Please Forgive Me

I have been a baaad, baaaaaad, blogger, and have neglected you, dear readers. I hope this photo offering is enough to make it up to you!

Our growing abundance this year:

Sunflowers

Apricots

Grapes

Today I harvested the apricots: left two for the birds, since they had already helped themselves to half of them, ate five out of hand, and turned the rest in to one 8oz jar of apricot butter. And this was only the second year, first year to bear fruit! Next year should be great, especially if we take good care of our tree. A would not try an apricot, but E almost lynched me when I told her she could not have any more since I was making the butter. She forgave me when I gave her a taste of the apricot butter and told her she could have some on a biscuit for breakfast.

The two grapevines are covered with clusters like the picture above. Last year we only got one cluster and the grapes were very small but sweet. This year should be a very good harvest. A will eat these, too!

Yesterday, we went up to the mountain with the Life Learners. It was a lovely day, with the temps up there about 20 degrees cooler than down here. The spot we met at had picnic tables next to a stream and the kids had a blast playing in the water, building dams and fairy houses. It was a smaller group than we have had lately and that had it's advantages. More intimate, quieter and less kids to keep track of. C even got to come with us and that was really nice! He really appreciated the chance to enjoy a Life Learner day with us and I enjoyed not having to make the drive myself. Anyway, enjoy the pictures below: E carrying rocks for the dam.

The girls and their friend starting work on the fairy hotel by the water.


The completed hotel, with a feast laid out for the fairies.

A lovely wildflower, don't know what it is though.

I have so much more to say, but I am not up for it right now. I promise I will be back soon!

My Mothering Style

This morning I went to the blog of Tammy over at Jabober and she has a post about this mothering style quiz. You can take the quiz here.
I did not expect it to be so accurate! And I love that the title of my style is Love of Learning. How perfect for an unschooling mom!

Here are the full results:

Your type is: intp —The “Love of Learning” Mother
“I keep the encyclopedia in the kitchen so we can look up things together while we eat.”
Intellectually curious and patient, the INTP mother relishes those times with a child when they are learning something interesting together. Whether they’re at the zoo or computer terminal, she sparks to answering his or her “whys” with in-depth responses or new knowledge.
The INTP mother is also objective and introspective. She listens to and discusses children’s ideas and questions as she would those of a peer, fostering self-esteem and confidence. Open and non-directive, she allows children the freedom to do for themselves and quietly encourages them to believe they can do it.
Independence, autonomy, intellectual development, and self-reliance are probably the INTP’s highest priorities for her children. An avid reader, she naturally imparts an appreciation and love of reading as well.
Drawn to all types of learning, the INTP may also value her mothering experience for all the new insights about life it provides her.

Gifts

My sweet girls got me a Mother's day present today and had to give it to me early. C took them out shopping and when they got back, they had me open it. It was a pair of diamond earrings! Nice little studs, just my size. I love them! I burst into tears the minute I opened the box and saw them. C said E had first picked out some 3 carot sized earrings, but thankfully decided they were too big! He also said the sales lady was a bit taken back when he kept deferring to the girls about which ones to get. Like she couldn't believe he would leave a major jewelry purchase in the hands of two kids. Well, they could not have picked a more perfect gift! They were both so excited when they saw how much I loved them. I am so blessed!

The girls were very excited today for another reason. The pool went up! It is almost full, we will top it off during the day tomorrow, but they have already been in it, cold water and all. We have the solar cover on, so it should warm up quick. Here are some pictures of the setting up:

We had a nice time splashing around in the shallow water as it started to fill and later, A got in and swam around when it was about 18 inches deep. E said it was too cold, and at 68 degrees I had to agree with her! She is eager to get in though and do a hand stand under water. And to remember how to swim, she says. We will leave the trampoline up for a few more days and then take it down for the summer.

The Deep Frying Pain!

That, by the way is A's favorite expression right now. I guess she got it from Spongebob. It cracks me up every time she exclaims it.

We had a lovely day with the Life Learners today at a park with a water play area. It was hot, too, so the water was much welcomed and enjoyed. Even by me! The kids get such a kick out of me going in the water with them, I can't help but have a blast. I even had buckets of water dumped on me by one little girl. She got me good on one side and thought it was a hoot when I told her I was uneven and needed wetting on the other side.

Later this evening, E got out all the kid cups and decided to build a tower with them. We had fun seeing how big we could make it before it fell over.


That's all I got to say right now. Later!

Love, Love, Love this!

“Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

That....so...totally....sums it up for me. What more can I say?

'Nuff Said

Thoze Amazing Crazy Dayz...or not: To BE or not to BE

Check out this awesome post from my good friend Justine! And do stay a while and peruse the rest of her blog, it's awesome!

Uncanny

Ok, here is a picture of me, 12 years ago, mind you, right after I colored my hair. I would classify this color as the wildest I have ever gone. I went outside the realm of normal hair color. Ok, normal for me, I have friends with hair much redder, naturally.

And here are the results of a silly Blogthing quiz about hair color:

Your Hair Should Be Red

Passionate, fiery, and sassy. You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

I'm a little freaked out by the resemblance between me and that redhead above. Maybe it is time for a little color in my life, er, I mean hair....

Slidin'!

The heat has arrived. The Slip and Slide came out today. Much wet splashing sliding fun was had. The countdown to pool set up has begun. Five days to go....

Bouncin'!

E asks me almost every day when it will be summer. What she really means is when will we put the pool up. The plan is next weekend, but for now, a hose and a trampoline make for some warm (hot) weather fun. Here the girls are jumping over the stream of water. We also set up the hose to spray gently up in the air to rain down on us while we jumped. That was fun! If you did a sit bounce, the water would all jump up off the surface of the mat, like little soldiers coming to attention all around you. I have to admit to getting a little too excited while jumping and knocking my girls into the net a few times! Too much fun!

Rockin'!

Today we went to this cool place called Calico Basin with the Life Learners. Well, it was cooler before they renovated it, but we made do and had a good time anyway!

There is a spring that comes out of a cave at the base of the mountain, with a meadow that grows because of all the water there. The kids could walk around this boardwalk type path and sort of explore. Before you had free reign of the meadow and the cave with the spring and all, but now they have it "protected", so the only exploring is from afar and by reading the signs. So much like school. Learn what we put in front of you, don't stray off the path, we don't trust you to know what you need, blah, blah, blah.

Needless to say the whole group of us strayed off that path and went to check out that cave, darn it! Granted one of the kids went right up to a Prickly Pear cactus that had been planted and plucked one of the flowers. It would have withered and fallen off anyway, but we had her put it back for the wildlife to have it. Not till I got a picture, of course.

Near the end of the day, when the sun had gone behind the ridge, those of us left headed out for a hike to climb the rocks. We went beyond the fenced in area, where we could explore freely. The kids had a blast scrambling up the rocks and checking out the wild formations Mother Nature made out of those rocks. They found a cool little pocket in the rock, where a couple kids could fit inside. It was hard to keep them from running way ahead of us, they were so excited! One of the girls ran across a scorpion. He looks big in that picture, but he was really quite small. Good thing she did not put her hand on it! I showed the picture of him to the little ones who did not want to go up and see him in person. The wonder of digital photography!

On the way back down to the cars, we saw this beautiful clump of blooming cactus, so I got the group of kids to gather round for a photo. They obliged. The setting sun was lighting up the hills beyond and it was just so peaceful. What a wonderful day with our friends!

Tiny Comedy

The scene: at our friend's house for a playdate

The players: A, E and their two girlfriends

The action: four girls spinning like tops, in the livingroom

A: "Let's spin and spin till we get dizzy and..."

E: (right on cue) "...throw up"

I nearly peed my pants laughing!

Phenomenal Feline

A moment in our day:

A and her kitty, Serafina Sweetie Baby.

The same cat attempting to enter low earth orbit. Notice the heights achieved by this average feline.

And for good measure, E holding her down, since gravity seems to not be working too well in our house tonight.

Blatant Promotion

I am just tickled pink, to put it in my dear southern husband's terms, to find that my article that was published in Live Free Learn Free is now on the internet as well! It has been highlighted as a sample article and for anyone interested, you can go see it here. And for all you unschoolers out there who are not familiar with this publication, I highly recommend it as the best unschooling magazine out there!
Ok, promo, self and otherwise, over.