MeMe about me

I was tagged with a questioner on MeMe. Here is where I'm supposed to post some rules and what not. I'm not going to, but I will list 8 random things about me, as requested.

So eight random things about me.....
1. When I was a pre-teen I was "in love" with Michael Jackson. I had his posters all over my room. It was his Thriller album that made my teenie bopper heart flutter.

2. I use to ride a dirt bike. Every weekend through high school I rode and loved it. I ended up selling my motorcycle to help pay for my wedding and honeymoon. It was worth it, and besides I scared the pants off of my hubby. He didn't like me to ride it anyway.

3. I think my favorite movie has to be The Princess Bride. It just has the perfect amount of everything, action, romance, and comedy.

4. I smoked very briefly in college. One of my roommates and I would sneak out with a pack of cigarettes and puff smoke all over each other, you know to get real stinky. Then we would come into our room and throw our jackets down onto the couch. We would do this just to bother another one of our roommates. She would walk into the room just appalled at the smell. Throwing her hands up and stomping over to our coats she would scream, "I'm going to have to go to the Dean about this!" Oh yeah, good times.

5. I love the smell of a brand new box of crayons. That delicious scent of paper and wax. It unleashes my creativity and sends my imagination flowing. I truly believe there is some sort of magic stored in a box of new crayons.



6. I don't think that I could be friends with anyone that doesn't have a sense of humor. Laughter and joking is what makes me tick, I can find humor in every situation.



7. I am still deeply in love with my husband. When he holds my hand as we watch a movie. When he runs his fingers through my hair. It makes me feel like a newly wed even after 15 years of marriage. He is my sweetheart.

8. I feel honored to be the mother of my children. The fact that God has given and entrusted me with these beautiful girls is awesome. Not awesome as defined by some silly valley girl, "Dude, like totally awesome," but I mean awesome as inspiring awe or admiration or wonder. Wondering how I could be so blessed as to have these two girls to fulfill my life. They are my bliss, my joy, my happiness.

Time for a little Crazy Frog

I haven't posted much lately. I haven't been feeling well. I am so lucky to have such a great family that takes such good care of me while I've been sick.

So here is a little dance that Ice Princess preformed for me to cheer me up. I hope you have on of these: a silly, funny, goofy, dramatic daughter.

Are You Comfy??

This is how Ice Princess slept last night. Does that look comfortable? I'm not so sure.

I heart my xbox

We are a family of gamers. We love to play video games. I can't even begin to describe the hours of pleasure I get from playing. But, I equate it to what one must feel like when they find themselves in pure joy. And I have found mine there. It helps me cope. It is my escape. In my games I can be anyone. I can do anything. I can make choices that I am either too afraid to or would never make in my real life. I find that I am thrilled by it. I am engrossed by them. It has helped me to deal with tragedies in my life. I have learned leadership skills. I have learned mapping skills. I have learned to work with others tacticly. I have learned about history. I have learned about farming. I have learned about types of guns. I have learned self expression. I have to use my imagination and creativity. I have to solve difficult problems that sometimes leave me frustrated, but through this I can grow. I have learned how to relax. I have learned too many other things to count. I really do "get" why kids love them so much. How can anybody say that a child isn't learning from this medium? Heck, I'm an adult and know that I have learned a great many things. And children are far better at learning than adults are.

Here is a funny picture that some one that I play with online made for me. It is my face superimposed on the box of one of my favorite games.

And just to toot my own horn for a minute, here is my ranking on this game. Yes, 425. This is out of over 100,000 people playing. Ohhh, I'm KandyKill by the way.

Playtime

I have absolutely to be honest. I love that my girls still play with toys. It may seem silly but, I find joy out of watching them play. But, I have to pretend not to be peering at them because they don't like it. So, I sneak a little peak here and grab a few quick glances there. On occasion there are times though when I think that they are truly on "another planet" when they are playing and I can take a few pictures with out being discovered.

I was thinking about this because I was watching the television show, American Inventor and on this program there is a man who invented a toy for kids. With this toy boys and girls would receive an R.C. engine and remote control and a cd for the computer. The child would be able to choose which type of car or plane they wanted to build and then print it out and then eventually build one on their own. That sounded really fun to me. But, when his toy was tested the children (ages 10 through 13) all said that they don't play with toys any more. That they were too old for this toy. What??? Too old for a toy?? Heck I still like toys. I think that our society with all of this pushing and forcing has cut out childhood completely. How terribly sad. So very tragic for those boys and girls that don't play after the age of 10. And how can we as a society be doing this to our youth?? Isn't it time we take our children and their childhoods back!!!

ooohhh pretty...

Your Brain is Purple

Of all the brain types, yours is the most idealistic. You tend to think wild, amazing thoughts. Your dreams and fantasies are intense. Your thoughts are creative, inventive, and without boundaries. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking of fictional people and places - or a very different life for yourself.

What Color Is Your Brain?

A new phase

I have never been here before. What I mean is, I have never raised pre-teen girls before. Especially in this unschooled environment. When they were younger and we first changed to this way of living and learning as the girls would find something new they would joyfully bring it to me. And ask what I thought about it. What ever "it" was. And now as they are older, they seem to need my input less and less. The value that my opinion used to have on what they found interesting has decreased. The mommy market has crashed I'm afraid to say. But, this was my goal wasn't it? To help my kids become independent thinkers. To know what they value as important and know what makes them happy. So in this I can say that I have planted my flag on the top of mount independence, and shouted FREEDOM from the hilltop. And then I turn around and see the steep mountain I must climb down. We traveled up here together but the walk back is mine alone. So for now I will start heading back. Walking slowly, and every once and a while turning around and taking a few steps back up when I hear, "Mom, how do you spell, ----" Shouted from somewhere in the house. So as I leave them this afternoon to run a few errands and get my hair done. I will kiss them in the foreheads and whisper to them I love them, because they are still sleeping. I know they were up late last night enjoying their lives as the Mighty Waltons.

Thankful

I have had a very peaceful day today. I have been feeling very centered, very relaxed after a very stressful week. And there is something else I am feeling. I have felt this same sensation every time I sat down today. This feeling that somehow seems so unfamiliar to me. But, I am not sure why. And yet it feels so good, so nice. Maybe, I am ready to really stop feeling the pain that grieving for my father has left me.
As I set my ice cold glass down on the small side table next to me and reach for my thick novel that I am currently reading I have this wave consume me. I sit there grinning from ear to ear. I am feeling thankful. Truly thankful. Not for material things but for everyone that I have in my life. For Mark my devoted husband. For my children, they teach me something new every day. For Darleen for opening my eyes to new possibilities. For Miranda for starting the life learner group and for helping guide me when I have questions. For Rachel for reminding how to grow and change. For Tara for the possibilities of new friendships. For Amy and her hugs. For Elizabeth because she is so easy to share my heart with. For Kalena that is reminding me to love everyday. For Kime and Stephanie for their friendships. For Rebbecca for my first family sleepover. For my mom who brought me into this word and stayed home with me when I was young(yes, I truly look back on my childhood with happy memories). For my Dad who taught me the importance of being trustworthy and honest. For the wonderful friendship I have with my brother and his wife. For my perfect little nephews. For my grandparents and all the advice they still give me. For the love that God has for me. For the life I have, the life I live, all the friendships and love. My cup is overflowing. How I have missed this amazing sensation of thankfulness.

It takes two

My husband is the head of our household but don't let him find out that I said so. I like him to think that I am the one that is running the show. But, if I am to be truly honest, and what a better place to be honest, I have to admit that he will always have the last word. Not by force or coercion, don't get me wrong. But by choice, my choice to really value his opinion. And I think that I hold such a great value to his opinion because he values mine. When we disagree, points can be made and compromises can be met easily because we have such high regard for each other. Our marriage has been one of love, adoration, passion, laughter,trials, more laughter, some tears, calmness, and compromise. I can after almost 15 years of marriage count on one hand the fights that we have had. It's not that we don't disagree but we don't disagree on much. We allow each other to be individuals and pursue our individual passions. Sometimes finding the other's passion interesting and other times not. And by doing this, by allowing these things we become closer as a couple, and we are better parents. Having our kids brought up with a united front, that loves unconditionally, and that excepts each other for who they are not who someone wants them to be is a key point in our unschooling journey. That and not being afraid of change, not being afraid to admit that we can better ourselves, and not being afraid to admit that we aren't perfect but are taking risks and trying new things to promote growth within ourselves. That is why we love to be an unschooled family.

YES, lets spoil our children!!!

I figured since I am already here and I have already changed how I raise and "educate" my children my next step is to redefine some ugly words in our society. The first word that I'd like to attack is "spoiled". What type of picture comes to mind when you hear that someone has a spoiled child? I know, some whiny brat that wants everything he sees and some week minded mother or father that just can't say no. Was I right?? Well, I am here to give you an entirely different image. You see I teach my girls that they can always be happy in this life. Sure there are going to be situations that arise where there will be sadness, anger, frustration, pain, jealousy, boredom, and and just plain stagnation. But, I think all of those things are good because without out them you cannot know how to seek the opposite. If you don't have contrast in your life how can you know what will bring you joy? So I want my kids to be happy, to find whatever brings them bliss. I also want them to be able to do this for themselves and not depend on others for their happiness. So following that train of thought I want my kids to have everything that they want that brings them to their joy, their bliss. The difference here is that my girls live in an environment that doesn't judge their actions. Let me give you an example, they can study something to what ever extent they desire. Mighty Girl went through a phase where she had to rent, buy, record, film, draw, paint, document, and in all other ways learn about birds. It went on for weeks. Many hours a day, mostly in the middle of the night. But, she was free to do so. And, I was excited for her. I didn't place limits or judgments on her. I never said, "Don't you think that is quite enough?" or, "Isn't it too late to study?". I never said this mostly because I never felt that way but also because I would have hated those things to have been said to me when I have a passion for something. Even if this means that they have to have every video game system out there or that they only want to read about Pokemon everyday. My girls are passionate about a great many things. I feel it is my job as their mother to introduce new material into their tiny worlds but it is okay for them to tell me no, that that is not interesting to them. I love that they know what they like and don't like. So to that end, they always get what they want. They never feel as though they "need" something that is unattainable. For them everything is within reach. They can and will get everything that they want. And because they know who they are, they know how to follow their bliss. They just don't want to have everything! So please, lets spoil our children.

Here they are studying a beetle they found near the pool. Mighty Girl wanted to know everything about it. So she dissected it so that she was able to completely understand it. I would not have chosen to do that but it was something that brought her happiness.