A quick post from Findlay Ohio

The drive was long and arduous. But as always, it was worth it! Having a wonderful time. The weather is crisp but clear. I think the sky goes on forever and forever here. It's so flat. I'm not accustomed to that. I need there to be a hill everwhere I look. This is nice, too.

Gotta git. Gonna go eat at the Dark Horse!!!

Blueberries

I want to plant blueberry bushes. I've been reading up on them all day!

Here are my Pros.

• Blueberries are expensive, bushes are not



• Blueberry bushes are ornamental as well as fruit bearing



• Blueberry bushes like damp well drained soil (did someone say damp soil?!)



• Once established, blueberry bushes take little or no work



• Blueberry bushes are prolific producers.



• Blueberry bushes are mostly disease resistant, aphids being their main nemesis.



• Blueberry bushes are "low feeders" which mean they don't really need anything other than some acidic soil and leaf litter.



• Blueberries are YUMMY.

Here are my Cons.

• You should really wait until it's third season to harvest.



• You should really pluck all of the flowers off in it's first season to promote root production



• High shrub varieties can grow to 6ft high. (I don't care about this)



• Family and friends will soon tire of everything you cook having blueberries in it.

I think the pros have it don't you?

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I wonder if they have Blueberry Wine in the wine of the month club ?

Spring Explosion!

Is it just me or did everything just go kaboom! today. Buds on trees turned to little leaves, my daffodils finally bloomed, wasps and bees were buzzing all around (grrrrrr) and the kids even put on some shorts to play in the yard! It was gorgeous out today. I sat out on the porch and finished a scarf for a friend. I promised it too her in September, so it only makes sense that I finish it on the prettiest day of the following spring! haha.

The boys finished their book work pretty quickly today. We did the next chapter in Eye Openers: Exploring Optical Illusions . They're really loving it. It's written really well. We can't wait to start Art and Vision: Seeing in 3-D® . We'll have to finish it up quickly though because this warmer spring weather will mean that we can crack out Apologia Botany again very soon!

Speaking of plants and how they grow...

We hope that we'll be able to get the garden plowed very very soon! I hope it doesn't pour the rain before Daddy can get the tiller out there and get it turned under! Our yard stays so damp. It's hard to find a time where the tiller isn't turning up giant mud clods instead of dirt.

Tomorrow I feel like I have a zillion things to do.

Go to Goodwill

Get the car inspected

Make sure the kids get some school in.

Finish the laundry

Stop by the store and pick up some travel supplies

Go to the bank

Get the house in a decent state so it won't take too long to recover on Monday

Go to the grocery store for potato salad stuff.

Ok, so it's not so bad when I see it all written down.

Have a happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here!

Get outta town!

I'm in the process of packing up my stuff and heading out of town! Whoo hoo! I'm going up to visit some friends in Findlay OH. I'll be going all by my big girl self. I had so much fun up there last fall. The weather isn't going to be as nice as it was in September but just the same, I'm sure we'll have a ball!

I'm getting a room with 3 other friends. This works out good. We all snore so we don't bother each other! ha ha.

I can't wait to eat at the Dark Horse and hit a few yard sales! Those folks up there know how to put on a YARD SALE. I'm not kiddin!

I'm an odd traveler though. I bring my own blanket and pillows. I've told stories before of what a hick I look like walking into a hotel with what looks like camping gear but I can't help it! I can't sleep without them!

Hi, I'm Crystal, I'm 35 and I have a woobie.

The boys have a full weekend planned too. They're going to visit some friend that they play with on XBOX live. Actually, they're Daddy's friend's kids but all the same. Then they're gonna go ride the GoCarts at Billy Bobs if it's not raining. Fun stuff for them! They won't even know I'm gone.

Another rant....

I have this cracked tooth. It's hurting because of the tiny matter of an exposed nerve. I've never had much success with root canals or reconstructions so I need to have it pulled. No biggy, I've had it done before. I know my fate. I will eventually have some shiney new ones that I can keep in a glass on the nightstand. I've accepted this.
So my loverly husband says "See my dentist! He rocks!"
Awesome! I'll do that! I think this is a good idea because I'd been going to a clinic in Westmorland.
Yesterday was the day. First of all,, what was I thinking 8:15am? It turns out that was going to be the least of my troubles.
I go to the desk and tell the lady my name and she asks for my insurance. I tell her that unfortunately I don't have a card, but it should be the same as my husband's, could she possibly copy his information?
She said "sure, what's his name?"
(Here's the part where I tell you our real names and blow any anonymity that I had, it's important to the story, stalkers look away)
I reply "Chris Newman"
She- "No, HIS name"
Me- "CHRISTOPHER Newman"
She-"You have the same names?"
Me- :::dumbfounded::: "my name is Crystal"
She- ::::vacuous stare:::::: "OH! oh , ok, I'm sorry"

Allrightythen.
No biggy, she must be having a rough morning. I'm filling out my paper work when they call me back.
"Dr. Chris will see you now!"
No crap. Dr. Chris. Yet, she thought my name was Christopher. OMG.
Then on our way to the room she says in an overly concerned voice "aren't your kids going to be late for school?"
Me- "oh we homeschool, it's no big deal"
She- "oh, where is that? I've not heard of that one"
Me- ::again dumbfounded:: "home."
She- "OH! HOME school,, oh I couldn't do that"
(I'm inclined to believe you lady.)
Dr. Chris enters.
So what's the problem?
"I have this cracked tooth that needs to come out"
Just about the time I get the word out, he jabs his metal implement into my exposed nerve. I (I think understandably) jump and let out a squeak. He throws his hands back like someone claiming "no foul" and says "If you're going to be that jumpy, then there's nothing I can do for you"
WTH?
I'm a little shocked by this so I said "I'm sorry, it just really hurts"
He said I'd have to be put to sleep (wha? he's jabbing my open nerve sans Novocain and now all the sudden we're talking anesthesia?,, did we skip something here?)
So, he says he's sending me to Mountain State Maxillofacial in Teays Valley. No biggy, whatever, I tell him I've been there before, I saw Dr.Krajekian.
He proceeds to talk over me and tell me where it's at.
Me- "I know, I've been there before... I saw Dr. Krajekian"
He- "It's really easy to find"
Ok... about now, I start to feel funny and not because I'm being ignored. My lips feel biggish and my throat is closing up.
I see my file in his hand with the giant red sticker on the outside that says LATEX ALLERGY.
I say as loudly as I can manage "AL DOSE LATHEX GLOTHES"
and almost simultaneously, he looks down at the folder and yells "DONETTA! EPIPEN!"
Great.
God bless the epipen. It sux getting it but man... does it work.
After we determine that I'm not going to die, and I start to be able to talk again, I go up to the counter to get my next appointments (with Mountain State).
She's on the phone and it's going something like this...
"oh, ok. No... no she didn't tell us that... no. Oh, ok.."
She looks up at me and says "You didn't tell us you'd been there before!"
"YES I DID!"
"oh, OH! Well, ok, no, no I didn't know that... no. Oh, wait, yes, it's on her file" (she was talking about the allergy, after everything we'd just been through)
By now, I'm beside myself. I go pay and they don't take electronic payments. No credit, no debit. Are they the last place on Earth?
OH! and I forgot to mention, this joint doesn't even have a spit bowl. They walk you to the bathroom with a paper cup! Medieval.
So, luckily, I brought some cash. Frankly, in a perfect world I shouldn't have had to pay at all but they provided a service (albeit CRAPPY) so I paid. I had to insist on paying. Not because they were being nice but because I have a co-pay and they acted like they'd never heard that term before.
Now, technically, 911 should have been called, but I knew I'd be fine and I had the kids with me so I let it slide for my good, not theirs. The boys have terrible colds and I didn't need them picking up anything else.
What a day. We ended up skipping band. The boys felt awful and I was itchy and tired. Perhaps today will be better!
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For the record, I really dislike having to write about the best diet pills. I don't endorse them but if you're going to buy them, this site seems to have found the best prices.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter one and all! Regardless of what your traditions are for this day, I hope you have a marvelous time doing it!
My boys are busy eating NERDS candy for breakfast and playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2. It was their joint Easter gift.
Real resurrection-y huh?
This afternoon we will head up to the husband's family's house for dinner.

With that I leave you with my favorite Easter Hymn.

Low in the Grave He Lay

Midi file in case you wanna sing along

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,

Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,

With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,

He arose a Victor from the dark domain,

And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.

He arose!

He arose!

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;

Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;

He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

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Saturday Night Fever.

The kids and I all woke up with the cough and the buckets of snot.

Lovely.

Who was I kidding when I thought I could get through a whole week of spring cleaning without anyone or anything messing it up for me?

I don't feel really horrible yet but just enough to make me want to lay down every time I start doing something. I've already had this pestilence, I don't want this pestilence again!

Too late I fear.

Anyway... on to the bedroom today. I may only get it done in spurts but I'm going to try and get it done. Ahhh,, it'll be so nice to have a clean boudoir to conveless in! That's what I keep telling myself anyway!

I found a cool unit study/ lesson for the kids this week. Its on Ophthalmic history, how optical illusions and 3D vision works! It's a freebie from the American Academy of Ophthalmology . They'll love this. I picked up a few books for them from the discount table at Borders on optical illusions. They've been obsessed. So I'm totally going to capitalize on this (I hope). If it works, I'm going to feel so triumphant. You see, I found the unit study first. Then I got the books under the guise of "awwh, you're a good kid, here's a book I thought you'd like". Now their hooked and I can make them learn something!

BWWWAAHHAHAHA HA Ha ha ha ha. (evil laugh)

Well,, that's the scheme anyway.. but don't mention it to them.

Off to clean, and then nap, and then clean, and then nap, and... you get the idea.

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Speaking of cleaning the bedroom. It would be so nice to have the TV up off of my dresser. A tv wall mount would be awesome!

Laundry Room

Vanquished.


Clean. REALLY clean. I love it. I don't have to shimmy sideways to get to the washer and dryer! WOOT!


Yes, you heard me,, I said woot.





Today I'm onto the living room. Aside from wiping a bunch of junk down, mopping the floor, cleaning the ceiling fan and vacuuming the couch, I should have it knocked out in no time flat (compared to the other rooms). It's a good thing because I also have errands to run today. All this AND make sure the kids learn something.





As big of a pain in the butt that the house cleaning has been, it's been worth it. Stuff doesn't stink, the lack of clutter is wonderful, and I might not even be devastated if someone showed up on my doorstep. Ok, I might still be a little devastated but at least it looks like "gee, this chick cleans but she doesn't have a lot to work with here!" Oh well.



Can you believe it's almost APRIL? How did that happen? March is 2/3rds over! I'm loving it though. I love spring. I love love love love spring! Summer is nice,, but hot. Spring is almost perfect. I could be slightly less rainy but other than that? Perfect. I've almost got daffodils in the yard, my pussy willow is covered in little fuzzy bits and my dogwood is about to burst! Ahh, gotta love it. I wish spring lasted as long as winter seems to last.

Well, I'm not getting it done by sitting here yammering on about warm weather! Later!
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Have you ever considered turning a room in your house into a home theater? Did you know that there is a one stop shop for home theater accessories? Stargate Cinema has everything you need to turn your den into a media haven! Furniture, memorabilia, decor, lighting, and even home theater carpet!
Now,, if I could just get the living room clean!

I love it when you find stuff you forgot you had!

While I was cleaning yesterday I found a package of Crayola Window FX Markers I bought ages ago. At the time, we used them to decorate the fish tank and just play with. As you know, our home is itty bitty tiny. We do all of our schoolwork at the kitchen table. Nevermind that the kitchen table is actually a kitchen table too!

Up until now I've been using one of those really big drawing tablets when I had to explain something to both kids because a dry erase board or a chalk board is just out of the question. What I DO have in the kitchen though, is a really nice set of french doors!

VIOLA! I have a chalk board! or,, er,,, a dry erase board,,, or er... well,, something anyway!

In the pictures you can't really tell, but it shows up REALLY well. It appears hard to read but it's not! Oh,, and please excuse the nastiness of the back yard and the glass. I'm getting to it!

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If you have a problem with drug addiction and you want to beat it, do you often equate that with luxurious accommodations? Well, if you lived in Malibu you could! This drug rehab facility is 5 stars! Gourmet foods, horseback riding, and flat screen TVs are just a few of the things I noticed. I also noticed that no where on that website was a treatment price list. I guess if you have to ask,, you can't afford it!

Spring Cleaning.

Spring Cleaning. Does anyone do that anymore? I do. I MUST. We've been cooped up in this stuffy house all winter accumulating all sorts of ickyness.
By the way- that's me in the picture to the left. Not.
(I did spy that knitted cozy in the picture tho!)

I don't feel like things are actually clean until I've completely gutted, sorted, eliminated, repaired, and wiped every nook and cranny.
I worked on the kitchen yesterday. 9 hours of cleaning, plus some laundry. There is still stuff in there that I need to clean. I didn't get to the stove or the tops of the cabinets. I did take everything OFF the cabinets (mine don't go to the ceiling and I use it for storage) and washed the stuff but it really needs vacuumed and wiped up there. Talk about cobwebs.
Man, was I beat last night.
Today- Laundry room. It's the smallest room in the house but also,, the dirtiest and it's packed to the ceiling (literally) with junk that needs to be dealt with. Hats, Gloves, Expired cans of food, Coats, boots, potatoes with plants growing out of them, light bulbs, appliances I'll never use, etc. You get the idea. Not only that,, but it's our mud room and it's really living up to it's name! I completely anticipate it taking me as long to clean that tiny room as it did to clean the kitchen.
Tomorrow, living room.
Saturday, kid's bathroom and scrubbing the moulding in the hallway.
It would be nice if I had some help but the truth of it is.... this kind of cleaning is better done alone. I can't ask someone to clean to my standards, it's cruel and unusual.
I'm a sadist.
It's not like I clean like this all the time. I clean like this RARELY. Once in the spring, Once in the fall.
A quick search of the interwebs didn't bring up any kind of helpful tips that I could post here so I'll post my own.

• give the room a quick tidy before you start. You know, five minutes of collecting trash and clutter, get the dishwasher going. Empty trash cans.
• Make yourself a small bucket of hot water, a tiny squirt of dish soap and a cap of bleach. This is for the "wiping down" Nothing smells better to me than a room with no other smell than "It's been cleaned and sanitized"
• Divide your room mentally into quadrants. Tackle one quadrant at a time. Tackling the entire room wastes energy and it overwhelming.
• Follow these rules- Gut, divide, conquer, eliminate, wipe, repair, put back.
• Stand back and look at it through "stranger" eyes. If a total stranger walked in at this moment, would it stand up to scrutiny?
• Don't for get things like base boards, moulding, ceiling fans, exhaust fans, dusting your "stomped" ceilings... oh yes,, this brings us to an important point
• Dust your ceilings FIRST. Otherwise you'll just be re-cleaning everything you already cleaned.
• Designate a box for give aways, throw aways, and store aways.
• Clean out draws, cabinets, catch-alls, fridges, etc.
• Mop floors (or vacuum or steam clean as the case may be)

I'm sure there are a few more things to add but that's all I can think of for now. Maybe after I'm done with another room I'll think of more.

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Have you ever looked into getting a memory foam mattress? Chris and I looked at one a few weeks ago. We were very impressed. It's so soft and supportive! We quickly dismissed the idea of getting one though, they can be very pricey at up to $7000.00. We could get a used car for that! Today I checked the prices at myluxurymattress.com and they were very reasonable! They're highest price is $1099.99! Much better don't you think?

What kind of Homeschooler are you?

What type of homeschooler are you?

You're a "Relaxed" HomeschoolerYou kind of do it all....you teach through conversation, you may purchase an "all-in-one" curriculum for the child's entire school year, you may even design your OWN curriculum. Whatever floats your boat - you do what you think works!Let's go to the museum today!
Take this quiz!








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Life's too short not to be Irish!

Every mixing bowl is dirty.

Every measuring cup is soiled,

But wow,, was it worth it!

I got in the mood to bake last night. I wanted to make something fun and interesting. I wanted to make something St. Patrick-ey. So I ran across this recipe!

OH.

MY.

GOD.

These are so, so, so, good.

I made mine with Hershey's Special Dark Dutch Processed Cocoa and (even tho the ingredient list called for them but they were no where to be found in the recipe) I added a bag of Ghirardelli chocolate chips to the mix. I also had no Guinness Stout on hand but I DID have some Sam Adams Cream Stout (who's counting, right?). So I dub these-

Guinness Stout Dark Chocolate Chippy Cakes with Milk Chocolate Ganache and Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream Icing.

Quite a mouth full both figuratively and literally I assure you. You'll need a whole glass of milk to finish one.

This recipe makes a TON of cupcakes! Well, like 58 anyway. They were fun to make. I think I'd like to try this recipe in a full cake. I'll DEFINITELY make this icing again, it's delish, but I'm a huge Bailey's fan.

On other fronts, I met a bunch of chicks from the interwebs yesterday! Turns out that they are real people and not just words in my computer! Great bunch of girls. We went to East Tenampa (I totally botched that name I'm sure) in Milton and ate and knitted and laughed and chit chatted and had a great, great time.

I took this lame picture after one of the girls had gone (dummy me). But it was fun and we'll definitely have to do it again. YEA RAVELRY!!

Sticks: Confiscated

So I did it. I protested. I marched in the rain, I passed literature. None of us were real sure what we were doing, we just knew we felt passionately about opposing REAL ID. Quite a few people showed up and I was happy to see that.

When Big Daddy came home I had him take my 2 signs and adhere them, back to back to a stick so I could carry it above the crowd. Well, the first thing the cops did was make me take my stick out.

FASCISTS! (ha ha,, I just like saying that,, It reminds me of the "Young Ones")

I had my backpack on and inside I had scissors, knitting needles, regular needles, and (GASP!) a pocket knife.

But, yeah,,, take my stick. Whatever.

BD stuck it to my sign with Gorilla Glue so it totally farked up the back of my sign taking it off. It worked out ok though because my friend Vicki had come sans sign and she got to use my other one.

Here's a few pictures but they're not real exciting. It was hard to get a shot of anything in that building. It's like a cave.

This first one is when Joe Manchin came out to talk to us. He's not ready to oppose this, but darnit,, I still really like him.

This one is where his people agreed to take us in and talk to us in his office.

And finally, us marching in front of the capital on Washington Blvd.

I was SOOOOO TIRED last night. What is it about getting rained on all day that just saps your energy?? OH,, and on a different note completely

The Rt. 60 Taco Bell? Apparently I'm a "drink thief"

I pull up to the drive through and order my Steak Grilled Stuffed Burrito and a few chicken tacos for the kids. We're heading strait home so I didn't order any drinks. The little perferations in the order board said "Anything to drink?"

Me- "no thank you!"

I pay at the first window to the very polite heavily tattooed boy that works there. Seriously, he's worked there for a while and is the most polite person I've ever seen at a fast food establishment, possibly anywhere. It's not annoying polite either, it's good polite. Anywhoo.. I digress.

I go to the next window and this dorky kid is there. No shocker. Then this other girl shoves him out of the way and says:

"You didn't pay for a drink"

Me-"correct, because I didn't order one"

She- "But he handed you one"

Me- "incorrect, he did not"

She- (craning her head outside the window and practically in the window of my SUV) "I saw him do it, where's the drink?"

Me- "I DON'T HAVE A DRINK, I DIDN'T BUY A DRINK, HE DIDN'T HAND ME A DRINK" I yelled.

.....and she still gave me the skunk eye. Now, I must believe that this happens to everyone, not just me. I just seem to get annoyed easier I suppose. Funny tho isn't it? I'm a drink thief.

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Those of you who know my kids know that they are obsessed with luxury items. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolex Watches, multi thousand dollar assault rifles, and gigantic homes. Now, we may never have any of these items but if you are looking to spend as much on a watch as most people spend on a car, check out Essential Watches for new unworn Rolexes.

I Hate Mud

This just in:
I WANT WARM WEATHER
I know, real newsflash, right?

I'm so so so so so so so sick of scrubbing shoes!!
Just sayin'.

My favorite Homeschool Resource

Did you know that the Homeschool Estore is now Currclick? I've used the products available on this site many times. I like the instant access it provides. In the past I've gone to them for complete unit studies but there is so much more to be found! Back when it was Homeschool Estore, I would browse around but quickly get overwhelmed. As Currclick, they've updated and enhanced some very useful features.

• Wishlist- Now I can shop at Currclick like I do at Marshalls! I get a buggy full of stuff and then I get buyers remorse and put 90% of it back! You can do this without putting it in your shopping cart. This is handy because you can come back at a later time and make your final decision. Good stuff!
• Quick Preview- There is a small preview at the bottom of each product description that will give you a quick interactive preview of the product. It's neat, it looks like you're really turning the pages.
• Full Size Preview- Ok, they've always offered this but it's much more streamlined now. I do with they'd select pages from throughout the book instead of the first 4-5. Sometimes those pages are just filler and I can't "get a feel" for the study.
• Sidebar Information- At a glance you can see everything you need to know. Publisher info, your cart, your wishlist, updates, top sellers, and you can even write a review!
• Layout- The whole site has received a facelift. It's bright, clean and colorful.
• One-click- Now Curr-click can securely store your payment information. I love this. There is a seperate button for one click purchases. They've made it so easy!

While I was checking Currclick this morning I ran across two products that caught my eye. Handwriting practice books for highschoolers (7-12). They'll be a perfect addition to our curriculum for next year! T1's handwriting is ..... well.... unique. He writes as neatly as he can but his letters just have an very unusual shape. Most handwriting books that I've used have been geared towards younger children. That's still great for my 8 year old but T1 needs something geared towards his interests. A Backpackers Alphabet and A-Z Homesteading Cursive fit the bill! They are stunning! That's the only word I can think of to describe them! The copy work is useful and interesting and the artwork around the edges of the page will appeal to him. Last but not least, the price is very reasonable. Quite a few of the products available on Currclick are writen by homeschool parents. When an item is as cool as this it makes me feel good to know that another parent is making a little money!

You can still find your weekly freeie at Currclick (my personal favorite!) This week's freebie is Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (Focus on Reading Study Guide) An $18.99 value! Yours for the low low price of FREE! If you haven't before, do check out Currclick. This is an UNPAID advertisment. I just wanted to write about my favorite homeschool resource!

I'm Ready

I finished my sign. Yes, I know it's crooked and not very centered. That's very frustrating considering the amount of time it took to make it! I've got to get Big Daddy to put a stick on it for me and I'll be ready to roll for the rally tomorrow. This sign is just about all I did today. Impressive, No? It was so pretty out. The kids played outside forever and I just couldn't make them come in and do school work. We all have spring fever in a bad way. I can tell something must be in bloom because I laid out on the porch coloring my poster while the kids played and now I've got a headache and itchy eyes. YEAH POLLEN!! WOOT! not.

So, I'm also supposed to write a small bit about HDMI switches today. I've had to do this before and I still can't tell you what they are. I think it has something to do with your cable television or maybe not. Maybe it's something to do with fiber optics.

Well,, I must go and make up for the fact that I haven't done anything all day!

school update

Schooling is coming along fine. I guess.
Math is coming along wonderfully for both boys. I wish everything was as easy as math. Math is black and white. Math is a puzzle. I can DO puzzles!
Grammar is coming along nicely now that we've started using Daily Grams and Easy Grammar. Wonderful programs, we'll use those from now on, that's for SURE!!
T1- Vocabulary. Giant forehead smack. He had to tell me what surly and agile meant today. He said he'd never heard either of those words in his whole life. Perhaps he hasn't but I was using them in sentences and there was enough context clues to figure it out. All I can figure is that we need to read aloud more.
T2- Spelling. How many times have I complained about this? The child makes absolutely NO connection between the sounds of letters and how words are constructed! I mean,, I'm no spelling bee champion but 9/10 you can figure out what I was TRYING to spell. Not so much with T2. It's ATROCIOUS. We've been over the phonics and spelling rules until we're blue in the face. No matter,, he refuses to apply them.
He's smarter than me you know,,, he doesn't need me to tell him anything.
He may have issues with authority (I wouldn't have any clue where he gets that from! har har) but he'll never get anywhere if he doesn't know how to spell his own name. That's a stretch, but he did misspell his last name the other day. No lie.
UGH!! Some days I fell like I'm going to need drug rehab!, or at least take up drinking!

That can't be right though. I have so much patience and my kids are just angels! Oh PUUUH- LLLEEEZE.

We went on a nature hike yesterday and didn't find jack squat. The waters were too muddy, it was too cold, and nothing was stirring. It stunk. It was a beautiful day to just get out and get some excersize though! The picture at the top was taken yesterday. I thought it was pretty.

Today was pretty too but we didn't do much other than schoolwork. It's sunny but still quite chilly.

Be sure and check out my post on Real ID (below) "This is, I say, the time for all good men not to go to the aid of their party, but to come to the aid of their country." Eugene J. McCarthy

Real ID

I received an interesting Email the other day from a fellow WV Home Schooler. She and I often see eye to eye on issues, so I read the message with great care. It was a "forward" alerting everyone to an upcoming rally at the capital against the "Real ID".
Now I admit, I've heard a bit about Real ID but I haven't taken the time to educate myself on it up until now. The Real ID Act is a JOKE people. The creater of this Act, James Sensenbrenner has been quoted as saying that the National Real ID " actually prevents having a national ID card". (Lou Dobbs interview found HERE)
Uhhhhmm,,
How is this different? You took the word "REAL" out? Very clever Mr. Sensenbrenner! You *almost* had me fooled! not.
Here is the bare bones of what Real ID is:

The REAL ID Act of 2005 requires people entering federal buildings, boarding
airplanes or opening bank accounts to present identification that has met
certain security and authentication standards. The Act is Division B of an act
of the United States Congress titled Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act
for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005. It implements
the following:

• Establishing national standards for state-issued driver
  licenses and non-driver identification cards;
• Waiving laws that interfere with construction of physical barriers at the
  borders;
• Updating and tightening the laws on application for asylum and
  deportation of aliens for terrorist activity;
• Introducing rules covering "delivery bonds" (rather like bail bonds but for aliens who
  have been released pending hearings);
• Funding some reports and pilot projects related to border security;
• and Changing visa limits for temporary workers, nurses, and Australian
  citizens.

Now, I know, you're saying, "well, that doesn't sound so bad, I'm willing to give up a little bit of privacy for my family's safety" right?

Know this, this will NOT protect anyone. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has been quoted as saying "give me half a dozen high school students and a kinkos and I can get you a fake Real ID"

Real ID is just another move by the government to reduce this nation's sovereignty and to blur the lines between the states.

You might argue, "well, my credit card company has as much information as the Real Id Act requires!" The difference is that you voluntarily gave that information. That information wasn't required for you to enter a VA hospital or for you to drive your vehicle. That information wasn't stolen from you. It's not an invasion if you open the front door and welcome them in.

Don't welcome Big Brother in your front door West Virginians... Don't do it!

Here is the info on Friday's Rally.

Senator Barnes, Author of SB248 against West Virginia implementing 'The Real ID Act of 2005' has set up a meeting to show support for legislation against Real ID in West Virginia and to create public awareness about Real ID. We hope to pack the halls of the state capitol building with as many opponents to Real ID as we can muster. Senator Barnes has said that some senators, and the Commissioner of the DMV are expected to attend and the Governor has been requested to attend, but he has not yet confirmed. The press will also be made aware. Please attend if at all possible, numbers mean everything. Bring your family, your friends and your neighbors. Spread this far and wide. Tell your local press about it. The rally will begin to gather at 1:30pm Friday, March 14th 2008 at the rotunda (under the dome) of the State Capitol. The meeting begins at 2:30 PM in the Governors conference Room. We need to be heard loud and clear. Feel free to bring anti-Real ID signs, etc.

I hope to see you there! I'll be there, this is too important not to make the effort.

Here are a few clips that you might find interesting!

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Saturday Snow

Is there a better kind?
No one had to make any dangerous trips to work and we had no obligations.
This made it a great day for sledding. The snow was mostly ice and boy was it slick! You can't tell by these pictures but this is the PERFECT hill . It could only be better if it had an escalator. Ok,, that's just my opionion but whatever... wouldn't want to get any excersize now would we? It's so steep and if you get going fast enough you hit a second hill and keep on going. The kids passed OUT tonight! There were no arguements about bedtime.





By the way, have you noticed that Photobucket has improved their photo editor?!! There's all kinds of fun things to do now! The above pictures are the result of me goofing around with it this evening.
Don't forget to set your clocks ahead tonight!!!

LOST (in more ways than one)

It should have been a very exciting day. We thought it would be.

Damn Leap Year.

Here's how it went down.

I get this Email (from someone who will remain nameless because it was an honest mistake) that says that Wildlife Day at the Capital was Friday March 7th.

I passed this email around to everyone I knew.

I built up the kids and assured them we'd be braving any kind of weather or circumstance to go to "Critter Day".

I get in from Mom's Night out in time to watch the news. On the news is....... Wildlife day. It happened on THURSDAY! Oh. My. God.

You see,, last year Friday was on the 7th too. So when a person looked at the news release (that was NOT labeled with a year BTW) and saw that it was on Friday the 7th it made total sense. If it were LAST year it would have been Friday the 6th (or is it the eighth?) right? Wrong. Leap year caused it to fall on the same day so there was mass confusion.

I may have inadvertently caused a slew of people to miss this once a year occurrence.

I feel awful. I tried to send out as many emails as possible that night to keep anyone from making the trip.

The boys were devastated of course. They were really looking forward to it.

I sincerely apologize to anyone who made the trip and for those who missed it. I feel like a total dork.

We didn't end up doing anything exciting on this horribly rainy day. We went out and bought T2 some desperately needed shoes, renewed T1's Gameinformer subscription, and ate at Big Loafer. whooooo hooooo.

That reminds me. My kids have always loved to play the Alphabet game. We do it every time we have to drive a long way or wait on something. Today, at Big Loafer we played whilst we waited on our Pepperoni Rolls (while you're at it check out Steph's blog, she wrote about home made pepperoni rolls today!). Here's what you do:

• Pick a topic. Popular ones with us are Cars, Animals, Cartoon Characters, and Movie Titles.


• Start with the youngest person


• Each person has to name something in the topic that starts with that letter. i.e. if you're doing animals the first person might say "APE" or "ANTELOPE" or "AARDVARK". The next "BABOON", the next person, "CHAMELEON" etc.


• You go through the whole alphabet of course. Sometimes the person can't think of anything, that's ok, we all try it and if no one can think of anything,,, we skip it.

Today, the boys wanted to play the LOST alphabet game. Oh HECK yeah! I'm game! We're all a little sick with LOST mania!

A- Airplane

B- Beach

C- Charlie

D- Dharma

E- Ethan

F- Flight

G- Guns (they always seem to have them)

H- Hurley

I- Island

J- Jungle

K- Kate

L- LOST

M- Monster

N- Numbers

O- Oceanic Flight 815

P- Polar Bears

Q- Questions

R- Rescue

S- Sawyer

T- Transceiver

U- Underground

V- Vanished

W- Walt

X-eXodus (ok, we know this one is a stretch)

Y- Your Ultimate Destination (An Oceanic Air reference)

Z- Zinger (as in Sawyer's names for Hurley)

The kids are just as obsessed as I am. I'm good like that, passing my vices off on the kids.

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E is for Excellent!

Ain't she the best? Jennifer gave me an award! She's another WV homeschooler from the Charleston area. Maybe we'll meet up with Jennifer one of these days real soon! Thank you Jen! I'm honored! (and I also stink because it took me forever to get this posted!!)

Big Day

Ahh, it's been a big day.
We had Co-op today. Our class completed our study of the Olympics with a brief study of the geography of China. I sent their binders home with them. It should be a nice addition to a portfolio for those parents who use that option. Before heading to class this morning, I had to run to Office Depot for copies and the Dollar Store for crayons.
After Co-op was skating. Nothing eventful there. No bones broken and nothing bleeding = good skate.
When we came home, it started pouring the rain like gangbusters. I opened my balcony door and curled up under the blankets and SNOOZED. Oh, baby,, you know that was SA-WEET!
That's about all the news that's fit to print. OH, my friend's cow had a baby! I can't wait until she gets her pictures off her camera. I'll post one maybe!
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The Swamp is Alive, with the Sound of Honking.

Driving out to Greenbottom for a hike is one of our favorite things to do. We went about a month ago and everything was still cold and sleepy. This warm March day acted like an alarm clock for the inhabitants of the Powell Wetlands. There were bugs, tadpoles, Coots, geese, turtles, frogs, birds-a-plenty, fish, and evidence that the beavers have been busy!
If you look closely, you can see a little school of fish!


The geese were really.....uhm..... wow.... uh..... making a lot of baby geese.
"THE GEESE ARE FIGHTING!! "
"No, honey, they're making baby geese"
"but they look mad!"
"No, only the girl goose is mad honey"

This picture just said "Lord of the Rings" to me.


The turtles were so skiddish! As soon as I snapped this picture this turtle took a swan dive right into the water from that high spot on the log. Too funny!



Another half dozen turtles on a log!

The water looked so pretty with the sun shining!

"Aren't you guys coming down?"


The guys checking out the Beaver dam. There was freshed downed logs, freshly packed mud and all of the weeds had been cleared. Busy Beavers!



We hiked for about 2 hours before we decided that it was time to get lunch at Hillbilly Hotdogs.
Unfortunately, it was still closed. Sharie's brother passed away. Our condolences to the Knight family and Sharie's family.
We were really in the mood for some WV dogs so we drove to the downtown location. I didn't think it was as good but it's hard to mess with perfection! If Rt.2 is a perfect 10, then the 3rd Ave. location is a 9.75.
T1 got a chicken sandwich.... made with chicken nuggets!
T2 got 2 plain dogs with ketchup
Daddy got 2 WV dogs (in very un-WV-ian fashion) with just sauce and mustard. A real WV dog has that + slaw and onions =YUM.
I had a Rahall Red Hot. It was really good. hot mustard, jalapenos, kraut, grilled onions, on a mett. It was good, and it definitely cleared out the sinus (if only temporarily) but not as good as the taco dog!

And finally,, happy things. Two kitties waiting on the bed,, ready to snuggle. Ok, not really, they mearly tolerate us but all the same, it makes me happy!

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