The Gnome Party

It Started out with one stolen Gnome. Josh stole this from Britany's aunt's house as a joke maybe. Then her aunt told Britany he could keep it. When they moved out they left it behind. It was the one thing we didn't throw out. So we put it in the dining room for fun.





Santa brought two more and suddenly we have gnomes hiding all over the house. I think we need one more to start our gnome adventure traveling with us wherever we go. But for now it is just a gnome party. Catch them if you can...

A Day at the Museum

Unschoolers unite at the Museum Center today. There was a good crowd of people, we met some new families, and Bret made a friend. We stayed until it was time to leave and pick Gaige up from school. It was good to get the girls out of the house. I am sure they thought it was good to be out.

Due to popular vote (not mine I might add) National Decorate-Your-Potato-Head Day was cancelled. DYPH Day came to be as a homeschool assignment years ago to start a new tradition. DYPH Day was what Josh came up with. We chose the day before Thanksgiving as a way to spend some family fun together before the day of cooking and complaining "I'm Hungry, is dinner ready yet?" It was a successful holiday for many years and we enjoyed it much. But this year felt different. The one who started the tradition was gone and we were in need of some change anyway. In the end the powers that be decided against starting a new tradition. The final concensus was to make a tradition of no more tradition on that day. I went Christmas shopping and found Yatzee for $5.00. It had been a while since we had a full set of dice for a game of Yatzee so I bought it and asked the family if they would play. We taught the girls and off we went. Little did I know that my husband LOVES Yatzee.

I best enjoy those old good games that we played as kids. Tiddle D Winks, jacks, the original game of Battleship, Monopoly before Debit Cards, jump rope, double dutch, Yo-Yo, hop scotch. Before there was HALO there was Pong, Centipede, Pac Man. Back when we would lie in bed all day listening to what Josh used to refer to as those "Big Black CD's" AKA records, and when we paid extra for tv in color, when someone would stand by the tv holding bunny ears in place for less static while we watched our shows, and one tv in the house meant that my mom's Wheel Of Fortune trumped my 3's Company. Cartoons were early before school or on Saturday morning ONLY. No one questioned the violent Tom and Jerry who regularily chopped eachother up with knives, hit eachother with frying pans, cooked eachother on the stove, etc. or how the Road Runner ALWAYS blew up Wiley Coyote or sent him off cliffs to fall a hundred feet onto dry hard land in the shape of his body only for him to show up again after the break. And really you have no idea how old I was when I realized that there is almost NO talking on Tom and Jerry. Those things were novelties then. Cartoons, running to the corner market for a candy bar, going to the beach with friends. I remember what an outrage it was when the Simpsons first aired. How dare a cartoon (when We KNOW that cartoons are meant for kids) air on prime time and be so crude?? Bart's "Eat My Shorts" was an atrocity. No one texted all day to their friends, you vollied for the one phone in the house with the rest of your siblings and mom. And if you needed your privacy that was fine, you most likely had a phone cord that stretched around the entire house, or at least two or three rooms. Then when you got old enough you might get a phone in your room. Facebook? Myspace? Twitter? Ha. My mom would tell us to drag our butts off the couch and go knock on our friend's door to see if she could play. I don't have to even see my friends if I don't want to anymore. Or hear their voices. I have this weird sense of connection even though I have clearly lost personal touch.

Well I digress... We have played Yatzee a few times together since then. I keep it hidden upstairs so that no one decides they need dice and steals them away. Maybe a new tradition? Maybe not. But just some good old fashioned wholesome fun. How can we keep that?

Home Depot Workshop

This month was an awesome wagon just big enough to carry one or two Webkinz sized animals. We brought a couple friends and it was the replacement activity for Bret's Girl Scout troop this month since we had no one sign up for bowling. Check out the website for next week's activity. We will SOOOO be there!!

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Kids_Workshops&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

A Christmas Wish

One of the "problems" I have been trying to deal with lately is the continual fighting with little Marley. She is young, yet she wants to play with all the older kids and their things. But the older girls don't want her to play with their things. And so she sneaks, then she gets yelled at, and on and on it goes. Today I told them we would spend some time playing together something that everyone could play. We had a blast playing with the Webkinz and the carnival that Brenda and Bret had set up, then we played a color game together with the Webkinz. And suddenly everyone is getting along for a little bit longer. I will try it again tomorrow I think.

Christmas Advent

Our kids Advent books that we got from Unity...
Today is "Honesty". Affirmation: Being honest is the right thing to do. I am honest. Activity: Make A Christmas Card. We took cards that I already have bought from the dollar store and turned them into newly decorated cards. Then we went to the Advent Calendar Quilt, put up an ornament on the "tree" and took some candy out of a pocket for the day. The quilt isn't complete. It doesn't have the star sewn on yet, and the presents. But it works for now. And the girls couldn't wait any longer!

Thanksgiving Feast

So we decorated the table. We made name tags for fun. We glued leaves to circle pizza cardboards so that the plates sitting on the cardboard mats looked like they were surrounded by fall fun. We cooked for two or three days. A bird was killed in our name. And in the end we sat down for half an hour gorging ourselves on food, got up, cleaned dishes, and sat down to watch some football, a couple hours later headed to the kitchen for some good ol' fashioned grazing. For the rest of the weekend we ate pie and turkey, dressing, yams galore. And we are all a little fatter to boot, but for what? Later after the meal, we were talking about something to do with being thankful. I said I am thankful for everything. And Bret glanced sarcastically at me with a look suggesting that there are some things that we should not be thankful for. But can we be thankful for the things in our lives we don't like? Don't they produce SOMETHING for us too? Isn't it possible that the things that happened to us growing up that we say we wish didn't happen, helped frame who we are now? Is it possible that just because we don't like the path right now or it isn't comfortable as we would like, doesn't mean that it isn't necessary for a reason we don't see? And maybe, just maybe, we will find out later that it is something to be thankful for? Maybe? Maybe I could do with being thankful for having eaten less food though...

Guess Who's Turned 4...

Marley is officially 4 now as she has blown out her own candle. A sweety, she got puzzles, Polly's, coloring books, and Gaige spent his own money on a Tinker Bell dress for her. Papa Jim came by to celebrate with a Water Fairy dress as well. The girl can't remember how she lived without her dresses. She has always been a fairy, but now she has the dresses to match. Guess whos fingers dug into the cake before it was served??

Advent Books

We attend New Thought Unity Center on Sundays. I have not found a better place to spend my Sundays yet. I usually work in the nursery, but sometimes when I need to be inspired I sneak out to go to service. This Sunday (today) they passed out Advent books for all the kids. As well as being inspiring, there is a Christmasy craft or activity per day counting down till Christmas. I know the kids will be excited to do all of them with me. I hope we can stick to doing one a day as a tradition. All the adults who work in the Youth Center received an adult Advent book filled with day after day of inspirational thoughts and worksheets to go with them. I am thankful for so many things. NTUC is one of those things.

Sunday Football

Every Sunday when we get back from church, we have football snack day. Pizza and chips, pop, chicken fingers, mozzerella sticks, whatever else I put together for the day, then it is football for the rest of the day. Well today I was stuck in the bed with Lily watching Little Bear and such for a while to be honest. But usually football prevails.

Knitting Fest

Today has turned into a knitting fest. Bret has finally finished her purse and suddenly there is a tornado of knitting going on. Brenda wants to knit a scarf like my crazy scarf, so we tied a bunch of yarns together for her and she took off. Now Bret has started a new project and I have no big knitting needles for my own work. Those little stinkers. And when I complained, Brenda went to the car where I had my yarn I was working on a pair of mitts and told me I could work some more on those instead.

Mother/daugher Circle

Drumming Circle was at my house this month, so I suggested a mother/daughter circle. What an amazing suggestion. My girls really got how special it is. They were part of everything. Lily chose a song, Rain Rain Go Away which of course was a perfectly great idea. We made spirit dolls which was amazing fun!! We drummed in a fairy curtain. The girls called in the directions and lit the candles. I know they can't wait until I invite them again.

Story Time

Every Wednesday, as often as we can make it, Mr. C reads and plays games, we sing and dance, and do a craft.

Halloween This Year

The lighting is a little dim for the pics this year.

Well there is not much to say about it this time around. Disappointing to say the least. Where once I remember tons of houses to knock on, this year maybe 2 on each street. Where once kids dressed up and said trick or treat, this year lots of kids and their parents took the bus in from other communities almost completely uncostumed to run through the streets, parents cussing at their kids and at eachother while on their cell phones paying little attention to what was going on. Some little kids had NO COSTUMES AT ALL and their parents were parading them around the streets collecing candy. Some parents brought their children in jeans and t-shirts with some paint on their faces so they could get the candy. No wonder people closed their doors. We won't trick or treat here again.

And it isn't about being poor and not being able to afford a costume. We use what we have already to make our costumes. For Lily, we used some scrap fabric for a hat and used old fake flowers to cover her play clothes dress, hat, and tights. Then we got a set of dollar store wings for her. She was a fairy. That simple. It cost us a dollar. She won one of the awards at the local community kids costume parade before trick or treating started. You don't have to buy a costume, but it is not trick or treating if everyone comes in their clothes and demands candy for it. Next year we will go back to our old neighborhood and trick or treat with old friends.

Bob and Ulaina

Here are Bob and Ulaina. The girls have been on my case for a couple months now to set up the sewing machine for them to finish making their monsters. They were supposed to be done before Halloween, but I didn't get to it until this last week. Finally I got the sewing machine down to get some badges sewn and start on my Advent Calendar Quilt. The girls jumped on the chance to make their monsters. Now Marley wants me to make her one too. I will add that to my list of things that the girls want me to do. lol.

When I Got Home and the Leaves

When I got home, Marley was missing me so much. We had brought her back a bag of plastic fish and water creatures. She wanted to play immediately. I was so busy getting things ready for the aquarium tour that she missed out on spending time with me. So we played in the leaves together over at the school this morning.

I want to add that a couple days ago we went over to the school (during school hours) where they had piled up their leaves on the parking lot and played in the leaves while we were walking the dog. The man from the school who had piled the leaves yelled at us for potentially messing up his PILE OF LEAVES, addressing us as "HEY HEY HEY" which I thought was totally rude. But regardless that brings up a point. Since WHEN ARE LEAVES GARBAGE?? When I grew up we would just mow the leaves down into the ground and they became part of the ground. Why do these people in this town sweep all their leaves to the end of the street to be sucked up by the community leaf sucking machine? And why do we have a leaf sucking machine? And why are leaves, which are a natural part of the self-cycling world that we live in, considered a nusence? And are you going to yell at the parent of a 3 year old who just wants to play and have fun in a pile of leaves, when clearly a single semi-strong wind can do more damage with your precious pile. And really, can you call it DAMAGE to mess up a pile of LEAVES?

So I feel the urge to update everyone on this precious pile of leaves. It has been two days now and no one has come to pick up these piles of leaves that the school collected. Thank goodness that there hasn't been much wind.

The Aquarium Overnight

So we (my other Girl Scout Guide and myself) took our troop("s" because I have two) to the aquarium for an overnight. We toured the aquarium together, petted the sharks, learned about penguins and sea creatures of all sorts, experienced being in a shark tank, took a behind the scenes tour, had root beer floats, and best of all.... drum roll please, we got to sleep in the JELLY FISH ROOM!!!!! This is what I was hoping for all along. It was AMAZING. They are meditative. I love jelly fish best of all and now I want to learn all about them! I just love them!

But so the kids all had a great time. Only one girl wanted to go home at night. Thankfully her parents didn't answer the phone because she was glad she stayed when she woke up. Then there was the incident of the broken glasses. But other than that, wow what a night!! Now I am home and TIRED.

A Real Bad Day

"We put your stuff on the front patio for you. Whatever I didnt get I will do when I get home from our activity. Your guys aren't welcome back in the house. Call dad to tell him when you will pick up your stuff so he can unlock that door for you guys. If you guys do come here and try to get in that would be tresspassing and we would call the police. I truely wish you the best of luck."
"Well I left you guys a note on my side table. Feel free to read it. Or don't. I wanted to stay civil and on speaking terms but if this is the route you wanna take and be out of touch and dont give a shit like your mom then go ahead. I planned on staying on good terms with you."
"Lying stealing and manipulation us had made that not possible right now. Get your life together and good luck. If there was a letter it is packed. Throw it away. We don't need the excuses. Just good luck."
"Wasn't excuses. It was feelings. How I felt. What was bottled up inside. But know I know where you stand so have a wonderful life."
These were our last civil words... texted from our phones. You refused the blanket that dad made for the baby. Just so you know. It was me, not Dad, who did this. I started this and I had to be the one who saw it to the end. Good luck son. I will always love you. Spread your wings and again a sincere good luck. Love ya.

What was stolen from us that we know of so far: money, 8 fire extinguishers (?? We don't know why either lol??), 3 bikes, a tricycle (because he wrote The Rapist down the side of it and we had to get rid of it), the hard drive and controlers for an xbox, Gaige's body wash and deoderant, a bunch of Gaige's clothes, Gaige's wallet (which we did find in Josh's possession with his and Britany's personal items in it and all Gaige's things gone), and other misc. personal things not worth mentioning.

It stands to mention that this is just the theft. Not the months of lies we caught them in silently, hoping that they would start to realize we would give them whatever they need even if they told the truth. And that was before I cleaned out their room and realized the extent of their lies. Baffling.

This is a real sad week for us. But we are ready to go on. Wish him all the luck with his new life. :-)

Religious Recognition

Both my girls, through Girl Scouts and New Thought Unity Center, are earning a religious recognition. They had a book to read, a list of prayers to memorize and recite through a month, a list of activities to fulfill, and last they do a service through the church and one through the their Sunday School. Their service is collecting winter jackets and coats for the local community in need. If you have coats to share, we can pick up or you can drop them off if you are near. melodiecoz@yahoo.com is a good way to get in touch with us. Pics to follow.

The Dollar Tree

We call it the dollar store, but it is my joke that it should be named the $20.00 store. Because really, who leaves out of there and spends $1.00??? No, you go in there to spend a dollar and end up dropping a twenty. All the dollar items in all the local groceries, they are all sitting neatly in ONE STORE. The one stop one-dollar-item store. We love that place. Most kids do that I know of. Because what parent won't drop a dollar for a day's worth of fun. "Of course the toy will be broken by tomorrow most likely, but we will worry about that later. Right now my child is having fun and I can get some work done." And the excitement of the kids scanning through the store for 1/2 hour looking for the ONE thing they want to buy... make up, hair accessories, candy, toys, notebooks and markers, coloring books, something to give the dog, yarn, etc. It seems endless for them. So Brenda and Bret had a friend spend the night and that was all of their treat. We spent probaby close to one hour at the dollar store looking for that ONE thing each one of them could bring home. We love the dollar store. I don't know why. It gives the impression of saving money because "IT'S ONLY A DOLLAR MOM!!" So we go and drop a twenty happily so that we can FEEL like we saved money.

The girls hard at work

So after Home Depot we headed home for some more wood building projects. The kids went down into the basement for wood and spare nails and went to work. They have been at it for about 2 or 3 hours now making something or other for their Webkinz. What a day.

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Today's project was Trivets. I am hoping for at least one of these under the tree with my name on it in a month or so. LOL. I love trivets. Then I don't even have to transfer dinner into bowls and plates. I can leave it in the pans and put them directly on the table over the trivets. We always try to bring friends. It is more fun that way.

Bedtime routine

Lily has taken lately to Bret (daddy Bret that is) reading her to sleep. That is their new "thing". He reads her a few books and when she is ready and tired she tells him she is ready for "Little Bear". Little Bear ALWAYS puts her to sleep and she knows it. Then in the morning they hang out and watch tv together for a bit. She won't want to do these things forever. Take it while we can get it...

Zombie Bret

We got this App off Facebook to make a person into a Zombie. Here is Bret as a zombie. All the girls want to do it. It is on my list. LOL.

Marley and her art work

Marley has been asking me daily for a craft to do. We have been collecting and pressing leaves for several crafts for the upcoming weeks. A week ago we went on a walk with the dog and collected some things for our daily craft. This is Lily's "We are not Weeds" garden that we keep in the house.

Happen Art Work

Wednesday's art work at Happen, Inc. was making spiders. Bret came for their open Studio while Brenda was at photography class. I sculpted a gourd. Bret sculpted a duck with an open beak to hold candy in. I can't wait to see how they will turn out! Pictures to follow.

This Year's Christmas

This year each kid gets a stipend to spend on Christmas presents for the whole family. I take them shopping one by one to pick out their loot. We go out to lunch and make a great exciting day of it. I think the kids are really enjoying the time they spend with me shopping. So that is really cool. Then I got this great idea off a borrowed Family Fun magazine. To make our own wrapping paper designs, AND to write on the wrapping paper why we picked this present for each person. I love it! So personalized!! So here is Marley organizing all the snow globes when we went together. She turned them all on at the same time because they sounded better. And Bret having a great time trying on clothes for fun with the hangers still attached. Bret and I both LOVED that hat. I told her she better not go back and buy it for me, because I will know she just wants to steal it!! LOL.

Toy Lab

So here I took Brenda one day and Lily the next day. Technically the toy lab is for 6 and up because the younger kids want to just PLAY with the broken toys. Lily did great! AND they even let ME do one!!!!! I will add pictures of Brenda, mine, and Lily's creations soon! Soo cool. The picture of Brenda and me, courtesy of Brenda's friend. I am always holding the camera and seldom get pictures of me with my kids.