My life as a transplanted Yankee

2011-12-05T13:53:00.001-06:00

I am aware that this blog has flatlined! I will now commence the whining about lack of internet access! It really does suck.
The girls just got finished with Willow Oaks Children's choir for the semester. 'Bout stinkin' time. This was particularly unfun this time. Late rehearsals. Two performance nights that went way too late into the night. Bella fell on the gym floor and split her lip open on the inside. She did this Saturday and today (Monday) she is still feeling the pain and is very swollen. Poor kid.

We had a blessed day at church yesterday. Just really enjoyed it. My friend Jason got a job last week. The poor guy has been looking for about 2 years. And then...the day of his first day of work...50 car pile up and he and his family were in it. They were okay but 2 people died in the wreck. One of whom was the son of a couple we go to church with. So sad.

I can't even tell you about how awesome Walt Disney World was. It was beyond imagination. Loved, loved, loved it! Can't wait to go back! It's making me emotional thinking about it! What a time we had!

2011-09-09T16:28:00.000-05:00

I'm getting to the point that I am sick to death of not having internet access like a "normal" person. I know that 95% of the world doesn't have internet at all so I'm exaggerating slightly. But I have things I have to do. Plan for Girl Scouts and for the tutorial that I 'm now teaching for starters.

Just venting...

The weather is so wonderful right now. I read to the girls outside in the sun because I was too chilly to sit on the porch! They are at a friend's house getting to go for a hike today. I let my friend borrow our lawn mower and I ran away to the library. yeah!

I'm trying to get stuff done. But my brain just doesn't work this way. Normally I'll think of something and go to the computer and just get it done. Now I have to make a list. And I still forget stuff. Not to mention that I need to leave the house and go somewhere with wifi. Total pain in the rear. Usually the girls are with me and unless we go to the library or McDonald's they get bored (understandably).

2011-09-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

I was going to write about how I got started in homeschooling my girls. I'm not sure how others get involved but I doubt it is the way I did.

I was working for a man who had just started a school in our little town. To say the man could sell ice to Eskimos was nice. He was a good hearted man. He was a man on a mission. He was just extremely unorganized and unresearched. He wanted a Christian school. But he didn't have the first resource. We had no books. Some tables. We met in a little building that had recently been vacated by a florist. It had been a grocery stop (too small to call a market!) before that.

I was teaching 3 rd and 4 th graders. I would go to the library and scour the teaching books. Pretty soon I was looking at and checking out and reading all I could about homeschooling. I should mention that Lou and I had just gotten married. We were three years away from having Emma. It was then that I knew that I, a certified elementary teacher, was going to homeschool her kids.

There were many things I agreed with. The public school system was designed to produce workers. Factory workers. It is a rare child who gets out of school and can think outside the box. Most kids can if pushed but few do. I wanted my kids to know how to solved problems by themselves and even be business owners.

The Christian aspect was a slight concern. Most of the women I taught with were Christians so I knew that it was rare here in the South to have a teacher who wasn't a Christian. Besides, most of the time your kids are going to follow what they are taught at home.

I also wanted to have control over what they are taught. I have finally learned Ancient and Middle Age history as I have taught it to them! I have a bachelor's and never had to take a world history class! Crazy!

2011-09-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

In which I sort of feel orphanish.

There are all kinds of orphans. Some are true orphans. Some just feel that way.

I've moved so far from my family that it is very difficult to stay connected with them.

My sister and I talk daily. My parents and I, maybe twice a month. My grandmothers, a few times a year. Aunts maybe a couple times a year.

I envy those who live in close proximity and can enjoy family.

I haven't seen anyone except my sister in two years.

My husband's family is all around us. And in some ways we are orphans from them too. We live far enough away that it is a challenge to see them much and we nearly always have to be the ones to make the effort. I never get invited to do stuff with his sister and mom. Neither does he for that matter! LOL

But as a family unit, the girls, Lou and I, we are doing so awesome. I am so enjoying this house right now. The only thing I want to change would be the space. I need more room. The girls need more room! Lou needs more room.

I do miss extended family. I'm watching my cousins' kids grow up on Facebook. Not the same as being with them.

2011-08-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

Long week
The girls had play rehearsal three days last week ending in a performance yesterday at the Frist Center for the Arts. They were ninjas in Momotaro the Peach Boy. Emma was one of Momotaro's travelling companions, a monkey! Typecasting for sure!!! Bella held up signs for audience participation ( happy, astonished and "the great lord Momotaro!"). It was lots of fun! They were very proud of themselves. Considering they had only started rehearsing a week ago, I'd say they did fantastic! The education director was floored! Lou's parents came and watched as well.

We were crazy yesterday. Ate like we weren't used to food! I won't go into the gory details but we went nuts! Had fun at Cherri's after the play. They had made homemade ice cream. Mmmmmm.

The girls caught a tadpole in her pond and and he husband Wayne got them a small aquarium to be able to watch him grow into a frog.

I have felt like garbage all day. Didn't sleep well last night. On top of all that...Emma decided that math was too hard and she spent ALL day doing it. I'm talking from 9am to 4:30pm. She has finally moved on to vocabulary and still has two chapters in The Farmer Boy to read before bed. I mean really. Talk about wanting to come unglued on her! This too shall pass. She usually pulls this about once or twice a year.

2011-08-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

Got to go to the Wilson County Fair last night. Very fun, very hot, very exhausting. If I was running on all cylinders I wouldn't feel so bad. But I can't seem to get a full night's sleep lately. I'm kinda tired today.

The girls got to ride a bunch of rides. It was wonderful to watch their happy faces as they spun around. They had a blast spending time with their daddy!

We started school last week. Found a good deal on some books for Bella on Craigslist. Saved some money that way! I still need to write out the lesson plans for the week. Sounds like we are going to be busy again. Choir and Girl Scouts start up again. The girls are going to be in a friend's storytelling event on Sunday.

Oh the fun begins.

I have two cousins who are pregnant, one who is getting married and a grandma in the hospital but who will be ok it sounds like. I only have 5 cousins so this is exciting! Grandma was dehydrated so she will be alright.

The weather has changed for the even better! Tomorrow will be only 85 and really low humidity. I'm so glad.

We had a wonderful church service this morning. George Pendergrass spoke and sang. Great message and amazing music today.

2011-07-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm grumpy tonight.

My girls have been gone at church camp since Sunday night. I want them home. Next year they are only going to one week of camp. Period. I'm missing them horribly.

One summer I was a camp counselor at a very cool/expensive camp in way Upstate New York. Camp Regis Applejack was and still is a very nice camp. But these parents send their children from June through August. The entire summer! I would go crazy. Even then I felt bad for those kids and that was before I was a parent. These kids come from very wealthy homes. Some had even come straight from boarding school. Not my girls but some of the teens. My kids were 7-9 years old. I was so not the momma they needed. I had a whole cabin full and I was the only counselor in their cabin. I was doing well to keep my head above water. If I had it to do over, I would have hugged all over those girls. Gone from their homes for 6 weeks! What the heck?
I got to see my sweeties on my facebook page. Bella and Emma did the crevice and Kristi took pictures of them. They rappel down into a rocky hole. I'm truly grateful that she did!

2011-07-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

We are in a much better place weather-wise today. Whew. If it stormed here last night I never noticed. I don't think it did. Dry ground this morning.

My kids did their second research study on sensory integration at Vanderbilt today. It was long but they each got $40 in Target gift cards. Nice. I was under the impression that they would be there for 2.5 hours. It was really 4.5 hours! Good thing I brought snacks for the girls and me. Yikes. I took us to Pizza Perfect afterward. Yum!

The dog and the cat tag teamed a lizard yesterday. It was pretty funny. Just as Bella walked out the front door the cat had sort of caught him (the tail popped off), the dog quickly followed her out the door and finished off the lizard as the cat ran back into the house! So now we have a dead lizard and a dead mouse on the porch. Ewwww!

We are going to a friend's house tomorrow. The kids will swim. The moms will scrapbook! Yeah! I likey!

2011-07-12T13:49:00.000-05:00

Oh the humidity! I'm hating. It's just depressing to be this hot.

My knee is not much better. This morning it popped so bad again. I'm getting discouraged. I want to exercise. I want to feel better.

Oh isn't this a happy post? Well, it will get better right?

We came to the new library again this afternoon. The a/c doesn't seem to be working so well in the Children's area. I'm not loving that. Grumpy.

The blanket I've been knitting has been taking me forever to cast off. Like I'm on day three! Whew!

2011-07-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

We are watching Harry Potter movies on ABC family (one of the rare times it is for family). They have included deleted scenes so it has been fun to watch! Not many but a few.

This morning the girls and I went to the fiber arts group. We had a nice turn out and really enjoyed ourselves. I made two new recipes I really liked. Warm black bean dip and glazed meatballs. Mmmmmm. Both were wonderful.

Then I took Emma to her friend's birthday party. Bella and I went to Target and Panera. She was bummed about not being invited but oh well. It's tough to be the little sister some days. We picked up some stuff they needed for camp. They go to church camp next week. Very excited little girls!

Since my knee is still painful, I can't work on the back room. It is getting better but this is really bumming me out. I want it done. Hopefully soon. I want to get my bookcases to where I want them, a shelf or two for the girls school books and a shelf or two for the games. More like two at least for the games.

2011-07-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

While I was working on the back room, my knee popped and is now giving me fits. I'm looking into a clinic that is reduced fee. I wrecked this knee about 7 years ago and never had it fixed. It has given me pain on and off but nothing like this since the original injury.

I know nothing about Obamacare so I can't comment one way or the other. That said, my husband says that if I have a pre-existing condition it will never be covered by it. I can't imagine that being true. To get on Lou's insurance would cost us $600/month. Without the children, just me! Wow. The kids would bump it up to $1000.

We are sitting at the newly opened Goodlettsville Library. It is so nice and beautiful and amazing and huge and well laid out! The old one only had 3 computers. This one has 7 just in the kids section! Wonderful! I'm thinking of coming down here during the school week to work and to give the kids a chance on the computers. I want to have computer access at home!!!!!!!!! My whine for the day. I'm done!

2011-07-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

How was your July 4th? Ours was BUSY. But what else is new? We had a lot of fun. It's great to watch the girls' faces while they watch fireworks. They loved them. Sadly, Bella and I got sunburned on Monday.

I started working on our back room. I should take a picture, before and after. It is so messy right now. But I'm working on clearing out a bunch of books and selling them. I'll be reducing 3.5 book cases down to hopefully 2.5. We need more space for homeschool books and for the games that are stacked on top of the bookcases and thus inaccessible to the girls. And it is just good to get rid of stuff no one has any use for.

I had a good meeting with our Girl Scout Membership coodinator today. I have 2 Juniors, 5 Cadettes and one Senior. I have to come up with a way to service everyone.

2011-07-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

Did I mention that we went to the drive in last week? We saw Cars 2 which I thought was much better than the first one. It was the girls' first time to go to the drive in and my first time in years.

Yesterday, we went with my friend Cherri to see some looms that had been abandoned at a rental belonging to her dad's friend. He wasn't sure what he had and wanted to have us come look at them. There were 5 looms! What the heck? We had a good time trying to piece them together and figure out what went with what since they were all in pieces. Three were complete. One was mostly in tact and the last one was missing a bunch of stuff.

Today I watched my friend's four children while they went to court to try to save their house from foreclosure. They had been approved for the HAMP and then the mortgage company "lost" their paper work. Then they got re-approved and just as quickly foreclosure proceedings started. They got it continued to next month. Hopefully it will all get sorted out and they can keep their home.

I'm not sure what we are doing for the weekend. Sounds like we will be with Lou's family most of the weekend.

2011-06-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

Woke up around 3ish to the sound of pouring rain. About 15 minutes later it was lightning and thundering to beat the band. Lou had mentioned needing to put something up but didn't do it before bed. Too late at the point when I could hear the rain pounding. After listening for a while and it being too loud to go back to sleep, I got up to look at the radar. I heard a strange noise from the porch. One of the chairs was bumping (not from wind) and then I heard a dog shake. My first thought was Lucky was taking refuge on our porch. Then I realized that the chair bumping was Scout sitting in the chair. I let him in and he was soaked! Lou forgot to put him in his kennel! I never heard him during the storm trying to get in by scratching on the door! Poor doggie! By the time Lou woke up with a loud thunder boom he was ready to run out and get the tools that he left in the back of the truck. I told him at that point it didn't matter, it had been raining for a long time! He wasn't happy but what could he do then?

2011-06-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

Where the kids have gone and come home from camp...

We are back in the swing of summer. It has rained enough for two summers. Today it was much warmer and humid. But I did get some outside time in the morning. I'm reading Steven Tyler's memoir. It is out there. But then what else would you expect? Emma's reading something I can't remember. Bella is into arts and crafts. The dog and the cat love to be on the front porch with us.
Lou got the lawn mowed today. Remember the rain I talked about? He was going to mow on Saturday but got all caught up in working on cleaning inside and out my Jeep. I wasn't sad about that. But it meant waiting til Sunday afternoon for the lawn. Sunday dawns with loads and loads of rain. And the rain continued all afternoon. Boo. So he came home this afternoon and mowed.

We went to our life group with members of our church last night. Good food and amusing conversation.

2011-06-07T19:14:00.000-05:00

Doctor's visit

My doc has me see him twice a year for refills on my meds. I've had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis (hypothyroidism) since I was about 18 and high blood pressure since Bella was born. Since giving up sugar I have lost 10 lbs. I thought I hadn't lost a thing! Also, my blood pressure is usually 120/80 on meds. This time it was 110/70! Very nice. I see a reason to keep trying to lose weight and get healthier!

We got to go swimming today at a friend's house. It was so refreshing! Tomorrow we will spend a ton of time washing clothes and getting the house picked up and cleaned. Today none of that happened. It was fun though!

Thursday Emma has a Bible study/lunch at church and Friday she is going to Centrikids camp in KY. I would like her social life! When she gets back to us on Sunday we are going straight to Girl Scout camp for 6 days. Whew. Kid will be tuckered! But happy. Bella joins her sister at camp on Wednesday for a three day camp. So we have two nights without kids. We have a Cheesecake Factory gift card to use! Yeah! I'm excited!

2011-05-29T21:04:00.001-05:00

All's well that ends well.

Went to church this morning. Almost didn't. I woke up with a massive headache. I think it was allergy related and it didn't last long.
On a holiday weekend I still had 13 lovely first graders. I'm so lucky! They were pretty good, only had to threaten them once. ;)

We stopped at Blue Coast Burrito for lunch. Mmmm. Emma spilled a cup of lemonade in her lap. Thankfully we were done eating.

Stopped and picked up the title to Lou's truck. The former owner hadn't gotten around to sending it to us. We need it now so we can get a check from the insurance company.

Heading home and the check gauge light comes on. So I check my gauges. We are overheating! Stopped at Mapco and finally cooled it enough to get it 5 minutes down the road. Then cooled it enough to get it to OReily's auto parts and then home. Lou replaced the thermostat and it is fine now! Yeah for having a handy husband on a holiday weekend!!!!!

Bella walked outside this morning and said, "it smells like camomille." What 7 year old thinks that way?! It did though! There is so much sweet grass growing around the house, it just smells lovely!

2011-05-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

What a long week.

These aren't the best photos but it was about 6am Thursday morning. It was a strong storm but no tornadoes. It was and is a bit of a shock that the truck is smashed up. I can't help but think what people in Joplin are going through. We are stressed out about a truck. Can't imagine losing everything we owned. So sad.

That said, it is a pain in the rear to only have one car. I'm going to have to rearrange a bunch of appointments and such. I know...wah.

In knitting news...I'm working on a baby boy's hat. Not sure which baby boy. But I'm sure it will find a home.

In homeschooling news...we are nearly done with some things and no where near done in others! History is taking a long time. I don't think we will give up. A little every day will get us done.

In Girl Scouting news...we are having a camp out at our house next week. We were going to go to a camp ground but I was getting no response from the parents so I nixed it. I took them camping by myself last time. NEVER again. Too much on one adult.

In health news...Emma has hurt her arm and it still hurts a week later. Of course it hurts worse while I have no car to take her to the doctor/there is a holiday weekend. We shall take her on Tuesday. My poison ivy is driving me nuts. I'm ready to be poison ivy free!

2011-05-23T21:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday.

Made it through! We had some high wind and heavy rain last night. Woke me up around 3am. Luckily Lou left me his Droid right by the bed so I could check to see if we had any tornadoes heading our way. None were evident so I went right back to sleep. It rained for several hours.

I spent the majority of my day with my friend who needed a ride to the dmv. She had her license suspended for not paying a ticket she never received! And one that was only $87 to boot! Crazy. So we left our house around 12:30. Picked her up and left the kids with her 15 year old. We didn't get home til 6:30! I hate the dmv.

I have poison ivy thanks to my sweet girls. I'm semi miserable today. So itchy! My latest favorite remedy is a paste of epsom salt baking soda and water to make a paste. It really dries things out.

The rest of the week is going to be nice. Not much planned.

2011-05-19T05:58:00.000-05:00

Thankful Thursday!

It has been way too long since I posted a Thankful Thursday. I had honestly forgotten all about it. Crazy.

1. My family. What sweet girls I have! And a wonderful husband.

2. Our pets. Even though Fawn, our cat, wakes me up too early sometimes, I love them.

3. For unforeseen events. Our former neighbor, Steve, called Lou last week. Someone had come over to our old house to look at it and found all manner of disrepair. Over the course of the last few weeks we have had some torrential downpours. It seems that the leak in the kitchen ceiling had started up again which caused the ceiling to fall in. Also, the sewage from the city backed up into the house and ruined the carpets in the living room and front bedroom. There is mold on the walls in the front bedroom three feet high. If we had been living there it would have been a nightmare!

4. I'm thankful for Facebook and blogging. I'd not get to know what is going on with most people. I love the connections I've made and remade.

5. I'm thankful for an easier option than taking 8 girls camping with very little help. I just cancelled our camping trip and opted for a much less stressful camp out in our back yard. I asked for a head count for the trip and NO one answered me. I played that game last time we camped and decided my blood pressure was worth more than that this time!

6, I'm thankful that my husband isn't cheating on me. I'm thankful that I'm not codependant. I'm thankful that my kids aren't going through a painful divorce or worse yet watching their mom stay in an unhealthy relationship.

7. I'm thankful for a cozy, warm house on this chilly morning.

8. I'm thankful for deoderant! LOL

2011-05-13T20:48:00.000-05:00

To say that it has been stressful lately is a serious understatement. All stress, whether good or bad is stress. I'm going to be fine and so are the rest but I'm getting very worn down by the whole business.

I have a friend who is going through a divorce. I'm just so sad for her and her girls. It's just not fair. What possesses a man to run out on a beautiful, devoted woman and three daughters?

I have another friend whose husband got into an argument with his 11 year old step daughter, picked her up and set her down so hard he broke three bones in her foot. I went with her to a hearing on Wednesday. It was so emotionally draining. He's in denial that he has done anything wrong. She hasn't broken off all communication with him. I was all tore up by the end of the day.

Thursday the girls and I went to Rock Castle and I demonstrated spinning. Long day. Some kids behaving badly, some PARENTS behaving badly. Parents, when you accompany a field trip, do not talk while someone is lecturing your kids. If you bring a small child with you, do not allow said child to wander around while the kids spend more time laughing at her than listening to me. And don't be surprised when I ask you to take that child out of the room. For the most part the kids and parents where wonderful but there is always someone!

I took the girls to lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Probably shouldn't have. It was good but I didn't need to spend the money.

Tomorrow is jammed. Girls have choir rehersal, I have spinning guild, then there is a party at 2. I wanna stay home!!!!!

2011-05-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

I got to participate in a very interesting and honoring evening. My very good friend's son choose his "aunties" to attend his "rite of passage into adulthood" ceremony. His mom has no living siblings so we are his aunts. I feel honored that he wants us to be his spiritual "guides". He turned 18 yesterday.

We had a quite relaxing day. Woke up late. Bella was very sleepy and I was too so we went back to bed. Very unusual to have that luxury. The girls played outside all afternoon. Their friend Erik, left Emma a homemade bow. She spent the afternoon trying to shoot it. Too cute. When Lou got home he made her a more aerodynamic arrow. Then he made himself a bow and arrow. Too funny!

I made a yummy concoction. Pineapple, pineapple juice (I used a can and didn't add any extra), 1 cup orange juice, 1 can of coconut milk, about a 1/4 cup of lime juice, about 1/4 cup of sugar. Stuck that in a blender and whirled it around a while. I drank a glass of that and then put the rest in popsicle molds.
Mmmmmm.

2011-04-30T19:05:00.001-05:00

Sisters having a talk. Mom is clearly not welcome!

Scout and Lucky getting ready to play.

Bella messing with Lucky. Probably checking him for ticks while she is at it.

Well, where have I been? Busy. Super busy. This week alone was crazy. I was supposed to go with my friend to her husband's hearing. It got postponed. That was the only break I caught all week.

Thursday I demonstrated natural dyes at Traveller's Rest Plantation. It was my first time doing dyeing for the public. It was rather fun! I had lots of help from friendly fellow re-enactors! Chad made me a fire, over which I slaved all day. I did inhale enough smoke to qualify for an er visit! Just kidding! The blacksmith who was next door to me made me a pot mover/fire poker and gave it to me! To keep. Very sweet!

Friday we went to the zoo to meet up with my friend Susan and her family to celebrate her two year old's birthday. I was beat. But we had fun. It was however, the busiest, most massive bunch of humanity I have ever seen at the zoo. Bella was my life saver as she was the one who started to pack our lunch. I would have totally forgotten. "What do you want on your sandwich, Mommy?" " I'm putting these apples in my bag." "Can we take these chips with us?" I love her!

Today Bella's Daisy Girl Scout troop went to the Nashville Children's Theater to see Robin Goodfellow. It was an adaptation of a Midsummer's Night Dream. Very good! Bella said she didn't laugh once. Sadly, the 7 year old didn't appreciate the Elizabethan English. Emma did though.

Tomorrow, we are going to church and then Emma has a Bible Study right after. So we won't be going straight home. I can't wait for Monday...

2011-04-15T18:50:00.000-05:00

I really wanted to share pictures with you. However, I can't find the camera's usb cord. I'm not amused. Another less than amusing fact. I have a huge herking headache. Something about these nasty storms about to come through here.
Hubby had the day off. We decided to go out for donuts and coffee. It's like a once a year event! Fun. There is a great place near us called The Donut Palace. So crispy on the outside and lovely! Yum. I'm going back on my sugar free diet tomorrow! I need to detox again. I've been letting it slip back into my diet.

2011-04-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Enjoyed the day! Except my sweet girls think it is summer vacation. They couldn't focus on school for anything.
I'm totally ready for the end of school. Sadly that won't be for about a month. Except for history which I'm planning on working on til I'm done with the book. Ok, now that I said that, I need to stay accountable to that!

Wish we could have gone somewhere today but it was a very gorgeous day to stay home. We moved some of the outdoor seating to the front yard. I like it much better. Pictures to follow. oh and we had dinner on the patio furniture!

Does anyone watch Modern Family? Oh my word! It's so wrong it's funny! Love it. We normally go to church on Wednesday night but since we have no gas...!

We all have the tick hee bee jee bees! Beasty thinks are everywhere! Went for a walk yesterday and picked dozens off of us!

2011-04-11T19:57:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing we balanced the check book before we went grocery shopping. We have a very low balance at the moment! Whoops. Be careful what you wish for! I was saying last week that I don't want to run the roads all week and have a calm week. I have just enough gas to get the girls to choir rehearsal on Tuesday and then we are home for the week! Our cupboards aren't bare so we really will be fine. We really don't have anything to do so it's all good! It's just one of those weeks!

Lou mowed the lawn for the first time of the season yesterday. It looks lovely. Just in time for it to rain today. The dogwoods look wonderful around the area!

Bella is killing me. She is constantly on tick patrol. And even asks me what kind of tick this particular one is. I'm afraid I must have been out the day they taught that in school!

It was nice this morning and Scout took advantage of it while running like a fool. Lucky, the neighbor's dog, joined him and they had a ball wrestling! Scout is faster than Lucky when he wants to be. But it is hilarious when Lucky bowls him over. Lucky's about 45 lbs and Scout's about 15 lbs.

2011-04-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

So many of my blogging friends have fun fonts on their blogs. I'm stuck with what is here it appears! Not quite bright enough to research how to get better fonts!

I might have mentioned that we just got satellite tv when we moved in here. It's the first time I've had enhanced tv since I lived with my parents in Washington. So, I've found that I've become quite enamored with several shows. Mostly on HGTV or Travel and few on TLC. Cake Boss, Anthony Bourdain, Income Property, House Hunters of course. We are watching Ghost Adventures right now. Bunch of craziness!

I've had a cold this weekend. Boo! Not a happy camper. I was supposed to go to the Highland Rim Fiber Guild this weekend. Boo. I did finish a knitting project at home though.

The weather here was crazy today. Too warm - 90! I turned the a/c on. I can't take when it's too hot in the house. Especially when I'm sick! The wind was blowing hard too. It's brought out the beetles. I hate beetles.

I spoke to my friend who's daughter was abused by her step-father. Be in prayer for her and the whole family. Her husband is in deep denial that he was responsible. He believes that he was justified in his actions. And no, he isn't huge AND she is not a little girl. She is fully 130 lbs or so. She is probably going to need surgery. I'm not entirely sure that my friend has convinced herself to leave him. He is out of the house currently but I didn't get the impression that she was fully in support of this. Having never been in this situation I can't say but I have to say I would be protecting my children first and foremost.

2011-04-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

The girls went to Vanderbilt to participate in a research study measuring sensory integration yesterday. It was a long day as a result. They had fun but I was a bit bored. Although, the woman in charge was nice and we had some things in common. By the time we got home we had barely enough time to make and eat dinner before running out the door for choir. Whew!
Today was lovely. We got school done in reasonable time. I did a bunch of housework. Even spent some time outside in this wonderful weather! We did have to go to a friends house to put up their chickens for the evening. Emma accidentally let all three out. We spent several minutes, at least 10, recapturing the girls. At least we got up there when we still had daylight! There were three eggs for our trouble! Still makes me want chickens.

There was a bunch of damage on our friends' road from Monday's storm. Many trees down and one even directly down on top of a house.

I got some very disturbing news yesterday. A friend's husband was arrested for assaulting her 11 year old daughter. He picked her up and slammed her down hard enough to break 3 bones in her foot. She and I had discussed his anger and I told her she needed to leave him for her daughter's sake. I'm so sorry they are all going through this.

2011-04-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

I think I saw Toto and Dorothy fly by today. No, really, it wasn't that bad today. It surely had the potential to be bad though! Tornado sirens going off a couple of times and everything! We didn't get blown away. Not even close. Some of my friends had some damage though. It started about noon and it is still rumbling at 8pm. Goodness. The girls were hilarious. They gathered all of their most loved things and hid under blankets in the semi safest place in the house. There is no basement here so there is no safe place.

Let's see what's going on. I'm busy with kids. Sundays I teach first graders Sunday school. Monday we have to start the school week. It usually ends up being a big cleaning house day too. Tuesday is normally not a day to travel but we are participating in a study at Vanderbilt. The girls are doing a sensory something
or other study that involves autistic and non autistic kids. That's going on from 10-2ish. We have to run home and make dinner and then run back out the door. Normally Bella has choir from 6-7 and then Emma has choir from 7 - 8:30. This night she has a special Daisy meeting for Girl Scouts from 6-7. This means I have to take her to Greenbrier, then Emma to Springfield, come back to Greenbrier get Bella and then back to Springfield. And why can't Lou pick up one child? He is going to a Predetor's hockey game with the men's ministry at church. Hope he has fun...no, really I do! Wednesday, I think I shall recover from Tuesday! We will do school though.

Just got a phone call that Bella's Daisy meeting is cancelled for tomorrow night!!!!!!!!!! Not that I'm happy that her troop leaders' family has been sick, but I'm thrilled that I'm not going to have to drive like a crazy person! Yipppeeee!

The rest of the week...Thursday we are having a Girl Scout meeting. Friday I think we are having a sewing lesson for the girls. And then I'm staying home all day Saturday if I can!

2011-03-31T05:59:00.000-05:00

I haven't laughed as hard as I did yesterday in a long time! Fawn our kitty had cornered a mouse in the dining room. Bella calmly advised me of this while she was working on her phonics page. So I go over to the area and move the leaf of the table to allow her to get the little guy. He runs between my feet and I scream bloody murder! Emma is in the other room sitting on the floor right where the mouse is headed. My screaming scares her so bad she starts crying. I find this somewhat funny given the reason I screamed but I'm trying to stifle the laughter. Dumb mouse climbs into the recliner. Scout the Westie is trying to route it out. I tell Bella to turn the chair over and sure enough she finds him and starts poking at him with a pencil. Funny thing, he moves out of hiding because he is getting poked, with a pencil! All three of us are shrieking! The dog is trying to catch the mouse, the cat had left us (she is too dignified for all of the screaming!). My sister calls and I can't breath to talk because I'm laughing so hard. Emma is traumatized, Bella is determined to catch her a mouse! She devises a mouse trap out of some stale scones and a glass jar and a flashlight (cuz the mouse needs to see darn it!) He went under the hutch in the living room. Who knows where he is today. I guess some d-con is in order if Fawn doesn't get her act together!

2011-03-28T21:08:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I guess I'm not a very nice person today. A person I consider a former friend got in touch with me. I finally told her why I hadn't gotten back in touch with her. I was pretty honest. And sadly, I'm not really interested in rekindling a friendship. I've forgiven. I just don't have time for the drama.

The Rock Castle event was everything it was rumored to be! The girls looked so sweet and really had a good time. AND they came home with candles to burn. Fun! We also did something I never dreamed I'd be allowed to do - have tea in an historic home. What a treat! I've been touring historic homes since I was 7, I used to picture myself living in the various homes. Never dreamed I'd get to live out that fantasy.

2011-03-25T22:16:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it to the weekend!

I kept my friend's girls for a couple of hours today. She is going through a rough time. Husband being horrid. I was glad to have them here.

Emma was so excited about re enacting tomorrow that she ironed all of our clothes. I'm glad she did since I hate ironing! They look a bunch better. I just wish it was going to be warmer tomorrow. It's only for 3 hours and some of that time we will be indoors.

My friend Susan is trying to get us some horses for the summer. She has several who need some riding. Moon and Teton are both sweet horses. I would love to have the money to fence here. She is willing to pay to pasture board them some place close to us. She really is a saint. A. she knows we would take good care of them. B. she would spend less on feed if they were elsewhere. If we could get some chickens too, life would be good! It's not the getting of the chickens that is difficult, it is the rebuilding of the coop that is the issue.

Wishing for a money tree in the back yard!

2011-03-24T22:12:00.000-05:00

I had a moment this morning. I decided that I need to try to support my county more financially. I tend to run to Rivergate (Davidson County) for things I could get in Springfield. So I went to The Fabric Shop to get some things I would have gotten at JoAnn's. It was a really nice shop. I'm glad we went. We had lunch at Maddy's Hot Dogs. Good food and very low prices! I'll go back for sure. The girls had cheeseburgers and I had a hot dog.

We started listening to Mary Poppins on CD. We have been listening to CDs in the car for a long time now. It's a fun way to get some good books "read".

I just "mapped" out the girls curriculum for next year. Total for both girls is around $250. Not bad. Now to find that money in the budget!

2011-03-23T21:47:00.000-05:00

We have had a glorious few days. Not so much for tomorrow. A cold front is flying in as we speak or write! Wind is whipping.

Homeschool front: yesterday was not good for Bella. Today was so much better. I won't recommend this phonics/reading program for many people. Your kid needs to be very gifted. OR you need to start it in first grade and go through second with it. It is supposed to be a K/1 grade curriculum. The print is too small and the content is very challenging. Emma is doing quite well.

Girl Scout front: We are going to Rock Castle on Saturday for a candle dipping and tea party. The girls are going to be able to dress in 1700s clothes. Emma is so excited! So much so that she started researching serving tea and that sort of thing.

Knitting front: I'm working on another tea cozy. This time in yellow. I love the color. I owe my mom a felted purse. I need to go get more yarn for that soon. Yea, I love yarn shopping!

The girls and I took a walk today. First one in forever that I didn't have a anxiety attack during it. I have to be the only person on the planet who panics over exercising. Grrrr.

2011-03-21T18:57:00.000-05:00

Gorgeous day! The temp was about 78 or so. Gently breeze that was slightly cool. Ahhhh! My day started with the cat who thinks someone needs to entertain her at 4:30 am. She is purely mean! But I was back to sleep easily.

I let the girls sleep in some since they were up late. We went to our Life Group meeting with our friends from church. The theme for dinner was foods from Ireland. I didn't play the game though! Rule breaker, that's me!

I was impressed with the amount of schoolwork the girls got done today. Bella's work is so hard right now. She really gets frustrated but less so than her sister used to with the same curriculum! That's encouraging! I knit while they are working strictly to keep my cool!

I went to Walmart today. I know, whopee. However, I have quit going there as much. So it is a big deal. The thing is is that Walmart's prices are lower than Kroger at the moment so I'm choosing to take advantage of that.

Today is my mom's birthday. I won't say how old she is but I will say she is 21 years older than me!

This was yesterday. Scout likes to go for rides!

I haven't had a soft drink for about 2 1/2 months. I don't miss it. I was a huge fan of Coke. I just drink water, coffee and unsweet tea.

2011-03-18T21:09:00.001-05:00

Bella and I had a fun day. We went to Panera after we dropped Emma off. We played on the internet some. Enjoyed some yummy coffee. Me, not Bella! Then we went to JCPenny for the spending of gift cards. I bought a new purse, a package of K-cups (Donut Shop! Yum!) and a new top and pair of shorts for Bella. After that we headed home and had lunch. We enjoyed the gorgeous day and went to the park. There were tons of kids so Bella wasn't bored. Came back home and I made a casserole. It was yummy.

I've been thinking about the bunches of old J-landers who I used to follow and who used to follow me. I miss them. I really miss Kas Ridiman. She had a great blog and I miss her writing.

I've been working on another tea cozy. This time for my friend for her birthday. My mom wants a purse like the one I knitted for my sister now. I've got work to do I guess!

2011-03-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

Just dropped Emma off for her first ever mission trip. I wasn't a bit nervous until I realized that she is so sensitive and young and, and, and. And that was after I had dropped her off. Oh dear. I pray that everyone is nice to her and kind. She gets overwhelmed so easily. There are so many kids who are so much more sophisticated that she is. I just pray she finds a buddy. They are only going an hour away and will be back tomorrow. Ok, insecure mom moment is over.

2011-03-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

We had a truly awesome Girl Scout meeting tonight. The girls were not totally crazy and they had fun. One of the fun things we are going to do is go to an historic house where we usually do our re-enacting. We will have tea on real Blue Willow china and dip candles and get a tour of the house. The girls were fitted for clothing tonight. They were so excited! It was fun to see them dressed up and getting excited about the event.

A bunch of my friends are going through some serious issues. I feel like I know more than I need to but I don't have the resources to solve their problems. However, I don't think they want them solved. I think they needed someone to talk to. I'm good with that. I'm just wish I could wave my magic wand to make everything all better.

Gorgeous day today. Sunny, breezy, warm!

2011-03-11T20:43:00.002-06:00

It's been a day. Worst earthquake in the history of Japan. The tsunami did most of the devistation.

No where near on the same scale: I was in an earthquake in Oregon. In fact the epicenter was only a few miles from where we were. It was at least a 6.5. I was a camp counselor at Canyonview Camp during Spring Break. I remember waking up and the girls in my cabin woke up and said, "What was that?!" I said, "It was only an earthquake." They all went back to sleep and I internally screamed, "ONLY an EARTHQUAKE?!" Nearly everyone else slept right on through it. I remember the phone ringing off the hook. I went to answer it and it was Keith, the barn manager. He wanted to know if there was any damage to the barn. He wasn't worried about the horses! Just wanted to know if the automatic waterers were not spewing water everywhere! It was fine. No damage at our camp.

I didn't realize how much it had affected me until I was startled by a loud noise about two months later. Scared me to death. It was a deep, rumbling noise very similar to the sound that the earth makes during an earthquake. Then a couple of years ago I was again woken up by a rumbling about the same time of the morning but this time in Tennessee. There had been an earthquake in Illinois. It was a few hours away. I have some serious PTSD from the OR quake. I don't think I'd do well to live somewhere I was subject to them frequently.

I was very stressed this morning. It did turn into a school lesson. I also stayed glued to the tv until I saw that Hawaii was going to be ok. Not sure why that was so important! But it seemed to be for me.

The rest of the day was fine. Girls got their school work done. We went to a friend's house where the girls played and the adults got to talk. I did figure out some things I had to enter on the Girl Scout cookie order forms online.

2011-03-10T20:32:00.000-06:00

As one of my friends said yesterday, I can have a do over. Today was much better. We got the living room and the girls' room back in order after the disorder of yesterday. However it did take Emma all day to do her school work. That gets super old. Tomorrow is another day.

Man did it get cold here! It wasn't above 40 all day. Booo! Oh but never fear...next week it will be 70. I can hold out for that!

So the roofer came by again today! For the third time. I'm going with third times a charm. Sadly, he didn't even speak enough English to tell me he needed to go up in the attic. You figure the man would try to learn at least the minimum it takes to do his job. I'm just saying.

This is a riviting entry for sure. Except I'm freaking out over the lack of treats. The Bella and I gave up sugar for Lent. I miss it. I want cake, cookies and ice cream. And maybe a donut as well. Losing my mind...

2011-03-09T20:59:00.000-06:00

As usual we have been running like mad. It seems that we run to the detriment of our home. I asked the girls to clean up their room. That doesn't seem too much right? It is so much smaller than their room in our old house. So the issue became that we never fully downsized toys. And then add toys from birthdays and Christmas = disaster. I was so overwhelmed and so were they. Then their father came home...he had no patience for it. He started "helping" and I do know he was doing the best he could but it was traumatizing to the girls and I. We are still not healed from moving to this house. We put a bunch of stuff up in the attic. Part of the trauma for me had to do with some of the toys we put up were a little premature. Bella is still just 7. She is still just a baby. And in a lot of ways so is Emma. So it boiled down to a problem with obedience. I hated having to be so hard on them but it was so necessary.

2011-02-27T15:01:00.000-06:00

The weekend is about over. It's been a pretty good one. The girls went to two different sleepovers I didn't see Bella from Friday night through this morning. Emma I got to see since we had our last Girls Scout booth sale. We had one sale at Kroger, one at Rivergate Mall and one at Walmart. I won't do Walmart again. No one wanted to part with their money! We are doing a good job of getting rid of what we have!

Lou and I watched Grownups on Friday night. Funny, dumb movie. No redeeming social value! Lou worked most of Saturday. I got to have the house to myself for a while. I got a few things done. By the time I got home from the booth sale Lou was home and was feeling horrible. His nose was so stuffy. We had planned to go to Outback for dinner, to use the gift card we have. He took a shower and we went anyway. It was very good! I had coconut shrimp and sirloin! Two of my favorites! While we were sitting there I started feeling yucky. By the time I got up this morning my head was pounding and I was feeling worse. So I texted Amber to let her know we wouldn't be teaching. I haven't gone far from the couch today. I did go get my kids but that's it.

We did get rid of our old couch and chair on Freecycle. Good to see them go! The bunch of them were so directionally challenged! They ended up in Joelton at first and then she stayed on the phone with me once they got turned around.

I'm sneezing and have chills again. I'm going to go lay down.

2011-02-24T20:47:00.000-06:00

Man, what a night. I was woken up by the extreme rain falling on the metal roof. It hasn't rained this hard since we moved in here! Then the thunder kicked in. The girls were at my side within minutes. I sent them back to bed until I went in to check on them at 5. The wind was crazy too. I started having some PTSD from the floods last May.

We went out to Murfreesboro to see our friends at Barnes and Noble. It's been too long since we have seen them. On the way down, I was driving along and noticed a man and woman in a large pick up truck. As it passed I saw the license plate - Parelli. I went to speeding to catch up again! Pat Parelli is a very effective and famous horse trainer! So cool! We all waved as we went by! And he waved back. I've watched him do amazing things on horseback. Then I checked the Miller Colisieum website and sure enough he is doing a clinic there this weekend! How fun is that?!

Then we went over to see Nana and Pop. We had cookies to drop off and it was good to see them. Happily got home before rush hour and the major rain. Now we are listening to wild wind and waiting on a line of thunder storms to push through. Lou finished clearing off my old desktop and installed it onto my new laptop. And then we rearranged the living room and I really like it much better.

2011-02-23T21:52:00.000-06:00

Finally, I think we are feeling much better! Yeah! Finally.

We got our new couch today. We got a new couch today! oh happy day! Until it got here and Lou couldn't get it in the house. The doors are so narrow and strangely placed. I finally convinced him to call our old neighbor, Steve, to come give him a hand. He came right over and they struggled, but in the end we have a new couch in our living room! It is so comfy!

So far we have paid off Lou's truck, bought a washer and dryer and a new couch! What the heck?! I'm feeling very blessed. That's it, the end of the tax return. I'd say we used it wisely.

I felt bad about how the girls felt going back to our old house. You could tell they really missed it. I'm over it. Ready to move on. But for them it is the only house they have ever known.

I just looked at my couch again. It is so pretty! Very handsome. Lovely!

2011-02-22T22:08:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning feeling worse than yesterday. Bella wasn't feeling great either. But we muddled through. I actually delivered a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I did start feeling better toward the end of the day.

I started watching Parenthood when it came out last year and I really liked it. This year...not so much. Too much drama, not enough good times. I know life is not always smooth but goodness.

We stopped off at my old neighborhood and visited for a minute. It was good to see JP and Angela and Steve. I think JP actually missed my children! They were a constant for about 9 years. I really like where we are now and I miss the people but I don't miss living on that super busy street! I really do like living in the boonies!

The girls had choir tonight and I really enjoy sitting around the table talking and sharing with the other moms. It is a good break from being with my girls all day.

2011-02-21T22:32:00.001-06:00

The coughing girl gets better every day. I decided not to take Bella to the doctor. She had so many non coughing moments I figured she is recovering. Not sure how Lou is going to get better. He left before 6 am and didn't get home until after 8 pm. Closer to 8:30. He's got to be wiped out completely. I still didn't feel great and I didn't do much.

Got the grocery shopping done. We were out of most everything.

It rained hard enough to cause the satellite to stall out for a bit. We watched Swiss Family Robinson. Emma LOVED it! She is a mess! She liked the various animals they found and the kissing scenes! Silly girl. Bella liked it too, she's just quieter about it!

I got a book to download to my computer, now I need to figure out how to get it to my e-reader. It's kinda fun to have this capability. I just can't imagine not reading real books!

On the knitting front: I finished a premie hat, stalled out on the mitten I'm finishing(something about 60 degree weather!) but have worked a bit on the sock I'm making.

We worked on the Middle Ages again today. Reading Castle Diary and Ginger Pye, a chapter in 2 Samuel and Time Traveler.

2011-02-20T18:42:00.000-06:00

Bella's cough is still bad. I'm thinking that after two types of cough syrup, cough drops and she is still coughing like mad warrants a trip to the doctor tomorrow. Don't analyse the previous sentence grammatically ok?

My new washer and dryer were installed today! Oh the joy of clothes getting cleaned and dried in no time at all! Very happy! We freecycled the old ones to a family with a 5 year old and a 5 month old! I like that!

We stayed home today from church. I still felt not great. Lou slept til about 10 from about 3:30 the day before! He got up about 3 times I think. He still wasn't feeling well today. I feel ok as long as I'm sitting still! I need to get to the grocery store so bad. We are out of so many things. I'm hoping we can get there tomorrow.

Gorgeous day today. 70, some sun. The girls didn't get to enjoy it as much as they would have if they had been healthy. The washer and dryer boxes provided some fun!

Spent a lot of time watching Hgtv and food network. Mindless fun!

2011-02-19T18:19:00.000-06:00

So for the daily illness watch...Bella is coughing up a lung. Emma is lacking her usual energy. I am down with no energy, a headache and muscle aches. Lucien is asleep on the couch, he feels the same way I do. So much for a productive day. We were supposed to deliver Girl Scout cookies and furniture shop. Bella was supposed to go to a Girl Scout booth sale.

We did some furniture shopping last night. Our tastes are so different it isn't even funny. He likes tacky and I don't! LOL He wants leather which I'm not opposed to but I don't like the poofy kinds. I like sleek lines. Wish us luck!

Poor Bella can't quit coughing. I've given her what we have in the house. Still coughing. I may have to run to the store.

Lou is still working way too many hours. I just have to get used to seeing him less. And I guess get better at small repairs. He worked most of today and is planning on going in tomorrow. I found a sub for us for Sunday School so at least the girls and I can stay home.

2011-02-18T22:18:00.002-06:00

Both kids have been sick. Not fun but not horrible either. No vomiting so that's good. They are on the mend and feeling better every day.

We got an amazing tax return this year, so we are able to replace some things that we desperately needed. New washer and dryer for starters. We went to the Sears Outlet. Great place to shop. We got a top loading, high efficiency washer. Uses so much less water! I can't wait for a much lower water and electric bill! We are also going to finish paying off Lou's truck. That will be a great feeling too!

The girls got to go to the tea room in Springfield today while I went to rescue Lou's truck. He was getting new tires on his truck and had walked over to get an eye exam, spent money there and then tried to use our debit card for the tires. Apparently we have a daily limit and he had reached it! Fortunately I had left the house with my check book. I ended up having a quiet lunch of Buffalo wings and worked on getting rid of emails that have been either needing attention or I had just neglected to delete.

Tomorrow I shall deliver Girl Scout cookies and look at furniture. We are in great need of a couch and chair. Ours have had it!

We've had some rain showers today. Nothing much. Just a bit damp!

2011-02-15T22:30:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling better, but Emma still has a unfun cold. We stayed home all day and got the Girl Scout cookies organized, got school done and I even made dinner! Last night I just wanted pizza! So we got Jet's. Mmmmm.

Lou got me a lovely bouquet of roses. Very pretty.

I got all excited about a family history connection that I thought I had with Tim McGraw. I thought we shared a common ancestor, Jost Hite. However, I did some more research and found that my line is wrong. So, no cousin Tim. It looks like our ancestors hung out in the same area but we aren't related. I really want to find a way to do research that is accurate! Very frustrated. Ancestry.com makes it too easy to make mistakes.

On the sugar front. I am feeling so much better without eating all the sugar I was. My knees aren't killing me! It is amazing! Very happy. I have a house full of Girl Scout cookies and I've had so few cookies. By now, I would have eaten at least a sleeve or two of Thin Mints.

2011-02-14T21:34:00.000-06:00

One of the joys of having a very busy weekend is waking up Monday morning to everyone getting sick! Emma started it with a bit of a fever. Then I started feeling awful. So we are staying quiet and enjoying the flexibility of homeschooling.

The weekend was fun! But a bit stressful. Just hard to get so many people to so many different places. More later when I have a longer battery life.

2011-02-11T06:04:00.002-06:00

Felted bag!

2011-02-09T15:25:00.001-06:00

Well, it is snowing again. It never snows much this winter but it just keeps coming down. It is only supposed to snow about 1-3 inches, on top of the 3 already on the ground. I went to Goodlettsville today where they had only a dusting the other day. My car looked a little different from the others! The top is covered. Lou took it to work with him yesterday since it has 4 wheel drive.

I'm sitting at McDonald's letting the kids run off some steam while I'm using the free wifi. They need a good run. For certain! And so it begins, an ambulance just took off (the EMTs were having a bite to eat here. Tennesseans are not good at driving in this stuff. And I get why, we have no snow removal, no one gets snow tires on their cars. We have never needed them before this winter.

We filed our taxes Monday night. We are thankfully getting back quite a bit. Not because we have put so much in. We are just poor. ;) Plans are to get Lou new tires, pay off his truck and look at new or used washers and dryers. We wanted to look at some new furniture but I think we will survive with what we have for now. I'd rather pay off the vehicles than get new furniture. The w/d are starting to become a priority! The washer isn't spinning out all of the water and the dryer is taking forever to dry clothes. I'm not complaining about it though, we bought it for $50 at least 2 years ago off of Craig's list.

Did I mention that it is snowing? Again? I can't wait to watch it from my house. It is so pretty there!

2011-02-08T20:35:00.002-06:00

This has been a seriously lazy day. We got the important stuff done. The girls started the day making up short stories and illustrating them. We finished reading Robin Hood. Got going on learning about William the Conqueror. I have a bachelor's degree and never learned about William the Conqueror. We've been studying the Vikings for a few weeks. I've enjoyed it as much as my girls.

I 'm working on a pair of mittens. I finished the first one last night and started the second one today. We watched a few minutes of Heroes. This was on Animal Planet. I couldn't take it. So sad. There was a cat who had fallen into a cactus. So sad. They saved her but she was in so much pain. Then I turned it off after a few minutes of watching them raid a hoarders' house. More than 40 dogs and many who needed to be put to sleep. I can't watch that. So sad.

This weekend is going to be the death of me. Part of it is self imposed crazy and part is Girl Scout cookie sale crazy. Friday we are going to our friend's house to scrapbook and for the kids to play. Friday night the girls and Lou are going to the Father Daughter Banquet at church. Saturday Lou is getting the cases of cookies, I'm going to meet a friend to drop off Bella with her so Bella can go to her friend Alex's birthday party, Emma and I are going to the knitting and spinning guild. Then my friend Summer is going to come over and help me sort boxes of cookies. THEN we are going to church to serve a meal and hang out with some men who are attending the Room In the Inn. In addition to all of this, I need to make or provide food for 3 of those events. I guess I'll be cooking Friday night while the family is off at the dance. I was hoping to hang out with a friend or something. Oh well. I like cooking and I especially like it when I'm alone. I'm making a super yummy rice side dish from The Pioneer Woman. I'm just making the rice portion of this recipe. I've made the whole thing and it is delicious.

2011-02-07T20:04:00.000-06:00

The whole sugar thing has been interesting. I never dreamed that I would be able to give up sugar. It has been a lot easier than I thought. I'm using stevia, maple syrup and honey as substitutes and then only sparingly. I have only had a few bad days. Bella is handling it pretty well too. She has good days and less good days. Nothing unusual.

We were surprised with a snow storm today. At some points in the day I couldn't see the trees across the street. We only got 3 inches but is snowed from noon on. Our road is such a mess again. And it is supposed to snow again Wednesday. Oh joy! We had planned to spend the day at home and I'm glad we did. Emma and I started feeling yucky around dinner time. Boo. No telling what virus we picked up at church yesterday.

I had 15 first graders in my Sunday School class. They were a lively bunch. Oh wait, they are always lively.

Knitting, I just finished my sister's felted purse. I started a pair of mittens. I've had to modify the thumb gusset as the one with this pattern made the thumb huge! I'm making them for my grandmother.

2011-02-05T18:29:00.000-06:00

I will try again to post. I only get to get online when I bring my computer somewhere or when Lou is home since his phone is a wifi hot spot. Technology amazes me. I can’t get over how we can use a phone to power a computer’s internet. So George Jetson!

We had much busy-ness yesterday. Got up had breakfast, completed school and went to downtown Nashville. We started at McKay’s used books (didn’t find anything I couldn’t live without) and then to Coco’s Italian Market and Café for lunch. I had a coupon that was going to expire at the end of the month. We had the bruchetta which was a little untraditional, very tasty, but really messed with my tummy later! The girls weren’t big fans but they at least tried it. The pizza we had was Neopolitan style. Not my favorite but it was good. Then we had an errand in Brentwood, one at the Girl Scout store and then we brought the left over pizza to Lou at work. My kids were extremely hyper and chatty and in the mood to drive me cuckoo! I was ready for a hot bath and a strong drink by the time we were done!

Lou got home before 6 which is very strange lately. He is working 6 days a week and at least 12 hours a day. I’m happy he is working, I just wish he was hourly. I wish I could say it is just the project he is on but the company is underbidding so he has to complete the jobs in record time with no help. He is a lot frustrated.

It is super cold and windy here today. I left the house with wet hair to get gas and go to the grocery store. Bad idea. I was frozen!

Bella and I have figured out that we have an allergy to sugar. While this may save my life in some ways, it is very difficult to give up. Especially for a kid. She and I both start coughing and chocking on phlem. Charming, I know. I wake up coughing until I blow my nose. Bella sounds like she has a cold half the time.

I had half a goumet cupcake yesterday and I was miserable all night.

Bella has a Girl Scout field trip to a bakery today. I’ll let her have whatever they make but I will monitor her the rest of the day. Poor kid.

2011-01-07T20:13:00.000-06:00

Oh the joy! I have my very own lap top! I shopped at 3 different stores before I found one I could live with/afford! I was blessed with birthday money enough for one! I'm sitting at the very classy wifi spot aka McDonalds. The only other option is satelite which is too expensive. We may get the option to use Lou's phone as a wifi but that is sort of a pain when he isn't home!

The snow is coming down right now. Very pretty. It supposedly will snow Sunday through Tuesday also. I will believe it when I see it.

Homeschool wise we still aren't totally back in the swing since the break. We are studying the Vikings right now. It's pretty fun and interesting.

Knitting wise I'm starting a felted purse for my sister. I knit two pairs of mittens over the break. One for me and one for my sister. I have some fingerless ones but that gets too chilly. A hat I am trying to knit for my husband has given me fits. I frogged it the other day. Maybe after the purse.

Scrapbooking...I'm dying to get going on it but I've been too busy. I also can't wait to get my pictures on my new computer so I can start uploading to facebook again.

Girl Scout wise... the girls are selling cookies. My girls love to sell. I hate to sell with them. Bad mommy!

Bella, Lou and I are sick. Low grade yucky feeling. No energy and big headache. I'm hoping to feel much better tomorrow.

2010-12-31T22:01:00.000-06:00

its new years eve . im trying to post using my husbands droid. so i have no alt or shift. boo. oh well. we had a good christmas, hope you all did too. still dealing with no internet at our house. not my cup of tea, but i am hoping for birthday money this week. and i,m hoping to get a laptop so i can use wifi out and about and the droid as a wifi at home. we shall see. emma has her tenth birthday on monday. thats just crazy. i just had her didnt i. she is just so sweet. so much wants to be grown up and yet wants to stay a kid. she can stay a kid as long as she wants.
i want wish everyone a beautiful and wonderful new year. cant wait for this one it will be much better than two thousand ten .

2010-10-22T16:28:00.000-05:00

I have a few minutes so I will update. We are settling into our new house. It is cute and has an amazing front porch. It still startles me when I'm in bed and Lou comes in at my side instead of at my feet. I guess 10.5 years in one place will do that to you.

My brain has not been functioning very well since the move. I'll get better it is just taking some time. Very long adjustment. The girls love the new place and are making friends with the neighbor dogs. No kids close unfortunately.

We are about to have a fun weekend. We arrived at my friend's house in Murfreesboro a little while ago and are staying the night. There is a horse show and a knitting and spinning festival this weekend down this way. I'm not ignoring my friend, her truck broke down and she and her husband are getting it looked at and should be home soon. The kids are out back talking to the horses and playing in Erik's fort. The weather is great. I'm just looking forward to some down time.

I finally got to see Lou's first job as a superintendent. He did a good job. It was a laundry addition to a nursing home. It was down this way. It's been taking him 1 1/4 hours to get to work one way. I'll and he'll be glad when this is all in the books.

2010-09-13T21:53:00.000-05:00

All the doings around here.

The girls and I are going to the State Fair tomorrow. It's free for school field trips. Some aquaintences of mine will be doing a Sheep to shawl that morning too. So lots to see at the fair.

We had our Girl Scout Bridging/Investiture ceremony on Saturday. Great time was had by all. We had hot dogs on the grill, chips, bean, ice cream. The kids had a blast running like crazy all around the yard.

That morning we went to look at a rental house. It is really small but I liked it. It's a lot like the house we are in now but smaller. I'm still praying for the house of my rental dreams! LOL We still don't have a move out date but I want to be ready!

The girls got to chicken sit for a my friend Cherri over the weekend. Emma was in heaven. She loves chickens and all animals really. Coming up the driveway we saw two fawns and two does. Then around behind the house we saw two bucks. Bella caught a frog and then Sunday morning we saw a turtle. Very wildlifey weekend!

Hubby went to his 20th high school class reunion on Saturday too. I was fine to stay home with the GS party! He had a good time however. Sunday was our day of rest! After church, I didn't do a whole lot.

Today we got quite a bit of schooling done. Bella is slowly improving on her reading. I chose a very difficult curriculum but she is getting the hang of things. It hasn't been easy, nor was it easy for her sister but she is a great reader now. She is currently reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I'm reading A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. Interesting read. I'm liking it and working on my better story!

2010-09-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

I was just reading a blog whose writer mentioned that one of the things a good blog writer does is post often. Whoops! Guess I have been failing lately. Oh well, I'm in a good place at the moment to chat.

We found out that we are officially foreclosed on. Other than the obvious unpleasantness that goes with that, I'm okay with this. For the moment. It changes from minute to minute I think. Renting has some pluses. Maintenance is not our responsibility. The roof is not our problem for the most part. We took a quick look at a home about 5 minutes from our house today. Big front porch. Kinda small inside. New dishwasher. We are going back in the morning to take another look. It's on a great lot and man, it would be quiet. We can see our neighbors house on one side. The rest is all fields. I'd like to be closer to someone but I'd be okay. It's in the country.

My biggest worry is the aftermath of the mortgage company coming back for the money owed. Other than that, I am feeling much better about being a renter.

I thought I had lots to say but really I'm pretty tired. I'll try to come back on Sunday and update. Tomorrow is going to be crazy.

2010-08-19T23:15:00.002-05:00

Where do you want to be in ten years?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? I remember planning my life out after high school graduation. Graduate from UMass, marry Joe, have some kids, work while raising the kids were among some of my plans. Funny enough, the plan I had from the time I was little is the one that still resonates with me: live on a small farm and have horses and other small animals.

What happened to my post high school plans? Well, I did graduate. Joe and I broke up my senior year of college. I did marry and have some kids but they weren't in the 10 year plan for sure! More like the 18 year plan. In the meantime, I moved to Oregon, worked on a horse farm or two teaching kids and adults to ride horses.

Then, like a crazy person I moved to Tennessee to be with a guy I met, yes, on the internet. Needless to say that didn't work out but I was drawn into the bizarre culture of the South and stayed. Within the year I met my husband and we put down roots here in Middle Tennessee.

I have never been shy about going after the experiences I wanted. I have moved across the country a couple of times while going after my goals, but the one thing I have always wanted—the small farm with horses and small animals—has remained out of reach. My dream farm would be about 10 acre or so with a nice 6 stall barn. I would love to have 4 horses and a small flock of sheep. The sheep I would raise for the wool. I've been spinning wool for about 5 years and would love to have a supply of wool for my very own. My girls could also show them in 4-H and since they knit they could have a wool supply also.

I have special plans for the horses. I always loved horses and was persistent and creative in finding ways to be around them and learning to ride. I was always treated with kindness by horse people. I very rarely paid for lessons or if I did it was much less than what they were worth to me. Instead I cleaned stalls, led trail rides, and groomed horses in exchange for free riding time and lessons thrown in here and there. My goal is to have a place for a handful of kids who, like me, love horses but can’t afford to own one. They could come and learn the joys of horsemanship. I would give lessons and teach them about horse care. The kids would have certain responsibilities to be a member of our riding club. They would have to help with the farm chores and prove to me that they were keeping up their grades in school.

I've been around horses long enough to know that it is not a money making hobby. But who needs money when you are doing what you love? However, that is the biggest obstacle toward achieving this goal. The conflict in this story is overcoming the issue of money. How do we view the flow of money as an abundance rather than a trickle? My husband and I have been rethinking our finances and for the first time in our married lives have been giving our money assignments. Something I read in Don Miller's book Blue like Jazz really inspired me to rethink giving to our church. I have worried about money less since we have started actually tithing (10%) than I have in 13 years of marriage. I can't say I have a game plan for how we will gain a farm but I know that it is very much a real goal. As far as running the farm goes, the horse stuff comes naturally but I'll be needing to learn the art of shepherding sheep. I have a few friends who have done this so getting with them to pick their brains will be the key.

There is a conference about living your story that will be going on in Portland next month called Living a Better Story. This is being put on by the author Donald Miller, who writes about creating a better story in his book, A Million Miles and A Thousand Years. Since this has really been a life long dream of mine I would love to attend this seminar and be inspired to move this story along! I have been a journal writer for years and never have doubted that writing things down is a sure fire way to put the ball in motion. I can look back on prayer journals and other journals to see that is true. But how specifically do I bring it into action? I hope to learn that at the seminar!
Living a Better Story Seminar from All Things Converge Podcast on Vimeo.

2010-08-13T21:05:00.000-05:00

What's going on?

Lots. After the GS sleep over we had a Daisy troop Teddy Bear Picnic to go to. We made beautiful mosaic garden stepping stones at the picnic. The next day was a birthday party for one of the Daisy's. There was a pony ride set up for the kids.

Then the next week we had Lou out of town to Virginia. Went to see our friend with all the horses where the kids rode and swam in the pool. I finished my weaving project. We went to another friend's house and swam and worked on knitting while she did a little scrap booking. While Lou was coming home his truck broke down and they came home in a rental. Lou had to "run" up there yesterday to get it back. He left here at 3:30am and got back around 7pm last night.

Then Saturday Emma went to a birthday party for her friend from church. Her father is the music minister and writes music. Her mother has recorded a cd. So what did the girls get to do in addition to riding a pony? Yes, they recorded a cd in Dad's recording studio in their house. Wow. The kids had a blast and to be honest so did I.

This week we started school. It was super nice to be back to our routine. Without one we just run everywhere! We did have our first Girl Scout meeting of the new year and tried to do some star gazing. However, the clouds were still lingering from some earlier showers.

Today I had the worst sinus headache. Paralyzing really. Ear is sore, eustacian tubes are sore, head full of junk. I'm feeling a bit better but still kinda miserable. We went out to dinner at O'Charley's for Lou's birthday. He got a gift card from his work. That was super nice of them! They were a bit slow but the food was yummy!

Tomorrow we go to the fiber guild to knit and maybe spin. Depends on what I want to drag with me! I need to get in the kitchen and throw together the Calico beans I'm making. Mmmmm.

That's the thumbnail sketch of what has been going on. There has been a ton of thinking, reading, talking, contemplating going on as well. I just want to bring light to the world. I want others to understand that there are absolute truths but that life is not black and white. God is huge and so infinite is His love for us. He is so interested in our knowing that and He wants us to be light and love to the world. He doesn't care what color our car is or what we had for dinner last night.

2010-07-30T10:03:00.000-05:00

I'm just winding up a Girl Scout sleep over at my house. Just four out of my seven girls were able to come. Bummer but we had fun! We had hamburgers on the grill for dinner and scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast. Popcorn was our snack with a movie. Very fun! We looked at constellations and we made friendship bracelets and anklets this morning. There was plenty of time for free play as well. The kid I expected to keep everyone up didn't and the one I never expected to stay up late did! Funny!

Hubby comes home from his week long trip to Memphis and Tuscaloosa today. I'm very happy about that! It's been a long week. The belt in the dryer died yesterday. Not a tough repair but I'll wait for him to do it! My free tv went on the fritz this morning but it regained its senses and works again. Yeah! I like it on while I'm cooking.

The pictures are from church camp last week. I haven't adapted to the new blogger I guess. Well, now I have! But you know!

I love to listen to the conversations while the girls don't think I'm listening! They are discussing shaving and Nair right now! Ack! They are nine, ten and eleven! It goes way too fast! But they are silly the next minute taking about their stuffed animals and how they get them dressed up. Teetering back and forth.

2010-07-26T17:50:00.002-05:00

The girls have been having fun this summer. Emma has gone to two camps and Bella has attended her first year of church camp. They both had so much fun. Bella is healing nicely from her clavicle fracture. She got to do quite a bit a camp that I wouldn't have thought she would even want to do. Much less pain! Yeah!

Lou and I have been (obsessively) looking for a rental. We need to be out of here by September 6th. We have not heard yet from a house I dearly want! Beautiful home. I promise I'd take wonderful care of it!

The heat has been getting me down. I hate it. I don't think we have had 4 days under 90 all month. I got to go pick corn, tomatoes and peppers today. So hot I about passed out. Had a good visit with my friend, Lora, who has the garden. Her dad planted the corn a bit too close together for my liking. I only saw one tick and it was on my bag. They have a creek that runs through the property that I stood in for a bit to cool off. My girls got right in it.

We have a Girl Scout sleep over here on Thursday. Whew. That should be overwhelming!

2010-07-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

Five things

1. My grumpiness is directly related to how tired I am.

2. I love homemade beef fajitas.

3. I want to go buy lots of yarn.

4. I'm exeedingly tired.

5. See number one.

2010-07-07T08:45:00.002-05:00

I found a way to make words appear on the page!!!!!!!!!! I have been trying to post an entry for days. I posted an empty post and then went in to edit. Oh yay!!!!

So, I last left us in a pity party. And yes, many people's words gave comfort. Thank you! Let's see. What are the biggies going on in our lives? Last weekend I had a horrible headache and body ache enducing virus. I could hardly walk my legs hurt so bad. I was not a lot of fun for the fourth festivities. I made myself go to church and was glad I did. I only had 5 kids in Sunday school. Oh well. We had fun. I've got three more Sundays with my class and then I get a new batch. I love getting to know my kids and I'm not as fond of breaking in a new crew!

I did want to clear some stuff up. As of this moment we do not have a foreclosure date. I feel like we are in limbo right now but it really isn't too bad since I'm enjoying every day we are in our house. I have been chatting with a woman who has gone through something similar and has done a bunch of research and has found out that (and I really hope this is right) if you APPLIED for the HAMP (government subsidized loan modification) the mortgage company can not foreclose on you. We at least have a law suit. We are so not alone. Still in limbo....grrrrrrr.

Lou is looking for a job, not because he isn't working, but because he was hired to work for this company for at least six months and is not guaranteed work beyond that. If they have work they will keep him, if not he will be laid off. His six months is up at the end of August. Just the thought of that sent me into a deep depression a couple of weeks ago. He was called to interview with another company last week but the guy got busy and hasn't had time to check his references yet. Pins and needles, people.

We went to see my friend Susan-of-the-many-horses last week. Emma got to show off her new riding skills. She was so cute and so was Moon who she rode. Very wonderful horse. Bella swam and managed not to injure herself.

We did end up at the doctor's office for an unscheduled visit last week. Her collarbone was broken in an upside down v originally. It did a lot of healing over the course of the next week and the doctor was pleased. It was nearly back to original position. Bella was feeling MUCH better and to prove that, she jumped from her bed to her sister's bed. She didn't make it and fell sending her injured arm up over her head. Ouch. So we went back to the doctor. When I looked at the x ray I was relieved to see that she had not done any more damage. When the doctor saw it he was stunned. She had actually improved the position of the bone. He said in 26 years he had never seen anyone do that! Leave it to Bella...

Emma has been growing spiritually. As usual, she has taken every lesson learned in Sunday school and applied it to her life. I know I never did that! She learned that she should love her enemies. Our neighbor child with all the sad issues is a constant source of grief to Emma. They fight and say ugly things to each other. Raeanna stays away from here usually. Emma told me that she had to pray for her and to love her. And she didn't want to! Long story short, Raeanna has been over the last two days and has been so sweet and has even apologized to Emma for stealing stuff from her. Awww. I love when God does that!

On the knitting front: I finally finished the tunic from Satan's closet. I screwed it up and it is huge! But it now fits Emma which makes her happy. I will block it and get some pictures of Emma in it. I knit a little stuffed lamb. So cute. I've made some headbands too.

I'm saving this before Blogger changes it's mind!

2010-06-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

Feeling like the worst friend ever

My friend who buried her 5 year old two years ago is so encouraging. Never, and I do mean never, has a bad word to say about anyone. I'm over here feeling sorry for myself because we have to move at some point and because my husband is trying to find a new job...again. Those are such sorry reasons to feel bad compared to losing your child. She lives everyday with the reminder that he is gone. I have my sweet girls. I just dumped on her in an email and she is cheering me up. That's not right. I'm just sayin'.

I'm going to bed now.

2010-06-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

What a week or two!

Bella was outside playing with her sister and her friend when I heard a scream that sent chills down my spine. Bella was hurt! She ended up breaking her left collarbone. Poor kid. It has been a tough time for her. The ER sent her home with no pain meds. She spent the weekend in misery and I should have called her doc for some meds. By the time I did he called in something that the pharmacy didn't carry AND wasn't covered anyway. So when we went for her ortho appt we had him give us a prescription. Poor us. I say us because when Baby hurts no one sleeps!

She is improving but with improvement come set backs. Like feeling too good and then hurting herself by not paying attention.

Emma was dropped off at Girl Scout camp on Sunday. The hottest freaking week of the summer. She was lucky in that she was put in the only cabin of two that has a/c. Yay! That has to help. I can't wait to hear how her time there was! One day I will hopefully get to send her to Canyonview Camp where I worked. Very wonderful place!

Bella and I have stayed fairly busy. Monday we rested and I grocery shopped. Tuesday we went to her doctor's appointment. Today we went to my friend Denise's house where I'm learning to weave on a big floor loom. This will come in handy as I have a big floor loom. I am helping her daughter learn to play her flute in return. Then I want to go to the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina and take a few classes. I can dream!

We can't wait for Emma to come home. The dog, cat and we miss her! Both animals are all out of sorts! Fawn sleeps with her and has no idea what to do with herself without Emma. Scout misses her taking him on walks and playing with him. Two more days!

2010-06-08T16:52:00.000-05:00

In which I am completely useless!

Last night I left for VBS as my husband asked me to call him in half an hour so he could be on time for work. I also sent an email to my friend offering to meet her at McDonald's if she just wanted to get out of the house for a bit.

Flash forward to 7:10pm when I realized that my brain is a sieve and I had forgotten to go to McDonald's. I was in Barnes and Noble at least ten minutes away. Luckily she stayed home.

Five minutes later my phone rings and it is my husband. Yes, I forgot to call him too. USELESS! He was fortunately on his way to work, no thanks to me! I'm brilliant I tell ya.

2010-06-07T08:41:00.000-05:00

Strangely nice weather

When we walked out of church yesterday, I was hit by the wall of humidity. We came home, ate way too much for lunch and all of us crashed for a nap. The girls have VBS this week from 6:30-8:30 pm so they wanted to be well rested! LOL After my nap I called my sister and went on the front porch to chat. Wow had the weather changed! It was breezy and almost cool and not the slightest bit of humidity!

After getting off the phone with her I gathered my knitting and my latest read (Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller) and put up the umbrella on the back deck. If a book can stay open when I lay it down I can read and knit but this book wasn't going to play that game. So I alternated. So lovely. A little side note here is that my sister is working with Don Miller right now. She is working for an interior designer and he is having his condo reworked. I'm only on chapter 4 but it is an interesting read.

The kids were so excited about VBS. They were just about unbearable to be with! I chatted with a friend who I hadn't in a very long time while we ate at Which which. Not bad. I like Jimmy John's better.

We haven't had anyone come look at the house yet, but we also don't have a foreclosure date yet either. But I really hate the limbo aspect of all of this. Spent most of the day bursting into tears over very little. A guy slowed down to look at our house as I was on the deck and I just lost it. This is the first year I've been able to enjoy our deck past May because we now have the patio set and umbrella. First year that the cherry tree delivered any fruit also. I know things will be fine. They just don't always feel like it.

I got home from VBS and had to turn off the air conditioning. I was so cold I didn't even open a window. This reminds me of living in Oregon. Cool at night and hot during the day. This morning I have just two windows open. It is so lovely in here!

2010-06-04T23:18:00.000-05:00

Not all sunshine and cherries

I haven't been able to talk about our house. Just haven't felt like it. We now have a sign in the yard stating that it is for sale. Not by choice. We don't have a foreclosure date yet but it is only a matter of time. The program that we applied to get into and waited six months to hear about denied us based on Lou's current income. No regard for the past fifteen months. And according to their in house rules he doesn't make enough for them to refinance us. Nice.

So now we try to sell a house we don't want to leave in an economy that is the worst in decades. Lou's job is still not very secure. The company he works for is still having trouble getting work lined up. So he for sure has a job until the end of August. But he is still putting out resumes. I don't know how he does it sometimes. It's just hard. I don't get to throw a fit for his sake and for my kids' sake. I have to see a positive spin on everything or I'll run screaming. About did today. I love my girls but we are sometimes together too much. I had a ton of errands to run and they were starting to make me nuts. I was making me nuts.

Ok, that's enough. Questions? I'll answer them. Please don't leave comments about suggestions to keep the house. We have and are trying all we can. Support. That's what I need.

2010-05-31T21:20:00.000-05:00

When you have as many cherry blossoms as we had on our tree this year, you end up with actual cherries! This tree was planted ten years ago and it has finally become fruitful! The monkey in the tree has had fun climbing and eating the cherries. They are pretty small and a bit sour but I'm finding them so lovely regardless. The birds are enjoying them also.

2010-05-20T09:15:00.001-05:00

My unsocialized homeschooler!

Last night we went to church. The girls walked with their classes over to the local nursing home to sing to the residents. Apparently, several of the kids chose to act foolishly. Not listening to adults, doing as they pleased. So when they got back to church they were lectured (yelled at by Emma's standards). Some of the methods used for making the kiddos feel bad about how they had acted included threats (no more musicals!, they are a privilege not a right!). I am not condemning the use of threats! I've taught and substitute taught and even taught some of the lovely darlings I know were responsible for the mayhem! I've used my share of hopefully guilt producing lectures! That all said, I walk in to pick up Emma and she crumpled into a sobbing mess as soon as she saw me. She was impossible to understand through all the tears. I got her calmed down enough for her to give me a rough sketch of what happened. She was horrified to think of her life without a musical. Traumatized to imagine adults being so mad. I left her sitting on a bench and went to get Bella.

I asked her teacher what happened and it turned out to be about 2 boys who were the "bad" ones and of course, no big deal. There would be a musical next year. The world as we know it will not cease to exist, etc.

As she sat on the bench crying I watched dozens of children and parents walk by wondering what could possibly be so wrong that Emma was crying so hard. And then it dawned on me: Emma has never been to school. She has never been lectured as a class for the wrongdoings of one or two other children. In her world no adult has (recently) unleashed fury upon her. This was hard to take! Adults were the calm ones (most of the time!) in her world.

I am not a perfect parent. Plenty of yelling has gone on. Plenty of exasperation! But I don't (anymore) manipulate or yell at my kids to make them feel guilty.

When I took a moment to look at life from her perspective I had to think back to when I was in elementary school and how we were treated corporately. I had great teachers but even they were subject to moments of "losing it"! I can remember being on the verge of tears from a lecture or two by some teachers. That is a horrible feeling. I've watched it happen and been the deliverer of such a lecture as a teacher. It is also a horrible feeling.

As I made my way out of church to the car, I ran into some people who understood and some who really didn't. One of my favorite friends (she homeschooled her three now grown and successful children) gave me a hug and reminded me that we don't really want our kids peers to be other kids the majority of the time! We want them in an adult centric world. I felt comforted by those words.

I explained to Emma what she was going through. Most of the rest of the kids will never think again about the time Ms. Lauren and Ms. Amber yelled at them. Getting yelled at by authority figures is a part of their world. By the time we got home Emma was feeling better and ready to use the "new to her" desk to draw some horses.

2010-05-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

We just got through with the longest weekend of our year. Every year since Emma was in Kindergarten she has performed in our church's children musical. She loves singing and loves Ms. Lauren. It has been amazing to watch these kids get better every year. Emma's class was the last class to get to do the play in Kindergarten. Each year she moved up the age. The next year only 1st-5th, the next year 2nd -5th. I know it had to bum out the kids in the class right behind them. But I've taught those kids and trust me it was a wise move!!!!!

I'm threatening to book a room at a hotel in H'ville next year. We live 1/2 an hour from church so one time to church is one hour. We spent about 6 hours in the car this weekend. Not to mention that the rehearsals were scheduled around dinner time so we all ended up eating out all weekend. Not good for the budget. Oh well, the reward was the higher than kites girls after the performance and the sound of Emma singing one of her songs from the show and saying I loved our musical!

I did get to spend a bunch of time in Barnes and Noble looking through magazines and books. That was fun!

So, we did some volunteer work for flood victims on Saturday. It was rewarding yet very sad. One side of this street backs up to a creek. Those houses had to be gutted. Across the street wasn't as bad but was still a total mess. We met lovely people struggling through tough times. Emma ministered the best way she can: played with and petted one family's dog. She even let us walk him around the neighborhood. It gave Emma the idea, as we were walking the neighborhood passing out bags of food, to collect pet food for families affected by the flood. I've been too tired honestly to get on this but I need to talk to someone at church or with Girl Scouts about this. My kids really have a heart for helping people. I attribute that to our church's teachings. I'm not naturally a go getter in this area.

2010-05-14T13:13:00.002-05:00

Bella's Daisy troop had an awards ceremony last night. They have completed their first year of Daisies and had a ton of patches! The girls did a little skit. Too cute! Their last two field trips of the year were canceled due to the flood. The girls were to go to Shelby Park and help plant veggies for the community garden. Shelby park was under lots of water during the flood. The other field trip was to be to Opry Mills mall to Build a Bear. In some parts of the mall the water was 9 feet deep. Not going to be open soon. As soon as my camera batteries are charged I will post the cuteness.

Comparative literature

A few weeks ago we began listening to a book called the Sisters Grimm. Detective stories about descendants of the Brothers Grimm. Really cute. We are on our third one. In the meantime, Emma descends upon the library asking my to show her where she can find fairy tale books. I show her and walk off to find my own books. When she finds me she is all excited about finding three different Grimm's fairy tale books. She has been reading them and comparing and contrasting the different versions of these stories. On her own. I didn't say go get them and do a report and make sure it is seven pages double spaced. Her own idea. I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING and letting my girls be their own people and when they find something they want to study, letting them run with it.

2010-05-13T09:03:00.000-05:00

Good day!

I haven't been on here in so long. I have composed many an entry in my head and then never sat down to write. What's going on? Let's see. On the homeschool front we are winding things up this week. Bella's work has been done since last week. We are still working on read alouds and history. Emma has several weeks of reading/language arts and science to finish. She has managed to not manage her time well and will be figuring out that it is easier to do what is asked of her when it is asked!

On the knitting and spinning front, I am needing to head to my favorite yarn store Enchanted. I have actually run out of yarn for the tunic I'm working on for Bella. Not good. I may have to come up with a plan b because I may not be able to find the right colors! This gives me a knot in my stomach. I've been working on it since February. I have one fingerless glove finished and have frogged the other one about 3 times. MUST finish glove. I'm still spinning some really lovely Blue Faced Leicester. It is dyed in a varigated way with pinks, oranges and browns. Sounds strange, looks wonderful.

On the flood. Wow. I didn't write anything because I was too emotional about it all. I have friends who have lost bunches. I have seen roads that were flooded to about 20 feet that I've never even seen water lapping up on. There is a road we pass at least 4 times a week that is cordoned off. At least eight houses are on that street and each of them has huge piles of debris on the front lawn. You can see that they were flooded to the tops of their roofs. Completely unlivable. That doesn't even touch what is going on in the rest of the state. I read somewhere yesterday that when the weather guessers looked at the computer models for rainfall for that weekend that they assumed that the computers had to be wrong! It had to be a mistake. I wish that they had at least suggested that it was a possibility. There were at least 25 families from our church who have been affected. We are going out Saturday to volunteer in the Hendersonville area.

We went to the zoo yesterday. We have been really getting to take advantage of our zoo membership this year. I think we almost need a break from it though since the kids are od'ed on it. They got to ride the carousel from 8am -9am for free! That was fun. Then we walked over to the 200 year old house that is on the property. The ladies that gave the land to the city lived there. They have built a barn and a beautiful garden there. Emma went and talked to the master gardeners for a long time. She loves gardening. Too bad I don't share that passion. I like plants, I like veggies. I'm not a gardener. :( Then as we walked along Bella told me to come look at a snake. I didnt' hear her and told her we would see it on the way back. She said but Mom it's a snake! Oh, so I went back and sure enough there was a snake wound into a fence. Rat snake. We stood and looked at him for a minute and then he slid off into the bushes. Then we saw a family of Canada geese. We did see some zoo animals but what did my Bella talk about the most? The snake and the geese. I could have saved us a trip downtown!

My latest obsession is Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations! I'm watching every episode through Netflix and then I got a bunch of his books out of the library. Obsessed. It's a foodie/travel show. He was a chef at a bunch of restaurants in NYC.

My dear husband is working nights currently. Not a bunch of fun for us but I'm glad he is working! He likes this company also a big bonus!

2010-04-29T12:13:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to upload pictures on and off for a while. Turns out all I needed to do was go into settings and add the edit package. That done, here are the girls on Easter morning. I'll add more later today.

We have been going flat out this last week and it won't end until around the middle of next month. Last week we went to the zoo, the art museum and to see How to Train Your Dragon. Great movie! This week we went to a birthday party and yesterday my friend Jill and I took our kids to a friend's house and we went to the Girl Scout store and to Trader Joe's. Also a quick trip to Whole Foods. It was the very first time Jill and I have ever done something that didn't include kids!

Do you ever play "punch buggy"? I've taught my girls and we play all the time. I had to restrain myself while in the car yesterday! It took my kids a while to tell the difference between a VW bug and a PT Cruiser. Now the Cruisers are called Golden Snitch cars because the Chrysler emblem looks like a golden snitch from the Harry Potter movies!

We have been listening to some books on CD while driving around. I found a series called the Sisters Grimm. Loads of fun! We are finished with our second book and can't wait for the third to come into the library.

2010-04-16T22:14:00.002-05:00

It's been a lovely few weeks. The weather has been balmy to say the least! 80 to 85 for a while now. We have a cold front coming through that is supposed to kick it back into the 60s and 70s. That works for me!

Our sweet cat Fawn has decided to take to exploring the yard for about an hour a day. She is so funny about it. Seems scared to death the whole time she's out. And scared the minute she is back in the door! I just pray she stays out of the road!

The girls have been staying busy and having fun with birthday parties to attend, friends to play with and endless hours outside! The neighbor girls have been over a bunch and wish that I'd let them in more. It's too nice. When it's 90 and 90% humidity we will get back inside! Our water bill should go up since my two are taking many more baths!

I just about finished my mother's birthday present. Only about a month late! I will mail them out to her soon!

I was gifted with about three quarters of a Scottish black faced sheep fleece last week. I'm kind of excited! I really never had the desire to process a fleece by myself but hey, if it's a gift I might be willing! So, I've spent some hours picking out alfalfa before I wash it. To wash it I will put it into a mesh laundry bag and fill up my washing machine with hot water. I'll press the wool in and then let it soak. Before the water cools I'll set it to spin. This happens a few times and then I set the clean wool out in the shade of a tree to dry. Then I have to card it and then I get to spin it! It's a lot of work. And since I have a spinning demonstration to do in a few weeks I'm excited to have something to show the kids. The only thing missing will be the sheep! I so understand why women threw their spinning wheels into the fire when the mills took over making affordable cloth! I certainly wouldn't enjoy this if I had to keep my kids clothed! This wool I got will not be good for wearing next to the skin. But I'll be able to weave with it. Perhaps some placemats or a small rug!

I've met a new friend through the homeschool group we are a part of. Very lovely, intelligent woman with three wonderful girls. My girls just love them and the feeling is mutual. They just got a horse who is more like a big puppy! So sweet. Even Bella went in the pasture with him! She is not my horse lover. We and another family went to the park today after drama class and we could hardly leave for all of the talking we did! I was sneezing and not feeling well but I still didn't want to leave. The kids were well worn out!

2010-03-26T21:36:00.002-05:00

How do you spell procrastination? Traci

I'm the queen of don't worry, it's all going to get done, and then running around like crazy to get it done. The kitchen floor is almost always drying while the first guests arrive!

I'm going to Girl Scout camping training in the morning. I looked at my check list at 3pm. I signed up for this around the first of the month. So much for Be Prepared. I have to go make a Kaper chart before bed. OR if I really want to procrastinate I could wait til morning. Nah. I'll get it done tonight. I'm really looking forward to taking the girls camping! Camping in Camp Fire Girls is one of my favorite memories.

I was out walking with the girls two days ago and I tripped on our street's seriously messed up sidewalks. Sprained my hand. Lovely. It is much better tonight. I'm typing with two hands. Should have waited a day or so to get it xrayed. They I wouldn't have gone at all.

I'm not a fan of the new Obamacare health plan but I know that something needs to be done about health care. The last two times we have been to the ER we have been seen by nurse practitioners. Nothing wrong with nurse practitioners but we used to be seen by doctors. And Lou got his benefits package - $200 a week for family coverage. NO way we can afford that.

Truly, spring has sprung. There is a line of ants coming and going in my kitchen. I put out a nice little trail of Borax for them to munch on.

To add to my crazy last couple of days, I was pumping gas when I pulled the nozzle out of the car without letting go of the pump part. Gas all over me. All over the car and ground. And that was before I stepped into Kroger for groceries. I couldn't stand myself. Phew!

My girls are doing well. Happily getting their school work done. Seriously. I don't know what to tribute it to. No complaints, no heavy sighs, just finishing their work. I'm blessed and grateful!

Lou started his new job yesterday and worked 16 hours in 24 hours. 6am-2:30pm then 8pm-5am. Crazy. He was fairly useless today! Poor guy was tired.

2010-03-20T19:36:00.002-05:00

Lori thanks for getting around to my blog! It gave me a kick start to get on here and say something.

This week has been very intense and long and fun and exhausting.

Monday - First school day during Daylight savings time. Let's just say it didn't start on time!
Lucien or Lou as he is known to most was finally hired. At a real job for a real hourly wage. One that might actually support us. Whoop!

Tuesday - Emma has choir and we arrive to find out that the rest of our county is on Spring Break, so no choir. Incidentally, the other four homeschoolers arrived also!

Wednesday - We had church in the evening which always wears my little one out.

This is where it gets going....

Thursday - Zoo for the day with nine kids, including a baby, and three adults. Whew!

Friday - Drama class in the morning then two families came back to my house where we made super yummy homemade pizzas. Three moms, a baby, a fourteen year old and six kids from 5-10. Whew again!

Saturday - Multicultural festival including Irish Step dancers, a steel drum band and Carribean dancers from 9-12. Quick trip to Walmart and then to my friend's house and then we went to Bates Nursery to get ideas for landscaping.

I am toast. Crispy. We had fun all week but I need a day at home. Oh yeah. We have a birthday party after church tomorrow. :( I just want to stay home in bed.

I don't think I mentioned it here but we had to have Moose put down a few weeks ago. It was a tough choice but he is no longer in pain. We miss him.

2010-03-10T09:50:00.004-06:00

I just can't seem to get back into blogging. I can't even seem to stay caught up with blogs in general. The only one I read consistently is The Pioneer Woman.

This week's obsession has been genealogy. I have messed around with our family tree some in the past but watching "Who do you think you are?" on Friday on NBC really got me going. I signed up for the free trial on Ancestry and have already found some cool connections. I've found some documents and even some pictures I had never seen before. I'm really looking forward to a trip to Pennsylvania to Valley Forge where my ancestors fought and served as a nurse. Very fun! Out of my 16 great-great grandparents, only two were immigrants. One was from the Shetland Islands and one from Norway. The rest of my trace-ables had been here for generations. Most back to the 1600s.

I'm going to try- try I say - to blog a little more. Emma isn't feeling well and needs my attention at the moment.

2010-01-28T18:54:00.002-06:00

Thankful Thursday

I'm so out of the habit I have to get back into the habit.

1. I'm thankful for coffee. It brightens up my morning. It is glorious stuff!

2. I'm thankful for Brownie Girl Scouts. Our troop is off to a rocky start but I'm excited to get going! Only two girls tonight besides Emma but we will have at least one more next week.

3. Knitting! I love knitting. Obsessed!

4. Homeschooling! I do love having my girls with me MOST of the time!

5. My husband who is remaining positive despite the fact that he is looking for a job constantly.

6. Facebook. I get to talk to people I haven't been connected with in years!

7. My new camera! I love my new camera.

8. My new knitting project- I can't wait to start it! I used birthday money to get some yarn and a cute new pattern.

9. A clean house! Except for the pee spot thanks to Moose it is a clean house!!!!

10. My friends, I love being connected with the women at my church. They are a wonderful bunch!

2010-01-25T19:37:00.005-06:00

2010-01-25T08:08:00.002-06:00

It's Monday morning

School starts in an hour. Lou is still looking for work. Emma is in the shower. I've had mine. Bella is eating everything in sight. The girl can't hit a growing spurt again! She will tower over all of the other kids her age.

I'm a Girl Scout Brownie Troop leader officially. Emma is so pleased. Our first meeting is on Thursday night. In the meantime, we have choir, choir at church and school to deal with. I need to plan the meeting today or tomorrow.

I didn't feel well for most of the weekend. Sore throat, dizzy, slightly nauseous, headache. It started while I was at the new fiber group I'm going to.

Ok, what kind of day has this been? I am just getting back to this and it is 6:35pm. Wild day. Snow flurries. Kid who thought doing math was a trial. Lots of dishes to wash. Averting disaster due to the kindness of the guy who turns off the water. It was the cut off date. So I ran up to City Hall to pay them. He told me he wasn't supposed to warn people but because we had never been cut off he wanted to talk to me first. We honestly had forgotten to pay. Whew!!!!!

I'll post pictures tomorrow. I've been shooting lost of fun things.

2010-01-07T17:48:00.002-06:00

I've been stuck on Facebook nearly all day! Help! I need to participate in my own life!
I did do the Wii active though!

2010-01-02T21:01:00.003-06:00

Well, isn't it funny that my leg was in all three shots of Moose. That's just an indication of how close the boy stays to me!

It is fricken' cold here! Cold. And isn't supposed to get above 32 for at least a week. My kids are going stir crazy.

My friend Kelli is asking people to ask her anything and she will use her new video camera and show you. Well, we can play that game here if you want. Just let me know within reason I'll show you!

We went to the mall to exchange some clothes that didn't fit right. Emma got some new cute stuff. I don't get how they size stuff. I had to get her a huge size in this cute little outfit and then she has these smaller by a long shot sized jeans that hang off of her.

Emma's birthday is tomorrow. She will be 9. Amazing. She is still the sweet girl she has always been. Very crafty. Very sensitive. A true artist. She wants to go to the movies and see The Princess and the Frog. So we will do that tomorrow.

Did I mention the cold? I think my blood has thinned out since I've moved down here. I'm not a fan anymore. I remember going sledding, skating, walking the dog, shoveling the snow. It didn't seem to bug me then.

We spent the morning cleaning. The house looks so much better. And my yarn is all in one place! Whoop! I have a bunch of replying to do of my handspun. Seems I'm not that good at it and I need to fix a few balls of yarn.

Stay warm everyone!

2009-12-31T07:16:00.003-06:00

Moose Dog

Edited to note that whenever I try to use the apostrophe the editing does something strange and it wont let me! Please use your imagination!

Im watching my cat watch the old man dog. The dog in question is Moose. Gentle giant. I really thought we were going to lose him in November. But he is so ticking along like he always has. Thirteen in January. Not sure of the date because he was a dumped puppy that someone found in Joelton. They listed him as a Chocolate Lab. My then fiance was wanting one so we drove out to look. So cute. We took Moose and my in laws took his sister who promptly got loose and ran away. We took him to the vet who told us she thought he was about 2 months old. We were thinking 4 months old so we passed out right there in the vets office. This boy was going to be big! And he is. He has weighed as much as 100 lbs. When he stands next to me I put my hand on his head without bending over and my arm isnt fully extended. Hes a pain but hes our pain. Loving to the girls. Puts up with a cat after 12 years of avowed cat hating! Is loyal to the point of obnoxious to me. Follows me from room to room and is never more than 5 feet from me during the day. He used to sleep in our room but he is too stinky (gas-wise) and hot these days. He sleeps in the office now. Going to be deaf as a post quite soon I believe! Would not trade him for the world!

2009-12-30T10:09:00.003-06:00

Did everyone bake enough this holiday?

I sure did. I made sugar cookies, expertly decorated by the 8 and 6 year olds!, date nut balls which I hadn't had in years and love!!!, spritz cookies which came out horrid and these fudge filled meringues that were divine and easy and I must make them again soooooooon.

Bella had a a great time making gingerbread cookies with her Daisy troop. They made adorable aprons also that night. She was in heaven. Did I mention that I just love her troop leader? Love her. So sweet. Knows her stuff as she was a troop leader for her older girls who are now grown women. And since you all have known that I lost my mind years ago, I am starting a troop for Emma. Her troop folded and she misses it so much... yes I'm a sap. Tis true! Oh well. It will be an adventure!

2009-12-28T13:09:00.003-06:00

How hilarious is this photo?! Great blackmail for when she starts dating!

Ok, I'm going to make an effort to type! I have felt too busy to sit down to think! We had an amazing Christmas. Let's just say that our church family is very generous as is my grandmother! I won't list but I will say that Santa brought a Wii. Everyone is really enjoying it. Golf and Speed Racer seem to be favorites at the moment!

Highlights of the holiday season included: attending Green Hills School of Dance The Nutcracker (very fun but not like the professional one!), making sugar cookies with the girls, Christmas Eve with my in laws, Christmas day with my in laws. I made knitted items for some folks (sister, mother, father and nephew). I've been enjoying having no more deadlines for knits! The girls have bunches of new toys to play with. Santa even found a loom at Big Lots for $15! Good deal.

My favorite present is my new Nikon L100 camera! I just have to learn how to use it now! It's pretty much a point and shoot but it has some features I need to learn.

We are probably taking most of the week off of school. Can't imagine trying to contain the wild things to get much done. We will spend most of the time with the new games and cookbook Emma got, Usborne Fairy Cookbook. Way cute! Library too. We need to go today.

Emma's ninth birthday is Sunday. Can't believe that! She is getting so grown up.

2009-12-11T12:24:00.002-06:00

Amazing

Amazing how some people's words can really affect you. I was just on the phone with the man who is re certifying us for food stamps. Lou's temp job ended unexpectedly on Wednesday and he was calling us today to do a phone interview. After hearing Lou lost his job he told me he wasn't being funny but he wanted to sincerely wish us a Merry Christmas. That was not lost on me. We will have a Merry Christmas. It is more about being with my girls and family than anything else. Not to say that I'm at peace about this whole thing because I am human. But we will be fine.

2009-12-05T20:02:00.002-06:00

Too much to type!

I'll give details later but I spent Thanksgiving Day traveling to Massachusetts, the next day seeing my home town and attending my 25th High School reunion and the next connecting with old friends.

When I got home there was no rest for the weary! Back to school for the kids, lost teeth, choir rehearsals, dentist appointments, knitting requirements for Christmas, making Thanksgiving dinner for the family since we spent it apart. It's been a busy week!

Lou is still working nights. Can't wait for that to end which may be this week! So I will be back to post pictures too!

2009-11-21T16:22:00.002-06:00

Super Saturday

Lovely day. Went to the Christmas Parade and fair that goes on every year in Springfield. We have never gone. It's usually too cold. Today was wonderful - 65 degrees! Emma's choir sang and rode a float. I worked the booth they had set up. I didn't do too much since not many people came over to make necklaces.

The parade was fun. Santa rode the ladder truck. We were waiting for Emma when they drove Santa right up to us and we watched him climb down and Bella went over to get a hug! She was in heaven!

Tonight is meatball subs. Semi homemade. I bought the buns, meatballs and sauce. I'll heat them all up. Does that count?!

I'm getting very excited for my trip. I leave Thursday morning. I need to make a list of things we need from the store. Pecans for the sweet potato casserole that I'll send with Lou.

I'm working on Emma's Hermione hat still. This time around things are going much better. I won't (cross my fingers) need to frog it this time. I hope to finish it by next weekend. I'll work on it on the plane.

2009-11-19T21:21:00.002-06:00

Thankful Thursday!

Yes, I'm back. We have been busy. I seem to say that a lot. We seem to be that a lot!

1. I'm thankful for my little blonde punk. She told me the other day that she "accidentally, while I was looking up and not paying attention" drew a smiley face on my table cloth with marker. Accidentally. Perfectly drawn smiley face. Love that kid.

2. I'm thankful for my little brunette punk. She came down after being up in bed for oh, five minutes and told me she just couldn't sleep. She had tried everything. Hmmmmm.

3. I'm thankful for my sweet husband who went to a seminar about going to college after about 3 hours of sleep. He has been so upbeat and positive while working 5pm -1:30am for the last many weeks. He will finish up with that schedule next Wednesday and go back to days! I know he can't wait!

4. I'm thankful for our cozy house. I love looking out the back window at our 200+ year old oak tree with the sun coming up beside it every morning.

5. I'm thankful for knitting. I only wish that it didn't always take me forever to figure out a pattern which always entails ripping out at least twice, usually three times!

6. I'm thankful for my neighbor who called me this morning and told me to get the girls dressed and get up to the high school to watch the middle school kids perform Sleeping Beauty. She did all the costumes, beautiful job! The kids did so well! A girl from Emma's choir was in it and came over to say hi before the performance. What a wonderful way to spend the morning.

7. I'm thankful for Emma's choir. It is making her grow and stretch. She is a nervous wreck about singing on a float in the parade on Saturday. She will have a blast. She sings in front of over 600 people when she sings at church and never flinches but get her out of that environment and she is scared. She'll have a ball!

8. I'm thankful for eggs. I love them!

9. I'm thankful to my friend, Christine who goes way above and beyond the call of friendship so that I can attend my 25th high school reunion. Next week at this time, I'll be in Massachusetts!!! I so can't wait!

10. I'm thankful that I get to have Thanksgiving dinner in Massachusetts. I haven't done that since maybe 1990? Wow!

2009-11-16T20:41:00.000-06:00

2009-11-16T20:24:00.002-06:00

Busy weekend!

We took time off on Wednesday since we knew that we wouldn't slow down all weekend starting with Thursday.

Thursday we had 4 H in Ashland City which is about an hours drive. Too far I know! Then we quickly ate dinner and headed to Bella's Investiture into Daisy's. They were waiting on us! I felt bad. That was blissfully short but oh so sweet. Six sweet little girls showing that they are committed to becoming Girl Scouts.

Friday Nana took us all to see A Christmas Carol! We really enjoyed it and gorged on popcorn and enormous Cokes! Thank you, Nana! Emma claimed to be scared the entire time but I think it was more drama than real! We walked around the mall (Opry Mills) and looked at some things and got Emma a new blouse and shoes that were much needed.

Saturday we attended a very sweet wedding! Friends from church who are in their early 20s. JoAnna was Bella's teacher at least one year. From there Emma and I drove from H'ville to Springfield to have her sing in her choir. It was for a fund raiser for the arts school associated with the choir. The fund raiser was genius. Desserts. You donated two desserts, one to be cut up into sample sized pieces and one to be auctioned off. We walked around sampling the most amazing desserts. One young woman claimed that this was the best day of her life! I could kind of agree! My favorite was a chocolate cobbler. Mmmmmmm! And the coffee was wonderful as well. The girls sang great! I could hear Emma quite well but not overpowering. She blends well.

After church on Sunday the girls and I headed to Smyrna for a baby shower for Lou's cousin, Tracy. She is having a little boy in February. I thought it was pretty early for a shower but oh well. She got lots of nice things and we had fun chatting with folks.

Today we schooled the girls, went grocery shopping for the week and it was nice enough for them to play outside for a while. It's raining now but that's ok, it hasn't rained since October 31. I had almost missed the rain!

2009-11-13T20:39:00.001-06:00

I'm wishing for a magic wand today.

2009-11-11T22:36:00.002-06:00

Wild Wednesday

I'm just sayin' that men do not need to be home when women are trying to homeschool their children. I feel like letting him sleep til I'm done. It's not good for his sleep cycle but it would be great for my blood pressure!! Oh. My. Word. I'm reading with Bella and he interrupts to inform me of something that can so wait. Emma and I are arguing over a math problem and he needs to talk to me again!

So we were supposed to go to a birthday party for my friend's son right after Bella's party on Sunday. I'm please to report she rescheduled. For this afternoon. That was fine except I needed more time at home getting stuff done. We had fun and Jason the birthday boy got what he wanted! Transformers!

Tomorrow's list of activities is just insane. Home school, 4-H, ceremony for Bella for Daisy's. Somewhere in there I'm supposed to get some food made for the people, do the dishes and maybe some laundry. Sweep? Too bad Lou has to leave for work at 4pm. I'd make him take the girls to 4-H. Oh well.

I'm just wanting December to get here so I can relax. You all may find that amusing but seriously. Everyone cancels stuff for December and then I end up with nothing to do the whole month. Since we aren't in public school there are no extra things. I don't have family here so no extra get togethers. None of my friends have Christmas parties. Hmmm maybe they do, but I just don't get invites. LOL

On the house front, we are waiting to hear about our loan modification. I'm trying to be patient.

Lou called me today to tell me he wants to become Jewish. I can't think of the word for it but basically it would be Jews for Jesus. I have to laugh, not because it's that funny but because I listened to about a years worth of intense studying and research from a friend of mine who was so disgusted with the way church ran. So far from what Jesus believed and practiced. I have another friend who is seriously contemplating it and another who made the switch years ago. I don't see us leaving our church any time soon. I came home and found about three bookmarked pages pertaining to his quest.

2009-11-10T21:54:00.003-06:00

Is it Tuesday already?

Last night Lou didn't work. Not good. Someone was on vacation and since he is a temp it affected him. But this afternoon he met briefly with the superintendent of the project he is on. To get a real job. Cross fingers and toes, pray mightily. He drove me nuts being home that many days in a row though! They worked Sunday through Thursday last week. So tonight was his first day back to work. He is not supposed to be underfoot during the day!

The kiddos are fine and dandy. Emma had choir tonight. They have a short performance on Saturday and then a concert on the 6th of December.

The rest of this week is insanely busy. Tomorrow we are getting together with another family in the afternoon, Thursday is 4-H and Bella's investiture ceremony for Daisy's, Friday we have to get some things exchanged and a blouse for Emma and I'm supposed to go to Scrapbooking but doubt I will since I have no one to watch the girls. Saturday we have a wedding to go to and Emma's mini concert.

My grandmother gave Bella a bit of money for her birthday. I'm thinking we will purchase another zoo pass for the year with it. She asks about once a week if we are going to the zoo. Nashville has such a nice zoo I think we need to take advantage of it.

Not much else is rattling around in here tonight!

2009-11-09T18:20:00.000-06:00

What a weekend!

I left Friday for our church's ladies retreat. What fun. What a lot of laughing. What a lack of sleep!
It really was a wonderful time. The camp we stayed at was top notch. I've worked at two camps and neither were as nicely appointed as this one! Great log cabins. Decent mattresses. Central heat and air! Big covered deck and a front porch right on the lake. We had 11 women in our cabin. There was room for about 5 more people. The women in my cabin were all around my age, mostly with kids around my girls' ages. I knew all but one and really enjoyed that we had a weekend to really deepen our friendships and learn more about God's love for us.

I came home at around noon on Sunday and by 1:30 people were arriving for Bella's birthday party! Lou gets the gold medal this weekend! He and the girls cleaned and arranged everything from the food to the favors! Bella turned six. I can't believe she is six. She had a wonderful day!

Today we spent the day recouping! I'm still super tired. It takes very little to distract me.

On the homeschool front, the little people got most of their work done today.

On the knitting front, I got about half way done with Emma's hat and had to frog(think rip it, rip it, rip it!) the whole thing. Oh the sadness. I can't take it! I will get it done. I promise. Too much talking, not enough paying attention! It was looking really cute. I will try to make less mistakes though.
I tried to upload pictures and nothing doing. It just sat there!

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