Category Archives: Friends

Lazy days, Bento and T-Shirt Painting…

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

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

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

Kids @ Bento Box

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

Kei and Seth

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

Minnie and her dog
Final Bow Wow

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

Barbie Girl

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

Kids TShirts 2008

It is amazing how much they have changed.

Kids TShirts 2010

Kei hard at work.

Kei TShirt

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

:/

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

Happy Summer Days…

Camping, Bison and Ticks…

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

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

Protective Measures

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

We are off!

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

Girl Stuff

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

Playing

Nomad's 1st Slide

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

Yummy

The sunset was incredible.

Magnificent

Smores!!!

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

It's Nomad!!

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

Bison
Elk

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

Barn Owls

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

Snakes!
Good Times

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

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

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

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

Tobacco in the Barn


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

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

Nomad Zzzzzzzing

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

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

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

Tomorrow is Soulstock and we are both so excited!

Happy weekend,



Oz, Birthdays and Bathing Suits…

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

The Best Card Ever

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

Beauty

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

Momma's Bathing Suit

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

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

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

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

Our girls

What homeschoolers do after they are finished eating.

USA Chips

A lovely day.

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

Happy weekend,

Wildflowers, Roses, Homemade Candy and 100th Post…

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

But I don’t.

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

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

Getting Ready

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

Yummy!

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

Beautiful Rose

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

Rose with Ladybug

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

EArth Day Hike

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

House Made of Twigs

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

Happy week all,

Red Pawns, Wonderland and Field Days…

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

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

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

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

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

Kei, Brit, Sophia

Esther, Heather and kids came to the school show.

Roamschoolers In Wonderland

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

Amos's and Red Pawn

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

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

Hopefully this week is a little bit slower paced!

Homeschooling just rocks!

Mad Hatters, FLW & Things that go BUMP…

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

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

True Love...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kids at FLW

Kei at the River
Moms at FLW

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

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

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

Happy week,

Aaeeiii YAH….

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! 🙂

It’s Beginning to Look A lot like Christmas…

christmas-magic

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.

Me & My girl
Me & My girl
Frosty Kids
Frosty Kids
Maestro
Maestro

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

Snow in the South
Snow in the South

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!

All By Myself...
All By Myself...
O Christmas Tree
O Christmas 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!

Da Girls
Da Girls

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

Stay warm.

The Greatest Gift…

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.

Is It December Already????

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>.

brain-hat

The Girl with 2 Brains
The Girl with 2 Brains

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! 🙂

"Momma Mia, Here I go again"
"Momma Mia, Here I go again"
MM Robot
MM Robot

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.

girls-jumping

Yes, Kei still has her tonsils!
Yes, Kei still has her tonsils!

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
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.

Thanksgiving Chinese Style
Thanksgiving Chinese Style

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.

thankful-chain

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.

K