WWKIP Day

Somehow a few weeks back I managed to come across a World Wide Knit in Public Day website.  Well needless to say...I was all over it.  I started making flyers and getting them posted and getting our little group all psyched up about it.  And...then...it happened!  WWKiP Day happened and my little group gathered and we celebrated with others around the world and we knitted in public.  Ok - we really knit in public every chance we get but there was a sense of something.  Maybe it was a sense of other knitters.  Maybe we could secretly hear the knitting needles singing as we all knitted together.

Well guess what?  WWKiP doesn't officially end until Sunday.  Ha!  Just another day to celebrate another day of knitting.  I'm lovin it!  We will be gathered again at our local library this Friday.  Wow - that's tomorrow, June 15th.  We will join others around the world to Knit In Public. 

Would you like to find a gathering near you? Click here to search the official WWKiP Day website. If you can't find a meet up scheduled in your area, just grab your yarn, needles, patterns and head off to a local coffee shop, library, park bench, cafe, big oak tree or where ever suits your fancy.  Join us all around the world for WWKiP Day.

If there’s no meet up scheduled in your area, you can still join in the fun! Simply take your yarn, hooks, and needles to your local coffee shop, park, restaurant, or other public space and start crafting. Make today and every day your own personal WWKiP Day!

If you are in my area, join us at the Bronson Public Library every Friday from 2:30 to 4:00.  We would love to see you there.

A wonderful THANK YOU to Lou Elliott Jones, Editor for the Ceday Key Beacon, Tri County Bulletin, Williston Pioneer Sun News!

A phone call from a friend

Some things just seem to open our eyes when other things don't. I think it is because we try to put things and feelings into words and we just can't seem to find the right words. I think that is where a metaphor would come into play. Metaphors can certainly help us to understand things a little better. Therefore, opening our eyes. Kinda like this..."Life is like a box of chocolates". Yes most of us can remember and relate to that.

Yesterday, I was on the phone with a friend and she began telling me about her day. Kinda funny how I thought she was commentating one of my days. Yes, it sounded all too familiar. She went on to tell me about a little story that she read the other day. I just had to find it and share it with you. And here it is...

There's a Hole in my Sidewalk
by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am helpless.
It is not my fault.
It takes forever to find my way out.

Chapter 2
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in…It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5
I walk down another street.

Who woulda guessed?

I have been thinking about blogging again. I came here today and started playing around with the design and thought...I think I will start blogging again. I enjoyed it then and I will enjoy it again. Of course "it" is blogging in this case. Just wanted to make sure you understand. Remember, I live in a house with a bunch of teenagers.

And, besides that...I have a couple of friends that blog and I really want to stay in tune with their blogs.

And He Ask Me...

If I was a witch...

I'm not kiddin. The other night, my friend Linda and I were doing our coupon shopping at Publix and me and my big mouth my friendly self started a conversation with a total stranger. Yeah, I know...Don't talk to strangers!

Anyway...we were talking about being domestic and our rights and so on. This stranger said something about some employer in Texas asking his employees to give themselves a name that is easier to understand and learn English and blah, blah, blah...and wanting to know if I had saw it on CNN. I gave him my reply and then elaborated to let him know that I haven't watched tv since 1994. He cocked his head and said..."What are you, a witch? I thought I was gonna fall out! I'm not kiddin bout this. Of course me in my quick witted self came back to tell him, "No, I'm not a witch. I'm worshiping God and enjoying my family."

I guess I am really the weirdest weed in the garden.

The Bible

Today an odd question was ask by a dear friend. That question went kinda like this...
"How do you get away with teaching the bible?"
This question came about because today me and the boys were discussing our bible lesson and getting caught up. Kinda refreshing our minds from last week. Once we were all caught up and refreshed, I released the boys and sent them to lunch.
When the question was ask, I almost ask what exactly did my friend mean. Really now, what do you mean how do I get away with it. I get away with it because I live in the United States of America. I get away with it because this is a free country. I get away with it because God teaches us all of our core subjects. Language Arts, Math, History and Science.
Our conversation went on for a few minutes to discuss passing the GED and such. But I am still a little umm...how do I say it, confused.

And now I just have to ask you.

How do you get away with teaching the bible or from the bible?

Been gone way to long

I have been gone way to long! I blogged and blogged and thought that I'd be posting forever. It's kinda like I see the girls writing or saying "friends4ever". We all forget how life happens.

Yes, life has happened to me. I got busy, forgot about blogging and moved on. Now I'm slowing down and wanting to blog again.

Speaking of friends...I saw a friend at church the other day. I haven't seen her in - ok, a long time. I have been reading her blog and I (think) hope she has been reading mine. I had no idea that we both knew the same person. Yeah - blah, blah, blah.

Really good to see you and yours!

My first coupon trip

My first coupon trip was today. Right now I am so amazed that this can be done. I am so amazed that you can actually buy $300 in products and only pay $1. It is not a joke! Oh sure...I've used coupons before. I've even saved $20 or a little more by using coupons on my purchases. That part was easy!

My wonderful, wonderful friend Lisa has shown me the light. Friends and neighbors - I'm here to tell ya...Shoppin at my house will never be the same again. Right now I'm really just in AWE. I have the receipt to show you all and I promise that I will take care of that tomorrow. Let me rest a bit and get rid of this 2 day headache and I'll get back with you. Just to give you a heads up, here is what I saved and what I spent...taken from the actual receipt...

Your Savings at Publix $230.94

Payment $1.07

I can now say OOP (out of pocket)!

You are...

You are...

so not going to believe this! I won! I won! I won!

Giveaway of The Week !!!

I so love to follow Lisa's advice about getting products for next to nothing. Now that I can afford.

Frugal and More

Frugal saves money. It really does. But there's more...

Saturday we had a little meeting at the church with one of our friends / sisters. I like the term sister better. Lisa over at her blog gave us some great info and advice. I have heard about people doing the coupon thing and coming out of the store with $500 worth of items and only paying $.19. I thought - Yeah, Right. Well I sure gotta say that Lisa has shown me the way!

Run on over there and do a little reading for yourself and see what you think. I'll try to let you know how I do from time to time.

Day Number 2

Hello everyone!

Karisma, Thank You!

Today is Day Number 2 without smoking!

A Better Job

Yeppers - That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do a better job at keeping you all posted. I think it is horrible how I have all but abandoned my blog.

One place that I have been is here.
I have also been trying to get the boys on target with their school work. JD is still defiant but nothing like he used to be. He has come such a long way.

We are still very active with our home school group and we love it. We recently had a trip to the zoo and guess what - I even have pictures to prove it. LOL Finally, I remembered to drag the camera along with us. I'll tell you all about it before this week is over. I have lots to tell you!

Gotta run for now. The boys are watching the North and South series. It's really helping them with their history.

Trick or Treat

Our small town closes it's main street every year for Halloween. If you only walk one way down the trail, it's about 1 mile long. So really it consist of at least 2 miles. All of the businesses along the main street give out Halloween treats to the Trick or Treaters. All of the little goblins and ghost and whatever else might come along walks the Trial of Treats. You can see so many adorable costumes. I love the way parents pull their children in wagons.

I told our boys that they would love the Trail of Treats. And they did! They are all ready to go again next year.

We walked the trail for more than 2 hours and the boys bags were full. Of course we snacked along the way. We saw many friends that we haven't seen in a while. I was so happy to see my cousin and her children. At one point in I was the nanny to her 2 children. They were awesome! It was such an honor to me and Superman to introduce our boys to everyone we talked to.

Local Peanut Festival

Today was the Local Peanut Festival in the little town where I grew up. Superman was going to take Granny Karen's car in to the shop and work on it, but he changed his mind and said that he would go with us to the festival. I am certainly glad that he went with us.
These are my 2 rock climbers. MJ almost at the top and WW getting close too.

This moring when we all finally rolled out of bed, it was raining. The boys were all excited about going to the festival and the rain kinda dampened their spirits. We let the boys know that we still may be able to ride up to the festival and if it wasn't raining then we could walk around. That gave them just enough to dry out their spirits a little. With that said and done, Superman and I disappeared to get dressed and ready to ride. Once the boys saw that we were dressed, they disappeared for about 1 minute and returned all dressed and ready to ride. I love the excitement in children.

Was it only raining at our house? 10 minutes down the road and the rain had stopped. There were 5 of us who were really glad we decided to give the weather a chance. It seemed like the closer we got the more the excitement grew.

The festival was about 10 blocks long and 1 block wide. I know - not very big. You would be amazed as to how many booths, rides and just plain fun they can pack in such a small space.

There were pony rides, boiled peanuts, fried peanuts, goats to pet, miniature ponies to pet, bean bags to throw, friends to say hello to, hand crafted everything, tractors to see and so much more. We ran into an old friend that we had not seen in several years. He knew about us wanting to adopt and we just had to introduce the boys to him. He was elated for us!

The boys were antsy because they had spotted those air rides and games. It's the ones that there is constantly air blowing them up to make them bouncy.

There was a box like thing that the boys went into, they could jump and do flips and such.
There was a huge slide like thing.
There was a distance race on a bungy cord.
And the one I liked the best was the rock climbing wall.

Of course they had to try out each and every one of them.

Fourth Week of Home School

We are on the last day of our fourth week of home school. It certainly has been a long 4 weeks. We have had our ups and downs but there have been more ups than downs.
WW started out kinda like this was a horrible chore. Now he is wanting to start as soon as he gets up every morning.
JD hates school. He's also defiant. As I said before, I have my hand full with him.
MJ, well he is just excited about everything. He is really zipping through his school work and doing very well.

If I remember correct, yesterday was our 5th home school group meeting. We missed last week but our fearless leader caught us up to date. We meet at Rum Island Springs, it's a county park and a pretty darn neat place. Yesterday we took a walk up the river. We talked about plants, animals, the Florida Aquifer, protecting and respecting our planet. And so much more. The kids were also allowed to swim and enjoy mother nature.

Our little group is really growing. I mentioned to Superman the other day that I had thought about us not going to the meetings anymore because of the drive. I sensed from he that he really didn't think that was a good idea. I am really glad that we discuss things and can communicate so well with each other. Ok, I'm convinced that we will go to the group meetings each week. We all enjoy them very much, it's just that the drive is 40 miles one way. But then I think about all the educational things in the 80 mile round trip ride. And I have something really great for you in just a few minutes. The boys remind me every week that we have our meeting on Thursday. I like that they do that. Our group now has started what we call "Game Days", we will meet on the 3rd Monday of each month for educational games. How can I not want to go when we have so much fun?!

No Place Like Home

There's no place like home. No matter how near or how far, there's no place like home.
Once again we take things for granted and just don't realize that our boys haven't experienced some of the most common things in life. Security is one of them. Having a place to call home and being able to actually go home. Missing someone or something and then finally seeing and being with them again.

All the way from the airport the boys kept saying they couldn't wait to get home and they were glad to be back in Florida. When we pulled up to our gate the boys jumped out of the car and were just full of excitement. We all grabbed bags from the car so that we could get it unpacked and get inside. MJ and JD kept asking if they could go over and get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Once inside we sent them on their way to Granny Karen's to get Mindy, Molly and Rocko. Later, Granny Karen called me and told me all about the hugs that the boys gave the dogs. They missed the dogs and were really glad to see them. Our boys have never had a home to come home to or pets who missed them or anyone to miss them. Oh the love that they are feeling now.
MJ and JD ran into the house with Mindy and Molly in tow. It was loud and the boys and the dogs were jumping everywhere. So silly! Then they were all off to fine all the cats. Once everyone was found and hugs were given out things began to settle down.

WW, JD and MJ walked around the house checking things out. Maybe to see if everything was just like we left it. They were really worried about all the animals on Thursday when we were getting ready to leave. They were worried that the horses would starve to death and no one would pet the cats and on and on...When we got back home they saw that everything was just fine and they were ok after that.

I am glad that we have these boys and I am glad that we are able to show them love and give them security. We are not rich in monetary value, however, we are extremely rich in love and value. Families need that more than money!

Home School on the Road

Today we had to take a trip to Valdosta Georgia. Granny Karen had a doctors appointment and I thought that we would make it a learning experience. In the back seat of the car sat Granny Karen, WW and JD. In the front seat of the car was Granny (my mom), MJ and myself. I always get the honor of driving when Superman isn't with us. But I don't mind. I mean really, here are the choices for drivers - MJ age 9, JD age 12, WW age 13, Granny age 72, Granny Karen age ? (late 50's - early 60's) and of course me age 46. And besides I am the one that has more driving hours than anyone else, since I used to drive for a living. And just who would you want to drive? LOL

In the front seat, Granny helped MJ with his sight words. In the back seat, Granny Karen certainly did keep WW and JD occupied with their sight words, sight phrases and their sight nouns. Not only did she keep them busy with all those words and such, they had to find things in the atlas. And I really lost track of how many things she did with them to keep them busy. How creative this lady is.

On the trip home, I let the boys off from their work. I did have them read road signs to help me in finding the right roads and in telling me which way to turn. Honestly, I knew the way home and all the roads, but it made them feel really important. The best part was when they had to read the signs to find us a place to eat. We were in search of a Cracker Barrel.

"MOM, CRACKER BARREL, NEXT EXIT!" I saw the sign before they did but I kept my mouth shut. Yes, the billboard announced that the Cracker Barrel was at the next exit and then left. The boys missed the "left" part. I ask "Ok, I got at the next exit part, but which way do I turn then?". They didn't know. They just so darn excited that the Cracker Barrel was at the next exit and they were, as usual, STARVING.

That's when traffic came to a stop because of construction. LOL Just my luck! 15 minutes, 2 miles later, our exit was in sight. Off the Interstate and now which way to turn. They did it! They read the signs and found out which way to turn. I took them through a couple of parking lots before we pulled in the our destination. The whole time they were telling me that I missed it, I took the wrong turn and that I needed to turn around. It was hilarious. Of course I took them through the extra parking lots to get them to read and give verbal direction and to express themselves. Really, just what's the fun in just driving and getting it done. I had time, why not.

Full bellies and South Bound. We pulled into our drive way and off the boys ran to play. Off I ran to the barn to help Superman (who just got home) feed the horses.

I enjoy days like today. The boys had a wonderful time too. Now tomorrow, we will be back in the classroom with our heads in the books. I just have to wonder what kind of a day that will be. I'll just hope for the best!

Thursdays Fieldtrip

We met with our Home School group again. Yeppers - back at the springs. I don't remember if I told you the name of the springs or not but anyway, we meet at Rum Island Springs. The kids get to swim and interact with others of all ages, even adults. The park admission is free on Thursdays. We had a great time (as usual). Our coordinator couldn't stay because she had to take her oldest son to the doctor. An email from her today said that her son is fine and on antibiotics.

We had 2 new parents and 3 new children join our group in the last week. Great people! I think the group is really going to grow.

I will tell you all about JD a little later. Ok - I'll tell you now. He was not allowed to swim because of his behavior on Wednesday. He sat at our table and complained about his work. My gosh - he only had 7 questions to answer. It was open book and the answers were on 2 pages. Ok - enough of that for now.

When we left the springs and went into Gainesville because as usual, I try to save time and gas and get everything done while I am out and about. We stopped by The Learning Path and the boys loved the store. I thought it was ok - well better than ok but I think it is more focused on Public School than Home School. There really are some wonderful things for the classroom, if you are into that sorta stuff. Once we left there we drudged across town and into the University traffic. Yeah - what a blast that was. LOL Barnes and Noble bookstore. One of my very favorite stores. The boys had read some books during the summer and for every 8 books that they read, they could get a free book. WW and JD was able to get 2 free books and MJ was able to get 1 free book. Pretty darn neat idea! I had 2 gift cards, one from Mothers Day and one from my birthday that I wanted to use to get me a couple of new books. I walked around and around and I looked and looked - no books for me. I know - how can I not find a book for me in a darn book store? Because I shop the bargain books. I generally buy my favorite author's hardback books for less than $10. That way I can get more bang for my bucks. Or more books for my bucks! I love a bargain! I did manage to find 2 wonderful wall maps for our classroom - one is a World map and the other one is the United States. I managed to get them for $6 and that was with my 20% Teachers Discount (more about this in a minute). As I was walking around looking for my books, I found a table with some school info on it. There was an application for a 20% Teachers Discount - It includes Home School. I'm all signed up for my Teachers Discount! Yee Haw! You really need to check it out!

5 O'clock traffic! Oh no! And to top all the traffic off, WW started screaming like a little girl! And crawling across the back seat and coming out of the shoulder harness of his seat belt. A teeny, tiny spider was on his seat belt. Boy, oh boy - You would have sworn that a giant man eater had jumped in the car with us. I had to stop the car and have a talk to him about spiders and they are not man eaters. It certainly made an interesting topic at supper.

Ok - now will you please pass the Xanax!

ps - JD finally finished his school work and the munchkin made a 100!

My First Home School Meeting

I am so excited! Me and the boys went to our first home school meeting today. It was great! The people were wonderful! We met at one of the Springs here in North Central Florida. Our group is the "Tri-River Home school Group" We meet every Thursday from 10am til 12pm. When we first got to the meeting, we had informal introductions, then all the kids ran off to play and swim. The adults kinda just walked around and watched the kids or went swimming. Me - I waded in the water, kidded around with the kids (all of them) and talked to a couple of other homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers. A very relaxing atmosphere. Merrillee (the group leader) called us all up to the table and we had a more formal introduction, she talked to everyone (kids and parents), just letting us know what to expect. That lasted about 20 minutes and then we were all off to play, swim, mingle and do our own thing.

While Merrillee was talking to everyone, MJ tapped me on the arm, so I bent down to hear his little whisper, He said "Momma, I think I am really gonna like this group". I think all of my boys are excited about being home schooled now more than ever. Even JD seems more excited about it.

The first meeting in September will be more formal and less play time. However, there will still be play time and swim time. We will attend as many meetings as possible and we all look forward to the lessons that we all will learn. There will be Park Rangers, Bread Makers and many other speakers for our group. We will take nature walks and learn lots and lots about nature. I am really glad that the boys are going to be in that first hand. And Merrillee is an artist and she will teach us all Art. How wonderful is that?!

Bloggers Against Abuse

On September 27th, join thousands of bloggers around the world in BlogCatalog’s Blogging for a Great Cause Challenge.
This Month’s Blogging Challenge:
Bloggers Against Abuse September 27th, 2007
The Outcome we are after is to be part of the largest group of bloggers to ever blog about an important cause, all on the same day.
So how do you participate?
On Sept. 27th, blog about putting an end to some sort of Abuse (you decide what kind of abuse to blog about). In the meantime though,
Spread the word among all the bloggers you know. Perhaps even give them a link to this Discussion.
If you are a graphic designer, perhaps you can come up with some small badges announcing the event, that we can then place on our blogs. To share the badge, place it on this thread.
Let other members know of any organizations who are involved in putting an end to abuse.
What do you get?
You will receive a link to your Blog Post from the Blogcatalog blog when we list everyone who participated.
You get to use your blog for an important cause.
You get to create blogging history.

Boys Will Be Boys

Boys! I love our 3 boys. There is no doubt that "Boys will be boys"! But isn't that why we love them so. With all of the issues or problems or whatever you want to call it that JD (our middle son) has or reportedly has, he never ceases to amaze me. He has to be pretty darn upset for either myself or Superman not to make him smile. But generally, if we keep after it, the smile will peek out from under the frown.
We are gradually reducing his meds. Today I discussed this with his therapist (who wasn't happy about it), but then decided that it may just be time to reduce them and that is just what the therapist did. And - get this...The therapist ask when school starts and so on and so on...I told the therapist that I would be homeschooling JD and his brothers. Well with that said the therapist had to ask me why. Oh yeah, I told him why - peer pressure, bullies, crime, lack of one on one time and more. Making a long story short, when I got back home and checked the mail there were letters addressed to the "Parents of" all 3 of our boys. Here is a quote from the letter from our School Board - "Please only return the attached transfer application if you would like to transfer your child to Florida Virtual School or want your child tranported" to another school (I didn't list the school name). Look at the bold in that sentence. Yeah - I know, we all make mistakes. But really - from the School Board?! One would think that they would use spell check or something.

Today he discovered spitting out the car window. Sometimes I just have to giggle to myself. It's the kinda thing a parent does when they look the other way - that's only because we don't want the kids to see the smile on our face. LOL
Not only did he discover this new thing today, but yesterday he found out that when you put the hose nozzle in your mouth and then pull the trigger that your cheeks pop out and water sprays out your mouth. Oh yes - he just had to show me that trick yesterday. Funny thing is - when his cheeks pop out, his eyes get as big as saucers. They really do!

The last couple of days WW and JD have been helping Granny Karen move furniture, take out carpet and tack strips and paint the floor in her bedroom. They finally got half of the floor painted. I don't know why they are doing it in halves but that's what they are doing. Today WW, JD and MJ all sprayed their feet with spray paint and walked across the painted floor. Don't panic! That is how she wanted the floor done. I think it is a pretty darn cool idea. I guess over the next couple of days they will finish the other half. Once it's done I will have to go and see what it looks like.

Uh Oh! I forgot to call my sister yesterday. I know, I know! Today I called and there was no answer, but I did leave a message. Well - we left a message. The boys and I sang Happy Birthday on her voice mail. It was so cute, it kinda reminds me of the animals in Madagascar singing Happy Birthday. Hopefully she still has her sense of humor and will get a really good laugh at it.

Did I tell you about the ring tone that the boys wanted me to put on my cell phone? We listened to a couple of ring tones and the boys wouldn't have it any other way than for me to have "Bad Boys" as my ring tone. Now they laugh everytime my cell phone rings.

We did get to go swimming this week. Once! A darn thunder storm came up and out of the pool the boys had to get. Today is Friday and I finally see the sunshine. That was some thunder storm. LOL But that dosen't mean this was the last week of swimming. Summer isn't over yet. The rain hasn't slowed the boys down any at all. Since we havn't had any lightening I just let them play outside in the rain. What the heck, they would have gotten wet if they would have went swimming. JD thanked me over and over for letting them play in the mud all week. Summer camp is next week, it starts on Monday. This will be their last week of camp for the year. I will finally have a little time to myself. I'll probably be lost and not have a clue as what to do with my free time. Imagine that!