Words Of Wisdom

You know I often talk about the simple life... so as I was reading an article from Sonlight's (HS curriculum) founder, she wrote something very interesting to my heart. I always wonder how people have so much time- something we extremely lack in our lives, but as I read her article, I could see how she homeschooled with such grace for so many years, savored her time with her children, kept a clean house- never having a maid, wrote and developed a curriculum, and still had time to be a wife.

From Sarita Holzmann,

On Property-Anything you buy has to be dusted. Make your bed daily. It's amazing how much better your house looks when the bed is made. Pick up as you go. When you leave a room, glance around and see if there is something that needs to be somewhere else. Pick it up and take it. Don't let stuff accumulate. Have a place for everything. Stuff that doesn't have a place accumulates. Pick up the house before you go to bed or leave on vacation. It's very refreshing to start a new day with a neat house.“He who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys” (Proverbs 18:9). Care for your possessions (i.e. dust your furniture, put your bike away out of the rain, mop your floor), or they get ruined and have to be replaced. Deal with paper as it comes in. Ninety-nine percent of it can go directly into the circular file (trash can)."Stuff" ultimately doesn't matter. If something you value gets broken accidentally, your relationship with the person who broke the item is much more important.

On Money-Give 10%, save 10%, and spend the rest with joy.“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Studies show that people who give charitably are happier than people who don't (and I have found that true in my life).

On Work-We were created to work. Find a job that you love, and you'll never feel as if you are having to “go to work".We were created for some unique calling. God has wired each of us differently and gifted us uniquely. Seek what you were made to do, and do it.

Such simple words of wisdom, but I believe they can make such a huge impact.

I am a Marilyn Monroe!

I saw this Female Icon Quiz on someone's blog and decided to take the quiz.

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me
* Be direct and clear
* Listen to me carefully
* Don't judge me for my anxiety
* Work things through with me
* Reassure me that everything is OK between us
* Laugh and make jokes with me
* Gently push me toward new experiences
* Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn
* being committed and faithful to family and friends
* being responsible and hardworking
* being compassionate toward others
* having intellect and wit
* being a nonconformist
* confronting danger bravely
* being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn
* the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
* procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
* fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
* exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
* wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
* being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often
* are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
* are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
* form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent
* look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
* are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents
* are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
* are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
* worry more than most that their children will get hurt
* sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Me and Mommy Day at the GA Aquarium

Yesterday, we went to the GA Aquarium for 'Me and Mommy' and had such a good time.

It is very cool, how at such early ages- not saying they won't change- that I can see each of their learning styles. Maximus was more focused on what was ahead of him instead of right in front of him, but every time we went into a different exhibit, he wanted to sit and listen and learn all about the different kinds of fish and their habitats and on the way home- he quoted a lot of it back to me. River, loved the bish (fish) and wagwag (water). He would cry when we walked away to go see something else and it was pure torture to him to have to sit and listen to someone talk. We spent several hours there, and even got to see the Deepo’s Undersea 3D Wondershow, which the kids loved. We took a picnic, had lunch and played at Centennial Olympic Park.

Maximus said his favorite was the Hammerhead shark. River loved all the bish. And my favorite was just spending quality time with my kids... and the sea otters.

GranBarbara

My grandmother aka GranBarbara came and babysat today.

At last minute, I had something that I needed to take care of and I called to see if she would come watch the boys. Boy, was she excited!

She went by and got them Happy Meals- seems she knew how to hit the spot immediately.

As I was leaving, she told me to stay gone as long as I wanted... I told her to be careful in what she says :)!!

After my appointment, I was able to have lunch with my BFF and stroll through Target- alone! Both were such luxuries!

When I got back home, Maximus and River were happy as could be. But my poor GranBarbara looked so tired.

Something very funny though, GB is, I'd say, a little obsessive, with tinfoil. Her whole house is covered in it. It lines her closet floors, her drawers, her oven, every shelf in her refrigerator and I'm sure many other places. Maximus later said "why did GranBarbara make us eat off tinfoil?" I just laughed because it brought back so many memories.

I am very close to my GranBarbara and am so glad my children are able to spend time with her- just like I used to when I was small!

River

River loves books and loves for me to read "pictures" to him. Although, he has to hold the book and flip the pages. Today when we were reading, I just watched him, his tiny hands, his cute baby feet, his fat cheeks... he just looked so adorable, sweet and innocent.

I could just squeeze him- and sometimes I do!!

Me: River say cheese

River: NO!

Me: Please let me take a picture of you

River: NO!

Me: Pleeeease??

River: NO!

My baby River is getting to be such a big boy.

He is growing up before my eyes. Although he is definetly my Tazmanian Devil, he is a precious one! There are so many special quailties about him, its fun watching him grow.

He is very smart, can say anything, mostly in his own language, but a lot of it we can understand. Oh my goodness, he is set in his ways too. In the morning when he puts his feet to the floor, he looks for his blang blang (blanket) and carries it around most of the day. Then he wants to finish my coffee and get his chokmik in his own cup- big boy cup. Then scavenges the house to find his baaawll (ball), boots, and now he wants to carry around a buk (book)- this is seriously everyday.

He is 20 months, but is as sharp as a 3 year old. His latest accomplishment is going to the potty!!! We are introduding the potty to him. I am ready for this stage, but its also sad, especially since I feel like I just went through this with his big brother Maximus who is almost 6!

I am savoring these moments like the last bite of the sweetest, best tastin' dessert on the planet and so thankful that I have the opportunity to stay-at-home with both my boys everyday.

Palin 2012... You betcha'!!!

On this historic day, I would like to show my support, by showing you MY t-shirt!Today, our 44th president, Barack Obama, was sworn in the United States of America. Today, if no other, history and CHANGE was definitely made.
Go USA, you did Great!

Maximus Brewer, Grade K

Maximus is going to love his new ID card!!!

One of the cool things about being a homes "cool" mama is getting the educator discounts. But I've come across a few places that want to see an ID card (and letter of intent). So I found this really cool website where you can print it for FREE. One day I am going to write a book for all the freebies that I have discovered.

Just to name a few places that offer discounts,

Barnes & Nobles (this week 01/17-01/25 is Educator's week, Joann's, Office Depot, Michael's, and Border's.

Times HAVE changed

Maximus's birthday is just around the corner and we have been talking about what he wants for his birthday and what he would like to do.

What he wants to do is go to Cartoon Network and make a cartoon, not see how a cartoon is made, but make a cartoon. And he wants a cell phone. I know what your thinking... the same thing I am thinking, he will only be 6 and what does a 6 year old need with a cell phone.

He has been asking for his own phone for a few years now. We have bought him toy phones and even given him our old cell phones, although he has enjoyed those, he still continues to ask for his own phone. I ask him, what would you do with a phone, who would you call? And of course he gave the perfect, win mama over- answer, he said "well if I got lost or if someone grabbed me I would call 911" well then he goes on with "and I can text you and tell you that I love you when you are at your homeschool meetings".

I called my BFF and said, ok would it be really ridiculous to buy a 6 yo a cell phone. I knew she would be honest without judging. Her answer was she wouldn't have bought her kids a cell at 6, but I need to think about why I wouldn't instead of why I would. Isn't that is a cool answer!

I also thought, I would have NEVER had a cell phone at 6 yo, but one reason is because I don't think there was a such in 1985, and if so, it would have looked something like this. I got my first cell phone in 1997, when I was 18 years old, it looked like #3 in the picture above, and I was so cool, but what was even cooler was when I turned 15, I got a pager. I mean is it not cool that I got paged on the way home from school riding on the school bus.

I thought about the Disney phone that was made for kids but they put an end to their cell business which made sense when I read why.

Well I am still pondering the idea as times have changed a whole lot!!!

By the way, I wouldn't buy him a phone with a contract.

Cardboard Testimonies

Someone sent me this link a few weeks ago, and yesterday (cleaning out my inbox), I decided to open it, so that I could delete it, never thinking how it would really touch me and bring me to tears.
I know I've received gifts from God because I can look around me and see these things, my two healthy, beautiful boys, my relationship with my husband, my home, my job, my friends, my dogs, but I've never thought about putting my story on cardboard.
Go get some tissues and check out these cardboard testimonies,

http://www.rhchurch.org/pages/cardboard-testimonies/

Who is teaching who???

Its so wonderful how children are just natural learners, especially if you give them the time and learning environment that they need.

Over the weekend, Maximus said "mama, do you know what DNA is?"
I said "kind of [not really wanting to explain], do you?" He went on to tell me that it was samples of blood or hair from a dead persons body that a scientist takes an x-ray of (his vocabulary for putting under a microscope) for evidence (and yes he used the word evidence).

Wow!

We watch a lot of CSI and Forensic files, but I didn't know he was picking up information and putting it together (just one more benefit to homeschooling because these shows would come on waaay past his bedtime if he had to go to real school).

Happy Monday

Friday I went to my monthly TEAM meeting (Teaching and Encouraging All Moms). You are probably visualizing a bunch of moms sitting around in blue jean jumpers and tennis shoes, but actually its quite opposite. Well, one thing we talked on is what our personal greatest benefit of homeschooling is, I said 'vacations'. I think its great to be able to go places off season when everyone else is in school. But as I put more thought into this, later, my absolute greatest benefit is the closeness of my two boys. If Maximus was gone all day, I don't think they would share the same bond as they do now. But there are sooo many benefits, just too many to name.
I love going to TEAM night each month and listening to the stories of all the other moms, just like me!

Saturday our family went to Monster Jam at the Georgia Dome- our 6th year in a row!! Pawpaw and Cathi went too this year. We were able to make it to the pits for about 30 minutes and the boys got to sit and climb on all the big tires. Maximus loved it and got really into it. It was neat hearing him talk about it and understand how scores were kept, knowing which trucks did what and who his favorite was- Go Blue Thunder!! River, on the other hand, has the attention span of about 2- so next year should be better for him (and us)!

Back 2 School

Its been a hectic week, for me, trying to get back in the swing of things. I have to admit, I completely expected Maximus to be disgruntle about doing his school work. On Monday morning, I told him it was time to do his school, and he was sitting at his table with his sharpened pencil calling my name. I just love this kid!
He has done SO good this week too.
Here is one thing we did, called Stone Soup.
Its an old fable about a traveler who came upon a village. As he entered, the villagers moved towards their homes locking doors and windows.
The traveler smiled and asked, why are you all so frightened. I am a simple traveler, looking for a soft place to stay for the night and a warm place for a meal.
He was told "there's not a bite to eat in the whole province, we are weak and our children are starving. Better keep moving on."
He then said "I have everything I need, in fact, I was thinking of making some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled an iron cauldron from his cloak, filled it with water, and began to build a fire under it.
"Ahh," the traveler said to himself, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage -- that's hard to beat."
Then a villager approached, holding a small cabbage he'd retrieved from its hiding place, and added it to the pot.. . . and so it went, through salt, pepper, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, pasta and so on, until there was a delicious meal for everyone in the village to share.

The Moral of the story is : By working together, with everyone sharing what they have, a greater good is achieved.

Who says boys can't have a "tea" party.

Don't my boys look so happy???

Okay so its not a "tea" party, but I found these cute little one bite cheeseburgers at the grocery store and had to get them. I got tiny bite-size pringles, a 4 in. chocolate cake and tee-niny cups of coke to go with it. It was my cute little "cheeseburger" party for my boys.

Well I have to admit, now I know why boys don't have "tea" parties. There was nothing dainty about all of them eating at least a dozen cheeseburgers each, the whole bag of chips, the entire cake and the entire 2 liter of coke... and were still hungry!

Oh well it was fun... for me anyway :)!

I guess next time, I'll have to invite my little princess Abbie (my niece) over for a real "tea" party!

Our New Year's weekend

Let me tell you about our New Years, we have successfully, once again missed the New Year. We have not seen the New Year since Maximus was born, I don't think. Its sad to think we are becoming old fogies (how ever you spell that)! Well, we did rent a few movies and vegged out on junk food, before we gently closed our eyes. It think we made it till 10:00 PM.
Oh well, one of our resolutions is to get more rest, so we started off the new year right!

Friday, we took River to the doctor, I swore he wasn't sick, but Jason insisted! I felt so bad because he really was sick! He got 2 antibiotics, and had to have a breathing treatment. I am not wearing my "mother of the year" award this week I tell ya'!
Well while we were there, the nurse and doctor was going on and on about my kids not being up to date on their immunizaiton and since Jason doesn't keep up with these kind of things, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, so thanks to him, Maximus is now caught up. He got his 5 yo booster and was such a big boy, he barely cried! I tried saying "he's sick, he can't get a shot", but it didn't work. I was pushed out of the way and into the truck. I think I have white coat syndrome. I do not want either of my kid's to get polio, but I hate the thought of someone hurting them. Well I have to admit, I am glad its done and River is scheduled for a few Saturday appts. so that Jason can take him and get him caught up too.
Looks like I won't be wearing my "mother of the year" award for a while!

Now here is a picture that you won't see often, Jason parting with our junk!
We hauled off a truck load, I mean a truck load to the dump and a whole nother truck load to Grantville's Hidden Treasure, a consignment shop in Grantville.
Now our basement and garage are finally clean and we are ready to being our next stage of upgrading. Whoo Hoo!

Jason is laughing because he was caught telling a white lie about the "junk" being all mine :)!!

Well it seems as though we are starting off our New Years pretty good, taking care of some important "to do's".

Happy New Years 2009!

Happy New Year

Thinking about the new year, I cannot believe it is already 2009.
Time sure does fly and I've learned, you'd better be careful blinking.

One year ago (12/31/07 to be exact), we started ripping up our carpet and putting down our hardwood floors. It was not to remodel, but to upgrade our home. To finish our floors, me and the kids had to go stay in a hotel in Newnan for a week. I was so ready to come home, but its a memory for Maximus and he still talks about it. We are still in the process of "upgrading" with many more projects to complete, but I cannot believe its been a year since we started.

2 years ago, our second son, River, was born. I decided to quit my job and stay at home with my babies. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one. However, I was offered the best opportunity in the world- to work from home, and it is truly the best of both worlds!

5 years ago, we had our first born son, Maximus, who has shown us the true meaning of Love. I have no idea what we did before we had him!

7 years ago, Jason and I were tying the knot and never knew what all would come from us falling in love. We reminisce about this daily.

10 years ago, I was trying to find who I was and where I was supposed to be. I thought I would be a gypsy... or unstable since I moved 9 times in 2 years.

15 years ago, I met my future hubby on the school bus. We were boyfriend and girlfriend and so in love for 2 years, then "broke up" and went our own way doing our own things for 6 years. It's hard to believe we are now married with two kids, 3 dogs, a home and a camper :)!

20 years ago, I was only a 10 year old little girl and was oblivious to what life was really all about. I could not have imagined all the trials and triumphs, laughter and tears that life would bring and still bringing...

1 year from now, I would like for all of our unfinished upgrades to be complete. I would like to visit a new place and learn many new things.

5 years from now, I would like for Sarah Palin to be our president.
I would like to be homeschooling a 1st and 5th grader and to take a trip to Washington DC.

10 years from now, I want to be laying in bed on Saturday morning watching cartoon network with my 11 and 15 year old and driving them to lunch and maybe a movie with the top down.
On Sunday, I'd like to leave them at home, while
me and their daddy go for a ride on our Harley.
10 years from now, I hope we are living in a bigger house and driving a bigger truck, pulling a bigger camper.

15 years from now, I would like to be pulling our camper to the lake, with Maximus and River following, pulling their own campers.

20 years from now, I hope I am NOT trying to find myself and where I belong.
I hope I am celebrating my 27th anniversary while Maximus and River are working on their careers.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!