"flashes" while sledding

The boys and I spent most of the morning and afternoon sledding at the park. Yesterday and last night brought about 3 inches of sleet. Today it was like walking on a frozen pond!!! This made for great GREAT sledding!!!

FLASH back to junior high......
4 young teen girls were sledding on one sled. They asked me to push them down the hill. I had already been pushing my dad on his sled and I was in the middle of racing my youngest son. I told them "sorry, I can't. I am out of breath." Apparently, this made them mad. I had hiked my old, overweight self up to the top of the hill to race Max. When I made it down to the bottom, where the girls were, they were pointing and laughing. They were whispering and making faces at me. I wanted to yell..."I am 36 years old you idiots...why would I care what you think about me??".....................and just like junior high, I told my mom and she tried to make me feel better....."they thought you were a teenager. It should make you feel good that they thought you were so young." I doubt they thought I was a teen. It doesn't matter. I still wanted to beat them up!!

FLASH of death.......
I was trying out a sled that is shaped like a motor scooter. I sat down on the seat. I put my feet on the feet rest. I pushed off with my hands. I went about a foot and then my scarf tightened around my neck so tight, I thought I was being strangled. Luckily, I came to a stop. I realized my scarf had been pulled up under the scooter. I was being strangled. This kid's sled was so small and I am NOT. I had to roll off the sled. I then could not sit up. I had to roll over onto my knees. I was on a very slick spot. I could not get traction under my feet. I crawled to a better spot and stood up. Several people were standing nearby. I am not sure if they were looking at me, concerned or oblivious. I had created so much heat trying to survive and stand up that my glasses had fogged up.

NEVERTHELESS, today was fun. It was the best sledding in 30 years!!

always 9 years old

It is 12:25 am. I am on the couch. The curtains are open and I am waiting for the winter storm. We have been told all week that we are expecting ice tonight. I just checked the radar and it looks like it may pass us by once again. Man, we are going to be tired at their music school tomorrow...........and possibly late.

Teacher, Master, Controller.....mwahahahah

One thing I hated about teaching in the schools were the stupid lesson plans!

Have you ever made a list of "things to do"?
Did you get them all done in the appropriate time and in the correct order???
NO!!

Students are like life. Some work faster. Some work slower. Some have to do it over and over. Some need to skip it until later.........I could go on and on!
School lesson plans were a joke to me. I know why the "upper powers" require lesson plans. They believe that if you turn in lesson plans, then you are teaching those plans in the classroom. What stupidity!

I was a great teacher (all God given!). I never followed my lesson plans.....so you can imagine what the lazy teachers are or are NOT doing....

Administration should require the following as lesson plans:
Week one:
History: Ancient China
English: Parts of Speech
Math: Fractions
ETC...
....Then if the teacher eats, sleeps and breaths teaching.....they are a good teacher! When I taught, I was constantly thinking "how could I teach this so Alice will learn?......how can I teach this visually?......how can I teach this so Joe won't sleep through my lesson?....."
My day was not 7:15 to 3:15......my day was 24/7!! If I wasn't teaching, I was researching or planning or thinking about it ALL!

NOW that I teach at home. I am Master, Controller, the Grand PUBAH!!
I love it!!

Yesterday, the plan was to do a weaving project because we are studying Ancient Americas. I was preparing and getting very angry at the weaving. Then I thought "why do this?........". I could not come up with a reason. If my sons are ever in a situation and they MUST weave to live........THEN they are not that bad off.....they will live!!...........(now watch the final test to get into Engineering school will be to weave.....oops)

Back to the faster or slower student.....
My oldest was not getting one chapter in his Math. We took a month and did hands-on and life applications.....he not only got it...mastered it....he sped through the next section. If all teachers could teach like that, then students would not be behind or ahead....they would just BE!!

I am inspired to come up with this type teaching and curriculum at an affordable price for everyone. The Ziegenhorn School!!......MWAHAHAHAHAHAH
There are pros to teaching your kids at home but there are MANY cons! We should not have to rely on home schooling. Lets provide a new school system! Let's go back to the idea that education is a privilege not a handout!!!



COUNTDOWN:
34 pounds  176 days

New Project....week 2

ok, I will admit, you are getting ripped off this week. My project is personal. I explained last post about my new weight loss endeavor. I am making it my project this week.

PLAN:
take my Juice Plus daily (this is raw fruits and veggies dehydrated and put in capsule form...all food, not vitamins)

walk 45 minutes everyday on the treadmill

drink 3 glasses of water before each meal

drink 3 glasses of water every time I would like to munch!!

cut out carbs, salt, sodas and sweets

TODAY:
ATE/DRANK:
2 glasses of water before breakfast
Juice Plus
one cup of Kashi Go Lean crunch with lactose fat free milk
one banana
1 glass of water before lunch
one apple, handful of baby carrot (raw)
one slice leftover bbq chicken pizza from Memphis Pizza cafe (had to finish it...there is no more...)
one bowl of buttered noodles with salt and shredded cheese (better than the entire package which is my usual lunch)
2 cheezits (honestly, only 2! but I stole them off my son's plate when he wasn't looking)
one cup of Florida Natural OJ
3 glasses of water before dinner
2 cups of my home made soup (black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, corn, water, salt-free seasoning and bottle of beer...in the soup)

EXERCISE:
I walked for 33 minutes on the treadmill. I "warmed up" for 15 minutes while I walked and read Max's Science lesson for next week. I fast walked/ran for 10 minutes while watching Operation Petticoat on the Retro Channel.  I "cooled down" walked for 8 minutes.

THOUGHTS
I thought about my daily routine. When Jeff is in town, I spend my day waiting on him to come home from work in the evening. When Jeff is out of town, I am in "get through the day" mode. Since I teach the boys in our home, I do not have to get out of the house on Monday or Saturday. When one of the boys are sick, we do not go to church on Sunday or Wednesday.
Sitting around the house, watching movies, TV, doing school, ....all these things provide me with the urge to eat.
Lately, it has rained ALOT so I don't spend time in the yard.

Doing a project each week to report to my readers will hopefully give me motivation and a goal!!

COUNTDOWN
35 pounds and 178 days
(yes! that is right! I lost 2 pounds today!)

up...down...up up....down...up....down....up

What am I talking about?? My weight. I have a food addiction. I feed my anxiety, I feed my sorrow, I feed my excitement, I feed my anger................................

At the end of summer, we will be taking a Ziegenhorn family trip to the beach. I need to lose 37 pounds.

After I ate a 10 inch pizza for dinner, all by myself, I decided that I would start tomorrow on losing weight.

Tomorrow is January 24, 2010. My goal is to lose all 37 pounds by July 22, 2010 (that happens to be my anniversary).

So the countdown begins:
37 pounds in 179 days

I am done!!

The first week project is finished..............well, not totally.

It is stitched and it works!! I just want to put some of that gluey stuff that keeps material from unravelling. I am hoping to pick some up tomorrow.

I know my millions of readers were on the edge of their seats to see if I could finish this project.
(but apparently I do not have wealthy readers. I have not been given a digital camera)
I would love to show you the pictures!! oh, well.

Just wait until next week!!
I bought 2 bunches of bananas and then was given a third bunch. I am trying to find something to make with the bananas!!! (not cooking....I hate cooking)

OR.....something with paint and fabric......hmmmmm

WHA??? yougottabekiddinme!

I finished my second try at making this simple wood wind swab. My son tried it and it was too thick!! It would not pull through the instrument.

I had doubled the fabric. I was trying to strengthen the material to reduce ripping. NOT A CHANCE.
So today, I am on my third try. I am using one piece of material and using the blanket stitch around the edges to reduce unravelling.

Well, so much for starting with a simple project!!

crap, crap, crap....dern

I spent 2 days (a total of 3 hours) HAND sewing those stupid swabs and I did it wrong.


hee hee hee (embarassed girl giggle).....funny thing....

I looked at the swab purchased from Amro. They had started their weighted string in the middle of the square.
"How stupid" I thought. "They must be trying to save time and money. If the string went all the way across the square, then there would be less problem of ripping."

SO, I made mine. I stitched the string all the way across the square. I asked my son to try it before I made my niece's....to make sure it worked right. I got impatient. My son has been sick and did not try it right away. I proceeded to HAND sew my niece's.

Tonight, my son tried his swab and informed me that it did not work.
SINCE I had stitched the string all the way across the square, when you pulled the string, the swab wadded up and got stuck in the clarinet.

OH! so they did know what they were doing by putting it in the middle. That design causes it to pull through like a parachute.

SO now I have to pull out all the stitching and redo the strings on each swab........

crap, crap, crap......dern

Classic MAZ creations week 1

I mentioned earlier that I was going to try doing something new each week. I had a few things in mind but they required being outdoors (it has been raining) and using tools that I am not sure we even have (or how to use them). Also my oldest has a stomach virus and that takes some of my "project" time.
SO...for the first week I am keeping it simple. AND it fills a need...

I am making a woodwind swab for my son's clarinet and my niece's saxophone.

What is a woodwind swab? you ask???

This swab is a piece of material with a weighted string sewn diagonally across the square.
The musician drops the weighted end of the string down the clarinet/saxophone and the weighted end falls out the bottom. They pull the string and the material square is pulled through the instrument, cleaning out any debris.

The swabs that came with the cleaning kit are cheap and rip.

I went to our local Joanne's Fabric store. I bought "money" (black with tens, hundreds, twentys, etc) print material for my son. He loves money! I bought "music" print (black and white with instruments and notes) material for my niece. She is an accomplished pianist and is now learning the saxophone. She plays both instruments like it is the same as breathing!! She is so talented.

I have always sewn everything by hand. I looked into buying a sewing machine but it is not in the budget at this time. I finished my son's this evening and plan on starting my niece's tomorrow!! If I had a digital camera, I could show you pics of my wonderful creations.

So to sum up the last few blogs.......I have asked my many readers who/whom are strangers to me......to send me a free digital camera that will easily import to a mac.....and for a simple sewing machine!!

........and I need hints to remember when to use who and when to use whom.....I forget

The Hypochondriac

One of the worst problems to have as a mother is to be a hypochondriac.

I have always been this way. If someone breaks a bone and tells me how it feels, I TOO have a broken bone...at least all the symptoms. When the commercials for cold and flu meds come on the TV, I suddenly feel achey, stuffy head, itchy throat, etc.

The worst is when my boys are sick.

"mom, my head hurts.......I feel like I am going to throw up.......my stomach hurts.."

I want to scream "STOP! Don't tell me!"

But I TRY to be a good mom and I listen to their symptoms. Then I sit back in my chair and wait for it to hit. My imaginary virus or infection.

Jack is laying beside me with a fever, stomach ache, achey bones and nausea. I feel this incredible urge to vomit. I ache from head to toe.....

What a dork!

Julie/Julia

I have had many of my friends tell me that Julie and Julia is a great movie. I have been blogging for about 4 years. I knew the character "Julie" wrote a blog, so I thought the movie could be fun.

BORING

This movie entertained my youngest son but not me! My son was giggling at the way "Julia" was acting. We have seen some of her cooking shows and my sons laugh at the things she says and does.

I did notice one thing. Julie started a blog and just wrote about cooking and her thoughts on Julia. After a few months she had people sending her food products and she had over 50 comments.

This bummed me out. I have been writing my thoughts and life adventures for 4 years and the only comments on my blog are from family members and maybe 2 friends. AND I enabled the "notify by email" BUT that sends my whole post to the email so people still don't come to my blog....erg!

Apparently my blog is not that interesting....but I am not quitting!!!
I absolutely LOVE blogging. So even if I did not have any readers, I will write!!

I did have an idea to change the blog a little bit. I thought about it and I guess I would not care to hear about others spiritual growth, raising kids and teaching children.

My new idea is to do something different every week. Each weekend I will find something new to work on for the next week. I will write about the task. My 10 year old digital camera no longer works and I do not have a way to use my phone at this point. AND since I do not have many followers and complete strangers wanting to send me products (like in the movie) THEN I can not share pictures of my creations or adventures. bummer

I will begin this sunday, so come to my blog!!

understanding how your kids think

Children and their behavior are like a puzzle to me. I LOVE puzzles. If you watch your children closely, you can see how their actions, behavior, thoughts and personalities are so tightly woven together.

I shared in an earlier post of how I watched my children play croquet and got a window into their behavior.

Sunday, I got another glimpse!! I told the boys that they needed to take notes on the Sunday night sermon. Sunday night is more relaxed and they project and outline of the sermon on a screen. I told the boys that they could either write one word, a sentence or thoughts as they listened to the preacher. I told them to write whatever they needed to write in order to remember the important things the preacher said. I wish my camera was working so you could see their notes.

Here is an example of the outline given by the preacher:

1. Read Bible Daily
    A. make it a habit
         1.  same time
         2.  same place
         3.  same routine
The outline went on and on. I think there were 3 or 4 points and 3 or 4 points under those points!!

I have learned that my oldest, who is incredibly smart, can only do one thing at a time and only follow one step directions. He will obey. He will do it perfectly. He will only do one thing at a time!

Here is an example of his notes from Sunday night.

1. Read your bible

That is all he wrote for the entire night in his notebook.

I have learned that my youngest son, who is incredibly smart, will do more than one thing but not finish or do it differently than was asked.

Here is an example of his notes from Sunday night.

develop a personel plan study bible pray consider the facts include basics get started serve the lord Acts 16:29-34 God worsipped everywhere spirit truth familys worship God develop plan regular same time place format keep short sand of time the week realistic collaborative include the basics word one paragraph at a time sing prayer get it started......

I actually copied the first few lines he wrote. He took an entire page of notes AND drew a doodle at the bottom of the page. Notice he wrote almost every word the preacher said (and did pretty good on the spelling.....worsipped). Notice that there is no organization,  spacing, neatness, etc.

My oldest hears the first thing you say (nothing else) and does it perfectly.
My youngest hears EVERY thing you say but it is jumbled in his brain. It might not make sense to him or it may be too overwhelming to try. He will attempt to follow through. He will either give up because of too much information or he doesn't complete the task because he is moving on to the next task.

Both of these actions/behaviors/thought processes/personalities are exactly how ADD individuals live each and every moment of their life!!

What am I STILL learning??
Be patient
Be loving
Be calm
Be thoughtful
Be understanding (even when I don't)!!

spiritual growth....BE STILL

I am revisiting another life lesson:

Psalm 46:10
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among nations, I will be exalted in the earth"

"be still"
submission is the proper response to God and his power!!

"I will be exalted among nations, I will be exalted in the earth"
whoa! it does not say "exalt me" like a command or "please" or "I ask" like a plea.
It says I WILL be exalted.

God is powerful. One word, one breath and He WILL be exalted.
One is to fear God. Not like scary or horror (as a christian....because it probably is horror for a non christian) but reverent, fall on your face "fear".

God was speaking to nations that were locked in mortal conflict. God put the focus back on him!!

I apply this to my life. I am constantly begging and whining to God for money to live on this earth.....for answers to my questions about how we should be living..........just like a kid that is running their mouth, whining, begging, stomping feet and rolling eyes...folding the arms and walking away.

God says "BE STILL, I WILL be exalted!!!!"

again: a growing and passionate relationship with the Lord and Savior is the answer to ALL questions and anxiety.........He takes care of the rest!!

Subliminal Crack

I have heard that you are addicted to crack and meth after just one taste. Addicts stress that you don't ever try it because you will immediately be addicted and then continue to chase that first high....and you will never get that satisfaction.

I believe that Stephenie Meyer, author of the The Twilight Saga Collection
, has created a new drug!!

 Subliminal Crack.

I had several friends that were reading this series. I thought "how silly, teeny bopper romance...how could that be entertaining?"

I like action, scary, true story, true crime, etc...

My 18 year old niece loaned me the first book, Twilight. I read it within 2 days. I finished the book and went to start dinner. I loved the book. It WAS a silly teeny bopper romance and I enjoyed it!! It had action and romance. It was well written and an easy read. As my dinner was cooking, I was craving the next in the series, New Moon. I read the "one chapter teaser" at the end of the first book. It left me hanging and I was about to bust to get the next book. My niece brought me the next two books. I read them both within one week. I finished before Thanksgiving. My niece does not own the 4th book. I needed to go to the library. However, I have had things to do and finish so I have not read Breaking Dawn. The story hangs in my head. I think about twice a day how I need to get that 4th book!!
I think I haven't made the initiative to get it at the library because I do not want to be finished with the story.
SUBLIMINAL CRACK
I don't want to find out that the original high from reading this ridiculous series will never be satisfied...

An Inconvenient Truth??

Global Warming??
If you click on the above words...it will take you to a page on NPR. The temps all over the US are cold. So has the global warming turned into the next Ice Age??

NO.......NO........NO!!

Tree huggers, listen to me! There is NO global warming or big freeze. This happens! The weather is on a cycle. It is normal! When I was really young, it was really cold. THEN it was really warm...NOW it is really cold! Talk to a farmer who is in his late 80s! It is normal!!

With that being said, God asks us to take care of everything...earth, our bodies, each other...
So hug a tree, pet an animal, help a neighbor.........but quit spending so much money and givng away Nobel prizes to stupidity!!

Reality TV...Classic MAZ

I have seen several reality TV shows of families and their daily life. Families with a million kids, families of different sizes, rich famous families, etc.

I think America and other countries would like to see two well behaved boys and their loving, happy and hardworking parents. I think it would be a rare show because Jeff and I really get along and have fun together. Our kids are well behaved, happy and respectful.

AND....the money the show would pay us.....we would not spend on frivolous things! We would fix our leaky roof, our cracked ceilings, our floors with holes, our flooded yard, our broken washer, our high-pitched screaming car noise, etc.

After we fixed our house, we would show the world that you can eat every meal at home. We would show the world how to vacation without spending money. How to make gifts at holidays......

THEN after a few years of making the big bucks with reality TV (and secretly saving most of the money), we would end the show, move to our dream home, buy a nice truck and RV and then travel the States!! And then for vacations, we would fly in airplanes and float on ships to other countries!! We would eat out every meal and buy cool clothes.

Please tell TLC and other networks that we would be the next best family to watch on TV!!
You would watch it, wouldn't you??

You are touching poo and boogers!

Am I the only educator that DISLIKES libraries?? I have never liked libraries. I hate checking out books.

WHY??

Think of what people do when they are reading a book.
relaxing in bath
sitting on toilet
relaxing on couch while picking toes, nose, and whatever else
coughing
sneezing
touching runny nose and eyes

Think of where people lay the books.
floors
tables
furniture
beds
car floors or seats

Think of how clean others are....
animals
sickness
food
smoking
STANK

When I go to libraries and see the floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with wonderful stories, I SEE germs and nasty.

I have avoided the libraries as much as possible UNTIL NOW.

We are using a new curriculum, Tapestry of Grace. It is a school curriculum for History, Literature and Writing. There are not any textbooks. You read real literature and resource books. I can not afford to buy these books and I can not always borrow from fellow teachers. I am FORCED to use library books. The Monk in me is disgusted and wants to spray each page of each book with lysol. However, I do have some touch with reality. I have never heard of anyone dying from touching a library book. Of course, we  do have problems with flu, colds, and other viruses.....