A basket full of eggs

I wish this was a post about how I gathered fresh eggs from my hens but alas, I'm still waiting for a law to be passed to allow for chickens to be raised in our urban setting. No basket is full of dyed eggs, the Easter sort! No matter how old the girls get they still love dying eggs. It was always fun when they were small but oh what a mess! It's still messy but they help with the clean up process. They are all so creative and the eggs become more elaborate with each egg. I'm sure there will be a day when they will lose complete interest in making brightly colored eggs but for now they love it and so do I.

What am I?

I spent last night perusing my favorite blogs. I love blogs about the day to day things that we moms do, homeschooling, DIY home decor, cooking, and now my newest obsession...chickens. So all that peeking into other peoples' lives got me to thinking what my blog should be about. At first, I thought maybe it should be about my new career path of homeschooling. A daily rundown of how I teach and how my girls learn. Next came the idea to make a list of all the household projects that need to be done around the old homestead and write and photograph the steps to a great looking home. I laughed out loud at that one! Then I thought about my need to be gluten free and how a blog about changing my lifestyle and searching out good recipes would be interesting. That's when it hit me...I suffer from ADD. All the signs having been pointing to it but I was just to distracted to see it. How can I write about one thing when my life is a constant game of "what's next"? I am a woman that has too many interests to write about just one. I have the attention span of a gnat. Therefore, I will write about whatever my flitting mind settles on. My blog will be an ever-changing memoir of my family, my school, my interests....my life!

Hello, again

Hello, again! It's been a while...like 3 years!! When I woke up this morning and thought "I'm going to start blogging again", I was under the impression it had been about a year. Wow, was I mistaken! It's crazy how time slips through your fingertips when your life becomes a whirl wind of classes, homeschooling and just taking care of a family of six. So now I have to decide where to start, I mean restart. I guess I will do a quick recap of where I was when I started blogging. I had decided to go back to college, which I did. I enjoyed it very much but then I started feeling called to follow a different path. Massive life change was in my future! Two of my daughters were struggling in school, not with the academics but with the social aspects. So much so that it was beginning to effect their grades, friendships and family life. The praying started and the waiting started and the praying continued. Then from every corner of my world people that were homeschooling their children came out of the woodwork. It was fascinating and terrifying. As I began to think seriously about it I was faced with a major obstacle, my husband. My husband is a very well educated and structured man; third in his high school graduating class, top 10% in his college graduating class and top 10% in his Masters program. The concept of homeschooling was a rather ridiculous radical thought to him. Honestly, I was just plain worried that I would be a failure at teaching my children the things needed to make them successful members of society. So I prayed and prayed and prayed. I prayed that I was really doing what was best for my kids, I prayed that my hubs would be in support of this crazy endeavor, I prayed that I would find the support I would need from those around me. Finally in July, Greg decided we would give it a try. I was elated and freaked out at the same time. And so the journey began! Over the course of the last two years we've had success and failure in the land of homeschooling. The first failure was my college classes. I was under the impression that I could be a full time student and be a full time homeschooling teacher and a full time mom and a full time church/community volunteer. Maybe some women out there can be all of those things will full on perfect success...but not me. Hard to admit at the time but now I own it! I realized that I actually enjoyed being with my kids more than I thought I would. Weird! I guess that could be considered a success as well. Another failure was our choice of curriculum. Thinking it would be better for our soon to be freshman daughter, we enrolled her in an online academy. It was like a traditional high school without all the pesky social aspects. She would work on her computer, with real time classes and teachers available to help and answer questions. The downside, our artistic, creative, free-spirit child was overwhelmed with the amount of work and began to struggle. At the end of the year, I chose not to re-enroll her. So far the best success story is the relationships that have been built during these two years. Girls that once would snarl and growl at each other like territorial dogs now read to each other, crafted together, and began to see their similarities. It's been a beautiful blessing! So here we are, nearing the end of another school year and I'm reflecting on the things I want to keep and the things I want to change. I'm changing up the curriculum again! I love change, so this exciting. We had a less structured way of learning this year which I plan to make more scheduled but I will still give the girls plenty of time for their creative outlet needs. I think I may even re-enroll in a class or two, strictly online though. I also want to keep up with this blogging thing. I'm happy to be pouring out my soul, maybe it will be the therapy I've needed but can't squeeze into my life!

Yesterday we had the most amazing time. We took the girls to a wonderful historic area called Cade's Cove.

Greg and I have been going there since we were teenagers. It's this beautiful valley tucked deep in the Smokey Mountains. There are homesteads and churches that were built in the 1800's to tour. We always take a picnic lunch and just have a peaceful day.

This year we decided to let the girls play in a creek near the picnic area.

They had an amazing time! The water was so cold but very refreshing. The creek was filled with large boulders and downed trees. It's so neat when the girls have so much fun with nothing more than water, rocks and each other.

They collected smooth stones and watched minnows and water bugs. Even Greg and I got in the creek! Madison took some silly pictures of us that were actually pretty good.

One of the best parts about the day was all the beautiful wild life we saw. We were able to photograph two young does and a gorgeous black bear traipsing through a field.

We also saw several wild turkeys and six point buck but just didn't get the camera out in time.

I hope that we are making memories that the girls will carry with them forever.

I'm sitting in a hotel, in the Smokey Mountains and loving every minute of it. The weather, although in the 90's ,feels like a high 70 by Virginia Beach standards. The hotel is designed to look like you are in a cabin. I love the stacked stone fireplace, the rustic farmhouse table and all the antler accessories. It really makes me want to have my very own cabin in the woods some day.
The other thing I am loving right now is that I am not preparing for a hurricane that is heading straight for my home and I'm not feeling shaken up by the 5.9 earthquake that affected the Virginia area. The only forces of nature I'm dealing with are two little girls that can't seem to stay happy for more than 5 minutes at a time.

I have never been a fan of school supply shopping. It ranks up there with the dentist or the gynecologist. I mean, you get this list that is so crazy long and "HELLO!" I have four kids. That means I have four ridiculously long lists. Then to top it off the lists are brand specific! Really?? We can't send our sweet little one's to school with "Eagle brand" pencils? Elmer's glue sticks are the be all, end all of glue sticks? And another thing... Why do moms act as though they are getting the last brownie at a dessert bar when shopping for the above mentioned supplies? Seriously, take a zoloft or drink a glass of wine before you shop if you are going to act like a "Real Housewife of New Jersey"!

I, of course, was genius this year. I didn't wait until the week or day before school is set to start but went three weeks early! I also decided that rather than wait until I felt like getting out of the house,(sometime after a few episodes of Law and Order), I would go at 8:30am. The girls are up anyway and why not take advantage of their awakness. Target is a wonderful place most all of the time but there is a quiet loveliness so early after opening, that no one should miss.

So final words of wisdom: condense four lists into one master list, shop weeks ahead, hit the store of choice in the early AM, oh and promise the kids any kind of snack they want if you can make it through the list without threatening a smack!

Yesterday, as I was waiting in line to register for my classes, I realized how old I really am. I mean I know the number age but I have always felt young and hip. LOL! But standing in that line gave me the opportunity to listen to all the conversations around me. Those gabfests were all involving someone's ex boyfriend, clothes, or how "s----y" it is to stand in line. I was struck by the apathy and lack of social courtesy. I mean, I know when I am waiting with my friends we all talk about stuff we deal with but, most adults don't drop the "f bomb" or other such foul word every other breath. Which leads me to my next revelation, most of the people standing in that line weren't adults. Yes, they were at least eighteen, which does technically mean they were adults, but they were just immature kids. I stood there wondering "was I that stupid twenty years ago when I first attempted college?". Surely not! I know I wasn't the brightest bulb but I did respect those around me when in a crowded place.
When I got home and I looked at my girls talking to each and being goofy. I smiled. Maybe I'm biased but they seemed more mature than most of those people I was waiting with. Oh how I hope that they will only grow in that maturity, that they will always be aware of those around them and respect them.