I got this email:

 
 QUOTE  OF THE CENTURY, MAYBE EVEN THE MILLENNIUM

Some  people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand  them.

This  quote came from the Former  Premier of the Czech Republic.  Someone over there has it figured out. We have a lot of work to  do.

  "The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a  citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency.  It  will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than  to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved  electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is  much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of  what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone  to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic  can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool.  It is  less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their  president."

Vaclav  Klaus

I don't really know anything about him besides this quote but it makes me think he is a pretty smart guy.  I just hope he is right.  I hope we can restore and undo the things that Obama does.  But with 50% of the country willing to vote him in it will be an uphill battle.  The world sees it.  Wake up fools. :)

Our Classical Conversations Co-op

We have been having lots of fun with our Classical Conversations co-op the past couple of week.  We meet every Tuesday from 9:15-3:00 and learn a ton! We have foundations until lunch time and Essentials in the afternoon. During election week it was a little different.  We had election day off of course but we meet on Thursday and learned about some critters with the Kritter Keeper.  He was great and we had fun learning about lots of critters...

I love this sign...

I love Jake & his friend Carter's reaction to the scorpion.  He pulled a plastic one out at one point and threw it at the kids.  I have never seen people sitting down scatter so quickly.  He did it several times and we fell for it every time. 

After Kritter Keepers and lunch from Chik-fil-a we had a fall review.  We reviewed all the memory work we have learned in every subject so far this year.  I am amazed at how much and how quickly Jake has remembered all the information.  One week (wk 8) the history sentence was: "During the Age of Imperialism, the British established rule over India in 1858, and Queen Victoria was declared the Empress of India in 1877.  Before his assassination in 1948, Mohandas Gandhi led the passive resistance movement, which helped win India's independence."  That is one week in one subject and Jake has memorized all of it so far.  There are 7 subjects we memorize in & he remembers it all!!!  We are on week 11 and Jake is doing awesome.  He is going for Memory Master.  That means he is going to memorize all the information in every subject in our 24 weeks of memorization.  He can do it.  We played some fun games review and the kids had a great time.  They are all so smart!!!

This week in Foundations we dissected an owl pellet.  It was pretty awesome.  This is Jake's class-The Masters.  They are the oldest group and they range from 9-11.  Our essential's tutor was sick so we got to leave early.  The boys were dancing in the hall when they heard this-not that their tutor was sick but that they got to leave early.  Homeschoolers are just like public schoolers in that regard.  Everyone is excited for snow days, half days, or anything else that changes the normal routine and gets you out of school work!

A mouse skull...

Our homeschooling co-op is awesome!!!  Next year we will be aging out of this phase of Classical Conversations. :(  We will be on to bigger and better things.  But for now we are loving it! 

What kind of parents are we?!?!

I am not sure how it happened but some how we let our child grow to the age of 11 with out ever having eaten a Krispy Kreme when the hot light was on.  (**If you don't live in a part of the country/world where there aren't any Krispy Kreme's my condolences...They make melt in your mouth glaze doughnuts that are to die for...they make others too but they are famous for the glazed.  They have a neon sign that lets you know when they have just made them.**)  I know, I know-we have been completely slack but today I rectified the problem.  We headed over to Krispy Kreme and guess what?  The hot light was on.  Coincidence?  I think not. 

Jake's reaction to a warm, straight out of the oven...or what ever...do they fry them?  I don't even know! Any way here is Jake's reaction:  "Having a piece of food from Heaven...Nectar from Heaven..."    Amen brother.  Check it off the bucket list Jake.  Aaron we are now back in good standing on the best parents ever list.  Your welcome...to Jake and Aaron...and myself-I ate the other one you see in the picture and it was a-ma-zing.

(I turned the comments back on on my blog.  I get a lot of people who read but not many comments but I miss the comments from those few friends that did. :) I know I cannot ever make up my mind...)

These are a few of my favorite things: It's back!!!

Not sure when I stopped doing "these are a few of my favorite things" on Thursday's but it is BACK!
I realized I need to remember all of the blessings in my life and that is when it popped into my head that I didn't do this any more.  Coincidence?  I think not.  So, with out further ado...HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!!:

*I love Jane Austen.  I do.  I love her books.  I love the movies that have been made based on her books.  I am reading Mansfield Park right now and I love picturing it in my head.  I have to admit this is not my favorite Austen book but I still love it.  We (Jake, Nee, and I) were at Joanne's today and saw a magazine that was completely dedicated to things you could crochet (or knit maybe...one of those) all things Jane Austen related.  I am sure you can Google it.  There was this amazing wrap around shawl that I would totally wear and that I am sure I will picture in my head on Miss Fanny as I read tonight...If you haven't read any Jane you should...

*I love FALL.  I don't call it Autumn for some reason.  I love crunchy leaves falling all around.  I love crisp breezes. I love the chill in the air in the morning.  I love that it gets darker earlier-it feels cozier....Fall is my favorite season...

*I love Land o' Lake hot chocolate.  I love that years ago they had it at Sam's club-a mega pack for cheap!  It is expensive and they sell it in individual packages at grocery stores.  It is a fun occasional treat.  I love that we were talking about how Sam's Club used to have it last week and then we went 2 days later and guess what they had?!?!?  The MEGA PACK OF LAND O' LAKES HOT CHOCOLATE!!  I went crazy and bought 3 packs.  Aaron told me I should go buy more for food storage purposes. :)  It has 7 boxes with 6 indiv. packs in each, for $11-that makes them something like 30 cents a piece!!!  Which is a steal since they are 75 cents (or more depending on what store you are in) usually.  I am sure if we compared it to Swiss Miss it is still more expensive but I don't care.  It is like drinking heaven so I am stock piling it in case it is another...lots of years until Sam's Club carries it again.  I am going to go out on a limb and call this a tender mercy since the Lord knows I am  stressed and french vanilla or warm oatmeal cookie (yep that is a flavor) cocoa make it all better. :)

*I love that Jake loves Legos.  I love that there is a homeschooling club in our area.  They have an assignment to create something with Lego's.  Example: when we meet in December they have to bring something related to Christmas and it can't be a kit-they have to create it.   We get there the kiddos take out buckets of Lego's and trade...Yep, I said trade.  Right up an 11 year old boys alley.  Of course you only bring what you are willing to trade.  But if you are a Lego.."r"...then you know you have millions of tradeable pieces.  I also love that we went to the Lego store 3 weeks ago today...has it really been 3 weeks?  Maybe just 2...No I think it has been 3...that is crazy?!?  Time flies!  Anywho!  Nee, Jake, and I made a much anticipated, patiently waited for (we have been planning on going since Jake's b-day the end of August...) trip to the Lego store!!!!  I took 5,942 (not really) pictures and here are a couple dozen of them:

If you could buy this Jake would want to...

 In awe...

 We spent a lot of time building Lego houses and we were very proud of them so I took a lot of pictures...

 Nee's house:

 Me and Jake. :)  (I type that why?  I guess for posterity.  I am sure we won't forget who we are but just in case...)

 My house: (That Lego lady is me with my Kindle and I have french vanilla hot cocoa in that mug.)

 Jake's house:

 Me and Jake are neighbors. :)

 More people kept arriving to check out our street....No, Lego mini figures can't actually fit through my houses door, but isn't it cute?  We added the creek and bridge and then a mini figure jumped in for a swim...I guess we shouldn't have put a guy in blue in the creek because he is hard to see...

 This is the dream people...

 This map is made completely out of Lego's.  Awesome.

 Jake left with what he had been saving for: Ninjago's Ultra Sonic Raider.  Life is good!

 By the time we got home that night (it is a couple hours drive to the Lego store...But don't worry we took out the mini figures and put them together at Olive Garden while we were waiting for our food) it was to late to put it together so we did it first thing the next day.  One of the many perks of homeschooling. :)

 I am pretty sure it had a million pieces.  

 I helped Jake by sorting, and getting the pieces he would need for the next step...and I watched Fox news a little while he constructed...

You are probably expecting the after it is all put together piece here right?...Not sure why but there isn't one.  We were probably so excited to play with it that i forgot or something!  I will have to remember to take the after and post it. 

What are some of your favorite things?

Sleeping in on a Wednesday...

Jake spent the night with Nee last night and went and saw Wreck it Ralph so I slept in.  They said it was an amazing movie-they both loved it.  I am  now jealous that I didn't go. :)  I have the house to myself this morning so I decided to watch a little Fox news since I haven't for almost a week...you all know why I have taken a break from the news.

I have been watching it for about 30 minutes and it is depressing.  The president's plan to help the economy is to raise taxes on the wealthy by $1.6 trillion (yes that is a "t") and by increasing the capitol gains tax by 25%.  I feel blessed to not be rich and to not own a house.  The housing market was supposedly on a slight up turn.  That is about to change for the negative...

Nazi Nancy Peolosi (Aaron calls her Nazi Peolosi...okay, I will be honest I do too.  But Aaron came up with it.  It is a joke we don't really think she is a Nazi.  A liberal is almost as bad though...that was a joke too so don't freak out) just had a press conference talking about how woman are finally feeling empowered because a record number of woman and minorities were elected this time around.  I feel a little sorry for her.  I have never not felt empowered.  I never have really thought about it because I am appreciated for the role I have taken in our family.  It was my choice to stay home-but we all agreed it was the best thing for our family.  I am sure Nancy would think I am un-empowered because I have chosen to stay home.  That is okay because I think she is a little crazy so it all irons out in the end.   I just thought woman were smart to stay away from politics.  I never knew we were not empowered.

I love Fox news.  That will not change.  I am a Conservative.  That will not change.  But I am going to limit my time here.  I know that our country...our world, as we know it, is going to continue to change and disintegrate.  I don't need to know all the details because I already know it is happening.  It is a sign of the time.  I am going to be meeting Jake and Nee in a little while so I am going to spend my time  better.  I am going to watch HGTV and pluck my eyebrows. :)

Here's to a couple of hours of alone time!    

Addicted to distressing...

I have blogged about my love of painting and distressing on my painting and distressing blog...but not so much here.  So, to document that I have accomplished a few things this year, here are a few things I have done:

This one has been sold and I miss it already....

 This is the ugly before...It was the diamond in the rough....

  The chair that won my heart...I painted these chairs and the table that goes with it to sell but I love it too much to let it go...