School Sundries

Just when I think I have all materials and kids ready for the upcoming school year, I come across something else.



Peace had three tough books for honors summer reading and an algebra review packet. One of the books I bought on cd, because it got rave reviews- Three Cups of Tea. I wanted our whole family to get in on it due to the hype. Honestly, we're about halfway through and it's certainly not going on my "favorite books of all time" shelf. Think I'll resell it at McKay's. To be fair, at least Peace and the other boys like it because of the adventure- lotsa mountain climbing.

Peace's high school schedule came messed up. I met with the guidance counselor July 1 and have emailed her, but we still don't have word if it's fixed or not. I'm told the computer system keeps being down. In that case, the first days of school will be chaos.

Pooh Bear is still struggling with reading. I let her have several weeks off this summer hoping the same thing which happened with Wise One will happen with her. After his summer break before third grade, he finally "took off" on reading. Right now every. single. word. is a phonetic challenge for Pooh Bear, and reading is not fun. We have an extra hurdle with Pooh Bear in that she does not like reading unless we are reading to her. That she'd let us do all day, everyday. Wise One was so naive, he didn't understand he was having difficulty.

Wise One still hasn't finished all his school work for last year. Argh. He's making me nuts with the dilly dallying. I waited on hold forever and finally talked to our homeschool materials company. Yup, they messed up our order again and did not take responsibility. Fortunately, the rep let me buy the materials I'd ask for in May at the May discount, but it's always such a big hassle getting what I need from them when I need it.

I have asked for a meeting with teachers and principal on behalf of Tater, but the principal still hasn't contacted me. I wonder how this fresh set of teachers is going to react to the family therapists recommendation of "no homework help from parents"? Tater's long on talk about how well he'll do in school, and short on accomplishment. God help us all get through the academic year with this guy. Already his middle school football practice schedule is over the top. Monday was a nine hour practice, and the night practices are everyday including Saturday. Pulleease. It's middle school folks! Maybe I should start watching Friday Night Lights to prepare for high school football.

Hey! Noone invited ME to the Blogher conference! What am I? Chopped liver? Or maybe it's that I don't advertise or do anything at all with my blog except post when I darn well please. Just wishing I could have met a few more of you in real life.

Gotta a new Triton phone from Buck yesterday. I'm going to need techie lessons just to answer a call now. Is it fair that I finally got a tiny keyboard on my phone right at the same time I need reading glasses? Furthermore, Buck and I were exploring ring tones together this morning. When he hit "voice of the nature" both of agreed the song+rushing water made us both want to pee.

Took my chillins to volunteer at the animal shelter today, because the boys need scout service hours. The worker let us do a ton of chores. We cleaned out cages, mopped, laundered,folded,tamed kittens, scrubbed dishes, walked dogs. I haven't cleaned up that amount of poop since my progeny were in diapers. Three hours well spent.

At present the boys have friends over, and in a bit we're off to the season finale of swim team.

Over the weekend, three of our children competed in the ginormous city swim meet (Wise One was away). The entire team did very well. A couple of my children made the finals. Our team is still very little, but we actually scored points and did not tie for last place. Go Tarpons!

School starts for Tater in less than two weeks and for Peace in three. Peace acquired his learner's permit, because he's taking driver's ed this year. And, no, he's not excited about it. He's very cautious and not anxious at all to get behind the wheel of a car. In fact, he hasn't yet, so you can still stay on the road for a little while at least.

Vacation pics

A few vacation pics. Peace is missing 'cause he was at cross country camp running half marathons every. single. day. Yikes!

new pics

Sarah the dog being very patient with the baby does, Francis and Edith.

My new "do" as of today.

And baby doe, Jessica Boots.

This one is for John.

Dropping a note

After our whirlwind tour of the South, we've come home to three new beautiful baby does. One of them sounds kinda squishy, maybe pneumonia, so I'm giving her antibiotics along with the two goats who needed help kidding. So what do all these antibiotics do to a goatie? Same as people, they all have diarrhea. And yup, it's that's messy.

I'll post pics of the new kids when my husband rounds up the computer photo input thingy he may have lost on vacation.

Grateful to Jess and Herman for delivering. The new babies came out as mature as Henry and Zaccheous which leads me to believe my girls were late to deliver. That's a woman for ya, always making others wait.

My aunt told some fantastic stories concerning her beginnings. I'm still trying to figure out how to move to Ludowici(pronounced "ludawissy"), Georgia, because I think the name of the town is bug ear cute.

Wise One stayed behind and is living it up with grandparents as an only child for the first time in his 12 year old life.

The rest of us are finishing up swim team and summer reading. Except Pooh Bear. She's scratching like a dog with mean fleas due to the webs of poison ivy hives forming over her little girl skin.

Life is good.

Thought I'd share some cute pics from today. The one of Buck proves he's a true ladies' man.

I have been all out pining over when the remaining two does would kid knowing we had a short window of time to ensure smooth births and bonding with mommies. You see, we're leaving on a tour of the southern relatives very soon, and the goats were already supposed to be nursing their young, not still can't-get-comfortable-fat with pregnancy. Borrowed Mac Daddy Goat must not have gotten it on right away with Shannon and Ginger, because we're nearing the end of a three week kidding cycle. I've posted how these gals have been lookin' ready for weeks.

I've been obsessively going out in the field checking goat butts for mucous plugs every few hours. Do you think my compulsive behavior has sped up the labor process? Not on your life. Buck says, "I noticed Shannon's making noises when she lies down." to which I answer, "Honey, she's been doing that for two weeks."

I say, "Does it look like Ginger's udder could get any fuller?" to which Buck replies, "It's looked like that forever."

All I've thought about was that if our does needed help during kidding while we are away, they'd die along with the new babies. Our friends who always take care of our goaties during our vacation might feel terrible if that happens. And what if something happens that the mother needs milking and babies need to be bottle fed every three hours? So much trouble!

So, as much as it sounds selfish, I've have been praying fervently for those mommas to get 'er done. One of my prays-like-Mother-Teresa friends even picked up intercession for us. She and I were convinced Wednesday would be the day, but no birth happened. However, another miracle, if I can call this a miracle, happened Wednesday. Buck called our goat friend Ella and asked if her family could help in some way. Her answer? "Why don't my twenty something son and daughter come farm sit?"

Um, yeah! Great idea. These guys have been present for goat births since they were wee little ones. Herman and Jess know how to milk if necessary. They can suction out a kid's mouth to help it breathe. They know exactly what to be on the lookout for in terms of labor. So, I'm saying, "God is good all the time. All the time God is good." I could come up with people on my own who would house sit and even feed the animals, but who in the world but God could come up with people chalk full of goat skills available for an entire week mid kidding?

Buck and I showed them the ropes, and Herman and Jess are good to go. I'm finally at peace with the plane tickets I had been glaring at indignantly on my desk for the last few days.

Here's how it works in my house. My children ask me to make dental and other various medical appointments for them. It's so sad that I don't think of essential things like this on my own. I think something very important in my how-to-be-a-decent-mother kit went missing. Pooh Bear had to beg me for two months, but today I finally managed to get her to Dr. Devine's for a check-up. Love. That. Name. A devine dentist. Our now former family dentist for the past 20 years, Dr. Chambers, couldn't put us on the schedule in for the summer though I called in early June. In fact,Chambers couldn't squeeze us in till November or January. I'm gonna miss his humming along to Musak versions of Madonna, but not enough to wait a hundred years to get on his calendar. And thank goodness for friends like Cecily who knows her way medically speaking 'round these parts; she gave us this excellent recommendation.

Dr. Devine got us in within a few weeks. Bless his heart. Pooh Bear thinks he is fantastic.

Dr. Devine is located in the little historic town of Sweetwater, so Pooh Bear and I took in antiques and ice cream afterwards. Is it another breech of the mother contract to feed a child sweets directly after a cleaning? Probably. Maybe I should attend a babysitter's course somewhere and learn a handy skill for hanging out with children.

So fun to meet this blogger in real life today. She is as beautiful in person as the eye candy on her blog.