Simple Woman's Daybook~ Vacation Edition

For Today...April 13, 2012
Outside my window...I see the highway, a Cracker Barrel and gray skies outside my hotel room.
I am thinking...that vacation is the best idea ever.
I am thankful...for the chance to take a break from the hectic pace of our 'regular' life.
In the kitchen...nothing! Eating out all weekend sounds fun (if a little pricey) So nothing is in the fridge but a few sad leftovers that didn't get eaten up before we left yesterday.
I am wearing...Jean capris, a sage green t-shirt and new socks. *I love me some new socks*
I am creating...this blog and some fun memories.
I am going...to dinner with friends, sleep in tomorrow, watch David compete in the regional gymnastics meet, and have dinner with family tomorrow evening. Life is good.
I am wondering...why sitting in the car is so tiring ; )
I am reading...1 Corinthians this month
I am hoping...that David does well tomorrow and doesn't get too nervous.
I am looking forward to...time with friends and family, extra sleep and fun photo opportunities.
I am learning...that you can't live at 125% all the time.
Around the house...it is dark and quiet with just the animals at home.
I am pondering...how it is that I came to be so extraordinarily blessed.
A quote for today..."Vacations are the best idea ever" by me
One of my favorite things...being bored with my family.
A few plans for the rest of the week...vacay, too much driving, cheering on David, and being a whole lotta lazy.
A peek into my day...

Vacay~ Regionals 2012

Just a quick post to say that we are having too much fun here in Co Springs waiting for David's regional gymnastics meet tomorrow.
How much fun are we having?? This much................

A Day in the Life at the Man Crew House

Hey Everyone! In the interest of not going another 6-8 weeks without a post, I'm just popping by to say hi and Happy Monday. Today was a whirlwind of activity that looked a little like this.
6am: Up and At 'em. Dan off to work with a full belly and a tasty lunch packed.
7am: Back to bed just to warm my toes
8:30am: Oops, apparently I fell back to sleep. With 2 nights of 9+ hours of sleep under my belt, one would think this would not be a problem. However, since I average 5, the extra sleep was but a small dent in the deficit. :)
9am: Everyone except Dad is up, dressed, fed and started on their chore/school lists. Mom and I plan meals for the week, belatedly start making Easter dinner plans and review the contents of the freezer.
10:30am: Where did the morning go? Busy busy busy, and feels like I'm getting nothing done. Sit down to some concentrated school time with Derek.
11:30am: Time for lunch, which today consists of leftover chicken tacos, wahoo chili dip with nachos. Not bad for leftovers. Watched an educational movie about presidents 11-25. I learned a LOT. Kinda embarrassing. hee hee. Dinner in the crock pot and simmering away.
1pm: Back to school. D working on math, P working on grammar and then math, DT painting a picture, reading books with me and playing outside a bit.
2pm: Whoa, already? Time to be out the door for some errands, meeting Jodi early at the library for some shop talk, and being ready for tutoring. After a flurry of activity, I'm out the door. Paid the rent, picked up a Sonic Raspberry tea (during happy hour, of course) and headed to the library to turn in all the books we've neglected to turn in since the move.
3pm: Meet with Jodi, meet new tutor joining the crew, and set up for working with the kiddos. So far, all the kids I have only need 'supervision' not real tutoring, so I'm good with that. : )
3:30-5:30pm Tutor, supervise, remind them to work, nag nag nag, play Fluxx with them as the finish up. They all like it a lot.
5:30-6:30pm: I *intended* to get some things done while still at the library, but Negative Nancy (young adult librarian) decided to yak my ear off for quite some time, after my last kiddo got picked up late. So, didn't accomplish a THING there. Oh well
6:30pm: Head for home, eat dinner, prepare to go pick up David from gym. Grma to the rescue, and went to pick him up. HURRAY!
8pm: Settled on the couch next to hubby, adding pics to old blog entries, digging through old emails looking for a link to a 'how-to' blog post about making your own liquid soap, and just enjoying a few minutes of downtime.
8:45pm David back with Grma, along with groceries and a new pool stick. : ) He's testing it right now.
Rest of the evening *should* look a little like this...
9pm: Kiddos to bed
10pm: Another early night for us old fogies. Sounds good to this tired mama. Good night everyone!

Homeschooling Update *Copied from Homeschooled Hooligans*

Back to School, Back to Posting, Back to
Something....or at least I Hope!
Hi everyone. It's been a long break, a long winter, and a long travelling season for gymnastics. Add in a last minute move (so that my parents can live with us) and it's no wonder I've lost my mind, my computer's flash drive, and my lesson planner. HA! At any rate, all is not lost. David (the gymnast) has been kicking some heiny at the competitions. Patrick is finding his groove again after the move (this normally takes MUCH longer then 2 weeks) and I think I found my lesson planner today. I do, however, make no promises about ever finding my sanity again ; ) As for school, we managed to get several weeks worth of school done between the middle of January and mid-March. Then we did 2 weeks of "inde" schooling while I packed like crazy and then got a week of almost spring break the week of the move while David's best friend spent the week with us while he was on spring break. In case you are wondering, inde school is what I call all lessons/activities that do not need adult help. So, things like CD Rom math lessons with the lectures pre-recorded, online videos about the Constitution, quiet reading time each day, educational videos, lots of games and lots of outdoor play. Also things like "how many boxes fit in the truck?" - "Where did Mama put her purse?" - "If I fill this box to the top, can I still
pick it up?" These all count as life skills, quite useful in the 'real' world after school. ; )We are now back to school, David is REALLY loving his math studies this year and is doing quite well in his pre-algebra class and has even already asked if he finishes it early, would I order him another. Why YES, yes I will! Patrick still struggles with 'wanting' to do school, but is putting forth
a good effort most days. I do still need to find his math disc, and then get back to curriculum studies. We've been doing some random worksheets I've found in the move, so all is not lost : ) Derek is getting back to his studies as well, although he's got Grma snowed into believing that if he says he doesn't want to do school, he doesn't have to do anything. Oops. I haven't brought his curriculum back out yet either, just so he and Patrick can stay together in their lessons, but I have enough K-1st grade workbooks, manipulatives, games and such to fill at least one whole 5 shelf bookshelf, so he is moving right along. I'm almost worried that he will be ahead once we get back to actual My Father's World studies. But a nice little repeat never hurt anyone anyway, right? Overall, all is well again in the MeYeR Man Crew Homeschool. I love, love, love homeschooling, even on the tough days. And hopefully, those are over for this year. Travelling is nearly over for the year, the move is over, and we are settled. Life is good.

Gymnastics Season 2: Level 8

David wins EVERYTHING at the State Meet.
David skipped level 7 this year and went straight to competing at level 8. It's been an interesting change for him and he worried that he wouldn't do well this year as he tried to get a handle on the changes from compulsory gymnastics to optionals gymnastics. Well, in true David form, he's done quite well for himself. The coach is pleased with his advancement, and I'd have to say, so are we.
Sorry that I haven't posted tons of pictures like any proud parent should do, but between the travelling for meets, the 4 part time jobs, homeschooling and the move, I just haven't kept up like I should. (My apologies David, I took pictures, I just need to post them) Anywho, blah blah blah...get to the good stuff, right? Well, suffice it to say that we are the proud parents of THE Level 8 (ages 11-14) NM State Champ. 1st in every event. Yeah, that feels good to say. *winks*
Regionals is in Colorado Springs, CO in the middle of April. He is already tweaking his routine so that he does well there. He's pretty excited as we are also. David, in case you haven't noticed, we are SO proud of you.
OK, now I need to go find the buttons that popped off my shirt from being so proud :D
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David won the handstand contest at the Las Cruces Invitational and got to do that cool trick with the Cruces Gym coach.

LOL, Still Behind

The move is officially behind us now. We moved on the 17th, unpacked like mad for what felt like years but wasn't that that long in reality. By the next day, we were serving up homemade meals again on 'real' dishes. My Mom is a wonder. Energizer bunny style energy, for sure. I WILL post some pics of the house I promise. Just need to get home to my flash drive.
Anywho, all in all, with the move completely FINISHED (did the move out walk through with the old landlord today) I can say with a touch of hindsight that moving up the block instead of across the country or across town is much better, but it does tend to drag it out a bit. It was nice to have the luxury of making small trips once or twice a day instead of all in one day craziness, but on the other hand, it felt like it was never going to really truly done. 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other, I suppose. At any rate, we are moved in, settled and loving it.
Dad and Mom are cozy in their master suite downstairs. (I love that jacuzzi tub!) Mom and I have piled all the bath beads, lotions, candles and other potions we can find as we unpack and apparently, I NEVER need to buy another scented soap, candle or lotion. (how sad)
The boys are loving their new rooms. Each one is a tad bigger than the last house and so now they have room to actually hang out in their rooms. David is trying really hard to be patient about us getting around to painting his room as it's an embarrassing shade of purple (he's 14, give him a break, right?) Derek is kind enough to share his double closet with us since our closet is full of shelves. Not that Dan or I have tons of hanging clothes, so it's no big.
Dan and I have made ourselves quite cozy up in the rec room/upstairs master. There is plenty of room for both 'areas' so it's all good. The 'library' or large closet with shelves on all 3 sides upstairs has quickly become the home off all our books, the linen closet items, extra games, scrap-booking stuff and even most of the craft supplies. (I think it's my favorite room in the house, LOL) Mom is pressing me to use their private LR as my office/crafting room, and while I would love to, I know they need their space, too. So, we are still working on a compromise that we are both happy with for that room. However, for right this second, it's being called the overflow room and is full of things that we are sorting out in the process of unpacking and arranging the garage. : ) It's nice to have a room for that!
Over all, probably the best move ever. Tiresome, but doable because for the most part, we could unpack it as quickly as it was getting to the new house. Life is good.
Come on down and see us sometime. We've got enough space to share for a while! Love to all

Holy SMOKES! 6 weeks?

Has it really been 6 weeks since I've posted anything? I am SO sorry. Goodness, where to start? My mind is scrambled at the moment, so please forgive any spelling, grammar or crazy mistakes in this, and it's certainly NOT going to be in any cohesive order. I think I'll use bullets and just have at it.

• We are moving! On Saturday the 17th, so the luck of the Irish and the Blessings of God will be upon us. : ) We actually got the keys on Tuesday, 2 days early : ) and have been busily taking things over each day since, so that Saturday won't be too terrible.
• Yes, we are moving AGAIN, but we are so excited. My parents (Larry and LaVonda) will be moving in with us! For now, it will be as snowbirds each year when they come for the winter, and when they are not in residence, we will have an awesome guest suite to share. When the time comes due to health issues, it will be permanent. The house is perfect for 2 families living together. 1st floor master with huge walk in closet, plus full private bath, and private sitting room. 3 bedrooms, rec room (which we will use as our master bedroom) and a full bath upstairs.
• David has been doing well in his gymnastics competitions this year as well, even though the first one or two were very different than what we are used to, since he changed from compulsory level to optionals. Different scoring, different routines, different everything except how much he loves it. Coach has high hopes of David making it to regionals again this year. The state meet (where he could qualify for regionals) is the weekend after the move. He's pretty excited.
• Patrick has already been packed for about 2 weeks. He's excited about the new house. It has a large slant ceiling closet under the steps that he has claimed for his 'gaming den'. We will see if he actually gets to have it, as I need somewhere to put my cleaning supplies, but maybe we can share. He is big enough this move to be quite a helper and I think he's excited to be counted as one of the big dogs this move.
• Derek is concerned about the move. He says he's afraid he won't be able to find the bathroom : ) But has been busily packing his books and toys anyway.
• EVERYONE is excited about having a pool table at the new house. It will be a great addition to game night for sure, and when Dad is having a good day, we can help him get up there and play some as well.
• I'm excited about matching appliances, a fancy oven, and unlimited hot water. Ha ha ha!
• Must get back to packing, packing, packing. Mom has been a great help. She seems to have limitless energy. And they say youth is wasted on the young *winks*

Ok, really must scoot now. I'll try to not let another 6 weeks go by without a post. LOVE to all!