Category Archives: Nomad

Epic Church, Fun Learning & Nature’s Beauty…

Wednesday night we had convergence at our church.† We don’t have enough room for all of us at our building so we go to The Princess Theater.† It was amazing as usual.† I love our church and it has made SUCH a difference in Kei and I’s life.† Truly.

Kei had gotten a new shirt/jacket that she had to wear.† I reminds me of a jacket I had in the 80’s!!† Wish I had kept things like that.

We started off having children’s dedications.† It was so sweet.† Kei and I participated in it a couple of years ago. Everyone in the entire place prayed for these amazing kids and their parents.† Then our band played.† Our band ROCKS!

We did some really cool things this week lesson wise.† We are working on fractions in Math.† Right now I am using Math Mammoth Fractions.† I also have Life of Fred which we love!

In Science we are doing Physics for 3 months.† We are learning about forces and energy.† I found a GREAT free download based on 2D Physics.† Kei plays with this for hours.† It is called PHUN. She told me the other day, “Mom I bet you $1 I can make a machine that writes a “K”.† She did and I happily paid her $1.

We are using Story of The World for history.† I started out using that, then last year we did US History up until reconstruction.† Kei wanted to go back to Ancient this year.† We love SOTW.† We have the audio version and she listens to the chapters.† We even listen to it in the car.† We also got the activity guide which is SO worth it.† We also use Evan Moor History Pockets. These are the coolest things we have almost ever done.† Fun, hands on projects.

For writing I make Kei do a report once a week.† She turns in a rough draft and I correct it and she redoes it.† It can be on any subject and she has to have 2 resources.† So far she has done cooking and dogs.† :)† I have never made her do a spelling program because she would make 100 and promptly forget how to spell it.† This† year we are using Sequential Spelling and we both really like it.† There is a spelling ‘test’ ever day but it takes us about 5 minutes.† It makes sense so she remembers it so much better.† I can tell such a difference in her spelling.

For Geography I put all the countries of the world in a big glass bowl.† She draws one out each Monday.† She does a COUNTRY REPORT 2010 that I made up and also looks up images during the week.† I want her to really see how the people live.† How the children live.† How they are like and not alike.† We have 2 of the most amazing books that we also use for Geography.† One is called What the World Eats. It is a fascinating look at what the average family in different countries spend on food and what they buy.† The other is our favorite.† It is Material World: A Global Family Portrait. I had it in my cart for months and finally just ordered both of them.† We love them. It really makes you appreciate what you have when you see how most of the world lives.

I also made a jar with about 200 random questions.† She draws out a question every day and has to find the answer online.† I think knowing how to search is really important.† It is one of her favorite parts of her day.

We are using Live Mocha for Spanish.† She has only done a few lessons but really likes it.† We do critical thinking about 3 times a week.† We are doing Monet in Art right now.†† We read a biography about him and read Linnea in Monet’s Garden and watched a video from Netflix.† I couldn’t homeschool without Netflix!† This upcoming week we are going to try our hand at water lilies.† I am doing the drawing along with Kei.† I have always sucked at drawing but I still am loving it.† I am actually learning some techniques that I never knew.† We also do some Photography.† I just give her an assignment and she shoots away.

Friday’s we don’t do ‘lessons’.† We have, what we call “Fun Fridays”.† This past Friday we went on a hike and a picnic.† We took Nomad.† It was a really awesome day.† The only ‘bad’ thing is that we hooked Nomad on a post while we went inside to the bathroom.† When we came out his empty leash was laying there!† We freaked out but finally got him.† Kei calls him Houdini Dog.

The Beginning
Ah-ah-AHHHH, ah AHH.....
Bridge Over Lilies
If A Tree Falls in the Forest...
Me & The Dog
Muscadine and Kei in the Background
Rest Time..

After Flint Creek we went over to the Wild Life Refuge for our picnic and more hiking.

Hiking is Thirsty Work...
Monet in the Making...

We didn’t see any ducks but we saw some beautiful cranes. Some of the telescopes are on the second floor so Nomad climbed his first stairs.† No problemo.† Coming down was a different matter.† He laid down and went on strike.† Finally we got him to come down.† It was so cute.

Looking....

Every time we go to the Refuge we take a “picture of Mommy and Kei on a rail post”.

Me & My Girl...

I think it is supposed to cool off a little next week.† I hope so.† I am so ready for fall!† Fall was always my Mother’s favorite time of the year.

Be blessed,

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.† Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.† The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.† ~John Muir

Water, Dog Drama & A New Bumblebee

July is speeding by like a flash.† Lazy, hot days have been the norm this past week.† I wanted to relax and not have somewhere to be every day.† I am so lucky to work from home!

Kei and I didn’t do much this week.† We hung out at home and she and Nomad played in water a lot.† When it is 99∞ in the shade there must be water involved.† As hot as it is, I will take it any day over cold.

Water Water Everywhere...
Water Loving Doggie

Kei and Brit spent the night with Chan Wednesday night.† I almost lost and then almost killed Nomad.† Kei said she was never leaving me alone with him again!† He woke me up at 5:30 Thursday morning to go out.† I hooked him up on his run and stumbled back to bed.† I woke up about 8:00 and looked out and he was running around in the back yard LOOSE!† I almost fainted.† 2 1/2 hours he was running around.

I felt so bad that I brought him in and let him into my room.† He got into some medicine that I had dropped on the floor and freaked me out again.† I called the vet and she said he would be fine to just watch him.† While I was on the phone he crawled under the armoire which he is too big to fit under anymore and got stuck!† I almost never got him out.† I did manage to capture it on my camera.† Hey! I have my priorities!

Get Me OUTTA here!!!

My A/C went out late Wednesday and I think it was about 100∞ in my room.† Thursday the A/C guy came to check it out and I left Nomad outside.† He decided to eat my lounge chair.

The Chair that Was..

After buying a new A/C for $470 and paying $130 for the installation, it is finally not hot enough for a sauna in the house.

We are still reading “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” and it inspired Kei to get her microscope out.† She looked at creek water, a leaf and Nomad’s spit.

What could it be?

Kei has wanted that silly Pillow Pet for a month.† She has weeded gardens, dusted, cleaned bathrooms, picked up sticks from the yard, vacuumed, mopped and swept her little butt off for the money.† She finally got enough, $30.72, to order it from Amazon.† It came today.† She was a little excited.† I kidded her about it being for little kids but I really love how excited she still gets about things.† I think the world would be a much better place if all of us remembered our ‘childlike’ side.

It's HERE!!!
Bailey the Bumblebee

The rest of the week we have spent reading, playing with Nomad and just staying cool.

Doggie Kisses
Play Ball!
Me and the Dog
Noble Nomad

Last week, Kei gave Nomad a Barbie doll.† She had long, beautiful blond hair.† Kei now calls her “War Zone Barbie”.† She is pitiful looking.† Nomad loves her.† He has chewed 3 of her fingers completely off.† Now that is true love.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder..

Kei is still taking pictures.† She has a really good eye, something I don’t really consider myself having.

Self Portrait..
Yellow Flower..
Orange Beauty

We need rain so badly. I hear thunder booming all around but only a few sprinkles.† Maybe tomorrow.

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain
beat upon your head with
silver liquid drops. Let the
rain sing you a lullaby.”

Langston Hughes

Happy weekend,

Piercings, Picnics, and Naked Barbies…

The United States is the only country with a known birthday.† ~James G. Blaine

Happy 4th of July!† It is hard to imagine how it was for our forefathers back in 1776.† How they must have felt finally being FREE.† I am not a believer in war, however at times I suppose it is necessary to growth.

We plan on celebrating quietly.† We hung out outside in the sun and played with Nomad.† We swam and played some board games.† Tonight we are going to grill out and shoot some fireworks. Kei spent 30 minutes making this water chair.† When she finally got on it I asked her, “What is the difference in just having in on the grass”? and she showed me by falling off of it into the water.

Water Chair

Kei shot a few last night to get prepared.

Pre 4th Fireworks

Nomad has a new favorite toy.† It is an old Barbie doll of Kei’s.† He loves it and carries it everywhere.† Kei said she needed to find him a Ken doll and I told her it was probably better if he tried to chew the head off the female one…right?

Barbie Love

This is a contraption we made him for alone time play.† I think we should patent it don’t you?

More Barbie Love...

Kei has been playing with her Little Pets a lot.† She got this idea to pierce their ears.† My Momma loved jewelry and had tons of it.† Kei found earrings and went to work. I about cracked up when I saw the ‘finished’ pets.

Oh La La....

Here is Hopper with her new earring.

One earring bunny...

More HOLEY Pets…

Here they are having a race up the washing machine.

And the Winner is...

I am so glad my child is easily amused.

Kei has been getting my camera and taking pictures.† She told me she really wanted to learn more about Photography.

Here are a few of her shots.† I thought she did really well.

Feather
Beauty
Kei's Doggie

Kei and I have been having tea parties for years.† We wear flowery dresses, hats and drink from a hand painted tea set Kei made when she was about 5.† This was our 1st Tea Party in the new house.† We decided to have it in the rose garden.† I am always Miss Chamomile and Kei is Miss Sassafras.† Nomad was invited and he was Mr. Fluff.† We always speak in either British or very Southern accents. It was an interesting addition inviting Nomad.

Miss Sassafras
Mr. Fluff NOT cooperating...
Mr. Fluff drinking his tea..
Miss Sassafras and Mr. Fluff relaxing

Kei has been working on her treehouse.† It isn’t really a great tree for a treehouse. I tell her when I win the lottery I will get her a killer treehouse. Seth spent the night and he helped her work on it.† He put her in a seat.

Perched..
Lookout

We also went swimming at Cathy’s and ate lunch.† We had such a great day!

Just keep swimming...

On the way home Kei saw a turtle in the road and freaked out for me to get it.† I just knew either me, Kei or the turtle was going to end up smooshed but we all made it home safely.† Kei let the turtle out in our creek.

Sniffing it out...

The next day we went bowling shopping and some of the kids did the bungee jumpy thingy.

Boing!!

Thursday Kei and I went to see Eclipse.† We really liked it and I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.† I think it was my favorite Twilight so far.† We also saw the trailer for Deathly Hallows!!!

Kei and Johnny chillaxing...

Kei is responsible for changing our fishbowl every week.† I told her only, ‘Make it beautiful”.† This is this weeks.

Art in a bowl...

I am loving our summer, our new doggie and my girl.† I am blessed.

ìDon’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.î† Winnie The Pooh

Have a wonderful week.

Swinging, Swimming, Digging and Other Stuff…

Saturday night.† Kei is at a party and I am sitting here listening to silly pooch bark his head off.† The barking….please make the barking stop!

Kei went to a Luau and she was all lualed out.

Aloha...
Hanging Ten...???

Today was also Nomad’s 3 month birthday.† WalGreen’s were also having a “Bring Your Dog and Take Their Picture” Day.† Of course we were there bright and early.† Everyone was oohing and ahhing over Nomad and Kei was strutting around like a proud Mama.† The people at WalGreens said he was the best dog they had all day.† He jumped up and sat for his pictures.† All the other dogs were running around kinda crazy.† One lady told Kei she would have to come train her dog when Kei said “Sit” and Nomad sat. He really was the cutest thing in his bandanna.† Reminded me of when Kei was little and everyone would oooh and ahhh over her, but I never strutted, really, I didn’t….not much anyway

Kei and Nomad

When we got home we had to have a little party for him.† Kei put on his favorite song, “Who Let the Dogs Out” and they danced in their party hats.† I told her I wasn’t doing this EVERY month!!

Shaking it Doggie Style..

Kei has seen something on TV she MUST have.† It is a pillow pet [Do NOT click this link] and no matter how much I try to convince her it is for 3 year olds, she wants one.† I guess I should be happy she doesn’t want a push-up bra and a 6 pack!† I have told her that I was not giving her almost $30 for it so she made up a list of chores that she would do and get paid.† Her prices were ridiculously low so I had to adjust them to 2010 standards.† One thing is weeding which I DESPISE.† Yesterday she worked her little butt off weeding a flower garden.† It took her 2 1/2 hours.† She was supposed to get $3 but I gave her $5.† She was as dirty as she has ever been!† [You clicked the link didn’t you? Now you have that ridiculous song stuck in your head don’t you???]

Dirty Work..
Weeds Be Gone!
YUCK!

We got some corn and beans from the Farmer’s Market and Kei shucked the corn.† I think she loved doing that because she feels all farm girlie.

Ah Shucks...

Kei has been swimming in her pool often.† Even though it is a little crooked.† I really should have put some sand under it since the yard slopes so much.† Oh well…next year….

Handstand...

She also has loved her tire swing even though I am afraid she will slam into the big oak tree.† She was on it with her bathing suit on and I just could see her body wrecked on that tree.† Of course the fear didn’t prevent me from capturing the moment on film digital.

Just Swinging....

Chan spent a couple of nights and they played in the creek, played in Kei’s room, played with Nomad,† played Rock Band and swam.† I was exhausted just watching them.

Doggie Love...

We also ran over to Bridge Street to pick up my PowerBook…again.

Kei and Chan

Kei is still loving her dance classes.† She seems to be really learning a lot because the class is small and they work one on one with them.

Just a little further...

Kei is ready to start school back so I think we will do that in a week or so.† I am so excited about it!† I know it’s early but we just love learning!† I can’t believe I started homeschooling when she was in 2nd grade and she would be in 5th grade the coming year.† I just want her to SLOW DOWN!

As we move into July soon, the days are getting hotter, everyone is moving a little slower, we are eating more ice cream, the A/C is running constantly but life is still sweet.

“The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy; I mean that if you are happy you will be good.“††††† Bertrand Russell

Happy Weekend,

Canines, Cinema and Cooling Off….

Today is officially the first day of summer.† However it has been SUMMER for a while now. The days have been hot with summer showers popping up to make things even more muggy.

Nomad is growing like crazy.† Chewing up everything in site.† He jumps up on us with delight and we both have battle scars to show for it.† I got his nails clipped but at $8 a pop, I MUST learn to do it myself.

We bought him a pool.† He loves it.† At first he started picking up his water bowl and carrying it around, spilling everything in it.† We knew he needed water especially outside.† So we found a metal bucket that was too big for him to carry around now.† But he would try to get his paws in it.† So we found a larger container…same thing…he would try to get into it.† So we gave up and bought him a little swimming pool.† It is kinda gross because he gets into it all dirty and then drinks it but hey! we are talking about an animal that licks its butt!

Splashing...

He is officially [in our world, which is the only world that matters] the WORLD’S CUTEST DOG.† It must be announced in capital letters to show just how cute he is.† There are days I want to kill him [but there are days I want to kill Kei too] but we do adore this crazy pooch.

What???!!!????
Swimming is fun but tiring...

Friday the 18th was National Picnic Day.† We celebrated by going to the “River Park”.† Liv had spent the night and we loaded up Nomad and his ‘stuff’.† Seriously I feel like I have a baby in the house!† Fun was had by all.

Happy Picnic Day
Sliding is FUN ..really...it is....

For the first time Kei was able to get onto the swingie, rollie, thingie.† She was happy.

All in all a good day, albeit hotter than hot!

Kei, Ka and Krazy Nomad

Kei and Livvy washed the dog.† I helped…some…

Gotcha....
Come baby..this won't hurt a bit...

We ran to the Dollar Tree to spend about $30.† Has anyone ever gone into the Dollar store and spent only $1?????† Kei and Liv once again proved they are still little girls at heart.

Giddy Up...

We also went to see Kung Fu Panda this past week.† We love going to FREE movies!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

Kei and I had a dryer meltdown and had to move the old dryer to the alley [we have a BIG yard] and get the new one out and around to hook up.† After much sweat, brainstorming, screaming, kicking, cussing talking sweetly to it, we got ‘er done.† We were very proud of ourselves!

This way..NO this way...

Sunday we met Daddy, Marlene and Eddie at Cracker Barrel for Father’s Day Breakfast.† After church Kei and I decided to go to Bridge Street.† I had to take my laptop back because the DVD wasn’t recognizing the ..well the DVD.† Then we went to see Toy Story 3.†† We had HORRIBLE seats but were excited about seeing it.† Kei has always loved Toy Story.† She was about 3 and I took her to Toys R Us and told her she could have 1 toy.† She wanted Buzz Lightyear.† She decided when we moved to still keep him.† The movie was so sad.† I mean I cried…CRIED, not just sniffled.† Kei just rolled her eyes at me like she does.

Then we went to Orange Tree Yogurt. That place lures you in with promises of 45¢ an ounce yumminess.† After putting peanut butter yogurt, a few little sprinkles and a little bit of caramel topping we had $4.79 worth of yumminess!

A wonderful end to a wonderful week

To Infinity and Beyond,

Best Friends, More Doggy and River Rats…

“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me, who could ask for more?”
— Bev Adams

It has been HOT.† Boiling, sweating, drenched-as-soon-as-you- walk-out-the-door, hot.† Complaints of how cold our Alabama winter was seems a long lost memory.

Liv spent the night with Kei and they had a blast.† They spent hours playing in the “creek” behind our house.† Or our ‘river’ as G calls it.† They were soaked, the dog was soaked, they all smelled like wet dog and creek….good times.

Creek Fun
Silly, Giggly Girls

When they finally got cleaned up they baked a cake.† They each decorated 1/2 of it.

Yummy Goodness

After dinner we took Nomad for a walk. I have walked, ridden, ran and skipped over the ‘concrete bridge’ a million times.† We used to ride our bikes over it BEFORE there was a fence.† I would KILL Kei if she ever tried anything like that.

Bestest Friends

After the walk they needed ice cream.

Yummy Ice Cream

Of course, after sticky ice cream, they needed a night time swim.

Who Needs a Bath???

I had 2 little girls that slept very soundly that night!

We got up early to go to some garage sales.† Liv had never been to a yard sale!!!† We had to remedy that quickly!

Bargains Galore!

We went to a yard sale out in Trinity and on the way back passed hay bales.† Liv had never climbed on a hay bale so I quickly made an illegal turn and parked the car!

HEY! It's HAY!

I enjoyed having Livvy here so much.

Saturday morning Kei and I went to Cullman to meander around.† We ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel and tried to find Southern Accents to no avail!† We went to the Cullman Farmer’s Market which we love.† On the way home we stopped at a nursery/antique shop.† Kei went head to head with a rooster.

Cock-a-doodle THIS!

She was also very angry that they had a statue of David with a GAP Tshirt on.† I told her we were in the country and maybe they were offended by his nakedness.† She thought that was the dumbest thing she ever heard.

We also saw a place where old school buses go to die.

Lonely Buses...

When we got home I relaxed in the hammock and Kei played with Nomad.

AHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Grrrrrrr

Sunday we went to church and afterward went to Eddie’s house for Nomad’s 1st River Run.† Nomad was NOT happy on the ride out there.† First he was in his little crate and he was having none of it.† Then we let him out and he still barked so loudly he about made me deaf!† We decided he wasn’t a traveling dog which made† us sad.† At Eddie’s we got in his car and Nomad laid on the floorboard and didn’t utter a peep!† Maybe he just doesn’t like Suzuki’s!

We had a wonderful day with Eddie and Nomad loved the river. Kei promptly dubbed him a river rat <of course that is what Johnny Depp was called in Chocolat and if you know Kei you will understand THAT> 🙂

Kei and Nomad the River Rat
My girl and my doggie...

We also ran by Hollywood Video which is going out of business and bought a few things.† One was “Marley and Me” which we have seen before.† However, we saw it before we got and fell in love with a yellow lab.† It was so much funnier because we have been there this time around.† Also so much more heart breaking.† Kei, who has never really cried at a movie, just went outside after it was over and hugged and hugged Nomad and cried her heart out. Poor baby girl.† She does love her doggie.

All in all a great weekend and now it is Monday….

The start of a new week, filled with possibilities!

Be Blessed,

Dog Paddling, Free Movies and Apples…

As June moves into the 2nd week we are having a wonderful summer so far.† There have been a few bumps in the road but things are mostly smooth.

Nomad is getting so big.† He is still not potty trained, but doing better.† Kei has been so good with him.† She has him trained to sit and also to remain in his crate† until she gets his lease on him.

He has swam with her too.† He didn’t completely love it but I think it is because he didn’t feel safe without a way to get out.† I mean how much would you like to be thrown in a water filled container over your head with smooth sides and no way to climb out?† Even with Kei right there he was like, “Rut ro, I am not really sure about this water thing!”

Nomad the Water Dog

When he started swimming she said, “Wow he is really dog paddling” and I was like, “well duh”. 🙂

Dog Paddling

We have both been reading “The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate” that came highly recommended by Esther.† We are loving all the nature aspects of it.

Kei reading about Callie Vee

We went to the free movie at Monaco Pictures.† It is so awesome that they do that all summer for the kids in the area.† We saw “Hotel for Dogs” which we have seen before and loved.† We met some of our bestest friends there.† Here are a few pictures from outside the theatre at the fountain.

Roamschool Kids
Kids at Bridge Street

Silly Moms
Mommy Bags

Constance always paints faces before the show and she let Kei borrow her Fairy Wings.† Beautiful!

My Little Fairy
Kei

After the movie we took my laptop to the Apple Store. Wow!† I love that store.† We have always been “PC” girls but I am seriously thinking about changing to Mac’s.† My laptop will be $310 to fix and my great boss said to “put it on the card”.† He is the best!

After lunch at Steak and Shake <yummy> we went back to the Apple Store for me to actually drop off my laptop.† Afterward we went to Kei’s favorite candy store, “The Chocolate Crocodile” She spent 10 minutes searching for the perfect truffles.

French Mint Truffle

Last night we had a huge lightning storm.† Our power went out about 2:00 AM and was out until 3:15 AM.† Complete silence and dark are very scary things.

Summer days…

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.† ~James Dent

Have Happy Days,


Lazy days, Bento and T-Shirt Painting…

Ahhhh June…full of possibilities and adventures waiting to happen.† I love June 1st.† It is the ‘start of the summer’, a time when anything can happen.† The days are longer, the nights are warmer, lightening bugs roam at night, pools glisten in the sunlight, laughter rings out in back yards.

Of course reality is: the lawn mower is broken, the pool has a leak, the dog is pooping in the yard every 2 feet, there are more flies and mosquitoes than lightening bugs.† But still…the possibilities are there.

We met some friends for lunch in Huntsville.† We went to a place called Bento Box. Kei and I discovered Bento boxes when she was in K.† I would send her creative, healthy lunches in her cute little Bento Box most days.

Kids @ Bento Box

My nephew spent the night with us.† He is 14 and I have a horrible habit of finding a million things for a big, strong dude to do when he is here.† He is great at moving heavy things!† He and Kei found some time to swim.

Kei and Seth

Kei put on a play with Nomad.† She was Minnie Mouse and he was her doggie.† She was going to name him Pluto but decided it would confuse him for her to call him a different name.† God love her.

Minnie and her dog
Final Bow Wow

She also found some time to play Barbies. She puts on plays with her Barbies <go figure>.† I remember Summer days playing Barbies on this very patio.† I love that life has come full circle.

Barbie Girl

On Wednesday we headed to Esther’s to make RoamSchool T shirts.† We did this 2 summers ago.† I can’t find the actual picture but this is right after it.† Esther what were you thinking having this many kids at your house!!!?????

Kids TShirts 2008

It is amazing how much they have changed.

Kids TShirts 2010

Kei hard at work.

Kei TShirt

I am sad to report, that at the ripe old age of 9 weeks, Nomad has a Monkey on his back.† We are working with him to fix this problem.† There are probably support groups out there.

:/

All in all, a wonderful start to our “Days of Summer”.† Hopefully there will be much more to come.

Happy Summer Days…

Pt. Mallard, Puppies & Parties…

This past weekend we had Livvy over to spend the night.† Kei and Liv met in Kindergarten and have been friends since then.† They both spoiled Nomad to death!

We went to Soulstock at Pt. Mallard and it was awesome.† Kei and I were supposed to work the Epic booth but mainly I worked and Kei and Liv wandered around.

Kei and Liv
Kei and Livy working hard at SS

It has been a great week, not for any particular reason just because.† The weather has been amazing,

We have spent the better part of each day outside.† My plants are doing so well. † I have about 15 glads poking up through the soil.† I can’t wait to see the colors!† Nomad is adorable and quickly becoming part of our family.† I just can’t believe I am one of those people…a dog person. I am a DOG person.

We have spent $50 on toys, but does he play with them? Of course not, he prefers my 99 ¢ shoes!

Who Needs Toys??

Kei found a baby bunny huddled up by our door.† He was so cute.

Baby Bunny

Today was Nomad’s 2 month birthday.† We had a party, with hats and balloons and cupcakes and punch.† Kei liked it much more than Nomad did I am sure.

2 months old
Happy Birthday Nomad

One of Kei’s goals this summer is to read all the Harry Potter books.† I told her I wish I had never read them and could read them all over.

Ahhh Hogwarts...

Happy week,

Camping, Bison and Ticks…

We finally got to go camping with our RoamSchool buddies!† We had a blast.† Below are various pictures from the trip.

The first one is Kei at home cutting up onions for my salsa.† The onions were burning her eyes!

Protective Measures

We left early and went to Cathy’s and then we were off!

We are off!

We met up in Athens and the girls all came with us.† They had a blast.

Girl Stuff

The trip went by very quickly and we were soon there.† We set up camp and then went exploring.

Playing

Nomad's 1st Slide

Cathy had made Lasagna so we got the kids plates.† They were all starving from the busy day.

Yummy

The sunset was incredible.

Magnificent

Smores!!!

We all ran into town to the grocery store where Kei found a dog that looked just like Nomad on the Cottonelle!

It's Nomad!!

We also went to the Bison and Elk Prairie.† We saw around 40 bison and 22 elk.† We were all so excited.

Bison
Elk

We also went to a Nature Center and saw some amazing animals.† My favorite were the Barn Owls.

Barn Owls

We also saw eagles, chipmunks, hedgehogs, a white deer, and many more animals.

Snakes!
Good Times

We ate Tacos that night but I was too busy eating to take pictures!† They were so yummy!† I want more right now!

The next day we had to leave because Cathy had to get back to work.† Even though everyone offered for us to stay with them, it was time to get our little family home.† Before we left we stopped by the Plantaterium which was really cool.† They also had some other exhibits.

Big Antlers!!
Land Between the Lakes
Some of my favorite Kids in the World!

Then we went to an 1850 working farm.† We loved that.† Kei asked tons of questions and tried to convince me that she could work there for the summer if I would go with her.† Ummm…NO thanks sweetie.

Tobacco in the Barn


Everybody loved Nomad!
Scream Scarecrow Woman!
A girl and her Dog
My BF's!

It seemed like it took forever to get home.† The GPS took us some crazy way and it rained and stormed the entire way home.† Nomad was exhausted!

Nomad Zzzzzzzing

Animals seen:† <borrowed without permission from Esther’s site ;)>

spiders
mosquitoes
ticks
beetles
caterpillars
flies
bees
wasps
hummingbirds
indigo bunting
squirrel
bobcat
groundhog
osprey
eagle
wolf
coyote
bison
elk
deer
turkey
ladybug
beaver
dragonflies
great horned owl
barred owl
barn owl
screech owl
blackbird
centipede
frog
Fowler’s toad
rat snake
garter snake
box turtle
red eared slider
skunk
fish
tadpoles
water strider
goldfinch
heron

All in all a wonderful trip.† When we got home and got unpacked Kei took a long bubble bath and found a tick!!† I kinda freaked out and had to Google it to see how to remove it.† It came out really easily and we checked each other for more of the bloodsucking things!† No more were found but we did find one on Nomad!† It took forever to get that sucker out and poor Nomad was crying and Kei was crying but we finally got it out.† Ticks suck!

Tomorrow is Soulstock and we are both so excited!

Happy weekend,