Tales of a Florida Mom

In Which I Return to Blogging

After more than a year long absence I've decided to return to the world of personal blogging. In the coming days and weeks I'll be moving posts from my old blog, creating new content, and tweaking this design and layout. I'm excited about being a blogger again!

Wordless Wednesday

Cousins

 

Sunrise...Sunset

My baby boy turned 14 today. In the blink of an eye he went from here

 

 to here.

 

I have enjoyed every age with him. The baby and toddler stage, though exhausting, is also a time of wonder. Everything is new and exciting.

 

As they get older, you start to let go. Teaching a child to ride a bike is a classic metaphor for letting go. First you hold on and keep him from falling.

 

Then you let go, but guide them. You're right there to make sure they stay safe.

 

Then you finally let go once and for all.

I love the look on his face in this picture. Pure child bliss.

 

This is one of my favorite pictures. He came out of his room one day dressed like this, and announced that he's a nature photographer.

 

My little boy has grown to be an amazing young man. Oh, he has his teen moments. But overall, I'm so proud of who has become.

 

This whole letting go thing is bittersweet. You know this is your job as a parent - to raise them to be independent adults. But you want to hold the child forever.

When I was 8 months pregnant, I found this poem on the web. It had me in tears, and I chalked that up to pregnancy hormones. But now I know that wasn't it. It still brings me to tears.

My Baby Boy and Me

It's three a.m., they're all asleep, and no one's here to see.

As we rock slowly back and forth, my baby boy and me.

His little hand is feather-light, tucked up against my chin.

I hold his tiny hand in mine, and stroke his baby skin.

The house about us creaks and groans, the clock hands creep around.

He snuggles closer to me still, and makes his baby sounds.

I love these quiet hours so much, and cherish every one.

Store memories up inside my heart, for lonely nights to come.

All too soon he'll be grown up, his need for mama gone.

But until then I still have time, for kisses and for song.

Time for quiet hours like this, with him cuddled in my arms,

Where I wish he'd always stay, protected, safe, and warm.

And yet I know the day will come when his tiny little hand

Will be much bigger than my own; he'll grow to be a man.

But until then he's mine to love with no one here to see.

As we rock slowly back and forth,

My baby boy and me.

~Author unknown

Yeah, I teared up while typing it. Happy Birthday Kiddo.

By the Numbers

1. Days until the Holiday Grand Plan at Organized Christmas begins - 5

2. Days until Christmas - 123

3. Number of unfinished sewing projects I have lying around - 5

4. Furniture pieces we own that are nothing more than clutter catchers - 8

5. Number of ebooks on my Kindle - 146

6. Unfinished knitting projects - 1 (Wow. Only one.)

7. Years my son will have to wear braces - 2

8. Years since he got his braces on - 1 (Hurray! He's at the halfway mark)

9. Years we've been homeschooling  - 9

10. Days until my baby boy turns 14 - 11

 

 

 

 

 

 

You say tomato, I say tomahto

I schedule leftovers on the menu weekly. Often, the night before trash collection is our night for leftovers, so that whatever doesn't get eaten gets put in the trash. Our trash is collected on Fridays, so last night we had leftovers. I'm not one to turn leftover food into a completely different meal, unless I specifically plan for that. Mainly we just put everything on the counter and grab what we want.

I call leftover night leftover night. Sometimes I get cutesy and and say we're having CORN for dinner, CORN being an acronym for Clean Out the Refrigerator Night. My husband and son both knew that last night was going to be leftover night. When he came home from work, my husband said, "So tonight is scrounge night, huh?" My son replied "I call it fend for yourself night".

We still had leftovers, no matter what you call it. And thanks to CORN, Scrounge Night, or Fend for Yourself Night, there will be no science projects in the refrigerator.

Some things DO get better with age.

I'm not as myopic as I once was. Really. I've worn glasses since I was 10, and at every exam throughout my life, it was determined I needed stronger glasses. Every year or two, my vision would deteriorate. Not anymore! It's been nearly 3 years since my last exam, so I was long overdue. I went in today and was surprised to learn that in one eye my vision hasn't changed at all. In the other, I'm actually less nearsighted than I was. How can that be? The optometrist said that sometimes happens with nearsightedness. Farsighted people don't get that bonus, but those of us who have myopia do. As we age, we become more farsighted. If you were nearsighted to begin with, that means your vision actually gets better.

Hehe. If I live long enough I wonder if I'll eventually have 20/20 vision. <grin>

 

Ten for Tuesday

This is another post from my old blog, but it's just right for this time of year.

 

Ten Things We Love About Homeschooling

 

It’s the start of the school year for many kids. Some homeschoolers follow a traditional schedule, while others don’t. Since a majority of Americans associate August and September with back to school, this seems to me an appropriate time for this post.

 

1. no alarm clocks

2. no morning rush

3. tailoring lessons to fit your child

4. making our own schedule

5. reading on the couch (bed, floor, etc.)

6. kitchen science/math

7. more family time

8. park days with homeschooled friends (for moms too)

9. having the library (mostly) to yourself during the day

10. no homework

Menu Plan Monday 8/15 - Still summer here in Florida

We've been plodding along through summer. When we can, we stay indoors. When we must be outside we try to make it evenings. The daily summer thunderstorms have been coming almost, well, daily. Temps in the upper 90's with humidity to match and heat indices of over 100 have us moving rather slowly.

Public school started last week, which for homeschoolers means we can go out again now that there aren't crowds everywhere. It also means Dennis doesn't get to see the kids across the street as often. Nearly everything has pros and cons.

I've been mostly sticking to my summer meal plan of keeping the oven off, though there have been a few oven meals. Mostly I stick with stove top, crock pot, or the grill. For this week's Menu Plan Monday  I have one oven meal - Cheese Enchiladas.

Monday - BLT sandwiches, apple slices

Tuesday - Cranberry pork chops, sweet potatoes, carrot sticks

Wednesday - Summer pasta salad with chicken, orange slices

Thursday - hot dogs or leftovers, fresh fruit

Friday - cheese enchiladas with black bean  and corn salsa

Saturday - Swedish style beef (crock pot), noodles, salad

Sunday - Lemon-oregano tilapia, wild rice mix, cooked carrots

You Know it's Summer in Florida when...

It's that time of year again. While most of the Northern Hemisphere considers summer a time to enjoy the outdoors, we Floridians know summer is when we worship the inventor of air conditioning. A good rain doesn't cool things off - it only makes it more humid. Also there's no such thing as a cool summer night in Florida. Still, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Heat, humidity, swarms of mosquitoes, hurricanes, no snow, no mountains. I love Florida!

So how do you know it's Summer? Well , you know you are in Florida in summer when:

- The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
-The trees are whistling for the dogs.
-The best parking is determined by shade instead of distance.
-Hot water now comes out of both taps.
-You can make sun tea instantly.
-You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
-The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
-You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
-You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
-You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
-You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
-Your biggest bicycle fear is, “‘What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?”
-You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
-The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt, and pepper.
-Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
-The cows are giving evaporated milk.
-Ah, what a place to call home.

Oh, and and by the way. It’s true. It’s not just the heat, it’s the humidity. 

Here Come the Bloodsuckers!

"Each invisible larva would eat and breathe for four days, and after shedding its skin four times, become a pupa. At this stage it discontinued eating and changed rapidly, and in another two days its skin split, allowing an adult mosquito to pull itself out and dry its wings in preparation for flight. No one in the camp was aware of this natural chain of events taking place across the tranquil marsh." ~A Land Remembered, Patrick Smith

Most of Florida is still experiencing drought conditions. There are close to 400 wildfires burning throughout the state. It's not as bad as Arizona, nor is it as bad as it was here in 1998, but it's bad. Some communities have cancelled fireworks displays, while others, like mine, have banned individuals from setting off fireworks.

My county is in the 500-549 range, down from 600 a few weeks ago. Summer rains are starting. We all hope they will stay. A normal summer in Florida includes a daily thunderstorm. I can count on one hand how many we had last summer. This year the rainy season, though late, seems to be on its way. And that means so are the mosquitoes. Lots of them. Which means mosquito borne diseases. Our mosquitoes aren't just out at dusk and dawn. They're out, and hungry all day. There are parts of my backyard I stay away from this time of year unless I want to be instantly covered with the little bloodsuckers. No, I don't live in the country. I'm talking about a suburban backyard. There are even mosquitoes at some of our beaches - the less developed ones. The more beautiful and natural the beach, the more likely you are to get bitten. And yet, it's all worth it, because it means the rainy season is here.

Ah, the pleasures of living in paradise!

 

Phone and Physics Frustration

Two completely unrelated things had me frustrated for most of the weekend. Also, alliteration is fun.

First, my iPhone. Let me say that while I'm not an Apple fangirl, I love, love, love my iPhone. Not only is it the best toy I ever had, it really is functional. I use real apps on a daily basis. However I had wifi issues from the very beginning. Sometimes it would drop out and go to 3G. While it was only mildly annoying, I had to pay attention and reconnect to wifi so my data plan (the cheapest) wouldn't be charged. I chalked it up to the Evil AT&T Empire trying to get me to use more data. Last Friday however, it went from mildly annoying to major problem. Wifi dropped out and would not come back. At all. We played with our home network settings. We played with the phone settings. I reset everything. We bought a new router because the old router did have a tendency to randomly drop other devices too. The new router solved the problem with all devices except the phone. I went to where there was free wifi, and...Surprise! Still no wifi connection. The nice people (really, they are nice) at the AT&T store told me the problem was with the phone.

So, a trip to the Apple Store, 40 miles away at The Florida Mall, was in order. The Florida Mall used to be my stomping grounds back in my Mall Rat days. For the life of me, I can't remember what I liked about it. I'll chalk it up to being young, single, and having money to burn. Man, that place was crowded! Not just the mall, but the Apple Store was also packed. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get an appointment at the Genius Bar. Yeah, that's what they call their tech support. I suppose Mac people know this. We did not. Sorry Apple fans, but I think that name is just as silly as the Geek Squad. Anyway, the phone was able to connect to the store wifi. Great. Go to the dentist and the toothache is gone. They decided the best way to solve the problem would be to wipe the phone, then they told me to go home and set it up as a new device rather than from the backup, which might have the glitch in it. We left the Apple Store after dragging Dennis away from an iPad, and made a quick stop at the food court. While there, I decided to play with my new, "clean" phone. Guess what? It couldn't connect to any of the available free networks. Back to the Apple Store we go. This time they tried to connect to a network that wasn't theirs, and were able to see the issue for themselves. A few minutes later I walked out with a brand new iPhone. I came home, restored it from the backup, since we now knew it wasn't a software issue, and I'm back in business. Phone frustration solved. Yay.

So physics. Middle school physics. Eighth grade. Mostly conceptual, without all the math. Science is the bane of every secular homeschooler's existence.  It's either religious (overtly or covertly, both equally bad in my opinion) or is meant for a classroom setting. The religious curricula either treats evolution as not true or omits it completely. Not really a problem with physics, but I still don't want books that give supernatural reasons for force, motion, or magnetism. The secular materials are either too textbook-ish or assume there's enough students for class discussions and lab partners. Last night at nearly midnight, I think I might have solved this frustrating problem. While reading a post from someone at a homeschool forum, I clicked on her signature link which offers a list of secular homeschool materials. I found Awakening Wonder. It looks promising. Some quotes from their FAQ page in which they are asked about the worldview represented in their products.

"This is a common question when researching homeschool curriculum materials, and as homeschoolers ourselves, we recognize the importance of this question. The short answer in the case of Awakening Wonder materials is that we have selected secular books and kits for our studies of science. If you are seeking a program with a strong, explicit religious component, this is probably not the program for you."

They go on to state that they are Christian and their faith is a big part of their lives, but then they say this:

"We believe that faith and scientific inquiry are two distinct methods of learning about the world around us."

It sounds promising. I already have some of the books listed. The rest are either inexpensive or available through our library system. We used Thames and Kosmos kits for chemistry and have not been disappointed. The kit looks like the biggest expense, and even that is under $100. Physics frustration solved. Double yay.