tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74268771176770643962024-02-19T02:53:08.792-08:00Adventures of Plenty<center><small>Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love</small></center>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-51360236407826993412011-01-26T22:53:00.000-08:002011-01-26T22:53:55.747-08:003 years could be viewed as a "hiatus"... right?I figured a 3 year break needed an new blog entirely. So! If you're looking, I can be found at <a href="http://www.adventuresincharacter.blogspot.com/">Adventures in Character Building</a>. After all... don't all adventures build character? I think so ;)Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-65875701818403594032008-10-15T23:07:00.000-07:002008-10-15T23:10:11.109-07:00I will and shall return.. famous last wordsI know... I've said this. I mean it this time. The whole "moving" thing completely threw me off. Really badly I might add. Schooling - not so much. To say <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">unschooling</span> is even a horrible stretch. Losing our preschool room really killed me schooling organization. Losing about 500<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">sqft</span> of house didn't help. However! We are moving.... again. To a different house, still here in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">monterey</span>. Although we will now have my ever precious and missed school room back. I will post, there will be pictures. And we will learn so much I promise.
PS - I can't wait for Christmas decorating to start!!!!!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-670563208695537422008-06-02T21:55:00.000-07:002008-06-02T22:09:08.588-07:00Quirky girl say what?Ok.... so Kate tagged me to do this quirky deal. And I am so so so far fallen by the way side with biting off more than I can chew that I have neglected my blog. Yes I swore once my dear hubby returned I would post. Yes I have about a million pictures I should/could and would post yet have not yet even started to upload. So, I shall emerge from my super long silence to tell everyone how truly bizarre I am. I'm pretty sure everyone has already done this 'cause I'm really that slow. But if you feel inspired feel free to continue the natural progression of a meme. So, 5 quirky things about me... *my list may run over*<p> I count <i>everything</i>. Steps, seconds, floor tiles. I have no clue why.<p> I remember numbers by making correlations. Like.... if a phone # were 242-1266 I'd say oh, so 2x2 is 4 and 12-6 is 6. but I do it with any and all numbers, even if the connections make no sense. <p>I hate being wrong so much that I will keep my mouth shut and rather sit by in silent compliance than risk being wrong... I will regretfully admit my mistakes if I do happen to open my mouth and be wrong, but ooooh how I hate it. <p> I hate conflict so much that I will avoid it at all costs... even if I end up being miserable as a result. <p> I refuse to do the dishes if the dish rag is left in the sink. This has been known to lead to full on "domestic engineer strike" in which I refuse to do a single dish and generally if the dishes don't get done within the day I go on full house strike where I wont sweep or mop of do laundry either. I then end up having to do 3 days worth of chores when I give in because I hate feeling dirty. <p> I LOVE gardening, but wont do it if it's below 60 or windy.... needless to say my garden is sad this year <p> I'm convinced all insects have a conspiracy to attack me and where normally crickets and the like jump <i>away</i> from people, they actually attack me. <p>I'm scared of lightening to the point where I get anxiety attacks during storms
<p>See.... totally blew past 5 and I'd keep going but well.... I need to go do dishes. Perhaps I'll find time soon to do a "3 months in review". We have had some mighty adventures, that's for sure! Alas - I shall have to get my act together another day.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-18489170659445808512008-04-19T11:09:00.000-07:002008-04-19T11:13:26.972-07:00Our coastal adventureWell, I decided that it was about time we go on a grand adventure. We haven't had nearly enough of those lately. So - we packed up our bags and headed south. We stopped in LA to visit the family and then took the 9 hour drive to Sierra Vista, AZ to visit DH while he's at army type school. It was a pretty smooth drive for the most part, especially since sitting still is not easy for my children for 9 minutes let alone 9 hours. Once we return I shall post pictures. Until then we're having some rockin' family time which we totally missed for the past month.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-781561147310596712008-03-31T11:59:00.000-07:002008-03-31T12:08:54.925-07:00More on the art of house keepingWell, all this housekeeping must be a darned good lesson for Soph in being a domestic engineer. Yesterday she insisted on helping me with my daily chores (which have completely filled my days lately) - I showed her how to sort the laundry and let her push the buttons to get the wash goin'... much later after it buzzed I was changing B's diaper - when returning I saw the dryer going. I asked Soph if she did it and she said "yeah, I saw you do it, I made the light be at the top and took the fuzzies out of the screen and pushed the button". I'm not so surprised that she put the wash in the dryer as much as I am baffled and amazed that she did it correctly - and even took the lint out of the trap! What?! I'm pretty sure I was doing no such thing when I was 3 (or 4, or 5 or ever until I was on my own). After it dried she even folded it. Perhaps there's something to my non-academic lessons. She has been "reading" a lot too, perhaps because I spend my downtime (HA what down time?) reading books about being a better (and more organized) person. I suppose the best lessons are those that aren't taught but observed. I think our non-lesson will be my slim in 6 DVD, she can learn about the importance of structured exercise while joining me in my quest to live an all around better, healthier, more productive lifestyle.... it takes 21 days to make/break habits and I figure I have 39 until DH is home again - I can make so many good habits in that time!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-87930950926167934632008-03-24T12:23:00.000-07:002008-03-24T12:38:43.368-07:00Unplugged Project : We return for Eggs!It has been so SO SO long since we've done an unplugged project! I totally should have posted this last night, buuuut I was baking tasty treats for DH and "the guys". It was a wee bit hard to do this one, as my Soph is really really really allergic to eggs. I can't wait until she out grows it 'cause I really want to dye eggs with her. I have a fun way of taking silk scraps and tying them to the eggs and then boiling them and they look AWESOME... alas I digress.
You may have read a while back about how we made an Easter basket for daddy and mailed it to him. I took that to be our Egg project, plastic counts right? Here's the re post of the pictures.
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B totally had a blast trying to put the eggs together
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She never did quite get it, but she had fun banging them together too
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Soph put peep chicks in the eggs to send to daddy
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And little army men, so very appropriate!
</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYq5-oLZOevW3qrUnolIlETUUvZ-S5SH-BTqWmMGBtTJ8O1E9KDG4gIbZkIOQiAapWdM0nbLGsHgbd01KtJcShhDIfKRy4BoB1ld0k1bf8Z9oG_A1F85IynEEobTK4xXvdUDPTxASCR8/s1600-h/DSCN2397.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqYq5-oLZOevW3qrUnolIlETUUvZ-S5SH-BTqWmMGBtTJ8O1E9KDG4gIbZkIOQiAapWdM0nbLGsHgbd01KtJcShhDIfKRy4BoB1ld0k1bf8Z9oG_A1F85IynEEobTK4xXvdUDPTxASCR8/s200/DSCN2397.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181393168172526226" border="0" /></a>
I stuffed the eggs with not so Soph friendly treats like M&Ms and cadbury eggs, good stuff like that. If putting eggs in the cookies and brownies I baked counts then yay for me!
Now! On to a super awesome contest that <a href="http://momnmore.blogspot.com/2008/03/fantastic-contest-free-subscription-to.html">Momma (and more)</a> is hosting on her blog! It's a chance to win a free subscription to KIWI magazine, and even more importantly, shared ways to be a little more green. What's more unplugged than helping our planet one family at a time?! Go check it out and share your ways of being more user friendly to our planet... after all, we only have one.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-10244295574159515252008-03-23T14:41:00.000-07:002008-03-23T15:01:16.028-07:00Sunshine and good timesThe sun is shining, and despite a slightly chilly breeze, we headed outside for some fun in the sunshine.
<div style="text-align: center;">Lil' B (not so lil') moving at lightening speed on her little ride on thingy... At least she didn't fall off.
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Soph actually going quite quickly and throwing flowers at us - I'm very surprised she didn't fall off given she was throwing the flowers pretty hard.
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Soph sharing her flowers with B
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B trying to give it back.
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This was the other day, but we were still outside! Brenna had too much fun I guess and passed out.
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Since today is Easter for most that celebrate Easter, I thought perhaps I should include a picture of B's participation in the making of the package for daddy. She mostly pounded plastic eggs together.
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Also, the other day, Soph made mud soup. Delightfully tasty.
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B wanted in on the action ... or at least the ball.
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Ah back to today - B found a pine cone and came to share it with me! So thoughtful.
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So that's a lil' of this and a lil' of that -all of which involves a healthy dose of Vit D. If my children actually go to sleep (ha! a girl can dream right?) then tonight I'm going to bake some cookies for DH. Oooh I do miss him so. What's the countdown - 47 days or something like that? Little actual sit down learning is going on right now - it's mostly just trying to get through the days. Its hard enough when I just have to maintain a cleanish household, but to have to unpack and organize and maintain and do it alone? hot damn! I'm tired just thinking about it! Oh and I have a new found appreciation for DH - mowing a lawn as large as ours is hard work! Holy cow, I'm exhausted just thinking about the fact that I'll have to do it at least 3 more times while he's gone!
<p>Hope every one's day is great!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-32491817355578871952008-03-20T21:43:00.000-07:002008-03-20T21:48:48.355-07:00Rosetta Stone!Well! It seems that this is so awesome that I couldn't pass it up. Having been one who has learned a foreign language, and even taken a gander at Rosetta Stone I couldn't resist posting this to share. I wish that they had Serbian/Croatian or Greek.. ok so I already speak Serb, but it would be awesome for the kiddos! I wonder what I'd want to learn next... hmmm maybe Russian - perhaps Irish. Oh the possibilities are endless!
<blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> </span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.</span>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page </span><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">HERE</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">: </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"> and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!</span></blockquote>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-59674141023216454172008-03-20T10:12:00.000-07:002008-03-20T10:26:44.934-07:00I'm on a roll ~Well, I didn't think that I would be posting much until DH returns from his adventures - apparently he takes up lots of my time or something 'cause I haven't posted this much since... well a long time. Granted most of these posts are less adventuresome and more random pictures with captions - I do get some points for trying right? Well, here goes <p>
<div style="text-align: center;">Soph is doing well outgrowing the milk allergy, so we can have pizza now. It's still soy cheese, but there is casein in 98% of the soy cheeses out there, so up until now we have gone cheese-less. I let her make her own.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboDcjfsqCgVbOnVEJ5dpsphfawSWBmpLoNyck8mWglQEKIeqkyX0bZ1tPvqjYrJ57av9eEco0kv8YyES3ZqbldXNWGoGt5SZ0i0KSVKlJGQmvfl-YXjY6PjgPASsLxun4aYCkmtGj_I4/s1600-h/DSCN2406.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjboDcjfsqCgVbOnVEJ5dpsphfawSWBmpLoNyck8mWglQEKIeqkyX0bZ1tPvqjYrJ57av9eEco0kv8YyES3ZqbldXNWGoGt5SZ0i0KSVKlJGQmvfl-YXjY6PjgPASsLxun4aYCkmtGj_I4/s200/DSCN2406.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179874411902085442" border="0" /></a>Then while enjoying her pizzas she looked out our dinning room window and... SURPRISE - a few smaller turkeys were hanging out in our yard. Perhaps they thought it was the wilderness since it's in desperate need of a mow.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiKuVL_M83-mAdOJYRsDuR9zWr_uFoxV2z1O9GaZDOZ0JHGrTB-3S3cHB-rm2jS9XzrlzF2CPBkeB005GOT8jULabVTjD83smfmzPj5DgvM7_E6bDpNYAtn7Qy3v6CmJnDAcGMGV8lBQ/s1600-h/DSCN2410.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiKuVL_M83-mAdOJYRsDuR9zWr_uFoxV2z1O9GaZDOZ0JHGrTB-3S3cHB-rm2jS9XzrlzF2CPBkeB005GOT8jULabVTjD83smfmzPj5DgvM7_E6bDpNYAtn7Qy3v6CmJnDAcGMGV8lBQ/s200/DSCN2410.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179874420492020050" border="0" /></a>
Brenna has taken a liking to feeding herself. This was fun because I put her in her exersaucer, thinking she couldn't get into trouble - or make a huge mess while I did dishes...
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1cc0MMJ7kwJGZoRKaUHEOKSoAA6b07vHrrCHZVKfUmbWrMfgncayAYL4wnAoKQ0l3Vr7jVXw1FKzlY4Er_g3MvIV_h-9wc8x30C-J2B6bHwNj1Yprjve6aYN_poU5lxB6SUEHkeio-M/s1600-h/DSCN2413.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_1cc0MMJ7kwJGZoRKaUHEOKSoAA6b07vHrrCHZVKfUmbWrMfgncayAYL4wnAoKQ0l3Vr7jVXw1FKzlY4Er_g3MvIV_h-9wc8x30C-J2B6bHwNj1Yprjve6aYN_poU5lxB6SUEHkeio-M/s200/DSCN2413.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179874429081954658" border="0" /></a>
Apparently this is what sisters are for. I asked Soph how Brenna got food, she said "Oh, like this (view picture), she looked hungry so I thought I'd feed her)
</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDNuNPGIobnIrCz41PQU6BlOhGK9UufjpQv2sQu_wRdNUx7QhVJGDnjmB4GhCFneQ1CpgnUb0ELlWJ-5yYle_ZHWPcBBzh6N-FO2OqIAeYDn-Y2QpvEASvl-a6TDCIzUlNqRbOD7rkxE/s1600-h/DSCN2414.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDNuNPGIobnIrCz41PQU6BlOhGK9UufjpQv2sQu_wRdNUx7QhVJGDnjmB4GhCFneQ1CpgnUb0ELlWJ-5yYle_ZHWPcBBzh6N-FO2OqIAeYDn-Y2QpvEASvl-a6TDCIzUlNqRbOD7rkxE/s200/DSCN2414.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179874437671889266" border="0" /></a>At least she's helpful? I don't even know how she got the food without me noticing, since it is in the kitchen and yeah... does this make me neglectful? Brenna wasn't really hungry I swear - I have the lack of sleep due to Brenna being up all night with an upset tummy to prove it, really i do! It's pretty nice outside today, perhaps we shall go adventuring when I feel my house is "good enough for now".... right now, definitely not good enough for anything except cleaning.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-50962336276823956812008-03-18T23:46:00.001-07:002008-03-19T00:11:05.573-07:00I wasn't kidding around -When I say 16 minutes I definitely mean it... So here's how we spent the rest of our day.
<div style="text-align: center;">Soph was a mermaid, yes that is my pillow being dragged on our floor, I'd rather not think about it... next.
</div><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3SoZxU4NHtD5PV5qrKPTf1rP63HoCbeJodJLnLDxV0yl1Ft8JwISuj5H0QJv-_Ok6uaNH1FTMPh_VCfJmz7QfLjhyphenhyphenOtoN7H5yjabap1ZF0f7Q1GR7iSpXqRWQMmqI6wcp8tGPe0r6xI/s1600-h/DSCN2388.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii3SoZxU4NHtD5PV5qrKPTf1rP63HoCbeJodJLnLDxV0yl1Ft8JwISuj5H0QJv-_Ok6uaNH1FTMPh_VCfJmz7QfLjhyphenhyphenOtoN7H5yjabap1ZF0f7Q1GR7iSpXqRWQMmqI6wcp8tGPe0r6xI/s200/DSCN2388.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179345505548785618" border="0" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;">We proceeded to stuff plastic eggs to mail to dad while he's away. Nothing says Happy Easter like pink peeps and green army men!
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8AWsucqn-h5930TNnXgsvK9mcy8jMP0N1HIL_t3Sx-WXPvUy61NDjnUdr4Ef7DTavbGZ69U0XplxnQpOJ0lCJ2h6N2tn3YfEUmEhMntSdjZxETmzmQlvnF69RdWFp79_EB1Dyc5iqq-A/s1600-h/DSCN2394.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8AWsucqn-h5930TNnXgsvK9mcy8jMP0N1HIL_t3Sx-WXPvUy61NDjnUdr4Ef7DTavbGZ69U0XplxnQpOJ0lCJ2h6N2tn3YfEUmEhMntSdjZxETmzmQlvnF69RdWFp79_EB1Dyc5iqq-A/s200/DSCN2394.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179345509843752930" border="0" /></a>
B got in on the action too... well, mostly she tasted the army men and threw the eggs at me.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEePvvgImolQbiLJFMnTWRuuNcc2VJ0mpbo6ybieRb7f8trdKsbdmO3e_FZKwfVyIQJBarIYxKLFz950HrwZ35aX-AFe3xEd90kYo5nJ88SKEaER0-s_KKZfYpluFxcIo5op04AllaHBM/s1600-h/DSCN2395.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEePvvgImolQbiLJFMnTWRuuNcc2VJ0mpbo6ybieRb7f8trdKsbdmO3e_FZKwfVyIQJBarIYxKLFz950HrwZ35aX-AFe3xEd90kYo5nJ88SKEaER0-s_KKZfYpluFxcIo5op04AllaHBM/s200/DSCN2395.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179345514138720242" border="0" /></a>
Then they built a house together... ok, so Soph built and B tore apart - at least it was a joint effort?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHW4nCeP1-n0XUOC6GWLTKcc7RBs8HKAOkge26_0m0MlwKDfrJOUtxPCPb_g3CqWX0FncQqvkLtj7h8BGSC8omImOjJrwFcYA6QUmKNN3TnXYj-QvPVJH8SyBnp8FMYGXeww9LJoR_hU/s1600-h/DSCN2401.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDHW4nCeP1-n0XUOC6GWLTKcc7RBs8HKAOkge26_0m0MlwKDfrJOUtxPCPb_g3CqWX0FncQqvkLtj7h8BGSC8omImOjJrwFcYA6QUmKNN3TnXYj-QvPVJH8SyBnp8FMYGXeww9LJoR_hU/s200/DSCN2401.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179345518433687554" border="0" /></a>
This was the charging of (not so) lil' B. Doesn't she look serious when she's attackin?
</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27GCzdmtObwJufmuHbpacfJU3OARvNjMprZq4o6jc6T_kwm9npV2j07slLFG3rdffz22lS0vixnEHVYOXaHcRrehtHHcjThkR7LAhoxL9b9Oug5WngVO_m8mom7hp_9sxP6siQpFR7ag/s1600-h/DSCN2404.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg27GCzdmtObwJufmuHbpacfJU3OARvNjMprZq4o6jc6T_kwm9npV2j07slLFG3rdffz22lS0vixnEHVYOXaHcRrehtHHcjThkR7LAhoxL9b9Oug5WngVO_m8mom7hp_9sxP6siQpFR7ag/s200/DSCN2404.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179345531318589458" border="0" /></a>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-57788862180951953362008-03-18T23:25:00.004-07:002008-03-18T23:42:15.394-07:00I do not recall signing up for this...this being these... and these being crazy huge wild turkeys that seem to want to attack me while getting my paper. I know, what you're thinking... what does this have to do with adventures in learning? Well, for now this blog shall be about adventures in general. <p dragover="true"> Now that that's been said... back to turkeys. So, in my travels I've encountered many animals that seemed a bit out of place. Deer in my stairwell the first time I was in Monterey, fluffy cottontail bunny rabbits in Baltimore (city), and now I'm faced with a whole new slew of crazy animals. In the several weeks we've been here we've seen a coyote, a mountain lion, crazy huge turkeys, deer and ground squirrels - in our neighborhood. Now, lets keep in mind I'm not living in the woods, nor out in the country. Crazy I know. </p><p dragover="true"> Where is the adventure you ask? (As if all these new animal neighbors aren't adventurous enough)... well Soph is scared to death of these turkeys (after all, some of them are bigger than her) - however, she must have this natural "face your fear" thing inside her, for she saw them out her window this morning and asked me if they would bite, and then informed me we should go for a walk to see if they would run away. So, we went on a walk - they didn't run away, they just walked around us like we were in their way... which we probably were since I bet they were here first. </p><p dragover="true">Other than that we didn't do much, it seems all I ever do is clean and try and have a somewhat inhabitable house. I really need to hurry up too, because B is into everything. If I take my eye off her for 4 seconds, this is what I see.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9Ep5DicQ8O5BnBTFleeKPUVzbvjtgynK7GmGa8u-tJPOodP8JQaI61qJAok-NqmKCWl54U0BXJSkyjtQPKFt5exhWsB2v-8Cu4XksZTOgD2sQ43q-oblJ6tX-J_S6lvN2LcHDC5fH7E/s1600-h/DSCN2405.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9Ep5DicQ8O5BnBTFleeKPUVzbvjtgynK7GmGa8u-tJPOodP8JQaI61qJAok-NqmKCWl54U0BXJSkyjtQPKFt5exhWsB2v-8Cu4XksZTOgD2sQ43q-oblJ6tX-J_S6lvN2LcHDC5fH7E/s200/DSCN2405.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179337804672423874" border="0" /></a></p>That is a sticker, on her forehead. I have no clue where it came from, but she came barreling full speed at me and then started cracking up. Good thing I was quick with the camera! I have a few other choice pictures from our day, yet those will have to wait until another time... perhaps in 16 minutes.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-20119638126032631562008-03-16T21:37:00.004-07:002008-03-16T22:17:57.787-07:00Ah yes... at lastI have not only taken pictures, but have even put them on my machine! *small victory* So, here they are. Nothing special yet, as I am clearly not in any state to do anything that fun or educational. Alas - Here's what I have, in no particular order of course... and accompanied by my self justification that learning is happening. :)
<div style="text-align: center;">Soph and her new very best friend at the Easter Egg hunt
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LC-O_zvaPauAoT8o4D0iqkfMbjYkz8mbb-JlDgSyNBaq335J3v_xD_BwNSx36YaSt5gViZiv1a4qXJaFMBuaZP6xPTeM8T5_mbMAqBqUJjcisM4VPFVFrKjLozjE4NQo1sWfW4Okd-I/s1600-h/DSCN2375.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LC-O_zvaPauAoT8o4D0iqkfMbjYkz8mbb-JlDgSyNBaq335J3v_xD_BwNSx36YaSt5gViZiv1a4qXJaFMBuaZP6xPTeM8T5_mbMAqBqUJjcisM4VPFVFrKjLozjE4NQo1sWfW4Okd-I/s200/DSCN2375.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178568468655527810" border="0" /></a>
The kiddies with the Easter Bunny, yes B is missing - she was busy getting a tattoo.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXTwyxR3t2Z1YclAf_59H91s_vl4_xg3FjqQ0uL2j83dqXlk4DrOpVYpzhE0qii-OHuWxLJydsbQBzn7LjYXX7LP0tL1JIyeBts4KCeVebhL84grZDbtyGWBRLcmoRdtlW5cY_yK8QzM/s1600-h/DSCN2373.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXTwyxR3t2Z1YclAf_59H91s_vl4_xg3FjqQ0uL2j83dqXlk4DrOpVYpzhE0qii-OHuWxLJydsbQBzn7LjYXX7LP0tL1JIyeBts4KCeVebhL84grZDbtyGWBRLcmoRdtlW5cY_yK8QzM/s200/DSCN2373.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178568477245462418" border="0" /></a>
Ok, not the greatest picture, but it'll do. B was surprisingly not upset by the big furry bunny holding her - perhaps because Soph assured her it was a man in a suit. Talk about a killjoy!
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELqg48O9oqYe_17ZSillHUPwCYM9NMNHvGgYpObEo47_-wFmrI3aEqGIHxR9jSEr8A7BtQXiVST6tweuKVdxVlTr_CW_5T3bSPw9h9cv-Y0NY2xVi5yQS9bet1SIYXwdT2Bi8YJ6d7ZY/s1600-h/DSCN2379.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELqg48O9oqYe_17ZSillHUPwCYM9NMNHvGgYpObEo47_-wFmrI3aEqGIHxR9jSEr8A7BtQXiVST6tweuKVdxVlTr_CW_5T3bSPw9h9cv-Y0NY2xVi5yQS9bet1SIYXwdT2Bi8YJ6d7ZY/s200/DSCN2379.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178568481540429730" border="0" /></a>
The "sleep over", otherwise known as me watchin' the kids. Talk about out numbered! 4 to 1, I'm glad I survived. They had a good time playing with the "computers" - interestingly enough Soph's current catch phrase is "you're blog is awesome!", if only she knew what a blog was and that I do indeed have one.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yXz5IscyAkGbEJRJVbrTcLBlP8Tt-YVy4QUnPB7g1JbQZW04rzUw15gi9rDxTkwWB4SYoFZuB9AvxQzEVecmRPm7ppk_Qei9yvp1KFZJmQTDr2G_QZcyjikUqjgpHxfK3kjlFzaMIh4/s1600-h/dscn2387.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yXz5IscyAkGbEJRJVbrTcLBlP8Tt-YVy4QUnPB7g1JbQZW04rzUw15gi9rDxTkwWB4SYoFZuB9AvxQzEVecmRPm7ppk_Qei9yvp1KFZJmQTDr2G_QZcyjikUqjgpHxfK3kjlFzaMIh4/s200/dscn2387.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178568485835397042" border="0" /></a>
Our new preschool room. Clearly I'm not done unpacking and it's still a work in progress, at least it's not a death trap anymore. It's too bad I couldn't have had "before" picture, this entire room was wall to wall boxes.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRtnsSJWZvJFXRFsGxiAIHi84lfriCboP85A2GYeB9cxPzXk1DXreq4jb806AufqVqbcvt5MiCHYqEZU-YlhPXu5U1gYgSy3dkrwzl5__tzSsQuz4sh9mckCMNjOMxv-UqCUWxTzePos/s1600-h/DSCN2352.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBRtnsSJWZvJFXRFsGxiAIHi84lfriCboP85A2GYeB9cxPzXk1DXreq4jb806AufqVqbcvt5MiCHYqEZU-YlhPXu5U1gYgSy3dkrwzl5__tzSsQuz4sh9mckCMNjOMxv-UqCUWxTzePos/s200/DSCN2352.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178567313309325106" border="0" /></a>
The other side of our promising room of learning :)
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyCmEVUH_MHaJDFnSRNcDgEzWzQ99bcxSfWlZY5wDIQw-VvorFR3ifM3gmg9cR_TOZl7GLEQLcaHPzAHJjjH8qLCZY-j2oIzp8E0JqJcpdV9eIUFQEsjrWf-x65FKEBarx9QM4yYMc-8/s1600-h/DSCN2353.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyCmEVUH_MHaJDFnSRNcDgEzWzQ99bcxSfWlZY5wDIQw-VvorFR3ifM3gmg9cR_TOZl7GLEQLcaHPzAHJjjH8qLCZY-j2oIzp8E0JqJcpdV9eIUFQEsjrWf-x65FKEBarx9QM4yYMc-8/s200/DSCN2353.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178567321899259714" border="0" /></a>
Our super tiny kitchen, fully equipped with our washer and dryer. I'm sure many math lessons and home skill lessons will be taking place here. Let's note it's maybe 1/4 the size of our old kitchen - talk about creative use of space.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMi_rBie41bHdB0WAsudZSMedGvk2mw5gFcY3UQZ-deBfDeCTj2ybF_fJwYnSuT_JDHgFKUmBp0DMgl4qE8pNTVkVdXH-1cnN1DoV7wx0vx1bbZIsPRAMTfbngW8VCKYtgYtvrrTMcJpQ/s1600-h/DSCN2362.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMi_rBie41bHdB0WAsudZSMedGvk2mw5gFcY3UQZ-deBfDeCTj2ybF_fJwYnSuT_JDHgFKUmBp0DMgl4qE8pNTVkVdXH-1cnN1DoV7wx0vx1bbZIsPRAMTfbngW8VCKYtgYtvrrTMcJpQ/s200/DSCN2362.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178567330489194322" border="0" /></a>
Yeah, the other side - see very small. Soph's hand is on the fridge, it really is that tiny.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPNv40QPq32P6R-LyFatKtoE8dTnXjMXyI3ZK4cyluA7i2T5tHV5CpWiM8yG5TbZ_xk50TAbq6FRlHNm1bu6YksKVdLTrC_AWYeDGqEvLYWfvVhfKe1NzzV-CehMdT2pdwSbz7hUsSEQ/s1600-h/DSCN2364.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPNv40QPq32P6R-LyFatKtoE8dTnXjMXyI3ZK4cyluA7i2T5tHV5CpWiM8yG5TbZ_xk50TAbq6FRlHNm1bu6YksKVdLTrC_AWYeDGqEvLYWfvVhfKe1NzzV-CehMdT2pdwSbz7hUsSEQ/s200/DSCN2364.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178567334784161634" border="0" /></a>
We planted our garden. The veggies are in front of our very unsightly outdoor storage shed, and although most of our learning will be on that side, the flower bed I dug is deemed Soph's garden. She helped dig up the grass and she waters it, she even helped pick out the flowers that we planted. That's definitely learning!
</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeVE9VeHOA7w6OJfTB5Lh_6TNt0MWFiGJD5mx3nksbG5WUsdSOVJskNPiQ3WsF_sxn6ATNS4hux50vUkrBqXHlrotdrfFs0unbrZcivvLaoD3J5Yyee6bwN1_sZiDib6X40S2k73i29k/s1600-h/DSCN2366.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjeVE9VeHOA7w6OJfTB5Lh_6TNt0MWFiGJD5mx3nksbG5WUsdSOVJskNPiQ3WsF_sxn6ATNS4hux50vUkrBqXHlrotdrfFs0unbrZcivvLaoD3J5Yyee6bwN1_sZiDib6X40S2k73i29k/s200/DSCN2366.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178567343374096242" border="0" /></a>Well that's it, a quick glimpse of out weekend and a brief tour of our humble abode. I'm back to unpacking and planning our trip to AZ to visit DH. Hopefully I shall have more adventurous and fun filled pictures soon.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-27069676979544711272008-03-14T16:20:00.002-07:002008-03-14T19:27:21.613-07:00Ah yes... I have been taggedOk, so I've been tagged twice. To do this thingy. I'm really not that interesting, but I must come up with 5 whole things that are interesting about me. Then I'm supposed to tag more people. However I do believe I'm so far behind that everyone else has been tagged that I would possibly tag. (wow that's a lot of tagging) If you stumble upon me, or perhaps lurk, let yourself be known! Tag yourself for me and then let me know :) I love finding out things about other people. I'm nosey like that :) Here goes - <p>
1. My father passed away when I was 16, and where as this would cause most people to have "issues" I'm surprisingly (apparently) well adjusted to this. I never really grieved, I just always accepted it - perhaps that in itself could be considered an "issue".<p>
2. I wish I was more domestic. I try to be, but I hate the dishes and the laundry and the cleaning. Yet I hate having dirty laundry, dirty dishes and a dirty house. A great paradox I know.<p>
3. Since 2002 I have moved 6 times and lived in 3 different states - Texas, then CA, back to TX, then MD then back to CA. <p>
4. I love the smell of clean sheets straight out of the dryer. For this reason I always wash my sheets at night and then make the bed right before getting in it - so warm and cozy. I love it.<p>
5. I am horrible about putting things in the mail. If I had to rely only on the mail to pay bills they would never get paid. I have piles and piles of cards, Birthday cards, thank you cards, Easter cards, Valentine's Day... you name it, I have addressed and stamped envelopes with these cards in it that simply never make it to the mail box. I'm that bad at mailing things. I try though, I really do - and I must say I'm much better at it now that I don't have to drive to the Post Office or find a blue mailbox. I've mailed more things in the 2 weeks we've lived here than the 3 1/2 years we were in MD.
<p> And that'll do it. 5 things about me that you may have known, may not have known - but now ya do! Aren't ya glad :)Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-53202067320589430692008-03-14T15:04:00.003-07:002008-03-14T15:12:49.943-07:00I suppose it could be called UnschoolingSo... with all the chaos that has been going on the past couple weeks I feel I have been very neglectful of my children's learning adventures. I suppose the whole experience could be a bit of unschooling. Very unstructured, very uneventful - I find myself feeling very blah about the whole thing. DH left Wednesday for Army school stuff, which is better than being deployed - but none the less it will be 2 months of flying solo. So - back to our adventures. I suppose laundry and organization is an important part of life, so my kids are being very educated in household chores :) This past Sunday the weather was fantastic, so we planted our garden - yet another important life skill :) I must say in a crazy attempt to settle in, poor Soph has had to (or "gotten to" depends on who you ask) watch a bit of TV, more so than ever before. She is on a new kick where she <i>really</i> wants to be in 1st grade and so she's been asking for homework and she's teaching herself how to write - some of her letters are pretty darn good - others not so much, but I figure there's time for that. She's constantly finding things to add and subtract so I suppose learning is going on whether I instigate it or not. Such is life. <p> Oh and to any/everyone that commented on my last couple of posts (which were ages ago I know) - in all the chaos I totally forgot that I had email notification set up and that once we moved I had to change email addresses - here I figured no one bothered checking back anymore, come to find out I had 14 unchecked comments. My bad! I promise to catch up soon. Promise Promise :) I think we're going to do something productive now - what.... I couldn't say for sure, but something. I feel totally stuck in and exhausted by all our life changes, I need something to kick me back into the swing of things. Sorry for the rant. Hope everyone's having a nice day :) Oh! and I found my camera chip in a random box of bathroom stuff (Yeah... I don't know either) so there shall be pictures soon!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-44225014135878942782008-02-27T07:30:00.004-08:002008-02-27T07:41:08.743-08:00I seem to have lost my living space.It has been over run with piles and piles and mountains of boxes. Nothing quite says reality check like seeing all one's personal items in 1 place. It is most definitely time for us to do some serious prioritizing and downsize (I know I've said this, but having actually received our household goods make this task even more urgent). <p> Yesterday was a good day, despite being a wee bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. We've met several of our neighbors, one of which has a little boy not much older than Soph. They played together for about 4 hours while the movers unloaded our boxes on Monday, and all I heard all day yesterday while waiting for the phone guy was "Mommy.... when do I get to see my new friends?"...*10 minutes later*... "I see them over there in their yard, I could just walk there while you wait. When is the man coming?"...*5 minutes later*... "How about I just go over there for a little bit"...*repeat all day long*... So, I'm we found a playmate that lives close and is always around just like us :) Our Next door neighbors have a little girl also who is 3 - so we are definitely surrounded by children. Which is a very welcomed change to before. <p>Oh and I do believe the highlight of the day was when we found a caterpillar crawling up our house, we put him in a jar (with no lid), so we could watch him squirm around, then we went to look up what kind of caterpillar it was - alas our encyclopedias were not accessible, so perhaps we'll have to look for him today now that I've uncovered our Encyclopedias. If it's as beautiful today as it was yesterday, I might have a hard time staying on task. Something about CA weather just yells "COME OUT AND PLAY!"-after being in MD (where nothing about the weather ever said come outside), I must say it's nice to be back on the left coast.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-73304172985851004722008-02-22T11:20:00.002-08:002008-02-22T11:25:31.602-08:00Small houses, Big yards and too much rainWell, that about sums it up - we now have a house, a small house - but a house. I look at it as a step towards my ideal of less is more. This will force us to prioritize and decide what of our mounds of <strike>crap</strike> stuff that we really can (and should) live without. I don't think it'll be half bad.
<p> Our yard however totally and completely makes up for the small interior. It's HUGE! Really Huge, and it wraps around the entire house so I can have a nice large veggie garden on one side and all the play stuff can be on the other side with no threat of trampled tomatoes or squished squash. There's even a little teeny tiny patio for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DH's</span> Weber. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Yay</span> :)
<p>However our huge yard and awesome <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">NorCal</span> location are being totally wasted as we have no household goods (to be delivered Monday), no car (as DH has stolen our transportation to transport himself to and from work... <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">sheesh</span>) and no sunshine! Rain rain rain. Enough already!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-9725104562015464732008-02-17T22:51:00.003-08:002008-02-17T23:00:04.479-08:00The light draws nearIt has been a long road (2900 miles of it), and finally the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to emerge. I'll spare the boring details of bad luck and frustration and make a long story short (well as short as a long winded person such as myself can make it). Tomorrow we're going to look at the 60 some-odd houses available on post. We searched for a week or so for a house to rent on the economy, but decided perhaps the super homeschool friendly atmosphere on post would make up for the out dated and rather small homes... after all a home is what we make of it right? I must say our large house in B-more spoiled us. Soooo, by tomorrow afternoon we should (fingers toes and nose crossed) have an address and we should be moving in. It'll be nice to get out of the hotel and into our new abode.
Speaking of our hotel - it's not a bad gig. We're staying in the old Del Monte Hotel, which was built in the 1880s and use to be <i>the</i> place to be if you were "anybody". It burned down and was rebuilt twice, and apparently it's haunted by a friendly ghost. The navy bought the land in the 20s during the depression and turned it into the naval postgraduate school.... which it remains today. Nice little history lesson :)
Give me a week and I'll be posting and perhaps uncover my memory chip for my camera and I'll even post pictures :) Have a nice presidents weekend! We'll be reading a picture biography of Abe Lincoln and a few others along those lines to learn about the day - had to squeeze some sort of "school" in.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-11160137006180439562008-02-06T14:03:00.000-08:002008-02-06T15:27:25.893-08:00Adventures in CA<div dragover="true">Since arriving in CA we haven't done too much. My goal was to clean/re-organize the rooms we're staying in so that we actually have some liveable space... we did take a few breaks and I snapped a few pictures. So, in this 5 seconds of time I have, I shall give a brief overview.
<div style="text-align: center;">We visited the family. Talk about making someone's day :)
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Brenna played... she's quite the adventurous little one, and darn curious too!
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<div dragover="true"><div style="text-align: center;"><a dragover="true" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCz_GMn1U68qIMLQ0X-jwe7tmjSlB_C1wgCNJ9bIZLsd8QKu7zGkVfQpDM7k61I74J-mDLP0wlnqawrBH23qcQwdChWijKG79sNGzxK1RNPEEqGzuTwI6vuqwSg0tuBvYLsZpwOm0KtQ/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+108.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163994015346515122" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCz_GMn1U68qIMLQ0X-jwe7tmjSlB_C1wgCNJ9bIZLsd8QKu7zGkVfQpDM7k61I74J-mDLP0wlnqawrBH23qcQwdChWijKG79sNGzxK1RNPEEqGzuTwI6vuqwSg0tuBvYLsZpwOm0KtQ/s320/Feeney+Family+108.JPG" border="0" /></a>
Who doesn't love a good bounce?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a dragover="true" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWLfsXA3W16Omd7cFBnRsxG_hnKsfGREhLRLugNbVcUNr9vAu6RMU0KI1KO0fASidlvjlpbjoPgnqXvKcgL1HdbGPdxgd3FGUg6MFg9B_mBkk9sF4YhI98geoImJflhgGXN_A3WS41tc/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+113.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163994023936449730" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWLfsXA3W16Omd7cFBnRsxG_hnKsfGREhLRLugNbVcUNr9vAu6RMU0KI1KO0fASidlvjlpbjoPgnqXvKcgL1HdbGPdxgd3FGUg6MFg9B_mBkk9sF4YhI98geoImJflhgGXN_A3WS41tc/s320/Feeney+Family+113.JPG" border="0" /></a>
Our neighbor since forever came over to pick some lemons from our tree, which has more lemons than one person could possibly know what to do with. Well, he did - he and Soph made lemonade.This is the "before sugar added" face.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a dragover="true" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPc30HfbJRQkKLpZgr3ZqC0P3E4KCbljq0Pr0Kd3_fTG0ifJfQAjsKEpz09yu1Nqmb1AXMQ9cNidAvhi7GqYkpzcC-CM3wHOeM3JfH526HnTz2uTW5yeAgp6quhQ9rZ8ZEcrUb97htsY/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+115.JPG"><img dragover="true" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163994032526384338" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPc30HfbJRQkKLpZgr3ZqC0P3E4KCbljq0Pr0Kd3_fTG0ifJfQAjsKEpz09yu1Nqmb1AXMQ9cNidAvhi7GqYkpzcC-CM3wHOeM3JfH526HnTz2uTW5yeAgp6quhQ9rZ8ZEcrUb97htsY/s320/Feeney+Family+115.JPG" border="0" /></a>
What trip would be complete without a fashion show?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a dragover="true" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzY829m0Rch-0XXPqsqrhfQzNZsNPQei-iCcW9xMrnabYb8PTmk8rCOBk4PkAKCXWqiT-vlwqHU1E2iXdPv1jjXrMtTuUn6pPvKAIGYuOgHN7FasaY5XLJRJEGxbxUQeA6yqiFz5qjBOc/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+120.JPG"><img dragover="true" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163994045411286242" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzY829m0Rch-0XXPqsqrhfQzNZsNPQei-iCcW9xMrnabYb8PTmk8rCOBk4PkAKCXWqiT-vlwqHU1E2iXdPv1jjXrMtTuUn6pPvKAIGYuOgHN7FasaY5XLJRJEGxbxUQeA6yqiFz5qjBOc/s320/Feeney+Family+120.JPG" border="0" /></a>
Or a trip to the interperative center to see the cool stuff about whales?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a dragover="true" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc09PokINqpMljtwEC7ptDgMv2LY1dGjm83sJ24p7EZ7rkAZ3NuayVBbF3YOB-eLYnk1ydVOZvVHvAOynhw9gryc6iWptwNMY7bNK4J0GtNhRRnh9jP6Pui7HbYbzDRGJA51Y3fSdFggM/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+123.JPG"><img dragover="true" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163994054001220850" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc09PokINqpMljtwEC7ptDgMv2LY1dGjm83sJ24p7EZ7rkAZ3NuayVBbF3YOB-eLYnk1ydVOZvVHvAOynhw9gryc6iWptwNMY7bNK4J0GtNhRRnh9jP6Pui7HbYbzDRGJA51Y3fSdFggM/s320/Feeney+Family+123.JPG" border="0" /></a>
Poor B got horribly sick (and still is), you wouldn't be able to tell from the picture. She had 4 baths yesterday, it was the only way I could get my non-crier of a child to stop crying and be happy.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJg_GbHwJ1NmT4gwRT9IpVtDMtyf3uBWMYkTmKFGt4c8ksFVGC_3YjlymtOwZb3OGGbJDW1Y-ERmQ4FVJEb6kk_Vgu6C8W8C_aFUbwM9rV29SfdTgECEIrNrDgWcX1XaEH7ZMdDk2EpQ/s1600-h/Feeney+Family+145.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163999744832888066" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdJg_GbHwJ1NmT4gwRT9IpVtDMtyf3uBWMYkTmKFGt4c8ksFVGC_3YjlymtOwZb3OGGbJDW1Y-ERmQ4FVJEb6kk_Vgu6C8W8C_aFUbwM9rV29SfdTgECEIrNrDgWcX1XaEH7ZMdDk2EpQ/s320/Feeney+Family+145.JPG" border="0" /></a>
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Today is B's day of feeling better enough to sleep. Thank goodness. She's been sleeping most of the day, but she still wont hardly eat anything, even her favorites. Hopefully she'll rest up and feel better.
DH survived AR, he drove 15 hours yesterday because he was scared to death to stop driving. Both of us nearly had a heart attack when we watched the news last night and saw that there were 51 tornado touch downs and lots and lots of damage and many deaths as a result. I am beyond thankful that he made it through ok. If all goes as planned he'll be in Albuquerque tonight and then HERE tomorrow! So excited! He'll stay until Sunday and then head up to Monterey to report. It'll be a really nice visit and hopefully we can get a house soon so we can join him :)
<div></div></div></div>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-65312838836044827672008-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:002008-01-31T23:15:45.022-08:00Update in a nutshellHa! Like I do anything in a nutshell. Well, here's my attempt. I made it to CA with 2 kiddos in tow all in one piece. Now, for anyone out there who isn't a football fan (such as myself), might I suggest making sure you don't plan a 8 hour flight across the country solo with 2 kids the week of the super bowl. <i>Definitely</i> don't schedule your 1 stop in the city that the super bowl is taking place. I did not have this foresight back in November or December, or whenever I got our tickets. I thought for sure we'd have plenty of seats and even though B was a lap child, we'd have a seat for her. Yeah.... not so much. We lucked out and had some really nice folks that sat next to us. From Phoenix to LA there was a really nice guy that sat next to us and he totally entertained Soph for the last leg of the flight. Talk about a God send. (I think she had a bit of a crush on him, he was the same age as her daddy and well... all little girls want to marry their daddy)<p>
Ok, so that said.</p><p>
Movers came and went. Our house is now empty, except for one lonely DH who shall be leaving soonish.
We've made our list of adventures to partake in while in LA - since everyday is like a summer day for us we're having a nice time.
I gutted, cleaned and re-arranged my old room in my ma's house to be more child friendly and welcoming - it's amazing that I got it accomplished in 1 day while alone with the kids - why can't I do that kinda stuff at my own house? *sigh*</p><p>
Oh, and good news/bad news.- I brought my camera (to document our adventures), yet forgot my memory card (D'oh!). I have been using my mother's newly acquired (well not that newly) digital camera as a fill in until I can get a chip - once I load the pictures I shall share them. Most are of B who is crawling amuck and being crazy. I swear this child has no fear - I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and she had escaped from her crib and crawled into my room and scaled the bed to join me. She really is crazy. Happy and adorable, yet loud and crazy.</p><p>
Yeah well, that's it. I'm sure that there will be strife in a matter of days, but for now - things are goin' good.
</p>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-39641491437428786032008-01-17T21:01:00.000-08:002008-01-17T21:14:13.079-08:00Snow is not on my agendaApparently, no one told our atmosphere that snow was not on my agenda. There is enough on my "To Do" (tomorrow) list, shoveling snow and salting the sidewalk were not on this list! Normally I wouldn't mind, I'd enjoy some nice hot cocoa, we'd cuddle up in our bed and watch Shirley Temple and watch the snow fall from our window. We are leaving in 11 days! No time for shoveling! No time for salting! Wait... I don't even have time for posting. *sigh* oh well.
Since we'll be staying with my mother for probably about a month, I have been trying to select which toys we should take with us and which ones we should have moved. Talk about a daunting task. I started to sort through our books, but when I realized our "take with us" stack was about as tall as me while sitting, I had to re-think my plan of attack. I do believe rather than take any of our books, I'm going to get a library card for the local library and we'll just check out books weekly like we do here. Then I wont even have to worry about losing any!
Soph's getting excited about moving. I don't know what it is but she really really wants to go to school for some reason. She talks about it ALL THE TIME. I think since her classes ended and it's colder out she just really misses being around other kids. I kinda feel bad - I'm sure she'll come around when we get out west. I heard on the news (and researched to be sure) that Gov. Terminator has massively cut funding for education to try and offset the serious state deficit. Not cool. All the more reason why my child will be homeschooled. I'm pretty excited about the homeschool population in Monterey. Apparently many many military families homeschool their children. Especially since the average stay of a person stationed at the Defense Language Institute (our location to be), is about a year and a half.... not very long. We're lucky and we'll be staying at least 3 years. So by the time we leave (if we leave), B will be Soph's age. Not too shabby!
At this point I'm just rambling - So I'll spare some boredom and bid adieu!Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-59781857937721901642008-01-11T09:53:00.001-08:002008-01-14T22:26:02.997-08:00Surprise!!!!Not only am I posting, <i>but</i> I am posting pictures! I know, you all probably thought my camera had been destroyed by now. These are a few of our adventures from the past few days.
<div style="text-align: center;">Well it appears that B has learned a new trick. She not only mastered the art of crawling in the blink of an eye, but apparently it wasn't challenging enough for her so she has moved on to bigger and better things - pulling herself up to stand. I have a feeling this one might be an escape artist.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAew6yfCzus5dgbSz4wGOi9r1EQfSQ7J6ljGr8d9mXeLpTyQFtMEGcaADdDDsEaZ_oXcGelyqg2Rqz_zTDnefcehB7L3lWscSJPUIti5DseL_J2-A_7urwICGyhkApSp4NEq2-JK4hjU/s1600-h/DSCN2336.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXAew6yfCzus5dgbSz4wGOi9r1EQfSQ7J6ljGr8d9mXeLpTyQFtMEGcaADdDDsEaZ_oXcGelyqg2Rqz_zTDnefcehB7L3lWscSJPUIti5DseL_J2-A_7urwICGyhkApSp4NEq2-JK4hjU/s320/DSCN2336.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279951783592242" border="0" /></a>Yet apparently, she doesn't like company? This picture cracks me up because it's a bit of a roll reversal. B is always smiling and never really mad or anything, and Soph is always getting mad and protesting. Silly girls.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OugE2XXOu5i5LGdlBvVYVAis9J7Jqm5AzNW96RIvUnmVZ0Hf6c6UL1sGH3KkzzHA5DOPdTitKrsPROY_DO_TgyF70f6h2icXDqAG0ZHJ_PXP50yb4Pcoe1zUi9RwhJKfENGfGzKaEq4/s1600-h/dscn2337.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OugE2XXOu5i5LGdlBvVYVAis9J7Jqm5AzNW96RIvUnmVZ0Hf6c6UL1sGH3KkzzHA5DOPdTitKrsPROY_DO_TgyF70f6h2icXDqAG0ZHJ_PXP50yb4Pcoe1zUi9RwhJKfENGfGzKaEq4/s320/dscn2337.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279960373526850" border="0" /></a>
Soph and I busted out her tinker toys, she built a microphone and started singing with a guitar she made. Then she saw the bin and realized the girl had a pretty rockin' "guitar" - so I foolishly volunteered to make it for her. Hot DAMN that thing was complicated! There is no way little kids made half the things in those pictures! It's all a lie!
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiph2KfkSMR-vxoe4GxSRpB77epi2qFlUUrJQr0hGM3EPIR0BakMWLv8d8DjlByEaVVmUqJ0Nh60l4s62-5IZDLrCF_rAOb1r6YtOfkJ9Vde_eVx_G0J5UK9Fl1hyphenhyphen-3kJ5Shnb837Xt0X0/s1600-h/DSCN2338.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiph2KfkSMR-vxoe4GxSRpB77epi2qFlUUrJQr0hGM3EPIR0BakMWLv8d8DjlByEaVVmUqJ0Nh60l4s62-5IZDLrCF_rAOb1r6YtOfkJ9Vde_eVx_G0J5UK9Fl1hyphenhyphen-3kJ5Shnb837Xt0X0/s320/DSCN2338.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279968963461458" border="0" /></a>
Yeah so DH couldn't resist joining in the jam - an every day rock star for sure. This is why I love the guy folks... he really is like a great big 7 year old. And who can resist a face like that?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdq_uvs5sBuGz5KT6U-YPV_V6wMpr8SCc3WE3j-ZZJCBpIuxdnS8JpyaJutP_PHN6iCgqHO_O1AXDwL2KIPM6r5hed5WCX5135579rx3XyJu0ZhA6tf_ej8-YrlDMIrBT4CX-EW9CqG4/s1600-h/DSCN2340.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdq_uvs5sBuGz5KT6U-YPV_V6wMpr8SCc3WE3j-ZZJCBpIuxdnS8JpyaJutP_PHN6iCgqHO_O1AXDwL2KIPM6r5hed5WCX5135579rx3XyJu0ZhA6tf_ej8-YrlDMIrBT4CX-EW9CqG4/s320/DSCN2340.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279968963461474" border="0" /></a>
Today we did some patterns- always fun
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtJeg73RPoEJSXNRTS7L3Ac7UoUtM3zC4mgRRcFywaUvIW9l1gTU-tJv9PzInO-t3pVQV06JEmcA_FCLg4fwyvAhK7dauWvkxTWKl78jOKgQLtOL_AujrXEdgMhYyMjHILGF6whWpVZ8/s1600-h/dscn2342.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtJeg73RPoEJSXNRTS7L3Ac7UoUtM3zC4mgRRcFywaUvIW9l1gTU-tJv9PzInO-t3pVQV06JEmcA_FCLg4fwyvAhK7dauWvkxTWKl78jOKgQLtOL_AujrXEdgMhYyMjHILGF6whWpVZ8/s320/dscn2342.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279977553396082" border="0" /></a>
This would be Soph being me and DH - she stole my glasses, and his boots, and voila!
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj409BAJDPSSMQRMsxicX8b7ePCvgXsxgOiJAlOB-GRpFzicLP7qJhCV5uns4pZyvCNMoXj44V5OYzHcPF5xXfsVL3x2QReQHuwXFwEveWHcrBJbeJ9lPSebju1b0W_5oUXXfAJZUE1I/s1600-h/DSCN2324.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj409BAJDPSSMQRMsxicX8b7ePCvgXsxgOiJAlOB-GRpFzicLP7qJhCV5uns4pZyvCNMoXj44V5OYzHcPF5xXfsVL3x2QReQHuwXFwEveWHcrBJbeJ9lPSebju1b0W_5oUXXfAJZUE1I/s320/DSCN2324.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279475042222306" border="0" /></a>
This would be us - I don't think I've ever ever posted a family photo before - this one is the best we could do, and believe you me, it's 1 of like 20. How sad is that?
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qO0sG1JXhHYt99li817Ax7HdkMk6eu1Rzt8gEKUNMxfQtD22Jx_-cCVkU1nZ9bFwjCJ1vWAIGRPkDajcClNhuxnesHQ4M5O6RieovdiRisiQg3EzVUtRGLFsqFQbZzbWN0Bomcm0EHo/s1600-h/DSCN2326.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qO0sG1JXhHYt99li817Ax7HdkMk6eu1Rzt8gEKUNMxfQtD22Jx_-cCVkU1nZ9bFwjCJ1vWAIGRPkDajcClNhuxnesHQ4M5O6RieovdiRisiQg3EzVUtRGLFsqFQbZzbWN0Bomcm0EHo/s320/DSCN2326.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279483632156914" border="0" /></a>
B got a VTech car thingy for Christmas. I'm not sure who likes it more, B or Soph. Soph is taking B for a ride, as you can tell she's in the back seat :)
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6UQykpWZlstDs0L9kphyA7N6Juyq4FhGlV5lwKLXeNOJ7DMigoS00J3F7NOmAI9VNaS-a8wL7x4lJqqWzhmLtqDVWc1R4Li2KCeyhnS1tDLiWI_lujknQAIzwHbIcTMCsPp0tBNeJt0/s1600-h/dscn2328.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6UQykpWZlstDs0L9kphyA7N6Juyq4FhGlV5lwKLXeNOJ7DMigoS00J3F7NOmAI9VNaS-a8wL7x4lJqqWzhmLtqDVWc1R4Li2KCeyhnS1tDLiWI_lujknQAIzwHbIcTMCsPp0tBNeJt0/s320/dscn2328.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279487927124226" border="0" /></a>
While cleaning and preparing B's room for moving, I stuck her in her crib so she wouldn't be crawling all over me - well I returned with a box and this is what I find - Soph "reading" to B in her crib - apparently she was lonely.
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAsjvA4mB7UWqq4nNDAyGee4ACgNHk20VSVv4jWGfj6pNLE5wwJzdogpSMj507xX2fU36Ze97WoaeuHaHKwpG5hiacIKbVN1f6WVGMAwyCHP4eJ8KFglEBEZGnLt33tF8TQjADT5MpIU/s1600-h/DSCN2329.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAsjvA4mB7UWqq4nNDAyGee4ACgNHk20VSVv4jWGfj6pNLE5wwJzdogpSMj507xX2fU36Ze97WoaeuHaHKwpG5hiacIKbVN1f6WVGMAwyCHP4eJ8KFglEBEZGnLt33tF8TQjADT5MpIU/s320/DSCN2329.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5154279496517058834" border="0" /></a>Yeah and that's about it for now. Hopefully, perhaps I'll have more to share. I'm fairly confident that I took more pictures than that, if I can remember where I saved them I'll post them later.
Oh, and have I mentioned my children really really don't like clothes? Perhaps California and our family are just meant to be - we're not "winter" people.
</div>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-129546373425297292007-12-30T16:04:00.000-08:002007-12-30T16:09:42.886-08:00Apparently -I am so bad at this game! I realized I haven't posted anything since well before Christmas, and this post isn't going to be of any substance. We are trying to get ready for our big move (which shall be occurring in less than a month) and things are crazy. Hopefully I'll get around to returning my lay out (which I never even finished Holidizing). Perhaps after the lead guy comes to make sure our home is OK to legally rent out I'll get a chance. Hopefully DH will actually tell me when the lovely army folk are sending the movers, and HOPEFULLY he'll actually take a pass that day so that I'm not saying "Pack this, not that" while chasing an overly friendly 3 year old and a sick 8 month old through the house. Yes yes... both lil' B <i>and</i> I have returned from our Holiday adventures in NY with horrible colds - Yes, Soph and DH are totally fine. How exactly does that work? Hmmph. My new years resolution I do believe shall be to not be a flaky blogger! Happy New Year everyone, and I'll "see" you <strike>on the other side</strike> in January.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-37212870530758714392007-12-13T14:56:00.000-08:002007-12-13T16:39:44.771-08:00The Christmas ConundrumThis year I am faced with a particularly puzzling situation. For a while now, I have been quite exhausted by the commercialism of Christmas. I feel like the whole point of the holiday is being torn apart by the pressure of trying to do everything perfectly. I know that this is a topic that I've talked about previously, but as Christmas approaches I too am starting to feel the strain. I accomplished my mission of finishing all my homemade gifts. Which covered most people, I got Soph accomplished, her 2 older cousins, my mom and grandma, my MIL and my biological mother. Since Lil' B is so... well little - me crafting something for her would have been ridiculous, so I got her some wooden old school style toys that are NOT a lead risk, and I got some similar type toys for my youngest niece, although she got some homemade wooden puzzles.
Now I am faced with my conundrum. DH, my sister and my BIL. DH wants nothing - literally nothing. I can't get him nothing, that's horrible. I'll have to think extra hard for him. My sister is the worst of all though - I asked what she wanted/what she was interested in. Her response - I like coffee and cigarettes. Ok that's not gonna happen, so that was negative amounts of helpful. She assured me that it was ok - I assured her it was NOT. I don't care that those are her interests, I wish she had other interests to make my life easier - but I'm not about to give her a carton of smokes and hand it to her in from of my whole family! Talk about a foot in the rear, I'd get some serious strife for that one. So how am I supposed to stick to my homemade pledge if it would go unappreciated/wanted?! *sigh* BIL wants something that although isn't homemade by me personally, or anyone unless a large machine is handmade. BUT! He wants a set of router bits, so I can probably be ok with that since the router bits would be a tool for him to craft things by hand - so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Oh and sorry I've been a slacking blogger. We've been traveling so much this past month that I've barely had 2 seconds. I'll be better - I'll make it a New Year's resolution :)Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-24635159507500452122007-12-05T23:53:00.001-08:002007-12-06T00:01:38.264-08:00My new adventureI have been inspired. <a href="http://dinneragain.blogspot.com/">Yasmina</a> is a genius and started up a blog of recipes. So, I'm sure she's not the first person, but still. I decided to be a total <strike>biter</strike> <strike>copy cat</strike> --ly eager to share person, and start my own. I do love to bake... oh so very much. Especially when it's super chilly outside and I love excuses not to have to leave to go anywhere (what better excuse is there than a pie in the oven? ... that's what I thought!). My goal is to post at least 1 tasty treat a day during the month of December. I even back posted like 4 things, just so I would seem to be with it. We'll see how that goes. So, I have added a link to my new foodie person blog in my sidebar. Feel free to visit, and if you feel like trying something new, and decide to try one of my recipes, do let me know how it turned out! Or! I have a huge repertoire of recipes, so if anyone has any requests hop on over and let me know what you'd like.Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7426877117677064396.post-19900426655275252162007-12-04T21:14:00.000-08:002007-12-04T21:43:36.540-08:00Could it be?Snow before Christmas?! We're supposed to get 2-3 inches of snow tomorrow, which although may seem like nothing to those closer to the lakes or a bit north of us - but for us lowly MD folk, that's not bad. In all honestly we're sissies and that amount will probably cause totally chaos and schools to close - sad I know. I love watching the snow fall and I love how excited Soph gets at the idea of snow. Since this will more than likely be her last snow I hope we get a good amount before we leave. If I recall correctly we didn't get more than 2 ft all winter last year - and it didn't even make it's debut until February (the day we settled on our house, because if the weather was nice that would have made things too easy). I'm (almost) sad to say we've been a bit on the hermit side lately, which is mildly disappointing. Usually I have no problem staying home, but this time of the year it's always fun to bundle up and take evening walks (or even car rides) to look at the holiday displays. However, with 60mph winds and temperatures well below freezing I just can't bring myself to take B out into the elements - not to mention Soph is so darned stubborn that it took me 20 minutes and much negotiation to get her to take off her bathing suit and put on tights. Checkmate came when I told her she could open the door and if she could honestly tell me it wasn't freezing outside she could wear whatever she wanted - if it was cold I was going to pick her attire. Let me tell you, that little girl is stubborn as all heck! I was surprised that her legs didn't fall off while she stood on our porch in protest. Luckily she didn't last all but a minute. Mom - 1 Soph -0. Once she was fully dressed in seasonally appropriate clothing I told her I was packing up her summer clothes for good. I was then informed that she was fine with that because in CA she can wear summer dresses in winter and swimming pools are open year round. Now - I don't know if she figured that out on her own, was "making it up" hoping it was true, or if she has been speaking with good ol' dad - either way I'm sure she's going to enjoy warmer weather. She's not one for being bound much - by my rules or by clothes. <p> I'm pleased to say that my to do list is getting shorter. I really should put it in the sidebar and cross things off as I complete them - perhaps then I would feel more accomplished. The inside of our home is about 80% complete. The outside needs a bit of love due to crazy style winds, but nothing a few minutes wont fix. I've been working on our Christmas Cards for about 3 days now and my goal was to get them sent out by tomorrow. Well, that's not going to happen. Sadly, DH believed me to be far more on top of things than I really am, and tossed our address book that was damaged in a tragic counter flooding incident. He thought I had transferred all of the address - in reality, I had only transferred the super important ones. That left about 30 that were lost (yeah, that's a lot of family). So after many phone calls, my list is finally complete with the exception of 3 families that moved. </p><p> Which reminds me, I have about a dozen and then some left over cards, if anyone out there collects cards to use in crafts or just likes to have pretty card displays this time of year let me know and I'd be more than happy to send a card your way. Alas, it is far too late and I need to save my kitchen from DH's great cake adventures (which was 3 days ago!). For some reason he has decided to start baking - bless his heart for trying. I bake quite a bit and I am still baffled by the fact that he managed to dirty 5 bowls while making a boxed cake mix - and then proceeded to leave the dishes for me. One would think that after many failed dishes boycotts I would learn my lesson. No, I now have a dirty kitchen and I'm itchin' to get baking, so I must take the plunge. I wouldn't be so willing to give in if it weren't December. I do love December.
</p>Daphnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802190041387572997noreply@blogger.com2