Who Needs Alone Time

I have the morning to myself. Logan is off at co-op classes and Caroline stayed all night with my MIL last night. The house is extremely quiet and I'm not really sure what to do with myself. Isn't that funny? You'd think I would be off playing the Wii or researching the PS3 but I find that when the kids are gone, I'm at a loss. I'm sure glad they aren't gone very much! The silence would kill me!

No, I think this morning I'll relax a bit, finish up my laundry, and clip some coupons. I'll pass the time until this afternoon. Then the fun begins. I'll pick Logan up from co-op and take Caroline to piano lessons. We'll rush home and try to get supper on the table by the time the hubster gets home. We'll have a nice family meal, do some reading, and then pile up on the couch for Monday Night Football.

Ah, life is good!

Caroline: Outer Banks 2008

I mentioned that Caroline got at least 100 new freckles while we were at the beach. The proof is in the pudding:

The Beginning of A New Year

We finally started our new school year on Monday. It is my habit to start right after Labor Day but we were delayed an extra week this year due to being on vacation. The week has gone pretty well. We've been able to pick up our full schedule without many glitches. Caroline is a 4th grader this year and Logan is a 9th grader. The only change in our schedule has been the addition of a co-op day for Logan. She's taking IEW (Institutes for Excellence in Writing), Apologia Biology w/lab, and Juntos Uno Spanish . She seems to like all the classes and is doing well. She is at co-op from 8:45 until 3:30 each Monday. I worried that she'd be really tired and looking for the nearest exit sign out of there after such a long day. However, she surprised me and really is enjoying it.

In addition to these three classes, she will be using AO Lifepacs to round out her English credit, Saxon Algebra I, and TruthQuest history. She is also leading the Latina Prima class we started with our neighbors up the street. She'll be earning some extra credit for doing that. The only thing we have left to figure out is what to do for the PE credit she needs.

It's a little strange to have a high schooler. It seems like only yesterday we started homeschooling her but it has been eight wonderful years. Before we know it, she'll be finished with school, married, and out of the house! Until then I'm going to enjoy these last few years of teaching her and pray that she will be a blessing to everyone around her. She's a special young lady and I'm proud to call her my daughter.

 

10 on Tuesday: Simple Things

10 Simple Things That Make You Happy

I think I'm a pretty simple person so this should be an easy one for me :-o)

1. Fresh flowers ~ for the past two years, I've grown my own very colorful zinnias. I love them. I cut them every couple of days and they are in my kitchen, bathroom, and living room.
2. Having pets ~ I could not imagine a home without pets...furry ones. We have a dog and four cats and it's hard to imagine not having them all. I'm also not sure how I'd sleep at night without one of our cats curled up in bed with us. How do people live without them?
3. Having supper guests~ Love it....love it....love it. The more the merrier!
4. Games ~ We really enjoy playing board games, as well as card games. In fact, we had a great Rook game going while we were at the beach. Some of our favorites are Rook, Phase 10, Pictionary, Scattergories, Scrabble (my fav), Tri-Bond, and Trivial Pursuit.
5. Gardening ~ Stress relief, exercise, and fresh veggies all in one!
6. A roaring fire ~ I absolutely love nothing more than building a fire in our fireplace in the cooler months. Sometimes I build one when it's not even that cold just because I love watching it.
7. Football ~ I am a total geek when it comes to sports. I love most sports and could watch them 24/7 if someone would bring me food and remind me to bathe. Seriously.....did any of you see the Cowboys/Eagles game last night? Was that exciting or what!!!
8. Crushed ice ~ One of these days I'll own a refrigerator that makes crushed ice. I love it. I'm convinced it makes soda taste better! Sonic has the perfect ice.
9. Batter dipped foods ~ onion rings, shrimp, chicken.......this list could go on forever. There's nothing better than batter dipped foods. Sure, it's not good for your health and cholesterol but seriously, have you ever eaten onion rings from The Varsity in Atlanta? If not, you have no idea what you're missing.
10. A good chick flick ~ Pride & Prejudice, Cranford, Emma.....you know, the good ole' sappy ones!

 

Home Again

Our beach trip is over but that hasn't kept me from thinking back on all the fun we had. It was a wonderful week! The weather was perfect. The beaches were not crowded at all since all the local kids were back in school. We had our pick of just about any spot we wanted. The beach house we stayed in was awesome. It was three levels, had five bedrooms, and several bathrooms. The house next door had a cool hammock chair but I was in love with our two porch swings. There were also many things to do. There was shuffle board, basketball, volleyball, an outdoor pool, bike rentals, several neat little shops, and the Currituck Lighthouse was nearby. Down the road a few miles, we had access to an indoor pool, a gym, racquetball, and miniature golf. The indoor pool came in handy one day when it rained.

We all managed to avoid getting terrible sunburns but we used almost a whole bottle of SPF 50 sunscreen. Caroline got at least 100 more freckles. LOL! I'm working on getting our photos downloaded and will start sharing a few of those over the next few days. If you've never been to the Outer Banks, you owe it to yourself to go. Go right after Labor Day as rates are lower and it's not overcrowded. We stayed in Corolla and I can't say enough about it.

Vacation Update

I had hoped to post pictures during our vacation so that I could share with you all the fun we're having. Alas, my camera cord is at home, along with my ipod ear buds! In the craziness of packing the girls and hubby, I forgot many of my personal items.

I'll back up and tell you that we arrived here on Saturday evening. We dropped into the local Harris Teeter and then came on to the house. We decided to eat light for supper and just hang out around the house with our pastor and his family, as well as another couple from church. The beach house they rented is enormous. It has five bedrooms and is spread out over three different levels. It has a pool table, many little areas for the kids, and about seven tvs. It has almost everything except theater seating, which is just fine by me! It's very nice. From the balcony, we have a beautiful ocean view.

Sunday we got up, had a nice breakfast, and our pastor did a small worship service for us at the house. Afterwards, several of us went to the beach to hang out for the day. Sunday night we all had supper together. Since our pastor is a wonderful cook, and enjoys it, he spoiled us with seared tuna and a delicious shrimp pasta. Mmmmm it was good!

Monday we did much of the same thing. Hubby and I opted to take several of the kids to the indoor pool that is just up the road. We stayed there for a few hours and I wore myself out in the olympic-size pool. We came back and grabbed lunch and then headed out to the beach for the afternoon. Last night we met back up for supper but this time hubby grilled up some mean burgers. After supper we enjoyed a long game of Cranium.

I'm looking forward to shuffleboard and the beach today. We walked up to the outdoor pool yesterday and it was very nice. We've got plenty to do. The hard part is figuring out what to do next :-o) I can't wait to post some pictures this weekend when we get back.

See ya soon!

Greetings From the Beach

Last week we were asked to go to the beach with some church friends. What a nice blessing that was! We quickly accepted and now I'm writing from the Outer Banks in NC. We're here with two other families and having a wonderful time. I'm hoping to take lots of pictures so I can share them with you so stay tuned.......

My blogging has been very limited lately because we've been experiencing a busy time in our lives. I'm hoping things will settle down soon and that I can get back into a normal routine. I'm missing you guys and hoping to catch up my blog reading while I'm here this week!

See ya soon.....

Got Ideas?

I'm a sucker for cute party invitations. I love finding them marked down after any given holiday. I usually stock up and the following year, I've got lots of cute little cards to send out. I've seen some really cute Halloween invitations out there but my favorites are birthday invitations. I've used up most of the ones I got last year so I'm on the lookout for more. Yesterday while in Target, I saw these adorable note cards with initials on the front. I resisted the urge to toss some in my basket but I kind of wish I had snagged a few. They were really cute with colors that I just love.

What I need to do is learn to make my own. I could get as creative as I wanted. I never attempt that though because I don't feel very creative. Some people can dream things up instantly in their head. It takes me much longer. If you know if any sites that might help get my creative juices flowing, send them my way!