Glutton for Punishment (Or Gluten for Punishment?)

Full on gluten cooking happened here today. I did it for and with my 9yo. It's killing me. I can smell the @#$@# cookies cooling. It's a very good thing that I fear what dairy and gluten together can do to me... because without that, I'd have eaten half the pan of cookies by now.

An Amazing Day in Arizona

1 - I has been raining for days. This is amazing in AZ.

2 - I actually walked out into the garage and found, without searching, the only umbrella we own.

3 - We own an umbrella.

All of these are very strange and amazing in their own right. To have all three coincide? Freaky.

Lost at Home

Is it possible to become so immersed in one's momotony (sorry for the very lame pun - I'm decaffeinated this morning) that all sense of purpose and direction are lost, even in the living room? Surely I am not the only mom who can stand in the living room completely baffled about what she was going to do next.

This has been on my mind, what's left of it anyway, for at least 3 minutes. I realized that I am having problems with momotony through several key incidents:

1) I am still searching my brain cell for the word that describes the blanket I used last night. I can't remember what it's called - it's warm, fuzzy and not flannel. It's not velour, nor is it .... AH!!!! It's fleece! It just came to me!!! I've been trying to recall the word "fleece" since about 8:30 this morning. The remembering of this lovely, fuzzy word is another reminder that I've lost my direction. What happened to that fabulous memory of mine? I can remember old addresses and phone numbers but I can't remember what fleece is?

2) As I covered my finally-producing-pepper plants to protect them from frost last night, it occurred to me that I can (and do) go days without going outside for more than 30 seconds. Putting Wonder Boy on and off the bus doesn't really count in my book. I also thought about the fact that some weeks I do not drive - at all. (Read that: I don't leave my house. And I'm not a shut in.)

3) Looking at the same walls and the same toys and dealing with the same tasks every single day, day in and day out, has become so routine that I no longer see a lot of what needs doing. There's a spark missing many days and what should be joyous isn't. I'm limited by too many choices and no choices at all.

4) We decided to have a yard sale. Today. Except we didn't do it. Between work, strep throat, doctor appointments, school, dishes, and all the other momotony, it just got forgotten. A lot of things get forgotten. Sometimes, I forget me, and not in the selfless-wrapped-up-in-my-vocation way. I just forget to pay attention to me.

I was going somewhere with this. Hang on while I walk back to the living room, where I was when I thought of it (whatever "it" is)... maybe it'll come to me.

How a Couple Watches a Western

Sometimes I forget that women and men are inherently different. No, I'm not talking about parts and builds - trust me, I noticed that a long time ago. I'm referring to that whole "Venus/Mars" thing - the being from different universes at times. Pastor TD Jakes was in town once and gave a talk about how women yammer on about how many coupons they use and what colors they were, whereas men just want to know the total on the receipt. We laughed about that and have used "what color was the coupon" as a signal that we aren't on the same page in a conversation.

Now you have to understand that one of the Hallmarks of the relationship between the Fearless Leader and me is communication. We talk a lot and always have. Early in our dating, the Fearless Leader worried that he'd bored me out of another date by taking me to a local grocery store's parking lot to chat. (Little did he know at the time, I went home to Mama and gushed on about how perfect this guy was.) Sure, we have our comical, stereotypical email moments: I send an email 3 paragraphs long, riddled with questions only to receive a reply consisting of the word "no" or "yes." Instant messages are similar. Goodness... even the way we type is consistent with that pattern. But overall, we really do talk a lot, often late into the night.

That brings me to last night. We decided to throw in a movie - after searching for 15 minutes through the dvds, we settled on a Western. We couldn't remember which one we hadn't seen yet, so we tossed in The Long Riders. As soon as it was in, I knew we'd seen it - but it had been long enough that not all the parts were coming to mind before they happened. After a while, we get to a knife-fight scene - a knife-fight scene, which I remind you, we have seen before. (Here's where the difference between genders pops up.) I, still watching the fight, said to our Fearless Leader that I had signed up for a coupon service and that I'm trying to decide on how to cheaply get a few newspapers for coupons. He just looked at me and asked something about what colors the coupons were. (Yes, this time the conversation actually was about coupons! Oh, the irony!) Then I think he asked if I was kidding - this was the knife-fight scene!

The whole thing just made me laugh. I knew I'd blog about it. If anyone asks about his evening, I'm betting he says, "We watched a Western."

Lazy Morning Musings

1. If you have something important or fun to do, at least one child will wake up the night before and interrupt your rest.

2. If your child finally gets the hang of potty training, you will run out of m&m's at the wrong moment.

3. Wonder Boy told his teacher that he was not a big brother - he is a medium brother.

4. Little girls wearing piggy pajamas don't necessarily like being called Miss Piggy.

5. Two gluten free chocolate muffins may taste excellent, but they don't give a whole lot of energy for the day.

6. Always wear clean underwear. (<--- I'm a mom. I have to say that.)

Ignatian Methods in Homeschooling

It occurred to my very tired brain that someone just might need a boost in their homeschool, a fresh idea. Old is the new... new. Here's an old idea to consider: Ignatian education. It's fabulous. It stresses self-activity and mastery of content. It's not easy, that's for sure... but it does feel very natural.

A fantastic curriculum based on Ignatian principles can be found at Kolbe Academy. For anyone who wants to know a little more about Ignatian methods, this site has well written ideas and summaries from a homeschooling mom who really knows her stuff.

I'd love to make a better case for Ignatian education, but honestly I can't this evening. My lone brain cell is screaming for sleep. It's been a day of starting to do one thing, forgetting what I was doing, then starting something else and forgetting about that as well. Every room I walk displays the aftermath of my Reign of Confusion: pullups on the bread counter, a ball of lint on the piano, laundry left in the dryer, something resembling lunch in the dining room corner. As I pick up my daily disasters, I pray that my efforts were enough today: I told the kids what I hoped they'd learn today, I prayed with them, I listened to their efforts and tried to guide them in their studies. Tomorrow we'll start anew and I'll ask what they remember from today, I'll tell them what the learning goal is, we'll pray, and on we'll go.

A Boy and a Quart of Strawberries

There will probably be a story about this later. For now... the 8yo ate a quart of strawberries. Alone. Read that: without help. (Ok. I admit I cut one strawberry up and put it in Wonder Boy's yogurt. I also sacrificed another for the Ailing Miss M - she ate two bites and called it done.)

Now, while I am quite happy to have children that like fresh fruit and are satisfied with said fruit as the sole snack option, I am a bit concerned when they eat a hefty quantity. Fruit is a food of movement, ya know? I haven't been to Costco lately. I'm not sure my t.p. supplies are adequate.

I should put Costco on my "to do" list.