Mommy and Me

Mommy and Me
Sharing life with you is fullfilling

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Here come the holidays!

Oh how I love this time of year! And finally I am 'home for the holidays'. That makes it even better!
Four plus families that when I left had only just one child are now 2-3 children bigger. All of them though separated for a time are now back together. .. we are family. .The real kind. Not just by blood, which is generally how family is formed, but bonded by the blood of Jesus, transformed by the word of God, and united by years of friendship. 
I know my blood family is a little offended that I choose to live closer to this make shift family,  but I just know this is what my own family needs for growth and contentment. People that support their mama and daddy, people that speak the truth in love,  people that care, not because they are obligated to but because they want to.
Though we all have our differences and quirks we really do love each other, and that is important.  Some are more distant than we would like, some are more busy than we hope, some have different plans for their family than we do, but we love one another, truely deeply do.
I'm so glad to be home! I'm so happy to celebrate this holiday season with our family.   I pray you are all where you need to be for this holiday season as well.

Monday, November 17, 2014

School is in session

I have been too busy to blog much lately.  My intention was to build garden boxes, clean the yard, and begin to turn this house once again into a home, then also to turn around and do all the same for my friend who was arriving shortly after us.  Man was it a lot of hard work, and the work isn't nearly over, not for me and not for my friend.
I accomplished all of my goals but the building of my garden boxes. The wood I intended to use was so rotted out that it would never have made a good box, it never would have even held nails without splintering and falling apart. I can't afford the cost of new wood at this time either so the boxes will have to wait.
Today we start school again. We have had a nice long break, though I intended to continue having Caeden read during break I did not so he will be frustrated with that I think. He already has recognized that his best friend is reading without much difficulty and is sad that he doesn't think he can read at all. He said to me the other day "do you know what my secret to reading is?" He was trying to convince me that he can not read at all. "I just remember the words.
I should be honest with myself and admit that half if this statement is bad and the other very good.  The bad half is that when we read stories he does memorize the whole story and recite it as we work our way through it. The good is that because I force him to point at each word as he reads he sees the words as he says them and when we start a new book he quite often remember the words he used most in his last book. So he is, in spite of himself, learning to read.
We also do spelling words which he is required to read so we are reinforcing a lot of words as well, without a story context.
Today we start in slowly.  We have reading, math and spelling only. 20 mins. Of reading and math each. And writing out spelling words 5 times each.
I have a lot to prepare this morning so we can be done early enough to get to our chiropractor appointment.  So please have a beautiful day!
Samantha Mehaffey

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Oh yeah... we made it here.

Well our drive with the kids and a 36 foot 5th wheel was amazingly smooth.  We arrived on time and in good shape if not a little dirty from no baths or showers on the road.
A few things happened that I hadn't thought out well,  and had little control over. First I got a head cold. ..yuck. no one else got it though so we managed quite well.  But then dear old aunt Flo decided it was a good idea to join us on the trip.  I won't explain any deeper but suffice it to say that she wasn't welcome. I also forgot to call the gas company before leaving and since it was the weekend while we traveled I never was able to set up an appointment to get it turned on. Fortunately our friends in Oklahoma allowed us to shower at their home.
We initially illegally parked the 5th wheel at our house blocking the driveway mailbox and the entire yard, after unloading most of its contents we found a storage facility to park it at. 
A major mishap happened in delivering the 5th wheel to its new home. A gorgeous Victorian mansion was sitting to the left side of the road and very out of place considering the buildings surrounding it, I was busy ogling it when I realized that our destination was actually coming up quickly to the right. I slowed, but Patrick saw the same gorgeous house and didn't see me slowing. I realized moments too late that he was not able to stop and slammed on the gas,  the effect only barely helped.  The heavy 5th wheel drove the truck forward despite Patrick's effort to stop it and the end result is that I spent a week looking for a new car. The children are all safe as are Patrick and I, even Boomer was ok.
I love my new car! It is an 03 honda pilot. I might have preferred to purchase one a little newer but Hondas don't run too cheap.  The kids fit wonderfully in the 2nd row but there is a 3rd row should I need it!
Aside from wrecked cars we have had a number of other adventures, the latest is a stomach bug,  doesn't seem to last long but it's a doozy.  This comes at the same time that we realized that our fridge wasn't working properly and we had to defrost it for 48 hours. Before you draw conclusions about the fridge and our tummies it seems to be coming like a virus, we didn't all get sick at the same time. It started with Fia,  then the boys both got it. Fia is fine now and Micah is also on the mend, however Caeden is taking a while to get through it and I now have it, but so far Patrick seems unfazed (at least now).
We also have a lack of storage for things like home school supplies. .. but it's coming along. 
We still need to find a washer and dryer, and I still have some garden boxes to build.  I had planned to make them out of the old fencing but it is too far gone to be useful.  So I'm searching for used wood in other places.
So many goals!  I also have started some diy projects.  The first us the hall bathroom. ..had I not been bombarded with sickness this week the first project of the room would be finished. .. but it will take some time. I can't wait to show you what I'm doing!