… into the FUTURE!

Here I am, with a very chatty toddler and a teen son who is eligible for a Learner’s Permit (driving) in less than a month!

So here’s the scoop. Twilli’s vocabulary is ever increasing. And lemme tell you, she’s PROUD of it! She’s way too good at climbing and has gotten hooked on standing at the dining table on a step stool… for the WHOLE MEAL! I don’t even know if she’d sit in the high chair if we had it here. :-/

Au-teen has gotten MUCH MORE helpful with her. So, of course, she is even more crazy about him now! (She was patting him on the back yesterday. It was so cute!)

It’s so shocking that Au-teen is actually DISAPPOINTED that the enrollment process for his new high school is taking WAY longer than we expected. LOL – Who’d a’ thought?! (He wont be able to start until next Wednesday, at the earliest.) When we went to register last week, he was thrilled to see a nice cross-section of students. Looks like he’ll FINALLY fit right in. These kids are much cooler than I had expected! (While he was trying to inconspicuosly scope the scene, I was drooling over the architecture! LOL They just built a new building, and it’s STUNNING! – I’ll try to post pics soon.) And the office staff is AMAZING! It’s ABOUT TIME we found a public school worth something!

I’m still trying to dig things out of boxes and find reasonable homes for everything. The storage in the new apartment is far from optimal. But it’ll do.

We are REALLY thankful for babywearing! Especially now that it’s “single mom” mode again! I don know WHAT I’d do if I couldn’t perch Twilli on my back while we are out and about! We LOVE the special, pimped-out pod that I FINALLY made for my birthday/moving gift to myself! It has taken a lot of abuse and still looks BEAUTIFUL!

Speaking of pods: The TWILLI PIE PODEGI baby carriers are really starting to take off. I’m working with my first local client to create a (maybe 2) semi-custom pod. She fell in LOVE with the corduroy straps and ease of throwing a back-carry with a pod!

And I just created a KNOXVILLE BABYWEARING MEETUP. So hopefully we will get to meet even more cool, like-minded parents who wear their babies and/or toddlers!

We are still having a tough time adjusting to the winter climate. :-/ I used to ask my mom to read THE PENGUIN WHO HATED THE COLD all the time, when I was little! It’s such a cruel thing that I had to leave SUNNY FORT LAUDERDALE in the dead I winter!

But I have to say that I KNEW getting the iPhone was the right decision. It has kept me from falling into total social hibernation! It has also been EXTREMELY handy as a GPS! (I forgot how EASILY I get lost when I’m out of the city.) I plan to do a whole write-up on my experience with the iPhone 3G –good, bad, & ugly– soon.

I’m saddened that most of my old friends here in the VOLUNTEER STATE have been too caught up in their own routines to VOLUNTEER ANYTHING! (There are a couple I exceptions. But I’m no longer candy-coating things. So if you can’t take the heat, don’t play with a firefly!)

But anyway, we’re adjusting… slowly, but surely.

And if anyone here in Knoxville/Oak Ridge has any extra furniture they’d be kind enough to donate, LET ME KNOW! I will gladly VOLUNTEER to take it off your hands – think CLEAN SWEEP for the NEW YEAR! :good vibes:

**NOTE: Pictures & links are forthcoming. I need to find a better blogging iPhone app!**

Well, it’s been forever since I’ve blogged. Its been sheer chaos with the planning, packing, grieving the loss of our dear kitty, traveling, & setting up the new apartment.

But things are settling down, so I wanted to write a quick little note of greetings and good cheer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope everyone is enjoying a great time with friends and family!

It was fun to watch Twilli and her cousins, J & D, open presents and all try to play with the same gift at once! In the end, they liked my vegetable steamer the best! LOL We even saved a few of the gifts, for the kids to open later.

Au-teen was thrilled to get GUITAR HERO – World Tour: Whole Band Kit! (Thank you, Grandma & Papa!!)

Other than that, we went VERY minimal on the gifts this year, due to tight budget & moving, etc. But it was still very good.

We are so blessed to have wonderful friends & family around to share the season with.

I’ll try to post photos soon.

Well, I must say that homeschool has definitely been an adjustment! But we are sinking into the groove of it, and meeting some other cool homeschooling families in the area.

Au-Teen recently joined the South Florida Homeschool Key Club (a service-oriented social club). He says all the teens there are cool. He was SO RELIEVED to find others that “feel his pain”. lol (He’s referring to the solitude, which he finds nicer than dealing with standard public school hooligan issues, but is still new and different.)

We are signed up for some core classes through Florida Virtual School – FLVS. FLVS is a FREE, state-run online school in which students may study full-time or part-time. The students are assigned to a virtual class. The teachers are available for questions from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

I have subscribed to several local homeschool Yahoo! groups. I have learned about all types of social activities that the kids can participate in. They all have weekly or bi-monthly park days, field trips, etc.

We also went to a meeting, lecture, and ice cream social put on by the Broward Christian Homeschoolers (BCH) group. The Key Club volunteered to setup, conduct the ice cream and concessions sale/fundraiser, and clean up afterward. Au-Teen met another teen guy that had circumstances that were uncannily parallel to his own. So they really hit it off.

And the BEST part is that I’m now “required” to spend even more QUALITY time with my son. It’s so easy to get caught up in our own thing, while our teens are doing THEIR own thing. This is proving to be a beautiful opportunity for both of us! And it also legitimizes many of the otherwise mundane and seemingly “pointless” household chores… they count as “LIFE SKILLS” in school!

I will continue to post updates as we get even more plugged into this new and wonderful world of homeschool!

Please LEAVE A COMMENT about your experience (or exposure) to homeschool, or ways that you have connected with your teen.

It is hard to believe you are 14 years old! Seems like just yesterday you were in 2nd grade! (I will not lie and say it seems like you were BORN yesterday… that was many lifetimes ago, for me!)

You are really becoming an amazing young man! I am so proud of you. You are MUCH cooler than I could have dreamed of being, when I was your age. And you have the wisdom of someone in his 20s.

We love you!

I found this referenced on another blog

Wrong Version (But Pass The Spell Check)
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequertolled me sew.
~ Sores unknown ~

Correct Version
I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC
It plainly marks for my review
Mistakes I cannot see
I have run this poem through it
I am sure you are pleased to know
It’s letter perfect all the way
My checker told me so
~ Source unknown ~

There is one simple thing you can do to improve communication within your family. Don’t talk around corners, through walls, or doors. It’s really tempting to do, especially in close quarters. Are we too lazy to get up and walk to the next room to ensure our communication is effective? It’s silly to project your voice from one room to the other when all you have to do is stand up and walk a few feet.

The weight of your own words and your capacity to listen to the other person is greatly enhanced with eye contact. There several great reasons why you should be in the same room with the person you are speaking with:

• When you’re talking through walls, the fidelity of your voice is greatly diminished. You have to strain your ears to listen. You’re more likely to miss a key phrase or word.
• Raising your voice to be heard around corners limits any linguistic dexterity you may have. We’re rarely as eloquent when we yell.
• If you’re sitting down, your voice loses clarity and projection, impairing you even further. You didn’t see Luciano Pavarotti sitting down when he sang.
• If you stand up and walk into the same room as the person you’re talking to, it puts the focus on communication, and away from your multi-tasking. This is a big part of being a good listener.
• Getting up and walking into the other room burns extra calories.
• Communication is the foundation of all relationships. When it breaks down, so does the relationship.
• If you value what you have to say, then it’s worth the effort. Even if it means going up a flight of stairs.
• You reduce instances of “What?” and having to repeat yourself. This may actually save you some time.
• You can observe body language clues that your child received the message or understood it.

There is a big difference between making noises with your mouth and and actually communicating. If communication is so important, why give it a half-hearted effort? If you think your parental wisdom is so important, back up your words with some solid eye contact.

You can sell your teen on this concept by stating the benefit to him or her. They’re the ones complaining that you don’t understand what they’re saying. Give them the means. Sitting or standing face-to-face will greatly improve verbal communication with them. Try it with your children and your spouse. Leave a comment and let me know how much your communication has improved.

If you’re frustrated with a teen who tunes you out, think about your own behavior. When you’re talking to your teen, are you otherwise engaged at the same time? Do you find yourself more concerned with how you’ll respond than what the other person is saying? Your child is like a mirror.

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~e