Cake anyone?

Yarn cake that is. :-) Thanks to Becca for winding my yarn into such cute little cakes for me. On the bottom is Socks That Rock in colorway Fairgrounds. I've been wanting to try this yarn for some time now. I just LOVE it. I cannot wait to knit it up into a pair of socks. On the top, is Lorna's Laces color 630 Bittersweet. It's pretty bright, but I got it for super cheap. The lighting is off in the picture. I assure you it's not quite THAT bright. :-) It'll make a really fun pair of girlie socks, eh? I have finished a sock this week. I am hoping to cast on for the second tomorrow at the park. I also need to make a hat for my sweet dh. He asked me about it the other day. In my defense, I haven't been knitting much. I'll get right on it though. :-)

We're finishing up our school work for the summer. I bought a couple of bridge books for Mikayla to work on in NY. I don't think it'll be good for her to take much time off. She does better with repitition. All the kids have finished their math books. Yee-haw! Mikayla is finishing up her phonics book. She has about 40 lessons left in Language. She'll finish that in NY. Devin is working on finishing his English and Science, then we're DONE! Well, except for history. We'll continue that into the next school year. No biggie there.

Here's some fun pics I took of a couple of the kids today. I looked out the front door, and saw this:

I was bout to go nuts.....until I realized the damage was already done. HA! I figured I might as well let them run with it. So, I grabbed the camera. They'll make for some cute pics for Mike to hang on his wall, I'm sure. lol. I must admit, they did a GREAT job cleaning up after themselves. They rinsed every ounce of mud off their cute little bodies before they came in the house. Until next time..............

High-way Robbery

Mike called me this morning. Yee-haw! :-) He called using a calling card someone sent him. It was a 1000 minute AT&T calling card. Know how many minutes it converted to? 90. I am not kidding. You read that right. I'm hoping it was a fluke, and there will be more minutes on it the next time he calls. Highway robbery, I tell ya. I'm sure I'll be calling AT&T to complain soon anyway. They called me last night to tell me they were unable to bill me for the collect call on my birthday, so they needed my name and address. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't give it to them? HA! Don't worry....I'll make sure I'm sitting down when I open the bill. Until next time..........

The Year of the Two-Hour Delay

That's what I've deemed the title of this year or so that Mike is gone to be. Seems we're always running on a two-hour delay. We get up two hours later than when he's here, we eat lunch atleast an hour and a half later, dinner is 2 hours later, and bed-time is sadly, probably more than 2 hours later. Most times, I don't care. Sometimes, I do. Today would not be one of them. HA! :-) It will make it hard for us to transition into Mike being home, but that's so far off, I don't even need to think about it yet. I guess I kind of get into survival mode when I'm an acting single parent. I crave time to myself, hence the late bed-time. I try to get the kids to bed about 9:30, but it seems it takes an act of congress to get them there lately. It gets dark so late now, they want to play outside until the last possible minute. Kind of hard to get them to bed at 9 when they're out until 8-8:30. I am usually up for 3-4 hours after the kids are sleeping. Three to four hours of bliss....quiet. :-) I use that time to watch my DVRed TV programs, knit, scrap, or play on the computer. Since I'm up so late, it's hard to get up. But, I really don't care. I am doing the best that I can to run things smoothly while Mike is gone. Some might not think this is the right way, but it's working well for us so far. :-) I should mention, next month when we're in NY, our schedule will change yet again. :-)
Tomorrow is field day with a local homeschool group. They have a used curriculum sale too. I have a stack of books on my bed right now that need to be priced. I'm hoping to sell most of it. I really need to clear some room of my shelves. The kids are looking foward to it. There will be game, a picnic lunch and a pool to swim in. Right now, I have to bring a dinner to church for someone I don't even know. I hope they enjoy it. :-) Until next time..............

Happy Birthday to Me!

I bought new phones the other day. We now have an answering machine. I haven't recorded a message on it yet, but the phone has obviously been returned by someone else.....there was already a message on it, and the only instruction manual was in spanish. HA! So, dh called collect this morning to wish me happy birthday. I'm having major modem issues, so he couldn't get through. He called my Dad in a panic. Here's how the conversation went:

Mike: Did Ang change our phone number?

Dad: I don't think so, but let me check.

Mike: This is the number I called......

Dad: No, that's still the right one.

Mike: An answering machine picked up. We don't have an answering machine. It was a MAN'S voice on the recording!!!!!

Dad: Maybe she's out shopping!

Too funny. He said he was in a bit of panic until he got through to me. lol. Then he assured me, he was rather certain I wasn't out shopping.....it was only 8:30am. lol. I'm sure it'll be the most expensive birthday wish I'll ever get, but that's OK....it's worth it. :-)
Check out this Tim McGraw song. He performed it on the ACMs last night. I'm not even sure if it's been recorded. I'll warn you....I cried buckets....http://youtube.com/watch?v=j7ixC-LYDGc
. I'll be buying that CD when it comes out, that's for sure. I love Tim. I've seen him in concert a couple of times. One of these days I"ll make it to a Soul2Soul concert. :-)
Mike is doing well. He's traveling a bit this week, which I hate. He had to fly via chopper to some other FOB, in the middle of the night. They dropped him off at the new FOB and flew away. He had no idea where he was supposed to go, and he was the only person who got off the bird. He thought to himself, "there are 360 degrees in a circle. Which degree should I choose to walk?" lol. He finally found a shack with some people in it. Of course, they did'nt know anything about his class, but they sent it on a mission to find someone who might know. By time he found his class, he was 30 minutes late. He hates to be late. lol
The kids are baking me a cake. What a mess. HA! :-) We're going to Outback for dinner. Yumm-o. Did I mention this is the 3rd birthday in a row I've spent without Mike? He'll be gone for my next birthday too. Sigh. I will just be thankful that he'll only miss one round of the kids birthdays, eh? Until next time........

Flowers

Look what was delivered to me today! I knew Devin had something up his sleeve, I just didn't know for sure what it was. :-) He called my Mom last night to talk to her about something. He was rather upset when he was done. Something about his idea wouldn't work 'cause he didn't have a credit card. lol. Mom called him first thing this morning. Very strange when she calls for one of the kids when she's at work, so I knew something was brewing. Devin is so very sensitive. Mother's Day and my birthday are big deals in our house. I get breakfast in bed every Mother's Day. Mike takes all of the kids out shopping for both events. So, I should have known that Devin would have a difficult time doing this. Last time Mike was deployed we lived with my parents, so Devin had help. He tries so hard to do the things that Mike can't do because he isn't here. Oh, by the way.....I did get cards for both events from Mike already. I can't believe they got here in time. He doesn't even know what day of the week it is, much less the date! HA! I tried to tell him last night that I'm just thankful that I am here with my family, and a dinner at Outback on my birthday would be enough, but that didn't fly. Gee....I wonder where he gets that from? :-) Even though he's a teenager, and I'm a much better parent to toddlers, I just love that boy. :-) Here's some more pictures of my beautiful flowers. By the way, I need to ask Mom how much I owe her now. HA!

Aren't they so pretty! I just love 'em. Oh, I should tell you the funny thing the delivery guy said. As I was standing at the door trying to get my flowers, Milo was trying to escape. Drives me nuts that he does that. But, often times, there isn't anyone to hold him back in the living room to make sure he doesn't run to the door. Anyway, he snuck his way past my foot and ran up to the delivery man to sniff him out. I told the guy not to worry, he won't bite. His response? "It's OK. I have a fake leg, so he only has a 50/50 chance of biting the right now. " Crack.me.up. :-)

Oh, I got some yummy, yummy yarn in the mail today. I'll give you a hint. STR are the initials. :-) I'll share that later. Also, I'm turning the heel on a sock using some yummy yarn I have previously blogged about. You'll see photos soon. Until next time...........

Teacher In-Service Day

That's what I'm calling it today. Other-wise knows as, I need a break. We've not had a day off since Mike left. Well, except for Fridays, but that doesn't count. We take every Friday off, but it's park day. So, we're only home in the morning. I need a day to do nothing. I'll have the girls do spelling and language, but that's it. Devin is going to have an experiment day. He needs to do a few experiments to get caught up in science. He was waiting for me to get the supplies. Vinegar and a couple of red cabbage leaves. You should have seen the look on the Wal-mart cashier's face when she saw my 2 red cabbage leaves in the baggie. Seven cents worth. HA! :-)
Knitting....I just wanna knit. I don't want to pick a pattern, I don't even want to think about it. Last night, I cast on and knitted a toe for a toe-up sock. I had a pair of socks started for Mikayla, but hated them. So, I ripped them out and started a sock for me with some yummy yarn. After I finished the toe, I broke out my sock books to choose a pattern. Can you believe I could not choose one? Ugh. So, I'm just going to do a plain foot. Maybe by time I turn the heel I'll feel like choosing a pattern. My indecisiveness is a result of deployment. I'm sure of it. Emotionally, this has been a much toughter deployment for me. I'm not sure why. He's been gone for 2 months....I should have that numb feeling by now, and I don't. So, for now, I"ll just knit. :-) Until next time................

Knitting News

Can you believe I cast on about 3 different socks today, only to rip them back out because I just couldn't get into them? Hmph. I hate it when I have creative block. :-) However, I have officially started the decreases on the second sleeve to the Girlfriend Shrug. So, there is an end in site! :-) I'll share some photos soon. I have new yarn on the way. I cannot wait to get it. Hopefully I'll feel inspired once it comes.
Oh, I got to IM with my husband today. I think the lack of communication has been the most difficult thing for me to deal with this deployment. I hate it. Last time, we were able to talk on the phone a few times a week, and IM nearly everyday, sometimes twice a day. This time? Not so much. I consider myself blessed if I talk on the phone with him once a week. Most times, it's been once every two weeks. I do usually get to IM a couple of times a week, but not always. Last week, it was only once. He is supposed to be getting the internet in his room by Friday. Hopefully I"ll get to chat with him more then. Time will tell. We were able to share some photos on Yahoo while we were chatting, which was very nice. He has e-mailed me a few pics, but it takes him about two hours to send them. Yikes! So, photosharing is a great thing.
This week should be more relaxed than last week. I hope it is. Apparantley I've been a grump....my Mom asked me if I wanted to go to NY now. Ummmmm....no thanks. July and August is plenty long enough, thank you very much. :-) Until next time................

A few of my favorite pictures

Since my dh is deployed, I often have to think about things that make me happy, or my mood is horrible. Gee, I wonder why? :-) I uploaded some pictures to my computer a couple of days ago. Here are a few of my favorites. I need to print them and put them next to my bed, since they make me smile when I look at them. :-)

#1....Benjamin. He's at the very interesting age of 5. I must admit, I'm so glad he's not w.h.i.n.e.y. like Devin was when he was 5. Instead, Benjamin is mean. Really mean. Mostly to his siblings and I. Rarely to people outside our family, which I guess is a good thing. :-) He is still very sweet though. When he says something that is hurtful, I tell him that his words just hurt my heart. Most times, his reply is, "I don't care." A few minutes later, he'll walk by and rub my arm, or give me a gigantic bear hug before he runs off. That's his way of letting me know he still loves me. He'll outgrow the mean stage, I'm sure.....but I'm glad he can be sweet some of the time. :-) I snapped this picture during read-aloud time one night. We were anxiously awaiting the end of August Ceasar's World....we had been reading it forever and a day. So, one night, we decided we were going to finish it no matter how long it took. Apparantly it took too long......what you don't see is, Liberty was doing the same thing......

#2...We went to see Disney On Ice in April. We had so much fun. Here's my favorite picture from the day. Liberty is going through a phase where she makes funny faces every time I bring out the camera. Gee...I wonder where she learned that from?

#3.....We went to the Montgomery Zoo with our homeschool group this week. We love the zoo. We've been to three different zoos this year, with a total of 5 visits. We never tire of it. I think collectively, the monkey exhibit would be our favorite. :-) I just love this picture of Liberty. She's never been very photogenic, so it's hard to get a really great picture of her. Even when she was a baby. As soon as I would click the shutter button, she would move her hand in front of her face, do something funky with her lips, etc. I just love this outfit she's wearing too. As soon as I saw it at Old Navy, I had to buy it. Too cute. She's growing up so fast. She's never been an easy child, but she is so much fun. She crackes me up all.the.time. Isn't she just adorable? :-)

#4......Mikayla got her hair-cut this week. Mike still doesn't know. She has so much baby hair still, whenever we put it up, she ended up with horrible fly-aways. So, she wanted it cut. I took her to a fancy-shmancy kids hair salon. Pig-tails and Crew-cuts. She loves it. I snapped this picture as she was reading one of the signs at the zoo. The road to reading was so long for her. I'm so proud of her.

So, there they are.....a few of my favorite pictures. Until next time............

Welcome!

I've been blogging over at homeschoolblogger for a few months now. I've decided to switch to blogger! It'll take me a bit to get used the new format, but I must say, it's so much easier than my previous home! :-) Until next time.............