Building a plan

As you may can tell from some previous posts that I have been trying to figure out what to do with myself since the kids started school. Their hours vary, so I spend a lot of time at the school and a lot of time traveling to and from the school. Not really on the traveling because it is 2 miles from the house, but it feels that way 'kay!

My problem, was that I wanted to teach my kids. I wanted to be in charge, dangit! Well we all know that when we start making plans and thinking we are in charge, we end up getting a swift kick in the pants. I promise, I have been trying to avoid that.

Patiently (haha) I have been waiting on a plan for my time, my children's time, and what we can do with our downtime away from school.

My thoughts were, what enrichment can I give my kids that they will not be getting in the classroom. Did you see that key word - enrichment! Our time with the kids does not have to be ALL about their school, but about what we can bring into their lives. Aha moment, if you may!

So I am looking at a few resources that will work for my kids (and that will include plain old fun time). You see, I do not want to tie my kids down to more work after being at school and after my oldest had finished her homework. Afterschool homeschooling is not going to work for us.

I am going to build some Bible Study back into their week! I love 1+1+1=1 Rock Stars idea, but I need to modify it a little bit for a 3rd grader, but a lot of the activites my 5 yr old and I can do together.

We also have some gardening plans, camping plans, and many more outings to enjoy. Plus lots of reading, playing games, cooking, and enjoying life. I will let you know how it is going.

New Goal

I got a new goal for myself. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I did something for myself. I will take a sewing class this summer. I have had a sewing machine for years and cannot really get it working. So my goal will be to take a class at a local community college this summer. The class will last about 6 weeks, one day a week, in the evening, for a 2 or 3 hours. i can do that.

One day, I hope that I can teach my children how to sew. I know my grandmother tried to teach me and I can remember a few things, but I want to get started while my grandmother is still with us so that I can ask questions.

I am sure that it will not belong before my daughter will be to cool to wear anything handmade.

We are alive

We are safely in California. Our furniture is being delivered to our new place tomorrow. I have never moved into a house that needs so much work. We had to get the carpets cleaned again yesterday, the landlord cleaned them with a steam vac but it needed more. We are painting today and rearranging the c*ap she left in the garage. This woman is clueless but has a very green thumb. When I can I will post pictures of the backyard. Gorgeous. Until then, just know that I am thinking about you all.

Say a prayer for MckMama and Stellan. Click here to see the latest update.

Getting Ready

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks and things are not slowing down. We are gearing up for our big move across country. 2 cars, 2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, and a fish.

• We have packers coming to do a walk through this week and they will be here on Monday to start packing.
• A haircut for me


• Yard Sale on Saturday.


• My parents coming to visit and pick some things up.


• Final inspection from the housing office.


• Packing for 9 days in different hotel rooms. This has to be done before the packers come on Monday.


• Letting the friends say goodbye.


• Not to mention that we still do not have a place to move to and we are traveling on our faith alone.

What we have done in the last couple of weeks is mind boggling.

• R spent a week in school and then met me at Memaw's house in AL


• Celebrated my Memaw turning 80 years old with out extended family.


• Visited my Dad, had lunch with him, my stepmom, and my brother.


• Took one brother to the other brother's house to get a ride home because his car was in the shop


• Hubby went and visited a friend in Florida


• Spent a few days with my Mom.


• Went to the In-laws to see their new house.


• J got to play golf

• C went to 2 birthday parties


• One kids threw up, the other had a fever.


• Played in the snow. Can you believe that it snowed in AL.

Mind boggling isn't it. The kids are doing great and handling all the pressure and changes like champs. The are pretty good military kids. Mostly they are excited to see their friends in CA. Please keep us in your prayers and we travel these all to familiar paths.

So what now?

Christmas is all over. The tree is coming down today. The kids are spending a few days with the grandparents. So what now?

Life still moves on and we have to move with it. For many year, I have felt a big let down at the end of the holiday season and I am determined not to let that happen this year. We will move forward with the rest of the world. I think that it will help that the kids and I have a few days apart from each other. That never happens in this military family so we are blessed to be close enough that they can stay with their grandparents.

While they are gone I will:

• clean out their rooms
• organize garage
• take down Christmas decorations
• NOT watch toons
• eat what I want, when I want
• start planning a garage (you can do that in the south)
• play Wii without them HA!
• get ready for a few more months of homeschool

I miss my kids when they are away from me, but I am glad for a few days to recharge. Daddy is still working crazy hours so I have had lots of time to myself. So what would you do if faced with a few days to yourself and you did not have to leave the house?

Have a great week. Amanda

Gustav

We are evacuating in preparation for Gustav. I am not sure where the storm will land, but I think that we need to head for higher ground. Please pray for safe travels and my husband. He is in a bit of a panic because he is not here to help his family.

We are taking plenty to do at Grammie's, schoolwork to keep up with, and there is mini putt putt for my boy.

Take Care. Amanda

The days are getting longer for us, but today was a good day. Some might even say boring. C, is getting better with the homeschool-lack-of-a-schedule thing. When I am sure that she is in the right mind set, I spring on the homeschool. She is getting where she can tolerate it for longer amounts of time.
My little man, has gotten into computer games. His favorite is Nick Jr. He says "Boys play computer mom." and he has finally grown a little bit more so that he can reach the pedals well enough to turn them on the bike that he got for Christmas. We had a blast going up and down the street in front of our house this evening.
My husband's friends are staring to call to see when he may be coming home. These are the friends that we have left behind in other duty stations. Not the ones here that I have not heard from one time. You would think someone would volunteer to cut my grass every once in a while. If we were still in Florida, this would not be a problem. During our last deployment, I did not have to ask someone to cut my grass. My neighbor did it for us and never left me in a position to have to ask him when he was going to cut it. Thank goodness my yard is the size of a postage stamp now. Soap box anyone?
Anyways, what I wanted to say about the husband is that they are looking at about 4 weeks until they start packing and loading gear and getting ready to wait to depart. It still may take up to 2 months before he is home, but they have their own countdown over there.
Our only other news is that someone is having a birthday party this weekend and so I am trying to prepare ahead of time. This will be the first time that I have put together a birthday party on my own. I will not have another adult to help, so this will be interesting. I have decided to ask one of my friends to take a few pictures and email them to me so that I will not have to think about it. We are renting a moon bounce for the kids to jump in and I have to go get it and set it up by myself. That should be interesting.
That is all that I got right now.
Amanda

Vacation

We are on vacation yet again. We have done some traveling this summer. I hope that it has helped time pass for the kids. We are almost down to 2 months to go until Daddy returns from his deployment.
We are visiting my Dad. He has a hard time accepting the homeschool decision. It is all out of love though and I do not take his concern and numerous questions to personally. He does not want C to fall behind because he knows how stubborn that child is. Good thing is that his life is so busy he is not to worried about me.
Today we are off to spend a few days with friends in Florida.
Hope you are having a great week.
Amanda

No More Whine

I borrowed the flylady book from a friend of mine. I wanted to see what she had been raving about. She has a lot of valid points and a great system. We will be implementing some of it into our routine. We do not have a cluttered house, but we do have some Hot Spots that need attention. Moving from state to state like we do, I tend to purge out the unnecessary before each move. We still collect things that we don't need, but we do not go overboard like we would do if we lived in the same place for 15 to 20 years.

One thing that struck to the core with me was the whining. The whine factor has picked up in our home and is driving me crazy. Part of it is their age, the other is just annoying. I realized about a week ago, that they were picking up their whining from me. What was intended as a reminder that they were not doing the job that I asked them to do sounded like whining to them. So they were just repeating the tone that they heard from me. WOW, that is exactly what FlyLady said in her book.

So I took her advice and stopped cold turkey. I do gently ask C, what it was that she was doing, because she is easily distracted. I do not tell her to get back to this or that, or why aren't you doing this or that. I am setting up a routine and we will all have a job to do and a time to do that job in. Top on that job list is getting C to keep her room in better shape. She was always the child that would dump all the toys on the floor and then not want to play because of the mess. So we begin by teaching her how to keep her room in a way that it can be cleaned up quickly and efficiently,

So wish me luck and any ideas would be so appreciated. We are under 3 months to hubby is home from deployment and I do not want him walking into a war zone at home.

Home

We are home from one family visit and gearing up for another. That means laundry, cleaning, shopping, and repacking. I have learned in my travels that a cooler in my friend. I go ahead to the grocery store so that I can bring snacks and drinks with us, but also milk, cereal, and sandwich makings for the next day. I can avoid having to get up and go anywhere after I get to the river. Our DVD quit and I want to cry about it. I actually think that it is the cord that plugs into it, but it will be a long trip without the DVD. Oh, back in the day when we had nothing to do but stare out the window. I don't miss that at all.

My neighbor was not home when we got back here, but her dog was in the backyard. She has small children and comes and goes at all hours so I for the first day I thought I was just missing her when she was home. Then I noticed that the same lights were always home. After 3 days, I called housing to let them know that she was not home, the dog was in the backyard and no one was seeing about it. Also told them that there was a possibility that their smaller dog was inside. I did not want to be a tattle tale, but I did not want animals to die because I did nothing. So I went and fed the dog outside for 2 days until she finally came home. Sad thing is that just because she is home doesn't mean that the dog will be treated any better. He goes without water all the time and that yard in disgusting. What would you do? I have no idea if housing got in touch with her or what she said if they did, but it astonishes me that housing did not come over here or send security over here to get a dog that was left chained up in the backyard for 5 days at least.

Right now, I am going to keep away and see what happens. Her husband is somewhere for a few weeks training. He doesn't do any better, but at least there are home to look after what is there's when he is home. I hope I am not here when he deploys for 6 months. Ugh!

Anyway, My kids are resting and so I am going to join them. Drink some tea, stay cool, and have a great day. Amanda

Rain, Rain

Rain, Rain go away! Come again another day! My little man NEEDS to go out to play!
We are on Day 2 of rain and that is great because we needed the rain, but I am running out of things to do inside.
And the garage leaks.
Anybody have any suggestions? Not about the garage, housing can fix that! Our favorite thing so far is playing with the helium ballon that I got for Mother's Day. We take turns letting it go under the stairs and then someone upstairs catches it. I got a crick in my neck.
Right now though, is nap time and I am going to take advantage of it.
Have a great weekend.
Amanda

Our Week

Things seem to be moving along smoothly. I hope those are not famous last words. The kids are doing good other than being kids. A little bit of arguing is expected from kids at their ages, a little bit of talking back, but mostly I have some loving kids who just want to be cuddled with. Of course one has taken up residence in my bed, but we will not worry about that for about 5 more months.
Say a prayer for our troops over there. The small pox vaccine is kicking their butts. They are learning to live with people who are not their families and not used to their own quirkiness. (Is that a word). Anyway, adjustments are being made all over the world.
In other news, there is only 3 1/2 weeks left of school and I cannot wait until we are free to visit some family and friends. We have started a list of the things that we want to do. Want to see.

• See Kylie and Ms Holly in Florida
• Go to the waterpark
• See Papa and Mamaw's new house, go fishing
• Go swimming at Memaw and Poppy's with Maddie and Em
• Watch tons of movies, we just got Netflix
• Swimming at the pool on base and at the beach
• Go to the zoo in New Orleans
• Read all the books before the Kit movie comes out July 2nd
• Go visit Uncle Brad and see the Atlanta Aquarium and Zoo

There will be more because we plan to stay busy, do you have any specific plans? Tell me about them. Have a great weekend. Amanda

Oh, the list I have

I've got quite a few things going on here. Projects galore, I am just like my father. So here goes:

1. Send in Tricare change forms
2. Get J an appt. at new Dr for hearing test
3. Get in touch with school district to schedule hearing test, beginning process for speech therapy evaluation
4. Sand and paint J's headboard (will it ever warm up)
5. Sort clothes for our neighbor's little boy. We can finally hand down some clothes.
6. Dinner, what oh what is for dinner.

Now I also have a list of things that I would like to get for the house.

1. Curtains for the living room. cream colored tab top panels are my choice.
2. Picture for above my new couch
3. Living room rug
4. Dining room rug
5. Curtains and picture for C's room
6. Mattresses for J's new bed
7. Plants for the flower bed (will it ever warm up)

Now I am off to love on J for awhile. He misses his sister when she is at school. Have a great weekend.

Amanda

Phillippians 4:13

" I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

This verse has been running into me each time that I turn around over the last few months. Each time that I make a major decision in my life, I am reminded that I have God standing with me to strengthen me. He constantly lets me know that he is with me. Many times I struggle with a decision and feel overwhelmed by the possibilities and I am gently reminded that I have not given it all over to God. Amazingly each time, I get an answer. It should not be surprising that when I give my problems to the Lord he straightens them out for me. Why does it take me so long to remember that my problems are his problems as well. Nothing is to big for my God!

So much to do with a move coming up. Surgery for my little man on Thursday. Christmas programs are building up. So much to do. Have a great week. Amanda

Been Busy!

Wednesday is a busy day for us. I am off on Wednesday and can get a lot of errands run by myself. At 3:00 I have to be at the school to pick up C and take her dance/gymnastics/baton class. When class gets started I run get J and some drive-thru dinner somewhere. When that is done, I take C to church for choir practice, she eats on the way. I know that sounds like a lot for one day, but I like it that way. J also has gymnastics on Wednesday mornings @ his school. Everything is over on one day. Thursday are left for getting ready for Friday's spelling test.

Other than all of that, we are waiting on R to get orders to North Carolina. We lived there one before and we are excited about going back. It is a long way from home but we are ok with that. We have lived 2 hours from R parents for 9 months and they have made the trip to see us once. If no one is going to come visit it doesn't matter how far or how close you live. We have friends in NC and we have not seen them in 4 years. We hope that the orders come quickly and we move quickly.

Have a great day! Amanda

Free

I went to the doctor this morning and got that awful catheter out. I am so happy that I can move around more freely, Of course I am still a little sore, but I don't hurt. So I have a list of things to do.
1) J has a Dr appt at 1:20. He fell yesterday with a ruler in his mouth and it cut the back of his mouth. We are lucky it did not do worse. Although, that did not require an ER visit, I am taking him in to make sure nothing is damaged and no infections. Day's like that it is nice to have a medic in the house.
2) Pick C up from school. She wants me to park and walk up and get her which is an option at our school.
3) Library. I may check out the library on base since I am over there anyway for J's Dr Appt.
4) Still waiting on word of Ryan's orders, so I am not sure when or where we will be moving. I know that I am ready for a change. So patience is needed :)

Have a great day, Amanda

Healing

Yesterday, I had surgery to repair what having two kids has done to my bladder. My idea was that a month from now, I could get back into an exercise program. There was a problem inserting one of the catheters and my urethra was torn. Pretty seriously from what I can tell, because my doctor called in a urologist to stitch me up. So now I have two sets pf stitches and a catheter for a week. Frustrating, does not even begin to explain how I feel. I was ready to be back my feet and back to work in a couple of days. Now, I am laid up in the recliner on pain pills and antibiotics and I constantly fell like I have to go to the bathroom.

The kids are confused, but love the attention they are getting from their dad. Ryan took the week off to help me and thank goodness he did.

I've got time on my hands to get something accomplished.
1) start pulling together a months worth of recipes
2) find the book "America's Cheapest Family" so I can see how they shop, cook and live on one income.
3) check out a book on embroidery
4) help C do a report on Dinosaurs.
5) play with my J.

Have a great day.
Amanda