Raising a Modern Day Knight - Pondering #3

"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. " - Jim Valvano

#3 - Does your son know that you believe in him? How does he know it? What words or actions have you shared that communicates it?

Yes, Rick knows that I believe in him, so does Benny.  How do they know that?  Well, I asked them and we decided that just the fact that we are having this discussion shows that they are aware of my faith in them and that we are communicating about it! LOL

Such a bundle of men I have! Honestly, I say things to them. Things like, "I know you can do this."  or "You'll do great!" or "You always say you don't want to, but then you do and you love it!" That one always "gets" 'em! ahahaha

Raising a Modern Day Knight - Pondering #2

#2 - "What do you love to do with your son?" Today, ask your son what HE loves to do with YOU. Then put it on the calendar and commit to go do that.

Benjamin - "I love to hike with you in Door County."

I do too! We decided that we will be going to Door County this autumn to get in some good hiking - leaving Matt and Rick behind us on the trail, since we hike faster than they do.

Ricky - "I love to be in the kitchen with you."

I love to cook and so does Ricky. Fortunately, we love to be in there together! LOL  I taught him everything I know about baking bread and he has taken off with that. Now we are venturing into the world of gluten-free breads!

My Own Modern Day Knights - #1

#1 - Point to Ponder... Do you tell your son you are proud of him only AFTER he does something well? Your son needs to know you love him and you are proud of him unconditionally. Tell him today.

Rick - I want to tell you that I AM very proud of you for the man you are becoming. I love the way that you help others. The way you jump in and help with babysitting; the way that you went, on your own, to volunteer at the Animal Shelter; the way you console your Dad with Gramma Jean's cancer; your empathy towards others; your righteous anger at religious wars and hypocrisy.  Your bread is wonderful and PRETTY! Thank you for sharing it with others.  If I love you this much, I cannot imagine how much MORE Jesus loves you!

Mother's Day 2012

Ben - Proud beyond measure! My buttons pop when I think of how wonderful your book is! How do you come up with all of that stuff??? Where is it inside your head?  You keep yourself organized and on task and that is a wonderful trait that all employers will want.  You are my Water-Nazi and I thank you for that.  Your compassion for others is limitless. Your sense of humor and witty comebacks never fail to make me laugh. I said when you were a baby that you had a laugh that can make the Angels smile and you DO! I'm so happy that you are my son, I cannot imagine the depth of the happiness that Jesus has for you.

Pescadero, California

940 Saturdays

There are approximately 940 Saturdays in the life of your child, before he or she reaches the age of 18 years.  I have 16 Saturdays left...

How did we spend all of those Saturdays?

In the early years, I was working a 9-5 job Monday thru Friday, therefore, my Saturdays consisted of laundry, shopping, cleaning and baby duty. Hubby worked some of the Saturdays in 12 hour shifts.

We bought a house and I still worked 9-5, Monday thru Friday.  My Saturdays now included laundry, shopping, cleaning, baby duty and yard work.  Hubby still had the job with 12 hours shifts.

Then baby #2 came along with bed rest. Hubby still had the job with 12 hour shifts.

A few years later we added a puppy and I was a SAHM.  Everyday felt like a Saturday!

Then I worked opposite of hubby. No more 9-5 job, but still a Monday thru Friday job. Saturday chores were done on whatever day of the week I had off.

Then we started homeschooling the boys. Saturdays became a day for chores and sleeping in.

Then we started Sunday School.  Saturdays were spent doing chores and any final preparing for left over Sunday School messages and lesson plans.

Fund raising activities happened on Saturdays.

Saturdays went thru many changes: Family Movie Night - Family Game Night - The Day We Will Celebrate Your Birthday Night - Bath Night, etc.  The daytime hours were still spent doing chores and errands.  

Saturdays were sometimes the day I did all sorts of cooking for the upcoming week.

Hubby changed jobs! No more 12 hour shifts, but sometimes Saturdays. That was alright. Our Saturday switched to Sunday afternoons!

Our Saturday/Sunday activities for several years and into the now include: Big Family Breakfasts - Family Movie Time - Family Dinner Time - Visiting Gramma and Grampa Time - Road Trip Day - Baking Day - Game Day - Disposable tableware Day(s) - Sleeping in Late Day(s) - The-day-we-will-celebrate-your-Birthday Night - Eating all the Leftovers Day - Pulling-out-the-futon-and-sofa-sleeper-and-watching-movies-all-day-and-night Nights. Anything and everything we can squeeze into the weekend we do. I try to get all the chores done before the weekend so we can just relax.

I guess we didn't really waste 924 Saturdays! We did lots and lots together. It just so happened that our "Saturday" didn't always fall on a Saturday. We took advantage of any and ALL downtime we had. So, actually, we had more than our fair share of "Saturdays"! I'm so glad we did. I treasure it all.

Haunted Fun... during the DAYLIGHT!

There's a local ghost story that one of the wooden bridges in the Amish area is haunted. As the story goes, an Amish man and his family had a terrible accident in which their buggy went over the edge and they all perished. So, brave family that we are, we went ghost hunting... during the daytime! LOL The following is our photo shoot, sans Ben, as he does not have any desire to participate in anything ghostie.

Matt and Rick, terrified to be on a haunted bridge.

A haunted bridge that happens to be a gazillion feet in the air!!!

This is the edge of the bridge.  You are supposed to drive over the bridge, then make a U-turn so you are facing the way you came.  You are then to turn off your car and wait.  Exiting the vehicle is strictly up to you and your terrified passengers.  After 15 min. you should experience something ghostie-like. Oh, and it should be at night.

So this is us after we did the U-turn and we are about to cross over the bridge.

However, you might notice that there is a house right at the end of the bridge next to where we parked.

Also, I want you to notice the white PVC pipe that is fastened to the bottom of the bridge railing in the top right corner of the photo. More on that later.

So, now we have crossed the bridge and are facing the way we came. We got OUT of the car - it is light out yet. I'm very brave in the daylight!

To the left of this picture, to the left of the tracks there are a bunch of trees. Behind these trees is another household. We could clearly hear both households making noise while we were on the bridge.

Do you see the PVC pipe along the bottom of the railing?  We think the first house hooked up the PVC pipe with a low-voltage wiring. Perhaps speaker wire?  It is definately NOT county materials.  I think there is a speaker(s) under the bridge.

Another theory is that someone could be living or sleeping or partying under the bridge - notice the circular sitting area complete with empty beer cans.

 It didn't photograph very well, but there was a slightly used trail on this side of the bridge. It could be a deer trail though, but I think it's more of the 2-legged trail going to the empty beer cans.

They aren't scared anymore.

Us - it is really a very pretty bridge.

Us again.

Even a tiny birdie nest.

Bridge construction.

Up close and personal with the bridge hardware.

Clearing Off The Shelves

Rick is going to be a Senior in the autumn. Ben is going to be a Junior.

It's that time of year when I clear off the hs'ing shelves and sort thru the junk.  However, this year is different. This year, I have no need to make room for new books for Rick. He's almost done. This final year is mostly reading the classics. He also has Math and Science along with a few reports that I will need for him to complete.  His shelf is almost empty. As for Benny's shelf, everything he needs for his Junior and Senior year are already on his shelf.

I have all the books I need for the next two years. Everything else can go...

I put out an email to several people and thru my tears I explained that I don't need to sell these books in order to buy MORE curriculum. I have all that I need.  Everything is free.  My hs'ing journey is almost over. It was bittersweet to be cleaning off these shelves.  Everything from Algebra and Art to Zaboomafoo and Zoology could go.

Immediately, within minutes, the phone was ringing and the email was telling me, "You've Got Mail".  Everything is gone. Every last book, workbook, student text, Teacher guide, readers, art supplies, paper and folders of a million different types are gone; except for what is on my two tiny shelves. Almost 13 years of my journey gone with the click of a send button on my computer.

It's the beginning of new chapter for all of us.  There are many changes coming our way.  Matt started a new position within the company he works for and in addition to his duties, his shift may also change. Rick started working as a Stable-Boy for a horse farm. Ben has specifically set aside time every day so that he can work on his book - undisturbed.  There are two retirements approaching at my place of employment and there will be some job shifting there as well - which means I could be going to days either full-time or part-time - regardless of when, I will gain a few more working hours during the week.  My Mother-in-Love has cancer and is undergoing chemo treatments. My Father-in-Love has a few things he is dealing with. My brother is going to be a daddy in the fall - and I will be a full-fledged "Skype-Auntie".  Rick wants to take a train out West to visit his uncle.  All sorts of things going on. It can seem overwhelming at times.

The changes seem daunting and at times heartbreaking, but through it all we seem to find time to laugh. It seems, to all of us, that this time is super-duper-uber precious to us. We are taking more time to 'play'. We were a close family anyway, but now it seems almost urgent to keep our family time a priority.

My heart broke a year ago when my Grandmothers died and when my Dad had a heart-attack in the middle of those deaths. My heart was breaking just a few days ago when I was clearing away a huge part of my life.  Hs'ing is everything to me. Everything revolved around making it work financially, so that one of us was always home to home-school the boys. I don't regret the sacrifices we made, however, I am ready for more income.

We are facing different financial times within just our own family unit. 3 sets of wisdom teeth, flight school, Technical College, carpeting and one last BIG family trip. While I will miss the days that have flown passed up, I am looking forward to having the cash flow for some big ticket items --- like wisdom teeth!