It never fails, Christmas time always seems to be sorounded by hard times. sickness and death, sorrow and saddness. This year, we have seen much of this with our friends and family, but I feel that all of these things are ment to bring us closer together. That is what it does after all, brings us closer as we step up to support each other, sharing the love and respect we have for one another.

This all leads me to wonder if I have done enough this year. I don't think I have. Not this year or any other. I haven't done enough, loved enough, shared enough, the list goes on. So how do I change all of this? I am not sure I can, other than just continuing to try. We are flawed after all, and so we will never be perfect in anything we do in this life.

So, enough of the pondering, and more with the doing.

Right now, I am preparing for another class after my Christmas break. The Psychology of Personality. It looks hard as there will be a lot of reading, at least four papers to write, and at least two presentations so far in the fast five weeks that it is. It's going to be a fun class though. Hard to believe I have been in school almost a year already. (A year in February) Time really has flown by. I am thinking about going to the local community college and taking extra classes to speed up the learning process. Even though I am flying through my classes at UOP already, school could go a little faster, and more importantly, I'd save some money.

I had a visit from my father this weekend. It was great to see him, although with all of the white, he looked very much like the man in the red suit. We eventually put a santa hat on him and had the girls take a picture. It was very funny, and saved us an hour of waiting in line at the mall!

My father wouldn't have even visited had it not been for the car he bought as a suprize for his wife. He purchased it over the internet and asked us to check it out and pick it up for him, then hold on to it until he could come get it. That is when he "killed two birds with one stone" by doing the suprise here while he visited with us for a day. Given the parents I have, I take what I can get in the way of thier love and attention. It is hard at times, but my cards were dealt a long time ago. I play with a whole new deck now thankfully.

So the visit went very well. They came, we visited, they left. One quick day of conversation with a few hugs thrown in. All worth it to me. I think Shad is beginning to understand now the relationship I have with my parents. We tend to argue about the things I am willing to put up with in order to spend time with them. A whole story I can go into maybe some other time.

Well, I am off to study for my final which will be on Thursday, and then it's off to battle the cold and crowds at the mall for one last attempt at Christmas shopping. Can't wait to see eveyone in Vegas!

Seasons greetings!

Just stuff...

Wow! It's December and Christmas is almost here! What happened? Am I the only one who feels this way? This has been one of the quickest years. Sure hope the next one slows down a bit.

Here are a couple of pictures from our Thanksgiving trip. Hailey and her cousin, then Shad and one of his sisters with the girls behind them being mean. Such fun!

The girls and I went to the mall today to do a little shopping. As I was sitting in the parking lot, at the very end of the parking lot, like in the last space available in the parking lot, I had to wonder just what it was that made me have this idea today. Why were we going in there? Did we really want to do this? I have to admitt that I had visions of huges crouds, long lines and crappy attitudes.

As it turned out, the mall really wasn't that bad. Shocking I know! I was a bit mystified myself. However, we went in, we shopped, and we left without a problem and found some really great sales. No long lines or crappy attitudes at all. It was also a great lesson for the girls because they had to remember that we were there for others. I told them ahead of time that we would not be making any purchases for ourselves. And it worked. Yes, another mystified moment.

School for the girls is slow right now, but going well. Hailey has been having doubts about conitnuing piano, and so I have challenged her to come up with some creative ideas to make it more fun. So far, nada. I just might have to intervene. Mackenzie is still doing great with piano and reading a lot. I have started her on learning about the different states, beginning with Alabama. It's been fun. We found a great book at the Golden Apple to help us along.

School for myslef has been great this class. A grammar class, with writing papers and using correct punctuation. It's been fun. We even watched School House Rock last night. Hillarious!

Speaking of school, I have grammar lessons to finish and a paper to write. Guess it's time to stop playing and start working. It's raining! How's the weather where you are?

Our Vegas Trip

The drive there was long, but went well with little traffic. Our welcome was good, and we enjoyed hanging out with mom and dad. Monday we visited with Shonna and our niece and nephew for a while. The kids had a blast hanging out with each other. Can't remember if we saw Happy Feet that night, or some other night, but we saw it just the same. Kaleb danced all the way out of the theatre and to the car. It was hilarious!

On Tuesday morning, we woke up to find out that a family friend had lost her husband in a car accident over night. Very sad and very shocking.
We also went to visit with the Carder family and got to hang out a bit. It was great to catch up. Amy and I made pancakes and the kids ran around having fun chasing chickens and meeting Jessie's new horse. After our visit, we took the kids bowling and had a great time. We saw the Reed's and Hailey and Cassia were able to catch up on what's been going on in their lives. It's crazy how things change over time.

Wednesday we went to the movies and saw the Santa Clause movie. It was really good and the kids loved it. Later, we went to visit with my brother and his new wife to be, Cheri. He let me sit on his new Harley and listen to the engine a while which was very nice. I would have taken it for a ride but couldn't lift it an inch! It was a nice visit, but way too short.

Thanksgiving day was spent at Shannon's with family and friends. The day was great, with great food and plenty of football, although there was drama which made a small damper in the mood. Yet, in the end we all had a great visit with our family.

Friday the girls and I went to visit with my best friend Amy for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. We exchanged Christmas gifts because we won't see each other for Christmas, and were able to catch up a bit about the things going on in our lives. I miss her a lot. Later we visited cousins, then drove to the other side of town to have dinner with more family, then Shad and I went to have dinner with his parents that night.

There are more things that happened and more things that we did, but for some reason I can't remember the days we did them, or the exact details. The trip was long, stressful, and yet wonderful too. I really didn't feel that we had enough time to do all we wanted to do, or see everyone we wanted to see. I guess that is always how it goes. Our drive home which should have taken eight hours ended up taking eleven hours which totally sucked because we were all tired and emotionally spent. But we made it home safe, and the best part is, we get to do it all again in four short weeks! And I know now that I will need to make some definite plans in order to see those who I didn't see this time.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with good food, and little drama.

A Step Back In Time

So I started writing a book, and well, I had to do some research so I went to the old cedar chest and pulled out a few of my old journals. I was a little afraid of what I might find in them being that these particular ones start in a not so great time of my life, but to my relief it was actually kind of fun reading them. Some of the things I was going through seem funny now and other things are just crazy. But there was also a lot of great memories that I totally forgot about. Like the time we decided to have a house church sleep over or when we went on the first (I think) trip to Zion. There were also some fun little pictures that the girls drew all over some of the pages when they were very little, and thoughts that I wrote about Shad that were fun.

Lots of memories, thoughts, fears, feelings and even joy and happiness were found withing the pages of those books. And in the end, I never did find the information I was looking for. But I am sure glad I took a step back in time.

What the..........

Just how long have we been here? I mean, I see pics of all of the kids and friends we left behind and I am freaking out at how much everyone has changed! It makes me sad that we are missing it all. :( Oh, but I am working on a plan. Oh yes, a plan! One that will get us back to our home! It's top secret too!!! Well, um, that's because I really haven't figured out what the plan is yet. But I will! And when I do, well, you know! Yep.

So it's raining today, so the candles are lit, the fireplace is going, and the music is on. A perfect day for hanging out and cleaning house. Of course, the girls don't agree with that last part but they will. Yep, I'm pretty much living in denial about that. Once we are done cleaning, we are going out on a little "I saved my allowance so I am shopping for clothes" shopping trip. It will be fun!

A little advice: Watch out for attack squirrels. They will kick your a@#!

NO MORE MATH!!!!!!!!!!!!

DONE!!!!!! I am finished with my ten weeks of math! Finished!!!!!!!!
Wooooohooooooo!!!!!!!!!

What?

This family had the greatest costumes. Thier sons were Thing 1 and Thing 2. Mom was the fish of course. And you know who really gets all of the candy right? I wonder if they eat green eggs and ham? Too cute!!!

Halloween!

We had a lot of fun on Halloween. We made decorations, carved pumpkins and spent time dressing up so the kids could run around the neighborhood and trick-or-treat. We also spent the morning learning about the history of Halloween which we found very interesting, as well as the story behind the Jack-o-lantern. That one was interesting as well.

We had a ton of trick-or-treaters, way more than we ever had in Vegas. It reminded me of when I was growing up and how our neighborhood would be packed with tons of kids running around having fun. We would always run out of candy, and that is just what happened to us this year. I actually had to put a sign on the front door explaining that we were out of candy so the trick-or-treaters would stop ringing the door bell. It was funny really.

Missing the King's Fair sucked, but it caused us to get creative. Now we get to look forward to Thanksgiving with friends and family, a trip I am super excited about. Wooohoooo!!!!!!!!
Hope your day was fun too!

Yep, it's running day four. I am pretty certain I will continue to run every day now. Why? Well, I haven't questioned it any further. The alarm goes off, slowly I crawl our of bed, manage to get my sweats on with my eyes still closed, throw on the sox and shoes and go. Then the concentration begins on making it to the half way point of our run, because then I know we are on the way back home. By the time we get back to the house, I am finally awake and I realize what I have just done, pretty much in my sleep. I don't question it, I just do it. If I happen to lose a few pounds in the process, well, that would be cool, but the focus isn't on that. (It's hard to focus when it's 6am and you are used to getting up at 10am.)

Life here in Northern California is going along well. The girls and I have discovered a cool art studio just down the street within walking distance and each of us have started a mosaic piece. Now if any of you have seen those TV shows where they do this kind of thing, it looks so simple. I mean, you just pick your pieces of glass or tile and glue them to your base, then grout it. Tada!!! The piece is beautiful!
Well, I consider myself a pretty patient person, and this project has really kicked that consideration to the curb! I want each piece to fit just exactly right and they don't because I chose small broken pieces of tiles. It took me a little over three hours to get my tiles glued on! It's mosaic people, not brain surgery!
However, I have not given up, as I am going to continue to do this because I've learned that it is helping me focus better. Amazing what a little brain power can do. And in the end, it is fun.

The dreaded Math classes are almost over for me as we only have two more after tonight. Then I am on to something I can relate to a lot more, writing. Not that I write all that much. I mean, well, okay I do journal just about every day now since I was twelve, but it's not like I sit around all day writing stories and novels. Although, I've thought about giving it a try once or ten times before. But writing a novel is way different from writing a bunch of crap in a journal. Right? Perhaps some day I will attempt something, but as for now, I will just shut up.

I am off to do one of my most FAVORITE jobs, picking up dog poo! Oh joyous dog poo, how I love thee. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! But if I don't do it, I will get a big chew out by the creepy old lawn guy who weed whacks our back yard lawn. Yes, I said weed whack, and no I didn't mean mows. The man is probably 90, so I don't question his methods. Besides, our back lawn is the size of the Carder's laundry room floor.

Have a happy day! Or if you choose, a crappy day!

Just had to share

Notice the time. I was up at six this morning and went and ran a mile with Shad and Sheba. Why? Mostly so I wouldn't have to workout later today, partly because I wanted to see if it was possible for me to do it. I have to say, it was weird running in the dark (yes, the sun isn't even up yet) and I had to walk a little, but I did it. Now, I am going to eat my oatmeal and schedule a nap for this afternoon.

Anticipation

I can't wait to visit my home next month. The clouds, the mountains that surround the valley like protective arms, the smell of the desert and those awesome sunsets, and the people. Yep, I am so looking forward to our trip home. Now if only I could find a way to get us back there for good. Hmmmm...........

Rambling

The air is cold, the sky clouded, and a fine mist floats around tonight. The frogs, those thousands of frogs that usually make music in the night have disappeared. It seems so quiet with out them. Fall came a while ago. It brought with it change. Could there be a better time to focus on the creativity of God? Just look around you in any direction, and tell me what you see?

I have seen geese flying overhead in little strange arrow tipped shapes and the trees changing color. Flowers blooming and plants getting ready to sleep. Squirrels on a mission to scavenge for nuts. Signs of God's creativity, signs of change. Life.

Future Brace Face

Take a good look because by the end of this month, these teeth will be covered in metal.

More pictures to come.....

Happy Birthday!

Disneyland was fun, and we had a great time. Here are the girls and their cousin hanging out at Goofey's place. The weather was perfect and we saved a lot of money by bringing our own food to the park. The only bad part was that their other cousin was so sick that he had to go back to the hotel for the whole day. Poor little guy, he had strep and ear infections in both ears. Thankfully they found a doctor to see him and give him a nice shot in the butt to kick the sickness to the curb. And his Aunt Sherry got him a nice big Pooh Bear to snuggle with. He was much better the next day, but that was the day we were all leaving. Still, it was a good trip.

So today is my birthday and so far I have slept in until ten, (okay, so I do that almost every day, bite me) and ate a bowl of cereal with banana in it. Next I get to finish my math homework and clean the dishes. I am really excited about that part of my day! Later I will do some laundry so that it doesn't start growing out of control, and then I will make cup cakes (chocolate with cherries in the middle) to eat after dinner. I'm going to file for my R4 today which is filing as a private school so we can continue to home school legally here which should take all of five minutes as long as the forms have not changed. Then later we might go to park day if it is not raining. For dinner I will order out from Strizzies, the Italian place down the street and have lasagna and I will finish my day with a Learning Team Meeting to go over my math work. All in all, a very full day and as long as nothing bad happens (like me tripping down the flippin stairs and almost breaking my ankle which happened two days ago) then life is good.

And there you have it, a day in the life of me. Well, a little glimpse of a day in the life of me anyway.
Happy Birthday!

Mini Vacation!!!!

I get to go see Goofy in the happiest place on earth! Okay, it's more like the most expensive place on earth, but Amy, you would be so proud of how I am organizing this trip. I learned from the best! Thanks! (Yes, I assume that Amy reads my blog. She is family, so doesn't that mean she has to?)

On another note, Hailey has to get braces, and it will be in the very near future. :(
Oh, and in about three more years or so, Mackenzie will get them too. It just might have been a mistake to take them to a Dentist who is also an Orthodontist. Ya think?

Life is good, family is good, and God is awesome. Enough said.

Could use a prayer or two

My father, not the greatest dad growing up, but my father none the less has decided to come for a visit at the end of October. Now that should be interesting to say the least. I haven't told the girls yet about the plans of their grandpa because grandpa always used to tell his kids growing up that he was planning on doing this or that, and at the last minute would call and cancel or just not show up. It was torture growing up that way, so I choose not to put my children on that kind of roller coaster.

He plans to be here a week I believe and wants the girls and I to take a trip to see an uncle I haven't seen in years while he is here. Probably just killing two birds with one stone, or something like that. I agreed to go as I am looking forward to seeing my Uncle Richard, and mostly my Aunt Ann as I want to check out her pottery studio. The girls would have a blast I am sure. Shad on the other hand, well, he isn't too excited to have my father here for a week. It will be different, and I am sure there will be tension, but family is family right? My father isn't a drug addict or dangerous in any way, he is just an asshole sometimes. You can't write off family members just because they are assholes right? I can be an asshole sometime too, as can Shad. Yes, I do feel the need to justify. Get over it.

Anyway, this bunch of assholes are going to be putting in some QFT at the end of October and could use a prayer or two.

More from the Northern Redwoods!

More pics from our trip up north to the giant trees. We came upon a man who did wood carvings with a chain saw. He was in the middle of creating a bear when we found him. We stopped and stared for a moment, he was totally in the zone, and I got a quick shot of him in action. The place was full of his carvings. It was amazing to me that he could get such fine details with a chain saw. The big horned sheep made me miss home. The place smelled of redwoods and pine and a cool breeze blew in the air. I could have sat there and watched him all day.

Wow!!!!!

The Avenue of the Giants was a very cool trip! We had a great time and were stunned by the huge trees. Can you believe these pictures?!?! The one with Shad and the girls shows them standing by a tree that had fallen over. They are standing at the base of the tree by the broken roots! Shad is 5'7 so figure it out.
You can't go there and not be humbled by their greatness. One is quickly reminded just how tiny we are in this world.

Look! It's Patrick doing a little jig at the San Francisco Aquarium!

Okay, maybe not, but the little guy is cute.

Today we are going to drive to the Giant Red Woods to check out the Giant Red Woods and maybe do a little bit of hiking. (We will also be stopping by the little shops on the way as well, but not everyone in the family knows that yet.)

More pics on the way!!!

What?

So I am driving on the 680 north to go to a place I have never been before, to meet up with a lady I have never met, to get a key to a 100 year old building I rented for four hours to do a home school event, (breath) and I see that the guy in the car in front of me is driving while eating a bowl of cereal!!!! How the hell does that work? I mean, he wasn't even swerving or anything! I was almost impressed.

Here is another one for you:

Shad and I meet up with a guy who he went to training with, for dinner. Now, this guy is a paranoid person who seems to have all kinds of bad things always happening to him and I am not talking just little bad things but lots of big bad things as well. It is like he is a walking Murphy's Law or something. Anyway, we are sitting at dinner, and this guy has already been yelled at by the waitress for some stupid reason, and has burned his thumb on his plate to the point of getting a huge blister. Then, we are just eating and talking and I go to grab my soda, and it slips out of my hand and ends up all over his lap. A full cup of soda! I was so embarrassed! All of us couldn't stop laughing because it was so hilarious because this guy has so many bad things happen all of the time. And he is just sitting there with this look on his face and decides to just grab all the napkins he can and sits on them while finishing his dinner. I felt so bad! I couldn't believe it happened.

Crazy weekend, crazy week.

Here are three of the 500 pics I took while family were here.

I would love to share more with you, but I think you would fall asleep by the 300th shot.

Everyone stayed here at our house, so come on down Carder family. Free place to stay in Northern Cal!

What a Trip

Some family was here for a week of fun and adventure. We went shopping, went to the Muir Woods, and drove all over San Francisco to places like Twin Peaks, Lombard St. (which is that really curvy road), China Town, Pier 39 was fun, the aquarium, you name it, we drove it or saw it. Oh, there was this sub that we went into. Very tiny place with no room for anything but work and sleep back in the day. I can't imagine the men that lived on that thing for months and months.

I have pictures of Mackenzie and her cousin Dana. They had gone shopping and bought new outfits. Hailey too. She loves her new sweater. Also there is one is of the family at the woods. We went on a small hike and enjoyed the fresh air and cool weather. (The pictures will not upload so you will have to wait to see them.) Having them all here was great, and we really had an awesome time. (Now, we are a little on the depressed side. We miss them, and all of the people we left behind in Vegas. But, life goes on.)

I have school to keep me busy, and the girls will start their school year a week from today, so that will keep them busy. I will try to post the pics later. Hey Alicia, we miss you too!

Another Day...

Hey there! Having technical difficulties with the pictures this week as Shad went and made a few changes. Oh, well!

Nothing new going on. I am about half way through my Philosophy class and getting ready for Math next. Sometimes I wish it were over, and other times I am glad it isn't. School has been fun for the most part, and full of good experiences.

I don't know if I ever updated, but we are no longer looking for a home here as we just can't justify spending so Much money on such little house. We plan to save up what we have and just buy when we land some place new.

Family is on their way for a visit this coming week which will be a nice change. We don't get to talk with anyone very often, and the girls miss their family back in Vegas, so this will be a nice healing time for them. We plan on going into the city, and maybe taking the kids to the zoo. If time permits, we might also take a trip to Monte ray.

Just something to share:

Nan-in, a Japanese maser during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

-N. SENZAKI AND P. REPS, "ZEN STORIES"

Another three credits earned and another class on the horizon. Will it ever end? Yes, but not any time soon.

Shad has been chosen to take a class on teaching defense to other Inspectors, so he is busy this week studying as well. Ha, ha, ha, ha!

And....the girls drove me a little bonkers this weekend, so I started them on a little bit of structured work today. Okay, it was just one worksheet and it took them about five minutes to finish, but that was the quietest five minutes I have had in a while and well worth it.

I have been taking pictures of the work the girls are doing on their studies for the Trip Around the World thing. They made some great display boards and are now gathering up all of the info and trying to get it all organized. It has been fun learning with them.

I am going through a hard time of missing my home. We received the EAGLES year book in the mail today, and upon looking through it, it became so apparent just how much we are missing out being here. The group there was so much more organized and so much more fun than the group we are with here. I miss the ladies nights out, and the meetings and well, just about everything EAGLES had to offer.

This group here is so worried about offending others that they never put anything up to do, or if they do it costs $100 or more which is ridiculous! Okay, I am venting. I mean, I know we are blessed and need to leave it at that.

The birds are gone. Within a two week period they were born, grew and flew off. I will post those pics later.

So now it is off to read my last chapter for school, then write my paper that is due the first night of class. Hope your day is a blessed one.

We have new babies!

Baby birds that is. The new Mourning Doves arrived last week. They are huge and healthy I believe, and so very cute to look at. Mackenzie discovered them right away when they hatched which was awesome. It caused a lot of excitement and we were right out there with the camera and mom was gracious enough to let us take a few snap shots.

They are very fuzzy little things, and they eat a regurgitated milk like fluid from mom which is what is happening in the picture where it looks like they are kissing.

We were also introduced to mom's "life mate" as it is called in the research book. He happened to stop by after we had put the camera away. Probably to check in on the family. A very cool experience for the girls for sure.
Enjoy the pics!

Just Stuff

We finally made the decision to start looking for a more permanent home here. We love the house we are in, and are fine if we end up having to stay where we are, but we would rather not pay the equity on someone else's home, so we thought it time to just find our own. We will take our time, and be picky, as we have specific things we are looking for in a house. And we are looking for something cheap in a land where cheap is not easily found. It's not going to be easy, but it will all work out though.

The girls are doing Studies on different countries. Hailey has changed hers to Iceland and Mackenzie is studying Spain. It has been a lot more fun this year to watch them learning about the different countries. Right now Mackenzie is writing down a recipe for buttermilk biscuits that she found while searching for info on her country. She will make them tonight to have with dinner. This should be a lot of fun!

Yesterday the girls when to a friends house to play on a trampoline with a hose. They were soaked when I picked them up, and they had a lot of fun. It was a nice change for them. They have decided that we need a tree or two in the backyard of our new house so that we can have a tree house or a swing. Hailey has also requested a larger room to fit a larger bed. She is so tall that her little bed is just not big enough anymore. Crazy!

Time to go. Blessings to you all.

Moving In

We have a new neighbor. I am assuming it is a she as she has created a nest right inside the holder of what holds my newly dead plants. (See, the plants were alive and well until we had a heat wave and they suddenly died. I have tried to water them and bring them back but with no luck.) This was certainly unexpected.

This morning I had to make an unplanned trip to the store, and when I got back to settle down in my favorite spot to have some ice tea-lemonade and read a little, something caught my eye. A little bird creating a new home right in the middle of the dead flowers that are hanging in front of our house. And my first thought was "How cool is this! Now we can do a study on birds." (Oh how I've turned into such the home schooling mom. And all thanks to Amy! Thanks Amy!) But now I am wondering how this is going to work. Shad is definitely not going to like this. Then again, he doesn't really notice little things like birds living in dead flower baskets. Perhaps I will just let him figure it out for himself. Anyway, the girls are excited to watch what happens and all from the comfort of our front window.

Does anyone out there know what kind of bird this is?

It's Raining it's pouring, the old man is snoring.

Of course in this case it is the old woman. I slept in until 10am. Okay Amy, I know that is a bit early for you, but I am averaging about 9am and so 10am is late for me. Kiss, kiss!

It is clouded over and the girls keep trying to play outside but it keeps raining on them. It is a nice change from the heat though. The birds are chirping and loving it too. I hear them every morning right outside of my window. It has red on its head and chest and is small. I wonder what kind it is? It also has a very distinct song.

Today is supposed to be park day. I wonder who will show up if it is raining? We will still go just to get out of the house. I plan on bringing towels and snacks. If nothing else, we will play in the rain and have lunch in the truck at the park. I find it funny that no one will go out in the rain here. It isn't like Vegas where it pours down and floods the road in five to twenty minutes. It rains a steady and slow rain and I find it fun to run around in it. I will bring the camera and take pictures too.

I broke down and watched some of the news today and it totally sucked. Horrible things going on all around. I really don't like watching the new as they usually are all about the shock of a story and how much it can make them. I wouldn't even have a television if it weren't for Shad.

I am going to look for the largest puddle to jump in.

We went into San Francisco last night to see the Giants play Oakland. The Giants lost, but it was a fun experience anyway to watch the girls at the game. I thought they would be totally bored and want to go home before the game even got started, however they are now Giants Fans. It all starts so innocently doesn't it?

The first picture is of part of the field as we saw it from our seats, and then there is a picture of the girls being crazy with excitement. Next is B. Bonds standing in the outfield. He really is a good player, and Oakland was afraid to throw him anything worth hitting, so they walked him a lot.

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun and in the end, the girls were super happy to have had the chance to see a game.

I look forward to our next adventure which looks to be the Alameda County Fair which starts today and lasts for 13 days.

Well, I am off to the farmers market. Blessings to you!

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Check it out.

Busy

We have been doing a lot in the last month or two. We took a trip to the local mini golf coarse and had a great time playing in the wind. Notice Mackenzie's awesome golf stance. We did a little site seeing of some of the homes around San Fran., we went to Vegas to see family which was awesome and we just got back from Utah to go to my sister's wedding. The picture is of her and her new husband John, her daughter and new step son. It was a great wedding. Very beautiful and fun. We had a great time.

Now we have to get back to things here at home. I have my last class for Communications this Thursday, and then I move on to Research. The girls are working hard on piano and we are preparing for visitors as they are coming. Family in July and August, then September, and we will be going to Vegas for Christmas if I have any time off of school. I found my cousin Rocky who lives in San Francisco and so I will get to hook up with him soon.

Friday we are going to our first baseball game (San Fran -vs- Oakland) and I will of course take pictures and share the experience with you all. It can't be like the football games right? So I wont need battle armor. Or will I?

It is music that has been missing in my life these days. I turned off the big box and turned on music and have listened to it all day. It gives me energy which is probably why I loved metal back in the day. It fills me with emotion and sometimes affirms where I am at at the moment.

Life is moving right along. We have a busy week this week with meetings and park day, school and packing. We go to Utah this weekend to see my sister get married. I look forward to having some fun time with my family again. However, I am praying that certain people like my father and others are on their best behavior while we are there so that the visit becomes a little less stressful than it already is.

The turtles are growing a little, but still small. I believe it was about two years before my niece and nephew's turtles began growing at a rapid pace. I can only hope ours don't grow super fast as we live in a place that is way too cold for them, and I don't really want to have to buy a huge glass container for them right now with no place to put it except the middle of the floor. Wait! I could use them as a coffee table! Now that would be cool. Different, but cool.

Looks to be getting late in the day so I better go get some dinner plans made. Oh, and turn the music down so the neighbors don't get upset. Hope all is well with you and yours!

Back from Vegas

What a strange trip it's been!

It is rather weird, but going to Vegas was exciting and I was very happy to see family and friends even if for a short while. But I have to say that I am so glad to be home. I still miss my church the most and wish we could find that here.

The girls got super tan after being in the pool for up to eight hours a day for four days and I even got a little bit of sun. We had a great time visiting family, going to movies, and the best part for me was visiting with Susie and Zack. It really made me miss our church family though.

So now that we are home, I have taken on putting together a home schooling event for our group. A trip around the world in a day. It should be fun and has me dealing with difficult people. You can't please everyone. I am enjoying it though and look forward to sharing the experience with you all when it is all done.

Time now to go take care of some animals. The turtles are getting restless.

I'm watching Hailey watch the news. Her reactions to the stories are very interesting. She was so concerned about a fire she heard about until she heard that no one was injured and then she was so relieved. She sometimes has a curious look about her, and then she has a confused look. Watching the traffic report she was so worried because she thought we might get stuck in the traffic on the Bay Bridge when we leave for Vegas. I had to explain that we went in a totally different direction when driving to Vegas. Hey, I think I will take out the map and have her find out the way from here to Vegas.

There are flowers of all kinds growing in my yard which is really cool because back in Vegas, nothing grew for long except the palm tree in my back yard, and even it was dying. So I went out to take a picture or two of the plants in my
yard, and there were the squirrels, ready to drive my dog nuts. As you can see in the picture, she was up on the couch watching a squirrel climb the tree in the front, and she has this funny curl in her lip as she was giving us a low growl to let us know she was on the hunt. Those little critters just drive her insane. But, I have to admit that it is kind of funny to watch her try to chase them. Hopefully she will never catch one, but it could happen. Let's just hope she doesn't try to bring one in if she does. Maybe we should take down that doggie door. Hmmmmm.

The home schooling group I joined has been having some very interesting conversations over the group email loop about unschooling. Some are very defined in what they think it is or is supposed to look like. Others are very concerned that they are being labeled. Isn't it amazing how by raising your children in the way you feel is best you can get caught up in a battle of what it is supposed to be called and what it is supposed to look like? I mean, in my opinion, all that really matters is that you are loving your children the way God intended. Yet we have people that we place in some type of authority and let them define what learning should be like for our children. And I feel like these children aren't ours in the first place. They are children of God in my opinion. He basically created them and placed them in our care because we had that something to give them that would help define who they would be so that they could become and do what was intended for them to do. And sometimes I feel like He gives them to us because He has something specific for us to learn or do that is provided by something the children have to offer us. But either way, God is entrusting us with his creations. That is HUGE! Wow, thinking about it that way makes me hope I don't screw up!

Anyway, I am just throwing out there some thoughts from my brain which isn't always functioning properly these days.


So Mackenzie is learning the theme to Star Wars on the piano this week. I am so proud! She has the beginning down and is currently working on the next part.

Hailey is learning super-cali-fragile blah blah, Okay, I don't know how to spell it, but it's that really annoying song from Mary Poppins. She plays it so well, and I loved it the first hundred times, but now it is just really annoying.

I found a house that was really perfect for us, 4bedrooms, 2baths with a bitchin back yard and great hard wood floors, and it is just over 1800 sq. feet. But the price is all fuc%*^ up!!!! 789,000! Let's see, if we actually agreed on that amount, with crappy financing we would have a house payment of about $3500.00! The part that really sucks is that it is right near a park, and a home schooling family live right across the street! I would love to buy that house, but just not for that much money!!! Perhaps some day we will find a home we can call ours. But for now, I won't complain because we are super blessed to be where we are.

Hope to see some familiar faces at the end of the month in Vegas. But most of all I am looking forward to the pool! I am also wondering if it will feel weird at all coming back to Vegas after living here for the last five months.

So the trip to Deer Hill Farm was awesome. The girls really had a great time. We made cotton thread by carding the wool from a sheep and then pulling it and twisting it all the while trying to make it as thin as possible, and the lanolin in the wool gets all over your hands and it feels kind of good and makes your hands soft. The kids also went into the hay loft and it took quite a few kids to lift a bail of hay. They fed chickens, groomed horses, ponies, and mules. They held rabbits and chickens, went into the hen house to get eggs right from under the chickens, saw and handled the baby chicks, climbed fences, among other things. It was really great to have the girls get to experience it all. We will have to make another trip some time. They have summer camps there and there are all kind of trails around the property. Fun! Our next adventure is to travel to the Red Wood forest. But that won't be for a little while.

We are about to leave on a fieldtrip to Deer Hill Farms. I will make sure we take lots of photos to share of our adventure.

First though, I had to share this little story.
We were at the park and since it was during "school hours" there were no other kids there, however there was a group of 4-5year olds doing soccer over on another field far from where we were. So I am looking off towards the trees that surround the parking lot and along comes this little kid. He could only be one of the soccer stars because of the way he is dressed. So I see him, and then start looking for the parent who must be behind him a ways. I see no one. This little boy wandered from the soccer group and decided he was going to stop at this playground and play. I asked him if his mom or dad knew where he was and he tells me that his mom dropped him off for soccer and she won't mind if he is there. I restate my question and he ignores me. So I tell him that mom's and dad's don't normally like not knowing where their kids are, that it scares them. He looks at me and smiles, perhaps giggles and continues to play. So I decide to wait it out and if no one shows up by the time we have to leave, I will call the cops. Pretty soon, here comes this black truck screeching into the parking lot, and a hysterical mother races out screaming the name of her child. He runs to her and she is flipping out about how everyone is looking for him. The kid, seeing his mother's look starts crying and mom precedes to have a little talk with him.

How easily he could have been gone. If it were not me, but some kind of child predator sitting in that park, in the amount of time it took for someone to get there, (around 10 minutes) this little boy would have been gone, probably never to be found. I prayed right there for those two people. Then Mackenzie comes to me and says, "who drops their kid off alone?" Hailey says, "you have do be dropped off alone for school. Every day kids get dropped off alone at school." Mackenzie looked at me and said, "Yes, but not little kids like that." Hailey tells her about kindergarten and daycare. Mackenzie shook her head and walked away saying "glad I don't go to school or daycare."


Oh, time to go, well, I will have to share the rest of this story later. Blessings!

I grabbed my bag of school books and folders to head out to my team meeting. It was 6:30 and I had to be at the meeting place by 7. I reached for the door and my cell phone went off. That's odd, I thought, who would be calling me? I already talked to Gram today.

It was my brother. Curious, he doesn't call me often. "Hey, it's your brother. What's up?" He sounded tired and a little under the weather so to speak. We exchanged greetings and then the true nature of his call began.

"So I thought I might do something nice for mom for mother's day." He said.

"Well isn't that special." I said, waiting for the blow.

"Wouldn't you like to have a visit from mom for two or three days so she can hang with you and the kids?" He asked.

Silence.....

"I thought I would surprise her by buying her a ticket to fly up to see you, if that is alright with you." He waits patiently for my reaction.

Silence......."Of course she can come visit us." I say. ( What in the hell am I supposed to say, "Hell no!" Nope, can't say that. He took her in, cares for her by way of groceries and deals with her on a semi daily basis. The guilt enters along with the reality that I am not doing a thing to help him.)

"I thought you might like that." He laughs.
" Great idea. I'm sure she will love that. Just let me know the details when you get them." I say with a slight tenseness to my tone.

We speak of a few other things and hang up, then I go on to my meeting.

So there you have it. I am going to have a visitor next month for three or four days. Prayer. That is all I ask for. For those of you who don't know, I don't really mesh well with my mother. I haven't since around age five. So I ask for lots of prayer.

Woohooooo!!!!

I am so happy! Shad finally got to play a game of softball last night. Okay, the team has had no practice, ( to much rain) and they pretty much sucked, but it was so great to be out on a Sunday night watching Shad do one of his favorite things. The girls and I bought hot cocoa and sat on the bleachers. It was a little cold, but it was worth it.

Tonight is week three of my second class, then it's two more weeks and off to the next class. It's great going to school like this. It is a bit stressful, but at the same time it is just the right speed for me. I am sure that could change as soon as I get into the meatier classes, but for now it is just what I need.

Last night Hailey and I were doing are before bed time reading, and in the story it talked of oil lamps. Hailey wanted to know what they were. She also pointed out that the people in the story had a television and it mentioned turning the dial to change the channels. She inquired as to what this was all about as well. Now, I am only 34, and oil lamps were around my house, but as antiques. I know all about channel changes with dials though. Man, our kids are so un aware of what life has been like for the people before us. Needless to say that today we are doing some research on oil lamps and we are taking a trip down the road to the antique store to see if we can find one, and to see if we can find one of those old time televisions. (smirk, smile) This is home schooling at it's finest.

We are about to go to the Farmer's Market to see what is available in the way of fresh fruit and veggies. We will walk as it is only about three blocks from the house. I love the energy there.

I took the girls to a "game club" at a local pizza place. These kids were so cool, and friendly, not to mention extremely intelligent. The parents were rude and hard to talk to. However, the girls had a good time. Hailey played a game called The Settlers of Catan which she seemed to like. Mackenzie and I played Who? What? Where? Jr. which is a lot of fun. You get three cards that tell you who to draw, what to draw them doing and where to draw them doing it. Then everyone has to try to guess the answer. I had to draw a butterfly playing a guitar in a tree and a donkey sneezing in New York City. Mackenzie got a centipede bowling in a submarine and a seal blowing bubbles in a movie theatre. Very fun game.

We haven't heard from anyone, but are sure it's all good back in Vegas. We will be there in May, then in June we go to see my sister get married in Salt Lake. That should be loads of great times and produce many memories. I get to see my favorite uncle, and my niece who I haven't seen in such a long time. We will take the girls all around down town Salt Lake while we are there and perhaps get in a school lesson or two as well.

check out www.artakiane.com

Blessings

I still don't like the people here, and I am starting to really hate renting, however I started my second class last night and that kind of took my mind off of all of the crap. I am stuck with the same team as last time and I know there is a reason for this. I am doing my best to deal, and approach it in a positive manner. See, one class and I already grew up!

I have a book I came upon at the book store. It is called Akiane - her life, her art, her poetry. It is a super inspiring story about a young girl who is an artist, a poet, and, well, you just have to check it out. Here is an example of her poetry

The Hollow Compasses

Our thirst is drying the distance

There are no longer silent streets

It is not our eyes that see God's love

Time watches us like naked seeds

The liars are timing the truth

With blisters trapped in the strife

When knives of conceit divide us

Who will find our forgotten life?

The doubt we paint is always a prison

The dried-up light escpes last hail

The darkness sheds its poisoned voices

With hollow compasses we sale

-Akiane

Hi Sabrina! Good to hear from you!
I will send you my info.


Blessings and love and peace and chocolate cake!!!!

:(

I am really not likeing Northern California right now. Making friends is a lot harder than you would think. Okay, the place is beautiful, the people aren't.

This is where we go for park day. It is right near a school, and there are so many trees and plants. It is always cold as the sun is always hidden in the trees. I love the green.

The second picture is of my nephew. He was sad that the "big boys" wouldn't let him play Jedi swords with them. He got over it in about five minutes, but those five minutes when he was upset were just heart breaking. So a note to all of you "big boys" out there, try to remember the little guy once in a while. You were little once too.

Jellies!!!!! They are so awesome! I love to just sit and watch them hang out and float around. They are not easy to capture on film, especially when they are behind a huge glass wall, but I got the best picture I could while being surrounded by a huge crowd of on-lookers, most of them children.

These were the big ones, but they had some that were no bigger than the tip of a pen. Crazy!

Jellies!!!!!!! Look them up, they are so cool!!!!

These are some of the shots I took a couple weeks ago when in San Francisco. I just love to take pictures here as there is always something of interest to shoot. The first one is Alcatraz, the second is the City of San Fran and the third is a street in the city. All of the hills are crazy, and I often wonder what this place must have looked like before it was covered in concrete.

I am going to try to remember to take more pictures around here and then share them with everyone.

I finish my first class this Monday night and start my next one the following week. I am looking forward to the new class but am not sure I want the same team to work with. Sadly this is not my choice, and in the end, I will end up learning a whole lot more dealing with the difficult people than avoiding them.

Peace and blessing to you all.

Visitors From Home

The girls cousins came to visit, as well as their Aunt Shonna and Uncle JR. We have been spending time traveling and playing and well, just having a good time.

They leave tomorrow, and the girls will be very sad. I am just glad we got to spend time with them. It has been great having visitors from home as we miss everyone so much.

Prayers to the Carders, and the Palmer family. Prayers to Sara and Jules. Thinking of you Susie, and praying as well. Miss you all!!!!!

Just a moment of thought

One of the first things I noticed when I moved here was that the people here are more friendly. Back in Vegas, no neighbor ever come up and said hello. You had to make first contact by going out when you saw someone getting the mail, or sneak in a hello when people were getting in their cars to leave. Around here, every neighbor on each side of us come over to say hello. They introduced themselves and were friendly. It's just an observation.

School is going fine. My Learning Team is weak, yet we are muddling through. I have learned a lot this first semester which will be over in two more weeks. Then I go right on to my next class. For the final day of this first class, the team and I have to put together a Power Point presentation on Ethics. Oh, this should be good. (I am being very sarcastic)

I started reading some books outside of my school reading. (this helps me not stress over the amount of reading I have to do for school. Strange I know) One of them was a book on Alcatraz. It is written by the son of a former guard who worked there during one of the escape attempts. I am amazed at the way things were done during that time. Families lived on the Island along with the prisoners. Would you feel safe doing that? It was a good story, but sad. It is called Battle at Alcatraz by Ernest B. Lageson. I even got him to autograph the book which was cool. It allowed me to find out some information straight from the author.

I am also reading a book on homeschooling. It is called Teach Your Own by John Holt and Patrick Farenga. It has really opened my eyes to some of the things that went on in the past, and helped me to realize just how long people have been homeschooling their children. I have only just begun reading it, however it is really interesting and insightful. It talks about the different questions homeschoolers always get regarding socialization, special needs children, quality of the education and so on. I am enjoying it.

So we will be visiting in May around Labor Day. Perhaps we will get to see some of you. I wonder if there is a gathering around that time? I will have to look that up. I can't wait to see the babies!!!

I tend to read Mark Palmer's blog ever day, even though I have never met him. He is in need of prayer, more than usual. Could you please pray for him?

Blessings to you!

Just a quickie!

Thought I would share a few things.

School was cool. I enjoyed it and look forward to the fight ahead.

A quick story:

My cousin has been down a long and crazy road. He has chosen many a wrong path. His brother dis-owned him a few years ago, and he went to jail for six months for some crazy things. His wife divorced him and left with his child while he was in jail. Before he was put in jail, I had the chance to talk with him a little about the path Shad and I have been on with God. He listened, but said something to the effect that God couldn't possibly forgive him for all of the things he has done in his life. He was very depressed, and I was not sure he would make it through the night. He did of course, and then went off to jail and that was the last I have heard from him.

He has been on my mind a lot, and in my prayers even more.

So, today, I talked to someone in the family to see if they have heard from him or know how he is getting along. They say my cousin has been going to church, reading the Bible and stopped drinking and smoking. This alone is huge. But I also found out that he went to see his brother, knocked on the door with a Bible in his hand and simply apologized for all the things he ever did wrong to his brother and asked for forgiveness. The news brought tears to my eyes.

God is so amazing! I just had to share.

Our house sale didn't go through, so if you know anyone who wants a house, well, we still have one for sale. Or maybe God is trying to tell us something? HMmmmmm.........?

Just a quick note

School starts for me on Monday night. I am filled with anticipation, horror, anxiety and the such, but I also know that God is right beside me. So with that said, I guess I should just pray and meditate and move on with my day.

The girls and I are going shopping for my sister today. I love to go to the mall during the day. It is so quiet. Her birthday (My sister's) is coming up and I want to get her something real nice. We have at least one birthday in every month in my family. August is full of them, as well as May.

I am trying very hard to stay in touch with everyone but it is hard to do for a person who sucks at it. I just need to practice. I am writing more letters though. School will put a dent into that I am sure.

We have a couple of home school families coming over tomorrow afternoon to hang out. I am trying hard to start a community of God loving people who will feel free to visit at any time. Our door is open, so lets see who God brings our way. If you could pray about that, well, thanks.

Blessings to you all, and prayers for all.

Someone turned 8 today! She picked out her own cake, got a new bike, and went shopping at the mall. She blew up a bunch of yellow smiley face balloons and has been playing some kind of game with them most of the day with her family. She is very happy and has had a greatly blessed day.

Her mom and dad are very proud of her and love her very much.

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

This is my favorite picture from yesterday in San Francisco. We went to see our Nephew who was visiting with his school. It was cold, but we had a super time walking around, showing the girls the city and going to Alcatraz while hanging out with Ryan. He is an amazing young man.

Mackenzie said her favorite part of Alcatraz was solitary confinement. Should I be worried?

Hailey loved seeing the Sea Lions that were being lazy in the dock. There was one that looked like he or she was praying. They were cool.