It came!

I won this book from Jennifer at Smelling Coffee and it arrived today! I was so excited, I had to grab my camera and take a picture of it as soon as I brought it in the house.

Of course, the girl was wondering out loud why I was taking a picture of a book and a mailer. Hello, the blog! You’d think she’d have that one figured out by now.

And the publicist even sent along a nice little hand written note.

Isn’t that just so sweet of them?!

Thanks again, Jennifer!

I’m looking forward to a great read! : )

new hobby

I’ve done a lot of scrapbooking. These days, I mostly do vacations and calendars for myself and my MIL. Well, I think scrapbooking our Disney trip did. me. in!

I’m a little burned out.

But I was at my scrapbooking girlfriend group a couple of weeks ago, and two of the girls were making jewelry! I’d seen the rows of beads in Hobby Lobby, but never stopped to try to figure out how you do that sort of thing.

I watched the girls and got more curious. So I checked out a great book from the library that showed all the nuts and bolts and basic how-to’s and I was off and running. 

I’m not super fancy with it and probably won’t ever be, but it’s still fun learning something new.

I love the color turquoise, but don’t really have a lot of things to go with it.  I might end up taking this one apart and starting all over. That’s been a theme with me while learning about this..take it apart and make it better or correct a mistake etc. But I’m learning.

And I made this one for the girl.

I love it because she’s always wanted a choker type necklace but because she’s so thin, they never fit her right. But I could make this one as long..or short..as we wanted and it fits her perfectly!

I made a bracelet to match the first one and I’ve also done some stuff with knotted thread. Very different look, but I’m not happy with that yet. I’ll show you this unique look when I complete something I like. : )

virtually speaking

As I’ve said, way too many times we’re doing online school. It seems to be a good fit and she is enjoying being able to work at her own pace, not being exhausted…

…and she’s enjoying an unexpected little bonus…the social life. Yep, you heard me right. She’s enjoying the social life of online school!

Who’dathunkit!

Today she came into the kitchen to tell me that the girls have created a 10th grade girls dorm, complete with a small kitchen (one of the girls was baking cookies today), bunk beds (there has already been some short sheeting going on) and a huge room with lots of windows and computer docks to do your school work (no word on any actual school work getting done). And some boys have already been trying to crash the dorm.

All virtually, of course.

But she’s loving the interaction and the girls are sweet. She has friends now from all walks of life. Some in our own backyard and others from around the world.

I can’t wait for the school dance!

No, I’m not kidding about the school dance…it’s already on the calendar and she’s excited about it! : )

color a pepper

It’s that time again! Time to color chili peppers at Chili’s to benefit St. Judes.

Every year I stare at my pepper and can’t figure out what I want to do with it. This year I decided to take out a pen and write a short version of Bub’s story. (I think I did that last year too.)

I handed our stack of peppers to our waitress and she walked away with them. Sometimes that’s the end of ‘it’ and other times our wait person will make some kind of comment. Usually to the tune of “I’m so sorry for your loss” and then not really knowing what else to say. Bless their hearts. I usually try to keep the conversation upbeat because I don’t want them to be over-emotional about it or feel awkward or whatever.

But this year’s waitress said something new. She told us that her little brother is a SURVIVOR of neuroblastoma AND he was treated at the same hospital by the SAME doctor as Bub! I just about fell out of my chair. I was so happy for her and her family!

It was sweet and bittersweet all at the same time. Very precious.

an award!

 

I won! Karen at Gberger let me know that I won an award for being a Versatile Blogger.

I guess I’m nothing if not versatile. Little of this, little of that..sometimes wading in the shallow end and other times diving off the high dive of the topic pool.

I’m supposed to pass this on to 15 people but… I don’t have a lot of time for that right now. So!

I will skip the passing it on part…cuz I’d give it to you and you and you…way in the back. So consider yourself tagged and take it if you’d like.  

She also wants me to list 7 random things about me. Hmm…

1. I have a new hobby. (hopefully a post coming soon on that)
2. I am reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and it’s making me a wreck, in a good way.
3. I am also still reading Laura Bush’s book. I’m kind of nibbling at it, just picking it up for a minute or two when nothing is going on. It’s really good.
4. I love Hobby Lobby. One of the reasons is because they always play instrumental hymns over the speakers. When I want to just be by myself and think and ‘get out for a minute’, that’s where I usually head.
5. I’m watching much less tv these days  and I’m not really missing it at all. I love that it frees my mind up to think something other than “I wonder which house they’ll pick on House Hunters”.
6. BSF starts up again this week. I’m excited and a little bit intimidated.
7. I wish I could wiggle my nose and send all our pollen to the moon.

I know you won’t believe this, but this silly post has taken me several sittings to finish and I still couldn’t think of anything really interesting for my 7 things. But see #7…I’ve had brain fog for a while now, thanks to grass and ragweed. : p

Thanks again for the award!

Hugs! : )

a walk in the park

Things are going along nicely with school. We’re both hitting our stride with it and getting more comfortable. And I think we’re all enjoying the extra free time since she’s not so bogged down doing weird things.

She’s even reading a book. FOR FUN. I know!

But the other day she was commenting that things were a little blurry, soooo… I took her to the eye doctor and she needed glasses! So we got those at the end of last week. They’re rimless and really cute. Makes her look very studious and smart. She’s getting used to them and has mentioned how blurry things are when she takes them off. I feel sorry for her that she got braces AND glasses in such a short period of time, but I’m glad she can see. Now.

We got out a little over the long weekend. It wasn’t soo hot and I was we were just itching to get of the house. So we went to the public gardens in the big city near us.

Very pretty.

They had an exhibit along the outdoor walkways with those museum-like signs that you raise/open the doors and read the answers to learn more about whatever topic. And this topic was, of course, nature and the eco-system etc.

But one question stood out. And I even know the answer.

 

YES!

Oh wait..I know my answer.

Random Dozen

1. What insect are you most afraid of? Feel free to post a picture. Stinging and flying things. I don’t want an unpredictable bug getting on me while I try to kill it.

2. What is the greenest/most organic thing about you or that you do? I bought a set of cheap washcloths and use those to wipe down the counters. I probably have 25 or more and I wash all of them every week, thus saving at least 50 paper towels a week! Woot!

3. Tell me about a recurring dream that haunts you. ??? I got nothin’.

4. Have you ever missed a flight? What were the circumstances? Nope.

5. What do you consider your best feature? I have no idea. Um..my eyes. My empathy for others. I know that’s not a feature, which we tend to think of as a physical characteristic, but I was trying to go a little deeper.

6. What was the last concert you went to? Chris Tomlin!!! Loooved it!

7. Describe the most embarrassing church moment you ever experienced. Ohmigosh! This question alone is the reason I decided to jump into the Random again this week, even though life has been kinda busy lately. My husband and I used to go to a church that was very um..shall we say ”high church”. They had an orchestra and only sang hymns and the ‘special music’ was very VERY traditional. One Sunday there was special music. An older lady went up and began to sing. She had a beautiful voice. But it was kind of...operatic sounding. Lots of high notes. And we couldn’t understand what she was singing. And for some reason we both looked at each other got tickled about that simple fact. And we both (silently) giggled and giggled until I thought we were going to bounce right out off the pew. We were both so embarrassed that we ‘lost it’ like that, and we had the hardest time reigning it all in and moving on. We couldn’t even look at each other through the rest of the service, lest we bust out laughing. Another story involved us going to a wedding and the mother of the bride standing up in front of everybody at the start of the wedding but at the wrong time and letting out a loud “&^%$#*” and sitting back down. Awkwaaaard!

8. Are you a whistler, hummer or singer? I can’t whistle. I think I am mostly a singer, but only in a crowd or when nobody else is listening. I miss the years my daughter was oblivious enough that I could just belt it out off key along with the cd and not be embarrassed or hear a “mo-om!”.

9. George Washington Carver said, "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." What is God saying to you through nature today, or this very minute? That it is all His and I need to be in awe of Him every moment.

10. On September, 1, 1752, the Liberty Bell arrived in Philadelphia. What memorable event will take place in your life on September 1, 2010? Um..another day of homeschool.

11. Taco Bell or the Liberty Bell? (You must choose.) I am a patriotic sort, so the Liberty Bell. But I’m not exactly a history buff..and I like mexican food, so maybe Taco Bell instead. (although I don’t like Taco Bell!)

12. Do you believe men and women can have purely platonic friendships? yes.

To see how other people feel about the Liberty Bell and what bugs they’re afraid of and a bunch of other stuff, head on over to Linda’s place at 2nd Cup!