the experiment

One of the more interesting things about homeschool is the fact that WE are involved in so many aspects of it. From turning in some of her assignments to helping her when she’s stuck to science experiments.

Last night we had the privilege of helping her with a science experiment.

We needed to find some open area to count paces that equaled about two football fields. I grabbed a hoody because it’s decided it’s winter again here. (Don’t EVEN get me started on THAT one!)  And I told the girl to put on something warmer too. She headed into her room to change and off we went.

We drove to a local park a few blocks from our house and let Dad do the pacing since he’s got long legs.

The girl and I waited behind while he did all the work walking and counting. Then Dad held up two rocks and banged them together. We used his iPhone a stop watch and counted from the time we saw them clack together to when we heard it.

And that’s a very short time, by the way.

But she learned about how light travels and how sound travels in the real world, not just from a book. Big fun was had by all…including feeling like those homeschool weirdos feverishly writing numbers down on paper and standing in the cold while somebody else was banging rocks together waaaay over there. We must have looked real sharp.

But the biggest lesson of the night might have come in the form of a certain girl learning that “putting on something warm” means more than changing out of  a tank top into a tshirt…to go with her flannel pajama pants.

We’re nothing if not klassy.

And yes she about froze. (it was in the low 50’s…she wasn’t about to get frostbite or anything)

And no, I did not loan her my hoodie. She was warned.

And I’m the meanest mom ever.

20 years

This week we had an anniversary.

Kind of a big one.

Twenty years! (Woot!)

This was our cake topper.

Isn’t it CUTE?! (I love Precious Moments!)

Happy anniversary to us. : )

I had to resist the urge to post video of the “Happy Anniversary song” from the Flintstones…cuz that’s what always pops into my head when I think about saying Happy Anniversary to somebody.

{resisting}

{resisting again}

Happy Friday, y’all.

There isn’t a song for that…not that I know of. If there was, I think we’d all know it!  : )

house thoughts

Been thinking a lot about ‘the new house’…where ever it will be. And whatever it will look like. Unloading the dishwasher and cleaning off counters. I picked out the counter tops myself,  thinking we would be living here “forever”. And now forever might be ending. Everything is in easy reach. I can quickly get the job done in that room. Plenty of storage and counter space and the perfect work triangle. Not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but it works. And it’s mine.

The workers finished doing some little repairs yesterday. And today I went to Home Depot to buy some paint etc to finish the job myself. A part of me is excited to “move on”. And then another part of me is holding on. Holding on to the comfort of this house. Our house. The house we all lived in. And I know I will carry all of that with me if/when we move, but it’s still hard to think about turning my back on this house. I still see wiggly little bodies when I look in the bathtub. Or a sweet boy curled up for sleep when I look in the office (that was his room). Or the high chair in the corner of the dining room. Even though all of it is long gone.

This is just hard. And the thing that makes it harder is the fact that we can’t find anything we like. I’m just sad. And it doesn’t help that we’re moving ever closer to Bub’s anniversary day. All these moving thoughts combined with remembering and not wanting to forget and yet realizing that every year takes me another year away from all of it.  I realize that some of my memories are fading.

And then I shop for houses.

And I’m in a weird tug of war with my own thoughts.

And yet that life is over. We have moved on. And that is ok.

I know these thoughts are not even from God. He is not the one that wants to hold me captive to emotions and thoughts from the past. I don’t know where I am in everything house related today and I don’t know how to tie this little posty up in a cute little bow either.

This is just where I am today.

I just need to pray and have more of Him in me…especially at this time.

maybe that’s the simplest explanation

I feel like I can’t keep my thoughts straight these days.

I’m so scatterbrained.

I went to the bank the other day to cash a check and sat enjoying the pretty weather in the drive through. And then the little tube came back to me and I opened it to find my money.

And my credit card.

Evidently I sent that instead of my drivers license. Thankfully they know us at our tiny bank and I didn’t have any problems.

I felt so silly that I felt like I had to buzz the girl and thank her for giving me my money anyway…even without proper id. We both had a good laugh.

She blamed it all on daylight savings time.

I blamed it on spring break.

But inwardly I just blamed it on me being a doofus. 

let them eat cake

Yesterday I made a cake in the flavor she requested. A birthday is coming up. We decided she would have a few girls over today, since we’re having some repairs done to our house for the rest of the week.

Happy spring break to us.

It’s called California Citrus Cake and my mom used to make it all the time.

It’s so good.

So when she asked for lemon, I knew exactly what to make. : )

California Citrus Cake

4 eggs, beaten (I used egg beaters), 1 yellow cake mix, 1 package small lemon instant pudding, 3/4 c. water and 1/2 cup oil (I used canola).

Beat ten minutes. (I used the stand mixer….or I probably wouldn’t even make this cake LOL) Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 in a bundt pant. Cool and ice.

Icing:

2 c. powdered sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate and 2 tablespoons orange peel, grated.

Bring to a boil and let cool; drizzle over cake.

This cake is so good. But whaddaya know, I just noticed I didn’t follow the recipe. I forgot to cook the frosting. I guess that’s why it wasn’t very thick.

But it tasted good. And that’s what counts.

I’m not a very patient hunter.

I feel like I’m in a never ending episode of House Hunters. All I need is Suzanne Whang narrating as we go from room to room and house to house.

I’ve seen some pretty houses. And I’ve seen some not so pretty houses. I’ve seen some with good storage. And some with barely any storage.

And I’ve seen a bunch of other stuff too.

People..what are you thinking sometimes???

I’ve seen a house with three back doors. Three! And they were just a few feet from each other.

I’ve seen a house with only one back door…in the master bedroom. Why???

I’m seeing a lot of houses with the master potty just smack dab in the middle of the bathroom. Um..no. Door please!

I’m running into a lot of houses with the hot water heater in a closet in the hallway…or even worse…in the attic. And as my hubby says, everything is fine until it isn’t and then you’ve got a big problem on your hands.

I saw the most amazing house a couple of days ago. It’s in a great location for us. The house is the right size. It has an amazing kitchen…new granite and brand new stainless appliances…just so pretty. Large eat in kitchen, large family room. I walked through those rooms and thought my dreams were about to come true.

And then I went down the hallway and started checking the (what I call) kid rooms. Not a single walk in closet among them. Just little (what I call) flat closets barely deeper than a hanger. I was so bummed. I left that house shaking my head and sad….as I walked past an enormous formal area in the front, that I honestly don’t have a clue what I’d ever do with. Why oh why…can they make some spaces crazy big and then overlook something so basic as a real closet???

Some days I’m encouraged by what I see and then other days I feel like I’m never going to find the right house for us.

But I guess it’s ok that I haven’t found it yet…I’m having my repairs done here next week and I still need to declutter before it even goes on the market.

So! I guess I need to get my hands on some boxes and quit thinking about what I can’t find just yet.  : )

You know you’re addicted to Disneyworld when…

She is doing school work to the theme of Soarin’ one minute…

 

…and The Carousel of Progress the next.

Loved this documentary style piece, by the way. Interesting to watch and includes some music.

You read about somebody else’s trip..more than once..and tear up both times.

You check the weather ‘there’ almost every day. *sigh*

You have a Disney pic for your desktop.

You notice hidden Mickeys around the house.

You check wait times every now and then just for fun.

And then you look down and remember you’re wearing an Orlando tshirt as you type. : )

It probably won’t be Disney this summer. We really need to take a car trip this year. We’ve done airplane trip$ three time$ in a row and it would probably be be$t to u$e the car for a change.

But we can’t decide what sounds fun though..other than Disney. Ideas?

first

*This post is just a hodge-podge of thought that I finally just hit “publish” on.

Put God first. I’ve heard this my whole life.

And thought for a long time that I knew what it meant.

Spend time with God ‘first’.

Do this or that for God ‘first’.

And then…???

I always hear “God first, then family”… or then whatever.

Well, if you ‘do’ God and then move on to something else, then where is God? He can’t be first if you’ve moved on to the next thing. He just lost His place in line.

You might think I’m splitting a silly hair here, but bear with me for a second. Then we can hold up the hairs and inspect them together.

What if…

…we just did God first. Period.

Or maybe what if we said God always. Not first, or second or anywhere else in line?

How do you think that would change things?

Now, I’m not saying to become a monk or anything. What I’m trying to say is what if everything we did were motivated by God and seeking Him? Praying and listening and doing as He pleases about everything? Whether it be spending time with Him as He guides…and pleasing Him in the process. Or spending time with your family or washing dishes as He guides…and pleasing Him in the process. All the needs are met by seeking the One and letting Him move you in the way He wants you to go.

Can you see how the motivation is different too? It’s not “doing this and then doing that”.  It’s pleasing The One…not everybody and everything. This is where we get bogged down sometimes. Doing things for our family because we want to please them..or we want them to please us in return. Or we serve on that committee because we want to make somebody happy, or we feel obligated.

Matthew 6:33
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you

What if keeping the house clean (or not..depending on how He leads)..or taking care of our kids or our family…or serving on that committee were part of the overflow..the “all these things will be added unto you” part?

Could it be that there is a wonderful way God wants to show Himself to you and me if we can seek Him? Only. And then watch what He does when we do?

I hope I didn’t ruffle any feathers here. This is just another one of the ways God has worked in my thinking about another one of the phrases I grew up with. And showed me another way to look at it.