I go to an amazing church.† It may not be your typical old Southern style church but it fits us to a T.† Our church has 2 main goals; to love Jesus and love each other. We take the 2nd one to Epic proportion.† Our church is a fairly new church, about 3 1/2 years.† Started with 34† members, we had over 900 last week.† Church has become very important to Kei and I.

Last week we celebrated “LOVE WEEK” at Epic.† Sunday was Senior Citizen Day where we visited Senior Citizen homes all across the city and took homemade cookies and goodies.† Monday was “Fast Food Frenzy” where you paid for the car behind you.† Tuesday was “All Teacher’s Day” where we took 20 schools individual Thank You letters and goodies, Wednesday was “Epic Gives You Gas” where we pumped over $1500 of free gas to cars.† Thursday was “To Protect and Serve” where we delivered over 30 dozen chicken and biscuits to the police and fireman.† Friday was “Cook Like a Fool” where we cooked something to take to a neighbor and Saturday was “Get Trashed” where we picked up trash on a several mile stretch of our busiest road.† One of the things Kei and I have always loved was volunteering, giving back and when I started HSing I was so excited that we would be able to do this more.† We have a church that perfectly fits this lifestyle.† I love giving, Kei loves giving, Epic loves giving.† It is an EPIC WIN 😉

We celebrated Earth Hour by turning off all lights in the house and playing Forbidden Island.† It is hard to see little writing by only candle by the way!

Thanks to Ami Kei has tons of clay but I bought her a different kind this week.† It is Mexican Pottery Clay and she loved it.† She spent hours working with it.

We are using a new Math that Kei actually found.† It is IXL and she loves it.† It isn’t fun games, it is just problems until mastery of each new concept.† It is $9.95 a month but so far it is worth it.† There is zero preparation for me which is great because there is so much in her other subjects.† She and I both have learned so much.† If she gets to a concept she doesn’t understand she lets me know and we sit and work it out together.

We are studying Mayans and Aztecs for History.† We watched a documentary about 2012 and became interested in the Mayans.† That blossomed into more videos, Mayan numbers, alphabet, websites, worksheets and crafts.† We watched Time Warp Trio here. I have started using FreeRice as part of our homeschooling.† Kei and I have done this on and off for several years but now it is written into her assignments.† She has learned all of the New England, Southern and Western States and capitals.† She already knew them but now she can actually spell them. ;)† In Zoology we have learned about Primates.† We have read and made charts and watched videos, including a Jane Goodall documentary.

Kei finished her blanket that she made by hand.† She still has to do the backing but it turned out so wonderful.† I love how much she loves sewing and all things creative.† The first quilt Kei ever made was a very small 9×9 square.† She wanted to put it in Mom’s casket and I let her.† I know Mother would have loved that.

Yesterday was the next to the last HS Skate Day.† We got in the groove by rocking out to some Ice Ice Baby on the radio. 😉

Livvy spent the night last night.† They destroyed Kei’s room per usual…ahhh girls..

Weather is supposed to warm up next week.† I am ready for it…there are hikes to be taken, camping trips to go on, nature walks to meander, crazy doggies to walk….

Happy Saturday,

“For it is in giving that we receive.” St. Francis of Assisi

“Why not, really, go to the fullest length, and the silliest length, in exploiting yourself and turn the proceeds back to the community?” Paul Newman

In some ways this has been a really bad weekÖ

Living in my Daddyís house comes with no rent but, at times a whole lot of strings.

The strings got very tangled this week.

That being said; as I try to live this simpler life there were many blessings to count.

A best friend since Kindergarten having an unexpected mid week break and spending the night with Kei.

A moon, big and orange suspended in a sky

A girl who especially loved Math this week and learned things that ìIî didnít know at the beginning of the week.

4 chapters read, without much complaining in her book.

Videos about Nazca drawings [which lead to fascinating hypotheses] †and Olmecs and apes and chimps and something very freaky called a marmoset.

Time spent on our cleaned up patio.

This site We are new fans of 9puz!† Great games.

This video which is the latest youtube craze which lead to investigating exactly what was up with it, why it has over 47 million views and discussions about bullying and cyber-bullying.

The sun, glorious and orange, setting and making everything it touches bathed in a golden glow.

Amazing poems written by my girl.† She wrote these for a Webkinz contest that the subject was “Poems about Colors”

When I think of blue I think of:
The blue spring sky with light mist in the air,
the soft clouds in the foggy sky,
the pretty blue flowers tickling my bare feet,
the blue birds cutting through the clouds,
the little blue dress mom is wearing with pink and yellow pockets,
when I think of blue
I think of the delightful blue stream right next to our house with fish swimming
living their lives peacefully and happily.

When I think of yellow I think of:
The yellow sun rising on a cool spring day,
my blond little puppy running through a field of buttercups,
my old yellow rain boots who miss the days of playing in the rain,
My toast cutting through the yolk of my egg and seeing the yummy yellow goo running down my plate,
When I think of yellow
I think of I think of a yellow canary singing a song to give bliss to all that hear.

When I think of purple I think of:
When me and mom played tea party and I would always wear the purple dress,
the little purple hat mom made for me when I was a baby,
a field of gorgeous purple flowers that danced in the wind,
A little me on Christmas morning looking under the tree to see gifts wrapped in purple wrapping and smiling at them.
When I think or purple
I think of me and mommy sitting in front of the fireplace with a purple-patched quilt wrapped in around us on a cold winterís day.

SoÖit wasnít the greatest week in one way but in so many othersÖit was amazing.

Happy weekend,

ìBad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.î ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson †(American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

I feel like a bear, waking up from a long winter’s nap.† The air is glorious; the breeze coming in my window makes me smile; blooms ah the blooms, everything is blooming; birds are chirping; bees and wasps are waking up and buzzing; Spring has Officially SPRUNG.

I finally got the leaves picked up Saturday.† 2 guys were hired and I happily paid them.† How many bags of leaves you ask?† 56!!!!!!!† And Karisma, I had to put them in bags…my trash container filled up after ONE BAG.† There is no burning of leaves here, and the wind would have whipped them around worse than Willow’s hair. <if you have preteen girls you will understand that reference ;)>

Chan spent the night with us for 3 nights and the girls had a blast.† They explored the creek and did some experiments.† As they walked off with their buckets and tools I called out, “Remember the Barrens and don’t flood the town”.† They looked at me like I was crazy until I explained.† They have both seen “It“.† One of my favorite books EVER.† They also spent hours playing Forbidden Island.† I has seen this game on someone’s blog…Helena??, bought it because it had rave reviews and just got it from Amazon.† There was much talk about helicopters, divers, messengers, sinking islands and endangered somethings and saving the day and giggling.

We also bought some seeds to try to get some flowers started.† I never have much luck with seeds but we will see.

Kei started a new book “Little Blog on the Prairie“ She is actually liking it!† She also got “To Kill a Mockingbird” from the library along with the audio.

I am reading another book I ordered for Kei.† “The Mother Daughter Book Club“.† It came recommended by Theresa. [waves]† I decided to read it yesterday just to see if I thought Kei will like it.† Which I know she will.

But it has inspired a rant.

::steps up on soapbox::

Why is it that EVERY book for tweens or teens, every TV show geared toward that age, every movie has bullying in it?† Why does Amazon have 4,460 hits in books when I type in the word “bullying”?† Why are there millions of web sites dedicated to this? Go to Youtube and type in “bullying”….over 30,000 hits.

I am so thankful that I don’t have to ‘live’ in a world where Kei is bullied.† And yes, she has gotten her feelings hurt in the past…that is going to happen no matter what.† But living day to day, knowing that people were going to be hurtful and mean and spiteful and nasty?† That is NOT her world.† But it is millions of kids world, and that breaks my heart.† I try to think back, wayyyy back to when I was a kid.† I remember I was NEVER one of the mean kids, I hated seeing anyone being picked on.† Bullying wasn’t as prevalent or as downright MEAN as it is now.† What’s up with that?† What has happened to make this such a serious issue?† Is it the Internet? TV? Movies?† something in the water? What?

I have heard people say, “But what about bullying? How will you child learn to deal with bullying if you homeschool”?

SERIOUSLY?????† SERIOUSLY?† This is a skill you need why?† I don’t know about you, but I am not around bullies.† If I have someone toxic in my life, I avoid them at all cost.† We do talk about her standing up for herself, and for others.

One of my favorite parts of her <and she has tons of “favorite parts of mine” in case you haven’t noticed ;)> is that she hates injustice in any form.† Always has.† She stands up for what she believes in.† Which isn’t always the ‘norm’ it this part of the South.† She doesn’t care.† She has a passion for all things fair and equal and believes people should be who they are and love who they want and be able to do it without being judged.† And yes…she gets those beliefs from me.† Doesn’t all children up to a certain age? Until they start thinking for themselves and having their own opinions. † But I know she will always have these beliefs.

One of her favorite shows is “What Would You Do?”† She watches it religiously and even tapes it.† She will scream and yell at the television.† She is such a ’causes’ girl.† If this was the 60’s she would probably be burning her bra. 😉

But back to bullying…all the TV shows, all the books, all the movies..while they don’t say “this is a good thing” and in fact usually the ‘mean girls’ get their comeuppance in the end.† But that isn’t the point.† They are ALWAYS there…like it is just a given.† The message is: If you live in the world and are between a certain age, you are going to have to face or deal with bullies.† There is something horribly wrong with society when it is just a given that you will be treated like crap and made cry and get pushed around.

I have no answers, only outrage; no solutions, only sadness.† But I do know this:

Bullying should never be a given.† Period.

ìNever be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.î ~ Harvey S. Firestone

I do declare…spring is here.† The weather..the weather is glorious.

Yes it will soon be HOT and I will be complaining about that.† Seems like I know a lot of people who complain about the weather, including me.† Too cold, too hot.† But we do seem to be an area of one or the other.† Our Springs are very short, our Falls are very short, and there is a whole lotta hot and cold in between.

Kei took time to make a crown of Henbit this week.† Thank you Kaitlin, we† couldn’t find the name of this wildflower and she told us what it was.† It is EVERYWHERE here!† Like grass…

I have had a pair of Doc Marten’s for 20 years.† They still look great.† Kei can finally wear them.† I love what she put with them…she has such a cool sense of fashion just like her Mommy ‘used’ to have.† I don’t have a lot of occasions to wear the cool stuff I used to wear.† *Thank goodness shoes can not talk…I’m just saying…

I finally found “The Odyssey” to rent.† After looking everywhere!† I had to join Blockbuster Online for 2 free weeks to get it.† We are really liking it.

Kei has been playing some really good games online to learn about Greece.† I usually have a link at least once a day for her to play with or watch.† The internet is just full of cool things!!† Here she is helping Icarus make his wings.† We have loved this site.

We are learning about Marsupials in Zoology.† We have both enjoyed it very much.† Even more so because 2 of my favorite bloggers, Helena and Karisma live in Australia.† Kangaroo’s are such a ‘magical’ animal to us.† It isn’t something we can imagine seeing outside in the yard.† But Helena and Karisma can!† Kei just thinks that is so cool.

Here is Kei with her Koala watching a video about Koala’s.† They are lazy little things. 😉 Sleeping 20 hours a day!

Kei made brownies to take to Esther’s to a much needed “day with our friends”.

When I swiped a little bit of brownie mix on her face she wasn’t amused…well she SAID she wasn’t, but she kept giggling.

We had a blast at Esther’s.† There was food and giggling and stories and silliness and laughter and talking all at once.† The kids had fun too.

Kei is loving her shorter hair.† Well it isn’t short but shortER. † We had it cut about 4″ and she wasn’t sure about it at first but now she says, “You were right Mom” as I mumble under my breath “As always.” 🙂

Chan came home with us for a few nights.† They are off playing in the creek and have big plans of a WebKinz Play Extravaganza.

I have cut the grass today for the first time and decided that if there is any way possible I will hire someone to keep the yard this summer.† Almost 3/4 acre is just too much for me!† Argh.

Lovely weekend to all,

Spring has returned.† The Earth is like a child that knows poems.† ~Rainer Maria Rilke

We have both been geek girls lately.

My best friend lives in California.† We have always used the internet to stay in touch, mainly by playing online games.† I am always a Ranger chick with a bow.† She is always a Cleric.† We have a blast.† A new game just came out.† Rift.† We beta tested it for about 6 weeks and then it went live a couple of weeks ago.† I have since been spending my time in Telara, a world full of beauty and mystery.† I play on a PvP server.† That is Player versus Player for you non-gamers.† Which means someone from the ‘other’ side can come and kill me at any time and vice versa.† We play with a bunch of people from all over North America.† We are in a guild called Black Daggers.† We have a vent channel so we can talk because typing is soooooo 2000.† I have a blast.† There are tons of† “Achievements” you can get in the game.† Carla and I saw this one and had to do it.† You had to find this remote area on a huge mountain and find these little squirrels.† When they started dancing you had to make your character dance with them…your title…”Dances With Squirrels”† We HAD to get a screen-shot of it.

Kei has been living in the Webkinz World.† She has had Webkinz since she was 6 and has 114 at last count.† That is a lot of pets to keep happy.† She decorates their rooms, chats to other people, runs a restaurant, does tons of research to find our the best items in the trade rooms, keeps a chart with all the things she trades and what they are worth, finds new recipes and patterns for clothes, plays with one of her best friends and has a blast.† She always cracks up at what some people name their Webkinz.† She had to take a picture of one of them.

Like Mother, like Daughter.

We have managed to get work done.† We† are still in Ancient Greece.† We are fascinated with Gods and wars and ancient cities.† We finished up Cats in Science and learned so many fascinating things about them.† We are still using the iPhone for a lot of our educational time.† It rocks.† We are learning about Drafting Geometry and it amazes me how quickly Kei catches on. She gets so frustrated because there is 4 pages of the same concept so if she gets it, we just move on.

It has warmed up here. Spring is a comin’… I can hear it calling our names.

Hope we can hear it in our virtual worlds.

ìGive a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won’t bother you for weeksî† ~Unknown

The play is over. After almost 2 months of 3 days a week practice, final week practice every day, 9 shows all together, tons of laughter and hugging and fun, it is done.

My Daddy is in Florida, but my brother and Seth came, Kei’s Nana, my Aunt and my Mom’s best friend [which make me tear up because I know my Mother would have loved it!], tons of our homeschool friends and more. Kei got roses and flowers and gifts. It was such a great experience.

Kei was superb, that isn’t just Mommy talk, she was really, really good. So many people told me; not only that she did great, but that you could tell it was her passion.† This was her biggest role.† She got a mic for the first time and took her bow at the end….Jasper, Horace [her character] and Cruella.† She and Drew [the boy who played Horace] got to ad lib a lot and it added so much to the show.

The kids that she has done plays with over the years are so amazing.† The older ones help the younger ones.† They really become a family.† At rehearsals or in the green room you hear kids breaking out into songs from “Wicked” or “Sweeny Todd” and everyone joining it.

Kei spent any spare time she had making “101 Dalmatian” Charms out of her clay for some of her cast members.† She tied them onto black and white yarn and they were so cute.

I worked backstage all shows but the final one.† I love being back there and making sure the younger kids enter on their cue.† Seeing their eyes sparkling when they come off stage, seeing the smiles when things go well.† It really is magic.

And it is…she loves it, loves the stage, the spotlight, making people laugh. I am so proud of my talented girl. I wish I could have taken you all by the hand and brought you into the theatre with us.

Now I am beat…and very behind on all of my friends blogs..I will catch up…really I will.

Whew! What a week.† It was awesome but I am glad it is over…for now. 🙂

“The center of the stage is where I am” ~Martha Graham

Kei has been sick all week.† She came home from a spend the night party for one of her best friends feeling pretty yucky.† So we have spent most all week chilled on the couch.

She got 2 Webkinz for Valentineís Day that she finally named.† The Red Squirrel is Abby Tree Hugger and the Jelly Bean Pup is Chelsea Morning.† [She wanted a hippy name :)]

She missed Monday practice but decided she could go Tuesday.† It wasnít a good idea because she has felt bad ever since.

We give Nomad water from the sink.† Donít judge! If you were to see how he drinks it from a bowl you would understand..this way is much neater..TRUST ME!† Disclaimer- Disregard my dirty sink! I had been making Chicken San Remo! Which is one of our favorite meals!

We did get outside for about 10 minutes yesterday because it was close to 70∞!

We did try to put chicken bones together.† I got the lesson plan here.† After having a chicken that looked remarkably like a frog Kei decided she probably wouldnít be a paleontologist!

We have been doing a lot on iPhone.† So I thought I would list some of our favorite ëeducationalí apps.

Cat Physics

ILive Math African Animals

ILive Botany

Brain Pop

Stack the States

She is loving these and especially the Cat Physics.† We† lay in bed and play this one!

I have discovered “Prison Break” and am loving it.† Wentworth Miller = swoons. Anyone who reads me knows how much I love to discover a TV Series that I never watched that I can watch all the way through on Netflix.† This one is very well written!

I work for someone in the Entertainment business.† I spent all day Monday on the phone with Sam Hennings. I am coordinating getting his car from Los Angeles to New Orleans for “Memphis Beat”.† He asked me where I was from and I told him the city and he said, “I lived there for a few years when I was young”.† I said to him, “Get out of here, how cool is that?”† I didn’t realize until Stan told me exactly “who” I was talking to. hehe He was the nicest guy!† Even told me I should come to New Orleans with Kei and come on set!

I am taking Kei to the doctor this afternoon.† Her play starts next week and with 8 days straight of practice and performances she doesnít need to feel bad.† Hopefully it is just a little something that will GO AWAY soon!

Happy Thursday all,

ìLet us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.î† ~Buddha

and my daughter hates to read.† How can that be possible?† In what world can I have a child who doesn’t devour reading?† I have read to her her entire life.† I still read to her.† EVERYDAY….

She loves stories, she loves words.† She loves to create words and stories and plays.† But give her a book to sit down and read…ain’t gonna† happen.† Last spring and summer I was adamant that she would read all Harry Potter books.† I even got the audio books for her to follow along because lets face it, HP are some LONG books.† She has always loved Harry Potter.† Loved the movies, loved the stories.† When the final book came out, she won 1st place at BAM for her costume.† What did she win you ask?† A copy of “Deathly Hallows”.

You should have heard her when I made her read everyday.† “I hate Harry Potter” “These are the dumbest books ever”† “I wish J.K. Rawlings had never written these dumb books.”

She actually made it to book 5 when I just said, “Forget it!”.

She reads now, when I make her, when I threaten her with something that is important to her.† My visions of her curled up reading and petting her dog have slowly diminished over time.

I have friends who read all the time and say they didn’t love to read as a child.† So I am hopeful.

How can she live in a world where there is she has never “been a resident of Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina, and strolled down Swann’s Way.” ~Quote from Rory Gilmore’s graduation speech.

But I am still reading to her everyday, and we listen to books on tape constantly.† We keep checking out tons of books that she thinks look interesting but never get opened and I will keep making her read and one day, I hope, she will understand the wonder of books….

That being said, we† had a good week.† Kei is having practice 3 days a week and that is taking up a lot of time.† She loves plays…she LOVES plays.† She would practice 7 days a week for hours.† This is her biggest role to date and she is having so much fun with it.† She also loves the fact that one of her BFF’s is in the play too.

These pictures are horrible, bad lighting and phone camera.† But here she is, with Cruella and her sidekick Jasper.† She loves playing the ‘bad guy’.

We are still studying the Greeks.† We may never leave!† Kei put on a puppet show about Zeus, Poseiden, Hades, Hera, Ares and more.† It was hysterical!

We found this really fun link.

She has known most of the capitals and states since she was 9 but now I am giving her blank maps and she has to fill in the states and capitals and SPELL them correctly. That is the challenge. 😉

This past weekend we went to see “Godspell” and it was AWESOME!!!† Bethel University, which was who had the summer camp Kei went to, performed it.† Kei got to see all her counselors and we both loved it.†† I was blown away by these talented kids.

Kei did some drawing.† I loved these 2 drawing of cats.† Of course Nomad decided he liked the Valentine cat and ate it!

Kei is trying to teach Nomad to clean.† I think she has visions of no more cleaning her room! *Disclaimer- no dogs were hurt in the taking of this picture!

We had Skate Day…complete with Valentine Boxes, cards, fun, laughter and candy.

And anyone guess what this is?

A good week, a simple week…a week filled with joy and laughter and learning.† What could be better?

Happy weekend,

Karen

ìThe world’s a theater, the earth a stage, Which God and nature do with actors fillî ~Proverb

*Answer: Nomad DESTROYED one of our pillows.† This is Kei wearing the stuffing.† Silly girl..silly dog..

Sometimes our weeks go by like a flash, places to be, things to do.

Sometimes our weeks are slow, like a stream winding lazily toward its destination.

Homeschooling has made me crave the slow days.† I hate having 100 places to be.† I hate having to wake up with an alarm clock and rush, rush around to get out the door.† Homeschooling has spoiled me. I think back to when Kei was in Public School.† How did I manage it?† Up at 6:30, dressed, breakfast, backpack together, hair fixed, out the door.† Looking back, what a pain that was!

This has been a slow, lazy week.

Filled with Greeks and Trojan Wars and lovely Myths. Fun Greek games online.

Felidae of all sorts; kitties and tigers and panthers and lions and jaguars, oh my.

Math with isosceles, scalene and equilateral triangles.† Questions about stocks and how she can buy one stock.† And that leads to looking up about stocks and telling her she can of course pick one and buy it with her money.

Reading about Dr. Doolittle and his amazing journeys.

We studied The Creation of Adam,† painted by Michelangelo in 1499.

We had play practices…the show is getting closer and Kei is so excited.† The last week of the show has a brutal schedule.† 9 shows in all!

Kei got a craft kit for Christmas and she worked on that.

Friday is our HS Skate Day.† The kids can bring Valentine boxes to exchange cards and there is a contest for the Most Creative box.† Kei has been hard at work on hers.† It turned out fabulous.† She calls it “Fashionista Box”

It is supposed to snow Friday.† Not a huge blizzard like some of my blog friends but snow indeed.† Bah humbug…I am ready for Spring.

*Disclaimer: Kei does not always look like she does in these pictures, well† most of the time she does but she does clean up nicely. :)† We just don’t sweat it most days.† Clothes-check and that is about it.† Hair may brushed, depending on the day.

Happy weekend all!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
~ Mark Twain