A “silly” success…

“Mom!!!!  He won’t trade me a monkey for a STARRRRR!!!!”

“I JUST WANT the guitar for the hippo!”

“PLEASEEEEEEEEEE….Can you trade me the lips for the gator!!!”

Those are the kind of conversations going on around here lately.

The “SILLY BANDZ MANIA” has hit the Vallone Homestead.

It started one day when Jay was playing at Jacks BBQ.

Shasha swam up to the side of the pool and said, “Mom-Have you ever heard of Silly Bandz????”

I had.

Oh no.

I knew what was coming.

“Can I get some?????’…I knew it.

So ever since that day we have been in Silly Bandville.

Hippos

cars

bears

guitars

swans

hearts

swans

You name it….we've seen it.

Its funny to see the kids SOOOOOOO into something.

LOVE IT.

It even seems to present LOTS of situations where I can TEACH.

Today…

the kids were sitting at the table and each had laid all their silly bands in front of them.

They were getting ready to trade.

I knew I should stay near by….to referee.

These things can go south QUICKLY.

Soooo…they started trading and of course Shasha had the most and they started arguing about who got what and which ones were more “valuable”.

I listened.

Malachi started crying(not unusual) and saying that SHASHA had BETTER ONES and more “RARE” ones.

She does.

PILES of them.

Still….Shasha wasn’t hearing it.

She was being selfish and didn’t want to give Malachi 1 of her 2 green dragonflies.

It was time to step in.

Me:“Do you guys remember what a false idol is?????”

Kids:”yes”

Me:”remember it is when you love something soooooo much that IT becomes more important than ANYTHING. It becomes more important than GOD, and it makes you NOT WANT to share. Sometimes when you get something new you have to FIGHT THAT FEELING. When you have 2 of something you should BE WILLING to give 1 away. Do you understand????”

Kids: “yes maam”

Then Shasha said, “Malachi…Ill trade you the  green dragonfly for the pink gator.”

A “SILLY BAND” success.

I love this life…every SILLY minute of  it!!!

COLLECTIVE consciousness….

Joining hands.

Seems SIMPLE.

It was.

On Saturday, June 26th, we participated in Hands Across the Sand.

Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry.  Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling. 

We  joined hands to say NO to offshore oil drilling and Yes to Clean Energy.

It was an AWESOME opportunity to OPEN the dialogue to our kids about oil drilling,clean energy, the “spill” and what it has done to OUR EARTH.

It was AMAZING!!!

We got there at 11:30 and signed in.

Then at 12PM…we walked down to the beach and JOINED HANDS.

Simply.

Joined Hands in a PEACEFULL PROTEST.

We Joined hands with STRANGERS, all on the same MISSION.

To be heard.

To be “WITH THOSE” like us.

To feel like we are NOT THE ONLY ONES.

 

What a blessing it was to STAND UP for our beliefs…if for no other reason than to SHOW the kids that sometimes  its JUST THAT SIMPLE.

JOIN together and STAND UP.

Use your voice.

Lift your prayers.

I have no doubt that even though we did not SINGLE HANDEDLY end the problem….

I know we made a DIFFERENCE.

We were HEARD…

God was smiling.

And so were our kids.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money.----Cree saying

Between TWO.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

-credited to Mother Teresa

The Circle of LIFE….

The kids are ALWAYS finding grasshoppers in the yard.

Sooooo…I wasn’t surprised the other day when Shasha came to the front door with a REALLY COOL green grasshopper in her hand.

She held it up and said, “Mom…Look at this grasshopper.  It has BIG EYES and looks REALLY COOL!”

So I looked at it and we talked about how amazing it was for a few minutes…

We admired how God made it PERFECTLY.

Then I said, “Well, Its really cool, go outside and let it go before it gets hurt.”

She looked at me and without skipping a beat said, “No!!!  I'm feeding it to the CHICKENS!”

LOL

I guess it is the circle of life………

Datil Do it…….

 

Its funny how even kids raised in the same home, same parents, same LIFE, can STILL  be soooooo different.

All of our kids are sweet.

Most of the time.

All are obedient.

Most of the time.

Last night I was getting the kids out of the bath and I told Malachi to get out.

“No.” he said.

I said, “Get out before I count to 3.”

“No.” he said.

I said , “Now your getting out AND getting a spanking.”

He laughed.

So I got him out and spanked him.

He laughed…AGAIN.

I said , “Well , I guess I will have to use the Datil Pepper HOT SAUCE.”

THAT got a  reaction….

“No Mom, PLEASE. No MOM!!!!!!”

He begged .

He Pleaded.

He still got “Sauced”.

Please pray for us.

Pray that we don't need to plant an EXTRA Datil pepper plant….JUST FOR MALACHI!!!!

Kids Spanish 101

There are some things in my life that have been BURNED into my mind  from the past.

Some things that affected ME so much that I am DETERMINED to make it different with MY CHILDREN.

One of those things is NOT BEING BI-LINGUAL.

There was a time when Jay and I were living in Costa Rica(the 1st time)and we were sitting around a table of travelers.

They were from everywhere:England,New Zealand, Germany, Brazil.

As I sat there listening to them ALL speak Spanish AND their native language, It was a real EYE-OPENER for me.

To be honest…they all spoke at least 3 language…FLUENTLY.

I was STUNNED and SHAMED that in AMERICA, the land of ALL PEOPLE, we were only taught OUR LANGUAGE.

As if it were the ONLY LANGUAGE.

I know, I know…we have Spanish and German as an ELECTIVE in High School.

BUT---We are not STUDYING THESE LANGUAGES for fluency.

We are not studying these languages from a YOUNG AGE.

In Texas we studied CONVERSATIONAL SPANISH in HS …mostly to communicate with the people around us.

But not for real fluency.

I sat there and was SAD and MAD all at the same time.

I decided right there…when we had NO KIDS, that my children would NEVER sit around THAT table again.

I never wanted them to feel THAT WAY.

BEHIND, NOT AS SMART, AT A DISADVANTAGE.

I felt all those and more sitting at that table.

Sooooo……………..

Because of that experience I decided to make a change.

This summer we started KIDS SPANISH 101 with my friend Senorita Shawna.

   

It was awesome.

She taught them to introduce themselves and greetings and then she taught them colors.

After class we had a SPANISH LUNCH.

 

We will be alternating btwn Spanish and art this summer.

I love SECRET SUMMER SCHOOL!!!

ARRIBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sewing Sunday

My goal this summer for Shasha is to be able to have her SEW BY HERSELF.

So…I am having “Sewing Sundays”.

I am having her do SIMPLE PROJECTS so that she gets used to the PARTS of the machine and the BASICS of sewing.

Today she made Sheba a blue-jean purse.

Simple.

Easy.

Fast.

We reviewed how to load the bobbin and thread the needle.

Sweet girl loved every minute.

And Sheba LOVED the PRIZE!!!!

 

Karma.

 

All of the children are PRECIOUS.

All have their own STRONG POINTS.

Ezekiel's’ strong point is DEFINANTLY his SWEET NATURE.

He is always helpful, gracious, and loving.

He is a LIGHT in this family and the other children are BLESSED to have him as an example.

So when this happened the other day I was NOT SURPRISED.

But I was AWED.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

We were getting ready to go to the gym the other day and we were LOADING UP in the van.

Zeek was sitting in the front seat and the other kids were in the back.

Shasha was arguing with Malachi about SOMETHING.

I was just getting in the car and I was about to give my best “If you don’t stop arguing , we WILL NOT go swimming after Yoga” speech when Zeek jumped in for me.

“Guys….if you treat people nice , nice things will happen to you. Its called KARMA.  There is GOOD KARMA and BAD KARMA.  If you do something GOOD, GOOD comes back to you.  And if you do something BAD, BAD things will eventually happen to you.”

As you can imagine…My heart was starting to MELT.

THEN he took hold of my hand and looked at me and WINKED.

As if to say…”I got this, Mom.”

You could have MOPPED ME UP.

I was so in love with that child at that moment.

I was so in awe.

I feel SO BLESSED to have been GIVEN such an AMAZING GIFT.

And so HONORED to be able to watch him GROW INTO A MAN.

What an EXCITING JOURNEY we are on.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

1Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his commandments!
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;
who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 For the righteous will never be moved;
he will be remembered forever.

Psalm 112:1-6

LOST…..in LOST.

Ill start by saying that we are ALWAYS BEHIND…..in pop culture and technology, that is.

We don't have ANY TV channels on our TV.

We have a TV…but we hook it up to a computer and watch it that way.

So we don't see ANY COMMERCIALS…AT ALL.

And we don't watch the news….AT ALL.

We also don't keep up with “popular” things in American culture….if we can help it! :)

I mean REALLY…

We still have a VCR-and use it regularly.

I still make CD’s….i don't have an Ipod or MP3 player.

And I couldn't tell you ANY songs by Lady Gaga OR that Justin kid.

THANK GOODNESS…..LOL.

But recently when I saw everyone FREAKING OUT about the last episode of LOST, I got interested.

And I looked on HULU to see if they had any episode…

But I only wanted to watch it if I could watch it from BEGGENING to END.

Because I cant stand to get 1/2 way thru with something and then NEVER KNOW about the way the story ended…uuuggghhhh.

THEY HAD IT!!!!!  ALL 5 SEASONS.

I started at Season 1 :Episode 1.

I was HOOKED.

I think I ignored my kids for a whole day watching episodes 1-5.

THEN I brought Jay in on it.

But I told him that he HAD to start where I was  bcs we “didn’t have TIME to go back!”!!!

So I filled him in on the first 5 episode and we were off!!!!!

We have spent the last week and a half in “LOST LAND”.

I have found myself thinking about LOST  ALL the time.

Where is Claire?(in yoga)

What happened to Jacks wife?(wile driving)

Will Rose ever find her husband?(at the beach)

And

WHO are the OTHERS????(ALL the time)

Its a GOOD THING ITS SUMMER!!!!!!!!!

Got to go…..gonna watch another episode.

LOST

Easy…….

 

Well…we are into our 1st week of summer.

The “Free-for-all” week.

THIS is the week where we TOTALLY INDULGE in all things EASY.

We REST.

We watch TV.

We play.

and then we REST some more!

This is one of my favorite weeks because I LET MYSELF RELAX.

I let myself wake up later than usual.

I let the kids watch MORE TV/VIDEO GAMES than usual.

We pretty much just CHILL for the week.

ITS AWESOME.

This week I have been LOVING the FREEDOM of summer.

I am LOVING the fact that the “school pressure” is off.

(Not that we don't DO THINGS during the summer…It just STARTS NEXT WEEK.)

I realize ….I  ENJOY my job as a HOMEMAKER.

Its MUCH EASIER to keep things clean, get things done, and KEEP UP WITH THINGS when we have the WHOLE DAY ahead of us w/ out the school schedule.

Its funny how GOD works all things out….for me.

At the end of the school year I am WORN OUT.

I am OVER IT…I hear other HS moms say that they are schooling YEAR ROUND and I feel like i could throw up..

LITERALLY.

By the end of the year I need a break.

I need a VACA from the STRESS of school.

And the kids have just about had it!!!

I always say, “You KNOW you are REALLY Homeschooling when EVERYONE is READY for SUMMER!!!”

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

¹ There is a time for everything,
       and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
       a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
       a time for war and a time for peace.

Eccl 3

CIRCUS FUN…..

This year we  decided that we would take the kids on an “End of Year” adventure.

They had no idea.

It was a SECRET.

(and believe me…it took EVERYTHING I had to NOT TELL!!!)

So…Last Thursday, we told them that they were going SOMEWHERE special.

They COULD HARDLY stand it!!!!

It was sooo exciting, for all of us.

I am soo appreciative of the BLESSINGS and the EXPERIENCES that come along with them……

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

$35-tickets+ $12-sno-cones+$4-cotton candy+$28-rides+BLUE SMILES = Priceless Memories that last a LIFETIME!!!!!