Wowee, It's Been A Long Time

hmmm, i knew that it had been awhile since i updated...but not that long. it's not that nothing interesting has been happening around here. it's that too much interesting has been happening around here. we've had birthdays and out of town guests, a ten year anniversary for me and my husband and parties...and did i mention parties? we've had piano recitals and talent shows, picnics and cookouts, and so much more. not too mention all the day to day stuff like cooking, cleaning and laundry that still needed to be done amidst all of that. oh, one little thing i want to highlight. i went with a good friend of mine to the ihm homeschooling conference in virginia a week or so ago. it was fabulous. the one in virginia is obviously over for this year but they do still have ones coming up in cleveland, tampa and dallas/ft. worth. if you can swing a visit, i highly recommend it. the speakers were phenomenal and the vendor area had a ton of vendors. my only complaint is that i was exhausted when i came back home. i was mentally recharged but i severely felt like i had jet lag. there was alot to pack into one weekend (ok, and my son had his birthday party the day i got back and we had a cookout for ten girls the day after that) but it was well worth it. i think that our entire family is going to try and go next year. so anyway, after all this busy-ness, i stopped to look around the old homestead yesterday and take a gander at the loveliness i found...

yep, it's summer alright, even if it doesn't feel like it here. it has still been rather windy and on some days downright chilly. but, if i have to make the choice between this and 90 plus temps with one hundred percent humidity...i'll take this hands down. we haven't even had to turn the air conditioning on yet. i just love the fresh air and hate having the house closed up when it's so beautiful outside. if we can make it into july without closing up the house that will be a dream come true. well, without further ado, i should get going. i have a mondo stack of quilt blocks to finish for the virtual bee (i am the definite black sheep of the group and i think everybody is secretly organizing a coup to oust me so they can get a more martha stewart, on top of it kind of gal in my place) and i need to start up on some beading and other projects to hopefully sell here. make sure to join me there. it's sure to be a wonderful time!

Our Friends Have Been Arriving By Mail And By Air

man, how do you like that subject line? i wish you could send yourself by mail. although, with the new postage rates, it would probably cost just about as much as an airline ticket...and no complimentary bag of pretzels. but it would be kind of fun to ride around with the mail carrier and make them carry you to somebody's door. oh wow. i'm derailing. so anyway, our friends that arrived through the mail are of the insect and amphibian nature. first, my son finally received his tadpoles.here they are in their "travel jars" while they get used to the temperature of the water.and here they are after being freed from those jars. we are waiting for them to turn into frongs but as of yet we haven't even seen front legs.

my son also received his "praying mantis pagoda" in the mail. i swear that i took pictures of this thing, but i can't find them right now. so, you'll just have to take my word for it that all we have right now is what looks like a chunk of brownish styrofoam or something lounging in a makeshift japanese swing in a mesh and plastic pagoda...on my kitchen counter. this is also another one that requires waiting. the instructions say that it will take three to six weeks for them to hatch. when they do hatch you have to get one out that you would like to keep for awhile and then release the other ones because if they are held together...they'll turn cannibal. i just keep hoping they don't hatch some day while we are gone and we come home to a hatched egg case and nobody left standing. but actually, i guess there would have to be one still alive even after that. so hey, we're good.

remember i also said our friends have been arriving through the air. well obviously these are of the feathered variety...eastern bluebirds and robins to be exact. remember the bluebirds i said were checking out the box in the backyard. well, to our initial excitement they moved in...built a nest...laid eggs...hatched the eggs...and turned into demon birds. yes, we are assured that bluebirds usually are docile little creatures that aren't that territorial but we got the renegade ones. we weren't able to check the box very often since every time you got with fifteen to twenty feet of the thing one of the adult birds would dive bomb you. we weren't sure how much damage they could really do to a person's head so we took to wearing bide helmets (obviously backward as denoted by this picture) if we had to get anywhere near the box to mow the lawn or anything. here is the only good picture of the nest or the babies we got before they flew the coop. the father bluebird actually stayed around a few days after the babies left and still terrorized us and the tree swallows that tried their best to move into one of the other boxes. he would pick them right out of the air and send them crashing into the ground. i never thought i would say this but...i'm pleased to report that the bluebirds have now left our backyard.

but now, we have robins. we have a large tree line only about a block or so from our house. so you would think that it would be the perfect place for a robin to make a great nest and raise babies right? well, it must be wrong because we have a robin that definitely prefers our backyard...on the roof of the kids cozy coupe.we were rather surprised to look out one rainy afternoon and see them building this. i guess they figured it was a dry place to stay. the kids at first were upset they couldn't play with their car but now they love that the robins are there. they, unlike the bluebirds, are very tolerant of us being around and sometimes even stay sitting on the nest while the kids swing. having them under the swingset has also given us a great opportunity to monitor them. first they laid four eggs and then we could see the mother sitting on them every day, moving them around in the nest and sitting on them some more. and then this weekend they began to hatch.this (taken through the floor boards of the slide platform) is after the first one hatched. i thought it looked rather like something out of the exorcist. looking closely we could also see small cracks and peck marks in the other three eggs. in about a days time they all hatched and by yesterday they had already grown rather big.we like to sit back from the nest and watch their little heads bob over the top of the nest while the mother and father feed them.

well, that's what has been going on with us. we're just trying to relax now that school is "officially" over for a little while. there's definitely not a lack of wildlife...that's for sure.

God Is Good!

do you remember some time last summer when i posted about this lovely little couple? well...God has answered the prayers of many people and as of tonight...she will be back in the united states to stay. and get married in august! we can't wait to see her again and cry our eyes out at their wedding. :)

As If I Haven't Been Away For Long Enough

and then i come back with a commercial. well, we've been having a wild ol' time here at the homestead and i've been a bit too preoccupied to write much more than bills and plans for next school year but...when there's something free involved, you can always count on me to slide on in to home (so to speak). so, here's the deal.

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page Jeneric Jeneralities and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

so there you go. it's my commercial for today. hopefully i'll get back here again really soon to tell you about everything that has been happening around here, because believe me...i could type your ear off. :)

I'm Still Here

in case anybody actually was looking for me. i'm a little doubtful on that one...but just in case. holy week was blessed, Easter Sunday was beautiful (i was honored to be able to cantor for our 11 am mass with our holy bishop) and Easter week was terrific, fun and joyful...but also suuuuuper busy. there were random classes and lessons to get the kids to, music rehearsals for confirmation, a consignment sale, a homeschool conference, trying to buy curriculum for next year without going broke and great friends from college coming in for a visit. and, truth be told. i'm a wee teensy little bit tired. :) so, Happy Easter everybody! He is risen! alleluia! remember, Easter is a season, not a day. so continue to celebrate His resurrection in your hearts and in you homes. i have tons of pictures to post and stories to tell, but they will have to wait. schooling starts back up again today and my enthusiasm is waxing and waning to say the least. wish me luck.

Simply Monday - April 6th

outside my window - the daylight is peaking through. i was a little late getting up this morning and therefore a little late finishing up my workout. i hope it's as nice as it was yesterday.

i am thinking - this will be a busy week with my mom visiting and all the other various holy week activities.

from the learning rooms - we are going to attempt to go full steam ahead this week and still get the usual amount of work completed while throwing in some extra stuff for this holiest of times. notice that i said "attempt to."

i am thankful for - a husband that will let me stay at church for a music rehearsal while he loads all three kids in the car for a trip to the airport to pick up my mom.

from the kitchen - last night we had my favorite, kabobs on the grill. there was beef (on some), chicken (on the others), red pepper, mushrooms and focaccia bread...all brushed with olive oil and italian seasoning...and then grilled to perfection. we also had a big chocolate chip cookie and some ice cream to celebrate my mom's birthday early.

i am wearing - hmmm, i guess i'll go with the boring workout clothes. it is still lent after all.

i am reading - curriculum catalogs and websites...and trying not to spend too much unnecessary money. just not too much. it wouldn't be planning season if i didn't pick up a few things that weren't actually on "the list."

i am hoping - for a blessed holy week for all of us. so we may fully rejoice on sunday.

i am creating - two...supposedly three...easter dresses. i don't really hold out hope for the third. that one's supposed to be mine. i think i'll go to the store today to try and find something for myself. i still hope to get the other two dresses done for the girls.

i am hearing - the clanking of breakfast dishes and cereal bags downstairs.

around the house - things need to be tidied and laundry could always be done.

one of my favorite things - is the holy thursday liturgy. i am blessed to be able to cantor the psalm this year.

a few plans for the rest of the week - clothes shopping, spanish, piano, irish dance, band practice and practicing all of my music for the easter triduum (i am cantoring the psalm on easter sunday for the mass with our wonderful bishop and i am a bit nervous...ok, a bit doesn't begin to scratch the tip of the iceberg).

here is a picture thought i am sharing with you - my new goddaughter. isn't she beautiful!

have a wonderful week and check out all the other daybooks over at peggy's.

Simply Monday - March 30th

outside my window - it's dark and it sounds like it's pretty windy. we had a big ol' storm yesterday with golf ball sized hail. i managed to get the van in the garage but not before it took a few minute chips to the paint.

i am thinking - of a good friend of mine who at final check was in labor last night. i am hoping and praying that the night was a productive one and that she is resting comfortably with her new little bundle of joy this morning.

from the learning rooms - we're getting by. enough said.

i am thankful for - the fact that the really nasty storm didn't turn into something alot nastier...like a tornado. there were a few funnel cloud sightings around here but nothing confirmed and that is a blessing.

from the kitchen - there needs to be a menu plan being put together quickly. i can't stand it when i start monday without one.

i am wearing - the workout clothes and not in a spunky, creative mood to come up with something better.

i am reading - a children's book called "kenny and the dragon" to see if it's any sort of fair for my oldest to read. she reads so fast and so much that it's almost impossible to furnish a continuous stream of good books for her.

i am hoping - for good weather today...to dry up the swamp of a yard we have courtesy of all the rain we have been getting. i went out to put some fertilizer on it yesterday and it was just squish, squish, squish and i certainly "enjoyed" feeling the mud splatter up the back of my pants.

i am creating - two quilt blocks and two easter dresses. considering next week is holy week, i'm thinking the dresses might need to come first. sorry girls. but really. the quilt blocks are already so late as it is...what's another few weeks right?

i am hearing - relative quiet except my dh trying to rouse the kids. but they haven't woke up enough yet to groan and complain...so i can still enjoy the quiet for a few more minutes.

around the house - there is tidying to be done and laundry of course.

one of my favorite things - is the Holy Thursday liturgy...and it's coming fast.

a few plans for the rest of the week - sewing, hopefully visiting my new goddaughter, a book sale with the homeschool group and a meeting for new and interested homeschoolers. mix that in with the regular school week activities and stir.

here is a picture thought i am sharing with you -my little monkeys climbing in a tree.

make sure to stop by the other daybook entries all linked together in a snappy little package over at peggy's.