Another trip in the workings

Brendon, Brenna and I are going on vacation!
I know we go camping a lot but to us this is a REAL vacation. No tent sleeping - we're staying in real hotels and not cooking outside! LOL Well we always have a blast camping but this will be completely different!
Brendon's step-brother is getting married next weekend so we are driving all the way to Iowa to celebrate it with them. I was a little worried at first having to drive that far with a 7 year old but we are all very excited about it, including Brenna. Yeah, I guess we'll see how excited she is when we're only 700 miles into our 2,800 mile round trip. ("Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?") LOL I'm planning on going to the store and getting her some new stuff to do on the road. A good place to start I guess would be some new Nintendo DS games. Those will keep her occupied for hours. We also have a TV for the car too so that will make some time pass. We're dividing up the trip pretty good though and I think our longest day will be about 10 hours driving. All the other days will be between 5 and 8 hours - so that won't be so bad.
We will be staying in Kansas one night in the small town of Wamego. It is home of the Wizard of Oz Museum as well as the Oz Winery and I am soooo excited about going! It's only about 5 hours to Iowa from there so we'll be able to spend a decent amount of time at the museum. I'm going to be like a little kid at an amusement park! Can't wait to get more things for my collection and maybe a bottle wine or two.
Once we get to Iowa on Friday we are only spending Saturday there and then leaving Sunday and heading to Arkansas (staying one night in Springfield, Missouri) where we will be staying at DeGray Lake Resort State Park for a week at the lodge (picture on left). This place is not only awesome but very, very affordable - we were pleasantly surprised. They have horseback riding, snorkeling, beaches, pools, a park, hiking, a golf course and canoes and boats you can rent. Brendon and Brenna will be playing golf while we're there and Mom will be lounging by the pool drinking a pina colada - oh wait it's a dry county! Crap. Maybe that's where my bottle of Oz wine will come into play? LOL We are also planning on doing just about everything they have to offer. Brenna is most excited about the horseback riding. She has ALWAYS wanted to ride a horse and will finally get to.

On the way home from Arkansas we'll be stopping for the weekend in Rockport and going to a family reunion for my Dad's side. So that will be lots of fun too.

Anyway, not sure if I will post anymore before our trip because I still have lots to do but I will definitely have pictures to post when we get back.

Sick Times

Brenna's been sick this whole week with a horrible cough and congestion so I've been pretty busy taking care of her.

It's almost midnight and she's laying in bed hacking away and the only thing I can think of at this moment is what someone told me about a month ago -

"You're kid isn't going to build up her immunities as good as other kids who are going to school because she isn't going to get sick as often."

Good.

I don't WANT a sick kid. She's going to be just fine, thank you very much. If she got even more sick then she does right now I think I would go a little crazy. It's not like I keep her in a closet all day. It's not like she's not around other people IN PUBLIC. It's not like she's not around other germ-infested school-going kids because apparently she can't be NORMAL unless she is.

Sorry. I'm a tad bit sleep deprived and a little grumpy tonight and could not think of anything else better to do then come post on the blog real quick.
Off to bed with me now.....
I'll post again soon and next time it won't be so bitchy. LOL :)

Half Way There

So I'm half way to my ideal weight goal! I've lost a total of 11 pounds since the beginning of June and I can really tell a huge difference. I'm wearing things now that I couldn't even button two months ago (and if I could, they looked terrible on me!) and my wardrobe has doubled in size now. I'm glad that I hung on to all that pre-baby stuff that I said would never fit me again. I still need to lose about 10 more pounds but I am so motivated to do that and every day it becomes easier and easier. Exercise is a habit now and if I don't do it I feel physically and mentally horrible. I'm eating better then I have in my whole life and I actually like waking up at 6:30am to go walking my 4 miles in the morning. LOL

Late night... but a surprisingly good day!

Brenna had a sleep over last night with her friend that lives next door (previous post). It was pretty exciting for her (and me!) because it was the first real sleep over that Brenna has ever had. I went on a store-run at 9:30pm and got them popcorn and M&M's and they watched a movie. After that it was hair and nails - so cute! They did each others hair and Isabelle painted Brenna's toe nails. I was a little iffy about how late to let them stay up but they were having sooo much fun and I didn't want to ruin it so it wasn't until about 1:30 when I finally said, "Lights out girls!". I heard them giggling until almost 2am though.

Guess what time they woke up this morning!!??

I was seriously expecting them (hoping I guess!) to sleep until about 9 or so but Brendon came in the bedroom at about 7:15 (he wakes up at 6am for work) and told me that they were up! Oh geez. Five hours sleep for my little Brenna. I didn't think that would go over very well around noon or so. But surprisingly she did great all day - they both did. I did yard work in the back all day and Isabelle stayed here until about 6pm. I could tell that Brenna was getting a little tired and grumpy towards the end so I sent Isabelle home before it got too bad. It's all about prevention! LOL

So tonight I thought she'd go to bed around 8 or so but she stayed up until almost 9:30 and that's when I started seeing her get pretty red-eyed and veerry grumpy! I'm usually pretty lenient about her bedtime but tonight she went to bed a little upset because she wanted to stay up longer. I just KNEW she was exhausted though and I "mommied-up" and off to bed she went. I stayed for our song and she was asleep before it even ended.

What an eventful day and night! I think she's got the "sleep-over bug" now! It begins.....LOL

Fun Week

Brenna and I spent most of last week at the Arroyo and had such a great time! Brendon went out of town again for work so I figured instead of staying home, we'd kinda mix things up a bit and go on a mini-vacation. My parents have a trailer down there so that's where we stayed. Free vacation - can't beat that! LOL My Aunt RuthAnn lives down there so we got spoiled every night with dinner, which was very nice because she's a wonderful cook! Brenna and I borrowed her kayak and went kayaking in the river one morning. I'd never done that before and Brenna was pretty nervous cuz she knew that Mom was inexperienced. We did fine though and never tipped over. I did end up in the water when we were getting in because I slipped on the boat ramp. Ouch! Kept me nice and cool though.
We went fishing off the pier everyday and Brenna finally caught her first fish! She was sooo excited and really loved it. It was just a little 8 inch catfish but you would have thought it was a 30 inch red with the way her face looked. Priceless. Of course I forgot to take my camera - typical. Hopefully I'll have it next time we go and I'll post a picture.
It was so nice staying down there and I think we're going to do that more often during the times that Brendon goes out of town and we can't go with him. Beats staying at home and doing all the usual stuff.

So this past weekend my parents had a bar-be-que at their house. They celebrated paying off their house, which being a homeowner myself, is a really big deal. Most of our family from San Antonio came down and it was nice visiting with my Grandma Carol, Aunt Barbara and my Aunt Susie. Grandma - I never did see you before you left but I'm hoping to make it up there sometime soon! *BIG HUGS TO YOU!!*

Brenna is having a sleep over tonight with the little girl that lives next door. They recently moved in and have only played a couple times but they get along so great. She's 10 and so very sweet. They played today and Brenna asked if she could sleep over and I said yes. (They are the same neighbors that I posted the picture of with all the laundry along the back fence.) There are like 8 kids in that house and I really feel for the little girl because it kinda seems like she's the baby sitter. It's going to be nice for her to have a little peace tonight and hang out with Brenna here at our house. I told Brenna that her Mom might not let her because we've never met them before but I was wrong. I did take it upon myself to go over to the house and talk to the Mom though and make sure it was okay. I guess I just find that a little weird - letting your 10 year old stay the night at some one's house that you've never even met before. I know my Mom was very strict about that when I was little and I know I'll be the same way with Brenna.

Well, off to check on the girls and maybe make them some popcorn. I have a feeling it's going to be a late night.
Till fingers and keyboard meet again......

Venting (again...)

One of the many reasons why I'm sooooo glad my kid doesn't go to school.....

Okay, so I wasn't going to complain about this on my blog but after talking to Brendon and being justified on my opinion about this by him (sometimes I'm a bit sensitive) , I figured I'd get it off my chest. I'm always looking for drama to post on the blog anyways, LOL :)

Brenna has been complaining lately about being "bossed around" a lot by her teachers at summer camp. Okay, so I figured - this is a kid who's never been to school and has not experienced the whole I'm-the-almighty-teacher-you-listen-to-me-or-else thing so it can't be that bad - she's just not used to it. Brendon and I are very relaxed with her and are not your typical parents I guess. She's not spoiled by any means but she is treated like a person with her own feelings and opinions. I like it that way. Surprisingly, we don't have many problems with her. We respect her and don't take on the role as "the superiors". Does she act like a kid? Yes. Does she sometimes act up? Yes. But I think it would be ten times worse if we would constantly boss her around. She's a very opinionated little girl. And I believe that if you show respect then you will get respect. It may not happen over-night (and it is something that they definitely have to learn) but I think it's very good for the long-run kinda thing, which is what you are ultimately shooting for.
Anyway, I'm totally getting off-topic.

Friday morning Brenna and I got to the school to go on the field trip that never happened (previous post). When we entered the cafeteria all the kids were sitting on the floor in a line, paired up with who they were going to sit with on the bus. At this point it was 8:30am. We were told to be there by this time because that's when they would be leaving. So Brenna takes her place in line and is sitting and talking to a group of girls, one of which is her very bestest friend there, Kayla. Yes, it was loud - kids were talking and having fun - what else were they supposed to do? At this point one of the teachers starts clapping his hands and telling the kids that they are being way too loud. Then he proceeds to start talking in this ridiculously low, almost whisper, voice and tells all of them that if they can't hear him when he talks like this then they are being too loud. What the hell? What do you expect them to do? These kids range from ages 4 to about 10. You seriously expect them to just sit there and act like perfect little angels and talk in whispers so that they can hear the teacher if he decides to talk in his abnormal midget voice? Come on.
So it's about 8:45 now and I am getting really annoyed. Not at the loudness of the kids (to me that's normal) but by the teachers constantly telling them to "Be quiet", "Sit up straight", "Don't lay down, sit on your bottom", blah, blah, blah. AHHHH! Ok, if you don't want to be around loud, chattering kids then find a different profession!!
This went on for a total of 30 minutes. I was getting restless after 20 minutes, waiting till it was time to get on the bus - can you imagine how hard it is for a 7 year old to stay quiet and talk in whispers for half an hour? Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I had to bite my tongue so hard to keep quiet and not tell these teachers what I thought of them and their crazy expectations. Thank goodness they did not single my daughter out like they did some kids. They would have had a Mama Bear to deal with. None of them were doing anything wrong.

Today I talked to Brenna and she started telling me about how much the teachers control everything they do. During "free time" they tell the kids what to do; they can't go to the bathroom unless it is a designated bathroom break - that one really bothered me. Are they going to pay for my kid's doctor bill if she gets a bladder infection? Any person should be free to use the bathroom at their discretion. That's a human right. She told me that she has asked them numerous times if she could call and talk to me for a few minutes or ask if she could go home and they tell her NO. I told her to tell them that I said she could call me whenever she wants and go home when she wants. It's not that hard for them - they carry a cordless phone with them - I've seen it. Brenna has my number - they don't have to look it up. Maybe they are worried about other kids wanting to call their parents too - I don't care. I'm thinking of either letting her take my cell phone or writing a note that tells them she can call me when she wants, especially if she wants to call to go home. I don't need this place as a day care. She can come home when she wants.

I'm just really annoyed by all this - can you tell? I do not like the whole "school scenario" one bit. So glad my kid doesn't go to school and have to put up with this nine months out of the year.

End of vent! :) Thanks for putting up with me.

TGIF!

Well this week really got away from me and now it's already Friday! Nothing too eventful has happened. Brenna and I were supposed to go on a field trip this morning with her Summer Camp group to the Young Chef's Academy. Notice I said "supposed to". Turns out that the bus had a flat tire and nobody realized it until all the kids were outside, lined up and ready to go - they were actually in the process of getting on the bus when someone noticed the tire. Talk about disappointment! Those kids were so bummed out. Hopefully they will be able to reschedule because that was the field trip that Brenna and I have been looking most forward to. If not then I will have to make a point of taking her myself one day - I heard that it's a pretty cool place.

So I've still been exercising on a daily basis like a real trooper! It's getting easier and easier though. I've turned my 2 mile trek into a 4 mile trek and it feels wonderful. I was only going out for 30 minutes but have bumped it up to one hour. I read that to maintain the weight you are then 30 minutes is sufficient, but to lose weight then you have to exercise at least an hour. I got a little discouraged earlier this week because the scale showed that I went back up to 160 (was down to 158 at one point) and I didn't understand why I wasn't losing any weight when I was being so diligent about eating right and exercising. I almost threw in the towel but I started to notice a couple days ago that my clothes when not fitting quite as snug and today I actually wore a shirt that had I never worn before and my belly didn't look like Jabba the Hut! LOL So now I am totally re-motivated. I guess I am losing fat and gaining some muscle at the same time.

Ok, well Brenna is still at Summer Camp so I am off to do some dishes and head to the grocery store. I hope everyone has a great day!

Great Night

As I sit here at the computer and write this Brenna is under the dining room table, in her fort that she built with all of her stuffed "buddies", a bunch of pillows and blankets, reading a book before going to sleep. Did I mention that it is 10:45pm? This would have been completely unheard of in my house about three months ago - maybe even as close as a month ago. It's nice though letting her do things like this instead of saying no all the time. You should have seen her little face this afternoon when she asked me if she could sleep in her fort tonight and I actually said yes! And then I went even a step further and said yes again when she said that she would like to read for a little bit after our movie we watched.
And guess what? It's now 10:50 and she has turned her light out, put on her music and has decided on her own to go to sleep. I don't have to be the "bad guy" or the controlling parent and she is happy because she has been able to make her own choices. It's a win-win situation.

Here's a quote from a book that I'm reading called Playful Parenting. I read it tonight and thought it was worth posting. I'll end with it and then go and fall asleep on the couch so Brenna won't be out here all by herself.

"When we constantly tell children what they should or shouldn't do, they have no room to think for themselves and are forced to choose between resentful obedience or defiant rebellion." -Lawrence J. Cohen, Ph.D.

9 Years

WOW! Nine years that I have been married to my sweet, wonderful, supportive, hard-working, sensitive, awesome, caring, opinionated, passionate husband. Our anniversary was last week. I can't believe that it's been almost a decade. I LOVE YOU BRENDON!! Thank you for making my life so spectacular. :) XXXOOOXXXOOOXXX

Sorry that I have been MIA for a week or so and haven't posted. We have been busy and I haven't had much time to get on the computer. I guess I should not make excuses since Brenna has been at summer camp for five days a week, six hours a day, for the past two weeks. LOL I have been taking advantage of the mommy-time to get things done around the house and run errands without having a 7 year old accompanying me. Surprisingly, I have not had much computer time or made that much computer time for myself. The time just seems to fly by when you are in cyber-world and before you know it three hours has gone past and you have not accomplished much. LOL I am making time now though to post. It is about 11:30pm and Brenna is fast asleep in our bed. I should be in bed with her but conveniently I got my second wind about an hour ago and am just not that tired. She crashed out pretty quick since it was so late. I have our thick curtains pulled down so hopefully she'll sleep in abit. That girl is like a darn rooster! :)

Brendon is out of town on business - wish we could have gone with him but he drove up with a couple people from work and it just would not have been feasible. So it's just us girls for the weekend. It's fun when it's just us and we have our "girl time". Tonight Brenna stayed up until almost 11pm and we jammed out on Guitar Hero. It was so much fun! She went in her dress-up box and picked out some accessories for us to wear (pictures below!!) and I think we must have played about 15 songs. She's actually quite good on the bass guitar - she still plays on beginner and she loves it. It's such a great family thing to do together. We have the World Tour for Nintendo Wii so we have two guitars and a drum set so we can all play together. Family bonding I guess you could call it. LOL Brenna is getting quite a taste for music and has been introduced to many, many artists. I guess you could call it our "music curriculum". I just don't like that 'C' word much. Blah. :) LOL
Brenna has been having a pretty good time with her summer camp thing. We took a field trip last Friday and went on the dolphin watch at the island. Neither of us had ever been on that before and it was pretty cool - we saw lots of dolphins and porpoises. I totally could have done without the "No! Get back over here!", "You can't go up there!", "Stay here with me, now!", "Sit down!", "Stop doing that!", blah, blah, blah.... from all the teachers. Geez, I'm so glad my kid doesn't go to school and just get bossed around all day by superiors. It's unbelievable. Really. At one point Brenna and I were up on the top deck of the boat (which was really cool!) and we heard a kid say, "I want to go up there too!" and a teacher promptly responded, "No, you're not allowed. She's up there because she's with her Mom." There were like only 20 kids (and about 4 adults) - now why can't you just take them up there in small groups - like 5 at a time? It really was very cool! How could you not let a kid do something that they think is just fabulous? How sad. It really wouldn't have been that hard. I'm so thankful that I was there with Brenna so that she wasn't told that she couldn't do something that she wanted to. All in all it was fun though. Brenna got to ride on a school bus for the first time and she was pretty impressed with that. Why, I'm not sure. I think school buses are horrible. But I guess for a kid they are pretty exciting -not having to wear a seat belt; being on the biggest thing you've ever ridden in, ect... I got pretty ticked on the bus too. Surprised? Didn't think so. Brenna was sitting by her friend on the bus on the way to the island - the friend that she has been talking nonstop about since she started summer camp; the friend that makes her little art things that she brings home everyday (and visa-versa I'm sure); the friend that she lets play her Nintendo DS during quiet time. Apparently they are pretty "tight". :) So about half way to the island her friend stands up on the the bus for like two seconds so that she can switch places with Brenna so that Brenna can sit by the window. Very sweet. Apparently she got busted for standing up (never mind that other kids were standing every so often) so on the way back home she had to sit up by the teacher and Brenna had no one to sit with - the kids were told to sit in their exact seats that they had come in on. I just thought that was a little harsh. I ended up sitting by Brenna on the way back cuz she told me that she was lonely. And some people want me to send my kid to school so that she can socialize. HA.

Anyways... on to another subject. Health. I have been taking advantage of all the alone-time that I have had and have started getting back into shape. I've been jogging 2 miles a day all week and have lost 5 pounds already. I feel sooooo great and I'm sure I will feel nothing but better as the time goes by. I have a good 25 pounds to lose (20 now) and I have never been so determined before to get healthy. I've been eating so good (lots of veggies and salads - actually contemplating on becoming a vegetarian - we'll see - still researching that) and surprisingly my appetite has drastically plunged. I used to eat like there was nothing else in the world to do. I LOVE FOOD. Now I find that I am not so hungry anymore and it is so wonderful! Right now I am at 159 and my goal is about 140. Yes, I am making my weight public (*gasp!*) because now maybe I'll have a little more incentive to "report" to all of you who read my blog. LOL So I am hoping that by next Friday I will be at 154. We'll see. I honestly have never been so pumped up in my life to exercise. I didn't get to jog this morning because Brenna said she didn't want to go to summer camp and I was so bummed out! Not that she didn't go but that I couldn't go jogging. That is so not like me! If you would have said a month ago that I would be jogging two miles a day and LIKE IT and actually look forward to it I would have called you crazy. Brenna did go to camp today at about 12:30 though but that was way too late to take a two mile treck (it got to 99 today) so I walked to my Mom's house, which is about a half mile away and immediately got on her exercise bike she has and did that for almost 30 minutes. So that did make me feel better. My Dad is a huge health buff so I told him that I would like to spend a little time picking his brain and have him tell me what I need to do. I'm sure he's full of very useful information. He's not one to push stuff on you but if you ask he has lots to say and so much information that he has aquired. Kinda like me with homeschooling I guess.

Ok, this post is quite long enough! Time for bed. I'll post again soon..... Here's some pictures from the last couple weeks.

(Brenna at the dolphin watch on the bow of the boat)




















(Brenna is the 3rd kid in the orange visor)















(Rock Stars!! LOL)

(A tad embarrassed about this picture, but what can you do....)

Funny

If you can't see them that well, you can click on them to make them bigger.

Funny the way things happen.....

The best thing ever just happened. :)

I'm at home today catching up on some laundry and feeling a bit lonely. When you're used to having your sweet seven year old with you all day, everyday, life becomes a little drab when she's not here. She's my little side-kick and makes my life so much better.
So I was just thinking about how much I was missing her and then I started wondering if she was missing me too and thought to myself, "Probably not. She's having a blast and I'm sure I'm the last thing on her mind."

Then the phone rings.

And it's my Brenna.

She was calling me just to say hi and that she loved me and missed me. She said she was having a great day and just wanted to call to see what I was doing.
There could not have been a more wonderful time to receive that phone call. I love the way things happen sometimes. Now I'm smiling because my little girl made my day so much brighter.

Summer Camp Update

So what in the world was I so worried about Sunday night?

Brenna has had a blast this week so far and has not wanted to leave when I pick her up. Ok, yes - so Mom over-reacted a little about the whole summer camp thing (see previous post). Can you blame me? This is all new stuff for us. Now I know.

I was a little worried about her all day Monday (okay, so I was obsessing! LOL) - wondering if she was having a good time and hoping she was behaving. LOL My friend, Mieree, went to pick up her daughter and I asked her if she could check on Brenna and see if she was ready to leave yet. Mieree called me and said that Brenna was having a great time and that she didn't want to go home. What a relief that was.
But seriously, what did I expect? That she was going to be sitting in a corner somewhere and crying for her mommy? Yeah, whatever. I totally should have known and I feel silly for worrying so much now. In fact, now I'm afraid that she likes it too much. I'm finding myself at the other end of the spectrum of worrying.
She loves, loves, loves staying at home and has always loved the fact that she's homeschooled. I would say that she is very proud to be one of the two million kids in the U.S. that don't go to school. She'll tell anybody that listens that she's homeschooled - even if they care or not. :)
So now I'm hoping that she's not going to think that this summer camp thing is like school and that she's been missing out on something fantastic. Sorry kid - it's nothing like school. Yes, it's at a school but completely different. You don't get to spend the entire time playing with your friends and doing crafts and going somewhere two days a week on a school bus.

I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. I just hope that we never get there. I'm sure that I'm worrying a little prematurely like I usually find myself doing.

Excited but a little concerned....

Tomorrow is a pretty big day in the Spear household - Brenna starts Summer Camp. *sigh*

I have a mixture of emotions about this and I am actually very surprised and really didn't think that I would be THIS nervous.

Big deal, right? So she's off to spend some time with other kids (not really worried about that) and a few teachers, riding school buses and eating lunch in the cafeteria. Sounds normal, huh?

Well not for us it doesn't!!!!

We've never had the "first day of school" experience. I've never had to worry about what my kid is eating in the cafeteria and if she's going to STARVE that day because she can't stand what they are serving (and yes, she is p-i-c-k-y! but she loves to eat). I've never had to worry about someone else, who I hardly know at all, taking care of my kid (and I like it that way). Okay, make fun of me if you want - I know some of you are. HA. HA. HA. But seriously, this is big stuff for me - totally full of 'firsts'.
I know she'll be fine and I know she'll love it. She's a fairly flexible kid.

I can tell that she is feeling a tad bit apprehensive about it though - and no! she's not picking any of it up from me. I am giving out a totally cool vibe to her about this whole thing and not showing any doubts. She asked me the other day if she would be able to take my cell phone with her so that she could call me when she wanted to. You don't know how bad I want to let her take it but I am so afraid that she would lose it so I told her sorry, but no. She was bummed about that. She's pretty used to being able to call me whenever she wants. Who knows... maybe I'll change my mind later - she is a really responsible kid. I think tomorrow I am going to talk to her "teacher" and let her know that if Brenna wants to come home then she can call me and I will come and get her.

You have to understand my reasoning I guess -- this thing that Brenna is going to is pretty much day care, if you want to put it bluntly. Parents send their kids to this so that they have someplace to go during the summer while they work. Well I don't work (outside of the house - just HAD to add that, because I DO work my butt off, just don't get paid for it....). I don't have to have my kid go there- she's going because she wants to and because she wants to have fun. I'm sorry, but if she's not having fun and if she'd rather be at home, playing with her toys or with the neighborhood kids then she should be able to come home - that is HER choice. She doesn't have to be there if she doesn't want to. Some days she may want to stay the whole 6 hours - some days she might only want to stay for three. And I am hoping that they will let her call me if she's ready to come home. I am afraid that they won't and that is what is really stressing me out. If it comes to that I may just let her take my cell phone.
But before I start jumping to any conclusions, I guess I should just wait and see how this all pans out. I just tend to worry a little pre-maturely sometimes, I guess. Being a mother I guess I just can't help it.....

Summer Camp!

Yesterday I sighed Brenna up for summer camp at one of the churches here in town. She is soooo excited about going!
It starts on Monday and it's five days a week for up to 6 hours a day (that is what I pay for but she doesn't have to stay that long). It will go through all of June and July. WOW! What am I going to do with all my time this summer? I'm going to be very lonely and it will be very quiet! LOL I'm sure I will find things around the house to do that I have been putting off for a while. I desperately need to repaint and fix up my laundry room so that will be project #1. Maybe I can get my yard back in shape too.
Anyways, this camp thing sounds pretty darn cool though and when I found out about it I asked Brenna if it would be something she'd like to do and I got an immediate "YES!". It is chocked full of activities - Tuesday's to the movies, Wednesday's bowling, Thursday's gymnastics and on Friday's they will take different field trips to places. I have volunteered to go on the field trips so that will be fun to do. She'll have lots of time on the playground with kids and arts and crafts too. The homeschool group doesn't usually do too much in the summer so I'm glad that I have found something this cool for Brenna to do. The cost is very reasonable (I, Mrs. Frugal, would even say cheap! LOL). You pay week by week so if there's a week that we have something else planned then at least I don't have to pay for it, so that's nice and convenient. I dislike being tied down to things - especially things that last for two months.

So other then that nothing else too exciting has been going on here. Oh wait!!! I'm going to be an Aunt again! :) My brother and his wife just found out that they are expecting again and everyone is so excited. Keira will be a little over 2 when the baby is born so that will be fun and interesting for them. So, congratulations PJ and Jenny!!!

Garner State Park

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been meaning to get on here for a while but we have been so busy lately. Last week we got back from our yearly Garner State Park camping trip. As always, we had a GREAT time! My Mom and Dad went with us and said that they had a wonderful time as well. Hopefully that means we can get them to go back with us. Brendon's Mom and step-Dad had a good time with us last year, so maybe we can all go together in the future.
Usually we go to Garner in August, so this time with us going in May, we were a little nervous about the temperature of the water and how much we would actually be able to swim. Surprisingly the water was warmer then it is in August and we spent most of our time at the river. We did lots of hiking too and took Mom and Dad up to Old Baldy. The day they left Brendon, Brenna and I took the trails to Crystal Cave, which we had never been to before. It was very cool! Never did take any pictures of it but I will next time.
Brenna made quite a few friends, including some kids who were home schooled and another little girl who happens to live about 30 minutes away from us.
We ended up having some pretty cool neighbors, Josh and Broc, that we all hung out with the last two days we were there. Brenna just adored them and they played with her a bunch, which she loved. There are a few pictures at the end of the slide show that I posted.
Anyways, here's the link to all the pictures I took! Slide Show

Lots Going On

Right now Brenna and I are at my Mom's house taking care of Keira (my niece) because Mom had to run some errands real quick. Keira has not gone to day care these past two weeks because of the swine flu going around. My Mom and I have been taking turns having her and I have to say, she is sooo cute and so much fun to be around. She'll be two in September and is growing so much, mentally and physically. My Mom watches her every week on Thursday's and I have just volunteered to watch her on Tuesday's. So now she will only be going to day care every other day and the days she's with my Mom and I she'll get plenty of rest and be with family, which I think is so important. Brenna loves playing with her and you can tell that Keira looks up to her so much. So it will be good for the both of them being able to spend more time with each other.

My Mom just got home and Keira is now napping and Brenna and Mom are in the kitchen making cookies. Brenna gets her own bowl and measures all of her own ingredients. Mom quizzes her a lot on the math part of cooking, which I think is a wonderful way to learn. I just heard my Mom ask her something and Brenna immediately responded with the answer of four (I did not hear the question). Mom asked her how she knew that and Brenna said, "Because two times two is four!" Who said you need a curriculum to teach kids math? Math is part of most everything in life and Brenna learns it by just being alive and being curious.

Anyways, I have been crazy busy this week getting things ready for yet another camping trip. YEAH! This time my Mom and Dad are going with us - finally! I've been wanting them to come camping with us for a while now. We'll be leaving later this week to go to a family reunion and then off to the woods we go. :) I'll have lots of pictures to post when we get back.

I have also been pretty engrossed in a couple books lately too. I just finished reading The Unschooling Unmanual, which is fabulous - in fact, I read it twice! I think in a recent post I quoted some things from it. I really wish I could quote the whole book because I want everyone to read it! Oh the way it would change your thinking about learning entirely! I want my Mom, as well as Brendon, to read it because I feel that it will give them a lot of insight as to why I have chosen to do what I do with Brenna. Don't get me wrong, Brendon is completely supportive and trusts me unconditionally when it comes to Brenna's life. But he has seen first hand how much she gets out of it, so it makes it easier for him to "get it". The book is only 91 pages though and I think if he read it, it would explain things much better then I have ever been able to and might give him a couple of "Ah ha!" moments. My Mom......I think she thinks I'm crazy. LOL Okay, maybe not crazy but I don't think she quite "gets it". But it IS hard for most people to grasp the concept of unschooling because it is so foreign and totally different then what most people grew up doing. It's taken me a while, as well as a lot of research and books, to get what it is really all about. I feel so passionate about it because of all the information that I have acquired and because of all of my "Ah ha!" moments. Most people think kids hate anything to do with learning (because of schools taking the fun away from it and not letting children follow their own interests) so if given complete freedom with WHAT they learn, most will assume that they won't want to learn anything at all. How totally false that is! I used to think that too. But everything that I have read about unschooling makes so much sense and I see it everyday with Brenna. Children really do want to learn and they want to learn as much as they possibly can - how could they not?
I'll post about my book I'm in the process of reading next time. It's called The Natural Child - Parenting From the Heart. So far it's an excellent read!

Anyway, Brenna wants to play on the computer so I'll end this for now. I'll post again when we get back from our trip. :)

Good Times

I love having a seven year old. Brenna is so much fun to just hang out with. Maybe it's her age or maybe it's just the fact that I have been A LOT less stressed about the every day things lately and little things just don't seem to bother me as much anymore.

I think I am going through a parenting-style change right now and I love it!

I have been much more laid back and more relaxed about things lately (and Brendon is sooo with me on all this and has slowly started to take this approach as well). Take tonight for example -- we had family movie night and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (great movie by the way!). Didn't start the movie till about 8:30, so that meant it wouldn't be over with until about 9:45 or so. *gasp!* Brenna not going to bed until 10pm?! That used to be unheard of! Anyone that knows me knows that I am a sleep nazi! LOL I always have been. My daughter's bedtime has consistently been very early. The past couple weeks I have not really been all that concerned about it and guess what? It has been such a blessing and has made our nights a lot more relaxing. I'm not so hurried to get her into bed anymore like I used to be. What does it matter if she doesn't go to bed by 8:30pm? It's not like she's having to get up at 6am to get ready for school!! Does she still have a reasonable bedtine? Of course, but it doesn't consume our nights like it used to. If we're having fun doing something then we don't stop anymore just because it's bedtime.
Getting back to my parenting-style change though....
What freedom I have found!
I am no longer the "boss" of my child. Yes, I do still parent her and let her know what is and what is not acceptable and make suggestions and still guide her BUT I am not so anal about things anymore. Toys all over the living room? Used to bug the hell out of me. If 10 minutes went by and she wasn't playing with them anymore I would "order her" to clean it up. Now I think, she's having fun, she'll get back to it eventually - so what if every single Littlest Pet Shop she owns is all over the place? Who cares. I can step over it a heck of a lot easier then getting after her to clean it up. Much more peaceful.
Messy bedroom? It's her space. I'll close the door if it bothers me or I'll help her clean it if it gets too out of control. Yogurt container left in the living room? At least she's choosing healthy snacks - I'll throw it away for her. Leaves and twigs and magnifying glasses left on the table outside? Hey, she loves science and the outdoors! Who am I to tell her that she can't leave her "experiments" where she wants? She always goes back to that stuff and if it's not there (because I chunked it!) then that just means she won't bother with it anymore. I WANT her to bother with it!
I haven't been 'getting after' Brenna so much anymore and being so.... Mom-ish I guess. I don't scold anymore, I give suggestions. I don't belittle. I don't treat her with disrespect. I don't "boss" her. I don't order her around. I don't DEMAND respect. You show respect - you GET respect. I don't care how old you are.

I've noticed a huge difference in her since I have not been acting like the dominant parent. She has been much more cooperative. She's been more willing to help around the house. She's been treating ME with more respect since I've been treating HER with more respect. I talk to her the same way that I would Brendon or my Mom or my friend.
I've come to learn that you don't have kids so that you can boss them around and treat them like they are less than you - no matter what age. Kids want to be treated with respect and want to be treated like they matter. I have been so much more open to Brenna's opinions then I ever have been and guess what? She has some pretty darn good ideas that I would have just casted off in the past because she "is just a kid". Just because I'm the adult doesn't mean that her opinions and ideas matter any less.
Oh what freedom and peace that I have found! This is soooo much easier then trying to play the game of "you-listen-to-me-because-I'm-bigger-than-you".

I love parenthood! :) You not only grow as a parent and mentor but as a person. You discover new things and learn the value of patience and listening to other's opinions - which is quite a virture in life.