A new year

It's been almost four months.... We ended our last school year in April. I think we had a few lessons in May and there was at least one field trip in June, but overall we were done with the boring and mundane parts of school in April.

It is now July, and we are starting up again. So much has changed since we started last year. Last July was our "maiden voyage" of sorts. My best friend and I decided to become radicals. We decided that if we were going to buck the school system we might as well use it to our advantage. Instead of just keeping our kids out of a traditional classroom, we might as well home school on our own time table.

Well, it worked. We loved it. We started in July and accomplished more in the months leading up to November than we had in previous years. We took a break from the tedium the week of Thanksgiving and didn't resume until after Epiphany. When we started back up we really didn't have much to do, and we took our time accomplishing it. Despite our deviation from a typical calendar, all of our children passed their evaluations with flying colors.

And so we begin again. Yesterday we met to discuss which subjects our children would do together. We amassed a pile of textbooks, unit studies, coloring sheets, flip charts, and miscellaneous other thing. We went through them and discussed our plan of attack, and although it is always overwhelming, we agreed that we were excited once again about the months ahead of us.

Today I moved my antique teachers desk back into the playroom, once again declaring it the "school room." I will have my artistic girls working throughout the next few days to de-clutter their desks and reassign them as tables of learning, rather than free-spirited design centers.

My goal is that, by Monday, July 25th we will be ready to start another year of school.

I will have one 8th grader this year (a bit daunting, especially since he is my strong willed, trail-blazer). I will have one 3rd grader (more compliant, but starting to realize that school is becoming less fun and more work). I will have one 2nd grader (still determined to stay on her older sister's academic level), and a two-and-a-half year old (who thinks she's ready for Kindergarten).

We'll see how it goes I guess.

Traveling With Children

We are headed on vacation soon. I wish I could say when or where, but unfortunately there are too many weirdo's on the internet these days and I'd like my house to be intact when we get back.

I was talking with my sister-in-law about the stress of planning vacations. She has several little ones. Although mine are a bit older now (with the exception of Amelia), I understand her stress. You need a vacation, but they cost money, which you have to work to get. It's like a vicious cycle. Of course, throwing kids into the mix (especially little ones) only adds to the stress. Travel is always more difficult with little ones, and airplane travel just isn't fun anymore for anyone especially parents with small children.

Lots of people have written articles about how to travel with small children, so I will only include things we have actually done. To preface this information, keep in mind that we live at the southern end of Florida and our closest family lives at least a 10 hour drive away. We make the trek a minimum of once a year, sometimes twice. We aren't talking about a two hour jaunt.

First, I have noticed that having a dvd player in our van is a lifesaver. I limit my children's daily TV watching for the most part, so being allowed to watch movies all day is a treat for them.

The second biggest thing that helps is planning ahead for a picnic lunch at a park. Play places at a fast food restaurant are okay, but sometimes they are too limiting. Depending on when you go they may be over crowded, and often they have age or height restrictions. Everyone who has been sitting in a car for a while needs the stretch their legs and this includes mom and dad. We have gone a few miles out of the way at times to find a good park. There's something about letting kids run for an hour that quiets them for the remainder of the trip. This will be our first trip with a teenager, and I plan on forcing "Mr. Cool" to run around some, even though he may not personally plan on it.

Following much of the advice I've read I have made activity packs for the kids as well. Or son isn't naturally artistic, so he doesn't like typical activity books you buy in a store. I can usually print coloring pages for the girls, but these just don't hold his attention. In the past I've made a book of puzzles for him to work on. He's old enough now to be entertained by video games, but I still like making him a booklet. I include personalized word searches, mazes and crosswords, find-the-picture puzzles, and (our favorite) a scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt includes things to find along the highway, as well as things to find while we're visiting, and even on the way back home. I also include fun facts about the places we are going and the activities we have planned.

For me, the girls have always been much easier to entertain. I've found some really nice durable magnetic paper dolls. I've also found Dover Little Activity books to be a lot of fun. If you plan ahead, you can buy a ton of these on clearance for under a dollar. I usually have a stack of these in my closet for any occasion. On our last trip, my husband found these scratch off books that were a lot of fun. And of course, there's always the invisible ink books.

The final thing we do to keep everyone happy is have everyone take a turn entertaining the youngest. Right now she is two, so watching movies and coloring for 10 hours isn't good enough. If everyone takes an hour to do something with her, play with figurines, or have a finger puppet show, or read a book, or just listen to her talk, she stays entertained much longer. It also teaches everyone to be less self-centered, and during the non-entertained moments I work with her on how to entertain herself.

So that's it... those are my secrets for surviving a long car trip with my children. feel free to share your own experiences.

This Morning's Dream

After my husband got up to shower, I fell back asleep and had the following dream this morning.......

I was chatting with him upstairs in our house, when suddenly it grew dark. It was morning, and I thought it was odd that it was so dark. I began to hear the whistling of the wind. I looked out a window and was amazed at how many clouds were rolling in. They were moving quickly and I had this sense of foreboding come over me. I knew something was not right.

I got Joel's attention and told him to look out the window. He only briefly glanced out the window and dismissed it as a morning thunderstorm rolling in. In a few seconds I saw a pinkish glow starting to shine between the gray of the clouds. My fear deepened. I prayed a quick thought prayer for safety and protection and seconds later the sky was mostly clear and it was quiet outside.

I was so distracted by the weather that I wasn't really paying attention to what Joel was trying to tell me. He gave up and went to take his shower. While he was in the shower I went downstairs to start my usual morning routine. I was about to get some breakfast when suddenly it was dark again and the sound was no longer just a whistling, but the chugging of a freight train. I felt like my ears were blocked and the sound was starting to get muffled. I also felt like I was being pushed over even though there was no wind entering the house at all.

The sky had turned completely reddish pink with a film of dust coating everything I looked at. Then I saw it. I have giant sliding glass doors downstairs in my house, and I had the perfect view. A gigantic funnel cloud had touched down and was headed toward our house. Richard was downstairs trying to talk to me. The girls were upstairs getting dressed. Joel was in the shower oblivious.

I began to pray. "I plea the blood over my house and my family." I was speaking out loud and Richard stopped to listen. "I command under the authority of the cross that this will not come night my house." Within seconds it was too loud for me to speak evenly and I was shouting. "Help us Father!" "I pray protection over my property, and command every evil thing to flee in the name of Jesus!"

I could hear the windows rattling around us and I knew that only God's power could keep our house standing. Suddenly it grew quiet. The girls came running downstairs shouting, "Look, Mama! Out the window!" They were pointing and yelling. We walked into our living room, a room that is almost surrounded by windows. All we could see was a thick wall of swirling clouds. It was completely silent. I could still hear the wind whistling, but I knew we must be in the eye of the storm and it had stopped square around our house.

I told the girls to come sit on the rug with Richard and I. I told them we needed to pray, because as soon as the storm moved on we would be in danger again. We joined hands in a circle, sitting on the floor and each of the children began to pray. Their word's were simple, as children's prayers usually are. They each took a turn and then it was my turn to pray.

Before I could utter a syllable, it stopped. Just like that. I opened my eyes and the sun was shining and the cloud was gone. It was as if nothing had happened. I couldn't believe it at first. I ran up the stairs and met Joel coming out of the bathroom dressed for work. I tried to tell him in a rush what had happened while he was in the shower.

I only got a few word of explanation out before I heard a scratching sound behind me and looked out the window. There were teenagers stuck all in the branches of a banyan tree outside our house. I quickly opened the window and held out a hand to pull one into the house. The other scrambled for the roof.

I saw another further back trying to hold on, and yelled that I would bring a ladder. I ran to the garage and got one and took it outside. I looked up into the tree and saw that there were about ten to fifteen teens in various parts of this enormous tree. Some were scrambling down easily, while others were in more precarious positions. Some of the ones on the edges were being helped by others with more sure footing.

Before I could begin to help with the ladder I woke up.

......I've never been in a tornado. I don't know the true terror of being in one. I only know what I've been told of them, and my subconscious pieced together the bits of what I've heard to create the dream. I know I was relieved when I actually did wake up, because it all seemed too real.

I'm sure my dream pales in comparison to what has been happening in our nation recently. My prayers go up for those who were affected by these tragedies. I pray for protection and grace and peace and that those who have lost everything would be comforted in knowing that God did not do this TO them, but rather that He is waiting to heal their wounds and show His mighty hand of restoration.

An Exercise

Allie tossed her head back and laughed loudly. Her grandmother would be ashamed at her lack of protocol. "A lady ___, " she could hear her grandmothers voice in her head, even as she continued to laugh. Sometimes you just have to let it out, Grandma.

Her thick brown hair bounced and shook in waves as she tried to regain her composure. Her black designer sunglasses which had been doubling as a headband slipped off her head and tumbled to the floor beneath the over sized table. She didn't even notice. Tears were already forming in her eyes as she gasped for air.

Her usually pale complexion began to turn pink as she realized she was the only one laughing. Still the guffaws came. Stop it! Stop it! Her subconscious warned her to no avail. Her muscles were protesting. Her cheeks hurt, and her abdominals were beginning to cramp. She had to work to stay upright in her chair.

"Excuse me," she managed to gasp out between convulsions. Somehow she was finally able to look around her. Ten serious faces stared her down. A mixture of disdain, disaproval and, disbelief showed on each of them. An eleventh could not meet her eye. This one stared casually at the laptop opened in front of him.

As her eyes came to rest on his studied nonchalance, she burst out again. She had to get out. The meeting was already a train wreck. She slapped her laptop closed and spun in her chair. As she wheeled just far enough from the table to rise, there came a sickening crunch.

Although it was not enough to stop the fit, it distracted her enough for her to leave the room a bit more quietly. The sunglasses were a loss, she didn't dare stop to pick them up now. As soon as the door closed behind her she burst out again.

Boring meeting or no, she would get him back someday.

Quitter

I'm reading the book "Quitter" by Jon Acuff. So far I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought it on Amazon in the Kindle format. I'm not finished with it yet, but I have been inspired to work a little more fervently on my blog.

With that in mind, you might see some odd posts now and then. I'm using my blog as a practice ground for becoming a better writer. I haven't officially said this in the past. Now you're thinking "ooooh. now I get it." Just be forewarned.

Since I'm really interested in becoming a fiction author, some of my posts might be experiments in dialogue, or bits of narrative. These won't have anything to do with a given project, just practicing my craft.

I would appreciate any comments you have about my experiments. I especially appreciate editing notes, or how to trim unnecessary fluff to make a more concise piece. I don't care if you've never been published yourself. I value your opinions. A writer is only successful if she has an audience, and if I can't write things anyone would be willing to read, then perhaps it is an indication that I should look into other ways of spending my time.

Thanks for your patience with me.

Saving Money

So I'm on this whole money saving kick. It's fun and challenging.

I posted a few pictures on my facebook page of some of the deals I've gotten.

This week we took the kids out to a local ice cream shop and I was looking for coupons before we left. My son reminded me that I bought gift certificates a while ago and intended to use them as incentives for doing a good job. Well, we had enough of those to get each of the kids an ice cream cone for free. Joel bought a cookie with some ice cream and our total bill came to about $5.50. Not bad if you ask me.

Today I went to a few stores and was able to purchase about 42 items for $80 and change. Some of these items were pretty expensive, normally. For instance, Advil PM and Thermacare wraps. are normally upwards of $6 a piece. I used $6 worth of coupons on 4 items which were on sale for $5 each. I also got $5 in register rewards to be used on any item in the future.

Another fun things I saved money on today was movie tickets. I don't have a problem going to movie theaters, although I'm sure a few of my readers wouldn't approve. Regardless, I purchased a Living Social voucher a couple months ago for movie tickets. Two tickets for $9. I will be taking my son to see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight. The tickets would normally have cost us $14 each. I bought them with my voucher and only had to pay $.50 extra. Now I'll have money leftover for popcorn...

Then again, I bought 2 Wonka bars for $1.50 today. Talk about a cheap mother/son date. If we bring water bottles from home, the total I would have spent (only counting today's purchases) would be $2. I can handle that.

Time to go make dinner with Buy One Get One Free salad, pasta, and sauce. I'll throw in some frozen garlic bread I bought with a coupon, for a dinner that's about a dollar per person.

Tomorrow's Trip

Tomorrow morning I am leaving for a Women's Conference. I am so excited about the experience, but for the first time, I am stressed about the flight up there.

I have never had a fear of flying. I am, admittedly, a bit afraid of heights, and would never voluntarily take a plane up into the sky with the intention of jumping out of it. But as far as flying from one place to another, I have no qualms.

I have never been stopped in the airport, I have a clean record. I've never had issues checking in. I have always looked forward to taking an airplane somewhere. The excitement and romance (yes, romance) of walking down the jetway and boarding the plane is something I have always enjoyed.

Even traveling alone is an adventure for me. I like to be surrounded by friends, but I've also enjoyed people watching. I like to make up stories for the strangers I see. I especially like watching children. Not in a creepy, stalker way, of course. I like seeing the excitement in their eyes. I like their curiosity.

Since I have no problem meeting new people, I always enjoy discovering the person I'm seated next to. I usually bring a book, thinking I need something to do, but end up ignoring it in favor of conversation.

I'm very easily entertained. I enjoy looking at everything around me, and I've even been known to read the in-flight instructions... ok, maybe I'm sharing a bit too much.

This trip is different. This is the first time I have flown since the TSA has become the KGB of our country. The porn scans, and the alternative groping have me in a cloud of worry. The thought that I may be selected randomly to be assaulted so that some terrorist supposedly won't be offended has me seething.

Perhaps it's my penchant for historical novels that has me in a tizzy. I have read books about World War 2 and I can't help noticing the similarities between the romanticized accounts I've read and our current times.

I've read about people trying to leave Germany after Hitler came to power. About being strip searched and having baggage dumped and searched. I'd like to think that it's logical to believe those kinds of things didn't happen overnight. People didn't just get up one morning and suddenly they couldn't travel without being assaulted. I believe it was a gradual shifting of authority under the guise of protection. Suddenly the people who were supposed to be protected from monsters became the ones assaulted and imprisoned.

A long time ago, it became illegal to travel via air with a weapon. I understand the concept of banning firearms from airplanes. A stray bullet fired in self defense could pierce a fuel tank and the whole plane could go down. (Of course, I laugh at the odds of this actually occurring.) But the idea that an innocent passenger cannot bring a knife on a plane with which to take down a would be sky-jacker, is ludicrous and only serves to embolden those with nefarious intent.

When the regulations began to change more rapidly, we had to take off our shoes or put toiletries in a separate bag, I didn't really think anything of it. I didn't fly often enough to find it inconvenient. I didn't like the fact that my loved ones could no longer walk me to my gate, or meet me as I came off the plane. The movies had to change a bit then.

It's a bit frustrating to know that if I have a two or three hour stopover in a city where a loved one lives, that it would be nearly impossible to use that time chatting with them over coffee at an airport cafe. It's just not worth the hassle of having to go back through security in time.

Now things have shifted even further. Now we are on complete lock down. Either I give up my constitutional rights and allow the TSA to have their way with me, or I have to give up the convenience of air travel.

As a busy mom with four children, I would not be able to go on this trip at all without the convenience of air travel. It would just be impossible to drive 14 hours there and back. I even thought about taking a train, but that would take even longer with all the stops and finding stations close enough to my destination. So I'm stuck.

I'm very frustrated, but I'm excited to see what God will do for me this weekend. I'm praying for God to make me invisible. I kind of wish that He would just translate me there, as He did with Philip. I'm sure all those innocent folks fleeing Germany wished for translation as well. It goes against my grain to willingly submit to this, but I know I must. Of course, I did read up on all my rights (believe it or not, I actually do have them). I'm stressed out, but ready to go.