Sat(onmybutt)urday!

I spent the majority of the day laying around and reading my book today!!! ;D I am so spoiled!!! I was still sitting in bed reading at 11am when I heard the dogs barking and thunderous footsteps heading to the front door.... I heard squealing from the kids and Jessie yelled up the stairs that our friends had "stopped by" !! ACK!! I jumped up and threw on clothes!! :D really...I'm pitiful!! Typically the house was a disaster zone!! The dining table was littered with various projects, the kitchen was full of dishes as I hadn't run the dishwasher the night before and there was literally a pile of laundry on the couch that needed folding! I really never leave laundry on the couch... but of course, the one time I do.... GUESTS!! I LOVE when people just stop by but they ALWAYS do it when the house is trashed!! Why is it that folks never spontaneously appear when the house is in tip top shape and spiffy looking??! That has NEVER happened to me and believe it or not, my house DOES look nice a lot of the time!!! ;D Ah well!! It's a lesson that I shouldn't be laying around all day I suppose!! To be fair I did get up early and check on the children. I also made myself a nice hot cup of tea.... and took it back up to bed!! :D The kids were fine for the most part but they would squabble once in a while and interrupt my reading again!! :D Anyway, once our friends left that would have been when I took a shower and got started, right?? Sort of. I DID clean up the kitchen ( a day late and a dollar short ) and get the laundry upstairs, but, when it came time to take a shower... well... I "accidentally" lay back down on my bed and read some more!! :D Bad me!!! The dog and the cat came and lay with me too and later Jackster came up and also snuggled with me! It was very nice!! Eventually I came back down and we had some lunch then the children and I planted some seeds into some neat little expanding flower pot thingys... I did take a pic or two but I'm using Jessie's computer as Rex is on mine and so... ya know... no pics! We also planted some seeds in old egg cartons so we'll see what we shall see!! ;D

Anyway, that's enough from me I think...!! What I'd dearly like to do is to go back to bed and read some more!!! I'll probably end up having to stay up and help Rex as he's trying to help ME put a document together for work.... is it too much if I just say Goodnight and then I bugger off to bed??! hmmm... thought so !! : D

I have a new addiction!!! ;D

Yes!! Besides running, biking, being Vegan, being "Gorgeous" ( I accidentally typed Gorgerous and thought that was actually pretty funny!! ) doing Yoga, baking bread, keeping up with the laundry, Nature Walking, Knitting, Crochet, trying Montessori stuff, working, banning books, law changing and chicken wrangling I have found a new addiction..... Needle Felting!!!! ***swoons!!***..... it's soooooo easy!! and SOOOOO addictive!!!! I found myself in Ye Olde Yarne Shoppe today.... oh boy. I drooled on all the gorgeous wool.... the colors, the textures... the PRICES! Holy CRAP!! Since when did wool get so... oh!! ... Pretty!!!.... soooooft!!!!.....!! Happily for me, roving is NOT expensive AND you get TONS for very little. The felting needles aren't too expensive either and since for the stuff I'm doing,, I only need one I am a happy camper!! ;D

I sat on the couch tonight and watched The King and I with Rexy ( **Gasp!** I LOVE those dresses!! I remember as a little girl watching the movie and just LOVING the big BIG skirts!!! ) and I made my first felt "piece!" It's a pretty lady with loooong hair doing Yoga!! It's not me though, this one is very bendy as she's in the lotus position AND she has brown eyes... so there!! ;D Oh and when I say this addiction is cheap, consider the fact that for the lips on this lady, I had to use perhaps four strands of wool... I mean four threads... and they were really short!!! Less is more here!! Of course I can imagine I'll move onto bigger things but only when I have SOOO much roving I won't even have to think about it. I'm like those people you know who have yards and yards of beautiful fabric but they don't want to spoil it by cutting it!!! :D I KNOW you know people like that!! ;D

Anyway, here's a pic of my first attempt. Be kind!! ;D

Won't someone please stop the ride? I want to get off!!!!!!

Just for a little while?? Maybe a day or two??? Perhaps they could just slow the ride down a bit?!?!!? Is it just me or does the Earth seem to be spinning at triple speed for you too?!? Gah. I can't even begin to explain how busy things are at the moment!! It's not even anything major it's just constant little stuff!!! I don't mean to complain but since I decided to try and slow down it's as if the Universe had a good laugh and gave the Earth and almighty shove like a roulette wheel!!! ;D LOL!! Ah well... it will slow down again eventually I'm sure.... nothing ever stays the same!

I was going through some blogs today looking for Montessori type stuff... I love the orderly~ness of it all, it really appeals to me, but I realised the irony. I finally have time to look for all these great ideas and to make up the trays and so on... and the reason I have time is because the kids are older and don't need me every second of the day.... but ... now they are older they are too old for all the trays and manipulatives I now have time to make. *** sigh*** I did manage to make up a couple for Jack... he really enjoyed them. They are probably a bit basic for him, but he was happy to play and even Jessie asked if she could have a go!! ;D

Oh.... and this was eye opening..... Lucy, our little puppy, is in heat again. We've never had her spayed though do not want to have puppies with her, I'm not sure why we haven't done it, probably it was cost prohibitive at the time and as she is only in season once a year it didn't seem to be a big deal. Anyway, as she IS in heat I have her tied to my office table where she spends a lot of her time anyway. She's in the middle of everything, can see the front door, the table where we spend most of the day and the kitchen but she can't get more than a few feet out. ( this is basically just for cleanliness issues by the way ) Anyhoo.... I was putting Jack to bed tonight and .... his bedding was wet. Yup. The dog had peed on them again!!!!!!!!! What????? Waaaaait...... Yeah. Turns out it wasn't the dog.... it was the damn cat. I don't believe it. All this time and I've been blaming the poor dog !!!! No wonder she looked confused when I'd yell at her!!!!! I feel terrible. I don't quite understand why it doesn't smell of cat pee though.... it HAS to be the cat... unless Jack managed to sneak away, carefully pee on his bed without getting any on himself..... strange. Anyway, the dog has been vindicated!!! And I still have to keep the bedroom door CLOSED at all times. Bah!!!

Chocolate anyone.....?????

Busy doing nothing!!!

Wow! WHAT a day. I honestly just ... well.... I can't describe how busy today has been. I have accomplished very little in the work department. I had to get out for a walk and since Rex was home Jack wanted to stay here so it was just Jessie and me. It was SOOOO nice to get out. I really needed it. Everything felt frantic today! The flow was just OFF !!! I seemed to race from one task to the next to the next to the next!!! I was just finishing off cooking dinner to take to our friends again when Rex's cell phone rang. It was noisy (ish ) in the living room so he went upstairs to take the call. As soon as he went upstairs the house phone rang, it was my beloved pal, Lisa O.K from Michigan. We'd not spoken in ages and I love to talk ( and talk!) to her. We'd just begun a conversation when I noticed a vehicle in our driveway. Someone had come to bring me work photographs and some receipts. The dogs started barking and my timer on the oven went off. Sheesh. MADNESS!!!!!! I was feeling rushed anyway as I wanted to get the meal on the road so that it would be a) still warm and b) delivered at a reasonable time!! It's not really fair to have people sit there waiting to eat, especially when they have little kiddies too!! The folks with the photos left, Rex said he'd come along for the ride with me and the kiddoes and we bundled everything into the van and headed out. We'd made cornbread to go with some chili and rice and I'd doubled the recipe so we took several warm cornbread muffins along with us to eat in the car!! We had a lovely quick visit with Niecey and Rene and Niecey showed me all the seedlings she's growing!! I'm really inspired to have ANOTHER go but as I told her, I have a black thumb when it comes to growing things!!! Anyway, on the way home we stopped off at a fabulous store I'd never seen before called Rocket Fizz where they sell TONS of pop but also a nice selection of BRITISH SWEETS!!! Rex sent me in with some cash and instructions to buy one thing for each of us...!! I picked out a Crunchie, Cadbury's Buttons, Rolos and a Galaxy bar. I figured I'd let everyone pick what they thought they'd like and I'd be happy with whatever was left! They also had Aero, Curly Wurlys, English Mars bars, and a whole bunch more !! I was left spinning with the choices!!! After my candy fix I felt happy enough to take the whole family to Pet Smart!! ;D Wheeeee!! Jack and Jessie and, oh what the heck, I, love that place! There are always friendly dogs to meet, kittens and cats to drool over and often animals at play at the doggie day care center! Jessie loves the grooming center and goes in and chats with the ladies who work there. You have to watch her she could be there hours if you let her! Jessie has decided that she wants to grow up and work at the pet hotel in Pet Smart. She's getting it all worked out. She also has started playing a game we got at the library called Emergency Vet (2) ! Victoria played Emergency Vet (1) when she was here a while back. Jessie is really into it now and seems to be doing well!

Anyway, once home we packed the kids off to bed and I was so tired I deliberately lay down with Jack and slept. Rex woke me about 10 but I honestly could have slept there all night long! I'm going back to bed now! Tomorrow is unfinished project day and hopefully will be nice, long, peaceful and relaxing day!!!

Enjoy your day too! ;D

More less computer time ( LOL!!) Yoga, walking, library van and dinner...!

Today was the sort of day that does ( and did ) make me a little nutso. It's the sort of day where I will start one thing only to have someone (usually someone small) beggar it up for me! Well they'll certainly interrupt it with something TERRIBLY important like a desperate thirst that can not be quenched unaided, perhaps someone has once again pilfered bread from the fridge and a pitched battle must ensue.... or, and this is more frequent

"Look at ME!!"



"Watch THIS!"



"MOM!!






LOOK!! LOOK!! "




LOL!! Now I don't really mind since this is indeed why I stay home and we homeschool and all the rest of it, but once in a while I forget and I Try to Get Something Done.!! It's pitiful and laughable really, how I keep vainly trying and then am surprised, again, at how, again, I have failed to accomplish one solitary task in my entire day....!! Ah well... we're all pretty darn happy and I think that counts for a hell of a lot!

I tried to stay off the computer as much as possible today and did a reasonable job of it, but not great. Better tomorrow I'm sure...!!! We did an abbreviated yoga today due to the aforementioned interruptions. Still. We did some. Some is better than none and sometimes Some is Enough. We did get out for a lovely walk in the damp and drizzly weather. We threw sticks into the swollen stream and tried to follow them along to watch them pass under the bridge... sadly they kept getting stuck or pulled under by mysterious forces!! Ah well!! ;D ( just noticed I say Ah well a lot don't I ....!! Ah. W.... hmmmm!! ) We also came upon a streetsweeper who stopped for us and we got a good look at his brushes and whathaveyou. Jack was intrigued!

Once home I had the children kick off their muddy boots, put on their shoes and head straight back out to the van! We were headed to the library van or, Bookmobile to those of you who aren't of the English persuasion! 'D Would you believe the phone rang, and I'm not kidding, 3 times in the two minutes I was taking to gather 4 books together!!! THREE TIMES!!! AND each time the caller wanted to really talk!! BAH!! STOP!!!! I'm just about to get my BOOK FIX!!! We finally made it to the van and we swore to only get 5 books each this time. Ahem. Yeah. 5 DOZEN more like!! We always take hundreds of books out!! (ok, ok, not hundreds but it sounds way better than "We always take TENS of books out..!! ) We certainly take enough out that other patrons look at us and comment. ** rolls eyes** !! :D

Anyway, after the library van we came home, the kids tucked into their books and I went BACK OUT to the reading room in Hickman to drop off two bags of their books we have had for MONTHS! There is no due date on their books but I HATE having something that isn't mine for too long. It hangs over my head and bothers me!! No more! They are BACK where they belong!! So I got home finally, Hubby was home and dinner was called for..... and you pretty much know our routine from there!! ;D Yup, kids yoga, kids bed, kids sleep. Me blog, me couch, me chocolate!! ;D

More tomorrow!! ;D Betchya can't wait!! ;D

Less computer time makes for a longer day, challenging the status quo, walking in the rain and making lemonade from lemons....sort of! :D

Today was a Monday. Yes, yes it was! :D It didn't go so badly, I enjoyed it! Jack spent almost the entire day glued to PBS but there ya go. It didn't kill him, he learned some stuff and did connect with each other once in a while! ;D First thing in the morning ( well, you know, 9ish..!! ) we did our Yoga again ( you are probably so sick of hearing this! ) and then Jessie read a smidgen of the Handbook of Nature Studies. She read aloud a section on keeping Raccoons as pets.....um....noooo!! I sat and made bracelets for my poor friends who failed to get Valentine's Cards from me. We did an online swap and for some reason, I don't know what, I can NOT get these darn cards in the mail. I don't know WHAT is holding me up. Maybe I'm just not sure I love the ones I made. Eh. Anyway, I have now made St. Patrick's Day bracelets to accompany them and hopefully make everyone forget how lame I am!! ;D

I had decided to spend less time on the computer today, one hour on, two hours off was my plan. It worked pretty well AND I got three loads of laundry washed, folded and put away!!! LOL!! It's amazing what you can do when you have HOURS AND HOURS AVAILABLE!! ;D I used to spend all my time on Yahoo groups but now facebook is my time thief. I scan now.... it's faster! ; D

In one of the online groups I spend a lot of time on, there was a fleeting discussion about keeping chickens. Apparently it's possible to keep chickens in New York and even here in Lincoln, NE you can have 2 chickens without a permit. Here in my small town though.... nope. No way. Uh huh. NEEEEVER gonna happen....etc etc. Yeah. If you know me, you know I'm smiling....!! It's SOOOOO going to happen! ;D ( well, you know, unless something else shiny comes along before I've finished my task!!) but I totally want to change the law!!! I had a couple of emails back and forth with the city office this morning, I was visited by a "city official" only I know better! He's on the maintenance crew and a really nice guy! AND I got a phone call from the zoning administrator who is a lovely lady and surprisingly sympathetic to my cause! ( oooh!! I have a "cause!!" ) Jessie was so disappointed when I told her we couldn't keep chickens here, but now we're all fired up to "CHANGE THE LAW" and make "Chickens for all" our motto! ;D We'll see......!!!

We really had to go out for our "Nature Walk" today but Jack was stalling us and we just couldn't get started. We finally got the dog's leads on, shoes on, bathroom breaks taken care of and what have you.... only to find it had started to POUR with rain!!!We went anyway!! ;D We got soaked but the SMELL!! It was beautiful! Wet earth!! It hasn't rained here in months!!! The grass is going to be green by morning at this rate! ;D

We got home in time for Jessie to finish off her breadsticks only she found her dough to be so perfect she couldn't stand to cut it so we chose to make a roasted veggie pizza instead!








:D I had some asparagus and broccoli I needed to use so we roasted it in the oven first the put the veg on top of a layer of marinara, added olives, some mozzarella and were ready to put it in the oven.... only..... it stuck to the cutting board and we had to roll the dough up to make.....a pizza ROLL~~ It was delicious and Jessie ended up being very proud of her invention! ;D



The kids and Daddy practiced some Judo before bed with handstands,


Jack's idea of a headstand




Jessie is getting better at them, with a little help from her Daddy!

punches, throws etc.... always fun.....!! :} and then we went up to bed. As I was getting Jack ready I noticed something crawling on his head. I went to grab it just as Jessie grabbed me. Jack jumped away and I lost the "critter." I told Jack I was looking for a bug in his hair and his eyes got wide.... and wider and wider and wider.....he screeched "SPIDER?!?!?!?!" and started wildly smacking at his hair and head. "GET IT OUT!!! GET IT OUT!!!" he screamed!!! Thinking fast I said "Oh! Look! There on the floor.... it was just a piece of fluff!!" LOL!! Poor kid!!! Jessie said "Did you SEE his FACE?!?!!?!?" and I said "Yeah, that's what absolutely bloody terrified looks like!!! " LOL!!

Anyway, I'm off to eat more chocolate roasted almonds and then bed. I can hardly keep my eyes open! ;D G'night folks! :D

Basket case! ;D

Today was a quiet one really! Rex's back was really paining him so I offered to drive him into Lincoln so he could visit his Mum. Jessie and Jack came along for the ride. I made a couple of stops on the way home, the grocery store, Blockbuster and Goodwill then we rode home in relative merriment!! When we got home we had some of our homemade bread and some jam and Jack found a novel way to keep his bread away from the dog who is almost as carb addicted as he is......








He's pretty smart that boy! ;D

I got to work on making some dinner for us and also for some friends. I made Black Bean soup and some more bread rolls. Jessie and I packaged it all up... the soup into a 3 quart crock I bought from Goodwill and the bread rolls, still warm, tucked into a basket and covered with a Welsh tea towel ( the irony being our friends are Scots!! ;P ) She and I drove it out to North Lincoln but we stopped along the way to pick up a birthday card and a Hershey's Brownie bar for my friend whose birthday is today. Her house is right on the way to our friends, the Scots! ;D We quickly stopped by there to drop it off, on to our friends, dropped off their soup and back home again to put our bread rolls in the oven !!! YUM!! ;D Jack and I watched the timer count down from one minute.... (MATH!!) and then we hoisted out our delicious bread and Jack proudly handed a roll out to everyone! He was especially squirrley today, I think because we didn't do our morning Yoga and we didn't go for our walk today. He spent too much time by the TV and not enough time on other things. Before bed tonight the children and I did a little Yoga in Jack's bedroom. I LOVE the way it calms them down and they both start talking in hushed tones and moving slowly!! Both kids fast asleep and another weekend flown by.

Whooooosh.