A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook...for today, August 31
Outside my window...it's a sunny morning, sure to be a hot day
I am thinking...that I am so glad that this is the last day of August. I have to say that August is my least favorite month and October is my favorite. September is in the middle...taking me out of my least favorite month and leading me to my favorite so I am happy to turn the page on the calendar.
From the learning rooms...we are starting school today! I am not as ready as I would like but ready enough. I do better after I get started anyway, then I have a clearer idea of what I need to do. Hannah will be finishing Exploring Countries and Cultures--I am thinking we need about 3 weeks to finish before we start Creation to Greeks. Grace and Joe will be doing lots of science experiments and then a unit on birds and a unit on the body. They will also be studying American history. We will be going to Williamsburg in the spring and I want them prepped! More on our curriculum for this year in a blog post all its own...
I am thankful for...facebook and pictures--I didn't have to go to my reunion but could still see some of it in pictures.
From the kitchen...fried rice for dinner, simple meals the rest of the week. I am actually working on a simple two week meal plan that we can repeat every two weeks. The afternoons are going to be busy and so are our days so I want dinner to be planned and simple--little thought or prep.
I am wearing...plaid shorts and a blue shirt
I am reading...my next "Take a Chance Challenge" book--Walking With God by John Eldredge. That's the same guy who wrote "Wild at Heart," a great book for christian men. I'm enjoying it so far. With the kids I am starting our last YWAM biography--Gladys Aylward.
I am hoping...that Joe will cooperate with school today, he's been difficult so far today with chores. I need to start praying now and give him a little extra attention before we start.
I am creating...lesson plans
Around the house...kids are doing chores and the house is mostly clean--woohoo!
One of my favorite things...a new theatre CD--we are listening to "Once on This Island" while we do chores. Yes, I had some chores as well but I'm done. Just Gracie is still working.
A few plans for the rest of the week...school, school, school, theatre, swimming, the beach this weekend.
A picture thought...My good friend, Melissa in the kitchen with me at Hannah's party--she was my dish fairy during the party washing everything as soon as it hit the sink. This was especially helpful because I do not have a dishwasher--so nice to finish the party without a sinkfull! Thank you Melissa!

Take a Chance Challenge #10--Movie/Book Comparison

10. Movie/Book Comparison. Find a book that you haven't read that has a movie based on it that you haven't seen. Read the book and watch the movie within a few days of each other. Write about your reactions to both the book and the movie and compare the two.

I recently read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" for book club and found out that there was a movie based on the book that was produced in the 1940s. So, I checked it out from the library and watched it. As usual, I like the book considerably more than the movie but I usually still like the movie. I have to say that I don't like this movie at all. The book really should have never been made into a movie. So much of the book is just Francie's thoughts and feelings and memories of her life. That is impossible to portray in a movie. Also, in the book Francie feels a distance from her mother but is never rude or disrespectful but they show her being downright insolent towards her mother in the movie. They took what is a very minor theme in the book and turn it into a major theme in the movie. They didn't include so many of the colorful characters that are described in the book and changed the story quite a bit. I disliked this movie so much that I consider to have been a waste of my time to watch it. Read the book, don't see the movie!!

Take a Chance Challenge #2--Random Word

I've finished another book for the Take a Chance Challenge This one was --

2. Random Word. Go to this random word generator and generate a random word. Find a book with this word in the title. Read the book and write about it.

My random word was "seat" and I found a great book called, "Answering 911 Life in the Hot Seat" by Caroline Burau. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Burau writes about life as a 911 operator the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her writing style reminded me so much of Ann Marie--her sense of humor and her take on things. I love Ann Marie's writing so of course I loved this book. One of the things I enjoyed was how she so frankly talked about her feelings when it came to certain calls. How she would be on the edge of her seat as the drama played out and then the police would arrive and she'd be cut off never knowing how it ended. It made me think about the woman that I talked to the day Joe choked when he was about 7 months old. I was completely hysterical, trying to save my baby and listen to her at the same time. I was screaming and at one point yelling at her. She was telling me to lay him down and take his clothes off. He was blue, passed out, totally limp and I could feel the pluot (a fruit that is a mix between a plum and apricot) pit at the opening of his throat. I was slowly and carefully trying to get my fingernail around it and get it out. I was NOT going to take the time to lay him down and take his clothes off and I screamed at her, "NO!!" and then I think I just dropped the phone. It's all a big blur to me. I did get the pit out after probably 3 or 4 minutes and then he didn't start breathing. I had to lay him down and give him mouth to mouth resuscitation and then he started breathing and crying. That's about the time the EMTs walked in and the first thing they said was, "a crying baby--that's good." They sounded as relieved as I was. I can't remember what I did with the phone but I probably picked it up, said, "they're here" and hung it up. That poor woman--to have to listen to my screams of desperation--it must have been awful. Soon after it happened I thought about seeing if I could get a copy of my 911 call--I was most curious to see how long it lasted. But, I never did. I didn't want to relive those few minutes. I thought about that a lot as I read this book.
I highly recommend this book, it was a fun and fast read, something I never would have come across if it hadn't been for this challenge. This makes up for the one book that I didn't like at all.

Take a Chance Challenge #9--Poetic Review

I am so completely not a poet so I am really going out on a limb here but my "I must do it all" personality has spurred me on to try and be poetic. Here are the guidelines for this challenge:

9. Poetic Review. Write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. (You can pick any book you want to write about.)

I chose the book "Julie and Julia" to write my poetic review. I have to say that I didn't love the book. It was okay but got a little long and was a bit depressing. I want to see the movie but am waiting until it comes out on DVD. I enjoyed hearing about her challenge and how it went but the book was a little boring. Here is my poetic review--

Haiku

Julie and Julia
On a quest to cook French food
Mastered the jelly

Limerick

French cooking she wanted to master
The kitchen stayed quite a disaster
Good food she created
And felt quite sated
Her butt got vaster and vaster

Free Verse

julie
a challenge
one year to
master the art of french cooking
and write about it
small kitchen
dirty dishes
flies
friends
lobster
jellies
victorious
the master unimpressed
the end

Pictures

Here is Madi with one of the many chicken samples that were eaten by these girls today. And maybe by a few of the mommas too...mmm bourbon chicken.

One of the pictures was a silly face picture--this is group B's silly face picture.

The girls had to get a makeup sample, when they asked at one of the places for a sample they got more than a sample--they got their makeup done too! Once Group A saw Group B and saw that they had real makeup on they had to have the same. I think the makeup was the highlight of the trip.
...asleep on a piece of furniture...

Pretending to hide behind a tree.

Group A after they got eyeshadow at Origins.

Another version of pretending to be asleep on a piece of furniture.

Another group trying to hide behind a tree.

More silly faces!

Saturday Evening Post

As we speak I am missing my 20 year class reunion.  There is a part of me that wishes I was there but a bigger part of me that is glad I am not.  I do wish I could be a fly on the wall though.  One of my classmates has already put some pictures on Facebook and they were fun to see.  I'm hoping more will be added later tonight and tomorrow.  I think I would have been more into going if it wasn't for Facebook.  Through FB I have reconnected with those I really wanted to reconnect with and been able to see pictures and hear about the lives of so many others.  It probably would have been fun to be there though.  It just wasn't a good weekend for me.  I feel like I just got back in town and was definitely not up for another trip.  So, I am just home checking FB constantly to see if anyone has put up any pictures.  Because of the upcoming reunion and people getting nostalgic I have talked to a few old classmates this week.  One of them told me that the reunion is at a resort and that you can wear your bathing suit if you want to!  That absolutely cracked me up--who in their right mind would wear a bathing suit at your 20 year reunion??  The only kind of person I can think of who might wear a bathing suit is someone who was really fat in high school and is now thin and looking good and wants to show it off.  Or a guy.  I'll let you know if I see any pictures on FB of old classmates in bathing suits.  

I am wiped out tonight.  We had a birthday party for Hannah today that included a trip to the mall to do a scavenger hunt.  I researched this online and found dozens of websites with sample lists and ideas and "testimonials."  No one bothered to mention that malls don't allow this.  That's what we found out after we got there and had our clipboards in hand ready for some fun.  A mall manager noticed us and came and rained on our parade telling us we couldn't do it.  I tried to show her our list so that she could see that we weren't trying to get things and do things that were distracting to shoppers or crazy and wild.  She wasn't going for it though.  So, after some quick thinking and probably poor judgement I let the girls go with their groups and just walk the mall for two hours and look at whatever they wanted and if they so happened to find things from the scavenger hunt list they could get them, do them, whatever.  Well, after two hours all three groups had completed the scavenger hunt "under the radar."  They had a ball and totally behaved themselves.  In hindsight I've felt really bad about breaking the mall rules and doing our own thing.  I've sent out an e-mail apologizing to the moms for setting a poor example and suggested they talk to the girls about how we aren't supposed to break rules...but did I mention that they had a ball???  I will post pictures later.  They had to find out some information--how much is a cool wrap at Chick-fil-a?  What is the most expensive pair of men's shoes at Foot Locker?  How much is a Hannah Montana CD?  What is the name of the worker at Claire's? and so on.  They also had to get some stuff--a ketchup packet, a piece of toilet paper, a perfume sample, etc.  And, they had to take some pictures--a picture of someone on the escalator, hiding behind a tree, making a silly face, etc.  After the shopping we came back to the house and compared notes and collected items and had cake and presents.  Then after everybody went home I crashed.  

Well, I'm off to watch the movie, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," for the Take a Chance Challenge. 

Peace out peeps....

Thoughts on a Thursday

Our internet was down ALL DAY yesterday. Ollie got it working at about 10:30 last night. It was frustrating not to be able to get online but also kind of freeing. I had to think of other ways to spend my time. Unfortunately, I was completely unmotivated to do anything worth anything. So, I spent my free time reading Hannah's Archie comics and playing Freecell and MahJong. I NEVER do stuff like that. I am always so task oriented and can't bear to waste a minute doing something that can't be "checked off" of a list. But, it was good for me to just relax yesterday. Today I am totally motivated and ready to make up for lost time. I have thought about a dozen or so things that I want to do today. In reality only some will get done. There are just not enough hours in the day and I know that by this afternoon I will totally peter out. I have a lot of thoughts so bullet points--

• I need a sewing station that can stay up permanently. Right now we are set up on the school table and Hannah is working on quilt squares. She started making a quilt about a year or more ago and we already had some fabric cut and ready to piece together so she's working on those squares. Grace has some ready to sew as well. Hopefully they will both finish these quilts in the next couple of months.
• I am seriously considering becoming a Pampered Chef consultant. Somebody talk me out of it. Give me all your reasons why I should not do this. Here's a couple to get you started--it's crazy to start a business like this in this economy and I am far too unorganized and busy already to make this work. I have always said that someday I'm going to be a PC consultant. I love the products, love teaching, love people, love money,... you get the idea. In the past I've always been able to put the idea out of my head and move on but this time I just keep thinking about it. We could use the extra money and I could make as much or more than I make tutoring. I could decide how much or how little I was willing to work--I'm thinking one show a week and that's it. I am seriously praying about it and have asked God to make it crystal clear if it's a go. So, come on and talk me out of it.
• This is my 1,013th post--should I do "1000 things about me?"
• The chores are still going really well. I am thrilled! Amy W--if you want more info I can e-mail you and tell you more about it. Or--if anybody else cares I can devote a blog post to it. Let me know in the comments. Below is a sample of the lists posted in every room.
• I have printed the planners and have one of them in a notebook but have yet to write anything in them. That's on my list for today.
  
• I took the "Writing With Ease" workbook to Office Depot to have it copied and bound so that I can use it with Grace and Joe. The price of all that--the teacher part bound, the student part photocopied and made into two spiral books cost me more than if I had just ordered a second book. Ugh! I thought I was being frugal.
• Speaking of frugal--I really want to quit spending money. I feel like I have spending diarrhea lately and we need to be saving money. We now have a new car to pay for. The problem is we keep needing stuff. I am not buying all sorts of unnecessary things or anything. It's just that time of year I guess. I am hoping that I've bought the last of what we need to start school and can take a break on the spending.

And now, some pictures...
The kids got a Dunkin' gift card for their birthdays from Aunt Lisa and family. Ice cream and donuts--does it get any better?Here are the kids chillin' with the bunnies on the sofa bed. We are trying to get them out more and give them some cuddle time.

Hannah dressed herself and Grace up the other day. I think we need to learn the makeup lesson that "less is more." Grace's eyes are just awful!! Love the outfits though.And finally, Hannah has turned her room into a fashion and beauty boutique. She has one table dedicated solely to jewelry and lipstick (glorified chapstick really) and the other table has her huge array of fake cell phones and blackberries along with all the hair products she could find. Dresses are hanging on the bed. She's 10. I think I will hibernate through her teen years!

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...August 24, 2009
Outside my window...it's a sunny day and for once I'm thankful. It was cloudy this morning and I was worried that it was going to rain. I have laundry out on the line and we are planning an afternoon at the splash park. I am going to be brave and leave the house with the laundry still on the line. There is a very good chance that a storm will roll in but I am going to risk it.
I am thinking...that I may bring in the underwear, panties, and bras drying on the picnic table, what if it is a windy storm and my unmentionables end up all over someone's yard. That would be awkward.
From the learning rooms...I can't wait for the mail this week. I have packages coming from about 4 different orders--new schoolbooks and paint and a photobook. Woohoo! I love getting packages. As each item comes I'll be perusing it and adding it to my plans. I also need to get my plan books finished and bound. The kids are having a week of fun in the sun before hitting the books next week.
I am thankful for...a really fun, memorable summer! And now I am thankful for routine!
From the kitchen...tacos tonight, and eating our way through the contents of our fridge and freezer and pantry. We have a lot of food in this house!!
I am wearing...my favorite denim shorts and the same shirt as Melissa. We've had the same shirt since the spring and I think this is the first time we've worn it on the same day.
I am reading...Hannah's Archie comics and a book by Debbie MacComber. I'm thinking I'm not going to finish the book though. It's too predictable and a bit boring. I REALLY need to read, "Teach Your Child to Read With Children's Books." I've needed to read that since about April.
I am hoping...for the energy I had last week to repeat itself.
I am creating...organized paperwork and a plan for the school year
Around the house...it's nice and tidy. Loving the chore charts. I think I have finally found a system that is going to work for us (thanks Marissa!!). I know it hasn't even been a week but it is really going smoothly and the things I'm having the kids do seems to work well for them. It is also motivating me to work while they work so everything is getting done. I love it!
One of my favorite things...a made bed, really.
A few plans for the rest of the week...visiting with friends, swimming, a Pampered Chef party, a scrapbooking night, organizing and planning!
Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...A picture from the last theatre show of the summer. I love these girls!!

Progress

It has been a very productive week around here.  I think I've accomplished more this week than all of the summer put together.  I'm happy to report that my whole house is clean and tidy all at the same time.  I worked my way through each room and now have the kids doing regular chores to keep it that way.  After years of talking about my kids doing chores I've finally done it.  Marissa helped me put my lists together and gave me some tips and I typed up the lists when I got home.  Each room has a list in it with what has to be done daily and what extra thing has to be done each day.  I still have the majority of the work on Tuesdays.  Our Home Economics Tuesdays were working so well that I am going to continue with that.  I hope to add cooking on Tuesdays as well.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  So far the kids are cooperating.  Joe had a bit of a fit today over something but he made his bed without saying a word.  The quilt is on sideways so it doesn't cover the whole bed and hangs way off one side but I'm not complaining.  Tomorrow I will help him out and show him how to turn it straight.  One of his jobs is to put all the shoes on the shelf in the foyer.  He is the worst offender about leaving his shoes in the floor but yesterday when he came in I noticed he lined his shoes up on the shelf right away.  I thought about adding laundry to the list of chores for my kids.  They could easily take over that job but then I realized that I like to do laundry.  Especially folding.  I love to get the corners straight and everything neatly folded.  In a pinch I have the kids help me and have taught them to fold but I usually just do it.  Saying I like to do laundry reminds me of the time when I was in second grade and announced on the school bus that I liked to clean toilets.  That earned me the name "Miss Tidy Bowl" from the neighborhood bullies.  What would those bullies call me now with my admission that I like to do laundry? Any ideas?  Let's get creative ladies.  

I also got all my curriculum ordered and my plan books ready to be bound.  I have my household notebook stuff organized in a notebook but haven't actually written anything in there yet.  Baby steps.  

Today I've been nothing but lazy.  I did oversee the chores the kids were doing and made my bed but that's it.  I'm not feeling that great.  Hannah had a bug earlier in the week and I'm hoping I don't have it.  I just feel sluggish and blah.  I have/had big plans to go shopping at Albertson's today.  They are having a big sale--lots of Buy 1, Get 2 free and I have a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $50 or more.  I wish I had some other coupons to use for the stuff I'm buying.  I think I'll buy a Sunday paper this week and clip some coupons.  Baby steps.  I also can't decide if I should go to Old Navy or not.  They have kid's jeans for $10 and adult jeans for $19.  We don't need jeans now, nor is it a good time financially, but we will need jeans in two months and this is such a good deal.  I'd love for my kids (and myself) to have a decent pair of jeans this year instead of the $10 Target jeans that we always get.  They do make good patch shorts though when the knee rips (as it always does).  Decisions, decisions.

Peace out...have a blessed day!

Pictures from Virginia

Here's Abby with Jack. He was one of Amy's kittens that went home with these guys back in May. He is so cute and funny! Enjoy the pics from our visit to VA!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Hannah celebrated her 10th birthday while we were in Chicago. She and Grandma made a Boston Cream Pie cake and it was a big hit!

Hannah finally got the roller blades she has been asking for for over a year. She had a great time trying them out and getting lessons from her dad, aunt, and uncle. She's a fast learner too!

On her actual birthday we went to the mall and she got to pick out some earrings from Claire's boutique. She was a savvy shopper and shopped the discount rack and came out of there with a lot of earrings!!
I love this picture, it's blurry but kind of cool too. Gabi was swirling her cake around as she was blowing out the candles. And below, Archie comics--one of her new favorite things! Of course her favorite characters are Betty and Veronica. Personally, I'm partial to Jughead.
I can't believe my baby is already 10 years old! The years certainly do fly by. I am very proud of Hannah and the young lady she is becoming. She has a kind heart and a fun spirit! We are blessed to call her our daughter.