Late summer

These three guys went to Baxter State Park a few weeks ago. A going away trip for our second son who has left for college. He wanted to climb Kathadin but they realized it would take most of their day and they wanted to make the most of the trip so they climbed Double Top. They had started Double Top one other year that we went, but didn't finish it because of bad weather. So this was a good feeling that they conquered a mountain.

Things have been busy here and certain things have gotten me into a funk again. So here I am again and I will try and catch up. I did take pictures and have a lot to write about. In about a week things will be significantly less busy and slower around here.

Here is a quick list of what has happened in the last month. Some I will blog about, others I will just sort of mention and try and forget. Some are good things, some are not.

The computer got a nasty virus and I couldn't use it for a while.

My chickens got massacred in the night. I lost 12 of my 18 birds.

I had a tough couple of weeks realizing my second son would be leaving soon. At the same time I was also missing my oldest son who I will not see until October.

I have been doing a lot of shopping to get my son ready for college, and to get my youngest boy off to high school.

We went way up north, (4 1/2 hours) for a 'sending off to college' party.

My youngest son has started pre-season cross country, which means a car ride into town every morning of the week. With two young girls who would rather stay home.

I made myself a skirt and I am almost done with a shirt also for me.

I finished three books.

I signed up for two quilting classes with a friend.

I successfully got the kids all signed up for whatever they are doing this year.

Made a pretty little schedule to put up on the refrigerator.

Said goodbye to my second son until October.

So now that I wrote it all down, I am realizing I did a lot this month. When it comes to finding time to blog, it will come after family & friends, sewing, and reading. I feel good about that.

Last day of January

This picture is about a year old, but it is all I have for now. My camera is still broke. I have not been able to justify the money to get it fixed. I really miss it. There have been lots of 'Kodak moments' since it got dropped.
This was a busy but fun week. Except for the girls having colds. They only have colds though and they both are getting better with no ear infections or asthma.
Last week started out with a 5 hour track meet. Yea, it is a real fun time. I do like watching my child though. I got some letters out to friends and family. I also brought the little ones to a bounce room in town while my son was not in an event. That is where they got their cold. One of my daughters told me that a girl told her that her brother was contagious. Oh well.
The week was filled with regular stuff like music, math, biology, lots of stories and play too.
One thing we did this week that was different is we invited lots of kids over for a sledding party and potluck. We had about 17 kids here and their moms. It was a lot of fun. There were teens, to infants. The sledding was great. The food was amazing.
I finished a rag quilt. Pictures will be posted at some point. It is pink and blue and has one fabric with both colors and paisley's. It is my first rag quilt and I am in love. I think I may make one for my mom and sister and brother. They are so comfy.
The week has ended with another track meet, (not as long), grocery shopping and an invite to dinner from a friend. We played Quibbler. It is a very fun game.
Maybe this week I will see how much it is going to be to get the camera fixed.

Perfect Example

I have a perfect example of how I get off track. The first two weeks of January seemed to be fine. I rode my bike, walked, did school with the kids, got meals together on time, even had time to get some sewing in. Monday was ok but after that it was downhill the whole week.
I got a stomach thing so I couldn't exercise. Three of the kids had doctor appointments. My oldest needed a ride to his girlfriends school which is an hour away. I had to drive two of the kids in to school because my husband had an early meeting. Then of course it was grocery shopping week. So, nothing happened as it should have. But, I am trying to keep a positive attitude about it and I plan to get right back on track next week. Also I am trying to see the positives of last week. I brought the two youngest to a children's museum when I went to drop my son off. They had a blast. I was able to get caught up on some rest while my stomach did flip flops. While in town on one of my many visits I was able to see a very good friend for tea. So much got done outside the house last week that I can only enjoy the inside of the house this coming week.
Next week will hopefully be calmer and we will have more down time. When the days are all coming and going I feel stressed and it makes the day feel chaotic.
I did plan a couple of sewing projects. I am doing a block a week that I found on Jen's blog. http://cre8tivequilter.blogspot.com/ I am working on a rag quilt made out of 8" flannel blocks and I picked a hand project too. I had a throw that can be cross stitched on and I will cross stitch some of my favorite things on it.
One thing that happed last week is my camera broke. Funny how just when I start a blog it breaks. I am hopefully going to find someone that can fix it. For now I will have to use old pictures or none at all. I wanted to post my blocks of the week but I will have to do it later.
It is late here. I am without a husband for the night. He went to bring our oldest son back to school. We will all miss him. The family feels so whole when he is home and we feel his absence when he is not.

Happy New Year!!!

In a few hours it will be 2010. I probably will see it in. I am up that late most nights. I don't want to be, it just happens. There is so much to do, and I really want some time to myself or with my husband that I end up going to bed at 12:30 or later. Maybe I should make a New Years resolution to get to bed earlier. Yea, right. There are so many other things that I need to improve on that that is at the bottom of the list. Maybe it would be a result of another behavior change, like for instance being more organized and scheduled would make me get my nightly chores done quicker and then the kids to bed sooner and then I would have time to myself sooner. Could work. But like Scarlet O'Hara always said, "I'll think about that later."
I do usually try and make a resolution at the new year. I always update my date book, and look at my schedule and try and find a way to make it all work better. I never quite do it though. Maybe I am not that different than most moms. Sometimes I spend a lot of time figuring out just how to improve my day, make things go more smoothly and it lasts for about a week or two. Something always happens to get me off track. I am not blaming anyone or thing, it is my fault, but it is always an event of some kind. For example someone will get sick. Or, one of the cars will break down and it will mess up my schedule because I will have to drive my husband in until the car is fixed. Does this happen to everyone? I just have a really hard time getting back on track. So that should be my New Years Resolution. Stay on track, and if I get off track get back on quickly.
I wanted to stay on track on this blog. I did start it at a bad time, holidays and all. I am making a resolution to enter a new post every week. I won't go as far as to say how many times a week, because I know how I am. Everyone is busy, and we all make time for what we really want to do. So I am just going to say I will enter a new post weekly.
I do have some goals for the new year. I want to sew more. Quilt more. I want to plant some raspberries this spring. I hope to get some chicks with my hens and rooster. I will continue to spend many hours with my family laughing, talking, and probably a little fighting too.
Have a Happy New Year.

Passions

We all need passions. I first learned this from one of my sons. Two of them were into reading books and blogs on personal development. I have many passions. One of them is my family. I live for my family. Some may say that is not healthy. At this point in my life, this is what keeps me going.

My husband works at a 40+ a week job. He sells for the building industry. It pays just enough. We are far from rich in the money way, but we have all the necessities in life. He works hard at his job and again when he gets home. As soon as he changes his clothes he is in the kitchen helping me or he is checking on the kids and playing and talking with them. On the weekends he is hard at work also. There is wood to cut, outside as well as inside projects to do and he does a fair amount of playing with the kids. Not to mention the driving to the many activities our kids have. I know I am very lucky.
We met while I was in college. I ended up not finishing. Not because of him, I wouldn't have anyway. I really wasn't into it. I still can not imagine myself in college. I am not that kind of smart. Anyway, we met when I was working in a convenience store. We lived together for a while, started a family and then married. Not the conventional way but it worked for us. My husband makes me laugh, loves me, and puts up with my moods. There is more to us but that is another post. He is one of my passions. I try and make him happy because I love him.

Our first son was born 19 years ago. He attends Swarthmore College in PA. We miss him a lot. It was hard having him leave. We are used to his absence but he is missed. He loves to read, and learn new things. He would love to travel. He spent his past summer in Alaska working. He and a friend went together. They kept a blog. http://whileinalaska.com/

Our second son is 18. (They were born 18 months apart.) He is a senior in High school and is applying to colleges right now. He is a great writer even though he says he doesn't like it. He loves the outdoors and is a health and fitness guru. He would love to spend his summer in the western US working.

Our third son is 14. He does not attend school. He is not sure he will go to high school. Right now he wants to concentrate on music. Nervous me wants him to also do math and biology and language arts in case he wants to go to school. It is one of my inner battles right now. He is very good at music. Plays several instruments and is in pep, jazz bands, and takes lessons in flute. I love having him at home since he is a big help. If I could change one thing about our home school experience it would be to have more kids around for him to meet up with. Living a rural part of this state makes it hard to make friends. I am pretty sure that was the reason the other two boys went to high school.

Our first daughter is 6 now. She is a ball of energy. She is a born artist and will draw for hours. She also loves dinousaurs, playmobile, and polly pockets. She makes the most intricate set ups with all her people. She loves to go outside and ride her bike or play in the playhouse. She is starting to learn how to sew with the machine. I want her to learn to hand sew or embroider, but she is set on the machine for now. She is very smart and is already reading. She is a great big sister.

Our second daughter, and last child is 2 1/2. She is very strong willed. I guess she has to be in a big family. I was the oldest child in my family, so I can't really understand what it is like to be the youngest but I see how she is always being told what to do and how to do it. She loves to read stories with dad and me. She loves princesses and fairies and ballet right now. Her most favorite thing to do is nurse. She also loves going for walks down the road to see the horses and cows.

So there are the seven cheeses for now. I am hoping to enter a new post at least once a week. For me that is a big goal.

First blog

This is my first blog and first entry. This is a picture of our house. It is small for seven people but it is cozy. In this house live a mom, dad, three boys and two girls. One of the boys actually lives in his dorm in college, but he used to live here and still comes home.
I don't have big plans for this blog yet. My youngest children want me to blog and I am curious about it too. I want to record some of the fun things we do or have done.
I am a stay at home mom. The children homeschool. They homeschooled since day one and the first two boys chose to go to high school. They did very well. The first one is graduated and off to college and the second is a senior and will be off to college next fall. The third boy is not choosing to go to highschool right now. His interests are different than the other two and he wants to stay home for now. The first girl is home and starting to read and do some math. The youngest loves stories and nursies. We mostly have let the kids lead the way. It has worked for the most part.
We practice attatchment parenting and are on the laid back side of things. Some think too layed back, but again for the most part it works for us.
My husband works full time to enable me to stay home with the kids. Money is very tight, but it always has been and we are used to it. We are very frugal, and we all do without a lot of things that are commonplace in a lot of families. We eat well, play some, and most always enjoy each others company.
My hobbies are my family, sewing, quilting, reading, cooking and gardening (when I have time).
One of my hopes is that this blog will get me back into some of my hobbies. My youngest child is 2 1/2 and life has been very busy. I am constantly saying 'I need to get back on track'. I would say this is my biggest hurdle right now. I have made lots of schedules and plans but they don't work out or I am not disiplined enough.
Wish me luck on the blog and I welcome any suggestions.