Lots Going On

Right now Brenna and I are at my Mom's house taking care of Keira (my niece) because Mom had to run some errands real quick. Keira has not gone to day care these past two weeks because of the swine flu going around. My Mom and I have been taking turns having her and I have to say, she is sooo cute and so much fun to be around. She'll be two in September and is growing so much, mentally and physically. My Mom watches her every week on Thursday's and I have just volunteered to watch her on Tuesday's. So now she will only be going to day care every other day and the days she's with my Mom and I she'll get plenty of rest and be with family, which I think is so important. Brenna loves playing with her and you can tell that Keira looks up to her so much. So it will be good for the both of them being able to spend more time with each other.

My Mom just got home and Keira is now napping and Brenna and Mom are in the kitchen making cookies. Brenna gets her own bowl and measures all of her own ingredients. Mom quizzes her a lot on the math part of cooking, which I think is a wonderful way to learn. I just heard my Mom ask her something and Brenna immediately responded with the answer of four (I did not hear the question). Mom asked her how she knew that and Brenna said, "Because two times two is four!" Who said you need a curriculum to teach kids math? Math is part of most everything in life and Brenna learns it by just being alive and being curious.

Anyways, I have been crazy busy this week getting things ready for yet another camping trip. YEAH! This time my Mom and Dad are going with us - finally! I've been wanting them to come camping with us for a while now. We'll be leaving later this week to go to a family reunion and then off to the woods we go. :) I'll have lots of pictures to post when we get back.

I have also been pretty engrossed in a couple books lately too. I just finished reading The Unschooling Unmanual, which is fabulous - in fact, I read it twice! I think in a recent post I quoted some things from it. I really wish I could quote the whole book because I want everyone to read it! Oh the way it would change your thinking about learning entirely! I want my Mom, as well as Brendon, to read it because I feel that it will give them a lot of insight as to why I have chosen to do what I do with Brenna. Don't get me wrong, Brendon is completely supportive and trusts me unconditionally when it comes to Brenna's life. But he has seen first hand how much she gets out of it, so it makes it easier for him to "get it". The book is only 91 pages though and I think if he read it, it would explain things much better then I have ever been able to and might give him a couple of "Ah ha!" moments. My Mom......I think she thinks I'm crazy. LOL Okay, maybe not crazy but I don't think she quite "gets it". But it IS hard for most people to grasp the concept of unschooling because it is so foreign and totally different then what most people grew up doing. It's taken me a while, as well as a lot of research and books, to get what it is really all about. I feel so passionate about it because of all the information that I have acquired and because of all of my "Ah ha!" moments. Most people think kids hate anything to do with learning (because of schools taking the fun away from it and not letting children follow their own interests) so if given complete freedom with WHAT they learn, most will assume that they won't want to learn anything at all. How totally false that is! I used to think that too. But everything that I have read about unschooling makes so much sense and I see it everyday with Brenna. Children really do want to learn and they want to learn as much as they possibly can - how could they not?
I'll post about my book I'm in the process of reading next time. It's called The Natural Child - Parenting From the Heart. So far it's an excellent read!

Anyway, Brenna wants to play on the computer so I'll end this for now. I'll post again when we get back from our trip. :)

Good Times

I love having a seven year old. Brenna is so much fun to just hang out with. Maybe it's her age or maybe it's just the fact that I have been A LOT less stressed about the every day things lately and little things just don't seem to bother me as much anymore.

I think I am going through a parenting-style change right now and I love it!

I have been much more laid back and more relaxed about things lately (and Brendon is sooo with me on all this and has slowly started to take this approach as well). Take tonight for example -- we had family movie night and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (great movie by the way!). Didn't start the movie till about 8:30, so that meant it wouldn't be over with until about 9:45 or so. *gasp!* Brenna not going to bed until 10pm?! That used to be unheard of! Anyone that knows me knows that I am a sleep nazi! LOL I always have been. My daughter's bedtime has consistently been very early. The past couple weeks I have not really been all that concerned about it and guess what? It has been such a blessing and has made our nights a lot more relaxing. I'm not so hurried to get her into bed anymore like I used to be. What does it matter if she doesn't go to bed by 8:30pm? It's not like she's having to get up at 6am to get ready for school!! Does she still have a reasonable bedtine? Of course, but it doesn't consume our nights like it used to. If we're having fun doing something then we don't stop anymore just because it's bedtime.
Getting back to my parenting-style change though....
What freedom I have found!
I am no longer the "boss" of my child. Yes, I do still parent her and let her know what is and what is not acceptable and make suggestions and still guide her BUT I am not so anal about things anymore. Toys all over the living room? Used to bug the hell out of me. If 10 minutes went by and she wasn't playing with them anymore I would "order her" to clean it up. Now I think, she's having fun, she'll get back to it eventually - so what if every single Littlest Pet Shop she owns is all over the place? Who cares. I can step over it a heck of a lot easier then getting after her to clean it up. Much more peaceful.
Messy bedroom? It's her space. I'll close the door if it bothers me or I'll help her clean it if it gets too out of control. Yogurt container left in the living room? At least she's choosing healthy snacks - I'll throw it away for her. Leaves and twigs and magnifying glasses left on the table outside? Hey, she loves science and the outdoors! Who am I to tell her that she can't leave her "experiments" where she wants? She always goes back to that stuff and if it's not there (because I chunked it!) then that just means she won't bother with it anymore. I WANT her to bother with it!
I haven't been 'getting after' Brenna so much anymore and being so.... Mom-ish I guess. I don't scold anymore, I give suggestions. I don't belittle. I don't treat her with disrespect. I don't "boss" her. I don't order her around. I don't DEMAND respect. You show respect - you GET respect. I don't care how old you are.

I've noticed a huge difference in her since I have not been acting like the dominant parent. She has been much more cooperative. She's been more willing to help around the house. She's been treating ME with more respect since I've been treating HER with more respect. I talk to her the same way that I would Brendon or my Mom or my friend.
I've come to learn that you don't have kids so that you can boss them around and treat them like they are less than you - no matter what age. Kids want to be treated with respect and want to be treated like they matter. I have been so much more open to Brenna's opinions then I ever have been and guess what? She has some pretty darn good ideas that I would have just casted off in the past because she "is just a kid". Just because I'm the adult doesn't mean that her opinions and ideas matter any less.
Oh what freedom and peace that I have found! This is soooo much easier then trying to play the game of "you-listen-to-me-because-I'm-bigger-than-you".

I love parenthood! :) You not only grow as a parent and mentor but as a person. You discover new things and learn the value of patience and listening to other's opinions - which is quite a virture in life.

Nature Trip

Brenna and I went on a field trip Wednesday with the homeschool group to the Valley Nature Center. It was so interesting and we had a wonderful time. The kids learned a lot about the native animals, birds and insects and it was a very hands-on learning place, which I love! Brenna seemed to enjoy it very much (she IS a nature girl though!) and we are hoping to go back sometime soon to spend some more time on the nature trail that they have out back.

Petting a tortoise















Brenna and Rhiannon in a tree at the park

Culture

Recently my Mom took out her box of things from Japan while Brenna was at her house. We had two Japanese exchange students when I was little and they both brought us lots of gifts and different things from their country, which my Mom has kept for 15+ years. Very cool stuff though! Brenna loved looking at everything and became obsessed with chop sticks. She brought them to me when she found them and asked me how to use them. When we had the first girl stay with us it took me (and my whole family) quite a while to learn how to use those funny little sticks to eat with, so I figured my 7 year old was not going to understand right away but I showed her anyways. That kid put those things in her hand and did it right the first time she tried. Needless to say, I was rather impressed (but when am I not with her?).
Tonight she was going to use them during dinner but we forgot. So I cut up some cantaloupe for dessert and she ate the whole bowl using her chop sticks. It was pretty cool and she got a huge kick out of it!
She told me today - "Mom, I want to take a vacation to Japan! I'll wear Grandma's kimono and put my hair up with chop sticks so that I'll fit in with the locals." LOL :) Oh that girl cracks me up!!!

New Book

So I got a new book today. What's new? LOL
I'm always reading something but I find that I don't really read fictional books anymore. I love books that give me information (I, myself, have found a new passion for learning!) and my weakness is anything having to do with homeschooling, the way people learn and now, my new favorite - books on unschooling. I love the entire philosophy of unschooling. Don't like the word much (sounds very negative to me - guess it's the un- part...) but the whole concept in amazing and makes so much sense. I tend to like the phrase "natural-learning" a little better, which is what a lot of people call it.

Here is a part of the book that I'm reading. I happened to find this speech on the Internet so I didn't have to type it all out, thank goodness. I would have though because I think it is THAT good. While I was reading it today I just became over-whelmed with emotion at how he explains things. I was thinking, "Yes! Yes! That's what I have been thinking but didn't know how to put it into words!" I'm terrible at feeling things and not knowing how to express myself. I think that's why I have been quoting a lot of things on my blog lately and not writing my own stuff. I just can't seem to word it as good as some of these people do and get my point across.

(Part of a speech given at a conference) Can read the entire speech here.
Schooling: The Hidden Agenda
By Daniel Quinn

What sells most people on the idea of school is the fact that the unschooled child learns what it wants to learn when it wants to learn it. This is intolerable to them, because they're convinced that children don't want to learn anything at all--and they point to school children to prove it. What they fail to recognize is that the learning curve of preschool children swoops upward like a mountain--but quickly levels off when they enter school. By the third or fourth grade it's completely flat for most kids. Learning, such as it is, has become a boring, painful experience they'd love to be able to avoid if they could. But there's another reason why people abhor the idea of children learning what they want to learn when they want to learn it. They won't all learn the same things! Some of them will never learn to analyze a poem! Some of them will never learn to parse a sentence or write a theme! Some of them will never read Julius Caesar! Some will never learn geometry! Some will never dissect a frog! Some will never learn how a bill passes Congress! Well, of course, this is too horrible to imagine. It doesn't matter that 90% of these students will never read another poem or another play by Shakespeare in their lives. It doesn't matter that 90% of them will never have occasion to parse another sentence or write another theme in their lives. It doesn't matter that 90% retain no functional knowledge of the geometry or algebra they studied. It doesn't matter that 90% never have any use for whatever knowledge they were supposed to gain from dissecting a frog. It doesn't matter that 90% graduate without having the vaguest idea how a bill passes Congress. All that matters is that they've gone through it!
The people who are horrified by the idea of children learning what they want to learn when they want to learn it have not accepted the very elementary psychological fact that people (all people, of every age) remember the things that are important to them--the things they need to know--and forget the rest. I am a living witness to this fact. I went to one of the best prep schools in the country and graduated fourth in my class, and I doubt very much if I could now get a passing grade in more than two or three of the dozens of courses I took. I studied classical Greek for two solid years, and now would be unable to read aloud a single sentence.

One final argument people advance to support the idea that children need all the schooling we give them is that there is vastly more material to be learned today than there was in prehistoric times or even a century ago. Well, there is of course vastly more material that can be learned, but we all know perfectly well that it isn't being taught in grades K to twelve. Whole vast new fields of knowledge exist today--things no one even heard of a century ago: astrophysics, biochemistry, paleobiology, aeronautics, particle physics, ethology, cytopathology, neurophysiology--I could list them for hours. But are these the things that we have jammed into the K-12 curriculum because everyone needs to know them? Certainly not. The idea is absurd. The idea that children need to be schooled for a long time because there is so much that can be learned is absurd. If the citizen's education were to be extended to include everything that can be learned, it wouldn't run to grade twelve, it would run to grade twelve thousand, and no one would be able to graduate in a single lifetime.

I know of course that there is no one in this audience who needs to be sold on the virtues of home schooling or unschooling. I hope, however, that I may have been able to add some philosophical, historical, anthropological, and biological foundation for your conviction that school ain't all it's cracked up to be.


I think the entire idea that kids will learn no matter what is so true - as long as you don't force them and push them and that you allow their natural desire to flourish. I see it everyday with Brenna. Just last week she came up to me with paper and pen in hand and asked me how to do division. I was floored! We sat for about 15 minutes and I showed her how to work some simple problems and she picked it up very quickly. That was pretty cool. :)
Anyways, I'm going to get back to my book now. I'm hooked on it and I have two more coming in the mail this week. Yea! LOL


*Another addition from my book. Came across this paragraph right now and thought I would add to my post....

From the Chapter - How Do We Know Their Learning?

Any parent of a toddler could almost certainly tell us how many numbers her child can count to, and how many colors he knows --- not through testing, but simply through many hours of listening to his questions and statements. In unschooling, this type of observation simply continues on into higher ages and more complex learning.
If the government were to establish compulsory evaluation of babies to determine whether they were walking on schedule, everyone would think that was absurd. We all know that healthy babies walk eventually, and that it would be futile and frustrating to attempt to speed up that process -- as foolish as trying to speed up the blooming of a rose. Gardeners do not worry about late - blooming roses, or measure their daily progress -- they trust in nature's good intentions, meet the needs of the plants under their care, and know that any further intervention would interfere with the natural flow of their growth. Such trust is as essential in the education of a child as it is gardening. All healthy rose bushes bloom when ready, all healthy babies walk when ready, and all healthy children in a family of readers read when ready. There is no need to speed up or measure this process. When a child is free to learn at his own pace, he will continue to love learning throughout his life.


I absolutely love that last sentence. And I am starting to realize how exactly TRUE that is. When I push my daughter to learn or try and master something, she resists and it becomes a struggle. When I let her be and let her do it at her own pace, she gets so much more out of it and learns so much easier and so much faster. Why would I want to force any kind of learning when it comes so naturally without it? Children are taught to hate learning when they no longer have control over it.

Think about it.

Think of what you KNOW right now, and what you care about as an adult. Is it stuff you were made to sit at a desk at school and learn? Or is it things that really interest you and things you feel passionate about and want to know?

Garden

"Brandi Brandi quite so handy, how does your garden grow?"

VERY BIG!! LOL

My garden is getting out of control - well I guess not really out of control, just very, very big. We harvested our first two zucchinis a few days ago and roasted them for dinner last night. Oh they were scrumptious!! My cucumbers are growing wildly and I've counted about 30 babies (they are only about an inch right now) - I've had to add on fencing for them to cling to because they were outgrowing the wire cages and just kept growing up, up, up. They have these cool little 'feelers' that attach to anything they can reach. So if anyone is interested in cucumbers please let me know! I will have tons.

I'm seeing lots of baby tomatoes too and I think a few will be ready to pick within the next week or so, maybe sooner. There are also about 5 green peppers that should be ready very soon too. And my basil plant is no longer a plant, it is a bush. LOL I use it all the time for cooking though.

Anyway, I took some more pictures tonight. Compare them to the last ones I posted! I think this fall I will build another box to put behind the ones I have now. I'm planning on making that one a 4x10. Brenna and I have a lot more plans for our garden next year, including cantaloupe, green beans and potatoes, so we need more dirt space.

I love growing things!!!

Sore sight!

So I have no idea WHAT'S going on at the house next to us. Currently I think there are about 7-8 people living there. They are renters (thank goodness).

Look at our view today! And no, that is not a laundry line - those clothes are strung over the fence! I desperately wish we had a privacy fence right about now. UGH!!

(you can click on it to make it bigger)

These are the same neighbors who went out of town for 4 days and didn't bother to have anyone come feed their dogs. So of course I ended up feeding them. What is wrong with some people???

Take Me Out to the Ball Game....

Brendon plays on two softball teams and has games three times a week. Brenna and I try to go as much as possible but are only able to really make the 7pm games - the others are just way too late. We love to go and Brenna adores watching her Dad and cheering for him. Last time we went she made a sign that said, "Go Dad Go!" and held it up every time he went to bat.
We took a few pictures to share on here....

A Wonderful Perspective on Unschooling

Brenna is at my Mom's house today having her "Grandma-time" and I was catching up on some of the boards that I frequent. One in particular is a bulletin board about unschooling and I came across this post that a woman wrote to another woman who is considering unschooling. I wish I could express myself this wonderfully (I tend to come off as rambling and repetitive LOL), but since I can't I will just share her post with you.....


Hello,

We're new to homeschooling (in fact, the kids are still in public school and will be taken out April 24th) and I'm considering unschooling - but I'm having a hard time really understanding what it is and how to do it. I'm sure you have already had millions of posts regarding this topic, what should I search for to find those posts?
Also, as I'm sure you've also heard a million times, how do you get over your fear of the kids missing something or not keeping up with their grade level (in case they ever go back to school)?

Thanks so much!
Linda

*************************************************************************


Linda,
Remember when your kids were about 2 or 3 years old - together, you explored, asked/answered questions, played, spent time together with no expectation of "visible" learning to happen - it was just living loving Being...no quizzes, no "standards of learning", no grade levels. It was a given that they'd develop in things like walking, talking, eating with
a spoon and fork, etc in their own way, at their own time. Project that forward...that's unschooling. To paraphrase a song (Tae Kwon Leep by the Frantics) Unschooling is not a road to a door but a path leading ever on to the horizon. When you let go of the idea that there actually is something they might miss or that there is something called a grade level, then there's nothing to fear from them - in order to have a level or to 'miss' something, there has to be the idea that there is a fixed package of something that is required or necessary. If I need 2 eggs to bake a cake and I only have one, I'm "missing" an egg. Ponder on the thought that EVERY college has remedial classes in reading, writing, math. 98% of all people entering college went to institutional schools, they weren't homeschooled or unschooled. So, seems to me, even IF a kid goes straight through public school, they may still end up needing something if they choose to go to college, they've "missed" something. Heck, there are probably things you know that I don't and vice versa - did one of us "miss" something? Is there something "wrong" with that? Or, rather, are we different people with different interests who held
onto those things that were of interest and/or useful to us. Also, schooling has us trained to believe (a) there is indeed a set packet of information bits that every person must absorb (b) that information is an end in itself. They are both incorrect. Does every person need calculus, physics, German, Asian history? Nope. Literacy and numeracy (reading, writing, arithmetic) are TOOLS just like a food processor or a hammer. And, in some cases, those tools are just one way to proceed with a task. A century ago, information was transmitted on the printed page and by word of mouth. That was pretty much all you had. Reading was important. If you wanted to know what happened in the Civil War, you read a book, and maybe (back then) tracked down those "old guys" in your town who were there and talked to them about it. Now, can't find Civil War vets around to talk to (unless you know some folks who are over 140 years old). And, yes, books about it still exist (and continue to be written). But, that's not it - you've got documentary films, websites full of photos, those same books on CD/tape...you can see and hear the information, not just read it.

As far as the fear of missing something or not keeping up (keeping up to what?) just in case they have to go back...do you continually base your life in general on fear? Your kids might not live past next week, you might not live past next week. Do you want to base your decisions today on a fear of something that may or may not happen a year or 5 from now?
That's a great way to suck the joy from today when you have your kids right with you. Carpe diem.

Deb R

On a YouTube Kick!

Okay, okay - so bear with me. LOL Rhiannon has been here for a few hours playing with Brenna today (and they are caught up in the fictional world of Littlest Pet Shop) so I have submerged myself into the "YouTube World" and have been engrossed in watching lots of videos on homeschooling. I have come across some very interesting things and could not help myself in posting this video. Second one of the day. Will there be more? Depends on if something strikes me as post-worthy. Doesn't mean you have to watch them. :) LOL Some might find them as intriguing as I do.



Here are the comments from this video. I thought they were post-worthy as well....

murfmama2020 (2 weeks ago) Right on, John Taylor Gatto.

Draddle (3 months ago) Exactly why i want to start homeschooling my children.
After watching zeitgeist and researching it we believe that its best not to leave the education of our children in the government.
Thanks alot for the video.

apriltx (11 months ago) Exactly why I homeschool!

greatcthulu (1 year ago) You kick ass.

TheeLogician (1 year ago) I agree with you. I hope you continue to post videos. God Bless

seh97001 (1 year ago) Adults endure it too, but they shouldn't. And you are totally right.

toughmutts (1 year ago) As a homeschooling parent, I totally agree with you! We want our children to love to learn, explore and QUESTION what we know. We want our kids to play, grow, and think for themselves! Right on!

ijamsville97 (1 year ago) The public school system was created to make our children into compliant, obedient worker bees to serve the exploitative, destructive capitalist machine and to NEVER shake the cage and demand the changes our world so desperately needs! Rock-on Koolvedge, continue to sing the truth from the rooftops.. I hope that more people will listen.

hamstergeisha76 (1 year ago) Right on mister!

(Another video from the same guy)

Video on Unschooling

I really like Dayna Martin and the way that she talks about unschooling. I've posted a video of her before and here's another for anyone that's interested in what we are doing right now.....

One Little Boy by Helen E. Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

*A note from me: I not only see teachers as doing things like this but parents too. Let your children be free spirits and do things the way that THEY want to. Nothing is 'right' or 'wrong' - everyone is different - it's all the way people perceive things. I view my child as her own little individual self, who has her own ideas and ways of doing things. I don't force my opinions and ways of doing things on her. She's creative in her approches to everything and I don't taint that with my own thoughts and compulsions. Do I make suggestions? Yes. But I let her be who she is and I don't mess with that.

Fun in San Antonio

Last weekend we went to San Antonio for Smitty's 90th birthday party. It was so nice and we all had a great time. Brendon and Lisa worked really hard and put together a slide show of pictures. Seeing all of those old pictures and Smitty as a young man was quite impressive and very neat. Since Brenna's birthday was only two days away Dea Jae bought her a little cake and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her too. It's hard to believe that she's already 7! And what a great kid she is too!

The day after Smitty's party Brendon, Brenna and I went to Sea World. See me sitting in a wheelchair? Being the big klutz that I am, I sprained my ankle the day before (that's what I get for wearing shoes with heels!) but I did not want to disappoint Brenna by not going. So we rented a wheel chair and I got pushed around all day. It was quite aggravating not being able to walk but it was kinda nice being wheeled around all day by Brendon. LOL Brenna got a few rides in my lap and she thought that was pretty cool.

Tonight we are going to Jake and Mieree's for dinner and a moonlight Easter egg hunt. The girls are going to hunt eggs using a flashlight so that should be loads of fun! I'm sure I'll have pictures to post of that later.

Grow little vegetables!

Our garden is growing beautifully and is finally starting to produce some vegetables. We have a couple tiny tomatoes and Brenna is amazed at how the flowers turn into vegetables. Our zucchini plants have such pretty blooms on them right now and you can see the little zucchinis sprouting at the bottom of the flowers. We have used our basil quite a few times for cooking and it adds such wonderful flavor. I have TONS if anyone wants some.
Here's a few pictures that I took this morning. I can't wait to start harvesting and eating our home-grown veggies!

(Our first tiny tomato)

(Zucchini and tomatoes)

(The wooden sign from my Grandpa's garden is hanging on the cage)

Amusing

Here's a conversation I overheard today between Brenna and her friend that lives in the neighborhood....

Friend: "So did you do any school work today?"

Brenna: "Well I did some fun stuff today that I also learned from, like writing and spelling. That's what me and Mom do. We have fun learning. I've learned a lot that way."

Friend: "Learning isn't supposed to be fun. I think that's illegal."


Oh geez, I really had to keep from cracking up when I heard that one!

Creativity and Fun!

The other day Brenna decided to get creative with styrofoam plates. She made a bunch of masks and wrote a play using them. I took a few pictures to share. She had such a great time!

************************************************************************************************************************

Today Rhiannon is over here playing. Those girls are so crazy and so silly when they get together. Tonight Brenna is having a sleep over at Rhiannon's house. You would have thought they were going to Disney World when Mieree told them. LOL

Livestock Show

We went to the livestock show yesterday and had such a great time. Brenna went to her very first rodeo and saw bronc riding, barrel racing, calf roping and bull riding. The whole thing lasted about two hours and apparently Brenna was not all that impressed. LOL I loved it and so did Brendon but she did not think that grown men riding crazy, wild animals was all that impressive. After the rodeo we went to the carnival and of course that was more her thing. We always get her a bracelet and she rides whatever she wants. They had lots of fun houses there and Brendon and I just kinda hung out while she went through them over and over and over.
I took a bunch of pictures and posted a few of them. There are not any pictures of animals because it was the last day and most of them were gone already. The last day is terrible for most of the kids because they have to get rid of their animals. I remember having to load up my pigs and my steer on the big trucks and I bawled my eyes out every single time - especially with my steer. You try not to get attatched to them because you know you can't keep them but sometimes you just can't help it.

Anyway, here's a few pictures....

Spring Break

This past week was pretty fun and we did some cool stuff. Brenna had her friend from basketball over on Tuesday and she was here all day. They had such a great time and got along wonderfully. I talked to her Mom and I think we will start picking her up from school one day a week so that her and Brenna can play for a couple hours.
Thursday Brenna and I went to the museum with Mieree and Rhiannon. They had the "Grossology" theme and I tell you what - it was disgusting! They had fart machines, name-that-smell (yep, use your imagination! I'm sure what you're thinking is right on! LOL), a rock wall that looked like skin with moles and pimples and warts as the 'rocks' you climb on. They had a play area for the kids that looked like the digestive system. The kids went through the mouth, up a ladder, then slid down the esophagus slide, into the stomach and then had to crawl through the large and small intestines to get out. LOL Oh this place was GREAT! Brenna learned so much too. They had things written everywhere and even had a pretend game show set up that asked questions about the stuff there. We are definitely going back with Brendon! Of course I forgot my camera - realized it as soon as we got there. I will remember it for next time and post some then.

Anyways, I have not posted any pictures of my garden! Brenna and I worked on it yesterday and laid some mulch down. The mulch helps with weeds and keeps the dirt from drying out so fast and it also prevents the vegetables from laying in the dirt and rotting. It really helps around the basil and the thyme because my herbs aren't touching the dirt at all. Right now we have 4 cucumber plants, 5 tomato plants, 2 zucchini, 5 pepper, 3 garlic, basil and thyme. I also bought some marigolds and planted them because they are natural insect repellents and they also look pretty and add a bit of color.
I took a picture of Brenna laying some mulch. It was evening so there were lots of shadows. (You can click on the pictures and make them bigger.)
Tomorrow Brendon, Brenna and I will be going to the livestock show so I'll post about that this week and hopefully have some good pictures.