So, I'm holding Adam,trying to let him take a nap, while the rest of the crew is a block away, playing in the ocean.Doesn't sound fair, does it? Well, I had my ten minutes on the beach when I got here a couple hours ago, and I'm good for now. Anything bigger than a sandbox is too much beach for me. I can't take the ocean; I like playing in the waves. The only problem is that nasty, hot sand in between me and the water. So, I get to hold Adam while they all get sandy. I tried to lay him down, but after ten minutes he realized he was in a strange house and got upset. Try typing with a netbook on your knee and a baby on your belly. Thank goodness for the backspace button.
Poppop is snoring and Richard's dozing off. It's a good, sleepy Sunday afternoon. Hot as Hades outside...uhoh...I hear kids. They must be back from the beach. Going to wake up Adam, I'm sure. Hopefully it's just a bathroom break and they'll head back out.
Nope, here they come. I guess nap time over.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Being Little
It's tough being little. The older kids are playing hide-and-seek on their bikes in the neighborhood. The younger ones can't keep up and aren't allowed to ride bikes alone (a requirement if you're trying to hide). It's killing Bekah. She was a little hysterical earlier, when her big sister left her behind. I'm going to go read some more Charlotte's Web to her.
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Why We Don't Do Family Vacations
We are scheduled to spend a week at the beach, this Summer, with Vicki's parents and her sister and family. One house; 16 people; for a week. Can you imagine that? Unfortunately, I can. Now, for any of you involved in this endeavor, who may be reading this, remember who you'll be spending the week with. You know me, and how I have a knack for getting on your nerves, even when I'm not trying to. Add to that eight kids (speaking only for my own; not the nephews) who can't talk below a shout, pick on each other all the time, and never intentionally ever pick up something on the floor (while dropping everything they touch)...and this in our seven bedroom house with just one family occupying it. Oh, and one third of the people in this beach house will be under the age of 6, and at least half (probably two-thirds) ACT under the age of six. If it rains that week, there will be no survivors.
I also have 26 chickens, three cats, a tank full of fish, a pond full of fish, a lizard, and a bin full of live crickets (for the lizard) that I have to figure out how to keep alive for a week with nobody home. A friend has offered to tend to the chickens once a day, but I feel bad about piling on the rest of the critters.
Then there are the other activities that will be missed. We have softball practice, with a national tournament coming up, karate which Ty just started, and dance which Tay just started. Oh, and did I mention all the kids staying in the same house for a week?
I miss the good old days (last year) when we split up for vacation. I went with my dad to Mt. Ranier. Vicki and half the kids went with her parents to Disney World. You know, at one point, through a haze of wishful thinking, I do believe I thought this was a good idea.
I also have 26 chickens, three cats, a tank full of fish, a pond full of fish, a lizard, and a bin full of live crickets (for the lizard) that I have to figure out how to keep alive for a week with nobody home. A friend has offered to tend to the chickens once a day, but I feel bad about piling on the rest of the critters.
Then there are the other activities that will be missed. We have softball practice, with a national tournament coming up, karate which Ty just started, and dance which Tay just started. Oh, and did I mention all the kids staying in the same house for a week?
I miss the good old days (last year) when we split up for vacation. I went with my dad to Mt. Ranier. Vicki and half the kids went with her parents to Disney World. You know, at one point, through a haze of wishful thinking, I do believe I thought this was a good idea.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Hot
This is the second or third day in a row of 100+ degrees. It is hot. Nothing much to do but sit around in the A/C, feeling guilty about not doing anything. All the computers and netbooks and laptops are being used at full capacity; the kids don't want to go outside either. Kenzie had softball practice yesterday-Alex took her-but I don't know how they could've done too much. Tonight, we have dance, for Taylor, and karate, for Tyler. Good, inside activities. I hope it cools off a little bit, soon.
We were looking at a car for Alex yesterday. A '94 Mustang GT. Stopped looking when we turned the engine on and it struggled to start. We'll keep looking, but I hope we can settle on something more practical (like a small truck) or economical on the gas. He has to remember his 40-minute drive to school is going to cost him some gas money.
Now, I hear the kids are heading for the pool. I hate the idea of having to sit out there and watch them, but I hate the idea of them swimming without me watching them, more.
We were looking at a car for Alex yesterday. A '94 Mustang GT. Stopped looking when we turned the engine on and it struggled to start. We'll keep looking, but I hope we can settle on something more practical (like a small truck) or economical on the gas. He has to remember his 40-minute drive to school is going to cost him some gas money.
Now, I hear the kids are heading for the pool. I hate the idea of having to sit out there and watch them, but I hate the idea of them swimming without me watching them, more.
Monday, July 05, 2010
July 4th Weekend
I tried reading the Declaration of Independence to some of the kids yesterday. We didn't get very far before they began to wander off. It's no wonder our kids in government schools don't learn our American history when I can't even get my own kids to listen. I am going to make a greater effort this coming school to get some history to stick to my kids' brains. They really need to understand what's made this country great before they accept the direction our socialist/progressive leaders are currently taking it.
On a lighter note, we did get our 4th of July cookout in, yesterday. Did some fishing and kayaking, too. Some of the kids are still fishing and kayaking as I type this. I'll be joining them shortly. Taylor was getting a little upset yesterday because he was having trouble catching fish, especially when Bekah, the five year old, caught her first fish of the day when she accidentally dropped her line straight off the side of the boat. When we got home, Tay went down to our nearest creek and promptly caught a dozen fish, so he forgot about his bad luck earlier in the day.
Alex had to work so he missed the fun yesterday. He's out in the kayak right now, but will need to come in soon, for his 3 pm shift at Subway. I was going to take him car hunting today, but I guess we have all summer for that. It's hard to find a decent car in a 17 year old's price range, especially when he only works three or four days a week. There are a lot of good things about having a large family, but having money is not one of them.
Gonna cut this short so i can head down to the creek and check on the crew. Belated happy Independence Day!
On a lighter note, we did get our 4th of July cookout in, yesterday. Did some fishing and kayaking, too. Some of the kids are still fishing and kayaking as I type this. I'll be joining them shortly. Taylor was getting a little upset yesterday because he was having trouble catching fish, especially when Bekah, the five year old, caught her first fish of the day when she accidentally dropped her line straight off the side of the boat. When we got home, Tay went down to our nearest creek and promptly caught a dozen fish, so he forgot about his bad luck earlier in the day.
Alex had to work so he missed the fun yesterday. He's out in the kayak right now, but will need to come in soon, for his 3 pm shift at Subway. I was going to take him car hunting today, but I guess we have all summer for that. It's hard to find a decent car in a 17 year old's price range, especially when he only works three or four days a week. There are a lot of good things about having a large family, but having money is not one of them.
Gonna cut this short so i can head down to the creek and check on the crew. Belated happy Independence Day!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Quick Update
I see I haven't posted here since the beginning of the school year that has recently ended. wow. Many things have obviously happened.
The twins wound up going to public school for fourth grade. I thought I needed a break, and I probably did, but they are coming back home for fifth grade. They did very well in school. And they seemed to like it. They made a couple new friends. But, I don't see what they actually learned. At the end of the year, they were still using methods that I taught them in third grade math; their Grammar and sentence structure seemed to have stagnated, or regressed; Taylor is still shy; Tyler is still 'energetic'. Overall, they had an easy and very unchallenging year. Fifth grade will be different, but I won't be a stressed that I am not doing a good enough job. If I do half what I usually teach, it will be more than they got this past year.
Alex had a mediocre year, grade-wise. I think (and hope) that it was part of being a seventeen year old. When I was that age it bothered me when my grades; not him. He's too laid back and doesn't get upset when his grades are average. He has been recognized often, throughout the past three years at SSPP, for his leadership qualities and spiritual life, so that's something to be proud of. It is the only reason we keep shelling out the tuition for a Catholic high school. Alex has been working at Subway for about a year now, and I am very proud of him for that. Between school and work, he is kept very busy. Right now he is in West Virginia with his Mission Team. Vicki went as a chaperon. They'll be there for a week, working hard and getting very little sleep. I'm thinking they'll be loving every minute.
Connor finished up eighth grade. He'll be joining his brother as a ninth grader at SSPP. He took a placement test last December that indicated he was at the equivalent of the end of ninth grade. He's a wiz at math, just finishing Algebra 2 at home. He'll be taking it again in ninth grade because I didn't use an 'accredited' program blah blah blah or something. I decided not to argue; let him have an easy first year of high school. He hasn't been in 'school' since first grade and since he'll be playing soccer in the fall, an easy academic schedule will help keep the stress down. Still playing piano and playing travel soccer. His team took first place this spring.
Kenzie is still doing all things that Kenzie does. Just finished sixth grade; going to hopefully finish Algebra 1 over the summer. I will use an 'accredited' homeschool course for Alg 2 so she'll be able to skip it in high school. Maybe Geometry, too, if we can get that far in the next two years. She's also still playing piano. Periodically, I post some of her and Connor's stuff on youtube and/or facebook. She's also gotten back into travel softball, after taking last year off. For most of this spring she was on three teams: a rec team, and two travel teams. It's a long story, but she ended up dropping off the one travel team because they weren't travelling enough (and when they started, there were too many conflicts with the team she began travelling with earlier). She rejoined Bayside Breeze, from a few years ago. They wound up being shorthanded due to injuries, so it worked out for the best. They only had 9 girls last weekend, and are playing in a State tournament this weekend with only 10 girls (even though the one girl may still not be at 100%). Anyway, things are very busy in Kenzie's world.
Two days later:
Still trying to write this update post.
Let's see, who needs to be updated.... Bekah, Kearsyn, Adam. Well, Bekah started a little homeschooling this year. She's reading and doing math somewhere around a first grade level (and she's just now old enough for Kindergarten). She usually bugs me to "do school" with her enough for me to give her new concepts once in a while; the rest she does on her own, by reading whatever she can find. She can't wait until we start up for real, in a couple months.
Keary's still our peanut. She is so petite! Right now, she weighs less than Adam. He's 20 months, she's three and a half. She's got quite the personality, talks constantly, and is everybody's best friend.
Adam is our fire plug. About as round as he is high. Linebacker, all the way. We'll never be accused of starving him, that's for sure. He makes a lot of noise, but doesn't say too much yet.
As for Vicki and me, not much has changed. She's still grumbling about work, I'm still grumbling about much she works. I'm looking forward to the next couple months of summer, although we'll be starting our summer school schedule tomorrow (just a little math each day or so). Right now, as I may have said above, Vicki is on the Mission trip with Alex. They've been gone since Friday and are already missed. I'm trying to figure out how I'll get Kenzie to practice this week, and Tyler to altar server training, but it'll work out somehow.
We may have some big news in the near future, but we're not talking yet, so stay tuned.
The twins wound up going to public school for fourth grade. I thought I needed a break, and I probably did, but they are coming back home for fifth grade. They did very well in school. And they seemed to like it. They made a couple new friends. But, I don't see what they actually learned. At the end of the year, they were still using methods that I taught them in third grade math; their Grammar and sentence structure seemed to have stagnated, or regressed; Taylor is still shy; Tyler is still 'energetic'. Overall, they had an easy and very unchallenging year. Fifth grade will be different, but I won't be a stressed that I am not doing a good enough job. If I do half what I usually teach, it will be more than they got this past year.
Alex had a mediocre year, grade-wise. I think (and hope) that it was part of being a seventeen year old. When I was that age it bothered me when my grades; not him. He's too laid back and doesn't get upset when his grades are average. He has been recognized often, throughout the past three years at SSPP, for his leadership qualities and spiritual life, so that's something to be proud of. It is the only reason we keep shelling out the tuition for a Catholic high school. Alex has been working at Subway for about a year now, and I am very proud of him for that. Between school and work, he is kept very busy. Right now he is in West Virginia with his Mission Team. Vicki went as a chaperon. They'll be there for a week, working hard and getting very little sleep. I'm thinking they'll be loving every minute.
Connor finished up eighth grade. He'll be joining his brother as a ninth grader at SSPP. He took a placement test last December that indicated he was at the equivalent of the end of ninth grade. He's a wiz at math, just finishing Algebra 2 at home. He'll be taking it again in ninth grade because I didn't use an 'accredited' program blah blah blah or something. I decided not to argue; let him have an easy first year of high school. He hasn't been in 'school' since first grade and since he'll be playing soccer in the fall, an easy academic schedule will help keep the stress down. Still playing piano and playing travel soccer. His team took first place this spring.
Kenzie is still doing all things that Kenzie does. Just finished sixth grade; going to hopefully finish Algebra 1 over the summer. I will use an 'accredited' homeschool course for Alg 2 so she'll be able to skip it in high school. Maybe Geometry, too, if we can get that far in the next two years. She's also still playing piano. Periodically, I post some of her and Connor's stuff on youtube and/or facebook. She's also gotten back into travel softball, after taking last year off. For most of this spring she was on three teams: a rec team, and two travel teams. It's a long story, but she ended up dropping off the one travel team because they weren't travelling enough (and when they started, there were too many conflicts with the team she began travelling with earlier). She rejoined Bayside Breeze, from a few years ago. They wound up being shorthanded due to injuries, so it worked out for the best. They only had 9 girls last weekend, and are playing in a State tournament this weekend with only 10 girls (even though the one girl may still not be at 100%). Anyway, things are very busy in Kenzie's world.
Two days later:
Still trying to write this update post.
Let's see, who needs to be updated.... Bekah, Kearsyn, Adam. Well, Bekah started a little homeschooling this year. She's reading and doing math somewhere around a first grade level (and she's just now old enough for Kindergarten). She usually bugs me to "do school" with her enough for me to give her new concepts once in a while; the rest she does on her own, by reading whatever she can find. She can't wait until we start up for real, in a couple months.
Keary's still our peanut. She is so petite! Right now, she weighs less than Adam. He's 20 months, she's three and a half. She's got quite the personality, talks constantly, and is everybody's best friend.
Adam is our fire plug. About as round as he is high. Linebacker, all the way. We'll never be accused of starving him, that's for sure. He makes a lot of noise, but doesn't say too much yet.
As for Vicki and me, not much has changed. She's still grumbling about work, I'm still grumbling about much she works. I'm looking forward to the next couple months of summer, although we'll be starting our summer school schedule tomorrow (just a little math each day or so). Right now, as I may have said above, Vicki is on the Mission trip with Alex. They've been gone since Friday and are already missed. I'm trying to figure out how I'll get Kenzie to practice this week, and Tyler to altar server training, but it'll work out somehow.
We may have some big news in the near future, but we're not talking yet, so stay tuned.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Kenzie and Cat
One 11 year old softball player had a dream come true this weekend. She met one of her heroes, and one of the greatest players to play fast pith softball: Cat Osterman. She is one happy little girl.
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