The Ghosts of KY

 This elf is located on the big hill down to the first clearing.

This is the first ghost we encountered, but it started our search for more like it along our hike. This one was all the way over on the second plot of land we aquired last year.

Now this ghost was extrememly interesting. It was actually a ghost leaf. You wouldn't think they are quite as common as they actually are.

This guy was our favorite. To tell the truth this was the only ghost that we made. Well we gave him eyes after we decided that he was to be our revered moss ghost.

 

More on Girl Scout Cookie boxes

Another project I did this year on how to use up those cookie boxes creatively...

This is actually a cookie case cut down to a smaller size. A friend of mine and I were out shopping with her kids, and one of her daughters saw a basket that she could not buy. Her mom asked what she would even do with that basket. She said she would make it into a hanging doll bed.

So I offered to make one for her with a cookie box, because of course, I am trying to repurpose them. So some spray paint, fabric, duct tape, and a hanging doll bed has arrived at its new home already. Well there are TWO girls, so I made two.

What to do with all those darn Girl Scout cookie boxes...

So with Girl Scout cookie time going strong, you might have seen some girls hanging around looking like this:



 



 

For every group of girls you see hanging around at the grocery store like that, is a parent or two who has a wall or walls that look like THIS in their house:

 

If you are one of these families who inherits the job of holding on to thousands of boxes of cookies for a month or two each year, then you might consider each year what to do with all those case boxes when the cookies are all picked up and purchased.

For a couple years we saved the boxes and stored them... Then when the kids were bored sometimes they would go upstairs and use them as blocks to make houses and towers and other such building projects. I eventually got tired of the boxes of mess everywhere upstairs, though and broke them down. Marley, 7, still misses these days sometimes.

This year when all those boxes arrived, I was going through a bit of an overhaul of my home. We are going to be putting our house up for sale soon, and we have been trying to declutter. That gave me the idea of finding a use for these boxes. They are small but VERY sturdy.

My project for the boxes that I kept this year is THIS. First I measured the boxes to see which size box fit where I wanted them to go. Cookie case boxes come in different sizes, if you didn't already know this. Then I tore the top flaps off the boxes.

  Next I spray painted them. As with all paint projects, I applied spray primer first. Then after this dried I added the color I wanted.

 After the color paint dried, I measured the box sizes for fabric, making sure the fabric was extra long so it would hang over the box. And I have fancy storage boxes. These red ones hold Marley's Polly Pockets and Petshops. NOTE: Without the fabric there would be small holes in the bottoms of the boxes that would let small objects seep out.

These boxes sit in my dining room bench to collect the books the kids leave on the table.

Girl Scouts is all about conserving. Conserving energy, water, time, etc. So all these left over boxes, even when recycled, are being just wasted. Why not put them to good use? What other ways can you think to use these boxes? I have a friend who uses them in her gardening projects with her scouts.

Potential New Gun Regulations

What is an assault weapon? My husband tells me there is no clear definition for assault weapon. Recently people have been throwing those words around like they understand what exactly makes a weapon an assault weapon.

Don't worry, this is not a blogger attempt to sway you against or for gun regulations. I am not going to tell you how many lives we could save. I am not going to explain to you what our founding father's meant when they wrote up the magnificant constitution.

I am going to just show you what happens when we threaten to take away ANYTHING from ANYONE.


This is Bass Pro's Semi Auto gun section by my house right around Christmas. Did they pull those guns off the shelf in fear of igniting customer concerns for the wellbeing of the world? (No, but Dick's Sporting Goods did, btw.) No no no. This is the sight of what happens when someone tells you they will soon make it harder or possibly impossible to purchase what you want. The customers sold Bass Pro completely out of their supply. COMPLETELY. People are stockpiling. And while we were there talking to a clerk, he got two phone calls from people asking if they had any more come in.

I am not suggesting anything. Just showing a photo I snapped.

The Bustle... when will it end

Bree at Thinking Day with her Girl Scout troop




Bree camping with scout friends (Triple all this since all three camp and participate in Thinking Day and other activities each month and we are neck deep in Girl Scout cookies.)


Bree at Kalahari

Oh wait a minute she spent so much time with friends I never DID get a photo of us together!



Well, me and Marley at our Kalahari trip sporting our new henna tats.

And roller derby for two of my girls, and dance for one, and swim team starts up this weekend for all three.


And there are artsy birthday parties to attend.


Volunteering to help with the Belize trip.

Silliness.


Making time to hang out with the grandbaby.

Callie Mae turns 3

Callie Mae turned 3. Her party is next weekend. And here she is with her Aunt Marley playing, princess together. This is bunny. She is turning 3 too. Grandpa bought Bunny for her when she was in the hospital fighting for her life. And now she is three. And I am an old Granny.

school makes me...

This is what the three big search engines look like when you type "school makes me". This post is not for or against school. I just thought you should know what kids are saying online about school the most.

Small Conversations

Marley came to me today with her new American Girl Doll and said she was going to put her hair into a poni tail. I told her not to do it. She did it anyway. Then she brought Julie (the doll) to me and said, "See? Doesn't she look good this way?" I said she looks like a girl who's mom isn't following the rules of don't put her hair up in a pony tail. As she walked away, I added, "And she does look really good."

Marley came back a little while later and showed me Julie again. "Doesn't she look good?" So I told her again, "she looks like the same girl who's mom doesn't want to follow the rules." And shrugged and told me, as she was walking down the hall, "There are no rules for being beautiful, Mom."

There sure aren't.

The other Julie conversation happened a few days ago. The day after Christmas, actually. (A little background: Dad was supposed to take her to Chicago in October to buy Julie, but it didn't happen.) Marley jumped up onto our bed and told us, since Santa Claus (yes, we let our kids believe...) gave her Julie for free, we could take her to Chicago to buy her a different AGD for her. Doh!

Have you seen this on FB yet?

It has been going around. Circulating. I talked to Bree, my 13 yo, when I saw it pop up on her facebook that she had left up. Is this a real post? Is it made up? I know Bree and her friends used to make up touching chain letters and txt them to friends to see if they would catch on. This could be a case of people making things up to get noticed, or to see what the comments will be, or just to get a rise out of people. Or it could be real. This is the second post of this sort, featuring this boy and his sister...



Anyway, here was my post to the topic. Is is ok? Is is brilliant parenting? Or are the parents forgetting that their children are people? With feelings? You decide.

I replied to this on another webpage. I like to imagine when I am helping my kids learn, how might I feel if my husband was displeased by something I did and treated me that way. After all not too long ago, wives were regarded as similar to how we regard children. The man's job was believed to keep her in line. to make sure she behaved. How would this parent feel if his/her spouse used this parenting "technique" for him/her. Infuriated, hopeless, betrayed? Probably not the best place to start the learning process.

I don't always do the "right thing" as a parent. Guilty. I am not the judge of any parenting. I try to use these kinds of things to remind me of my goals and whether or not what I am doing is bringing me closer to them.

More on the topic? http://www.ourmuddyboots.com/our-get-along-shirt-guest-post-by-dr-laura-markham/ These views are in line with mine for the most part. Only she outlined them out more clearly than I would typically do. :-)

News Flash UPDATE

(The things people say when they find out I homeschool... and what I think about those things....)

I just don't think I could handle being with my kids all day. I don't think they could handle being around me all day. We would drive eachother crazy!

Sometimes my kids drive me up the wall. Probably sometimes I do the same for them. But we play and sing and giggle and talk and smile, cook, yell, explain, argue, break things, fix things, and so much more TOGETHER. When they are loving to eachother I get to peek in on it like a fly on the wall. When they are fighting, I get to be there to redirect. (well sometimes I am unsuccessful at this but I try.) I am often reminded to be thankful that if tomorrow my kids were all taken away from me, I had this amazing time with these amazing people who like being around me for the most part too.

I wish I had thought of this forever ago!

This summer, I had an opportunity to go to Chicago with my son who is 18 and will be graduating high school soon. We were really close once. Then I got married and (I am not blaming my marriage for this) we grew apart. There are so many reasons for this. Anywho, this summer we went to Chicago together for a trip, just to take a trip to Chicago, no other reason. We took a river tour of Chicago, checked out the Willis Tower, at at a bunch of local eats, shopped at a bunch of local shops, we even got tattoos together (I know that sounds corny...) We saw a Bears game, we sat on the pier and watched the fireworks. How did I not do these things with him before this year? How did I not go out to eat, just us? How did we not go on small trips together in so long? How did I miss doing all that with him? Sure we did things together sometimes, but not the way I wish now we had. I wish I had some of those days to do over again so I could spend that time just me and him.

The girls and I, we have lots of one on one. We also have lots of together time. And it is mostly good. We shop together, go out to eat together, we vacation together (just me and my girls), when my husband leaves, the girls snuggle in my bed and we have sleep overs. I would not give these days up for a trillion bucks. Because a trillion bucks can't replace this.

Yes my girls drive me crazy. And yes I drive them crazy. And I would keep being crazy every day for every second more I have. And to not wish for do-overs with them.

There are many reasons for not homeschooling your kids. But don't let them driving you crazy be one of those reasons! Most likely you are already crazy. We all are. The most wonderful moments happen when we slow down. And they stay with you forever. They are worth it.

The Tea (birthday) Party

Have I plugged my favorite coffee shop here yet?? (lol. of course I have.)
 The Witch's Brew Coffee Shoppe

Do you facebook? Here is their facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/WitchsBrewCoffeeShoppe?fref=ts

My girls and I head there once a week for frappe's, tea, and games. Witch's Brew has drinks, eats, a set of game of their own for you to choose from, a chalk board the color on, free WIFI (we bring our ipod touch), and something new each time we go there.

The other day we were invited to a Birthday (tea) party there. It was so much fun! Everyone was given witch's hats to wear, there was soup/salad, fruit and muffins, then finger sandwiches, and cake. A bottomless glass of tea choices, presents, games.

I am so glad that Witch's Brew is in my neighborhood. Check it out.

The Party

The vampire panda (present) modeled on Marley's head.

Coop Break

Our Coop breaks for the months of December and January. I cannot imagine keeping up with that schedule through the holidays and am very thankful for the break.

Brenda however, in her cake decorating class, cannot get her head out of the frosting. She is designing a cake she would like to take to Grandpa's house for the Christmas Eve party. I know it will be crazy, most likely it will draw up a ton of tears, and in the end we will all love it. So is the way with Brenda...

Here are some cookies her class designed on their last day, before break. Then they all brought in cookies to share. Brenda insisted on making Gramma by Ollie's (Gramma Kosowski's) potato chip cookies. Boy how we still love those things. Even with me as a grownup.

And Bret and I still have anatomy to work on even though the holiday goes strong. Since we are working anyway I offered her (my child scarred for life from math due to her 8 days in school :-o) my 21 day program. 21 days of painelss math and then a dinner together when it is over. She accepted... BIG SHOCKER. Now to figure out where to start...

Service Project for Girl Scouts

So Bret's troop has gone from 9 girls to 18 girls. While Brenda's troop has gone from 11girls (two years ago) to 5 girls (last year) to just Brenda working as a Juliette without a troop.

One of the leaders has a husband doctor going to Belise for a few months to do some service work. He does this every few years. Our local troops are pitching in to put together school packs for the kids. I said I would be in charge of making 100 drawstring bags to put all the glue, paper, pencils, sharpeners, etc. into. Well I said my troop would be. And I would teach them to sew the bags. That was before I knew our troop would be 18 kids!! There is no way we have enough time for this project in this troop.

So Brenda asked if she could do it as her service project to earn her silver award. Her troop earned their Bronze award a few years ago setting up a book drive for a local church reading program. This project she would have to earn all on her own (so to speak). She has washed, ironed, and cut yards and yards of fabric. Tomorrow she begins the sewing process. The total project from beginning to end should take at least 40 hours to be considered for the Silver Award. She insisted she would like to try to focus on it and complete it in a week's time. Since it is due in January, I say let's do it in the first week, not the last...

 

UPDATE:

 

And now it is time to sew...

 

 

News Flash...

I have started an ongoing and ever growing list of what people say to me when I tell them we homeschool (let's call them for the sake of argument, homeschool myths), and a small bit of opinion on each...

Wow, I don't think I have the patience for that... me neither. Turns out you don't need unlimited patience and super powers. Just a love for your children and a desire to see them become successful people in the world. And maybe a little bit of reverse psychology hid up your sleeve doesn't hurt much.

What about socialization... Really I think this one is ridiculous to even touch. Who has not grown up hearing this... You are not here to socialize, you are here to learn! Seriously I don't remember who said, in order to improve my homeschooler's socialization, we make her walk down the hall a few times a day and we knock her over and call mean things to her as she goes by.  I know there are plenty of kids who enjoy school. But why not ask them if they wouldn't prefer hanging out with their friends outside of school? School is not where you learn to socialize, life outside of school is.

I am not smart enough to teach my child everything she needs to know... My sarcastic side says, why can't you just teach your child what YOU learned in school, because that is all YOU needed to know. But we all know that we didn't learn much of what was taught except when it interested us. So I say, don't teach your child what she needs to know. Just make learning fun and she will learn what she needs to know without too much help from you. Also... drum roll please, I had a son who was quick learning languages, and I couldn't keep up with him. You know what I did? I went to the local college and got him a tutor. And it worked beautifully! So many classes out there for kids now-a-days. Not school classes, but just classes for kids with inquiring minds. Classes and co ops and online courses and the History Channel and the Discovery Channel and NOVA and Google.........

You homeschool? With the way kids are now a days I think that is great! My kids are still kids now a days, even though they homeschool. They aren't sheltered from the "kids now a days". Some of those "kids now a days" are my kids friends. One way that homeschooling has benefited my girls is that not being IN the school, they can see things from the outsider view. Things look a lot different when you are not caught up in a situation, but rather can watch it from farther away. My kids get more opportunities to do that. I think it gives them a different perspective on friendships then kids in school.

How do you know if your kids are learning at the level as the schools? A couple things on this one. First, who the hell cares what the schools are doing? They aren't bringing home better success rates than me. And all the schools are doing basically the same thing. Look at what comes out of there? Some good, some bad. What fun is that. Let's do something different. Let's learn a different history and a different literature than the schools. Let's learn ethics and morals. Let's learn how to survive in the wilderness without other people. Let's learn to cook and take care of ourselves, because lots of people come out of school with no idea how to carry on their lives after school. Just for the fun of it. Because the schools have yet to prove that they are better than home. I have no interest in what the schools are doing. Two of my kids went back into the public schools, one as a Junior in high school, and one as an eighth grader. He graduates this year. They both passed the OGT's in one try. And a ton of their classmates who were in school all this time didn't. Let's just say that I put one of my kids in school and they struggled... for whatever reason in a topic or two like maybe math and history. So I guess my kids at home didn't do worse than the kids at school all this time. The schools have a bunch of kids struggling too. School is the one place in life where things are not like life, you don't have the same rights as everyone outside of school. Teachers, other students, and the faculty have more control over your body than you do. You aren't free to do and say what you please. People will touch you when you don't want them to, teachers will bully you if they want to, you can get punished for things you didn't do without due process. I have seen all these things happen to kids in school as recent as this year. Why would I want to keep up with that? Socially or educationally? No, I don't. Sure, the jury is still out with my kids and their education. Well the jury is already in with the schools and its not always good.

How do you keep the kids up with technology and education growing and changing so fast? Yea, I don't really care about any of that. My kids are up on all the technology. Personally I would prefer for us to be without it. I had a big conversation in the car the other day about how much kids miss when their faces are stuck in their phones. God provided us these beautiful sights and smells and touches and tastes and sounds. There is so much going on. And people aren't seeing it. They aren't stopping and whatching the ants carry food into their ant hole. In fact they can't see much of anything past their friend's txt which is about 5 inches to one foot beyond their face. Technology is great, but 1. don't think I will miss it much if it is gone. 2. don't think the schools are teaching it. 3. the kids will learn it without school. 

A short note on parenting...

Here we all were, years ago. Maybe 8 years? 7? It is hard to say exactly. I am trying to gauge it by little Bret's age. Maybe she was 3 or 4 there. I pick that age because she still didn't want to sit next to anyone but me. As you can see by the brilliance of her smile (sarcasm), while she is being propped up in her dad's lap. The rest of us dutifully smiling for our part in the happy family photo. Gaige looking squished by the mere girth of the group. Josh smiling because that is what he was told to do, Brenda looking just happy to be with everyone.

Were we really this happy? No! Photos are a stressful thing. Trying to get all the kids AND adults to look at the same place and smile a natural smile at the same time? Possible an impossible feat! It is not easy to be who you "have to be" all the time on demand. Not for me, or any of my kids, I am sure.

When I look back to my parenting back then, of course I wish I knew then... I wish I was more patient. I wish my boys didn't have to take the brunt of my parent learning curve. I wish I didn't make them smile for this photo if they didn't want to smile. I wish I told them to be who you want to be no matter what anyone (including me) wants... I wish... I wish... I wish... I wish I could tell them all those things now and make it stick...

Life is very happy. It is also very sad. So after seeing that one of my own posted something on the internet about me, or maybe just the family, or both, I am inclined to post a small bit about of my own "truth..."

When Maisy the lazy bird asked Horton to sit on her egg so she could get some stuff done, little did he know she would be gone off with her own life and leave him there with her egg. He sat patiently, enduring much weather, taunting, bullying, gunpoint, etc. Then she just happend upon Horton and the egg, during her wonderful trails of vacation, as the egg was about to hatch... '"But it's MINE!" screamed the bird, when she heard the egg crack. (The work was all done. Now she wanted it back.) "It's my egg!" she sputtered. "You stole it from me! Get off of my nest and get out of my tree!"

From me to Maisy the lazy birds in my life, "When the courts require drug testing in order to regain your visitation rights, and you don't persue it, life goes on. And people eventually move, because that is what they do. And make new families out of what they have. In these modern days, if you want visitation with your child, you just have to petition the courts. Our address has been all over the internet for years. Your son's sport schedules have been all over the internet for years. I know, I google it regularily, and I have for years. No one hid anyone from anyone. You didn't persue visitation. You didn't pay child support. When you tell your adult child at his most vulnerable time of his life, "I always wanted you, they wouldn't let me see you, but I am your mother and I have always loved you best, tell me how horrible they were to you," it is a little like Maisy the lazy bird wanting her egg back after all.

Facebook post this morning.

The way back from the Witch's Brew Coffee Shoppe for Mom's Treat Tuesday, we walked past this. It reminded me of a story. Marley made a Fairy home last month (this is the reminants of it). A friend came over for a minute with her kids. Her ...

boy looked over at the fairy home and notice there was a Lifesaver mint in it. He wanted it. We told him why it was there and why it had to stay there. A couple days ago she messaged me to tell me he found a mint in his Halloween candy and wanted to know if he could put it out for the Fairies. It seemed like a random txt but I just got it...

That is how easy it is. Don't just "teach" them to be loving and kind. Be loving and kind. To them and everyone and everything. (Not so easy?) They will follow, because they want to be with loving kindness. We all do. It feels good.

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Fav Activity of the Year

So last year our scout troop took a trip to see the Cincy RollerGirls. It turned out to be a pivotal move for my kids. The Jr Cincy RollerGirls skate intermission games for the Cincy RollerGirls at the Gardens. Bree and Bret were hooked. We bought roller derby skates and pads, and we waited for the notice that Derby was starting again. Now in our house, everyone has scouts, coop, and ONE other activity at a time. This because there are so many kids. When we had soccer, swim, dance, scouts all at the same time for the kids, I was being pulled in too many directions and I couldn't keep up. Both Bree and Bret chose roller derby over any of their other choices, including dance which Bret has been in since she was 5. Now they are all, roller derby is the best. and I want a ton of roller derby-ish t-shirts to wear and a sweatshirt. Bigger and better as they get older...

Keeping My Eye on the Prize

Caught on a trail cam, Bret and I were out doing some work on the land. Checking out the trail cam memory cards, feeding the deer. We got to spend the whole day together hiking and hanging out.

Ahhhhhh. This is the view of my new back yard... as soon as we build our cabin.

And this was just scary. It is a bob cat, the size of a mountain lion, caught on camera. One of a few hanging out on our land. Good news, they pretty much steer clear of people. Bad news, they don't steer clear of chickens.

Hat week

 

Here is how it started... I was making a Pinkie Pie Pony hat for a friend. And Bret wanted one. So I started making her one in secret and told her I wouldn't make her one (it was going to be an Xmas Present.) But that backfired on me because she decided to learn how to make her own Pinkie Pie hat. But I told her that her crocheting skills were not at HAT level yet. Then she persisted even when I got a little cranky about it. (I am sticking with A LITTLE cranky even though she thinks I got A LOT cranky.) Anyway I finally showed her what to do and of course she wanted to do it so badly that she picked it up quickly and soon had her own pinkie pie hat that she had made all of, except I made the ears for her. But she did the rest!!!!

 

 

Then Bree Rex decided she wanted to learn too.

Now she has made two hats and is working in her third, a Mickey Mouse hat. I have created a monster!!!

Witch's Brew Coffee Shoppe

 

OUR VERY OWN coffee shoppe in our small village. As soon as I found out I knew it was a keeper for us. So I woke Bret up early one day and we headed over there for a surprise. The other girls were so upset that I didn't wake them up too.

So now Tuesdays are called Mom's Treat Tuesday. Because I treat the girls to frappes every Tuesday morning. And we spend the morning playing games together while sipping on Frappes. I got the fabulous cinnamon spice tea today. OOOOOO good. I am still at home sipping on the tea, because I took the cup home and filled it back up with hot water. Oh yea.

Check out their Facebook page. Head on by for some tea, coffee, FRAPPE, donuts, cupcakes, etc. You will be glad you did.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/WitchsBrewCoffeeShoppe?fref=ts

Overcast Ault Park

So a friend and I were planning on going to Ault Park to do some painting with the kids. BUT as the days went by they were starting to look colder and wetter. Then we said why not go when it is wet and chilly. So we did and the kids had so much fun! Painting and walking the park together. Investigating the park in the overcast. Who ever thought of such a thing...

 

 

 

Bret is obsessed with Starry Night ever since she learned about the painting in her COOP art class. (she says I AM NOT obsessed with it, I just make it a lot... :-) And her mom is obsessed with blogging about stuff no one cares about.

 

While the younger girls were working on their art, Brenda was out with the camera "pic"ing the park.

LOVE THIS ONE

 

Totally overcast beauty!

This one is my favorite. I should have these printed and framed!

Getting Dad Involved

So Bret's life is pretty much working and hunting. Some times this summer he put in crazy hours at work. 18 hours some days he would work, come home to eat and sleep, then wake up and do it again. Now it is fall, so he is slowing down on work and focusing on his favorite past time, hunting. He works so hard, I think it is important that he has his time to play also. And sometimes because of this, we don't get to see him much. And when we do see him, the kids are so excited and loud that he gets frustrated. Then the kids start to think that he is always just cranky. It is a cycle we have. He really is a good guy that works tremendously hard for our family.

I think there are so many families like this. The parents work so hard that they are exhausted at the end of the day. They don't have the mental state of mind or the energy to keep up with the kids. Children need so much time from us. It is a part of what keeps them healthy.

This is the third year in a row where we had an opportunity with scouts to help produce an activity where parents and their scouts can get some one-on-one. A time where they can get silly if they want. Where they can have a moment of going down to their  children's level. Does everyone who goes to these activities get that out of it? Probably not. Hopefully some do. Because we all need it.

 

Anyway the program for our Masquerade Dance Party goes like this... There were a series of stations: pumpkin decorating, planting a spider plant, bookmarks to make, a Girl Scout Quiz, Ghost suckers, and dancing on the dance floor. Each girl gets a "passport". Each station has a stamp which each scout/parent pair can stamp the passport with when they have completed the station.




Then after snacks

(the ones I brought were made with loving help from my girls)
and singing Happy Birthday to Girl Scouts (in consideration for Juliette Gordon Low's birthday on October 31), each girl can trade her passport in for a gift (dollar store fun prizes like jewelery makers, fuzzy socks, body tatoos, etc.)

At the end all families and troops can go for group photos.



My amazing family minus the boys of course.

This is some of my fab troop. Just as often as I remember to be a good sport, I do so. The more I remember, the happier their childhood becomes. A quote I heard as of recent, which really reminds me of my goals and how to acheive them...

 

"If you decide how you want your home to be, and then make choices that get you nearer to that, things will get gradually better.
If you don't decide, or if you don't think of it many times a day when you make small choices, and decide how to act and react, then things won't get better.

Not every step will be forward, but if most of them are, then you'll make progress." Sandra Dodd

 

It is a hard one to remember, but well worth it. This is how we change our world, change our world, change our world. This is how we change our world, so early in the morning. (in a singsongy voice)

 

UPDATE: Totally forgot Marley's troop :-)