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  • 7 Quick Takes

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    ONE
    Today we started our Shakespeare Club.  I invited all the children, grades 4 and up, in our homeschool group to my house.  We are reading "Twelfth Night".  I want to give all the children an opportunity to read it.  It's better read out loud in actual Shakespeare text.  We completed Act I.  
    TWO
    I'm horrified by what is happening in the Middle East.  I think we should pull out completely.  Most especially, we should pull out our aid.  May God comfort the families of those who were killed.
    THREE
    I've over scheduled.  Again.  Why?  Well, I want my children to have all the opportunities they can have.  Especially opportunities they would normally have if they attended a brick and mortar school.  What I would've really wanted to do instead of a Shakespeare Club is to have a play.  But, I realize my limitations timewise.
    FOUR
    My mind has been working overtime.  I have several sewing projects going on at once.  I'm working out several patterns and ideas in my brain.  These ideas percolate for a long time.  Then, I can put them in action.  For instance, I had an idea for a peasant sleeve on a sleeveless dress.  I thought it through for days, researched a way to make a pattern, then put it to action.  Percolation time?  About 6 days.  Action time?  15 minutes.  I have two flower girl dresses to make.  I'm almost done working out the details of both dresses.  I'm going to put it all together next week.  And, the Nut?  Well, that's a whole another story.
    FIVE
    The Nut.  I have these grand ideas.  I don't quite know what our director is thinking.  But, I, have these grand ideas.  And, we are moving.  No, not us, the studio.  We are moving locations.  The new place will be in a safer neighborhood and closer to places so I can run errands, although Honey doesn't like it when I leave her.  The commute will be easier and it'll be closer to Brother's therapy clinic.  
    SIX
    Brother will be participating in First Tee through his therapy clinic.  It'll be great for him.  My only problem?  It's the same time as Pumpkin's Tuesday ballet class.  Luckily, until we move into the new studio (hence the importance of it being close to the new studio), he'll be going early and helping with setup (thanks, Erin!).  I'm thankful to Kidz Therapeze for all the great opportunities they offer to the children.  Once we move closer, I'm going to help repay that by offering a knitting/sewing class.
    SEVEN
    Yesterday was my brother Patrick and his late wife, Erin's wedding anniversary.  She was a gorgeous bride.  The next 12 days are going to be rough, I know.  September has been bringing with it such melancholy.

  • 7 Quick Takes

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    One
    I drove onto post this afternoon (the Air Force and Navy calls it base, an Army installation is a post).  As I was waiting for the gate guard to look over my ID, I was getting irritated.  I was the only one in the car as I was going to pick Brother up from something.  He had me open my passenger window and then he looked closely over each row and each section of the Suburban.  I thought, well, wait a minute.  I'm not the enemy here.  I know.  I know he's doing his job.  And, the precautions are necessary.  It still didn't stop me from getting annoyed.  
    Two
    Our annual "Not Back to School" potluck picnic is today.  As always it's predicted to be a scorcher.  It's always hot.  But, we pick a park where there are trees.  Hopefully, there will be a breeze as well.  It's too bad it's not Saturday as we're expected to have a cold front come through.  Our homeschool group is in the midst of a down swing.  There is not a lot of participation in the events.  Our field trips are sparsely attended.  Most of our very active members moved away (thanks, Army).
    Three
    A dear friend of mine is moving away in January.  She's one of my MOB (Mothers Of Ballerinas) buddies.  I already lost one MOB buddy this summer.  Wait, I lost two.  I don't know what I'm going to do without her (darn Army).
    Four
    Yes, I have a love/hate thing with the Army.  I understand logically why things work the way they do.  It doesn't mean I have to like it.  I'm tired of fighting moves all the time.  I'm tired of saying goodbye to good friends.  I am grateful for the paycheck.  Truly.  But, emotionally, it's been hard.  In many, many ways.
    Five
    Next week starts our fullest week yet.  My son will have to start rising at 7 am on the dot and be ready for school by 8.  He's not going to like it.  If he doesn't, he will never be able to complete everything he has to before he runs out of down time.  My girls will have to follow suit.
    Six.
    I have a friend who is due around Thanksgiving.  She said she had 11 weeks left.  That sent me into panic mode for two reasons:  Nutcracker and Christmas.
    Seven
    Vacations are fun, but hard to recover from.  This past weekend, my SIL invited the entire Cho family to her parents house on Possum Kingdom Lake west of Forth Worth.  Oh, my it was a grand time.  The boat rides were fantastic.  The best part?  My mother rode the wave runner with my brother.  I thought my BIL, Todd's eyes were going to pop out when he heard.  My youngest brother's jaw dropped.  It was great.
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  • My Girl. My Oldest Girl

    She's 11 today.  Eleven years ago, the doctors pulled all 9 pounds of her out of me.  She was a week early with a scheduled c-section.  I wonder how big she would've been if she'd come on her own.

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    This beautiful girl of mine who taught her older autistic brother how to play when she was one. 

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    This beautiful girl who is transformed when she dances into the most graceful ballerina ever (in my very humble biased opinion).  Otherwise?  She's quite clumsy.  

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    This tween.  This princess.  This sister.  This fashion maven.   

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    Nutcracker 2009

    This sweet girl who is my first daughter.  I know we'll be the greatest of friends when she's older.  

    Happy birthday, my love.  

  • My Son is 14

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    My son.  The one who made me a mother.  The one who taught me that I'm not a very patient person.  

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    The one who showed me to learn to accept.  The one who taught me how to give more and more of myself.

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    This boy in a man sized body.  This boy who has taken me on an adventure I would never have imagined.  

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    This was taken in June 2009

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    December 2011

    This boy.  I love him so much I can't even describe it.

    He's 14 today.  How'd that happen?

  • July

    It's hard to believe that it's nearing the end of July.  This summer, our weather has not been too hot.  Don't get me wrong, it's still hot, but when we were having over 100 days of 100 degree weather, I was cranky AND hot.  Right now?  Just hot.  Only sometimes cranky.

    **********

    Autism is a blessing and a curse.  I won't go into too many details.  However, I will say that it's sometimes REALLY hard for a child who is high functioning.  He acts "normal" usually.  He looks "normal".  And, he's just close enough that expectations are high for his behavior.  There isn't a lot out there on how to help him.  There isn't a lot out there for him.  He doesn't need adaptive stuff but he's not quite there for normal, age appropriate stuff.  My boy is getting man-sized.  He's still a boy.  It's harder and harder.  Just when I thought I had him figured out.  My dealings with him have me down.  I'm not always patient.  It's really hard.  He's moody.  Thankfully, it's not 100 degrees out.

    **********

    Planning for the new year.  I'm not anywhere near done.  I haven't really started.  I have an idea.  I have to get it down on paper.  I'm almost there in figuring out the schedule.  There are a few changes for therapy and ballet.  I'm still waiting to get it all finalized.  I know Brother needs one more activity.  A physical one.  It's hard to find one for him.  I'm thinking swim team on Fort Hood.

    **********

    Ben is nearing retirement.  It's making me feel a bit panicky.

    **********

    Exercise.  It's been nonexistent for me for over a year.  I'm hoping to get back on track.  I was on the treadmill on Monday.  I missed today.  Hoping for tomorrow.  My goal is an hour a day.  If I don't get up by six, I won't get it in.  I dislike mornings.

    **********

    My mind is all over the place.  From ballet costumes to theater costumes.  Did I mention that I was in the program for the first time for a theater production?  I was pretty proud.  I can put it on my resume.  The Nut will be here before we know it.  I have a few ideas.  These ideas have been floating around in my head since the last one.  I have different ideas for clothes for the girls.  I'm thinking I want to make a bunch of their clothes, but I like the summer ones better.  I'll have to figure out winter stuff.  

    **********

    Well, that's it for now.  I need to get to sleep if I'm going to wake up and exercise.

  • Nine! How’d That Happen?

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    Nine years ago, a sweet tiny 7lb 15oz baby girl was born.  Our only Virginia baby.  She captured our hearts from the start.  

    Honey loves books.  She regales us with her vocabulary whenever she speaks.  Her love of a story and make believe is legendary.  She can be bigger than life.  I don't know how nine years could have gone by already.  

    My beautiful girl.  Happy birthday.

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    And, did you know she had camo paints on her birthday list?  And, all sorts of tomboy stuff? 

  • Camp W 2012

    For the past three years, a family in our homeschool group offers their home for a "camping" experience.  We have swimming, a campfire, and different activities.  This year, we added Saturday's vigil mass.  The setup was much easier having the camp starting on Saturday as opposed to Friday.  Until Father offered mass for us, we couldn't figure out a way to do a Camp W on Saturday into Sunday.  

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    We had swimming, then a potluck dinner, more swimming, a campfire with smores, of course, and a camp sing along.  The next morning, the overnight campers had a potluck breakfast.  With it being Father's Day, we had the children wash the dads' cars.  They had fun and then they were allowed to swim.  After swimming and a quick snack, we had a tug of war.  

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    The team on the left won.  

    In an effort to cut down on trash and waste, we leave it up to the families to provide reusable plates and cups.  It doesn't always happen.  Some families just forget (I've been one to forget when we first started doing this).  Some will bring paper plates which is fine.  Usually, a couple of the families provided the paper goods.  So, this helps cut down on a few of the families carrying the whole group.  

    Well, I've just deleted a whole paragraph that wasn't going in a good charitable direction.  So, I'll talk about a family who was there.  This mom has four 8 and under.  The youngest is a baby.  She camped overnight without her husband as he was in the field.  She put up her tent by herself.  She was super.  Without raising her voice once!  I was in awe.  She was vigilant.  She kept an eye on her children and made sure they didn't wander into the swimming pool area.  

    Kids will be kids.  The people who own the property keep the gates closed because they don't want their dog to wander in and and out of the backyard.  That's the only reason why there are gates.  And, as many of us have been there frequently, we don't close the gates.  It's easier to go in and out of the pool area.  So, it was neat to see how this mom took care of her children while having the gates open.  But, of course, the Army is sending this family elsewhere.

  • Saturday Morning

    This morning Brother has his second to last baseball game.  His team has won one game.  I love his team, coaches and players.  They do not give up.  They don't get mad at each other.  They encourage each other.

    This team couldn't have been more tailor made for my son.  My son's biggest wish.  The biggest thing he wants more than anything this season?  A hit.  He's so afraid of getting hit.  I hope he gets it.  Talk about BIG boost to his self-confidence.  Prayers around 11 CST?

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    I've been pondering the ideas of exclusivity.  I think that if a group, an official group, has an outing, no one should be left out.  I think that if a teen invites the other teen boys (or girls) in this group to a movie, he (or she) should not exclude one boy (or girl).  And, then, these boys (or girls) should know better than to discuss the movie and the outing in front of this boy (or girl).  And give him (or her) the guest list.  I'm just sayin'.

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    However, if a few of the boys (or girls) get together for something, not everyone has to be invited.  It's just only if it's a group thing.  Just as sometimes moms will get together to do something.  It's a fine line, I know, but it's one I've always placed.  Maybe it's misplaced.  Not everyone clicks.  It's not necessarily a clique, but some people mesh better together.  

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    I'm also pondering backing away from our homeschool group.  There are pluses and minuses.  It's a hard decision.  I have to do what's best for my children.  It's been a positive experience…for the most part.

  • The True Jewel

    My oldest daughter played Princess Nadia.  She opens the box which releases evil and kills Queen Adalia, her mother.  The box beckons to her and she takes it and runs away.  

     

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    Princess Nadia right before she opens the box

     

    Sister is very good at playing a naughty girl.  It's a bit disturbing.  

    The ballet had canaries, butterflies, and villagers.

     

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    My butterfly

     

     

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    My canary

     

     

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    My villager

     

    I made the princess bodices and tutus.  The M.O.B. (Mothers Of Ballerinas) helped quite a bit with the decorations.  

     

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    The princesses

     

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    The Queen Who Lives aka Queen Gemma

     

    I made this one as well.  

    We are all still recovering from the spring performance.  The girls should've been tired except they've been playing "ballet school" since yesterday.  To Nutcracker music of all things.  I guess they're ready to move on to the next thing.  I have a house to clean for the summer.  A very late spring cleaning.

  • Pumpkin

    Dear Pumpkin,

    Wow.  You're seven!  I can't imagine where the time went.  If I remember correctly, just yesterday you were in my arms nursing.  

    Instead, you are such a fun-loving child.  This coming year is going to bring so much for you.  You'll receive two sacraments.  You'll be in the 2nd grade.  

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    You bring a lot of joy to this family and to this world.  You do everything with passion whether it be happy passion…or not.

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    You're the only sister that Brother teases.  It's really kind of cute even though you react with such vigor.  I almost don't want to stop him because it's so neuro-typical.  He loves you.  And, who wouldn't.  

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    I remember the day you were born.  I said Hail Marys throughout the entire c-section.  They had changed procedure so you were brought to me as soon as I was brought back into the recovery room from the OR.  We were together from the get-go.  

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    I miss that little baby, but oh, I am just loving who you are today.  

    Happy birthday, sweet Pumpkin.  I love you!