October Blessings….

Hi Momma,

It is October, your favorite month. The trees are just now beginning to turn. I think we should have a spectacular fall because of all the rain. You would love it. When I walk outside and I feel that crisp fall feeling in the air, I always think of you.

It has been almost 1 1/2 since you left me. I miss you so much still. Kei and I cleaned out your closets and drawers last week. I ran across so many memories. It was a hard day for me. I talked to you while I worked, did you hear me?

I had a yard sale with all your clothes this past week. You had so many blouses. I remember buying so many of them. It was sad seeing all your shirts blowing in the breeze, some of them still smelling like your perfume, but Kei and I prayed that they would go to people who love them as much as you did.

Things are still hard with me financially. I am doing a little better but still it is hard at times. Continue to watch over us please. Sometimes I can almost feel your arms around me and it gives me comfort.

Daddy has met someone. She is a kind, good woman. The biggest compliment I can give her is that you would like her. She collects elephants just like you did and loves antiquing and estate sales. It was hard for me at first but I remember all the times you told me that you didn’t want Daddy to be alone when you were gone. She is good to Daddy and takes care of him and she is good to us. Kei wasn’t very happy about it but they invited her to dinner and she feels much better. She has started including her in her prayers instead of just for “Bull”. Daddy is taking care of me, just like you always told him to. Daddy and I have become much closer since you are gone. He is calmer and less easily angered also.

Kei and I are maybe going to move into your house. I think you would like that. I hope that I can remember more stories about when I was little to share with Kei. I share stories with her all the time. She reminds me of you in many ways, her sense of humor and her favorite foods. We moved into that house when I was 9 so it feels very right that we move there when Kei is 9. It is a big job though, because you know how much stuff you have! It seems like it will never be cleaned out.

Kei has gotten so big Momma. She is so smart and sweet. We are loving homeschooling this year. She is learning so much. My biggest regret is that you and she didn’t get to spend more time together. I talk about you all the time. I don’t want her to ever forget you.

I made chicken stew the other day. It is the first time I have made it since I made it for you. It made me so sad.

Oh Momma, I miss you. I miss your hugs and talking to you and your presence . I miss not having you here. I miss not seeing you. But I am doing really well. You were always so worried about how I would be when you were gone. You would be proud of me. I am proud of me but there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss you.

I wish you didn’t have to leave us so early but I know you are in a glorious place. One day, we will be together again. I will hug you and jump up and down with joy and dance and laugh.

I am now a daughter without a mother, but I am finding out I am much stronger than I ever believed I was. You knew it all along didn’t you?

I love you my sweet Mother.

Karen

 

THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS…..

“Thank heaven for little girls
for little girls get bigger every day!

Thank heaven for little girls
they grow up in the most delightful way!”

Will it ever stop raining!!!??? I love rain, I love the sound of rain, the smell of rain, rainy nights, but I am ready for it to go away after a few days.† I hate soggy!

We had a great GNO to celebrate Gina’s birthday.† Chan came back with us and stayed for 3 days.† Her and Kei had a blast.

kei-chan-lp

They played with Littlest Pets.† I love those things.† I wish we would have had them when I was little.

kei-chanWe went to the trails and park up at the local PS.† The girls watched the kids in their fenced in enclosure playing for 10 minutes and felt very sorry for them.† I asked Kei if she missed PS at all and she said, “NO WAY”.

mushroom

There was singing and laughter and giggles galore.

swinging-friends

Now it is the weekend again.† There is the Apple Festival in Moulton and Eva Frontier Days.† We have gone to both in the past and enjoyed them.† IF IT STOPS RAINING!

There is also so much around here I need to be doing.†† Nah…I think I will just lounge.

September days….

“Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh so mellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain so yellow
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a young and a callow fellow
Try to remember and if you remember
Then follow–follow, oh-oh.”
-† Try to Remember, Lyrics by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

my-kei

I can’t believe it is already the middle of September.† Where does time go?

We are in full swing with homeschooling.† Loving it with very few meltdowns by either of us.

We missed the “Not Back to School” picnic and the 1st skate day because Kei was very sick.† We both hated missing it.

We did go bowling which was fun.† I got to see some people I hadn’t seen all summer.† Kei broke 100 which is a 1st for her.

kei-bowling


She has been in a coloring mode lately.† Every night after dinner she colors and colors and colors.

hello-kitty

We are learning about Kingdoms, etc.† Even though I think it is a little silly.† I mean how many times have you been asked for the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus or Species of a mushroom???† Kei has memorized all of them which is more than I know.†† We did an experiment about “Opposable Thumbs” and it was a hoot.† She had to try to do all these things with her thumbs taped down.† Some she accomplished but it took forever and some she could not do at all.

opposable-thumbs

I love homeschooling.† I love spending so much time with Kei.† I love learning right along with her.† I have learned relearned so much!† We are doing American History and I have never been so fascinated by Explorers and the first settlements.† In a perfect world we could go to visit Jamestown after studying about it.† But…with the internet that is almost possible.

Kei is now working on a play about Virginia Dare. She is convinced that the Indians got her and they all lived happily ever after.† She still believes in that…..

Live, laugh, learn,

K


My Mother, My Friend…

Today is my Mother’s birthday.

She has been gone for a year and 4 months and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss her.† But…the grief does get better.† It eases.† It softens around the edges.† It isn’t crying uncontrollably grief.† I guess it has to be like that or we would all just sit in a padded room somewhere.

Life goes on.† Life goes on…..

I have reconnected with my Mother’s best friend.† They were best friends since high school.† Keilee and I have started going to garage sales with her.† She and my Mother used to go every Friday.† She has been telling me stories about my Mom that I never knew.† She knows a different side of her.† My mother and I were always friends, but of course, there were many things she shared and discussed with friends that she didn’t talk to me about.† I always feel so close to my Mother when I am with Patsy.

Kei and I talk about her a lot.† I don’t want Kei to forget her.† Kids forget you know?† When things are happening to you, when you are in the moment, you don’t believe that you would ever forget.† But we forget….

My mother always signed my Birthday cards in the same way:

My daughter, my friend.

Happy Birthday my Mother, my friend; †I hope you are dancing with the angels.† I miss you so much.

Karen

Country Girl Wannabees….

We so want to be country girls.† 10 years ago, the thought of living in the country would have sent me into a panic.† Funny how a little nature girl and a homeschooling lifestyle can change your point of view.

We have had a great week and Ω.† We started American History this year, after 2 years of Ancient History.† We loved learning about the Native Americans.† Kei made a tipi [which I never knew was spelled that way!], we watched some movies and did all sorts of cool things.† Now we have moved onto Explorers.

Kei has fallen in love with the neighbor’s baby boy.† 1st time she has ever held a baby this small!

kei-aiden

We have bird feeders and we have enjoyed watching the birds.† I think we must be the only place within miles that feed them.† We have so many birds.† We also have hummingbirds; which Kei has named Monkey, Dolphin and Tiger!† We have an adorable parakeet that showed up about a month ago and is still here!† Her name is Yum Yum and we adore her!† She stays around here day and night and looks so beautiful flying with her less colorful new friends.

more-birds

Yum Yum the Parakeet
Yum Yum the Parakeet

We built a fire one night and roasted marshmallows.† I love the cooler weather! †It makes me ready for fall, which I know is not that close.

kei-fire

We are learning about animal and plant cells and made this cool Jello Cell.† It is supposed to be edible, but Kei passed on the eating part. 🙂

Animal Cell
Animal Cell

We had our weekly, bimonthly, monthly tea party.† Complete with sandwhiches, gummy worms, jello† and lots of laughter.

kei-tea-party-2

Kei went to Brit’s spend the night party and the next day we went to Zachery’s Slip and Slide party.† Fun times were had by all.

slip-slide

Kei got to slide under a neighbors truck on his…thingamijig.† Grrrr, what is that called?† I must google it.† She was impressed with the underneath of it!† She also Pogoed, which she is getting quite good at.

kei-truck

Boing!!
Boing!!

She also wrote† a† haiku:

Fly through the night sky,

Pretty wings in the moonlight,

Gorgeous butterfly.

Didimention how much I love homeschooling!???

K

Berries From the Past…

We have been studying about Native Americans the last couple of weeks.

Today Kei and I went on a bike ride to gather wood for a fire since the weather has been so awesome.† She saw some berries that she had to stop and pick.

She knew that Native Americans used berries and such for dye so she decided to make a picture using her collected berries.† She got a rock and started pounding the berries into pulp.† The color was amazing.

berries

Then she got paper and preceded to make a great picture.

picture

Obviously, flies love berries too!† Then she got a great idea!† “Mom, can I paint on my legs with this?”.† I, being the cool mom that I am, said “Of course”, thinking she would paint a flower or something similar.

kei-leg
The Declaration of Keilee

After a bit, I told her to go inside and jump in the tub.† I then called my brother, nature boy extraordinaire, to ask him what this berry was.† He wasn’t sure, so I looked it up online, found out it was Pokeweed and called him back to tell him.† He then told me it was poisonous!

I freaked out and called Kei’s doctor. I went in the bathroom and scrubbed her off with soap, then made her get out and I put rubbing alcohol on her legs and arms and gave her Benadryl.† The nurse on call finally called me back and said she wanted me to call the poison control.† I got a sweet lady who told me that Kei would be fine and I did everything right.

Sheesshhh, I bet the Indians never had to deal with this kind of thing!

We did learn something interesting which I shared with Poison Control; the Declaration of Independence was written with Pokeweed ink and it was used often during the Civil War as ink in letters the soldiers wrote to home.† She told me I had taught her something today. 🙂

450px-pokeweed1

Beware the berry!

Learning is FUNdamental…

I love homeschooling so much.† I know I have said this before, but there is nothing I would rather do than homeschool Kei.

I love that we don’t have to live around an alarm clock.† I love that she got to stay up until 1:00 AM to watch the Perseid Meteors [which were unbelievable] and the other kids in the neighborhood had to go in and go to bed.

I love that she can do what she wants, when she wants.† If she wants to sing, she sings, if she wants to read, she reads, if she wants to sew, she sews.† Her creativity is boundless because she isn’t bound to a desk in a room with 25 other kids.

I love that she lives in a world that allows her to follow that rabbit trail wherever it takes her, or nowhere at all.† That she can be doing Math and all of a sudden, ask about the Milky Way.

I love that we can be discussing something and a subject comes up that she isn’t familiar with and I can immediately go to the computer and find something that actually shows her what we are talking about.† Today it was Woodstock.† Yesterday it was Anne Frank.

Kids crave knowledge; they are like sponges soaking up information.† With us it is immediate.† She asks, we find out.† She doesn’t want to wait 2 hours for her questions to be answered.† She wants to know NOW.† It seems to me that schools try to tame that quest for knowledge.† Every time a teacher says, “Not now Billy”, or “Why don’t you look that up later” they are squashing the thirst for more information.

I don’t ever worry that I am not teaching Kei enough, I am worried that I won’t have time to teach her all I want to.† I want to show her the world.† I want to tell her everything.† Look at this, listen to this, learn this…

I love homeschooling….

gansta-kei

Peace out….

K/K

Fishing is the Word..

Daddy took Kei fishing today.† She has never been fishing before.† When I was her age, I had fished hundreds of times.† Daddy had a catfish pond in Moulton and we fished all the time.

She was so excited last night when he called.† She immediately pulled out her Visual Dictionary and started looking things up.† First she told me she needed waders.† I assured her that they wouldn’t be fly fishing so those were not neccessary.† Then she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to “wind up the thingie” if she caught a fish.† I told her they would probably go cane pole fishing.

When I woke her up this morning, early, she said, “The early Kei catches the fish”.† LOL

They left about 8:00.† She had the best time.† First they stopped and got crickets.† She took a picture and it looked pretty disgusting to me.† She said the lady assured them “They have just eaten and will be all big and full.”† She refused to bait the hook, not because of the ‘ick’ factor, but because she wouldn’t kill anything, even a cricket.

How Yucky!
How Yucky!

She caught 3 fish and was over the moon.† She was bubbling when she got home and told me all about her adventures.

Kei's 1st Fish
Kei's 1st Fish

This is another reason I love Homeschooling.† Random, wonderful field trips/learning experiences.

Jesus, a Mother, a Daughter and a Dog….