Ladybug Home Learners

Natural Remedies ROCK!

2011-07-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

First, let me say that I feel Really bad about thinking that Quinn's headache on Wednesday was Just a headache. He gets them so often in the summer, that I thought it was brought on by the heat. Dave and I were all over Quinn for not drinking enough water that day...yada yada. Well, that evening his headache was so debilitating that he couldn't even walk. Dave and I were concerned that we were going to have to do tests to figure out Why he is getting these raging headaches So often.

So, he wakes up on Thursday (yesterday) and Still has a headache. Now, that's Not normal. At all. Usually he has a heat headache. He sleeps it off and he's good to go the next day. Not this time. So he stays in doors all day. The intensity of the headache goes up and down all day. Then that night (last night) he comes to me in the middle of the night saying that it Hurts Really badly right under his ear. Well, that was a sign that this is a Sinus Infection. Yay! At least I know what it is now. So I'm laying in bed thinking about what I might have in the cabinet that he will take that will help a sinus infection.

I have the neti pot. But I've already experienced Quinn and the neti pot together. Not a pretty sight. I offered him Ibuprofan. I told him that it would Not fix him. It would just allow him to sleep. But the only thing wrong with this is that he Doesn't swallow pills yet. But we convinced him to give it a go. Well, that didn't work! I knew that was going to be the case. It was worth a try anyway. Even though I am Against Ibuprofan. I figured it was better to allow him to sleep.

So, he came to bed with me. I was laying there thinking, thinking. Quinn is Just miserable! So I said "Well, you can try that nose spray we have". "OK", he says. So we spray his nose and he is able to rest for a while. Then he sprays again. And he sleeps the rest of the night. All day today, he sprays. He must've sprayed, I don't know, 10 times today. Whatever it was. His fever is gone and he is Completely better. I am So glad our doctor wasn't in the office today. Otherwise, I would have taken him in when I didn't need to. :o) I am So proud of myself for holding it together enough to think about all the options.

I've got to admit, I Did think about taking him to Urgent Care for antibiotics. Glad I pushed that thought aside.

Now, I bet you are wondering what this Magical spray is called. Ok, it is called Sinusin. It is a homeopathic nasal spray. But the Naturopathic doctor I got it from put a little extra somethin' somethin' in it to make it "Magical". Now I'm almost out of it. I've Got to get More!!!

Raw Garlic: Mother Nature’s Antibacterial

2011-07-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

Raw Garlic: Mother Nature’s Antibacterial

I read this article yesterday and decided to try the raw garlic. I suspect I have Candida. So I would like to try natural methods to combat it. The raw garlic didn't seem SO bad. Afterall, they suggest you swallow it in two pieces. Don't chew. Just swallow. I can do that! So I did just that this morning. But I don't think I took off all of the outer husk part. Because when it went down, it was scratching and I could feel it laying in my stomach ALL day. I felt kind of sick to my stomach all day. Then this afternoon, Sloane was sitting on my lap and leaning against my stomach. All of a sudden I felt like I was going to throw up. So I nonchalantly went to the bathroom. But nothing happened. No vomit. Yay. But I felt better after that. I guess it had decided to move on.

So I'm going to try it again tomorrow. But this time, I'm going to make SURE I have all the husk off Completely!

I guess I also need to keep taking the Candida test so I know if it's working or not.

Daily doings

2011-04-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

Quinn and Sloane have been into tomatoes lately. They like to have them cut into bit sized pieces and eat them with toothpicks. Yum!

Dave received all of his childhood mementos from his parents as they are cleaning out their house to sell. The kids are having a blast looking through it all. There are grade school pictures and banners and high school id's. They think it is so cool to see into Dave's childhood.

The kids are having fun with these little do-dads. I can never remember what they are called. I'm sure you have seen them. They are little colored, plastic cylinders. You put them in a shape and iron them. They melt together and Wa-La! You have your special, little shape you made. :o) Very fun!

Something you should know

2011-01-28T11:51:00.002-07:00

2011-01-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Wild Oil of Oregano is THE most Amazing herb out there, afaik. Sloane has been sick with a head cold for two weeks and it was in her throat and head. We have been doing wet socks on her neck multiple times per day, dosing her with Vit D, Echinacea, Elderberry, Colloidal Silver, ADP (oregano pills) and nothing was shaking the cold. But as soon as I received the Wild Oil of Oregano in the mail yesterday, I put two drops on the pads of her feet while continuing the other regimen. And for the first time, she slept peacefully all night and woke up hacking out the mucus that has been inhabiting her head for the last two weeks. She has bright, cheery eyes again, a smile and says her throat "only hurts a little". She is eating again and is "bored". That's when you Know she's not sick! LOL SO! We are continuing with the Wild Oil of Oregano for a couple more days to get the rest of the virus out. The ADP that we have used on Quinn in the past just wasn't working for her. But at least I have found a "cure" for her. Yay!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2010-12-23T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is the digital photo album I sent out for our Chrismas card this year. I decided it was time to go digital and save a tree. Hope you like it!

Digital scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

entrepreneurial Family

2010-09-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Lately, the kids and I have been very crafty with ways to make extra spending money. Well, the money I make goes towards bills right now. But for the kids ~ they are loving seeing their goals be attainable quickly.

Quinn and Sloane have started walking the neighbors dogs for a dollar a day. They each get paid $5 on Fridays. Quinn did some clean up work for our other neighbor this morning for $20. For the same neighbor, Connor is transferring VHS tapes to DVD for money. Not sure what that will bring. Hey! Maybe he can start a business! You know anybody who needs VHS tapes transferred to DVD? Let us know. Connor can help! :o)

Dave is also doing estimates for a concrete guy for extra income. We have to bridge the gap somehow until the Insurance gig kicks in.

Oh! And I am babysitting a neighbor's 2yo during the week. His name is Rece and he is sooo cute! He fits right in with the family. That was one of my stipulations to watching him. He had to be able to go with us. I didn't want to be tied down to the house. We as a homeschooling family are out and about quite a bit. That is the beauty of homeschooling, afterall.

This Labor Day weekend, I watched another neighbor's dog, Jax. Jax is a Shih-tzu mix and is just the cutest, mellowest dog you have ever seen. Emma, our dog, who doesn't like other dogs, lived quite happily this weekend sharing her space with another dog. It was good for her to have to get along. Emma didn't let Jax do anything at first. She would follow him around and snip at him for no reason. Then by today, they were best of friends.

So, we are all finding ways to buy the things we want even if we don't have family money readily available. I am really proud of us. Before Dave got laid off of work in May, we were still not grasping just HOW much money we really DON'T have. But now we know that we can have anything. All it takes is a little creativity and some hard work.

Yay us!!

Unconscious Mutterings

2010-09-06T20:53:00.002-07:00

Want to play? Go here.

Gangs :: of New York
Contact :: paper
Surprisingly :: delicious!
Penciled :: in
Ignore :: what I just said
Let’s go! :: play
Cornerstone :: bakery
Influential :: people
Holistic :: healer
Lovesick :: for chocolate

Coming Home from camp

2010-08-15T14:33:00.001-07:00

Such a beautiful place.

Connor is saying goodbye to Laura, the camp director.

I think he's happy to be going home. This is at the airport.

Brothers.

2010-08-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Connor finally got home last night. :o) I loved the Welcome Home sign. In this picture, he is showing us his new mustache he got from camp. Isn't it nice? LOL

He's coming HOME!

2010-08-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

(Click picture to enlarge)

I made this banner for Connor. He comes home today! Yea!!! :o) We are all so excited. He has been at camp all week and we MISS him. I have talked with him briefly this morning after Dave and Quinn picked him up. But I didn't get much in the way of information out of him. I think I'm just going to have to be patient and let it come out over time. He did tell Dave that he would like to go again next year. Well, that must mean he had a good time. Right?

It's harder than it looks

2010-08-13T16:14:00.001-07:00

We got some coupons for bowling in my email box today. And Sloane took to the idea RIGHT away. :o) She felt the absolute NEED to go bowling...TODAY. I tried to get her to wait until Wednesday when we could go with our homeschool friends. But she wanted to go NOW. :o) And...since she and I were here by ourselves today with nothing else to do. I said "Why Not!" Let's go! :o) So we packed our coupons and our socks and away we went.

When we got there, Sloane presented our coupons to the kind gentleman behind the desk and at first, he said we couldn't use both of them because they both had my name on them. Then he looked again and realized that they are student coupons. He said (pointing at me) "but you're not a student. Oh well, I'll give it to you anyway." Yippee! We only had to pay for our shoes. $6 is all it cost for two people to bowl one game and for both people to rent shoes. Not bad, I'd say. :o)

Sloane even took a picture of me. We had such fun. I haven't bowled in I can't tell you how long. But I DID get three strikes! My game was only 101. But fun was on our agenda and FUN is what we had. :o)

It's been one week

2010-08-13T12:31:00.000-07:00

Dave and Quinn left on a plane early this morning for Nashville, TN to pick up Connor from camp. We haven't heard from him all week. We can only assume he is doing well. We are all missing him desperately. Camp is over tomorrow at 11am. Then they will have to race back to Nashville to catch their plane. And we will see all three boys around 8pm tomorrow evening. Can't wait!

Free bowling all summer long!

2010-08-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Sign up here to go bowling for free. We printed out free coupons and plan to use them on Wednesday next week. How about you? Do you want to join us? Come on. Let's go!!!

2010-08-13T08:22:00.004-07:00

Quinn and Dave left to pick up the molds in El Paso, Tx. They flew out and picked up a moving van and will drive back. While they are gone, Sloane and I went bowling. What fun we had!!! :o)

2010-08-10T08:17:00.001-07:00

We found this little wagon in front of somebody's house that was in the bulk trash pile. Can you imagine throwing this perfectly good wagon in the TRASH? My original idea was to take it home and give it to our two-year old neighbor, Rece. But the kids thought it was too fun to give away. They had so much fun riding in it behind the golf cart. So we kept it! :o)

Quinn is 8 on the 8th

2010-08-08T18:44:00.002-07:00

We had a family celebration on Friday. Quinn, (cousin) Zane, (cousin) Lyndzy and Sloane had a fun time trying to blow out the candles. They were the ones that went out and then when you think you're done, they light back up. Everyone joined in. It was hilarious!

Then today, we celebrated with Quinn's friends in our pool. This is only some of the kids. I couldn't corral them all at the same time for a group picture. There are a few that were inside playing the Wii. But that's OK, there was plenty of fun to be had. Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Quinn's golden birthday

2010-08-08T16:36:00.009-07:00

8-8-10

Today is Quinn's birthday. He had a few friends over to help celebrate.

ETUSC

2010-08-06T13:52:00.000-07:00

Dave and I are helping Connor pack for camp. Camp is from August 8th - 14th. Connor is 13 and this is the first time he has ever gone to camp EVER. And he chooses a camp on the other side of the country. ;o) Not only that. But he has NEVER been away for a week without us. He leaves early tomorrow morning on an airplane. Dave is flying with him. They then have a four hour drive after getting off the plane from Nashville to Jonesboro TN. Then Dave will fly back next week to pick him up.

Connor doesn't show any signs of being excited OR nervous. We asked him if he wanted a calling card so he could call home during the week. And he said "No, I'll be fine." What!! But what about ME ~ your MOM? And he's just as cool as a cucumber about everything. Doesn't seem to have the jitters At all. He has always been the kids that could walk right up to anybody and talk to them and hang out. Never any worries about anything. I guess that is what is going on right now. He knows he'll make friends and have a great time. When I was a kid and went to camp for a week, I remember being so homesick and just scared about all the people I didn't know. Of course I always had a super time. But the initial getting acquainted time was so scary for me. Hopefully he will have none of that.

We asked if he wanted a disposable camera. And he doesn't want to take pictures. He didn't want a camp shirt either. "Why would I want that?", he asks. Don't you want to have ANYthing to remember camp by? So I ordered him a camp shirt anyway. So if he changes his mind, he will have it. Also, my mom is buying him a disposable camera (just in case). You know. Things are always different once you get there.

I know Connor will be fine and he'll have a great time and make some awesome new friends. I can't wait to hear all about it.

Olive/Olivia

2010-06-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sloane loves olives. When we went to the grocery store today, she asked if we could get a can of them. Then she opened them and proceeded to eat half the can when we got home. She loves to put them on her fingers.

Cinco de Mayo ~ Homeschool style

2010-05-05T16:18:00.001-07:00

Today is Cinco de Mayo and also it is LIFE is Good Homeschool park day. We didn't have anything organized as far as a party goes. But leave it to Jennifer to remember the day. She brought these two adorable sombreros along with chips and salsa. Sloane and Jenny volunteered to model the sombreros. Aren't they cute!!!

This one looks like a commercial for Mission Chips. LOL!

Swimming at The Village

2010-05-03T22:57:00.015-07:00

We have been swimming at The Village this spring since our pool just hasn't warmed up yet. The weather has been so nice (read: NOT hot) that the water in our pool is FREEZING.But that doesn't stop us from swimming. We have been going everyday. Even Connor is getting out for a little vitamin D and exercise.AND, Connor and Quinn have been getting along for the most part. It has been so refreshing to see and enjoy them playing together.

Fire Dept Tour

2010-05-03T22:47:00.008-07:00

Today we (LIFE is Good Homeschoolers) went on a tour of the Buckeye Fire Dept with the Verrado Mom's Club.After the tour, the kids engaged in a few minutes of kicking the bag.Here is our group from LIFE is Good.

Village Green fountain

2010-05-02T23:04:00.019-07:00

Today we wanted to swim at the Village be when we got there, it was closed. I think it was 6pm. You'd never know it by the pictures. We couldn't believe the pool was closed at *6*pm. Oh well. So we went across the street to the village green fountain and they ran through the water there.after they were finshed running through the water, we went to Prospector Park nearby.Quinn and Brody had fun on the swings.

2010-04-18T20:22:00.003-07:00

We have block parties in our park at least twice a year. This was the first one of 2010. We had such a great turn-out. The kids filled water balloons...

We had sack races...

Then the kids used the water balloons on each other. What fun they had!!!

And look at all the people who came to celebrate spring and their love of Verrado with us. We really DO have the BEST neighborhood.

Friday fun

2010-04-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Quinn has been sick the last couple of days, so we have been cooped up in the house with down time. So Quinn brought out the little table and chair, set it up in the living room and started to build a tech deck skatepark out of cardboard and tape.

He is in his glory. And MAN is he ever creative!!! I love watching him build. He has great and practical ideas. The little tech deck dudes are gonna LOVE him! LOL

Sloane got fake money with a cash drawer from the dollar store today. So when we came home, we played HOTEL. She checked me in and informed me that lunch was being served soon after. I bought several things with my money and she gave me change.

She was loving figuring out how much change I would get back each time.

Hop, hop, hop

2010-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

You remember the days when you would endlessly hop on the hopscotch squares.

Well, Sloane is doing EXACTLY that. She asked me to draw a hopscotch for her today. So I went right out and drew it out. She asked for 1 - 10. But I explained to her that it would be easier if it went to 12 so she would be able to land on two feet at the end and turn around instead of one foot. So she agreed and I drew 12.

Then she proceeded to hop on it for the next hour. Pretty soon after she started, three of her little friends came to join her. I was busy talking to the moms, so I forgot to take pictures of them. But it was very cute to see them lined up waiting to take their turns.

Magic Tree House books

2010-04-07T18:23:00.000-07:00

I ran across the Magic Tree House books and set them out to see if there was any interest in reading them.

And sure enough! Sloane saw them sitting on the table and asked if we could read them.

You bet!! So we started last night. Then this morning they woke up and wanted to finish the story.

While I was reading, they both kept themselves busy ~ Sloane colored the bottom of her shoes...

And Quinn continuously made Tech Deck ramps out of cardboard and tape.

He taped them to the floor so they would stay put long enough to use with the tech deck.

Cute shoe bottoms, Sloane.

2010-04-06T18:00:00.020-07:00

Sloane wanted to make banana bread today

So, she did everything. She is quite the helper in the kitchen.

The loaves are ready to go into the oven.

Oh man, that batter is GOOD!

They are cookin' right along.

Sloane is waiting patiently for the bread to finish cooking.

Quinn is ready for practice

Bread's done!!

Oops!! Sloane fell asleep waiting for the time to go off.

Artapalooza with Peaceful Home Schoolers

2010-04-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Today Claudia from Artapalooza came to park day to share some information with the children about Egypt.

The kids were very attentive and interested in the all the information she presented.

Our new friends from Verrado even came with us ~ Hudson (12) and Sloane (10)

Here is the project that Quinn did.

Here is Connor's project

2010-04-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Sloane took Choco on our Easter walk this morning

She took time out to pose for a picture right in the middle of her obstacle course

Quinn is riding around while Dave and I walk Emma the dog

Quinn and John hanging out together before we head home

2010-04-04T11:46:00.001-07:00

The Easter Bunny got everything layed out and ready for the kids

Sloane got a wink-eyed bunny named Choco in her Easter basket

I think she loves her

Quinn hid this egg. pretty cool idea!

Final Four party

2010-04-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Stacy and Shawna had our family and the Landis' over for a Final Four party

It was such a beautiful day to hang out in the backyard

Rece was eating ice out of the bucket

Vickie, Shan and Shawna

Quinn

I had to get my knitting out. I just couldn't take the game anymore.

Easter Tulips

2010-04-03T11:26:00.000-07:00

2010-04-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

John, Quinn, Rece, Sloane and Keegan got together today to dye some Easter eggs at our park.

Rece and Sloane

Beautiful eggs

Is that a baseball that Sloane is coloring?

Quinn is having fun

John is making his egg colorful

Rece is stacking up his eggs in the orange dye. What a cutie!

Sloane and Keegan are best buds.

John's bunny

2010-04-02T11:05:00.026-07:00

Sloane is hard at work, coloring her eggs.

Treyson was very intent on making the eggs just perfect.

Treyson wanted Sunday to color some eggs

Here are Sloane's eggs

Here are Quinn's eggs

Conrad had a really great time with his eggs

Honor

Sage

2010-03-20T18:16:00.011-07:00

today we got up early and headed down to Tucson to help Steve and Tasha (Dave's brother and his wife) move from their rental to their very first house. The house is SO cute. I didn't get a picture of the house. But once the moving van was all cleaned out, I thought about taking pictures. Nice timing, eh?

Sloane even managed to talk Aunt Tasha out of a few pieces of jewelry ~ like this really cool butterfly barret. Thanks Aunt Tasha!! Sloane loves all the pieces she lifted from you. :o) And Thanks Steve for the Margarita Agave. She is loving the spot I chose for her in the yard.

Baby chicks

2010-03-10T10:59:00.001-07:00

Sloane and I made some spring chicks this morning. They are so cute. Now they hang out under my desk light. I think they are trying to keep warm. :o)

Self Portraits

2010-03-05T10:28:00.007-07:00

Today the kids wanted to make themselves in real proportion. so I got out the butcher paper and taped two long pieces together. Then they layed out in whatever position they wanted and I traced around them.

Sloane finished hers and cut it out and taped it to our door. It is weird having that up there. We all keep thinking someone is really there.

2010-03-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Sloane wanted to send a letter to her friend, Arden, in New Hampshire.

She put the stamp on first.

Then wrote out the address ~ very cute.

2010-03-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob from Lake Oswego, OR came to visit today. For the last month, they have been staying in their camper in Parker, AZ or CA (not sure which) They will visit Mam-ma Diane and Pap-pa Gary on Friday and then head back up to Oregon. They like to have the break from the cold. But this year, they didn't get as nice of a break as last year. Last year they were able to wear shorts the whole month. But this year it has been rainy and cold ~ very strange for Arizona.

After dinner, the kids wanted to play a game with Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob. So we played Sequence. The kids paired up with Sue and Bob and it was fun to watch them strategize what they would put where.

Quinn wanted to take a picture of the whole crew. So here we are!

2010-03-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor's dog, Jax came over to visit unexpectedly right in the middle of our visit with Cousin Faith. So Quinn played with Jax for a while before his owner came to pick him up.

2010-03-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

Cousin Faith came all the way over from Florence to visit us today. She was wiped out from the long ride. But we still had fun with her.

fun with the camera

2010-03-01T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sloane wanted to paint a butterfly on her face. So she got out the makeup and did this all by herself. She is so creative. I love to see what she comes up with.

Sloane's photography

2010-02-28T10:37:00.001-07:00

Quinn lost another tooth. Yay!!!

Sloane the photographer

2010-02-28T10:33:00.002-07:00

Sloane loves to take pictures. Here a some of her photos she took last night.

Pottery making

2010-02-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

We had our second pottery class two weeks ago. And today we are here to paint our masterpieces. Sloane made several happy face discs and a stalk of broccoli.

I even got in on the fun this time and made my own masterpiece. I is a kitty water bowl. It turned out really cute. But it wasn't what I envisioned.

Quinn made a turtle bank. He worked really hard on this and it turned out awesome!

Here is one side of my kitty bowl.

And another side.

And here is the whole thing. Now the pieces will be fired and we will pick them up next week.

Arizona Mystery Castle

2010-02-10T12:23:00.020-07:00

We went to the Mystery Castle today with our Gamer friends.

There were all kinds of crazy things in this place

Looks like they fixed a broken pane of glass by mosaicing it. Very creative.

This is an outside fireplace

Sloane was looking out the window of the outside balcony

She was looking at this armadillo

One of the rooms was called the Saguaro room. At the time this house (castle) was built, this Saguaro was living.

This was a mantle on one of the fireplaces.

Connor said "Look! Three suns (sons)"

One of the many bookshelves. Can you see the cool bunnies on the top shelf? They are painted rocks.

I spy Sloane sitting on a witches lap.

Cool staircase.

Here's what the outside looks like.

And from further away.

2010-02-07T20:29:00.008-07:00

We went for a walk to Walton Park today and Sloane practiced hanging and getting up on the bar...

Then Quinn and Sloane found worms in the wet soil. With all this rain we have been getting, the worms come out for a bit of sun. The kids thought that was pretty neat.

Here's Sloane looking for more worms.

Quinn, John and Keegan got a little see-sawing in.

2010-02-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

Sloane got this wig for her Halloween costume and then never used it for Halloween. But I LOVE it when she does wear it. Woohoo!!

Cousin Zane's 8th Birthday

2010-01-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

So, we were invited over to my brother and sil's house for their son, Zane's 8th birthday. And the first thing we did was to use the pitching machine. Standing there watching, it doesn't look so hard. But once you get up there and take your turn, you realize that the ball is going REALLY fast.

Art Class

2010-01-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today we tried a new art class in Surprise with some of our homeschool friends. Quinn decided he didn't want to try and Sloane went ahead with it. She seemed to have a good time in class.

On our way home, she informed me that she had a much better time in our pottery class the other day. I asked what she liked about that class that she didn't like about this class and she couldn't put her finger on it. This class goes every two weeks. So we'll see what happens in two weeks.

Green Smoothies

2010-01-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

Dave and I have been drinking GREEN SMOOTHIES since October. We have both gotten healthier in the sense that we don't get sick and we are losing unwanted pounds. Connor has since started drinking them. He is starting out slowly and I DO mean slowly. Dave drinks one 8oz glass a day. I drink (usually) two 8oz glasses a day and Connor drinks one 8oz glass a day sometimes. I haven't heard from him any changes he's experienced yet. But I'll keep you posted when I find out.

So, drinking green smoothies means having LOTS of greens available to put IN the smoothies. So that means going to the market OFTEN. Well, I've been doing that and loving finding all kinds of fun greens to put in our green drink.

Then one day I went over to our neighbor's house. (Hilda, you may remember her from a previous post) She has the most wonderful raised bed garden in her side yard. And she is growing GREENS ~ all kinds of chard, spinach, cilantro, parsley. And she had been most gracious to offer it to ME. OMG, it is Wonderful. And the best part is she says I can have all I want because she doesn't eat it. WHAT!!!! I've been trying to get her to drink them like I do. But haven't been successful yet. I'll get there.

Kids helping Haiti

2010-01-21T10:08:00.001-07:00

My neighbor, Hilda Brown is the Founder and President of her non-profit organization called The Umbrella Project. She has asked our homeschool group, LIFE is Good Homeschoolers to decorate some umbrellas for her latest Haiti Project. Of course, we said "YES!" Below are some examples of umbrellas from past projects.

Our group has about 12 children. So we will decorate 4 umbrellas. They will sell for $50 each and our group will have helped a very needed cause. Doesn't that just warm your heart.

Park Day by ourselves

2010-01-20T10:09:00.011-07:00

Today was a gorgeous day. Everything was fresh and new from the gobs of rain we got last night. It has been AGES since we've seen rain.

Anyway, all the other members of our homeschool group backed out of park day so we decided to go out and enjoy the day. And what fun we had! The kids played together and laughed. I love it when we can play together

Early morning walks

2010-01-20T10:00:00.013-07:00

We are still walking Emma in the mornings. And the kids' favorite place to stop is Walton Park. Sloane loves the bar to hang from.

The kids were digging in the wood chips and found lots of worms that are coming to the surface from the rain. Sloane thought that was pretty cool. She wanted to bring them home. I had to do some pretty tall talking to get her to leave them there.

The reason they were digging in the wood chips is because Quinn was making a house with a garage. He is forever building, and pretending to live in his creations. He is so his daddy!

2010-01-19T15:54:00.003-07:00

Today Quinn and Sloane went to our neighbor's house to hang out and they had their handyman there putting in a doggy door for their new dog they got for Christmas. What a great babysitter he is. All the kids were very interested in what he was doing. My kids came home all excited about doggy doors. We don't have one for Emma. But the kids think we NEED one now.

Fun Monday

2010-01-18T14:33:00.007-07:00

Today was a fun filled day. First, we went to our regular Monday park day a little early to attend a cool Mad Science class. The picture below with all the kids at the table was taken before everybody got there. We had about 10 families attend which was 30 kids. Great turn-out ~ GREAT class!

The first experiment was a mixture of cornstarch and water. Then everybody got to take turns HITTING the mixture to see what would happen. As it turns out, your fist bounces off of the mixture. But if you stick your finger in, your finger goes right in and gets messy. ewww!

Next, they made green slime. That was so fun to watch everybody get excited as it thickened up.

After Mad Science, we quickly got a bite to eat and headed across town to our part I pottery class. We even ran into 4 friends that we didn't know would be there. Below, the kids have just gotten their clay and they are pounding away on it to get it pliable.

Now they have made a ball nice and smooth to begin their first project ~ a pinch bowl.

Here is Quinn, working away on his.

Ta-da! Here is his first one.

Now, he has put some stars on the outside to jazz it up a bit.

Quinn's second bowl has stamps on the inside along with his name and a picture of something I can't remember right now.

Here is Sloane's mug. She put a couple of flowers and a star on the outside...

and stamped her name on the inside. I can't wait to see these when they are finished. In two weeks we go back. They will have been fired and ready to paint. Then they will be fired once more and we will get them a week later. Check back for updates...

2010-01-15T13:48:00.002-07:00

Today I went to the first meeting for the new Verrado Photo Club. Here are the founding members.

2010-01-12T14:26:00.002-07:00

After the DBG, we headed over the a nearby park for some play time. Here is Sloane on the tire swing with her buddy Tryson. Sunday and I pushed them around and around for probably 30 minutes! They just couldn't get enough. These two are our roller coaster lovers. So it doesn't surprise me that they both loved swinging on this crazy swing. :o)

Now Sloane is checking out this cool tree that hangs over the duck pond. Too bad we didn't have bread to feed to the ducks.

2010-01-12T14:07:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Desert Botanical Garden. We started off by joining a tour. It was 45 minutes long and full of cool information.

They gave the kids a scavenger hunt of things to find in the gardens with a prize at the end.

Sloane loved this delicate little flowers on the cacti. I think she like any kind of flowers. ;o)
Here is our Gamers group that we went with. Usually we get together at one of the houses on Fridays to play video games, X-Box 360, computer games, trampoline, make-believe and anything else they can dream up. But today, we ventured out of the house to get some fresh air and check out the local plants native to our region.

On our way out, I stopped the kids to get this photo with a Chihuly. They are so beautiful. These are the only ones left after a giant Chihuly exhibit last year.

Gettin' back on the horse

2010-01-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a while (a LONG while) since I've posted anything here. I guess I was on a hiatus. But now we're back and you'll have to see all the fun things we've been up to.

Poor Emma (the dog) has been needing to go on walks and we just have not been good owners. But we are turning over a new leaf this year. It has been almost two weeks and she has gotten a walk and sometimes two walks every day. She is so much happier! And she is slimming down. Yay! for Emma and Yay for us!!!

While we are on our walks with Emma, we stop at Walton Park to play. The other day we found a flat soccor ball. But the flatness didn't bother the kids at all. They kicked it around for quite some time while I walked Emma around the field.

Next stop on a different day was the playground. The kids love to climb and use the monkeybars.

2010-01-04T13:17:00.015-07:00

Just some random shots of the kids at Peaceful Park day.

Marble Run

2009-11-24T11:44:00.003-07:00

Today the kids were playing with the marble blocks. It was fun to watch them figure it out together. I think they liked watching the marbles go down just as much as building the tower.

2009-11-19T13:12:00.003-07:00

Three random pictures from today.

Skate boarding

2009-11-19T11:47:00.003-07:00

Sloane has decided to skate with Quinn since we spend so much time at the skatepark. Check her out!

Bug Class

2009-11-19T11:26:00.033-07:00

One of the mom's in our Friday homeschool group is an entomologist. She offered to give bug classes to the kids. Well, we were thrilled! On this particular day, the kids got to make ants out of marshmallows and toothpicks.

I think Quinn's looks a lot like a snowman.

Matthew's is pretty cool...Treyson has a different take on ants. :o) He is

going to eat his ant!

Next, we made ants on logs. (celery with peanut butter and raisins)

This was fun-filled day. At the end, we made mazes for our rolly polly (potato bugs) to go through.

2009-11-13T13:14:00.001-07:00

Quinn wanted to go skating today. Sloane didn't want to skate, so she hung out with me.

Face Art

2009-11-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

Sloane surprised me with a butterfly on her face today. She did it all by herself. She is so creative!

2009-06-16T10:36:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, Katie and Sloane made this fort at the end of the day.

Then when Quinn came home from playing at a friend's house, he wanted a fort too. So I helped him make this one. And today, he decided it needed a new coat of paint. ;o)

2009-06-15T10:22:00.004-07:00

Today we made cupcakes in ice cream cones. I needed an egg carton to hold the cones in the oven. So we headed to the store to buy eggs that we didn't need. Oh well, we needed the carton. I already had eggs, but the carton was plastic and can not be put in the oven.

Once the cupcake cones were out of the oven, Katie and Sloane iced and sprinkled them. I think they liked that part the best, because they didn't even finish eating their cone. Sometimes it's more fun to make than to eat. They sure are cool, tho!!

Rockets in the sky

2009-06-13T20:00:00.003-07:00

We went to the high school field to shoot off our rockets.

Connor and sloane are learning what button(s) to push when it comes time to shoot it off.

There it goes...

Up, up and away...

2009-06-13T18:01:00.006-07:00

Today Quinn had his first basketball game EVER. He has never played the GAME.

All he has ever done is dribble and shoot. This is the first game EVER. He has had three practices. And now he is figuring out how to play.

He was so cute out there. He mostly took it all in at the beginning. Then after half-time Dave gave him a few pointers.

When he went back in, he played more aggressive. Ya know, trying to get the ball and he DID get the ball once. Dave (with the camera) was so excited about him having the ball, he forgot until the last moment to snap a photo. LOL

We were all so happy and excited. What a fun game. Can't wait til next week. :o)

Then, later we decided to shoot off our rockets. Quinn got a rocket earlier in the week from Hobby Lobby. And Connor had a rocket from Christmas that he hadn't shot off yet. So we headed out to the highschool where there is lots of room for the rocket to go without landing on somebody's roof.

Here is Quinn's rocket all set up.

Now, he is getting ready to shoot it off.

There it goes. The rocket is on the right with the parachute. And the six little white spots are the fireproofing.

Now, Dave is getting Connor's rocket ready to fire off.

Connor is really into this.

Quinn and Sloane ran to get the rocket for Connor.

Quinn is coming back with his rocket.

Sloane didn't have a rocket. So the boys let her fire off their rockets one time. Each rocket came with two engines. So each boy shot off their rockets once and let Sloane fire it once. What nice brothers!

I snapped the camera right when I heard the sound and this is what I got. The rocket was so fast, all you see is smoke.

Here is the stand after all the rockets had been shot off.

Now we are into this rocket thing. We have to get more engines this week so we can do it again on the weekend when Dave is home.

2009-06-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today we went to an unschoolers game day at a friend's house in Chandler. The older kids had a choice of playing the ps3, the Wii or computer games.

The little kids played with play-dough, jumped on the trampoline with and without water, threw the ball to the dog, played on the play structure, played board games. We were there all afternoon. All the kids had a great time! I think we will try to make it again next week.

2009-06-11T18:47:00.001-07:00

Today started out to be a nothing day and turned out to be a very busy one. We decided to go to Phoenix and ride the light rail. The light rail has been active since December and we hadn't been on it. So off we went. The ride there was very crowded and we had to get off once to take a potty break. We started off at 19th avenue and Montebello and rode it all the way to Tempe to the Macayo's. Below is our homeschool friends who decided to take the adventure with us.

Quinn didn't want to be in the group picture, so he took one of all of us. We are on our way back to the light rail for the ride home.
This ride was much calmer and hardly anyone on it. So I had the time to take my camera out and snap a few of all of us.

Here are our tickets from the ride.
After the light rail, Quinn wanted to go skating. So we dropped Connor off at home and headed out once more. It was a beautiful day for skating. The weather was perfect. It wasn't hot at all. And you can see Sloane doing a puppet show with her fingers while we were passing the time.

On our way home from skating at 5:55pm, we got a call from our friend telling us that Quinn had basketball practice at 6pm. We were a good 20 minutes from there. So I told her we would be there as soon as possible.

2009-06-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today we went bowling with our Verrado homeschool group. I forgot to take my camera in. But everybody had a great time. We had three lanes with 5 and 6 people each. Two mamas bowled and the other two helped the little ones roll. Sloane ended up winning on her lane. I'm not sure who else won because I didn't pay attention. LOL There was so much noise and commotion, it was hard to concentrate on one thing.

2009-06-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Buckeye community pool. Connor loves the water slide and the high diving board. So he arranged for a couple of the neighborhood kids to join us there.

Here is Connor jumping off the high board.

Here is Quinn jumping off of the low board.

Here is Sloane jumping off of the low board as well. She loved jumping. She jumped over and over again.

Here is one of our homeschool friends, Matt jumping.

And his sister, Amelia jumping. Everyone thought the diving boards were great!

2009-06-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Today the kids we in an artistic mood. They grabbed the sidewalk chalk and created awesome pictures from the front door, down the sidewalk to the front sidewalk and all the way down a couple of houses. They were very intent on creating works of art. I loved watching them. As you can see, a few of the neighbors joined in, as well. Fun was had by all.

2009-05-12T22:34:00.002-07:00

I saw this meal on one of my Unschooling yahoo groups and had the opportunity to try it out on the kids tonight. I thought it looked really fun AND yummy! Can you see what is going on with the spaghetti? The noodles go THROUGH the hotdogs! It is THE coolest thing EVER! And the kids thought so too. Finally, all three ate a meal that I cooked. AMAZING!

2009-05-12T22:23:00.004-07:00

Today was one of those really GREAT days. The kids ALL got along. There was no bickering. All I heard was laughter and saw smiles today. This morning we went to Goodwill to find the kids some shorts for summer. They were all very excited about what they picked out. It was fun to be able to say "yes" to whatever they wanted since the prices are VERY reasonable. I love being able to say YES. It feels so good. Then this evening we went to Lyndzy's last choral presentation for the year. They were GREAT! And so cute. While we were waiting for the show to start, Quinn and Zane had fun taking pictures, entertaining themselves.

Here is a picture of the group singing. Quinn took the pictures with my phone, so they are fuzzy and you can't see Lyndzy. But there they are. It was a great presentation.

2009-05-04T17:37:00.001-07:00

This is one of Sloane's very best friends. Her name is Micaiah. She is our homeschool friend and also our babysitter. She and Sloane really hit it off! We love you Micaiah! :o)

2009-05-04T17:21:00.001-07:00

Today Quinn wanted to go skating at this skatepark. It is very far away. So we don't go often. What a treat it was for him!! He had such a great time. And Sloane took her roller skates. She too had a really fun time riding on the small hills.

2009-05-01T17:40:00.005-07:00

Today we went to our Peaceful Homeschoolers park day up north of Union Hills. There were only a handful of families there. But that didn't stop us from having fun. The girls dressed up and put on a fashion show. They were just darling! Check it out...

2009-04-27T18:31:00.004-07:00

Dave and I went to the local pta fundraiser and won a HUGE basket of crafts in the silent auction. The kids are having a ball with all the stuff today. Below, Sloane is doing the paint-by-number page.

Their craft table is full of all the stuff from the basket. Sloane had to get it all out to see what everything was.

Sloane tried out the paints...

Sloane is actively doing the scratch the black off picture.

Quinn is also doing a paint-by-number picture.

Here they are sharing their space while painting.

Sloane's finished project.

2009-04-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Quinn and Gio wanted to go to a nearby empty lot to ride their bikes and jump the bumps. So I walked over there with them. They had a LOT of fun and I got a good walk out of it!

2009-04-24T15:49:00.002-07:00

Today we went to Panda Express after running a couple errands. The boys actually sat together and laughed and bonded. It was so nice and refreshing to see them be buds. Sloane was just being her own cute self. :o)

2009-04-23T22:01:00.002-07:00

Sloane got the Polly Pockets out this afternoon and Quinn joined in with his mini motorcycles and mini truck and trailer. Sloane has a boat, townhouse and two cars. They were SET!! They had such fun in their little world.

2009-04-17T21:58:00.001-07:00

Quinn had baseball practice today and they ran around the bases at the end of practice. Boy were they tired!!!

2009-04-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

Quinn lost his second tooth today. He was so proud.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-14T16:24:00.005-07:00

We were lucky enough to have our friends from San Diego stay with us for Easter. After we had our egg hunt at home this morning, we went over to Mam-ma's for another egg hunt and an Easter Brunch. Yumm!

2009-04-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Today, Sloane and I went to our community Easter Eggstravaganza. They had a petting zoo, games, crafts, tattoos, food, egg hunt and (of course) The Easter Bunny. Sloane LOVED the petting zoo. We spent most of our time holding the baby goat. We also took our good friends, Sarah and Luna with us since Quinn and Connor didn't want to go. I had already bought the entrance tix and didn't want them to go to waste.

2009-04-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

We had our Easter party with our Verrado Homeschool group today. We had an egg hunt, and everybody brought a dish to share. It was a bit windy, but overall it was a GREAT party.

2009-03-24T21:46:00.002-07:00

We had to go to the Honda dealer today to pick up my car and had a bit of a wait. So Quinn made the most of it. He found a balloon and tried to kick it and hit it as high as he could. It was very fun to watch.

Sloane wasn't as excited to be there, as you can see...

Interview

2009-02-24T20:48:00.002-07:00

Here is a really cute interview that I got from my friend Ginger.

Connor didn't want anything to do with the interview. But Quinn and Sloane thought it was kinda fun. :o)

1. What is something your mom always says to you?

Sloane(4):I love you so much.

Quinn(6):I love you

2. What makes your mom happy?

S:Being nice

Q:Being nice

3. What makes your mom sad?

S:Being mean

Q:Being mean to her

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
S:By tickling

Q:By tickling me

5. What did your mom like to do when she was a child?
S:She liked to eat cucumbers and vinegar

Q:Go motorcycling on her three-wheeler

6. How old is your mom?

S:I don't know.

Q:I don't know.

7. How tall is your mom?

S:Taller than her kids

Q:9 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

S:play with me

Q:to watch me ride my motorcycle

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

S:She works on the computer.

Q:Clean up the house and sew

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

S:A book reader

Q:A movie star

11. What is your mom really good at?

S:Pushing me on the swing

Q:Mostly knitting

12. What is your mom not very good at?
S:catching me

Q:Riding up a mountain on her bike.

13. What does your mom do for her job?

S:works in the computer

Q:work on the computer

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

S:salad

Q:Meatloaf

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

S:laughing

C:She always stands up for me.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

S:spongbob

Q:Minnie Mouse

17. What do you and your mom do together?

S:We do everything together

Q:Walk together

18. How are you and your mom the same?

S:Our eyelashes

Q:The same color hair

19. How are you and your mom different?

S:Our teeth. You have adult teeth. I have baby teeth.

Q:Our clothes, our age, our name

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

S:Because we met together.

Q:She always gives me a hug and always says "I love you"

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?

S:She likes him.

Q:His job.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

S:Grazie

Q:Disneyland!

Seems Simple Enough

2009-02-12T00:04:00.001-07:00

Park Pride

2009-01-31T19:19:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, the schooled kids had most of the day off. So they were set free in the community to do whatever. Thankfully we had our homeschool park day up north. So we weren't home until about 4:30pm. While we were gone, the kids vandalized (read, took apart) the play structure at our park. When we got home, one whole side panel was hanging down. The kids had completely taken the screws out of the thing and lost them. Connor was concerned when he saw the damage and told Scott, our neighbor. He and Maureen went out to look at it and decided that it would take a bit more tools and know-how to put it back together, so they came to get Dave. After about an hour of bending the panel back to it's original position, finding screws, getting tools, it is usable again. Hopefully the park workers will fix it completely on Monday. While Dave was working on the structure, our other neighbor, Shelly came to the park and gave the kids an education about park etiquette.

I think for our next block party we will make the theme "park pride" or something to that effect. I am going to have to find somebody who can speak to the kids AND parents about the importance of keeping our park nice and clean. I think if the parents are on board, the kids will be more likely to follow along. I know I am out at the park daily picking up trash left by the kids, picking up limbs that were pulled off the trees. All of this saddens me to no end. If there is no pride in their park, our park will end up a trash dump. We do NOT want that!

2009-01-20T17:02:00.003-07:00

Today my little ladybug doesn't feel so good. She and I laid in bed all day and watched the inauguration. She slept off and on the whole day. I hope this doesn't last long. I hate it when my little ones don't feel good.

2009-01-19T13:16:00.002-07:00

Sloane's friend, Treyson gave this Halloween costume to her. So she wanted to wear it home. Looks like it fits!!

2009-01-12T20:51:00.002-07:00

Today we met with the Teens N Tweens of Indigo Home Learners at The Mayo's house to decorate pillow cases for the homeless. Indigo is having a Valentine's Day party the first Friday in February. and we will fill the pillow cases with assorted items the homeless need. Then a representative from the group will deliver the filled cases to a shelter in Downtown Phoenix. This is something we can feel proud of.

While the kids were working on the cases, Sloane, Dott and some of the smaller kids were having fun on the trampoline. Check out Dott's static.

Quinn was doing some GREAT flips.