My morning routine

I'm not a morning person. Way back when I worked for an actual paycheck, I had to haul myself out of bed at dark-thirty, stumble through a shower and getting ready, and head off to the office or classroom. Mr. at Home learned fairly quickly in our marriage that mornings were not the best time for involved conversations. Or any other kind of conversation. In fact, it's probably better to just pretend you can't see me while staying far away.

Since I wised up and stopped working two jobs - one for a paycheck and one that involved taking care of my family and home - I've usually been able to avoid that whole "morning" thing. I taught the girls early on to get themselves up, get their own breakfast, and find something to do that doesn't involve making me get out of bed to deal with them. I get to wake up peacefully without an alarm, take a shower without worrying about the clock, and get a slow, gradual start to the day. I justify this because I don't get off at 5 and leave my work at the office. Even during those times when the girls are busy and I can sit down for a break, I'm always "on call" and there's always something I need to be doing.

Every once in awhile, though, I wake up really early and something prompts me to get out of bed. Like today when I woke up at 4:30 and laid there trying in vain to get back to sleep. Around 5:30 I got up and went to catch up on all my on-line reading. When Mr. at Home's alarm went off, I went back to the bedroom, got a shower, and decided to use the quiet of the house to organize my office. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until the girls decided to wake up and get moving, but at least they've been so well trained that they left me alone to work.

Today was a field trip day and we left early, without the chaotic last-minute rush, and we arrived at the pumpkin patch almost an *hour* early. The girls had time to enjoy the slides and other play structures before they got overrun with schoolkids on field trips. It felt so nice to be so relaxed and unhurried. Tonight I am sitting in a clean office with an empty inbox as I actually had a large enough space to take care of everything. And now I'm off to go relax and watch a movie with Mr. at Home and hope that I don't fall asleep!

Let's talk photography

I like to take pictures.

I have a nice little point-and-shoot camera that I keep in my purse so that I can whip it out and catch those pictures of goofy moments or hairclips or the little shirt I found at the craft show that I know I could duplicate at home for half the price.

I love my little camera as it takes great pictures. Unfortunately, it's falling apart. No really, it's literally falling apart. It's missing at least five screws so the casing is loose. It's also rather beat up because, as I said, I keep it in my purse and with me all the time. It's exactly 3 years old now and it's about time for it to be retired and make way for a newer, sleeker model. After all, 3 years is an eternity in the life of electronics.

Not one to do exhaustive research on something, I clicked over to the Target site and started looking at new cameras. I want something small enough to fit comfortably in my purse or pocket that I can whip out when I want. I want a big view screen on the back and I'd really like it to come in a cool color, like my new red phone. Hey, who says a camera can't be a fashion statement? I'd like at least 8 megapixels, but I was mesmerized by the ones that come in 10 megapixels. Who knows when I'll want to print something out in poster size?

Here's the deal breaker. Most of the ones I saw came with a lithium ion battery "so you'll never miss a shot". Huh? That seems to me like the ultimate way to "miss a shot". I would *never* remember to take the camera out of my purse to charge it and if I *did*, then I would never remember to put it back IN my purse so I would actually have it with me. I had to really search to find a high resolution camera that still took good ol' double-As. At least that way if my batteries die, I can run into the giftshop, spend way too much on new ones, and keep taking pictures. Of course, I could buy a back-up battery, but those things cost a fortune and I would still probably never have it when I needed it.

Am I just an old fuddyduddy? Anyone else see my point or has the lithium ion battery thing worked well for you?

I think it's time to get her own glue gun

On Tuesday after our MOPS meeting, I caught up with a friend to ask her a question and discovered her selling hairclips. She and her sister?/sister-in-law? have a little side business making and selling these hairclips through boutiques. They're really cute and all, but they're rather expensive. On further inspection, I realized how they were made and the simplicity of it all just floored me. I could do that!

Today we made a quick stop at a local craft store where they had tons of ribbon on clearance that was exactly the perfect width, so we picked out six different patterns and got a package of "quilt binding clips" (those little snap clips that bend back and forth), and a package of small jewels. I came home, grabbed the glue gun and my ribbon stash, and whipped up a whole batch of super cute hairclips. K wanted to help, so I taught her and she made two sets all by herself. These are easy to make and K was so excited that she can do it on her own. We made a few duplicate sets for friends and we're planning to make another batch of them for the Operation Christmas Child boxes our homeschool group is doing. It was so neat to sit side-by-side with K tonight and work together on the hairclips, but we did end up fighting over the glue gun so I've got to dig out my second one for K to have her own. Like mother, like daughter.

Here's a picture of the back. Can you figure out how it's made?

I am very, very honored

Today I was poking around my sitemeter records just for fun and what do I see but a visitor from Wasilla, Alaska! Maybe it was Governor Palin! I just wanted to say welcome. I hope you like my little corner of the blogosphere and I am very much a fan. You've done some amazing things and done them with just the right blend of tenacity and grace. I also want you to know that I'm praying for you as you deal with the public scrutiny and attacks on your private life. I see that you hopped over here from my friend Marybeth's blog. She's a great writer, isn't she? And a very understanding friend as I still haven't returned a book she loaned me way too far back for me to publically admit. She doing a giveaway right now for a mom planner that looks really neat and I could see that it might come in handy for keeping track of your busy schedule. (Get it? "Track"? Like your son's name, "Track"? Oh, I slay me!)

Hummnn?? What's that? Governor Palin isn't in Wasilla right now? She's on the campaign trail so it's not likely that she was visiting my blog from her hometown? Well, just burst my bubble, why don't ya? Oh well, whoever you are from Wasilla, welcome to you, too!

Ok, I am *officially* a homeschooler

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo. The weather is beautiful and some friends wanted to go so we are loading up the minivans and heading down to the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina. I didn't really have any other motivation to go, but I did manage to find an educational application.

Tonight, K started making up a little list saying she could write down which animals are animals, reptiles, etc. She has a test she has to take Tuesday on classifying animals and this would make great practice. Great idea! I took it and fleshed it out with a worksheet on the attributes of each classification and included a sheet where she could write down what she sees in the appropriate category.

And what's good for one child is good for the other, right? I found some handwriting paper on-line and made short lists of basic mammals, reptiles, and birds so L can find those animals and practice writing their names. There's even room on each paper to draw some of the animals. To spread the love, I made copies of those sheets for the other young kids who are coming with us.

So tomorrow I will show up at the zoo gate with worksheets, clipboards, and pencils. I even have three lunches packed and lined up in the fridge along with travel cups already filled with milk for breakfast in the car and "to go" breakfast items waiting on the kitchen counter. Yep, I look like a real homeschooler. Heck, I even have a new *52 oz* car mug to hold enough sweet tea for the trip. I am ready, baby!!

Serving our neighbors near and far

Last Saturday our church did a really cool thing. We signed up over 1100 people to spend the day doing community service in the parks, gardens, and the elementary school around our town. We installed benches, painted fences, planted gardens, assembled playground equipment, spread mulch - whatever was needed.

Our family signed up and reported to the church building for breakfast in the pouring rain. Not an auspicious start to a day of working outdoors. One of the elders offered a prayer for the food and asked that God stop the rain so that we could accomplish our work and by the time breakfast was over, the rain had stopped! We all went off to our assigned work areas and got muddy!














Mr. at Home was put in charge of a group to trim trees and shrubs and put up sticks - a perfect job for young volunteers! It was so neat to see the kids set to work so energetically and there were a ton of them. The whole day, I never heard even one child complain that they were tired and didn't want to work. L ran tirelessly back and forth dragging branches twice her size as Daddy worked the tree cutter and K hauled the biggest and heaviest branches. After awhile, L found a rake and went to work smoothing the new gravel we put down to fill in some muddy places while K commandeered a shovel and carried gravel from one side of the park to the other. L ended up visiting the nurses' station a few times - once with a HUGE bug bite and again for bug spray, but she didn't let that slow her down.

They did take an opportunity or two to be a little silly like when K decided to make "tree antlers" and L found a worm. The Princess had no problem picking up the squirmy, muddy thing and examining it quite closely. Mommy was just happy when the little girls decided to let him go.

It was a really cool opportunity to serve the community. The city told us it would have taken them three years to accomplish everything we did in just one day. I also loved watching my girls work with such enthusiasm and working hard. Mr. at Home and I were both incredibly sore the next day after our exertions, but the girls were just as active and happy as any other day.

In another week, we're going to take our little family work crew on the road. We're headed to Mississippi with a couple of other families to work with a church who's community is still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. I've heard we'll doing a lot of yard work, but hey, we've got experience!

Entertaining the children - for free!

After a quick stop at The Walmarts the other day, I decided to go search a local business park for an amazing piece of art that was rumored to be somewhere in the vicinity. The girls and I turned down a side street where we were met with a row of trees already sporting some fall color. I love living here!

Unfortunately there was no sign of any artwork besides the trees God had painted in shades of red and orange, so we turned down another street. Where we saw it. A GIANT head split into seven sections that rotated independently with thousands of reflective surfaces. We sat for a moment or two watching it, then the girls loudly begged to get out and go see it.

So we did.

The statue was mounted in the middle of a pool of water surrounded by a large, empty brick courtyard, that was perfect for running and jumping. The pieces of the head rotated in different patterns and would sometimes line up so you could see the face clearly with a spout of water coming from the mouth. Between the head, the water, the courtyard, and the airplanes flying right over as they came in a landing at the nearby airport, it was an exciting place for the girls to play. They played tag, watched the head, practiced various jumps, yelled and pointed at every airplane and even put on a show with singing and dancing. They loved it and it was all for free.

You can't beat that with a stick.