Leaves

Last night James went out to do one of Dad's nursing home services. I stayed home. After talking with my sister for a bit, I decided I needed to do something and went to look for my paints and brushes. Leaves are growing on my wisteria vine. They may be slow to appear, but they are growing!

I must admit, my mind is muddled. I'm not quite sure where I fit in to the picture with my parents. Going back to "normal" feels almost impossible, but they want to give it a try. They don't need us there to help right now. We have been asked not to come, so here I am trying to settle my mind.

I am still in the process of figuring out our school year. Hannah's IHIP's have been written but not put into the mail. Books have been ordered but they haven't arrived. I'm not sure whether I'm looking forward to school or not.

Soccer and Fencing

This morning I took Hannah to soccer. This week I remembered the way and didn't get lost. We arrived on time and knew exactly where to go. No confusion today. Hannah is on the dark blue team which gathers at the far end of the field far, far, from the picnic pavilion. We took water bottles, but I drank my coffee instead. I forgot my blueberry muffin at home on the table. At the park I found the restrooms without incident, far, far from where I parked the van and close to the picnic pavilion.
I took a chair along with me this time, but it never came out of the van. Instead I walked back and forth along the park road (because it's good for me) and took a few pictures. (I remembered my camera.) I didn't mind a few sprinkles of rain, I had my umbrella, but when the showers started I took cover in the van and finished reading the book of James.
Back at home I decided to take up a sport of my own and practiced some fencing, something I haven't done much of in the past. I think I did alright. It's progress anyway.

Like an Old Friend

Yesterday I took Ben and Hannah to the mall. It is a rare occurrence and rarer yet that I actually spend any money while there. I wanted to look for something special in the toy store, but on my way was stopped by a pretty young woman working at a kiosk. She tried to sell me a manicure kit, which was very nice, but not on my list of priorities. On my way to avoid walking back her direction, I decided to go through Bon Ton and ran into a sale on sandals, a sale I couldn't pass up. I have been looking for these particular sandals for the past few years, so it was like running into an old friend. I knew I would forever regret it if I didn't buy them. Today my feet are cool and happy and it only cost me twenty bucks!

Today was the first day of soccer for Hannah. I woke up with a migraine, but still managed to take a shower and get out of the house on time to get to the park. Too bad I didn't look up the directions as it has been quite a long since I was last there. I had forgotten the way and so, rather than arriving early, we got there about ten minutes late. Next week I won't be getting lost, I will bring a chair to sit in, and maybe I'll even take a photo or two. Hey, maybe I'll even see Stacy instead of just her husband and four absolutely adorable children.

The Never Ending Blues

I was blessed this afternoon to have some friends offer to help me pick blueberries. Between Michelle and I and five children, we were able to cover the patch in a rather short amount of time. I continue to be amazed at the blueberry production this year as the last few years were progressively dismal. Record amounts of rain have led us to believe that our bushes have been slowly dying of thirst, rather than some unknown disease or infection. I must remember to purchase a drip line for next year.

The school year is also creeping up on me. I am so not ready for a new school year and have not yet turned in all of last year's paperwork. I must sit down with my pile of books and figure out what I am doing or I shall be in a heap of trouble. Please pray that I can find Hannah's books from last year so I can send in my final reports. I have no clue where the box that holds them has disappeared to. I had thought about attending a used curriculum sale tomorrow night but have my doubts about whether or not I will actually get there much less what I would be looking for. Probably something I sold or gave away within the last year. (My plans changed since then...) What I do know is that HIS soccer starts in a week and a half and Hannah is signed up to play on Saturday mornings. This means I must find her a pair of soccer cleats and locate her suddenly missing soccer ball...

The Book Drop

A few days ago I was thinking about cleaning out some of my junk. That evening I had an email in my inbox asking if anyone had a specific school math book. I happened to have Saxon Math 76 in my collection and so I emailed back and told the individual they could have mine. Too bad this is the only edition I can't find the test and answers for, but it has inspired me to go through my boxes, sort and toss, and send out a list of what I have to moms who may be looking.

Somehow, in the midst of my book sorting, I also managed to clean out and vacuum inside and under my sectional. It was partly because we needed to change some water in the fish tank but it is another task accomplished none the less. By tomorrow no one will be able to tell it was done, but I know the crumbs and dust bunnies are gone for the moment, and all of Sofie's dog chews have been removed from the dark corners of the sofa where she buried them since the last couch cleaning.

Wonder of wonders, supper is on the stove tonight! Last night I had to pull frozen hamburger patties out of the freezer because I had failed to plan ahead. I also took out a pack of chicken legs which were turned into soup today. It's a cold kind of day, perfect for hot chicken vegetable soup and some bread and peanut butter.

Playing Catch-up

This is Vacation Bible School week at church. Although I normally take part, this summer I have elected to decline participation. I am staying home, cleaning my house, tending my gardens, and attempting to catch up on home schooling paperwork. Ben and Hannah are catching a ride to church with Bethany each morning and I am enjoying a quiet house. Yesterday I did dishes, washed laundry, watered my vegetable garden, and picked a few blue berries. (I also took Nate to the other side of the city to have his guitar tuner fixed.) Today I finished up last year's quarter reports for Ben and Hannah and mailed them, along with their test scores, in to the school (breathe sigh of relief) and tomorrow I will need to pull out the books and see what is on the table for September (groan loudly!). Fifteen years ago when I started this job it was an adventure. We had fun with friends, went on field trips, and did wonderful projects. Three years into it I realized I could not see even a glimmer at the end of the tunnel and panicked. I was very much afraid the tunnel had no end. But, it is finally beginning to look as though the tunnel has an end after all. Ben is starting ninth grade and Hannah will be there next year. Maybe some day I will actually catch up with it after all!

Winding Down

The school year is slowly winding down and coming to a close. Although Ben and Hannah continue to do math and work on other things, the year-end tests have been taken and I am ready for summer vacation. Troy will be here on Tuesday and Wednesday and then he will be home with his parents for July and August. When he returns it will be half days. Sara and Alysa will finish up school this week too. It is highly likely that I will not have them for the summer months as their schedule will keep me in limbo more than I would like; summer school, riding lessons, day camp... I am hoping to have time to do some visiting and take a few day trips before settling in again in the fall. I'm also thinking about doing some artwork or maybe painting my living room. Maybe I'll find a few good books to read and enjoy some time on the back porch, go out to lunch with my husband, or sit by the pool with Rachel. Perhaps Shelly and I will take a hike or Gudl and I will walk through the Little Forest. Maybe I will meet up with Apple and Country Girl when I take my kids to camp in Oswego. Do you suppose I might find my way to visit my friend in NY City or Grandmanita in Halifax, Nova Scotia? Anything is possible if you only believe...

Maple Sugaring

It was not the best day for an outdoor field trip. The sun was nowhere in sight and a drizzling rain fell. It is March, we live in NY, we went anyway. We pulled on boots, donned raincoats, held umbrellas and traipsed through the mud.
Sap for making maple syrup is collected basically during the month of March. It must be warm enough during the day for the sap to run (above freezing) and cold enough at night that the trees don't start to bud (below freezing).
Once the trees bud, the flavor of the syrup changes and becomes bitter. The sap is collected in metal buckets or piped through plastic tubing to a holding tank. It takes 40 gallons of sap just to make one gallon of syrup. I'd imagine by the end of March Mr. Everson will be ready for a very long nap. This looks like a ton of work!

My favorite part of this field trip is the maple sugar candy and buying a jug of syrup to take home to drizzle over vanilla ice cream, Yummy!

Bens "Tagged!" list

Ben's list of "weird" things.



Oh dear, I've been tagged. Why do these things always happen to me? So anyway, here's a couple of things about me.

1. I'm 14.
2. I hate those "Everybody wins" games.
3. I'm a homeschooler from Williamson, which basically makes me the weirdest of the weird.
4. I couldn't find any good pictures @ Beths house.
5. I like cars. my favorites are theEvolution, (mitsubishi) and Impreza .(Subaru).
6. Ich spreche Deutsch sehr tomatoe nicht
7. I like rally racing better than NASCAR (more entertaining)
8. I like spinich.
9. I like sunsets better than sunrises. (more orange, less pink).
10. I have 1 fish and an algae eater.
11. If I could vote I'd vote for Huckabee.
12. I just spent like 30 minutes looking for a good picture.
13. My favorite car maker is Lotus.
14. I like skateboarding but not skateboarders.
15. I like Albuquerque, N.M.

I decided to take uncle Daves advice and write 15 things instead of a measly old 7.

THE END

Don't Look Back!

Yesterday I decided to sit down and write out a two week menu plan so that the pressure of deciding what to make for supper each night will be lessened. This is a routine that has me helped in the past so I thought it might be a good step toward relieving some of the stress I have been feeling.

I also decided to make it a priority to go the Ladies' prayer at church on Tuesday morning. Not only is it good for me to pray with the other women, but it will get me up and moving a little earlier in the morning. Once I am in Webster I will likely take the time to either go to the grocery store or do some visiting.

Neither of these two activities has anything to do with home schooling. That is an area I will probably continue to struggle with. (January always seems to be the hardest time...) We did make a visit to the library this morning, which may become a regular routine, and I found a CD-ROM with some math games on it. I haven't checked it out yet, maybe tomorrow...

Scaling the Wall

For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
2 Samuel 22:30

I am a wall builder, at least that is what I have been told. When faced with a problem or dilemma, my brain throws up a wall. For the most part I do not welcome a challenge, instead I want life to run along smoothly and not dish out any mountains to climb, unless they are in my plan. Some people thrive on competition. Not me. Rather than climb over, I would prefer to find a way around.

For the past few years my biggest challenge has been home schooling. What started out as an adventure 15 years ago, has become an increasingly stressful task. It has lost its luster, especially when it comes to teaching math and keeping records. This fall I joined (or should I say rejoined) the local support group. I missed the first meeting, had a conflict with the second, and totally forgot the last one. Truthfully, I'm not sure whether I can handle being part of the group as it involves a lot of running around and paying for group activities. Wall #1.

Working my life into a schedule is desperately needed too. As Priscilla said "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it 100% of the time" and sometimes I feel as though I am aiming at nothing. Here is my biggest challenge. I naturally work best when I have a routine, but for quite a long time my routine has been so relaxed that it is all but nonexistent. Without regularly scheduled activities, how do I establish a routine? Wall#2.

While thinking on this, the above verse came to mind. Life is full of obstacles. Everyone has them and there is no getting around it. So I guess, that with God's help I can face the challenges set before me. Either He will help me run against them or give me the boost I need to climb over. Now I just need to back up and see if I can get a running start...

The Lighter Side of Homeschooling

Homeschooling has brought us some slightly "unique" experiences. I love the memories and I hope my kids treasure those days as much as I do. We've been on countless field trips, even one to a local cemetery where some of the kids found an old bone. (Yikes! Remember the Teeny Tiny Woman?) We visited museums, farms, and local businesses. We've escaped to the beach, walked the orchards, met at the park, and organized our own group classes. There were Gym Nights and trips to indoor playgrounds. The kids played soccer and baseball, danced and took swimming lessons. We've read and written stories, worked through too many math books, and watch dozens of documentaries. Sometimes the kids made their own home videos, they organized trips to the state fair, or simply had a tea party in the flower garden. On "Mondays" I often want to throw in the towel, but then I recall all the wonderful memories and figure I can hold on for another couple of weeks... at least until we can get back to Mendon Ponds and feed the chickadees again.

Monday, Monday

Today is Monday. Monday and homeschooling do not get along. For all those out there who feel as though you could never homeschool, most of us who do feel the same way. We worry whether we are teaching our kids what they really need to know. We worry that the school system won't be satisfied. We wonder whether it is okay to take the kids out to the store on Tuesday afternoon. We fend off questions from those who ask, "No school today?" and "What about socialization?" We walk a thin line with family members who choose to send their children to public schools. We choose to have our children home because we feel it is the better choice, not necessarily because we "want" to. Most of us are well aware that teaching our kids at home will not "save" them. We deal with rebellious children too. Sometimes the pressures of every day life tempt us to put our kids in school, but instead we keep plodding on... There are times when it seems as if the job will never be finished. There are times when we want to run away. There are times when we have to put the school books on the shelf and escape for the day. And then there are the good days, days when the rewards are great and it is worth the effort afterall.

A Quiet Noisy Day

The sky is overcast and threatening rain and I'm still worn out from having a migraine for the past couple of days. It would be a wonderful day to curl up on the couch and take a nice long nap. That's what I feel like doing, but Troy is here and he is feeling wound up and full of energy. He has been bouncing off Ben and playing silly games with Hannah. He is loud and ready for action. At the moment he is playing train tracks with Ben and trains, as you know, can be quite noisy. In another two hours he will be winding down. We will sit on the couch, snuggle up with a soft blanket, and read a story. After that it will be nap time. If I am lucky, I will get a rest too, otherwise I will be doing a math lesson with Ben and Hannah and continuing the job of sorting through boxes and bins of "who knows what" in the computer room. Someday maybe I will get the task completed. Right now I need to make a batch of cookies for our trip to Mendon Ponds tomorrow.

Summer's End

Our summer is coming to a close. Oh, there will still be plenty of warm, sunny days and even a picnic or two, the gardens will continue to bring forth fruit until the nights become frosty cold, and we will continue to enjoy the fresh outdoor weather until the very last moment. Troy will be back next week and Sara and Alysa will be off to school during the day. Somewhere along the way we'll start school too and work ourselves into a schedule of some sort. I'm still mulling over in my mind exactly what kinds of activities I want to do this year. I'm sorting options and considering possibilities. Troy will be at nursery school Monday and Thursday mornings, so maybe Monday would be a good grocery day, or maybe I should go to Ladies' Prayer on Tuesdays and do my shopping then? Possibly Monday would be a good day to clean the house and get more school accomplished? Hmmmm... maybe I should pick a day every week or so to visit my mom or one of my sisters... Oh the choices... Oh the decisions...

No Bluffing

Priscilla has inspired me to post some of my own photos from Chimney Bluffs. (I hope she doesn't mind.) These were taken when Ben was just a little guy (1994) and before the area was designated a state park. James was working and a fellow homeschooling mom and I decided to take our kids on a field trip. Her husband came along and took the photos.
Josiah wrote about the experience "One day we went to Chimney Bluffs. There we looked for neat rocks and me and Mom found some. We ate lunch at the Sodus Lighthouse Museum." He was in kindergarten.
The day was cloudy and overcast but warm and the flies were biting like crazy! We had planned to eat our lunch at the bluffs but couldn't deal with those awful flies. They were just torturous!

I'm so glad Chris took all these great pictures that day or I may have thought that none of us had any fun. The kids appear to be enjoying themselves and its a nice memory of a day out with friends and the fun we used to have homeschooling.

Field Trip

Today we went to the Rochester Museum and Science Center with Bethany. There was a lot of cool stuff to look at, mastadon skeletons, bugs and butterflies, area history, and "how the earth was formed". One of my favorite displays was this chair. It's perfect for making my big kids little again!

The Rain Keeps Up!

Well, I didn't see much rain today. The clouds rolled in but the rain never made it. It was good though because we took a ride out to the Everson's with James. Mr. Everson took us for a walk back in the woods and showed us different kinds of trees and how to tell them apart. He used bog words like "deciduous", "indigenous" and "conifer". We learned how to look at the bark and leaves to tell what kind of tree it might be. Kinda tricky, I think. I guess it takes some practice. We also went out deeper into the woods in the Jeep. There was a cute little log cabin back there which Mr. Everson built. I wish I could have one in my back yard. That's all we need, right, more buildings?

Well, it was a wonderful day and we took plenty of pictures. There were trilliums, pink and white, Mayapples, ferns, and lots of different trees, ash, elm, hemlock, and abunch of sugar maples. The Eversons make maple syrup and we bought some to take home with us. Mmmmm! I also learned that there are "Mother Trees". They have lots of kids just like me!