Around Here Right Now

Well, Friends, this summer is coming to a rapid end! At least according to the calendar. I always feel like homeschooling lets us squeak out an extra week or two of “summer”. But we all know it’s coming, and in some ways, I don’t mind! I’m missing friends that I don’t get to see as regularly during the summer months, and looking forward to programs starting up again.

Here’s a little bit about what we’ve been up to lately:

1) “The Little Mermaid” at Rainbow Stage!

So fantastic! The girls LOVED it, and we’ve had the Broadway soundtrack playing constantly at our house!

2) Getting the girls ready to share a room.

We want to move Kaylia into Anika’s room before we start school for the year – one adjustment at a time! Kaylia has been waiting for this moment since the day we moved her out of the room they were sharing. She’s never liked having her own room, and never spends any time in it, if she can help it. She’s never gotten over missing Anika!

Anika, on the other hand, is not terribly excited about sharing a room, so we’ll see how that goes. Until we finish our basement, this is what we’ve got to work with! I keep thinking of families living in one-room huts, and I’m pretty sure everyone will survive!!

But OH, MY WORD!!! Decluttering with kids is HARD!! I think we’re making progress, though! Anika is now voluntarily throwing things away on her own, and some items she is willing to part with if we first take a picture so that she can remember it always. Guaranteed, she’ll never need to look at the pictures – once those items are out of sight, she rarely thinks about them again. But that first step is tough! Surprisingly, she takes after her father….One of my more surprising moments of marriage was finding out that my incredibly laid-back, seemingly-not-overly-sentimental husband has a very hard time getting rid of stuff! Because I loooooove decluttering, I have to be careful not to bully my poor family into parting with their “treasures”.

3) Becoming addicted to “The West Wing”.

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This one is a total shocker. I don’t like politics. AT ALL. But we are loving this show! We needed something new to watch for all these evenings when I’ve used up all my energy, but it’s hard to find a good, clean show.

I’m not even sure what made us consider “The West Wing”, but the reviews were fantastic, there’s seven seasons of awesomeness, and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. So weird!! I don’t understand a lot of the political stuff, but still find myself desperately caring about these amazing characters!

4) Reading some awesome parenting books and blogs.

Lately, I’ve been wanting to deal with some issues that are driving me crazy – you know, quickly whip my children into shape before the new baby arrives!! Or at least come up with an action plan before we start school.

Positive Parenting Solutions is an awesome blog, and I’ve really been enjoying the free webinars offered on that sight.

I’ve also been reading A Family of Value (for the second time!), Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours (which I’ve used many, many times over the years), and The Baby Whisperer. I feel slightly overwhelmed by the fact that I now need to be dealing with preteen issues and a strong-willed five-year-old, as well as brushing up on caring for a newborn!

I’ve been trying to tell myself that “a change is as good as a break”, like they say, and with constantly changing from one parenting stage to the next all day long, I should just feel like my whole DAY is a break!! I’ll be the most refreshed parent around, right??!

5) Watching Ben turn fuchsia.

It started out with a throat infection that wiped Ben out for a week. Just when that seemed to be on the way out, he came into the room one evening, and said, “I think I’m getting a rash….”

In reality, it looked like he’d gone to Mexico without me, and gotten THE WORST sunburn possible. He was bright, bright pink. After a few days on the medication the doctor gave him for the allergic reaction he had to the stuff he’d previously been taking, he started turning a lovely shade of purple, which he informed me was a “good” sign – the rash was on it’s way out. He’s itched and scratched since Sunday, and whenever he looked at me with those puffy eyes, I could have cried. He looked absolutely awful!

Things seem to be getting better though, so we’re hoping that by this weekend, he’ll be back to his normal self.

But…who knows what will happen to our awesome vacation plans! We were supposed to be at the cabin for a week, but since he’s still recovering, and has missed about two weeks of work already, a holiday might not be the best plan….. Still trying to figure that one out!!

And that’s what we’ve been up to! Looking forward to “normal” life again soon! What about you?