Check, check.

Hello?
Are we on? Check, check.

Yes. Ah hem. (It's been a while.)

A quiet morning. The first one I've had in a while. Anna has been drawing, singing, dancing and now we are indulging in a little screen time.

This is a post in three parts.

Un.
I have been enjoying all the inspiring posts this month on Chocolate on My Cranium's family festival. I was really thrilled when she asked if I would contribute a post. It's been a while since I've tried to write something meaningful and it felt good. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do that Montserrat!

Deux.
Also, I'm starting to think about Christmas! For several reasons.

a) Thanks to the family festival I won this beautiful plaque from Huckleberry Hollow Designs!

Isn't it perfect! I was so excited to win it. Thank you Debra Larsen!
She has many more lovely plaques at her website. I'm picking up a few more for Christmas presents.

b) We have begun rehearsals for Savior of the World again! Yay! This year Claire is going to join us! We can't wait for the time when we can do it as a whole family. A couple more years, perhaps.


Trois.
People have asked if I take pictures of my kids anymore, now that I've been taking pictures of other people's kids.



Yes. Yes I do.

What do get when...

...you mix new friends with cupcakes?

A really fabulous time!

Michal, from Relishing Motherhood, and her kids came by to visit!

It is always thrilling for me to meet ladies that I've admired and grown to love through their blogs. What makes it even better is that Michal and her darling crew are everything I thought they'd be. We spent the afternoon talking and playing. Now I really wish we lived closer!

Look at the wild excitement in those eyes. My kids have never had such fancy cupcakes.
Some how we knew we were going to get along.


Oh my. These kids are hilarious! And eerily similar. We learned we have some things in common:
A deep respect for Calvin and Hobbs.
An affinity for all things Star Wars.
We all enjoyed sliding down the stairs on bean bags.
And swinging on the swing.
AND CUPCAKES! We all like cupcakes! Who knew?? :)



Thanks so much for taking the time to see us! I'm so glad we're friends!

Really? Truly?

Great oogily moogily!

I've been driving my five year old nuts all morning with that little exclamation.

I can't help it. I'm just so excited!

And quite honored.

This is why:



Thank you Allysha! (Everyone go check out her Magnetic Poetry. Quite illuminating. Why don't I have any on my fridge?)

Michelle Mitchel is someone I have long admired. Her writing is delicious and her recipes are inspiring.

Have you read her list of The Craziest Deaths in History? You should. Scribbit is one of the best blogs out there.

Can you hear me now?

We have had the most frustrating relationship with our internet provider. This comic describes it perfectly. I'm on a first name basis with half the population of India. They fear my number.

"Oh, it's that crazy lady from Utah."

"Yeah, you remember that time she yelled, 'No! Poop goes in the toilet not the floor!' ?"

"Yeah, then there's always a really high pitched scream in the back ground."

"Sheesh....Americans."

Seriously, I love India. The land and people are very beautiful. I really want to visit there someday. I only hope they let me in at the border.

The Comcast man is coming tomorrow! Hooray!! I think I will miss my chats with my friends overseas though:

"Yes, mam. I realize that, mam, but sometimes it works on the one thousand and first time. Please unplug the black chord. No? Please unplug the phone chord. No? Please switch the ends of the chord, mam. No? Please don't scream, mam. I realize that, mam. No, I did not have that for dinner, mam. Yes, it is warm here. Mam, I'm going to transfer you to my manager now."

So, before my connection goes again, (we go for days with no connection and then when we get one it only last a few hours and is SUPER SLOW!) here's a quick little update:

No more snow. In fact it's been pretty warm and sunny. Nice.

School's going well. I've taken lots of pictures. I will do a big open house next week.

I've been writing. Mostly in my head, but I did manage to get another chapter of A6 down on paper. What a learning experience!

We are all healthy and I'm really thankful for that.

I'm really excited for family to come next week!

And the Comcast man. I can't wait to read what is going on in every one else's lives.

Hope you all are well. I've missed you!

Photo Tag

Michal, over at Relishing Motherhood, tagged me in this fun game.
Here are the rules. Post the fourth picture in the fourth folder of your picture files. Tell us about the picture. Tag a friend or two.

This picture was taken on Easter 2004. It is two-year old Elise in our backyard in Tacoma, WA. Notice how I cut all my girls' hair the same when they are two. It is because not one of them has liked to have their hair done and they all have very fine, easily tangled hair.

Elise really wanted to take those flowers with her to church. She got so mad when I told her (after the picture) she had to leave them home and she didn't understand when I tried to explain that the flowers would die and get crumpled otherwise. Early on she had a great affinity for nature, especially flowers. BUT she also had quite a temper and if I remember correctly, those flowers ended up with two-year-old-temper-tantrum footprints all over them.

AND 4 year-old Sam did NOT like to get dressed up on Sunday. He HATED button down shirts and dress pants. I bought a cute little neck tie that matched Elise's dress and insisted that Sam wear it. He cried and cried until finally I told him he could take it off if he just let me take a picture of him wearing it.

Too bad that wasn't the fourth picture (it was the fifth). His face was all splotchy and his eyes were puffy.

Ah yes....happy memories.

And now I'm tagging: Layla, Amy, Loretta and Debbie.

What about school?

"Where," you might be asking yourselves, "have all the weekly reports gone? I thought this was a homeschool blog?" I can see the worry in your expression.

Well, don't worry.

We are still homeschooling (which means math, spelling, writing, reading, history, science and piano lessons ARE in fact being done).

I haven't been putting up weekly reports because:

A) Our internet connection has been really finicky and very sloooowww. We are thinking about switching carriers. "Agony--thy name is 64K!"

B) Because of this crazy endeavor to help pay off bills, I have been going to be a lot earlier. So, I haven't been able to blog (and read blogs) as much. I'm quitting at the end of the month. Hooray!

C) My whole day revolves around homeschooling. I love it. It can be taxing at times. So, when I do have some alone time, I don't always want to write about homeschooling. Plus, I've got three kids I'm "officially" homeschooling. It just seems like a lot to do a report every week. I really DO like to go back and read them AND I like reading others' weekly reports....so, I will try to do them as often as I can.

D) I've been drawn away by other things. Yes, it's true. That precious little "alone time" has so many things competing for it.
My husband, for one. ;)
My piano has been neglected for so long. I've been giving it some attention.
My health has been neglected, I've been tackling my chocolate chip addiction. I've put on my running shoes again and it feels GREAT! I really need those endorphins right now.
Books! There are just too many good books to read.
I'm still getting used to the new area. Still trying to find my way around.
Oh yeah, and I'm hooked on photoshop. It's just so much fun to learn about.

So please consider this, in addition to being a homeschool blog, a family blog, a mom blog, a friend blog, a faith blog, I guess...just a regular blog.

Thank you.

The trend continues...

He's no fly, but he is super fly. ;)
Jeremy, designer of all that is good, the handsome young man you see at the bottom of "my fellow wonderers" on the side bar....

has begun a blog dedicated to art, good design, and quirky humor. If any of these things sound interesting to you, please direct your mouse to the link here: www.loosebound.com/blog

It's about time, I say. Quite right. What, what.

I have failed to thank a much respected fellow blogger for a very kind award she bestowed on Wonder Years a while back. Michal, keeper of the wonderfully warm, witty, inspiring and yummy blog, Relishing Motherhood, presented me with this award. I was tickled pink and very honored to receive it.
Michal is hosting an exercise challenge that sounds very exciting. Yours truly would be all over that, if it were not for this impending move, but I LOVE the idea.

And I must give a big hearty thanks to Michelle, blogger extraordinaire, over at Scribbit for her kind remarks about my kids and Wonder Years. If you have not yet discovered Scribbit, then you must be new to the blogging world. She is revered by us mom-bloggers and it's not hard to see why. I love reading her well-written posts, drooling over her recipes and trying my luck in her contests. I found her posts on blogging, especially helpful while trying to navigate my way in this crazy medium. I was surprised, and again, deeply honored.

Thank you!

Bugs in the system.

I'm sorry~ if you left a comment yesterday, or the day before, blogger did not publish it here. I did get them via email, so THANK YOU! Please don't think I didn't want the whole world to see the kind words that make me a slave to this computer. :0

Blogger fixed the problem today, but some of the comments still didn't get published. Sorry.

Do Dragonflies count as bugs? They most certainly do. We've had a swarm of them fly around our backyard the last few evenings. They are so fascinating to watch.

I had some fun in Photoshop with this picture. I'm still learning....but it's addicting:

Before

After

Michal's Contest

My good blogging friend, Michal, from Relishing Motherhood, is hosting a wonderful writing contest that I encourage everyone to enter!

Why?

Because the topic is: An "Ah Ha" moment in motherhood. She wants to know about a time when something really clicked for you and you saw motherhood in a new way. Or when you felt enlightenment in regards to your role as a mother or how you should handle a situation in your family. Or when you had an epiphany about your own mother.

And everyone who participates will get a CD copy of her cookbook. Just browse some of the recipes she has on her blog, trust me you will want this CD.

So hop on over to Relishing Motherhood for the details and then start writing your post! I am working on mine tonight!

New Blog!

I have come to a point where I feel it is necessary to glue the keyboard to my head and fix my eyeballs to a screen forever.

Okay, well, maybe we're not ready to go to that extreme yet, but as if I need another excuse to be on the computer, I've started another blog.

I find myself wanting to say more and write more on topics other than family and homeschool.
GASP!
I know, shocking. So, if you want to find out if I have a life outside of Wonder Years, check out, Magic Beans. It's not much, as my time IS limited (believe it or not) on the computer and my true love is home and family. Wonder Years will not be neglected.

BUT I can love better when I preserve a sense of myself.
Blogging does that for me.
So there.

Excellante!

This has been said before, but I really am so surprised that any one (other than my mom and dad) cares to read my ramblings. I gotta tell you though, it feels good to get comments. Validation, you know? So, imagine the happiness I felt when one of the bloggers I admire most, Cellista, over at La Scuola d'Aregento, passed on this award.


I'm suppose to pass this on too. There are so many wonderful blogs that I read. I wish I could get a degree for all the time I spend reading other people's thoughts. I love it. :)

Here are a few that I find to be especially excellent:

The Adventures of Bunsy - Christine is a clever, witty, multi-lingual, globe trotting, beautiful mother of three boys. Not only is she a creative writer, she also comes up with the most creative nick-names (and real names).

It's What Makes Me....Me - Nicole is an incredible woman. Admired by all for her keen sense of fashion and ability to wear 3 inch high heals any where. It's her beautiful, heartfelt writing and lovely photography that I adore.

Down to Life - Another globe trotting, muti-lingual, excellent photo-taking friend. I have left Sunny's blog so many times with a desire to make the world a better place. She is an honest, intellegent mother writing about her family's adventures and their journey with Down Syndrome.

I'll be back.

I love you, blog.

But I think we need a break.

I miss my old friends, knitting needles and piano keys.

Also, I'm not spending enough time with my pillow.

The bathroom scale says I've been sitting too much.

It's not you, it's me.

I'll be back, I just need some time to find myself again.

I'll be back.

Five Things Every Blogger Should Know

I found this post by Michelle, at Scribbit SO very helpful. If there is such a thing as blogging royalty, she is the queen and she shares her tips and wisdom in this post. Also, if you haven't checked out her blog you really must. She's the sponsor of the Winter Bazaar. A place where people can link fun craft ideas to do in the winter. She also hosts a weekly giveaway contest and a monthly writing contest. As if that wasn't enough, she's a top notch writer who shares really great recipes and writes entertaining and witty posts about motherhood in Alaska. One of my favorite places to visit.

Wonderful Blogging People

Family Wonders

Billy Billy Burst
Brandon Bascom
Elise's Fun Pictures
Jeremy's Site
LizzieB
Magic Beans
Plain and Precious
Richie and Loretta
Sam's Blog
The Sometimes Item

Home School Wonders

Beehive Academy
Chrysalids Journey
La Scuola d'Argento
My Ice Cream Diary
Sea Star Academy
Kindling the Fire
Lux Et Veritas
Harmony Art Mom

Wonderful People

And It Came To Pass
Ben and Corrine
Best Tribe
Bunsy's Adventure
Butterfield Kids
Chocolate Cranium
Cows at the Airport
Debbie and Tarl
Down to Life
It's What Makes Me...Me
Jeni and Alan
Jill's Clan
La Vida Loca
Layla in the Emerald City
Lords of the Manor
Mattie's Motors
McIllece Spot
My Ice Cream Diary
Oliver and Company
One In DeMillion
Rainer Family Opera
RangersRus
Relishing Motherhood
Scribbit
Sophie Jo
Tara and Owen
Thatchers
The Real Claudia
Things that make us smile