It's Been a While!

So I'm currently trying to keep my feet up since last night I rammed my poor pinky toe into the footboard of my bed. *sigh* The toe is black and blue and swollen and throbbing. Hobbling around hurts too much. Might as well use this time to write a blog post.

I'm eventually going to write a follow-up post or two on my other "new" blog. Yeah, the one I don't use. I thought I wanted to be open and write a lot. Nope. It feels too vulnerable. I've come to realize that writing and posting is scary and hitting "publish post" for anyone to read my thoughts makes me want to break out in hives. I'm selfish too, I only blog to get comments so when I don't get any, or get very few, it doesn't feel worth it. So I'll close up that blog soon, once I update a couple things.

Blogging is such a weird thing for me. I worry far too much about what I write about. I wonder if people don't comment because I sound braggy, or self-righteous, or snobby, or whatever. I have to remind myself that I'm not so good at commenting on other people's blogs anymore either. And to be brutally honest, I don't feel motivated to comment anymore when people don't comment on mine.

It's all about me. Obviously. ;)

I hope *someone* can relate. And if not, that's okay.

OK, I don't even know what I'm trying to say here. I guess I'm trying to explain my absence.

I'm not sure I'll even keep this blog going. I'm trying to cut out things that make me feel guilty. Things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. I went through a bunch of scrapbook supplies I have held on to for years. I don't scrapbook anymore. I haven't really since having kids. Seeing those supplies collecting dust and taunting me, reminding me that I haven't used them isn't helping. So I found someone who wants it and I'm giving it away.

I don't go to the gym anymore. I quit back in February. (Don't get me started on how that was almost impossible. Stupid, misleading contracts.) It was hard to make time to go to the gym. It required a lot of driving to get there. I hated wasting the money. Good-bye, gym. Hello, 10 pounds. *sigh*

I don't coupon. The stacks of newspapers and coupon inserts started piling up. It was taking me literally hours to put a shopping list together each week. It was sucking the life out of me. Yeah, I wanted to save money, but it was becoming way too time consuming. I know some people take very little time to do it and do it well. I'm apparently too much of a perfectionist, so it was not. working. at. all. Good-bye, coupons.

We finished school last week. First grade is DONE! The most surprising part of it is, I have felt such a huge burden lifted off of me. I didn't even realize how much stress homeschooling has been causing me. The change has been drastic. Wow.

Now, I'm still committed to homeschooling. I don't have plans to stop, yet. But it has made me realize that I *have* to find ways to reduce stress from my life. I get easily stressed though. Probably more than the average person does. I think a big change will be, getting the kids more involved in helping out around the house. My husband had the kids vacuuming, sweeping and mopping a couple of weekends ago. A lightbulb has gone off in my head. Why on earth hadn't I thought of that before? They are getting big enough and old enough to really start helping out. It's time to use them! Homeschooling has been a full time job and housework suffers greatly around here. I don't seem to be able to do both jobs well. If one is going all right, the other suffers. School is more important than housework. But when the house is a mess, my stress level goes sky high. When schooling fall behinds my stress is high too. I have got to figure out a better way to mesh both! Getting more help from the kids (and my husband!) will greatly help, I think. My husband has been so sweet and really tries to help out more lately. He makes the bed if I haven't gotten to it, he unloads the dishwasher without being asked, etc. Makes this girl's heart swoon.

Are there chores that your kids do? I need ideas! Right now they are responsible for making their own beds, putting away toys, helping put away their own clean laundry (but not much), putting their own dishes away/clearing the table after dinner. We're trying to get them more self-sufficient in the shower/bathing themselves. I'm going to start having them sweep the kitchen and bathroom floors. I figure if they do it every couple of days, even if it isn't perfect, it will reduce the grime and dirt build up so it is easier to deep clean myself. They can help vacuum too. I'm sure their future wives will appreciate it.

That's probably enough rambling for now... Sorry if this has been sorta depressing, I really do have to work at being sunny sometimes.

Pride Goes Before the Fall

A couple of Sundays ago, I noticed that Jonah had written in his Bible. You know, the one he asked for a while back.

What I saw stopped me in my tracks. My heart melted a little. A bit of pride stirred up.

How many seven-year-old boys would have written this?

So he doodled a little but I was feeling so impressed and happy that he does actually read it and decided himself that he had some favorite books.

Our church is tiny and we don't have any sort of nursery or children's church. Every person, from infant to 90-year-old, sits and worships together during the service. It can be tough at times training a rambunctious toddler to be quiet for an hour and fifteen minutes. Every parent has had their fair share of carrying a cranky and crying child out of the sanctuary so no one minds when it happens. There is a cry room in the back of the church for anyone who needs to take their child out. (I'm not trying to sound like my church is better than yours if this isn't what is done at your church, just simply stating how we operate.)

Jonah and Nathan are allowed to draw or color quietly during the service and sometimes Jonah will read his Bible. He might choose to follow along with the Scripture being read by the pastor, or read whatever he wants on his own. He doesn't always read and we don't make him either. I'm really not sure when we're going to transition him from what we do now to having him try to follow along and listen to the sermon.

So anyway, I was so proud of my little boy for writing such a precious thing in his Bible. I certainly didn't have favorite books at that age and I don't think I even read the Bible like that.

Isn't he amazing? That little bit of pride was turning a bit smug.

Until I turned the page...

If you need a translation, "underwere" is underwear and "dicises" means disguises.

So my little boy isn't quite so "holy" (and this is said tongue-in-cheek because we are all sinners!) but instead is a perfectly normal kid who is rather obsessed with "Calvin and Hobbes" at the moment. Ha ha!

Later at home I showed my husband what I discovered, talking up the favorite books section and then flipping over to the other pages. Raymond and I tried to stifle our laughter but we started shaking and covering our mouths because of the gasps and chuckles coming out, while at the same time trying to tell Jonah that he probably shouldn't draw and write all over his Bible anymore. I'm sure Jonah will take us seriously. *ahem*

Oh, sweet little boys. They are so much fun!

Christmas Card 2010

***Sorry about the last post's title, if I made you think something was up. I think I enjoy tricking people. But if you hadn't figured it out by now, I have NO intentions of ever being pregnant again. I do not want to, thankyouverymuch. Ain't gonna happen. My youngest is about to be five years old next month. No way is this girl starting over again with a newborn! And no jinxing me, please. So if I ever try to pull that prank again, you shouldn't fall for it. All right?***

Here's our Christmas card photo and "newsletter". Every year I try to write up something that tells about our year, even though I know there are people out there in the world who absolutely despise them. I, however, love reading newsletters from people far away, so I hope the friends and family on our list don't mind getting one from me. This year I was feeling very uninspired and blah about it so I did something a little different. Here it is, edited slightly to remove our last name and such.

Our Family 2010 Top Ten List

1. Raymond traveled to Washington, D.C. in May and Toulouse, France in June for work.

2. Sunny is learning how to crochet.

3. Jonah, 7 and in first grade, started swim lessons and piano lessons.

4. Nathan, 4, considers himself in homeschool preschool, and is learning to read 3 and 4 letter words.

5. Family trip to Chicago in July for Sunny’s youngest sister’s wedding.

6. Raymond turned 30 on October 30^th.

7. Two day, two night family trip to Disneyland in November, courtesy of Raymond’s work.

8. We adopted a kitten that wandered into our front lawn: Cutie Beehunter.

9. Jonah and Nathan started their third and second years of Awana.

10. Sunny and the boys went on quite a few field trips, including the Symphony orchestra, the Nutcracker ballet, the pumpkin patch, the planetarium, and a four day history camp.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Raymond, Sunny, Jonah and Nathan

And here is our card-

I Have a Secret...

OK, not that kind of a secret! And it's really not that much of a secret, all things considered.

Ready?

I started a new blog.

Yep.

I hope you don't feel letdown!

I know, I hardly blog as it is!

But I wanted a different place to write down thoughts and silly things. I feel like this blog here is more of a family/kids/homeschooling blog, and while I love it, there is a huge part of me that wants to talk about all sorts of other random things that I don't feel like belong here. This is my "serious" blog. I needed a place where I can let my hair down, be myself, and be fun. I don't feel very fun here sometimes.

I wasn't even sure I'd announce it on here or if I'd just let a few people be "in the know". But where's the fun in that? Besides, who am I to keep you from my witty posts? Har har!

I'm sure you're just dying to read it, right?

You can check it out here. I do ask that you not add/link it to your blog, like to the list of blogs you read that you put up on your blog for others to see and click on. This way I can keep it semi-private without actually making it private. Private blogs are more difficult because people forget to check them since new posts don't show up in a feed reader. But definitely add the new blog to your Google Reader or whatever you use to manage the blogs you read.

I hope to post regularly there and still post here too.

And please comment here or there so I know you're reading! Comments fuel my posting sprees. :)

Christmas 2010

I'm going to start off by being completely honest. My name is Scrooge. This is not a recent development, mind you. Even before I got married and had kids I felt this way. Decorating for Christmas does not thrill me. It seems like too much work. My house isn't really decorated the other 11 months of the year so why on earth would I decorate for one month?

Our living room genuinely doesn't have a lot of room for a Christmas tree. Ask people who've been to my house! I don't have a corner that has more than 18 inches of room around it. So this year, we opted to not try to cram one in. My kids were so sad. I know, I'm mean. But in an effort to console them, Raymond wanted to buy a 3 1/2 foot tree for their bedroom that they could decorate. That is pretty much the extent of the decorating we had around here. I did put a centerpiece on the table and hung up the Christmas cards I received but that's about it. I know, I know, Scrooge.

Even putting together a Christmas card, while normally very exciting and something I look forward to all year, wasn't something I wanted to do this year. I did one, but rather reluctantly and didn't really even like the final result. Oh well. I'll try to post the card and the fake "newsletter" here soon.

Thankfully, Christmas is NOT all about decorating, parties, baking, activities, etc. I think we try to cram too much into the season and we're left feeling grouchy and burned out halfway through the month. My little family had to keep things simple for my sanity's sake. I get stressed out easily enough as it is, adding on a whole lot of expectations doesn't help.

Christmas Eve we had our Sunday School Christmas Program at church that evening. It was simple and sweet. The congregation sang a few hymns together, the choir sang a few songs, the kids sang "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Gentle Mary". A few people read passages of Scripture. It was a beautiful program. If I can acquire some of the video my father-in-law took, I'll try to post some of it.

The kids each had a piece to memorize and recite for everyone. Each and every one of them did an amazing job. Not one child stumbled or forgot a word. It went so smoothly!


Yeah, that's me on the right. Somehow I became children's choir director and recital helper this year. Oh, probably because I sing the loudest at church (no joke) and no one else wanted to do it. Ha ha! It's what happens when your entire church has about 50 people.

Our church was formed almost 100 years ago in 1919 when most (all? I have no idea) of the members spoke German. It is a huge tradition every year to sing the first verse of Silent Night in German after first singing the hymn in English.

Um, I don't know any German, and couldn't even attempt to sing in German even with the words printed out for me. So I staged a rebellion and decided to sign the verse in American Sign Language. My husband totally made fun of me for that. I was in the very front row too so I'm sure everyone could see me. Hi, my name is Sunny and I'm going to do things my way. *Ahem* I promise I was just being silly and not trying to offend anyone! We are a tiny church and everyone is very close so I'm sure if it was a problem I would have heard about it by now.

My little sweeties!

After the program, we went home and got ready for bed. We traditionally let the boys open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it is always a new pair of pajamas. They were thrilled with their warm, fuzzy clothes.
They crawled into bed, eagerly awaiting Christmas morning.

(Did you notice their tree and their new bedding?)

Christmas morning arrived and the presents were waiting on the coffee table.
We're still following the something to read, something to wear, something to play with and something to share rule.

Jonah got up first.
Then Nathan came into the room.
Groggy but ready to open gifts! The boys had each received a Pillow Pet from their great-grandparents the night before and Nathan loved his.




They got a few of books, a couple Wii games and a movie.
Nathan got a big Buzz Lightyear toy. (Doll? Very large action figure?)
After we opened gifts, we got ready for church. Our church has a Christmas morning worship service every year. This was the first year I think that I actually looked forward to it. I used to whine about it to my husband, Why do we have to go to church on Christmas morning? But I'm finally growing up and really appreciated going to worship our King and keeping the focus on Jesus.

During the service we read responsively from the Psalms and when I read aloud Psalm 8:4 along with the congregation, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? it caused tears to form in my eyes. We as human beings are so little in this vast universe, and to think about how He chose to send His son to be born on earth, to die for us, to redeem us and reconcile us to God, it takes my breath away.

The last hymn we sang was "To God Be the Glory" and the first verse goes like this, To God be the glory, great things he hath done! So loved he the world that he gave us his Son, Who yielded his life an atonement for sin, And opened the lifegate that we may go in. Forget singing loudly, I could barely choke out the words. All of a sudden all of the busyness with the holiday season, the cutesy things that I didn't do, the stress and frustration I had felt over the last month melted away. This is what Christmas is all about. Nothing else matters. It was one of the most beautiful Christmases I've ever experienced.

After the 10:00 service, we went home and had a little time to rest, chat with my side of the family on our videophone, and get ready to head over to spend the rest of the day with Raymond's family.

I didn't get a lot of pictures that day, only some of the gift opening.

Little Cohen is waiting for everything to start.
Grandpa read the Christmas story from the Bible and prayed before we began.


The rest of the day was spent feasting and visiting. A few of us stuck around to play a game and we laughed until we cried at times. It was such a good day! We left after 10 pm, eeek, and hurried home to bed so we could be ready for church the next morning.

After it was all said and done, Raymond and I got to talking. We think we're going to start a new family tradition. We're going to treat December 24th as our Christmas day. We'll get up and stay in our pajamas and open gifts on Christmas Eve morning. This way it is relaxed, there is no rushing around, and the kids can enjoy their gifts. I don't want the boys to start resenting the fact that we have church every Christmas morning, or that we spend the rest of the day with family at someone else's house and we're not home all day to play with their new toys or games. This way we can have the best of both worlds, time to just be a family of 4 and enjoy one another, and yet still have a day where the focus is on Christ and family.

Sounds like a plan to me!