Kitten Adoption

A few weeks ago, we had a pregnant stray move in with us. After having four kittens, one died at four weeks of age, and now the others are ready for new homes.

Lily (a little gray and white girl) was the first adopted out, and as of last night she is now living with Leah and Kyler Lee (my niece and her new husband). I don't know what name she will have now, but I imagine it will be creative and have some Japanese influence. I wish we could keep all the kittens, but we just can't take care of so many cats. Good luck, Lily!

The girls handled it much better than I thought. They didn't cry at all and just petted her and kissed her good bye. When did my girls mature and grow up so much?

A friend in the Army will get Hugo, the orange boy cat. We will keep Rose, the little Calico. Now we have to get Hermione (the mother) fixed so we don't have to find more homes for more kittens!

Relaxing Week...Until the Nuclear Explosion

At least it feels like a nuclear explosion minus the radiation burns.

The girls and I had a pretty good week. We've been taking it easy, even though we've had some errands to run and projects to complete. It's never perfect, but I'm very happy with my time spent with my girls.

Since Friday morning, I've been babysitting seven children for a friend of mine. Every single one of them is a challenge! I know I would feel that way about anyone's children besides my own, simply because I'm used to the quirks of my own children but not other kids. I love children, but until I get to know them they are a challenge to me under the best of circumstances.

Six of these kids are foster children with their own stories, from a 13 year old boy to two year old twin boys. I felt like I was in the middle of a WWF audience audition! Yelling, arguing, tattling, complaining, disrespect. I've rarely seen anything like it, but then it's been a while since I was in junior high.

I've said it a million times, but everytime I see how other people's children act, I get a whole new respect and admiration for how my own children behave. I have the best children on the face of this Earth, and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I vow to never take them or their behavior for granted again.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day. Dave was able to call from Iraq, and I got to spend the day with my two lovely little ladies; it's a pleasure to be their mother and teacher.

My parents as well as my in laws came over for a cook out, and Danny even came along. I didn't get any fancy dinners out at a restaurant, but this food was much better. We finished up with a Ritter's ice cream cake (made out of frozen custard). Yum! I got a nice candle from my MIL and my kids (I wanted one really bad!) and I got to visit with my four wonderful parents.

My in laws and I went to the Flower and Herb Barn to poke around. When we got home I gave her a bunch of Hostas that I divided up. I got to mow the grass (yes, I like doing that).

All in all it was a good day!

College

I went to one of my niece's college graduation on Saturday. I've been to college and have always hoped that my own children would one day go to college, and that thought was always lurking in the back of my mind. For some reason, at this graduation ceremony, I kept thinking of my own children being in the processional of students receiving their degrees. That ceremony cemented the vision in my mind instead of it being just a passing thought.

I think that was the boost I needed so that I can focus a little more on the learning process and in turn get them focused more on the learning process. I've no doubts that they will go to college some day, and I want them to be ready. I'm still not going to cram workbooks down their throats, but I do want to ensure that they learn the learning process, and how to research, and how to seek out answer to questions.

I already try and get them to think about answers on their own, so now I will guide them to learn how to research answers on their own. That is what unschooling is about, right?

Veterinarian Week

This week we've been running the Veterinarian Gauntlet.

When I made the appointments to take the animals for their shots, the receptionist recommended that I don't take them all on the same day (that would be four cats and one dog). She was right! It was a chore just bringing just two cats at a time! She made the recommendation because people just plain old don't show up and they get "burned" for the five appointments. I think it's just too hard to bring that many at once and people give up.

Monday: Spew and Ghosty made the trip to get their shots. They were relatively easy to catch and bring, but they howled the whole way to and from the vet.

Tuesday: Black Cat and Patches turn! It was a screaming, hissing, spitting fight to get these two cats into the carriers. It was exhausting just stuffing them unceremoniously into the boxes!

Wednesday: Totoro's turn to go. He was a perfect gentleman and behaved beautifully for the vet. He and the tech complimented him on his behavior, and how it was so different than most other pugs.

The girls got a little education on veterinary care this week, and Doctor Galbreath let the girls ask him questions.

I'm glad we live only five miles away from Bean Blossom Animal Clinic.

Unschooling: So Far, So Good...

I keep saying that I am an unschooler. In the beginning of homeschooling, I was about half unschool and about half traditional homeschooler. After unschooling 100% for a couple of weeks, I think that we have a winner.

I saw all my homeschooling friends using worksheets and workbooks and curriculum. The more I saw them using it, the more I started drifting towards it, and the more the kids and I were getting bogged down.

I can see us getting back to using a few workbooks and curriculum at some point in the near future. I think there is a time and place for it. For now, the unschooling is giving us all a much needed sigh of relief. No TV, no video games. They get so creative it's incredible!

Doing Too Much?

My sweet sister-in-law is in a situation like mine. Her husband (my brother) is working in Alaska. Mine is working in Iraq. She has two girls at home with her. I have two girls home with me. She is trying to be both Mom and Dad. I'm trying to be both Mom and Dad.

She told me to be careful not to overdo it because I would get burned out. In other words, don't try to take on too many tasks that would normally be done by the spouse just to prove you can do it. At least I think that was the point she was trying to make. I got to thinking about everything that I've been doing since Dave has been in Iraq...

• Homeschooling the kids
• Mowing the grass
• Weed eating
• refilling gas cans
• Gardening
• Cleaning the garage
• Cleaning house
• Washing cars
• Mushroom hunting
• Fixing bikes
• Running all over for appointments
• Babysitting occasionally
• Grocery shopping
• Banking
• Paying bills
• Helping at my parents (mowing, yard work)

...this is just a sampling. You get the idea. I finally figured out that I'm not doing anymore than I was doing BEFORE Dave left for Iraq! He always worked so hard and for such long hours with very few days off, that I was the one that was always doing 95% of the housework and yard work and all other work. Dave has never been lazy. Quite the opposite! He worked such awful hours that he would leave the house before the sun was up and come back after dark. There were just no more hours for him to do anything at home, too.

I didn't realize just how much I contributed to the household. I know that being a Homeschooling Mom is a lot of work, but I still get that feeling that I get because I don't contribute financially to the house. After seeing how much I really do that we don't have to hire someone out to do, I guess I do contribute financially by saving us money.