All posts by KME

Daily Life

Naps at Night

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Came home from AWANA tonight, ladled out bowls of stew (can I just say a big “Thank You, Lord for freezer crock pot meals!”) and settled in to watch a little bit of a movie with kids. Goodness, but those 80′s movies (even the PG ones) have a lot of language. Love our ClearPlay dvd player – set the filters and we can enjoy a movie without cringing each time the language gets a little (or a lot) “salty” or colorful. Sent the kids to bed and then I pretty much stayed on the couch, unable to move. Napping at 10 pm is always a bad idea. Ha.

School books and naps

School books crowd out my favorite napping spot.

Thankfully some noise startled me just as I was falling into a deep, deep sleep. I dragged myself out of the comfy sectional and into the kitchen. Put away the remains from dinner, washed all the dishes and made Tim’s breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. Now I have a few minutes to blog before I go to bed for a real sleep.

On second thought, I think I’ll just post this picture of one of my favorite snuggly/cozy/sleeping places and say goodnight. I went to a wonderful mentor coffee this morning – I’ll write more about it later as I am passionate about seeing women grow and constantly humbled by my own need to walk closer with Jesus.

Project 365 – Day 35
Kathy

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David, Project 365, Sarah

Playmobil Break

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So many people - so little time!

Enough Playmobil people to populate an entire city!

Daniel and his friend James cleaned up the garage this weekend. And by clean up, I mean they piled all my Christmas bins and random projects into nice, tidy stacks against the edges and walls of the garage. I’m not sure I will ever be able to find everything. But then, Daniel would probably say that was my fault for leaving it a mess and hinting that they should clean it up before the party. Ha.

Time for some Playmobil

Time for some Playmobil

With all of the Christmas containers shoved aside, you can actually see things on the shelves in the garage. At some point during our party on Friday night, someone took down some Playmobil for the little kids. Several years ago I bought a HUGE amount of Playmobil from a friend who offered me a deal I couldn’t resist. I’ve organized and separated the pieces into separate containers, but nothing has been played with or enjoyed in a long while.

Sarah has a knack for building.

Sarah has a knack for building.

During our school reading today, David and Sarah pulled out four of the Playmobil bins and started to put the castles together. I couldn’t resist getting a few pictures of them, and we ALL wished the afternoon reading/playing time could have stretched on longer.

For now the living room is still covered in people, odd pieces and wonderful potential Playmobil fun.

Nothing like a little hands on activity during reading time.

Nothing like a little hands on activity during reading time.

As long as I don’t worry about company or having a tidy living room, we can leave out the Playmobil and enjoy them this week. There isn’t as much time for “play” as there used to be when the children were little. Interesting how homework, friends, and computer activities (games, social media, etc) replace simple “playing” as the kids get older.

Even though I am constantly decluttering and giving away bags and boxes of things, I insist on keeping Legos, Playmobil, Knex and shelves and shelves of kids’ books. I love toys that encourage creativity and inspire the imagination.

Project 365- Day 2
Kathy

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Joshua, Project 365

One Last Hurrah

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With Joshua and Kelsie here through the month of January, it has definitely felt festive and fun. We enjoyed a Thai meal on Wednesday night and took the Christmas lights and the tree down yesterday. We missed having Rachel home as well, but she’s had a wonderful January Term at Union. Joshua came and taught my student Leadership class at co-op this morning. And this evening we had one last party with a few friends. As much as I try to be sure and have my camera on hand, I know that I haven’t taken enough pictures this month.

We loved having Joshua and Kelsie here this month!

Tim may or may not have been standing on tiptoes. LOL. Oh, and ignore the “Merry Christmas” on the pantry door.

It has been a wonderful visit, and we will be sorry to say goodbye tomorrow! Rachel, we are sending them back to you. Hug them up for us!

Project 365 – Day 30
Kathy

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Project 365, Tim

Don’t Run Him Over

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Daniel’s school parking lot accident rendered Tim’s car a little beat up. But, with two pillows stacked behind his back, the driver is nice and comfortable and can actually see without any trouble.

Needless to say, the insurance company issued us a rental car while we settle things from the accident. What kind of car did we “happen” to get?

Pretty red car

Pretty red car

I had to chuckle when the man at the rental company offered us a red Toyota Corolla. On Friday, the day of the accident, Tim mentioned in his blog post that he’s been pining for a sporty Corolla since he drove one at 17. I think he might have spent more than a few hours on Saturday researching new and used cars (cough cough, okay mainly just Corollas) online. On Sunday afternoon, as we snuck off for an unexpected date, Tim asked me if I wanted to go test drive a Corolla. Ha. I didn’t. We ended up walking around Steilacoom and getting coffee at Starbucks.

Sunnyside - last January

Sunnyside – last January

I don’t know why I was surprised, then, to end up with a new Corolla as our rental car for the week. Of course, it “happened” that the only one they had available was red. Tim knows I have a weakness for red cars. I usually stick to red minivans, but a bright, shiny sedan is certainly fun.

"May I help you in?"

Tim shared the car with Joshua and Kelsie.

Of course, now another sad reality has hit us. Braces. Oh dear. Daniel is getting braces tomorrow. He’s got a rather pronounced under bite and, before they do jaw surgery, they want to try and correct it with braces. Ouch. And then Sarah is due to start with spacers in a few months.

Um, braces are no where near as fun as a new (or even new-ish) car. But they cost a whole lot. Can you hear Tim’s desolate ‘harrumph’ through the internet?

We continue to pray and trust God to guide and direct our decisions and our finances. Not always easy. I am keenly aware at how blessed I am to have been able to stay home with the children all these years. And I am incredibly thankful to Tim for working so hard to provide for and take care of us.

I wish I could buy him a brand new Corolla and spoil him for once.

Some of us like to pose with our cars.

Some of us like to pose with our cars.

Thank you for all the sacrifices you make for us, Tim!

Project 365 – Day 28
Kathy

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Homeschooling, Project 365

Solving for X

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A math problem from IXL today:

-2x+3=9
-2x =6
x = -3

We are constantly working on math in this household. Determined to learn from our challenges (and victories) in homeschooling over the years, Tim and I have made several changes in our approach to math. No longer content to let the kids direct the pace where they could be easily distracted by other subjects, or fall behind as Mom/teacher gets busy with life, we added two distinct things.

Loading the bow takes precision.

Loading the bow takes precision.

First of all, we (okay mainly Tim) require the kids to complete an IXL math skills daily. We’ve had a family membership to IXL since Feb 2012. Tim bribes rewards the kids for finishing an entire grade level of IXL (to 100% completion) with a hundred bucks. Admittedly that doesn’t work out to be very much per hour when you think that Sarah alone has done 40,000 math problems and spent 618 hours (not including the time when the computer “timed out” and stopped recording) working on math since we started.

Sometimes you gotta put your feet up.

Sometimes you gotta put your feet up.

In addition to daily IXL work, we also decided to have the kids do math with The Potter’s School, an online academy. Normally the classes are offered only one day a week, but understanding that math needs additional practice and teaching, TPS offers a two-day a week option. David and Sarah are both taking their math courses with TPS twice a week. I still work with them on homework, additional teaching (as needed), and study/prep/review for exams, but the primary teaching and the maintained deadlines/assignments/schedule are put in place by the TPS teachers.

Hit the mark!

Hit the mark!

I strongly believe that homeschooling with grace and confidence is an ongoing challenge. It requires constant work and a humble heart that is willing to ask for help, try new things, admit when a curriculum or course of study isn’t working and to rejoice when new discoveries are made.

Project 365 – Day 26
Kathy

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