Oh Yeah, So THIS Is Blogging.....

So....it's been a few weeks since I've done this. People are starting to notice. My neighbor stopped me on the street two nights ago and said her girls keep asking when I'm going to update my blog! :) (Hi Jaime and Linz!) Really.....I've sat down to do it a few times. Twice I had SO much to blog about, that I was just completely overwhelmed and I got up and walked away. The last time I finally decided to do it, and my blog wouldn't load! GRRRRR! I've also been spending a bit more time on Facebook. Kudos to those of you who can maintain your Facebook AND your blog, and do them both well. I've decided I'm a one or the other kind of gal. So, here I am three weeks later, finally getting back to blogging.

I know a few of you are still waiting for the last half of the cousin's pictures. That's my next project. It will be here soon. I hope. :)

The day after my dad took the Seattle cousins home, I went to one of our local homeschool conferences with 7 other moms. We got 2 hotel rooms, spent the weekend at the conference, and had dinner all together at the Cheesecake Factory (YUM!). It was such a great weekend. Susan Wise Bauer was one of the speakers, along with her mom, Jessie Wise. I had the opportunity to hear Susan at the very first conference I had ever been to and was very impressed with her. When I found out she was coming to this one, I told all of the other moms how fabulous I thought she was. Once we all got there, and were seated in her first workshop, I had a moment of panic.....I thought, "what if she wasn't really all that great, and it was just because it was my first conference and I didn't know any better?!?" I was terrified that I drug all of these poor ladies along with me, and that she would be awful! I was not to be disappointed. She was THAT fabulous. I know, I know, we could have all kinds of debates over classical vs. Charlotte Mason vs. whatever.....but that wasn't the point. She had so many things to say that I can apply to my family, with the curriculum we already use, in our every day lives, without being totally overwhelmed. Some of the things, I was already doing, but didn't really understand WHY I was doing them, and therefore, I feel like now I will do them more effectively. Some of the things, I knew I should have been doing, but was overwhelmed with the HOW, and so I just wasn't at all. I did pick up her new book, Writing With Ease, and I am super excited about that because it will be so easy to use along with the History and Science that we're already doing. She was able to sum up ALL of our writing/spelling issues in one hour, and sent me out the door feeling much better prepared to face this year. Long story short....it was AMAZING, and I'm so glad I went. (And as an added bonus, we had a blast staying the night and going to the Cheesecake Factory. Thank you to everyone who went, I had a great time!)

After the conference was over, I spent the next week wrapping up co-op registration, ironing out small :) kinks in the schedule, and putting together the class schedule and descriptions. Thank you to Wendy and my husband for all of your help during the last 2 weeks with that. Poor Wendy, I called her with a major scheduling issue while she was in bed with a stomach bug. I'm lucky she didn't hang up on me!! If you're interested, here is how the schedule turned out. Now that is done, and class sign-ups are almost over.....now I can focus on getting ready for school to start! Did I mention that was in five days?!?

Last on my "to-do" list for this week and next is TAGGING. If you live anywhere near the metro-Atlanta area, you have probably heard of Kidsignments. It is a HUGE kids consignment sale that takes place twice a year. I sell and shop there for a good bit of my kids' clothes every year. If you are a seller, you get to go to the presale and shop before it opens to the general public. This is a big deal. I am literally gone for at least 8 or 9 hours. It's exhausting and crowded, and we stand in line for hours.....BUT I get some great deals and that makes it all worth it. However, before you can even get to the crowded, exhausting, standing in line part, you have to TAG. Every article of clothing, every toy, every book, has to have a preprinted price tag on it. I'm hoping to sell at least 150 items.....I better get going!!

So.....now you're all caught up and I'm not near as overwhelmed with the thought of blogging. I'll get pictures up soon!

Something Fun....

I saw this on Heather's blog today, and thought it looked fun. Let me know if you decide to make one so I can see how it looks! :)


Here are the directions:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's Mosaic Maker.

The Questions (with my answers):

1. What is your first name? Sara
2. What is your favorite food? Mexican Food
3. What high school did you go to? Redmond High School
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Matthew McConaughey
6. Favorite drink? Coke
7. Dream vacation? Disney Cruise
8. Favorite dessert? chocolate
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Mom
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One word to describe you. Blessed
12. Your flickr name. forsuchatimeasthis

Rubbing Off On Me

I have been very fortunate throughout my life to be surrounded by people that I have learned from. Traditions, recipes, life skills.....my life is made up of bits and pieces of the people that are close to me. For example, thanks to Heidi, we make Christmas candy and Candy Turkeys every year. Because of Kristin, I make MORE Christmas candy, in more flavors and colors then I knew existed! She was also the one to introduce me to Oreo Balls and Facebook. Because of my mom.....don't even get me started. I talk like her, I look like her....there are too many things to mention here. Thanks to Wendy, I sell at and attend our local kids consignment sale every year. I also make double batches of cookies and freeze them in dough balls after our short-lived attempt at Once A Month Cooking. Because of Carlee, I now love guacamole and would love to be able to glean groceries like her, but as of yet, no such luck in Georgia. :( Thanks to Chris Pearce, I am growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and carrots in containers in my back yard (I'm SO excited!!). She also introduced me to egg rolls, which lead to my fryer, which lead to Southwest Eggrolls, Empanadas, and Donuts! Yummm!!! Because of Tami, I can drive through a thunderstorm without windshield wipers and I know how to escape from a 14-story apartment building. (Ok, that is a really LOOOOONG story.) This week, I have had the opportunity to learn something new from my friend, Heather, and I'm pretty excited about it. She recently posted about making her own household cleaners on her blog. You can read about it here. I have to admit that she is much better about being environmentally friendly than I am, so that is not what really got me thinking about this. After talking with her about it though, I realized that it is so much cheaper and so much safer my kids (AND environmentally friendly!!). So, I ordered the book, had a crash course with Heather over lunch the other day, and headed to WalMart to buy my initial supplies. The total cost for Window Cleaner was $.58!! A bottle of Windex was $2.83! And my homemade cleaner worked every bit as well as Windex. My book
came from Amazon a few days ago, so now I'm looking forward to trying some of the other cleaners as well, but it really did make me think of all the things that I have learned from my friends and family.....I would not be the wife and mom I am without each of you! Thank you!!

Painted Desert Soup

While we were in Hilton Head, one of Michael's co-workers SO kindly offered to watch our kids (and four others) so that we and 2 other couples could go out to dinner "kid-free". We (quickly!) accepted, and headed to our most favorite restaurant on the island, Santa Fe. Ok, so the atmosphere is great, the food is FABULOUS, but do you want to know the real reason we go there???Painted Desert Soup!!! Isn't it cool? And the best part is, for as cool as it looks.....it tastes even better! It definitely has a bit of a kick, but oh, my goodness....it is so yummy! If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it, and in the words of my husband....."get the grouper!" That is what I ordered, and he.....well, he did not. The next morning, before my eyes were even open, he announced (quite loudly), "I'm still ticked! I should have ordered the grouper!!" So, in an effort to avoid prolonged anger....if you ever visit Santa Fe, GET THE GROUPER!! :)

Sign of the Times

Seen at the Hilton Head Shell Station....I couldn't resist taking a picture. Kind of sad when the people working at the gas station will admit to this, huh??