The Move and other fun stuff

So Gaige moved into the living room, which means I moved the playroom/living room into other rooms of the house. A couple things. I realized that without Josh we don't need the table to be so big. So we took out the middle of the table and made it to fit 6 again. That made room for the piano. The pew fit in the dining room too. So woo hoo to that cool news. Play room, meet family room. :-) But now that Gaige's room is painted, cleaned out, and in order I have to figure out what to do with all this other stuff that used to be in there. Throw it out? Move it? Store it?

Sunday while I was doing some cleaning and organizing, (and helping Gaige move things downstairs into his new room) Bret took Abby (the dog) the girls and their friend Emma to the park. I installed a missing door to Gaige's room for extra privacy, which no doubt he will be needing.

Wow

Things are a changin

The dining room has changed colors and soon the living room will be a bedroom. The weather is warmer so we can get back outside for some fresh air. We caught another mouse... rat... Changes are in the air... I can feel it. Come dance with me.

Yesterday and Today

Bret had a World Fair at her co op yesterday. I was signed up to help out with concessions for a few hours. I do that a couple times a year to help out, or I could choose not to help and pay $25 a month. That wasn't sounding like the workable option this year. Anyway, it is like an art show, and a just basic show of work the kids have been doing. One of the kids had a display showing the kids how to make silly putty (we used to call it goop) with borax and glue. As it turns out I have tons of borax since years ago when Gaige Josh and I made goop together. And we have tons of glue. So we have been making silly putty all day.

i will try to come up with the putty pictures from Josh Gaige and myself from years ago too.

Locks of Love

Every couple years when their hair gets long and they complain about the pain of brushing the snarles through we decide it is time for Locks of Love. Here is Bret with her new haircut and old donatable ponitails.

Swimming

Swim team begins again. This time with Brenda, Bret, and Gaige.

Will you lie down with me??

Brenda asks me a lot if we could just lie down together and snuggle. She just wants to have that special time. So when Dad finally got up in time to take Bret to her co op on the way to work today, and Marley was still sleeping, Brenda seized the opportunity. "Mom, will you lie down with me?" Of couse because I have nothing else to do. We have been trying to finish this book we have been reading together called Witch Catcher, for a while, really. I took that time to grab the book and get some reading in. We finished the book. So I am putting out a book suggestion to the mothers and fathers and teachers of all sorts with children around Brenda's age. She is 9 btw. We both LOVED the book. It is not for people who have religious afflictions to books about fairies, witches, spells, and other crafts of that sort. But if you don't fall into that catagory, this book was fun, adventurous, and the hero was actually a heroINE which I love to see! It is great for the girls to see girls in books doing great things (even if it is a book of fantasy).

So TOP PIC for Brenda and myself. If you haven't already read it... Witch Catcher by Mary Downing Hahn is a must read.

Because we were in need of Spoons

We were out of spoons. I don't know if they were getting thrown in the garbage or if some day we will come across a little crevice in our house where our spoons and nail clippers and brushes are all being hidden by elves or what the deal is. I digress. We needed spoons. That is how this all started. We have needed spoons for a while. The thrift shop that I love and frequent most doesn't sell silver ware. They have everything else but no silver ware. The Goodwill I used to go to before we moved here had silver ware, but it was a half hour drive to get there. It seemed to be a waste of money to go half an hour out of my way to save a few bucks on silver ware. So one of the moms in Brenda's Girl Scout troop directed me to this thrift shop nearby that I didn't know about. I thought I would check it out and see if there were spoons there.

So we went. That was Tuesday. I remember because Bret was at her friend's house. Brenda didn't feel up to going to dance class, and we ended up going to the thrift shop instead. AND THEY HAD SPOONS!! I bought Where in the World Is Carmen SanDiego? the game because Marley lost the cards, and Bret loved that game.

I also bought this preschool Boggle Jr game where there are flash cards with simple three and four letter words alongside their picture. The object is to use the 8 letter dice to make the word before the timer goes out. Bret fell in love with the game and played it for a day. She then decided that she was a great speller and reader. We went to the library and checked out 4 basic reader books. She read each twice with my help. Then yesterday we went back to the library (she begged me throughout the day to get her there before it closed) and she checked out ten more, which she proudly told me this morning that she read them all. All she can talk about is how excited she is that she can read so well, and how she loves to read.

All this because we needed spoons...

The Circus and other stuff

So we went to the circus yesterday. I had never been, the girls neither. It was a fun time. The whole thing cost us $25.00. ($10 for parking, that was bad planning really and not being early enough to find parking farther away and walk the distance like we should have done; $15.00 for one popcorn, one nachos, and one pop.) Not a bad deal since we got in free. But with just a phone camera, the pictures held something to be desired. Sigh. The girls were excited to go, and they had a great time. Marley thought it was too loud and wanted to go home from the beginning. She often has issues with things being too loud. In the end she fell asleep.

Now today might just be my last cookie booth. Cookie sales are ALMOST over. Girl Scouts is almost out of cookies and we are just about done. Time to add everything up and move on to other things!! For that I am truely thankful. And rest assured that the whole family is too.

Hope you are all doing well. Hope to see you all soon somewhere or other.

Park Time

The weather was good. At first we signed up for a Homeschool Girl Scout event. It was a dog whisperer program. But we didn't hear back soon enough, so we planned to attend an outing park program. We dropped Bret off at her co op program and headed over to the park. It was about shelters and safety. When we got there the park person was sick throwing up in the portolet. So obviously the program didn't go on, but we had hours before we would pick up Bret, so everyone who came for the program stayed at the park to hang out and make a day of it. Brenda made a bunch more friends. Lily and I made a cake out of twigs, pine needles, rocks, and leaves, we took a walk, played in our "house" and just had a great day outdoors. The lady who set up the dog whisperer program up called me to tell me she did score a bunch of tickets to the circus. We are off to pick them up soon. What a great day.

Good News!!

If you are not aware of my recent camera problems, here is the quick version. Bret was trying to find a plug that worked for something and ended up losing my camera to computer hook-up. Then we thought he accidentally gave it to Scotty, and took Scotty's plug. So I bought a new device that would take my camera card and download onto the computer that way. That device lasted one use until my computer had a problem and stopped allowing that software to work. I thought I would never have pictures again!! Then I saw that Gaige was emailing himself pics from his phone, which was a no no. I called Verizon to see what the charge was for that, only to find out with our new plan it is free. SOOOO Now I can get pictures again through my phone. What good news and luck!

Making Lip Balm

The girls got a Lip Balm making kit for Christmas this year. We made lip balm today. BUT the kit was only given to Brenda and Bret, and they were not willing to share it with Marley. We went online to come up with a homemade recipe that we could whip up to let Marley in on the fun. Here is Bret making some homemade Lip Balm for Marley, Honey Cherry Flavor.