Thursday, June 24, 2010

Missing Child And Other Tales/Kadonnut lapsi jne.

Today has been one of those days. My plans to tackle the pantry, kitchen cupboards & linen closet (I know, I know, I meant to do the linen closet yesterday, but conquered the towel closet, laundry room, guest room closet, basement toy closet & one closet in my room instead - it's a full time job, I tell you!) went awry this morning when I started having a vibrating zigzag pattern on the left side of my vision after stepping out of the shower.

I knew it was a matter of minutes before the pounding, paralyzing migraine pain would come. So I took two loopy pills, grabbed an ice pack and coffee, set breakfast ready for the sleeping Little Miss, and went straight back to bed. The big kids are away at camp this week (making my house cleaning project a lot easier - especially when it comes to the kids' rooms), but we have a friend staying at our house so I wasn't too concerned about Little Miss.

After she had woken up she quietly played on my bed while I slept the migraine off for a couple of hours. I got up to have lunch with Little Miss, thinking I was feeling much better, ready to organize those closets when the zigzagging started again. Here we go again! I grabbed a new ice pack, a coke and put a movie on for Little Miss, then disappeared under the darkness of the covers again.

So that has been my day. When I woke up again sometime this afternoon (not sure when - just a moment ago I thought it was about 4 pm when my sister confirmed on the phone it's almost 7 pm), Little Miss was happily making homemade lemonade with our friend (thanks, M!).
I have now given up on the closets and just has been resting on the couch.

At one point I had to run upstairs, got sidetracked, and came downstairs maybe 15-30 minutes later. A few minutes later our friend came down too and we realized Little Miss wasn't with either one of us. No worries, she is into hide and seek, so we figured she was hiding in a laundry basket or in a clean closet or something. But after looking everywhere and calling out saying we needed her to come out of her hiding spot, we just could not find her. She was nowhere! I started to panic a little, I had visions of telling the police officers I hadn't seen my 4-year old in about 10, no 20, no 45 minutes, but that I really am a great mom!

Trying not to hyperventilate I continued calling her and looking for her, when I finally spotted some toes, and then our missing child:


(This photo is staged, while I remembered to take a picture of our sleeping fairy, I forgot to take a pic of her toes, so had to have her go back to her hiding spot to get this pic.)



Sound asleep.

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Tänään jäi suunnitellut komerot siivoamatta harvinaisen sitkeän migreenin takia. Nukuin suurimman osan päivää ja iltapäivä on mennyt vähän sekalaisessa olotilassa. Jossain vaiheessa huomasin ettei pikkuneiti ollutkaan ystävämme (joka asuu meillä tällä hetkellä) kanssa, joten aloimme etsimään tyttöä. Ensin olimme varmoja että hän leikki piilosta, mutta pian alkoi nousta paniikki kun neitiä ei löytynyt mistään vaikka kuinka etsimme ja huhuilimme. Vihdoin näin varpaat kaapin ja seinän välissä, ja sieltä nurkasta löytyi pikkuinen - nukkumasta.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

House For Sale/Talo myynnissä


If anyone is looking to buy a house in New England, we know this amazing house for sale. In fact, it is so perfect and wonderful (especially after most of the closets have been cleared and extra furniture removed), we are not really sure it is for sale...



And while we contemplate the wisdom of selling this beloved place, I will continue to tackle more closets and storage areas. So off to the linen closets this morning, march march!

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Jos kukaan etsii taloa Uudesta Englannista, täältä löytyisi upea talo. Se on niin täydellisen ihana ettemme ole varmoja että haluamme myydä sen... Samalla kun ajatukset kulkevat tätä samaa rataa, jatkamme talon raivausta, etenkin komeroiden ja varastotilojen. Tämän aamun ohjelma on liinavaatekaapit!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mothershipping



We have done it again. Instead of the slow unhurried trip, making stops here and there, enjoying the journey, we are racing across country, barely making time for driver pit stops. It is only our third time doing this in a year. Every time we say: "Next trip we'll surely do it different!" (Yeah, right.)
The redeeming part of this trip is we got to stay at my sister's house for a brief visit (thanks for the meals, showers, bedding, laundry & the great company!). We miss you already!!!

I think my Twitter updates from the last two days will nicely sum up our travels:

Mad packing and cleaning!!! @jforbush Yes, we start our journey North today - in the Mothership! Where did all this STUFF come from??? Uh-oh, are we having some RV issues?? Air conditioner quit, what else??

Mothership loaded and we are finally ready to go. Even A/C works. My kids say they are suffering from scrub-itis :) I am wiped beyond being wiped. Fortunately my trusty crockpot is making dinner for us. Rusty at mothershipping: forgot the crockpot liner & had to use our precious water for dishes (at Publix parking lot). Little Miss says: "Come on, Daddy, let's get a move on!" Ready to leave Publix, getting back on the road - still in FL.. In Georgia! Woke up in South Carolina! Headed to see my sister & her family tonight!! Maybe even new niece?? Come on, Sis - great day to give birth ;-) I am the Mothership Stewardess! Btw, Sis - we all need showers and your washing machine. I know we just left yesterday, but there's 7 of us! In North Carolina with 7 hrs of driving until we get to my sister's house! (Hopefully our SuperDriver doesn't need too many stops!) Office on wheels: SuperDriver is also troubleshooting customer issues. Taking a break in NC, pic 1: http://tweetphoto.com/27520832 Pic 2: http://tweetphoto.com/27521337

Pic 3: http://tweetphoto.com/27521461 Stuck in traffic south of Virginia border. In Virginia, traffic is moving again, but heavy rain! Kids r getting weary of traveling. I told if we hopped out of the RV & started walking it would take us 19 hrs (gotta love the iPhone gps). Little Miss has had it: she keeps yelling: "Boring, boring, boring!" at the top of her lungs. WooHoo, we are in Maryland!!' Almost to my sister's!!! Today I am a traveling personal secretary.


My Twitter handle is 5ennie, if you'd like to follow my tweets, click here.

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Lähdimme matkaan tiistai-iltapäivällä, kaahaten hullun lailla (taas) läpi Amerikan itärannikkoa. Yllä Twitter-päivitykset viimeisiltä päiviltä.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Taking Off/Matkaan lähdössä



It's here!! Time for our departure! I can't believe tomorrow morning we will pack up and start driving North. It is very exciting to see all our loved ones in New England, yet we are a little sad to leave Florida. We have really enjoyed our time here, and will definitely be back again :)

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Ihan uskomatonta - huomenna on aika lähteä ajamaan pohjoista kohti. Me olemme todella nauttineet asua täällä Floridassa, on surullista lähteä, mutta ihana tietysti nähdä perhettä ja ystäviä pohjoisessa. Tänne kuitenkin aiomme palata :)

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Ice Skating... In Florida/Luistelua... Floridassa!!



We were invited to go ice skating with our local homeschooling group today. They meet once a week for lessons and/or open skating. We decided to check it out today and it was a huge hit!! Had to wear just about everything warm we brought with us to South!



Missy <3 Ice Skating!!!



Little Miss on real ice skates for the first time, needing some support. In New England we have a pair of double-bladed skates for her.



Yay, Mama's arms & back got some relief!! The arena brought out these gliders (sliders?) for Little Miss to push on the ice.



And push she did! She was a wild woman on ice!!!!!!! We are definitely going to make ice skating one of our hobbies in Florida!

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Menimme tänään kotikouluryhmän kanssa luistelemaan. Vajaan puolen tunnin ajomatkan päästä löytyi luisteluhalli, jossa saimme luistella kaksi tuntia vapaasti (muistaakseni $7 per nuppi, hintaan kuului mukaan myös luistimien vuokraus, me kun jätimme omamme pohjoiseen). Pikkuisemme sai oikeat luistimet alleen ekaa kertaa, pohjoisessa on käytössä tuplateräiset. Avuksi saimme onneksi telineen, jota sai työnnellä jäällä, ja hui sentään mitä vauhtia pikkuneiti hurjasteli! Peto! Oli kivaa löytää uusi harrastus täältä etelästä!

Friday, June 4, 2010

First Homeschool Year Finished!



Look at that - same shirt in both pics, on a different kiddo though. We have three of those shirts. Really. And look at Mr. T wearing yellow and Little Miss wearing pink both times. Are we a bit too predictable, folks?!

Now accepting applications: Family seeking fun-loving, godly homeschool teacher. Applicant will be responsible for providing total educational development and daily personal care for children of multiple ages. Applicant will assume the following roles: cook, housemaid, nurse, taxi driver, administrative assistant, accountant, athletic coach, social director, computer technician, household and automotive repairman, gardener, course instructor in multiple subject areas and grade levels, and various other responsibilities. This is a full-time position — approximately 120 hours or more per week. Qualified candidates must be able to work well under pressure, multi-task, and prioritize work loads while maintaining a friendly, enthusiastic attitude. Quick thinking, good memory, and a varied background in extensive subject matter are a must. Promising candidates will be resourceful, adjust easily to distractions, and display creative, hard-working leadership abilities. Organizational and problem solving skills are a plus. Previous teaching experience and/or college preferred, but is not required. If you're interested in working in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, this is the position for you! For more information on this exciting opportunity to earn fulfilling, one-of-a-kind rewards, please apply in person today.

This was a part of a devotional sent to me by Alpha Omega Publishing, the company whose curriculum we used for our homeschooling. You can read the entire devotional here.

These were a lot of my thoughts (fears, really!) last year as we were considering homeschooling, and I strongly felt opposed to it. In fact, I fought against it with all I had! I honestly didn't think I could do it (especially as I finally reluctantly agreed to give it a try, without much enthusiasm and motivation). But here we are, done with the first year. The accomplishment feels great - it wasn't easy, but it was amazing. We had our horrible, terrible, very bad days, but the goodness and the benefits of homeschooling made it all so worth it. We did it. It was good. We'll homeschool again next year!

It is hard to believe we are done - I'm so used to doing school in the morning that I think I will actually miss that routine. The kids seem to already know exactly how to fill that morning school time: sleeping in, staying in bed and reading books :) Hey, nothing wrong with that, at least the first week of vacation!



When we got to St. Pete, we got involved with a local homeschooling group almost immediately. Tonight, in perfect timing, was their end of the school year beach party, and it was awesome! Especially since we had finished our year about three hours earlier!




You can click the poster larger. Not sure where I found this (last year) online, but it has proved to be great encouragement. And I'll leave everyone with this thought: if I can homeschool, so can you...

*** Edit: I interviewed the kids about their first year of homeschooling. For this blog. Did I remember to add it to this post? Nope!! Stay tuned for the part II of this post. If I can find my notes from the interview.