Red.....

She was lying in her hospital bed (which was in her bedroom), somewhat unaware of what was actually taking place. She talked about all of the things she was going to do as soon as she "got better".  The chores that needed to be done, the flowers that needed to be planted, the red truck that needed to be repaired. They were going to be taken care of "as soon as she got better".
I don't know how much she realized or how aware she was that cancer had completely taken over her body and that dementia was setting in, but she continued talking about what she was going to accomplish.
Sitting in the floor of her bedroom, a few days before her passing, I noticed a bottle of red nail polish. She never had much money, but she loved to feel pretty & "made-up". I wanted to DO something for her whether she would remember or not. So I unscrewed the top of the nail polish, pulled her boney hand to rest on my knee and started painting. As if it were a wonderful masterpiece, slowly&thoughtfully I would carefully stroke the red polish onto her fingernails. After I finished with both hands, I went over them again with a second coat.

Several days later, we stood beside her as she was being laid to rest. The flowers were beautiful, her hair and make-up made her frail body look so full of life.........but she wasn't.

With her body lowered into the ground, she took two things from me-her red fingernails and a piece of my heart.......

Back In The Groove

August is about preparation. This is the month that we realize how much our children have grown, we stock up on new school supplies (which seem to be getting more and more expensive) and we hit the back-to-school sales. This is when we make sure we have plenty of food in the pantry for all of the lunches that we will soon be preparing.

Bedtimes are reinforced and we squeeze in the last of our vacations. August is when we get ready for the next nine months of activity.

Some of us establish new patterns and routines that will be put into place for the school year.

In our house, I have created a schedule for our entire day, personalized for me and my girls. I introduced them to our new schedule (which will be enforced once we officially start school) at the beginning of summer. I typed them up with fancy font in their favorite colors (I just knew thats all they needed to jump right on board). If my girls cooperate and life goes by smoothly and perfectly, our new schedule will work out great!! HA!

Someone once told me that the best way for a schedule to work is to expect hiccups. In other words, stick to the schedule but accept that LIFE HAPPENS. Some days will be great and everything will go as planned but a lot of days, something is going to come up. A sick child, a whiny and uncooperative child, the SNOOZE button, rainy days which equal lazy days, _____________________days will all put a hiccup in our schedules-but its not the end of the world!! The next day we start over.

I look forward to sharing our new schedule and routine with you in the coming months. The things that work and the things that don't. The things that we need to incorporate and the things that maybe aren't as important as we thought.

What are your patterns or routines that will be starting back up or maybe just beginning in the coming days?





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday is GOOD

Today we remember. (Taken from Matthew 27)

 

We remember…

 

the betrayal for 30 pieces of silver

the flogging

the crown of thorns

the purple robe

the sign “Hail, King of the Jews!”

the strike on Jesus’ face

the crowd shouting “Crucify Him!”

the long walk to Golgotha carrying the cross

the nails in his hands

the nails in his feet

DARKNESS

the words “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

the temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom

the earth trembling

the guards exclaiming “Surely he was the Son of God!”

  

 Life is in the blood –the precious blood of Jesus. 

Oh, Monday........

There has been SO MUCH going on in our lives that I have failed to keep you up-to-date on all of the happenings and not-happenings 

For this, i am truly sorry

While i plan to let you know what's been going on, it will not be now

Today is Monday, it's gloomy, I have PMS (yep, that's right) & need to laugh or chuckle or smile:

I hope at least one of these made you laugh---it's EXACTLY what I needed today.

~KK

Spare the Rod.....Spoil the Child?

Full moon=babies being born, people getting arrested & kids acting crazy.

Particularly mine.

More specifically, my youngest daughter.

It is a full moon, the Snow Moon. Honestly, I don't care what moon it is, I'm just ready for it to be over already.

My mom (God Bless Her) helps me out on Monday and Thursday by taking care of my girls and teaching them Science, among other things.....

Today didn't start off well.

I received a call from my mom late morning, explaining to me that Kylie wouldn't listen, sit still, focus, etc....all she wanted to do was play around and "test" her. I talked to Kylie via telephone (while she tried and tried to plead her case) and by the end of our conversation, her iPad and TV privileges were taken from her. This child is strong-willed and seriously doesn't take "no" for an answer without putting up a fight.

A few hours later i received a text

"....she just got the spanking of her life.  It's been 8 years coming. If she had gotten spankings earlier on, she wouldn't be so hell bent on getting her way all the time. I AM TIRED OF REASONING WITH HER. oh and don't tell me that spanking doesn't work, she's sitting down reading her book just like she is supposed to be doing....."

My mom believes in the whole "spare the rod, spoil the child..." It's not that I don't believe it, I just don't do it. (Don't judge me) I reason with her, I admit it. I like to call it, allowing her to be herself....free-spirit if you will.  

Maybe I've got it all wrong? Maybe I'm just doing things differently. I don't know the answers to all things parent. Neither do you.

Oh how I sometimes wish that I could dust off my magic wand and change her into a soft spoken, mild-mannered, even-tempered little girl.

But then I wouldn't hear her über-dramatic stories. The chaos that she brings with her.

The heart attack that she comes close to giving me daily.

And the explanations......lol......

Did you know that according to my 8 year old that getting spanked is equivalent to being treated like a Muslim??

Yep, that's my girl. Not the least bit dramatic.

~K

FACTual Friday

Friday.

Today I have come to the realization that I have learned many things this past week.

I will spare you all of the boring details and only highlight the IMPORTANT facts from this past week, k?

Fact #1: I can bake!! This was a very complicated pretty simple dessert and thanks to the Pinterest gods, a recipe with only two ingredients and my daughter, Kylie......we  I created a masterpiece!!!!!!!

  Looks yummy doesn't it?

And according to the taste-testers, they were all in agreement!

Thumbs up!!

Fact#2: My husband clearly needs more shoes!!!!

24 pairs of shoes are NOWHERE near enough.

I'm embarrassed that I've allowed him to go this long skimming through life with his shortage of shoes.

(I may or may not have secretly thrown a couple or more pairs into the big black trash bag)

Fact#3: Deodorant.  OK, I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the box;  HOWEVER I believe that this discovery has the possibility to change lives all across America.

This plastic cover thing, did you know that you don't have to waste half of your morning pulling, yanking, breaking nails and possibly say a few crude remarks about said deodorant....to get this thing off??????? 

Amazing isn't it?? 

All that you have to do.........wait for it.......TWIST the bottom of the deodorant & somehow it just comes off!!!!!

 IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!

(You have no idea the excitement when I made this discovery) 

Fact#4:  Morocco is a pretty interesting place to learn about.

You didn't see this one coming, did ya?

Today was Missions Day at co-op and I had the privilege to be a good friends sidekick in as much as we could fit into the short 20 minutes we were given for each class  in teaching about Morocco.

I can spell Morocco in sign language.

Wanna' see?  Ahem, never mind.

The main religion in Morocco is Islam;  99% in fact.

        

We had an actual model make her appearance

OK, she's not an actual model, but aren't her clothes SO fitting (and adorable) for a day like "Missions Day"?

Another fact: My daughter can read!!!!!!!!!!!!  (OK, not really a surprising fact, but I'm a proud mama & when my girl reads really well in front of her peers dressed as cute as she was yesterday I just gotta tell somebody!!!  Isn't she adorbs????

OK, back to reality and the 

FINAL FACT

FACT#4......or is it #5???  (Heck, I don't know- I've lost count by now).

Friends make Fridays fabulous!!!  Especially when they are as silly as you are!!  

Oh, and Dum-Dums........they are not all created equal.

Cotton Candy flavor is 'da bomb diggity....

So, as for you and your FACTual Friday-what the heck have you learned this week?

~K

The RHM's of SC

Last night I was able to "step out" with some of my fellow homeschool mamas.

I ALMOST didnt make it because of hubby & his late hours, but thanks to him, he came to my rescue & talked his dad into keeping my girls 

YAY!!!!!!

Since hubby made arrangements last minute & I was already late, I threw on whatever I could find, pulled my dirty hair up into a bun & poured sprayed as much Pink Chiffon on as I could.

Kylie tried to have a breakdown & convince me that I where I needed to be was with her, but it didn't work this time........THIS MAMA WAS GOING OUT!!!!!

When I arrived an hour late I was excited to see that 

*A seat was saved for me (at the head of the table nonetheless)*

&

*There were a couple of ladies that I had never met personally that were able to make it*

Everyone had already eaten but that wasn't going to stop me, Pollo Fundido, please!

As we talked, I found comfort in knowing that these ladies were REAL.

We were silly



The famous GiGi

We celebrated a birthday

Embarrassed a little? hehe

 

We shared stories: from sad to funny to crazy!

We compared stories of our children: what they do and what they dont do.

Several of us shared our common struggle of wondering whether our children are even learning anything from us and if our children will even know how to read when they graduate?? Then are the ones that seem to have it all together with all of their home schooling endeavors (but of course would deny every bit of it)

 

As I sat and looked at each of the women sitting around the table last night, I realized that every single one of us has a story.  We all have a past and of course a few skeletons in our closet (that we may or may not have unveiled last night). 

 

Each of us in a season that may not be like anyone elses season, but because we are "REAL" and because we have Christ, we are deeply connected.  We may or may not have gone through the same thing as our fellow homeschool mom, but we can share, we can love and we can smile.

 

 

 

We can smile because we know that God has placed us in each others lives for a reason & to be honest with you, I am so excited to see what He has in store for us.

 

 

.........and I'm still hoping for that Reality TV Show of ours to start:

 

"The Real Homeschool Mom's of SC"

 

~K