Monthly Archives: March 2013

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Celebrating Mom’s 64th Birthday

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This morning, we had scheduled Todd Sotala to come over and tune our piano.  Dad was interested in watching him, so he and Mom came over as well.  After the tuning was over, we decided to have dinner and celebrate Mom’s birthday a few days early together.  The day was pretty spontaneous, but fun!

       
  

My sister had wired me money for Mom’s birthday and suggested I take Mom to get a hair treatment or a perm.  We discussed what she wanted to do with her hair.  To make a long story short, Mom decided she no longer wanted to dye her hair.  Dad expressed his support.  So, she was ready to embrace her natural hair color and a new do.  And rather than get a professional to do it, she wanted me to do it!  That self-same day!

I told Mom that I thought it was important to adopt a new hair style that would help transition into her natural gray hair color.  So, we did some test trials and came up with one we both liked.  She decided to part her hair to the side and also to keep her hair straight and natural.  It also had to be long enough that she could put it up in a ponytail for sports.  But, no more curling or perms!  I gave her a trim and layered her hair.
    
BEFORE                                                                          AFTER
Next step was to remove the dye from her hair.  So, we went to Sally’s Beauty Supply and bought a hair color removal kit.

Now, I never had my hair dyed and really had no idea what I was doing, so I had to read the instructions very carefully.  I also had to make do with the equipment I had.  The good thing was that it was similar to applying dye and Mom was an expert at that.  At this point, Dad began getting very nervous about how it would turn out.  He was urging us to wash out the chemicals so it wouldn’t be such a dramatic change.  I was a bit offended by Dad’s lack of faith in me, but I remained calm.  We kept it in for the allotted time and then washed out the solution.  It ended up being perfect.  It washed out just enough to look natural and I think it is the perfect transition for Mom’s natural hair to grow out without any more need of hair dye.


Elegant streaks of silver!    

Mom’s new do and a new outlook on life:  Embracing all of who she is and realizing she is the most beautiful that way.  No more chemical dyes!  I’m thankful that Dad is also supporting her, but he’s also fearful that Mom may get more attention from the men at Pickleball!  

Special thanks to Julie for sponsoring Mom’s 64th year make-over!  Mom was so grateful to you!  And I pray that Mom will continue to be healthy, happy, and more like Christ.  Don’t forget to give Mom a shout-out on her real birthday this Wednesday and tell her how nice her natural hair looks!

We love you, Mom! 

 

EDUCATION, PARENTING

Changes at the Ramos School for Boys

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There have been some changes made at the Ramos School for Boys.  We’ve relocated our school room from a smaller room to the main open area upstairs.  They boys are actually glad about the change because the previous school room has now become their toy room.  According to them, the smaller play room is a lot easier to clean up than the big open area.  Basic rules are that no toys are allowed in this area and that it must always be kept clean.  This school doesn’t have a paid custodian!


Books & educational school supplies

Word wall, maps, writing/coloring drawers, and a futon for the teacher to take naps

Reading & cat observation corner

Student desks.  We’re at full student capacity:  3
 
Students hard at work (disregard their PJs)

One thing I love about being a teacher & homeschool mom is that many of the gifts the boys receive are educational.  For Christmas, the boys got 2 awesome science kits and an ant farm, and just recently, they got another two science kits.  I’ve been trying to space the experiments out to make them last as long as possible.  They’ve been having way too much fun in science!

    
Crystal Mining Kit
 
Making Volcanoes

Making Fruit Batteries using different variables
 
Ty’s limes & Micah’s apples worked!

Manu’s potatoes, not so much.

You can always count on Mexican soda. 

The longer we’ve been doing this, the easier it seems to be getting.  Imanuel and I have been doing so much better in keeping with our school routine.  Initially, we were inconsistent and it was difficult to get things going.  But now, it is getting so much more fun and exciting and he is really motivated to learn.  He is also able to work more independently so for certain subjects, he can just read the instructions and start them off on his own.  It is such a miracle to watch children learn and grow.People have often asked me how long I plan to homeschool.  It is a question that I think about often, but the answer is quite simple.  If I know my boys will receive an overall education at some place better than the one they are receiving at home with me, I will send them.  You can be certain that I’m not willing to relinquish my role that easily, yet, I am praying even now, that the Lord has a godly teacher out there that is even more committed than myself who will be able to take my children even further than I ever could.  I now see how much it takes for a parent to entrust their precious children to a teacher.  If you are a godly teacher, I am accepting CVs and applications.  Send them to principal@ramosschoolforboys.edu. 
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Birthday Boys’ Report

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The crazy thing about my family is that all of our birthdays fall in consecutive months:

October – Me (Judy)
November – Micah
December – Ty
January – Bentley
February – Israel
March – Manu
(The cats were adopted and we’re unsure of their exact birthdays.)


We got this pin a few years ago and we use it for all the boys’ birthdays. 
They get to wear it all day. 
Best investment ever.

The crazier thing is that EVERYONE in the entire Namm family was also born within these months!  For almost 6 months, it seems like we have a birthday every week!  There is a lot to celebrate.  Now, we are nearing the end of the birthday blitz and I finally have time write about our latest birthdays. 

December 12, 2012:  Ty turned 3.
Ty had a quiet birthday right before all of the Christmas festivities.  We took him to Chuck E. Cheese for games and cake.  I can’t believe his is already 3 years old.  He is such a happy and sweet boy.  He is getting sillier each day and loves to make us laugh.  He’s at the age where I wish he would never grow up.  We’re trying to make sure we take videos of how he talks and the songs he likes to sing.  He is a total mama’s boy and yes, he still totes around my shirt everywhere he goes.  My favorite line that he always says is, “That’s the biggest ________ that ever I seen!”  On Ty’s birthday, we also took our family Christmas pictures, wearing the matching love shirts that Justin & Rachel gave us (as seen on our new profile pic).

     

February 26, 2013:  Israel turned 33.
We celebrated with our family, which is what Israel likes best.  The boys and I made him breakfast in the bedroom.  After he came home from work, we surprised him with another little party for dinner.  We ended the fun day with a family movie night.

March 4, 2013:  Imanuel turned 7.
I can’t believe I have a 7 year old child.  And I can’t believe how blessed I am to have him.  Imanuel has been one of the greatest motivation factors for me to be a better person.  His sweet and sensitive disposition forces me to be more gentle and patient.  He is such a caring brother and will often plead on behalf of his brother’s mistakes.  It is my sincere prayer that he will continue to grow to be more like Christ and that I will never get in the way of that.

Manu’s birthday was exactly how a teacher’s kid would celebrate his birthday.  On Sunday, we went to Impression 5 with some friends.  Then on his actual birthday, we did some experiments from a kitchen science kit that John bought them.  It was a fun & educational birthday. 

 

Now we have a 7 month gap to recover from all of the extra calories!  🙂