Category Archives: Friends

Bringing Smart Back, Field Trip, Friends, HomeSchool, homeschooling teens, Learning all the time

Catching Up!!!

March 7, 2016 Karen 6 Comments

It’s been awhile. I was doing so well at updating and then…..well life happened.

It’s like Talluah Bankhead said, (who was born in a city near us and was actually NOT anyone’s role model) “Good girls keep diaries; bad girls don’t have the time.”

Actually we haven’t, of course, been ‘bad girls’ just busy girls.

Quilts and skating and candy and Disney trips (not us!) and refuge trips and last minute plays and more.

We had a month long celebration of The Quilters of Gee’s Bend. This was one of the most wonderful things we have done lately. This a group of black women who live in south Alabama. They have been making quilts for generations. There is a wonderful documentary on PBS about them. Our museum had an exhibition, our library had a meet and greet and then they spoke (and SANG!) at a local senior citizen center. It was all magnificent. Their stories were so unbelievable. Afterwards Keilee got their signatures on an embroidery hoop she had stretched a piece of fabric across. She wants to use it as a square in a quilt. You can also read more about them here.

I think this would be a great unit study on patterns. Learn about these lovely ladies and then have your kids make ‘quilts’ from construction paper!

Meeting the ladies of Gee’s Bend.

We also went to a field trip to a candy making company. This company has been in operation for over 25 years. It was a great tour with them explaining all the processes that is involved in making an array of candies, shipping problems and the history of chocolate.

And the cookies and candy!!!! YUM

Keilee got a phone call from a local director to ask her if she would be an understudy for a middle school/high school play called “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize”. Keilee, of course said yes. This is produced and directed by our theater company for a middle school who doesn’t have a drama department. It was about the Civil Rights and presented for Black History Month. She found out Monday and went to practice. She then found out Tuesday that she was going to be IN THE PLAY. She had 4 practices total (and they had been practicing since January) and she had one of the main roles! They performed Thursday morning at the middle school (and dropping her off at 8:00 am and watching her walk into the school was surreal!). They later performed at the beautifully restored Princess Theatre downtown. This experience was unbelievable for her. She was so good on stage (and yes I’m her Mamma but no one could believe she had come aboard Monday). She met some kids she really liked and just soaked up every minute of the experience.

Keilee was contacted by Magic Moments Organization which grants ‘wishes’ for chronically ill children. She was able to go to a dedication (where the family was donating a handicapped piece of playground equipment) and present sweet Albany with a trip to Disney!!!! As wonderful as this was for Albany and her family it was more so for Keilee!

Keilee with her Bible opened working on a game for her girl’s group at church. Voting. We went to homeschool skate day this month. Keilee used to never miss a skate day but now she wants to go less often. She had a great time even though we had to leave early to do some things. Nomad in his ‘tiara’ Keilee made him. And our LEAP DAY picnic at our Wildlife Refuge. She had, of course, to leap.

And finally she was Cinderella at a birthday party Saturday. She rarely gets to be Cinderella because kids refuse to “Let It Go” and want Elsa always and she loves Cinderella. And of course I made her drop off the Redbox movie. And to let me take a picture.

Whew! I’m exhausted just typing that.

This week is supposed to be WARM! We are so ready for Spring. Isn’t everyone?

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time

Almost Sisters, Field Days and Some Learnin’…

May 26, 2011 Karen 3 Comments

Kei came home from Kindergarten the first day talking about “Livvy”.† Every day she would tell me things that happened with her new ‘best friend’.† I met Livvy and her mom, Laura early in the year. Her Mom and I bonded just like our girls did.† In first grade, Kei changed schools and we didn’t see Livvy every day anymore. But the girls and the Moms still stayed in contact.† I pulled Kei out of Public School after the 1st week of 2nd grade.† We weren’t talking to Livvy and Laura every day then.† Sometimes not even once a month.† But Laura called me a couple of weeks after I started homeschooling Kei and said she was going to take Livvy out too.† They homeschooled for 3 years then last year Laura put Livvy in private school. She is a single Mom like I am and she had to go back to work.† But our girls have become closer each year.† They have always played so well together, talked on the phone for hours, spent the night with each other.† They call each other ‘sister’ and I love Livvy so much.† Laura is one of my dearest friends in the world.† You know..it isn’t often that your child’s best friend’s Mom is one of your best friends but that is the way it has worked out.† We love our relationship with these amazing girls in our life.

The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you’ve had.† ~Author Unknown

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one!” by C. S. Lewis

Tuesday we had Field Day.† This is always a HUGE deal.† We had so many people there. I have no clue how many but it was well over 100.† The kids all enjoy it so much.

Kei playground — Hanging Out Before Field Day

Kei won 3 Medals and Ribbons for Shot Put, Soccer and Mile Run.

Kei loves Soccer, she has never wanted to play organized Soccer but every year she signs up for Field Day and has a blast.

We are still ‘schooling’ but we really never stop.† We do less in the Summer, not so organized, but we still do things.† I want to finish our Story of The World.† We have a couple of chapters left.† The biggest thing we need to finish is Zoology 3.† Since I used another science the first of the year, we started this late.† I would like to finish the book but if we don’t and summer’s siren song gets to be too much,† we can finish it in August.

I can’t believe my little girl would be going into 6th grade if she was in PS.† 6th GRADE!† It is so hard for me to believe.† I have lots of thoughts swirling around about that but I will save it for another post, another day.

As for now…there are long, lazy days to explore, lightening bugs to catch, swimming pools calling our names, picnics to be taken, meandering trips down country roads, food to be cooked outside, songs to be sung, movies to watch, flowers to stop and smell and more.

Viva la Summer!

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.” ~ John Lubbock

Friends, Learning all the time, Life

Giving Thanks…

November 28, 2010 Karen 5 Comments

We took the week off from formal lesson plans.† Thank goodness we did because I got a sinus infection and was pretty much useless all week!

Kei cooked dinner one night all by herself.† She wouldn’t even let me come into the kitchen.† She made baked chicken breasts with ginger marinade, pasta with spinach and green peppers with a cream sauce and cheese bread.† It was wonderful and she was so proud of herself.† I was proud of her too.

We watched a lot of TV, Gilmore Girls [our favorite show in the world], finished season 8 of Monk, watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, watched Pirates of the Caribbean [with my future son-in-law Johnny Depp], rented Grown-Ups which was silly but kinda cute, and the new Karate Kid.† Then Kei had to practice what she just watched.

Kei and I played with clay.† We started out with an Indian village, then switched to clay fairies, then to Santa’s village.

Kei played Webkinz a lot.† She loves Webkinz and plays daily for a week or so, then not for a month.†† She decorates and re-decorates her rooms.† She wants so badly for me to get a Webkinz so I can play with her.† I am thinking that is what she will get me for Christmas.

Den1 — Den with Christmas Decorations...

We spent Thanksgiving Day with Daddy and Marlene, Eddie, Heather, Seth and Katherine.† My head hurt so badly I couldn’t really enjoy all the delicious food.† :/† We brought leftovers home.

We have so much to be thankful for.† Wonderful friends, both near and far, old and new.† A wonderful family, a lifestyle that we both adore, an amazing church family, a lovely house, a crazy dog and each other.

Life is good.

And it is almost DECEMBER!!!!†† EEK!

Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.† ~W.T. Purkiser

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, nature

Hammered, Vampires and Kitties….

October 15, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

It has been a great week.† After the busyness of the last 2 weeks we just relaxed at home for the most part.

I had seen this really cool project that Kei wanted to try.† I didn’t have exactly the right material but that has never stopped me before!† It would have done better with 100% cotton because Kei’s† hammering knocked holes in the material.

flower hammer — Placing the materials...

flower project — Finished Project with a few Holes...

We love Halloween and Kei got into the Halloween spirit this week.

We went to the Halloween Store so she could pick out her costume.† This year she wanted to ‘be something really Evil.”

She found something that she like and while I don’t want to give it away here she did practice with a little makeup when we got home.

She just can’t do evil.

She found a really cool feather this week which she called The Yin Yang feather.

And made her hammock swing into a hammock ‘chair’ swing which she has always wanted.

Somehow we have become the co-owner to ANOTHER dog.† He is a beautiful Golden Retriever that lives next door but digs under the fence to our house daily.

I am reading The Odyssey to Kei as our night time book.† We are both loving it but we are both mythological, fantasy kinda girls.† It is a children’s version but I am really enjoying it too.

Today we went swimming with HS friends at the indoor pool and afterward the kids decided to swing.

Livvy is spending the night with Kei and I am making Stone Soup. Yummy!

Happy weekend,

Dreams surely are difficult, confusing, and not everything in them is brought to pass for mankind. For fleeting dreams have two gates: one is fashioned of horn and one of ivory. Those which pass through the one of sawn ivory are deceptive, bringing tidings which come to nought, but those which issue from the one of polished horn bring true results when a mortal sees them.† ~ Homer, The Odyssey

Friends, HomeSchool

Public School, Home School and Blessings…

October 11, 2010 Karen 7 Comments

Kei went to K and 1^st grade public school.† She loved it, had no problems, fit in, made great grades, blah blah.† I was Co-HomeRoom mom in K and HomeRoom Mom in 1^st.

I had read about homeschooling since she was 4.† I had a folder full of great homeschool links and resources.† I thought I would love to do it but I was afraid.† I was not a certified teacher!† How could I possibly teach her?† Ok I could probably handle Dick and Jane and addition but what about Calculus, Chemistry, Physics????

So I left her in PS and tried to ignore the little niggling in the back of my head and the pinch in my heart each morning when I dropped her off.† K and 1st grade quickly sped past.

She started 2^nd grade and my Homeschool Folder kept getting larger and larger.† I read more and more about homeschooling.† I didnít really know any homeschoolers except for ìmy sisterís best friend homeschoolsî kinda thing.

I was always one of those moms who hated school starting back.† I loved being with Kei.† We had a blast together.† 2^nd grade started.† The first week I would ask her every afternoon, ìWhat did you do today?î and she would tell me she finished her work early and would help the other kids.† One of my favorite stories involved her helping this little girl with Math M&Mís.† They were supposed to put the colors into groups and count them but Kei said ìMommy she kept eating her M&Mís before we could count them!î† She was bored and not really happy with sitting quietly while the kids who took longer finished their work.

It was a Tuesday, her 2^nd week of school.† I picked her up and said, ìSo how would you like to be homeschooled?î† She said, ìOh Please!! I would love it.î† Next day I withdrew her, found a cover school and the rest as they say is history.† My favorite homeschool saying, the one that has kept me sane at times is this:† ìYou only have to be ONE day smarter than your child.î

We just began our 4th year homeschooling.† I have never regretted it.† NOT FOR ONE SECOND.† Is it all smooth and calm and lovely?† Well of course not!† There are days I want to beat her, days she wants to beat me, but it is the best thing I have ever done.† The world is truly our classroom.

She is socialized [anyone who ever questions the socialization aspect does NOT know jack about Homeschooling], she has friends, she spends the night with people, they spend the night with her. †We get together with our immediate HS group at least once a week, sometimes more.† A huge bonus for me is that I have made amazing friends.† Keiís friends Moms are my best friends.† How cool is that?† How often does that happen?

October Calendar — Disclaimer* We aren't DOING every one of these, they are just available.

She loves being homeschooled.† I was thinking the other day that I have never heard one kid I know who is HSed† complaining about it.† They all love it.† They realize how incredibly lucky they are.† Kei hates running errands after 3:00.† She says she doesnít want people thinking she is a public school kid.† Now keep in mind, she loved PS, she just realizes that this life; this wonderful, wacky, fun, learning at its best life is wonderful!

Kei gets her ësubjectsí in.† It takes about 2 hours.† She doesnít mess around and I plan out pretty well each week.† Of course most weeks it never works out perfectly.† I mean what would you rather do, 20 Math problems or take an impromptu trip to a working farm?† But she gets all her Core subjects.

She also writes and performs plays with her dog, finger knits, has the coolest Webkinz rooms, explores nature, builds fairy houses, plays in her tree house, invents magical worlds and visits them via her tire swing, writes stories, writes songs, carries her tape recorder around and interviews almost every person she comes into contact with, plays her guitar, plays Wii, sews clothes for her Webkinz and dolls, blogs, swims in the summer, roller skates, ice skatesÖ.. you get the picture.† She has timeÖ..time to be 10, time to be little, time to visit every rabbit hole she finds, time to explore Godís world and all the glorious things in it.

Homeschooling isnít for everyone.† But for usÖit is as close to a perfect world as I have ever found.

Be blessed,

Bless me, what *do* they teach them at these schools?~ CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe

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

Giant Bubbles, COOKIES, & Picnics in the Park…

September 4, 2010 Karen 1 Comment

Last week was a great week.† We went back to our regular homeschooling [and punted Time 4 Learning].† It isn’t that we didn’t like it, I just felt very removed from Kei’s learning.

First of all, we made Giant Bubbles and has such a blast.† I got the instructions here.

Here’s what you need to do— get two thin wooden dowels, two eye hooks and a metal washer ring. For the string, you’ll need to use cotton cord.† Cotton works the best because it soaks up the bubble solution, if you use a synthetic cord, it will only repel the solution.

There are many online resources for making your own giant bubble solution. Most call for water, Dawn dish soap and glycerin.† However, we didn’t have Dawn or glycerin— so I just put some water in a bucket, added a liberal dose of our regular dish soap, a little bubble solution that we had voila’… it worked perfectly!

We bought one long dowel at Wal-Mart and cut gently with a saw broke it in half and just hammered the string right onto the dowel.† It was pretty easy because the wood was soft.† One piece of string is 35 inches, and the second piece is twice as large at 70 inches.

I didn’t think it was going to work because it took quite a few tries for the bubbles to ‘start’ coming.† It was a fun little thing to do. You are never too big for bubbles!

Kei made some cookies too.† She loves to decorate cookies.† She just made a few; a duck, a hand and a foot [complete with rings], a dog and dog bone, a cowboy hat and boots and some stars.† Too cute and delicious too!† She ate the hat and I ate the boots.† YEE HAW!

Kei and I have a game night at least once a week, sometimes twice.† This week we played “Life”.† I hate that game!† It is boring to me but Kei likes it.† She was mad that you HAD to get married.† She was all like, “What if I don’t WANT to get married????!!!”.

We also played Uno.† Look at her poker face!

We met friends at the park on Thursday.† It was such a beautiful day!† We brought out lunch [smoked turkey with lettuce and garden vegetable cream cheese on spinach tortillas, carrots and homemade cheese straws] and hung out for a few hours.† It was a blast.

Kei took my camera and made tons of pictures.† She has such a good eye.† These are a couple of my favorites.

: Kei Railroad Crossing

Kei BB — Bumble Bee.. Up Close and Personal

Friday was our HS groupís 1st Skate Day.† We had over 150 kids there!!!† Homeschooling is just growing by leaps and bounds.† I also won the door prize!!† It was funny because they always let Kei pick.† I told her very loudly, ìWay to go, just like we practicedî.

I won some scented rocks, oil and the best thing of allÖ.a $25 gift certificate to Creative Learning Connection.† Woot!

Kei Skate Day — Photo by Esther Crawford

She had to, of course, put on a little dance medley she choreographed.† She wore the heels that Marlene had bought her for a couple of songs.† There is no way I could dance in these suckers!

Today was the most amazing weather day.† When I woke up to take Nomad out it was CHILLY.† It was a perfect day.† We went to The Dream Center to volunteer for about 4 hours.† First we went out into the community to give some information about The Dream Center.† What they do is twice a month they prepare a wonderful meal and have a sermon and fellowship.† They have a bus to bring the non drivers to the Center.† We also gave them bread and candy for the kids.† We saw so many people who had financial, health and other problems.† I was reminded of what my Mother always said, “But by the grace of God, go I”. We both just loved it and felt such a connection and God just oozing out of that place.

This afternoon we saw a salamander [we thought it was a salamander] and tried to capture it.† Unfortunately our net had a hole in it thanks to the CRAZY dog!

Great week.† Ahhh we are so blessed.† So utterly blessed.

Have a lovely weekend,

“Architect Frank Lloyd Wright told how a lecture he received at the age of nine helped set his philosophy of life: An uncle, a stolid no-nonsense type, had taken him for a long walk across a snow-covered field. At the far side, his uncle told him to look back at their two sets of tracks.
“See, my boy,” he said, “how your foot prints go aimlessly back and forth from those trees, to the cattle back to the fence and then over there where you where throwing sticks? But notice how MY path comes straight across, directly to my goal. You should never forget this lesson!”
“And I never did,” Wright said, grinning. “I determined right then not to miss most things in life, as my uncle had.”

Field Trip, Friends, Learning, Learning all the time

Pink Moths, Monastaries & Notebooks

August 7, 2010 Karen 1 Comment

Hot Hot Hot!

We live near the high school and we can hear the football team practicing.† How do they do it?† In pads?† and helmets?† When it is 100∞!† I would be surprised if they aren’t dropping like flies.† <insert lyrics to “Drop it Like Its Hot” here>

Kei has gotten her notebooks ready for school.† She needed 13!† We are both so ready for school to ‘start’ back.† We are starting Monday the 9th.

I found this beautiful moth in our yard.† I have never seen anything like it.† After some research we found out it is a Pink Spotted Hawk Moth.† Lovely…

We went swimming at Cathy’s.† It was great to see our friends.† I hate going more than a few days without getting together!

Livvy spent the night with Kei.† They have made the decision for her to go to PS.† It makes Kei very sad but I know she will shine there.† And the girls will still hang out.† We can’t go long without seeing Livvy.† They played and swam and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning they were telling me something that happened and Nomad came up and joined them in a line.† I told them they reminded me of the scene in “The Sound of Music” where all the kids lined up.

Kei and I went to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. It was so beautiful.† Breathtakingly beautiful.† From the minute we stepped foot on the grounds there was a feeling of peace.† I would love to go back when it wasn’t 103∞ in the shade.

Francis Assissi — Kei reading about Francis of Assisi

We didn’t know we couldn’t wear shorts and sleeveless shirts.† They provide clothes for you to wear in the Church.† We tried to get a picture of us in the bathroom.

You couldn’t take pictures in the Church.† It was AMAZING.† BEAUTIFUL.† All the gold, and there was a lot of gold, is REAL!† Here is a picture I found online

There is also a picture of the Shroud of Turin.† Whether or not you believe it is the real deal, it was amazing to see.† I just sat and cried.

The grounds were beautiful also.† We saw the gardener and I told him that I didn’t see how he stood it in this heat.† His response, “I am just so thankful that I have a job”.† I love optimistic people!

There was this little chapel with the Manger scene.† Kei wanted to light a candle for my Mother.† I told her I didn’t think God would mind that we weren’t Catholic.† When she lit it I said, “Momma I hope you are dancing and running and singing and laughing”.† I still miss her everyday.

The gift shop was in this awesome castle.† It was huge and Kei saw a statue of Mary.† She could not believe it was $3100.

We brought a picnic lunch but there was nowhere to eat unless you were in the blazing sun.† We decided to try to find somewhere else to eat.

On the way out we saw a house consumed by kudzu!† It was so cool looking.† We hoped that a family wasn’t trapped inside!† If you aren’t from the South and don’t know about kudzu, legend is that if you leave a baby in the yard, the kudzu will grow around it.

We finally decided to go to Hurricane Creek to eat.† It was too hot to actually go hiking but they let us sit at a picnic table and eat.† Then Kei had to play on the rock climbing wall.

The guy showed us a hornet’s nest that he found.† It was HUGE.† I still shiver thinking about the hornets in that sucker!

After we got home we decided to take Nomad on a ride.† He he loves riding in the car now.† Thank goodness because his psycho barking was driving me crazy every time we took him to the vet!

We had a wonderful day.

Hope you did too!

ìSoutherners must close their windows at night to keep the kudzu outÖî

_{Quote from The Amazing Story of Kudzu}

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning, Learning all the time, Theatre, trips

Music, Plays and Socialization….

July 21, 2010 Karen Leave a comment

Weekly Wrap-Up

Kei is around friends all the time.† Anyone who mentions anything about ‘socialization’ and homeschooling obviously knows nothing about ‘OUR’ homeschooling.† I never remember doing so much with my friends when I was young.

Kei had Camp Princess last week and loved it so much.† She learned a lot and had a blast.

Mark Sellers who is from Decatur and a ‘star’ of sorts came to talk to them.† He was a dancer in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video and showed the kids the dance.† Kei was so THRILLED!

He also commented on Kei’s outfit and her boots.† She did look pretty darn cute.

She got the only speaking line in their “Hard Knock Life”† and a little dance solo with 1 other girl and 2 other boys in the “Hairspray” number.† She was beyond excited.

Friday night was the ‘production’ and Daddy, Marlene, Suzette, Dave, Emily, Zachery, Esther, Matt, Jake, Chandler and Ben all came!!!† We were blown away that so many of our friends and family came to see Kei.† We have the best friends in the world.† We are so lucky to have found an extended family.

Kei Camp Princess onstage — Picture by Esther Crawford

Afterward we went out to eat with all of our friends.† They had eaten so they all ate desert while Kei and I ate yummy calzones.

Livvy spent the night with Kei and as always they had a blast playing and talking into the night.

Kei and Livvy also put on a play.† Kei can’t spend more than a few hours with anyone without talking them into doing a play!

Kei made an outfit for Nomad that was more like a straight jacket.† Poor Nomad suffers so many indignities for Kei.† Kei was laughing SO hard about it.

We went to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and Spring Park Tuesday.† The Music Hall of Fame was kinda cool.† None of us knew very many of the artists but it was still interesting.† The girls recorded a song “Eye of the Bison” about the infamous Bison vs. Suzette Incident.† We had a blast but it was so very hot.

Kids Music Hall of Fame — Kids at Music Hall of Fame

Girls Music Hall Fame — Girls at Recording Studio

They also sang “Sweet Home Alabama”.

After the Hall of Fame we went to Spring Park.† The kids all rode the roller coaster about 100 times, rode the train, rode the carousel and played and talked.† It was a great day but very hot!

Kei Brit Roller Coaster — Kei and Brit on Ride #47ish

All the girls decided to come home with us.† It was a blast having 4 girls.† They talked and giggled and laughed and played.† Good times.

I had to clean and refill the pool but they managed to find a way to stay cool anyway.

So in the last week, we were with friends and family about 5 days.† And that wasn’t an unusual week.† Socialization is such a NON ISSUE.

Tomorrow is supposed to be freakishly hot so we plan on staying inside and playing games.† Stay cool everyone!
Happy rest of the week,

The idea of learning acceptable social skills in a school is as absurd to me as learning nutrition from a grocery store.
~ Lisa Russell

Friends, Holidays, HomeSchool, Learning, Learning all the time, Life, My beautiful child, nature, Nomad

Piercings, Picnics, and Naked Barbies…

July 4, 2010 Karen 1 Comment

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.

Kei shot a few last night to get prepared.

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?

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

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.

Here is Hopper with her new earring.

More HOLEY Pets…

Here they are having a race up the washing machine.

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.

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.

Kei Nomad Picnic — Mr. Fluff NOT cooperating...

Nomad Tea Party — Mr. Fluff drinking his tea..

Kei Nomad Tea Party — 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.

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

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.

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

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 Eclipse — Kei and Johnny chillaxing...

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

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.

Friends, Learning, Life, My beautiful child, Nomad

Dog Paddling, Free Movies and Apples…

June 10, 2010 Karen Leave a comment

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!”

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

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 Swing — 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.

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

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.

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,

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

Lazy days, Bento and T-Shirt Painting…

June 3, 2010 Karen Leave a comment

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.

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 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.

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.

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!!!?????

It is amazing how much they have changed.

Kei hard at work.

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…

Friends, Learning all the time, nature, Nomad, trips

Camping, Bison and Ticks…

May 21, 2010 Karen 1 Comment

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!

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

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

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

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

The sunset was incredible.

Smores!!!

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

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

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

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

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.

Kids Table — 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.

Scream ScareWoman — Scream Scarecrow Woman!

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!

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,

Friends, HomeSchool, Life, My beautiful child

Oz, Birthdays and Bathing Suits…

May 1, 2010 Karen 4 Comments

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.

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

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.

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!

Oz Kei Matt — 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!

What homeschoolers do after they are finished eating.

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…

April 24, 2010 Karen 2 Comments

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

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…

April 19, 2010 Karen Leave a comment

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.

Kei Carolinesmaller — Alice and her Red Pawn

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.

Brit, Kei and Sophia — Kei, Brit, Sophia

Esther, Heather and kids came to the school show.

roamschoolers wonderland smaller — Roamschoolers In Wonderland

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

Kei and Amos smaller — 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.

Soccer Team for the Win — Soccer Team For the Win!

Hopefully this week is a little bit slower paced!

Homeschooling just rocks!

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

Mad Hatters, FLW & Things that go BUMP…

March 16, 2010 Karen Leave a comment

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.

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.

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.

Scary Movie — It's ok, it's JUST a movie

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

Happy week,

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, Life, Weather

Aaeeiii YAH….

January 11, 2010 Webmaster Leave a comment

We started ‘school’ back today.† Kei and I were both ready for it.

She did a report from “The Daring Book for Girls”.† This is the coolest book ever.† She picked, of all things, Karate.

Then she helped me fax my work flyer to about 50 Production companies.† She said she needed to write down the numbers so she would have them ‘one day when I am about to be an actress’.

We had to miss our roamschool outing to Moe’s.† Daddy wanted us to come over and go through the house again.† I have such conflicting emotions about moving.† I just pray that it all works out.

Tomorrow we start cleaning over there.† Lord give me strength and patience!

Friends, Holidays, Life, Weather

It’s Beginning to Look A lot like Christmas…

December 14, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

Christmas is upon us.

We have done some “Christmasy” things the last week or so.

We volunteered to ring a ling ding the Salvation Army Bell.† We did this with Heather and her boys and it was FREEZING!† The kids had a blast when they weren’t too frozen to speak.† Heather brought her violin which I am sure was a first for our town.

We also got some snow!† It never snows here in December.† It used to, but not so much now.

We decorated the tree, although in all honesty, Kei did 99% of this herself.† I can not believe she has gotten to the point that she can do our entire tree!

We went to eat with Gina and Bobby.† Gina made chili and it was so good!† We brought Brit home with us and they did their usual girl things.† Max and Rob and Johnny and Fang, oh my!

It is about 2 weeks until Christmas and no I am not ready.† But then again, I never am!

Stay warm.

Friends, Holidays, Life

The Greatest Gift…

December 12, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

Christmas.† I used to LOVE Christmas.† My brothers and I loved December and my Momma and Daddy made it a wonderful time for us.† Christmas meant presents and beautiful trees and huge family get-togethers and whispered prayers for snow.† Then I grew up.† In my teens, I still loved Christmas but not with the fervor of a child.† Then I got married.† I liked Christmas† and decorated every room in the house, put up a magnificent tree, bought enough presents for a small nation.

Then I became ambivalent toward Christmas.† Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.† It just was.† I put up the tree and bought presents, but the magic wasn’t there.

The last almost decade, I have loved Christmas again.† Having a child makes you enjoy Christmas differently.† I love Kei’s excitement, her giddiness at all things Christmas related, her unshaken belief in Santa.† The way she gets more excited about what she gets me than what she is getting.† How her favorite part of Christmas is listening for Santa’s reindeer hooves on the roof.† How she understands the true meaning of Christmas.

Last Christmas was hard.† The 1st Christmas without my sweet Mother.† Kei helped me so much. Her presence made it bearable to survive my 1st Christmas alone, without Momma.

This Christmas I have been so worried.† Worried about money that I didn’t have to buy gifts.† I listened to Kei tell me, “Don’t worry Mommy, I am asking Santa for the things I want.† I don’t want anything from you.”† I worried and cried to myself and prayed.

Do you know there are angels everywhere?† They walk among us and show themselves in the most wondrous ways.† I have amazing people in my life.† People who don’t love me because I share their blood and they have to love me, people who love me just because.† People who have helped me to make sure my girl has a wonderful Christmas.† People who understand the true meaning of this season.† “Thank you” doesn’t seem like a big enough thing to say.† I am blessed, truly blessed to have you in my life.† I am honored to call you “friends”.† I have so missed having this kind of friends in my life.† Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.† Bless you.

Merry Christmas all.

Friends, Holidays, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, Life

Is It December Already????

December 1, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

December 1st!† Where does time go?

I am not ready for December.† I am not ready for Christmas and presents and trees and decorations.

Kei is though.† She is more than ready for us both.

The past 2 weeks have been good.† We have done some really cool things in homeschooling.† We are still doing the American Revolution and also making a Grammar Lapbook.† It is a really fun one where you are a visitor from another planet and are trying to figure out the English language.

We have learned about the Brain and Kei made a brain hat. <this is so neat!>† She also did the Stroop test and thought it was so cool.† We determined which was her dominate side <left>.

We went to Heather’s for a GNO.† We ate pasta and sandwiches and desert and caramel popcorn and watched Momma Mia! on blue ray and trust me, it DOES make a difference.† Our girls were singing and dancing the entire time.† We don’t have 1 shy, introvert HSer among us!

Chan came and spent a few days with us.† We always love having her.† Her and Kei had so much fun.† They borrowed my camera and kept trying to get jumping shots of themselves.

Thanksgiving we spent giving back to our community.† We went with our church to serve 1400 meals delivered to families and serve 400 inmates.† We love doing this each year.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. ~Dr. Seuss

Then we went to Gina and Bobby’s.† We had an AWESOME Chinese dinner.† The lumpia’s that Gina made were out of this world.† I am still craving them.

Kei and I had written down a thing that we were thankful for each day in November.† We made them into a chain and read each other’s Thanksgiving Day.† It was scary how similar they were.

Kei and I spent the rest of the holiday weekend watching movies, playing computer games and board games† and laughing a lot.

But I am not ready for December!† EEP.

Friends, Holidays, Learning all the time, My beautiful child

Bump in the Night…

November 2, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

Halloween has come and gone.

Kei loves Halloween!† Almost as much as Christmas and her birthday.† Remember when we actually looked forward to birthdays?

We started the Halloween week by going Trunk or Treating at our friends church.† We had a great time.

Then Kei made a witch nose and finger with Play Dough.

Saturday morning [Halloween] we went to our church for a Halloween celebration.† It was awesome!† We ate hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans and all the trimmings.† Our church rocks!

When we got home my brother brought us a pumpkin.† We then carved it.† Ok I am not the best carver in the world.† Kei wanted a vampire.† What she got was…a big mouthed something or other.† She did better on the eyes and nose than I did on the mouth!

Saturday night we got Kei decked out in her Mother Nature costume and were off to get candy!† Some of the people around here really get into the Halloween spirit so there were spooks, Mass† Murderers, scary music and fog at every turn.

When we had collected our fill of candy and half freezing to death we went out to my brother’s house where he had a Scavenger Hunt for the kids.† Heather and I drove the kids around to various locations for clues.† You haven’t lived until you have been to a graveyard on Halloween night with a full moon!† Also did you know some people put lighted crosses on graves?† I couldn’t believe it.† The kids loved it and the only complaint was that it was too short.† Thanks Eddie for inviting us!

And now it is November.† EEP!

Enjoy,

Friends, Life

Delicious Terror…

October 17, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

That is what my Mom always called it.† She loved scary movies, and scaring us to death.† She didn’t grow up in an era of Halloween and Friday the 13th and Saw.† She loved things like The Bad Seed, and Alfred Hitchcock.† I remember being very small and rushing home from school to watch Dark Shadows with her.† [See I was a vampire girl from wayyyyy back]

Last night we went to Gina and Bobby’s for food and fear!† We had a blast. Their house was pimped out in true Halloween fashion.

RIP Brit, Kei crying, Cody way too happy!

The food was yummy and we enjoyed eating with friends so much.† Then it was movie time.† Poltergeist was the thriller of the night.† Kei, Bobby and I had seen it, Brit and Cody were newbies and Gina had never watched the entire movie.

We loved it and there was a lot of hugging together from the girls.

Then we loaded up the car and went to Cry Baby Hollow.† This is a bridge that is a local legend.† I had been there when I was a teenager but Kei had never been. The legend I had always heard is that a woman threw her baby off the bridge and at night you can still hear the baby cry.† Also if you leave candy on the bridge, the baby comes and gets it.† Another part of the story is that if you put your car in neutral it will either roll forward or backward or rock back and forth, and sometimes there are little baby hand prints on your windows!!

So off we went.† It was cold and drizzly, a perfect night for ghosties.† We turned off on the ‘road’ and it was perfect; dark and spooky and raining and DARK!† The bridge is very short; about 8′ and has no side rails.

the-bridge — I wanted to get in Gina's lap but Cody got to!

When Bobby put the car in neutral, it ROLLED!† There were squeals of delight and fright from the car.† We had to turn around and do it a few more times and each time it rolled.† The best time was when it rolled backwards! Up an incline! <insert Twilight Zone music here>

Then we got out and walked to place the candy.† Did I mention it was raining?† and DARK?† The kids placed their candy and Brit swore she saw a shadow in the rushing water below.

I the kids were very glad to be back in the car.† On the way home Brit and Kei decided the entire “Rock-A-Bye-Baby song was written for the Cry Baby Hollow Legend.

We had a blast and stole Brit to come home with us to protect us from ghosts spend the night with Kei.† Thanks Lackeys!!!† We loved it.

Happy Saturday,

Friends

THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS…..

September 25, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

“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.

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

We 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”.

There was singing and laughter and giggles galore.

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.

Field Trip, Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, My beautiful child, Science

September days….

September 17, 2009 Webmaster Leave a comment

“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

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.

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

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.

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,

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time, Life

Lazy Days of Summer…

July 24, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

It has been a good week.†† Kei and I cleaned OUT her room.† We moved everything out and then rearranged.† What a job!† But she loves it.

We had my nephew spend the night a couple of nights and he was a blast.† He helped me clean off the balcony and various other “I need a strong dude” chores.† We sat on the balcony and had a fire.† It was so great.

We went to Esther’s for a day of food, laughter and play.

We moms had to get our “silly on” too.

Then Seth taught Kei to play Poker.† Of course, she had to ‘dress’ the part.† Esther said it was a fine example of learning Math and symbols.† E can find the ‘learning’ in anything!!

Kei is so excited about going to see “Beauty and The Beast” at the Princess.† We can’t wait.

Happy Weekend!

Friends, Holidays

!!!!Happy 4th of July!!!!

July 4, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

What a great day.

Friends, food and fireworks.

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.† You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.† ~Erma Bombeck

Field Trip, Friends, My beautiful child, nature, Weather

If I Were a Rich Girl…

June 18, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

We spent delightful days at our friends new house at Smith Lake.†† The house was incredible.† Over 7000 sq. feet, on the lake front and beautiful.

I could stay there forever and Kei had all the rooms assigned as if we lived there by the time we left.† Complete with a homeschooling room of course.† An amazing house.† Imagine waking up, walking into the kitchen and being surrounded on 3 sides by floor to ceiling windows with a lake view.† The pool was great and Kei worked on her diving skillz.† She stayed in the water for hours and hours.† I swear she is part mermaid.

It was just what we needed.† Of course I got horribly blistered.† Why is it I lather Kei in sunscreen and then half way put it on myself!!!!?????

Happy Thursday,

Friends, My beautiful child, nature

Water, Water Everywhere..

June 4, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

K loves water.† She loves to swim, to splash, to dive, to go underwater, to just sit with water all around her.† She takes hour baths and uses her mask in the tub!† I swear the kid is part mermaid.

She isn’t able to put up her pool this year and at first she was so sad.† But, being the creative kid that she is, she has made adjustments.

One day she played all day on her Water Slide:

Then she made some sort of train/water track.

Then we went on a Wild Swim with our HS Group.† It was awesome.

Then yesterday she made a Water House.

Thank goodness the rain has left for awhile because she is enjoying every wet second of the SUN!

Friends, HomeSchool, Learning all the time

Schools Out…NOT

May 29, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

We homeschool year round.† I believe learning is an ongoing process.† We learn every day.† How can you just STOP that for 3 months?† It is crazy.† But public schools are out here.† Which means no more quite mornings laying in the hammock and reading.† There will be kids…kids knocking on the door, kids wanting to play in the water, kids wanting to swing.† Now don’t get me wrong, I love kids.† Most of ’em.

Gina picked us up to go spend the day at Suzette’s.† She had a cool new toy!† A Garmin GPS!† This was his maiden voyage and we loved it!† I gots’ to get my directionally challenged self one of these!

We spent a great day at Suzette’s.† 6 Moms, 11 kids, several dogs.† We had lunch and talked.† Suz told us about the awesome trip she is taking in her camper.† 36 days!† She will never come out of it SANE!

I have the greatest homeschool friends! I adore them all and I love ALL their kids! Now seriously, how many of your friends can you say that about??? <g>

Kei and I watched the National Spelling Bee last night!† We were rooting for the homeschoolers.† Especially Serena. She was so cool!† Of the 11 finalists, 3 were homeschoolers!!† I was truly amazed.† I consider myself fairly intelligent and I had never heard of 90% of those words!† Here are a few of them:

antonomasia, bouquiniste, oriflamme, guayabera, isagoge and sophrosyne.† SAY WHAT????

Have a great weekend,

Friends, Life, My beautiful child

Memorial Weekend

May 26, 2009 Karen Leave a comment

We had a pretty good weekend.† Actually Kei had a great weekend.† I had a worrying weekend.† I try not to worry about things but it is so hard sometimes.† I watch K play and think “I wish I was 9 and had no worries”† Now I know there are too many children who do have hard lives and worry about things but I try so very hard not to let K’s life be like that.† There is time enough to worry when they grow up.

After church on Sunday we went to Daddy’s and Katherine [my niece] wanted to spend the night.† The girls played outside, played Operation,

they played in Kei’s sand box that she has outgrown but we can’t bear to get rid of:

I sat on the balcony and read my Maximum Ride books!† My sweet Gina & Co. had brought them by for me Sunday.† Thanks Esther for picking them up at the library!† I love these books.† They are great for adults and kids.† I mean what is not to love about flying kids!

Monday the weather was semi nice.† Mostly sunny which is unusual lately.† Seth [my nephew] came over for a while and the girls played outside.

Laura had so graciously invited us over to grill out.† My California friends crack up when I say “grill out”.† They ‘barbecue”.† I try to tell them that barbeque is a sauce you put on meat.† Not all grilled food is barbecued!† Here in the South, we GRILL OUT!† Anyway the food was yummy!

All in all, a good weekend,

I hope this week is better for us,

Hugs,

Friends, Life

Little Girls..

May 23, 2009 Karen 1 Comment

Do you remember how it feels to be a kid?† A little girl with your best friend spending the night and limitless possibilities.† I think adults forget that feeling.† I think the world would be a happier place if more of us remembered.

Kei had Livvy spend the night last night.† They have been friends since Kindergarten.† Both were PSed for K-1st.† I pulled Kei out and about a month later so did Laura.

First they shot videos.† Livvy as Betsy Ross, complete with a telephone!