They make me smile....

the roses from my garden, I mean.

I cut about 6 of them yesterday and put them on a vase in my kitchen (which just needs to be grouted, btw). Today when I got up they were all open and smelling wonderful. It ALMOST made me forget that I had to drive down the hill today (something I was dreading)
Today DramaQueen had a dr appt. I could have SWORN that we were there for vaccines, but I was told she got them last year, just not the physical. I demanded proof, and they presented it. Ah, that will teach me to constantly forget that little vaccine book they give you at the hospital.
Well, at least one of us (them) was keeping track.
They have all kind of neat stuff now. A thermomter that they rub on your forehead to take the temp, a little wand that they stick in your ear to beep and it tracks hearing, and then a little camera that they point at your eye and it checks your vision. No more charts! And no more telling me my child is deaf because they won't raise their hand when they hear a beep.
I came prepared to wait - I brought my knitting. I have started a legwarmer for DramaQueen, becuase the socks for HB need mentoring, lol. So I sat and knitting in the room while my kids played poker (There is something wrong here, *I* don't know how to play poker, yet my kids do) and took turns staring out the giant window.
The dr came in and we started. First was the vaccines, which I spoke of earlier. We straightened that out. Then she asked about speech. I toldher I pulled DQ from speech at the public school and gave details on what I was not pleased with. Dr agreed, but asked if I would attempt to take DQ somewhere else. Not unless I see that she isn't making progress (which she is). I Told Dr that DQ is learning to read and has no trouble pronouncing words, and can repeat when she is corrected.
Next subject was the million dollar question...."How is she doing in kindergarten?"

*sigh*

She always forgets that I homeschool, so I usually say "We homeschool" and we move on. Not today. Today Dr wanted to play 20 questions. Part of her was showing genuine concern for the kids, another part was her curiosity, and another part was the nosy person in her that was trying to find fault.

Are you going to homeschool all of them?
Yes. That is my intent.
How long do you intend to do it for?
Until they reach college is my goal.

They were THOSE kinds of questions - the ones that every homeskooler gets - even right down to the "When do they interact with other children?"

Mine don't - we keep them in the closet most of the time and our neighbors don;t even know we have children.....

When she was done, she smiled huge and said "I'm convinced!" I don't know what that means - I don't have to justify my decisions, nor feel like I need her approval. I love Dr - I've brought my children to her for 11 years. We've disagreed over numerous things, but she has always backed off when I have been adamant about something. She has always respected that I am the parent, and I make the decisions. She lets it slide when I "forget" to take my children in for lead poisoning testing, and when I postpone a vaccination.
Maybe it means that I actually educated someone on a subject that was unfamilair to them. YOu never know!
But we got a green light to go home, and I remembered to get a new prescription for DQ's allergy meds.
A trip down the hill is never complete unless I stop and "people watch" for a while. It cracks me up to see how "posh" and stuck up people act in my hometown. Puleeeeze....do you even remember when there were grapevines as far as the eye could see, and the "barrio" was anything below Arrow Hwy? Of course not! The dr's office building is brand new, and there are fancy cars in the parking lot. Some mobile car wash guy asked if I wanted a car wash while I was in the dr office. Uh, no thanks - I live up the hill where the wind blows the tumbleweeds around and my car will just get filthy again.
Would you guess, I almost got lost? Too many apt buildings going up!

We had our game today, I won't even repeat it. But I will give a hint: double digits to 0 was the official score (but in our defense, we DID score 1) It was a bad game all around. We have practice tomorrow. Enough said. The girls were upset, but after the game I stressed to them that the reason they lost this game was 50% due to playing a really great team, and 50% to their own fault. Not paying attention (one gal is lucky her head is still in one piece), not throwing, not catching easy throws. It was BAD.
I told them that each one of them has something unique and special to bring to this team, but they all need to BRING IT. Two girls can't win the game, this is a team effort. The coaches and I can only do so much - we can't play for them. We can teach, encourage, and guide, but the rest is up to them. They have to want it. I told them that we will forget this game, and take only lessons with us as we prepare for our next. Our schedule is too grueling to dwell on this loss. We must move forward.
When I told the parents we were having practice tomorrow, they all nodded in agreement. They are tired of seeing us lose too, I guess.