Laundry

Can I just say how much I 'don't mind' doing the laundry now that I have my new washer! You just wouldn't believe what a difference it makes all the way around. It saves on water, time, electricity not to mention that the drying time is a snap now also. With the spin cycle petering out on that old washer....it was such a pain to have wring the clothes by hand (especially the ones at the bottom of the barrel) before throwing them in the dryer. And then it still took forever to get them dry! This is just a PLEASURE & such an answer to prayer! I can whip out our laundry in NO time now! And I'm a much more pleasant mommy to boot. ;-)

Happenings....

Sunday afternoon was SO nice...mid 50s outside. I actually sat out in my chair & read a bit...in short sleeves & flip-flops......at the same time watching the kids sledding on the big hill across the creek. It was so weird...for it to be so warm & yet still have enough snow on the ground for the kids to be sledding! What a nice surprise we got yesterday morning. Clay came home from the PO with several packages that had been down there waiting for us. And one was this awesome flower press sent to us from Sandee! As you can see, we put it to good use right away! This is science class, you know. ;-) Alli stuck her sneakers on & flew out the door right quick....she said she knew where the perfect flower was. So, we have officially pressed the first dandelion of the season in our new flower press! Thanks a heap, Miss Sandee....you're the BEST!


And the big news of the day yesterday....Charlie took a trip to the vet & lost his 'manliness'. Clay had called out there the day before to see how soon they could schedule us & they just happened to have a cancellation for yesterday morning at 9:30am. Of course everyone was up to give him love & see him off....Alli & Michael rode out there with Clay to take him.

Things really well & he was home by supper time. He seemed fine....just maybe a tad loopy still. LOL! The weirdest part was that he'd lay down like he wanted to go to sleep, but we got so tickled because he WOULD NOT close his eyes! Poor buddy. Evidentally he settled on down after we all went to bed....Alli came down about 6am to check on him & said he was snoozing quietly on the back of the couch. So, that was our learning experiences for the day..... flower pressing & a field trip to the vet's office.

Driving Lessons

I thought the kids had gone off sledding this afternoon when I peeked out the kitchen window & saw Jon & Ashley on the scooter. He was riding behind her teaching her how to drive. It was just one of those 'Mom moments' that made me run grab the camera because I wanted to remember this. Again....to me this is one of those 'Unschooling' moments that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. He was patiently spending his time teaching her & she was a willing student....how perfect!
I have to back up to yesterday though & tell you the story behind this......what I KNOW prompted this little driving lesson. Was chatting with Valerie Graham at Maw's party (more on that later....with pics!) & she asked Ashley how old she was & of course being 16 brings about all the driving stories. And Valerie proceeded to tell Ashley about how her dad had taught her to drive on their tractor. How he'd let her drive all across the fields & even how she almost took down the fence once when she was out practicing by herself & couldn't the thing out of reverse! LOL! Anyways.....just a little slice of Bunner Life.



Speaking of these 'Unschooling' moments that I love so much.......the other day Alli was in here drawing on the computer. I was in the kitchen doing the dishes, getting ready for supper. Then in walks Jon.....he takes a peek at what she's doing & proceeded to tell her what she needed to do differently so her building would be more in perspective. At first she fussed with him & told him to leave because she was just messing around & didn't care. But Jon just kind of kept hanging around. I started to jump in & tell him to leave her be, but I just kept quiet & watched. He kept telling her this & that & showing her what she could do differently & I realized after her first little outburst at him, that she really began to listen & pay attention. They spent a good 20 mins. or so working on her drawing together. Now, isn't this just learning at it's best?! First of all, Chris is majoring in Graphic Design & he passes down what he learns to Jon (as most of you know, Jon is quite the artist & loves all this that Chris is teaching him!!) & in turn, Jon is teaching Alli. How cool is that?! Siblings spending time together....sharing with each other....bonding & learning from each other. You can't get that from any textbook!

Valentines & Girly Day

We had a really fun time at our Homeschool Valentine party at Maw's house on Thursday. And can you believe that I didn't even take a single picture? I'm ashamed of myself!! We also fixed cookies & treats for my college 'boys'......notice I said 'boys'....plural....I do believe that we've spoiled Chris' friends/room-mates just a tad with our home-made goodies. When Damian fell & sprained his ankle it was brought to my attention that some of Ashley's peanut butter cookies would most certainly help his ankle feel MUCH better. LOLWe don't make a big deal about Valentine's around here......Clay says our anniversary is always just around the corner & he'd rather celebrate big on our anniversary...which is fine with me. He did surprise me though by bringing me this bag of sweetarts (my favorite) & the Dr. Peppers.

Yesterday, We had a 'Girls Day Out'. We did this last year when the Twilight movie came to the Dollar Theater. We did lunch, got our hair cut & then went to the movies. So, we've been anxiously awaiting the day when 'New Moon' would hit the Dollar Theater this year (because I REFUSE to pay the regular theater prices). First thing we did yesterday was Great Clips....Ashley got her bangs trimmed & I got my hiar cut. Not really cut, just a good inch trimmed off the ends & shaped up over-all. Then we met Maw, Sarah & the kids at La Carreta for some Mexican food. That's one of Sarah & David's favorite places to eat. Clay had taken me there once & I really liked it, but the girls had never been. Ashley was really impressed by the amount of food you get for the price. We SHARED a chicken fajita lunch special & it was WAY plenty for both of us!! Not to mention the baskets of warm tortilla chips & salsa they bring to the table while you're waiting for your food. Yum! In between lunch & the movie we piddled around Target for a while. Found some After-Valentine specials.....I picked up a couple of treats to put away for next year & also two really cute plastic plates with hearts on them. AND....I bought Alli's Easter dress. She had looked at it a couple of times already & I was afraid to pass it up. So, she is good to go for Easter now...maybe just a cute new pair of spring shoes to complete the outfit. ;-) Met Ella & kids at the theater to see New Moon. Perfect ending to a fun Girly/Mother-Daughter Day. Now to plan our Girly sleepover & then a Scrappy Day.

Here's Mine

Sorry the pics are kind of dark, I took them last night. I was just so anxious to show y'all my completed project. This took NO time at all to make. I crocheted hearts off & on during the day & then sat down with Clay to watch NCIS & put them all together. Ashley wants me to see if I can make a Springy one with flowers maybe.
I know it's pretty darn close to Valentine's Day now.....but if anynone would like to place an order ($5 per garland) for one of these adorable garlands to have on hand for next year.....I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Crocheted Heart Garland

I found this adorable little heart garland on a friend's blog this morning & I can't wait to give it a try. The directions are HERE if you want to give it a go yourself. Enjoy!!

Liberty Baptist College Campus

Check out this old post card I found.....not sure exactly what year it is, it doesn't say....but it was BEFORE Clay & I were there because he says there are no tennis courts over by the Schilling Center & they were there when we were there. And for all you locals.....look across Wards Rd. there....NO Target, No Walmart....just some ball fields!

Clue

Over at Cookin' Up Creations we are in full swing with our month long Clue game. Lots of cool challenges & clues being handed out. Just thought I'd share a few of the layouts I've gotten done so far. The Teasing Bandit was done for a challenge to scrap a photo that would be a 'mystery' to others if they didn't have the clue of your journaling to tell the story. I ran across this old pic of Ashley & thought it was perfect. She was dressed as 'The Teasing Bandit'.....now what exactly that means, I'm not even sure. All I know is that she was 11 & teasing Chris....need I say more?
This one of Daniel playing Rockband 2 in Old Navy was done for a sketch challenge. And besides using the sketch we were supposed to use approximately 6 (the number of suspects in the Clue game) Green (for Mr. Green) embellishments. Fun, I tell ya!

This Layout of Anna's 8th birthday party was done for a challenge about family/friends doing something together. We also had to use 6 mini brads & our journaling had to be done on strips.

Happy Birthday Chris & Maw!!

We ended up having ourselves a totally impromptu party last night. Maw wanted to know if I thought Chris would like to come over & eat supper with her & have BD cake that Aunt Linda had made. Well, I got to thinking that since Clay was at work & we'd probably be snowbound today that we should just pile in the van & go too. So we did! I had deer burger sitting out to fix tacos for supper, so I just threw everything together, baked Chris a chocolate cake & we headed off to Maw's house. David was at work too, so Sarah & the kids came down to join in the celebrating. Tacos & pizza can make ya kinda goofy!
OMG...only we could come up with a cake like this! Ashley said we needed 91 candles for the cake...since Chris was 21 & Maw was 70.....91 candles. Ummm-yeah! We had a hard enough time scrounging up 21. If you look closely we started with a number '8' candle & counted from there....six ancient Crayola crayon candles, 4 chunky little red candles & 3 votives....that all adds up to 21. LOL

Happy Birthday Chris & Maw!

Clay was sad that he didn't get to see Chris last night & celebrate with him & kept wanting to know if we could take him out for breakfast....before the snow got really bad. So, since classes were cancelled already late last night, we planned to get up EARLY & go get groceries...we left home at 6am, went to Walmart (That's a whole nother story all it's own!) Then picked Chris up a little after 8am & went to IHOP for BD pancakes. We drove on campus & I tell ya...I've never seen that place so quiet! Not even in the summer time when all the students are gone. I guess everyone was taking advantage of no classes & sleeping in. Chris said there was NO ONE moving on his hall this morning when he left to meet us.

This is right in front of Buddy & Ena's house on our way home. It was really coming down by then. Bad enough that we weren't able to get up the driveway. I had to get out & walk up & get Jon to go down on the scooter & help Clay haul groceries up the hill. Between last night & this morning's adventures...I sure hope Chris had a memorable 21st BD. He still has some celebrating to do with his friends. They were all supposed to go to Macado's tonight for wings but everything was closed. They will try either Sunday afternoon or Monday evening.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAW & CHRIS!!

I love you both big bunches!!!!

Big Mama's Big Sister

Back when Clay & I were in our early 20s.....we got a HUGE snow in Feb. Clay was due to drive up from NC anyway to be with me for Valentine's Day & so he was even more thrilled with the thought of getting snowbound in VA with me. See, he grew up in Fla. & had never really seen much snow at all. He was like a big kid......sleddding, taking walks in the snow at night & so the next day he set out to build a HUGE snowman! She was about 7 ft. tall & named Big Mama. I really need to scrounge up the pictures I have of her. Will try & do that later. But anyway....the kids have heard all the stories...especially with all the snow we've been having here recently....and so Jon & Alli decided they were gonna build a Big Mama too the other day. This is Big Mama's Big Sister. And I HAD to laugh last night.......got so tickled as Clay was telling Michael & Alli about that first night when he got there in the middle of that snowstorm & wanted to go out sledding. He thought it was SO cool that Maw came out with us. Thought that was cool for an OLD lady to come play with us & was worried that she might break a bone or something. The laughter really grew after we did the math & figured out that Maw was just MY age at the time!! OLD LADY, my foot! The kids just loved that! I love stories & giggles at night. That's what memories are made of!!