Reviving my inner-writer

I've been wanting to get back into writing and blogging and I see so much potential that can be had from writing.  I like the idea of writing to share with family what is happening with my kids and house and life, but I also have begun to see writing as a way to get my thoughts out.  I have thoughts that I'd like to share with people...some of them may not be politically correct.  Some of them might make you mad.  But I figure I can share my thoughts and share my views and maybe by doing that I will give people a glimpse into the real me.

I read books and write reviews.  I love it.  But I find myself wanting to do more with my time.  I am finding that I'm lacking in something...there is something missing.  So I am hoping that by posting and sharing my thoughts and views on things I can find my purpose and figure out where I can excel and what I need to let go.

And so it begins....Let's see where we go and who will join me on this journey.

Science Experiments!

I often review books for Luxury Reading. Recently, I reviewed Time for Kids Big Book of Science Experiments ...a book all about science experiments for kids of many different ages. The book was surprisingly good! Most times when I see books like that, the items needed for the experiments will cost me more than the book itself. This book, however, was full of several experiments that I could do with just the items we had on hand. I think this one below was our favorite!

We got to microwave bars of soap! Strange, yes, but quite surprising what the results were. We predicted at first that the soap would melt and get all over the microwave. Since this is a relatively new microwave (after something else got melted in it a few months back!) I was a bit leery...but the other experiments in the book that we had done thus far worked just the way the book said they would, so I tried not be nervous on this one. HA!

Each bar took less than a minute to transform into what you see below. The white one is Ivory...what is called for in the experiment. We decided to try out another brand to see if they both did the same thing...our standard brand is Irish Spring.

(Please don't fill my comments with how they shouldn't be standing that close to the microwave!)

This one decided to sprout legs...and arms.

...and growing some more...

We call the Irish Spring one our "frog" because of the legs it sprouted. Crazy!

I have to be honest...I don't remember completely (at all) what the reasoning is for why the soap does what it does...or why one brand resulted in such a different "blob." Our favorite, though, was the Irish Spring...simply because it made a shape we could identify. :-D The really cool part of it all was that the soap bars held the shape that they formed in the microwave. AND, after they cooled a bit (they were quite hot when we pulled them out!), we could take a piece of the soap and still *use* it as soap! The microwaves didn't change its usefulness at all. Pretty nifty!

There were other experiments...cleaning pennies with vinegar, making boats of aluminum foil (different shapes) and seeing how many pennies it took to sink the different shaped boats, staining a cloth to test out which items in the house are the best stain removers, etc. Really fun stuff...and again, VERY easy! And how great for me that I got to count 6 or 7 credits of science that day!!!

I've missed you....

It's been several months since I've done any blogging, and even then it wasn't the blogging I was wanting to do. I enjoy writing and I enjoy sharing my daily life and kids with family. But, life takes over and the blogging got pushed out! :( I've decided that I'm going to try to blog more often...even if it's just a written one that doesn't include photos. (I kept waiting for a time when I had the time to upload the pics, and that time never came, so I never did anything!) I do have a couple that I'm uploading right now....hopefully it won't take forever! My goal is to restart the blogging aspect of my life as a creative/writing outlet for myself. Something for me. We'll see where it goes...

Lately we've been just trying to get through the day-to-day life. School and housework, what I can do of it, just takes the whole day. Keeping the kids from fighting (normally the oldest and youngest, oddly enough!) takes about 1/4 of the day, school takes 1/2, and the house stuff takes 1/2....Oh, wait, I'm a 1/4 of a day over! HA!

Recently, a very kind lady from church gave me a bag of clothes that her granddaughter can't wear anymore (for Alivia) and the night I went through them, these are the items A picked out. She wanted them put on immediately, and then paraded around the house in them. :) How could I not take a picture!? Crocs, a ruffly skirt, and a fuzzy winter hat...Precious! The only thing here that we already owned was the shirt. :D

Several weeks ago, we made a radar for science (LOVE Apologia Press!!!) and I was taking taking pictures of the process. The camera can't be out (or the phone camera) without her saying, "Cheese!" and then immediately it's, "Baby...Baby"....she's wanting to see the baby picture. :)

One afternoon, I was helping one of the boys with their schoolwork and she kept coming to me and saying, "Night night" and pointing to my shoulder, wanting to lay her head down. I couldn't stop at that moment and told her to go lay on the couch and I would be with her in a few minutes. Well, the math work ended up taking longer than I expected and when I walked into the living room this (below) is what I found. She *never* goes to sleep on her own. E.V.E.R. (And she hasn't done it again since!)

Last week, I decided to make breakfast. This may not seem out of the norm for most moms, but it is for me. I don't make breakfast or lunch at this point. The boys know how to make a few things so they typically do their own thing for both meals. But this particular morning, I was wanting to try something new with biscuits. I had seen something on Pinterest (LOVE that site!) where someone made cookie cups by baking the cookies on the bottom side of the muffin pan. Combine that with a meal I had over a year ago at Bob Evans that was called a Biscuit Bowl (a bowl sized biscuit filled with eggs, ham, fried potatoes, onions, etc...topped with a hollendaise sauce!! YUM!) and I had an inspiration. Clayton decided to take pictures of the process and Alivia had to get her chair up to the counter to help. :-)

They didn't turn out too bad....but need some work before I'm satisfied. But it was fun, regardless. I still want to try the cookie cups though....

Time to go. Time to figure out what we're having for dinner and get it made before T gets home!

Another new year...

It's amazing how things just sneak up on you...an upcoming event, a birthday, the new school year. We're still finishing things up from last year and all of a sudden I'm having to think about this upcoming year...and I'm panicking a bit. LOL Things aren't finished with the basement and I'm really feeling horribly disorganized.

In the next few days I hope to clean off my desk (which has "gone to Alaska" in the last year!), get a daily schedule back in order, order curriculum and get it here and organized, and begin school. My ultimate goal is to have all of that accomplished by Labor Day weekend...but I'm wondering now if that will happen. However, even if it doesn't, I will just have to deal with that, huh? LOL

Another thing that has snuck up on me....Clayton will turn 9 in just a few short weeks! NINE! My babies are growing!

Before we know it, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here... But I'll think about that tomorrow!

No Matter Your Age...

Recently I've been doing couponing...and let me tell you with 3 kids in tow, I get quite a few odd looks! Here we are with 2 shopping carts...the boys with Alivia in one, along with all the purses, diaper bags, etc, and me with the other one with my binder sitting up in the "child" area. We try to stay out of the way of other shoppers and stay *relatively* quiet... :-D Sometimes, we get nasty comments, but not all that often.

Yesterday, while in Schnucks, this older couple was shopping as well...we had passed them a couple of times in different aisles. They walked up behind us and said, "Let me guess...19 months apart and then 5 years." It took me a moment to realize they were talking about the spread of the kids' ages...I told them that the boys were 17 months apart, and then there was 7 and 9 years between them and Alivia. They were close in their guess...found out, after standing there talking to them for a bit, that they had children that are 19 months and then 4 years apart...very similar to mine. Then they continue on and tell me, "Yes, our oldest is 65." (!!!!! Emphasis mine!!!!!) Um, okay...I quickly did the math...even if they started at about 18, that would make them over 80. This delightful couple did NOT look a day over 65 themselves!! They were walking through the store commenting about the price of things, figuring out what to buy, which coupons to use (YES, they were couponing too!), and bantering back and forth like they were youngsters.

We swapped stories of couponing, the price of items, and such...and things about shopping with or without children (HA!). It was really quite fun! But what got me the most was how young they acted. They didn't complain about all these "young people" or how hard it was for them to get around (because clearly, they were both doing quite well in the physical department!) and were full of smiles and kind comments to a tired Mama with 3 kids in tow. It was truly refreshing to visit with a couple (randomly) that was upbeat and smiling, rather than complaining and grumpy!

It was a great reminder that no matter how bad we feel, or how old we are, we can offer a smile to someone else. No matter our age, we can chat with some random person in a store. No matter our age, we can swap stories with someone of a different generation.

I'm learning lately that older people sometimes feel dismissed...they feel that kids of today (and we're ALL considered "kids" to them!) ignore them, don't notice them, or just want to hurry past them to get to the next new item on the hot list for that day. I could have just smiled politely to that couple and lightly acknowledged their presence, but then gone back to my stressful and exhausting task of shopping and getting good deals. However, that's not me. I don't do that (intentionally, anyway!) and I didn't want to do that with them... I also realize that it's not all the "fault" of the youngsters of today...there are some "older" people that just like to complain. Plain and simple. They are hurting (physically? emotionally? spiritually?) and because of this hurt, they get grumpy with the people they see, they don't want to get up and go shopping or go run errands, they want to be left alone but not so alone that they get lonely. There is a delicate balance that needs to take place. We need to teach our children to acknowledge and learn from these older generations...they are passing away so quickly, it seems, that we're losing a great deal of their wisdom and knowledge. But we also need to help these older generations feel young again! We need to spend more time around them to help them feel young, help them smile again, and help them remember what it's like to raise children and try to shop with them! (I'd love any ideas on how to work on this little project....)

I'm so thankful I didn't dismiss them! It was a pleasant conversation and really added to my day! I only regret that I didn't get their names...how nice it would have been to possibly keep in contact.
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***I realize I haven't posted on here in a LONG time...I hope to remedy that soon. I'm really wanting to get things blogged more often...which will likely mean less Facebook time! LOL

Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona

Love Finds You in Tombstone, Arizona

By Miralee Ferrell

Christy Grey (first seen in Last Chance, CA) used to be a dancehall girl, but has changed her life and had a new start in California. She has vowed never to go back to that life again. But when she receives a telegram stating that her mother is very ill, Christy leaves California and heads home to care for her mother. However, on the way the Christy is injured during a stagecoach robbery that leaves her with no money. When she arrives in Tombstone, Christy finds her brother at a gambling hall and her mother gravely ill in a shack of a home. Christy tries to look for work, but her brother’s reputation precedes her and hinders her progress. Finally Christy is forced to work in the gambling hall, but not as a “working girl.”

Nevada is a gun-fighter who is on the run. Unknowingly, he gets himself tied to the stagecoach robbers and ends up meeting Christy. Forced by a desire to help her, Nevada tracks Christy down in Tombstone. Along the way, Nevada feels the need to help one of the saloon girls leave that way of life. But soon his past catches up with him and Nevada finds himself searching for a brighter future…with God and with Christy.

The history and the research that went into this book is truly fascinating! The events that take place in the book are very similar to those that took place in real life in Tombstone in the late 1800’s. Miralee tells a wonderful story of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and resolution. We meet several new characters throughout this book that I, personally, would love to see in future stories!

While finding their way back to God, Christy and Nevada find their way to each other!

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I once again had the privilege of reading and reviewing this book for Miralee. I've read every book of hers so far and have never been disappointed, but I think this is my favorite so far! Thanks to Miralee for the chance to read and review!

Halloween 2010

Well, due to the craziness of our lives after getting back on my own, we didn't get to carve our pumpkins until the day before Halloween! LOL The boys still had fun and they *insisted* we do one for Alivia too! This little one is hers...

For whatever reason, the boys wanted pictures of the insides of their hollowed out pumpkins...I just kept hoping that we saw the face of someone (the Pope, Bush, Sarah Palin) somewhere in there...but no luck. LOL

And then the boys wanted a picture of the "innards" of the pumpkins...which I cleaned up and soaked in saltwater for a couple of days and then baked. Terry said this years pumpkin seeds were the best ones I've ever done! Woot! Brent also felt the need to take a few pictures, and of course, had to get me from a weird angle. LOL Oh well...we were having fun!


Below left: Brent's Pumpkin that he carved. Below right: Clayton's pumpkin that he carved. (And both boys actually carved their own pumpkins this year. They used that little kit thing and did the little holes all around their design and then went back and finished it up. They did really well, but their hands were TIRED when they were finished!


Below left: Alivia's pumpkin, which *I* carved for her. (For some odd reason, she couldn't do it?? LOL) And then to the right is all three of their pumpkins on the porch.


All three kids together with their pumpkins:

Brent decided to be a sheriff for Halloween and was practicing is "swagger" the day we carved the pumpkins..., swagger and his mean face. LOL


Alivia was a pumpkin for Halloween, but oddly I don't have a picture of her in her pumpkin suit?? Hmm....

Clayton made up his own costume. That's kinda a story in itself. He had this grand idea/scheme of what he wanted to be and what he wanted me to do/make for him...none of it made sense to me and all of it involved probably15-20 hours worth of work on my part. Which normally I wouldn't mind...I've always enjoyed making their costumes for them. But after the summer/fall we'd already had up to that point, and with dealing with a little girl who cried a LOT, I just didn't have it in me to do all that for his costume. So, one night when I was out of ear shot, Clayton started in on all this stuff he needed me to do and Terry was the one listening. Apparently he came down kinda tough on Clayton for not "seeing" that I was extremely busy and didn't have all the time to sink into his costume. So the next morning he woke up and told me that he had it all planned out that he would make up his own costume and I wouldn't have to do a thing for him. (Bless him!) He used the 3-Musketeer's smock from last year, a belt, and a toy sword to become this Ninja-Musketeer-Soldier thing. *shrug* He was happy with it so it made me happy! :)

Brent and his sheriff guns...making more faces for the camera. I think the one on the right is my favorite:

Updates Continue: Clayton's Birthday and 4-H Pumpkin Patch

We had Clayton's 8th birthday in Salem with the rest of the family. He really enjoyed having everyone sing to him!

Below: Brent helped Clayton read his cards...he's still struggling with reading, especially under "pressure." Mom and Dad got him a basketball for his birthday...he was really excited, because he finally has one of his own. (Brent has one, but Clayton wanted one of his own.)

Something was exciting, but I honestly don't know what. HA! Something tells me that their cousin had shot a Nerf bullet past their heads...thus Brent is shocked looking forward and Clayton is shocked looking behind him. In the background is Terry's mom (in the purple shirt).

My job during the opening of presents was to put little girl to sleep. She only prefers Mommy and was pretty fussy this night. Just LOVE her little "leggings" that Terry's sister got for Alivia!

Later in the month of October, we went with our 4-H group to the Pumpkin Patch here in town. The kids had SO much fun, although it was VERY windy! The temp was in the low 60's but with the wind blowing the way it was, it felt like the 40's...bitterly cold! (Had a hard time keeping Alivia warm during all that....)

Below, Brent is playing "Pumpkin Bowling"...

There were hay bales stacked together in a little tunnel-type of thing...all the kids had fun climbing through them. If you look close below, Brent's head is just barely sticking up from the bales...Clayton had decided to stand there and wait for Brent to pop up and then he's scream at him! LOL

There was an opening (like a car window) and Brent kept hollering at me to come see him...I get around the side and this is what I see:

All my babies at the pumpkin patch....Alivia looks like she could care less! :D

Brent's Birthday and Youth Trip to the Zoo

I'm still trying to get some blogging caught up, so I'm going back to the spring when we celebrated Brent's birthday! ;) He had a few friends over for his first-time-ever "sleep over" party...he was SO excited! Had such a great time, stayed up ALL night with his friends and then proceeded to be sick the next morning! We quickly figured out that his sick feeling was more due to exhaustion and low sugar levels. They had eaten junk food through the night and his body just didn't handle that well. After getting some juice into him (to raise the sugar levels) and then getting some real food into him, he started to feel better and within an hour was outside playing with his buddies while I made his lunch meal: BBQ chicken and homemade mac and cheese. :) He LOVES my mac and cheese! Anyway, this picture below is the only one from the party I can show because I don't know how the other moms feel about me showing their kids on the 'net.

A week or two later, we had Brent's family birthday when my parents and Terry's family could come down (I couldn't travel to them this time because of being so close to having Alivia). Brent had said he wanted a NASCAR cake, so I had him pick out a track from the NASCAR tracks and he picked out the Richmond track. (Please don't go look at that track and then critique me on what I did wrong...do you KNOW how hard it is to cut and mold cake!?!? LOL) At the very last down there is the finished product, but I didn't get the last and final shot that I wanted...we had ONE car that he specifically wanted, a Jeff Gordon race car. We had one, but didn't put it on until we were ready to do candles, then I had him close his eyes and I put Jeff Gordon crossing the finish line...winning the race, of course! LOL Anyway, I don't have a picture of that one, but it's okay...

Later in the summer, the Youth Group at church planned a trip to the zoo and since I was down after my surgery, I couldn't take them like I did last year. So, Terry took the boys up and they had a lot of fun. He got some really good shots too! :)