photo update on all manner of things

Well!  Sorry about that!  I did not mean to leave such a big gap in the writing--certainly not leave any cliff hangers.  So let me try to sum up the past couple of weeks:

--I confess I pretty much clocked out after Spring Break, and we've just coasted until the end of the school year, which was officially over this past Thursday. We had "easy" school these past weeks--and some of it resulted in the best homeschooling I think we have done all year.  We were schooling closer to my ideal--no curriculum, no tedium, but LOTS of fun educational moments, and kids eagerly owning their own learning.  Seriously--such a good reminder that excellent homeschool is not following along what someone else says to do, but figuring things out for ourselves and putting the knowledge into action. 

We also had to test Merry on running a mile and other P.E. things--a requirement of all 5th graders in the state--so we met up with my good friend Ali who also has a fifth grader and who shares my wonderful school liaison, Terry.  We all participated and did all the trials, even the moms! Ali documented the occasion with her camera, and I just loved how we took something that was seriously un-fun in nature and made it SUPER fun for everyone. Again, that's what homeschooling is about!

Upper left, Terry surrounded by her little school charges.

Running the mile. Some of them while holding hands.  I walked most of the mile, but actually RAN for about 1/8th of it.  The most I have run when not chasing a toddler, probably since college.  Hence the Chariots of Fire finish, upper right.

--We had good friends pack up and leave town--my friend Sara and her husband and 5 kids.  After a summer spent visiting family all the way across the country in MA, they are likely re-locating permanently to Oregon. So, we managed to fit in lots of quality time during their last month, with a big sleepover (their house of course!), park dates, a good-by party, and then I got to help with a little cleaning before they drove away. I didn't help that much, because Sara was so efficient and quick in getting them out, but I hope she felt loved and supported!  And now I am so glad for Facebook, because she updated where they were all across the country on their road trip, which was fun to share in, but also eased my mind for their continued safety.

Sara holding the newborn Elisabeth and me holding the newborn Smiley, back in Fall of 2008. I can't believe how young we look!  (She is about 10 years younger than I, however. : )

Sara and me May 2014.

Some of the Vintage homeschool kids playing together at the goodbye potluck for Sara's family

Our friend Ali was being the photographer again--this is the best family pic we have taken for a while

Then, the day Sara and her family drove away, I got totally sick--fortunately after she didn't need me anymore, since that was the last day we tried to have kids played while we did last minute cleaning.  But I came down with some nasty winter-season crud, here during our most beautiful summery weather.  And let me tell you, it really knocked me out--fever, chills, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, cough--the works.  And it really hung on too--today is day 10, and as of today I can say I am no longer feeling sick. My sinuses are still draining, and I'm still coughing a little, but otherwise I feel fine--except I am like a limp noodle.  Absolutely no energy.  Ah, that's ok--I'm just so glad this came at the perfect time of year so I could rest and not be missing important things.

The kids got sick too this past week, but thank the Lord not the really bad way I got it--just runny noses and coughs, but not bad enough to keep them laid up. We still took it easy last week, skipping what few classes we had left in the year, but otherwise finishing up school well and in good spirits.  Miraculously, DH did not get sick at all.


--We did not end up having any guests come to visit us since I last wrote, which worked out so well considering the whole sickness thing. That and DH has been working a lot because of a big, important project coming due at work, so he really did not have time to work on house projects with his dad.  He even has to work tonight for some product launch or something. (Because he works with websites and data for the military/government, they always do their system updates/installations, etc. when the fewest people will be trying to use it, which usually means Sat. nights to wee hours of Sunday mornings! Good thing that does not happen too often.)

And now the timing should work out perfectly that we should all be perfectly healthy when we go to visit Chico later this week, to see DH's parents and grandma (for the first time since Christmas), and even see DH's sister Auntie N as well as Uncle S and their girls Spice and Sweetness, who are visiting from Colorado and whom we have not seen for a year now.  It should be a really good visit, and the perfect way to see MIL again after this time apart.  I still need to remember all the things God's been showing me and growing in me, though, because it could always turn badly--but it will only be a bad visit if I enable it to be, so I am going to trust and pray that God gives me BOLD LOVE for my MIL and we end up connecting in some way so we leave the time together feeling positive about our relationship.


--DH being so busy of course means we have not been working on house projects at all. But unfortunately--or fortunately, depending upon how you want to look at it--a few days ago the crappy door knob on our front door stopped working all of a sudden, and no manner of oiling or re-assembly could revive it.  Can you believe we had *just* talked about replacing that being one of the projects for this summer, and so I had *just* ordered new front door entrance hardware!  I'm really excited about it, because I found a set I really like:

by Weslock

I LOVE the antique texture on them, and they look even better in person than in the pic.  They were also rated online as being well-made and durable.  When we hold them up to the door they look like they belong on it.  So now this weekend DH is trying to put the new hardware in.  It's tricker than it seems, because he has to first build out the door depth with new redwood (which I'll be staining to try to match the old wood as best I can) and then router out holes in the door and doorframe for the new bolts (we think we can use the old hole for the deadbolt at the top, but the latch at the bottom will need new holes cut). Then he has to actually install the door handles.  There are a lot of steps to this project, and a lot that could potentially go wrong--but again, the timing of this is great, since he has a 3 day weekend to work on it.  Hopefully it is done when we are planning to head up to Chico, however--otherwise we will have no way of securing that door when we leave!  (at the moment we can only latch it from the inside with a small bolt.)

I have absolutely loathed that old, cheap junk doorknob since we moved into this house, so this unexpected project makes me happy. : )


OK, so I think that is about it for now!  All is good here, and writing this out today made me so aware of our blessings of friends and life support.  God has always been so good to us, and we are so well provided for!  May you all be blessed in your seasons right now. : )

Author's Fair 2014

Well, they did it:

After many, many, MANY hours of work, the girls finished their "Book of Months" project. The final book is very sweet, with words & illustrations showing our life as a family over the course of a year. They finished it just in time--as in about 30 minutes before I needed to go help host our school's table at the annual Author's Fair!

This year the table was almost embarrassingly weighted towards our family's contributions.  For some reason there were far fewer families participating this year--and so Terry, my wonderful E.S. asked if they could have all our previous years' books, as well as the group projects I led for the Vintage Homeschool kids (most of the families attend our charter) to show, to ensure the table display was well filled.  It was a good thing we did, because the girls counted--and 11 out of 21 books on the table were from our family/my leadership!

 

 

 

A sweet book Sunny made this year for her sister Merry, for her birthday.  (The sticky-notes you see on various books are from nice comments people can choose to leave on the books for the young authors. : ) Below that, one of our older but favorite books, in which my and my dear Becky's girls created poetry in response to the trees at a local state park filled with majestic redwoods.

On top, the "Wild Cats of the World" book the girls made together a year or two ago, full of facts and drawings.  Under that, "The Life of Our Trash," another collaborative project from last year or the year before.

One of my favorite Vintage Homeschool kids projects--"What's Above and What's Beneath."

Another favorite Vintage Homeschool kids project--a book of sensory immersion guided poetry, with watercolor collage artwork.

 

In this picture: Seven Evans, the first chapter book Sunny wrote.  Then a very early book we made about a visit to a California Gold Rush town.  Then in the back the very first book we ever wrote--what we call the Preamble Book (in which Sunny interpreted the lines of the Preamble as they might look lived out in our house).  Then, on the right middle, the Vintage Homeschool kids book from last year, "What Is It? A Book of Nature Riddles."

I must admit, it was really fun to see the progression of the kids' writing and artwork displayed together, and be reminded of how much I love to lead the group book projects.  I'm already looking forward to next year's ideas!

Family Fun Last Week

Last week we had the pleasure of seeing Uncle Chris--my sister Rebecca's husband--all the way from Alabama!  He was flying out here for a consulting gig, and would be flying in and out of the San Jose airport, which is about 45 minutes away from us. So he came down to spend time with us on the day he arrived and the day before he left. As you can imagine, it was a treat to see him, since we don't get to very often.

Rebecca sent out birthday gifts for the kids--which they enjoyed opening very much!

But I'll just let the photos speak for themselves:

 

 

 

We think we know what this is! 

 Smiley hoping his sisters are so engrossed in the new books that they won't notice him fanaticizing about eating the whole thing himself

 They started reading the Kiss book right away, Aunt Rebecca! And then proceeded to read it together at least once a day for the next several days. : )

Of course we had to stop by the cliffs on Uncle Chris' first day, so he could see the ocean.

And just now, while retrieving photos from both our camera and my phone, I realized I didn't get ANY photos of our second day/evening, which was jam-packed with fun! 

--DH and Chris and Smiley went to see the redwoods up in the Santa Cruz mountains, then hung out at the Abbey until the rest of us joined them. (The girls had music lessons and their weekly LEGO engineering class, so that's why we split up.)

--Then it was off to Natural Bridges State Beach just to look for a moment, then to Marianne's Ice Cream. Mmmmmm.

--Then we drove the long way down the coast, passing the Boardwalk, all the various beaches and surfers, through Capitola and ended up down in Moss Landing, where we saw the sea lions and then ate at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

We loved sharing with Chris some of our favorite local things, esp. we showed his family when they got to visit back in summer 2011.

Thanks for coming to visit, Chris!

Me & MIL--Starting a Dialogue. Of sorts.

Click to enlarge

MIL posted this to facebook the other day, and I could not resist.  (DH gave his blessing before I hit post on my comment.)

tee hee!

MIL did not post this aimed at us--in fact, I bet she does not realize that this meme really does sum up the message she has been sending us since we have been married.  This is just the way MIL views most people. So while I was teasing when I posted my comment, I hope in a way I am also sending a message--that we can talk or even joke openly about our differences of opinion, and not have to let that come between us.  She is welcome to have that opinion of us--but we are also welcome to dismiss it. Hopefully with grace. But at least with a good dose of humor and perspective.

I am continuing to use facebook as a gauge of where MIL and I are, interpersonally. I am "liking" and making positive comments to her posts when I can, and she made a positive comment to a video I shared for her of the kids singing at Easter (like a good grandma. : )  Other than that, she has completely frozen me out--she does not comment or "like" anything I post, even cute quips of things the kids say, or photographs of their artistic creations. I think that is telling--that at least there are still hurt feelings, or a desire to hurt my feelings. I'm not worried. We hopefully have a long relationship ahead of us, and plenty of time to work these things out.

I am a little teensy tiny bit worried about the next few weeks, though--FIL has expressed to DH that he would like to come down and bring us firewood and help out some weekend this month, and we don't know if that means with or without MIL. I am really praying it means without--because being at our house, surrounded by our problems & flaws is really hard on her.  And we are making plans to go up to see them at the end of the month, because DH's sister Auntie N and her husband Uncle S and their two girls Spice & Sweetness will be visiting out from CO.  We are really looking forward to seeing them, so will plan on going up for about 5 days.  I think that will be the ideal way to see MIL again for the first time since The Letter of Confrontation--on her turf, where she is in control, and where there are other people around to make lots of distracting merriment. I'm actually not stressed at all thinking about it, and can even look forward to it.

(Although now that I think about it, we have not been officially invited. Hmmmm. That's ok--we'll invite ourselves. ; )

But I'm going to have to let go of this idea that I can control when we see them next, where, etc. Because really it means I am trying to control the outcome--trying to arrange things as best I can to avoid conflict!  I need to turn this all over the God, and give it to Him, fully.  And then not be afraid of the potential conflict--and remember that just like we can hold different opinions and express them to one another, we are also free from the burden of the other person's expectations and judgments. Both she and I are free from whatever negativity the other is still holding on to.

The truth is,

EVERYTHING HAPPENS

FOR A REASON.

AND SOMETIMES THE

REASON IS THAT

WE'RE ALL IMPERFECT

AND JUST DOING THE BEST WE CAN.

: )

Spring Purging, Organizing. . . and Spending

The past couple of weeks I have been in purge & organize mode again. It always amazes me how I ALWAYS have things to donate, freecycle, or throw away--no matter how recently I went through everything.

This past week I worked on the a few sections of the big rolltop desk--thanks to Smiley, who I allowed to climb up on the desk and sit and go through drawers. I didn't mind--until he pulled all kinds of things out of drawers and slots and made a big mess. But actually, even then I didn't mind--I have been meaning to give the whole desk a thorough going-through, and so he gave me reason to start.

And it turned out to be so productive!  He found an envelope in which I had stashed a bunch of random gift cards and merchandise credits--for safekeeping, of course. Which meant I had completely forgotten about them, of course.  I took the time to call the phone #'s on the back of each card to see if they were still any good. And they all were!  So here's what I ended up with:

$100 card to Walmart
$15 card to Safeway
$10 card to Trader Joe's
Approx $16 credit at Williams-Sonoma
Approx $12 credit at Toys R Us
$100 card to Home Depot

Whoo-hoo!

And then, because I am in Getting-It-Done-and-Out-of-My-Thoughts mode, I also made it a priority to spend them.

--I stop by Trader Joe's already about every week or so, so that baby was easy to spend.

--I got an email from Swagbucks offering 2 Swagbucks for every dollar spent online at Walmart. Perfect!  So I went and found the exact size of storage containers I was already planning on buying from Target (12 bins total), and a galvanized metal bin I am hoping can hold boots in the kids' closest.  Free shipping on the whole order. With tax, I paid $18.00.  I will end up getting about 200 Swagbucks for the entire order, which will bring my Swagbucks total up high enough to get $5 free on amazon.com. 

--Williams-Sonoma sent, with perfect timing, an email offer for free shipping on any size order. So I ordered these gorgeous glass food storage containers, and a stainless steel kitchen funnel, both on sale. With the gift card, I paid $8 total.

Those last two really made me feel thrifty! I was purchasing things I already needed and planned on buying, but I got them almost completely free, and saved myself the driving to boot. : )  The last couple of cards I will spend ASAP.  Safeway is actually the closest store to our house, I just don't go there as often because they don't have the best prices or selection on the things I routinely buy. But I will make a point of stopping by this week. The Toys R Us one will be a little trickier--but I have a friend I will offer it to for diapers, and if she does not need that, I guess I will go look for little things on sale for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. : )

The Home Depot card I will give to DH to spend, next time he goes there. He does so frequently when working on projects, so that should be very quickly used!

I also made myself make some returns this past week, which also ended up "saving" me money and getting things out of my house--win-win!  The jeans I ordered (again, free shipping & on sale) from Old Navy for Sunny which didn't fit her (I ordered several and we kept the two that fit best)--$40.  Craft supplies we didn't end up needing for a project, which I could have saved to maybe use someday, but which I was much happier taking back--$13.  A Trader Joe's reusable cloth bag which had come completely unstitched after only a few uses, and which I took in to exchange, which they did. (Not getting rid of clutter there, but eliminating an annoyance, for free. : )

Finally, while Smiley was up there ransacking the desk, he pulled out our store of savings bonds. Looking at those brought back so many fond memories, as many of them were bought for me by my grandmother, who is now deceased,  to celebrate birthdays, graduations, marriage.  I took the time to look up all those bonds online, and write lightly in pencil what they are worth at this point in time.  While doing so I learned that some of the bonds have not only doubled or tripled their value (or more!) but some are also mature, so will not be earning any more interest. Time to take them to the bank!  I think the total of the mature bonds was about $2000.  I know Grandma would be so pleased at how her wise and loving investment is going to bless us now.

And it really is perfect timing, since we really don't have a lot extra every month, and we have some expensive things needs at the moment--vehicle & house repairs, dental work, etc.

Re-discovering, investigating, and scurrying around town and on the web making the most of these gifts made me feel like such a good little hausfrau and steward.  So satisfying!  I know those amounts of money might seem small to some people, but they made me happy, as did spending them as carefully as I could.

What's a little bit of happiness/satisfaction from your week?  I would love to hear it. : )