Current happenings

Spring has arrived.  I am so thankful, what a long cold winter it was.

 I am working on a few projects, one of them is a knit blanket for a brand new little nephew that will be born in August.  The blanket I made for Jericho, his big brother to be, was pretty... but we didnt know if Sarah was having a boy or a girl when I chose the yarn, so I made it from a variegated baby yarn in pale blues, purples and white.  The new blanket is definitely different, it's going to be very bold. 

The yarn for Parker's blanket.

 

Jericho's blanket

 Maddy is doing well with the homeschooling.  Right now I would say that World history and Latin are still her favorite classes.  We need to start lining up her materials for next year, but I still have lots of time to find just the right stuff for her.  Tentatively next year she will be taking English, Geometry or Algebra 2, US History, Latin 2, another lab science as well as some "fun" classes.  Fun being the point... so it will be totally Maddy driven.  We have some local art classes, including stained glass, pottery, as well as things like Karate etc.  She will also be getting a part time job in the fall... and sometime over the next year will be taking Driver's ed through a local program.  We will also be utilizing a SAT program to help her get ready for that in the spring of 2014. Her Junior year is going to be a busy busy year for us.

In July, the husband and I will be going on our first vacation (alone without children) in 23 years.  A group of our friends, that we met online, get together every year in July for a weekend.  This year the stars all aligned and we are able to go. *knock on wood*  Its also the year of our 25th wedding anniversary, so we decided to extend our trip past the weekend and visit the area.  I am so excited, and nervous, and excited, and just can't wait, and excited...

Eileen has moved into a new place with her young man.  He is a full time culinary student as well as a  full time sous chef at a local restaurant.   Eileen will be returning to college in the fall. She is also working full time as a pharmacy tech at the state's biggest hospital.  She is a pretty busy young lady but she knows what she wants to do with her life and is moving herself that direction.  I am very excited for her.

Its a lovely day outside... there is a soft breeze and the sun is shining.  Its a very nice day and I hope you are having a great day as well.

~Regi

Hello from great beyond

Well no... I am not dead.  But you would think I had fallen off the edge of the planet with the length of time since I last posted.

 Just kidding, but things have been a bit busy and my life at the same time seemed a bit boring.  I just didnt think I had anything to share with my one or two loyal readers.  *grins*

Since my last post we have sort of settled into our new home.  Our eldest daughter ended a 6 year relationship and came home so we could help her heal her broken heart.  She then found a new job, a new place to live, and a new love of her life.  Funny thing...this guy actually seems to want her to be happy.  Who would have thought such a thing possible eh?  We have also started homeschooling Maddy again.  Which, come to think of it, was why this blog was started in the first place, to document our homeschooling journey.  I have also left my job at Walmart.  While I miss my friends at the store, right now my place is here.

So anyways...that's whats up with me... in part anyways.  I will try to remember to pop in from time to time.


*hugs*
Reg

... And it's November!

Time sure flies when you are having fun!  *grins*

I have been getting between 32 and 34 hours a week at work and I am really getting into the swing of the job.  One of the CSMs told me last night that everyone has nothing but nice things to say about me... so that was good to hear.  I will have my 3 month performance review the first week of December and also my discount card.  That will be nice!!  Things have been getting busier and crazier at work as the holidays approach.  The weekend before Halloween everything was orange and black... costumes and scary themed food and candy.  I worked Halloween night and it was really dead.  I had a day off and when I came in next there were Christmas decorations up, Christmas trees in the entrys and Christmas music playing.  I felt a bit disoriented lol.

My niece, who got married in August, is pregnant.  Well technically, she was pregnant at the wedding, but it was early on yet and very few people knew.  She now has a baby belly... although its a little one and she finds out on Wednesday what the gender of the baby is.  I keep reminding her that not all babies want to share that info right off... but she is confident her child will behave and show the appropriate bits hehe.  Boy does she have a lot to learn about being a parent lmao... i cant wait to see it all unfold.  I hope her child is as much a joy and handful as Miss Sarah was for her parents.  I am trying to figure out what to make for this little one.  My sister is making the traditional (well in our family) cross-stitch blanket.  My eldest has stated she is making a quilt, so either i make some clothes for the child or knit something.  I may just go ahead and make a quilt too... a baby cant have too many quilts, but we will see.  I found a very cute pattern for a knit hat... it resembles a small berry, pattern can be found on Ravelry here.  Also found a pattern for a little knit blanket with a waffle pattern that looks adorable.  I think I will wait till we know on Wednesday (or dont know for that matter) before i finalize my plans. 


Paul and I had a long talk yesterday... he told me he fully intends to take the new job in Jan.  Its going to be very hard for the family to adjust but its going to be a good thing.  The pay is wonderful for this area, we will have medical insurance for the first time in a very long time... 401k, etc... and the town this business is in has a wonderful highschool.  Its actually a private boarding school but families that live in the town get to send their high school kids there.  Maddy will have the opportunity to get a fantastic education which will only benefit her in the future... and its half way between my sisters town and the town my eldest daughter lives in.  I just found out today that the library there is a Carnegie library.  That's exciting!  They also have an Egg festival in July... a week long festival of egg stuff.  >.>  hehe.  It will be nice to be part of a town again.

I guess thats it for now... i will try to post pictures of the projects I am thinking about doing for the baby.

*hugs*
Reg

Thankful Thursdays

I have noticed that my posts have fallen off just a wee bit lately, and while I do subscribe to the whole "blogging without obligation" premise... I also recognize that if i don't post every so often, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a blog. Its supposed to be a place I explore myself...which let's face it... is kinda hard to do if i don't post at all. *grins*

Soo.... Welcome to my first Thankful Thursday post. Lets get the biggies out of the way first.

I am thankful for my husband, who is my best friend. <3 We have known each other for 24 years... married for almost 23 of them. We met when we were both in my best friends wedding, where I was the maid of honor and he was the best man. The date was August 12th and I remember thinking he was very quiet, and that he was way too tall. One year and 2 weeks later we were married and have been going strong ever since.

I am also very thankful for my wonderful girls, who let me see the world through their eyes. I am so, so very thankful that we were blessed with them. Sometimes I wonder how these intelligent strong young women came from the two of us.

I am thankful for us... we have had some real ups and downs as a family and somehow have weathered them all. Sure we have gotten a bit dinged up... but we are still strong and we have each other.



Paul and Eileen.



Paul and Maddy



Its not the best picture of the husband and i but a wonderful one of the girls... (We were at my father-in-laws retirement dinner). From left to right its the husband, me, Eileen and Maddy.

I am very very thankful for my family.

~Reg

Weekend update...

The weekend was fun stuff... The homecoming game was a blast, I really enjoyed watching my niece in her element. She loves to cheer and she works hard at it. It meant a lot to her that we could come and watch. The team lost the game but the cheerleading was pretty awesome.

I really enjoyed the time we had while the eldest was home from college... when she and her sister werent being snarky with each other that is. I had this image in my head of us all being a happy little family and actually enjoying time together. Forget that the girls squabble a lot... and hubby had to work.. and the eldest was missing her boyfriend... but heck... how could i have been so delusional... sheesh. All in all it was a wonderful time, we went to the game... went to hubbys parents house for dinner on sunday and spent time with family, the girls and i watched movies on monday... and leen and I went to have coffee with my sister on tuesday while maddy was in school and made banana bread. All in all it was nice (when i wasnt wincing from listening to one or the other roar)

We are waiting to hear back from the real estate dude about our house down south. He is going to call and discuss what he thinks we can get for it if we put it up for sale. I hope he hurrys... I am tired of waiting *smile*

Guess thats all from this neck of the woods...

Wishing you a day of peace...

~Regi

A gaggle of girls

Miss Sarah came to stay with us for a few days this week while hubby was up in Winthrop. I truly love this kid... and have since the day she was born. She is my sister's oldest child and happens to be almost exactly 2 years younger then my oldest. She has the prettiest dimples and when young they could get her out of all sorts of trouble.

Last night we were waiting for hubby to come home from work. He had stayed up near winthrop for the last several nights but decided to come home at the last minute so we waited supper for him. The girls were all outside with the dog waiting patiently. They wrote welcome home dad on the driveway in chalk... chased each other... sat in the road and giggled while waiting to see a particular van pull onto our road.

"Is that him? I think its Dad... no its the wrong car. Is that him? Maddy dont push me... Dang it... where is he? Oh look its a car... is that him? Sarah dont step on my drawing" Anyways it was very cute to watch... Finally Hubby arrived and I bet he was a bit surprised to see the gaggle of girls lined up and waiting on him *smiles*

The two oldest dyed each other's hair, they all have done each others make up, gone shopping at the mall and out to lunch, watched movies till they fell asleep in the living room at 1 am, slept in late, loved on the dog... giggled, fought, smiled, whispered, and just made me grin watching them.

I really can't imagine anything better then a gaggle of girls.

My Girlz...

This is what happens when your teenager helps to hold up the quilt so you can take a picture of it.



This is what happens when the preteen owner of said quilt sees the afore-mentioned teen goofing off and wants to get in on the action.



One is a drama queen and the other a goofball. Question is... which is which? Somedays it flip-flops so much that I have a hard time telling.

Post weekend...

Dang I am tired....

On Saturday my sister came down to visit with her eldest and the bf... (boyfriend as opposed to bestfriend) Teengirl had plans and was gone most of the day... but the maddster was here and the kids spent some time wandering a local beach and then playing on the wii. The two 16 yr olds actually seemed to have a good time hanging out with the 10 yr old... no fights... no screaming... no slamming doors... well until the 18 yr old came home, then all hell broke loose. *sigh* I guess its normal... some sisters just dont get along. I never used to get along with my sister either...and look at us now. So I am in hopes that eventually the two girls will love... like... be able to be in the same building without sparks flying out of their eyes and nasty words spewing out of their mouths. A mom can dream eh?

So anywho... my sister didnt leave until almost 10 oclock at night... we ate homemade pizza for dinner and played several rounds of Assassin (incredibly fun game) and then the jerks got me hooked on yet another freaking "reality" tv show. America's top model or something like that. Its not like I dont watch enough of that stuff... american idol, survivor, the amazing race, big brother, top chef, project runway, Hell's kitchen... I love all these shows, though currently I am sort of ignoring survivor and AI and barely keeping up with BigBrother (thank god for tivo or the fake version my cable company offers). Also on Saturday my mother in law called and made arrangements to pick up ms Maddy on Sunday, so on top of watching the show with my sister, making dinner, intervening when bloodshed was looming with the girlz... i was doing laundry and helping the youngest decide what she would take to grammies house.

Sunday- Mimi Linda showed up at noon to pick up the maddster... Maddy was so freaking excited and she did all the packing for her trip (10 minutes away lol) She took 3 pairs of pants, 3 shortsleeved shirts, 3 long sleeved shirts, unmentionables, pjs, 1 jacket, 2 movies, 3 books, one borrowed knitting bag with a project as well as her new knitting book she got for Xmas, 1 stuffed animal, her DS and all her games and her most important item... her new Rachel Ray cook book... "cause mimi and i are gonna cook up a storm" When i carried all the stuff out to the car i jokingly said this is the first load, and Hubbys mom laughed and laughed. The kid had one duffle bag, one back pack, one plastic bag of shoes and one knitting bag. Apparently Tuesday Mimi and Maddy are going to make up a menu, go shopping for ingredients, cook a meal and we are all going over for a fine dining experience.

After Maddy left I spent the afternoon trying to muck out her room. Her room is one of the ones we definitely need to paint before we sell the house.. maybe I mentioned already the dark purple walls with almost blackish purple trim... the list of friends in the closet and the writing on the ceiling. I would like to have the ceiling, and trim done at least before we pick up miss maddy... it would be nice if it was all done but at the same time we are working on the upstairs bathroom. right now its a upstairs hole. We are talking no floorboards... just floor joists... no walls just studs... plumbing pipes sticking up out of the floorless floor and wall-less walls. Its horrid. Hubby is working hard on it... and as soon as he gets a few more wall studs in we can call the plumber to come and start putting in the new plumbing and taking out the old icky stuff. I cant wait till this is all done... it feels like the projects have been going on for the last few years. We start we stop we start we stop... yanno? Life just gets in the way and before you know it you have been down to one bathroom for over a year and it becomes "normal" I dont remember the last time both bathrooms were working because before this era (of the upstairs bath not working) it was the era of the downstairs bath not working. Any ways... it will all eventually be done and we can sell the house and move to a new one where the projects begin anew. Yikes!

I didnt actually get a chance to pull out maddys quilt, when we finally were done with the days work, had dinner etc we took showers and threw ourselves in bed and were asleep in seconds.

Hope you all have a wonderful day... the teen wants to go driving, i want to start priming the trim and hubby... that rat is still sleeping.

Wishing you peace ...
~Regi

PS... Teengirl mentioned to me that she really misses Maddy. *shakes head*

Life in the fast lane...

We worked on the yard a bit more today, spent time in the fresh air and digging in the dirt. Maddy made another "stew" and then proceeded to host her own show about the best way to make meatballs to go in said stew. The kid is a natural born "foodnetwork" star... her admitted heros are Rachel Ray and Paula Deen... the kid has a future I tell ya.

We grilled hamburgs and one Amy's Veggie burger for dinner and followed that up with the chocolate cake i talked about yesterday. Dang the thing is good... and it only takes 20 minutes to bake. Yum!

Hubby hasnt heard yet from the company up north... I am trying hard to not be discouraged by this. I know they will get in touch... its just a matter of when.

We have a few plans for the weekend... my sister is coming down for the day tomorrow. She needs help with her Statistics class work, and she is bringing my niece and the bf. Her hubby and the boys are staying home but hopefully next time they will come and visit. We are going to continue to get some work done in the yard, as well as the house. I need to get out and purchase the paint for Maddys room, and perhaps get the good stuff for my trim paint... its either that or repaint all the trim in the bathroom, living room and dining room to match the new cheaper aka crappy trim paint we picked up a month ago.

The kids are both off for April Vacation next week so other then the days Maddy is with Mimi and Papa and the time Teengirl spends with them we will be all busy busting our behinds working on the house.

I also want to try and get some more work done on Ms Maddys quilt. She has now taken to hinting that it would make a fine birthday gift... as long as its done. She started saying this in January. Does she know her procrastinating mom or what? Granted... January is when life started its little rollercoaster dance... but still! I have one strip of border on... need to continue it around and then 3 other border strips to go... Its supposed to be a twin... we will see.


Wishing you a wonderful weekend...

Regi

saturday morning...

Today is a glorious day... the sun is shining and a cool breeze is blowing through the windows. I sure wish the weather would decide what season we are having. I am just thankful we havent had any freak snow storms lately... April was bad enough. Today it feels positively autumnish... and part of me expects to smell that glorious scent of woodsmoke in the air.

Everyone in the family is up now... well 'cept for Daddy... he is still snoozing away, even with the alarm shrieking at him every 15 minutes or so. As soon as teengirl is out of the shower I will pour Dad a cup of coffee... poke him until he rouses and jump in the shower myself. Then it will be a matter of directing him in that general direction and we can hop in the van and head north.

Generally traveling any distance in the car with the girls is unfun... you know that saying that goes... that which doesnt kill me makes me stronger? I think Nietzche knew my girls and what its like to be trapped in the car with them...lol today I am taking Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix with me... Maddy can take her copy... Teengirl will have her cellphone and probably spend the time texting her bf... and daddy will drive and mumble to himself.. and hopefully we can all get there with a minimum of stress and bickering ...

There is a family game night tonight with the homeschooling group... just found out about it last night... *sigh* I really should use a different email address so that the notices come straight to my regular mailbox... Tomorrow is Mothers day and I know Maddy and Daddy have some stuff they need to do tonight...Teengirl already shopped and if Maddy doesnt have something to give me tomorrow she will feel awful =( I really dont want to be rushing through the museum today but we will see... if we get home in time and they can get their stuff done we will go... I would hate to miss another though... we missed the last one too.

Since we pulled Maddy out of PS in mid march we have been trying to "complete" her school year and deschool her all at the same time. Some of the things we have done have been Maddy-directed... but for the most part we have tried to continue on with the Maine studies... and keep up with the learner results that Maine participates in. We did get the Saxon math curriculum for 4th graders... it was one area Daddy and I both agree we need to emphasize.. Teengirl has struggled so much because of lack of basic math skills, and the funny thing is Maddy isnt the only one becoming more comfy with math... Mom is too. *smiles* The kid is doing basic algebra and the way the books are introducing it... its natural (well as natural as 5n=5x3 can be LOL. Next year I forsee being totally different, more relaxed ... and more spontaneous.

I have spent a lot of time lately reading other peoples blogs... seeing how they do things, wondering what would work for Maddy and I... what I know wouldnt work for us... I have added a huge number of blogs to my list.. and i have been trying to read them all... I have become addicted to reading homeschooling blogs lol...

Well Hubby/Daddy/Puterdude just wandered by with his towel... so I gotta scoot.

~have a great one... and peace
Regi