The Climb is Never too Steep - A Message of Never Giving Up

If I was a quitter, I would have quit a long time ago at a time where I was miserable, making one mistake after another. This included marrying the wrong guy, crying myself to sleep almost every night and just really hating who I was as a person which seems oh so long long ago!

Over the last 25 years though, I have crafted a life of knowing who I am and being very transparent of who I am. Honesty of our life is freely shared and I have nothing truly to hide. I am confident, intense and passionate about the life we live. I love to share everything we experience for the chance it may inspire or help others.

I may change plans and dreams due to circumstance, but I don't quit, I don't give up and I certainly do not allow my family to quit either. We adapt.

In this past year we have moved crossed country, lost my sweet mama as well as several of her brothers and sisters, we became homeless by choice, took a huge cut in income, discovered a brain tumor right before it killed me, and have had to seek help in a variety of ways.

However, we also have fell head over heels in love with Oregon, met the most amazing people and families, went to Spokane Washington and the wonderful Portland Oregon. We drove up to see Crater Lake when snow was still on the surrounding mountains around the lake. Which is good because now it is smoke filled from a fire in that area with an entrance closed off and one of the roads in closed off as well. We have explored our wonderful new town where we go for everything and they have the coolest shops! We are being sheltered in a small studio for the most incredible, big hearted folk you can imagine while we get treatment for myself and try to pull together our financial resources to find our own place. We have gone to some amazing parks and seeing the Rogue River daily is just amazing.


I never see our circumstances as a bad thing, just another step in our journey with so many beautiful things to keep fighting for. Or should I say flowing for , because is that really what a journey is? A beautiful flowing dance of good and bad? But what defines bad as bad? Is cancer bad? No, not really it is no different than what someone else would see as bad, just a different obstacle is all. Truly the really only bad thing I would agree with would be something awful happening to a mother and fathers child.

Debt, car loss, home loss, terminal or chronic illness...........I refuse to quit, it is just not worth quitting and is just a small obstacle one must creatively figure out while they continue to seek joy daily.

Learn to dance in the rain or smell spring flowers, laugh...oh  I can not stress laughter enough!

A daily Mantra should be "I can do this, yes I can!"

I simply just don't take giving up as an option, I just have way too much to live for and what I do TODAY is what matters. TODAY I choose to fight for our joy and always be full of gratitude.

Have a marvelously inspired fun filled weekend everyone!

Carrie Hetu

How Weak I Be: Avoidance Is the Game!

Okay then, I can tell you for sure, Martha has truly got nothing on me when it comes to avoidance and procrastination!  I mean come on already look at the date of my last post! It has been half a year and a big fat ZILCH from me here!

Oh I do so love a clean home, but oh how I hate starting those beginning steps of a house that has fallen to ruins which sadly is what tends to happen in many modern homes today. It usually is from busy woman with too much on their plates, or due to health reasons and most can not afford to hire help. If the family is not any help in this department, the many duties just build and build.......................and build until it becomes overwhelming to even think about.

It can happen to the best of woman, you just look up one day and BAM! You look around thinking a bomb may have gone off and left thinking HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

But it does, maybe not in Martha's world, but in a typical modern woman's home it can happen oh so easy. BITE me Martha and your spotless and clever ways!

So where does one begin? That is the issue right there......BEGIN. Taking that first step is a big one and can leave ones head stuck in the sand for what seems like an eternity. The whole time that little voice in your head shouting "Man up Cupcake!"

My Solution to beginning will be getting totally radical and serious about going Minimalist! If I get rid of it, I do NOT have to clean it, after all you can not clean clutter!  I may or may not show before pictures......... not sure I want to expose myself with that much embarrassment right out of the gates.
At the same time, I know I am not alone and have always blogged from a place of total honesty.

So what do you think, should I share with the world what to me would be mortifying? I will also keep tabs on everything leaving the house.

Then I shall create a weekly routine to stay on top of things and strut around like a peacock saying Take that Martha! :)  

Not everyone was cut out to be a good house keeper and entertainer.

Hosting a Camp out in September!

When most will be going back to school, I am so excited to be hosting an Undead/Unschooling week long camp out in September!  I have made some of the most wonderful connections with some of the most amazing woman and families through my journey with breast cancer combined with our unschooling lifestyle that I am beyond grateful for this chance to have invited them and host a camp out.

I have formed some extremely deep online connections for a year and a half now since I reached out at the beginning of my diagnosis. They were my life line while I not only fought for my life, but struggled with feelings of guilt and a desire to give up our unschooling lifestyle as well. It took me a little to renew my faith and energy in unschooling through a terminal illness, in the end I embraced it and so grateful we did not give up! These beautiful souls, pulled me along while I could not get out of bed, laughed with me, celebrated my small accomplishments with me, cried with me, cyber hugged me and were always there. This camp out will be our first meeting face to face and I am just excited beyond words at this opportunity.

I had decided, if I could not financially afford traveling, nor would my health allow me to commit to traveling to some of these fantastic unschooling events and conventions than I would host my own! It has been wonderful having everyone pull together to make this happen and they will all be coming to pitch their tents in my yard........and having just a grand old time... what a way to start a brand new year!

Tents, bonfires, good food, fantastic company, lots of laughter, a little wine perhaps, strong coffee, amazing teens, preteens and preschoolers! S,mores, hugs, tears, love and the most incredible, inspiring, fun loving, amazing woman I have met ( there are many more that could not come that we will think of but so happy for the ones that can make it!)

I never underestimate the power of online connections..........they are just as real as meeting someone in person given time to develop the relationships. I have been blessed over many years to have gone on to meet some in person and now I get to meet a whole group at once! This is going to ROCK!

Summer Potpourri

Summer has been beautiful and busy, mostly perfect weather and everything summer should be!  There has been friends over, summer bible camp ( daughter was invited by friend) , beach days, walks in park, walking dogs around town, taking apart boom boxes, and sewing plushies.  There has been drawing, movie nights, bike rides, playing in hose and sprinklers, building blanket forts, and visits with relatives. There has been BBQ's and walks down the road, battling an epic year of the killer mosquito's,  all nighters, sleeping almost a day .... at least until late afternoon and banana splits, ice cream sundaes and root beer floats!

There has been lawn mowing, cloud watching, youtube watching and days lazing around doing absolutely nothing! There has been reading, video games, editing, movie making, and planning a camp-out we are hosting! There has been dish-washing, jokes made, laughter and even some tempers flaring with a little yelling! There has been oncologist visits, CT scans and PET/CT Scans, dentist visits and dinner out to newly discovered restaurants!

It has been a really terrific summer, full of active days and other lazy days! AWESOMESAUCE!

How has your summer been going?

Turtle Lessons About Living and Learning

I am a firm believer that if one takes a moment each day to observe nature, many lessons can be observed and answers given to live a natural lifestyle deeply connected with the earth in which we live. Everything from trees and plants, weather patterns and seasons, to the animals and their behavior all can act as teachers and guides.

What can a turtle teach us about living and learning?

To start :  If slow and steady wins the race.......why then does public schools take the position of the hare and not the tortoise? Why are they is such a hurry to cram more and more information into younger and younger minds and then scream how it is a flawed and broken system that needs to be reformed?  Perhaps they should reconsider the message of the Tortoise and Hare!

Some things we can learn from our Turtle friends:

1.) Keep it slow and steady and you will see progression of learning and not as likely to have periods of burnout or a frustrated child overwhelmed by too fast a pace. Kids learn, well people in general really all learn in their own time, at their own pace and that is perfectly okay. Not over scheduling activities gives us plenty of time to take a laid back approach which allows us to take in more and observe more. By observing more we can rise to the challenge of taking cues from the observations on bringing in and seeking opportunities of things that would light a fire of passion to learning.

2.) How to Shield yourself from negative energies- the outside world can be highly critical of homeschoolers, even more so to unschoolers. Their words can be hard, cold and given without thought based in information, only fear of the unknown. While the outside world can be hard, we can be soft and kind, safely tucked into an environment of love, connection and safe boundaries where natural learning can flourish. We do not need to let the thoughts of others harden us to the core, but we can keep a thick skin on the outside so we go about our lives unaffected by others opinions.

3.) Sometimes life gets in the way, stuff happens, health fails, our world gets turned upside down. Don't give up, while it is extremely difficult to right yourself, and may take great effort, it is NOT impossible!

4.) Home can literally be where ever we go, which works splendidly for gypsy souls, travelers and world schoolers. Home does not have to be bricks and sticks and permanency. Home is not a building, it is what lives inside the building that makes it a home. Where family goes, home goes. Taking our home with us does not mean keeping yourself chained within a small world, but by being able to take it with you, you can become part of a much bigger world.

5.) Develop ideas, and even though they may stay buried for awhile, allow them to hatch naturally. Fully explore your ideas, nurture them, grow them, give them light and let them expand and develop by going with the flow, naturally without rushing it.

6.) That it is okay to retreat  inside to the safety and coziness of your home, you do not always have to be out and about, visible and on the go.

7.) That some of us may seem a little cold and hard on the outside but is just our defense after dealing with too many who don't "get" it. Give it a little time to get to know us, many of us are really quite soft, loving and generous on the inside.

8.) Stay grounded and connected within our daily environment, take a moment to breath in all the goodness in the morning. Take a few minutes to meditate or yoga, breathing exercises and find your calm for the day trying to hold on to that for the duration of the day.

9.) That it is okay to be a teenage, a mutant or a ninja as one friend so humorously puts it! I will not expand on that, I will leave it to your vivid imagination for the deeper meaning!

10.)  As their are varieties of turtles, same is the number of homeschooling methods, find which one works for you. Each species of turtle has very different needs and habitats and you will find this goes for homeschool methods as well.

11.) Know it is okay to take a little longer to get somewhere but take time to always be in the present, taking in everything about your surrounds and what is going on within it. Plan accordingly so you can take your time without having to rush.

12.) Know your goals ( goes for life in general!) and do not let all the little distractions move you off course. Keep heading in the direction of your goals and you will get there!

As you can see, our friends the turtles have a lot to teach us, can you think of  lesson from turtle that is not mentioned here? Leave a comment and let us know!

We are officially an all Teen Household Now!

We are officially a teen household now, since May and I got to tell you...... I AM LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Teens rock and it is such a joy to get to spend my days with such funny, outspoken, humorous, sarcastic, happy teens! I am making fantastic strides towards a healthier me and to where things are getting pretty much back to normal. This excites me as it means my energy is returning and I will be able to participate more and get more actively involved again with planning activities and such. 

Having 2 teenagers changes the game and is quite different than attending to younger kids but to me, this is where the real fun begins. They are coming into themselves more and more and emerging into their very beings of who they are as individuals which is so cool to witness. They are also finding common ground again to enjoy each others company. For years having a boy and girl with vastly different interests, they did not do too much together but now can come together for mutual interests and the laughter that fills the house from these sessions is absolutely joyful to listen to.

I am getting excited for this year and am already getting my creative thoughts going on how to make it a wonderful year. Cancer kind of sucked ass last year for getting to do much and now that I am really feeling pretty great, my mind is spinning with all sorts of ideas. 

My son will be a challenge as he seems to have hit a phase of losing interest but not adding to his already small selection of interests. He after all is 16 and perhaps this is a phase where he is teetering from boy to manhood as I have known this to happen to other boys his age. He has retained a few of his interests but I hope we can work together to start expanding them and igniting that passion for learning and living again this year. As he calls it, he is in a FUNK. 

My daughter is forming so many interests it is very hard to keep up with and yet with an extensive list of things she likes to do, she complains a lot of being bored! It really seems impossible when you see everything she is interested in doing but I think this has to do with creative types. But some boredom is actually a good thing, for that is where creativity blooms and grows from. 

The flow in our house is good and natural , really organic and I could not feel more blessed if I tried. Teens is truly a beautiful thing. While hormones do happen and voices do get raised from time to time, we really do not have the teen rebellion that occurs in many mainstream households. It is easy, and open communication, mutual respect and truly enjoying being around each other. 

Looking forward to an exciting new chapter in our lives...........

Oh Martha, How I Hate Thee

I shout it loud and I shout it from the roof tops, Oh how I hate thee Martha! Considered a Lifestyle Guru, I remember watching your shows growing up as a child. As a young adult I began to hate thee. You see the problem with Guru's is that they give off this impression of how easy it is to do what they do. Many of them got to be guru's by tainted operations, and as they climbed the ladder to fame and fortune, money behind them to do what ever, when ever they want.

Martha was no different, gaining recognition with a questionable past in ethics on how she got to guru status. How she got there is really none of my concern, the fact is I started hating her due to how she made me feel as a failure as a woman, and a homemaker. So many cool ideas and crafty projects, smart organizational ideas and creative entertainment.....wow I Betty Crocker I may be, but a Martha I am not, not even close. Really of course, I do not hate her, I just was secretly putting the blame on her for my own large short comings as a homemaker.

You see, I have never been good at organizing my home, it always seems overly cluttered........well okay, embarrassingly cluttered, nothing homey about it and certainly no beauty within the home. I fail miserably in the romantic department and could not come up with a romantic saying or idea if my life depended on it. I can cook, and I am a good cook, and I can garden and I am a good homeschooling momma and that is about where I stop in the feminine department.

I was born and raised a country girl, had somewhat of a tough life and only briefly on a few occasions got a glimpse of middle class income. I have worked construction, farm hand cleaning horse stalls, a nurse aide, a a humane society worker in my days. I am currently battling Stage IV breast cancer while homeschooling my 2 youngest out of 4 children. Years and Years ago I made candles and I was really good at that but then stopped after my last child was born.

This blog is my endeavor to embrace the fact I am an average modern stay at home mom, maybe even below average! It is my attempt to start bringing out my crafty and creative side and making my house a home for my family. I am late to the game, trying to achieve good homemaker status in my mid 40's but hey better late than never right?

Pinterest just may be my saving grace for this project! I have no qualms about getting ideas for my new creative lifestyle from others! Did I not say I was not good at being romantic, crafty or having smart ideas on an efficiently run home?

I hope you join me on this endeavor and who knows, if you are like me, just an average  modern stay at home mom trying to achieve the impossible beautiful and organized home and romantic ideas and embrace the woman in yourself...... well perhaps we can inspire each other!

Unschooling Through Terminal Illness

Well I was going to do an art spree post with tons of photos that my daughter has been so busy drawing!  She has been on a roll and drawing almost daily, BUT blogger is being stubborn and I am having some issues with it.


So, then I thought well you know, everyone that follows any of my blogs, knows that I was really sick for 2013. But I have never really talked about how we got through the year as unschoolers and little things we did, to ensure even if learning slowed down due to me disengaging it still would continue. I am not sure if I would even call it disengaging, after all I was knocked off my feet and incapacitated. I stayed connected and engaged when and where I could but it was vastly different than when an unschool family is in top health. I am sharing here in hopes that it may be helpful to others out there, not that they necessarily will be terminally ill but also for those that perhaps suffer chronic illnesses. So here are my thoughts and a few hurdles we needed to overcome.

• GUILT and Depression-  This was my first and largest hurdle and something I did not come out and openly talk about. Ironically I never really got depressed at all over my Stage IV Breast Cancer diagnosis, I pretty much saw that one coming and even came to terms with my possible death before my children turned 18. But when it came to our homeschooling, our unschooling lifestyle, I withdrew, quit blogging about it, quit writing articles and screamed and cried inside over the guilt, feeling like I had failed my family. I lost all trust and faith and questioned if unschooling was right for us, if it had ever been right and if I was doing a great disservice to my babies. Their care and learning experiences after all have always primarily fell on my shoulders. At any rate being involved and actively engaged, coming up with ideas, projects, games, places to visit, where to go, has always been my department. After a couple months of being very withdrawn, I realized that even if I died in 2013, that I did not fail my kids, nor did I set them up for failure, that indeed their learning would continue, just as mine has, for life.  I started connecting with homeschool and unschool groups again, reading and commented and renewed my faith in the path, and put my trust in it again. It would not look the same as an unschooling family in perfect health and that was okay. It would be unique to the new needs of our household and yet remain beautiful and organic, the way learning should be. I embraced it again, as I embraced LIFE and decided to give both, my all. Talking with others who have major health issues or chronic illnesses, I have realized when one discovers this for themselves, the guilt and depression related to their family in an unschooling lifestyle is not only quite common but a natural step one must go through in order to move forward. While this may not make it easier, just know it is a natural process and perfectly okay to go through. Those that told me to just put the kids into public school were typically those who did not agree with homeschooling in the first place. From time to time, when the doubts were strong, I did actually consider it. In the end I decided to trust our journey and take it one day at a time to see where each moment brought us.

• Providing Enough Tools- We spent money to ensure the kids would have access to learning whether or not I could be involved. Now granted being 12 and 15 helped where they did not need me for every little thing! We already had a laptop computer and a regular computer, along with 1 television and Xbox gaming system. We purchased a Kindle Fire and was Gifted another Television with a DVD player.  We then bought a game-cube for that television set. This allowed for everyone having access to something when we were all home. The gifted TV with DVD and game cube went in me and hubby's bedroom. This way on bad days, ( which all in all were way to many days for the first half of the year!) that I could watch a movie in bed or play harvest moon. This also meant the kids would come in and cuddle with me while we watched something together and just be together. Those were some nice and tender moments that I have fond memories of. The kindle Fire provided a way for me to go to the hospital and communicate with the kids with. It also provided a way to download learning apps and books that I felt due to the audio features may help  our dyslexic daughter with reading. This also gave me something to do on days I was good enough to come out and curl up on the couch, which I spent many days on my  hubby's man chair with ottoman or couch too!  Besides electronics, we did make sure we had new books available to them as well as art and craft supplies for our daughter.   Board games and cards were increased as well.  While our budget may be small as a low income family, I found what I could used, on sale, or a small amount set aside from our tax refund for certain educational tools.

• I'm Bored! -  Even with all the tools we made sure they had, I was told almost daily from my daughter at some point how bored she was no matter how much she had done that day. It was a huge adjustment for her to being staying home far more than normal as I was spending much of our free time being taken by hubby to all my doctor appointments, emergency room visits, testing and scans, and dentists. Not only that but my daughter was use to a very high energy mother that had spent her days all day, every day doing projects , activities and fun things with them. Even though my energy had been depleted in 2012, I was still functioning and was not until my diagnosis in January of 2013 that I became bedridden almost over night. This was a huge change for my daughter and it was hard on her, really hard! At any rate I have never met a child who has NEVER complained about being bored from time to time! You know what though? by the end of the year, it seems like she has renewed her unschooling lifestyle too. She now actively seeks out doing things on her own without requiring someone to always be there doing it with her. She finds things to do on her own, by herself and that is a good thing to be able to figure out things to do when feeling bored, something her Dad in his adult years does not know how to do! In the end she learned and grew from the experience and no longer required me to be the idea man, she was able to think of ideas for herself and creativity blossomed.

• Ways I Found and Embraced to Connect-  Our World was flipped upside down over night and I had to find new ways of being involved and trusting the process of an unschooled lifestyle. The kids certainly had to step up and help out some, by doing dishes, vacuuming and helping keep the yard mowed, usually this was done on a rotating schedule between the two. While we have never ever had required chores for them, it became an necessity for all to pull together as a team. When they would ask for me to do something that I could not do, I would let them know the things I could do, which granted was not much, but it let them know what was possible to do together. On days I could not get out of bed, we would either cuddle watching a movie or if that was too much, while drifting in and out of sleep I was available to my daughter who would be on the computer near me to ask how to spell things. Or she would spell something off to me for me to let her know what a difficult word was she was having a hard time reading was.  Some days I was so bad, my son would wake me up on a regular basis to have a cold bottle of water for me, knowing dehydration was a large concern. During these days, they made sure to be very quiet and do everything electronic or run off and play at the neighbors.  They were invited to go with us on a few occasions to chemo sessions or blood work days in order to ask questions they may have and to understand my treatments better along with meeting my wonderful team who was eager to meet our children. On a really good day we would go for a small walk or play a board or card game of some sort. Some days I laid in bed playing Harvest Moon while one of them would sit on the bed and read a book next to me or just talk.  Some days they would want to cook dinner since standing and cooking were difficult for me to do for a long time, I found if I sat in a chair in the kitchen I could guide and help them being present, but not physically involved and we found it to be highly enjoyable to do in that fashion.  I embraced these small to many but huge achievements to me and allowed myself to be amazed by the many small ways we still found to let life unfold in amazing ways and learning so organically. I would read books to my daughter while we sat together on the couch, at lunch time we almost always watched Documentaries together. On really good days we would take them to the movie theater or out for Ice Cream and later to the beach for swimming. I found that by embracing the small moments throughout each day of the things I could do, rather than worry about all what I could not do, allowed a beautiful flow and I did what I could to help them when they needed help, and connect. While we perhaps also may not have gone out all that much, we had far more company visiting than normal which helped too.

• Where we are at Now- With a terminal illness it can go either way, you can either get better, even if for awhile or you can take a turn for the worst. I am happy to say for us, they have certainly expanded my life and I am in a much better place than I was this time last year. I most likely will never be 100% of the woman I use to be, I have had to say good bye to that work a holic, always busy, physically strong woman.  But I am back to being able to function as a woman, wife and mother again and have shown my kids humor and grace through out this whole year. I am excited that while things crawled along for 2012 and 2013, that this year will bring back more activity, growth and learning with my renewed energy and healing.  Our motto has certainly become more of a Life is Amazing LIVE IN THE MOMENT type of living but I can tell you it feels great to be excited at what we may be able to achieve this year. After all my health could have certainly gone in a different direction and I would not even be here to type this post. When you have terminal illness though, you cant put the energies into what ifs, should haves, and can'ts.  Embrace each day for what it is, the one thing I do know is that if I had it to do all over again, I would not change a thing. We still would be unschoolers that allow the natural learning coupled with peaceful parenting. My kids had a lot to deal with for 2013 and they themselves had their own internal battles to fight knowing their mother could die. They certainly went through some depressions and emotional roller coasters themselves. In the end though we are stronger than ever as a team, as a family unit and they have both blossomed into amazing kids. This year will bring us to having 2 teens in the house, 13 years and 16 years and so far it has been a wonderful journey with them.

In closing, I just want to say, I am glad we did not give up, learning still continued and I would not have changed a thing.

End of 2013 Art Work and Happy New Year!

This is what our daughter was up to the last week of December, even the photo of the bruised arm is art! 

She drew the 3 adorable characters, something she usually does while watching TV when the inspiration hits her.

The bruised arm is done with makeup as she is taking a real interest in special effects 3D makeup and watches a lot of youtube videos on it.

It has been one very long emotional year for us and while my battle with Stage IV breast cancer continues I am in a much better place today than I was this time a year ago when I was diagnosed! On that note I am very happy  to say:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am so looking forward to 2014 while in a better state, to embrace our life of learning, breathing in new life to it again.  I am excited at what we may be able to do this year and have this blog get out of quiet mode as we move out of just survive mode!

It has been a heck of a ride 2013 and my family has been amazing throughout the whole journey and I am very thankful for that. But now for 2014, it is a new year, time to bring back vital living full of life, energy and joy.

May your New Year be amazing, full of joy, health and love.............let the learning through living continue!

Coming to the End of 2013

 

The Boy Child still does not like photos, it is a I am 15 thingy! Although I am terribly behind in keeping up my blogs, I will do my best.

 

 

Our daughter is still the funny, goofy girl with a wonderful sense of humor we adore, loves putting on wigs (see photo)

 

Around Halloween she watched special effects makeup tricks on YouTube and came up with that photo above that makes her look like she burned it or went skidding across pavement. ( really it is only make up! she did a fantastic job!)

 

She has worked on her Magna Drawings ( a couple of them shown in photos above)

 

She has been baking pumpkin bars, brownies and ramen noodle dishes

 

Spends large blogs of time on Feral Heart, an online multiplayer site.

 

Watches anime and a multitude of things on YouTube.

 

recently got Little Big Planet 2 and a PlayStation 3 she has been playing on.

 

Our son has watched Documentaries on Pompeii and Russia's Toughest Prisons, using educational aps on the kindle and reading a book called Origins and one in the Rot and Ruin series by Jonathon Maybury.  He also has been cooking Chili for the family on several occasions! Delicious!

 

They both still alternate days for doing dishes.

 

As a family we watched another season of Vampire Diaries, we are watching Supernatural and just started a new series we enjoy called Revolution. We still usually go grocery shopping as a family, do math drills for fun on occasion, and played the new version of the Life Board Game.

 

We also are watching Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow together ( although our daughter does not watch Sleepy Hollow)

 

Holidays are on us now so there will be holiday baking, visits from loved ones, large meals, reading together while cuddling under blankets, decorating, cleaning and organizing throughout December!

 

I know this is just a quick update and certainly is not everything that has been going on since the last post, just a tiny glimpse.

 

I will try harder at keeping up with regular blog posts!

 

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

Summers End

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So summer is wrapping up and coming to an end, did you enjoy it and have a good time? While it flew by, we certainly had some good times although it was a tad chilly for a typical summer! I am excited about another new year starting with lots of ideas for activities and fun.......... always did love beginnings! At the same time I am enjoying reflecting on some memorable moments we were able to have over this summer.

 

The Middle photo is one of my daughters latest anime works, she loves to draw anime and it is awesome to see her develop her talents. She drew quite a few over the summer and they never cease to surprise me and I never tire of seeing them!

 

The other 2 photos were of a visit to Potters Park Zoo which is in Lansing, Michigan....... while fairly small it was a lovely little zoo and time spent exploring exhibits and enjoying a beautiful day with friends and family.

 

A dear friend was able to come to visit twice bringing our adult daughter with her. Each time staying a few days!

 

My mom and sister visited a few times and even brought my brother from Florida once with them!

 

My mother in law visited a couple times, brought hubby's brother with her once and this weekend even came and took our daughter to spend 3 days with her, she returns tomorrow! While there she will be able to visit her great grandfather too!

 

We were able to take kids to the Movie Theatre 3 times, which is a big deal for us, we have not been to one in like 7 years! We went to see Croods, World War Z and Despicable 2 3D...... awesome!

 

We took the kids to the beach ( finally found a local nice one easy driving distance YEA!) last week, although our son chose not to go, me and our daughter had a blast, I even went in and played with her a little bit! Sadly I forgot my camera though! She met a girl there, and when we left exchanged information and now they are connected on facebook an awesome way to extend and deepen local connections!

 

I have been getting better and energy is once again returning! :) Ta Da!

 

We have gone to thrift stores and turned in video games to Game Stop for the credit to get new games, both activities my kids really enjoy.

 

We have taken the kids out for ice cream twice to Tim Horton's which JUST opened in our town at the beginning of Summer.

 

Our son turned 15

 

Our Daughter turned 12

 

Our dear friends from North Carolina came and stayed a few days with us.

 

We drove into Lansing with them once where they got to see the Capitol building , the first time in a big city for them.

 

It really was a beautiful summer, I hope yours was as well!

This Weeks Highlights

I had a really rough ride between Mothers Day through the whole week with chemo sessions and dental infections. However this week brought


Another 2 week on $50 per person shopping trip, allowing each member to buy their own food on that amount. Everyone went and my daughter even announced she wanted to make healthier choices which she did!

Our Youngest Daughter had her 12th birthday party and she helped me make her special request My Little Pony Rainbow Cupcakes.

We had a wind storm ripping most the skirting off our trailer with us in it but we are okay.

Me and the kids set some goals for this week that we all want to get done before the weekend.

We lost power 6 hours after the wall of wind hit us, this lasted from 10pm to 3pm the next day in which we just sat having fascinating conversations, board games and then finally a special treat by all going to Tim Horton's for frozen yogurts, coffee and sweet treats. Power was back on by the time we got back.


Daughter learned she can download a free app called KIK on my kindle for text messaging. Yeah no more requests to buy her an expensive cell phone! WIN

Watched a sad video my daughter took of herself on her birthday by feeling so lonely since I was at hospital 8 hours! Poor thing! Good news is that we did come back to celebrate! LOL

Both kids learned how to mow the yard with a push mower!

While I was at hospital on Mothers Day, came home to find my daughter had cleaned the whole Kitchen.

We set up our bird feeding station and everyone has been learning what birds have been coming, they ask me because I know most of them but  I will  be downloading a field guide to my kindle fire just in case one stumps me.

Both kids have made a request for me to purchase them certain books, so will look into it ASAP!

So been pretty good all in all I would say! Hope your week has been going good as well!

Saving $100 a Month by Mowing Ourselves

I am starting to smell a theme this year ha ha, one that states, we will spend money on items that in return will save us money or make us money!

This week it was time to mow the yard, so we purchased a mower, not a fancy riding one or anything like that, but just a decent push mower with a grass catcher on it. The grass catcher makes it so we will not have to rake ( or bring in loose grass all over the house which happens when the person we use to pay, cut it with a riding mower!) and also makes it so it is easy to dump in the garden, in the chicken pen or in the mulch pile.


For the last 2 years we paid someone to do it as it was convenient and well, me and hubby just had too much other things going on for summer to survive on low wages. Yet we struggled to pay him and many times bills would get behind in order to keep our yard mowed. We have about an acre sized yard so it is a tiny yard to mow and even though he charged a very small rate, it would always become a difficult bill to keep up with, without letting others go. ( He charged so little as he is our neighbors son, who are related to our landlord)


So this year we bought our mower for $200 and it will pay for itself by the end of June! I also felt this would be good exercise for me on my road to recovery. Well I did try today and sent me into a 30 minute coughing fit, and for a small square had me drinking a whole gallon of water and taking about 5 breaks! So perhaps I need to still work up to this but I do have hubby, a 15 year old son and a 12 year old daughter who all can mow if I can't.

Oh and I am also very sore now, these muscles of mine really need to get built back up again, it is amazing to me how weak I really have gotten!

On a good note, we are still on our $880 a month budget, easily staying on track and using all extra income streams that come in above that on all our funding envelopes.  As you can see in that budget, there was no room to pay someone $100 a month for mowing! So yeah score for us in not breaking the budget for the convenience of someone else mowing this year!

Is there a way you have come up with recently to save on a monthly basis?

15 years ago

April 18th

15 years ago and since then:

I brought you home and spent the whole first day holding you and simply staring at you, while you stared back.

I had you after thinking I was done having children. Your brother and sister being 11 and 12 years old!

The second day you were home,  2 days after you were born, we took you to your brothers opening day of Little League baseball.

You were always so happy, never crying and brought so much joy to our household.

Since then you still have always brought laughter and joy to the household and have grown into an amazing young Man, always choosing to learn things in your own time, on your own terms. You would not let us help with learning to ride a bike, reading, bowling or anything really. You always wanted to do it all by yourself, and you did and still do. Your time, Your terms, Your own determination........it has been an amazing journey.

You have deepened my own interests by the things you are passionate about and taught me so much about patience and a laid back attitude taking everything in the gentle strides that you do.

Our journey together has been amazing and miraculous, that I would not trade for the world.

You are Unique, Amazing and a wonderful son that has made my world a better place just by being YOU.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

 ( He would not give permission for a Birthday photo, so all I had recent was this photo when he was out flying kites with his nephew!)

Been Way too Long

Sorry for the MIA, there really has not been much to report here on the homeschool front. I posted quite awhile ago we were waiting news of my health.

Well since that post for those who are not aware due to not going over to my whole-istic living blog, I was diagnosed with Stage IV Breast Cancer January 10. As soon as I was diagnosed, my body crashed and I literally became bed bound or at least couch bound. Tumors on my liver and left lung left me a mess and nailed me over night from Okay to not capable of even cooking a simple meal.

There were many changes, kids who were never before "required" to do chores had to step up and at least do vacuuming and dishes, along with other little things here and there that were requested of them.

I had bought a few tools for the kids to do more independent schooling such as complete curriculum workbooks, more computer time and watching documentaries, drawing tablets for the computer and our latest tool a new kindle fire!

They also had to become more dependant and fend for themselves for lunch and dinner.

Not to mention learning about cancer and the honesty that in the beginning was not looking good and that I could die. Initially I was given a choice of chemo or hospice, if I chose hospice I was looking at living less than  a year.

 I am considered treatable but not curable,

On a good note, since then I just received my 4rth chemo treatment and I am back to feeling much more like myself, and being able to do things again, which I can not tell you how excited I am.

The tumors have been shrinking and the more they shrink the better I feel and have hope, that I will be around for years and years. I see no reason I can not be one of the 1% who go on to survive long term.

With me feeling better and spring arriving, I am working towards involvement, fun and hands on activities to get back in the swing of a wonderful natural learning filled with active, fun filled days of learning wonder again!

That's also will mean back to a regular update here!

Have a great weekend everyone and although I have not been posting I still have been being inspired by reading all your learning going on!

Sheena Iyengar: How to make choosing easier

Funny: I'm a Dad and I Know it Video

When Illness Strikes

While the end of the year brought holidays, winter and time with family, it also brought physicals, mammograms and ultra sounds. While we have suspected breast cancer for awhile, and kept quiet about it with the exception of a few close loved ones, it is now becoming a reality here.

I have a biopsy scheduled for the 3rd of January and will be called back to go in a week after that to get the final results.

This certainly explains why this blog and our daily life seems to have lacked energy and activity :) and December was a pretty bad month for me in general health wise. It is not looking good and very likely is in a late stage.

If anyone is interested, I will be blogging about my fight and my plans to increase my odds of survival over at my whole-istic living blog at http://awhole-isticlife.blogspot.com/


For our homeschooling, this leaves me at the end of the year wondering about 2013, I will need to set up a plan of action to increase the kids learning activities and independent learning. It will need to be set up with my days of lack of energy, and side effects of treatment with days I am sure of being really sick.

While it is hard to make concrete plans without final test results in to know exactly what we are dealing with, I can still come up with an outline for a plan of action and get something set up.

In any case, a New Year is always a good time to review and plan so look for our 2013 goals and plans of action to come soon!

Have a wonderful New Year everyone!

Moms Time Out: Finding Time For Yourself

Let's face it, no matter what method of homeschooling you use, it can be exhausting work. There is a lot to balance when one is committed to being mom, teacher, wife, housekeeper and not enough time in a day to get everything done all the time. So how does one keep from burning out? Finding time for yourself of course!

It is important to take time out for yourself on a regular basis to reflect, rejuvenate your batteries, contemplate, review and just simply get that much needed downtime. We are not an elite group of super hero's as much as we would like to think we are! We are human, there is only one of us usually and there is only so much we can accomplish before we need a small break to get ready for the next round.

For some it is easier to find that time alone, for others it may not be so easy. But no matter what the case it is important that you find that time. Taking care of yourself is the first step in being able to take care of the ones you love.

What you do in that time for yourself is up to you, but should be something that rests your weary body, uplifts your soul and revs up your creative thought processes. It may be taking a candle lit bubble bath, a long walk in nature, a quiet place to read or journal write, fishing, or taking a yoga class or some special cooking or art class.

When you are well rested and in a good mood, others pick up on this and follow your lead. We are in a better position to homeschool with joy when we take the time to treat ourselves in order to serve our best to others. Would you rather be taught by a tired and grumpy person that is short on patience? Or would you prefer to be served and taught by someone who is well rested, overflowing with joy and almost an unlimited amount of patience and giving?

If you like to keep daily to do lists, make sure you put "Take ME TIME" on it!

Taking time for yourself is not a selfish act, it is an important treatment of self-love that strives to be your best so you can best serve the needs of your children, spouse and family. By ensuring you are taking time for you and not burning out or stressing out, you are putting your best foot forward and modeling a happier well rested person. By putting forth a happier well rested person, those around you will be happier.

Find a way to give yourself a time out on a regular basis, even if all you can manage is 5 or 10 minutes a day, that just may be enough time for a peaceful short meditation to center your being and restore a more peaceful you! The older the kids get, the easier it is to find a little more time!

You deserve it and so does your family!

Islamic Homeschooling

Here are a few resources for Islamic Homeschooling, whether you are muslim or looking for some interesting diversity to add to your curriculum, I hope you enjoy these links! While this is not in any way a complete list, it should help get you started and is of a nice variety to start with!

http://www.pearlsofjannah.com/

http://middlewaymom.wordpress.com/

http://www.magcloud.com/user/islamichomeschooling

http://muslimhomeschoolblog.com/

http://hijabiandme.blogspot.com/

http://www.yemenlinks.com/Theme/HS_Islamic

http://www.islamiceducation.net/

http://sd2cx1.webring.org/l/rd?ring=muslimhomeschool;id=10;url=http%3A%2F%2Fourseeds%2Etripod%2Ecom%2F

http://www.ehow.com/info_8019291_islamic-homeschooling-resources.html

http://www.islamichomeeducation.co.uk/phpBB3/,

http://kinzaacademy.com/