Multitude Monday 61-85

61. 3 day weekends

62. Our incredible Military in this country

63. meat smokin' on the grill

64. children who get up and help before they go swimming

65. working ceiling fans on the back porch

66. huge grill we received as a Christmas gift last year

67. children making plans for their future

68. 2nd picking of green beans in my garden

69. privacy fence in my backyard, so noone sees the full clothesline or the chicken house

70. 4 baby chicks

71. anticipating Granny's visit from GA

72. ballet recital this weekend

73. getting involved in VBS planning at our new church

74. full and overflowing bookshelves

75. a clean pool

76. a husband who encourages my "homesteading"

77. my niece and nephew coming to visit

78. coupons for Chick Fil A

79. 1/2 price drinks at Sonic

80. watching old movies...with no sex, no cussing, no "agenda"

81. Fresh, juicy cantaloupe

82. a daughter who LOVES animals

83. a son out on his own "again"

84. weekends at home

85. drying clothes on the line

GREAT Mission Project

I was sent this link today, as a future project for our Keepers at Home group. My mind is spinning at the possibilities.


Go here.... http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/ to see these adorable children in their dresses.

Guess who is taking on this project? (Did ya guess me?) This is an incredible opportunity for us and our children to make a difference in Africa. And, it won't cost lots of money. Just pillowcases, binding, elastic, and simple sewing skills.

I've got lots of lace and doodads to dress these up.

My girls can make these and donate them.

Go check out the link and see if this is something your family would like to participate in.

Red & yellow, black & white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!

Garden Pictures

On the right is my squash box and in the middle are my parsley, basil and oregano plants. The box to the left has okra in the back and will have more squash in the front, it got planted yesterday.

I don't remember what these little plants are but I like them. I think these are probably the only "non-vegetable" plant that I bought this year.

The first green bean box we planted! They are doing great and I picked my first batch today.

See the baby squash hiding in there? We've got lots of blooms on the squash plants.

Daylillies, they are either from my grandmothers yard or Greg's grandmothers yard.

Look at that corn grow! Its definately taller than "knee high by the 4th of July". We are hopeful for some sweet corn this year. To the right of this box are the onions and garlic, it'll be time to pull up soon.

Look whats for dinner tonight! Super yummy goodness!!

And just because...this is my squatter, Allen. The squatter is supposed to be moving this weekend to his new place.

Summer Days

We have waited a long time for summer to get here. We are ready to kick back, swim, eat popsicles, sleep later, cook on the grill, eat fresh salads & vegies, etc.

But summer brings some special challenges too. The grass grows so fast, Will is becoming an expert mower. The garden is flourishing, I've got corn stalks that are shoulder high. The cucumber plants (all 15 of them, none perished) are sending out their little tendrils, which means Greg needs to build their support to climb on. I've got some baby squash on my plants and we planted more seeds yesterday. (Squash is a recently acquired new "like" of mine). I've got one box of green beans plants exploding with blooms and little baby beans. The second box was planted 2 weeks ago and is sprouting nicely. The onions and garlic box are starting to "wilt" and some of the tops are turning from green to beige. Greg has picked out a new onion spot and will be planting 150 more onions (the dehydrator will be working overtime). I planted the okra plants on Monday, we both love fried okra.

Now that we are home, we will get our chicks soon. The kids are excited about this new adventure. They have been reading up on chicken care and we all like fresh eggs. Marie's husband figures we should be getting eggs in Sept. As far as I know, her goofy "old" chickens are still laying. I guess they figured they better get back into production when the new chickies got to the house!

I got a phone call the other day about green beans. Now to some, that may be a weird call but to a green bean lover this was such a blessing. BJ asked if I wanted to come pick the rest of his beans after he got all they wanted? YES! Last year, he got about 11 bushels from his plants and ran out of people to give them too. I can take care of that problem. So in the next week or so, I will get to pick lots of beans and learn how to pressure can them. Free beans...gotta love it!

We decided not to have quilting during the summer. The girls have projects to finish to enter in the fair. And blocks to work on to put together. So, we are on our own this summer. When we go to my in-laws this summer, we will sandwich together my queen size top that I finished last fall and baste the layers together. That way I can quilt when I get a chance.

Last week I pleated 7 little dresses to smock. I haven't smocked since last fall and was ready to start again. 2 of these little dresses are for my newest little buddies, Lilyann and Coralea. Their mama gave me material to make the dresses and there was enough to cut out 2 bishops. The smocking pattern will be the same, but I am using different thread for each. I've never done dresses for twins before! Can't wait to see them in the dresses. Some of the finished dresses will be entered in the fair in September.

This weekend is Memorial Day and next week, Mama comes to visit. Its also dance recital week. My niece and nephew may come to Miss. also, they are still deciding. Katie's graduation party is next Wed., shes invited about 20 girls for a pool party and ice cream sundaes. We are thinking of yummy things to cook next week. Greg has already bought ribs to smoke for Mom. And I think homemade vanilla icecream would be great also. Now, we just gotta think of what to serve the other days. Crockpot meals will be on for Thurs. and probably Fri. because of the rehearsal schedule. Then dance is over till Sept.

So are you wondering when all the relaxing, swimming, etc. is gonna take place? Its already started...we've instituted "Popsicle/reading time" after working in the yard. Afternoon swims (if it doesn't thunder), sleeping an hour later in the mornings, easier dinners at night, watching movies together. The girls and I are quilting or cross stitching during the movies. I took Katie driving yesterday, well, she drove, we rode. Got to go on a leisurely convertible ride with Greg the other night, sipping my shake from Sonic. That was fun!

And school is officially over. Next year, I will have a college student and a 9th & 10th grader. 4 more years of highschool to go!

Bring on those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer...those days of soda and pretzels and tea!

Multitude Monday

31. Our 5th highschool graduate (3rd from homeschool)

32. spending time with my Mom

33. sharing things with my children that I experienced growing up

34. a Pastor who gets excited about God's word

35. finding "lost" items

36. graduation parties

37. fresh vegetables in the summertime

38. offer of free vegetables to can

39. a friend willing to pick green beans with me

40. that same friend willing to share her Pressure canning knowledge and can with me ( we will be having a can a thon!)

41. 3 "untypical" young people (the world calls them teenagers)

42. babies

43. cold tea on a hot day

44. a swimming pool

45. cell phones

46. a husband seeking the Lord's will

47. free worksheets & word searches on the internet for school

48. helpful children in the grocery store

49. grocery coupons & sales

50. fellowship with other believers

51. A Pastor thats not afraid to preach the truth

52. hugs

53. the blessings of family

54. a lawnmower that works again

55. my tiny 1/2 cup pea harvest (have decided that peas were not the best use of that garden box, but the peas will be good in soup)

56. friends with a tiller

57. the future promise of fresh tomatoes from my garden

58. "happy" herbs in their pots

59. tiny squash on the plants

60. Being able to talk to the Lord about everything


My thankfulness is listed in no particular order...its just what the Lord brings to mind.

Homeschooling Paycheck

As homeschoolers we don't get...

annual reviews,
regular paychecks,
vacations,
gifts at teacher appreciation week,
room moms to throw parties,
days off,
1/2 days of school,
etc.


But we do get...

To laugh, love, learn, play, pray, worry, celebrate successes, give encouragement, and really get to know our children.

And its ALL worth it.

Congratulations to our newest graduate...

Kathryn Elana (Katie Lynn)

We love you and are so proud of you!

Homeschool Field Trip

World of Coke

Will and an autographed Tony Stewart Race Suit

My 4 year old nephew Bobby imitating the burping coke machine...the kids got talent!

Antique Mississippi Coke Bottling Company Bottle

Will, Bethany, Ben, Bobby, Amy & Katie

Lunchtime at the Varsity

Whatda ya have?

It was a fun morning with the cousins!

Daybook Entry 5-18-2010

FOR TODAY
Outside my window... it is sunny and warm at Mom's

I am thinking... that I need to get busy and get off the computer

I am thankful for... everything

From the learning rooms... does picking strawberries and cutting squash count? Oh yeah, Home Ec!

From the kitchen... freezing strawberries for jam/jelly

I am wearing... black capris, hot pink blouse, sandals

I am creating... finishing Faith, Family, Friends cross stitch, ready to go on a Smocking binge!

I am going... to celebrate Katie and my nephew Billy's graduation at a special family dinner tomorrow night!

I am reading... "Deep in the Heart" by Gilbert Morris

I am hoping... for a fun day tomorrow with my sister and her kids & Mom at the Varsity & World of Coke Museum

I am hearing... the slicing of vegetables as Katie & Amy cut squash for tonights dinner

Around the house... gotta get back to pleating baby dresses

One of my favorite things... a tall glass of Sweet Tea

A few plans for the rest of the week: driving back to Miss., youth garage sale this weekend for summer camp, craft fair at church (I will be selling doll clothes & smocked dresses)


Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

The fruits of our labor yesterday. We picked these 5 buckets of strawberries. We had lots of fun, but I quickly decided that I would not be a good sharecropper. If I got paid by the bucket, we would starve, I don't pick fast!

Please join Peggy at a Simple Woman's Daybook to read other entries.

Multitude Monday (1-30)

I found this on my friend 'Rie's blog and wanted to join in...we are so blessed by the Lord, it should be easy to come up with....One Thousand Gifts. Here goes.....

1. Salvation through Jesus Christ

2. Freedom to worship

3. Prayer

4. A Bible filled with the Lord's words, wisdom and love for us

5. A Godly husband

6. 7 children

7. Homeschooling (end of our 14th year)

8. Daughters that want to be "Keepers at Home" and homeschool their own children

9. Sons with jobs

10. 3 puppy dogs

11. 4 baby chicks

12. air-conditioning (gets really hot in Miss.)

13. friends that listen, understand, and love you anyway

14. a friendly church family

15. new books

16. cookbooks

17. ladies willing to share their quilting knowledge with my children

18. Godly friends for my children

19. traveling with my family

20. funny, informative, inspirational blogs to read

21. board games

22. Christian historical fiction

23. lazy afternoons

24. sleeping late in the mornings

25. Saturday dates with my husband

26. Children old enough to be helpful

27. schedules

28. or no schedule

29. steady paychecks

30. vacation time

Saturday

I love Saturdays...Greg is home! Yippee! This morning we slept late, went to eat a leisurely breakfast at Primo's, and shopped the aisles at Lowe's. My herb seeds didn't grow (at all, not a stem came up) and we decided to go the pricier route and buy some plants. We bought rosemary, oregano, basil and parsley. We couldn't fine any cilantro, so we did buy a new packet of seeds and planted them in fresh potting soil. Hopefully, they will sprout.

We also bought another blueberry bush...now we have 5. I am sure the birds will be thrilled with more to pick from...gotta get those covered! We also bought 15 cucumber plants, lots of pickles and relish this summer. Then Greg picked out jalapeno's, banana, bell and some other peppers to put in.

They had some wooden baskets with onion, shallot, and garlic bulbs in them for 75% off. So 2 of those landed in the cart. Then then another wooden basket had potatoes, rhubarb, strawberries and asparagus in it. So we got one of those to try.

The Lord decided to send us needed rain...right when we went outside to plant. Greg and Will took advantage of the rain and started building Greg's trailer. In between thunder storms, I got the herbs, cucumbers, banana peppers and bells peppers planted. The rest will have to wait till next weekend, when we are are back from Granny's house.

Greg's got meetings so the kids and I are tagging along and visiting Mom. The plans include going to pick strawberries at the strawberry patch & visiting The Varsity and World of Coke.

Friday

This is the first Friday in a long time that we have been home....no co-op classes, no travel, just home. So we are going to take advantage of this time and get some stuff done.

Bake chocolate chip cookies- double batch. Amy has been wanting to do this all week and she will get her chance today - and before you hang the noble daughter plaque around her neck...she is making them so she can eat spoonfuls of cookie dough! But we will end up with some cookies to take to Granny's on Sunday. Just keeping it real!

Finish getting box ready and plant cucumbers. We've got to mix some cow poo and a bag of "potting dirt" in with the compost that is already there. Some weeds decided to take up residence in the box while we were gone and they are being dealt with.

Plant another box of green beans. Our first box is doing great and the plants have blooms on them now. Can't wait for fresh green beans.

Will needs to crank up the weedeater and finish whacking around the boxes. Weeds love to grown up between them and the sidewalk. Also, get rid of all the grass growing through the slats on the sidewalk. Our latest bag of bird seed evidentally had grass seed mixed in it and the squirrels got in the feeder and spread it around (wonder if I can get the squirrels to pull the grass?).

Greg got back from the coast last night...yippee! He is still excited from getting to ride on a helicopter! He has been working at the BP Command Center in Mobile all week as part of the Miss. delegation. Answering water questions, looking at clean up efforts and approving or offering suggestions, etc. I am glad he is home. Hopefully, most of his work in the coming weeks will be via email and he won't have to go back.

My rheumatologist appt. was yesterday. And I do NOT have rheumatoid arthritis. Another yippee! I do have a full blown case of Nudular Osteo Arthritis. Meaning causes knots where it is attacking...right now my hands. Going back in four months for more tests and possible treatment, this may be the beginnings of something else but we are praying the something else doesn't come about. Greg said he prayed all morning it was not rh. arthritis and said he almost fainted when the first words out of my mouth were...I don't have RA. Thank you Lord for answered prayers.

The kids and I have watched the first 2 episodes of "America, the story of us". While they are both really good and so far factual, they do leave out the Lord alot. It was discussed in the pilgrims coming to the country, but not in the Revolutionary War. Whether all the "political correctdness people" like it...this country was founded on Christian principals, the first leaders before, during, and after the Revolution were devout Christians who could quote whole chapters and books of the bible. The Lord was important then, and I pray will be in this country again.

Here Chickie, Chickie, Chickie.....

We visited our new chickies today at Marie's house. She is going to keep them for us till we get back from GA. Never thought I would need a chicken sitter!





Funny story...her old chickens were destined for the stew pot. They haven't laid eggs in a year. She orders 12 chicks and guess what? Her lazy chickens are back in production. She is getting 8-9 eggs everyday. She blessed us with a dozen fresh eggs today!

Homeschooling...This & That

Our "regular" school year has ended. This month the kids are working on their vacation notebooks/scrapbooks. Today was spent writing about Texas and the things we saw and did there. Its taken a while, but they are getting it done. They all got a postcard or cards from places we went in all the states and we also got 3 of each brochure so they each had one.

I've been researching notebooking to use next year with Amy and Will & have found some neat sites with freebie pages (I love free). I am really tired of the "read the passage and answer questions" style, so we are going to spice it up. I think they learn and retain more knowledge when its more hands-on anyway. We did this with Biology a couple of years ago and they still remember stuff, plus they have really neat notebooks full of their work. So we are going to expand the concept next year.

My friend 'Rie and I are forming our own co-op next year. She is going to do American History- up to the Civil War and I am going to do Biology. It will be fun to join with another family and trade off lessons. We've planned the days to meet and when to start. We are trying to do this a little more informally than the co-op classes the kids have participated in before. It'll be fun.

Vision Forum has a new curriculum out that is about Great Composers. The set includes books about each composer, a workbook for each and CD's for each. We are going to include this in our curriculum next year. Maybe one composer a week, or every two weeks would be good.

We are zeroing in on the math for next year and will have to order that. Having Amy and Will study the same math did good last year and we are doing it again next year. They are only one grade apart, so this works well for us.

We are also going to work on "life skills". Pumping gas, maintaining a checking account, checking the oil and tire pressure, menu planning, budgeting, etc. There are lots of skill needed to get along in life, and they aren't taught in a formal curriculum. The list will be added to as we think of new things.

Our garden is thriving. We've got pea pods on our plants now. The green beans have filled the bed. The squash is growing and Greg is looking forward to squash casserole. The corn is knee high already! The peach tree is loaded with peaches about the size of a ping pong ball. I will plant the cucumbers this week, so we can make loads of relish again. Tomatoes will get planted after we get back from GA next week. We are picking strawberries next week, so jam is on the to do list.

Daybook entry

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it is sunny and hot, which is great for the towels hanging on the clothesline

I am thinking... about how God prompts you to call someone, send a card, or give a gift at just the right time. This has happened to me lately and its humbling & exciting to really know the Lord is concerned about every detail of our lives. I was on the receiving end of many gracious gifts and cards during my 9 years as a single mom. I hope the folks that blessed my life so richly realize how truly precious they are to me.


I am thankful for... my home. I always feel blessed to come back home after one of our trips.


From the learning rooms... The kids are working on their travel scrapbooks and we will be starting our US Government unit study.


From the kitchen... Loaded Baked Potatoes.


I am wearing... Black shorts & a purple t-shirt, tennis shoes


I am creating... Trying to finish my "Faith, Family, Friends" cross stitch and then will start the Names of Jesus cross stitch for our room...it will be done in shades of purple. I also need to cut out 2 tiny baby dresses and get them pleated and smocked. This morning Katie and I designed her Graduation Announcements and ordered them from Walgreens, I just picked them up and they are great!


I am going... to our Keepers at Home meeting tomorrow! We've missed seeing our friends.


I am reading... "Beloved Bride" by Bill Potter (the letters of Stonewall Jackson to his wife) & "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" by Edith Schaeffer (one of the books I got from Vision Forum last week)


I am hoping... That Greg's training goes well and he gets home soon (he is on the Gulf Coast to help with the cleanup efforts from the oil spill/coordinating clean up efforts)


I am hearing... Will playing the Wii since the girls are at dance classes


Around the house... We cleaned alot yesterday trying to reclaim our home. James and Allen stayed here while we were gone, and while everything was picked up and straightened up it still needed vacuuming and dusting wood floors.


One of my favorite things... Dates with my husband. We went to McAllisters Deli last night and ate yummy sandwiches and drank sweet tea! Special time!


A few plans for the rest of the week: Keepers meeting, church bible study, my rheumatologist appt., a Saturday at home


Here is picture I am sharing...
Please head over to visit with other women at...
http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com



This is Will, Amy, Katie and I in front of the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Best G rated, family friendly show on the strip and it was free!

Happy Mother's Day

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up....

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best..'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother........

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn’t know everything!

14 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She wouldn’t have a clue.
.
16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's so five minutes ago.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom...

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair..

The beauty of a woman must be seen from within her eyes,
Because that is the doorway to her heart,
The place where love resides.
The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
But true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.
It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she
Shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

---------------------------------------------------

Last Official Vacation Entry

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we'll be home tomorrow, its only a day away! Yep, we will be back in Mississippi tomorrow. Tonight we are staying at an awesome KOA campground in Baton Rouge, LA. I am sitting at a picnic table outside the RV in the sunshine with Greg and blogging. The pool is 20 yards away and I can see the kids through the picket fence.

Here is what has gone on in the last couple of days....

On Wed. I emailed Vision Forum to see if they had a "open to the public" store or headquarters, etc. we could visit. I got a very nice email back saying they were only open on Friday to the public but would be closed this Friday. However, if I still wanted to come by, they would open for us. Now that is customer service. I emailed back yes and we got there about 11:15 on Friday morning. Chance (from customer service) met us at the door and took us to their store. Ahhhhhhh, what fun. I am a book-a-holic and this was heavenly. I got 2 books, and Will got a Jonathan Park CD set. Then we got to look in their "scratch and dent" section and I got a Moody Science video on Atoms for $2.95 and a Santa Fe Trail video for .50. It was great. I've got to remember to email Mr. Doug Phillips next week and thank him personally and commend Chance. (The store wasn't going to be open because so many folks are either at the European Faith and Freedom tour or they are set up at homeschool conferences). I was a Vision Forum fan before but now, I am a devoted fan! I love the fact that I can get books for me or the kids, or videos, or order books for Greg and they are UN-politically correct...they are the real history of the United States, not a watered down namby-pamby version.

Then we made our way across town to the Alamo. I just figured it would be like any other fort and be set back "off the beaten path" but I was wrong. The town of Santa Fe grew up around the Alamo. We parked a ways away and walked the Riverwalk to the fort. Unfortunately, this was "take your entire 4th grade (I read the t-shirts) to the Alamo day" for several public schools and the kids were everywhere. It reminded me once again, how blessed we are to homeschool.

For dinner, we found Greg a Tex-mex restaurant and he got his fill of Mexican food. I had tortilla soup (1st time...it was good) and a salad. Will ordered a monster burrito and ate half for dinner, the other half was lunch today.

Today, we went to Avery Island, LA and toured the Tabasco plant. Cool (or hot)!! Since it was Sat. they weren't bottling tabasco but we still got to see everything. Did you know they age their pepper sauce for 3 years? And its aged in Jack Daniels whiskey barrels. Then the pepper sludge and vinegar are stirred for another 28 days before they are bottled. Didn't know it took that long to make a bottle of tabasco. They were giving samples away and I don't find many things that Will doesn't like, but the Tabasco Ice Cream did not get his seal of approval. I didn't need to taste it to make my "I won't like it determination".

We will be home tomorrow.

I am ready to be at home but I am not ready for Greg to leave and go to work. These last 2 weeks have been too much fun!

Abilene

Anyone that tells you that the world is becoming overpopulated should travel out west. Believe me...there are plenty of wide open spaces containing nothing but cactuses and cows out here. Lots of room for a house or 1000's of houses. No overpopluation here!

We drove the scenic route to Abilene. I've been craving Chick Fil A and guess what...I haven't found one yet. All my coupons and no chicken sandwiches...not fair. At least this scenic route was pretty flat which means...no hills, no cliffs, no steep drop offs and no switchbacks, Praise the Lord. We went to a neat history museum in Abilene. And we all got the teachers/students discount. Yeah for homeschooling.

Tonight, we had our first cookout of the trip. Yep, we've been gone 12 days and haven't been able to cookout. It was either too windy, too cold, too snowy or too other stuff. So we had grilled burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, chips and s'mores. Yummy!

We are headed further south tomorrow. I think we are going to LBJ's park, the 1st President Bush's Library, and San Antonio. Gotta see the Alamo and I want to see if Vision Forum has a visitor center or store or something!

We're here again!

Can I hear another verse of "Amarillo by Morning?" Because we are here again! This trip through town was to go to "Cadillac Ranch" and spray paint our grafitti with everyone else's. And we were successful. We all spray painted on the cars. There are 10 Cadillacs in all. We took lots of pictures but it is slow to load them. Maybe because we are at a campgound with lots of people using their wireless internet.

Then we headed to the "Big Texan Restaurant" for a steak dinner. It was worth the wait. Yummy! This is the place that has been featured on Food Network that serves the 72 ounce steak dinner. IF you can eat the complete dinner in an hour (steak, baked potato, salad, shrimp cocktail and roll) then you get it for free. If not, you pay $72. Now, before the questions start flying, none of us attempted this. In fact, we sat through our whole meal before anyone ordered this dinner. Once we found out it had been ordered not once but twice, we had to loiter and see the steak. The kitchen was open with the grill in the front so I got to see the steaks cooking. The Grill Chef held it up for me to take a picture. These things were huge. The 2 guys that ordered these were friends in their early 20's and about the size of Allen. I could see him attempt this, but I don't know if even he would succeed. They set the table on a platform, spotlight it and have a digital timer counting down the time. We didn't stay so I don't know if they completed their task.

Tonight we are in a KOA in Amarillo. We are headed south in Texas tomorrow!

Daybook

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...sunny & warm in Albuquerque, NM
I am thinking...how goofy my husband is
I am thankful for...my goofy husband and goofy children
From the learning rooms...notebooking our trip
From the kitchen...grits for breakfast
I am wearing...jeans, slip on tennies & a green embroidered shirt
I am creating...memories that will last forever with our traveling and a needlepoint picture to enter in the fair
I am going...to the "Cadillac Ranch" today in Amarillo and the "Big Texan Restraurant"
I am reading..."Christy" by Catherine Marshall
I am hoping...my sons have kept my garden watered while I was gone
I am hearing...my husband sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic ( he knew I was doing my daybook and was giving me something interesting to write about!)
Around the house...or RV...bedding is put up, breakfast is eaten, bibles being read, fixin' to hit the road
One of my favorite things...taking pictures, now I will have to find time to scrapbook
A few plans for the rest of the week: I think we are headed to the Alamo
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...



The Jackson Gang

Traveling...day (I don't know)

Pueblo dwellings at Mesa Verde




Wow, its been a crazy couple of days. When we left Vegas, we headed north to Utah. We made a side trip to Hoover Dam because that was one of the 2 things Will really wanted to see. At the Visitor Center, I found a cool USA jigsaw puzzle of national parks. We bought it and after the kids put it together, we are going to frame it and put it in our schoolroom. Vegas was warm, Utah was freezing. Near our campground was a Walmart, so we all trooped in to buy sweatshirts (yeah, on clearance for $3 each). When we got up Sunday morning, we were going to feast on Greg's homemade omelets, read our bibles and pray. Then the snow came, and came, and came, and came. We packed up as quickly as we could and headed east toward Colorado. We drove about 100 miles, before we got out of the snow. It was really pretty but we didn't want to get stuck.

After we escaped the snow, we drove up on Arches National Park. Greg said we would stop if it was near the road. Well, the entrance and Welcome Center was and then we had to drive up and up and up and then across to get to the Arch. We ended up only seeing one in the park after the long drive up there. The others were hiking and we were still recovering from our 6 miles hike through Vegas.

Then we came to Colorado. Another state to put on our road map. Colorado was pretty but also, really cold. We got to the KOA campground near Mesa Verde to set up camp. First on the list was laundry, we were getting to the critical stage of no more clean clothes. 2 ladies in the laundry room were from way up north, Connecticut and New Hampshire. And they had lovely stories to share about the harrowing ride down from Mesa Verde in the snow that afternoon. One of the husbands had seen a mountain lion up there and reported it to the rangers. So this morning, we got up late (I love vacation time), Greg made us omelets, did our Bible reading and headed toward Mesa Verde. The smarty pants Ranger told Greg he didn't know if he could let us in. He had seen our MSU tag and said he went to Ole Miss. I later figured out that Mr. Ranger was really smart because he was the one at the bottom of the hill. The visitor center was 15 miles up many steep hills and included numerous switchbacks. And just to make the ride extra fun, about 6 of those miles were 1 lane because they were working on and repairing the road (they need many, many more guardrails than they have). We did get to one of the dwellings. Katie, Will and Amy were adventurous and hiked down there. They took Amy's camera and Greg and I took pictures from above.

We all voted to leave the hills and find some flat country again. So, tonight finds us in Albuquerque, NM. There is a slight breeze and we have the windows open. I think we are going to head to Texas and explore that state for several days. Who knows!

At this point its hard to keep up with what day it is and which time zone we are in. We are loving staying up late, sleeping in and relaxing. We've got the rest of the week to play, so who knows where we will end up!





Snow in Utah















Hoover Dam





Our roadrunner in California




In front of the fountain at the Bellagio in Vegas