April 22, 2013

Oy.

This month started off really well. A new, adorable nephew was born on the 4th. School has gone well - Izzy is getting more confident in her reading capabilities, Noah is following directions better, Lily is... Lily. 

Oh wait. My cough got crazy again at the end of last month so I spent a couple hours on April 1st getting that checked out and picking up meds. Ok, so maybe not 'really well' PERSONALLY but in other, more extended ways, this month started off nicely. 

And then craziness. The bombing in Boston that struck a whole new fear into people's hearts. The explosion in West that damaged so much of a small town. The man-hunt for the bombers that locked a city inside their own homes for hours. An earthquake in China that, last I saw, had claimed more than 160 lives. 

On a more personal level, this cough is still not going away, I'm always short of breath, and someone rear-ended me yesterday morning. I already dislike getting up and leaving the house by 7:30 in the morning. Hitting me at a stop light, while running a last minute errand before class-time was just MEAN.

I think I'm ready for April to be over already. 

March 25, 2013

With Passover starting tonight, this coming week presents interesting challenges. What to make for meals? What should our educational focus be? Will this be the year that kitniyot is also avoided?

 I can pretty much answer that last one: no. While I gravitate towards the Ashkenazi practices in most ways, avoiding legumes, corn, rice, peas, and the like during the week of Passover is just more than I can really see us accomplishing. We're already a mildly picky bunch... don't take away our corn and peas!

 I figure this is a pretty good week to start the 100 Days of Mini-Pledges from 100 Days of Real Food, though. After all, if we can't have noodles, bread, crackers, biscuits, bagels, tortillas, or cereal, what else can we do but eat more fruits and veggies? Right? We will never be this regular again. Roughage, ho!

 Honestly, I'm looking forward to the Week 2 challenge - real drinks. Coffee, tea, water, and milk. Juice once a week, wine once a day. (yes!) I HAVE to have this glass of Moscato, kid. It's like you taking your gummy vitamins. I don't make these rules, I just abide by 'em. Ok, I know she actually advises red wine but... you know. Sometimes it just doesn't go with the meal.

 I'm not sure I can cut out sugar as a sweetener but I do miss making my own creamer with maple syrup so I'll just suck it up and follow the rules. Hot tea with honey sounds fantastic right now. I can see where this is going. I will do like I did with the de-cluttering project (which is still ongoing. I'm just not good at updating!) and end up mashing all kinds of week-specific challenges together into one week and then I'll get confused and stop.

March 6, 2013

More often than I would really care to admit, I feel an overwhelming sense of falling behind. This year, I've been attempting to take better control of finances (um. Yikes.), cleaning (ack!), and just over-all time management (ha!). And just for emphasis: HA!

What do you do when you're trying to follow the 'never leave a room empty handed' guideline and your children seem to be following the same rule,  but in a bit of a reverse mode? Look, I've just got these two hands! And between my 2 kids, they've got what seem to be 8. You can imagine the effect that has on one's morale. 

I currently have 2-3 trash bags full of items to either take to Goodwill or put in a yard sale. I'm leaning toward a one-day yard sale and then whatever doesn't go, Goodwill can have. I just need it gone. There's this habit of hanging on to a thing in case it becomes useful again - dumb. Or hanging on to items in case someone else needs them - uh, what? If someone needs them, they will find it AT GOODWILL. Right? Yeesh, self. 

I'm trying to build a little garden area in the back yard but I'm just not sure how well it will go. About 60% of my seedlings that I repotted once they were 2-3 inches tall have been decimated by... something. I'm guessing birds or rabbits. Either way, I am not pleased. I understand that the lettuce had little to know chance out there but my zinnias and marigolds? Really guys??

One of my nephews has started coming over a couple of times a week for school/play time. He's somewhere between Lily and Izzy in familiarity with letters/numbers, which I think is actually kinda good. I'm hoping that working with him on being more confident in recognizing letters/numbers will help Lily be more interested in actively learning. As it is, all of her education has been passive so far. Not that I expect any different with a 3 year old, I'm just excited to get her on the path to active learning. Izzy loves this new arrangement... I think it thrills her to have a classmate to share in the fun.

January 3, 2013

The year is 3 days old and I'm just now gonna try to put together a goal list. Last year's list went pretty well, I think. 7 Serious Things and 6 Fun Things and I think I really only failed one of the 'fun' things: watching Gilmore Girls again. Well, maybe I failed at my spending diet a bit but since we only attempt to cut back and don't set specific limits (this frustrates me), it's hard to tell. 

This year, I think I'll go for 7 and 7. 

7 Are the Days of Creation

1. Organize the office

2. Clean the garage. 

3. Paint the play room. 

4. Spend less!

5. Start First Grade with a SMILE. 

6. Paint the shed. 

7. Declutter 2013!

7 Like the Wonders of the World

1. More date nights. 

2. Open a booth at an antique mall.

3. Create real flower beds in front and back.

4. Play outside more!

5. Replace the play house.

6. Take more walks. 

7. Walk the dogs... more? at all. haha

I'm pretty confident that this will be a productive year, at least with one of those lists. haha. I've started the de-cluttering and organizing process and while it sometimes seems like surely we could knock it out in a few weeks, I'm attempting to be more realistic and keep in mind that it will absolutely take all year. And then I can start the process over again next year, right? It's the list that keeps on... listing... 

December 23rd, 2012

The other day, Izzy had a near melt-down while we talked about having Christmas at Uncle Joel's house. I think she was just overly tired because every obstacle I removed (yes, Nana will be there... Santa doesn't forget presents... you'll get to see everyone...) was met with a 'what if?' and sniffles. She even asked "What if Santa is dead?" Now that's a child determined to have a reason to be upset! 

If you're wondering what I told her about Santa, especially when she asked if he could be dead... well, I'll tell you. I told her that part of Santa's magic is that he'll be around as long as he needs to be and that he's been doing this job for so long, there's no way he'd forget to do his best to give every kid at least something. She said "Well, I know that there are a lot of countries so there must be a lot of Santas." I think it's great that even when she's seeing the 'flaws' in the Santa story, she finds a way to compensate and hold on to it just a little longer. We went to our local mall and saw Santa there (thank goodness the same one has been there since she can remember) and afterwards, she said "Well, I know he's the real Santa. But how does he get here?" She's pretty sure his reindeer aren't allowed in the mall so he must get a ride from someone else. hehe. 

Childhood is a wonderful thing... for the kids it's a time of constant exploration and wonder and for the adults? I think it's a time to reconnect with what's innocent and beautiful in the world. A time to declutter your mind and heart and enjoy life for what it is. 

December 14, 2012

What can you say when the unthinkable happens? When something horrific and violent, like a shooting at a theater or a mall or a school, shocks you out of your daily routine and makes it impossible to just be... happy.

I cannot grasp how these things happen and I'm just so terribly sad for the families involved. Those that are innocent victims and those that cannot understand why their children would do something so awful. What was so terribly broken in these minds and hearts that they thought this was a viable response to the world around them?

Tonight, our synagogue had our annual menorathon: we bring our family menorah and candles and light them together. It's a beautiful sight to see so many lights burning brightly... reminding us to be a light to the world, to continue the chain of tradition, to reflect on years past, to burn with hope for the future. Tonight it felt like a reminder that there is light in the world and that we need to fan those flames when we have dark days like today.

Praying for peace and healing.

December 13, 2012

The school year isn't even close to being over but I'm already starting to get the new-curriculum anxiety. Izzy's just about done with the Math U See Primer (as in: we have 4 pages left!) and other workbooks that we like to use are nearly done as well.

What REALLY gets me anxious is knowing that Lily will be 4 in 6 months (as of yesterday!) and I really want to get her started with some sort of formal learning. I know a lot of the learning that Izzy did at 4 was just happy accident but it feels like I need to actually plan things out a bit better for Lily. She knows a lot of her colors and shapes and she can count quite well but she's not familiar with letters or numbers yet and it seems like she could be, if I took the time to teach them 'officially'.

So here's where I went wrong today: I started looking for new activities for Lily and overwhelmed myself by looking at what other moms are doing/providing for homeschooling kids at this age. There are so many 'packs' and 'kits' and whatnot that it's mind-boggling. I keep telling myself that these things are coming from moms that have 4-5 kids and/or used to be teachers in public/private schools so of COURSE they come up with all kinds of activities. So many of them look cute or fun but then when I think about printing them out and using them, it hits me how redundant it is. I know kids love to repeat themselves but a color of the day? animal of the day? I think we'd be burnt out within the first week and not find enough new ways to explore those things to make it worth my time printing/cutting/laminating.

I dunno. Maybe I'm just talking myself out of these things because it seems so time consuming. I mean, how am I supposed to enjoy teaching if I'm either planning a lesson, setting things up for it, or teaching it? It's like the coupon ladies... how can you enjoy yourself if your time is used up with all of this busy-work and nothing of substance? I love my kids but I can't get anything done or enjoy any free time if every waking minute is devoted to school. Surely there's a middle ground somewhere.