Doin School

While I am sitting here doing Algebra homework, Elijah is teaching himself to write. here he drew a picture of us and wrote "mom" and "boo" He hasn't quite got the concept of writing left to right.

Livvy likes to get in on the fun. She is right behind him with letters, and loves to draw lots and lots of the letter that means her name - O.

Te Deum

You are God: we praise you;
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father:
All creation worships you.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of
power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church
acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy
of all worship,
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven
to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come, and
be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.
Save your people, Lord, and bless
your inheritance.
Govern and uphold them now and always.
Day by day we bless you.
We praise your name for ever.
Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy;
for we put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope:
and we shall never hope in vain.

Old Journal Entry

Cleaning out the basement, I found these two old journal entries. Apparently I only journal when something important is happening; enjoy.



1-14-03

I realize, of course, that there have been many, many other babies in the history of the world. I realize, also, that quite a few of them have been at least as highly anticipated as Elijah, especially first borns. It still feels so special. Lee and I went to bed early and lay close together; Lee spent about a half an hour chasing his son around my belly with his hand. We agree that this time is like a highly prolonged Christmas Eve - or worse!

Even though I know they are trying to be nice, trying to relate, really, I love how angry Lee gets when people at work say negative things. They say things about dirty diapers, screaming, and a lack of sleep. We know that these things are coming, but we are still so excited.

Lee doesn't like these warnings because he thinks that people are saying that they aren't happy to have their children. It's funny to think back on how scared I was to tell him - he says I apologized multiple times - and to compare it to how happy he is now. Stressed, yes, absolutely, but happy. He seems glad to be a father. I can't wait to see his face when I get to give him his son!!

Lee has ice blue eyes, but they are hidden behind his glasses. I like his glasses - they add character to his face. His hair is a kind of sandy brown. Right now it is collar length and looping into big curls. He alsow ears a mustchase an a goatee, which are tinged with red - apparently there is some red hair in his family.

As for me, my eyes are an indecisive shade of gray-green-blue. My hair is almost the same color as Lee's a sort of brown with hints of honey, especially at the ends. I once tried to dye it red, but you couldn't tell. Both of our families are graced with tree-trunk like thighs, large rear ends, and pink easily-burnt complexions.

My family is deeply Christian. We have deeply-held, strongly-felt, and firmly defended convictions... about almost everything. AS A RESULT, WE COME OFF AS KNOW IT ALLS AND SMART ALECKS. We are libertarians, fiercely independent. We believ in the sanctity of marriage and the absolute sacredness of life. My parents even adopted eight kids on top of their four biologicals, making me the oldest of twelve. I'm proud of my family, and I really respect my parents.


2-3-03

Days literally, away from being a mother. I am tired, swollen, overheated, and overwhelmed. A sweek ago today, they thought I had pre-eclampsia, because of my blood pressure being high, and they sent me to the hospital to be induced. I sat in the hospital for five hours only to be sent home because my blood pressure was perfect. I've had two appointments since then, and my blood pressure is still fine. I have been having an increasing number and intensity of contractions since then. My son is now officially a week late. He is going to be induced on the 6th, but his Daddy thinks he will show on the 5th just to spite us all.

That's it. Elijah was born on the 8th. After those entries, life changed completely and I never wrote a journal again until this blog. -sniff- Time flies, though, doesn't it?

p.s. This is really for you, Mommi. I'm glad you love your grandbabies so much, because you're getting another one ;)

Seeing Sarah and RCIA

After he went to work, Lee took me to Mommi's house to see Sarah. It had been way too long, since I saw my mom, and I can't even say how good it was to see my sister. I am selfish, though. I wish she was here all the time. She's so much fun. We basically just hung out and talked for a couple of hours. Olivia was in love with Sarah, she climbed all over her and tried to get her to play for the whole time. Boo discovered the boy's K'nex, and played in the corner the whole time like a shy kid. I got to give Sarah some presents I've been saving up for her, too. The littles got home about the same time that Lee arrived, so we stayed another twenty minutes so Boo could play with his "cousins". There are really good pictures of the day on my mom's blog. I am going to try to get back later this week, hopefully tomorrow. Mom also had a box of BEAUTIFUL clothes for Miss Livvy, and some great homeschool stuff. My car was too full to take them home, so I've got to make sure to get them tomorrow.

Then Lee got done with school and took me home. We had dinner, had some family playtime, then it was time to go to RCIA. RCIA is "Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults". It is a 9-month class (though some churches make it 2 years instead) where you learn about the Catholic faith, and at the end you can have the option to join the church. Though I'm really excited about the class, I was SOOOO nervous. I didn't know where to go when I got to the church, but I looked for Michelle's van in the parking lot. She was waiting for me as soon as I got there. Thank goodness! It wasn't really the first class, just an informational meeting about the class. The classes are going to be almost every Monday, and they are two hours long. They said last year they were only and hour and a half, but the sessions always ran long. Wow! The first class isn't for another two weeks because of labor day. I admit, I am impatient to get started. I would have been happy to stay another two hours. I didn't talk much, but I know I will later.

After the session, Michelle gave me a box of goodies. Mostly really good homeschool books (like Magic Schoolbus!), but also some a beautiful Bible, some books and movies for me and a few kitchen toys for me, too! Yay!!! Thanks Michelle!!

Today is my split shift day. Work for me, then Lee goes to school, then work for me again. The kids and I already did an hour of phonics and writing, now I am going to do my Avon and some Algebra. Then back to work. Crazy? Yes. Fun? you betcha.

The House That Cleans Itself

I will be documenting my The House That Cleans Itself project at http://housethatcleansitself.blogspot.com/ . :)

Today Lee is at school all day, including P.E.

Then he has to go to work this evening.

Yesterday he worked in the morning, then went to school all afternoon and in the evening. He had his religion and philosophy class (sure to be some interesting family discussions after that one). The teacher remembers him from last year - she loves him.

Me, I have to take my first quiz tonight. I am nervous! :)

And lastly, I am now an Auntie twice. My sister in law gave birth last night to her second son, Damion Alexander. He is a shrimp at 7lbs, 1oz, 18 inches long. I can't wait to meet him.

Thanks to Lee

This morning (wednesday) was the only time where we had enough time to string together to get to the social security office to get my card. So we had to get up in time to get there when it opened. Luckily I had all the papers I needed (we have a safe where we keep birth certificates and whatnot) and had my paperwork filled out alread, so it didn't take long. As Lee had figured, though, my name was already correct with the SSA, so we shouldn't need a copy on file with HACC. HACC was claiming my name didn't match, so they were holding back my financial aid.

We had to zip from Carlisle back to HACC so I could have my meeting with my Advisor. She was great, and very pleased that I had already registered my classes. If I want to get into teaching, I have to maintain a 3.0 GPA. So I am glad I decided to take only two classes this semester and see how it goes. Then we got my HACC ID (yay for student discounts) and visit the Financial Aid office.

The woman at the financial aid desk informed me flatly that they would not accept the temporary SS# verification. Lee jumped to my aid, and asked to speak to the director. The director spent a few minutes in his secret office before coming out and informing us that the reason the names didn't match is because my name was wrong at HACC - not at the social security office. This is what Lee has been saying all along. They were going by my original application in the year of... yup, 2000. When I was deciding whether to go to school of marry Lee. They took the hold off my account.

I am glad that I did marry Lee - he always stands up for me. He is my knight in shining armor.

So far on-line classes are amazing. As previously mentioned I am taking Math 051 and Education 101. Education 101 is run like a message board - that's right, a natural environment for me. If I'm going to chat on-line, I might as well get college credit for it, right? We actually will have to give a group presentation on-line in a chat room. Even the exams for that class will be on-line. Amazing? Yeah. that's not to say it won't be hard - I have to do a big annotated bibliography (you mean I have to read? oh no!) and interview a teacher,.If I can't find one at work, I bet you any of the teachers at Emmanuel would give me an interview. Mrs. Clarke or Mr. Post or Mr. Darco would be fun.

Then there's Math. The whole class is an on-line application. I already did my 50-question homework. the computer checks it for you as you go, and you can fix your answers. It won't give you the answers, but it will tell you what you are doing wrong. With Math, you really can learn by doing. The practice questions are a little easy, because they will catch all my sloppy errors, so I am taking the practice tests instead. They will show me all my mistakes, after the fact instead of as I go. Then it marks what I'm not so good at and gives me practice questions to build my skills. This is such a great way to learn Math. It's actually fun!

Anyway, now Lee is at school so I am running Algebra and laundry at the same time. the kids are playing Caillou pre-school software on their computer, which Nan got them at the Dollar Tree for a dollar. As soon as Lee gets back, I have to go to work. This is all a little crazy, but my ADD brain thrives on it. When I'm done with this, the kids and I are going to vacuum the house and then do some of their school work. Love!

Beginning of School

Today was the first day back to school. Lee was stressed beyond all belief. Then he realized that two of his classes are late-start classes and therefore don't start for four more weeks. Wow that's going to make for an interesting semester.

Anyway, Saturday I worked in the morning, then we took the babes to see Underdog, which they have been dying to see. (We still had some Cinema Center free ticket coupons left.) Sunday Olivia and I got up and went to Mass - she was so good, I was very proud of her. Fr. Helwig's homily was really good. The gospel was about how Jesus said he came to divide families against each other - and that sounds SO horrible. It so doesn't even sound like something Jesus would say. But of course He did. And then he talked about how taking a stand for what's right really can split people, and how the big issues like abortion and euthenasia are splitting the whole world. And then he said how even something as simple as going to church in the morning or not can split a family. So, with only half my family there with me, I understood. And it was okay :)

Then Saturday afternoon was spent with Lee huddled in front of his computer. He was BORED and, um, TERRIFIED so we went to Big Lots and got a PC game for $6.00 and he spent the day playing it. Then we took the babies to Nans... it was time to leave them overnight for the first time in forever. That really hurt. Leaving wasn't so bad, they like being at Nan's because she has cable. But when it was time to go to bed, and I kept listening for their breathing, well, that hurt.

Then I went to work this morning and Lee went to school. He picked up my books and the last books he needed. Class seemed fine. The work day felt for long for me. I called my advisor at school to set up an appointment for Wednesday morning. After I got home, we had Nan's leftover pot pie for dinner, and I did the whole week's worth of school in one sitting (the first week is really easy, obviously). Put the cuties to bed with many, many hugs and prayers. They missed me, too.

The House that Cleans Itself

I would like to take a moment to tell you all about a new housecleaning system that I am going to be starting. It is written by Mindy Starns Clark. She is a Christian mom from PA who has written a couple of really neat Christian mystery stories. I've heard her speak, and she has a very sweet spirit. And, as a creative type, she knows what its like to be not so gifted with housework.

As all of you who know me well know, I am not so gifted with housework. I can work for hours and not get anywhere. I also have mess-blindness, I tend to not see mess unless I happen to be stressing over it. I have gotten a LOT better, but I still struggle with the last minute dashes if someone is coming over, and the occassional over-flowing closet.

The idea behind Minday's book is that people who are naturally gifted at housework tend to either adapt their house to their behavior or adapt their behavior to fit their house. The book teaches how to think both logically and creatively about the way you deal with clutter, etc. I read the first couple chapters at the bookstore and it was awesome. So I will occassionally be documenting this process on my blog (including -gasp- before and after pictures). Now you will know what I am talking about.

Something New

Lee and I have been rather busy this week.

You see, school starts Monday. So in addition to working extra hours, we have been making all the last minute plans and preparations for that. And then this other thing.

Lee has been pestering me to go to school since we got married, and especially since he went back to school. But I have always turned him down, because it is my ambition to be a stay at home mom, and going to school wouldn't really further that.

But then I had this idea.

See, most of HACC's courses are available as Internet courses.

And I can totally handle two classes a semester. And if I can't, I'll stop after this semester.

And what would it be like if I went to school part time, just for fun, to work toward... becoming a PA certified teacher? I could do evaluations, tutoring, and standardized testing to help other homeschool families out and earn a little extra money on the side.

And it would be fun.

So I haven't been "around" much this week, because I've been filling out forms and taking tests.

As of right now, I am registered for two classes - Education 101 and Math 051 (yup, I need a remedial Intermediate Algebra class - after 7 years, I suppose -pout- that is understandable). We haven't got all the i's dotted or all the kinks worked out, but its looking good. Worst case scenario, I would just start next semester.

I am grateful to be living in the 21st century, where I can take almost any class I want over the Internet. Who knew you could home school community college??

Pictures

These are from a couple weeks ago, but I just got them on my computer.




This is from today.

Extravagant Love

The most amazing thing just happened to me.

At work, Jesus told one of our guests to sing Jesus Loves You to me. Out loud, in the middle of the store.

It was such a brave thing to do, and I was physically overwhelmed with the love and grace of God.

After the guest left, I cried for pure joy.

I want to do for other people what that person did to me.

To be Jesus to them.

Seriously.

Sunday, Pride of the Susquehanna

After a year of planning this outing, Nan finally got to take us and the kids onto the Pride of the Susquehnna, Harrisburg's riverboat. Obviously, we all enjoyed this very much. It was blazing hot and we were right out in the sun, but we got to see the river from a wonderful point of view.


We traveled from City Island, up under the Harvey Taylor Bridge, then turned around and went back again. The ride was about 45 minutes.


The boat is driven by two huge paddle wheels, which you can see if you peer over the back of the boat. Of course I was terrified to let the kids see it because as I was holding them up, my excellent imagination was calmly laying out all the horrible things that could happen to them if they fell over. Ugh. But I let them see it anyway.


I explained to Boo how it worked, that if both paddles paddled forward, they pulled the boat forward, and if they paddled backward, they would pull the boat backwards. Then if one goes slower than the other, it would turn the boat. I figured it would go over his head, but I explained it anyway - kindergarten physics!



My little girl isn't a baby anymore. Look how long she is. She's so eloquent, too, it blows my mind.


Speaking of not a baby anymore... Boo's almost too big to hold anymore. *sob* I think he knows it, too, because he keeps asking me for "up hugs".



After the boat ride, Nan decided that the kids needed to go on the City Island train, too. That was quite fun, also.




She bought the kids little animals out of the souvenir shop. The little lizard was christened a "geico" after the cute gecko with a British accent in the TV commercial. They both got one.


After the train ride, we used the Hoss's gift certificates we had all gotten from Uncle Pork for Christmas. Hoss's is Nan's favorite restaurant, so Uncle Pork always gets her gift certificates for all major holidays - and since we are always the ones to take her there, he gets the same for us :)

After Hoss's, Lee needed to go watch a Wrestling Pay Per View with his buddy Jon, in celebration of Jon's birthday. As deeply disappointed (cough) as I was not to share that experience with my love, the kids and I elected to stay at Nan's house. Elijah wanted to take a bath. As he was soaking, he called me in - "Mom, I want to show you something!"

So I went in to check on him, and he had all his little toys in Nan's tub - ducks, fish, and boats. He was holding one of the little boats in his hand. "Look, Mama, this is the boat. The wheels are on the back. This one goes forward and the boat goes forward. If this one goes slower and this one goes faster..."

Saturday August 11, Opening Day of the Ren Faire

Livvy and her handsome dad checking out the program for the day!

"Sister" something giving the children "good deed beads".

Me and the kids.

Me and Boo dancing!

Boo contemplating his beads.

We had fun!

Busy

Here's our new neighbor. Elijah loves him (and his fun ride-on Escalade). He goes crazy when he here's the adjoining door slam shut signaling that he is home.




Here is our new neighbor sharing his juice.

Some interesting things that have happened this week:

I sold a Bible to a lady who had a son with Aspergers. He lost his Bible, he left it at the park and was going crazy. So she had to buy him a Bible about the same size and she was going to have to re-highlight all the passages for him that she had highlighted in the old one. She said he had called her on the phone to tell her he couldn't find it - she said she could hear him pacing in the background. He wanted her to come home from work to help him find it right away. She liked that I could understand where she was coming from.

I worked a 13-hour day on Tuesday. That was a real picnic. The bosses are ALL out of town (hazard of working for a family) and me and the only other closer are stretching out to cover the patches while they are gone. In all fairness, the other guy is doing a lot more than I am. I will be working 13 again this coming Tuesday.

For Lee, school starts in 10 days. He is both excited and stressed.


I got my collage book out yesterday and added a house collage. That made me happy. My collage book is different from a dream book, it's not just cool pictures that I like, but little snips of pictures all smushed together to form a coherent idea. The book I use is called something about a self-awareness dream journal or some goofiness like that, but I really just took the idea
and ran with it on my own. Here's a collage I made before Livvy was born showing how I would ultimately dress.



And then that made me take out my dream book, because I realized that I had a couple of magazines languishing on my shelves that had forgotten their purpose. So that made me happy, too, althought cutting out a dream book by yourself is not as fun as a table of girls passing cut up magazines around.

For those that are not familiar, dream books are where you take a spiral notebook and a bunch of old magazines and cut out the pictures that belong to you, pass the book to the next girl, then paste the pictures into a book in a way that pleases you. I have two different ones, one that is actually for my own house, then one that is for the houses of make believe characters, but which still appeal to me an inspire me.

I am at this weird (for me) place where I don't want to be introspective and I don't want to be alone. Luckily I have Jesus, so that I am never alone, and have a rock to hold onto. And, no, there's nothing wrong in my life, I just feel vulnerable and insecure.

Making Zuchinni French Toast

Lij requested French Toast for dinner, and of course he wanted to help. Since we have lots of Zuke in the house, we added a half a cup of shredded zuchinni and a half a cup of brown sugar to the batter. It was very very yum, as Livvy likes to say.

Boo was really enjoying the fact that his hands were dirty. He also really enjoyed washing them.

Don't they look great? At the last minute I realized I had no syrup to eat them with, so we had them with butter and last years strawberry preserves. It was delicious.

Boo took this picture of me. I thought it turned out rather nicely.

Sick Monday

I'm sick right now, so it feels like everything takes extra effort.



Lee took us to the drive-in Sunday night. It rained the whole time and we were out until 2am. Perfect when you're sick, right, Mom? Needless to say the next day I was in BAD shape. I went to work, opened the store, then came right home again. Instead of letting me sleep, the kids wanted me to do school with them. I dragged through a couple worksheets with them, then took a bath to try and get some solitude. Halfway through, Elijah decided he needed to go to the bathroom, and of course he wanted to chat through the shower curtain, too. He told me all about how when he was a little baby, he lived inside of me, how he drank milk out of me, "And you know, I like milk, Mom!" -- "There's no milk there anymore, Boo, it's only for babies" - and then he said -



"And when I lived inside of you, Mom, you were really, really fat, right?"



"Right, Boo, I was really, really fat."



"And then I came out of your mouth, right, Mom?"



.................



I have been telling that story at work for days. I have gotten lots of laughs, and lots of advice on how to answer precocious children and when to have "the talk". What I did answer, if you care, was something non-comittal like "Yes, Boo, then you came out of me."



Anyway, Monday was rather nice, just relaxing, and I even took a real nap in the afternoon. I don't like to do "nothing" like that, but it was good, and it enabled me to work a long ten hour day yesterday.