Simple Woman's Daybook

No Wednesday Hodgepodge this week, so this ...

For today ... Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Outside my window ... it is cloudy, cold, and windy.

I am thinking ... about a sweet moment I had with Eli last night. He is going through those changes, if you know what I mean, that is giving him emotions and worries about things that have never bothered him before. I had a real mom to young man talk with him last night, maybe our first. When he was getting ready to go to bed he said, "Thank you for that." I said, "For what?" And he said, "For the talk." I got teary. My little boy, my sweet little Eli, is turning into a young man. We had just had our first real adultish talk, and he was so mature about it. I told him that I would always be here for him and he can always talk to me about anything. He seemed so relieved and he smiled and went to bed happy. Man, being a mom is the most amazing thing in the world.

I am thankful ... that the tornado that went through Pensacola didn't hit my parents' house, although the wind did cause the basketball goal to fall and land on my dad's truck. My mom was in the linen closet in the bathroom and my dad was behind the couch. Scary for them, I'm sure!

I am wearing ... jeans, an Old Navy sweatshirt, cream puffy jacket, and Uggs. It's cold again!

I am creating ... absolutely nothing. And it feels so good! But Brynne really wants to get her basement bedroom created into something pleasant so that she feels comfortable down there. Right now it's, well, a basement bedroom. There are little creepy crawlies, it's dark with no windows, and it's just not very inviting. I really, really want to get it to where she enjoys it. I have some ideas and hope to put some things into action soon.

I am going ... to get some school work done with the kids, take Eli to speech therapy this afternoon, and then come home for a relaxing evening. It's Criminal Minds night!

I am wondering ... how Dawson's interview for a tech position at a local behavioral health hospital went today. He thought it went well. Really hoping he gets one of the open positions!

I am reading ... Positive by Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin

I am hoping ... that my sinus headache is really gone for now. I woke up Sunday morning at 5 a.m. with an eye-splitting nauseating headache that lasted until yesterday. I guess the return of the cold weather froze out whatever was getting me.

I am learning ... about what I can and cannot eat with my reflux. It is a constant education.

In my gardens ... are freshly pruned rose bushes, budding hydrangea bushes transplanted from my deceased grandma's house (they survived the transplant!!), and some green in the way of strawberry plants and butterfly bushes.

In my kitchen ... is the fragrance of my new favorite coffee! It's no secret how much I love Aldi. I usually get my coffee there, have been buying the Hazelnut Barrisimo coffee. But my friend told me about the German speciality coffees and oh. my. yum. It is so rich and powerful. Love it! My new favorite!

In the homeschool room ... we are moving along so nicely this winter semester. The days are smooth and easy with a good rhythm. We spend our mornings doing our clipboard work and our afternoons reading, doing activities, and watching educational videos. We have been submersing ourselves in WWII this entire year and have hit the difficult topic of the Holocaust. We have decided not to shield the kids from anything, but to guide them through the terror that was Hitler and the Nazi's. They are handling it well and we are all learning so much! We will be ending our year with a trip to the WWII Museum in New Orleans in April, and we have much to complete before our trip.

A favorite quote for today ... "But perhaps some child who reads this, asks, 'Does God notice little children in school?' He certainly does. And if you are not diligent in the improvement of your time, it is one of the surest evidences that your heart is not right with God. You are placed in this world to improve your time. In youth you must be preparing for future usefulness. And if you do not improve the advantages you enjoy, you sin against your Maker." ~ from Advantages of Industry, McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader. (Such good character lessons in this little book and I highly encourage homeschool moms to have their kids read these little gems, discuss them, and even copy them for good measure.)

A peek into one of my days ... Kyndal had an uncomfortable pain on the right side of her stomach the other day that we were fairly certain was either discomfort from her diminishing cyst or ligament pain. But because she miscarried her first baby at about this time, the doctor wanted her to come in for an ultrasound. Everything looked great with no abnormalities. The cyst continues to shrink as it's supposed to and they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. However, they did find this little bean backflipping through his/her mama's uterus. The baby was all over the place going from bicycling its legs to karate chopping to standing on its head. The heart rate was 181 bpm! She thinks she has some discomfort now .... just wait until that baby is doing those acrobatics in a confined space here in a few months!

One of my favorite things ... I have started working out with Daily Burn. I am doing the 365 class each morning at 8:00 a.m. It is a live, 30-minute class that airs at 9:00 a.m. ET. Each day's class is different, working different parts of the body in different ways with different instructors. I really like it because I have a time to "show up" each day because the class starts at a certain time. Even though I could work out to the archived class anytime throughout the day, I like feeling like I am in a real class. It takes me back to my 5:30 a.m. days at the Y in Oklahoma.

From the board room ... In my morning Pinterest browse I saw this image. I am not an Usborne affiliate, but since it's National Read Aloud Day I thought it would be a good reminder.

Post Script ... I always enjoy the Day in the Life series at Simple Homeschool. I will be posting mine soon.