Texting Temptation

My children are no different than most.  They love modern technology and they would love to have their own cell phones-not to talk to friends, but to text.  Brendan is 10 and he has a couple of friends (all age 12 or 13) who have phones and love to text.  Friday night he got the phone number of a 12 year old female friend and begged me to allow him to text her on my phone.  I am not in any hurry to encourage this type of communication, but he was so excited about the idea that I let him send her a message.  He started Saturday with a message saying hi and wishing her a Merry Christmas.  She replied "you too".  Later she texted my phone with "hey".  I wasn't at home, so I texted her letting her know that Brendan wasn't around.  She texted back "lol Ok".  The flood gates had only been opened for about 24 hours and I had had enough.  Brendan compulsively asked me if he could see my phone to check for texts and/or to send a text.  The messages usually were only one or two words- nothing exciting.  Tonight at the Nutcracker I let him text her during intermission.  He let her know we were at the Nutcracker.  He could not leave me alone to enjoy the performance because he was so focused on whether he got a text in return.  He even tried to push the buttons on my phone while it was attached to my front pocket.  Immediately after the performance I told him that the texting experiment had failed and that there would be no more of it until further notice.  It is amazing how fast he got caught up in the text craze.  At this time we have a trac phone for the boys to take when we are not together- it does not have texting capabilities.  I know that it is the way many  most young people communicate but to me it is a way to be antisocial and tune out the world around you.  We'll see what the years to come bring- but for now...NO TEXTING!

No Coaching this Season...

I made a decision regarding coaching basketball this season...it's a no go. After weighing the pros and cons I was leaning toward coaching. The discussion with the boys was interesting. At first they were excited about me coaching them- but when I explained that we would not be on the same team as most of their football friends they changed their tune:). I wasn't bothered by this, in fact I expected it. After all we spent so many hours with our football friends and they all grew very close. My husband felt that they would make new friends in basketball, but with only one hour a week of practice- and then after a month the games start I just didn't see how the time would be there to cultivate many new friendships. In the end I based my decision on the possibility that I may be having surgery this winter. If I do need the surgery I could be out anywhere from 2-6 weeks, and I certainly won't be physically able to coach for several weeks. I would love to assist during practices this season while I can and I think that next season I will be sure to sign-up.

The boys have mentioned being nervous about starting basketball since it has been a long time since they played so I took them to an open gym this week. After a little bit of whining we really had fun, and they picked up the skills I taught them pretty quickly. I think the part they loved the most was playing defense on me as I dribbled around. In their eyes I am a wonderful ball-handler! I really enjoyed how impressed they were with my skill, and I surprised myself in that I wasn't terrible after many years of not playing. Let's be clear- I am not a good ball handler...when I played in college dribbling was almost always a sure way to get a turn-over for me...but in the eyes of my sweet 6, 8, and 10 year old boys I was awesome:).

Christmas

This year our Christmas will be a little different for our family.  We are living in a much smaller home, and most of our decorations are out in a small storage shed- buried under who-knows-what.  We don't have a lot of room for a grand tree- yet I still want to make it special for us all.  We have decided to get a live tree (in a container) and after Christmas we will find a nice spot to plant it.  We have always had artificial trees- but we sold ours before our move.  Our decorations are going to be home-made this year.  We are going to do the traditional popcorn string, paper chain garland, and maybe tissue paper flowers all over.  I'm sure the boys will have plenty of ideas of things to decorate the tree with.  I am sure we will miss seeing all the decorations that we have collected over the years, but I am hopeful that we will build lasting memories of the year we shook Christmas up a bit. 

The thing I am going to miss the most is having a fireplace to put the stockings.  I could probably hang them off of one of our cabinets, but it is just not the same.  I am going to try and get creative on a stocking substitute...I am open to suggestions!

I am excited about spending Christmas in our little cozy house and building some new traditions with my family.  I have a feeling that even when we do have access to all our ornaments and decorations we will carry on some of our new home-made adornments in the years to come.

Jinxed

I knew that posting about having 3 good days in row wasn't a good idea.  I jinxed the roll we were on.  Today was filled with bickering, whining, crying, and frustration.  The boys just could not get along with each other today.  I am thankful that tomorrow our friends are coming down for a visit so they will have buddies to play with and I will get to hang out with  my friend...adult time! 

I know the boys felt bad for their behavior today because after being sent to bed early for bickering they went into their room and worked together to clean the room...without my prompting.  No whining, fighting, or bickering.  I am thankful for the little things.

Good Days.

We have had 3 good days in a row.  When I say good I mean productive, focused, cooperative and enjoyable.  This goes for all 3 boys.  That is something to sing about!  Sure one or two of them can have a deccent day- but generally there is one (or more) whiner, procrastinator, stinker in the bunch.  We have completed every scheduled subject and had time for more.  I'm not sure if we have finally found our groove after 12 weeks of school, or if they just got tired of the drama, but whatever the cause I am enjoying it! 

A Child's History of the World

We recently started a new history program called A Child's History of the World that we got from Calvert.  Steve had purchased the book for our school a year or so ago and we had checked it out a few times, but we were using the Story of the World (SOTW)  and so I didn't give it too much attention.  Last year I found that SOTW wasn't keeping the boys attention.  So this year I started reading chapters of CHOTW to see what they thought.  They took to it right away.  The boys love history and they ask to do it all the time.  So far this program is a big hit.  It reminds me a lot of SOTW, but it seems more geared toward little boys.  They enjoy the way history is presented (like a story), and they love to interpret the lesson with an art activity afterward.  We liked it so much we ordered the workbook and lesson book- and the boys are still loving it.  Even though we had covered a lot of history last year, the boys voted to start at the beginning. It's nice to have them excited about history- I sure wasn't when I was a kid.  I look forward to seeing how the year progresses.

Will I or Won't I?

My boys are all signed up for swim team and basketball this winter. They will swim 2 days a week and have basketball practice 1 day a week. Today a friend of mine suggested I coach basketball. Her husband is actually the coach of the team that my youngest boys are on-but apparently the league needs more coaches and she thought of me.


I have coached a lot- and I do enjoy it, but I am concerned that my boys will give me a hard time. In the past when I have coached them I had one hanging on my leg while another whined about any/everything I asked him to do. It was painful! Granted they are a couple of years older now and they did a great job in football- so perhaps they have grown out of that stage. My other hesitation is that they were looking forward to seeing some of their old football teammates regularly again (and I would get to see my new football mom friends too). Tomorrow I will call the community education department and see if I can get some questions answered. Should be interesting...I am leaning toward yes:).

The Droid

I am fickle.  After less than 24 hours with my new phone, I am already a convert.  I had a little difficulty transferring my contacts into the Droid, but since I figured that out last night all is good.  I just spoke to my friend on speaker phone while I was getting ready for the day and I had a clear conversation- something I couldn't have done with the IPhone because the volume was too low.  The Droid is fast.  It has a voice activated search engine that really works.  I am sure there are many features that I am not aware of yet, but I do not miss my old friend the IPhone...and besides- I still have the IPhone...it is just an IPod now.  The best of both worlds I think!

TGIF

I really don't have much to say tonight- but since I signed up to blog for 30 days straight I am going to make an effort to get something on here.  It has been a long week and I am so glad that the weekend has arrived.  Tomorrow we will all take our time getting up and getting started.  The kids will fight over the remote control and what shows to watch while I try and get the cleaning finished around the house.  Laundry needs attention, and it's time to purge some things and put away summer clothes (yes I am late on this one).  We have birthday parties in the afternoon- 1 for the kids and the other for Steve and I (yeah!).  We will then have a nice peaceful Sunday- no plans as of yet.  Steve is still recovering from knee surgery, so it may be a family movie day.  Have a great evening!

So long IPhone my old friend...

Tonight is my last night with my IPhone.  My 2 year contract is up tomorrow, and I will be switching over to Verizon's new Droid.  I am not entirely doing this of my own free will- my husband is pretty much ripping my IPhone away from me- but he has legitimate issues with my phone.  AT &T does not have the best coverage and I can't count the number of times that I missed his calls or a call was dropped.  His frustration over not being able to reach me is understandable- I was frustrated too...but I LOVE my IPhone.  It is my portable computer, my music/video player, my note pad, my new favorite novel-it is so much more than a phone.  From all the reviews on the Droid it looks like it will be able to do everything my IPhone does, but I am a little nervous about the learning curve.  Rumor has it that Verizon will be getting the IPhone in 2010...who knows, it may be a case of "so long but not good-bye".  IPhone- you will be missed!

It has been almost 2 weeks since football ended.  I have enjoyed the freedom of an open schedule.  We spend longer hours in the classroom- working on assignments, reading books, playing on the computer, or drawing pictures to our hearts content.  With it getting dark by around 5:00 the evening seems very long with the kids.  Although they do get opportunities to run-around during the day they have far too much energy at night.  Bedtime has gone back to becoming a battle and I wake up to cranky boys.  I planned to wait a couple more weeks before starting swim team...but I think they need to get back into physical activity (especially one that sucks the energy out of them).  So back to the busy schedule- and hopefully boys who look forward to bedtime.

November is National Adoption Month.

If you know me or have been following this blog you are aware that our daughter was adopted last year through the state foster/adopt program.  We joke that we could be the poster family for the foster/adopt program, but that we would need to add the phrase "Results not Typical".  Our beautiful girl came home at one day old.  When she was 4 month old she was legally free, and at only 8 months old her adoption was finalized.  Results not typical.  Our experience was amazing.  We didn't experience the bumps in the road that many foster/adopt families face.  We were prepared for them- they just never came.  We have several friends who have adopted through foster/adopt, and some have had a challenging ride, but in the end they would not have changed a thing. 

Celebrating National Adoption Month brings to light that all children deserve a place to call home and a family.  If adoption is something you have been considering don't let preconcieved ideas about foster children scare you away.  There are no guarantees when it comes to becoming a parent and biological parenting can be a risk too.  Becoming a parent is a leap of faith.  Educate yourself and jump.

My Chickens

When we moved to this house in April of last year one of the features that I was most excited about was the chicken coop. I have wanted chickens for a long time, and now I was going to be able to realize that dream (said with my tongue in my cheek!). So shortly after we moved in we joined our neighbor (and landlord) at a livestock auction to add some hens of our own to the coop. The auction was quite an experience and there were many chickens to choose from. We came in with the idea that we would be able to get some "pretty" chickens at a cheap price- but soon found that the pretty ones were going for more than we wanted to spend. I was getting discouraged- and the kids were getting a little desperate when I laid my eyes on 4 pretty Rhode Island Red pullets (a pullet is a young female chicken). I had wanted my hens to be laying already, but the price was right on these beauties, and so we bid on them and won them.

We brought them home to their lovely coop by the lilac bushes and we fed and nurtured them. We watched them grow (and grow) and we soon watched them out-grow all of the other chickens in the coop. I started to think we got some special genetic blend of Rhode Island Red chickens. We waited patiently for eggs to start appearing. It was hard to know if they were laying yet since there were other chickens in the coop, but when some oddly shaped eggs started appearing we were sure they were from our girls.

Then one morning I heard a rooster crow at dawn. Strange I thought since we had no roosters. When I went to the coop to feed them their daily scraps, I looked closely at my GIANT hens. They had beautiful tail feathers and a large comb and waddle. I had seen them before, but I was in denial. The last straw was when Brendan pointed out the talon's on the feet of the hens roosters! I could deny it no more. We had been waiting, watching, nurturing, and expecting eggs from roosters. The next morning I heard 4 roosters crowing. The neighbors love us.

We learned from this experience. After finding the roosters a new home, we spent a little more money on some hens that were already laying. No mistakes this time. Fool me once...

A love/hate relationship.

Over that last several months I have been in control of my eating.  I had conquered my sugar addiction- and my nightly fat snack was becoming a distant memory.  I thought I had it all under control.  Then my favorite holiday comes.  The kids know I love Snickers- so they offer me all theirs.  Ok...1 or 2 won't hurt anything, will it?  Before long 1 or 2 grows into a candy chow down.  The flood gates have been opened.  I feel sick.  I hate  love candy.  Back to the 21day fast I'm afraid...I think I need an intervention.

I LOVE Halloween!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love Fall with the chill in the air, the leaves turning, and the spooky decorations that adorn people's houses. Prior to this year we have lived in populated neighborhoods where Steve and I would take turns taking the kids out for Trick or Treating- I love walking with the kids, and I also enjoy greeting the children at the door and having a quick chat with their waiting adults. This year we live on a sparsely populated street, and the walk down our driveway would tucker out just about any trick-or-treater (not to mention scare the heck out of them). For this reason, we ventured out to join some new friends in their subdivision. We started early as the kids were anxious to get started. Delaney had her own purple pumpkin to store her candy in and she held it tight the entire night. If I tried to "help" her hold it she shrieked "Nooooooo". Alrighty then-I left it up to her. The boys all came back with pounds of candy. They had a wonderful night, and they will be eating the rewards for days to come.

Halloween is also special because it is the anniversary of our daughter Delaney's adoption. Last year as we were closing in on an adoption date, we were shooting for National Adoption Day- which is in November. We thought it would be great to share that day with so many other adoptive families- including some of our dearest friends. We were a little disappointed when we found out that our lawyer was not available on that day, but when we heard we could finalize the adoption early...and on Halloween to boot we were excited. It has been an amazing year, and today is a day to reflect on our blessings. To commemorate this special day, we got Delaney a beautiful monogrammed charm bracelet and I put on the "Little Sister" charm that my mother sent her last year. It is really precious and Delaney seemed quite taken with it. The boys each got an action figure to play with. We carved pumpkins and enjoyed being a family. Life is good.

Football

Over the years we have tried team sports and have found that either our children weren't ready to participate due to lack of interest, immaturity, or physical readiness. Brendan and Aidan have participated in a swim team for 2 years with success. We have avoided taking the plunge back into team sports until this year. Late this summer the boys all started talking about football. They had all decided that they wanted to play football this year- and they were pretty insistent about it. Steve and I had our reservations. We weren't sure if they could take the physical and emotional "beating" that comes along with a competitive contact sport. We role-played with them what it might be like, we tried to talk them out if it, and eventually we signed them up. I about choked when I got the news that for the first month practice would be 5 nights per week for over 2 hours at a time. Talk about a huge adjustment! I wasn't worried about the boys anymore- I was worried about myself. Could I feed my family, entertain Delaney, keep my sanity while attending over 20 hours of practices per week? I had my doubts.

It didn't take long to see that I was all wrong about football. The boys thrived on their teams. There were none of the fears, tears, or tantrums that I expected. They ran, hit, pancaked and got flattened on a regular basis- and they loved it. As for me, I was pleasantly surprised about my reaction to all those hours on the field. I volunteered to be the team photographer for Aidan and Brogan's team-and I discovered that I wasn't half bad at it; I began making friends with all the parents, and I started to look forward to 5:00 every single day.

Throughout the season both teams (Brendan was on one team and Brogan and Aidan were on another) had their ups and downs as far as victories were concerned. There was also some sideline drama that was a little distracting- but all-in-all we watched our children grow and build strength that they didn't know they had in them. They were unrecognizable from the boys who stepped on that field for the first time in August. Football changed my views on many things...not just the actual sport. I am grateful for that. We were all sad for the season to end and they all are already talking about playing next year.

Go Wildcats!

I am a convert.

I am in my 5th year homeschooling my boys. As my children’s teacher I have enjoyed the independence, the flexibility, and the ability to select curricula that fits my children’s individual needs. As their mom I cherish the time with my kids, and the excitement of helping them learn new concepts and accomplish things that they didn’t think they could do. Over the years I have heard friends and other homeschoolers talk about various virtual academies that target homeschoolers and parents who are unhappy with public schools, but nervous about taking the leap into homeschooling. Most of the programs were far too restrictive in their curriculum choices, expectations, and requirements for my needs.

About a year ago I heard of one program that made my ears perk up- Columbia Virtual Academy (CVA). The thing that initially caught my attention was purely cash related…for each child enrolled in the program they offered a nice chunk of money to be used for books, art supplies, lessons, classes, field trips, and anything else related to the child’s individual learning plan. While my interest was piqued…I was still skeptical. I did NOT want to do school at home- and I wanted to be able continue to enjoy all the freedoms that I had since the beginning of this educational journey. After further investigation, I realized that CVA could be the best of both worlds. If we enrolled part-time we would be eligible for nearly $3,000.00- and really the only thing that I/we would have to do differently is check in with a teacher on a weekly basis (the kids) and update progress reports on a monthly basis (me). I still could determine classes/curriculum/goals/objectives/use of time/field trips etc. and with CVA’s support I could offer a richer education with so many more opportunities- things that I would have loved to have done all along but couldn’t justify due to expenses.

We joined the program in August, and I am thrilled with CVA. I have recommended the program to several friends, and I will continue to sing the program’s praises to homeschoolers who feel limited in what they can offer their children due to a limited budget. At this point I have not found any negatives stemming from our involvement in CVA, and if there comes a time when I do feel that the negatives out-weigh the positives, we will simply go back to homeschooling on a frugal budget without the backing of a virtual academy. For now the trade-off has been more than worth it…and I am officially a convert.

As Soon As…

I wrote this last year before the finalization of the adoption of our daughter. On October 31, 2008 our wait was over-so on the eve of the first anniversary of Delaney's adoption I thought I would publish this on my blog. I hope to use this post as a jump-start to post more often! (in the pictures you'll see the fence that we built to get our license approval...and Delaney today!)

People always tell me that I am a very patient person. Before having children I was a Special Education teacher, and that comment was directed at me on a very regular basis. For a time I believed it was true- but the adoption process taught me otherwise. Throughout the process I found myself vowing that I will be content as soon as… fill in the blank. The first example of this started with Antioch’s information meeting. I anxiously awaited the date for the meeting, and I told myself that as soon as my husband and I attended that meeting, then we could calmly and rationally contemplate our choices and we would patiently go forward with the next steps in the process. I truly felt that the process would be pretty easy for me since I was already busy raising 3 active little boys. I was naïve.

At each new step of the process I told myself over and over again as soon as, and within moments of reaching that next goal, the longing began creeping its way back into my thoughts- and remained there until the next as soon as took its’ place. As long as I had a job to do to keep me busy (that directly related to adoption of course) I felt we were one step closer to our daughter. (Did I mention we longed for a girl?) I barely took a moment to celebrate the completion of one milestone as I ached to jump into the next step. Although I heard the message over and over again from all the wonderful Antioch staff to have faith- and that our child would join us in when she was supposed to - so stop stressing and leave it to Him, part of me believed that He needed me to do the legwork- a little earthly assistance.

Not one step in the process went the way I expected. The milestone that I had been most looking forward to (other than bringing home our daughter)- and truly believed would be my last as soon as was the approval of our foster license. There had been several glitches along the way, and we were at the point that our file was on the licensor's desk just waiting for approval. On Valentine’s Day 2008 our YFC licensor Lois called to notify us of one last hurdle. We needed a fence around our empty above ground pool. I told her it would be done that weekend, and it was. (Getting the fence built is another story all together- one we’ll save for another day!) On the evening of February 18th (Presidents Day) as soon as the last nail was hammered in, I emailed photos of the completed fence to YFC. The next morning I checked my email and was thrilled to find a note from YFC letting me know that we should be hearing back from the state soon, but the fence looked great. When the phone rang a few minutes later- the caller ID read YFC. My heart started to race out of excitement to finally be there-licensed! The conversation that followed left me numb- “…we have a one day old baby girl…”the rest was pretty much a blur, but just hours later, joined by the very friend who referred me to Antioch Adoptions, I walked out of Tacoma General with our foster/adopt daughter. (My poor husband had left that morning for a business trip and was unable to join me.) Karen, the placement coordinator commented that this must feel like the shortest pregnancy ever. If she would have asked me the day before I would have said it was the longest pregnancy ever- but what a difference a day makes. We were there!

Even now- with our daughter safely at home, right where she should be- we wait. The months ahead will bring ups and downs. There are still as soon as milestones ahead, but now I do not dwell on them. I have learned that this process will run its course – have faith and try to embrace the wait.