Are You Ready for Some Football?

Oh, baby I am! And that is because my older son's Novice football team made the Superbowl in the TVYFL. I am not normally a football girl. I am a baseball girl to the very core of my soul. But when your baby's team makes the Superbowl, ya gotta represent! So my girlfriend, Alice, sent me the cutest Buccaneers shirt yesterday. I will have a shirt that no other mom is wearing...and you know that makes me happy. Not because I'm a fashion snob (not by any stretch) but because I hate blending in, for the most part.

So we're leaving in about 3 hours for a town that is over 2 hours away to play a team that is less than 30 minutes from here. Yeah...I'm fairly certain that men thought of that stupid set-up. It reeks of testosterone. At any rate, my parents are going and we're spending the night tonight so we don't have to get up at o'dark hundred and have tired, cranky footballers on our hands. Good idea, husband of mine. Very good idea.

Yummmmm...

I hate cooking. Not because I'm not good at it, but because I'm not creative or adventurous and I'm a bit of a "go-with-what-you-know" kind of cook. (Translation: boooorrrrring!) So I'm trying to go out of my comfort zone a bit and experiment a little with that little machine that my Auntie Carole loved so much: the crock pot. You may know it as a slow cooker, but you know what I'm talking about. By the way, the crockpot I linked to is NOT the crockpot I have. It's the one I want. And will get. If I have to buy it mahself.

Anyway, I found a website that has been pretty popular for a while among the cook/stay-at-home/working/mommy set for quite some time. It's Crockpot 365 and it's amaaaaaazing! I won't run through all the recipes here, but I will tell you that I made this for dinner tonight and I LOVE IT. I don't even care if my family likes it (but they totally will). I'm going to eat it all by myself if I can. The chicken is falling apart, it's so tender. Yes! Score one for the mom! The boys (well, two boys and a man-child) will be home in an hour or so from football practice, so I'll let you know after that what the consensus is. Oh, and check out the way the author of the blog laid everything out for us! Crazy cool, right?

I'm thinking about trying this for dinner tomorrow night. Or maybe this. Oh my...the possibilities are endless!

Ok, so now send me your favorite crockpot recipes! I want them all!

The Pumpkin Patch

Today, my parents wanted to take my kiddos to the ENORMOUS pumpkin patch near our house. Lord knows I could have thought of 563,456,786,313 other things to do today, but I went along because my mama asked me. And guess what? I had a blast. We did the corn maze, the kids chased each other around for hours, we picked out pumpkins, and the boys did the zip line. It was amazing to watch my kids just have fun. I get so caught up in trying to make them "behave" that I often forget that they are children. But today, I was reminded that I am so very blessed that God saw fit to gift me with these boys. And today, I got to watch them just be 8 and 9. It was a beautiful thing.

My sister (who is my biological cousin, but we were raised like sisters) turned me on to this website called smilebox and I created a little scrapbook and sent it to some family members. I also posted it below. Enjoy. Oh...and smilebox is FREE. Go check it out.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I Cannot Endure Any More...

...appliances breaking! Grrrrrr...I mean, really, is it too much to ask for my 3-year-old refrigerator to actually WORK? No, it's not. I don't care if there's only a one year warranty on it. It should work. Period. So, I spent 2 hours on the phone with Maytag listening to very poor customer service reps who never want to let anyone speak to their supervisors. (Really? You don't have a boss? Well, connect me with the person who is going to meet with you after I name you in my Better Business Bureau complaint or start a website called thingsthatsuck.com and name you specifically. THAT'S who I want to talk to.) But if you are persistent and don't yell, scream, or swear, you can actually speak to someone with some sort of authority and someone who will truly help you. That's how I met Bob. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Bob. Bob was not an angry man. He had a job to do, which was to get me out of his hair without costing his company money (I'm aware of this), but he also had a heart. In that heart, Bob knew that I was right. Not so right that Maytag was going to pay for a new fridge (remember, I "only had a one year manufacturer's warranty...as they reminded me agan and again and again), but right enough that they payed for nearly half. Fine. Whatever. We're out some money we didn't plan on spending, but not as much as if we hadn't called Maytag in the first place. And then...

...my Maytag washer leaks. A lot. All over my laundry room (which, frankly, can be called the laundry "tomb" because I think laundry MIGHT be the death of me eventaully). Which is upstairs. The only thing (well, thingS, really) that saved us were that 1) I heard the water gushing from the front of the washer early enough that it didn't touch my carpet and 2)the drain actually did its job and the bulk of the water POURED through it to the outside. And, sisters (I know no men read this), it POURED so much that my Big Boy was terrified to empty the garbage because he was going to get DRENCHED. So, when the fridge guys came to install the new fridge, we had them look at the washer. Good news? It's like a $35 part. Bad news? They probably can't get here until Friday (today is Tuesday) to install it. The great news? I can launder at my mom and dad's. The BEST news? If we don't fix this thing, my dad has a newer washer in his garage that we can have por gratis. I LOVE me some FREE!

So the third appliance wasn't really an appliance, but you'll feel sorry for me nonetheless. Our fence blew over during our really windy day a few weeks ago. Really, it happened like the same day or right around the same time our fridge died. It was disheartening, to say the least. Our house is only 8 years old, which means the fence is also 8. Is that a long time and I'm just disillusioned? Seriously, is it unreasonable to ask for stuff to work or last? Don't answer that. I know that stuff isn't built like it used to be. I've been told this about 235,586,223,545 times during our saga with the fridge (which, by the way, lasted 3 weeks from start to finish). I guess I just don't want to believe it.

It's raining (and it's NOT raining MEN!)...hallelujah!

It's our first rainy day here in months and it is REALLY raining! Our backyard fence has already blown over (of course, right?) and I saw my first overturned big rig. I mean really overturned...like the wind just swept it over. These are the parts of the season that I could do without.

I know I've been a little out of touch lately. Sorry. And I think I even promised to blog more regularly. Sorry again. And...well, I'm sure there's more to be sorry about just so I can have a hat trick of apologies. Truthfully, I have no great excuses. I just don't sit down to blog, even though I have a jillion (it's a number if I say it's a number!) things going through my mind to blog about. Let's see. What's going on in the Land of Homeschooling, Coffee-Drinking, and Mayhem?

Oh, there's always football. It's actually starting to grow on me a little. But just a little. I still don't "get" it and right when I think I know every position, they change their formations or whatever they're called, so I don't "get" it anymore. But my boys are having a great time. They are both really hustling their tails off for their teams. And my Little Man has exceeded far beyond what I expected. He's not just trying, he's DOING! And he's a little beast on that field. His team is undefeated, but they don't have playoffs for his division, so he's bummed. His brother's team, on the other team, does, in fact, have playoffs and they made it! Looks like our season is going a little longer than we thought it would, but that's cool. Big Boy is excited, so we're excited.

And then there's baseball, about which I won't go into too much detail, but I will say this: Big Daddy and my Daddy (also known as "Papa" 'round these parts) are, along with one of the only other men we would let coach our children, starting their own travel ball team. Here's the website. Check it out. We're fairly stoked. Little Man has decided that he does not want to play for a travel ball team this year, so he'll stick with Babe Ruth for one more year and my dad will manage that team. Yep, we'll all be busy. But it'll be worth it.

Oh, yeah, and that little homeschooling thing we do. It's going well. I have some doubts, still, about whether or not I'm teaching them "enough," but we're slowly easing through those doubts. Homeschooling is turning out to be harder, more rewarding, and more challenging than I expected. I really do love it and the boys are doing great. I think.

A Plea for Literary Help

Hey, gang. So I'm dying to get in on the Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009 over at Callapidder Days. The big problem is that I have NO IDEA what to read! So maybe you can help. Now, I'm under no crazy delusion that millions (or even twenty) people read this little blog. But YOU do! And if you like to read, I'd love to hear some recommendations. I'm fairly open, but there are a couple of things I don't like. I'm not into serious sci-fi. Light sci-fi, sure. Heavy stuff, no thanks. And I'd prefer not to read something that leaves me hopeless about my marriage and life and what kind of mother I am because it's so unrealistically romantic. Reading is supposed to help you fall into another world, but I don't want to delve into anything that is going to make me wonder why I'm even alive!

OK, that's it. Hey! Look at that...two posts in one day. Humph...go me! Hey, maybe you'll even join the challenge with me!

Flaky Flake McFlaky

Yes, folks, I am considering changing my name to Flaky Flake McFlaky for obvious reasons. I haven't blogged in over a month and this was supposed to be a FUN thing, not a chore! I really do love blogging. It's just tough to sit down and actually get the ridiculously silly thoughts that are in my head to flow out my fingertips. But I must press on!

So much has happened over the past few weeks regarding homeschooling. The good news is: we haven't quit. The not-as-good news is: it's such a challenge NOT to quit. While we (Mr. Armed with a Latte and I) are completely confident that homeschooling is best for both of our boys and for our family in general, it is an incredible challenge to find curriculum and teaching methods that work for both boys. They are so different from each other, it's ridiculous! Which leads me to as this crazy, conservative question: If I have only 2 children with different learning styles and needs and I struggle to meet each of their needs, how can ANY public (or private, for that matter) school do the same with 30 kids in a class? I'm absolutely, in no way dogging teachers. In fact, I feel like they are already being dogged by a system that expects them to use one method to teach everyone and if any kids don't respond to that method, the teacher is the one who is viewed as "unsuccessful." What a crock. I only have two kids in my "classroom" and even I know what works for one may not (and rarely does, in this house) work for the other.

Like I said, a lot has gone here homeschooling-wise. It's been a definite challenge, but the rewards are sweet and I know more are to come. The boys and I spend A LOT of time together (which is why many moms don't homeschool in the first place. I'm so not judging...I was one of them!) so we get on each others' nerves sometimes, but we have found that we actually LIKE being together. And one of the bonuses of the three of us always being together is that we are ready to spend time with Corey when he's not working. Any of you that are the child of or are married to shift workers know that it's a challenge to spend time with them. We've already benefited greatly from homeschooling's flexibility.

One thing (among others, don't you worry...) I struggle with is the idea that we don't just have to do "school at home," meaning that I don't have to re-create a typical classroom for the boys where we read and then answer questions or do worksheets all day. Because I am a product of public and (a year-and-a-half of) private schools, this method works with me. It also works because I am a girl. I'm not going to argue the merits of the whole "boys learn differently than girls" thing, but I will say this: They do. I can't believe that my boys will not sit long enough to finish 3 or 4 worksheets! (That's said with some sarcasm, y'all.) I remember sitting in school for long periods of time and reading something and then answering questions about it. I had no problems doing it. So, when I started homeschooling, it was very natural for me to choose curriula like those used in public schools. BIG mistake with these two boys. Well, actually, that's not true. Big mistake with one of them. One of them does just fine with this method. It's boring, but he just knocks it out. But the other one? Not so much. It will take him hours to do one worksheet. Not because he doesn't understand the content, but because he just doesn't learn that way. He's more of a "show me and let me touch it" kind of learner. The clinical term for him is "kinesthetic learner." I call him a plain old boy. How many boys do you know that can truly sit still and color for over an hour? I don't know many, but I do know plenty of girls that can...and they enjoy it! Hear me when I say that I realize not EVERY boy learns differently from EVERY girl. I realize every kid is just different from one another. But from my experience, what public school has become is not very "out-of-the box-learner" friendly. Go ahead. Send me a nasty email.

So...let's see. The kids are still playing football. They LOVE it, kind of to my dismay. I mean, I thought they would like it, but that they would be done with it after this year. Now I'm thinking we may just be a Buccaneers family until we die! That's alright. They're so flippin' cute in their little uniforms that I don't mind sitting at practice 3 nights a week for 2 hours in the either freezing cold (which is what it looks like I'll be doing tonight) or the scorching heat (like we've done for the past couple months). Poor me, right?

On another front, baseball is nearing! Y'all, I am a baseball girl. I love to watch it, listen to it, talk about it, and read about it. And I especially love watching my boys play. This year is a little different for us. It looks like Big Boy will be playing on a travel ball team (one that his daddy and papa are starting) in the spring. Well, actually, I think we're going to start having work-outs in November or something, but the tournaments really go full force in the spring. I'm really looking forward to watching him play with a bunch of his greatest friends. That's a lot of why we chose to do travel ball this year. All of the boys have such a great time during All-Stars in the summer and we hated watching them get separated when it was time for league baseball to start. So we've talked about a team for the past two years and finally, Mr. AWAL, one of his closest baseball friends, and my dad have bit the bullet and started a team from scratch. We had a meeting last Friday just to let parents know what we expect from everyone, what they can expect from their coaches, how much stuff will cost (it's never free, unfortunately!), and that kind of stuff. The whole time the parents were in the meeting, the kids were outside all playing together and having such a great time. Corey (aka Mr. AWAL) noticed it right when he was in the middle of his schpiel and said, "You guys, this is why we're doing this. You cannot make or fake the chemistry these boys have on and off the field. You can't force it or manufacture it or buy it. They just have it and we can either build on it or walk away from it." That's the truth. These boys love to be together...on and off the field. They beg to stay at each other's houses when we've just played 3 games together. It's one of the beauties of childhood friendships and I'm grateful for it.

"So if Big Boy is playing travel ball, what about Little Man?" you're asking. Worry not your troubled little hearts, my friends. Little Man has decided that he wants NOTHING to do with travel ball. Oh, except that he wants a hat and a shirt with "B-Money" on the back. That's my boy. Actually, Little Man wants to play league ball with one of his friends (who happens to have a brother on the travel ball team). They have decided that they don't want to practice as much as their brothers have to and they don't want to play in tournaments. So, they're not. We've decided that we'll do both. We'll work it out. I'll be at Little Man's games on Saturdays and then we'll go to Big Boy's games (or we'll leave Big Boy's games early, whatev.) and then we'll all be able to go to Little Man's weeknight games. Somehow, these things always work out. They have to!

OH! And here's a shameless plug for the new ball team. Corey's learning HTML and doing it all by himself. NERD!

Coffee Cup of the Day

So this mug is totally boring, but it sits right next to my Keurig, so it's incredibly accessible. I actually have to make a conscious effort not to use one of these mugs. It's part of a set Corey bought for me at Costco because our kitchen is coffee-themed. It works.

Pluggin' along...

We're doing all right these days. We've hit some proverbial bumps in the proverbial road, but we are proverbially carrying on! I'm proud of my children. I'm proud of the way they move when the wind blows, so as not to break. We're on this journey together and I wouldn't be surprised if I learn more than they learn this year!

I'm thinking of integrating some lapbooking into our days. Not everyday. just sometimes, and for things that they are either really interested in or things they really need to know (like math facts) and are having a harder time grasping. I'm just thinking about it. One of the big issues I had (and still have) with public schools is that kids do a lot of worksheets. I'm trying to get away from that (even though it's totally ingrained in my brain!) and do some more hands-on things, especially with Big Boy.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!

I suck. I've tried at least 20 times to get on here and blog, but I always end up finding something else to do. The truth is, home schooling isn't just something we do for a few hours in the morning. I'm constantly trying to figure out how to teach my boys things in ways that will stick. I'm aware that it doesn't sound as intense as some of your jobs, but it's been way more of a challenge than I thought it would be. I've already decided that we won't be using the writing curriculum I had intended to use because it's just enough over their heads that it's frustrating them. I've also decided to look for a new math curriculum. The one we were using was just not working for us. We may revisit both of those curricula, but not in the near future. I'm trying to make this as low-stress for all of us as possible and finding the way to do that is a whole "trial and error" process...which I hate. A lot. I hear a lot of home schooling is trial and error. I'm trying to adjust, but it's not easy.



Oh! So, last weekend was the boys' first football games. All I can say is, "HOLY COW!!!" I am amazed and surprised at how much my children actually LOOK and ACT like little footballers!! They both had great games (both teams won) and I had a great time watching them. If you go over to my facebook page, you can check out the pics other moms have posted of my kids. Tell me they aren't the cutest things EVER!

I'm not going to give you too many of the gory details of the last few days. I'll just leave you with my mug and hope that you'll come back!

Coffee Cup of the Day

This coffee mug reminds me of a couple of things. Of course it reminds me of where we bought it, but it also reminds me of my grandparents. My Papa Walt and Grandma Jackie were serious (Folgers/Yuban) coffee drinkers. And many of the mugs they had were brown or yellow, kind of thick, and perfectly round. Kind of like this one. Oh, and I SUPER LOVE the little message inside. Makes me warm and fuzzy.

2 1/2 years ago, I said goodbye to my Grandma Jack. 2 months ago (yesterday), I said goodbye to my Papa Walt. Let me tell you something. The older I get, the harder it is to say goodbye to people. Death sucks. And, to be honest, I have a lot of questions about it. My first one is, "Why do we have to go through this over and over and over?" Listen--I'm not God (which is a glorious fact all in itself). But I have to tell you that I just don't understand the concept of death. I get the theological concept. I just can't grasp the emotional part. And if you know me, you know that the emotional part plays a huge part now that I'm getting older.

Sorry. Downer. Check out the mug. Have a great day. Come back!! I promise the next post won't be so heavy.

Artsy Fartsy

I am NOT what you would call an "art" type. I like crafty stuff, but true art is not my thing. But my kids need to learn it, so now what? Well, we spent a little time in the backyard today with a roll of brown craft paper and some paints. We've been reading about Nomads and how they lived. The boys thought it was especially neat that they drew on cave walls wherever they lived; that way people would know they had been there. Kind of like a primitive "Joe wuz here" graffiti thing. So we decided to make our own cave drawings and include things that are important to us or that define our living space. Big Boy is on the upper half. That green thing is Indy, our tortoise, also known as the "Ninja of Destruction" according to Big Boy. He also included a football, a grandfather (which we DON'T have, FYI), his dad's foot (don't ask...I didn't) and a TV (shocking, I know).

Lil' Man is on the lower half and also included Indy, but decided to include the dog, Koa, as well. He painted a laptop and his paintball gun. Pacifists, beware...my boys are armed. And not with lattes.

Coffee Cup of the Day

Did I ever mention that I did a brief stint at Starbucks? (Did you think I was going to say I did a brief stint at San Quentin? I could have you know. I'm gangster like that.) Yes, I was a barista...and a really good one, if I say so myself. I got the job to make a little extra money and to hang out more with one of my bffs, who also worked there. It was a lot of fun, but being a mom just isn't conducive to early morning shifts that overlap when your kids are in school, so I quit. But not before I fed my coffee cup addiction!! This cup is one of the commemorative Pike Place items Starbucks sells every so often. I love how they designed it to look like the disposable cups, don't you? I'll have a venti, 4-pump, non-fat white mocha with no whip. PLEASE! (Always say, "Please" and totally mean it. Just take my word for it.)

Yesterday our journal topic was "If I could have one superpower, I would want..." I was thinking invisibility or super speed or super strength. No. While Big Boy chose the ability to fly, his brother chose telekinesis. Yes, folks. Telekinesis. Why? So he could change the channel on the TV without a remote. (Clearly, he gets that from his father, Master of the Boob Tube.) Oh, and so he could shut down his brother's computer from another room. Who's kid IS THIS?

One thing I've noticed about home schooling is that it uses an awful lot of paper. I know one logical solution is to have the kids do more stuff on the computer (they each have their own laptops...please, don't judge. It's their father, again.), but I'm not too keen on having them on the computer more than they already are. I like the idea that the computer is still somewhat of a treat. I also like that it's the first thing I can take away when they're bad (I know, rotten reason to like it). Yeah, I said it. B-A-D. Sometimes my kids are bad. I know yours aren't, but mine are. Feel better about yourself? I aim to please!

Anyway, the paper thing. I need to figure out some sort of system for completed stuff and pending stuff and just stuff in general. I think binders are the answer, but I have to sit down and think of how to organize them. Any suggestions? Takisha? (Just checkin' if you're still reading!)

Coffee Cup of the Day

It may be painfully obvious why I have this cup. Yes, y'all, Mr. Armed with a Latte is also armed in general (oh, THAT was funny!). He's a cop. My dad was a cop, my Papa was a cop, my uncle was a cop, my cousin (said uncle's son) is a cop, and I am probably breeding little cops. Lord, have mercy (you have to say it like "Lawd" or it ain't funny). Oh, and my mom is the Police Officers' Association secretary, which means I get free mugs and stuff. Shhh...I probably am not supposed to tell that. Nepotism and all that. She pays for the mugs...I just don't. At any rate, I've had this mug for about 8 years. See how the flaky, gold crap is flaking right off? That's because you shouldn't put said mug in the dishwasher. Yeah, right. And there is apparently another thing you should NEVER do with this mug. Anyone? Anyone? You should avoid the microwave when your coffee gets cold and you need to reheat. Sparks. Fly. Everywhere. And your husband gets really, really irritated. Grump.

Monday, Monday

I don't mind Mondays like most people do. To me, Monday is just another day; it always has been. So the only reason today was any big deal at all was that it was our first Monday as a home schooling family. And it was great. Well, it was good. I think I packed our day a little too full of academic "stuff" so I reaped the consequences of that at around 2 when Lil' Man was staring at me like I had 8 holes in my head. The good news? We just stopped. I like that about home schooling.

I introduced our vocabulary and cursive curricula today. Both boys are excited to learn cursive, but don't really want to practice, so that will be interesting. But they both really loved learning vocab words. The words weren't even that difficult or out-of-the-ordinary, but they liked using them in sentences, making a graphic organizer with each word, giving me examples and non-examples, and that kind of thing. I love when my kids love to learn.

The other thing that surprised me today was that they both enjoyed their writing curriculum. I told you I was little anxious about this one, but I had no need to be! We watched the DVD as the instructor explained how to do things and paused when we needed to pause and went into more detail when needed. This could be a sign of something good! This week, we're writing about sea snakes. Can life get any better for a boy?

Coffee Cup of the Day

About 3 years ago, we took a family vacation that none of us will ever forget. We went to DisneyWorld in Florida. Now, I am completely aware that some of y'all take amazing vacations every year (or more often, even) and DisneyWorld is not big thing to you. This is not the case for us. We are a single-income family, so a big vacation for us is not taken for granted (or taken yearly for that matter!). :stepping down from soapbox:

Anyway, the mug is from DisneyWorld's Animal Kingdom. I swear to you we must of gone on the safari ride 4 or 5 times. We were like little kids (2 of us were little kids, but whatever) on that thing. They have amazing real animals roaming like it's Africa or something! So when I look at this mug, I remember the looks on my boys' faces when they saw a lion or an elephant or a rhino. Yeah, it was that cool.

Our First Friday!

I made an executive decision. Public schools (and private schools, too) do Spirit Day on Fridays. You know the drill. Everyone dresses in their ridiculously expensive school t-shirts and sweatshirts and school colors. I'm not hatin'. I bought said expensive stuff...for 4 years. Well, we're having Spirit Day on Fridays, too. As long as we don't have to leave the house, we're wearing our pjs. For real. Yes, I'm totally feeding some idiot's stereotype of the home school family that doesn't really do anything but lounge around in pjs all day, but I don't care. Fridays will be glorious. It's 2:24 pm and I'm still in my pjs. Halellujah!

Each of my boys is using some adaptations of classic literature in their Language Arts program. Right now, Big Boy is reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Lil' Man is reading Frankenstein. I'm so glad we chose this curriculum to use. I love that they actually like what they're reading. And there are comprehension questions and activities every few pages that we review so we can be sure they're following what the author is saying. Love it.

Monday we'll introduce our writing, handwriting, and vocabulary curricula. Sounds like a lot, but the handwriting and vocab are only about 5 or 10 minutes worth of work each day. I have to be honest. I'm a little nervous about our writing curriculum. It's an amazing program, but I just don't know. I'm going to watch the DVD that accompanies each lesson tonight while the boys are at football practice just to get a head start. We're supposed to watch it all together, so we'll do that Monday. Stand by for the update on that one.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

The Coffee Cup of the Day!

Please don't trip over each other. You'll all get a chance to see! Today's cup is one of my Lil' Man's faves. I mean
faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaves. The child is 8 and still LOVES him some Pooh Bear. I love that about him. He is one of the toughest children I've ever met. I mean like break-his-arm-at-school-and-not-even-cry tough. Like the-ear-infection-is-so-bad-the-eardrum-is-going-to-rupture (and he NEVER even told me it hurt!) tough. But do NOT mess with his Pooh blanket. He's had it since he was two and it's his homey.

We bought this cup in Disneyland about 3 or 4 years ago and he made me buy another Pooh Bear cup the next year and the next. But this is his best. And it holds a lot of coffee...always a plus.

Our First Day of Home Schooling

We started school on Wednesday. Today is Friday. I don't want to rip all my hair out today. This is a sign that it was a good first couple of days. I needed to have a good first couple of days in order to kind of bank them and draw from then when the days are rough and I actually DO want to rip my (or someone else's) hair out.

We had a very typical first day of school. We talked about why we're home schooling and what each of them hoped to learn about this year. Big Boy wants to learn about sports and U.S. History. Lil' Man hopes we do some music and sleep. No, seriously. He said he wants to spend every break he gets sleeping. God bless him.

I didn't take any pictures on our first day. The truth is that I forgot. I was so worked up and nervous that I completely forgot. But I have pictures of the area where we do most of our school. That has to count for something, right? I'll get better at pictures. I promise.

Our first day we did a lot of assessment. It helped me figure out where both boys are in spelling, math, grammar...you know, the usual stuff. Big Boy woke up first, ate breakfast, and we started right in with the spelling evaluation. Then he wrote in his journal and started to look through all of the materials we're using this year. He was so excited and I have to be honest. I almost cried watching him get pumped up about being able to learn about anyone in history he wants to.Lil' Man had to be woke. You aren't surprised at that, are you? I woke him at 9:15, he had breakfast and we started doing his spelling evaluation and journal work and then he looked through everything. Then he asked if we could do some math. So we did. And they both smiled the whole time. Please be aware that I realize we are in the honeymoon phase of home schooling, but I will take anything over the tears and frustration from one kid and boredom and frustration from the other. Like I said before, I'll take what I can get.

We also did a little world history. We'll do world history M, W, F and Big Boy does California history on T, Th when Lil' Man works on learning about communities.

Yesterday was the day I took pictures of the boys actually doing some work and the (much anticipated) coffee cup photo. We had a much fuller day (although the first day was nothing to cough at) and I learned that packing the day with no breaks is probably a very stupid (yeah, I said it) idea. The good news is that I figured it out before the inevitable revolt of two very hardworking boys. We added in some grammar and typing. That typing program has my kids cracking up and they've actually already done a great job learning the home row. Check it out! My only warning is that it is a BBC program, so the voice has a British accent. When he says, "Push it!" my kids thought he might've said something else that would get him in a heap o'trouble.

The coffee cup from yesterday was my very favorite coffee cup of all time. I bought it 2 years ago when the boys and I went to Idaho for one of my favorite cousin's surprise 30th party. I love that it's a little old looking and that it reminds me of the amazing week my kids had playing with their family in an area that God must've reached down and touched Himself. I loved Idaho. I love this cup.

The Journey Begins

I told you that we've decided to home school. I also told you that this is a BIG deal for our little family. (I would imagine it's a big deal for every family, but then again, maybe not...) Well, my friends, the journey has begun. And we are sure, now more than ever, that we've made the right and best decisions for our boys. Granted, it's only day 3, but come on now! Let me enjoy this.

You might know about my little addiction to facebook. I keep in touch with people I haven't seen in 15 years and people I just saw 4 minutes ago using facebook. Last night, I had a Tastefully Simple show at my house and two of my girls from JUNIOR HIGH came out here to hang out. We hung out until 1:30 this morning! I never would have talked to them if it hadn't been for facebook. Long live facebook! OK...that was a bunny trail. Where was I?

Oh yeah...facebook. So I love facebook. I was on the other day (which has to happen only during breaks and after school now...or we'll get nothing done EVER!) and happened to update my status to:




Boy, did it go from there. I never expected anyone to pay any attention to my little post. Quite frankly, I update my status because I like to think that people are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what's happening in my incredibly exciting (read: NOT exciting)and glamorous (again, really?) life; not much unlike the idea of blogging. I'm a talker. (I know you're shocked. Pick your chin up off the floor, homey!) I like to talk for the sake of talking. It's a character flaw...and you're encouraging it by reading this!!! Good grief. Another bunny trail. Lo siento...

Ummm...facebook...posted update...oh yes...my status! So within a few minutes, "it" all broke loose. Not in a bad way, my friends. In an encouraging, loving, supportive way that I never expected. Please do not get me wrong. I have good friends. Scratch that business. I have great friends. But what transpired next was a little humbling. Take a look at this, y'all:



Very sweet, right? Yep. It gets even sweeter. I told you I have great friends, right? Keep looking. This is where it gets good:




Did you see that? I have a fan club! OK, so I won't start printing t-shirts, but that's not the point! My friends believe in me. They believe in me and they support me and they LOVE ME! You can't buy this stuff, my friends. Let me swoon for a moment and then I'll get back to the blog...

So...here it is, you guys. A blog to chart our progress, our struggles, our hopes, our fears, our accomplishments, the whole shebang. I've thought a little about it and I'm going to have a couple of regular things on the blog. First of all, I'll try to post every day. I said try. I'll include the curricula we're using, links, things the kids have done, photos, or some other cool little stuff. Please bear with me if I get a little caught up in the whole "schooling my children" thing. Thanks.

Secondly, I like when I go to someone's blog and they have some quirky little feature. Mine will include coffee cups. Yes, it's weird. But I love coffee cups and this is my blog, so there will be coffee cups! Every day I'll post a picture of the coffee cup I'm using that morning. I know. You can't wait. You don't have to. The first two posts are coming very, very shortly...like, I'm working on them right now.

Stand by!

5 months

Yep. 5 months. It's been 5 months since I've blogged. I'm aware that I'm a slacker...you don't have to point that out. Between school, home stuff, the boys, and life in general, blogging just kind of slipped into oblivion. So, I guess some catch-up is in order. Let's see...

School: I quit. Well, I didn't actually quit. I finished out the semester and then Mr. Armed with a Latte and I made some hard decisions about school next year for our children. Fact is, we're incredibly disappointed with the public school system in general. While our local public school is "fine," we don't want just "fine" for our boys. And private school? Nope. It's not only out of our budget, but it's just not realistic to me. Realistic in that there is realistically no school that will meet all my criteria (which it should, if I'm paying) for my kids' educations. So, we took a step back and made a decision. A biggie. I mean, like monumental big. Here it is:

WE'RE HOMESCHOOLING!!!

Now, had you even muttered those words to me any time within the last 8 million years, I would have laughed (rather loudly and obnoxiously) at your lame idea. I mean, why homeschool when there are lots and lots and lots of public school for our children? Right? Right? Nope...wrong. We didn't make this decision because our children are so behind in school that this is the only way to get them caught up (though one is definitely not learning the way he's being taught and that results in my "doing school" with him for hours after "real" school has ended just to ensure he's staying on pace with his class. But his teacher swore he was doing "just great." Grrrr.....). Nor did we choose to homeschool because our children are academic stars who are incredibly bored in class and are working grade levels ahead (although one is such a little natural at picking stuff up, it's almost irritating). We decided to homeschool because, honestly, it simply makes sense to us. We can spend as much time on a subject or a unit as we need or want. When it's time for US History, we can research all we want on Abraham Lincoln (which my older one will love) and when it's time for math, my younger one can work at his own pace rather than wait for anyone else in his class to finish. In fact, my older son's teacher told me that we could probably finish an entire day of "normal" school in 3 hours because we won't have to do so much waiting or crowd control (which, sadly, is a huge part of any public school teacher's day). How does he know? Because he (along with his public school teacher wife) HOMESCHOOL THEIR DAUGHTER!! She's in the same grade as my oldest son. I'm just sayin'. OK....on to the next thing. Ummm...

Home stuff: No big news here. Still trying desperately to keep up with this house and the two little pigs who live in it (the boys, not us).

The boys: Well, there is one word that has consumed us for the past few months and that word is BASEBALL. My oldest made the All-Star team (and my baby was the bat boy) and we've had practice just about every night...until last week when it all came to an end. We didn't qualify for the national tournament, so baseball is over for us...for now. The truth is, we're starting a travel baseball team in January, so life will just get crazy again. But we honestly love it. All of us. How many things can we say that about? So we have a rest from baseball. Only to occupy our time with football in about 2 1/2 weeks. Practice 4 or 5 days a week and games on Saturday (back to back games since the boys are in two different age divisions). Fun times.

So, now we're on to life in general. The truth is, the past month and a half or so has been pretty hard. My Papa (my dad's dad) went into the hospital and we were told he had hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain). While there is a "fix" for hydrocephalus (surgery to insert a shunt to drain the fluid), Pop decided he didn't want any surgery. He told us he was tired and he just wanted to rest. And he did. June 26, my Pop left this world and went to be with his beloved of over 50 years, our Gram Jack. To say that I'm devastated would be an understatement. To say that I miss him would be just scratching the surface of the truth.

Pop's funeral was last Thursday, almost a week ago. Over 500 people came...judges, DAs, cops, mayors. It was unbelievable. My husband had to monitor the city council meeting last night and they closed in honor of my Pop. How crazy is that? He was a man's man, his wife's hero, a cop's cop, and my Pop. I pasted the talk I gave at his service below. Maybe you'll get a glimpse of how much I love my Pop. It's long, but it's worth the read.

*********************************

When Corey and I were planning our 1998 wedding, he made one thing abundantly clear. He was marrying me for my Papa. He had had the privilege of working with Papa Walt for a couple years before Pop retired in 1994 and apparently, Corey saw me as his way into Pop’s family. He married me for my Papa Walt and, baby, I can’t say that I blame you.

Uncle Doug and I both decided that when we spoke at Grandma Jack’s funeral, it was actually pretty easy to think of things to say because Gram was…well, let’s face it. Gram was quirky. But thinking of something to say today has been a little tougher. Papa wasn’t quirky. Papa was straightforward; the real deal. All his cards were on the table. Papa meant what he said and said what he meant. If you didn’t want the truth, you didn’t ask Papa. Papa was just a good man.

When I was a kid, the Muniz family epitomized the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” Throughout this city on any given day, you could find us kids together…either at Uncle Rich’s, Uncle Ed’s, or Papa Walt’s. My Papa picked me up from school, drove on my field trips, and entertained my friends. It wasn’t uncommon for friends to tell me that they wish they had my Papa as their own. Now I hear my boys’ friends telling them the same thing about their Papa, my dad. Dad, Uncle Dan, Uncle Doug, Pop left all three of you with an amazing legacy to carry on for your children and your grandchildren. I see glimpses of him in each one of you. Pop was a good man and he bred good men.

Usually, when someone who lives in an assisted living facility passes away, you don’t hear much about the assisted living facility. Not the case here. Making the decision for Pop to live somewhere that could help our family take care of him 24 hours a day was not an easy one for my dad and his brothers. But it turned out to be one of the best decisions they ever made for him. The people at Prestige in Manteca assured us that they would take care of Pop like he was their own family member…and they did. When he hurt, they hurt. When he smiled, he made their day, just like he made all of ours. Sunny, Jan, Jaime, JB, Jasmine, Amy…and every one at Prestige, thank you. Thank you for never looking at my Papa as “just another resident.” Thank you for providing this family with peace and assurance that our patriarch was in good hands. We love every single one of you. Like it or not, you’re in the family now.

If you would just forgive me for a minute, I’d like to have some words with my Pop.

Pop, I know you see this. I know you see all these people you used to work with and play ball with and your friends and family all here. We’re all here, Pop. Prestige even brought the party bus for you. Jan says it’s empty there without you. They love you so much. We’ll take care of them, Pop. Don’t worry.

The kids are doing ok, Pop, but they miss you. Telling them that you were gone was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do. But we’re thankful that we all got to spend so much time with you when you felt good. It takes the sting away a little bit to know that our boys will remember the good times.

Thank you, Pop. Thank you for loving me and for taking care of me. Thank you for coaching my high school softball team with my dad. Thank you for showing us the most important thing: family. We’re working on teaching the boys that, Pop. Thank you for loving my husband, for showing him what a real cop is, and for showing us what it means to stick it out in a marriage. Thank you for always taking our babies and rocking them to sleep when nobody else could. Thank you for smoked salmon and fried catfish. (Did you all know how fast this man could skin a catfish?) Thank you for showing us all the meaning of “honoring your mother and father” when you took care of your parents in front of our eyes. Thank you for taking care of Gram the very best you could. Thank you for Bethel Island and for passing on the love of radio stories. With the invention of satellite radio, the boys now listen to the same radio stories you used to made me listen to as a kid. They love them some Fibber McGee and Great Gildersleeve, Pop. Just like you did. I’ll hold on to that forever.

We’ll take care of each other, Pop. I won’t lie…the last few days have been hard, but we’ll help each other through. Just enjoy your reunion with Gram. Maybe dance with her…she’ll like that. I know you missed her every second of the past 2 ½ years. Tell her we love her and we miss her too. I miss you, Pop. But know that you took a piece of each one of us…and you left us with so much more. We’ll all do our best to make you and Gram proud. We’ll do good Pop, just like you done good.