Ready, Set, J.E.T.

Getting Ready

2012-02-12T20:34:00.001-06:00

Well, here we are 3 months from Jared's graduation and we still have no idea when we are expected in Montana. For now, we are doing our best to get the house ready to sell. Here is what that looks like.

Bed in the family room while the bedroom is being painted- then used as a construction zone...

"Oh look, a pile of stuff I was suppose to put on Emma's quilt... It will only take me a minute to add them..." The kitchen table hasn't been seen since.

Trying to organize Emma's books and horses (and I needed something to do with my hands while Emma and I were chilling -literally- in the fort)

Fabric covered milk crates to corral books and horses- One bin for 2 months. Or so the plan goes right now.

I finally got Jared to go through his clothes and get rid of all the shirts he doesn't wear anymore. A smart person would have donated them somewhere. I decided to start working on making a king sized t-shirt quilt.

A quick visit to Gramma and Boppa's.

Gramma is the coolest. She suggested sparklers in the snow.

And picnics on the living room floor because, as I mentioned already, we can't seem to find the kitchen table under the pile of craft stuff I keep attempting to put away.

Well, that about brings everything up to date. Thanks for stopping by!

Montana Here We Come...eventually

2011-12-06T23:01:00.000-06:00

We found out today that we will be stationed in Malmstrom AFB located in Great Falls, Montana. Not our first (or second, or third or fourth) choice, but we are excited about it. Great mountain bike trails for Jared, lots of awesome horse stuff for Emma, and from what I can see, lots of creative and crafty opportunities for the mama.

Now that we know what and where, all we need is the when. That I am ok with not knowing for a while, because I know it won't be sooner than May.

Until we head out of town, we are going to try to get plenty of time in with family and friends, as well as try to do some of the things we wanted to do while in Iowa but haven't yet.

We are excited for the next chapter to start...eventually.

I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.: Unschooling: Are We Teaching Ourselves?

2011-10-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

I just read this awesome post from an unschooler. Great explanation.

I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.: Unschooling: Are We Teaching Ourselves?

Getting Closer

2011-10-04T15:28:00.000-05:00

So much going on, so little time for blogging. I should probably be doing homework right now, but I have decided to actually write a bit instead.

We found out what Jared's job will be when he is back in the Air Force. Munition and Missiles Maintenance Officer (21M). Not his first choice, but it was his second. No one (by no one, I mean the cadre) is really sure why he didn't get his first choice considering his past experience and the fact that he is in the top of his ROTC class and all, but such is the way with the Air Force. They put you where they need you.

That being said, Jared, Emma, and I are working on our base preference list. It isn't due until the 24th of October, but we really want to get it turned in so we can stop stressing over it.

Here is our list as of yesterday.

Vandenberg AFB, California. Located on the coast, like literally on the coast. The base has private beaches :)
Spangdahlem ABS, Germany. We have some friends who will be over their soon, and we think it might be fun to try living over seas.

The rest are all bases that we wouldn't mind going to, but no one is calling out to us more than the others.

Malmstrom AFB, Montana
Hill AFB, Utah
F E Warren AFB, Wyoming

The last slot is sort of a toss up. The original list we had to choose from included 3 bases that are not on the list we are currently working off of. The list we are currently working from tells us how many 21M positions each base has. So we have decided to put one of those 3 bases in the 6th slot just in case.

Davis-Monthan (DM) happens to be one of those bases. DM is where we want to retire too, so we are a bit concerned that it isn't on the list. We have plans however, so it isn't that bit of a deal at the moment.

Anyway, if you know anything about any of the locations that we have listed, please feel free to share!

We hope to know where we will be stationed some time before Christmas, but we don't plan to hold our breath.

Thanks and have a great day!

Emma's 5 1/2 Birthday Bash

2011-06-24T21:24:00.001-05:00

So, we celebrated Emma's half birthday today. Her actual birthday is the 21st of December, and who really wants to go to a b-day party 4 days before Christmas?

Don't get me wrong, we always celebrate her actually birthday with lots of little gifts. For the last 2 years (and until we aren't cool enough for her anymore) we go to a movie and the toy store on her actual birthday. We love the tradition. I just added to it this year by making her a blanket in the theme of the movie for that year.

Anyway, we like to celebrate her 1/2 birthday as well. This is the first year we have had a party where we actually invited people over. No, wait, I take that back. When Emma was 1 1/2 we had a party in Tucson. Wow, that was a long time ago!

Anyway, I realized this is the first time in a very long time that we have actually hosted a party (probably since her last 1/2 b-day party).

There is a lot of work involved!

I think we did ok though. Emma helped me clean the house yesterday (I only had to threaten to cancel the party twice) and get the goody bags ready.

Melting down crayons to make "new" ones.

Pan of crayons ready for the oven.

I did a really bad job of taking pictures of all the steps of the crayon making. Basically we took the wrappers off, broke them into little bits and sorted by color, then layered them in a bread pan about 2 crayons deep. I put them in the oven at 350 degrees F and kept an eye on them till I felt they where melted enough. Different crayons brands have different melting points, so we had some chunks of crayons, but for the most part we liked how they turned out.

Once the crayons where mostly firm, I cut them into strips, then in half and threw them in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

We like them :) We had warm colors and cool colors, each goody bag got one of each.

The crayons we did last night.

This morning we make rainbow cake and cupcakes. So totally awesome! We got the idea and instructions from Craft Knife. Such an awesome blog full of wonderful ideas. And her kids are pretty darn cute too :)

Here are a few of the pics I took while making the cupcakes. Again, I did a poor job of getting pictures of each step.

Cracking eggs, an absolute favorite for Emma

Stirring.

First time using the mixer. She did great (only splattered a bit).

Dividing the batter into separate bowls (notice the apron :) )

Adding food coloring.

Stirring some more.

And this is where I forgot to take more pictures. We had a bowl of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and pinky purple. Use individual spoons for each color, we dropped a dollop of cake mix into each of the cupcake thingies. We started with purple and worked out way up the rainbow. We only have mini cupcake pans, so by the time we got done with orange we ran out of room. We decided to go with red frosting :)

Emma got purple in each cupcake holder and decided this part was boring so I finished up.

Once they where out of the oven and cool enough, she offered to test them for me.

Yup, looks like a rainbow (minus the red).

Here is a little cake we made with some of the left over batter.

Emma helped frost a few, then kinda got board with that as well.

I finished them up then wrapped them till party time (to keep wandering fingers-both child and adult) from stealing too many.

Then it was party time!

Well, after a quick nap.

Now it was party time :)

It was a really great day spent with some great friends.

Thank you everyone!

1 year and counting

2011-05-16T20:25:00.002-05:00

We have one year left in Iowa. Next May, Jared graduates and then we will be off into the world again, at the whim of the Air Force.

We can't wait.

In preparation for the move, we had a Realtor come by and give us the low down on what needs to be done.

About what we expected, so that was good.

We started with a fun project. Jared would argue with the fun part, but I really think it makes our yard look better already. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of the before, although...

I did take these a few days ago to try to get pictures of the vinyl record bird bath.

Anyway, the above pictures show what our front garden looked like this morning. We originally started with one little circle of flowers (that actually started as a fire pit in 2009), then expanded that the following year (2010) to this. I wanted to use sticks as the edging to give it a more natural look, but it turned out to be a big pain for mowing and such.

I still think it looks cool, but potential buyers might disagree. I will save that for when I am out in the country.

Wait, who am I kidding, when I live in the country, I want a meadow instead of a lawn.

Anyway, this is what our new front garden looked like immediately after completion.

From the front step

Left side of the garden

Right side (I know, the garbage can just adds to the charm)

Whole garden from the right side

Whole garden from the left side.

I am super happy about with they way it turned out :)

The best part about our garden is that of all the plants currently residing there, we have only purchased, I think, 2. Everything else came from my mother-in-law, or my neighbors. Can't beat free.

In fact, we might have to make a trip to Gramma's soon just so we can raid her garden to fill out ours :)

ArtVend- Bringing Art to the Public

2011-04-29T22:17:00.001-05:00

Our community has a pretty active group of artists, Ames c.art, The goal of the organization is to make art accessible to the public. Last year they painted a mural on one of the buildings in Campus Town (near the ISU campus).

This year, they would like to purchase a vending machine and retro fit it so that it will vend small pieces of art created by local artists. The prices for the art will range from $1-$20. If I understand correctly, the location of the vending machine will rotate through out Ames giving access to more people.

In order to make this a reality, they need help with the funding. If interested in learning more, you can go here for more info.

Thanks for checking it out!

Negative

2011-02-17T21:44:00.002-06:00

The results for Emma's celiac test where negative.

Not sure what to do now.

A Graphic Story of Poops Untold (and really long)

2011-02-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

**If you are squimish about poop, don't like talking about poop, and don't like to see pictures of poop, you may want to skip this post** (oh, and it is really long, sorry)

Emma's digestive history is like a best seller. It is wrought with suspense, intrigue, humor, and tears.

It all started many moons ago, when Emma was just 6 months old and her poops starting having the consistency of slimy snot. This is the time frame of when she acquired the nickname of "Booger Butt."

After a few weeks of constant blow outs and oozing poo, I started to wonder if something might be wrong. I talked to her doctor, and was told that babies have a tendency to go through phases where things can be loose for a while. I was told to bring in poop samples, which I did, but the poop wasn't talking. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong.

When Emma started cutting teeth (at 7mo), we just figured all the extra drool she was producing was causing her to have runny, mucousy poops.

During this time of snotty poo, Emma and I went to visit my sister, Amber. One day, Emma was hanging out in an exersaucer while Amber and I busted out some karaoke. All of a sudden we could smell something, then hear something, that we knew wasn't going to be pleasant.

Emma had oozed poo all the way down her legs and it had collected in the bottom of the exersaucer. It must have felt like mud between her toes because she was kicking and moving those feet around like crazy!

After the initial, "OMG I am going to throw up!" reaction, we got the camera and started laughing. It is either laugh or cry in these types of situations. Laughing should always win.

This is one of the many reasons I am never going to win the best mom in the world award. It's o.k. I've come to terms with it.

Once back home, things continued as usually, oozing poo and all. By 9mo I was pretty sure this wasn't normal. Emma had also hit a plateau and had stopped growing by leaps and bounds. Up until then she had been well over the 50th percentile for weight and height. At her 9mo check up, she was a lot lower down.

Now, I never really was concerned about what percentile she was in. I didn't and don't care how she compares to other kids. But I do care about how she compares to herself. With this sudden drop in weight gain (yes, she had to slow down some time), I was a little more concerned about her pooping problems.

By this point we had been to see a pediatric GI doctor. It was a long time ago, and I don't remember everything that we talked about, but I do remember the did some sort of scope on Emma to check her out. I thought it had to do with her pooping, later on I began to think they focused more on her reflux.

Needless to say, they didn't find anything.

Eventually Emma stopped having the snotty poo, but her story does not end there. Since then, with no apparent pattern, Emma has fluctuated between hard poop, to diarrhea. I have always had a little voice in the back of my mind telling me that it isn't normal, isn't healthy. I ignored it because the doctors never seemed concerned.

When I would tell them that her poops are so hard that she cry's and screams while squeezing out hands to try and get the poop out, they would just tell us to give her more fruits, veggies, and whole grains. We eat a lot of fruits and veggies and there are very little things in our house that are not 100% whole wheat, or whole grains.

When a few weeks later she has diarrhea for 3 or 4 days, they tell us to give her bananas.

When we go back and forth like this for a few years, you would think a light bulb might go off somewhere for someone.

In August of 2010, Jared and I are sitting on the couch (probably on the computer). Emma calls out from the bathroom, "Mama, can you come in here?" I love my daughter, would do anything for her, but I was not in the mood to sit in the bathroom with her while she pooped. Jared, being the awesome father that he is, took this shift. A few seconds later I hear, "Tina, can you come in here please?"

With a huff of irritation, I get my butt up off the couch and head in there, ready to be annoyed. Then Emma asked me, "Mama, what is that pink thing coming out of my butt?" Jared and I both played it pretty cool while we tried to swallow our hearts, which had jumped up into our throats. "I am not sure what that is, why don't I call the doctor."

It was of course after hours, so I called the nurse hot line. The nurse advised me to lay Emma down on her left side and use a warm wash cloth to gently push the 'pink thing' back in. The nurse also told me that once it starts to go back in, it will just kinda pop back into place.

So, we carried Emma (awkwardly) into her room and laid her on a towel on her bed. Jared read her a story while I held a warm washcloth on her rectum. After a page or two Emma said, "Oh! I think it's back in." She was correct.

Emma had had a rectal prolapse. A rectal prolapse is when a portion of the rectum protrudes from the anus. It looks like a little pink tube sticking out of the butt.

I should probably mention that at no time during any of this was Emma in pain. Thankfully. Just really freaked out. Like her Mama and Da though, she played it just as cool.

We took her to see her doctor the next day. Emma was subject to some unpleasent stuff (like a pinky finger in her little bum), but all that the doctor could figure was that she was constipated and had pushed so hard, she had pushed out some of her rectum. He prescribed a laxative that Emma was to take everyday. Oh, and more fruits and veggies.

Things seemed to be pretty good for a while. We did verbal poop reports each time Emma went to the bathroom, which wasn't always appropriate, but I really didn't care. I did NOT want to have to push Emma's rectum back in again. If she seemed to have to push harder then normal, we did a little extra laxative. If things were going smoothly, we would cut back a little.

During this time, I had started doing research. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I read regarding rectal prolapses in children strongly advised to have the child tested for cystic fibrosis. I mentioned it to my doctor and he really didn't seem to think it was necessary. I insisted and he said ok.

Thankfully, the test came back negative, and we never have to worry about that being the problem again.

About a month passed, almost to the day I think, when Emma had a second rectal prolapse. This time more of her rectum had come out. It looked like she had a brain protruding from her bum. (Feel free to insert inappropriate jokes-smart ass, shit for brains, etc-it helps me cope).

I called the doctor who immediately put in a referral for a pediatric GI appointment. After all, he was a family practitioner. Had I been him, I would have done the same thing.

The wait to an appointment was about 2 months, which normally would have been fustrating, but Emma and I had made plans to stay with my sister, Amber (bil Jeremy, and nephews Blake, Greggory, and Tucker) for a few months to help them out a bit. We scheduled the appointment for a few days after we got back from NH.

In the meantime, I wasn't just going to "feed her more fruits and veggies." Emma already eats like a rabbit, plus we started getting lots of fiber loaded foods. I decided to take her off of dairy to see if there where any changes. I knew this would be really hard for her because her favorites foods are mac n' cheese, cheese, milk, and vanilla ice cream. For a 4yo she took it really well. I explained to her that we needed to see if the milk was making her have really hard poops. We talked about it a lot, there where occasional tears when her cousins were eating things she couldn't have, but we made due.

In fact, she surprised me on more then one occasion. One night while we were in NH, I decided that I would have the boys make English muffin pizzas. Even before the diary ban, Emma wasn't a big fan of pizza, so I figure this would be a safe bet. She could have her #1 favorite (PB&J) while the boys had pizza. Emma, however, had different plans. She wanted to make a pizza also. "But Emma, you can't have cheese on your pizza. What will you put on it?" After thinking for a few minutes, she asked, "Can I put some of those little carrots on it and some sauce?" By little carrots, she meant shredded carrots, also a current fave. "Absolutly!"

I had a picture of it, but I think it go deleted at some point :( It turned out awesome and she ate both halves of the pizza.

I also stopped the laxative. Did you know that the more you take a laxative, the more your body depends on a laxative to poop? Not what I wanted for my almost 5yo.

There where no immediate changes, but in the 3 months we where in NH, Emma didn't have another rectal prolapse. We did a poop and food journal just to make sure, but things went well.

At her appointment with the pediatric GI doctor, they took some x-rays, drew some blood, and poked her tummy.

The conclusion? She was constipated. Feed her more fruits and veggies, oh, and give her a laxative. He also told me that she was fine to go back on regular dairy.

Once again, I felt that there was more going on then just constipation. After all, isn't constipation a symptom?

The x-ray did show that she was backed up. When that call came in I turned to Jared and said, "Emma is full of s**t." He looked at me kinda funny for a minute then I explained. Not appropriate, but hey, I am really o.k with not winning mama of the year. Ever.

So I deemed the laxative o.k. for the few days they wanted her to take it so that she would flush out her system. Other then that though, I really hate the thought of giving her a laxative every day.

At her 5 year check up I asked her doctor if he could refer us to a nutritionist for Emma. He said we really didn't need a nutritionist, just feed her more fruits and veggies (are you sick of it too, cause I know I am). I told him I want a referral. Being told to feed her more fruits and veggies isn't helpful and I want to know exactly what foods are best for her.

He wrote the referral.

When we ran out of soy milk, we decided that was as good a time as any to switch back to regular milk. We started with a little milk in her oatmeal (which is how she likes it, cold with milk in it). She seemed o.k, no bellyache, no complaints.

A few hours later, I noticed she had the sniffles. Didn't think anything of it. She didn't have any more dairy the rest of the day. That night, she was really stuffed up, couldn't sleep because she had to blow her nose every 5 minutes. Still didn't think anything of it. Just figured she was getting a cold. With all the traveling we had been doing, I wasn't really surprised.

But she didn't have a fever, and didn't have any other symptoms. The next day she went through a box of tissues. A full box. All by herself. Her nose was raw and scabbing by bedtime. Which was another crappy night of no sleep. The vicks did nothing, but the benadryl seemed to help a little. She was able to fall asleep and sleep for a while.

Once she was asleep, I hit the internet for some research. Turns out that one of the symptoms for lactose intolerance is congestion. So, into the world of lactose intolerance I dived. I read about symptoms, why the body can't tolerate it, got recipes, and absorbed all I could so that I could help my child.

I also discovered that many people who are lactose intolerant also tend to be gluten intolerant. In fact, the gluten intolerance can cause the lactose intolerance.

So into the world of gluten intolerance I dived. I decided the best place to get accurate info about it would be the Celiac Disease Foundation website.

I read all about the symptoms; Diarrhea or constipation (or both), Failure-to-thrive, Short stature, Poor appetite or food aversion, Vomiting, Bloated abdomen or stomach, Fatigue and irritability, Weight loss, Iron deficient anemia, Behavioral changes, Dental enamel defects of permanent teeth, Delayed puberty

They also recommend that children who have, or have family members who have, the following diseases be check for Celiac disease; Type1 Diabetes, Autoimmune Thyroid disease, Down Syndrome, Turner’s Syndrome, William’s Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, Osteopenia/Osteoporosis, IBS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Peripheral Neuropathy, Sjögren’s Syndrome, Eczem

The underlined items are either symptoms Emma has had or currently has, or items that can be found in either her parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents. The only one that is further out is the Down Syndrome, and that is only a second cousin.

A little more research revealed that to be tested for celiac disease or gluten intolerances, you actually have to be eating them. So, there went my plan to try going gluten free to see if it made a difference. If it did and I decided to have Emma tested, she would need to eat gluten rich foods for a few months before the damage would register on any tests. Crazy.

So, I called Emma's doctor last week and asked them to run tests for Celiac Disease. Amazingly enough, there was no arguments. The blood draw was on Tuesday and the test had to be sent out, which means about 5 days to get the results. We should be hearing back on Monday or Tuesday.

Regardless of how the test comes back, we plan to go gluten free for a few months to see if Emma feels any better.

I will post what we find out this week either way.

Back to AZ

2011-01-24T13:06:00.000-06:00

I am back in Arizona for a few days helping out my Memere. She hasn't been feeling super hot and misses family, so she has decided to move back to NH where she will be closer to family.

The weather is nice. Might try to get out and enjoy it before I head back to the snow.

Chance to Win an iPad

2010-12-20T03:21:00.001-06:00

Go to Frugal Family Fun Blog to enter to win an iPad and an assortment of children’s books courtesy of Target!

To Jared

2010-12-05T10:32:00.001-06:00

The List

2010-11-30T06:00:00.001-06:00

I have some big plans for this next year.

Wait, I always have big plans :)

The idea I would like to talk about right now though is Emma's education.

For those of you who do not know, Jared, Emma, and I have decided that unschooling Emma is the best choice for all of us (a story for another day).

Anyway, this year she is technically old enough to be considered school age. For some reason, that makes me want to start acquiring all kinds of educational type items.

Don't get me wrong, we have spent the last 5 years buying educational type toys, books, games, movies, etc, but now I want to be more organized and focused about it.

You can blame this blog for it :) I find her inventory list and the photos of how she organizes it very inspiring. I need to start scavenging for bookshelves...

The List:

Books
Encyclopedias
Maps
Biographies
Places
Cultures
Workbooks (all subjects, multiple grade levels)

Equipment
Microscope
Magnifying Glass
Projector
Human Torso
Science kits (anything and everything)
Balance Scale

So basically as I am writing this post I am going crazy on Amazon making a wish list. Did you know you can get a thingy (technical term) for your toolbar that allows you to add anything from any site to your Amazon wish list.

So, for now I am going to back away from the computer (I currently have 81 items in my wish list, and that was being selective).

That being said, feel free to check out my wish list. If you are feeling super generous and wish to purchase something in the name of education, we will love you forever for it :)

(edited 24Jan11- We started a blog specifially to track our unschooling journey. Emma is even a contibuting author! Mama is Emma's Mama. Feel free to stop by!)

2010-11-29T14:44:00.004-06:00

Hello Everyone!

Just another update from NH.

For those that may have missed it, Emma and I are in NH. We got here at the end of September, and we are having a blast! We have visited the beach (which was cold, but empty so a lot of fun!), done a ton of crafts, played everyday with cousins, ran around in circles, went hiking, visited family, and way more stuff.

We are, however, excited about heading home. We miss all our family and friends back in Iowa.

2 weeks.

Plenty of time for lots more playing with the cousins (and hanging out with my sis).

We leave NH on Friday the 10th. We spend one night on the train, and Gramma picks us up on Saturday night. Emma and I will spend most of the week at Gramma and Boppa's house while Jared concentrates on his finals. His last final is on Thursday, so once he is done with that, he will pack the dog up then join us.

We can't wait.

Aside from just being excited to see Jared, we plan to celebrate an early Christmas with Gramma and Boppa.

We will head home on Sunday, unpack, clean up the house, and snuggle with each other. On Monday, Emma has a Dr. appointment, Tuesday is her birthday (which means a movie, her choice of restaurant for lunch, and a trip to Toys R Us), and Wednesday will be another lazy day with some packing thrown in. Thursday, Jared, Emma and I will pick up a rental car, Gramma will head down to pick up Emma and we will finish packing. Friday Emma, Gramma, and Icky will head back to Gramma's while Jared and I will head for AZ.

Why AZ? Last year, Jared, Emma, and I made a Quick Trip to the Desert to visit our friends and attend the Voodoo New Years Party. Oh, and it is warm there.

Everyone had a blast. Jared and I had so much fun that we have been talking all year about going back again this New Years.

Emma, apparently, did not have as much fun as us (or she just REALLY misses Gramma). When I mentioned the trip to Emma, the first thing she asked was, "Can I stay with Gramma while you and Da go?"

"Um, I guess if it is ok with Da and Gramma."

Jared was a little hesitant. We had a really great time last year, and the thought of not having Emma with us made both Jared and I a little sad. But as soon as I realized that this would be our first vacation -just the two of us- I was sort of excited. I mean, I love my kid, she is the best, but every parent needs a little bit of a break every 5 years or so.

Some of you might be saying, "Doesn't Emma go to her Gramma's pretty often?"

Yes, Emma does go to Gramma's a lot, but when you are child free in your own home, that just means more time to work on the to-do list.

Gramma, of course, was super excited at the thought of having Emma for almost 2 weeks. This will be Emma's longest stay without us. And me with out her.

I think we can make it. Tears may be involved at some point, but I will just blow my nose, give her a call, and I will be fine.

So, we are all really excited. Emma gets to spend Christmas with Gramma and Boppa (who tend to celebrate Christmas with more enthusiasm then Jared and I do), Jared and I finally get a honeymoon (2 nights in Vegas baby!) after 6 1/2 years of marriage, and we all get to relax, recharge, and have a good time.

Want to know what the the best part will be though?

Everyone finally being back home. Together.

Lots of Crafty Fun but no Pictures :(

2010-10-29T20:03:00.008-05:00

NH is bad for my cameras.

When Emma and I came to NH in June for a visit, our 6 month old camera died on us after just a few days. We replaced it once we got home, but I didn't like the new one, so we resorted to using my very first digital camera (the one I had given to Emma). Before we left the old camera was working well so we decided to take it to NH with us (and I couldn't find the charger for the new one).

Once we got to NH, I tried taking pictures, only to realize that the camera eats batteries like crazy. Fully charged batteries only last a few pictures before the camera shuts off.

Oh, and my sisters camera finally died also.

So, we have been doing lots of fun and cool things, but we do not have any pictures to show for it.
I guess that is not entirely true because I have taken some with my camera phone, but I have no idea how to get them from my phone to the computer without it costing me an arm and a leg.

(After writing this entire post I realized that without pictures to post, I 'talk' too much)

Enough complaining and on to the good stuff.

Peanut butter play-dough:
We are still enjoying the first batch. I keep it in the fridge and use it to bribe my youngest nephew to put his pee in the potty ("Bear, if you keep your undies dry and tell Auntie Tina when you have to go potty, I will give you some peanut butter play-dough."). It works pretty well when I remember to ask him if he needs to use the bathroom... Sometimes I get caught up in my crafting and he gets caught up in the imaginary games he and Emma play together, and, well, accidents happen.

Thrifted/ unloved clothing:
I have fallen back into love with unwanted and unloved clothing. My sister recently when through the kids closets as well as her own, so I have PILES of clothes to play with. All of her kids are boys, so I am finding it a little difficult to make stuff for Emma. Not really that big a deal either because a lot of the clothes fit her as is and look stinking cute on her.

Yes I let my daughter wear boys clothes. A lot of them are more comfy then girls clothes. And these where free :)

I have managed to find a few great pieces of girls/woman's clothes to remake for Emma. I took a bright pink tank top with ruffles and adjusted it to fit Emma as a dress. Then I found these really cute Capri tights with some gathering and bling at the end that I turned into sleeves on the dress.

Ok, I could really use a camera right now. A picture truly is worth a thousand words.

Anyway, the dress came out cute. Onto a short description of some of the other things we have been up to.

Hand Tree:
Not to long ago I came across this blog post Mod Podged Hand Tree. I really loved how they looked, so we tried it out here. The did turn out nice, but once again, I have no camera to prove it.
I actually ended up with a TON of leaves left over, so I am thinking of making one myself :)

Tie Dye:
We tied died tonight. I love to tie dye. I always manage to make a big mess, but the results are always worth it. The hardest part is waiting the recommended 6-8 hours before washing and wearing. Right now I am still using the store bought pre-packaged stuff, but eventually I would love to try natural dying. Might have to plan my garden to include some plants that make good dye.

Halloween Costumes:
I convinced my sister to make her youngest sons costume and to let the older boys make their own costumes this year. And of course, I made most of Emma's. She wanted to be a cowgirl again, so we found some cute fabric to turn into a twirly skirt, and refitted one of my sisters shirts to fit Emma. We brought Emma's cowgirl boots, and my sister had some left over novelty cowboy hats from a Country Karaoke Birthday Party a few years back. Oh, and Emma wants to wear the black sequin vest to go with it. My little Rock Star Cowgirl.

My youngest nephew (2) wanted to be Henry from Thomas the Train. A couple of diaper boxes, some green poster board, and a computer printed picture of Henry's face, and that costume is done and super cute!
The older two boys (10 and 7) are dressing up as rock star/zombie type things. Lots of ripped denim and red paint. The boys got a kick out of ripping and slashing perfectly good thrifted pants. We also made colored hair gel because the boys want their hair to look cool. A little bit of cheap gel and some food coloring makes for some really cool, funky colored hair!

*(the food coloring/food dye does stain a little though. If that doesn't bother you, then have fun!)*

We also dabbled with making our own face paint. We kinda liked the results, but didn't get it mastered so my sister plans to just stick with the stuff we bought at the store. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Big sister (and her hubby) needed costumes for a party they went to last weekend. Her friend lent them some cave people costumes. We decided Wilma and Fred would be much cooler. I took a pair of white pants my sister had but had never worn and turned them into a Wilma dress. Came out pretty nice too! She got lots of compliments, which made me smile.

And for my costume. Me, my sister, and my sisters sister-in-law (confused?) are throwing a Halloween party tomorrow night (they are actually throwing the party, I am just the crafty adviser). Originally I was going to dress up as a Madame (you know, the kind that runs a brothel). My BIL was going as an escort, and my sister was going as a John. I realized that I would be explaining my costume all night (because all it really was was a fancy dress). If I am going to have to explain myself all night, I would rather be interesting and original. So I am going as...
The Incredible Crafter!!!
I will be wearing:
-running tights I made for myself out of cashmere sweaters
-a to-large-but-fitted-by-me-for-me t-shirt that I have tie dyed
-a wool light pink and dark pink striped mini skirt (made from another sweater, and basically just to cover my butt)
-a small cape (anything bigger might get caught on a rocket or in the engine of an airplane)
and...
a crafting tool belt. Yup, a tool belt made from the waist band of an old pair of jeans with pockets from other random pants sewn onto it. I will be carrying safety pins, buttons, thread, needles, a glue gun (with extra glue), tape measure, scissors, seam ripper, and anything else I can think of craft related that will fit on my belt.

Yes I will look like a dork, but that is who I am, a crafty dork :0) It is the one night a year when I can let my alter ego come out...

Anyway, I have also made a blanket from denim squares, with the edges of the blanket made up of white squares (cut from a martial arts uniform) painted by Emma. I love it. Super warm and cozy.

We have actually done non crafty things.
We went hiking a few weekends ago, and that was awesome. I LOVE this time of year in NH. I have taken Emma and the boys on walks through the woods that surround my sisters house. We have read books, and run circles around the central staircase in the house. The driveway is covered in chalk drawings, and the swings have seen a lot of action. Balls have been thrown-kicked-bounced, bikes have been ridden, dirt has been dug. We have watched bugs, found caterpillars, brushed dogs, made hair/grass nests, and climbed all over the furniture.

We even attended a game night where the adults played board games and the kids played and watched movies till late into the night. Emma was very excited about this because, "I have always wanted to stay up till the middle of the night!" As I carried my mostly sleeping child into the house that night she asked me, "Is it the middle of the night yet?" It sure is kiddo, it sure is.

Sorry for not having a pictures to go with my post. I hope to make it to the store tomorrow to get new batteries. I hope I just need to replace my old rechargeables, and not that I need to get yet another new camera. If all goes well, I will have pictures of almost everything to add by the end of the week.

I hope you all have a safe and fantastic Halloween!

Peanut Butter Play-dough

2010-10-19T21:35:00.003-05:00

One of the blogs I follow is Crafting a Green World, and this is where I discovered the peanut butter play-dough recipe. We all love it. Almost tastes like peanut butter fudge.
We used:

2c powdered sugar
1c creamy peanut butter
1/2c honey

It takes a bit for the powder to get mixed into the peanut butter and prevent it from sticking to everything, but it is worth the work.

I did discover that it keeps well in the fridge (and tastes better too).

Some fun things to do would be let your kids (or you) play with the play dough making small sculptures, cookie cutter cut outs, letters, numbers, etc., then placing them in the fridge for a quick treat later. The play-dough is rich, so you may want to stay with small pieces for a treat.

Hope you all have fun with this, we plan to make up another batch just before Halloween for party snacks :)

Autumn in NH

2010-10-13T11:28:00.010-05:00

Emma and I are having fun in NH. The fall colors are truly beautiful. It is so crazy that I haven't spent an Autumn here in NH in almost 11 years.

Don't get me wrong, Autumn in Iowa is pretty also, but nothing beats the foliage in the Northeast. We hope to get into the mountains this weekend so we can immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature.

We will also continue to collect lots of fallen treasures :) There is a nice simple trail close to Amber's house that Emma, Tucker, and I have had a few fun adventures on. Every time we venture into the woods, we find better and cooler leaves, sticks, acorns, and rocks.

And now we have binoculars.

Emma really wants to get back into the woods so she can try out here binoculars.

Onto some of the fun things we have been doing since we have been here:

Body Art

Making Play dough (I even made edible peanut butter play-dough. Yummy!)

Singing and Dancing (while dressed like a rock star)

There are many other things that we have done but just didn't get around to taking pictures of.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Autumn!

Playing with Numbers

2010-09-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Emma loves to play the rhyming game in the car. We take turns picking a word then trying to come up with as many words as we can that rhyme.

Some days she really wants to play, but isn't in the mood to think of real words, so makes up words. The made up words do still rhyme, but for whatever reason this annoys me (I need to let it go, I know).

This was the case last weekend on our trip to Gramma's. So, instead of arguing with her about real words, I asked if she would like to play the numbers game (we do a lot with words, but not a lot with numbers). She was curious enough to ask what it was.

Umm, I had no idea. I just didn't want to play the rhyming game anymore. So, I decided to wing it (like I do in all areas of my life).

Me- "Ok Emma, lets say you have 3 horses and I have 2 horses. How many horses to we have together?"

I looked in the rear view mirror and saw her counting her fingers. Hmm, this might just work.

Emma- "5! We have 5 horses Mama! Ok, my turn."

So we took turns.

Emma- "Mama, if you have 3 apples and I give you 4, how many apples do you have?"

Me- "If I had 3 apples and you gave me 4 apples, I would have 7 apples!"

It was not limited to horses; we had apples, street signs, hay, cows, etc.

After adding for a while I wanted to see if she would be able to subtract. So, on one of my turns I asked her this:

Me- "Emma, if we had 6 horses and 4 ran away, how many would we have left?"

Once I again I peaked at her in the rear view mirror and I saw her using her fingers to figure it out.

Emma- "We would have 2 horses left."

She was a unsure with the subtraction, and only asked me one subtraction, but she loved asking addition questions.

The lesson I learned from this trip is that annoyance can lead to good things, as long as you know how to wing it.

Here is a fun picture of something spied (on a different day) from the rear view mirror.

Yes, she is asleep in that odd position.

Yes, that is a penny balanced on her nose.

Yes, she can apparently balance a penny on her nose, while sleeping, with her head tilted to the side.

(and yes, I do like to take pictures while I am driving, shame on me)

What fun/ sneaky games do you play with your kids, and what interesting things have you seen in your rear view mirror?

The Hidden Alphabet and Other Unschooling Ideas

2010-09-12T14:21:00.007-05:00

My mother-in-law is a genius. Really. Well, maybe not literally, but Emma and I think she is pretty smart.

Yesterday, Emma, Gramma, and I were driving back from an impromptu trip to La Cross when Gramma and I starting talking (well, started would not really be correct, I don't know if we ever stop talking when we are together) about homemade notebooks and the alphabet. We arrived at this topic after looking at the really fun pictures Emma had drawn in her homemade notebook on the way to Gramma's house.

Anyway, before Gramma retired, she was a 3rd grade teacher. A really great 3rd grade teacher. She did lots of fun things with her kids to help them have fun learning. Lucky for me, she remembers just about everything she has ever tried in the classroom, which means I can pick her brain for ideas of things to do with Emma.

That is where the hidden alphabet comes in. She was explaining to me that she made small notebooks (1/4 of standard 8.5X11 paper) for each child in her class. These books kept the kids busy when they had down time.

There was a page for each letter of the alphabet. Starting with A and working to Z, the kids would draw a picture and hide a letter in the picture.

So for example: A might have a picture of a playground where the supports for the swing set form the letter A.

Gramma had the kids go in order so that it was easier to view their progress. For Emma, I would probably have all of the letters printed on the front or back of the book and she could just mark each letter off as she goes. Emma likes some letters better then others, so having the letters printed for her to see would serve 2 purposes:

1. She could do the letters she is comfortable with first without forgetting which ones she had already done.
2. If she wants to try out "tougher" letter, she can see what the letter looks like because it is printed on the cover.

This would be a notebook that is always available to her, but not something she has to work on. We actually don't plan on having anything she "has" to work on. Her interested are pretty rounded, so we really don't need to give her much direction.

Fun random picture:

Emma "Wula Hooping"

End Of Summer

2010-08-25T20:22:00.002-05:00

Summer ended this week for Jared. He started school on Monday. This year seems like it shouldn't be too tough, but seeing as I am not the one taking the classes, it is pretty easy for me to so that:)

We had a great summer. I know I was suppose to put up more pictures, but we have been trying to do as much non computer stuff as possible. We didn't really get outside as much as I would have liked to because the 'sketers (mosquitoes) have been HORRIBLE this year. They love Emma. Any time she gets a bite it gets huge and swollen. Even with bug spray. Natural and chemically enhanced. Oh well.

So, we have been enjoying our time playing, reading, crafting, and cooking.

The few times we venture out is typically for walking, running, or biking. Emma has come to love running. She can run almost an entire block (not around the block, but from one street to the next). We walk across the street, then she is off again. We typically manage just under a mile right now.

For the bike rides, she rides in her buggy, which helps keep the bugs off of her. She does really well considering we bike for about an hour.

If you haven't noticed, we have had a theme for the second half of our summer: Getting Healthy and Fit.

As a family we have been trying to eat healthier (which has been a little tough because we eat pretty healthy to begin with), sleep better, and get more exercise.

I would have to say that watching my sister get up and run 5 miles a few of the days we where out there helped prompt me to get my but in gear. That and I became addicted to the magazine Runners World. Lots of great info for newbies and veteran runners.

I know this post has been a bit of a ramble, but I hope to start doing regular posts again soon. I doubt they will be weekly, but I would like to get something out at least once a month.

I hope everyone had a great summer!

Summer Adventures, Part 2: The Beach

2010-07-19T06:47:00.009-05:00

I love the ocean.

Of all the times Emma and I have traveled to NH, this was the first time that Emma was able to play in the ocean and on the beach. She has been in the car when we have driven by it a few times, but she was either asleep, or it was way to cold to stop.

So, I was super excited for her first visit to the ocean. So excited that I managed to forget to bring my camera. Yeah, pretty smart, I know.

Emma and I arrived in NH on Thursday, June, 24th, around 3pm. Amber and the boys where in the pool. Emma and I were so glad to be done traveling that we went straight from the car to the pool. Looking for a bathing suit was too much of a hassle, so we went in with our clothes on. Sometimes, those are the best times.

Our first night at Amber's was nice and relaxing. We swam till we were done, then had a nice dinner, played, then went to bed.

But the next day, that was a good day. We packed the kids up pretty early, and headed to the beach. I wasn't sure how Emma would do. Up till this point Emma never really seemed to like water.

Boy did she prove me wrong during our visit.

Our first trip to the ocean, the water was COLD!!! Emma liked to stand on the edge of the water and let it run over her toes. The water was so cold though, that it made my feet ache, so we really didn't swim all that much. Emma and the boys had a blast playing in the sand.

We stayed for a few hours and it was great. We did learn that going to the beach on a Friday in the summer just leads to a PACKED beach.

Our second trip to the beach was a very impromptu trip. On July 5th, Jeremy (my brother-in-law), got his appointments done early for the day and called to let us know he wanted to go to the beach. So, we packed up boys and girls, chairs, and toys, then headed for the beach. We knew it was going to be crazy at the beach, after all it was the Monday after a holiday weekend. The beach was crowded, but we found a spot.

The water was much warmer this trip. We actually got to swim and Emma got to jump waves (jumping waves and diving into them is much more fun when you are smaller). She loved it! Her other favorite things to do were to fill her bucket up with water and make mud.

The kids had a blast playing in the sand.

We all thought it was hilarious when Blake got pooped on by a sea gull.

Everyone had fun playing in the water too.

Even with all the people, it was still a great day at the beach.

Summer Adventures, Part 1

2010-07-16T09:35:00.005-05:00

Ahh, it is good to be home. A little quiet though because Jared doesn't get home till tomorrow and Emma decided she wanted to stay at Gramma and Boppa's till tomorrow morning.

While Icky has been reacquainting himself with the couch, I have been trying to organize and clean a bit. It is so hard to do when I have the t.v. all to myself and no one to interrupt me while I am on the computer :)

I am not sure where to start for our vacation, so I think I will just jump in and start with the events that stand out the most.

The Tooth Incident:
It was Tuesday, July 6th. We had a nice relaxing day of doing not much of anything. Amber and I had been out at the pool with my nephews, Blake (10), Greggory (7), Tucker (22mo), and Emma. Amber had to be to church in a bit, so she headed in to get ready, took Tucker with her. I stayed outside so that Blake, Greggory, and Emma could swim for a few more minutes. A huge horsefly decided to start bothering the kids, so they all wanted to get out of the pool and go in side. Blake and Greggory grabbed towels and dried off a bit, I wrapped Emma up in a towel (arms tucked in) then told the kids to head inside while I cleaned up our things.

My back was turned to the steps, but as soon as I heard a thud, I whipped around. Emma had tripped going up the last step. I knew before she started screaming that she had to have gotten hurt. Her arms where inside the towel so she had no way to stop her face from hitting the ground. I scooped her up and rushed inside. I wanted to be able to sit her on the counter so I could see her face. I was so focused on getting her to the kitchen that it took a couple of seconds before I realized that Emma was scream, "BLOOD, BLOOD, BLOOD" at the top of her lungs. I looked down and her mouth was bleeding and there was a trail of blood down my arm where her head had been laying.

My heart rate jumped a bit, but I sat Emma on the counter and said to her, "It's ok, your ok, you just cut your lip." Amber had come running when she heard Emma screaming. She leaned over and whispered to me, "Tina, she is missing a tooth." I gotta tell you I almost lost it. I took a very big shaky breath, let it out, then got myself together.

"Ok, Emma, your ok. You lost a tooth, but it will be ok." Amber went to find the tooth while I mopped up blood. I gave Emma a wet paper towel to put in her mouth, then grabbed an ice pack. Her top lip was already swelling, and she just kept oozing blood. I quickly realized that the ice pack was not going to really work. I grabbed a freeze pop instead. Amber had found the tooth and she put it in a container with milk (apparently that keeps the tooth healthy in case they can put the tooth back in). Amber started gathering up her boys so we could all head to the hospital.

At this point I am standing in the kitchen, Amber is making phone calls (trying to figure out if we should go to a dentist or urgent care), and I am dripping water all over the floor. I ask Blake to go grab me some dry clothes and while I quickly change Emma out of her wet bathing suit.

Emma is actually doing fairly well at this point. She is crying and upset, but she is cooperating and keeping her cool. The ice pop seemed to help with the pain. As gross as it sounds, she was swallowing most of the blood, so there wasn't as much to see. Seeing the blood is what made her the most upset.

We all piled into the car and headed over to the urgent care that is about 10 minutes from Amber's place. We got checked in right away, then waited in the waiting room till it was our turn. Emma had run out of ice pop, and energy. She fell asleep on my shoulder. That creating some new worry for me and I asked the lady at the desk if it was ok for her to be asleep. I mean, she had just fallen and smashed her face into the deck. I was worried about concussion. A nurse came out and looked at her real quick. "As long as you can wake her up and she knows who you are, then she is ok to sleep." So, Amber woke her up a bit, then we let her sleep.

We spent a few hours at the hospital. My brother-in-law, Jeremy, came by to pick up the boys, then Amber came and hung out with Emma and me in our little room. After Emma woke up, we told stories about riding horses to pass the time. The doctor told us he would like to take x-rays to make sure all was good. Emma looked at me and said, "X-rays don't hurt." She had just watched a Curious George where George had broken his leg and had to have x-rays. Thank you George. Everything looked good, no fractures or anything. Emma even got to see her x-rays.

After we had finally gotten back to Amber's and we where having smoothie and scrambled eggs (thanks Uncle Jeremy for making the eggs) for dinner, Emma starting making funny noises. I looked at her and asked if she was ok.
E- "I'm laughing!"
M- relieved sigh, "What are you laughing about?"
E- "My lip feels funny, and where my tooth is missing feels funny too."
M- "Really?"
E- "I wish you had a fat lip so you could feel it too!"

I just laughed. I was so glad that she was doing ok. Now she tells me she wished she lost the other front tooth also so she could have an even goofier smile. Gotta love kids.
The morning after.
A few days later.

We did have a lot of good times on our trip, but I will have to tell you about those later. I have been on the computer for too long. Now it is time to get back to cleaning and organizing.

Hope you all are having a great summer!!

So it's vacation time

2010-05-18T10:16:00.001-05:00

I am taking a summer vacation from my computer. I will do a monthly update, but that may be about it.

Hope you all have a great summer!

Schools Out for Summer...

2010-05-12T21:27:00.001-05:00

Jared is done school for the summer, so Emma and I are taking advantage of his lack of a schedule. We are having a blast spending lots of time with him. We have been so busy, that the computer stuff has been lacking.

I promise to have some fun pictures up in a few more days.

Hope you are all enjoying your weather (cause ours has been pretty crappy)!

Horse Lesson #4

2010-05-04T01:57:00.005-05:00

Well, I am still up, so I figured I may as well at least get you some pictures from our last Momma and Me horse lesson. I forgot to take pictures of Emma actually riding the horses, but I did manage to get a bunch of pictures of her "riding" the horse swing.

I did remember to get some pictures of Emma giving the horses some treats we made for them. The LOVED them!

And one last picture before I go to bed.

This is our favorite horse lady, Ms. Paige.

Hope you are all having a great day so far!

Out of the Loop

2010-05-04T00:02:00.001-05:00

I have not been on the computer much lately, the weather has been nice and I can finally sew again. I promise to take a few hours this week to post about all that is going on.

Thanks for reading!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T19:21:00.003-05:00

Horse Lesson #3

2010-04-25T19:44:00.009-05:00

Emma and I love going to Wheeler Stables. Everything about our visits just rocks. When we first get there (if I manage to not be late), Emma loves to start out by swinging on the rubber horse swing (which I hope to remember to take a picture of next time).

Each lesson starts out the same, which is basically how most riders/horse owners would start out there days anyway, we groom the horses.

This week we got to take care of Willy the pony. We do a modified version of grooming the horses (Paige makes sure the horses are good-to-go before we even get there). We brush the horses for a few minutes, then we move on to Emma's favorite part, picking the hooves.

After that we head into the barn where the riding arena is. With my ankle still healing, Paige takes care of Emma for me. She helps Emma onto the horse and does all the teaching while leading Emma around. This week we worked some more on turning the horses, as well as keeping our heels down, backs straight, and other basic stuff.

The super exciting part of this week? Emma got to trot!

The picture isn't that great, but what do you want from a gimp? You can tell they are moving pretty good though by the way Willy's mane is blowing in the breeze.

After spending almost 30 minutes in the saddle, the girls where ready for a break. We had snacks and chatted, then it was time to learn about horse medical care. Paige taught the girls how to bandage a wound on the horses legs. Emma really liked it, especially because she has seen me wrapping my ankle up the same way :)

After that, lessons were done. Emma wanted to swing on the horse swing some more, so Paige and I chatted while I pushed Emma. After a while, Emma got down to play on some of the other awesome outdoor toys that Paige has, and Paige and I continued to chat.

All this time, Smokey, one of the ponies, was grazing on the nice green grass. Emma decided she wanted to help feed Smokey.

Paige told Emma if she wanted to, Emma could sit on Smokey's back while the pony ate. Emma liked that idea :)

We ended up staying for a bit longer, keeping an eye on Smokey while Paige did a few chores. About an hour after our lessons ended, I figured Emma and I should probably be getting out of Paige's hair.

Every time lesson day rolls around, Emma and I are super excited. We love the horses, we love to be learning, we love to be able to play, and we love to visit with Paige. We always leave happy and tired.

Thanks Paige, for making each trip out so wonderful!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-21T16:20:00.001-05:00

Two things I miss...

My motorcycle and my long hair.

Oil and Water Experiment

2010-04-18T11:32:00.007-05:00

On the spur of the moment the other night, Emma and I decided to experiment. We love to do experiments. This one involved the good old stand-by's; Oil and Water. We decided to add a few additional ingredients to see what would happen. Some of the other ingredients we used where: rubbing alcohol, syrup, food coloring, and vinegar.

We learned that the rubbing alcohol makes the liquid cloudy, and that the vinegar makes lots of bubbles. The food colors, when added to just the oil, stay in their own individual little drops, but if you add water and shake it up, the colors will mix.

So much fun, and already planning to do it again. Even picked up a large container of the cheapest oil at the grocery store:) But I forgot to pick up more food coloring:( I read somewhere that if you add a piece of an alka-seltzer tablet, you can make your very own lava lamp, so that will also be on the next shopping list.

If you want to see a few more photos of this experiment, feel free to check out our flicker photos.

Conversations with Emma - Fabulouso

2010-04-18T11:25:00.005-05:00

A little background: Emma watches a cartoon called Horseland. One episode has a fancy designer trying to get the kids to wear very unsafe riding gear. The designer describes everything as fabulouso. One of the kids comments that the clothes are fabu-soso.

Scene: It is 2 something a.m. Jared and I are finally going to bed (darn computers to surf). Emma was in my spot so I moved her over.

Me: "Does the clock really say 2am?"

Jared: "Yup."

Me: "Fabulous." (Said with heavy sarcasm)

Emma (who is asleep): "No, its fabulouso."

Me and Jared: "What?"

Emma: "It is fabulouso."

Then of course Jared and I start laughing because she is talking to us in her sleep...

Post Cards for Emma (and me)... And Some Random Photos

2010-04-15T16:02:00.005-05:00

I just signed Emma up to receive post cards through PostCrossing.com. We will send out our first 5 post cards by this weekend. We are really excited to get some post cards back!!

Onto some random photos...

Emma riding the lawn mower with Boppa.

Emma decided that she wanted to use her ketchup and mustard to paint her napkin the other night. Why not.

Emma not only gets her self dressed, she also does her own hair :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-14T08:38:00.004-05:00

What do you see?

Emma's Haircut

2010-04-12T11:24:00.004-05:00

Emma decided she was tired of the braids so we cut her hair last night. We have a few spots to fix, but that can wait till the next bath.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T07:38:00.004-05:00

Conversations with Emma - Garbage

2010-04-02T13:28:00.002-05:00

As Emma and I were getting out of the car on Wednesday:

M - "Tomorrow is garbage day."

After a seconds pause;

E - "Mama what does 'bitch' mean?"

After staring at her in surprise for a second, and taking a deep breath,

M - "Where did you hear that word?"

E - "You said it." (this was said with a little "duh" tone to it).

M - "When did I say that?"

E - "You just said that tomorrow is 'car bitch day.'"

M - (while chuckling) "Oh! I said that tomorrow is GAR-BAGE day." Then I pointed at the trash can.

E - "Oh, ok."

Phew...

Emma's First Horse Lesson

2010-03-31T15:45:00.006-05:00

Emma and I are taking 'Momma and Me' horse lessons at Wheeler Boarding. We love Paige, the owner. She is great with kids, adults, horses, dogs, etc. She is just a great person.

Anyway, the lessons are great. The purpose of the lessons are to teach kids and parents about becomeing horse people; How to properly groom, feed, handle, care for, and ride your horse.

Yes, Emma is only 4, but she LOVES horses and has a great ability to pay attention if the subject is interesting enough. We are in class with one other girl, who is 4 1/2.

This past Thursday was our first lesson. Emma and I are in charge of Willy, the Shetland Pony.

The first thing Paige taught the girls was the safety rules. The entire rest of the day, Emma told everyone that it is not safe to walk under or behind a horse.

The next phase was grooming. Paige taught us about the different brushes used, and what order to use them in. We also got to use the hoof pick to clean Willy's hooves. That was Emma's favorite.

We actually spent about 45 minutes on grooming and safety. Then the kids took a break and it was time for leading and riding (and playing in the hay bales).

The moms started out leading the horses around the barn, then it was the girls turn. Emma did a pretty good job, but she walks pretty slow so Willy kept stopping. It was finally time to ride.

Emma always gets a HUGE grin on her face when she gets on a horse. For the first lesson we mostly just led the horses while the girls practiced sitting tall. Emma was really great at holding the saddle horn as well as the reins. She even knew to pull on the reins when Willy tried to put his head down.

I know it may not sound like much, but Emma and I had a blast and we are really looking forward to the rest of the lessons (there are 5 more).

Oh, one more reason we love Paige so much? Starting next week I will be on crutches for the rest of the lessons. Paige has offered to work with Emma so she can still get her lessons in.

Thank you Paige. You rock.

So, here are the pics from the first lesson. Have a great day!!!

I almost forgot to tell you about the recycled tire horse swing at the stable. Some days I am not sure if Emma likes the real horses or the horse swing better :)

Just Goofing Around

2010-03-28T19:05:00.002-05:00

Nothing major to talk about, just wanted to share some fun and goofy pictures that I took after I finished braiding Emma's hair.

(if you click on the picture, it will get bigger)

Hope you had a great day!

Oh, and Emma and I made homemade dishwashing detergent and laundry detergent today. Both were supre simple, and we are on our second load of laundry using the new stuff. So far, so good :)

Snow and Surgery

2010-03-21T00:36:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to say that after a beautiful week with 60 degree days, did we really need to spend our Friday looking at this ?

And just a quick update. I will be having surgery on my ankle on the 5th of April. I broke it back in 2001, and I have been having problems with it ever since. They did an MRI and discovered a "pot hole" (Dr.'s words) in my bone. So, on the 5th, they will be putting faux bone (my words) in there to fix it. I will be on crutches for about 3 weeks.

That's about it for now. I am up way past my bedtime (not really all that new as of late), and I have a long drive tomorrow :(

Good night, have a great day!!

My One Kid Band

2010-03-12T22:30:00.005-06:00

Emma decided today that the family room (where 90% of her toys are), needed to be organized. So, after breakfast we got to work. Thankfully she didn't require a complete over haul, just a bit of moving things around and putting things on shelves.

We rediscovered some fun toys we had forgotten we had. In fact, we found all of her music stuff, and the little bit of dress up stuff that she actually uses (not much into wearing different outfits, playing princess, etc.). But give that kid a few musical instruments...

I had been enjoying Emma's music all morning (from rooms away). Eventually she decided to wander into the studio. I didn't have the camera ready at that time, but she looked cool! She had her drum and kazoo, but I think that was it. I admired her, listened to her little solo band act, then she went back to the family room.

A few minutes later she was back, and I was ready. She had added a rain stick to the inside of her drum, some fun gloves, and a necklace. She then decided to show me exactly how she got dressed up, and how she got her instruments ready. I had noticed that she had added a rain stick to the drum. Interesting.

Then she shook her little butt to make the rain stick rattle. Such a genius.

Conversations with Jared

2010-03-12T00:52:00.003-06:00

Me - Picking up Emma's plastic cup at Applebee's tonight, looking at the bottom.

Jared - "Is it #6 plastic?"

Me - Big Grin "You know me so well!"

I have been in search of #6 plastic lately because I have been wanting to try to make my own recycled shrink art. Here is where I got the idea.

Still haven't found any #6 plastic, but Jared proved to me tonight that he does sometime listen to my ramblings about crafting :)

p.s. I do plan to write an actual post soon. I have been trying to cut down on my computer time, and increase my Emma time. Next week Emma will be at Gramma's, so I will have more time to post about the few things that are going on here.

Thanks for stopping by!

p.p.s There are 3 days left to enter for a chance to win some of my handmade treasures! Click here for your chance!

Coupon offer for my ArtFire Shop!

2010-03-10T11:07:00.002-06:00

Visit KaoticKrafter's Studio

Receive a free gift with Order Total (orders above $9.00)

Use Coupon Code:

FREE BRAG BOOK

during checkout.

Conversations with Emma

2010-03-10T10:00:00.001-06:00

E- "Mama, can you make sure Icky (our dog) doesn't come in here (our studio)."

M- "I can try."

E- "Well, if he starts to come in here say, 'ICKY," like mysteriously."

M- "Mysteriously huh?"

E- "Yes, mysteriously."

Conversations with Emma - Paleontologist

2010-03-04T23:08:00.002-06:00

Emma- "When I was stretching, my bones clicked just like yours do when your stretch your hands." (I crack my knuckles)

Me- " Oh yeah, which bones?"

Emma (no pause, no thought)- "I don't know, I am not a paleontologist. If I was a paleontologist, I would know about bones."

So true.

My Resource List for Unschooling and Homeschooling

2010-03-02T15:48:00.009-06:00

I love how things in life seem to be connected.

I met a bunch of new people and found a bunch of cool new blogs through the One World One Heart giveaway (which was the point). I like to go back and look at some of them regularly. One that I check out every couple of days is, Life the Good and the Bad. She was one of the winners of my giveaway.

Anyway, I was checking out her site the other day and read her post about her frustration with the school her kids are in and that she is thinking of homeschooling her gang. Jared and I decided last year that we will be homeschooling Emma, so I offered to send Arya some of the info I had collected over the last year. Then I realized, it might just be easier to blog about it that way I have an easy reference point for myself as well (instead of resources scattered all over the place).

I don't have a lot of resources, and most of the ones I do have are Iowa or military specific (we live in Iowa now and once Jared is done school, he will be going back into the Air Force). However, most of the links and such that I have are a great place to start, and have links for more information.

Ok, enough rambling. Here is what I have, broken down loosely into categories.

General Info, Laws, and Regualtions:
Websites
Iowa Home Educators
Unschooling
National Home Education Research Institute
Homeschooling in Iowa
World Book Curriculum Standards
Home School Legal Defense Association
Military Child
Home Ed Magazine
Family Unschoolers Network
Unschooling America
Books

`Homeschooling and the voyage of self-discovery : a journey of original seeking / David H. Albert.

`Homeschooling for dummies / by Jennifer Kaufeld. (I love all of the 'for dummies' books)

*Your local library is a great place to review books about homeschooling before you buy them. What I like to do is search the library's online catalog for any books related to my current interest, then reserve all the ones that look interesting. Once the library lets me know my books are on hold, I head into the library, pick up the books from the hold bin, then sit in a comfy chair and browse through them. I only take home the books that look useful after a quick glance.

Supplies, curriculum, etc.
Scholastic *edited 27May11* I was able to get set up as a teacher, I just needed to call. It qualifies me to purchase books through the scholastic book clubs as well as some other great resources.
Fun-Books
My Home School Education
Waldorf Earthschooling
Living Math (edited 3-3-10)

Blogs, Articles, and Random Links:
Relaxed Home Skool Blog Talk Radio
Typical Unschooling Days
Enjoy Life Unschooling
Tossed By The Fates
Homeschooling is Freedom
Psychology Today: Children Teach Themselves to Read (edited 3-3-10)
List of Home/unschooling Blogs
Unschoolers are Lazy (edited 3-8-2010)
The Path Less Taken (edited 5-27-11)
Ordinary Life Magic (edited 5-27-11)
From My House on T (edited 5-27-11)
Filth Wizardy (Edited 5-27-11)

Influential People in home/unschooling
Sandra Dodd
John Holt

Other places to look for info are:
`Your local school district. Many offer help to families who home school, or are able to point you in the right direction.

`Yahoo- Search for a message group for your local area.

`Your local library may also be able to help you out.

I will continually update this page as I find new info that I like.

A disclaimer: I do not advocate for any particular site, book, group, etc., these are just sites I have found useful or have marked for further reading.

Good luck!
p.s. If you know of any good sites, books, etc, feel free to leave me a comment! I love comments!

Crafty Giveaway and Work-in-Progress

2010-03-01T13:13:00.004-06:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I am giving away some of my handmade creations on my crafty blog, KaoticKrafter. Pop on by and leave me a comment for a chance to win some cool stuff!

I will be working on making a list of unschooling and homeschooling resources this week. I hope to have everything gathered and ready to post by this weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Home at Last

2010-02-25T12:15:00.003-06:00

It is good to be home. Not so happy about the weather, but happy to be home.

This last trip to Arizona felt much longer then it actually was. Here is a quick recap.

My step-father, John, passed away on the day we flew out to Arizona. Not the best way to start any trip, but at least we were able to be there for my mom. Instead of heading right down to Tucson, we spent a few days with her in Phoenix. My older sister, Amber, was able to make it out also, so it was also good to see her. Emma and I headed down to Tucson on Sunday, the drove back up to Phoenix Monday night for the funeral on Tuesday. We drove back to Tucson Wednesday morning.

Both Emma, and I ended up sick the day after we landed in Arizona. We would get a little better, then get worse. It went that way our entire time in Arizona.

Once in Tucson, things smoothed out a bit, except for the being sick. We managed to have a good time and get some work done. Emma had a ton of fun playing with Myra and Olivia (Livy). I had a blast hanging out with my BFF, Yvonne, and her family. The highlight of the entire trip for Emma was the horseback riding and played at the school playground.

Emma and Livy played so well together during the day that I was able to get a bunch of crafting done. I have uploaded all the pictures of things I have crafted to my KaoticKrafter Facebook Fanpage. I also managed to blog about some of them here. Feel free to check them out!

We spent the last 3 days of our Arizona trip back in Phoenix. This time I got to hang out with my younger sister, Melisa, my brother-in-law, Dave, and my nephew, David. It was great to see them.

Reading through my post, the trip does not seem all that crazy and emotional, but let me assure you, it was. I am glad to be home, and I am glad that the crappy weather gives me an excuse to hibernate in my house till I feel like being social again.

Until I am ready to be social, I will be busy planning a bunch of cool giveaways and such for next month for both this blog and my craft blog, KaoticKrafter. Check back in a few days to see whats going on and what is being given away!

The Joys of Arizona

2010-02-15T23:35:00.008-06:00

We are having some wonderful weather here in Tucson. We have also been enjoying our great friends, The Johnsons. On Saturday, we got to go ride horses. For those of you who do not know, Emma is obsessed with horses. If it has to do with horses, Emma is all for it. We went to a friend of the family's and they were great, they let us pet, feed, brush, and ride the horses. The horse that we rode was J.W. (Johnny Walker, but they just call him J.W.). The girls each got to ride around for a while on there own, me and Yvonne, included. Then I got to ride with the girls for a bit. I am a beginner when it comes to horses, but J.W. was awesome. The girls also had a blast playing in the dirt...

Here are the best of the pictures from our fun day.
Livy
Emma
Myra

Here they are just hanging around.

Here are a few more just random fun photos.
Yvonne
Matt and Myra

We all had such a good time.

Then on Sunday, after a great breakfast of waffles, we puttered around the house for a bit then headed to the playground at Myra's school. We had a blast. Here are just a few random pictures of that.

We are a little homesick, but it is kinda hard to be too homesick with the great weather and great friends.

Oh, and the great crafting! Check out my KaoticKrafter blog for the fun things we have been making!

One World One Heart

2010-02-15T15:51:00.004-06:00

I have decided that I would like to also participate in the One World One Heart's 4th Annual Blog Event. Here is the information:

I will be giving away a handful of crocheted, felted, and fabric flowers. They are my very first attempts at flowers, but they turned out nicely if I do say so myself!

Crocheted Flowers

Sweater Felted Flowers (the little purple flower is actually fleece). The red flower photographed alone is about 8" or 9" in diameter.

Fleece and Store Bought Felt Flowers

I will split the batch between two winners, about 10 flowers each. All you need to do to be entered into the drawing is leave me a comment by noon on February 15th. You can let me know what you think about my blog, my creations, or just say hi! Oh, make sure you leave me some way to contact you so I can let you know if you won (e-mail or blog should work).

Thanks!

p.s. This post will remain at the top so to see all of my posts, including my newest ones, please continue on down the page.

Edited 2-11-2010:
I have another item to give away, so there will be 3 winners! I made this cute little sweater blanket on a whim one day. So, on a whim, I decided to add it as a giveaway!

Not quite a magic carpet, but still lots of fun! Thanks for visiting, and enjoy the rest of your trip :)

Edited 2-15-2010 Here are my winners!
The blanket goes to Arya!
The following 2 people will be getting about 10 handmade crocheted and felted flowers each; Kelly and Melodye!

Congratulations to all the winners!

A Sad Day

2010-02-04T11:20:00.002-06:00

My step-father passed away yesterday, they beleive he suffered a heart attack. It is never a good time for something like this to happen, but thankfully I was already on my way to Arizona and I could be here for my mother.

Bye, bye, snow and hello sun!

2010-02-02T22:52:00.002-06:00

Emma and I leave tomorrow for Arizona. I should be packing, but I figure that's what tomorrow is for :)

Our plans while we are in AZ are simple; Enjoy good friends, have lots of fun, and soak up the sun (safely as we will be using sunblock).

I would like to do some letterboxing if we get the chance and I would like to make a trip out to Agua Caliente Park. Oh, and I want to eat at Takamatsu, yummy.

Well, the next time you hear from me, I will be in sunny Arizona!

Moving?

2010-02-02T00:18:00.003-06:00

Ever since opening shop at ArtFire I have been toying with the idea of creating a new blog just for my crafty posts. I love my shop name and wanted more reasons to use it :0) After entering KaoticKrafter into Google search and only coming up with my Artfire shop, I figured now would be the time seeing as there is nothing else out there with that name.

Anyway, I will keep updating this blog, but it will mostly be non-craft related posts. And for a little while, I will let you know here when I post something there.

Hope this all makes sense and don't forget to check out my new blog KaoticKrafter!

Sweater Blanket Give Away!

2010-01-31T01:11:00.004-06:00

While attempting to make felted mittens for Emma (at her request) I somehow ended up with a cute pink felted heart. For some reason, that made me remember that I had a red felted sweater to use. I also had a bit of the pink felted sweater left. I cut the two up, stitched them together, added a few hearts and some purple fleece, and viola! A cute little blanket.

I am giving this blanket away. All you have to do is leave me a comment before midnight on February 6th to let me know you are interested. On February 7th, I will draw a name from a hat to select the winner. Very high-tech I know, but it's what I know. I will post the name of the winner sometime on the 7th, so check back then. I will ship the blanket out on Monday the 8th so that you can hopefully have the blanket in time for Valentine's Day.

Good Luck!

p.s. I finally got my slippers made and I LOVE them.

Quick Update

2010-01-29T22:45:00.009-06:00

I have been having fun with my new found craft; Felting!

In anticipation of all the things I want to make, I ordered some sweaters from Kris at Resweater. If I get them before I leave for AZ, I might just have to find room in my suitcase for one or two:0)

Anyway, here are the fun things that we (yes, Emma was busy creating also, I love it!) created today.

Felted Flowers were first on the list.

While I was busy making flowers, here is what Emma created. She decided her rocking horse needed a headband and some earrings.

I went for flower number four and it wasn't working for me, so I decided to take a break instead of force something that I wouldn't end up liking. Here is what I made instead of a flower.

Then it was time for Emma and I to head to the library to meet with some friends. After a fun hour, it was off to hang out with Landon while his mom and dad where at work.

We got home about 5:00pm and Emma was hungry. Mac and Cheese was cooked and consumed, then we decided to make some cookies, brownies, and bread dough. Here is the mess, and cookies we created.

Icky kept sticking his nose up to the table to see what was going on, so I decided to sprinkle him with a bit of flower. Emma declared him a speckled dog.

After cleaning up most of the mess, and eating a few cookies, it was back to the studio. My feet where cold and I had a pattern for felted slippers. Not wanting to waste a lot of my felt, I thought it might be a good idea to start with a pair of slippers for Emma. Littler feet, less waste if I don't like them. Well, I love them and wish I had stared with my pair because my feet are still cold, but I am to tired to make anything else tonight. Also, I may not have enough left to make a pair for me tomorrow. Here are the slippers.

So, now its off to bed where I hope to fall right to sleep, but I will most likely lay there for an hour or more thinking about all the things I want to make tomorrow.

p.s. I am really tired, so I will reread all of this tomorrow and fix anything that doesn't make sense, I was just really excited to share our projects with you!

Felting, Upcycling, and Sewing, Oh My!

2010-01-28T13:17:00.015-06:00

I have been very busy! I have been wanting to try felting for a while, so I went out this past weekend and bought some wool and wool blend sweaters from the thrift stores. I followed Resweater's guidelines, and had some luck. I knew that the blended sweaters would not felt as well, but I still liked them.

I got home from shopping and immediately threw the sweaters in the washer to get them felting. Everything worked out as well as I had expected, so I was pretty happy with my finds.

I was a little intimidated by the felted sweaters, so I used the blended sweaters and made some clothes for Emma. I made this jumper using a cute purple speckled sweater with pockets.

Emma was complaining that her legs were cold, so I used the arms of the sweater and...

I decided to go ahead and make something out of the felted sweaters. One of the sweaters had a hood and I just happened to have a book, "Warm Fuzzies" by Betz White with a project for a Hoodie Scarf. I used the felted hood with a sweater that was not all the way felted, but it work out well.

Then I had the sleeves left and decided to make another pair of sweater pants.

I had an orange sweater that didn't felt, so I made it into a sweater apron for Emma to paint in. I forgot to take pictures of it :)

I liked the neck of the sweater and thought it would be a cool waistband for a skirt, so I made a skirt to go with the waistband. Unfortunately the skirt is to small for me :( Still, it turned out cute.

Yesterday, as Emma was taking a rare nap, I finally felt ready to actually cut up some of the felted sweaters. My first felted project came our great, I think anyway. It was suppose to be a jumper, but it was a bit to short, so it is now a tunic.(I can't take my sewing machine with me when Emma and I babysit, so I bring my crocheting instead. I made the hat in these photos for Emma on Tuesday. She loves it! We plan to add a crocheted flower soon.)

The gray was from the same sweater as the hood in the Hoodie Scarf project. The sweater had cute little pockets so I made sure to include at least one in the jumper.

While we were doing our "photo shoot," Icky decided he wanted to be a model also.

The sweater was finished with enough time left yesterday to start another project (I tend to obsess when I get in the zone). Another book by Betz White, "Sewing Green", had a cute project for a bag made out of a jean skirt. I had a pair of jeans, so I turned the jeans into a skirt then into a bag.

I have not added anything to the back of the bag yet, and I bet I will be adding more to the front, but it gives you a good idea of what it looks like.

The day is still early, so who knows what I will be making next...

Oh, I almost forgot, I also made some seed pots using newspaper. Great way to use up old newspapers and get your seedlings started. I figure the pots are thin enough that they can just be planted right in the ground (or pot) once the seedlings are ready to be transplanted.

Have a creative and productive day!! I know I plan to :)

Sewing With a Pattern

2010-01-21T10:37:00.003-06:00

Jo Ann Fabrics is having a big sale!

I decided a little while ago that I wanted to try making close using a pattern. Once I realized Jo Ann Fabrics had their Simplicity patterns on sale for $.99, I figure it was a good time to give it a try. Jo Ann Fabrics also had a sale on their red tag fabrics. 50% off red tag = awesome deal. Flannel is also on sale for 50% off, as well as one of the brands of thread that Jo Ann Fabrics carries. The only fabric I bought that wasn’t 50% off, I used my 50% off coupon for:)

So I bought most of my fabric for between $1.50 and $3.00 a yard. I stocked up and hope to go back one more time before the sale is over on January 23rd.

I got home and was really excited to give the pattern thing a try. The fabric I bought that wasn’t on sale (but I still got 50% with my coupon) was horses running through snow. With Emma’s love of horses, I was more than ok with getting the fabric for her. We picked up about 8 patterns, a few for Emma and a few for me. I took out the pattern Emma picked out for a dress. Didn’t look to difficult. I pulled the pattern out of the package and was a bit bemused to realize that I had to actually cut the pattern pieces out, and then iron them. Hmm. I was already beginning to have doubts about using a pattern, but I pressed on.

I got the pieces all cut out and managed to pin them to the fabric. That was a bit of a trial and error with making sure that the horses were all standing on their feet, not their heads, but I managed. I used more fabric then I wanted to, but oh well. Good thing I got more then was called for.

I got the pieces cut out with hardly any problems. That was as far as I got last night before I hit a wall and started falling asleep sitting up. Early to bed…

Early to rise. I woke up when Jared got up this morning at about 4:00am. I usually never even hear his alarm, but I knew we were in for a bit of ice and I wanted to check the weather (Emma and I were suppose to do a bit of traveling today). Once I realized that the roads were going to be one big ice rink, our travel day became a p.j. lazy day.

I decided to be productive, even that early in the morning. I went back to our studio and got set up to finish the dress for Emma. My delusional mind thought I might get the dress done before Emma woke up. HA! Not even close. I COULD NOT figure out how to line up the side pieces with the front piece. I spent probably an hour or more trying to figure out exactly how the stupid pieces fit together. Finally I said forget it and decided to wing it, like I always do. I got all the top pieces of the dress put together and was a bit impressed with myself. I even managed to get the zipper sewn in. Before moving on to the skirt part of the dress, I decided to try the top half on Emma (who had been awake for an hour or so by this point, 4 hours after I woke up…). I managed to get it around the top half of her body, but couldn’t zip it. Not even a tiny little bit. Grrr. I sat for a few minutes trying to figure out how to fix and then said forget it, again.

The skirt was simple. I whipped it up in about an hour. It was way too big, but that was easy to fix. I did have to figure out how to finish the top edge of the skirt because I had decided that there was no way I was going to waste this cute skirt on the messed up top. I ended up hemming the top and throwing elastic into the waist band in the center back segment and calling it good.

Well, the skirt was a hit, Emma loved it. I decided to try to salvage the top. The easiest fix was to put an extra panel into the back where the zipper was suppose to go, so that is what I did. Now Emma can put the shirt on without having to have it zipped (which I think would be uncomfortable anyway). She loves the shirt also, but I will try to make one that looks a little nicer. I will add pictures in a few days.

All in all, I am not very impressed with using a pattern. I am going to try to make myself a pair of drawstring pants just because I am a glutton for punishment (and the pattern says it can be made in one hour).

Hope the pants are easier to make!

Brag Books

2010-01-17T01:17:00.006-06:00

I have been making a bunch of Brag Books lately. Little 6"x6" scrapbooks that are meant to hold a few photos and be small enough to carry in a bag or purse. I was going through and taking photos of them tonight when I decided to actually scrapbook in one of them.

The one I decided on was the very first one I made. I picked it because of that, because its cool looking, and because when I was packing the car one day it fell onto the wet, slushy, garage floor. I was able to rescue it before it got completely trashed, but I wouldn't sell it or give it away, so I made it for me.

Here are the pics I took.

Early Wake-up

2010-01-17T00:58:00.002-06:00

At 2:45 this morning, my dog decided he needed to go potty. With our door out back frozen shut and the 3 feet of snow in the backyard, I have been putting Icky on his leash and taking him out front. Not an ideal solution, but it has made it easier for me to talk myself into walking Icky around the block.

After taking Icky out so he could do his business, I was wide awake. It was too early in the morning to do much of anything except surf the web. I was able to get a decent deal on airline tickets to Tucson, I upgraded all our cell phones, I caught up on e-mail, set up a horse lesson for Emma and myself, and added some items to My Etsy Shop.

A little after 6:00 Jared's alarm went off. He came out to see what was up, then went back to bed. I thought I might be tired enough to go back to bed, so I followed. Turns out I wasn't really.

As I was laying in our crowed bed, Jared on one side of me, Emma on the other, and Icky laying down by Jared's legs, I was comforted by the sounds of my loved ones peacefully breathing.

I thought about the roads that I had taken to get where I am, where I want to be, where I am happy (finally).

I thought about how lucky I am to have a husband who tolerates, maybe even understands my desire to stay home with Emma, to craft, and to be green.

I thought about how lucky I am to have a daughter who loves me and is patient with me when I get into the crafting zone, who loves to craft with me.

I even thought about how lucky I am to have had Icky in my life. He has taught me a lot about patience, understanding, and tolerance.

And love. All three of them have taught me about love.

I hope you have or someday find the kind of love I am lucky to have and thankful for every day.

Making Old Clothes New

2010-01-12T22:13:00.004-06:00

Who knew that a pair of old jeans could turn into a new skirt? And who knew that it was relatively easy and quick? I sure didn't until I came across Savvy Seams.

I saw the site last night, then decided to give it a try today. I think total time was a few hours, and some of that time was fixing the material I added to the bottom.

Too cold to wear it right now, but I just might wear it once it warms up!

Recent Interests

2010-01-11T20:49:00.006-06:00

Lately I have been having fun getting rid of my stack of fabric. If I had held on to it any longer it would be vintage! I borrowed the book Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule from the library. I used the patterns provided to make my own shopping bags and hats made out of sweaters. Lots of other really cool ideas I look forward to making once the book is available again:)

I have also found this cool website that explains how to recycle old sweaters and t-shirts into new pants for the kids. Another take on making kid pants is here.

Once Emma gets back from Gramma and Boppa's I will finish the pants and take some pics and post them so you can see how they turned out.

I also found a cool website for swapping items, check it out! Swap Mamas

Oh, one other book I have borrowed and really enjoyed is .Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I made a couple of loaves while at my in-laws, but forgot to bring the ingredients home with me, so I have to wait to make more :(

I hope this inspires you to get creatively green!

(Edited 01/11/10 9:40 p.m.) I almost forgot this site! A cool way to make sweaters into kids aprons is here. I hope to try it soon!

Goals for 2010

2010-01-09T09:44:00.003-06:00

I don't typically make resolutions, because, well, I don't know. But this year, I have decided to set some goals for myself. I will be 30 in June, which is ok with me. I like to tell people that getting older beats the alternative. Anyway, I have decided that I would like to try to get back in shape for my 30th B-day. I have realized that I am still carrying around a lot of baby weight, and my baby just turned 4. So, that is goal #1. Here is my list:

1. Get in shape (no specific pounds or inches lost, just get in better shape)
2. Sell something on Etsy My Shop
3. Buy only what we absolutely need
4. Reuse and recycle everything I can (including clothes)
5. Learn everything I can about horses
6. Sell my creations at a craft fair
7. Take one college level class
9. Walk the dog at least once a day, every day
10.Learn yoga and meditation

Well, that is my list for now. If anyone has any tips, tricks, or hints on how to accomplish any of my goals, I would love to hear it!

Quick Trip to the Desert

2010-01-07T22:29:00.005-06:00

So, around noon on the Sunday before New Years, Jared was chatting with a friend, Ed, on the computer. Ed mentioned that they may be having a New Years party. Jared mentioned it to me and when I asked if he wanted to go his reply was, "Of course!"

We check on plane tickets, way to expensive. We looked at Amtrak, doesn't got where we wanted to go. We checked out rental cars, not worth the money. Finally, we decided to drive our own car.

We packed our bags, packed up the dog, and packed up the kid. By 6:00pm Sunday night we where on our way. We drove 3 hours north to drop the dog off at Gramma's. At 9:00am Monday morning, Emma, Jared, and I climbed into the car and continued our trip south to Tucson, AZ.

The first two hours on Monday almost caused us to cancel our trip. Headed down the highway at 60 mph, the car started sliding. Jared corrected quickly. We slowed down. A minute later, we slipped again. Jared slowed down some more. None of the other cars (you know, the ones flying past us) seemed to be having any problems. We went under an overpass, came out the other side and got blasted by the wind. Our back end swung into the left lane. The tires caught and the tail end of the car was flung into the breakdown lane. Jared, being the awesome driver he is, managed to keep the car under control and get us going straight again. Jared and Emma thought it was fun. I about had a heart attack. We pulled over to see if there was a problem with the tires, but everything seemed fine.

We made the rest of the trip through Iowa with 4-wheel drive on and going 50mph. On the interstate.

Once we passed through Iowa, the trip was easy going and uneventful. Emma was happy to ride as long as we had Magic Tree House audio books playing. She napped ocassionally, but for the most part she listened to her stories, read some books or colored. Oh, and lollipops. She got one a day and she managed to make them last at least an hour. Well worth the sugar in my opinion.

Jared was happy to do most of the driving, which was nice for me. I got to do lots of crafting. I brought some of my homemade paper and scrapbook scraps and worked on making cards and such. I also brought some yarn and managed to crochet a few items.

We got to Tucson on Wednesday evening. Thursday morning, Emma and I, along with our friends Edna, Alyssa, and Alex went horseback riding at Pantano Stables. That was a blast. Emma had never been on a trail ride before, just pony rides in the barn. She LOVED it. She had to ride with a wrangler, but she didn't even mind that (she is not a big fan of people she does not know).

Thursday night we had the New Years Party. It was a blast. It was awesome to see all of our friends that I hadn't seen in over 2 years. We chatted, ate, played Guitar Hero, and took lots of pics. We all toasted the New Year, then everyone left and we all went to bed. Emma did manage to stay up, but boy was she tired! Didn't take long for her to fall asleep once she was in bed.

The rest of the weekend was just as fun. We went horseback riding one more time, went to the zoo, hung out with friends, and had a great time. Jared got to play lots of Paintball. Sunday night we went bowling. A few friends that had been out of town earlier in the weekend met us at the bowling ally. We bowled, ate greasy food, and caught up with good friends. A great way to end a great trip.

Monday morning we hit the road for home. We added an extra day to our trip so we could see the Grand Canyon. It was cold, but worth it. What a cool place to see. Emma liked the pretty rocks.

We made great time on Monday and Tuesday. We had hoped to make Wednesday a really long day so we could sleep in our own bed, but the weather had different plans for us. About 2 hours before we got to Kansas City, MO, the weather turned bad. Back to driving with 4-wheel drive at 50mph on the interstate. By the time we go to Kansas City, I was more then ready to get off the road and out of the car.

We spent a fun night at the hotel just playing and relaxing. We slept in so that the road crews had a little more time to clear the roads for us. We left just before noon. The wind was horrible, and only got worse the closer to home we got. The 3.5 hour trip took us just over 5 hours to make. We used 4-wheel drive and kept the speed below 55mph for all by 30 minutes of the trip. The roads where slick, but we just took our time.

Finally, we made it home. We pulled up in front of our house, Jared jumped out to shovel the drive way (we couldn't get the car into it) and Emma and I went to get milk. By the time we got back to the house, Jared had shoveled the driveway and a path to the house.

Home sweet home. We are glad to be back. Now if only the weather would cooperate so we could go pick up the mutt...

Busy Little Crafter

2009-12-25T22:33:00.009-06:00

Emma and I have indeed been busy little crafters. Last week we made lots of ornaments. We used clear ornaments and filled them with ... stuff. We had a BLAST making them.

We also made some ornaments out of yarn that I forgot to take pictures of. We soaked the yarn in glue, wrapped them around little balloons then let them dry. They came out awesome, and we gave a bunch out as gifts.

I have also been busy making little brag books and cards. You can check out what I have been making at my Etsy Shop.
Here are a few pics to temp you.

Well, that's about it for now. I look forward to making more crafty and green items in the near future!

Productive Weekend

2009-12-13T23:25:00.008-06:00

This weekend has been a good one. Saturday, Emma and I hosted a cookie making party. Whats better then having friends over to spend the day with? Having lots of delicious cookies to eat with them! We made chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and sugar cookies. We also made white chocolate covered pretzels (my favorite and now that I know they are so easy, we will be making them often).

The kids had a blast playing together, nibbling pretzels and mac and cheese, and frosting cookies. Everyone left happy, but tired.

The rest of Saturday, Emma and I sort of just vegged.

Today, I crocheted a little turtle out of left overs and recycled yarn. He is cute. Every time I look at him, he makes me think of the song "Speed Turtle" by Sandra Boynton

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Dash (the turtle) and Bits the Bunny.

I tend not to be very good at following patterns/ directions. I sat down a few days ago and decided to make a bunny out of my 'bits' of left over yarn. I started to follow the directions, then decided to just wing it. Bits the Bunny turned out well. Then today, I ran out of yarn for the blanket I am currently working on, but wasn't done crocheting, so I decided to use some recycled yarn and some left over yarn to make a turtle. I didn't even bother to look up the directions. I just did what I do best, I decided to wing it. I think he turned out just fine :)

As if that wasn't enough, Emma wanted me to play with her. I am not the best at kids playing, I have no idea why, but I just am not. She didn't have anything particular in mind, so I suggested we do some arts and crafts type stuff in our new studio (a story for another day). So, we decided to make some Holiday Ornaments. We made two different types.

Yarn Nest Ornaments- We blew up some water balloons, soaked some left over yarn in glue, then wrapped the yarn around the balloons. I am excited to see how they turn out after we pop the balloons tomorrow.

Tree Decorations- Last year my Mother-in-Law bought some clear tree ornaments at the end of the season last year. Emma and I decided to decorate them. Some of them we filled with assorted beads and glitter, some we dumped (poured) paint into them and swirled it around, one we poured glue into it and added beads, and a few we just shoved some yarn into them. Two we did a little cray experimenting with, we added beads, sea salt, and flour. The didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned, but they look cool.

Well, it is WAY past my bedtime, so I am off to bed. I am excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Almost 4

2009-12-12T19:07:00.004-06:00

In just 9 days, my baby will be 4. Where has the time gone!?! It seems like every time I blink, she is a year older. Already she does more for herself, and needs me less then I thought was normal for an almost 4 year old.

She makes her own oatmeal, pours her own cereal, gets her own milk or juice; she can even make her own PB&J if she really wants one and I don't really feel like making it (yes, sometimes I am a horrible mom).

And, she does know everything already, she told me so just the other day.

She can get dressed on her own, she can take a shower mostly without help, she can brush, floss (sorta), and swish on her own.

She can turn the T.V. on and knows that PBS is on channel 11. She knows how to get to channel 11.

She can navigate the PBS.org website on her own.

Oh, I know she still needs me. She can't make her own Alfredo yet, she still needs help with buttons and zippers, and she can't drive yet, so is dependent on me to take her places.

But it seems that before I know it, she won't need me at all.

Until then I will remind myself to enjoy the now; enjoy the being needed.

My Latest Dream Home

2009-12-03T20:34:00.007-06:00

I must have been a gypsy in another life; I am already dreaming about our next home. The funny thing is, it is not your typical "home". As I have been researching info for unschooling Emma, I have run across a group of families who also like to travel. They live in RV's, 5th wheels, travel trailers, old buses; you name it, if it moves, they live in it.

I think living that way would be really cool and highly educational. What better way to learn about geography, history, math, organization, navigation, teamwork, and different cultures just to name a few?

Also, with our family spread all across the US, it makes sense. Missing Gramma and Boppa? Pull up stakes and hit the road. Big celebration planned at Auntie Amber's? Don't start the party without us! No packing and little planning as the house goes with us!

Emma and I will test the waters when Jared is back on active duty. While he is deployed, Emma and I will travel between NH, IA, and AZ. We will most likely take the long way.

I can hear the cry already of "How will Emma get her socialization?!?"

Well, everywhere we go there will be people. There will be times we will be staying for more then a few days in one place and if she wants to, she can attend classes for anything from archery to zoology (some zoos offer day classes or overnight adventures for kids interested in that sort of thing). As far as keeping in touch with friends, there will be plenty of time for writing letters and drawing pictures while our house is on the move. Also, with the wide availability of free wi-fi, we can skype, e-mail, blog, facebook, snapfish, etc. with anyone we choose.

So what will our adventure home be? While Jared is active duty, we will most likely look for a smaller RV so that I can manage without needing another adult. Once Jared has retired, this is what I want: http://www.earthroamer.com/tab_xpedition_vehicles/xvlt1_overview.html.

It is called an EarthRoamer XV-LT. It... is so incredibly cool! I know you think I am crazy, but we have been thinking about it for a while and we have a while before we will do anything with it so I could change my mind...

But don't hold your breath.

Frogging

2009-12-02T18:50:00.003-06:00

Today, I frogged my first sweater! I purposely picked one that was cheaply made so that if i screwed it up, I would not have to get upset with myself. I got a bunch of small pieces that I plan to use for stuffing toys and such. I did manage to get a bunch of long strands of yarn. Some I will use to make a doll, the rest I tied together and plan to make something with it, I have no idea what yet, but as the sweater was given to me, I am not out any money, just time.

I have a few more sweaters to frog, and I look forward to the challenge and being green!

Oh, I ment to take pictures of the sweater before hand, but I forgot. I will try to remember for the next one.

My New Toy!

2009-12-02T08:29:00.004-06:00

So on Saturday, we decided to live on the edge and venture out to the stores (the day after Black Friday). We had nothing particular we needed to buy, we were just curious what the stores were offering.

We ended up at Best Buy, Jared's favorite store. I think this was the third time we had been there in about 2 weeks. Jared got something last time, so I guess it was my turn.

I have been wanting a MP3 player for a while. As much as I like Emma's music and can tolerate Jared's music, I longed to listen to music of my choice. I had been looking for a while, but I have a hard time buying stuff that is just for me, so I kept putting it off. On this trip to Best Buy, the MP3 players we marked way down. Jared talked me into getting one, though he really didn't have to twist my arm all that much. I got a Sansa Fuze, it was $40 off I think. It took me a while to figure out how to get music onto it, but I managed. I also discovered this little time saver called slotRadio ( http://www.slotradio.com/slotRadio/cards) where I can buy a memory card preloaded with 1,000 songs. Its pretty cool, I am excited to get them in the mail!

I am suppose to be using my MP3 player to motivate myself to exercise, but I apparently have a motivation deficiency. Oh well, if only there was a vitamin available for that!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2009-11-29T21:15:00.002-06:00

Man I love being green! It fills my cheap heart with pride when I take something I should have thrown away last year and turn it into something functional and not to shabby looking.

Every so often I get into this rearrange/ organize kick. Actually if you were to ask Jared, its more like a weekly occurrence. Anyway, I decided that Emma's books needed to be organized better. We had already started sorting them into bins so Emma would have an easier time browsing for a book to read. That was a good idea on my part because her book collection doubled after Thanksgiving. (Gramma use to teach 3rd grade, so she has her own personal library that she is trying to get rid of, lucky for us!). Not being very good at the reduce part I also bought Emma a bunch of horse and dinosaur books for her birthday...

So, onto the reuse and recycle part.

Last December (I think it was December), my sister-in-law, Sara, and I tore down my kitchen cabinets. I have no idea how old they were, but they were pretty useless the way the shelves had been set up.

The only salvagable parts were the cabinet over the fridge and all the doors. They were pretty sturdy still so I knew I could use them for something. Eventually.

Over the summer I had removed the doors, sanded, and repainted the cabinet, and turned it into a "bookcase" for Emma's room. I use the term bookcase loosely because we have used it for everything from books, to stuffed animals, to bedding, to its current use... cubes of clothes. It has been very useful.

Today I was finally able to use some of the doors when I decided Emma needed some shelves for her humongo book collection. And it was easy.

Materiels:
"L" brackets (saved from shelves we had back in AZ...2 years ago)
Screws (from the same shelves as the "L" bracket and a few more from over the years)
Shelves (doors salvaged from kitchen cabinets).

By shear chance, I picked the perfect height so that later, if Emma wants to, she can have a desk in her room. Emma, Jared, and I are happy with the results.

All it cost me was a blood blister and a bruise. That is a price I am more then happy to pay for a (free) job well done!

I need a little noise...

2009-11-18T23:00:00.002-06:00

The house is too quiet. Emma left on Monday to visit Gramma and Boppa, (Jared's parents) till Thanksgiving.

The first night Emma is gone is always a little exciting. The only teeth I have to brush are my own, I don't have to read any books I don't want to, and I know that the next morning I won't be woken up at dawn.

Then I go to bed too late and wake up at dawn anyway, wondering why I don't hear Emma's happy voice telling me good morning. I don't have anyone to eat breakfast with me (Jared leaves for school at 6:00am), I don't have anyone to talk to while I do the dishes, and I don't have anyone asking me very thought provoking questions about things that are happening on Super Why and Dinosaur Train.

At least I know Emma is having a blast.

I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish while Emma was gone; groceries, laundromat, rearrange furniture, clean, read the newest J.D. Robb book, craft, craft, and craft. With lots of appointments and babysitting, I don't feel that I have gotten as much done as I should have by now.

So far I have managed to do groceries, rearrange the living room, and craft a little. Tomorrow I have another appointment, but this one should be fun. I get to sit down with someone at Lowes and design a new kitchen. Then I have to make a Costco run. The rest of the day is for crafts... after I remember to bring Emma's books and movie back to the library and run to the post office.

I will try to enjoy the lack of responsability I have for the next however many days, but I am already thinking of all the fun things Emma and I will do when she gets home.

Sneaking in the Veggies

2009-11-15T22:24:00.003-06:00

So I was rummaging through the cupboards looking for the mac and cheese for dinner tonight when I realized I also had a container of baby food squash. The squash was suppose to be for a specific recipe that I never made. Mac and cheese is orange, squash is orange. I decided to throw the squash in the mac and cheese. The squash was actually wet enough that I did not need to add any milk or butter.

We sat down to eat, I dished up some mac and cheese for Emma, and she dug in. I also served up some mac and cheese for myself. I thought I could taste the squash a little, but not a whole lot. Jared had some mac and cheese after he finished his minute steak burger (apparently it is not ok for him to have ketchup left on his plate when he serves up his mac and cheese).

I asked Jared how he like the mac and cheese. He thought that he waited to long and it tasted a little dry. By this point, Emma was just about done her mac and cheese so I told them that I had added the squash. Emma licked her finger and said, "I think I like squash."

Jared and I decided that if I add squash again, I should still add the butter to make it creamy. As Jared and I were cleaning up and Emma was finishing her dinner, she said to me, "Mama, you make the best mac and cheese."

Thanks kiddo, I am glad you liked it.

Makin' a Buck

2009-11-15T16:51:00.003-06:00

I am still obsessed with making paper and I thought maybe my paper can make me a buck. I have more then I know what to do with, so why not share the wealth and make some in the process? I will be selling my creations at www.craft4emma.etsy.com. I have attached (after a lot of frustration due to my Html illiteracy) a widget for my shop. Check it out if you are looking for interesting handmade items for you or someone else.

Have a Happy Day!

Makin' Paper

2009-11-11T16:20:00.005-06:00

So my latest obsession is making homemade paper. I have been wanting to give it a try for a few months now. Apparently Monday was the day I was waiting for because I just jumped into it in the afternoon. I had tons of paper laying around waiting for me to figure out a way to reuse it (my town does not recycle), so I figured, "Why not?"
I also have a lot of Emma's art projects that we don't really need to keep anymore. For example; Emma went through a sun phase. She loved to draw suns. We had about 10 pieces of paper with a big circle and lines coming out of the circle. Very cute and fun to remember, so I kept 2 or 3 and we made new paper out of the rest.
We started with plain white paper. That was a little boring so we added purple glitter. Much cooler. Then we added in purple, orange, and green construction paper, Emma's favorite colors. Those also came out really neat. The colored paper was not blended as much as the white so you can see flecks or squares of the colors. We decided it needed to be spiced up a bit more so we added vanilla extract and cinnamon to the water. You could actually smell the vanilla and cinnamon. Until we used a Sharpie marker to write Gramma a note. Then all we could smell was marker. A good lesson learned.
Our next batch was shredded bills and such. That was neat to see also because the paper ended up being a little gray with noticeable letters poking through here and there. I had also cut up some scrap photos, just to see what it would do. The photos don't really blend like the rest of the paper, so the really stuck out, but I got some really neat results with that and some cool ideas for things to try in the future.
Today I made paper out of pink and blue construction paper "suns." I had mopped up some spilled water yesterday using paper towels and decided that I could use those also. So I mixed the paper towels with the pink and blue construction paper and I really like the way that batch of paper came out.
The last batch of paper I made today was a mixture of yellow and brown construction paper. I thought it was going to be really ugly. When I blended the paper it looked like relish, but the paper is a really neat mustard yellow.
All in all, I think the paper came our great. We plan to use them for holiday cards, little notes to say hello, and I think I may even scrapbook with a few. It feels good to be crafty and green :)

About the J.E.T

2009-11-11T00:45:00.001-06:00

This is my very first blog. I figure a good place to start is with a little intro.

Hi, I am Tina. I am a wife and a mom. It amazes me that those two 'jobs' can seem so unimportant to some people, but to others, the are a badge of honor. I love being a wife, and I love being a mom. Both jobs are tough at times, and sometimes even thankless, but all it takes to make my day is a big squeezy hug from my daughter, and a simple complement from my hubby. What can I say, I am easy to please! Here is a little more info about my two favorite people (and our dog).

Jared and I have been married for 5 years. We met in Tucson, AZ where we both were stationed. When we met, we were both active duty Air Force. Our story is a little long and pretty fun to tell, so I will save that for a post of its own. Anyway, we got married in Tucson, Emma was born in Tucson, and we love Tucson. At the moment we are living in Iowa and we miss Tucson. Jared separated from the Air Force in January of 2008. He is a history major/ ROTC cadet at Iowa State University. Once he graduates, he will be a commissioned officer in the Air Force. We miss the military and are looking forward to getting back to that life.

Emma, our beautiful baby girl, is almost 4. I separated from the Air Force when I was pregnant with her. I was able to stay home with her for her first two years. Unfortunately, I took that time for granted. When Jared separated from the Air Force to go back to school, I was excited about going back to work. My excitement did not last long. I hated being away from Emma all day. Well, it took almost two years but I am back home with her. Emma loves to "read", loves to be read too, loves horses and dinosaurs, and is very independent. We tend to butt heads often over very silly and unimportant things, but we are getting better. Thankfully she has a great sense of humor so we are able to laugh our stress away most days.

Icky, our boxer/pit bull/ Labrador, is the other member of our household. My poor Icky. He is a great dog, but he tends to get neglected when Emma and I get involved in our crafts or books or what not. We adopted Icky when he was 7 months old, just before Jared and I got married. He is a great dog, but he has his issues. He tends to not like strangers (both human and canine variety) but he is the best dog around Emma. He has always been patient with Emma and very easy around her. For that, we are willing to put up with his other issues. I try to work with him, but I am not very consistent. Shame on me.

And then there is me, Tina. I am a Gemini. That will explain a lot. I change my mind a lot. I tend to throw myself into new projects and sometimes I don't always follow them through. For example, I started a course in motorcycle repair, but never finished. I attended 4 months of cosmetology school (before I decided that the soap opera life was not for me). I enrolled in dietetic courses, but withdrew before they began. Same for physical fitness. I took a bunch of courses in American Sign Language to become an interpreter, but never went back to finish. I did manage to finish a correspondence course in dog training though, after my second attempt (hence the shame on me comment about Icky). I have had a bunch of different jobs through the years; waitress, call center operator, day care, toll booth attendant, retail clerk, news paper delivery, city bus driver, ice cream scooper, babysitter, commercial building cleaner, and probably a few I have forgotten over the years. My hobbies are just as scattered as everything else. I would love to relearn how to play the guitar. I need to do more with all the scrapbooking and jewelry making stuff I have. My current obsession is crocheting, and paper making. I like to think that even though I am goofing off, I am still being productive.

As I was saying earlier, I love being a wife and a mother. I try to be thankful everyday for what I have and for all that I am able to do. I am happy to say that being home with Emma is right where I want to be.

Oh, in case you missed it, J.E.T. stands for Jared, Emma, Tina. We typically add Icky in there so don't be surprised if you see J.E.T.I. at some point.

Thanks for reading about us!

Ready, Set, J.E.T.

Getting Ready

Montana Here We Come...eventually

I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.: Unschooling: Are We Teaching Ourselves?

Getting Closer

Emma's 5 1/2 Birthday Bash

1 year and counting

ArtVend- Bringing Art to the Public

Negative

*A Graphic Story of Poops Untold* (and really long)

Back to AZ

Chance to Win an iPad

To Jared

The List

Lots of Crafty Fun but no Pictures :(

Peanut Butter Play-dough

Autumn in NH

Playing with Numbers

The Hidden Alphabet and Other Unschooling Ideas

End Of Summer

Summer Adventures, Part 2: The Beach

Summer Adventures, Part 1

So it's vacation time

Schools Out for Summer...

Horse Lesson #4

Out of the Loop

Wordless Wednesday

Horse Lesson #3

Wordless Wednesday

Oil and Water Experiment

Conversations with Emma - Fabulouso

Post Cards for Emma (and me)... And Some Random Photos

Wordless Wednesday

Emma's Haircut

Wordless Wednesday

Conversations with Emma - Garbage

Emma's First Horse Lesson

Just Goofing Around

Snow and Surgery

My One Kid Band

Conversations with Jared

Coupon offer for my ArtFire Shop!

Conversations with Emma

Conversations with Emma - Paleontologist

My Resource List for Unschooling and Homeschooling

Crafty Giveaway and Work-in-Progress

Home at Last

The Joys of Arizona

One World One Heart

A Sad Day

Bye, bye, snow and hello sun!

Moving?

Sweater Blanket Give Away!

Quick Update

Felting, Upcycling, and Sewing, Oh My!

Sewing With a Pattern

Brag Books

Early Wake-up

Making Old Clothes New

Recent Interests

Goals for 2010

Quick Trip to the Desert

Busy Little Crafter

Productive Weekend

Almost 4

My Latest Dream Home

Frogging

My New Toy!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I need a little noise...

Sneaking in the Veggies

Makin' a Buck

Makin' Paper

About the J.E.T

A Graphic Story of Poops Untold (and really long)