Homeschoolers, stay out of TN

I looked up some state education rankings. Tennessee ranked 41 (2005-2006) out of 50 possible states, yet their DOE says homeschoolers are unqualified for certain jobs. 

One Police Officer and Four Daycare Workers Deemed Unqualified Because of Homeschool Diplomas

Continuing with the Obama theme

Read this and thought I'd share.

Barack Potatoe Obama

I LOVE this line '“On this Memorial Day, as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes — and I see many of them in the audience here today...'" Ummmmm, huh?  And they think Bush is an idiot, and least he doesn't conjure the dead!

And for you Minnesotans, beware of Laura and Paula at the conference....they are bad news and bad influences!

Stolen Goods

Jessica* posted this picture of her daughter and I loved it so I stole it. I thought "Too bad about the background (car seat)" so I played in Photoshop. Me likey...I think it looks totally advertisementy...want to buy a coat?

*original picture 

nilmdts

For anyone looking to shed some tears here is a great story. My friend Tammy from NM is a participating photographer...amazing work. While I hope you never need this service, I feel it is important to get the word out. Tammy, and all participating photographers, THANK YOU for providing this amazingly wonderful and heart-wrenching gift. 

WoW Week 13

Who came up with this dumb idea? That's all I have to say about that.

Jessica: out of town

Amy:

Laura: -3, she sucks

Michelle: -1. good job

Miguelita:

Trina: -2 GREAT JOB

Kimberly:

Renee:

Bonnie:

ABC

slow blog day so i will take this from paula and run with it

A is for age:
31, nothing witty to add

B is for burger of choice:
If they are made at home, with swiss cheese, green chili, lettuce, ketchup, and onions. From my favorite burger place (red robin, yum) their regular with swiss cheese, sans relish

C is for what kind of car you drive:
Honda Odyssey, but I am a Catholic homeschooling mom, i will graduate to a 15 passenger van some day

D is for your dog's name:
None now but growing up we had a black lab named ebony, when tug and i were new we had a black lab named drake, most recently we had a psycho beagle named archie (we got rid of both drake and archie)

E is for essential item you use everyday:
The toilet

F is for favorite TV show at the moment:
Hm, technically at the moment i dont have one since we are in summer, but when it is in season The Office for sure

G is for favorite game:
Oh, that's a hard one. to actively play-soccer, to watch-college football, board-trivial pursuit, cards-euchre

H is for Hometown:
El paso, tx

I is for instruments you play:
None now, i played the clarinet from 6th-8th grades, i dabble with the keyboard-i mean piano

J is for favorite juice:
Dont much care for juice but i will believe the false rumor that dr pepper contains prune juice, therefore dr pepper is my favorite juice

K is for whose butt you'd like to kick:
The group

L is for last restaurant you ate at?
Seriously ending this with at?!? 

claim jumper in portland, to

M is for your favorite Muppet:
Im not sure i know any muppet...is that the one with the swedish chef? manamana

N is for Number of Piercing:
Currently 2, in yrs past 5...all in my ears

O is for overnight hospital stays:
4 kiddies so one night for each of them, and another time in 7th grade when i hit a nerve in my head causing me to have a seizure

P is for people you were with today:
Today it's just me and the kids, but this weekend we were with e's family (saturday), and amy's family + 3 more families (sunday)

Q is for what you do with your quiet time:
Knit, sleep, pray for more quiet time (alright, i dont pray)

R is for biggest regret:
Chickening out and going to AtM instead of The Ohio State University

S is for status:
Tired

T is for time you woke up today:
8

U is for what you consider unique:
Myself. alright, not so much. um, a duckbilled platypus

V is for vegetable you love:
Fresh green beans

W is for worst habit:
Waking up in the morning, biting my nails

X is for x-rays you've had:
I dont think ive ever had one

Y is for yummy food you ate today:
Well, i have only eaten one thing today, scrambled eggs with green chili and bacon bits (getting back to the low carb) and i dont know if i would call it yummy

Z is for zodiac sign:
The one, the only, the biggest, baddest in the land...taurus

play along if youd like, or are having a slow blog day

One more year until the big three-o

The kids have an auntie
that they miss so,
Because that auntie 
lives in Chicago.

Today is her birthday

we all hope it's grand,

We send her our love

way across the land. 

Happy Birthday Erin,

You ain't gettin' no younger. 

So, when you gonna 

start having some kids? 

Erin and Chendo at their wedding nearly 2 years ago.
Erin and the best man dancing...this is one of my favorite pics from their wedding. That is sugar and brooke dancing in the foreground.

Women for Obama

Today we went to our local quasi-Catholic* Church for mass (not where we normally attend). 

A lady behind me, probably in her mid-50's, was wearing a "Women for Obama" button. So, I turned to her and said "If you want to put your own soul in peril, that is your business; but why, when our Church instructs us not to vote for candidates who are for the inherent evil of abortion, would you so blatantly show your dissent in Mass?"  Of course this conversation only happened in my head. Luckily she left just before Communion. I seriously don't get it...why would you wear that button during Mass???

*technically they are Catholic, we just don't much care for this particular parish...lots of blue hairs, very few families, lots of rude stares when I fold my hands during the Our Father (look lady, my entire family isn't holding hands WITH EACH OTHER, it is nothing personal against you), lots of rude stares when our family kneels THE SECOND TIME, I could go on and on...

Because they asked me to

For Mary...

What would you do if I sang out of tune

I need a little help (again) my friends. For those of you who are homeschoolers (Catholic or not) could you give advice on the following:

*does your area have a homeschool group

*what are the dynamics (ie: do you usually do entire group things, are there mostly cliques within the group and those cliques get together, everyone hates each other, etc.)

*how often do you get together as an entire group (field trips, play dates, etc)

*what do you love about the group

*what would you change about the group

*if you don't  have a group, what would you like to see in one (pretend you were starting your own).

Thanks dearies, I appreciate any comments (please, please, please leave a comment :)) 

If you'd prefer to email it to me (perhaps you don't want others in your group seeing your feelings) the address is blogspotregina@charter.net.

Fans of nkotb

Tug isn't excited about this one. He thinks it is cute but is bothered by the NKOTB. I am saying the baby is the nkotb, he isn't so sure. What do you think? Worth gifting, or too cheesy?

i got the nkotb idea while surfing but can't find which blog it was on so if it was you please let me know :)

update: So I thought surely most people would know what NKOTB stood for, I was wrong. Technically it was a boy band back in the '80's New Kids On The Block. I am meaning it for the baby being the new kid on the block. Tug doesn't like it because of the boy band. I think the play is fun. Now that you know what it means, what do you think? Again, I am trying to get a general feel for the cheese factor. A simple yea (looks cute) or nay (what are you thinking) will suffice. PLEASE comment, truthfully. 

WoW Week 12

My mom, sister, and great aunt have come and gone. Unfortunately, the weight came too but has yet to leave. Why is it that other participants who gain back and say "must be the cake I had every night" or "I didn't work out one bit" only gain a pound yet I gain back much, much more. It isn't fair I tell you. Obviously I take my cheating to higher levels.  

My mom showed up with fresh baked (that morning, by the time they got here they were about 9 hrs old but still delish) strawberry and cream filled croissants, my sister came with my favorite potato chips (Tim's jalapeno), my aunt requested Dr. Pepper to drink...what were they trying to do to me?? I held strong, for a day—I'm only human! It is all gone now though, and it won't be replaced. I did workout...3 days/3 miles each time. Today is back to the diet day—I feel like I've said this before, it's like deja vu all over again.

This week: I didn't weigh myself. I will just say +1, though I'd bet dollars to donuts it is much higher....mmmmmm, donuts. 

Tug: out of town so I know he didn't weigh in

Jessica: -2.5. just in time to take a month off

Michelle: +1

Amy:

Miguelita:

Kimberly: -2.5. amazing!

Renee:

Bonnie:

Laura: -2

Trina: -1

Stick a fork in it

Buttons and all!

Little Sister's Dress

yarn: just shy of 3 balls Berroco Love it colors, salad days (3290)

mods: made it a shirt because I didn't want to buy more yarn.

One more

Jessica was sweet enough to come to Sugar's First Communion and here is a picture she took. It isn't that great of Sugar but she isn't why I am posting it. 

He is. This is her first crush, a fellow homeschooler. She has good taste, though I am pretty sure the crush is over ;)

1st Communion

Sugar made hers yesterday. Unfortunately my camera was on a funny setting and I didn't know so most of the pictures didn't turn out. Even these are a little funny.Here she is with a wonderful little girl who you wonderful people were wonderful enough to help out.

Rosary Creed

I received an email asking to help out for the Loveliness of Rosaries Fair. In my infinite wisdom I forwarded on the email to other good, prayerful  Catholics (Jessica, Amy and Shelly) and considered my part done. Truth is, I am not much of a prayer person. I know, I know, gasp. I was born and raised Catholic but the importance it played in my life was...very little. Truth be told the only 'important' thing was to not become something else. Church attendance only mattered if a sacrament needed to be made and prayer life was non-existent (not trying to rag on you mom, just spittin' the truth). I am trying to end those bad habits but I admit it is a slow process. 

Tug, on the other hand, is a convert. He is 'on fire' and a few years ago his Godfather sent him what they dubbed the 'Brass Knuckles Rosary'. Dan had some rosaries made out of brass ball bearings to make them more manly. Tug wore it under his shirt daily—so much so that it fell apart but luckily Dan had the maker fix it. Continuing with the manly theme Tug (formerly in the USMC Reserves) felt compelled to alter the Marine Corps Riffle Creed to this Rosary Creed:

ROSARY CREED

This is my rosary. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

My rosary is my best friend. It is my life, I must master it as I must master my life. 

My rosary, without me, is useless. Without my rosary, I am useless. I must pray my rosary diligently. I must pray harder than my enemy, Satan, who is trying to destroy me. I must pray for his destruction before he destroys me. I WILL...

My rosary and myself know that what counts in this war with Satan is not the number of prayers, the profession of our lips, nor the external symbols we make. We know that it is the holy intention of the heart in prayer that counts. WE WILL PRAY...

My rosary is part of myself, because it is my prayer life. Thus, I will pray for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary continually. I will learn its crucifix, its beads, its promises, and its intentions. I will always keep it with me to pray in times of need, sorrow, and persecution.  I will ever guard my rosary so that it becomes part of me. We will become one. WE WILL... 

Before the Holy Trinity, we pray. My rosary and myself are the defenders of our Holy Catholic Faith. We are the masters of our demons. WE ARE THE SAVIORS OF MY LIFE. 

Amen, until victory is the Lord’s and there is no eternal enemy, but peace!

And here is the Brass Knuckles Rosary. After it broke, Tug started wearing a nylon rosary and this one is on a shelf near some other important books. 

Here is my rosary, given to me by Dan as well.  

And this is in our kitchen. Whenever the girls have trouble sleeping they come get a rosary and pray until they drift off. 

The cutest little thing I ever did see

And today is her birthday. I can't believe my lovely little niece Claire is 6. Here are the top 6 things the Fergs love about you:

6. You are Regan's best friend.

5. That you aren't a girly-girl.

4. How sweet and caring you are to animals.

3. Your great independent (ornery)  spirit. It gives me sooooo many funny stories. 

2. The adorable freckles on your nose.

1. How you say knitterbotters...though you now say knickerbockers cuz you fixed yourself and that makes me sad!

Happy Birthday Claire Bear. We love you and we miss you SOOOOOO much!

WoW Week 11

So my foolproof write-your-weight-on-the-computer plan didn't work. I just went to check and it isn't there. What the?? I am relatively certain of the weight though. This week I have been sticking to the diet and I did cardio 4 times. I don't know how long it took but 3 times I did what I think is a 2 mile loop and once I did a 3 mile loop. Before you are overly impressed it was a walk/jog combo, and I am sure my jog is lots of people's walk.  One of the days I asked Tug

R: Do you mind if I go for a jog?

T: Not at all.

R: Alright, I'll be back in 2 hours.

T: So you're going for a quarter mile huh?

He thinks he is pretty funny. Unfortunately he isn't exaggerating that much! 

This week: -2.7

Jessica: -2.5. not allergic anymore

Renee:  forgot to weigh herself before she headed to the airport at 4am. BUT she is here visiting so I can keep an eye on her, or she can sway me off my diet...stay tuned

Laura: ± 0 still running and gaining lots of muscle

Amy: +2.8, doing great

Kimberly: +1. mother's day got to her ;)

Miguelita:-1, the beach is good 

Michelle: +1. and she doesn't care, the cake was good

Marci: 

Bonnie:

Tug: -1

Up for the challenge?

78 words

and this is after a night of knitting!

With a little help from my friends

Calling all regular commenters AND lurkers...I need your help! PLEASE!! Tell me what you think the bottom picture is. I made this but Tug had no clue what it was supposed to be and there is no use making something that people can't tell what it is. I admit, it is a little abstract but I can see it easily. Of course, I know what it is supposed to be. This is on a onesie and is (obviously) for a baby. What I want you to tell me is 1. what the overall picture is and 2. what the 3 little pictures are (I think 2 are easy to tell, the third Tug again had no clue).   PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take a guess, I allow anonymous comments so you don't have to have an account or anything—anyone can comment! Also, please guess before looking at other comments so you aren't swayed!

Thanks!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take a guess

UPDATE: It was clear after comments and phone conversations that the overall concept wasn't coming through so I have attempted to fix it. Tell me what you think now. 

I think the block is fairly obvious now but good job to Paula who guessed that prior to this updated pic. 

Now if only you guys could figure out what the third (bottom right) picture is. 

Flat Stanley

I am surprised some of you aren't aware of Flat Stanley. I think it started as a book then somehow or another it became a school project. Lots of schools do it...are you part of the cool crowd?

Anyhoosle, the kids in Claire's (my niece in Albuquerque) kindigarten class sent out Stanleys this year. Basically each kid gets their own Stan, color him, then mail him somewhere in the world. Whoever gets him is supposed to take him around, show him the area sites then mail him back and the classroom will go over what Stanley learned. Kinda like a huge geography project. I wasn't at all upset about having to do Stanley, I was sad that I didn't have time to do anything with Stanley. We don't live far from the Redwoods in Cali, we live relatively close to the coast, and we aren't even that far from Crater Lake. No time to do any of those.  Instead Stan the man learned to knit with toothpick needles.

He also 'visited' a few spots. 

Up in the tree is legit. 

Pissed

I'm overly pissed about 2 things:

1. Flat Stanley. I received the dear boy on Thursday May 8 with a note informing me school would be out May 21 so get a move on. In the note it also said Stanley's arm had been torn off but the arm was also enclosed. Boo threw the damn thing away. She meant to. She knew what it was and she threw it away. I said "Where's Stan's arm?" She said "I threw it away."  Annoying, not enough to piss me off, but annoying. What I am mad about is I have NO time to take him anywhere cool, I don't have any beach/redwood/Crater Lake/cool areas of Oregon on the mac to superimpose the man on and I have forgotten to take him with me twice. I need to get him back in the mail and he is going to be the lamest Flat Stanley ever. I am pissed.

2. Soccer. We got our butts handed to us today but I am not mad about that. I am mad about the stupid little girl who EVERY time she got the ball she would push. Now, for those who don't know, in soccer you can use your shoulder to distance yourself from your opponent but you cannot use your hands. This girl had her arms fully extended pushing our players. I asked the ref to keep an eye on it, he didn't. During halftime their coach came over and said "I heard you complain about my granddaughter pushing, and I saw her do it, so I apologize." I pretty much said "Oh, alright." I thought perhaps the second half would be better, it wasn't. And, grandpa kept can't-keep-her-hands-to-herself in the whole game. To make things worse every time they scored he would yell to his team "Celebrate, celebrate for scoring. ::looking back at his goalie::Celebrate the goal." Hey douchebag, this is U8, get a grip.

At it again

Holy smokes...number EIGHTEEN, seriously! Yowzah.

Happy Mother's Day: Woman Pregnant With 18th Child

Fair Time

Catholic Cuisine is having their first ever From Thy Bounty Fair.  The theme for the fair taking place on May 15 will be First Communion. Head over there to find out more then share with us your ideas, parties and traditions. 

WoW Week 10

Seriously, 2.5 months and I have nothing to show for it! These next two weeks (3 month mark) are buckle down time and I will, and I will lose 20 lbs. Alright, so I probably won't lose 20 pounds, but I will get on the straight and narrow. I have actually been good this week and I have started exercising-I think I worked out 4, possibly 5, days doing cardio for 30-45 minutes. I thought about starting weights too but haven't...baby steps I guess. We have decided to go see family this summer which means I now have some motivation to lose weight*. I also found out a friend from high school (my best friend) will be coming to visit in August. I haven't seen her in nearly 8 years. Luckily I will be smaller than the last time she saw me (I was 7 months pregnant with my first) but in school I was probably the smallest of my friends (thanks to non-stop running playing soccer) but during college (we went to different schools) she decided to lose weight and has kept it off. She is already thin again after having her son. So, I have until July to lose a decent amount of weight, and until August to really kill myself. Wish me luck :)

*to clarify, and not offend my family, Tug's 2 sisters and their husbands are in shape, thin (verging on skinny) assholes so my desire to lose weight prior to seeing them is due to my own insecurities, not because they say things or think I should be thinner

This week: I can't find where I wrote down what I weighted last week...I know it was a gain of 1.3 and I think I lost 1.2 of it. I did write today's weight down-on the computer so it can't be thrown away-so next week's weigh-in will be exact. Since the loss was of the gain, this week is 0.

Jessica: +1.5

Renee: -1 

Laura: ± 0

Amy: 

Kimberly: -1.5

Miguelita: -2.5

Michelle: -2

Marci: 

Bonnie:

If I have left your name off it is not intentional—a lot of people have left comments saying they are going to participate but then never check back in. If you do want to participate please just leave a comment with the ± and I will add it to the list. Gracias.

A Funny

I was challenged via email as to whether I was bold enough to post this. Course I am...I am all about the laughs, not about the tact! Besides, I have no topics for today...

THE MIRACLE OF TOILET PAPER
Fresh from my shower, I stand in front of the mirror complaining to my husband that my breasts are too
small.
Instead of characteristically telling me it's not so, he uncharacteristically comes up with a suggestion.
"If you want your breasts to grow, then every day take a piece of toilet paper and rub it between them for a
few seconds".
Willing to try anything, I fetch a piece of toilet paper and stand in front of the mirror, rubbing it between my breasts. "How long will this take?" I asked.
"They will grow larger over a period of years,"  my husband replies.
I stopped. "Do you really think rubbing a piece of toilet pape r between my breasts every day will make my
breasts larger over the years?"
Without  missing a beat he says, "Worked for your butt, didn't  

it?"
He's still alive, and with a great deal of therapy,he may even walk again, although he will probably continue to take his meals through a straw.

Stupid, stupid  man!

I don't need size-increasing suggestions, anyone have any sag-reducing suggestions?

Swimming, and some BIG news

Where have I been all day you ask? Well, I needed to get the girls signed up for swim lessons. There is an awesome local gal (I think this is her 5o-somethingith yr of teaching, that qualifies for gal right?) and this will be our third year having lessons with her. She is great. Problem is everyone knows she is great, and she is in high demand. Sign-ups started today at 9 AM. I got to her house at 8:50 AM. I was numero 48 on the list. Apparently some jackass decided to show up at FOUR FOURTY FIVE in the morning, and 46 other people decided to get there prior to 10 minutes prior to sign ups. I didn't 'get in' until 4:30 PM. At least it is done and we will be spending June in the pool.

Turns out this summer is going to be busier than expected. Me thinks we will be spending July in Albuquerque-plans aren't entirely finalized but it is looking more and more that way.  The kids (Tug and I too) are totally pumped.

And now for my BIG NEWS...I just talked to my biggest, bestest friend in the whole world and she is coming to visit me in August. I can't begin to say how excited I am. I haven't seen Jaime in 8 years. EIGHT LONG YEARS. How could it be that I haven't seen my biggest and bestest friend in so long you might wonder, well life happened. We have been friends since the first day of 7th grade (1989) but went to different colleges, lived in different states, I got married (she was 1 of my 2 bridesmaids), I moved, I had a wee-one, we lost touch for a bit, I moved again, we got back in touch, I had another wee-one, I moved again, I had another wee-one, I moved again, she finally had a wee-one, I had another wee-one (that's the gist). She has been living in CA for a long time so when Tug first talked about moving to OR I got excited cuz I would be closer to her, or so I thought. Turns out Southern Cali is just as far from NM as it is from Southern OR. 

Anyhoo, Jaime called tonight to say she is coming for a visit. I can't tell you how excited I am. Wait, I already told you that I couldn't tell you. See...I'm so excited!!  It won't be until August but I've waited this long, I can wait a few more months. Besides, that gives me some time to lose some weight...she has a 1-yr-old (his birthday was on the 1st) and is already back to her thin ways. How annoying is that!? I love you Jaime and I can't wait to see you!!!!!!!

 

*what, did all my Catholic readers think I was going to say I was pregnant?

Peer Pressure

I admit it, I am a bad mother. I have let the girls give in to peer pressure. Once they saw their friends with them, they had to have them too.

Hopefully all future peer pressure endeavors will be as wholesome!

I knead your help

Sorry for the pun, my mil took over my body for a second. 

Anyone with a KitchenAid mixer needs to help me...Tug uses a credit card for work expenses then gets reimbursed and the credit card he uses has reward points. We have now accrued enough points to get the mixer I have been saving for. Question is, which do I get, Artisan or Professional? We would have points left over with the Artisan, Professional would wipe us out (not really a big deal). Do you have either, and what are your thoughts about the one you have (or long for, or have heard things about)?

Thanks for any help!

Mud-eriffic

First I found this story via Laura regarding Haitians eating mud cookies because the price of food is too high (have these people never heard of Ramen noodles?) And why do they call them mud 'cookies', cookies aren't made of mud unless you are 3 and have a vivid imagination. It's mud people, it might be in the shape of a disc, but mud nonetheless. 

Then I came across this article

U.N.'s World Food Program Cried Poverty While Sitting on Cash Stockpile of More Than $1.22 Billion

I guess a good plan is to say 'The price of food is too high—let's not buy any...and keep the money.'