Preferably in writing. For where we will be living next.
Although just when I think I'm good with a move to a tropical island hubby throws out there his doubts of remaining in or starts discussing civilian jobs. So, I'm just going to take it one day at a time. Just like the song or the theme from AA. Well, I think that's an AA theme based on this TV drama I was watching- but can't say for certain. It has pretty much every medical detail wrong so it could possibly have that wrong, too.
So I debate if I should actually weigh the tonnage of stuff I have disposed of or have piled in the guest room for either a theoretical yard sale or big donation to a tax write off sort of place. Either way we are moving and it is highly unlikely we will EVER live in a place as big as this one. Plus hubby was out on a government sponsored camping trip and on a pilgrimage to get his parents to Florida this week so I have plenty of time to sort through closets of stuff uninhibited by the opinion of the other adult in the house. Now the kids... Joey went with his dad, so his room is on the chopping block this week and JM was playing on the computer so completely oblivious to the trash bags leaving his room last week. The girls are hard. I'm threatening to send to stay with their grandparents so I can go through their room unrestricted by all the precious treasures they refuse to depart with. And by precious treasure I mean every bit of scrap paper, broken toy bits, destroyed jewlery and enough stuffed animals to completely fill a VW bug. And this was what escaped the last purge when they were in school prior to the last move. Although with my work schedule I didn't cull through it *quite* as thoroughly as I would now. The letting them log onto Minecraft doesn't work like it does with JM, one of the duo has hawk ears and the very second she hears that someone is having a cookie, donut or the sound of trash being removed from her room brings her running.
We've finally gotten involved with friends and activities so now the kids have changed their tune from "we hate it here' to 'well, it's ok if we don't have to move.' And as much as I 've felt relieved that we're finally connecting with others, I can't say I feel like this location has been the best fit for us. It rains entirely too much, the number of very very very young families and couples is overwhelming and makes me feel very very old and at the risk of sounding like a snob, the apparent education level of the bulk of the population is somewhere around 7th grade with 3rd grade grammar. But I'm really not a snob, I promise. But being raised a yankee in a education-as- priority family and state probably doesn't help. At least I've been able to find a few homeschool moms who have similar values.
Started fencing and sign language classes and writing classes and a co-op where I'm teaching the science portion. I'm actually enjoying the teaching part. I didn't think I really would, but past the kinder-2nd grade level it's not terrible. I'm teaching the 3-5th writing class and it's actually been enjoyable. The science class is 6-9th and the best part is that the co-op owns/bought the microscopes and dissection kits and preserved frogs and all sorts of other stuff that I'd been too cheap to buy. I haven't found chemistry burners yet, but I found test tubes and pipettes. It's only 15 weeks long so I think chemistry might be too much to cover anyway, we're doing basic science and biology concepts.
But if we do move to a tropical island and the kids go to school I'll look back into being a real nurse or school nurse or take the classes online to teach. As I figure it, Larry has changed careers since we've been married, time for me to consider a career change. Well, assuming that I want a career, which is not always certain.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Can you feel cold from looking at a picture?
Because Joey's off skiing with his scout troop and I swear I feel my face stinging just looking at the pictures.
Other than one text telling me that they arrived over 1 hour later than they were planing. Which, honestly, *I* could have told you was going to happen - because if GPS tells you it takes 5.5 hours to get somewhere AND you're planning on stopping for dinner, it is not going to take you 5.5 hours from when you leave to arrive. Uh- duh. PLUS, I don't know who was planning this, but I can tell you that the time for each stop increases incrementally with the number of bodies you have traveling together. Our family of 6 take double what a family of 3 would take, assuming similar efficiency and no disabilities. But at least this was a pack of boys, take a bus full of girls and suddenly the line at the bathroom is 35 minutes long. Although, I can say in traveling with only 2 boys, sometimes the men's bathroom is not always open for speedy use, either. For this reason, we developed a partiality for large truck stops - for big capacity bathrooms (plus plenty of room for a novice RV dragging a car driver like me to park without having to back up)
But I think I digressed.. the troop has a mom who vocally proclaims her OCD tendencies who made a facebook page and updated it with picture. It was kinda funny since we had a delay to winter here and I couldn't even remember the color of the brand new winter coat I had bought Joey. Apparently it was black or navy blue with royal blue trim. Good thing there was a sitting without the ski goggles and helmet picture or I wouldn't have know what same-as-everyone-else color coat I should be scanning for in the pictures.
But skiing was one of those few things that made winter fun. But now that my bones and muscles don't bounce back quite like they used to, I think winter is still over-rated. Although in hearing from the inlaws, it appears their shipment of winter has also been delayed- this time last year I think the schools had already had 3 weeks of snow days added to their spring schedule.
But mommy guilt has me feeling bad that the remaining kids have no "fun" stuff this weekend, so we're running off to the movies. Larry has introduced them to Star Wars and now that they have caught up on the rest of the 2 trilogies (what does that make that a septilogy?) we will go watch the latest. I will lament that I am now old and Han Solo/Luke/Leia are also old. But at least I'm younger than they are.
So until next time or until the force (or computer) awakens...
Other than one text telling me that they arrived over 1 hour later than they were planing. Which, honestly, *I* could have told you was going to happen - because if GPS tells you it takes 5.5 hours to get somewhere AND you're planning on stopping for dinner, it is not going to take you 5.5 hours from when you leave to arrive. Uh- duh. PLUS, I don't know who was planning this, but I can tell you that the time for each stop increases incrementally with the number of bodies you have traveling together. Our family of 6 take double what a family of 3 would take, assuming similar efficiency and no disabilities. But at least this was a pack of boys, take a bus full of girls and suddenly the line at the bathroom is 35 minutes long. Although, I can say in traveling with only 2 boys, sometimes the men's bathroom is not always open for speedy use, either. For this reason, we developed a partiality for large truck stops - for big capacity bathrooms (plus plenty of room for a novice RV dragging a car driver like me to park without having to back up)
But I think I digressed.. the troop has a mom who vocally proclaims her OCD tendencies who made a facebook page and updated it with picture. It was kinda funny since we had a delay to winter here and I couldn't even remember the color of the brand new winter coat I had bought Joey. Apparently it was black or navy blue with royal blue trim. Good thing there was a sitting without the ski goggles and helmet picture or I wouldn't have know what same-as-everyone-else color coat I should be scanning for in the pictures.
But skiing was one of those few things that made winter fun. But now that my bones and muscles don't bounce back quite like they used to, I think winter is still over-rated. Although in hearing from the inlaws, it appears their shipment of winter has also been delayed- this time last year I think the schools had already had 3 weeks of snow days added to their spring schedule.
But mommy guilt has me feeling bad that the remaining kids have no "fun" stuff this weekend, so we're running off to the movies. Larry has introduced them to Star Wars and now that they have caught up on the rest of the 2 trilogies (what does that make that a septilogy?) we will go watch the latest. I will lament that I am now old and Han Solo/Luke/Leia are also old. But at least I'm younger than they are.
So until next time or until the force (or computer) awakens...
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Impatiently waiting
It's that time again. That time were we will upheave our lives and move or transition or something. We're still in the mindset that hubby will retire from the Navy if he can manage to stay in, so we get to play the 'oohh what's available' game.
Of the 9 or 10 possible options hubby asked for, the only one that was mentioned as a possibility was the dead last one on the list. One he didn't even consult with me before putting it on the list. This of course throws my theory of 'you get the 4th or 5th choice' method out the window. That or hubby really made someone somewhere mad. It also shines a light on the practice of promising 'just take this crummy position and next time you'll get first pick' as total nonsense. Because THIS was one of those nobody-wants-to-go-there places and well, the people who make those promises know that they'll be gone and don't actually have to fulfill any of those promises.
Although as I understand it, if you want to promote and stay in, it 'looks good' to have a check box in all the life in the military inconvenience boxes. Cross country moves (X) Deployment (X) Green Side/Operational (XXXX) Overseas ( ) oh, I see. yes, that box is still vacant. Lucky for us, we need a waiver to go to many of those such places since we have more than 2.5 kids. Apparently housing regulations prohibit you from putting 4 kids in a closet. Only on submarines is this permissible and then only with grown men.
SOOOO since it is terrible form for the spouse to get involved I have to wait for hubby to get in touch with the person who makes the final decisions and he says she isn't answering the phone or replying to emails. *I* would be tempted to keep re-dialing until she finally gave up and answered the phone. But that's just me. Plus I don't have troublesome time constraints like a job to hold be back.
Although I have managed to almost over commit myself even without a job. So Monday afternoons we're in a group writing class, I'm teaching 3-5th graders. Friday morning we're in a co-op, I'm teaching 6-8th science.. Suddenly the possibilities of long weekends are shot. Or I'll just say 'hey, I need a substitute this week' and let someone else figure it out. The science class I'm actually a little excited over, the coop purchased dissection kits and frogs and had far more resources than I have at home (yet) And since a $250 microscope is pretty breakable and military movers are notorious about not breaking things I just couldn't justify it. Plus I am counting on dual enrolling for science and math and english (ok pretty much everything) for the second half of high school. Assuming we are in the US. OR there are online options but I think you just can't get the smell of science and chemistry labs without the actual classroom/lab experience.
The kids are good. Mostly. Some days I think I'd like to send a certain 8 year old to school because he just can't finish a task without getting out of his chair, but then I realize that I'd be getting those 'behavior reports' from whatever teacher he would have that would not be ok with said behavior. Also they don't usually appreciate his tendency to be the class comedian. HOWEVER if we go overseas and the DOD school is good, he is ABSOLUTELY going to school. and potentially to the pediatrician for that conversation about ritalin.
Spring sports sign ups are upon us and they don't offer soccer so it looks like baseball it is. Golf was an absolute waste of time, so I think we'll pass on that one. There's a running club that I'm mentally preparing myself to get the kids involved in. However, practices are at 7 am and we're just not morning people here. But then again, I'd like to be more morning people than we are. Larry leaves at 5:30 3 times a week, so if I can not go back to bed, it's a whole lot more morning left than if I crawl out of bed at 7:30. We will see, first practice is next monday, and since it's a holiday for hubby it'll be THAT MUCH HARDER to get out of bed. Maybe we'll catch up with them for the second practice. I think base offered track in spring, so maybe we'll get it together and sign up for that.
Joey's in scouts now, and aside from all the boys being pretty much live wires, I think he enjoys it. He's skiing this weekend with them. Hopefully he will return with zero broken bones. Speaking of, I need to remember to make a copy of his health insurance information to send with him....
Of the 9 or 10 possible options hubby asked for, the only one that was mentioned as a possibility was the dead last one on the list. One he didn't even consult with me before putting it on the list. This of course throws my theory of 'you get the 4th or 5th choice' method out the window. That or hubby really made someone somewhere mad. It also shines a light on the practice of promising 'just take this crummy position and next time you'll get first pick' as total nonsense. Because THIS was one of those nobody-wants-to-go-there places and well, the people who make those promises know that they'll be gone and don't actually have to fulfill any of those promises.
Although as I understand it, if you want to promote and stay in, it 'looks good' to have a check box in all the life in the military inconvenience boxes. Cross country moves (X) Deployment (X) Green Side/Operational (XXXX) Overseas ( ) oh, I see. yes, that box is still vacant. Lucky for us, we need a waiver to go to many of those such places since we have more than 2.5 kids. Apparently housing regulations prohibit you from putting 4 kids in a closet. Only on submarines is this permissible and then only with grown men.
SOOOO since it is terrible form for the spouse to get involved I have to wait for hubby to get in touch with the person who makes the final decisions and he says she isn't answering the phone or replying to emails. *I* would be tempted to keep re-dialing until she finally gave up and answered the phone. But that's just me. Plus I don't have troublesome time constraints like a job to hold be back.
Although I have managed to almost over commit myself even without a job. So Monday afternoons we're in a group writing class, I'm teaching 3-5th graders. Friday morning we're in a co-op, I'm teaching 6-8th science.. Suddenly the possibilities of long weekends are shot. Or I'll just say 'hey, I need a substitute this week' and let someone else figure it out. The science class I'm actually a little excited over, the coop purchased dissection kits and frogs and had far more resources than I have at home (yet) And since a $250 microscope is pretty breakable and military movers are notorious about not breaking things I just couldn't justify it. Plus I am counting on dual enrolling for science and math and english (ok pretty much everything) for the second half of high school. Assuming we are in the US. OR there are online options but I think you just can't get the smell of science and chemistry labs without the actual classroom/lab experience.
The kids are good. Mostly. Some days I think I'd like to send a certain 8 year old to school because he just can't finish a task without getting out of his chair, but then I realize that I'd be getting those 'behavior reports' from whatever teacher he would have that would not be ok with said behavior. Also they don't usually appreciate his tendency to be the class comedian. HOWEVER if we go overseas and the DOD school is good, he is ABSOLUTELY going to school. and potentially to the pediatrician for that conversation about ritalin.
Spring sports sign ups are upon us and they don't offer soccer so it looks like baseball it is. Golf was an absolute waste of time, so I think we'll pass on that one. There's a running club that I'm mentally preparing myself to get the kids involved in. However, practices are at 7 am and we're just not morning people here. But then again, I'd like to be more morning people than we are. Larry leaves at 5:30 3 times a week, so if I can not go back to bed, it's a whole lot more morning left than if I crawl out of bed at 7:30. We will see, first practice is next monday, and since it's a holiday for hubby it'll be THAT MUCH HARDER to get out of bed. Maybe we'll catch up with them for the second practice. I think base offered track in spring, so maybe we'll get it together and sign up for that.
Joey's in scouts now, and aside from all the boys being pretty much live wires, I think he enjoys it. He's skiing this weekend with them. Hopefully he will return with zero broken bones. Speaking of, I need to remember to make a copy of his health insurance information to send with him....
Saturday, December 19, 2015
The trouble with the world today is...
Let's pretend I'm 19 and have all the answers in the world again. I can fix EVERYTHING and have not been jaded and trampled by life not going exactly as I expected it to go.
And let pretend I have a blog. (ok, pretend it's 19 year old me not midlife crisis me)
And let's surround my blog with people who read what I write and take it as gospel truth, because if it's on the internet and has a million page hits or is linked by another blog or news site I like, it must be true.
And people circulate these posts, and other people circulate the dead opposite posts, and both people think their side has monopolized the truth/true way to fix the world/economy/religion/etc...
I finally hit that proverbial straw this week when rather than hitting delete, I started responding. I had been operating under the modus operandi of 'respond with grace/ignore/delete' but this clearly has only gotten my 1083 unread emails in my inbox and a facebook feed I can hardly read. So my almost new year resolution is to no longer just ignore but to respond - to everything that I disagree, because isn't that the way the internet is supposed to work?
No one listens anymore, since their minds are already made up and they have 1000 or something likes to prove they are right.
Most things won't matter in eternity. Life the life that God has called you to do, demonstrate His love for others and stop doing battles on every front there is. God did not call us to destroy each others' churches. He did not call us to pick fights in extra-biblical theology. He called us each to an individual relationship with Him. He did not call us to critique other's relationship or lack thereof with Him. There is a few verses about this- he without sin casting the first stone (john 8:7) and taking care of the log in your own eye (matt 7:3-5).
The one thing in life that has opened my eyes to the way our heavenly Father's relationship with us is parenting kids. So many times there are squabbles and tattling- child a with sin issue a tattling on child b with sin issue b. And like our heavenly Father, I want to YELL at them (does He yell? Sometimes I think he does) IF YOU CAN JUST WORK ON YOUR OWN ISSUES AND LET THEM WORK ON THEIR OWN ISSUES WE'D ALL GET ALONG SO MUCH BETTER!!! And that is what I feel when I see church member a getting wound up that church b isn't "taking a strong stand against (abortion, same sex marriage, upholding the constitution, liturgical rites, etc)
So often I see church b brow beating someone (who wants nothing to do with Church B) for going to hell for not following their moral code. The church is putting the pony before the cart. There is no reason for people to follow the laws/moral code/etc of the Bible if they don't claim to be a Christian or follower of Christ. And the way the 'christians' treat them, I hardly blame then for not wanting anything to do with Christianity.
Jesus came to serve then call people to repent and follow him. If we could all get that order right, God would be pleased and the world would be better.
But the more we continue fighting being angry with each other and forwarding, posting more of the same, the more evil triumphs.
We have a choice.
And let pretend I have a blog. (ok, pretend it's 19 year old me not midlife crisis me)
And let's surround my blog with people who read what I write and take it as gospel truth, because if it's on the internet and has a million page hits or is linked by another blog or news site I like, it must be true.
And people circulate these posts, and other people circulate the dead opposite posts, and both people think their side has monopolized the truth/true way to fix the world/economy/religion/etc...
I finally hit that proverbial straw this week when rather than hitting delete, I started responding. I had been operating under the modus operandi of 'respond with grace/ignore/delete' but this clearly has only gotten my 1083 unread emails in my inbox and a facebook feed I can hardly read. So my almost new year resolution is to no longer just ignore but to respond - to everything that I disagree, because isn't that the way the internet is supposed to work?
No one listens anymore, since their minds are already made up and they have 1000 or something likes to prove they are right.
Most things won't matter in eternity. Life the life that God has called you to do, demonstrate His love for others and stop doing battles on every front there is. God did not call us to destroy each others' churches. He did not call us to pick fights in extra-biblical theology. He called us each to an individual relationship with Him. He did not call us to critique other's relationship or lack thereof with Him. There is a few verses about this- he without sin casting the first stone (john 8:7) and taking care of the log in your own eye (matt 7:3-5).
The one thing in life that has opened my eyes to the way our heavenly Father's relationship with us is parenting kids. So many times there are squabbles and tattling- child a with sin issue a tattling on child b with sin issue b. And like our heavenly Father, I want to YELL at them (does He yell? Sometimes I think he does) IF YOU CAN JUST WORK ON YOUR OWN ISSUES AND LET THEM WORK ON THEIR OWN ISSUES WE'D ALL GET ALONG SO MUCH BETTER!!! And that is what I feel when I see church member a getting wound up that church b isn't "taking a strong stand against (abortion, same sex marriage, upholding the constitution, liturgical rites, etc)
So often I see church b brow beating someone (who wants nothing to do with Church B) for going to hell for not following their moral code. The church is putting the pony before the cart. There is no reason for people to follow the laws/moral code/etc of the Bible if they don't claim to be a Christian or follower of Christ. And the way the 'christians' treat them, I hardly blame then for not wanting anything to do with Christianity.
Jesus came to serve then call people to repent and follow him. If we could all get that order right, God would be pleased and the world would be better.
But the more we continue fighting being angry with each other and forwarding, posting more of the same, the more evil triumphs.
We have a choice.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Annual Christmas Letters
It's that time of year where we start receiving those brag sheets annual Christmas letters with updated pictures of kids we may or not have seen, ever. Of course since we moved shortly before Christmas last year and have given up on updating addresses for pretty much anyone when there is facebook and email available for contacting.. and blogging if one is so motivated.
But anyhow, tocompete with keep in contact with all those not forgotten loved family and friends, here is our letter:
Greetings to all our loved friends and family! In case you missed our un-mailed letter and address change notices from last year(s) we are now living in coastal North Carolina and waiting with baited breath to hear our next duty station. We should here in the next 2 weeks, or 2 months, or about 2 weeks before we have to report to the new station. We anticipate moving to Florida, Texas, California, Japan, or some other heretoforth not known location that will take me a full year to accept living there. Briefly we thought we might be getting out of the military since staying in requires certain physical fitness and weight requirements that is completely not compatible with our baking habits, but the insurance is pretty good and the forced adaptability skills are not to be missed. Plus there is that motto about seeing the world and all that was promised.
This year Larry did get to see the world, or at least Europe/Spain for 8 months. I guess if you have to deploy, Europe is the way to go. It certainly would be my first choice. I did rope my parents into watching the kids so I could visit him while he was there. For those of you familiar with the military ways- yes, this was rather unusual for a deployment. But if you get sponsored by the command you can not only visit but you can fly Space-A. Space-A is short for Space-Available which roughly translated means you can get onto a military transport plane going in the direction you want to go for free or dirt cheap, but you have to show up and hope there is an open seat and it's based on a ranking system of who needs to go and how only wants to go and how long ago you signed up to go.. in a logarithm some programmer came up with.
I learned a few things: sign up early, pack light but bring a winter coat even if you travel from 90 degrees to 90 degrees because at 10000 feet or however night they fly, it gets dang cold in an unheated plane. I also learned if you wanted to pack an air mattress and sleeping bag, you can completely lay down to sleep in such planes. Really trippy, but c-c-c-c-cold.
But Spain was totally cool and I'd add it to my list of "places I wish the military would send us" but the nature of military life is that the very second I add it to my top 3 locations, I will.not.get.that.place. So, it's unspoken. Plus I'm not sure the grandparents would totally forgive us for taking their grandkids that far away even if we flew space-a back yearly to visit.
The kids are just fantastic.
Sonia ( age 12 , grade uncertain since we homeschool and grades are just arbitrary designations anyway) loves homeschooling because it means that instead of my harassing her to wake up for school at 6:30 she can sleep in until 8:30, or 12:30 if her mother gives up on the battle that day. She still loves animals, especially strays more than her siblings and has taken to feeding every stray cat in a 5 mile radius. If you could possibly adopt a cat, please come see me. I will ship them, if I can catch them. She also enjoys reading, cake decorating, sleeping in and standing up straight since it makes her appear taller than her mother. She played volleyball this year as a compromise since it involved no running and was an indoor-air-conditioned sport and comfort is key.
Joey ( age 12 about to enter engineering as a profession) has make it a life goal this month to devise a trap to trap said strays to aid and abet his mother in dropping said creatures off at the pound. Since we have yet to successfully manage this, our front porch/stoop looks like a cardboard box disaster complete with sticks, rubber bands and cat food and fabric bits. He did successfully catch one, however it would turn out that packing tape is not strong enough to contain the fury of a captured stray cat, so while that success was short lived, the tape does contain enough hair and DNA evidence of holding a cat to give him hope of catching them. Other than that, his hobbies include minecrafting, golf, growing 6 inches this year and sprouting a pair of feet bigger than his father's feet and he joined boy scouts this year. From our limited experience with the boy scouts thus far it appears that a new hobby will include playing with fire and a pocket knife as soon as he earns the pocket knife 'tote-n-chip' or whatever the official permission is that scouts gives you to carry a knife - think of it as the concealed carry permit for the pre-driving crowd.
Kayla (age 10 and at last count I think is somewhere between the 5th and 6th grade) is still playing the role of the agreeable middle child except for the days that she isn't agreeable. She still is our resident life coach to her younger brother and the example to the rest of us of how extroverts live. She is our fashion conscious, fad following child who keeps me up on all my texting acronyms. IDK where she learned them all, but it would appear that she is the child that knows the trends. At a homeschool Christmas party today she was the one of my 4 kids who not only went up to do the dance but knew the moves to it. If anyone wants to tell me that homeschool kids are necessarily sheltered and odd, let me introduce them to this kid. She cha-cha slides and sings one-direction (who apparently goes by 1D?) with the best of her public school counterparts. But seriously we don't even have cable, I think this kid learns this stuff by osmosis.
JonMichael (age 8, at last count he's somewhere between 3-4th grade) remains our youngest child. Much of his antics secure that position because after him, I'm pretty sure we are just broken parents who are just surviving. He announced this year that he wants to be called "Jonathan" however, I'm pretty sure his real name is "Tigger" since it would most certainly appear that his top is made out of rubber and his bottom is made out of springs. We bought a trampoline this year, largely because I thought he needed something to expel all this energy that didn't involved absolutely destroying the house and so far we have experienced 0 broken bones, so I call this a win. Unfortunately is rains a great deal here and trampolines are entirely an outdoor toy. He remains our sports orientated kid and loves anything that involves a ball. This year we added golf to his sports played mostly because they were short one kid for the team Joey was on. He and Kayla consider the entire world the audience for their 2 person comedy act. They get this from their father, I think- he's the funny one here.
Larry continues to work with Marines and has picked up minecraft to play with the kids,or at least he said it was to play with the kids. They have some communal island and build and grow things. I tell them they should try programming so they can be the ones making the next big thing like minecraft. No one is really interested.
Gina has no interest in Minecraft and has over 1000 unread emails in her inbox. She occasionally thinks of going back to work but in the meantime has been driving kids to co-op class, sports, and will be teaching the 6-9th graders science this winter. We continue to homeschool since we have managed to cover more material in less time and have more flexibility in our learning. Also the flexibility in vacations, sleep schedules and pretty much everything else is pretty awesome, too. And not being in the parent pick-up and drop-off lines every day: priceless. But who knows and we are fickle people and next year might bring public or private or charter school, depending on location.
Overall this year has been filled with ups and downs and character flaws and character growth. We've been able to look back over our friends and family lists and photos and reminisce about lovely memories and hopeful dreams for the future. No matter where our lives have crossed and where they will cross again, the one hope we have is that we will meet again in eternity. Until then, we blog, we laugh, we eat and hope to see you all again.
Much love
XOXOX
G, L and kids.
But anyhow, to
Greetings to all our loved friends and family! In case you missed our un-mailed letter and address change notices from last year(s) we are now living in coastal North Carolina and waiting with baited breath to hear our next duty station. We should here in the next 2 weeks, or 2 months, or about 2 weeks before we have to report to the new station. We anticipate moving to Florida, Texas, California, Japan, or some other heretoforth not known location that will take me a full year to accept living there. Briefly we thought we might be getting out of the military since staying in requires certain physical fitness and weight requirements that is completely not compatible with our baking habits, but the insurance is pretty good and the forced adaptability skills are not to be missed. Plus there is that motto about seeing the world and all that was promised.
This year Larry did get to see the world, or at least Europe/Spain for 8 months. I guess if you have to deploy, Europe is the way to go. It certainly would be my first choice. I did rope my parents into watching the kids so I could visit him while he was there. For those of you familiar with the military ways- yes, this was rather unusual for a deployment. But if you get sponsored by the command you can not only visit but you can fly Space-A. Space-A is short for Space-Available which roughly translated means you can get onto a military transport plane going in the direction you want to go for free or dirt cheap, but you have to show up and hope there is an open seat and it's based on a ranking system of who needs to go and how only wants to go and how long ago you signed up to go.. in a logarithm some programmer came up with.
I learned a few things: sign up early, pack light but bring a winter coat even if you travel from 90 degrees to 90 degrees because at 10000 feet or however night they fly, it gets dang cold in an unheated plane. I also learned if you wanted to pack an air mattress and sleeping bag, you can completely lay down to sleep in such planes. Really trippy, but c-c-c-c-cold.
But Spain was totally cool and I'd add it to my list of "places I wish the military would send us" but the nature of military life is that the very second I add it to my top 3 locations, I will.not.get.that.place. So, it's unspoken. Plus I'm not sure the grandparents would totally forgive us for taking their grandkids that far away even if we flew space-a back yearly to visit.
The kids are just fantastic.
Sonia ( age 12 , grade uncertain since we homeschool and grades are just arbitrary designations anyway) loves homeschooling because it means that instead of my harassing her to wake up for school at 6:30 she can sleep in until 8:30, or 12:30 if her mother gives up on the battle that day. She still loves animals, especially strays more than her siblings and has taken to feeding every stray cat in a 5 mile radius. If you could possibly adopt a cat, please come see me. I will ship them, if I can catch them. She also enjoys reading, cake decorating, sleeping in and standing up straight since it makes her appear taller than her mother. She played volleyball this year as a compromise since it involved no running and was an indoor-air-conditioned sport and comfort is key.
Joey ( age 12 about to enter engineering as a profession) has make it a life goal this month to devise a trap to trap said strays to aid and abet his mother in dropping said creatures off at the pound. Since we have yet to successfully manage this, our front porch/stoop looks like a cardboard box disaster complete with sticks, rubber bands and cat food and fabric bits. He did successfully catch one, however it would turn out that packing tape is not strong enough to contain the fury of a captured stray cat, so while that success was short lived, the tape does contain enough hair and DNA evidence of holding a cat to give him hope of catching them. Other than that, his hobbies include minecrafting, golf, growing 6 inches this year and sprouting a pair of feet bigger than his father's feet and he joined boy scouts this year. From our limited experience with the boy scouts thus far it appears that a new hobby will include playing with fire and a pocket knife as soon as he earns the pocket knife 'tote-n-chip' or whatever the official permission is that scouts gives you to carry a knife - think of it as the concealed carry permit for the pre-driving crowd.
Kayla (age 10 and at last count I think is somewhere between the 5th and 6th grade) is still playing the role of the agreeable middle child except for the days that she isn't agreeable. She still is our resident life coach to her younger brother and the example to the rest of us of how extroverts live. She is our fashion conscious, fad following child who keeps me up on all my texting acronyms. IDK where she learned them all, but it would appear that she is the child that knows the trends. At a homeschool Christmas party today she was the one of my 4 kids who not only went up to do the dance but knew the moves to it. If anyone wants to tell me that homeschool kids are necessarily sheltered and odd, let me introduce them to this kid. She cha-cha slides and sings one-direction (who apparently goes by 1D?) with the best of her public school counterparts. But seriously we don't even have cable, I think this kid learns this stuff by osmosis.
JonMichael (age 8, at last count he's somewhere between 3-4th grade) remains our youngest child. Much of his antics secure that position because after him, I'm pretty sure we are just broken parents who are just surviving. He announced this year that he wants to be called "Jonathan" however, I'm pretty sure his real name is "Tigger" since it would most certainly appear that his top is made out of rubber and his bottom is made out of springs. We bought a trampoline this year, largely because I thought he needed something to expel all this energy that didn't involved absolutely destroying the house and so far we have experienced 0 broken bones, so I call this a win. Unfortunately is rains a great deal here and trampolines are entirely an outdoor toy. He remains our sports orientated kid and loves anything that involves a ball. This year we added golf to his sports played mostly because they were short one kid for the team Joey was on. He and Kayla consider the entire world the audience for their 2 person comedy act. They get this from their father, I think- he's the funny one here.
Larry continues to work with Marines and has picked up minecraft to play with the kids,or at least he said it was to play with the kids. They have some communal island and build and grow things. I tell them they should try programming so they can be the ones making the next big thing like minecraft. No one is really interested.
Gina has no interest in Minecraft and has over 1000 unread emails in her inbox. She occasionally thinks of going back to work but in the meantime has been driving kids to co-op class, sports, and will be teaching the 6-9th graders science this winter. We continue to homeschool since we have managed to cover more material in less time and have more flexibility in our learning. Also the flexibility in vacations, sleep schedules and pretty much everything else is pretty awesome, too. And not being in the parent pick-up and drop-off lines every day: priceless. But who knows and we are fickle people and next year might bring public or private or charter school, depending on location.
Overall this year has been filled with ups and downs and character flaws and character growth. We've been able to look back over our friends and family lists and photos and reminisce about lovely memories and hopeful dreams for the future. No matter where our lives have crossed and where they will cross again, the one hope we have is that we will meet again in eternity. Until then, we blog, we laugh, we eat and hope to see you all again.
Much love
XOXOX
G, L and kids.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Furghettabout it
I'm listening to an 'informative webinar' which is supposed to go over the jr high program in said program I've been considering that's part of the current program we're in.
And I have a few impressions:
1. using big words that no one understands doesn't convince the world you are smart. Quadrivium? seriously. ooohhh, wait... I took latin. Quad clearly means "4" but rivium? humm I got nothing.
2. IMPRESSIONS MATTER. Starting late, 'technical' problems after a late start do not give the impression that you are a professional. I AM NOT IMPRESSED.
3. 37 minutes into this and I still have ZERO idea about what they are covering. WHY you ask. Lemme share a slide from this presentation. I believe it's supposed to convey that everything is interconnected.
(oh. wait. Since I got the new iphone my computer doesn't recognize it. I'll work on this. In the meantime. Pull up a graph in your memory. Then put arrows everywhere over it. That's the slide.)
Seriously, for an organization that prides itself on producing students on being able to present material they really need to evaluate the presentations they are producing.
The only parts I think would be beneficial are the group discussions, mock trials and science fair.
And I have a few impressions:
1. using big words that no one understands doesn't convince the world you are smart. Quadrivium? seriously. ooohhh, wait... I took latin. Quad clearly means "4" but rivium? humm I got nothing.
2. IMPRESSIONS MATTER. Starting late, 'technical' problems after a late start do not give the impression that you are a professional. I AM NOT IMPRESSED.
3. 37 minutes into this and I still have ZERO idea about what they are covering. WHY you ask. Lemme share a slide from this presentation. I believe it's supposed to convey that everything is interconnected.
(oh. wait. Since I got the new iphone my computer doesn't recognize it. I'll work on this. In the meantime. Pull up a graph in your memory. Then put arrows everywhere over it. That's the slide.)
Seriously, for an organization that prides itself on producing students on being able to present material they really need to evaluate the presentations they are producing.
The only parts I think would be beneficial are the group discussions, mock trials and science fair.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
New year, New Posts
Yes, I know it's already a full month into the New Year. And honestly now that the business is closed I feel like I have a much better handle on my time for the most part. Or, rather - now that the business is closed, Larry is overseas, the kid aren't going to fulltime school and I'm not trying to juggle working and a dozen other commitments I feel like I have a better handle on my time.
That said I'm back to hash out my thoughts. I am open to GENTLE suggestions. Yes, I'm talking to you, Mom and Dad.
So.. I signed the kids up for a well known school program. I felt like I was floundering and not really reaching the potential of all they could be learning and wanted more. Like the really smart homeschool kids I had in my mind that graduate college at age 16 sort of smart because they ARE that smart if their mother says so herself.
So this program is a once a week program with lots of memory work that is supposed to form all sorts of foundations for the rest of their schooling. They memorize a timeline of events from Creation to Sept 11. And if you buy the $35 CD set you too can own the 16 minute long song. Actually it's about the best (only) thing on that CD worth listening to all that much.
They "learn" (memorize) the songs for states, capitals, presidents and hand gestures to go with it. It's impressive to see their showcase 6 year olds be able to recite all the presidents of the US when I can barely remember half of them.
HOWEVER.
I'm 3 weeks into this and I'm really having second thoughts on this whole model and company.
First of all- it is not cheap. Their "corporate" gets fees for each child and if you have a 4th grader and up they get 2 fees for each child. I'm not entirely sure what these fees go to other than paying the lawyers they hire to try to keep their proprietary system out the the hands of non paying classical teaching parents. Frankly my 3 interactions with them trying to order my books has left a bitter taste in my mouth. They let me buy them, but refused to ship them until they had confirmation I had paid the fees for a class in the future and then did not send all of them because they were 'backordered.' Then to boot the newest edition which isn't officially a revised edition is 2 pages off of everyone elses' book PLUS the 'recommended to go with' timeline cards were not the ones to go with this cycle but I didn't realize they had shipped and I had ordered the wrong ones until I had opened them. If they girls they have answering their phones are graduates of their program I'm getting off this trail now. BUT it's a no refund policy so I'm pretty much committed for this year. And I'm trying not to finish burning this bridge with 17(or whatever) more weeks left in the classes.
The whole method is they have 'tutors' which 'teach' you child (read from the pre-approved verbage of corporate and demonstrate approved hand gestures) for the facts of the week. Then sing song about them and drill said facts and facts from previous 6 weeks. OK. information is being imparted I'm ok with that.
The first week I watched the older class (parents are supposed to be in there helping/watching/whatever) and the tutor was engaging and organized. BUT.. I added 3 kids to the class and the tutor didn't want to continue so they split the class into 2 classes and gave them 2 new tutors(teachers) the following week. One of which started the same week I did. OOOOkkayyyyyy. No longer impressed. Daughter 1 was in a class with one other girl who's mother was the teacher . Granted there was another girl absent but when you have one sullen teen with their mother and my daughter in a room I don't see a whole lot of the 'socialization' aspect that this community promised to deliver. So that was week 2.
Week 3 (today) I went into JMs class. He told me he was the oldest in his class. I didn't realize he was in with kids who couldn't even spell their name or speak intelligibly. Sure I'm an over-achieving parent but you can not possibly expect that my kid is going to learn in this sort of environment. EVEN with the song method of teaching - because the chaos was so loud I couldn't figure out was was being taught. And we missed 13 previous weeks of material.. I was mad. I asked the teacher if he was too old for this class and then asked the director why he was in a class with 4-5 year olds. She said 'oh, there were other kids absent who are older' which was total nonsense because there was ONE kid missing and she was 7. Talk to the other teacher and she has 7 -9 year olds. So why was my kid in the class with the kid that wouldn't keep his hands out of his pants or nose? And why are you telling me that in other communities there are 4-10 year olds in the same class as justification? If other schools have kids smoking pot are you going to say it's ok? *I* teach 8-11 year olds in one house and I can tell you from experience that it's a HECK of a lot easier to teach them at their level rather than trying to teach an 8 year old 7th grade math or expect a 11 year old to not be bored to tears with basic writing. Sure, some subjects would work. EVEN this timeline stuff could work in theory. I sure as heck wasn't seeing it work in real life.
So. Next week he will be in the "other" class that they still defend are the same age. I call BS if the director can't tell the difference between a 5 year old and 9 year old perhaps she should try teaching that age spread.
The afternoons JM goes to "Bible study" which is akin to nursery at church where it's basically babysitting with a Bible picture to color in. (It's a "christian") program. Today he was whining that he would rather stay with me which for me is all sorts of red flags. I'll probably keep him with me next week.
Where am I when this is going on? I'm in the afternoon grammar/writing class for the 4th-6th graders. It's old school. I mean older than me school- they still teach diagramming sentences. And after having to teach myself and the kids 13 weeks of this we are finally caught up and getting it, more or less. The diagramming part I could take or leave. It has a cult like following, almost reverent worship among parents who do this program, but I honestly can't see how it's all that useful. Not even at the college english major level useful. Sure you can identify subject/noun/adjective/adverb/pronoun but my kids learned that doing ad libs. Writing is a weak area for my kids and the IEW book and DVDs they use I actually find useful, but that's 1/3 of the afternoon. And THOSE books I don't need to be a paying member to buy since it's a totally different system.
Next year the 7th graders are supposed to graduate into a 'amazing/wonderful/challenging/make-your-child-guaranteed-to-succeed-in-life' program. And all the costs associated with this will nearly double. If we want to try to secure a spot I have to register for it next week. NEXT WEEK. There is all sorts of 'it will sell out, so register fast' pressure especially since I want to transfer to a campus here in town rather than commute an hour. I've hear they are larger campuses and I have hopes that means that they'd be more organized out of default and that they kids would have more opportunity to make friends their ages.
But I'm torn. This is one of those programs that you're supposed to commit to 3 years to get all that memory foundation. I see some benefit to memory. I think I'd like to keep JM and Kayla in it. I';m just so very torn on what to do with Sonia and Joey. Sonia wants to go to public school based solely on the fact that she would have more regular access to a library. Joey wants to homeschool based solely on his desire to not be in school from 7:30-3:30. I think they're learning more this year and we're fixing alot of bad habits and learning what was missed along the way. But I'm not in love with this program and I'm a bit creeped out by the way this program has a cult like following that you MUST love it and I find myself frustrated that the corporate office control and propaganda.
Some of my biggest frustrations come from the degree of propaganda and control. They won't let you buy the curriculum until you enroll in it. So I can't see next years until I enroll? So I can't make an educated decision I just have to go based on their testimonials that this is the best academic program out there, well worth the high cost. If I wanted to make decisions based on testimonials alone I'd buy all my household goods off late-night TV.
I have until Feb 10 to decide. I know Larry thinks I should send them to school because he thinks social interaction is key. I find this incredibly ironic coming from one of the least social people I know. I haven't met anyone who has said 'wow, jr high years in school were awesome' and have met countless people and count myself among those that would rather chop off appendages than have to live through those years again, especially everything that involved the interactions with others in school.
I approached the director asking to see a copy of the 7th grade program before committing and since her kids are not that age she doesn't have one. I can ask the local overseer on Feb 18th when she's visiting.. but that's exactly 8 days too late.
Maybe I'll email her directly. At this point I have few reservations. I already gave my current campus my 'I'm not returning in the fall' notice. EVEN IF the rest are full I can't see it worth going back there. I have the books. I'd buy the CDs and call it a day. Maybe that's my problem, that deep down inside I'm not a social person? That I'd rather raise my kids in a vacuum that I enjoy than go out in a world that I have to regularly filter what I say. This particular area I'm needing to filter alot.
But since this is my overall dumping ground.. let me say a few things:
First of all- I know we live in the south here and all... but seriously "Lincoln's war between the states" and "Lincoln went to war against the southern states" has a serious bias. And while I like and appreciate Jim and Elizabeth Eliot, Missionaries to Equador are they really world events? Seriously- he got killed that first year he attempted to reach that people group. Their legacy lives on and all and I really respect what Mrs Elliot had since done in life but really? They're on par with the War of 1812 and China's Ming Dynasty?? I understand they(the program) used to use Veritas Press timeline. I may go buy that instead if we flunk out of this system. At least then I'll have something to compare it to.
And lastly. Some of those songs on those CD's.... ugh. just ugh. Like if the kids fight in the car I threaten to play them but only if I first put on headphones. Screeching soprano, no accompaniment. Seriously. Just. No.
That said I'm back to hash out my thoughts. I am open to GENTLE suggestions. Yes, I'm talking to you, Mom and Dad.
So.. I signed the kids up for a well known school program. I felt like I was floundering and not really reaching the potential of all they could be learning and wanted more. Like the really smart homeschool kids I had in my mind that graduate college at age 16 sort of smart because they ARE that smart if their mother says so herself.
So this program is a once a week program with lots of memory work that is supposed to form all sorts of foundations for the rest of their schooling. They memorize a timeline of events from Creation to Sept 11. And if you buy the $35 CD set you too can own the 16 minute long song. Actually it's about the best (only) thing on that CD worth listening to all that much.
They "learn" (memorize) the songs for states, capitals, presidents and hand gestures to go with it. It's impressive to see their showcase 6 year olds be able to recite all the presidents of the US when I can barely remember half of them.
HOWEVER.
I'm 3 weeks into this and I'm really having second thoughts on this whole model and company.
First of all- it is not cheap. Their "corporate" gets fees for each child and if you have a 4th grader and up they get 2 fees for each child. I'm not entirely sure what these fees go to other than paying the lawyers they hire to try to keep their proprietary system out the the hands of non paying classical teaching parents. Frankly my 3 interactions with them trying to order my books has left a bitter taste in my mouth. They let me buy them, but refused to ship them until they had confirmation I had paid the fees for a class in the future and then did not send all of them because they were 'backordered.' Then to boot the newest edition which isn't officially a revised edition is 2 pages off of everyone elses' book PLUS the 'recommended to go with' timeline cards were not the ones to go with this cycle but I didn't realize they had shipped and I had ordered the wrong ones until I had opened them. If they girls they have answering their phones are graduates of their program I'm getting off this trail now. BUT it's a no refund policy so I'm pretty much committed for this year. And I'm trying not to finish burning this bridge with 17(or whatever) more weeks left in the classes.
The whole method is they have 'tutors' which 'teach' you child (read from the pre-approved verbage of corporate and demonstrate approved hand gestures) for the facts of the week. Then sing song about them and drill said facts and facts from previous 6 weeks. OK. information is being imparted I'm ok with that.
The first week I watched the older class (parents are supposed to be in there helping/watching/whatever) and the tutor was engaging and organized. BUT.. I added 3 kids to the class and the tutor didn't want to continue so they split the class into 2 classes and gave them 2 new tutors(teachers) the following week. One of which started the same week I did. OOOOkkayyyyyy. No longer impressed. Daughter 1 was in a class with one other girl who's mother was the teacher . Granted there was another girl absent but when you have one sullen teen with their mother and my daughter in a room I don't see a whole lot of the 'socialization' aspect that this community promised to deliver. So that was week 2.
Week 3 (today) I went into JMs class. He told me he was the oldest in his class. I didn't realize he was in with kids who couldn't even spell their name or speak intelligibly. Sure I'm an over-achieving parent but you can not possibly expect that my kid is going to learn in this sort of environment. EVEN with the song method of teaching - because the chaos was so loud I couldn't figure out was was being taught. And we missed 13 previous weeks of material.. I was mad. I asked the teacher if he was too old for this class and then asked the director why he was in a class with 4-5 year olds. She said 'oh, there were other kids absent who are older' which was total nonsense because there was ONE kid missing and she was 7. Talk to the other teacher and she has 7 -9 year olds. So why was my kid in the class with the kid that wouldn't keep his hands out of his pants or nose? And why are you telling me that in other communities there are 4-10 year olds in the same class as justification? If other schools have kids smoking pot are you going to say it's ok? *I* teach 8-11 year olds in one house and I can tell you from experience that it's a HECK of a lot easier to teach them at their level rather than trying to teach an 8 year old 7th grade math or expect a 11 year old to not be bored to tears with basic writing. Sure, some subjects would work. EVEN this timeline stuff could work in theory. I sure as heck wasn't seeing it work in real life.
So. Next week he will be in the "other" class that they still defend are the same age. I call BS if the director can't tell the difference between a 5 year old and 9 year old perhaps she should try teaching that age spread.
The afternoons JM goes to "Bible study" which is akin to nursery at church where it's basically babysitting with a Bible picture to color in. (It's a "christian") program. Today he was whining that he would rather stay with me which for me is all sorts of red flags. I'll probably keep him with me next week.
Where am I when this is going on? I'm in the afternoon grammar/writing class for the 4th-6th graders. It's old school. I mean older than me school- they still teach diagramming sentences. And after having to teach myself and the kids 13 weeks of this we are finally caught up and getting it, more or less. The diagramming part I could take or leave. It has a cult like following, almost reverent worship among parents who do this program, but I honestly can't see how it's all that useful. Not even at the college english major level useful. Sure you can identify subject/noun/adjective/adverb/pronoun but my kids learned that doing ad libs. Writing is a weak area for my kids and the IEW book and DVDs they use I actually find useful, but that's 1/3 of the afternoon. And THOSE books I don't need to be a paying member to buy since it's a totally different system.
Next year the 7th graders are supposed to graduate into a 'amazing/wonderful/challenging/make-your-child-guaranteed-to-succeed-in-life' program. And all the costs associated with this will nearly double. If we want to try to secure a spot I have to register for it next week. NEXT WEEK. There is all sorts of 'it will sell out, so register fast' pressure especially since I want to transfer to a campus here in town rather than commute an hour. I've hear they are larger campuses and I have hopes that means that they'd be more organized out of default and that they kids would have more opportunity to make friends their ages.
But I'm torn. This is one of those programs that you're supposed to commit to 3 years to get all that memory foundation. I see some benefit to memory. I think I'd like to keep JM and Kayla in it. I';m just so very torn on what to do with Sonia and Joey. Sonia wants to go to public school based solely on the fact that she would have more regular access to a library. Joey wants to homeschool based solely on his desire to not be in school from 7:30-3:30. I think they're learning more this year and we're fixing alot of bad habits and learning what was missed along the way. But I'm not in love with this program and I'm a bit creeped out by the way this program has a cult like following that you MUST love it and I find myself frustrated that the corporate office control and propaganda.
Some of my biggest frustrations come from the degree of propaganda and control. They won't let you buy the curriculum until you enroll in it. So I can't see next years until I enroll? So I can't make an educated decision I just have to go based on their testimonials that this is the best academic program out there, well worth the high cost. If I wanted to make decisions based on testimonials alone I'd buy all my household goods off late-night TV.
I have until Feb 10 to decide. I know Larry thinks I should send them to school because he thinks social interaction is key. I find this incredibly ironic coming from one of the least social people I know. I haven't met anyone who has said 'wow, jr high years in school were awesome' and have met countless people and count myself among those that would rather chop off appendages than have to live through those years again, especially everything that involved the interactions with others in school.
I approached the director asking to see a copy of the 7th grade program before committing and since her kids are not that age she doesn't have one. I can ask the local overseer on Feb 18th when she's visiting.. but that's exactly 8 days too late.
Maybe I'll email her directly. At this point I have few reservations. I already gave my current campus my 'I'm not returning in the fall' notice. EVEN IF the rest are full I can't see it worth going back there. I have the books. I'd buy the CDs and call it a day. Maybe that's my problem, that deep down inside I'm not a social person? That I'd rather raise my kids in a vacuum that I enjoy than go out in a world that I have to regularly filter what I say. This particular area I'm needing to filter alot.
But since this is my overall dumping ground.. let me say a few things:
First of all- I know we live in the south here and all... but seriously "Lincoln's war between the states" and "Lincoln went to war against the southern states" has a serious bias. And while I like and appreciate Jim and Elizabeth Eliot, Missionaries to Equador are they really world events? Seriously- he got killed that first year he attempted to reach that people group. Their legacy lives on and all and I really respect what Mrs Elliot had since done in life but really? They're on par with the War of 1812 and China's Ming Dynasty?? I understand they(the program) used to use Veritas Press timeline. I may go buy that instead if we flunk out of this system. At least then I'll have something to compare it to.
And lastly. Some of those songs on those CD's.... ugh. just ugh. Like if the kids fight in the car I threaten to play them but only if I first put on headphones. Screeching soprano, no accompaniment. Seriously. Just. No.
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