Announcing: A Family Theme...Maybe

I've seen this several places lately. Some families have a big back to school dinner for their kiddos and announce their family's theme for the year. Very cool.

NieNie does this every year. Except there is no permalink. Stephanie, WHERE is your permalink? How do you make your blog do that thing where no matter what I click on, the address stays the same? It was Wednesday, August 25, if you are interested. Her feast was amazing. Their theme this year? "To learn with joy."

Then I saw Monica's feast for her family. Monica had a permalink. Her theme was "Wisdom."

I like this idea. So I got to thinking.....what would our family theme be? I mean, what do I want to focus on this year???

And then...it just came to me:

Too direct?

I'm kidding. I would never make a beautiful banner with those words on it. BUT I am very serious about the theme. I'll use different words, OK?

If I could teach my children (and maybe their parents too) one thing that would make my life (and their future lives) easier, it would be to put things away when you are done with them. My children do not act like this in public. I mean, I've seen the families where the kid has trash in their hand and mom or dad just tells them to throw it on the ground. We would NEVER do that. My children pick up their things in public. They throw their trash away at McDonald's. They don't just kick their shoes off in a store and walk away from them.

Why are they treating our home this way? I am going to be on them 24/7 about this. I cannot get them to understand: If you put things away when you are through, there is never any cleaning to do.

Can you imagine a world like that?

And isn't that a nice rhyme I just accidentally made?

It's long, but I like it. And I do realize that there would be cleaning...but the girls and I LIKE cleaning. We don't like picking up. Maybe if I change the word "cleaning" to something else....

Oh forget it. This family theme stuff is hard work.

After This We Can Talk About Our Bursitis

I am so over heat. Summer is over for us anyway. We started school, the local pools are closed. What else is there?

So fall needs to get here. Autumn. My favorite season. (Spring is in 2nd place) I think August is a bit too early to start decorating for fall, but my Mom bought me some things at the dollar store this weekend. I cannot justify spending money on unnecessary stuff right now, even if it IS from the dollar store. So I was very grateful.

Won't those look lovely on my entryway cabinet minus all the other mess that's there right now?

Strangely, it doesn't look like this right now. Hmmm. My house hasn't been cleaning itself very well. Perhaps I should get back on track.

On a good note, and off the subject of weather, I started on the girls' rag quilts this weekend. I got a lot of flannel cut out, but oh my word there is more. Much more. The cutting is NOT the fun part, by the way. However, I would like them to get to use the quilts on their bed when the weather does get cold.

There's the weather again. How's your bursitis doing?

I found out this week that I am important. And that my role as my husband's helper is very important. We all went out of town Saturday for Sweetheart's birthday. S came home Sunday afternoon since he leads a Bible study on Sunday evenings and also had to be at work on Monday. I stayed up there with my parents and the girls and came home today (Tuesday).

Sunday evening he couldn't get the lesson to print that he had worked so hard on. He called me, but I was not very much help 3 hours away. Monday he forgot some things in his lunch, forgot to take his glasses to work and then I got home today and saw he didn't eat any of the food I had left for him. Also, he slept on a pitiful sliver of bed because there was clean laundry stacked all over the bed when we left.

Yes, I KNOW he could have put it up. I KNOW lots of men make their own lunches and meals. I KNOW he is an adult and perfectly capable of taking care of things.

But I'm important.

I'm important because I take care of things that he doesn't even have to worry about or give a thought to. I am important because I think about his meals and food long before he gets hungry (most times). I'm important because I am here when he needs me--for whatever reason whether it be to print something or to put away the laundry or to just talk to.

I realized this week that my role as his helper is even more important than homeschooling our girls. It's a fundamental part of our family. It's something we are based on. Long after the girls are done with school, and no longer need my help with the basics of life...I will be his helper. (God willing)

It's good to feel needed.

And no I'm not going to turn into one of these women who starts doting on her poor husband because the children don't need her anymore---treating him like a mere child and shushing him.

But I will be here to help him. Whatever the weather.

Sweetheart Was Here....

...and here...

She's like Gretel...except she leaves a trail of books behind her. And OK...cracker crumbs too.

The Dollhouse Project

Sweetheart was in karate last year. She wants to continue that but all I can say is, "we'll see." The budget may have another opinion on the matter. Right now she's taking piano lessons, which S and I both wanted our girls to get to do.

But Little Bit is another matter. She's not interested in anything that requires physical contact (like karate--no thank you--she tried) or anything that requires her to get up in front of people (dance, etc.)

What she IS interested in is getting attention. And her dollhouse. This was her dollhouse as given to us last year.

Wonderful! Free! And boring.

It had some accessories with it.

But it needed more!

Since that time we have wallpapered the bathroom, the kitchen, and put "linoleum" down in the kitchen floor. She's received several more rooms of stuff for birthdays and Christmas.

What she wants is to make it look "rich." So we have outlined all the projects we need to do while Sissy is at piano lessons this year.

We started with the car. This was the boring car. Poor dollhouse family in their not rich car.

You'll see next week what we're doing to make it "rich."

The Gift of Music

I am so excited. Sweetheart started piano lessons yesterday. A mom from our homeschool group announced she was going to start teaching them again (for a stellar price) and I couldn't refuse. Turns out...her house is a whopping 30 second drive from our house. Blessings everywhere!

So, Sweetheart came home yesterday from her first 30 minute lesson and could already play 2 songs. OK, they are very short and easy. She was SO excited!! Actually, I was too. She called Grandma and Grandpa to come down and hear her play and also played for S when he got home. She was hopping and jumping for 30 minutes after her lesson.

So today she did the work in her music theory book that she was supposed to do. Part of her assignment was to compose a little song using the black keys. She did:

I should tell you that I have NO idea if what she wrote down is even half-way correct. All I know is, she could play it and it sounded the same each time. She even wrote little words to it. My knowledge of sheet music is this: when the notes go up, you sing higher. When the notes go down, you sing lower.

Actually, if hard pressed, I could remember more than that....but not much. I've never had any kind of music lesson beyond what you learn in elementary school.

At my elementary we learned to sing "My gal's a corker, she's a New Yorker, I'll buy her anything to keep her in style. She's got a pair of hips just like 2 battleships, hot dog that's where my money goes."

I can sing all the verses if you like.

By the way, thank you Mr. McCallen. Music was fun if not educational.

So Little Bit, who is not taking piano lessons this year, was not to be left out or undone. Ever. Not that girl.

This afternoon she announced she had written her own song. She played something for me. She told me it was called "The Mouse Chase." Here is what I saw at the piano.

Oh I love that kid.

But don't worry about Little Bit. We couldn't think of any extra curricular activities she was interested in, so she and I have a plan. I'll share more with you tomorrow.