The picnic that didn't happen

Well, we were supposed to go to the Apple Festival today out at Drumheller's & have a picnic lunch & so forth. Our plans kinda fell apart at the last minute so I just decided to run out there myself & see what was happening & if it was really worth planning to do it tomorrow or not. The apples really ARE expensive this year (just like Clay & Maw said they would be) because everything has been so dry. We're talking an average of $22/bushel. I did walk around & check out some of the hand-made goodies. I priced the crocheted scarves, afghans, dishcloths, etc. Made me want to run right home & start crocheting!! We just had our own little picnic here with all our 'lunch treats' that I had gotten.....sandwiches, Pringles, Sierra Mist & Little Debbie cakes for dessert. Can't get any better than that! ;-) Think I might go try & scrap some now (or CROCHET) since my house is all clean & the laundry is pretty much caught up.

No clever title tonight either..............

Well, yesterday afternoon was spent doing 'Home Ec'......meaning we had some MAJOR cleaning up to do around here!! The kids worked on their rooms while I cleaned down here. We worked all afternoon til supper time. Then after supper, we had our big multiplication competition. Let me back up a bit.....started working earlier this week with Jon & Michael using the flash cards. They've all learned their multiplication tables before, but just needed some serious practice to be able to pop those answers off to me without counting on their fingers. This of course turned into a serious competition to see who could answer the quickest & get the most cards when we played. Ashley actually decided to play along too....said she needed to brush up on certain ones & this seemed to be fun. Well, we practiced all week with the promise of a REAL competition on Thurs. evening with the winner receiving a big bag of sunflower seeds. (The prize was decided upon by Michael & Jon agreed). This was majorly serious.....the whole family was there to watch & supervise. I flashed the cards & Clay was the judge as to who raised their hand or answered first. Let me just say that Michael blew them away!! Little Tee-watty. He deserved it too.......he had practiced so hard all week. Even when I was upstairs folding laundry, I'd be calling out to him......Michael, what's 7x8? How about those doubles.....what's 6x6? Anyway, he's the proud owner of his very own bag of sunflower seeds now & loving it!!

Well, more pukes this morning. Alli woke up & went straight for the potty. I really think the drainage gets to her during the night. Once she got on up & got moving & got some allergy meds into her, she seemed better. Even went on with me to town today & helped do the groceries, etc. We stopped by Wendy's for some lunch & then went to the pet store to look around a bit. I think everything is just so dry right now & it's really making everyone's allergies worse than usual. I know my nose is stuffy & I have a sinus headache now. Think a pot of coffee may be in order shortly. Hope all is well & still on go for our Apple Festival picnic tomorrow. We've all been looking forward to it for so long & I'd really hate to disappoint!

Blech

Alli came downstairs this morning & said she felt like she was going to throw up.......what a nice way to start your day! At least she made it to the trash can. Seems to be from allergies/drainage.....she says her head, neck & throat hurt & she might be a little warm. Need to take her temp. I've given her tylenol & need to call Clay & tell him to pick up some Dimetapp or Dayquil or something like that for allergies on his way home. Better get myself moving here & get some things done.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.........

That's what I'm hearing right now......Alli is standing hear literally jabbering in my ear.....telling me all this stuff that she wanst/needs for Chritsmas! Do you know how hard it is to type with that going in your ear? I'm liable to start typing about barbies, & when does Steph put up her Christmas tree & something about High School Musical 2 & did you know that at Target they have the coolest little bitty cans of Play-Do in all kinds of cool colors all stacked in a pyramid....that would make the coolest Christmas gift & did you that it's Fall now?..............

Ok.....done with MY part of school for now. Jon still has vocab words to look up, but wants to do that later, which is OK, I guess. He & Michael 'bout killed each other doing their flash cards this morning.....they're competing to win a bag of sunflower seeds. Nothing like a little friendly competition, huh?! Then, Jon, Michael & Alli worked on stuff for our planet unit. I'm off to do the dishes now....just left those earlier because the kids wanted to get their work done & out of the way. Then hop in the shower & do some laundry.

Crochet Granny Square

I had a request for the pattern to the Granny Squares I had posted a few days ago, so here goes:

Granny Square
ch. 4, join with slip st to form ring.
Rnd. 1: ch 3 (counts as first dc, now & throughout), 2 dc in ring, ch 2, (3 dc in ring, ch 2) 3 times; join with
slip st to first dc: 12 dc
Rnd 2: slip stin next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3,( 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1 * (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in
next ch-2 sp (shell made), ch 1; repeat from * around; join with slip st to first dc: 4 shells.
Rnd 3: slip st in next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp,
ch 1, * work shell in next shell (ch-2 sp), ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1; repeat from * around; join
with slip st to first dc.
Rnd 4: slip st in next 2 dc & in first ch-2 sp, ch 3, (2dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, ch 1, ( 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch1)
across to next shell, * work shell in next shell; repeat from * around; join with slip st to first dc; finish off.

Well, I actually got some stuff accomplished this afternoon! Did my DT layout for the Sept. 30th newsletter.....can't post that just yet, but I will share the LO I did for the last newsletter entitled 'Don't Blink'....using the lyrics to Kenny Chesney's latest song. Also finished reading 'The Quilter's Legacy'. Now I can't wait to get the next one in that series....guess a trip to the library is in order for tomorrow afternoon. Worked some more on Anna's afghan....almost have all the edging done & then I can put it together. Need to sneak a picture of Alli's afghan to show everyone. She knew I was making it for her for Christmas, but she hasn't seen the finished product.....have it tucked away in the wardrobe away from prying eyes. Made a pot of chicken & dumplings for supper & now, I have kiddos upstairs showering & getting ready for bed. Need to go print out my new schedules for this coming week...I think everything else is in order. Will see how this works!

Clever title help

My brain is just not quite in the CLEVER mode yet this morning. Need another cup of coffee. So far, my plans for the day include church this morning & then home for the afternoon. Would like to finish reading my book....was SO close to the end last night, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. Then I also need to scrap....just really haven't been in the mood lately. I need to go ahead & get my DT assignment done for the end of the month......the time is slipping up on me FAST!

Love it, love it,

love it....sitting outside enjoying the nice Fall afternoon. Temps are just perfect- upper 70's, nice little breeze blowing- just enought to make my wind chimes 'tinkle'. Clothes drying on the line. The boys are off getting another load of firewood. Pot of greens simmering on the stove for supper. Clay will grill some London Broil later. Need to put the purple edging on Anna's afghan squares. I have them all made, now just to edge them all & then put the whole thing together. The kids did Space word find puzzles for school today. Need to review their Bible verses with them & get the older ones to look up the 'word find' words & write definitions for them. My friend, Dana, sent me the template she uses for their weekly schedules....I printed off a sample of my own & I'm going to start doing that next week.

Who knew?

That 'Drake & Josh' could be so educational? Just had to share one of my wonderful 'UNschooling' moments from yesterdaymorning. I wasn't planning on doing any book work because I had to leave & run Chris to class & do a couple of errands & then we were headed out to Hampton to the American Idol concert (Field Trip). But as I was sitting here reading emails & chatting with Ella, I realized that Alli had out one of our planet books from the library & was reading the names of the planets in order from the sun & then trying to say them all from memory. I was quite impressed because this was TOTALLY on her own without me ever saying a word. So, I just sat quietly & listened for a bit. I finally asked her if she had remembered me telling them about how MY teacher back in 5th grade had taught us how to remember the order of the planets.....M VEM J SUN P & she told me NO, she had learned it from 'Drake & Josh' on TV--they had made up a little song when trying to figure out what the eighth planet was. Go figure! Anyway, when I left to go take Chris, she was going around the house timing herself seeing how fast she could name them all!

Homeschool note from today...... How many kids get to sit outside under the Dogwood tree with their mom & work on their math?? That was me & Ashley this afternoon.....it was SO nice!

Ok, I'm off to bed....just got done printing a bunch of pages for our planet notebook. A word find puzzle, putting the planets in ABC order, some coloring pages, etc. Pretty fun stuff!

American Idol Concert

We had an AMAZING time last night! The concert was terrific.....better than I had anticipated! Let me just say that they ALL were so much better in person.....no judges, no pressure....just doing 'their thing' & having fun! Melinda & Jordin both had a wonderful testimony onstage....sharing about their 'chick nights' together...how they talked about girly stuff & the Lord because that was such an important part of their lives. Jordin even asked for prayer for her grandmother who was sick & in the hospital. Of course the crowd down there in Hampton was crazy over Chris Richardson because he's actually from Chesapeake. And one other hi-light to share....when they came back from intermission, Phil Stacey was in his Navy uniform, with a huge flag on the screen behind them & he sang 'America the beautiful' with the others saluting the flag behind him....gave me goose bumps!!

Sure wish we had had the foresight to plan for an ALL DAY trip. I REALLY want to go back again!! We got down there early enough that we drove down thru Colonial Williamsburg & I tell ya.......just made me sad that we didn't have time to stop right then & enjoy it. And Jamestown was just right there too! And the McDs where we ate supper, right next to the colesium was also right near the airforce base & we watched all these fighter jets doing their thing right out the McDs window.......Jon thought this was AWESOME! Just like TOP GUN!

one more day...

til we go to the American Idol concert & let me tell you that these kids are WOUND UP with excitement tonight!!!!! I finally got Michael & Alli tucked in, but Jon & Ashley are still up acting like goons & driving me NUTS! Think I may have to go up to bed just to get some peace & quiet!

Took all the pictures off my camera tonight so I'd have an empty memory card for tomorrow night. Will share some of them here. I have a picture of some of the granny squares I'm crocheting for Anna's Christmas afghan. A picture of Ashley on her BD & the ice cream cake that Maw got for her & Michael. And last but not least for now....a pic of the boys unloading/stacking firewood.

Manwich & Tater Tots

Wow, yesterday was such a nice relaxing day & yet I also got a lot acoomplished! I vacuumed upstairs & downstairs, did laundry, read some of my book....I'm really getting into it now. I guess I just needed to spend a bit more time reading when I wasn't falling asleep! HA! Also got caught up on all the card challenges from Jules' blog...will share some of those later. PLUS I spent some time crocheting on Anna's afghan.

Church this morning & then home. These days have been so nice & cool....I actually fixed chicken noodle soup for lunch today. YUM!! Sat outside & read some more & then came in & have been working on our unit study of the Universe/planets. Have to really be careful with these library books....trying to tell my kids about the 'Big Bang theory' UGH! Our unit starts off with 'In the beginning God created the heaven & the earth!'

On a totally different note....one of those cool Mom moments yesterday evening. I saw Jon come out the back door, book in hand & head off down the drive. I KNEW where he was going...had seen him there earlier.....he was up in the Hickory tree behind Uncle Richard's house reading a Star Wars book! I just HAD to run grab my camera & zoom lens & was able to sneak a couple of pictures undetected! This is the child who Clay has been so worried about his reading. To me, this was just awesome to find him off by himself, up in a tree & reading a book! A note here too....that Ashley didn't care for so long whether she read a book or not. Just this past summer has her reading REALLY taken off. I mean ASKING to go to the library all the time. Devouring any kind of history book....especially biographies about George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, etc. She has kept her own book log over the summer & her goal was to read 50 books & she did it!! Now, we have started on our book list for the school year to keep in their folders (I'm sticking a copy of her summer reading in her folder too!!)

OK, off to fix some supper......manwich & tater tots.

Nowhere to go.....

And nothing major planned to do today!!! You just don't know how happy I am about that! Of course I have laundry to do & I REALLY should run the vacuum & maybe dust, but we shall see. What a I REALLY want to do is catch up on Jules' card challenges, maybe crochet a little & read my book. Right now I'm enjoying my second cup of coffee & catching up on my emails & blog reading.

Biology 101

Squirrel (Alli's cat) is in a box in the kitchen with her new baby kitties. So far, she's had 4......not sure if she's done yet or not....probably so. And from the looks of them, it's pretty obvious that Bootsie is the father, as usual. They are all gray with a little touch of white here & there. Kind of a nice quiet evening at home tonight.....supper was quick & easy.....an assortment of frozen pizzas for everyone....well, Alli had chicken tenders. Chris had his usual Totinos pepperoni pizza, Jon & Michael had the little Food Lion brand pepperoni pizza & Ashley & I each had a Stouffers supreme french bread pizza. We were done & plates washed up by 6pm. We then, watched 'Are We Done Yet?' while I crocheted on Anna's afghan that I'm doing for Christmas. Alli went with me to town today.....dropped Chris off at class & then headed to Walmart to get a few groceries to tide us over til the first of the week. From there we ran by Steve & Barry's to get Ashley's shirt in the RIGHT size this time. By then, it was 11am & time for us to get a bite to eat at Chickfila. Then we hit Old Navy, Michaels & Sams. Found Jon some cargo jean shorts at ON for $1.97.....got him two pairs!! Thinks that should hold him now thru the Fall. Then at Michaels, they had a bin of their 'nice/fancy' yarn for $1/skein, so I picked out 6 pretty ones for making some scarves. Got our milk & some Debbie cakes at Sams & then it was time to pick Chris up. I really like getting my groceries in the morning like that.....makes things MUCH easier!! Think I'm headed on up to laze in the bed & read til I fall asleep. Trying to get into this Elm Creek book.....to me it's going a little slower this time than the last one I read. Guess it could be that I usually only read at bedtime & I don't hardly get thru a page before I'm falling asleep.

Catch up

Boy, this week has been busy.....but that's how they all seem. Anyway, Monday I had to get up & take Chris to class....Clay had to be here because the cable guy was coming to fix our dish. So, the morning was more rushed than usual. When I got home, I straightened up the kitchen & we did a bit of school, then it was time for lunch & time to go get Chris again. At least I didn't have to think about cooking anything for supper. We did Chinese for Ashley's BD supper.

Tuesday, we ALL headed out to Maw's for a party. Celebrating Ashley's BD & also Taylor's first BD. But when we got there, Maw said that Ella had called & couldn't come because Jesse was sick. Sure sorry they couldn't come, but I really DON'T want the germmies!! We had a fun time anyway....Sarah & the kids came down & we had pizza for lunch & then Maw had ordered an ice cream cake from DQ....YUM!

Yesterday, I LET Clay get up & take Chris.....I had been up & out EVERY day since last Wed. & I was sooooo tired. Of course, I was up a little after 7am anyway......I just didn't have to be showered & dressed quite so early. So, I enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee & my computer time. Once they were out the door & the kitchen was cleaned up, we started on the school work. I sent Ashley off to read her Earth Science & do her math lesson while I worked with the others. Michael did some practice with multiplication/division facts, Jon did some oral reading & then vocab words to go along with the story he's reading & Alli did two pages of reading (vowel teams), reading comprehension (the Singing Whales) & a page of math (measuring in inches).

Today, Ashley is going with me to take Chris...she needs to exchange one of the tops I got her for her BD. Chris only has math today, so it's a short day. When we get home, the guys are headed up on the mountain to get a load of firewood. Clay went up there yesterday & cut up a tree....now, he just needs to spit it & haul it back down here. One of the signs that FALL is definitely in the air!

Happy Birthday, Ashley

I can't believe that Ashley is 14 now! Where does the time go? We had our usual celebration breakfast this morning.....cinnamon buns & coffee. Then she opened presents before heading out to church. She got several new tops, a pair of black bermuda shorts, a purse, headband, earrings. From the Aunts she got money to go into her digi camera fund. She is becoming quite the photographer & has really enjoyed playing around with MY digi camera & she can't wait to get her very own. As soon as Clay gets home from work we will have birthday cake. Then tomorrow evening will be her BD dinner....she wanted to have Chinese for supper, so we decided to do that tomorrow night since Clay works on Sunday. THEN on Tues. we are supposed to be going over to Maw's to celebrate some more. She has ordered an ice cream cake from DQ for her. Nothing like spreading the celebration out for a few days. Makes it last longer!!

We had a great time yesterday at our annual Fortune Family Reunion....held at Uncle Skippy's house. The high light of the day for me was getting to see my cousins from Pop's side of the family (Pop's nephews). Kyle & his family have come several times & even though Doug & his family came a few years ago we missed seeing them because we were at Busch Gardens at the time. I actually hadn't seen Doug since he was in our wedding 20 yrs. ago! So we made sure to get LOTS of pictures.....some of the WHOLE family & some of all our kiddos together & some of me, Sarah, Doug & Kyle. Annette & Mike surprised us all by showing up with their new little one.....Callum. He is such a sweetie. Just wish that Aunt Vada & her family could've been there.....we all really missed them & it just didn't seem the same without them.

Need to go get these guys ready for bed now.......I'M the one that's super tired! But mama can't go to bed til everyone else is in bed.

Thurs. already

Where has the week gone? Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for me. Have to take Chris to class(Pray for him....he has his first test tomorrow in Algebra) & then do the grocery shopping & BD shopping & meet Ella for lunch all before 1:50pm. Sure hope I can pull it off. Then, come home & cook/bake Ahsley's BD cake & whatever I'm going to take to the reunion on Sat. Think I'm going to do the old stand-bys......baked beans, home-made ronis & some brownies. That'll do. I made some cards this afternoon....more cards for Jules' blog challenge. I think they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Some Christmas & some Halloween. Supper was easy tonight.....it was so hot & I still didn't feel like cooking, so it was Vitos!! Yum! After supper, I vacuumed/washed the van while Clay mowed the yard (or should I say, mowed the DIRT.....that's what the kids said. It's been sooooo dry here lately!) Think I'm headed on up to bed now.....I'm leaving 'Mr. Martha Stewart' in the kitchen making grape jelly from our grapes he picked. Sure smells good in there, but I'm afraid of the mess he's left me!!!!

Labor Day

Well, Alli is feeling some better today....still kind of laid around most of the day, but she has eaten some dry cereal & chicken noodle soup. Got her a bath & a bedtime snack.....now I think she's ready for bed here shortly.

Started on a new month-long crop at Lifetime...finished up 2 projects for that today. One of Chris when he was about 3 yrs. old, on Maw's front porch with Sarah's boom box singing along to Kirk Talley....'Hallelujia Praise the Lamb'. Isn't he just too cute?! The other challenge I combined with the cards I'm doing for Jules' blog challenge......hers, using old BH sketches to make cards with. Having fun with that one & hopefully stock-piling some cards to take with me to the reunion. Gonna go get these guys settled down now & then work on one last LO for today.

Ugh...

Alli woke me up around 4ish this morning saying she felt like she was going to throw up. She sounds all stuffy in her head & says she has a head ache.....feels like she might have some fever too.....would help if I could find that dang thermometer! I'm guessing she just has what Chris had & the drainage is just getting to her. She's laid out on the couch right now watching Sponge Bob. I just checked on her & she says her head still hurts. Poor baby!! Needless to say, we will just be hanging around the house today. I'm off to clean up the kitchen & get a quick shower. Want to try & do some scrapping this afternoon. There is another cyber crop that just started at Lifetime.....called 'Holidays:Past, Present, Future'. Hoping I can do this...only 30 days long & I've had a nice rest now. Also, it's National Stamping month & Jules has a challenge going on her blog for making cards. I REALLY want to do that....especially since I need to make some cards to sell at the reunion next weekend! Hopefully I'll have some new creations to share by this evening.

Been a Busy few days....

Thurs. we were up & off to King's Dominion....got there at 10:07 & the rides didn't actually open til 10:30. Nice day....kind of overcast which made it NOT too hot. Also not a lot of people there which is what we were hoping for going on a week day. The lines weren't bad at all...in fact alot of times we'd just stay in our seats & ride the same thing 2 & 3 times in a row! As we were leaving the park that night, we saw a SKUNK climb out of the shrubbery along the fountain there by the Eiffel Tower. It was so funny because other folks saw him & ran squealing the other direction while MY kids followed him seeing how close they could get. Of course I had my camera out too! Thought Clay & Jon (the trappers in our family) were going to catch that sucker & bring him home..........not really....but they sure did think he had a beautiful pelt.

Yesterday, Chris had classes & Clay & I ran to pick up a few groceries. Came home & everyone just kind of crashed.....think we were all really tired from the day before. Today is just a lazy day too....doing some laundry & I took the kids to the library...that's about it so far. The boys went out squirrel hunting for a little bit, but didn't really see anything.....they might go back later on. No big plans for the holiday weekend...Chris has no classes Monday & only math on Tues. so he has a nice little break. Gives him some extra time to work on his English paper....has a rough draft due on Wed.