Homeschool Find of the day

While shopping at Kroger for some fire pit goodies we came across a discount area that Brenda just HAD to stop at. I tried to explain that spending $.50 on something I didn't think we needed prior to seeing the dicount area didn't sound like a good deal to me. But we stopped anyway. Brenda found a bottle of "Glow Away" washable wall paint. And she has been wanting to add to the halloween deco for a bit now. This was a great chance for her to add some glow in the dark wall decorations of her own making. How could I say no??? Plus... it was CLEARANCE. lol. Anyway I hope it glows in the dark!!! :-)

Brenda's Knitting Frenzy

At Girl Scouts Got Talent a couple weeks ago, Brenda showcased some of her knitting. A couple girls offered to pay her for making hats for them. Brenda has been working all week on the hats. She figures even if she doesn't get paid for them, they are too cool. She wants to keep them. lol.

And so (drumroll please) Brenda's first ever two hats. And her first time working in the round. Her first time reading a pattern. And her first time making her own pattern.

Circle at Camp Kern

My drumming circle got together for September to be our wild daring selves at Camp Kern. No drums or rattles. Just a bunch of fearless devilish wild women (and a select few men, as well) climbing poles, standing on tight ropes high up on trees in the forest...



So, yeah, I am afraid of heights. Not so much when I was younger. I rode all the roller coasters and boasted that I wasn't too scared to do anything at the 7 Flags near my town. But since having kids, my stomach gets sick just swinging on swings too high. This was a little scary for me. But here I am, high up in the sky doing all kinds of things I wouldn't have believed I would do.



Funny enough when I signed up to go do this with my friends, I was excited and didn't really think ahead to what it meant to do this activity.



What was high ropes, I didn't really know. The Tango Tower, why I had never even heard of it until I showed up at Camp Kern ready for adventure. I conquered my fear. We did all nine obstacles on the high ropes. The first 3 were really scary. After that I remembered that I wasn't going to die even if I slipped. And I reminded myself to enjoy the ride. Then I did.



So glad I was there. So glad I have a great circle of friends. I wanted to take Brenda with me, but sometimes she can't decide whether or not to face her fears. Maybe when she is a bit older.

Time for Bed

These girls fight during the day, complain about eachother at night, then I sneak in to their room in the middle of the night and find this. They really do enjoy eachother and are bored when one or two of them are gone.

Steve Spangler Our New Science Guy

We are all into Steve Spangler and his science experiments these days. Then at the Homeschool Not Back To School Picnic this year Brenda ended up receiving a Steve Spangler Bubble making set that we had wanted but could not afford. We have been having big bubble fun.

Finally Get My Playroom After All

I think I posted a few months ago when Bret and I constructed a wall down the middle of our family room for Josh, Brittany and their new baby Callie. I had always wanted that wall there so the girls could have a play room, but Bret had said no. He wanted a real big family room. When we built the wall for the kids and their new baby, we asked them to committ to being here for a while. Or else it would not be worth the time and effort to build them the room they wanted. (But not-so-secretely I knew that even if they didn't stick around very long, I would get the playroom I had wanted from the beginning. lol.) And so Josh found a new girl friend and left Brittany and the baby here with us. About a month later Brittany decided to leave too. And guess what... We have a play room now!!!!!

Girl Scouts in Canoes

We took the girls to a camp lake to get some canoeing experience. They learned to board and exit safely; change seats within the canoe safely; paddle forward, backward, in circles (tehehehe), turn; and a bunch more. My girls have had several chances to canoe in the past few years, but this was a first for most of the other girls. They all had a great time, but river canoeing seems out of their plans for the time being.

Decorating Time Again

Halloween time might be the favorite for little Lily. I brought up the decorations from the basement and she has been decorating, redecorating, moving, switching the goblins and ghouls ever since.

Brenda's Turning 11

The last few years, we have had family parties for the kids' birthdays. This year, Brenda asked for a party with her friends. So we threw her a rock star sleepover. Dad got out the dance lights and smoke machine and they had a blast. I was tired the next morning as we all headed over to Home Depot for their kids workshop to finish off the party.

Coloring the sheets

So one day while Bret was in school (She decided to try school this year. It lasted 7days of school. She is back home now again.) Brenda, Marley, and I took crayons and colored my sheets that had gotten a big hole in them. Then we made the bed nice and neat and waited for dad to get home and pull the covers back to see our art. lol. Maybe it was not as funny for him as it was fun for us.

Knitting Time Again

Here is Abby's (that is Abby the dog) new winter attire. Brenda's first knitting sweater experience is for the dog. She has knitted a bunch of little monster animals as well.