Having a Little Fun

Yesterday I woke up at 5 am. Not my usual wake up time, but we had gone to bed early, so it is not that weird. I was trying to decide if I should go back to sleep, or get up. Then I had the best idea! I turned over and woke up my sweetheart, after waiting for 3o minutes. 5:30 isn't near as insane as 5 when it is a day you can sleep in right??? So, I turn over and say, "Let's take the kids out to breakfast!" I couldn't believe it but he said, "OK!"

So as he showered and dressed, I went and woke up the kids and told them we were going some place fun and to get up and get dressed. I forgot "some place fun" to a kid means Disneyland, or the lake, or some other lavish vacation spot. So I quickly had to squash all those sweet childlike dreams, and let them in on the secret that we are just going to breakfast. We never do that, so I thought it would be fun.

It was! We went to the Huddle House, and had a wonderful breakfast. We found a newspaper insert for the local Peach Festival that is going on next week. We love the Peach Festival, with the parade, and the exhibits, and the annual Peach Hunt.

After breakfast we went to the peach orchard and stood in line forever for some peaches. I tried to get some overripes, but those are really not over ripe. They are just damaged and still not ripe. So now they are sitting on a towel on my counter, ripening, as I try to keep bugs off with another towel over them. Won't do that again! Next time, just shell out the money and buy the good ones, and let them ripen.

The process of harvesting and selling the peaches is pretty neat. We watched closely as they brought in the large crates of peaches that were harvested that morning, and the whole crate is set in a water bath. The rinsed peaches then go to a sorting bin, where they sort over ripes (cough - damaged cough), extra firm (for gift boxes), and number ones (ready to eat, or will be ready in a day or two). Then everyone stands in line and waits to be served as they come off the line. I will add pictures as soon as I figure out how to get them off of Andrew's cell phone.

We also went to my mother in law's work and drew pictures for her while we waited for the peach place to open. My kids love going to see Nana, and visiting with all of her co-workers. She works in the university post office. So there is a whole other layer of excitement there. Mouse especially likes to wait for students to come get there mail, and then she surprises them by saying hello after they open thier box. HA!

Then we wrapped up the morning with a movie from Netflix. Peter Pan the live action one. That is by far my favorite. Then a glorious nap. I woke up early remember!

What have you been doing just for fun?

No panic necessary!

Ok, so today a good friend of mine called me very concerned that I had removed my baby counter. She was worried I miscarried. Sorry if I worried any one else. My baby is still in my belly. It is healthy and very cute. We got to take a peek yesterday at my OB appt.

So, why did I take that ticker off? I found it very annoying. I wasn't enjoying the 360 degree view so much. Truth be told, it was making me a little dizzy.

Ok, also, I am a blog loser. I have felt soooooo incredibly crappy the last few weeks, that I have not felt like sitting up in this chair and thinking of something fun to share. I would get ideas, but then, the nausea would start, and it simply wasn't good enough to make me sit here. Sorry.

So, anyway, I am feeling a bit better. This is a miracle baby. I have never gone 10 weeks into a pregnancy and not had to meet my toilet on a regular basis. I have had no encounters with my beautiful porcelain friend during this pregnancy. I am trying hard to keep it that way.

So, I am working on a few things, and will post again soon. We have had some excitement around here, and it deserves to be shared.

Hope you all are well, and are THRILLED to see a new post from me!

Many blessings to all!

Airshow!

The air force base nearby had a fantastic air show a couple weeks ago. It was hot, muggy, and all the food was extremely expensive. Think $20 for snowcones for a family of 5. We managed to have a good time anyway.

Our favorite was watching a re-enactment from the Pearl Harbor attacks. They had the Zero from the movie Tora Tora Tora! and a P-51 Mustang. It was great to have a visual for the event that brought the U.S. into WWII.

The kids enjoyed a fun family day. I got a fantastic sunburn, that has now resulted in a monster fever blister. So all in all I call the day good. Will we do it again?....meh...probably not.

We're Having a Baby!

We are thrilled to announce that we will be welcoming a new baby to our family in January. Right now the little baby looks kind of ummmmm organic, hee hee. Can't wait until Baby starts to look like a real baby.

The Awkward Years of Girlhood

This last year has been interesting with my daughter. This is the part of our relationship where she is not my clone anymore. She is becoming her own person. She has her own sense of style, and humor. This is the time of our relationship where I start becoming dumb...I am not quite ready for that.

This is the time where she comes out wearing a dark blue turlteneck and purple shorts with green crocs, and I am supposed to say, "nice outfit". This is the time where she decides to wear her hair in lots of fun hairstyles, and I encourage her creativity by buying lots of hair accessories.

This is the time where she cannot stand to be around her brother one more minute. A moment later they are sitting side by side at the piano playing "Alouette" as a duet. But then it turns into a yelling match, as they annoy each other again.

This is a time where she wants to crawl up in my lap and snuggle, but she is getting so big it becomes uncomfortable for both of us. A time where she can read any book, but still prefers me to read them aloud to her.

This is a time of wanting to learn to cook, but she is still afraid of the big knives. Wanting to make a surprise cake, but knowing she is not ready for unsupervised baking. This is the time between Barbies and lip gloss. For right now, Barbies are winning, but lip gloss is catching up.

Its like we are on a narrow pass. On this pass is a gap, and she is moments from crossing over it. One hand reaching towards me and the other reaching to the woman she will become. It feels like our fingers are just touching.... I will stand here and keep reaching, for as long as she needs me.

Homeschool Library Builder

If you are looking for next year's curriculum, you need to check out Homeschool Library Builder (you can find the link in my sidebar).

This is a great little company, with lots of good deals on books. I just ordered and got free shipping with the coupon code HOORAY. They always have a sale going on. AND if you link them from your blog you get $5 of book credit. GO FOR IT!

If you order something, tell them Alana sent you, and I will get book money.

See...and you thought I was just letting you in on a great deal. Didn't you know it is all about ME?

Fun Find!

We went to the thrift store yesterday and found something very RETRO! An electric typewriter!

We have had fun writing a letter this morning. Monkey is waiting his turn behind Mouse to write a letter to his new pen pal. She is writing a story. It is fun listening to the hen pecking......click.......clack........click click......clack. It is as if each time she types a key the typewriter is shouting, "Found it!".

The clicking also reminded me of my mom endlessly practicing to increase her typing speed as I was growing up. It was a necessity. She was a single parent, and our livelihood depended on how fast she could type in her various clerical positions. Even today my mom practices her typing. Except now she uses a nice typing tutor program on a laptop. Medical transcription requires an accurate and speedy typist. It is just one of those things that a mother does to provide for her children, that you never appreciate until you are older.

I never took typing in school. I had friends who took it, but I could not be bothered. I took the word processing class. WAY more my style. I also never learned shorthand. Now, that skill could come in handy. I like to write things down word for word when taking notes. Especially during general conference, where a missed word could change the whole meaning of some spiritual matter. Good thing they publish it in a magazine later, or I would be toast.