I Got Em

I got em! I got pictures to share and stories to tell. I have a whole darn camera full of pictures. It's so funny with this new camera I have...I just keep snapping pictures and never get them developed. Ha ha...I don't have to. I just plug in the cable that hooks my camera to my computer and wa la, I have pictures. But now I'm too darn lazy busy to hook up the cable. I'll get it hooked up and before you know it you'll have more pictures than you can shake a stick at.

Gotta run...

Movie Stars

It could be that we might become movie stars. Yes, you did read that right. Yes, it means just what you think it means.

This morning as Superman and I were starting to fix a wonderful evening lunch for our moms, the phone rang.

It was a television producer calling us to see if we would possibly be interested in doing a 30 minute television show about adoption. WOW - for us to be such a quiet little family and not want to be seen or heard very much of, things sure have changed. LOL

I will post more when I know more...

In the Newspaper

We are in the newspaper! Really, we are! But that's not the half of it. We are also on the governor's website too. Here - I can show you better than I can tell you.

Letter of the Week


Success Stories

To help you find us - look for Superman.

Catching Up With Alta

I sure hope that no one is upset with me. I know that it has been some time since I have been posting anything here. Things have changed so very much for me. I mean really - they have changed in ways that I never thought about.

Friday, March 28th 2007 was the first day that I had not smoked a cigarette in over 26 years. That is my official quit date. It hasn't been easy to get to where I am now. I had to pretty much give up my computer because I used to sit in front of the darn computer and smoke like a chimney. All I needed was a picture of a fire on the computer screen and we could have hung our stockings by it. Not any more - I am done with that. Been there - Done that!
Oh yeah! I still crave that smoke from time to time. I still want to run down to the corner store and buy me a pack and start smoking again. And there are days that I could run down to the corner convience store and buy a whole carton, sit on the curb and just light the carton on fire and smoke it like a musician playing a harmonica. But I just go on and get past that moment or those moments.

Since I don't know when, things have been changing for me. I think it may be because I'm growing older. Maybe it's because I'm growing wiser. Hmm...I might need to ponder on that a little bit.

The first part of this year I was drawn to read the Bible. I couldn't tell you why if you ask me. It was just something that I wanted to do, something I thought I needed to do. Get this - the plot thickens. I'll get to it before I'm done, hang on...

I talked with Superman about it and I told him that I had no idea why I wanted to start going to church or why I wanted to read the Bible, it's just that I had a craving for it all. My cravings got stronger and stronger. I am pulled by something. I'm being led toward or to this little church. Brother Andy is the pastor, he preaches words that I understand, words that I am thirsty to hear. I'll get more into this also, so hang on again...

May 2008 has brought me to a point in my life that I thought would never happen. This is my official and legal Mothers Day. What a feeling it truly is. I have my wonderful husband, my 3 boys and God to thank.

I'm gonna change the subject a little bit (sorry bout that). Our cat Dusty is now diabetic and has to take insulin shots. Yes he has cataracts like Jack. Dusty hasn't become completely blind yet but I do think that it will eventually happen. We are going to make Dusty as happy and comfortable as we can until he goes over the rainbow bridge. And just to let you know, if I talk about it anymore I'll be crying and snottin all over the place.

In the past 3 weeks we've had 2 deaths in the family. Both on my dad's side of the family - one of his sisters and one of his brothers.

Now that we are catching up with Alta (yep, that's me), I'll tell you about some power surges. I mean some real doozies too. Hot flashes! I personally call them Power Surges. There is no way in this world that what I am feeling is hot flashes. I'm way too young for that. Guess again! I have to schedule myself a doctor appointment. Somethings gotta be done!

I'll try to let you all know where we stand on home school in one of my next post. In the meantime hang in there...

Farewell Jack!

It is with great sadness that on Monday, May 5th, we said goodbye to our family pet and little brother, Jack! Jack was 9 and a half years old and my mothers faithful companion. He had developed diabetes and suddenly went blind despite all avenues tried to help him! He was in great distress not being able to see and had started to hurt himself. Sadly the vet said it was his time to go.

May his soul enjoy the freedom that it has earned.

And may he keep on "ridin' along on his pushbike honey! (Jack loved nothing better than to dance and sing along with his mama! His favourite song being "riding along on my pushbike honey!" he would start growling and lay on his back while peddling his legs! He was such a character and will be sorely missed! Sweet journey Jack!

Deer Dear

It seems that some days my boys walk around with their heads in the clouds. I keep thinking that one day they will finally pay attention. But as my dear loving husband keeps telling me "They are kids and kids will be kids." I guess that one day I will realize what he is telling me.

Tonight we are all sitting at the supper table, talking about our day and just being silly (as usual). I sit in a place where I can look out at the horses. Tonight I see CoCo just perk his head up and blow all up like the herd leader - he sure is beautiful when he does that. I mention to everyone that CoCo sure is interested in something. They all look out the window at him. By this time Shadow and Redman have spotted whatever CoCo sees. I am curious myself so I step out the back door.

I'm amazed! Not 1, not 2 - but 3 deer. Years back when I first moved to this area, I would see deer signs. More people moved in and the wildlife moved out. It was such a pretty sight to see the deer just easing along and grazing. I am so glad that they could possibly be coming back into the area.

We all ended up outside to watch the deer and the horses. The boys ask a few questions about the deer and why the horses were acting so silly. I just love answering those types of questions.

Catching Up With Karisma

We have had a lot of rain down here this last couple of weeks. I was starting to go a little cuckoo! It chose the school holiday period to literally drown out the sunshine all together. We had actually opted to take a three week break. The first few days TC was still at school so I took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed house cleaning. Unfortunately for the kids, our plans of spending a lot of time outdoors in the sunshine, went a little awry!

Instead the boys spent most of their time indoors playing video games or surfing the internet! They did however get a couple of outings in. One to an indoor playground and one to an indoor swim adventure centre. I had really wanted to go on a few bush trails and climb down the waterfall at Somersby, no such luck. The waterfall will now be a nogo until it dries out a little (you see we like to go off the trail and follow the actual flow of the water! Its much more fun!

The sun has finally graced us with its presence, just in time as we are back at school work this week. We had a bad start yesterday, which just proves my theory that three weeks is too long a break. Today we had a lovely morning though, the boys worked well and finished their work by lunch time. They are having a little free time now until TC arrives early from school as she has a dentist appointment. We intend to do a little science experiment when we get home, a fun one with baked icecream! That way we can eat the evidence afterwards.

Tomorrow I hope to take them for a bike ride along the lake with some other homeschool families. Lets hope the sun stays out! We are heading into winter now and starting to feel the chill.

On Friday, I am off for the weekend with my mum, aunt, sister, sister in law and my oldest daughter. They all surprised me with a trip away for my birthday, which is not until June, but they figured it would be fun to go before mothers day! We are off to Nelsons Bay a little further North from here, to laze around on the beach, beside the pool and in the spa. Perhaps take a day cruise and of course go out for dinner. No cooking! yay! I am looking forward to the break but also a little apprehensive about leaving the rest of the kids and SB. I am always a little reluctant so have pretty much been away once or twice in my life! LOL! I am planning to enjoy myself though! Will tell you all about it when I get back!

4 Weeks Yesterday

I made it to my 4 week mark! 4 weeks yesterday I quit smoking. After smoking for more than 26 years I finally kicked the habit.

Anyone that smokes and wants to quit - It isn't easy to quit.
Anyone that thinks it's cool to smoke - It isn't.
Anyone who is thinking about starting to smoke - Stop thinking about starting something that is almost impossible to stop.

I sure wish I knew then what I know now!

Hey Alta!

LLove from Karisma xxx

I Lost Count

I lost count of the days now. Not just the days, but the days! The days that I have been nicotine free.

Let me think out loud just a minute and then I'll let you know. Ok - my last one was on the - hmm...let me get to the calendar...April 4th was 7 days...so...March something...got it...March 27th was the last time that I smoked. So my first day of no nicotine was March 28th, 2008.

I tell ya, it has been a struggle. I have avoided all the things that I used to do. Sit at the computer - light one up. After every meal - light one up. I had more reasons to light one up than stars in the sky. PIT i FULL

Today has been kinda rough but I've made it this far.

We have a few things going on that is taking up lots of our thoughts.

1. We have got to buy another vehicle. This is pretty funny because we are vehicle poor. I mean it. If we put all of our vehicles in our yard, it would look like a used car lot. Gotta think again, so that I can tell you exactly how many we have. Our green hunting truck, there's the Dodge, then there's the truck that my mom has at her house (it was my dad's), then there is our SUV that is falling apart little by little. Ok, there's only 4 of them but isn't that enough. LOL Oh yeah, there is also the patrol car when Superman isn't working. Yep - like I said, a used car lot.

2. A graduation is in the very near future. My sister's baby is graduating from high school. We want to go to the graduation and spend a little bit of time with my sister and then we want to use the rest of the week as our vacation. So we have to plan for someone to feed the horses while we are gone, someone to feed the cats and clean the litter boxes. We have to board the dogs. Oh yeah, and now that we have a special needs cat, we have to find someone that can give Dusty his insulin shots twice a day.

3. I have a huge list of things that need to be caught up on. I think it may be easier to just throw the list away and start over.

I think that's all for now. I am gradually getting back to the computer so please be patient with me. Thank you very much for your support!

Home School Funnies

Home Schoolers you are sure to enjoy these Home School Funnies!
I found this What About Socialization that I thought was down right amusing.

How about this one Top 20 Advantages to Homeschooling.

How does a homeschooler change a light bulb?

14 Days of Homeschooling


I hope you enjoy them!


This is one of my favorites because someone always get caught in the act.
"If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting."

Day Number 5

Wooo Hoooo

I have finally made it to day number 5 and right now I want to eat my keyboard. No kidding! And if this darn cat keeps putting her foot and then her nose in my pretzel bag, I might just have to eat her. Yeah - go ahead and laugh. You think it's funny now. It won't be so darn funny when I send you the picture of her fuzzy tail hanging out of my mouth. The same fuzzy tail that just sent my pumpkin seeds flying across the room.

Day number 3 wasn't too bad, I only broke down once. I had just finished eating and was still sitting at the table with Superman and the boys. It just hit me - that urge to smoke. I mean just like that too. I put my head in my hands and said - I want a cigarette. MJ jumped up from the table and grabbed me a peppermint. What a trooper! I actually broke down and cried. I popped the peppermint in my mouth and within about 3 minutes the urge was gone. I survived it!

Day number 4 was better than day number 3. April Fools day is a big day at our house. No, not because we stay up late thinking of tricks to pull on each other. It's a big day because it's Superman's birthday. He is a jokester enough that we don't need to think of any more ways to trick each other. His personality really fits his birthday. Amazing isn't it!

And you know about day number 5 cause I already told you. Ok, that little panic attack is gone and I have survived a total of 4 days right now and tomorrow I can say that I survived 5 days. Because today isn't over.

Day Number 2

Hello everyone!

Karisma, Thank You!

Today is Day Number 2 without smoking!

And the Score Is

3 to 1 to 0

I have not smoked today!!!

Yesterday I smoked only 1 cigarette.

It's the Computers Fault

I have stayed away from the computer because that is where I used to sit and smoke. Breaking the smoking habit means much more than stopping smoking. It really means to change where and when you smoke so the urge to smoke will subside.

Not only have I had to just say no to the urge, I have had to stay away from my computer. In the morning when I wake up, I have to busy myself instead of smoke. After meals I take a walk instead of smoke. When I'm driving I have to chew gum. And the list goes on and on. Right now I am chewing on pumpkin seeds. That is the only thing that I can do when I am at the computer. I guess because I use the hand mouth motion to put one seed in my mouth and remove the hull once I get the goodie out of it. I guess once I break that hand to mouth habit, I will be able to move on to gum or something else.

Ok - so it really isn't the computers fault but darn it, I needed someone or something to blame it on. Just kiddin...

Thats a skinny cow!

Yesterday SB and Karisma went for a ride into the country. We were off to pick up some new stickers for Dinoboys bike as he is competing this weekend in the Junior Trials Interclub event. Some friendly members of our group offered to make the stickers and we just had to go and pick them up.

They live inland from where we are, about an hours drive or an hour and a half if you take the scenic route, which we did. One thing I love about cruising on the bike is the fact that you can see/feel and smell the trip, unlike in a car!

We saw horses and cows, a few dead kangaroos (you do not see many live ones near the road), and lots of beautiful scenery. As we were coming around the last bend before arriving at our destination. Something came out of the bush on one side of the road, we slowed down a little as SB knew it was about to run in front of us. I was thinking to myself, "Now thats a skinny cow!". Next thing you know it does run in front of us, and I was utterly amazed to see a huge deer (well a doe if you want to be precise). It gave us a filthy look and continue across the road and into the bush on the other side!

Wow, now thats something you do not see everyday in Australia! I did not even know that we had them here! Kangaroos and Koalas are more common you know! But it certainly made my day! Now if only the camera was in my hand instead of in the gear sack!

I told the guy when we arrived at our destination and he looked totally unimpressed. "Yeah, ya get that!" "You do?, that s news to me!"

Have a great day everyone!

Is it time for coffee yet?

Hi there Alta, Its Just Me...............

Just dropping by to bring you a cuppa, and a smile, thought you could use one right now.

Lets take it down from three to zero today....What do you say?
I believe in you!!!!!