Oh... to be as zen-like as my dog
I love being outside in the morning. Walking down my driveway to get the paper.
The snow is almost gone, just patches left. And I can see some green grass coming through. :)

We're leaving later today for our trip. First stopping in Tennessee to visit Ren, then on to the Lovejoy's in South Carolina with our Amy concert. We'll be meeting up with lots of other families/friends there that we usually only get to see once a year. This is a such treat to see lots of them twice this year! Some of them we haven't seen for a few years...sooo excited. :)

A few days after the concert we'll be heading up to the Hershey PA area with a few other families. Thank you Rowan for wanting to go there, we've never been and it got all of us going on this whole gettogether. :)

**********************************************************

What else have we been doing?

Abbi has become interested in Dungeons and Dragons, so she's been reading like crazy, figuring things out. We went into town to look for some books on it and was happy to see some young people gathered at a new gaming type shop...playing DnD :D They were very friendly and invited us to join them on Sundays if we'd like. Of course she always has time for Saddi.
Alec got into the God of War games this last couple of weeks. They're pretty gory for me, yet still I can see why he likes it. So much story, lots of mythology,so much challenge and puzzle solving. He also found and beat a game we hadn't heard of before, called Shadow of the Colossus . Wow! What a beautiful game. Kind of sad, for me, but again, storyline galore and the adventure in the gameplay was amazing. He and Abbi had my mom and dad excited and really feeling the stress of a game. Very fun. Here's our warrior now

Kyra has been playing online with her friends and cousins. And also playing a lot outside with neighborhood friends. The snow thaws, the weather warms up and everyone reappears again. There are actually people out there in the frozen world. *g* Trampoline jumin, bike ridin, and hidin in the woods is pretty amazing after a long winter.

Tim is driving home from Minot ND today and then we'll be driving who-knows-how-many hours. WE LOVE HIM!!! :DAnd, me, well I'm starting a new poncho, possibly for a singer that we're going to see *g* (if it turns out ok, this is a new pattern I've never tried, fingers crossed).

Do you know I love making ponchos? (of course you do) Oh and BIG news, *G*
I bleached the front of my hair, ok, big for me.
Here I am, yeah, need a hair cut, but that's me :)

Here's Kyra modeling the new poncho I just finished for her. I think she's learned her modeling techniques from Maddie and Quinn , you guys rock!

That's all for now, see y'all in about 2 weeks. (I'm already saying y'all ;)

Morning walk

We went for a walk this morning. Abbi really was wanting to go, really! *g*

Saddi likes to run and pull and dart, and, and, and....


Kyra decided to bike.










And what's with our obsession with breaking ice?





I don't know what Saddi would do if we moved to a warmer climate *g*
She loves the snow.

We went over to Fargo/Moorhead this past weekend. Visited family and friends, ran some errands (yarn shopping :), and got to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Fargo. We had fun~

My mom (my Irish blood :) Kyra and Kylie
Alec and Emily watching the bagpipes go by

Energy Protection

I get daily OM messages from soulfulliving.com.

I received this one this morning. So relevant to our life. :)

The Art Of Focus
Energy Protection

Many of us are sensitive to energy, so we make our homes a sanctuary and only leave when we have fully prepared ourselves. We may use gemstones, essential oil, or talismans, or perhaps we call on our angels or surround ourselves in a bubble of light. But we should be conscious of what we are seeking to accomplish. It is important to remember that if we want to shield ourselves, we might inadvertently keep out the good that is coming our way. All of our tools can be helpful if we use them wisely and keep ourselves engaged in all the world has to offer.

If we instead seek to filter distractions, than we can be like prospectors panning for gold. We learn to filter when we are children as we learn about the world around us. At first every leaf on the ground is a reason to stop and investigate. But as we learn where to focus our attention, the rest becomes background. We don't cut ourselves off from the world, we merely shift our focus.

As humans, we don't always know what is good for us. Sometimes what appears to be a negative situation contains a gem of wisdom that leads to our highest growth. Rather than focusing our thoughts on what we want to keep out of our experience, we may want to turn the light of our attention to the good we'd like to create while leaving room for something better. By doing this, we allow space for the wisdom of the universe to work its magic on our behalf. If we trust the universe, we know that good is present even if it doesn't look good on the surface. When we shift our focus this way, we actually attract those things into our lives, and the rest falls away without the effort of filtering. By practicing the art of focus, we invest our attention and energy into making our lives a positive experience.

*************************

Such truth for me :)

Another gem

from Scott Noelle:

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: Feeling Good vs. Being "Right" ::

Want to have a great day? Simply decide that
feeling
good is more important than being "right," and
let
that priority guide every thought, word, and deed
throughout the day.

When being "right" is your priority, you may
achieve
the shallow satisfaction of receiving approval,
but it
disconnects you from your Inner Guidance, which
is
revealed through your emotions.

When feeling good is your priority...

 * You choose love, because loving always
    feels good.

 * You choose connection, because it feels
    better than separation.

 * You choose forgiveness, because resentment
    feels yucky!

 * You choose appreciation, because it makes
    you feel rich!

 * You choose responsibility (not to be
    confused with blame), because it feels
    empowering.

See what happens when you take a day off from
being "right" or trying to be a "good" parent.
Let go
of all "shoulds" and let yourself be guided by
pleasure instead.

But don’t settle for the initial, fleeting
pleasure of
rebelling against the shoulds. Keep going... Hold
out
for the deeper pleasure of connecting with your
Authentic Self.

Things that make you go hmmmm...

Hehe, yeah....

Yesterday Kyra and I went bike riding. Yeah, that's right bike riding in March, in Bemidji MN. :)
It was actually 50 degrees. We biked past the lake and I looked out and saw some vehicles out there. "I wonder which one will go in?" I thought as we biked past the thawed edge of northern Lake Bemidji.

I was gonna get Kyra back there and take a picture of her in front of the lake with the vehicles out there and do a post on the blog, saying: "hmmmm,, something in this picture doesn't look quite right"

every year... yep, every year.

Its 30 today and a chance of snow.

Music theory anyone?

Words that Alec was looking up last night.

-Overture -Intermezzo
-Crescendo -Rhapsody
-Presto -Intermezzo
-Finale -Sforzando
-Decrescendo-Concerto


Why? You may ask.
Because they are finishing moves for a character in one of his games that he is playing right now.

The game is called Baten Kaitos and its actually one we've had for a couple of years now. He beat it when we first had it but wanted to play it again. Lately, he's been going through some old favorites of his and replaying them. Some that he played with cheats and now doing them without, others just because there's so much to them.

I remember when we got this one. I actually found out about it on Gamespot, I get their newsletters and they were reviewing it. The reviews raved about the artwork in the game and it had a type of play that was similar to card/dueling type of play. I thought I might even like to play it with him, seeing how beautiful the pictures were that I saw. Well, the game was way over my head, one of the most complex that I had ever seen, but I watched him play it. :)

One evening he even gave me this extensive explanation (with laser pen and big screen *g*) about what he was doing. It was amazing.

Oh.. and the music in it is really pretty too. Reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera with a lot of cool organ music. (we Looove Phantom!)

Exactly where I need to be

My friend Ren brought Amy Steinberg into our lives last year. That in itself was an amazing event. Thank you Ren for that gift. We now have the opportunity to actually hear Amy sing in person!

At the end of this month we'll be driving down to SC, (thank you Lovejoys!) to hear Amy's concert! We'll be right in the comfort of the Lovejoy residence, a backyard concert. This northern MN girl is pretty darn excited to get to sit outside in March (and not freeze) and listen to Amy....*sigh*

We're very excited. Looooove her music and lyrics. Insight galore.

Here's one of our favorite song's lyrics:

Exactly
i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am a blessing manifest
i can undress the moment
naked time unwinds beneath my mind
and from within i find the kind of beauty
only i can find
i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am surrendering so willingly
to be the perfect me inside this now
and truly how else could it be
destiny she blesses me
when i try to fight or run
i only wind up back at square one
when i think i know what's best for me
fate she takes me back
to exactly where i need to be
i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am divinely timed and shining brightly
yes i believe that there's a purpose just for me
yes i believe that we are light
and we shine infinitely
i am exactly where i need to be
i need to be exactly where i am
i am not aimlessly existing see
i am in perfect harmony with universal energy
and i am truly free when i accept my own divinity
look at me look at me closely
what exactly do you see
if you are paying attention you will now begin ascension of the mind
why, because if you look at me just right you will see a kiss
for it took a kiss to make this breath exist
the intersection of my mother's and father's lips
to touch twist and perfect what came next to produce me
look at me and you will see the breeze
the breeze it took to shake the leaves to make
my mother's hair move, my father dare touch it and say
please may i have a kiss
yes the breeze made me exist
and if you want to get even deeper into this
when you look at me you will see a cloud
the cloud it took to form the storm to shake the leaves to
inspire the liplock - yes a raindrop will pop up out these words
you heard me right
if you look at me close enough you will see a dark stormy night
and what is night without it's polar opposite of sunlight
so if you watch the way my hands sway
you'll see the light of day
and everyday is a testament to the sediment of the earth's core
it's ever spinning enormous force so if you look at me just right
you will see a spark of the source
but the most fascinating thing about this, and it's true
is that if you look at me close enough, you see you
it's only what you perceive how you believe the space between
you and me
that creates reality
so when i sing you can feel it
when i cry you can heal it
when i speak words you can be the words i speak by singing with me
peace love free
peace love free
peace love free
and when i am alone and full of fear
i just remember the rising sun always appears
everyday miracles that i see
well they take me back to exactly where i need to be

Thank you Alec

14 years ago I had my first child.

Thank you Alec, for making me a mom. :)

Thank you Alec, for being you.

Thank you Alec, for leading us to this unschooling life. What an amazing blessing it has been for all of us.

At work...


And at play..

We love you! What a joy you are~

Happy Birthday big guy!

Check this out

OK, we had a lot of fun with this quiz. hehe

Click "play this game" at:

The Impossible Quiz

And may the force be with you :)

More snow and other stuffs

Yep, we're getting more snow. I'm now asking... why did I want snow??? *g* Lot of work walking through a couple feet to dump out the guinea pig cage in the woods.. phew, I'm outta shape!

So we've been doing a lot of inside stuff.

Abbi's loving her ASL (American Sign Language)class that she's taking. Even went in by herself this week, its a community ed class and she's the youngest one there(by a long shot). I think the next one in age would probably be in her mid-20s. She said she had a little bit of stress, they broke up into small groups and of course people on either side of her went into groups and there she sat. (hate it when that happens!) But another group of 2 saw her and invited her to join them so she said it was pretty short lived. :)

Kyra's been having fun on the computer. Skyping with her friends and cousins all over. Playing clubpenguin now and continuing with World of Warcraft too. The other night she created a new outfit for one of her stuffed animals. I was lamenting about getting rid of a favorite pair of socks of mine (ones made by Jill :(, that I've worn so much they are now very holey) Kyra thought she would use them to made this outfit. She's so ingenious! :)
And cute! She loves doing and creating hair styles, this is one of her current favs.

Last night Abbi and Alec conquered Final Fantasy X. I guess the ending is pretty sad. Abbi didn't like it. Playing the game and watching the story progress can really get you into the storyline and involved with the characters. Its like a movie.

I've been doing some more crocheting. Attempted at making some socks since mine are wearing out. I don't know, I think I have to learn to knit. These are my 2 socks. *g*

And I finished another poncho. This one is going to a friend of mine who will remain nameless. Its a surprise. :DOh, and I just have to post this picture because I love it. My 2 first babies :) Alec is gonna be 14 next week! man.....*sigh*

Possible Acceptance?

Mary shared the following video at her blog. I wanted to bring it here too. I see so many people who try and fix/change their kids. What a wonderful thought that our children are just perfect in what they are. We can be right there helping them when they want help, yet also accepting of who they are.

Watch the whole thing.

(I couldn't figure out how to put this message in with the video so this is as close as I could get. :)

In My Language

Got snow?

We do now! Yayy!



And we're having fun!

Kyra and Saddi this morning.


Tim and Kyra
And we're very glad that this tree decided to fall that direction~our house is to the left (eek)

a year

My heart is tearing
The snow is falling
I sit here

I think of the joy
The happiness in those hazel eyes
The laughter between the girls

My mind goes back to mommy and the satsuma
The sweetness
The bitterness
The tears
The sounds, the silence
Anger outside in the cold

Breathing now
Sending my love, our love
You are amazing, you are divine
This storm cannot stop my wishes for you

Wishes of love
Wishes of comfort
Wishes of joy, and good memories
Wishes of happiness to come

~my love, our love, to you my friend~

Last night on the radio

I got a call from my father-in-law last night. He thought I might want to turn on MPR (MinnesotaPublicRadio) at 9:00. He had heard that there was going to be a show on about homeschooling/unschooling. He wanted to listen but had something else going on so was going to miss it.

So after our fix of American Idol I let all the kiddos know that there was going to be a show on the radio about homeschooling and maybe about unschooling. :) We tuned in and much to our delight it was all about unschooling and even more to our delight it was Valerie Fitzenreiter and her daughter Laurie Chancey. Valerie wrote the book _The Unprocessed Child_
and we were lucky enought to meet her at the Live and Learn a few years ago.

I thought the interview was great. The host of the show was new to the idea of unschooling but the whole interview went pretty smooth. Great job Valerie and Laurie! Here's the link to the interview.
The Story
If that isn't working, as far as when they do another story, the interview was ran on February 21 2007, if you need to search.

Beckoning Spring

So, yeah, we're pretty ready for winter to end. The last couple of weeks were pretty harsh, -20 to 0 degrees F. Its warmed up now, gonna be in the 20's so we're joyful over that fact! :)

I have to see the beauty in this cold weather. I love the trees when they're frosty, the pine needles look so cool.


Saddi loves the snow and loves to run away from me.... she's over in the neighbors yard here..ah hem.
And Kyra decided it was cool skateboarding in the snow, you can do tricks and you don't fall. (hehe, you aren't moving,, so that helps ;)

Alec and Abbi have been spending time together conquering Final Fantasy X. Alec has beat it before but Abbi has never done the whole thing so they've been having a really nice experience doing that. The storyline is pretty cool on that game. Alec is so excited to get up in the morning just bursting to play with his sister. Its really sweet seeing these 2 hanging out together. Can't believe he's gonna be 14 soon! Wow. His video games amazed me again this week, (yeah, it is continual *g*). He was reading the game guide for Final Fantasy and showed me that with one of the bosses, as you're fighting it, if your level is divisible by a prime number you get hit by this super high percentage of damage. I'm like... whoa, discussion of prime numbers followed. Crazy, mathematical stuff going on in those videos games that a lot of people aren't even aware of. So if your kid likes video games get those guides! It really can enhance their game playing, its amazing!

Tim is in Chicago for the week so the kids and I are going with some friends to Thief River Falls today. They have a hotel casino up there that has a huge water park, so time to go enjoy warm water and tube rides!

I'm not feeling well. I've been sick for a few days now. Thought I was feeling better yesterday but last night was up a lot, coughing and blowing my nose. I'm sure I'll be fine but just sick of being sick. Ya know.

Kyra and Abbi are at my friend Beth's house. They're over there making Valentines, so I'm bummed that I'm missing out on that. Yet I'm feeling fortunate that I have friends who will go out of their way to come and get my kids when I don't feel up to it. Beth met me in town, (half way to her house) so Kyra could go over there, and Patti came and got Abbi later so she could join in the fun.

Alec is still sleeping he had a late night,(early morning) last night. He's been working the past week, very hard, to get his epic flying mount. He succeded last night at doing that. Yayy! He came and got me at about 4:00 and was sooo excited. Its sooo cool,, and so fast! This was a huge accomplishment in the World of Warcraft world. I'll post some pics of him with his new griffon when I get some on this computer. :)

So I'm happy today for my friends and family, both in real life and online.

Here's a picture of my friend Patti with her son, Michael. I love the joy in her face.

Isn't she great? She was Santa for Halloween! Gotta love her!

Wool

We've been felting-- dry felting. I bought this felting tool quite a few months ago and have been meaning to get some wool to try it out. When I saw Julie Person's wall hanging I was tempted to try it but still didn't get out. Then we watched Lady in the Water and there were some amazing images at the beginning. I then got out and got some wool. :)

The girls have made these various pieces:


We've made these with scraps from Bemidji Woolen Mills. A store right here in Bemidji that we were able to buy the scraps from for $.90 !


I made this with the person Abbi made :-D (the person is me, so the wall hanging is "Story meeting Kelli")
We're planning on making lots more with wool. I've ordered some needles to work with and some colored wool roving. Can't wait!

When you can't find the red on the thermometer..


And you have to bundle up this much just to get the paper..



And your windows look like this in your bathroom....inside..



This is my friend..

Brrrrrrrmidji

OK, so I hate it when people say that. Really. But this is pretty brrrriffic. :)

Last weekend was Bemidji's Polar Daze and we had to go and check it out.
Especially when some friends of ours were taking part in the Polar Plunge. :D



Yep, they jump in the lake. Although it was warmer that day,, I think it got up to 20 F. :)

The mad dash from the heated trailer to the hole.


We were warm :D
This is Tim's brother Dave, Tim, Abbi and Alec.
I think I need a HOT coffee about now ;)

My weirdness??? ;)

I've been tagged by Mary. I'm supposed to include in a blog 6 weird things about me.

Here are the details: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means. So here goes.

1. I love orange on toast. O.o enough said. *g*

2. I never brush my hair. hee hee

3. I love hanging with teenagers and I LIKE teenagers and DON'T believe teens have issues and life can be amazing with teens. (some of my friends won't think this is weird but the mass majority unfortunately does :(

4. I can watch any of the Lord of the Rings movies over and over and over and I love it.

5. I have brown and blue eyes.

6. I can not flip my tongue over.

There. :)

I'm tagging:
Rue
Abbi
Kyra
Schuyler
Heidi
Julie

Playing, Painting and a PIANO!

PLAYING
We've all been playing a lot of WoW. With the Burning Crusade coming out in 2 weeks and friends getting the original game. A new big interest for Kyra since she's been able to play with her cousins and friends in other towns. :)
And Abbi maxed out her druid, level 60. Wahoo! (She actually caught the moment with a screen shot, which amazed me. *g*)


PAINTING
We've been painting Abbi's room. Yellow, Purple,Green and an Orange/Red are the colors she choose, one on each wall.

PIANO
Yes, we're getting a piano. We're really excited about it since we weren't able to move our old one back here. And now,,, its not only a piano but a BABY GRAND! A friend of ours ended up with one and he doesn't play. So we got a great deal on it and its gonna be here tomorrow. Thanks Jon! Here's a pic of it. Yayy!