Brown Beginnings

Craftsy Update=)

2012-01-14T16:52:00.000-05:00

Hello all!!

We finally got our first snow day! Woot Woot! And with all that extra time, I took on a project I've been dying to do (for like THREE WHOLE DAYS!!!). A Photography Light Box!

I have had tons of pictures to take of my PrettyPickle earrings because I made a bunch for craft shows, plus I found several awesome fabric recently I just had to buy for earrings!!

So, here I am with a ba-jillion pairs of earrings, waiting to make it to my etsy page. The difficult thing was lighting. I don't have great windows or areas in my house in which to take pictures. I try to do it outside when I can, or in the 2 hours we get good light by the kitchen window. This was a difficult thing to do!!! Bad weather, never home at the right time, inconsistent photos.....I was getting frustrated!

Here is what my pictures used to look like. Set up on the kitchen table, with a cloth underneath. Nice detail, but a little on the "homemade" side.

So, I made a light box. The photos are A-Mazing!!!!

Yea, I took that picture!!! Isn't it cool! Looks so professional right?!?

I started off with looking up some tutorials on how to make these things. I went to pinterest.com first of course. I found some great ideas!! I ended up going with one that included a translucent white tote.

At first, I just set up the box and used two lights that I already had downstairs in my craft room. The pictures were ok and worked up pretty good with an editing website (my fav is picnik.com). But I knew I could do better.

Before picture edited using picnik.com

I went out today and got some daylight bulbs, 2 clip on lamps ($5 a piece), and a large piece of poster board. As soon as I got home, I started assembling! I cut the poster board down to size and curved the top as I fit it inside the tote to give a seamless look in the background of the photos. I draped some fabric to soften the lighting more. I clipped those lights on, turned them on, and started clicking! I am very impressed with the outcome. I wish there was a little less shadow, but seriously, I'm not complaining=).

After using picnik.com for minor editing (very little actually!!!!)

Here is my light box in full. Not expensive at all to make, but super profession outcome.

Here is a picture of the craft room. I rearranged some things and added some dressers for storage.

I would really like to put in some floating shelves lined with jute baskets for organizing my fabric, but thats gonna have to be another day=).

Well, I just wanted to share some of my crafting adventures with you all. Enjoy=)

Fall @ Brown Acre

2011-11-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

Hello all!! Keeping with my usual blogging abilities, I purposefully skipped two months to keep you on your toes and checking back frequently=). Right. I will never be one of those bloggers who updates regularly, has a fan base, and gets money from advertisers in the side bars.

But thats not really the point for me.

So to those of you who occasionally continue to check my blog, here is whats been happening!

I started a craft group on FB that will meet once a month at my house to craft something together!! How fun!!!! I can't wait for our first meeting. I made the wreath below as practice, so I could be more of a helper when everyone is here.

Simple and rustic, just how I like it! Kole and I gathered sticks of roughly the same diameter, cut them to size, and glued them to a cardboard ring I had previously covered in twine. Easy Peasy!

Football was a HUGE part of our lives from Aug-Oct. Here is one of the last games. Kole got a trophy that he was super pumped about. This night, they had a "bomb" fire (koles words) and a DJ. Pizza and Drinks. And crazy football boys ages 5-10 running around=).

Kole was a blocker. I think it is called a guard? Yes, beside the center. He LOVED football.

Can't wait to play tackle next year.

Pushing the other guys on the line. Why this is fun for boys, I may never know. But as a momma, I was the one with the t-shirt that said Koles Mom. I even tried to make a giant foam finger. I was so proud of him for doing his best! It was a blast to watch.

Hopefully this video works. They are playing after the game=)

Nana and Grandaddy!

I have been working on a sewing unit at school with my students. I wrote 2 grants at the end of the school year last year and I actually got them both!!! I bought 20 sewing machines and a TON of fabric. My students made a pillow project for themselves first. Now we are finishing up the community service projects. Each class chose a community organization that gives back to the community in some special way. We then called them and asked what they could use that we could make and donate. I have one class making rag quilts and pillows for the childrens hospital wing. Another is making PJ pants for a homeless shelter. And another class is making aprons and potholders for the Soup Opera, which feeds people for free daily.

It has been VERY stressful/overwhelming to get it all organized and to kept the students on task, but it is already rewarding in so many ways. The next step is to get the newspaper/station in there to take some pictures and write a story on what the kids are doing. Then we will have guest speakers from each of the organizations come in a give a presentation before we present them with the items the kiddos made.

HALLOWEEN-IE!!!

Anakin Skywalker and his grandfather.

Realistic light saber. Grandmomi looks frightened!!

How cool does it look without the flash!?!

Love trick or treating in Mannington on Meadow Ave! Kole says he gets WAY more candy there.

Our little Family=)

The loot.

Any almond joys in there???

Its raining candy!!!!!

And this is how the rest of the evening went=). Sick on candy. All three of us!

Oh yea! Our pumpkins!!! I, of course, did something girly. The fleur de lis. Kole wanted scary, so lips and fangs it was. And Zach couldn't decide, so we chose goofy mustache and sunglasses man for him=). Fitting right!?

I have 2 craft shows in the near future that are consuming my free time getting ready for. I will try and post some pictures of them so you all can see what craftiness I have been up to!

Well, hopefully I'll get another post in before christmas!

Projects, Oh my!

2011-08-04T18:36:00.000-04:00

The summer is coming to a end......AHHHHHHH!!!! It has gone soo fast! I just can't believe that in a little over a week I will be back in the classroom. Kinda makes me sickly (this was my first hint that I need a career change....farming anyone?!?).

As the countdown begins, there are several things on my summer to do list that were/are stressing me out, as they weren't finished and its almost over. So, this past week I have gotten on my big girl pants and got some stuff done.

I decided to paint my bedroom because I have hated the color since we moved in. Here are the before pictures!
Very dark hunter green color. Now, I'm a green girl, but this color was terrible.

You can't really grasp in this picture how dark this room was.

And here are the after!

I am pretty pleased with the results! The color was called wood smoke. Depending on the light, it looks green, brown, or grey. All pretty neutral but I like it! And the trim was painted swan white which really pops and looks more modern. The ceiling is a tint lighter than the walls to add height and give the illusion of more space.

In addition to the paint, I decided to cover the light outlet and the lamp shade in the bedroom with some leftover fabric (that I love!) from the curtains I made a while back.

Here are those pics.

Next on the list is to paint that awful dated furniture. I think I may paint it the swan white color, but I am still deciding. Input anyone?

Kole had his first sleepover with his BFF! It was fun and a little stressful. They didn't (wouldn't) go to sleep until 1am ( I had to get stern). This is the morning, and as you can see, we are having funnel cakes!! Koles friend wasn't so sure about them at first, but after one bite he was hooked. His mom said that he has been asking for them at home now!! Glad I can be an advocate of healthy eating...lol

Lastly, Nana took kole school shopping and here are a few pictures of the loot.

All this school stuff is a little depressing.....=(

I'm not ready to go back. It has been an awesome summer. These last few days I have left are being packed with activities, appointments, visits, and projects that I haven't accomplished yet.

Hopefully, one of these will be to paint the exterior of the house!!! Ill have some before and after photos when that happens.

Until then, I'm off to enjoy my last few days of freedom!!!!!!

Howdy Ho!!!

2011-07-03T11:46:00.001-04:00

I have been bad to my blog again. It's a wonder you people still check=).
I really thouht that I would blog all summer long about everything that we were doing. But this has not happened. I could make excuses all day long, but the truth is: It's summer. I sleep in. I have no schedule. And I am lazy.

Ok, so maybe I'm not THAT lazy. I do keep up with the garden, chickens, child, house, meals, activities, etc. But I have made the choice on several occasions to sit on the porch with one of my favorite magazines instead of sitting in front of my computer updating my blog.

I am truely sorry! Most of you keep up with us on Facebook, but I know that it is nice to read a more insightful entry in a blog than puruse someone's photo albums on the facey space.

To make up for my bad behavior, I will post a series of summer photos with descriptions about what was going on. WAY different from what I normally do.......right? =)

And we begin in no particular order............

We were all sitting around the dinner table after gorging ourselves on mommas delicious marinated chicken and venison. I believe Zach H. was the first to take the bandana napkins momma uses with this table cloth and put it to its actual and practical use. On his head.

So we decided to make a game out of it. I was cowgirl Brown and my hubby was a hobo (he first was a bandit, but then changed his mind). Which is hilarious because he works for a non-profit organization that helps homeless people and HATES the word hobo, or anything that romanticizes the fact that people live in terrible places (like a cave for instance) and often go hungry. Grandmomi often says they LIKE to "ride the rails". Needless to say, Z and G$ are usually debating something or another long after the rest of us leave the table.

Speaking of G$ (that is what we call grandmomi, as she is either slipping a twenty in our pockets or telling us to eat something), she decided to be a hippy in this picture.
Momma wore her bandana like a babushka, very sweet and innocent=).
Zach H.'s friend Matt was a middle eastern man......I think?

Ah, Mom and Dad. Goofy kids. I think dad was trying to be Lady GaGa, or Madonna.

Here is Dad and Mom's awesome garden! This was a week and a half ago, so its even bigger now. Dad says its the peat moss he mixed in when he planted. I am definately going to try that next year with our garden!

We got an awesome visit with TT and baby River. I am so in love with this boy. He is a gerber baby!! So cute. And loves to snuggle with his Aunt Meg. I miss him so much!! Mom found a pair of his socks in her car after they left and I'll admit, we sniffed them for a while=).

He is such a pleasant baby. It is so easy to make him smile and giggle.

Kole was all about Baby River. Kole loved to sit beside him on a blanket and try to make him smile and laugh. It was super sweet watching him being protective and interested in his little cousin.

I made dad this apron for father's day! I found Real Tree camo printed fabric and embroidered his intials on the front (thought it is hard to see....come on, its CAMO!!). And yes, he was wearing shorts=).

On a sad note, my favorite kitty of our three has cancer. We have known for a month or so now and it has been a steady decline since. This is Momma. Named this because she was the street cat by Z's old house that kept having litters. Our other two cats are her babies. As I type, Momma is laying in a box by the side door with water and food and a homemade litter box, although she has stopped eating, drinking, and using the litter box as of Friday. Her back legs have basically stopped working, but she is trying her best to follow Z around the house by dragging herself. She is so exhausted after just a few minutes of this that she lays down to rest. I think she knows that he saved her from the streets all those years ago and just wants to be near him as her life slips away. We fortunately know two really great vets, and though it is Sunday, they will be helping us today at 3 to end her pain. I am crying a little bit now. I've never had to make the decision that will end a beloved pets life until now, and let me tell you, its not easy.

She has been such a great cat, never caused ANY grief (unlike our other two), and was always ready to love and be loved on.

She will be greatly missed in our family.

Ok enough of sad stuff. Sniffle.

Here are our "girls".

Still laying like machines! We love the fresh eggs. They are fun to watch!

I really want to get a couple more and will hopefully be doing so before summer is out.

We also want to build a new, bigger coop in our back lot. The ground on this run is just dirt and dust, so they need a little more green to play around in. We will keep this coop as our winter coop as it will be easier to get to in the winter and will keep them warmer.

Plums!! This plum tree has done really well this year. Z is a big fan, and as they rippen, he plucks them off and eats them off the tree=)

You may want to click on this picture to see it's full effect. This day, Kole and I invited his BFF (his words not mine) for a day by the river. Our friends own this little woodsy patch by the river called sandy beach that is beautiful. There is a little stream that runs into the river and when you walk up it for a bit, you come to the train tunnel. The boys had so much fun looking for "treasures" and animals. I was on the look out for snakes.

Tomorrow, we are headed out for a week filled with all things good at Lost River State Park. We got a cabin there this year, and I just can't wait. Icecream following softball each evening, lazy days spent on the cabin porch reading, swimming at the pool, hiking, horse riding, and family time.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog! I'll try to be better. But most likely will not be=)

Craft Show and Concert

2011-04-16T14:14:00.001-04:00

Time for an update! We have been SUPER busy here at Brown Acre lately. It is a rainy day and I have tons to do, so I figured why not procrastinate and blog a little....=)

The past two weekends have been a blur of activity. I had my first craft show!! It went so well, and now I can't stop thinking about when I can do another. People really responded to my things!! I was super nervous beforehand, but once I got there, got set up, and started visiting and meeting people, my nerves calmed down and I had such a good time.
I guess the reason I was nervous was because I put so much thought, time, and energy into coming up with cool ideas, picking out awesomely beautiful fabrics, and shutting myself in the basement letting the creative juices flow. I didn't know if anyone else would like anything I had. I knew I loved every piece, but who knows what the world would think (or Fairmont atleast=).
I got such great responses from people that I was simply blown away. People said I had an "eye" for color, targeted my market, and had well made, trendy things. WOW!!! Like I said, I had no idea it would go so well, but I am glad it did. What a good feeling to know that what you love, others love as well. What you spend hours on, people want to buy. I felt validated. I felt engergized. I felt more creativity wanting to seep out. LOVED IT!!!!
Sorry, this sounds a little like bragging, and I really am not trying to be "that" person. It was a good weekend, so I want to share it!! Here are some pictures.......

Aprons! My own reversible pattern. I combine complimentary fabrics for a fantastic fashion statement while stirring a pot of butter beans.

Shot of the table. I made some totes as a "filler" item. People liked them though because they were also reversible and eco-friendly shopping bags=)

Long shot of the tables I had. Owls, hairflair, totes, aprons, earrings.

Button Earrrings! These were a hit. I need a better way to display them though. I think next time I will elevate them on some kind of diaply piece.

Hair Flair. This was also a big seller. The craft show was in one of my junior high schools where I teach, so lots of the young girls were into these funky statement pieces.

Angled shot of hair flair.

Owls!!! People loved these as well. I made one for KB a couple years ago for christmas, and decided to make a bunch for the youngsters at the craft show. The next day, Mom found a picture in a pottery barn (I think) catalog with very similar ones!! They stole my idea!! LOL

Then there was Kole. He was so good. He and Zach came half way through the show and helped out. The iPhone is Kole's go to for boredom. He ended up going home with GDaddy to play. They had a good time splashing in the creek=).

The following weekend I sang for a tsunami relief concert at the Fairmont Baptist Temple with some very talented bluegrass musicians. Our band name that we all decided on was Common Ground (since it is so overused, and kinda generic...lol). But when we got up to sing, our friend Joe (banjo player and best man at our wedding) announced we changed our name to "Megan Brown and the Dial Tones" (one of the guitarist's last name was Dial). So silly.

Here are a few shots from that. I have video, but I can't bring myself to post it here. The quality is grainy, you can't here the musicians well, and I cring at hearing myself sing. Anyone else do that? I notice every little mistake or weirdness in my own voice. I also hate hearing myself on the answering machine. But thats another story......

We have begun spring planting! Onions, garlic, lettuce, spinach, and carrots are in the garden. Potatoes will be next. I have four flats of tomato plants under the grow light in the basement (looks like I'm growing something else, if you know what I mean.....). We have had some REALLY beautiful days here in WV. I am so thankful for sunshine and warm weather. My mood instantly improves when I can get outside and get dirty=).

My tulips are blooming like crazy, the tree in the front yard has pink buds...it will probably bust out this week. The birds are chirping. The breeze is warm. Hello Spring. I have missed you!

Spring Break has officially started!! I have plans of spring cleaning, sewing, playing with Kole, reading, sleeping in, shopping, valley worlds of fun, and possibly a movie afternoon.

I sooooo needed this break.

Hopefully, I will post again soon. Back to the basement for some sewing/crafting=).

Update=)

2011-02-12T09:38:00.002-05:00

Well, I haven't done a family update in a while, so here goes.

Kole-man is growing like a weed!! He is a silly sweet boy and is really doing well this year in 1st grade. We are so proud of him!! He made straight "A's" for the semester, and his behavior has improved greatly from a year ago in school. Mom and Dad LOVE this! We get GOOD notes home now! Here is a silly picture to entertain you:

Kole is doing to do a fun new program at FSU in a few weeks called "African Adventure". He gets to go after school and do crafts and sing songs and do experiements!! It is through the science program, and he is soooo into it. I'm sure that this will only last a few more years (meaning his enthusiasum for learning) so we are going with it for now!!

This child needs to be in sports! Unfortunally, his mother is always missing the sign ups for football each summer. Hopefully this year, we will figure it out=). We were going to try wrestling this year, but we decided to give Kole another year before going down that road. So, no sports at the moment, although I wish there were SOMETHING active for him to be involved in. For now, its just kinect games (which I might add make a person sweat!!!!)

Kole has some red ear slider turtles that we keep in his room. We don't "play" with them because they carry germs, but they are really fun to watch. We recently got a new set up for them called the Turtle Tub. It is massive. But really neat! They even have an area for basking and (gulp) egg laying. I don't know what I'll do if we have baby turtles, but it could happen, as I have found out (through some research) that one is a boy and the other is a girl. We may be shipping baby turtles to everyone in the family.

We are in the process of re-doing his room, piece by piece. It's gonna take a bit to get it done, but once it is, I will feel so much better! An unorganized room drives me mentally insane. We need storage in his room as well. Any ideas? He needs one big dresser (as it is he has three small ones....ugh). We looked at a neat "cubby hole" bookcase from Ikea, and we might go with that, but I am afraid its going to be costly to get enough storage for him.

Onto my next boy, Hubby Zach. He is doing well! Z is much happier now that he has a new job (and so is his family!). He now has soooo much more flexibility in his work. He can stay home if he wants to, or go to the office if the house is driving him nuts. The organization is called "WV Coalition to End Homelessness". He likes being able to focus on the one area of homelessness instead of being pulled in several different directions, like he was in his old job. He actually ENJOYS his job. He likes doing it. He works late because it is interesting to him. So weird. I mean, I like teaching, but when I walk out the doors on the weekend, I am done till Monday morning. Now, if I farmed or crafted for a living, I probably wouldnt stop working either=)!!!!!

Zach is still trying to be "Primal" as well. Eating primally basically means eating like a cave man. It works for him, and I am sure it would work for me as well, but I love bread. And other carby things. Alot. So I only do primal on occasion.

This is the cookbook. Our favorite recipe is Primal Enchiladas. SOOOOO Delicious!

We went on a wintery hike through the woods, recently, in DEEP snow. That was a cardio work out for sure! Here are a few pics from that.

It was soooo cold and snowy!! These two pictures are of one of our favortite places. 27 Falls (I think it's 27...maybe its 21.....I dunno, but we love it!) You have to hike quite a bit to get to it. We were out there for a good while too.

So this was probably way illegal, but we were pretending to be survivor man. We wanted to see it we could make a fire with wet stuff. We got some some smoke, no fire. We would never survive the wilderness in the winter.

Its a family affiar!

Kole was "SOOO TIRED!!" and his legs hurt, so daddy zach carried him for a short while. This child is over 70lbs. I'm not sure how he didn't throw out his back.

Now what you've all been waiting for.....an update on ME!!! Haha, j/k.

(Edited- due to recent happenings in the news....lol)

On a sadder note, I was pregnant for a little while and now I'm not=(. I was supposed to be 12 wks. and a day, on the day I miscarried. I know people don't normally blog about things like this, but I felt like putting it out there. I always like to give the pink elephant some attention before letting him loose.

We had been trying for a long while and so we were very excited when we finally got pregnant. Nervous, but excited too. We told Kole right away, and he then told his teacher, the bus driver, his 20 closest friends, and the neighbors all about the baby!! So, we had to tell lots of people about the misscarriage, which totally sucks, especially because you usually have to tell them pretty soon after it happens (to avoid embarrasment on their part) and it is still a tender subject at that point. But bless his heart, he was just so excited too! So we were super bummed for a while. There are still sad moments, but as a family we are healing well from the tragedy, and have grown closer because of it.

All that being said, I know God has a plan. He is in control and I trust Him. End of story. Without that, I think it would have been more difficult to move past the hurt than it has been.

So anyways, onto another subject. I have been crafting alot! On the side of this page, you will see some new things I posted on etsy, but I have made many other things that I'm not selling=). I am currently working on a project for my nephew, River. He will be here soon!! I don't want to give away the surprise, but its gonna be great. I have also made several aprons (and need to make several more). I have been giving these away to my friends, but I figure they will be my walking advertisements!!

I wear button earrings almost every day. I love them!! They are on my site as well.

I promise that I will post some crafty pictures soon.

So all is well with the Brown's. Just pluggin along. Ready for spring and warm breezes. I need to play in dirt. We need sunshine and fresh air. And its coming!! Can't wait!

I have a dream.....

2011-01-21T13:01:00.000-05:00

I know its a little after MLK day but that title of this post completely describes the day dreams I have been having lately (as in the past year or so). After read through my Murray's Hatchery catalog (for chickens and other fowl), I decided to put these ideas into a post to make it known to the world, or just those of you who still check my blog, what I would love to do with my life.

I want to farm. There, I said it. I want a large piece of land to play on and live off of. I want to be able to provide my family with organic foods and homemade things, as well as sell these to the people in our area that are moving towards a more Eco friendly lifestyle.

Do I really think we could survive, financially, with this dream? Its a possibility. It could totally fail and leave us poor and searching for jobs working for "the man" again. Or, it could be a huge success that would feature us in country living and inspire thousands all over the world. Ok, so maybe that it wishful thinking, but hey, it could happen, right?!?

I would start small, with things that we are already doing but on a larger scale. First, we would need land. Preferably land that was already being used as a farm, with barns and such. We would need equipment. Mucho dinero, yes. An investment, yes. A little scary, yes.

I would then purchase at least 50 chickens, of different breeds, but mainly just good egg layers. Here are the types I want most:

This is a crested polish chicken. They are so cool looking!!!

These are a smaller breed, known as sebright bantams. They are so pretty and cute! Small eggs though.

This is a feather footed friend. I love the interesting feet and colors of this one.

This is a white leghorn chicken. We currently have one, and they are amazing layers!! White eggs.

This is a Rhode Island Red chicken variety. We also have one of these. BIG brown eggs, really consistent layer!

Now these are cool. Ameraucana (Araucana) chickens lay tinted eggs. Kind like pastel Easter eggs! Any kind would do.

This is a Dominique breed. Early American, featured at Williamsburg. Really pretty breed.

This is a light Sussex chicken. Really good egg layer as well.

This is a speckled Sussex. Good egg layer and really pretty!

This is a Buff Orphington chicken. I like the coloring in these. Pretty Blondes.

So there are many others that I am looking into: Black Star, Red Star (both commercially made for egg production), Cuckoo Maran, Plymouth Rock, Barred Rock, and any Sex-linked chicken (also made for good egg production, usually a combination of a couple breeds).

When I have all the chickens I want, I would start selling farm fresh eggs at the farmers market, to neighbors, and others in the community. Not a huge money maker but I believe that this project would pay for itself in the end, while providing my family and relatives with free fresh eggs. Plus, the variety of eggs we would get as well as their freshness would be a draw for customers who are used to the white walmart eggs. We could also sell and use the meat, although I would have to hire someone to butcher as I tend to get attached to my girls.

Here's another thought: There are people in this community that would love to raise interesting chickens in their small backyards. It is a new movement, check out The City Chicken, if ya don't believe me. We could raise chicks and sell those, as well as pullets (in between chick and chicken sized, kinda like teenagers=).

So there is the chicken plan.

Next, I would focus on the garden. We have one now, but if we were really gonna do this, we would need to increase it's size to provide not only for us but the farmers market as well (or hopefully a larger customer, like a hospital?).

Zach and I came across a really cool website about Spin Gardening. The basic concept is to rotate high demand, high yielding crops for the maximum profit in smaller plots of land. Things like salad greens, micro greens, green onions, etc, as well as corn, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and potatoes. I would also want to try out some veggies that are not easily found at our farmers market like:

This cauliflower, named Romanesco.

Rainbow carrots!!

Eggplant

Micro greens

These are just to name a few. I will continue to brainstorm and research what would do well in this area=).

Off seasons have the possibility to be difficult to make money at a farmers market, but I was thinking homemade breads and canned goods.....?

Another thought for items at the farmers market.......FRESH FLOWERS!! I got this idea when we were at the market at Williamsburg. There were vendors who sold beautiful flowers of all different kinds, along with their veggie goods. Marketed right (in tin inexpensive watering cans), these could be a huge hit. There is nothing like that at our local farmers market.

So on this land I would also need an area for an orchard. On our current property (right around an acre, hence the name, "Brown Acre", that we use when speaking of our yard), I have several fruit trees that I have planted since moving here. The oldest one was planted three years ago this month. It is growing but no fruit yet. I currently have a granny smith apple tree, red delicious apple tree, Winesap apple tree (good for apple butter), a pear tree, a peach tree, and a plum tree. None of these are old enough to put on fruit, but I am looking forward to the day they do!! Maybe this is the year=). This past fall, we discover a paw paw tree on our property. They are fairly common in this area and have fruit that tastes like a mix between a banana and a pear. Its small, but produced fruit that tasted good! This year I will probably plant an apricot tree.

If we got land and had a farm, I would totally increase the size of the orchard and include many different types of each variety. Not only could we sell these as fresh fruit, but we could also can them for pie making, etc. I like this idea.

After we got started with the above mentioned plans, which I realize are HUGE, I would want to include some livestock on our property. I'm thinking goats or sheep. Can't decide yet. Goats would be beneficial for their milk, not only to drink (?!?) but also for making goat milk soap. This would be another thing I could provide for my family, and sell at a farmers market. Sheep would be cool and interesting, because I have a good friend, Melissa Irons, who not only is my friend, but also my husbands best friends wife, and neighbor (she literally lives right down the road), who is very into knitting. She just got a spinning wheel this past Christmas and we could use the sheep wool to make our own yarn!!! How could would that be?!? She knows all about dyeing the wool as well. This could be a huge hit in our area as well, because we have the "in" with knitting groups and shops.

My last idea of the day is to continue with the homemade items that I already have on my etsy shop, just expanding a bit. I could sell aprons at a farmers market, and even a few crafty type stores that are in our area. I am also really digging my button earrings. I think those would go over well in the shops around here.

I got an embroidery machine for Christmas from my awesome hubby. I am still learning that basics of embroidery, but I have made two new aprons, one for myself, and one for Zach, with embroidery on the front (his name, and a big M for me). I have a couple other projects lined up as well. Maybe I will post some pictures of these at some point.

I know these are big ideas and we would have to start small. But we have already started some of them, and I can continue to dream! Farm life isn't easy, I am aware. I think I would really love this lifestyle, and wouldn't mind that hard work, because I would be happy doing what I love.

I don't know if these dreams will ever really happen, but just writing this post is exciting! I'm putting my thoughts down on paper (or screen), and just that feels good.

I am sure more ideas will continue to flow through my daydreams, and I will write about those as they do.

For now though, this has been a VERY long blog, so thanks for reading!!!

Help With Blog Design

2010-10-04T11:35:00.002-04:00

Ok, So I am super frustrated with my blog design. I can not get the template the way I want it. Blogger now has this new thing (or new to me), the design tab. I, at first, used this and didn't like the results. So I tried to get rid of it. It wont go away. So I then went to a blog template site and tried to use one of those, but the design from blogger kept overriding the template I had chosen from the other site.

Grr.

Does anyone know how to fix this? What are good websites to find templates? How do I get my Banner to display what I want it to? I've seen several other peoples blogs and their banners, and they are able to make them larger with a photo or other decor. I want this too! But I can't figure it out.

So if you have some tips for me, please let me know=)

Cluck, Cluck!

2010-09-22T07:04:00.004-04:00

As some of you already know (others will be shocked) we added three chickens to our acre this summer. We eat a carton and a half of eggs every week on average, and we were looking for something more economical and organic. Ok, and this just seemed like farmy fun times to me.
So, I went on a search in early May to find some chickenes for sale. I knew I wanted full grown chickens because I was too impatient to wait for eggs, and we did not have the equipment for chicks. I looked in the local bulletin and discovered a posting for 1 yr old chickens for sale at this farm in between Mannington and Fairmont. I called the man up and made an appointment to come and pick up the chickens.
Well, when Kole and I arrived at the farm, I knew things were not good. All of the animals were sickly looking, underfed, and had poor homes. The man who owned this place told me later that he was legally blind, but I still do not feel that is a valid excuse. I should have reported this situation to someone, but I didn't. I did ,however, "rescue" two chickens and the small price of ten dollars.
I brought them home in a crate and set them up with good food and water in the chicken tractor our friend Joe had created for us. Kole named them. The white chicken is Patricia (the most beautiful name in the world Kole says) and the red one is Victoria (after Zach's boss). They looked awful. And the definately were not giving us eggs. The sat in the egg box for most of that first month and looked pitiful. Here are some pictures so you can see just what I am talking about.

The below picture is of Victoria. She is a Rhode Island Red. She was missing most of her feathers, one eye would not open, and she would barely eat or drink anything.

You will notice that both chickens combs (the floppy part on the top of thier heads) were very small and pink. This is a sign that they are not laying and may even be sick.

Well, I tried everything to get these chickens to feel better. At first, I just thought they were underfed, so I made sure they had fresh water and more than enough food everyday. That wasn't working. SO I then decided that Something must be wrong with them. We were sure that Victoria was going to die. She just wobbled around, couldn't see, and barely ate anything. I wanted eggs!! I told them that everyday but they didn't listen to me. Since I though Vikkie was on her way out, I decided to get another chicken.

A friend of mine told me about someone she worked with who had a farm and a bunch of chickens. She said he would probably give me another one. It was hilariously disturbing when she came over to my house the next day with a box. She said Frank had given her a chicken and then given her a tour of his farm. She brought the box up to the chicken tractor and reached inside to pull out this chicken. The chicken was dead. And rigor mortis had already set in. I suppose the heat got to it on her hour and a half tour of the farm. We were very sad (she laid in the grass and cried), but I couldn't help but find a little humor in the situation.

Later on that week, I went with my friend to meet Frank the farmer. His farm was amazing. Lots of healthy animals that loved him. 300 acres of forest and farmland. I loved every minute of it. Frank is an older farmer who came to America when he was a young man, from Spain. He made his own chorizo and we got to sample some while on our visit. Frank told me to pick my chicken, so I did, he caught it and into the crate it went. We immediately left the farm (so as not to bring home another chicken for my husband to bury), and I sat the crate in the front seat with the air on full blast. And that is how our Barred Rock chicken, Francine, came to join the flock.

Francine (named after farmer Frank) layed eggs for about a week. Then she stopped. I was furious. I couldn't figure out what was going wrong. I researched the itnernet and found several things that could be wrong, called the vet and got some suggestions, and made a plan.

I went to tractor supply and bought vitamins and electrolytes, deworming medication, and an antibiotic to treat any number of poultry diseases. So much for organic eggs. Or so I thought.

I treated these little buggers for anything and everything. Still no eggs. This lasted for most of the summer.

Meanwhile, I had been a little lazy about watering my garden and we had a big rain mid August. A bunch of tomatoes split and had gnats flying around them, so I threw them in the chicken cage. The girls went nuts over them. So whenever I had a funky tomato, I threw it in. Low and behold, a week or so later, the girls started laying. First, Francine started up again. Then one day I went out and there were two eggs waiting on me. One was bigger than my hand!! And darker than any Francine had layed. I knew it had to come from Vikki (the one we thought would die). They have been laying faithfully ever since. I kept wondering though what was wrong with Patricia. She still wasn't laying although she looked much better.

Then it happened. Three days ago, Patricia layed her first egg. It is the smallest of the three, and completely white (she is a white leghorn), but there it was!! I was so pumped. So, for three days in a row I have gotten 3 eggs a day.

I don't really understand it, but successfully rescuing and recovering chickens to the point where they can lay eggs is a real sense of accomplishment for me. I feel really good everyday when I collect our eggs.

Oh and if you were wondering, the eggs are considered to be organic, because the meds they were given were out of their system by the time they started laying (read it on the directions).

Here are some "now" pictures for you to enjoy. They really do look so much better!

Here is Francine. I love how much character she has! And her feathers kinda remind me of a zebra.

Big floppy red combs mean eggs!!

And here they are!! One day, three eggs. I get so excited every time!!

Now you know all about our chicken saga of the summer!!

While I am no expert at raising chickens, if you have any questions about how we did things (or do things now) please ask=). I love talking about my girls.

I've done it again....

2010-09-10T08:05:00.020-04:00

Yes, I have backed myself into a corner by not posting a single thing for SEVERAL months. Please forgive me. I will update as well as I can, but there will be events forgotten and I can only ask for your forgiveness=).

This summer was fantastic! Lots of relaxing, working in the garden, picking up new hobbies, hanging out with friends, reading great books, mini vacations, spending time with Kole, swimming in various locations, cleaning the house (ok not so fun but I do feel good when its done), crafting, sewing, etsy making........ The list could go on.

Overall great summer. There were times when I was a little...purposeless...so to say. But now that school is back into full swing I am longing for a purposeless day=)

A few new hobbies that I have picked up: Playing the lap or mountian dulcimer and basket making (I've got to get the reeds to really start this though=). Oldtimey fun stuff.

I'm not awesome yet, but I plan to be=). I am teaching myself how to play and have started with some chording. I just LOVE the way it sounds. The drone reminds me of a bagpipe.

The garden has done well this year. We did all raised beds, and it was ALOT of work to put together, but in following years we will only have to add a little dirt and be done.

All of the raised bed sides were made from fallen trees from our back lot. We cut them to size and pegged them into place. Then filled with dirt, compost, and fertilizer. And voila, the plants did grow. We had some kind of blight with all viney stuff this year, the deer somehow got in even with the fence on, and the mexican bean beetles LOVED my green beans, but the raised beds are the way to go. Even after all that, I got tons of produce and have put up many cans of tomatoes, salsa, chili base, beans, and peppers.

We most recently got back from our labor day trip to Colonial Williamsburg. We went with my inlaws, John and Linda. It was such a treat to get to spend that time with them in a place they just can't get enough of! We all really enjoyed the rich history (expect for kole sometimes, he just wanted to swim in the hotel pool=).

John and Linda on the bus. One of Kole's favorite parts of the trip=)

This may be the only picture of the two of us. We are also on the bus. The bus takes you from one end to the other, or back to your car at the visitors center, etc. There still is alot of walking involved. Very Primal.

Kole made a friend and they played chess for atleast an hour, may more. These two were crackin' me up.
Arg! Kole the pirate strikes again!

There was a fife and drums parade. Kole wanted to follow them around town. So we did, because it was too funny watching him walk/dance around williamsburg.

There was an amazing maze in the palace court yards. Can you find Kole in the picture above? How about below?

There was a really cool canopy of trees in the palace garden as well. This is Linda checking it out.

Finally, Here is our navigator. He had a kids atlas on his lap, a pirate hat on his head, a gun (fake of course) and a pen in his hands, and a crazy look in the eyes. He needed a nap!

So Williamsburg was lots of fun. I am going to post more pictures on Facebook as soon as I can get the time.

Lets see, what else.......Oh I had a kidney stone this summer! It was AWFUL! But it came out and I have cut back on DDP so I'm praying it will never happen again!

We got to spend some time with Kbelle a few weeks ago. She is so stinkin' great. I just love her.

Here they are at the pond.

A few seconds after this picture, the net was at the bottom of the pond.

Dad loves taking his grandkids fishing and outside.

Kole decided he should give Keirrabelle some sound advice.

JUMP GUNNER!

Oh yea, Lets not forget about Tiff's wedding and our adventure to COS!! This was such a fun trip! I just wish my boys could've gone. But I did have a really amazing time with my family and siblings.

Tiff looked AMAZING!!

Grandmomi and I got stuck in Dallas for the night on the way home. Stupid airports. She just wanted to sleep in the airport, she said. I said, You're crazy!

I developed laser vison in COS. Go figure.
Ok, well thank goodness for pictures because I would forget everything if it wasn't for them!

I started a new teaching job this year at a different school. I definately miss my old schools. I made good friendships and relationships at each of my previous 4 schools of the past 2 years. But, the program was cut and I had to work.

I am liking my current situation a little more now. It has just taken some time to get used to things at a new school. I haven't really been able to develop any friendships here (because I am in a seperate building, alone!) but maybe that will come later on.

The sad news is I may not have a job next year teaching FACS. The county we live in has cut the program down so much and it really looks like they are doing away with it all together by next year. I will have to work in a different county, hope to get a high school position, substitute, or get out of teaching. I haven't decided what the best plan of action is yet.

I have missed so many things with this blog, but it is time to wrap it up. I'm actually typing this part (the rest was ready) during my planning=).

I'm going to do better about updating. I think. Atleast i'm really gonna try!

Holy Moly

2010-08-25T10:38:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted since FEBRUARY!!!!! What?!?! SO sorry to those of you who faithfully check my blog (there probably are not many left). I am going to try and do better.

Its been a great summer! Busy and fun. Maybe that was why I didn't post.=)

Its already back to school here in Marion County. Noooooooo!

I am actually at lunch right now, so this is totally acceptable to be writing during the day (right?) but it is almost over. And my afternoons show no mercy. So I will leave you with a promise.

I will do a large update on all things that have passed in the months I have ignored this blog. Pinkie Swear it.

A little update

2010-02-28T17:49:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!~

I just wanted to do a little update, because it has been a while.

Things with us are going great. We have had several snow days (woohoo!!) that we have enjoyed. Winter is coming to an end, and while I love love love snow days, I am very ready for spring. I want to go straight from a snow day to green leaves and flowers. I know this is unrealistic, so I will deal with the mud and rain to get to the good stuff......I just can't wait for our awesome tree to bloom again!!! I will have to post a picture to see if anyone knows what kind of tree it is....I think it is a magnolia...maybe???

Kole seems to be doing better in school. He was getting bored at home from all the snow days, so he is glad to be back! He is such a smart kid. I am constantly amazed at how much he has learned this year, not only with his academics but also in social and listening skills! He tries so hard to be kind, sweet, and thoughtful (and when he forgets we gently remind him=). Sometimes I am amazed with how much he means to me and the HUGE love I feel for my little boy. Before being a mommy, I didn't know that this kind of love even existed. Gives ya a whole new perspective on your own parents=).

I am taking an online class this semester, my first one for my master's degree. I decided to go with a masters in Online Learning, so I would be able to teach online courses. I have always enjoyed school and probably would have gone to college forever if it were free.....but man!, masters courses are ALOT more work. I only have one class yet every evening is taken up with assignments. And to think I almost took two classes at once!!! I think this summer I will try to take two. We shall see.

Because of my online course, my Etsy shop has gotten little attention. I still check it everyday, but I haven't made anything new for a while. I am not really doing it to make money, just to have fun and be creative with a purpose (and if I actually do sell something, Ill just spend the money on more fabric=). If you haven't seen my shop yet, check it out!! There is a link on the side of my blog you can click on or you can go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/prettypickle

So far I have pretty random things on there. Just experimenting. In my free time I have been working on a rag quilt for my friend who is expecting this summer. I figured if I started it now, I might get it done by summer. Here is a picture of it not assembled yet.

Each square, except for the first row and the last row, will have a letter of the alphabet on it. The 1st row and last, will have three letters in the middle of the row. Each letter has been cut out, (that took forever!) and the "a" is the only letter I have sewn on yet. Rag quilts are so soft and sweet, perfect for a baby. They are pretty easy too. Good for beginners. I cut 8 inch squares in several prints of flannel. Flannel is recommended for rag quilts because they fray nicely and are really soft. Then you sew three squares together, top facing up, middle facing up, and back facing down using a one inch seam allowance. Once all of the squares are "sandwiched" you begin sewing them together using a one inch seam allowance. The seams are on the outside so you can cut them. then you wash the whole thing and it frays and looks so shabby chic. Even the letters are cut around the seams so they look raggy.
I know that was confusing, but I will post pictures once I get more done.

Zach got me a dress form for valentines day! He sure knows the way to my heart! I haven't been able to use it yet though because the company forgot to send the base with it.....bummer. But that part is on the way. I will post those pictures when it comes too!

I am dreaming about spring and the garden. I got a ton of seed catalogs in the mail, so I have been going through them, comparing prices, making lists, and dreaming of this years garden.
We are going to do all raised beds this year because the one we had last year was so great! It actually produced most of the stuff I canned. I am also going as organic as possible with seed and plant choices, and I want half of the plants to be heirloom, se we can harvest the seeds and use them for the next year. We are going to do alot of beans, tomatoes, and banana peppers, because we love them! We have been eating our garden stuff all winter because I canned stuff, but I used the last of the tomatoes the other day!=( We still have beans and peppers in the pantry though. I am definately getting stringless beans this year too, because even though I was SURE that I stringed all of them last summer, when I open up an can for dinner it never fails I get one or two rough strings in there. I also goofed up with my peppers. I left the seeds in with them thinking I like them hot.....and they are sooooooo hot!!! And they got mushy. The kidn you get at the store have a little crunch to them, but mine just fall apart. I need to figure out how to keep them crisp. Anyone know???

Ok so I told you I was dreaming big about the garden. I just can't wait! Its so fun to produce something good for your family.
I think that's it for now kids. This is the most I have actually written on this blog in a while=). Sorry there aren't very many pictures, but theres not really been time to take a bunch.
Check back later for some quilt updates=)

I made curtains!

2010-01-17T22:06:00.003-05:00

Here is to another long weekend! I was having trouble putting these on facebook, so I am posting them here for those who wish to see=).

I made some curtains!

It takes pretty good measuring skills to get these perfect. I am proud of myself!

It is fun to take material and make something cool for your house.

I made four panels for the two windows in our bedroom. I used three different fabrics that I loved and got for a great deal at joann fabric. I loved the print, but I didn't want to overwhelm the windows and make them too busy, so I got this awesome, heavy greenish/yellow fabric for the top. The middle strip is a little smaller and it is the floral print, and the bottom is the smallest strip in a deep purple that I love!

Here are some close ups. I love this graphic floral. It is a good mix between modern and country, which I love. When the light comes through, the curtains look really cool, because the floral is a little lighter material than the other two so it lets moer lgiht through.

You can tell in the first picture why I now want to paint the walls! They totally don't 'GO'. But we have hated our wall color since we moved in so this is a good excuse to go ahead and paint!

Tomorrow, I am going to make some more stuff for etsy!

A snow day......

2010-01-08T16:58:00.004-05:00

We got a snow day today! Long weekend for us=).

I just wanted to show the little project that I did today. Since it is FREEZING outside and roads are bad, I needed to entertain myself here, inside. Luckily, Zach has been playing with Kole, so that left me free to be creative. Here is how I spent my afternoon.

I made a pillow! Now, I know what you are saying. Pillows are easy! And I would say, yup they are.

But this was a fun project to fill a few hours on a lazy day when there was nothing else to do but clean. And who wants to clean on a snow day?!? Not me.

The cool flower is on both side of the pillow so there is no front and back. I cut random sized strips from the extra fabric that I had from the aprons. I sewed them together, the cut off the extra length from a few long strips. I cut out my petals, cut out the fusible interfacing, and ironed it all on and together. THEN, I topstitched along the edges of the petals to make sure they would never come off. That was time consuming but I think well worth it.

So, then I just folded the fabric in half, stitched along the edges (and the bottom), and flipped it, stuffed it, and slipstitched the opening.

I love it! And I get a little reminder of all those aprons. I just used the fabric that kinda matched, so I am going to do some more with the rest of the fabric I think.

So now, I have a new funky pillow for the house! I am totally making more=).

Now, I need to get some more stuffing from walmart, but we are snowed in!!

Oh well, another day. It is time for dinner anyways.

P.S. We are the P.J. family today! I just noticed that we all still have on our pj's and it is 5:15 pm. I LOVE snow days!!!!!!

You gotta check this out......

2010-01-07T19:21:00.004-05:00

Quick blog:

Please check out http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

I can't stop looking......and laughing!!!!

Here is a preview......

It is CRAZY ( and I mean crazy!) people shopping at walmart. And yes. The lady in the photo has a dinosaur tail. I guess she thought it looked cool???

December

2009-12-31T13:54:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year!

It has been a great month, full of fun stuff. We have been able to spend alot of time with our families and the people we love the most.

Christmas was great. We celebrated for a week straight. Parties and families. Goodtimes.

I got a flip video camera from Zach! I am posting some videos at the end of this post.

We are also getting some new furniture today! A new kitchen table and a new couch. Here is what they look like.....

I am pleased with them.

They are modern with a little country. Or vice versa.

They will be delivered sometime this month.

A little while back, we got a lot of snow!!! This is our porch. And it still came down for a while after this photo was taken. We probably got 3 to 4 more inches after this.

Here are some Christmas cookie! They were Roasted almond cinnamon cookies, with white chocolate and cinnamon candies with sugar on top. Super good!

Nana with the grandchildren. She's the best.

I made aprons for all of the women in my life for my homemade christmas gift. Here are some pictures.
This was Kaitlyns. I took alot of time to pick out the right fabrics for each person. I knew Kait would love this funky fabric and the peace sign just tops it off.

Grandmomi's. This was the only one that was a different style than the rest. I did this one and decided that the other pattern was alot easier and faster!!!

This one is Joel's, my bro in law. He is a foodie and loves to bake. This is one side....

This is the other. I got both of these fabrics from IKEA. Love it.

This one is Cassandra's. The bird fabric is also from Ikea.

This is the other side. I cut out one bird from the ikea fabric and used the fusible fabric to make a centerpiece ....=)

This one is Mamaw's. It is a little hard to see the print, but it is several different birds in a realistic "farmy" setting. I know how much She and Papaw loved the birds at the farm, and I thought this fabric really captured that.

The other side.

This is the special tag that I found at our local fabric store!! My name was already on it. I just had to sew them on. This was the first one that I did, so it is not the best. But I thought they were super cute!!

So here are two videos for you to enjoy. I tried to post another, but it won't upload for some reason. It was of Kole's big christmas present, a netbook computer. He loves it! He does alot of stuff on the computer for school so it will be nice for his room.

The first video is of a bunch of us on Christmas acting silly and dancing to "At Christmas Time".

The second video is of TT's apron.

The only aprons I didn't get pictures of was Linda's, my mother in law and my moms. Lindas is a french country scene and stripes in a pretty blue and cream . Mom's is floral and brown, made of linen. Love them both!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Kole's Birthday

2009-11-21T21:16:00.006-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET KOLEY-O!!!

Today, Kole is six. Can you believe it? I certainly can not.

We had a big bash tonight, with lots of fun, presents, and friends (and just a little crying=)

I know that even if I am falling asleep right now, I have to post these pictures otherwise it will get put on the back burner.

Enjoy.

These are totally out of order so bare with me

Kole and a few friends, getting ready to eat some cake!

The table and decor, before party.

Koley taking a big bite of cake! He had such a blast.

A close up of the tablescape, as Joel called it. Now all I needed was a cocktail and I would be Sandra Lee....haha.

Our fun ocean cookies. Have a mentioned yet that the theme was ocean. In November. But thats what kole wanted=)

Blue Jello Ocean with Sharks

Octo-weenies. Everyone loved this idea. Thanks tiff!

My Happy birthday boy
Presents time!
He loves the human body......I am banking on him being a doctor.
Sweet K-belle. She is such a joy. Kole has been asking for a snuggie for months. "Ms. Linda" (Zach's mom) got him a kids snuggie for his birthday. He is posing here with it. And no, he isn't really reading 1776, although that would be pretty cool!

Zach and Cass made it for the party!! We were so excited about that!

And thats all she wrote (for tonight) folks. Time to veg on the couch!

Fall in "my home among the hills"

2009-10-17T16:31:00.001-04:00

Well Folks, We are still here!

Just wanted to update everyone on recent happenings, and as always, share some pictures of fun things going on.

Earlier this month (Oct. 4th to be exact), Zach and I celebrated our one year anniversary. It has gone by so fast! We had a weekend getaway (thanks for sitting mom and dad!) to Brazenhead Inn in Mingo, WV. Here is a picture of the inn.

It was such a neat place. It is an irish inspired inn, with really neat and musically gifted owners, Will and Jill Fanning. They made us feel so at home. We will definately go back again. Here we are after a rousing game of scrabble=). Zach won.

I took this picture because Will's work was so cool. He carved bears out of huge tree stumps, with a chain saw!!!! Zach thinks he should try this.........I'm not so sure.......

Switching gears: Koley is doing pretty good this week at school. We have our good days and our bad days, but we are trying really hard to make them all GREAT days as kole would say. When he has a great day, he gets to play with his friend JT after school either at our house or his (he lived three houses down). Here is a picture of a great day afternoon!

We have also been carving pumpkins! I, of course, made roasted pumpkin seeds....yum.

We love the guts!!!

Kole got the camera for a while.

He actually pulled some guts out!!! I was impressed with my texture phobic little man!

Giving proper instruction on how to clean out a pumpkin....lol

Ghostly faces by the lighted pumpkins.....Koles was a spider.

Both of the pumpkins.

Mine pumpkin was super ambitious, but I did it! I even used a drill bit for pretty holes on the sides.

I just took this unfinished, because who knows when Zach will get to it=). Its Yoda.

Time to put up the hammock! Fall is my favorite time. I love the colors, the smells, the cooler air........

Do you see my little friend in this picture?

Look closer in this one....in the middle.

Yes, Deer. We have lots of them. There is a little family that is always puttering around.

Recently, Kole decided that he wanted to be a super hero. We had this kit and it came with all the things needed and complete instructions for being a super hero. He decided his name was "The flying grant writer"!!!

He was even able to control the power of flight!

the kit came complete with a business card....

And enabled him to be a super stealth.

So there you go. After all that, I need a break=)!

Sesame Street Alphabet Song

2009-09-27T20:47:00.003-04:00

I am using this clip for my 1st graders tomorrow, or tuesday...and we are blocked from youtube at school so I had to put it on here so I could show it=)~!!

pray that it works when I need it...haha that would be my luck!

Enjoy! Brought back memories for me.......

it has begun.......

2009-08-29T18:06:00.009-04:00

School is in! And I am tired! Haha, seriously though, I know this is going to be a great year. My kids are awesome, I have a pretty good schedule, and who wouldn't want to work for their dad (especially when he is as cool as mine=).

I have some pictures to post........We went on vacation, the garden is crazy, and Kole started school. Get ready.....cuz here they come.....

Here are the boys, planning out the route to the beach.....OCracoke Island, Outerbanks, NC

WERE THERE!!!! They were running from the waves. Needless to say, we got very wet.

We got a kite to fly too.....it was fun.

This one is definately getting framed.

Seagulls on the ferry boat. We drove our car onto to boat to get to the island. I thought this scene was to perfect not to snap a photo.....

Another cool shot from the dock.

Family photo.....

Blackbeards museum......ARG!!

We found so many shells!

ARG AGAIN!!!!

Kole and I went crabbing! It was so fun!!!!! We caught 2 big ones and lots of little ones. The male blue crab is in this shot!

Family photo on the ferry.

It rained a couple days so we played some card games...it was fun too!

Kole learned to do a back flip and a front flip in our villas pool.

Ocracoke Lighthouse......

We loved the beach!

Now on to my garden.....It exploded while we were on vacation! It is a jungle, in both good and bad ways. Weeds are awful.......but everything is producing so well.

These are watermelon and are now bigger than my head.....if you can imagine...haha. We have 6 of them growing well.

Our HUGE sunflowers.......

I actually just picked all this today. I have gotten baskets and baskets full of produce. We have green beans, gourds, corn, sunflowers, watermelons, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes, banana peppers, jalepeno peppers, green bell peppers, carrots, squash, eggplant, onions, and cucumbers. I think thats it....

Zach was in awe......My tomatoes are just going crazy!

I took a canning class this summer as well.....Here are some green beans.

And hot pepper mix.......

Ok Now what you all been waiting for......First day of school for Kole!!! He loved his first day. He says the bus ride is a little boring, but woke up this morning (saturday) and begged to go to kindergarten.......not on a weekend my dear!!!!!

Zach was fixin Koles hair here......

Ready to go! He was up at 6:30 jumping on our bed saying, we are going to miss the bus!!....Get up!!! His bus doesnt come until 7:55.............

There he goes.....I was crying behind the camera! It is hard to let them go......

This is getting back off the bus....

Here he is running towards me yelling, "IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!"

So anyways, things are good with us. Still recovering from a long, emotional first week of school. I think I am going to go nap now.........

email....

2009-07-13T20:18:00.002-04:00

For those who need to add my email address.....

I still have pickle1483@aol.com as my primary address....

But with this site, they made me create a gmail account....

So this site knows me as pickle1483@gmail.com......

So I am assuming, when adding my email so that I can view your blogs, you should use the gmail account, although i never check that account for email, just use it to be on this blog site.

Make sense? Kinda? It confuses me as well=)

Summa time....and the livin' is easy.......

2009-07-08T11:21:00.003-04:00

It has been a while. Sorry.

We just got back from Lost River! It was so nice to just chill in the woods, have a fire everynight (sometimes during the day too!), and hike some trails. We rented a little cabin for 3 nights during the 4th weekend. We played I only got 2 pictures of the whole time! It was alot of fun. Kole really enjoyed softball, misty valley (ice cream every night), loblolly trail, and the fire works.
I really missed that place!

This is what most mornings, evenings, and rainy afternoons looked like!

Kole was yelling "I always have to swim alone!" in a sing songy way over and over again when i took this picture. He needs a sibling.

So before lost river, we went to the lake house for the last time=(. It is definately bittersweet for all of us. We have made good memories there.

Kole is becoming an expert boat driver.

We went to swallow falls on this trip as well. Here are a few shots from that.

He was trying to catch the run off from the cliff behind him!

Summer so far has been awesome. I think we might do another vacation, but a week long this time. Just not sure when or where yet. All else is good with our little family. We are definately blessed!

graduation, slip and slide, and other stuff.

2009-05-22T12:46:00.007-04:00

Yea, Yea it has been a while.

Sorry.

I keep thinking, today I WILL post something, but there is too much to do and I just haven't gotten to it until now.

So, Kole graduated from Kids R Special last night! He did such a wonderful job singing his songs and "standing like a statue" as he would say! The program was so nice. They had a slideshow of pictures, 4 songs the children sang, words from the teachers, awarded diplomas, and then announced what each kid wanted to be when they grew up! It was too cute!

I have been a little under the weather the past few days. I took a day and a half off of work to recoop. I have a bad ear infection and am on steriods, antibiotics, ear drops, and a few pain meds. I was in so much pain yesterday afternoon, I was crying! I now know what it was like for Kole before the tubes went in.

School is almost over!!!! Just a few weeks left and then summer is on. Still have to get some things planted in the garden and the plan was to do that this week. Hopefully I am feeling well enough tomorrow to do it. When everything gets in, I will post some pictures.

Here are a few picture from recent that I thought you all would like.

Kole made some awesome cookies out of cake mix! They were soooo good! Kole has been into cooking and says he wants to be a chef. He did most everything for these cookies except for dealing with the hot oven. Thats a mommy job.

It is hard to see in this picture but Kole is the third from the left. They were singing one of the songs. They sang Country Roads and it was so sweet. In onf of the songs, the verse was "I'll be friends with you" and Kole pointed right to his Dandaddy! It was so cute and touching, both mom and I cried!

Kole is hugging the director of Kids R Special and receiving his diploma

Here we are after to ceremony. He was so excited! Nana got him a money tree and kole couldn't wait for more money to start growing!!! Haha

This was Kole's graduation present from us. I just took these this morning. He had such a good time on his sponge bob slip and slide!

Water pools at the bottom. I hope he wasn't peeing here.......

So thats all folks. I am gong to rest up today and try to get to feeling better! Mr. John's (Zach's Dad) Bday party tonight, saturday a possible bachette party (if I am up to it) and then a few days at the lake house. Can't wait.

P.S. Please keep Zach's dad in your prayers over the next few days. He had a brain scan this morning because there was something abnormal going on. We will know more in a few days so I will try to keep ya'll updated.

Spring

2009-04-03T17:25:00.006-04:00

I love Spring. Not as much as Fall, but I do love getting back the color in nature. It is exciting.

I drew this on my white board of Rivesville. Trees on the brain.

I have been on a plant kick lately. And by lately I mean since Jan. I bought an a granny smith apple tree and planted it on a warmer day (above 30) in Jan. It is actually still alive! I was a little surprised. It is budding and look healthy and the deer haven't eaten it yet. I borrowed a tomato cage from my inlaws and wrapped mesh around it. They haven't figured out how to get into it yet.

So after the first tree, I couldn't stop thinking about trees. I bought a few more and now we have 8 redbuds, 4 apple trees, and 1 pear tree. I want an orchard in the back yard. That would be awesome.

After the tree phase, i went through a seed phase. Here are some pictures.

This first picture is 4 eggplant seedlings! They are doing really well. Better than I thought they would actually.

This is crimson clover. It came with an herb packet of seeds from ebay. I don't really know what you use it for or what it would look like. Its very bushy and looks like....well clover. Go figure=)

The middle is crimson clover and the other two are peonies. They are doing ok. We will see as they are still very newly sprouted.

These are my baby tomato plants! These didn't start well but when I moved them under this light they just shot right up. If you can see, the one is under the lamp shade! Can't wait to get these in the garden. These seeds came with a kit from the dollar store=).

These are the tomato plants from that same kit. I have it rigged up in the kitchen until the weather gets better and I can hang them outside. They did really well at first but now, they aren't doing so well. They have stopped growing and some of the leaves near the bottom of each plant are dying and falling off. I have been spraying them with epsom salts and I might have over done it. Any Suggestions???

This is close up of the above plants. The leaves are yellowing and they definately are not as big as the others. These sprouted first and were doing much better, but then they just quit.....

So anyways, if anyone out there has any suggestions, fill me in! It might be the epsom salt and water mix i was spraying, or something else. I just want tomatoes!

Zach is putting up with my planting frenzy pretty well. He just chuckles and lets me do my thing. We just got a new building from Lowes to replace the one that got blown away in the storm. Zach is pumped about it. It is much bigger and ncier than the old one. He went today and got a zero turn lawn mower as well. That boy and his toys. Atleast the lawn will be mowed and we will have a place to put the mower=). I am happy about that!

Kole man is doing great. He is reading now and is very good at it! We are thinking about putting him in soccer soon. Karate was fun, but after 6 weeks, they repeat the lessons and I think that he is geting bored with it. We will finish this session up and move on to something that can keep him moving and interested!!!!

I ended up not geting RIFed!! That was such good news for us! It was such a stressful time not knowing if I was going to have a job next year or not. I am glad it is over for now. We are going to push for a bill that requires FACS to be offered in middle school so this doesn't happen again. We will see what happens next year.

So here is the update my friends. Enjoy!

The Family Bird House

2009-03-03T20:25:00.003-05:00

I am stressed. There are many things going on in our family's life and I am just a little overwhelmed by it all.

What do you do when you are stressed? What I wanted to do was pull the drapes closed, turn off the lights, curl into a tiny ball, and never leave the house again. But this is not what we did. Instead, we decorated a bird house.

This was really fun and lifted my mood. It was just what I needed to forget about the grown up, stressful, life changing events of recent and live in the moment. I was able to enjoy my family, have fun, and be creative. This was just what I needed.

Here are some pictures of our awesome bird house. Those birds are super lucky to have such a talented family living near by=)

The house was premade but in thr rough. Just needed some lovin' to fancy it up! As you can see, it is a gas station for birds.

Even excavators need gas......

Rust-eze, will get your bumper/beak sparkling!

Even spidey stops by the bird pumps.

Kole was so proud of himself. He did most of the painting. Zach and I just helped a little!

I am so thankful for moments like these, where we really can enjoy each other as a family.

Wind storms, Court Case, and Karate!

2009-02-19T20:15:00.006-05:00

There has been alot of goings on lately! I thought I should probably do an update so that I wouldn't get stuck with another 6 month one=).

We had a huge wind storm last week! It knocked down part of our huge tree in the front yard and narrowly missed the power line and house. We also lost our metal shed behind the house. We found it the next morning crumpled in the woods about 75 yards from where it had been! The wind just picked it up and threw it........crazy. We also were without power for a few days. No fun. We were so bored and it was so dark at night....and quiet. I didn't realize how much ambient noise is in the house until we were without electric.

Here are some photos from that adventure:

Here is where the shed used to be. You can see the metal crushed in the woods.

Here it is up close.

Dad, John, and Zach are trying to pull the hanging dangerous limb. Thank goodness no one got hurt!

In other news, we had our court hearing on Wednesday to determine a temporary parenting plan concerning Kole. I don't want to write details on the web, but mainly it went pretty well. Call me or email me if you want to know more than that! I am more that happy to share it with family and friends....just not random cyber space people. I just wanted to thank everyone for praying for us about this situation. I felt more calm than I anticipated I would and I am sure it was because God answered those prayers.

School is going well. My students are now in the relationship unit. It is so interesting to learn about my students. I am really enjoying teaching them better ways to communicate with their families, siblings, and friends. Zach is going great. He is working very hard with his job right now, pushing himself to the max. He is just so good at what he does! They finally broke ground on the transitional housing project that he has been working on for such a long time now. He has really babied this project and I know that it is such an acomplishment to get it to the building stages. He is such a wonderful person and I am so glad that he is mine=).

Kole-man is doing well. He has been counting his "good" days at school because Zach has told him that when he reaches 100 he can have a puppy. We will see how long that will take...ha. Honestly, though, Kole is doing really well at school. He is reading!!!! I couldn't believe how well either. He had told me he was practicing reading at school and he knew some words but when he brought home the Dick and Jane book and read through the whole thing......I was amazed. He really sounds words out and figures them out! Once he has sounded them out he just remembers them as "sight" words. I knew he was smart, but man, I just am so impressed with how fast he is catching on to this. He has already read through the second Dick and Jane book and he can's wait to start the third. Being an avid reader myself, I love it!!!!!

Kole also finished up his karate class first session on Wednesday evening. He did really well! He got an award and was so proud of himself. Here are a few pictures and a video.

Here is the whole class!

Kole getting his award

"Sparring"

Snow Days....YEA!

2009-01-27T20:37:00.010-05:00

SNOW DAYS!!!!!! Today we had a snow day, and yesterday was a snow day too! This is a teacher's favorite time of year (except for the summer of course=).

We were kinda lazy yesterday. On snow days, I like to do things I can not normally do during the week. I baked FOUR loaves of bread! Three regular white loaves in the oven, and one wheat loaf in the bread maker. I cut one loaf up and made french toast for dinner last night (we are fans of breakfast for dinner). We ate the whole loaf. It was delicious if I do say so myself.

Zach didn't have to go in to work yesterday because it was so bad out, so he got to work in the "man cave" for a few hours and then just hang out with us. Zach and Kole shoveled snow, though I think Zach did most of the shovelling. I salted. Everything is iced over now, though, but atleast we got a little workout!

The freezing rain started coming down around dark so Kole and I went sled riding. We went soooo fast down the hill because it was a sheet of ice!!!

This is the crazy snow man we made with the "perfect kind of snow" as Kole says.

Yes, his eyes are mandaran oranges. The carrot nose. Twigs for hair. And last but certainly not least, beef jerky for the mouth. We are a creative bunch.

Kole was freezing by this point!

And I will leave you with a short clip from Karate class last week. He didn't have a nap this day and you can tell by the lack of attention span. Anywho, enjoy!

Here it is folks....

2009-01-15T15:59:00.026-05:00

The last 6 months:

September:

I started my new job at the end of August and it has been so rewarding (and challenging). I really like what I am doing! I wasn't sure if I would but with each month it got better and better. I think that my students have really enjoyed FACS class and have learned some valuable info, though I think that I am actually the one who learned the most!

Kole started into a pre-K program. It started well ( atleast as far as we knew). More on that later.

Prepping for the wedding. This was stressful! Getting all of those last minute details finished and trying to make sure that we were are prepared as could be was way more of a challenge than I could have ever imagined.

Overall, September was a busy month for us but we got through it.

October:

Wedding! Otober the 4th we were married at Deer Park Country Inn. It was so amazing and everything I could have ever wished for. We were so pleased with how everything turned out.

Our First dance with the bluegrass band in the background.

The awesome cake! Thanks, Aunt Donna!

Right after we had the ceremony! I like this pic.

Kole is such a ham. We got alot of these super cute photos of him because of that trait.

My awesome flowers! They did a wonderful job on these and I loved them.

Some love.

The guys.

The girls.

The siblings.

Ok so you get the picture. Actually there are 634 of them! I have yet to make a book with the best but I did narrow it down to just 75 awesome ones. The photographer was seriously jumping out of bushes shouting cheese at any and every given moment.

Staying at Deer Park was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that we did. We really enjoyed being able to relax there before and after the festivities.

In other news......We went on our honeymoon in October! First to Williamsburg where we skipped the Colonial part and went to the outlets!. Then on to Ocracoke which is the last island of the outers banks of NC. It was so beautiful. A small quaint town with kickin coffee, miles of national seashore, and really good food at Howard's Pub. We stayed at an awesome Villa...At the Castle! This was our View........The Harbor!

Overall a great trip! We really missed Kole though and were glad to get home and try out the new house!!! The house has been wonderful and we are enjoying the new found space.

When we came back from Honeymoon, I got served papers (the Schmidt is taking me to court for parental rights) and we found out that Kole's pre-k was not really working out. Ends up the guy that ran the place was a huge jerk. He told us he didn't like Kole. WHO DOESN"T LIKE A FOUR YEAR OLD?!?!? Needless to say, we pulled him outta there pretty quickly and it was so amazing the change in him just getting him back to his old school. He is doing great and learning so much there....and they LOVE him!

Also in october:

Halloween: Kole was a robot, Zach and I didn't dress up and I really wish we would have. Guess theres next year!

Our Pumpkins...these were fun!

October as super super crazy with much goings on.....but it was so awesome as well!

November:

Thanksgiving, Koles B-day, and much inbetween! Sadly, this is the only picture I have to represent November. This is the aftermath of Kole's Birthday...it is the morning after I believe.

December:

Christmas, parties, and cookies. It was a good month overall, though we will really miss Papaw. He was such an amazing person and example for all of us.

YUMMMY
Kole's Christmas Card PhotoOur mismash of a tree=) Matching "overhauls" as kole says. We had so much fun on this trip.
These are repeat pics but I wanted to post them again=).January:

New years eve (celebrated at home with close friends), Koles Karate class.

New years was so much fun! We played guitar hero and had good food with friends at home. There wasn't much else to do and we ended up really enjoying ourselves so we might just make it a tradition!

Kole started Karate this month and is having a blast with it. He can not wait until Wednesday of each week. It is a six week program, once a week for about 45 minutes. Each class, if he listens well, he gets a stripe on his belt. Last week they practiced punches, this week was blocks. Kicks are next. By the end, they are actually going to use the moves on each other! The class is for 4 to 6 year olds so I have a feeling that this is going to be hilarious! He is the tallest child (except for an autistic child who is 8) in the group which consists of around 13 students. One the first day we realized that his best buddy from school was in the class as well as our new neighbors son! That was really exciting for Kole. Here are a couple of videos of Karate class (watch for the dancing at the end)!

So, there you go folks, you are up to speed. This has taken me hours to do so I have learned my lesson and will never go for six months without blogging. I promise. If you want to see more wedding Pics you can visit my facebook page. I have posted most of them there.

Much love to all!

It's coming....

2009-01-12T14:47:00.000-05:00

So I am sitting at my desk in Fairview, reading everyone's blogs. I haven't posted since we were all wearing tank tops.
I apologize.
I am sure that no one is checking my blog anymore. But if you are hanging on by some glimmer of hope that I will soon update my blog, the time has come!!!

Except that time is not this very minute. You see, I am on my work computer at school. I have no pictures to show with this computer. And I will not sum up the last 6 months of our lives without some pictures.

Speaking of, if any one wants to see some wedding pictures I have posted some (180) on facebook and plan to post the rest this evening. It is time I stopped neglecting my cyberworld people.

You can trust me. Come back in a week (or less) and there will so much wonderment to behold, it will blow your face clean off.

Until then, my faithful bloggers.

The Fair and a New Friend.....

2008-08-10T21:40:00.000-04:00

So here it is, folks! The offical pictures of the Mannington Fair in all its glory. Enjoy! We certainly did!

This child had no fear! He made friends on every ride he was on.

This is the most awesome picture, simply because this is what we did that night at the fair (watch Kole), and because of Dad's expression!!!

Kole waas obviously excited.....the entire night.

This ride scared me. Kole kept ducking down to where I couldn't see him over the edge. Not good !

SO fun, and he made another friend...!

The alligator roller coaster. Hands up and screamin' like a girl the whole way!

This was so funny to watch.

Any ride that goes up in the air with my child is terrifying to me!

Look at that sky!

This was actually the first ride of the night. He was so pumped!

Here are a few pictures of another friend. We often go as a family on walks on the rail trail. There is often pretty flowers and good scenery that we enjoy. On our last walk, Kole and I collected some queen anne's lace and some green wheat looking plant. We put them in my mason jar flower vase and they have been very pretty for a while now on my kitchen table. As I was sitting at the table the other night, I saw something unusual on one of the flowers. Here it is:

He must have been very small when we picked the flowers and grew on my kitchen table! On claser inspection, I noticed that a few of the queen annes lace looked as though they had thier head eaten off. Haha. This is how he grew so big!!! By eating my flowers!!!!

I promptly took the whole vase outside, where this little guy, along with the flowers, now live on the patio table.

I took so many photo's of him because he really is a good lookin' caterpillar!

Thats all for now.

The house is offically under contract!

2008-07-30T10:44:00.000-04:00

Here it is my friends and family! This is the house that Kole and I will be living in until october the 4th, when Zach will join us. In approximately thirty days (right when school starts....ahhh!) we will be moving! Now, this is all dependant on the inspection, which we think will go just fine (positive thinking). Everything else is well underway (scheduled the inspection, financing, etc.)

I am so excited I could pee my pants! Haha. Tiff will get that one.

Other than this big news, all else is going well. I am ready to start packing.

We are supposed to be relaxing.......

2008-07-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

It is summer. I am not working (except for an occasional day at the daycare). I am not sure how I ever found time to work with the busy schedule that I have been keeping! But we sure are having fun while being busy.

There were several things I wanted to do for fun this summer and so far, only one has been accomplished. Between registering for gifts, house hunting, traveling to the wedding site to pick out flowers and a menu, house hunting, figuring out wedding invitations, house hunting, keeping my favorite neice, house hunting, and ...........so on and so forth, we haven't stopped yet.

We spent an entire day looking at houses yesterday. We went everywhere, and out of ten, saw three that we liked. One was a flip house that was nice, but on closer inspection, there were some things left undone and it had puddles in the basment. Not good. Another was extremely nice, with an awesome kitchen, right price, modern everything, and a nice backyard. But, it was in an undesirable location. The third that we liked was awesome. Cathedral celings, nice size bedrooms, an awesomely redone basement (or man cave as Zach called it), and an acre of yard for the man. It is pricey though and is in Colfax, which will mean a bit of a drive for both Zach and I for work. But we do have some good friends who live there and could walk to thier house. There were woods behind the house and a horse pasture beside the house. Both great views. It had a nice deck as well.

Heres a link to it if you want to take a look. http://www.idxvow.com/cgi-bin/ncwvidx/pitrolo/mls.cgi?view=res.cgi&show=yes&mls=10060688

We were so tired yesterday after it all, that we haven't fully discussed the next step. I'm not sure if we are going to keep looking or make on offer.....

So there is the update on the house hunting.

I have kept Keirrabelle a couple of times the past few days. I got to pick her up last night and keep her today while Kait and Cerik work on their trailer. She and Kole have been enjoying each other and Kole is learning how to deal with a younger kid being around and needing attention. I think it is good for him. Keirra is such a pleasure to have around. She is so fun and loving and energetic! Here is a picture of them hanging out.

Planning for the wedding has taken up a good portion of my time this summer as well. Stuff is getting done though. The bridesmaids dresses came in, Zach picked out and ordered his tux, the flowers have been selected, mom got to see the site in Buckhannon, the registry is complete (only a few minor fixes and additions...), the tree farm has been contacted about the favors, the wedding coordinator is getting together a menu for the rehearsal dinner and finalizing the wedding menu, the invitations and being printed today by an awesome graphic designer friend, and the guest list is complete! The shower is still a work in progress and there are some other minor details that need to be addressed. But the show is on the road! I would like to have all of the main stuff out of the way by the time school starts because I know I won't be able to think much about the wedding when it does.

On a completely different note, please keep Zach's mom in your prayers. She will be having back surgery on the 28th and we all are a little nervous. In addition to some other current unfortunate events , this time is very stressful and scary for her. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Let me see, what did I forget???? Probably a ton but my brain is a little scrambled and overwhelmed right now. I'll post more later.

An update

2008-06-02T12:16:00.000-04:00

We have successfully completed one of the summers to do items. This past weekend was the dave concert. It was definately interesting to say the least. Here are some pictures of the crazy hippies that I call friends.

The tailgating, BBQ fun.

My sweet fiance sucked it up and had an alright time=).

SO it was a fun and interesting concert. In other news, Tiff got me this lily of the valley plant for my birthday from proflowers. It was delivered to my door, where upon opening I realized I actually had to grow them! Now, everyone knows I love plants, but I do have a black thumb. I just can not keep them alive. I was a little afraid that this birthday gift was not going to blossom. But, low and behold, they grew so fast! Here is a picture from a week ago. I am so proud of them=). They have actualy continued to bloom and look even better currently.

We also had a great memorial day weekend at the lake house. Here are a few pictures as proof.

I hae mixed feelings about this photo. Its cutesy and artsy with the large drift wood in the back. But we all look stumpy and fat! We are a pretty short lil' fam. Except for Kole. He will be towering over both zach and I before to long!

Kole is posing in front of one of the water falls at the Swallow Falls State Park. This hike was super fun!

Kole was brave and sat on a rock in the "river" by himself!

So its a small update but an update none the less. Back to cleaning and organizing. Arg.

Yippee!

2008-05-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

I am finally done with school! Graduation was on saturday, and though I did not attend, I stil get a diploma. This is so exciting to be finished. Well, until grad school. Ha.

It feels really strange to be done. I was so stressed out, and overwhelmed that it almost became a normal feeling. Now that I don't have anything extremely pressing to do (other than laundry, cleaning the apartment, wedding planning, house hunting, organization of clutter, switching winter clothes for summer clothes, getting my car inspected, and getting on the sub list with the board of Ed) this new feeling of freedom and relaxation is so stinking strange. So yes, there are many things to be done but none of them seem as daunting or as stressful as this past semester was. If I could get through that, I feel like I could do anything. Like fight an ogre. Or drive a stick shift. Either way, what a good (and strange) feeling it is.

So my last blog was about sled riding. Sorry. I was so swamped with school and student teaching, I barely had time to breathe. I have big plans for the summer. I am going to sub (hopefully) till the end of the school year. Then I might work a few days a week at the daycare Kole attends. I also want to go to:

Carnegie Science Center

www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/

Kole has been really interested in Anatomy. I am not even kidding, though I wish I was. There is an awesome bodies exhibit at carnegie and I think he would really dig it.

I hear they have an awesome Dinosaur Exhibit as well. Kole will go nuts!

The Pittsburgh Zoo
www.pittsburghzoo.org/

We didn't get to go last summer and Koley just loves it, and so do I!!

Dave Matthews Band Concert

www.dmband.com/

Its May 31st and we are pumped! Well I am. Zach is tolerating the idea=)

And possibly.........

Maine

Zach and Cass have invited us to visit them in Maine this summer. The idea is sounding better and better.

So there is is folks. An updated blog for all of you out there is cyber space. Much love to all.

Sled Riding=)

2008-03-08T21:56:00.000-05:00

Well, as most of you know through Zach's blog, things have been kinda crazy with the Koleman these past few weeks. This week has been so much better! I am not sure if he just got the mommy time he needed, or the new discipline routine of behavior charts, time outs, and restricted tv time is working. I really don't care which, I am just glad to have my boy back! He seemed like a different child there for a while!
Student teaching is going just fine. I am a third of the way done, though I feel like it has been a year instead of just four weeks. I am getting good reviews from both my cooperating teacher and my supervising teacher. They say I am organized (i do not feel like I am at all!), seem very comfortable while teaching, and have connected with the students. I think that I am doing OK though I am very ready to move on with life and get this crap done with. High school students are......well....you already know what I am going to say. Most of my students are doing well (the ones who come to class), and I do really enjoy most of them. Haha.

The weather here in good ole WV has been, well strange lately. We had such a beautiful day on Sunday. The kinda weather that makes you want to be outside so bad, not only because the sun is shining perfectly, or because the temp is oh so right, but because it was the first perfect day since winter hit. We played outside, went on a walk, had a picnic, and looked at some historical stuff at Prickets Fort. The midweek forecast was dreary, rainy, and gradually got colder. Finally, it snowed today. Hopefully our last snow of the year. For this reason, I figured that Kole needed one last chance to get out there and be a kid while plummeting down the ever so high hill on Wind Ridge Manor. The wind was whipping, our faces were rosy (and numb!) but we had so much fun!

I just wanted to share some photos with all of you bloggers out there of the last of the winter (hopefully) sled riding adventures.

Kole is so excited and ready to go! Hurry up Zach!

Kole was the "pusher". Zach is about to go down the BIG HILL!!!

We went down together this time. I was praying we wouldn't topple. I did NOT want snow in my face!

The ride down. We were squealing the whole way!

Kole was brave and went down by himself! This was the little hill. He actually went down the big hill twice! We did not get any pictures of that because it was a little nerve racking so I wanted to be sure to have my hands free! He got down the big hill and said "Mommy, that was so fun!!!"

The dreaded walk back up.

Kole was trying to catch snow flakes on his tongue.

After we came in, I made some snow ice cream and some hot chocolate. It was a perfect ending to the end of winter (I hope). If only we could figure out some way for it to snow every morning (for 2 hour delays) and be 70 degrees for the rest of the day.....hum.

Avoidance and Fibs......

2008-01-31T13:31:00.000-05:00

I am offically avoiding planning for my first class as a "teacher". I tend to do this when somethings seems so huge and daunting. I find many other little things that just HAVE to get done right now. These things are normally things that I would put off on another day but I will do them to avoid something else. For example: I haven't cleaned out my car in months. it is normally not that important and the poptart crumbs ar ein the back seat so I can't see them. Today though, it seems like the perfect activity to do so that I can feel productive and not work on lesson plans. I am terrible!

Yesterday, I walked into the daycare to pick up Kole and his teacher had him by the hand, walking down the hall way to Becky's office (the kids call her the principle but she is the owner and director). I thought, great, what did he do?!? His teacher said, "he's not in trouble, he just needs to tell Becky something". So, understanding that it wasn't that important, I made my way to his cubby, gathered his things, and signed him out. When I got back to Becky's office, three teachers and Becky were staring at me with questioning eyes. I knew something was up because Kole ran to me and hid his face. Finally, someone had the guts to ask "Are you pregnant?" I laughed and said, "No! Why?" I was told that Kole had informed everyone at his school that Mommy had two babies in her belly, that come out sometimes to drink the milk from her boobies." WHAT?!? Where did this come from? And how did he know about breast milk!? His teachers asked him if I had told him that and he said, "No, I told me that! When they marry they will have a baby on Thursday." His timeline is off=). That said, he knew he had been caught in a story because he was so embarrassed. I probably shouldn't have, but I felt so bad for him!

Kole often talks about having a brother or sister ( he said when he gets a baby brother he wants to name him TOOTS!). I think that many of his friends at school are getting babies added to thier families and he really wants one too. My response to him was that when mom and zach get married, we can have babies too. He seemed to take that response and be fine with it, but I thought to myself, how will I explain to him the "right" way to go about these things when I was not married when I had him? How do I let him know that he is so awesome and I wouldn't ever change anything about the choices I made because I got him in the end, without making it seem like those choices were wise choices to begin with?

His imagination never ceases to amaze me. He is full of questions that I would have never expected at his age! How do you explain these things to a four year old without giving too much information?! What is the right way to handle this? Now I am the one with too many questions and a way personal blog.

Time to try to be productive=).

Student Teaching.....

2008-01-22T16:56:00.000-05:00

Well, It has begun. I went to my student teaching placement today for "visitation". I am placed at East Side High School. It is a nice school and I do like my cooperating teacher. Most teachers and administrators I met today knew either my dad, worked with my dad, knew my grandfather, or worked with my grandfather. This is a plus because they were/are good men that people respect and look up to. So, when people found out who I was, they generally liked me. Rock on for the awesome well known fam.

All this being said, there is a down fall. Even though I live on East Side and the school is East Side High School (even though it is almost in south Fairmont), Kole's Daycare is in the West Side area of town. School at EFHS also starts at 730, teachers need to be there at 700. Kole man's daycare doesn't open its doors until 700. There is the problem. Luckily, my teacher is usually late, coming in around 715 so I think I can make it at the same time. Poor Koley Oley though. He has to be the first one in the daycare in the morning and stay until 4ish. And thats only if I don't come home after school to work on the numerous things that need to be done this semester in silence (or without having to fetch a cheese stick or entertain).

I hate having a real (ish) job. This one sucks even more because I'M NOT GETTING PAID! Soon enough I tell myself. I can't wait to be done. At this rate, I could have been a doctor.

A day at the farm

2008-01-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

Well, school has started and is already in full force. I have started block this semester. We are in class for four weeks and then finish out the semester in student teaching. There are so many assignments due already that I might just have a heart attack!

Kole and I got back from Arkansas this past Thursday. Overall, the trip was miserable but I was so thankful for the peaceful and relaxing (yet few) moments we got out at the farm. It is so cool to be able to hang out with your grandparents as an adult.

I heard many stories about my mother, aunts, and uncle (which were hilarious!), and just generally talked over coffee in the morning about random things that were on our minds, or not so random things that were serious.

All this said, Mamaw's and Papaw's farm is awesome. I was so sad to leave them at the end of the week but also happy to get back to my fiance and life in WV. Here are a few pictures from an afternoon on the farm.

Kole was so excited to get to ride in the FRONT SEAT with Papaw around the farm land.

Another picture of Kole throughly enjoying himself in the truck. Papaw and Kole were buddies.

Trying to get a better look at the cows.

Mamaw helping Kole over the stile (is that how you spell it??)

He was really having fun even though his face looks terrible in this photo!

I think Papaw enjoyed sharing the time with Kole man.

They match! How stinkin' cute is that.

Papaw had to fix Kole's strap=)

Kole really wanted me to take a picture of the cows butt behind him so I kinda camoflauged it with Kole in the front. Look closely, and you will see the nasty cow butt he was so excited about!

Mamaw had just explained to Kole that No, those weren't four "pee-pee's" but a cows teet that calfs drink milk out of. So funny!

I think Mamaw was explaining something to Kole here and he had finally figured it out.

Tara and Kole just chillin' out after an awesome lunch cooked to perfection by Mamaw herself. It really was so so so delicious.

Like I said, the "other" reason we were in AR was not so fun, but our time spent with beloved family was so priceless and I was thankful for it. I have the most wonderful, selfless, spiritual grandparents in the world.