Today

I read this quote this morning on my Google homepage about being misunderstood:

To be great is to be misunderstood.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today we are going to Houston to hit some museums, the Galleria mall, and whatever else we can get into there. Kaitlyn wanted to do this instead of her birthday. But, yesterday we found out that the Fine Arts Museum - the one she most wanted to visit - is not open on Mondays. What's up with that? But she still wants to go - and perhaps we'll go back and do that one day in the fall.
See y'all tomorrow - unless I can figure out mobile blogging - then maybe I'll send you updates throughout the day. (I have to do something at the mall!)

The Anniversary of a Miracle

Today is the anniversary of a miracle.
It is hard to believe those fifteen years ago today, I met one of the most significant people that I would ever know. She wasn't crying at the time, but I wanted her to so badly. You see, there was this heartstopping couple of minutes after my daughter Kaitlyn was born before she took her first breath. The doctor was doing everything she could to stimulate her, and still we had no response. In the vulnerable position I was in I could see and do nothing. I remember calling "Travis" and he said, in a clearly choked up voice, "It's okay Julie." Well, it wasn't. Shortly after doctor managed to coax some small squeaks out of her, we had people from the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) in our room. This really isn’t how you expect things to go. For just a little while they had her laying in a bed with oxygen blowing over her. There were many silent, desperate, incoherent prayers uttered from the heart that was pretty hardened to God.
The second Apgar score was much better, and a few hours later she was in our room with us like nothing had ever happened. But, she never did really cry. She is the same today. She might open her big doe eyes, and tears may pour out but rarely does she make a sound. Between her two intense and high-strung siblings, she is the quiet center. Our token introvert.
When Kaitlyn was a little girl, she was so cute you just wanted to squeeze her. She was the little Buddha baby, with thick rolls around her legs and a jelly belly. You would never know it to look at the slim, elegant girl that she is today. Kendra and I marvel sometimes at her poise and grace. I don’t know where she got it in a family full of people who are most like “bulls in a china shop”. She was quiet but when she had an opinion, she made it known. Once after dance class when she was about 3 or 4 there was a frustrated mother trying to screw a shoe onto her daughter’s foot, spewing out all sorts of threats as she did, and Kaitlyn leaned back in this big chair looking a bit like an angry Edith-Anne with her eyebrows furrowed, and said “You’re evil man!”

Her mind is that of an artist. Last night I was watching her doodle

while talking on the phone, and it blew my mind. With a few strokes of her hand, using an ink pen a very detailed face began to take shape. The thing is, she was actively involved in a conversation and not even thinking about what she was doing. I watched as she drew the delicate parts of the eyes and eyebrows, and suddenly a few little lines appeared in the middle of the page that became a nose. This is a great illustration of her personality as well. While my other two let it all hang out, Kaitlyn holds most of it back. It takes time to get to know her, but if you watch closely, little by little the picture starts to become something you recognize.
Fifteen years ago today a miracle happened in our family. Her name is Kaitlyn. We have all been changed by knowing her, and we are so thankful that day that God heard our plea from the birthing center all those years ago. I think He must’ve known just how much we needed her.
I love you Kaitlyn. Happy Birthday. You are a miracle.

Picture at the top taken this past February - and the picture at the bottom here is Kaitlyn on her 8th birthday in 2001. Our friend of a friend, Mrs. Barbara always said her eyes twinkled like she had a great secret!

First Day and McDs

I was just telling a friend the other day that I hate McDonalds. I haven't darkened the door of the closest one to our house in the almost 2 years that we've lived here - and yet here I sit today using the Wi-Fi because like her sister, Kaitlyn has launched out into the working world. To be honest, the cost of the gas was more than the cost of my time. It just so happened that we recently saw a sign out in front of McDs that they have Wi-Fi so I thought I could get some work done. Thankfully the restaurant is not busy because between the Kully-boy hopping around making music with condiment packets, his feet, his straw, and the blaring country music - I might find it hard to concentrate.
I took the picture of Kaitlyn as I dropped her off at work before she got out of the car. I had to beg. She didn't let me kiss her either. She is so different from Kendra. I hate to let her go. She looked like she aged about 10 years in the walk from the car to the front door.
A little while ago while we were sitting here, the manager walked by and he asked me how I knew they had Wi-Fi. I was telling him I saw it on the sign. He was pretty pleased as he has been trying to convince his manager that the sign brings in business. After he walked away, Kullen said, "Mom that guy likes you!" Loudly. I almost died. I asked him why he thought that. He said, "Cause he was flirting with you, old people style!"
You can feel pretty dang good about yourself some days until one of your kids opens their mouth! Thankfully it is about time to leave. 11 minutes and counting!

One of the Best Things

One of the best things about the way my kids have grown up is how close they are to each other. If they had left the house every day and led their own lives, being oriented to the peers who had the same reading or math abilities, they may have missed out on one of the best gifts in life - their siblings. Our move to Texas has played an even bigger part in this process, as during that first year they only had each other - the three of them. The girls share a special closeness as sisters that I only ever tasted briefly in the confidences of sisters whom I did not live with, but loved all the same. Here is a little glimpse at their closeness:

Kendra has had a job for about 5 months now at a little restaurant in a town not too far away. She wanted a job as soon as we moved, but since she was only 15 we tried our best to slow her down. It wasn't very hard as there are few jobs available for teenagers in our area that aren't in the fast food industry. She started working shortly before she turned 17. A couple of days ago she came home from work with an application for her sister. Kaitlyn is 14 - turning 15 in a few weeks. My first instinct was to discourage it, but then I realized, she always gets to do things sooner than Kendra because her sister has paved the way. They could work together and Kendra could look out for her. (Although if you know them, you know that it is probably the other way around!) The thing is, Kendra said she was so excited when the manager said he would hire her sister that her co-workers were perplexed, saying things like, "I'd kill my sister if she worked with me." to which Kendra replied, "My sister is my best friend."

Now if that doesn't just give a mama's heart warm fuzzies all over! The best part is that I know it's true. Kullen on the other hand was not too thrilled. In fact devastated might be a better way to describe his reaction. He hates his oldest sister being gone all the time, and now the possibility of the other one being gone more often was a bit more than he could handle. I won't say there were tears involved, but let's say that something on somebody's face was leaking.
We'll all have some serious growing pains over the next several years as they start making their way in the world a little more separated from one another than they are used to, but I think we'll come out on the other end, still extremely close at heart.

As a little disclaimer, the picture here is over a year old. They're both going to hate it!

And the Winner Is...... Master Plan Contest

I had my lovely assistant Vanna Kaitlyn help me with this drawing today. The winner is.....
And even though TAMI purchased one, she linked to my contest anyway so she could win one for a friend. How awesome is that?
Keep reading, keep reading.
I am not quite done with you contestants yet. If you are interested in hosting a contest on YOUR blog this coming week, I will not only give you a copy of the Master Plan for yourself but one to give away just for participating. If you are interested, grab the info and post your entry, then email me or comment here to let me know it's up. This is for my contestants only.
Congratulations Tami!

I Love My Ecclectic Family

I have been hard at work learning how to make PDF forms interactive. My brain is smoking. But from my seat at my desk I can hear all sorts of interesting things going on in my house. A couple of hours ago, Kullen was loading the Mavis Beacon typing program onto the computer so he could learn how to type efficiently and was giving household reports at each new level he accomplished. My oldest daughter has been in and out of here asking for the address book, stamps, telling me about how she wrote letters to her friends and filled them with glitter (shhh!). It seems she has gone on now to getting her transcript ready for her the community college application, where she hopes to take sociology and maybe some other classes in the fall. The sounds of Michael Buble are blaring down the hallway - and I am rather enjoying it. "The best is yet to come...." pretty uplifting. I heard some beating and banging and called out to ask Kullen what was going on. He came in my room and said, "Just making holes in my wall cause it's fun" and put on the best schmoozy grin he could when my head spun in his direction in a manner that would make Linda Blair proud! There have been deliveries of toast with jam and chai tea to help me keep up my stamina for all the heavy duty work. The cat ate the rest of my dinner because we left her unattended in the kitchen, and Kaitlyn offered hers to me (I declined!). Kaitlyn is cleaning out her trunk and closet, and has donned her brother's arms with her rainbow leg-warmers. He is hanging out with her while she works for now - evidently needing a break from all the banging. Travis has retired to his back room for some gaming. I know that sometimes I am so overwhelmed - but I love these people. They make my life so full, so happy, so real.

Our Unschooling Family

I do not post much about "unschooling" per se, and yet all of my posts are about unschooling, because unschooling is life. Living life every day and learning all along the way. But once in a while, to keep account of all the fascinating things the kids are learning and doing, as well as to show you what this looks like as we live it out, I feel the urge to share.
This morning the entire family worked together to remove every single thing we own from our kitchen. We have a slight, shall we say, infestation. After months of trying every natural remedy we could find, we decided to tent the sucker off and go for the big guns. This meant that I cooked dinner on the floor in the corner of the living room and avoided my toxin-saturated kitchen. My kids said I looked like a little Indian woman, whatever that means. It appears that the enemy is waving the white flag of surrender, and we hope to move back into the kitchen shortly.
Kendra spent a good part of the day torturing herself over an algebra problem. She is also studying for a Biology final that she has to take on Monday, her last official day of co-op. She has been looking into taking the SAT. The other day she said she wanted to be ready "if" she decided to go to college. (Thanks Stephanie - you were a big part of that IF.)
Kaitlyn has been painting like a crazy woman. No longer having art classes, she seems liberated to paint what she wants. She has been painting a whimsical castle scene that has some reflective water in the foreground. I've been admiring it all day. She has also immersed herself in the study of the zodiac - which has led her unwittingly to learning some math involving degrees of the planets, etc. (Please save the witchcraft comments - we believe the zodiac was set in the stars by our awesome, imaginative, Creator God.)
Kullen has been drawing a lot lately. He took out a couple of art books and did some apple and shadow drawings, worked some on faces, etc. He has also rediscovered the joy of his PSP. Tonight he sat beside me on the porch swing with his hand on my knee and said, "Cool!" and followed it with instructions on straightening and bending my knee this way and that while he felt the joint. He was pretty amazed by that. As Charlotte Mason says, a mother is a child's best plaything.
We are deprogramming Travis who asked me last Saturday on the way to his mother's house if there would be a "slew of people at this shindig". While he swears he was only teasing, we have heard his vernacular deteriorate the longer we are here. Earlier today he informed us that we were watching a television station from "Loo-see-anna". We have all joined the intervention - this is serious business.
Anyway, that is what is going on in our home today. I hope that you are all enjoying living and learning in your neck of the woods.

In Our Little Corner of the World

I just wanted to check in - since I have hardly had time to blog in the last couple of days. I have made trips in and out of the city a couple of times a day for Kaitlyn's doctor's appointments and running kids to various activities.
Kaitlyn's toe seems to be healing up quite nicely. The procedure was fairly routine, but she was a bit anxious about it. As she has a tendency to pass out, I was concerned. It seems to be healing well and with antibiotics and a lot of foot soaking, we're on our way to recovery, at least for her toe.
Her jaw seems to have alleviated quite a bit with some exercises given by the husband of an online friend, but her mouth still opens crooked - meaning one side opens more than the other. The doctor is convinced that she has TMJ, so we are going to consult with a dentist about some non-surgical and drug-free treatments.
My husband, the junk collector scored a go-cart in a trade made with a neighbor boy yesterday, so I suspect he and Kullen will be working on that most of the weekend. Kullen is very excited.
Kendra is working and trying to recover from spring break! She has filled her week with lots of activities.
I am gearing up for the Script Frenzy. I am preparing mentally to make space each day to write. I am thinking about things. I have never worked well with a format or outline from which to write. It either just flows or it doesn't. I is a bit daunting to think of forcing it to flow within the confines of one month, but I really need the motivation.
Last night we went and played cards at a friend's house and that was absolutely awesome. There are some terrific women and kids there and it is really fun getting to know them all better.
That's a wrap for now - profound thoughts are elusive. They're there but I can't seem to capture them.

I Miss Me

I have said that over the past week to two different friends. Sometimes busy-ness is overwhelming. This kind of busy-ness was good, but I am definitely glad that for the most part it is over. (Until the next time.) After such a lonely year last year it is very nice to be active again in things that we really enjoy. Typically two things like ballroom dancing and a performance would not be happening simultaneously.
Pride and Prejudice was fantastic. It went off without a hitch. I got to have more than a front row seat as I was able to sit directly in front of the stage to feed lines if necessary - which it really wasn't. The kids all turned on - and as is typically the case in theater, all the rough spots were suddenly smoothed as the threat of public humiliation in front of an audience was greater than any fear over dropped lines, missed cues, or awkward movements. I went back to my husband during intermission and he generally is a tough critic. He was SO impressed! At the end the kids were well rewarded by an appreciative audience on their feet with a long applause. Anyone who missed it truly missed a great show.
I have taken tons of pictures - but most of mine came out a bit dark. Even lightening them with Photoshop didn't prove to be much help. I couldn't get my flash to hit them well on the stage. My favorite characters are at top left. The picture to the right is of Kendra and her friend Trent - who played Jane and Mr. Bingley respectively. Trent was struggling throughout the play to portray how "taken" he was with Jane's character. At the end of the show, they posed for this picture for me, which shows how much fun they had. I love it! At the bottom, the Bennet family - to them I say Adieu! It was fun being a part of your lives and now I'm glad it's over!

Progress

I have almost finished Kaitlyn's dress. Here is a picture. It still needs the bottom layer hemmed and a sash around the front waist that ties in a bow in the back - but it is starting to look like a dress. She tried it on and it is breathtaking on her. The overlay has small lavender flowers and green leaves. It is really delicate and pretty. Even Travis was pretty impressed and said it looked "store bought". For a novice seamstress this is quite an accomplishment. Now I have to get started on Kendra's.

I have been fighting off a migraine since yesterday evening. Even the light and sound are bothering me. I have taken as much ibuprofen as I can take without pickling my liver, and as soon as it wears off the pain in my head starts to rage again. I hate having a headache!

Ballroom Dancing - Take 1

This week started a session of ballroom dancing lessons being offered by the grandparents of one of the graduating seniors at co-op. What would normally be about $300 per couple is a HUGE gift, as the price is FREE. The instructors are in their 80s and started out at a Fred Astaire school in the 40s. It was pretty awesome. The girls were both blessed to be asked to partner with two of the nicest boys who just so happen to be brothers. Here is a little rough video peek into the first session. Kaitlyn is wearing the white dress over black leggings and is seen with her partner, David mostly in the foreground. Kendra is wearing jeans and has her hair up. She and her partner, Daniel wearing black are seen only in the background. The boys parents are seen weaving in and out and helping both couples. It was neat, and after being so nervous I thought she was going to hurl, Kaitlyn decided she liked it and can't wait to go back on Friday.

PJ Pants

My neighbor Debra drug me out to Joann Fabrics on Black Friday and we took advantage of 99 cents a yard flannel. It was the only shopping we did. She likes to sew, and I had the optimistic idea of making pj pants for my kids for their Christmas Eve pajamas. With all the stuff going on at work, and the hustle bustle of activities during the holiday season, I was starting to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew. The high schoolers from co-op are having a Christmas party this Friday night, and the girls are having a sleepover afterwards, and one of my girls hinted that it might be nice if they had some holeless new pajamas to wear. I had bought two different fabrics for each of them, so I could make them a pair for now and another for Christmas. I worked all afternoon on an "easy" pattern. They turned out pretty cute. They're pretty happy with them, which I think is all that really matters. Kendra's pants (R) have a "New York" theme - city scape and Statue of Liberty. Kaitlyn's pants (L) have skulls and grungy prints on a pink back ground - Kendra says they are the perfect blend of "fancy"and "evil" just like Kaitlyn !! The flannel is a really nice quality and very soft. I hope they are made well to last them for a long time.

Blast from the Past - Me and My Baby

My mother-in-law sent me this picture of myself holding my Kaity-bug when she was about 2 months old. I just love it. I don't have a whole lot of pictures of me with my kids - so this is a rare one. I don't look old enough here to be a mommy, but I was - twice!
Kendra was 2 years old and we lived in Raleigh at the time. My mother and father-in-law took this picture when they visited us that summer of 1993 - but I had never seen it.
I just thought I would share since it thrilled me so much!

Our Weekend in Pictures

We had a rather active weekend! Real life has taken the place of excessive blogging and it is good. But I do miss being here and like to keep up with all of my people - without my little community of blogging friends, I would have been lost over this last year and a half. Some of you I know from HSB, some of you are my real life friends, others of you I have met and know from around the world. Thanks for sharing your lives with me and in some small way, caring about mine.

Kaitlyn decided she wanted to learn how to sew, and sew we did! When she mentioned that she wanted to wear it on Monday I realized how much of an "us" project that it was, but she learned a lot. I learned something too - I don't really enjoy sewing all that much!
Our tile floor in our bathroom has been cracking since we moved in. There was a leak which evidently got to the boards underneath. I asked my husband, knowing how he gets halfway through a project and decides he's finished - not to start until he could do the whole thing. Here is a picture of it halfway out - I couldn't bear to show you what it looks like this morning!

On Friday night, the girls went to the homecoming dance at the local high school to meet up with some friends. Kendra and her friend Michael decided they were more than friends. He's a really special guy, but I can't say the b-word yet - so don't even go there!

I also managed to watch The Dead Poet's society (thank you Kathleen!) for the first time and a movie called Bug with my husband which if you are disturbed by a glimpse into a schitzophrenic mind, or have any tendencies toward OCD you will want to avoid it. It is very dark. I cannot recommend it.

I was thinking after this busy weekend, I would spend next weekend just relaxing until my husband informed me that he wants to go camping! If you know us at all, you'll know that we are electronic loving, electricity using, indoor plumbing kind of people. I am imaging National Lampoon's Vacation movie! Good Lord start praying now people!

A Good Kind of Tired

Today was the girls first day of co-op. Only the high schoolers started today - and next week the whole group will be in full swing. I had lunch with the girls and they were so happy. They had such a tight group of special friends in WV - and have counted moving away from them a catastrophic loss. I know that they have wondered if they will ever have those significant friendships again. I could see that the kids at the co-op today were very special as well - and know that it won't take long before there are friendships, inside jokes, silly nicknames, myspacing, IMing, activities, parties and sleepovers in full swing again. It will be different. In some ways it is so sad to move on, but move on we must.
Last night when we were going to bed - trying to go to sleep - I had to yell for the girls who were giggling excitedly and nowhere near sleep to quiet down because they were keeping me awake. They are anticipating the new life they can make here. I was so happy when they both told me that co-op today was better than they ever could have dreamed. Some of the kids we met were so polite - even one boy came up to them in the lunchroom just to say hi and welcome them to the co-op.
I helped another mom put name cards on lockers, and decorate a classroom. It was a busy day, climbing up and down on a chair, assembling decorations on bulletin boards, and all sorts of things. It was busy. I am so tired from lack of sleep and the busy day - so tired -but it is such a good kind of tired.

Scrap Happy - Week 13

Well, I have been scrappin' right along. Sometimes it seems I get a burst of enthusiasm for this creative outlet - and there is no stopping me. I never scrapbook with the intensity that some do - but when something really cool, like a picture or scenery or beautiful graphics come up, they make me want to use them in a page. That is the story behind this week's page. My son saw that his sister had fallen asleep on top of her bed last night and came to get me so I could "take a picture". (it really is a family sport - scrapbooking - isn't it?) I made this page with one of the four pictures I took that she approved: (although she tried to revoke it because she thinks her picture is distorted!)Of course with the vivid colors of her bedding and bedroom, I did not have any scrap-stuff that matched - so I improvised - I made the background paper. It was pretty fun to do - since she was dreaming - I listed things that she might be dreaming about, and then I softened them so that other things would show up. I also learned this week how to type text in a circle, so I thought I'd show off that new skill. I also cut out the letters for the word "dreams" and then sanded them a bit to soften. Fun!
DIGI-SCRAPPER TOOL ALERT: I got this incredibly awesome magazine - Better Homes & Gardens has a tutorial magazine out called The Ultimate Guide to Digital Scrapbooking for Adobe Photoshop users. It has some awesome tutorials. I have been learning more and more and more.
Here is another page that I made this week that I am rather pleased with:
These are some special kids I know that have taken a liking to each other. I made it as a sort of belated-birthday gift. I used a paper that I already had - but I put the words to their favorite song in the background. That was pretty neat. I love the way Adobe allows me to match colors. That is very important. This photo had some reds that worried me when I first started making the page - but that eyedropper tool was super to help me match it all up!
I am looking forward to seeing what you've been up to this week! Happy Scrappin'!

Scrap Happy - Week 13

I had a great time making this page today - commemorating my youngest daughter's 14th birthday. It did however take me hours to figure out how to blur the edges and fade her picture into the background. But it was so awesome once I figured it out. There was a lot of experimenting with techniques, brushes etc. I got some of my ideas from tutorials in the Digital Scrapbooking magazine. If you haven't heard of it and you are a digital scrapbooker - I highly recommend it. There's lots of fun pages, samples, contests, and reader pages. Wow!
This week you'll actually get to see TWO pages - pretty much the same page with two different pictures. She didn't like the picture I had in the first one (posted at the bottom) and so I redid the page with another picture. We both like the second one better. But I got her permission to share them both with you so you could see the difference. I made the first one in black and white - or actually sepia tone. It is truly the most "artsy" page I've ever made - and of course I had to because Kaitlyn is my little artiste! The picture in the first page really does go better with the overall theme of the page as well! Happy Birthday my Kaity-bug!

And yet another page that I had to make for my birthday girl - I've had a very productive scrapbookin' day!
I can't wait to see the pages y'all are making this week. Please link them up here!
Happy Scrappin'!

My Artiste!

Kaitlyn took an oil painting class a couple of weeks ago and found it was something she really enjoys! We have also discovered that she is very good at it. Here are two of her paintings. I thought you might like to see them. The picture with the rustic house and tree with the mountain in the background was done in the class. Notice the ground-covering of bluebonnets? The picture really doesn't do it justice. The other picture is one she's done on her own at home. I think it is beautiful. It is so peaceful.
I love seeing the kids doing things that bring them such great joy! She was hiding out in her bedroom and didn't let any of us peek until she had it at least laid out! Great job Kaity-bug!

Update on Kaitlyn #2

We got the test results from Kaitlyn's bloodwork late yesterday - but I've been so swamped that I forgot to post it. Her blood sugar is great - and it seems she is just prone to fainting spells - or "passing out" as some call it. My mother-in-law evidently has done it her whole life, mostly when she's scared. It seems that fear or pain make the blood leave the head quickly - and if she does it again, we are supposed to get her feet up and help the blood get back to her head. Scary stuff, but I am so glad it is nothing more serious!

One, Two, Three, Four, Five

One nasty sweet-flat soda, two phlebotomists, three hours, four times in the waiting room and five blood draws did for a very long morning make. There was a highlight – we saw Kathy and her mother Ms. Sylvia – a lady we attended church with that always walks around singing hymns that my husband said of, “That woman is a REAL Christian”. She was a bright spot. I also got halfway through Blue Like Jazz which I have been wanting to reread, and played a few rounds of “Golf” (our favorite card game thanks to my friend Lizbeth!) with my daughter. We also met a very sweet elderly man who challenged Kaitlyn to a race every time he passed us. He kept saying, “You’re not sick! Get out of here! Race me to the corner!” It was fun. Hospitals aren’t fun places, but there are times when they are necessary. The results of her blood test were supposed to be back this afternoon, but of course I can’t get in touch with anybody there! She had to drink the syrupy sweet drink and have her baseline blood draw – then she had her blood drawn twice at the half hour mark, and then twice at the one hour mark! She had a lot more needles than she anticipated going in, but she did very well with it. Now the waiting game.