February Week 2

Lambs were a little shocked that they had no delays or remote learning the first 4 days of this week. I was happy to have a normal schedule, they felt like they needed more sleep after late nights doing homework. Lamb 1 started reading The Great Gatsby for American Literature, Lamb 2 started reading The Odyssey for English class. Lamb 2 knew what would happen in the Odyssey from homeschool so I had to encourage him to still pay attention.

I stopped into the 20 cent shelf at the library (open again!) and the community center had a book sale. I gathered a few books at each for the school. It wasn't anything exciting, just a few at a time.

We received notification from Purdue that Lamb 1's dual 4 credit computer class is free because we financially qualified. He had some trouble logging into his Purdue account this semester, but I am so glad he got this figured out so he will get college credit for high school work. Bonus is that it's free!

Thursday night was parent teacher conferences and I went alone while Ram went to church with Lamb 1. I managed to stay on schedule for 7 conferences-8 minutes each- and only got behind for the last one. I saw 4 teachers for each Lamb. I wanted to see one more teacher but she was unavailable that night. All the teachers said the Lambs are working really hard and they can tell that it doesn't come easy for them. Both Lambs are looking forward to several classes next year so some of the conferences were to discuss those choices.

After the conferences Ram and I snuck out to go out to dinner and discuss the conferences together. Unfortunately we chose a restaurant that had a live band that was too loud to really talk. It was still a fun evening and nice to get away for a short time. I'm not even sure the Lambs knew we went on a short date!

Friday was a scheduled e-learning day which means they don't zoom into classes, but the teachers give them an assignment. Teachers have different policies so Lamb 2 had 2 assignments due before 3pm on Friday, some assignments due before midnight on Saturday, and the rest are to be turned in their first class next week. Lamb 1 had some assignments due before midnight on Friday, one on Monday before midnight, and the rest at their next class. Once they get these assignments done, they are having a nice break.

Saturday Ram ran some errands for me and I stayed home and tried to get some things done. One errand he did some Christmas shopping for our family. Last year we didn't take any vacations or do much extra shopping, which made December busy to quick get some gifts. I am determined to work ahead on gathering gifts this year. 

Saturday night we played the game of Life together as a family. Lamb 1 won. It is rare that we have time to play games together during the school year.

I'm still working on getting organized to get ready to do taxes. I did very well with family bookkeeping until about June. I regret not keeping better books for the second half of the year. While I am working on last year, I'm also catching up on this far into 2021, hoping to not get behind again.

No school tomorrow (Monday), but the Lambs will need to finish homework due on Tuesday that is not done yet. Snow predicted so they may have a delay or no school on Tuesday, we will see.

We didn't do anything special for Valentine's Day. Both Ram and I had book clubs at different times and the Lambs had a relaxing day after church. 

Beginning of February

Last Saturday we visited a retired professor and chose almost 200 books from his personal library for Redeemer Classical School. It was a fascinating two hours at his house as he has 4 degrees and has traveled extensively. He was thrilled that some of his books were going to children that were learning Latin and took nature walks. We wiped every book off as they were very dusty before we brought them in our house. It took me most of the week to make a complete list of what he donated along with looking up the approximate value of what was donated. We delivered the books to the school yesterday and delivered the tax receipt along with an itemized list of what was donated today. I don't have any Lambs at this school, but I am happy to help out RCS library as it is a wonderful resource for our Fort Wayne community.

We had some snow this week so that meant a few delays and a few days of school at home. That meant organizing the Lambs to do the shoveling and a few more chores and tutoring/helping with schoolwork along with homeschooling Lamb 3.

I do so much chauffeuring right now. Lamb 3 goes to the chiropractor twice a week for an adjustment and therapy and does exercises at home. Lamb 2 has JROTC practice three times a week. Lamb 1 lifts weights after school 4 days a week. We have a few dentist appointments this month. Lamb 2 had his orthodontist appointment this week and found out his braces come off in March! 

I'm attempting to get my materials organized to scrapbook again. Everything has been packed since we moved from ID. There wasn't any place to organize it when we were at the rental and there wasn't time once we got to the new house. I am trying to get caught up on Lamb 1's scrapbook before he graduates from high school.

I just got a new phone. My first smartphone was purchased in November 2016. It was past time to replace it. A couple of weeks ago I went to grocery pick up and my phone was dead so I couldn't call them and tell them I was there for my groceries. Lamb 2 is extra eager to help me set up my new phone the way that I want it. It is going to be so great to not have to plug my phone in all the time!

Ram and I continue to add books to our Library Thing account. We have 1600 entered. It is going to be so helpful to have a list on our phone. As we are adding books, I'm also organizing and getting rid of some. The next project will be to tackle our giveaway pile that has really grown in the last month. I will need to decide where those items are going and deliver everything to the correct place.

Hopefully soon I will update my blog. In the meantime I will try for at least once a week posts.

Family update and I'm coming back!

After not posting on here for a couple of years, I have plans to try to get back to my blog in the next few weeks. I'm not sure I am quitting Facebook completely, but I do want to cut back there and one way to do that is to go back to blogging. I have lots of work to do to get my blog up to date and very little free time to work on it. Plan on checking back in February to see if I made any progress!

The Lambs will turn 17, 15, and 13 in the next few months. I have a junior and freshman at our Lutheran high school and still homeschooling a 7th grader. Lamb 1 tried football for the first time last year. Lamb 2 loves JROTC. 

Ram is fully employed as a mental health counselor and more than half way to his license. We are looking forward to full license both for being done with school and the pay increase. His schedule is completely full at work and he is booked out several weeks. It is nice to know that clients trust him after a year. 

I am kept busy chauffeuring the Lambs; homeschooling Lamb 3; helping Lamb 2 with homework; managing the household and household schedule; volunteering at Redeemer Classical School library; and trying to fit in a little time for myself.

Ewe's parents are doing well. Dad will turn 81 in February. We did not get to celebrate his 80th due to Covid. They now have a home health aide about 3 hours a day to help dad shower and mom with housework. We still have lots of small tasks to help them remain in their home and check up on them frequently. Everyone is still talking about celebrating their 50th anniversary together in August 2019.

Ram's parents are also doing well. It was disappointing that we could not be together for Thanksgiving or any visits in 2020. We were so glad they were able to take a 50th anniversary trip to New Zealand shortly before Covid.

Ewe's sister and brother-in-law live in the St. Louis area and recently purchased a beautiful house. They both enjoy their jobs. Hannah authored a month of Portals of Prayer last year. 

Please leave a comment so I know who found me again after my absence here!

Last year before a teenager for Lamb 2

Lamb 2 took his turn to go to Grandma's house to make his cake.

It was lemon with vanilla frosting and Skittles on top.

He used the same candles that Lamb 1 used this year, with colored flames.

We had an appointment for Lamb 3 this morning and all of our family went along. The Lambs were upset that they couldn't stay home today, but they were very well behaved in the waiting room. We stopped for a Starbucks treat on the way home and then Ram and Ewe took turns running errands so the Lambs could spend the rest of the day at home- playing with Lamb 2's birthday presents, playing basketball outside, and playing on their iPads some too.

It was a quiet birthday, but he had his birthday meal requests and all of his grandparents and Aunt Hannah and Uncle Eric called too. He received lots of small gifts, no big gift, and we plan to take him birthday shopping over this long weekend with the birthday money he received.

Breakfast: poached eggs, bacon, cinnamon toast, OJ
Lunch: Sub sandwiches and barbecue chips with sweet tea
Snack: queso dip (he calls it cheese fondue) and tortilla chips
Supper: lasagna and cheesy toast
Cake: lemon with vanilla frosting

We are very busy getting our new house ready to move into, but we did take a day to celebrate Lamb 2. Happy #12!

Double digits!

I have no clue who most of the characters on this set are, but he was very excited about his big birthday gift.

No more number shirts!

Birthday breakfast was monkey bread.

My sister made a nice card for her youngest nephew.

More birthday meals to make and more birthday news to share, but here is the beginning  for our April 2 boy.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!

March update

March meant that we finished some activities. The Lambs had been getting ready for piano contest and that was the middle of March. I let them have the next week off of piano lessons after that. Our family had been attending a Bible study at church together on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, the Small Catechism, and the book of Mark. That also finished in March so we were done with the weekly homework to prepare for class. The Lambs sang in Sunday School choir on Palm Sunday so we are done practicing that hymn at home. They will sing one more hymn this school year.
Lamb 1 picked his freshman classes for next year. Going to high school is getting more real for all of us now. I am very excited about his opportunities in high school.
I attended a seminar on infertility by a local pro-life doctor that was really good. It didn't really apply to me, but I am glad there are resources for women that need it. I especially appreciated the encouragement for couples to try some basic lab tests; take medicine if required; have surgery if necessary; and if still not pregnant consider adopting.
Ram's parents visited for Ram's spring break and I tried to do spring cleaning and decluttering before they arrived. I didn't get done everything I wanted to get done before they came, but every little bit helps. I especially enjoy getting everything to give away delivered to the proper place and finally getting it out of my house.
We did some car maintenance-oil changes for both cars; had the brakes on one car looked at and found out they were fine; and car washes for both cars after winter. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we had the car washes it snowed the next day and we followed a salt truck?
We put an offer on a house that we really liked but was priced above what it was worth and above our budget. They countered with still too expensive so we are taking a break from house buying right now. If nothing else comes up for sale that we are interested in and this is still on the market in a month, then we may try again. Our realtor thought our offer was completely reasonable and their list price was ridiculous. Since we are renting and not in a hurry, the whole deal became humorous. I think the seller was a fool to not take our offer. I also think God has an even better house planned for us since so far this deal has not worked out.
Vision therapy homework for Lamb 2 has taken some planning and thinking in how we can do it in our rental house. Their computer software didn't play nice with Macs so Ram had to figure out how to get it to run in our all Apple household. Lamb 2 is doing great on his therapy so I will be interested in what the Dr. says at his 8 week checkup. We are also going to have Lamb 3 evaluated and we may have two Lambs doing vision therapy.
My parents have taken turns being sick this winter so we haven't seen them real often. We will all be glad for summer and hopefully all be more healthy.
The Lambs keep practicing piano, memorizing the catechism with the goal of May confirmation for Lamb 2 and 3, and plugging away at homeschool subjects. Ram keeps writing papers for me to proofread, studying for his classes, and setting up interviews in the community for his papers. He is getting excited about starting internships this summer. I attempt to be chef, maid, delegator, chauffeur, teacher, and generally just to keep everyone happy and hopefully they gain some knowledge each day too.