Living the Dream

   Oh Man! What a week that was! You know when you think, you can totally handle something, then you try it and realize it is way more work than you thought? This happens to me all the time! I must have a lot of confidence, initially.  Anyway, we started to get the hang of homeschooling by the end of the week. After my last post, my fifth grader fell apart on me and told me he didn't want to be home schooled. So I drove him by the local school to show him other options, but when  we got home I took another approach. You see, I felt the day was successful because we managed to get our work done. He felt like a workhorse, who didn't have any fun. That is totally my style, feeling accomplished because everything on my checklist is checked off and my kids going "that was no fun at all."  So I talked to my aunt and she told me I need to make it more entertaining basically, which of course I want to, but do you know how much work that is? Sorry to whine. Anyway, that's what we did. I broke out the binoculars I brought and would send them on a treasure hunt through the RV park, looking for "natures treasures" The Park may not be too pleased with me, because the boys kept coming back with flowers from their flower beds. They also made little videos with their flip camera of their adventures. We went to the bakery one morning for a treat. This made our day considerably longer, taking all these breaks but the kids did have much more fun. So that's our new program, I need to google more fun random things to do with them. Houston likes playing with Lego's for his "recess" time. Wrex likes to snack, so I'll figure something out. It definitely felt like we bonded last week. Wrex completely caught up on his work and is really enjoying the computer games that are integrated with the school. I'm hoping our days will not be as long, now that we don't have any catch up work. I have seriously never been so exhausted at the end of a day...and then made dinner.
     Ian has had off every Friday that we've been here. Except for last week, of course. I was really looking forward to him somehow helping me, but he had to work and I honestly don't have a teachers assistant job open at htis time. (budget cuts you know! haha just kidding. Sorry I woke up too early) When he got back, I had closed school for the week because my brain was going to explode. He laid on the bed, and was grinning ear to ear telling me how tired he was. He looked a little crazy. So he started to tell me about his day. He got to work in the mountains, they got to off road their company trucks, up jeep trails to get to these power line poles that Bears had been using as scratching posts. So he got to climb up these poles (which he loves) and then with his feet attached to the pole, lean way back (look no hands) and work on some doo hickey over his head. He got to see an elk and he was outside all day and yes, he was physically challenged. Then I remembered all those discussion we had, the year prior about how neat it would be to work on some off beaten path, in the wilderness, doing line work. Then I realized that we  are doing what we came to do. This is what he has wanted to do for so long, and yes it is so hard, in so many ways, but he is doing it. Grabbing onto his dream, and his whole family is here to support him. I guess it really just had me reflecting on this past year and how many changes we've gone through. It has honestly been a tough year for me. But here we are, we're together and that's what I have been working towards.
    Ok enough, reflections. So as you can tell, I hardly got outside of the trailer last week. That made me a bit nutty. So Friday night we went to town and had an amazing dinner at Steamworks, a local brewery. I had some five cheese macaroni made with bacon and green chilies it was delicious. The next day, Ian attempted to take the kids fishing, so I could get caught up on my bookkeeping work. He was thwarted in this attempt when his truck wouldn't start at the gas station. So several hours later, we had new batteries and I somehow managed to get some work done. Still spending way too much time in the trailer.
    Sunday, we went out and had some family time. Houston and Ian had found a BMX park and Houston was dying to go. I didn't really know what that was so I didn't bring my camera. Dangit! So I took a few photos with my phone. It was so rad! I can't imagine the city allowing something like this back home. It was behind these store fronts and it was this dirt track with burms and jumps and all these little kids were biking around it. There weren't any dominating teenagers, just some parents and their kids riding the track. The boys were in heaven. After that we went to the skatepark, we we're definitely trying to make up for all the inside time, from the week before.
    We had a lovely weekend and now we start all over again. We're definitely doing what we came here to do. Living the dream! Except vacation is over and now we're doing the nitty gritty. Finding out how this life works during the school year. The important thing is we're together.

  

Im Alive and kicking!

   Still here! Today was much better. It certainly wasn't easy and my day is not done but I'm still here. I got phone calls from both teachers today and tech support. Guess I made quite a fuss yesterday...and maybe this morning. We still worked all day but our internet connection was reliable, no waiting five minutes for the page to load. I did make sure we all went for a walk and got some sunshine. We picked up some peaches and corn at the fruit stand. It was good to be outside. When I was younger my mom called me stubborn, I prefer persistent.  Today my persistence got me through. Lets hope it takes me a little further tonight, I just thoroughly burned dinner and I have to do billing for work tonight. Thanks for keeping my in your thoughts.

First day of School Blues

     Howdy! Did you wonder what happened to me? We stayed a few extra days in California, to see our family and friends. We had such a good time. I kept those kids so busy, they didn't even know what hit them. We started the first week with VBS, which left me with only Waylon. It's easy as pie, when you go from three kids to just a baby. It was very relaxing. The wedding that we came out for was beautiful. It was so sweet and  personalized, I am so glad I was able to be apart of it. Grandma kept Waylon at home with her the day of and Aunt Shell took the boys hone early So I got to stay and hang out with friends, it was such a needed break!
    The next week we crammed everything in. We hit the beach,  we took family pics (without Ian :( gotta seize the day right?) went to the wave, had sleepovers, caught a movie. In fact the kids had so much fun, Houston threw up, promptly signaling me it was time to slow down...
      We made it home safely and started school yesterday. OH MY GOSH, what have I done! Yesterday was the worst day ever. I woke up early, determined to get a good start to the day. I made the boys get dressed like they were going to school, even had them put their shoes on, Houston didn' t like that. We started with small rough patches like running out of cereal and the bread tasting like bananas, clearly Ian had not gone grocery shopping in a while. Then we went onto big rough patches like not having log in id's for the web pages, pages not loading and printer drivers needing to be installed. When I told the teacher we didn't have sound for our "live class session" she told me helpful hints like "update your software." Tech support was laughable. The worst part was we literally we're in front of our computers for seven hours and most of the time we we're working on problems with software not doing out work. It is so hard to keep your kids on task when no tasks are actually being performed! I couldn't help but think that school would be more fun than this. At two thirty I called it and took a nap. I'm not going to lie, I shed a few tears, this is not how I pictured this. I just want my kids to have a good experience and if the year continues on like this, I'm not going to be hearing any thank you's any time soon.
    The day went on with fun things like running out of wet wipes. Did I mention that Waylon hates being stuck in the trailer all day. We finally went grocery shopping, which was as fun as it sounds with three antsy boys. We closed our horrible day with Waylon having an explosive diaper that I wasn't aware of until I looked down at my shirt, yuck. So yeah, pretty bad day.
   Ian had to work late...that lucky man. I picked him up at his foreman's ranch at about 8. The day was a little better from there. We got to see all the animals. The boys got to see a turkey up close and pet the horses and cow. They are very sweet people. He assured me that we should be here at least until Spring. How he knows this, I dunno but he seemed confident.  His wife held Waylon for me, which was a much needed break. So you know, school might not have been too successful yesterday but we did learn about farm animals. I'm good with that. Anyways, today can't be any worse. It could be the same. I'm not as gung ho as I was when I woke up yesterday. I should shower, but I had to give you an update. So I know this new background is a little bright, I love owls like everyone else, but I will have to tone it down when I get a moment. Houston barfed in California when I was fiddling with the backgrounds soooo... it is what it is. TMI, I know. it was TMI for me too. Wish me luck.
xoxo
Kristina

p.s. I had to type this out twice, becasu blogger ate it the first time, not a good start

What I like about Durango

   We made it back to Durango! We rested up most of the week. Did the usual, floating down rivers in innertubes and swiming at the rec center. The boys also branched out and tried some indoor rock climbing. Now the boys and I are headed out of town again, going to California to see family and friends. Ian is hoping we'll stay put for awhile when we get back. I thought a lot about Durango, CO this week and what I like about it. I can't say that all of Colorado is like this, but our little area is.
    It is so beautiful here, I love being in the mountains. Most days the sky is bright blue with huge puffy, fluffy clouds. Back home, the clouds seem more whispy, I like the change. We have frequent thunderstorms in the evening (more than I've been acustomed to) but the rain smells fresh and it doesnt last long. It usually serves as a reminder that I should be starting dinner by then.
    I love seeing the cows and horses on the side of the road, I haven't noticed that stinky smell, that sometimes appears when you drive through areas with lots of cattle. I wonder if thats because there's so much space or if I'm just not close enough to the ranches. On my drive into town I pass a little cottage that has a sign that says "hogs are beautiful" it always makes me smile. I tried taking a picture of it for you. But taking a picture while driving is dangerous and difficult. . . Oh yeah I saw a wild turkey on the side of the road yesterday. They have these signs that light up next to the road to alert you when wildlife is near. I assume they have sensors that trigger the sign to light up. Ian actually saw a bear last week, freaky huh?
     I love seeing all the streams, rivers and lakes. The trees are beautiful as well, many evergreens but there are others too. Many people have flower gardens, that and the wildfllowers are rampid, brightening up the landscape just about everywhere.
   The houses are older in Durango. Most are craftsman style or cabins. I had the pleasure of going inside a friends house the other day, it was 100 years old and had the neatest electrical switches and a bathroom under the stairs (quirky, I loved it) the houses all seem to have mudrooms which I imagine they need for winter months. I always thought the furnishings for mudroom were so cool but in California we just toss our flip flops anywhere lol !
    The people are kind and enjoyable. Weird but even at Wal-Mart the cashiers are kind and smiley (not grumpy.) I think it's because they know who they're waiting on. Being a small town, they all seem to know each other, sometimes its funny to be an onloooker. Did you know, you can still fill up your gas tank before paying for it, out here? So weird.
    It definately has its quirks. When the wildfires were happening, there were signs telling people to smoke inside or in cars so there would be less risk of starting a fire, never seen anything that crazy at home!    Or the guys that sell fruit and veggies outside of our park. They have a strange sign about John the Baptist in front of their stand, and they give off a creepy cultish vibe, but its the best corn I've ever tasted..
Definately different from California, sometimes it seems like California is it's own little bubble. I enjoy where we are but I cant wait to see my family and friends. See you guys soon.