Vegas

Some how we always have card games going on when we visit Vegas. We always end up with all of the kids spending the night with us and we end up going out to eat at least once at Macayos too. Tradition? I guess to some degree. The card game is Trash Can, the snacks are root beer floats, and the dinner, well, I can't quite remember, but it was pretty good.

I miss them a lot, and through the tears we managed to have some fun. It was a good trip.

We are off to art class! Keep the peace people!

Here are the bees from the other day. I guess the plan worked because they were gone the next day. Who knew you could trap a bunch of bees in a box with soda in it.

These are also some recent pics of the girls. They are growing way too fast for me. Hailey is 5'4 now and Mackenzie is quickly catching up.

Later I will post some pics from our trip to visit grandma.

Today is sunny with a bit of wind. It is a lazy Sunday for sure. I have a lot of school to get done this week, but I am finally on the last leg of this current class. 14 classes down and about 21 more to go! If I can find more school money and keep up this pace, I will be done by November of 2009! Wooohoooo! Okay, I am trying real hard to keep a positive outlook here so just stay with me. Time is passing by fast though so it's all good!

Hailey is currently learning French now and Mackenzie is studying Spanish. It has been fun to learn along with them, although I do better with Spanish than French. It must have something to do with taking it three years in high school. It's fun to listen to them speaking another language. I am taking them to art classes starting Tuesday and will share pics of that here later on. They will be working with clay and oils, then do a short study on drawing. At the same time I will be getting some instruction on some teaching techniques. We are also taking a trip to the Chabot Space Center this Thursday and I will share pics of that as well.

Hope all is well with friends and family. I think of everyone often and wonder what they are up to. I'm sure it is nothing but peace loving goodness!

Keep the peace people!

Just an update...

Granny is doing pretty well with the first chemo treatment. She was sick and weak for a couple of days but doing much better now. She gets another treatment in a couple of weeks and hopefully will do just as well. We were able to help and give Shad's mom a break which she really needed too. Sorry to those who we missed, but granny was the main focus on this trip.

Now we have a trip to Ohio to plan. A trip that has come a lot sooner than expected. Yep, another sick granny. Such is life!

I found a copy of The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer yesterday and I love it! It keeps my interest and will make a great read for the girls later on. I also found these really cool books for reading and vocabulary called The Vocabulary Teacher's Book of Lists and The Reading Teacher's Book of Lists. They have tons of cool facts and explanations on all kinds of words. I will share an example with you:

Atom Bomb versus Hydrogen Bomb
The atom bomb uses fission and was as powerful as 20,000 tons of TNT. It flattened a city and killed 75,000 people in Hiroshima in 1945.

The hydrogen bomb is a thousand times more powerful. It blew a crater a mile wide and two hundred feet deep in a test on the Pacific Atoll in 1952.

Old Derogatory Terms
Scurvy- this is used to describe a mean, nasty, contemptible person who is probably ugly besides. Scurvy is also a disease caused by lack of Vitamin C that causes skin spots.

(These are from the book The Vocabulary Teacher's Book of Lists by Edward B. Fry, Ph.D.)

There is also another book we found that is pretty good so far. It's the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

Welp, I'm off to read for school (mine) and get the girls working on theirs.

Oh, one last thing. We were over by the KFC by our grocery store and we saw a police van with some caution tape around part of the parking lot. Out of curiosity we walked over to see what was up. I was not ready for what I saw. No, not a dead body, but a box tipped over with about a million bees swarming around it. The girls freaked out. Apparently there were some workers jack-hammering the parking lot and they were suddenly swarmed by bees. The cop put soda in a box and threw it in the area of the bees with the hope that they would swarm into the box and he would be able to collect them that way. Can anyone see a problem with this yet? He then said he would be back in an hour to check the progress. HMmmmmm. Well, we left after that but I keep wondering what happened. Think the cop caught the bees?

Keep the peace people!!!!

It's Friday night, um, I meant Saturday morning!

I'm sooooo done with nutrition class! Our final presentation was on the cabbage soup diet and it rocked! Okay, I'm kind of pushing it there. It was as good as a cabbage soup presentation can get I guess. I even found an awesome head of cabbage that we used as a prop and it is currently sitting in a bag waiting to be thrown out because no one wants it. Poor cabbage head!!

I am currently watching Conan O'Brian while typing my blog thoughts. It's kind of hard to concentrate because his show is funny and ......................distracting. And I love his hair!

I see lots of traveling in my future. Yep, I'm psycho, I mean psychic.

Well, I'm off to read about human motivation as there is nothing motivating me enough to keep writing about stuff you don't really care about anyway.

Keep the peace my friend!

Happy Easter

I made waffles for breakfast, and we spent time watching a movie at home together as a family today. We watched Zoom which was a fun kids movie. Around one we called our family back home and spent an hour catching up on life and finalizing travel plans. Later we went to an early dinner/late lunch (what Mackenzie calls dunch) at the Red Tractor, and followed that up with a movie at the movie theatre. We saw Meet the Robinsons which was funny and had a good message. We ended the night with a trip to Cold Stone for ice cream. Despite all of the doom and gloom over the last month and the months to come, this has been a really happy day.

Our talk with the kids went something like this:

Shad-"Gram had to have some tests and the tests showed that she has some pretty bad things going on with her lungs and liver. We aren't sure what they can do about it, but she is doing alright now. So we want to take an early trip to visit with her and spend time with her and the family."

Hailey-"You mean we are going to Las Vegas?"

Me-"Yep."

Mackenzie-"When?"

Shad-"We aren't sure yet, but soon. Very soon."

Hailey-"I can't wait to go swimming!"

Yep, somehow this talk just didn't go like I thought it would. Unfortunately I know that there will be more talks in time. And those will probably go a lot different.

Gram is the one in the Green. She is going to be 85 on May 14th. Our children, her great-grand children, are very close to her and love her very much. She is pretty active, and has a super sharp mind. And even though she is full of thorns sometimes, she has a huge heart and is loved very much.

Gram was told this week that she has tumors on her lungs and liver, and that she has about 3 months to live. Yes, she has lived a long life, but we love her and are very sad to hear this news. No one wants to watch a family member die of cancer, and no one wants to have to tell their children that someone in the family that they are so used to having around will no longer be around. But we have no other option. So how do you tell a child? Perhaps I will share our experience as we figure it out.

These are my beautiful kids. Yes, even the fuzzy one!

These pics are from Feb. right before a certain birthday. Actually, it was before Valentines day now that I think about it. Time sure flies fast. I am about to order pizza for the first time in a long time. Don't faint, I know it is a bit shocking, but just stay with me. It has Prosciutto, Artichoke Hearts, Lemon Feta, Caramelized Onions, Roma Tomatoes and just looks so super yummy that I am totally sold on buying one even though it is going to cost us $20.00. Normally I would not do this. We live on a budget people (Northern California, Duh) so we have not been doing the pizza thing too regularly.

I was recently attacked by some kind of starving spider. I say starving because the jerk bit me like ten times on the hip. I have had these itchy, bumpy things for over a week and the itch is getting old. Nothing has helped much and I am beginning to think these things will never leave. I hope he had a good meal, then choked to death. BIG JERK SPIDER!!!!!!!!!

I found out that a certain couple of people I know just got engaged last night. I am super happy for this couple because they have been through so much and totally deserve some happiness in their lives. So that is some happy news to take place of the yucky news I have been sharing.

Well, time to order pizza!!!!!! Yummy pizza!!!!!!!!!!!

Not the best morning ever

I find it very hard to keep in touch with everyone we left behind. It's like work and stuff. And it get frustrating too. Maybe I should do what they do and leave it at that. Sorry, rambling.

So, today I found out that Gram has some tumors on her lung and liver. Add that to my sister-in-law who will have to have brain surgery for sure, and the other grandma in Texas who has decided to leave the good doctors and go back to Ohio where the closest doctor to her will be over an hour away and doesn't specialize in congestive heart failure issues and you have got one sad morning.

But wait, there's more! Two family friends who are fighting cancer and not winning. One is now with Hospice which means he is being dosed on morphine to keep the pain at bay until his time comes, and the other just had surgery to take out lymph nodes and a thyroid although his cancer is in the bone, and his wife has been dealing with her own cancer issues.

I have been talking with God a lot these days. Things like this are what set me off on the whole "what is the point and purpose" questioning, and to tell you the truth, I still don't know. I have not been depressed for some time now, and I am fighting to keep it that way. These people all need prayer. They need miracles. They need love and faith. I just want to hold them all and be able to make it all better.

I guess the fact that I have already experienced a lot of loss in my life has led me to want to love on people more. We only have so much time on this earth, and only so much time to experience the joy that is family. We are all family after all. Every one of us no matter where we are from. I think that is what God created us for. To be his family. And families should take care of each other.

So, I guess I will go and pray and concentrate on how I can be a positive light in all of this mess. And then, after that, I will put my thoughts and prayers into action because prayer and thought can be great, but action is greater.

Piano and School

Hailey can play Fur Elise now! She has always loved that music and can now play it in it's entirety. Mackenzie is working on Beauty and the Beast and has the first two pages down. They have been working very hard and it shows. We are proud of them.

We grew green beans in a cup and now we need to find a place in the backyard to transplant them to or they will die. I wonder how big they will get? I should do more research. Our science studies have us learning all about plants and cells and such and now we are waiting for our slides to come in the mail so we can start using our microscope. I can't wait until dissection stuff starts, that is going to be so much fun! Well, for me at least, not the girls.

Our turtles are getting bigger finally. After their long winter sleep and getting them their new turtle mansion, they are looking healthier and happier, and growing like weeds. Hopefully they don't grow too big before we find a place to live that has a yard where we can build a good habitat for them.

Oops, need to go! More later....................

Luck-O-The Irish!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beware of green beer!

Some lessons........

Things I have learned since living in Northern California:

Parking here is a dangerous sport and costs lots of time and money, especially in the city.

Driving here is a dangerous sport, especially in the city, and requires packing snacks and activities to keep you occupied while sitting in traffic.

People are either really nice or really shitty, depending on the amount of money they make and the kind of car they drive or house they live in. (Wait, isn't it like that in Vegas too?)

Heath and environment are super duper important subjects around here. Way more important than in Vegas.

If your kid is a home schooler, you get frowns and dirty looks because you are "steeling from the public school system!". Oh how sad! As if that were true!

This place is full of 9-13 year old gang banger wanna-be's throwing gang signs at you for not hitting them with your car as they walk down the middle of the frickin street. Yep, that really happened. Maybe I should have run his little punk ass over?

The weather here rocks!

The housing market is a joke.

Prices here are well above the cost of living. They just have to be!

Gas prices are insane!!!!!!!!!!

Earthquakes arent' all that scary. The little ones anyway. :)

Computer on!

Star date, 03042007. Mission, to get Shad off of the Star Trek Legacy game that he continues to play, even though his ship is being destroyed. I have tried to mind meld with him, but it was no use. His brain function is being over run by visions of war ships and laser beams. I've begun to lose hope of him ever coming back to earth.

Yet, perhaps there is still hope. I've heard tell of a "plug" that comes from the wall which if pulled with the proper force should pull him free from his torment. The mission is a risky one, but we are left with no other alternative. I must go inform the rest of the my crew about the mission. We must not fail!

End Transmission

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.

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!

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/grooviemomma/

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!