For Better Or For Worse

I feel like it's safe to say that this week has been AWESOME!   It is Thursday, homeschool work is complete and we have a Park Day on the schedule for tomorrow.

Last week was a nightmare that became worse with each passing day.  It's mostly attitude (Maggie's) and homeschool related, but I made changes (to my attitude) and raised my expectations and started new chore charts and became quite a bit more strict. And we have been much happier.  I seem to have become a little too relaxed over the summer and certain little people were taking advantage of me and running me ragged...and I may have threatened Maggie with sending her to private school.  Sometimes I show my love for Big Daddy and the kids by taking care of them when they really need to take care of themselves.

I decided that we would evaluate our decision to homeschool at least every year around the time that traditional schools get out for summer break.  If there is ever a time that it truly doesn't work for us I will gladly enroll Maggie and Ellie in school.  Of course, we're not going to give up with every little bump in the road, but I know that Maggie enjoys the flexibility we have and I want her to always realize that this is a choice and we can go a different route if we want to.  When she thought it would be fun to go to daycare everyday, I also explained that I would get a job and that she would most likely spend at least 8 or 9 hours there every single week day.  I think it's important that the girls understand that this is a choice.  Sometimes I need to be reminded of that too.  The part that is most frustrating about our homeschool-related problems is that we would have the same issues if Maggie were in a traditional school and having to do homework on a regular basis.

Our activities are about to be in full swing!  Maggie is taking sign language and American History through our homeschool co-op and Ellie will be in a preschool class.  During the last hour of co-op, Ellie and I will be taking a Kindermusik class together.  We are both so excited since it is something that Maggie particiapted in for two years when she was little.  Maggie has Tumbling on Friday evenings and as soon as we return from our week at the beach, both girls will start AWANA.  Storytime at the library will also be in full swing.  Our free day will be Monday for this semester.  We are excited about falling into a new routine and learning lots of new things!

In the past two weeks

The last time that I posted was two weeks ago!  It seems to get harder and harder to document our daily lives.  Here's a recap of the past couple of weeks.

My last post was on my birthday.  Big Daddy surprised us by coming home at lunch.  We dropped the kids off at my parents' house and we went shopping and to dinner.  Big Daddy is passionate about sunglasses, so he bought me my first pair of expensive sunglasses (Ray Bans).  I like them, but I also like the Isaac Mizrahi sunglasses that I bought two years ago for $4.  Unfortunately, they are scratched and new ones were in
order.

Maggie has officially started Tumbling classes.  She is in a beginner class and has been practicing cartwheels and bridges like crazy since her class last week.  She smiled every second during her hour class and can't wait to go back!

We picked Big Daddy up at the airport last week.  The girls wanted to roll his luggage to the car.  As they were helping out, Ellie asked if we were going to have a pool.  She was a little confused and assumed that we were going to a hotel since we had rolling luggage.

We are hoping/planning for a week-long family beach vacation in September.  The month's calendar is quickly getting full.  We are hoping to finalize everything tomorrow.

Big Daddy will be out of town a lot over the next few weeks.  A trip to Brazil is the most exciting place that he'll be.  Other than that, just Maryland or Pennsylvania.

Just when I think that we are used to all of the time apart and that we have adjusted to it, there is some sort of issue that comes up.  So many people judge the way things are for us, but what it all comes down to is that travel is apart of the job that supports or family.  I get tired of people acting like we enjoy it or that Big Daddy is off on vacation when he is really working long hours on different projects.

In honor of my birthday, I went out of town to meet my besties for dinner.  We were at Chick-fil-A and had five kids in tow, but it was still a night out with my girls and we still had THE best time.

This past Sunday, we decided to take a family trip to the zoo after church.  We were able to see the 6 day old baby gorilla and the giraffe that was around a month old.  I'm planning on taking the girls again after the temperatures cool down a bit more.

I have decided that I want/need an iPad and I have decided to use some of the money in my savings account to buy it.  Big Daddy said he would buy me one, but I want it to be mine.  There are lots of things that I hope to use it for with homeschooling and I think it will also be neat to have during long car trips.

Speaking of long car trips, I really feel like I need to go to Disney World soon.  we thought about going again this October, but decided to go to the beach for a week since our June trip had lots of rain.  We may plan a trip to Disney for January.  I think I would feel better just knowing when I would be going again.

Honey Glazed Carrots

I thought I'd share one of my most favorite ways to eat carrots.  This happens to be one of those things that I came up with all by myself and I ate them for a lot while Big Daddy was out of town.  That gave me a chance to sort of tweek the recipe and get it just right before I let him taste the yumminess!  He is a little picky/critical of how things are cooked and ends lots of meals by saying " that ____ was good, but if you would _____ it would be even better".  Between the two of us, we change lots of recipes!

Honey Glazed Carrots
2 pounds of carrots, peeled and cut into sticks, placed into a crock pot
just enough fat free Italian dressing to coat the carrots and then one more squirt
a healthy drizzle of honey over the carrots

Turn crock pot on low and cook until carrots are tender, but not falling apart. (about 6 hours, or so)  I stir these around every couple of hours or the bottom carrots will get black and really carmelized. (those are my favorites)


I always buy a 2 pound bag of carrots.  It looks like a lot, but this enough for our dinner and left overs the next day, or dinner and two meals of left overs if Big Daddy is traveling.  I do not buy "fat free" things very often because of all of the added junk, but I found that fat free dressing works well in these.  If you use regular dressing, they are greasy.  Sometimes I quarter an onion and throw in  there too.