Making me crazy and saving my sanity

Y'all. I am not even kidding when I tell you I actually did a Google search today for boarding schools FAR, FAR AWAY. Because it was that kind of day. The kind of day where I wondered what on earth had ever prompted me to homeschool my children. Or bring them into this world in the first place. The Google search actually seemed like the most rational thing I had done all day, and frankly, I felt better just knowing there were some options out there.

To combat the feelings of ick lingering over the house, I transformed the whiteboard in our school room into a thankfulness board. I put up a note that no one was allowed to write anything on the board that didn't have something to do with gratitude. One of the kids looked at me cock-eyed and confused and asked if this was supposed to be the grammar lesson. It wasn't. When the actual grammar lesson was dispensed, I stood at the board for a long time and could think of nothing to write. I walked away. I came back. Still nothing. Finally the fog lifted (Literally. It was a ridiculously foggy morning.), and I rushed to the board and wrote "sunshine." No one else came within ten feet of the board. But I felt my focus shift and with it my day.

Being a single parent this evening, I had all the taxiing duty to myself. So, after dropping a kid off and picking a kid up, and doing the in between errands, I arrived back at the house prepared to open a can of beans and call it dinner. But as I walked in the back door, I found two of the children WORKING TOGETHER in the end stages of dinner prep. And, they had not been asked, cajoled, or begged to do this. There were no tears and no ugly words. And the child I had just picked up immediately jumped into the fray and started helping. Again, without being asked. And, one of the other children demanded from the third that he thank his sister for the help. I almost fell over from shock! And gratitude swelled in my heart.

And, as I rounded the corner, I saw several items written on the board, and one of the children declared that making a gratitude board had been a wonderful idea.

I don't know what magic was present in our house tonight. I only know that these people that I brought into the world are both my madness and my sanity. And I know there is power in gratitude.

Winter Breakfast 2017

Winter Breakfast has become one of the most talked about and anticipated events in our household. We haven't yet gotten it to work out on the morning of the Winter Solstice, but we get as close as we can. Only the snowman pancakes and the white hot chocolate have been present at all our Winter Breakfast celebrations. The rest of the items change, depending on my creativity, motivation, and available time. This year the menu included snowman pancakes, white hot chocolate in snowman mugs, snowman bagels, hard boiled egg snowmen, grape penguins, and polar bear yogurt. As always, we had a blast!

Plate of Peguins

Egg Snowmen

Snowman pancakes

Snowman bagels

Polar bear yogurt

White hot chocolate

Winter Breakfast is our favorite!

We gave the kids some little surprises, and when Ruth saw these two items,
she declared it to be, "The best day of her life!"

Bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy. Fun, fun, fun, fun fun!

We've had a wild but very fun weekend. The boys worked really hard to get all their school work done early this past week so we could play on Friday afternoon. We met up with some friends at a trampoline park in Grapevine, and the boys had a blast. I did not participate, as I'm only cleared for activities on "predictable surfaces" at the moment. The lady who checked us in did ask if I wanted to jump, and Weston's face registered pure horror as he thought about the possibility of me hurting my knee again, and he pleaded, "Mom, please don't!" Of course, I wasn't going to anyway, but it was sweet how concerned he was for me.

There were only action shots at the trampoline park.
They are all blurry, but that's how you know it was fun!

Bouncy, bouncy basketball

Yesterday morning, Weston had his first basketball game, and yesterday afternoon he had his second. By the second one, he had kind of gotten the hang of it and scored nine out of his team's fifteen points.

The big man making a big grab in game one

Number 29, with the rebound

Between the games, Jeff went to pick up Ruth from the airport. She was returning from a week of working with her aunt at a vet clinic in Houston. She had a wonderful time and so many great experiences, but we sure did miss her and are glad to have her back!

Spleen surgery

Max and Clay and I left the first basketball game early, so we could make it to the Christmas party for Clay's Cub Scout den. It was another opportunity for climbing and bouncing at an indoor playground called Going Bonkers, and the boys loved it. (They were not still enough or close enough for me to get any pictures!)

Later in the day, Max got to participate in show-off meets for both his gymnastics class and his tumbling/trampoline class. I can really tell his skills and flexibility have improved since he started in September, and he thoroughly enjoys the classes.

He flies through the air with the greatest of ease

The rings are all about strength and control

Stellar straddle jump during the trampoline routine

So proud of this kid!

Meanwhile, Jeff took Ruth over to Farmersville for a Christmas party with the homeschool honor society she's a part of. He took advantage of his waiting time by visiting the Landon Winery in Greenville. He was lucky enough to get a private tasting with the owner, Bob Landon. He enjoyed the wine and the experience tremendously. (I have to admit, I was a little jealous, but I'm hoping he'll take me there for a date sometime!)

When all the boys' activities were finished, they settled in for movies and pizza, and I started working on some of the things for Winter Breakfast, which was on the agenda for this morning. (There will be a separate post about that.) This is a tradition my kids love, even though we haven't yet actually gotten it to work out for the morning of the Winter Solstice.

Weston had another basketball game this afternoon (because through a series of odd events, he is actually playing in two leagues). And, then we headed to the theater to see The Last Jedi. It was a crazy, whirlwind, super fun weekend!

Taking (and making) a free throw

Ready to see The Last Jedi

PT Graduate

Today I graduated from physical therapy, and it honestly felt like a miracle. When I injured my knee back in August and after I had my surgery in September, there were many times when I wondered if I would ever regain a full range of motion or be able to do simple things without a great degree of pain. But, after months of hard work, I am mostly there. I do still have some work to do, and I haven't yet been cleared for all the activities I would like to do, but I am pleased with the progress I've made. I am so thankful to my therapist, Lisa, and the support staff that encouraged me and pushed me to do more than I thought I could. I plan to keep working, and I look forward to getting back to my normal level of activity, but today I am celebrating this victory that once seemed out of reach.