One of Those Days

If you have kids, you will know what I'm talking about when I say I wish I could have protected my son Andrew from having a bad day.

- He had a rough start this morning when he somehow hit his own nose on a box he was holding. There was blood everywhere. Not huge amounts, just in lots of places such as his shirt, the floor, the carpet, his pants. . . lots of drips. We got it stopped fairly quickly, and he even made it to school on time. Oh, and I managed to get out all the stains with water and kosher salt.
-At dinner he bit his tongue hard enough to make him cry.
-After dinner, his new pet goldfish died.

You know, there are just some things we can't stop from happening to our kids. Today I think he learned to be careful with objects near your nose, chew carefully, and a lesson about life and death. These are all things we need to learn. I'm not glad he had a bad day, but having rough days occasionally is a part of life. So, I think I'm going to check on him one more time to make sure he's all tucked in and pray that he has an easier day tomorrow.

School Days

Well, it has been an interesting week. To make a long story short, I feel public school has failed my youngest son. So starting on Monday I will be a homeschooling mom. My older son is doing well, so he is staying in a classroom. I am getting really excited about teaching my kid; I think it is going to be super fun. I used to be a teacher, so I know what I am doing. However, I'm sad things didn't work out for him. We hung in there for a month and a half, but things didn't seem to be getting better. The teacher seemed a bit surprised, but she does agree he would benefit from some one on one attention. The large class size was not conducive to that. She also didn't seem to be challenging him enough, so he was getting so bored. He was coming home wanting to do page after page of workbooks I have for him at home. How many kids do you know that actually want to sit down and work after school? He is really wanting to learn. There are many things I don't agree with as far as this teacher's approach, but as a former teacher I'm not going to sit and bash her. Her style just didn't work for my son. I suppose I could have tried to transfer him to another class, but I just want to get on with it and put my el. ed. degree to good use. Next year I'll revisit everything, and maybe he will be ready to try a classroom setting again. Until then, hooray, it feels good to start making lesson plans for my son :)

Freckles

We have a turtle that spent all day last Friday digging a hole and laying some eggs. I was babysitting that day, so it provided great entertainment for the kiddos.
She was very intent on laying her eggs, so having me and the kids watch did not stop her at all. She is box turtle. Freckles used her back feet to dig. I counted at least 5 eggs.
Her efforts took all day. She covered the eggs back up with dirt. Then Freckles took a break under my impatient plants(even though she is a very patient turtle). We found a worm, and the kids were delighted to see her eat. She moved in behind my clematis trellis for a couple days. We gave her a slug once and even got her to drink from a puddle when I watered my plant.
The day we named her is the day she crawled away. She has been spotted in my neighbor's yard. Chances are that we will see Freckles walking around our neck of the woods in the future.
My awesome husband put a mini fence and mesh around the eggs to protect them from the neighborhood raccoon and snakes. In a couple months, we hope to see baby turtles digging their way out of the dirt.
I love that my kids (and I) can learn so much about God's creation right in our very own front yard. How often do you see a turtle lay eggs? Sometimes we need to stop and be joyful about the little things in life that can actually be pretty cool.

End of a Chapter

I'm feeling kind of sad tonight because this week feels like the end of a chapter in a book. It is a chapter I really liked! For starters, our friends are moving up to Canada. We are excited for them, but we have been helping them out in children's ministry for years, and they will be missed. I taught their daughter in school years ago. The girls have also babysat my kids, so I'm out a babysitter too. At first we considered moving up there with them, but realized it is not part of God's plan for us right now. We love them, and we will miss them.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for my boys, and then they will be on summer break. The last day of school has taken on a whole new meaning because after tomorrow, their private Christian school will be closing its doors for good. They did not survive the tough economy. My kids have thrived there. Next year they will be attending public school. My younger son graduates kindergarten tomorrow. I get to go see his little program and hear the sweet songs they have prepared. It will be bittersweet.

Anyway, notice I said End of a Chapter and not End of the Book. Finishing a chapter means you get to turn the page and start a new chapter. I'm really excited about what comes next. Life would be boring without change(even though I don't always like things to change). I'm very excited to work with our new children's ministry leader; she has a lot of neat ideas. I am proud of my kids and what a great start they had at their Christian school. I have heard positive things about the school they will attend next year.

Change can be good. It is a reminder that God is in control. Tonight I'm just mourning the loss of a few things. However, bring on the next chapter! God's plans are better than mine.

Mom

Andrew had a school assignment this week and needed to write about his mom(me). Here is what he wrote:

Mom
1. She cooks good food.
2. She helps me open the tunnel.
3. She sels jewlry that she makes.
4. She acts out at my church on the stage.
5. She catches big fishes In the ocean

I kept the spellings and everything just as he wrote them. I love it! Number 4 cracks me up about me acting out. I hope everyone had a great mother's day!

Man on the Moon

My son did a book report on Neil Armstrong. Part of the assignment was to wear a costume to school and talk about the book. My husband and I went to many stores but couldn't find a costume since it is not even close to Halloween time. So we got creative. I'm going to give my husband most of the credit for this one. We found supplies at Walmart. The helmet we borrowed from a friend.He felt so cool walking in to school. He got a 100. The best part is that he loves to read, and that his teacher makes it fun.

Mouse Trap

This is a video a friend posted on their Facebook, and I think it is funny. The middle part is a little sad but hang in there until the end :)