Science Experiments are fun!

Did you know you could distill soda's with some tin foil and a little ingenuity?  We had fun today doing this awesome little experiment.  Sarah had to distill 3 different liquids and make conclusions.  It was redundant work and probably goes to prove that it's good I'm not a scientist, but none the less, we had a good time and even learned a few things!

Halloween can be scary!

Sarah and Tracy think of Halloween as their favorite time of year.  They love creating their scary creations and of course delving into all that candy!  We took Sarah's BFF Megan to the King's Faire at church this year and of course Sarah had to deck her out after her mom dropped her off (I did tell her that they would be going scary)  Why did my daughter never want to be "pretty" or "cute" for Halloween?  Oh well, they had an awesome time!

It's Pumpkin Carving Time!

 Remember that pumpkin painting...little pumpkin needed to be our first foray into the Halloween season...Sarah is looking a little too pleased with her creation :)

We usually make a night of carving but Tracy has been working some crazy hours and I don't know if he will have much time to get it done so we went ahead and did a "little" carving.

Happy Anniversary!

It's our anniversary today!  We have known each other 22 years, have been married 16 years, and have been parents 13 years.  Almost my entire adult life has been with this man who I love very much.  It's not like that butterfly tingly teenage love, but much more deep and satisfying than I had the possibility of knowing based on my upbringing.  I thank God everyday for bringing me across the the states to find this life.  Love you honey!

Pumpkin Painting

So, we had these little guys in the garden and Sarah needed a subject for her painting so here we are trying to learn how to paint :)  I wasn't sure how this whole "Art" class was going to go since Sarah is truly an artistic soul but does not like to be told what to do.  She's actually been ok with it.  I like that K12 ties in history with the lessons in art.  As long as we keep history and art within the same historical range you can tie a lot of interesting information together to get a better feel of the time.  I've decided it's a good thing.  Actually I'm learning a few things too :)

It's Raining!

I guess for a lot of people that's a non conversation but for us folks living in the desert, the rain is exciting.  Look to the left of the trampoline and you'll see Sarah taking a break from school to dance in the rain...it's not coming down much but we sure did appreciate it!

Vocabulary game....

Some days are just not great work day!  Sarah is trying to look all cute and diligent but there are just going to be days when none of us are at our best...as you can see Flash is doing his best to help the situation :)  Needless to say we aren't being very productive today.  Sarah has been telling Flash (or Muppy as we lovingly call him) stories using her vocabulary words.  She has created a character called Billy Joe and is taking him on some crazy adventures with her new found vocabulary game.  Flash is enjoying it too!

Happy Labor Day!

Wow, what an awesome weekend!  We have been blessed to meet some great people recently.  We went out on Saturday for a day trip on their house boat to grill and hang out in one of the coves with their friends.  I have never had this type of experience before.  We've gone a lot of places but I didn't realize that so much was almost in our backyard.  It was amazing how beautiful Lake Mead is.  I've been out there before but I've never really enjoyed the beauty of the place.  There is so much more than just floating in the water...which I enjoy by the way.  There is such a community of souls that enjoy the lake.  They dock their boats together...hang in the same circles...and play in such a genuine and fun way. They are a collection of diverse individuals and each one was accepting of everyone else.  I wish you could see how beautiful the lake is and the trip down the Colorado toward the Grand Canyon (still not enough water to make it down the entire way, but we got to see some great formations)  So, I didn't have a shower for a few days...had only our bathing suits and the clothes we were wearing - since our plan was to go home the same day....and we had a fabulous time and met some great people.  Life is good!

Our first science lab

"Mom, do we have any maple syrup?  That's how we started our first science lab studying density. Thankfully we had all the ingredients (oil, water, syrup) and could do this today.  I love that Sarah had such a great time figuring it out. She's always loved science.  I'm hoping we will have as much fun doing more of these experiments :)

Density Lab Ingredients

Density Lab 1st Ingredient

Density Lab 2nd Ingredient

Density Lab 3rd Ingredient

Density Lab

Density Lab Conclusion

It's Official! Our First Day of School

Even though we aren't going to a regular brick and mortar (B&M) school I couldn't help but take our first day of school picture.  Sarah actually got herself up early so that she could get herself dressed and ready for our first full day :)  It went really well!  I was so excited that we were able to make it through all her classes and still had time at the end of the day.  We even made it to our orchestra class on time. 

Belated Birthday Celebration

We finally got our friends together for Sarah's birthday and End of Summer celebration.  Tracy made his famous hummus and handled all the grilling.  We took over my folks back yard, since they are camping, and really enjoyed having the pool for them to jump in to.  I didn't take pictures!  How crazy is that.  Oh well, I'm so thankful to have people we can count on to be there for our family celebrations!

We are a family of geeks!

My little computer geek :)  You would think that after a week of schooling mostly online, she'd be tired of the computer...but no!  It looks like I'm never going to get my laptop back.  I was smart enough to set limits on her "side" so I should hear a groan any minute telling me there is something wrong!

School went really well this week.  We have been able to do all the introductory stuff as well as break into a few lessons.  Wow, I feel like we are so behind.  They weren't kidding when they said Nevada was a year to a year and a half behind.  I have no idea how she is going to keep up but they guarantee me that our kids in Nevada are taking on the task and doing well.  I'm thankful to know I'm not alone!

OK, let's get started!

So we come back from vacation to a sleepover with Sarah's friends to celebrate her best friends birthday. They were planning a "fashion show" so she tried on a few clothing options for me....why does she have to look so darned grown up! 

Anyway, it sounds like they had a great time.  They stayed up all night, ate tons of junk, and suppposedly the host mom "ruined" it by not judging them.  She just gave them all a price for participating....sounds like the school system...make them all "feel" good.

This is the bench Sarah chose for her homeschool books.  I think we are ready to start our modified approach to school this week!  We are going to try to do 3 classes a day just to get used to the classes and the routine.  Here's praying it all goes well!

Sarah's birthday week was awesome, followed by a great gathering of good friends and family. I can't believe our friends and family actually drove to see us for such a short time! We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives.

I can't believe Sarah is 13 now....how did that happen? Wasn't she just a toddler just a minute ago!

Sarah knee boarding

Another awesome boat ride

...and finally we had to come home! It was a great trip. I'm so glad we were able to do it. Now we can look forward to opening all those boxes that have our new K12 materials in them! Let the adventure begin :)

Sarah on the drive home

And my love......

Vacation!!!!

Wow, it's been so long since we've had a real vacation I'm not sure how to describe how nice it is to just get away!  We have been blessed with Tracy's parents allowing us to come visit them for 9 days in wonderful, beautiful, cool Lake Arrowhead :)  Believe me when I say it's a lovely respit from our summer heat.

Sarah helping grandpa on the boat

Sarah's favorite spot on the boat

 

Tracy with his dad



Our Lake Vacation

We are having such a great time at Lake Arrowhead this trip. It's been a few years since we have been able to have a vacation and it's a blessing to have been able to make it here.  Sarah is gaining a lot of confidence in knee boarding and driving the boat!  More later, but I just wanted to come in and share what an awesome time it has been so far....more tomorrow at the water park :)

Independence Day Is Almost Here!

Sarah is celebrating with her new set of glasses.  As of today she's a little over 5'4", 84 lbs, and looking more grown up everyday.  I keep telling her to slow down growing because I'm not ready to have her get taller than me but I'm afraid that's not going to work out for me!  We are happy to see her natural dark blonde coming back.  I can't believe it took 9 months for the "temporary" color to wash out!  Happily she has said that she will never again die her hair...somehow I'm fairly certain this will not be the case but it's good that she might like to wait for awhile :)

Tracy has been working some crazy hours lately.  I know that he is trying his best to keep me home with Sarah and allowing us to homeschool this next year.  Could I love this guy any more than I do today.....I'm a blessed woman!

Freebies, Great Deals & Swag Bucks

I've been having fun with my savings blog!  I can't believe that I'm not working so that I can assign myself work to do :)  I've been trying to only work until 9:30 in order to have the rest of the day with Sarah.

I really wanted to get at least 100 followers on the blog but it's not really working out well that way.  Facebook is good though.  We are climbing up to 900 followers so I guess that's better than nothing...got to figure out how to make the blog side work!

It has been working out pretty well for the most part.  I wish I could say that I'm enthusiastic every day to fill it in but mostly that's true.  It gets to be work every once in awhile but as long as it's more fun than work we're good! 

Unemployment is busy!

I've decided that this summer is about spending the time bonding with my family.  It seems so much time is devoted to work and just doing the day to day that we forget how to spend time with each other.   I'm having so much fun hanging out with the kidlet.  She's so fun!  I wish I hadn't lost so many summers.  Did I say my husband is loving it too :)

Sarah and I are starting to work out at the YMCA and going to the pool afterward.  It's all good.....

We have produce...from the garden!

Hey look!  We have daikon and radishes from our garden!  Sarah planted these so she was VERY excited to start pulling.  I actually had never had daikon and I kindof like them.  They are just a little spicier than our radishes :)  Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of them....Sarah planted a LOT!

Picnicing with the "Muppy"

 Why did we start calling Flash, "Muppy"?  It actually started as Mr. Puppy...and as he got older, we started to call him Muppy for short.  I'm not sure if he knows that what his name is for sure since we use it interchangeably. 

We decided to take Muppy to the park with us for a picnic.  Sarah is out of school as of this week and we are officially starting our summer.    As you can see Flash is not much of a walker.  He's already taking a rest and we haven't even made it around the park here!

I wish I could have caught a shot of the ducks.  Flash was very interested in seeing if he could catch one or chase one...not sure :)

OK, we skipped school!

So, we are going with K12 for homeschool.  They are like a magnet school only online.  They supply us with the computer, software, textbooks, teacher, etc.  Today we went to the K12 Discover Day at Circus Circus.  We were able to meet some of the administrators and teachers as well as look through her textbook for next year.  I was very impressed for the most part.  We are going to have a challenging year

Sarah was able to ride on all the rides at the inside amusement park.  She had a great time.  I have a roller coaster junkie!  She must have ridden the one roller coaster 12 times in a row :)  I was a little disappointed not to meet some more of the kids but I did look around and I really liked that the kids all around us were polite and dressed appropriately...of course what would I expect from this gathering!  I did get to talk to some parents while we were watching the kids and everyone was really happy with K12 this year.  I can't wait to get started!

It's Official! We have a garden :)

 My husband is a genius!  It's hard to grow things in the desert.  I still have it in my head that you put things in soil, water them, weed...and they grow just like Indiana.  Turns out so NOT true.  Tracy build a raised garden this year.  We plan on building another one to the side of it with a walk way if it works well this year. 

 Look we even have plant that are somewhat growing!  Who knew this would work so well.  Of course, we had to have 4 tons of dirt brought in to put in the box but we are hoping it will be worth it!

This is what it looks like....don't you love the yard of dirt and rock :(  Tracy is going to put in a water system too so that I don't have to go out 2 times a day to water.  I know it's going to get crazy hot soon and I'm not going to want to walk out there.  He's also putting up one of those sail cloths for shade, which we will definitely need when it gets into the 100's!

Thanks honey :)

Sarah's Final 7th Grade Orchestra Concert!

 It has been a long year for Sarah.  I think she's pretty done with going to school for the year.  I remember that feeling.  The orchestra teacher had a rough year but a couple of weeks ago the advanced orchestra came home with an award for 1st in the state in school orchestras (middle schools and high schools).  She is the one reason we stayed in this middle school this year.  She's tough, doesn't take back talk and she expects the kids to do what they are expected to do.  She won't "give" a grade.  You have to work for it.  The intermediate kids were pretty unhappy at this concert and you could see it in their behavior  and the way they were sitting.  The teacher gave extra music to the advanced and took away a couple of songs from the intermediate kids because they weren't practicing enough and doing as well as she expected.  It was rather sad but I understood that she was frustrated. 

Sarah has requested that we try to take her to orchestra daily next year  for homeschooling.  She has been moved up to advanced this year.  It means she's going to have to practice all summer to get ready for the beginning of school but she says she's willing to do it.  I've asked the school and they seem to be ok with it.  I just need to verify some information and it's all good.  I'm so happy they let homeschoolers use the extracurriculars.  That makes a huge difference since I didn't want Sarah to drop a musical instrument and wasn't sure we were going to be able to pull of private lessons on top of everything else.  Yay God!

It has been awhile....

I feel so busy and yet so relaxed.  My little savings page Freebies, Great Deals, and Swag Bucks is taking off a little on facebook now.  I started posting there January 14th....for some reason, I've been keeping mental track of the date, which is surprising since I rarely remember dates without a calendar :)  It is actually a lot more "work" than I thought it would be.  I was doing it originally just for fun because I was finding all these great deals and I didn't have much of anyone to share them with.  Now it takes at least 4 hours a day to make sure the day is full and I have enough of what people might be looking for.  Why is it I always do more than anyone would ask me to do!  Lucky for me I found someone I knew from Recipezaar that is willing to throw on some great deals when she finds them too.  She was doing the same thing I was on Facebook....just putting them out there, so when that works out it's MUCH easier!  That's basically my "work" now...and I don't get paid for it so I have to enjoy it! 

My work work is gone for the most part.  I started unemployment two weeks ago.  Believe me when I tell you that $298 will not take you very far.  Seriously wondering how we will survive but I have to take it on faith that a door will open.  Tracy says he enjoys coming home to a happy wife, dinner and my new found calmness.  I guess the stress of knowing I would lose the job was starting to become a background strain I wasn't really aware was changing my innate happiness.  Now, at this moment I would say I don't mind if I go back to work for awhile....not that I won't, but that I'm not minding having some time to breath and enjoy the great weather, and happy family life. We'll see how I feel this week when my folks take Sarah on spring break with her friend and I'm on my own most of the week....well maybe not since it's Tray and my birthdays, so we'll try to do something with each other one day...but mostly on my own.  I'm thinking about teaching myself web design and HTML for fun.  Unfortunately so far, my mind isn't wrapping it's way around it but I think I can get it if I can focus!

On a funnier note, Sarah has her first (and second) two piece bathing suit!  I had a hard time letting her do it but she's 12 and an impossible fit for most one piece bathing suits right now since she's so darn tall and skinny. I'm starting to wonder if she'll hit 100 lbs by high school but it's possible as puberty hits I suppose :)  We got her one with a regular thick strap bikini top and short, and one surf shirt and shorts.  I let her try on a "regular' bikini and sorry...but not yet.  She looked far more grown up than we needed! 

I need to get breakfast started and get ready for church.  So little time :)

Happy Valentines Day!

I feel so lucky to have such a sweet little family!  My dearest husband loves me every day.  We don't "celebrate" Valentines because truthfully we love each other daily...I still love to give the kidlet a little something but this year I was sick and didn't leave the house in time to get her anything.  I'm sure we will be making a trip for Valentines candy as soon as I feel better!  (She does have daddy's sweet tooth!)  Love to all my friends and family.  I hope you are having a wonderful day.

So today is a slug day!

Sarah is staying home sick today...and Tracy doesn't have much work so we are hanging around just playing on the computers, reading books and doing laundry.  I wish I could say that I will get so much done today but it's just not a good day for it...mentally speaking.  I guess I might be in the minority but I really love doing "nothing" sometimes!  I have updated my little  saving blog for the day...well at least until late afternoon.  I like being able to schedule my posts with good deals so it looks like I'm always there :)  No, I'm really not although I am a driven girl!

We are crossing our fingers and toes that Tracy's interview went well last week.  He is stepping back out and considering working with and for people again.  It's a hard thing to do when you've been on your own for so long but it could work out.  He might have to do some traveling but until we know details and even if there is a job I'm not going to worry about it! 

I should get back to looking like I'm doing something...kidlet is in a soothing bath while I sit here babbling.  The dog is watching her LOL.  Life is good

Mommy Multi-tasking!

Seems I like to take off more than is smart to chew!  I have decided that my work is "unsteady"...not sure how long the business will survive and frankly there are so many folks, unemployed right now in my field (i.e. bookkeeping) that I couldn't even begin to get a job that will pay much for quite awhile if it does go away.  This is also a concern because I haven't had to go back to work full time since we had the little girl.  We had decided that I would work when she is in school and then off after.  This has worked out really well, with the exception of the summers, when Grammy & Grampy have willingly stepped in to help us out. 

So.....I took the project  of taking on doing a blog that might make us a little extra money if I had to go on unemployment: Freebies, Great Deals, and Swag Bucks.  I get to research and find coupons, deals, etc and help people find ways to save.  This has always been a bit of a passion for me and after Dave Ramsey I just can't imagine paying for something at full price!  I think I might actually try to tie in my passion for cheap cooking as well but that might have to be on the back burner since putting this all together is taking mommy time and I hate to do that.  I do feel like I've gone back to school trying to understand all this affiliate marketing and HTML stuff.  Most of it is partially sinking in and part is so far out of my understanding that I am going to have to seek help....which I'm not good at asking for!  Still this is fun and I'm hoping it will work out so that we can feel a bit more secure.  Oh and did I mention that we are thinking of letting people use some of our property for a garden coop for church.....so much to do and so little time to take it on!

Things change when you blink

I know that everyone told me that the time you have your child will go so quickly.  In the early years it didn't seem to hold true as we were with her so much and the daily journey just seemed....well, it was just life.  Now, as we are looking at the pre-teen little girl, things seem to be moving faster.  I can picture her in high school and college...then off for a life that doesn't include me on a daily basis.  The fun thing is watching what an interesting soul she is. 

The other day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Taylor's to exchange Christmas gifts.  It had been a few months since we had seen each other and it seems she "sprouted" when they were gone.  I got to see through their eyes how she had grown in just this short time.  I'd noticed the things like the talking for hours on the phone, texting between her and her one friend from school, her goofiness coming out, and her new interest in "negotiating with work" for things she wants instead of asking for them.  She's been writing a "book" on the computer, still drawing mostly manga type drawings, and bonding more with friends.  I've also noticed that the things that she is really interested in, she researches on the computer endlessly.  This kid knows more about her guinea pig than I thought possible.  She's growing up into such an interesting girl....

So I need to stop blinking because it's all going so fast and although I love who she is today, I know the girl of tomorrow is just as wonderful.  I feel blessed every day to have this child to nurture.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Getting organized....

I am not a person that does resolutions.  It's not that they don't work for me...I just chose to live life the way I'm going to every day.  I'm unlikely to make some monumental change by chosing one day to make that decision.  Maybe that's just me!

That being said, I've decided that I need to get my grocery budget in line.  After going through FPU it seemed that this is the one area I could affect just by being more diligent.  We are eaters.  We love food and I enjoy cooking.  I've always thought I was careful by watching the price per oz and buying when on sale but I don't think I've been near diligent enough.  There is definitely room for improvement. 

Though this is not necessarily a New Year resolution, it definitely is something I can do that will be good for my family. I'm going to give couponing a shot this year.  I've used coupons but never with any real objective in mind....just savings a little here and there.  This year I want to actually watch and try to stock up.  It's become apparent this year, with the unemployment of my dearest, to the slow down in my own work, that we are in precarious circumstances financially.  I can't even "budget" because there is no weekly amount I can count on.  This is why FPU was great for solidifying what we were already attempting to do, but didn't really change our financial peace as of yet. 

So I'm starting to coupon.  It's something I can control and I need something I can control right now.  I'll try to track my progress on my other blog but I thought I would put here what my thoughts were and why I'm trying to do something new and "different" this year.  Anyone else want to join me?

2010 - It's History!



I just thought about this....to our daughter 2010 is part of her growing up.  It's her "history".  She has grown and changed so much this year.  This is the second year of middle school.  She has played her viola for almost 2 years now.  She met a wonderful new friend last year and now her family goes to our church and spends time with us.  She's had one close friend since 2006.  We've had a few fun times this year as a family, going hiking, swimming, meeting family for the first time.  We've lost friends, gained friends and figured out the difference between  friends and aquantances.  She's gone camping in new places with her grandparents over the summer, and met a lot of people along the way. We tried to move this year....the economy took a dive and we've learned to live on less.  We were broken into and found that sometimes the stuff doesn't matter as much as we thought it did. 

Life is a blessing and I hope she will look back on this year like I do....so happy to have had each other.

Last day off

Well, here I am in my Christmas jammies after New Years day thinking about what a great little break this has been.  Sarah and I, with her friends spent a week baking and decorating with me.....I worked 3 1/2 days and was back off with Tracy and Sarah for New Years.  It has been a great blessing to be able to spend the time just hanging out and chatting with a growing up kid.  I have been really fortunate to not have to work much during her growing up.  Thankfully we get to spend every afternoon together after school and every weekend. 

It has recently become clear to me just how lucky we really are given what is going on around us. New friends of ours have been hit hard by the economy and the dad had to use the last of his unemployment to go to long haul trucking school.  He is coming from the construction industry that has been severely hit in the crazy "downturn".  Now, the kids go from a dad who has been home every day with them for two years, to no one being home until 6:00 pm.  The smallest can stay at safe key until mom can pick him up, but the oldest, who is Sarah's age goes home and hangs out behind a locked door.  I have been letting Sarah talk on the phone and "practice" her viola with the little girl while she is on her own so that she feels like she is not alone.  I could offer to take her but the parents "think that we do enough" for them so I have a feeling it might be overstepping.  I also remember that I was a latchkey kid that didn't have parents at home until at least 5:00 when I was growing up....  I have told the little girl that if she ever needs me....hears something...whatever, give me a call and I'm 5 minutes away.  I've also taken over driving her home and making sure she locks the door behind her before I leave.  I wonder if it's enough....

Anyway, this is what you get when I'm drinking coffee still in jammies and waiting for the family to wake for church...or rather time for me to wake them up.  Have a fabulous New Year!