Lori and Quiver, It's so sweet for you both to care.

My husband had a talk with the boys about all the concerns we have about behavior etc He told them that he understands everything is not their fault ~ us not having things organized especially confuses them about where things should be put away BUT where they are concerned their lack of even trying to pick up after themselves
do their school work
continue in basic self care like dressing and brushing teeth in the morning and taking dishes to the sink so we can get going with our day.

A few recent examples of lack of obedience were brought up but not thrown in their face by any means.
I guess they grabbed the gas hose out of the van when it was pumping today at a station on the way home from the meeting they were at.
Leaving our side at the big Walmart and causing us to ask the store to put out an alert for undisciplined boys roaming the store ( we found them in the arcade )

Throwing fits about wanting treats and just plain wanting to do what they want.

Timothy got a small pen light from the check out display and put it in his pocket. He knows better than that! We always have made them take the things candy and stuff back to the clerk and we buy the item if opened and don't give it back to them but this is behavior they did when 3 yrs old why still even trying to get away with it?//

DH emphasized that they need to be able to follow common courtesies and if they can't show that they care enough to try than they will end up having to go to ps next year where they'll feel embarrassed when they misbehave or make a spectacle of themselves. He said if we keep spinning our wheels that that will be his final decision.
I didn't argue with him and of course hope it won't come to that. I also plan to work more on discipline and not just getting through the day.

I started reading Fugate's book I sure wish dh would read it. My perspective is a lot of the mess is from dh not disciplining them enough when he *is* home. And also bringing sweet treats into the house when he knows Timmy just can't handle them. Sugar that is in foods say like milk is even enough to get him hyper and unwilling to eat regular meals.

I'm not too worried about what dh said about sending them to ps b/c he's the same dad that said just last week he was so glad they didn't have to be on a ps schedule b/c he'd never see them on the work schedule he has had.

Well thanks for listening.

quote:

Originally posted by cindahomaker:
I started reading Fugate's book

I'm not familiar with this book. What's the title and full name of the author?

We had a great day at school. We had a wonderful extended Bible study and even though 14s hasn't written his current events paper yet, I feel we accomplished a lot.
Now, Lori, I need to figure out what I'm cooking for supper and then I'll post the menue... lol!!

We had an okay day today, altho' almost nothing got done for school! I got some things done around the house that needed to be done, though. The dog got a haircut and a bath, and I cleaned the pool deck. Both of those jobs had been neglected lately so it felt good to have them done.

Tonight my middle daughter wasn't feeling well so the girls stayed home from karate. Within 10 minutes she was asleep on the couch so she obviously needed the rest. I'm hoping she just needs to catch up on her sleep and isn't getting sick. I had my son at the doctor last week and I'm praying no one else caught what he had.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll get back on track and get some school work done.

We had a better day today. Last night my dh and I worked on getting some shelving and clothing rod up for organizing our clothing.
I took the kids for a walk and to the park,
I invited a lady I just met recently to dinner next week so we can get to know each other better.
And I vacuumed real well / half of the house
got more done upstairs toward organizing.
dishes and laundry.

My sweet dh made chili before he went to work and gave the baby a bath!

BTW I meditated on good things about the kids today and it really helped/ when I'm constantly going over problems it often gets more stressful.

Hope you both have a great day tomorrow.

Tuesday was another good day. We didn't get much done in the way of academics but I did give 5 haircuts, cleaned the kitchen, Great Bible study time, and was able to read to the children for about an hour or so before I just had to go to bed.

Husband is leaving today for San Antonio and then to Florida... *sigh* I'm glad this won't be an extended trip.

Lori, I hope your daughter is feeling better. Sounds like she really needed the rest

Jacinda, You're so good to invite someone over.... I need to do that! What a great Husband to cook & bathe the baby!!!

Well, Tuesday we didn't quite get back on track with school, but the girls did get some school work done. Mostly the older two did their co-op assignments, and my youngest worked for a couple of hours and then figured out what she will need to do each day to be completely caught up by the end of the week. Now that she has her plan in place, she most likely really will be caught up. She always has to have a plan!

I talked to our realtor in Texas about some new construction housing that we're interested in buying in to. I also started on a couple of more things I want to do to make our house even more "showable", so I'll continue to work on those today.

Everyone seems to be feeling better and hopefully will be completely well today. My husband called from work at 6:30 AM so I'm up earlier than I had planned. I'm usually up by then anyway but slept in this morning, until the phone rang and scared me to death! He makes a good alarm clock, though, and I have plenty to do so needed to be up anyway.

I hope you all have a great day today!

It's so cool to hear this conversation and to see people connecting!
We've had a whirlwind few days here too. Got some awful storms - water in the basement, power out for 20 hours. Been busy cleaning up, trying to get caught up from when the power was out. Imagine a whole two days without Internet!
Blessings,
Christine

I CAN imagine a whole 2 days without power. Actually it was four days for us, during hurricane season a couple of years ago. It's funny, the Internet was what I missed the most, too!

We're actually getting school done today! I think it's the first day in a week that all three girls are working. Yippee!! That early-morning house showing got everyone up and awake and now they're busy little bees.

Christine!!!! I've been wondering where you ran off to! How did you survive without internet? So glad you're back online.

Ah, school ain't happening yet. We just said "Good-bye" to Daddy.
There's a new Mall opening in Rogers today... I think we might take a field trip!

Our Internet service wasn't working for a couple of days ~ I got a lot of my files organized instead of browsing while breast feeding.

I'll check in later as I want to tell you how one of our first days back to schoolwork goes.

Well i *do* have multiple motives The lady is young and in her first year of marriage just seems to adore children and I want to give her our crib and some other stuff baby related ( unload !) and I am so hoping she'd be willing to play with the kids a few times while i paint our half finished living/ all purpose room.
I also would love to have a mother's helper during Lina's b day I'd like to have some of her new little friends over as we had nothing at all for her first b day.

I also would love to be like a doula for her they are ttc right now. My first pg was so HARD and I was so naive I would hope for only good for her experience.

Cinda,
I think those are wonderful motives!! It would have been soooo helpful to me if I'd had an encourager, or a doula, for my first pregnancy. My daughters and I try to be a "mother's helper" for pregnant ladies, no matter how many children they have had.

School today was a mixture.
*Packing and seeing Daddy off
*Reading more on Alice in Wonderland
*Presenting an extemporaneous version of "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party" Was that ever fun!
*Tidying up the house
*Going to the library

It's been so many years since I've read Alice in Wonderland and I'm not as enamored with the story this time.... I'll be glad when we're finished. I still haven't decided what to read next, maybe some Walter Farley or even C S Lewis ? 14s & 8s are wanting something more masculine.

Look what I found today!!
http://librivox.org/
We're listening to Beowulf now to see how to really pronounce those names!!
The internet can be such a blessing...

Husband is gone to Texas and, of course, three children seem to be getting sick and a fourth is complaining of a sore throat...
I made a big pot of chicken soup today in hopes that will help ward off any sickness.

Quiver,
Don't kids always seem to get sick at the worst possible times! Not that there's ever a good time, but still. Hopefully yours will mend quickly.

Today our homeschool group is having a going-away party for us. My friend Molly is hosting it at her house and having a pool party for the kids. The moms will just sit around and chat. My mom is coming over to visit this weekend and going with us (she lives 3 hours away) so that will be nice. With the party in the middle of the day, I'm sure we won't get any school done today. I'll have the house cleaned and ready to show before we leave just in case we get any last-minute showings. Then the rest of the day I'll probably spend just relaxing and visiting with my mom.

How was the party??? That was very sweet of the group. You don't need to do school today, just enjoy the time with your mom!

The party was great! More people came than I expected. The moms all visited and just enjoyed our time together. The kids swam and had a chance to reconnect with some friends they hadn't seen for a while. We were there until after 2:00 (it started at 11:30) but the time really seemed to go by fast. It was very sweet of them to do this for us!

School did not happen today. It was just one big field trip! My mom was here when we got home from the party and we're spending the rest of the day just visiting with her.

Today was supposed to be my planning day for school, which obviously did not happen either. So I'll try to get caught up on that over the weekend so we'll be ready to start back on Tuesday. My husband is off work Monday so we'll be off from school also.