Friday Quick takes for March 19


~1~
We are having beautiful weather here in So Ca! I've taken the kids twice to the park this week for P.E.

~2~
P.E. looked like this, (see above photo) kind of a "Calvin Ball" game- this one was like baseball, but with tennis racket. The dog would alternately assist the base-running, or foul you out. It was pretty exciting/and or confusing by turns.

~3~
Sky and I have re-discovered Antique Roadshow. It's quite addicting.

~4~
took the kids to McDonald's for Shamrock shakes for St. Patrick's day. I remember them from my childhood and it has become a St. Paddy's day tradition.

~5~
Our hockey team has only won 2 games, their second win somehow landed them in the playoff games for the league. They played against a team that has won 7 games and only lost 2. Somehow, our team beat them in overtime! It was one of the most exciting games I've seen!
(Amie is standing on the left- can you tell she is unsure about this team bonding thing?!)

~6~
I took Emma the wonder labradoodle to the vet to pick up some flea medicine. I had to take her so they could get her weight. Anyway, she hasn't been back since she was fixed. She jumped into the van, happy for a ride! She jumped out of the van, eager to greet the dogs she could see! We got inside, and she began to shake. She clearly remembered the place. Poor baby. We left, and she jumped very quickly back into the van, clearly very eager to leave!

~7~
I've given up any pretense at being a housekeeper this week. The laundry is piled high, and the kids have had a massive blanket fort in the front room for 3 days now.

7 Quick Takes is hosted over at Conversion Diary

7 Quick Takes Friday, Feb. 5


~1~

The tulip magnolia trees are in bloom right now in our neighborhood. I adore these trees, I can't think of many trees or bushes prettier than these. Sky won't plant one for me, because they are in bloom for a short time, the rest of the year, they are just "there". Those beautiful petals litter the ground, too. It's beautiful litter, I think. I have to be content with feasting my eyes on the two across the street. And taking lots of photos. Lots.

~2~

My new blog design is finished!! I loooove it. I'm in love with it. I dream about it at night. I love it better than my luggage. (name that movie line!) I was very limited with my old html template, my new, beautiful design promises to be much easier to mess, uh..work with. I'm still tweaking links and 'best of' pages and my links within hasn't shown up yet...but it's almost there.
sigh.
smile.
Like it? Want a beautiful site? Go ask Krystyn at Krizzy Designs.

~3~

my learning records were finished for the month, and I met with the credentialed teacher from the charter school who looks over our work. Whew! Done!

~4~
We took Emma the Wonder Labradoodle to the dog beach for the first time. We went with our neighbors, and their dog Bijou, who is Emma's BFF. Can a dog revel in happiness? Can you tell? I think Emma did, and yes, we could. On our way out to the parking lot, I got such a kick out of this business. Busy working long hours?...No problem, sign your doggy friend up for a field-trip to the beach!! I can't judge it, cus I would totally do it, if I worked away from home. Doggy day care..yeah, I'd probably do that, too. (shhh, don't tell Sky...)

~5~

We have a mystery illness making the rounds through our children. Demi-Sky was first, a high fever and lethargy. Nothing worse. Kind of nice, wish only that it would have struck all my children and the children of the neighborhood at the same time! As it is, we have them succumbing one at a time, leaving the rest to run, yell and decimate my front room with playmobil sets. After Demi, it seemed to travel across the street to the homeschooled neighbor kids, then came back to my house for Josie. Next day, it was Amie's turn, then Teddy, now Meg has it. This is the first virus Demi has had with no asthma. Yay!!!

~6~

Today I called out to Sky in the backyard to let the hens out. We've discovered that labradoodle and hens do not mix well. We've settled into a routine of having them take 'shifts' for backyard time. I was attempting a shift. I locked the doggy-door after calling out to Sky. I missed the small detail that Emma was actually in the backyard at that moment. Sky must have missed this too, because he let the hens out. Much cackling and flying of feather insued.
No one was hurt. Emma thought it bully-fun.! The hens, not so much. They went back to the hen-house and refused to come back out.

~7~

did I mention my new bloggy make-over?

:)

7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted over at Conversion Diary.

Sunday Night link fun

Sunday night at our house means serving dinner to a houseful of Bible college boys. We usually grill, because I seem to be challenged when it comes to cooking things in big batches- it's never ready on time when I cook. I do like to do dessert, though...here is one that is easy and a favorite

Apple-cranberry crisp recipe*

(I usually double the crisp part, and we serve it over ice-cream...and it is very good without the cranberries if you don't have any.)

Hilary Weeks and her version of My Favorite things...which happens to be my favorites, too :)

hat tip to Rudy Family Rukus for introducing me to Hilary Weeks, what a treat!

Well, I'm thinking about breaking out my 30 day shred dvd again...I did several days of this back in the Spring, it was pretty intensive but thankfully short, you just feel like you are going to die for 20 minutes. I had to stop because we had just brought home Emma the wonder-dog and she would go nuts when I tried to do it. So, I'm about to break it out, anyways, there are several bloggers doing it, I found this interesting blog called Shredheads, with lots of advice and encouragement. Check it out if you are thinking of trying this!

goodnight, God bless you!

fall days, meant for rambles

Friday was one of those fleeting crisp, sparkling fall days here in So. California. We headed to the park for some lunch and adventure.

A stroll across a wooden bridge just shouts out 'child-hood', doesn't it?

Demi and Teddy hard at play...or playing hard.

We got a good 15 minutes of play before a group of 60 school kids showed up with their lunches. Hmm.... 60 young-ish kids, my 4 and 4 swings- 2 slides. Odds are that this is not going to work out well for the non-schooled minority set.

A good reminder why we never come to this park, even though its bounty of trees, bird- life and river walk are very alluring...it's across from the Science Museum and the school field-trippers have annexed it as their own private lunch grounds. We, the public part of 'public park' skiddaddled.

And no, we are not allowed to play at the public school playgrounds.


Have dog, will travel!

loove my dog!

Wol pellets for a silly old bear

We had a fun day at Classical Conversations today, we dissected owl pellets! This is something I've always had a hankering to try...when I was young, I read a lot, and somewhere I read about owls coughing up pellets- yet I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, or what one would look like, but I went looking for them out in the orange groves that were near our house.
Now that I've seen one, I doubt I would have recognized one! We found a bird and a shrew in our pellet. I divided the room into two groups, the other group found a rodent and a shrew.
My van wouldn't start after class. It just had to be the day I decided to not pack lunches and to just go home for lunch. I had a van-full of hungry kids. Luckily, it was just the battery, Sky came down and gave me a jump. Later, he came home and presented me with this...I'm a lucky girl! He then installed it, filled up my gas tank and washed my windows. He's a full-service kind of guy! Again, I'm a lucky girl!
This is the first year my dwarf apple tree is bearing apples. Look, they are turning red! Apple trees in So. Ca are not an everyday thing...we don't get the cold spells needed, this tree is a special tree for our area.
Lastly, here's my baby. Who could not love a face like that? Again, I'm a lucky girl!

the home crew cones the dog in 10 easy steps

There is more than one way to cone a dog...or fit a dog with an e-collar, the more precise term...

Are you eager to begin? Emma was not, either....

How to cone the dog in 10 steps. Notice I did not say 'easy', that will all depend...

1. gather your supplies.

A) dog in need of a cone B) the cone of shame or e-collar C) the magic

2. bring out the magic (a delicious people food treat she rarely gets...in our case, it was small pieces of hot dogs)

3. bring out the cone of shame, let her sniff it. Put cone of shame on one of your kids (just hold it there, no need to fasten it) let dog sniff kid and cone. Put cone around your dog's favorite person, let dog sniff. Praise dog the whole time and share a few pieces of magic.

3. place cone of shame on doggy's bed, let her sniff it, praise and treat.

5. put leash on your dog just in case

6. ask dog to sit, and have someone stand behind dog so she cannot back up

7. praise and treat, place cone of shame around doggy, praise and treat very liberally.

8. give some more treats

9. don't do this in the middle of the night, it scares them. ask me how I know...

10. place mushed up towels under food and water bowls so they are tipped at an angle so the dog can use them with the cone on.