Category Archives: Learning all the time

Piercings, Picnics, and Naked Barbies…

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.

Water Chair

Kei shot a few last night to get prepared.

Pre 4th Fireworks

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?

Barbie Love

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

More Barbie Love...

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.

Oh La La....

Here is Hopper with her new earring.

One earring bunny...

More HOLEY Pets…

Here they are having a race up the washing machine.

And the Winner is...

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.

Feather
Beauty
Kei's Doggie

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.

Miss Sassafras
Mr. Fluff NOT cooperating...
Mr. Fluff drinking his tea..
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.

Perched..
Lookout

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

Just keep swimming...

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.

Sniffing it out...

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

Boing!!

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 and Johnny chillaxing...

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

Art in a bowl...

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.

Canines, Cinema and Cooling Off….

Today is officially the first day of summer.† However it has been SUMMER for a while now. The days have been hot with summer showers popping up to make things even more muggy.

Nomad is growing like crazy.† Chewing up everything in site.† He jumps up on us with delight and we both have battle scars to show for it.† I got his nails clipped but at $8 a pop, I MUST learn to do it myself.

We bought him a pool.† He loves it.† At first he started picking up his water bowl and carrying it around, spilling everything in it.† We knew he needed water especially outside.† So we found a metal bucket that was too big for him to carry around now.† But he would try to get his paws in it.† So we found a larger container…same thing…he would try to get into it.† So we gave up and bought him a little swimming pool.† It is kinda gross because he gets into it all dirty and then drinks it but hey! we are talking about an animal that licks its butt!

Splashing...

He is officially [in our world, which is the only world that matters] the WORLD’S CUTEST DOG.† It must be announced in capital letters to show just how cute he is.† There are days I want to kill him [but there are days I want to kill Kei too] but we do adore this crazy pooch.

What???!!!????
Swimming is fun but tiring...

Friday the 18th was National Picnic Day.† We celebrated by going to the “River Park”.† Liv had spent the night and we loaded up Nomad and his ‘stuff’.† Seriously I feel like I have a baby in the house!† Fun was had by all.

Happy Picnic Day
Sliding is FUN ..really...it is....

For the first time Kei was able to get onto the swingie, rollie, thingie.† She was happy.

All in all a good day, albeit hotter than hot!

Kei, Ka and Krazy Nomad

Kei and Livvy washed the dog.† I helped…some…

Gotcha....
Come baby..this won't hurt a bit...

We ran to the Dollar Tree to spend about $30.† Has anyone ever gone into the Dollar store and spent only $1?????† Kei and Liv once again proved they are still little girls at heart.

Giddy Up...

We also went to see Kung Fu Panda this past week.† We love going to FREE movies!

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

Kei and I had a dryer meltdown and had to move the old dryer to the alley [we have a BIG yard] and get the new one out and around to hook up.† After much sweat, brainstorming, screaming, kicking, cussing talking sweetly to it, we got ‘er done.† We were very proud of ourselves!

This way..NO this way...

Sunday we met Daddy, Marlene and Eddie at Cracker Barrel for Father’s Day Breakfast.† After church Kei and I decided to go to Bridge Street.† I had to take my laptop back because the DVD wasn’t recognizing the ..well the DVD.† Then we went to see Toy Story 3.†† We had HORRIBLE seats but were excited about seeing it.† Kei has always loved Toy Story.† She was about 3 and I took her to Toys R Us and told her she could have 1 toy.† She wanted Buzz Lightyear.† She decided when we moved to still keep him.† The movie was so sad.† I mean I cried…CRIED, not just sniffled.† Kei just rolled her eyes at me like she does.

Then we went to Orange Tree Yogurt. That place lures you in with promises of 45¢ an ounce yumminess.† After putting peanut butter yogurt, a few little sprinkles and a little bit of caramel topping we had $4.79 worth of yumminess!

A wonderful end to a wonderful week

To Infinity and Beyond,

Best Friends, More Doggy and River Rats…

“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me, who could ask for more?”
— Bev Adams

It has been HOT.† Boiling, sweating, drenched-as-soon-as-you- walk-out-the-door, hot.† Complaints of how cold our Alabama winter was seems a long lost memory.

Liv spent the night with Kei and they had a blast.† They spent hours playing in the “creek” behind our house.† Or our ‘river’ as G calls it.† They were soaked, the dog was soaked, they all smelled like wet dog and creek….good times.

Creek Fun
Silly, Giggly Girls

When they finally got cleaned up they baked a cake.† They each decorated 1/2 of it.

Yummy Goodness

After dinner we took Nomad for a walk. I have walked, ridden, ran and skipped over the ‘concrete bridge’ a million times.† We used to ride our bikes over it BEFORE there was a fence.† I would KILL Kei if she ever tried anything like that.

Bestest Friends

After the walk they needed ice cream.

Yummy Ice Cream

Of course, after sticky ice cream, they needed a night time swim.

Who Needs a Bath???

I had 2 little girls that slept very soundly that night!

We got up early to go to some garage sales.† Liv had never been to a yard sale!!!† We had to remedy that quickly!

Bargains Galore!

We went to a yard sale out in Trinity and on the way back passed hay bales.† Liv had never climbed on a hay bale so I quickly made an illegal turn and parked the car!

HEY! It's HAY!

I enjoyed having Livvy here so much.

Saturday morning Kei and I went to Cullman to meander around.† We ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel and tried to find Southern Accents to no avail!† We went to the Cullman Farmer’s Market which we love.† On the way home we stopped at a nursery/antique shop.† Kei went head to head with a rooster.

Cock-a-doodle THIS!

She was also very angry that they had a statue of David with a GAP Tshirt on.† I told her we were in the country and maybe they were offended by his nakedness.† She thought that was the dumbest thing she ever heard.

We also saw a place where old school buses go to die.

Lonely Buses...

When we got home I relaxed in the hammock and Kei played with Nomad.

AHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Grrrrrrr

Sunday we went to church and afterward went to Eddie’s house for Nomad’s 1st River Run.† Nomad was NOT happy on the ride out there.† First he was in his little crate and he was having none of it.† Then we let him out and he still barked so loudly he about made me deaf!† We decided he wasn’t a traveling dog which made† us sad.† At Eddie’s we got in his car and Nomad laid on the floorboard and didn’t utter a peep!† Maybe he just doesn’t like Suzuki’s!

We had a wonderful day with Eddie and Nomad loved the river. Kei promptly dubbed him a river rat <of course that is what Johnny Depp was called in Chocolat and if you know Kei you will understand THAT> 🙂

Kei and Nomad the River Rat
My girl and my doggie...

We also ran by Hollywood Video which is going out of business and bought a few things.† One was “Marley and Me” which we have seen before.† However, we saw it before we got and fell in love with a yellow lab.† It was so much funnier because we have been there this time around.† Also so much more heart breaking.† Kei, who has never really cried at a movie, just went outside after it was over and hugged and hugged Nomad and cried her heart out. Poor baby girl.† She does love her doggie.

All in all a great weekend and now it is Monday….

The start of a new week, filled with possibilities!

Be Blessed,

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,



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!

Bicycling, Mowing and Hunting…

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

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

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

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

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

Pretty eggs

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

Basket Full of Goodies

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

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

Look up and down..

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

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

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

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

Chickens, Puppies and Horses…

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

Ride "em Cowgirl

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

Loving the doggies

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

Cluck Cluck
Humpty Dumpty's Wall

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

Red Curtsey

So far April has been lovely.

Enjoy nature,

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,