Weekly Wrap-Up

We had a short week this week since we spent Monday driving home from Myrtle Beach. I spent most of Tuesday just trying to get the kids motivated to do anything. It is always hard to readjust after a trip. T complained that he never gets a break from schoolwork, even though he just had a 5 day break. That kid would really love to be an unschooler, and he does read all the time. However he would end up being a 30 year old who couldn't add two numbers together. I know "real" unschoolers would argue that he would learn math when he needed it, but I don't function that way.

I am still trying to figure out a good formula for my weekly wrap-ups. I could go day by day, but when I tried that my week seems boring. I could try subject by subject, but again who wants to hear that we did pages 40-45 in our math workbook? I just need to remember the intention of this blog is to remind myself of the highlights and accomplishments of our school year. So here is our weekly recap:

T: T is back in a "mood" about not wanting to do his schoolwork. We really started off the year great so I am not sure what is happening. Math is always an issue, but he really is doing well with his studies. He just hates math and I am not sure what to do about it. He continues to love history and impressed me this week with some knowledge of Ancient Egyptian Gods. We also finally completed our Egyptian Pyramid and the kids really had fun with that. I am always grateful of his love of reading, specifically science and history. He does a lot of independent learning this way. I have really seen some glimpses of maturity this week in the way T speaks and thinks. That is always a fun thing. He will be turning 9 in January and is really becoming his own person.

M: Ahh M, my darling 6 year old girl. Or should I say, my Whining 6 year old girl, since that is all she did this week? It has been a week full of whining and tattling. I really need to spend some time with her working on these issues, but honestly I was too irritable to be very kind about it this week. I think this is where M needs the most work. Academically she is progressing. She is probably below grade level in a couple areas, but she has improved so much since the beginning of the year that I am confident she will catch-up quickly. This is great news because 2 months ago I was wondering if she had some kind of learning issue. We are finally seeing some real progress. The difference in her reading is amazing. She still tires easily and I need to break up most of her reading lessons into 2 parts, but she is actually READING!!

Mommy: I thought I might add a little of my own update each week also. I am always on the verge of a million goals, activities, or ideas. This week I have been in a "need to get organized" mood. I will admit that I am always on the search for a new way to organize myself and organize/encourage myself to clean. This is why I have about 4 different paper planners, plus 2 electronic ones. I am always searching for something to work for me. Actually my favorite system ever was my Palm T/X. This actually worked GREAT for me. But alas I ended up loosing it right before we moved to Florida. Two years later we found it in the hidden recesses of our couch. But, by that time, smartphones were all the rage and I just couldn't seem to make it work for me anymore. Now I have a Palm Pre which I like, but it does not run on the same software as my old Palm and, frankly, the old way was vastly superior. So I am back to the eternal search to become organized.

Family Friday: North Carolina

Last weekend we had planned an extended weekend get-a-way to visit my MIL in Myrtle Beach. This also coincided with DH and my 10th Wedding Anniversary. At the last minute we decided to leave a day early and travel first to North Carolina. We wanted to see the state we had previously only driven through and view some fall foliage. It ended up being 5 1/2 days with a lot of car time, but also a lot of fun.

We left Wednesday night with a goal of getting to Savannah. The whining started pretty soon after that. T's DVD player only lasted about 30 minutes and he somehow managed to loose all the games for the DS. We had the player, but nothing to play. He is lucky he has a nice sister who let him plug headphones into her player and share her movie. But after about 3 hours he was done in the car. The poor kid is not good at car trips. I feel for him because I was the same way. I was never able to fall asleep in the car which makes for a long trip. T rarely ever sleeps in the car either. M loves to ride in the car and we very seldom get any complaints. And candy usually takes care of any of her ills anyway.

So, back to our trip. We had to stop early on Wednesday so we spent a little longer in the car than anticipated on Thursday. We drove to Greensboro, NC and found a hotel after a short exploration of the city. This was our anniversary night so we looked for a nice place to have dinner. We lucked out and found a restaurant right next door called Daryl's Woodfire Grill. It was a very nice place and, from the talk surrounding us, I believe it had just reopened from renovations. The food was very good and we were delighted to have a pleasant, and delicious Anniversary dinner.

The next day we got up early and the kids enjoyed a free breakfast and some cartoon time while Jeff and I packed. Then we headed off to find coffee and explore the city. Greensboro has a very nice "greenway loop." There was a nice crispness in the air and, luckily, I had remembered to check the weather and we were all appropriately dressed. We had what I like to call the "Savannah incident" a few years back where we all showed up in shorts to a cold rainy weekend in Savannah. I was much better prepared this time. After a few hours of exploration we set off for Myrtle Beach and the next leg of our journey.

To Be Continued....

Weight Loss Wednesday

I recently decided to revisit my Body Bugg in an attempt to increase my exercise. This is the same unit that the contestants on The Biggest Loser use to gauge their "burn" or amount of activity needed to loose their desired weight. So far I have yet to hit my "burn." I am trying to figure out what exactly I need to do (besides run a marathon) to accomplish this. Last week, while on vacation, we visited a state park which involved a lot of walking, touring a historic building, and walking back and forth to the beach and restrooms. I was sure I would have hit my goal that day, but no.

I guess I need to step it up, but I am still having a hard time fitting in when and where to exercise. The treadmill still bores me to tears. I managed 15 minutes today, but that was all my brain could take. With the kids at home all day I just can't leave and take a long walk in the neighborhood. The kids whine too much to make taking them with me a possibility. Sure I could just endure the whining, but if you have ever tried to exercise with a kid hanging on you, you may understand how annoying this is. I remember when Maggie was a baby and Tyler was about 3, I used to try to do 20 minutes of a morning exercise show. I was never so angry in my entire life, and it was a yoga video! This was not exactly stress relief.

On a happy note, I had another NSV this week. I bought size 16 jeans! I really can't remember the last time I wore a size 16. I think possibly in college. I am officially in a smaller size than my wedding dress. Although, to be honest, I still "feel" like I weigh more than when I got married. Maybe that is because I am older and have more body aches and pains and less energy.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 TV Shows That I Am Ashamed to Admit I Watch

Blatantly stealing from my friend Nathalie....

TV shows can be very stupid, well, a lot of times. But they're also entertaining, sometimes.

Here are the 10 shows that I actually enjoyed (i.e. was addicted to for a while) but I'm ashamed to admit it, usually (in no particular order)

1) The Girls Next Door - this is my most embarrasing show, but also the most enjoyable one 2) Breaking Bonaduce

3) Jon and Kate Plus 8

4) The Real World

5) Real World Road Rules Challenges

6) Britney and Kevin: Chaotic

7) Celebrity Fit Club

8) America's Next Top Model

9) Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood

10) Oprah

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY Monday October 25, 2010

Outside my window... darkness and mosquitoes

I am thinking... that I have a lot of laundry to do

I am thankful for... the wonderful mini vacation we just returned from

From the learning rooms... Tyler had a rough week last week and failed to complete all his math assignments. I told him he would be required to work on math through our vacation until he was caught up on his assignments. I then failed to pack his math book thus making my child the happiest and luckiest 8 year old in Myrtle Beach.

From the kitchen... we stopped at Ruby Tuesdays for lunch where I ate a delicious turkey burger served by a less than enthusiastic waiter

I am wearing... white crop pants, brown shirt and bare feet

I am creating... a To Do list for my week

I am going... to do nothing tomorrow except for laundry and school work

I am reading... another book by Nancy Thayer that I can't remember the name of

I am hoping... for a good number on the scale this week and, also, that Target still has the Halloween costumes I need

I am hearing... the sound of multiple movies from different areas of the house

Around the house... my house looked surprisingly clean when we got home from vacation. I am trying to remember if I actually cleaned before we left or if our neighbors cleaned our house while we were gone.

One of my favorite things... My new IPOD!!!! Ok, remember last week when I posted that I would like to exercise but I lost my IPod and I get bored easily? Well, my AWESOME Husband bought me a new IPod for our anniversary! Isn't that crazy and wonderful? I feel very blessed to be married to such a kind man who, instead of complaining about my mistake in loosing something, chose to find a way to encourage and please his wife.

A few plans for the rest of the week... cleaning up and recovering from our trip, buying last minute Halloween costumes, planning the next two weeks of school

Here is picture I am sharing...

Our anniversary dinner at the beach

Weight Loss Wednesday

I must say I was fairly disappointed yesterday to step on the scale only to learn I had lost ZERO, NILL, NOTHING!!!! This has happened before, but I really stepped up my game last week. I really want to loose 10 lbs by mid November to reach an important goal. Last week I really concentrated on my water consumption and I started to exercise. I walked EVERY day. So, yes I was very disappointed with the results. Oh, I won't give up or backslide, but I can be pissed for a couple days, right?

I did have a small non-scale victory this week. Maybe it is more of an observation, but either way it is a success. I took my husband's car to get an oil change and decided to walk over to the adjoining strip mall rather than wait. That group of stors didn't have a place to get a drink so I walked across the parking lot to the McDonalds. Then I walked over to the next set of strip mall stores to check out Blockbuster. I did all this without giving the distance a second thought and, in my most unsupportive shoes. When I finally left Blockbuster and headed back toward the car shop I noticed the distance I had traveled. I realized that a year ago I would have been very reluctant to have walked that short path. I would have gauged the distance and, although it is not a huge distance, it would have overwhelmed me. It is hard to explain to a person of normal health and weight, but those extra pounds made each step an extra burden. And that became another double-edged sword. The extra physical difficulty of movement made the mental burden of exercising that much harder to overcome. But this week, even with my continual knee pain and extra pounds, I realized what a physical difference the 60+ lbs have made thus far. Now if I can just get over the boredom complex of the treadmill and find my IPOD I might actually make a habit of this exercise.

Playing Tag

Ok I'm in... Nathalie from A Pinch of Curiosity tagged me and I'm supposed to answer her 5 questions, tag other people and they have to answer my questions and then so on and so forth. I'm not sure how fun it will be Nathalie ;) but I will try. Just kidding... I don't mind answering the questions, it's the coming up with new ones that it the difficult part.

1) Are you an organ donor? Yes, but I told Jeff everything except the eyes. I'm not sure why I have the hangup since I want to be cremated.

2) What is the most frivolous thing you have ever bought? I'm not sure what the answer would be. I have made some impulse purchases of electronics, but I am not sure I would call them frivolous. The one thing that comes to mind is a really stupid purchase I made in college. It was one of the first purchases I ever made with my own brand new credit card. What was it?? A stuffed animal. It was not expensive, but it was certainly unnecessary. I guess I see this as the beginning of a lot of stupidity around credit cards and finances. I am glad those days are behind me and we no longer have credit card debt.

3) How many pairs of shoes do you own? Well I have only two pair that I wear on a regular basis. And I did just purge a bunch of my shoes, but I think I own about 14 pairs.

4) Have you ever "paid it forward" and how? Yes. DH and I have on occasion left an extra large tip to someone who "touched" us, not by good service but by their character or struggles. I have paid for the coffee of a person behind me in the drive-thru. We recently helped out a family member by gifting them a sum of money during a difficult time.

5) Free association: If I say "homeschool" to you, what are the first 3 things that come to your mind? Go! struggle, work, time (can you tell we are having a bad day?)