Trick or Treat!

Last night was Trick or Treat in our town. T2 went as a "nerd" (I called him the Tech Support Guy)


T1 went as a "Hippie". I joked that we had a conservative and a liberal!

They both got just enough candy to keep them sufficiently sugared up for a few days

I didn't get any Mary Janes but I did score a Bit-o-honey and a Mocha Roca!

They had some friends to run around with this year. That made it a whole lot more fun. It's taking ALL of my willpower to keep from eating a Reece Cup right now!
I'll refrain! I will satisfy my Halloween craving by hitting some after holiday sales tomorrow morning!

CRASH

There is a pathetically long traffic light just outside the parking lot where the kids take their band lessons. As we were sitting there yesterday, impatiently anticipating the colors to change from red to green, I saw a minor fender bender. At first I wasn't certain how minor it was because I couldn't see the backside of the car that was rear ended. It hit really hard too, it made the smaller car do a hop and a roll! I dutifully pulled off since I'd seen the wreck and waited to make sure everything was ok. Both cars pulled out of the road and into a small parking lot beside me.

First of all,, here's how the wreck went down.

The goldish sedan (looks green in the picture) was sitting at the bottom of the hill waiting for the light to change. The red SUV came towards the light, didn't slow down and slammed into the back of the sedan.

Simple enough.

Here's the part where I feel awful and I'm a complete sick pup. Maybe I just love irony I dunno. The person that was doing nothing wrong at all was the little old lady in the sedan! To top it all off she's a STUDENT DRIVER! I didn't laugh out loud until I realized they were ok! (I'm not that messed up! ha ha)

Fall.

It's official. It's fall. We woke up to frost this morning! Of course by the time we got back from physical therapy (more on that later) most of the frost was gone but there was a few spots left to take pictures of.
Physical therapy. Yes, I did not have it on the agenda for today. Last night when I was tucking the kids in, T1 said "what school work are we taking to PT in the morning"
I replied to the silly boy "we don't have PT in the morning!"
T1 said "yes we do, remember? You told the lady we couldn't come on Tuesday so it would have to be Monday and Wednesday next week? and T2 said 'we can't, we have band' and then you said 'not until 3! we can do it!'"
There was a long pause.
"CRAP"
Then I commenced with the whineing.
So add that to one more thing I have to do today.
Sheesh. I'm going to need a headache treatment
I also have a lame flyer to put together and need to get some resembleance of a website put together for the band. Neither will be hard,, it's just doing it. I'll have to do all of this heavily medicated of course because the man I'll refer to as Jorgen Von Strangle from now on really cranked on me today and then casually said "wow,, you're really tight" to which I replied "YA THINK?" I hate him, he hates me, it's a mutual thing we've got going.
On top of all of this,, I woke up with "lady issues" this morning. I only get the "lady issues" about once every other year so yea,, it WAS a surprise.
My mantra today? "suck it up, get it done, take a pill"

Halloween Week

This will be such a busy week.

Monday- Band Now band isn't until 3pm and it's all of 3 minutes from my house but still for some reason we're always running behind on Mondays.

Tuesday- Co-op 10-12:30

Trick or Treat from 6-?

I still haven't finalized the kids' costumes so back up to Monday afternoon. I'll have to do that then.

We're going up to my MIL's house for Trick or Treat. She has a nice safe little neighborhood and I can just let the kids run. No cars to worry about and all the houses really get into it. They're all lit up with lights and decorations. Some friends might come up with us this year. The kids are SO looking forward to it.

Wednesday- I've got an appt. with the orthopedic surgeon and physical therapy. Joy.

Thursday- deep breath...... I MAY not have anything to do this day! WHOO HOOO! Don't count on it tho. This might be the first day we do any actual bookwork this week! We'll at least try to do math and read a little everyday but as for getting in all the subjects everyday? Not this week.

Friday- Physical therapy again. It's really "crampin'" my style. Really. It messes up our whole day and I'm generally exhausted and need heavy drugs afterwards. Have I mentioned how much I hate it?

Of course I didn't mention any cooking or cleaning or anything of that sort and all of that still needs to be done. This house is so aggravating. We outgrew it long long ago. It gets dirty so easily because there's no room for anything! I need to get rid of about half of everything we have. Maybe replace the entertainment center with a plasma lift and get some decent book shelves. That would be SO SWEET!

A girl can dream right?

slipper fit.

The weather is getting chilly! I love it and it has sent me into a slipper making FIT! About a week ago I dug out a pair that I had crocheted last year. I wore them around for a day or two and they started to get really scroungy. (don't read too much into that! i.e. the state of my floors). They needed thrown in the washer but I didn't want to part with them. I need a new pair I told myself! So off I went to my stack of patterns to hunt for the booklet I used to make them. No luck. I can't find it! No problem,, the interwebs will come to my rescue! I found many pair but none I wanted to try right off the top. So out of my personal stash of patterns I found this one. I crocheted them and after the first one I knew I didn't like them. To big, not snug enough, soooo ugly. I did an extra row of reduction and put a "mary jane" strap on them to keep them on. In one word? Fail. So then I cracked out the knitting needles and tried this online pattern. I LOVE IT!! It's everything I love about a fun pattern. It works up in a little less than 2 hours (BOTH FEET!), it's a stash buster (uses 3 strands knit together!), it's fun and easy, it's COZY and very COMFY!, and it's cute!

I loved it so much I had to make another pair! These won't be my last either.
It was very difficult to get the 2nd pair done tho,, Mister Kitty was soooooo tired. He to hop up and snuggle into my arm and snooze. How can you tell a kitty this cute to get down?

I knew that we would accomplish NO bookwork yesterday.

I didn't mention to the boys that they had the day off though, I like to keep my options open! Ha ha.

First I had to go to physical therapy. GOD HOW I HATE THAT MAN.

*As a side note. I worked as a physical therapy aide for quite a while. I loved, loved, loved that job. I liked working with the patients, I liked the actual record keeping, I just really enjoyed the work. I wish I could still be doing it.

Here's what I hate about being this man's patient.

Him- "I want you to stretch it until it "just does" hurt, it shouldn't be painful."

(me- stretching pathetically)

Him (condescending)- "You're gonna have to stretch it more than that if you're ever gonna get better!"

Me- "Make up your d*mn mind would you?"

Him- "Surely that doesn't hurt"

Me- (shoots him an evil, tear filled glare)

Him- On a scale of 1-10, how much?

Me- "1 stubbing my toe, 8 giving birth to an 11lb 26.5 inch baby with no epidural, hmmmm,,,, this is a good solid 9.5"

I HATE HIM.

So after that the children were whining because they were hungry. What? you have to feed them? Geeesh.

They suggested Wendy's. I wanted to try the new Steak-N-Shake we have up the road.

I got the combo meal and the kids got a kids meal. Now T1 hasn't had a kids meal in ages and ages but I convinced him that it would be an excellent way to sample the place without too much of a commitment.

My review?

1 being Golden Corral when the cheese sauce has a crusty film and 10 being Carrabba's steak house, I'd give it a not so solid 4.

The kids loved it but I think it was more atmosphere then actual flavor. The wore those stooooopid paper burger flipper hats all stinkin' day! I wish I'd gotten a picture of it. It was so funny.

After that we mosied over to the mall and I got my hair cut. I haven't had my hair cut in AGES. The computer at the hair salon said it's been almost a year to the day. Sad. It's not the best haircut I've ever had but it's not bad either. At least I can get a brush through it now and I look slightly less like a female truck driver.

Next on the agenda was shopping for jeans for the boys. KILL. ME. NOW. We didn't get one pair. Now, I think I could have if I was willing to pay $30.00 a pair for pants that was going to have holes in the knees in 2 weeks but I'm not that person.

First of all, we went to Dick's. They often have good clearance and I thought I could get a handle on what kinds of things T1 wanted for Christmas (clothes wise). NO LUCK. Not only did they not have any clearance that wasn't a women's size XS sports bra but they didn't have one pair of pants at any price T1's size.

So we went to Steve and Barry's. They have all their pants half off right now (ba dum crash! I'll be here all week people!) so I thought, "OH! this is IT! We'll get pants here!"

No,,, no we won't.

T1 is apparently in this mystical pants world called the very short man/very tall boy. They actually don't make pants this size,, you just imagine them. They are apparently invisible because I CAN'T FIND THEM. Size 18 boys are too big in the waist and too short. Size 28w 30L in men's are too long (and ever so slightly too big in the waist)

T2 also struck out at Steve and Barry's. I know what I have to do for him though and it's going to cost big bucks at JcPenny. Size 9 slim. ::::: hard eye roll ::::::: I hate 9slims! They are also very hard to find. T1 had to wear them too. Where did they all go?

All right. This is getting wordy. I'll wrap it up with one last thing that's on my mind.

Last year was our first year. I almost enjoyed it when people would ask "You boys skippin' school today?" I looked forward to saying "we're done with school for the day!" because it would inevitably lead to a conversation about why they don't go to government school. Now? Not so much. I supposed I'm becoming more and more anti-social but I don't want to have this conversation anymore. We rarely leave the house before 2 anyway, so usually it's not an issue unless someone has a dr's appt.. Since we were on the road all day yesterday during normal people hours, we were asked not once but 4 TIMES "I guess ya'll are skippin' school today huh?"

I just smile and say "no".

That confuses people enough to where they don't say anything more.

The boys on the other hand have finally gotten on the home school wagon and now they feel the need to tell everyone.

"We do our school work at home.", "We'll never go back to public school because we hate it!"

Oh, Lord. Will I fit under the table?

Perhaps I'll just start heading their comments off at the pass again. I don't know why I'm surprised, they ARE my kids. Obnoxious.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

No one asked but I'm gonna give it to you anyway!
Here's my time tested and kid approved (that's a small miracle!) Roasted Pumpkin Seed Recipe!
1. Carve those pumpkins!
2. Pick out all the seeds but don't be too anal about it, the bits of pumpkin make it yummy! I give mine a quick rinse but it's acceptable not to rinse them too. I have kids helping me,, I RINSE!

3. This formula isn't exact but for every 1/2 cup of seeds add 2 cups of water to boil in a sauce pan. I had to do 4 sauce pans! We had a lot of seeds this year. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.
4. While your seeds are boiling, spray your cookie sheets (I used stones) with olive oil spray or butter flavored spray. I use olive oil. YUMMY. Then liberally sprinkle each tray with coarse salt. After you've done that, sparingly sprinkle each sheet with Lawry's Seasoned Salt. (What? you don't have any? For shame!) You may also substitute any flavoring you like here. Cajun is good and some people even like pumpkin pie spice. It's up to you!
5. Drain your seeds. Spread on the pans. Stir them around a bit to get all that seasoning all over your seeds. The only reason you season the pan instead of the seeds is because it's very very easy to OVER salt these. Seasoning the pan helps you keep an eye on just how much you're using.

*note* the Sam Adams Octoberfest is not required for the recipe but it was a nice compliment to the finished snack!
6. Place your seeds on the TOP shelf of your pre-heated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Check on them,, stir them around. If they appear dry and just slightly brown they're done. If they're slimy,, pop them back in for another 5-10 minutes or so.

7. EAT!

Here are some pumpkin seed eating facts

1. Some types of pumpkin seeds have less husk than others.

2. You can eat the whole seed, husk and all. Don’t worry.

3. 50 grams of seeds has 5 grams of dietary fiber. That will keep you regular!

4. Pumpkin seeds are also said to be good for Gout, Prostate Health and are supposedly an aphrodisiac.

5. Both German and Bulgarian folk medicines say that eating pumpkin seeds prevents impotence.

6. Roasted pumpkin seeds will keep for about a week in the fridge.

7. This won't reduce your premium on your term life insurance but it couldn't hurt huh?

As promised, here are the pumpkin carving pictures. In years past, we've used those pre-fab pumpkin patterns with the little punchy tool. I didn't get a book of those this year. We just free styled it!

T1 drawing his face.

T2 getting his carve on!
My pumpkin. You can't tell in the picture but I sat it on it's side and used the bottom of the pumpkin for it's nose.
Big Daddy's pumpkin. It's so creepy!
T1's pumpkin. Evil vampire robot pumkin!
T2's pumpkin. The cut outs on the sides were supposed to be "leaf tattoos" but we all agree they look more like ears!

Tuesday

IT'S RAINING!

I never thought that I'd be so happy to see it rain! It's grey, cold, soggy and wonderful! Unfortunately, it's too late for it to have any effect on our fall leaf colors but at least they're getting a drink.

School work went pretty smoothly today. Only a few bumps in the road. (read: Horizon's Math).

Our current book is still "The Wright Three" and we're really starting to get into it! It's going slowly because it's so well suited for us! After we read each chapter the boys have so many questions and they're curious about everything in the book. It is the sequel (we didn't read the first book) to "Chasing Vermeer". One of the main characters in the book loves to work with Pantomimes. So you know we had to take a day and make our own! The architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright is an integral part of the plot so we've been doing an entire study on the man, his art and his life. We designed our own "art glass one day. Today we found a cool game that is specifically themed to the book. Can you make a geometric shape from pantomimes? So as you can see, we take forever to finish a book!

We learned something really cool about bees today in Botany. Did you ever wonder how flowers get pollinated if they can only use pollen from the same kind of flower? If a bee landed on a clover and then on a rose, it wouldn't do any good right?

Check this out.

Each morning, each individual hive decides what kind of flower it's going to visit that day. One day it might be roses, another day lilies, another day clovers! How cool is that? If that isn't evidence of God's handy work then nothing is!

We also used pages 47 and 48 of this EXTENSIVE free unit study on bees. It's a 3.2 mb PDF.

After that I went to the library. I went sans kids. Big Daddy is home today due to a dental appointment so I took advantage of it and went alone! I needed to renew some books and get a few more on ratios, decimals and dividing fractions.

Anyone know any good resources for helping my oldest learn WHY (he's a why guy!) you have to multiply by the reciprocal to divide by a fraction? I couldn't tell him why yesterday or today so I though I'd get some extra materials.

Ok, my goal for the next few weeks is to get a jump on our portfolio for the end of the year. The March madness that ensued last year was not pleasant and I want to be free to kick my feet up in the spring! I've agreed to train to test students at the end of the year so I'm gonna be busy busy busy!

Tonight we're going to carve pumpkins. More on that next time! I suggested this design and no one thought it was as funny as I did!

The GOP Florida debate

Did you watch? Will you watch any of the debates? I started out this political season being very "anti-debate". I don't enjoy watching a bunch of stuffed shirts stand on stage and evade actually answering the questions ask of them. It just makes me mad.

I watched the latest GOP debate tonight and it ROCKED! Great stuff.

Giuliani- He just played the part of a BAD stand up comic the whole time. I thought his answers were devoid of content.

Huckabee- Did very very well, he's our underdog!

Thompson- Every question that was asked of him he answered by siting instances, why it doesn't work, what he'd do to make it work and why. THIS is why Fred is my man!

McCain- He was weak tonight. A few times I thought he was going to cry and say "but I'm a WAR HERO!"

Romney- He speaks well, but he also dances around the question a lot. I DON'T like that. If he actually thinks that we're buying that his health care plan isn't socialized health care, then he's NUTS. I'm also not buying the fact that he's conservative.

Paul- Man,, where do I start with Paul. Let me preface this by saying that up until a few months ago,, I was a registered libertarian. I really still am a libertarian. I "GET" Ron Paul but man,,, can't we get a representative of the libertarian party that isn't a total fruit cake? Dr. Paul? you CAN'T just abandon defence, we're not an island.

Tancredo, Hunter- I like you both, you did a fine job, now give it up! ha ha ha.

Really tho, we have a pretty broad selection amongst the candidates right now. At least none of them (as far as we know) are being accused of frequenting alcohol rehabs or airport bathrooms! (eeeeewwww!)

My favorite line in the whole debate was Fred Thompson's rebuttal when asked if he was "lazy"

After some murmurs, Fred says, “Nah that’s okay. Let me answer that… I was a father 17, a husband at the age of 17. Worked in a factory. Borrowed, got some help from my folks, they came in from the farm. I was able to be an assistant U.S. attorney at 28.” He recites his career, and concludes, “If a man can do all that and be lazy, well, I’d strongly recommend it. And I should add, most important, I’m the father of five. Two of ‘em under the age of four.”

Great answer Fred!

Typical Weekend

On the weekends I generally try and clean house. Big Daddy usually works Saturday morning and the kids veg out. I usually do laundry. This weekend was no different, at first.

Mom dropped by and we were talking on the front porch. T1 comes around the side of the house on his bike and starts to climb the small hill that leads to our porch. Well, I guess he didn't have enough momentum because somehow he got his let tangled up in the bike and the whole thing flipped backwards on him. I just kinda glanced at him, cringed a little and thought "he'll walk it off". He always does! This time he just lay there, his fists full of grass and gritting his teeth.

I said "ya gonna make it?"

nothing.

"Ok T, are you going to survive?"

a tiny little "noooooo" comes up from the grass.

I mosey over and ask him where it hurts and he says he can't move his leg.

hmmmmm, T1 is a tough kid, stitches with no painkiller," that was COOL!!!" , kinda kid.

But still, I'm like "Ok, just sit there for a minute and gather yourself, I think you're ok"

time passes, he's REALLY hurting.

I manage to lift his pant leg a little and it's really swollen.

"CRAP" it's broken I think to myself.

I feel it and it's hot.

"double crap"

"can you move your toes?"

"NO"

"can you roll onto your back?"

"NO!"

Ok,, what am I going to do? I'm here with a kid who is weighing a good 125 lbs, as tall as me with a possible femur fracture. He's laying in the front yard now with his shorts around his ankles. (so I could see the area)

UGH! I can't lift him into the car, where would I put him if I could? Will I screw him up for life if I move him? What do I do?

You guessed it, I had to call 911. He's embarrassed, I'm embarrassed, heck... we're all feeling a little stupid. But, what do you do?

So, we got to take a big old ride in an ambulance on Saturday. We also got to spend 5 hours in the ER for a deep tissue bruise. Yup,, NO BREAK. I didn't think there was but who knew?

Our EMT was a guy I'd treated in physical therapy. Super nice guy. He said he'd been on life flight the day before and was flying in with an 11 yo girl who'd been barrel racing and had a horse fall on her. He said she had the same injury and it was very painful indeed. This helped T1 feel not so silly, I think.

All of this and I got NO pictures.

Wow, not how I wanted to spend Saturday but it was less painful than say,,,, buying Bette Midler tickets, taking the SATs or watching a Michael Moore "documentary". (yes,, the quotes were on purpose.) They have TVs with cable in the trauma rooms at St. Mary's now! We watched all of Ronin and all of Forrest Gump. At least we were entertained! I knitted 2 hats so I felt productive too.

He's fine today. Well, not totally fine but up and walking around. He says that this is a valid reason to never go outside again and to always just play video games. I disagree!

Friday

Horizons Math for 3rd Grade.

Anyone use it? Well, I thought we would really like it. The pages are bright and cheery and it looks like it would be perfect. Uhh,,, NOT so much. I considered throwing that book against the wall today.

Here's what I don't like:

There is NO instruction- none.

The teacher's edition SUX.

On today's review test, there was a section that T2 has NOT been instructed on. I looked at every page in the book. Nope. Material has NOT been covered.

So, if we can get him through 3rd grade math we're going back to Saxon. Saxon has always been great for T1 and I feel like when T2 graduates to a text book instead of a workbook it will be great for him too. (fingers crossed!)

I bought him a month of Big Math Time but I don't think I'll renew. It's not nearly as wonderful as Spelling Time .

Perhaps I'll go sans math book for a while. Concentrate solely on multiplication tables and the like. I dunno. Maybe Singapore or Math U See. I don't know,, I'm just frustrated with the whole ordeal.

If only there was a math program geared towards "gear heads". Man these kids love cars! I mean LOVE cars. They won't just tell you what car it is, they have to tell you what year, what rims, what engine, paint options, what the MSRP is and it's current recalls. Oh geeze! :::: hard eye roll ::::: The only thing they are not fans of are "Tuners". You know, those cars that kids pile all the money in, outfitting them with car spoilers, hydraulics and tinted windows. They're car snobs that way!

We went out to the Perry Farm today. It was such a pretty day! The boys chased chickens, collected eggs, explored the cave on the hill and rigged up a go-cart from an old wagon while we were there. They had a great time. I collected some walnuts. I think I may have waited to long on the walnuts. Most of them were gone, rotten or wormy. Oh well. I'll try cracking them tomorrow and see what we have.

It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend, everyone have a great Saturday and Sunday!

Project Day

I didn't post about Project Day last Friday!
The boys really liked it. I was really surprised! It's like a cross between speech class and advanced show and tell. The kids work on something, anything really, and then they come together and tell the other kids about it. I really wish I had taken video of the event. The boys did SO WELL!

T1 used his note cards but he didn't look at them the whole time. He really knew his material. T2 used his note cards and read from them in a very clear voice with not a bit of nervousness.
OH,, what did they talk about?
Beavers. Yup, they have been obsessed with beavers for quite a while now. I used this as an opportunity to talk a little more about water ecology.
They build a beaver dam out of paper mache, twigs, a box lid, and plaster of paris. They also fashioned a beaver family out of Fimo clay.

One little girl read her essay on oxygen. It was very nicely done.
Another young lady gave us a very informative talk on Orangutans. She even brought different stuffed animals to demonstrate the different varieties. She also used them to point out the unique physical attributes that they have.
I'm not going to reveal what we're working on for next month,, you'll just have to wait and see!

A disclaimer

You might have noticed or maybe you didn't, but I occasionally throw in a link that seems a bit disconnected.
I've never claimed to be a skillful writer. There's no doubt that the oldest child takes after me! I like to write stuff down though, I always have. Blogging is a cool way to do that. Blogging also helps me keep track of our school year.
I'm a stay at home mom and all of you know that it's a financial strain for me to work and a financial strain for me NOT to work.
I get paid to blog. You may have noticed the button on my sidebar. It's not barrels of money but it's nice chunk of pocket change. I receive compensation for my posts that include a link to certain clients.
I just felt the need to tell everyone that. You should know when you are being advertised to!
As a personal rule, when I started doing this about a month ago, I decided I was going to work the links into what I was already writing. I am not going to write a special post just because I've been assigned a certain link.
So please be patient with me gentle readers!

'Tater noob.

I feel like such a moron.
The Saturday before Mother's day this past spring, the husband and I traveled up to Bob's Greenhouse in Mason Co. to get big basket's of flowers for our moms. While we were there, I picked up a few little decorative (so I thought) sweet potato sprigs wrapped in a wet paper towel. They were like $1.00 for 10. Cool! Ground cover!
They grew and grew as sweet potato vine will do. They were pretty but the leaves have faded away and there was nothing left but a skeletal vines so I start pulling them up. What's this?A sweet potato?I start digging more, there's another, and another, and another!Why did I have it in my head that decorative sweet potato vine didn't produce sweet potatoes?


Let me ask all of you out there in the blogosphere this.....
Can I save the tiny ones to plant next year?

Tuesday's co-op

Co-op went exceedingly well today. My opinion of it is good probably because I wasn't responsible for anything other than a snack. Easy enough huh? The kids learned about famous people from WV, the state facts (state flower, animal, colors, the Governor... etc.). The boys told me that they learned about minerals in science, sculpted in art and had a good time in gym. I served snack for each group and then I got to sit down and knit. I finally got to the arm dividing row on a sweater I'm knitting so it's all good.

After Co-op we went to the monthly homeschool skate. The kids look forward to that so much! They of course had a great time. No one lost any teeth or broke their butt bones so that went well too.

T and I got Cam's Ham for lunch.

Oh yeah baby.... oh yeah. It's been a few years since I've had one and it's as good as I remember! I ate onion rings too and wow... am I paying for it!

Heart burn city.

Cam's Ham is a staple here in Huntington WV.

If you're ever down this way,, you must give it a try.

Now I'm tired and I have much cleaning to do. Ugh, this place is a mess.

Later! Hit the lights when you leave ok?

Vacations, I'm a homebody.

This evening at band class we were talking about vacations. We do not go on vacation. It's an unjustified expense for us. I can't imagine the stress that spending that much money would bring! There are so many other things we need. We do go on many day trips and occasionally spend the night camping. Not much expense there. I'm not even sure where I'd want to go if I had the opportunity. We discussed Disney World. I've been there a few times as a kid. I'd go there again in a heartbeat! We also discussed big waterparks, that sounds like a blast and we can do that on a day trip! Where would you go if you had a chance? Branson , MO? NY, NY? Overseas?

Busy Monday, it's all about the food.

I tried today, I really did, but nothing went smoothly today. Just busy, busy, busy.
T2 wouldn't do his book work. He couldn't concentrate so we fought. I was getting phone call after phone call so I finally turned the phone off.
Then I had a phone call I wanted to make. Before I knew it, it was time for band. Well, guess what? I hadn't even bathed yet. Lovely huh? We missed lunch because we had a late breakfast. This part will be important later.
We went to band and the inevitable happened. Our band director told T2 and I that his crappy trumpet was inadequate. Well,, more than inadequate, unplayable. I was really hoping it would hold out a little longer but alas... it's time. He was great to help us with a loner for a short time until we can secure a new one though!
(Tim, I promise to work really hard to find one and give yours back PRONTO)
So then we ran home and I was mulling over what I was going to do with this piece-o-junk trumpet I have when I looked at the fridge and noticed the receipt! I examined it and read that I could return for any reason within 45 days of purchase.
Wait.
What day is it?
What day did I buy it?
How many days does September have?
oh crap.
I bought it September first, it's now October 15. You guessed it! It's 5:30pm on the 45th day from purchase in a store 5 towns away. I tell the kids "GET IN THE CAR! We need to ROLL!"
They are unhappy. We are hungry. Dinner has been previously made and I cannot justify eating out. More on this later.
So, we travel for about 15 minutes. I look over and something is nagging me about that trumpet case. I glance at the receipt again, I open the case and think. "it's all good"
Then it occurs to me.

The trumpet had come in a box, it had the price tag and all the other info on the BOX.
Oh, bother.
Exit ramp.
On ramp.
15 minutes back down the road.
Box retrieved.
15 minutes back UP the road.
The best part of the evening is that there was no problem returning it. We nose around a bit and then pile back in the car and head 5 towns back home.
Now Daddy is home and heating up dinner. We straiten up a bit and get ready to sit down for dinner. Well, I remember that I have to have snack stuff for Co-op tomorrow so off for a quick trip to the store.
Why are so many people shopping on Monday night? Wow. That quick trip took almost 30 minutes.
So I come home, unload groceries and set down to a nice plate of pa-sketti. Well everyone was watching TV so I go to sit down with them. I've got the plate in one hand and I'm trying to clean off a chair with the other. That's when it happens....
MY ENTIRE PLATE OF PA-SKETTI goes sauce first onto the carpet.
Oh,, there were words.
Words that made my children run and hide.
I got the LAST of the noodles when I made that plate. Did I mention the hunger? If I hadn't been so mad I would have cried.
I might still.

We did get the apple smiles done though!

They were fun to make and YUMMY! I got the recipe from the Pillsbury site. We changed ours up a bit by using candy corn for some of the teeth and carmel apple candy corn for some of the others. We made a few with marshmallows too.

So another busy day tomorrow. Co-op and house catch up. Fun.

Bob Evan's Farm Festival

Well, Hello there.

I haven't seen you since Wednesday!

You didn't really miss much. If you'll recall, Tuesday I was pretty sure I was on death's door. Well "IT" didn't really get really horrible until Wednesday night/Thursday day. The only good thing about it coming to such a horrific apex is that when you start to feel even the tiniest bit better you feel like you're the healthiest person alive!

I'm better now. Just a tiny sniffle. Of course,, T2 has it now and Daddy-o has spent all day with us so it's only a matter of time!

By Saturday I had such cabin fever! The boys and I decided to go out and select a few pumpkins for carving next week. Picking our pumpkins is serious bizniz! We eat have our own special criteria.

These are mine and Dad's. I'm a stem girl. I like a nice big healthy looking stem. Preferably one with curly ques still on but we were at wal-mart, I didn't get REAL picky! I think the one of the left needs to be carved sideways, never mind that is the only way it'll set!

T2 is a fan of roundness. He likes his pumpkin to have a nice traditional shape. Forget about the stem! This is a HUGE pumpkin too. You can't tell by the picture.

T1's requirement is a smooth "face". He doesn't like carving through the ridges. He's also a "stem man".

And just because I've been reading too many Martha Stewart and Better homes and Garden's Magazines, I had to have a few "funky punkies". Cool huh?

Library Class

I sucked it up yesterday and went to the downtown library. I'm glad we went. The class will be good for the boys. The lady that was teaching them was very entertaining and I think the kids will like her. They were all very quiet this first time out tho.

OK,, small vent.

She (the library lady) went ON and ON and ON about how she expected them to know more and how surprised she was that were not at the level that she expected and blah blah blah. I'm sure she was just saying this to try and explain HERSELF to the parents but it felt like a passive aggressive jab at homeschoolers.

Ok,, venting over.

Initially this was supposed to be a one time class for each age group but now it's going to be a multi-part class. If you missed the first one, don't hesitate to come to the next one!

The boys and I searched out some books on Frank Lloyd Wright and I picked up a few on magnets.

The book we're currently reading, The Wright 3, is about some children (we're not that far into it) that are trying to save the Robie House. The Robie house is a very famous Frank Lloyd Write house in Chicago. I'm very surprised how interested the boys are in modern architecture. Way more interested than I am! LOL That kinda makes it tough, but I'm doing all I can to spark their interest! We found a book called Frank Lloyd Write for Kids

That is very good. We also got a DK book on Architecture and a biography. That ought to keep us busy!

On the health front.... Colds STINK! I made a pot of chicken soup this morning and it cleared my nose but my head still feels like cement. We have so many things to do today but I just don't feel like doing any of them.

Maybe later.....

Oh, and if you are in the Cabell Co./Greater Huntington area, you should sign up for the Cabell Co Homeschoolers Yahoo group! (see the button to the right!). A few of us moms talked about it yesterday and decided we needed a group to keep everyone updated on local events and opportunities. Any home schooler in the area is welcome to join!

Well,, I think I'll take another nap. Later!

I might be dying

I'm calling it. Day off.

I'm very ill. This is a nasty bug indeed. T1 came down with it the other day and I hoped to evade the nasty germs but alas...... I have it.

I thought it was allergies but there are just too many other disgusting symptoms for that.

We have a library class today at 2pm. I really want to go. If I can find a drug cocktail that works for me by then I still may. If you see me, avoid me like the plague, I won't mind!

Until then, I'm crawling back into bed. Wish me luck on that one, I can't get comfortable to save my life. On the up side, everything tastes gross, so I won't be eating my weight in Doritos.

I need TLC.

Fluffy pillows.

Fresh PJs.

Chicken soup.

NyQuil.

Tiffany's.

Cartier.

I'm just sayin' .