Accidents Can Happen

I have been lacking in content lately, not for lack of things to post but rather lack of time.
Here's the scoop. My loving father facilitated a purchase of 20 acres in East Texas for our entire family to use as an escape from the rest of the world. (The cabin will be used weekends and vacations, not a permanent day to day home.) Since we officially signed the papers a couple of weeks ago we have been camping @ the property on and off during the process of building a small cabin. Dom is unable to help since he is still under Dr.'s care after his back surgery so my dad and Brother Beal have been doing the work.

This past weekend we all ventured out to the cabin to do some "work." My sister came with us for the first time (YEAH!) and we camped for a couple of nights. There is no running water @ the camp and no electricity. There are plans for a small hand dug well but I am uncertain how long it will be until an indoor outhouse will emerge!

Jess and Niki and Luke and Ezra and I explored as much of the property as we could this weekend. We discovered 1 awesome deer blind and 2 small deer stands as well as some animal scat trails and many freshly dug animal dens. The property is overgrown with briars and thorny raspberry bushes (note to self-add machete to the camp box for next trip.) We had a bewildering time finding our way back to the cabin once we ventured off the road. Our saving grace was the dead tree about 50 yards northeast of the cabin...oh and my dad cutting a path with the chainsaw after we were yelling Marco Polo to him! The weekend was relaxing and full of educational opportunities, right up to the end, even the part where someone nailed their own thumb to the top of a corner post of the cabin. I have debated about posting this for many reasons, one of which is I didn't want to appear to be an irresponsible parent because I had the kids around a construction zone. In the end, I have to post this because this is our on-line scrap book and without the picture and this post, part of this history would be missing...not that any of us could ever let my dad forget he nailed his thumb to the cabin. Now it truly has his blood, sweat, and tears!

In other news, my sister made it into the police academy. Today was her first day and she said it was what all the cadets expected with the trainers yelling and having cadets stand @ attention for half the day. Jess does not recognize what a unique individual she is. I am uncertain what the statistics are but she is in the small percentage of Americans who have never tried any illegal narcotics, doesn't drink, doesn't lie...she is a shining example of a good person. I am the mean big sister! Everything bad that has ever happened to my sister started out with my handy work. It's ok, I have accepted my role in the grand scheme of things! LOL!

In still other news, Dom has re-enlisted in the Army National Guard for another 3 year stint. He is still on Medical Hold after the back surgery so he will not resume his duties until he is released. Once he is I am certain it is off on another deployment he will go. Secretly, well not so secretly now, I kinda want him to go active so we could travel. We would probably be stationed somewhere nasty @ the end of the earth so maybe it's for the best.

Yes, more news, Mady has her first job. She is scooping dog poo for a whopping $100 a month! This is an awesome job. It is one day per week after lunch and shouldn't take more than an hour. Mady is excited! Of course she is already speculating about her extravagant purchases. Her 10th birthday is this week as well. Wow! 10! Where does the time go? I am so thankful we started this blog so I can keep up with day to day happenings. I like to reflect on what we have been up to. Even though we haven't done much with our homeschool groups lately, I still feel so busy. Niki has gymnastics, Mady has art and the rabbits with 4H, the cabin, now it is time for our garden, and the boys are talking a blue streak. Luke and Ezra repeat every word we utter lately. The rate their vocabulary is growing is amazing. Each of the boys recognize and respond to everything we request of them as they mimic every action any adult around them is engaged in.

Enough rambling. Here are some recent pix.

They Paved Paradise

We have returned from out trip to east Texas. We didn't get to stay too long but my dad did get somethings accomplished. Brother Bill and Pam hauled some of the lumber, I towed the camper and my dad pulled the equipment. The boys still haven't learned how to sleep in the camper...according to my dad they woke up every hour. I am not sure how many times they woke up, but I know Luke and Ezra did not sleep well.

On the way back from east Texas we had to drive through the Big D (Dallas.) The wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour and the people all drive 90 miles an hour, there was a dividing wall on one side of me and an 18 wheeler on the other. I remember asking myself why would we, people in general, want to pave over all the scenery and add millions of stores and pay people our hard earned money to do everything for us? I didn't grow up with a Grandma, not even one, some people have two! If I had, I know she would have taught me all kinds of things about "the way things used to be." I hope I can @ least teach my kids to appreciate the quiet world around them. The world we derive everything we truly need from. The world beyond the pavement. Notes about the pictures. There is a picture of what looks like grass in this group-there is a baby snake in it. Also, the boys are NOT playing with ants-it's just dirt. We brought some moss home to plant also. Pix of Papaw by a tree have a significance. We had to cut down one tree so we could build the cabin in just the right spot.

When you go back to work...

Happy Sunday!

Niki and I stayed up late reading some of our new books and doing about 10 elementary chemistry experiments. We had a blast. Niki almost always picks a favorite step of something, a song, a movie, a science experiment, to repeat randomly whenever the mood strikes. You never know what step in the process Niki will choose, in other words she is unpredictable. I love that about her! We did an experiment using balloons and in the process of tieing one of the balloons after blowing it up, I let it go, on purpose bc I thought it would be funny. Yes, I am as equally easy to please as my children. Anyway, out of all the experiments we did with the water and salt, and sand, and sugar and tasting and the balloons, her favorite part was the balloon spinning wildly out of control around our kitchen light fixture. I think that spinning balloon is the only reason she remembered this morning the discussion on matter, solids, liquids, and gases @ midnight last night. If she were in a regular brain numbing classroom, I am certain she wouldn't have had that experience, but maybe she would recall the teacher and a different experiment.

It is moments similar to last night leading me to believe I will unschool my children as long as they are interested. Today though, a few members of the family (we eat Sunday dinner @ my mom's with the whole family) commented about when I go back to work...why does this keep coming up people? I hope I never have to work full time while the kids are small. Maybe one day I will go back to work full time. Honestly, I hope not(again while the kids are small.) If I do HAVE to return to work, while the kids are small, I hope it will be somewhere I feel as thought I can be myself. I no longer believe I can work in an office. I have an insatiable love for the outdoors. I am missing it a great deal since the last few days it has been too cold to go out. If I had to go back to work I hope I could find something outside with plants or animals maybe. I cannot predict the future but I can tell you what I know. I know everyday I fall more in love with my family and I know I could not place them in a daycare the same way I know I could not place my parents in a Retirement Center or Nursing Home. I also know my family all my family, parents, aunts, adopted grandparents, support me and will love me no matter if I go back to work or not. I suppose I just don't like to hear words that cause me to even contemplate leaving the little ones right now. The same way I didn't want everyone to continue talking about the boys needing a hair cut...

You want me to what?

The last few days Dom has been talking to me about going back to work...ARE YOU CRAZY, I ask.
I don't want to leave our kids with strangers that could never appreciate them like I do, let alone love them.
Secondly, doesn't he remember I was only working to pay for day care for 4 kids and fuel?
Is school really where the 2 eldest children need to be learning? I don't like what they are teaching in those buildings.
Dom is also talking about going on another deployment. Which, once again, apparently I have no say in.
It is hard enough on everyone with him being gone let alone for me to have to go back to work.
When he was on the last deployment and the twins were born, I was a wreck. I was screaming @ the kids, never sleeping, and I gained 25 lbs after I had lost all the baby weight! My family helped when they could, but come on, people have a life. Mady had 2 hours of school work after being @ school for 7 hours plus after school activities and I was breastfeeding. Niki is almost school age and I cannot imagine having to sit down and force her to learn to read plus help Mady with homework and take care of the house, bills, yard, an outside career and the kids! While I am telling Dom all this, as if I need to justify not having a "paying job," he sits on the sofa shaking his head.

It all began, I think, when he visited a friend he rarely talks with these days. The "friend" in question had just purchased a new street bike. First of all, how old are you? Secondly, this friend has no children and a girlfriend that makes an average salary contributing to bills as well. Dom's friend also owns a new home and a few vehicles. They are in debt up to their...well frankly over their heads. If someone doesn't get paid something will be repoed soon.

Dom mentioned that it would be nice to have extra money. For me it would only be nice to have extra money if I can come by it without having to leave the kids. I do not believe there is anything the kids can learn @ school that they cannot learn from living day to day life. Then Dom says, "What if you screw them up more by keeping them home?"
I have confidence the kids will grow to be well adjusted contributing members of society...and if they don't, I will love them anyway. I am their mom. My head is spinning just trying to think of some way to earn a little money from home to offset some bills so we can have some "extra" money.

When it comes right down to it though, will that really make us happy? I don't think so. I am so incredibly tired of outside sources defining how my family think and behave. I feel I have very little influence on Dom. I read constantly and when I mention something I am concerned about he seems uninterested and can only regurgitate things he has been told (military) or heard on the news (censored.) I suppose the only answer is to look for a part time job on the weekends.

I have a picture in my mind's eye of how things will be around here...but I suppose we all have to compromise sometimes.