Seizing My Day

sh……….. do you hear that?

the birds are chirping

(I don’t even want to talk about the fact that MY cat broke that sweet birds wing!!)

*cough – darn cat*

the squirrels are chattering

the dog is snoring

my music is playing

and I can actually hear it all!

uninterrupted !!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Friday Afternoon

After a doctors appointment (more on that later)

After a vet appointment (more on that later)

I put these 2 little toe-heads in the car

with their daddy (The Superstar!)

who I might point out was still smiling …

What a guy!

and I waved goodbye to them all!

Bub-bye~ have fun camping with Grandma and Grandpa!!

WithOUT me!!!  =)

I love them more than I ever knew my heart could love~

however ~ I NEEDED a weekend at home ~ ALONE!

Bliss.

I never ever in a million years thought I would LOVE time ALONE!!

I am a people person!  =)

Since I started home schooling

my SWEET man gives me weekends Home Alone!!

Bless His Heart !!  Yes ~ I know I am blessed!

There was one small tragedy …

about an hour after they left I found  T-I-G-E-R !!!!!!!!!!

Tiger and Sammy spend very little time apart…   =(

this was bad news!!

I called Sammy b/c I knew he would need a little time to process the bad news

before he got to the camp ground and realized Tiger was not there…

He would have to spend the weekend without Tiger!!

There were tears… but he was a brave little man …

and he sucked it up…

until he got home last night…

Tears of joy and relief when he finally hugged Tiger again last night!

I am teary eyed recalling the moment….

Tiger and his boy have been together 6 years…

it was a long weekend for them.

but I digress…

What on earth did I do for 55 hours you ask ~ with no children in my own house?

Friday Afternoon I caught up on blogging buddies, walked the pooch~ yep still had THAT kid with me ~ and I watched girly movies.

nice. quiet. lovely afternoon and evening.   Alone.  Relaxing!

Saturday *gulp*  I cleaned!!   it HAD to be done!  trust me!

After wearing the pooch out ~ I pulled out the rubber gloves and the bleach, the broom, the vacuum and a dusting cloth!  I love a clean house!  by 5 pm ~ my house was ready to be relaxed  in !!  =)

I invited a few girlfriends over for Saturday night.  Fun fun!

originally we were going to have a Pink Poker night ~

Chick Style!

but I planned it with late notice and we  didn’t have enough gals to play ~ so we sat in the back yard with Margaritas and giggled instead!  perfect.  relaxing.  girl time.  good friends.  Thanks for Coming Jen and Tammy!!  =)  I hope to host a Girls Only Pink Poker party a couple times this summer …  I love to play cards … and I really can’t wait to crack open this new Chick game!  Next time I need to plan with more notice!  I am terrible that way… *sigh*  =)

Tammy from Tammy’s Two Cents was one of my guests… she has become a good friend over the last couple years.  As our girls have played soccer together we began to get to know one another… we  found a lot of common ground.  and our boys enjoy each others company.  our girls enjoy each others company.  We enjoy each others company.  and our husbands even coach soccer together now .  =)    and we are both Bloggers… (Tammy encouraged me to take a leap into this fabulous journey!)  Anyway ~ wouldn’t you know it … 2 bloggers … and NO pictures! My camera was even on the counter!   oh well… I was in relax mode I think!!   It was great to relax with friends and not have to fuss over the kids at all… just the dog a little… =)

Sunday ~ Sunday ~

guess what I did??

Something I rarely do.

R-E-A-D.

I forgot how much I love to read!!

Remember I bought this a while back?

well… I finally got to crack it open…

I have high expectations from this book  =)

after reading a billion blog reviews on it…

You all know who you are!  he he…

this is how far I got ..

and I am NOT disappointed!!

I knew from the title alone that Beth Moore wrote this  book  JUST FOR ME…

You see… I am Sure I am one of those miracles she mentions on page 85.  =)

The one with All of her suggested insecurity roots under my tree…

every single one.  I say with a laugh.

because I live a life like Charlie Brown …

I am keenly aware of my insecurities and some of the roots

painfully aware =)

Now that I am reading the book

I am finally willing to say it outloud to y’all!

I know I  NEED to read this book.  =)

You see My Charlie Brown Life style has beaten me up a bit~

even though God has gifted me with His Spirit in my life … Blessing!

and His joy and Peace in my heart.  Blessing!

and the ability to access humor in all circumstances… Blessing!

But I still have  a LONG way to go baby…

b/c no matter how strong in the Lord I thought I was…

Insecurities have crept in and made themselves cozy

while I was battling some of life’s challenges over the years…

SO … Imagine…

A sunny back yard, coffee, birds chirping, Merlin actually lying down outside…

and me …with my feet up …reading…. tackling my insecurities =)

with Beth Moore’s ~  So Long Insecurities ….

Peaceful.

Bliss.

Heaven on Earth.

Reading. All. Day. Long.

(well.. runner up to being at the beach)   =)

I did stop and walk the dog.

and I did bake for an hour *I heart baking*

and I LOVE eating scones… =)

I never follow rules

I break them.

I never follow recipes

I modify them.

Imagine ~ Maple Pecan Scones and Vanilla Bean Scones ~ combined = Yum   =)

OK Confession:  I am afraid of Vanilla Beans.

but I got over myself and I used them for the first time yesterday.

is this what the “caviar” should look like…??  kinda dry??

World Market had them 2 beans for 2.99

Our Fancy local grocery store had 2 beans for 17.99

Guess which ones I bought.

So you vanilla bean experts… what exactly is the inside of the bean like?  wet or dry?

I expected wet… but it was dry?  I guess I could google it.

=)   sorry. I do that. I don’t know where my head is sometimes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was So Sad to say goodbye to my Fabulous Relaxing weekend ~

Man did I ever need it  ~  =)

My head has been in the clouds lately… not just being so darn busy…

But My allergies led to that horrible cold I had last week,

the horrible cold led to dizzy dizzy DIZZY!

A girl can’t live all dizzy like that!

Dizzy led to Dr. appointment as noted above

Dr. Appointment = $200. (deductible) ugh! grr…

and for the last few days I have been taking this to clear up

inner ear vertigo ??

Have you ever had inner ear vertigo? or whatever it is called?!!

You are convinced you have a brain tumor.

but you don’t.

anyway ~ the meds don’t seem to be helping all that much.

my head is still spinning.

I can not live like this people!  =)

I have a birthday party to plan this week!

Usually I am planning a good month or two in advance.

very little planning this year folks!  I am in a heap of trouble!=)

My baby…

is turning 8  on Friday!!!

He is hoping for a Fun memorable birthday!

I am going to need more caffeine to make it through the week!

So I will be distracted this week ~

planning all kinds of NERF related fun for a few 8 year old boys…

Mostly for this boy (and his Tiger who will surely be at the party) =)

*I heart this little boy and his tiger* =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last but not least… I started my day today taking this dude to the vet.

He has been “favoring” one leg since Thursday…

Friday we had his “glands” squeezed ~ a monthly affair in his life ~

don’t get me started *ugh* grrrrrrrrrr  (see Charlie Brown)

we were hoping MAYBE his full glands were  irritating his nerves in his ‘hind leg’

Not so much ~  he is still “favoring” the leg

so back to the vet went this morning

( just noticed they accidentally charged us for a cat visit …sigh… Charlie Brown)

anyway… $170 later

it is “probably” a sprain

or he bent the nail back and split it away from the skin (ouch)

so we walked away with anti-inflammatory pain meds for 50 bucks!!

and instructions to slowly leash walk ONLY for 2-3 weeks

(that will mentally do me in I swear! )  =)  just sayin!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what I am trying to say is between me and my dizzy head ~ the dog and his bum leg ~ and a birthday party for my little boy ~ never mind soccer and the last week of school ~ an “egg drop” and girl scout awards…  and selfishly =)  I really REALLY want to finish My book!!

I won’t be around much this week~!  Yikes… sort of a Mini Blogging Break!

Just until Saturday!

I will try to visit a few blogs at least once this week ~ and I hope to see you all on the other side of the week!   I may or may not be planning a wee little surprise ~ wink wink ~ Maybe On the First Day of Summer ~ if I can get it organized by then?? !!   it might be the first week in July??  So ya all come back now ya hear!  See you Saturday!

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What in the world do The Wonder Twins, Cowboys and Alligators have in Common?

It is simple really

Let me tell you

They all sent us mail this week.

We had a few giggles with the post cards that arrived this week.

This Post Card Project has been a Blast for the kids

and the mom!

First

We received surprise post cards in the mail from Uncle Brett!

Apparently he traveled to Minnesota last week!~  Sneaky! =)

Thank you Uncle Brett!!  The kids LOVED the surprise postcards!!

The kids think you went there just for them!  ha ha!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you all know this story??

If you don’t ~ You HAVE to get it ~

Borrow it from the library ~

borrow it from a friend ~ BUY it ~

Steal it!!   if you have to….  (ok maybe stealing isn’t a good idea!)

and Then have your funny husband read it with all his  funny voices….

and the voice should change

especially as the gator gets smaller and smaller towards the end.

You won’t regret it…  =)

and If your kids really like it …

then go buy this one too…

because it is almost as funny as the first one.

I wonder if I could talk my husband into reading Vlogging a few of our favorite stories for you all… beg in my comments and He might!!  You won’t regret it!!

You See he animates while he is reading stories

I LOVE listening to my man read to the kids…

PRICELESS entertainment!

I am usually found rolling on the floor when he reading them a book!

So childish and ridiculous …

I mean I should really LET the MAN read!!

*cough*

So easily distracted I am … how does this apply you ask?

WELL

We were attacked when we got home from the mailbox one day this week

Don’t worry …

Sammy is an experienced Gator catcher!

They are all in their Gator cages again!

and the post card made it to the map!

Which is nearly Half Full Now!!

Thank you Cyndy @ Putting the Fun in DysFUNctional

for Sending us an Alligator Postcard from FL ~

We have a few alligator fans in the house!  They loved it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and just when we thought we had enough excitement for one week…

Our friends the Wonder Twins sent us a post card from South Dakota ~

The Wonder Twins and I go way back…

To the 70’s

I loved the Wonder Twins back then!

I probably liked them b/c they had a monkey.

and you all know I like monkeys, right?

what can I say…

monkeys are funny and I love to laugh!

so  really

honest

One of the Wonder Twins signed our postcard …

we have proof…

what more do you need…

I have her signature right there!  =)

on the back of  that South Dakota post card!

OK so that one made me laugh…

my kids had to ask who the Wonder Twins were…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and sweet Abby …she is holding a signed post card

from a REAL life Rodeo Cowboy!

I wonder what he looked like??

I  imagine he was Handsome!

How cool is that ??   it gets cooler… really…

b/c the Wonder Twins had him sign it!!  Honest!

I imagine that only Handsome Rodeo Cowboys  sign post cards for the Wonder Twins!!

Presenting Rodeo Cowboy ~ Tom Wagner ~

as Pioneer Woman would say

Help me Rhonda!  =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So really folks…

we had a wild and crazy week !

and you wouldn’t believe the conversations we have had about “what is a cowboy anyway?”  and “how is a Rodeo cowboy different than a regular cowboy?”   I think I need to go on a field road trip to investigate the difference… any one want to come with me on my cowboy road trip??

So um… Wonder Twins ..  and rodeo cowboy…

Thanks for the Post Cards!!  I think I know who you are!

😉

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We Would LOVE your help filling our Map of Post Cards!!

We have  the following states already:

WA, OR, CA, KY, WY, MN, CO, NV, TX, FL, SC, WI, MI, MT, and KS.

if one of these states is NOT your state…

or a state you will be traveling to this summer~

We would love your help filling our map!

Please leave a comment and I will send you our address!

Thank you!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a great weekend folks

I will see you on the other side!!

Jenn ~

This My Friends …

My Chicken Curry Lentil Soup

is One of my personal favorite meals

My lovely Friend Nancy at The Goat and the Kid

is having a fun new blog hop about family food!!

So without further ado … stick around to see what I am cookin…

and then click over and see what other mom’s are cooking at Nancy’s blog!

I don’t really follow a recipe

and I forgot to take pictures of all the steps

what can I say…

I made this on the day my friend Susan and I cooked like crazy women

We  chopped, boiled, stirred, sauteed, cooked,  and baked ~

cinnamon rolls, chili, the curry soup  and twice baked potatoes in one afternoon ! =)

anyway… not that I am encouraging excuses

just sayin that is mine!  =)

So bare with me as I try to put this in recipe form!

Buy a small (not tiny) bag of yellow lentils.

and rinse them.  ok.

Place said lentils in a giant pot with 6 cups? of liquid

boil  according to package

I use  1/2 Chicken Stock and half water

while lentils are cooking 30-45 minutes according to the package

Pull out the rest of your  ingredients ~ as seen here

and here

and here

Stop here and chop 1/2 a red pepper and about 3 peeled carrots

Chop one or two shallots ~ I love these milder onions

Then peel about a 1/2 inch or so of fresh ginger

Cooking with fresh things like ginger still intimidates me…

but I suck it up buttercup and just do it!  =)

Then peel a few cloves of garlic

Put the ginger and garlic in a cool garlic/ginger  smoosher thing

and smoosh it in the said cool garlic smoosher thing

I have this cool garlic grater plate ~ which I LOVE ~

It is Super Easy to use ~ not very messy ~ EASY to clean and purees garlic

which is beautiful ladies ~ just beautiful when you are cooking some things! =)

but I did not have my garlic plate with me

and My cooking buddy  Susan  had recently bought this wonderful garlic tool

and I NEED one of these now too…

I was not strong enough to turn it with ginger in it =)   BUT I still LOVE it…

sometimes you need smooshed garlic and sometimes you need pureed garlic right?  =)

*cough*

ok ~ moving on

You will need to come back to this scene

After said veggies are chopped

and herbs are pulled ~ I just found this lemon thyme recently

it added a lovely flavor ~ but I have also used just fresh thyme

and After all your spices are out Yellow Curry, Cumin and oregano

start opening those cans and stirring them into the lentils now

I only used the light coconut milk and the corn

I left the tomatoes out  ~ oh and the barley which I recently found irritate my digestion!

lovely ~ anyway ~ it makes the recipe gluten free I think w/out the barley.  =)

and it was delish without them… =)  so leave those out!

sorry they are even in the picture ~  I changed my mind mid cooking!

Meanwhile saute said chopped veggies in olive oil

no picture of that either

then put those veggies and herbs now into the lentil pot

which should be hanging out on low right now.

Now Saute the chopped chicken breast

with a little garlic, onion and herbs… lots of herbs … the fresh thyme and oregano!

If you are crazy and multi-task like me

Turn the pot back up to med/high to reboil

continue to stir while doing this as you don’t want it to burn stick to the bottom of the pot!

Then Puree the lentils, liquids, sauteed veggies and corn.

I love love my nifty handy dandy hand blender

but after using Susan’s with a stainless steal one …

I think it is time for an upgrade!  =)

After you have been married almost 12 years

some of your kitchen “tools” get a little rusty or just old

They start falling apart… slowly we are loosing kitchen tools one by one!  =)

Though a few items are going to be hard to part with..

like the pots and pans my mom gave me for my wedding…

my memories with my mom are more important than the stuff she gave me

but still… it is bitter sweet getting rid of stuff your mom gave you …

after you loose said parent.  just sayin… its hard.

I will embrace the new … it is just “stuff”… =)

anywho…

add the yummy sauteed chicken after you puree the soup

I like a “little bit” of chunk in this soup

but I personally don’t like the veggies chunky in this one.

You might like the carrots and corn chunky…

it is a personal choice.

right. right. good then. the only chunk I like in this soup is chicken.

Which brings me to KIDS.  Most kids would enjoy this soup!

My little boy actually likes it.  BUT … My daughter who is EXTREMELY picky

“its a texture thing mostly”

well.. she won’t eat it.  one out of two ain’t bad. right.

Excellent. Now…

Go make this soup and Enjoy it  all by itself ~ or over rice ~ or little red potatoes!!

I like the potatoes chopped kinda small and baked… if I choose to eat it with potato.

it is yummy all by itself with bread on the side !!  =)

Go On ~ Off you Go ~

Shop, chop, cook, puree, saute and Eat!!

I think I am going to pull some out of the freezer and eat it tonight…

or maybe I will wait until the weekend while I am kid and hubby free????

hm… curious… huh!  =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh ~ should I try and write this in real recipe format for y’all ??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenn’s Chicken Curry Lentil Soup

1 small package of yellow lentils

6 or so cups liquid  ~ at least 3 cups chicken stock

1 can light coconut milk

1 can corn ( I know can? ~ it adds sweet corn flavor!)

1/2 red pepper

1 or 2 shallot onions

3 medium/large carrots

1/2 inch fresh ginger

2-3 or 3-4 garlic cloves (dep. on kids) =)

Fresh thyme and oregano if you have it (otherwise dry will do)

4 chicken breasts ~ chopped & sauteed

1 tbsp curry

1 tbsp cumin

1 small handful oregano

1 small handful thyme

Directions:

Rinse lentils and cook as directed.  Keep lentils in juices after ~ do not ever drain.

Chop and saute all veggies, garlic, ginger with 1/2 the  fresh herbs.  Put in pot.

Put  coconut milk, cumin, curry and corn into pot.

Saute chicken with a little garlic, ginger and  1/2 fresh herbs.

Set chicken aside.  Turn up lentil soup boil for a minute or two stirring constantly.

Turn off soup and puree with a lovely handblender.  Add chicken.  Stir.  Serve and Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

wow ~ that was easy ~ but less funny don’t ya think?  ha ha!

If you cook and enjoy this recipe ~ please let people know you got it here !!

It is my original recipe ~ Thank you!  =)

If you give a dog a bone…

He’ll take it…

He likes bones

he might even chew it …

for a minute…

until he finds your nick nack on the shelf…

and when you take your nick nack away

and give him a new toy

which put you out  $ 4.99

He will shred it

in less than 3 minutes

and eat a sweet potato instead

so you try a different kind of bone

a new bone….

and he yawns at you

So you try putting peanut butter on the bone

He likes peanut butter

but he licks it off

in less than 3 minutes

and then he chews your wall instead

so you soak the bone in hot water

maybe it will make the flavor irresistible

and he won’t get into mischief

because he will finally chew the bone

NOT so Much

apparently He is dreaming of how to get to space

so he can eat the planets

Maybe if you soak the other bone

Maybe the flavor of THAT bone will be irresistible

and he will stop chasing the cat

and stop eating your curtains

when the cat jumps in the window sill for safety

Or NOT

Maybe

If you buy a more expensive “bone” for 8.99

he will chew it

for a 1/2 an hour

if you are lucky

but tomorrow the cupboards will be bare again

and you will be out 8.99

for a 1/2 hour of peace

but then

he will eat the eyes and nose  out of an old stuffy

at least the kids didn’t love that stuffy too much

at least he isn’t chewing his $20 leash in half

or chewing the legs of your tables

At least he is not eating your friends shoes

or your daughters shin guards

or  your laundry bag

Yep ~ if you give a dog an expensive bone

you might get a 1/2 hour  break from

pulling tampon boxes out of his mouth

or chasing him around the house

with flour in his mouth

or

You may not find shoes

chewed up on your floor

for a 1/2 an hour or so.

But you press on…

in hopes that one day this maniac Puppy will grow up

and stop chewing so aggressively

SO ALL YEAR LONG

you keep finding expensive dog toys or bones

and you buy “one more” expensive toy made especially for dogs

or maybe 2 new toys

just in case this toy is the ONE  he can’t destroy

but you are WRONG

every. single. time.

and you wonder why you keep spending your money

on the manic dog who can chew through anything

in 3 minutes flat.

and you end up giving him the recycling

because it is free

even if he does shred it ALL. OVER.  your living room

or you end up

letting him rip apart your old couch pillow

that you never liked anyway

and your living room looks like a tornado hit it

LITERALLY

but since you can’t be out doing this all day

and you can only borrow your friends dog so many days a week

you surrender

you pick your battles

you choose to let the dog shred pillows

and shred cardboard

and shred stuffys

all over your living room floor

Every. Single. Day.

for 9 months straight.

at least

the puppy isn’t continuing to ruin your walls

NO Merlin!

and he isn’t

eating your new 2 lb weights

(that is NOT a bone Merlin!)

So

You just keep buying 1.29 stuffys at the Good will

once in a while you are STUPID and  buy another  dog toy for 6.99

and wonder why he won’t play with it

like he did on the first day you brought it home!

and

You HOPE

You PRAY

that ONE day

This TOO SHALL PASS

because you LOVE him

even if he is a crazy psycho chewing mutt

He does make your kids happy.

This is my life with Merlin ~

Cute isn’t he…

He is starting to mellow out

A LITTLE

see

small short windows of HOPE

Merlin will have his FIRST birthday next week

the day before Sammy’s 8th birthday!!

I know turning One will not stop the chewing

but I am starting to see light at the end of the destruction tunnel

I think.

Until then.

Laughter people…

LAUGHTER

it is how I cope!
well.. and stuffing and recycling all over my floor

just keep laughing

just keep laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(sorry Julianna ~ I know this post does NOT give you Hope!)  =)

Yep ~ Just 3 Little ducks went out to play …

1 little duck went out with friends…

and the mommy duck just wanted to say…

Quack Quack Quack..

and have that little duck come back!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come back little duck!!!

It is dangerous in uncharted waters!!

Come back!

*sigh*

quack…

Don’t worry … I have not gone off the deep end… (I don’t think?)  🙂

You see every June they have this cool fund raising event

for the Lacey Rotary club …. in Tumwater,  WA.

We live in a little tri-cities area Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater !  =)

Lacey Rotary Club hosts an Annual Duck Dash!

It all happens in this gorgeous little river park.

hundreds gather

and watch thousands of ducks

purchased for charity

and maybe hopes of winning a prize =)

thousands and thousands of ducks

descend  into the river

what a sight!

20,000 rubber ducks!  give or take a few! =)

I think that is what the nice gentleman told me when I bought my ducks!

Dashing down the river

Go ducks Go!

Some of the ducks get stuck

and have to wait to get rescued

by this duck rescuer

or these two duck rescuing dudes

Hundreds of volunteers came out…

Save yourself dude !!

good thing it wasn’t raining!

slippery!  =)

the ducks can wait!

thousands have already rode the rapids

under the rainbow

way beyond the finish line!

do you need some help out there?

I forgot my hip waders ….

anyway…  I have my own little duck to follow

just one little duck ..

MY  other duck was somewhere in the crowd

with her friends.   =(

My heart missed a few beats on Saturday…

as we played at the Duck Dash

minus one duck…

I realized this will happen more and more

as my little ducks grow up!

So ~ Saturday we hung out with one little duck

at Tumwater Falls Park

and hoped our little girl was having fun too

At the Annual Duck Dash

without the rest of her family

I think little man had a good time…

but he missed his sister too.

I think.

=)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am not ready for this stage people!!  =)

This mommy’s heart is not ready for her little ducks to grow up and fly away ~ just yet.

*sigh*

Quack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the event was a huge success

20,000 ducks at $5. a duck

I am guessing there will be some happy charities benefiting from all the fun!

I still don’t know if my duck was a winner?

ya think they would have called me by now? =)

With my luck ~ my duck is still waiting to be rescued!!

Just keep swimming… just keep swimming.

Hey and swim over and join Julie in her last Mom and Me meme of the season!

I have forgotten to join in this precious meme for weeks and weeks now ~

at least I made it into the last one before Summer!  =)

Brilliant idea Julie!

***It is Post Card Update Time ***

Each time we receive a post card or two ~

I will post an update on The Post Card Project

To Thank Those of you who are sending them in for us!!

We couldn’t do it without you!!  =)

I am shamefully behind in sending out our Hand Written Thank you’s!

** Today ~ or my name is mud **  =)

For those of you who might be new to the fun ~

we are  begging you for hoping to collect Post Cards from the 50 United States

We would LOVE YOUR help ~ We Need you! =)

We started Our Postcard Project after reading an article in Family Fun Magazine ~

I happened upon in it January ~ just as the kids started learning about the 50 States.

Since my kiddos daddy is Canadian ~ which makes them 1/2 Canadian =) naturally!

We are collecting all Canadian Provinces too!!

We have 16 States and 3 Provinces so far ~

and about 10 from overseas as well!

A few friends were traveling out of country and offered to send us the overseas ones ~

So we added a Continent Map ~ we still need to label this one!

The kids find the State, Province, Country or Continent where the post cards arrive from and then we study fun facts about each one ~ we are all having a wonderful time with this project and will continue with it through the summer!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have I mentioned I have a head cold ??

just in case you think I am out of it today ~

the truth is ~ I am!!  =)

SOOOOOOOOOO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Mailman has brought us a few more Post Cards recently ~ Yippie !!!

These two little monkeys LOVE getting them in the mail!

A Special Thanks to Abby @ Sugar and Spice … or something like that =)

Abby sent us fun Horse postcards from Kentucky ~ My daughter Abby was especially  thrilled b/c it came from an Abby and she loves horses!!  We enjoyed the fun facts she listed on the back!

Abby is pregnant with her first baby ~ Congratulations Abby!!  I am enjoying following along in your blissful journey of expecting a baby! =)

Julie M.  from The Little Red Shop is currently on a fabulous road trip with her mom I believe =)  When she was in Montana ~ she sent us a postcard!  Bless You Julie!  Julie has a passion for all things vintage and all things lovely like flowers, old houses and beautiful mountains! She is far ahead of me on vintage Savvy~ness and I love visiting her at The Little Red Shop!  She also loves kittys!  =)   Thank You Julie M.!!

Kendra  at All & Nothing~ from Montana visits me here in Seizing My Day!  She sent us a Montana postcard too!  Bless You Kendra!  I don’t know much about her ~b/c   I just found Kendra’s blog today!!  Yay!  =)  Thank You for the postcard from Montana!  =)

Last but not least ~ we found a Post Card some dear friends of ours sent us last summer

from Kansas!!  They visited the Little House on the Prairie cabin ~ fun fun!  Oh the memories of Laura and all her mischief from the show and the books!!  This location is on my “one day I will visit” list !   I tried to introduce my little girl to Little House a while back and she just wasn’t that into it ~ maybe this year she will have a heart for Laura?!!

Special thanks to our friends Emma, Annie and Ellie for contributing to our Map!!

Did you know there is a Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego KS??

I just learned that ~ I guess we will have to stop there when we go visit Laura’s cabin!

“one day”

That’s all folks!!  Here is another picture of our updated Map ~

Please Please Please take a look and if there is not a post card on YOUR state ~

or if you are planning a vacation in one of our open states ~

We would be Eternally Grateful if you would send us one!!  =)

Just leave me a comment and I will send you our snail mail address!

Thankful, blissful, thrilled, delighted, happy….

feelings one gets when they receive postcards from lovely blog friends!!  =)

Do you see the Giant Tree to the left of the map?  That is a Giant Tree from the Red Wood Forest!  lol!  Did you know that they are as tall as the USA?  No, Me either?!!  =)

Apparently I need to work on Scale measurement!  =)

We might ~ maybe ~ drive there this summer and camp in the Red Wood Forest!

Have you ever been?

We are learning about Landmarks all over the USA ~ =)

What National Landmarks have you visited??

Have a great weekend!

Don’t forget we are willing to bribe you ~ no shame!   =)

by sending you a special Four Leaf Clover we handpicked from our back yard!!

speaking of … I have a few to send out today!

ta ta ~ Love ~  Jenn

There is a first time for everything

At nearly 40 I have never ever made cinnamon rolls!  ever!

Well…

I don’t really have proof that

” I “ made them!

we did break child labor laws

use some child labor

she was having fun

HONEST

We were nice to her the whole time.

She was there at her own free Will.

Really.

See ~

she’s smiling!

Ain’t she pretty?!!

I think she left after this stage

not sure why

what??!!

*ahem*

You all know I have recently gained weight cooked a billion Pioneer Woman recipes, right?

The Pioneer Woman is Hilarious  and I love funny people!

and she is an amazing cook ~ who happens to inspire the inner cook in me!

Bless you Ree!

*ahem*

So ~ for the first time ever ~  last weekend ~

I cooked Cinnamon Rolls

Cool ~ rising dough!

did I tell you that I am afraid of cooking with yeast?

I always screw it up!

So anyway I made Cinnamon Rolls~

The Pioneer Woman Cooks Cinnamon Rolls.

we followed all her steps correctly

Butter. Lots and lots of butter.

Sugar. Cinnamon. lots and lots of sugar!

I think we accidentally used one cup too much?!

honest mistake.

really!

See Ree and Me … We are friends..

sorta.. kinda…

well… indirectly we are. right?

*ahem*

sorry.   it must be the cold medicine!

good thing I didn’t try to roll this gooey mess

while taking cold medicine

I had trouble enough withOUT it!

So folks

Most of you asked me to share the Cinnamon Roll recipe first

from all the yummy cooking I did this weekend

with this chick

I love her too.

We go WAY back

to the 80’s!

Can I just say…

Her little man was really patient with us crazy cooks that day

and he didn’t even get to enjoy that gooey goodness

because he eats gluten free

Don’t worry ~ she made him GF brownies!  I think?

anyway

There you have it

our secret was PW.

she is like a secret weapon in the kitchen

hm…

Secret Agent PW.

I’m sorry.

My mind really does do that.  A LOT.

Click HERE and learn how to cook these

the end.

now if you will excuse me

I need to go find me some butter and sugar to eat!

did you ever do that as a child?

eat butter and sugar?

just wondering?

Thank you Mr. Cottonwood Tree …

I LOVE that Neti Pot … it helps me breathe!!

if you have never tried one …

what is wrong with you?

ya all know I am kidding when I say that, right! =)

seriously ~

Man up ~ be brave ~ use the Neti Pot! =)

and Buckleys

I LOVE Buckleys ~

it is like drinking whiskey straight up

(not that I do that.. just sayin)

It is SO worth the nasty taste and the burning sensation on your throat …

Oh except you can only buy Sweet Mr. Buckley in Canada!

Good thing I have connections in that country! =)

I love Buckleys ~ it helps me sleep.

All my grand Blog Plans for the week ~ are looking modified!

Starting with this post! =)

Go Away stupid cold!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oops I was going to publish at midnight ~
so it is not Wed for another few hours ~ sorry!

Our Long Weekend  started with some time off on Friday

well… The hubby took time off on Friday

So I could support kids all day!  =)

Friday I started my day watching the morning performance of my daughters play =)

She had a small part as a singer in the background

She is a shy little monkey ~ so the part was perfect !

confidence building one baby step at a time!  =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I went to the local School Daze book store

2 1/2 hours later

I put a bunch of larger print Math workbooks  on hold

which ORLA will purchase for me to use next year  =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I took curriculum I already had to ORLA (where Sammy takes classes)

and I stood at the copy machine ~ for 2 more hours ~

*sigh*           it is a good head start for next Fall       =)

6 workbooks went from 8 1/2 x 11   to     11 x 17

I hope this is my last year of enlarging materials…

maybe  in 3rd grade he will be old enough to master using his mini globe

the mini globe enlarges a 2 x 2 inch space on a page

I figure once he has mastered working through pages

then have him work on mastering the use of the globe!~ ??  =)

anyway ~ That was not my favorite part of the day ~

but a productive part!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did stop at Borders Books

to buy this for ME…

after reading SO MANY encouraging reviews about this book

and how it changed all your lives

I have high expectations!!  ha ha!

I am excited to finally read it myself!!  =)

anyway…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday night Abby’s class had the official performance of their play

Reach for the Stars

It was a fun play about Important People in the History of Space Exploration

Abby was a Ra Ra Girl  =)  Singing backround music

She had fun!  We were proud of our shy little monkey!

She had a surprise for us…

She had a little speaking part too…

Thanking the piano teacher and giving her flowers…

She was proud of herself for doing that part!  =)

Sweet shy girl!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday Morning I took Abby and a very good friend ~

to observe a Horse Therapy session at a local Horse Ranch

When Abby  did the Pet Care  Badge a few weeks ago

The lady who volunteers with the Horse Therapy & Dog Therapy  came to speak …

She invited Abby and a friend to come observe Horse Therapy

as Girl Scouts of course!

So   Saturday ~~~

we went to the Horse Ranch

and This ~ This Handsome boy is Teddy!

Teddy was one of my favorites!

The girls toured the ranch with Marlo

they met some horse ranch staff and volunteers

and ~ and they met these adorable therapists

Cami and Doodle

Aren’t they just the cutest little miniature horses you have EVER seen!  =)

I will write a full post about this experience later in the week

when I have permission from the Ranch owner!~

I forgot to ask!!

She offered to let the girls come clean stalls as a “Service Project”

they might even get to indulge in a little horse time too!  =)

Though a little apprehensive about horse poop ~ they are excited to go back!

ha ha!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday I spent most of my day Cooking ~

Cooking with this chick  =)

We met in High School a LONG time ago!

Somehow we lost touch after our first year of College

16 years later ~ in 2004 ~

we ran into each other in the local pumpkin patch  =)

we each have a boy and a girl about the same ages!~

It has been fun having her in my life again!

So Sunday ~ I cooked ~ WE cooked ~

a huge pot of Chili

this is one large bowl from the huge pot!  I swear!

a large pot of Chicken Curry Lentil Soup

a dozen Twice baked potatoes

**how did I forget to take pictures of these yummy delights?!**

and 32 PW Cinnamon Rolls …

We were tired and sore!!  Whew… aren’t you tired thinking about it?!

The food is deserves 3 posts all to their own!!  =)

Which recipe shall I post about first??

How was your long weekend??

For those of you who don’t home school ~ or don’t have kids  ~ or your kids are grown

you might find this the worlds most boring post

or you might stay and read ~ taking a peek into my world ~

home schooling a child with 20/200 vision!  =)

In either case ~

How about a picture to put us all in  a happy place!

and then those of you who are NOT interested in curriculum can just exit

after viewing my happy picture leaving me a note to say Hi ~

telling me you love me anyway ~even if I do bore you

write about things that don’t apply to your life at all!  =)

Happy monkeys !

Aren’t they funny!

Hear no evil.  Speak no evil. See no evil.

Which order do those phrases go in anyway??  =)

it is a quiz!

See hear speak?  Speak see hear?  Hear speak see?  see ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK OK ~ Enough monkey business…

Choosing Curriculum.

For those of you who DO home school ~ does it freak you out A LOT little

that your child’s intellectual future lies in the pages of the books you choose?  =)

A couple hours a week Sammy attends a public school program for home school kids ~

a variety of fun art, PE, music, science, language, math classes…

Right now he takes 3  one hour classes ~

Tumbling, continental creatures and Famous US Places

Olympia Regional Learning Academy  (ORLA)

It is our local public school program to support home school families IF they want it.

I love it.  I LOVE the variety of classes, that I am welcome to stay and listen help,  the teachers give me advise when I need it, they provide testing if I want it,  they offer COOL classes,  Sammy made friends, I absorb ideas,  the halls are full of inspiring school work, they have an endless supply of curriculum in the library…

And ~ AND

they give us a budget to buy our curriculum ~  they GIVE us money!!

well not exactly…=)

The program funds DO  pay for most of my home school curriculum!

But ~ it goes into the Fabulous supply of curriculum

in the ORLA library when you are done with it!

As long as you keeping church separated from State

you can choose your own curriculum!!

I know this kind of program does not work for everyone ~   I love it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So the last couple weeks I have been crazy busy FREAKING out combing through curriculum choices for next year.  Sammy is heading into 2nd grade.

He has a few challenges ~ but for the most part is right on grade level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are a billion pictures of Wonderful materials I think are going to be Fabulous

for the future President’s my little mans Second Grade Education!

you never know.

I am teaching History / Social Studies

back wards according to the public school system The right way!

Family, God, Neighbors, Community, City, State, Country, World ~

Don’t you think that how kids naturally learn anyway?

I know God comes before family ~ but kids learn family from infancy until you teach them about God ~ right? ~ just saying that is the teaching order =)

As you may know ~ This year in 1st Grade ~  The 50 States are being introduced

So I figured it would be Fun to introduce our Presidents next year

since they are all over our money ~ OK maybe not.

Since Sammy is learning about our country right now

The leaders seemed like a good next step.. or fun step?

I am excited to use these books about the Presidents next year!

They are wonderful!  Great one page biographies?

Each of the 3 books paints a different picture of the Presidents

I think Sammy will like this one best ~ just a hunch!

this last one is more of a description of the job itself ~ in kid language =)

As for the Basics of Education – The fundamentals –

THIS  company ~ has become my new found love affair!

Thank you Lord for Evan Moor!!

I am SO excited ~ like a kid in a candy store ~ with this series of materials!!

They are Wonderful workbooks with SIMPLE teacher instructions ~

Very eye friendly for my little man with Low vision!

not too busy, clear easy to read print, covering complete concepts

LOVE LOVE!!

History, Science, Spelling, Grammar, Language Arts, Math, Art, yada yada yada!

I ordered about a dozen of them I think?!!

I found a few (above) in the ORLA library and checked them out for next year

bonus books without using my “budget” =)

Online At  www.Evan-Moor.com I found at least 2 books per subject. nice.

The Evan Moor website lets you look inside the books ~100’s of them!!

you can see the wonderful pages your child will use

( and you will fall in love with the materials!)  win win.

I promptly put them on order for next year through ORLA

and then… oh yea baby…

I found 4 of the above Evan Moor books at the DOLLAR store!! ??

ok ~ another mom found them and told me they had them there! =)

$16.99 book for a buck! nice. go figure?

They even have some useful materials for our study of the Presidents

Gotta love it when things fall  into place ~ right into your lap!

those 2 pages from the Social Studies workbook were worth the $1.00 alone!

never mind it has many other helpful  lists

of famous US people, Explorers, Women, Native American tribes, etc. etc.

and guides for styles on writing reports. nice.  That is just the Social Studies one!

Love    love    I tell ya!

The Language Arts workbooks are simple yet through. complete. full coverage.

and eye friendly for Sammy~ love love ~ I may not need to enlarge??!!

Want a peek at a few pages ??

Grammar…

Spelling

more spelling

Evan Moor materials work on a weekly basis ~ a page a day

using the same words, concepts or area of study laid out differently each day.

in all the subject areas. nice. I like it.  love love!

Super Sentence Building skills

Abby might even crack this one open over the summer

She loves to read and write  and she loves Math ~ proud mommy!  =)

Abby goes to public school ~ She is thriving ~ she has a great group of peers ~

From the beginning she and her peers have been in high leveled Math and Reading.

Though I would enjoy home schooling her ~ she is happy and doing GREAT!

I can’t mess with a good thing ~ I just can’t.

Sammy is not so in love with learning ~ he enjoys is when it is simple, no fuss and fun.

One of his teachers at ORLA uses the  Evan Moor Pocket books ~ thus the new found love.

History pockets, Story pockets, Famous People, Famous US Places =)

Sammy enjoys learning in her classes! and He seems to like the materials a lot.

So ~ I am  thinkin  he will enjoy the Evan Moor basic subject books as well!

Peace is starting to set in.

I have been using Critical Thinking This year ~ which I also love ~

We have been using this one slowly ~

it will serve us again next year along side the Evan Moor curriculum!

my kid will be a work sheet KING

its ok ~ he LOVEs learning with hands on materials!

look they even talk about the USA and Presidents =)

I like the colorful but clean pages ~ simple ~ easy ~ through.

God Bless Evan Moor and Critical thinking!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then there is MATH

5 + 4 = 9

4 + 5 = 9

9 – 4 = 5

9 – 5 = 4

Right?  =)

Math is a tough one for Sammy.  It is NOT his best subject ~

and it is STINKING hard to find perfect Math curriculum!

expecting perfection for a future President isn’t too much to ask is it?  =)

One with simple, clean pages, eye friendly, covering all concepts for his grade level.

I am not sure if Math does not come easy to Sammy because

He is a visual learner and his vision is compromised?

Abby is a quick learner ~ it is so hard not to freak out about the second one

when the first one is a high achiever and she is your ‘base line’ ~ sort of!! =)

Anyway ~ Sammy has a hard time with keeping facts in his head.

Did I mention we did 1st grade twice?

He is a June birthday ~ so we started early intending to repeat 1st ~

making him the oldest in his grade level and giving him a strong base!

yet ~ when it comes to Math (and spelling) ~ Slowly we plug along.

I am currently Using my own mish-mash of  $5-$10 workbooks.

Basic adding and subtracting work sheets.  Which in theory would be great.

if he could grasp the fact families easier.  ??   =)  Are you sensing my insecurities here!?

We also use

Math Minutes (he loves) by Creative Teaching Press

and we have used number lines, manipulatives and charts.

counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s and we used fact family houses.

I am praying that it just clicks next year ~ that the light bulb will just turn on!??

next year

We will use a mish-mash of workbooks again…including Math Minutes for Grade 2.

and I think we will add this daily Evan Moor Math workbook too.

Literally these half pages are ONE minute Math pages ~ covering all concepts.

Thank you Evan Moor.

The Creative Teaching Press  Math Minutes is a whole page of basic grade level concepts.

Thank you Creative Teaching Press.

(I genuinely love those companies and their products ~ I am sharing at my own free will)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really wanted a complete Math curriculum ~

we have looked at Saxon (TOO small and busy)

Math U See ~ on the fence with that one??

Touch Math worked OK for first grade.  expensive!!  =)

Harcourt? Trailblazers?  Marshall? blah blah blah…

Anyone have any ideas on a wonderful,

SIMPLE clean paged Complete Math Curriculum??

OK folks ~ long ~ boring ~ post ~ about School work.

now you know what has consumed all the days of my LIFE my free time this week .

along with my daughters play practice and field trips.  busy week.

Who plans a school play on the FRIDAY night of Memorial Day weekend?

My daughters school.  yep. nice. thanks.

Once again ~ this is my excuse  for the lack of blogging this week!

Some days it is hard to fit in blogging. But it is MY thing.  I love it.

I love all you wonderful ladies I have met ~ sorry I am boring you today!

and half way through the day at that ~ ugh!!

I need summer.  I heart summer break.

Lazier days. Sweet brewed ice tea. sun. flowers. kids playing.

beach trips. hikes. parks. friends. pop cycles.

wake up Jenn wake up

=)

If you made it this far ~ You deserve a prize!!

Wish I had a giveaway planned.  too busy this week/month! sorry!

I would love to hear from you…

IF you home school ~ what curriculum do you use?  why??

Does it freak you out or give you stress to pick the curriculum you use?

Are you planning to home school in the future?  Do tell!

because I am so done talking… really.

Does anyone else want a Blackberry Margarita

at lunch time on a Thursday?