So far, today has been the day from you know where. First, I don't feel well...the whole gambit of stomach problems, seriously, I could throw up at any given moment. Second, it's Monday. Third, apparently I can't type today either because I keep making errors, plus this is my second attempt because I was almost finished and somehow the whole thing just disappeared. So here I am trying to post my delightful morning....because almost all my troubles this morning happened early. ANYWAY....I go out this morning to start my bus, and smell the familiar smell of cat urine. Great. I figure one of the cats has sprayed my bus. Nope. They peed inside the bus. I realize this as I am beginning my route and the smell doesn't go away. Worse....I get to the middle school in Benton (we're talking about an 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours later), I get up, walk the bus to make sure there isn't anything or anyone left on; go to sit back in my seat and realize I had been sitting on cat poop the entire time. Fortunately, it was dried and wasn't very much, but STILL! Then I wash my bus, where it takes me over an hour to then get the wash bay cleaned out because of all of the mud that came off the bottom of my bus. Finally, I arrive home about 9:30 to find the rabbit's cage knocked over. It is one of those big ones that sit up on legs and has a hinged lid. Not only is it knocked over it is in about 5 pieces. Her ceramic food bowl, also broken. Shredded newspaper, hay and rabbit food are flying everywhere. I think the only reason Licorice was still in her cage was she was in shock. So I tried to set the cage back up, not realing at that time how many pieces it was in and of course it fell right back over. Licorice is now down in the basement in a little cage. Poor traumatized bunny. My clothes are in the washer, I am in my yummy bathrobe waiting for the kids to finish schoolwork so I can take my 2nd shower for the day. I sure hope the day gets better..................

Alexa working hard on her grammar and spelling pages
The "oh, there's a camera, I must stop what I am doing and pose" look
Andrew, working hard on his grammar and spelling pages
Then he just started acting goofy

I thought I would snap a couple of photos real quick while the kidsd were working on their schoolwork. It occured to me that since they have been homeschooled, I don't have near the photos of them as I would have if they were in school. Sounds backward, doesn't it? When it warms up we'll do some trips and there will be more photos. Right now, they usually do one subject a day. They tend to work better like that, rather then separate each of the subjects out into daily assignments. I think they like knowing that they are finished with math for the week, once they do it. I can understand that. As long as they are learning, I don't think it matters much. I have noticed that they are getting that "learning how to learn" thing down. That is one of the things that homeschooling advocates talk about and how homeschoolers are taught that more than kids in public school. They are getting better about finding the answers to questions that they have. The computer is great for that. Andrew is a big George Lucas fan and can find out all kinds of info about him and some of his other heros like Theodore Roosevelt, and one of the other presidents whose name I cannot recall right now. Mike does a math game with them every night to help them memorize those multiplication facts. They run through the flashcards; then he turns it into a competition. The loser has to go through as many flashcards again, as what he lost by. Make sense?

Anyway, yesterday we went to the library for them to pick out their January books. They can read and earn free pizza from Pizza Hut, just like the Wichita Public School kids. I forgot to take the camera, so once again, no pictures.

I hate to start off as Ms. Cranky-pants, but can I take a moment to mention how very much I detest winter? With a passion I hate it, it makes me, well, Ms. Cranky-pants. I find it very difficult to even get up in the morning, let alone do anything productive. Now, I hear it is supposed to be extremely cold all week, with wind chills up to -10 below. Is that an oxymoron? Up to -10 below? Sounds weird anyway. Al Gore, with his global warming threats can kiss my big, hairy butt. Show me the warming!!!

Okay, I'm better now. Tomorrow is back to school for me. I am taking Anatomy and Physiology I, having taken A&P II this last semester; and Intermediate Algebra with Review (for Dummies). The A&P, not a problem. I passed part II with an A; and very little studying the 2nd 9 weeks; and I hear that I is much easier. A&P I is more anatomy...shoot, everyone knows that stuff ~ not a prob. However, the Intermediate Algebra with Review (for Dummies) that will be more of a problem. Not only am I really, really bad at algebra, I am bad at it because I simply don't see the point and could care less about learning it. However, it does fulfill my one math requirement.

So, we'll see how that goes. I took a good look at Intermediate Algebra (which I was signed up for) yesterday, and changed to the one with review. Did NOT understand a bit of it. Mike could do the work for me, it is an online class, but I doubt that they will let him take the final for me...it's in person.

The kids are slightly ill. Alexa, I think is more sick because Andrew is. Heaven forbid I say, "wow, Andrew, that is some cough you have" and Alexa not have one as well. ", I have a cough, too, mommy, isn't mine bad?" Grief. I know she has a little bit of a cold, but not neat what she is making it out to be. Andrew, on the other hand, is keeping me awake all night with his hacking. For some reason, he isn't quite grasping the idea that if your nose is running, you blow it, wipe it, whatever. He just lets it run down his face until I say something.

Saturday, I went to a Crime Scene Preservation class, very interesting. Now I know what not to do. Actually, I think most of it was common sense; and I don't think any of it was stuff I didn't know. I think the class that the dude taught us, was the same one that they use for the Butler County Sheriff's Departments, so it was full of crime scene photos. That was the interesting part. My friend, Sandy, said that she couldn't look at a couple of them, but me, I was looking at all of them. Warped and twisted, that's me. I guess we'll see how I do when I get my degree and those bodies are up close and personal, not just photos. My guess is, initially, not as well.

I really need to post more than once a week or so, so that I don't write as much. Will try to do better with that.

Tori and Alexa - They really are that close in height, despite the 6.5 year difference....and I thought Alexa was short. (No offense Tori!)

On Saturday we went to LaKeisha's first birthday party. LaKeisha is my cousin's baby, but since there is a significant age difference, I just call her my niece......incorrect, but much easier. Regardless of what "title" I give her, I think she is just the cutest. She actually looks almost exactly like her momma.

It is amazing how quickly they grow. When I saw her at Thanksgiving, she was walking, but not far and not very well....now she just moves! What a little doll-baby she is, we just love her.

Speaking of nieces, the weekend before this one, I saw my niece, Tori. Another doll-baby. Although she probably wouldn't appreciate that at all, being a teenager and all. I am posting a picture of Tori and Alexa. Alexa and I went and picked Tori up and took her to lunch and then out for ice cream. We made a brief stop by Tommy's house, but he was getting ready for work; had just woken up; so I didn't take a picture of him. Next time I will. He has gotten so grown up as well. He is living in his own house, which is unbelievable to me. It seems like just yesterday he was toddling around. He is also a cutey, I will definitely have to take photos next time I see him.

LaKeisha, covered in cake and icing, but still adorable

BY THE WAY....... A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to JANETTE!!!! I am, for some unknown reason, unable to upload photos to my blog, so she did these. Hopefully you can see them, I can't. I think it is a picture of Alexa and Hayley with the black eyes, bloody lips, and bruised arms that I gave them............with makeup, of course. And a picture of the peacocks in their free days.

Maybe it won't be funny to anyone else, maybe you had to experience it, but for the last hour, the kids and I have been trying to capture 4 peacocks. And a turkey. The turkey basically just followed us into the chicken house, so that doesn't really count..... Anyway, the plan had been to let the peacocks out in "their" side of the garden during the day and put them back into the chicken house. That worked for exactly one day. Day two, after an hour or more, I gave up and just decided they would either survive up in the stinkin' (literally and figuratively) cedar trees or they wouldn't. Well, last weekend we lost one. I don't know if he ended up as something's dinner or if he just wanted to be free. Or it could be that he just couldn't take being the 5th wheel anymore. We had 3 males and 2 females....now we have 2 pairs. What does that trump?

So, now the peacocks keep jumping from the cedar trees from their side of the garden to the garden side of the garden. Problem is, the cedar trees are super thick on that side and it is so hard to get them back over on their side. I decided to keep them from escaping, I would just keep them in the chicken house with no priveleges for a month or so. That way, hopefully, they will be more used to me and won't run off this summer when I will let them free range.

The fun part starts with the fact that it is a swamp in our garden area. Mike rototilled this fall, which is a good thing, but it makes for boggy conditions. Andrew got stuck in the mud - twice - clear up to the top of his mud boots, which hit him at the knee. I had to pull him out, he stood on one foot, while I pulled the other boot out of the mud. Then I got stuck and fell over. Pretty.

We got three of the little buggers rounded up fairly quickly - read about 20 minutes - but that last one took forever. He is a smart little guy and just kept running back into the cedars. I am quite sure that we were a sight to behold. Alexa kept making these "caw" ing noises and flapping around. Andrew, well, he did his Andrew thing and beat a stick in the trees and occasionally made a scream. I yelled out directions of where the peacock was and what we should do.

We were triumphant and the peacocks are all in the chicken house....fowl house?....foul house?? We have now tracked mud all over the deck, garage, and maybe a little into the house. Not to mention bringing in a bunch of those little oval sticker things that do not let go. Then I started making lunch....grilled cheese and tomato soup....and dumped the can of soup into the skillet instead of the pan.....the fun never ends!!!

Andrew is in his room now continuing the chase...but this time trying to get Licorice, the bunny, out of his room. She is a chewer and has already chewed through his Nintendo DS charger in many places. I tell the kids to keep their doors closed when Licorice is out, but they don't listen.......

This is just some of the fun that all you city people miss. Life in the country....you just can't beat it.

Pictures

I have given up trying to upload photos. I was going to wait to do a blog until I got the photos up that I wanted, but each time I try I get an error, so just words for now. Ugh. It was extremely difficult to get up and go to work this morning. I have been off since December 20th. I was really enjoying the "life of luxury" okay, maybe not so much luxury as laziness. I was staying up late, sleeping late...so very nice.

Yesterday the kids and I went to moulage a movie that the Butler Youth Leadership group is doing. I went a few days before and did a "gunshot wound" which looked really awesome. While we were waiting for the high school kids to decide what kind of wounds they wanted us to give them (turns out a black eye and bloody lip, not much at all, darn.) I gave Hayley and Alexa each a black eye, big bruise on their arm and a bloody lip. Alexa was my first victim, and hers looked okay, but Hayley's really looked like she had been punched.

I guess maybe I should explain all of that...I do moulage (make up bruises, bullet wounds, cuts, scrapes, impalements, etc.) for Butler County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of which I am a part. Sometimes other organizations want us to do moulage for them. It is so much fun. I am just a beginner at it and am looking forward to doing a lot more.

Hopefully I can figure out how to get some pictures on here. I would love to show the pictures of Alexa and Hayley and maybe of my new peacocks as well!

First post

Ok, I've decided to go ahead and give this blog thing a whirl. I am totally bored and thought this would be the thing to do. The kids are spending the night with their friend, Mike is at work, it is officially 2008 and I have rung it in all by myself, creating a blog. How pathetic is that? It was actually either this or clean out the closet and even I am not that bad. I could just see it: "so how did you ring in the new year?" "oh, I cleaned out the closet." Not that "creating a blog" sounds any better, but oh well. I am placing all of the blame with Janette.

I am going to close this and see what happens next. If it all works out fine, I will upload some photos and try to make this more interesting.