Pages

Saturday, February 28, 2009

"I can do it by myself"

says Maximus, as he builds a #48 Jimmy Johnson race car at Lowe's.






Maximus has been after me for a year to build a Jimmy Johnson race car at Lowe's. They had a workshop this weekend so I made sure to sign him up.
I don't know which it is, if he's a fan of Nascar's 3-time champion Jimmy Johnson, wood-working or just daddy and me time, either way- this kid was on top of the world, Saturday, after his workshop.
Also, I didn't realize how great this workshop would be. He got a Lowe's apron (just like employees wear), safety glasses, a certificate of completion and a badge to sew to his apron.
I'm very sure he'll be doing more workshops in the future...besides this is shop class, right??

Friday, February 27, 2009

Organic Learning

Before homeschool even existed in my home, I was always eager to teach Maximus new things. When he was a baby, I could barely walk without counting the steps. I sang the alphabet song to him everyday. I would consistently tell him the color and shape of an object.
So I can say 'Maximus learned his alphabet when he was 2'...but truth is he didn't "know" the alphabet, he knew the song.
Things are a little different with River. When he was born, I didn't have the undivided attention to give him, but through him, I have learned lot about learning and teaching. Although, I have not devoted time to directly teach him things, he knows just as much as Maximus did at the same age. Maximus, knowing no different, will say "River, hand me the yellow Lego...or the blue...or the green". He can recognize a few (not in order) letters of the alphabet, and can count objects 1-2-3. These are things that he has not memorized, but that he knows, which makes a difference.

Here are just two things that they have learned without me directly teaching.
Maximus brought me an (empty) medicine bottle and asked was it child-proof. I responded with yes...and he said "well you shouldn't have taught me to read because it says pu...sh do...wn to op...en and it has arrows"...[speechless]!!
The other day, as we were getting ready to do school, I was in a bit of a hurry to get started and just started doing things, but River was repeatedly saying something that neither Maximus nor I could understand, he was saying "ple", "ple", "ple" (x100), to the point to where we had to stop and figure out what he wanted. What he wanted was to say the pledge. Everyday, we say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, and this day we/I forgot, and he recognized immediately it. So we stopped, and I watched my children put their tiny hands over their hearts and Pledge to the United States of America.
In my experience, the nature of learning is much more valuable than forcing memorization.
I only have 1 goal for each of my boys' early education, and its not phonics or math facts (although we will still do them), its to learn to love to learn...something I wish I had been taught.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Life can be so hard sometimes. I'm always blogging about how perfect my life is, how I have the smartest kids, the best husband, a home, the best job in the world, but I rarely post the trials and work that it takes to have those things. I have had people email and ask why I don't post the bad stuff. And why do I act like life is a bowl of cherries. And if the smile on my face is real.

I've learned that if you want something, you have to work for it.
I work hard to be able to stay at home and teach my kids, to have a happy marriage, to make my mortgage payment, to keep a decent house, to put groceries in my pantry... so sometimes, that requires me to work hard to put a smile on my face.

Life comes with un-lovable people, with decisions, with choices, with burdens... life comes with too many things to name.
And I, like everyone else, have had to deal with all the above lately, to which my plate has runneth over. I can't give up my wife, mother, chef, maid, nurse, taxi, finder of all things title and I'm not in a place to give up my income. That being said, I considered giving up our homeschool. I never accepted it, but I did start looking into other options and praying.

At the same time, an old friend from highschool has seen us out and about and contacted me. She said she admired me and my kids and could tell we had something special. She wanted me to give her as much information as I could because she wants to homeschool her 3 kids next year (btw, we both stood in line together at graduation accepting our diploma with honors). I didn't have the heart to tell her I was thinking of quiting.

Then last night, we went to eat at the famous Mickey D's and while we were making our drinks, Jason and I were standing there talking, like there wasn't anyone else there. I turned around and a young boy was just standing there waiting and I said "oh I am sorry, we weren't paying any attention", and he said "that's okay, I'm patient". We got back to the table and I said to Jason "he's homeschooled". No, he wasn't holding a Shakespeare novel and his mama didn't have on a blue jean jumper, but there was something about the way he spoke that I just knew. I knew I was right, but to confirm it I had to ask, so I did and he answered "yes". I almost broke into tears.

And lastly, this morning, after 2 years of waiting to be in a co-op and being told we wouldn't make it next year, I got an email saying we got in and registration for next year is on March 24th, Maximus's birthday...

I can't ignore the obvious, so for now, my consideration is null and void.
My plate is still full and life is still going to happen, but I will just have to learn how to eat off paper plates, get smaller portions, chew my food, and pass, on the things that I don't like.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

"When I grow up, I want to be just like my big brodder, Mac Mac"

River geared up in Maximus's helmet and chest protector


OMG, what a joy it is to be at home with my boys everyday and share their underlying bond.
They are best of friends; River looks up to Maximus and Maximus takes River right under his wing... now don't get me wrong, the two of them also squabble all day, especially since River learned the famous word "Mine" and Maximus learned how easily it is to aggravate.
But at the end of the day, none of that matters- what matters is that they have each other.
'At times, we may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

Monday, February 23, 2009

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

Friday, we went on a field trip to the circus! Jason took off work for this field trip- he said he's wanted to see this circus since he was a little boy. We had the best seats, almost front row (for $10).
We had tons of fun, we all laughed and Maximus laughed so hard, I thought he was going to pee in his pants. He loved the part where the clown was trying to stay in the spotlight and tried everything he could, even stapling the light to the floor! But his favorite part was the 7 motorcycles that raced at the same time in a steel globe- I have a feeling I am in trouble with Maximus and motorsports (he's been riding his own 4wheeler since he was 3 1/2)! I loved the elephants. I just cannot believe humans 1/10 of the size of an elephant can get 10 elephants to do tricks- at the same time. One elephant stood on his trunk... just unbelievable.
Afterwards, we went and ate at Hardrock Cafe and since we were in Atlanta, we had to walk around and tour the city.
We were all exausted and ready to get back to the country, but we had such a fun time!!

Here we are, the Brew Crew, enjoying the circus and yes that's me in my Homes "Cool" Mama t-shirt.


Maximus tearing up his BBQ chicken drums at Hardrock!



River didn't like the "fancy" macaroni... he wanted to say "bring on the Kraft, baby"!!

This is definitely a field trip we'll take every year!!


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Tag...You are it!

***Thanks to everyone who played Husband Tag...I enjoyed reading your blogs!***


Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband (I was tagged from someone else's blog). Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then post to your blog. If you do this, please email me or leave me a comment so I can check out your Husband Tag!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
The History Channel, FX, The Shield, Snapped, CSI and The UFC ... all at the same time. It drives me crazy. As soon as I get interested in what he's watching he changes the channel.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Meatloaf

4. You go out to the bar, what does he order? Water, just kidding. We are frugal so whatever was cheapest that night!

5. Where did he go to high school? East Coweta High

6. What size shoe does he wear? 11 1/2 wide

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Tool and guns

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? one with everything on it.

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Pizza

10. What is his favorite cereal? Cinnamon Toast Crunch

11. What would he never wear? Pleated pants or a sweater vest

12. What is his favorite sports team? Upwards.. Maximus Brewer is his favorite player

13. Who did he vote for? John McCain!

14. Who is his best friend? ME, of course... but since that's a boring answer and sort of a given, I would say Danny Winkles

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Put my cold feet on him and nag

16. How many states has he lived in? One- Georgia and I don't think he would ever move!

17. What is his heritage? He says he's Irish


18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? chocolate cake with chocolate icing

19. Did he play sports in high school? No

20. What could he spend hours doing? Working on something

21. What's something cool about him? The coolest thing about him is that he loves his family and the next pretty cool thing about him is that he can fix
anything!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I cannot imagine my life being different

It all began in 1992... here is my first Valentine's from Jason (and I try to claim I am not a pack-rat), it came with a card that said 'To the sweetest girl I know, Happy Valentine's Day, Love, Jason'... ha! I wonder if he still feels that way!! And today, I am sharing Valentine's with Jason and our two boys. Here are my beautiful roses from my 3 boys.
I had the BEST Valentine's Day ever!!!
Jason took both boys with him to run some errands and gave me some time of peace and quiet. I took a nap, read my book, ate a big bowl of ice-cream all to myself, and took a long hot shower! It was 100% THE BEST!!
This Valentine's Day, I didn't want to do anything spectacular, I just wanted my family to know how much I love them and how much they mean to me!
Sometimes I wish that I would have went to college. I could be a nurse, a dental hygienist or an attorney, but I stop and think, if I did I wouldn't have what I have today.
My family and this time that I am able to be at home with my boys is a gift and I cherish it with both hands. Its a sacrifice worth more than all the money, material and riches in the world and I have absolutely no regrets! I have something that money can't buy and that's LOVE!
P.S. I do plan to work on my college degree, after me and my boys are educated!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Fireproof

< target=_blank>fireproofbanner src="http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/takeaction/_images/_banners/fireproof_468banner.gif" width=468 border=0>


Man, we just finished a six week Fireproof class that was powerful!
We've had a lot of people question why we were going to a marriage class and even some negativity. We didn't go for counseling, we went to Fireproof our marriage.
Fireproof doesn't mean a fire will never come, but that when it comes, you'll be able to withstand it.
A few months ago, we went to see the movie on opening weekend, not really knowing much about it. Our homeschool association was giving away tickets and pleading with everyone to go on opening weekend- so we did. My main objective was just going on a date with my husband... but we ended up talking about it all night long.

Then we started visiting OH Baptist Church on Sundays and I heard about a Fireproof class that they would be starting and signed us up. Jason's first thought on it was, I don't have time... My only worry was, what am I going to do with River since he refused to stay in the nursery.
We learned so much about marriage, unconditional love and the true meaning of forgiveness. This class was a life changing for both of us.
We have something that we have never had before!

For those six weeks, my dad and step-mom kept River. That was a huge commitment on their part and for that I will forever be grateful.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Our garden

Someone once said to me, "Marriage is like a garden, you have to water it to make it grow". That stayed on my heart until I identified what it meant, and now I have it hidden there.
You have heard me say many times, how lucky I am, how happy I am and all those things are true and even truer now. Well after we had kids, our world changed- like everyone else's, we had different responsibilities, we couldn't afford to do the things we used to, let alone find someone to keep them for us. So going into a few years full of financial stress, a wife lost in mothering and a husband lost in work, we did start growing apart from one another. Then I thought about about our marriage being like a garden and I knew it had been a long time since it had been watered.
But, truthfully our garden was dead and water just sat like puddles on top of the hard ground.
I came across a book that was given to us when we got married that was covered in dust called The Five Languages of Love by Dr. Gary Chapman. In the book, he identifies five basic languages of love and then guides you towards a better understanding of each one, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. Your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese from English. No matter how hard you try to express love (or for me, water our garden) in “English”, if your spouse understands only “Chinese”, they will not be able to understand or relate. As I was reading the book, Jason recognized an immediate change in our relationship and began reading the book with me and now we live by the book.

Both mine and Jason's parents are divorced, Jason's divorced early in his life and mine when I was in my late 20's. Jason grew up being torn between his mom and his dad, and I grew up having my both my parents, but in an unemotional home and neither of the two is something we want for our kids. We want them to see us hug, kiss and hold hands and do things together as a family and only with each other.

Jason said he once read 'The most important thing a father can do for his kids is to love their mother' and that's what he has hidden in his heart.
So even though money, time and a grounds-keeper is a huge factor, we strive to find ways to water our garden so that it never dies- not only for us, but as a irreplaceable gift to our children.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

2 Suckers

Do any of you have kids who like to repeat the same questions fifteen-thousand times a day? My Maximus is a broken record these days and I am hoping its just a phase he's going through, but there are days when, after repeating myself a million times, I get a little frustrated.

Here is our conversation yesterday, on a trip to town,

"Mama, where are we going?"
"To the bank and the grocery store."
"To the bank?"
"Yes."
"Are we going to the bank first, then the grocery store? Or the grocery store, then the bank?"
"To the grocery store, then the bank."
"Why are you going to the grocery store first? Our food will get hot. Did you know ice-cream melts? Are we going anywhere else?"
"No, nowhere else today."
"Then why are you stopping for gas?"


"Mama do I have to hold your hand in the parking lot?"
"Yes"
"So a car doesn't hit me?"
"Yes"
"So no one can grab me?
"Yes"
"So I don't run off?"
"YES!"

"Mama, can I get some candy?"
"Not today."
"So I can't get any candy?"
"Not today."
"Can I get a sucker at the bank?"

"Mama, look a frog! Is that a bus? Look at that bug! Is that a bear?"
"Yep, I see the frog, yes, it's a bus, I see the bug, yes it's a bear."

At this point, I am trying to stay calm and tell myself, he's only 5...
And at the same time I am thinking that BIG YELLOW BUS THAT COMES AT 7AM AND BACK AT 4PM IS LOOKIN' GOOOOD!

Then he says, "Mama, I love you!"
And at the bank, I asked for 2 suckers!!

Friday, February 6, 2009

He remembered... a little too much!

Yesterday Jason came home and knocked on the door. I wondered why he was knocking, but I just grunted a little, got up and opened the door and he looked like a little school boy standing there holding flowers, for our "anniversary". It was pretty cute!
He said he thought of bringing home Chinese, that's where we ate on our "first date", our 1 year anniversary.
But what's worse is he remembers what I wore that night, not that he was all "into" me, but that I tried to dress up. I had never been on a real date before and I wanted to look good. I wore my mama's clothes that were dressy, but waay too big, her big fake gold clip-on earrings and some hideous blue dress shoes [that's just embarrassing]! Oh and I forgot the ruby red lipstick and Covergirl foundation that I caked on... but let me tell you, that day I was seeeexy!!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

17 Years Ago

On this day, February 5th (1992) I met my soul mate, my best friend, my husband.
He moved to the small town of Moreland where I grew up and started riding my school bus.
The minute I saw him I instantly "fell in love" with him. I don't know what it was about him, but something made my little heart flutter. I could see something in him that no one else could see.
My parents, nor his were happy about us to say the least.

But I guess you could say I rebelled and did whatever I had to- to see him.
We would skip school and go fishing and in the summer he would walk (5 miles) from his house to mine to see me. We would talk on the phone for hours and into the night. We were inseparable.
But, as we started getting older, we each had different plans and our heads were on two different shoulders, so we decided to go our own ways, and we did.
But here we are today together, married for almost 8 years, 2 precious boys, a home, 3 dogs and a camper :)!
Who would have ever thought?
One thing about us, is we've always been able to communicate and I think that's what keeps us so strong.
Being a mama, I hope my boys' hearts never get this serious at such a young age, but if they do, I hope they are as lucky as me!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Best Invention for Winter!!

The Crock-Pot!
Okay, I am ready for Spring... I have had enough of the Winter. I can appreciate the cold weather in November and December, but after Christmas, I am ready for some warm sunshine.
But to help get through these dreary days, there is nothing better than a warm soup, chili, or cooked chicken that's been cooking in the crock-pot all day!
We have so many favorites, but here is one that is always a hit with my family.
Taco Soup
Combine 1 can of each: whole kernel corn
chili beans
pinto beans
black beans
rotel tomatoes
tomato sauce
Add: 2 small cans of Mexican corn
1 pkg of dry ranch seasoning
1 pkg of taco seasoning
2 cups of water
*If you like, you can add 1 - 2 lbs of ground beef (I have to for my meat and tator man).
Serve with nacho chips and top with Mexican cheese.
Mmmmm!

Monday, February 2, 2009

What is the truth? Does anyone really know?

This weekend, we went to Orchard Hills 3rd Annual Wildgame dinner and had so much fun!!
I wasn't planning on going, Jason had an extra ticket and couldn't give it away.
some said, "at church?- no thanks"... and he heard "at church?- does that church even preach on sin (with a beer in one hand)?"
[First of all, what church does not preach on sin??]
So I used our extra ticket, put on my country girl sweatshirt and boots and headed out with the boys, never knowing what fun I was going to have.
I didn't and couldn't bring myself to try the deer meat, the pheasant (sp?) or the gator. But I could tell all the men were in heaven, sorry for the pun. The church was standing room only, with over 600 people attending. We had no idea it was going to be this big. The speakers were hysterical, and literally had our jaws hurting from laughing so hard.
[I believe this is the way Jesus intends for Christians to be].
I had to end up leaving early because River was so tired, but truthfully it hurt my feelings, as I was having such a good time and wanted to stay so badly.
Maximus won a fishing pole from Gables- in Newnan, in a drawing. I didn't get to see this, but Jason said he was so excited he ran to the stage and they said 'this boy is ready to go fishing!'
It was a good night, and my boys talked about it all weekend.

Well- we went to church on Sunday and guess what the pastor preached on... SIN!
[But, if preaching on sin to you is, screaming, jumping up and down, pointing fingers, spraying his words instead of teaching, than I guess I could say 'No that church doesn't preach on sin'].

Amen :)