Pumpkin Poop

Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday.  There are some fun things about it.... unlimited amounts of candy (which is my drug of choice in times of need), fall decorations, little kids dressing up.

One year, JBJ wanted to be a "bwack eh-fant".  Please understand that I am not a fan of dressing up.  I don't like to pretend. I don't like to be in skits.  I am boring, and proud of it.
So I handed this assignment over to BJ.  And he faithfully & diligently took it.  JBJ was THE cutest "bwack eh-fant" EVER being pulled from house to house in a red wagon. 

I also remember the year EJ received a hand-me-down Unicorn costume.  My job was to simply put it on her.  Glory Be!!! No creativity, just practicality!!  And she was warm!

Ah, those were the days!  Going to maybe.... 10?...houses and then being done, because the math equation:   More houses = More candy   had not sunk in yet into little minds.

These days we no longer Trick-or-Treat (and I am openly JOYOUS about it!), but we go to Family Halloween Parties, which involve apple bobbing, donut eating, feasting on soup, charades, & plenty of candy.

This year, our niece cleverly handed out cute pumpkin bags filled with candy to everyone.  Attached was this tag:

Pumpkin Poop

I started to carve a pumpkin

With my carving knife and scoop,

But the pumpkin got so scared,

He took a little poop.

It looked so cute and funny,

Just like a candy treat.

So I'm sharing it with you now,

Because you are so sweet!

Sunrise, Sunset

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember growing older.....

When did they?

When did she grow to be a beauty?

When did he grow to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday....

when they were small?

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset

Swiftly flow the days.

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers...

Blossoming even as we gaze.

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset

Swiftly fly the years.

   

One season .....

....following another,

Laden with happiness & tears.

 

Just Accept It

It's been a few days.  This past month of school (both teaching & homeschooling) has been stressful.  I was hoping (we all were) for a summer of respite and rejuvenation and revitalization to help jump-start us into a new school year.  It seems that everything just picked up where it left off.

Emily is taking choir, sculpting, & Shakespeare once a week.  She is doing English, Science, Cooking, & Sewing at home.  Choir & Sculpting are at a Charter School in Springville (about 20 minutes away) on Tuesdays.  Shakespeare is at someone's home in Spanish Fork (about 25 minutes away) on Thursdays.

Jeremy is taking Seminary, Advanced Shakespeare, & a Math/Science class.  He does English at home and is currently working on his Eagle Project.  Seminary has the stupid A/B Day Schedule meaning it is MWF one week and TTH the next week at Provo High School, about 15 minutes away.  Shakespeare is on Tuesdays at the same Charter School as Emily(AFTER Emily's classes, of course, so they have to wait around for each other) and Math/Science is on Thursdays at the same home as Emily's Shakespeare class, only at different times, so they have to wait again.  His Eagle Project is building 2 raptor shelters/houses for a Wildlife Sanctuary.

They both have Church Youth activities on Wednesday nights.

I work full-time and attend school part-time, with a class on Thursday afternoons, immediately followed by Choir practice in SLC on Thursday nights.  I get up at 5:30am every Sunday to get ready to go to SLC for Choir.

Brian plays Mr. Mom/Homeschool Dad during the day from 9am - 3pm and then becomes Mr. Music Arranger from 3pm - 6pm.

Oh, and did I mention that we have 1 car?


I think I'm learning something though.  Life is.... life.  I think our disappointments come from having certain expectations about things.  Expectations about how we are "supposed" to live....how we are "supposed" to look..."supposed" to keep our house...."supposed" to be teaching..."supposed" to behave......

Why can't we just accept life for what happens day by day?  Some days will be worse than others.  Some days will be better than others.  Why can't we let go of our expectations and take what we get.  Celebrate what's great...Mourn over what's not and learn from it.  Just be happy to be breathing and have another day to learn or to serve.  As my mother-in-law said, "The grass may be greener on the other side, but it still has to be mowed."

I don't get it.  There are people who truly love life & accept it.  They get it.  They embrace everything that comes & view it as an opportunity.

I'm not there yet.  But I wish I was.

Rice Bowel?

Every day at school, the lunch ladies hang signs by the cafeteria doors to let the elementary kids know what is scheduled for lunch and which line to stand in. 

Today's sign read:             Rice Bowel

Sounds sooo yummy, doesn't it?

A Dance

JBJ is at his first real dance tonight.  He's been to a couple of dances before, but they were dances connected with a youth activity that he was attending at the time and we were always at the dance too because we happened to be chaperoning the activity. 

This is JUST a dance.... with other homeschoolers.... with girls.... alone.

He met his 2 best friends there.  He looked good.  He has been excited for this dance for 3 days.  He actually put on deodorant.

I'm not sure what to think about all this.

Brings back a lot of memories....Stake dances, Regional dances, "Jump" by Van Halen, "Faithfully" by Journey, "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin, teaching Les to dance, Mitch and his Cinnamon gum, me & Amy getting ready for the dance (I'm sure we took WAY longer getting ready than the boys ever did!), going to the New Year's Eve dance 3 days after I had my wisdom teeth pulled & my face was still swollen, hiding from the Wren brothers, saving certain songs for certain people, dancing the last dance of the night not wanting it to ever end....

Good times, Good memories, Good friends.

I want JBJ to have the same experience.

My favorite almost-15 year old in the entire world

Top Ten Things that went wrong today

10.  My entire family had to be 8 different places at once all day today...and we only have 1 car.
9.  I woke up late.
8.  I had no breakfast.
7.  BJ stayed up all night to finish a project due today for recording.
6.  I pulled a muscle in my neck picking up a preschooler who has recently resorted to flopping down on the ground like a rag doll when she doesn't want to do what you ask.
5.  I have a hitter/biter in my morning preschool class.
4.  I need an extra aide in class when EH comes to class because he's a one-on-one kid...and I didn't have an extra aide today.
3.  Mr. Complainer came today and stayed the entire class again.
2.  Mr. Complainer's kid got head-butted by my hitter/biter and ends up with a bleeding fat lip.
1.  I had to listen to Mr. Complainer for ANOTHER 45 minutes today.

Maybe it's over?

So my meeting with my principal & Mr. Complainer went ... well?

What it all boils down to is that he is a hyper-sensitive, over-protective, mistrusting, new father.

He loves his boy....maybe a little too much?

??? He didn't bring his son to school yesterday and made it for the last 15 minutes of class today. ???

Maybe it's over?