1/31/13 THANKFUL THURSDAY

 I'm thankful for a small group of friends I have an ongoing, daily, private conversation with on Facebook.  The advice, encouragement, and laughter are priceless.

What is something that you're thankful for?

A LITTLE SNIPPET OF LIFE

Just some random things, in no particular order and having nothing to do with each other.

* I've been using our dishwasher for the last two months.  I don't mind washing dishes by hand and I like the end result better, but having dishes on the counter all the time started to bug me.  They were always rinsed and stacked, and sometimes we'd do a mid-day washing, but having 5-6 people home all day generates a lot of dishes.  I reached a point where I'd rather run the dishwasher than have stacks of dishes on the counter.  So, we're running a load a day and it's working well.  It's the first time in my adult life that I've had and regularly used a dishwasher.  I'm thankful for the luxury of having that option! 

* Naomi spent the weekend with my dad, his wife, and their other five year old granddaughter earlier in the month.  She had so much fun!!!  My dad did a few blogs posts over that weekend, so you can check out the following links for some pictures of a cute little W or to see an example of how to be awesome grandparents.

The trip down
Friday night
All day Saturday
Sunday morning & the trip home

* Here's a quick update on the school changes I mentioned last month.  We have applied to a local charter school for Devon to attend next year.  If he can't get in, then we'll either continue homeschooling as usual, switch to an online school, or do a combo of Sonlight and online school.  We plan on sending Silas to the local middle school.  We always start our new school year in July, but the rest of the state doesn't start until September, which means there are several months in which our plans could change.  For now, though, that's the plan. 

* Ashley spent last weekend with us.  We ate white chocolate, cherry, almond cookies, chatted about various things, heard "Aunt Ashley" about a million times, and introduced her to IKEA.    And we posed for smiling and silly pictures, of course.  Good times!

* I spent a day locked in my bedroom in December and spent the time coming up with a new plan of attack for school and household stuff, but we hadn't actually put any of it into practice until the last couple weeks.  I have five different sheets of paper  posted on a bulletin board in our kitchen, all with schedules and lists we need to keep our days productive. There are a few things we still need to implement, but it's been great.  I love efficiency and we all do better with structure than without it.

* The male Ws had a "dude night", thanks to Sonja, and spent time eating Subway sandwiches and watching Redbox movies together.  The littlest male W posed for the picture, but was then whisked away so that the other male Ws could watch a movie free of distractions. 

I think that's it.

1/24/13 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for schedules, charts, and lists when it's time to be productive and for rocking chairs, blankets, and pillows when it's time to rest.

What's something that you're thankful for?

1/23/13 WORTH REPEATING

Until God opens the next door for you, praise Him in the hallway.

~ Unknown


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Being a friend means mastering the art of timing.  There is a time for silence.  A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own history.  And a time to pick up the pieces when it's all over.

~ Gloria Naylor


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Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

~ Mother Theresa


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You are only seeing their highlight reel, but you see your own backstage.

~ Heidi Moore (a conversation among friends about comparing the difficulties or disappointments of your own life to the seemingly great lives of others)


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Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.

~ Kurt Vonnegut

A GAP IN THE GRIN

Naomi has had a loose tooth for a week or two, but not loose enough to pull.  Tonight she went to bed, then came out about two minutes later with a huge grin on her face and an outstretched hand.  The hand held a tooth and the grin was missing one.

This is the first tooth Naomi has pulled, but it's not the first one she's lost.  Needless to say, she went to bed giddy and eagerly anticipating a visit from the Tooth Fairy.  Fun stuff!!

MENU - SECOND HALF OF JANUARY 2013

We've tried a few new recipes over the last couple weeks that some or all of us liked.

* garlic roasted cauliflower - Garlic, lemon juice, and cheese.  That combo is amazing, so even cauliflower haters should give this a try!
* pumpkin ginger scones - Pure deliciousness!
* zucchini & tomato skillet - The green part of a lean & green meal that's excellent plain, but we also tossed leftovers into a few other dishes.
* sweet potatoes with curried yogurt dressing - These are actually on the current menu, which we started a couple days ago, and we had them yesterday.  Fun twist on sweet potatoes.

And here's what's on tap for the rest of the month.

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts x2
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings x9
* almond coconut granola 
* honey wheat muffins
* blueberry sour cream pancakes
* egg & ham scramble
* baked oatmeal

DINNERS
* leftovers x2
* tacos x2
* Papa Murphy's
* crockpot ziti/salad
* zesty chicken (crockpot, from the freezer)/rice/roasted broccoli
* salmon chowder/whole wheat drop biscuits
* baked sweet potatoes with curried yogurt dressing/salad
* pasta salad with roasted chicken & a truckload of veggies
* chicken soup and dumplings
* cheesy green beans//rice
* creamy tomato & rice soup (crockpot)/salad
* quinoa salad with apples & almonds/cukes & carrots
* barbecue chicken salad/toast
* taco soup (crockpot, from the freezer)/cornbread (from the freezer) 

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* produce
* nuts
* popcorn
* cumin chips & guacamole
* white chocolate cherry almond cookies
* new blackberry recipe & vanilla ice cream

1/17/13 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that I did dinner prep during naps and downtime yesterday because Teebs, my super busy boy who loves Tim most, wanted to spend twenty minutes snuggling on the rocking chair with me when he woke up from his nap and I didn't have to worry about dinner being late.

What is something that you're thankful for?

MOVIES I WATCHED - JANUARY 2013

There was a discussion about movies people love to watch during the Christmas season in a Facebook group I'm part of, so I checked out all the ones the library had that I hadn't seen before.  You can click the titles for more information on each one

Christmas with the Kranks

Liked it.

Holiday Affair

Loved it!

The Gathering

Neat story, but I thought it was kinda boring.  

It Happened on Fifth Avenue

Loved it!

Holiday Inn

I only half-watched while paying bills, didn't pull me in.

Christmas in Connecticut

Loved it!

The Shop Around the Corner

Liked it.

Yours, Mine and Ours (circa 1968)

Everyone watched and loved this one.  Lots of laughing!

FAMILY HISTORY

We met my dad halfway between his home and ours today in order to exchange a little W.  It ended up being a trade, though - I gave my dad a kid and he gave me a package. 

Here's the plastic box I brought home.

I opened up the plastic box to find a package wrapped in brown paper.

I opened up the brown paper to find a 7 inch stack of letters.  

I examined the top envelope and found familiar handwriting and two familiar names.

This is a stack of letters that my mom wrote to my dad before they were married, from 7/73 - 5/75 (about a week before their wedding).   How cool is that?!

I need to figure out a way to share these with Beep and Ben, so feel free to pass along any brilliant suggestions for that.   Meanwhile, I know what I'll be reading in the midst of this five week stretch between the 21st anniversary of her death and what would have been her 60th birthday.

1/10/13 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for the luxury of being able to heat our home at the touch of a button. 

What's something that you're thankful for?

A CHALLENGE

The history - Our family has moments of fun, but our home has become defined by strife. There's no purpose in sharing the nitty gritty details of that with the masses, but it's definitely something that each W has a part in. Well, maybe not Tyler. He pretty much walks around being cute and hearing "don't touch" all day. The rest of us, though, have developed various habits of treating each other poorly. 

The discovery - I was at the library last week, just skimming titles, and picked up a book that seemed like it could be helpful to our current family climate. I'm not going to tell you what it was right now, as I want to finish it first, but there was a little snippet that struck me soon after I started reading. It was particularly relevant to one aspect of W strife, so I read it to Tim on Sunday night and we had a brief discussion about it.

The challenge - Tim came up with an idea. He and I were not allowed to say anything negative, neither in words nor in tone. Everything had to be positive or neutral. Each negative thing we said would result in doing one push-up. 

We would start the challenge on Monday morning, but would not involve the kids. We would keep track during the morning and do push-ups when the kids had naps and downtime, then keep track the rest of the day and do push-ups after they all went to bed at night. One day at a time. 

The results - Neither one of us had to do push-ups on Monday. You have no idea how miraculous that was!! We had a quick over-the-top positive conversation that morning, clearly a bit on the silly side.  The kids laughed, but they had no idea there was anything deeper going on. The rest of the day went well. I had one moment that I had to make a concerted effort to not be rude and stopped myself from complaining about trivial things a couple times, but that was it. 

Neither of us had to do push-ups on Tuesday either. There were a couple warning looks exchanged when thing were getting tense, but no one was rude. Silas and I were gone for a few hours in the morning, the kids had naps and downtime in the afternoon, and Tim was gone all evening. The fact that we weren't all home all day obviously increased our odds of meeting the challenge, but it still counts as a successful day.

Today has gone well. At least for one of us. 

The other, however, said something in a snotty tone, then added "please" at the end of it in a desperate attempt to make it sound like they were being positive. Unfortunately for them, the one who has done well heard what they said and repeated the word "please". Loudly, so as to make sure the rude one knew they had been busted. Then one of the little Ws started laughing and saying "please". Then another little W asked what was so funny. The laughing little W pointed out that the parent in question had been rude and tried to cover it up by throwing a sticky sweet "please" on the end of their request. Pretty soon everyone was laughing, even the busted parent. And the non-rude parent repeatedly said "I win" when they were out of the earshot of the little Ws. Of course, the little Ws still didn't realize there was more going on behind the scenes.

Anyway, all the little Ws had naps and downtime. I wanted to read and Tim had a meeting to attend, but something needed to happen first. A push-up. I don't want to be negative by saying who was the first to fail the challenge, so I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. You'll know which parent earned a push-up and which one had nothing to do but sit around in crazy socks, jammy pants, and a sweatshirt that didn't come remotely close to matching.

The future - Yes, we will still be rude to each other and to our kids on occasion, so the push-up score will even out. We're human like that. But the last 2 1/2 days have given me hope. I don't know why something as trivial as the threat of a push-up is all it took for us to start turning the tide or why we didn't think of it sooner, but it doesn't matter. It's working!! We'll probably complete a full week of the challenge behind the kids' back, then switch to immediate push-ups and start involving them.

AN UPDATE ON TIM

It's been a while since I've let you all know how things are going for Tim, so let me get you up to speed.

Employment - Tim's applied for multiple teaching, non-teaching, and non-education jobs over the last several months, but nothing has worked out.  He has subbed four days this school year, is doing some work as a health coach, and was able to work about ten days painting and doing various handyman things for a friend.  Basketball season is now underway, so he has some officiating income to earn.  The money will be helpful, but it's his tenth season and he really enjoys it, which makes it even better.

Subbing -  He subbed three days in Canby at the beginning of October and one day at North Marion in November.  He's on the sub lists for a few districts, but teachers are more likely to call subs they know than to pull a random name off a list, so subbing hasn't been nearly the source of income that we expected it to be this year. 

The best district for him to sub in is Salem-Keizer, as he's worked there for six years and has plenty of contacts, but that hasn't worked out.  He attended their sub orientation in October and then had to wait to get clearance to sub.  He received a letter in early November stating that he didn't meet the district requirements for employment and that, due to the large number of applicants, they won't discuss individual situations online, by phone, or in person.

That made absolutely no sense, as he's met the requirements for six years, was told in June that he could still work there, was interviewed twice over the summer for two different jobs in the district, and has had nothing change in regards to his experience, licensing, etc. since any of those things happened.  While I totally understand that they can't hash out everyone's rejection letters, something was clearly wrong with his.  Whether it was inadvertently sent to him alone or to a whole list of people, it's not good to send total rejection (as opposed to being turned down for a particular job, but still being qualified to work in the district) letters to people who are qualified, potential future employees, and say that you're totally unwilling to talk to them about it.

Well, the good thing for him is that he's worked there for several years and has a file, one that he has the right to access.  So he drove down one day to see if it had just been a clerical error.  That would have been fine, as mistakes happen, but we just wanted the problem corrected so that he could sub.  The woman who sent the letter, Letter Lady, wasn't available, so her assistant said she'd find out what was going on and have Letter Lady contact him. 

We waited a couple days and didn't hear anything, so he drove down again and asked to see his file.  He was told to schedule an appointment with the woman in charge of the file, File Lady, so that they could figure out what was going on.  The appointment was set for the following week and he drove down again the day before Thanksgiving.  File Lady said she had no idea why the letter was sent, that she'd talk to Letter Lady and contact Tim when she had more information.  We waited into the next week, as the district was closed for the holiday, and he left File Lady a message to see if she'd heard anything.  She hadn't and said again that she'd contact him when she knew anything. 

It's been two calendar months since the letter was sent and several weeks, even with the break, since he contacted the district, but we've never heard back from either Letter Lady or File Lady.  Meanwhile, he's still not cleared to sub.  Is that bizarre or what?!

I would still like that letter to be removed from his file simply because it's inaccurate.  However, I don't think you can get any clearer of an answer about whether or not you are meant to work in a district than if you are sent a letter saying you aren't qualified and those with the ability to find out why it was sent aren't finding out.  I'd call that a closed door.  I have no idea why it's closed, but it's definitely been slammed shut.  At least for now.

School - Right now he's on break, but Tim is still taking classes one night a week in hopes of attaining his administrative license.  He's not throwing in the towel on teaching, but an admin license would open up a lot more job opportunities than only being qualified to do middle/high school PE with boys locker room supervision does.

Part of the admin program is a requirement for practicum hours and the original plan would have had him doing those hours next fall.  However, he received a call from a classmate a while back letting him know about a school that really needed some help.  He called the school, went in for a meeting, and was offered a position shadowing/assisting the vice principal, which he should be starting soon.  So awesome!

The good news is that he'll be able to get his practicum hours cranked out way ahead of schedule, which will make job hunting in the spring and summer much easier.  The bad news is that it's full-time, a bit of a drive from our home, and unpaid, which means he'll be putting in long hours, but unable to sub or pick up odd jobs for the next few months.  He'll still officiate in the evenings during basketball season, which will help a little, but that, the practicum, commuting, class, homework, and church leave just about enough time to sleep and none for earning money. 

So, that's where things are at.  As many of you have seen from my frequent "Blessings" posts on Facebook, God has been faithful to provide for our needs through various ways over the last several months and we've been blessed with the fluff of life on multiple occasions.  He is always the provider, whether he provides through a steady job with adequate income or through other means, and it will be interesting to see what he has in store for us over the next few months. 

MENU - FIRST HALF OF JANUARY 2013

First menu of the year!!  Can you believe it's 2013? Before I jump into the menu I want to link you to a new cookie recipe I tried recently.  We made a bunch of soft ginger, sugar, and coconut cranberry cookies to deliver to our closest neighbors, to share with some friends, and for pigging out on Christmas day.  The coconut cranberry ones were the new ones and I really like them!

coconut cranberry chews - Tasty!

BREAKFASTS
* doughnuts x2
* oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, raisins, fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and energy mix as optional toppings x9
* Barbara's pancakes
* almond coconut granola 
* pumpkin muffins
* ham and egg breakfast sandwiches

DINNERS
* leftovers x2
* tacos x3
* tomato, feta, and barley salad/roasted cabbage
* cream of celery soup/whole wheat drop biscuits
* new pork recipe (not that great)/zucchini & tomato skillet
* beans (crockpot, from the freezer)/rice/green salad
* carrot soup/grilled cheese on rye
* teriyaki chicken salad/rice
* death by garlic/green salad - fruit & nut style #1
* taco soup (crockpot, double batch and freeze half)/cornbread (double and freeze one)
* broccoli cheddar quiche with brown rice crust/green salad
* grilled salmon/garlic roasted cauliflower


SNACKS & DESSERTS
* produce
* nuts
* popcorn
* pumpkin ginger scones
* s'mores bars

1/3/13 THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for a good night's sleep.

What's something that you're thankful for?

THERE WAS MORNING AND EVENING. IT WAS A DAY.

Today did not start off well.  Snot and coughing, tired people, lots to get done, tension and strife in all directions.  And then, just to top it all off, I got busy sending out 30 e-mails for an unofficial church site I manage and totally forgot about the chicken that was cooking for dinner several hours later.  Hungry?

 

This evening some of the "to do" list is done, the rest will get finished before bed, the non-scorched dinner we had was good, Tim and the endcaps are happily hanging out in a bedroom, Naomi has been immersed in playdough for an hour, I'm hanging a bulletin board, and Devon is making the batter for the pumpkin muffins we'll have for breakfast in the morning. 

 

We're skipping Bible study tonight because of colds, which is a bummer, but ustream has started and we'll follow along from home.  And, because I know you care, let me also add that a little baking soda and elbow grease has that charred pan looking as good as new.

I'm glad the day ended better than it started! 

Let me add that

PNWNYDMU 2013

Every year I spend New Year's Day with a group of friends for the PNWNYDMU (Pacific Northwest New Year's Day Meetup, with Northwest and Meetup broken up into two words because that's the way we do acronyms).  We talk, drink, laugh, shop, and eat together all day long.  It's the perfect mental health day to kick off each year.  Absolutely wonderful! 

The number of people changes from year to year, but we had twelve show up today.  There were seven local-ish people, four who drove down from the Seattle area, and one who flew in from Spokane.  Just over thirteen hours of happiness.   Here's a shot of all of us at one point in the day.  Love these ladies!!

A couple local people left in the afternoon and all the non-local people left after dinner, but we still needed to make our traditional stop at Target.  So the remaining five of us headed that way.  Upon entering the store we immediately spotted these shockingly horrid hat/scarf/mitten combos.  They'd been marked from $40 down to $20, but we still couldn't imagine spending money on them.  Instead, we each put one on and laughed hysterically while taking pictures of ourselves.  We may or may not have garnered the attention of employees who may or may not have suspected that we were inebriated.  We weren't, they left, and we all lived happily ever after. 

 

 

I'm exhausted, happy, and hitting the sack!