Monday's Miracles

1. Snow-in season of course. It gives Robert something to do during the winter, for which I'm glad.

2. My sewing machine-I've spent a lot of time on it this past week.

3. Warm socks-I love funky patterns too :)

4. My Primary class- They are such good kids and it makes teaching them so much fun.

5. Chocolate

Michael's Quilt

It's done, Michael's quilt is done!

Monday's Miracles

I know a lot of people that do Favorite 5's on Fridays, but I thought Monday would be a good day. Start the week off on a positive note. Here are 5 things I'm thankful for:

1: Holidays where there's no school. I love having my whole family together and spending a fun day playing in addition to Saturday.

2: Having my own house. I get to paint it and put holes in the walls wherever I want to. I can plant whatever I want outside (when it's warmer) and I don't have to ask permission first.

3: Our pets. As psychotic as they can be sometimes, I do love them and I'm glad that my children also get to love on our pets.

4: Thick glass windows. I don't know what I'd do without the sunshine and I'm glad that I can enjoy it and still stay nice and warm inside. Plus, we have some amazing views from our house.

5: Robert. He's like the perfect man, what more can I say.

One Goal Done

I got one of my goals done, I painted Michael's room. I put pics on the other blog. I also decided that I kinda liked the blue color, so I went ahead and painted my bathroom also. It ended up being a little more blue than I thought in the small bathroom, but I think with a few decorations it shouldn't look too bad. I am going with sunflowers in there and I do have a garland over the mirror and a bouquet from my sister's wedding that hangs in there also. I have some tile pictures that I want to put in there, but I can't seem to find them. I'm not sure what box they got put into when we moved and even though we've been here for over a year I still have a few boxes that I've yet to unpack.

After painting the bathroom, Robert asked me which room I wanted to paint next. I'm really not sure. He then asked if we could wait a little while. I told him "Sure, my goal was to get one room painted during the course of the whole year and I've done 2, I'm doing good". He looked very relieved, paint can be expensive.

Happiness is.......

Happiness is a state of mind. I remember hearing as a teenager that no one can make you happy, sad, angry, or offended without you letting them. That really struck me, so much that remember it still. We can't control what people say or do, but we can control how we react to it. That being said, here are some things that make me happy:

*cuddling with my husband
*snuggling with my kids
*knowing all the bills are paid for the month
*planting seeds and watching them grow
*doing my crafts
*a clean house (for the 2 seconds it stays that way)
*spending time with family
*chatting with good friends
*playing the piano
*listening to good music
*reading a good novel

I know there are a lot more, but those are some of the things that bring joy into my life.

Authentic Self

I've been reading this daybook lately. It has a little paragraph or though for each day, and today's was about your "authentic self". It asks the question "have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered who you were looking at? Is it not the person you expected to see?" When I was little I had this idea of what my life would be like when I grew up and got married. Of course you never can predict the future, but it gave me thought as to how closely that image is to where I am. For the most part, I'm right where I want to be. There were some things that I didn't get, I was going to marry someone who loved to sing and take me dancing, but Robert really doesn't like to do either of those things. He is better for me than anyone else I could have thought up, though. We don't always get what we ask for, but we get what we need. Anyway, that's off topic.

I was thinking about the movie The Notebook where the girl one day realizes she doesn't paint anymore and she loves painting. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we think we are supposed to be doing and how we think our lives are supposed to be going that we forget really who we are and what makes us happy. I love doing my crafts, and I won't give those up. I love being a girl and dressing up, I'm not going to pretend that I don't like dresses because those around me don't, I do. I enjoy solving problems, and I sometimes even enjoy math. I do not enjoy snow, but I do think it is beautiful, I just prefer to be inside and out of the cold.

I know that I'm not the woman that I want to be, yet. But I am enjoying discovering those things that make me happy and bring joy into my life. I know that as I am true to myself and strive to become the woman that God intends me to be I will be filled with more joy than I can imagine. I will have peace and love in my soul and I will be able to share that with others. Here's to the journey.

People who Need People

I am a people person, I need people. I know some people that would be fine just doing their own thing staying home and living, but I'm not like that. I need someone to talk to, someone to laugh with, someone to vent to. Robert is great, but I need girlfriends. Winter time seems especially hard. Since my neighbors all live a little distance from me, I can't really just pop over for some conversation like I could when I lived in town. And now I face the possibility of being snowed in, which I don't like, but what makes it even harder is that when I get snowed in, Robert is usually up north plowing snow, so he is snowed out. It it wasn't for my fabulous father-in-law I don't know what I'd do.

I was visiting with someone the other day who is also a fairly social person and I asked, why don't women get together more often around here? I know I'm not the only one, but it seems like we don't do a lot together. Why is that? I have a few friends who call me a party queen because I have done a few cooking parties, facial party, had friends over for dinner, and now New Years party. I do these because no one else is and I need people. I even started a sewing group once a month for those who sew. It's had its ups and downs, some months with quite a few coming and some with none. I want to join a book club, but they meet during my son's nap time. I offered to host it every once in a while so that I could participate, but I haven't heard back yet on that.

I know my house isn't perfect, I'm not the worlds best housekeeper, but I can't let that stop me. I read something one time on regrets and one of them was something to the effect of "I regret all the times I didn't invite someone over because my house wasn't perfect". I try and for the most part my house isn't dirty, just cluttered. I just know for my emotional health, having time with friends is more important than if the toys are picked up or the laundry is all folded and put away.

Homeschooling

This is one of the things I've been pondering about lately. This year my oldest daughter started Kindergarten. I went to public school and I don't really remember having any problems, but when you are a parent looking in, things can seem different. I think I have the same worries as a lot of parents, will my child get a good education, will they get the attention that they need, will they learn a lot of bad habits, will the other kids be mean to them? As the year has gone by some of my fears have subsided and some new ones have crept up. My daughter loves school. In fact, at Thanksgiving time she told us that it was too long and when could she go back? Now we are in the midst of winter break and yesterday she was crying because she missed school (part of that could have been the fact that mommy was tired and out of it). I asked her what she missed about school, was it the school work, recess, what? She said "I miss my friends".

So, here is where the back and forth pondering happens. I want to make sure that she is getting all the learning that she is capable of, she is really smart, but at the same time, she needs to be around peers. She is a lot like her mommy that way. I have heard some negative things about the reading program the school has implemented and it concerns me. I know that there is a lot that I as a parent can do to supplement at home, but is it enough. How do homeschoolers teach their children and still provide plenty of socialization? I realize that school is a place of learning, but they also learn to work in groups and socialize and play. Because I live out in the country there aren't a lot of activities that I could enroll my children in, such as gymnastics or dance classes, where they could get that dose of social life. There is only so much you can tell them before they need to experience working in a group.

I do think that at least for their early years I could teach them and they would probably do really well with the individual time, but I wouldn't know how to give them the social skills that they would need to go back into a public school. I don't think I could continue for their upper education. I've seen both sides, where children are well adjusted, and where they aren't.

So, what are people's reasons for homeschooling, and how do you socialize you children?

New Year

So, it's a new year. I didn't do any New Year's Resolutions last year because I don't seem to keep them. I think any time is a good time to set a new goal and improve yourself. Some of my goals are:
to plant a lawn this summer
have a really great garden and harvest an eggplant
finish the hooded sweater I started
finish Michael's quilt
finish quilt for new baby
fix up coffee table
paint one room in my house (not sure where to start)

I'm sure I have more, but sometimes I think it's better just to start somewhere. I can't do anything about the lawn or garden right now, but I can work on my craft projects. I am so close to having Michael's quilt done, that is probably where I should start.

A Place for my Thoughts

My other blog is a place for the family, this blog is a place for me.