The Crazee Chick's View of Life

We finished the K'nex Big Ball Factory today! It took a little over a month of working on it in bits and spurts, but in the last couple of days Zack has put the 'heat' on and we've been building, working, pushing little plastic sticks together until our fingers were raw (okay...not really), and collapsing into exhausted heaps of humanity at the end of the day (again...not really) until we got it done! What a great product this is! The K'nex designers (obviously engineers who love to both build and play) have done a wonderful job. The patterns for the most part are easy to follow and you (the builder) get a wonderful perspective on planning ahead and following instructions. If you are looking for a great toy for your kids this Christmas (and feel like spending $300.00) consider the K'nex Simple Machines Kit! Not only do you get to build the Big Ball Factory, but you also get patterns, materials and educator's guides for bridges, gears, levers, pulleys, and ot

What do you do when your 11 year old is at a day camp across the river, and when you go to pick her up you discover the highway and the bridge is closed in both directions? Panic!!! That's the situation my friend and I were faced with this afternoon. Two cranes blocking traffic: one toppled; the other helping to right it's fallen comrade. Highway CLOSED! Two kids on the other side of the river unaware of the traffic situation. No cell phone to contact them. Panic!!! After taking a few moments to breathe I realized we had a solution. Hubby! He works on the 'other side' of the river! Thankfully he was able to go get the girls, feed them some supper and take them to work with him for the remainder of the day. I'm sure they had fun playing pool and drawing on the white boards. For the first time EVER I was thankful that he was on the other side of the bridge. Normally I am not. Earthquakes are a very real threat in this part of the world and with earthquakes come fall

That's how I would describe our household today. There were good things happening everywhere...all day long. Firstly, Hubby and Zee painted the chair that they built together last week. I caught hubby 'touching it up.' Good thing he doesn't do the homeschooling or else all the assignments would either be 'doctored' or would have to be perfect before they were handed in. Aaaaaah, life with a perfectionist! Secondly, Mo and Kiki made chocolate chip cookies (my favorite) and brownies (Mel's secret recipe!). Also, they worked all morning on the Webkinz house they are building. After Mo finished drawing the 'blueprints' they got right to work on the construction. They've made several rooms including the kitchen (with stove) and bathroom (with toilet and a sink with 'water' in it). Thirdly, Zee and I completed about 5 pages of our K'nex Big Ball Factory. Kenzi and Mo eventually joined in too (while Daddy made dinner). The structure is just

or anywhere in France. We've been walking to the market the last couple of days in an effort to get outdoors, soak up the sunshine, reduce greenhouse emissions and pretend we are on vacation in Paris. It's been wonderful. We've had some great talks, we've taken the bikes to the skateboard park, Zee's learning how to ride a scooter and we've been to both the 'market' and the library. My kids are getting exercise, learning to love their community, exercising good food choices and finding the thrill in reading. I've not seen them so excited about 'staying home' before. I guess we should go on 'vacation' more often. The benefits are priceless...

The book I am reading called The Socrates Way encourages the writing of haiku to encourage self knowledge, enlightenment and to promote deep thinking, so periodically I will be sprinkling my haiku talents ( talents? ahem, cough, cough) amongst my blog. Today my son is talking non-stop (and I mean NON STOP!) and there is a considerable amount of tension and kids hollering at one another in my home. Now that you know the basis for my haiku....here it is: Words like rivers, tumble, rage, and flow from mouth to mouth. Critique: Not sure if I am anymore enlightened as a result of my haiku journey. Maybe a nice hot rock massage at the spa with some pan flute zen musique would have been more successful. Or maybe some chocolate... I'm just sayin'...

I've got the rhythm. I've got the moves. I've got it goin' on! Okay, not really...but I am having a good time shaking what my momma gave me! Last night I signed up for an adult *tap* workshop and I had a complete blast. Never mind that I've got the biggest thighs in the place, Never mind that my groove thang is hangin', Never mind that my girls are a floppin', I HAD FUN! ...and I plan on havin' more!

Or in this case, it's the screws that bind. Hubby and Zee built a chair together this weekend as they shared some special father/son time. Such precious moments. I took the girls out to Starbucks for a Strawberries 'n cream smoothie-type drink and a gigantic ginger snap cookie. If you've never tried these cookies be sure to put it on your 'To Do' list this summer. They are heavenly! We enjoyed our special time together and had some meaningful discussions. Yesterday we ventured to G- Island. It's so beautiful there! We need to go more often. I swear these birds were dancing! The music and their flight were in perfect sych...it was magical! Even Zee recognized the beauty of it. Daddy Update: My dad is doing better physically (his fingers are horribly mangled and he is now considered an amputee as he lost up to the first knuckle of his ring finger on his left hand) but emotionally he is stuggling...very upset and angry with himself. He is a brilliant artist (his me

Had to delete today's post....too negative. I'm angry...saying things I might regret. Not mad at my hubby or kids.... Striving to forgive the ones who angered me. I will do so....it's a commandment that I do.

I'm feeling so sad today because my dear daddy got hurt while using the table saw. He essentially mangled three of his fingers and had to have surgery. It's possible that he could lose a portion of his ring finger. I feel sick because I'm helpless over here. I can't do anything to help my mom to help him. I can't take away any pain. I can't give my daddy a big hug (which would make me feel better). I hate this. Daddy, if you get the chance to read this over the next couple of days (because I know you're not going to be in the shop!), I hope you are feeling better and that the pain is under control. We are praying for your finger and hoping that it will be allowed to remain with the rest of it's finger friends. I love you.

Is it okay to ignore my children while I create scrapbook pages about them? Today I learned how to do my very first layout using Photoshop. I am so excited! The papers and elements are from Shabby Princess...they are free..free.. free...I tell you! I must run now and stop being a bad mommy...Zee is begging to do K'nex, the girls have learned how to make fudge on their own (made 3 batches!), and all of them have learned the fine art of conflict resolution (ie. they had one heck of a fight and managed to solve it with only a minute amount of mediation by moi) and I haven't even thought about dinner yet (it's 6:25pm) but...*giggle*...I got some creative time today! Hee...hee...

Today's Relief Society lesson was so inspirational. It was about gaining power through reading the scriptures: power to overcome temptations; power to strengthen our commitment to the Gospel; power to become better. I am guilty of not reading my scriptures and therefore am out of power (just like a battery...which is exactly how I feel most days ) Everyday I immerse myself in reading: I read novels; history; self help books, and the classics all in an attempt to become a learned individual. I am really an idiot because I am not reading the books that are the most influential, the ones that are the manual of life....the scriptures. I have taken on a challenge, and will also be involving my children, to read the scriptures everyday without fail for 100 days. After 21 days it will be a habit and I hope that once I (and my family) surpass the 100 day mark that we will come to feel as if we are undressed if we have not put on the armor of God on a daily basis. Looking forward to

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us." Thank you to all of my friends who blessed my life today. You know who you are. Thank you for: ~Your offer of a retreat for my tired mind: a chance to renew and refresh. ~Your Random Act of Kindness (yum, yum....best apple crisp EVER!!) Must. have. recipe! ~Spending the day with me after too long of an absence...you are the sister in life that I never had. I am so blessed. The Lord took excellent care of me today.

Aaaaaah(BIG exhale)....everything's done: Swimming Dancing Piano Achievers Preschool Done. Time to breathe. But wait...what's that? Entertain the children you say? Find ways for them to fill every waking moment? Make each day fantastical? What?! Okay...let's... Swim Play in the creek Learn how to sew on the sewing machine Do a summer craft Start a new needlepoint project Build a Big Ball Factory out of K'nex Start our science curriculum--Powerhouse by Thames and Kosmos ( http://http://www.thamesandkosmos.com/products/ph/ph2.html ) Help hubby dig trenches in the back yard for our in ground sprinkler Plan next year's school schedule Hug Kiss Love ... my kids. Breathe. Relish the moments; be happy that we are all healthy; learn to find the beauty in everything; love them while they are little because it won't be long until they are asking for the keys to the car or telling me that they've found 'the one.' These moments are precious.... Love them.... Che