family time

we finally got to see baby riley! the kids and i drove down to galion last week, and spent a lovely day with dan, erica, ava and riley. it was so sweet to hold a newborn again! riley is just beautiful, and i was so glad to be able to see the cousins playing together again. i can't tell you how much i've missed baby-sitting ava! we had so much fun together, and i miss that little bean more than i can say! she just has a special place in my and tim's hearts, and always will!
claire got to hold baby riley, and was in heaven - it was so cute to see ava following claire around! she called her "clar". can't wait to see them all again soon!

color blind

we went to the park after church yesterday, and the kids ran wild for about an hour on the playground. it was HOT outside, but that didn't stop them from having fun! caloway found some new friends, and spent most of his time running around with this little boy he called "Noodles". apparently, that's what the boy said his name was! out of all the kids on the playground, caloway chose this boy to play with. the interesting thing was, this little boy was handicapped, and black. caloway apparently saw none of that, and led the boy all over the playset, down the slides, up the steps, over the bridges - and noodles laughed, and laughed and laughed! it was one of the sweetest scenes i've witnessed in quite some time - while noodles had trouble walking, and his arms were curled up around him, caloway simply saw a playmate in that boy. cal was telling noodles to follow him, as he climbed up a slide, and noodles stayed at the bottom, telling caloway, "i can't climb!" so caloway came down, and grabbed tim, and the little boy reached for tim's hand, and asked, "can you help me climb?"
i don't think kids come to realize differences in people until around 6 or 7, at least that's when my kids started to notice things. cameron was 6 when he finally realized our friend, chris, was black, and felt the need to ask him - "Why are you black, Chris?" hahaha! chris answered him, "i don't know - that's how God made me" and cam was completely satisfied with that!
oh, how you wish kids could keep that tunnel-vision when it comes to other children! i pray we're able to continue teaching caloway, claire and cameron how important it is to see past the outside, and love on what's inside, just like God does when He sees us - imperfect, failed humans. and how much more we are able to love others, past all the outside frailties, imperfectness, and junk - and love them for what God sees on the inside.

maddy's home!

we had a surprise on our doorstep this evening - little madelyn arrived home from the american girl doll hospital with her brand-new head! she looked stunning in her posh purple hospital gown, and her certificate said she was good as new, and could resume normal activity slowly. :)
claire is so happy to have her baby back!

mommy's turn

well, there's a first time for everything! i was in the middle of sweeping the house, and the vacuum shut off, blowing a fuse. I trekked down the garage to flip the breaker, but couldn't open the garage door to get over there because of the power being off. since our garage is still full of boxes and a couch, i had to crawl over the couch and mower to get to the breaker box. I flipped the switch, and headed back the way i came - over the mower, between 2 boxes and a roll of carpet - climb up on the arm of the couch ... and i decided to shorten the trip by taking a small leap from the couch over 2 boxes in front ... yeah, totally forgot about the steel beam that runs down the center of the ceiling. BAM! I saw stars, and can't explain the excruciating pain that followed ... and then the blood that started running down my face. my poor kids! they were great - claire helped me get cleaned up, while we waited for daddy to come rushing home - my knight in shining ... blue jeans ;)

i received 3 staples, a CT scan to make sure everything was ok up there, and a tetanus shot. This is the first time i've ever had an ER visit other than kidney stones or thinking i was in labor! all 3 of my kiddos have had stitches and/or staples, and i can tell you - it HURTS! you don't realize it hurts until you have that little needle poking into your wound to numb it, and then the staples being punched into your scalp. it made me hurt for my poor babies who've all had to go through that kind of trauma. hold your babies a little tighter if they ever have to go through that -
so i am home, recovering, after i had a few dunkin' donuts, of course! those always make me feel better! :D

and you REALLY didn't think i'd post a picture now, DID you? seriously. you know me better than that!

claire-isms

overheard outside:

cameron - "it's starting to rain! we need to go inside or we'll rust!"
claire - "no we won't, cameron - we're made of meat!"

tonight, at bedtime, claire was having trouble talking, because she was so stuffed up, and i told her i knew how she felt:

claire - "that's right, mom! you were stuffed up too and you were a mouth-breather for 3 days!"

turtle!

claire found this sweet little turtle outside in our driveway this afternoon! isn't he beautiful? from what i've read, he's an eastern box turtle, one of the only kinds of land turtles there are - they live in moist woodlands, and usually come out after there's been rain, or early in the morning. we snapped a few pics of our little visitor.

thinking

well, it's kinda early, and i'm up stewing over a few things ... yesterday had to have been the worst day homeschooling! and wouldn't you know, of all the people i tried calling to whine to, nobody was home! maybe that was God telling me that i should be spilling my problems to HIM, instead. novel idea, huh? so i did - spill to Him, that is. and while it felt good to get my frustrations out, i don't necessarily feel that He's telling me one way or another, what to do yet! why can't we just have a phone line up there, y'know?
i guess the bottom line is, i am completely miserable 70% of the time, homeschooling. the kids? they're fine - they like it! it's me. i'm tired of being frustrated and angry with cameron for how long it takes him to work! yesterday, he had his PSSA testing (PA mandatory testing), and did just great - he's used to taking those kinds of tests, so it wasn't a big deal. as soon as we got home, i told him he needed to do a little schoolwork, so we don't get behind, and that he needed to do 2 pgs of math. 3 hours later, only 1 pg was barely completed. i even put him upstairs to drown out distractions, then had him down here in the dining room. the fact is, when cameron has a bad week paying attention, it is a BAD WEEK. nothing i do can help it get better, or fix it. we just have to ride it out, and then it improves in a few days.
the thing is, it's not his attitude - he's never disrespectful or angry - and it's not with other subjects - it's only with MATH! i know he hates it - tim did too, and said that was his worst subject. i just can't handle the stress that results from trying to get him to knuckle down and do it, whether he likes it or not. taking things away hasn't helped. spanking hasn't helped. i am so sick and tired of fighting with him over this math, and i end up being the only one who's angry and yelling.

i am praying for wisdom, that God would show us what He wants us to do with schooling! i want to put them in christian school this fall, but again - it's the cost that freaks us out. i'm applying for their financial aid this week, so we'll see what comes of that. i am praying that if God wants them in christian school over HS, then He'll provide the piano students for me, to pay their tuition.

on a completely different subject, we're really thinking hard about having another kid! no, no - there's no bun in the oven right now, but i've really been feeling it lately! i think it would be so much fun to add another member to the family, but then there are the challenges - our house isn't very big, we don't have the option of moving to a bigger home for a LONG time, we have 4 bedrooms, but one is the kids' playroom right now ... do i really want to lose their playroom? i guess i'd have to get creative, huh? :) at least we have the minivan!! hahaha. we'll see what the future holds ...

well, that's enough ranting for awhile - maybe that's why no one calls me anymore - i'm just a big complainer! i'm sorry - i will try to be more positive! God really is good to us!

they really do exist!

have you seen those cereal boxes that claim you could win a $5, 10, 15, 25 cash card inside? 1 in 10! they say! well, having been a skeptic, after multiple boxes bought at the insistence of my 9 yr old, and none of them producing anything in the form of cash .... today, we were rewarded.
a random box of lucky charms from target yesterday yielded our bounty - a $5 discover card! cameron was so excited, he was jumping up and down, waving his card in the air! in a benevolent sort of mood, i told the kids they could use that for a 1 mo. club penguin membership. their glowing faces were MY reward ;)
you see, club penguin is HUGE in this house - all 3 of the kids have a little penguin account, and everyday, they bug me to get them a membership, so they can "buy" puffles and igloos and sports gear, and dress-up for their penguins.
so off we go to walmart, to buy a club penguin membership!