Miserable Lessons:)

Since last year February, I have made umpteen number of trips to Georgia. Packed my Dad's house, organised a full re-plumbing of the house, put his house up for sale, stopped him from "gifting the house to a frenemy", did everything to help him sell it and move all of his stuff to Florida. Bought him a boat, moved his stuff onto the boat. Got him little things like a clock radio, new coffee maker, groceries etc. to make his life a little easier. After Easter he moved in with us so my other half could completely rip off the bottom of his boat and rebuild it along with the sides which we found, to our dismay, had termites.

For the past 10+/- months Dad has been living with us. You never really know a person until you live with them. The last time I lived with Dad, I was a child and he was a younger, happier man. For the most part, these past months have been a living hell. I have never been more stressed in my life. I never would have imagined that he had become such a miserable soul. I am not being spiteful, just honest. I have learned so much throughout this experience.

One of the things I have learned for example, is that you cannot help everyone. I know I have done everything within my power to make my Dad's life easier and happier. Some people prefer self pity and negativity it would seem. I read recently that self pity can be as addictive as heroin. I think there may be some truth in that but cannot say for sure. They say you can lead a horse to water...well, today I pushed that horse to his own boat. Well, our boat, that he lives on, for free, and claims everything as his own and practically accuses me of taking his stuff (but that's another blog post to depressing to write about). The long awaited repaired houseboat came in last night. An event the entire community on the dock came out for and assisted with docking. Dad, however, sat in my boat watching my t.v. Couldn't be arsed to see the boat come in. Also refused to sleep there last night. I could have died. Today, I sent him packing.

Another thing I have learned is that there are givers and takers in this world. Takers will just take everything you have and leave you empty. They will have no remorse or sense of gratitude either. They won't look back. They just take until you run out of give a shit. My give a shit ran out a few months ago. I learned that I can put on a happy face for months. It isn't a good thing to learn. I think the Italians have it right with just lashing out as and when needs be. The trouble is if I did that, it would NEVER be forgiven. So, bottle it up, put on a happy face was my coping mechanism which led to a possible MS diagnosis. Either MS or stress. So I don't recommend bottling it up. Even being able to vent with my incredibly understanding other half, whom I might add is equally stressed, couldn't seem to lighten the load of stress. What to do, if you don't like something, change it. But that is not always possible. Sometimes there are delays etc. But you still want to do the right thing by family. Honestly, I don't feel it was worth my sanity. My sanity sailed off some time ago, I just hope it went somewhere nice, sunny and tropical. But, in my defense, I didn't remember him ever being this way. 


My kids, well they have learned things too. They see that there are happy old people and miserable old people. They see the happy ones at church and at the nursing home and just around the dock - our neighbors. They know that some of our older friends struggle daily with aches and pains but they get up, they go out and they live life, sometimes even doing it with a smile! Then they see their Papa, who actually said to me a few weeks ago, that the only thing he has in life is T.V. (no shit! Thanks for that Dad) and my Abi said to me that she was depressed initially because she thought she would become like him when she got old. She then observed all of the happy older people and made a little promise to herself about not becoming so miserable. She has had to learn how to let things roll off her back. It isn't easy for her but he gives her lots of opportunities to practice that. Aaron is still the biggest peacekeeper in the family and is still genuinely giving towards his Papa. He does get very hurt by Papa and annoyed but his is so quick to forgive and forget. It is really admirable.

My husband I cannot believe is still here. I am sure he wishes my family were not all such jerks, especially the elephant in the boat. The fact that we even managed a Christmas is a testament to my hard working super hubby. The poor man is so tired. He is so overworked and in desperate need of a vacation.

Lastly, what I learned was that I am now able to leave Dad, go sailing, live our lives and not have a single ounce of regret about it. Because I know he is safe, I know he can do for himself but chooses to let others. I know his woe is me act is just that, an act. I know what he is like. I know how much he doesn't really care about anyone besides himself and I know how much of a user he really is (financially and emotionally). You cannot hide your true self when you live with another person. I feel a bit as if his ex must be laughing her arse of in heaven at me now. She did try to tell me what had become of him but whenever I saw him it was only for a short weekend and he was not his true self.  I was actually mad at her for telling me this about him because I didn't believe it was true, nor would I ever have believed her in a million years, but boy, was I ever wrong.


So, we are free. Free from obligation anymore. I will always be there for him but I cannot be his maid or nurse. When the time comes, I know my limits and I cannot take care of him. I will happily send him off to a home somewhere and maybe even visit him.

Justin will begin laying off his workers next week and the Cornish dream of sailing away again will be realized this year. Woohoo:)

People Are Annoying

God love em, people are annoying.  It has recently occurred to me that the old saying, "God doesn't give what you want but what you need" applies to people as well.  

I have always wondered why my babies were up through the night and others weren't, why my husband never changed a nappy and others did (okay, he'd argue that he changed a few), why my sister died at 17 yrs of age and my parents divorced when I was only 12, why my other sister and I don't even talk anymore, why other families seem so much happier etc. etc. etc.  I think everyone wonders these things though their circumstances are different.  I have learned something for each of these people and from each situation and these things have made me into the person I am today.

Lately I have been wondering why I can't seem to like the one guy down the dock who is friendly enough but just full of himself in my opinion.  He has an overbearing personality, is abrupt and openly tells my kids to disobey me - the latest was to shoot seagulls with their paintball guns after I had told him they are not allowed.

It hit me then that I am just supposed to learn from everyone!  God deliberately puts these people in our lives for us to learn to love.  I mean learn to love because sometimes, lets face it, it is work!  Some people are really hard to even like let alone love.   I  have a lot of trouble not judging others.  Sure I don't gossip about them but my heart is filled with contempt towards some people sometimes and it ain't pretty.  Regular confession is helping me greatly. God is working on me and teaching me so much.  Like, what right do I have really.  I am a very annoying person myself I am sure to some people - though I can't imagine who. I try not to offend but probably have more times than I know about.  How do we love them or begin to even like them?  I think the answer is praying for them.  When we pray for them, or at least in my experience, we begin to see them as Christ does, as a beautiful person made in God's image.  Oh it isn't a one off prayer but sometimes many prayers before we start to feel anything for a person we have trouble liking.

Mother Theresa said once that we cannot help or love all of the people in the world, only the one's God puts in our path.

I have nothing really to offer a reader on the internet from my own musings but I can share what I don't know which is an awful lot!

Falling to pieces , by fractions. 

This morning we woke up late - never good on a Monday morning since that is the 1 day of the week we have the most school work to cover. We also forgot morning prayers together. I said mine quickly in my head as I made breakfast and then jumped into Math which was just stupid on my behalf. 

We are struggling with 6th grade math. Fractions, oh fractions. How we loathe fractions. We spent the entire morning on fractions alone! There were tears, arguments and one broken wipe board, which I should add, was broken by me, not Abi. Apparently if you point (poke) really hard at it, it just breaks. Who knew?! 

Aaron, the peacekeeper, piped up shortly after the board broke and reminded us that we hadn't done our morning prayers! Yes! That's it, that is what we need to do I thought! Then Abi informed me that she had, "done hers". Hmmm, if she had done them anything like she had done her fractions I thought, that's not good. Aaron and I said a couple of prayers together at that point but, because we were late starting our day, we didn't do our usual time of the daily reading of the scripture....another mistake and Abi didn't join us for morning prayers together since she'd, "done hers"- perhaps she should have. 

The day seemed to go on forever. We battled and we struggled and we plodded on through Spelling, Composition, Lit, Greek History, English & Latin but didn't finish until very late. 

I got some time with Justin for lunch.  Justin has offered to help Abi with her Math! It won't be easy because of his schedule but as and when he can, he will, even if that is evenings. Whew, I am so glad that is settled. 

I also got a bit more prayer time on my own. I am now quite certain that God doesn't want us to be miserable over fractions. He certainly cannot want for us to forgo prayers & scripture for fractions.  In our hurry, somehow, we deemed math more important today!  It's much more important to have a happy home, happy kids and happy school day than stressing the stupid fractions. 


Lessons learned... 

1.  DON'T forget morning prayers 
2.  IF we forget morning prayers, everyone stops what they are doing and does them together! 
3. Always ask God for help on fractions!!! 
4. Thank God for his providence in a hubby who can do math:) 
5. Thank God we have scrap paper for when wipe boards    break!

"Goodbye to the Meat"

Lent has arrived! The children and I went to mass on Ash Wednesday and got our ashes to kick off the season. Father Ignatius told us that "carnival" comes from the Latin, carne vale - or goodbye to the meat. Carnival now has come to mean any manner of party. Also, Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday" (before Ash Wednesday) is the day to load up on sweets and meats while you can. In the UK they have "Shrove Tuesday" which I have no idea about the term Shrove but it might have something to do with pancakes as they eat a lot of pancakes on that day every year.


So, the kids thought about what to give up and Aaron decided he'd like to give up showers! Well obviously that would get a bit smelly around the boat and also it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice as he doesn't like baths anyway. After a bit of prayer he decided to give up sugar-free chocs - which may not seem that great at first but when you consider he doesn't have regular sweeties ever anymore because of sugar problems AND sugar free chocs are his only treats (bless him)- it's a big sacrifice. Abigail decided to give up her Kindle. Which she only uses at the weekend but usually from the moment she wakes on a Saturday morn until bedtime Sunday night you can find her in her cabin, on her Kindle, playing various dress up and make-up apps much to my chagrin.

Justin is joining us this year and given up eating out at restaurants. Hmmm, he just said a couple of weeks ago that eating out was costing us a lot of tom! BUT he added that whatever we save by not eating out, he will donate to the Church on Easter Sunday when he will be attending with us! WOW now that is good!

I have given up my much loved, but unhealthy habit, of diet coke and movie night popcorn/snacks. I could very easily have given up shaving my legs too but Justin would have objected I think. I have given up on a bit of vanity though. No make-up except face powder. So I may look scarier to the world but I just smile more to make up for it.

 Abstaining from meat is being observed by all of us for Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday as well as all the Fridays of Lent. Not that the rest of em have much choice as I am the cook. Fasting can only be observed by myself as the kids are too young and Justin got a doctor's note. Fasting was a toughy because I still had to prepare and serve breaky, lunch, dinner and snacks all the day on Wednesday! I am weak so I said many a prayer each time I trudged to the galley to make yet another tasty snack for someone else.  The prayers worked because I have no will power normally. God is good. Honestly, I caught my reflection in the sliding door and was amazed that I didn't look as hollow as I felt. Still it was good for me and God saw me through it and I feel we can tackle the next 6 weeks together.

I actually love giving up something for Lent. Jesus died for our sins and no matter what we offer to give up this Lent, puny as it may be, He knows we do it out of love and I know He loves us for it.

Costa Rica!!!

Costa Rica was awesome! We had the most amazing time. We did more adventure activities in that week than we have done in our entire lives. As I read the literature prior to our horseback tour it made me laugh out loud, "ride through the mountains like John Wayne and, the adventurer you are!" Nobody would ever have described me thus but that week we certainly did have a lot of adventure. Ziplining, ATV tour, Horseback riding, swimming in the Pacific, hiking in the rainforest, swimming in a waterfall! It was truly paradise on earth and we plan to spend Christmas there this year. Can't wait to go back. Who knows, one day, we may even take the boat down there!!!

New School Year!!!

We are more than 6 weeks into our school year and it is going great! I cannot believe how well it is going. The kids would tell you, "eh, it's alright" because school is school whether at home or in a school building but they secretly like it, I can tell. Abi told me the other day that she "likes having all of the new books". Aaron said yesterday to Abi, "you know, I guess school is kind of useful" when he was working on a book they are writing together. Just that morning he had told me "school is stupid". Charming brat sometimes that one!!! Aaron prays every morning for a "quick" school day and now that we are into a groove he gets done with plenty of time for himself in the afternoons. Mondays are the longest for us ranging from 4-6 hrs and then each day seems a little less until Friday when we only have about 3 hrs work time because of quizzes, tests, etc. I am amazed at the quality of work I am seeing this year. The new program focuses on composition and the results are already showing. Grammar, the subject I am most picky about, is finally sinking in to these kid's brains and the proof is in the compositions. My son, my terrible speller at the beginning of the year, is producing A+ work these last couple of weeks. Multiplication remains a struggle however, and, it would seem, English is truly his "easy" subject. He rocks the synonyms:) It is nice when the hubby even notices and says, "His vocabulary is actually quite good, isn't it?" Ahh, what can I say, I did feel a bit close to bubbling over with pride. Abi has finished the Trojan War which was a nice challenge for her. After weeks of groaning about the book, she told me yesterday she would like to read it again without having quizzes along the way because it was, "actually, quite good!" Wow, so happy she could get her head into it and appreciate it for what it is - a classic! She averaged 100.5 on her 4 quizzes for the entire book and most of her quizzes are short answer, not multiple choice! Well done to my Abi. She is now beginning Anne of Green Gables for literature and is quite enjoying the humor of it. English she tolerates, doesn't like the parts of speech, word order of sentences etc but is very good at it nonetheless as well as composition. Christian studies has proved to be difficult in that we jumped into a curriculum mid-way. So, we just sort of muddle through it together, discussing along the way and instead of learning some of the longer memory verses we have not had time to learn we learn traditional Catholic prayers instead. Loving the new year, hope we can keep up the motivation:)

No Amount of Planning can Help Attitude

Apparently my organisation this year can only help so far as academics. This year, a whole new set of hormones will accompany us as we sit down for lessons. Yup, I am trying to see the good in this but it is hard. I have finally got this awesome curriculum and now my daughter who once loved to learn fights it. For example, I tried a little review with her today (before school starts) and she refused to answer questions that I KNOW she knows the answer to! Why would someone do that? It makes no sense. How odd, stubborn, difficult and rude. Oh boy. What am I in for? I have ordered a book called "Prayers for Catholic Mothers" along with this year's curriculum. I know it was God's divine intervention that drew to me to that book because it now looks like I am going to really need it this year.

Last year I experienced some resistance from her but apparently over the summer the hormones have completely taken her over. Agggghhh. I am torn with the scheduling. On the one hand I want to get school done in the morning, freeing my afternoons for chores, grocery shopping, dinner etc. On the other hand, I am a little afraid of the morning Nazi. Will she even produce anything good at 9am? I don't know. I am trying over the next couple of weeks to get the children up at 8am instead of letting them sleep and also attempting to keep a bed time of 9.30pm. Trouble is, she isn't tired in the slightest at 9.30pm, 10.30pm, 11.30pm or 12.30am even! I am going to have to find a balance between what works for an 11.5 yr old (currently undergoing physiological changes) and what works for my 9 yr old and me. Oh the prayers I will pray this year. Lord, help me to pick my battles and keep cheery and loving through all things.

I suppose He has provided me with curriculum so that I can manage the other stuff.

Time for School, oh no!!!

In the past we haven't taken a break from school work for the summer. Typically that is because we take a great long break at Christmas and again in February. February is not a particularly special month other than we have 2 family birthdays within it, but for reasons that we do not fully understand, we are unable to produce any work in the month of February. Therefore, for the past couple of years, we just don't even try during February.

This year however, the kids are older and smarter and have noticed that other children are not in school for the summer months. I suppose it was bound to happen eventually because contrary to what people think of homeschoolers, we do not live under a rock. The kids joined forces and protested doing school work this summer. They had some really well thought out reasons for it and I made a show of listening to it all, knowing that I was very much keen on a break myself. I agreed (probably to quickly and in hindsight I could have held the whole "summer break" over them to get lots of chores done) but for only 1 month. That was 2 months ago. Turns out, we needed to have a little fun and are having the most amazing summer. It is so nice to not feel I have to explain why my kids are with me at the grocery store at 10am! It is so nice to just be mom for a while. We have been blackberry picking, blueberry picking, swimming, to the library (which my kids think is a type of mecca), watched tons of movies, to a science show, to summer camp, baking cookies, having sleepovers, fishing, participated in a boat race, played Wii fitness and Wii Dance Revolution all summer, and now, in just a few weeks, we are going to Costa Rica, paradise on earth! The rainforest and pacific ocean are so close we cannot contain our excitement.And yet, lingering in my mind is school. After the Costa Rica vacation of a life time, it is back to work for us all. Well, that isn't a big deal to Jus because he hasn't had a break this summer. I feel a little guilty sleeping in and reading books while he slaves away but I know what's coming so I don't feel too bad.

This is going to be the best homeschooling year yet! I know because I have begun to get organised so the kids are a little worried already. Just how I need them to be, mwa ha ha ha. It will be tricky to be the hard nosed teacher again because I really like not having to be so strict but we are committed to a top class education this year and spent Daddy's hard earned money on actual curriculum packages for 4th and 6th grades. Daddy wants results and is happy to help enforce the slightly more demanding schedule than last year. I am super excited because it takes a lot of the planning that I usually have to do for our curriculum and does it for me. Yay!

This year we are using Memoria Press's Latin centered curriculum for 4th and 6th grades, with the exception of substituting our usual math for theirs. I am excited for the kids as I know they will enjoy this year's material. In addition to the core curriculum (Latin, math, literature, spelling, composition, grammar) the kids will learn about famous men of Greece and Rome, biology, insects, more astronomy, geography, American History, the Trojan War and more. I am so ecstatic that we can afford to do this type of curriculum this year and so grateful to my hubby for making it happen. It is truly going to be a great school year! I have always leaned toward the classical education (Latin centered) but not been in a position to go the whole distance. So, we have always done what we could with what we had. I feel this year we are able to provide the kids with everything I could have wanted. That is an awesome feeling! Now, I just need God to help me implement it all and stay the course which I know He will if I just take the time to listen to His guidance!

Yay! New Books Arrived!!!

It is always exciting when new school books arrive. Admittedly, the kids are less excited than I am but, nevertheless, they are a little curious!

Abi's new literacy book arrived, "Intermediate Language Lessons" by Emma Serl. She completed its predecessor, "Primary Language Lessons" some time ago and I had put it away in the shed. Recently I dug it out and realised it is perfect for Aaron at his age and then I ordered the follow up for Abi. I had forgotten how wonderful Emma Serl's books are. They are brilliant! She is a kindred spirit to me with regard to grammar, nature and literacy. We have been struggling along with Spectrum books for the last year and really just weren't that happy with them, snore. The content is interesting but the worksheets are a bit lacking in creativity and fun. The Writing Skills books that I purchased for Abi were shockingly incorrect in grammar and spelling! I spent a great deal of time correcting the book before lessons which was completely absurd but necessary. I am really thrilled that we can carry on with the Language Lessons books by Emma Serl. They may have been written over 100 years ago but they are definitely still pertinent and engaging today.

We also received our Memoria Press, "Book of Astronomy" that we ordered online. Abi helped choose this book so she really likes it too. It has constellations and planets etc in it which she likes and Latin and mythology which I like! Lots of hands on drawing of the constellations and learning the major star names. There is even a bit of info regarding navigation by the stars which I like. Aaron is interested but a bit apprehensive as to just how much work is involved in the unit exercises.

I also ordered 2 new cursive writing books for each of them, grade appropriate. They have been working out of an A Beka book I found at Goodwill and have just about finished it between them. So, they will get more mail this week! It is always exciting to get mail and when it is a book you get to write in, it is even better. They don't see cursive writing as a part of "school".

On a side note, we filled in some questionaires called, "I'm No Saint.....or Am I?" and Aaron put down, after filling in his good qualities etc., that he would make a good patron saint of "animals" because he loves them and they obey him and Abi put down that she would be a good patron saint of "tree climbers" (i love it) because there isn't a saint for that and she is really good at climing trees!

A day with the Cornish's!

Today the kids and I woke up but then couldn't get up! Their dad has been working very late nights to get our boat finished and ready for us to move aboard on 15th January. Sooooo, out of respect (and a little fear,lol) we all kept quiet in our bunks until he woke up which was around 10.45am. Besides the fact that his bunk serves as storage during the day for 2 clothing boxes, my fiddle and 2 backpacks (which were now spread around the salon floor and settees making it difficult to sit around the table and start school) the boat is only 30ft and any move you make can be heard from bow to stern. So, the kids happily stayed in their bunks with their new books that we got from Goodwill yesterday. (They got 19 books, 2 journals, 3 notepads and a photo album at Goodwill all for under $20! We absolutely adore that store but learned that Goodwill is not the same everywhere you go and some charge more for books!)

Eventually Justin rolled out of bed and we all said good morning and I made coffee for us, cheese grits for the kids and then he went off to work on the boat again. Bless him, he told me I could wake him at 9am tomorrow so as to get on with school work sooner. Aaron is trying to get done before 2pm everyday so as to play with his mates who get home from their school at that time - sometimes he makes it, sometimes not.

We began our day 11.30am with the daily Bible Reading. Aaron read from 1st John and Abi read from the gospel of John. Then I read the reflection and we discussed the meditation question. Then both of them read a little about today's Saint of the day and we finished with morning prayers. Abi disappeared to her cabin after that to get dressed and do whatever she has to do to get prepared for school. Aaron pulled out his cursive writing (it was copying a psalm in his workbook) so as to get started and get finished soon! He then memorized a poem called "A Secret" and copied it in his grammar book. I gave him his maths lesson on units of measure, quantities and equations and he did some math work independently.

Then Abi came to join us and we read about King Louis XIII and Louis XIV. They paraded around the boat acting like Louis XIV for a while and then Justin came in asking for a bagel. Justin helped Aaron finish some math equations whilst I started lunch.

I made everyone a bagel with cream cheese and after I made the boat really smokey and the frying pan sizzling and popping, Aaron announced, "The Bagels are ready"! Little monkey. We ate lunch together and then Justin and I had coffee. Then Justin went back to work and Aaron made a start on his spelling words for the week (yes, on Wednesday 2 days late) and then he took off to play with his buds for the afternoon. Abi did her Reading comprehension book about journal writing and ordering events and then I gave her an hour break from school. They fed "Feathers" our latest neighbour on the dock. She is a white duck and poops everywhere but we just love her. Justin even bought special "duck food" for her for when we don't have any scraps to give her.

Abi came back from playing outside for an hour (3.30pm) and I gave her a maths lesson in long division and multiplication and positive and negative numbers. She bawked at how elementary it was but then made loads of silly mistakes on her worksheet until she got her brain in gear. She then did her spelling words for the week and sentences too. She also did her book report which is due Friday! She then left to go play outside with her brother and his friends again.

I vacuumed the boat whilst everyone was outdoors and cleaned up breakfast and lunch dishes. I also ordered an astronomy book with a $10 gift card I got from Memoria Press!

This evening they came in when their friends left. They are reading books and chillaxing.

Justin will be in soon and we will have dinnner. He is making dirty rice tonight. The first non seafood meal in over a week! The kids will be happy. The thing is we got 31 lbs of fish for Christmas from one of Justin's customers in Alaska. He sent us king salmon, wild salmon, snapper and cod! We all love fish and we have all thoroughly enjoyed it but the kids protested after fish and mussel curry last night. Abi ate hers whilst holding her nose and Aaron bravely fought back the urge to regurgitate. It wasn't the fish so much as the mussels they didn't like. We have never given them much choice in their dinner options however and we encouraged them to eat 2 mussels each. Abi never should have cut her mussels into lots of tiny bits because then every bite of curry tasted of mussels poor girl. Aaron only heard the 2 mussel requirement after he had eaten 6 of them:)

They are both hungry now and I have given Abi an apple and Aaron an orange. We are all on a diet since the Christmas feasting took place!

New Year, New Attitude!

Christmas was great this year and we were able to celebrate Christ's birth with family and friends. One of the greatest gifts we received was ..... a break from boatschool! The kiddos and I, mainly me, were getting a bit burned out!

After a 3 week sabbatical, we have started back with our lessons this week and are thorougly enjoying homeschool again:) It is true what they say about when mama is happy, everyone is happy.

I had begun to feel overwhelmed and out of my depth regarding the responsibility of educating our two little angels. However, I have had a break which allowed me to really consider the why's and what if scenarios about our homeschooling vs traditional school choices. It was a time of enlightenment for me!

I only opted for the homeschool option in the first place because of circumstances regarding boat life and travel and it seemed the best for the children in their primary years. I thought, "how fun!" I loved singing with them and teaching them their letters and fingerpainting etc. Recently, after our 5 years of "let's go sailing for 5 years and then return to a house and normal life" had run out 2 years ago I had begun to resent homeschooling. Hey, I had been railroaded in my mind and it wasn't fair because I NEVER wanted to be a teacher and this was all getting a bit overwhelming. My 10 year old has a will like her mother and the school work is getting a little more difficult and takes longer to teach and ultimately I didn't choose this, it just happened.

I read a book recently about homeschooling and realised just what an absolute ungrateful cow I had been in my thinking! Instead of looking at the positives I had begun to get caught up in society's teaching of "do your own thing" "be yourself" and as Frank Sinatra sang, "MY Way" mode of thinking.

Instead of thinking, "Wow, how could I be helping society more and being in the workforce" or "I never wanted to be a teacher anyway" "I should have been thinking, "Wow, what a blessing I have and honour to educate our children and truthfully what else would I be doing?" How many mothers have expressed their desire to be able to do what I do and cannot because of finances or unsupportive husbands etc.? I am able to help my children on an individual basis academically and when my son is sad about math taking too long (because he was singing, "Grandma got ran over by a reindeer for half the day", he can have a little cry on my shoulder and then feel better and get back to work. Perhaps a school teacher would be kind enough and give him a cuddle but I would be missing out on that cuddle from my 8 yr old boy!

When I thought of putting them in school, it was not so much for them, as for my own selfish reasons. It was getting overwhelming and I questioned my abilities and especially my enthusiasm for teaching. I thought, "It is too hard and I would get more respect as a Waffle House waitress then I do around here." But when it comes down to it, there are many teachers in our public school system that are burned out and have been burned out for years. There is no guarantee that my child wouldn't have a teacher like that at least once or twice througout their school years. Personally I had many teachers like that. Plus, as I read about sex education being taught in the schools, it scares the cuss words out of me! I am grateful that I will be able to discuss this with them at an age appropriate level and from a christian view.

Family is about love, support and sacrifice and God has blessed me with such a wonderful life that I am truly begining to see my blessings rather than get bogged down in my own self pity.
Since becoming catholic, and realising all the christian values that I haven't been living for a while I have had some radical changes in my attitude towards my family and life and God. I think that the dangers of the selfish modes of thinking that our society teaches as a whole are extremely anti family and anti God really. Now with really thinking about the options before me, to homeschool or not to homeschool, I know that I would choose homeschooling.

In homeschooling I get to teach them about scripture, astronomy, literacy, history etc but also about family, kindness, love, patience etc. We are a very close knit family and I realised just how close over the Christmas break which we spent with extended family. I love that we learn together, pray together, eat together, play together. It would seem that most of the time we are in a little cacoon and rarely get an opportunity to see how other families are living. 1 in 2 marriages ends in divorce in the United States. Most families, eat on the go and rarely sit down together except for Christmas. Most families have much busier schedules then we do and not enough time to chill. It is a crazy world out there and I have oodles of respect for the families that are striving to live a faithful life and have traditional values in a material, largely secular world. I have never been so happy to come home to our little hovel of a boat! .... and people think we are strange:)

My New Year's Resolution this year is to be the best homeschooling mother possible to our wonderful kiddos and with God's grace anything is possible!!!

Boat Race! Woo hoo Abi, Aaron & Marky!

Abi Aaron and Marky won 2nd place in a home made boat race! First prize got $100 bucks so the kids were kind of bummed as they had already spent that money in their minds at the Game Stop. Justin took them over there anyways and bought them a new game for the Wii. Mark and the kids built the boat and painted it. They were in first place until the last 10 seconds when a lady in a cardboard boat overtook them.

They also won the People's Choice Award - might have had something to do with the fact that we had the most supporters there - everyone from the marina!

The first boat that sunk was awarded 4 hamburgers!

Boat School Busy Soccer, Field Trips etc.

We have been busy with school, soccer and church. We haven't managed to do any sailing as yet but the weather is not conducive at any rate. Still we have the rains or hot still days without wind. Never mind, we are doing a lot of book work, soccer and, our favourite, field trips!

Aaron is progressing with Year 3 maths, learning multiplication and division up to 500 and order of calculations. We have also been working on interpreting data, graphs, tables lists and 4 step calculations. He is still working through the Guinness World Records reading workbook, which he thoroughly enjoys. He has wiped me out of Pokemon cards completely (my rewards for reading). A friend of ours gave us a box of books and Aaron read 12 books last week in his own time, this was partly because he had no game time because he hadn't done his spelling homework. He has completed 7 lessons of Latin (Prima Latina) and is getting better about completing the lessons exercises BEFORE the due date. We don't rush Latin.

Abigail is plodding on with Year 5 maths and doing great. Her lessons up until last week were basically a review of Year 4 and now they are introducing new concepts. This week was positive and negative integers, absolute value, opposite numbers plotting coordinates on graphs, sequences, etc. She has moved away from reading the Church's, "We Believe" books because she is doing it at Church on Sundays so, at home she is working through "Reading for Understanding Grades 5 & 6" books. I had a total melt down this month because her father said she needed something more than that. My melt down was basically because I felt the same way but also, felt ill equipped to handle the next phase. Long story short, I figured if I used the Reading Book as springboard to report writing with the help of her Writing Skills book then we can make English more challenging. So, with that in mind, I have started giving her an extended report on whatever Thursday's lessons are to be written out in 3-5 paragraphs, 100-200 words to be done by Monday and she really loves to write so happily accepted this! Now we are all happy. So far she has done a report on Marie Cure, and Beethoven (which was more of an oral report since we listened to his music on You Tube but we have just started this phase). She naturally writes stories and did a report after our trip to the Museum this week of her own volition so I am not sure why I panic about this stuff!

For history, we read the Horrible Histories, "Vicious Vikings" and they made a books about Vikings, complete with drawings, maps and runes! Actually they didn't want to do the books at first but once they saw some of the stuff you could do online, they became inspired! There books are so awesome. I almost wish they were in school to display them!

We have also started doing a daily reading. The Catholic Church has a reading from the old testament and the new testament everyday and we have just incorporated that into our school day. I like to start our days with that. Usually Abi will read one and Aaron the other and then we discuss or reflect and that can make for some interesting conversations! Aaron seems to get the meaning of scripture actually and it is really weird to me because I still don't sometimes :)

We had to go to Aaron's doctor in Jacksonville on Wednesday so we went for an early appointment and then spent the day at the MOSH! The Museum of Science and History totally rocks. We have always loved that place. This time there was an exhibit about Sea Monsters (dinosaurs) and we watched a National Geographic video in the planetarium. It was so cool and little scary as it looked almost 3D. We attended the Science show and since we were the only people there that day we got a really cool interactive show. Science is not my strong subject so I was really glad they got to see some explosions with hydrogen and learn about ac/dc and watch and join in the Tesla machine tricks? Not sure how is worked still, but there were bolts of electricity flying about the room. It was super cool. My kids never volunteer for these things so because it was just us, they actually did get involved but only once the guy doing the show guaranteed them that they wouldn't be shocked. Then we got to pet Daisy May, their resident opossum and see all the owls etc. They had the Disgusting Digestion exhibit which was gross and yet fascinating with actually human organs on display!

We took off for the afternoon at a state park earlier this month. The weather was so nice, hot but not too hot and it was absolutely beautiful. We must have hiked 4 or 5 miles. We dipped our toes in the spring to cool off (see pic). One of the nice things about this park is it is contained by a fence all the way around the perimeter so the kids could roam ahead of their old mum with the broken back and I didn't have to worry about them too much. I could hear them in any case but there are no vagabonds around this place. Some of the other sites we have been to have poor souls living out in the woods!

Soccer has begun practices and fortuitously they have the same coach even though they are in separate age categories. Because their coach is coaching both teams we have one practice to attend for both kids which has been 3 times a week so far. They are called the Ducks and the Ducklings. LOL

Abi is starting Girl Scouts next Thursday! We are so excited. Truthfully I am way more excited than she is because I know all the songs and all the fun she will have. We discussed the fact that we will be moving in a few months and the costs involved and decided it was worth it. Her troop, 252, will only have white golf shirts and sashes for their uniform to be worn with khakis or jeans. Abi will get to help with a pumpkin patch, a food drive and possibly the Christmas float before we go!

We are going on another field trip next Friday to St Augustine! We are really looking forward to it. We have exhausted all there is to do in St Augustine or so we thought, but this is a new place for us, the oldest church in the USA!

We have had a hard lesson in forgiveness this week as our neighbor's grandson cut up all of Abi and Aaron's plants that they were replanting with some shears. He did it out of spite because Aaron had told them they were going to move the plants. Anyway, he is 8 yrs old and comes from troubled home but is quite spoiled, rarely disciplined. Abi was reduced to tears after that and we had a heart to heart about forgiveness and about how it really only hurts us when we hold grudges. She didn't like what I said about forgiving him. I did add that she could do it in her own time but not to let it take too long and to ask God to help her to forgive because usually that is the only way we can do it. Tomy Alex Chackalackal puts it much more eloquently when he said,
"Our unforgiving attitudes are obstacles in attaining blessings from God. Forgiveness
brings into our lives fresh, clear and sparkling grace of holiness and hope. Staying in a state of revenge is not only offensive and disrespectful but also is a sinful condition that prevents us from reaching God. The bitterness of anger and grudge are the worst enemies of personal and spiritual growth. In a world where movies, video games and the digital media are giving undue credits to wars,violence and revenge, God wants us to be forgiving souls. In the Bible we read, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord. How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-16) Do not
judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37) Jesus Christ gave us the finest example of forgiveness when He prayed in His dying hours for His killers:
“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they
are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” (Luke
23:34)

I Confess

Before I can be confirmed Catholic, I have to go to confession. I am a little nervous. I have made confessions before - to God in private but not to a priest! These days they are a little more laid back about it than what we have seen in the films. You can still use the old style, box/cubicle thing with a divider or you can just sit in a comfy chair face to face in a small room with the priest. I am not sure I want to be face to face but on the other hand...I am sure my priest will know me on the other side of the divider because it is a small church and he will recognize me immmediately! Apparently I can make my first confession at another church, that part really doesn't matter as long as I do it. Many parishoners do go outside of their church to confess to other priests they don't have to see every Sunday. There is a confession prayer that is to be recited first and then you spill the beans. I know that I need to be succint because my priest is Indian and he really is busy so I am trying to prepare a speech of sorts in my mind so far I have only gotten so far as...."Father forgive me for I have sinned, blank nothing...." I hope it won't always be this awkward.

I wondered if I should confess all my sins since this is my first time but, thankfully, no I don't have to go that far. Just whatever is between me and God right now. Much prayerful preparation for confession is involved in asking the Holy Spirit to point out sins we may not even be aware of. As a guideline I downloaded an app to help me (yay technology) with this and it breaks down the 10 commandments to help see if you've crossed a line anywhere. God's name in vain is one commandement that is constantly being broken by society. I happily quit that a few months ago.

I know that a priest will not only give you penance of prayer but also counsel in some cases, i.e., if you are having trouble with forgiveness, then the priest may give you something to do regarding apologising to someone for your involvement. If that doesn't work, on your next confession, he may give you other possible solutions to your problems. I think that priests have to learn about counselling to some degree. Never really thought of it before now but I suppose they are kind of like free psychologists. Slightly scarier psychologists perhaps.

Catholics believe that we should confess our sins regularly, they require it at least once a year. They recommend it at least once a week, prior to communion. It makes sense to not have anything weighing on your heart before receiving communion. Your sins are forgiven by God through the priest - I used to think the priest was the forgiver but not so.

My hubby thinks Father Ignatius must be looking at everyone at the parish picnic or breakfast and in his mind thinking .... "you cheated on him ....and you stole from her....and you really fancy his wife..."etc. lol, I hope not, but it got me thinking, how depressing listening to everyone's sins, it must be really difficult for the priests. I love our priest, he is different, being from India, but he is filled with the love of God and I guess that is how he copes. (there are lots of bad priests in the media now i know but not all of them are like that). I am just glad my "first confession" in the catholic church is with Fr Ingatious. He is a very kind and humble person but you never quite know if he likes you or not.

The Roller Rink

So, we joined another homeschool group in cyberspace. They are a Catholic group from JAX and we wanted to meet them in person. Friday night, we met them at a "Back to School" skate night!

First of all, I like that the group is so big, there were at least 20 families there and, because they are Catholic, there were a load of kiddos! How wonderful. I have a sneaky suspision that these guys will have better luck at getting the "group discounts" thing that us homeschoolers are always trying to get for our field trips!

For Abi and Aaron this was a first time. It was like they were learning to walk all over again! I'm there encouraging them, "come on, you can do it, just get to me!" I can't really remember any words of advice from when I learned unfortunately. They were not nearly as good humoured about it at first. We had taken Aaron's bud Riley (also 8 yrs old) with us and you could say that I was outnumbered. It was also Riley's first time skating. So, 3 kiddos, 1 mom to help each of them. Naturally they were nowhere close to one another (probably a good thing from a safety point of view). But whilst I'm helping 1 the other 2 are struggling. Red faced and sweaty Aaron said/shouted to me, "What are you doing?! While you were with Abi, Riley is over there doing the splits and I have fallen about a hundred times!" It was sooooooo funny but I didn't laugh. He was so mad. I calmly explained that I am 1 and they are 3 and I cannot be everywhere at once. Riley approached me after a while when I was helping Aaron, "Do you know that I was on the floor for 49 seconds over there! Where were you?" Again I gave my spiel about 1 mom, 3 kids etc. Abi fell down every single time she saw me with the camera. I had to sneak pics and vids of her. They were all soooooo mad from 5-6pm. Aaron had even taken off his skates and tossed them across the snack bar area! But then, from 6-7pm they were having a blast! Falling down and laughing and getting up and going again. Each one of them thanked me for taking them because it was the most fun they had ever had. What a roller coaster of emotions.

It is funny how well they did when I couldn't be with them. I noticed that if I wasn't there to help, they managed much better! Moral of the story, leave them alone until they are happier and then join in!:)

Roller skating is a lot like life, sometimes it sucks, sometimes it is a blast, sometimes you laugh and sometimes you cry, you fall down, you get back up. Aaron told me later that he had prayed to God after his tantrum at the snack bar. That is how he was able to go around again. He managed 2 times around in 2 hours, the first time around he crawled half of it. Bless him. Abi started to get the hang of it but she is so tall she has further to fall and has a very swollen and bruised knee today (which she keeps saying is bust open, hardly) but it does look sore. Riley was like the kid that we all remember at the rink who runs more than skates. He was like a windmill... arms flailing. He didn't glide and swoosh, more of a clackety clack around the rink. So funny, so entertaining. What a wonderful time. I loved hearing Footloose and some of the other classics. Unfortunately I didn't get to skate because I am old and have a bad back now. But I would have loved to.


We didn't get to chit chat much with the other homeschoolers because they were all going through their own little hell and chaos but they were all smiling and offered help where they could. Hope to meet them again but not on wheels!:)

Good is Good

Every moment is a gift from God,
Every smile, laugh song or piece of joy is a gift also,
Cherish them, that is why we are here.
We reap what we sow,
Sow love, love and more love.

Look at everything,
Miss nothing,
The past is no more do not look there,
The future is unknown do not look there,
Now is the moment.

Every face is from the Creator,
Every soul desires and longs for love,
Share the love.

If not to cherish or love, be grateful in it,
Prasie the Lord,
Give thanks often
and ask for more love.

Too hot for school and kittens are evil!

Wow, it is too hot! We have spent this week muddling through as much work as we can for school but mostly we just lay about and read books in this heat.

Aaron is still stuggling through with his times tables and Abi is rebelling against her Church books this week. All the more reason she needs it in my opinion.

On top of the usual spelling and boatschool that we do we have been taking care of Justin who has cat scratch fever. It is more than just a song. It is an awful bacterial illness. Most people have a bit of a headache and low fever with it for a few days and then swollen lymph nodes for a few months. It would seem that Justin is not "most" people. He is the 1-5% that have a severe reaction. He got some antibiotics from the doctor which are helping finally but is still full of fever and ache. Thankfully his fever broke after more than a week. I was so worried as he was often spiking up to the 104 mark and higher. Now he is back down to around 100 on average, keeping it below 103 with Tylenol. He is an awful patient. Not nearly as compliant as the kids. Bless him, he feels rotten. I have never seen him look so poorly. His lymph nodes in his right armpit and rt inner elbow (it was his right hand that was bitten by a kitten) are extremely swollen and sore. It didn't help when the nurse put a blood pressure cuff on that arm and squeezed it. He also has an inner ear infection which is completely unrelated that we are supposed to be putting antibiotic drops in 3 to 4 times a day. Well, we did that once. He swears I put too much in and now can't face it again.

I think he is on the mend but apparently it will be 4 to 6 months before his lymph nodes are back to normal. Poor man. The kids were quite sweet helping with fresh cold cloths for Daddy when his fever was so high.

I am supposed to be confirmed in the Church end of October. I am really excited about it. The process of becoming Catholic has been really great. You don't just "join up" - they have a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) that is quite involved. There's much delving into the scripture and much discussion. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. There are many things that I was completely wrong about regarding Catholic beliefs. I had no idea that most of my beliefs were Catholic, so for me it really sort of a coming home. We have met some wonderful new friends at the church and it certainly makes living here much nicer! Typical as we are nearly ready to go.

We got the corian countertops we ordered for Yebo today. They are blueish. Looking forward to moving aboard soon!

July 21, 2011 boatschooling

Abi and Aaron have plodded on with little prompting from me this week to get their work done. Aaron did a Latin lesson, started a new Reading Comp book (Guiness World Records) which he loves, read books, practiced cursive writing, completed 5 maths lessons, used the computer for looking up rainforest spiders, a history lesson and spelling sentences and test as well as a maths test (times tables). Abi did 10 math lessons, her new "We Believe" Grade 6 books (given to us by the church) in place of reading comprehension which she finshed last week, a history lesson, read numberous novels, spelling sentences and test.

I started giving them Pokemon cards as a reward for reading books about a year ago. Aaron still needs this motivation and so was happy to earn 4 cards this week! I think he has gotten the reading bug finally. Abigail read several books as well, so also got pokemon cards but I just gave her a few (she reads too many books for me to keep up with her in cards). I would have thought she had grown out of them by now but apparently not. I think she uses them as bargaining power over her brother. They ususally wake up in the morning and read for an hour before they jump out of bed. It is nice and allows me a chance to grab a coffee.

Our Horrible Histories books arrived and we love them! I glanced through them and found myself unable to put them down. They are so much fun to read. Abi read, "Bloody Scotland" from start to finish in about an hour. I saw Aaron reading, "Cut Throat Celts". I read, "Loathsome Londoners". We still have plenty more, 16 in total plus 3 science books, which should keep them entertained for a couple of weeks I hope.

For part of their lessons, I usually give them the watered down kid's version from Sunday's lesson at church. This week there was an activity for them to do! They had to draw a garden and then stick cut outs of weeds on it that were labelled with a personal problem they had. Each weed was to respresent something that might interefere with their relationship with God, a sin or something of that nature. The idea is to notice the weeds in your own garden before picking others. Over the course of the week they can remove weeds if they feel they've improved or add weeds if they discover more. Naturally my little angels couldn't think of a single weed they might have! After some thinking Aaron came up with, "not studying my times tables" halleluha! He never thought of another one. Abi can tend to me our "little miss perfect" in her mind so I had to help her along. Aaron suggested "shouting" for one of her weeds. He was also just trying to help. She eventually wrote that one down but refused to put anymore in her garden as it would make it ugly. I suggested "talking back" to which she responded indignantly, "I don't talk back". Hmmmm. My weed, okay one of many I probably have but the only one I shared with them was, ashamedly, cursing, to which they both agreed whole heartedly. Little toe rags.

Independently, Abi has begun sewing. I say independently because I don't sew. I actually despise it so therefore am keeping out of it so as not to spoil her fun. She buys material at Goodwill in the form of big girl clothes and cuts it up to make new clothes. Since Walmart quit carrying bolts of fabric there is but one fabric shop locally and it has very little on offer for a very dear price. She got one brand new $35 blouse for $2 at Goodwill! This is her own little venture and she spends all of her own money on it. I am quite proud of her. She has made several tops, hair bands, skirts, gloves, socks etc for herself and clothing for her brother's stuffed animals - the Meerkat that now wears a tie is my favourite. All of her clothes have her "label" in them that she has made. At this point she is sewing by hand. I have a sewing machine that my optomistic husband once bought me. She can have it as far as I am concerned when she is ready.

I survived the Harry Potter Movie!

We survived the midnight Harry Potter Movie, I even stayed awake - nearly dozed off a time or two but pushed through.

Initially there was some sort of problem with the film. The trailers were upside down, then they were righted but split in the middle. People started to get angry. There were 2 theatres showing Harry Potter. Someone announced that the movie was melting in the other theatre. Abi began to cry and stated that this was the worst night of her life! I thought there may be a mob developing and I knew Abi would be at the front. I tried to keep her calm and make her see the funny side to no avail, this was a catastrophe in the makings. People really started to grumble and, as I listened for the gunshots, nothing came so presumably they got the other theatre's movie spliced and up and running. Ours never came through with surround sound but they sorted our split screen out and it was no longer upside down so we could handle it. It was rather quiet without surround sound so if you were careful not to chew your popcorn too loudly you could hear the movie. The grumbling eventually came to a rest and you could have heard a pin drop it was that silent, everyone was so focussed on the movie.

It was good, really good. Afterwards, I overheard some pre-teen girls in the restroom say that they had brought their wands but should have brought their "real" wands. If only they had, they might have been able to sort all of the confusion out I guess was their thinking. I had to laugh. They were dead serious.

Outside the theatres there was a blood bus asking for donations. We saw a man stumble out who had just donated. He was completely drunk, falling down drunk. I wonder who will get his blood? Poor soul.

We got home and got to bed around 3.30am! Abi and Aaron were shattered the next day but I think we made a good memory that night. They will always remember the time Mom and Dad took them to a "midnight" movie! I am thinking this means they could make "midnight mass" at Christmas?

Harry Potter geeks and more homeschool.

We are going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter tonight! Abi has been counting down the hours since we booked our tickets on Sunday. She is so excited. Like not normal excited. She cannot eat. She's had butterflies in her stomach all week. She isn't going to the bathroom either. It is not natural. She even covers her ears and hums if someone mentions the movie is tonight. I think she is slightly autistic. She made Harry Potter posters on Tuesday.

Aaron is excited as well, but not to the nth degree like his big sister. Justin started us out on the Harry Potter madness years ago so he is excited. I am looking forward to it but shall probably fall asleep as it is midnight to 2am or something ridiculous like that. I haven't been up at midnight in years. I usually don't even make New Year's.

So, being the concerned mother that I am, I have given Abi a lot of school work this week - to take her mind off of things, snicker snicker. She completed 10 lessons in Year 4 math as I have decided not to bump her ahead to Year 5 early. What's the rush I thought? Plus she is starting to get sloppy and make mistakes in her arrogance. Best to keep her humble me thinks. We finally pulled out the Latin books and DVD. She is not sure why she was reluctant to do the next lesson because it turned out to be soooooo easy peasy. She is more than halfway through the Latina Christiana book. She finished her Reading Comprehension book earlier this week so we are stuck for English/Literacy. I've ordered 16 Horrible Histories books so we'll be delving into those soon.

Aaron got through 5 online maths lessons this week. I've found multiplication games on the computer for him to play as well. Hopefully some of it will be memorized before long. He finished his Reading Comprehension book today which he's been working through since January. He has been working on his weekly spelling words and sentences. He even did some in cursive. He enjoys writing in cursive and does a very good job of it, much better than I ever did at his age.

We haven't been able to go out on the sailboat. It is either much too hot or much to wet. Heavy rains every day which make for humid temperatures even when it isn't raining. They don't seem that bothered about the sailing though which is a bit of a worry. I got this boat for us to use, for them to sail. I hope they become more enthusiastic about it once we take her out eventually. I just hope we don't have anything go wrong on their first trip, like engine failure and we get stuck out in the heat or rain. That could really put them off. Unfortunately we don't have a bimini over the cockpit. Neither one of the ones we have for other boats will fit it properly. So we are going to be rather exposed to the elements. But we won't let that stop us. arrrgggh. Summer school sailing ..... maybe next week will be better weather.