Happy Valentine's Day

For my husband, the love of my life, my true partner in everything. Here's to us, what we have and to our future. You are amazing and I feel extremely privileged to share a life with you.

One Wall is Done

one of living room walls

A quick picture with my cell phone, sorry about the glare. A wall painted. It's amazing.

While at Lowe's we also found our backsplash and once again, hub is right- I thought because we have grayish black granite countertops and cherry maple cabinets a glass white/cream combo tile would be best. He picked out a tile sample that had copper metallic, golds, browns, black and cream tiles and I love it graphically but thought it would be too dark for our kitchen.

We bought a sample since it's on sale (closeout). And it's perfect. He was so right! My not-so-brave choice would have been blah-blah boring. You cannot see the metallics online but it's gorgeous. Now we've got to go back and buy all that we need before it's not available at all.

our decided upon backsplash tile

Of course if we don't buy it now, we'll regret it later. We tend to look and look for what we want and then we decide finally- then nothing else compares. We spent months looking at furniture, trying to decide on a sofa. We weighed pros/cons of leather, microfiber, kids, dog, comfy levels...and when I sat in our now cream leather sofa in the showroom- the decision was made. 

We have our next vehicle picked out too and we've compared every single make/model and met with almost every dealership in the area to test drive their make/model within the same class. We'll probably have to have our vehicle shipped from somewhere else b/c that's the only way we'll get all that we want in a vehicle for the price we're willing to pay. 

The kids are going to flip-out when they get home! They're going to want their rooms to be done next.

I want to paint ONE wall.

I don't ask for much. Really. I don't have to ask my hub to do anything, we're that in sync with each other that if one of us doesn't do something that needs to be done, the other picks up the slack. We don't get upset with each other, we give each other space.

I've had paint samples on the walls for months now. I have one wall that I know without a doubt that I want to paint reddish-orange and I have a paint chip sample that I KNOW I want to use. I want to paint that ONE wall today.

"Let's get the sample paint and see how it looks," he says.
"No, I want to paint the entire wall this weekend," I say.
"Baby, you've gone through 4 shades of cream and 6 shades of green. Let's get the sample and see how it looks," he says.
"No, I. want. to. paint. this. wall. this. weekend." I stubbornly reply.
"If you get the sample and let us see how it looks in all light and like it, we'll paint next weekend," he tries to compromise.

Urgh. He knows how much I've struggled with the paint color selection and he won't let me just rip off the band-aid and do it. He has to be so stinking reasonable! (chuckle) So we'll buy a paint sample today. Tomorrow, I will probably get a gallon and paint the entire wall. That's a good compromise, right?

Sunday Update: We're waiting until next weekend but the color looks AMAZING. It's kinda driving me nuts to see it and know it's not done but soon...this is my primary house goal for the year- to paint.

My secondary goal is to establish a sustainable landscape- including a rain barrel and a compost (if I can convince hub who thinks it will be stinky and our Westie will be trying to get into it continuously). I might have to wait on the sustainable landscape, I think we have some soil erosion and I will have to get some professionals involved to properly address that issue. The contractors put matting down when they installed the sod but there may be a french drain in our future.

It's only Wednesday?

I thought today was Thursday, Camille said no, it's Wednesday. Oh yeah, you're right. It's the 100th day of school today and the kids are excited.

It is unseasonably warm today and I've been seeing robins. The urge to Spring Clean is moving in, I really want to take everything out of every closet and reorganize, declutter, and then I think about the work that would take- and the time ... I hesitate. Soon the hesitation will be gone and Goodwill will get another donation.

Why is it so hard to pick a color to paint beige walls? That will happen soon, I despise flat paint but it's another project that takes a lot of work, especially with molding. I paint samples painted all over the walls, I think I have a few colors picked. I'm a little scared of that reddish-orange accent wall I have in my mind.

Wow, it looks totally different online. Okay Wednesday, here I come...

Honey, where's your Mac?

Hubby said tonight. "In the closet, why," I asked.
"Don't you need to get some files off there that you were supposed to repost?" He said.
"Yes dear." As I laughed.

The computer is in the closet, the wires...ummmm. I will repost homeschooling files soon, I think Blogger can handle storing them now or maybe Google Docs?

List from 2009 Updated

1. Become healthy in spirit, body and mind.

2. Obtain a bachelor's degree (enrolled and starting next month!)

3. Appreciate the beauty around me and share it with others (my kids especially).

4. Have financial peace

5. Travel

a. US Road Trips

b. Foreign countries

6. Own a home.

7. Learn how to take breathtaking photos
8. Scuba Dive

9. Love deeply

10. This is way down on my list for a reason: get over my fear of heights which paralyzes me and causes me to have panic attacks and limits my experiences.

Highlighted is what has been accomplished!!!  I did quit the Bachelor's degree quest for the time being.

Report Cards

Report cards came in yesterday and while I anticipated Danny's report card being what it was, Camille's was a surprise. Her all As have dropped to a few As, a B, a C, and a D. Wow. My little girl (ahem, she's 10 now) worked very hard at the beginning of the year and now she's slacking off a bit although my trust in her didn't slack because she had proven she was responsible to tend to her own studies. I did spot checks and asked if she wanted help preparing for tests, 'no Mom, I've studied and I'm going to get an A.'

Thank goodness for the communication of her teacher, who sends out an email weekly regarding what they are doing in class and homework assignments. I expected this from Camille too, especially with the stress we've been under in the last month. I knew it was affecting Camille but she didn't want to talk too much about it and she seemed to be trucking along.

Sadly, gone are the days that I know exactly what she needs academically and how to approach it. Don't get me wrong, she's doing well in school. It's funny how she thinks she's just learning information the first time, as if we didn't cover it when we homeschooled. I remind her, show her that we studied it and she exclaims, "oh yeah, I remember that now!" 

Danny is going to be tested further, we already have him in speech but his behavior is dictating that he may have a learning disability or sensory processing disorder. He missed two and half weeks of school which put him behind when he was already behind his classmates who are a year younger than him. My heart is aching, but I am hopeful we will figure out what we can do to help Danny. I've been doing it on my own with as much behavior modification as I can, getting him to calm down before talking, focusing on one task at a time, pronouncing his words, etc.

I'm grateful that I have support with the kids through the school and Camille's dad is fabulous. He and I are on top of her situation, he studies with her at night on the phone after I've done my bit with her. The teachers the kids have are communicative and understanding. My hub is super supportive, working with the kids on their studies and quizzing. If we had been married when I was homeschooling, he would be the father who is involved- the one that Tapestry of Grace made the Pop Quizzes for. Sigh.

Our Weekend

All four kids got a haircut this weekend, the three girls got a 'princess' cut because they all have long hair and vertical layers allowed their hair to be more manageable. We call it princess hair because all the princesses have vertical layers. I never thought I would be grateful for Disney's marketing! Lol. The girls' were glowing after receiving their new look and wore princess tiaras for most of the day.

The boys (Michael-hubby and Danny) got their 'man' haircut. Seeing your man going from shaggy to clean-cut, is there anything more appealing? Danny loves getting his haircut. Thank goodness, hallelujah! A few years ago getting Danny's haircut involved getting fat lips for me and complete meltdowns.

We celebrated Michael's birthday, Danny picked out a superhero ice cream cake, so proud for picking it out himself. He sang Happy Birthday to Michael in such a sweet way. The kids rode their bikes and played for a little bit more before it was time to take Michael's girls home. Camille, Danny and I decided to do something just us so we went to go see the new Narnia (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) movie in 3D. It was wonderful, so moving- the end when (spoiler alert) Aslan told Lucy that the children had come to Narnia when they were young to prepare them for being in the world, to know Aslan by another name but they were too old to return to Narnia. Tears came to my eyes. Just writing this, the tears return.

A New Year!

Murphy came to visit and although his visit isn't welcome there are times that a little conflict makes you stronger, smarter and better than you were before the conflict. It's a pretty major one that I cannot discuss yet but will after all is said and done.

The kids are doing well, I'm so grateful to be able to live in the best school district in our area and the kids' school is amazing. Camille has been a 'Terrific Kid' and she begged me to put the bumper sticker on my car. We framed her certificate and she's just had a great year- A Honor Roll so far. She's loving school. Danny's year has been a little bit more tumultuous but he's doing well. His speech is coming along and it's encouraging to see his growth in such a short time. He has a love/hate relationship with school, loves to be there but hates to have to behave and have to do work (that he secretly loves but I didn't say that).

They are growing up... I printed Trivium Academy in its entirety and was going through it the other day. It feels like yesterday the moments that I documented. It's taken 5 3" binders to store...what a keepsake for the kids and I!

Moving back home to South Carolina was the best decision, I'm less than a mile away from my parents, the kids are in a solid strong school district and you're able to blossom when you're in a comfortable place. It is weird seeing all the development and thinking, "That used to be..."

 Michael has two daughters and we've become this wonderful blended family. I always wanted 3-4 children and now I'm mother of two and stepmom to his two. I don't really like the term 'stepmom'- I'm not their mother, I see myself as an extension of Michael, a loving, supportive adult in their lives that will love them. I don't want to replace their mom or be in some type of competition with her.

Bringing four children together as a family has its struggles but it takes time. I keep reminding myself of the movie, Yours, Mine and Ours. Let's see, a 10 yr girl, 7 yr old girl, 6 (almost 7) yr old boy and a 5 yr old girl and they ALL like to be in charge. Hmm. Life is definitely interesting at times. Danny keeps saying the younger girls are mean, but what he really means is that he doesn't get his way all the time, chuckle. "You're NOT the boss of ME," is said more times than I can count. Camille loves being adored by the younger girls and her hormones are kicking!

 Christmas this year was strained due to the conflict I mentioned before but it was still a blessing. God's grace shines through any conflict and the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus who died for all our sins, stayed on my heart throughout the conflict and season. I keep telling myself, He died for ALL our sins- the small ones, big ones and the ones you don't want to forgive others for.

Hubby and I are looking for a church, although I had issues with a big church before, I'm ready to trust again in the fellowship of others and a pastor. We're going this weekend to worship and I'm a little excited. We'll have all four children and I think they'll love it. I play my praise music all the time and the kids and I sing and sing.

It's going to be a good year. Even if iron has to sharpen iron- I'll be stronger for it. I have many blessings, the best of all the love of my family and God's grace to see me through anything.

8 Days and Counting

Counting down to our cruise to the Western Caribbean, including stops at Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel from the port of Miami. This will be the first time I've left the country, although not my first vacation. It is my first vacation not attached to another event unless you count the time I drove down to St. Augustine for the weekend with a girlfriend. We did the tourist thing, IMAX, Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, etc. We did drive a convertible Mustang that weekend, which was a blast.

How unbelievably boring I've been. A world of possibilities and I've allowed myself to stay in a cocoon of familiarity. Last year when I met Michael, I decided it was time to live. To make some changes and I realized the ONLY way I was going to do something different was to DO something different. I wanted to leave the U.S. by my 35th birthday. I'm 33. I booked a cruise a year in advance. An entire year in advance. We didn't know if we'd work out and the tickets were non-refundable, non-transferable. It was a risk and now 8 days away from our departure, I'm so glad I risked it.

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The kids are loving school, I think that's about to change because Camille has a log for just about every subject. A reading log, math skills log, exercise log and I'm sure a science/observation log is coming. Danny brought home Freddy the Reading Frog (thankfully a stuffed animal and not a live frog) for the night. We read a story to Freddy and Danny tried to write about his time with Freddy in Freddy's journal. Danny picked The Frog and Toad Treasury to read to Freddy. (How cute)

Freddy the Reading Frog has beans in him, like a bean bag. I wonder how washable he is...Michael HAD to tell me that Freddy would be full of germs in no time after visiting all the kids' homes. Yes, just what I WANTED to hear as Danny is hugging Freddy to his face.

Monday today was not a MUHNday, it went pretty fast actually. I'm on the other side now, looking forward to our upcoming adventure. I just have a ton to do between now and then...happy Monday!

Friday

Michael's been working ridiculously long hours this week, he's home an hour after the kids go to bed and leaves for work before I do. It's hard. I miss our time and although I can handle it (all), I miss him...just being around him, having him involved, being able to dissect our days together. He's working so hard and he probably has to work the weekend too.

Guess that means I'll have time to do some organizing that has been put aside. Oh joy. I know I'll feel better AFTER it's done but goodness I know the time it will take. Sounds like a movie rental day with files strewn around me waiting to find their home.

My parents put in a swimming pool at the beginning of the summer and it's been a godsend. Danny's fear of water is completely gone. A few months ago he'd have gone into full panic attack mode if you asked him to come into the water away from the shallow stairs, now he's jumping into the 'deep side' will full gusto and swimming under the water!

Off to another day, have a great one!

Decided to Stay

I don't have the time to create an entirely new blog, this is the space I created (designed) and I'm not going to start another one. *Pout, stomp foot* I would have to 'create' my space again and this is the space I love. So...I will continue to post here but add a label for Life After. Life After homeschooling and I am working on getting my links, files, etc updated here so they continue to help whomever would like them.

*Exhale* This was always our place for our journey, there's nothing stopping me from still talking about our journey even if we switched roads.

Off to start our Monday...Mondays are always a blur.