Tomato Gardengurl
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Tomato Crazy

Good stuff (Olympics)

Thanks to Pablo.. I found this.  I had already googled but apparently used the wrong words?? Here is a great link to some fantastic resources.
Curriculum

Olympics (some ideas)

As a Mom who schools their kids at home I am always looking for creative ideas to glide through our educational experience.  I noted that the Olympics could just be one of those events that maybe will help the information to  stick in their brains. 
Some ideas....
1.  First of all we will learn about the history of the Olympics.
2.  I think we will learn about China's culture and food and eat Chinese food for the Opening Ceremonies.   I found this idea Googling around the internet.
3.  I will have them each follow their own country and then pick another.  My children are very competitive so I will make them keep track of who is winning more medals. 
4.  When they pick the country they are following we will work on that countries geography and culture (maybe color a flag from that country).  You have to remember I teach K and 4th grade together so each child will be given different tasks.

If anyone has any other ideas feel free to leave them in the comment area.. I need all the help I can get!!!

Egg-citing news

NOT 1 but 2 eggs today.  Abby rushed down this am to find a small egg.  She wanted it fixed right away!  We just came up again from checking and found another....

We the People

DAG GUM IT!!  I did not have a lame excuse but I did think up a few.  I did my best to explain to my children how jury duty works and our legal system.  I did not add that I REALLY wanted to come up with an excuse to not go.  I told her how important it was that the decisions made by a jury of our peers.  I told her if Mommy was in court she would want someone like me (hopefully) trying to come to the right decision in their case.  What I really was thinking was that I had run out of good excuses and that I had to face the music and do my civic duty.  I have to go back on Wednesday for a case.  Tomorrow we vote on a local sales tax increase or not, I think I will take her with me to show her that local government process.  I clearly remember taking her to vote with me when I voted for President.  After a long discussion in line waiting she looked at me and said "It's kinda like your voting for Line Leader"!?  Ya you got it!

As we were waiting for the jury pool, the lady asks the entire room about their hardships..... I could not believe the lame excuses these people told the whole room.  I literally had to cover my mouth when a lady stood up and said, " I have panic attacks and I have a lump in my breast".  Ok not that a lump is funny but COME ON PEOPLE!!   I would of taken her lump more serious if she had not thrown in the panic disorder (they let her go)  I should of said I have ADD and my mind is always wandering.....
Maybe I am just jealous I could not think of anything good.......

Clean up

Cleaning up after a big trip is not very fun.  My truck needed hosed out.  It was so dusty, I washed the floor mats in the washer.  It seems hard to believe so much actually went to Colorado and so much came home.  I have to say we came home with something that stopped many a person at every gas station we went to..... an ELK HORN!!  Stan (a family friend) gifted my son a hat and an elk horn.  (how manly can you get)???   It is like a magnet, everyone wants to look and talk about it.  It is currently sitting in the garage, precariously close to John's car LOL 
  Tomorrow I have jury duty.  I am not thrilled about that but thrilled about starting the school year with both children this week!  I started schooling my oldest 5 years ago... Wow how the time goes by.  The youngest starts K/1st  this week.  He is going to be a challege.... but he has met his match.  I do not give up easy.
The garden is really in full swing.  We have had watermelon, cantaloupe, okra, tons of peppers, eggplant, corn, basil, squash, tomatoes, garlic, onions,beans and cucumbers.  It is almost time to be thinking of Spinach, turnips, radishes, mustard, collards, and the rest of winter veggies.....  I have a new group of tomatoes started.  The garden goes on!


Dare I say it??

Hold the phone!!  I had a friend stop by to check out our chickens when low and behold I found a little shell of an egg under the chicken house.  I put it together and it was a little brown egg.  We have production!!!!  YIPPPPPPEEEEE Rena (Doing the happy chicken dance) and the woman who is counting her eggs before they are layed.....

More pics

I have to say there is something magical about being in Colorado.  It is just the simple life.  It really is.  It never feels like you have to be anything.  It is cool breezes and nature EVERYWHERE.
MORE Pics

The trip

Well I no longer smell and look like a Prairie Dog..... I do have enough skeeter bites--- I considered an epi-pen!  They almost ate me alive. 
The wild flowers were incredible. This is from a Cactus while I was hiking.


 It is amazing how as you get older you literally stop and see the little things that you passed by as a child.  (and you need to catch your breath)
 Kansas was a real surprise to me.  When I was younger I just recall how boring and flat it was.  Today I looked out over the fields and the beautiful old barns, farms and windmills and had a new appreciation of where a good bit of our food is grown.  Everyone in Kansas was very nice and helpful!
The kids had a blast with their cousins fishing in the river, Geocaching, playing tag, riding 4-wheelers, tie dying t-shirts, hiking, canoeing, swimming at the pool, playing at the playground, running through sprinklers and just being kids!
I had the opportunity to see loads of old friends and drink way to much wine as we chatted about old times!  I was amazed at how much some of us change and others so little.
One of my favorite moments was hiking for an entire day.  When I say a whole day I mean the "whole day"!!  I hiked on a private ranch where we located but did not climb into a cave in the side of the mountain that if you crawl into drops down 60 feet into a underground river!  I was in awe.  The mountain we climbed started to look like we could not scale to the top when I discovered a small crevice with light shining in.  We climbed into the crevice as it widened to give us a path to the very top of the mountain.  I can't explain how wonderful I felt when I got to the top and looked over the mountains and land!!!  Of course coming down I could not resist mooing at a few cows which probably traumatized them        This brings me to my new "want"......
A COW, I know I know I barely got by with the chickens.  My thinking was keeping the cow at my Dad's then butchering it... this would give me grassfed organic beef, much cheaper then buying in the store and raised with love.  I call John ------it pretty much went like this.
John:  Hello?
Me:  Hey hon whatcha doin?
John: blah blah blah
Me: Hey so you think I can have a cow?
John: silence
Me:  You know uhhhhh like as in uhh a cow....
John: more silence
Me:  There only 500-600 dollars for a WHOLE cow!!!  Think of the savings...
John: NO
Me No??? come on why not
John: NO
Me: sigh thinking up ways to buy a cow...

In Colorado they have these signs posted in many places which kinda freaks me out when I saw a hitchhiker.
It says Attention Correction Facility DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS..  Uhhh ok got cha

Did I mention I want a cow??
CLICK FOR PICS OF THE TRIP







3,960 miles!!

We just got in!!  I will update when I get a shower and eat.  I have to say the angels asked 33 miles from Columbus "How much longer"????  AMAZING travel buddies!!  I have not been able to update my blog because of log in issues AND the internet was very, very sparse!!

From Tulsa

whoooo hoooo we had a GREAT day yesterday.  I woke up and could not sleep so I went ahead and put the kids in the car and left.  We crossed 5 states and went 767 miles!!    When we got in the kids went swimming at the hotel pool.  I actually had to pry my kids out to go to the bathroom during the trip.  They watched movies ...... I thought they had become zombies.  It rained and rained the last 4 hours or we could of made more time.    We only have to drive 3 hours today  to Wichita to the Children's museum and will spend the night there with friends.  Please continue to pray for us!