Karies Slice of Heaven

It's been too long

2011-11-26T20:05:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to keep myself updated on here, but just haven't. I've been busy just trying to get kids to do school, do church callings and keep house at least somewhat liveable. Now that Thanksgiving is over with we have Christmas coming. It's my favorite holiday out of all of them. I LOVE to decorate and it shows. Dh puts up with it since it's just one month. What a good guy.

Today dh and ds put up the lights outside while the rain held off. We all ended up outside eventually, helping and admiring out work. We now have lights all the way around the house and lots out front. We also have acquired a small manger scene with Mary, Joseph and the babe. We have a slow moving reindeer, and 2 other deer that just stand along with a small sled. A few years ago we cut down our outside pine tree that was used as my second Christmas tree. So the next Christmas dh bought a lighted tree for outside in place of that one.

So now tomorrow, after church, I get to decorate inside. We did put up my Christmas Village with dh's help. Tomorrow is when I put things on my shelves and walls. Yes, I do go crazy. I don't have much Santa stuff since I feel way too much emphasis on that. I have a lot of snow creatures and other cute things. A few Santa things, but they were given to me by my mom.

I'll try and remember to post a photo of our stuff. I just can never figure out our filing system. ;/

Updates on us

2011-11-04T04:35:00.001-07:00

This past week has been very stressful, but for a good reason. Now you probably say, stress is good?! Well, the stress I'm talking about is because Sat Nov 5th my youngest child turns 8 and will be baptized ON her bday. So school work this week has almost been non existent for her. Thankfully big brother has stepped up and has helped to teach her with math. So math has been done along with night time reading. Thankfully she has an art and gym class as well as a science class during the week so those have been done. So I guess she's been doing ok.

My oldest, even though he's graduated, is still being required to do some basic studies until he leaves for his mission next spring. We've also been trying to encourage him to find a job. He's had a few temp ones here and there. One that lasted 4 weeks (3 days a week for 3 hrs) helping a gentleman with old paper work. He just recently applied for a job at our local library. With lots of older people looking as well, I'm trying not to be too hopeful. It would be nice if he got it, but who knows.

Oldest dd is faithfully doing her school work. She LOVES routine and is excited each day when I praise her. She doesn't always get stuff, especially math, but we've reached a great milestone this week. She's starting to really remember her times tables and that's BIG! I'm very proud of how well she is doing. She also loves researching minor things just because. I'm just amazed how her. She has also recently really had the desire to help out with household chores. Now keep in mind this is my 15yr who really shouldn't want to help but does. I had to take youngest dd to her science class yesterday, but also had many loads of laundry to do. I had started one load, and when we came back several hrs later she was just finishing. GREAT JOB SWEETIE!

So today dh has the day off. We're going to be doing some pre-birthday celebrating and preparing. Sam's club to pick up the cake and other food items for after her baptism. Dh hair cut, then a movie in the afternoon. Dinner at dd's choosing, then home to prepare for the big day!

So that's been our week and the busy weekend to come. :)

New ventures

2011-09-20T04:20:00.000-07:00

My son, Robert, has this temp job he just started Mon. He clears files from this insurance guy. He was so nervous yesterday, but once we drove past the building and he saw it was this small office I think he settled a bit. Then once he was there, it was even made better. There is just the one guy and his 2 secretaries and then a back room where Robert was. He said the job was boring, but hey, he's being paid to do it. I told him life is full of boring jobs, but they need to be done and as long as he's being paid stop whining.

He's been lucky in that he's had several paying jobs of video taping stuff. I told him those types of jobs don't happen often so consider himself lucky. We'll see if this job leads to other stuff.

A good day

2011-09-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. Started out a bit hard since Natasha had a hard time getting up for Seminary. but once she was up, thing went well. We did our library stuff and had quietness now that ps are in session. Love having the library to ourselves again.

Once home we just vegged. I spent way too much time online. Just plain lazy. But that's ok. Sometimes we need to be lazy. But tomorrow is one of our busiest days of the week. The girls have their art and gym classes starting. Robert is done so he'll stay home. But he has school work he's still doing so he'll keep busy.

Then tomorrow evening is combined youth activity of kick ball. Should be fun for them. Robert has invited a friend. I hope she can make it.

This past weekend....

2011-09-12T03:57:00.001-07:00

was very nice. We had our annual block party that turned out good. Many people showed up and chatted and ate. I ate way too much as usual. Hard not to do when there is soooo much good food. The weather also cooperated. High 70's. The girls rode their bikes all afternoon. Had hamburgers and other stuff. They also received a small goodie bag of candy. Of course this year we ended rather early due to I guess a ball game that they all wanted to attend Sunday afternoon so they went in around 10:30. Normally it's 11:30 or later before they go in. Oh well still nice time.

Sunday was a special day. It was announced that Robert would be receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. Very nice! That ordination would be after church. Then in Young Women's my oldest dd Natasha was given the calling of Pres in the Mia Maid class. Very cool for her.

In Primary, Sarah was able to serve a pretend mission. She was going to Switzerland. Fun time they had.

After church we all stepped into the Bishop's office and dh ordained Robert to the Melchizedek Priesthood. What an honor!

Then home for all for lunch. Nice relaxing afternoon and I got a nap. :) Evening time Natasha went to BYD(Bishop's Youth Discussion). Then home for dinner and bedtime.

Back to school routine of 5:15 up and getting ready for Seminary. Going to be a full fun week.

Our day

2011-09-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

wasn't horrible, but I can tell Sarah isn't wanting to sit down a lot to do school already. Guess we'll have to have 1 or two days for sit down and the rest for up and moving around. But at least she enjoyed her science class that one of our local homeschool moms has organized. She did a great job. Sarah loves it. It's a 13 once a week class for 2hrs. I'm glad this is happening because I am NOT good at science. Dh is but he just doesn't have the time to be consistent enough. And all of her friends from the group are there.

Right now the girls are up in bed, Robert is downstairs with me online. Dh is at the ball game with co-workers. Probably won't be home until 10 or 11. Hope he has fun.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to have some friends come over and talk about our groups activities for the year. Her girls are good friends with mine. So that day should be good.

My dd's bday

2011-08-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Aug 25th, was Natasha's 15th birthday. And as per tradition for the past 10yrs dad takes the day off and we spend the day doing whatever the birthday child wants to. So yesterday we went to the zoo for the morning. McD's for lunch, then saw the movie Rio. Cute movie. Off to do a bit of birthday shopping for a gift that needed her foot. She had wanted roller skates, but the regular kind, not inline. So we ended up getting her a skate board instead. She's been using Robert's old one and having fun. So now she has her own and Sarah can have Robert's.

After the shopping we went to this cute pizza parlor that has an organist in it that plays live music. He even plays requests. So we had him play Happy Birthday to Natasha. She was a good sport.

After dinner(and being stuffed full) we went home to sing Happy Birthday and open gifts. Some nice ones as well as snack gifts. Fun day! Tired and exhausted! :) Happy Birthday my sweet Natasha!

The dentist

2011-08-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

I had a dentist appt today to have some broken teeth looked at. I figured I'd go in and have them x-rayed and find out what's up. Nope, the dentist could tell right away what it was and just started working on them right away. Luckily the one wasn't too bad and it was fixed in 5 min. The other one was more sensitive and needed a shot. But again, not bad. The mouth is a bit sore right now, but in time it will be fine. I'm just glad I don't need to get another appt to do the actual fixing. So for now it's soft foods that aren't too cold or hot. I'll live. :)

Just stuff

2011-08-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

It's a cloudy Sat morning, but amazingly I'm not feeling blah. Usually grey skies make be not want to be productive, but so far so good.

Today, Robert gets the chance to make some money by video taping some of his friends at their plays today. He'll be gone most of the day since one of the friends will be at 11 and the other at 3. He's excited since video making is what he's currently into right now. He's already video taped one of his friends' dad doing magic at a local library. He also got paid for that. He keeps telling me that he doesn't need to get a part time job because he has one. Umm yeah, unpredictable one.

So now we face yet another day with him gone all day. Actually I think it's kind of good for me to have him gone all day off an on because next yr when he leaves for his service mission for the church he'll be gone for 2yrs. I think these activities are slowly preparing me for this.

Face book

2011-08-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

is down and I'm realizing just how addicted that is. Well, it's not really down, but none of my games that I play are working. I'm still seeing people post comments, but I can't play my games. :( Oh well, guess there are other things I can do like.....laundry. NOOOOO!!!!!

State Fair

2011-08-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Last night dh asked me if I wanted to attend the State Fair in the morning. I said, "sure". So we spent 5hrs looking at animals, food, and other stuff, along with being in the building where they try and sell you stuff. We actually ended up buying the slicer thing for over 50% of normal price and for twice the slicing ability. I'm looking forward to using it.

So after the fair we got lunch and then home. Dh is taking the older to down to Chicago area to do baptisms. So Sarah and I are home relaxing. They won't be home until 11 or midnight. Guess sleeping in will occur.

A good day

2011-08-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

I actually had a good day today. Most of my days are good, but this one was good in that I kept myself busy most of the day. Dh and I were in the basement going through all of our boxes that have traveled with us over the 23yrs of marriage. It's been a big job, but we're slowly getting it done. Been fun to find things we forgot we had.

Then late in the afternoon dh, Robert and Sarah got to attend a double baptism of friends at church. Sarah is very excited because in 3 months she will be baptized by her brother. So while the went, Natasha and I got to stay home and spend time together. Actually, we just did our own thing, but it was nice having a quiet home for a bit.

Just chatting

2011-08-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing much going on right now. Just waiting until 9am to start our morning devotional. Then a math review. The rest of the day might be getting some cleaning done in my kitchen. This is one of the few times I'm grateful for a small kitchen. lol Other times it's nice to be bigger. But I'm grateful for what I do have. We live in a nice neighborhood. Everyone is nice and polite. Over half of the neighbors have lived here over 40yrs. So a well established area.

I'm hoping the weekend will be good. Might do some more cleaning out of boxes in the early afternoon. Then tomorrow evening we're attending a double baptism. One of Robert's friends and one of Sarah's friends. Then church on Sunday. Then back to Mon to start a new week again.

A long day

2011-08-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

It was one of those days where we were going to head to the park in the afternoon, but then I'm told that the park we normally go to was having a "splash day" until 2. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of many kids running around and not being able to keep track of my own so we opted out of park day. This meant that anything I could have done around the house, I'll have to wait till tomorrow since I hate starting a job midway through the day. At least I got some updating done on my blog and some other stuff done.

Cleaning and cleaning

2011-08-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

I'm now on week 2 of cleaning up the house. The temps are still warm, but that's ok. It's summer. It is nice to have things more organized and have found things I had forgotten about. When I cleaned up the school room I found some school books I forgot about. Guess we'll be doing them this year.

We also started doing some review work for the upcoming school year. The kids were a bit resistant, but did ok. Sarah will be my challenging one since she gets bored easily and doesn't want to do the same thing everyday. Her older brother and sister like that, but she gets bored. Guess I'll have to strike up a deal with her on how often we do certain subjects. Guess it will keep me on my toes.

The summer is slowly winding down, but that's ok. I've had my break and now need to start again with learning or more structured learning. Now that I only have 2 officially doing school it will seem weird. However, he's still working on some stuff from last yr that we found halfway through the year, so he'll be kept busy.

A new blog I'm starting

2011-08-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

I originally started this blog out to be about our homeschool day, but I ended up blogging more about life than school. So anyway, I now have a specific blog about our school day, week and month. I may post more on a weekly basis, but depending on what we do, it might be more.

Gardner's-Educational-Journal

Enjoy!

Been busy

2011-07-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since we had the heat wave hit us last week, I've decided that I can still accomplish stuff and not go outside. So I started cleaning up my school room book shelves. Threw away a ton of papers that weren't being used(lots of scribbles on them). Found several school work books that I forgot I had last yr that I will use this year.

Day 2 started tackling the basement. 2 yrs ago when we bought our van all the boxes that were in the garage(over 100) went down into the basement thus making the playroom half the size. As time went on the play area got messier and messier to where I just didn't care. I now had the energy so I took garbage bags and started going through everything. Found lots of toys the girls thought were "lost". After 4 hrs and 2 days I got most of it done. Dh went down and was glad because the corner of the basement he had been trying to get to was blocked due to Christmas boxes and other stuff. So now 2 things will have been accomplished this summer, play room cleaned up and boxes being sorted through and cleaned up.

This week I'm going through the drawers in the school room seeing what all school supplies we have. TONS of pencils. And I do mean TONS! Probably 50 or more. Funny all this time when I needed one we could never find one. Now I know where they all went to. So now we have a pencil/colored pencil drawer with stencils. A crayon drawer with again, TONS of crayons. A craft drawer with all kind of stuff. And a soon to be stamping drawer where I'll put my stamps at.

Today I went through a cupboard that is in the dining room where stuff tends to get shoved to when we have to place else to put it. Went through and found more stuff. Photos and papers and all kinds of electronic stuff. My parents funeral stuff. Nice memories. Miss them but they are healthy and in a much better place.

Tomorrow not sure, but I'm sure I'll find something to clean out. lol Stay tuned for more....

Much better

2011-07-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

The last post I made was sad due to some unfortunate issues. However, thankfully things got better and the week went fine. We've had some hot weather(high of 90 and some low 100's) so the girls just went up to their room and played quiet and nicely. I did all my stuff on face book and was bored and it was only 10am. I looked around the school room and saw messy book cases and just plain messy room. So off my butt I got and started at the top and worked my way down. After 2 hrs of off and on cleaning the school room book cases and cupboards are now clean. All junk paper is gone.

The next day again my face book stuff done by 10 am I decided that since my basement was the coolest room in the house and has been needing to be cleaned, then that's what I would do. So downstairs I went with garbage bag in hand and started throwing things away. Amazing what I found after a yr of not cleaning. I usually try and let the girls clean up once it gets messy, but they find too many interesting things to do and it never quite gets finished. So after 2 days of 4hrs each cleaning, I'm now 90% done. Just need to move things around so that the girls can put their stuff down their instead of their room.

Also, now awaiting ds to come home tomorrow. He's had his break for the summer, now it's time to come home. I've loved seeing his daily morning and sometimes evening posts on face book. Looks like they've had fun.

I'm here

2011-07-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in awhile due to some personal issues I've been going through. One of the issues dealt with girls' camp(I won't post the details), but due to an incident with my dd I'm now obliged to discipline my dd by not letting her go to Youth Conference. This will be her first one and they're going to Nauvoo. It's tearing my heart out because this would be a great one for her, but dh and I talked while we were out to dinner that night(anni. date) and he felt she needed to stay home due to the issue. I didn't agree, but have decided that I still need to support him in this decision.

I do have to admit that he's also not happy about it, but we as parents have to make tough choices and boy does this qualify. I'm really hoping that in a few yrs the Stake will do this trip again so that she'll have a chance again to go. But until then we just go on and have fun and do other things. So that's what's been happening here.

Thunderstorms

2011-06-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Since 1am this morning we've had off and on thunderstorms. I'm really getting tired of them. The one during the night lasted 1 1/2hrs. Then we had a small one around 12:30 pm. We had plans to go to a local park. Went anyway since the rain storm didn't last long. Around 3 we received a phone call from a friend that another big severe storm was on its way. So we all left. I, however, did a dumb thing and stopped for a bit of groceries on the way home. As I looked out the window of the store I see dark gray clouds, wind blowing and bending trees way down and TONS of rain. Oh great!

I called my son at home and he said the storm was almost over with. However, I still didn't want to wait around too much longer so I pulled the car over to the front of the store and had my 7yr run out to the car and I threw the groceries in. I was soaked as if I'd been in a shower. Drove home in it, but it was settling by the time we got home. What an adventure.

Girls' camp

2011-06-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

This week my oldest dd Natasha and her dad are at girls' camp till Fri. It's been a crazy couple of days getting her ready and the excitement she has had waiting. Now it's here and they're gone and there is an emptiness in the house. I'm doing the best that I can to ignore it because otherwise I would be in tears, well I was for a few min this morning. Thankfully I was able to settle down and get on with things. Now I'm fine, just missing them.

I also mentioned dh was there. For LDS girls' camp, they require 2 priesthood holders at the camp at all times. Dh and I figured that since he spent 5 yrs helping out with scout camp, now it's time to help out with the girls. The one good thing for me is I don't have to cook unless I want to. We can do out and not have to be home at any certain time. So there is a bright side to it.

So now we just relax and enjoy the time we have and then look forward to the stories they come home to tell us.

Girls' night

2011-06-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight the guys are out on a father/son campout with guys from church. It's the first time in a few yrs that my kids have decided to spend the night. Since we've moved to this ward, the of the men and their sons get up early(9ish) and are up and gone by 10am. Seems silly to set up a tent just to take it down first thing in the morning and go home. So dh and Robert have just been hanging out for the night and then coming home around 11. This year one of Robert's friends is staying the night so my guys are too. So this means the girls and I are having an evening to ourselves. We went out for McFlurries and then home to sit on the porch and enjoy them.

Now we're each at a computer playing games and such till bed time. I'm hoping the guys don't come home too early since they are taking the time to stay over night.

Memorial Day

2011-05-27T13:59:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, but most importantly, we remember why we celebrate this holiday. To remember all of those wonderful military people who have fought in wars and in some cases lost their lives so that we could continue in FREEDOM!!

Good weather is coming

2011-05-24T18:57:00.001-07:00

I can tell it must be close to school ending because my 7yr is no longer interested in just sitting at her desk doing worksheets. So I told her today that tomorrow we would try a game with her math. She seemed excited so we'll see what happens.

I do have to admit that I'm also ready for a break. I love learning and seeing my kids learn, but sometimes the brain just needs to chill for a bit. We have Memorial Day coming up, so we're visiting friends and just having fun. Then we have girls' camp for Natasha and dh. Then Independence Day, then Youth Conference for both Robert and Natasha. So we'll have all of some of June and all of July off. By Aug we should be ready to get back into the school routine.

Must be the weather

2011-05-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

It must be the on again, off again nice weather that is driving my 7yr nutty. She used to love to do school, but now that she is legally being homeschooled she has no interest in school stuff. Or at least not as much. I had the feeling that she would lose the interest, but was encouraged by dh to keep her up with everyone. I'm having a hard time because she wants hands on stuff and I'm more laid back relaxed person. My older 2 kids are the same way as me. They like routine where as my youngest does not. She likes variety of things.

Some days she does really well, and other days well..... I just need to have patience and find different things for her to do. Very challenging. If anyone reading my this blog has ideas, please let me know.

What a day....ARGH!!!!!

2011-05-23T18:40:00.000-07:00

I don't have too many days like this, thank goodness, but when I do ARGH!! All 3 kids were just arguing with me off and on all day. The youngest would get mad because no one wanted to play with her after lunch. I told her I was taking her and her sister out to buy some new pajamas. That helped things a bit, however 7yr gets bored very easily and after an hr was done. We were still trying on stuff 30 min later so 7yr was not happy. Finally made it out of the store and home.

Once home ds decides he wants to bug me. He's a good kid, but lately has decided to try and push as many buttons as possible as fast as possible. Today was just extra busy pushing. I think he's trying to understand some stuff, but I wasn't able to explain it well. Then he just decides to back talk me with everything. Finally I just walked out of the room to outside and just sat on the front porch. He's a good kid and smart, but sometimes he just over does it.

So now I'm online relaxing while the kids are upstairs reading/watching a movie. Dh is playing his games and I'm doing my stuff. The quiet of the evening...ahhhh. :)

Seminary Graduation

2011-05-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

My son and oldest child just graduated from Seminary tonight. After 4yrs of getting up at 5:30 so he could be to this class by 6 is now done. But I bet, after a few days of sleeping in that he'll start getting up early again. He's just my early riser. But the ceremony was nice and refreshments were good. I'm sad that I won't be able to shower before we start our day, but that's life.

No on to the spring and summer activities!

Spring Temps

2011-05-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful day even with the brief rain showers we had. I was able to plant several more flowers today since they are starting to look sad. Pulled some weeds and actually enjoyed it. Nice to see my yard looking nice. We'll be getting some more flowers soon and then I'll be able to finish up. The temps were high 60's and mostly cloudy but humidity was 65% so for me it was comfortable. It was just nice to spend time outside and to get my youngest outside playing around getting rid of some energy.

First day of May

2011-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Today is May 1st and Sunday. A very nice sunny day. Unfortunately I'm home due to my youngest having the sniffles. She's ok, but we figured a red nosed little girl really shouldn't be at church. Plus the night before(Fri night) she kept waking up from a bad dream so neither of us slept well. So I sent hubby onto church for his early meeting, then Robert and Natasha later on for the actual meeting. Sarah woke up just after they left. So far a nice morning with the usual her wanting to do lots of stuff.

I've got her on the computer playing some games. Normally she doesn't get access to the computer during the week alot so now she has it. She has been a little bit resistant, but once I let her know it's her time, she finally relented. I am thankful for the sunshine so that at least the day is welcoming.

I also wanted to say "I love you" to my mom. Yesterday or Fri(I think the 29th) 2yrs ago she passed away. It was hard to let her go, but she was in too much distress and keeping her here would be mean and selfish. Her insides weren't working properly anymore. She wasn't able to swallow food so she had to be tube fed. Not something we wanted for a dignified lady like she was. So I see her running around and enjoying being with family members who went before us. She is happy. :)

Sunshine, where are youuuuuuu

2011-04-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Sunshine,

Ok Mr. Sunshine we really need you to come out tomorrow and play. I understand that sometimes it needs to rain and even just be cloudy, but I think tomorrow you need to shine and make our world warm and sunny. The kids need to go out and get rid of their energy so they don't drive their mothers nutty. Mom needs the sun to smile and be happy. Today was not a great day to be me.

I think the weather might be trying really hard to snow for my son once last time since it forgot to last week on his bday. Hey, Mr. Winter, you tried hard and gave it a good shot, but now it's time for spring to come and warm things up now.

Sincerely a mom very much in need of you.
anonymously yours.

Ok don't die of shock...musings

2011-04-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

I know it's me again so soon after the last post. :) I've just been so busy lately and frankly just haven't felt like putting my thoughts in writing. I think some of it is just struggling with the idea that my oldest, Robert, is now 18 and will be done with high school this year. I still remember our first yr of homeschooling 10yrs ago. Oh the challenges we faced back then, I now have to chuckle at. I remember each day going for a walk(gym) and making sure I had my DPI form tucked in my back pocket in case a police officer stopped us. :) 10yrs later I think our copy is in the cupboard but not sure. I've discovered that people in WI are very homeschool aware. I won't always say homeschool friendly, but most are aware that it's legal here and accepted.

Also, I have laugh at the "curriculum" we used back then. Those books you find at Sam's club that have review sheets in them for when you're traveling or just need something to do during the summer. We now have graduated to better stuff since then, but I still chuckle. I remember I also used to keep track of our hours in a binder to make sure we got in our time allotted. Now I don't even know where it is since we're too busy doing school and going places to mark it. Now THAT'S a true homeschooler.

So now that 10yrs have passed and 1 is almost done, I'm realizing that I still have another 10 or 11 yrs to go with my youngest who is 7. So my experimenting over the yrs is now ready for a new trial with Sarah. She keeps me hopping all the time. She is definitely NOT a routine child. She gets bored very easily thus making mom come up with ideas for her. When she gets bored she has a habit of venturing into the kitchen to "experiment" with stuff. I will be glad when warmer weather stays so that she can go outside and make all the messes she wants and then hose her down after. :)

You know I've come to realize that the more I know about homeschooling the more I realize I've still got more to learn.

Spring time

2011-04-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

might finally be here in WI. We've had between 30 degree temps and low 70 degrees in the last few weeks. Our bodies are having a hard time adjusting to it. Between colds and flues going around it's been nuts. Thankfully all we've gotten is colds, but that's enough. Especially when it involves your throat being sore.

Also this past weekend we celebrated Robert's 18th bday. We actually celebrated it over 2 days since the actual date dh had to work(Good Fri). On the Thurs we went painting to this ceramics place which the kids enjoy. Then to this very interesting lunch/dinner spy place in Milw. Never heard of it. They have a secret entrance to get in. Almost reminded me of the haunted mansion at Disneyland in CA. Once we got in they sat us down and we ordered. Dh let us know that in this place we were actually encouraged to walk around and see all the photos and signs. (I'll post later). It was definitely interesting.

Afterward we went and saw the movie "Hop". Good for little ones, very goofy for older ones. But over all a good family film. David Hasselhoff was in it. Oh my has he aged. Probably 70 something. But still looks good! After the movie we stopped at Little Caesar's for pizza and went home. Now here's the tricky part. Because Robert's bday was on the Fri, dh said he would take a lunch break on Fri and have Robert open his gifts on his bday. So Thurs night ended with most everyone enjoying pizza. I was still stuffed from my fish sandwich that it wasn't until morning that I was able eat anything. And lunch ended at 2.

Fri morning we just relaxed and let the kids sleep in. After a bit Robert got his hair cut. Went to McD's to get a special dessert for Robert...McFlurries. Home and dh arrived in time for gifts. (I'll post later). Dh then went off to work and we just relaxed until Robert had to get ready for a Mormon Prom. That was the best part of his bday to him was that. He really didn't care what we did as a family, he was now 18 and wanted to hang with is friends so he did. He had a blast. They got home around 11:30pm. What's funny is the gifts that dh ordered are still coming in the mail. So his bday this year has consisted of several days of happenings.

Sunday for Easter I was asked to give a talk. It last a bit over 6 min. I tried for 10 but oh well. Thank goodness the last speaker did 25min. After church home for lunch, then napped for 2 hrs. Nice! Then Easter ham and side dishes. Nothing fancy just remembering the Resurrection and why we celebrate Easter.

So over all a busy but nice 4 or 5 days. I hope to be more active with my blog, but some days I'm just not.

Sickies at my house

2011-03-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

I guess we could blame me for all the colds so I'll take the blame. I came down with a cold last Fri and by Mon morning my youngest dd had caught it. She was very tired and miserable. A few days went by and she started feeling a bit better. But then Wed evening my son starts coming down with cold symptoms. Then last night my oldest dd. So now all 3 kids are sick with varying degrees of colds. Then last night it snowed again. Not much, but after having 50 and almost 60 degree weather for a few days, having snow and back down to 20's if not much fun.

I'm grateful that it's only a cold and nothing else. I am looking forward nice weather staying. If you read this, how is the weather where you are?

More photos of the mountain men

2011-03-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

Some photos of the Mountain Men

2011-03-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

More photos to come.

A cold

2011-03-18T04:36:00.001-07:00

It seems I've come down with a cold. Haven't had one in a long time so I guess I shouldn't complain. I'm just glad it's not horrible because I have things to do today. Going to our local library with our homeschool group to hear some "Mountain Men" talk about history at their time in America. I'm looking forward to it. Thankfully today is Fri so hopefully tomorrow I can sleep in a bit and feel better.

I also need to be a bit better in posting here. I used to do much better. Guess I've just been too busy or feel like I've nothing to add. But regardless I'm going to try and do better.

Spring?

2011-03-16T19:44:00.001-07:00

Well, according to the calendar it will be officially spring on Sunday 20th. And the weather outside right now sure has felt like spring. But I know that it's still March and winter isn't going to give in so easily. Just like each season has to fight before giving up. I still have my shovels right outside the door. They don't get put up until the first week in June. Yes, I said June. I have seen snow in May so I'm just being prepared. :)

So today was almost 60 and the sun was shining. So after lunch we all went outside and while the kids (Sarah climbed and shoveled the snow that is still here) did their stuff I sat on the porch enjoying the nice warm sun and fresh air.

This evening dh tells me he will need the van tomorrow so since the weather is still nice(7:30pm) I go out and vacuum it. It wasn't horrible but since he's carpooling I felt it necessary. So now we have a cleaned out van for awhile.

Madison schools close

2011-02-16T09:25:00.000-08:00

Madison-schools-close

I hope Gov Walker sticks to his guns. I think the unions have waaaaaay to much power and are very greedy.

Blizzard of 2-2011

2011-02-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Right outside our school room door. The porch is 1 ft above the driveway. As you can see the snow is 1 ft above the porch.

My son's foot about 6 inches.

Our driveway.

Blizzard of '11

2011-02-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

Went to bed with a lot of wind and snow. Woke to 4 and 5' drifts against the house and the heat vent got blocked so we woke to 63 degrees in the house compared to 70. Dh had to go out and unplug the vent. BURR!! Our driveway has 2 and 4' snow drifts all over. Our street in front has up to 3' snow still. Might be awhile before we get shoveled out.

SNOW!

2011-02-01T03:47:00.001-08:00

SNOW!!! And possible more coming with lots of wind! Batten down the hatches!

Update again

2011-01-17T19:42:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to come back here more often, but haven't always been successful. Also, most nights I'm just plain too tired to think, so I don't.

We've started back to our school routine 2 weeks ago and were doing pretty well. We did slow down by Thurs afternoon so I was glad for the open gym on Fri afternoon. We also had a good showing of 15 moms. And considering most of the moms had at least 2 kids(some had 4) we had a room full of energetic kids running around. It was nice to see friends again I haven't seen in quite a long time. Nice to sit and chat while the kids were busy.

Sat was the young women's volleyball game in our church. They had to be at the church by 8:30 am for their game at 9. So dh took Natasha and Robert(he wanted to support the young women ;) ) while I stayed home with Sarah. We did go after awhile and watch their last game. A lot of new girls on the team so they are still learning the rules and how to play. But they had fun. Went out to lunch then home.

Then Sat evening Robert and Natasha had a church dinner and dance to attend. They got home around 11pm. Long day. Sarah and I cuddled and watched cartoons. Dad relaxed playing computer games.

Sunday was church and this year we have early meetings go up at 5:30 and leaving by 8:15. I do the programs each Sunday and I have to get them copied each Sunday morning. Church was good. Lessons very spiritual. Then home for lunch and a nap. I was(and still am) coming down with a cold. Nothing bad, but they do tend to wear me out.

Then today was Martin Luther King day and dh had the day off. So after our morning routine of library and lunch, we headed out with dh to a movie called "Tangled". Very cute movie. A tiny bit scary at times, but only lasts a min or two. Stopped off at Sam's Club for a few min then off to dinner. We've also had snow today, about 4" and still coming. It will be needed for the young men doing sledding tomorrow night. Also for the campout this weekend. The scouts will be building a snow fort in their scout masters back yard. A yearly happening. Then they sleep in it. Told my son to have fun. I would be thinking of them while in my nice snuggly bed.

Well tomorrow is the start of art and gym for homeschoolers in our area. Our local city organizes this and has done so for at least 6yrs. This will be Robert's last semester. Can't believe he's almost done with school. I'm looking forward to seeing all my current friends and meeting new ones.

That's all for now, but then again it was a lot. Hope to post again soon.

Public School meets Home School

2011-01-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

This made me chuckle.
________________________________________________

A Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

For this upcoming year I hope to have learned from my mistakes from this year and grow up more and be a better wife and mom. I have a selfish streak and at times it rears its ugly head. Not good. I hope my family will be patient with me as I struggle to over come this issue. We will all benefit greatly from it.

I also hope to continue to learn with my children and hope they understand the excitement of learning. I hope they can learn now and continue learning all their lives.

I hope my relationship with my children does better. I see a lot of my own personality in them and boy does it get to me. Kind of makes me realize what my husband puts up with.

I also hope my relationship with my husband grows stronger and better. We've had 22 yrs over ups and downs(mostly ups) and I want it to continue to grow stronger and better.

I also look forward to making many more friends and appreciating the ones I have.

HAPPY and SAFE NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Christmas morning

2010-12-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is Natasha admiring one of her gifts.

Sarah opening her pillowpet gift. Boy was she excited. She's still carrying it around with her.

This is me admiring one of the gifts being opened. Not sure why ds took it, but oh well.

This is a photo of our Sarah tree. We bought this 6yrs ago when our youngest was able to "get into things" and I didn't want to spend the whole season getting upset with her. So we bought a smaller one to admire from on top of the tv.

We now have the bigger one up the last 4 Christmases now that she's older. Hope to have a photo of that soon.

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a min and wish all my Blogger friends a very Merry Christmas!! I'm finishing up wrapping, cleaning up house since I don't want to on Christmas. Have a daughter who got sick yesterday so I didn't get to some of the baking I was going to. But that's ok it happens and she's doing much better and we both got more sleep. In fact she's still sleeping. So everyone have a great day and a great weekend!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

All is quiet

2010-12-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

I think I'm about to jinx myself but stating this, but so far all kids are still sleeping. They all had eventful activities in the afternoon and evening and then were up late so I'm enjoying the nice quiet morning.

I haven't been real good at posting lately simply because if I'm in an angry mood or sad, I tend not to want to post. I'm not in a sad mood, just frustrated lately. Dh and I don't always see eye to eye. I know that's normal, but when it seems to be more than usual then I just want to hide. Especially with my kids' education. We are both very different in how we think to educate. He is more into textbooks and such. And that's fine since he loves to read and understands. I'm more visual and love to watch and see things. I'm also more of a unschooling person and he's more structured. Both are good, but when I get the pressure to do more text book stuff and less video I get frustrated.

My son is very much like his dad. Would rather read that watch stuff. My oldest dd is very visual. She learns much better by observing and doing. I'm much the same way. I need to see things to remember them. Then there's my youngest who does both. So I'm just trying to get my dh to understand this. Someday maybe.

Classical links for kids

2010-12-16T04:41:00.001-08:00

Classics-for-kids

A story from Old School House Magazine

2010-12-16T04:06:00.001-08:00

This story so fits my life back then and today. Just had to share.

Considering homeschooling? Get ready for a wild ride!

I remember attending public school as a kid. Honestly, I was bored silly. We all had to do the same things. We all ate lunch at the same time, hungry or not. We all flopped down on our mats, closed our eyes tightly, and tried to nap, sleepy or not. We all dabbed white glue on our popcorn and stuck it to our "sheep art thing" we all did. We all learned from the same lesson plans. We were all presented with the same material, and subsequently, we all asked the same basic questions. Then, year after year, we all moved on to the next "level."

When I would arrive home at night, I pretty much kept to myself. I was loaded up with enough homework to keep me occupied for hours, and my parents and siblings were not high on my "to do" list. They were not my top priority; school had to be. Plenty of times I was so exhausted at the end of the day--yet not finished with all of my assignments--I would let myself just doze until 4 or 5 A.M., and then drag myself out of bed to finish everything before trotting off to school to repeat the cycle. I felt like a sheep. Baaa-aaaah; better hurry, the bell's about to ring . . . again.

That is not the school life I want to give my own children. I don't want to have them gone all day only for them to come home and keep their distance from us. Why have kids? So we decided to homeschool. Then they turned five. Now what? I was not trained to be a homeschool mama. Who is? But hey, it's fun. I like having my kids with me, and they are learning! However, I must say, it's all the questions that drive me batty.

A question here, a comment there--this is fine; don't get me wrong. But imagine the never-ending question. The answer that just won't satisfy. The conversation that has no finale. One of my sons in particular has questions for me that he fires from a vocal cannon, which once loaded, can discharge for hours. When they begin to flow, my eyeballs start twitching. My hands sweat and my hair rises. Hide me. This boy (we have three) has asked us the oddest things (and I paraphrase, below) since the day he could talk. He somehow learned to chatter early, and quite well--definitely before I was ready.

Once, he spotted a spider in the upper left corner of our hallway and set out to explain to any soul who would listen, in his 2-year-old voice (and logic), that the spider was crying. How he came to that conclusion, I'll never know. The spider wasn't making a sound! Every time he saw any little eight-legger from that point on, he jumped up and down and exclaimed, "Pider cwying. Pider cwyyyying!" Our homeschooling adventure with him had begun!

I should have known that the wacky questions from my little fireball of energy would follow. Many of you, with your own kiddos, can relate, I'm sure. My son has an imagination that will not stop:

Age 2:

"Mommy, do chickens eat cookies?"
"Ummm . . . no. I don't believe they do."
"Why not?"
"Well, they were not made to eat cookies. The opportunity doesn't often present itself, I guess."
"Yes, but do chickens have lips?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake. No, they have a beak. Hey, look, we're almost at the park. Do you have your water bottle?"
"I want to be a race car when I grow up. Can I?"
"You can drive a race car, perhaps, but no, really you can't become one. You are a human being."
"But I want to be a race car."
"Son, you're 2 years old. Give your career goals some TIME. Oh, look! There's the park."

Conversations with a 9-year-old can be just as offbeat. Like the time this same funny boy came to me extremely concerned that our dog, Liesel, possibly thought that he was just a fellow canine:

He said, "But Mom, how do you know that she knows I'm a person? Maybe she thinks I am another dog. I don't want her to think I'm like the other dogs around here. I'm really human. Do you think she knows?"
"Yes, Son, she knows."
"But how do you know that she knows? She can't see herself, so she may not know what she is, or what I am."
"Trust me. She knows that she's a dog and you are a boy. A human boy."
"But how do you know that?"
"I just do. She is quite aware that you are NOT a dog like her."
"How can you be sure?"
"Go clean your room."

Years later . . .

"Can my hen climb down a tree?"
"No, that would be impossible."
"I put her up there and she's cackling."
"What on earth . . . how high?"
"Really high."
"Which tree?"
"You know . . . that pine tree out front. And the rooster is at the bottom all nervous."
"Well, I'd be, too, if my spouse were trapped in a tree! Go get her down!"

Now that he is older, the questions aren't so unbaked. Instead, they're really intense. Lately I hear myself saying, "Go ask Dad. That's a 'dad' question." I don't remember being this inquisitive in school. Nor do I recall my friends with imaginations like his. And it's not just my family. This "ever-curiousness" seems to be somewhat the norm in homeschool families. The kids are hanging out with their parents, so they ask grown-up questions earlier. They are afforded individual attention, so their time is better spent learning. They get enough sleep, avoid threats from bullies (usually, anyway), and can relax. They have the freedom to learn without worry of peers, worry of teachers, and worry of what's to come.

A homeschool house does not have a "sheep mentality." It's a living, breathing "think tank" that will challenge you in more ways than you can imagine. And across the board, homeschooled students carry on very well; you know this. And while I was not trained to be a homeschool mama, my kids are being trained to be homeschool mamas and papas. They'll do it even better than we are!

Keep up the good work, and when you are at times tempted to rip out your hair, or if you are afraid of the upcoming "school years," remember that your little talker will someday be a brainy adult . . . an independent thinker who will make a positive societal impact. To be sure, you are giving him an opportunity that is unmatched.

Been busy and sick

2010-12-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't posted must lately, but between 2 birthdays 5 days apart, getting sick(coughing and hoarse voice)over Thanksgiving and then getting ready for Christmas life has been on thing after another. Now we have definite winter weather. Cold(13 degrees in the afternoon) blowing wind with 2 inches of snow. Definitely inside weather.

Remember the soldiers

2010-11-11T04:03:00.000-08:00

Remember those men and women both past and present that have fought to help keep this country free. Regardless of how you feel about war, these brave men and women need our love and support and our prayers. They are away from their families for months and sometimes years while you see your everyday. Think about it.

My guy's bday!

2010-11-10T03:39:00.000-08:00

A BIG Happy Birthday to my husband! I hope he has a wonderful day today! :)

It's me

2010-11-07T20:01:00.001-08:00

Been needing to post, but haven't been in the mood. Or when I was, I wasn't able to be online. The weeks are flying by way too fast. It's already Nov and Christmas ads are appearing everywhere. I don't mind this holiday, in fact it's my favorite one. My home is adorned with winter and religious decorations. But it's the weather I'm not thrilled with. Hibernating till spring is not my most thrilling way of spending each day. Luckily we do have at least 2 days a week that I have to get out. Mon we visit our local library and check out books and such for the week. Tues our city we live in has a art and gym class they offer homeschoolers. So my 3 kids each have classes on this day. It nice for them to do art projects that don't make a mess in my house. And the gym class is nice so they get out some energy.

Then the rest of the week is usually at home with the occasional homeschool group day or country group day. Group day is where we meet at our local library and have guest speakers, talent day, art and crafts or game day. Just a time where the kids get to be with each other. The Country group is we meet once a month to report on our research on a certain country. The month of Nov we will be reporting on Ireland.

Then there's the occasional field trip we go on. There are some days I feel we are never home and then other times I feel we haven't stepped foot outside the house. Trying to make it an even balance isn't always easy.

This weekend I have had some answers thrown at me that made me realize I need to recheck my priorities. It's a good thing though, because I knew I was doing too much, but needed this confirmation. Going to church this weekend made me realize this. Now just need to implement my ideas. :)

Raining!

2010-10-26T03:58:00.000-07:00

I woke up around 3a.m. then 4a.m. then heard my cell phone beeping and the rain. Apparently it turned on by itself and had been beeping to say the battery was low. Funny, it's done this automatic turn on a few times. One time it did it for the whole weekend before it beeped. I think I might need a new one.

Speaking of rain, it's pouring and my son is driving in it. Thankfully his dad is with him and can gently guide him. It's supposed to be very windy today as well. So not looking forward to this weather. We even have a tornado watch until 11am today. Not a fun way to start your day.

Tonight is our annual trunk or treat. Hoping the weather will cooperate for it. The kids love it and even though I'm not a big fan of this holiday, I don't mind gathering together with church friends and having fun. Just hope the weather cooperates.

Been busy and lazy

2010-10-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

I have no excuse for posting other than I just didn't want to. I guess that's a good excuse. We've been busy doing school work, church and and life. I think that's plenty.

Robert and Natasha have been busy getting their costumes ready. The youth are doing a themed costume and they're doing pirates. So of course Robert wants to be Jack Sparrow EXACTLY! He is driving me crazy with all the little details of this guys outfit down to the rings and scars on him. I know he'll look great, but when you have to drag a little 6yr around doing this shopping it gets old really fast. I think we have everything now. Just need to get Natasha her simple stuff. Thankfully she's ok with whatever. So anyway, this Sat they have a Fall fling with some other youth and they'll wear their costumes. Then next Tues Oct 26th is our ward's trunk or treat. This is where church members(and others) back their car(or van trunks) up to the curb and let the kids go trunk to trunk gathering candy. For us this yr this will be the only candy gathering we do since Halloween is on a Sunday. We won't even be handing it out. Thankfully the kids understand this and are fine.

In other news the temps are getting cold. This morning we woke to 32 degrees. Guess my garden is gone now. hee hee It was a good one this yr. Got lots of beans, tomatoes, some lettuce and several yellow squash. 3 in fact. In yrs past we've had 2 or 2 small 2" squash grow but this yr they've gotten to 6" inches and were good.

As I'm sitting here I'm pondering about my weekend. Until last night it would be a regular weekend except the kids getting ready for their costume activity. Last night a friend emailed me to see if I would give the lesson in Relief Society this Sunday. I can't tell her no, but I do know I struggle greatly giving lessons in front of all the sisters who have so much more wisdom and understanding of the scriptures than I do. But with prayer and faith I shall press on.

General Conference weekend

2010-10-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend was General Conference weekend which meant that we didn't have to rush in the morning for showers and rush off to church. We watched church on line. Twice a year we do this. It's very relaxing and spiritual to sit in our own home and listen and learn. Check it out here at LDS.org . We have 5 sessions(2 hr meetings). 3 sessions on Sat(2 for the general public) and 1 Sat night for the men(priesthood). Then 2 more sessions Sunday.

It's wonderful to listen to our leaders from Salt Lake and their inspirational talks. And to hear the music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Just plain a relaxing. The weather hasn't cooperated much, but oh well. We have a tradition on Sat between the first 2 sessions that we go out to lunch. That way mom doesn't have a lot of mess to clean up. Dinner is usually fend for yourself. Anyway, after the first session I was hoping the weather would warm up so the girls could go outside, but it actually felt like it was even colder. Guess fall is coming.

Sometimes I can't post

2010-09-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

You know there are times when I feel if I post my true feelings, someone who is involved might read and get their feelings hurt, so sometimes I just don't post. Kind of like this weekend. On Sat one of dh's co-workers got married and so we both went to the wedding and the reception. The wedding was very nice. It lasted about 40 min, then a quick receiving line and then home. The reception was that night and again we both went. Now comes the part I'm referring to. I love(most of the time) being around the people dh works with, until they start using inappropriate language. Yes, they were drunk and such, but it just amazes me that people have such limited vocabulary that they have to use such words. I mean bad cuss words. Thankfully it was very limited(twice), but still.

I do have to say that the evening was fun though and I did get to dance with hubby twice. A slow dance(my favorite) and a faster one. It's been way too long since we have. It was nice. :)

So now back to reality and life. :)

First full week

2010-09-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

We are now ending our first full week of school. Not bad considering how our summer was....nice. It was hard to stop being lazy and get moving again(mostly mom's problem lol). I even had Sarah doing some school work. She's technically in 1st grade. I don't push too much, but I am trying to make sure she keeps up.

Natasha has been doing fairly well at getting up so early. And it sure has been nice to get started at 8 rather than 8:30 or 9. She is definitely enjoying the class, just not thrilled with 5am wake up time.

The rest of our studies are picking up. I'm finding a few things I have been doing are going to change and do something else. Not uncommon for homeschoolers. I did, with the help of a friend, find a good math website that has literally a ton of math and a few other subject links where the guy finds a problem and then shows you how to do it step by step. Girls loved it. I'm hoping to take advantage of it sometime myself.

Our art and gym class(through the city) went well. Lots of new families this yr. Found some new friends and renewed old friendships. I'm glad to be on a schedule again, just need to get my butt moving each morning so the kids see mom moving and know it's time for them as well.

Labor Day

2010-09-08T04:40:00.000-07:00

Just to set the record straight I do not celebrate Labor Day. Yes, dh has it off and we spend time with friends, but we don't talk about it or do anything special. So anyway, with that off my chest, we did have a fun day though. Church had a 5K run/walk which we participated in. The kids and I all ran/walked and dh stayed back to keep an eye on the small ones that couldn't do it. Robert ran/walked with bishop the whole time. Did well. Natasha ran for a bit with the young women and then caught up to myself and friends and walked. Sarah and I walked with some older sisters. It was nice. I'm very glad I've been walking a lot this summer or I would have collapsed. Took a bit over 30 min. We had a bit of rain, and hail, but still a good walk.

Then had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage and other goodies. After wards came home and got ready for our company to come after lunch. Our friends live in Madison and have 7 children. We've known this family for 13 yrs. They moved to WI 13yrs ago newly married and expecting. They did move away for a few yrs, but 4yrs ago moved back. So we spent 5hrs with them chatting and having a good time.

Had hamburgers and the works. It was hard to say goodbye, but they had an hrs drive and we had 2 older kids needing to head to bed soon. The next morning I was fine at first, but by 8am my stomach was not happy. I managed to hold off until after the devotional but then it hit hard. All the pancakes(2) and the greasy hamburger and bun didn't hold well. I ended up in the bathroom for about 30 min before I dared emerge. Finally it settled enough to get on with my day. You see last May I decided I needed to lose some weight and so I've taken bread out of my diet(amoungst a few other items) and putting it back in for just a few meals wasn't good.

I'm better today, but need to watch things a bit better. But anyay, our weekend was good. But glad to be starting our school schedule now.

A busy day

2010-09-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

After getting up at 5:15 a.m. to get Natasha up for seminary, I sat down online and started doing my emails and such. Around 5:30 dh took both Robert and Natasha to their class. Later on, once they were home, around 8:30 we got started on our day. Had the kids do some more review on school stuff. Then after lunch we headed to our local library for a "Greet n Meet". We were getting together with several new and soon-to-be members of our homeschool group. We had a blast. 9 moms came, and each mom had about 2 kids with the exception of 2 moms having several more. So all in all about 25 kids. They played games and colored. The moms chatted and I gave them more info on our group. Had a great time. I did manage to stay on my feet for the entire 2 hrs! Oh were my legs sore.

Came home and got dinner ready. And then relaxed for the evening. Robert has a friend over so they're currently playing the Wii. The girls are in bed. Exh

Seminary and getting up early

2010-09-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

My oldest dd Natasha is now old enough to do seminary. This is a bible study type of class that starts at 6am each weekday morning for youth 14 - 18. Some kids meet at their local church, others meet at the teacher's home. Our kids go to her home. She is loving it, but struggling with getting up early. First day was Thurs and she did great. This morning was a bit harder since she stayed up a bit late (10pm) and didn't realize that she would be getting up 7 hrs later. She's used to 10 to 12 hrs. Thankfully she'll have the weekend to catch up on sleep and then be ready Tues again.

I'm very thankful for the teacher she has. Natasha hasn't ever taken any tests since the few I've given her she has frozen and couldn't think. The teacher is willing to let her bring them home and let me help her. I'm going to be asking Natasha how she wants to do this. Let her make the decision. I know it will affect her grade if she doesn't do well. But thankfully she likes seminary so that helps.

Changing routines

2010-08-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again where we start doing regular school work again. We did stop all through July due to the holiday and camps. But we did start our devotionals again beginning of Aug. Now, this week we will be doing review work so that next week we can take off from where we stopped 2 months ago.

We have some more structured stuff for Sarah to do since she'll be in 1st grade technically. She was doing some 1st grade stuff last yr, but I'm sure she'll zoom fast. She has some new work books and some other new stuff we're going to try with her. She loves learning and figuring out why.

Natasha has shown me lately that she is very smart. She's very shy at times, but very smart. She knows how to get out of doing some school stuff if she just plays dumb. But I've caught on to her game and am just going to ignore when she does that. She loves learning about science and history so those should be fun with her. Just need to get her excited about math. Of course it's not my favorite subject either. ;/ She's also starting seminary this year. She's a bit nervous about what it will be like, but I told her it was just like Sunday School just much earlier lol. She'll do fine.

Robert is on his last yr of school. I am so not looking forward to this. I know he is, but I'm always worried that he won't know everything he should. I know he'll be fine, but as his mother I worry. This is also his last yr with seminary. I know he actually looks forward to it. I'm looking forward to having our regular routine again which means I can shower before we start our day.

Well, need to quit for the night. Need to get bread machine ready and get to bed. Need to start getting myself ready for the school routine.

Natasha's bday

2010-08-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice time celebrating Natasha's bday. She is now 14 and enjoying receiving more grown up gifts. We also had a good time at Discovery World. Thanks to the reading program at our local library we received 3 free tickets for kids. Plus we found out that they were having a special on adult tickets....$10 per adult versus $16.95. So we got to enjoy 4 hrs for $20. So instead of $63.00 we paid $20.

Then we went out to dinner at Golden Corral. Enjoyed that and then home for gifts. Overall a very nice day.

Just a quick post

2010-08-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

Right now we're waiting for the time to start our morning devotional. As we are, the two girls are coloring and drawing. Robert is trying to come up with cheap/free ways of helping to make home movies easier. We're in the process of researching China and the girls get to act out what we're researching which is employment and currency. They will be making a movie of this....I hope.

And today will be a busy day. After the devotional I get myself ready to head out to bday cake shopping with the soon-to-be birthday girl. Then home and research. Lunch and then park day. We're taking some goodies with us to do a pre-celebration of Natasha's bday. Then home get Robert to his meeting point to head to the Brewer game with the youth. Later on dh takes Natasha to her first sleep over with the young women that she hangs with at church. That leaves Sarah and I at home with dad until Robert comes home. Busy day indeed.

Doing a bit better

2010-08-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to keep up with my blog, but sometimes I just run out of steam. We've been busy lately trying to get in last min fun things before we buckle down to school again. Can't believe summer is almost over and school again. We are always learning stuff, but during July we pretty much stop everything because of the holiday and then summer camps. By the first of Aug we're back to doing devotionals each morning and then the day after Labor Day we get moving serious stuff.

This week we will be one of our busiest close to home weeks in awhile. Mon dh and Robert and Sarah will go bday shopping for Natasha. Tues Natasha will be at a sleep over at her YW Leader's home. Robert will be attending the Brewer's game along with the other youth 14 and up. They will get home late. Wed will be just hanging out at home after breakfast waiting on sister to come home. Wed is also her 14th bday so we pretty much do whatever she wants.

Thurs is a much calmer day, but we do have an afternoon field trip to a honey farm. Looking forward to it. Fri is homeschool day at 6 Flags. Tickets are way cheaper that day. So a few of us families are heading there for the day. Weather is looking pretty good.

Sat will hopefully just hang out at home resting from the week.

Latest on us

2010-08-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, the weather has finally cooled off quite a bit and the muggy humidity is down a lot. The temp today was high 70's. I even took out my hoody and wore at the park. But overall a nice day.

Our homeschool group is growing pretty well. We now have 4 new members since last month. Not bad. I think we have about 30 members now. Not bad since we just started the group in Jan. We're super excited about the upcoming classes we have. Sept we have an officer coming to talk about internet safety. Oct we have the red cross giving us basic first aid class. Then Nov we have a craft that will possibly be a gift for someone. Dec probably won't be anything since it's close to Christmas, but we might have something.

Our Country Group has 8 countries we will be studying this yr. China is first. I've enjoyed the summer, but it's really time to get back into school stuff. I just need to do some reorganizing of the school room. Just glad Robert will be keeping the girls occupied so I can take the time to do it right. Hate getting interrupted in the middle of stuff like that.

Next week is Natasha's 14 bday. She'll be attending seminary with Robert this yr. Should be interesting since she loves sleeping in and class starts at 6am. We'll see how it goes. :)

Youth Temple Trip

2010-08-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well today my 2 oldest get to do yet another temple trip. Dh is going along as a priesthood holder and possible driver. So that leaves Sarah and mommy home to do their own thing. I think a trip to Mc D's for dinner is in order. That way there's no dishes for mommy since we're probably going out to lunch. These are the days I love since it means to menu preparation needing to be done.

Some days I don't mind coming up with menus, but mostly the stuff I like to make is cooking which means turning on the oven. Right now we avoid that as much as possible with all the humidity and heat. So lots of cold pastas, sandwiches or just whatever. We do some toaster oven cooking for chicken and such, but not a lot.

Attack of the mosquitoes

2010-08-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

For the past several weeks here in WI we have had a major case of mosquitoes. We had major rain storms several times then warm and muggy air. Perfect conditions for the pests. It made sitting outside very difficult since all you were doing is slapping yourself silly. It got so bad that a lot of stores were out of the more popular brands of spray. Well, finally today a nice cool breeze has blown and the mugginess and hotness are gone. 99% of the pests are too. It was so nice this late afternoon to sit on the back porch and not have to keep smacking.

We also had a nice visit with homeschool friends at our local park. Kids had fun and we all enjoyed ourselves. I have one of those friends coming over tomorrow to chat for a bit. Looking forward to it.

We're also slowly getting back into school mode. We've started doing the devotionals again this week. Next week we start doing research on the country group again. Our first presentation is the first Fri of Sept. Wow the summer went by fast.

Family together

2010-07-31T06:35:00.001-07:00

Well, we're all back home together again. Dh and Natasha had a great time minus the hoardes of mosquitoes. Luckily they had a/c cabins to escape to when they weren't doing activities. But overall they had fun. So glad to have them back though because this means that off schedules will be back. Sarah really struggled Wed evening due to being up late at night and missing her sister. She had a pretty good melt down so mom and dd snuggled a bit then found other things to do.

Yesterday dh had off. Didn't make sense to go into work for just one day. So after Robert's driving lesson and the girl's and I doing some last min bday shopping(for a friend) we all went out and watched "despecably (sp?) me. Very cute very funny movie. Then out to dinner at Golden Corral. Nice afternoon and evening. Then home to relax and eventually bedtime.

Today the girls and I get to attend a bday party this afternoon leaving the guys home. Not sure what all they will do, but whatever. Then Mon we start with our school schedule slowly. Natasha isn't thrilled with it, but that's ok we need to get back into it.

They come home

2010-07-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

Today dh and Natasha come home from girls' camp. As much as I'm looking forward to them coming home, I kind of wish one more day just to clean and straighten up a bit. But oh well I'll just do the best I can. I do know that Sarah is very anxious for her sister. Even though she won't feel up to playing, she'll still be home. Yesterday I could have done more but Robert insisted on just hanging at Best Buy for a bit. We ended up being there for over 30 min. My objective was 15. Then we headed to Walmart to finish bday shopping for a friends' dd. Might still need to get one or two more things but we'll see.

Met the new mom to join our new group. Very nice person. Very pretty. She has 3 kids not 4 like I thought. Getting her confused with another mom lol. They just moved from Michigan to WI 2 or 3 weeks ago. Oh boy I so do not envy that. Moving is a pain. But glad they're here.

Later on this morning Robert has a behind the wheel instruction so I'll be dropping him off there. Then home to clean. Thankfully I had him drive a bit on Tues and Wed. It had been 2 or 3 weeks since he'd driven due to scout camp. He'll do fine.

Day 3

2010-07-28T04:25:00.000-07:00

and now it's going by fast. Mon was slow simply because I was so sure Natasha would be sick and would have to come home. I kept waiting on phone calls, but nothing happened. I think what was going on is she had gotten herself so excited that her body was reacting negatively. I think once she got with her friends her body settled and she had fun. I'm very glad because she was soo looking forward to this and she would have been heart broken had she had to stay home.

Meanwhile, mom, Sarah and Robert are enjoying themselves. No dinner menu being planned. Robert takes care of himself and I do Sarah and myself. It's nice. I really don't like cooking most days, but I do it because I need to take care of my family. Once in while it's fun, but not often.

Now I have to tell you all something that to me is funny. Not ha ha funny, but just chuckle funny. Monday night Robert stays up until 1ish am. He then gets up at 5:30 for the day. Says he's fine and thinking of doing the same thing Tues night. Well, it's Wed morning at 6:30 and he's snoozing away. I have no idea what time he went to sleep, but I think his body is telling him that not again lol

Today Robert wants to just hang out at Best Buy for a bit, then we'll head home and get a bit of straightening done. Then after lunch I'm headed over to the park to meet a new mom and her kids that want to join our group. I believe 4 kids. So Sarah and I will do that while Robert stays home and hopefully cleans. Then any errands we might have. Around 6 I take Robert to the library for his last volunteer day for the reading program. He's made a friend and has had fun doing this. I think it's great. So while he's there I go home and pick up a friend and return to the library a bit later so she can use the libraries computer. I then take down all the art work loaned to me by hs children. They were very nice to ask us if we wanted to do as the public school kids do and display our art work. The kids were thrilled.

Guilty Conscience

2010-07-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today my hubby and oldest dd Natasha went off to girls' camp till Thurs. However, last night she was complaining of a headache. She also commented that she was a bit chilly. I felt her forehead and it was a bit warm. Gave her some meds and an hr later she was fine. So we continued finishing packing. This morning when I got her up, she was a bit warm again, but no headache. She said she was a bit chilly but felt fine otherwise. So I let her go. I did give her some meds to take while she's there, but I'm starting to wonder if I should have made her stay home. She was so super excited to go. Been talking about camp for weeks. So prayers would be appreciated that she's be fine and that the warmness will go away.

It rained and rained and rained and .............

2010-07-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is what happened last night after hours of hard rain and some tornadoes in our area.
Storms

There were apparently several different areas that were sinking due to the storm. We did fine, just lots of lightening. Not fun, but we made it through. Supposed to get scattered showers on Sat and then dry until next Wed. We're going to need it.

July is almost over

2010-07-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time flies. I vividly remember thinking that spring was finally here and then suddenly summer is half over. Where did the time go? Robert has already had his scout camp and is home now. Next week Natasha goes to Young Women's(girls' camp) for 4 days with dh. She is really looking forward to it. And then there's Sarah who gets to just stay home with mom. :) I'm thinking of having dh take her out for a quick shopping errand and then ice cream at McD's for her summer treat. Might even be brave enough to set up the tent and let the kids sleep out back for fun. We'll have to see.

Once Aug hits we gradually get back into school routine. I have to say not sure if I'm ready yet, but I know the kids really need it. 1 month of just goofing is more then plenty. Thankfully we have had some planned activities so they haven't driven me completely nuts lol.

And things I have been doing to keep me busy is our yard. It's almost done now that summer is almost gone lol. But it'll be nice once finished. We have this shady side to our house which gets next to no sun. It was full of partial grass and moss growing. Hard to get it mowed. So I pulled all the grass(easy to do when wet) and we've now added a non weed covering along with red burch ground covering. It looks very nice. We did run out of the stuff and will need to buy a few more packages. Then plant the few plants we have and finally relax. At least the summer hasn't been boring. :)

Robert comes home

2010-07-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

This afternoon sometime after lunch(probably around 2 ) Robert will be home from scout camp. I'm very glad he got to go and have this experience on his own. I'm looking forward to all the stories. But most of all just glad to have him home safe. We then have a week of "normal" life before Natasha and dh head off for girls' camp. Then I believe we're done with camps for the yr. She's really looking forward to it so it makes it much easier for me to relax more and know that she's having fun and doing well. So now we just need to have daddy take Sarah out on an ice cream date so she feels included with daddy. :)

Last day just us girls

2010-07-16T04:47:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow afternoon my son will be home from scout camp. He's done this the past 6 yrs now and you'd think I'd be used to it. Not so. I'm very glad he's had this opportunity once again. But the last 2 days the girls have commented on how they miss him. Can't wait until he gets home. I feel the same way. I have missed (mostly) our conversations and just general chatting. But a special last day treat I'm giving the girls is a shopping spree of sorts. No, we're not going to spend tons(don't have tons lol) but they have been asking for some new night gowns so I think we'll try for that and then lunch out. Should be fun and something new and exciting to do before brother gets home.

Natasha also finally got her new glasses. She is so super excited to have them. Once Robert gets home I'll have him take some photos and then post them. She normally wears very conservative type glasses, but this time she went into a little bit of fun. Black frames with purple on the side. Very daring for her and very cute. Now if we can just find some new ones for mom that I like. The eye glass place didn't have anything I liked in my size. Hoping next week dh and I can shop at another store and find something. I do need some new ones.

100 yrs of scouting

2010-07-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Scouting

Wonderful article about scouting and the LDS church.

A good day

2010-07-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

Had a pretty good day. Started out with off and on clouds. Mostly sunny. Got ourselves ready to get to the library. Finished way sooner than I expected. Headed out since I was also going to meet a perspective new homeschooling mom. She said she had lots of questions that she just needed answered. I think I helped. She seemed really relieved at several of my answers. While we were there another one of my homeschool friends came with some art work to hang. I introduced to two of them.

After the library we headed home and picked up some corn. First of the yr. Not sure how good it will be, but we'll see. Spent the rest of the day just lounging about. I had wanted to go out and buy some more flowers, but was just too darn lazy. And Natasha was complaining of a head ache. Must be growing pains again.

By evening time the girls were watching Myth-Busters
We had dad watching them as well for over an hr. Then bedtime. Tomorrow we'll hopefully get out and purchase some flowers. Then after lunch head to the park. The girls are excited.

The weekend

2010-07-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

The weekend has been good. Sent Robert off for his last yr of scout camp Sat morning at 6:30. Dh stayed home this yr. Last yr he barely went. He also went to girls' camp last yr so I think he was all camped out. This yr he's just doing girls' camp. That happens a week from this Mon.

So after dh got back from dropping Robert off we just had a nice relaxing morning. Then off to do some errand shopping to continue fixing our yard. Had a late lunch then home. Got started on the yard and it started raining. Quick hard storm for about 20 min. We were dumping soil onto our side yard and had to stop. After the rain we continued on. Dh also dug out window boxes(can't remember what they're called but they are holes near windows in the basement). Dug out 2 and put in white rocks inside. Looks great.

Sometime this week we'll add the cover that helps keep weeds out and then red burch. We also have some bleeding hearts to add once finished. I'm so excited about how nice our yard looks. It's been fun and has kept me busy.

This week sometime we'll be getting Natasha ready for camp. She's bugging us for a girls sleeping bag so we'll be looking for that this week. She really needs one though. She used dh's old one last yr and well we'll get her a new one.

Scout camp

2010-07-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Robert leaves for his 6th yr of scout camp. This being his first time without his dad. Dh went 5 yrs in a row. Last yr said no more. So tomorrow I'll be without my son for 8 days. I'll miss him even though the girls are home. There's just something about any family member being gone that makes a hole in the house (so to speak).

Then a week from Mon Natasha and hubby leave for 4 days of girls' camp. She's really looking forward to it. I know dh is simply because he's not tied down to one camp. He helps with the whole thing. Last yr they had rain for the 1st 2 days. Soaked a lot of tents and sleeping bags. Our ward luckily stayed dry but others weren't so lucky. Dh ended up at the local laundry mat most of the first day. Poor guy lol

Surprise, it's me again. :)

2010-07-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hubby is still at work and it's 10:30pm. He's been there since 8am. Long day and evening. Not sure when he'll be home. Usually he's playing some games on his computer so I can't do many blogs since it interferes with his game. So I just wait until later on.

This week has been somewhat busy. Mon was our church's Independence Day activity. Enjoyable. Tues dh took off so we did library, did lunch, watched Toy Story 3, ordered Natasha's glasses, then took the two older ones to an activity while dh and I did more yard shopping. Wed was being lazy day. Today one of our homeschool moms invited us to her place for the afternoon. The kids played in her water slide and played volleyball. The moms just chatted.

Got home and helped ds get started packing for scout camp on Sat. It will be lonely without him, but we'll manage. Then in 2 more weeks Natasha goes to girls' camp for 4 days. July has become one very busy month.

Just wanting to relax

2010-07-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

I told the kids at the beginning of July that we would stop doing structured school and just relax. Not sure what happened but I'm wondering where the relaxing part went. Now, I don't mind having things to do most days, but if I'm going to be able to be me again soon I need some me time.

I love being with my kids and learning with them. I wouldn't be homeschooling if I didn't. But towards the middle and then at the very end(late spring) we're all itching to be outside(except my son ) so it's hard to be inside doing studies. I would love to be outside doing school, but my girls get side tracked and it wouldn't work. So we hurry through the lessons. Pretty much nothing much really gets learned. So finally the last week in June we just stopped. Robert has youth conference then and it just seemed silly to start up for only 3 or 4 days.

One good thing that has kept me busy but I like is planting our flowers. We have done some major planting and minor landscaping. We got our garden in, most of the flowers in by late June. Right now we're just redoing the side yard that just plain looks messy. I have pulled the grass and moss out and this weekend we hope to put some soil and other stuff down and then plant some stuff. Whatever we find needs to grow good in shade. We do have 3 bleeding heart plants. They are beautiful in the photos. Looking forward to when they bloom.

Tomorrow we're going to a friend's home to let the kids play. This mom only has 1 vehicle so she has to let her dh have it most days. The girls are really excited. I'm looking forward to it as well.

Oh just have to tell you, yesterday dh took the day off so we could purchase some glasses for Natasha. But before that dh decides to give us a treat and take us to see Toy Story 3. It was very good. Very teary eyed, but so good. Nice surprise.

This Sat Robert will be going on his 6th Scout Camp. He wasn't going to go, but this past week his friends that are going were trying to convince him. So after chatting with us, we decided to let him go knowing that next yr he will not go. Next yr will probably be high adventure if he goes anywhere. We'll see. So Thurs and Fri it's laundry time and other stuff time. And 2 weeks later Natasha and dh go to girls' camp. Dh will be the priesthood leader for the week like last yr. Natasha is excited and now that I know she enjoyed last yr, I won't be so nervous.

So the next few weeks will be packed getting ready for camping. I'm already tired just thinking about it all. :)

John Adams - Declaration of Independence

2010-07-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

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You can tell they were heavy in heart doing this. And to see how our government has been allowed to be what they were against would just crush them.

Getting behind on posting

2010-06-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

With all the nice weather we've finally been having, I've been trying to spend as much of it outside. We had major rain storms and even a tornado spotted several miles from us. 3 months ago we definitely needed the rain. We have now received our portion and a few extras. I'm very thankful for the rain, but now we just need a break and let our ground dry out.

Last weekend Robert went to Youth-Conference .
He had a great time and wasn't thrilled when it was over. But he's now looking forward to next yr. The weekend was nice and we spent it continuing to fix up our yard. Doing the last of our flower planting. Stuck two metal flower holders with hanging plants on them out front. So now we have lots of flowers. I'm loving it. Then on the shady side of our home I'm tearing out the lawn so we can plant some shade flowers. Pretty much it's yucky grass and moss. Hard to mow the lawn that close. So that will be one last place to mow.

Yesterday the girls were invited to a homeschool friend's bday party. So another friend along with her daughters and us drove out to their home. Very nice big home. Had a water slide(blow up) and a swingset. The weather wasn't as warm but the kids still enjoyed it. Had pizza for dinner and ice cream cake for dessert. Opened gifts and then had to leave. Spent about 6hrs. It was very nice.

Today I've decided that we're starting our 1 month break from school. The only thing I require of the kids and a devotional and some math. Otherwise no arguing just playing nicely or chores will be assigned. It's been a rocky start, but we'll see how it goes. They thought mom meant no doing anything. lol Umm nope, still have to deal with life stuff.

Tornado near us

2010-06-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Tornado-in-Eagle-WI

This is the the tornado that passed us to the south and hit a community about 30 miles south of us.

Thunderous and stormy night

2010-06-22T04:52:00.000-07:00

We had a very stormy night last night. Started out with just the normal thunder and lightening. Quickly turned into tornado watch. Then, around 9:30 tornado warning in our county. We didn't have any in our area, but several were spotted down south of us and at our local airport. The sirens went off, but then stopped. We watched the storm as it split and left us. Still a powerful storm. Some friends had power outages and branches everywhere. We were lucky just lots of rain.

Ray Stevens - Patriotic

2010-06-10T04:54:00.000-07:00

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Very good video

Been busy

2010-06-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

I was going to post over the Memorial Holiday, but just got so busy, I forgot. We had a nice weekend, and was sad to see it go, but life goes on. Last Sat, dh and I got busy planting the last of our flowers and got the garden started. The flowers were starting to look very sad. Did some other chores then had an early dinner.

Sunday was normal church at least for Sacrament. Robert was getting his patriarchal blessing at 2:30 so that meant right after we had to leave. It was a nice blessing. The Patriarch chatted with Robert for a bit, then invited us in for the blessing. Afterward we chatted for a bit. Then headed home since church would be over in 30 min and it would take us 20 to get there. Spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

Monday morning we headed to a local park for a church service project. We were asked to pull a certain weed along the river path. So after a nice devotional, we headed to the path. We were finished about an hr early, but that was fine. Left around 10:30 to head home and get ready to head to friends' home. We were spending the rest of the day with them. Same faith (LDS) same educational ideas (homeschooling) and same political ideas. So nice chat. The kids had a blast as well. They have 7 kids ranging from 12 - 1yr.

So nice weekend and a nice week so far. Just trying to get school stuff done enough so we can settle a bit in summer. We still do school, just not as intense. Tues was our make believe Mon for going to the library. We also had the dishwasher repairman come. Our dishwasher just stopped working on Fri so we sat around Tues from 1ish till he got here around 3:30. Turns out one of the plugs underneath was unplugged. So now it works.

Wed. was just school during the day. That evening Robert had orientation meeting at the library getting ready to volunteer for the summer reading program. This is his 4th yr. Thurs was spent doing more school and then getting the kids ready to head to the temple that afternoon. Dropped them off then Sarah and I had the afternoon to ourselves. Did a few walks and then computer games. Finally daddy came home and we headed off to walmart. Did some major shopping. Afterward daddy treated us to McD's ice cream. Sarah was thrilled. Made it home by 9:30. Cartoons were in order while we waited for brother and sister's call to say they were coming home.

Around 10:30 dh left to go get the kids. Received a call around 11 that there was an accident delaying the kids and so we waited and waited and waited. They finally got home around 12:30am. Very tired but had fun. Looking forward to hearing all about it later on.

Happy Memorial Day! TISSUE ALERT

2010-05-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

___________________________________________________________________________

This is a Veterans Day/Memorial Day tribute to ALL soldiers that have defended and are still defending our country.

Busy, busy day

2010-05-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Dh had the day off so he could redo our back lawn. Last yr when we got our patio dug up, we had to put the grass somewhere so we stacked it in the backyard. Well, we didn't quite stack it the right way, but by the time I realized this it was too cold and was going to be snowing. So today he tilled it, the girls and I racked it over smooth, then he re-seeded it and watered. That was a lot of work for him.

Then the girls and I took a break this afternoon and went to our local park to meet some other hs moms. Had a nice visit and even had a nice breeze. The weather has turned to summer humid weather, and even though we like warm weather, this is kind of early for WI. It was 90 today!

Once we got home from the park the two oldest started getting ready for youth night. Robert was going on a field trip with the young men. Natasha went to church with dad and the young women did a fashion show. She told me she forgot they were doing this and were supposed to wear dresses. Oh well.

While the older kids were gone, Sarah and I took a long bike ride/walk and then came home and planted some more flowers. I've been wanting to plant them on a Sat, but with this hot humid weather, they are withering way too fast. But at least with the nice weather we don't have to wear jackets or sweaters which is nice.

Tomorrow just a regular school day(I hope) with an ortho appt in the afternoon. Otherwise it should be a nice relaxing day.

Our weekend....whew!

2010-05-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

It started with us getting up early so all could shower and head out for a field trip to an art museum in downtown. That was fine, I'm used to that. The day was cloudy and drizzly, but we'd be inside so that was good. The field trip was very fun, especially the art class. All the kids were encouraged to make very silly faces on paper. So they did lol

After the art stuff we headed over to a local church to check out their stain glass windows and hear the history of the building. Very cool. Headed home at this point to rest for a bit before heading out to our last homeschool groups group day. We had a meteorologist come speak to us on weather. Then showed up some videos of tornadoes he took himself chasing them. What a nut. Came home and brought another child with us. One of Robert's friends was going on the camp out and rock climbing with Robert for the young men of our church. After dinner we all piled into the van and dropped off the boys to the meeting spot. Went back home and rested for the night.

Next morning Natasha and dh (and myself)got up around 5am so they could join the boys(no co-ed sleep overs). The rest of the day was Sarah and I just together. We did a bit of playing out side, then did some shopping before stopping for Mc D's lunch. Spent the rest of the day just hanging outside. Around 4pm dh and Natasha show up and shortly there after Robert and his friend are brought home. Tired and stinky they were after climbing on a hot day.

Sunday was church. Normal morning of getting ready. Church for 4 hrs(choir before hand) then home for the evening.

So today it's Monday and the weather was hot....92 degrees. That may seem like nothing to some of you, but for WI this time of the yr it's way hot. I'm grateful that we have it, but the mugginess came with it. Did manage to get some yard work done this afternoon. Planted some flowers in my freshly dug out flower garden.

So now it's 10 pm Mon evening and I'm exhausted. Guess the day just wore me out.

The weekend is here

2010-05-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well today it's just my dd Sarah and I hanging. Robert, Natasha and Bobby are at a young men's camp out. The boys went up Friday night to campout and the young women went up this morning. Apparently they had about 11 girls that wanted to and 7 boys. Nice turn out from last yr of only 3 girls and maybe 4 boys. Bobby got recruited to help drive some of the girls up there since I have no idea how to get there, and I just can't imagine him having to spend 8hrs with Sarah. He loves her, but she's a bundle of energy.

So Sarah and I are going to do lunch Sarah style(Mc D's) and then do a bit of shopping before coming home and just hanging out. The weather is finally nice again, so we can be outside.

Yesterday we went on a morning field trip to an art museum. They took us on a tour then had a art class for all the kids. Sarah had a blast doing her project. They learned a little bit about Picasso and how he liked doing things. Then they got to do a crazy face for a project. Fun!

After the field trip we dropped Bobby off at home and the kids and I went to our last hs group day event. Group day is where our "group" gets together for an activity or speaker. We had a friends weather man friend come talk about weather and tornadoes. Very interesting. A bit on the long side, but still very informative. Robert drove us there and even offered. I didn't have to ask. He's doing much better, but still a bit stiff. But with practice he should improve.

A good day

2010-05-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today is our weekly day to visit the library. We do our morning devotional then get the books ready to go back. Some days this seems to take all morning and other times it gets done rather quickly. This morning it was done rather quickly, but then our back yard neighbor called to see if the kids were available to pick up sticks. She has a lawn service that wants big sticks off the lawn. She is in her 80's and unable to really bend over so my kids help out and get paid a few dollars.

Once done we headed to the library. While the girls were busy with their stuff, one of the librarians in charge of the reading program stopped Robert to see if he would help volunteer once again during the summer. He quickly responded sure. Even though he's a pain in the butt at home sometimes, he's really a good kid when it matters.

After we were done we headed to get lunch and then home. After lunch I went out and continued getting our front flower garden ready for planting. I was straightening out the lawn to make mowing easier. To be honest it was quite fun. I've been wanting to clean things out for awhile, but never thought I could. Thankfully a friend came over last yr and showed me how simple it is. So now I'm having fun. I then trimmed the new area with some bricks that we had pulled out of the ground 5yrs ago. I knew they would be good for something. So now that is done and just needs flowers.

Bobby sprayed the grass right outside the school room door by the a/c. That lawn is hard to mow so I decided we would just plant flowers there. So he sprayed to kill the lawn and so tonight, after dinner, I went out and started pulling the grass out. Natasha helped me by throwing it all away when got it out. Lot of back breaking work, but we'll worth it in the end.

Tomorrow is park day in the afternoon. I told the girls if they did a good mornings work with school that we would head over to see our hs friends. They love park days so our school morning should be good.

My weekend

2010-05-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

We had a busy, but good weekend here. Fri, Robert went off with a friend to spend the night, then help out with an Eagle project. Bobby and I took the girls flower shopping. They did a great job helping by picking out ones they liked. Sat I went outside and continued weeding and edging our lawn. When we first moved in over 6yrs ago the lawn was kind of wavy edges. I really didn't pay much attention since we were just excited to have a new home.

Now, 6yrs later, I've finally had the desire to do something. Last yr I had a friend come over and show me how to plant planters. Once I found out how easy it is, I was hooked. I found myself planting flowers everywhere it was possible lol. So this yr, I'm really getting into it and having fun. Yes, having fun weeding and planting.

And while I was doing this, Robert(once he got home) and his dad spent several hrs attaching our antenna to the side of the house. Then we went out for dinner and a bit of food shopping. Weather was great!

Now the weekday begins. Robert is done with seminary for now until next Sept. I miss getting up that early, but so far this morning the kids are still sleeping and it's 7:30. Enjoying it while I can.

Raining

2010-05-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

Woke up to pouring rain. This whole week is supposed to be raining somewhat. We need the rain, but sure need time outside for my 6yr to run around. She needs to be active or bedtime can be a pain. This photo of her was taken 1 yr ago last March. Her hair is just a bit longer than this. (first photos of kids I've ever posted) I am hoping today to get her and her older sister involved in some fun math. We'll see how it goes.

Some of my Mother's Day gifts

2010-05-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day gifts from my kids.

____________________

My mouth

2010-05-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

It's been 2 1/2 days since my 2 teeth were extracted and I'm doing pretty good. Still can chew many hard things(shouldn't be at all yet lol) but am managing meat pretty good. Dh made me Stroganoff (sp?) as requested for Mother's Day and it tasted really good. Nice soft noodles, meat not too bad. I think just the act of chewing anything right now is going to make my jaws a bit sore for awhile. Went to church yesterday and did the music. My jaw was pretty achy afterward, but felt good to be back. My dh also gave me a gift a bit early. It's a Mother's Day necklace that has all 3 kids birthstones on it. Very nice. The girls were thrilled since hey got to help dad create it. :)

After dinner we the kids gave me gifts. Aside from the beautiful necklace, I received several bags of chocolate (yummm) 2 froggy statues(I'll have to get photos of them and post) 2 patriotic gifts and a patriotic bow. Also, a red spinning thingy that has a flag in the middle of it. Very nice stuff. All in all it was a good day.

Mother's Day - from a friend on face book

2010-05-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

If roses grow in heaven, Lord, pick a bunch for me~Place
them in my Mother's arms & tell her they're from me~Tell her
that I love & miss her, & when she turns to smile~place a
kiss upon her cheek & hold her for a while ~ Because remembering
her is easy~I do it everyday ~ There's an ache within my heart that
will never go away. I love and miss you, Mama!!

Tooth extraction

2010-05-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's been needing to come out for 2yrs, but as normal, I have ignored it. Supposedly the nerve is gone so I was just going to let it be for awhile. However, the tooth seems to have its own thoughts on this and now wants attention. Unfortunately it's bad attention. For the past several months it has given me warnings once or twice a week. Lately, however, it's now down to several times a day and sometimes quite unbearable. So I'm finally giving in and going in tomorrow.

Mom again

2010-05-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

I just read a blog by my nephew's wife about their beloved son who passed away a few yrs ago at the tender age of 4. All of her thoughts I have read before my mom passed away, I felt bad for her, but it didn't really hit me just how much of a loss her and my nephew have gone through until my mom passed away. It's been a yr now and I still have to watch myself. I was watching a show on tv the other night and one of the characters had MS and it hit me. I had to control myself since my husband is not emotional and doesn't understand that I still miss her.

Most days now I'm fine even just thinking of her. But every now and then something will strike a nerve in me and I have to fight it back. I guess sometimes I dwell on her too much thinking that if I don't think of her all the time, I will forget her. But then other times I know she won't be forgotten and I allow myself to just go on. It's what she would want.

So for all of you who read my blog, thanks for putting up with my emotions. They are still pretty raw, but getting better. LOVE YOU MOM!