Friday, January 30, 2009

Flesh Woman

On Wednesday evenings I am meeting with some women to study together. We are discussing the book, Having a Mary Spirit, by Joanna Weaver. This past week we talked about Flesh Woman. You see, there is a common misperception about Christian ladies: they are saintly beings. To many perhaps that is how we appear, but on the inside we fight with the flesh just as Paul did. Thus the term "Flesh Woman." Yesterday, Flesh Woman showed up at my house. #1 has lost the tuner for the guitar. It was about time to go to the first lesson, and we were searching for the tuner. I was looking in his closet, and he was looking through his "treasure box." I turned around to look at him, and I heard him say, "Blegh," and flick something under the chest of drawers. Faster than Superman and Flash Gordon combined, Flesh Woman zipped to the nearest phone booth, tore off her street clothes, and came back in her red leotard! "AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" I screamed, and stomped my foot through the floor like a good mother should. "What are you doing? You don't flick something under the chest of drawers! Where should it go?" "In the garbage can," he faintly whispered. "Is that a garbage can?!" I continued with my ranting. By now the poor boy was turning white and had tears in his eyes. "No," he mouthed. "Then why would you flick it under there? If it is "Blegh" out here, it will only be ten thousand times more "Blegh" under there!" And then I continued the tyrade. "This is why you can't find anything when you need it! You just toss things around and leave the room looking like Hell! (Yes, Flesh Woman actually said that.) If you boys would put things back where they go ...AAARRRGGGHHH!!!" and I left the room. I don't understand why a basket for the dirty laundry can be two inches away- I am NOT exaggerating!- and the clothes end up on the floor. I don't get why there is a garbage can in the room with them, and they put the garbage under the chest or bed. I don't understand leaving a bed covered with stuff, and sleeping on the edge; it can't be comfortable. I just don't get it. After about 20 minutes Flesh Woman had left the premises long enough for me to come to my senses and apologize to #1. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm sorry. I just love my house so much, and to see you treat it with such disrespect really makes me angry." You can always apologize with a lecture when you are a Good Christian Mother. ------------- Here is how a day can fall apart. Wednesday morning I needed to wash the boys' bedding. It was stinking. I discovered that the dog has been going in there when we leave the house and getting on all of their things. She threw up on the bed on Tuesday. So Wednesday morning I get school started, and then begin the laundry. It was very windy, and so I thought, this will be perfect for the clothesline. Actually the wind blew so hard, that I couldn't keep anything on the line. I tried for a couple of hours, but finally the wind won, and I put things in the dryer. On the second load, the washer stopped. I figured it had something to do with the pillow that fell apart on the first load, so I started tearing apart the washer. "Why didn't you call a handyman?" you may ask. Because I have before, and he told me to stop washing pillows. So I tore into the washer and spent the rest of the day draining it, cleaning it, and putting it all back together. In between we had a couple of errands to run, mouths to feed, and children to care for. What started out as a simple day of washing bedding turned into an all day event. I think I will just throw away the pillows from now on.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Star Wars and the English Language

#1 was working on Grammar yesterday when I offended him. He was studying irregular verbs, and got most of them correct. I commented that he did well, and I really wouldn't expect a boy to get them all correct until maybe 8th grade. He said, "But you would expect a girl to get them in the 6th grade? Why? Do you think boys are stupid?" No, I explained, but boys' and girls' brains develop differently. I honestly think he has the makings of an English Major, but he doesn't think so if it involves Grammar. Years ago I became very sick of Star Wars. I don't even think my kids had seen the movie yet, but there are always clips and commercials. The boys loved the battles, light sabers, the noises, the creatures. Ugh. Science fiction is perhaps my least favorite genre of movies. But they collected light sabers and continued to fight and play. Now #1 is into the books. He buys them at B&N whenever he has extra wads of dough- they are expensive!- and he borrows them from the library. He reads the adult ones that are as thick as Harry Potter. He collects the ones that tell you all about the different creatures and locations of Star Wars. He pores over the ones that explain how they made the movies. I would really put a stop to this addiction, if it weren't for the vocabulary he is building. One day, a couple of weeks ago, we were riding in the car. He likes to ride in the car, because it gives him free reading time. While I was driving along he asked me the definitions of several words: garner, digit, and phosphorous. Those are good words, even great words, for a 12 year old to know. Yesterday in the car he asked me the word "fastidious." So if he is reading something he enjoys, and his "grammar" is improving at the same time, I guess I am ok with it being Star Wars. The English language is a difficult language. I did fair on my GRE test, but there are so many ways you can look at a word. If you are to figure out a possible connection with a word, it helps to break it down into separate parts, but that isn't always possible. Take, for instance, the word "expensive." Do you break it down into expend or into pensive? The two possibilities are very different, unless you have been furniture shopping at an antique store. Then you would find that expensive furniture will make you expend your funds, and you will then become pensive.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Yeah for the Chickens!

Finally the chickens are laying! I did some research right before Christmas, and discovered that they should start about January 10th. Sure enough, on the 11th I started receiving eggs. I am getting about 10 a day now. That isn't the amount I should be getting though, so I am planning to clip some wings this evening and make sure the little buggers aren't hiding them somewhere. They will be sad to have their freedom taken away. A full container of colorful eggs is a welcome sight around here. I nearly refused to buy eggs while they weren't laying, and my guys missed eggs for breakfast.
This is a leftover from the snowstorm. #2 went out the last day that we still had a good amount and made a new friend. He was pleased with himself.
He had me cracked up yesterday. "Hey Mom! There's this new microwave made of glass that lets you see when you are burning something. So when normal people are making freezer waffles in the microwave, they can tell when it has been long enough." "What do you mean 'normal people'?" "You know. People who don't make all of their own food from scratch...People who go to publc school."
So that is the definition of normal to my ten year old: people who buy freezer waffles and attend public school.

Happy Birthday #1

Today is my first child's birthday. He is now 12. He is nearly as tall as I am, and, I think, very cute. He is very thoughtful, as well as insightful. He loves to read and talk. He likes playing team sports, going on trips, seeing friends at 4-H, being with church members, and days off of school. Too bad that isn't going to happen today.
He had friends over for a party yesterday. It took him a very long time to figure out what he wanted to do for his birthday, but we finally got it settled Saturday morning. He wanted to go to the movies with friends, and then come over to the house to play. So we took 5 kids, plus our own, to see Inkheart. Then we came back to the house, had pizza and cake and ice cream, and they played for several hours.
Today he opens presents from us. He is getting a book that you write yourself. Then you send it to a publisher, and they print it professionally and hardbind it. I think he will enjoy that; he wants to be a writer when he grows up. We also are giving him guitar lessons with a real teacher. He has been trying to learn on-line, and it isn't going well. He has stuck with it though, so I think he deserves the lessons. I hope he likes it.
Happy Birthday, Puppy.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

May 2007

Yuck, Weird, What is that?! That is my ponytail. I have been growing it since May 2007! My hair grows really slowly. Long hair is not very attractive on me, and for over a year I have wanted to cut it, but I really felt like I wanted to do something for someone else. I may not be good at it, but I CAN grow hair. A lot of people can't grow hair. So I stuck to my committment, and yesterday I finally cut it off. You have to have 10 inches for Locks of Love, and I didn't quite have that much without going into shock, or so the hairdresser said, so I am donating mine to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They also make wigs for people with cancer or other diseases, but they only require 8 inches. I had 8 to the elastic band, so actually about 9 inches was cut. #2 went with me because he didn't want to go see #1 get his shot at the doctor's office, and he took the pictures. I thought he did a good job.
The hairdresser was so patient with us. She helped give some direction to the photographer, and took her time with both of us.
I was surprised by how much hair I still had left. I tried to get a versatile cut. I usually wear my hair the same way, but I like to have the option to do something different, even if I don't use that option.
The men in my life are not horrified by the cut, but they are long locks lovers. Hubby didn't scream or cry, so I guess he is ok with it. Really it is only short in the very back.
We went out to supper to celebrate my birthday, finally. Weather and schedules had made us postpone it. The plan was to go to Outback, but a 45 minute wait was not going to make any of us happy. We went to Mazatlan instead. I like really good Mexican food. We had great Mexican food in TX, but here, not so much. We go to Mazatlan fairly often, but always use the coupon for the combination plate. Since it was my celebration, and we weren't going to Outback, we ate off the real menu. Man was it good!!! I had a ribeye steak, shrimp, and spinach, mushrooms, and onions sauteed together, and Mexican rice. I will definitely need to get that again!
#2 took one last picture for the day. I had showered at home to get the hair off my neck, and so the style was a little different than the hairdresser gave me. I am happy with it.
Now my crazy boys need haircuts!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Christmas

I realize a couple of birthdays have passed and I still haven't told you much about Christmas. Time flies when you're sick, remodeling a house, homeschooling, living... Anyway, some highlights: The boys got some archery equipment from an uncle, and they have been enjoying that. We need to move the target out to the field, so they have more room to practice (they have been in the top of the barn). Both boys want to go hunting with this uncle soon! Of the gifts we gave the boys, soap was the funniest. I know several of you think I am nuts when I tell you what would be good gifts for my children, but here is a perfect example. #2 received several bars of soap. He knew right away that it was for carving, and you should have heard his voice, "Soap! Yes!" He allowed #1 to have one of the bars, and they happily carved for a whole day. #2 has also enjoyed a soldering iron. He wants so badly to solder everything in the house. We bought a crystal radio set for him to try to solder, but I don't think it went too well. That is not up my alley, so he will have to keep trying on his own. #1 loved getting books. Star Wars is his great love these days, and the books ain't cheap! So it was special for him to get those for Christmas. The best present for me and Hubby, I think, was money. We loved paying off the van! Here are a few pictures from the days we felt sort of human. The boys made devil dog cookies for their uncle and father. It was a very exciting thing, since Grandma is no longer able to make these family favorites.
The boys have been buying their own presents to give for the last couple of years. They were excited to give the grandparents their special treats. Because of illness, my family didn't get any pictures taken, but they received special treats as well.
My girls liked the scarves I made. They had a Fancy Nancy party to go to, so it worked well.
Poor Baby Boy didn't get to stay up for a lot of the celebration. Next year Buddy.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy Birth-Snow-Inauguration Day

Guess what WV?! It DOES snow in Eastern Carolina! It doesn't happen often, but we actually have snow. The schools and government buildings started closing Monday night, just at the announcement that there may be snow! By 5 a.m. Tuesday we still had nothing. In WV that means, forget it kids and get ready! But by 6:30 it had started covering a little bit, and this picture was taken around 7:30 a.m. The neighbor's house was "foggy" from the snow; the roads still not sticking.After we finished our school work, we headed to a friend's house to play in the snow. I left the house about 1:30 and the roads were actually starting to get bad. Hubby called me at 2:30 to say I needed to head home; he had done a full circle spin while he was out and about. The kids were sad, but home we went.The icicles were beautiful hanging from the roof. We had about 4-5 inches by the end of the afternoon. It left some great footprints, but they didn't photograph so well.
Even with that much snow, you could still see some grass. Maybe that means I should have mowed one more time last fall.
Around 5:00 the roads were slushy, but temps were falling. We decided to stay home for my birthday dinner, so that I could live to see another year.
This is our drive.
This is the stack of grass I use in the chicken coop. The goats live behind the wooden part. Thankfully this is the south side of the barn. There's less bitter wind there. Poor Darkie and Mary got trapped on the side of the pen without straw and were shivering when we found them. Goats don't like rain, and they really hate snow. I'm glad the kids aren't due for another month!
Happy for some hay and grain! We've been breaking ice off the water buckets too. Some chickens prefer the coop, but others like the rafters of the barn. I would expect them to freeze, but they fluff out their feathers and get instant insulation. Their naked feet are warm beneath them!
I thought the holly tree berries were pretty covered in snow. The boys have been enjoying climbing this tree lately. I don't understand it; they come out cut and scraped. This is the lovely septic alarm that started going off Sunday night. I am still waiting for the guys to come out and look at it! People won't travel in this weather. So I haven't been doing much washing, and the boys haven't showered: a precaution they are happy about! This is the barn and woods across from our place. I love snow hanging on tree branches. This was last evening before I came in from feeding the animals. Happy Birthday.
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This morning we were thrilled to see the snow had hung around! It surprised me how I missed seeing snow like that. It is just absolutely beautiful. In all things bad (cold, wind, wet, danger) there is always something good. My "extra" kids came at noon today to stay until 5. They have all been enjoying the snow. Well, almost. #2 and #4 fell in the pond. They were trying to see how far they could go out on the ice.
These icicles are hanging down in front of our bedroom window. It was a gorgeous morning.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Basketball

Saturday was the first big game. #1 actually got to start; I didn't think the coach was going to start him. He plays better than he did a few years ago when he played in another league. He has had basketball lessons at one of the co-ops, and that probably helped. He still needs to get more aggressive, and pay attention a little better, but for the first "real" game I thought he did well.
The final score was 16-18; we lost. It was a close game, we were winning until the last minute. Then the other team tied, and then they made a couple foul shots, and we lost. Good game otherwise.
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These lights are in our livingroom and diningroom. I bought ceiling fans to put up as part of our remodeling. I am hoping it will help the air efficiency in the long run. I am a bit sad about losing the original lighting though.
A friend is going to help me try to sell them on eBay.
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BIG NEWS!!! We are expected to get 3-6 inches of SNOW tomorrow. I always had snow days on my birthday growing up...maybe the boys will luck out.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Bon Fire

Last night we had college kids over for a bon fire. I really wasn't in charge of anything; we just opened our home to them. I knew 3 or 4 of the whole group of kids. Hubby and I have always wanted to have a small bit of property to host things like this. We are blessed to have such a place. Our own college experiences were great because people opened their homes to us, and shared of their lives. We would like to do the same.
The goats stayed in their pen...far away from all of that fire.
We came in out of the cold once the fire died down, and had spiced cider and played games. The college group was so kind to our children and let them play the game too. The boys have a new game to teach their friends now.
Here are two of my pyromaniacs! The heat from these trees only assured me that we want fake Christmas trees!
The fire continued to smolder. I sort of felt like that myself. Every time we are with college kids I remember how much we enjoyed that ministry. I pray that the group here will grow and blossom.
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I am on FaceBook now. Gee whiz. Yet another thing to try and figure out. It has been fun to see old friends again though.
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Today is #1's first basketball game. #2 and I will be heading out soon to see it. #1 and Daddy had to go early to get pictures taken.