New and Exciting Things!

There have been new things brewing. First the girls started going to a new writing club which has been very positive. The rules of the club are:

1. Each member must bring something they have written and share it with the group.

2. The club is run by the members, so no parents allowed. (I thought this one was funny).

Since attending, they both started writing stories, by their own will, and are loving it. MacKenzie even draws illustrations for hers and now she wants to start a drawing club. We are currently in the planning stages for it but I will share more as things get started.

Hailey has decided to create a book club for girls ages 12-14 and even created a web site for it, all on her own. (Amy, I just love you for helping us find the home school door!) She is also doing a study on ancient vs present day Egypt with a friend for the Trip Around the World event that I am going to host again. They went to the library today (to the library on a Sunday!) and checked out books and made plans for their display. She is very happy these days which fills my heart with so much joy.

It's funny because I was going to avoid hosting the Trip Around the World event this year because school has kept me very busy these days, but I broke down and got it put together last week. And I am glad because it has prompted the girls to get interested in more learning.

Both of them are still taking piano lessons, and doing great, and we are planning a trip to Ohio to visit Grandma Ruth's farm in the fall. (EIEIO) I can't wait to see the fire flies! They are my favorite part.I am also going to take a trip to Sacramento in August for a homeschooling convention. There are a ton of reasons why I should take the girls with me, but I am planning on going alone so it can double as a mom's vacation weekend at the same time. Dealing with two school schedules wears a person out!

And as if I don't already have enough on my plate, I am taking on writing an article for a magazine. It is a one time thing and for no money, but it is something I feel I've got to do. It could end up being a lot of fun as well.

MacKenzie celebrated her 9th birthday this month with a chocolate cake and a trip to the Mall for a new outfit. (It is not the one in the picture). That was a lot of fun. She is way into her own style and I will share birthday pics next time.

And that is about it for now. I will write more later.

The Christmas pics...

Here are some of the pictures from Christmas 2006. It was a fun trip! The kids were the best part and I look forward to next year. There are more but I will have to show them later. Enjoy!

Waiting....

I keep waiting to put anything down here until I get my pictures uploaded, however that is proving to take way too long. Only because I have come in the habit of doing everything on my computer as I sit in the living room. Sitting at a desk for me is so uncomfortable. I like to be able to stretch out and have a nice blanket over me to keep me warm. Yes, I am still cold, but warming up gradually.

Let's see, school has been really good. I have done much better than I thought I would in my current class. This Thursday is my final class in PSY and then it is off to Religious Traditions.

OH, and I went to Vegas for my brother's 40th birthday celebration. It was everything I anticipated and then some. We even had family drama, because what is a celebration in my family with out the drama?

I had a great time hanging out with my dad and brother before things got started. And during the party I got to hang out with my niece and nephew which was great. I really miss them. And I even had, um, I mean got to see my mom who isn't taking very good care of herself still. Shocker there!

Then there were the cousins I grew up with that I consider brothers. They are all getting older and perhaps a little wiser. (There is still hope in that department.) There were a few members of the family that were missing. My sister who travels way too much and couldn't be there because of work. (Damn work!) And another cousin/brother who has been banished by the others because he is an addict/currently in recovery but no one can trust if it is really true or not. I missed them, and wish they could have been there.

Oh the love of family and the wonder that is "family get togethers". I miss them all, even my mom. There are times when I wish I could have just one normal moment with them in a room together. But then, we have never had a "normal" moment in a room together as long as I can remember. For now, I am just glad to have family, as screwed up as we all are. And I will leave it at that for now.(As if I could do anything about it anyway?)

My girls are doing so much better these days. They have made a new friend, and we started going to a new event right down town on Wednesdays. We can walk there because it is so close, which is why I am so excited about it. But more then that, it has finally found us some home schoolers in our area. Although, most go to a charter school, which in my opinion isn't really home schooling. But like I said, that is my opinion. And it is based on knowing very little about charters, so who the hell am I to say what is and isn't?

There has been some drama with our home school group too. And because I am on the committee, I have been dragged into just a smidgen of it. Mostly by choice. Our group communicates via email, so I chose to make a comment that was a bit bold for me. In the end, it will all work out though. The people here floor me. That is about all I can say.

Well, that is all I can manage for today. Perhaps at some point this week I will be able to get my computer into the den and get it hooked up to allow my pictures to be down loaded. Then I can show you my crazy family members whom I love so much and reminisce about Christmas and anything else that comes up. For now, stay warm!

Time

Seems like the time in between posts gets longer and longer. And not just for me, but every blog I read on a regular basis. Could it be that the blog generation is moving on to bigger and better things? Who cares!


School is right back on track and moving full force. For both the girls and myself. Mackenzie has been studying the states while Hailey is studying the globe in all it's glory. We were having a fun time with it too until the world fell off of it's base. Yep, just up and fell apart! Poor world!

Being that I didn't see anything else wrong with it other than it couldn't stand on it's own, I decided that one of us would hold it while the other looked for information. (We had the whole world in our hands!...) This was working fine until we noticed that our globe has some issues.

There are certain places and names we can not find that should be there. At least, according the the curriculum we are using, they should be there. I am pretty sure that the names of the major deserts of the world should be there, right?

Anyway, in the end, all of this has led me to investigate the possibility of purchasing a new globe. In my search I found this cool one that talks to you and gives info on money exchange and such. It is expensive, so I am giving myself a week to think it over first before buying it, but I really am impressed with it.

Life here has been good. We are freezing our butts off today with the high around 49, and the low last night around 29 or something like that. Shad laughed at me yesterday because I went grocery shopping wearing three shirts and two pair of socks. I can't help it! I was born in the desert people! Yes, it gets cold there too, but not that often! I like the 100 degree weather!

He called me before I left and I kept telling him how the house was too cold, like "fricken arctic" were the words I used. I guess a wife needs to provide comic relief at times, but I really wasn't joking. I was fricken cold! I want my desert back!

I have class tonight which I am looking forward to, and I already received info on my next class. World Religious Traditions. It will be very interesting I think. The reading in my present class is crazy but I am getting a lot out of it. I'm going to one day rock the psychology world! Or....not. Either way it's alright.

Time to gas up at the local coffee shop and dive into the wonderful world that is laundry. Hope your day is full of warmth!

:)

Starting Over...

...that is what this new year symbolizes for me. So, in the spirit of the new year, I am starting over in many areas of my life. Perhaps I will share more on that later.

Christmas was fun, lots of family QFT, the annual trip for big gulps, a yummy dinner and lots of screaming children. We had a great time. I loved seeing friends and hearing how everyone had changed. I felt very blessed to be able to hang out with "the Ladies" at dinner. (Thank you Amy!) They are an awesome bunch of women. And I am very happy that I got to see my Susie! Hang tough and TRUST lady!

It's off to bed for me as tomorrow starts our first day back at home school. (We took the last month or so off.) Pics of the vacation are on their way.

Have a peaceful night.

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.