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.............