Friday, April 25, 2008

Unwanted/Uninvited Guests and Nature Journaling

Now, Angela, HOW exactly do these go hand in hand? Well, I'll tell you, because that's what a blog is for right? heehee

Last week sometime my husband came into the house and said, "I think we have termites. I can "see" some tunneling behind the drywall (that had gotten very very thin) in the attached garage."

I thought, "Oh, that's bad. Those can be expensive."

He took a butter knife out to the garage and cut a strip away and, sure enough, a parade of them...lovely.

We ( I really mean he) called around to different companies to find out information and the Terminix guy won our business. They came out yesterday to treat our house. Since it was going to be an all day job I took the kids to Victoria Bryant State Park and we did some nature journaling. It was SO fun. I have never done that before but I had recently read about it on a couple of blogs.

They each got their own notebooks and we walked around and they drew what they saw. Then we wrote (we as in me and Judah and sometimes Thomas) the names next to the pics.

The best part- it was SCHOOL!!!!

Drawing-Art
Writing- Language Arts

We watched a duck and a goose on the lake for quite awhile. We talked about how the duck eats, how he sleeps, how God made his feathers NOT to soak up water. We talked about the basic differences btwn the duck and the goose.- SCIENCE

We played on the playground.- recess

We ate lunch on the big rocks next to the creek.- lunch

We saw HUNDREDS of little tadpoles in the pools of water in the rocks- SO CUTE and they boys LOVED that! We talked about how they change into little frogs. - Science again.

We went for a short hike in the woods to do more journaling but since we didn't bring the journals there we had to remember all of them- working on memory definitely counts as school-heehee

Here is what the boys wrote down- Rock, water, tree, duck, goose, squirrel, tadpole, waterbug, ants, leaves, bird, flower, nut, lizard.

It was a fun time. We were EXHAUSTED after being in the sun and on our feet for three hours, but we had a great hands on learning day and we got away from the chemicals while the exterminator was working his magic.

We will definitely do the nature journaling thing again. I need to brush up on my drawing skills however. The boys don't like to draw things they can't do nicely so I ended up drawing way too many ugly looking animals. :):):) I'm definitely sparing you the pics here. :)

Today is a normal school day - Math and Language Arts - with a fun little science lesson about dry ice thrown in. Michael ordered some meat that came packed in dry ice. Making fog is FUN!!!

Gotta go! Blessings everyone!!- Angela :)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I Can Sure Cram A lot

into an alone night. :) (Y'all weren't sure WHERE that was going were you?)

I have wanted to have a night off for years but with our busy business it just hasn't been possible. Well, now it is. Tuesday nights I get to go out by myself. I leave at 6pm and return at approx 9 pm when everyone is asleep. (My husband does go to bed at 9pm a lot.)

Anyway, Tonight was just crammed full of activity for me. I need some jeans. This is no easy task for me. :) I don't have one of those "look good in the current styles" bodies. :) I could truly care less about that but it does make for rough jean shopping. I also need jeans that AREN'T stretch jeans since our washer has a tendency to freak out and wash things with HOT water even on the cold/cold cycle. Lovely huh?

So, I left at about 6pm. It takes me about 20 minutes to get to town. I went into the Tractor Supply to see if they had jeans that weren't stretch jeans. I couldn't get past the prices. Out I went.
I went next door to Beall's outlet. They have name brand overstocks. Nothing there but I did try on a bunch of stuff.

I decided that this wasn't going to work so I drove to a coffee shop (the Perk Up Cafe), parked, and ran 3 miles. After I finished I got a Spiced Chai Latte. Usually I HATE warm tea. HATE. But at this particular coffee shop they make the BEST chai latte (spiced) ever! Then I drove up down and went to Goody's. I did find some stuff there. I actually found some normal cut t-shirts. Whoa!! I found a few cute skirts for church and some badly needed brown flip flops. Yeah! After I left there I headed to Walmart to check and see if they had jeans I could use. Um, nope. So I proceeded to find more classic fitting Ts so I bought a few and I also got new underwear for those of you who care...and that should only be my husband...so don't care...:):):)

All in all it was a busy night.

For those of you who think it's gross that I tried on clothes after running...let me just say 2 things. #1- I really don't sweat anywhere near as much as the normal person. #2- I had baby wipes with me so I gave myself a "bath" in the stall of Goody's. I know, I know TMI (too much info)!! I just didn't want anyone to think I was totally disgusting or something. I have never tried on clothes after running before and probably never will again but I HAD to shop tonight. So, on that note...G'night!!- Angela :)

Monday, April 21, 2008

You Had to Be There

Still, I must paint this interesting picture for you...

There we were, our whole family, in the backyard today. I was sitting on a bench, the boys were playing, and my husband was grand slamming carpenter bees. We have A LOT of them and we don't want them ruining our porch/house. So, my husband has been on a mission lately-ridding our home of as many carpenter bees as possible. Yesterday he was using the hose to knock them down and then squishing them. Today he picked up a chuck of wood and, as soon as they came close to him, WHAM! He knocked them to the ground (sometimes 4 feet away) and then stepped on them to finish them off- the ones who didn't die from a heart attack that is. :):):)
At some point all the boys, Gid included, were trying to kill the bees. What was really funny was that the boys would be all ready to get them and then a bee would get close to them and they would run away and shreek. It was quite something. You had to be there for the full affect.

I have a lot to say but not as much time to type lately. I'm working through some stuff with the Lord. It's going well but it will be a couple of weeks before I can share anything. :) Hope all is well with everyone out there in computer world.

Blessings everyone!!

-Angela :)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Short update...

Well here's what's been going on in our world. heehee (pun intended obviously)

Last week, for several days, we laid some sod. It would have been easy if we were say doing a whole section but...we weren't. We were laying 3 inch strips of zoyza sod all around every paved area of our house. We have a pretty big circle drive in front of the house. We have a decent sized drive going to the separate garage and we also have some pavement in the back in the form of a padio. Hmmmm.
That means my husband tilled all that up in preparation and then we had to cut all the sod into three inch strips. Yeehaw!
It really wasn't so bad for me and the boys. Michael was the one who was really wiped out after 3 days in a row. Tilling was hard because of roots, rocks, etc. He did all of the tilling and then the boys and I helped him lay the sod. Even Gideon helped and BOY WAS HE CUUUUUUTE! i wish I could have laid sod and taken pics at the same time. Michael would give him a 3 inch wide 12 inch long piece of sod and he would carry it ever so carefully over to me and lay in where I told him to put it. (Well, most of the time-heehee)
The boys all did great the first day. The second day they only helped for a bit and the third day Michael and I were on our own. The boys were too "done" to help. We could have made it a training thing but we didn't because A) we really couldn't take the time to deal with attitudes or discipline while we hurried to finish. and B) you have to be careful with the sod and it wouldn't have been good to have that dropping on the ground because they weren't being careful with their work.
It was no big deal. It was actually faster for me to cut and Michael to lay longer strips anyway. Everyone was happy. Well, everyone except Michael who was so sore by the third day that he could barely finish and he's no wimp physically... I can tell you
that!

Friday we had a little prob...Gideon was sitting on my lap in the guest room. We were sitting on the bed and I was talking to the two big boys. All of a sudden Gideon decided to jump down from my lap. The boxsprings and mattress are on the floor so it wasn't even that far of a fall. However, he did it so fast that he tripped and slammed his mouth into the end table (made of leftover hardwood flooring-it's a REALLY hard table). When I saw that I knew it was stitches for sure. He got up and there was only a tiny surfacy scratch on his chin. I was so thrilled till blood started coming out of his mouth. Even then I didn't think too much of it. I figured that he had rammed his teeth into his lips. I was checking his head for a bump to see where he had taken the hardest hit since it was obviously not his chin. I couldn't find a bump nor could I find any lip damage. Keep in mind that his mouth is filled with blood so I know he's got to be hurt SOMEWHERE. Then I saw it...a gaping hole where his tooth used to be. It wasn't one of the front teeth. Rather it was one of the ones next to them. It was knocked clean out. I rinsed out his mouth and gave him ice to suck on. He only cried for, maybe, 5 minutes. I got him some Tylenol a few minutes later to help with the pain. He was no longer crying but was whimpering and wanting to be held a lot. I took him to the dentist but he pronounced him OK. :) He was laughing a few hours later. He was so funny in the dentist office. He desperately wanted to wash his hands in the dentist's sink so I told him that he had to open his mouth first. He was very cooperative after that. LOL

I don't remember what we did last weekend, but it must have been busy. I sang in church on Sunday (Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace my Chains are Gone") and then we ate out and came home and napped.

This week has been school, cleaning, etc. Back to normal. I have been getting back to exercising every day like I used to before Gid was born. It's been spotty since then. I must be getting back into shape though because I jogged six hilly miles on Tues evening. :) Yeah! It was either my better physical condition or my too -stubborn -to -quit pride. heehee Well, and God...I prayed a lot. :)

This afternoon is park day for us. I'm trying to get them to the park once a week to break up the monotony. :)

Hope things are going well with everyone. I hope to post pics soon of the adorable toothless one. (Well not completely toothless but you know what I mean.)And here I thought that my six year old who currently has 2 loose teeth would be the first one to lose a tooth. Nope. He got beat out by his 2 year old brother. Bummer. :)

Have a great day!!

Blessings!- Angela :)

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Sorry Y'all

Life has gotten so busy. I haven't had time to type anything out. We are still alive though. :) Doin' OK. I hope to post an update soon. Have a good day!

Blessings!- Angela :)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

AND THE WINNER is....

At 10:57am yesterday. I received the winning email. WOW! Less than an hour and a half from posting the contest!! The winner is... the talented, the lovely, the spunky...DRUMROLL PLEASE (okay okay I am getting a bit carried away-heehee)...And your winner ladies and gentlemen is-

APRIL MCSTEW!!!!

YEAH APRIL!! You got it correct. This woman is amazing...She has a heart for her home, is a pastor of a church, has 2 small lovely children, and yet, still knows the internet acronyms.

She is the April on my sidebar. Always an interesting read.

Congrats April!!

Here is the decoded letter:
Hello Everyone,
(HIG) How is it going?
I feel like I am (AATK) Always at the keyboard and that (ADN) Any day now I will get a life. However, (ATM) At the moment all I can think about is getting back on to check blogs, look up recipes, get home school info, etc. :) I stay up late at night until I am (FAAK) Falling asleep at the keyboard. (ITAH) Is there anyone here who is living a life like this? Am I alone? (AFAICS) As Far as I can See I may need professional help. Perhaps I'm addicted to the computer. I need time (AFC)Away from the Computer. I need three-demensional friends with whom I can have a (FTF) Face to Face conversation (IRL) In real life.
However, I am still grateful for all the friends I have made in the blog world. (AISI) As I see it the blog world can be a blessing or an intense time sucker. :) (YKWIM) You know what I mean? Today is my (DH's) Dear Husband's 41 birthday so I will be (AFC)Away from the computer. (ATM) At the moment he is in the shower getting ready to go. The kids are ready. Hopefully Gideon will not have a dirty diaper just as we are walking out the door. (I HIWTH)I Hate it when that happens. :):):)I hope that everyone has fun with this little challenge. You may NOT look up Internet acronyms to help you with this challenge. (YOYO) Your on your own. No cheating! :):):) Soooooo.... (HAND) Have a nice day, (GOWI) Get on with it, and (GBTM) Get back to me when you think you have the letter correctly decoded. Good luck and remember that the winner is (GTS) Going to .... Starbucks (?)!! (BBFN)Bye-bye-for Now.

p.s. Don't anyone ask me for hints...(ICTYBTIHTKY) I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you! Heehee

Monday, April 7, 2008

HERE'S THE CONTEST!!!

Here's the challenge...

Something happened to me a couple of months ago.

Previously, I had noticed the common Internet acronyms (BTW, FYI, IMO, IMHO, IRL) on others' blogs. However, that day I noticed one I had not seen before. So I entered "Internet acronyms" into my Yahoo search and I found out that there are a PLETHORA of Internet Acronyms. An unbelievable amount of them. :)

So, just for fun I am going to write a (really generic) letter here to all my readers. This letter includes lots of Internet acronyms. The first person who can decode the letter correctly and email it to me will win the $15.00 Starbucks gift card. The contest will end Wednesday morning at 8:00am. At that point if everyone has made mistakes the person with the least amount of mistakes will win the card. Good luck everyone and HAVE FUN!!! Read the entire letter before starting. Some of the rules are at the end.


Hello Everyone,
HIG?
I feel like I am AATK and that ADN I will get a life. However, ATM all I can think about is getting back on to check blogs, look up recipes, get home school info, etc. :) I stay up late at night until I am FAAK.
ITAH who is living a life like this? Am I alone? AFAICS I may need professional help. Perhaps I'm addicted to the computer. I need time AFC. I need 3D friends with whom I can have a FTF conversation IRL.
However, I am still grateful for all the friends I have made in the blog world. AISI the blog world can be a blessing or an intense time sucker. :) YKWIM?
Today is my DH's 41 birthday so I will be AFC. ATM he is in the shower getting ready to go. The kids are ready. Hopefully Gid will not have a dirty diaper just as we are walking out the door. I HIWTH. :):):)
I hope that everyone has fun with this little challenge. You may NOT look up Internet acronyms to help you with this challenge. YOYO. No cheating! :):):) Soooooo.... HAND, GOWI, and GBTM when you think you have the letter correctly decoded. Good luck and remember that the winner is GTS!! BBFN.

p.s. Don't anyone ask me for hints...ICTYBTIHTKY! Heehee

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Contest Details



OK here's the deal. Sometime tomorrow I will post the contest. The first person to email me the correct "answer" will win the $15.00 Starbucks gift card. I will try to post this in the afternoon/evening to give everyone a better chance, since I know that everyone doesn't read my blog first thing in the morning.

If you are a lurker feel free to play too. :) I would love to know how many people lurk on my blog. heehee

HINT- Brush up on your internet Acronyms...You'll need them.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Keepin' It Real!!


There's this great woman out in the blogshpere somewhere named Brenda.
http://familyrevised.blogspot.com

She has noticed, as have all of us, that since we tend to put our best feet forward on our blogs sometimes people can get the wrong ideas about how things REALLY are at our house.
I think that I share enough about my failings and the failings of my children that most of you know that I am not Supermom. However, for any of you who still believed I was...This is my contribution to Keepin' It Real. (and no, I will not be posting pics. My computer just had a new hard drive put in and I haven't had time to download the pic program again.)

I used to keep an almost spotless house due to the fact that my husband preferred it that way and asked me to try to keep it that way. :) It was pretty easy when we lived in a 1644 sq foot house with a small yard and I only had 2 boys. :) Even the top of the fridge and deep freezer was dusted once a week. (sickening isn't it) We never wore our shoes in the house so keeping the floors clean wasn't a prob. The kids didn't take food out of the kitchen and I would IMMEDIATELY clean up any and all crumbs after someone had finished eating. :) The laundry was never piled up. Now, I did have clutter in places because I am prone to that but my house was so clean that you could eat off the floors. Really. I even completely wiped down the fridge once a month. (Inside and out)
Now, for those of you who do all this naturally I am going to say that I tend more toward clutter and slob. I can exist in a far more chaotic environment than my husband can. So, for me, this was NOT easy. :)
Then a few things happened to change all of this...

First, I had my third boy. Laundry suddenly exploded out of everywhere! Why is it that the 3rd child makes such a difference with the laundry situation?

Second, We moved to a 4600+ square foot house on 11.47 acres.

Thirdly, Gideon started walking and immediately became my most destructive child yet. heehee

As if all of those factors weren't enough, only 1 out of my 3 boys slept through the night when we moved here 2 years ago and my firstborn had only slept through the night a few times in his ENTIRE 4 years of life. So, factor in the lack of sleep thing and you have a recipe for STRESS!

Under all that stress I became frustrated and angry. I spent all day cleaning and had NOTHING to show for it. So, one day I explained to my husband that I was going to go CRAZY if I tried to keep it the way he really liked it. He understood. He told me to relax and just do what I could...

So, now the laundry does pile up, I cannot remember the last time I dusted the top of the fridge, in the inside of the fridge I have science experiments growing, there are often crumbs on the floor. The best part is that my kids like to wear mismatched socks. They call them rainbow socks. :) So, I don't even put thier socks in their drawers anymore. There is a big pile of socks on the floor in my bedroom and they just come in and grab a "pair". It solved the whole where did the matching sock go thing. :) I often go to Walmart and forget to have my kids comb their hair and usually it's sticking up/out. I often forget to brush their teeth. Sometimes I even forget mine. :O. Anyway, this is far too much info for y'all. Just know...I'm no SUPERMOM and no SUPERWIFE. Just Keepin' It Real Ladies (and gentlemen)!! God bless! -Angela :)