A Little of Everything

I have nothing all that important to share, just a little of this and that.  My life is not all that fascinating these days, folks, and I know that reading this blog is about as interesting as reading a Lysol can :-)  Sorry, I am quite happy with the mellower pace and low to no drama and hope it continues for quite some time to come.

That new phase we are entering with the kids comes complete with lower voices and "humor" that at moments borders more on obnoxious than it does funny.  Does every 11 year old boy think he is that funny without realizing he is annoying? Hahaha!  I know with 4 kids within a year and a half of each other we are in for it Big Time, with no break at all for several years.  Matthew is on the cusp of so many changes, and although much of what we experience right now with him is mild in comparison to so many others, it is enough to let us know he is 100% normal.  Thankfully, so many other qualities balance it out, and I know that this too shall pass. If I don't kill him first :-)  Hahaha!  Having a kid who shovels snow and practices piano without being asked is a good trade off, and eventually he'll get past the Diary of  Wimpy Kid-style humor stage.

Kenny, on the other hand, has finally taken a baby step towards growing up.  It was so heartening for me, and I hadn't realized just how concerned I was about the lack of maturation thus far.  But this past week he took a little step forward.  I woke up and came out to the kitchen where I found him two days in a row working on his homework all by himself while everyone else still slept.  He looked up at me and said "I thought I'd do what you said and get the stuff I don't like to do out of the way.", then head down he went straight back to work.  You could have knocked me over with a feather!  Maybe...just maybe...this kid'll grow up after all!  I actually had tears in my eyes, silly me.

Joshie seems to have backslid a bit in the emotional area, as the past two nights he has had night terrors again.  Part of the reason I am still awake tonight is that he totally freaked me out waking up instantly while yelling loudly tonight.  Scared all of us and it took me 10 minutes to actually get him truly awake as he sat upright in bed mumbling and trembling.  I had just had a conversation with my mom last night telling her that each year it gets a little better, but here we are again all of a sudden, and I am left wondering when his fears might finally be vanquished once and for all...or if they ever will.  So I am guessing we will have a Bed Buddy again for a couple of weeks.

I am brain dead after a day of intense homeschooling and working on a small project for church.  Both required some stick-to-it-iveness and multi-layered thinking which is good for me.  I have recently found myself feeling a bit depressed, not quite sure but I know some of it is plain old isolation and not getting around adults enough. The kids have each other...and their tween humor...while I don't have much opportunity during the week to socialize with taller, older folks.  I am not Miss Social Butterfly, but I do miss adult conversation and I am finding a need to for something aside from my "day job" to help keep me emotionally balanced.  Not sure what that might be, and choir helps, but I need something else just for "me", and that something needs to add no extra demands on my time.

I had thought about going back to school, but that feels incredibly overwhelming...I don't need homework on top of preparing lessons, grading, laundry, cooking, and picking up 43 spare socks laying around every day.  I need something "fun". Not only that, but we have no money for such things.   The only problem with that is that I am not a "fun" person.  I am basically pretty darned boring when you want to get down to it, and the sorts of things I find fun are things that involve thinking, and that is not all that restful!  I have said over and over again that I wish I had a real hobby of some sort, but I have yet to find a single thing that I am interested enough in to pursue with any zest.  I would take a writing class if I could find one locally that was not a "Grammar 101" sort of class or "How to Self Publish".  I might actually be able to get into learning how to write well!  However, I have resigned myself to the fact that, unlike most women, I am never going to be one of those amazingly talented women who sews, crochets, puts up preserves, arranges flowers, gardens, dances or does any other sort of creative thing.  I also will never get into Bingo, so I guess I'll just sit around the house and complain :-) Hahaha!

But tonight I am sitting in a relatively clean (and now quiet) house.  My family is all under one roof, we had a great day of learning, and the fireplace is warming the room.  What else could I want?

Not much, really, not much at all.

Night all!