We can't get out of IL. We were supposed to
drive straight home and get back on Thursday around 4 am. But it just
tweren't meant to be.
I *knew* I shouldn't have eaten that chicken before we left the family
farm.  My husband warned me that it looked questionable. I should
have listened.  It is bad enough having “tummy issues” when you
are at home.  Having “tummy issues” when you're on the freeway
between rest stops is quite, um, indescribable.

Now most of you won't get this next part, but if you've ever been to the Chevys — the
best Mexican restaraunt in the history of Earth– then maybe you will
sorta understand this.  See, we don't have a Chevy's in TN, so for
the last eight months my family has been deprived, so when Geo spotted
a Chevys we simply HAD to go.  Some things just cannot be
passed up.  Salsa and beans are *not* the best thing to consume
when you are already having “tummy issues”.  Right after we left I
just about dropped dead.  I mean, at that point I was done
for.  So Geo was
kind enough to pull over to a Best Western for the night.  I have
to say, I am still glad we went to Chevys.  I even got a fancy
sombrero and a big fat plate of ice cream because Geoff let our waiter
know (while I was in the bathroom for the fourth time) that it's my
birthday this week.  I didn't eat the ice cream  That was
wise.

Hopefully we'll be home tomorrow evening.

April 12th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

….nothing, really.  I am very sorry
for anybody who has to live here.  I feel sorry for my husband who
had to grow up here.  All it does is blow around here.  It's
so flat that there is nothing to stop the wind. It's been nothing but
straight wind since we drove in. You know, people have done studies and
it is a proven fact that people go insane when they are exposed to too
much wind.  My eye has begun to twitch.

I'll be real glad to get home to my cozy little homestead tomorrow;
it's almost worth the 12 hour drive just to get out of here. 
Yeesh.

April 11th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

I forgot how much headaches hurt.  Headaches are tolerable, but I especially don't like it when my skin hurts.  Last night ALL of it hurt. And I have a lot of it. 

Monday we are leaving for IL.  We'll be driving 11 hours with all
six kids to go to Gramma Olbrich's funeral.  She was in her
nineties and a really sweet lady.  When Geo met me (and planned on
marrying me) his family was more than a bit alarmed (long story for
another day).  Anyways, they all had good reasons
to be a little aprehensive, but Gramma Olbrich was always nothing but
purely warm and kind.  She even sent me stationary that said
Jenefer Igarashi on it after me and geo got engaged. I loved her for
that. 

Ok, here are the winners for the very cool dvd, 50 Favorite Kid Concoctions.  You guys have to email me your addresses so I can mail them out to you JenIG@TOSMag.com

Amber  Iluvtheland  dinghome
Cre8ivemom and CandyFoote

Congrats!  And don't forget to watch Gena's blog.  Five more of you will win from her page something this week.

April 8th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

Coie woke
up with a temp of almost 103.  Then Dippy puked — at the post
office.  We're all excited because we love getting sick.  It
is the only time we have an excuse to lay around and do nothing .  So don't nobody go praying for us. We're hoping we'll stay sick until at least Sunday.

Guess what?  Our 50 little chickies got here.  They are
soooooooooooo cute.  I mean, they are really really cute. 
Pictures to follow (as soon as Miss Sickoie is well enough to load them for me).

As promised, check out this excellent contest.  FIVE of you will win the coolest dvd you've ever seen.  It is called 50 Favorite Kid Concoctions
and includes 50 different educational projects that your kids can watch
(and then do). It's about an hour and a half long.  My entire
family loves this dvd; it also comes with a booklet.  These dvd's
can be found at Costco, so if you don't win, you can get your copy
there.  The last five people who leave me a comment (before I post
again) will win.

PS Watch Gena's blog this week because another five will win from her place.
YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE !

April 7th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

Ok, I sent your names from the last post for the t-shirts.  Pretty fun!  I will give updates when we get them.



Now, onto better news…. FINALLY my brother in law and nephew are coming home from England.  We missed them while they were gone.  I was thankful that Mr. Garrison took such superior care of them.  As a matter of fact, I woke up to an email this morning from said Mr. Garrision that made my whole day :

Heh heh heh

ALSO…. tomorrow i have another very super excellent contest

April 6th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

Yes, I am quite saddened.  For a while I wondered if it
was just a weird phase that would pass, but now after almost a FULL YEAR I
think it is finally official.  I am ready
to accept the fact that I no longer enjoy coffee.  This is a huge misfortune
for a life-long coffee lover.   I’ve been
choking the stuff down every day to try and readjust my liking to it, but it’s to no avail.  I must face the hard
facts and come out of my denial.  I am no
longer a coffee lover.  There, I said
it.  This is a sad day indeed.  Yuck, i don't like tea, either.  What in the world am I going to do? 

Anyhow, besides that, I have something fun I want you to
participate in.  Remember when we started
kicking the idea around for HomeschoolBlogger shirts?  Well, we are doing that now.  On the back of the shirts there will be a
line that says, “Just a Few of My Friends…” and a list of blog addresses, like YOURS.  Leave me a comment if
you do not mind being listed on our HSB shirts. 
Also, if you have a friend who has a neat blog then send them over here
to leave a comment.  We will probably
list about 150 blog addresses.  Fun, eh?

We will be giving the shirts out at the FPEA convention (and other conventions that we'll be at),
doing contests with them here and also contests in the magazine and probably also selling
them from our Schoolhouse Store later.

April 5th, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

…. is so fun.. I think card games that
start with “p” are the best.  Pinochle is one of our favorites,
but now we are on a 'Pit' kick.  Have you ever played that card
game? It is so fun (loud, but fun).  You cannot find it anymore; I
ordered it off of ebay.  It very fast paced — do not play it if
you have a headache.  What is your favorite thing to do as a
family?        

April 3rd, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

You will not believe this, I scarcely believe it myself.  Guess who we found? Curly the Super Chicken.  He is ALIVE!  It is just so bizarre. 

The kids heard a bunch of crowing and came rioting thru the house like
crazed chimpanzees.  Naturally, I didn't believe them because
Curly was very obviously dead meat.  Geo,
on the other hand, humored them and followed them down yonder past the
tree line, and sure enough, there was good old Curly up in a tree.

Is that incredible or what??

April 2nd, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments

This picture really doesn't do my awful
highlighted job justice, but you can still sorta see how I look like a
tiger now. *grr owwwl*  The first thing Emmiko said was, “Oh no mom! change it back, please change it back, you look so old” And Dippy said, “How did do do dat do door hayer?”, Ryann looked shocked and said, “Oh”, and Coie
just sort of gave me her classic trying-real-hard-not-to-smile,
smile.  The moral of the story: Only go to Walmart for diapers,
milk, Ovaltine and curry.

My awful hairdomust have caused Geo to braven up a bit because he
employed Coie to cut his afro.  I was hoping we could have
matching hair disasters, but then Coie went and ended up doing a great
job mowing him down.

 

Now I have awful hair all by myself.  Maybe I can get Gena to dye her hair fire engine red again…

April 1st, 2006 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments