Concert Mania (a.k.a. Link Mania)

We're going to see her in a few weeks! We're very excited.

We'd never heard of her, until we saw the movie Juno. Now we love her...


We're also going to see these guys in May. Alec introduced us to them.

Alec, Abbi and myself are making a trip up to C-A-N-A-D-A for their concert :) I love this song by them. Abbi loves this song by them.

And I think the following video is the song that Alec really likes... this is a live recording,






and here's the song from the album. They seem to like beautiful women have a sense of humor too.. the band is not all female.. but in true Robert Palmer style , this video has some women "musicians" starring in it.

;)

OH.. Abbi just got up and corrected me and said she thinks Alec's fav song is this one.

Happy Easter!

Since Easter around here doesn't look like this...



It looks more like this...



We hold our Easter egg hunt inside.

Kyra was afraid the Easter bunny might freeze his furry feet hiding eggs outside so she wrote him a note. She told him to please stay warm and hide them inside.

He did and he wrote this back.



2 out of 3 kids wanted to hunt for eggs in the morn. The third was happy for a few to be left for him. He'll hunt in a few hours.

Pretty exciting times when Patrick lays an egg.



Even Saddi couldn't contain her excitement!





And they're OFF!



I think the Easter bunny likes books. He hid lots amongst them.


Checking out the spoils!




Happy Easter wishes to all!

A Sweet Article

I wanted to share a piece that Gillian wrote over at Victoria Home Learning Network.

It features Abbi :)

Here's the link:
http://vhln.blogspot.com/2008/03/autodidact-piano.html

Thanks Gillian.

Sometimes...

What does a Mom do when her kids are happily doing things on their own?

Clean?

Cook?

Crochet/Knit?

Make things?

Exercise?

Read?


.

.

.

.

Sometimes...

.

.

.

.

and sometimes a Mom will play World of Warcraft.

And sometimes a Mom will get her character to level 70.

And then....

she will fly :)

If you're wondering

the picture above (header 3/17 , a cliffs picture) is the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.

Some people we talked to when I was in Ireland thought our family, the Mahars, were possibly from that area, they said the name is the same. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies too, Waking Ned Devine. It's one of those movies where I want to just climb into it and live for a while.

I can't wait to go back to Ireland again some day. Loved it. Especially rural Ireland. Dublin was a bit over stimulating for me, especially in July. I want to visit there too again, but maybe try it on the off-season.

Make my Day

Well, Ronnie made my day by saying I made hers (is that clear enough for ya? hehe)

Here is a selection of blogs that do make my day.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Kyra makes my day and makes me smile, every day.

The Abbidoo who amazes me each day with her way with words.

Of course, the shining light, aka, Diana.

Karen is busy with her boys, but when she does get a chance to blog I'm pretty psyched!

Julie is an amazing artist and Momma. I hope to meet her some day. Truly, each blog post is a work of art.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Da rules:

The rules:
1. Write a post with links to five blogs that make your day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the “You Make My Day Award” logo.
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs or emailing them the news.

Happy St Patty's Day to ya

This weekend we were in Fargo-Moorhead. Saturday we hung out at the Hjemkomst Center for the Celtic Festival. My mother is of Irish descent so we felt at home amidst the wool, green, bag pipes and fiddles that were playing.

Right now I have the Chieftains playing, kind of quietly since 3 out of 6 kids are still sleeping. Yes, we have 3 visitors from Moorhead. 2 cousins and 1 friend are here. We love it when they come to visit.

So Kyra, Matt and Kylie are playing Chrystal Chronicles, I'm done with my level ;) Alec, Abbi and Ben are sleeping, Tim went off to work and I'm now thawing out a pork loin to throw in with some potatoes and carrots for dinner. Not quite corn beef and cabbage but something more in sync with what we all like.

At the Celtic Festival I had some corn beef and cabbage soup and it so reminded me of my Grandma Dee. I was lucky enough to grow up with my grandma living in our basement. She would cook cabbage in the basement and the smell would waft up through the vent. I didn't like the smell at the time but on Saturday when I sipped my soup I had fond wonderful memories of her.

Here's to you Grandma Dee and Grandpa Ray of the Mahars, a little kickin' and jiggin'

Spring's a comin'

I awoke in the middle of the night to water dripping off of our roof. That's a good thing. Last night was the first night for I'm guessing possibly 5 months, that it actually stayed above freezing. Spring is somewhere around that corner.

We know not to get too excited. The same reason people say that you should wait to plant outside until after Memorial day. I still plant before that because I just can't wait, but I know that there's a chance that there could be a hard freeze. Envision me running around my yard covering my plants with sheets. We do have some daffodails in our house, we just didn't grow them here.

Kyra has been chipping at the driveway. Hoping to clear it so she can ride her scooter around. We have the area right in front of the garage but the rest of it is still inches deep in ice. I admire her perseverance. I'll chop a few chops at the ice but I'm more of the... let it melt type of person; that and my arms tend to feel like they're being pulled out if I do too much. So I sit outside with her and chat. That's always nice too.


She tells me how warm it is, in her tank top, in the 44 degrees. She's working hard so she's warm. We talk about our spring fever, feeling the warm sun. ahhhhh...

Alec and Abbi have been playing more WoW again. Alec is now playing on a different realm with a different guild, as his guild broke up. He ended up taking a few months off thinking he was possibly done until the next expansion. He had applied to a new guild a couple of months ago but never heard anything. It was pretty frustrating for him. He sent e-mails and messages but nothing. He thought that maybe his age was a factor in not hearing anything back from them. Some guilds don't want to let in younger players, but he thought he had a chance since a former guildmate that is in the new guild said he'd put in a good word for him. This former guildmate/friend of his is in his mid 30's and is always telling Alec how mature he is and is so impressed with how well he plays the game. It's cool that Alec has different aged friends.

Anyway, a couple of months later, while we were in CA I got an e-mail and it said the former guildmate was trying to contact him and they wanted him in the guild (he tracked me from my myspace *g*). Alec is pretty psyched. Doing the end game raids is what he loves. Most of these raids are groups of 25 people and takes quite a bit of coordination, skill and communication between players.

Abbi is also playing WoW a bit again. She's raising a new character and it has different playability than her main character. She's been having a lot of fun playing the warrior/strong character. She also still does roleplaying here and there and writes everyday on different forums.

Another fun thing we've been doing is playing Crystal Chronicles. It's a multi-player game that you play with either a Gameboy SP or Gameboy Advance connected to the Gamecube. We've almost beaten the game now. 4 people can play together, but sometimes it's hard to coordinate everyone as one or another person will be doing something else. Alec is a champion at getting us all into the basement and coordinating our game play.

And speaking of that, he's waiting on me now... off to raise my magic skill so we can beat the boss!

Here's the opening scene... I LOVE the music :)

Remembering CA

Even though our trip to CA is racing its way into history...helped along by a couple weeks of sickness and a birthday. I still want to share with everyone about the fun and the "being home" feeling we had while there.

What fun that comes to mind quickly: Disneyland, Universal Studios, climbing trees beside the Midway, swimming in an outdoor pool (not me, Kyra and Jayn), running around Legoland fully saturated from hours of rain, watching my daughter stare at the costumes from the movie Sweeney Todd, (yes, Johnny Depp did wear those clothes..this is what Abbi kept muttering to herself), seeing my gleeful husband rushing from ride to ride at Universal Studios, watching Alec's face as we walked around the little world in Legoland, breathing the sea air off the Santa Monica pier, watching Kyra and Jayn research their way around the Getty Museum in Malibu and the conversations we had in the time that we sat in traffic while in the LA area.

The "being home" feeling we had while there is thanks to 2 unschooling families. We were lucky enough to spend time with the Coburns and the Maiers. So, even though we were a couple of thousand miles away from home, I kept feeling washed over by a coming home feeling as we spent time with these beautiful families.

More to come later!

ABC Tag

This tag is for Mindy.

A - Available?: for certain things ;) I am married.
B-Best friend: Tim
C-Cake or Pie?: Pie
D-Drink of choice: coffee/coke
E-Essential thing used everyday: coffee maker
F-Favorite color: green/purple.. I know that's 2 but I can not choose 1 over the other
G-Gummi bears or worms: worms, the sour ones
H-Hometown: born in Moorhead MN, have lived the last 15 in Bemidji MN
I-Indulgence: chocolate and red wine
J-January or February: February
K-Kids and names: Alec, Abbi and Kyra
L-Life: seein' the joy
M-Marriage date: May 20 1990
N-Number of siblings: 3 - 2 brothers, 1 sister
O-Oranges or apples: oranges, and right now they are sooo good
P-Phobias: probably high places
Q-Quote: Right now they're both from Peaceful Warrior: "There are no ordinary moments." and "It's the journey, not the destination."
R-Reason to smile: my family
S-Season: Fall
T-Tag three people: Kyra, Abbi, Gail (hehe..Abbi-gail)
U-Unknown fact about me: my hair grows crazy fast
V-Vegetable you don't like: peas
W-Worst Habit: picking my nails
X-X-rays you have had: stomach, knees
Y-Your favorite food: Jon's French Toast at Sunnyside Up
Z-Zodiac: Scorpio

Kyra's been having fun with Windows Movie Maker.

Look what she did.




I have no idea how she did it.

I love the voice with the black and white, old fashioned look. Well, I love all of it, but I really like that combination.

One of the many reasons why I love my Abbi....

She loves to cook, and bake :)

Yes, she has been known to make amazing chocolate chip cookies.

And now she wants to perfect French bread.

:D <---- my BIG smile

She made some this week.

And here's how it turned out



Yum!

She wants to keep making them. Darn... ;)

Happy Birthday Alec!

Fifteen years ago, today. There you were.

I was really big!



Because you were really big! 10 lbs 1 oz and 23 1/2 inches.

When the doctor finally got you out, he said, "any kid this big should be named Thor!"

We went with Alec Kristian.

You kept growing.
You became a big brother.

And you were a happy guy.



Speaking of happy... gaming is your thang!



We're so glad you were born!





Thanks for being you.

I've just got to celebrate!

Because we made it through a day without PUKING!


Yay!

I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

To Joy

Kyra is now sick. It's been an all out flu for her since Wednesday. So this is for her~


Some joyful time in CA (first installment ;)



Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.