The Meaning of Life?

I’m letting myself get bummed out again. I need a kick in the bum, I suppose. Our dog dies then I find out Richmond’s way awesome coffee shop, Sacred Grounds, is closing December 1st. Starbucks just opened recently so I blaming Starbucks. Yea, they have good coffee but I preferred Sacred Grounds. Their chillers were the best, the mouth-watering menu one-of-a-kind, the ambiance cozy and classy, and the coffee, oh, the coffee. I’m sorry, but Starbucks with their anti-God cups can’t touch local coffee shop coffee. It was made with love. My faves- Café Mocha and Mocha Latte for my sweet tooth and my brew of choice was called…."The Meaning of Life." Oh, man, I’m SO BUMMED. But, perspective kicking in, I’m THANKFUL I’ve had this blessing while it lasted and I’m THANKFUL I have a coffee maker and International Foods and Coffee Mate creamers and I’m THANKFUL we still have Charlie’s Coffee Shop where they will be setting up the Christmas Train Display very soon.
I’m still going to miss Sacred Grounds and my dog, Gomer – gonna have to just be honest here. Wha – I’m such a whiner! Sorry…
Our house is still a disaster from the seasonal switchover so worked on that some. Life will be easier in the future when we have to go through this again due to getting rid of so much but it’s not easy now. I took Natalie to the orthodontist who gave her an ultra sonic toothbrush. He told her it’s not available in any other countries and I asked her if that means they were BANNED in all the other countries or just not available. My daughter putting something called "ultra sonic" into her head just doesn’t sound healthy. Will it clean better around the braces or will the combination of the braces and the weapon cause our power to go out, dry up our well, and her hair to change color? Am I exaggerating just a bit? Well, after that trip, we made another drop at Goodwill and another Wally world run even though I just bought a month's worth of groceries Friday. I crashed and burned when I got home – altostratus day – can’t function – must have happy lights. We really do need to invest in those sunshine lights throughout the house. I get that S.A.D – seasonal affective disorder, I think it is. Whatever it stands for, it IS SAD. Anyhoo, as soon as Craig came home, we set out to see our friends’ 1830s house they are restoring and getting ready to move into. Craig mentioned our friends are in their element but that is SO not him. He’d rather pay twice what a house is worth and not have to fix a thing! LOL! We ate din din, came home, here I am now before I collapse trying to make sure I don’t’ procrastinate with my blog again.
Well, that’s as deep as this post is going to get tonight.
God Bless! Hugs in Him!

Gomer is gone

I had taken the time this morning to jot down some inspirational reflections on a passage of scripture but, alas, it will have to wait. This evening, while my DH and DD were out on a date, a neighbor came to our door to inform us he saw our dog laying alongside the state route that our road comes off of. He walked me to the spot and sure enough, it was our dear, dumb Gomer. Somehow, he got out without us knowing it and anyone who knows about Basset Hounds knows you cannot train them to stay in the yard. I had to break it to the kids then Craig and Lenae when they got home. We’re all so depressed. I know he was just a dog, but he was the family pet. Thank you God for our "pretty smart for a dumb dog", Gomer.

Light at the end of the tunnel of Rubbermaid

We’re almost done however, my DH went out to the storage shed and found more containers and old forgotten bags of stuff so, instead of less in my house, I have more. I was going to go out and check for myself but he beat me to it. Am I the only one with kids who say, "yes, we got it all in" but they didn’t? Or, "Yes, we have plenty of diapers" when you’re making a grocery list, but you don’t? Or, "We’re all out of ketchup" but when you bring the groceries home, there’s 3 bottles where none had been 2 hours before? Well, for having brought in everything, my DH sure found a lot more. Thankfully, most of it is going right back out. The hardest sorting job I had was for my 2 y.o. and 4 y.o. girls. They had SO MUCH and all of it cute. Some of it, my older girls had worn but, with their help, we pruned it down to just what we needed and maybe a couple extra. I love dressing up my babydolls; what can I say?
Tonight, the older girls and I sat together in the living room and worked on a grocery shopping strategy. Each girl will be responsible for a store and it’s ad. We went through our Thanksgiving shopping list and the girls made a game of whose store had the best price for each item. Whoever "won" with the best price wrote it on their list. We will finish tomorrow and I’ll type it all up on my pooter for an early morning shopping trip Saturday. We were so tired and the girls just got slaphappy. The competition for having the best prices became ridiculous and we laughed till we cried. I thought we were just working on a much-needed system for catering (and for us) but it was a hoot!
Hopefully, the mess will be gone tomorrow and we can reward ourselves this weekend. This consumed our lives this week but most of it’s my fault for having accumulated so much without sifting through and purging each season. We have 3 boxes of just snow boots we get to bless others with not to mention a boatload of coats! I didn’t know we had all this! It will be so much easier in the future – I just wished we had taken care of this a long time ago.
Learn from me! Share your stuff and save your sanity!
Hugs!

Taming of the Shrew

Comments about the play my daughters were in – very cool:
Beth (one of the actor’s wife) brought the homeschool co-op group that she teaches, they are reading and discussing "Shrew"
I thought you all might like to read their comments.....these young folks are12-17 yrs of age.
Renee'
Here are the comments my class made about The Taming of the Shrew for Becky:
I never thought that I would like Shakespeare. When we saw the play, it came to life - it was real. It was cool. Thank you for making the play so great.
~ Zac
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. I enjoyed it thoroughly. There was so much energy. After reading the play, I was unsure of what the couple thought about the whole scene. After seeing the play, I knew exactly what everybody thought of everything. Thank you very much.
~ Zach
I loved your play (The Taming of the Shrew). It was my favorite play that I have ever seen. It was funny, romantic, and great. It’s just too awesome for words. My favorite character was Kate. She just played the part perfect. I was a little unsure about it being set in the 50’s. But it was great. It actually made me feel like I was there. Everybody was just fantastic. Oh, and I loved the dancing at the end with the disco ball!
~ Rosie
I very much enjoyed seeing The Taming of the Shrew. The cast was wonderful! Seeing it helped me understand the play much better. I was also very happy that we could come at a discount. Again I thank you for the wonderful experience. As I have been reading The Taming of the Shrew, I didn’t realize how funny it was. Biondella was one of my favorites! Keep up the great work.
~ Mahriah
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. It was the best play I have ever seen! I loved how you got such good actors. Lucentio and Grumio were the most funny. I hope everyone loved it as much as my class did. Thank you for making such a wonderful play.
~ Cassidy
Watching the play was much more vibrant than reading the book. It was a lot easier to study the play after watching it. The actors were all really good. My favorite part was the danger of the food flying around at Petruchio’s house! I enjoyed the experience a lot. Thanks.
~ Lucas
We are grateful for the performance of The Taming of the Shrew. As a class we went to a showing. It was fantastic to actually see the play. We have been studying the play and absolutely adored how enthusiastic the actors were. They looked so happy to be performing. It is great to follow the story and see it. Thanks for having a school performance. I hope to see another

performance soon. I loved how humorous the entire play was. I laughed until the tears came. It is great to see the actors taking their parts to the next level. Biondella and Grumio were always moving or doing something hilarious. Kate and Petruchio were fantastic in their conversations. Each character helped bring out the best in the play.
~ Katie
Thank you very much for the great performance of The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October. It was great. All the actors acted like they were having a good time. The tickets were affordable and that made it fun. The set design was well done. In a little while, we are doing a play for my family and the set gave me some ideas! Everyone working there seemed very friendly. Thank you again.
~ Caitlin
We went to see The Taming of the Shrew on the 17th of October and it was so cool! The actors were great! They did a great job performing it in the 1950’s. The set and props were awesome! My favorite character was Kate - she did a great job performing her feelings. Thanks a lot for everything!
~ Tacy
As a homeschooling parent and teacher of a Shakespeare class at our Co-op, I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the opportunity to take my kids/ students to the school performance of The Taming of the Shrew at RCT. Being exposed to theatre in general is so important for kids, but it is essential when studying Shakespeare. RCT gave my students a chance to see a wonderful, high quality Shakespearean production close to home. It was a valuable educational experience and a really fun afternoon as well! Thanks again and keep up the good work. ~ Beth

Our closests overfloweth

Well…we have worked with only breaks and the end-of-day meltdown but our house is still a wreck. We did, however, remove 2 trunkloads of excess clothing and shoes to be shared with others as they have been shared with us. I told the girls they could have a garage sale Saturday if the weather permits but after that, everything goes! Somewhere, I don’t care where. But, hopefully, to someone who needs them.
Even though we’re up to our eyeballs in sorting, I find myself in the mindset and "heartset" appropriate for Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for the abundance! We DO NOT have the finances necessary to dress our kiddos in even the cheapest clothes but, yet, God fits them in pretty snazzy attire. My spunky, funky 13 y.o. seems to have a steady flow of the necessary items for her personality. Though I have 4 girls in a row, then 4 boys, they don’t all share the same build. I thought I would be able to pass stuff on down the line but, NOOO, my oldest boy is thin, the next on husky. The oldest girl is full-figured and short like me, the next girl tall and thin. But wouldn’t you know God was all over that the whole time? Whenever we have lacked what we needed, we either prayed and waited or went out a bought the needed pair of jeans or snow boots. But you know what would show up either way? The needed pair of jeans or snow boots. And if we had not trusted God to provide and went shopping, do you know what our Abba would do? Make sure his stuff was better than our stuff.
I was going to post pics of our mess and blessings but itty bit woke up so I’ll have to do that another time. I figured I’m not the only one who’d like to see someone else’s house a wreck! LOL!
While I’m here, may I direct you to homeschoolingmommaof4’s Blog?
She’s having a 155,000 Clicks Giveaway Celebration giveaway!
Congratulations, JoAnn!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolingmommaof4/
Well, I’ve posted 2 days in a row. Maybe I have found a time slot that works for baby and me. We’ll try again tomorrow night and see if we can’t keep the ball rolling!
God bless!

Santa - watch your mouth

Santas warned 'ho ho ho' offensive to women – see link for ridiculous details:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_asia_afp/lifestyleaustraliachristmasoffbeat

The Seasonal Switchover – The real reason October is scary.

Every mom of many must go through the same thing I do when the weather changes from hot to cold then back to hot again. It’s been the same thing for years. It’s called…freaking out. This just takes over your house! I’m WAY behind this fall. I usually have it done by the end of October.
I know there are some noble folk out there who don’t keep anything; they just give away outgrown clothes and trust God for the next season’s replacements. We DO trust God for outfitting our crew but we also feel led to be frugal and recycle. SO, that means packing and unpacking clothes for 13 people. I pray for faith to move this mountain of clothes! Sometimes I wish we just unloaded the clothes every fall and spring but, on the other hand, I’d still have the character flaw of sentimentality to contend with. Isabelle is wearing outfits her 19 y.o. sister wore! Why did I keep those? I’m not talking about 2 or 3; I’m talking about a box-full! They’re just so adorable and the memories attached, well, I’m still learning this world is not my home. Moth and rust HAVE destroyed so I’m getting it, don’t worry.

So, anyhoo, HOW TO SURVIVE THE SEASONAL SWITCHOVER:

1. No cardboard boxes. Use Rubbermaid containers or the like. Cheap plastic cracks, especially if you have to store your stuff in an attic or outside storage shed like us and if it has other containers stacked on top of it. If you must store clothes, you can’t afford to NOT invest in appropriate containers. Examples of cardboard box storage fatalities: a.) Storage roof leaked – major mold – 5 boxes pitched b.) Cats found a way into storage, used several boxes for litterboxes, gave birth in one c.) Bees built hive in large wardrobe box – that was fun… SO, please trust me on this, NO CARDBOARD. Plastic bags rip and spill all over – don’t even think about those.
2. Pack freshly washed and dry clothes. Try to have several major laundry days prior to the switchover so you have most everything ready to pack.
3. We keep 3-4 "season neutral" outfits out at all times. These are clothes that would be comfortable to wear during that transitional weather. Something one can stay cool in if it’s warm but throw on a jacket if it gets cold. These are worn during those laundry prep days (in theory) so you don’t have to wait for the stuff to be packed to get through the wash.
4. Clear your schedule and forget about school for 2 or 3 days. Plan on breaks and rewards for getting the job done. Weather permitting, we’re going Letterboxing!
5. Bring in your containers. All of them. Just bite the bullet and line your hallways, dining room, wherever you have bare walls. We’re also bringing in the coats, the boots, mittens and scarves; there’s a ton of stuff to go through. While you’re sorting clothes, kids can be trying on coats, etc.
6. Line up the clothing containers in birth order. I start with the youngest and let the older ones take care of their own.
7. We also set up 1 or 2 folding tables in the living room to sort on. We empty all shelves and drawers and pile everything in birth order
8. Because I’m OCD about outfits being matched, kids' clothes 10 and under are put away matched and packed matched. No pants drawer and shirt drawer. We have outfits, pajamas, socks & underwear. That’s how I pack so when it’s time to unpack again, it’s ready to go on the shelf.
9. We try to keep just what will fit on the shelf or in the drawer. It’s hard when so many kind people give us some great items but I’m learning to "GROC" with more frequency. GROC is our own invention. We have a Get Rid Of Can. SO, GROC is a noun and a verb. "GROC it!" is heard a lot during the Switchover.
10. Back to switching- unpack child’s clothes, put away.
11. Sort through their to-pack pile getting rid of (GROC-ing) excess and outgrown items; pack clothes.
12. Repeat for each child.
13. Don’t forget yourself – I did this one year-extra time was needed to repeat this process for the mama.
14. DON’T CLOSE THE LIDS! I leave the containers lined up with the lids behind them for 2 or 3 days until I feel that everything needing packed has made it through the wash. You KNOW if you pack the containers too soon, clothes are going to turn up that needed packed!
15. While you're going through this process, kids can be given missions. Make a checklist or just have them report in when they don’t know what to do next. Missions can be: try on coats and hang up what fits & get rid of excess, find mittens and scarves and put in pocket (we use a door-hanging pocket shoe organizer for mittens and scarves in the winter/swimsuits in the summer), clean out from under beds to look for lost clothes and shoes – same for closets, pack sandals, try on shoes, etc.
16. Ready to close the lids? Throw in 2 or 3 dryer sheets before you do. This will keep critters out. At least mice. When my FIL purchased a camper, he was told to stash dryer sheets all over the camper when closing it up for winter to keep the mice out. It also keeps the clothes smelling fresh and clean so they can go right back on their shelves or in the drawers next season.
17. A word on promoting. Promoting is what we call it when something gets outgrown and is given to the next sibling. When it’s time to promote, the tag or other visible spot on the waistband or collar is given a slash or dot. The boys get slashes and girls get dots. When my 12 y.o. boy outgrows a shirt, a slash is added to the slash he already had and and it goes to the next boy. This way, we can keep track of what belongs to whom. Promotions tend to happen during the unpacking and I sometimes assign the "dotting" to someone or let the child dot their own clothes.

There you have it. If anyone else would like to add their recommendations for this, DO SHARE!
HTH
GOD BLESS!.

Structured Flexibility

We don't "do" Halloween but I thought this was funny:

I can’t believe I’m awake. The baby has nursed back to sleep. Isabelle has NOT awakened in a screaming fit (a regular occurrence these days), and none of the other youngins have stood by my bed and stared at me from six inches away until I wake up to tell me they’re scawad (scared). Nope, it had to be a cat. 3:15am. I’m awake because of a stupid cat meowing to get in its bathroom. We have 3 cats, Tiger, Buster, and Akala, who, if they’re not partying, are chasing each other across the hardwood floors all night SO they get put to bed for the night just like everybody else. Three different girls are responsible for each cat so I know WHO to wake up when I get woke up because THEY have forgotten. I can’t find the meowing culprit so I don’t know who to wake up. I’m pretty sure it’s Akala but I can’t find the cat. Anyhoo, I’m awake so I thought I’d stop in to say hi.

We have a full life. So full, I don’t get to blog like I want, as I’ve mentioned before, and I really miss it. I’m trying to figure out a time or way to make this happen and I’ve been trying to get up before Isaiah gets up for his morning nursing (this is TOO early). I was getting up at about 5:30 for the last couple of weeks but was puttering around getting dressed, etc. trying to figure out my routine then daylight savings kicked in. Well, it kicked in for everybody but Isaiah. He was getting up between 6am and 6:30am. He’s getting up between 5am and 5:30…of course. I have determined our lifestyle includes “night owl” activity whether it be school, hospitality, or, in the near future, catering, so getting up at 4 or 4:30 is asking a lot of my already worn out bod. I’ve tried getting up with him to nurse while typing but it’s such a pain with one hand, literally, and I am suppose to wear that brace while I’m on the keyboard.

That being said, it’s time for catch-up: The Tapestry of Grace curriculum is a very jam-packed course of study, for those who haven’t seen it. It was a big hairy deal for us to invest in it after 16 years of homeschooling with me writing most of our unit studies. My DH asked me before our purchase if my pride was ready to use something that I didn’t write. He knows there was a time I felt I had to be AMAZING MOM and make all these amazing things happen in our home. Well, wisdom is not attained easily and I have learned that there’s nothing amazing about getting fried and wandering aimlessly through academia and not enjoy it.

Part of my problem is all the housekeep involved with a big family. I could spend hours in the laundry room alone. If I get sidetracked by cleaning or folding, it can be afternoon when we start school! Then I have to crash and burn for an afternoon nap because a child, or cat, woke me up in the night in addition to the regular feeding of my baby boy.

I wake up, it’s time to think about dinner and, ugh, the time gets away from me.

The TOG manual warns that there’s a 4-week-fog newbies go through when first starting this overwhelming curriculum. I have a feeling ours will be a 4-month-fog. When we started, I said we’re going to take it slow and take 2 weeks to do the first week. Wouldn’t you know it took 4 weeks for us to do one? Of course, we started in the midst of the performance of Taming of the Shrew, which included helping painting sets and late nights. This week, we haven’t done much out of the curriculum, mostly math, phonics, etc. It’s so hard to not get discouraged but Craig and I have found that if it takes us 2 years to get into a routine with this, we’re not the first and there’s so much in one year, it could hardly be considered “behind.” We are definitely in the “other” category with educational style. We’re “structured unschooling” or "rigid flexibility" as my DH would call it.

Today, we’ll finally paint those salt dough maps we started 3 weeks ago. Before or after HS drama troupe? We’ll just have to wait and see.
A-HA! It IS Akala. Jillian is so dead.

Enjoy this cuteness:

Meet "EYEBROW MAN"! He's been called that and "Judah-man" a la "You da man" since he was born.

Isaiah has been dubbed "CT" because when he's not smiling, these huge eyes make him look paranoid. SO... CT - Conspiracy Theory.

Isabelle, the cyclops.

Isn't she a princess?
God Bless you on this beeyootiful Autumn day!