Sunday, December 12, 2010

Funny things we heard today

You know you're a redneck when...

Your daughter yells, "Daddy, your neck is RED!"


You know you need to reteach a topic when you hear...

Counting for hide-and-seek, "3 and 2 fourths, 3 and 3 fourths, 3 and 4 fourths, 3 and 5 fourths, 3 and 6 fourths, 3 and 7 fourths, 3 and 8 fourths, 3 and 9 fourths, 3 and 10 fourths. Ready or not here I come!"

Sunday, November 14, 2010

My Halloween Creatures






Cannonsburgh Village

I've been pretty bad about chronicling our first year of homeschool. Honestly, its been kind of rocky. Great at times. Bad at other times. I'm finding it hard to develop and stick to a routine that gets only just some of the "it" done that I need to get done.

But even with all that, I'm still really enjoying teaching my own children. Its so exciting to see them understand something or get a concept that has been difficult for them.

Friday we had a field trip to Cannonsburgh Village. A little history: The original name of Murfreesboro was Cannonsburgh. It is a southern-style village, circa 1800-1925.

We first stopped by the blacksmith's shop.



We were able to see Blacksmith Alan make a hook that could be nailed into the wall. The kids were astounded to see him break, twist and pound metal. Tyler even said it looked like a glow stick.

We then were given a tour of the rest of the village.

The Chapel with its amazing stained glass windows.



The one room school house. The blackboard was wood slates in a frame.




The mill. It is still a workable mill. They use it during festival days. We learned a interesting fact. If there were any widows that brought their corn or grain to be milled they were not charged to mill it.


We ended the tour with a hayride. Our guide, Vera, was fantastic. She was so kind. She spent the hayride talking to Karena and Tyler. She was genuinely interested in what they had to say and enjoyed seeing how Karena and Hannah were unique. So many people just notice their similarities.

After the tour was over we took a break for a cool snack. The kids all said they wanted to go back again.

















Tuesday, November 09, 2010

What's wrong with this picture? Take 2


Can you guess what this is?


Does this give you a hint?


What about now?

Yes! That is a perfectly round egg. We got it at Sam's. Not quite sure how it passed inspection and ended up in my carton. Thought it was blog worthy though.

What's wrong with this picture?

This came in the mail yesterday. First off, this is NOT an announcement. Just making sure no one gets the wrong idea.

So as I was saying, this came in the mail yesterday. Apparently Similac thinks someone is having a baby.





Its not me though.




Congratulations, John! You're going to be a mother!

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Random Updates

1. The Bug - The bug was a house centipede and not a silverfish. Thanks Dad and Brady for the info! Click on the links to see pics of both. I'm not exactly sure which one is most creepy.

2. Canning - Friday, the kids and I went to a local farmer's market. We got around 90 ears of corn, 3 lbs of green beans, a watermelon, a quart of raw (yummy!) honey, and 2 loaves of Great Harvest bread. Yesterday, we canned the corn, beans and some homemade spaghetti sauce and got 10 quarts of corn, 2 quarts of spaghetti sauce and 6 pints of beans. I was exhausted by the end of the day to say the least. But I was quite pleased with myself.

3. Shoes - Tyler can now tie his own shoes! The day he figured it out he told everyone we met. The grocery produce guy, the cashier at CVS, everyone.

4. Primary - Karena gave a talk today in primary and Hannah read the scripture. Both needed no help from me. I'm amazed at how well they are reading.

5. Scrapbooking - Finished two scrapbook pages about our trip to Utah this summer. Head on over here and check them out.

6. Bike - John got me a bike yesterday. Haven't been able to try it out yet. Hopefully tomorrow. The kids are always wanting to go out on bike rides. Can't wait to go but I think I might hold off until the weather cools down a bit. In the paper today the weather forecast for the next 3 days was "Very Hot."

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Bug

We had just arrived home from church. John and I were changing in our room when suddenly all three children started screaming from the living room. My first thought was, "Okay, who did it this time?" I began to head out to check when they burst into my room and slammed the door. Hannah informed us there was a scary, creepy bug on the floor in the living room. She then explained how she found it. She said, "I thought it was a hair ball. Then I got closer and the hair ball had legs and it MOVED!"

We went out to find and capture the bug. Sure enough it was a pretty creepy bug. I have never seen anything quite like it. If anyone can identify this bug I would appreciate it.




Thursday, July 22, 2010

Why we are doing it

In less than two weeks all my kids will be starting school. They will wake up every morning when they are ready to wake up. They will not have to have their lunch packed at 6 a.m. They will not have to worry about whether their clothes are "in" or their hair is done "right." They will not rush to get out to the bus stop.

They will not have to walk through the halls in a straight line with a bubble in their mouth. There will no longer be discussions of why we they have drills about bad people coming into their school or why there is always a police officer at the school. They will not have to eat their lunch in less than 15 minutes.

They will get to have recess for hours instead of minutes. They will get to read books that are exciting and stretch their minds. We will get to go on field trips as often as we want to. They will get to learn about a subject they love until their growing minds are satisfied they understand it. They will get to fly through subjects they understand right away. They will not be pushed through subjects they do not understand just to meet a schedule or a deadline.

We will daily study the scriptures. We will learn that history and science are empty without learning that God has His hand and love in everything.

We will learn more about each other. We will annoy each other more. We will have more fun together. We will cry together more. We will play together. We will be together more. We will love each other more.

We will homeschool.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Loving This is Easy



I recently received a copy of Sarah McLachlan's newest album "Laws of Illusion" to review. I've loved Sarah McLachlan for a long time but I also don't usually like albums by one artists. I get a little bored listening to the same style of music over and over. So even after listening to a few tracks off the album I was a little skeptical about liking a whole album. This album did not disappoint me at all! I love the feel of the music and the flow of the lyrics. "Loving You is Easy" has a catchy tune and lyrics that I enjoy singing to myself. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Haircuts

Just before our trip to Utah we all went out for haircuts. Hannah and myself just got a trim but for Tyler and Karena it was a little more drastic.

Before:



After:

(Tyler is sucking on the last of his lollipop. Hence the face.)


Tyler has been asking for this cut for awhile but I just didn't want to let go of the last bit of curls he had. He gets so hot playing outside that he needed a haircut for his own safety. He actually got a little case of heat exhaustion on Memorial Day.

Karena donated her hair to Locks of Love. We are very proud of her choice. Now with her hair short we are constantly getting her and Hannah mixed up. I'm back to having to remember what they got dressed in that morning. If they are close to us and can see their faces we don't have any problems. But from far away or from the back we often get confused.

Karena Rides!

John has been working with the girls on riding a 2-wheeler. Karena has figured it out and loves to show off her new skills. While we were in Utah, John bought himself a bike and has now gone on 2 bike rides with Tyler and Karena. He took this video of Karena enjoying her bike ride.


Saturday, May 22, 2010

First Word

Tyler sorta read his first word yesterday. After ball practice we went out to dinner. He started sounding out the letters of the restaurant that were printed on the stool next to him. At first he read, "ttt - ah - ah - ttt - sss." Then after a little prompting he read, "ttt - ew - ttt - sss. TOOTS!!" He was so excited. How lucky we are that the first word my little boy trys to read is "Toots!"

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Lake Front Property

Early Saturday morning Karena, Hannah and I headed to a Girl Scout Day Camp. It started raining as we walked out the door around 7:20. We had to drive north of Nashville for the camp and it poured the whole day. The girls had a good day despite the rain. We played games, made picture frames, tye-dyed t-shirts and enjoyed each others company.

We were supposed to leave around 4:30 but opted to leave early due to the reports of flooding we were hearing from family over the phone. In our group were 3 parents and 6 kindergarten and first graders. We left around 3:30 and drove about 20 minutes when we heard we weren't allowed into or out of our county. We made a decision to head to a friend of mine. She was a life saver. She had felt the need to make a batch of spaghetti and had arrived home just in time to get my call. I truly felt blessed that she had listened to the Spirit. She accepted all 9 of us with open arms. She not only let us invade her home but she fed the girls and let us take over her TV. Many of the girls said that they never wanted to leave. After several hours of her hospitality we had to make another decision. Whether to try to head home or to find a place to stay the night. We opted for the later and headed to a hotel down the street. Most of us had nothing but a purse and the clothes on our backs. The man checking us in was nice enough to give us toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, and razors. I was very grateful for the toothbrushes, toothpaste and deoderant.

All the girls were wonderful. They were on a grand adventure and loving every minute of it. We watched "Ice Age," got them some more food, and then all retreated to our rooms. We did our normal nightly routine. We read scriptures (Thanks, Gideons!), prayed, and heard a story. As I was flipping pages through the Bible trying to decide what to read, Hannah suggested the Noah's Ark story. (Quite fitting actually. If it rains much more we might need an ark.) I believe all the girls slept just fine. I can't say that for the parents. I know I tossed and turned all night long.

Everyone woke before 7:00 the next morning and headed down to breakfast. I considered taking Karena and Hannah to church for Primary mainly just for something to do. At breakfast one of the ladies husband walked in. He had made it through Nashville taking a lot of back and side roads. I don't believe she had ever been so excited to see her husband before. The other mom and I discussed our options. We decided to try and make it home. If worse came to worse we could just stop at another hotel.

How we should have gone home


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How we actually made it home - The Long Way


View Larger Map

Driving home was tedious and hopefully an experience I never have to repeat. Imagine driving through a car wash for 45 minutes. Once we finally made it to I-40 the rain slowed down and it was a fairly good drive the rest of way. The wind was strong but we managed to stay ahead of another storm that was coming in behind us.

We made it home around 9:30. I walked in the door and yelled, "We're home!" It was neat to see John and Tyler both come running from upstairs. Everyone was so excited to see each other. I hugged Tyler and sat down in a chair and burst into tears. I had held it in for 2 days. I couldn't keep it in anymore. I cried even more when I walked out onto the back deck to see the flooding in the backyard.

Here is a video of our backyard. John took the ones from last night. I took the ones today.




Since the video has been made the water has risen even more. But we are safe and we are together. We are praying for the safety of those around us and that the waters will recede quickly. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Better late than never .... Easter 2010

The kids had fun with several egg hunts this year. All of them had a hunt at school. Although at two different locations they all happened in exactly the same way. Teachers and parents spent 20 minutes throwing eggs out onto the grass. The kids enter the field and all eggs are found in about 2 minutes. But the kids enjoyed it.

Tyler running to find his first egg.

Counting out his loot. They were only allowed 12 eggs.
Tyler's class
Karena and Hannah collecting Easter eggs.


The girls new class (I'll fill you all in another post.)


On Good Friday we dyed Easter Eggs. I was impressed with the thought all three put into their eggs. Usually during craft projects Tyler gets bored rather quickly but he actually put some time into this project.




We had a nice Easter weekend. It was General Conference weekend so we were able to stay at home and just spend time together as a family. The Easter bunny came to our house on Saturday. The kids had fun collecting the eggs he had hid.

My Easter Shriners

This is his hunting face.

She found this same egg at school, too! The Easter Bunny is certainly resourceful.
This is one of the Easter Bunny's favorite spots to hide an egg.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Soccer Boy

Friday was Tyler's first day of soccer. The boy was made for soccer. He's fast and not afraid to get right in there. Once he learns the rules and different techniques he'll be really good.


It was a little cool so he warmed up by running with his hands in his pockets. Helped remind him not to touch the ball with his hands, too!


During their practice game.


Saturday was his first game. It was quite comical. Kids running in swarms around the ball. The ref was constantly having to restart because the ball would go out of bounds. Tyler's defense strategy to keep the ball from going into the goal was to kick it out of bounds. Unfortunately our team only scored 1 goal compared to the other team's a lot of goals. 1 - a lot. And yes, that was the official score because I lost count and they don't technically keep score. Tyler had to throw it in once and actually bopped one of his teammates right on the head. This little boy is somewhat of a crier so I held my breath and prayed he wouldn't burst into tears. But he looked just fine - a little perplexed - but fine. I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.


And finally a short video of practice and then the game.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Our Square Foot Garden

For Christmas I asked for "Square Foot Gardening." (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Since then I have been pouring over the pages, making charts and notes, and convincing John that this was THE garden plan. Thankfully he decided to try it for me. Truthfully I think he did it just so he might have some help in the garden.

Square foot gardening (SFG) is a method that uses less space to grow more. John built us three 4x4 boxes. About two weeks ago we filled them with Mel's mix - a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and compost.



John also built us some mini greenhouses. Its great to have a handy husband!!


The next week we started planting with broccoli (the little bitty plants), carrots (what John's planting),


onions (This sprouted in just a week!!!),


lettuce, spinach and peas.

My lettuce seedlings.


Today I planted flowers (zinnia, freesia and blue bonnets) and some herbs (oregano, cilantro, and basil). John planted some potatoes. We still have to add tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers (bell and jalapeno) and corn.

I can't wait to start eating all the fresh vine ripened produce and the amazing fresh salsa I plan on making. If this works we plan on expanding for next year.