Pure joy

New tutus, beautiful hand me down shawls knit by Mom-mom and a sister to share them with.  It doesn't get much better than this.

This Mom's Least Favorite Phrases

It's not my job.

Do I have to?

I can't or I don't know how to. (as in when being asked to try something new)

Fine.  (as in, how was school today? )

I forgot.

So what your least favorites?

Ella the Wonder Dog

Yesterday Ella was protecting something on the ground while Frog was cutting the grass.  When he went to see what she was up to, he discovered this injured woodpecker. (I'm afraid our cats may be the guilty party but have no way of knowing for sure.)  We wrapped him in a towel and put him in a box and drove to a restaurant parking lot where we met a wildlife rehabilitator. (gotta love google...you can find anything!).  Hopefully we got him to her in time.

Here she is ...the humble hero!

 Hopefully the SURVIVOR of her compassion. (notice Ella in the background still standing guard)

Happy Birthday Sunshine!

We celebrated by going to a local arts festival

StiksChips...a another awesome way to eat a fried potato

An arts festival wouldn't be complete without the opportunity to make your own art.  Here are Sunshine and Sweetness making felt bags.

Out of the mouths of babes

Okay, so maybe the "babe" in this context would take exception to the term "babe".  Especially given he's legally allowed to buy alcohol, is going to graduate from college in the spring, and towers over me, but I'm the mom and he was at one point, my baby and it is my prerogative (and my blog!)

"It's all part of growing up Mom."

(Don't you just hate it when your kid is right and you don't like it?)

This is what Clone told me when I was lamenting the fact that I will be 1000 miles away when he has surgery to heal his foot. Who will drive him to the hospital?  Who will wait in the waiting room for him?  Who will ask the doctors the important questions about post-op care?  Who will take care of him once he's back in his dorm? Who will care like me? 

Other than the last concern (for which I'm certain the answer is no one!)  Clone is blessed with good friends, and Swan, there to help him out. He's a mature, capable young man and he will take care of it. God will provide him with the people and answers that he needs to get through this.  He's out of my nest and learning to fly on his own.  My job now is to set back and see what the Lord has in store for him and trust Him even when trials and tribulations hit.  Praise Him, His wings of protection are much bigger than mine.

Confessions of a military wife on September 11

Ten years ago today, lives of Americans were unalterably and forever changed.  For those in New York, the Pentagon, and on that airplane that went down in PA and all their families, the change was immediate, drastic and devastating.  The terror of that day was painful and acute and is seared into their memories.

For the rest of us, we have had to learn to live as a nation at war with an unseen enemy.  We have to give up privacy for security.  We have to stand in long times at airports so we can take off our shoes and walk through metal detectors so that we can travel.  We go on heightened alert and have to be hyper-vigilant as a nation to protect ourselves against future attack.

For some of us, the change has been less noticeable and insidious.  Because of that day 10 years ago, I have now become one of "those" military wives.  The first time MWC went away for 5 weeks was over 12 years ago.  For the first time since our wedding day, we would be apart for our anniversary.  I was devastated. Before church that morning, I went into the bathroom to cry. I was followed by at least 8 women, all military wives, who came to comfort me.  I'll never forget apologizing to them for being such a baby.  Most of them had lost count of missed birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries.  One dear woman said, "you are the lucky one here.  This is supposed to hurt!  We are the ones so hardened by it that we no longer feel anything."

MWC went on a trip for several days last week.  He is going again soon.  Thank you to the terrorists 10 years ago, my life as a military wife has been so altered that I am now hardened like the best of them.  After years of longer hours, many, many short term TDY's (temporary duty trips for all you civvies out there!) and deployments of 3 months, 5 months, and 8 months, a few days is nothing.  I wish they still were but I can not change history, and I can not change my husband's duty to his country and his love for his job and desire to serve.

I can only plug away, one day at a time, being thankful for all the Lord has done for me, trusting in his sovereignty, and remembering that He is in control and perfectly trustworthy.  I do not need to harden my heart to protect it, but leave it open to Him and trust that He will protect it while I love my husband fully, when he's home and when he's away.

That's Amore'!

Sweetness started Latin yesterday. It is very fitting that the very first word she is learning is amo - Love - because this girl loves Latin.  It was the first class she told me about, she couldn't wait to tell me all the forms of amo, she repeated them all for MWC when she got home and then she took the book with her in the car on errands we had to run after dinner.

So I do not know if
Sweetness amo Latin
Sweetness amas Latin
Sweetness amat Latin

but I know it won't be long until she tells me if her enthusiasm continues at its current level.

And so it begins....

It is a well known fact that Sunshine's teacher knows everything and is always right.  It was so bad last year that I teased her about her super hero cape.

Today was their first day of tutorial.  Mrs. T loved her first graders so much last year that she moved up with them this year.

I'm not so sure I'm gonna like that arrangement.  Within just a few hours of getting home from school, Sunshine was correcting the pronunciation of a name because, "Mrs T. doesn't say it like that!"

If only I was as smart and as powerful as a 7 year old thinks her teacher is, I could rule the world.

Why should almost-7-year-olds be supervised while baking?

Because 1/8 cup of cinnamon in the eggs for the french toast is a whole lot different than the1/8 tsp the recipe calls for.

Thus ends another summer fantasy of the homeschool mom

Well its the last official day of summer vacation.  Backpacks are packed, school uniforms laid out.  Lunches will be packed later.  The girls' tutorial and our official school year begin tomorrow.

At the beginning of summer vacation, a mere 14 weeks ago, I came up with a summer school plan.  I prepared 21 math lessons, 21 dictation exercises, planned to have them read aloud 28 times from 2 chapter books, and learn all 26 capital letters in cursive.

15 years of homeschooling and about 10 years of similar goals. So how did I do?

Well, we did 14 math lessons, 12 dictation exercises, and learned 22 capital letters in cursive. We did not finish a single chapter book, and changed our choices no less than 3 times each so finally gave up and just started getting books from the library and using them.  We didn't record our readings after that, but I am sure that in that one goal, we did succeed.

While we did not check off all the little boxes (and after so many years of this repeated fantasy, I would have been shocked if I ACTUALLY did it all) we did have a great educational summer anyway.  Sweetness and Sunshine learned to ride bikes without training wheels, and learned about (and experienced) an earthquake, a hurricane, and a variety of creepy crawlies found in our backyard.  Frog learned about bee stings, allergy shots and how to fly a plane.  Clone learned about broken bones...and patience.  Swan learned about using her gifts and talents to minister to others locally.  And I learned that its okay not to check all the boxes off but its okay to make them

Hope does spring eternal after all.