Here is a conversation from this morning:
Rachel: Where we going?
Me: To church
Owen: Why to church?
Me: Because we want to.
Rachel: Why going to church?
Me: Because we want to.
Later, another conversation:
Owen: Is it dark out?
Me: No, it's light out.
Rachel: Is it dark out?
Me: No, it's light out.
Owen: Is it lunch time?
Me: Yes, it's lunch.
Rachel: Is it lunch time?
Me: Yes, it's lunch.
When I talk about saying the same things all day long or feeling like I'm losing my mind, I'm not exaggerating all that much.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Hahaha!
Yup, that's me laughing. Because really, what else can you do? We don't have control in life over much, except how we respond to what happens.
Last April, we became debt free except our mortgage. And it felt awesome. For 2 months. Then we discovered our air conditioner in our van didn't work. And of course, you don't discover something like this until it's hot and you need the air conditioning to work so that was not a pleasant trip. The cost to repair it was more than the value of the van. And they weren't done estimating the final cost yet. And they didn't know if it would mess up anything else in the process.
Now, we had two choices. I suppose we actually had three, but keeping a van with no ac was not a choice we considered. So our two choices were to take out a loan or find something that we could pay cash for. We had some cash saved up but not a huge amount.
I adore Dave Ramsey and agree with much of what he says but this is one area we have trouble with. He would say to pay cash and drive around something that is less than pretty while we save up more cash and then trade it in for a better vehicle. I'm not saying that wouldn't work but we don't like worrying about vehicles or dealing with repairs. I'm home with 4 children - I like to know there is a reliable vehicle in my garage for those days that we just need a change of scenery.
So, we went with a loan. We were able to buy a 2007 van with a dvd player and the extra st0w-n-go seating and we love it. We paid off the loan last August and were able to once again say, we're debt free!
And then last week, Josh came home and said the truck was making a horrible sound. His truck is a 95 Chevy that we bought in 98. He had taken it in a few weeks before and was told it needed about $1000 worth of repairs. We were holding off on those because we had just spent $1400 on it last December. With this new noise, the estimated repair was $400 . . . or a new engine rebuild. We had been looking ahead and planned to purchase a new truck sometime in the near future because our current one was an extended cab with only 2 doors and it was not very family-friendly. We all fit, but just barely, and it resembled a clown car watching us all get out. Just when you thought we must be all out because there was no way one more person could be in there, out popped another one. :)
So, as I was saying, we had planned to purchase another truck next year sometime after we had saved up cash. But now we were looking at $1400 in repairs, at least. To a 15-year-old truck that didn't fit us that well and that we didn't really want anymore.
Okay, we give up!
We went shopping Monday night to look at some different trucks and happened to find a 2007 quad cab (4 doors!) with only 17,000 miles! Now that we've accepted that we'll have another loan, I'm excited about this. It would have been nice if we could have had more cash saved up so we could continue to say we're debt-free but that's okay. We'll pay it off as soon as we can and in the meantime, I will love opening the back door for the kids to climb in.
Last April, we became debt free except our mortgage. And it felt awesome. For 2 months. Then we discovered our air conditioner in our van didn't work. And of course, you don't discover something like this until it's hot and you need the air conditioning to work so that was not a pleasant trip. The cost to repair it was more than the value of the van. And they weren't done estimating the final cost yet. And they didn't know if it would mess up anything else in the process.
Now, we had two choices. I suppose we actually had three, but keeping a van with no ac was not a choice we considered. So our two choices were to take out a loan or find something that we could pay cash for. We had some cash saved up but not a huge amount.
I adore Dave Ramsey and agree with much of what he says but this is one area we have trouble with. He would say to pay cash and drive around something that is less than pretty while we save up more cash and then trade it in for a better vehicle. I'm not saying that wouldn't work but we don't like worrying about vehicles or dealing with repairs. I'm home with 4 children - I like to know there is a reliable vehicle in my garage for those days that we just need a change of scenery.
So, we went with a loan. We were able to buy a 2007 van with a dvd player and the extra st0w-n-go seating and we love it. We paid off the loan last August and were able to once again say, we're debt free!
And then last week, Josh came home and said the truck was making a horrible sound. His truck is a 95 Chevy that we bought in 98. He had taken it in a few weeks before and was told it needed about $1000 worth of repairs. We were holding off on those because we had just spent $1400 on it last December. With this new noise, the estimated repair was $400 . . . or a new engine rebuild. We had been looking ahead and planned to purchase a new truck sometime in the near future because our current one was an extended cab with only 2 doors and it was not very family-friendly. We all fit, but just barely, and it resembled a clown car watching us all get out. Just when you thought we must be all out because there was no way one more person could be in there, out popped another one. :)
So, as I was saying, we had planned to purchase another truck next year sometime after we had saved up cash. But now we were looking at $1400 in repairs, at least. To a 15-year-old truck that didn't fit us that well and that we didn't really want anymore.
Okay, we give up!
We went shopping Monday night to look at some different trucks and happened to find a 2007 quad cab (4 doors!) with only 17,000 miles! Now that we've accepted that we'll have another loan, I'm excited about this. It would have been nice if we could have had more cash saved up so we could continue to say we're debt-free but that's okay. We'll pay it off as soon as we can and in the meantime, I will love opening the back door for the kids to climb in.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Write those goals down!
I have heard that said so many times - write down your goals. Why don't I do this? I love to plan and think about goals. I love using pen and paper. Why do I make lists and not specific goals? I think part of it is fear of not achieving those goals. I also tend to over-analyze so I'll try to not get off topic here.
The last couple of weeks, I have worried that maybe I wasn't doing enough with Tori. Maybe she wasn't being pushed enough or that I wasn't working with her enough. There were times that she would ask a question, like how to read the number "173" and I would get so upset - how does she not know this already???
But today, it hit me just how far she's come. She's getting 10 out of 10 on all her spelling tests - and spelling wasn't her strong subject at the beginning of the year. It took a long time for her to learn how to read and spelling just didn't come naturally. Now she's reading more on her own and starting to remember how the letters go together.
Her math today was on comparing numbers. At first glance, I thought it'd be a piece of cake for her - just putting 4 numbers in order from least to greatest - like 203, 378, 410, and 821. Then I looked at a problem further down and it was a little more challenging - like 45, 54, 301, 310. I checked back a couple minutes later and she was getting them all right. So, she does understand place value. Whew.
I realized tonight that at the beginning of the year, I thought about what I wanted each of my kids to achieve this year. But I never wrote it down. I need to do that and look at the list every so often to remind myself of where we're going, to know what direction to take. I'm off to find a notebook now.
The last couple of weeks, I have worried that maybe I wasn't doing enough with Tori. Maybe she wasn't being pushed enough or that I wasn't working with her enough. There were times that she would ask a question, like how to read the number "173" and I would get so upset - how does she not know this already???
But today, it hit me just how far she's come. She's getting 10 out of 10 on all her spelling tests - and spelling wasn't her strong subject at the beginning of the year. It took a long time for her to learn how to read and spelling just didn't come naturally. Now she's reading more on her own and starting to remember how the letters go together.
Her math today was on comparing numbers. At first glance, I thought it'd be a piece of cake for her - just putting 4 numbers in order from least to greatest - like 203, 378, 410, and 821. Then I looked at a problem further down and it was a little more challenging - like 45, 54, 301, 310. I checked back a couple minutes later and she was getting them all right. So, she does understand place value. Whew.
I realized tonight that at the beginning of the year, I thought about what I wanted each of my kids to achieve this year. But I never wrote it down. I need to do that and look at the list every so often to remind myself of where we're going, to know what direction to take. I'm off to find a notebook now.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
They're 'free!
For those of you who may not speak toddler, that's "three". Rachel and Owen celebrated their third birthday on Tuesday. The pictures are from their party last Saturday. I've accepted that I will never win "Mother of the Year" for birthday parties or cakes. It's usually a low-key family event with a regular cake. They carried the cake mix and frosting around after I bought them, knowing it was for them and feeling special so I'm okay with that.
Continuing with the John Deere theme from Christmas
Rachel is definitely all-girl
How can so much cuteness be in one picture?
I have been thinking about success lately and how we define it. Success is not always about prospering. It's not always about things turning out. Sometimes we succeed when we try something that fails and we realize how "not" to do it. As long as we learn from that mistake, then I think that's how we succeed. I know these things have been said before (really, there are very few original thoughts anymore) but sometimes you don't realize the truth of an idea until you've experienced it. Sometimes you feel like a failure but as you look back over your experience and realize how you've grown and matured and understand more now, you realize that the mistake wasn't worthless. That it's only worthless if you continue to beat yourself up over it and never move forward.
That might be a bit heavy for a three-year-old to understand. But it's good for me to remember as I let them slowly and painfully try to do things on their own and let them make mistakes.
Continuing with the John Deere theme from Christmas
Rachel is definitely all-girl
How can so much cuteness be in one picture?The struggle for independence has already begun. I know I would not want them to stay babies forever but this in-between stage is hard. It's just easier sometimes to do things for them instead of letting them learn to do it for themselves. It takes patience to explain and wait for them and let them make mistakes. But that's how we learn, right?
I have been thinking about success lately and how we define it. Success is not always about prospering. It's not always about things turning out. Sometimes we succeed when we try something that fails and we realize how "not" to do it. As long as we learn from that mistake, then I think that's how we succeed. I know these things have been said before (really, there are very few original thoughts anymore) but sometimes you don't realize the truth of an idea until you've experienced it. Sometimes you feel like a failure but as you look back over your experience and realize how you've grown and matured and understand more now, you realize that the mistake wasn't worthless. That it's only worthless if you continue to beat yourself up over it and never move forward.
That might be a bit heavy for a three-year-old to understand. But it's good for me to remember as I let them slowly and painfully try to do things on their own and let them make mistakes.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Creating a new habit
I have successfully ran 3 times a week this year. I am finding that it works best if I run once during the weekend and then I only have to get up twice during the week. The treadmill is not as torturous as it used to be and I'm finding it easier to get out of bed. I'd love to see some tangible evidence that this is good for me but I do feel better and I like feeling muscles in my legs. Last year I didn't start running until mid-March and then was able to run 5 miles by the end of September. I'm excited to have a head start this year.
I firmly believe that I can double the distance I run on the treadmill if I run outside with a friend. That clock on the treadmill is my nemesis. I start out thinking, "I'll run 25 minutes today. I should be able to do that." After about 10 minutes and 100 times of looking at that darn clock, I start thinking, "You know, 10 minutes is better than nothing." Then I have to start playing mind games with myself and promise myself "just 5 more minutes" and then 5 minutes after that. Lucky for me, I'm easily fooled and keep believing my promises.
I firmly believe that I can double the distance I run on the treadmill if I run outside with a friend. That clock on the treadmill is my nemesis. I start out thinking, "I'll run 25 minutes today. I should be able to do that." After about 10 minutes and 100 times of looking at that darn clock, I start thinking, "You know, 10 minutes is better than nothing." Then I have to start playing mind games with myself and promise myself "just 5 more minutes" and then 5 minutes after that. Lucky for me, I'm easily fooled and keep believing my promises.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday afternoons
When I was growing up, Sunday afternoons were sacred times. I think even before my dad was a pastor, they were for rest and relaxation. My dad doesn't usually get into football games so the tv wasn't usually on. I remember reading the Sunday ads and falling asleep on the couch just about every week.
Some traditions are worth continuing. I love Sunday afternoon naps. I don't always take one anymore. Sometimes I am out shopping or sometimes I decide to read instead. Today, I decided I wanted a nap. I slept for 1 1/2 hours. And I slept hard. It was the kind where you wake up with a little drool on your pillow and your eyes feel so heavy, you can barely keep them open long enough to look at the clock. The kind where it takes you a minute to figure out where you are and why it's so bright outside. The kind where you sometimes feel a bit dazed and confused for the rest of the day.
Today, I woke up from my nap and realized it would be a good time to run. I have been trying to exercise at least 3 times a week. If I run on Saturday or Sunday, then I only have to get up 2 more times during the week and I feel more like I'm setting myself up for success. I went downstairs to our treadmill and cranked up my ipod and ran. And also yelled at Owen to not throw basketballs at me while I was running. It was invigorating and energizing and after I showered, I was ready to face the rest of the day and felt very clear-headed.
I love Sunday afternoons.
Some traditions are worth continuing. I love Sunday afternoon naps. I don't always take one anymore. Sometimes I am out shopping or sometimes I decide to read instead. Today, I decided I wanted a nap. I slept for 1 1/2 hours. And I slept hard. It was the kind where you wake up with a little drool on your pillow and your eyes feel so heavy, you can barely keep them open long enough to look at the clock. The kind where it takes you a minute to figure out where you are and why it's so bright outside. The kind where you sometimes feel a bit dazed and confused for the rest of the day.
Today, I woke up from my nap and realized it would be a good time to run. I have been trying to exercise at least 3 times a week. If I run on Saturday or Sunday, then I only have to get up 2 more times during the week and I feel more like I'm setting myself up for success. I went downstairs to our treadmill and cranked up my ipod and ran. And also yelled at Owen to not throw basketballs at me while I was running. It was invigorating and energizing and after I showered, I was ready to face the rest of the day and felt very clear-headed.
I love Sunday afternoons.
Friday, January 22, 2010
All by myself
I have had the luxury of being in my house by myself the last couple of days. Thursday morning I met my parents half way between their house and mine and they took the kids home with them. I came back here and did a little cleaning and then went out for lunch with Josh. When I got back home, I decided to deep-clean the fridge. The radio was playing, there were no interruptions, no need to hurry and get done before naptime. After that, I did some shopping and baking. Josh came home for supper and then he left to teach a college class and I was on my own again.
Today has been similar. I've done some cleaning, a little shopping and then just enjoyed time on my own. It's been such a nice break and so relaxing. I've watched a couple of movies, lounged around in bed this morning, read a little and gotten a few projects done. It doesn't take long to clean when there isn't anyone here getting things out.
And as wonderful as it's been, it's helped me appreciate my normal life. I miss my kids and our normal daily routine!
Tonight, Josh and I are going out. Tomorrow we'll sleep in and leisurely get ready. And then we'll go bring our kids home. Until then, I'll enjoy the quiet.
Today has been similar. I've done some cleaning, a little shopping and then just enjoyed time on my own. It's been such a nice break and so relaxing. I've watched a couple of movies, lounged around in bed this morning, read a little and gotten a few projects done. It doesn't take long to clean when there isn't anyone here getting things out.
And as wonderful as it's been, it's helped me appreciate my normal life. I miss my kids and our normal daily routine!
Tonight, Josh and I are going out. Tomorrow we'll sleep in and leisurely get ready. And then we'll go bring our kids home. Until then, I'll enjoy the quiet.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Big green tractor
This was a John Deere Christmas for Owen. I need to take a picture of him with all his John Deere gifts - he is running a large farm co-op based on the number of tractors and machinery he has now! The biggest surprise was the battery-powered rider from my parents.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but he really wanted to see how much power this baby had. He kept pushing on it and spinning the tires until my dad started to get worried that maybe he'd wear a hole through the carpet. The tractor was then taken outside and Owen got to see how it worked in the snow.
It's not really built for snow, as it turns out. It didn't bother Owen at all but apparently it gets stuck pretty easily and then someone needs to give it a nudge to get it going. We're just going to wait until its warmer out.
My parents brought it down last weekend (wouldn't fit in the back of our mini-van - go figure) and Owen saw it in our garage -I think he had forgotten about it. He wanted to ride it, of course, and was told he could ride it in the summer. How do you help an almost 3-year-old understand when that is, exactly?
Josh wondered if we should put it in the basement but I discouraged it. Our basement is not that big to begin with and is quite full of stuff. Tori has her Barbie house down there and I think she'd get upset if he ran into her while she was playing. And he most certainly would. Brendan's basketball arcade game is down there and I don't think he'd be pleased to have Owen ramming into him while he's trying to make a shot. Rachel would probably not even venture down to the basement just to be on the safe side. When the snow and ice melt from our driveway, we'll get it out for him.
Until then, he'll just ask about summer whenever he sees it.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Making cookies
Brendan shows off the finished product. I was trying to get a picture of each one frosting but he was too fast.
Look at how serious he is! Frosting cookies is not a joking matter for Owen. 
Tori got right up to the edges so there were very few parts of cookie that were left unfrosted.
Rachel had to be encouraged to add more frosting - she really just wanted to get to the sprinkles. I noticed a big difference in our family from last year to this year. Last year I had two kids and two babies. This year I had 4 kids. It is so much easier to do things with 4 kids! We planned a lot more family activities and it was so nice to be able to include everyone. Rachel and Owen have grown up in a lot of ways.
Soon after their 1st birthday, Josh and I went on a weekend trip with Brendan and Tori to an indoor water park in Frankenmuth. A few months later, we did another short trip to Chicago with just Brendan and Tori. I had thought about doing something like that again but really didn't like the idea of not taking Rachel and Owen. When they were 1, it didn't bother me. But now, I'm ready for our whole family to do things together, not just part of our family. Lots of fun times ahead!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I'm learning
I'm learning to add things to our homeschool schedule slowly. In the past, I would get a brilliant idea and then surprise my kids with it the next day and wonder why they were resistant. Now, I understand them a little more and have learned to slowly acclimate them to change.
I talked to a fellow homeschooler yesterday and asked her what she did for writing. I've been torn about writing because it is not something Brendan enjoys. He never knows what to write and gets frustrated when he tries to write a story for an assignment. We have gone through many tears and struggles over this the past few years. Another friend said that children don't need to write creative stories until they're older and have more experiences to draw from. Not that it's bad if they do - some kids are more creative than others. But that I shouldn't worry if he's not writing right now.
So I decided to not do any writing at the beginning of this year. We settled into our routine and things have been going well. Brendan has written a few stories on his own, just for fun, with no pressure for me. I was happy to see him do that and it gave us a chance to talk about punctuation and paragraphs and all that good stuff.
I wanted to start some kind of writing but wasn't sure what or how. My fellow homeschool friend said that her daughter has to write a sentence for each of her spelling words. I thought that sounded like a good idea (and cheap, too - no extra curriculum to buy!) so I thought I'd have Tori do the same thing and have Brendan write a short story with his spelling words. But this time, instead of just telling them about my great idea, I realized that they might be overwhelmed with this new assignment so I decided to start out slow.
Brendan has 20 spelling words every week. I had him choose 10 and write a sentence for each one. (At first he misunderstood and thought he had to fit all 10 in one sentence and wasn't sure he could do it.) Then I had Tori pick 5 out of her 10 and write a sentence for those. The assignment went smoothly and I was impressed with how much teaching I could do just with that extra assignment. Tori was spelling more words on her own and remembering to capitalize the beginning of the sentence and had to figure out the punctuation for the end. Brendan had fun coming up with some creative sentences and writing them out neatly.
I love it when a plan comes together.
I talked to a fellow homeschooler yesterday and asked her what she did for writing. I've been torn about writing because it is not something Brendan enjoys. He never knows what to write and gets frustrated when he tries to write a story for an assignment. We have gone through many tears and struggles over this the past few years. Another friend said that children don't need to write creative stories until they're older and have more experiences to draw from. Not that it's bad if they do - some kids are more creative than others. But that I shouldn't worry if he's not writing right now.
So I decided to not do any writing at the beginning of this year. We settled into our routine and things have been going well. Brendan has written a few stories on his own, just for fun, with no pressure for me. I was happy to see him do that and it gave us a chance to talk about punctuation and paragraphs and all that good stuff.
I wanted to start some kind of writing but wasn't sure what or how. My fellow homeschool friend said that her daughter has to write a sentence for each of her spelling words. I thought that sounded like a good idea (and cheap, too - no extra curriculum to buy!) so I thought I'd have Tori do the same thing and have Brendan write a short story with his spelling words. But this time, instead of just telling them about my great idea, I realized that they might be overwhelmed with this new assignment so I decided to start out slow.
Brendan has 20 spelling words every week. I had him choose 10 and write a sentence for each one. (At first he misunderstood and thought he had to fit all 10 in one sentence and wasn't sure he could do it.) Then I had Tori pick 5 out of her 10 and write a sentence for those. The assignment went smoothly and I was impressed with how much teaching I could do just with that extra assignment. Tori was spelling more words on her own and remembering to capitalize the beginning of the sentence and had to figure out the punctuation for the end. Brendan had fun coming up with some creative sentences and writing them out neatly.
I love it when a plan comes together.
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