[Can you sew? Can your kids?]

I can sew but I'm not very good at it. I haven't taught the kids yet but I will eventually. Probably when they are 8+. Right now I'd be afraid they'd sew over their fingers or something. 

[How long do you wait?]

That is really bizarre to have such an adverse reaction to that. I've never sat in a repair shop, I always wait for them to call me back when it is done and that's what my parents always did as well. She has to have some other reasoning behind it that she's not saying, probably jealousy that he's with you so often and prefers your home.

[What do you do when a preschooler ask for lessons?]

I just started lessons with them. So far I've taught three 4 year olds how to read, they were doing basic math at that age, and were learning how to write. My current 4 year old just finished K curriculum this year and is doing fine. It only take a few hours a day and she wants to be doing it because her siblings are doing school then. She plays the rest of the time so I don't feel guilty and I never, ever push her. All of those kids knew shapes, colors, could identify all letters capital and lower case, and numbers by the time they were 2. My current 2.5 year old is a whole 'nother story. He just doesn't care right now and I've done nothing differently with him. He likes to be read to and he likes to play but sit down to do school stuff? Heck no. Not yet. ;)

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW20]

Mom-ninja, that always happens to me too and then I feel all guilty that the Bible isn't my number 1 reading priority so I catch up in one fell swoop. ;) 

[S/o bullying: Parents?]

With the worst of my bullying, I did tell my parents but I just couldn't tell them quite how bad it was. No idea why, they would have listened but I just froze up. When they knew a little bit of it, they went to the teacher who blew it off because she was PART of the bullying. It wasn't until they found a note that I wrote in play in my mom's drawer (oops, forgot to take it out) talking about how I wanted to punish the teacher's children because the teacher was such an awful person that they realized how bad it was. I'd written down some of the stuff the kids were doing to me, that the teacher was saying, etc. My mom was horrified and asked if ALL THAT was happening and it was.

 

She had another meeting with the teacher who told her that if they bought me $80 jeans that the other 10 year olds were wearing, maybe the fact that I was a 5'7" and rapidly growing 10 year old wouldn't be such a big deal. I looked too different to fit in with the kids. I was taken out of the district and went back to my old school and teacher that week. My parents drove 30 minutes one way each day to take me to school when they realized quite how bad it was but at first they didn't realize it was terrible. Things like kids stabbing me in the eye with a spork at lunch, etc. I still cringe when I see the teacher on a mutual friend's Facebook page as an adult.

[Wh...what? Clay Aiken's primary opponent died in a fall at home. The race is too close to call...]

I... don't know what to think.  :huh:

[If you were bullied during your school years...]

I was bullied too and am always nervous in social situations or at least in new ones. Honestly, it just made me reach out more to those who were being bullied to and be kind to them so they weren't alone like I was. They had someone to talk to if they wanted it but many were so bullied by others that they thought I was being insincere when I truly just wanted to be a friend and give them some relief from the non-stop poking and picking. :( 

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW20]

I can't even count my list of books that I don't physically have in my possession. I have wishlists in my head, on Amazon, on Goodreads, every time I read this thread I add another book... hahaha. Y'all are bad influences! My husband is already rolling his eyes over all of the books and the man is an English teacher!

[Breast feeding question]

Check for a tongue tie. My fourth had a lip tie and a posterior tongue tie that no one caught until an online friend pointed it out to me. Google Kotlow's breastfeeding pdf. It's awesome for figuring out if there is an issue.

[S/O Toyota Sienna Experience]

I drive a 2002 and I love it. I've been driving it for the past 5 years with no major maintenance. Tires have been it and those weren't terrible for us. I don't regret the decision at all.

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW20]

I have a lot... partially because I had a rough day today and went out with a girlfriend. We ended up in Barnes and Noble and woo boy did I use a little book therapy. I came out with 6 books for me (most of the TBR fiction on the list) and 2 for her. This is after I bought 4 books on my Kindle earlier because they were such a good price compared to paper copies. Those would be the top 4 on my To-Read Kindle list. Haha.

 

On my night stand and will likely be read in the next few months include:

 

Fiction:

Blood and Beauty - Sarah Dunnant

Aunt Dimmity's Death and Aunt Dimmity and the Duke - Nancy Atherton

The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

Orphan Train - Christina Baker Kline

Down The Darkest Road - Tami Hoag

Midnight Crossroad - Charlaine Harris

 

Non Fiction: Which I have purposely shoved to the side right now...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

Raising Boys By Design - Gregory L. Jantz and Michael Gurian (A friend asked me to buy it to read with her like 6 months ago... I haven't touched it.)

Red Hot Monogamy: Making Your Marriage Sizzle - Bill & Pam Farrel

Charlotte Mason Companion - Karen Andreola (also been on my nightstand for months and I've read a few chapters but not the whole thing yet.)

 

 

Kindle Fiction:

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak 

Hounded - Kevin Hearne

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

Moms Who Drink and Swear: True Tales of Loving My Kids While Losing My Mind - Nicole Knepper 

Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison

 

Kindle Non Fiction:

Faith Unraveled - Rachel Held Evans

Quiet - Susan Cain

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess - Jen Hatmaker

Tune In: Hearing God's Voice Through The Static - Jen Hatmaker 

 

Plus a biggity million other books on Kindle that aren't top priority right now... yes, I have a bit of an addiction. I can't help it! 

 

[My not at all fun news]

I am so very sorry, Rosie. My heart is breaking for you and your family.

[Preparing mentally for unmedicated birth when you already KNOW what's coming (possible TMI)]

Hot bath, hot bath, hot bath... and more hot bath. ;) Also pushing in any position that is NOT flat on your back. I really liked hands and knees with my last bio baby.

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW19]

This thread always makes me want to run out to the bookstore. My library only has one copy of books and never has anything I want in... maybe I should suck it up and drive to one of the bigger ones. It also makes me wish I had more time to spend reading instead of an hour or so when I tuck in for bed. Perhaps I should grab my book during the day instead of peeking at FB but I worry about getting sucked in and then my entire house being taken over by small children. :p

 

I finished American Gods, it was a good one. Bizarre but a good story that held my interest. I'm making my husband read it now. Just started Sarah Dunant's Blood and Beauty: The Borgias. I hope it's a good one.

[Did you paint before you moved?]

Yes, paint before moving in. It'll only take a few days if you focus on it and then you don't have to worry about moving furniture, etc.after you already moved it into the house.

[s/o If you are "good" with your parents, how often do you see/talk to them and does it feel right?]

My parents live in different states. I see my father in person maybe twice a year and talk to him once a month. I see my mom around once a month, sometimes every other. I talk to her about once a week. If they were closer, I'd see them more often but yeah, not doable with each being out of state.

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW19]

Kareni, your trip sounds wonderful! Ooh, I just snagged the free Kindle book. I'm sure I'll end up having to buy the rest because I can never start a series and not finish it.

 

Thisclose to being done with American Gods. I thought I'd have finished by now but I've hit a few days where there wasn't much time to read. *sniff* It's still really, really good and I hope to finish it up tonight because I only have around 100 pages left.

[Do You Sacrifice to Put Yourself First?]

Are you married? I am assuming they're staying with Dad when coming home to a kid mess? I'd be telling him to manage the mess while you're gone. DH feeds the kids dinner, has the dishes done, and has the kids ready for bed when I come home from the gym. He's capable of picking up too...

[camping question...]

At 9 and 12, if they were outside of my camper? Sure! I'd let them tent camp. But if they had to be in another part of the campground, perhaps not quite yet. 9 seems a little young to be across a campground.

[being out in public during school hours]

I never even thought about it. We go about life as normal, we don't focus much on the public school hours unless it's see when Dad's going to be home. We were playing out front this morning/afternoon when we had a neighbor with her kids come over to introduce themselves because they had noticed us playing a lot. Not a blink of the eye when she heard we were homeschoolers.

[new & improved bOOKshelves]

I... don't know how to feel right now. I'd love a lift but jeez, that sounds horrible.

[Adoption, those who have adopted and those who have researched it, come on in!]

This is an interesting thread. We haven't adopted yet but we hope to in the future. We just reunified our foster son with his bio mom after over a year of being here. He came at 5 weeks. It has been quite the interesting experience so I definitely second the, "If you're going to foster-adopt, plan on FOSTERING and don't expect to adopt." Even though we know several families who have adopted through foster care and we hope to do that as well. Just know that they can be and often are reunified with their bio families.

[Is Mother's day for YOU or is it for your mother, MIL, grandmother,etc?]

I call my mom and we usually get his mom a card because she's local. Other than that, it's about me and spending time as a family.

[Ask someone who married young]

I married young too. Met DH at 19, he was 21. We married when I was 21 and he was 23. We had our first child 22 and 24 followed quickly by babies 2, 3, and 4. It'll be 10 years as a couple next weekend. 8 years married in July. 

[Book a Week in 2014 - BW19]

Ooh, I'm going to have to go down the paranormal author list and hunt down some of their stuff soon. I'll admit, I love that genre a little more than is probably healthy. Heh.

 

Still reading American Gods, I'm about halfway through it and thoroughly enjoying it. I've already told my husband that it's so bizarre that he MUST read it next.