Category Archives: Life

Learning, Life, My beautiful child, nature, Nomad

Gardening, Pooch Plays & Hobbits….

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Eddie, Seth, Katherine and Heather came over yesterday to help us in our yard. Eddie had bought us some plants and herbs. He showed me how to clean out a bed and plant. I am constantly amazed with my pleasure in digging in dirt. Eddie said it is because we come from a long line of farmers!

We first planted some herbs; parsley, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Kei planted most of the herbs after Eddie showed her how.

Herbs
Vinca
Coleus

We also planted 20 Glads.† I can’t wait for them to start coming up.† After all that work, Eddie and Heather left.† Since it was their anniversary the kids stayed for the rest of the day.† Seth helped my clean out a flower bed that was in yucky shape.† He worked his butt off digging up a dead rose bush.† At one point he came up to me and pointed to his “Hobbit Feet”.

There and Back Again..

We spent the afternoon outside.† The kids swam for a bit, I read in the rose garden, and Nomad frolicked!† Late in the afternoon Kei and Nomad put on another play.† She was the sun and Nomad was a flower.† I sure hope he loves having crazy costumes put on him.

We woke up today to rain.† We took Nomad outside, he put his little puppy paw on the grass, turned around and peed on the patio!† We have a Diva Dog I guess.† After church Kei introduced him to the wonders of Disney Channel.

Important Stuff

I can’t believe tomorrow is Monday once again.† The middle of May.† How quickly time goes by.

Happy week,

Friends, HomeSchool, Life, My beautiful child

Oz, Birthdays and Bathing Suits…

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Yesterday was my birthday.† My birthday excites Kei much more than it excites me.† I woke up and she had put balloons in the bathtub and written a Happy Birthday note on the mirror.† She is such a blessing to me.† She got me my favorite candle and plants for the yard.† She also drew me sidewalk art.

The Best Card Ever

We spent the day outside.† It was so beautiful and I read in the sun and she played.† Our roses are so gorgeous.

Beauty

I got many Facebook Happy Birthday wishes, phone calls and visits.† My sister in law brought over the most awesome present.† I had an old bathing suit that was my Mother’s that I wanted to ‘frame’ somehow.† My sister in law owns a frame shop and she framed it and it looks amazing.† I just cried when I saw it.

Momma's Bathing Suit

My awesome, amazing boss sent me a G4 PowerBook.† I have wanted a laptop forever!† I was so excited and jumping up and down.

Last night we went to see the play, “The Wizard Of Oz”. Our friends Matt, Jake and Chandler were making their acting debut.† We rode with Gina and kids and had a great time blabbing catching up.† I think I was doing most of the blabbing, sorry Gina. ;)† We met The Amoses, The Woods and some of the Crawfords at the theater.† The play was awesome!† We loved it and were very impressed with all our friends skills especially the amazing Winged Monkey King!

Kei and Chan
Kei and Jake
Kei and Matt The Winged Monkey King

Afterward we went to Moes to eat.† It was so yummy but I got so full!† They give so much food! It was an amazing birthday!

Our girls

What homeschoolers do after they are finished eating.

USA Chips

A lovely day.

On a different note, WE HAVE FOUND NOMAD.† But more about that later. 😉

Happy weekend,

Field Trip, Friends, Learning all the time, Life, My beautiful child, nature

Wildflowers, Roses, Homemade Candy and 100th Post…

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100 Posts.† I started this blog when my Mother died.† It helped me so much in the first few days/weeks/months.† I don’t keep† it like I should.† I write sporadically at best.† This is my 100th post and I wish I had something earth shattering to share, some wisdom to impart to the 2 people who read this.

But I don’t.

Life goes on, soon it will be 2 years that my sweet Mamma died.† 2 years, it seems impossible that it has been that long.† Things change, my Daddy has remarried to a wonderful woman who I love.† I still miss my Mother every day of my life.† Kei still tells me at times I call for her when I am falling asleep.† We are living in her house.† She would be tickled pink that we are here.† I wish she lived here with us, but that wasn’t God’s plan.

Kei bought a candy making kit on clearance after Easter.† It looked like something that would be a huge mess to me.† She was outside playing and decided she had to make candy NOW.†† I warned her that it probably wouldn’t look like the candy on the box.

Getting Ready

She did it all by herself and I was amazed how it turned out!† It was beautiful!

Yummy!

The roses are blooming here.† It is so strange how I lived here when I was younger and visited here every day of my life almost, but I have never really noticed how beautiful the roses and flowers are.† I guess ownership <however loosely> makes you more aware.

Beautiful Rose

There are about 15 rose bushes scattered everywhere.† Mother always loved roses.† They are amazing.

Rose with Ladybug

We celebrated Earth Day by going on a Wildflower walk.† I love this place but this year there wasn’t much water and the kids didn’t get to splash around much.† We then went to a nearby park and ate lunch at Taziki’s Greek Restaurant.† It was YUMMY!

EArth Day Hike

There is the coolest house made of twigs and limbs.† We wondered who built it?

House Made of Twigs

All in all a good week.† We were invited to go camping next week and are so hoping we will be able to go!

Happy week all,

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, Life, My beautiful child

Red Pawns, Wonderland and Field Days…

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Last week was play week. It was a magical, hilarious, stressed, crazy time.

The play went great. The kids did awesome. They worked so hard and you could tell it by watching the play.

Red Pawn
Cluck Cluck!
Alice and her Red Pawn
Dixie Chicken

We had some of our bestest friends who came to watch Keilee. Thank you all.

Brit came to dress rehearsal because they were going to Florida the next day.

Kei, Brit, Sophia

Esther, Heather and kids came to the school show.

Roamschoolers In Wonderland

Suzette, Dave, Emily and Zachery came to the Saturday night show and took us out for dinner afterwards!† Thanks Amoses.

Amos's and Red Pawn

In the middle of all of this we had our NACHO Field Day. It was a perfect day for it and we had so much fun.

Field Day
YAY Nacho
Kei's 1st Goal!
Soccer Team For the Win!

Hopefully this week is a little bit slower paced!

Homeschooling just rocks!

Learning all the time, Life, nature

Bicycling, Mowing and Hunting…

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It has been strange living in the house I grew up in.† Strange in a good way.† I moved into this house when I was 3 months from turning 10, we moved back in when Kei had been 10 for 3 weeks.† So basically we were the same age.

So many memories have come back to me being here.† So many stories I have shared with Kei about when I was her age.† There is the neatest ditch behind our house.† We used to spend hours and hours there, up and down the alley.† We had wars, ran stores, made bridges.† Of course there were about 10 of us kids around the same age.

I can’t let Kei do that.† It is a different world.† It makes me sad.

The first warmer day we went on a bike ride.† As I was riding down the alley of my childhood with my child, I just started crying.† It was so surreal.† I wondered what a 10 year old Karen was thinking about as she rode her bike those many years ago.† What were my hopes and dreams?† What did I want?† I am sure most of them didn’t turn out exactly the way I planned, but there is one much, much better than anything I could imagine.† My sweet child was beside me laughing as the wind blew back her hair.

Kei dyed Easter eggs the day before Easter.† We only did a few because I think they are kinda a waste.† I KNOW they are fine to eat but it just kinda creeps me out eating colored eggs that have been sitting around.

Pretty eggs

We had an amazing Easter.† We got up early because Kei was so excited about what she had gotten me.† This is her first year to not believe in the Easter bunny.† More on THAT story later.

Basket Full of Goodies

After a great church service at the Princess, we went to Daddy and Marlene’s for lunch.† It was delicious.†† She had made ham, chicken, prime rib, green beans, carrots, mac and cheese, potato salad, asparagus, rolls and a great salad.† There were 3 kinds of desert!

After lunch the kids hunted for Easter eggs.† Daddy always puts money in them to make it more interesting to the older kids.

Look up and down..

Kei got her first taste of mowing this week.† She was so ready to mow the yard, she couldn’t wait.† After about 4 turns around, she figured out it wasn’t really fun but WORK!† I hadn’t mowed a yard in about 15 years and I was beat.† The yard looked pretty too.† Of course we only did the front.† The back yard is HUGE!!

I think I can, I think I can...

I am loving the warmer weather.† Spring is just so lovely.

Enjoy…
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~Kahlil Gibran

Learning all the time, Life, My beautiful child, nature

Chickens, Puppies and Horses…

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It has been beautiful here the last several days.† Kei and I have both loved being outside.† We threw a rope over a tree and she made a swing, which promptly became a horse visiting mystical lands.† I love listening to her play.

Ride "em Cowgirl

A few days ago 2 dogs wandered up.† At first I was very leery of them, strange dogs and such, but they were so sweet.† Kei played with them for over an hour.† I got their name and number off of their tags and called their owners.† They came to pick them up but Kei still had time to get some Puppy Love.† We are still planning on getting a dog as soon as her play is over.

Loving the doggies

Speaking typing of the play, it is week after next.† Kei is loving every minute of it as usual.† She has several roles in this one and one is a Dixie Chicken.† She is one of Humpty Dumpty’s backup singers! †† It is going to be a great play.† We also have been helping on the scenery.† The irony of not painting MY OWN HOUSE and then painting scenery doesn’t escape me. :p

Cluck Cluck
Humpty Dumpty's Wall

She also got to try on dresses.† They have TONS of dresses at DreamWeavers and she was in heaven.

Red Curtsey

So far April has been lovely.

Enjoy nature,

Field Trip, Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, Life

Mad Hatters, FLW & Things that go BUMP…

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The weather is still CRAPPY!† Seriously I get tired of always talking about the weather but sheeshhhh.

Kei and I went to see Alice.† It was really good and totally cool with the 3D.† Although my boss, who worked on the film, said it wasn’t filmed in 3D.† Kei loved it.† If she can love Johnny looking like this, it must be true love.

True Love...

We went to see Circo Comedia which was hilarious.† Kei loved it.† I can’t imagine just moving around, city by city, performing.† Under the right circumstances that could be so fun!

Kei loves to make things for me.† I woke up Tuesday and she had a clue in the bathroom that led me through the house to a ‘prize’.† I had to post her clues because they were cute and the last one can still make me laugh a week later.

1. “Where people say we should eat, is a clue to your treat.” <kitchen table>

2. “Now go to the desk where WOW is played to get a jump start on your day.” <my computer>

3. “Last but not least, look in the cookie jar for your treat.” <cookie jar>

4. “You found your treat, so Bonaparte.” <Ok I read this and said, “Huh? and she said ‘bon appetit , I spell checked it!’> I am still laughing about it.

Thursday we spent the day with some of our bestest friends <we missed you Gina and Heather!>† It was Suzette and Michelle’s birthday.† We ate at Olive Garden and then went to the Rosenbaum House which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.† It was unbelievable.† Kei and I loved it and wanted to move in.† Then we went to the park for cheesecake. Great day, great food, great friends, great learning.† Perfect day. Thanks Suz, Em and Zachery for letting us ride with you.

Kids at FLW

Kei at the River
Moms at FLW

Kei had play practice Saturday and Sunday we had a great day at church.† Sunday was the 1st day of† DST so we were both tired all day.† Kei begged to watch a scary movie during the daytime! ;)† I finally let her and she was so funny.† She got a bunch of stuffed animals and watched it with them assuring them at various times it was “just a movie”.† Other times she screamed at the TV about how stupid the people were.

It's ok, it's JUST a movie
DON'T GO IN THERE!!!

All in all, a good week.† Now if the sun would come out and it get above 50∫ I may survive.

Happy week,

Life

Snow, Alice and Chocolat in Bed…

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Last year, on March 1st, it snowed.† See proof below:
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This year, on March 2nd, it snowed. Kei and I didn’t even stick our noses outside. How quickly we become jaded. “Oh snow again? Yawn”
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Kei prepared for the release of Alice in Wonderland by making a cake.
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She also wanted breakfast in bed with “Chocolat”. She had ‘runny eggs’ and Johnny Depp. She was happy. 🙂
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She also finally hooked up her webcam at our new house. She has new software that does some cool things.
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This weekend it is supposed to be….[drum roll, wait for it…wait for it….]

60∞

Gotta dig out the bathing suits, fans and swimming pool!

Happy weekend,

Life

Experiments, Sunny Days and Big Rats..

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Things have been moving along. It is still butt cold. And for anyone not familiar with that term, it is COLD. We were teased with 2 days of weather above 40 degrees but now….cold again.

Kei and I enjoyed the warmer weather. She played outside while I read a book. It will be nice to have such a big yard for her to play in if it ever warms up!
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We did science experiments this week. We both love them and love this site. Great science site with experiments
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Chemistry with Pennies

You will need:
* A few old (not shiny) pennies
* 1/4 cup white vinegar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Non-metal bowl
* Paper towels
What to do:

  1. Pour the vinegar into the bowl and add the salt – stir it up.
  2. Put about 5 pennies into the bowl and count to 10 slowly.
  3. Take out the pennies and rinse them out in some water. Admire their shininess!

How does it work?
There is some pretty fancy chemistry going on in that little bowl of yours. It turns out that vinegar is an acid, and the acid in the vinegar reacts with the salt to remove what chemists call copper oxide which was making your pennies dull. You’re not done yet, though, lets try another experiment:

Add more pennies to the bowl for 10 seconds, but this time , don’t rinse them off. Place them on a paper towel to dry off. In time the pennies will turn greenish-blue as a chemical called malachite forms on your pennies. But wait, your still not done yet.

Place some nuts and bolts in the vinegar and watch – they become COPPER in color! The vinegar removed some copper from the pennies and that copper was attracted by to the metal in the nuts and bolts – cool.
The project above is a DEMONSTRATION. To make it a true experiment, you can try to answer these questions:

1. Will other acids (like lemon juice or orange juice) work as well?

2. Does this cleaning chemistry work on other coins?

3. Do other amounts of salt make a difference in the chemistry of the experiment?

Kei, being the eco friendly girl that she is decided to make a doll using trash. She used a Sprite can, a yogurt container, suckers for the eyes, sucker stick for the nose, gum wrapper for the arms and a restaurant butter container for the hat. It was too cute.
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Tuesday was Heather’s birthday and we met at Chuck E. Cheese for kid play and Mom talk. Then we went to everyone’s favorite place…Books A Million. It was a great day.
Kei, Heather and some of Esther 🙂
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Required Kid’s Shot
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Super Hero Kids
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Kei bought a book “Funky Things to Draw”. She is in there now drawing away.

Lovely day…
Peace,

Life

Tea Parties, GNO & Vandelism..

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What a few days.

Kei and I have been loving living in the new house.† We still have much to do but it is awesome to have space!

Kei started practice for her play “Wonderland”.† She is totally geeked about her part.† She adores doing plays.† It is just what she loves.††† She has been practicing non-stop.† I know all the words and she only got her script Tuesday!

We are also using a new teaching resource.† It is from Simply Homeschooling. We love J. Anne and all her great stuff.† She has amazing interactive units that Kei loves. She is also a single mom and a science geek. ;)† We love science geeks.

She had a huge tea party with her Animals.† She went all out!

The gang

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Table #1
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We meet with our great friend once a month for GNO.† Sometimes we bring some testotorone, sometimes not.† We always watch a musical and eat and have a blast.† Last night, for the first time, we got to do it at our house.† Everyone came except Cathy and Kaitlin <we missed you guys!> who was chasing the sun in Florida.

I cooked all day.† I love to cook for more than 2 people but rarely was able to before.† Now I have room.† I made a scrumptious salad, Poulet De Normandey, Broccoli casserole, pasta salad with bacon, French bread and Kei made a chocolate bundt cake.† Suzette brought a dessert to make and it was so complicated.† But in true GNO’s fashion, we had a hoot watching her make it. It was yummy too!

We then sat and talked and laughed and snickered.† Then the girls insisted we watch the movie.† We had decided on “Grease”.† It was a hoot and good times were have by all.
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However we everyone started to leave we discovered Esther’s car had been broken into!† They smashed her front passenger window and took her GPS, Nuvi. We had to call the police and E had to make phone calls and tape up the window and sweep the street.† It was a yucky end to such a great night.

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People are just so ARGHGHGHGH!

Today the sun is actually out and I felt warmth on my face as I ran errands!† Spring please come soon.

Happy Thursday,