The Need for Simplicity....

I realize it's 1 am and I'm still up. But felt the need to write down a few words about what I've been thinking of. I look all around me and see all this stuff.....I remember when Joel and I first got married and the day we moved into our first home. We had NOTHING. We brought to our home what we had in our dorm rooms from college. We had a futon to sit on, a t.v. that sat on a corner table we got from my mom and hand me down everything else.

What I would give to go back to that kind of living.....

I get upset b/c there is so much "stuff" to clean up, or organize, or file, blah blah blah.....and realize or ask the question, why???

We have a computer....but email just isn't quite enough. Now its email, facebook,blog after blog....I'm not saying it's bad by any stretch of the imagination.....just more. I'm a thinker and worrier by nature and more is not always a good thing for me. It's just added stuff to think about. Tonight a light was just turning on that I feel the need to be a little simplier in my day to day life. (Not saying that I'm living by candlelight.....LOL) I need to get rid of a couple of time consumers in my life. So for the last time (i've tried this before, you see) I have said good-bye to facebook. I found myself looking into others lives a little more than I'm taking the time to live my own.
I would like to go through alot more physical stuff in this house and clean it OUT. Yes, I think less will be better for his lady. I want to read a book, go outside a little more, go for some more bike rides with my family.......I guess just do more.

A few weeks back I attended a Beth Moore simulcast. She taught alot on Psalm37. Verse 3 says, "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture." After reading that outloud, Beth Moore stated with passion, that "until we get to heaven, God has given us this land......dwell in it!!" The night I returned from seeing her, I wrote out that verse on a post it note and it is on my bathroom mirror. I get lost in the day to day things that make up my life, and more often than not I forget to just be present in my life and to enjoy it. I have a yearning to do more, to be more and I think it's high time that I focus on that for a bit. Just to simply enjoy my life and those around me without thinking about it so much!

And so with that, I will show this tired body the way to some sleep. Tomorrow is peaking it's head around the corner. Thanks for listening! :)

Ummm......give mom a minute

Yesterday Ian was complaining about how he had to help dad outside and Joshua did not. Well, I informed him that as he is older he will have more or different responsibilites then his brother at times. So Joshua pipes up and says, "Yeah, Ian, but don't worry because when momma lays another baby I'll be the middle kid." I tried really hard not to laugh as he was serious. He looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said , "well, i don't know, I'm not sure how a baby gets out of your tummy. Is it like other animals?" I just kindly told him that one day when he's a little older I'll explain how that all works. Thank God he was happy and content with that answer. Ian just sat next to him giggling. Dad's not aware, but he'll be having a talk sooner than he wants to I think. :)

First Day of School and new homeschool blog site.

We started homeschooling yesterday and are off to a good start......the kids started with a "junkie" first day of school breakfast. They couldn't believe it when they found the Captain Crunch and then Joshua about fell over when I showed them the doughnuts. (We never have doughnuts around here....not sure why...but we don't) . We took some pictures and then did some lessons, and then spent some time outside....it has been such a beautiful week! They tried out their new "cubbies". I got the idea from this month's edition of "Family Fun" magazine. I added some "reminder" list type things like the cursive alphabet, months of the year for Joshua and common spelling words to help them out when they write. They were pretty cheap to make...the most expensive part was the steel ruler for the magnets. The rest of the items I either already had or got at the Dollar Tree. They were fun to make! And my hope is that it help with some focusing issues we have over here.

I have started a new blog just for our homeschooling at http://www.redmaplehomeschool.blogspot.com/ . I am really hoping to be more diligent with my blogging. We'll see!! :) Here's to a great school year!!

Fun Homeschooing resource site

Here is a fun little site called Homeschooling with Index cards. Fun free printables here. Enjoy!!

This morning I went out to the family room to see what my unusually quiet 8 yr old was up to....he was inspired by the Liberty Kids Videos and was making his own modern day revolution. He absolutely LOVES these videos. We had gotten the complete set when they had gone on sale and it was absolutely worth it! The videos all focus on the Revolutionary War. Great teaching tool and fun!

Chicago

We had a great time in Chicago! Of course, the Lego store was the number one hit, followed by Shedd's Aquarium.....I loved it.....they have just renovated their oceanarium and the dolphins were just beautiful. In another life I'd be the trainer in the water with them, but alas, I am a homeschool mom! LOL..... Here are some pictures of our little adventure...

These are actual baby sharks...the picture is not very good, but it was very cool to see them in there moving all around!

Yeah! Riding without Training Wheels!

Last night he did it!! We took Joshua out again to the nearby church parking lot. We've been taking him out this last week to learn to ride without the training wheels. Well.....it brought back memories of this lazy boy not walking until he was 17 months old.....Joel was giving him a little push, or even hanging on to the bike and Joshua would just give up on pedaling. Honestly, he's actually too big for the bike, but he just was not going to pedal the thing.

Then last night I guess he just decided he was going to do it. (Isn't everything on their own little time schedule anyway?) We were so proud of him. We had promised him the 1st day we took him out, that as soon as he could ride the bike all by himself that we would take him to Tim Hortons (his favorite restaurant) and he could get whatever he wished. Hence, the orange (his fav color) sprinked doughtnut. He wanted a plain bagel with cream cheese and the doughnut, but we suggested just the orange goodie. So here are a couple of videos. In the one, you can hear him saying, "pedal, pedal, pedal...." That was his very 1st time alone. Fun times!

Construction

They started tearing up our street earlier this week and the boys had a blast watching it. We had their little cousins over to watch the demolition. They had bagels for breakfast and all the trucks as their little movie! And I got the garage all cleaned out....fabulous!!

Celebrating 4th of July on the 5th....

Since I had to work last night on the 4th we did our sparklers and little fireworks tonight. The boys swam for a while and then Joel did the fireworks with the boys. They had a good time. It ended a nice week having Joel home from work. He's had to take 2 wks off this month unpaid from work. The boys really loved having him home and I know he really enjoyed hanging out with his boys uninterrupted. But, he'll go back for one week and then the other week happened to fall on our camping week, so that will work out just fine. It was a nice night......some of the best memories are just by hanging out together as a family doing simple things.....I love it!

Sara Groves....

4th of July Fireworks

We had our city fireworks last Friday. The boys had a fun time with their cousins there too!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL OF YOU! Hope you have a wondeful weekend with your families and friends!

All Cleaned Up!

I am guilty........of being a mom, a mom who can wear the same outfit 4 times a week and think nothing of it. My poor husband! But this past weekend we got all dressed up for his friends' wedding. We had such a good time. I looked forever for a dress that I liked, then forgot to have a full picture taken of us! We didn't look half bad. The only picture we have is one we took of ourselves with me holding the camera. But this picture reminds me of how much I love my guy and how much a should try once in a while to still be "his girl." It felt good to be dressed up in an acutal dress. I felt like a wife, not just a mommy! We had a great time.............

How Time Flies....

We planted this little pine tree when we moved into this house in 2004.




And here is that little pine tree in 2009....

Can I just have a little mom cry right now?

Great time with Old Friends!

Our good friends from the U.P. came down with their 3 boys for a few days and we had such a great time! We went to the Detroit Zoo, swam alot, and went to a Tiger Game. The boys had such a blast and the Tiger game was excellent! A home run won the game. It had been 5 years and lots of phone calls since we saw them last and it will definately NOT be another 5 before we see them again. The boys acted liked they've known each other all along. Not just pictures on the refrigerator! It was wonderful to see them just hanging out.
And my dear friend, Emilie...she is just a wonderful person....I wish we lived closer. She's just one of those friends that you can just pick up where you left off without any explanation. We are going to try to plan a trip to see each other every summer. Thanks for a great time guys!! Here are a few pictures of our adventures...

Happy Father's Day!

(Late post....again)
Happy Father's Day Honey! We love you!
Yes, we love him so much, we made the poor guy put up our pool on Father's Day. But it was worth it in the end. (We never really intended to get a pool, but when you find one clearanced at the end of last season for $99....well, it will give us at least 3 more summers and pay for itself.) The boys have enjoyed it alot so far.

Pottery

My sister got Joshua his very own pottery wheel for his birthday last December. Well, we finally got it out the other day. We had to go to the store to find more pottery clay as the clay it came with dried up. Who'd think that would happen in only 6 months of being in the closet?
Well, Joshua had big plans to make a puppy on his pottery wheel. But I informed him that we should probably just stick to a bowl. So he was satisfied with making a drinking bowl for his puppy "Chocolate."
Let me just say that pottery is not easy at all. Making this tiny little bowl was not very easy, but it was fun! I could see where pottery would be kinda therapeutic in a way. Kinda of calming to watch that wheel go around while your trying to create something. Anyway, we had lots of fun and he will be painting his project soon after it is fully dried.

Joshua's First Lost Tooth

Ok, I'm home with these children 24-7......I walk out the door and Joel calls me within 10 minutes of me being gone and announces Joshua lost his 1st tooth! We worked on that little tooth all day and presto it comes out for daddy......while trying to disconnect two Lego pieces with his teeth. He was so happy! He wrote "My First Tooth" on an envelope for the tooth fairy. She left him a $2 bill to find in the morning. He was so upset.....he thought that it was "not real" money. Joel told him it indeed was real money and very rare at that! He rushed right to his room and took good care to put it in his piggy bank. Funny and sad at the same time for mama. First baby tooth only leads to more baby teeth and more growing up. But that's okay. This journey is something else!

National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match Marrow Registry

National Marrow Donor Program - Be The Match Marrow Registry

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My brother's life was saved by a bone marrow transplant, so this is close to my heart. You can click on the link to learn about being on the transplant registry. Usually there is a cost involved (around $52) but they are having a big drive until June 22 to see if they can add at least 40,000 new registries free to you. They will send you a kit to do a cheek swab. The website has lots of information.

Yeast

A couple of weeks ago I had taken bread dough out of the freezer to thaw. As I was busily doing things at the kitchen sink Joshua came in with a question. "What is it called that is going to help us?" I had no idea what he was asking me, so I asked him to repeat himself. Again he asks, "What is it called that is going to help us with the dough? East or West?" I'm racking my brain for a couple good minutes while he keeps repeating this question. Then I remembered that the week before we were talking about yeast in Ian's science. "Oh, buddy, you mean yeast!" "Yeah, that's it. East." And back to watching T.V. he went. He's still working on the yu sound in yeast. Cute as a bug.

Nest #2 : Our Playscape Robins

This is our first little robin. Isn't he cute? And already protecting his brothers and sisters! He just hatched either Sunday morning or Sat. night. The boys are getting a kick out of watching all this springtime action in our yard! Happy Spring!