busy, busy, busy

This summer has been crazy busy for us but it has been a good kind of busy.  I doubt that any of you really want a play-by-play of our summer, but this is also my journal (of sorts) so please indulge me a little.

To get the summer started, Ronnie and I took a trip (sans kids!) for our 15th wedding anniversary.  One of these days I really should post about that, but today is not that day.

Last week, our church was in Vacation Bible School and it was a great week.  I don't think I will voluntarily repeat teaching preschool, but it was a good experience and I think I can now say that I have taught every age group in the church (not all in VBS, but including Sunday School as well) except Senior Adults.  According to my kids, the only problem with VBS was that it isn't long enough. I did enjoy the week, but I must say that I am truly glad that it is only one week!

Ronnie and I have also undertaken a major overhaul of our bedroom this summer.  Our room is the "junk/storage room" of the house and quite frankly, I am tired of it!  So, Ronnie took off Thursday and Friday after July 4th and we went to work.  We haven't finished all that we want to do, but we did get rid of more junk than I care to admit, not to mention several bags of kids' clothes and even a bag of my own clothes that are (thankfully) too big for me now!  We still need to rearrange the room, but  I am loving all the space we have since we got rid of the piles of junk!

The thing that has kept me the busiest this summer is the garden.  My Daddy planted more than 100 tomato plants and somewhere around 30 squash plants.  So far, we have put up more than 60 quarts of squash - most of it canned - and I have two drawers full waiting for me to can tomorrow.  The tomatoes have been a bit scraggly ... it was hot early, with no rain, but we'll take what we can get.  Normally we would can the tomatoes in a concoction that we lovingly call tomato relish, though, in reality it is what most people would call soup stock.  The tomatoes are peeled and diced and then we add bell pepper, celery, and onion and simmer the mixture before packing it in jars and then pressure canning the final product.  This stuff is wonderful ... I use it for spaghetti, chili, soups, and in most any other recipe where I would use canned tomatoes.  I absolutely love not having to buy store bought tomatoes with all of their questionable ingredients.  Our unusually busy summer has kept us from being able to actually can any tomatoes yet.  So far, we have just been peeling and cutting up the tomatoes and then freezing them in gallon bags until we have time to do the whole process of canning our relish.  At last count, we had somewhere around 30 gallon bags waiting for us to get our act together ... hopefully sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Oh, and I also have three cucumber plants that are late getting going (the first ones died and we had to re-plant) so hopefully I will be putting up pickles very, very soon!

Our busy summer has kept us from getting as much school work done as I would have liked, but I am just going to call it home-ec and let it go.  LB has learned the process for canning both squash and tomatoes and the boys have both spent a fair amount of time in the garden with my Daddy.  We have done a little math along with the older kids and I've worked with D on his reading, but we haven't had much organized book-work.  I am enjoying the break though, and soon, I'll begin working on our schedule for the new year ... it will be here before we know it!

a new appreciation

It is VBS week ... and, through no fault of my own, I am teaching preschool this year.


I tried to get out of teaching all together ... I signed up to help with the food - which, at our church, is a full meal each night.  (Tonight is spaghetti night ... yummy!)  I was thrilled...I'd get to do something totally different and then, once the work in the kitchen was finished, I could float around and help in other classes or take pictures, or maybe even go to the adult class.


But, God had other plans.


One of the first teachers to sign up this year was a lady to work with the preschool class, but a few weeks ago she called Ronnie to tell him that she was going to have to be out of town this week for work and wouldn't be able to teach.  So we began to look for another teacher, to no avail.  One of the perils of being married to the VBS director is that sometimes you get appointed to do something whether you want to or not.


Please don't get me wrong, I love preschoolers!  But the last time I taught a preschool class younger than kindergarten, I didn't have any children!  I have a hard time figuring out how to relate to small children and this week has been especially challenging because the kids in my class range from one who just turned three to one who is almost six.


Now, lest you think I am just posting this as a reason to complain, let me get to the real point of this post.


I am often guilty of lamenting how fast my children have grown and how much I miss all those stages that we have flown through over the last 12 years.  Now it is confession time.


After three nights ...
of taking kids to the bathroom ...
and trying to understand what they are saying ...
and trying to show them how to use a glue stick ...
and trying to get them to listen for more than 30 seconds at a time ...
and trying to remember to only give one instruction at a time ...
and the list could go on and on ... 
my eyes have been opened.


I have a whole new appreciation for the ages and stages we have reached with the kids.  

America, the Beautiful

We sang this song in church this morning and in light of the political mess in our nation right now, I found that the words touched me even more than they normally do.  I have no big speech to go along with this, just a healthy dose of patriotism to go with the knowledge that those of us who are Christians had better put 2 Chronicles 7:14 in practice, before this song is a thing of the past.


Listen closely to the second verse ... it gives me chills every time I sing it.

America, the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine ev'ry flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness, 

And ev'ry gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees, beyond the years,

Thine alabaster cities gleam,

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

crochet projects galore

I have been in crochet mode lately.

A friend asked me the other day when I find time to crochet.  The truth is that it is hard to find time to just crochet, but since crocheting is so relaxing for me, I use it as a tool to help keep calm during high stress activities like listening to my kids read or playing Rook.

You think I'm kidding, don't you?

I'm not.  Really!

All jokes aside,  I thought I would share some of the things I've been working on lately.

First up are the dishcloths.  Most of these will probably end up as gifts, though I may save a few for my own use.  Some of them are actually thick enough to use as a hot pad or trivet.

These two are simply granny square dishcloths with a pretty edging.
The pattern came from a dishcloth pattern book I found at Walmart.
The original pattern called for dark blue, white, and yellow, but I like this
sunny variation as well.

This is my new favorite pattern and I absolutely love this color,
though it won't work well as a dishcloth because the color fades too easily.
It actually dyed my fingers as I worked with the yarn!  I do love how
it turned out, though, so I plan to use it as a trivet. 

I was playing around with stripes on this one and I think it turned out cute.
The little round thing is made out of Scrubbie yarn,
which is kind of like a rough ribbon.
I have only found it at Michael's and it was pretty expensive,
so I won't be doing it often.

This is the new pattern in the same sunny colors as the granny squares.
I thought that these three together would make a nice wedding gift.

 The other thing I have been busy making lately is scrunchies.  I have been making these for awhile and I think I have probably blogged about them before, but since I have learned more about crocheting, I have added to the patterns I use for these and have even come up with a couple of patterns of my own.  I also decided (since my hubby asked) to see how many I could get from one ball of yarn.  My test is a little imprecise because I didn't make them all by the same pattern, but the answer is nine and a half (you'll see what I mean by that in the pics).

This is the first scrunchie pattern I learned ... it is simply single crochets around a
pony-tail holder and then chains and single crochets.

This was the first pattern I came up with myself.  It is simply treble crochets
around the pony tail holder.  These are probably the fastest ones to make.

A sampling of the ones I've done ... the one in the bottom right corner is another
one I came up with ... double crochets for the first round and then scallops for the
second round.  You can't tell it here, but it looks kind of like a flower.

Here are all the scrunchies made from the single ball of yarn.  The little ball of
yarn on the bottom is all I had left when I finished.

Most of these scrunchies will probably end up in shoe boxes.  LB has already claimed one and she likes to give them to her friends, but my intention is to use them for our church's shoe box packing party.  And since I can get approximately 10 scrunchies out of one ball of yarn and the yarn costs around $2 a ball and I got a 10 pack of pony tail holders from Target for $1, this is a pretty cost effective item for the boxes.  My only advice for someone planning to make these is to use the brand name pony tail holders - the cheap ones break too easily.  I also advise using 100% cotton yarn.  I've tried other types and they just don't look right.

Finally, here are a couple other projects I have done lately.

This isn't the best picture, but I made this little teacup and saucer
for Mama for Mother's Day .  To be honest, I can't remember where  I
found this pattern, but I hope I can find it again!  I would like to do one in
Christmas colors to enter in the fair.

I found this sweet little granny square heart on Pinterest the other day
and it was so much fun to make ... not to mention the fact that it was
incredibly easy!  I did change the original pattern a little, it had
 a picot stitch for the edging, but they aren't my favorite,
so I used scallops instead.

One other project I have made recently was a granny square water bottle cozy.  My friend Donna needed a little help with the pattern, so I made one with her.  I don't have a picture, but Donna has one on her blog, along with a link to the pattern, if you are interested.

I do have some other things I want to try ... like an interesting pattern I found on the same site that one of my dishcloth patterns came from ... her blog post is titled You Can Crochet with Sheets!  Sound like fun, huh?

almost

I don't have much to say tonight, 

except that we are almost done.

When Sunday morning rolls around we will have finished another year of both baseball and dance.

D had his baseball party tonight at the 

Mississippi Braves game.

JW has his last game on Friday and 

his party on Saturday afternoon.

LB has her eighth dance recital on 

Saturday night.

That leaves only one thing to say ...

Hallelujah!!!

maybe the best answer would be an invitation ...

The subject of this post is one that I usually avoid, but it deals with a question that every home-educating family has heard over and over again, and quite frankly, I am sick of it.


If you home school, I don't need to tell you what I am talking about.


If you don't home school, then you need to know that this question is a little like fingernails on a chalkboard to families who do home school.


Now, I don't normally sit around thinking about how to answer this question, but a fellow home educating mom shared something this week on Facebook that got me started wondering if the way I respond is the best way.  I started thinking that it is possible that the better way to respond would be to offer an invitation, but before I tackle that aspect of this topic, I want to start with how I want to respond to the way this question is typically posed in the media.


The next time someone asks me if I am worried about my children's socialization, this is the response I hope to be brave enough to give them: "Absolutely, that is one of the main reasons I home school."


If you don't understand what I mean by that response, spend a little time researching exactly what socialization means and I think you'll get it.


Now that I've got the annoyed response out of the way, let me share how this conversation normally goes.  Most new people I meet seem to be worried about my kids having adequate opportunities to develop their social skills, but they ask the question with a little more tact.  It usually goes something like this: "Are you part of a home school group or co-op or something?"   The first few times this happened, I really didn't think much of it.  At the beginning of this journey, I honestly didn't know how to answer the question ... and back then, I didn't even understand the difference between socialization and developing social skills.  Now, several years and three kids into our home-schooling adventure, I think I have been asked some version of this question by every (non-homeschooling)  person I have met since we started.  For the most part, it really doesn't bother me, but once in a while I come across something so outrageous that I can't help but wish I had a better answer for those random people (like a lady who quizzed me for several minutes in Walmart one time) that feel the need to check up on my kids social skills.  And now, thanks to the most ridiculous blog post about homeschooling that I have ever read, I think I have finally found my answer.


A friend on Facebook brought to my (and other home-educators) attention a blog post entitled More Like Homecrueling written by a young woman in upstate New York.  The best I can tell, this girl isn't married and doesn't have any children, but she has come across a few home schoolers in her life and based on these 3 or 4 individuals, she has formed the opinion that home schooled children are all socially awkward recluses sitting in their homes pining away to join the normal kids on the school bus as it passes by their home every morning.  I don't feel the need to address the absolute absurdity, not to mention, narrow-mindedness, of her opinion, but after reading the 300+ comments on the post, I must admit that she obviously touched a nerve ... and not just among home schooling families.  It really shouldn't surprise anyone that such a derogatory opinion put forth in such an inflammatory way might ruffle a few feathers, but I was shocked at the number of comments and the many issues surrounding home education on which they touched.  I won't go into all of that here, let me just say that the discussion became a spring board for what I am about to share.


In the future, perhaps I should answer questions about our home schooling with an invitation.  Maybe I could word it this way.


If you are interested in knowing anything about my kids, let me invite you to get to know them.  Talk to my children ... don't quiz them on whether or not they would rather be in public school, or if it is hard to have their Mama teach them all the time.  Just get to know them.  Ask them about their likes and dislikes, their hobbies, and what they like to read or the games they like to play.  Come with us to little league games and dance recitals and see them interact with their friends (most of whom attend public school).  If you still aren't satisfied, come visit our church and witness first-hand their relationships there, both with other children and with the adults that they easily communicate with on a regular basis.  


Still unsure?  Here's one final option ...


Join our family at one of our home school group meetings and just observe the kids.  You might be surprised to find a group of kids from all types of backgrounds ... some are rich, some are poor, most are probably in the middle.  The reasons why these families have chosen to home educate their children are as varied as the children themselves.  If you view us with an open mind, you will find that very few of us are operating under the belief that our children are perfect, or that the education that we are providing for those kids is perfect.  Most of us have many fears about our own abilities, but we move forward in faith that God is going to honor our efforts.  And, contrary to what seems to be a popular opinion, most of us don't think that we are better parents simply because we home school our kids.  We don't look down on the parents of children in public school, and, while some home schoolers are definitely over-achievers, most of us are parents of normal kids going about normal lives, with this one exception - we choose to be fully responsible for our children's education.


I feel quite certain that I will never deliver this little speech anywhere but here, but it feels good just to get it out of my head.  After having read almost all of the comments on the blog post mentioned above, the one comment that was repeated several times and that made me want to respond most vehemently, was the idea that because I don't hold a degree in every subject that I will need to teach my children, I am obviously unqualified.  Since I didn't care to add to the craziness on the blog (and since the author was obviously uninterested in hearing any point of view that opposed her own), I'll tell you what I think about that here.  While it is true that I am not an expert in much of anything, I am passionate about my children learning what they need to know and I am fully aware that the responsibility sits squarely on my shoulders.  I cannot tell you right now exactly how I will handle advanced math and science classes for my children because we haven't reached that level yet, but I can tell you that I firmly believe that if I instill a solid work ethic (which we are still working on) and a love of learning in my children then they will have the tools they need to learn any subject.


This just might be one of the longest posts I have ever written for this blog, which probably tells you how very passionate I am about the subject at hand.  And, while the attitudes of others may not affect my ability to educate my kids, no one likes to be stereotyped for any reason.  Somehow, I don't think the author, or those commenting so strongly against home schooling on that other blog, would like to have the choices they make for their children (if they even have them) scrutinized and declared cruel or unacceptable, especially by those who know absolutely nothing about the life they lead.  Who would?

baseball blues ... ranting just a little

It is that time of year again ... the yard needs cutting and the flowers are blooming and ...

    the baseballs are flying. 

Baseball is the only sport my boys play and I dearly love to watch them play, but I have a terrible tendency to get a little too involved in the game and if I am not careful, my boys just might get a little embarrassed by my ... ahem, enthusiasm.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't care if their teams win or lose.  I want them to play their best and I want them to learn good sportsmanship and I want them to give 100 percent all the time.  Most of all, I really want them to enjoy playing the game.

There are a few things that really, really bother me, though.  Some about the boys themselves, but more about the adults involved in the game.

The one thing that bothers me about the boys is when they don't seem to be paying attention to the game.  Case in point, my littlest one was playing in the grass instead of paying attention to what was going on around him last night.  Yes, I know he is only six years old and I had to keep reminding myself of that fact while trying to resist the urge to remind him of what he's supposed to be doing. 

Anything the boys might do to get my feathers ruffled would be mild compared to my two biggest complaints about playing rec league ball.  One is coaches who get way too uptight about the game and the other is umpires who can't or won't be consistent in their calls.

Twice in the last two weeks, JW's team has played teams from other cities that aren't regular league teams ... these teams are select tournament teams that are just using these unsuspecting league teams for practice.  That in itself wouldn't be so bad except that the coaches for these teams are incredibly intense and they are quite adept at intimidating and frustrating our players by questioning calls and trash talking to their players while ours are listening.  The point is, that I don't mind losing to a superior team, if they would just let the boys play ball, but when a grown man makes it his aim to get young boys upset just so his team can win, it hacks me off.

I have to hand it to JW's coach, though.  Last night, when our pitcher was about to fall apart because the other coach kept yelling balk, our coach told him that he didn't care how many times they called balk or how many runs scored, his only desire was for the kid to have fun.  Despite the fact that we were losing, and that we have other pitchers who might have been able to do better, he just let the boy finish out the game and then congratulated him on how he played.  That little boy's feelings were more important to him than the outcome of the game. Then, after the game, they were able to talk to the umpire and get a lesson on how to pick off a runner on third without getting called for a balk.

I want my kids to be able to walk away from every game and say that they gave it their all, and that they played with integrity, even if they are still learning what that means.  In the end, it really isn't whether you win or lose and it really is about how you play the game ... now if all the coaches could just learn that truth, it would be much easier to teach it to the kids!