WRAD Memories

I knew it had been a while since my last post- but I didn't think it had been THAT long. Two months is too long. It's not that there hasn't been anything to say or write about, because there has. I just haven't had the mental energy to do it. Instead I have: - bailed on my 90 days through the Bible (after 120+ days and only getting the Old Testament done) - done 2 x 80+ page digital scrapbooks - completed 3 x 24 page mini albums - started volunteering with my son's cadet squadron - got my first term portfolios together (such as they were) - re-arranged rooms - got rid of the dog - spent an insane amount of hours on the internet collecting digital freebies of whatever kind (scrap-booking/home schooling/eBooks/etc.)- if it's free I've been getting it - started decorating/baking for Christmas - been fighting off a cold for a few weeks now - and somewhere in there, I've tried to keep the house in some measure of cleanliness, kids fed and al...

September was a bit of a blur- which you probably noticed since I really didn't post much of anything during the month. Things and life had me distracted and I couldn't figure out which way was up. My 90 Days Through the Bible is taking longer than I'd hoped- mainly because instead of doing my reading every night I've been doing other things (like creating a Lego scrapbook for the boys. Pointless? Of course! Will they love it and fight over the 1 copy that I ordered? You betcha!). But doing things that I'm not supposed to be doing means that I have to say NO to things that I should be doing. Things that if they don't get done mean that days are really, really rough. Like figuring out a schedule for our school days, or even what we're supposed to be doing for school each day! Thankfully, after meeting with my home support teacher, I have a new plan for the work and I just need to figure out a schedule. And very timely, this post here ( Punching th...

Just when I think things are getting back on track, they seem to fall apart all over again. Mainly it has to do with my 'to-do' list. Honestly, I wish I could clone 10 of me just so I could do all the things that I want to do as well as all the things I HAVE to do. But I'm realizing that really my problem is that I can't seem to say 'NO', and it's just making things worse. Also tied to that is trying to daily do God's agenda instead of mine. Can I let you in on a little secret? I've sucked at doing that lately. Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23), so I can hit the restart button and try again tomorrow. On the upside, I am trying to be more present with my kids and in everything that we're doing each day. Hormones have subsided (which I'm discovering make me really crazy), I'm hardly yelling at all and I'm slowly trying some new techniques with the kids in order to change some behaviours tha...

I can't believe the school year is done! Thankfully, it's like most deadlines- it comes and happens whether you're ready for it or not. This is a good thing, since then it can't drag on indefinitely. So, I figured I'd recap for myself our fourth year of home schooling (which started with our summer last year since there were a few 'educational' trips in there- unbeknownst to our kids!). Lake Louise, AB Stayed overnight here the final night of our honeymoon It started out with our first official camping trip as an entire family. I normally go places with my parents and the kids and Graham stays home to work. He didn't grow up having pleasant family vacations (think driving straight through from Abbotsford, BC to Hanover, ON as fast as possible- stay for two weeks and race back just as quickly. NOT fun.)- so he would just as well rather stay home. We had talked about doing it for a while, but finally managed to get to Jasper, Banff and Calgary...