Soccer Starts, Sunny Saturday, Sing-Song

The first day of spring soccer dawned sunny and in the FIFTIES! Wow! Sometimes we have freezing mornings for spring soccer, so this was a treat! It was a bit windy at the field, but sunshine is wonderful!

Nine o'clock was the time for James to play, so he and I woke up before anyone else and headed out. He played all four quarters, but seemed to lack energy today. Perhaps he's still recovering from his illness. I hope he plays more vivaciously at the next game. (Tuesday night. I'll miss it.) The score was 0-2.

Bob brought Suzy and David up to the field for her 10:30 game. She played well. Three quarters went by with no goals for either team, but in the last quarter, the other team scored 3 goals. That poor goalkeeper. Suzy has practice Tuesday night and both kids have a game Thursday night. David was the referee for Suzy's game as usual. Very helpful!

I was tired (and revved up with coffee) because I went with a couple friends to a midnight showing of 17 Again, which we found hilarious and extremely entertaining. We both needed some fun time after a very long co-op day yesterday - last co-op followed by the program.

This afternoon is sunny and supposed to hit 74. I should work, but I probably won't. (Thus, the 'slacker' appellation.....)

Why oh why is James repeating everything three times in a sing-song voice? :::covers ears and shrieks:::
"Shall I put them in here? Shall I put them in here? Shall I put them in here? Go look at the fridge. Go look at the fridge. Go look at the fridge." :::runs screaming::::

Slacker?

Me (pouting): I feel like a MEAN FAT SLACKER.
Emily (wanting to reassure me): You're a nice slacker. And you're not fat!

Easter Pix

Trying out Picasa. I was stubborn before and didn't want to switch, preferring instead the clunky Kodak EasyShare program that came with my camera.

Oh, silly stubborn Lisa. Picasa is better. SOOO much better. After just 10 minutes using it, I can see that.

And it's FREEEEEEEEE..... (Think Bedtime Stories, if you've seen that. Our new movie quote. lol)

I just hope my photo tags are still usable in Picasa. I've been very faithful about putting those on every single photo I've uploaded in 2009.

So, without further ado, here are pix of Easter Sunday egg decorating and hunting and....



..... and of the attempt to get a nice pic of the four kids together.

You'll see why I call it the "attempt".



I apologize if you are still on dialup. These probably won't work well for you.

Ramblings of a Cold and Gloomy Tuesday

Tuesday already!? How did THAT happen?

Yesterday we took an extra day for Easter vacation, so I could do the taxes and the lesson plans. (Yeah, you know, the public schools had the day off too.)

Success on the taxes! E-filed. No problems. Money coming back. S'all good.

Success on the lesson plans too. All complete through the end of April. David's were already done, but I had three weeks of plans for the others to complete.

Worked an hour and a half on scoring tests yesterday. (Eleven hours between Sat/Sun!) Today I got up early and worked for an hour on that before anyone else got up. Worked another hour and a half after lunch and hoping to stuff another 30-45 minutes in before dinner. (But I have to stop blogging to do it! lol)

Watched the dumbest movie last night - Duplex, with Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore. Never heard of it before and it must be fairly recent. Stupid movie. But I was doing other stuff while I watched it, such as trying on ALL of my clothes. Culled 2 paper sacks worth of clothing, mostly too big! yay! Have a medium size stack I am still considering what to do with - mainly stuff I like, but size is not QUITE right, or Size is right but I don't really like. Will deal with that tonight as well as pick the elastic waistband out of a sweatshirt that I adore otherwise. Going to watch Yes Man tonight.

Need to read seven or so chapters of Daniel Deronda tonight to stay on schedule. Book club members have been less than happy about this book choice. Several have just decided flat out they aren't reading it. But I'm enjoying it - truly - and my co-leader Darlene is farther along than I am and said that she can't wait to find out what happens next. And I'm told by many that the movie is wonderful!

Went to a couple libraries yesterday and the grocery store. Have been buying clearanced flowers at the grocery store lately. They make me happy. Yes, the ones in the picture are the same kind I got recently. (Although that's not my pic.)

On my 3rd cup of coffee for the day. Had about 5 hours of sleep last night. Should get more tonight. Don't wanna get sick like most of the other people living here.

The weather sucks, to be totally honest. I cancelled my soccer practice for this evening since it's rainy and in the low 40's. Isn't this MID-APRIL? James' coach cancelled his practice as well. I wouldn't have sent James anyway, since he still isn't 100% after his week-long illness - coughing mostly.

Chess Club was cancelled for today too, so we ended up with a commitment-free day.

The boys rearranged their room. I haven't gone up to look, but they're happy with having more space on the floor. David's bed is up high, and he's not that thrilled about that. James is using a bedframe we got on freecycle. It's elevated just a bit higher than a normal bed. Enough to store stuff underneath.

I need to buy an armoire for my clothes, so they can be downstairs instead of upstairs in the boys' room.

Ok, enough rambling and avoidance of work. Dinner will be ready soon!

Weekly Preview

I am having the hardest time acclimating to the online scoring I am doing. If you read this, would you mind saying a prayer that I become competent at it very quickly? Otherwise, I will have a lot more free time soon, but a lot less income.

Soccer practices and games begin this week, and thus begins a hectic five week soccer season. James and Suzy will have weekly or biweekly practices and 8 games. David will once again help me out with practices and ref'ing the games.

I still haven't managed to do the taxes, so I need to get that done right quick.

Easter Sunday - Breakfast at Church, Church service, scoring
Monday - NO Lessons, Work (online scoring) (Taking one more day for Spring Break so I can DO THE TAXES....)
Tuesday - Lessons, Work, Chess Club (D/J), Soccer practice (J/S)
Wednesday - Work, Pioneer Club (last one of the year!)
Thursday - Lessons, Work, Soccer practice (J/S)
Friday - Co-op, Co-op Spring program in the evening
Saturday - Soccer games (S/J), Work

Regain, Redress, Replay

Weighed in today at the same weight I was two weeks ago. Before Sister Weekend and scrapping weekend. lol So, the treats have been worked off. Hopefully next week, I'll have a loss to report.

Emily and I made a trip to the thrift store today to get her some spring clothes. She has been looking a bit like a hobo lately and I was afraid that once the weather warms up (if it EVER does) she'd have nothing to wear. Two trips to the fitting room netted us 7 short-sleeved shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of capris, a pair of shorts, and a cute sleeveless dress. Oh yeah, and a very cute black spring jacket. I also grabbed a short-sleeved dress for Suzy and a nice pile of books.

Suzy climbed in bed with me this morning complaining of a headache. "Oh no," I thought, as this is how James first presented on Monday. He's still sick, too, by the way. He seems to be better and then worse again. He spent most of Wednesday laying on the couch. And he's had bad dreams three nights in a row. So, Suzy and James have spent the day so far laying around moaning. I stocked up on library & Netflix DVD's to occupy them.

So, Spring Break's been kind of a bust between the sickies, the cold and snow, and the fact that I'm working on test scoring online now. Also Bob has been volunteering every night at the homeless shelter from 3 - 8 AM. Makes me wish we could take another week off, but we won't.

Time to go to work!

Fifteen Years

Suppose I should post something! People tell me they get tired of looking at the same entry day after day. :-)

Last night I went to the grocery store and ran into someone that I hadn't seen in over 15 years - the mom of one of my students. Then she called him over. Of course, he's a grown man now! Ack! LOL I last saw him at about age 9, so he's in his mid-twenties. Works with his dad on their farm.

Emily broke her glasses this morning. Thankfully she has the extra pair and we know where they are. The ones that broke are the ones that were recently replaced. Junky frames!

James is sick today - complaining (moaning) of a headache and he did throw up once. Sounds to me like a migraine maybe. He's going to stay home and cuddle with Daddy.

We're heading out to our "Mock Twilight Mercilessly" party. :-)

Weekly Preview

Well, after two weekends of fun, I'm afraid to step on the scales this Wednesday. Last week, I had gained a bit of weight. So, we'll see what this week brings. I'll focus on exercise and proper eating and the rest will follow.

Scrapbooking at Maryann's was wonderful! Just a small group - four of us - but tons of fun! We watched 7 movies (and a significant quantity of youtube videos), ate 4 tasty meals, and shared countless laughs. I scrapped 23 pages - all pictures from 2008. (No, I am not caught up, or even close.) David went along with me to enjoy some time with his friend Alex - lots of video games, youtube, and movies. Oh yeah, I only slept about 4 hours (and on the top bunk!) resulting in consuming copious amounts of caffeine for energy and alertness. I returned home about 11:30pm Saturday night.

Friday was homeschool co-op - just one more session and we are done for the year.

What's on the schedule this week? Spring break! The kids have no lessons this week, but Wednesday starts my online scoring job. I'll be scoring essays for a major standardized test company. I am aiming for 30 hours a week during the 3 weeks of this job. I have to complete the training beforehand though, and so I will be working on THAT today and hopefully finishing Monday.

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for tonight and tomorrow, so maybe we'll be getting 6+ inches of snow. Or maybe it'll fizzle out into a downpour of rain. Wait and see - that's my attitude.

Bob is volunteering at the homeless shelter this week - every night in the wee hours. So, he'll be overloading on sleep during the daytime hours. That's another good reason we are having Spring Break this week instead of after Easter.

I'm also hoping to get together with friends this week to watch Twilight. (Our purpose is more to MOCK the movie than to appreciate it. lol) We'll probably do other stuff too, and it will hopefully be a multi-family get-together with kids along. If it's nice, they can play out. Maybe there'll be snow! lol We're aiming for Tuesday, but details are still up in the air.

Sunday - SS, Church, training, baking, relaxing
Monday - Training, homeschool meeting (if the weather cooperates)
Tuesday - Training?, Getting together with friends hopefully, Keepers at Home (E/S)
Wednesday - Work (online scoring), No church
Thursday - Work
Good Friday - Work, Bob has an appt at Michworks, Maybe a church service?
Saturday - Work
Easter Sunday - Breakfast at church, Service, festivities?, Work

Bike Ride

No, I don't have a TALKING BIKE, but I do have a bicycle. Bob and David are outside right now bringing it down from the second floor of the barn.

The weather is supposed to be 60 today and some sun may peek through. I want to be ready!

We are going to ride bikes for PE.

Siblings Together

Sister Weekend was wonderful! I believe that it was one of the most laid-back and relaxing weekends we've ever had.

Friday night was just hanging out chatting and then we watched Get Smart, which seemed to make everyone laugh. I believe I was the only one who'd seen it before.

Saturday morning, I got up earlier than I would have liked to head back over to the thrift store and pick up my purchases. I'd been unable to buy them Friday evening due to their payment system malfunctioning. My mom and Debbie went along with me. Debbie found a cute skirt.

Later on, we headed out for lunch at Wolfgang's. I'd never eaten there and it was very good. I had a humongous burrito filled with eggs, hashbrowns, guacamole, and stuff. Yummy! Afterwards, we walked to an antique store and two used bookstores and browsed to our heart's content.

Once we'd looked at what seemed like every book in the two shops, we hopped back in the car for the short drive to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. A special exhibit of the Miniature White House is set up there and it was quite intriguing!

I think it was Saturday afternoon that we popped in the DVD Juno which brought us all to sniffles and tears. Great movie!

Our brother Mike joined us for the evening and we did our "sister" questions. He's never done the questions with us before and laughs abounded! Our dad also sat in the question session, although he just listened to the fun. We took some pictures of all 6 siblings and a couple (via timer) of us with Mom and Dad. Saturday night a few of us stayed up very late chatting.

Sunday was just a calm relaxing day and everyone headed home by mid-afternoon. Snow was falling and the drive home was a tad nerve-wracking for me, but it could have been worse. The family was glad to see me and I was home again safely. (I'd try to put the pictures in some sort of order, but it will end up being frustrating, and so here they are in a clump. LOL Sorry!)

Thrift Store Visit and Weekly Preview

Sister Weekend is over for another year. What fun we had laughing and talking, playing games and watching movies, eating out and eating in, talking about memories and looking at scrapbooks. I can't wait for next year!

David participated in a youth auction on Sunday as a fundraiser for the mission trip. Each youth was auctioned and will be doing work for his or her purchaser. David (and most of the youth) were evidently auctioned twice.

On Friday before Sister Weekend began, I headed to a thrift store that I love. It's located in the city where my parents live, so I don't get to go there much. The thrift store has a book store located in it now and I bought some books for the kids' lessons. Very nice bookstore!

What I specifically wanted to buy was a pair of black pants and a pair of khakis for myself and tennis shoes for Emily. I found two nice pairs of tennis shoes for Emily (and she is pleased!), one pair for James, and a pair of sandals for myself. I found the pants I wanted (a size smaller!) and some shorts as well, and also several shirts for Bob and for me.

When I headed over to the checkout, they told me that unless I had exact change, I'd have to come back tomorrow to pay since their credit card/check machine was down and so were the cash registers. Odd, eh? So, I did go back the next morning with one of my sisters and my mom.

More Sister Weekend updates coming up this week.... but for now, what's on the agenda this week?

Monday - Lessons, Work (editing or whatever), Try to get the taxes done
Tuesday - Lessons, Nature Walk/Scavenger Hunt, Babysit in the afternoon I think, Begin Training for the online scoring job I've landed
Wednesday - Lessons, Art Class (D/E/J), Work (me) Pioneer Club (D/J/S)
Thursday - Lessons, Work (me)
Friday - Co-op
Saturday - I was invited scrapbooking, but I don't think I'll be able to go. Will decide later on.
Sunday - SS, Church, Youth Group (D)

Sisterweekend

It's time for Sister Weekend!

I have 4 sisters and we get together annually for a weekend. Thus the oh-so-descriptive name - Sister Weekend. I could run it all together to be trendy - SisterWeekend or Sisterweekend. What do you think?

Anyway, it's a time to hang out, play games, watch movies, go places, and just generally be together. Our mom joins us too, and sometimes our brother (and/or his wife) will join us as well.

So, enjoy your weekend as I am sure going to enjoy mine! (Prayers for our left-behind families would be lovely. lol)

Weekly Preview

Wow, it's time for a new week again already?

Sunday - SS, Church, David at a youth event all day, relaxing and reading for me
Monday - Lessons, editing
Tuesday - Lessons, editing, Bob has an appointment with someone at Michworks, Homeschool meeting about doing high school
Wednesday - Lessons, editing, babysitting all day, Pioneer Club
Thursday - Lessons, editing, Coaches Meeting (soccer)
Friday - FUN DAY for the kids, D&E go to Teen Game Night for our homeschool group, but I get to leave to spend the weekend with my sisters and mom
Saturday - SISTER WEEKEND continues (trying to think of something fun for the kids to do with Bob)
Sunday - SISTER WEEKEND continues for me. David will be auctioned off in a youth auction.

I need to get the taxes done! Also I am going to do some proposals/bids for some jobs on elance.com.

Seven Year Stitch

Warning for squeamish people. This may be considered gross.

Just a reminder. Bob was in an accident at work on May 23, 2002. So, it's been almost seven years since the day I got the call notifying me that I needed to go right to the hospital. He was in the emergency room there and the doctors were repairing his broken leg and fractured spine, as well as numerous cuts and abrasions.

So, today he comes out of the bathroom and says, "I just pulled a stitch out of my lip."

I was flabbergasted and questioned him to make sure, but yes, he pulled a stitch out of his upper lip from nearly SEVEN YEARS AGO. He's always had a bump there since then, but we figured it was a scar. Nope, it was a STITCH that either never dissolved or they forgot to take out.

Gross, eh?

Nope, no pictures for you. LOLOL

Creeping out of the BatCave

The warmth this afternoon tempted me outside. I crept out of the BatCave and ventured into the sunlight. Clothes hung drying in the breeze.

I took our science book and read-aloud novel outside and read to the kids at the picnic table, while Suzy and James climbed the swingset, Emily sat nearby, and David worked on the concrete step removal project.

The younger kids were seen playing baseball in the sideyard and also riding their bikes which were carried down from the barn loft. David tore his bike apart, repairing it and deciding that a new inner tube was necessary. Good thing Mom had a quick trip to Walmart planned. (Wait, is there such a thing?)

Chatting on the phone outside kept me outside longer in the sun, but I didn't get in a walk as I had hoped. I did spend some time organizing my co-op class stuff and made an easy dinner.


James was off to his last soccer clinic with Bob and the girls and I headed to Walmart for that "quick trip". Yes, we did it in less than 40 minutes, although I didn't get everything I wanted and easily could have spent twice that long. Got the necessities though and I will have to find another store for some of the craft stuff I need anyway.

Then I delivered them to their meeting which had a gardening theme. I read my book while the girls had their "circle time" and then I helped them plant some seeds to take home. Delivered one of their friends home and chatted with her mom for a bit.

Came home to a very bouncy David and a very tired James. (And a rather grumpy husband, if truth be told....)

The week only gets busier!

(OK, I'll admit the pictures are from MONDAY not Tuesday. But they did the same things outside on Monday that they did on Tuesday, so I figure it's all the same, right? lol)

Weekly Preview and "What I Did This Weekend"

Wow, it's nice out! Days of sunshine! And warmth!

On Friday I went to visit my friend Michele whom I have known for a number of years but never visited before. What an adorable welcoming restful home she has created! I enjoyed several sweet hours of conversation and crafting with her while David worked with her son on some computer and robotics issues. Friday night I think I read until quite late - Adriana Trigiani's newest.

Saturday, I SLEPT IN. That was nice. Once soccer starts, I can't do that. I had thought about taking the kids to the free matinee, but.... well, I didn't. We cleaned house and then they worked in the yard while I finished up in here. Then Emily, James, Suzy and I hopped into the van to visit two libraries and the thrift store, coming home with a full backpack of books and DVD's and several outfits for Suzy and a dress and a pair of boots for Emily, as well as a bunch of items from their 20 cent bin.

I whipped up spaghetti for dinner and then my friend Marla and I went over to Donna's where some friends from her new church were gathered and I did ANOTHER craft. (Two crafts in as many days? What is the world COMING TO?) We also had some yummy food. The chocolate-covered strawberries were TO DIE FOR. I came home and finished the Trigiani (which IS on my 999 list).

Today I need to hop off the computer and enjoy the lovely lovely weather. We're working on getting the dead leaves and broken twigs out of the yard. Maybe we'll drag down the bikes out of the barn. The kids would like that.

I'll post pictures of my crafts another time.

Also, Jennifer has been gone ALL WEEK to DISNEYWORLD. And she should return home today. I missed her!! :::waves at Jen:::

Sunday - SS, Church, Youth Group (D)
Monday - Lessons, Editing (MVR), IEW Meeting at night? (me)
Tuesday - Lessons, Editing, Soccer (J, last one), KAH mtg (E, S), St. Paddy's Day - wear green
Wednesday - Lessons, Editing, Pioneer Club (D, J, S)
Thursday - Lessons, Homeschool group leaders meeting, Library Program on Underground Railroad (D, E)
Friday - Co-op, Evening Plans Unknown
Saturday - Homeschool Book Fair (with Maryann and Dar), BOOK CLUB! (North and South! Come join us! WHEE!!)

This week I need to finish reading North and South - about 150 pages left, I think. I also should work on the taxes since I have yet to do that. I am going to redo the kids' commission sheets (allowance) to make them monthly instead of weekly.

Am I Locked In?

Denise wondered what I've been doing. Have I been locked in the house all week? lol

We've done lessons every morning and I've worked on the computer every afternoon - querying one day, editing one day, job hunting one day. I've exercised 3 days this week but my Wednesday weigh-in didn't show any loss. Time to up the workouts and redouble my calorie-counting efforts.

Monday night I went grocery shopping with Suzanne and also to two libraries. I took Emily along to the second library and I hit the book sale there (clearance! see Cornerstone for details). Bob took James to soccer clinic Tuesday (just 1 more!) and 3 of the kids to church last night.

Last night I made hamburgers and roasted potatoes. Tuesday night we had chicken and rice and tortillas, and Monday we had something I can't remember now. lol I think this afternoon I'll make a roast. They were buy 1 get 1 free, so I have two. We have leftover roasted potatoes so we'll have that and some veggies. I really should try harder to do menu-planning ahead. I think I'm doing well if I know in the morning what we'll eat for dinner, but life runs much more smoothly if I make a weekly menu.

OK, enough rambling. I need to do some lessons with the kids and let Bob get on the computer.

Weekly Preview

A quick peek at the exceedingly normal and boring week ahead:

Sunday - Sunday School, Church, David to Youth Group
Monday - Lessons, Writing (editing and querying this week)
Tuesday - Lessons, Writing, Boys to Chess Club, James to soccer clinic
Wednesday - Lessons, Writing, Pioneer Club
Thursday - Lessons, Writing
Friday - Lessons, Writing
Saturday - Nothing planned (although something usually comes up)

This may well be another week where I don't step out of the house. UNLESS it's nice out! And then I'll take every opportunity.

Emily's Sleepover

Emily had a gaggle of little girls over to spend the night Friday night and my good friend stayed the night as well. That was good as it upped the ratio of adults to children. :-)

It was a lovely warm afternoon so we walked down to the school playground and let the girls run around for a while. I served tacos for dinner and Emily opened many lovely thoughtful gifts and graced each giver with an appreciative hug. After dinner, we made book thongs (see Cornerstone for the details) and had cupcakes and ice cream.

Then they headed upstairs for games and movies while the adult women watched movies and ate popcorn. Lights out at midnight or thereabouts, but several girls whispered into the wee wee WEE hours of the night, leaving all the adults bleary with sleep deprivation. Morning came far too early.

Breakfast was some yummy goodies set out for the girls to serve themselves and they went back upstairs. I haven't ventured up to see the extent of the necessary clean-up, but all-in-all, it was a memorable and enjoyable sleepover party for my twelve-year-old!

An Even Dozen

Emily is twelve! She will be having a party on Friday, so today was our low-key family celebration. Gifts in the AM; pizza, cake and ice cream at dinner. And being twelve gives her a later bedtime, so she's thrilled with that new privilege!