Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas 2005


Merry Christmas 2005


Karen, Mike with Guinness, Ana with Magic and Sam with Gizmo.







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Saturday, December 24, 2005

Why we homeschool



This is a great example of why we homeschool. Most public schools don't allow students to sit this way while reading. Sam and I like to sit in the master bedroom in the winter since it is the only room in the house that gets direct sunlight.
Sam was often in trouble in 1st grade at his public school because he liked to sit on the edge of his chair and he "took up too much space."

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Soccer Season



October brings us to soccer season. Both Ana and Sam played this fall. Ana was on a team called the Bluz Sisters. She played in a recreational league. Her 17 year-old coach spent much of the season looking pretty instead of coaching so it was rather a disappointing season. Ana spent much of her time as a defender and goalie. She did manage to score one goal this season. Unfortunately, it was against her own team!!! Poor Ana. Sam had a much better season. He had a great time just being out there with his teammates. Sam played defender all season since he is not the fastest runner. He did a great job of getting in the way of the other teams' offense!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Disneyland


In September we met "the cousins" at Disneyland for what was supposed to be a fun-filled trip!! For the most part it was just that--full of fun. Now, being from Southern Nevada I love a good Monsoonal downpour as much as the next guy. However, when that downpour comes while visiting Disneyland it's not quite so enjoyable. For one thing it's about 30 degrees cooler in California than Nevada so being wet also means being COLD!!! In Nevada, we stay in the house until the storm passes. Not so at Disneyland. When in Disneyland one does the only sensible thing. You either pay $7 for a poncho that will be worn once (that day) or as Mike and Sam did, you pay $21 for a hat that will see more use. Here we are in all our "Disney Condom" (a term coined by my sister-in-law, Patty) glory!!!

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Birthdays





Mike and Ana both had birthdays in August. Mike is getting older...Ana not so much!


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Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Petrified Forest National Park



In August I took the kids and my mom to Eastern Arizona to see the Petrified Forest National Park. It was fun and required lots of driving(not our favorite part.)
We also saw some bison - very muddy - not our best idea!!!

Monday, July 25, 2005

Xeriscape



Our new landscaping has been installed. Due to severe drought conditions in Southern Nevada we have converted the front lawn into xeriscape. Takes hardly any water and very little maintenance. I need a new picture because the plants are much bigger now and it doesn't look so much like a rock garden.




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Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Sam's Hard Head


Soon after (within hours) of my last post, Sam took a little sleep walking stroll. Normally this wouldn't be a problem except that Sam sleeps on a loft 7 feet above the ground. Sam went sailing off that loft with the biggest THUNK I've ever heard in my life. Sam and I spent several hours in the Emergency Room. If ever Sam pretends to be dumb, I'm not falling for it. He had to have a CT Scan so now I've seen photos of his brain so I know he has one! It is very wrinkly! All this for the low, low price of $3022!! Thank God Mike has a good job that provides good health insurance!

Monday, July 18, 2005

Karate Convention




The weekend of July 15-17, 2005 I attended the Chun Kuk Do International Conference and World Championships. I had several classes to help me improve my karate in preparation for my test for black belt. (I'm scheduled to test in June of 2006.) I also competed in kata (a pretend choreographed fight) and fighting. I got 4th place in both events. As you'll see in the pictures there were only 4 competitors in my division (old women over 35 who have managed to obtain the rank of red belt (me) or red/black belt (one test short of black belt - the other three.) Considering that I've had my red belt for less than three months I was pretty impressed with myself!

My mom, Julie, attended as a spectator. So did my daughter, Ana.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

My Travelling World

Okay, here I go again. Now I'm going to try to add a map to my blog of all the states I've visited. I'm not including states where I've only seen the airport or the list would be longer.


create your own personalized map of the USA


How about the world? Looks like I need to go SOUTH!!!



create your own visited country map

My First Blog



This is my first blog. I'm testing it out to see if it's something I want to do on a regular basis. I'll try uploading a picture, too, just to see if I can.

I guess I can!! This is the picture of Mike and me at my parent's Fiftieth Anniversary party in Oregon in August of 2004.