Is it time yet?

Countdown to Christmas!

Guess who is just a touch excited?

Had to post another photo

Here's little Coco.  Isn't she adorable? 

Look at who followed me

Look at who followed me home today!  She is up for adoption with the local no kill shelter but is too young to stay with the other kitties in the cages at the local pet store.  So I get to foster her until the kitty adoption fair next weekend to find her forever home.

Isn't she ADORABLE?!?

BirdMan Gift Guide

Next up, BirdMan.  He is a very sensitive little boy who is very open with his affection.  It was obvious since he could walk that birds were a central interest to him.

One of the absolute best gifts for him was a simple birdfeeder.  Yep, a birdfeeder.  I recommend three types of feeders.  One is a your standard feeder with a cage that keeps out the big piggy birds like blue jays and starlings.  

The second best birdfeeder is made

 just for finches and holds thistle.  The coolest part of this feeder is that the finches have to hang upside down to eat and they gladly put on their acrobatic show every day.  

The third

 feeder is a suet feeder.  Spectacular woodpeckers will sit right outside your window and demonstrate the unlimited beauty that mother nature so willingly displays in all her creations.

Of course you also need some field guides so you can identify all your new feathered friends. Just a warning here, this becomes addictive and branches out to studying maps and migrations patterns. It may quickly overtake your home but the depth of learning involved in fostering a love for birdwatching is tremendous.

BirdMan also love building things. His favorite building set is K'nex. They are great because of how they can bend and form gears, pulleys, you name it! I found a huge set used from a local homeschool family. 

We must have three tubs of K'nex and the entire neighborhood LOVES to play with them. This is a toy that will grow with your little engineer through the years.

 Take a look at the one I've got linked above. It is a huge set with instructions on how to build world famous landmarks. It would be so cool to study a country and then build a building located in the country!

Chirstmas Gifts- Homeschool style

My kidlets are leafing through the Christmas catalogs we've received and I noticed today that there was only one toy my daughter marked in the big ol' Target toy catalog. 

I started thinking about how the best toys my kids have received aren't the typical toys found in catalogs.  So for your browsing pleasure, here are some of their favs:

GooseyGirl- she is artsy, loves to read and adores bathroom humor.  She is also into cats, horses and American Idol.  What are some of her top gift items from the last year?

Stinky Thinking- This book is nothing but bathroom jokes.  The twist is that the bathroom jokes are all disguised as math problems.  She willingly sits down and will do math p

roblems for 30 minutes just because they all center around fart jokes. 

 

The Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls by Klutz- 

She got this when she was six and played with it exclusively over her other toys for days.  There are gobs of outfits to punch out and backgrounds to place them all.  Plus the back of the book has storage bins for all the pieces.  She loved this book and used it thoroughly.  

Last year she got the

 next paper doll book by Klutz entitled Paper Fashions Kit.

  It is full of funky papers and sturdy cardstock patterns for all the stylish elements a sensible paper fashion doll needs.  This book was different from the one above since she could make all the decisions about pattern and style herself.  She still plays with this book and has made a binder with all her fashion creations.  I love the little metal hangers that come with the book- too cute!

Her next favorite gift is an Ipod.  Yep, I discovered that I can limit the types of music she is exposed to by keeping her download music list on my computer.  I would get uncomfortable with allowing her to listen to the radio.  There are some really trashy radio programs out there.  Plus, some of the songs that are broadcast- don't get me started.  

I bought a refurbished Ipod Nano from the Apple store for about $100 and she listens to it at least once a day.  It is so much fun listening to her sing along!  

Her favorite artists are from American Idol which is a must see show in this household!  I also upload Jim Weiss stories, Rabbit Ears Stories and First Language Lessons stories to her Ipod so she can listen to things we've talked about during school time.

I've heard the new Ipods even have a limiter on the volume level of the earbuds.  That would be a nice feature.  

Another great book she would pick up again and again is Look Alikes.  The entire book has photographs that are incredibly realistic.  It is only after you look deeply at them that you notice everything is made of common household items.  The sidewalk in the street scene?  Fig Newtons.  The arches in the train station?  Rackets from a badminton game.  

Click on the links and you can open up a sample page.  This series of books is perfect for your visual learner.  Check out the Christmas version too!  Smaller kiddos would like Look Alike Jr.

Other great toys include Groovy Girls and a box of office supplies- she loved all those post it notes!

Her favorite games so far include Apples to Apples, Rush Hour Jr. and Rat-a-Tat-Cat.

Happy Shopping!  I'll post BirdMan and RocketMan's list in the next day or two!  (If you subscribe to my feed via email or a news reader, you'll be notified ASAP- check out the boxes on the right!)

It's official. I'm newly single.

Well, after 13 months of enduring a contentious divorce, I got the final papers in the mail today.  

I'm newly single as of Nov. 13.

I feel like I should have some sort of ceremony or party or something to mark this transition but I can't seem to figure out what ceremony should be.  A friend of mine recommended that it should involve a large margarita with a cosmo on the side.  But that doesn't quite seem right.

I don't know.  Any thoughts?

A nest of pain and a nest for a conure

I haven't been posting much lately and I apologize.

My kidlets and I are surviving the pangs of divorce and the transition to public school from homeschooling.

Many days the thoughts and ideas I have aren't necessarily for public consumption.  Let's just say that I have discovered surviving a divorce is worse than surviving a death.  

 There doesn't seem to be an end to the emotional destruction caused by my ex-husbands choices for both myself and my children.

I do have one smile for you today, though.  BirdMan was walking around with Apollo, his pet conure.  The bird likes to sleep inside a hanging tent that kind of squishes him as he nestles up in the corners.  I suppose he feels safe with the pressure holding him in as he relaxes into sleep.

BirdMan had on his hoody and Appollo climbed up in between his ear and the fabric.  I guess Apollo was sleepy and this felt comfortable.  Everytime the flash went off, Apollo would poke his head out to see what the heck was going on!  Too cute!

Jo Jo

I had to put my kitty, Jo Jo, to sleep this morning. She was 13 and had been with me through so much.

She always knew when to jump in my lap to offer me comfort. Her need to be physically close to me was always soothing. At times, she would sleep on my pillow with me and I would fall asleep listening to her purr.

I found her at a kitty shelter. She was this scrawny, wirey kitty who was clinging to the wires of the cage while screaming her head off. I knew immediately that she was the one for me. Why her complaining and fighting spirit called to me, I'll never know.

She hated to be held. She would complain and fight until you put her down. But she adored snuggling up in my lap. One time she ate some of the ribbons off some presents and I had to take her to the vet. They got the ribbons out of her intestines but they called to tell me that there may be something else wrong as she complains like crazy whenever anyone tries to hold her. I smiled and said that I would be right over to get her as she sounded perfectly normal and healthy. That was Jo Jo. She allowed you to love her on her terms.

Her fur has absorbed so many of my tears and sorrow over the last 13 years. Her green eyes have taught me to appreciate the moment around me in new ways. Her voice has called to me when she wanted to rest on my lap or have some snuggle time.

She was wonderfully loved and I will miss her dearly.

I was able to stay with her while the vet put her to sleep. As her eyes glazed and her breathe slowed, I kissed her ears and rubbed her brows saying, "I love you. I'll miss you. And thank you. Thank you for being my kitten."

Quilting Service Open for Business!

I have officially opened my new quilting business! Quilted Treasures by Angela is ready for you.

I offer T-shirt quilts, memory quilts, wedding quilts, baby quilts and I also do longarm quilting for those of you who have quilt tops to finish.

Working from home will allow me to be the hands on single triplet mom I want to be.

Stop by my online home and check it out!

An Acrostic Poem on my Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

On my birthday I got a coupon from GooseyGirl for a free manicure and as I type this my hot pink glittery nail polish is positively blinding!

I also got a sweet card from RocketMan who never expresses emotions freely. He drew a sweet photo of "us loving". Too cute! And I have no idea where I'll spend my quarter he taped to my card. :)

Finally, BirdMan wrote a story entitled, "What is Love?"

• One time I asked my mom what is love and she said love is something that is kindness. Then I said I was going to see if other people knew and then I knew love was showing kindness.

BirdMan also wrote an acrostic poem for me:

Make great food
Of all the great moms!
Moms are great
Say your manners to your mom.

Happy Birthday to me! I'm incredibly blessed by my kidlets and all that they teach me about life.

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, parenting, family, homeschooler, children, unschooling, teaching

Kentucky State Fair and some philosophy

We went out to the miserable and excruciatingly hot Ky State Fair in 100+ degrees- ICK!

But the kidlets had fun. They did the rock wall, watched an alligator show and even got selected to participate in a balloon show inside a 70,000 balloon jungle. I'll sprinkle the photos throughout the rest of this post as I move to the philosophical side of this blog entry.

I read today that everything you do is out of either fear or love. Everything. Take a breath for a minute and really decide if you can latch on to that idea.





It resonated with me as I struggle through the mess of my divorce.








I've been reading a bunch about forgiveness and I'm still stuck. How do you forgive something if that person now pretends that nothing happened? How do you forgive something really terrible when the person doesn't express any remorse? How do you forgive someone for what they've done repeatedly to your children? How? Is it possible?

How can forgiveness of someone not be directly linked to to that person's remorse? How can you forgive when they can't understand, admit or own what it is they've done? How is it possible to move toward forgiveness?

I have been wondering for the last three years how certain choices and actions have been made by my soon-to-be-ex. During that time, I have emotionally drifted from anger that ripples through me unheeded, to deep sadness over the end of what I believed to be my future.

Through all of these emotions I know that being able to forgive him will be the key to healing myself. But it is so difficult as he continues to lash out through every legal and non-legal means possible. Forgiveness isn't only required for the past but for the present as well. How does one do both? Is it possible?

Then, yesterday, I thought more about the idea that all action originates out of love or fear. I tried to put all of his choices and actions in either the fear category or the love category. That's when I had the startling thought that what he is doing and what he has done may actually have very little to do with me. I know darn well it isn't out of love- so that leaves fear.

Fear. Loss of control. Loss of material possessions. Loss of influence. Loss of respect. Loss of self. Loss of one's world view. Loss of status. Loss of family.

Somehow it makes it less personal and therefore easier to move toward forgiveness regardless of the other person and those illusive reasons 'why'.

I'm not saying I've forgiven him. I just don't know how or when that will be possible. But for a moment, I had a small window where I saw that the healing power of forgiveness might be possible through the understanding that the other person's choices had very, very little to do with me and therefore remorse isn't necessary.

So here's my question for you. Once you forgive someone, is it final or do you find that you must continually make the choice of forgiveness? Do you forgive and forget or is that impossible for somethings?

Rocketman- so handsome!

Isn't RocketMan handsome? All the neighbor kids were playing K'nex in the backyard. Mowing the grass the next day was murder.

Today wrapped up the first week of public school for my kidlets. They had a good week. In fact, GooseyGirl was disappointed that they wouldn't be going to school since it was Saturday. Isn't that great!

She was upset that today in Art class they had to leave early since the four hellions in their class started throwing crayons . These four boys must have some serious issues at home because they are WILD!

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, parenting, family, homeschooler, children, unschooling, teaching

Lincoln

Tomorrow I go to mediation over child custody issues. I'm hopeful we can avoid trial. I tripped over this quote and I thought it was quite relevant for my divorce.

Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself, can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper, and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones, though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for the right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite. - Abraham Lincoln

First Day Tears

My kidlets started public school for the first time yesterday. The boys seemed to do okay but GooseyGirl really had a rough time. She was seated next to a boy who is the class clown and was getting her into trouble.

The teacher uses a green, yellow, red sign and GooseGirl almost had to put her name on yellow yesterday because of this distracting boy sitting next to her. She was in tears when she got home, her stomach had butterflies and then she ended up in my bed in the middle of the night due to bad dreams.

I wrote a note to the teacher and asked that GooseyGirl be moved away from him. Hopefully that will work and she'll have a better day today. All three of them asked if they'd have to go to school again today for another seven hours. They said they liked our school where we only do 3 hours a day.

I guess I just want them to love it. They have a high love for learning now and I want that to flourish. RocketMan said math was great. They only did plussing under 10. YIKES- this is the kid who is doing long division on his own.

I know, I know, it is the first day- baby steps, baby steps. This is going to be a difficult transition.

In quilty news, I finished a Batik top today. I'm working on a website for my quilts and will soon have it ready for launch! This top was done completely out of my scrap drawer. Gotta love a pro-bono quilt top!


Technorati Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, parenting, family, homeschooler, children, unschooling, teaching

First Day of School

Well, today is the day. The first day of third grade. I am surprisingly okay with the end of our homeschooling journey. I thought I would be able to tailor their education to their passions for many more years but then life happens. Trying to continue homeschooling as a single parent isn't possible for me.

But I like their teacher and they are very excited about school. I am trusting in the goodness of the universe as we swing toward traditional school for the first time. This transition is going to be hard and I will have to deal with a myriad of feelings as they hit those inevitable rocky patches.

Last night RocketMan told me, "Mom, I wish you could home school us again." My heart broke.

This morning RocketMan said, "I hope our teacher this year is as nice as our Kindergarten teacher." As their former Kindergarten teacher I needed that little word hug.

Last night GooseyGirl couldn't sleep and she got out her history notebook and read through all the history we covered in 1st and 2nd grade. I was impressed with how much she remembered about Alexander and Beaucephalus, Attila the Hun, Osiris, Buddha, Constantine, and Clovis.

Perhaps we'll move towards afterschooling to keep up with history and latin. I don't know what is store for us but I trust that it is only for the good and I welcome the changes in my life as an opportunity to learn more.

So, yeah, I'm a bit melancholy but I'm also excited for them. I wish I could be a fly on the wall today!

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Delectable Mountain Quilt Finished!

I got the Delectable Mountain Quilt finished! I used freemotion feathers, vines and leaves throughout. Enjoy the eye candy.

Neighbors

The kidlets and I moved in with my parents this past Spring due to divorce. It was a big adjustment for everyone and I was concerned about the children.

How would they feel about living in a different home without a lot of space to call their own? Would they find some other kidlets to play with?

I shouldn't have worried. This neighborhood is crawling with kidlets just their age. I looked out my window recently and there were 10+ elementary age kiddos in our court having a ball. It looked like we were having another birthday party. The photo you see is of the twins across the street playing K'nex with BirdMan for hours on our back patio.

Last week one of the neighbors asked the kidlets if they wanted to head up to the local pool with her and her kids. I went with them and as I was chatting to her she said, "You know, my next door neighbor and I were talking recently. We were saying what a blessing your children have been to our street. They have connected all the other kids to each other and treat everyone with so nicely."

Proud? You betcha.
Touched? Yep.
Relieved? Definitely.

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, parenting, family, homeschooler, children, unschooling, teaching

Down on the Farm (horse farm that is)

One of the pharmacists my dad works with has a horse habit. She invited the kidlets out to ride this week. They LOVED it. First thing to catch their eyes were all the cats.



Then they met some peacocks including this albino one.






Next up was brushing JellyBean the horse and putting her saddle on.





Finally they got to ride a trail horse and groom another beautiful horse.

Technorati Tags: homeschooling, home school, education, home education, parenting, family, homeschooler, children, unschooling, teaching