Tears at Bedtime

Sung to the tune of Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
Dedicated to DD #2 who makes bedtime oh so extra special every single night.

Will you scream all night?
If I told you its bedtime
Will you put up a fight?
If I told you its bedtime
I must be strong and carry on
Cause the battle will be long
Its your bedtime

Would you take a stand
If I told you its bedtime
Would you make demands
If I told you its bedtime
The hurts and sores, you cannot ignore
But I know they weren't there before
Its your bedtime

You can bug your sis
You can fake a pee
You can walk around
And beg us please
Beg us please

(instrumental)

After your four
There's peace I'm sure
And I hope there'll be no more
Tears at bedtime

Will you scream all night?
If I told you its bedtime
Will you put up a fight?
If I told you its bedtime
I must be strong and carry on
Cause the battle will be long
Its your bedtime

Cause the battle will be long
Its your bedtime 

It's all in the family... *updated*

Life in a Nutshell

...sports, that is.

Lest you think I am certifiably crazy all on my own, this post will help to explain the pull I feel when viewing an empty field, a lone soccer ball, and a goal.

My Dad was an All-American soccer player for Hofstra University back in the day. In fact, he still holds two records...most goals in a season, and most points in a season. When he and my mom went back for a visit to prepare for his induction into their "Wall of Fame" the athletic staff kept saying, "this is THE (nutmeg's dad)????" Well, not exactly "nutmeg's dad"" but, well, he likes his privacy... :)

Oh, and he was also All-American in baseball, and for academics too. Oh, and he tried out for the US olympic soccer team. No, I am not making this up!

Isn't this all just so very cool?

My Dad was also an awesome coach. He pushed his players, but not overboard. He made them laugh when they needed to, and inspired them when they needed it, and kicked them in the behinds when they needed it. He was a father figure to many besides just us kids. I think he misses that sometimes.

This weekend, he and my brother will travel to Hofstra for this induction into the "Wall of Fame" and my Dad will hate all the praise, but love all the reunions that will go with it. And my brother will glow with pride at his amazing Dad.

And I will be jealous, and want to be there too.

Yes, sports runs deep in our family. To me, a game is an event, something to be shared. Whether it is my brother's game, my kids' games, or my own...or a hockey game on TV! It is something to share and experience as a family.

I am very grateful for many things my parents' gave me, (my Faith, most especially!) but one aspect of my upbringing that I am also grateful for that may easily get overlooked, is my love and appreciation of sports. It helps me bond with my boys, it gives me an outlet for stress, it brings back warm memories of my childhood. Many afternoons were spent with my Dad outside as we played baseball, soccer, or football. Many more stories were told at the dinner table from his games as coach or mine as player.....

To me, sports is yet another way to connect as a family.

*My mom just informed me that my love of sports goes back farther than just my Dad. (and NY uncles, and therefore cousins....but that's a longer story!) Turns out, my maternal Grandfather is in the Providence College Hall of Fame for basketball (from the 1940's!) and is also in the Springfield College Hall of Fame for coaching.

Very cool.*

Inspiration:

Life in a Nutshell

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise think about these things. Phil. 4:8


I so love this quote that I am tempted to stencil it along the top of the walls where we homeschool. It so perfectly captures what I am trying to accomplish with the kids this year. And maybe that is why I get so overwhelmed....there is so much that is good and true and beautiful in this world, and it so important to take this opportunity to instill a love of these things while they are still able to appreciate it all.

Any favorite quotes out there that inspire you?

Home safe

Life in a Nutshell
Despite the cold front "officially" moving through today, which guaranteed to set off humongous storms, DH landed safely and with hardly any turbulence. YAY

We already saw the video footage of the guy's hike, complete with lots of "wild" animals feeding out of the guys' hands and a real glacier-fed lake! Very cool. Although only I alone get to see the "hanging out at the condo" footage.

Lucky me. ;)

Unfortunately, we got no shots of the relatives or my new nephew or his baptism. Priorities, ya know?

We are just thrilled to have our Papa home, and the kids are now playing hide-n-seek with him.....

And you know when someone's been to Canada when you start finding Smarties all over the floor!

Sunday game

Life in a Nutshell
Had my first game today. And I survived.

Barely.

Lemme just say this.

There is a BIG difference between running on a tread-mill in 78 degree air conditioning, and running on bumpy grass in 103 degree sultry-right-before-a-storm-hits Texas heat.

I could literally feel my cleats melting onto my foot.

I could feel the steam rising up from the grass as the sun beat down on my head and face.

But. I scored a goal, so that must be good for something, right?

And the storm?

Well, the lightning siren on the field went off exactly 30 seconds after the game ended, and the rain didn't hit until I was on the highway, forcing me to use the tail lights of the car ahead of me as a guide for exactly where the road disappeared to.

But, all the cool(?!) breezes on the field made it bearable.

Barely.

I really really need to be running outside in the elements if I'm going to survive the season with any dignity intact. Oh, and have fun too.

:P

It's all Mrs. Bear's fault...

Life in a Nutshell
Really, it is.

After looking at what she pointed me to, a light went on in my head, and I thought:

"Why not show Chilihead2 (see "I'm excited" combox)what it's like to see BNL live?"

And so I did a quick search and found this.

Now, this song is from their "Barenaked for the Holidays" CD (I know, Mom, great title, eh?) It's called "Elf's Lament". So, try to get in the Christmas spirit before you watch it, 'K? Unfortunately, the crowd isn't really into it and so the guys (yes, they are a bit nerdy-looking, but give them a break, they're my age!)aren't in true form....why aren't they dancing?? I would be. I guess it's a good thing I wasn't there, I'd just embarass DH. :)

Just humor me, and notice how awesome and clever the rhyme scheme is, how funny it is that Santa plays the bongo drums, how cute talented the lead singer on your right is, uh....

I think DH needs to come home quick, since I am just loving all things Canadian a little too much right now. (honest, DH I didn't know our front row seats were on the right-hand side of the stage!)

Anyhoo. (ahem)

Enjoy.

:)

Constantly learning...

Life in a Nutshell
...why I married my dearest DH. This latest edition of my education is brought to you courtesy of DH's "guy's weekend out".


1. I will never ever know as much about Star Wars and my boys soon tire of my only answer: "I don't know"

2. Making dinner and then doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, serving dessert, and cleaning up the kitchen, then cleaning up the kids and getting them to bed requires as much energy as climbing Mt. Everest .... three times.

3. A king size bed feels as big as a small continent.

4. Even with all of these people in the house, 10pm is way too quiet for my liking.

5. A pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Mint Cookie ice cream is a great comfort, but not as nice as an understanding smile, kiss or hug during a hectic day...

6. Going to mass this evening will guarantee me a double dose of graces....right?


I really don't know how other Moms do it. You kow, the ones whose husbands are deployed overseas, or who travel for work, or just aren't there. There are real heroines. I don't have to worry about the grass, or small house repairs, b/c my DH is coming home soon. And he hasn't been gone for very long. But long term? I am in awe with admiration.....

I'm excited....

Life in a Nutshell
... (and rather sheepishly) about an upcoming event in November.

It is very un-stereotypical of a Catholic homeschooling mother of 5 to be part of a fan club of a rock band, in order to have access to the early ticket sales, in order to get front row (yes, ma'am) tickets during their next tour......

But that's what I'm so excited about!!

You guessed it.

BNL is coming back to Texas, but not to our town. So DH and I are going away for an overnight...

together...

alone...

We have never done this before.

Ever.

I am excited, and a bit nervous about leaving the kids with our oh-so-reliable, comes-from-an-awesome-family, already-in-college, babysitter.

But, I cannot wait.

:)

Oh yes...

Life in a Nutshell
...and that soccer game that wasn't. I'm sure y'all would love to hear about that.

No. It wasn't cancelled.

Yup. Found my team, the field, paid my whopping fee, wore my black shorts, white socks, cleats, shin guards, and I even hand-lettered my white shirt with the number "33".....and that was the problem. The league doesn't allow hand written numbers (even ones done as artistically as mine were).

And so I had to sit on my duff and watch my new teammates sweat off about 50 lbs apiece in the hot Texas morning. I got a sunburn on my face and arms sitting there, and my team won (what a change from my last team!) and I got a great idea of who everyone is and what skill level we're talking about here. But field time? Nada.

It was good for me, though. I was very nervous about playing, and to have to sit there while everyone else did all the work and had all the fun, was brutal. DH will be out of town for our next game, and I had told our captain that I wouldn't make it. But I think I'll get a sitter and go play.

Game, on!

Harried Homeschooler

Life in a Nutshell
And so today we started our school year. I wasn't really planning to. But this weekend I decided that I needed a "dry run" to see what needs to be re-worked, added or chucked out completely. I needed to see if I absolutely need to move the TV into our bedroom to occupy the youngest two during the 30 minutes no-one else can. I needed to see if DS #2 can do the Writing Road to Reading with DS #1, and how DD #1 will do with her handwriting....etc. You get the idea.

So. Today we started. At 10:30 am. (Stop laughing CMW!) DS #1 didn't wake up until 9am, doesn't like to eat, converse or otherwise breathe until 30 min after he gets out of bed. We needed to go to the bank for DH, (yes, that one, so you know the whole deal...hair combed, outfits clean, shoes on, etc) And we didn't get out until 10:15 am, home at 10:30 am, and then nazi-mama kicked into high gear.

We got through most of it before lunch. We did a bit more after lunch, and with shaking hands (low blood sugar level on my part) I sit here, scarfing my lunch and living to type about it.

It really wasn't too bad. The kids were really co-operative. I think the key was the clipboards. I wrote out their schedule for the day, complete with date, page #'s of workbook pages to be done, Math fact pages attached, handwriting page attached, etc, and put it all on their very own personal clipboard. I even wrote in when snack time would be, so there was no fussing about when when when can they eat?!? And when I explained to DS #1 that he would have to finish his handwriting after lunch if he didn't get it done while I was getting it ready, he opted to finish......quickly and neatly! (be still, my heart!)

I had the older kids take turns with the two younger kids, playing with them, and keeping them happy. That was a bit harder than I had expected. It was written in their schedule (on their handy-dandy clipboards), so there was no fussing about doing it, but just about exactly how to do it. So, I need to tweak that a bit. Maybe have a set schedule for who reads to them, who plays hide-n-seek with them, who plays toys with them, etc..... Have to think on that a bit.

Right after we finished up with our first Writing Road to Reading lesson, the boys grabbed their new Stratego game that Dh had bought for them this weekend. I didn't hear from them for a good 30 minutes. The girls got out the dinosaur counters and played with them until DD #3 had to go down for her nap. Then they cleaned up the two living areas of the house (done in a snap since they've been doing schoolwork) and are now watching Noggin.....a well-deserved rest for all!

:)

Homeschool Meme

Life in a Nutshell
I have been tagged by Studeo to do a homeschooling meme. I have to say that since this will only be my third year of homeschooling, I feel very green when it comes to discussing homeschool curriculum and ideas with my own friends here, never mind doing a meme assigned by the likes of the "Love 2 Learn" mom!! :)

But, here goes:

Homeschool books I actually enjoyed reading:
Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist
A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola
Starting a Spelling Notebook by Mari McAlister

Resources I won't live without:
CD player
Computer
TV/DVD/VHS for educational shows
National Catholic Readers
Leap Pad accessories
Homeschool table and shelves
My co-op mates!

Resources you wish you had never bought:
Addition Strip Board
Subtraction Strip Board (both montessori materials)


Resources you enjoyed last year:
The girls' Catechesis of the Good Shepherd class
A little Hooked on Phonics sample packet that helped to kick-start my dd #1's reading
Little Angel Readers
My oldest being in school (pros and cons...)
Blogger

Resources you'll be using this year:
Saxon Math
Writing Road to Reading (yikes)
Prima Latina
Character cards
Apologia Science
Living History books

Resources you'd like to buy:
Math U See Alpha DVD and manipulatives (as supplement)
Childs' History of the World on CD
The Multimedia Bird Book CD-ROM
More books for the kids to read (always my wish)

Homeschool Catalogs you enjoy reading:
Emmanuel Books
Michael Olaf Montessori
Rainbow Resources

One homeschooling website you use regularly:
Emmanuel Books
blogs

As far as tagging anyone else.....since I don't know any other homeschool bloggers, if you are reading this meme and are a homeschooling blogger....consider yourself tagged.

:)

Motherhood, discipline and instilling virtue

Life in a Nutshell

Last night I was up until 1am chatting with my homeschool co-op mates about our plans for the upcoming school year. All of us have our curriculums planned out and set up. We know what we will use to teach our respective co-op class, we discussed our goals for each class and the benefits and possible drawbacks of the co-op setting. It was a very fruitful discussion.

One of the topics touched upon was that of disclipline. It's hard to be a mama of a very strong-willed 8 1/2 year old boy. My oldest has his own sense of what he wants/needs to be doing. Some of it is acceptable. A lot of it is not. Like, for example, antagonizing his sister's Barbie dolls with his light saber, wrestling his younger brother awy from the book he is reading, scaring his youngest sister as she runs down the hallway......etc. In other words, he is an "in your face" kind of kid. It has taken us years (literally) to convince him that when our friends come over, it is not an invitation for him to start jumping on them or wrestling them. That the proper behavior is just to simply sit (oh, horrors!) and chat, or go play.

As a result of this constant barrage of "(DS #1) hit/scared/took something away from/won't let/ me whatever....." I am constantly on DS #1's back about every infraction. I must admit, a lot of it is just a knee-jerk reaction to his very being around, unfortunately. I'm so used to him causing the uproar, that I immediately call out his name as soon as chaos erupts. (BTW, about 90% of the time....it is him!) But I realize how utterly unfair it is of me to have this preconceived notion of him.

Here is my conundrum. I want him to develop into a smart, obedient, respectful young man. I also want his spirit, his sense of himself to emerge unscathed. Furthermore, I want him to trust me and what I say. In order to accomplish all of these ideals, I need to tread a very thin line. If I constantly nag him about every little thing, he will tune me out, and not take anything I say seriously. (And then what will happen when later on down the road he wants to date someone who is unsuitable or if he needs advice about a very important decision? He will not seek out my thoughts and that may have drastic consequences, since he may also reject outright what he knows my position would be, thus rejecting what he knows to be right in regards to the Faith.) However, if I don't exhort him to combat his weaknesses and practice virtue, he will have a harder time overcoming them when he gets older.

And he is such an imaginative kid! He really is driven when he is interested in something, and loves to "take charge" and "come to the rescue", just like a little man. There are a lot of virtues that can be easily cultivated in him, and others that will not be so easy.

My plan of action? Pray. Really. I've re-started my prayer life (again....you know the drill, I fall off the wagon constantly!) I really need some supernatural help with this one. I think I take his actions way too seriously, and attribute a malignancy (is that a word?) that isn't there. I think that when he messes up, I need to nonchalantly ask him if that's the best way to act, and then leave it. Frequent confession will help him as well.....and me! I plan to take the kids to adoration on Friday mornings when we start school, just for 20 min or so. Hopefully our parish priest can meet us in the church once a month to hear our confessions.

Any thoughts out there? Anyone else have that one personality that drives you up the wall?

5 more days....

Life in a Nutshell
...'til my first soccer game of the season.

Yes, my first game. (Ahem)

So. Do you think that running 1/2 a mile in ten whole minutes two whole times this week will be sufficient prep for me to be able to last a whole 45 min of chasing the ball up and down the field?

Yeah. Me neither.

Why do I do this to myself??

Attitude adjustment

Life in a Nutshell

I have loads to catch up on. And not just laundry.

We had two birthdays while we were traveling, and while the presents were ready and huge hits with the recipients, I meant to do birthday posts with pictures and such for them.

My house needs a major over-haul again. I mean, really, I can only handle computer parts in my bookshelves, stuffed animals and star wars figures in the homeschooling shelves and rescue heroes on the kitchen counters for so long. I cannot see the top of my dresser, and I found DD #2's flip flop in the boys' lego box in their closet last night.

And there are two kids down the street visiting their great-grandparents who are like Bob Wiley in that great movie "What About Bob"...... "Gone? They are never gone!" They keep saying that it is their last day in town, can they please come and play, and I say yes and my house gets trashed, and my kids get riled and forget the rules, my food is gone, and they are back again the next morning with the same story. Today I said no, we are busy cleaning.



But Carmen over at Mom to the Screaming Masses chose thankfulness for her "Mission Monday" topic. Yay!

I must say 5 things I am thankful for. I think we all agree that I need to come up with at least 10 to combat my grumpiness this morning. :)

*my family (immediate and extended)
*my house
*my car with awesome A/C
*my faith
*our pool
*iced espresso
*our health
*vacations
*awesome Catholic friends
*new schoolbooks

Wow. That was easy. And there are so many more things I could have said. I needed that.

Have a great day y'all!

:)

Back home....

Life in a Nutshell
...just a quick note to thank folks for their prayers and to let y'all know that we are home! Luckily, we came home yesterday, and so we didn't have to endure the long and rigorous security lines that have started today. What a world we live in these days, that we have to be so careful because of the immense hatred that is taught and propagated and cultivated.....

Our trip home started at 4am and ended with us back home by 9:10 am. It was nice to have the whole day to stumble around the house blindly unpacking suitcases recoup. :)

We had a such a wonderful time, visiting with family, taking a trip to the Hot Springs, doing a bit of hiking and exploring. The best part was just relaxing in the cool, fresh, mountain air and chatting with family.

I have a ton of pictures to go through. And will post a few within the next few days...

But here is a teaser.....this was taken at Helen Hunt (no not the actress) Falls. We did a bit of hiking up and around the falls, where, I was told, is a spectacular view of the nearest city. DD #3 and I had to sit that one out due to a huge protest on her part. :(