I am sitting at a full-service car wash right now waiting for the Suburban. I usually drive my Mom’s car, the Mercury Marque that Fito keeps clean for me…but no one has cleaned the Suburban for months. We haven’t had rain for so long, but it is dirty and dusty, nonetheless.
Work has been as busy as ever; I even have turned down some work as my schedule is so full. Maria and baby Alexander had been staying with us, but they left earlier this week. Elizabeth went to stay with her this week to give her some more help.
The three younger are taking assessments, setting up their email accounts, meeting their teacher who monitors their work, etc. this week. I think I told you that we are homeschooling them this year, however, we are doing it through a charter school here in Oklahoma that provides each student with a laptop, the curriculum, grading, testing, and so on.
This will be better than years ago when I did it and I did everything!
They are excited about it and so far are doing well about monitoring their time and assignments. They also have to read an hour each day, work on the GeoSafari, and do their chores.
Felipe, who is 16, has been looking for a job and studying for the ACT. He turns 17 in November and will enter college in January. He still needs his own car, which will make seven cars on our insurance!?!
Fito and I went to Branson, Missouri this past weekend. It is a great and fun vacation spot. If you have never gone, you need to go. It has so many live shows and they are family oriented, clean fun, and patriotic. You do not have to worry that your child will see anything inappropriate. Branson has worked very hard to keep their town clean.
It was so incredible to have the weekend alone…to sleep in…to eat at a nice restaurant (not fast food) and to be able to go to stores that appeal to us…not the children.
Now understand, I love my children, but every parent needs some time away occasionally. It has been more than a year since we had gone somewhere. And this was the first time that something hasn’t happened while we gone. The last time we went, the sewage backed up into the house. Other times, children have gotten sick or hurt or other things.
Fluffy, our dog, did die while we were gone, but he had eaten some poison before we left and we knew he was sick. Poor Fluffy…we gave him some stuff to drink, but it did not help. He is truly missed.
I actually think my Mom misses him the most. He spent a lot of time in her room and would always go with her to the kitchen and sit by her when she ate.
Maria’s baby, Alexander now weighs 4 pounds 6 ounces and is doing well. Maria is like I was and is a Jersey cow. She had pumped some milk and when she pulled it from the fridge, the cream had separated from the milk: it was half cream, half milk. I told her that’s the way I was…Jersey’s make the best milk.
Alexander still hasn’t latched on although he keeps trying. I think he just needs to get bigger, than he will be able to nurse.
On Facebook, yesterday Maria had made a comment about children and I wrote the following:
We have two sets of neighbors who CHOSE not to have children. Yes they can go where they want, when they want, but really it is sad...no little girl kisses, no scraped knees to love, no snuggling during a movie, no watching them have children of their own, no Easter dresses, no family pictures, no trophies and big smiles, no game nights, no slumber parties, no family bike rides, no watching them bowl the gutter and then a strike, no sweet smells, Mother's Day cards, Father's Day jokes, grandbabies, Christmas gatherings, church together, prayers that are so sweet and innocent that you cry, small hands that take your face and pull you down to tell you--you are the prettiest woman in the world, the bestest mom, and they love you more than you love them......
I could go on and on…that is why I had so many children, why I am not working full-time (as long as I can…I know it is harder and harder to not do so) and why I say no to other activities, volunteering, and work.
This is the most fulfilling work I have ever done—that of being a wife and mother—my home—my life…work, church, community are only secondary. I see them almost as hobbies (not really) but I don’t know how to explain the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that comes from helping a child become an adult.
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