Renew, Reuse, Recycle?

So as I told you guys earlier, I was not planning to start school until after Labor Day. However, my kiddo is way excited and ready to start now! So I'm thinking that tomorrow we will go get our library books for the next couple of weeks and ease into some of the "extra" stuff I had planned for the first week that I was worried was maybe overkill. HA

We DID start on our first Character Ed lesson this last week though. I had not planned to start early but after we bought the buckets he was so excited that I just couldn't say "no". You see The Donner's are becoming a "green" household. I have never been much for recycling as I am a product of my generation and we by nature are a lazy people... But in the last few years my priorities are changing, as they usually do after you have children, and I'm worrying about the world my son and my son's children will be inheriting from us. Easy and speed have become such a necessity for our lives that what we leave behind is not often given a second thought. Originally I was just diligently praying that Christ would return before my child reached adolescence but I am now realizing that I should take responsibility for my big fat carbon footprint.

So we bought our boxes (recycled plastic no less) and started sorting our trash. I have to say it has been more fulfilling than I EVER thought it would be. And Braydon is PUMPED!! Everything he picks up goes to the recycle bins... even some things we are ready to part with yet... :) But the bottom line is that he is learning the importance and living it out. It's not something we just talked about and thought we could fix later. We are taking an active roll in keeping our little place in this world clean.

Now, if Disney would stop showing those commercials that drive my child to insist that I buy new light bulbs, I would be much happier!!

Mom's Household Journal

Ok so I started something new this month...
For those of you who know me well, you know I have a LOVE of office supplies. Ok, so it's really a sickness, a disease, an addiction!!
Trying to get the most positive benefits from this disorder I am plagued with, I started a new project. This journal (which is actually a 3-ring binder) houses anything and everything that is my life. I have an area for my calendar/to-do lists, a monthly menu calendar with categorized grocery list, my homeschool curr. and some things we can study when we're on the go, and my current bible study/Life Group lesson plans/Prayer List. It has really come in handy as I've had everything I need at my finger tips no matter where I am.
Aside from the organizational genius that is my Mom's Household Journal, it also appeals to my desire to create and use fun pics/clipart, as well as my longing to carry around a 3-ringer binder like did in school. Ok, so maybe that's more of a longing to be young and in school again, OR if we want to get REALLY deep, maybe it appeals to a need to always be learning...
Yeah, I think I'll go with that!! Makes me sound more stable as a grown-up, right?
Regardless of the quirks behind it, I am really feeling on top of my game right now!! Which is good since we will begin homeschooling next week. At least I have it all together for now... Ha!
No seriously, I am really excited about next week! I have thrown myself into this like nothing I have ever done! Something about knowing that I will be bringing education, the study of God's word and the importance of being a godly man to my 8 year old is empowering! I feel for once that I am making a difference in the world! I am SO grateful for that feeling of purpose!

Our New Journey... or at least my short trip to insanity!

So yesterday as all the school busses drove past my house and the kids around our block began walking to school...
We had no clue because we were asleep!! That's right, Braydon and I are homechooling this year. I say Braydon and I because quite frankly as I am preparing lessons I feel like I'm back in the 3rd grade. It's true that you NEVER USE THIS STUFF WHEN YOU GROW UP!!! Just kidding, I know the things I learned in school were important but I have forgotten most of it and I'm having to "refresh" my memory a bit... LOL
Anyway, this year is going to be an exciting adventure for us!! I can't wait to get started. You see I don't believe that school should start until after Labor Day so in MY school it won't! :) But next week when it does it is going to be amazing!! I'm so excited to get to not only teach my child, but to watch his face as the gears in his head start working. He is so creative that you never know what will come out of his mouth next, and I don't wanna miss a second of it!!! I want to be here for every single AH-HA moment he has, and especially when it comes to his Bible studies! I want him to have the opportunity to be in the Word EVERYDAY! I didn't realize how important that was when I was young and feel like I missed out on SO MUCH! I'm now re-learning all of the things they taught me at church and VBS with a different understanding of it all... an understanding that I am delighted to get to pass on and share with my son!
So, as we take this new adventure together I am hoping to find time to blog about it regularly! I want everyone to get a chance to experience a little bit of the joy I am!

Did you know they sell liquor for kids???

So, Braydon recently spent the night with a friend of his and came home trying to tell me about this place they ate that had GREAT sopapillas.
So he says "You know that place I hate to eat but love the show? (Osaka) It's by there, the place with the pink letters that says pink something..."
I say "Pinkies?"
"Yeah!" he replies.
So I explain to him that the place he ate was NEAR Pinkies and was called Dos Compadres, Pinkies is a liquor store.
"Oh, I though it was that Pink place where we ate."
To which his daddy replies "No, Pinkies is a liquor store do you know what that is?"
"YES DAD!!" he says. "And they sell liquor there for kids too... you know it's colorish..."
"No" we say...
"YEAH, those sticks of liquor, they're colorish!!!"
Do you all realize now that he was referring to licorice??? I swear he kills me!!

We were eating dinner tonight at Rosa's where I order him 2 chicken fajitas. He eats the first like he always does, opened up and dumped out so he can dip it in queso.
Then he asks "Mom can I eat the second on like a burrito?" with his stubby little fingers in the air making the quotation gesture.
And I say "Yes".
He says "I did the sibling sign" again with the fingers in the air.
"The quotation sign you mean?" I question.
"Oh, yeah."
LOL! I would love to be a cog in his little head! Some of the things that come out of his mouth are hilarious!!! I'm sure he gets that from me... the funny part, not the confused, misusing words part... :)

Water Fun... with the dog!!!

So this Sring Break has been VERY productive for me!!! I have done alot to my yard. But yesterday we decided to have some fun! We broke out the slip'n slide and well needless to say it got a little messy! I raked the dead grass and Randy picked it up with the mower, but it was still really bad! It turned into more of a muddy grass'n slide than anything else. But Braydon had a blast regardless! Remember when you were a kid and that kind of thing didn't matter to you! You could dig a hole in the yard, fill it with water and call it a swimming pool... mud, bugs and all! YUK! And to make it worse, Mojo was right in the big middle of it! The way that dog hates baths you'd think he'd steer clear of water in general. I guess when it's muddy water he makes exceptions!!! As you can see by the pics I really should have been hauling off the huge pile of junk in the rocks, or working on the white trash fence in the background, but nope! I decided to make a swamp in my backyard! Seriously though it was so much fun! AND it got Braydon to leave me alone about going to gabby's to swim!!! There's NO WAY I was getting in that water... it's freezing!!

Puppy Life... WOW!

So in November we became the proud parents of a Border Collie pup. His name is Mojo (for obvious reasons) and it has been an adventure! He's such a smart dog, but he is definitely a handful! He LOVES to hula hoop and play frisbee. He can sit, lay down and we're working on shaking, but today he taught himself a new trick!!!! He can now dispense his own ice from the ice maker!! Yes that's right... he gets up on his hind legs and pushes the lever with his paws to get himself some ice. Very refreshing for him!!! Pretty soon I think he'll be pouring himself a glass of tea!

He seems to be growing an inch a day and doesn't quite notice that he can't fit in places he used to! Its too funny to watch him try to get toys from under a chair he could once get completely under to hide from the cats and now nothing more that his head will fit! He tries to buckle his front legs but that doesn't help, he just keeps nudging at it until his nose finally knocks the toy out the other side!

Chinarians

Ok so quick cute story...
The other night Braydon comes flying in the living room announcing that his tech deck ramp was made by "Chinarians".
"By who?" I ask.
"Chinarians!" he replies. And he holds up the ramp and says "See, 'Made in China'!"
Randy and I about wet our pants!! So now that's our new thing, every slip of the tongue or mispronunciation, someone always throws in "Oh, like Chinarians..."

So, here we go...

Ok, so I don't really know where to start... this is my first time blogging. But I love to talk so it can't be that hard right??? As I type this I'm listening to my 7 year old talking to himself and making crazy sound effects in the bathroom. You'd think with one kid it would be calm around our house... NO WAY! I always tell people that God tricked me into having Braydon. Randy and I weren't going to have kids and then the month after we got married my niece was born. She was such a good baby~ slept well, played quietly by herself, kind, quiet~ so I thought, "I've gotta have one of these!" Then came Braydon. And I have been laughing, shhhing, bandaging, answering, dodging, and changing ever since!! Braydon is far from calm and quiet! But I do have to admit that the apple didn't fall far! Sometimes I pity the people I grew up around! It's only now I see how crazy I probably drove them. With Braydon it's a pretty fun and interesting drive though and as my dad would say, for me it's really just a short walk... not a drive.

So in the time it has taken me to tell you the history of Braydon, he has been able to mold his hair into this outrageously spiked mess! You see this another of his little rituals. When he gets out of the bath he spends another 10-15 minutes styling his hair as crazy as he can! And everytime he makes his entrance into the living room like this is the first time he's ever done it, expecting some HUGE reaction!! I just love his creativity and energy! Sometimes I wish I could power him down for a while though... you know just to rest my ears a bit. :)

Wow! I was right, this was pretty easy. Once I started the thoughts just kept coming, my fingers were struggling to keep up! Hope you enjoy it!