Boundaries...Don't Leave Home Without Them

Yesterday when we were out having lunch, a lady stopped me and made this comment..."Are you having a girl? Maybe it'll be a girl this time." I was caught off guard by this so I just shook my head and said, "I don't know" and walked off. A few minutes later she came to our table and said something like, "I am sorry if I said something to offend you. You'll be happy no matter what it is." Are you kidding me?!? I just politely nodded and smiled as my husband and kids were wondering what-in-the-heck was going on. Then the flood gates opened.

You know what? I will be the first to admit that when I gain weight, it is not evenly distributed throughout my body. No. I get a "pooh tummy". I don't wear tight fitting clothes/shirts to accentuate it. I wear the A line style shirts that everyone seems to be wearing. I am okay with myself. Do I wish I had a flatter stomach? Like most women, yes. But I don't and I am seriously okay with it for now.

So why am I so upset by this? I'll tell you why. 2 reasons...

1. Why can't people just mind their own business? Why do they need to make assumptions and then tell you or ask you about those assumptions? Do I even know you? What makes you think I want to talk to you? Did I invite you to converse with me? Who are you anyways?

2. When people do make comments and ask those questions...this is not the first time this has happened...why can't *I* tell them like it is? Why can't *I* just simply say, "Oh, I'm not pregnant." Maybe not even rudely and mean like, but just let them know. I'll tell you why. Because I don't want to hurt their feelings. I don't want to make them feel bad. I don't want them to have to live with the consequences of their "boundary crossing" comments. Ugh!

I am a nice person. I like people and I can small talk with anyone 'til the cows come home. But, don't make assumptions and don't cross "the line".

Guess I am going to have to learn to draw those boundaries more clearly and let people know when they need to step back.

***By the way...if you are inclined to leave comments about this post, that is fine. Just don't defend those people in any way to me. Be gentle. I am pretty fragile right now.***

We Have Visitors!

The other day, we were taking a family walk on the trails of our local park. The middle part of our journey usually involves stopping by the river to explore and throw rocks. We were amazed at how low the river was. In fact, it was so dry that it wasn't even running. We were walking on dry ground where it usually flows! But, there were areas that still had water so we checked them out. Holy cow! Tadpole city! There were so many and none of them had grown legs yet. Being the homeschool family that we are, we saw this as a teaching moment and decided to bring some home.


Our catch of the day included about 50 snails, 12 tadpoles, 2 craw fish, and a big water bug with lots of tiny eggs on it's back that have since hatched! We used Steve's (our long gone corn snake) terrarium/aquarium to set up our habitat. The river also flows through our yard so we are able to get more water for them when it's needed and it'll be easy to place them back when we have to. We're having a good time observing them.

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*****This is the sort of thing your kids come up with when the bug guy is a regular visitor to your home!*****

Our New Beds!

We live in a small 2 bedroom apartment right now. However, we will be moving into an even smaller two bedroom apartment (graduate student housing) in the fall. In fact, it is only 594 square feet! So, in preparation for that, we are scaling down and thinking vertical. One of the ways we are doing this is by turning the boys bunk beds into loft beds! This will give them more floor space to play. Collin is very good at designing and manufacturing. He gets creative. Here is the process in pictures...

This is what we started with...

Magnus and Collin are marking where to drill the holes...

Collin is working on the cross pieces on the backside of the beds...

Me and my little helpers! The boys really did a great job helping. It's important for us to have them help with projects and such so they can see the work that is involved.

Thane really got into it. He is a hands on type of guy and said he "really likes working with tools". He also seems to have a knack with math. Maybe we have some sort of engineer on our hands!

Magnus is using the socket wrench to tighten down the nuts...

Almost done! Well, almost. At this point we still had the ladder on the other side and the safety boards, to prevent falling out, to do. Oh, and we had to turn it around, but we won't go into that part!

Ta da! This is Thane's bed. I let the boy's pick out their own fabric for the curtain. Their dresser and some shelves with their toys are under this bed.

This is Magnus' bed. Their bookshelf and more shelves with toys are under here.

The beds turned out great and are very solid! The boys have enjoyed sleeping up high and having their own personal spaces down below.

Collin and I were feeling left out. We wanted to sleep up high too! Not really. But Collin did make us a bed too. Again, we are thinking vertical. We needed a place for storage since we will not have much in the new place, so we created storage under our bed! Lots of storage!






To give you some perspective, the legs stand 30 inches high! The top of the mattress is as tall as Thane! Our dressers now make nice bedside tables! Oh, and it's a King size mattress! I am so excited about having a King! I need space when I sleep and don't like bumping into Collin, or having him bump into me. Collin was having coffee with a friend he hadn't seen in over a year and happened to mention our bed making plan. This friend just happened to have an extra King size mattress in his house and offered it to us! For FREE! They only used it for 3 years and it is in great shape! God blesses us in odd ways like that all the time. The bed isn't very pretty, but it is very functional! We plan on making a skirt to go around it and will buy a nice bread spread. We'll make it look as pretty and romantic as possible. I am grateful to Collin for all of his hard work!

Look, Ma...No Teeth!

This may sound silly but ever since he lost his first tooth I have been anticipating the day he would have both of his front teeth gone (he actually has four missing right now!). I love the way kids are not able to talk "correctly". His "th" combination is precious! It's bitter sweet in a way. I feel as if I am entering into the realm of "Moms of Big Kids" now.

Summer Plans

It's already started heating up this summer. The humidity has made an appearance and I am dreading another summer in the south. I don't like heat. I don't like humidity. I really don't like the sun that much either. Move me back to the Seattle area and I will be a happy camper! I hope the "dry" heat they have in Northern California will, in deed, be different.

Anyhow, after I took a look at where we are in each school subject, I discovered we are behind a bit. It's to be expected when one changes curriculums mid-way through the year. We are having to play catch up with Story of the World, Right Start Level B and Growing with Grammar. No biggie. I have a plan.

June...we are going to move to a 5 day school week instead of a 4. We will be able to do school this whole month without any interruptions...I just cursed myself! Collin is going to teach history to the boys to help me out. Magnus is going to to a lesson a day in math instead of 3 times a week like we have been. He is going to continue doing 2 lessons a day in his grammar studies. Thane is fine. He only has the C book to finish in the Get Ready for the Code series. That will be completed by the end of the month...maybe by the end of the week with how much he likes doing it!

Then comes July...this month is going to be tricky. The first week and a half, we will be going through everything in the house and decided what we are going to be able to take with us to CA and fit into our 594 sq. ft. "little tiny baby pretend house". Then, the items we are not going to take with us, I will have to clean and tag for the consignment sell I am participating in the middle of the month. I have sold at this sale many times and have made quite a bit of moola. Especially the year I sold all of our baby gear. Hopefully that will be the case this year since we will be going broke paying for gas in a moving truck to go across country! Then, we will probably get started on packing things up for our move in August. As far as school goes, I plan to have Magnus continue doing a lesson a day in Math and complete a lesson of grammar during his quiet time.

August...CA, here we come! Not quite sure on the date yet. This month we will continue packing, then loading, then driving, then unloading, then unpacking. Wanna come help? Ugh! We have moved more times than I can count! Okay...this will be our 15th time in the 10 years we have been married!!!!! (That number does include moving everything into storage 4 different times.) Anyhow, on the way out West, I am going to have the boys listen to the SOTW on cd and do the coloring pages. Then we will be caught up on history. As far as math goes, I think we will only have a few lessons to complete in Level B. I am going to continue playing the games with him and give him some review sheets to complete. Grammar should be done by now.

As far as activities this summer we will be participating in the library's summer reading program (they have a lot of different activities planned...magicians, puppet shows, animal acts, ect.), swimming, canoeing, local festivals and fairs, and packing! I'll keep you updated on our progress!

***Edit*** Ugh! I just realized the boys have VBS next week. Not sure when we will be making up that week. I'll have to figure something out.