The Funny Farm

YES! I JUST remembered my password!!!

2011-06-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Does this ever happen to anyone else?

But the good news is that my last post was just about this same time of year! LOL!!

More to come.......
if I dont forget it again!!

:-)

Photo #4, #5 and #6

2009-08-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Unreliable. That's what I am regarding blogging. Totally unreliable! My "picture a day" apparently is really "a couple of pictures every month or two" :) Ooops.

Photo #3

2009-06-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Freezer Jam!

Nothing better on Christmas morning, when the kids are going through their stockings than to pull one of these babies from the freezer. It thaws in just about the time it takes to make homemade biscuits. Mmmmmmm!

Photo #2

2009-06-29T20:11:00.000-07:00

This was taken at the Old Idaho Penn and I wasnt sure if it was used as a toilet or a faucet. ICK! But, it called to me so I took its picture :-)

Photo #1

2009-06-26T16:19:00.001-07:00

My daughters Brown Leg-Horn rooster, Elvis. He's a crooner so he has earned his name outright. I didn't get too far from home today...

Photo Journal

2009-06-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Because I'm terribly homesick for the ocean and want desperately to move I need to do something to remind myself that THIS is where I live right now. I have decided to commit to a photo journal of sorts of my town and surrounding areas. I will take pictures of the places I go and the things I do and post one every day. (And heck eventually maybe I'll even slip a few pictures of my house in, you know, in case I can wrestle up a buyer! ) Starting tomorrow I'll try to find a picture that inspires me a little and share it here.

"Home is where your heart is"... and my heart isn't here right now. So I have to think "Home is where you hang your hat" instead, for now.... but one day, the seaside will hold my heart AND my hat :-) (It seems fitting that my first photo be of the ocean though. Ahhhhh.... HOME.)

People Watching

2009-06-16T15:00:00.001-07:00

My husbands birthday was yesterday.
He realized his drivers license expired while sitting at The Outback having his birthday dinner last night.
Today we packed up the kids and headed off to the local DMV since you cant renew online. The place was packed and as he pulled his number out of the number dispenser dohicky we saw that he was about 40 minutes behind the line leader. I wasn't wearing my happy face.
But once we settled into seats in the back row of the packed waiting area and the kids were occupied with their Nintendo's, I was free to do a little "People Watching". The DMV is HANDS DOWN the best place for it, too! The first to catch my eye was the kid with dreads. How do they do those things anyway? I mean they look cool enough, but I dont fully get it. I saw a pregnant woman with her husband and four kids. She didn't stop talking for one minute and her husband looked like he was a million miles away as she talked at his face. I think he was dreaming about pounding his head agianst the pole beside him. There was an attractive heavily decorated 50-ish woman bringing her daughter in for her permit who was trying to fully ignore the 50-ish man who was desperate to chat to her. She looked extremely relieved when her number was called. In stormed a 20 something wearing more tattoo's than clothes. She turned a few heads, but no guy there was honest enough to gawk for fear of someone gawking at him while he gawked at her. My favorite co-bored person at the DMV was a 3 or 4 year old girl who was sitting on the row next to mine wearing red plastic Elmo high heels, a dress that was at least two sizes too big and a lopsided headband that caused her hair to cover one eye. Pure beauty! She smiled at me as I watched her try to see me through her hair.
My time at the DMV today was well spent.
People Watching is way fun!

Every Guy Needs It

2009-05-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

I found this list of the 30 things no guy should be without.
I agree with lots of them... but I really think most men could get along nicely without a frisbee, the Joy of Cooking and the man purse. Maybe replace those with Neosporin, a cell phone and muscles... then it would be a pretty good list. If you also took off the card holder, money clip and the shop specific boots... then even better. (Where is the undying love and devotion on this list?)

1. Cast-Iron Skillet
2. Valid Passport
3. Multipurpose Tool
4. Waiter's Corkscrew/Bottle Opener/Knife
5. Ax
6. WD-40
7. Cordless Drill
8. Work Gloves
9. Chain Saw
10. Lantern
11. Claw Hammer
12. Chef's Knife
13. Flying Disc
14. U.S. Road Atlas
15. Card Holder
16. Grease
17. Lucky Charm
18. Money Clip
19. Joy of Cooking
20. LED Flashlight
21. Jumper Cables
22. Boots for the Shop
23. Boots for Everywhere Else
24. Pocket Knife
25. Air Pump
26. Charcoal Grill
27. Carpenter's Level
28. Weekend Shoulder Bag
29. Jack
30. Giant Wool Blanket Never Removed from the Trunk of the Car

Facebook Society

2009-05-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

If there is a better place to go when you want to talk all about YOU, YOU, YOU (or is that ME, ME, ME...?) I haven't seen it. Facebook. It's this really cool place to reconnect with all your old friends since kindergarten. Well I for one haven't spoken to 90% of those people on purpose! It takes a lot of hard work to totally disappear from someones life, why would I want to go onto facebook and give full freedom to all my secrets? I don't get it. So, yes of course I have a facebook account (LOL!) but I don't exactly use my real, full name. Nobody from kindergarten would ever be able to be a friend. I know, I am not valuing all that facebook has to offer. I'll learn to live with that somehow. I'll admit, I did create a "How well do you know me" quiz... and I have looked up an ex-... and I have sent and received pretend gifts... and I do regularly chat with relatives I've never even met... so I suppose I'm a little bit face-booked... but only a little :-) teeny tiny little bit.

Youth Novels

2009-05-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

"We kissed for about an hour. I swear, with him sitting on the side of the boat, his legs spread open me in between his legs I could smell his skin. He smelled like sun, baby oil and the ocean."

Well, as fun as all that sounds, I guess I am not totally clear about what Youth Novels are all about. My daughter reads quite a bit above her grade level so finding appropriate books isn't always easy. I have learned to be careful when I pick off the shelf for her. I found what I thought was the coolest sounding book about a girl and the ocean in the youth novel section of the local library. Now that sounds like the perfect book! Two pages after I learned what "whats-his-name" smelled like, the 15 year old in the story (kissing the twenty year old) tells us how kissing "whats-his-name" makes her want sex and some other fairly interesting stuff. This is chapter one.

I think I'll let my daughter read the next Eragon book instead of the ocean story. Dragons sound almost cute now for some reason :-)

Now, off to see exactly why "whats-his-name" smells like baby oil....

Disneyland on a budget

2009-05-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

I know this is totally pathetic, but hey, ya do whatcha gotta do.

And tonight we needed to go back to Disneyland.

Since our vacation bank account is as dried up as one of those deserted wells on Bonanza, we took a freebie trip down memory lane tonight. First a friend who is beyond crazy about Disney lent us two old video's of the Disneyland park. So, you watch those and you don't know if it makes you feel better or worse. Now you REALLY want to go! Once the video's were watched and returned we then broke out the many scrapbooks of actual trips. Well, of course you see the pictures of the kids driving their first car at Autopia (Thank goodness for those guard rails!) and you see Minnie hugging everyone at breakfast. OK now the entire family is homesick for a little Mouse Time! One more memory to relive... the family videos. I love watching those! Seeing the kids faces on their first trip, back when they still thought it was all magical and real, their first plane rides, seeing the palm tree's and hearing us all sing "Yo Ho Yo Ho" really loud on the Pirates ride and getting the whole boat singing was fun! (I have to admit that we make that ride fun for everyone who goes on with us.) :) Maybe I'll try to whip up some of those cool Tigger Tail marshmallow things or maybe a Dole Whip, and then we can really say we took a little mini vacation tonight. (I even have some cool little bottles of Disneyland Hotel shampoo's!) :-) Even with a pitiful budget, there is still fun to be had at our house. Those are memory making ingredients and I'll take that any day. Anyone want to take a little trip? We have some pretty cool scrapbooks and video's of the Oregon Coast too, if anyone is interested :-)

Come on over. We'll do the beach.

Seussical and students

2009-05-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

A local "arts focused" private school recently invited a group of homeschoolers to their performance of "Seussical". WOW! What a fantastic group of young talented performers! I was totally blown away by the sheer talent and devotion by these 6th thru 12th grade kids. And I couldn't believe it!! Two of my past students from a drama camp I held a couple of years ago were on stage acting and singing their little hearts out! THAT was so cool. We exchanged a quick wave and I clapped until my hands hurt every time they stepped on stage... and then to get to congratulate and hug them after the show just totally warmed my heart. They just glowed when I told them how proud I was of them that day :-)

When you work with kids, you never know where their futures will take them. But if you do a good job, somewhere in that future a teeny tiny little drop of you can go along with them.
If you're lucky.

If you ever see kids perform... clap really loud!

Swine Flu?

2009-05-03T15:24:00.001-07:00

Who says Swine Flu?

No need to worry 'bout no stinkin'

swine flu... a little lick will cure ya!

School Work- UG!

2009-04-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

This time of the year, I must admit, I get a little jealous of public school parents.

The "To-Do" list around the place gets pretty long right about now... and I don't have the luxury of sending the kids to school from 9:00 - 4:00 to get things done.

I bring a lot of it on myself. I get bored and come up with fun things to do. For instance, our front door is perfectly fine. But I got the idea that it would look really cool black, so I went out and bought all the stuff to do it. Do I have the time to do it? Nooooooo! That's just one example.

Oh and the list I come up with for my husband is even worse than my own! (And he in no way buys into my theory that boredom means do something!) He doesn't get bored. He RELAXES.

Relax? What is that? If I'm not at the beach I don't think I understand the word relax.

The Beach. Ahhh... just saying it is good!
HEY! Field trip anyone?

:-)

Much too much driving!

2009-04-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

I spent too much time driving around town today.

It's Earth Day and what do I do? Use up half a tank of gas.

I had so many appointments and errands after the kids completed their school work, and yesterday wasn't much better. In the past two days we've had two eye appointments, two dentist appointments (one with a referral to an Ortho), a field trip to a farm (Fun!) and Taekwondo class (Which I didn't make it to but everyone else did, but it's ok. I just watch anyway.) and I had to shop for something that took me all over town to get. Plus, groceries (UG!) and paint for the front door, the library, tree's for Earth Day (Irony) And does anyone else notice the slow people drive in the fast lane?

Hey, come on!

Thank goodness for rotisserie chicken

or my kids would have had PB&J for dinner. Again.

Tomorrow I have one place to go...

and I'm not going anywhere else.

I'm staying home to plant my

Post Earth Day tree's.

I hope it rains.

I could LOVE planting trees in the rain.

The difference between boys and girls

2009-04-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

We took a gloriously long walk along dry creek this morning (which is filled to capacity, go figure.) and fully tired out both kids and all three dogs. Yea, and maybe two parents as well. Anyway, we have just a few minutes before we need to get ready for the Achi Brasil field trip today so I told the kids to do something that makes them happy for a little while. You know, when a kid gets freedom like that who KNOWS what they'll do.

Somehow, I just wasn't surprised as I clicked these pictures.

(Yes. He's vacuuming his hair with a shop vac.)
Well as long as they aren't playing on the freeway, huh?

All American S'mores

2009-04-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

I may be anti-American.

I don't like S'mores.

Apparently that's about as bad as not liking baseball, apple pie and the National Anthem.

It's sticky. It's runny. Its messy. It just too much ick all in one pile. BUT I am the minority around here on the S'mores issue and the kids have been practically begging to make them. We took Spring Break this week and it was sunny and nice, so it seemed a good time to make a mess. Well, I am not generally a promise breaker but we'd been gardening all day. Then we hit an evening movie and by the time we got home and started thinking about lighting a bonfire...

yeah, I sorta flaked out.

Well I should say I majorly flaked out.

But as it turns out S'mores turn out the exact same in the microwave!

I'm the only one who got left out in this deal as the only part of making S'mores that I like is sitting by the fire. That's OK. The warm nights are just getting here... there will be plenty of fires to sit around.

Now, if I could only import some fireflies....

IMHO, sitting around the fire watching fireflies and listening to the crickets and frogs is more American that S'mores anyway. I'm good.

Idaho is becoming the best state for homeschooling

2009-04-16T08:51:00.000-07:00

Guess this means I shouldnt move to the beach so soon, huh?

~ A message I received this morning:

April 16, 2009
Idaho--Governor Signs Homeschool Freedom Bill
Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,
On April 3, Governor Otter signed into law Senate Bill 1017, abolishing the ambiguous requirement that homeschooled children be instructed "comparably" to public school children. The new law takes effect July 1.
Our right to homeschool our children comes from God, not the government. Nevertheless, freedom has taken a step forward with the removal of the "comparably" requirement, and with the specific recognition of the right to homeschool.
With this improvement, the requirements to homeschool in Idaho can be summarized as follows:
Children of compulsory age must be instructed by--or at the direction of--their parent (or guardian) in subjects commonly and usually taught in Idaho public schools.
We are thankful to have contributed to the joint endeavor with ICHE and CHOIS to make this change a reality. We recommend that you send a thank-you to the two sponsors (listed below) who did a lot of hard work to get this bill passed in the House and Senate.
You can reach Sen. Russell Fulcher at (208) 332-1340 or rfulcher@senate.idaho.gov and Rep. Bob Nonini at (208) 667-5762 or bnonini@house.idaho.gov.
To hear more about the miracle of this bill's passage and to be encouraged with many good workshops and sessions, we urge you to register now to attend the CHOIS "Growing in Unity" Convention on June
12 and 13 in Nampa, Idaho. HSLDA Senior Counsel Chris Klicka will be speaking there and giving several sessions and keynotes.
For more information and to register, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.chois.org. We hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Scott A. Woodruff
HSLDA Staff Attorney

Spring Break

2009-04-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

The neighborhood is quiet.

The traffic is low.

No lines at any kid attractions.
THAT is why we are taking spring break a week late.
That, and the fact that dad had a mandatory week off work this week :-)

Ice skating, movies, swimming, fishing, painting, bike riding, horses, new Nintendo games....
and if they like it or not... a little bit of reading.

Hopefully the sun will come out at least part of the time.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's a bright, light beautiful morning.

A perfect day for Easter!

We did manage to get those eggs colored and the kids had a mild amount of fun doing it.

They're growing up and out of that activity I believe.

At this point I think they do it for me.
We are headed off to Easter Service now and I have a headache.

Not a good combination.

Enjoy your day!

Be Blessed.

2009-04-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's practically Easter Eve

and I finally bought eggs for the kids to dye.

I don't think I've ever made them wait this long before.

I've been a slacker this week....

Plus, boiling three dozen eggs smells

just as bad as I remember it smelling.

Who wants to rush into THAT?

Ache Brasil

2009-04-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

APRIL 21, 8PM
Aché Brasil is a performance group that fuses music, dance, Capoeira (martial arts and acrobatics) into a dynamic, colorful, high energy performance. Since 1992, the group has become one of the most popular touring and performance groups in Western Canada. Equal parts dance, music and spectacle, Aché Brasil has played to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim from Toronto to Whitehorse and the USA. "The tent reverberated to the boom of the drums and the temperature soared. The energy of the band never slowed for the whole hour of their performance...Aché Brasil proved to be a super band". (The Yukon News, Al Pope, June 7, 2000).The dancers, musicians and performers of Aché Brasil exhibit a rare combination of authenticity and excellence in their work, which is presently unmatched in North America. Experienced and professional, Aché Brasil is committed to presenting high quality performances which best exemplify Brazil's rich cultural heritage.

For details or tickets: www.nampaciviccenter.com

We're going!

Check back to read my review!

More of their upcoming events:

April 10-18
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

May 28
William Joseph

April 21
Ache Brasil

May 3
National Tour
Footloose the Musical

June 15 - July 24
NCC Summer Arts Camp

June 19-27
MTI Presents
The King and I

July 30 - August 1
Les Miz

August 13
Community Fun Night

Philharmonic

2009-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Philharmonic

"Sounds Like Fun" series for kids

came to an end this weekend.

What a great experience!

6 one hour long lessons on various parts of the philharmonic, and all presented in formats that kids could really understand and appreciate. Some of the musicians really knew how to get a point across to kids (AKA: silly humor.) They were great!

My daughter really liked the piano.

My son liked the way the flutes and piccolo's played the bird sounds in Disney movies.

Daddy liked all the history that was discussed,
and I could listen to the cello and violin all day!

Let's face it... even some husbands have to be dragged to the philharmonic and pinched every so often to stay focused. Maybe now my kids will have a greater appreciation for music, and will go with me a little more willingly to the real-deal next year :-)

We'll see.

You know it's Spring

2009-04-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

You know it's Spring Time when the kids start picking dandelions for you :-)

My son gave me this watering can full of vibrant dandelions and some blue flowers that I forget the name of. It was so sweet! He came inside, obviously hiding something behind his back.... and made me guess what it was.

I guessed everything except flowers :-)

Frog?
Nope.

Rock?
Nope.

Mud Pie?
Nope.

Bird?

(Ya never know around here.)
Nope.

What a sweety.

He HAD to dump them out so I could "really see them all."
Pretty aren't they?

And his daddy will be happy that he helped eradicate some of that particular flower population for him! Only another acre and half to go.

National Anthem by 5 AWESOME little girls

2009-04-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

I just love this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQMf8o47Q_g

Upon further reading I think they're called The Cactus Cuties.
Aww, that just makes them even cuter :-)

Thank A Troop

2009-04-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

This site is really cool! Pick a card (made by a kid! ADORABLE!), customize it and then send it to someone serving their (our, my, your) Country. No matter what you think of the war or any political happenings... a little support goes a long way to the individual, right?

Check it out!
http://www.letssaythanks.com

Mother Nature

2009-04-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

"Mother Nature must be bi-polar." said the daughter of a good friend the other day.

You know, I am starting to wonder if she might be right.

Today started out as what I thought as going to be a perfect day to get out in the garden and come away with some nice dirty hands. For some reason I bought 75 strawberry plants from a gardening catalog a few weeks ago, along with an insane amount of flower bulbs. What was I thinking? Now that I see the massive amount of baggies of dirt on my dining room table... I bet I thought a garden boy was coming with the order. Well, he still hasn't arrived and I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up doing most of the planting. The kids each have their own garden spaces, so some (LOTS!) of the thirsty little baggies will go to them, thank goodness!

I still need some sunshine, or at the very least some reliably warmer temps. It actually snowed on us as we were walking around town today. SNOWED! And rained. And the wind blew. And the sun was shining. Black clouds. Blue skies. And in the end freezing cold.

Doesn't Mother Nature know we've already pulled our flip flops out?

Homeschool Donation Day

2009-04-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

You know it's a great day when a bunch of families join together to make something special happen... and today was one of those days. Today was Humane Society Homeschool Donation Day.

We went pretty late in the afternoon, after most people had already stopped by. WOW! It was very fine to see the huge pile of STUFF that homeschoolers had donated today! A mound of towels and blankets for the animals along with bags and bags of food and the always much needed gallons of bleach.

Aw, those poor sad faces though. We had to say hello to all the dogs in the back who were waiting for new families and if I didn't already have three dogs and three cats, two horses, 14 chickens and a turkey I would have taken one. Poor babies with their big brown gorgeously sad eyes. Heartbreaking.

You know, nobody can fix all the problems of the world but everyone can try to whittle away at one or two of them. Today, we as a group did that. Wow!

Thanks to all of you who joined us in this very special and much needed event.
You'll be hearing from me again next year!

Is anyone else ready for some warm weather?

2009-03-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

This coming from me, who loves wind, rain and thunder storms.

Anxious for some warmth...

Corn Dogs

2009-03-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever microwaved a frozen corn dog? I suggest you don't. It's creates a really unappealing floppy, damp, mushy sort of wobbly mess-on-a-stick. It turns into something you don't even want to make direct eye contact with! I don't even know why they include those instructions on the box. When BFF was here for the weekend I discovered that she only eats garbage (and she forgot her toothbrush). So naturally I bought frozen corn dogs, because really you don't get much yuckier than those. Apples, salads, oranges, cantaloupe, carrots... she pushed them all to the side. But moist limp disgusting corn dogs, that was OK. Kids. Go figure. After school work, grocery shopping (dread), meeting in the park this afternoon, and a trip to take Mozart (one of the cats) to the vet... BFF will be on her way back home.

I'll send the other 30 corn dogs home with her.

An interesting Q and A

2009-03-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/allabout/interviews/interviewcohen.php

Why homeschool?

2009-03-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

I’m not your typical homeschool mom.

There is no typical homeschool mom, homeschool kid or homeschool family.
Unique. That has to be the best word to use at this point. Everything about homeschoolers is unique, from the books we use (or don’t use) to the days or times we teach and what grade levels we use at any given time. And even more unique are our reasons for choosing to homeschool.
I have a few reasons.
I believe in hopes and dreams and the fact that everyone was put here for a reason. Destiny. To BE or DO something. While homeschooling I can nurture my kids’ individual talents and interests at a level that simply isn’t possible in the public system. Instead of telling them who to be when they grow up, I want to help them get where they are supposed to go.

I want them to be exposed to subjects that aren’t covered in public school. I want them to learn by getting their hands dirty. By touching and experiencing... not through reading alone. I can introduce a subject, and if they really get into it I can go off on a week long focus lesson if I see fit. We can end up at city hall, at the philharmonic or if I’m extremely lucky, at the ocean. They come away with an experience of their own. A story to tell. That’s the stuff that sticks.

While homeschooling I can jump between grade levels for each of my kids. My daughter for example is on grade level for math (4th) but her reading and comprehension are at 8th and 9th grade levels. I am able to teach what she is able to learn while keeping her actual age in mind. Just because she CAN comprehend reading materials created for 9th graders doesn’t mean the content is appropriate for her right now. With some research I can provide just what she needs without introducing subject matters that neither of us is ready to deal with yet.

Values and morals. I am really big on this. I work at teaching my kids to treat people how they deserve to be treated, and how they in turn want to be treated. To rise above some of the other stuff. I show them that they deserve to be treated right and they shouldn’t settle for someone/thing that doesn’t. Not that the world will always oblige, but they will know when to work at something or know when to walk away from it. I surround them with other adults who help me do this via lessons, activities and sports. My kids know that I respect them but also know I will be the first one to call HALT when it needs to be called. And it needs to be called more often that I’d like to say. They’re kids after all.

Time for life. While homeschooling you don’t have a lot of the time gobblers that public schools have. We don’t have announcements, standing in line, busy seat work or changing classes. I don’t have 33 kids to deal with. I have two. For the most part our class work ends in time for a late lunch. Not to be confused with learning. That never stops at our house. (Well, except for when the video games or cartoon channels are on. Those both consume brain cells. Well.. and sometimes when Mommy has the music up too loud, too :-)

Socialization. Ug. This topic again. In a nut shell, I don’t believe sitting in a room packed with other kids who are your age, live where you live and do what you do teaches you how to interact with the real world. In the real world (at work maybe?) have you ever been exposed to those conditions? My kids can chat it up with an adult as well as they can with a peer. To me, that is prep for what’s real. As long as I make sure they get time to run and scream and goof off with other kids, I think that’s pretty good.

I have a lot of respect for public school teachers. I don’t have anything against someone who chooses public school for their kids. Some of my very best friends public school their kids. I’m just thankful that we have choices, and that I am able to deliver my kids to their fullest potential in this way.
And have you heard that some pretty good colleges are specifically seeking out homeschoolers?
But that’s a topic for another day!

Good Times

2009-03-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

What a great day! The kids decided to go bowling yesterday and met up with a ton of buddies there. My son divided his time between bouncing his ball down the lane (yes he bounces it) and passing out gum to everyone he knew. My daughter spent her time winning the game for the first time :) Happy days, huh? Afterwards we headed down to the park to meet up with a bunch of friends and luckily the sun was shining nicely for everyone. The parents sat around and chatted, told stories and we had a long (and stupidly funny) talk about which of us puts the most money in the cussin' jar (and it wasn't me!). The kids ran and climbed and ran some more. Lots of laughs to be had by all... and possibly more by the grown ups. But I'm sure the kids would argue that...
Well I was right. Not much sleep here last night. BFF arrived at 7:30 and of course you cant actually sleep at a sleep-over until you've put in at least 6 hours of play time. I can already hear quiet little voices coming from the bedroom... could they be up already?

Best Friends

2009-03-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

Isn't that one of those never-ending homeschool topics? I don't know a single homeschool parent who isn't concerned about keeping their kids hooked up with a couple of good friends. It's easy to lose touch and you have to work at not letting it happen. This past week for instance. All the public school kids were out, while we were still schooling. We'll have spring break in April since there is a mandatory week off from work... when all the other kids are back in class. That's part of the beauty of homeschooling, and also part of what makes hs parents always on the prowl for nice kids. (You get used to be hunted down according to your kids' ages and intersts. Yes, it's a little freaky at first, but you learn to deal.) Luckily we are in a fairly decent sized circle of homeschoolers and we manage to get together more than we should sometimes and have a lot of fun together. But often it's in the form of a structured class. You know, lacking that goof-off time that kids need. But still your kid manages to find that ONE special friend and you can hear a huge sigh of relief from both sets of parents. Then life happens. My daughters "best friend" moved 3 hours away last month. Needless to say she's been dragging a bit lately. While going with the homeschool group for bowling, skating, swimming, and movies and taking after-school classes with a bunch of great kids is fantastic, it still doesn't make up for the fact that BFF is gone. Aww, my poor baby :-( So, after lots of phone calls and planning... today after either bowling or swimming (the kids still haven't decided for sure) we are headed to the river and a playground /park for some cut-loose time with a bunch of kids. When we get home, BFF will arrive for a weekend-long sleepover. :-) I told my daughter last night after karate... and she was so happy! She practically floated to the truck! Awww, my sweet baby :-)
Lot's of fun ahead of us! Well, for the girls anyway. Maybe the weather will cooperate and we can saddle up the horses. I'm not sure anyone will sleep all weekend, but it'll be worth it.

20 Questions

2009-03-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

I stole this from someone else's blog. I was bored and wanted to tell you stuff you didn't really want to know.

1.What’s something in your life that’s pretty much been used up and needs replacing?
The carpet.

2. What is older than you?
The dirt on the carpet.

3. Where do you belong?
No doubt about it. At the coast. Always.

4. Who is no longer a stranger to you?
I'll try to remember to come back to this one...

5. What's your favorite accent?
Deep South USA

6. Do you like apples?
Sure. Who has ever read “The Giving Tree” that didn’t come away loving apples?

7. Do you have a pet?
LOL! YES. A few.

8. Do you enjoy starting drama?
Starting Drama? Not sure I even could. I’m generally oblivious.

9. Can you run fast?
Yes as long as I’m driving .

10. Do you believe in magic?
…in a young girl's heart ~How the music can free her, whenever it starts~And it's magic, if the music is groovy… YES.

11. What was the first conscious thought you had this morning?
That’s a little personal, dontcha think? ;-) Actually I'm sure it had something to do with half decaf with SF peppermint.

12. When you get online, what do you do first?
Check email

13. What is the slowest realization you've ever come to?
That I should stop getting magazine subscriptions because I don’t have time to read them, and I just cant take the guilt of letting them sit around unread.

14. What name would you want to have if you were the opposite sex?
Something not spelled traditionally that much I know.

15. What is a song that you love to hate?
Walking on sunshine. Oh shut up already!

16. What's in your pockets?
I’m not actually wearing my own pockets right now. Probably lint. I'll check. Yep. Lint! (And maybe some hay, too.)

17. Who can you talk with for hours?
Literally nobody. Silence is a great thing. A little cello music, some wind chimes maybe a sea gull. I can email and text some people for hours though!

18. What sounds great today?
Walking on the beach in total absolute silence.

19. What is the best example of "perfection" that you can think of?
See above :) Add my family to it, but they must remain SILENT! (my kids are at that chatty age. No way it’ll happen.)

20. Do good things come to those who wait?
I’m not good at waiting, and good things have always come to me. But I know I use that line with my kids sometimes…. So, I better say Yes. Good things DO come to those who wait. (but really, I don’t think you have to wait.)

Bonus Question: List three things about you that surprise people when they find out?
I was an art teacher a million years ago.
I don't drink.
I on occasion use mildly off color language. OK. It's more than mild.

Beachside Education

2009-03-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

The plan always was to homeschool at the coast. Wouldn't today be a fab day for it? Oh well... the day will come. For now, we'll homeschool here... and dream of the coast.

Ever have one of those days?

2009-03-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

I feel like I had two of them today.

Shopping. Ug. I can not find the fun in it. I was able to get daddy to stay home with the kids to help them with their science, so shopping was sort of seeming like a get-a-way. Ok! I can get into this! Until I got there. I'll just call it brain fog. (I did put some color on my hair the other day. Now I'm wondering if some of it soaked into my brain. I think its a real possibility.) The store was crowded and I didn't exactly know what I wanted. I needed to pick up some sort of "surprise" for Friday when the kids go over their work from the week. They have both done exceptionally well this week! But I cant find anything worthy on the shelves. I go back and forth too many times, I know. I should have bugged outta there and tried someplace else, but it was close to home and I was SURE there was something there, I had just missed in the 5 times I walked the isle. Then it happened. A container of lemon yogurt literally FLEW out of my cart and boy that baby splattered like crazy! OMG! I dreaded looking around fearing that somebody would be standing there with yellow goop up their leg. Luckily, I was getting the stink eye, but not from anyone who was actually harmed. After what seemed like forever looking for an employee to tell (because come on, I really couldn't clean it up) I then go back (brave, huh?) and casually continue my search like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I then proceed to hit myself in the eye with a plastic Easter egg. Yea, don't ask. I do not drink. But I'm sure that's exactly how it appeared today. And I still came away without the surprise for the kids. So you know what that means. I get to try again tomorrow. I really do not enjoy shopping.

Bombing the public school kids

2009-03-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

No, not THAT kind of bomb. The science-y kind.
When we first took the homeschooling plunge science wasn’t my thing. I never had a good lesson plan. We sort of resorted to making vinegar and baking soda bombs and seeing how far they’d go before they blew vinegar and baking soda soaked tp all over the street. It was cool! Now I have a better grip on science lessons but we still like to make bombs once in a while.
Yesterday was a day off for the neighborhood public school kids so we asked if they wanted to make some bombs. Seriously, they must do a good job of discussing terroristic behaviors in the public schools because we got a bit of the stink eye at first. Once we explained and sent them home to get permission, the fun was on! They’d never made these bombs and everyone, as always, had a great time! Have you made them with your kids? Do it once if you haven’t!
Details:
Small plastic bottle with screw on cap (any size works, but the bigger the bottle the more stuff it takes to fill it.)
White vinegar
Baking soda
Toilet paper
Fill your bottle about 1/2 with vinegar. A little more won’t hurt. It just smells worse.
Make an “envelope” out of tp and fill it with baking soda. Anyone ever roll their own cigarettes? Yea well neither have I. But I have seen it in TV. Do that! Make a big cigarette that would just about fill that remaining space in the bottle. But remember you need some “shaking space” left.

Ok. Now don’t be slow about this. You have to work fast. Quickly stuff the cigarette into the bottle of vinegar and screw the cap on as fast as you can. Don’t laugh. It makes you drop stuff! Now shake the bottle until your heart starts beating really fast then THROW it!
Instruct your kids to throw it far, upwards and fast… and be sure to try it once yourself first. If it blows up, it blows up on you and not them. They’ll fall over laughing and you’ll check to see that both eyes are still in there, but it’s cool! Give it a try. My kids want to make a YouTube video of it… but so far I haven’t let them. BUT I know if you search there are some out there. Just none of us :-)

I feel I should mention it can be a tad dangerous. Depending on how coordinated you are or are not. Only you (or your spouse) can know this for sure.
Have fun, and if you make a YouTube video let me know!

Switched at birth

2009-03-23T10:31:00.001-07:00

I know I'm not the only parent who has wondered this.

Come on, be honest. Except for when they look just like you the thought has crossed your mind at least once. Maybe you didn't say it out loud, but...
Out of our three kids two are still of the homeschooling age. One looks and acts too much like me for me to wonder about. She does her math, but doesn't love it and does better if it's money and not just math. Loves anything with the written word. She reads outside of school work just for fun. She talks to the animals. She wants to rid the world of injustice. She even writes and blogs LOL! Yup.That's my kid. OK. Now enter child number three. Who is he? He loves math and is great at it. I show him once and before I get done talking he's figured it out and is done with that page and half done with the next. (Every homeschooling parents dream!) He's athletic. He's doing kicks and cartwheels when everyone else is getting ready to crash. I think he'd be good at anything he stood still long enough to focus on. But he hates to read or write. There is the oddity. He lives in this house... and hates reading and writing. I can't get him to enjoy writing a creative fictional tale even for money! (And I've tried.) And read a book for fun? Oh give me a break. Books, programs, games, classes, cash, rewards, threats, mind games. You name it I've tried it. Nada. I just assumed some family of hyperactive accountants had a baby in the same hospital and they now have a mellow little author in their midst. Finally I decided to let him go at a slower pace without stress. Mellow out. Chill. Then something nearing miraculous happened a couple of weeks ago. He came out of his bedroom with a stack of lop-sided paper squares stapled together. Upon closer inspection I realized it was A STORY! OMG A STORY! It was written half in pencil and half in pen, words were scribbled and scratched out and the spelling was a mystery at best. WHO CARES! He wrote a story! For the fun of it! OMG he IS my child. I'll keep him.
It was one of those homeschooling moments that makes you happy you decided to do this thing. This thing that takes all of your time. All of your money. And pretty much all of your everything. Homeschooling probably saved him from hating reading and writing for his whole life and to me that's worth everything! Now he's busy making books, writing letters, working on his neatness and he's feeling so proud of himself for doing it. I still can't read much of it, and even he has trouble reading his own spelling. It finally came. But it came on his terms and in his time and not until he was good and ready.

Oh man.
He was my child all along.

Computer Batteries

2009-03-21T19:44:00.000-07:00

Who the heck invented those things?

Let me tell you a little story. It's a romance of sorts.
When I met my now-husband he was the guy at work who I called when my computer needed help. And I was one of those people whose computer ALWAYS needed help. Seriously no fault of my own. Really. Anyway.... 13 years later and I'm still calling him to fix my laptop. So I try to figure it out. Really. But that's when things go from bad to worse. (Why is that?) Today as I was tipping it over unplugging it and trying to pull the battery (maybe shaking a little bit. I cant remember for sure...) I realized whoever invented the actual battery must have had something like 5 hands! There is no way possible to push both arrows, hold the thing on your lap upside down and release the battery at the same time without dropping the whole thing on the floor! (and maybe kicking it a little. I cant remember for sure.)

You know... I bet all those years ago he thought I was calling him to my cubical for other reasons as nobody could have that many computer problems.

Well. Now he knows. :)
I just have a knack for buying the faulty laptops! Really.

Worms

2009-03-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

After our dark, rainy and very interesting experience collecting (hunting? gathering? plucking?) Night Crawlers the other night we finally went fishing today. What a gorgeous day for it! It was spectacular today! Spring was deffo in the air. Between Daddy re-worming the hooks and Mommy having to keep shaking the camera batteries to try to get a little more juice.... the kids were happy to explore. They certainly have casting down pretty darned good.... except for that one time when a huge, sloppy, gross, filthy worm came flinging through the air and landed SPLAT right on MY ARM! I was shaking the camera so I didn't see it coming until it was too late. GAG! I'm glad I can still make the kids bust a gut. In the end they caught two trout (and a mommy arm) and tossed them back. We still have at least 50 night crawlers. I guess we'll go back next weekend. I'm taking extra camera batteries though and keeping one eye on those slimers.

Larvae all over the place!

2009-03-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Break project arrived in the mail today! (Should I be so excited about a bunch of squirmy little critters?) Lady Bug larvae are sort of creepy. They look like little tiny cousins of the boogey Man. I wont be putting those buggers under my bed! YIKES! I wouldn't be able to let my toes hang over FOR SURE! The butterflies are not so bad. It takes them all day to scale the sides of their cup... only to crash back to the bottom again as a reward. Poor guys. They'll be so flipping thrilled when they sprout some wings. Last year we were on pins and needles waiting for them to get ready to fly. We had a Disneyland trip planned and time was getting tight. The very day our plane flew out of Boise, our little friends flew off our deck :) Magical timing and very cool. If you haven't done this project you really should! I also bought Owl Pellets this year. I know. That is really disgusting. But I can't do the frog thing... so the kids will be slicing and dicing these instead. DUDE, SAVE THE FROGS. :)

To shop for critters and weird slimy stuff try:

http://www.carolina.com/

http://www.insectlore.com/store.html

Business Cards

2009-03-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

OPTIMISM. I ordered some fun business cards for the kids to use if~ WHEN~ they start selling eggs. They are very excited to do it, so I thought it would be a good lesson in business skills.

Buying
Raising
Expenses
Gathering
Packaging
Marketing
Selling
Saving for the next round...

If they can pull it off ( if our hens cooperate!) I'll support them all the way. So, how many dozen would YOU like to order? Chemical free! Free Range! Happy Hens! How can you resist?

We are now chicken farmers

2009-03-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly farmers. Farmers would eventually... umm... eat their chickens right? OK, so we are not actual chicken farmers then. Let's just say we bought some more baby chicks :)
I have wanted to have hens for eggs for a while now. You know the whole "bad economy, downsized, pay cut, recession-depression, end of the world " stuff got me in a mood. I want FOOD. I want to be able to walk outside my house and get the supplies to make an omelette if I want to. So, we probably (knock on wood) will never have to reply on our little chickies to feed us, but that's not the point. I am teaching the kids to be responsible for themselves. No matter what... know you can take care of your own. (and your friends! If you need an omelette come on over in about 5 months :) Today I was emailing a friend and told her to take her son by the feed store to fall in love with the newly arrived chickies. I honestly wanted HER to buy a chickie...not me! But, I did it. I had the kids with me so I'll blame them. We came home with 6 MORE chickies in addition to the 6 pullets (baby hens) and Butterball the baby turkey that we bought on the weekend. The new chickies are baby-babies. Tiny little fluff balls! So cute! They look like fuzzy walnuts. Two of them look like they are wearing blond wigs! Little fuzzy wig-wearing walnuts that are actually quite LOUD. They have to be in the house under a heat lamp for the next 30 days.

Omelettes.
It's all about the omelettes.

Some cool St. Patricks Day stuff for Homeschoolers and everyone lese, too!

2009-03-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.history.com/minisites/stpatricksday/

"May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow,

and may trouble avoid you wherever you go."

Latest homeschool project

2009-03-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

The kids have been working on a project to raise money to buy dog/cat food for the local humane society. Being 7 and 9 years old, the only jobs they can have are the ones I can find for them around here. My floors are nicely swept and sort of mopped (mopping with one of those spray mop things can be pretty fun. I understand the urge to hold a finger on the trigger the whole time... so I can't really get too angry at the flooded floor can I?) So far they have earned almost $20. I said I would match dollar for dollar... but too much of the money they are earning is coming from my own bad language. I can't afford any more! Their goal is $40 by the end of March. My lips are SEALED so they will have to get back to those floors.

Here Chickie Chickie

2009-03-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of a turkey called Butter Ball? (Well, besides the one on your Thanksgiving table of course. ) We now have not only a chicken coop (built by Russell in under one weekend!), but 6 chicks (hopefully hens!) and one scrawny, not really cute, gangly baby turkey named Butterball. We don't even know if Butterball will be the gorgeous, round, full tailed male bird that we hoped for.... but "he" (we are being optimistic) won us over while shopping for chicks anyway :) So, we squeezed him/her into the box with the others. He doesn't seem to know he is not a chicken. He is actually friendlier than the little chicks and I think it's becasue he's trying to make sure we like him... so we don't eat him. I mean come on, being a turkey called Butter Ball has to make a bird worry!
I hope he doesn't grow up with a complex... I wonder if they make Poultry Prozac?

Check back in 5 months to hear us talk about trying get the first egg from under a feathered tushy. I can't imagine the hens would give those babies up without a fight. Can you imagine going through labor and delivery two times each day? (Can you imagine how pissed off you'd be at your husband?)

I dont think hens get enough respect.

Neighbors, dogs and garbage day

2009-03-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of house breaking our new puppy, so we are taking frequent trips outside for "potty breaks". Yesterday Russell goes out and sees that the neighbors dog Buddy is in our yard. No big deal. He's wearing his electric fence collar, so Russell calls the neighbor and tells them that he has returned buddy (the good neighbor that he is) but is concerned that his collar is not working properly (and they live along side a fairly busy road.) The neighbor seems somewhat annoyed at the phone call. Whatever. Today as I let the dogs outside for another potty break I hear a CRASH from the street. Ooops! The dog is out again, but this time he has dragged the other neighbors garbage out of the can and all over the street. I don't even want to describe the horrors of what I saw out there! I don't know why but this prompted a LOL from me as I gathered my dogs back into the safety of my front door. I am not a "told ya so" type... but this time I am pretty sure that's the emotion that was creeping up on me. While I like to think I'm a good neighbor, the most I was willing to do was to make a call to Mr. Annoyed Neighbor telling him that his dog was out and the trash situation. I wonder if he'll confess to soon-to-be-mortally-embarrassed other neighbor? Considering that yet another neighbor already threatened to call the dog pound on embarrassed neighbors' dog, and stuck an anonymous note to their fence ... and "Note Sticker" just got a new puppy himself, I can only wonder who will think which dog did what? Gotta love the modern rural cul-de-sac! They'll all get home from work around 6:00. Maybe I'll pop some corn....

2009-03-11T19:02:00.001-07:00

Draaama

2009-03-11T18:40:00.001-07:00

"Drama class" should mean something educational, right? For us, not so much. It just means DRAAAMA. We rushed to finish making the newspaper cave woman costume and the newspaper bowl for the newspaper food (frog legs and crackers) that the teacher assigned as homework (hey, thanks a lot!) Today was supposed to be the dress rehearsal but instead the kids sat around the multipurpose art room under tables, behind walls and in closets while one or two kids learned their lines. Yes. I said under tables and in closets. A few of the kids came out of class less than chipper, and of course mine was one of them. Did I mention they didnt get to try on their newspapers? DRAAAAMA! Next week is the last class and the performance for the families so I am keeping my opinion to myself until then. If I can hold my tongue.

Which bring me to the next subject... holding my tongue. Not something I've ever been good at. One the earliest memories I have of my dad talking to me was him telling me "you'd argue with a fence post" While I don't agree with him I do agree that everyone is perfectly entitled to their opinions. So, holding my tongue. Today I decided I was going to take the advice of a wise young bunny rabbit: If you cant say nuthin nice, dont say nuthin at all". Man, it's hard for me. I think I'll officially start next week, so I can wrap up a few things before the clock starts. Mainly drama class.