The Bright Eyed Brunette

I honestly cannot believe that as I am posting this there are only three days left in this month! It's already going by faster than I would like. Having a high school senior really makes me want to savor each day. My grandmother asked me just yesterday what we were going to do if, in fact, Carlie chooses the school farther away. My response: "I don't know, I'm just taking one day at a time". That is the truth because even though I know what will probably come (college), I cannot let myself dwell on that, i.e. how will I handle it, how our family dynamic will change... I would be a big emotional ball of anxious mess if I did. God is in control and He gives me just enough grace for each day. He has helped many a momma sending their "babies" off to college, and I have every bit of confidence that He will help me. Now back to the reason for this post, my January favorites. The first favorite I want to share is my Happy Planner. I love planners and have si...

Dear Struggling Homeschool Mom,     You are not alone!  I have been where you are, and I feel your pain!  When the attitudes of your "students" aren't easy to handle, when the subject retention isn't what you expect, and when they are distracted and unable to focus on schooling: as hard as it seems and as appealing as quitting may be, just keep going! You can do this!  I think that all of us may have variations as to why we began our homeschooling journey but we definitely have one thing in common: we only want what is best for our children, and in the beginning we *knew* it would mean sacrificing our time, opportunities, etc., to make sure that our children get the quality of education we think is the best for them. But really we didn't *know*, did we? We didn't know that sometimes others think, and like to speak their thoughts that we are ridiculous for the journey we decided to take.  We didn't know that sometimes it's a struggle to get half of t...

We celebrated my niece, Ellie Kate's 9th birthday over the weekend.  It's hard to believe that she is already 9 years old.  We celebrated with a gymnastics party and ended up dancing with her wii u switch.  Carl and I may or may not have danced also!  Hope there are no videos of that floating around somewhere!! Happy Birthday, princess! Ellie and Brookelynn  Makena couldn't do much, but at least she was able to come. I may or may not have swiped this pic from EK's step mom.  She loves to cheer! Now I'm just going to take a moment to give you all a couple of quick updates.  Makena went for her check-up with the nurse practitioner on Tuesday.  She told us that the incision itself looks great and that all of the pain that she is still feeling is completely normal for some people.  I guess we were just hoping that we would be in the group of people who felt instant relief.  We go back to see her surgeon in 6 week...

Every year I try to brace and prepare myself for the LONGEST month of the year, and every year I fail to accurately prepare myself for the dreary-ness the month brings. You know, when you've spent all your Christmas money and your too broke to get out and do anything, so you just stay in the house and wait (and wait and wait) on the sun to shine (both literally and figuratively). But, instead of making this post negative we are are going to focus on the good things that have been happening around here. 1.  Makena had her surgery. I am choosing to look at this as a positive because I still have hope that it will eventually help her. Now, are we where we want to be? No. She is still taking pain pills and is usually asking for them before it is time. She hates this as much as I do, but we are praying that we will turn that corner towards healing any day now. Our check-up is on Tuesday, so just keep her in your prayers! She started back to school the Monday after her Friday surge...

Christmas had its last hoorah on Friday night. Trey's piano teacher had to postpone her Christmas recital because my uncle was sick. The only other available date for everyone was January 4th. I was elated to hear "Jingle Bell Rock" one LAST time this holiday season. He did a terrific job, as did the other students and Aunt Becky was an amazing hostess. Maybe this should be captioned: If looks could kill. He was definitely not happy about me taking his picture.  Aunt Becky with Trey, Bella, and Anna Grace. Trey the piano man Opening presents is still fun after Christmas.  It is always nice to hear everything the kids have been learning so far.  Aunt Becky has been teaching piano off and on for many years. She is patient with the kids and is lots of fun, too.  I am glad that Trey wanted to take lessons and they he enjoys playing.  And now Christmas is over! Much Love, Beth

Hello 2019!  It's hard to believe that 2018 went by so fast.  We had a pretty uneventful NYE, just chilling with the family.  Last year we fixed seafood (crab and shrimp with all the fixin's) and ate at home with just our little family.  This year we extended it to my parents, grandparents, and my sister and her kids.  We celebrated in my parents garage so the kids could have room to play ping pong and have room to goof around.  My dad fried up some fish, french fries, hush puppies, and biscuits because some people didn't like the heat of our crab boil goodies. So yummy! They don't mind working for their food. Grammy hadn't ever eaten crab, but seemed to enjoy her meal. After we ate we played ping pong and Uno, then we took our party home. The kids playing Uno! One of the few pictures I got of Makena We played Monopoly and shot some fireworks then watched the ball drop.  The most excitement was when I tri...