Garden in the rough

Since the boys didn't go camping, we added this as part of the 'to do' for Saturday. I rented a tiller, the kids cleaned the yard. After I tilled (which made my hands swollen and sore), the kids then raked and cleaned some more. Now they have to lay out their rocks to mark where plants will go. The old sand box will likely turn into a composting pile

New Bedroom

Well, not quite new. My son and his dad were supposed to go hiking over the weekend, so this was to be my daughter's project while they were gone. We cleaned the room and moved furniture. I can't find the before picture, but here's the after.

Winston Churchill by John Perry

I received this book from Book Sneeze to review. So here's my review:

Perry's book on Winston Churchill was an excellent resource for a start in learning about the man behind the image. It takes a no-holds barred look as it gives insight into his life provided by Churchill himself through his letters and writings. It also depicts the man as others saw him, through his actions and statements by others. The book starts with his birth and family, it includes the influences on his life as he grew to be the man most people knew, until the end of his life. It does not exclude his religious education or influences and in fact explores it as Churchill did himself. In the end, we discover a lot of what made him who he was and are left with the appetite to find out more.

Follow up

I posted the "Gotta Keep reading" video yesterday, so I thought I'd follow up with the one it's based off of.. too cool.

Gotta Keep Reading - Ocoee Middle School

New friend

I found this guy trying to hide in my neighbor's garage. He's a little garden snake (looks bigger in the picture). For now, he's living in a small hermit crab box. My kids want to release him in to their garden when it's done.

Outdoor projects

Saturday was work day for me as well. I landscaped around the air conditioner, cleaning up weeds and such. I put pea gravel around the air conditioner itself. I found a big bag of red cedar in the shed (bought who knows when) that had never been used, so I used it to pretty up the rest of the bed I'd cleaned out. I can't really plant anything there right now as we have some siding work to do. But it does make it look better.

I also took the screen off the sliding door and replaced it, cleaned the patio off of all the debris from Fall/Winter, as well as started fixing some rotten wood around the kitchen window. My kids had a project of their own Saturday. They took an old pot of mine that wasn't in use and put their choice of flowers in it.

Adventuring

My husband was making sure the creek wasn't clogged and had the kids in it helping him. My daughter's comment was "we're on a perilous adventure".. given some of the stuff they found, that's almost true.

At my husband's feet is a big pile of concrete (hardened of course)

The creek is about 8ft down at this point My kids enjoyed 'exploring' the creek, something I'm sure I'd have enjoyed at their age too. It's funny that the creek has been here the entire time, but this was the first time they'd gone down to check it out.

Wren's Nest

I haven't visited the Wren's Nest (home of Joel Chandler Harris) since I was my son's age. I remember enjoying it, particularly the story teller, so when I heard they were having a free day I decided I had to go. My kids being who they are, decided they would go with me. We had a tour of the home and listened to a story teller recite some of the stories. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the story teller, my son even won a CD from the gentleman. On the way home, they insisted we listen to all the stories on the CD. We were only there for an hour or so, but definitely worth the trip.

Rear view of the house

Wooden carving Harris turned in to a humidor

For those semi-familiar with the story, here's the Tar Baby

Brer Bear Brer Fox & Brer Rabbit

AtlantaPlanIt.com

While cruising around, I came across this site. It's a cool way to keep up with stuff going on in Atlanta.. AtlantaPlanIt.com - Metro Atlanta Arts and Cultural Entertainment for the entire Family

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Adrenaline Climbing

We went out to Suwanee Friday night to check out Adrenaline Climbing's Family Fun Night. For $10 it includes climbing, equipment rental and pizza. Note on the pizza: it was just 1 piece for all but my daughter who managed to get 2. My suggestion on this is to either eat something small ahead of time, or wait and get a treat after. Our group chose to head for ice cream after.

Belaying for my hubby was interesting, I had to make sure I kept my feet on the ground as he descended.

For all that my daughter will climb to the top of the rock tower at Stone Mountain, she wasn't interested in going too high on the rocks here.

My son tried most of the different areas you could climb.

This is a climbing 'tread'mill.. my daughter loved this. As you climb it rotates to change what handholds are available.

My son thought it was pretty cool too.

The group decision on this was that it was very enjoyable. The 4 kids (ages 8 & 11) gave it a thumbs up. The adults did the belaying, trying a few climbs as well. The 6-8 time frame worked well, after a couple of hours of goofing off, the kids had had enough for the evening. This, followed by ice cream, made for an enjoyable evening. They have other options (including home school days) for discounts that you can check out on their web site. They're also on facebook.

Funny for the day

see more dog and puppy pictures

Spring forward!

Don't forget before you go to bed to set your clock forward 1 hour!

To my Brother-in-law Donnie

School Holiday

My kids are off from school today, so I'm off as well. I think we're going to go check out a climbing facility in Suwanee tonight. My son is going to a Chemistry Merit Badge Workshop tomorrow down at Georgia Tech. So, hope everyone has a good weekend, see ya next week!

Thought of the Day

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. Mark Twain

With all the budget cuts that are going on, you have to wonder what's going to happen with the school your child attends. We know that programs are being taken away (those considered non-essential) from the kids. Then they're working on cutting teacher pay, more furlough days, longer school days, etc etc. What we as parents have to decide what's truly important to us as far as our child's education goes and then we have to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Random Ravings - Manners MATTER

I was watching some show the other day (don't remember which) and they were talking about how bad behavior has become the 'norm'. It's definitely apparent, even looking at kids in the elementary schools. I keep saying that I really don't like 5th grade. True, I have a 5th grader. Quite a few 5th graders (taken by themselves) are tolerable. As a group, though, they are very rude and have little consideration for others.

When I'm in a regular education 5th grade class, I've noticed that the kids really don't want to listen. They constantly talk when an adult is trying to give them instruction. Then, because they didn't listen, they don't know what they're supposed to work on. TESTS as a rule, are an INDIVIDUAL's job to do. It's not something you're going to consult with your neighbor on and expect the two of you to pass.

Now, I know that kids are going to try to get around whatever they can get around. But it becomes a problem when they consistently are rude and inconsiderate to the point that substitutes won't agree to work in their class room. That or the teachers/staff have to make sure that they get a 'strong' sub to make sure their class behaves. It says something when teachers have to go out of their way to make sure their students perform.

I'm apparently one of the few parents who actually take the time to drill into my children's brains that manners MATTER. The kids my kids hang out with are fairly well behaved as well. It shows to the point that there are very few kids I'll allow to stick around my home for an extended period of time (like a sleep over).

"Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people`s bad manners." H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Pack 593 Pinewood

To be fair to the boys, several of them were very creative as well..

Powder Puff Derby

I have to give the girls credit, they are VERY creative when it comes to their cars. My daughter, unfortunately, didn't win anything, but it was a good experience any way.

My daughter's car is the center one. The outside left is a VW Bug, the other end is an ice cream sandwich..

Flowers, keyboards, Tinkerbell, oh my! Cell Phone, Flag, Crayola box & a butterfly! My daughter with two of her AHG friends

Seen Wednesday

Beethoven (male Beluga) Maris (female Beluga) Sand Tiger Shark Sea Horses

Nostalgia

Probably due to the weather Tuesday, but passing through the town I grew up in, I felt a need to snap these photos. Note, they were taken with my phone, while sitting at red lights, through the rain/snow.

The cemetary that holds both some of my family and a lot of Confederate Soldiers. Downtown viewed from across the railroad tracks..

Award Ceremony

My daughter attended her first award ceremony as an American Heritage Girl Monday night.

Part of the color guard (finishes another badge) Receiving her Joining award (with the leader of the AHG troop).. Receiving her Swimming and Computer Adventure badges (with her leader)

Slow Day Ramblings

I spent the day Monday with a daughter who was ill. She went to bed with a fever Sunday night, though by Monday morning it was down. My son was convinced it was due to her shower (which I thought she'd had much earlier than he seems to think). Regardless, I kept her home. I decluttered (mostly) my den and caught up on some basic laundry. I watched "Boy in Striped Pajamas", a very depressing movie. It was a very slow day, even slower for her since she wasn't allowed to play video games much of the day.

Stone Mountain

We climbed Stone Mountain Sunday with some family friends. I didn't take many pictures, but I did take these from the top.