Books I Am Reading

I love it when I read blogs and they list the books they have read or are currently reading.  I am trying really hard to get back into reading.  I always am reading a self-help, faith growing type book, but I am trying to branch into a more fun easy read book also.  

Here is my stack at this very moment.

Crazy Rich Asians... is the fun book.  Ha.  I saw it on another blog and requested it at the library and it has not disappointed.  It is light and funny and I just wish I had more time for fun reading.  By the end of the day I sometimes just can't will my brain or eyes to read.  It is much easier to watch The Office and fall asleep within 5 minutes.  Literally.  Jesse gets so mad that I can't stay awake and watch TV (or movies) with him.  Please don't go and request it from the library just yet because I need about 3 more renewals before I will be ready to give it back.  And if you request it they will make me give it back!!  

desperate... oh moms!!  I did this book with 2 of my homeschooling moms this summer as kind of a book club of sorts.  There was only 3 of us so not sure that is a book club.  This book!!  Spoke right to my heart and soul.  I have so many things underlined!!  Shall I just share a few?  Okay!!

Anger and resentment were living just under my skin.  Exhausted, out of my mind, and still hormonal, every day felt like a fight.  Feelings of desperation were like an ever-present shadow over the good in my life.  Experiencing hope in Jesus felt like chasing gold at the end of a rainbow... getting to it was always out of reach.  Motherhood was something I planned for, something I wanted, so why was living it out so drastically different from my expectations?

..."good" motherliness has nothing to do with how God sees me.  Nothing.  I am pleasing to Him on my good days and my bad days.  His love for me never wavers... and never will.  Because I am His.

We can approach the throne of grace with confidence; can your children approach you with confidence, knowing they will be loved no matter what?  Let them know that you are on their team; that you are for them and not against them; that you will forgive, always, just as the Father forgives.

Good nuggets!!!  I already want to read it again and soak up more!!  Parenting is hard stuff!!  Homeschooling is hard stuff!!  I need these kind of books to put me back on the right path of why I do what I do!!  This book goes back and forth between a young mom who is drowning in her role and an older wiser mom who encourages her (and us) to keep fighting.

For the Love... is a book I just got and I am only 3 chapters in, but I can tell already it is going to be a good one!!  It is how to handle and love and give grace to ALL the people in our lives.

Claws Update

How about a little update on this wild cat that the kids are trying to turn into a pet.  

They really wanted him to have a collar so that others would know he was taken.  So they made him a pipe cleaner collar.  They continued to feed him Maggie's (our dog) left over dog food and milk.  Max was hauling our gallon jug of milk outside to pour into this little makeshift dish for this cat!!  Do you know me at all??  I. do. not. like. cats.  And my own son is hauling our milk outside to feed it to a stray cat.

Well a few days in and this cat has discovered if he meows outside this window the kids will stop their school work immediately and come out and pet and fed him MORE!!

Well he wouldn't eat or drink unless we watched him.  He was becoming a huge distraction to my students and very high maintenance in a quick hurry!!

It had been a good week with the cat around so they took their allowance money to Walmart and stocked up on cat supplies.  Wet and dry food... we have no clue.  Little dishes.  Flea Collar.  And a little cat lid for those wet food containers that were sitting in my fridge!!  (Eww!!)  Max and Mallory split up these items and each paid with their own money.  There were into this cat!!  

One night the kids and I headed out to Awana and got home late.  Jesse was home that night and was so excited to tell us about what Claws had did.  He caught and killed a bunny.  Jesse was so proud he took videos and pictures.  The kids were not proud.  Jesse tells them that he is sleeping out on the patio bench right now and we could go see him.  Oh, he has a little blood on him because he ate the bunny.  Max is grossed out done with this cat.  He refuses to go see him.  Melanie is yelling, "I don't like bunnies."  Mallory runs to see her cat!  Sure enough there is this cat with blood on his face sleeping on our patio bench!!  (Remember me and cats?!!!)  Now to put the kids to bed!!  Melanie comes into our room about 3 times that night crying because of "bad dreams" and we ask her what the dreams are and she keeps repeating, "don't like bunnies!"  By the third time Jesse puts her in bed with Mallory and she falls right to sleep.

Another few nights go by and we start to notice that Claws doesn't react to noise.  We can clap our hands and whistle while he sleeps and he doesn't move at all.  We are thinking he is deaf.  When he is awake and walking around if we call him, he never turns around.  The kids always have to go and get him.  

Now we have to bring our dog back home for a few days.  The kids are NOT happy about this.  But we don't have a choice.  Well the dog and cat meeting did not go well.  Maggie, the dog, did not listen to our commands and chased the cat.  Claws ran.  And didn't come back!!  For a good while!!  Like a few days went by.  Claws was to the point where he was spending his nights on our patio bench and now we don't know where he sleeps.  

It is still that way.  Claws comes and goes.  The kids feed him whenever he comes by and they have to stay there and watch him eat.  Now we realize why he does that because he can't hear and he must use the kids as his safety.  Sometimes we come home and he is laying in our driveway or on our front steps.  

Oh and they took off his pipe cleaner collar because he is such a climber we didn't want him to get hurt by having that collar on.  They put the breakaway flea collar on him and he lost it in a day!!  He came by this past weekend and he appears to have a broken tail.  He lives a rough life and the kids are trying so hard, still, to get him to stick around and stay with us.

Field Trip - Zoo & Ice Cream

The first field trip of the season was an ice cream social at a tiny zoo.  

All the local RVA kids showed up... ate ice cream... ran at the playground.  Then we grabbed our friends and walked around the zoo.

Er.  They ran around the zoo.

We walked with these two girls!  Melanie and Jojo!!  They are best friends.  

They have a side kick little brother... Roman!

We met up with the girls at the wolf pen.  The kids were actually getting the wolves to howl back at them.  It was kind of freaky.  

Watching a turtle in the river.  Trying real hard to get closer but the moms just won't let them!!

There are other boys in the RVA.  They just didn't make it to this event!  Max actually does amazing with all these girls!!

The oldest!!  Mallory is on the right.

This ham right here!!!  He wears all of Max's hand-me-downs and I just can't stand it!!   

They were trying to convince us they saw the most gigantic fish ever.

Or they are stalling because it was time to go and they weren't ready to leave just yet.

Claws the Tomcat

We had just got home from camping and we are unloading the truck and I see the neighbor running in her garden waving her hands.  I thought she had a bunny.  She told me it was a cat and we could have it.  Oh and it is headed for your yard.  

My kids love cats!!!  They want a cat so bad.  I do not have the same cat love that they do.  Plus I am super allergic to them.  Well Max ran to the slide and meowed and the cat stopped in his tracks turned around and ran up the slide.  Max got a bit scared and slid down and now this cat is sitting at the top of the slide.  

The kids got close to it and they were able to pet him.  He looked super skinny.  They ran to get him some dog food and water.  Well it wouldn't eat the dog food or drink the water so Max dumped the water and brought out the gallon milk and poured him some milk.  Well the cat loved the milk and the kids quickly attached to him.  

They named him Claws because he was clawing at the grass when they played with him.  They literally sat outside with the cat for 3-4 hours!!  They came in and ate lunch and the cat went into the ditch behind our house and when lunch was over Max went out there and got the cat back.

This cat has such a personality!!

The kids are really into American Ninja Warrior.  So when Claws walked across the swingset... he was now a Ninja Warrior in their eyes!

Watching Mallory swing.

Playing with Max.

Then it laid on top of the slide.

Before the night was over the cat had a blanket on the deck.  The kids are smitten by this cat.  It has a funny personality and loves the kids.  He lets the kids haul him around and pet him.  Jesse even likes the cat.  

Stay tuned to see if Claws sticks around to be the kids outdoor cat!!

Labor Day Weekend

Our weekend camping in pictures.

Uncle Jerry giving rides to Max and Melanie!

Those squished cheeks get me every single time!

It took us all day to realize that these 3 were dressed alike.  They loved Uncle Jerry's woods chicken call.  I couldn't get them to smile or look at me for nothing.  Jerry gave his chicken call and they wanted him to do it again and again...

It rained on and off on Saturday but it ended in a beautiful night!  

Steph and I took a walk and the view from the top of the sand hill was kind of fun.  You don't realize how big the hill is in my pictures.  But it is pretty steep!  

Uncle Adam giving rides in "the bomb".  We are never sure who is having more fun the kids or Adam. 

Left over rain drops while we walked in the woods.

We found some guys fishing in the river!!

They caught a tire!!

The moon was coming up and the sun was setting.

The fog was also rolling in.

The fires were big and the laughs were many.

It was snapper turtle hatching time.  The kids found so many we lost count.  At the end of the trip they had 4 in a bucket that they wanted to bring home and raise.  They were named Lucy, Lilac, Max & Jerry.  They were released into the river before we left!

Miss Andee was working her sunglasses for me!!

We had invited some friends to come out and there were so many kids and they were so cute sitting here eating supper.  We had 10 kids total!!  Max isn't in the picture.

Before you know it - it was time to pack up and head home.  When we are out here I sure soak it up.  I don't want the nights to end.  I am always craving more.  But it sure refreshes me for the weeks ahead!! 

First Day of School 2017

This past week was our first day of school.  Our 4th year homeschooling!!  

Up first in front of my camera for first day pictures was Miss Melanie Mae!!  

Melanie is only 3 but she has great interest in having her own work too.  I had super great intentions of doing some cute stuff with her.  I pinned a calendar to the wall and well it is still stuck on August 27th and tomorrow is September 5th.  However, I spent a day making busy bags with a girlfriend this summer and those have proven to be a life saver!  She loves exploring those bags each day.  

Entering 3rd Grade is Mallory Rae!!!

Mallory was super excited to get back into school.  She is super super super excited to learn cursive handwriting this year!  She has been wanting to learn how to type so I set her up with a typing program also.  Mallory is asking for a real guitar for Christmas... she has an interest in music and plays the chimes in choir.  She told me if she is going to be a singer she needs to learn how to play guitar.  

Entering 1st Grade is Maxwell David

Maxwell was pretty excited for school to start too.  He did so great that first day too!  He remembered how to read!  He is spelling words like a champ!!  Math comes naturally to him.  He is excited this year to dive into some 1-minute math!!

This year I am saying NO more!  We stretched ourselves too thin last year.  I have this bad case of everything sounds so amazing and fun and my kids NEED to be in THAT!!  When it comes time to get in the car and actually travel to these events it is a nightmare.  It involves yelling and panic and stress and running late.  So... this year I am saying NO!!

I am having to remind myself I am a HOMEschooler!  I need to be HOME more!  I can't be gone every single day of the week, and we were last year.  We ate so much in the car traveling from A to B to C back to A.  I don't want that this year.  I want a little more relaxed and a lot more HOME!!