Brighton Park {sponsor luv}

~Sponsored content

Here's a shout-out to returning sponsor {Brighton Park}, which has a new look!  I must be a blog-geek, because I notice new designs right away...

Brighton Park is all about inspired living for homemakers and homeschoolers.  Katie has a little bit of everything going on at her blog, and it is all pretty inspiring.  She was recently featured on parenting.com and Hobby Farm Magazine.

Katie is a homemaker, yoga teacher, homeschooler, mom to a special needs child, vegan, artful - she is an interesting person and this all spills out onto her blog.  You can read about homesteading, cooking, crafting with your kids, homeschooling and other interesting things she has going on.

Click on over for a good read, and thank you, Katie for being a sponsor this month :)

7 Quick Takes Science-fair edition

~1~

I introduced Amie to yoga.  She is enjoying a kids yoga class.  I love this studio, isn't it beautiful?  I can't even remember what this move is called, I think it was the "belly train".  Sky thinks it looks like a bunch of dominoes tipped over :)

~2~

Meg has been dreaming for most of her life to barrel race horses.  We had to sit her down once, a long time ago, and explain that this would not happen, we couldn't afford horse-riding lessons.  Well, fast forward to 17 years of age....and she made it happen.  She has been so tenacious with her desire to be around horses, to the point of calling random stables in nearby cities/counties and trying to arrange to work for lessons.  Which, she did.  And now, here we are... funny, as I went through my photos of this event for editing, I noticed that in all of the photos of Meg competing, she is grinning wildly.

you go, Meg!

~3~

Yes, it looks like, walks like and smells like Science-Fair season!!  Meg had a big project/ Science-Fair experiment/research paper for Chemistry, and Josie had a research paper/Science-fair presentation and 3 D model of a cell.  She did her project on the red blood cell, and here is her cell model.  Can you see the oxygen stuck on the hemoglobin?? I got a kick out of that part!  :)

~4~

In the midst of all this Mad-Science, I opened up my fridge and noticed that Meg's container of 200 blue-bottle fly pupae were hatching.  Just the sort of thing every mom expects to see on her butter shelf....blah!  I requested she go free them.

~5~

Went to a new student orientation meeting with Josie at the Performing Arts School.  I was really impressed, I think she is going to have a great year.  She picked graphic arts, animation and piano for her electives - and these classes take place during the academic portion of her day, they aren't even part of her art conservatory portion.  Very cool.

~6~

We are on the home-stretch with Farmer Boy.  I am really enjoying this book, somehow I skipped it when I read all the other Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  I'm reading it primarily for my boy, I hope he is soaking up the lessons on hard work and integrity.  As for me, Almanzo's mother makes me feel very, very lazy, I don't think that woman ever sat down! Lazy, and hungry...that book has a lot of good food mentioned.

~7~

Our new kitchen island project is very close to being completed.  Sky completely demolished the old island, there was nothing left but a spot on the floor with missing tiles. He then built this island frame here, from scratch.  Including these drawers.  The bottom two big drawers will hold our pots, pans and lids.  The drawers are fancy/smancy and will finish closing by themselves if you don't close them all the way.  I don't even know what the term for that is...but it's really cool. My new stove-top is in place...drool....and this Saturday Sky will attempt to pour a concrete counter top on the island.  He has never done this before, but I have complete confidence, the man can do just about anything he sets his mind on.  He also has mad-concrete knowledge/skills.  I always found it amusing that he had to take a concrete class in college. Who's laughing now, Jenn, who???  Not me- I will be grateful for my  new stained-concrete counter and will never, ever call concrete "cement" again just to make Sky mad.

Amen.

hope you are having an awesome week, bloggy friends! 7 Quick Takes happens every Friday at Conversion Diary. Hop on over and join up!

stepping back onto the yoga mat

Yesterday, as I was getting ready for the day- I felt the need to stretch my legs a bit. Just a bit.

Then I moved into natarajasana- dancer's pose. My muscles remembered. My body was happy, "here is what I need!" my body seemed to sigh out.

As my arms stretched above my head, I thought about how as adults, having our arms stretched out, above our heads- is something we almost never experience. How very sad for us.

It felt good, stretching my muscles, my tendons, opening my heart, waking up my sleepy mind.

I slipped into the pose as deeply as I remembered, though it's been a year since I've practiced. I don't know what that says about my practice before..eek!

"Yoga practice is like life
Each circumstance in which we find ourselves is like a pose.
Some poses are hard to hold, others are pleasant.
It is how we hold the pose that determines whether or not we will suffer or grow
And whether or not we will listen to the drama of the ego or the wisdom of the spirit."

My yoga mat called, it misses me...

Zen Jen

Thoughts from the yoga studio:

ohh, I really like this studio...nice green color on the walls. I wonder what shade it is? Would that color look good in my bathroom? Or hallway? I don't like the color we painted the hallway, but would Sky be put-out that I want to repaint so soon? That reminds me, I still haven't hung any photos up in the hallway...

oh good, sun salutations...these are my favorites.

Nice small group of ladies here. That red-head looks a lot like our old pediatrician. She was so nice. I miss her. She has 7 kids, not likely to be her, not like she would have the time, successful pediatrician and mother of 7 and all...I should bake some cookies and take them to her office.

I really like the paint in this studio..but oh, look, a crack already on the wall. That would really bug Sky. I wonder why it is there, this being a new building? I wonder if they know it is there?

Okay, stop, stop...concentrate on the breath. Why can't I touch my toes? ohh, I like the way she went into the triangle pose, I've always had a hard time with my left side, it makes sense the way she approached it, so yes..I'm doing it right, I'm just not that flexible on that side for some reason...

oh goody, more sun salutations...I like these. Why did my knee pop? Was that my knee?

Concentrate on the breath. How can I inhale and lunge at the same time? Or is it exhale and lunge? This part has always eluded me.

My feet are cold. I knew I should have gotten my special yoga socks out of my bag.
..But I didn't want to be the freak trying to figure out how to put them on, besides being the freak wearing socks, because no one wears socks in yoga. Would it be really disruptive if I got up and went to the back and got my socks?

..And-then...took them out and tried to figure out how to get them on. No. I'll suffer through.

Concentrate on the breath. I like this class. ohhh, she has a Tibetan singing bowl, very cool.

Breathe. stop thinking.
okay, I acknowledge the thoughts and don't dwell on them and let them go.... breathe.
stop thinking....

oh look, the girl on the right just put on some socks.
My feet are soo cold. I wonder if she has raynaud's syndrome too?

I covet her socks. My feet are really icy. It's wrong to covet. I should pray.
But, is it wrong as a yogi to covet? First do no wrong...it's not like I'm going to go and take her socks...I just wish I had mine on.

my feet are cold. Concentrate on the breath.
my feet are cold.

Thou shall not covet.

I'm going to buddhist hell....no, make that hindi hell...

just ignore the cold feet, rise above it. Stick it out.
How much longer is this class? You know, this kind of defeats the whole relaxing point if you can't wait for it to end, because your feet are cold...

Fine, I'll go get my special yoga socks.

How do you put these on? Oh, wrong foot, big toe goes on other side.
dang my weird, freaky little pinky toes!! I can't get them through the toe-holes. Careful! You don't want to break a pinky toe for the 4 th time, that really, really hurts.

And it's the reason why my toes are freaky looking. Probably.

oh much better. Warm feet. Except my toes.
Better than nothing.

Concentrate on the breath.

oh yea-hhh...that's how you do downward-facing dog...do I rock, or what?! I've got a great downward-facing dog..

Stop thinking.

I hate the corpse pose. It's like this big waste of time. We're not really doing ANYTHING. Can't we at least do a reclining- pigeon pose, because then, you know-we'd be doing something constructive like stretching our hamstrings, not just lying here, doing nothing.
relax.
doing nothing.
Now I'm cold all over, not just my feet. Can we just leave now?

"Namaste". I love that word. After "Grace", that is my favorite word. And "Serendipity", that is a top word, too.
Wow, what a great class! I feel great! I think I'll come back next week.

I'll just bring better socks.

Have to call Sky now and tell him I went to yoga class, because you know, I rock now. I'm fit. Or I will be. Lets think positive thoughts.
wait, that's a yoga thing, right?