Stef’s Stuff

OK,it has been a while. Too much to do and too tired to write about it. Raj is good, kids are good, I am doing better with the help of AllegraD. Educating children is still going well. Robots are sort of working if VISTA would cut me some slack – really need to move away from Microsoft for my sanity and time savings….maybe once we get through some more robot basics and into ‘big kid’ stuff. 4-H is winding down for the year…hmmmm…everything else is the same. Lot’s of stuff was planted…will have to load a pic when it all starts to bloom.

That’s all folks…I am TIRED!

Time just slips away when one is busy!

Here I thought that once the relatives were gone life would get back to it’s normal pace.  Oh, how wrong I was!  Again, there have been a lot of adjustments in the Balasubramanian household.  The  biggest probably being that Rohan began Montessori last week.  He thinks it is “Knight Camp” because there is a  coat of arms on the gate to the school.  We dare not tell him it is actually school because he would resist to go in!  Camp is a whole different story as that is where his big brother go when they have fun….see the psychology?

He is doing fine and says the crying kids annoy him.  He says he misses me sometimes, but he is ok and he really likes the snacks. He does not like have to take a nap, but he always sleeps at naptime.  I think he thinks he is missing something…LOL~!

Sam and Jay have begun their studies.  it just seemed appropriate that if Rohan were starting his school…oops…CAMP, that the other two should start as well.  We are studying World History and are in the Stone Age right now.  I think Raj has posted our lesson plans from my google calendar to his blog. We watched the National Geographic DVD of Jared Diamond’s Book, Guns, Germs and Steel. It was great and the boys (all 3 of them) were enthralled with it.  I was really impressed with how much they learned about civilization, geography and history from this 3 hour special!  They want us to read them the actual book now!

We are also studying Art and Civilization as well as Understanding Art (theory and practical applications).  The guys have already done a project on hues, intensity, lines and a few other terms.  It has been really good for them.

4-H is how we are handling science this year.  4-H offers curriculum for a multitude of interests and the boys are working on the 4-H technology programs (electronics and robotics), recycling and renewable energy, wildlife and fishing.  The little guys have a project a month as part of their Cloverbud curriculum and they have already studied bubbles and wind.  They will be doing a unit on the 5 senses this month.

Math has been focused on learning the metric system and making practical applications with it.  Cooking, measuring, temperature, ets.  It is going well, though I need to convert more consistently….old habits..LOL!

Language arts, spelling, Latin, and everything else are going great as well.  Jay loves workbooks!  It is too funny.

I am so happy to see that everyone is doing well and sticking to the program.  I think they are all stoked because we take Tuesdays off for PE, park day and Robots, so they have a ‘text free’ Tuesday every week.  Sam especially likes that.  It also helps that after we drop off Rohan, we head up the street to the Sate Park and fish for about an hour (or hike, or both) everyday but Tuesday.  Wouldn’t you like to start your day like that?

So far, so good.  Keep us in your prayers that this year will continue to run as smoothly as this last week has.

Have a wonderful day!

Stef

Well, since my last few posts a lot has happened!

My sister-in-law came for a visit and we had a great time.  It was short and we did not get to do a lot (mostly because of the rain) but it was so good to see her and to catch up.  She took the boys out on a date and though she and Sam did not get a lot of  quality time, I think they still ended up having a good time none-the-less.  it is always a pleasure to spend time with my SIL and I hope to be able to do it again real soon.
Well, we dropped her off, went to an Astros game and picked up my brother Joe!  Yes, whirlwind family month!  Joe has been with us about 11 days and we have really been happy to have him visit.  It has been a busy 11 days, but we tried to squish everything we could into it to give him a taste of Texas. I know it is not fun being single and hanging with the family all the time, but Joe has been a real stand-up guy and his nephews just ADORE him.  I was really happy to get reconnected with my bro as well.  He has grown up so much over the last four years, but he has grown up well.  I am so proud of him and hope that we don’t let another 4 years slip by without visiting again.  As he returns on Tuesday to Denver, I wish him the best in whatever he chooses to pursue in his personal and career life.  He deserves it.  I also hope and pray that he will always move forward, despite life trying to make him take a step back.  He is strong and intelligent.  His patience and understanding and kind heart serve him well, but he needs to keep up his perseverance in order to reach his dreams.  Keep the dream alive and always move toward it, not away – I love  you Joe!

Well, it has been a long few weeks and I am tired.  I will try to brain-dump all the other happenings as soon as I can get caught up on my sleep.

Have a great week!

S

Yes, it is a day later and I am already writing again.  It must be something important and it is.

I just had a call from my long time friend and High School buddy.  After catching up with her and a brief discussion about my last post, she reminded me that:

Friends are FAMILY we get to CHOOSE!

She is so right!  I don’t aknowledge a lot of people as friends, and this is why.  Many of my aquaintances are not ‘family’ worhty. I am glad to count her as a friend and definitely as family.  We may not call each other every week or hang out on the weekends, but we are there when we need each other and enjoy the time we get to chat and reconnect with one antoher.

Thanks Ne’, for reminding me of this!

S

Raj’s ‘paternal’ grandmother passed away a few days ago.  I did not know her very well, but had the pleasure of meeting her on our visit to India last August. I am very happy that my boys had the opportunity to meet her prior to her death and that there are memories recorded in their lives (and on film) of that time and of her.

Raj and I firmly believe in knowing one’s roots and the family that is part of it.  That was one of the biggest reasons we went to India last year.  We wanted to let the boys meet their relatives and especially the ‘great’ grandparents. I am so happy that Raj’s family embraced us the way they did and we enjoyed meeting everyone on our visit.

My side of the family is a bit different.  I only have one grandparent living (paternal grandmother).  We have never been close due to the nature of the ‘familial status’ issues of atleast half of American households.  But, the issue is deeper than that and a mystery I am sure I will never be able to solve.

My Dad had us visit his side of the family in Cincinnati, OH a few times before I was a teenager, but no realtionships were ever built. I have a network of family members here in the States that I don’t know and have been denied the opportunity to know them due to family politics.  I am probably better off, but it definitely is not a nice thing to know that there are aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. possibly in the same town, and I wouldn’t have the foggiest that they are relations.

I guess I should not be so hard on my Dad’s family as I have two brothers that have not even met my husband and/or children!  What gives!  Not like I have  not invited them, but they stay away for whatever reason or excuse is fitting for the occassion.  If it hadn’t been for Raj having a project in Seattle he would never have met my brother Steve.  Steve has yet to meet two of my three boys.

My brother Joe is another one that continually has an excuse though we have offered to buy him a ticket to visit us (he is in his early 20’s and struggling).  He has not met Raj or Rohan.  He only met Jay as I was in CO to help my mom after she had surgery and had Sam and Jay (before he was 1 yr old) with me.
My Mother’s side of the family all died before I was born or when I was a teen.  There are cousins and an uncle, but being that they live in Germany makes having a realtionship a bit difficult.  I am sure they would be welcoming if we were to visit, but it is like visiting strangers.  My Unlce Hans does make a point of sending cards and packages on occasion.  We gratefully thank him with art from the boys and the latest and greatest photos of the family.  It is the epidemy of a long distance relationship, but we are trying and so is he.

We do plan to visit Germany in the not so distant future, just haven’t set the dates yet.  If nothing else, I want my kids to see where I spent a summer with my grandfather and my cousins.  The places my brother Steve and I would adventrue to while we were there and the house that we stayed at and picked currants and sat in trees.  The cemetary where the ‘family’ is buried.  The school I attended with my cousin and the bakery, ice cream and cobbler shops that we had so much fun spending our time and money in.  Though my last trip to Germany was when I was about 11 yrs old and was marred by the untimely death of my Uncle George, I have so may good memories of being there that I want to show my kids.

Family is important.  It may not always be peaches and cream, but it is important to know ones’ family.  It is important to love your immediate family and never forsake them.  It is important not to ‘drift’ away from family because you live across the country, or across the world.  Internet has made communication much easier and faster.  There is no excuse for not sending a note out atleast once a month to see how your family is doing. Family is important for the development of its’ next generation and all those that follow.  There are different interests and personalities and lifestyles, but it is family.  You don’t have to live with them anymore, but you should love them and not hide them or be embarassed by them.  Protect your children from hurtful members, but don’t exile family.  Spend quality time with family that edifies yours and sets good examples for your children – maybe different life from yours, but good character comes in lots of different forms.  Love your family, and let them love you back.

Have you ever returned from vacation only to feel like you needed another one?  I have not been on vacation but the few days at the pool have put me in vacation mode, only to be wrenched from it upon leaving the pool and placed abruptly back into the reality of life.

At the pool, the guys go and do their thing and leave me alone except for the mandatory ‘breaks’.  They eat, drink, potty, rest and as soon as the whistle blows they are back in the water and I am back in my book.  I just love pool time because it is 50 minutes of uninterrupted reading time an hour for about 3 hours!  Then reality hits….we need to go.

Oh well, the clean up begins and the commitments take hold of our time once again.  I have a hard time bouncing out of the vacation mentality once I leave the pool and it is hard getting back into the swing of the normalcy of life again.  I tend to not do as much around the house, eat PB&J more frequently rather than cook, hang with the neighbors instead of doing yard work…all the summertime frivolousness!

But, reality hits yet again and the floors need to be swept and mopped, toilets cleaned, laundry. laundry, laundry and more laundry, grass mowed, gardens weeded (and watered occasionally) and the list goes on and on….you all know it too!

I was jolted out of my little summer ‘hiatus’ this weekend as Raj and I discussed the rest of our summer an realized just how much stuff was happening.  Between trips around camps and additional music lessons, regular year round commitments and visiting family I was beside myself with organizational challenges and finding that there are just not enough hours in these long days to everything I want (and don’t want -chores) to do!

It also doesn’t help the ‘vacation’ mentality when I am trying to plan for school!  Yes, I need to start preparing as I am clueless right now as to what curriculum I will be using.  This is really  undue stress as I will be attending a conference or two where Raj and I will look at curriculum, but I am torn as this is the time to be getting the good deals on stuff (the bargain shopper in me is just chomping at the bit to get curriculum at 75% off!).

I don’t ever remember summer ever affecting me like this when I was working in a corporate environment.  Is this what teachers feel after they finish school for the year?  Is it that I have reverted back to my mentality during 7th grade?  Is it really a ‘bad’ thing?  Should I be ‘smelling the roses’ more frequently?  What if everyday was ‘vacation’?  What determines the perception of ‘vacation’? Hmmmmm….I need to go ponder this a bit.

Until next time, have a great day, everyday!

S

Hi everyone.

Raj worked from home this week and though our ‘traditional’ schedule was mostly abandoned, we really enjoyed seeing his face at meals and having him around and part of our lives during the week.  We don’t get a lot of opportunity to have him home more than a few days at a time, so getting a whole week was great.  The boys were really happy as well and I can’t even begin to describe how much they appreciate him being around.  I was very happy to be able to enjoy our coffee times together and we even had a chance to watch a movie together after the boys went to bed.  It almost felt like vacation for a few days as we were able to sleep in while the boys entertained themselves with LEGOs and their toys.  It may not been as productive of a week for Raj, but it was a much needed ‘reconnect’ time with him for the rest of us.
Despite Raj’s traveless week, we were constantly on the go.  Our regular commitments always keep us moving such as swim lessons, kung fu,  music class and park day.  Throw in some of the other things we did this week and it became quite the full schedule!  We kicked-off of the new 4-H group, met a Robot enthusiast (EE student at UT), attended a Robotics Group meeting, had a friend of Sam’s hang out with us, switch around computers (added another), and built a robot and a website (actually 2), lectured Sam for about half of the week (pre-teens!), and celebrated Rohan’s 4th birthday!   I am exhausted, but had a great time with my family.

I love my guys and thank God for them.  They are such blessings to me and I am so grateful to have them as a part of my life.   I am  happy that Raj had the opportunity to work from home this week and I hope he knows just how much we appreciate him, home or traveling, he is an awesome Dad and husband, and we really enjoy the time we get with him.

S

Well, we are officially into summer schedule here at the house.  Sam’s first week off after the Memorial Day holdiay has proven to be very good so far.  Very few entaglements with the little ‘bros’.  Let’s hope it stays that way!

We have been to the pool a handful of times and the little guys will begin their 3rd round of swimming lessons tonight.  Jay is swimming like a little fish, but Roh still has some hesitation.  He had a very good instructor last session, but I think Roh was pushed a bit too hard.  He is 3 years old (almost 4) and his coordination is not the best, so he still sucks in water when he comes up to breathe.  He got a bit too much the last week of his last swim session and he is a bit reluctant to go again.  We will push him to go, but I will be on hand if he gets freaked out.

I had been using the session times to work out.  I abandoned the fitness center workout for a pool workout because of Roh’s hesitations, and hope that I will not have to forego my workout altogether due to his insecurity with the water.  I guess that is part of being a ‘momma’, but I really do enjoy the 30+ minutes I get 2x a week to do something good for me.  Water workouts are great (maybe not as great as the elliptical machine) as the resitance training works the whole body and you don’t even realize it.  I use styrofoam dumbells and ‘jog’ laps.  I feel great and it shows immediate results in muscle tone.  I have to learn to use it more productively…if Rohan gives me the chance.

We signed up for the Library reading program and I have a list of books that I am interested in getting through this summer.  I have already completed Dr. Laura’s The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. This was a fantastic book and a definite read for any wife, or soon-to-be wife.  One may  not agree with everything Dr. Laura had to say, but I beleive it is a step in the right direction for a great married life.  It is a quick read (I finished it in an afternoon) and chock full of personal accounts from Dr. Laura’s show and helpful and insightful info for women.

I am also reading Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and enjoying it immensely.  I haven’t broken the 100 page mark yet, but it is already very interesting!  I just can’t wait to see how all these triangles will work out!  I have also obtained Emile Zola’s His Masterpiece  as it is on the Blanton Museum of Art’s book club list.  There is a French Painters Exhibition and the book club is prefacing the opening with reading this book.  I look forward to delving into this as well.  I just hope for more time to read…the pool time has been very productive as I sit on the side and let the guys play in the splash park part of the pool.  Too bad it is not open year round…..I could get through a ton of material in just the few hours I have at the pool!  Of course I have lots to read for 4-H and Robotics and general info stuff and that all comes as I can get to it.  It is summer and I need to have a bit of trivial fun.

At home, it is hot and the outdoor projects have come to a halt.  I am just holding my breath that the trees I planted will survive the summer.  I need to weed a bit, but it is futile.  I may work on installing some rock edging around the beds I have already begun, but I don’t plan on even attempting any more with the patio unless we get a week of overcast skies and relatively low humidity.  I guess I will be waiting for Fall for that.  We moved Raj’s office last week and are still sorting through miscellaneous items that don’t have a home.  I hope to get through all of that in the next week and start having our entry look like an entry and not a garbage holding area.  We designated Raj’s old office as the boys’ (and my) computer/work area.  It is turning out really well and I can’t wait to get everything under control and organized.  I am almost done, just trying to decide what to do with some of my craft items (Why do we ‘mommas’ always do for our children before we do for us!).

I also began cataloging our personal library.  Raj moved all his computer books upstairs, but I am still left with 5 bookshelves of material that will be recorded by ISBN and referenced against Amazon.com for classification.  I will then organize the books into classifications on the shelves.  I have been wanting to do this FOREVER!  I am constantly looking for something I know we have, but can’t find.  I think the boys will go to our library more when they know where their fave books are too.  Now keeping it organized might be difficult!

4-H will begin (unofficially) this Thursday.  We are doing a “Bubble Mania” unit that was written by Pennsylvania State Univ. 4-H program.  It is a Cloverbud program (ages 4-8) but we are including the older kids by doing an Antibubble experiment.  Sam is trying his darndest to get it to work.  It is quite tricky, but will be cool if we can get it going.  He is also going to take the science of bubbles to a higher level for the older kids as well.  It will be interesting to see how well he does.
I received the coach’s handbook for FLL and have began it’s review.  The boys and I watched the DVDs that came along with it and we are all very excited.  We will be meeting with a UT Electrical Engineering student on Wednesdsay who is big into Robotics and he is really excited to show the boys what he has done. He made a robot that can play music!  I am hoping he is interested in being a mentor for the team.  We need all the help we can get.

Well, that about sums it up for this week.  We are in summer mode and looking forward to classes, camps, Rohan’s 4th BD, my sister-in-law’s visit, and lot’s of time at the pool.

Hope you all enjoy and take some time to smell the roses – literally!

Till next week (and I hope to write on Sunday instead of Monday…for those of you are keeping me to my word…:-))

Stef

The big topic of the week was to homeschool or not to homeschool Sam next year.  Yes, you read this correctly.  Many of you know the issues we had with Sam last year and why we decided to put him back into school and are probably thinking we are flaky for even considering keeping him home this Fall, but just keep reading and maybe you will have a better understanding of our predicament and why we are entertaining the thought of homeschooling him again.

First, I am a product of public school and think that I was given some pretty good opportunities, though I also had my fair share of disservice.  I had the opportunity to learn to play violin, be the student council secretary, win a logo contest for the school, participate in plays, take shop class (yes, the only girl in there, but glad I did), become the first female to be President of Industrial Technology Club, play with robotics, play JV Soccer, member of the National Honor Society and the list goes on and on….but that was 20 years ago when school districts did not have their hands so tied by legistlation and they had more freedom on where to spend their funds.  I was one of the last classes to graduate before all the legislation changed and funding was cut left, right and center.  I had opportunity if I sought after it.

Unfortunately, times have changed and opportunities are few and far between.  Academic excellence was still coveted when I was in school and everything else took a backseat.  That is not the case now.  Academics, from what I have experienced this year, are a formality.  Sports is the primary focus of many of the students and faculty of intermediate through high school age group.  If you don’t show a passion for sports, your are sidelined and chastised for your decision to be different.

You may be thinking, “well, that is what you get for living in Texas because it is all about the sports”, and you may be right.  All I know is that I have a kid who has a good arm, and instead of the teachers encouraging him to do well in his studies, they asked him to throw the ball as far as he could and told them they would be watching him throughout the rest of intermediate school and through middle school.  No interest in the fact my son does not want to play football.  He loves playing casually, but would rather be in marching band palying sax or trombone than get crunched out on a football field.  He dare not say that to ‘coach’ though for FEAR of being called a sissy.  Excuse me?  Since when does playing or not playing football dictate your manliness, and how dare that stigma be put on 10 yr olds when they are already on the beginning of an identity crisis and hormonal upheaval!   You may say, “well, you have a point”.  But that is not the reason I began to rethink homeschool.

Standardized testing is a must for all public schools to ensure the “No Child Left Behind” legislation is upheld.  I think  it is a valid idea so that kids are not promoted (or atleast not supposed to be promoted unless the football team needs them….sorry, bad jab to the education system), but standardized tests are not supposed to be ‘crammed’ for.  Neither are they supposed to be used as the foundation of the school district’s curriculum.  You should not be teaching for the test!  Teachers’ performance is evaluated based on how their students do on the standardized tests, therefore, to ensure they have a job the following year, they cram the test down these kids’ throats through practice tests, benchmarks, review, last minute review (cramming) and then finally the test.  Is there time to do anything else other than work towards passing these tests?  Not really, unless the teachers are creative enough to incorporate the standards into their general curriculum (but most aren’t that ambitious).  I must say that I was pretty happy with the team of teachers Sam had this year, their hands are tied due to many different aspects, but mostly because of funding and state education mandates.  They are not happy about what their jobs have become and were just as stressed out about these silly tests as the kids were.  Is that a productive environment for anyone?

Needless to say, there are a multitude of issues in the schools these days.  I had not mentioned the gangs or the bomb threats (yes, the kids were on lockdown this year due to a bomb threat), or even the drug and alcohol issues.  I count these as standard risks of going to school these days.  Sad, but true.  And I realize that there is not a perfect environment for anyone. What I want to give my child(ren) is OPPORTUNITY!  I want them to have the opportunity to walk down the path they want to walk and not be bullied onto another road because it is more acceptable to the ‘herd’.  I want them to discover themselves in their own way and not be forced into it because ‘everyone else is doing it’.  I want them to LEARN, not cram their lessons.  I want them to LIVE and not be fearful of the outcome.  I want them to pursue their PASSIONS and not be told  ‘no’ because of budget cuts or a teacher’s lack of innovation and creativity.  I want them to THINK for themselves and take responsibility, learn to manage their time and not depend on a bell or a prod from ‘authority’.  I want them to be RESOURCEFUL, and make the most out of what they have.  Most of all, I want them to LOVE what they are doing, not just go through the motions.

You may be saying to yourself, “that is what all mothers (parents) want for their child(ren)”.  Not so, and at the year end awards ceremony, that proved itself evident.  First, only a handful of parents were there to see their child get an award.  Of the awards given, the most applause was given towards those related to sports.  Academics were mostly ignored.  The teachers, in an effort to get more support, gave detailed accounts of specific students and their determination for academic excellence and the parents just stared with a glazed look on their face.  One parent I observed even made a rude comment about ‘the smart kids’.  These are PTA members, substitute teachers, my son’s friends’ parents!  This ATTITUDE is what upset me so much I was close to becoming violently ill at the ceremony.  This is what got me thinking about bringing Sam back home.   In a sad way, I was okay with everything else that happened this past year, but as I sat through that ceremony I realized that I did not want to expose my children to anymore of this type of judgement.  As I looked to the back of the room where the kids were all sitting, I saw so many blank and dispondent faces.  Faces that lacked hope and love.  I did not want to see that in my child’s face.  I was so sad.  So sad on the day my child received an award for Outstanding Performance in Science, Mathmatics and Social Studies.  So sad that my child was made fun of because he received the award for “will most likely be written about in a textbook”.  I am proud of my child and the huge steps he has taken this year to adapt to school and be successful.  He received commended performance on two of the three standardized tests and fell short on the other by one point. He was not the top, but he was up there with the best of them.  He is ridiculed for attending High School Physics lectures at Texas A&M, participating in Saturday Morning Math Group at UT-Austin, wanting to play the trombone or saxaphone in the school band.  He was accused of ‘bragging’ as he shared his travel experiences.  He was name called and flipped off when he disbanded his band because the members were not moving in the right direction and the musical tasted were so varied.  He was put down for having CHARACTER and INTEGRITY….not moving with the herd, but stepping out and being his own person.  I APPLAUDE him, though parents and students chide him.  Just as I applaude any other child who steps out and is different from the pack..who lives for THEIR dream and not their peers’. Needless to say, public school does little to foster this mentality and as I sat there, the only thing that  kept coming to my mind was to get Sam out of that environment before he was so disenchanted with his dreams that he did not want to pursue them anymore or find new ones.

So, here we are.  School’s out and all I have been thinking about is school and what is in the best interest on my child.  Sam is ready to come back home and has expressed that the only way he is going to realize his dreams is if he is in an environment that fosters creativity and his willingness to explore and interact with his interests…he did not say it like that, of course, he just said he could do more towards getting into the University of Michigan as a Mechanical Engineer so he can design cars if he could dedicate more of his time to working on projects than sitting in ‘boring’ class.   Did I mention that he took 2 of his ‘personal days’ (absent days) from school so he could attend the homeschool park days?  He said he felt more comfortable with the guys there and had more in common with them.  He said he would rather do projects and hang out with them than the kids he has known in school since last August!

I would love to have hime back, but am worried about getting into a situation that we had a year ago. I don’t want to lose a good realtionship with my child because of education.  I don’t want him taking advantage of being home and copping out on his academcs.  I am hopeful that it will be different this time as he has seen both sides and he now has a goal that he wants to reach.  I am hoping that if we bring him home, he will keep his goal in mind and pursue it as best he can and that we will be understanding enough to help him through the tough times and keep him moving towards his dream.

It is a hard decision to make and one that probably will not be made until August, but in the aftermath of everything that has transpired this year, I am leaning heavily towards bringing him home.  We will just have to see how crazy he drives me this summer…LOL!

Oh, for those of you counting….this makes 3 weeks in a row that I have been blogging….getting back on track!

Have a great week and keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we head into summer and make some tough decisions.

Love to all!

S

Well, I put it on paper, and though it is almost 10pm and my little guys are still not asleep I am determined to write  post this evening. I have been very good about keeping on task this week, and though I have had my disappointments I have had the opportunity to see how my time just seems to disappear. I did not want to record each and everything I did that took a chunk of my time each day, but my frustration level kept rising with how little I seemed to be accomplishing throughout the week. I listed my week and all of the scheduled business that needed to be taken care of as well as the things I would like to do each day. I left out all the regular ‘mommy’ chores but did include anything out of the ordinary (i.e. waking up with child who had bloody nose and comforting from 2:30am-4am). After one week’s worth of records, I have determined that I just have to reprioritize my life and what is important. That is very hard when it involves choosing between personal time for self renewal and the kids. For instance, I have written down that I will get up and have a morning prayer/meditation time and then do 30 minutes of Pilates before beginning my day. I was able to do that one day last week. The rest of the week was scrapped due interrupted sleep, kids, kids, and kids. I don’t want it to sound like I am making excuses, because I would take every small amount of time I could get by myself and sit down to read my Bible and daily affirmation, but as soon as I would open the book a fight would break out or I would be beckoned for one reason or another, or Raj (yes, even he was guilty of inerrupting me) wanted to talk. I was inhibited from doing what I wanted and needed to do though I tried at every opportunity to do it. I was so frustrated with that! I now know that I need to set boundaries with the kids and with Raj. I need to let them know that they are interrupting my personal time and that I am entitled to it each day. Breakfast and coffee can wait, fights will have to be worked out amongst each other and the rule of “don’t bother me unless you are bleeding” will be enforced. There are some items I have written down that are purely on the ‘wish list’ of ToDos, and I am not holding fast to accomplishing them each day, but if given the opportunity to pursue one of them, I will, but I don’t think I should sacrifice my ‘peace’ time each and everyday for the sake of the kids anymore.

One major enlightenment this weekend led to another….our yard is awful! I had a bobcat (little bulldozer) this weekend to try and finish up the patio. I got the gravel placed and the rest of the excavating done, but when it came to leveling out the yard…gee, it is terrible! Mini boulders were unearthed and I set to scraping the surface of the yard. I would clear a mound and try to smooth it out only to find a huge rock would pick up and another huge hole would be formed. The only way to get a nice yard is to haul in about 5K worth of dirt and level to all off. Another project…just what we wanted-NOT! I guess the guys will have to deal with the rocky soil and learn not to fall on rocks as they play soccer and tag and all the other rough and tumble things little boys do.

As for the patio, I did not get as much accomplished as I wanted to. One person just does not work as fast as 4 or 5 people. HGTV needs to do a better job of showing how many people make a project happen in a weekend…LOL! I had high hopes of having the patio done this weekend, but it is not. I still need to level out the gravel, set the edging bricks, backfill with gravel and topsoil (for adjacent garden beds), develop BBQ area and install the small water feature area. I think I was just a little overambitious on this project, but the dream still lives and I know it will be beautiful when I actually get it completed.

In family news, Sam’s last week of school is coming up. He made “commended performance” on his science TAKS (only missed one question) and was appointed as a technical aid (Spotter) for his class when they get their laptops next year. I am really proud of him.

Jay and Rohan are up to their normal antics-some cute and some not so cute.
Raj ended his first semester at UT with a 4.0 GPA. I am really proud of him. He is still busy taking one of his projects to the next level and trying to get it published. We entertained his co-author this past weekend and they worked a while on the paper while the momentum was still in full swing and trying to get some productivty on it before summer session starts.

Well, as I end this post, I can check it off my list of ToDos and feel somewhat accomplished before I end the evening. I pray to have a more productive week and to keep on task while being understanding yet keeping boundaries to secure my personal time. I hope the readers of this will also carve out some time for themselves and have an excellent week!

Till next Sunday!

S