Photos as of late...

Mama got a new do. I was ready for some bang action, so I finally just made the darn appointment (nervous, I was!) but I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with something different finally! I think some salt water and sea air will be helpful, too!
Self-explanatory!

The cutest little 4-year-old (girl) in the Whole Wide World!!!

Sage and Emma watching one of our current faves. You should have heard these two singing along. Cuteness!!!

Saylor was trying to get Stone 'in motion'. I think he got it!
My baby sisser. I think we're watching the Will.I.Am video here. I love my sister! (no matter who she voted for!!! ;)
Saylor requested a lock-pick set. We ordered one up and here is his first try at it. It'll take some practice, but he's determined.
Bust a move!

Landon and Stone snuggling Ruka. We had the pleasure of 2 nights with this terrific little guy! So Much Fun!

The boys searching for their dream Triker.
Have you ever seen Benny & Joon? (One of our ALL-TIME favorites, btw!) This is how *they* make grilled cheese sandwiches, so we had to try it for ourselves! The result, you ask? They don't sizzle and crackle like on the movie, and although they tasted fine, they really didn't get all that grilled. But, our goal wasn't really simply to make edible sandwiches, it was way more about the Craziness of it all. (but, all the sandwiches did, indeed, get eaten!)

We've also purchased a Proclaimers CD, just so we can have this song. We blast it loud and sing our fool hearts out!


We also did some ironing of crayon shavings between waxed paper. Pretty!

My Therapy

This is what helps me, writing it down. It's in my brain, it won't go away. This helps me to feel some sort of a release.

I'm meeting with an attorney in the morning. I'll post what comes of our visit. He's hopeful that we can show that we have been homeschooling the boys, and that it's a simple case of poor record keeping. I have friends from across the state and country writing statements for me, confirming that we have been homeschooling since the beginning.

We spent some time this afternoon at the park, it was a wonderful 60 degrees here. The boys were peeling sheets of ice from the edge of the lake and stacking, crushing, tossing, carving and inspecting them. They were careful not to lick them (though they really wanted to!) because of the goose poop that was certainly part of their composition!

We stopped by Albertson's to grab a movie from the Redbox and a candy for each kiddo. Sage wanted what he chose, then didn't, so Saylor traded with him, then Sage decided he really did not want Saylor's, but wanted his back. Saylor was upset because he was being yelled at by his little brother, so I held Saylor until his tears dried. And, it was a tough time for Sage. I held him and loved him and reassured him. I carried him upstairs to our quiet, dark bedroom where he nursed and fell quickly to sleep. I talked to my mom and felt near tears just hearing her reassuring voice.

I'm sure we are all feeling the stress of what's going on. I know my back physically feels like it's about to break, but I'm hoping a call to a massage therapist friend tomorrow will remedy that.

And in the midst of it all, I will count my Blessings, for they are many.

An Update

Some of you know the history behind the following update, others may not. E-mail me off-list if you want the digg.
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Well,

Court was uneventful, really. I got there at 8 and at around 9:35 the judge called me. He read me the 'charge' (failure to send child to school) and asked me what I would like to do about this? I said I'd like to plead not guilty, because I homeschool my children. He said, "ok, then, let's schedule a dispositional conference for a couple weeks from now that you can come to and explain your position and allow the prosecution to ask questions". I explained that we were selling our house, closing on Dec. 4 at which time we were moving away, so I *get* to go to court again on December 3.

That's where it's at right now. I'm trying SO very hard to put it out of my mind so I can be present for my kids and helpful during all of our other things we've got to do until then. I do plan to do some research as to what to expect during a 'dispositional conference' so I can prepare accordingly for that. I really, really think that at that time, I'll show my exemption (of which I should have a copy back, approved from the school district) and that should be case closed.

I am disgruntled at the "charge", though. The only charge I should be having was that I didn't exempt, not "failure to send...". That charge is a class 2 misdemeanor, which can mean a fine and jail time, not that I foresee that happening. I just think it's ludicrous that that was the charge used. It's simply not accurate. Part of me right now is wishing I was a member of HSLDA or something with some legal clout. If I were, it may be that they could have sent a simple letter to the powers that be, and this whole situation would have disappeared.

So, doing my best to let the stress flow out of me and treat my boys with kindness (and myself, too!)

More later!

Peace, Love, Free,
Karen

Preparing for Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day I go in front of a judge to explain "why my kids aren't in school". I'm feeling very peaceful and confident about the whole deal. It will all go as I've manifested it to go. Certainly!

We've been busy knocking our to-do list down, checking things off as we go...that's always so gratifying! I sold some books today and upgraded our cell phones (we now have Smartphones! Yay!!!) while John and the boys worked on projects around the house. Our wonderful neighbor, Sam (the one who likes to toss spaghetti to the ceiling...ya, he's *that* cool!) was here helping out some, too, and even ran to buy some KFC for lunch for all of us. He's the sweetest! There are so many people I'll miss from our life here. I know they'll never leave us, just as we're not leaving them. Friends are forever. The real ones are, anyway!

So for right now, I'm focusing only on my task scheduled for 8:00am. Once I've checked that off my list of things to do, we'll be sailing onward to getting more boxes packed, preparing for the moving sale we're having this weekend, and loading up the bus.

The clock is a'tickin!

Sending love to the Universe...

Gummi-Bear

A catchy little tune we dug up tonight...

Enjoy ;)

Thursday

We had an overnight guest last night, and the boys insisted that he spend another night, so of course, we made it happen! He's a great homeschooler, with a GREAT family! He's the oldest of four children, and I was his mama's doula at her last birth. We spent most of yesterday playing at his house and then brought him home with us. We watched Wall-E last night, in between the other things they did until midnight...yawn! ;o

They've each crafted themselves some sort of a gun with an 'added on with duct tape' light. There's this little space you can access through one of our closets that they've claimed as their fort. Saylor even hard wired the space today with a functioning lamp, so they've got lightness in the dark now (we're all looking for that). He figured out how to go through one of the phone jacks by taking the plate off the wall, stringing through an extension cord, replacing the plate and Ta-Da! Light!!! Very clever, my son. Of course, my first instinct was to say something like, "well, you probably shouldn't have done that...blah, blah, blah", but thankfully, I was able to really share in his excitement and see what an accomplishment it was (i'm pretty sure i never would have thought of such a thing!) My boy was so proud and he came to share it with *me*. I'm so lucky!

We went swimming today, they've spent some time on the internet, we played the Wii for a bit. They enjoyed winding down last night by watching some pre-recorded Mythbusters. And tonight, we watched a program on Animal Planet about the vanishing frogs. We learned all about a parasitic fungus called amphibian chytrid and how it's killing thousands of frogs all over the world. We also learned why that matters to us, as human beings. It's been a great couple of days. We're watching Napoleon Dynamite right now. Why, yes! I can watch a movie and blog at the same time!!! :) Can *You*???

Except for the farting dogs laying at my feet in front of the fireplace (peee-eeeew!) everything is peachy! Hoping the same for you...

Techno Talk

The boys discovered the game, Dinosaur World a couple years ago, and have played it a lot. It's on our desk-top, so Sage spent a little time last night exploring there.

Another of our favorites at the moment is Bloxorz (from the Miniclip Games site). Sage can get to level 4 by himself, and then he starts recruiting people to help him. Before you know it, we're all sucked in working together to get the block to fall. It's addicting! :)

Oh, and another bit of *EXCITING* news...

We got the Wii!!! So, yes, there's been bowling, tennis, boxing. All that good stuff is a happenin' here! We picked up 'Super Smash Brothers: Brawl' at a pawn shop, too, so that's keeping us all busy. And Sage chose a Simpson's game for the PS2. He enjoys running Homer around and having him kick things and speak his Homer-ese, which entertains fully!

Sunny and Warm

It's forecast to be 68 degrees here today, so we're heading to the parky-park! We'll grab some Q-doba and Jimmy John's and have a picnic and some friend time.

We're looking at 15 days before we need to be O.U.T. of this house! Wow. I'll be getting my calendar out and start mapping out our strategy...later today. Yes, after we soak up some Vitamin D.

Have a Groovy Day!

It's Just for Fun!

We all laughed our butts off while we played at PhotoFunia the other day. Check it out if you're up for some Fun!!!

It's a New Day!

This is so how I was feeling the day after the election, and still am so excited!

No matter who your vote went to, you can't deny the power of this movement and the possibility this guy inspires in all of us. The pictures from the video remind me of someplace else, another country, perhaps, the kind of country that fights and demands to be heard FINALLY. I'm proud that this time, it's us!

to Peace & Healing...

Birthday Dinner

I had dinner with my mom and sister tonight. It was a combined birthday celebration dinner for all of our birthdays, which fall in September, November and December. We had to get it in this week because my sweet, sweet Mama is moving to Reno on Friday. ...sniffle, sniffle...

BUT, it's all good. As long as I don't think too much about her actual absence, I'm really quite fine. I'm sure when Saturday morning rolls around and then Saturday afternoon, and she still hasn't come through our front door like she so often does, it'll hit me. And of course this has to go down while John is away. BUT, I'll be ok. Yes, I'll be ok. If I just keep telling myself that, it has to be true, right?

Anyway, back to dinner. We had a great couple hours tonight, eating too much, laughing together, and just really enjoying each other so completely. I'll cherish the feeling I had sitting there with them both for as long as I live.

In this picture, Barb said something that got us all laughing, and then it was contagious and we just couldn't stop. Y'know, the kind of laughing that you know you *must* contain, but you just CAN'T!!! Yep, that kind of laughing. So, although we took a couple other normal looking photos, this is my favorite of the evening! Gotta love it, baby!

Sage is 4!

Our baby is 4. We celebrated yesterday (his actual birthday) with a small gathering of family and friends. He's an awesome 4 year-old and I can't wait to see what the coming year brings for him. He still rules the roost and he's still nursing, very occasionally. He's a whole lot of fun and if he's not happy with the way things are going, never fear, you'll know about it! He's a ball full of energy and he loves to do whatever his brothers are doing. Happy, Happy Birthday, my Son!

Here are a few shots from yesterday: