Unsocialized Homeschooling with the Culburritos

So what do 12 well behaved, unsocialized, modest, nerdy, weirdo children do with themselves?

Why, they learn, of course!

Photography

Dermatology and Emergency Medical Technician Training

Entomology

Earth Science

The Secret Art of Fishing

Thermodynamics for the Dads

and we musn't forget, Kumbaya My Lord around the campfire

Theater

and so much more!

BF-TKC

Time with Papa and Grandma

Papa and Grandma came down on their motorcycle from north of Chicago for a short, but very sweet visit.  We really enjoyed simply hanging out and spending time with them.  It is sort of becoming a tradition. Wherever the Navy sends us, they come.  Nothing fancy.  Doesn't need to be.  It is wonderful.

Yes, I cried.

Isn't my husband so sweet?!  I did not even know about his post to me until he read it to me over dessert.  We had a wonderful 10th anniversary.  We spent the morning with my parents and the evening with friends.  Then we had appitizers and dessert alone as we exchanged rings and remembered the years past.  10 years seems so long, yet short at the same time.  I wish I had written something beautiful too.  I couldn't find the words.  According to the world we should never have made it, we did everything completely backwards. Yet here we are, and not just surviving, but thriving.  God is good, His grace is sufficent, and I am blessed.

Happy Anniversary Mom!

Ten Years Old

He brought us together,
not so long ago.
We started this journey,
with love still unknown.

Still He bonded us as one,
A covenant we spoke.
I was still just a boy,
when our love almost broke.

With pain in our hearts,
He took us in His arms.
Fashioning His Spirit within us,
His truth became ours.

Separately He mended,
for our sins were all paid.
Bringing us back to His plan,
showing the family He'd made.

Our lives came into focus,
and a path He had lit.
Slowly we understood,
what all of it meant.

As we've grown from place to place,
I find I love you more and more.
Funny how the better we follow,
so much more He has in store.

So with my quiver increased,
I'm glad I've got you.
Looking for new joys to come,
Oh, the blessings poured out,
since saying:
"I do."

Sorry, there won't be many posts this week.

But there will be a ton next week to make up for it because this week is jam packed with excitement.

First, my parents are in town.  They came to spoil us and love on us and we are just soaking it all up.  Time with grandparents is so precious for my children.  As a military family we have to take advantage of every opportunity we have to spend time with loved ones.

Second, Thursday is a most special day.  We will be celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary.  I cannot tell you how excited and blessed I am!

Last, also on Thursday, the coolest family on the planet (besides us, of course) is coming to spend the rest of this week with us.  It is going to be crazy!  They have 7 amazing children and we are going to take over the trailer park with their 7 and our 5, well behaved, unsocialized, modest, & weirdo children.  Look out bugs, frogs, fish, and lizards, here we come!

It is going to be an awesome week!

You want me to do what?

The other day Mr. Pilot dared me to stay home for three days. Stay home, as in - not leave the house, for three whole days? He might be a little crazy. Yesterday a very dear friend challenged me to stay home for two weeks, not even going to church. Now, she must be crazy!

Why do I have such a problem staying at home? I love my home and I am so blessed to be at home, yet by about 2 pm I am looking for a reason to run out. The moment my hubby walks through the door I ask if we can go somewhere. I don’t mean I want to leave my family in the dust and rush off and have my nails done or anything like that. I just want the entire family to load up into the Buffalo (that’s our van) and drive somewhere, preferably somewhere with food.

Actually, my husband and friend are not crazy. I should be perfectly happy staying at home. My family would function so much better if I weren’t always rushing us out the door. I’d save my husband’s hard earned dollars if I weren’t putting us in the position of being hungry when we are far from home, out and about in town.

I can think back to a few years ago when I had MOPS at one church, Moppets at another, homeschool co-op, dance for 2 girls, soccer for the boy, and bible study. I also served in the Sunday school class, went to Mr. Pilot’s softball games, and had coffee with friends; all in one week! While there was nothing wrong with going to any of these things, there was definitely something wrong with going to all of them. I wondered why I didn’t have time to cook, or do laundry, or why I didn’t have energy for my husband, or for the children.

I have come a long way. But I still have so far to go. I get bored easily, I think I always have. I now have a darling daughter who asks at least twice a day “What are we doing next, or where are we going” because she too, got used to going, and going, and going.

Be still! Take delight in nothing but spending time with my children. That is what I am trying to do. I’ll start with the 3 day challenge. I have high hopes for reaching the 2 weeks challenge also.
I’ll wait until after my parents visit next week…
I’ll wait until after my anniversary, too.
I will do it.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Time for TEA!

Stand up for what you believe in or you’ll fall for anything. Isn’t that a country song?

We recently read a post from a fellow biblical world view poster talking about what we could do personally to be informed about, and get involved with, the current political movement.

As I read this post, I remembered that Mom had forwarded me an email from the local homeschool group about a TEA Party in Jackson. I had only a one day notice, but I was pumped about getting involved from the blog post I had just read. Plus, they were providing free food. That alone almost always draws my family in…

We loaded up and drove the two hour (not quite) drive. I didn’t know what to expect. I had a vision of a blazing hot parking lot full of red, white, and blue homemade posters and maybe even people chanting or something. I was really surprised to see the very nice shady park with people sitting around listening attentively. We pulled up our lawn chairs while our children played in a dried up creek (pronounced crick by my wife) bed while we joined in the listening.

The talks were primarily about healthcare and the infringement of individual liberties. The parties represented were Primary Care Physicians and Doctors, Small Business Owners, Congressmen, and Ordinary Folks. They talked a lot about the massive legalese of the HR3200 (the Healthcare Bill currently being debated). Seriously, they had a copy; it was about 5 inches thick. They spoke about how centralized healthcare will stifle efforts of current Physicians Practiced, Medical Student Retention, and Research and Development. They talked about how making healthcare bureaucratic will make it more expensive (more taxes) for individuals and how it will remove individual choice in people’s health decisions.


The big picture here is there is a lot of mud making America’s vision cloudy. The people of America are being taken advantage of and the devastation is being glossed over. We are frogs in the pot of water. We must jump out before it is too late.

As an American, I encourage you educate yourself on what is happening in the American government. Don’t just listen to the news headlines or your favorite newscaster’s opinions. I know you are busy, I know you are tired. I understand it sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbo. We have to cut through it. It is our responsibility. It does affect us, each one of us. It affects our children, and their children. Race, gender, socio class, and political affiliation are irrelevant here. It is all about the principals.

Make a stand. Read up on what is going on, write a letter, make a phone call, and talk about it.
Go to a TEA party.
Then write a blog post.

-Mr. Pilot

For More Info

I found this quote:
"Skepticism about government is exactly what the Tea Parties are all about. They are named not only for the Boston Tea Party, nor for a memorable scene in Alice in Wonderland, but for the acronym TEA: "Taxed Enough Already." TEA is a truly popular sentiment in America that represents those who think that government is too big, costs too much, regulates too much, and needs to be smaller, cheaper, smarter, and do no more harm. It's a bonus that tea parties remind us the government is a Mad Hatter that is as mad as a March Hare, and that we'd like to knock it on the head and dump it in Boston Harbor."

Why Go to a TEA Party

Info on Healthcare

Mr. Pilot's Baby

Finally, here's the video of the birth. I would have taken the epideral if given the opportunity. It was a beautiful sunny, dry, and hot day in the Fresno valley as I spun around inside a tin can with an incredibly short moment arm (engineering junk for suseptible to vertigo). I'd almost forgotten how painful it all was, but when I look back on the video I remember very clearly, with anguish, that I never want to do it again. Hope you enjoy it, and be glad you don't have to do it.

-Mr. Pilot




you can see what this is all about in my earlier post

Ribbit

Moments after waking up:

Sis to Butter – Did you look outside, Butter?
Butter – Yup.
Sis – Did you see it’s foggy outside?
Butter – Yup. There’s a froggy outside and I’m dunna doe catch it.
Sis - Oh, Butter.
[Giggles.]

I love waking up to giggles.

Get Rid of It

How many clothes does one person need?

Back at the house I'd walk into my girls' room and instantly feel my blood pressure rise because I couldn't even see the floor through all of the clothes when I had just cleaned it two days before. There'd be underwear hanging from a dresser handle and I didn't care to determine if they were clean or dirty. A pile in the bathroom, pants in the hall, and 6 baskets of dirty clothes waiting to be laundered, that's over the top. "That's it! Bring me all of your clothes" I would say for what seemed like the tenth time that month. We would sort out all of the the dirty, fold all of the clean, and get rid of anything that hadn't been worn since the last time we did this routine.

If I wasn't doing 3 loads of laundry a day, it wouldn't take long for me to be sinking in piles of dirty clothes. I tried every different tip I could find. Three houses ago I even had my hubby move all of the dressers into the laundry room (he thought I was crazy, but he is so good to me.) This way, when the children shucked their clothes off at least they were on the laundry room floor, that makes sense, right? Whatever, it didn't work.

So I finally decided to get rid of stuff. I went through each child's clothes and pulled out anything I wasn't emotionally attached to. I had a big yard sale and felt pretty good about it. I only had to do 2 loads of laundry each day. Wait, why did I still have so much laundry, and why do I have an emotional attachment to clothes? I made excuses. Wasn't I being a good steward by sorting and saving my children's clothes to pass down from one to the next? Well, it's a good thought in theory, but we've moved about 9 times in 10 years, our children are different sizes in different seasons and I was just swimming in clothes. A good friend pointed out that I didn't need to hang on to it all. The clothes will always show up, she said, and she pointed out that maybe I wasn't really trusting in God to provide what I needed for each child, lovingly of course. I realized that I do rarely ever buy clothes. Everything we need does just sort of show up, either passed down or gifted. Besides, she has 9 children, 7 of which are girls, so she might know what she is talking about.

Then we decided to move into a travel trailer. We had three more sales and before each one I'd gather more clothes to get rid of. I gave myself a huge pat on the back when I very carefully selected my favorite outfits for each of my children and narrowed it down so each child had only one rubbermaid. Every thing that didn't sell, we donated. I even got rid of the dressers. Surely that would be enough. (I did keep one small rubbermaid of the coming home outfits, the baby clothes that were mine, and the really special stuff, and one rubbermaid of infant clothes for boy and girl)

After 6 weeks in the trailer, I have a huge pile of clothes to donate. One small rubbermaid is still too much. The 3 youngest children now have one small drawer in a little kitchen stand and the two older children have a really small rubbermaid. They don't miss a thing. And I certainly don't miss the laundry. It is awesome, now I only have to do it once a week! ONCE A WEEK. Did you hear me?

I am really trying to weed through everything in our lives. If something is becoming too much work, or if I am up to my eyes in something, I am getting rid of it! Watch out!