Dis-N-Dat

Well Hullo...Friday is upon us and a nice weekend is just around the corner. Was lookin at tha 5 day last night and a few possible rain days, but even so every day is supposed to be mid to upper 80's. Summer begins June 20th and can certainly tell were getting thurr.

Gotta give a shout out to Jess cause its her day. Happy B-Day Yo! M.J. got her a very cute kitten card, a purrty necklace, and a frog backpack w/ a beach towel inside. Im sure Jess has nice things to say about her gifts so ill let her do the ohh's and ahh's over on her blog. : )

Been very unmotivated today. Not like thats really something new for a Friday, but a little more then usual today. I think its that im really looking forward to spending the time w/ MaryJane (my fav thang to do ever), it being beautiful outside today (if you like it hot that is), great T.V. waiting to be watched (more on that in a minute), and not getting enough sleep last night......Zzzzz (dozed of there for a second there...sorry) cause i was stressin bout my poor financial situation (and i was supposed to watch LOST episodes 11- & 12....thanks a lot stupid money). hehe.

Been a good week. M.J. played outside most of Wednesday evening. She got a new Barbie kite and she had the best time flying it around. Anxious for a windy day when she can really get it going. She wanted to get it out again last night, but by the time we hit 2 Wal-Marts (had to find the frog gift...too cool) and McDonalds w/ a play place (extended visits at those) she had just enough time to mingle w/ the kids outside while i her bath water ran before bed time. Shes ready for the weekend and so am I. : )

So about that great T.V. action. So much to watch; so little time. haha. Tonight it is LOST or bust. Episode 11, 12, and Super Sized 13. Absolutely cannot wait. just turned on the tv for a second last night and before i could hit the dvr button and before the tube lit up i just heard explosions and screaming....this finale (just like the other 3) is going to rock. Saturday night is the landmark day that Live Mixed Martial Arts hits Network T.V.. Yup...thats right, CBS is showing a Live event w/ a plethora (thanks Jess) of awesome fighters. Its poised to be as good or better then a 50 dollar Ultimate Fighting Championship Pay-Per-View and its free. Then Sunday night another Live event on cable. its World Extreme Cagefighting (the UFC's little brother you could say) . They are always free, but the fighters are not big names and the fights are usually just fair at best. The main event Sunday is spectacular tho so im very excited. Also have the most recent episodes of UFC's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter", Top Chef, Pinks (maybe; might have been a re-run), and American Gladiators (probably watch it on-line today or Monday tho).

Got M.J. signed up for the first of many summer time activities. She is attending this in a few weeks and we know she will just love it. Sounds like a blast huh.
History Camp - a wonderful camp that the Shiloh museum is offering this summer! It's from 10-5 for one week- June 23-27. They will feature a different theme each day, such as modern technology day (make pinhole scopes and a tintype), Civil War day (make hardtack and homemade butter), Ozark Arts day (make lace and create a theorem painting), Natural History Day (make a spiderweb frame, a birdhouse and animal tracks to take home), Ozark Chores Day (make beeswax candles and a scarecrow).

Other then Wal-Mart (boo) and Church (yea) thinking bout a mini-outing over the weekend...maybe a trip to the Blue Bird Place (more commonly known as Terra Studios) or a trip to Lake Wedington (or the Springdale Aquatic Center if its open yet ) for a dip.

Be back Monday w/ lots to say and pictures to share.

Later

New Recruit!

Its official. We have our newest blogger....Diana. Just as I was inspired by Jess, I have inspired another. I have added a link to her page below. : )

Memorial Fun!

Fast Forward to Sunday bout 3:30...picked up nature gurl. I could tell she had a blast the moment i saw her just from her dirt/paint smeared body and raggedy hair; still that beautiful little face shining thru tho. Took that monkey home, ran her thru the tub and walla...good as new. hehe. That is after she did some "sun cathchers". Her mommy had loaded her up w/ crafts; she showed me the new teddy she made named Cinderella (super cute by the way), her new Disney Princess crown she made (adorable..escpecilally upon her princess head), and the 4 (of 18) sun catchers she had painted. She was on a mission to paint the rest. She did 3-4 more Sunday and probably the same number yesterday so shes getting there. Shes doing a great job of course and i will make certain to get a pic of her w/ her achievement upon completion. She played outside some Sunday afternoon making 'fairy dust w/ Samantha and Sara. I had gotten her a 12 pack of large sidewalk chalk the other day and the 3 of them managed to grind/ground most of it into the cement and collect what they could in plastic containers deeming it fairy dust. They had a lot of fun. She played outside quite a bit Monday as well. After the rain had passed there was plenty of mud to be had. Mid afternoon the "cake stuff" (as it is now known by all) was broken out and the mud was put to use. She spent several hours playing in the mud and dirt. The rest of our time was other artwork, watching movies, and playing silly games. M.J. had a wonderful time camping and the time we spent together was great. Make sure to see Jess' blog for camping details. She said her fav part was the wood boat. How cool.

Is it 4:30 yet?

Its Friday, its food and jeans day and im half way thurr. Just finished of a good sized plate of grub after 2 breakfasts and feeling kinda sleepy to tell tha truth. *yawn* Looking forward to the 3 day weekend despite the fact i wont have my gurl for the better part of it. I will miss her terribly, but find comfort in knowing she is going to be having a ball w/ her mommy. They are going camping as alot are, but not just because its the memorial weekend thing to do, but because its an early celebration of Jessica's upcoming birthday on the 30th of the month. I can't wait to hear all about it from little jabber-jaw. hehe.
Well, sadly i am still thinking about food so i must go check out the dessert situation. : d Ill be back Tuesday with the weekend run-down. Have a great one.

Stay home and play outside!

The weekend theme was stay home and play outside. Of course the exception being Church. That child just cannot wait for Church. She looks forward to it every week. what an angel. When I picked her up her teacher said they were taking the summer off and that there would be not small class till after the summer (they usually have a large group and then split off into small groups). She hugged M.J., told her she loved her and that she had requested for her to be in her class again next time. : ) They got to go outside and play as a little treat too. how fun. Both Saturday and Sunday afternoons were spent outdoors. MaryJane spent a lot of her time playing w/ the neighborhood kid digging in the dirt and playing on the play place. We also did some bubbles, played tag (I was "it" 95 % of the time), and played prisoner (I was "the prisoner" 100% of the time). M.J. and Samantha played for a good couple hours w/o any other kids around on Saturday. Those gurls spent almost that whole time making cake, pie, and cupcakes out of dirt, grass, weeds, and wood ships. This is them presenting 3 things to me for my B-day and boy was it yummy. ; ) A beautiful and very fun weekend indeed.

Homeschool Heaven!

How wonderful a trip! From the car ride, to the Motel, the the Fab Convention / Conference...we had a ball. We headed out around 2:45 on Thursday; Harding University in Searcy our Ultimate destination, but Conway the stopping point for the evening/nite. I had picked up some Read-alongs (books w/ audio cds) and 3 Readers (grade level books for children to read) from the library on Wednesday and had those and lots of other stuff loaded up in the car for M.J. to do. That gurl amazes me everyday w/ her smarts. She had the first reader in hand before I even got in the car Thursday and read all 3 of them back-to-back. I am totally getting like 10 readers for our next trip. Also during our car time she worked on an activity book about telling time (which she did lots more of over the weekend), showed me her money counting skills by counting all the change in her purse (87 cents I believe it wuz), and told me how if 4 plus 4 is 8 then 400 plus 400 is 800 and so forth. What a smarty pants...and I luv it! We hit the motel a bit before dinner time Thursday, un-loaded and played a little, then it was to Donald's to chow and back to the motel to play. MaryJane thinks motels are the best. We had a nice time there. Next morning it was up, grabbed a few donuts, and to the University for what I call Homeschool Mania. Got my cool name tag ( about the only nametag I would ever consider cool) and took MaryJane over to the large room where all the kids were at for the Children's Convention. id guess there were somewhere around 50 kids or so. She headed right on in and I went back very shortly after to peak in on her and I could tell she was having fun so I was very pleased. The team that held the conference was from Character Focus Ministries, a Christian based children's program. She had a lot of fun. MaryJane said they sang Sunday Schools songs, played duck duck goose, saw a magic trick, and learned about obedience. She also colored some pictures, did other art work, got a prize and had snack time. Don't get much better then that people. hehe. We also got to have lunch together which was nice. While she was attending her convention I enthralled myself in the glorious homeschool atmosphere admiring vendor booths, attending workshops, conversating and just roaming. Spent a majority of my vendor booth time drooling over the BJU Press Second Grade Books and conversating with the "I don't care what anyone says, that's the coolest old man ive ever meet". He taught at BJU for like 31 yrs or sumdin and had been a traveling rep for 10 or so so he really knew his stuff. Ill mention a couple things he said I admired. He said have you ever read a bible verse you didn't know what meant. didn't mean a lot to you. that there approach is to teach you what you need to know so that when you get to that bible verse (or anything) you will have the knowledge to understand what you have at hand. The other was funny...him saying you can pay for our materials or you can send your child to public school and pay for the rest of your life. heeee...thats a good one. I wish i could have purchased our curriculum right then and there, but not only am I waiting for that sweet check from the pres, but we are getting a good discount from a sweet website. Still cant wait tho. Attended 3 classes (workshops) while there. The first was "the profound influence of music on life". Was very interesting; told about how music can affect you, what it can do that nothing else can, and the importance of it. I could jabber for a while over it, but it certainly makes me feel even better about getting Maryanne her own Acoustic Guitar for her B-day. : ) Second class was the main session for the day and was hosted by the same guy. I knew it was going to be good when I fond that out and boy was it good. it was called "Rebuilding Your Education Paradigm: Writing, Thinking & the Essence of Teaching". I told Jess it was kind of the "hate on government...I mean public school session". basically talked about the how the public school system isn't broken, that it is was designed to be the way it is today; about how it doesn't encourage individual thinking; about what is important in an education, and a lot of other stimulating and useful information. lastly was the "how to homeschool on a budget class". I did come away with some good ideas and a few websites of use, but for the most past it was "use the library, use the internet", and go to yardsales"....stuff any idiot would know to do so that part was lame. Before we left MaryJane wanted to play a bit so we played tag and climbed on the trees. I had seen a little park when we went out for lunch too so we made a stop there as well. Finally, we dropped by one of the building to use the bathroom and on the way out M.J. wanted to make a wish. I gave her my 3 pennies and that gurl put a lot of thought into those wishes. She threw the first penny in and then reached to fish it back out. my reation of course was something along the lines of 'no, stop, your going to fall in, you cant use that penny again", but it apperant she was not listening nor believed me for she grabbed it up, canceled her first wish and threw the penny in again...and thats where it stayed. : ) the picture is of her deep in thought about what to wish for. precious. Then it was into the car and home for the weekend. I don't think anything can compare to first trip to Searcy, but I certainly came away from the trip feeling all warm and fuzzy inside and high on homeschool, plus having MaryJane with me and her getting to enjoy the trip and the conference made it all the better.

My ultra short, just to say i did it, post for the week

Hey everyone...this is my ultra short, just to say i did it, post for the week. Im out of here today at 2:00 and will not be back till Monday. Oh Yeah. MaryJane and I are leaving this afternoon for Conway where we will dine (at McDonalds..hehe) and Motel-It (made that up). Next day we are attending the Homeschool Convention at Harding University in Searcy, AR.. I will have stories and info to tell about and pictures for your reading and viewing pleasure Monday. Have a Great Weekend.

Later

2nd Grade! / Weekend : ) : ( / Butterflies?

So I think Jess and I have come to a decision on what we are doing for Second Grade and its..........BJU!!! We went over to the Springdale Conference (like the Searcy one were going to next weekend, but in Springdale...hehe) and looked at the vendor booths. There were some strong candidates there like Christian Liberty Press and A-Beka, but we are in love w/ BJU. It was nice to get our hands on books and be able to really look them over and we are more confident then ever that it is the right choice for us and I am so excited about it. : )

MaryJane is going to Tulsa tomorrow to either go to the Zoo (weather permitting) or a Locomotion/Fun City kinda place tomorrow and is spending the day w/ her Mother on Sunday since it is Mother's Day so no kiddo for me all weekend (boo hoo hoo), but I know she is going to be having a great time w/ Mom. Look for details on Jess's site come Monday.

Oh..and no butterflies yet..but were still waiting. : )

Panera

I must apologize to Panera Bread Company. Just the other day thru some conversation w/ Jess I had mention I didnt really care for that place, but either im retarded or that place has gotten better (betting on option 1) cause Wednesday one of the secretaries came around w/ some of thurr food. There was a semi-annual big 3 day meeting over here for the end of Qtr 1 & 2 and I guess they had left over grub. So the gurl is like "do you want one, its just ham and cheese". of course I said yes, but it was so much more then just ham and cheese. im talking about super tasty bread, crisp lettuce, thin sliced tomato, mustard, and even a little mayo didnt hurt it...plus chips, a cookie (waiting for me at home still) and a garlic pickle. The sandwich was delectable and I must stop talking about it before I start drooling. Panera Bread Company is yummy...end of story.

Pico

So community group was Tuesday and was great as always. I went to pick M.J. up after our study at the house across the street...walked in...all the other kids are running crazy..and there's my angel in the bedroom with her nose buried in a Dr. Seuss book. She is such a good little reader and just enjoys it so much. Now don't get me worn tho...pretty much every other time ive gone to pick her up.. she was one of those "running crazy" ones. ; )

So ive always had this thing for Pico de Gallo. Every time we go to a Mex place I always have to have it. It seems to never be the same, but always good. I needed to take something for group; appetizer-ish, and have been becoming more motivated and interested in getting into the kitchen and making new and different things (thanks Top Chef: Chicago) so I wiki'd the recipe and took it into action. It turned out great and I got so many comments about how good it was, and it showed they loved it to for the fact they ate almost all of a double order of the recipe. go me. hehe. below is tasty recipe should you want to indulge yourselves.

Ingredients
2 cups chopped fresh tomato
½ cup chopped white or yellow onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons stemmed, seeded, and minced jalapeño or other chiles
1 small clove of garlic, minced
hot sauce, to taste

Directions
Dice the vegetables.
Combine them, mixing well.
Add salt, pepper, chiles, lime juice, and garlic.
Add hot sauce if desired.

Gala

So the Gala was Monday night and it was pretty cool. We hung out in the social area to begin and moved over to the stage area for the later part of the evening. I took a few pictures of her "skit" as Jess put it most accurately, but they are really no different or better then hers. Stroll over to her place to get a few more details on the shin dig. It was a nice evening. : )

Caterpillars and More!

Well, the pic and one word pretty much sums up our weekend; caterpillar. That child and I found more of them then you'd believe. id guess we found close to 30 over the course of 3 days. We were out Friday playing detective when she came across the first and second ones. I told her I would get a box and she could fix it up like a home and put them in there...and it was on from there on out. We hunted, admired, and showed them off to the whole neighborhood. Here the best part...we have cocoons...and not just one or 2....but 10. yup, 10 cocoons. She had seven caterpillars the first night when we went to sleep. she had said she hoped they would make cocoons and to my amazement and her expectedness one had spun one over night. Wow! We got to witness the making of the others over the weekend. Neto. One even escaped and spun a cocoon on the couch. We cant wait for Butterflies! Oh...we did do other things beside caterpillars tho.

Saturday we were getting ready to head out for a trip to Wal-Mart when MaryJane asked when we were going to Home Depot again (for a children's workshop) and my response after a quick moment of thought was....Today. She had seen some construction across the way and it sparked her head to think about Home Depot. How crazy cool it all that. So I ran back in to grab her apron and we were off. She built a pencil holder w/ wooden flowers to put in it. I think it is the one of the best things she's built there. Aside from he holding a few boards together she did it all by herself, glue, hammering, and stickers. How proud I am/wuz of her and she was very proud of herself to boot. Im gonna get a pic of her with it but she is not finished yet. she says she wants to paint it before she puts the rest of the stickers on it. Can you say Ar-tist? hehe. We hit dollar tree where she got her a new bear w/ a dollar of hers. it was a big deal too cause she got a bear w/ clothes for a dollar when it usually a dollar for the bear and a dollar for the clothes. it was the only one there w/ clothes on to so it was a very special find for us. yea. hit Donald's for lunch and play, then it was home and outside for the monkey.

Sunday was church. she had been anxious for church all week, which I just love. She wore a beautiful dress her mommy got for her. It was a good time. We were going to go to have lunch at Grandma Doris' but she had fallen and hurt her hand. Hope your feeling alright Grandma. : ) So instead it was back to the house to play the day away. Lots more outside and watched Alvin & the Chipmunks, which is very good. She read me a couple books too. She is such a good reader. last Tuesday she read me 4 books too, 2 at the library before we left after her library class and 2 when we got home. I do love reading to her, but enjoy her reading to me even more.

Tonight MaryJane is having a "Gala" at The Jones Center. What exactly is a Gala???...well, not real sure myself, but I know its gonna be great. Her last day of Treehouse was last Thursday so its kinda like a little celebration of the completed semester. I know we are having food and M.J. and her classmates are doing some performing. Ill have details when upon my return.

Later.

Hello Weekend!

Man am I ready for the weekend. Going to get my gurl after work, then its home to probably do our routine for the week. Every nite this weeks been go home, eat dinner, play outside for bout 30 minutes, a quick dunk in tha tub, a little cartoon action, and then a few chapters of Junie B. Jones before tickling to sleep. Don't see why tonight will be any different and like it that way. It will be nice to have lots of time to do stuff over the weekend. No big outings, but surely lots of outside playing. supposed to be pretty nice it looks like, especially Sunday. I'm thinking a trip to Gully Park over on Township in Fayetteville is in store. We've both been wanting to get over there. Lots of ideas here and im sure that child of mine will come up with who knows what to do. Fill you all in on Monday.

Counting Crows - You Can't Count On Me (Late Show-Letterman)

Ok...so this is a long time coming. Well, not really a long time and not really this. Let me explain. About a month ago one of my top 10 bands, Counting Crows came out w/ a new album entitled "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" and along side released a Music Video of there first single "You Can't Count on Me". So I found the music video on You Tube and thought I would put it on my blog only to find out they wouldn't let me cause of some copyright mumbo jumbo or sumdin. So here is there performance of the song on "The Late Show w/ David Letterman" just a few days before the release of the album. No matter what your musical preference your bound to love this.