Yipeee!

My new place:

www.thesunnysideoftheroom.blogspot.com

(you may need to copy and paste the link. I am having trouble clicking over from here to there.)

 Please come visit and say, "hi!"

The computer is fixed and I look forward to getting back to blogging. My amazing tech savvy friend, is helping me set up my new place over at blogspot. [Thanks RJ!]

Thanks to all who checked in to see how things were going. It's been a 'busier than we planned' kind of summer. It always is, and I'm alway's surprised.

The six of us are heading out on our last summer trip before we hit the books, so to speak. I hope to put up a blog post this weekend of our trip.

Happy September!

Dana

My laptop headed into the shop Friday and I won't see it for maybe 6 weeks. Our other computer is a slow old dinosauer. So you won't hear from me for awhile. I hope to be back after school is planned and we have a few vacation's in the photo album.

Happy Summer!

Blueberry Cobbler 

Blueberry Muffin's

Purple & Red potatos from the garden

Blue dresses (made by Aunt Diane) & Pink castles (made by Dad, Mom and Little Miss)

* Plant garden

* Prep summer clothes

* Wipe down outdooor furniture

* Tables on big grass

* Runs in the cool,  warm wind morning

* Summer tunes set on the ipod

* Smells of baseball in the heat

* Late evening hang outs with the kids

* Fresh Salsa

* Apricots and zuccinni

Pictures::

J fly fishing on the Tuolumne River,

Z making friends

S working on her stroke with her sweet friend,

C preparing to make a big splash

Yesterday, Little Miss turned a much anticipated, 6 years old. She did manage to sleep the night before, partly due to being exhausted by a late night baseball game, and falling asleep in the car. The boy's are very proud of her new status as a six year old. She just seems so big! I've done this 6 year old thing four times now and it feels the same each time. "How did this happen?"

Each of us wrote a clue or riddle that led her to a present. The clues are pretty simple, yet we were impressed she was so quick to figure them out.  

 C gave her a Lego kit she has been wanting, so she can play like them.

You can just barely see a soda can in the corner of this picture. It's a six pack of Dr. Pepper. Since visiting the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco, Texas the kids love Dr. Pepper made with cane sugar. There was an old fashion soda fountain at the museum that sold sodas with a squirt of the syrup and carbonated soda.

So for the three spring birthday's, I ordered a case of cane sugar Dr. Pepper from the Dublin, TX shop.  

So many smiles.

Mike made the birthday pull-apart cake, and I placed the five flower n' butterfly candles on top. And then had to run back for the sixth.

I can remember the day she was born.

 When this little girl entered my life I was a little numb.

Don't get me wrong. I love raising boys. I expected to have many more.  I was over-joyed when my girl was born. But no tears flowed until my Mom and the three boy’s walked into the room … carrying gifts wrapped in pink tissue paper.

That did it.

The pink tissue paper put me over-the-top and it hit me.

God saw fit to give me a baby girl.

My cup over flows.

This morning, we went to a newly opened u-pick blueberry farm. It was a beautiful, cool morning which made the work that much more enjoyable. But the best part was working along side friends. The kids and I picked 25 pounds in about 45 minutes. Not bad. The berries are unsprayed, so I am freezing most of them in a single layer on baking sheets and then bagging them in freezer bags. Some will go into a pie and others will go into pancakes for tonight’s dinner. Oh, yum!

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RIVERBEND RANCH CHARITY CARNIVAL

Mark the 13^th of June!

It's carnival time again!

It's beautiful! Gorgeous! A cool breeze is blowing through the windows.

We're in the kitchen this morning talking and remembering those in our family and in our lives that have served this country. A sweet time.

I'm playing with cabbage and potatoes. Not so much sweet as smelly.

Happy Memorial Day!

Last weekend, our Little League teams spent a night cheering for our local single A baseball team. We had a pre-game tailgate and sweat through a very warm but beautiful late spring evening.

At games end, after the fireworks display, the kids ran the bases.

 Rule number 1: No passing.

That's OK.

It's much more fun to be swooped up by your big brother on your way to home.

Photo Credit: C

  "Someday we need to stop there on our way home."

And so we did.

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And had too much chocolate for dinner

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Record: 5-9

The Giants have made huge improvements in their game. The little mistakes that cost them many runs are slowly disappearing.

Last Saturday, Jesse hit his second homerun of the season, but this one was a grand slam over the center field fence.

I called it. Yes, I did.

Even with a full count, I leaned over and whispered to Mike's dad,

"This is his grand slam right here."

And then I cheered.

Yes. I. did.

I wonder if the pressure is greater when you're an undefeated team?

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The Bears won again last night. Four more games to win the league and then it's on to TOC's (Tournament of Champions).

Sic Em' Bears!

*the Bears are C & Z's minor team, with that handsome Dad of their's. as the coach.

It has been busy. We haven't been doing much laying around.

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We've been flexing our muscles

and exercising our brains.

~studied about and painted red onions

Celebrating home runs

and lives of dear ones.

It's been a little crazy.

But we've managed to keep it together. ~ Cousins at Easter

 I took an unintentional blog break.

I have made a few attempts to blog but homeschoolblogger is a bit primitive compared to some of the other sites. They are promising improvements …. I have yet to see any. For now I’ll stay here because this season is way too busy to even think about moving.

I’ve been slow on the baseball updates this season. The two games a week per team and an additional practice, keeps us busy.

Here are the highlights: 

Bears

Record: 8-0

They’ve ended 7 out of the 8 games, 10 running the opponent in the fourth inning.

*Z’s got a hot bat, consistently hitting singles. He's playing a solid 2nd base, catching fly balls and throwing runners out.

*C hit a beautiful homerun over the left field fence that was rewarded with a steak dinner out with both assistant coach’s families. Good Times!

*Both boys are smoking pitches across the plate.

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Giants

Record: 2-4

This has been an interesting season. The team over all has good fundamentals, but they are lacking in knowledge of the game. Mike is trying to develop a deeper pitching team.

J is having a great pitching season. He is learning to be patient (which does come very easy for him). This may not be a highlight year in his sports career but it is a character building season none-the-less.

Bonus

A first!

J umpired behind the plate while C caught.

There’s a recipe for disaster!

We were sure C was going to end up face first on the plate after he (playfully)elbowed J as he walked up to catch . Luckily, all turned out well and I had a moment of sheer pride watching these two brothers, who deeply respect each other and are the best of friends.

Over spring break this week, we have 4 games and a combined practice. Somehow I got myself in charge of conditioning. I don't know, maybe it was my flappin' on and on that got me the job. "You should do this and this and this with the players. Then they'd develope this. And then .... so ..... and how about....."

Yep. I'm pretty sure that was it.

More up-dates to come.

Easter is fast approaching.

Time to think baskets.  Time to think consumable gifts that are both smart and economical.

If you are looking for sweet, fun gifts for both adults and chidren, you must check out www.bugsoap.com. Kate has whipped up some creamy soaps, in different scents and colors. She has delicious lip balms and body butters too. I love that the ingredients she uses are good for us. No mineral oil or other unsafe, unhealthy ingredients.

Go check out Bug Soap. Love it!

These past few months, we focused on understanding and memorizing measurements and money. I’m a fan of the lapbooks and foldables. I love the visual they provide for kids who need it. It’s also a fun way to organize information, and download facts into little minds.

Z put these two foldables together and hung them on the bulletin board.

Little Miss, dressed in poxy attire, managed a lesson in money.

I was just happy she wasn’t scratching.

Note: There are lots of great lapbook ideas out there. My favorite subject, specific books are from Dinah Zike. The above foldables came from  the Big Book of Elementary Math K-6.

J loves this kind of stuff.

He finds anything related to geology interesting. Every fourth science lesson, he seeks out an experiment or a concrete example to demonstrate and explain to the rest of us what he has been learning.

 A little like show and tell. 

A little like - we have no clue, fill us in.  

separating the isotopes

graphing the daughter isotopes 

a willing participant

"Do you think he'll let us eat the expirament when he's done?"

".... and this is why the number of decaying isotopes gets smaller as the number of radioactive isotopes gets smaller. "

And we all appreciate your patience, dear.