Arrrgghhhh...

My plans for better blogging are going right out the window this week!

The Bantams 12 and 16 are enrolled in a virtual school, you may remember.  They have enjoyed its flexibility to include many other learning opportunities, and in fact, this semester B16 has logged over 200 hours of guitar lessons and practice, voice lessons and practice, playing with two bands and the worship team at church, and recording in a studio with one of his bands.  He's receiving one fine arts credit for all these hours, and he's also receiving a half-credit for the over 90 "service learning" hours he's logged, doing set-up and take-down at church, serving on the worship team, assistant-coaching a Catholic school soccer team, and helping another ministry with set-up, decorating and take-down at their annual fundraising dinner.

He and B12 were able to work at the Christmas tree farm, and now they are both in rehearsals for The Sound of Music. B12 has put in the hours on piano, played soccer and attended all-day Redemption tournaments.  But NOW the flexibility has ended, and the hard-and-fast deadline for all the projects, papers and assignments is HERE!

It's this weekend, I mean.  So this week I've been spending more time than usual supervising, assisting, prioritizing, teaching--and nagging.  They're both going to be okay, I think--if they use their time wisely! And if I help move things along a bit on their biggest projects.  They just work so much better and faster if I am involved.

***

In other news, it was my birthday on Monday, and I received lots of affirming words on Facebook and from my husband and kids.  Some of my favorite lines from my kids:

There's really not much to say other than the usual "I love you" and also thank you for taking care of me, and helping me, and teaching me many good valuable lessons about how to live my life the right way, and stuff like that. ~B20

You are beautiful and fun to be around and I will always hope to be like you when I have kids.  People use the nickname "supermom," but I'll go with best friend on steroids. ~Blondechick19

Some moms don't have a sense of style, but you have some real swag. ~B16

I hope that your birthday is very happy.  I also hope you can have a rest from helping B16 and I.  I am very thankful that you are my mother and I wish I wasn't so behind so we could have some time to spend talking about things we want to talk about. ~B12

I've been feeling closer to God each Sunday and I feel really good about it, it makes me feel more comfortable in my life! ~Chicklet8

The day hass kum to my moms brthday. I nivr miss it. 

I love you.  I will olwes be her with you.   ~B6

Brothers Banter

B16, who has been snarling a lot lately about his school workload, was in a good mood the other morning.

He was dressed in silky gym shorts and no shirt.  A fluffy Christmas blanket was draped around his shoulders as he fried eggs, over-easy, for himself.  His brother sat at the dining room table, school laptop open in front of him, engrossed in Garfield strips on GoComics.com as he ate cold cereal from a bowl.  His attire was identical to his brother's, but his blanket was black, a fake fur affair that is his constant companion.

"Y'know, Mom, I know I complain a lot, but there are a lot of things I like about being homeschooled," B16 told me.  "It's kinda cool that I can wear whatever I want."  He grinned down at his blanket and silky shorts.  "I can get up and make myself something to eat whenever I want."  He nodded at the skillet in front of him.  "And I can put on Christmas music while I study."  He gestured cheerfully toward the stereo, where his iPod rested, pushing Michael Buble's silky voice through the speakers.

"And I get to hang out with B12."  His eyes traveled across the kitchen and connected with his brother's.  "That's one of the best parts.  We joke around a lot.  And I can beat him up whenever I want."  He made punching motions at B12's head.  B12 didn't bat an eyelid, just kept his eyes glued to Garfield as he replied, deadpan, "Yeah, that's my favorite part too."

"It's a pretty good life, y'know?"  B16 summarized, picking up his plate.  He paused, fork in hand.  "Except for the school part.  Now if I just didn't have to worry about THAT...."

It's not the first time that B16 has told me that one of the best things, for him, about homeschooling again, has been reconnecting with his younger brother.  They really do have a good time together, and their laughter and joking around are contagious.  And hard to stop!  It becomes my unpleasant duty to constantly call them to FOCUS. Sometimes they have to separate, just to get anything done.

It even extends to Facebook, where they tease each other, and their sister, Blondechick, at college.  I give you the following interchange:

B16 posted on Blondechick's wall:
Mucho PU ablo?


Blondechick:
Okay so I have to admit, I just put that into google to see if it actually meant something and google asked me "Did you mean, Michel Pablo?" STOP you're just trying to mess with me with yer fake spanish words.


B16: 
Haha you got me. On a brighter note. "That fart smelled like the fart I farted a couple farts ago." The wise words of B12.


Blondechick:
Oh, how-I-miss-you-two.  Monotone, bro.


B12:   
Never art thou weak too strong as for the weak are the weak and the strong the strong. Some more wise words that won't do you any good.


B16:
Wise words, my friend!


Blondechick: 
Thanks B12, I'm proud to say you have officially become your father's son. Only Dad [linked to her father's wall] has that kind of humor.

So there you have the culprit.  My dear husband.

If only he was around to break up the joking during the school day.  But he would probably just join in--leaving me with not two, but three unruly males.

I guess there are worse problems to have....

Sabbatical??

My friends keep asking me, with big grins and voices dripping with irony, "So--how that's sabbatical going?"

It's true:  I'm still really busy.  But I KNEW I would be.  In fact, I could have been planning a wedding in addition to all I'm doing now, and without my "sabbatical," I'd be homeschooling on top of everything else.

So it's actually been a pretty manageable fall.

And it's about to become even more doable in ten days, when soccer is over!  Then we'll have 8 weeks before auditions for the winter show, when theater will replace soccer as our big activity.  Except the time commitment is about half, and the running-around factor is exponentially decreased.  (One place, three times vs. seven places, ten times.)

Even better--and for the last two weeks of soccer--I finally have another driver!  B16 passed his road test last week, and now he can drive himself to guitar, voice, soccer, soccer coaching, and band practice...and help me out with the younger kids' activities as well.

That's going to help me a lot.

Meanwhile, I'm still home educating.  The Bantams 16 & 12 are rockin' the virtual school--keeping up well and getting decent grades--but I'm the geometry tutor that B16 is going to need all year, I'm afraid.  He doesn't need my help at all with English or Spanish, and only occasionally for history or physical science, but math has always been his downfall.  Sigh.  I liked geometry in high school--it was so much more interesting than algebra--but that doesn't mean I'm eager to re-learn it.

So far, so good with the two youngest in public school.  They both have excellent teachers, and they're learning good stuff and are motivated to learn.  I am pleased that they have hardly any homework, except reading aloud, so we have time for flashcards and me reading to them.  I knew Chicklet would probably suffer as a third grader who didn't know her math facts, but whenever we worked on them last year, she just didn't retain them.  This year, she has a test every Wednesday on her "fridge facts" for the week, so she's finally learning them.  She's excelling in other areas, but like her big brother, math is her bugaboo.  It's also her favorite subject, she says.  Go figure.

B6 is doing just fine emotionally, now.  He still tells me he misses me, but only occasionally.  The only thing he asks about on a daily basis is whether it's a regular day or a short day.  Every Wednesday, they get out one hour early, so he has to keep straight what day that is.

So I'm enjoying my sabbatical, being busy...but not as busy as I could be! I've even started adding cooking back in to my life.  Not my favorite way to spend my time, but my family sure appreciates it.  With soccer ending, and my new driver, I may even find time for true sabbatical activities.

I'm not even sure what those would be.  The things I've always liked to do, I suppose.  Reading, writing, maybe a decorating or organizing project. Spending more time with my husband.  Reading more to the kids.  Having friends over for dinner.  No grand plan.

Just more of the good stuff.

The Back-to-School-and-Soccer Blur

It happens every year--the back-to-school blur of scheduling.  It's like putting a puzzle together.  How can I fit all the pieces together?  And my other driver just left for college!  What if Papa Rooster is traveling with his job?

At least B16 is taking his road test in about 4 weeks.  That introduces a whole new set of variables--and costs!  (Car insurance on a teenage male?  Astronomical!!)  But at least we'll have more options for fitting it all together.

I guess scheduling is on my mind because I just got a new planner.  Here's my life.

Mondays:

B16 and 12 have one virtual classroom session each.  I will plan to go to yoga this morning.

We need to have everything ready to leave for B12's and C9's piano lessons, then B12's soccer practice--the minute B6 and C9 get off the bus.  I may end up having to pick them up at school on Mondays, and B12 will probably be late to soccer every week.  But it was the one, best chance at squeezing in piano lessons!  Don't know what C9 and I will do after we drop off B12; we'll either return home for an hour, or do errands until we pick him up.

Tuesdays:

Guitar lesson first thing.  Three virtual lectures for the boys.  Late afternoon, I teach my Drama 1 class; then, for the next three weeks, Papa Rooster, B16 and I are going to choir practice!  We were invited to join a choral arts group for one performance of this incredible gospel mass.

Meanwhile C9 has soccer practice.  If the other soccer family can't bring her home, she'll have to miss it.  At least her team has two scheduled practices a week.

Meanwhile, B16 also has soccer practice.  If Papa Rooster is out of town, I don't know how we'll get him either to practice or to choir rehearsal.  But PR probably will avoid scheduling travel on Tuesdays.  He won't want to miss a rehearsal--that first tenor part is challenging!--and it's a lot of music left to learn in just three more weeks.

Wednesdays:

Three virtual sessions for the Bantams, and then B16's voice lesson mid-afternoon.  Then two soccer practices, staggered, fortunately, so I can drop off one, then the other, pick up one, then the other.  I'll save my errands to kill time in between.

(Still thinking about adding AWANA to this night--it's such a great program--maybe after soccer is over, if we can still join late.)

Thursdays:

Three more online sessions, two more soccer practices.  One is for B16, who is helping a friend coach her son's team, so she provides his ride both ways.  Phew!  I will drive the carpool both ways to C9's practice, in return for them driving her on Tuesdays.  Maybe Papa R and I can do Date Night during her practice?  We'll have an hour and a half, if he's in town.

Fridays:

Nothing!!  How did that happen?  This will be the one weeknight, until soccer is over, that we could actually all sit down together for dinner AT dinnertime.  Better make meal prep a priority on Fridays.

And it looks like time to pull out the crockpot and soup recipes for the other nights; all those soccer practices are between 5 and 7:30.  With C9 and B6's bus arriving after 4 and their bedtime at 8:00, it's going to be tough to get in homework and piano practice, let alone dinner.  I am grateful for B20, who is always home, so at least he can supervise if I'm not there.  That's one silver lining of him not having a job yet.

Weekends:

Looks like we have four soccer games every Saturday for the next six weeks, with a few scattered games on Sunday afternoons as well.  The Saturday games begin as early as 9 and will usually end at 4:30.  So it's the whole day.

I confess I don't plan on watching every game!  Papa R and I will have to divide and conquer anyway, because sometimes we'll have kids playing at the same time.

And once the weather turns colder, I am a wimp.  I far prefer having theater rehearsals on Saturday mornings, when I can drop the kids off and go enjoy my quiet morning at Panera--indoors, with a hot cup of coffee, and no guilt about missing anything.  When it's performance time, I can be right in there with the kids, being creative with my makeup responsibilities and watching my kids perform...in the comfort of a cozy, cushy theater!  Even if I commit to helping out during rehearsals, I'm with friends.  It's hard to make friends with other parents on the soccer team when we are all trying not to miss our child's one goal or great assist.  Too often I've missed those moments because I've been chatting...and then I ask myself why I've been shivering out here in a lawn chair for the last hour!  So now I'm a quiet soccer mom, except to yell encouragement at the kids whose names I know, but the time does go slower then.

Papa R took lots of great soccer photos last weekend.  I should post some soon.

I should also take a shower.  While I have the chance!

Kicking Off the School Year

Here they are, the gang, waiting for the bus on the first day of school.  It's the first time I've ever seen them sitting down when they are together!  Two first-graders and a kindergartener, who live next door and across the street.  They've spent their summer in the street--wearing out scooters, bikes, rollerblades and soccer balls.  It's not uncommon to see deserted scooters or bikes in any of our front yards, while the boys disappear into the back yard to hit the sandbox, swingset or ditch.  They play rough-and-tumble; they get into occasional spats and they work it out.  They are a good group.

Watching Chicklet and B6 get on the bus wasn't as hard for me as I thought it might be.  I'm happy for them!  I know they are going to have a good time at school.

And they did love it.  They are both motivated to "stay on green" or "keep their smiley face all day."  Chicklet was happy to be remembered by kids that she knew from her half-year in first grade.  I'll be interested to see how they fare academically, but I'm really not worried about them.  They are bright and delightful children, and I know they will have a good year.

The first two days at iQ Academy were easy for Bantam12 in 7th grade--it's old hat for him, since he did this last year--and nerve-wracking for B16, in 10th.  Everything took longer than he wanted it to, since it was all new to him, and he's second-guessing his decision already, just sure that this is going to be more time-consuming than his schedule would have been if he had gone to the private school. It was a struggle to stay calm while he was freaking out.  My big challenge for the next couple weeks will be to stay calm, supportive and helpful to him until he gets comfortable and confident on his own.

And what did I do on the first two days of school, besides assist the Bantams-at-home?  I uncovered the floor of my laundry room and vacuumed up all the sand.  (Sand happens when you live near a beach!)  I treated stains and laundered various delicate items that I've been saving up.  I spent a good hour putting away stray items that had gathered in my laundry room, living room and kitchen counters.  I sorted through the dress-up and changed its home. I brainstormed organization projects that I can't wait to start and bought storage drawer thingys at Walmart.

I discovered, deep down, a slew of pent-up organizing and cleaning impulses that I may, finally, have time and energy to act upon!

I think it's going to be a good school year.