Wednesday, August 31, 2011

A lesson I learned

Remember a few weeks ago when I showed you this photo?

Photobucket

That was the mess of old photos waiting to be organized on my dad's dining room table. That mess taught me a very important lesson. If we don't take care of our messes now, we'll pass them onto our children. Oh sure, I didn't need a table full of photos to teach me that. All I had to do is go take a peek at the kids' bathroom floor that's littered with towels, clothes, etc. to see they are following in my footsteps quite well. I was a messy child and consequently I have a hard time being neat as an adult and a harder time teaching my children to be neat. The photos are really just a reminder of the lesson of which I've already been painfully aware. So one of my primary goals this school year is to work on building some new habits in regards to cleanliness. This goal is for me just as much as it is for the kids.

Back to the photos. My mom left a mess. I know she didn't mean to. I'm sure she always thought there would be time later to organize photos. She didn't know a brain tumor would cause her life to end early. I've been making similar excuses for years. I just don't have time to scrapbook anymore. But while I've been making excuses, my mess has been growing larger and larger and larger. I have boxes and boxes and boxes of photos that need sorting. And that's just from the pre-digital age. My computer files are worse. It makes me sad because my kids have hardly seen any of these pictures of their early days. And it makes me even sadder to think that some day when I'm gone they might be just overwhelmed as they look at my mess and say, "Why, Mom? Why did you never put these in albums?"

So I've decided to challenge myself. I'm starting with baby steps -- just two hours a month. I'm committing two hours to sort and organize and file these photos. And I'm going to report on my progress here at the blog, so I feel a sense of accountability. You are welcome to join me in my challenge. In fact, I'd love to have others join me! If you already have all your photos organized, I'm so jealous -- but the rest of us would love for you to share your tips for success.

I spent some time in Texas organizing my mom's photos and was surprised at how much I could get accomplished in a few hours.

Photobucket

I was able to organize all the photos from the last couple of decades and fill four albums. They weren't beautifully scrapbooked albums, but the kids enjoyed looking at them anyway -- and isn't that really the point?

I'm looking forward to reporting on my progress at the end of September!

Monday, August 29, 2011

1000 Gifts

Over the last week there have been little reminders of my need to count God's blessings. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and forget to thank the Lord for His goodness. As of yet, I've only been writing down these gifts on the blog or just thanking God in my thoughts. This week I'd like to start writing them down. And it just so happens that in my cleaning of my homeschool room I've found at least a couple dozen empty notebooks, waiting to be used -- so I have no excuse to not get started right away!

"So much has been given to me, I do not have time to ponder what's been denied."
Helen Keller

I found that quote jotted down on a piece of paper floating around in my schoolroom mess.

Photobucket

91. A little girl who loves to pick flowers for her momma.

92. An evening poolside party, catching up with old friends.

93. Spending less than $20 for a dress and shoes for said party (I heart Kohl's!).

94. Temperatures in the 80's -- glorious!

95. My brother-in-law's love for my kids, and their love for him. On Saturday Uncle Dave took Ryne out for dinner and putt-putt golf as a belated birthday gift.

96. The symphony of sounds living in the woods provides -- birds in the morning, insects in the evening, owls at night.

97. Surviving the first week of Jacob's Elementary Algebra with Anna -- it's all coming back! In fact, I might be understanding it better this time round.



Saturday, August 27, 2011

Back to School!



As I said before, ready or not, it was time to start school this week. And let me tell you, I was NOT ready. Not one little bit. So we just did the basics this week -- the stuff that didn't require any advance preparation. You've probably seen many pictures around the blogoshpere of pristine school rooms, ready to inspire a new year of learning. Uh, not here.

Photobucket

Lovely, eh?

Photobucket

Don't worry, I'm working on it. Sometimes it just has to get more chaotic before it gets organized, and this is the more chaotic stage. These pictures are actually the sign of great progress. ; )
So here's the run-down of our week:
Anna started away-school on Monday (8th grade!), and Ryne and Grace started our new homeschool year. I took the kids to IHOP for a welcome-back-to-school dinner Monday night (Marc was out of town).
GRACE
Grammar, spelling, phonics, math, math drill, map skills, oral reading, Sunday School lesson, ballet (1 night), swim (2 nights).
RYNE
Spelling, grammar, math, math drill, oral reading, swim (2 nights).
TOGETHER
Daily reading from The Child's Story Bible (Vos), Latin, reviewed geography vocabulary from last year, and finished the Brahms composer study from last spring.
THOUGHTS
I'm embarrassed to say we didn't do ANY school work over the summer. So I was worried how much they would retain after a long break. Thankfully, I saw very little regression! In fact, math went quite smoothly. It is becoming clear that Ryne is starting to struggle with grammar though. We'll keep plugging away for now, but it's looking more like we will have to change programs. He did so well with First Language Lessons, and they are adding the first book in the middle school series this January, so we'll see.
For those of you who have started the school year -- Happy Homeschooling! If you're still squeezing out the last drops of summer - Enjoy! And for those of you on the east coast -- I'm praying for you!

Friday, August 26, 2011

So long, summer

I can't believe it's already the end of August. What a whirlwind of a month! A week ago I loaded up the kids and dog and drove the whole way home in one shot. I had said in a previous post that it was a 12-hour trip. I must have miscalculated, since on the way down we divided the driving over two days. On the way home, it was over 14 hours of driving! A few hours away from home I could see a storm brewing on the horizon. God is so good -- He held off that storm, so that the first raindrop did not hit our car until we were pulling in the driveway! An hour later you would have thought the house was going to blow away, the storm was so strong.

So I spent the next week trying to put together the pieces from being away for almost three weeks. On the drive home I decided we'd delay the start of our homeschooling until after Labor Day. But by Sunday I had decided we'd start, ready or not. So summer definitely feels over now. It was crazy, but filled with many wonderful moments.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

So long, summer. I'll miss you.

P.S. Thank you to those of you who offered prayers for our trip. Dad's move went well and he's getting settled into his new house in Colorado. A big surprise was that his Texas house sold after just a couple of days on the market, even though he was expecting it to take a year or more!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

pictures, pictures, {ugh} pictures

I'm still in Texas, but it's looking like our departure date might get moved up a day, depending on how quickly the movers work. I did get to see my hubby for about 14 hours last weekend. He flew down and then drove a U-Haul with some furniture back to the Blue House. He also took Anna home with him, so she could spend some time with her best friend before school starts next week. But I don't want to talk about school, because it just reminds me I haven't even started my homeschool planning. So let's just forget about that S word for now, and have a few laughs.

As I sorted pictures last week, I divided them into three piles: vintage (some of which I showed you in the last post), my sister's and my growing up years, and the modern era (90's to present). Going through pictures of my childhood and youth were great entertainment, so I thought I'd share some with you.

Let's start with the cute. Awww...
Photobucket

Proof that I was a blondie for my early years.
Photobucket

And here's proof that things started to go downhill in the hair department as I turned brunette. This was my Dorothy Hamill stage. I soooo wanted to be her. I took ice skating lessons and my dad even made a small rink in the backyard for me. But then we moved to Texas and that was the end of my skating career.
Photobucket

So I started to grow out the Dorothy-do.
Photobucket

Then I went through my version of the grunge look. That's my cocker spaniel, Melody, who was always peeing on the floor. Ah, memories.
Photobucket

This just might be the best picture of me I found. Very appropriate since I never, ever looked like that when I played softball. I was a catcher, so I was usually covered in a mixture of sweat and dust with my hair plastered down around my face.
Photobucket

Have I ever mentioned I played the clarinet? I gave it up half way through my junior year in high school, so I can't play anymore. I had moments where I played pretty darn well, but I never practiced. And I wonder why my kids won't practice the piano. At least I still know how to read music.
Photobucket

Honestly, I might have stayed in band longer if they hadn't made us wear awful outfits like this concert uniform. My mom was smart enough to not take any pictures of me in the marching uniform -- that was even worse! (BTW, notice the hair getting bigger?)
Photobucket

By my sophomore year, I didn't have to wear the marching uniform. I got to upgrade to these lovely outfits since I was on the flag line. The left outfit was for football games and competitions; the right for pep rallies. Go team!
Photobucket

Speaking of team, shouldn't I be helping mine out instead of posing for a picture? And, yes, I made sure my hair and makeup looked okay before soccer games too. My high school classmates would never believe that if it weren't for Sundays there might be entire weeks that I don't wear makeup now.
Photobucket

You knew it was coming -- a REALLY BIG hair picture. This was also probably the last time I was taller than my younger sister. She's at least three inches taller than me now, although if I went back to that hair style I might outmeasure her again.
Photobucket

About the only thing bigger than my hair was the size of the hideous mum corsages we wore for homecoming. Tell me, was this just a Texas thing?
Photobucket

The corsages were so heavy that we had to safety-pin them to our bra straps or they'd pull our dresses down. Here I am (in the middle) with a couple of my girlfriends. Notice we all had perfect hair and we were all wearing dresses that had at least a couple yards fabric more than what you'd find on a typical homecoming dress today.
Photobucket

And what was it with floral patterns back then? My sister and I look like we walked out of wallpaper sample book.
Photobucket

But my hair was starting to look better! There was no label on this picture, but I can tell you with great certainty that it was the summer of 1990 because it was when I started getting spiral perms and grew out my bangs. It's the only time in my entire life I've loved my hair, because it was so easy to fix. If the Smurfs can come back, maybe there's still hope for the spiral perm.

Thank you for putting up with my trip down memory lane!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

I'm still in Texas and will be for a another week. The moving van comes Thursday, hopefully in the morning, so we can get half a day's driving done to come home. We're getting pretty homesick! And my poor husband keeps saying it's bad enough the kids and I are gone, but he doesn't even have a dog to keep him company.

The hard work is mostly done, so I've been spending a lot of time doing something that has been put off for, literally, generations. Sorting photos. This is a look at the dining room table earlier this week.

Photobucket

My mom's mom, whose house always looked perfect, had a big secret. She saved everything. One time when I visited her at her house, I forgot my toothbrush and toothpaste. No problem! Grandma pulled out two shoeboxes -- one full of toothbrushes, the other full of miniature toothpaste tubes, all saved from years of dentist visits. Part of it was due to living through the Depression, but Grandma was also very sentimental. The boxes of photos and keepsakes she passed on have many treasures. But they are a disorganized mess!

Some pictures I'm able to recognize pretty easily. Grandma was always lovely in her photos.
Photobucket

I wish I could go back in time and attend her wedding.
Photobucket

There are many, many photos of my mom -- this one being from high school.
Photobucket

This has always been one of my favorite photos of my mom. I think my dad took the photo. She looks like she should be in a magazine.
Photobucket

Then there's the stuff Grandma saved. Receipts. Report cards. Greeting cards. Programs. You name it. Some of it is truly fascinating.
Photobucket

Mom was just like Grandma. Here is her blue book from an art history course at Michigan State. I'm surprised the high school Valedictorian saved this one, because she only got an A- on this test!
Photobucket

The saddest part of going through these boxes is that, because Grandma and Grandpa and their only two daughters are all gone, many of these precious stories are lost in the mess. I would love to know who this guy was. To me he looks like someone with connections, yet not exactly trustworthy. But if I knew the story behind the picture, I'd probably find he was a favorite uncle or grandpa.
Photobucket

Apparently, there was a baseball player in the family tree because this is just one of many baseball photos I found.
Photobucket


But the biggest mystery of all is this picture. WOWZA!
Photobucket

I have no idea who that is! I don't think it's my mom or my aunt. Maybe some mysteries are better left unsolved.

Stayed tuned and I'll show you more. Remember this picture? It gets even better!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

1000 Gifts: Texas Trip

I'm a day late for Multitude Monday, but when you're out of your normal routine the days all seem to run together, so I'm using that as my excuse. A week ago the kids, dog, and I drove down to Lake Jackson, Texas, a town south of Houston near the gulf coast.

The purpose of the trip was to help my dad move out of the house he's owned for about 30 years. I was in the third grade when we moved from Michigan to Texas, so this house holds many, many memories for me. Dad has bought a smaller house in Colorado, just nine doors down from my sister's house, so this will probably be the last time I ever visit Lake Jackson or see this house. Who knows maybe I'll go to a high school reunion someday (haven't been to one yet), but emotionally this is good-bye.

Although I've been working hard for the last week, we've had a little time for play too. God gives us many gifts sprinkled amongst the craziness.

76. A safe trip with well-behaved kids and dog.

77. A son who didn't mind spending most of his 12th birthday in the car. Maybe it was because he got to eat things like this.

Photobucket

78. One last time to see the house in which I spent most of my growing-up years.

Photobucket

79. Seeing my mom's touches everywhere.

80. Finding little remnants of my childhood.

81. Showing the kids my first decorating craft project (and then promptly throwing it in the trash).

Photobucket

82. The pool. It served me well during my high school and college years and now it's keeping my kids busy while I work. I'm also thankful that the kids all know how to swim and Anna is old enough to supervise.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

83. My dad's dogs. They provide endless entertainment as they jump into the pool, and they are welcoming to my big black lab.

Photobucket

84. A short visit from my sister. It was nice to catch up and to have an extra set of hands.

85. Getting to take home some new things. I'm trying hard not to add to my own clutter problem, but I've found some real treasures.

86. My dad's next-door-neighbors. There simply are not better neighbors than Billie and Bruce and their baby daughter Zoe. They moved here after my sister and I were out of the house, and have been like family to my dad. And this week they have practically adopted Grace. I hardly saw her all weekend. Grace has loved the attention.

87. The stories my kids are hearing as we sort and remember.

88. An early morning walk on the beach with my 13-year-old daughter.

89. Seeing flamingos hanging out in a marsh. Of course, I forgot to bring the camera that morning. But I remembered it when we had an evening picnic at the beach, so you get seagull shots instead.

Photobucket

Photobucket

90. Playing in the waves like I did when I was a kid.