bye bye tooth fairy

... you know you have "arrived" and are looking at a new level of maturity in your youngest child when, discovering that another tooth has become permanently dislodged, he rolls down the car window and emphatically hoarks it out onto the road than announces, quite simply:

"I lost another tooth"

either that or it simply means you've gone a little too country for too long

friday freefall

happy birthday to a fantastic father and handsome, hilarious husband. let's go to the mongolian grill for supper!

tuesday timetable

I get overwhelmed just creating my Tuesday timetables, let alone living them out! I am surprised at how busy life is with teenage-type people.
first is school, as usual, though that should be winding down in the next few weeks
second is checking out our neighbour's yard, to see if they were able to cut the grass. the boys have been hired again to do the weeding, trimming and grass cutting ... good stuff! our own grass will need cut along with more and more weeds from my garden of plenty
third is taking oldest to his high school class (three more to go)
forth is making a hang-out date with a fellow homeschool friend that managed to break both arms. yikes. haven't heard the story yet but am definitely looking forward to it. we decided that was more important than the homeschool get-together at a park not too far away. they are every Wednesday from now 'til it's too cold, so we can hopefully go next week.
fifth is driving said teenage-types to the movies and the adult-types to a rehearsal for Saturday's biker blessing. knew there was another reason we got tattoo'd ;)
tomorrow is soccer for youngest (no team available for oldest)
throw in a lunch meeting followed by an evening meeting on Sunday and tidying somewhere along the way and I'd say, all in all, I am having another great week (and I'm likely forgetting a bunch of things)

just monday

as I was surfing around a bit this morning, I came upon this quote:

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.
Socrates

hmmm. too bad there really ISN'T anything new under the sun.

thursday throwout

so the closer I get to 40, the more I act like 80 ... meaning that I no longer seem to care much what I say or how it might come across, so long as I am honouring in my speech and true to myself. scary.
like this afternoon ... I was at a hotel meeting for a homeschool curriculum ordering thing when suddenly I heard this woman telling another woman, both shoppers, that she doesn't really need "all this stuff" and has she ever heard of Sonlight? the one woman was shopping for her second year of homeschooling, the other woman was going to be entering her eleventh and was simply picking up some supplementary stuff, you know, to sort of round things out and feel like she was accomplishing things for once. some curriculum makes you feel that way, no matter how boring it really is or how much busywork is actually involved, but I digress. the second year mom kept writing titles down like easy grammar and the learning house while the eleven year mom seemed to get more and more confident in her speech and more and more passionate about the topic in general. at some point I, I mean *eleven year mom* apologized for possibly speaking out of turn but two year mom stopped her, touched her arm even, and thanked her for saying all that she had, telling her "you know, I needed that today". two year mom asked eleven year mom for her phone number, wondering if she could possibly come over tomorrow and look at some other options for homeschooling that weren't so, well ... you know. eleven year mom smiled big
thanked God
made her meager purchases
went over to the bridge for a lunch of pb and j
and
hugged her boys.

this is why I homeschool.

happy mother's day

my day was fantastic, as mother's day always is.
great service, fine weather, treat on the way home, wonderful meal, watching the men plant a new tree for our yard, viewing a super movie and then ...
something involving four stairs
a slippery, unstable wooden chair
a death grip on some cheesies
a child lying on the floor
a guitar stand lying next to said child, guitars also now on floor
poor chair tipped precariously next to stairs

it's complicated, but the child is now in bed and we didn't think we needed to visit emerg so ... not too bad of a day!

tuesday timetable

well, today I go to get my new tattoo. I will say God willing even though it seems slightly sacrilegious in this setting.

I was thinking of putting to pen, for you, the myriad of reasons that I am:
A. getting a tattoo
B. why I chose the design I did
C. how I am not going to go to hell for it

but then recalled my own reaction to a fellow homeschooling mom when she showed off her latest addition. It is a tiger lily and quite well done, but as the crowd began gathering around, she suddenly said that she chose a lily because of the scripture that talks about the lilies of the valley and
really
even *I* said ... oh, shut up.

so reasons I have but only pictures will I post, and they will have to wait until tomorrow.

friday freefall

I can hardly explain why I loved this blog post so much, except to say that I *completely get this* ... just ask Neal
be sure to read all the way to the end. It isn't long, but I promise you will at least smile (and then know precisely why I hardly ever have company over for dinner)

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/04/crockpot-chicken-and-sweet-potato.html