I Got the Finger

Have you ever had the finger? Do you know what the finger is? I'm sure that everyone knows what the finger is and just what finger I'm talking about.
We were all on the way to see Granny Karen the other day and this pickup truck was in front of me. The speed limit was 55 and the truck was going right at 50. I had the go-ahead to pass. I checked my mirrors, put on my blinker and proceeded to pass. Well the driver (young male) must not have wanted me to be in front of him. He started speeding up when I got beside him. Pure spite is all it was. I refused to play his game so I just slowed down and merged back into the lane behind him. Out the window of his truck came his hand. Oh it wasn't a wave at all, it was the middle finger and I had just been given the official bird. The boy's didn't like that too much either. "Mom, he just shot you a bird". "I know, but it's ok, he was just telling me I am number one". They got a good little chuckle out of that.
About a half mile down the road the guy turned right. Nope, notta blinker or nothing. Oh yeah, he gave a hand signal, but it wasn't the turn sign he used. LOL I got the official bird again. Twice in one day and by the same guy. That's kinda like getting a traffic violation twice in the same day by the same cop. HaHa...
My mom and I talked about the driver's attitude and that he must be just having a bad day. My mom's comment was "Sometimes you just gotta look over people like that". And she is exactly right in her wisdom.

Just another great lesson for the boys.

Inspiration

Last week at our home school meeting, our fearless leader brought a few books that we were all welcome to borrow. She suggested a book for me and tonight I finally had the chance to pick it up and flip through the pages. Now I am having trouble putting it down.

"The First Year Of Homeschooling Your Child" by Linda Dobson.

I have read and read and read things about homeschooling. I never had any doubt that I couldn't do it or that I shouldn't do it. On the other hand, Superman did have a little doubt about us homeschooling. He was really concerned about the social aspect of it all. That is always the least amount of my concern. Teach your children good manners and those manners will follow them into the world. Ok - that's my opinion and my view, but when you think about it, it really does make sense. Once I talked to Superman about the benefits of homeschooling and he thought about it, then he was convinced. His idea now - Public school is not an option.

In this book that I'm reading, I came across something titled "What I wish someone had told me during my first year of homeschooling." Well let me go on and share this with you. Why? Because if you have read any of my other post about our defiant middle son, then you will understand. If you haven't read any of those post, then the word defiant explains it all. LOL

"First, I wish someone had explained that every day would not be perfect but that they all have value. Actually, I heard this basic message in a few different places, and read nearly the same words. But no on I knew seemed to experience any low moments, so even though I understood deep down that we would not have magical moments every day, I felt really bad when we had a less-than-stellar day."
"I felt especially sensitive to this on days when I was finding myself trying to explain homeschooling to someone who didn't quite get it. Or after I read lots of anecdotes in books and magazines about amazing things that other homeschoolers are doing."
"Lately I have tried to find something to cherish in everyday, even if it is simply a hug or kiss from my kids. I have found that as I worry less about having picture-perfect days, I am more able to enjoy good days and live with bad ones. I am also better able to see that my kids are learning even when things don't go smoothly." Deb Baker, Bellevue, Washington

Ok - that really hit home with me. I thought - "Alta, here's your sign". How many more writings on the wall do I need to let me know that what I am doing is ok? It just takes a little inspiration from someone or something else to let us know that "This too shall pass".

Long Long Day

When class starts and 9:30 am and ends around 5pm, it certainly makes for a long, long day. And get this - class really didn't end at 5 pm, it's just that I had had enough. I couldn't take the whining or complaining anymore. JD can certainly takes hours and hours to whine and complain but he can't take 15 minutes to do his work. I think that for some reason that he believes that if he complains enough that I will just let class go and not do it, or he won't have to do his work. I have showed him time after time that no matter the amount of complaining that he does, he will still have to do his work. How in the world can I get him to understand? And even if he doesn't understand right now, if I can just get him to comply.

I know that some of you may have experienced what I am going through with getting JD to understand, sit still or just simply do his work. What can I do? He wanted my help today with math, no problem - but - the whole time I am explaining the division problem to him he is using his pencil as a car and even making car sounds. How much of this can a person take? I stopped and ask him to stop making the sound and to please put his pencil down. Oh yes - it worked for about 15 seconds. I know - take what is given to me. But the whole 15 seconds he is complaining that he doesn't understand. Well for goodness sake, I guess he doesn't understand if he won't listen.

I suppose some days I am just at a lose. Tonight we discussed his behavior at supper and he had to have a talk with his dad. He certainly doesn't like having those talks with his dad.

MJ is about to move on to Unit 2 of his History and Geography studies, he is also about to move on to Unit 2 in his Language Arts studies. He is really working very well and comprehending what he is reading.

I told WW that I am not holding him back and waiting on JD anymore. Tomorrow he will be able to pick up his books and do his studies by himself. I ask him to come to me with any questions that he has and I will check him from time to time.

Other than it being a long, long day, it was an ok day. Hopefully JD will get some really good rest tonight and we will be able to move him along.

Game Day

It was so much fun! For 2 and a half hours there were about a dozen kids, ranging from 5 months to 14 years old, all playing educational games together. All playing and getting along without any problems at all. What a wonderful thing!

Today was our first "Game Day" meeting. Our group leader planned it all and put it all together. We all (well all that could attend) met at one of our members churches (in the fellowship) hall. There were educational games for all of the children to play. It gave us all time to sit and chat with each other and actually put some things together on paper for our group. I think this group is really gonna do very well. We do have a website that is in the process of being built and when it's all done, it will be totally awesome. We are also about to put together a yahoo group so that we can all communicate with each other without the mass email thing.

So now I am off to take care of creating the yahoo group where we can all post away until our little fingers get really, really tired.

I Gotta Admit

I know that several of you are expecting pictures from our weekend trip to Missouri. I know I am in a bunch of trouble because I didn't take pictures. Yeah - believe it or not. I know, go to my room!
Here lately I just haven't been toting my camera along. I hate dragging all kinds of luggage with me. My digital camera that I have now just doesn't hold the battery life like it used to. The boys always want to take the pictures. It's just one more thing to keep up with. Yada, yada, yada...
Darn it - I should have taken it and let the boys take pictures. Then I wouldn't have had to worry about dragging it with me. Oh right - I forgot, I always seem to end up with all the things that they get tired of toting. LOL But really I don't let them do that to me. They ask me sometimes to hold this or that, but not me. No way. I tell them that they brought it and they have to keep up with it.
I will figure all the picture taking thing out and I promise to take pictures the next time we go. Hopefully that will be within the next 6 months. Superman is actually talking about us taking another trip there before this year is out. I guess we'll just have to see how that goes.

We have another birthday coming up this weekend. Little MJ will be 10 on Monday. He is all excited about his birthday and just won't hush up about it. It's ok though, we know he is excited.

Tomorrow we take our weekly trip to join our home school group. We missed last week because of packing and errands for our weekend trip. I actually missed it, so did the boys. Our little group is starting to grow and there are several plans in the making.

I think I'll call it a night. It's been a long day for all of us and of course a few behavior issues today, so I'm kinda tired. Night, night!

Saturday in St. Louis

Friday night found us in a motel in Houston, Missouri. The boys told me that they have never stayed in a motel or hotel before. They have traveled but the slept in the vehicle. What an experience for a kid. Never again for our 3 boys!
WW, JD and MJ thought the motel was top notch. They wanted to know how much it cost and if we had enough money and so on and so on...They just needed reassurance because of their past.

Saturday morning we all woke up rested and ready to go again. We drove to St. Louis and talked and played games in the car. Superman and I had talked and thought about what to do. Saturday was the boys day since they were so good when we had to do business on Friday for the property. We decided that we would take the boys to a really nice breakfast, then to Cabela's, then to a really nice supper and in between we would just play it by ear.
When we walked into Cabela's the boys couldn't move. They stood inside the main entrance with their jaws dropped open. They were amazed! We walked around and looked at all the animals and talked about each of them. I took the boys to the aquarium area and we talked about all the fish. Beautiful fish and HUGE!

Shopping! I am not a shopper. I don't do the mall! Nope - not me! We stayed in Cabela's for about 5 hours. Yeah - I know! I was fine though, watching the boys and Superman with amazement and having the time of their lives. The boys actually got to touch things that they had seen in the catalog that we get every month. Needless to say, because of the amount of time that we spent in Cabela's were weren't able to do anything else that day. I had wanted to go to the zoo and maybe take the tram into the down town area and maybe do a few other things. As it turned out, everyone had a great time and that is what counts.

Hotel - oh boy! I thought the boys were gonna fall on the floor when we checked into our hotel in St. Louis. It was fancy! Or so said the boys. LOL WW and JD were able to walk around inside the hotel a little bit (as long as they stayed together). They were in the lobby area just checking things out and they found a wallet. The front desk called our room to tell us that we should be extremely proud of them because they turned the wallet in to the front desk (it had lots of cash in it). They did a wonderful thing. When they came back to the room we ask them what all they did and if they had fun. Funny thing is - they didn't tell us about the wallet. We ask them if they found anything. "Oh yeah" was their reply, and then they told us about it.

We talked about the last couple of days, about what the boys thought of their plane ride, the property, the Osage Indians, Lewis and Clark, the animals in Cabela's and a few more things. I was pretty amazed at how much the boys actually remembered about all the history that we had seen.

Sunday morning we packed the car and headed for the airport. The boys remembered the routine from the Jacksonville airport and they were directing us on what we needed to do. We ate at a wonderful bagel place in the airport. I had to help the boys with their decision on what to eat. I think sometimes we take things for granted and expect the boys to know about such things that are common to us. They have never ate at such a place before.

Of course JD ask for me to sit beside him on the plane again. For some reason he just couldn't sit still. I think it may have been all the excitement of coming home. He was asking me how much longer we had and if it would be bumpy again. We made it back to Jacksonville safely and we made it back home safely. We all had a wonderful time and we were all ready to come home.

Summersville Missouri

We all piled into the rental car. A really nice mid size SUV. The boys had plenty of room and there was lots of room for our luggage in the back.
It was about a 2 hour drive to Houston, Missouri. We went up hills and down hills. The boys had never seen foothills or mountains. We were in the Ozark Mountain Foothills. Beside the road there are cut outs in the mountains. Beautiful rock formations. Superman and I explained (as best we could) about how this was done. My dad used to work on roads and he had explained to me years ago. All of the boys ask question after question about the process and of course they wanted to know why. The "why" question comes up a lot. But that's ok with us.
Once we got in Houston, we had some paperwork to take care of with the property. We had told the boys that Friday would be for business and Saturday would be for fun. They were just fine with that. Not only were the boys fine with us taking care of business but their behaviour was excellent. I'll tell you all about a little issue with the closing of the property sale in a little bit.

After all the business with the property was taken care of we headed to see the property. OH MY! Beautiful! Superman had some concerns that I wouldn't like the property. I loved it! The boys loved it!
We took a little drive around the area of the property so that we could see the country side. Superman also took us to a State park that is a 15 minute drive from the property. 15 minutes and we can be swimming and playing. The park is Alley Springs. Around the springs there is a trail that you can walk on. On the side of the trail there are caves where the Osage Indians lived. What a History lesson for the boys! They were amazed that the Indians lived there at one time.

Easement issue with the property. Superman called about a week before we were to meet with the realtor, to double check on our appointment time and to ask about any easements on the property. The realtor told Superman that if he wanted to know about easements and such that he (Superman) would have to call the Court House. Now wait a minute here. Why can't the realtor call and make sure that things with the property are taken care of and that there are not any legal issues with the property. It really kinda ticked us off that the realtor wouldn't make the necessary calls or do the necessary research. Blah, blah, blah...
Woe and behold there's an easement issue. It has to do with a huge power line easement.
To make a long story short - the title company is working on clearing everything up. The money is in escrow waiting for any legal matters to be taken care of. All people involved in the property are content that everything will be taken care of. Our closing date has been moved up and we will be able to close via mail and email.

Summersville, Missouri is the closest town and it is a po dunk town. The population is less than 600. I like that. We will be close enough to Houston, that we will be able to do most of our shopping there. If we can't find it there, then there are lots of other towns within 50 miles that we will be able to shop at.

Crayons In The Shower

I think tonight my husband (Superman) finally figured out the true meaning of fatherhood. I have to say it was rather amusing too.

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and Superman opened the shower door to start the water for his shower. He did something in the shower and then turned to me and said (while holding a crayon, "What exactly do ya'll do during the day and exactly how did this get in there?" Being the comedian that he truly is, his face was distorted in something that favored Bozo the Clown. All I could do was laugh! That really is not such an easy task with an electric toothbrush in my mouth. Needless to say that the electric toothbrush popped out of my mouth (to keep me from choking on it) and sprayed the mirror before I could get my wits about me. I literally had to catch my breath in order to give him a sensible answer. But before I could catch my breath and give him the answer of the crayon in the shower, he spoke up and said, "I know, MJ wrote in the shower I love you dad, in invisible crayon". Ok, it took me a little longer to compose myself because he is narrating on how the crayon got in the shower.

While I am doing my best to stop laughing so I can at least breath, he goes on to tell me about the activity of MJ helping him unload the feed and the hay this evening. Superman is trying really hard to get the feed out of the truck before the rain gets here. He grabs a bag or 2 of feed out of the truck, walks through the gate and into the barn with the feed. In the meantime, MJ gets bored and stands in the gate opening doing some type of gyrating boogie dance. Hands, feet, hips and head just a swinging around. Superman walks out of the barn in a bit of a hurry (because of the rain) and walks up behind MJ (without MJ knowing). MJ just continues with his boogie dance thing and Superman tries to get him to move. Well MJ being surprised steps to the left and then to the right and then to the left and so on and so on...Now it is like Superman and MJ are doing this boogie dance thing together. Superman just looks up and says to himself "let me get through this now because I know that I will be laughing about it later". There is no doubt that we will laugh about it now and later.

These and lots and lots of other things are just pleasures of being a parent. Some days I wonder how my parents did it. But in reality, I know how they did it. They simply ask to get through it now because they knew they would laugh about it all later.

Oh yeah - the crayon in the shower. I washed some back packs today and put them in the shower to dry, the crayon fell out of one of the back packs. I can hear you now - yeah right. That's exactly what Superman said.

Behavior at our House

Behavior can be such an issue at our house. It ranges from the behavior of a Saint to the Devil himself. Not only with the kids but with our critters too. If you have read some of my other ramblings, you would know exactly what I am referring to. For example: Biscuit (our black cat) walks around the house picking on Mindy (our Schnauzer). Biscuit will even chase Mindy. Really, she does. JD, he can be the sweetest little guy, but there are times when (I believe) that his head spins around.

Today JD just happened to be a Saint. We even had a couple of interruptions during class today. Yesterday I was certainly hoping for the best. I wasn't let down. I know that I will have to deal with the Devil himself, but not today in class. I am breathing a sigh of relief because I have been blessed with a nice day. Even on the bad days, I know that I am blessed, but sometimes it is just hard to see the blessings.

Today I tried something a little different. In the morning I did class with WW and JD. MJ and I worked together on his books in the afternoon. I know it makes for a long day but it really worked. Well, today it worked. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

I am really enjoying the Lifepac. At this point we haven't bought the Bible curriculum, but I will buy it. The Language Arts, Math, History and Geography and the Science curriculum have enough reference to the Bible that makes it really interesting. The boys keep telling me that we need to get the Bible curriculum. Superman wants us all to do the Bible curriculum together. I think this would be a wonderful thing for us to do as a family.

Right now WW and JD are playing outside in the pool. They are sword fighting. I look out the window and see their faces smiling and their teeth shining from laughing. A second look and I see CoCo standing by the pool watching the boys play. What a glorious sight! Sitting beside me is MJ reading from his Science book. He has some trouble reading some of the words but I have to give him credit, because he sure does try really hard.

I keep thinking about a reward system, but the more I think about it the more I get confused. Well, not really confused but...it's hard to put into just one word. I remember my parents had a reward system - it went something like this. Behave and you won't get a spanking. Behave and you won't get restriction. I bet some of you remember your parents reward system. I know I certainly do! Nowadays all of the child experts (whoever they are) tell us that our children need rewards. A hug isn't good enough. In today's society we are supposed to take them somewhere and spend money on them. Buy them a toy, an ice cream or some other thing that says you did a good job. Manners are behavior. If you scream in class, you have bad manners. If you sneeze all over the table while eating supper, you have bad manners. Bad manners = bad behavior. Good manners = good behavior. It's pretty darn simple to me. But I know, I have to have a little compassion and a little empathy. Give me a little credit, at least I am trying! LOL