And the winner is??????

Congratulations Lyssy!!! you won! Thank you all for participating! Hopefully we can make this a quarterly thing. Considering my love of yarn and fast knitting projects, I think is more than likely.

haiku Tuesday

One duck goes missing

The fog brings humidity

Screech owls aren't picky

click for Kristen

Monday

Hey there! Its me your reluctant homeschooling mom saying that Mondays are not so bad! In the last three weeks we have reached some sanity and our schedule is pretty solid. I am rotating between the subjects so my boys and girl can get individual time for each subject. Right now I am sitting next to my girl encouraging her to stay on task.
  Last night was Greg's and my first opera of the season. It was enjoyable to get out together and the music was phenomenal! We saw Pagliacci. The story was sordid, like most operas, but the orchestra breathed life into each character. Afterwords we stopped by Barnes and Noble to look through books. Its a habit of mine to drool over their fantastic variety in homeschooling and teaching supplies. They had expanded! I got some good ideas for later on in the year and then moved on to the children's section.
  We jetted off to a meeting at church and returned home very tired indeed! So tired that I neglected to set up school for today. Apparently it did bother me because i had a nightmare that Monday went horrid and that I missed the all school e-meeting. It motivated me to wake early and take care of the things I put off yesterday.
  I hope you Monday is going well too!

Mama Griffith GIVEAWAY!!

Yes indeed, its time for the first semi-annual mamagriffith GIVEAWAY. Have you been feeling cold this fall? (all three days of it) Do you wish that you could knit a nice warm alpaca hat but don't have the time??? Well all you have to do is leave a comment and voila! You will be entered into the drawing that will take place on the 30th of September. Don't worry I wont sell your name or e-mail. This is just for fun! Thanks Courtney for the great idea!

my girl

I never suffered the affliction of being downright beautiful, in fact rather the opposite for the majority of my life. Only in the last 7 years have I been able to pull an outfit together without looking too relaxed. Photographs? Oh after I take 2 or 3 I find one tolerable. I'm often baffled how I could have such a photogenic girl. She must have come by it from my husbands side, In fact she reminds me greatly of his sister Kristen. I have seen her childhood pictures. Her son is very similar in face and body to my girl. Last summer an onlooker thought they were twins.(not just because they have the same whine)
Must have been some wood nymph in the family tree somewhere. *wink*

haiku tuesday

Monday night movie
rubber boots beside raincoats
savor each moment


Click for Kristen

Monday

Here it is. Monday In truth this week is less daunting than the last. Probably because a schedule is in place and I am deciphering the best way to meet every ones needs. Mr. Steel did put in a formal request for television during the week this morning. It went like this,
Him-"I want to watch cartoons."
Me- "No today is Monday, no cartoons till Saturday."
Him- "I don't want to do school. School is stupid, ABC's are stupid."
Me-"Sorry honey that's the way it is."
Him-"well I don't like YOU! You are STUPID"
Me- "I love you. Oh, Mr. Steel... did you like it when you had to go to bed early last night because you dumped all my shampoo and conditioner in the tub?"
Him-"no"
Me-"If you keep using mean words you will be back on your bed."
Him-"oh, okay."

In truth the biggest reason for no TV during the week is no distractions. I don't suggest it, in fact half the time I think I am some sort of psycho because TV can be such a great babysitter. Here's the catch. If I cut off during the week television we meet the state required hours without problem because they only have books. (evil laughter) The best part of all? Saturdays. It is the TV day of the week. It means I get to sleep in, lounge around in the AM and not worry about entertainment for my three.

On an entirely other note, Greg is for sure not going on his trip. Many unforeseen things came up that made it impossible. In truth he has been working SO much I didn't realise things working that way. I'm certainly not complaining. We can do Greg gone or Greg home just fine, but a whole month with my guy after this crazy day on day off schedule. You get the picture.

rainy day garden

Its been raining so much the sunflowers look a little confused. Their heads usually follow the sun from east to west. The last few days they have been unsure of which direction to look. Today is pickle day. Wish me luck!

somthing overheard

Thomas- Mr. steel and I are having a boy party. Girls are not allowed.....unless they are pretty.

Me- Oh...my....

don't spill the cup

Yesterday the stress of teaching was starting to get to me. Hey! I'm No super mom. I knew the reason I was feeling a little frazzled was that I cut out exercising. Pushing my body often makes my physical self feel like jell-o but my mind and heart are renewed. Its like being stuck in a cage and then finding the key. My freedom came yesterday in the form of a bike ride to the next town. Originally I had planned on throwing the kids in the car and driving to the ice cream shop about 3 miles away. Shortly after telling the kids to get in the car, I discovered it was gone. I failed to notice my husband driving off a mere 5 minutes earlier.
  Several weeks ago I had looked into biking the kids into town for Friday market. The distance was a bit long and I can only fit two in the bike trailer so I scratched it. Yesterday, being very determined aka stressed out, I remembered they are all able to ride on the bigger bike. This meant when one got tired the other could take over. CheckaROo. Surprisingly we made it there in one piece. Only the blind corner shook my resolve make it. It was a bit scary. God provided a very nice truck driver to slowly follow us so we would not be creamed by other speedy vehicles. We waved a 'thank you' and finished our trek to town in record time. The kids chose their favorite flavors and I plopped down into the bench. Too bad for me that the kids were still bursting with energy. We rode home.
  As far as not spilling the cup, well I'm the cup. I'm one of those people who 'handles' everything. Just keep pouring it into the cup. Giving away responsibility's is hard for me because I feel like if I don't do it might not get done. Yeah Yeah Yeah. It runs in the family. In order to survive this year I am letting go of things even if it makes me feel like a bad house mom who doesn't always get her job done.
  On the lighter side, Greg is probably not going to go away for a month. He has been working so much to get the time off that we are barley seeing each other. He said it just was not worth missing his family so much. I'm not sure if its set in stone or not but my cup feels a  little less full knowing I wont have to go it alone for 30 days.
 

haiku tuesday

my cup runs over

days run into days,more rain

mothers never rest

click for kristen

glorious saturday!

Hurrah!! Saturday is here!

It wasn't long ago that my days were muddled and mixed together and now they never are. Its one of the perks of the school year. I NEVER forget a weekend. Our first full week in school went well.   
My boys powered through kindergarten without a problem. This, to me, was a great relief. For the longest time I feared having to teach another child with Dyslexia.

Last week I discovered my patience. Its been missing since last march. I'm not sure where exactly it went, but its back. (just in time too)

This Friday was our first outing. It was a picnic at the park. Not many families showed up. Considering the fact it was raining all morning, I don't blame them. By the time we got to the park the rain had ceased, leaving overcast skies. Two other families and my girls teacher from last year chatted as the kids raced around the castle. Greg was able to come too,...he was also racing around the castle. I was grateful to meet another mom and pick her brain about schooling etc. The outings are closer to home this year and I think I will make more effort to attend.

My baby dell computer gave me the blue screen of death. For all non-computer nerds out there, this means something is wrong and you need to clean off your computer and re-install the programs and then hope it works. Since we use the computer for school I couldn't have the chance of it dying so as much as I didn't want to I ordered a new (regular sized) one from CCostco.

Today I am going to check my garden and see if I have enough cucumbers to make pickles. Its such a s-l-o-w growing year. Last year at this time everything was nearly done producing. Funny.
  It feels so much like fall! This morning I woke to shotgun noise..also very fall-ish.

kids kids kids

On sunday we had quite the pack of kids over. Hannah, Ivan, Kyla and Taleah added to my three kids.

cival war pics!

school pics

haiku

I cant think of words

counting syllables might work

urgh..not today.. meh

this challange is turning out to be quite difficult, haiku writing isnt my strong point at all. click for kristen

cold weather gardening

Its a miracle that things are still growing its so blasted COLD!! The sunflowers are so late. I love their happy faces.

first day...not so bad

What you cruel woman! You started school on labor day. Well, yes I did. It was fakey school. I cut off the television, made them brush their teeth in the AM, had them assemble at 8 and went thought a few small lessons. We could have waited till Wednesday. I decided two days of practice would be nice before the BIG push of 2 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours a day. They all did so well! Oh me of little faith. All three at desks with things to do...oh sigh, I hope this is a sign of things to come.

civil war!!

No its not the ducks vs. the beaves. Its the civil war reenactment over memorial day weekend! Its my fathers tradition to go and this year he took the boys. My middle 'sheldon like' child was refusing to remove his body from the TV unless I came to escort, so I went. It was fun to experience the whole thing through the boys eyes. Mr. Steel was SO impressed he was giggling with delight when the cannons went off during the battle. Both boys pointed out the dead and dying very enthusiastically...too bad the cousins were not there with us. Mr. Steel came home with a metal cap gun. He shot and entire pack up in the hour after we reached home. This year there were more families doing the reenacting. Groups of little 8-10 year old boys ran around with toy guns planning out war strategies. So cute and very BOY. We left the princess home so the boys would have a chance to be boyish. *wink* hopefully I will get a chance to upload pics later tonight or tomorrow. If you have the time and are in the area you should give it a whirl. Its only $15 for parking.  Hope your weekend is going GREAT!

a few oldies

a breath of fresh air

Finally I got to see him. It feels like eons since I got to be with my spouse. With his work schedule being crazy and him visiting family and friends I have felt a bit of a void. When Greg comes home I have to restrain myself from telling him everything at once.
Its good to have him back.

On another note, I have been kicking around the idea of breeding meat rabbits again. *shock* Gasp*
"Mamagriffith!" Yeah, Its not P.C. meat but I actually like the taste. I raised and breed rabbits when I was a kid. My dad did the killing.....Greg will be doing the killing. Not sure I would ever be able to look the large marble size eyes and kkkwwweeeeekkkkk. (finger drags across throat) I did toy with the thought of a bunny giotine, you know a little carrot at the end. Perhaps even the dog could be trained to pull the rope. In a black hood. Wearing a spike collar.

Funny memories are also associated with rabbits. One that came to mind was the time my Grandparents came to visit. Lets note that these grandparents were not 'farmey' and they didn't come to see us very often. I was never comfortable with them when I was young, but I desperately wanted to please them. If I remember correctly it was the only time they came and visited us in Idaho.  I had just received two mature breeding rabbits and was eager to get the baby process started. I threw them together as my grandma came into the back yard......Needless to say I didn't even get close to impressing her, she was just horribly uncomfortable. As I would be if I were just seeing my granddaughter after over a year.

At least now it makes me chuckle a bit.