Konos Co-op

Hello- I wanted to post this to let anyone know who may be close enough to my area to allow them to be part of the new Konos Co-op that I started recently! We are in the general area of Bellingham Washington, a little North actually. And would LOVE to have a few more families to throw bashes with next year! I believe that we are all going to be working together on our Units and would like to throw a Birch Bay Konos Beginners Bash in Mid to late August. We will be working primarily out of Volume 1 next year, and if you've looked at my tentatively tentative Konos schedule for next Fall, I think that a few things have changed. But not much :) I haven't decided for sure, but I'd like to have it here, and that may require us to acquire a BBQ of some sort before then, as you can't have an outdoorsy Bash without some BBQ'd something. Of course, however, the kids can roast all the weenies they want and that would be fine with me, but the grown-ups aren't always fond of hot dogs, and may like a little more substantial fare. I can't wait to start planning it. We have a Yahoo group started called the Birch Bay Konos Krusaders. Please visit and join!! Though I don't think that I have sent out an invitation to the other two families that are going to be involved so far! Hehe!! Need to do that soon! Anyhoo, Hopefully we will find another family or two, and if we don't we're going to have a blast anyways!!

Nope, not yet!

Ugh, I hate waiting and this is driving me nuts!! I was told that the "average" shipping time is 5-7 working days.... 7 would have been Wednesday..... I need to get a tracking # so that I can figure out where my packages are to make sure that they haven't been delivered to the wrong house (has happened before several times) Mmmmm... So, I am hoping that it will all show up today. Perhaps it hasn't come yet because God knows I am such a scatter brain sometimes and He knew that if I got the stuff earlier this week I'd have gone totally nuts looking through it and would have gotten NOTHING done!! He he!! So anyways....
Last night we went down to the local nursery (whole sale for stores in our area, but they have a really nice garden center.) I picked out a few plants ....

3 -6 pk's of various Tom's
1 -6 pk's of Cuc.'s
and they had their small herbs 4/$1.00 so I picked out a sage, 2 chives and a thyme :) Yummy!!
I also got a "Dark Dancer" which looks like a fancy clover plant but it has 4 and 5 leaf clovers all over it!!!
And I got a lavender plant cause it was on sale as well :)!!
And a whole bunch of seeds, cabbage, multi colored carrots, sunflowers, bell peppers [which I later found a 6 pack at out farmer's market when we stopped by for some lettuce, (and some blue corn chips, several large avacados and tomatoes just fell into my basket!! Hey the avacados were on sale for $1.00/each cause they needed to be used NOW!!!) He He!!! ] Anyways.... seeds, so I also got some Scarlet Runner beans (which I have re-named Velcro Beans cause they have fuzz that sticks to your tounge when you eat them raw or otherwise!!) and Heirloom Rainbow Blend of Tomatoes which was too pretty to pass up, Spinach, and some Walla-Walla sweet onions :) So, I should be a HAPPY GARDENER this weekend!!! I just hope that my late start doesn't end up being a little too late :(!! That's all for now.

Still Waiting

So, I have just about got everything unpacked and cleaned and reorganized from our camping trip the weekend. We have been having BEAUTIFUL weather since Friday evening. Thank you Jesus! I am STILL WAITING for my Konos, it's driving me CRAZY!!! I did get most of my Garden planted on Monday, and just need to go get a few more seeds and plants, then that will be finished. I hope that I will have more time this year to get out and work in the garden, I hate it when weeds take over and I feel totally overwhelmed. The last time I had a garden I hated it because I felt so guilty that I couldn't spend more time out there. But then again, I had a small baby to tote around and three others to keep my eyes on. Now, Sarah Rose is older and I am hoping that she will enjoy spending time out in Mommy's garden :) So, here's hoping! I am looking forward to the grass, we see sprouts now and are trying really hard to keep everything moist. I need to go take more pictures! Well, that's all for now.....

Our Camping Trip

turned out beautiful!! It went great and everyone had lots of fun. We were told that it would prolly shower some each day and that Monday would be really rainy. We planned on coming home Sunday afternoon anyway because we knew that we needed to water the grass that we planted last week. And we thought it a good idea to take th tent down in sunshine than rain so that we didn't have to worry about setting it up again to dry it out. So, it was a short trip, but lots of fun. Only about 45 minutes from here, it's up in the foot hills of Mt. Baker and it was beautiful. There was one set of flushing toilets that work on a generator and septic system ie: no power. There was also running water for the toilets and faucets from a generator powered well. We were one of three groups that camped there this weekend, so it was pretty quiet. Very nice, as I expected for it to be really busy! There is a horse camp just up the road from this camp, so we saw people riding by on their horses all day long. That made me homesick for the horses that I used to have, and made me want some even more. Ahhhh, I can picture it now, hubby and I riding horses out in the back of our property, through the huge fir and Cedar trees and among the ferns. So pretty :) Our property looks a lot like the property that the camp ground is on actually. So, anyways, the kids had lots of fun playing with the kids from the other family that we were camping with. And we got lots of time with the Mom and Dad of that family which was really nice. We like getting to spend time with them. I brought bubbles, and our base ball stuff and some fun stuff from the $ store (glow sticks, hula hoops, and some ping pong paddles, and a few beach balls for the babies)

I can't wait to get my Konos order, it didn't come while we were gone, so hopefully tomorrow :)

Camping!

So we haven't been camping for 5 1/2 years and have decided to go with some friends of ours for the holiday weekend. It should be lots of fun. One problem I am having is we had transitioned from a Tent Family to a Camp Trailer Family and now since the trailer is filled with heaps of who knows what stuff, we can't use it and have to tent it once again. Hmmm, pretty hard since I had thus gotten rid of the storage containers ie: tubs and crates and stuff for all the camping stuff. So now that question hasn't been what do I need to bring, it's where in the heck am I supposed to put all this stuff??

Tomorrow we also have our Beach Exploration Day that I set up with Cayleb's home school group. I am supposed to be putting together a scavenger hunt for the kids to do as teams. I need to put that together still.... We have also a lot of shopping to do yet, Jason has so wonderfully volunteered to go do that for me in the morning.

I haven't gotten my Konos in yet, hoping it will come either tomorrow, or wait until Tuesday and not come while we are away. I also got the Kids enrolled in a few classes at the Blaine Home Connection for next year. So far I signed them up for "Farming with Friends" for all three, and Noah and Charity Ann are going to take a "Hands on Math" class, and Cayleb is going to take an "Origami Math" class. I also would like to sign Noah up for Piano lessons, as we can use our stipend funds to pay for that because it is considered a "Private Lesson."

Well, I need to go for now, I have to get moving or we aren't going to be ready to go by tomorrow night.....

Teriffic Tuesday

Today has been good. I have been dong TONS of laundry, making up for not working on it during the weekend...... We have our beach outing with our WAVA group scheduled for Friday so hopefully the weather holds up. We are also trying to plan a camping trip for this weekend. This will be our first time camping since we moved up here almost 5 1/2 years ago! We also got our grass planted yesterday, Yeah!! I don't know when I'll get my Konos stuff, I did get a confirmation for my order saying that it shipped on Monday and it will take 5-7 days to get here, yipee! So that pretty much brings me up to date on the happenings around here.

Cayleb is doing a science experiment on Geotropism and I decided that we should try out the "note booking" style of keeping his records. It' s sort of like scrap booking, so it can be a lot of fun. He seems to be enjoying the more creative approach of logging his data rather than the usual boring just-jot-it-down-on-a-piece-of-paper approach. We are really excited to see how his experiment goes! I am also i the process of starting a Virtual Co-Op Yahoo group for the families that we find who want to do Konos Unit's with us. so far we have 2 other families besides ourselves. And we haven't even started it yet! I am trying to figure out how to organize my art/craft type projects into a data base sorted into types of some sort that would make it easy to come up with ideas for our units. Hmmm..... Lots to think about and I totally over think things sometimes.....

Well, that's all for now, I think :)

Today

So Today hasn't been amazing in the sense of an amazing day. But it was great for a Monday, now I think that this is two great Monday's in a row. I think that I am feeling very much relieved at the sight of "End of School" written on my Calendar. I have been in organizing mode the last week or so, tackling a portion of my closet at a time. It's been so fun, I LOVE organizing, but I can tell that the rest of my house has been ignored. But that's okay, I keep telling myself that I will get to it, and that I just need to get the closet done, it's been driving me CRAZY!! I can't wait to get our curriculum for next year! I have a place for it reserved in the closet, I know, I am a nut..... Kristy and I are going to get together and plan our year after we have both had a chance to take a look and see what is drawing each of our eyes. I am using primarily the first Volume for next year, with a few supplements from the Second volume for Christmas, Valentines Day and Easter.... Or perhaps we will just stick with the first Volume and take a week off and do our own crafty stuff for the holiday's :) Either way, it will be fun.

I also want to get out and start my garden. I feel it nagging at me, I usually have it in before now, but it's not too late. I just need to try and set aside an afternoon to work on it. I want to plant Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Lettuce, Carrots, Cabbage, some Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Squash, and some Corn. I'll do some tomatoes in pots. That's what my picture is about today. I like Photo Blogging :) Hehehe!! I always loved the "Peter Rabbit" books.

I also wanted to mention that I have sold 4 of my wands!

I ordered It!!

I ordered our Konos stuff today!! Yipee!! I can't wait to get it all and start going through it. I think that I may go a little bit nutso this summer planning our next year together! I can't wait for the grass to be done, the swing set built so that I can finally feel like things are wrapping up for now. I feel like we have been building and making this place livable since we bought it and now, I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Though I know as homeowners and property owners the tasks will never be done, it is nice to feel like your yard is a comfortable place to hang out. I remember feeling that way one time before, the summer right before we moved up here.... got it all fixed up and then moved!! I am hoping that we will get to that point soon so that I can feel like it's approachable for other people, I want them to feel happy here with their kids for BBQ's and stuff, you know? I love having parties, but just haven't felt like the yard has been up for it, so now, hopefully, we will be getting closer. Jason is hoping to get most of the grass planted this weekend, but we have to wait for the rain saturated ground to dry up a bit, it's just sticking to the tracks of Mary Anne and making a huge mess right now..... So, hopefully a few more days of sunshine will do the trick.

We also had a great afternoon at the beach today, I'll try to post a few pics later. It was great fun with Kristy and her girls too! Ta Ta for now....

Here is my beautiful flower!! Happy Mother's Day to Me!! Isn't it gorgeous!! I LOVE fuchsias!!

Garden Wands!

I have had these really pretty garden wands sitting in the corner of my bedroom since making them last Fall. I had so much fun and had all these dreams and ideas for marketing them etc. So this week I decided to list a few of them on Craig's List to see what people thought of them and get some feedback on my pricing. They are pretty pricey, but the materials for the copper ones are really expensive! So, I got one lady that wrote me asking about them, and she says that she wants two of them but hasn't gotten back to me about which ones.... She wanted me to send her pictures of all the ones that I had made so that she could look through them. One thing lead to another and I decided to just add a website to Morning Glory Enterprises to refer people to so that they could take a look at what I have. I told my MIL about the site and she was so excited and says that she want's my "Heart Daisy." And since then we have been throwing around the idea of Morning Glory investing in my work! First things first, I have to see if I can actually sell them!! But I imediatly start thinking really BIG about all of it, Garden Art is my site so far and I can see room to add more types of art, like mosiac stepping stones, art using water features like fountians, and fish ponds.... it just keeps getting bigger and bigger in my head! Ahhhh!!! This is so overwhelming, yet so exciting at the same time! More later, gotta go help Cayleb!

We got in!!

I just got a call from Mr. Sanborn and he said that we got into the Blaine Program for next year!! There is a waiting list, but he said that we made it in!!! Yipee!!! I am so happy, one less thing to worry about. Now I just need to save up for my Konos curriculum so that we will be all set!!! I can get our Math books through the Blaine Home Connection for next year, as there is a stipend for each child enrolled. You can get whatever you want pretty much as long as it's not religious curriculum, hence, the necessity of me purchasing the Konos. Anyways. I just wanted to write about this cause it makes me really happy, and help confirm to me that I am on the right path. And Thank you to my friend Sarah for her hugs XOXOXOX!!! I Love you!!!

Yummy, Chocolate Cake!!

Cayleb and I are making a chocolate cake this morning to celebrate a good Monday and good math today as well!! It's been a while since we had a good Monday, and I wanted him to know that I appreciate it. Mmmmmmmm........ I can't wait to take a bite, but we are going to save it for tonight to have with everyone! Also, I heard from a little birdy yesterday that we are going to be getting into the Blaine Home Connections program for next Fall! I am so excited about that. It had me a little concerned, though it wouldn't have made a difference regarding to home school or not to home school, it will just make it so much more fun!! AnyWho! Gotta Go!!
Here is the Recipe:

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Comment Please

I don't ask for much, but if anyone is actually reading this, would you please leave me a comment :) I need a hug today.

Mother's Day!

I can't believe that it is Mother's Day again already!! I have a "Mother's Day Tea" in Noah's class this afternoon at 1:00. He was so excited and picked out the cutest sweater and pants to wear to school today. *Teacher asked the kids to dress nice* It was so cute!! Cayleb is working though his list of stuff for school today. I just made a list because it was all things he could do without me being right there, so when he finishes, he finishes..... it's all up to him today. So far he seems to be moving along slowly but surely. Charity Ann is playing in there with him right now. And Sarah Rose is in here digging though Daddy's basket of stuff *not so good*. I see a Sharpie! Jason is home today, that's normal, he works' 4-10's. He is out right now, though, taking his grinder to be repaired and running a few errands for me :) He will be home soon though, and I think he is planning on working out in the yard since we won't be home to work on it tomorrow.... He has also made a deal with a guy from work to trade a few of our chickens for a 50# bag of grass seed. :( Not too happy about parting with my chickens, but we need the grass seed :) This weekend looks pretty fun so far, Saturday is really busy, but Sunday should be lower key. Church and then just some quiet time at home :) Maybe I'll get the kids to make dinner! J/K!!! TTFN And I hope everyone has a GREAT MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Not much happening..

today, that is. Cayleb is feeling better, so we are trying to catch up on some of the work that we missed this week.....
I have a dentist appt. this afternoon, yucky!!! No wait, Yipee!! Yeah, right! :( I have only left a regularly scheduled cleaning at a dentist like twice in my life without needing to come back for repairs! But here's hoping!
I need to go find a chiropractor because I have a pinched nerve in my back that has really been bothering me....
And Jason's Grandpa is having his 80th birthday next month and everyone is gathering for a "family reunion" of sorts, and we can't be there cause it's too stinking expensive to drive, and not much cheaper to fly. So, I totally feel like leftovers today. And I know that Jason has to be a little bummed about it too, but he has a better outlook about things sometimes and I don't think that he is letting it get him down. He's a good guy, you know. I love him so much that I can hardly contain it sometimes. We have really been enjoying our "dates" each Saturday and it really has seemed to help bring back our sense of humor and vibrance :) I think that we both live through each week looking forward to our date :) This week we don't meet because there is a HUGE concert happening at the church aka: no room for the kids to hang out while we are out on a date! So we, actually I, volunteered Jason to help a friend build his fence. The girls will get to hang out all day Saturday at their house with the kids (numbering 6) and we have a soccer game to go to sometime before lunch. So Saturday looks like fun :) Anywho, I need to go for now, Cayleb needs to move on to Science :)

Epiphany

So, here it is, I have come to realize that Monday's (figuratively) stink for us, no matter what day they happen to land on! Yesterday was Monday for us, and as has been the norm, ended up stinking to High Heaven. I am not sure what to do about this problem I seem to be having with Cayleb's lack of enthusiasm, motivation and bad attitude..... Should I reward this by changing things up for Monday's, trying to make them more fun or something? I mean, none of us really LOVE Monday's right? But Most of us don't DREAD them either, more than normal anyways :). So...... Though I have reached my epiphany regarding the consistency of Monday Blues around here, I have also faced an equally depressing juncture, What the Heck am I supposed to do about Mondays!!

Considering...

yesterday, today has been very low-key. Cayleb hasn't been feeling well, but not bad enough to not do school. He keeps procrastinating, and sidetracking, though, so this is taking a lot longer than it needs to... I keep telling him that if he would just pay more attention to his math problems, for example, he wouldn't have to take the assessment 3 times to pass on 7 problems.... he knows them and can do them out loud with me no problem, but when it comes to writing things down, his brain just miscommunicates what it wants to see written on the paper or something... So anyways....

I really want to order our Konos, but can't yet... I have pondered the idea of saving some of the "$" whatever the amount is that is supposed to be sent out from the government to boost the economy whatever.... and putting it towards our school supplies for next year.... but then there are about 50 other things that that money needs to go towards! like bills! Yuck, how depressing!! Anywho....

It's overcast today, it was supposed to rain but it hasn't yet. Maybe Jason will get a little more done on the yard tonight. :)

I want to talk about something happy, K!! So Happy Happy Happy!!! Happy to everyone!!! Happy thoughts, Happy Prayers, Happy Dreams, Happy Days, Happy-whatever-the-heck-it-is-that-will-make-you-happy Happy!!

I pray that God will lead you in the path that He wants you to travel. I pray that He will keep you safe where ever that path leads you. I pray that He uses you to reach a brother or sister in need. I pray that you will seek His guidance in all you do. I pray that He will Bless your family and provide you with everything you need. -Amen

Fun Fun Fun....

Today has been pretty busy, I went and picked up the Wyckoff Boys (3 boys) to come and play with my munchkins. They have been playing very well together. We went swimming and just got back a little while ago, they had a blast. And now most of the kids are outside playing!! Thank Goodness for Sunshine!! Tomorrow, I hear, isn't going to look so pretty, though! But I did see in the fortcast for May 16th that it's going to hit 70??!! We'll just have to wait and see on that one! I'm gonna take the boys back home tonight after their Mom gets home from work :)

I am hoping that school will fly by this week so that Cayleb and I can keep working on the yard after school. I have gotten quite a bit done, but we still have lots to do!! Mary-Anne's track came in today, so she won't be a gimp anymore (in case anyone cares to know, Mary-Anne is our excavator, she reminds me of Mary-Anne the steam shovel from the book Mike Mulligan and Mary-Anne, at least I think that's what its called.... not sure at the moment, my brain's a little overstimulated!!) I'll try to post a pic. of Daddy or Cayleb working with her sometime :) They both have so much fun!!

Today, I could have taken a picture for advertisement of the airplane teeter-totter that we got from costco. I have 7 Kids here today and every single one of them was on it!! Yes, it seats 7!! I need to ask them to pose for me!! Okay, so I bribed them with candy! Here it is!!

We have also been working on the yard, so here are some pics of the process....
-First is the Western view from out our back door

-Then a Southern view out the back door and

-Last a Eastern view out our back door so imagine looking slowly from your right to your left and that's pretty much a panoramic view....

Okay, so we've decided, I think?!

Okay, so we've decided to go with the Swing Set from Costco. Looks pretty cool, right? My one condition, well actually two is that we HAVE to add monkey bars!!! And we are going to add a Stage 3 to our original plan that includes a zip line of some sort. I'll try to take some pictures to show you where we are thinking of putting the zip line..... hint-hint:we have a huge hill off the back of the house with a valley and another hill on the other side.... So, I think that I am excited!
Phase I: Airplane Teeter-totter, picking this up this weekend from Costco (I have an earlier post with a cool pic of this)
Phase II: Swing set with added Monkey Bars, too come soon after grass is planted.
Phase III: Zip Line!! Yipee!!!