Costumes costumes

We have costumes! LOL Morgan received 2 of her 3 dance recital costumes today...ballet & tap. Their jazz costumes aren't in yet. Man, can't believe it is so close to recital time...1 month away. The costumes are so cute and the girls had to try them on & then do the dance in it. They were all so excited it was hilarious. The tap costume has fringe all around it and they were so busy watching themselves in the mirror making it shake & wiggle that I can't believe they could do their routine. ;-)

Before dance class Morgan and I went shopping at Goodwill. She has been requesting this so Corey and I agreed to give her a set amount of money to do some summer clothes shopping. She got 12 items for $11 and is thrilled. Shorts, tops, 2 summer dresses (t-shirt type dresses) and 1 pair shortalls.

Tonight we took Alex to W-M (you know...Wally World) so he could buy a PS2 game with some of his birthday money. We also picked up a new bird feeder...darn squirrels broke the other one. Seriously...they tore the roof off it months ago and then they just tore the sides off! Hello squirrels what do you think holds the FOOD in there?? LOL Hopefully this one will hold up better against our genius, talented squirrels.

Slow Sunday

Apparently Corey was up & down most of the night with Alex and pager duty. I heard the kids up but they were playing quietly & not fighting so I didn't get up. Morgan was nice and made Alex breakfast so that was really cool. I got up just before 10am and had heard Corey mention being up most of the night, so I closed all the doors hoping he could sleep longer. The kids and I played Disney Uno while I ate breakfast and then I fried Morgan a couple eggs at her request. She had been up since 7am but she's one of those people that can not eat for a while after she wakes up. She'd be in trouble if she had to rush out the door in the mornings to catch a school bus! After Corey got up we finished up the grocery list and talked about heading out to the grocery store. We grabbed lunch before doing the grocery shopping. I took the shop-vac outside and cleaned out the van, Corey used the weedwacker on the backyard. After dinner we all headed outside for a family soccer game....girls vs. boys. LOL! We took a time out to see some kittens that were found under the neighbor's shed. It was decided that the mom was still around & they were pretty small so they put them back under the shed. The one I held was just precious...calico kinda & gorgeous blue eyes.

We had an interesting event earlier in the day thanks to Alex & his temper. :-/ He got mad at Corey so he turned the lock on the door leading down to the family room/Corey's office, and then slammed the door shut. This door is an exterior door that requires a key because it is the same door that was used between the house & the garage before they converted the garage to the family room. Well, as it turns out...we don't have a key to that door! I called my brother and after asking a bunch of questions his suggestion was to remove the pins in the hinges & try to back the door out of the doorway. We managed to remove the pins & worked the door out...yea! Corey is going to switch out the door handles so we don't have to deal with this again. Argh...little munchkin man knew he was in trouble. Thankfully no harm came to him, the bunny or the door. ;-)

Soccer, family, movies

Another Saturday rolls around and finds us cheering Alex on during his soccer game. He played very well, despite being pretty scatterbrained today. He scored 1 of 3 goals for his team. As difficult as focusing can be for him he does pretty good at pulling himself back on track when we say something or his coach does. I'm proud of him for how well he is doing with soccer. :-)

Morgan & Corey went to movie night at the HP Club on Friday night. They saw Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Morgan also turned in the last of her HP Club projects. The advisor tallied up the final points (Fri night was the last night to turn in projects & earn points) and Morgan came in first place. I'm proud of her. She set a goal and worked hard, with help from Mama when needed, to get to that goal. She gets to spend her points at the club's Magic Market in May. She can't wait.

We met GC for dinner tonight and then she came back to our house. We started playing a card game but the kids weren't really up to it so we all headed outside. Corey and the kids started playing soccer, GC & I lit some citronella candles and sat on the deck. I was soon enticed to come play soccer with Cor & the kids. OMG it was hilarious but we got a couple goals. I swear at one point my mom was laughing at me so hard that I thought she was going to collapse! LOL! We stayed outside until dark...gorgeous weather.

Corey and I just finished watching The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. Really good movie. We both enjoyed it a lot.

Not much on tap for tomorrow.

Update on ArTrainUSA visit

I posted on Tuesday about our disappointing field trip to the ArTrainUSA exhibit in Watertown, TN and my evaluation and email through the website. I just have to share this update with you. I received an email response from the President & CEO of ArTrainUSA, Debra Polich. She apologized for our disappointing visit and made an offer to send some items to each family in our group to help us increase the educational benefit of the field trip.

I have to say that when I sent the email from the website I figured it would go to a customer service person, secretary or web master/mistress. I am very impressed with the sincere concern displayed for our field trip not being the level we felt it should be and the efforts being made to help come up with a resolution that will benefit the children. To me this shows a high level of customer care, concern for the art & cultural education of children and the community. They really do have a lot to offer and I think we just had a rare experience.

I feel the idea and thought of ArTrainUSA is a fabulous one. A great way of bringing various art pieces, cultural events to such a wide range of communities. Native Views on ArTrain is scheduled through the end of 2007. I encourage you to check out their website to see if it will be in your area. You can click here to go visit their site. We look forward to seeing what exhibit ArTrainUSA offers with their next tour. We will certainly visit if it comes near us.

Bowling on Wednesday

This morning Morgan and I worked on some HP project sheets. She is kicking behind on them. LOL! Friday is the last day to turn them in so we will be done then. After lunch we headed out to the bowling alley. Morgan has decided to join a homeschooling summer bowling league. Alex had decided to join but then changed his mind. I took him today so Corey wouldn't have to worry about him and hoping he would change his mind, again, when he saw all the kids bowling. Nope, no go. He did good for an hour and then the last 30-45 minutes he was Mr. Wild Child. Alex and I worked on some Earth Day worksheets, a recycling coloring sheet and Mad Libs. Guess I should have brought more to keep him busy. Morgan did great. She was put on a team with 2 boys that are really good. She's in the minors which is 8-12yo. One of the boys on her team is the son of the woman that organizes the homeschooling league and she had him help Morgan out. His tips & guidance really helped. I really think it helped that the information was coming from another kid and not "Mom or Dad telling me what to do or not do" .. kwim? She bowled 3 games and her scores were 53, 47 and 71. She even picked up a spare or two. Not bad for a kid that hasn't bowled on non-bumper lanes and got 5 gutter balls in a row during warm up and the beginning of the first game. I told ya the tips helped from her teammate! :-) She is already excited about next week and couldn't wait to tell Corey about her game.

I think I mentioned before about sending an email to the ArtrainUSA folks about our disappointing tour. Well, this morning I received an email response from the President/CEO of ArtrainUSA. It was a very nice email, very apologetic and with considerable attempts at helping to the make the situation better. I plan on talking to the other families involved to let them know and get back with her.

I had a baaaaad gallbladder attack tonight. It was horrible...so time to get to the doc about it.
:-/

ArTrain Tuesday

Today Morgan and I went on a field trip to see a Native American art exhibit in a nearby town. It is ArTrainUSA . The artwork was just amazing and I really wish our tour had gone like they said it would because that would have been fabulous. Instead our small group of homeschoolers (4 adults, 7 children between 8-15) were rushed through with the tour guide highlighting select pieces of art...the exact same ones that were pictured in the educational packet that we had downloaded to prepare for this trip. The children had no chance to view the other pieces (71 total...the selected about 10 to discuss on the tour) and the adults got a minimal chance (because we hung back while the volunteers were discussing the highlighted selections). At the end I saw an evaluation form and filled it out expressing our disappointment. One mom talked with the volunteer in the gift shop but that didn't get us anywhere. When we got home I went to the website, found the contact link and sent off an email. Morgan was great on the trip and liked the artwork but wishes she had seen more. I want to take her to see the Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris exhibit at The Frist in Nashville. Morgan worked on a bunch of math, geography, and science project sheets on the trip today. We tried listening to "How to Eat Fried Worms" on CD but it was scratched. We weren't too upset because we've read the book and seen the movie. Just too bad it is scratched and others can't enjoy it.

Alex had soccer practice today and the boys were all wound up. Not sure what was up. Hopefully the Saturday game will go okay. We got his soccer pictures in and they are sooo cute! I'll have to get one uploaded.

Tomorrow Morgan will have her first bowling session with the homeschool summer bowling league. She's excited. Alex has decided that he does not want to do it afterall. He is coming with us so I guess we will truly see tomorrow when we get there. ;-) He's been known to change his mind several times.

Corey and I just finished watching Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank. Good movie!! I didn't realize it was based on a true story.

Weekend

Friday the kids and I headed up to Franklin and picked up their completed painted pottery. Both pieces turned out nice. After we returned home we worked on creating a couple of scrapbook pages as a favor for a friend. They turned out really good I think. Here is a pic of each page.













Morgan has become REALLY interested in scrapbooking now, thanks Lisa. ;-) LOL! Friday night was movie & pizza night with the HP Club. Both kids had decided to go so Corey and I got a night out!! 2 1/2 hours kid-free! We went out for a steak dinner & a drink. Yummy margarita! Then we did a wee bit of shopping before we headed back to the library to pick up the kids. The movie was done and they were playing the Harry Potter version of Scene It, DVD game. They were playing adults versus kids so we got pulled into the game for a few minutes. Once other parents started arriving the game wound down and we left for home.

Saturday we did a lot of house cleaning and the kids cooperated nicely. Unfortunately we missed Alex's soccer game because Corey got the time wrong. Eeek! To make it up to him we asked him to pick an activity and he picked Glow Golf (indoor mini golf in a black light setting). So after getting Corey a desperately needed hair cut we headed to the mall for the Glow Golf. We got to sample some Bluegrass music while there because a festival was going on and there were several groups playing music. We stopped at Bath & Body Works while at the mall and ended up getting something we didn't plan on because Alex opened and USED an American Girl lip gloss. Ack! Sooo...we made him pay for it. Lesson learned? Hopefully. We then met up with GC in Spring Hill for dinner. We tried a new Mexican restaurant....pretty good. Alex fell asleep at the table on GC's lap....after wiggling around for 30 minutes or more.

Sunday was Alex's birthday party. We just had family over but that was just fine with him. Everyone arrived about 3'ish. We grilled out with hot dogs and chicken with beans, cole slaw, macaroni salad, and chips. Then cake & ice cream. I have all the pics on the computer and will be creating a link (to the right) with some photo pages. I'll be uploading in just a little bit. The kids played with several of Alex's gifts...water soakers, bubbles,etc. After we ate we had a nice round of cards.

Birthdays and other happenings

Wednesday Morgan & I went to the counselor's office and each had a good chat. Morgan had asked to go and I think she likes having someone to bounce things off of...someone that isn't Mom, Dad or GC. After lunch we decided the weather would be okay and so we headed out for our Wednesday homeschooling park day up in Nashville. Alex slept on the trip up and Morgan read. Once at the park they ran off to play and I got to chat with the hs'ing mamas. We had no issues at the park, nice, and headed back home about 4:30pm. We were about halfway home when traffic just stopped. After 15 minutes or so, lights & sirens were coming through from behind. Every few minutes more came...ending up with 3 police/sheriff vehicles, 2 ambulances, 2 fire trucks and a few volunteer vehicles came through. Each time traffic inched out of the lanes and then moved back. It took about an hour to get through and as we went by we saw a full size van that had obviously rolled. The kids and I had a good discussion about how we were thankful we weren't in the accident and that regardless of the inconvenience of the stopped traffic, etc that we were lucky to be moving and to be going home to eat dinner and not being hurt, going to the hospital or worse. It felt good to hear them express their thoughts and feelings about it and know that they are empathetic little people. Some days I wonder when they are so mean to each other. We watched American Idol results and were pleased that Sanjaya was finally voted off!

Today our boy had a birthday and is now 6 years old. He got to pick a movie to watch, pick dinner ... pancakes.... and we made a cake. He wanted chocolate chips in it, so we did that. Then we made a light chocolate frosting and put his name & "6" in chocolate chips on the top. LOL! He helped with all of it. We are having the full celebration on Sunday with family. He requested a bakery cake (from Publix..his request) and he picked out a "Over The Hedge" theme. Morgan worked her hiney off today doing projects for points in her HP Club....all educational projects. I helped and we had a good time until she reached her breaking point. Her head started hurting and it was time for a break. She has plans to do more tomorrow. She has a lot of points and is #4 at the moment in the club.

Tomorrow we need to go pick up their painted pottery. I can't wait to see how it all turned out.

I have recent pictures that I need to get uploaded. I promise I'm working on it. :-)

Six

How can it possibly be that my baby boy is SIX years old today?? Where has the time gone? How did he change from a baby to this "big boy" I see before me? A blessing from the very beginning. I tried and waited a long time for my babies and each of them made me wait as long as they possibly could by going past their due date. LOL! He was a snuggler from birth and thankfully, for his Mama's sake, he still is. I delight in it because I know it won't last forever. He is my active, full-of-life boy. He goes full tilt until he absolutely runs out of steam...and he always has. He can be as sweet as sugar and melt your heart and in a moment can make you want to pull your hair out and see red. He has his Daddy's long, lean build and he has the Claremont dimples that link generations. He has his Mama's love of chocolate. As much of a baby as I always felt he was. I swear he stayed a baby longer than Morgan did. He has always been a little man. He picks up words and meanings and tones so quickly it blows my mind sometimes. The things that come out of his mouth just amaze us...or crack us up. My heart has been his since I was 15 weeks pregnant with him. We couldn't hear his heartbeat at the check up (not completely unusual for an overweight pregnant mom) but I lost it right there in the office. The doctor reassured me & Corey but sent us straight over for an ultrasound. They got his heartbeat immediately and we saw him moving around just fine. We didn't know he was a boy at the time but we didn't care. Our baby was okay. We found out he was a boy at 37 1/2 weeks along and he was no longer "the baby" he was Alex or Baby Alex. I knew I was lost forever when I held him the first time and looked into that face. He is Mama's Boy for sure.

I look at pictures of him as a baby and there is a part of me that longs to turn back the clock and hold that baby in my arms again. But a bigger part of me loves the journey and can't wait to see what is down the road. Watching this baby grow into a man. Isn't this what it is all about? The journey.

Gentle Goddess, Mother of All, thank you for giving me this most amazing blessing. My heart is full and I am truly blessed.

Happy 6th Birthday Alexander James, my wonderful, sweet boy!!

Quidditch!

We got to watch Morgan play Quidditch this evening. The HP Club had some more house games tonight at a local park. The houses played a version of Quidditch and then had a turn in the Snitch Field. This was HP questions (hard ones) on small slips of paper inside eggs hidden in roped off areas of the park. Each team had to find the eggs, answer the questions & put them in their teams bag. They could ask a team member to help with the answer but if they didn't know then they could put the paper back in the egg & re-hide it. Wrong answers counted against them. They also had a broom decorating contest. The kids all had a great time. Corey got to be a broom judge, Alex and I got to monitor one of the Snitch Fields and we all helped pick up everything. The HP Club is having a pizza & movie night on Friday and both kids are going.

Monday I had my crown prep done...wheee. Not bad except for the numb nose part from the shots. LOL! I go back in 2 weeks for the crowns. The tech had me laughing (and maybe a wee bit worried) when she said "Just don't floss around them right now. And if one comes off just put a little toothpaste on it and pop it back on. You know, if on a weekend when you can't come in." Ack...so toothpaste will hold on temporary dental work, huh? At Morgan's dance class we got the ticket order form for the recital. So that makes it a little more real for her. We also got a phone call from my brother telling us that Tish possibly broke her ankle on Sunday evening. He had taken her to the ER and they said it was a bad sprain. She got an appointment with an Orthopedist for Monday and they were headed there. Well, as it would turn out her ankle *is* broken..ER radiologist or doc missed it. She was riding her horse Sunday evening and he lost his footing in some mud. She lost her seat and as she was falling he got his footing again & when she landed it was completely on her right foot/ankle. There is a lot of ligament damage and they are worried about that. She will get a cast on Wednesday, they need the swelling to go down, and she'll have that for 4-6 weeks. Then they will see if she needs surgery. Poor thing was preparing for a horse show so that is out for now. Send good thoughts, energies or prayers her way so that ankle heals nicely.

Today the kids and I had a bunch of errands to run on the way to park day. We stopped at the library, had a visit with Mecca & got some more books, stopped by the recycling center and dropped off all our recycling...and Morgan battled her bee fear! Then we grabbed lunch and then stopped at Publix in Spring Hill (only one around us) to order Alex's birthday cake. He specifically requested a Publix birthday cake. Silly boy. He picked one with an "Over The Hedge" theme. We finally got to the park about 2pm and got to spend time talking & playing with new friends. We got home about 4:30 and figured out dinner and then headed to the park for Morgan's HP Club meeting.

Alex approached Mecca at the meeting and asked her if she was the manager of the HP Club. She said she was in charge and he told her that when he was 6 he wanted to join and he wanted to be in the same group as his sister. I thought the whole exchange was so cute, he sounded so grown up, but had to step in & express my desire that the kids NOT be in the same house in the club. I think it will be good for him.

We have found an animal shelter where Morgan can volunteer if parent is with her. It is in Nashville but we are going to check into taking their orientation class & get started. Some friends are doing it too.

Wet, Wet Weekend

Oh boy...it has rained, rained and rained some more. The wind has been blowing like crazy too. There have been a few times I thought for sure our trees were going to be bald again. All-in-all though, after looking at the national weather reports, we got off easy. No flooding, no tornadoes, no near-hurricane force winds,etc.

Saturday Morgan and I went to watch the Mule parade. Alex kept going back & forth on whether he wanted to go or not and then wouldn't get dressed or turn off a video game...so Corey stayed home with him. It was chilly & wet and the wind was really blowing so it is probably for the best. We found a place to park easily enough, I think the weather kept many people away. It was really neat seeing all the mules, covered wagons, horses,etc. After the parade we headed home to help the guys make a menu and grocery list for this 2 week cycle. Then we headed out to lunch and grocery shopping. After getting everything put away, Alex and I headed up to GC's house to do some cleaning fairy work. LOL! Alex brought a movie and a snack but also helped out. He did a good job cleaning her hardwood floors and helping himself to some Peeps. ;-) He also helped me get the sheets off one of the beds. He kept GC entertained too. He got to stay up late because we were at her house so long. Corey and I watched Freedomland after getting the kids to bed. We both thought it was a good movie. I had the whole "surprise" figured out...just not the exact method.

Today we were going to meet my brother and Tish at Mule Day but it was raining...and even *snowing* at various times that everyone was packing up early and there was nothing to see. So Corey and I decided to take the kids bowling. They did really well. We had a bumper lane and Alex used the kiddie ramp. Morgan hasn't been bowling since we were in Poughkeepsie so she was trying to just get the swing down pat. Both kids want to join the homeschool bowling league for the summer so that should be fun. Corey and I didn't do too bad considering how long it has been since we bowled. LOL! I actually got a strike or two and Corey even more...so woo hoo.

Tomorrow I get the pleasure of heading back to the dentist to work on getting my crowns. Whee! ;-) Nah, seriously it isn't bad, he's nice and I'll be glad to have it all fixed.

Friday the 13th

Catch up time for me.

Wednesday arrived as a horribly stormy day. We knew it was a wet one and Morgan & I were going to head up to Nashville for "park day" at B&N with some other hs'ing families. Alas, the storms became severe w/hail and threats of tornadoes. So sorry but I'm not driving anywhere in that. LOL! Morgan didn't argue, she wasn't happy with the sounds coming from the weather outside. So, we had a quiet day at home.

Thursday we hit up the library and the kids each checked out 5 books and I started one of mine, When The Wind Blows by James Patterson. Then we decided to go look at dogs at our local animal shelter PAWS of Maury County . So many of the dogs were cute and seemed so sweet. My fingers got covered with doggie licks. After washing up we headed to see the kitties at Alex's request. We had one big gray & white striped kitty that was sooo very lovey & friendly. She kept headbutting me when I stopped petting her. OMG if Morgan hadn't started sneezing her head off we might have come home with a kitty.

Today we had a field trip planned. We met up with some hs'ing friends (Shannon & her 2 daughters, Tayler & Autumn) at The Factory at Franklin and went to
Third Coast Clay so we could paint some ceramics. You pick your piece, paint it, and they do the glazing & firing for you. It is only $6 for the studio fee and then the price of your piece. Alex picked a heart shaped plaque for $10 and Morgan picked a horse figurine, also $10. It was great fun and we can't wait to see the finished products when they are ready for pick up next Friday. No one else was there so we got a bonus to our field trip. The ladies brought the kids to the back of the shop and showed them the process that they go through with the pieces. We got to see the glaze & watch them glaze a piece and see the kilns. It is amazing how hot they get... 1800 degrees! We then showed Shannon, Tayler and Autumn our favorite places inside The Factory. We all went to Happy Tales Animal Shelter and played with the kitties and visited the dogs that they now have there. We went to The Fairy Grotto too. Then we headed to Puckett's for lunch. So yum...sweet potato fries! GC got out of work on time today (first time in weeks) and so we picked up Corey and then met GC at a chinese restaurant for dinner. This restaurant has a good buffet and offers sushi. Morgan cracked me up as she was eating one of her pieces of sushi...she picks it up and takes a bite and smiles. Then she says, "What is this? Hmm...ooh this is octopus...that is a tentacle...cool I just love octopus!" and she takes another bite. Just cracked me up. This is just one side of her that I love so much.

No set plans for the weekend yet. It is Mule Day weekend here in Columbia and we might take the kids to see the parade tomorrow and we will be meeting up with Michael & Tish at the Mule Day celebration on Sunday. We shall see what else we do. I need to help GC & do some Cleaning Fairy work for her.

I've lost 11 lbs so far just from taking my medication. Now to get some exercising in to help it out. Everything else is going pretty good.

Dance Recital Date

We have a date! The date of Morgan's dance recital performance that is. She will be performing on Friday, June 1st. We got the dates for pictures, dress rehearsal & performance yesterday so we are happy. Now if I can just figure out if the line up for the performance is correct. It lists all 3 of her dances one after the other. There is no way! All the girls in her ballet class are in her tap class and all but 1 are in her jazz class. They can't all be off-stage & changing costumes at the same time. LOL! The audience will just be sitting there twiddling their thumbs. ;-) So, I'll have to ask some questions to get this figured out.

Both kids did great with school work yesterday and we had a lot of fun with science. We did a lab on the 5 senses and of course they had to find things for mommy to taste or smell. LOL!

Today we had a relaxed morning and then headed out to the park for homeschool park day. 5 of us were there from last week and there were 2 new families. One family lives a little further south than we do and Alex played wonderfully with the little girl. So we talked about getting together here in Columbia some. I swear the kids spent most of the park time complaining to me (Morgan complaining about Alex) and Alex being a little PITA. He kept it up for the ride home and got worse as we walked in the door. I turned around and left so I could take a minute to cool off. When I got back a few minutes we were all behaving much better.

We usually have another park day up in Nashville on Wednesdays but the weather forecast is thunderstorms from tonight until tomorrow night so I doubt it will happen.

I've joined myspace.com but don't have anything on my page yet...not even a picture or background so I'll let you know when that is all set up. LOL!

A Special Goodbye

to my Great Aunt Avis. We found out that she died peacefully at 2:15am Sunday. Her granddaughter had called us a few days ago to let us know that she had been sick, then had a heart attack in her sleep and had been admitted to the hospital. They wanted to do a bunch of testing but she refused. She slipped into a coma shortly after. She was 95 years old. She was the last living sibling of my grandfather. She was a tiny, spunky lady and as sweet as she could be. She had been a nurse and when I graduated nursing school she gave me a special gift. It was a glass syringe with a reusable needle in a special case. It was something that she had used frequently and was what was used before disposable syringes & needles came along. They had to sharpen the needles periodically.

She outlived a lot of her family including her siblings, husband and her daughter. She lived with her granddaughter for the past couple of years. She had great granddaughters and great great grandchildren. She had nieces & nephews, great nieces and nephews and my children were her great great niece and nephew. I'm not sure how many others there were. She crocheted beautiful baby blankets for my children when they were born. The last time we all got to visit with her was at my grandmother's 80th birthday party, before we moved to TN.

She touched a lot of lives and will be missed. I'm glad her death was a peaceful one. I think that is the best any of us can hope for when our time comes.

Eggs, eggs, eggs

Deviled, filled, hidden, hunted, and eaten. Today had a lot to do with eggs. This morning Morgan and I made a cake...orange flavored with orange chocolate frosting drizzled over it. We then made deviled eggs. Both of these were to take over to Michael's house for our family get together. We met up at GC's house and rode over with her. With my brother's driveway it is easier to take one vehicle over to his house. We park at a pull-through spot and he picks us up and takes us up to the house. You have to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get up & down his driveway. LOL! So he provides shuttle service for us. My aunt & cousin were coming too so once they arrived, Corey, Alexa and I went outside to hide filled plastic eggs for the kids. Then they came out to hunt for them. They were so funny running around and the 4 dogs were outside too. No, the dogs didn't help and didn't get any of the eggs.

We had a delicious dinner of honey ham, mac & cheese, green bean casserole, regular green beans, and corn bread. We had a veggie plate and deviled eggs earlier. For dessert we had our orange cake w/orange chocolate frosting and a carrot cake...such choices! The company and the food were great.

We took pictures and I'll work on getting them up tomorrow.

Earlier in the day we talked with Corey's mom and found out when they are coming down to visit. One of the grandson's that lives over in Tullahoma will be graduating at the end of May so they are coming for that and a nice family visit. She also let us know that Corey's younger brother's reserve unit is slated to head to Iraq at the end of the summer. :-( So we are staying posted on that one.

Saturday

The kids were so quiet this morning that Corey and I got to sleep in until 9am. Corey and Alex got ready and headed out to a birthday party for one of Alex's friends on his soccer team. It was held at the local movie theatre and they saw Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. Then they had birthday cupcakes and received goodie bags. He came home all excited...and wired. LOL! And he hadn't even eaten his cupcake, he brought it home with him.

A little later we headed up to Nashville to meet up with my Aunt Ilene and cousin, Alexa. We met at Rafferty's and had a late lunch/early dinner and lots of good talking. They are coming to Michael's house tomorrow to join us for our family get together. We will be hiding eggs for the kids & eating yummy food.

This evening the kids colored some eggs. They came away from the table all clean...and yet I had various colors all over my fingers. LOL! Go figure.

Movie review time...last night we watched Volver and I posted that I thought it was weird. Well, it was but mostly in the beginning. It got better as we got further into the movie and I started figuring out where the movie was going...and it went there. ;-) So a little odd but still okay. Tonight we watched A Change of Heart. A TV movie I think, based on a true story. Pretty good, sappy, with a happy ending. So there ya go.

Morgan has started reading Eldest and Alex is starting to get into the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. He has almost read the entire series of A to Z Mysteries too. He is still into his Guardian of Ga'Hoole books as well.

It is still so cold but it should only be another couple of days. It is strange sitting all covered up in the living room with the heat on again. I thought we were done with this.

Enjoy the beginnings of spring and time with your families, however you celebrate & whatever your personal beliefs are. :-)

SNOW

Yes, you read that correctly. Glance back up and look at the date and then think about what I've typed here. We had *snow* today. LOL! On Tuesday it was 88 and today it was cold enough to snow. Who would have thought? Not I, that is for sure.

We are covering our garden and hoping that all our little baby green shoots make it. During the heat of the day today (ok, as warm as it got...48) we watered it.

Tomorrow Alex has a birthday party to attend at the local movie theatre. Then we are heading into Nashville to visit with my aunt and cousin. My aunt lives in Nashville and my cousin is up visiting from Atlanta. At some point we will also be meeting up with my brother. The kids will color eggs later in the day. Then on Sunday we will be having a nice dinner at my brother's house and the kids will get to hunt for eggs. It will still be cold but they will love it.

Corey and I are watching Volver. So far odd, I'll let you know more later.

Confused Mother Nature!

Apparently Mother Nature is confused as to what season it is supposed to be. We had some nice spring weather that didn't last nearly long enough. We then had a bunch of days that got as high as the mid-80's...and this started before April 1st! Yesterday (Tues) it was in the mid-80's and today it barely got to the mid-50's and tonight it is supposed to be 32. LOL! Sat & Sun nights the forecast is for 27-29. Our poor little garden that just started sprouting. We are going to cover everything at night and hope for the best.

Tuesday morning we went to the library and had a nice chat with our friend the head Children's Librarian about books, homeschooling, and the HP Club (she heads it). We then stopped by GC's house to see my brother. He was working on her yard some. We got to have a quick visit with Remy (his Pomeranian) too. Then we headed over to the park to meet some new homeschoolers. A new inclusive group was started up closer to us and we are excited and hopeful. We love our friends at our Wed park day and won't be giving that up...we would miss them too much. But are looking forward to making even more friends and having an option for some closer-to-home stuff too. Alex played with a 7yo boy and Morgan played with several girls between 7-10 and I got to talk to 5 other homeschooling moms. So it was all good...for an hour anyway. Then the sky opened up and the stormfront officially arrived. We look forward to more time next week. Morgan and I worked on several vocabulary sheets. The storm was a good one and we even were on tornado watch for several hours...our first since we moved.

We woke this morning to find a neighbor's tree down in our yard. They have these trees with long, skinny branches that start close to the ground & grow almost straight up...have no clue what they are. Well, one broke less than a foot from the ground (9-10 ft tall) and fell into our yard. It missed hitting anything so no damage. We headed for the park for our Wed group up in Nashville. We saw lots of friends and the temps were wonderful. Alex brought 1/2 the sand in the playground home with him in his shoes. LOL! Corey had to work for a couple hours tonight but luckily it was a fairly quick and painless change.

I finished The Fifth Horseman by James Patterson earlier today. Good book. It is from the Women's Murder Club series. Love those books. Must get back to the library for more reading material.

Monday, Monday

Today was organic co-op delivery day so the kids and I didn't do a whole lot this morning. Alex and I played some cards, we all had breakfast, the kids played some cards and then we headed out. After the delivery we came home and watered the garden and checked on Morgan's flowers. We also made some World's Best Bubbles mix from The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions . Morgan made Tornado in a Bottle from the same book. We had fun blowing bubbles out off the deck. Alex had fun trying to catch & pop them from the yard below and then came back up and took his turn blowing a bunch of bubbles. On the way inside I slid my foot on the deck (not smart...I was barefoot) and got a splinter. It came right out and we put peroxide and antibiotic ointment on it. It didn't hurt at the time but does now.

Corey and I just watched Children of Men. He thought it was okay, not mind blowing, moved slow and didn't keep his attention. I thought the message of the movie was a good one and is making me think. The point of the whole movie in my opinion. :-) Here is a quote that said a lot to me...said by a character that is a midwife, "As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices. " I must say Michael Caine's character in the movie was HILARIOUS! What can I say but "Pull my finger". You gotta see the movie. ;-)

Tomorrow, if the weather is good, the kids and I are heading up to a park to meet some more homeschoolers. We are trying to meet some closer to us. I hope the weather holds out. We are going to the library in the morning...we are all done with our books and need more reading material. Book hounds! That's us.

We've had temps in the 80's for several days now. Wednesday the temps are supposed to drop for about a week or so. I can't wait....just hope they don't go too far so our baby green garden continues to do well.

Weekend

On Friday, Morgan and I had plans to meet up with GC for a girls day out. Then Morgan was going to her friends' house for a sleepover. Well, Friday morning GC decided to start the weekend with a bang...literally. Her foot slid while she was in the shower, causing her to fall out of the shower and face plant on the bathroom floor. Thank goodness she doesn't have tile floors here like she did in Ft. Lauderdale. After a lot of bleeding and time to realize that nothing like her knees or back were hurt she was able to get up. Her nose was what was bleeding & it hurt. She went to her doctor appointment as scheduled and he checked everything for her....result - broken nose. With her artificial knees and back issues we are so very thankful that she didn't hurt anything else...this could have been really serious. She felt okay as long as she didn't bump it so we went about our day out. We went to The Factory and had lunch at Stoveworks Restaurant and visited The Fairy Grotto , Third Coast Clay and Elite Pet Boutique. We had a really nice time out. Then we headed to meet up with Morgan's friends. After handing over Morgan, GC and I went to Joann's and did some more shopping. Hey...kid-free time does *not* come often for me so I must enjoy it while I can. We got some spring & Easter stuff, and I got some fabric for some shorts for both kids and a sundress for Morgan. :-) Woo! LOL! Later we met up with Corey and Alex for dinner. Alex got to have a lot of extra attention from mom, dad and GC. Alex also got to stay up late and watch Stuart Little.

Morgan was with her friends until Saturday afternoon. She got to go to their soccer game before coming home. GC had to work Saturday so she was able to meet up in Nashville (she works there and friends live up there) to pick up Morgan. Then GC and Morgan did some shopping. Alex had a soccer game at 2pm and it was great. The temperature was perfect, there was a nice breeze and the game was a good one. Alex scored a goal and is following the action and getting in there more. Several teammates scored goals and all of us parents were chatting, watching & cheering them on. This season seems more "fun". We really liked his first coach but none of the parents really talked or anything. This season the parents all seem to chat with each other, we know the names of all the boys on the team and everyone is taking turns bringing a snack & drink. Several of the dads are very involved and help out during practice and really encourage all the boys. No big competition stuff (we saw some last season...with 5 year olds...give me a break). We got some more yard work done. Mom is feeling better and her nose is doing okay...just a bruise over the bridge.

We have growth in our garden!! I see little green sprouts where we planted corn, beans, carrots, cukes, onions, and summer squash. I'm hoping it continues! Nice to know we have helped bring forth plant life. Our trees and such are just popping with new green leaves too.

Saturday night Corey had to work three change windows. Egads!! I got the kids to bed and then he worked out in the living room and we watched The Pursuit of Happyness. Such a good movie. We really enjoyed it. Tonight we will be watching Children of Men. For now we are all just relaxing, enjoying the sunny & breezy day. Seeing the new life sprouting in our garden. We will be going to the grocery store at some point today but that is the only "must do" thing. LOL!