You Don't See That Every Day

I was at the store the other day and saw something that made me cringe. A little child was yelling back to his mom, telling her No , he was Not going to do what she had asked him to do. Now, I know my children are not perfect angels. Believe me, they have plenty of faults, just like we all do. But they were never allowed to tell their parents No - as in directly defying an "order". Young parents, I get it - you're tired, you don't want to fight that battle again, and so you let them get away with that behavior. But really, if you let them do it now, it's going to get worse. Letting them tell you No now destroys the respect relationship between a parent and a child. Yes, I think a child needs to respect their parents. How else do they learn about authority? When a police officer pulls them over and asks them to get out of the car, do you think it will go well with them if they tell the police officer No? Or think about their teacher in school. The teacher asks ...

My kids often played school with their siblings, friends, and/or cousins when they were younger. I did it when I was a kid too. But I never wanted to be a Teacher. (Yes, there is irony in me homeschooling my children.) As I've gotten older and experienced the world. I've come to appreciate teachers much, much more. I spend maybe an hour or two twice a month teaching kids in Sunday school. I can't imagine doing that day after day during the school year. I've also had a large number of coaches in my life. 4 years of high school track and then cross country,  4 years of basketball and two more in college, along with the dozens of coaches my kids have gone through .... brings me to really appreciate the patience and knowledge passed on from these coaches to me and to my children. But this past week I have had a new experience in the teaching realm. I got to coach Long Jump for our track and field group at the church Skills Camp. It was ... wonderful. I thoroughly enjoy...

Dear Cousin, Do you remember those summers when my mom would let me spend a whole week with you at your house? One year it was a whole month. Those were some fun times! We played in the pool, we rode the horses, we ate tons of Popsicles ... I never wondered about it before, I just enjoyed it! Now that I am a mom, I wonder if she did it to have some time off .... Oh, I know she had plenty to do - especially in the summer; what I mean is time off ... from me. I love my kids, I love having them home (I wouldn't have homeschooled if I didn't!) But yesterday my older 3 were at school and my younger two were invited to go to Portland with a neighbor for the whole day. Suddenly my day looked different. Instead of driving from store to store with 2 children who would need snacks, drinks, bathroom stops, refereeing and other attention, I would be driving from store to store by myself. I could stop anywhere and anytime I wanted to. The feeling of freedom was enticing. And then I got...

I met a lady recently whom I have come to admire. I don't know her well yet, but what I do know I like. Let me tell you how it happened.  Our older kids go to school with her kids, so I have seen her around but had never talked to her. Then she and her family showed up at our church. So I went over to talk with her. As we exchanged who are you 's, I mentioned that we homeschool, and she said, "Oh, I'm jealous !" What? Shake my brain, rattle it around, did I hear you right? I have never had that response to my homeschooling admission. Usually I hear things like, "I could never do that" or perhaps an inference to my state of mind and sanity. To actually have someone jealous of what I was doing ... I knew right then I liked this lady. But it gets better. We continued our conversation, and got around to the fact that I have 5 children. And she once again got me. She said something to the effect of how wonderful that is. People, that is not the normal r...

"What made your weekend amazing?" That question came on the radio today, and I didn't have to stop long to think of all the great happenings of my past week. But what made it amazing, is the people I was with during the time. Last week was Sports Camp. All five of the kids were involved; the 3 older ones volunteered, and the 2 younger ones attended (and loved it!) So every morning for 3 hours I had no children at home. This has never before occurred in my life. And I thoroughly enjoyed the mini-vacation. Each day I was so thankful for all the workers and volunteers at Sports Camp - without them, my much-needed break would never have happened.  This past weekend I was able to spend time with relatives and friends. On Saturday the Mr. and I got to watch our two girls in their swim meet while my sister took the other 3 to a parade (at which they bagged a ton of candy). Even though my husband had to work the rest of the day, the 2 girls and I made it - late - to the par...

Where have I been? Lately life has  picked up the pace and I have been working to keep up with it. There was one week where we had 9 basketball games within 6 days. This week held 5 games within 6 days, along with a drama performance (which meant extra practices each night). My girl Stripes, was one of the orphans in her school play "Annie". And what a great orphan she was! She had the opening lines, calling out "momma, momma" and the first night I heard it I nearly cried! Good thing I didn't rush the stage. All the kids in the play did a wonderful job! For a middle school production, there was great stage presence and line delivery. I was very impressed. It brought back memories of my days on the stage, as few as they were, in high school. And the foggy memory of a play in college too. (I need to go hunt down that memory book and look it up.) My middle girl, Dots, had her first game today with the church league. Upward Basketball is such a good program for ...

A day without children. This is not a sentence I can attest to in my household very often. For 16 years I have had a child at home, most of the time. There were the rare occasions when I had a couple of hours alone, but they are far and few between. And I am not complaining! I love being Mom to my five minions. As the oldest gets closer to leaving home, I am cherishing time spent with my kids even more. But today, I was alone in the house for hours without children and the Mr. And I didn't know what to do with the freedom. Because who wants to clean at these times?! All this to say, I started thinking about what is going to happen when, say, in 10 years, my children are gone all day? My youngest will be in high school, and most likely at 'away-school' by then. (Even 5 years from now, the kids will be 9, 14, 16, 19, and 21, and I will have Time.To.Do.Things.) The Mr. and I even got to go out for a dinner date tonight, and I brought up this question. He nodded and enc...

A picture of our new dishwasher(s) They love to 'hide' in this hole, or read, or play there. You know how fun boxes are for kids - well, holes work nicely too.  

Yesterday I talked about our 2 year old. And her foibles. Of course I thought of more once I was done.  Anyway, our 9 year old. She does not keep us on our toes quite like the 2 year old. Thankfully. But in other ways, she does. I guess parenting is like that. Not only am I constantly teaching and training these kiddos, I am constantly learning too! Our 9 year old wants to be big like her older sister, and in some ways she is close. They both swim regularly now; whereas last year they weren't. I let them take bike rides together away from our little neighborhood. I let her babysit the little one (while I am at home). I think our biggest hurdle with her right now is school work and attitudes. I am *still* trying to find her learning style, and her passions. She often likes what older sister likes. But I want to find out what *she* likes. I want her to know it herself and not be the follower all the time. This girl has always been one of the helpers. Ever since she was lit...

Our two year old ... she is a precious bundle of something. This one has really kept us on our toes. Or maybe it just seems like it because we are older. Our 2 year old likes stickers. A lot. The side of my bed is now plastered with stickers that she found. And stickers are made for sticking on things of course. Just wish it wasn't my bed. I walked down the hallway after that discovery and found another one - it must have gotten away with her - stuck to the floor. I have a feeling we'll be finding them in other places too. My two year old also happens to think she is the same age and size as her older siblings. This has been a struggle of sorts ever since she was aware of her surroundings. She wants to do what they do. Often she tries to. Going out the front door all by herself - that was exciting. She tries to go upstairs to the new addition by herself sometimes also. Thankfully that isn't something anyone can do quietly. Today she found a tube of something that looked...

2 year olds have an amazing outlook on life. Everything is so new and fascinating. They are just soaking it all in, and pouring it back out in their speech and actions.  Earlier in the week Little K figured out she has pockets! She was quite pleased with this new concept. On Saturday she wanted to help me make bread. "I bake!" she kept saying   And so she did.  She stirred the flour into the bread.  Never too early to get them in the kitchen.   Later in the day, she found the sunshine - which is a rarer occurrence in our neck of the woods; and so she laid down in it for awhile, after figuring out what it was. The Boy and Dad tore into the doors this weekend. Another step in the remodeling process. They took off the door that leads from the laundry room to the addition, and added the door to the garage..   Here's the door, outside, waiting to be removed from the premises. Anyone in need of a door?? After the do...

Some people make St. Valentine's Day into quite a production. We don't usually. The kids make cards for friends and sometimes family members. This year the girls made cookies as part of a math lesson and then handed them out to neighbors. But then we got a little treat of our own... I am trying to do home school a little differently now, instead of just bookwork. I want my kids to love learning, not just have a list of work to cross off. Since the oldest girl is studying Greece this week, we decided to find some Greek food! There is a Greek restaurant in town I love to go to, because they make the best lamb ever, and that's the only place I can get it. So I took the girls out to lunch. Now, I didn't realize when I made my lesson plans that it was a 'special' day. A day when many restaurants might be busy. Thankfully, we went at lunch time, and the place was basically all ours. We ordered a couple of combination plates, and I told the girls we all had to ...

This is the shirt I went running in this week - both times. Yes, I had more on than just the shirt. It IS windy, rainy, typical Oregon December weather around here. But I am a running billboard now. I make sure to run against the traffic, so that I can see what's coming at me, and so that they can see my shirt. It's bright and bold and beautiful. (side note - I'm starting to love the color orange. I now own two orange shirts, and wear them regularly. I often let my kids wear their orange shirts when we are out in crowds because 1. They are easier to find; and B. We are silently supporting our favorite OSU Beavs.) - back to the story - Does it make you wonder what it's for? What it means? I wondered when I first saw it. Let me tell you a little about it. A couple we know is on the path of adoption. They want to bring home a sweet little baby from Ethiopia. And they are raising money to make this happen - one way is by selling these shirts! The minus one refers ...

The conversation this morning: Me: Kids, it's time for chores. Get dressed and get started. Son: You don't have any chores. (emphasis on the you) Me: Oh?     as I look at the lack of fire burning inthe wood stove. And I offered to show him my to-do list. I gave him this little poem. I made it up on the fly. Pretty amazing huh? Keep you all warm, keep you all fed, keep you all clean, and send you to bed. Yeah, that English degree is paying off I tell ya .

We went to weed again. The farm is bursting forth with a plethora of little shoots of vegetables. And Weeds. So many weeds. Today I worked on the carrots. The row goes on forever, and a half. My dad surprised the girls with this tent. There had been a 'threat' of rain here in our valley, which never materialized. So dad set up this tent for the littler girls to have a place to hang out. And in case of sunshine, a place to play and watch the Little K so I can actually do some work. (side note: this tent is very, very old. My dad thinks it is the tent my grandparents stayed in while they waited for their house ... back in 1924!!! I can't imagine living in this for 3 months!) The tent worked out perfectly. The girls spent a long time sweeping it out and cleaning it up. And then they played with K in it for hours. Of course there were plenty of bathroom 'breaks' and question-to-ask-Mom breaks. But overall it was a success. I took this shot of Grandpa and little...

A photo contest is happening on a blog I read occasionally. PW often has these photo contests, and even though I like my pictures, I don't think they match up to the quality of the ones that are entered and/or chosen. So I am going to just put my own selections here. Since the contest this time around is for Action Photos, here I have a few from the past weekend. And for due credit, my husband took these, not me. Do you have any you want to share?

This is what my kids do when they get a little sunshine.

We play a game in our house every day. It's a lot like hide and seek. But it involves just one person "hiding" and 6 others "seeking". You can frequently hear me or G. ask, "Where's K--?" sending the other little people scurrying to find her. She goes from room to room wreaking havoc, creating chaos, leaving a wake of overturned, pulled-out-of, unfolded, or ripped, destruction in her path. The other day she was found in a bathroom happily shredding the toilet paper she had unrolled from the wall. Later I found her sitting on the rocking chair she had climbed up on. Turn around again and she was standing on it. Thus the side-turned chair. In other parts of our home - Big brother is helping little sis learn to ride without training wheels. It's a beautiful sight.