Emma's first deer

On Christmas Day, Emma killed her first deer all by herself. She was so excited! I was surprised she did it. That gun was so heavy for her and the kick threw her back so far that I did not know if she could really hit it, let alone kill it. She went with her G-pa and dad that morning. They were so proud of her. We had a good time in Corpus for Christmas week, but it was good to get home. We got home Sat. night but I have not blogged because I had forgotten my account name since I had been gone so long. Anyway, I figured it out. We really celebrated Christmas on Tuesday last week with presents and lobster dinner with Cory's family. His sisters had to leave on Christmas eve to go to their in-laws. On Christmas Day they went hunting that morning and when they got back everyone went out on the boat to the bay. I stayed home all alone for six hours! Merry Christmas to me! I really enjoyed the quiet. Cory's family is, shall we say, very active. They are always talking or doing something. Too much chaos for me, I have to decompress every once in a while while I am there. My brain just gets too much input. Anyway, now it is time to find room for the new toys and presents. I did get Kara's room cleaned out with garage sale stuff to make room for her new things. I am going to have a major garage sale in the spring. I am so tired of all the clutter. Well, back to the laundry.

Hussle and Bussle

Christmas is in full swing at our house this week. My cousin is coming in today, tomorrow my sister and her man, and Friday my Dad and his wife. Today I am cooking four pies and making homemade cornbread for the dressing I am making tomorrow. Thursday night we will have Christmas with my sister, mom, grandma, and cousin here with turkey and dressing and all the fixins. Then Friday my dad will come and we will do it all over again that night. We have a piano recital Sat. at the nursing home and Sunday is the church Christmas play where Emma has a solo to sing. Monday we leave for Corpus to spend the week with Cory's family and maybe then I can relax. We do this every year this way, but the girls love it. We are trying to do school this week too. I did talk to my friend Alice Thompson last night and she said during these weeks leading to Christmas it is really alright to modify your days. See, I am a nurse, not a teacher and the only thing I have to go on is how the girls did things in school. Not to mention that I am an organizational list freak. So, I am learning to be flexible and we don't have to be so methodical about our school schedule each day. It is getting better and by next year I will definitely have lightened up some. Anyway, I am learning alot from all of you that I visit with and blogs that I read and comments that you leave me. It lets me know I am not running my kids off in a ditch.

What a day!

Well, it is Monday morning at 9:30 and I have already blown it. I have spent the better part of forty minutes trying to get Emma to blow her nose. She will not do it. She hums out of her nose and blows air out her mouth. She has a cold she caught last week and her nose is all stopped up. I know she is going to end up with a sinus infection if she does not get it out of there. Why can a 9 year old not blow her nose?! I have seen two year olds blow their nose better. Anyway, I had to sit on her to put saline up there and clean it out. Yes it was a fight to get it up there, she is getting too big for me to force her to do it, and yes there did end up being some yelling. Before that she had already thrown a fit because we have a lot of school work to do today. I don't know why she cannot just do what I ask her to do. She has to challenge me, stomp the ground, grunt, shoot me the evil eye, whine, cry, and sometimes flop on the floor when I ask her to do something she does not want to do. I am tired of sending her to her room to think about her attitude only for her to come back and apologize then five minutes later do it all over again. I am already tired today. I hope we get some school done today and this week so we don't have to take it with us to Corpus next week at Cory's family's house. I have so much going on this week that it might be better to take it with us next week. Anyway, I will vent more later. Thanks for listening.

Does anyone regulate you?

That was the question of the weekend when Cory's family came to town. Why doesn't the public school regulate you? How do you know she is learning anything? What do you teach her? I hope she turns out smart enough. The holiday's are tough for a first year homeschooler when the family comes around. That is exactly why I did not give any of our family, except my sister, access to this blog. Just in case I am struggling with homeschooling, which we all do time to time, and need to vent, then they won't see it. I can hear it now, " I TOLD YOU IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA". Anyway, only two more family times to go. Cory is so good though to back up to everyone what we are doing and why we are doing it. We are a unified front. Thank you to those who have lifted up a prayer for us and our homeschooling. Things are really improving with Emma. She is learning to work more independently with less fits. I am ready for next year when we can start ELO and she can see other peers on a regular basis. We are still praying about what to do with Kara next year too. She will be in first grade. The Lord had been so good to guide us this far that I know he will tell us what to do.

Who has time to blog!

We made it through Thanksgiving! We went to Dallas to stay a couple of nights with my Dad and his wife. We had a good time, then did some shopping on Friday morning with just me and the hubby. Now it is on with Christmas. Cory's parents are coming here on Friday along with his grandparents. They have never, in the 16 years we have been married, been here at Christmas time so I feel like I need to have everything ready for their visit. We have the house decorated, now I need to wrap presents. I have no room to store the presents anywhere so if I wrap them they can stay under the tree and out of the way. This whole week we have activities every night. I was really out of the mood to do schoolwork before Thanksgiving, now I really am. I have to get on the ball. We are really starting back today after the break and Emma does not want to do it either. Anyway, after this weekend I can relax and just enjoy the glow of the Christmas tree and the cold nights, but until then, who has time to blog.