(I am deliberately not reading everyone else’s until I have finished writing mine, except for the 2 I saw that made me realize that this is a cool thing that I actually want to join in on because I suspect a lot of us overlap and I want to share who I am without worrying about that it may be a “YEAH, ME TOO.”)

I am that mom who, when the kids ask if we can please go visit our friends 5 hours away tomorrow, says yes, starts packing, and goes.

I am that mom who upon finding out the the oldest’s best friend (who lives 2 days away) might be able to come stay for a week says YES.

I am that mom who on 4th of July goes fireworks chasing with the kids, driving all over tarnation looking at everyone’s awesome displays,  instead of taking them to sit in a huge crowd and watching one display.

I am that mom who would rather take the kids to the pond to swim or sit and watch hours upon hours of anime, Dr. Who, favorite movies, or As Time Goes By with the crazy, wonderful kids than worry about what the neighbors think of her children’s nearly dead flower/veggie garden and too tall grass.
I am that mom who when the kids decide to build a tent/tree house/whatever in the back yard says nothing or helps them find the needed materials, knowing that again the neighbors will wonder about the people next door ruining the view from their perfect yards.

I am that mom who runs outside with the kids in the pouring rain to look for rainbows.



I am that mom who, when the kids find their long lost roller blades and ask if they can go somewhere to roller blade, suggests they roller blade in the house on our fake hard wood floors and allow them to continue to wear them for everything for the next week.

I am that mom who lets her kids turn her entire kitchen into a restaurant for days at a time and play with their food.

I am that mom who, when her son asks to take all the blankets from all over the house and use them to jump on, says yes.

I am that mom who takes a camera wherever her kids go and takes pictures of all the awesome things they do.

I am that mom who, when her kids want to mow the grass says yes and then says nothing about the stripes of extra tall grass left behind and the odd, rather like a maze, style of cutting grass her oldest prefers.

I am that mom who, when a kid says “come see this cool thing” stops what she is doing to go see (and it always IS really cool!)

I am that mom who realizes that her middle child loves the stage and when she asks signs her up and takes her to a performing arts camp the very next week.

I am that mom who still loses her cool, who still gets frustrated when the kids have totally trashed the place (not a problem) and then don’t clean it up (a problem), who has bad days and does not cope so well when the kids are fighting, again.

I am that mom who still has a long way to go but loves where her kids are exactly where they are regardless of the stage they are in, loves being with them, and thinks they are totally awesome and fun.

Yes, this is an extended version, I got started and kept going (which anyone who knows me in person knows this is VERY typical.)

My brother’s graduation party and the visit with my other brother and his wife are over.  It went well though it was hot, hot, hot outside.  We are talking absolutely melting.

Esther’s performing arts camp is over.  She loved it, did well with the final performance (which I will share if I can figure out how to deal with the movie transfer).  We have found that it was “fun” for her but definitely not a passion.  She loved every minute, wants to do it again, but didn’t spend all her time practicing, memorizing lines, etc.  Getting her to tell us about what she liked and didn’t like is like pulling teeth.  It isn’t that she doesn’t want to talk about it, she has just already moved on to the next thing (mostly relaxing and reading lots of books now that the chaos is over.)  When asked if she wants to be in the the next musical she said absolutely yes, knowing all the work it takes. So, we will see where this takes us.

Rachel’s piano lessons are going well.  She loves it and we found out that the new best friend Essie made at camp has a mother who teaches piano and has openings for the fall.  So, when Des goes back to school Rach will start taking “real” lessons (as in cost an exorbitant amount of money for a half hour lesson.)  Oh and Rach has now indicated that she wants to be called Ray.  Si in the future when I say Ray I mean our eldest.  If only I could remember to call her that.

So now, as we recover from all the busy-ness, I am spending lots of time reading (mostly James’ graduation presents that I have yet to give him because I intend to read them all first since we share books anyway.)  I want to review all of them, so far they are awesome.  In the meantime the kids and I are compiling a list of homeschooler/unschooler friendly books over at the Facebook Christian Unschooler page.  Eventually we will put on the CU site but this is good for now.

I have had tons of posts floating around my head but no time to write and even now my brain has lost all the posts in just trying to get a little bit organized.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  We are getting to that place where we are looking forward to school starting so we can go to all the cool places we like and not deal with crowds.

I am also working on my big art project that we want to publish in the fall.  Most of the work is currently in my head, because that is how I work.

We are also purging the house of stuff everyone has outgrown.  I have a HUGE bushel of shoes for the thrift shop–the kids grew out of all the shoes I got them last month.  Sigh.  I have a brand new, worn once, pair of size 1.5 black boys high top shoes that I really hope bless some kid because my boy suddenly wears a 2.5/3.

The kids and I are also preparing for a trip east and then south to visit friends in Eastern PA and then Virginia.  If you live in Eastern PA or Virginia and want a visit let me know and we can see if we can hook up.

However, we do seek patterns, rhythms that help us discern what comes next depending on the season we are in.  The times change as does the order but there is a general idea in everyone’s head as to what is likely to happen on any given day.

A lot of our rhythm focuses on my husband and where he is in his odd 26 hour day wake/sleep cycle.  When he is sleeping from 4am to 12pm our rhythm as a family is different than when he is sleeping from 4pm to 12am.  It also focuses on how many hours he is working.  When he is working 40 hr weeks (almost never) our family rhythm is different than when he is working 60 or 80 hr weeks (as he has been for the last 12 months.)

There are also certain elements that are always included in our family rhythm while others are seasonal.  Always included of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack.  Always included is a daily reading of the Bible as a family.  Those are givens though sometimes breakfast is the big meal while in other seasons snack is and in some seasons we read just 1 chapter of the Bible quickly with little discussion and others we read many and discuss every few seconds of reading.  Of course one other given is sleep.  We all need a lot of sleep (with the RA I need about 10 hrs) so sleep is always a given.  On a weekly basis our rhythm nearly always includes a trip to the library, a trip to my grandmother’s (1/2 hr drive away and takes most of the afternoon evening), a trip to the thrift shop (or three), an hour of everyone cleaning up the house so that we can all move without stumbling on things left behind, and a trip to the grocery store.

Right now we are in a season and look to be shifting to a new one because of changes in weather and hubby’s sleep and changes in which days he has “off” (from his programming job so he can work on his writing which is his other job–he only takes 1 day off completely a week– Saturday which he jealously guards).  It is also changing because I am working about 20+ hours a week on various projects.

For the past week our rhythm has included me making all meals (because of re-instituting the Candida diet), driving to the pond to swim twice a day (because the afternoons are way too hot and one hour swimming in the morning and one in the evening have been working well for the kids), a quiet time in the afternoon so I can work and run errands because the kids are worn out after all that swimming, and  an evening reading of the Bible before we head back to the pond.

Right now we are in a state of flux.  Hubby’s sleep has shifted again, I have work to get done, the weather has cooled a bit so that an afternoon swim is probably the best choice, we would like to fit a trip to one of the Pittsburgh museums in on a weekly or at least biweekly basis, Rachel is going to be working on piano with a friends daughter, and Essie wants to go to a performing arts camp next week (I am praying they have an opening–have to call today and find out), and the kids are settling into the Candida diet and getting comfortable so I don’t have to fix their every meal.  It will be interesting to find the next pattern, to see the next rhythm.

Already the kids are staying up later and sleeping in longer so they have more time with Daddy while he is awake but I happen to know there is a game on his computer that ONLY works on his computer that we are all aching to play and that some of the time he is asleep is going to be spent playing it.  Already they are asking less to go to the pond for a swim and instead are spending lots and lots of time drawing or playing with Legos (Issac is trying to design a robot that utilizes water in its design– inspired by Falling Waters and a water works plant that has a huge built in waterfall on the side on the way to the Science Center.)  The girls are spending a lot of time playing with friends on Build-a-bear and Skype and reading.

And so we will see where it leads and what God has planned for us next.  Regardless, it won’t be boring which is great because I hate too much repetition and adore change and the good Lord knew that when He gave me this wonderful, ever changing family.

As I have mentioned before, five years ago or so we had a membership. We loved it but we had a car that broke down all the time and seemed to have the attitude that the further from home the better. I also have no sense of direction and tend to get lost easily (though I refuse to call it lost– “I” may not know where I am but God does so I know I am not completely lost. Plus, I usually know where I am and where I want to be, just not how to get from here to there.:) So we call them adventures.) And the Science Center is kind of tricky to get to and leave unless you know Pittsburgh really well (which I don’t) or have a GPS (which I didn’t). So between getting lost and the car breaking down in weird out of the way places we didn’t actually make it to the Science Center that often, instead choosing to go to the Art and Natural History museum which is easy for me to find since some of my early driving experience was in that part of town.

So this time we are determined to get full usage of the Science Center as well as the Art and Natural history Museums.

To start, Issac insisted on going to the 1st floor stuff for a short visit (because the girls wanted to go to the Sports Works first). Rachel and Issac decided to start with the earthquake simulator. Did you know it is really hard to take a decent photo in an earthquake? Just saying.

Issac adores all things “science” (what he calls it– I would say specifically he loves all things physics, light, and electrical) so the directional light/laser thing really caught his fancy.

The earthquake machine has been a favorite of all three since they wee small. Esther got really interested this time and discovered sectioning off the building as a means of keeping it standing. This led to a later discussion of load bearing walls/beams and how buildings are made structurally sound.

Issac also has a thing for paper airplanes, so the paper airplane wind tunnel was a favorite.

Rachel and Issac practicing flying– or at least properly flapping their wings like a bird in flight.

The girls then got their turn to choose so we headed over to the Sports Works. Issac could care less about the sports works and pretty much spent his time looking at all the how it works displays while the girls waited in line to climb walls and jump. He also spent a lot of time here, watching people try to pitch as hard as they could.

And this is what the girls were doing.

Waiting in line. Though Esther spent some time doing this:

She is a total video game geek and has absolutely no problem being the only girl in a group (in fact I think she feels more comfortable that way.)

I think these are my favorite shots for the day. She is so much like I was, and loves the same things I did, but unlike me she has no fear and will happily jump in where others dare not tread. So yes, I am proud of her, my sweet little geekling.

I am also proud of this. Rachel did this multiple times. You have to pedal yourself out backwards and then bring yourself back. Both girls did it with barely a flinch.

As I mentioned, Issac loves physics and circuits and the 4th floor is a favorite place of his.

Meanwhile the girls much prefer the physical activities or things that involves computers. The water table was a favorite for both girls.

Esther became obsessed with the flow of water and making the dam work.

And immediately after this photo my camera batteries died (because I forgot to bring rechargeables).I have tons more on my phone but for some reason it isn’t transferring properly so I will add those to the slideshow once I find the usb cable to transfer that way.

Other highlights of the day?

I was reminded once again that Esther REALLY needs some sort of activity involving a stage or a video camera and her in front of it. Her favorite Science Center activity is being weather girl in a semi authentic studio and getting to use the teleprompter and seeing herself on tv. She also loves all things on stage and I need to get over my aversion to running and find some sort of acting/stage opportunity for her to try out.

Rachel prefers the Sports Works to anything else and wanted to spend the entire day over there waiting in line trying things out. Both girls enjoyed rockclimbing (even though they both got scared when coming down (it was their first time.) Esther wants to go back and do the jumping some more and Rachel wants to go on the roller coaster and do the unicycle multiple more times.

Issac was thrilled to explore the miniature railroad again (he has been a train enthusiast since birth, I think.) Even more thrilling was that one of the volunteers pulled us aside and showed us the backroom where they build everything, showed us all sorts of models they are working on and repairing, including a preview of some of the things that will be revealed in the next remake of the miniature railroad (they shut down Oct. 1 through the end of November each year in order to redo the whole thing.) The kids asked all sorts of questions and he willingly explained everything. Rachel was busy in the robot room and missed it.

And then, on the way home, once again we got lost (because a street the map said to go was CLOSED! and it was storming, and rush hour.  So we did what any normal person would do and called my sister-in-law who knows Pittsburgh much better than I to tell us what to do.  And then we messed up and were about to call her back when I found out that my phone DOES have free GPS now (it didn’t before) and it works so it talked us through that and we arrived at my grandmother’s safely after all.  And she fed us, which was nice after such a long day.  (This is perfectly normal when riding with me, as my children will tell you.  It’s an ADVENTURE!

And once again I want to thank Jethro and family for the membership! Too awesome!!!! And if you are in the area and want to go with us drop me an email– we can take 5 guests! YAH!

It started with gluten-free crepes, goats cheese, and berries for the kids and a trip to the pond where I read, cleaned out the car, and took a paddle boat ride.  I also tested out the new digital camera I got yesterday which is a whole other blog post but its a cheap one (under $100) but I needed something that didn’t have dust on the lens so I could get decent photos of my work for several upcoming projects.

When we returned home Issac and I vacuumed out the car. While doing so Issac spotted the UPS man and insisted on bringing in the box himself. (He is such a funny kid.) Shamus’ new hard drive had come but didn’t come with the SATA cable he needed so Issac and I trekked out, yet again, and got it for him.  On the way home I got gas (in order to redeem my extra trip out) and at his request we did one of his favorite things: got the car washed.  (I only get the car washed once or twice a year and apparently the other kids were devastated that they didn’t get to go so next time it will be a family affair.)   You can’t see it in the picture because he kept moving too fast but he is grinning ear to ear and telling me all about how it works.

I spent most of the afternoon reorganizing my blog feeds and setting everything up so I could switch from Opera (which I love but I am having some issues with and more and more sites won’t open in it) to Google Chrome. (Firefox was great until they started adding bells and whistles and it started slowing my computer down.) The kids have reinstated quiet time and were lying down waiting for me to read to them. I was just about to do so when the mail came and I ran out to check it. Inside the mailbox was a huge package, which I assumed was a test set f the card game I am starting work on. It wasn’t. When I pulled it out I found this; which if course you can’t read.  It says: Gift for you on the sticker, and down below it says Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.  And inside was this: but with OUR name on it.  Really! The family I am working with on the game sent us a premium membership for Carnegie Museums. We haven’t had even a regular one since the last time we were on the Candida diet–which I just realized and which is very odd since we just started the Candida diet again, after 5 years, last week.  And this time around we have an awesome, doesn’t break down every time you leave the driveway, vehicle.  Anyway, since tomorrow is supposed to be the first cooler, stormy day in over a week, I just filled the car with gas and cleaned it, I don’t currently have any work I NEED to complete right away, Friday is the day we usually visit my grandmother and she is on the way, we are heading to the Science Center tomorrow.

And I suspect that throughout the summer you are going to be seeing less photos like this:

and more photos like this:

And this:

We are looking forward to being able to beat the crowds, visit other science centers when we go visit friends, go to the art and natural history museums when we take a trip to Trader Joes, and best of all, with the premium membership we get to take 5 friends along.  As the kids keep saying, “we just can’t sop smiling!”

This morning we decided to head to the pond early since it is supposed to get up to 90-something (which it did and it is HOT here). Plus I needed borrow my dad’s camera to take some quality photos of a commission for a client. My camera is stupid and slightly broken (dust or some-such on the lens causing all sorts of trouble which is sad because I LOVED that camera) though it still works it doesn’t work for high end photos for digital commissions.

So we went and the kids swam and I took photos of the painting. Then, because I already had it out with my sd card in I took some higher quality photos of the kids than I have been able to take for a while.

After an hour of the kids swimming (with me taking pictures) the girls decided it was time for lunch and Issac decided to hang out with Pappap for the rest of the day. Now they are having a Dr. Who marathon– the whole series from the beginning (new Dr. Who) up until they run out on Netflix download play.

Meanwhile I am waiting (stupid holiday weekend) for a new camera to come in the mail (need it for upcoming projects) and praying that it will suit (it was only $60 so I am nervous).

I edited the painting photos for website use and sent that out, uploaded all the pictures of my crazy big kids, and now am pondering a website design I am supposed to be working on.

As far as the rest of the week goes?  Who knows.  I like living day to day and hate schedules of any sort.  Hopefully this week will include getting a new camera, getting the prototype of the game I am working on, working on the website that I am supposed to be doing,.  As far as the kids go– probably lots of swimming, hopefully some cleaning up, most likely some camping out , and very likely lots of chatting on Skype with friends.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

After a few minutes of attempting to watch them through the trees we decided to take a walk and see what we could see.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

And a few minutes after that, we were on the way to the car to see if we could find even better fireworks.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

*This is rural Western PA here. Lots of hills, mountains, trees, and LOTS of fireworks, even though they are illegal.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

Within 5 minutes we had tracked down a huge party with professional fireworks and a farmtrack where we could park to watch them.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

The kids had a great time and I decided that it isn’t that I don’t like fireworks, its that I hate sitting in a hot parking lot waiting for an hour (so you get a decent spot to watch) to watch an hours worth of fireworks and afterwards sit for an hour and a half in a hot car, in a huge line of cars, with hungry, needing to use the restroom kids in the back trying to LEAVE said parking lot.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

And so today, on the fourth of July, we went fireworks chasing again.

Fireworks taken by Rachel

This time a friend gave us a heads up and we headed towards the area she suggested. We found several great spots, especially a huge display of professionally done fireworks that was closer than we have ever seen them (safely so– when you are in a crowd it is hard to get close to the show.)

Fireworks taken by Rachel

I suspect, judging from how much fun the kids had, that THIS will be our new July 4th tradition.

Are you a Christian? Do you homeschool your children without following a set curriculum? Do you disciple your children instead of schooling them? Do you identify as a Christian unschooler?

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No, I have not been in the mood to actually share anything for some time. Instead we have been busy doing and being, and living.  So what have we been doing?

Mr. Shamus Awesomepants

*Working.  A lot. Shamus is working 60 to 80 hr weeks trying to keep afloat.  I am taking on (and getting) more painting commissions.  The kids have been helping by attempting to keep the house in some semblance of order.  We are trying to catch up on all the bills that didn’t get paid when we waited an extra 2 quarters for a rather large quarterly check that didn’t come.  We may still lose our house as fall out from that time but we are working hard trying to deal with the situation.

Part of this means that I have a rather large project coming up very quickly that I am VERY excited about but am not sure if I can really talk about yet.  I am very excited about it and if it all works out then in the end I will have my art work on a published card game. In fact, if it does work out then I am going to be sending you all that direction to try to get you to buy said card game because I will be getting a cut of the proceeds and it will REALLY help both our family, and the family I am working with, out.  And the game really looks fun and I get to do all the artwork for it, which is big, but very exciting.  (We just finally worked out the details, I think, and I should be able to start the work on it soon.)  And in this I ask for prayer since it means I will be working off and on on it through the summer (hoping to publish in the fall) and I am really praying that my RA keeps out of the way so I can focus on painting.  I also have lots of little projects trickling in here and there that are helping us out and which are rather fun to do.  In other words, God is providing.  It is a lot of work (the lottery would be SO MUCH EASIER) but we are getting to do what we love.

*Healing.  A lot. Between heartache and physical ache it has been a rough year so far.  We have slowly been healing.  God has been working on our hearts.  For me personally there have been many things that he has had to do heart surgery on.

One of the things He used was  John and Stasi Eldredge’s new book Love and War, which I REALLY need to do a review on (got a preview copy).  First let me say it is awesome!!!!!  There is something for you regardless of where you are in your marriage and just because one part doesn’t apply other parts will.  Also it helped me deal with some other, non-marriage related stuff that I needed to deal with (as have 3 absolutely wonderful friends who have been praying through with me.)

Rachel up a tree

Also, the girls have been dealing with some heart issues, and today they joined me in beginning Stasi Eldredge’s study guide of Captivating.  I need to get back a hold of the original book but for now the study guide is working out just right to discuss with a 10 and a 12 year old girl.  We are dealing with all the stuff that comes with being that age and all the changes and it was really good for Rach to realize she is NOT alone in this.

And on to the physical healing.  My RA has been bad this year, as has Rachel’s, plus she has had several SJS episodes (one of which triggered the death of a brand new molar– tomorrow we get to go get a root canal at a specialist.  – Please be praying that Rach will do well, that they will not need antibiotics, that it will go smoothly, and that our insurance will cover it.)

Rachel wading in the creek

Finally Rach  and I sat down and talked about what was triggering us having such a bad year and realized that we had totally fallen off the wagon regarding our eating, especially Rachel.  In the past we have found that going on the candida diet significantly reduces flare ups and Rach’s reactions.  And so she and I decided we needed to go back on the diet, and then the other two decided to join us, to varying degrees.  The down side of that is that it is tricky and expensive but if it helps our health then it is well worth it.  Already I have noticed a huge difference in Rachel’s attitude, mood swings, etc.

* Learning.  A lot.  There has been so much learning going on that I am finding it hard to keep track of it all.  Because the kids are autodidactic I often don’t even realize what all they have absorbed.  And lately it has been a nearly constant surprise.  We will be discussing something, anything, and they will say something about the topic that totally knocks me off my feet.  This happens regardless of topic.  One minute it is mathematical (out of the blue Issac informs me that 3 threes make 9 therefore 4 threes  make 12 and so on), historical (Esther randomly asks me what Thomas Jefferson did AFTER he wrote the Declaration of Independence then decides to go ask her sister because she probably knows), spelling (all three are suddenly writing, a lot, and spelling a lot of words corerctly that I didn’t realize they knew), reading (all three signed up for the library reading program and are reading the maximum # of books –not just for the prize but because they want to), etc.

"Cool!!! A dead crayfish!"

This morning Issac was watching me cook egg and was giggling and singing about how he loved science and how awesome it was that God gave us science to explore (this was brought on by seeing the hot air rise and make the egg bubble up).  All three LOVE Mythbusters but after watching so many time have started to point out all the things that they didn’t do and other ways they could have tested each myth.  We also continue to read the Bible daily (are finishing Job tonight and all three are actively discussing what is going on and are really interested in listening.)

"Look at this awesome dragonfly! It looks like it is changing colors!"

And this is the awesome dragonfly--Esther took this photo standing in the water holding my camera! GAH.

*Going.  A lot. This is the first summer in a long time that we a had a reliable vehicle.  This means we have been spending a lot of it leaving the house– to go swimming at the pond, to the park to wade in the creek, VBS, to visit Grandma, and hopefully soon to several other locations I have been wanting to them to get to see.  Hopefully we will take a day trip to the American side of Niagara Falls.  We also hope to go to several local national parks, orienteering, and finally to visit friends that the kids talk to online but seldom see in real life.  Add in my baby brother’s high school graduation, graduation party, other family parties, and boy are we busy for us.

Esther attempting to fly while Rach plays four square @ VBS.

*Growing.  A lot.  No kidding.  Rachel at 12 is now bigger than I am.  Esther at 10 is bigger than I was at 13.  Issac is nearly as big as Esther.  Gah.

Pretending to climb the tree and Rachel, or something.

*Playing.  A lot.  Board games, puzzles, books, games, swimming, wading, video games, pretend, you name it.  Currently the big project is the kids are planning a play with friends we hope to visit in August.  Oh, and now the kids suddenly discovered  the fun of a “photo shoot”.  When they got bored at the park I asked them to pose however they liked for a few photos (hoping to get a good one to use for a Christmas card this year).  It went on for over an hour as they ran from cool old structure to interesting rock, posing in all sorts of silly ways.  It was awesome.  Now they want to go places just to take funny photos.

Acting.

Love my kids!