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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Silence.....

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

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

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

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

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

Woohooooo!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

check out www.artakiane.com

Blessings

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

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

The Hollow Compasses

Our thirst is drying the distance

There are no longer silent streets

It is not our eyes that see God's love

Time watches us like naked seeds

The liars are timing the truth

With blisters trapped in the strife

When knives of conceit divide us

Who will find our forgotten life?

The doubt we paint is always a prison

The dried-up light escpes last hail

The darkness sheds its poisoned voices

With hollow compasses we sale

-Akiane

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


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

:(

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace and blessing to you all.

Visitors From Home

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

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

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

Just a moment of thought

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blessings to you!

Just a quickie!

Thought I would share a few things.

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

A quick story:

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

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

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

God is so amazing! I just had to share.

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

Just a quick note

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

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

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

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

Blessings to you all, and prayers for all.

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

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

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

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

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

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

I am finally savey on the whole downloading pictures thing. Wow, if only someone could have pointed it out a little sooner I could have been sharing lots of pictures with you. I am a picture addict. We have photo albums everywhere and tons of pictures on our computers. While this one is not mine, it is from my computer and is just a test to make sure I have it down. I will be adding lots of things for you all to see very soon.