Good Morning

I did the math yesterday and baby and I are seventeen weeks along now. Those weeks seem to have gone by very quickly already, but we've been very busy, what with our returning soldier and our trip north and our house hunt and our school starting. Time just flies by when the days are over full. And I'm seeing that as a problem. My day is over full and there isn't always time for the truly important stuff, like just sitting and reading story after story to a bunch of little kids, or kissing a baby's belly till her laughter fills the house. It's not, really, that I'm not reading and kissing, it's just that I'm not doing them as fully as I ought, and the little ones and I are feeling the lack. I think, though, that I just thought of a way to free up some morning time...a little more tweaking of the order of the day.

We still haven't found our old Kentucky home, though we're still looking. I've just spent the early morning hours sifting through listings, knowing full well that I'm still not seeing all that is actually available. That's frustrating, that they only include certain properties, when one can drive around town and see so many more for sale. Unfortunately, we aren't yet in a drive around town position, though David's levy briefing is this morning. What's a levy briefing, you ask? I asked, too, and he doesn't know what it entails, except that he'll be getting his orders today. Nothing can be done or arranged until the orders are in hand, and even then, the Army has been known to change its mind. Not that that's likely in our case.

We dropped the asking price for our current house, too. I thought it was overpriced to begin with, and a nearby home in this same subdivision recently sold for a few thousand less than we were asking, so I asked Pam-the-realtor about it. She ran the numbers again and they came out, of course, $6,000 lower. So we dropped the price $10,000. That puts our home at a much more reasonable price, I think, but I still don't think we'll get any lookers until we're much closer to leaving. This is a military town, after all, and families show up and need housing right away. They want a place they can move into relatively quickly, not a place that won't be available for another three months.

And today is my birthday. I mention it only because my mother (Hi, Mom!) will likely leave a comment to that effect when she comes by to read this. :-) We did most of our partying on Sunday, but I'm thinking that I'm going to surprise the kids with a lunch time trip to the bowling alley. I just love surprising the kids!

The Battery and the Chatterbox

There are people in this world who talk too much. Just today, I met a fellow mom in the parking lot in front of the local Kroger. We made small talk, she and I, while my beloved attempted to jump start our broken down van off of her minivan. She chattered on about the trials and tribulations of having two kids, and her fortitude for taking along her girls' little friend today, too. I smiled and nodded politely, never mentioning the six kids waiting anxiously in the back of the van to whom she was oblivious. It would have burst her bubble.

Alas, her vehicle did not have enough oomph to get us going again, so we thanked her and let her on her way. My manly man hiked across the parking lot to the auto parts store and hiked back again with a heavy replacement battery. In a few more minutes, he had it in and we were on our way home. Hopefully, we won't have to worry about power drains again for a while!

Photo of the Day: In Which...

...my man takes a break from the long hours on the road by climbing a large tree at a rest stop for the amusement and delight of his children.

One Week on a Schedule

At 7:30, the kids got out of bed. Presumably, I was already dressed and ready to start making breakfast, though the truth of the matter is that I ran slightly behind all week. I have to get up earlier. We ate at eight. (Ha!) Breakfast cleanup, beds made, chores done, a little free time, then time for school.

At nine, we spent a half hour reviewing state capitals and letter sounds and memorizing poetry, then the big kids went off to work on their math and other miscellaneous independent work while I helped Jonathan with his phonics lesson. At ten, I wanted to work on an activity with Rosie, but she was usually bored by then and found something more interesting to do, like help Daddy mow the lawn or ride her scooter. From 10:30-11:30 was "Language Arts" time, and I helped the girls with their spelling and their language lessons, or they spent some time journaling on a specific topic. I'm trying to increase our writing this year. :-)

11:30 was lunch time and then clean up. Then the children had "recess" until one, while I did some chores or made cheesecake or checked up on imaginary friends. Recess is everybody's favorite part of school.

I had the afternoon broken up into three 45 minute blocks, but we only had two of those online this week. The first was for religion, the second alternated between science and history and the third was for music, art, and maybe Latin.

So. What worked and what didn't. Rosie's time needs to include Jon, because he's her best friend and she doesn't fare well without him. Also, Jon needs Rosie, because she's his best friend and he is prone to selfishness if too much attention is paid to him individually. This week, I'm going to switch the activity time and the phonics lesson. I think that will work for the mutual benefit of all. I also have to get the art and music lessons up and running this week, which requires a rummaging through the garage to find the missing materials. We need to find a little room for Latin, too, and a space for math instruction for Jonny. Primary math is not very challenging, but it still needs to be done.

All in all, I think it was a very successful week. The kids liked the schedule, the mama liked the schedule, and the daddy liked the schedule, too, though he was upset about that last missing block. This weekend, I'll be tweaking and cleaning and preparing for another run. I'm thinking this is going to be our best school year yet!

Ages and Stages

I guess being 'mischievous' is Penelope's new thing. She'll mosey into a room, casually grab a critical piece of the game, then run off with her sisters in hot pursuit. Or she'll climb into the chair beside me, pretend to admire my pretty handwriting, then swipe repeatedly at the pencil I'm using. Sometimes, she acts all sweet and cuddly until I pick her up, at which time she commences with pinching my arm just to hear me say, 'Ow!' Lucky for her we all have a sense of humor when it comes to baby antics!

Choosing

Two fellows knocked on my door the other night. One was my local representative to the City Council, with whom I spent quite a lot of time talking during his campaign. He took me, rightly, for an interested voter, aware that I had spent quite a lot of time talking to his opponents, too. He introduced his companion, who handed me a flyer; he was running for the local school board. I didn't spend too much time talking, as the kids were getting ready for bed and I wasn't planning on voting on local matters in the next election, what with us moving and all. I have no stake in it anymore. However, when I read his flyer later, I was compelled to take part in the election after all. Against him. I feel strongly that a man tasked with educating our children should be able to write in complete sentences and, perhaps, use a comma appropriately.

The board of education, though, has a very specific role. Most candidates run for more general offices and represent a particular geographic area on a broad array of issues. In their cases, nothing is more important to me than their moral integrity, and so the first thing I look at when asked to vote for any candidate is the quality of his family life. In public, where other people are watching, we tend to be on our best behavior, but at home, behind closed doors, we are more truly ourselves. So I find out whatever I can about his marriage and his children and how they affect and influence him. It's important to me. (And I think it quite a bit hypocritical when a public servant sends his children to private school.)

I just found this article about McCain, a little older and a little shallow, but still quite good. And I can compeletely understand the parts that might seem bad to a non-military family, for I know well the trials of loving a military man. He's a good man. Not a perfect man, but a good man, and good men are what we need around here, don't you think?

Anyway, here's a site that covers "Every Political Leader on Every Issue":

John McCain and Barack Obama

One of these two men is going to be our next president. We decide which one it is going to be.

Perfect Morning

The whole house is dark and quiet, and I'm sitting here all alone with my cup of coffee, listening the steady rhythm of soft rain tippety-tapping on the patio outside the window.

Hey There.

All's quiet in the land of blog. Or if it's not, I'm blissfully unaware. And so, I sit down tonight to type on my wonky keyboard with nothing in particular to say, but none of you seem to mind a rambly post now and then, anyway. (Rambly, by the way, is not a word.)

The week is going well so far, though the schedule will be wanting a bit of tweaking and reorganizing come the end of the week. Still, everyone is happy. Especially with the lunch time recess. They really like that guaranteed leisure after the dishes are cleaned up. It motivates them to clean up faster, too.

Penelope, as I mentioned, made for an interesting day. She wasn't cranky and did not seem to want additional attention, but she was unusually mischievous. She is a sweet little thing and fairly compliant, but she was pushing everybody's buttons today. Always with a smile, of course. Which makes it very difficult to be annoyed. Must be some sort of survival mechanism she's developed. :-)

I'm a little slow lately in answering my emails. Pesky family and all. :-) Last week, Laura wrote: How do you take that step and get past the "I'm going against my conscience" feeling? I feel the same as you about Ron Paul, but I hate the idea of voting for McCain as the lesser of two evils. Doesn't that still make him evil? Well, I don't think either man is actually evil. Misguided, yes, but evil, no. Still, I don't think either of our two major party candidates is going to be good for our country. So how do I justify voting for the "lesser of two evils" instead of a greater good? The simple fact of the matter, no matter how much we hope and pray that this time it'll be different, is that no third party candidate today is situated to win the election. The third party favorite, Ron Paul, isn't even actively campaigning, and technically, he's not even third party. He's a Republican. My fear is that those of us who would like to see Ron Paul in office, and I think there are more people willing to vote for a man like him than ever before, will actually bring about a worst-case Obama win. My vote for McCain is more of a vote against Obama. If he wins, and I didn't cast my vote against him, my conscience will suffer much more than it will because I didn't vote for the better man. That better man's day is coming, though; that much is clear. It won't be long now.

I spent too much time on that last part, reading all about voting records and speeches that Obama says didn't come out quite right. Gotta love a man who doesn't know or can't speak his own mind. Anyway, I'm anxious to hear your opinions on the election. Not really on your preferred candidate, but on why you choose to vote the way you do, what ethical and moral considerations drive you. I do NOT want to have to mediate a political debate, though. Be nice.

On the off chance that anyone leaves a comment that I read as rude or cutting or in any way offensive to my delicate sensibilities, I will delete it without explanation. I can do that. It's my blog. But I'm sure you're not that sort of person. :-)

Penelope is in rare form today. I tried dousing her with her Holy Water, but she just laughed. It's a very good thing that she's cute.

Back To School Time

I should be showered and dressed right now and thinking about waking up the kids. The "schedule" thing is so very hard for me. Right this minute, everyone else here is sleeping and it's just me, my coffee, and the computer. Why should I intentionally spoil this quiet moment?!

We're back to some serious schooling now, for the first time since David's been home. He's still home, but he's got sixty days of leave scheduled and life must go on. Actually, it's nice having him home for this part, the starting-a-new-schedule and working-out-all-the-kinks part. He's being quite helpful and encouraging, and the accountability keeps me from throwing my hands up in despair and shouting, "This can't be done!" It can; it just takes time to get through that working-out-all-the-kinks part. Anyway, everyone had a great day yesterday, so I guess, slightly frazzled mom aside, it went well.

Now I really do have to go shower and wake up the kids. I also have to go rummaging in the garage for a few missing books. See you all later!

Is It Time?

A few weeks ago, I read this post over at Jenn's. Ever since, I've been singing that song to Penelope at changing time: poop in the potty; poop goes in the potty. Hey, it's a catchy song! It wasn't too long before she was singing it herself when I forgot. Not that I could understand her, but the cadence was unmistakable. So I started making sure she came with me when I actually dumped her poop in the potty. I figured if a connection was going to be made, it should be made in the right spot.

So tonight, after her bath, she was laying on her changing table, waiting to be diapered and dressed, while I dawdled over tickling her little round belly. After a minute or two of giggling, she pointed toward her bottom and said, very seriously, "Babble babble babble poop babble babble." And then she passed gas. And then she laughed. And I joined her.

I've never tried potty training this young, but I think it might be time to fetch the little potty seats down from the attic. Do you happen to have an early training success story?

Progress Report

I thought you might, maybe, be wondering how we're doing here, recovering from a long deployment and the long time apart.

Though there are still rough days, we're doing much better. There is more smiling, more cooperation, and more loving. There is more patience, more understanding, and more compassion. We are quietly reacquainting ourselves with each other without, perhaps, expecting that things will be just the same as before. And that is good.

Long, long, long ago, my mother advised me to marry my best friend, and I did. Nothing hurts me more than being at odds with him, or feeling that, somehow, I am a disappointment to him. Right now, I am glad for his love, and glad for his friendship, and glad for his presence. (He's been on leave for weeks now, and I'm still not tired of having him around!) (I wonder if you non-military ladies understand that.) (I think the military ones will.) (I hope!)