A Break

Sorry for my absence ... things have risen up that must be taken care of.

I will be on a break for a while yet.

He's Back!!!

After almost 7 months, Brian is now back. He returned yesterday at noon, and we have been enjoying some wonderful family time since. We are off to go take care of somet things, and I will post more pictures later.

Creepy Crawlies

Children seem to be attracted to them. Or it could be the other way around. I don't remember being as interested in little creatures so much when I was younger - then again, my memory isn't always the greatest.

Last Saturday I was at my friend's house doing some planning for our girl scout troop. When we left, her neighbor was finishing up a yard sale. I was able to pick up "The Incredibles" for Gamecube for only $3, and while I did that Karah managed to pick up a little gecko. It was bright green, and it seemed to like her. Now, the kids know that bugs or similarly small creatures do not get to come in the vehicle with us, so imagine my surprise when I find out while I'm driving that it's in the truck with us. Thankfully, we only live a few blocks away, but it still made me nervous. When we got home and it got out, I took a picture of Karah holding it.

I love this picture!

Of course, once we got home and took the pictures, I told her she had to let it go. I was done with little creatures for the day - or so I thought. While they were out back playing, Vincent caught this little guy. He came to show it to me and I screamed when it jumped towards me. A sure sign of getting old, I think. Anyways, it was this teeny little frog, smaller than a quarter. And no, it's not dead in the first picture, though I wonder if it was trying to play that way so Vincent would leave it alone :-) Eventually it did hop into the grass and I told the kids to leave it alone. Finally, I was done with little critters for the day!

Cowabunga!

That's the word the kids were debating over earlier today as they played TMNT on their Gamecube. Vincent said it was "Calibunga" while Karah argued that it was "Califunga". After getting a few laughs out of it and sharing it with Brian via Yahoo messenger, I informed them of the correct way to say the word.



This past week was spent working on schoolwork in the morning and housework in the afternoon. The day is fast approaching when Brian will return home and we are so excited! We want everything to be perfect for his return. Though I've found that there's a lot involved to achieve perfect - *sigh* Good thing he's worth it :-)

As for my previous post about Karah, I think it was just a fluke. She never had anything after that day, and I think she was imagining it. *WHEW!* Still ended up having some of the talk with her, so when it really happens it shouldn't be so much of a shock.

Here are a couple pictures from this past week.

Karah & Vincent at Books-A-Million looking at an "I Spy" book

Vincent on Sunday selling popcorn for cub scouts.

Karah helping out at the popcorn table

Oh, for those that were wondering how many skittles really did fit into the little water bottle ...

the total is - 895

But she's only 9!

Today, my little girl told me that she had seen a little blood when she was in the bathroom. She said it was teeny, so I told her to let me know if it was still there the next time she went. Yes, it was and there was more of it. It seems like only yesterday she was this teeny little thing, and now she's growing up so fast! I hadn't planned on trying to explain these kinds of things to her for a couple more years yet. I didn't expound too much on it, just barely skimmed. For those of you that have had the talk with your daughter, got any advice?

Karah on the phone with daddy yesterday morning, sitting in her new chair.

She bought it last week with her allowance at the thrift store on base for only $5!

Vincent took a self-portrait when playing with the camera.

He's always had blue eyes, but they seem especially blue in this picture (at least to me).

How Many?

Yesterday I put this little goody together for my girl scout troop. It's a guess-the-number thing, and it will be one of the activities towards the Math Whiz badge. I decided to use a water bottle instead of just a jar, in hopes that it could actually get some use after the candy was enjoyed. Each badge has 10 activites, and they have to complete any 6 of the activities to earn the badge. This year, I decided to implement badge work in the start up activity. Since math whiz is a lot of activities, it will cover the start up activities for the next six meetings, and then I think we'll go to puzzles! :-)

So, how many skittles can you fit in the water bottle?

I'll give the answer in a later post! :=)

It's all about Him

Ps19.1, originally uploaded by musicalgem79.

Due to some physical ailments, I was unable to go to church today. I very much missed it, so the kids and I read some from the Bible and sang some songs. Not a replacement, I know, but I didn't want them to think we were just "skipping" church.

While I was sitting here (unable to do much else) I played around with my photo editing software. I took this picture a few weeks ago on the way to church one evening. (I was actually driving at the time, so I'm glad it turned out pretty good!) The verse just jumped out at me, so I took the time to put them together. I hope you enjoy the beauty that God gave us!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Fun Run

Well, I didn't run, but I did walk a mile with the kids & Penny today. They had a Dog Day at the Park for a few hours this morning, starting with a fun run/walk. I thought it'd be good to get Penny out and around some other dogs. She did very well for being her first time. On the walk the kids took turns taking pictures (which I will post later because my laptop doesn't like to read the memory card) and overall had a good time. Vincent was sad that we didn't get any medal, as they had some for the top three finishers in the classes of women, men, & children 16 and under. I reminded him about who was being pokey because they were throwing a fit (it was him). After the walk they had some water bowls for the dogs to get a drink and there I found out that I have a picky pet. Penny sniffed at practically every bowl (about 2 dozen) and wouldn't take so much as a lick out of any of them.

After looking around for a bit longer we decided to go home. When we got to the truck I got out the travel water bowl I had brought with and put it down and she took a nice, long drink. Go figure! ~lol~ Anyways, we had a good time with her today. She did well on the ride and around the other dogs. AND - I didn't have to clean up any messes! :-D

I should mention that I have noticed that at places where animals can roam free (like Petsmart, or today's dog day at the park), the kids are more excited than being in the toy aisle at a store! They see a dog, and they just run up to pet it, especially Vincent. I tell them they need to ask first because it's not their pet, and some pets aren't so friendly. They do pretty well, but reminders kept coming out a lot today :-) They enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of dogs, and Karah informed me that she wants to save $100 so she can buy a little dog and all it's supplies. She wants her own to run with next time. We'll have to wait and see on that.

Art Class

Personally, I find the title pretty funny as I don't consider myself very artsy. Anyways, the other day for art class they decorated some steno notebooks for use at church. I helped a little and kept it from getting too cluttered, but they did most of it themselves. They really liked them as you can see from the pictures. I think they did a really good job. Karah chose some great sayings for hers, and I absolutely adore the tie on Vincent's. Stay tuned for further art class projects (for better or worse!)

The inside front cover