I haven't even posted our Yosemite photos yet, and we are going on another camping trip.  I did make a neat slideshow on Photobucket, and have tried to post it here, on Blogger and Facebook, but it just is not working.  Not only that, but my Nikon is still in the shop.  The good news is, the repair will be covered under the warranty!!  I am soooooo happy about that!  Thankfully, my daughter has a camera so we will at least have that and someday, I'll post pics of this trip.  We are going to Sequoia National Park, our first time ever!  We plan to go see General Sherman, the oldest living Sequoia, about 2000 years old!

I better get to packing, we want to get there before dark!

Last weekend, I went to my first ever homeschool convention.  I can't believe it has taken me nine years since I started homeschooling, to go to one!  It was awesome!  Just being around so many homeschoolers was a great encouragement.  The workshops, with speakers on various topics, were informative, encouraging, funny...  I found some great deals in the used book area.  I got the A Beka Biology set for my high schooler for $12!!  It is about $150 new!  Walking through the vendors was fun and I spent a little more than I had planned, but I pretty much stayed on my list :)  It was very crowded, and  a little difficult maneuvering my small wheeled suitcase around, which  was very helpful in holding all of the books I bought!

What really struck me, was that I had never been with so many homeschoolers before.  And I don't think I  had ever heard speakers talk strictly about homeschooling.  They talked about the trials and joys of homeschooling, and were very encouraging and made me laugh and cry.  If you can ever get to just one homeschool convention, do it! 

Sorry Mom!  :)  I was at my friend L's house last week.  I was watching her make potato salad for her family's camping trip.  When she was done, she offered me a small bowl.  It was sooo good!  For the next several days, I kept thinking about it, practically tasting it. I needed that recipe!!!  So she emailed it to me, and I made it yesterday.  It was a huge bowl of potato salad! DB loved it, too.  We had a little as a midnight snack.  As we were going to bed, he said, "I can't get over that potato salad!" :)   So I thought I'd better share it here.  Sorry, no picture.  You'll just have to make it yourself to see it :)

8-10 red potatoes (medium) or 5-6 russets
Medium onion chopped small  (I used a couple of green onions)
6 hard cooked eggs chopped
6 big dill pickles chopped  (yes, 6! the secret ingredient!)
4-5 stalks celery chopped, small
Squirt around the bowl of mustard J ( approx. 1 Tblsp.)
½ cup mayonnaise or more to make it nice and moist. (I needed more than 1/2 cup)
Salt to taste – start with 2 tsp.  (L used the kind you pick up with your fingers)
Pepper – 1 tsp.
 
Cover potatoes with water and heat to boil.  Cook for approxx. 20 minutes or until soft, but not mushy all the way through.  Pull out and cool on paper towels.  Peel russets, but don’t have to peel red potatoes.  Cube in bowl.  Add all other chopped ingredients, mix in mayo and mustard well.  Add salt and pepper.

Italics mine.

Today, our beloved country is 233 years old!  Such a very young country, but with so much history!  I was telling my kids last night that I remember when we celebrated the Bicentennial way back in 1976.  I was in 8th grade.  I don't remember much except the special quarters with the patriotic symbols on the back.  Can anyone remember what that was without looking? :)  So then we started talking about the Tricentennial.  One of my dear, smart children  asked when that will be, but we won't talk about that :)  They were figuring out how old they will be, and realized that they could possibly be around to celebrate it!!!  (If the Lord hasn't come by then, of course). My oldest will be 81, then 79 (almost 80), 78, 76, & 74. Makes me shudder thinking about them that old!!

Ok, with that, here is our favorite patriotic picture, taken in Sept 2001, about one week after 9/11, while were camping in Mt. Shasta. The giant flag belonged to the campers across from us. 

is broken :(  We were in the kitchen making zucchini fries.  I took a picture of the giant zucchini we were about to butcher.  I layed the camera on the table to show my daughter how to cut it.  I heard a thump and turned around. My camera was on the floor!  Apparently, I had set it on the recipe book we were using and someone, who shall remain nameless, decided to look at the book.  "Someone" didn't see the camera on it and it went flying off the book and table. I tried to turn it on right away, but nothing happened!  I called Costco yesterday and he tried to help me reset it, but that didn't work.  So I am waiting on a call back from Nikon and will probably have to send it in for repairs, which may or may not be covered.  They said it is about a 2 week turnaround.  So, I won't be taking many pictures for awhile.  My daughter has a camera, so I might borrow hers if I need to.  But I do have lots of catching up to do with the pictures I have in my computer.  Here is one of the last pics I took:

 Oh, and the zucchini fries were pretty good.  Next time, I'll use flavored bread crumbs instead of plain.

Well, my youngest one has lost her two front teeth.  I just love how cute they look without those two teeth.  Hopefully, they will grow in nice and straight!

Two very loose teeth:

One gone!  It came out at the park:

A couple of days later, the other one came out:

And here is one of the rose petal necklace we made.  Notice how her tongue is sticking out of her teeth when she smiles? I used to do that :)

Our garden is growing abundantly!  There is so much growth, we are having a hard time reaching the yummy veggies.  But we have been enjoying zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, cucumbers, and finally, a few tomatoes!  Soon, we should have lots & lots of tomatoes as well as various kinds of peppers.  Here are some pics:

Cherry tomatoes:

I have so much to write about, and pics to post.  I will be doing that soon, after I get rested from a week of VBS!

I am just going to list what we've been doing lately.

We went to Yosemite for a week.

Had our last day of school for the year.

We are hamster-sitting for friends.

We are harvesting our growing garden.

We had VBS for a week.  Two of my kids won little stuffed animals for reciting The Lord's Prayer in front of everyone.

Someone lost her two front teeth.

Someone has grown within an inch of me.

It is hot now.

We are getting  ready for someone to start high school (home schooled, still!)

We joined the library's summer reading program.

We have 6 weeks left of summer vacation. (we will take more time off in the cooler months)

I need a  nap.

My 14yo daughter has beautiful long blond curls.  They can be a lot of work, and very hot in the summer months.  So she asked if she could get it cut.  So I got everything ready.  I had the scissors right in her hair, at about the neck.  Then I stopped, and thought, "I wonder if there are 10" here to donate to Locks of Love".  There was.  So we went to the local salon that cuts for free when you donate your hair.  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Right about here, I teared up, but thankfully, composed myself :)

That's her pony tail she is holding:

Finishing touches:

Her new look, we love it:

She said she misses her long hair a little, but now she doesn't have to put  it in a pony tail.  And it will always grow back.

Today:

In just over a week, we will be going to Yosemite for 6 days!  For the first time ever, I have begun the packing and organizing process much earlier than usual.  I organized most of the kitchen items that we use for camping.  I hope to get more done today.  I had to buy new marshmallow sticks.  We always meet other families there and all of the sticks look the same, so last time, I put colored tape on the handles.  I was going to do that, but then remembered that they can get hot laying around the fire ring.  So I made some of these:

Tiny little potholders made from prequilted material and old tie dyes. :)  Weird, I know.  But fun, and identifiable!

My Great-Grandma, "G-G", always had a lot of Sweet Peas in her back yard.  I loved the smell.  I have tried to grow them in the past, but never got much.  This year, I bought some seeds and planted them in the back, where there is already a trellis.  I really didn't think they would grow, that area doesn't get much sun in the winter and early spring.  But my Mom really wanted me to try, so I did.  And they grew!  Another first for me! There isn't a lot, but I may just pick a few before they wilt in the upcoming heat, and put them in a vase in the house.  I just need to enjoy the smell before they are gone :)

After years of taking our kids fishing and hardly catching a thing, E went to a lake with a work buddy and caught these:

The kids pictured did not get to go this time, but now we know WHERE to go!  There were 16 fish and D & E cleaned them up that night.  E fried them last night and I was just so proud of all 5 kids digging in, sorting out bones and eating fresh fish!  I had a few bites to show support.  I think I'm going to have to learn to like fresh fish.  If only they'd catch fish sticks!

So I haven't posted many "firsts" like I wanted to.  Not everything happens in a once a week nifty kind of way.  But I have been doing/learning new things.  I will list some here.  Later, I will post pictures of other firsts I have done lately.

During our camping trip....

I took the kids camping w/o the Daddy.

Let the kids plan and pack it all, for the most part.

Started a campfire, or at least kept it going.

Used the camping stove by myself.

Used the lantern by myself.

Made good coffee with the percolator.

On this Mother's Day, I would like to honor all of the ladies that have helped make me who I am in one way or another.

My Mom

My Grandma Sybil

My Great Grandma Eliza

My Aunt Susan

My Aunt Lynda

My Grandma Mozelle

My Mother in Law Diane

My Grandma in Law Geri

My Mom's best friend Josette

My best friend's Mom Lavone

My Stepmom Caroline

My dear friend Joyce

Bombie

Thank you all for loving me and teaching me and being there when I needed you. I love you all and I terribly miss those who are already gone.

During Easter break, I wanted to give the kids the opportunity to plan a camping trip on their own.  They planned the meals and packed it all.  They made the list themselves and they did pretty good.  There were a few important things I grabbed at the last minute, but it is amazing how little we really need when we camp.  Though, we only went for one night, which is a lot different than 6 nights!  We were the only ones there, though one couple came late at night, and left early. We arrived on a Thursday.  Oh, and we only had to travel 15 minutes to the campground :)

Oasis in the brown, dry grass:

Putting up the tent.  We discovered that one of the poles was broken, so one side was limp:

Chopping kindling:

Our own private beach.  But don't worry, they were only allowed to put their feet in if they sat on the shore.

We even made a fire, the first time without The Daddy!

cough, cough:

Finally, dinner over an open fire!

Now that's a fire! At least for a little while:

Water girl:

Working together:

Hanging out:

A few weeks ago, I read Square Foot Gardening.  We have a raised bed at the back of our yard, and needed to replace much of the dirt.  I tried to shovel it out, but it was very hard.  Our friends loaned us their electric rototiller and that was such a big help!  Then we carted out several wheel barrels full, and dispersed it around the other garden areas.  We didn't take out 6" like I'd hoped, but quite a bit.  So, on Friday, we ordered some good (hopefully!) soil and they delivered it just a couple of hours later, on our driveway!

 Getting ready:

The dirt arrives (above)

Then my boys hauled it to the backyard:

(yes, they need haircuts.  tomorrow!)

And then we planted!

Tomatoes:

Peppers:

We also planted lettuce seedlings, but the record high temps killed it right away.  Also, we are having trouble with bugs eating the leaves. We did all of this on Friday.  Can't wait to have our own yummy tomatoes. Oh, and we didn't really do Square Foot Gardening afterall.  Our area is so small, we just did rows.  In the corner area, I did plant green beans and radishes in squares, so we will see.  But what I did learn is that new soil is important and will hopefully cut down on the weeds.  And that we don't need to space things so far apart.  Again, we will see how that goes.

We already bought two fruit trees to fill in for the one we took out.  We plan to take out the other berry tree for one more fruit tree in the backyard.  I was gone when they planted the trees, so I didn't get any pics of that, but here are our two newest little babies:

Nectarine

Santa Rosa Plum:

There is a little fruit on both of them!

Next, prepare the soil for our veggie garden!

We have four of these trees, I couldn't find the name of them.  I thought they were Chinese Cherry trees, but that is not what I see when I search it online.  They have these little purple berries that make a mess on my sidewalks, and sometimes, in my house!  So we decided to replace two of them with fruit trees.  Here is a picture of the other one we will cut down:

Here are their berries:

I do not want to cut them all down because I love to watch the Cedar Waxwings flying in and eating them.  They are the cutest birds:

The same kind of bird that flew into our front window earlier this year:

I don't like the mess they make after they eat, though!

Bye bye, tree:

After the shovel handle broke, (thankfully, no one got hurt!) the tree trunk was loose enough, and Dad was able to push it sideways, with the help of my "Lizard" and it came out!

We will put a peach tree here, or some other fruit tree.  I can now see how much shade that little tree was giving us on our back porch!

This counts as my learn something new #5!  (Since I am not posting these right away, and sometimes there will be more than one a week, I am just going to number them.  But I will still try for every week)

This was my first time sewing on the border by machine.  My good friend L showed me how.  That is her lovely hand in the picture :)  I had to cut 2.25" strips, sew them diagonaly, which was harder than it sounds, then fold in half and iron.  Then I sewed the whole thing to the front edge of the quilt, but to all 3 layers.  

Here, she is showing me how to sew the ends together once it was all sewn to the quilt.  This was tricky! But we did it!

I didn't get any pics of me hand sewing the border to the back.  Here is the finished border, folded over to see both sides of the quilt:

I finished the border in just a few days. I was able to finish in time to put it on my sleeping Zebra on the eve of his 11th bday.  My daughter calls me the Quilt Fairy :)