All Things Hold Together

I don’t talk about my husband very much on here. Sometimes I want to, but I end up not doing it.

The reason is kind of stupid, though.

The things I want to say about him are all good. Many of them are very good. My husband is a really great husband. And, no, I am not trying to butter him up.

The thing is, most mommy bloggers (and I do loathe that term) complain about their husbands.

And it is said that if a woman talks about how perfect her husband is, she is probably lying.

But that is the thing. My husband is not perfect. He is quite the opposite of perfect.

That is why I love him.

I do not love him in spite of the fact that he is not perfect. I love him because he is not perfect.

More specifically, I love him because I am not perfect and I know this. And I can forgive him for not being perfect.

And I love him because he loves me, even though I am not perfect.

Sometimes, and I know this will come as a shock, I can be difficult to live with.

When I am, and I realize it, and I apologize for hurting the person I love most in this world, he hugs me and says, “That’s okay. I love you. I am not always that easy to live with and you still love me.”

And I do.

So much that it hurts sometimes. But in a good way.

And I, literally, thank God every day for bringing us together.

Two imperfect people who can love each other through all our flaws.

Little E’s joke of the day.

He made this up all by himself, I swear!

What do you get when you cross a rooster with a boy crossing the road eating crackers?

A crunch-a-doodle-doo!

Previously:

• Little E, Comedian

A few weeks ago, I told you that my mom was lending me her laptop, so I could work on my blogging and freelance writing more, while the kids are doing their educational (and other) stuff on the family computer.

As it turns out, she will not be lending me her computer. She said her boyfriend needs to use it, but then let it slip that he was worried that something would happen to it.

To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. A major understatement.

Well, I guess I am back to my goal of earning enough money from writing to buy a laptop.

Wanna see the one I have my eye on?

Isn’t it delicious?

Welcome Bloggy Giveaway-ers! Thanks for stopping by my giveaway. Feel free to poke around a bit before you head off to the next great giveaway.

Today, I am giving away a jewelry making set for kids of any age.

And I do mean any age. I had fun playing with my set.

Since I have no little girls to buy this kind of stuff for, I sometimes buy it for me. And I bought an extra one that I am offering you.

This is a Tommy Nelson Playpak, called “Braiding and Beading.”

All of the projects have a Christian theme to them, although many of the designs are not overtly Christian.

I had fun playing with my set. Here are a couple of things I made. (The friendship bracelet is not finished.)

The kit comes with 10 instruction cards and supplies (beads, floss, and more) to make the projects.

It does contain small parts that could pose a choking hazard, so please keep that in mind.

To enter, just leave a comment with a valid e-mail address.

The contest ends on Friday at noon, at which time I will draw a random winner.

For more great giveaways, be sure to visit the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival.

Yea! I am back to doing Menu Plan Monday. I managed to get very far out of my good habits during December and beyond. I am finally getting my act together again!

Here is what we will be eating this week:

Monday: Homemade Pizza w/tossed salad
Tuesday: Italian-Style Turkey Meatloaf w/ roasted potatoes & veggies
Wednesday: Goulash w/homemade French bread
Thursday: Chicken and Biscuit Pie
Friday: Pizza (at a church function)

As you can see, I just received my new issue of Family Fun in the mail and I am trying a couple of their recipes out.

See what’s cooking around the rest of the blog world. Visit Menu Plan Monday, hosted by I’m an Organizing Junkie.

I love it when anti-homeschoolers make arguments such as, “I only know that I’m not an educator, and neither am I a dentist, and therefore would not drill holes in my kids’ teeth.”

(Actual quote from an anti-HS piece.)

And by love, I mean that I find it frustrating beyond measure for a multitude of reasons. So I guess I was being sarcastic.

At any rate, I was thinking about that quote for some reason.

Oh yeah. Because I was cutting my husband’s hair. And I’m not a cosmetologist, barber, or other hair-care professional.

Funny side story about that:

I was nervous about cutting his hair because it can no longer be done with clippers, since he has a weird bald spot on the side. He said, “You can do this. Just take it in sections. You are very logical. Just ask yourself, What would Spock do?”

I replied, “He would say, You should go to a professional. It’s not logical to have the ship’s science officer cut your hair.”

Logic aside, I do cut everyone’s hair, yet I am not a trained beautician. I also cook, yet I am not a trained chef. I repair clothes, yet I am not a trained seamstress. I even do our taxes, yet I am not a trained accountant.

I do a lot of things that I was not trained to professionally do.

Is educating a child the same as drilling teeth or performing surgery, disciplines in which one needs specialized training?

Or is it more like cooking, in that anyone can do it with a little easily acquired knowledge and some practice?

I think that education is like cooking.

Sure there are professional chefs, and they even might be better cooks than I am. But I doubt that, say, a trained sushi chef would be much good to my children.

They would much rather have good ol’ Mom, who knows what they like and how they like it.

I am certain that I could not prepare sushi as well as Mr. Sushi Chef, but what I can do is work with my children’s individual needs and preferences to make a meal that gives them a good balance of nutrition and enjoyment.

What good would it do to have a trained professional prepare something that will not even have the chance to benefit them because it does not suit their individual needs?

I look at education the same way.

I might not have been trained in the latest pedagogical fads, but I know my children’s strengths and weaknesses. I also know their passions. I can work with their individual styles to customize an educational plan that will allow them to excel.

Sure, there are professional educators, but they also have 20+ other students of varying needs and abilities.

That would be like sending the kids to eat at a restaurant that serves the same dish to every patron.

Just because it was prepared by a professional, doesn’t mean they want what everyone else is having.

I have gone through about 6 different wordpress themes in the past 18 hours.  Here are some of the things I learned.

• Do not attempt to change your blog theme when the kids are home and awake.

• Do not spend an hour making a custom header image for a template without checking if it has a stupid “non-commercial” license that prohibits you from using it on a blog that has affiliate links, if you have any.

• Some themes will totally screw up your entire blogging software. Not just how the blog looks, but even your ability to write and edit posts.

• The default theme is not so bad.

(I am going to change it, later when the kids are out playing.)

Here are the great deals I found this week, combining store sales and coupons.

Crest Whitening Expressions toothpaste was on sale for $1.98. I also had a $1.00 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: Free!

Herbal Essences shampoo was also on sale for $1.98. I had a $1.00 off coupon, which was doubled. Final cost: Free!

My freebies

Cinnamon Life (Big E’s favorite cereal) was buy one get one free. The price was $3.99. I bought four boxes for $7.98. And…

Quaker Chewy granola bars were buy one get one free. Price $2.99, plus $1.00 off coupon (doubled) brought the price to $.99 for 2 boxes. But wait, there’s more…

I also had a coupon for $3 off 5 qualifying Quaker products, so my final cost for four 21 oz. boxes of Life cereal and 2 boxes of Chewy granola bars was only $5.97!

Margherita pepperoni slices were on sale buy one get one free. Price was $3.29. I had a $1.00 coupon (doubled). Final cost: $1.29 for 2 packages.

Dole Fruit Parfaits were on sale for $2.00. I had a coupon for $1.00 off (doubled). Final cost: Free!

Garelick Farms heavy cream is regular $2.69. I had a $1.00 coupon that was doubled. Final cost: $.69. I needed this for a recipe.

My subtotal before discounts was $82.34. My total savings was $44.43.

I saved more than I spent and did not pick up anything that I did not need (unless it was free).

Who says coupons are not worth their time?

Previously in this series,

• Saving Money With Coupons

It’s been a while since I posted a Works-for-me Wednesday tip. Now that my new blog is set up (I moved here from Blogger), I can get back into a routine. Or get into a routine, finally. I am not so sure I have ever been in a routine.

Anyway, my tip for this week is on cleaning the bathroom mirror. I have a huge bathroom mirror behind a double-sink and it is always covered with water spots (from splashy kids), toothpaste splatters, and even hand prints.

And that is usually within hours of cleaning it.

It can be quite maddening.

So, a while back I realized that when I get out of the shower, that’s assuming I actually get a shower, and the mirror is all foggy, I can wipe it down with a cloth. When it dries, all of those nasty little spots, drops and spatters are gone!

And it only takes me a few seconds!

That works for me, and I hope it can work for you, too.

For more Works-for-me Wednesday tips, head on over to Rocks In My Dryer.

This was the view out my back door on December 30, 2007.

This was the view out my back door two weeks later, on January 13, 2008.

What a difference two weeks makes!

That’s our squirrel friend, Jebediah One Ear. (Don’t ask.) He actually has only one ear. It is the one you can see in the photo. On the other side, he has only a tuft of white hair, which would be inside his ear, if he had one.

He comes to our porch for food. He even comes right up to the sliding glass door and looks in, if there is no food. I kid you not.

Once, I tried to feed him from my hand (yes, I do know how stupid that was) and he tried to jump onto my arm. He ended up scratching me accidentally. It hurt like the dickens. (Yes, that is why I know how stupid it was. Had I known beforehand, I wouldn’t have done it.)

So, that’s the story of Jebediah One Ear and our wacky winter weather.

Now we have more snow than the January pic, but much less than the December one. It’s patchy.

And cold. Too cold to play outside, cold.

I just hope Jebediah One Ear is keeping warm.