The Great Smoky Mountains

Amazing how you don't know what you've got til it's gone, huh? Eric & I lived in Knoxville for five years...and after our recent vacation back to this, our second home, I've realized we didn't spend as much time in the beautiful outdoors surrounding East Tennessee as we should have!

After a delightful Sunday with a visit to our old church family at Cornerstone and an afternoon of swimming with our friends the Trumps, we began our week long trip with a mountain excursion. We chose Laurel Falls as our hike since the trail is paved and we had the stroller. It was perfect for our fam.




We made a few pit stops on the hike up.






Zane loved the stuffed black bears at the Sugarland Visitor's Center.

Picture perfect!

On the way back to Knoxville Kai spotted this huge bee hive hanging from a nearby tree!


And this is the view we enjoyed from Look Rock at the highest point along the Foothills Parkway.


I actually liked it so much that I posed everyone for a timed picture. As I ran to grab Zane, who was running away to the parking lot and then down into the forest, I thought 2 seconds too late to holler out "Catch the camera!". I heard it tumble off the guardrail as it shut down to preserve the battery and smashed into the concrete sidewalk.

So there you have it, the last photo from our vacation. Not a single shot of our lovely friends and their families. I suppose that's what memories are for though, and we certainly made a lot of new great ones during the trip!

It was great to just pick up like we left yesterday with so many people. It had been 6 years since I'd been able to tag along on one of Eric's work trips with the children. So hard to pick a favorite moment (as if you are asking...he he) but I'd have to say the surprise 15 minute chat in the Weigel's parking lot with Michelle Lindsay gets that honor! What a treat! Love you ALL and thank you for welcoming us with some fabulous Southern hospitality!!!

Special Gifts

I continually thank God for all the dear friends he has blessed me with in every season of life! Really, I'm almost speechless. There simply is nothing better to me than to be able to sit with someone and not say a word and feel completely comfortable...even warm and fuzzy. So I thought I would just post some recent pictures of me and a few of the sweet people in my life. (There are many more!)

This first one is my Aunt Cle. She lives near Tampa, Florida so we only get to see each other once or twice a year...though I'd sure love to go to her more often, she usually comes here with my Uncle Ed on their way to/from friends and family in North Central Kansas and Denver. She speaks into my life with wisdom in so many ways and I love her to pieces!


Kathy here is more than just my friend...she is also one of my home school partners and fellow slave as she helps me clean my house during our weekly (well, when we don't make a good excuse) cleaning exchange! I mean really, if someone has cleaned the dirt off your kitchen floor or wiped the toothpaste crud in your sink they pretty much have to either love you or be paid good money! We have many adventures together and our kiddos are great friends too!


My dear Maria just turned 40! Gasp! Of course, you'd never know it to look at the beautiful girl. For sure I have loved watching her grow in grace and wisdom over the last almost 9 years of our friendship. She's the one I call when I'm sobbing about whatever and need someone to list to my woes and help me pull up my bootstraps!


Oh yes, and Maria is always prim and proper (ha):


This is Peaceful, and no, I didn't choose her as a friend just because of her awesome hippy name! We met, oh, probably our first week or two in college. We lived on the same floor of our dorm. As it turns out, she went to high school with my husband and was one of his favorite girl friends (not in the romantic sense) growing up! She is now a home educator herself to her 4 beautiful girls and lives about an hour away out in the country. We don't see each other often enough, but can pick up a conversation in an instant...and we're thankful for our Facebook inboxes!

There is one lady in my life that I've known a little bit longer than all the others...my sister Jodi! I can't say enough about how she has blessed my entire life! Even this morning when she called with my 6:15 wake up call...she let me know that it was 20 degrees outside my window but on its way up to 43. Why, thank you very much, that was so helpful in getting me out of my warm and cozy bed :) . (I did get up, btw). We usually talk everyday and help each grow through the ups and downs of life. We are going to try and travel back and forth to our homes every 4-6 weeks this year. With 6 kiddos between us it's a little crazy, but two mommas makes it even more fun!


And, last but not least, the best friend that I chose to live my daily life with, side by side. This is my Eric. There is a peaceful joy that comes with the deep love and commitment of marriage. We're almost to the 15 year mark...and some days it seems we're still just two kids in love! Yay!

The Word on the Street

Almost the end of January, but I finally have it! My theme word for the year! It seems to be the thing to do out here in blog-land so I decided to jump on the bandwagon (thank you Amy, Megan & many others).

If you've read my earlier post, you'll know I was tossing around the word "work". Ugh. That really didn't sound like much fun and I wanted to at least inspire myself when I saw my word posted here and there. So I prayed some more about it and today it came to me. I was valiantly searching my house for the bag of chore magnets that go to one of our kid chore charts...remodeling does not go well with "everything in it's place" as the places have to change!! Anyway, while digging around I caught a glimpse of the cool sign that my dear friend Maria gave me for my birthday a couple years ago. It simply says "GROW".

Grow. That is what I need to do. In order to do it? I must set goals. I must trust God to help me change. I must nurture my life rather than let it pass by. Yes, I must work. But I can work. I can start small and grow bit by bit. At the end of the year? Perhaps a gentler and quieter spirit? Perhaps I will love others more than today? Perhaps I will know right where that bag of magnets can be found!

Meanwhile...I went to the "Tea with Jane Austen" this afternoon at the Lee's Summit library with a few great friends. Unfortunately, Jane couldn't make it, but the ladies from JASNA added the perfect touch...one in full costume! I didn't grab Sandra in time for a picture but here are (from L to R) Kathy, Amy, Megan & me after an enjoyable teatime!

A Week in the Life ~ Is it Friday yet?

So I think writing out a diary of our week is making me think I'm crazy! Not for keeping the diary...it's just seeing all our going ons in black and white gives me a better idea of why I'm so tired LOL! Are you ready to hear about our Thursday? Here it goes:

7:52 a.m. - Pulling out of the driveway to go garage saling! Yes, before 8 a.m. I can't believe it! Guess it shows my soft spot...I love to get some deals!
8:05 a.m. - Been to the bank and now over to QT for breakfast (you see, there was a REASON I made it out of the house so early...no breakfast).
8:15 a.m. - At our first garage sale. (I'll tell ya about our goodies in a minute)
Fast Forward....
10:00 a.m. - Back home, clean out the van and get ready for some school!

Kai needs something productive to occupy him during school, otherwise he's out the door to play (not that that is a bad thing, but I like him to get the feel of working a bit). Today I decided he could make some crazy crayons for his project. No way Elena was going to let him have all the fun, so she joined in for most of it.



All the bits and pieces are peeled and placed in a foil lined pie plate.



I'm melting! I'm melting!



Now that's one honker of a crayon. I guess I should have taken pictures of them breaking it up...they hammered on it with a bottle of glue and a ruler. Anyway...that was cool fun for the day!

After our Bible lesson we had snacktime! We used to make "homemade" microwave popcorn by putting it in a paper bag with a bit of oil and salt and stapling it shut. When our over-the-range microwave bit the dust (see it in the background? It's now a large kitchen timer & clock), so did that...the little stand-in microwave we use now just doesn't like my do-it-yourself popcorn bags. All that to say, we haven't had popcorn in a long time! Dunt-dun-a-duhhh....wah-lah, $1 will get you a fine air popper at just about any garage sale. Yum!


Kai basically hauled in today....not only did he find this lovely pogo stick:


But also a brand-new-to-him bike!

Yay!!! He ALSO got a two-wheeled scooter! ($2, $10 & $2...not too shabby).

You can imagine that he spent most of the day outside playing on all those new toys. Elena did a good job with her other subjects...today she had music study (we do a different composer or genre each month) and she listened to some jazz fusion on Pandora. I'd never thought of turning Pandora on for music before...duh! Perfect, and now I'll no longer be purchasing lovely compulation CD's! Her copywork was a paragraph about the rise of Jazz in the 30's & 40's that I printed off a jazz history website.

By then it was time for lunch and our standing play date with some other homeschool friends! We are so blessed to have other families in our area that share our relaxed lifestyle. This particular family has three kiddos all about the same age as ours. Plus, they get along fab and Sara (the momma) and I are becoming great friends. (Hi Sara!) They brought their bikes, and we got to see their garage saling finds, but the main attraction was the awesome fort Elena and Chaya made out of her bed. I'm so grateful for the time she gets to spend building friendships!

After they left, we finished up our school day with some math & reading. Then we had just enough time to pretty up for our portrait session at Target. We like to have portraits taken for each kiddos birthday. Well, Elena's was almost a month ago...and the boys' before that, so today it was a 3-for-1 shot for all their individuals plus a few together. I made sure all the crud was off their faces and out from under their fingernails, put on the outfits and off we went. Yay! They turned out great!


I try to make sure we always have our favorite photographer, Kelly...she knows my kids and does a great job. I think she's taken almost all their portraits since Kai turned two. I grabbed some hot dogs and a bag of salad while we were at the store then headed home for a late supper. Ugh! What was I thinking? I'm not feeling so hot after that meal and poor Zane would have nothing to do with his hotdog. I think that made me feel even worse for feeding him one...though they were Hebrew Nat'l hotdogs which I guess are better than most.

The kids brought in all the outside toys in case it rains and then we watched a bit of American Idol...the Idol gives back episode. A good fit as after listening to a song today on KLOVE that ended "for the poor and needy, God", we had a conversation about 1. God isn't who is poor and needy and 2. What it means to be poor and needy.

Kai remembered donating to fund a surgery for a dog at the pet store, must have been at least a year and a half ago...he asked if that dog was poor. Then they thought of my friend Kori who is waiting for a new heart...certainly needy, if maybe in a different way. We talked about how blessed we were and that even when we "need groceries" we always have food to eat. I think that teaching about gratefulness is more difficult when we live such privileged lives. Anyway, the Idol episode highlighted some people both here and in Africa who are certainly poor and needy...it made it more real to my little ones.

8:00 p.m. Bedtime! I did it Eric-style tonight...p.j., brush teeth, prayers, bed. Much needed for my sanity.

I'm slightly overwhelmed at the state of my domicile:

Various toys scattered, two-day old Sonic cup on the table, etc. etc. My own fault, I know, so it's all self-pity. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I may do a crisis clean day and whip this place into shape. But we "need" groceries too...that's at least a two hour trek to the store with kids in tow. Hmmm.....I guess I can tell you about it tomorrow night.

Homeschool Goodies

So I've actually been WORKING tonight (and a few other evenings) on "teacher stuff" and have come across some new-to-me AWESOME sites:

First up, Practical Pages, a blog by another Charlotte Mason homeschooler who lives in South Africa. She has many, many, you-guessed-it "practical" downloads available that go right along with a CM approach. LOVE IT! Especially the composer and artist charts and info pages...oooh, and the Ancient Egypt lapbook! Double-bestest they are all FREE! You rock Nadene!

Then this week I ran across the idea of making a mini-office lapbook with all the help-charts we frequently access like the handwriting chart, number chart, US map, color words, etc. Lots of sites out there, but tonight I'm lovin' Lapbook Lessons and then, in a more classroomy mode, but full of great stuff, SparkleBox from our friends across the pond. Now I just have to decide if I'm going to make one or two mini-offices...hmmmm...I'm leaning towards one for now...like a K-2 version and then make updates as necessary.

Oh, and then there is the whole timeline problem at our house...the big wall version? Well, turns out sticky-tack does NOT like cold weather and it came tumbling down, bit by bit, when winter came along. Not wanting to mar our entire basement stairwell with staple marks, I've opted for a Book of Centuries. My favorite CM site, Simply Charlotte Mason, of course, had one I could download and print, again, for free...woot! We've already loaded it up in a binder and have started transferring our people pictures...much better!

I just love finding new, fun things to make our homeschooling experience even better! Here are some pics of my kids hard at work:

Elena & Kai painting their sugar cube Egyptian pyramids. (See our new vibrant office/school room paint color in the background? I love it!)

Just about ready to gobble up our fruit turkeys with our friends, Ian & Aidan.

A. R. T.

Creation. Expression. Imagination. Beauty. Experimentation. Simplicity.

A. R. T.

I have a young friend, Seth Jones, who is a gifted artist--that's him above. He has just opened up a shop on Etsy: Attic Inspired. My advice? Get 'em while you can! He's offering prints and originals of his latest works. I've had the opportunity to see some of the originals and they are fabulous! Now I just have to decide which one(s) I want for myself. Oh, and one of the artists who has inspired him, Kelly Rae Roberts, included him on her blog this past week (click on her name...this new template of mine doesn't show links unless you hover).
Enjoy!

The Beauty of Friendship II

Ahhh, back to blogging about friends. I got to be with quite a few old friends from college this past weekend and again last night. It's funny how we all think we are still 19...no aging going on here, thank you!

Anyway, in this post I am just going to put up a few pictures of special friends in my life. These are all recent pix and so if you're not in here and should be...well, we need to take a picture together!!

This is my dear friend Ang who lives in Washington state. We don't stay in touch as much as we should anymore, but this woman was a HUGE influence on me when I was in college, a new bride and a new Christian. She came back for a whirlwind tour of Kansas a couple weeks ago and we met up at a mutual friend's home. You're just the BESTEST Ang!!! Oof-dah!


Meet my sister-in-law, Chrissy (Eric's sis). This snap is at our sister Randyl's wedding and just before Chrissy had her first baby, Will. Our paths don't cross on a daily basis, but when we're together, it's so nice to just "be" and I guarantee she'll make us laugh about something. I don't think she reads my blog, but just in case...Chrissy, you can thank me later for posting a picture of you nice and pregnant on the internet!


Now this lady is certainly special. We grew up just a runway apart out in Cheney. Her name is Denise (hi girl!) and we've been friends since 4th or 5th grade...I still remember buying her a plastic jewelry box with "Denice" spelled out on it for her birthday. We took this picture at our 15 year class reunion last month. She is also a momma to two munchkins and has a great big, caring heart!


As you can tell, these girls are trouble. It was gals nite out for the Vox Dei ladies and we hit PF Chang's on the Plaza. L to R: Kristi, Marcola, Keri, me, Tisha & Maya (my best friend since childhood). We asked some tourists to take our picture together...they said we should stand in front of the horse statue or something but we said "naaah...this is good"...only to then notice the glaring stop sign in the background. I cropped it best I could. You girls make being a part of the Body of Christ just this much more fun!


Finally, this one is a solo picture of my best friend in the whole wide world (close tie with Eric, of course). I think we met the day she was born, and though she's my sister, I don't think I've ever had a day that I wished she wasn't :) ! She is beautiful inside and out and even though we live three hours apart, door to door, our lives are hopelessly intertwined through the miracle of the phone! One day, someday, we hope to live down the block from one another...or who knows, we may be old widows together and move into a posh retirement apartment complex! For now, the phone is awesome, our kiddos are great friends and we each will be adding one more to our families early next year. I love you lots and lots Jodi!

The Beauty of Friendship I

friend n. 1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard 2. a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts

I've been mulling around the idea of doing a series of posts about friendship and the beauty it has brought to my life. So today seemed like a good day to get started. (My apologies up front for my literary goof ups as I write...I change tense mid-sentence often and who knows what else!--does that really matter in the blog-o-sphere anyway?)

First, I looked up "friendship" in my dictionary...yes, the dusty thick book that spends years untouched thanks to dictionary.com & spell check...ya know I was a Kansas Honor Scholar so I really have a very nice one. But guess what? "Friendship" is not in my dictionary. Not on its own, not as a form of the word "friend", nothing, notta, zilch. Between Friedmanite and frier all that can be found is "friend" and "friendly". Go figure.

I like to think of myself as a living legacy of the lives of my friends. Legacy...let's see if it's in there...oh good!

legacy n. something handed down from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

Well, that's close enough (if you're a walking vocab machine let me know a better word). A legacy of the lives of my friends. Bits and pieces of so many people are seeped into my being that it continually makes me grateful for each person, each memory, each glimpse of "them" that is a part of me.



Off and on over the years I have experienced feelings of guilt, sadness (even mourning), pride, joy, empathy, exasperation, and helplessness with regard to friends. Lately, however, my heart as turned mainly to a feeling of blessedness and thankfulness for ALL my friends (old, current, new). I am finally learning that even through separations of time, distance or even just of intimacy, the friends in my life have been beautifully orchestrated...the perfect timing, the right intensity...for just the right season in my own life (and hopefully I for theirs).

So, first, my praises to God for blessing me with a life RICH with friends...from my siblings to fellow childhood adventurers to the women (and men) who continue to speak life and truth to my soul...I am grateful for every moment. to be continued...