in our area so I am thankful that my husband has a job.

As if our life were dull, Pearly is busy occupying herself with more volleyball. She has grown and is now 6'3-1/4". Yes, every 1/4-in counts! She is thrilled. She is on two teams. One is a club and the other is the private league that she has played on for years. The club is a special treat. The coach has really taken her under his wings and wants to develop her. He's had one-on-one training with her and videotaped the session so she could see the details in slow motion and fine tune her skills.

Aside from volleyball, Orange Boy and Brown Eyes are also on local rec leagues playing basketball. They both love that.

In the meantime, I take special pleasure in seeing sights like this - Caboose decided he wanted to sleep in the closet of the newly carpeted room. Can you believe this is my baby? He's almost FIVE. No way!


If I can get the boys' room painted, I will be rewarding myself with some sewing time!

Read more...

Whidbey Island

It's been a while. We're surviving life with a husband/father who lives 4 hrs away and commutes home on days off. It's been challenging, but at least the bills are being paid.

In the meantime, I took the boys to our yearly family camp on Whidbey Island. It was gorgeous 4 out of the 5.5 days. We didn't complain one bit knowing how past years have been so rainy. We had a great time.

Pearly stayed back home to attend volleyball try-outs. She made varsity - yea! But she was sure missed at camp. High school is the time where teens have to learn to weigh tough decisions and she is no stranger to that anymore.

Here are a few of my favorite pics. It was great that Tall Dude could go this year. He was a big help and was so sweet with his younger siblings. I don't know many 20-yr olds who take the time play with their younger siblings. What wonderful memories for these boys.

Tall Dude and Caboose (4 yrs)

Brown eyes, 12 yrs

Bunny, almost 8

3 youngest boys

Bunny (almost 8) and Tall Dude, 20 yrs.

On the ferry leaving Whidbey Island

Read more...

Orange Boy, Orange Ball

That's my boy! Orange Boy has ventured into a new season of life: basketball. This is his first year playing on a basketball team and he is doing amazingly well. Between Orange Boy's bball and Pearly's volleyball and all the music stuff going on, it's been a bit crazy on the homefront.

I was talking to my husband the other day about his basketball as a kid. He doesn't remember his parents going to his games and it made me so sad to think about. I cannot fathom not going to my kids' games. I did notice a few girls on my daughter's vball team whose parents didn't show up. I understand not showing up for every game or even some games, but not even one game? Wow, so sad. I want my kids to know that we are their biggest cheerleaders. I can't imagine it any other way.

Read more...

Go Cart

Orange Boy is making a lot of progress on his go cart. It's great to see his excitement! Much of the go cart was salvaged from an old riding lawn mower. I love this kind of schooling!

They kind of temporarily put things on so you can get the idea of what it will look like.

Read more...

Who Needs Worms?

A day in the life of a homeschool family. We've got worm dissecting going on at the dining table this afternoon, folks. Hopefully, we can get this all cleaned up before dinnertime!

This is from Pearly's high school biology class she is taking at home. Orange boy was also able to dissect because we had an extra worm in the kit, so he's learning along with her as she explained how to dissect and identify all the body parts. Oops - Orange Boy accidently cut the intestines.

And the beauty of homeschooling when you have a large family is that there are always younger children around who want to get in on the action. And when they are naturally curious, they have a lot of questions. And they ask those questions to their older siblings who in turn answer them or try to find out answers to the questions. (Who needs written tests when you have younger siblings who are natural test givers? LOL)

Where's the heart?
How does it breathe?
Where is the mouth?
Where's the stomach?

Are you getting the picture here? We've got kids wanting to learn, asking questions, getting answers, absorbing the answers because they are the questions they thought up themselves. What better way is there to learn? This is the beauty of homeschooling, I tell you!

Bunny and Brown Eyes loved watching the action.

Read more...

Playin' Around

I picked up Scrapbook Factory Deluxe at a rummage sale for $2. I was greatly surprised to open up the package and find that the CDs were in a sealed package! Here are a couple shots from my new sister's recent visit.
Obviously, Orange boy really enjoyed having a cute and cuddly cousin around. So sweet.
The visit from my new sisters was precious. Of course there never is enough time, but I think we got a good thing started and I'm glad we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.

Read more...

Put a Smile on This Mama Bear's Face

See that flyer posted on my fridge? That is the flyer that was sent out to a lot of people informing them of camps available for children, mothers/daughters, sons/fathers, etc, this coming year at the camp we go to each summer. Do you see that picture in the upper left-hand corner? That's MY boy, affectionately known as Orange Boy here.

I take lots of pictures at camp of my kids (of course) and random pictures of campers. Last summer, the staff asked if they could make copies from our memory cards to use for slideshows, etc. Unbeknownst to me, they used my picture of my boy for this flyer. It's not the fact that my picture was used, it is the fact that they chose my boy - the boy who has a prominent birth mark on his left cheek - specifically a Portwine Stain birthmark right smack in the middle of his face - and made that the largest picture on the flyer. Do you get what I'm talking about? This is the kid who gets stopped in public all the time with strangers saying, "Who beat you up?" "Wow, what happened to you?" "Did your sister do that to your face?" I have had a police officer ask me what happened to him (and then went to a neighbor to verify). Countless (yes, countless) medical professionals have asked what happened to his cheek. This is something that is very noticeable, yet someone at camp decided that his face was worthy enough for the picture to be blown up and used as an advertisement for camp.

So, when talking to Orange Boy, he mentioned to me that he was surprised that they used his picture because of his birthmark. I told him that they probably never even noticed the birthmark - that the excitement shown on his eyes and face is what made them choose this picture. What a gift they gave my son (and his teary-eyed mama).

PS - We are aware that there is treatment available for Portwine Stain. It would require numerous laser treatments. The treatments cause scabbing and staying out of the sun for days. At this point, Orange Boy has decided that he is not interested. The ball is in his court and we will support whatever decision he chooses.

I've told him over the years that God must have been kissing him an awful lot on that cheek because it is sooooo soft. I sure love this kid.

Here's the original:

Read more...

Snow, Snow, Snow

We got snow yesterday. Church was canceled and the kids played their hearts out - until 11:30 pm!! I hope there wasn't a curfew in effect? LOL

Pearly Girl took all the pics except the one I took of her. I stayed in my pjs all day and sewed. What a great day!

Brown Eyes

Orange Boy played the most - from morning until 11:30 pm!

This is the wonderful hill just a few houses down from us. All of the neighborhood kids come to this hill to sled. I wish someone would put barricades at the top and bottom of the hill so the people showing off in their SUVs don't trash the good snow on the hill. My kids watched 2 SUVs go in the ditch. I'm not sure that I feel sorry for them.

Caboose was thrilled - and actually stayed out quite a bit.

This little strawberry-blond is turning into a carbon copy of Orange Boy - he can't get enough of the outdoors and is quite the trooper.

They are calling this storm the Arctic Blast. We will continue to have lows in the 20s for the rest of the week. More snow could come on Wednesday and Sunday again.

Read more...

Three years ago, Orange boy learned how to knit.

He's still at it. It's not something that he does all the time, but November seems the perfect time to knit - especially on a normal wet and rainy day in the Pacific Northwest.

Our tv died about 2 months ago. It forced the kids to do different things - play more games, do more crafts, spend more time together. It was awesome. We recently replaced the tv because we wanted to see the election coverage, but there are a new set of rules.

Every one of us admitted that we didn't miss the television. That it was a time waster. It was nice to see that we all came to the same conclusion and so when we made the new guidelines, they weren't bothered by them. They knew how much fun they had without it.

I"m happy to say that we have been following the guidelines. Orange boy's scarf is getting longer. Pearly has been busy knitting and sewing, too. Brown Eyes has been devouring books.

Bunny and Caboose have been playing and playing (okay and fighting). But I think we have a handle on this now. It feels good. That big box does not rule our house anymore. Amen.

Read more...

What Rain?

We went to a picnic on Sunday and it started pouring . . . . absolutely pouring. Because Bunny knows how to ride a bike now, Caboose thought that he got to "ride" the bike and so he put on Bunny's helmet by himself and started to walk Bunny's bike out in the rain - oblivious to the fact that he was getting sopping wet. I know the thought - "I'm an Oregonian, don't need an umbrella, rain is one with me".

So, seeing how I am sitting underneath a roof, nice and dry (read: lazy), and Orange boy has been playing in the rain and already sopping wet, I sent him out to fetch the Caboose. The pictures explain it all.

There's a true Oregonian right before your very eyes.

Come on, Caboose, we have to get out of the rain.

No, I want to ride my bike!

Mommie, he won't listen to me!!!!!!!

Read more...

From the Mouth of a Six-Year Old . . . .

Who are you voting for? - - - - - -


I'm voting for God - - - who can get better than that?

Read more...

Having Fun in the Fall

We've had an absolutely gorgeous week - weather in the low 80s. The kids have been having so much fun playing outside. It doesn't get better than this.

Read more...

Ten Pounds . . . . Lighter

I've been going to a gym with a friend and have finally lost 10 pounds (in 10 weeks). It's coming off slowly. It's hard work with a combination of weights, aerobics, treadmill, stationary bike, Pilates, and brisk walks and primarily trying to change my food to healthy food choices except for the occasional ice cream or chocolate splurge. I have not missed out on any desserts, but I'm not pigging out like I used to do, either. I'm one-third of the way to goal weight. It came off so much easier when I was younger.

Anyone else on the same mission? Let me know so I can cheer you on!

Read more...

Go Take a Hike

My husband took four of our children on a hike on a mountain at the Oregon Coast last week. This is Manzanita Bay in the backround and the Pacific Ocean on the right.

Check out the little houses dotted along the shoreline. The elevation must be pretty high. I can't wait to be able to go with them (baby is still nursing on the clock and we haven't tried bottles yet).

Read more...

Cake Competition

Some of our children are in AWANA - a Bible club for kids. Yesterday, there was a cake competition at AWANA. The cakes needed to be made by dads and kids only with no help from moms. We had a bunch of overripe bananas, so dh thought banana cake would be good. He picked out a recipe from The Joy of Cooking and went to town - no Betty Crocker box for my dh. Both Pearly Girl (11-yr) Orange Boy (8 yr) made theirs separately from scratch. Because dh got home late it was put in the oven around 10:45 p.m. While the cake was baking, I played Yahtzee with the kids (a cool math game, but the kids don't realize I play it so they will practice their math). So yeah, the kids were doing math and science projects at 11 pm, what can I say? We homeschool - we get to make our own schedules, so I just let the children sleep in the following morning. The following day, when dh got home from work, they quickly had to decorate the cakes. He had stopped by the store to pick up cake decorating supplies. Orange Boy was really into the decorating part. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a decent picture of Pearly's cake. She wrote 2 Tim 2:15 and drew a Bible. Orange Boy wrote Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed - the AWANA motto. The competition was stiff and was judged on creativity and taste. Orange Boy wanted his judged by creativity and Pearly wanted hers to be judged in taste. Unfortunately, Orange Boy did not win. Pearly Girl, however, won first place for taste. She won 3 coupons for Baskin Robbins, so she decided to take Papa and Orange Boy with her.

Read more...

Sound of Music

Ok, I have been a serious slacker since pregnancy and new baby. I have 3 children who are taking Suzuki violin lessons from a wonderful teacher at the homeschool co-op. I have been learning along with them (kinda, sorta). Thankfully, I have a musical background in my favor, so that has sure helped.

Today, I spent probably 30 minutes with our 6-and 8-yr olds teaching them a little theory: quarter notes and eighth notes. They learned it very well and quite easily. My goal is to get everybody singing and playing instruments. Now my 16-yr old wants an acoustic guitar (in addition to his classical guitar) and has expressed interest in singing vocal parts. We WILL do this. It has always been my dream to be like the VonTrapp Family Singers. Off with the TV. We WILL do this!

Whoa - I just had my son check out his vocal range. He's a baritone. That means my 11-yr old sing soprano, my 19-yr old and I can sing either tenor or alto, and my son is baritone. (The other little munchkins would be soprano/alto at this point). We have all 4-parts covered- woo-hoo! Agenda tomorrow: get/order 4-part vocal music! We've been singing rounds as a family for years, so it won't be too much of a stretch to sing 4-part. Why have I waited so long for this?

Read more...

Idle Fingers? I think NOT!

My 7-yr old son has been caught in the knitting craze. Yesterday, while the older kids and dh went skiing, he begged me to teach him how to knit. It was such a precious time together. I first showed him how to hold the left hand needle, but he wanted to do both, but it was a bit too much for him to handle. Then I decided to hold the left-hand needle and have him do the right-hand needle for a couple rows. He caught on quickly and took back the left-hand needle so he could do it all by himself. I was hoping to get a few things on my to-do list done, but with the constant interruption of, "can you fix this, please?", "can you help me, please", how could I resist? Now as I am typing, he and his 10-yr old sister are busy knitting nothing in particular, but what sweetness sits on that couch!

Talk about making a mom smile!


Love those cute 7-yr old hands! Again he's been knitting off and on today. He tells me that he's done for the day, but then comes back and picks it up again. He told me now why he knows why I knit - because it's fun! I love this boy!



7-yr old boy knitting

Read more...