Our household goods shipment from Sweden arrives tomorrow!! I can hardly wait. We'll have books, towels, glasses, silverware, baking goods and spices, toys, pictures for hanging on the walls, rugs, bicycles, and all those little things that make a house a home. I am soooo ready. I'm even ready for all the work of unpacking it.
Today I timed the boys while they did multiplication problems. Then I gave them some spelling words, we did a paragraph of dictation describing how the Egyptians worshipped cats, and ~N~ did some cursive handwriting practice. We'll get in a full day's work since tomorrow will be shot.
I hope my camera is in the mailbox today. I sent if off for repairs a couple weeks ago after one of my boys dropped it and broke it. I was very surprised that it only cost $35 to repair it.
Time to teach a quick English lesson to ~N~ and check ~D~'s math. Hope you have a great week!
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
Praise Him, highest heavens,
And the waters that are above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord
For He commanded and they were created.
~Psalm 148:1-5
Marla
Monday, January 31, 2005
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
A Limerick
by ~N~, age 11
There was a guy named Mike,
He liked to ride his dirtbike.
He was riding around
When he fell to the ground
So he decided to take a hike.
His limerick reminded me of our little PW50 dirtbike and how much fun they had riding it when we lived in Sweden.
Today, they have been outside riding the go-cart and pulling a sled behind it. There is a little bit of snow on the ground, and my boys are out in it every opportunity they have, even in the dark! I wish I could be a kid again.
We made a sun dial this morning. We used an old clay flower pot, a stick and a piece of cardboard. I hope the sun is shining tomorrow so that we can test it out.
Rejoice!
And see the world through a child's eyes today...
Marla
There was a guy named Mike,
He liked to ride his dirtbike.
He was riding around
When he fell to the ground
So he decided to take a hike.
His limerick reminded me of our little PW50 dirtbike and how much fun they had riding it when we lived in Sweden.
Today, they have been outside riding the go-cart and pulling a sled behind it. There is a little bit of snow on the ground, and my boys are out in it every opportunity they have, even in the dark! I wish I could be a kid again.
We made a sun dial this morning. We used an old clay flower pot, a stick and a piece of cardboard. I hope the sun is shining tomorrow so that we can test it out.
Rejoice!
And see the world through a child's eyes today...
Marla
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Well, THAT was interesting....
This morning, we went to church. Sunday School was first, and we enjoyed a deep study dealing with the subject of Soteriology (the meaning of the death of Christ.) The people were kind and welcoming, helping us find where we needed to go. I was, for some reason, very aware of my "first impression" of being back in church in the U.S.A. It felt kind of strange, so different from our international experience at the church we attended in Sweden. There is definitely a feel of being in the Bible-belt. Our church in Sweden was relaxed, international, contemporary and welcoming. The pastor was soft-spoken and intense in a quiet way.
The pastor we heard this morning was the exact opposite. He was the "old fashioned Bible preacher", full of energy and vibrance and enjoyed pounding on the pulpit as he hollered and drove home his points. Several times, I had to hold back a giggle by digging my fingernails into my palm. I don't know why it struck me as funny, but it was just SO DIFFERENT from what we have experienced. It truly added to the reverse culture shock I think we are feeling. Like I said, it was interesting.
After church, we indulged in something we have missed for the past 18 months. You'll never guess. So many times when we lived in Sweden, we'd say something like "Oh, man, I wish there was a Shoney's breakfast bar around here!" Yup. We had Shoney's breakfast bar for lunch. I can't tell you how good it was. Actually, it was scrumptious! You shoulda been there.
Yesterday, we went to .... oooohhhhh, ahhhhhh, how wonderful, the LIBRARY!! We wandered around the children's section for a good couple of hours, getting our bearings and in absolute awe at the selection of children's books. ~N~ was so overwhelmed that he sat down after about 10 minutes and said he couldn't find anything. I sat down with him and explained the whole truth about the library. A library is full of everything you ever wanted to know about anything. Look for something that looks interesting to you, pull it out, look at it and decide if you want to take it home. I told him I wanted him to choose at least 5 things. He promptly went on a search and started finding books he was excited about. One disappointment though. When we lived in Sweden, he read a couple books from his school library called Sir Gadabout. Our computer search showed zero results for Sir Gadabout. Anybody out there heard of these books?
I asked one of the information desk ladies how many books we were allowed to check out, and do you know what she said? "There is NO LIMIT." My jaw hit the floor as I laughed in surprise. "WHAT? You are kidding!" Nope. You can check out an unlimited number of books and videos. Who'd a thought it. I also have the privilege of utilizing the whole Rappahannock Regional Library system, which includes 7 libraries! When we lived in Texas, we could only check out books from the library in the district where we lived, and there was a limit on the amount of books one could check out. Hence, my excitement.
I checked out "Homeschooling: the Middle Years" and "Raising Lifelong Learners." I was so happy to have something to read, and I was needing some support and confirmation in these areas.
America's Funniest Home Videos is on in less than 15 minutes, so its time to wrap this up and fix a quick snack before we gather together and laugh so hard it hurts. I love to laugh, don't you?
Rejoicing and Giggling,
Marla
The pastor we heard this morning was the exact opposite. He was the "old fashioned Bible preacher", full of energy and vibrance and enjoyed pounding on the pulpit as he hollered and drove home his points. Several times, I had to hold back a giggle by digging my fingernails into my palm. I don't know why it struck me as funny, but it was just SO DIFFERENT from what we have experienced. It truly added to the reverse culture shock I think we are feeling. Like I said, it was interesting.
After church, we indulged in something we have missed for the past 18 months. You'll never guess. So many times when we lived in Sweden, we'd say something like "Oh, man, I wish there was a Shoney's breakfast bar around here!" Yup. We had Shoney's breakfast bar for lunch. I can't tell you how good it was. Actually, it was scrumptious! You shoulda been there.
Yesterday, we went to .... oooohhhhh, ahhhhhh, how wonderful, the LIBRARY!! We wandered around the children's section for a good couple of hours, getting our bearings and in absolute awe at the selection of children's books. ~N~ was so overwhelmed that he sat down after about 10 minutes and said he couldn't find anything. I sat down with him and explained the whole truth about the library. A library is full of everything you ever wanted to know about anything. Look for something that looks interesting to you, pull it out, look at it and decide if you want to take it home. I told him I wanted him to choose at least 5 things. He promptly went on a search and started finding books he was excited about. One disappointment though. When we lived in Sweden, he read a couple books from his school library called Sir Gadabout. Our computer search showed zero results for Sir Gadabout. Anybody out there heard of these books?
I asked one of the information desk ladies how many books we were allowed to check out, and do you know what she said? "There is NO LIMIT." My jaw hit the floor as I laughed in surprise. "WHAT? You are kidding!" Nope. You can check out an unlimited number of books and videos. Who'd a thought it. I also have the privilege of utilizing the whole Rappahannock Regional Library system, which includes 7 libraries! When we lived in Texas, we could only check out books from the library in the district where we lived, and there was a limit on the amount of books one could check out. Hence, my excitement.
I checked out "Homeschooling: the Middle Years" and "Raising Lifelong Learners." I was so happy to have something to read, and I was needing some support and confirmation in these areas.
America's Funniest Home Videos is on in less than 15 minutes, so its time to wrap this up and fix a quick snack before we gather together and laugh so hard it hurts. I love to laugh, don't you?
Rejoicing and Giggling,
Marla
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Today
Today the boys and I curled up on our sofa and watched the Inaugural ceremony on C-Span. The boys had notebooks nearby where they took notes. The only guideline I gave them was to fill one page. ~D~ recorded the exact time that the President and Vice President finished swearing in. ~N~ wrote a lengthy description of the security measures that were taken to keep everyone safe. Neither one could figure out why John Kerry was there!
We aren't in any sort of school routine yet. I'm taking it day by day right now. We have not yet received our last household goods shipment from Sweden, so we're getting by with the bare necessities. 4 forks, 4 spoons, one pot, one pan, etc. It works pretty well actually. I never have a counter full of dirty dishes! I have most of the boys' school books, but not everything. Yesterday I spent the afternoon filling out the legal paperwork to homeschool in Virginia. It wasn't much. There was a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction, SOL for language and math, and a "note stating why I am able to provide an adequate education for my children." Since I am not enrolled in an approved correspondence course, I enclosed copies of the table of contents from my math and language teachers manuals. Hopefully, it will keep everyone happy and off my back.
Somedays I feel pretty good about being here. Other days I have to fight off the tears and depression. I don't really understand what's up with that. I feel easily tired some days and can't wait for bedtime. We have surely adjusted to the time difference by now, and I don't feel unhappy about being here. It feels like a mental sluggishness, like I'm extremely lazy! Winter blues, reverse culture shock, moving stress, spiritual slump? My husband says we just need to find a church and I do think that will help a lot. This Sunday we'll visit one that we drive by every day, only a couple miles from us. I really miss our Wednesday night Bible Study group in Sweden. We need to connect with our community and we definitely need to reconnect with a local body of believers and the Lord.
That should give me reason to rejoice-
Marla
We aren't in any sort of school routine yet. I'm taking it day by day right now. We have not yet received our last household goods shipment from Sweden, so we're getting by with the bare necessities. 4 forks, 4 spoons, one pot, one pan, etc. It works pretty well actually. I never have a counter full of dirty dishes! I have most of the boys' school books, but not everything. Yesterday I spent the afternoon filling out the legal paperwork to homeschool in Virginia. It wasn't much. There was a Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction, SOL for language and math, and a "note stating why I am able to provide an adequate education for my children." Since I am not enrolled in an approved correspondence course, I enclosed copies of the table of contents from my math and language teachers manuals. Hopefully, it will keep everyone happy and off my back.
Somedays I feel pretty good about being here. Other days I have to fight off the tears and depression. I don't really understand what's up with that. I feel easily tired some days and can't wait for bedtime. We have surely adjusted to the time difference by now, and I don't feel unhappy about being here. It feels like a mental sluggishness, like I'm extremely lazy! Winter blues, reverse culture shock, moving stress, spiritual slump? My husband says we just need to find a church and I do think that will help a lot. This Sunday we'll visit one that we drive by every day, only a couple miles from us. I really miss our Wednesday night Bible Study group in Sweden. We need to connect with our community and we definitely need to reconnect with a local body of believers and the Lord.
That should give me reason to rejoice-
Marla
Friday, January 14, 2005
Home
My little house is looking a little better every day. When we bought it, we didn't really see all the things that needed to be done. Now that we are living in it, we notice things that aren't working properly or that need updating. Nothing major, just lots of little improvements.
I'm happy to report that the sulfur smell has died down a lot. We think that either the water softener that we installed helped, or just the fact that 4 people in the house is keeping the water on the move. I feel much better now that there isn't a nasty rotten smell permeating every room that has a faucet.
This weekend will find us painting our kitchen. It currently is a light yellow color, which I will enjoy adding my apple kitchen stuff to. We just need to add another coat of paint to freshen it up a bit. I'm also hoping for some new linoleum, a sink and a faucet. I'll have to make sure I stay off the naughty list if I want all that. ;-) hee hee hee
Our cat, Becca, is making a very easy adjustment to life here. I think she remembers us and I get the feeling that we're back to life as it was before we left her and moved to Sweden. She's a good kitty. She sleeps in the boys' bedroom, mostly on the top bunk with ~N~. We let her outside during the day for some fresh air, exploration, and some tree climbing time. When she's ready to come back in, she hangs out by the door and meows till someone lets her in. I'm so glad she's here. My house feels like a home again.
School has been a disaster since our moving process began last month. We hit the books twice this week and I feel guilty about it, yet I know we'll be fine. The boys are getting a great education on the ins and outs of moving. One night they stayed up late with Dad receiving a great lesson on plumbing, while they installed the water softener. They've also helped us paint, unpack and organize. The stuff of life.
We like living here. I'm frustrated with the heavy traffic we have in this area, all north of us. If we need to do any shopping, it requires getting out into it. Walmart is packed, the stoplights keep you sitting in one place for what seems like a good 15 minutes, and there are lines of people and cars everywhere.
Shopping in Sweden now seems easy. I can't tell you how long I stood in Walmart, at all the different prices and kinds of toilet paper, then the air freshener aisle, then the hair care aisle, trying to decide which brand to buy. I almost reached the point of giving up and forgetting it, but finally I grabbed something and threw it in the cart. I know I'm wearing out my boys' patience. Mine too. Its taking awhile to figure out where things are in the grocery store too. Its like I left my brain in Sweden. I can wander around the store for an hour and not find what I'm looking for. And we're amazed at all the new products that are available, plus the sheer variety and volume of things that one can purchase.
I understand all over again why America is the land of plenty. If you can't find it in America, you probably can't find it anywhere in the world.
I miss Sweden. I miss snow, and red houses, and quiet Swedish people. I miss friends I had there, roundabouts, and the excitement of living abroad. I hope we can get back there someday to visit.
In the meantime, there's no place like home. And home is America.
I'm happy to report that the sulfur smell has died down a lot. We think that either the water softener that we installed helped, or just the fact that 4 people in the house is keeping the water on the move. I feel much better now that there isn't a nasty rotten smell permeating every room that has a faucet.
This weekend will find us painting our kitchen. It currently is a light yellow color, which I will enjoy adding my apple kitchen stuff to. We just need to add another coat of paint to freshen it up a bit. I'm also hoping for some new linoleum, a sink and a faucet. I'll have to make sure I stay off the naughty list if I want all that. ;-) hee hee hee
Our cat, Becca, is making a very easy adjustment to life here. I think she remembers us and I get the feeling that we're back to life as it was before we left her and moved to Sweden. She's a good kitty. She sleeps in the boys' bedroom, mostly on the top bunk with ~N~. We let her outside during the day for some fresh air, exploration, and some tree climbing time. When she's ready to come back in, she hangs out by the door and meows till someone lets her in. I'm so glad she's here. My house feels like a home again.
School has been a disaster since our moving process began last month. We hit the books twice this week and I feel guilty about it, yet I know we'll be fine. The boys are getting a great education on the ins and outs of moving. One night they stayed up late with Dad receiving a great lesson on plumbing, while they installed the water softener. They've also helped us paint, unpack and organize. The stuff of life.
We like living here. I'm frustrated with the heavy traffic we have in this area, all north of us. If we need to do any shopping, it requires getting out into it. Walmart is packed, the stoplights keep you sitting in one place for what seems like a good 15 minutes, and there are lines of people and cars everywhere.
Shopping in Sweden now seems easy. I can't tell you how long I stood in Walmart, at all the different prices and kinds of toilet paper, then the air freshener aisle, then the hair care aisle, trying to decide which brand to buy. I almost reached the point of giving up and forgetting it, but finally I grabbed something and threw it in the cart. I know I'm wearing out my boys' patience. Mine too. Its taking awhile to figure out where things are in the grocery store too. Its like I left my brain in Sweden. I can wander around the store for an hour and not find what I'm looking for. And we're amazed at all the new products that are available, plus the sheer variety and volume of things that one can purchase.
I understand all over again why America is the land of plenty. If you can't find it in America, you probably can't find it anywhere in the world.
I miss Sweden. I miss snow, and red houses, and quiet Swedish people. I miss friends I had there, roundabouts, and the excitement of living abroad. I hope we can get back there someday to visit.
In the meantime, there's no place like home. And home is America.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Moving in
We're going through the usual ups and downs of moving. Its been a very busy time, needless to say. We were in Missouri for a couple of weeks, where none of my family or my husband's owns a computer. So that's why there has been no updates on my blog!
We bought a little house in the country near Fredericksburg. We closed on it Tuesday and have been painting, having carpet installed and cleaning non-stop. The house has well water, which we don't mind. What we do mind is the terrible, icky smell of sulfur every time we run the water. Its just nasty. Smells just like rotten eggs. I've been sick twice this week, once with a stomach-ache and yesterday with a horrible migraine!
I'm writing this real quick at a barber shop. They actually have free internet in this little back room! Cool! We hope to have internet up and running at our house sometime next week.
Till then,
I'm rejoicing and painting,
cleaning and unpacking-
Marla
We bought a little house in the country near Fredericksburg. We closed on it Tuesday and have been painting, having carpet installed and cleaning non-stop. The house has well water, which we don't mind. What we do mind is the terrible, icky smell of sulfur every time we run the water. Its just nasty. Smells just like rotten eggs. I've been sick twice this week, once with a stomach-ache and yesterday with a horrible migraine!
I'm writing this real quick at a barber shop. They actually have free internet in this little back room! Cool! We hope to have internet up and running at our house sometime next week.
Till then,
I'm rejoicing and painting,
cleaning and unpacking-
Marla
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