Playing Catch Up

The past couple of weeks have been challenging. I have had daily headaches, Maggie has been VERY Maggie, we had bible school and Big Daddy was out of town.

This week has already been so much better. I went to the doctor yesterday for my second spinal manipulation and I really think that Dr. M has magic fingers. I woke up this morning without a headache and had the housework complete before 9 am
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Next week we have three special activities during the week and one on the weekend. We also have a special visitor coming to town. Of course, my birthday is next Tuesday, but we'll be celebrating with my family this coming weekend.

Our week of bible school was wonderful! Our church calls it "Week of Wonder" and it's open to everyone. They also do Preschool Summer Day Camp in June for preschoolers and Camp SONshine in August for K-5th grade and an overnight camp for middle school and an overnight beach trip for the high schoolers. Maggie will be attending Camp SONshine next year, Ellie will go to Preschool Summer Day Camp and both will go to Week of Wonder- it looks like I'll be busy for one week in June, July and August!!

I'm still working on Ellie's big girl room. She has her bed, comforter and one set of butterfly sheets that make me want to puke. I have been looking for more sheets and fabric for curtains and pillows, but haven't found exactly what I have in mind. I have several ideas for wall art, but I'm still waiting on fabric so that I know what colors to use.

Homeschooling Maggie is my saving grace some days. She loves it and is always eager to "do more". She will be finished with her kindergarten math curriculum soon. It was the only kindergarten curriculum that we've been using, so I guess that she'll sort of be in first grade. I love that she can work at her pace on not have to wait on anyone before she moves on. She loves math and has really enjoyed our Singapore Math curriculum. The time that I used to have as "free" (relatively) I know spend teaching Maggie, reading to Maggie or looking up more homeschool ideas. I have found that many of the moms that can't believe I would want to homeschool my children feel that way because they don't want to be with their children all the time or they want that free time when their children are in school. Believe me, there are days where I want to ship Maggie & Ellie off to Nana's or drive Maggie to the nearest public school and put her out on the curb. LOTS of people seem to think that you have all the patience in the world to homeschool, but I promise that I have my moments. I have felt more fulfilled and useful as a mommy in the past six weeks. So...homeschooling works for us, for now.

We have a family trip coming up in August and we have decided that we will be going to Disney World (unless something happens) in the fall!

And then there's Pinterest. I received my first invitation a few months ago when I had NO idea what Pinterest was. I decided not to do it and I continued to rely on my memory, bookmarking and writing down the web address to things that I may want in the future. Time passed and I thought that I should jump on the Pinterest bandwagon and then I got an invitation from someone and the love affair began. You can request an invite from Pinterest, but I've heard that it takes a while to get accepted. I'd be happy to invite you if you want to leave your email address in the comments or email me.

Is it Friday yet?

I posted this picture on Sunday, but I really love it! It's also the only picture that I have of Maggie from this week. She loved the "Block Party" on Sunday and has had a great time every night this week.

All of the two year old classes are on the playground at the same time, so I've been able to see Ellie play with her friends.

I have to pick Ellie up (right next door to my class) and then go to another building to get Maggie. Then, I go to another floor of that building to get Callie. The "Worship Rally" was still in progress on Monday night so we joined in. Maggie loved it! Our church is quite large and it was nice to see that every seat was full of Kindergarten through 5th graders. Maggie loved the music and wants the set to stay there "forever"...especially the fountain.

Ellie is a huge fan of the slides on the playground!

We have had a great time this week, but the later nights and Daddy being out of town have not mixed well. Maggie & Ellie are both extra tired and missing their Daddy.

The Week Ahead

This is our "Week of Wonder" at church so I'll be teaching bible school. I'll also be homeschooling Maggie, cooking dinner and feeding the kids extra early, putting the kids to bed extra late and being a single parent. And I'm not feeling well.

In other words,
I'm going to be away from the computer a whole lot this week and could use some prayers.

We had a nice Sunday evening as a family at our church Block Party. I wish I had taken more pictures, but my hands were full. There were all kinds of food, several bounce houses/slides and great music. It was a community-wide, free event, so hopefully lots of people came to church that might not normally come.


I think everyone found out why Maggie wears shorts under all of her dresses, too.

I Should Be Folding Laundry

I should be folding the three loads of laundry that are waiting for me in the laundry room, but I decided to make a list of the things that I've done today. Maggie and Ellie are "hunting for trash"with some cardboard boxes. I'm not sure what gave them the idea, but I think they are really trying to look for treasures, more than trash.

• 6:45-I woke up when Big Daddy woke up, but sort of dozed back off until Maggie came and got in bed with me at 7:00. Just as Big Daddy was coming out of the bathroom after his shower, Ellie woke up. He brought her in and we cuddled for 15 seconds before she told me to "gup", a.k.a. get up.
• 7:20- I fixed Ellie oatmeal and Maggie asked for cereal. While they were eating I put the dishes from last night away.
• Fixed the coffee pot and prayed that the coffee grinder wouldn't die because I'm pretty sure that it's on it's last leg.
• Helped the girls get a blanket, coloring books and crayons set up in the living room floor.
• "Worked" on the computer while the girls were coloring and I was waiting on the coffee.
  
• I ate breakfast in the living room so that I could watch Maggie and Ellie play.
• Brushed teeth, washed faces, dressed the girls.
  
• I made up the beds and Maggie fixed the pillows on them.
• Put in a "Signing Time" movie in per Maggie & Ellie's request.
  
• Cleaned all of the mirrors in the house, the front of the stove, front door, french doors and fireplace-basically everywhere that little hands like to leave prints.
• Cleaned the toilets.
• Started a load of laundry only to realize that there was a load still in the laundry basket and another one in the dryer. Uggh.
• Wiped off the counters in both bathrooms.
• Cleaned up Olivia's mess from last night.
• Put the movie up and told Maggie & Ellie to have a little play time.
• Wiped down (dusted) everything in the living room, dining room and all of the bedrooms with a micro fiber cloth. Declared the house as clean as it was going to get for today.
• Fixed homemade trail mix for Maggie & Ellie's snack.
  
• Sat down in the living room with Maggie and Ellie for about 15 minutes until Nana came to get Maggie for a "Nana Day" at 9:30.
• Walked outside to wave goodbye to Nana, Maggie & Callie. Told Ellie that she had free reign of the dollhouse in Maggie's room!
• Went straight to the kitchen and cleaned out the set of cabinets where Maggie puts all of her preschool, church and library art.
• Checked under Maggie's bed for more art and found a few pieces of construction paper.
• I needed to make a phone call so I let Ellie watch a Barney movie.
• Turned movie off and played with Ellie.
• Took Ellie out to the garage and we wiped down all of the surfaces in the van.
• It was SO hot outside, so we came in and played until about 11:20.
• Went to Nana's to have lunch and pick up Maggie.
• Came home around 1:20, put Ellie down for a nap, set Maggie up with a computer game.
• Mowed the little bit of the yard that needed mowing and did a little bit of weed eating.
• Came in and did a math lesson with Maggie and then set her up on another computer game.
• Did more weed eating and told the yard not to grow until after Daddy 's trip next week.
• Taught Maggie another math lesson and gave her beads and made up word problems using subtraction.
• Ellie woke up-2:30.
• Fixed snack, finished math and discussed our new curriculum that arrived today!!
• Ellie requested another "Signing Time" movie. Normally two movies per day is the max, but I let them watch it again.
• While they were occupied, I went over the curriculum and made out our revised lesson plan for the week. I also got all of my materials together so that I can prepare a few things for tomorrows lessons.
• Turned movie off.
  
• Washed collard greens and started cooking them for dinner tonight. Sniffed of cantaloupe and decided that I would cut it while preparing dinner.
• Maggie & Ellie found their cardboard boxes from the delivery and decided to get a blanket and crayons out so that they could decorate them.

And that brings us to right now!!

Today was a high tv day which is rare. We also had much less school time than usual. Since I needed to get the yard taken care of and it's so hot (like 100) today, we'll do a little more school work tonight. Maggie did double some of her work yesterday so that she could have less work and enjoy a "Nana Day". We usually read several books in the morning, but since Maggie was away I tried to let Ellie have a little time to do what she wanted to do: Barney movie and dollhouse play in Maggie's room...without a big sister to bother her.

Of course, I still have lots of stuff to do!

• Finish dinner: chicken in mushroom sauce, steamed broccoli, wild rice and collard greens. Cantaloupe for Maggie, fresh strawberries for Ellie.
• Clean up kitchen and wash dishes (I only use the dishwasher a couple of times a month-max) while girls play with Play Doh at the table.
• Clean up Play Doh, do school work, read and play.
  
• Big Daddy comes home (7-ish) and has dinner then we'll play outside and go for a walk,
• Bring kids in for bath, pajamas and brushing teeth. (7:30-8:00)
  
• Read and play until bedtime.
• 8:30-Put girls to bed, fold laundry, plan for tomorrow, check email and spend time with Big Daddy watching tv or playing on our separate laptops.
• 10-10:30- shower, watch tv with Big Daddy until 11ish and then go to bed.

Something Sweet

I very seldom share recipes because I don't use them that often. I have always enjoyed reading recipes and I can remember doing it at my Grandma's house when I was really young. I can remember hanging out in the kitchen with my mom or one of my grandmothers and just watching the things that they would do.

My first experience making anything from scratch was in high school in a home economics type class. I took a Teen Living class and a Foods and Nutrition class which taught the basics of sewing and cooking. This is around the time that I became an active member in FHA, also known as The Future Homemakers of America. I guess I sort of have my dream job after all!!

I made a pecan pie from scratch one day and I think this was my first fail! I had made biscuits and muffins from scratch in school, so I decided to try making my Grandma's Pecan Pie recipe. I didn't think it looked right and called my Grandma to describe it so that she could tell me if it sounded normal. I had planned to take the pie to work and I went along with my plans even though the filling never set up and was quite runny. My Grandma assured me that I did everything okay. Years later, I got pretty good at making her pound cake, but they were never as good as hers. I really wish I had watched a little closer when my other Grandma made her famous biscuits, but I'm sure I would have messed them up!!

My mom was going through my Grandma's recipes and found a "pie" recipe that she had cut out of a magazine. My mom made it and it was a hit. I looked over the recipe and was happy to see that it had simple ingredients that I had on hand. I copied the recipe, came home, put Ellie to nap, mixed up the pie and hoped it would come out okay while I homeschooled Maggie.

The good news is that it was yummy! I made a simple mistake (as I think I always do), but it didn't ruin it! I don't bake very many sweets because I'd eat all of them myself. This recipe was simple and everybody enjoyed it, so I think I'll make it again sometime. It's called apie, but it's really like a brownie.

Fudge Brownie Pie

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 c melted butter/margarine (I only use real butter)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa (I used special dark)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts- optional (I didn't use nuts)

Beat eggs and vanilla and blend in sugar and melted butter. Combine flour, salt and cocoa and add to the egg mixture. Pour into a greased 8 inch pie plate and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Pie will not test done.
Cut in wedges and top with ice cream and hot fudge. (I didn't do this)

Butterflies

Our church plans "H.A.P.P.P.Y" (Hands-On Activities for Preschoolers, Parents and You) Days field trips once a month during the summer months. We've never attended a HAPPY Day before, but we wanted to go to the butterfly farm and they have inconvenient hours for us, so we decided to skip the library and go.The butterflies were very friendly and I think every single person had at least one on their feeding pad, skin or clothes. I was the only one that was "fortunate" enough to have one in their hair...almost the entire time.

It was quite warm and Ellie was very hot. Both girls had been under the misting pergola and were pretty wet which attracted the butterflies even more!

I think my favorite part was looking at the butterflies in their chrysalis. There were several that were clear and ready to "hatch" and we were able to watch one as it emerged. It happened so fast, so I wasn't able to get a picture, but it was the chrysalis right beside of the butterfly with wet wings that is on the far right. That one had hatched just a few minutes before and was drying out.www.all-a-flutter.com

The Adventure of School At Home

To say that I was nervous and stressed about homeschooling Maggie is an understatement. I was totally overwhelmed with information.

After the first few days of "formal" work I felt SO much better about our ability to make this work. I found out that Maggie is a bit of a work-hog and was able to double the amount of lessons that I'd planned for us to do. I decided to do weekly lesson plans so that I could plan to cover certain things over a weekly period.

One of the reasons that we like the idea of homeschool, is because you can allow your child(ren) to work at their own pace, whether it's fast or slow. Starting next week, she'll be required to do the amount that I've planned, but she'll also be able to do an extra lesson or two if that's what she wants, but she is required to do a certain amount of work. I'm not letting her run our classroom. Allowing her to work at her own pace will mean that I'll have to do lesson plan work on a daily basis, but that's okay. We really want to feed her love of learning when she's just starting out. I really think that keeping children engaged helps to foster a love of learning, hopefully for a lifetime.

Maggie often does her phonics and handwriting work shortly before Ellie's nap because she is eager to "get to work". During Ellie's nap we focus on math, reading, history and geography. She loves looking at maps and finding things on our globe. Next week we are doing lots of geography, thanks to a great book I checked out at the library yesterday.
Ellie is pretty serious about her work too!!

I didn't think that I would love doing this, but I do! I can truly say that I adore teaching Maggie math concepts and how to read a map and crazy things like that! I have felt more fulfilled and this adventure has been such a blessing so far.

And on a completely different note...
Today is the birthday of a very special young lady. On July 1, 1994 a sweet baby girl was born. Her mom had undiagnosed Vasa Previa, just like we had with Maggie. Unfortunately, Kayla wasn't born completely healthy like our Maggie was. Kayla has never spoken, never eaten and never taken a first step. Kayla's mom has been such a source of inspiration for me and Kayla is very loved and well-taken care of. Just a reminder to me that we are so very blessed.

Pictures From Our Week

I mentioned before that Big Daddy and I were changing cell phone providers and getting new phones. I finally have a smart phone and I'm enjoying it so far. Big Daddy has had lots of different phones through work, so it was easy for him to pick one that he thought would work well for us. We haven't had a land line phone since we moved nearly two years ago, so we use our cell phones quite a bit. Big Daddy loves for me to send him quick texts and random pictures during the day. He has been out of town all of this week, so these are a few pictures that I've sent him.

On Monday, we slept late and had an "at home" morning. After Ellie's nap we went to the library and ran in the grocery store for fresh fruit. We don't buy any canned fruit, so I find myself shopping for fresh fruit at least twice a week. Ellie wanted to wear her favorite shirt that just happens to be long sleeved. We had to run by the bank too, so they both had suckers. The race car shopping cart is my nemesis right now.
After our errands and cooking and eating dinner, we went to my mom and dad's even though my mom and Callie had visited during the day (and played with the kids on the swings and in the pool while I mowed the back yard). I don't mind being home in the evenings without Big Daddy, but Maggie was missing him lots.

I decided to have and "at home" day on Tuesday. I wanted to do the housework and just be at home. I saw an idea on a homeschool blog and decided that it would save us time and money and allow Maggie to work more at her own (very fast) pace if I implemented the idea immediately. We found ourselves at the not so supercenter to buy school supplies. The idea worked exactly like I'd hoped it would and has already made a big difference in our "schedule".

We found ourselves at my parents again that evening after dinner. My mom had something for me (more on that in a minute) and Maggie "needed" to play with Callie. Of course, Ellie really wanted to see her "Papa" too. We hadn't been at their house for long when the skies grew dark, the wind began to blow and the thunder and lightning started. Maggie didn't want to leave, so my mom asked if she'd like to spend the day with her on Wednesday. My mom made plans to pick her up at 9:00 the next morning and Maggie was happy. We came home, had baths and put our jammies on. Both girls are a little scared of thunder (thanks to Cousin Callie) so I built a little fort in the living room and they read library books for 45 minutes before bed.

Thankfully, we had an inch (to add to the half an inch from the night before) of rain in the rain gauge on Wednesday morning. Truly an answered prayer. It has been SO dry here.

My mom and Callie came to pick Maggie up and Ellie wanted her shoes because she wanted to go too. My mom told me to get the car seat and she would take Ellie too.
I found myself childless! I washed my cabinets, swept and mopped the hardwood floors and mowed the front yard. I went to my mom's, had lunch and then brought Ellie home for her nap. When she woke up, we picked Maggie up and fixed that special thing that my mom had for me for our dinner!

Ellie doesn't usually eat corn, but she really enjoyed it this time!

I've had lots of stuff on my mind this week and had planned to write several times, but it hasn't happened. Doing school work with Maggie has been wonderful (more on that later), but it takes up all of my "free" time during Ellie's nap.

Olivia

I mentioned last week that we were getting a family pet and here she is!

This is Olivia Ian Rosie McMillan, but we call her Olivia. She is a hamster (NOT a gerbil) and she is SO loved!

I casually suggested the name Olivia and Maggie loved it. of course, Olivia is after Olivia the pig after our new favorite book character. Olivia the pig has a little brother named Ian, so that's where Ian came from. Rosie is after Cousin Callie's pet fiddler crab that passed away on Father's Day.

We picked her up on Thursday and Maggie and Ellie both cried at bedtime that night because they wanted to sleep with her. We have already enjoyed her so much and she is a wonderful addition to our family.

Today is the eleventh anniversary of the day that Big Daddy and I said "I do".

The first thing that comes to mind when I say that, is why in the world did my parents let me get married when I was so young!?! Now, when I think of someone getting married at the age of 22, I just think they are babies. Babies. Of course, my parents had no issues with me getting married, but my goodness that sounds SO young now that I'm eleven years older. It took quite a while of living an hour away and being married before I stopped wondering (in the back of my mind) why they didn't call to see where I was. It was because I was a married adult. Silly me.

I have no pictures to share of the big day because I'm not going upstairs to turn on the desk top and find the file where I scanned a few pictures in. I don't even have a single wedding picture displayed in the house.

One of the things that I found out recently is that you think a certain day is so special until the next special day comes along. I wasn't sad at all to say goodbye to Maggie's preschool days because something bigger and better always seems to be around the corner. I feel the same way about wedding days.

When I think back on the past eleven years, our wedding day was just the beginning and doesn't seem that important at all. All of the decisions and fights and trips and fun times and babies that we've had since then seem so much more important. (Although I do think that eleven years of being married is a pretty big deal!)

My sister asked to keep the kids so that Big Daddy and I could do something fun together. So far, we'll be eating dinner (I have no idea what) and cleaning out the garage while they are having a sleepover. It doesn't sound like fun, but it will be nice to do it without children helping. On Saturday morning we may take his new kayak (Father's Day & anniversary gift) out to the lake, but we haven't decided yet. We are with the children nearly all of the time, so doing even the most mundane thing without them can seem pretty neat!