I ♥ Faces~By The Book

Hosted at I ♥ Faces ~ By The Book

This little one of mine is beginning to read. I'm happy to say that I taught her. I didn't want to home school this one this year. I wanted her to go to Kindergarten, but her school closed a couple of weeks prior to school starting in August. The Lord was telling me something for sure. I am home schooling her and she is a fabulous student for me. She works so hard. In August she didn't even know the entire alphabet. Now, she is reading. Reading! I taught her to read. I didn't think I would be able to (not enough confidence being a new home school mom and all), but reading she is. She loves to read. She is so proud of herself. Another task that has happened along this reading path is writing. I get the most delicious little notes from my little baby now. They are adorable! I am keeping them in a folder and saving them for a rainy day. I know I will be crying over them in 10 years.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Sunset I'm cheating on this one since there is never any sun around these parts during winter! This is from a very hot day this past summer on the lake. Here's to wishing I was there right now.

Black and White  My gorgeous daughter, right before she had her RPE (Rapid Palatal Expander) put in this week. She's miserable and can't eat anything solid yet. She's not smiling much these days.

A Day in My Life  I simply could not pick just one photo to express my life right now, thus the collage.

 I am "just a mom" and well, sometimes I wish I had my career back. Especially after viewing all these pictures. How boring I am now! My life consists of waking up, making coffee(for me) and breakfast(for the children), driving the children to and from co-op, teaching school, cleaning, laundry, cooking lunch, more cleaning, more laundry, playing ponies, more laundry and more cleaning, emptying the dishwasher (my least favorite chore in the world), cooking dinner, cleaning up after dinner, giving baths, reading books, getting snuggles before bed.

Not all in this order, but most days, yes, all these tasks. This is not the life I envisioned for myself when I graduated college and landed my dream job. This is not the career path I had in (my) mind as I marched down corporate halls as a Sr Financial Analyst. I had a great job, I was good at my job, and I was on a fast track in my career.

So this is my real life, I am "just a mom" and I love it. I would not change all the ketchup kisses, sticky hugs or whispered 'I love yous' for my previous salary. (well, maybe if they gave me a raise)

Four We have had a bit of snow these past couple of weeks, to the delight of my kids. Me, well, I could do without snow. But since my kids love it, we must go sledding. We do live right next to a lovely huge hill that is quite perfect for sledding and, well, learning to snowboard. Colorful  A giant perplexus ball, so much fun!

Earthworms Aren't Senseless

Did you know that a worm has five hearts?

Did you know that earthworms aren't senseless?

Did you know earthworms have bristles?

Guess what we've been studying?

          

The Monotony of My Life

When the day is finally over and my little one is finally asleep in my lap and I can unwind. Sort of. It's hard to fully unwind with a five year old sleeping on your lap.

I unwind into the wee hours of the morning, long past the time when I myself should be in bed.  When my daughter wakes up bright and early in the morning, tapping on my eyelids, all I can do is groan and go make some strong coffee.

But, I do it again the next day and the next after that and again the day after that.

Eventually, I stumble, falter and fall.  I swear to go to bed earlier.  And I do for a few days, but never longer.  But always, my vicious cycle of staying up until 2 am starts all over again.

There is a reason for my need to stay up late every single night, right?

I spend all day in a perpetual motion of breakfast and laundry and folding clothes and spelling and math and science and history and bible and art and lunch and dusting and sweeping and dirty dishes and violin and guitar and ballet and gymnastics and vacuums and mops and scrubbing and toilets and dinner and baths and books. I never take a break. I have trouble taking a break, so I delay my bedtime so I don't have to think about the next day of getting up and doing the exact same thing I have just done all day long.

I try to soak up every second of down time because I may never get any again. I stay up a little bit later each day because tomorrow I may not have any time to myself. I give and give of myself until I am utterly and completely empty.

I don't like the monotony of my life.

I'm not sure of my purpose any longer. There, I said it out loud.

The world tells me I should have a purpose. That's why I went to college, right? I had a fabulous career that satisfied me and I could use all my wonderful brain talents. But being a stay at home mom leaves me drained at times. I have creative outlets, but I have no time to fulfill them.

I think I am unfulfilled, but I'm not sure. I do feel monotonous for sure. I definitely feel drained. Is there more to this life for me?

But I can say in all honesty I am not looking forward to the fact that someday soon my children won't need me any longer. What am I going to do then? Without the monotony?

I don't like being a homemaker. Really, what is that term? I despise it. Can someone please come up with something different? I call myself a CEO for sure. Who would have ever thought I'd be a CEO someday, only it's for a household, not so glamorous.

But I love being a mom, I love staying home with my kids. This I wouldn't change for all the tea in China.

But, homemaking. I'm really sick of it. I dread every aspect of this role. I would just like to come home and wave a magical wand and everything, and I mean everything, is where it should be. The endless monotonous tasks that need to be done in my home are slowly sucking the life out of me.

I'm dragging myself down I think.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

Stacked Up This week in Chemistry my son was learning about atoms and all the wonderful protons, neutrons and electrons. I was explaining the nucleus using different flavored marshmallows. See the electrons hanging out in the energy circle? Who says Science can't be fun? It's the favorite subject in this house!

Winter Wonderland Oh Sweet Baby Jesus in the Manger did we get snow this week. The children are overjoyed. I mean, over the moon, overjoyed! Me, meh?! Monday , Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week we had glorious weather in the 50's. Literally we were outside playing for hours all three days. Thursday morning it started to snow and it didn't stop for about 18 hours. Baby girl insisted on riding her bike in the fresh falling snow. The most hilarious aspect of this scenerio is this little girl would not and I mean refused, to ride her bike all summer long. Not one time could I ever convince her to hop on her bike and pedal away. This week however, I couldn't get her off of her bike. New Year and all and on the bike she goes, in the middle of a snow storm no less.

Sweet My daughter making a sweet snow angel in the snow.

Hole I have deep cupboards in my kitchen and most of them are jmmed packed full of "stuff". This cupboard, however, has  mostly nothing in it. The cupboard is the favorite hidey hole for my kids. In fact, I have to set the timer for sharing of this hidey hole.

Frozen During the snow storm this week, I ventured out, you know, so I could watch my kids having so much fun. But me, I am not a fan of snow, not so much at all. In fact, if I never saw another frozen snowflake again in my life, it would be fine with me.

I ♥ Faces ~ Best Face Photo from 2011

Hosted at I ♥ Faces ~  Best Face Photo from 2011

I have been suffering with a vicious cold this past week and have been miserable. Literally, I don't think it is possible to sneeze one.more.time. I'm finally feeling better tonight and have been sifting through my 2011 photos looking for my best face.

Naturally, I pick my little one. I do not know why I do this. She seems to be the most photogenic of my children. This photo is from October 2011 while we were apple picking. She was gazing off in the distance and I got lucky with the little bubble in her mouth.

Scanvenger Hunt Sunday

One Color

I have a new toy to play with these days. I was able to purchase this lovely lens with my own money. Which is no easy feat when you don't even have a job! I've been saving for a bit and was able to purchase my own lens with my own money. I'm having fun with it.

Laundry

I happen to see a lot of a laundry room every week. It simply is not my favorite chore to do in the house, I have to be honest. My secret to clean laundry is this - AJAX. Yes, I use liquid soap before I actually wash the children's clothing. Let's face it, if you have kids, you have tons of laundry and it is dirty. Presoak in hot water and presto, clean!

Empty

This week we have had some amazing weather and I was able to take the children to their favorite park (and it's not really a park you can play at). We fed the ducks and the deer and the lonely buffalo and walked along the creek. While we were walking, my son found this empty beehive.

One Dozen

Friday evening my daughter hosted a fancy tea party for my family. She made invitation and handed them out and asked everyone to dress in their finest. I took her to the store and she picked out what she wanted to serve. It was a lovely evening, especially since it was all her idea!

Soft

Doesn't this duck look so soft? 

Ten Haiku on Why You Ought to Send Me To Blissdom

Buzz seeks strong blogger

Who is also a person:

Brilliant and fun.

Out in the suburbs

A Smart, hip blogger is  bored:

Wasted "creative".

(Not even to speak

Of superb technical skills

From photography)

Oh yes, I'm a mom

With a passion for my kids

teaching about stuff.

(One funny thing is -

momma, blogger, homeschooler -

I've done these jobs too.)

I open the shop,

set amazing Google stats,

then close it all down.

Though mid-level-entry

I know I'll be a rock star

in the right venue.

Also, I like cash

And am driven to make it

To go to Blissdom.

We like the same things:

#DevelopingYourLifePlan, #DreamingBig, #Storytelling and #Branding!

Looks like a perfect match!

I want to meet you.

I admit I lacks patience.

I'll keep my phone on.

Tiaras & Tantrums

MEMORIES, DREAMS and REFLECTIONS 2011!

Me! This year I decided to home school my daughter after a couple of years of being completely dissatisfied with the school districts in our area. We had her in a private Christian school and she was still just barely surviving. Against my husband's interests and practically everyone I knew, I pulled her from the school and brought her home with me. I listened to myself, my momma instincts and I did what I knew was best for my little girl. Guess who's shining bright again?

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Christmas Morning in My House

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