Scene from a Memoir {There's a bee in the truck}

Daddy Y doesn't like this story.  In fact, if he were to tell it, I think it would sound a lot different.  I'm sure it's a case of he said/she said...

We were out in Northern Idaho on a weekend camping trip.  We'd just driven down the road to check out some fishing spots in the river and were on our way back to camp.  It was a sunny warm day and the windows were all down.  Butterflies flitted about, Stellar's Jay's flew here and there.  The humidity was low and the temperatures were ideal.  It was just a perfect day.

Suddenly, Mr Y (we weren't parents yet...) started swerving, jammed the truck in park, threw open the door and hopped out in the middle of the road.  The truck was still running.  I was still buckled in my seat.  I was confused.

That was when I noticed it, bobbling on it's little bee wings across the inside front windshield, right in front of me and then gently floating out my passenger side window.  Apparently a bee had flown in his window.

*In all fairness, I should disclose that in his youth he had been stung by bee's and had a bad reaction, thus his fear of bee's.

One day does NOT define you

I'll admit it.  I don't know everything.  In fact, I would venture to say that I know significantly less than everything.  Oh, and I make mistakes.  I'm constantly making mistakes.  There is not a day that goes by that I do not make mistakes (yes, plural).  Some days it's overwhelming thinking about how much I don't know and how many mistakes I have made.

It can feel challenging, trying to homeschool my 3rd and 6th grader, because I am completely aware of my lack of knowledge.  What I lack in knowledge though, I try to make up for in technique.  What I don't know, we learn together.  Sometimes, what I don't know, they teach me.  There are even times when they are teaching each other.  Even though it can be challenging around here (as I imagine it is in every classroom, everywhere!), my kids are learning what they need and more.  They are learning that at times, there will be things they don't know.  They are learning that this may sometimes pose a challenge for them, but they can and will overcome it.  They are learning that if there's a will there's a way.  They are learning to be resourceful and to improvise.  They are learning that knowledge is completely within their grasp.  They are learning how to live life, independently, with confidence in themselves and their abilities.

We have lots of failures.  It's how we learn, stumbling through our days in fast forward, running towards the finish line, picking up bits of knowledge along the way, but tripping from time to time.  The important thing is that we trip, we get back up AND keep going.  We take a mental snap shot of the mistake and we store it away, as reference, to remember what NOT to do.  Often times this can be even more important than learning what TO do.

Something I find myself repeating (nearly on a daily basis lately!) is this;

One day does not define you.

One day can bring you joy, sorrow, confusion, anger, regret.  One day can bring you a complete array of ups and downs.  One day can definitely trip you up and make you question yourself.  One day, however, does not define you.  You are more than the sum of a handful of mistakes.  You are a work in progress.  You only have to realize it.  Your potential is infinite.  One day does not define you.

Linking up with Write on Edge

Scene from a Memoir {Chicken Nuggets with "Calcium"}

Linking up with (Don't Be) Too Timid and Squeamish today!

Thanks for the inspiration Marcy!

Scene from a Memoir

Three year old Awesome was a BIG dinosaur fan.  She could tell you everything there was to know about carnivores, omnivores and herbivores.  She knew all about Diplodocus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Pterodactyls, and the list goes on and on.  When she started 3 year old preschool, her teacher asked what she wanted to be when she grew up and Awesome replied "a paleontologist".  Her teacher laughed and then questioned her about what that was and got the long answer with detailed description about exactly what that entailed.  Awesome was consumed by all things dinosaur.  Her Halloween costume was a fishing vest, pith helmet, sunglasses, paint brush, shovel and giant plastic bone.  In her mind she was already a paleontologist, but what she really wanted, more than anything else, was to be a dinosaur.

What she didn't want was to drink milk or eat cheese or to consume anything remotely dairy related.  She was shooting up like a weed and I was concerned about her calcium consumption.  I had a few tricks up my sleeve, like counting how many sips were in a cup of milk.  It got old fast (for me anyway) sitting and counting every swallow as she slowly drank her milk.  Heaven forbid I should try to sneak in any cheese though.  The mere thought of cheese would (and still does) send her into auto gag mode.

One day I made her lunch.  I always bought a specific brand of chicken nuggets at the meat counter at my local grocery store.  Today's lunch was chicken nuggets, grapes, carrots and milk.  She took her first bite of chicken nugget and discovered that it had little yellow bits in it that suspiciously looked like cheese.  She was thrown for a loop and more than a little upset.  I looked at the package and discovered that I had accidentally purchased the variety that added cheddar cheese.  I looked at her while she was deciding whether or not her whole existence was crumbling in the disappointment of cheesy chicken nuggets.

"Is that CHEESE?" she asked, clearly deciding whether or not she needed to have her stomach pumped.

I said to her, "Hmmm... let me read what the package says "chicken nuggets with calcium".  I looked at her, wondering if I'd get away with it.  A thoughtful look came over her face.

"Calcium?"  She asked.

"Yes," I said, "It says chicken nuggets with calcium.  Sounds really healthy to me."

"Bones have calcium, right?" she asked.  (I'm not joking around about her 3 year old dinosaur knowledge.  We read EVERY book the library had to offer!)

"Yes, Awesome.  Bones are made of calcium.  Dinosaur bones are made of calcium.  To have strong bones, you need calcium."  I told her.  I watched the wheels turning as she studied the chicken nugget some more.

"It's not cheese?" she questioned me.

"Nope.  Says here, it's calcium", I lied, desperately trying to avoid auto gag mode.

She broke the chicken nugget in half and studied it some more.  Then she took a second bite.  She looked at me and smiled.  "We should always get chicken nuggets with calcium," she said, happily eating her lunch.

Now that she's 15 she isn't so easily fooled anymore.  Last week we were talking about the chicken nuggets with "calcium" and she revealed to me what was going through her 3 year old brain.  "I thought if I ate the "calcium" my bones would become dinosaur bones and I could become a dinosaur.  That was why I ate them." 

Fortunately for me, she never became a dinosaur.

Linking up with the Rub Some Dirt on It Happiness Is blog hop today too!

Ninja blender and the smoothies

I love that my kids are always so willing to try new things.  At their urging, I recently purchased a Ninja blender that we'd discovered at Sam's Club for 50% of the cost we'd seen them at other stores.  Our old cheap blender had broken a while back.  When my kids discovered the "Ninja" blender, they thought it was a must have.  After all, it's a blender named Ninja.  What's not to like?  This is not a paid advertisement, by the way, but I wouldn't say no to that if offered!

Since then they've been researching smoothie recipes.  In the last 2 weeks we've tried 3 different smoothie recipes and plan on trying at least one more this weekend.  They're on a mission to find THE best tasting smoothie recipes around.  Of course, I'm on a mission to find smoothies that Amazing, Cosmo and Awesome would choose over a sugary dessert any day.

Which recipes have we tried?  First we tried a blueberry oatmeal smoothie, then a strawberry orange smoothie and lastly a strawberry lemonade smoothie.   Today we substituted mixed berries for blueberries in our oatmeal smoothie.  The next recipe we plan on trying is a strawberry peach smoothie. 

Of the four we've sampled, the mixed berry oatmeal smoothie has been, hands down, our favorite.  Here is the recipe:

• 16 oz. mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry and blackberry)
• 6 oz. vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/3 cup of this mixture (1 cup sugar, 1 cup berry koolaid)
• Dump in the Ninja and blend.

Honestly, I can't wait to try the strawberry peach smoothie.  I LOVE peaches.  After that, I'll probably research a berry spinach smoothie.  It'll be interesting to see how that goes over!  I'm not reporting ingredients until EVERYONE has sampled this one.  I've heard they're delightful though!

Go NINJA!

A Homeschooling mental health day

Monday was a homeschooling challenge around here.  Were I to post that it had been a huge success though, you would probably wonder what miracle vitamin I was feeding the kids to get them pumped up and on task first thing on a gorgeous, warm, sunny Monday morning in the spring, wouldn't you?  Amazing had been up exceptionally late Friday and Saturday night.  Cosmo went to at a scout camping trip that started Friday and didn't end until 4 on Sunday, and Awesome had finished a stressful track week and was an emotional and physical wreck all weekend.  We were done when it finally came to an end.

Monday morning rolled around and we got Awesome off to school and came home to start our day.  Cosmo immediately went back to bed, leaving Amazing feeling she shouldn't have to start if he wasn't starting yet.  When she asked if she could start the day with some Wii Just Dance 3 with the daycare kiddo's, I was immediately inclined to say yes. 

The day wasn't a total loss though.  I decided things were such a disaster in our homeschool space that it really would be best to take the day for a little reorganization.  I pulled everything off the shelves and out of drawers.  We dusted, vacuumed, sorted, rearranged and came full circle to a well organized, nice looking homeschooling space (if only there were time to paint the walls as well!).  Awesome helped to entertain the daycare children with dancing, blocks, books and more dancing.  Cosmo eventually woke up refreshed and helped by assembling new shelves for me and then arranging his items neatly in his new space. 

Today I feel much better about the space and ready to finish out our school year with enthusiasm!  It's a good thing to take a mental health day from time to time.  Unfortunately, today Amazing is not feeling well and has gone back to bed.  Sigh... at least the end is in sight.