Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck...

Pops, Branch and Blossom rode home from Cheer Camp last night and Pops noticed that Blossom had a nasty scowl brewing. She appeared to be so mad she was near tears. So, he asked what was wrong.

Her response...

"I didn't get goosed. And, I wanted to goose a cheerleader."

My Daybook

FOR TODAY
Monday, Sept 21, 2009...

Outside my window... It is DARK. Fall is on its way, it is pretty dark by eight o'clock, now.

I am thinking... That I will try to do this Daybook each week to help me get on the ball with blogging!

I am thankful for... Burt's Bees Lip Balm. Chapped lips chap my hide.

From the learning rooms... Week 6 of our lesson plans, this week! We did a strange/non-traditional school week last week. It was fun, but we are back to our normal schedule. I hope to take some pictures of some projects this week of some of the treekids' work.

From the kitchen... Gonna be baking this week... Cupcakes, probably for a gaggle of Little Flowers' Girls! But, something seems necessary for here at home, too. Brownies? Blondies? Cookies? Oh, I just cannot decide!! Something sweet, though!

I am wearing... Oh, this is a bad day to answer this! I have on a pair of ill-fitting shorts and a tank top. My hair is up in a ponytail and I am wearing NO makeup. It was HOT today - 97 or so! I tried my best to not turn on the air conditioner today - it is late September, after all!

I am creating... Lots of things on my sewing machine! I finished up a surprise for Branch tonight to go with a little ditty I made for her the other day. I need to hem my skirt and then I will take a picture or two of the things I have been making. I also have a diaper bag in the works and a few more things on my sewing list. Make something for one child, and requests pour in from the others!

I am going... To get Mount Washmore under control. I am four (or possibly) five loads from all clothing clean in our home - which will last for one afternoon, but it will last for that one afternoon and I will smile for ONE afternoon. Does anyone want a poorly paid job? I am going to offer to pay someone to come do laundry and be paid very poorly to do a spectacularly great job at it!

I am reading... Lesson Plans. Patterns. Other interesting blogs... I cannot get sucked into a book right now!

I am hoping... To try very hard to write on this blog Monday through Friday this week... Wish me luck! With a late start today!

I am hearing... Water running out to Bud's pumpkin patch via a drip hose.

Around the house... I have a bit of nesting going on. I re-organized the three main closets upstairs. I hurt my back in so doing, but I feel better for getting it done. I learned, though, to not be in such a hurry. I will take it easy and be patient and have Pops move my heavier items around for me when necessary. No lectures needed, thanks!

One of my favorite things... All the new little baby thing that I have been secretly snatching up here there and everywhere!

A few plans for the rest of the week... The girls have cheer camp/clinic in the evenings this week, with a half-time show at the football game on Friday. Thursday is their Little Flowers Meeting. Saturday is OSU vs. Arizona and Pops will be going and taking one of the treekids with him... to be determined which one on Saturday morning! Sunday is week three of working with the preschool class at church for Religious Ed/Sunday School (so far, so good.).

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Tonight, a mama deer and her 2 babies - out the front door, on our street.

To read more daybooks, head over to Peggy's.

On Being Prepared...

There are times in my life that I feel very prepared. I have it all "together" right down to the last detail. Other times... I could have used a bit more TIME or knowledge on what was to come.

This past Monday was one of "those" times. I should have gotten everything ready for our camp out the day before. But, here is the rub. We had a busy Sunday and I had a busy pre-natal appointment Monday morning in the bigger town! There is always an excuse, I suppose.

If I had it to do all over again, here's what I would have changed:

1. I would have known that the "confirmation email" sent to my email inbox after Pops reserved the cabin contained a code/combination that would allow us to get the key to the cabin out of the lockbox on the porch.
2. In knowing what the email contained, I would have read it and brought the code along with us.
3. I would have brought my laptop along with, even if I never turned it on. Just incase I needed further information - like a telephone number - from that email or any other information, like a code that would get us the key to the cabin door.
4. I would have made Bud's Giant Cookie the day before and known that it was very a little crisp instead of soft and chewy, and would have then had time to make something else or another cookie!
5. I would have been prepared to sleep on the (vinyl) mattress at the cabin in something other than a mummy bag. (On a side note, my pregnant body is aching more these days and I find it most comfortable to sleep on my side with a pillow between my knees... try THAT in a mummy bag! It is impossible - if you hope to zip up your bag and stay warm in the 40 degree overnight temps... Not complainin', just sayin'!) A couple of nice quilts would have worked marvelously!
6. I would have brought instant coffee for Pops instead of the ground kind that he had in his tub of camping supplies so that we could have averted our little problem of not knowing exactly how to make "regular" coffee in a jet boil. (Ooooops! Don't pour in the coffee grounds until AFTER the water has come to a boil and you turn the flame off. Trust me on that one!)
7. I would have done all the packing up of the food stuff and been ready to go when Pops came up the stairs and was ready to go, so that we would have only taken half of the items and there wouldn't have been confusion over what to eat for breakfast! (What do you want, a strawberry pop-tart or a brown sugar pop-tart? Nope. That's all there is. Which kind? Oh now, don't worry your pretty little heads over this... we rarely eat pop-tarts around here and I also had a container of strawberries in the cooler. It's just that Pops also brought a box of Honey-Nut Cheerios AND Brats! Now, who needs all those choices!?! We were gone for ONE night, and all of these items were consumed in part for breakfast... EXCEPT for the strawberries!)
8. I would have worn different clothes.
9. I would have taken different pictures.
10. I would have prepared more in order to relax and enjoy myself more!

There's always next time, right? Or perhaps, I should leave all the chaos to the more relaxed members of my family and I can stay at home snuggled into my own cushiony, cozy, soft, 500 thread-count sheet covered bed. But, then there is the problem of missing out on the s'mores... for that I was prepared with an extra six-pack of chocolate bars!

Camp-Out Birthday

Well, our camping outing for Bud's birthday was a fun time!

This year, Bud requested a "Giant Cookie" instead of a cake for his birthday. So, I baked it up and decorated it like a baseball...

It looked ok, but the taste... was NOT a cake!! I don't really love cake, but giant cookies are not on my radar at all! They are hard to bake, as you don't really know how long to bake them! Turns out, I baked this one too long to be a chewy cookie. So, it was a bit crispy and that is not my preference. I have suggested that I would be happy to make cupcakes as a treat ... I am thinking "Black Bottom Cupcakes"... mmmmmm, yes! That will be this afternoon I think!

Anyway, present time is a fun treat, too! Blossom loves the present part. She would like present opening to go on for hours and hours!! She gets so excited about someone opening "HER" present!

Seems that Bud was pretty excited about opening this present, too! I do not know why Scooby Doo is so exciting, but this is the ENTIRE 1st Season... from way back when and it is a thrilling 14 episodes of mystery. Oh, "we" cannot wait for THAT fun to begin!

Branch likes to give presents, too. She likes to watch and make sure that the excited response is the one SHE is looking for in her gift giving! She keeps track of her loved one's favorite items and when she can, she aims to please!

She was certain that THIS "Dinosaur Cove" book would fit the bill for Bud - and she was right!

We got to the camp sight as the sunshine was fading, so we opted to take pictures of our surroundings the next morning. Beautiful, eh? Hard to believe this is practically in our very own backyard! Ok, so it isn't THAT close... but, it is close enough to run up here and enjoy just whenever! No pre-planning needed to go cook out, fish, play on the swing set, run through the trees, lay in the grass, watch the bald eagles, geese and ducks, enjoy the serene surroundings God created, etc...

What are those crazy kids up to? Well, they are collecting very important supplies for their building. Architecture Design 101 for small folks. We have had a fun and fruitful family school time so far this week! All hands on, not so many text-type books. Oh, well... back to those texts next week!

Blossom wanted to help in the building, too. She wanted to add something beautiful! What is she adding?

Oh, just a wiggly, squirmy, "lady bug" caterpillar!

She spent quite a bit of time collecting these creatures! She had over eight in her pocket at one time! She thought they were so cute and lovely. Yes, they all got cleaned out before we left the camp sight!!

Back to the building... They were fashioning themselves a teepee!! Bud is finishing up a unit on North America for Social Studies and one of the things that we talked about was housing... and we touched briefly on the homes of Native Americans... long ago. So, here they had all the twigs they could imagine at their disposal and they created!

Blossom was often found on the sidelines. Here she is enjoying her cup of hot cocoa. She sure was a BIG help to Bud and Branch!

Success! They could sit inside (one at a time) and peer out through the cover of the pine needles.

Blossom loved being in the teepee and she was sure about where and how big the door should be (just right for her), what should go inside (her!), and what should NOT be inside (anyone except her).

We did get Blossom out of the teepee for a bit so that Branch could have a turn sitting inside for a picture.

But, someone was totally and completely put out by having to get out for someone else's photo-op!

It must've been time to start cleaning up and working on getting home! Let's just say that sleep was somewhat elusive for a few of us. More on THAT later! We had a nice time celebrating Bud's birthday in a fun new way! Maybe we'll try it again for another birthday!!