I haven't posted recently because between the sleep deprivation that comes with a 15 week old new baby and not homeschooling right now I have been a little busy. I decided to give the older kids some time off for the summer to play with the new toy their father got them.
For some odd reason he thought a Wii would be a good idea. While I understand that it will help keep them busy I had some serious reservations about having a video game system in the house. I have found over the last couple of weeks that I can totally use it to my advantage. They want to play because it is new and I want for them to get their chores done early in the day. The rule is no playing until their morning "missions" are done. I have been totally amazed at how fast they can now complete their stuff. What used to take us an hour or so to get done is now complete in less than 30 minutes. They are also taking turns with the games, playing fair, being competitive yet supportive of each other and generally doing better all the way through the day. While I would like to stand on my soap box about how addictive, bad and horrible video games are I am, at this point at least, unable to do that. Now mind you that they are only allowed games rated E that I have been through myself they are doing great with it. On top of everything else I think they are learning self control, moderation and teamwork too. Talk about a win win for me.
We will be back on track with the school work hopefully next week so it remains to be seen exactly how the video game system will play into that. Hehehe hopefully they will get their work done faster and more efficiently so we can have more time to play :)
I just love watching them work together and everyone wins!!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
We didn't disappear :D
Ok after a really rough start to the new year we are now back on our feet. Baby #4 arrived on 3/21/2008 via emergency c-section. She is healthy, happy and quite a chunk now. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 1 oz on her birthday but is now (at 13 weeks) weighing in around 12 lbs. The other kids are having a blast with her. I think that I have finally recovered most of the way from the c-section. OUCH! That is something that I do not ever want to do again but given my choices at the time that was the only option for us.
I am so glad that my family and friends were here to help. Sometimes when you are raising kids by yourself there comes a time when you have to ask for help. This was one of those times. I could not do anything for the first 6 weeks except sit. No lifting, no picking up anything, no laundry, no cleaning. It was a lot of fun to direct the running of the house from the couch LOL. My big kids were fantastic during the whole thing. They picked up, cleaned up, cooked meals, swept, mopped, folded clothes (my oldest even washed a few loads by herself) and they were the best that I could have ever asked for.
Now that we are back onto a regular schedule (i.e. sleeping through the night again) I am hoping to post more often. Well it is back to the kitchen for me I have some great new recipes to try out.
Have a great weekend!
I am so glad that my family and friends were here to help. Sometimes when you are raising kids by yourself there comes a time when you have to ask for help. This was one of those times. I could not do anything for the first 6 weeks except sit. No lifting, no picking up anything, no laundry, no cleaning. It was a lot of fun to direct the running of the house from the couch LOL. My big kids were fantastic during the whole thing. They picked up, cleaned up, cooked meals, swept, mopped, folded clothes (my oldest even washed a few loads by herself) and they were the best that I could have ever asked for.
Now that we are back onto a regular schedule (i.e. sleeping through the night again) I am hoping to post more often. Well it is back to the kitchen for me I have some great new recipes to try out.
Have a great weekend!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
We Survived The Holidays!! Did You?
Well it was a very difficult and trying Holiday Season at our house. However it was filled with fun, creativity, family, and great food.
Let me catch up a bit before we head into the fun of the Holidays. Since the last post we have had a total of 3 more lost teeth between the 2 oldest kids and the youngest has been putting together 3-5 words to make sentences. She is so totally voicing her likes, wants, needs and dislikes now. Not to mention she is really showing her personality. She and her older sister are totally "girly girls". They want their hair done every morning and then they dress all the way to their shoes. They MUST coordinate outfits so they do not clash with each other :D. The oldest wants to have her nails done weekly in addition to painting mine as well. This has been a great bonding experience for us. My wonderful son is just as bouncy and boyish as ever. We have been managing his food allergies quite well even through the Holidays! We were able to keep him away from the things he cannot eat and we made it through Christmas and New Year's without a single attack. Baby #4 is still due on or around March 30th. Providing the ultrasound was correct I should be having another girl. The big kids are still trying to decide what we should name her.
I am still working on setting up a home based business however, the kids school work has taken priority over that. In addition to that I have been teetering on bed rest with this pregnancy so I am trying to not overdue and end up in bed for the rest of the pregnancy. We have found a wonderful church to participate in and the kids are loving it. They have made a bunch of new friends and so have I. Every single parent needs a support system especially when you are trying to get through a crisis. Just remember to always pay it forward even if you think that you don't have anything to give. A simile and a kind word goes a long way anytime of the year.
While we are on the subject of school work I think that my kids are trying to bankrupt me on books LOL. They seem to be competing with each other to see who can get through the most work in a day. This is yet one more of my many reasons for Home Schooling my kids :). They can move at their own pace and learn in the way that suits them the best. For example; my wonderful son is very much a "hands on" learner. He needs to be able to see it, feel it and take it apart in order to truly understand it. On the other side is my daughter who is more interested in what the people wore, how they felt and why they did whatever they did. For math she is happy with a workbook, the same for spelling and grammar but for history she wants to know the feelings behind the people. My son could careless about why they felt the way they did he is much more interested in the facts on the other hand when it comes to math and spelling he has to be able to see it in order to grasp it.
Back to the Holidays at our house. We set up several new family traditions this year. So in addition to baking together to make edible gifts for family and friends and trimming the tree together, this year we started our annual Christmas movie marathon in our pajamas and finding ways to bless others with our unused and no longer needed items. I believe that family traditions are important in any family but they are doubly important in single parent homes. For more of my thoughts on this topic I will be posting an article about Single Parent Traditions shortly that will contain ideas and helps to get your creativity kick started. We hosted Christmas dinner at my home this year and the kids had a blast. They love having their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents around. The house was filled with noise and laughter not to mention a whole lot of fun. I have FlyLady to thank for the peace in my home especially during the Holidays. If you haven't checked her out just click her link at the bottom of my page. She is awesome!!!
So how did your Holiday season go??
Let me catch up a bit before we head into the fun of the Holidays. Since the last post we have had a total of 3 more lost teeth between the 2 oldest kids and the youngest has been putting together 3-5 words to make sentences. She is so totally voicing her likes, wants, needs and dislikes now. Not to mention she is really showing her personality. She and her older sister are totally "girly girls". They want their hair done every morning and then they dress all the way to their shoes. They MUST coordinate outfits so they do not clash with each other :D. The oldest wants to have her nails done weekly in addition to painting mine as well. This has been a great bonding experience for us. My wonderful son is just as bouncy and boyish as ever. We have been managing his food allergies quite well even through the Holidays! We were able to keep him away from the things he cannot eat and we made it through Christmas and New Year's without a single attack. Baby #4 is still due on or around March 30th. Providing the ultrasound was correct I should be having another girl. The big kids are still trying to decide what we should name her.
I am still working on setting up a home based business however, the kids school work has taken priority over that. In addition to that I have been teetering on bed rest with this pregnancy so I am trying to not overdue and end up in bed for the rest of the pregnancy. We have found a wonderful church to participate in and the kids are loving it. They have made a bunch of new friends and so have I. Every single parent needs a support system especially when you are trying to get through a crisis. Just remember to always pay it forward even if you think that you don't have anything to give. A simile and a kind word goes a long way anytime of the year.
While we are on the subject of school work I think that my kids are trying to bankrupt me on books LOL. They seem to be competing with each other to see who can get through the most work in a day. This is yet one more of my many reasons for Home Schooling my kids :). They can move at their own pace and learn in the way that suits them the best. For example; my wonderful son is very much a "hands on" learner. He needs to be able to see it, feel it and take it apart in order to truly understand it. On the other side is my daughter who is more interested in what the people wore, how they felt and why they did whatever they did. For math she is happy with a workbook, the same for spelling and grammar but for history she wants to know the feelings behind the people. My son could careless about why they felt the way they did he is much more interested in the facts on the other hand when it comes to math and spelling he has to be able to see it in order to grasp it.
Back to the Holidays at our house. We set up several new family traditions this year. So in addition to baking together to make edible gifts for family and friends and trimming the tree together, this year we started our annual Christmas movie marathon in our pajamas and finding ways to bless others with our unused and no longer needed items. I believe that family traditions are important in any family but they are doubly important in single parent homes. For more of my thoughts on this topic I will be posting an article about Single Parent Traditions shortly that will contain ideas and helps to get your creativity kick started. We hosted Christmas dinner at my home this year and the kids had a blast. They love having their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents around. The house was filled with noise and laughter not to mention a whole lot of fun. I have FlyLady to thank for the peace in my home especially during the Holidays. If you haven't checked her out just click her link at the bottom of my page. She is awesome!!!
So how did your Holiday season go??
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Summer Is Over!! Let The Schooling Begin :)
Well we had a crazy and very busy summer. Everyone is growing like mad. My oldest DD, 7, lost her first tooth this summer.
We took a very long and extended vacation to Minnesota. The kids had a blast. We drove from Texas to Minnesota and the kids loved it. There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity and I tend to walk that line daily. ROFL!! I loaded up all three kids and we headed off for 2 days of driving and sightseeing on the road. There was so much to see and so much to do. For 2 days we listened to music, played license plate bingo, played "I Spy" and all sorts of other fun games. Both of the older kids learned to read a map and they both helped to navigate our route. The stay in Minnesota was a blast. The kids had tons of room to roam and run and play. We attended my beautiful sister's wedding and then headed back to Texas. Our trip home was just as much fun.
The rest of the summer was spent playing, reading, watching movies and spending lots of great family time together. I just cannot believe how much they have all grown over the last few months. My DS,5, grew 3 shoe sizes over the summer. My youngest DD, 20 months, has cut all of her teeth and is now ready to eat steak :D.
Now it is time for school to start and life to get back into the routines. I spent a portion of my time over the summer laying out our goals for the school year, picking curriculum, and getting everything ready for the school year.
This school year is going to prove challenging for both the children and for myself. The oldest is working on multiplication, the middle one is learning to read, the youngest is learning to speak, and I am totally miserable carrying baby #4, due March 2008. Though they are thrilled with the prospect of a new baby I am trying to figure out how to do it all by myself. DH is on his way to becoming XDH so this year even though he is state side I will have all of the blessings of family responsibilities on my shoulders. That alright though. I think a lot of this will be easier without him in the picture anyway.
In addition to caring for the blessings in my life I am currently trying to get a home based business up and running so when there is no child support I will be able to provide for my family. I have found the most awesome training site for this too. It is The Thirty Day Challenge
although the classes started in August the information is still up and available for use. It is the most awesomely fantastic and mind blowing information I have run into. I feel like I have been on information overload since I started "cramming" it all in :). Ed Dale and Dan Raine are on the cutting edge of the new Internet marketing wave. If you want to learn "how to do it all" without spending a penny than check them out!!!!
Time to run for now. Chat again soon.
We took a very long and extended vacation to Minnesota. The kids had a blast. We drove from Texas to Minnesota and the kids loved it. There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity and I tend to walk that line daily. ROFL!! I loaded up all three kids and we headed off for 2 days of driving and sightseeing on the road. There was so much to see and so much to do. For 2 days we listened to music, played license plate bingo, played "I Spy" and all sorts of other fun games. Both of the older kids learned to read a map and they both helped to navigate our route. The stay in Minnesota was a blast. The kids had tons of room to roam and run and play. We attended my beautiful sister's wedding and then headed back to Texas. Our trip home was just as much fun.
The rest of the summer was spent playing, reading, watching movies and spending lots of great family time together. I just cannot believe how much they have all grown over the last few months. My DS,5, grew 3 shoe sizes over the summer. My youngest DD, 20 months, has cut all of her teeth and is now ready to eat steak :D.
Now it is time for school to start and life to get back into the routines. I spent a portion of my time over the summer laying out our goals for the school year, picking curriculum, and getting everything ready for the school year.
This school year is going to prove challenging for both the children and for myself. The oldest is working on multiplication, the middle one is learning to read, the youngest is learning to speak, and I am totally miserable carrying baby #4, due March 2008. Though they are thrilled with the prospect of a new baby I am trying to figure out how to do it all by myself. DH is on his way to becoming XDH so this year even though he is state side I will have all of the blessings of family responsibilities on my shoulders. That alright though. I think a lot of this will be easier without him in the picture anyway.
In addition to caring for the blessings in my life I am currently trying to get a home based business up and running so when there is no child support I will be able to provide for my family. I have found the most awesome training site for this too. It is The Thirty Day Challenge
although the classes started in August the information is still up and available for use. It is the most awesomely fantastic and mind blowing information I have run into. I feel like I have been on information overload since I started "cramming" it all in :). Ed Dale and Dan Raine are on the cutting edge of the new Internet marketing wave. If you want to learn "how to do it all" without spending a penny than check them out!!!!
Time to run for now. Chat again soon.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
One of the most helpful books
One of the most helpful books that I have read and applied is The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman, Ph.D and Ross Campbell, M.D. Once I was able to identify the things that made my children feel loved and secure I was able to help them handle everything else that was going on around them.
We have been through an overseas move and back to the United States, a new baby, serious family medical problems, my medical problems, and their fathers' return to the United States from overseas. All the while the kids have been safe and secure knowing that I love them no matter what happens. They have thrived more since I read and applied the information in this book than they did prior. They all know that no matter what they do I will always be here for them and that there is nothing they can do to ever cause me to not love them.
I found that once I was able to become proficient at "speaking their love language" they have become more proficient at speaking other peoples languages as well. I feel there is nothing more rewarding than a child, teen or adult that knows how to convey their heart appropriately. My children have learned through all of this that they are survivors not victims.
We have been through an overseas move and back to the United States, a new baby, serious family medical problems, my medical problems, and their fathers' return to the United States from overseas. All the while the kids have been safe and secure knowing that I love them no matter what happens. They have thrived more since I read and applied the information in this book than they did prior. They all know that no matter what they do I will always be here for them and that there is nothing they can do to ever cause me to not love them.
I found that once I was able to become proficient at "speaking their love language" they have become more proficient at speaking other peoples languages as well. I feel there is nothing more rewarding than a child, teen or adult that knows how to convey their heart appropriately. My children have learned through all of this that they are survivors not victims.
Raising Children as a Single Mother
I am just getting this started so please check back often to see what has been added. It is my hope to provide links to books, articles, classes, and other things that have helped me survive as a "married" single parent and now as a single mother. There appears to be no hope for the marriage to be salvaged at this point however, I still believe in miracles.
The hardest part of raising 3 children alone has been the desire for help. You know the kind of help I mean; "Honey what can I do to help with dinner?" or "Honey the laundry is done I'm going to put it up too." Please wait while I roll on the floor laughing here for a moment because that didn't even happen on his really "good" days. As the kids have gotten older they have been able to do more for themselves and that has created a more pleasant environment. Along with that I found a wonderful mentor about 2 1/2 years ago named FlyLady.
Over the last 2 1/2 years I have learned that I can stand on my own, I don't need "someone" to fill a void, and I have become a better mother. My children are well adjusted and happy with "just us". There is no need for a "male figure" in our house to create chaos and disrupt our normal routines. Life is good and getting better by the day :D.
The hardest part of raising 3 children alone has been the desire for help. You know the kind of help I mean; "Honey what can I do to help with dinner?" or "Honey the laundry is done I'm going to put it up too." Please wait while I roll on the floor laughing here for a moment because that didn't even happen on his really "good" days. As the kids have gotten older they have been able to do more for themselves and that has created a more pleasant environment. Along with that I found a wonderful mentor about 2 1/2 years ago named FlyLady.
Over the last 2 1/2 years I have learned that I can stand on my own, I don't need "someone" to fill a void, and I have become a better mother. My children are well adjusted and happy with "just us". There is no need for a "male figure" in our house to create chaos and disrupt our normal routines. Life is good and getting better by the day :D.
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