It's Spinning Time

This month is

2009-01-09T10:22:00.004-06:00

This month is going great. We have cleaned out both our offices and are getting ready to start on the classroom. We still have 4 bedrooms, kitchen, laundry room, living room, basement, work shop,attic, 3car garage,yard, barn and a well house to clean out before we can move. I'm glad we are not moving for about another 5 months. I guess when you have lived somewhere for almost 13 years, you have a lot of stuff to get rid of.

Pattie Moreno - The Garden Girl Urban Sustainable Living sent me some American Radish Mix seeds from her Heirloom Seed Collection. I can't wait to plant them. I am going to start them in little starter trays until we move. I love Radishes, they taste so good. I am looking forward to getting more seeds from Pattie.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T20:56:00.003-06:00

It is Jan 1, 2009. My New Year's Resolution is to be better at what ever I am doing at that moment and to spin more fibers into yarn.

A new year and a new beginning. We have lived in Wisconsin for over 12 years now and can not take the cold anymore. We are moving to Virginia in about 6 months for about a year and then we might just move on somewhere else. We have our RV and a home based job, so the thought of just picking up and going anywhere at anytime is just great.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-31T16:07:00.008-06:00

Christmas was good. The kids got everything they wanted, which means John and I got everything we wanted, our children to be happy. The kids even got some things they were not expecting. Next Christmas will be different for us, we will be living down south. John's mom will be in Wisconsin and we are not sure if my mom will be in Wisconsin or down south. It was a cold and very snowy Christmas this year, I will miss the snow but not the cold.

Winter ... Burrrrrrrr

2008-12-21T18:23:00.002-06:00

It is only December 21st and we have already had 35 inches of snow fall this winter. The weather outside is cold, with the windchill it is about 35 below zero. We have grown to dislike the cold up here, we are looking forward to moving next year down south a ways. I went out in the RV yesterday and wrapped Christmas presents for the kids. It was 24 outside, John had the heater going in the RV, so it was nice and warm. If we lose power this winter at least we can stay warm in the RV.

Our first RV trip

2008-10-11T08:32:00.004-05:00

We took our first RV trip on Friday Oct 3rd, 2008. We went up north to visit my mother in-law for the day. Thought that would be a great way to test our new RV. It was not a long ride, only about 3 1/2 hours one way, But it gave us a chance to check out how well it would do on long trips or if we lived in it for a while on the road. It was the first time for the kids and I being in an RV. It was a lot of fun for the kids and for me, it brought back memories of riding on a train to go visit my grandmother in VA when I was a little girl. Suzy our dog went with us and she just loved the ride. I wonder how the cat will do next spring/summer when we move. The kids fell asleep on the way home.

We had a very nice visit with my mother in-law. We got to see my husbands big brother Steve and his two sons Christopher and Zachary. It has been are really long time since we have seen them. Christopher has really grown up into a nice looking teenager, and so funny too. They say Zachary looks just like his dad.

Homeschool Gym

2008-10-02T19:50:00.005-05:00

We went to homeschool gym today and Joshua played with the other kids in his age group. This was our third time going and it was great to see him running and playing with the other kids. He usually just wants to stay by my side. Joshua met a new friend named Joshia and he was so happy about it that when he saw Leah walking towards us, he went running up to her to tell her about his new friend.

Leah also made a new friend today in homeschool gym named Anna. The seem to have a few things in common. The both like Goth clothes, Deathnote books and some of the same music.

It is a Christian Homeschool Group and we really don't fit in, but it is the only one around for us to go to. Not much is offered in the way of Homeschool here where we live. The YMCA used to offer things for homeschoolers, but they cut them out. There is one Art Class, but that is on a day we can't go.

Fall is here!

2008-09-30T23:03:00.004-05:00

You can sure tell it is fall around here.The leaves are falling off the trees, there is a cool brisk air outside, 50's during the day and 30's/40's at night, the leaves are turning all kinds of beautiful colors and I am walking around with 2 pairs of socks on, a long sweater and wishing I had on a pair of gloves.

The older I get, the harder it is for me to stand the cold. Now I know why older people move south in the winter. So like all the other old people we are moving down south next year and then who knows, maybe we will travel around in our RV, going to all the warm places in the country.

Anniversary

2008-09-26T21:14:00.004-05:00

Yesterday (Sept 25th) was our 13th Wedding Anniversary. It is so hard to believe that we have been married for 13 years. It feels like we just met, time sure does fly when you are having fun. Our kids think we are crazy, we still kiss each other all the time, we call each other Honey or Sweetie. Some people find it hard to believe, but we have never had an argument and never called each other a harsh name.

So for our anniversary we went to Cherryvale Mall in Rockford, Illinois and then to Red Lobster for Lunch today The food was great. We had the all you could eat shrimp, I could not get over how good the Coconut Shrimp tasted. The dipping sauce was just so good.

Pears and Vegan Cupcake Mix

2008-09-23T18:50:00.006-05:00

We went to the store today and I found 9 Pears for $1.00. I was thinking to whole way home, what can I make with the Pears. I thought about freezing them and mixing them in with our applesauce we will be making with fresh apples from the Apple Orchard. Then my husband said make some kind of dessert with them, so I set out to find a good recipe. Couldn't find one so I made one up. I cooked the Pears on the stove with brown sugar,sugar and cinnamon until they were soft, then I put them in our casserole dish. I then made homemade Vegan Chocolate Cupcake mix and poured that on top of the Pears and baked it for about 35 minutes on 350. When I took it out of the oven, you could just see the chocolate sauce oozing out of the cupcake topping. I can't wait to try some of it.

Waking up early

2008-05-08T11:46:00.003-05:00

One thing I don't like is getting up early or being woke up early by somebody. I am a night person and I like to sleep in, well at least til 8am or so. As I am getting older, I am finding that I am waking up at least 3 to 4 times a night. Last night I must have woke up about 3 times, so the last thing I wanted to do was get woke up by somebody at 6:30am this moring, but I am so glad that I was. I got a phone call from our oldest son this morning at 6:30. It was so nice to hear his voice, our son is in the Navy and out at sea. He called me from Spain. I miss him so much, we have not seen him since Oct 2006. We are hoping that we can see him this fall. It was really worth Waking Up Early.

Back to Spinning again

2008-03-24T13:07:00.006-05:00

It has been about 1 1/2 years, but I have started spinning wool into yarn again. Here is a skein of yarn I did last week. It turned out to be 100 yards even. I am not sure how I managed to get such an even number of yards.

I had forgotten how nice it was to spin wool into yarn. I love to see all the colors mix together. I can't wait to see how it looks when I ply it with some black yarn I am going to make. I think black will make all the other colors stand out. I am so glad I am Back to Spinning again.

Socks

2008-03-05T13:18:00.004-06:00

a> Yeah me! I finished my first pair of socks last night. Once I understood the instructions, I found them easy to knit. The next time I think I will make them come up higher on my ankles or maybe add some color to them. The thoughts of what colors and designs are endless, now that I have the basics figured out. I did the Kitchener Stitch on them, so there is no toe seam, YEAH! I can't stand seams on my toes, they drive me crazy. I told my husband "If the socks I am making come out good, then I will never buy a store brought pair of socks again." They are good enough for me. I am so looking forward to making my next pair of Socks.

I sure hope she likes it.

2008-02-29T14:52:00.005-06:00

My mother in-law liked the hat I had made for myself, so she asked me if I would make her one in white. I just finished making hers in white. I am going to give it to her for her birthday. I sure hope she likes it.

I did it!

2008-02-16T13:42:00.006-06:00

I joined a group called a loose knit group. It is a knitting group on Yahoo.com. Each month you knit something different. February was Hats and I just finished my hat. It is made with a Cable stitch. This was my first time doing the Cable stitch, it was a lot easier then I thought it would be. I am not one to try something new. Doing something new scares me. I am one of those people who stick with what they know,Well, I should say I was one of those people who stick with what they know. I was scared to learn to spin, but I did it, I was scared to homeschool,then unschool, but I did it, I was scared to learn the Cable Stitch, But I did it. I can't wait until next month to see what we are doing, So I can say I did it!

I should have said this or I should have said that

2008-02-07T08:44:00.000-06:00

I joined a few groups yesterday and one of them asked a few questions like, What's your favorite smell, What's your favorite sound and things like that. I don't mind answering questions like that, I think they are fun. So after I filled out all the questions and hit the send button. I thought of all the things I should have said.

I think it's really funny how things going on around us influence us as to what to say or write at the time. It was snowing like crazy outside when I was filling out the questions and one of the questions was what is your favorite sound and I said Snow. I love to hear the snow fall on a quite winters night. It is such a peaceful sound. I would have said My children laughing.because that is my favorite sound, but I was thinking about the snow.

It's not just questions you are filling out on paper or on the internet, it's when you are talking on the phone to friends or family. As soon as you hang up the phone you think of all the other things you should have said. Then you think I will remember to tell them next time I talk to them, yeah right, if your like me, that's never going to happen. So, I just hope next time I am filling out questions or talking on the phone, the kids are not sword fighting or some other game like that, cause who knows what I might say, but then again "I should have said this or I should have said that".

The excitement in their voices

2008-02-04T22:38:00.001-06:00

I love to hear the excitement in our children's voices when they are doing something they enjoy. Our 6yr old son really enjoys playing Star Wars II on our PS2. You can just hear the excitement in his voice when he yells for somebody to come and see what he just did or the new person he just got on his game. Our 11yr old daughter has taught herself to play the piano. You can just hear the excitement in her voice when she has a new song she wants us to hear or when she finds the sheet music for a song she has been trying to find on the internet. One of our older sons came home the other day, just to spend the day playing with his little brother. They played video games, sword fighting, chasing each other around. It was great to hear all the laughter in the house and all The excitement in their voices.