They see me riding...

We have a somewhat new driver in the house.  She's just now getting the hang of it, mostly.  So that means she drives more often than I do. 

Some rides, she does great and I'm okay.
Some rides get a little out of hand and I'm frightened.
Some times the ride and I are both indescribable...

If anything, riding with a new driver always makes you feel alive.

Now I Understand.

So my mom is wonderful.  I love her dearly.  But when I'm sick, she's a hovering mom.  I'm 40 and she treats me like I'm 10 when I'm sick.  "Are you feeling better yet?  Does it still hurt?  Can I do anything?" and the questions continue on until I feel better to make her quiet.. lol..or maybe I just feel better.

Last night I got a call from Sarah, her tooth is bothering her something awful.  She didn't know what to to do to make it feel better and I couldn't get her into a dentist at 9:30 at  night.  And being 5 hours from home it's just tough not being there able to help her.  Although, I guess it's a good thing, because my help would be like my moms... "Are you feeling better yet?  Does it still hurt?  Can I do anything?"

I did manage to find a dentist that takes our insurance though and she has an appointment in the morning.  The worst part is that it always seems to hurt the most when you're just waiting for the hours to tick by and get in to see him.  Truthfully, I think it's a sinus infection because she's sick, but I guess we'll see.

Wish I could take the pain away, but like I said in the title of this post... now I understand.  I understand that I just want you smiling  again.

Algebra Do Over

So a couple of years ago when Kelly was getting ready to go into 9th grade a friend of mine said "you know you can probably skip Pre-Algebra and go right into Algebra."  She was a seasoned homeschooler and suggested I go to Saxon (the math texts we used) and take a placement test.  We did.  Kelly did well enough to go into Algebra 1.  It's been almost two school years now and it's just not clicking.  She's struggling every day, she hates math and it's really bothering me.  No one who homeschools should dread a subject THAT  much (in my opinion anyhow).

Saxon is a great piece of educational material, I'll say that.  It's worked wonders with my oldest daughter and for what it's been, my youngest too.  But as you get into the upper levels, if algebra isn't your strong point, you may have to rethink things.  Algebra isn't my strong point... I rethought this.  Sarah though, for what it's worth, sailed through it and loved it with no problem, so it's gotta be what's best for each child.

Well, I went online and looked around and came across Teaching Textbooks.  It was a unique looking curriculum.  The book looked marked up (similar to her notebooks by the end of the year) and was brightly colored and fun looking.  The lesson is worded in down to earth English (no mathese spoken here) and written with a sense of humor.  The idea behind the set is to watch the lesson (hello private tutor!), do the work and then any missed problems, you can watch another video and see what was done wrong.  I liked it.   BUT. It was expensive.

The price was completely out of my range.   What to do... check ebay.  Okay, no..  resale value is almost as high.  Wait.  Did I just say that?  I will be able to resale my items at almost the same price I paid.... hmmmm. Things like this is always a motivator for me, because that means the material is good.  Homeschoolers talk.  And they talk enough to know not to buy crappy materials repeatedly.  I mean when you start naming names in the homeschool curriculum community, there are very few that come highly recommended in each category.   So the best ones stand out with a higher price (not always, but most of the time).

After thinking it over a few days, I went ahead and had Kelly take a placement test on this site and sure enough, she fell into the Pre-Algebra range.  I don't know if it was a fluke the first time she took the quiz with Saxon or what, but I have felt guilty for skipping PA for so long.  Especially the more she struggled, I just felt like she didn't have the basics for the problems she needed.  And as the story ends, we're now the owners of our very own set of Teaching Textbooks, but more importantly, I hope we become a family where a lesson of math won't make for a horrible day.

What happens when you don't listen to mom...

Kelly went hot-tubbing when she stayed the night with a friend.  I've told her not to get in them before (why, who knows), but she did.  And she failed to tell me about it...until something came up. 



 I knew right off the bat she'd been in it.. lol.  The friend didn't think to check the PH balance before getting in and well.  Anyhow, Kelly's punishment was her own self inflicted OH SO ITCHY days.

The year in review

2009 - A look back.

*click on the picture for a larger size*

As it begins
Our vacation ends
Kelly spins and
Kelly grins - with long hair for now.
church softball yes, long hair no more
Sarahs new prescription
Swimming at night
College registration
Birthday girl and
Birthday girl - both on the same day
photos in the bathroom
10th grade homeschooler
Dog tired
repainted to black
a trip to the zoo
a really nice day
Beating up the teacher
20 years married
Graduation party
Changes happening everywhere
Halloween
A birthday party
One very happy man
and a very happy girl
No cats in the tree!
Working together for me.
just waiting
and here we go again.

Captain's Log 5.12.Twenty.O.Nine

Hi.  I'm not in right now, but if you'll leave a message, I'll get back to you sometime in July.  How does life get so busy?  What am I doing wrong?  Am I doing something right?  Is this normal for people?  I sometimes think it's a part of life, then things settle down and I get used to that...then Boom.  Here we are again.  This time, it's not letting up for a while.  Oh well.

So you want to hear something really fun.  I was able to get in touch with a childhood friend.  We last saw each other at the end of 7th grade...that'd be uhm...1983.  I found her while searching online and sent a letter to an address, hoping they would forward if she moved.  She hadn't...and it was so good to talk with her.

This Friday is the end of school at our house.  Actually, Kelly finished about a month ago, but I've been finding some extra work for her.  That kid is fast.  Sarah finishes Friday though and starts a new job on Monday.  I think she's so glad to be done with school, she's secretly doing happy dances.  I know I am.  This year has drug on.

Well, that goofy title above makes it look like I'm a trekkie doesn't it.  I'm really not.  I just couldn't decide what to put.  I should just label every entry, "Random Thoughts Swirl Loosely Around Inside My Head Until I Write Them Down In My Blog Of Word Soup."  Hmm... not even close to being catchy is it?

Sarah's graduating this weekend.  We're having a dessert reception.  Lots of baking to get done... I guess I'll start Friday.  I ordered a 1/2 sheet cake from the bakery.  My mom is making pies (6 of them).  We'll pick up Ice Cream from the store and that just leaves 7 dozen brownies and 7 dozen cookies to make and bake.  She invited over 200 people so even if only 1/4 show up... well. And if no one comes, hey that's okay too because we'll make room in the freezer.  Seriously though, I hope I bring none of it home.   Sharing with you this awesome brownie recipe.  Nothing better! Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies And then I found this...Cooking Baking Tips.  Learn something new everyday.

My sister Becky came to visit mom this past weekend.  It was nice to visit with her and her family for a while.  It makes mom happy when she comes, so it's all good and that's what matters.  Although for a week after she leaves, mom does call me by her name.  But I understand because I'm always making the mistake of  calling wrong names with the girls.  If they didn't look so much alike... or maybe it's my eyesight.

I went to the dentist a few weeks ago.  When I was young, I had a very bad experience with a dentist and I have been afraid of them since.  Well, in March, I had a tooth hurting and went to see Dr. Ed (our dentist).  While getting a shot, it hit the nerve and I knew it was coming.  A break down.  So he starts to pull and he's apologizing and I say "it's okay, I deserve it."  He said "you don't deserve this, it's not a punishment."  When it was over, we were talking *I was babbling like an idiot* and told the story of the dentist when I was 9.  He made the person who brought me wait in the waiting room while I was getting a filling.  The shot hurt and I was scared (probably being so scared was what made the shot hurt) and I cried.  He said "Stop your crying you big baby.  If you'd take care of your teeth you wouldn't have to be here.  You deserve it."   It had been 7 years since my last visit to Dr. Ed.  My girls go on cue every 6 months.  Dh had wonderful work done.  But you think you're putting me in a chair if I don't have to be?  Well...after telling them EVERYTHING, they have been wonderful.  I went for a visit in late April (followup) and he took x-rays and we talked about what would be happening over the next few months.  I don't need anymore teeth pulled, but a few small fillings.  He was so patient and I really appreciated that.  His assistant was telling me about a story when she was in college and was sent to assist as a student.  They had a child come in and he was squirming and the doctor told her to sit on him.  She wouldn't do it and the office assistant came in, straddled the chair facing him, put his legs over hers and pinned his arms in place.  The dentist went to work.  So Dr. Ed's assistant went back and told her Professor what had happened and he was in shock.  Apparently no one else had ever said anything.   It makes me wonder how many more people out there are still doing this to children when their parents don't come in the room. :(  Anyhow...I go back in August and I'm not scared.  What a concept.

Guess that's enough for today.  Till next time. :)

Life is....Busy Fun

I have been having so much fun this month, it's just crazy.  And with all that fun, busy-ness was in full bloom.

After we started off with vacation, we've had two bowling afternoons with our homeschool group.  This is such a great deal the alley gives us.  $1 a game and $1 shoe rental...who can pass that up?

Early in the year, Kelly wanted to do a unit study on Forensic Science.  I put it off (for whatever reason) but finally decided to start it for her.  I suggested we open it to some others in our HS group and make it limited to 6-8 people.  Well, that is going over awesomely!  We have 6 teens and they're all having fun with it.  We've had a Forensic Latent Prints Investigator come in and show what she does and then she let them lift their prints from a wide variety of surfaces.  We've covered Arson, Crime Scene Investigation (they missed sn many clues.. LOL), white powders, drug discussion, interviewing witnesses, being on a jury (that was interesting when one person didn't agree with the others) and my own non-personal favorite...a vomit lab.  They had to perform several experiments on vomit to decide where a victim had his last meal.  *Disgusting and they loved it and hated it.*  We still have blood spatter, hair and fibers and they'll have the chance to put together a crime scene that they've constructed in writing assignments.  It's been a lot of work, but it's been fun.

Then on the 14th, a friend and I went to a used homeschool book sale.  If you're a homeschooler, find out if your county or nearby big cities have these!  I bought all of Kelly's curriculum for next year or 47.00.  I love these things and wish I'd known of them 6 years ago.  I can only imagine how much money I'd have saved.  Tip...do not take your children!  I don't care how well behaved they are, they will get bored or want to buy as there is so much available!!  Go yourself and then go back with them if you must!!

Sarah had a couple of friends over for the Twilight dvd release.  She was at Wal-Mart at midnight to get her copy.. lol.  I haven't read the book even.  She's asked and asked, but I don't want to get sucked into it.  I know I'd probably like it if she did.

On the 20th, a friend and I hosted an International Night for our homeschool group.  It was the first time we've ever done anything like this and it was so much fun!  Any family who wanted to participate chose one country to study and make a display representing it on that night.  We had 8 out of 30 families involved and it was wonderful!!  It was so nice to study only one country and travel to 9 of them!  The kids had passports to be stamped or signed and there was so much food.  We travelled through Germany, Spain, France, Russia, South Korea, Greece, Japan and Canada.  Each place made a dish from that country and I have to say some of it was so very good.  I had Baklava, Yoki, Paella, Truffles....and those were the dishes I could remember.. LOL.  Such a fun night though and we will definitely do it again!

Carls birthday was on the 24th.  We really went all out for it.  Kelly made a cake, Sarah made a banner and I cooked dinner.  Woohoo.  LOL :)  But it was a nice night.

This week the girls have some friends over (again) because they're all going to Dare2Share in St. Louis.  It's a huge teen Christian conference that teaches teenagers how to put down their fear of sharing the Gospel with people.  It's life altering and to see the passion in these young people is just amazing.

My mom heard from my sister that baby Kaleb is doing well.  They've taken  him off everything but the feeding tube and a small amount of oxygen.  He weighs 2lbs 2oz now and can move to the hospital near his home (well... 35 miles near) when he makes it to 3lbs.

Anyhow...that's been the month so far.  Like I said...Busy Fun!

WOOHOO! Guess WHAT!

Sarah received her letter of acceptance at Missouri Southern State University today!   She's going to college! 

So yes... to answer that question asked so many times, can homeschoolers go to college...this is the proof!!!!

What a week...

From Sunday last through right now....let me sum it up.

Sunday A.M. - It was the last week in our old church building.  Our church is moving to a temporary location (starting tomorrow).  In the future a new one will be built, but it felt a little bittersweet to me.

Sunday P.M. - Sarah gets very angry at me and leaves for 2 days.  *Thought bubble - How do you deal with things like this?*  She did return home and changes were set forth to give her just what she wants... to be treated like an adult (what is is about that age... gah, just enjoy not having responsibilities I say, but I'm old and dumb ...because the old saying must be you get dumber with time...anyhow, my thoughts are all over and I digress).

Monday - Trying to keep things moving on around here for Kelly.  We went to the library that morning and had a donut from Caseys.  It was really good.

Tuesday - Spent some time with friends and that evening Sarah returned home.

Wednesday A.M. - I don't remember one thing about this day... I think I was just so darn happy to see her.

Wednesday P.M. - Cleared the air.  Very overdue.  Kelly went to youth group and we all played a game of cards that night until midnight rolled around.

Thursday -


What a birthday.  The best thing was Sarah was home.  DH gave me a new bible case.  LOL, my old one was so slick.  Trying to pick that up and carry it was an art form in itself.  This one has a handle.  Kelly gave me her old mp3 player.. (Lol, love it) and Sarah gave me a card.  Mom dropped in and took us to lunch, but Carl didn't get to go...he had a date with the dentist to get a tooth capped.  Oh yeah, I also got a $345.00 bill on my desk for that procedure.  Christmas is coming after all.. lol.   I went over to mom's that night and watched Survivor.  It's an okay season so far.  I'm rooting for Corinne & Ken to win.  They probably won't, but oh well.

Friday - It seems so far away, but less than 36 hours ago, I was in the middle of it. We went to town and picked up some movies at the video store .  We still have netflix, but I was wanting to watch some movies all at once.  After realizing it today, the movies we chose had a common theme.   I guess it was something I needed .?.

Baby Mama (theme factor: the early years of life)
The Nanny Diaries (theme factor: young children needing to be cared for)
Penelope (theme factor: those teenage years)
College Road Trip (theme factor: and so the book on childhood is closed)

*sigh*

Sarah's sick.  She's been running a fever and has a cough on and off.

Saturday - Sarah & Carl had to work today (special auction day for Carl), so Kelly & I went to the library.  They had a teen gaming hour she wanted to go to.  Apparently, no one else came for the time she was there, so she had the games all to herself.  She said that was great and she really enjoyed it.  I used the laptop and enjoyed some high speed wireless surfing.  Wanna see a great video, go to youtube.com and look up "Evolution of Dance."  It's hilarious. :)

We watched most of the movies.... so far College Road Trip has been the stand out comedy of all of them.  It's a wonderful movie and very heartwarming.

Sarah is still sick, even though she worked today, she's running a fever again now.  I've read about many people having a virus that mimics strep throat.  I guess I'll take her to the doctor Monday, to get started on some medicine.

Anyhow... I'm beat from this week.  It's been so emotional and the song Big Yellow Taxi keeps rolling through my mind...I know it's an environmental song, but the destruction we cause with our words are just as debilitating.

Late last night I heard the screen door slam.
And a big yellow taxi took away my old man.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Here's to a much brighter week with much softer words.

Birthday tag from Wendy

Apparently, we need to pay more attention to directions.

So... Kelly & I gave Letterboxing a try this morning.  Basically, you find a hidden box that someone has planted by using directions at the Letterboxing.org site.  Well, we found out, we're more look and go kind of girls than the lets be sure to read the directions in depth kind of people.

We had three locations... the first one should be easy.  Look for a hamburger shaped rock.  What the heck?  There aren't any hamburger shaped rocks....they look more like, well, rocks than hamburgers.. lol.  We didn't get that one since we didn't take a picture to compare with, but we're going back. 

With the Second box, it was a little hard because we searched and thought we found it!  It was actually very possible, but when we asked the employee to help us reach it and told her what we were doing, she said "good try, but that's not it.  And sorry, you can't leave until you do find it.. lol."  So we retraced our steps to the door and started all over again.  Finally we had some success and here's an example of what a letterbox may look like.


And I know now that we need a stamp.  We saw some really cute things in our book, so we'll have to get something more personal to us.  We had to sign off today.  The bathroom was in use... so we had to find a different hiding spot to sign in.  To celebrate, we bought a yoohoo & an orange crush and headed out on our way.


And this Third letterboxing adventure is where it really became fun because we didn't follow directions closely enough.  We failed to notice a line of directions that said "go past the first entrance."  LOL, we turned into the wrong area and started our trek.  We were about 1/2 mile around the lake when I asked Kelly to read it again.  "Take the blacktopped trail..."  I had to interrupt her.  What do you mean it says blacktopped.  This is dirt.. LOL.  We started laughing and kept walking, knowing we were in the wrong place.  We came upon a fisherman and he said there's a trail on the other side of the lake.. heheh... What dorks we are.   Anyhow, we had fun and snapped some pictures while there.


Swimming anyone?


Wildflowers everywhere...except where the grass has been cut.. lol


Better fish than boys...


My new favorite picture of her...

We headed back to the truck to find the trail.  After we got there, I got out and my shoe caught on something and ripped the side seam (they were old) so we had to go home.  We will definitely be back to conquer that box very soon.

It's like a long lost friend...

I haven't blogged in forever.  It's been on my todo list.  At the bottom, but still on it.  I have to say though, logging in to post feels like running into a long lost friend.  I missed it and it's good to be back again.

We had our family reunion and it was a load of fun.  Most everyone was able to make it and it was really nice to see them all.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love the campground we were at.  They had camper cabins, a huge dining hall and industrial kitchen with everything you'd need (-food) and the price was just amazing.  We all paid $10 per person for a 2 night stay.  We were in air conditioning at any time during the day (and boy was it hot for a while) and the nights were sheltered from bugs... it was just really nice.  I do have a few pictures of the family to show off... it was the one time I remembered to take photos of them (dh & the girls).


Kelly....at 8 am.  She wouldn't have been smiling if it was any earlier.. lol.



Sarah...smiling because she was ready to go home to get a cell phone signal once again.


And a picture of dh & his cousin playing a round of ladder golf (a ridiculously fun game if you haven't tried it out).

Well other than that, we've spent the summer doing homeschool group things, running here and there, having a good time and watching Sarah play softball with our church. *Photo imposition*

It was a fun season and she really enjoyed it.  Kelly said she's playing next year, that's going to be fun.

Speaking of Kelly, she's been helping out with the K-3rd grade Sunday School classes at church.  She loves it.  I'd never have guessed that she'd have that kind of love and patience for the little kids, but she comes home every week with a story about something one of them said.  I'm glad she's involved with it and having a good time.

We signed up to be an international friendship family again this year.  Our students, I believe, are Korean.  The past few years, they been from Taiwan, so now we need to read up on something new.  Anyhow, we get to meet them at the end of September.  I'm looking forward to it.

I guess I can say that I'm thrilled with school starting back.  I love a scheduled day, it really makes things go so much smoother.  We did a lot of school throughout the summer, but for the month of July & some of August, they were out.  It was crazy then.  I won't even mention the bad parts, but I'm really glad to know that the old saying "this too shall pass" is so very true.. lol. :)

So you want to hear something really strange.  We're sitting at the table this morning eating breakfast talking about how Sarah won't be around with us next year at this time.  We were laughing and she said "you'll get to drive again."  That's when it hit us... Kelly will get her permit in June!  I won't get to drive my own car for another 2 or 3 years still.. LOL.   Awh, I'm just teasing.  I can drive anytime, but it's fun to let her drive while I keep asking "are we there yet?"

P.E. It's more than running laps.

Why run laps when you can rappel and swim all day?   Since the teens have been meeting continuously through the summer, we have been having a ball.  It's like a checklist we're crossing off... roller skating, bowling, football, basketball, swimming, baseball, volleyball...who knows what's next!
This week, the kids went rappelling.  We had 10 kids, 2 dads, 4 moms and our fearless leader along for the trip.    This is Sarah just starting the descent.  Kelly is up there too, she's over on the right (sitting).


Almost down...


Success!  **Her words..."Let's do that again!"  and she did... 4 more times.


The hard part about the whole thing was going up.  They had to climb a rock facing that was at about a 75° angle.  After Kelly sat up there so long, she got spooked and came back down.  I can't say I blame her, but maybe next time.

She spent time playing in the water and swimming with her friends.


I like days like this and needless to say, they both slept well that night. ;)

SWMO

Kelly's camp was about 30 miles from the Missouri/Arkansas border.  We took a couple of pictures from an overlook.  You can actually see the lake area in the photos.  Kelly's camp was on the mountain straight back in the first picture.  And yep...the Ozarks really are mountainous.  I didn't know we had things like that in Missouri.  I thought hilly areas, sure...but this was much more steeper than any hill.



Zoomed in.

The past few days...

So I'm jumping forward from where I left off...

The 24th was the girls birthday (yes, they share the same day).  Sarah is 18 now and Kelly is 14.... so hard to believe.  This was the first time Sarah had her birthday to herself since she was 3.  LOL  Kelly was excited to be having a birthday while at camp.  The day was pretty quiet though as gifts had been given in the form of cash months before when signing 2 girls up for camp.  They did get a card though and I bought an ice cream cake on Sunday to celebrate.  They were happy with it.

>>> fast forward from Tuesday to Friday>>>>

We picked up Kelly on Friday, Sarah & I did.  It's a 5 hour drive down and we had to be there at 11am.  LOL, we are so not morning people.  But we made it with plenty of time to spare.  When we first got out of the car, we were wondering how we would find her... she found us and was ready to go home without a doubt.  And boy was she dark.  A week spent in the sun on a lake made her well done.. lol.  She said they had a lot of fun and she went tubing, played volleyball, basketball, ping pong, worshipped and lots of swimming.  They also went to class in the evening and she has really grown with the experience.

*********** PROUD MOM BRAG *************

I don't normally brag, but I gotta do it here.  For 2 weeks, leading up to camp, they encouraged teens to do a media fast.  That consists of no secular music, no secular website, no video games, no movies and no TV!   Believe it or not, she made it!  There were only 3 kids out of 200 who accomplished this and I am so proud of her.  It's so hard to give up those things because many times we turn them on out of habit.  But she did it.

**********Bragging Over*************

So anyhow, we made it back by 4:30 that day and Sarah had a ballgame with our church that evening at 6:30.  We came home and visited with Carl for a few minutes and then headed out to the game.  They were a girl short....we were going to have to forfeit.  Kelly volunteered to play and they put her in as catcher (played one game of ball in her life -- it's not a favorite of hers).  She didn't do too bad, but squatting down was killing her.. lol.  When it came time to bat, they told her just to hold the bat and don't swing.  She said "I just stared the pitcher in the eyes instead of looking at the ball."  You can probably guess, but the girl who was pitching wasn't used to being stared at and threw ball after ball.  She took first base twice with this tactic.  We ended up losing 10 to 9, but at least the game wasn't a forfeit.  Kelly could barely walk when it was up, but.

Saturday was pretty quiet here.  Dh traded a friend some tools for a lawnmower, so he spent the day mowing and puttering around.  Sunday morning we went to church and helped set up, stayed for connections class (Sunday school) and church, then went to the church picnic, followed by The Truth Project that night.  Sunday was a lonnnnnggg day, but fun.

The weeks in review.. lol.

So most everyday I jot down a short note about things that happen with all good intention to get in here and post it.  Most of the time that good intention heads out the window.  So I'm just going to post it all in one.

Friday the 6th
Well, we thought we'd hit rain this morning when we went to get Sarah, but only twice did we get wet.  We made it with plenty of time to spare.  The class itself was amazing!

**Who knows what happened around here for 10 days?? lol**

June 17th
I don't know how the girls do it.  LOL.  I took them to town today and they met up with some of our homeschool group to play basketball, volleyball and softballl.  They played for three hours!  After that, we took our friend Steve (their PE teacher) out to lunch to pay him back for fixing our tv.  We had chinese that wasn't very good at that time of day (reminder to go only at lunch).  Afterwards, he asked if they wanted to walk a trail in town and they of course said yes.  They adore him and he's such a nice guy.  I went over and met up with DH while they walked and then picked them up 70 minutes later.  They had walked a 7 mile paved trail!  I couldn't believe how fast they did it.   Instead of going home then, we all went over to the ball field as our church had a game that night.  Sarah plays 2nd base and did a super job.  We won the game because the other team had to forfeit (short 1 girl player), but they played for fun (great experience).  We were leaving, when a coach from the next team coming in asked Sarah if she'd play for them.. LOL  He said, "We're one girl short and we'd really appreciate if you could play."  She looked at me, I looked at our Pastor/Coach (heck I didn't know if it was ok as this is all new to me).  She ended up playing and they lost, but her replacement came before the game was over.    It was one of those great things though that we were asked to stay and play.  Our friends, came out to watch her play.  I'd have felt terrible if they came and we weren't there.  LOL, she had a cheering section of 8 fans, not including others from church.  Lucky & loved girl... lol.  So, hourly totals of exercise that day:  Kelly 4, Sarah 6.  Insane people!

June 18th
Sarah went to work at Subway last week.  She seems to really like the job, but she refuses to ask when payday is.. lol.

June 19th
Had a garage sale today.  Well, it wasn't called a garage sale, I called it an Overstuffed with Stuff sale.  Did pretty good and got rid of most everything in just one day.  People came all day long (weird because usually it's just till noon and that's that), but it was fun.  I made about $165.  LOL, then I had to take the car in Friday and have it aligned and the tires rotated (there went $70 for that).  The rest of the money is going for gas to take Kelly to camp and pick her up.  For what it's worth though, you can't really tell I made a dent in the house.. lol.  Maybe I'll be better prepared next spring and really clean out the stuff.

June 20th
Went to the doctor today.  I thought it would be a good idea to get Kelly a tetanus shot before she goes (swimming in the lake at camp).  While we were there, I got my blood drawn (overdue) and I hope the results come back clear.  As far as the usual readings (blood sugar/thyroid/etc) those were ok.  When he tested me, I had a low sed rate (whatever that is) that showed I was losing blood somewhere.  Well, I had a kidney infection and it was obvious where it was coming from (to me anyhow).  Now nothing seems to be going on, so I hope it's clear.

More to post later...

The food chain... and an update on Carl.

Carl is finally done with the whole stone thing.  He had his stents removed today and all is well again.  The doctor said the stone they removed last Wednesday had been the size of a peanut.  It's no wonder he was hurting.  But he's almost back to his normal old self and very back to work (*secret yaays*).

So this morning, we (Kelly & I) took him to a surgery center to have the stents out.  It was quite a wait and the waiting room was full.  She and I went outside to sit as it was nice.  Kelly said, "so I guess school is cancelled today?"  HA, wrong thing to ask mom.  No... we're having impromptu school now.  She frowned but went along with it, not knowing what was coming.  We walked around the building for a while and then sat down on the ledge.  I started asking her about different parts of sentences, we did some mental math (percents, quick addition/subtraction, etc), geography with landmarks and then we did some science.  Just for a review, I had her map out the solar system with some decorative gravel and make sure everything was sized accordingly.

Then somehow the food chain came up.  We were laughing and just having fun with it and she said... "Ok... a bug is ate by a bird.  A bird is ate by a cat."  She stopped, looked at me like I should say something so I said "A cat is ate by...."Her answer?  Chinese people.  She's a bad little girl.  The conversation ended in buzzards & roadkill...but she's such a smart alek.

Out of the house...

We met up with some friends today.  Kelly went to play basketball & volleyball and tape people to trees.  They must have played for 3 hours in the heat, but were still going strong even though it was time to leave.  I was able to sit with their moms and dads and chat, it was nice to have a quiet day with no interruptions, talking with adults about adult things.. lol.

She's gone gone gone...

Kelly and I just got home from taking Sarah to camp.  I think she's in good hands.  The people who met us at the car door took her bags in, seemed really nice and the sample schedule they gave us looks amazing.  I can't wait to hear how it went.

New curriculum and crazy roads.

Sarah & I drove to Independence for a curriculum sale today.  It was fantastic!  I bought over $400 worth of books for only $100.  I know I'll get out of them what I paid for them so I'm just tickled.  We also got the last parking space in the lot.. lol.  I felt bad, but I felt blessed too.  The only thing I need to buy is Sarah's Physics book.

Sarah drove back home and I don't know who designed the roads in that town, but there were some really strange exits.  Usually when you get ready to go on a highway, you don't have to cross across a lane of traffic unless you're going left on that highway.  Not here... to go right, you have to make a left across 3 lanes of traffic.  ?  Yeah, ok.  So.. lol, when we figured out where to make the turn, wouldn't you know a policeman is sitting there and let us cut in (we were in the wrong lane even).  I'm sure he ran our plates and found we were from out of town.  Surely locals understand the backwardness of the roads now.  But we made it with only one other weird interchange moment and we were both very relieved to get on I-70 and head back home.

Trip perk:  Stopping at QuikTrip and getting a fountain Diet Coke with vanilla... very tasty.

Our Monday

Well... today was fun.  I've been sick but I'm feeling better.  Carl's sick now though.  Hopefully it won't stay around very long.  This morning, I got up and exercised.  While doing that, I couldn't help but worry about his physical that needed to be done today.  He drives a truck at work and every year he has to have the DOT physical.  The last 2 times, his blood pressure has been higher than normal.  Last year, the doctor (who he didn't care for) told him that if his BP is high this year, he's pulling his license.  Thank God that today when he went in it was perfect.  I really didn't want him to have to come off the truck and work in the plant.  He likes doing that.  So... there wasn't any need to worry, God had it all under control.  I know it wasn't dh's doing.  A few weeks ago, he went to his doc and it was high then.

So that good news (after he called) made me think we needed to get out and get some things done.  We headed to the post office and mailed some things, went out to lunch for Chinese food and then headed to our state capitol to look for a prom dress.  We went to the Goodwill store first and found some awesome swimsuits!  The girls are going to camp in just a few weeks and these suits were in pristine condition.  Sarah picked out a blue speedo the first time around.  Five suits, 10 pairs of shorts and one hour later and Kelly had found the one for her.  She hates the color purple, but this one looks like a purple/black Hawaiian sunset.  And it was beautiful on her.  Each suit was only $3 so I feel like I hit the jackpot with those.. lol.  Compared to $15.00 each at Walmart for a suit that doesn't hold up very well.

Then we headed over to the mall.  I despise malls and shopping is an abominable act in my opinion.  But I gave in... it was for Sarah.  We went to Deb and the snot working there didn't even bother speaking to us to see if we needed help.  When I asked what size her dresses went to, she said 13/14, I knew that was the reason.  Sarah doesn't wear that size, she wears a 16.  Big difference.  So I thanked her and we headed to our next stop... Dillards.  Dillards isn't my cup of tea because I'm not a Dillards kind of girl.  But I knew we've had success with pretty dresses there before at a reasonable price.  So we went in and found the perfect dress for Sarah (only had to try on 6 dresses) and it was in the price range I needed.  YAY.  I'll post pictures on Saturday with her in it.

On our way to Dillards, we passed Payless.  I thought about not stopping in and just going to walmart, but I said eh.  They were having a B1/G1 1/2 off sale.  Well, you can't buy one pair of shoes without taking advantage of the sale can you?  Yes... I can, but Kelly found a cute pair and I couldn't resist getting them for her.  So the pair that Sarah picked out matched her dress perfectly.   The only thing we needed to get was a necklace & pantyhose, which we did when we stopped in at Walmart on the way home.  We also picked up bobby pins, hairspray & clips because I'm going to do her hair.

I'm so glad this is all done.  You know as far as homeschooling goes, it's funny, because so many people said "what about prom, she can't miss that!"  When we started, I really didn't know what to say about that.  I figured, if she goes, she goes.  And now she is.  And she's also going to two Senior all night parties as an invited friend.. lol

Now I have to go outside and play a couple games of HOG (shortened for HORSE) with Kelly.  I hope I win.  Wait... I already have. :)